The Great Adventure

In his book, The Island of Lost Maps, author Miles Harvey shares a sentiment you might share:

In my 30s I spent a great deal of time at the Kopi [a travelers’ café in Chicago] whose walls were adorned with masks from Bali and shelves filled with guides to far-flung destinations. I was then the literary critic for Outside Magazine, a great job but one that was beginning to wear on my patience. You see, the books I read were about people who climbed Himalayan peaks, rode a bicycle all the way across Africa, sailed wooden boats across the Atlantic, or tracked into restricted areas of China. These tales of adventure filled my days and my imagination, and yet my own life was anything but adventurous. The interior of the Kopi coffee shop was ringed by clocks, each one showing the time in some distant locale, and as I watched the weeks ticking away in places like Timbuctu and Juno and Goa and Denpasar, I began to long for an adventure of my own.

Dan Meyer, minister in Oak Brook, IL, opens a sermon from Matthew 4:18-25 that he titled “The Great Adventure” quoting that passage. He then tells that Harvey felt he was acting like a character in a Joseph Conrad novel who said, “When I grow up I will go there.” Then Meyer states the idea of the sermon as: “When Jesus says, ‘Follow me’ it’s the most amazing invitation you will ever get. Say yes to it.”

The story of the four fishermen that Jesus called to follow him in Matthew 4 is about four men who went on a great adventure when Jesus said to them, “Come follow me. Matthew, the author of the Gospel of Matthew, also received the call to follow Jesus and joined that great adventure. Many others during the course of Jesus’ ministry on earth and since have also joined the adventure. Meyer says:

In other words, lots of people from all walks of life and places lay down their tools, get out of their vehicles, release some of their associations, and follow him…. These people from all these places were willing to get up and go after Jesus because they had seen with their own two eyes what Jesus could do with a life put into his hands. They had seen his transforming power.

How about you? Do you want to go on an adventure great than anything you can imagine? Do you want to say with Joseph Conrad “When I grow up I will go there?” Jesus can take you to the place on the map that will change your life.

You get there by following Jesus. That is what the New Testament calls discipleship. There is no better place to learn about it than in Matthew’s Gospel. So we will do just that in the coming months.

Christmas Letter 2014

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” – Luke 2:13-14

One year has passed since Christine went to be with the Lord. How do I sum up a year that has been filled with heartbreak over losing her and joy over knowing she has gone home, to the home all of us who follow Christ long for – our home with God? I am not sure I can, but let me mention just a few highlights.

I have been blessed in the past year by loving family, friends, and a wonderful church, including each one who will read this letter and who also grieve Christine’s death. Longtime family relationships and friendships have deepened for me as a result of our common grief and hope. One longtime friend who has been an encouragement to me over this last year has said repeatedly, “We will get through this together.” Many of you have demonstrated that sentiment without stating it. All I can say is thank you.

I ended last year and began this year with a two month break from my preaching and leadership responsibilities at our church, for which I am grateful. During that time and other time afforded me away from church, I visited family, returned to the church where I held my first preaching ministry, the first ministry decision Christine and I made together after we were married and a church where we have continued to have deep friendships, and I reoriented my life. I returned to preaching on February 2, and continue to carry on my life’s calling.

I was able to travel to a church planting conference in Florida and to the North American Christian Convention where I reconnected personally with friends I had not seen since Christine’s death. I also had occasion to speak at two retreats for church leaders about my journey on the theme, “Leading When Your Heart is Breaking.” Much more has happened that I do not have space to write about.

In early November, our daughter, Nancy, and son-in-law, Dave made their third mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya with a group from their church in Cincinnati. They are both engaged in ongoing work with the mission in Kenya and Dave is extending that work into other parts of Africa through his new mission, Africa Fire Mission. I am looking forward to when I will have an opportunity to go to Kenya with them.

On December 6 and 7, one year after Christine’s accident and death, Nancy, Dave, and I hosted an open house for family, friends and church members, and we held a special worship service on Sunday. Several of our family traveled to Madison for the weekend, including my sisters Karen and Connie, Connie’s husband, Doug, my brother, Tom, and his wife and their two sons, Christine’s sister, Susan, and her husband, and one niece. Christine’s and my longtime friend, Bud Clapp, came to preach for us that Sunday.

Among the things that Christine had on our refrigerator when she died was a scripture quotation from Psalm 73:23-26 that reaffirms everything she lived for: “Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

I trust you and your family will have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and trust you will have a wonderful year in 2015.

Ken

Are You Ready For an Awesome Christmas

In the November issue of Christianity Today, Megan Hill asks “If Everything Is Awesome, Where Does That Leave God?” In her first three paragraphs, she writes the following:

I have never eaten an awesome meal. I’ve never driven an awesome car or taken an awesome vacation. I haven’t danced to an awesome song or streamed an awesome video. I do, however, know an awesome God.

My history with the word awesome goes back to my childhood, when my father—an amateur linguist and professional theologian—gently corrected my early attempts to apply that word indiscriminately. In our family, we reserved the adjective for the One whose name is great and awesome (Ps. 99:3).

My dad’s point was not that awesome itself was some sacred incantation only for the divine . He simply wanted me to acknowledge with my words that, in both character and magnitude, God is different from deep-dish pizza.

Hill goes on to describe that “we live in a culture of inflated language,” as illustrated by The Lego Movie in which they sing “Everything is awesome.” Then she says, “But if everything is awesome, then nothing is.”

After reading her column, I began thinking about Christmas, and it occurred to me that we can ready for Christmas — or we can be ready for an awesome Christmas.

So what is the difference. Well, I am glad you asked.

I began getting ready for Christmas early this year because Nancy, Dave, and I are holding a Christmas Open House on Saturday. I knew I would not have time to put the Christmas tree up and do some other decorating after Thanksgiving, so I decorated the tree and did some other Christmas decorating earlier than I ever have — before Thanksgiving. You can’t have a Christmas Open House, after all, without Christmas decorations. Now if I get a few more presents that I still need to buy, I will be ready for Christmas. It will be good to have all of that done for Christmas, but that will not make it an awesome Christmas.

You see, an awesome Christmas requires understanding and celebrating how Christmas began, and worshiping the one Christmas is all about.

So you will have an awesome Christmas when you reflect again on how the God who alone is awesome came into the world by being born of a virgin in the person of Jesus. Everything about the birth had been prophesied for centuries and occurred just as it had been prophesied. Nothing like that had happened before and has not happened since. God became a man. Angels announced the birth to shepherds who went to worship him. The world has not been the same since. Reflect on that and you will have an awesome Christmas

Reflections on “One Another”

The phrase “one another” is used at least six dozen times in the New Testament, both negatively and positively, to refer on the one hand to how Christians are not to treat one another and on the other hand to how Christians are to treat one another. I will only be able to deal with less than a dozen positive uses of the phrase in my current sermon series, so let me give you a glimpse at some of the other positive things Christians are to do for one another.

Greet one another — In Romans 16, Paul gives a long list of greetings to people in the church at Rome and instructions for them to greet specific people. Then, in Romans 16:16, he says, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” One of the joys of watching people at Westwood on Sunday morning is how everyone greets one another. I have also experienced this kind of greeting in many church settings and Christian gatherings over the years. It is not only important in greeting one another that we say hello, but that we also keep our spiritual antenna up in listening to people and learning whether there are special joys or hurts that they are experiencing.

Serve one another — This phrase appears in Galatians 5:13 when Paul says “serve one another in love.” Leo Tolstoy studied a young artist’s painting of the Lord’s Supper and, referring to the image of Jesus said, “If you loved him more, you would paint him better.” The same can be said of our service for Christ — ”If you loved him more, you would serve him better” — and of our service for one another — “If we loved one another more, we would serve one another better.”

Bear one another’s burdens — Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” This verse comes immediately after Paul has told the Galatian church to restore those who have sinned with a spirit of gentleness. In the context in which Paul places this phrase — bear one other’s burdens — it is clear that we are to help fellow believers along the way who have fallen in some manner instead of condemning them. This often takes great effort, but has great rewards when a person is restored to his or her faith.

Bear with one another — Ephesians 4:2 says we are to “bear with one another in love.” It is important to recognize here how important love is in living out all of these one another instructions. Everyone of us will have relationships with other Christians who are hard to accept and love. Even as I write this, there are names and faces that come to my mind. However, we need to bear with these people and recognize the value they bring to the Kingdom of God and to the lives of others, recognizing that we too have our shortcomings and our own detractors.

Encourage one another — This phrase appears in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 alongside the phrase “build one another up.” Paul even says that his readers were already doing this. Everybody has a hard struggle of one kind or other and needs encouragement to keep on trusting and serving the Lord. There is no greater gift that you can give to others than encouragement.

Here’s an idea: search out the one another passages, make a list, and rate from 1 to 10 how you are doing with each one.

When We Are One With God and One Another...

Several years ago, I read a true missionary account of some unusual bickering that took place in a church in an isolated village in Thailand. There were sixteen Christian families in the village who became seriously divided over the use of their church property.

One of the younger Christian men, those father had owned the land on which the church building was built, decided to make the use of the land more productive. He fenced in the church property, dug up the ground, and planted corn. As the corn began to sprout, he began to dig the ground beneath the church building, which was constructed on stilts, and planted beans under the church building.

These actions caused the other Christians to suspend worship services. They were convinced the young man was laying a trap for them— that he would blame them if the bean crop failed. For many months the church did not meet, except for occasional meetings in individual’s homes. The church had lost its unity and purpose.

About a year later, a visit by two of the missionaries prompted a meeting of the church in the church building. The building was packed, and, then, as one of the missionaries preached, the entire length of floor on one side of the building collapsed and all the people on that side of the building tumbled to the ground. This shared experience helped reunite the Christians and inspired them to build a new building. This time the building was built on the ground with a dirt floor.

When the building was completed, the missionaries returned to the village for a building dedication. But two days before they left for the village, another young Christian man erected a small bamboo and grass house within fifteen feet of the new church, and by the time they arrived, the Christians were split again. Some accused the young man of deliberate disrespect for God and his fellow-Christians. Others were wisely urging patience and understanding. The young man himself pleaded ignorance of the fact that the church grounds were for church use only. In spite of the missionaries’ efforts to exhort both factions, they remained divided and unforgiving of one another. Of course, there was no dedication service.

On the one hand, we may find such division foolish or even laughable, but congregations in America have split over such small issues and Christians are often divided over issues of small consequence. So how do we maintain unity among Christians? Let me mention two things, one that we emphasized at this year’s Great Communion service and one that is the subject matter of my sermon series that starts this coming Sunday.

1. Become one with the Father and with his Son. Jesus prayed in John 17:20-23 for unity among believers: “...that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us.” We gain unity with the Father and the Son by experiencing the glory of Christ. Christ experienced his glory in his death, and we experience that glory when we die to self.
2. Become one with “one another.” When we learn how to treat one another, how to build up one another, how to be members of one another, how to honor one another, how to love another, then we develop a unity that keeps us from dividing. We will examine this theme through the “one another” passages in the New Testament in a sermon series that begins this coming Sunday and extends through November.

There will no doubt always be division between Christians, much of it over silly things, but we can and should work for the kind of unity between one another that the Father and the Son demonstrate.

God bless,

Ken

Building a Life of Faithfulness

The first home that Christine and I owned we had built. We bought a lot from a couple who became our neighbors and friends, hired a contractor who was recommended to us, chose a floor plan and then floor coverings and fixtures. Then we watched as the house was built.

The second home that we owned was also new when we moved in. We signed a contract to purchase it from the builder, a member of the congregation we had gone to Oklahoma to minister with, while the house was under construction. We made some alterations in the floor plan and again chose floor coverings and fixtures. The next time we saw the house, construction was complete and we moved in.

In both cases, we made decisions about the construction of the house and then it was built, or in the case of the second house, the building was completed. However, after moving in we still had to make each house a home by personalizing it with our own decorating and living in it everyday.

As we come to the second half of Nehemiah, he has completed the rebuilding of the walls. Now he and the people of Jerusalem have to turn the city into a place where they can live.

When Nehemiah 6 begins, the walls Nehemiah set out to rebuild have been completed, but the gates have not been set in place. When Nehemiah 7 begins, the gates have been set in place; the building project is complete. The chapter goes on to describe the heritage of the people who have returned to rebuild Jerusalem. It then sets the stage for the remaining chapters of the book which describe the spiritual development of the city. The pieces of that development include:

• A commitment to the Word of God—chapter 8. Ezra, the priest who had led a group of exiles back to Jerusalem fourteen years earlier, leads a public meeting at which he reads the law of Moses to the gathering, and the people commit to living by the law.
• A commitment to the greatness, goodness, and grace of God—chapter 9. After committing themselves to the law, the people of Jerusalem confess their sins for not having obeyed the law and recognize the God who has delivered their nation from trouble again and again.
• A commitment to obedience—chapter 10. The people then promise to obey even the hard parts of the law.

Just as Nehemiah had to build a nation that committed themselves to our great God and his Word and to obeying him, we need to do the same. When we have rebuilt our lives after being broken, we then need to build a life of faithfulness.

While the rebuilding is hard—as we have seen with Nehemiah and the opposition and problems he faced–so is building a life of faithfulness. There will always be constant temptation trying to pull us away from God, but we have resources available to us to help us maintain our commitment to him. The final chapters of Nehemiah will help us understand these resources.

If A Person Dies, Will He or She Live Again?

On Friday, August 1, I held Bev Kenworthy’s funeral at Westwood. Many of you who are reading this know Bev as well or better and longer than I do. Bev is an extraordinary woman. She is one of those rare saints that if you are privileged to get to know will bless your life in the most amazing ways. Let me share with you in printed form some of the thoughts that I will share at her funeral.

She was already on the top side of 70 when I first met her in 1996. During all the time that I have known her and much if not all of the time that some of you have known her, her eyesight was failing. During those first years that I knew her, someone would print word sheets in large letters every week for her of the songs we sang in church that Sunday because whether we were using hymnbooks or projecting the words she could not read them. Yet she wanted to participate in the worship service.

Bev very seldom missed church, and she read her Bible and devotional books and prayed with diligence. When she could no longer read, she had the Bible and her devotions read to her. As her health began to fail, she could not get to church any longer, but as long as she was at home and able to do so, she would still get dressed for church and watch church on TV. She told me the last time I took communion to her that on those Sundays she would squeeze the juice out of grapes and use crackers to prepare communion for herself. She asked that day if that was okay.

When you live like that, you can face up to the question that Job asked: If a person dies, will he or she live again? That may be the oldest recorded question. If you fail to ask Job’s question, you miss one of the greatest blessings of life. Understanding the answer to that question will enable you to understand three great things that God wants us to understand.

Understand the Gospel. The Apostle Paul summarizes the Gospel as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel is the action God took through Jesus to restore us to the life he created us for that we lost when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Through Jesus’ death, the penalty for our sins has been paid. Through Jesus’ resurrection, death has been defeated, and we receive the gift of eternal life. So even, Job could say, “I know that my Redeemer lives…”

Understand Your Reward. After suffering a life of persecution for Christ, Paul was at the end of his life when he wrote 2 Timothy, and said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Therefore the Lord will give me the crown of righteousness. Bev had marked in one of her devotional books this statement: “Because Christ lives, death is not a tragedy but triumph.”

Understand Grief. We will still grieve Bev’s death; her family will grieve her death. We, however, do not grieve as the rest of the world does who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We will experience, grief, pain, loss when a loved one dies, when a special person dies. But we grieve in hope and look forward to eternal life.