Overwhelming Joy & Spiritual Danger

Share This Post

The last six weeks have been a challenge. Many of you asked me if I was okay after Sunday. Many of you have never seen me cry the way I did at the beginning of the sermon, and others saw tears combined with me checking my phone and thought something was wrong. I greatly appreciate the concern. I can assure you that nothing is wrong, and I’m doing well.

Several things came together Sunday morning. Over the last month and a half, the Lord has seen fit to allow every area I’m involved in to have challenges, from brothers in the Philippines to hard extra-local news in SGC to baseball and, finally, the recent flooding. This is on top of the usual pastoral stuff (counseling leaders, helping people resolve conflict, and preparing sermons). Each week has been a slog to ensure that Sunday sermons are completed and faithful to God and His people. Over the last two weeks, I have noticed that my resolve and emotional threshold have been down. Like most of us, I tend to have a short fuse when that happens, and my patience is very low. I saw that Sunday and did not respond well to a few situations.

When we began to sing about the amazing grace of our God, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I was struck, once again, by God’s patience with me and faithfulness toward me. Then, as I heard our church sing, I was moved to one of the deepest joys I’ve ever experienced because our church declared our Savior’s great worth with passion. I was reminded that our church’s Great Shepherd was leading us perfectly, even though I am flawed and weak. Then, the children left for Sunday School, and the tears started flowing. Seeing their faces as they left the sanctuary to hear the gospel from faithful teachers overwhelmed me because long after I’m with the Lord, those kids will carry this gospel farther than I could ever have. By then, the song before the sermon was sung, and I was undone.

So…I’m doing very well. I am just a little emotionally and physically overwhelmed, but I’m being reminded daily that though the outer man is failing, my inner man is being renewed. I’m being taught (perhaps like never before) my limitations and finitude. It’s a good place for me, even if tears come with it.

Thank you for caring for me. I love you, and I thank God every day for what He is doing in my family and church.

Spiritual Danger

One of the things James can do to us is cause us to question the reality of our faith. I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing, but there are some concerns I’d like to address.

The first thing is that generally, those concerned that they’re not in the faith because of a lack of fruit or worried that they’ve sinned so deeply that God would disband them from His family aren’t in spiritual danger. Those who are in spiritual danger are those who don’t care. They think they’re good and never give this concern much thought. I find Paul’s exhortation to examine ourselves to see if we’re in the faith compelling (2 Cor. 13:5), and I believe we should do this often, not in the way of doubting but with an honest look at our Savior and His fruit in our lives.

The second danger I see with James is sitting in unhelpful condemnation rather than responding to Spirit-led conviction of our sin. Listen, we will see sin in our lives as we study James. If you’re not, you should re-read the previous paragraph. But when we see sin, we should respond to it correctly.

Unhelpful condemnation turns us inward. It feels the guilt so profoundly that it won’t pick up its head. It wants you to keep feeling bad about your sin. Ironically, this is the pathway to more sin.
Spirit-led conviction turns us upward. It feels the guilt of our sin and knows there is nothing we can do to free us or forgive ourselves. We don’t have that power. So, we turn upward to God and His gift of Jesus. We believe with all our hearts that 1 John 1:9 is true, and we confess our sin, knowing He is faithful and just to cleanse us and empower us to change.

James is concerned about so-called Christians who go day after day and year after year, ignoring God’s word and not being concerned about that. If you feel guilt over your sin, run to your Savior. Don’t keep looking inward (navel-gazing). “For every one look at your sin; take ten looks at Jesus.”

From the Cheap Seats

This is nuts: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHM5ggDOK70/?igsh=QkFPN2VsaDA1Rw%3D%3D. It’s a cycle of home runs. I’ve never seen it.
As a left-hand hitter, who plays golf right-handed, this is awesome: https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/44374189.
If you want to see a fantastic underdog story, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwfUPELy6HA. I don’t follow wrestling like I will when my grandson starts, but Gable Steveson is a legend and an Olympic champion. But he got beat…by an Air Force Lieutenant who transferred to Oklahoma State for another shot. Amazing!