Psalm 139:13-16 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
I call it “Celebration Season.” From the end of December to February, we celebrate five birthdays, including Jesus’ birthday. Thankfully, we like celebrating. We try to make a big deal, with special food requests and a fun cake. We might even throw in a trip to the Zoo. Some might ask: “What’s the big deal? Why do you make such a big deal over a day?” Great question! I will give two reasons. First, we want the birthday person to know that they are unique and loved. To do that, we hit all the love languages at once during that day. If you do not know the love languages, look for a future article. Second, we believe life should be celebrated. Birthdays should be celebrated because that day marks when a life has entered the world. January is Right to Life Month. Many churches have hosted Right to Life Sundays. Some have traveled to Lincoln or Washington D.C. for Right to Life Marches. Calvary Bible Church collected a special offering to send to Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center in O’Neill to help young mothers keep their babies and provide healing for those who have chosen abortion. We believe that God is the one who gives life. Every life that he provides is unique and should be fiercely defended. We believe that abortion is a violent ending of that God-given life and should be illegal. We believe that followers of Jesus Christ, having true life from Him, should be vocal about celebrating life. One way of being vocal is Right to Life Month. Another way is finding normal avenues to celebrate, like birthdays, anniversaries, or simple, daily statements: “I love you and am grateful that you are in my life.”
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Ephesians 5:18 (NIV): Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Don’t worry: I am not going to talk about alcohol. I am not even going to talk about drunkenness. This verse speaks to a much deeper issue. We are all addicted to something. When we are addicted, we have given control of ourselves to something. We cannot function unless we have this thing. We can be addicted to many things. Some people are addicted to alcohol. Others are addicted to smoking or vaping. Still others go for drugs, from marijuana to meth. Pornography is an addiction. Social media is an addiction. Fame and money can be an addiction. Everyone is addicted to something. Unfortunately, not only do we place ourselves under the control of our addiction, we are worshiping that addiction. We are saying that this thing that we are addicted to will provide everything for us. Unfortunately, that addiction lies. Nothing that we are addicted to will provide what we need. It will not provide rest, or escape, or strength, or love, or whatever it promises us. Addiction will always disappoint. Take this from someone who knows. Sometimes one who is addicted will try to break that addiction, but they will merely replace that addiction. Many people will turn from smoking to vaping. Drinking to caffeine. These are still addictions. We are still giving control of ourselves to something else. Instead of replacing addiction with addiction, Scripture tells us to turn from our addiction to Jesus Christ. He fills the emptiness that we are trying to fill with our addiction. He gives true rest, purpose, strength, love, and everything else we seek. Be filled with him. Not your thing. This turning from addiction to Jesus cannot happen alone. If you are struggling with an addiction, reach out to someone who can help, someone who will point you to true freedom in Jesus. Together you can find freedom from addiction and an escape from all the lies that have been told. I pray that we all find freedom in Jesus. Ephesians 5:18 (NIV): Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Don’t worry: I am not going to talk about alcohol. I am not even going to talk about drunkenness. This verse speaks to a much deeper issue. We are all addicted to something. When we are addicted, we have given control of ourselves to something. We cannot function unless we have this thing. We can be addicted to many things. Some people are addicted to alcohol. Others are addicted to smoking or vaping. Still others go for drugs, from marijuana to meth. Pornography is an addiction. Social media is an addiction. Fame and money can be an addiction. Everyone is addicted to something. Unfortunately, not only do we place ourselves under the control of our addiction, we are worshiping that addiction. We are saying that this thing that we are addicted to will provide everything for us. Unfortunately, that addiction lies. Nothing that we are addicted to will provide what we need. It will not provide rest, or escape, or strength, or love, or whatever it promises us. Addiction will always disappoint. Take this from someone who knows. Sometimes one who is addicted will try to break that addiction, but they will merely replace that addiction. Many people will turn from smoking to vaping. Drinking to caffeine. These are still addictions. We are still giving control of ourselves to something else. Instead of replacing addiction with addiction, Scripture tells us to turn from our addiction to Jesus Christ. He fills the emptiness that we are trying to fill with our addiction. He gives true rest, purpose, strength, love, and everything else we seek. Be filled with him. Not your thing. This turning from addiction to Jesus cannot happen alone. If you are struggling with an addiction, reach out to someone who can help, someone who will point you to true freedom in Jesus. Together you can find freedom from addiction and an escape from all the lies that have been told. I pray that we all find freedom in Jesus. Galatians 6:1 “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.”
The last time I wrote for this column, I talked about dirty diapers. I hope that I did not gross anyone out. If I did, I am sorry, and I hope that I don’t gross you out again. Maybe my mind always goes back to diapers because I am in that stage. Perhaps the subject is continually in my mind because I never grew up. Who knows? Have you ever changed a diaper, and what was supposed to stay in the diaper jumped out and got over everything else? Brown smears all over the place. That’s bad. But what I think is worse is when I am trying to clean up a substantial dirty diaper, and the poop gets on my hands—a big glop of disgusting sitting on my thumb. Sometimes when we try to clean up something, we get the dirt on ourselves. The same is true when we try to help someone change. Paul says: “Watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” We all have the propensity to sin or get addicted. We all have the temptation to cope with difficulty negatively. When we help someone else, we can get triggered to dive into our sinful patterns again. So, what do we do to make sure that we do not get the disgusting scraped against our hands? First, we wear gloves. I know very few people wear gloves when changing diapers. But, when we are helping someone else with their struggles, we need to have protection. Protection looks like knowing our boundaries, coping positively, and talking with someone else about the experience. Second, we ask for help. Sometimes, two people need to change a diaper. In the same way, some situations need multiple people to help. God designed the church for this reason. The whole church comes together to lift people out of sin. Third, we step away. There are some diapers that I cannot change because I am sick and will vomit. In the same way, there are some sin issues that we cannot help with because we will be triggered to jump into our addictions. Galatians 6:1 “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.”
I hope no one reading this experiences a gag reflex through stories because I am writing about something that some might consider disgusting. Vile. Putrid. You get the picture. I’m going to talk about poop. We all know where poop comes from. My two-year-old knows where poop comes from. He tried to explain to me why he shouldn’t finish the food on his plate. “If I eat it, it will go into my stomach and out into my diaper.” I commend him on his understanding of biology and anatomy. He still had to finish what was on his plate. Unfortunately, he probably shouldn’t have finished it because he got sick. Really sick. In both directions. And, guess who had to clean up the diapers. Yours truly. I can still smell the odor. Talk about gag reflex. That poor boy. I would go into diaper rash issues and blowouts, but I will spare you the details. As I clean up excrement with clothespins on my nose, I think about our lives. Our lives are filled with filth greater than these bulging stink bombs, which eat up our lives faster than acidic dung on a baby’s bottom. We all need our spiritual diapers changed. We need people to come up to us and say: “You stink. For the sake of your life and those around you, let’s change your diaper.” Those conversations are not pleasant. They might hurt. But once we clean the filth out of our lives, we feel so much better. Jesus did this for us when he died on the cross, taking care of our sins for eternity. We get to do this for each other, cleaning up our sins temporarily. Some spiritual diapers are quick to clean up. Some take a long time and need some diaper cream. Sometimes the diapers need to be cleaned multiple times because the sin is so entranced in our lives. Sometimes the sin is so huge, and we do not want to help change the diaper because it is disgusting. But, out of love for each other, looking to Jesus’ example, let’s grab the clothespins and diaper cream and get to work. Matthew 25:40: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
I know that we are still in October. We have not celebrated Halloween. No one wants to think about Thanksgiving, much less Christmas. So, I need to apologize: I will be breaking the holiday barrier. We in America have so much for which to be thankful. As residents of Nebraska and Neligh, life is pretty good. So, I know that very few of you are thinking towards Thanksgiving. But, let me encourage you to start. We very easily focus on all the things which are going wrong in our lives. If we can start thinking about all the ways which we are blessed, we can begin to change both our lives and other’s. Which brings me to Christmas. When we realize how much we are blessed, we can turn around and bless others who may not have the opportunities that we have. I would like to encourage you to take advantage of two opportunities. Every year, ribbon trees are placed in Pinnacle and Heritage banks. These trees are filled with ribbons for those who are in need with gift suggestions. I appreciate FCCLA’s continual leadership in this act of love. By picking up a ribbon and buying the gift suggestion, you are helping kids and adults in our community. Every year, over fifty ribbons are left on the trees. Calvary Bible Church has committed to helping reduce the number of ribbons left. Would you and your family, your business, your organization, or your church commit to showing love to our community this year through this project? The second opportunity is international. Operation Christmas Child sends shoeboxes of Christmas gifts to third world countries. Last year, churches and organizations from the United States sent 7.8 million shoeboxes full of gifts to children around the world. Calvary Bible Church is a DropOff location, during National Collection Week, November 15-22. Informational materials and empty shoeboxes can be picked up any time. For more information, visit samaritanspurse.org/occ. To build a shoebox online, which will be sent to closed countries, visit samaritanspurse.org/buildonline. Together, we can show Jesus’ love to our community and the world this Christmas as an outpouring of all the ways we have been blessed. 1 Corinthians 3:2 (NIV): I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
I love hearing stories of the past. However, I never expect to hear about a tree. Especially not a stolen tree. A tree was smuggled away from its home and planted in the front lawn of a ranch in this area. I’m sure the statute of limitations has expired for this act. But just in case it hasn’t, I won’t give you any more information, except that the tree is an Eastern White Pine. The Eastern White Pine is a fascinating tree. These were known as mast pines during the 17th and 18th centuries because they were used to build masts for the British Royal Navy. Though not as tall as pine trees on the West coast. The Eastern White Pine is the tallest pine on the east coast. A fascinating trivia about the Eastern White Pine is the growth process. This tree is a very fast-growing tree—once it starts growing. For the first several years, the tree has extremely little vertical growth, pushing its nutrients into its roots. Once the roots are developed enough, the tree will start growing vertically. This tree is an excellent illustration of each person’s spiritual growth. Many people try growing fast spiritually: showing fruit early, accepting leadership positions, trying to be a good Christian in all the ways people see. Because no time is spent on the roots, soon their faith withers because there was no substance underneath. The follower of Jesus must first focus on being rooted in the faith. This process requires time. Time to understand who Jesus is. Time to know how to study the Bible. Time to know how our salvation was earned and how it is given to us. Time to understand the fundamental truths that hold our faith apart from the others. Incidentally, the early church would not baptize an individual for two years after professing faith in Jesus to ensure that individuals truly understood what they believed. This process of being rooted in the faith is called discipleship, where one person steps another person through what it means to follow Christ. This process is not the role of pastors and priests, but individual Christian helping other individual Christians grow roots in the faith. Job 5:10 (NIV) “He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.”
During the Sunday morning service, we have open prayer request time. We hear updates about those who are sick, traveling, or concerned about school projects. During planting, we pray for safety in the fields. During harvest, we pray for safety in the fields. Invariably, scattered throughout the weeks, we voice concern about rain. The farmers need rain for their crops. The ranchers need rain for their hay. Mid-summer hits and everyone who is not a farmer realizes the need for rain when everything turns brown. We who need rain can have two responses to our angst. First, we could sit in our chair and stare at the clouds out the window, biting our nails with anxiety. This response is our natural one. Even in the face of something outside our control, we naturally worry. We worry about weather. We worry about crop yields. We worry about calving season. We worry about finances. We worry about our children as they start driving. We worry about what people will think about the dish we bring to a potluck meal. We worry about everything and have control over nothing. From a fellow human worrier: worry accomplishes nothing. Our alternative response is to turn to the one who has control. The Bible says that God has control over the weather. In His great plan, he withholds rain and he sends rain. And, in His amazing mercy, He listens to the needs of those who are His. He listened to the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament and withheld rain for three years and six months, so that Israel would turn from false gods. Then, when Elijah prayed again, God sent a heavy rain. From a fellow human worrier: trust accomplishes everything. What would happen if we stopped worrying and starting trusting the God who is in control and who listens to our needs? Instead of biting our nails and pulling out our hair, we pray. When our neighbor expresses his fear of the future, we pray. When our child is concerned about the outcome of a paper, we pray. Now, I know that prayer does not remove our need to act. We are to be wise and do our due diligence. But, prayer removes our need to worry, so we can breathe and sleep in peace. 2 Corinthians 2:14–16 (NIV): But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.
Every year, the rest of the volunteers and I move into the pavilion, bringing tables, chairs, balloons, and face-paints. Around 4pm on Thursday, one kid pokes his face into the door, tentatively wondering if we are open for business. A few minutes after he leaves, triumphantly holding his balloon creation and sporting a paint-plastered face, we are swarmed by kids of all ages, including those who would never admit being a kid in any other situation. The County Fair is a blast. Each face-painted and each balloon-made created a memory for those kids, who hopefully will look back on it with fondness. As we sat in the pavilion, we experienced first-hand the odors of the county fair. The smell of fried food. The wafting of animals being cleaned. The pile of manure and chips. Every smell attached to a memory. Every memory attached to an emotion. Those who stuck around the fair for multiple days began to smell like the fair, for better or for worse. The Bible says that everyone gives off a spiritual smell, either life or death, depending on who we are spending time with. Those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ are called to give off an aroma of life. When Jesus lived on earth, he was known as someone who loved unconditionally. He showed everyone compassion and respect. He listened to everyone and encouraged those who were weak. His love is not a normal love. He also spoke truth, calling people to account for their sin and holding religious leaders to blame for their hypocrisy. He did not speak out of hatred, but out of love, pushing everyone around him to reflect their Creator. This brings the most joy and fulfilment. Everyone who interacted with Jesus, experiencing his love and his truth, remarked on how different he was. We who call ourselves his followers should live in a such a way that others say: “You smell like Jesus.” Who do people say you smell like? “He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
We have all experienced broken relationships. In a small town, we try to keep everyone happy so that we do not hurt friends and family. However, because we are human, we will naturally break relationships. We will say something, insinuate something, use a certain tone, or do something. Something will happen where we will hurt someone else. It is inevitable. In those times, we need to have the humility to own our actions and ask forgiveness, even when we did not mean to do harm. Sometimes, we are not the one who hurt, but the one who was hurt. Someone did something, said something, insinuated something, or used a certain tone. And, we were hurt. In those moments, we have three choices. We could build an emotional wall between ourselves and the offender. We keep the offender away, we protect ourselves from future hurt, and we plant bitterness in our heart. This is the easy action. But when we do this, we do not allow our emotional wounds to heal. We hurt ourselves even more than the person who hurt us. Choice two is the better choice: we seek reconciliation. The first step to reconciliation is understanding each other. We are honest about our feelings and the thoughts behind those feelings. Then, we approach the offender and share those feelings and thoughts in a non-judgmental, level-headed way. After speaking, we allow the offender to share their side. The goal is mutual understanding, not venting. The second step to reconciliation is to prevent further hurts. No one is perfect. In reconciliation both parties admit their flaws and work toward maturity, changing based upon the insights of the other. This requires humility. But, as we conflict well, we grow into better people. Sometimes, these two steps are too hard to be taken alone. In difficult conversations, a mature third party, like a friend or a pastor, can be invited into the discussion to work as an unbiased mediator. The third choice we could take is legal action. Sometimes someone has hurt us and crossed into abuse. This is the hardest step to take but must be done. Abuse is a crime and should be prosecuted. Reach out to someone trusted to walk with you through the process and seek spiritual counseling to heal from hurts inflicted on you. |
Peter SamplePastor of Calvary Bible Church, Neligh, NE. Missionary with RHMA. Husband to Maggie. Father to Grace, David, and Daniel. Saved by Jesus Christ Archives
April 2023
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