A few weeks ago, the Lord began to confront my heart about anxiety. I’m not a worry-wart, but all the stuff going on in our world was really bothering me. I decided to stop reading the news so much and turn my anxieties into prayer. The Lord has been kind to use different things in Scripture to remind me that He’s ultimately in control, which is the biggest salve to my anxious heart. Recently, I read Proverbs 21 and the very first verse says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” Think of all the “kings” or in our land, Presidents. My favorite president, in my life-time, was Ronald Reagan. President Reagan was a “stream in the hand of the Lord” and God turned that stream wherever He wanted. The same holds true for President Biden. This tells us…the Lord is at work. Christian, rest your weary head “on the pillow of God’s sovereignty.”
Tidbit left out of Sunday’s sermon:
Can you imagine being a Corinthian Christian, who didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, and read Paul’s letter when he wrote, “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:44)? His point is so clear: you have a natural body, why would you not also receive a transformed body that is ready for the complete control of the Holy Spirit?
I love this about Paul. He never ducks the hard issues. And yet, he debates them is such simple, straightforward ways.
Fear of Man:
The last few weeks in our study of 1 Corinthians, the Lord has made it clear that we must have eternal life in mind, while we live in this crazy world. One area that has deeply concerned me about CLF during this season is the issue of fear.
Here’s what I desire for CLF: I want us to be courageous to make decisions that we have prayed about, researched, and we believe are best for us and our families, without the fear of being criticized or falsely accused. Further, I want us to be a church that can have openness of dialogue on very hard issues, be able to disagree, yet not hold one another at “arms length”.
Here are some examples that are very critical for the time we’re living in:
- A person who believes they should wear a mask to our church services, should be met by Christian love and joy…not weird looks or accusations.
- Someone who chooses to not receive the vaccination, should be met by Christian understanding and love…not with avoidance or name-calling.
- Someone might feel strongly that the government has overreached their Constitutional boundaries and someone might feel strongly that the government is simply trying to help us stay safe from this virus. But that doesn’t mean that the first person is a “right-wing radical approved of the January 6th Capital riot” nor does it mean that the latter person is a “left-wing liberal who approves of killing babies and homosexuality”.
My point is this: in order to create a culture that is free of fear, a culture of Christian love must win the day. You’ve hear me say this before…Love must win the day because Christ has won our hearts. There are enough accusations and name calling going on in the world around us…we don’t need it in the church.
Now, CLF, at this point, the Lord has been so kind to us and you have really worked hard at this. However, I do think there are areas of improvement to be made and we can be more free of the fear of man. Let’s have grow each day to have a culture of Christian love, which will thwart a culture of fear.
From the Cheap Seats:
- From the local prep sports scene:
- If you didn’t see the RHS vs. Sheldon football game last Friday, you missed a good one. While RHS was on the losing side (47-49), they played hard and fought to the end. I’m looking forward to seeing how far these guys can go in the playoffs.
- Congrats to RHS and UVC volleyball teams for qualifying for the state playoffs. UVC plays at home on Wednesday and RHS is on the road.
- Oakland High School Football team had a huge win vs. Monroe last Friday (34-0). Micah Gautreau (Sabin and Jayne’s son) plays on the JV team, but suits up for the varsity. They’re getting close to clinching a playoff spot.
- Come on…Chelsea 7-0 vs. Norwich and Liverpool 5-0 vs. Man U?? Ole has to be out at MU soon, doesn’t he?
- Pakistan beat India by 10 wickets (13 balls left) in the World Cup of Cricket. I have no idea what that means.
- Listen, the 2017 Astros cheating scandal was not the 1st time they had been caught cheating. They cheated when they stole all of the Cardinals computer data. So…Genesis 3 is alive and well with the Astros being in the World Series again. Go Braves!
- Subplot: Another reason I’m cheering for the Braves, is 3rd base coach, Ron Washington. “Wash” was the Rangers’ manager in the glory years of Rangers’ baseball (2006-2014). My favorite Wash phrase is “That’s the way baseball go.”
- Watch this to see the energy that Wash brought as the manager: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc7B6T4v8SI
Praying that grace will be more amazing to you today than it was yesterday.
In Christ,
Dave York
