Don't Profane the Name

Leviticus 19:12-18

"And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.  13 ‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD.  15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.  17 ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD."

This passage climaxes with the second great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. But notice verse 12.  This isn't a separate sin from the rest of the passage. Everything else connects with doing justice and mercy to your neighbor.  God doesn't throw in something extra in vs 12: "Oh, and by the way, don't swear or make false oaths, either."  No if we disobey the rest, if we fail to deal justly and mercifully with our neighbor, then we are by doing that profaning the name of God, taking His name in vain.  We call on His name and are identified by that in our way of life, our profession of faith in Christ, our baptism.  Do not profane that profession of God’s name by what you say or do.

1/19/14

Remembering Mr. Folkert

At a critical point in my spiritual formation, somewhere between 18-23 years old I think, the Lord led me to attend a Sunday School class with a handful of men who were all about three times my age.  It was a glorious experience I'll never forget.  I remember not talking much, just listening to the wisdom of these men, most of whom didn't have much formal education by today's standards.

One of them went to be with the Lord a couple days ago.

We spent very little time together outside of that class, but his demeanor and the way he taught showed me a love for the Lord and His Word that helped me tremendously.  I was in the grip of some judgmental immaturity at the time, in that cage stage of theology, with a sophomoric understanding of the Word.  Battling liberalism was the essence of Christian piety, I thought.  Not that that's a bad thing, but he showed me so much more - that mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13), that love for the Lord Jesus shows itself in many quiet ways.

Tomorrow I'm preaching from these verses on 1 Corinthians 4:15-16:
"Though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me."

May the Lord grant Wally Folkert rest and reward in Christ.  He was a spiritual father for me at just the right time - a channel God used to give me just what God knew I needed then.

Funny how I wasn't really aware of all this until I heard of his death and thought about my time with him.  It is SO important to connect with other believers who are different from us around God's Word!

An Old Prayer for Our Land

O beautiful for pilgrim feet

Whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare of freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife.

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine

Till all success be nobleness

And every gain divine!

Invoking the Name

Heavenly Father, you are indeed holy, and the eye of sinful man cannot see or look upon you.  And yet you call us into your presence to sing loudly, to shout to You our rock, our shepherd and our king. Lord it is our earnest desire to serve you with gladness and to bless Your name now. We invoke Your name now in this prayer of invocation. We call on You to be present with us as we call in faith upon Yahweh, the God of Israel, Father of our Lord Jesus. We call on the name of Jesus, the Lamb of God and only Savior of sinners. We call on you Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of our souls.  Let our hearts ring and vibrate to your tune your pitch as we worship you.

1/19/14

Marriage and Divorce, part one

Let’s talk about divorce.

This is a controversial subject. You probably won’t agree with everything I say, but I hope it stirs you to consider God’s design and ground rules.  We need to begin with marriage, before looking at divorce.

Marriage is an earthly covenant, not an eternal, absolute or metaphysical union of souls. God designed marriage to end at death, and it can end sooner than that.

Obligations in marriage
We find marriage defined and its obligations laid out in Genesis 2:24 and Exodus 21:10-11: leave parents, cleave to wife, be one flesh. Provide sustenance and companionship to each other. The context of Exodus 21 is regulating slavery and polygamy, weird to us Western moderns. But those two phenomena are similar to divorce in this way: all three are restricted and regulated in Scripture without God endorsing them.  This makes the Exodus text particularly relevant, as it addresses circumstances where people aren't living rightly, and it specifies when a spouse can be free of a marriage.

So there are three basic principles. 1. Be physically present with your spouse. Live with them. 2. Make common cause together – it’s not just a contractual relationship. Unite in heart and mind and common effort. 3. Be one flesh. Don’t deprive each other sexually (1 Corinthians 7:3-4).


Establishment and dissolution of marriage by God
Marriage is established by God, not by the church or the state. Church & state pronounce marriages valid, and register the formation and dissolution of marriages, but they don’t create it out of thin air by their authority. Church and state have to follow the Word of God in administering the covenant of marriage. Today, civil governments widely admit no-fault divorce, flat-out disobeying God. In the past church or state would not admit divorce where there were no clear grounds. Church and state can err in this: an illegitimate (unbiblical) divorce isn’t made right before God just because the church or state says it is okay. Same sex marriage isn’t valid before God just because the state says it is. God sets the terms for the formation and dissolution of this covenant of marriage.

Though church and state don’t establish marriage they should both be involved at its birth and death. The state needs to be informed of its occurrence at least, for property concerns. I might also advocate (as a for instance) lower tax rates for a married sole bread winner with six children than for a single person. Regarding the church, Christians especially should cherish the church’s wisdom and counsel and community in pre-marital counseling and helping with the ceremony or receptions, for instance. The church does not have to be involved for it to be a true marriage, however, as this is a creation ordinance established before the covenant of grace began. On the other side, at a divorce, too often the church is left out of the whole process, not even consulted in the heat of a hostile relationship. But Paul sets a precedent in 1 Corithians 7 for the church being involved in intimate family affairs, advising how God wants husband and wife to live together or separate in difficult situations.

Next time we will jump into Old Testament teaching on divorce.

Don't Stay Away; Keep Your Brother

Here at this Table we have the opposite of Cain. Cain turned away from God, did not repent, didn’t give a fig for his brother. At this supper we turn toward God in faith, repent of our sins, and discern the body of Christ.

Cain stayed away and stayed away. We keep coming back to our Lord week by week here. We long for the face of God. We can stand it because we believe we are washed clean of our guilt and shame before Him. This can happen because we repent honestly.

Cain didn’t want to be his brother’s keeper. Jesus has kept us in Him and no one snatches us out of his hands. We commune with one another through Christ here and remember our call to love God and neighbor.

It’s possible to come here physically but stay away from God spiritually.

It’s possible to kneel and say words but not really repent.

It’s possible to take communion and think only of yourself and Jesus.

But the design is different. Come to Jesus now with a clean heart. See the face of Jesus in your redeemed brethren. Rejoice in the Lord.

1/12/15

Don't Get to This Point

The rich man ignored Lazarus day after day. He got to a state where he wasn’t interested in or able to repent. To change and love God or his neighbor. In Hades, he wants relief from his torment, but has no repentance to express, even when he sees Lazarus. maybe he still doesn’t care, Maybe he knows it’s too late, maybe both. The point is for you not to get to this spot, by our repeated offenses and superficial sorries.

What will shake us up enough out of callous stupor to turn from self and sin to the Savior? Surely a sensational resurrection would do it. Lazarus, back from the dead! No, Jesus says, and the facts bear him out. When Jesus actually brought Lazarus back from the dead, did the rulers repent and come to Christ? No, they just plotted to kill Lazarus, too – surely the silliest plan ever.

Jesus’ point is sobering for us. If the Word of God won’t shake you and cause you to repent, no ghost appearance will either. No scary visions of hell, emotional preaching, or traumatic experiences will do it. Only the Spirit at work in the Word.

1/12/15

Brought to the Heavenly Mountain

Heavenly Father, thank You for bringing us to mount Zion in our worship, to Your heavenly Jerusalem, to Your heavenly hosts of angels, to Your glorified saints who have gone before us and are made perfect. Most of all thank you for bringing us to Jesus, Your provided mediator to bring us to You. You bring us to His blood which does this, covering our sin. Thank You for speaking even better things in His blood than Abel’s blood did after Cain killed him. Thank you for putting to death all enmity, malice, envy, jealousy, greed and vengeance at the cross. And for clothing us with the righteousness of Christ our cornerstone. You have bound Yourself to us in love by His blood, and we seek close communion with You as we sing, confess, listen to Your Word, eat and drink by your word and spirit.

1/12/15

Opening Prayer

Singing a Stern Psalm

This Psalm* is darker, in a minor key, kind of brooding and stern. What are we doing singing this kind of song in worship?

The book of Psalms gives us more moods to sing than just positive and encouraging, and we should use them. There is certainly a time to sing about nations rejecting our God and our Lord Jesus, these days. And the mood that brings is lament or stern resolution, not bounce and cheer. We should weep with those who weep in our singing together.

This can be tricky to engage with in worship. It takes some preparation. We don’t mentally veg out and just let the music float us down stream. One reason we have a printed bulletin is so you can look ahead a step or two and prepare for what is coming. Changing emotional gears can be a little abrupt sometimes. If it takes a verse or so to get into the new mood sometimes, that’s fine. 

The key is this:  are you singing the Word of God?  Is the Word driving the words?  Are we understanding and responding appropriately with our emotions to the Word of God as we sing?

No response at all or a deadpan is not appropriate. An artificial insistence on personal happiness isn’t appropriate, either.

Sing the Psalms with your whole heart and voice.

1/12/15

* Psalm 2 in the Cantus Christi, tune POURQUOI FONT BRUIT, from Strasbourg, 1539

Review: Boys of Blur

Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A fast paced re-telling of Beowulf, Wilson conveys well some important themes:

1. Your father is important, whether he has hurt you or helped you.
2. Go fight the evil, don't just run away from it.
3. You have to resist thoughts of envy and hatred, from the evil one.

Many good thoughts conveyed, without being preachy, while telling a great story!



View all my reviews

Food for the Soul; Bread for the Journey

After Elijah calls down fire on Mt Carmel and kills the prophets of Baal, Jezebel threatens his life and he flees into the desert, despairing of his life. But God sustained him. God ordained this sacrament for us to remember Him, and to proclaim His death until He comes. But always remember this isn’t so much a religious exercise we are doing, a statement we are making. It’s more like food for us, God sustaining and strengthening our souls.

We have to eat and drink of Christ’s flesh and blood to have life in us, John 6 says, and that body is true food indeed. This isn’t meant in a physical sense, the flesh profits nothing He says a bit later. The Spirit gives life and feeds, but He uses the Word and this meal to do it. Feed on the Lord Jesus Christ now, in your thoughts, yes. But let your soul partake, desiring His riches, satisfied with His grace, longing to bear fruit for His name.

1/5/14

Epiphany in July!

Matthew 2:7-12

"Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way."

Today is the twelfth day of Christmas, and tomorrow is Epiphany. By this time we’re sick of hearing about Christmas. Santa has been in the stores since Halloween, our trees are on the curb, let’s get on with 2014.

But just a moment.

Epiphany is a great time to consider further the world’s response to the Incarnation, the revelation of the Son of God.

• The nearby king Herod tried to kill Him.
• Far away kings came to worship Him.
• The Gentiles came streaming in to His light, over the centuries.
• Empires were transformed, steeples and cathedrals raised to the glory of Christ, the world turned upside down.

The question was put to the wise men, what they would do about the star, about the son King to be born. The question is put to each of us. Would you rather be your own king and build your own kingdom, or bring your treasure to the true King?

Let us confess our reluctance to come and worship Jesus.

1/5/14

Receive the Riches

2 Corithians 8:9:

"you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”


The point of the sermon today was to faithfully receive the news of Christ’s birth, as Mary did. You are now seated at the King’s table, with the opportunity to practice what we are supposed to do. So believe these things. Jesus took on physical human nature to redeem it, not to surrender the physical world to the devil. Jesus was born to deliver His people from their sins in His body sacrificed at the cross. Christ has enriched you, obtaining the Father’s favor for you. Jesus took the eternal throne of His earthly ancestor David, in fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. This kingdom is no longer limited to ethnic Jews. He rules the world with truth and grace.

As you receive food into your body, you trust those who set it before you that it is good for you. So receive this news with faith and joy in your hearts. We need Jesus like we need food. So we eat and drink. He has given us far better than we deserved. Let us thank Him by communing with Him, proclaiming His death until He comes.

12/22/13

A Time Not To Accuse

Matthew 1:20-25
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.... 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS."

Consider here the purity and the mercy of Joseph. He maintains purity with Mary before their marriage. And instead of breaking off the marriage as he was planning, assuming her unfaithfulness, he listens to the angel and decides to marry her anyway. Decent neighbors in Nazareth would look down on him for this, not rejecting a brazen sinner. But he doesn’t put so much stake in being THOUGHT righteous, as in BEING righteous. There is one thing for us to confess today. Another comes from the key word “secretly.” You might wonder how anything could be kept “secret,” and it really means privately, as opposed to a public accusation and scandal. It was Joseph’s right at this point to accuse. Just like the Genesis Joseph found his brothers vulnerable to his accusation in Egypt, bowing before him. Both Josephs refrain from accusing, and instead show mercy. Do you find your heart accusing others ever? Often? Is there a certain person coming to your mind, even now?

12/22/13

Strolling the Links

Randy Booth takes away all your excuses to not extend hospitality by inviting people into your home for fellowship.

Tim Challies encourages Sunday evening worship services.

So do I!

This was one of the best articles I've read on tattoos, thus far.  I'll probably write more on this in the future.