The Christian's Comfortable Pillow

            An apparently never-ending pandemic. Ongoing (sometimes intense) debates over requirements for the wearing of masks and the taking of a vaccine. Government mandates on matters of conscience. Wildfires ravaging the West. Growing political polarization. Continual turmoil both in our own nation as well as throughout the world. The Taliban regaining control of Afghanistan. Rising gas prices. Immigration issues at the border. National supply shortages. Difficult diagnoses. Tragic personal family news. Unexpected losses. Daily aches and pains. How is a Christian to keep his or her sanity in all of this? How can we sleep at night? The answer is found in remembering one precious truth about God.

            That truth is His sovereignty over all things. The fact that He rules and reigns over everything in His creation and over whatever occurs or takes place. There is nothing outside of His sovereign control. “No maverick molecule exists in the universe” as R. C. Sproul has put it. Jesus stated that a sparrow does not fall to the ground apart from the Father (Matthew 10:29). Amos asked the question, Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it? God is said to command the snow and the rain to fall from the sky (Job 37:6) and the disciples witnessed Jesus calming the wind and the sea with just a word from His mouth (Mark 4:39). According to Proverbs, man may make his plans but God determines the outcome of them (16:1, 9). The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD (v. 33). As powerful as any earthly king may be, he cannot escape God’s sovereign rule over him. The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it where He will (21:1). Ruth “just so happening” to wind up in Boaz’s field (Ruth 2:3) who “just so happened” could serve as a kinsman-redeemer for the family (v. 20) as well as Esther winding up to be queen where she was in a position to save the Jews all point out how sovereign God is over the ordinary everyday situations of our lives. Jonah attempted to run the very opposite direction from where God wanted him to go only to find himself at the exact place doing the exact thing that God had called him to do. In such a case, God’s sovereignty over nature (the great wind, the great storm, and the great fish) created certain situations for His prodigal prophet to bring him to where God deemed he should be in the first place. Life, sickness, and death are all in God’s hands (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6). He is the One who ultimately gives and takes away whatever we have (Job 1:21). God is seen even to be sovereign over man’s sinful decisions, though it is important to note not in a way where He could be said to be responsible for the sin itself but simply in directing man’s wrong choices to His purposed end. The actions of Joseph’s brothers serve as a prime example of this. God allowed them in their sinful hatred and jealousy to sell their brother into slavery only to use that to bring Joseph to a place where he could save his people from dying out in the famine and for God to keep the promise that He had made for the Redeemer to come from the linage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 45:5-8; 50:20). And, as much as he must hate it, Satan himself cannot escape God’s control. We discover that in the book of Job where Satan had to have permission to test Job those two times, and even in those cases, God set a boundary for what he could or could not do to the man (Job 1:12; 2:6). The same is indicated with Jesus’ statement to Peter regarding Satan having “demanded permission” to test the disciples (Luke 22:31).

            What a comfort it is to know that God is in control of everything that goes on here in this world as well as in our individual lives! Nothing will ever happen to us that He has not wisely ordained. Sure, we may not always understand why He causes or permits certain things to occur but we know that we can trust Him. He is not an arbitrary God but an infinitely wise, just, and good One who has a purpose in everything that happens. Nothing takes place as a result of luck, chance, or random circumstance. It is all part of His perfect plan. I can’t think of any better hands for my life to be in. In fact, the suggestion that anyone or anything other than God could possibly be in control of anything in my life makes me shutter and robs me of hope. If that would be the case, there would be no guarantee that God could bring any good then out of the most difficult situations or circumstances that I may face. But since He is in complete control, I have the confidence that He indeed will keep the promise that He made in Romans 8:28 regarding working all things in my life for the good of my redemption.

            It is this truth of God’s sovereignty over everything that helped me get through our two miscarriages. In the midst of the pain and grief, I could rest assured that it was God’s will for us not to keep those two babies and that He must have had a very good and holy reason for that. An older hymn that I clung through in such a time was “Whate’er My God Ordains is Right.” And when my day doesn’t go as I planned (which happens fairly often), rather than getting bitter as I am tempted to do, I can remind myself that it went the way that God wanted it to go which was far better. That also has a great way of calming my anxiety over the things that I thought that I should have done during the day or the places that I should have went. God would have made sure in His sovereignty that those things were done or I was there should He so choose. I can rest in that at the end of my day.

            So, the next time that you may find it hard to sleep at night due to everything that is going on in your life and the world around you, be sure to come back to the truth that none of it is outside of the perfect and wise will of our heavenly Father who never makes a mistake. Charles Spurgeon actually described the sovereignty of God as being “the pillow upon which the child of God rests his head at night, giving perfect peace.” Rest your anxious and weary head on that pillow, saint.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

A Plea for Charity and Respect in a Matter of Conscience

As it is being reported that the number of COVID cases are again on the rise and concerns over the Delta variant and others grow, the ongoing debate about vaccination appears to be escalating as well. Sometimes it can get downright nasty, especially when we see the statements made by some prominent leaders and celebrities or our friends on Facebook. I have even seen people be accused of failing to love their neighbor or of blindly following the government and not being able to think for themselves because they came to a different conclusion when it comes down to the shot. Some of this has unfortunately come from the lips or fingers of professing believers as well. But the one thing that appears to be lacking in this current debate is charity and respect for each another.

The last time I checked, there was no command anywhere in Scripture pertaining to whether or not someone should get vaccinated against COVID. Sure, some have attempted to apply the sixth commandment pertaining to the preserving of life and the general command to love one's neighbor in order to persuade others to adopt their position on this. However, the reasons underlying the decisions of those on both sides of this debate very well may be in their understanding that the course of action that they have chosen is the best way to preserve life and to love their neighbor. From what I have seen as this debate takes place in the church, both sides appeal to Scripture to support their view.

(And perhaps it should be mentioned here in passing that the vaccine clearly IS NOT the mark of the beast referred to in Revelation 13:16-18. For one thing, that is connected to the worship of the beast and served as a way of expressing the beast's ownership of those who belong to him. Those who belong to Jesus will be sealed or marked as belonging to Him in contrast to the ones who do not and receive the mark of the beast (7:1-8; 14:1). Furthermore, IF it is a literal seal or marking, we are told that it will be on one's forehead or right hand. Not their arm. It very well could be symbolic anyway pointing to the truth of ownership.)

There is a danger if someone claims that God has said that you either must get the vaccine or should not get the vaccine. Whenever we make a command that God Himself has not given and then require it of others in addition to those which God has given, we head down the road of Pharisaical legalism. After all, that is exactly what the Pharisees themselves did. They came up with their own rules and laws and demanded everyone to obey them along with the ones laid out in Scripture. (We see this for instance in Mark 7 with the hand washing ritual that the Pharisees had developed which Jesus did not require His disciples to follow. The reason Jesus did not bind His disciples to it was because it was a "tradition of man" and not a "teaching of God.") 

Since there is no clear command of Scripture as to whether or not one should get vaccinated against COVID, I think this means that the decision is a matter of conscience. In Romans 14, Paul talks about how it is possible for two believers to come away with two different beliefs and practices in a place which Scripture does not explicitly address. He uses the example of someone who believes that he can eat anything and someone else who thinks that meat is off-limits, possibly due to what happened to the meat before it came to the market place (v. 2). Someone may set aside and celebrate certain special days while another in the church deems all days equally important (v. 5). The believer who believes himself to be free to eat whatever is placed before him is not to look down on the other nor judge them as being in the wrong in this matter (vv. 3-4). The main thing, he says, is that each one should be fully convinced in his own mind (v. 5) and that he or she is doing it to and for the Lord, to honor and bring glory to Him (vv. 6-8). And if one is convinced in their conscience that eating meat would be unclean for them and they believe that they are best honoring the Lord by abstaining from it, Paul even states that it is unclean for them in that case and that they should not go against their conscience in the matter (v. 14).

Applying this to the COVID vaccine situation, if you have taken the time to research the vaccines, weigh out the risks (and there are risks involved if you decide to take it or if you decide not to take it), evaluate your decision with the teachings and wisdom of Scripture, and, in light of all that, in good conscience believe that you should get the vaccine, then you should get it. On the other hand, if you have done all that and believe that you should not get vaccinated, then you should not do so. Ultimately, you should not go against your conscience. And, as Christians, we are to love and respect those whose consciences may wind up in a different place than ours rather than condemn them and seek to impose our conscience decision on them. While the world may seek to guilt and coerce people to make a certain decision regarding these vaccines, let's give each other in the church the liberty of acting according to their conscience in this matter as we all strive to honor Christ with our life whom we will give an account for this decision as well as many others (v. 12).

Love in Christ,

Lee

P.S. Interestingly, this is not the only time in history that the church has experienced such a debate pertaining to vaccination. A good friend of mine from seminary, Benjamin Purves, provides a nice and very helpful history lesson of the debate that took place back in 1721 over the smallpox vaccine in this blogpost. The letter that he shares from John Newton advocating liberty of conscience for those on both sides of the fence is worth the read itself!

Why Online Worship Just Cannot Compare With In-Person

            During the past year and a half in the midst of the pandemic, we have had to do a lot of things online. Many of us had to work or study from home staring for hours at a computer screen. We have had to use Zoom, Facetime, or Skype just to visit with our loved ones in the hospital or in nursing homes. In so many ways, our lives shifted online for a time. But if there is one thing that this pandemic has taught us, it is that the virtual cannot serve in anyway as a sufficient substitute to being in-person. Zooming with Grandma is nothing like visiting in her home and hugging her. Watching the ballgame on your phone does not compare with being in the stands and rooting your favorite player on. Sitting at home in a room by yourself in front of your laptop is nothing like sitting in class next to your friends in front of the teacher him/herself. And watching “church” online is nowhere near the same as being in the building with God’s people singing and praying together as well as listening to the preaching of God’s Word.

            Now, don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for the technology that we have available today which enables us to be so connected to each other across the miles and in a time when it was not safe to be together physically. It certainly helped us weather this storm in a way that would not have been possible otherwise. How people handled the shutdowns that occurred during the Spanish Flu outbreak back in 1918, I’ll never know. But there is a potential danger with the “online” that, if we are not careful, we can begin to become so accustomed to it that we start to become comfortable or complacent with staying home instead of making the effort to get up out of bed, get ready, and head out to join the saints for worship on Sunday mornings. After all, it is so convenient to remain in your pajamas and watch the service while in bed on your laptop or phone. But, we need to realize that what happens in the worship service on a Sunday morning is not something that can be replicated at home alone with your family through the means of a phone or computer screen. Somethings will inevitably be lacking in not being present in person at the service.

            For one thing, a reason Scripture tells us that we are not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together each week is the need of encouragement. The author of Hebrews tells us to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (10:24-25). It is impossible to stir up other believers to love and to do good works perched on your sofa just with your family. You have to presently be with other believers in order to do so. As it has been put, “you can’t serve from your sofa.” You cannot obey all the “one another” commands of Scripture (59 of them in all) unless you are regularly with other believers. And when we are absent from the fellowship consistently on Sunday mornings, we miss out on both receiving and giving that encouragement. Usually through the livestream, you cannot hear other believers singing the hymns. Just the song leader and maybe the pastor when he belts it out too loud. There is something powerful when you have a group of Christians singing the same truths of the gospel together for God to each other. Something that brings a great encouragement to those who hear such while being present for it. And it could be that your very presence on a Sunday morning might just very well be what a fellow believer needs to encourage him or her on that day. Opting to stay home to watch online robs that person of the encouragement that you otherwise could give them.

           It is also easy to have the idea that what goes on in the worship service is something that you can just be a spectator of rather than needing to participate in when you are accessing it through a TV, computer, or cell phone screen. Watching the service online puts it more in the category of a TV show or movie that you sit back, take in, and enjoy instead of an experience where you are called to actively contribute and be a part of. But when we remember how the Bible speaks of corporate worship on the Lord’s Day each week, we must realize that it is not something that we are called to observe but to actively participate in. Not what we tune in to get something out of but something we seek to give to the Lord and others as we are there with them. The early church recognized this and it is why Luke highlights them as being together and daily attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, receiving their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people (Acts 2:46-47). They saw the need to do such together rather than apart. I’ve heard it mentioned that watching “church” online is like watching a fireplace on TV. It’s there, but there’s no heat or life to it.

            When we started the livestream at the beginning of the pandemic, we were clear that it was just a temporary supplement to keep us connected together for worship on Sunday mornings which could never serve as a sufficient substitute to actively being a part of the worship service in person. With the threat of COVID being minimized right now, the livestream is no longer needed. It is much safer to gather in person as the Lord has instructed us to in His Word. For those who are homebound and physically unable to make it out on Sunday mornings to join us for worship and have appreciated the livestream, we want you to know that we are continuing to record the audio of the services and burning them on CDs. If you like to have one of those CDs delivered to you each week, please let me know. We would be glad to send one to you so that you can listen to the services.

 Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday to participate in worship together,

Pastor Lee

What's New With Mt. Joy

 The following is the article that I wrote for our church's newsletter this month. It explains our church's new name that stems from us departing from the denomination that we had been a part of, the Church of the Brethren, to joining a new denomination known as the Covenant Brethren Church.

            As you picked up your Assistant Pastor today, you may have noticed something different. (If you didn’t, you are now flipping it over to see what you missed.) Our name has changed. The church is no longer known as the “Mt. Joy Church of the Brethren” but the “Mt. Joy Covenant Brethren Church.” The congregation is not affiliated with the Church of the Brethren denomination anymore but has joined the new Covenant Brethren Church. At our last congregational business meeting, the congregation voted unanimously to depart from the Church of the Brethren with only a single “no” vote to become a part of the Covenant Brethren Church. I also have transferred my ordination to the Covenant Brethren Church as well.

 

There have been issues and great concerns that we have had with the Church of the Brethren for a while now and things appear to just continually get worse in the denomination. In recent years, we have witnessed conservatives being pushed to the side, ignored, and much being done to prevent them from being voted into leadership with the current leadership refusing to affirm and enforce what the Annual Conference has decided and what the Bible plainly teaches. Currently, a lesbian is allowed to serve as a pastor and there are churches preaching and promoting unbiblical views with nothing being done about it. More and more, apart from a miraculous work of God, it appears that any attempts to bring about any necessary change is akin to rearranging the furniture on the titanic. Since the root of all of these issues ultimately is a failure to have a firm unified view of Scripture as the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God, no change can occur until such a foundation would be reestablished. And by all appearances, there seems to be no movement to do just that and whenever it has been tried, somehow it gets blocked or turned down. This has resulted in an exodus of Brethren churches from the denomination.

 

All of this has led to the formation of a brand new denomination called “The Covenant Brethren Church.” In August 2019, a group of a little over 50 conservative pastors and leaders in the denomination met to pray and plan for the future. The decision was made at this meeting to pursue the formation of a new denomination that would provide a place for the conservative churches who were leaving to go where they could maintain their Brethren heritage and be with other like-minded churches that they would be in agreement with. After much hard work and a number of meetings, the new denomination was officially launched on October 24, 2020. More information about this denomination that we have joined can be found on their website, www.covenantbrethren.org.

 

            What does this denomination transfer mean for Mt. Joy? Well, for one thing, we are not associated with the unbiblical practices that are being allowed to occur in the Church of the Brethren or with churches that are preaching outright heresy anymore. There are churches in the denomination who preach and teach things such as Jesus not being the only way to heaven, that there is no literal hell, that Jesus did not die for our sins, and who refuse to call what God has deemed to be sin, sin. We no longer have to explain that we are not THAT Church of the Brethren or that we do not agree with the official statement that has just been released by denominational leadership. I still remember one time back when I was in VA and active in the congregation that I grew up in when I encountered a man in Wal-Mart who accused my church of not believing the Bible, denying some of the basic tenants of the faith, and supporting sinful practices. Obviously, he had experienced a number of the liberal pastors and churches in the denomination and thought that every Church of the Brethren must believe and teach the same. That is something that should not happen to us moving forward.

 

            We now belong to a fellowship of churches which we can be in full agreement with, at least when it comes to the essentials of the faith. Every pastor and church who joins the Covenant Brethren Church must agree with their statement of faith and will be held accountable to it. I firmly believe that one of the reasons why the Church of the Brethren has become what it is today stems from the denomination never having put together a statement of faith that laid out what the Brethren believe and setting the boundaries of what would be considered to be orthodox Brethren teachings as well as never having any way of holding anyone accountable to both Annual Conference decisions and those teachings.

 

            And while our name and affiliation may have changed, the one thing that will not change is our commitment to the Word of God. The Bible will continue to serve as our guide in determining what we believe and what we do as a congregation. In fact, it is on account of such a commitment that we felt the need to make such a change. We could not in good conscience remain a part of a denomination that does not uphold the authority of Scripture and which refuses to hold accountable pastors and churches who openly defy God’s Word and preach and allow things which expressly go against it. We did not see how we ever could continue to associate with a denomination that refused to stand upon God’s Word and proclaim its truth. In obedience to Scripture, we will march forward, as a Christ-centered church committed to the Word of God and the proclamation of the gospel. This recent change will not in any way hinder that but hopefully help us better to be so.

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee