Have you ever been sucked into a shame spiral? Nasty stuff. Shame is a fear-based state accompanied by feelings of being unworthy and unlovable. You may feel powerless, abandoned, worthless. Shame is as old as Adam and Eve. They sniffed the garden flowers, yakked with the serpent, chewed the forbidden fruit, and oops! They realized they were naked! After their shocking discovery, the couple patched together leafy skivvies, and hid from God. Sin and shame covered them simultaneously. Have you ever been sucked into a shame spiral? Here are some of the symptoms: We discount our strengths and abilities. “I’ll never amount to anything.” We obsess over our flaws. “I’m so fat! Hand me the Cheetos!” We judge ourselves by other people’s expectations. “My brother is the quarterback on the football team. I’m only the water boy. ” We can shame ourselves by confusing what we do with who we are. “I’m retired now. I was an executive. Now I’m just a drain on society.” Mean words from friends or family members damage our self-image and sabotage our ability to be intimate with God and others. “I really am the black sheep of the family.” The lies of Satan, the Accuser of God’s children, wants us to feel as distant from God as possible. He reminds us of failures, causes us to stumble and distracts us from the truth of how God sees us. “God could never love me or forgive me.” How do you know if you struggle with shame? You are perfectionistic or legalistic, ashamed that you will never measure up. You are guarded and terrified that people will discover the “real you.” You criticize others to bolster your low self-esteem. You bury your pain in addictions like drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping and more. You avoid responsibility-low grades or poor job performance because you’ve “given up”. You don’t allow yourself to enjoy anything, because you don’t deserve to be blessed. You talk about yourself in negative ways. The prodigal son clearly shows us the difference between guilt and shame. Starving and exhausted, he stumbled home to his loving father and cried, “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” Luke 15:21 NIV This guy acted like a jerk. He demanded his inheritance, an inheritance he shouldn’t have received before his Dad’s death, he squandered his cash living large with wine and women, and he returned home with his tail between his legs. Notice the two sentences. One reflects guilt. “Father, I have sinned against heaven (God) and against you. The other reflects shame. “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Who said that? Certainly not his Dad. Daddy welcomed him with open arms, forgave him and celebrated with a barbecue. I’ve always felt ugly. My little sis looked like Barbie. I thought I looked like a Cabbage Patch kid. My husband Roger spent most of our marriage complimenting me on how beautiful he thought I was. One sunny June morning on our tenth anniversary, I was brushing my molars, my hair still bundled in a wet towel. Roger walked in and said, “Julie, you are so gorgeous.” For the first time in a decade I smiled at my reflection in the mirror and replied, “Well, maybe I’m not that bad after all.” It took YEARS of my husband’s admiration to overcome my self-deprecation and shame. Focusing on God’s love for us can help us climb out of the shame spiral. Here are a few verses that will eliminate shame and help us to see ourselves as God sees us. Satan wants us to feel like failures and dirty sinners. Feeling that way keeps us from confidently approaching God’s throne and having an intimate relationship with Him! The blood of Jesus was shed so that we can confidently approach God and have an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father: Hebrews 9:14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” You need to stop thinking about your past failures. Your sin has been dealt with and washed away. Therefore, you are meditating on something that no longer exists! If your sins are in the depths of the sea, then why are you still obsessing over them? 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.” Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” Now that our past failures have been forgiven, we need to leave them there and press forward towards the things God has for us: Philippines 3:13, “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” Adam and Eve hid from God in their handmade leafy underwear. God took them, sacrificed an animal and gave them fur coats. Jesus gives us white robes instead of the dirty rags of disgrace. Climb out of your shame spiral and receive God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. Resources: www.angriesout.com www.tyndale.ca/counseling/issues/shame/ www.greatbiblestudy.com.

God is positioning me. Say, “I’m positioned for a miracle”. And that means that we have to learn how to see in our spirit what we cannot sense. And this is such an important skill that I want to devote my whole sermon to it today. Let me read you this story. You may be familiar with it, maybe not. But just to jump right in the middle of it in 2 kings chapter 6 verse 15, the book says, “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots surrounded the city”. What he said next is what a lot of us have been saying, maybe we have been using different words, maybe we have been using stronger language, but he said, “Oh, no, my Lord”. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no. How many of you moms when you heard how long they whether canceling school, “Oh, no. No, no, no, no”. How many of y’all when you met with your financial advisor and clicked on your account were like, “Oh, no, no, oh, no”. I wish y’all put that in the chat with a bunch of ohs, say “Oh, no”. Just as many ohs as your thumb can type. And we feel that way, especially if we are worried about symptoms or if we are struggling in an emotional way, “Oh, no”. I love where it says in the Bible, his response, he is a servant of the man of God, but his first response was not “Praise God”, his first response was, “Oh, no”. And we want to pretend to be real spiritual. I see all your prayer emojis, but you’ve been having some emojis too. You need to find that little devil emoji. Because really, you know what happened to the servant in the passage. Let me take a moment to set this up. Do you have anything else to do? I don’t have anything else to do. We may as well hang out for awhile, but he woke up to a different world than the one went to sleep in. He woke up to a different world than the one he went to sleep in. He said “Oh, no”. Now, if you’ve ever woken up to a different world, than the one you went to sleep in, you’ll understand that it creates an impulse: some people call it fear, I just call it humanity. It’s like, “Oh, yeah”. If you’ve ever lost somebody, if they left your life suddenly, whether they died or just went away and you woke up to a different world that didn’t have them in it, like maybe you remember the first time you woke up in a world without your dad, maybe you remember the first time you woke up in a world without a steady job, remember the first time you woke up in the world without the NBA. I remember when they started canceling everything a couple weeks ago, and I say it, not in a humorous way, but when things get canceled that you used to count on, it makes you question everything. And so, whether it is something we would say “It’s entertainment or it’s this or that”, it is just the feeling of like “Oh, no”. Watch this question. It gets even more specific. “What shall we do”? Okay. That’s where you find yourself today. I want to preach a message to you, “What do I do”? What do I do? And the servant asked the question, and the prophet gives the answer in verse 16. He says, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed”, we will get this prayer today, and we are going to pray it for the next seven days until I see you again in this format, we are going to pray this prayer over those we love and we are going to pray this prayer over ourselves. Here is the prayer. I’ve been putting this on all my text messages, because I’ve got business leaders in my church that are like “Oh, no. What do we do”? I’ve got doctors in our church saying “Oh, no, what do we do”? And I don’t have the answer. So this is the prayer. This is the prayer that I want us to pray right about now. “Open his eyes, Lord that he may see”. Open his eyes, Lord, that he may see. Somebody put in the chat, “Open my eyes”. Put in the comment, “Open my eyes”. Those of you sitting on schools behind me, say “Open my eyes”. “I’m his eyes so he may see. Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha”. And you know, I love that text so much. I love how God was protecting his servant and how God was more powerful than the enemy and I love how “No weapon formed against us shall prosper”. I love all that, but sometimes when you are in a real situation or a circumstance, the cliches don’t comfort you very much. I didn’t know what to call this message. I don’t know what we will call it when we put it on line. We’ll figure that out later. But I did flashback just reading this passage to the other night. Abby, who is our nine year old. All of you who are part of the church know my kids, I have a nine year old, 12 year old, 14 year old. But Abby is the most prone to come downstairs in the middle of the night and wake us up because she got scared and she came downstairs the other day and she is trembling about something. Something fell over in the bathroom. And I want quite asleep yet. If I had been totally asleep I would have done the spiritual thing and say, “Tell your mom”. True story, but I still wasn’t asleep, so I said, “Come here, baby girl”, I’m a real good dad. And I said, “Get up on my chest and sit here”. I said “What is wrong”? She said, “I’m scared. Something fell over. Something’s in the bathroom”. I said, “Baby, nothing’s in the bathroom. And besides, even if it is, you are here with me now”. I said “Feel this”. And she gave me a squeeze. We play this game: the squishy wall, the bricky wall. The squishy wall, the bricky wall. Squishy, squishy, squishy wall. Bricky, bricky, bricky wall. I said, “Feel the bricky wall”. She’s still crying though, and I said, “There’s nothing in your bathroom, and even if there is, you are with me now”. She said, “I’m still scared”. I love kids. I’m going to call this message for a minute, “I’m still scared”. Because, you know, while it is easy to quote scriptures like, “Don’t be afraid”, let’s look at it for a moment and take a perspective, because you know, we are having a hard time even dealing with just a virus right now, but this is not invisible virus, this is horses and chariots that came to get the man of God. This is like, I went to sleep, we were good. I woke up and we were surrounded. I went to sleep, I had a job, I woke up, I didn’t. I went to sleep, things were well and I woke up to a different world and he asked him a question. And it is a reasonable question, this is the man of God. This is the preacher. This is the guy who speaks and God who provides, this is the guy to speaks and God supplies, so he asked the question to the right person, he said, “What do we do”? Watch the answer the man of God gives Elisha. He says, “Don’t be afraid”. Well that’s cute. Appreciate it. Thanks a lot. You know how people give you advice that makes you want to slap them? “Well, the hadn’t thought of that”. And this is the time for well meaning Christians to shut up a little bit. “You lost your job, God will provide”. That is fine in certain context, but, sometimes, and I want you to see how Elisha does this, sometime it is more important what we don’t do than what we do do. That didn’t come out exactly right. You know what I was trying to say. Sometime what I won’t do in a season where I’m uncertain is even more important than what I could, because let’s follow the text. I want to take our time. We don’t have another service coming in so we can do this right. “What shall we do”? The prophet said “Don’t”. Go back to 15, “What shall we do”? The prophet said “Don’t”. And the man said, “What shall we do”? And the prophet said “Don’t”. I will ask a question. “What won’t you do”? In a time where so many are desperate and we are all kind of fearful and we all feel scared. If you are not scared right now, I’m scared of you. If you are not scared right not, you are some kind of a evil-side robot to destroy the planet, and I want you to quarantined, because to have flesh means to feel fear. So, while he is wondering, “What does this new world that I woke up to mean? And what do we do”? The prophet starts by saying “Don’t. Don’t”. So, maybe for you it abouts like goes like this right now. I won’t lash out the people closes to me, because of the fear that I feel about what’s going on outside of me. Maybe it is like that. “What won’t you do”? What a question, right? “What do we do”? The first thing you’ve got to do is decide what you won’t do. So, I won’t just make irrational stories up in my mind. I won’t spend three hours reading conspiracy theories on Twitter and then ask the Lord, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep”. You gave your soul away that way. So, what I won’t do is spend time in the hypothetical. What I won’t do. What won’t you do? I would have been annoy with the prophet. “What do we do? What is the plan, man? Fight them? There are so many of them. It is just me and you”. And by this time Elisha is kind of old, “You know, you can’t fight. If it is just me versus all of them, what do we do? What is the plan? What do we do? What is the deal”? “Don’t be afraid”. They are not working for me right now. How do I do that? How do I don’t be afraid? “I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid” – still scared. She said, “I’m still scared. I know you are with me. I’m still scared. There is still something in my bedroom”. I’m still nine, I’m weak, I still have bills. I’m still got to show up at the grocery store and work. I still have a relative who’s 84 years old, starting to cough I wonder if I will see her again. I’m still scared. So why does he say “Don’t be afraid”? Ok, I want to teach a little bit. It is almost impossible to be strategic when you are scared. And so, the first thing we have to do as people of faith, and I use that term not to mean as optimists or people who believe in fairytales or people who float on cotton candy through the suffering of this world, because we know Jesus. I don’t mean that kind of faith. I don’t mean formulaic faith. I don’t mean the answer kind of faith. I mean the better question kind of faith. “What do we do”? Well, “What do we don’t”? We don’t give way to despair. What good would that do? I know another thing we don’t do – we don’t minimize the suffering of others. We don’t do that. How about this? We don’t compare what somebody else is going through with what we are going through. And we don’t start running around saying dumb stuff. We don’t get on YouTube and comment how this is God’s judgment. We don’t speak above things we don’t know that is above our pay grade. It is the judgment of God? What? And somebody’s mother died and you want to be some kind a closet theologian, keep your day job. God is God. I’m not going to try to be God, that’s he’s job. You remember the Holy’s story that she preached one time, she told about this boys that were fighting. This is a quarantine story, all right? Those who have real kids who fight sometimes. They were fighting two brothers. If I mess it up you can fix it for me. The mom said “What are you fighting about”? One had a sandwich and would not cut it and half and share it. She said “Y’all need to share. Be like Jesus. Jesus would share”. The boy that had the sandwich looked at her and he took a bite and said, “You be Jesus. You can share. I’m going to take a bite”. When my wife preached that message, her message was let God be God. Let God be God. You be Jesus. You be humble. You be trusting. Jesus had a nevertheless attitude towards his relationship with his Father. “I don’t want to go to the cross, I don’t want to drink this cup, nevertheless not my will but yours be done”. You be Jesus. What I won’t do in this situation, it is just as important as what I will do. So the Holy Spirit is on that statement right now, reflect on it. “What won’t you do”? What we are gonna do? “What won’t you do”? I won’t live in fear. I may feel fear, but I won’t live in it. I may experience sensations of fear, I felt my breath getting short the other day, before I stood up to preach. Somebody said how long were you preaching before you stopped feeling scared. I said “I’m still scared. Every time I preach. I was shaking before I came out here today. I know how to control my shake, so you don’t see it, but my hands shake when they were in my pockets”. This is important to me. Somebody is discouraged, depressed, somebody is on the edge, and I get to preach the word? That is important to me. I don’t want to be the weak link of what God wants to give to you. I don’t want to come out here and miss the Mark of what God wants to say. I’m still scared, but it does not have to stop me. What I’m saying is, not that I won’t feel fear, not that I wouldn’t have questions, not that I won’t sometime in my mind when I’m praying prayers, I’m praying prayers that really don’t sound like prayers. I’m praying prayers like “Oh, crap”. I’m praying prayers like “Please God”. I’m praying prayers, I’m not walking around the house all the time with my hands lifted, but I won’t stop worshipping, I won’t stop praising. I won’t stop. I won’t stop. That is what I won’t do. I won’t back down. I won’t give in. I will not surrender. I will not give away my joy, I will not give away my peace. My peace was purchased with the blood of Christ. It is is too expensive, you can have it. It is too valuable, it is the only treasure I’ve got. I might be scared but I’m still going to stand on the word of the Lord. I won’t bow to your statue Nebuchadnezzar. I won’t bow. Put me in a fire if you have to. Tie up my hands and throw me in the furnace, this is Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They said, “The God that we serve is able to deliver us, and we know that he will, but even if”. Somebody say, “Even if”. Even if he does not, I will not bow. The only thing the fire is going to do is burn off what you tied me up with. God said “I’m setting you free in this season. I’m going to use the fire to set you free. I’m going to set you free from addiction, I’m going to set you free from bad priorities, I’m going to set you free from distractions”. So that’s what the man said, he said. “Don’t be afraid”. You can feel fear, it can ride in the car, but it cannot drive. I can’t wait to hear testimonies on this message, because you have been letting that joker drive. You have been letting that crook, that robber, that thief, that devil have your life and your peace and your joy. And so, he said, “Here is what we are not going to do”, he said, “Don’t be afraid”. Now, who says it is just as important as what he said. How many will agree? So, if my 14 says to me, “Don’t worry, God’s got this”. But my mom says it, it has more weight because of who said it. So, Elisha’s ministry was a prophetic ministry. It is not about telling the future. It is be seeing. It is about seeing the invisible. Would you agree with me that one of the lessons God is trying to get us to learn right now, I’m sure there are many lessons that we’ll understand, because of what we are going through as a society. But would you agree with me, that one of the lessons he is getting us to learn is that sometimes what we can’t see is more important than what we can see? I mean, just even thinking about it, how I stood on the stage last week and preached what was happening on the other side I could see was significant, and at the same time the entire economy is rocking and reeling because of invisible virus. And so the Bible started to get real to me when I thought about, you know, scriptures that used to sound good, but now they make more sense, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against a spiritual wickedness, principalities, rulers”. What he is trying to say is like, “What we are fighting we can’t see has to first be approach to the level we can see”. God is trying to show us some things today, because watch this, not only that he tell him, “Don’t be afraid”, and this is not coming from a man who has never had to face fear before. This is coming from a prophet who had to walk into a widow’s house. If you wanna do a Bible study this week, you know, if you just get tired of a what is that show that everybody on my staff is watching with the tigers, tiger king. If you get tired of tiger king – I will look for a Netflix sponsorship, check out of this. But, if you get tired of watching that, read 2 kings 4. The same God that said “Don’t be afraid” to the servant, when they were surrounded by the army, who came to lock him up for what he could see. He had to walk into a woman’s house who said, “I’m about to go into debt, my husband is dead, I have nothing to pay it with. And I have nothing in my house at all, except a little oil”. Now, this prophet Elisha had the ability to see in a little bit, what the woman could no see, because she was looking through a different lens. A lot of us have thought of faith as being this way that we manipulate God, but now we find ourselves in a season, where we cannot control almost anything. We can’t control what is open and what is closed. We can’t control at some level what happens in foreign markets that affects us at home, what happens if foreign places. In the season of what we cannot control we have to redefine faith. I thought faith was like a lever. Picture this, and like when we pull the lever, “Have faith, give them praise. Give him a praise. When praises go up blessings come down”. It’s like transaction, all right? It’s like “Yes, Lord”. Like, “I’m going to pray my kids will make straight a’s. I’m going to pray, and my headache will gone away”. I’mma pray, pray, but see, faith is not a lever. Faith is a lens. A way of seeing your situation. And sometimes faith changes the situation, sometimes faith changes the way you see the situation. Sometimes God changes it, sometimes it changes me. The only way I know to stop being afraid is to change what I’m focused on. So I just need us right now to begin to ask the Lord to illuminate, not eliminate. “Oh, God, take the fear away”. It does not work like that. “Oh, God, give me all the answers, tell me the plan. I need the strategy”. God said, “Before I give you the strategy, I’m going to give you your sight and shine light on the situation”. Lord, shine your light in our hearts. To show us who you are. Not who we thought you were. Show us what it means to belief that you are able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or imagine. Just right now in the chat or in the comments, as a prayer say, “Open my eyes to see, that there is more for me than against me”. You are like, “Pastor, that’s really cute, but that cliche is not comforting right now. I feel alone”. I know you feel alone, but you are not alone. Even if you are alone physically or even if you’re trying to provide for a lot of people right now, many people are, I’m right there with you. The scripture says, “If God is for you, who can be against you”? Me and God is greater than anything I face. Us and God the church, we are not alone. Like right now we are together. Right now in this moment we’re together, right now we are fighting, worshiping together, spreading the Word of God of the Lord together. Right now. We have more reasons to trust God than we do to doubt him. Come on. We have more victories behind us than we do reasons to fear in front of us. Do you hear me? We’ve got more reasons to be grateful right now than we do to be afraid right now. Come on, with a perspective of praise and with wide open eyes and even with lifted hands, let your kids see you worshiping God, let your kids see how you fight your battles. Let your kids see how you get through a storm. Let a generation be whole. We are that generation that will declare the works of the Lord. There are more for us than against us. He is a mighty God. A present help. I prophesy over your life today: you may be scared but that does not stop the presence of the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.

On Good Friday, and on Easter Sunday, we consider events that occurred while on the road. As Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem for His atoning death and glorious resurrection, He was met on the road by a crowd of worshiping supporters who laid their garments on that road as Jesus entered their city. This singular event, traditionally called the triumphal entry, displays four attributes of God’s personality reflected in Christ’s life and ministry. Happy Palm Sunday. [APPLAUSE] So when I was a kid, perhaps Palm Sunday was my favorite– one of my favorite Sundays of the year. Of course, I didn’t get branches this big, but I loved going to church on that day for a few reasons. Number one, because I actually got something back at church. I didn’t have to like just get up and be there. They gave me something, and I thought that was cool. Number two, I love palm trees. We have a lot out in California, and I always think of it as God’s favorite tree. And then number three, because Palm Sunday was that transitional period of the year where I knew, as a kid, the days were getting longer and there would be more time to play. It’s a very carnal reason to like Palm Sunday. But for those reasons I really enjoyed Palm Sunday growing up. On one particular Sunday, a boy had a sore throat so he didn’t make it to church on that Palm Sunday, but his family went. And they came back, and when they came back, they all had these little palm leaves, palm fronds. And so he said, well, what is that all about? And the father explained that the people held them up as Jesus walked by. And the little boy got very sad when he heard that, and he said, great, wouldn’t you know it, the one Sunday I miss church Jesus shows up. In one church, the ladies wanted to decorate the sanctuary with anemones, little flowers, like purple and white wildflowers. They came into the sanctuary and found it already decorated with these, with palm fronds. And they went to the Pastor, and they said, well, we like to decorate it with these flowers instead of these palms. And the Pastor just said, well, with fronds like these, who needs anemones? That’s a dad joke. The theme this year for Holy Week, the team has chosen On the Road, and that is because so many significant events in the life of Jesus’s ministry, especially in the final week, Passion Week Holy Week, happened on the road. So we’re going to consider today On the Road to Jerusalem as Jesus enters the city on Palm Sunday, a message that I have preached in different texts of the New Testament on a number of occasions. Friday, Good Friday, we’re going to look at on the road to Golgotha Calvary, the Cross, and then on Easter Sunday, On the Road to Emmaus, a post Resurrection event from the Gospel of Luke. Jesus spent a lot of time on the road with his disciples. If you go back to chapter– by the way, turn to Matthew 21 for your text this morning, if you’re not already there. Matthew 21 is where we’re going to be reading from. But a chapter before that, in Matthew, Chapter 20, before Jesus even gets to Jerusalem, we read in Verse 17, “now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the 12 disciples aside on the road and said to them,” so there they are on the road, “behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests to the scribes. They will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.” Then in Matthew 21, the very next chapter, the chapter we’re going to be looking at, in Verse 8, “and a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.” Roads were important in ancient times like they are in modern times. Roads connect people. They connect cities. They connect countries. They connect civilizations. People bring goods and trade and sell and buy on roads. Armies marched on the roads. The Roman Empire was so committed to a road system that they built 250,000 miles of roads. That’s a quarter million miles of roads Rome built. And of those 250,000 miles, 50,000 miles were paved roads. We’re talking 2,000 years ago. We’re talking roads that they paved with stones. In fact, you can walk 2,000 years later on Roman roads still intact to this day. They wanted to make sure that those roads were kept safe, so on the roads, they put soldiers stationed to protect travelers from getting hijacked, from getting robbed, from being killed. They wanted to make sure that ideas, as well as commerce, could travel on those roads freely, and that set up for the preaching of the gospel through Paul the Apostle who took advantage of those roads and spread the gospel throughout the empire. We’re working at the road to Jerusalem, and the journey that Jesus takes to Jerusalem will end, as you know, in His death. From a human standpoint, what happens on the road on this day that we’re looking in Matthew 21, from a human standpoint, this is the day that breaks the camel’s back. Jesus publicly stages a demonstration, very first time he has ever done this, first and only time. He knew what the consequences would be. Up until now, if you’re familiar at all with the Gospels you know that whenever Jesus did something like a miraculous healing, he would always tell people, keep it quiet. Don’t tell anybody what just happened. Good luck with that. But on this day it’s different. On this day, he coordinates all of what is happening in these events to make a public demonstration that will cause the leadership to think in their minds, we have to get rid of this man. We have to kill him. It’s the only way out. That’s from a human standpoint. From a divine standpoint, this day has been planned from eternity past. Keep in mind Revelation 13 describes Jesus as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This was always in God’s plan, for this event, for this day to come. Looking at Matthew 21, we’re going to look from verses 1 down to Verse 11. That takes up the story. We discover some very practical lessons from the road. We discover four attributes of God, four aspects of the divine personality. So we’re going to look at the story through the lens of four words, four words– sovereignty, humility, punctuality, and controversy. Those four words sum up the events of this day and provide the lens through which we notice these attributes. First of all, let’s begin with sovereignty, that God is in control. Let’s just begin the story, Verse 1 Matthew 21. “Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage,” that’s how we say it in English. It’s actually a Hebrew word, [HEBREW], which means House of Unriped Fig. It’s a little village just on the top of the Mount of Olives. When they came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.” So not one, but two donkeys, a mother and its child, a Colt. “Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, the Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them. All this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, tell the daughter of Zion, behold your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the fall of a donkey.” A little background will help. The season is Passover. At Passover the city swelled with people, up to five times its normal population. Every Jewish male within 20 miles was required to attend three major feasts in Jerusalem. Passover was one of them, so thousands upon thousands, if not up to a million or more, were in Jerusalem at this moment. Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, tells us that on one particular Passover around this time, between 66 and 70 AD, 256,000 lambs were slaughtered. One Passover, 256,000 lambs. It is not unusual to have one lamb to feed 10 people. So many scholars will say up to a million, some will even say 2 and 1/2 million people could have been in and around the city of Jerusalem at that time. You also need to know that there were massive preparations already in place for Passover season. Roads were repaired, bridges were fortified, graves were painted or whitewashed, so that you could see the white and get away from them. You’d never wanted to walk on a grave because you could become defiled as a Jewish person. This day is probably Sunday. That’s why we call it Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday. In the Jewish calendar, it was the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, Nisan the 10th. In our calendar, that would be April 6th 32 AD. Jesus enters Jerusalem from the East. It was probably a sunny day, most days around this season are in Jerusalem. Jesus entered from the East from Jericho. He had been in Jericho. You know what happened in Jericho? He met a short, little tax collector named Zacchaeus who wanted to get a look at him. He went to his house for lunch and won his heart. Zacchaeus could have even traveled with Jesus to Jerusalem. Also in Jericho there were two blind men that Jesus met, one by the name of Bartimaeus. Jesus healed both of them. They could have been with him in this entourage. So Jesus crests the Mount of Olives. He has been in town probably since Friday, because that’s when Sabbath starts, Friday evening. So he probably went to Lazarus’ house. Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, that’s where he stayed in Jerusalem since the Sabbath, spent Friday, night Saturday, all day Saturday until Saturday evening. And then on Sunday morning he crests the Mount of Olives. When he does, he gives a strange request to his disciples. He’s never asked for this before– a donkey. Hey, go into that village and get a donkey. Bring them. If they say anything, just say the Lord needs it. Now, he has never asked for this before. Jesus has walked everywhere he has ever been, but there’s no word of argument here, like what? Get a what? And that’s because the disciples have learned by now that when Jesus tells them to do something, you don’t need to question him. He’s got something going on. There’s a good reason for it. So for example, the time when Jesus said, I need that lunch that kid brought today, because he took it and broke the bread and blessed it and multiplied it and fed thousands of people with it. Or the time when Jesus told his disciples who were fishing in the Sea of Galilee, hey, throw your nets on the other side of the boat like that would make a difference. But it made all the difference. They had a huge catch that day. Or when he was in Cana of Galilee, and Jesus gave the order to take jars of wine that were empty and fill them with water, which made no sense at all until Jesus turned them into wine and then everybody went, oh, that’s what he had in mind. So by now they have learned you don’t question him, you just do what he says, and so they did it. Now, what’s amazing about this story is that when you read it there’s lots of details that Jesus gives, and it’s as if, when you read it, it’s all been arranged. And that’s because it has been arranged. You’re going to go into this village. There’s going to be a guy. You’re going to see a couple of donkeys. They’re going to ask you this question, you’re going to say this, and then you’re going to bring it. It’s like, wow, wouldn’t you love direction like that? Wouldn’t you love every day to wake up and you have a little list of things to do that God gives you? And so you’re going to go to the gas station. You’re going to meet a man with a blue shirt. He’s going to be driving a red Ferrari. You’re going to go up to him and say, I need your keys. And he’s going to go what’s up with that? And then you’re just going to say, God needs it, and he’ll say here. [LAUGHTER] So two of the disciples were sent. We don’t know which two. I’m going to make a guess, and I think it’s a pretty good guess. I think Pedro and John went. I think it’s Peter and John, because during this same season of Passover, it says Jesus sends Peter and John into the city of Jerusalem to secure a upper room to eat the Passover in. He specifically sent them to get that done, so I’m guessing he probably used those two here. And I like to picture that, because I can just picture them talking to each other during this event. I can hear John saying, I’ll do all the talking, Peter. You’re a little rough around the edges. Besides, I’m the disciple Jesus loved. You can read that in my book, I said so. And then Peter saying, no, I’m the one that Jesus called blessed. Remember up and says Caesarea Philippi, blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah. So keep rank here, John, I’m going to do the talking. Whatever happened, happened. But what this illustrates is God’s sovereignty. God is never out of control. He has never not in control, and he is the master of this situation, absolutely in control of every single detail. Oh, here’s a detail that Matthew doesn’t add, but Luke does and Mark does. The donkey that Jesus rode, it says here, was a colt. But it says, upon which never a man had ridden, so Jesus getting on that donkey was the first time that donkey ever gave anybody a ride. Now, I think that shows sovereignty because an unbroken donkey is not nice. An unbroken donkey would buck like crazy. It wouldn’t like a blanket put on its back and then getting it around lots of people and putting palm branches in its face would not be a recipe for a good ride. Question, why a donkey? Why a donkey? Was it that Jesus just said, you know? I’m tired. I’d rather– instead of walking, I’d rather just get– I’ve always wanted a donkey ride on the Mount of Olives. No, we’re told why. It says in Verse 4, all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. Then he quotes the prophet in the next verse. He’s quoting Zechariah Chapter 9 Verse 9, tell the daughter of Zion, behold your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, the colt, a foal of a donkey. That was a promise given 500 years before this event, 500 years. Matthew quotes it to show that God is sovereign. He is up to something. William Barclay says in his commentary, this was Jesus deliberately claiming to be their King. He’s presenting himself as their King. Like Zechariah said, the King is coming on a donkey. Now something also that is an important detail, kings rode horses in times of war. Kings road donkeys in times of peace, so this shows the Jesus’ appearance was not a political appearance. He’s not there to take anything over. My Kingdom is not of this world. He’s not there to fight. He didn’t come on a white horse. He will come on a white horse at his second coming, Revelation 19. He will come to make war, it says. But here he is offering peace. Here he is offering salvation to bring people into a state of peace with God. So we see Jesus in complete control, sovereignly orchestrating every single detail. And I just want you to hear that, especially those of you who have been thinking lately, my life seems out of control, operative word there– seems. Are you a child of God? Then it’s not out of control. It’s in perfect control. All things work together for good to those who love God. God is in control of everything. God rules the universe, we like to say, with His feet up. He’s not stressed. Sovereignty, that’s the first word. He is in control. The second word is humility, humility. God uses our resources. Look at Verse 3. “And if anyone says anything to you,” about the donkey that you’re going to get from that town, “if anybody says anything to you, you shall say,” here’s the magic phrase, “the Lord has need of it,” or need of them. “And immediately he will send them.” Now just meditate on this for a moment. The Lord has need of them. That sounds like an oxymoron. The Lord has need? Since when does God need anything? God doesn’t need anything. We say that God is a non-contingent being. One of the essential parts of God’s nature is that He is independent. He doesn’t need anyone. He doesn’t need anything. When Paul stood and addressed the philosophers in Athens on the Areopagus, he said, neither is he worshipped with men’s hands as though He needed anything, for he gives to all life, breath, and all things. God doesn’t need anything, but here Jesus said, just tell them the Lord has need of that. So this shows us God’s humility, that God is willing to condescend, to bow, to bend, to get down to our level, so that it can be said God needs something he has provided to somebody else. God didn’t need a donkey, and if God did need a donkey, couldn’t He just stand there and go poof, instant donkey. Go get one, say the Lord has need of it. So because of this attribute of God, His humility, we can say that God needed a donkey to ride. God needed a boat when Jesus stood on that boat and preach the gospel to a crowd. He needs a mountainside in Galilee from which to preach. He needed bread and fish in His hands to multiply to feed the multitude. He needed to borrow a tomb to stage a Resurrection after His death. So I say to you this morning, God needs your donkey. I’m not talking about your husband. [LAUGHTER] I’m talking about whatever God has given you, put in your hands, whatever resource you say is your resource– this is my stuff. I’ve earned this. I own this. God needs your donkey, and the highest use of your stuff is when you allow God to use it for His glory. So God would say to you this morning, I want, I need, your donkey. I need whatever I have put in your hands. And so every year when we have an Operation Christmas Child, and we take all those boxes and all the gifts that we bring here, we could say God needs your shoe box this year. You keep the shoes, just give them the box and fill it with toys. God needs this property. God needs that piano, those drums. He wants to use it for His glory. Anything you place in His hands, He can bless and use. And why? Why is that? I think God loves when His kids can take part in kingdom work. This is what it’s like. When my son Nate was a toddler, seems so long ago, but seems like the other day for us, when he was a toddler, I needed to build a gate at my house, a little wooden gate. And so I was in the garage. I had it all measured. I had the wood. I had my hammer, screws, nails. I had everything set out. Nate comes in, little toddler, and goes, Dad, can I help build the gate? Now what’s Dad going to say when his son asks, can I help? I’m going to say, yes, you can help build the gate, absolutely. Knowing when I say that, he’s really not going to give me a lot of assistance that day. He’s a toddler. His hammer is a plastic hammer. His screwdriver is a plastic screwdriver. Dad, can I help? Sure. I know it’s probably going to take me longer with his help, but when it’s all done, you know what he says? He says, look what we did. Look what we built. And I think God takes particular pleasure when His kids allow God to use whatever their donkey is so they can say look what we did? And we can partner in kingdom work. The Bible says 1 Corinthians 3:9, we are co-laborers with Christ or we are God’s fellow workers. So that is humility, sovereignty followed by humility. Third word is punctuality, punctuality. Do you know that God is never late? He’s never late. Sometimes we think he’s like, God, you should have done this at that time. You’re late. No, you’re early. God is never late. He is perfectly always on time. So in Verse 6, the disciples went, did as Jesus commanded them. “They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut down branches from trees, spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” It is only John who informs us that on that day they took palm branches. That’s why we call it Palm Sunday. That’s because of the Gospel of John. If we didn’t have the Gospel of John, we wouldn’t call it Palm Sunday. It just says here, there were branches of trees. John says they were palm branches. Now, palm branches were a symbol of strength, resilience, because palm trees grow in adverse climates. They don’t need a whole lot of water, and they can withstand lots of temperature change. But 150 years before this event, another event happened in Jerusalem by the Maccabean Brothers, the Maccabee brothers. Judas Maccabeus, Simon Maccabeus, they delivered Israel from the Syrian threat. And when they were able to reinstitute the temple sacrifices again, the people celebrated with palm branches and with music and with dancing in the streets. So that was sort of in their psyche to do this. They see Jesus as a deliverer, sort of like a Maccabean come back. And so they spread their clothes in the road. That’s very symbolic. When you take something that is your coat, something you’re wearing, and you take it off, and you put it on the road for people or animals to walk on, that’s a sign of surrender. You’re saying, you can have all of me. You can even trample on my clothes. So they spread their clothes. And you’ll notice in Verse 9, they cried out saying Hosanna. Hosanna is a word that means save now. Save now, and they’re not just making this up. They’re quoting Psalm 118, which is a Messianic Psalm. Save now, Lord. Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. So it’s an incredible event. When I mentioned punctuality, there’s more here than meets the eye. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke for a moment. Keep your marker here, but turn over to the Gospel of Luke, and look at Chapter 19. It’s a parallel account. It’s the same event, but Luke tells a story, and he adds a few details. And I want you to see those details. In Luke Chapter 19 I want to show you how on time God is. Verse 37 of Luke 19, “then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, teacher, rebuke Your disciples. But He answered and said to them, I tell you that if these,” disciples, “should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” I always tell people, when you stand on the Mount of Olives, reach down and pick up a stone. That’ll be your souvenir from Israel. Put it on your desk or put it on your coffee table at home. And when people say, what’s that? You can tell them that’s one of the stones that didn’t cry out. And they’ll say, well, what does that mean? You have an opportunity to share the Gospel with them. But I often wish that Jesus would have just said to His disciples, shh, don’t say anything. Watch this. I just wish he would have let this happen, the rock’s crying out. Wouldn’t that be cool? It’d be the first rock concert in history. [LAUGHTER] Now you walked right into that. [LAUGHTER] OK, so I didn’t finish the story. I got sidetracked. Now Verse 41, “as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying,” now watch this, “if you had only known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes for the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you, to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone upon another.” He is predicting what will happen in 70 AD. This did happen. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. But watch this, read this, the last phrase. “Because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Jesus is holding the nation accountable for knowing the day, this day, the day of their visitation. You should have known about this day. You didn’t know that day of your visitation. Now, in the next few moments, I’m going to beg your attention. Full attention, no cell phone, no texting, no distraction. You need extra brainpower for this, because I want you to– I want to show you God’s punctuality. In Daniel Chapter 9, you don’t have to turn there, just listen to me. Daniel Chapter 9, there is a prophecy given called the 70 weeks of Daniel. It’s the Backbone of Prophecy, it’s called. Daniel gives the timing of the coming of the Messiah, and this is what he says. In Daniel 9 verses 24 through 26, 70 weeks are determined for your people and for your Holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince shall be seven sevens and 62 sevens. The street and the wall will be built again, even in troublesome times. And after the 62 sevens, the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. It’s an amazing detailed prophecy announcing the coming of the Messiah. And he says there will be 70 sevens. Some translations say 70 weeks. Some say 70 weeks of years. More modern translations translate it out 490 years, because the Hebrew construction is [HEBREW], 70 sevens, or 490 years. So get this, 490 years are determined for the city of Jerusalem and for the Jewish people for these things to happen, and from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince shall be seven sevens and 62 sevens or 69 sevens, or 483 years. From the going forth of the commander restore and build Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince, 483 years. This so intrigued a guy by the name of Sir Robert Anderson about a century ago. He was the head of criminal investigation at Scotland Yard. It’s so fascinating to him he wrote a book called The Coming prince. It’s a very tedious book to read. I’ve read it. I have it. But he does the calculations. He calculated that 483 years according to the calendar would be 173,880 days exactly. So we know the date and history when a commandment went forth to restore and build Jerusalem. On March 14, 445 BC, Artaxerxes Longimanus, the Persian, said, restore and build Jerusalem, and you can build the wall and the streets again, just like the prophecy said. So Sir Robert Anderson said, well, that means if I count 173,880 days from March 14, 445 BC, and if I go– I should be able to come to some significant date of the Messiah the Prince, Daniel 9:24, 25, and 26, so he did. He did all the calculations, and he discovered that 173,880 days from March 14, 445 BC took them all the way to April the 6th, 32 AD or the 10th of Nisan. Or the very day Jesus said, go get that donkey. I’m going on a little donkey ride. I’m going to present myself to the nation. And then he said, you should have known this your day. This is the day of your visitation. Another little detail, the 10th of Nisan was always the day– the 14th day of Nisan was Passover. The 10th day of Nisan is when the lambs were selected that you would sacrifice on the day of Passover. So here is the lamb presenting himself to the nation, holding them accountable for that day. How precise is God, right? How precise is God? Down to the detail. Now just let me give you a quick little warning. Some of you are going to go home, because you’re fascinated by this. And you’re going to come back, and you’re going to get really mad. You’re going to get right in my face. You go, you’re wrong. I did the math, and it’s not 173,880 days, it’s 176,295 days. That’s what you’re going to tell me. And if you do that, I’m going to tell you you’re wrong in your calculation. You’ve been using the Julian calendar or the modern calendar. You need to go back and use, not the solar calendar, but the lunar calendar, which isn’t in 365 and a third days. That’s the modern calendar, but 360 day year. That’s the lunar calendar. You use those calculations, and you’ll come up with April 6th, 32 AD. No wonder Jesus wept over the city. He showed up exactly when their prophet Daniel said He would show up. And He said, you should have known the day of your visitation. So that’s punctuality. Let me give you the fourth word and we’ll close– controversy. Controversy, he always divides. Verse 10 of our text, “and when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved.” It’s a very powerful word– moved. It’s used three times in the Gospel of Matthew always referring to an earthquake. But here it says they were moved. They were shaken by this. “The city was moved, saying,” now get this, they’re saying, who is this? You know, talk about the insanity of a crowd, here’s a crowd saying all this, Hosanna, bless God, praise God and then they’re going, what are we singing about? Who is this? Crowds can do that. You can get caught up in the melee of a crowd and not even know what the issue is. It’s just a crowd making a lot of noise. Who is this? So the multitude said, that is some who are in the crowd, “this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” The crowd was moved. The problem is some in the crowd were moved toward Him, others in the crowd were moved away from Him. It’s not a homogeneous crowd. There’s different hearts. There’s different ways of looking at the same situation. Some are shouting Hosanna to the Son of David. Others are saying, like we saw in the Gospel of Luke, master or rabbi, teacher, tell your disciples to stop. Rebuke your disciples. The question for you is, how will it move you? Will that move you toward him or will it move you away from him? Now I love the exuberance of this moment. I love the fact that Jesus comes and some people are so stoked that they’re quoting Psalm 118, going, this is it. Hosanna, praise God, bless God, and it says they did it with a loud voice. Here it says in Verse 9, they cried out. I love exuberant praise. That’s how praise ought to be. It ought to be exuberant. I think some of us need to inform folks that Jesus is worth celebrating, because sometimes you come to church and Jesus risen from the dead, and it’s kind of like– yeah? Yawn. Oh, I’m supposed to say sing or get excited about Jesus being alive from the dead or something? I mean, it’s like, hello? Martin Luther was right. He said, you know, why is it in the secular field there’s such good music, but in the religious field there’s such lifeless, dead stuff? I think Martin Luther would like it here. Here we sing, and we sing with a loud voice. But a word about this crowd, as we bring this to a close, not everyone in that crowd, even those– not everyone singing Hosanna, praise the Lord, not everyone was a true disciple. This is a bandwagon effect. Some are shouting and saying, who is this? What’s going on? And some people in that crowd, in a few days, are the very ones who, when Jesus stands before Pilate, will say of Jesus, crucify him. Crucify him. They’ll turn in the other direction. And others, as we said, are mad about this– teacher rebuke your disciples. Here’s what’s fascinating to me, of all of the characters in the story, you know who’s the most compliant? The donkey. The very animal who is usually associated with stubbornness and non-compliance in this story is the most compliant. In Isaiah Chapter 1 the prophet said, the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know. My people do not consider.” I heard about a preacher who went to church on a Monday morning only to discover a dead donkey, which is an odd thing to find at church. So there he is looking at that dead donkey, doesn’t know who to call, so he gets on the phone, calls the police. The police tell him, well, is there evidence of foul play? He says, no, it’s just a dead donkey. He just looked like he just collapsed. And the police said, well, if there’s no evidence of foul play, it’s not under our jurisdiction. You need to call the health department. So he calls the health department. The health department said, well, it doesn’t sound like it’s a health hazard. So because it’s not a health hazard, it’s not under our jurisdiction. You need to call the sanitation department to come pick it up. So he gets on the phone, calls the sanitation department. Sanitation department also has– this is how government works– calls the sanitation department, sanitation department says, well, we can’t really pick up a dead donkey unless you get permission from the mayor. Well, the pastor knew the mayor, knew that the mayor was sort of cantankerous, stubborn, not easy to work with. But he calls the mayor on the phone. He goes, Mr Mayor, I have a dead donkey, and I’ve been told by this person to call that person to call that person. They all said I’ve got to call you to get permission. And the mayor got angry, and he said, why do you call me anyway? Isn’t it your job, preacher, to bury the dead? The preacher said, yes, Mr. Mayor, it is my job to bury the dead, but I always like to notify the next of kin first. [LAUGHTER] In this story, the Pharisees are the next of kin. Teacher rebuke your disciples. They’re the next of kin. Two questions as we close, number one, a God who is this accurate and this detailed, can you trust? Then why haven’t some of you trusted Him yet? Why haven’t you placed your life in His hands? Which is the follow up question, how will you respond in the day of opportunity, the day of your visitation? Will you be like the compliant donkey? Or will you be like the next of kin mayor? Father, this is an incredible story. It shows us so many things about Your nature, Your character. Things that we know from reading Your word and from our experience of walking with You. You are in control. you are absolutely, totally sovereign. But also it shows us that You are willing to stoop and bend Your humility of using common things, and even saying, I need that donkey. We’re amazed at Your punctuality, Lord, how perfectly timed this event was. And how Jesus showed up exactly on the date the prophet spoke of. But we also understand that not everybody sees Jesus or wants Jesus or talks of Jesus the same way. So Lord, I pray that this Jesus, not the ones we have made up, but this Jesus, the one who is the King, the one who presented Himself first to save the world from their sin, would be the one that has received today. [PIANO PLAYING] As we close the service, I’m giving you an invitation. If you have never surrendered your life personally to Christ, or if maybe you have done something like that in the past, but you’ve walked away from the Lord, you’re not living in obedience to him today, and you need to turn around on that road and come back to him. If you’re willing right now to say, Lord, receive me, forgive me, make me your child, renew and refresh my relationship with you. If that’s you, I want you right now just to raise your hand up in the air. Say, Lord, I give you my life, just raise your hand up, just keep it up for just a moment. Raise it up in the air, and just say, Skip, pray for me. Here’s my hand. In raising your hand, you’re just saying, I’m willing, I’m ready, to receive Christ as Savior or to come back to him as Lord and Savior. And then wherever you’re at, just say, Lord, come into my life, forgive me of my sin. I believe Jesus died for me on the cross and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin. I repent. I turn to Jesus as Savior. I want to follow Him as Lord. Help me to do that in Jesus’ name, amen.

Hope and Memory Memory is strong. Hope is stronger. Take away people’s memories and they become anxious. Take away people’s hope and they become terrified. Live for the future. HOPE AND MEMORY S-1788 Turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 13. “It is a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.” My prerogative to change my sermon from the one printed in the sermon handout. The New Year is a time of hope for the future. The past year is past. It is over. I want to think about hope for the future. •SLIDE: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:13: “Now these three remain: faith, HOPE, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I have heard many messages on love and faith. I have not heard many messages on hope. Let me illustrate hope. Hope looks to the future. Memory looks to the past. ILLUSTRATION: 40th birthday: black balloons or helium filled. Blow out the candles and make a wish. Or, you don’t want to bother? ILLUSTRATION: child learning to ride bike with training wheels. Individuals recently asked what they were looking forward to in 2010. Each answer revolved around the theme of Hope. * “I hope for less special interest politics and more of what is best for the country.” * “I hope the Afghanistan affair is settled. * “I’d like to see the economy stabilized.” * “I hope they balance the federal budget.” That will never happen. * “I hope the Cardinals win the Super Bowl.” That will never happen. Dallas is going to win. What are you hoping for in 2010? A year without sickness? A new job? The right person to marry? A new baby? A restored relationship with your wayward son or daughter? •SLIDE: MEMORY IS STRONG. (Like elephant never forgets, elephant is strong.) •SLIDE: But, HOPE IS STRONGER. (Like big earth mover.) STUDENT SUICIDE MY FIRST YEAR AT BAYLOR Remember two things. Deep impression on me. Exam time: pressure Article next morning in Baylor Lariat Eyeballs popped out when he hit the sidewalk. •SLIDE: Note he left behind “There is absolutely no hope.” •SLIDE: PEOPLE LIVE ON HOPE, NOT ON MEMORY. •SLIDE: TAKE AWAY PEOPLE’S MEMORIES AND THEY BECOME ANXIOUS. TAKE AWAY THEIR HOPES AND THEY BECOME TERRIFIED. •SLIDE: MEMORY IS STRONG. •SLIDE: PSALM 77:1-12: “I cried out to the Lord for help. When I was in distress I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. . . . I thought about the former days, the years long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. . . . •SLIDE: Then I thought, ‘to this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.’ I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider your mighty deeds.” What we remember: •SLIDE: 1. Tragic events –never forget, name some: car wreck, death Buck Craven: mention Janie, bring tears to her eyes. He never got over her death by drunk driver. •SLIDE: 2. Sinful events –name some, these go deep: adultery Stealing dime in 1st grade: bold face lies to teacher, class and mom. •SLIDE: 3. Embarrassing moments Pinched their tits or Grandy’s college girl rudeness. OR, “We are students at UofA. Really enjoyed your sermon today.” •SLIDE: 4. Celebrative experiences Fourth birthday, wedding day (best or worst thing I ever did) •SLIDE: 5. Hopes fulfilled (Sociologists tell us that we remember these best) Answered prayers; wedding day: 35 years of marriage. Ricky son-in law: “If mom died would you remarry?” No, can’t imagine anyone to replace mom.” Roger to Ricky: “If Bronwyn died, would you remarry?” Ricky: “Yes, probably.” Bronwyn’s head shot up! “What, you’d better not. I don’t want you to come into Heaven with another girl on your arm—-unless you marry some one who is not a Christian and goes to Hell!” •SLIDE: MEMORY IS STRONG. •SLIDE: BUT, HOPE IS STRONGER. Turn to the Book of Lamentations: Explain Jeremiah. Lamenting destruction of Jerusalem; canabalism and yet precious statement of hope. •SLIDE: LAMENTATIONS 3:21-26: “Yet, this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. •SLIDE: I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” DRAW SLIDE: GRAPH OF PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Hope: People look for hope in l. The Present 2. The Immediate Future (“get a raise soon and take care of my financial problems”) 3. The Distant Future (“when I finish my schooling I can get a good job and begin life) 4. The Next Life (river) If people can’t find realization of some of their hopes in present, they look to or postpone it to immediate future. If people can’t find realization of hope in immediate future, postpone to distant future. If people can’t find realization of hope in distant future, postpone to next life. (Because people can’t live without hope.) SURVEY IN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS FOUND NO HOPE. Depressed economy. Many out of work… People moved there 200 years ago and cut down trees and built houses for a fresh new life. Had hope in the present. Now, no one even bothers to build new house. No hope. But they didn’t look far enough! If they had looked back in the hollows and valleys into the backwoods on Sunday mornings, they would have seen lots of hope! Postponed Hope for the future. Listen to the singing, “When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound . . . Roll is Called up Yonder…” •SLIDE: Negro Spirituals are all based on Hope deferred. Slaves with no hope in the immediate or even the distant future brought their hope of eternal life into the present. By the way, you know that all the negro spirituals were written on the black keys on the piano? The pentatonic scale. Time of suffering, all their music had a five note scale. SING: “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen, Nobody knows like Jesus.” The most famous spiritual song in the world, “Amazing Grace,” was written by John Newton. John Newton was a British Slave trader who heard the singing of the Black African slaves in the holds of the ships on the way to slavery in America. He heard the same five notes arranged in various ways as the slaves sang of their suffering and of their hopes. When he found Christ he repented of the slave trade and never did it again. He composed the song Amazing Grace to memorialize the loving grace of God in forgiving his sins and saving his soul. He composed the tune of “Amazing Grace” on the five black notes of the piano as a perpetual memorial of the songs of suffering and hope of he overheard from deep in the holds of the slave trading ships. •DRAW SLIDE: (write on draw slide) PEOPLE LIVE ON HOPE, NOT ON MEMORY. (write on draw slide) OUR GOAL IS TO DRAW OUR HOPES FOR THE FUTURE—NOT OUR MEMORIES OF THE PAST—INTO THE PRESENT! For Example: Cemetery is a symbol of our hope into eternity and life beyond. Moan over memories, or look forward to seeing them again. See people weep over gravestones: “Momma’s dead. Good times and memories.” They are miserable. Others at same gravestone, “I will see her again! Leave with a smile.” Some are chained to the past. Others can bring their hopes of the future into their present and enjoy them now! Describe Ecclesiastes: Despair of mid-life crisis? old age? •SLIDE: ECCLESIASTES 7:10: “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions. Solomon says, “Stop living in past.” Why? •SLIDE: LIVING IN THE PAST HINDERS HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. LARRY was a “red necked truck driver” who grew up in abusive foster homes. Alcoholic, heavy smoker: “was not a Christian. Came to singles ministry so insecure he felt like a bug in a jar. Realized that he needed some help and came to Jerry for counseling and found Christ and life was changed. •SLIDE: “What I realize is that I have been closing the door to my future and crawling back into my past. What I need to do is close the door to my past and run into my future.” •SLIDE: THE SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH is located in Rowlett, Texas just outside of Dallas. For many years old highway 67 ran right between all the businesses on main street. A number of years ago the Texas Highway Department built a newer highway and rerouted the highway right behind the businesses. It was an easy matter to turn the stock around, build a porch at the back and make a new entrance. They were open for business on the new highway. All except the Sacred Heart Church. They refused to move the altar to the other end of the building and make a new entrance: “We have worshipped at that altar for the past 30 years and we are not about to change it now!” Some times it takes years to do in church what you can do at a business in 2 days. You can drive down highway 67 and see all the businesses open for business—but all you can see is the back wall of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The businesses thrived, but the church languished. Several years later a tornado blew through Rowlett and knocked the church off its foundation. The more spiritual ones wondered aloud if this might be a sign from God. They got some heavy equipment and carefully turned the church around on its foundation! The Sacred Heart Church grew and flourished. In fact, they recently relocated to a beautiful location overlooking Lake Ray Hubbard. They still use the turned around building as a wedding chapel. •SLIDE: MEMORY IS STRONG. •SLIDE: But, HOPE IS STRONGER. •SLIDES: PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14: “Not that I have already attained all this, or have already been made perfect. . . . But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining for what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” •SLIDE: A member of the Peace Corps tells of meeting a woman in the backwoods of Sierra Leone. She was from Oregon, where she taught at the University. She was now in the Peace Corps, living in a two-room dirt floor cottage with no electricity or running water and teaching nutrition to the women of the village. I asked her how she happened to choose this life, and she responded, “I am divorced. My children have all left home, and I decided that I had to choose between having a mid-life crisis and a mid-life adventure. I chose the adventure.” Solomon says that living in the past is not good. Get on with the rest of your life. •SLIDE: 95% OF THE BIBLE VERSES ABOUT HOPE REFER TO HEAVEN AND ETERNAL LIFE! •SLIDE: COLOSSIANS 1:5: “Faith and love spring from the HOPE that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the gospel that has come to you.” •SLIDE: TITUS 1:2: “Faith and knowledge rest on the HOPE of eternal life, which God who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.” •SLIDE: 1 JOHN 3:2-3: “But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him. . . . Everyone who has this HOPE in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” Why do all the Bible verses about hope focus on Heaven and eternal life? •SLIDE: AIM AT HEAVEN AND WE WILL GET EARTH “THROWN IN.” IF WE AIM AT THE EARTH WE WILL GET NOTHING. When our minds are focused on eternity it affects everything we do: who we talk to, how we spend our money, our values, our interests, our behavior. When we live with the hope that life does not end at death, our outlook on everything is affected. When our minds are focused on eternity, no matter what is happening, we always have something to look forward to. •SLIDE: WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY STRUGGLING TO FIND HOPE. Expressing a widely popular belief among intellectuals –negative existentialism, Jean Paul Sarte said, •SLIDE: “Man can count on one but himself. He is alone, abandoned on earth in the mist of his infinite responsibilities,. With out hope, with no other aim than the on he sets for himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth.” •SLIDE: Many people in our culture have no hope of eternal life beyond the river! They are frozen on the cliff! Person Mountain Climbing. Gets stuck. No way up or down. What do they do? Panic and freeze! Grab on to any bit of outcropping that brings security! This explains grasping for materialism. If you have no hope of going forward, you will grab for anything. Story of Man at MVD: 80 year old buys $80,000 car. Clerk was incredulous. People out there are afraid and insecure. Most tense society that has ever lived. More aspirin, etc because we are grasping for flimsies. WE CHRISTIANS, OF ALL PEOPLE, HAVE THE MESSAGE OF HOPE! We are the people of the Open Tomb. We are the Easter People. We are the people of Hope. Help people find a certain and reliable future in the Kingdom both now and in the future. How do we help people who are frozen on the cliff? Don’t get above them and shout where the footholds are! You have to come along side of them: “Move left foot here… right foot here…” •SLIDE: I wept through one of the most beautiful stories I have ever seen. Have you ever seen “A Little Princess?” It is the story of a little nine year old British girl named Sara who lives with her British military father in India before WWI. Sara’s mother is dead and her father is raising her. He father is always encouraging her. Continually tells her she is a little princess. Great imagination. Wonderful story teller. Before her Dad goes off to war he takes her to a School for girls that her mother attended when she was a little girl. Lonely time but filled with imagination and hope. Children love her imaginative story telling. She tells them they are all princesses. Befriends a little black servant girl named Becky that no one can talk to who lives in the attic. Then word comes that her father has been killed. British government confiscates all his property. Sara is left penniless. Wicked headmistress takes all of her possessions. Forced to move up to the attic with Becky and become a servant. Cold, lonely, despair. Finally, Becky convinces her to tell stories of India. Talks about how much she would like to be home. Cold: Talk about how warm it is in India. Hungry: they imagine feasting on sausages and muffins. Hope springs again in her heart. Wicked headmistress hates Sara for the lack of income. Comes to torment her: “Don’t tell me you still fancy yourself a princess. Look around you, you are not a princess—or better yet, look in the mirror!” Sara is startled, and them replies: •SLIDE: “I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny attics. Even if they dress in rags. Even if they aren’t pretty. Even if they aren’t smart or young. They are still princesses. All of us. Didn’t your father ever tell you you were a princess? Didn’t he? Didn’t he? I don’t know exactly where you are in life, but I do know this, if you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, you are a prince or princess in the eyes of Father God in heaven. We have an eternal hope as children of God. •SLIDE: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:13: “Now these three remain: faith, HOPE, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Of course, the greatest is love—but hope is not far behind. •SLIDE: MEMORY IS STRONG. •SLIDE: HOPE IS STRONGER.

Shame is a story you tell yourself about yourself. Like a news ticker that runs in the background of our minds, we have shame scripts that say: “I am unworthy, I am unlovable, I am not enough, I am a mistake.” God says you are His workmanship, fearfully and wonderfully made, the apple of His eye, more than a conqueror. If you want to change your life, you have to change your story! You are who God says you are. To believe anything else is false humility. UNASHAMED: The Shame Game August 13, 2022 UNASHAMED: The Shame Game Dr. Mark Batterson, 8/14/22 The Looking Glass Self: I am not who I think I am. I am not who YOU think I am. I am who I think YOU think I am. If you want to change your life, you have to change your story! Shame is a story you tell yourself about yourself. “Adam and Eve were both naked, and they felt NO SHAME.” —Genesis 2:25 The Hebrew word translated unashamed is bosh. It means no shame, no anxiety. The opposite of SHAME is vulnerability. Shame lives in the shadows. It’s our deep dark secrets. Vulnerability is the COURAGE to CONFESS. “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” —Genesis 1:26-27 Theology of Dignity – everyone is INVALUABLE and IRREPLACEABLE because everyone is made in the Imago Dei (image of God). “God BLESSED them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky over every living creature that moves on the ground.” —Genesis 1:28 Before there was ORIGINAL SIN there was ORIGINAL blessing. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” —Genesis 3:1-5 “Every Christian I met CANNOT QUITE BELIEVE that they are LOVED BY GOD.” —Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” —Genesis 3:6-7 “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” —Genesis 3:8-10 The etymological root of shame means to COVER. Take your own notes here: “And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me —she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” —Genesis 3:11-13, 21 “Therefore, there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ.” —Romans 8:1

Dear Roger, I am so excited about going to heaven. I am ready for the rapture. I hope it comes right now! But I don’t know enough about heaven. Can you fill in some of the details for me? Sincerely, Julie Dear Julie, There are ten common questions I hear all the time from people who are seeking to know more about heaven. I’ve collected them here, along with some biblical answers and practical application. I hope they’re helpful for you! Why does God need to make a new heaven and a new earth? Satan and sin have desecrated God’s creation. In fact, Satan has had access to the present heaven—both before the Fall and after. In Job chapters 1-2, Satan leaves earth bound for heaven and argues with God over the righteousness of Job. I’m certain that God has a perfectly logical reason for allowing Satan to approach him in heaven; but, for the life of me I can’t imagine why! Regardless, God needs to make a new one that is free from all sin. Looking to Revelation, John says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea” (20:11) Notice that Satan is the “accuser of the brethren” and will not be cast down from heaven to earth until Revelation 12. If God is planning to make a new heaven and earth, what will happen to the old one? Heaven and earth can be destroyed as easily as God first created it. Peter gives us a picture of this destruction in 2 Peter 3:7-13; And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heaven and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. A hundred years ago, no one could figure out how this might happen. But today, secrets of the universe are on display. Einstein’s simple but profound E=MC2 revealed that a little matter can be turned into an unbelievable amount of energy. In the same way, the discovery of the Hicks-Boson particle verifies that a lot of energy can produce a small amount of matter. Both point to an understanding of how the elements will melt and how internal fires in the depths of the sun will destroy everything. Colossians tells us that Jesus Christ holds the universe together. One day, when Jesus lets go, it will all be burned to hell. There will one day be a vast holocaust (see Revelation 21:8). But instead of emptiness, stillness, and lifelessness, God promises a new and glorious world emerging from the ruins (Revelation 21:15-21). God's aim is transformation! How big is heaven, and what does it look like? Again, look at Revelation 21. An angel literally measures the city “using human measurement”: The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. You might ask, "Well, will there be room enough for all of us?" Let me show you how much room there will be … Heaven is symmetrical, laid out like a large cube. Twelve thousand “stadia” converts to 1,500 miles. Imagine an area that reaches from Maine to Florida, and the Atlantic Coast to the Continental Divide … then raise that up 1,500 miles. That means heaven is a city with 2,250,000 square miles … and that is only the bottom level! Based on ratio population of persons/square mile in Dallas, heaven could hold six billion people. Australian engineer postulated that a city the size of heaven with the density of London could hold 100 billion people … and only nine billion people now exist on earth. Right now, heaven has room for every soul that has ever walked upon the face of the earth since the beginning of time. And that’s only the first floor! Next, John saw heaven and described it as a prism of light, jewels, gold, and pearls. It's all transparent, and the light of God flashes through the entire dazzling spectacle throughout all eternity: The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Revelation 21:18-23). We will be able to see God and His glory from everywhere in the city. His presence indwells every inch. Every biblical writer who had even a glimpse of heaven was totally overwhelmed. Each saw a large lake of ice or crystal surrounding a throne upon which was seated the white-haired Ancient of Days. Will we recognize our family, friends, and loved ones in heaven? Can we have relationships with people that we never knew on earth? I am often asked about marriage in heaven. Many people who are delightfully married want to still be married in eternity. Matthew tells us that we may be with our spouse, but we will not be married to him or her: “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). Paul tells the Corinthians that we will know others and be fully known in heaven: “Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We will recognize our loved ones more by who they are than by that they look like, because we will inhabit our spiritual bodies rather than our earthly ones. It follows from Jesus’ teaching that we may form as many relationships and talk to as many people as we like (see Matthew 8:11). When I go to heaven, I first want to have a talk with Jesus! After I talk with Jesus, I want to spend time with my family. Then, I’d like to talk to my closest growing-up church friends: Gary Courtney, who was my most intimate Christian friend; Randy; Larry; Mike; Becky and Allison. Then, there’s Albert Fox who mentored me to desire to be a man of God at any price. Along the way he taught me the Bible as well as quantum mechanics and relativity theory. Then, there are my religious heroes, like Charles Spurgeon. I’ll stop there. I could go on and on. So could you. What will we be doing with our time in heaven? Two things will occupy most of our attention in heaven. First, we will spend a significant amount of time worshiping and praising God: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (Revelation 4:9) Second, much of our time will be invested in fulfilling our God-given duties and responsibilities, based on the number and types of awards that we earned on earth as a result of our profitable or unprofitable service for Jesus. These rewards range from being saved, to special assignments from Jesus, to what size of mansion that we will have (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-13; Matthew 25:14-30). Will we find healing and comfort in heaven? Revelation 21:4 declares, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Alexander McLaren used to say, “Please be kind to everyone you meet because everyone is fighting a battle.” Sometimes, he paused in the middle of a worship service and invited the people to look up and down the rows of people. Then he would say, “Why don’t you say a word of comfort to those who are sitting around you? Everyone of them has needs. Sometimes overt but most of the time hidden.” I once did the funeral of a man who had suffered a lifetime of physical pain and agony. I was standing beside the open casket when one woman said to another, “He looks so peaceful. He doesn’t have to suffer anymore.” No more pain and suffering. Jesus will wipe away all of our tears. Will we have full understanding of spiritual and earthly things in heaven? Think of all the questions that you want to ask Jesus when you get to heaven. We will be able to ask and receive answers to everything. However, I would imagine that many questions that seemed so important on earth will not be nearly as important to us when we get to heaven: For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12) Can my loved ones in heaven see me and know what’s happening on earth? Many would say "No." I will emphatically say, "YES!" Let me give you several examples. In Revelation 6:9-10, saints martyred during the Great Tribulation look down from heaven as they pray for God to exact revenge upon their murderers. In Luke 15:7, Jesus reveals that there will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. In Luke 16, Jesus tells about the rich man who see his brothers on the way to hell. The rich man begged Jesus to let him go warn them. I am often asked, “But, will it hurt my loved ones in heaven if they see me having troubles and trials on earth?” I don’t know the answer to that. I trust that God has it all figured out. When our daughter Jessie died, we said to Jesus, “Would you please tell Jessie that we love her with all of our hearts and are looking forward to seeing her in heaven? I believe that she knows. How will I get from earth to heaven when I die? Jesus promised, “In my father’s house are many mansions. I go now to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am” (John 14:1-4). Isn't that fantastic? Not only does He promise to go up to heaven and get our room ready, He's going to come back and get us and take us up there. I love that the Lord doesn't send someone else to get us. That’s such an integral part of His character. He does it Himself. The Lord's not going to send someone else. He'll come in person to get us and to take us home. How precious we must be for Him to do that for us! Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2) How can we get to heaven? The first step to experiencing the love of God is to confess your sin, invite Jesus to forgive your sin and to come into your life and be your Savior: "For God loved the world so much, He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Surrender to Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Place your faith in Him as the one who died on the cross in order to forgive all your sins. At the moment you receive Him into your life He gives the gift of eternal Salvation, as well as the gift of the Holy Spirit who indwells you in order to guide and empower your life (John 3:5-8). Well Julie, I hope this answers many of your questions about heaven. I look forward to seeing you there! Love, Roger

Don’t listen to your feelings; remember what Jesus did for you!” “Don’t be guided by your feelings; listen to what God commands you to do!” In just the past week, I heard both of these warnings. Two very different Christian speakers urged their audiences to shut down their feelings. These admonitions resonate. They contain truth. It is correct that our feelings don’t override truth, nor do our emotions negate what God has done. Neither do our feelings give us an out for what God commands us to do. It is also true that there are dangers in emotionalism: a spirituality that uses one’s emotions as the sole gauge of God’s presence or truth. And yet. There is a danger to the subtle stoicism that some corners of Christendom are drawn toward. [i] In this worldview, emotions are dangerous and hinder faith. This is false. Emotions are not our enemy. They’re a gift from God and purposed by him to be harnessed, not suppressed. I’ve met with many who struggle to identify their emotions (men seem to be particularly vulnerable to this challenge). Faith sometimes only exacerbates the issue. We numb our feelings because we don’t like the feeling of pain. We numb our feelings because we think God might be disappointed in us if we felt disappointment with him. We shut down our emotions because we don’t want to be out of control. In their book Untangling Emotions , Alasdair Groves and Winston Smith say that, “Christians often see negative emotions, the ones we would describe as feeling ‘bad,’ as signs of spiritual failure.” But what if emotions can invite us deeper into relationship with God? Emotions are a gift. They are “an essential way we bear God’s image.” Jesus himself demonstrates a life fully lived in emotions. To open oneself up to emotions is to be vulnerable. And to be vulnerable is to have the opportunity to experience love and grieve, to mourn and rejoice. We are reminded that, “God loves, so God grieves.” A brief look at the Bible itself shows us individual after individual whose expression of emotions leads them toward the heart of God. God leans in with empathy as Israel groans over their pain in their enslavement ( Ex 2:23 ). Mordecai cries out to God on behalf of Israel when he learns of their imminent destruction, and God responds ( Es 4:1 ). Job’s pitiable moans reach God’s ears ( Job 19:7 ). The Psalms are filled with the laments of David, the Sons of Korah, and others, laments we are invited to emulate. The prophets’ hearts are wrung out before God, and God hears and responds to them. We see powerful displays of emotion capture Jesus’ heart throughout the gospel accounts (see the blind men ( Matt 9:27 ), the Canaanite woman ( Matt 15:22 ), the demoniac ( Mk 5:5 ), Bartimaeus ( Mk 10:48 ), the lepers ( Lk 17:13 ), and on and on). How do we become like those who are so comfortable with their emotions? To engage our emotions, we must recognize that emotions point to what we are invested in—they reveal what we value. We spiritually mature as we learn to evaluate our emotions. Spiritual growth doesn’t mean having fewer strong emotions; spiritual development is demonstrated by having emotions that are more and more in line with God’s emotions. To engage our emotions healthily is to pour out those emotions, positive and negative alike to God. For us to grow in our love not just of God but of one another requires emotional maturation. Empathy is “an essential element of the gospel.” If Jesus could condescend emotionally for us, so we too can condescend emotionally to those who are struggling. Groves and Smith conclude Untangling Emotions with a reminder of the power and beauty of our incarnate Savior who still bears the scars of his suffering. Jesus’ scars are “the very emblems of his deepest, most shocking, most breathtaking goodness. His scars are intrinsic to his glory.” This same Savior captures our tears. “Somehow heaven will be a place where our sorrows are both utterly and completely comforted and deeply and eternally remembered.” So, friends, let us lean into Jesus with our emotions and discover new depth in our relationship with the God who designed emotions and, yes, even has emotions. Do not deceive yourself by thinking that you can grow in your spirituality by shutting down your feelings. Your life with Christ will deepen as you learn to feel and entrust God with your emotions. [i] I would consider my own corner of Reformed Christianity to be one such corner. As an Amazon affiliate, I can make a commission on sales.

In 2023, 46 horror movies were released. 75 million tickets were sold, and the industry made $798 million in domestic revenue alone. [i] It’s been argued that horror movies remain a draw for many in the contemporary West because there is so little actual danger in most of our lives.   Atheist Steven Pinker in The Better Angels of Our Nature argues that we live in the most peaceful era of human existence: wars have decreased, human rights have expanded, and rates of starvation and lifespans have improved. Drawn to conflict, we now have access to global news coverage, which gives us the dopamine hit of feeling like we are in conflict. And, of course, we also supplement our need for danger with television, movies, and video games. [ii] Psychological research shows that those drawn to horror movies have a higher sensation-seeking trait, a higher openness to experience, and have lower empathy. [iii]   We are drawn to danger like a moth to a candle.   There is plenty to caution us from this impulse: the rising rates of anxiety in our scrolling world (see Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation ). But my point here is different: I think some of us similarly treat sin as we treat violence. We are drawn to the dopamine hit of getting near sin, but not (hopefully) entering in. We want to test ourselves and prove our mettle, and so we intentionally step into temptation’s path. We want the rush of escape. Temptation is tempting.   Our Lord warns us against such dabbling.   “Lead us not into temptation,” Jesus prays ( Matt. 6:13 ). And so should we (after all, Jesus said, “Pray then like this” ( Matt. 6:9 ).   We don’t get bonus points for walking a more arduous road of temptation. Jesus knows us, loves us, and recognizes that the temptations that will come our way in God’s sovereign plan will be more than enough for us to handle (Paul promises that by the power of the Spirit within us, we can resist any temptation that comes our way ( 1 Cor. 10:13 )).   I’ve counseled more than a few alcoholics whose goal is to be able to drink in moderation. Abstinence feels like a cop-out to them. I’ve pastored those struggling with pornography, who feel as though they are cheating if they use accountability software. I’ve counseled those who struggle with an attraction to someone who wants to have a non-romantic friendship with that individual and not distance themselves from them. Jesus’ wisdom to all of us is simple: stay away. And pray that God would keep the temptation away from you.   I grew up in a family that ate a bowl of ice cream for dessert every day. A day that didn’t end with a sweet and creamy treat wasn’t a day at all! That was fine while doing two-a-day swim practices in high school, but that will not fly for my middle-aged life today. One of the great mercies of my wife is her commitment to clean eating, which means that generally there is very little in our cupboard or fridge that can derail my nightly desire to tack on an additional 800 calories of silky sweetness to my daily caloric intake. I’m grateful. On any given night, I might have the willpower sometimes to resist a bowl of Tillamook coffee almond fudge, but over time, the spoon will come out more nights than it doesn’t. “Lord, lead me not into temptation.”   Let us take sin as seriously as Jesus did and be as honest about our willpower as he was. “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble,” Jesus gently warns us, speaking of anxiety ( Matt. 6:34 ). Indeed, and sufficient for the day is its own temptation. Christ is with you, before, behind, and alongside. He is not asking you to prove yourself, to demonstrate your willpower, but to depend on him. He is sufficient, and the Spirit of God will lead you.   Don’t succumb to the temptation of temptation. [i] Samantha Stewart, “Hollywood Loves Halloween,” Bloomberg, October 31, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-10-31/hollywood-loves-halloween-inside-the-lucrative-business-of-horror-movies . [ii] My post here is not primarily meant to be an argument against horror movies. There is an interesting pro-horror movie argument made by some for its place in helping us conquer our fears and come to grips with the reality of evil in this world. Christianity Today’s “Be Afraid” explores this argument: https://www.christianitytoday.com/podcasts/be-afraid/whats-your-favorite-scary-movie/ . [iii] Haiyang Yang and Kuangjie Zhang, “The Psychology Behind Why We Love (or Hate) Horror,” Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2021/10/the-psychology-behind-why-we-love-or-hate-horror# .

What are you looking for in a religion? By involving yourself in religious belief or an organization, what do you hope to gain? My experience with people from all over the world has revealed to me a single truth: People choose a religion for what they can get out of it. Very rarely do people take up a religious view simply because they want to know the truth about their existence or about the supernatural (though there are exceptions). So let me give you a brief inter-faith journey on what religion offers you. No matter what religion or spiritual view you may take up, all of them offer some things in common. A community of belonging, even love Any group of people who surround themselves with people of like mind often form communities or associations meant to encourage them in their beliefs and goals. It is human nature to form communities. Purpose and meaning in life People usually find purpose and meaning in things outside of themselves. Religion offers many ways for people to express their beliefs to the world around them. A future in this life Everyone wants hope. No one wants a bleak future. All religions offer their version of hope to any who embrace them. A way to deal with sin and wrong Most religions deal with the issue of sin by either redefining it as something innocuous or by ignoring it. Usually this comes in finding ways to ignore or put away feelings of guilt without actually dealing with the act of sin itself. An identity that transcends culture, nationality, and all other associations This is part of forming community. People of like-minded faith have a natural affinity for others of the same faith regardless of where they may come from. Activity that changes people’s lives for the better Mercy projects, community building, expressions of commitment and common purpose—you can find these in all religions. Yes, people’s lives often change for the better by involvement in such efforts. Isn’t it interesting that so many religions that believe so many radically different and contrary views happen to offer the same thing? Could it be that Islam and Buddhism, and Hinduism, and Mormonism, and so many others share a single common thing that unites them? Indeed, they do share something significant. They share deception. If the above things are all you are looking for in a religion, then any old religion will do. But it you want more, if you want a guarantee of truth, there are some things that Jesus Christ offers that no religion or philosophy can bring you: Eternal Life Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father (God) except through me” ( John 14:6 ). Freedom from eternal punishment Jesus said, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” ( John 5:24 ). A personal relationship with God “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” ( I John 2:3 ). A future and purpose that transcends and lasts beyond death “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” ( Jeremiah 29:11 ). The truth about your nature and God’s nature “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” ( Romans 3:23 ). “The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” ( Exodus 34:6 ). A future state of sinless perfection “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” ( Revelation 21:4 ). What are you looking for in a religion? Maybe what you’re looking for isn’t what you really need. Would you like to learn more about what you really need?  Then read this page .

In order to preserve civilization, decisive action against terror organizations is not an option.  Can we forgive our enemies, as Jesus mandated, and crush them at the same time?  Can God’s love of people be separated from His hatred of evil?  What is the best possible role that America should play in the war against ISIS, Hamas, Houthi and its comrades in terror?  What would be the consequences of non-action?  Is this a war for only Arab nations to fight?  Would Jesus go to war against Satan’s representatives?  This article attempts to answer these questions from a biblical and common sense perspective. CONTEXT None of the 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded denied Christ.  The last words of one of the innocents was a loud, “Jesus!”  Tens of thousands of Christians and those of other faiths have been beheaded, sold into slavery and burned alive, killed and had their organs harvested, and have been otherwise tortured to death by those who proclaim themselves to be followers of Muhammad.  Increasingly, the focus is on Christians. WHAT IS AMERICA AND THE CIVILIZED WORLD DOING ABOUT TERRORISM?     With a tidal wave of barbarism crashing against the shores of civilization, the civilized world is barely fighting back.  As Germany was in 1932 and 1933, so is now the Middle East.   However, without the intervention of righteous men and women, 1938 and 1939 will likely be upon us soon, even coming to a mall near you.  Every year, women are killed in the U.S. by a relative in the name of family honor.   Though these criminals have not bought into our cultural values, or even into our laws to maintain order, we have accepted their right to live and believe as they wish.  In the Old Testament, God allowed “aliens” (non-Jews) to become Jews, but he also required that they live and believe as Jews ( Exodus 12:48 ).  All other nations of the world presently require, or have required until now, that immigrants pledge to abide by the laws of their new country. WHAT SHOULD FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST DO? BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE More to the biblical point: What is the mind of Christ in this situation?  Is there a difference between how a nation should respond and how an individual should respond?  Jesus said to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” ( Matthew 5:43 ).  Are we to love and forgive the ISIS terrorists?  As our enemies increasingly focus their efforts on the “little Satan,” Israel, with the long range view to the “great Satan,” the United States, we might want to keep in mind that there is a difference between loving our enemies and allowing them to destroy all that is noble and good.  As Christians should we forgive them?  Should we fight against evil?  Should we do both at the same time and forgive evil of this level of degradation?  Perhaps, there is a difference between our responsibility as individuals and as a nation.  Jesus always stood strongly against the kingdom of Satan.  In Matthew 11:12 Jesus said, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”  It appears that Jesus wants us to stand against Satan and do our best to establish His kingdom here on earth, as He “draws all men to him” ( John 12:32 ).  As the terrorists would have it, there will be no men open enough to be drawn to Him.  That time will come eventually, of course, but such timing is not in our hands.  What’s in our hands is to press forward to establish His kingdom. SPECIFIC BIBLICAL INJUNCTIONS: Loving People and Hating Evil     The Bible speaks to this conundrum.  Let’s first consider that if we cannot separate God’s hatred of evil from His love of people, the answer seems to be that we should fight against evil, as we did in WWII.   We know that God is “one God.”  God cannot be divided into parts.  For example, we cannot separate God’s justice from His mercy, or His hatred of evil from His love of people.  All of God is everywhere.  He is indivisible.  Therefore, the more God conforms our character into His image, the more we will both love justice and hate evil.  Proverbs 8:13 states, “The fear of the Lord [standing in awe of God] is to hate evil.”  Many other scriptures state that God’s essence is love.  He is our loving heavenly Father. Therefore, if we love God and the tens of thousands of innocent martyrs, we must also hate evil.  Although no one knows what the present policy of America toward worldwide terrorism is, the policy seems to be to contain evil.  This strategy, of course, is not aimed at stopping or destroying the threat of the mass murder of millions upon millions. If a group of gang-bangers were murdering people in your neighborhood, would you call the police?  Romans 13 supports calling the police, as such peacemakers are ultimately appointed by God for our safety.  Hebrews 11:34 even speaks of heroes who “waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (KJV).  These heroes led the destruction of cultures that sacrificed their children in the fire to gods of wood and stone. Jesus told us to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” ( Matthew 10:16 ), meaning we must  discern the difference between a sheep and a goat, between loving others and doing what is necessary to protect ourselves and guard the liberties that God has given us (drawing boundaries).  As Proverbs 4:18 advises, we are to “guard our hearts” with all diligence.  And Romans 13 states that our own rulers are established by God to be His representatives who do “not bear the sword for nothing” (vs. 4).  Our policemen and, by implication, our armies are for our protection. We know that Jesus had the discernment to know when to outwardly love and when to vehemently defend and protect.   Christ declared that the converts of the hypocritical religious teachers of His day were “twice the sons of hell” as they, the teachers, were ( Matthew 23:15 ).  He hated the demons that He cast out.  And though He taught us to “turn the other cheek,” when He was struck at His illegal trial, He said, “Why did you strike me” ( John 18:23 )?  Because of the evil in the world, Christ was a “man of sorrows.”  He weeps for those who suffer at the hands of the terrorists (see Isaiah 63:9 ).  I believe that He even weeps for the terrorists until He finally turns them over to a “reprobate mind” ( Romans 1:28 ).  At this point, if Christ does not weep for them, we also need not weep. At the same time that Christ loved people, He hated evil.  Christ was the most loving and most joyful man that ever lived.  He performed His first miracle at a wedding and celebrated life.  As the voice of wisdom personified states in Proverbs 8:30-31 , so believed Christ: “I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world, and delighting in mankind.”    Therefore, it is possible for all of us to continue to celebrate life and the wonders of God’s creation while at the same time feeling the pain of those who have lost loved ones to barbaric cruelty. Based on Christ’s love of people and hatred of evil, it is likely that Christ would condone all efforts to stop the murder of innocents.  Even if all world events fall into a pattern to bring about end time events or other unknown purposes, because we cannot fully understand the pattern or His purposes, we must live our lives one day at a time and respond to evil as righteous men and women have responded since the world began. THE RESPONSE OF RIGHTEOUS MEN AND WOMEN    The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:9 that we are to love people, but we are to do so with wisdom and knowledge (and not be naïve and taken advantage of).  There is a horrific and ultimate destination for evil doers where “the fire is not quenched” ( Mark 9:48 ).  Clearly, there is also a time and season for all things, a time to kill and a time to heal ( Ecclesiastes 3:1 , 3 ). In Romans 1:28 , the Apostle Paul states that God gave some people over to a “depraved” or “reprobate mind.”  In the realm of sin, the atrocious acts that we witness via television are the “end of the line.”  The terrorists who call themselves warriors for Muhammad are evil incarnate and are probably closer to the edge of hell than even Paul could have imagined.  Psalm 73:18 speaks of evil people standing on a “slippery slope.”  Jesus refers to those who do not build the foundation of their lives on Him as building on “sinking sand” ( Matthew 7:26 ). Peter said that God did not spare from hell the angels that rebelled; nor did He spare the evil people in Noah’s day, nor the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Peter even described false teachers as “brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish” ( 2 Peter 2 ).  Again, hear this: Peter says that some people are “born to be destroyed.”  This from one of Christ’s most devoted and loving disciples.  One of the most famous representatives of Christ in the history of the world.  A man of love and peace. Jesus, our loving Lord and Savior, stated that in His time, all sin would be forgiven except “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” ( Matthew 12:31 ).  There are debates about what this sin is, and I have an opinion.  But my opinion doesn’t matter in this discussion.  Whatever the sin was (or is) could not exceed the sin being committed by the most ruthless barbarians ever known in history, savages that put to death the followers of Christ, Jews, Muslims of slightly different beliefs, and people of any other faith than theirs. Psalm 1:6 says, “For the Lord knows the way of the godly, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”  There is no doubt.  Even Jesus and the New Testament that emphasize the grace and love of God speak clearly to the need to combat evil, unless otherwise individually spoken to, as God does speaks to each of us individually, e.g., you may be chosen for martyrdom ( John 10:4 , 27 ). RESPONDING AS INDIVIDUALS What about our attitude as individuals?  If someone is chosen for martyrdom, God would want us to forgive our murderers, as He forgave His murderers on the cross.  Also, consider the relatives of the victims.  Will they find inner peace in any other way except through forgiveness?  Of course not.  Nevertheless, when the killer of their son or daughter is executed or falls in battle, these same relatives might obtain some satisfaction, knowing that God’s justice has been accomplished. The best course of action in regards to our personal vengeance is to leave it alone.  Romans 12:17 says, “Leave room for God’s wrath; vengeance is mine, says the Lord.”  If we don’t “leave room” for God’s wrath, but execute our own judgment, we risk that God’s judgment may not prevail or, perhaps, will be less severe.  This point of view is proposed by Proverbs 24:17 , which states, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.”  Most of us would prefer that evil doers suffer God’s judgment, rather than our own.  Again, on an individual basis, scripture seems to teach forgiveness, along with trust in God.  If we trust in God, His justice will be accomplished.  Therefore, as individuals we are to forgive our enemies. (See also “Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can’t Ignore,” by Jay Sekulow and his website, along with multiple Internet articles.) Dr. Weld’s views do not necessarily represent the views of PreachItTeachIt.org , and PITI welcomes comments.

Confession: I have a terrible problem of talking, and sometimes walking, in my sleep. It’s an old family trait that I’m carrying on, much to my family’s sometimes dismay. Last night, Maria woke me as I was standing upright in the bed, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. When she told me about it the next day, I mused that maybe my subconscious was just celebrating the Fourth of July weekend, and that if anyone ever questions my patriotism I can just say, “I literally pledge allegiance to that flag  in my sleep .” My dog Waylon is unpatriotic. He hates the Fourth of July. He gets into a nervous frenzy over the sound of fireworks in our neighborhood. Whether you’re an American or not, this is as good a time as any to think about what it means to have a patriotism that is shaped by the gospel, rather than one that is armed against it.  For all human beings, there’s a temptation to over-react to the last bad thing, to try to stay so far away from the last disaster that one runs headlong into an equal and opposite disaster on the other side. The same could be true here.  Most of us have seen the sorts of “Christian” services that are indistinguishable from a patriotic display on the national mall, just with prayers interspersed between the flags and songs. And, sadly, most of us have seen people re-work some of what they claimed to be their deepest convictions, not because they changed their minds by study of Scripture, but because one set of politicians won and another set lost. That’s dispiriting, and is leaving a wreckage of cynicism in its wake. I don’t deny any of that, and I’ve written and spoken about it constantly. But most people who read this newsletter don’t fall into that temptation. Some might even come (rightly) to see the rejection of this sort of civil religion as implying that one must choose between the kingdom of God and love of country. This would be a mistake.  The gospel is not a means to an end. The gospel is not a tool to excite nationalistic passions or to form social bonds or to teach civics. The gospel is the announcement that God has raised the crucified Jesus from the dead and seated him in the heavenly places as the rightful ruler of the cosmos. Every other allegiance, then, is subordinate to his lordship. The follower of Jesus, then, is to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” ( Matt. 6:33 ). Jesus’ words here contrasted the kingdom of God not with Baal worship or strip clubs, but with food and clothing. The teaching is not that seeking the kingdom leads to naked Christians on a starvation diet. As a matter of fact, Jesus teaches us to pray by showing us to ask, first, for the coming of the kingdom ( Matt. 6:10 ) and then, immediately after that, to ask for daily bread ( Matt. 6:11 ). The issue, in this case, is not either/or, but priority. Seek  first  the kingdom of God, and all the other things will be added to you.  Love of one’s country is a good thing—just as honoring father and mother is a good thing, just as cherishing one’s spouse or children is a good thing. And yet, any one of those things can refuse to be subordinate goods, and can insist instead on being ultimate goods. That’s when they become idols. That’s, obviously, a spiritual problem for the ones drawn to the idolatry. But what we sometimes miss is that putting the kingdom first actually enables us to love these things  better .  I was surprised several years ago, in talking with cohabiting couples, about the reasons they would give for not marrying. I expected them to answer that question with a defiant cliché from some 1970s sexual revolution slogan about not needing a piece of paper to verify their love or about how marriage was slavery or some other nonsense. I found almost no one, though, who would say that. Most of the time they didn’t express a low view of marriage at all, but a very high one—higher, in fact, than the Bible teaches. Many of these people would talk about how they knew that there was their one soul-mate out there, who could meet all their physical, emotional, and sometimes even spiritual needs. This view of marriage doesn’t lead to happiness, but to exactly where it led to with these couples—to  the replacing of the goodness of marriage with a chase for a mirage. The happiest couples are those who can give themselves to their marriage, who can love each other, but who love Jesus more.  The same is true of parenting. Some of you may have been the pinnacle of your parents’ lives—all their hopes and dreams pinned on you. No one can live up to such expectations, though, and it leads ultimately to resentment. The best parents are those who love their children, but who do not expect their children to be worthy of worship. That enables these children to be themselves, to make some mistakes, and to live their lives without carrying the weight of being the ultimate vindication of their parents’ expectations.  You can love your parents best if you’re not crushed when you find that they make some mistakes, that they fail sometimes. You have a Father God who will never fail you, which means you can bear with those earthly echoes of that fatherhood who sometimes will fail. Those failures don’t mean they can’t be loved, just that they are not God.  Putting these good things second actually helps us to love them more. I can have loyalty to my country if it is a secondary loyalty, not an ultimate loyalty. If my country becomes my ultimate identity, or my politics my ultimate vocation, then I will, in time, grow to hate my country because every idol, sooner or later, is seen to be too weak to do what’s asked of it ( Isa. 46:1-2 ).  But, with the kingdom first in our affections and in our self-identity, we can show gratitude for our country, and can serve her, willing both to criticize her missteps as well as to valorize her achievements. We can truly love the land in which we live, precisely because we know that our citizenship here is temporary ( Phil. 3:20 ).  You can sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” better if you love “Amazing Grace” more. You can be an American best if you are not an American first.

How can I know if I am a narcissist? In the ancient myth, the hunter Narcissus was acclaimed for his beauty. Many sought Narcissus romantically, but he spurned them all. One day on a hunt, Narcissus paused to rest by a pool of water, stooping for a drink, he caught sight of his own reflection. He fell in love with his reflection and stayed by the pool staring at himself for the rest of his life.   The American Psychiatric Association defines narcissistic personality disorder as, “a pattern of need for admiration and lack of empathy for others. A person with narcissistic personality disorder may have a grandiose sense of self-importance, a sense of entitlement, take advantage of others or lack empathy.” [i] Do you have some narcissism in you? I do.   The most discussed personality disorder of our day is narcissism. A brief foray into Google Trends (always a fun rabbit hole to go down) shows that through the early 2000s, narcissism was searched about as often as some of the more well-known personality disorders. In 2015, that number began to rise and by 2022, it rocketed way above any other psychiatric disorder search.   That aligns with my own experience as it is now a regular occurrence for me to hear a counselee accuse someone else of narcissism.   On the one hand, I’m wary of such labels. Labeling can lead toward demonizing or improperly categorizing others, and treating them as hopeless cases. On the other hand, there are two ways in which this focus on narcissism can be helpful. The first comes within the clinical community itself. While I have reservations about the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , there have been some causes for encouragement. One source of encouragement is that in the latest edition (V, published in 2022), many disorders have now begun to be understood on a spectrum. The old method of “you have X” or “you don’t have X” has been replaced with a more nuanced understanding of these diagnoses on a spectrum. Fortunately, this offers a more accurate and biblical understanding. A second reason for encouragement of the focus on narcissism has been to spotlight the ramifications of self-importance and entitlement.   Chuck DeGroat’s When Narcissism Comes to Church has been helpful for many navigating concerns about narcissistic tendencies in their pastors and those who have been injured by the narcissism of those in church leadership. DeGroat warns those of us in non-denominational churches where the hill-charging leader tends to be particularly revered, “I’ve most often seen bullies in nondenominational contexts, and many are the founders, planters, and entrepreneurs who guard their churches and organizations like the extensions of the narcissistic ego they are.” The reason that such a leader can gain credibility is that, “Narcissism can be interpreted as confidence, strong leadership, clear vision, a thick skin.”    It’s easy to think about leaders we know (from near and far) and shake our heads condescendingly at them, “Narcissists.” We look at pastors who have used churches to climb up to more prestigious opportunities. We consider pastors who have gutted accountability structures so no one can stand in the way of their dictates. We look at pastors who act as if their church is the only church, whose appetite for growth appears to be less about reaching the lost, than bigging the biggest possible following they can. DeGroat paints the picture, “Those who are diagnosably narcissistic may be talented, charming, even inspiring, but they lack the capacity for self-awareness and self-evaluation, shunning humility for defensive self-protection. Christian psychologist Diane Langberg says of the narcissist, ‘He has many gifts but the gift of humility.’” We smile smugly, “Yup. I know that guy. He’s the narcissist.”   But then I consider my own heart. I look at my impulse toward defensiveness, how easy it is to inflate my importance, to allow church vision to trump church family. I care more than I should about how many people read my blog, and not enough about how I can better serve my readers. I take things personally that have nothing to do with me. I am quick to feel disrespected by exhortation from a brother in Christ rather than charitable toward him. I can lack empathy. I see Nathan’s bony finger pointing straight at me. “You are the man” ( 2 Sam. 12:7 ).   Would you forgive me for my narcissism? Would you forgive me for the small and big ways I have hurt you?   James doesn’t mince words when it comes to the narcissist (does he ever?). Those who have selfish ambition are running their plays straight out of the Enemy’s playbook, he warns. But to turn away from selfish ambition and walk in the way of wisdom will reap great rewards. He says,   Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. ( James 3:13-18 )   What are the remedies for a narcissistic heart? Wisdom, meekness, truth. We must uproot jealousy and self-ambition. What are the blessings of a wise and selfless heart? Purity, peace, reasonableness, mercy, and a harvest of righteousness. Don’t we long for those things! And so, I pray. “God, humble me. Teach me the path of meekness. May I see others as you do, and may the grip of selfishness on my heart become weaker with every passing day.”   May John the Baptist’s prayer be ours, “He must increase, but I must decrease” ( Jn 3:30 ). [i] “What are personality disorders,” Psychiatry.org , accessed 8/17/2023. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/personality-disorders/what-are-personality-disorders .