The Worst Month

Our nation’s economy is in a recession—the reduction of our country’s gross domestic product for many quarters—in December of all months!

There’s probably not a worse time of the year to cope with a recession. There are trees to trim, lights to put up, special meals to prepare, plane tickets and gas to buy to visit loved ones. And all of this before we even think about purchasing presents!

December may be the worst month of the year to experience an economic recession, but it’s the best month of the year to experience a “personal” recession.

The Best Month!

I’m thinking of the kind of personal reduction John the Baptizer volunteered for when his disciples complained, “We’ve got a problem, John. People are paying more attention to Jesus than they are to you!”

John astonished them by telling them, “Oh, that’s a good thing. This is the way God always planned it. Jesus came from heaven and He rules all; I came from earth and rule nothing. This makes Jesus an eyewitness to everything there is to know about heaven; I’m just reporting what He told me.”

Before his men could object, John told them to forget any plans they had about him, a mere man, being more important than the Son of God: “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:35-36)

Guess that shot down their plans to compete with Jesus.

A Non-Compete Month

But it gives me a great plan to cooperate with Jesus during this month when we celebrate the moment He actually arrived on the scene in Bethlehem: I can make sure that my life is drawing more attention to Him than it is to me. I can become less and less important while He becomes more and more important.

And I can ask Him to help me stay in the background as I determine to love Judy, my family, and friends in ways that make them think about Him…and I don’t need to get the credit.

Because Christmas isn’t about me, the gifts I can or cannot buy, the cherished schedule or events I can or cannot attend, or even the loved ones and friends I can or cannot be with. Christmas is my annual reminder that it’s always all about Him—no matter the state of the economy.  I am the one who needs to recede . . . everyday of the year!

“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Christmas War Erupts!

During Christmas 2005 a war erupted in the United States and it’s a battle that continues to rage today—the greeting wars between Christian associations and American retailers.

There are many who encouraged followers to protest against or even boycott retailers who referred to the festivities and events of December as “holidays” rather than “Christmas” in the name of political correctness.

Giant retailers—Lowes, Wal-Mart, Sears, Home Depot, and Costco—and many smaller chains had begun this trend in 1997, regarding November through January as both Jewish and Christian holidays in the U.S. State and local governments have joined in the fight on both sides. This year, the war is hotter than ever in battles and skirmishes like the one raging over Washington’s governor allowing an atheist sign to be placed near a Nativity scene.

It would break my heart if America bowed to these pressures and our culture took one more step toward erasing my Savior’s impact on the world and our nation. What a shame it would be if the name of Christ dropped from this celebration of His birth. What a tragedy it would be if we lost this wonderful opportunity to tell the world about our Savior and why He came.

And yet, I have to ask myself, “What are we doing with the opportunities we have today?”

(more…)

In the forty years since our revival, the Jesus Movement, I’ve heard a lot of theories about so-called “separation.”

No one would argue that Christians should live separate from sin, but the solution is not to live separate from sinners.

Jesus sure didn’t do that.

He gained a reputation as a friend of sinners. He purposefully touched the unclean, hung out with the outcasts, and even entered a pagan Gentile’s home.

“Scandalous,” His critics cried. They even spread rumors that He was a glutton and a drunkard.

Did Jesus care?

Not a bit. Every time He made contact with the ones the religious culture tried to quarantine good Jews from interacting with, they were transformed.

That’s the way it was in the Jesus Movement. We didn’t separate, we penetrated. We didn’t run from sinners, we watched God run them down with His mercy and grace.

As Walter Wink put it so eloquently, “The contagion of holiness overcomes the contagion of uncleanness.”

There must be some way for Christian marketers to track down my twitter account because I get these “Christian T’s” messages in my tweets.

I’m not techy enough to block them.

But I couldn’t help wondering why the Christian community is so desperate to wear their faith on their sleeve.

I have to tell you that from the perspective of someone who came out of darkness (by that, I mean I wasn’t a church kid), a lot of these t-shirt messages would just flat turn me off.

So, I’m just saying. If you’re going to wear your faith on your sleeve, please don’t wear a mean faith.

And think about what the people reading your t-shirt message are reading from your life.

That’s what I have. I was driving back to LA from my hometown last night following my mother’s surgery, and the talking heads were talking their heads off…Christian talking heads decidedly included!

Then, I got up this morning and read this from Phil Yancey. I couldn’t have said it better. (Well, few can say it better than Phil Yancey):

Fumes of Ungrace

How is it that Christians called to dispense the aroma of grace instead emit the noxious fumes of ungrace? In the modern United States, one answer to that question springs readily to mind. The church has allowed itself to get so swept up in political issues that it plays by the rules of power, which are rules of ungrace. In no other arena is the church at greater risk of losing its calling than in the public square.

I fully support the right, and indeed the responsibility, of Christians to get involved politically: in moral crusades such as abolition, civil rights, and anti-abortion, Christians have led the way. And I believe the media grossly exaggerates the “threat’ posed by the religious right. The Christians I know who are involved in politics bear little resemblance to their caricatures. Nebertheless I do worry about the recent tendency for the labels “evangelical Christian” and “religious right” to become interchangeable. Political cartoons who show that Christians increasingly are perceived as rigid moralists who want to control others’ lives.

I know why some Christians are acting ungraciously: out of fear. We feel under attack in schools, in courts, and sometimes in C0ngress. Meanwhile we see around us the kind of moral change that marks society’s decay. In such categories as crime, divorce, youth suicide, abortion, drug use, children on welfare, and illegitimate births, the United States outranks every other industrialized country. Social conservatives feel more and more like an embattled minority, their values under constant attack.

How can Christians uphold moral values in a secular society while at the same time conveying a spirit of grace and love? As the psalmist expressed it, “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Behind the gruffness of many Christians with strong opinions, I’m sure, lies a deep concern for a world that has little place for God. Yet I also know that, as Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees, a concern for moral value alone is not nearly enough. Moralism apart from grace solves little.

–What’s So Amazing About Grace? (229-30)

Thank you, Phil Yancey. I needed that this morning with my horrible, pounding, election hangover.

All for grace and mercy,

Ed

How would you complete that sentence?

Here’s how God completes that sentence:

1 Peter 5:1-4 from Ed Underwood on Vimeo.

Hope you’ll join us this Sunday, October 10th, for our study of 1 Peter 5:1-4.

From Mark to Peter

As I wrapped up our eighteen-month study of Mark earlier this year I thought, “This is the perfect opportunity to teach First Peter!”

Mark drips with the thinking and words of the Apostle Peter. With all of these “Petrine” thoughts in our minds, moving toward the actual letter that he wrote seemed logical. I had never studied First Peter in depth, so it just seemed like a good decision.

I have to admit I had no idea what the study of First Peter would mean to our church.

This is the most difficult year financially we’ve faced since I’ve been pastor. We’ve cut our budget severely and our staff and missionaries have been living on reduced pay since January.

I can’t remember a time in the decades I’ve been leading churches that so many Christians have been persevering through tough times. Foreclosures, loss of jobs, cutbacks, business failings. It’s a tough economy and God’s people are right in the middle of the mess.

Add to that the weekly reports of struggling marriages, diagnoses of dread diseases, prodigal children, and the usual array of relational hurts and scars in a local church.

These are tough times. God’s people are suffering.

Then I hear from Christians in churches all over America that they’re studying First Peter too. And I’m noticing an inordinate number of Bible study resources concentrating on First Peter.

From God’s Heart to Ours

I think God is preparing His church for troubled times. Sure, we’re suffering economically right now. But this is nothing compared to what could happen in this world out of control and so antagonistic toward Christ and His people.

These truths hit our hearts pretty hard, don’t they? I believe God is shifting the focus of His people from understanding the Christian life as a sure-fire way to live the “happy life”—have a perfect marriage, perfect family, perfect community, and perfect nation. I believe He’s turning us toward the more biblical priority of living a life that really counts—counting the cost for following Christ as His devoted disciple and paying it!

When this reality hits our hearts—that if you want to live for Christ in this alien and hurtful world, you’re going to suffer—it scares us…it brings fear to our hearts because it should. 1 Peter 4:12-19 is the paragraph you need to read and meditate on. It’s written to Christians who, like you, were realizing that serving Christ and suffering for Christ go together.

The fiery trial speaks of the purifying or refining power of suffering in the life of a believer. For Peter and his readers, it was also a reality. Nero blamed Christians for burning Rome. The evil emperor retaliated by rounding up Christian leaders, covering them with pitch, and using them as living torches to light the imperial gardens at night.

1 Peter 4:12-19 is God’s Word to Christians who admit that the prospect of suffering for Christ scares them. Peter makes three points: In verses 12-14 he connects our suffering for Christ to the glory of God. Verse 15 warns us against using our suffering as an excuse to sin. And verses 16-19 encourage us to entrust our lives to our Faithful Creator.

The entire paragraph insists on viewing suffering for Christ as initiated by God Himself to bring glory to His name and guided by the One who is our Faithful Creator.

From a Fellow-Sufferer

This is the only place in all of Scripture that God uses that title to describe Himself. Faithful Creator—the same One who brought the world into being is caring for you during your darkest days.

As a cancer survivor, this touches me deeply. My God has one name that He uses only when relating to His suffering children—Faithful Creator.

I don’t know the suffering of your life, but I know Someone who does. His name? Faithful Creator!

Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:19).

Does God sometimes actually bring suffering into a Christian’s life? I think He does.

Before you disagree too harshly, read 1 Peter 4:12-19.

Or, you could come to Church of the Open Door this Sunday for our discussion.

Here’s your invitation (Click on the Title or on Vimeo):

Suffering and Glory (1 Peter 4:12-19) from Ed Underwood on Vimeo.

If you’re a Christian, you have responsibilities  of citizenship. But it’s not about you; it’s about others.

The Christian and Government: 1 Peter 2:13-17 from Ed Underwood on Vimeo.

If you’re a devoted follower of Christ, you can’t avoid it: Conflict with this pagan world we live in.

The New Testament teaches us that we’re privileged pilgrims. We don’t fit into this evil world system. We’re citizens of another Kingdom and we serve another King.

And until He comes for us or returns with us, we live as aliens and sojourners in a world set against us and our coming King.

Still, He commands us to engage with this evil world and the people He so dearly loves.

(more…)