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Separation and The World as God's Sanctuary

This past Sunday I talked about the fact that God thru his word: 1. Separated to form a world that is hospitable to life. 2. granted and filled the world with life. Separation is key to life with God. So we as Christians are to live separated from the world. Now I grew up in a conservative Baptist church. They took this too far--don't wear shorts, women wear skirts, men no hair on collar, no cards...etc. What does it mean to be separate? What is too separate? What is not separate enough?


Another point I made is that the entire world is God's Sanctuary. We need to be separate or different in our whole lives not just at church (or in the sanctuary) on Sunday morning. In fact when we do things different on Sunday morning but not during the rest of the week, we give the church a bad name. People think the church is irrelevant---because it doesn’t make a difference in their everyday lives. Further people think the church is full of hypocrites because people act different on Sunday than they do the rest of the week. Does our church have a problem with this? If it does explain why you think so? Have you met people that feel this way about the church in general in the US? Can or should the church do something to change this perception that the church is full of hypocrites and doesn't make a difference in everyday life?

God's Temple Sanctuary: The World

Hi Everyone!  Sorry it has been so long between posts--it has been hard to keep up with the blog and Facebook since we haven't closed on our home and we don't have Internet yet. 

This Sunday I promised I would post an article that discusses all the similarities between Israel's Temple, The Garden of Eden, and The World as God's Temple.  But, before I do, I want to highlight or summarize a section of this material that I didn't get a chance to talk about on Sunday, because I was running out of time.  The section I just barely touched upon was the connection between Israel's Temple and all of creation.

Here are a few of the connections that show how Israel's Temple was to reflect Creation as God's Temple:

1. The Holy of Holies represented the invisible heavens God formed on day 1 and filled on day 4 of creation.  Cherubim and heavenly angels guard God's throne in the invisible heaven.  They also guard the Ark of the Covenant in Israel's temple.  These angels are mounted on the Ark and woven into the curtain that divided the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place.  Further, the ark was called the footstool of God--where the invisible heavens meet the earth. The earth is also called the footstool of God.  Additionally, the Holy of Holies is is partitioned from the rest of the temple by a curtain--making it "invisible" to the rest of the temple--again contributing to the symbolism of the invisible heavens.
2. The Holy Place represented the sky or visible havens that God form on day 2 and filled on day 5 of creation.  The Curtains of the Holy Place were blue, purple, and scarlet representing the different of the sky.  Adding to the symbolism of the visible heavens are the picture of birds woven into these tapestries.  Reinforcing the image of the visible heavens in the Holy Place is the lampstand.  One lampstand had 7 lights and there were 10 lampstands in Solomon's Temple. This made 70 lights against the dark curtains of the Holy Place reminding the people that would peer into this area of the heavenly lights--the sun, moon, and stars.  Additionally the Hebrew word for lights is used 10 times in the Pentateuch for the lights on the lampstand and the only other place this Hebrew word occurs is in the creation account to refer to the sun, moon, and stars in Genesis 1:14-16.
3. Finally the Courtyard of Israel represents the visible land and earth.  This is indicated by the fact that the large wash basin in this area is referred to as the sea in other areas of the Old Testament, and further indicated by the alter which is called the "bosom of the earth" and the "mount of God" in other parts of the Old Testament.  Additionally the alter was to be an "'alter of earth' made from uncut stone." 

The Garden of Eden and Israel's Temple are pictures of what God original intended--that all of creation would be his sanctuary.  We need to separate ourselves as unto God in all of creation.  (Remember we learned that to create on days 1-3 means God's Word SEPARATES to create a world that will be a conducive place for the life he will fill it with on days 4-6.)  Our whole lives need to be different and not just artificially different in the church sanctuary on Sunday morning because the whole world is God's sanctuary.

Here is the link to the article containing this information that I promised to post:

Eden, the Temple, and the church's Mission in the New Creation.pdf

Here is a diagram of Israel's Temple:

Judging, Mispercieving, Not Real w/ Each Other

   This past Sunday I began my first teaching series at First Baptist Lockport. The title of the series is Beginning in the Beginning: The Beginning of God's Story and my first talk or communication was called "The Greatest Story Ever Told." I used the lyrics of a Five Iron Frenzy song call "The Greatest Story Ever Told" to illustrate my point--all too often we are not real with each other; we say we're fine and we're not and like the song says our answer smells like bile. We are afraid to be real because we are afraid that people will judge us and misperceive us. So, people are unable to learn our stories and we short circuit the relationships God intended us to have in order to grow and help others grow. We saw that with the Israelites. The same is true with God. We are not open and real with God because we don't know him and his story. This was true of Israel. They had forgotten God's story and thus forgotten God always has their best interest at heart. We also saw that all the ancient civilizations and forgotten God's story. Thus Moses writes Genesis and the entire Pentateuch to remind Israel of God's story so they can live out his story and remind humanity of that story. The church is to be like Israel today. We are to do the same thing. But too often we don't. We are afraid to take off our masks and be real with God--develop a real and close relationship with him and we are afraid to take off our masks and be real with each other developing real and close relationships. No wonder non-Christians are not interested in the Christian story. It appears to them we are a bunch of fakes, wearing masks and costumes that cover up the real and the raw aspects of our life. The world wants Christians to be real, honest and vulnerable. They want to see that our faith makes a difference in the real world.

So the other night I was reading the book Who Stole My Church and I came across a section that I wish I had for my sermon last Sunday. In this book there are a group of Christians meeting together to because they feel their church is being stolen out from underneath them. They miss the hymns. They wonder why they need more audio-visual equipment. They wander why they can't have a choir any more...etc. Essentially they had cleaned up the church and separated it from the real world. The result had filtered into their lives. They put on a show on Sunday morning to honor God but were not honoring him at all because they were not real with him and each other. It was all a facade.

Anyway, an outsider comes into the church. Ben, he has long hair, a tattoo, struggled with substance abuse...etc. One of the members of the little group, Ernie, makes some nasty comments about that Sunday's visitor only to find the person was a relative of another member of this group, Connie. God had dealt with her to take in this individual and help him. She had invited him to her church. To make a long story short this lady begins to share the things going on in her life and the life of her extended family. This opens the door for the whole group to get honest and real with each other.

The pastor of this fictitious church comments about the evening:

"What in the world is happening here? I asked myself. It was as if we were at a costume party where, at the stroke of midnight, everyone had to remove their disguises. People were exposing their broken hearts sharing the darker parts of their own private stories for the first time. Faces usually smiling and projecting confidence were now marked with deep pain and struggle. Burdens of worry, grief, confusion, and regret, never before mentioned, where being placed, as it were, right on the table.

"No one in the room was more shaken at these disclosures than I was. I'd been preaching to these people week after week and didn't have the slightest idea that some of these things were going on in their hearts. What in the world is church life about, I asked myself, if stories like these remain hidden in the hearts of the people you thought you knew well."

Later in the story Ernie--the one that made the negative comments about Ben--takes Ben to a ballgame. There Ernie opens up about the things in his life --some of the same things Ben has been struggling with. Ben, who had no use for Christians and Christianity in the past, is now open to God's story thru Ben's story.

I believe this is perfect example of why it is important for us as a church to open up with each other and share our stories. We need to hear how each of us is struggling to live God's story in our world and how we are being successful at it. The world wants to know we are real. They want to know that God's story connects with them right where they are. I want our church to be a place where it is safe for real, fallen people to come and learn God's story and see how God's story makes sense out of their world. I want us to be a people that can be open and real with each other and those who don't know God's story.

Here are a couple of questions:

1. What are some of the "church" things we do that may make an outsider like Ben feel like church is fake and doesn't connect with the real world?

2. What keeps you from opening up with other Christians

3. What would help you open up with other Christians?

4. What keeps you from sharing Christ's story with those who have misunderstood God because they don't have a relationship with God or other Christians have misrepresented God because their relationship with God isn't what it should be?

5. What can we do as a church to make it a place where people feel comfortable learning about God's story? What attitudes need to be adjusted if any?

6. Do you feel our church is a safe place to bring a friend who wants to learn God's story? Why or Why not?

Kidney Stone Procedure--Sat. July 24

Just an update to let everyone know that my precedure to remove my kidney stone well be done this Saturday at 6:30 am.  Thanks for your prayers.

Moving, Health Concern

Sorry it has been so long since I posted again.  Last week our family loaded up the van and took a road trip to Lockport.  It was a very productive couple of days. 

First, we were able to check out a temporary place to live while we are waiting for our homes to close.  At first it seemed no one would rent to us on a month to month basis, but Annie who volunteers in the church office heard about our situation and offered the parsonage of the AME church on South Street, one block north of the church God is good.   We checked it out and it will definitely meet our needs for the short term.

Second, we sold our house.  At least we have a contract on it.  We had three offers while we were in Lockport.  We accepted an offer that was not contingent on the purchaser's home selling.  If all goes as expected we should close on or before August 24.  We have an inspection scheduled for today--pray we do not have any unexpected fixes to pay for.  As soon as the inspection goes thru, we can begin moving forward with removing the contingency on the home on Union  Street in Lockport.  Also, we visited the home with the boys.  They loved the pool and were excited to pick out their rooms.

Third, we were able to register our boys for school.  Keegan, by the grace of God, got the last preschool spot available.  The boys we able to visit their school and play on the playground.  God is good.

I have rented a Uhaul for July 29-31.  We plan to load our home in Indiana on the 29th, drive to Lockport on the 30th, and unload on the 31st.

Finally, I went to see the doctor yesterday.  I have a large Kidney Stone that has been causing considerable pain on the right side of my abdomen.  The doctor will try to schedule surgery to break up the stone before we move.  Please pray we can get this taken care of before we move.

Trip to Lockport, Home Showings

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted an update to my blog.  Over the past week invited all of Paula's family up to our home for a couple of days--for a surprise 70th birthday party for her Dad.  We had a great time--and Jim was really surprised.  (By the way--I won the corn hole tournament.)  We also took her Paula's family to Winona Lake for the 4th of July celebration--fireworks were great.  We then went camping on my parents property in Southern Indiana and to Cincinnati to visit one of our very good friends.

Today I going to begin calling rental properties in Lockport to find a place where our family can rent on a month to month basis while we wait for our home to sell.  Let me know if you know of any places I should check out.  We plan to drive to Lockport on Monday to look for a place to rent.  Can't wait to be in our new home town.

On Weds. and Thurs. we had 2 couples view our home and three showings--one couple viewed it twice.  This is the most activity we have had on our home in a short period of time--maybe because we reduced our asking price 5k.  Also, we have an open house scheduled for this Sunday.

Keep praying for us. Specifically, pray for me as I have begun to work on my first sermon series.  Pray for my family as we begin to make our transition to Lockport.  Pray that we can find an inexpensive place to rent on a month to month basis 'till our home sells, and pray that our home sells quickly.  We know God's timing is perfect.

See you soon!