poolsandpastures
Thoughts on the Gospel, Life, and Ministry
Communication Breakdown
I’ve been thinking a lot about communication recently, particularly with the regards to the irony that we are more connected than ever before and yet we are worse communicators than we’ve ever been. I’ve heard it argued that this is because we are too busy to actually take the time to think about what the best way is to communicate with other people. And I agree. However, I think there are several other reasons why we struggle to communicate despite having countless media in which to do it.
First, I think most of us are overly consumed with ourselves and the lives of those we think are dependent upon us. We have unprecedented opportunities and choices before us every day. As a result, we have more responsibility than ever as we wade through these innumerable decisions. This necessarily causes us to spend the majority of our energy weighing all the options and making decisions that bygone generations either took for granted or didn’t have.
Second, I think we are far more isolated than ever before. Because we have phones and computers and social media at our fingertips, we fall into the trap of thinking we are more relationally connected than we really are. Texting and scoping out someone’s Instagram or Facebook may give us plenty of information about them, but it doesn’t develop lasting, genuine connections with them. We are informed (by filtered information) about the happenings of others’ lives, but we don’t know them, nor do they know us. We are little islands in the stream of American life (Thanks Dolly and Kenny).
Third, I think we are lulled into thinking that every event in the world has a bearing upon our daily lives. Certainly, staying informed about major global events is important, but the obsessive commentary on the most minute details of those events via online and cable new sources as well as social media browsing is overwhelming. We believe we have something to say or do about a tragic or wonderful event in a village located deep in the Himalaya mountains.
Our ancestors didn’t have to navigate these waters. Many of them lived in a small town or village and got their news once or twice a day from local newspapers and from the local community center gossip. I remember watching my grandmothers talk to the ladies at church before Sunday School and after “preaching” (worship) to catch up on what’s going on in each other’s lives. They loved that fellowship because it was the time they could connect, share prayer concerns, and laugh with their beloved sisters in Christ. We were always the last to leave church because “nanny,” “maw maw,” and mom were always in deep conversation with their friends whom they hadn’t seen in a week.
I must say that I miss those days. We would all be a lot better off if we would slow down, be less concerned with ourselves, limit our choices, intentionally connect with others in person, and focus our attention on the things that actually do impact our lives and our community.
**This article was originally published in the Wednesday, May 19, 2021 edition of The Chester News and Reporter in Chester, SC.
What is Faith?
Twenty-five years ago, my friend Brian asked me the pointed question, “What is faith?” I did not have an adequate answer even though I thought I did. I had been raised in a Christian home where we discussed faith often. We talked about our faith in God, our faith in one another, and our faith in the Bible. I had also participated in organized sports from the time I was old enough to join a team. Coaches had instilled in me the importance of faith in my teammates, faith in the game plan, faith in my coaches, and faith in my preparation. I knew a lot about faith as a result of these experiences, but I didn’t know what it was. Looking back on Brian’s question, I think that’s the reason he asked it.
Brian was a staff member with the Christian organization Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru). He was specifically assigned to Cru’s ministry on NC State’s campus. His job was to ask hard questions of student leaders to help us grow in our understanding of the Christian Faith. He did his job well.
As I have replayed our conversation in my mind over the years, I’ve been repeatedly struck by the simplicity with which he defined faith. He said, “Faith is trust in someone or something.” In the Christian context, it’s trust in the Triune God of the Bible that is expressed in a personal dependance upon the Lord Jesus Christ who is the perfect revelation of God in human flesh. In more general terms, faith is trust in someone or something that provides certainty for your life as a whole or in a particular aspect of your life. For instance, children inherently trust their parents and find security in that trust.
Now, you may have noticed that in Brian’s definition as well as every other example I’ve referenced in this column, the little preposition “in” is central to defining faith. It’s trust IN someone or something. The reason for this is that faith must always have an object. We understand this implicitly. We do not have faith for faith’s sake. We have faith in someone or something. Think about it. Our modern society tells us to believe in ourselves. Coaches tell us to believe in the game plan or in our teammates. Public health officials tell to trust in the science of the vaccines. Faith is always placed in someone or something.
So, the challenge for all of us is to determine what is the ultimate object of the faith upon which we build our lives. Is it someone or something that will stand the test of time and empower us to overcome the multitude of challenges we will face throughout our time on this earth? As a Christian, I am convinced there is only one who can do that as we sink the roots of our faith deep into him who is the eternal rock of our lives and creator of all things. Perhaps you would like to know more about him. If so, you can find him throughout the pages of the Bible.
** This article originally appeared in the Wednesday, April 21, 2021 edition of the The Chester News and Reporter from Chester, SC.
Why The Resurrection is so Important for Christians
Happy Easter!
On Sunday, some of us will join Christians around the world will gather together with family, friends, and their congregations (with proper precautions, no doubt) to celebrate Jesus’s physical, bodily resurrection, which is a pillar of the Christian faith. Some would argue that it is the central tenant of the faith because there would be no Christianity without it. Think about it with me.
In First Corinthians 15:3-5, the Apostle Paul summarized the Christian gospel message in this way: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” He followed this summary statement with a list of appearances that Jesus made to a variety of groups after he rose from the dead. According to the list, he appeared to Peter, and to his disciples, and to 500 of his followers at one time, and lastly to Paul himself while Paul traveled on the road to Damascus. These eyewitnesses validate the reality of Jesus’s physical resurrection, which is a reality that is essentially important for Paul. Here’s why.
Notice how Paul connected the death of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins to his burial and to his resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. For him, there is no good news about God’s forgiveness of our sins, there is no hope beyond this life, without a resurrection. He was well aware of the Bible’s message of salvation. He understood God’s great love for the world. He recognized the reality of Jesus’s death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. He was convinced that Jesus’s death was a substitution for his own life to satisfy God’s judgment on him for his personal sins. He knew that was the case for the Corinthians too, and it would be the case for all those who would read his words throughout the rest of time.
But, he also realized that the power of sin is death and that as long as death remined unconquered all hope for humanity would be lost. Our great enemy would always and finally win. And this is the reason why the resurrection is such great news! When Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave, he broke death’s stranglehold on men, women, and children. It has no more power over those who trust Jesus with their lives! They’ll live eternally with God in the remade heavens and earth.
This is why Easter is so important to Christians around the world. It’s the very reason we have any hope in this life.
Sunday is going to be a great day for our family and our congregation as we celebrate our Savior’s resurrection from the dead. We’d love for you to join us!
***This article was originally published in the March 31, 2021 edition of the Chester News and Reporter from Chester, SC.
Jesus, The Creative Genius
One of my favorite Bible stories is when Jesus healed a blind man in John 9. In it, Jesus and his disciples walked by a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus an important question for their day in age — “Teacher, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered with, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
After this interaction, Jesus made some mud with his saliva, put in on the blind man’s eyes, and told him to go wash it off in a nearby pool. The man did as Jesus had told him. When he came out of the water, he could see for the first time in his life!
It’s a wonderful story of healing, of the power of the God of the Bible, of the love and grace of Jesus, and of the fullness of life being restored. It’s also a beautiful story God’s willingness to employ his creative genius to provide a solution to an impossible problem.
You may be wondering how a story about Jesus healing a blind man is a story about the God’s ability to solve insurmountable problems creatively. If you are, you are asking a great question. Historic and biblically based Christian teaching answers that question for us in two ways.
First, it tells us that Jesus is God in the flesh, meaning that he is both God and man – 100% God and 100% man – in the same person. He’s unique. There was no one like him before him and there will never be anyone like him again. Therefore, when Jesus fixes a problem, God fixes it.
Second, biblical teaching is clear that God created all that there is. Genesis, the first book of the Bible, begins with the statement, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” John introduced his version of Jesus’s life story with a similar proclamation, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” God is a creator. He is, in fact, the creator of all things.
So, when Jesus healed the blind man, he created a solution to an impossible problem. There was no hope for the man to receive his sight outside of the miraculous and creative work of Jesus. This is what Jesus does. He graciously fixes the world’s problems in his power to recreate all things in the same way he created them at the beginning. He does it in your life, and he does it in my life. The challenge for us is to trust him enough to allow him to do it. If we do, we will see the works of God displayed in us.
** This post originally appeared in the Wednesday, March 3 edition of The Chester News and Reporter of Chester, SC.
How Do I Pray For Our Leaders?
As our political environment has gotten more and more charged over the past year, I have been asked multiple times how we are to pray for our political leaders. The place to which I often turn when answering this question is 1 Timothy 2 where Paul wrote the following to Timothy:
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV).
In this passage, Paul gives great wisdom that is as helpful to us as it was to Timothy when it comes to praying for our leaders.
The first thing we are to do is: pray for them. Make it a habit to actually pray for your leaders, those at the local, state, and national levels. Sometimes we ask questions like, “How do I pray for my leaders?” because we know we are supposed to pray for them and feel bad because we aren’t actually doing it. There’s no shame in that, per se. It’s just our reality. We don’t pray for them because we don’t know how to do it. However, we can’t know how to pray for them until we actually do pray for them.
A second thing we are to do when praying for our leaders is pray that they’ll govern in a way that enables all men, women, and children to live “peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way.” This is where Paul gets specific. We are to pray that our leaders will lead in a way to maintain the freedom we need to be able to live our lives in honor of our God, lives that are peaceful, quiet, godly, and dignified.
The third and final thing that Paul tells us to pray for in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 is for our leaders to provide clarity and protection so that we can live at peace and proclaim the message of the wonderful love and mercy of God in Jesus Christ. There can be no peace without clarity or protection. When things are unclear and truth is determined by agendas chaos reigns (not to mention looney conspiracy theories), and chaos is the opposite of peace. Similarly, protection from our enemies and those things that harm us creates the environment in which we can enjoy our freedoms. Security produces peace.
So, I encourage you to pray for your leaders at the local, state, and federal level. Pray for them to govern in a way that enables all people to live peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way. Pray that they will govern with clarity and provide protection for all of us.
May God be pleased to answer our prayers today and every day.
**This post was written for the Wednesday, February 3, 2021 edition of the Chester News and Reporter in Chester, SC. It was also published on the seventeen82.com blog.
Thankful For What We Know
Good morning friends,
Earlier this morning, I watched a video from Rev. Donald MacDonald, minister of the Portree Free Church Congregation on the Isle of Skye and current Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. In it, he spoke about all the things we don’t know right now as we continue to live in this pandemic. We don’t know:
- How long this pandemic will last.
- How effective the vaccine will be.
- What the lasting impact of the pandemic be on our health, our society, other people, and our churches.
We have no idea about any of these things and countless others facing us at the moment. However, we do know some very important things. Rev. MacDonald pointed out four things we know, in particular.
- We know how a virus behaves. — A virus spreads from person to person and some viruses get really good at it. This coronavirus is one of them.
- We know how people behave. — We like to get together and we like to have personal and physical contact. We don’t like rules and restrictions either.
- We know that our God is sovereign. — This pandemic hasn’t caused a crisis for him nor has it led him to panic as it has some of us. He sovereignly rules over it as he does everything else.
- We know that God knows what we need. — He knows our situation intimately. He knows our fears, our struggles with our health, our emotional (in)stability, our mental health needs, our financial concerns, and our spiritual needs. He also abundantly meets everyone of those needs in ways that you and I will never fully understand.
So, in the months ahead, let’s resolve to focus on the things we do know and be thankful for the ways in which God has, is presently, and will continue to provide for us in his goodness and grace while continuing to practice proper social distancing to restrict our physical contact with one another. There is great peace in trusting our Lord to be the provider and lover of our souls that he has revealed himself to be. He will carry us through this whole thing in his perfect time.
You guys have a great day! May God bless you richly in his grace.
Here’s the link to Rev. MacDonald’s short video, if you’d like to watch it.
https://youtu.be/OXqJ-3PrcGk
In Christ,
Clint
Pursue Excellence For God’s Glory
If you know anything about Coach Nick Saban’s leadership style, you are familiar with the two primary themes that he drills into his players. First, they are to “trust the process.” For Saban, the process is far more important than the outcome. Second, they are to do everything – even the smallest things – with excellence. I’ve heard numerous clips of Saan shouting, “You have to be excellent in everything! If you practice with excellence, you will play with excellence!”
Does it work? In college football, yes. The results speak for themselves. Saban’s team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, won their sixth National Championship in the last eleven years on Monday, January 11 in Miami. The win was the Saban’s seventh overall and the school’s eighteenth. These are remarkable accomplishments.
Saban, like most other coaches, is quick to say that he is not simply concerned with winning football games. His goal is to develop young men to be productive citizens, good husbands and fathers, and valuable employees. He understands that life is more important than football and that the vast majority of his players will not make their way onto NFL rosters, and even those that do, need the life skills he can teach them.
As a Christian, I think there is good wisdom in Saban’s twin emphases – trusting the process and being excellent. Now, I don’t know anything about his faith commitment or the source of his process-focused coaching and life philosophy, but I’m convinced they line up well with the wisdom for life we find in the Bible.
The Bible’s authors repeatedly challenge us to live lives of excellence to the glory of God in the present as we wait for our eternal reward. Consider these examples from the New Testament.
- “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So, run that you may obtain it.” 1 Corinthians 9:24.
- “So, whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.
- “Let you light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.” Matthew 5:16.
- “…so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.” Titus 3:8.
The purpose of each of these statements is to encourage us to live lives of excellence because everything we do should be done to bring glory to the God of Heaven, the one who has guaranteed an eternal reward for all of those who place their faith in Jesus and walk with him. The outcome is secure; so, let’s pursue excellence in everything we do while undergoing to process to get to eternity.
**This post originally appeared in the Wednesday, January 20, 2021edition of the Chester News and Reporter in Chester, SC.
Third Wednesday Day of Prayer — January 20, 2021
Good morning!
This year we have decided to designate the third Wednesday of each month as a day of prayer for our nation, our culture, our community, and our churches. The genesis of this decision came from a call to prayer from the Moderator of the General Synod of the ARP Church, Rob Roy McGregor, which he issued earlier this week in preparation for President-Elect Biden’s inauguration and in response to the tumultuous events that have shaken our society over the last year.
We know that the only hope we have to find peace in this world is the intentional movement of the Lord Jesus Christ to pour out his Holy Spirit on the hearts of men and women. We desperately need a fresh wave of revival in our land. He has done it before and he can do it again. Revival, however, MUST begin in the hearts and minds of the Lord’s people, his Church — those who call upon him for salvation and claim to follow him with their lives.
For this week’s prayer guide, I have adapted one that I wrote and distributed to our congregation on Thursday, January 7, 2021. You will notice that I have added two principle request to the ones I mentioned then. They come directly out of 1 Timothy 2 and were drawn to my attention by Moderator McGregor’s email requesting that we set January 20 aside for prayer.
That said, here are the specific requests that we ask you to bring before the throne of glory.
- For revival in the hearts of the men, women, and children of God;
- For revival to start in Chester, SC and then sweep across this land;
- That the witness and mission of Christ’s Church and of those who call themselves Christians to be the same humble, compassionate, and loving witness and mission of Jesus and his apostles that we find in the New Testament;
- For proper self-examination (1 Cor. 11), repentance of sin, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ;
- For peace in Washington, DC and across this land as civil authority is lawfully transferred from one administration to another ;
- For unity in Christ among Christians and national unity among all Americans;
- For the end of all injustice;
- For the governing authorities to govern in a way that enables all men, women, and children to live “peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way” (2 Timothy 2:2); and,
- For the protection of life and liberty so that men, women, and children may hear the good news of the gospel, place their faith in him, freely worship him, and witness to his goodness, glory, and grace.
Your prayer can be short or long, in private or in public. We simply ask that you stop what you are doing and unite with us in prayer at 11 am. We know our God hears and answers the pleas of his people.
Also, we will be broadcast a short prayer service live online from our Sanctuary at 11 am. If you are available to pause your day at that time, please tune in. Here’s the link: https://livestream.com/chesterarp/events/9492963.
We hope you’ll join us in prayer today!
Prayer for Our Nation
Good morning!
We, at Chester ARP Church, ask you, wherever you are, to join us at 11 am today (January 7, 2021) as we pause to pray for our nation, our culture, our communities, and our churches. Americans are divided, and the shocking events of yesterday at the Capitol are sadly just another example of that division.
We know that the only hope we have to find peace in this world is the intentional movement of the Lord Jesus Christ to pour out his Holy Spirit on the hearts of men and women. We desperately need a fresh wave of revival in our land. He has done it before and he can do it again. Revival, however, MUST begin in the hearts and minds of the Lord’s people, his Church — those who call upon him for salvation and claim to follow him with their lives.
Psalm 85 gives us a guide to humble and contrite prayer for revival. It is posted below.
We ask that you specifically pray for:
- Revival in the hearts of the men, women, and children of God;
- Revival to start in Chester, SC and then sweep across this land;
- The witness and mission of Christ’s Church and of those who call themselves Christians to be the same humble, compassionate, and loving witness and mission of Jesus and his apostles that we find in the New Testament;
- Proper self-examination (1 Cor. 11), repentance of sin, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ;
- Peace in Washington, DC and across this land;
- Unity in Christ among Christians and national unity among all Americans;
- The end of all injustice.
Your prayer can be short or long, in private or in public. We simply ask that you stop what you are doing and unite with us in prayer at 11 am. We know our God hears and answers the pleas of his people.
Would you join us where you are at 11 am to pray for our nation, our culture, our community, and our churches?
Psalm 85
[1] LORD, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
[2] You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
[3] You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
[4] Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
[5] Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
[6] Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
[7] Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.
[8] Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
[9] Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
[10] Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
[11] Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
[12] Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
[13] Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way. (ESV)
Be Better This Year
It’s that time of year when everyone of us is making and desperately trying to keep our New Year’s Resolutions. Some of us will no doubt have more success than others because we most likely chose more realistic resolutions.
I have four primary goals this year. They’re simple: read more, write more, enjoy good food and drink more, and laugh more. That’s it.
You know, I’ve tried developing more detailed and specific resolutions for the year. One year, I was going to read a book per month. Another year, I planned to lose 20 pounds. And then, there was the year I decided that I was going to play golf at Pebble Beach.
Let me save you from the guessing game as to whether or not I accomplished them — I did not. I fell short. I made a good effort at reading a book per month in January but failed to complete one in February that year. I lost some weight the year I pledged to lose 20 pounds but put it back on between Thanksgiving and Christmas (which we all do, don’t we?). And playing golf at Pebble Beach? That dream died the second I found out that one round cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $500.
By now, you are probably asking, “What is the point of this article?” Great question.
I want to encourage you to think about 2021 in terms of getting better rather than completing a list of arbitrary and somewhat unrealistic resolutions. That’s the goal in life anyway, isn’t it? Be better today than you were yesterday. Be better this year than you were last year. Therefore, set some goals that will enable you to be better in 2021 than you were in 2020.
Take my four goals for an example. Here’s how I think they will make me better.
- Read More — Reading expands our minds. Reading takes us to places, times, and settings that we ordinarily would not know. Reading enlarges our vocabulary. Reading forces us to think critically and completely.
- Write More — Writing is the best way to develop free-flowing thoughts and detailed arguments. Writing causes us to process our thoughts fully. Writing leaves an historical record of the events and ideas floating around our minds and lives.
- Enjoy Good Food and Drink More — Good food and drink two of God’s greatest gifts to us. It’s pleasurable to sit at a table and to partake in a meal that was prepared with skill and care. Good food and drink also brings people together (and we could all use that after 2020).
- Laugh More — Laughter is good for our souls. It is beneficial for our physical and emotional health. It also builds and strengthens relationships, making laugh-filled friendships essential to our lives. Who doesn’t want to be around someone who laughs with them?
And there is one final thing that all of these goals will make me do in 2021, and that is: slow down. Reading takes time. Writing takes meditation and time. Enjoying good food and drink requires that I set aside many of the distractions that occupy my mind. Laughing more demands that I give more attention to friends and family so that I can find the humor in their stories and actions.
So, I challenge you to leave your resolutions open-ended this year. Set the goal to be better in 2021 than you were in 2020. Expand your mind, record your thoughts, share some good meals, and be pleasant to be around. And, you’ll have a great year.
Happy New Year!
** This article originally appeared in the January 6, 2021 edition of the Chester News and Reporter in Chester, SC.
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