Friday, February 11, 2011

The Lowered Standard

One of the areas of life that have always concerned me, as a parent, is the fact that I know that the standards that I set with my children, they will always come just under that standard with their children. With that knowledge, I must take action to make sure that I raise the standard high. Do not ever let anyone tell you that you are "too strict" with your children, you must set the standard high with them, so that when they are parents and they come just under your standard, they will atleast come within a the range of righteousness.

Take, for example, Church attendance. Your children, when they are adults, will come just under the standard that you set for them. So, the question that I ask many parents is, "What are you teaching your children about Church?" When "christian" mom and dad are unsettled about Church membership and/or Church attendance, their children will grow up to be even worse. When I say "unsettled" I am referring to a mom and dad who cannot (or will not) decied on a Church home and be absolutely faithful to it (in attendance and service). They are here, there, and everywhere. They attend this congregation this week (or maybe a couple weeks), another congregation on another occasion, and then, perhaps, nowhere another week. Those parents must understand that their children will come under that standard. Is that what you want? Most, if not all Christian parents would say "I want my children to grow up and be faithful to the Lord". But are you willing to make the necessary changes in your life to help ensure that?

They go to this Church because they like the music, they go to another Church because they like the fellowship, they go to another Church because they enjoy the programs for their Children. Listen, there is ONLY ONE criteria for choosing a Church, only one question that you need to ask yourself, "How does this Church handle the Word of God? Is the Word of God supreme here?" Those are very vital questions. Is emotion and feeling supreme? You can get people to make emotional decisions all day; but lasting, God honoring decisions will ONLY come as a result of the preaching of the Word of God. People get all worked up and emotional with music and say, "The Lord met with us today", but did the Word of God make the difference in your life? If it was not the Word of God, then the decision that you made out of emotion will be very short lived.

There are people all over Christianity that are wondering aimlessly from Church to Church trying to find, sometimes I do not think that they know what. What they need is a Church where the Word of God is supreme and is taught in the pulpit everytime the man of God steps up to the Pulpit. Our Childern are watching and they will follow your lead, just a step or two behind. Set the standard of Church high, parents, so that your childrens standards will also be high.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Birds, The Plane and the President

Sometimes we are so overwhelmed at being treated better than we deserve that we must exult in the all-sovereign God—the God of birds' flight and Obama's rise. When King David pondered how many were God's "wondrous deeds," he said, "I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told" (Psalm 40:5). That's the way I feel watching God's public mercies in our day.




Have you considered how unlikely was the crash of USAir flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009—not just the rescue but the crash itself? Picture this: The Airbus A320 is taking off at an angle—maybe 30 degrees. It's not flying horizontal with the earth. Not only that, it is flying fast—not full speed yet, but perhaps four times as fast as your car would go at top highway speeds.



The geese are flying horizontally with the ground, more or less. They are not flying in a cloud like a swarm of bees. They fly level with the ground, often shaped like a V. In view of all that, what are the odds that, traveling at this speed and at this angle, this airplane would intersect with the flight of those geese at that very millisecond which would put a bird not just in one of those engines, but both of them?



Two laser-guided missiles would not have been as amazingly effective as were those geese. It is incredible, statistically speaking. If God governs nature down to the fall (and the flight) of every bird, as Jesus says (Matthew 10:29), then the crash of flight 1549 was designed by God.



Which leads to the landing in the Hudson River—which is just as unlikely. The airbus now has no thrust in either engine. The flight attendants said it was as quiet as a library in the plane without the sound of engines. The plane is now a 77-ton glider with its belly full of fuel. Captain Sullenberger decides to land in the river. Anywhere else would mean one big fireball.



He banks and misses the George Washington Bridge by 900 feet and glides the plane into a perfect belly landing. A few degrees tilt to the front or back or the right or left and the plane would have done cartwheels down the river and broken up. On the water, the flight attendant does not let passengers open the rear door. That would have flooded the cabin too fast. The emergency doors and front doors provide exits for everyone and the plane floats long enough for all of them to climb out. Ferry boats are there almost instantly. The captain walks the aisle twice to make sure everyone is off. Then he leaves. Later the plane sinks.



If God guides geese so precisely, he also guides the captain's hands. God knew that when he took the plane down, he would also give a spectacular deliverance. So why would he do that? If he means for all to live, why not just skip the crash?



Because he meant to give our nation a parable of his power and mercy the week before a new President takes office. God can take down a plane any time he pleases—and if he does, he wrongs no one. Apart from Christ, none of us deserves anything from God but judgment. We have belittled him so consistently that he would be perfectly just to take any of us any time in any way he chooses.



But God is longsuffering. He is slow to anger. He withholds wrath every day. This is what we saw in the parable. The crash of Flight 1549 illustrates God's right and power to judge. The landing of the plane represents God's mercy. It was God's call to all the passengers and all their families and all who heard the story to repent and turn to God's Son, Jesus Christ, and receive forgiveness for sin.