Running From Nineveh

Why was Jonah running from Nineveh? Was it because he did not want to be involved in ministry? No, it was because he did not want to be involved in ministry in Nineveh. His hatred for the Assyrians was so extreme that he did not want to go there for fear they would repent and not receive the destruction he felt they deserved. What a callous heart filled with hate Jonah had! Why would God choose someone like that to reach them? Perhaps it took someone like Jonah, filled with obvious prejudices to reach the hardened, wicked people of Nineveh. I think God’s choice of Jonah had more to do with what He was trying to do in Jonah’s heart rather than the Assyrians. People run from God all the time. Why was Jonah singled out to be retrieved by such extreme measures? I think it had to do with the brazen disregard for God’s will. Jonah could have been used anywhere, but God wanted him in Nineveh. Jonah knew that but because of his extreme prejudice chose a different path. Thus the whale to get his attention.

God’s desire for Jonah is the same as it is for the rest of us. He desires us to follow Him regardless of our desires, prejudices or common sense. What kind of arrogance do we have to possess to tell the sovereign God of the universe that we somehow no better as to how we should reach the world? Before we throw Jonah under the whale we need to examine God’s calling on our own lives. Here are 5 questions to consider:

• Has He called us to go somewhere or do something that we have diverted our attention away from?
• Have we settled for playing church instead of being the church to a lost and dying world?
• Have we substituted religious activity for following the will of God? (Where is your Nineveh?)
• What will God have to do to get your attention to follow Him?
• What will be the fate of the people you choose not to reach with the message of salvation?

Stepping on the Serpent

One afternoon a while back I took a much needed trail run. It was on a narrow dirt trail through a grassy field near my house. It was much needed because I had a lot of stress built up which was in need of an outlet. As I ran I pondered the problems facing me. I was irritated with some of the things that were happening around me. I tried to rationalize solutions to these issues and how I wanted to respond to people who were causing the “problems”. I was mixing this “rationalizing” with prayer, asking God how I should deal with these things. Toward the end of my run, the Lord began speaking to me about these issues. To be fair, He had probably been speaking all along, but my ranting was drowning out the still, small voice. He reminded me to look at these things for what they were: distractions placed in my way by Satan.

Not 30 seconds later something happened that made my whole body tremble. I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake in the middle of the trail! It was about 2 feet long. I missed stepping on it by about the same distance. Upon seeing the snake, I jumped off the path. The snake seemed just as startled. It darted off into the grass, thankfully in the opposite direction of me. I stopped running and stood there for a moment. There could not have been a clearer picture of how Satan seeks to take us off the narrow path of following God.

Satan will try to distract us by creating problems all around us to confuse us, discourage us, distract us, and frustrate us. Too often believers are prevented from accomplishing great things for the kingdom because they are lured by the distractions Satan places along the way. Romans 16:20 reminds us that: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. James 4:7 reminds us to: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Don’t be distracted by the schemes of Satan. Recognize them for what they are, and keep moving on down the narrow path following God.

There is Always Hope

Yesterday I had a clerk at the deli strike up a conversation about a shirt I was wearing. It led to a discussion of Zimbabwe. I told here of the deplorable condition of their country, the world-record inflation, the cholera epidemic, and the lack of basic food and supplies. I communicated to her that most people in America cannot even imagine the level of poverty in Zimbabwe right now. Then she asked me a haunting question. “Is there any hope for them?”

Is there any hope? The political answer would be: yes, but only with a regime change and massive assistance from the outside to revive their economy. But this is not the answer that came to mind. Yes there is hope, but it will not come from the opposition government or the United Nations, or the African Union. Their hope will only be found in turning to Jesus. Their hunger, inflation, shortage of goods and food can be fixed by human methods, but this does nothing for their greater problem. Zimbabwe’s greatest need is the same as the greatest need of people in Mongolia, or Columbia, or Slovenia, or the United States. They need a savior. Is there any hope for them? Yes. Is there any hope for us? Yes. But it will not be found in a leader, an army, or a philosophy. It will only be found in Christ Jesus. In Him there is hope.
“For you are my hope, O Lord God…” Psalm 71:5

Praying to Worthless Idols

Today I looked over a number of pictures a friend sent me from a recent trip into East Asia. They were in a country that is filled with religious zealots of a particular world religion. Their apparent devotion was evident. They spent hours in ferverent prayer, reciting mantras as if their life depended on it. They prostrated themselves in worship of their gods. Others had devoted their life to spreading the teaching of their gods. Their devotion to their gods was unquestionable. I have no doubt of their commitment.
As I looked at these pictures I was overcome with a profound sadness for these people. They were praying with every fiber of their being to a god that could not hear them. They were worshiping a god that could not see them or act on their behalf. Their efforts were entirely in vain. It reminded me of the verse in Isaiah 45:20-22 - "Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it-- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. (NIV)
We are called to pray for these people that they will open their eyes to the worthlessness of their idols and the futility of their worship. We should pray that they will open their ears to the Word of the only living God that can save them. We should pray for people to go and tell them about the only God worthy of their devotion.
I was also struck by the difference in their worship of a worthless god as compared to our worship of the one true God. They would prostrate themselves for hours in worship. We complain if our worship time goes much over an hour. They would memorize passages of their holy books and recite them in prayers and rituals. The average Christian knows more sports stats than Bible verses. They would spend hours praying to a deaf god. We do well to spend more than a few minutes a day in prayer to a God that actually hears and cares about us.
I’m not sure which is worse: praying to a made-up god that cannot hear, or knowing the God of all creation and not making any time for Him.

Standard of Living

There is a considerable difference in the overall standard of living we enjoy in the US as compared to most other countries. The lack of goods and services in the “third world” is very evident. The poor cleanliness and quality of facilities in these countries is also very apparent. We are blessed materially in the US beyond what we realize. Modern conveniences allow us to do so much more with our time. We have such a variety of food options that is sometimes difficult to choose where to have lunch after church. We have sporting and leisure activities of every kind to involve ourselves and our children in. The average house is getting larger each year with more and more modern comforts and conveniences. Our cars are no different. They come equipped with features now that Captain Kirk could have only dreamed about! I could go on and on. Look how far we have come! What a tremendous lifestyle we have created for ourselves!

Recently I sat in a small farm house in Asia. Its walls were made of packed mud and it had a dirt floor. One small light bulb gave it some sparse illumination. It was minimally furnished with little attempt at decoration. I was struck by the difference of their lifestyle compared to ours. I thought of the rich young ruler mentioned in Matthew 19 and how his wealth was a barrier to him following Christ. Graham Kendrick draws this into focus in the familiar chorus:

All I once held dear, built my life upon, All this world reveres, and wars to own, All I once thought gain I have counted loss, Spent and worthless now, compared to this, Knowing you, Jesus, Knowing you, there is no greater thing…

Can we honestly sing this? Material possessions are the chosen idols of our culture. Maybe we need to reexamine our focus in life. Are we using that which God has blessed us for His kingdom and His glory? I pray that you will exchange “that which is perishable” for “something that cannot perish.”

(As a side note... If you have ever had a similar experience, you may have been distracted by the "deplorable living conditions". You may have thought: This person needs a refrigerator, carpet, a door, etc... In reality all these things pale in comparison to their need for a Savior!)

Global Warming

Unless your television has been broken for some time, you have heard significant talk on the subject of global warming over the past few months. At best, I am very skeptical of the scientific methods and suppositions that are being put forth by global warming proponents. When Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth was nominated for its two Academy Awards this January, there was still waist-deep snow piled in my yard! You can understand my skepticism. If global warming is happening somewhere, it is not at my house! Global warming has been cited as the cause of maladies such as: melting ice caps, an increase in hurricanes, rising cases of malaria, increased frequency of blizzards, and the reason Europe’s mountains are getting taller. Recently the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon blamed the ethnic and religious violence in Darfur on global warming. It seems that global warming is the cause of most of mankind’s problems on earth.

You may be wondering why this seemingly political issue would be a topic on my blog. I have wondered the same thing as I have seen this issue discussed among Southern Baptists in recent days. In the past few months Baptist leaders including Rick Warren, have cited the need for Baptists to become urgently involved in combating the causes of global warming. Early in June, Dr. Russell Moore, Dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary testified before congress regarding global warming. Sermons on every side of this issue can currently be found online. At our Southern Baptist Convention this year, a resolution on global warming was debated and passed by a 60/40 margin. Global warming is a topic alive and well in Baptist churches.

My view on global warming is that it is not a topic that should be at the forefront of our convention or our churches. Certainly we should be good stewards of this earth that God has given us. (Gen. 1:26-28) But I also feel it can be a major distraction for the church, taking us away from the mission we have of leading people to salvation. Global warming is not mankind’s most pressing problem. The penalty of sin is. What would it profit us to save the world’s environment, yet lose much of its souls (Matt. 16:26)? We must be very careful to not be distracted from saving souls from the ultimate global warming that is promised in 2 Peter 3:10 - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (NKJ) Let’s seek to save the lost, not the doomed planet.

I the Jury, Find you Guilty

As I mentioned previously, I was recently called to serve on a jury. I thought “surely they will not want a pastor on a jury,” but I was wrong. I was the last person selected for the jury. This was a criminal trial of a man charged with possession of an illegal weapon. We heard the evidence presented against this young man as well as the defense for why he was in possession of such a weapon. We were also read to from books of law that described the criteria that made this an illegal weapon. From these we were to determine if this man was guilty or innocent of the crime in which he was accused. We deliberated for a while; although the evidence was fairly clear we wanted to make sure we had not missed anything. After coming to a conclusion we were called back to the court room and presented a verdict. It was Guilty.

This process reminded me that we will all stand trial before God on an appointed day. According to Revelation 20: 11-13, books will be opened and everything we have done on this earth will be laid before the judge. Romans 3:23 informs us that the evidence is against us. It is a clear guilty verdict. As the guilty verdict was read in the trial I served on, I felt profound sadness for the young man. He faced possible jail time for this serious felony. How it must grieve God when our sin forces Him to pronounce the verdict of guilty upon us. The only remedy to this is Christ’s substitution in bearing the punishment we deserve. Revelation 20:15 indicates that those whose names are written in the book of life will be saved from the lake of fire. Make sure your name is in the book.