faith

18
Jan
2020

Faith cries out

Originally posted on the Electric Gospel on November 10, 2019.

Faith cries out

by David Sellnow

What happens inside your soul when crisis or disaster strikes your life?  How do you feel?  What do you say? Let me share with you words of pain from someone whose faith was put to the test by devastating losses. When life hurts, have you ever screamed thoughts like this?

  • “Why didn’t I die at birth, my first breath out of the womb my last? … I could be resting in peace right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain.”
  • “I hate this life! Who needs any more of this?”
  • “God, how does this fit into what you once called ‘good’? … Can’t you let up, and let me smile just once …before I’m nailed into my coffin, sealed in the ground, and banished for good to the land of the dead?”
  • “Please, God … address me directly so I can answer you, or let me speak and then you answer me. How many sins have been charged against me? Show me the list—how bad is it? Why do you stay hidden and silent? Why treat me like I’m your enemy?”
  • “My spirit is broken, my days used up. … I can hardly see from crying so much. … My life’s about over. All my plans are smashed, all my hopes are snuffed out.”
  • “Why do the wicked have it so good, live to a ripe old age and get rich? … Their homes are peaceful and free from fear; they never experience God’s disciplining rod.”
  • “God has no right to treat me like this—it isn’t fair! If I knew where on earth to find him, I’d go straight to him. [But wherever I go, he’s not there.]”
  • “People are dying right and left, groaning in torment. The wretched cry out for help, and God does nothing, acts like nothing’s wrong!”
  • “I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer! I stand to face you in protest, God, and you give me a blank stare! … What did I do to deserve this? … Haven’t I wept for those who live a hard life, been heartsick over the lot of the poor? But where did it get me? I expected good but evil showed up. I looked for light but darkness fell. My stomach’s in a constant churning, never settles down. Each day confronts me with more suffering. I walk under a black cloud. The sun is gone.”

Have you ever had thoughts like that in the midst of trouble? If you have, does that mean you aren’t a good Christian? If you scream at God when you feel like God has disappeared from your world, have you failed the test of faith?  Should you be more like Job, famous for his faith when afflicted with suffering?  He lost his family (his adult children were killed). He lost his wealth. He lost his health. And yet he spoke with rock-solid conviction.  Job’s famous words were written down and inscribed in a book forever:  “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27 NRSV).

Perhaps you are more like Job than you realize.  All of the words I quoted to you at first — words of complaint, of accusation against God, of desperation and wanting to be dead — those all were words of Job.  (Bible quotations were from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Referenced verses – Job 3:11,13; 7:16; 10:3,20-22; 13:20-24; 17:1,7,11; 21:7,9; 23:2-3,8-9; 24:11-12; 30:20-28.)

Job’s words of resurrection confidence are surrounded in Scripture by many words of grief and doubt and heartache. People speak of “the patience of Job” — and yes, the patience of a faithful heart remained alive in Job.  But that patience of faith existed in the midst of the frayed nerves and tortured soul of a life under horrible strain. Job’s wife is often criticized for telling her husband to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9) when everything fell apart for them. But I’m sympathetic toward Job’s wife. She was a mother who lost her children and could not be comforted. Her heart was overwhelmed with pain. And Job, too, struggled with that pain. Job wrestled with God in his heart, and went back and forth in his thoughts.  The same person who expressed all the anger and hurt I shared with you a few moments ago also said:

  • “Even if God killed me, I’d keep on hoping.” (Job 13:15 The Message)
  • “All through these difficult days I keep hoping, waiting for the final change—for resurrection!” (Job 14:14 The Message)
  • “Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? … God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. … Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”  (Job 28:20,23,28 NRSV)

Isn’t that the way that faith is in our lives? We go back and forth in our thoughts, between hurt and hope. We cry out to the Lord, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)  If you read the Psalms, you’ll hear words of joy and praise as well as words of anguish and questioning. If you listen to Jesus himself, hanging on the cross, you’ll hear him scream, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) as well as, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46 NRSV). You’ve likely seen this same thing in the lives of Christians you have known, or in your own hearts as God’s people fighting the good fight of faith. I’ve sat with a woman outside the intensive care unit, where her husband was going through organ failure after diabetes had done decades worth of damage to his body.  I’ve sat with the family of an Air Force colonel  who died in a tragic plane crash — not in battle, but while assigned to supervise younger pilots practicing for an air show.  Things happen that seem senseless, merciless, unfair, intolerable.  We cry out in distress and anguish, and at the same time call out to God in hope.  When God seems to have abandoned us, that’s when we cling most urgently to his promise that he never will leave us, never will forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5).

Martin Luther spoke often about how God reveals himself to us in hidden ways, in the midst of pain and suffering and the cross. We tend to want God to show himself by big and bold and obvious blessings happening in our lives. But more often, God’s deepest work on our hearts happens through difficult things we don’t want to endure. In his Heidelberg theses (which he composed when under pressure to defend his teachings), Martin Luther said this:

  • “Now it is not sufficient for anyone and does no good to recognize God in his glory and majesty, unless he recognizes him in the humility and shame of the cross. Thus God destroys the wisdom of the wise, as Isaiah 45:15 says, ‘Truly, you are a God who hides himself.’” 

God’s greatest work in this world was accomplished when God seemed to be absent from the scene, when Jesus was hanging on a cross, dying in shame, with people shouting obscenities at him.  That’s not where people thought they’d find God. Yet that was how God had chosen to show himself and to save the world, through Jesus’ suffering.  And in our own lives too, we are drawn closer to God, made more dependent on God, when facing life’s agonies and, ultimately, death.  So when the difficult days come, yes, we will cry, we will scream, we will hurt. But we also will trust God is working in his own mysterious ways to draw us closer to himself and to draw us on in the direction of heaven.  Because ultimately, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NRSV).

The fact that we have faith doesn’t make us immune to hurt. Sometimes we forget that. I’ve known some Christians who’ve undergone a great loss or catastrophe, and they paste on a smile because they think a Christian should never be sad. They don’t allow themselves to grieve because they think grieving would mean they weren’t expressing hope. They may shed a tear at the funeral, but the day after they expect themselves to be putting all the sadness behind them. That’s an artificial understanding of our Christian hope. We don’t pretend we aren’t hurting. We acknowledge the full reality of pain and suffering, of sin and death, of the grave and loss. And at the same time, we cling to hope in the power of the resurrection. Think of Jesus, who broke down in tears when his friend Lazarus died – even while he knew he was going to raise Lazarus back out of his grave. Jesus felt death’s pain even when he had the power to overturn death. We need not gloss over the ugliness and bitterness of awful things that happen to us in this world. In the midst of that ugliness, we still seek God’s face (Psalm 105:4) and believe in his mercy.

When you’re facing loss, hardship, heartache, tragedy, it’s normal for you to cry out in pain. The great patriarch Job cried out again and again, begging God for answers. God remained silent for a time, but he did hear Job and he did finally answer him. And God hears you when you cry too. God is helping you even when you have a hard time feeling his support. He reminds you of his promises. His Spirit helps you hang on and have hope. Maybe you don’t have the patience of Job. Then again, even Job didn’t have the patience of Job! But all of us, as God’s people, will join with Job in confessing our faith. We say:

  • “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27 NRSV).

That is our confidence, our cry of faith, even when this life is so often so full of so much pain. We cry with hurt, but we also cry with hope. How our hearts yearn within us!

Posted by David Sellnow
18
Jan
2020

Jesus turns and looks at us

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on April 14, 2019.

Luke 22:54-62:

         He denied Jesus, saying, “Woman, I don’t know him.”         They seized him [Jesus], and led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed from a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, and had sat down together, Peter sat among them. A certain servant girl saw him as he sat in the light, and looking intently at him, said, “This man also was with him.”

         After a little while someone else saw him, and said, “You also are one of them!”

         But Peter answered, “Man, I am not!”

         After about one hour passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Truly this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean!”

         But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the Lord’s word, how he said to him, “Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.” He went out, and wept bitterly. 

Jesus turns and looks at us

by David Sellnow

That look of Jesus when Peter denied him – what did that look look like?   Luke only tells us that Jesus looked at Peter, he doesn’t specify how he looked at him.  But from what has been revealed to us about Jesus, we can know something about that look.

It could not have been a look of shock or outrage.  Jesus had known exactly what Peter was going to do that night.  He had told Peter in advance about how he would deny his Lord three times.  Everything was playing out just as Jesus had said it would go.  So Jesus was not taken aback by what Peter was doing.  His look at Peter was a reminder.  His eyes said what he had already told Peter in words earlier that night:  “You will deny me three times.”  Jesus didn’t have to say anything further.  Peter knew Jesus had spoken the truth.  Peter was reminded that Jesus is the Truth.

It could not have been a look of spite or hatred.  Jesus was not doing what he was doing because he hated Peter or anyone involved in what was happening.  Jesus came into this world because God so loved the world.  Jesus “loved his own who were in the world; he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). And he demonstrated his love for us in that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). While Peter was sinning against him, denying him with curses, Jesus still loved Peter and was reaching out to him.  When Jesus looked at Peter, it could not have been a look of indignation.

It could not have been a look of rejection or condemnation.  “For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him” (John 3:17).  And specifically toward Peter, Jesus had shown his constant love and care.  Earlier that night, before telling Peter the prophecy about how he would fall into denial, Jesus had said to him:  “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked to have all of you, that he might sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail. You, when you have turned again, establish your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).  Jesus did not desire to condemn Peter. His overriding concern was to preserve Peter, to save him.  Even if we are faithless in our actions, Jesus “remains faithful; for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).   So says the promise of Scripture.  And Jesus made good on that promise to Peter.  Satan sifted him like wheat, that’s for sure.  But Jesus held on to Peter.  With just one look, through the doorway, out into the dim light of the outer court, Jesus grabbed hold of Peter’s eyes and his heart.  And Peter ran out and wept bitterly.  He was ashamed.  He was acutely aware of his failure of faith.  But he had hope.  He had a Savior who had told him he was going to fail but that he would be brought back.  He had a Savior who led him to hear the rooster’s crow as a warning.  He had a Savior who in the darkest moment looked at his friend with a look that showed that he knew Peter, that he loved Peter, that he was seeking Peter’s soul.

Like Peter, we also have our failures, our cowardice, our weakness of faith.  But as with Peter, our Lord does not look at us with outrage or hatred or condemnation.  The look in Jesus’ eyes is the look of the eternal God who stooped down from heaven to stand trial in our place, the look of someone who was willing to suffer unimaginable pain and horror for our sake, the look of a Savior who was willing to give himself up completely in order to win us back to our Father in heaven.  We have been turned back to Jesus by his redeeming look at us, again and again.  So with renewed strength, we can strengthen our brothers and sisters.

All Bible quotations from the World English Bible (WEB).

Posted by David Sellnow
18
Jan
2020

Still Standing

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on March 31, 2019.

Still standing

by David Sellnow

***************

Don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
… I’m still standing – yeah yeah yeah

“I’m Still Standing” – Elton John / Bernie Taupin

Too Low for Zero (1983) – Rocket Record Company (UK) / Geffen Records (USA)

***************

It’s customary to begin a devotional thought with verses from the Bible.  So I suppose starting with a Bernie Taupin lyric from an Elton John song is rather unconventional.  But the chorus of that song has been running through my head a lot lately.  The theme started a couple weeks ago.  As I was exiting the post office, I held the door for an older gentleman, somewhat hobbled, who was on his way in. “Have a good day,” I said to him.

“I always have a good day – I’m still standing up!” he replied, with a big, broad smile.

Not many days later, a sermon I heard mentioned the same sentiment.  “I’m up and I’m moving – I’m okay!”  The pastor had heard that thought expressed by a person of faith during life’s hard times.  It is the way that faith looks at life, constantly trusting a God whose everlasting arms are underneath us, holding us up (cf. Deuteronomy 33:27).

To be honest, though, thoughts of faith like that are unnatural for us.  We tend to have in mind an ideal image of life, of what we want life to be.  More accurately, we concoct an idol of how we expect life should be.  We worship that idol; we yearn for that ideal.  But even a non-biblical thinker such as Plato, the Greek philosopher, recognized the flaw in such thinking.  There is no “ideal” in the earthly realm.  Life in this world is imperfect, mortal, characterized by struggle.  Plato envisioned that perfect things could exist only in a higher realm.  He wasn’t wrong.  Through the testimony of Scripture, we know that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).  But we also know “that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).  And the true God calls upon us to keep ourselves from idols (1 John 5:21) – idols such as imagining that life on this earth should always be full of easiness for us.

The truth is that “through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom” (Acts 14:22).

The truth is that if we’re so much as standing up, it is because the Lord has given us the strength to be on our feet.  It is he who brings us up out of the pit, out of the miry clay.  He sets our feet on a rock and gives us a firm place to stand (cf. Psalm 40:2).

So our confession of faith will always be this:  “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our God.  They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright” (Psalm 20:7-8).

If you’re still standing—or even if you’re flat on your back, but still partaking in life—rejoice and be glad in that day.  As Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Ecclesiastes reminds us:  “Relish life … each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive” (Ecclesiastes 9:7-9, The Message).  Our God took away the sin of the world in a single day by giving his One and Only, Jesus Christ, into death for us. And then Christ stood up again after giving himself over to death.  Christ’s victorious standing up again (resurrection) gives us reason to stay standing even in life’s darkest days …  and gives us promise that even after we have been laid low, we will stand with our Lord again in eternity.

I’m still standing.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bible quotations from World English Bible (WEB) except where indicated.

Posted by David Sellnow
18
Jan
2020

Jesus, our Brother

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on February 28, 2019.

Jesus, our Brother

by David Sellnow

While Jesus was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him.  One said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you.”

But he answered him who spoke to him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” He stretched out his hand toward his disciples, and said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50).

Jesus made it clear that having a relationship with him is a matter of faith. Doing the will of the Father–which means believing in Jesus as the source of life (cf. John 6:29,40)–is what makes us Jesus’ brothers. Even Jesus’ own blood relatives on earth had no more special relationship with him or with God than is accessible to us through faith in Jesus.

On the night before his sacrificial death, Jesus spoke to his disciples as brothers, bracing them for what lay ahead (John 16:17-33). He emphasized that their relationship with God would not become diminished by his absence, when he returned to the Father. Rather, their relationship would be just as direct–they could go straight to the Father with any request.  He assured them, “The Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:27).  The same is true for us today. We may have trouble in this world, but we cling to God with confidence, knowing Jesus has overcome all things in this world on our behalf.

It is significant that in his first appearance after rising from death (John 20:10-18), Jesus emphasized to Mary Magdalene his relationship with all the believers.  He said to her, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17).   Believers are Jesus’ sisters and brothers, and his Father is our Father. Through our living Lord Jesus, God listens to us and loves us just as he listens to and loves his One and Only Son.

The writer to the Hebrews (2:10-18) summed up what Jesus has done for us as our brother. He became like us, one of us, in order to overcome sin and death for us and bring us into eternal life with him and the Father.  He is not ashamed to call us his brothers, saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the congregation I will sing your praise” (Hebrews 2:12).  Especially significant for our prayer life is the last verse of Hebrews chapter 2: “For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).  Jesus, our Brother, understands every temptation and struggle that we face. When we go to him in prayer, he is not far-removed or detached or unsympathetic. He walked a harder path on this earth than any of us will ever walk. He knows just how we hurt. We are able to confront and endure life’s trials with him at our side.

All Bible quotations from World English Bible (WEB), public domain.

Books available on Amazon.com –

The Lord Cares for Me: Stories and Thoughts on Psalm 23

Faith Lives in our Actions: God’s Message in James chapter 2

Posted by David Sellnow
18
Jan
2020

Prayers in place of resolutions

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on January 1, 2019.

Prayers in place of resolutions

by David Sellnow

Rather than making promises to myself that I likely can’t keep, this year I want to focus on things outside of me that are more enduring — things that remain constant and true whether I have stamina or not.  They are, in fact, the things that will give spiritual stamina — the  strength to keep going, one day at a time, in the new year.  “Faith, hope, and love remain — these three. The greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).I’ve never been a big believer in New Year’s resolutions.  Maybe it means I just don’t have enough resolve, that I’m weak on willpower.  But such is a symptom of the human condition in general, not just me.  Researchers consistently find most people fail at keeping New Year’s resolutions.  One frequently cited statistic says 80% of people’s resolutions fail within six weeks.  The most generous estimate I’ve seen says more than half of resolutions don’t last six months.

So these are the things for my focus in the new year — and invite you to share that focus with me. I offer these three prayers:

For faith:

Lord, help me trust in you and what you have promised. As a man like me once said, “I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).  Believing is hard when we’re faced with demons in our lives (as that man was).  Believing seems insane when we can’t see you, God, and haven’t a clue what you’re doing. But I pray for confidence, for contentment, for the ability to be thankful for what I do have … and to be assured that when my heart is seeking God, I “shall not lack any good thing” (Psalm 34:10).

For hope:

“The days of our years are … but labor and sorrow” (Psalm 90:10).  Your word warned me of that, Lord.  Jesus said so, too: “In this world you have trouble” (John 16:33).  The daily grind and obstacles in my path make hanging onto hope exhausting. God, I need reminders that hope in your goodness can’t demand that you prove your goodness in ways obvious to me.  “Hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?” (Romans 8:24).  Help me, Lord, to hope for that which I don’t see, and to wait for blessings with patience.

For love:

Forgive me, Spirit of Christ, for valuing things that are of little value when the greatest of all things is love.  On this earth, institutions and corporations seem to matter so much.  Careers and accomplishments are seen to define who we are.  But that’s not true.  A wise old man called all such things meaningless — “a chasing after wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).  What really matters is being “rooted and grounded in love,” and comprehending “the width and length and height and depth” of that love (Ephesians 3:17,18).  Lord, enable me to “know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19), and to extend that love to people around me, knowing love matters most of all.

All Bible quotes from World English Bible (WEB).

Posted by David Sellnow
18
Jan
2020

Answering questions

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on October 25, 2018.

Answering questions

by David Sellnow

Once, in a religion class I was teaching, a student started the day by asking a question.  He said no one had ever been able to give him a good answer before, and he really was hoping I could.  He asked:  “In heaven, if everyone is perfect, how does that work?  If you’re playing basketball in heaven, and the offense is perfect at scoring and the defense is perfect at shutting down offenses, what happens?”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t take the young man seriously. I thought he was joking. I later realized he was serious.  He was struggling with a concept.  He honestly wanted an answer.  I owed him an apology for the way I had laughed off his question initially.

When people have religious questions, no matter how odd the questions might seem to us, we do well to listen carefully and answer thoughtfully.  Their questions and curiosity — even their objections and counterarguments — provide us with opportunities to speak gospel words that bring attention to Christ.

There is a Christian author named Alicia Britt Chole, who was not always a Christian.  Her book Finding an Unseen God tells her story, of how she did not believe in God as a child and was very much an atheist during her high school years.  She didn’t fit in at all in her Texas high school where most folks were pretty religious.  But two girls whom she refers to as the “Bowheads” (because they always wore bows in their hair) decided to be her friends even if she didn’t share their beliefs. Their patience and genuine friendship made an impact on her.  In college, she began pursuing religious questions with more seriousness.  And she writes this about her questioning:

What a relief it was for me to discover that [my] continual questioning did not make God nervous.  Interrogatives do not irritate God.  Emotionally charged query does not shut God down.  … God is, after all, rather secure. 

The problem is not that we have questions. …  Personally, I have found that God takes pleasure in an inquiring mind.  God delights in sincere questions. 

–          Finding an Unseen God (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2009), 142

During Jesus’ ministry, a group known as the Sadducees had a question for Jesus. It was an insincere, eye-roller sort of question.  Still, Jesus took up the question seriously and answered in a meaningful, educative fashion.

Here’s the account of that event (Luke 20:27-38 WEB):

Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection. They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife and raise up children for his brother.  There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless.  The second took her as wife, and he died childless.  The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died.  Afterward the woman also died.  Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”

Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage.  But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.  But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’  Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”

Notice the manner in which Jesus responded to the Sadducees’ question, even though the Sadducees were opponents of Jesus and were attempting to refute the idea of a life after death.  They had decided there is no resurrection, no afterlife — that the meaning of religion is to give morality to this life.  So their question was just a doozy dreamed up to test Rabbi Jesus and see if they could stump him.  But even with their not-so-sincere question, Jesus answered as a true teacher.  He looked his questioners squarely in the eye and taught them something of what heaven really is like.  He pointed to the Scriptures, showing how Moses expressed faith in the God who is “not the God of the dead, but of the living.”   The Scriptures point us to God, to our salvation in God, to a resurrection to life with God.   This was the message of good news that Jesus consistently proclaimed — good news that he was fulfilling in his own person.

How do we answer the questions that come to us?  Let me tell you a story of another woman whose perspective on religion changed when she was a teenager.   This woman, Elaine, was raised in the church and took the pastor’s class for the teens at her church.  She had lots of questions, such as how on earth did Noah manage to get dinosaurs on the ark, and other curious wonderings like that.  The pastor was always irritated by her questions, pushed aside her questions, didn’t want to answer her questions. He had his agenda that he wanted to get through in class, and she was interrupting.  After a while, he wouldn’t let her ask any more questions.  And after a while further, Elaine decided the church wasn’t for her.  She stayed away from the church throughout her adult life.   She only came back into a church class years later (that’s when I met her) — when she was working as a caregiver for a disabled woman who wanted to attend the classes.  Elaine came along with Nadine as caregiver … and thank goodness I didn’t roll my eyes at questions Elaine started asking again, decades after she had previously given up on the church and its ministers.

The Lord Jesus wasn’t afraid of questions.   When given the chance to speak to a question, Jesus answered in an evangelical, gospel-centered fashion.  God grant us the attitude of Jesus as we deal with others, that we don’t dodge questions or reject their questions, but point every struggling or wondering soul to Jesus and his Word for the answer.  And even when the questioners are Sadducee types who may think they already know more than we do, let’s still be serious and solid in our answers, saying what the Word of God says, calling attention to the Lord our God.  “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”  And our testimony in Jesus’ name is to point others to the life that is in him.

Posted by David Sellnow
18
Jan
2020

A parent’s prayer for a graduate

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on May 29, 2018

A Parent’s Prayer for a Graduate

by David Sellnow

Thinking of you, my child, and the fact that you’ve finished college, I have much in mind that I lay before the Lord in prayer.  I hope you won’t mind that these thoughts ramble in no particular order as I write them for you to read and heaven to hear.  I know the Spirit above doesn’t mind, because “the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered” (Romans 8:26).

I pray you will hang onto Jesus, to anchor your soul in the firmness of his life and truth, and to lift you up in hope each day. When I pray that you hang onto Jesus, I’m not thinking so much of the formalness of this or that church—though church and formalness can be good spiritual disciplines.  My primary prayer is that your heart remains connected to Jesus like a branch growing from a vine.  Jesus pictured it that way:  “As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches” (John 15:4,5).

I pray you will hang onto memories—not only of college years but also of childhood.  Relish and treasure the good things you’ve experienced, the laughs, the joys, the interesting happenings. Remember times of blessing with family and friends.  But also remember the struggles, the challenges, the mistakes.  Don’t dwell on them in regret, but learn and grow from them as you take your past and present self into the future.

In that vein, I pray you will see success as an inner, spiritual quality more than as a financial quantity or as a résumé of accomplishments.  You may never win a Nobel Prize or a Tony Award or any noteworthy prizes or awards.  But being an everyday person in an everyday life is okay also.  And you may not make millions or even tens of thousands, but if you have enough to survive, and you maintain integrity in your heart, that is enough.   A person’s life “doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses” (Luke 12:15).   Do your best to succeed where you are, in whatever you are doing, remembering that the truest reward is richness of the soul, being filled with a love and eagerness for those around you.I pray that the path you have chosen for your career will be a blessing to you, and that you will always find satisfying work in your field.  But if it happens anywhere along the line that you have to accept a position other than your ideal, I pray that you’ll be able to make the best of that too.  The great apostle Paul sometimes needed to support himself by making tents. Sometimes you do what is needed rather than what is desired.  Through it all, preserve your character and resolve. “Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice” (Proverbs 16:8).

I pray you will network well, connecting with people.  That isn’t always easy, because people and relationships can be challenging.  An existential philosopher, in a famous line from a play, said: “Hell is other people.”  It’s easy to feel the way he felt.  But at the same time, we need other people. We need networks—and not just the social media kind that exist online.  No person is an island.  And even if some were islands, islands need connections to other places in order to meet their needs and access opportunities.  I pray that you’ll get along with others in your career and community in beneficial ways.  “If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18).

I also pray that as far as you yourself are concerned, you will be comfortable being who you are, where you are, and how you are in life.  Don’t let yourself worry whether you fit in with others or line up with expectations others may have.  Life doesn’t need to be a game of keeping up with the Joneses or the Kardashians or whomever else.  Allow yourself plenty of leeway for finding your own way. Accept that there will be changes in plans, redirections and do-overs. Remember that you are unique, that you are God’s workmanship, and he has prepared in advance many good things for you to do (cf. Ephesians 2:10).  In whatever direction you go, go with confidence in yourself and in the Father above, who cares for you.

I pray you will do better in life than us, your parents.  I don’t mean that necessarily in financial or career terms, though that would be nice too.  Mostly I mean for you to have happiness, stability, and contentedness to a greater degree than we have evidenced.  Though we’ve tried to devote ourselves to you in love and leadership, parents are never perfect examples.  For the best sort of leadership, always look toward the Lord himself.  “Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1,2).

I pray you will be honest with yourself and with others. I know, I know, I haven’t always been that way myself.  I’ve put up false fronts in public and said other things in private. But in the end, that only leads to internal and external conflict.  Better to be the way that Jesus described Nathanael, when choosing him as a disciple:  “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit” (John 1:47).

I pray you will remain a positive force for good in the world, even when this world seems to have little that is good and positive in it.  When you look around and see perpetual crises and conflicts, refugees forced to flee their homes and lands, children growing up in poverty and hunger, and all the other woes of this world, it’s easy to give up on making the world a better place.  But remember that the same Bible that prophesied there will always be “wars and rumors of war” (Matthew 24:6), and that “you always have the poor with you” (Matthew 26:11), also said to us: “As we have opportunity, let’s do what is good toward all men” (Galatians 6:10), and urged us to offer “petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks” for everyone around us (1 Timothy 2:1).   Keep striving to do what you can in your own little corner of the world to make an impact there, even when it’s hard to see much change occurring in the wider world beyond you.  Don’t give up on being someone who loves your neighbor, even when the wider neighborhood of the world seems not to notice or care.

I pray you won’t be surprised or devastated when trouble comes along, when plans get derailed, when obstacles block your path. In this world we will have trouble, Jesus said (cf. John 16:33).  So if you do encounter painful difficulties, don’t despair.  Not all of life will be rosy, and even when there are roses, they always come with thorns attached.  So hang onto hope though thick and thin.  Endure hardship when it happens, be disciplined by it, grow stronger from it.  “All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

I pray you will savor and be strengthened by the simple pleasures you can find in life—a refreshing beverage, a relaxing evening at home, a walk in the park.  I hope too that your life may have its fill of exciting moments and bigger adventures.  But when you can’t get away for exotic vacations or extensive travels, I pray you’ll be able also just to appreciate the life that you have, wherever it may be. Just say, “Feed me with the food that is needful for me” (Proverbs 30:8) – that is enough.

Finally, I pray you will remember where home is.  You are all grown up and away from us now. But we remain your parents always, and maintain concern for you constantly.  You still may need us for advice, for reassurance of love, or just for a hug or a chat. Don’t stay away from home or off the phone from us for too long at a time. And even if you are at a point where you don’t need much from us, we very much need you and yearn to see you and hear from you.  So don’t forget dear old mom and dad.  As the Bible urges, “Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old” (Proverbs 23:22).  You are our most precious treasure on this earth, and we are always praying for you!

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Just released on Kindle Direct Publishing:  Faith Lives in Our Actions: God’s Message in James Chapter 2.  Get the eBook for your Kindle, or you can download the free Kindle app to read on any device.

Posted by David Sellnow
17
Jan
2020

When winter seems unending

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on April 7, 2018.

Always winter … but always Christmas and always Easter

by David Sellnow

Where I live, it seems like winter will never end.  This week a record low temperature was set — in single digits.  Waking up yesterday morning, the wind chill felt several degrees below zero.  Tomorrow a snowstorm is predicted.  And it’s April.There’s a line in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, that comes to mind:  “It is winter in Narnia,” said Mr. Tumnus, “and has been for ever so long … always winter, but never Christmas.”  Life in the real world can seem very much like that so much of the time. Another way of describing life’s long, cold, dreariness was expressed by Moses many centuries ago:  “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow” (Psalm 90:10).

Yet that message of sadness and pain is not the only word we have from God about our lives in this world.  In reality, while our lives may feel like an endless winter, it is always Christmas for us, and always Easter.  The meaning of Christmas was that God came into this world to share our pain, to take all our troubles onto himself.  It was prophesied (Isaiah 7:14), “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” [which means, “God with us”].  Christ entered into our existence and “took up our pain and bore our suffering. … The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4,5). Christ faced all the worst that this world has to offer and died for us.  But “it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24).  Every Easter, we celebrate his resurrection from the grave and the life eternal we have through him.  And resurrection hope is not just something that prompts us to put on springtime clothing and go to church on Easter Sunday.  God’s mercy “has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3) — a hope that enables us to get up and face each day in the here and now, as well as having assurance of being with God in the hereafter.

It may indeed always be winter in the way our lives feel on this earth.  But in Christ, it is always Christmas, for he is beside us as our Brother, born into humanity with us.  And in Christ, it is always Easter, filled with hope and new life.  Because he lives, we also will live (John 14:19).

Posted by David Sellnow
09
Jan
2020

A mother’s letter

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on July 22, 2017.

A letter to my son

Author’s name withheld for privacy.
A mother penned this letter to her son, a young adult who has been through much and has pulled away from church.  May we all heed this appeal to love — and forgive — one another more fully in the church.

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My dearest son,Many years ago, before you or your sisters were born, your father and I took a Bible class through church.  I am not sure what the topic was, but I will never forget the statement the pastor said. He said, “I can’t wait to get to heaven, as I have so many questions for God.” All I could think was there must be something wrong with me, as I have no questions. I felt that when I get to heaven all I will say is, “Thank you.” … Boy has that changed.

We have been through so much, and life has certainly not been easy for you, most of all.  My question for God now would be, “Why did my beautiful children, especially my son, have to suffer so much?”  I know that we were never promised a ‘charmed’ life as Christians.  In fact, we were told the opposite. As Christians we will suffer for our faith.  But why you, my sweet boy?

When your Christian friends were cyber-bullying you, and a Christian mother was talking about you negatively to others, it was nearly backbreaking. You chose then to stop going to church.  You felt that if this is how Christians act, then you didn’t want any part of it.  It is hard to argue with that; but blaming sinful people for their sins is one thing, blaming God is another.

I know that you have faith. We still talk about God, but not enough. You know that God loves you. You have gone through hell and back … but the main point is that you came back. You couldn’t have done that without God’s help. God has given you a new life, a new outlook, a new hope. He has never left you. You have started over with so many things in your life to get to this point; it is time to start over with your attitude about those people that hurt you. Yes, they were and still are Christians; but they are also sinners. God has forgiven even the worst sins that you and I have ever done. Don’t you think that it is time to forgive them?

I was angry too. But, that anger is sinful when we hold onto it, when we use it as a punishment. Forgiveness may be selfish, a way to make ourselves feel better, but it is also necessary to show love to God’s people.  Jesus’ beloved disciple John said, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:15-16).  My only real job on this earth was to make sure you and your sisters get to heaven. I want to be with you someday in eternity. Find forgiveness in your heart and come back to church.

All my love,

Mom
Posted by David Sellnow
04
Jan
2020

Trusting God’s Word

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on April 6, 2017.

Written as a letter to someone doubting their faith and realizing that they are merely “going through the motions” of attending church. They often question and doubt that the Bible is, in fact, the Word of God.

God’s Trustworthy Word

by Sarah Couture

My dear friend,
I know you have been struggling lately. First, I want to reassure you that you are not crazy. Having questions about the Bible and its teachings is completely normal. In fact, I think it is healthy to ask tough questions. You may feel like these concerns you have are driving a wedge between you and your Savior, but I truly believe that expressing your concerns and seeking answers will only bring you closer to the Lord.

You have previously expressed that you are not completely convinced that the Bible is God’s inspired Word.  I can understand this concern. Many Christians defend the validity of the Bible using circular reasoning. For scientific thinkers, such as you, circular reasoning does not hold much weight. “The Bible is God’s Word because it says in the Bible that it is God’s Word” leads people like you to have further doubts and questions. I’d like you to take a step back and look things from a different angle. A friend once explained it to me this way:

We have numerous accounts, outside of the Bible, that speak of Jesus. In fact, we have more proof that Jesus existed than Julius Caesar. Knowing that a man named Jesus existed is where we’ll start. Now let’s take a look at the resurrection. We see accounts of this event in all four of the Gospels. Each of these accounts provides a unique view and different details of the resurrection of Jesus. If the authors of the Bible were writing about a fictional event, they would try to keep their stories vague in order not to contradict each other. In reality, the testimonies are unique and provide unique perspectives on the event. Furthermore, during this time in history, women had little to no power or influence. Therefore, if the disciples were trying to convince people of a fake resurrection, why would their accounts have women be the ones to find the empty tomb? Finally, after the resurrection many disciples were martyred for their beliefs. In the case of Peter (as told by the historian Eusebius), he was forced to watch his wife die before him, and was told that all he had to do was admit Jesus was not God and did not resurrect from the dead. None of the disciples gave in. If the resurrection was a lie, why would these men let their families and themselves be killed brutally? They would not.

I know you have many other questions running through your brain. For so many years, you have gone to church and Bible study and believed everything that was taught to you because a master of theology with a white robe said it was the truth. Friend, I encourage you to voice your thoughts and concerns openly. Ask questions and seek answers.  I promise you that others have similar questions.  You will not be judged. People will not look down on you for asking challenging questions.  And if they do, they are not acting as proper ministers of the faith.  The fact that you are concerned about your lack of faith is comforting because it shows you continue to have faith.  Please do not be discouraged.  Read the Bible, especially on days you have doubts.  You’ll be amazed how the Holy Spirit works through the Word.

Posted by David Sellnow