Crossroad Online

Hi this is Pastor Ken and these are my thoughts on a Thursday…Stinking Irony.

I took a trip this past week that traversed seven states to purchase a motorcycle, and yes before anyone asks…it was still a good deal when I included the gas it took to go get it. However, this podcast isn’t about motorcycles or the price of gas though I am sure I could make some connection between those things and some biblical truth. This episode is about something I stepped on while stopping at one of the many rest stops I visited on my trip. As I walked along one of the concrete sidewalks that led to the bathrooms at one particular location, I stepped on a round metal lid placed in the concrete. Cast into the iron lid were the words “Sanitary Sewer”. I have seen these words many times in the past. Prior to entering full-time ministry I worked for a heavy equipment construction company that placed many of those particular lids in sidewalks and streets during my tenure there.

For those of you who may not know there are two kinds of sewer lines underground. There are “Storm Sewers” which are conduits made of concrete, metal or plastic which convey rainwater runoff from impermeable surfaces like buildings, parking lots and roadways, ultimately to places where it can be introduced safely into natural bodies of water. The other kind of sewer lines are called “Sanitary Sewers” and they are anything but…sanitary. These are the lines that carry the sewage from our sinks, showers and toilets to the waste water treatment plant. When I was in the business of installing new portions of these so called “Sanitary Sewer” lines to existing infrastructure I was always somewhat amused by the name stamped into the manhole covers. “Sanitary sewer” just seemed like such an oxymoron to me. It is a “Stinking Irony” indeed.

As I stepped on that manhole last week and read those words cast in iron, “Sanitary Sewer” it made me think of a few verses I had been reading recently in my devotional time. In his Epistle, James, the half-brother of Jesus wrote about a “Stinking Irony” that we all need to be aware of lest we find ourselves reeking of that very condition. In James 3:7-11 we read the following from the New King James Version. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? I also really like the way Dr. Tim Jennings put it in his paraphrase The Remedy there it says; ⁷Humans have tamed all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea,⁸but no one can make their words harmless. The mouth speaks venomous words, expressing the chaos and evil within the heart.⁹One moment we praise God our Father, and the very next moment we curse the very men and women created in his image.¹⁰Think about it: Out of the same mouth come both praises and curses. My brothers and sisters, this is wrong, and it must stop.¹¹Does a spring bring forth fresh water one moment and sewage the next?

Last week in this podcast I eluded to what I am talking about today. If we are not ever vigilant about the condition of our hearts, we risk acting out of selfishness. When you mix selfishness with the most difficult thing in all humanity to control…the tongue…the risk of stinking irony rises dramatically. James says that ⁹One moment we praise God our Father, and the very next moment we curse the very men and women created in his image. This can happen in so many ways and seemingly in the blink of an eye. As I noted last week we can be singing along to the Christian radio station in the car one minute and be yelling at the person who so irreverently cut us off in traffic the next. While that may be an easy one for many people to relate to, it certainly isn’t the only example. What about when we smile and say “Sure thing boss!” to our employer and then take every available opportunity to tell our co-workers what a jerk the boss is? How about spending Sunday morning in quote-unquote “Worship” and then gossiping all the way home about others in church and all of the inconsistencies we perceive to exist in their lives? How about the way we use our moral high ground as Christians to justify verbally crucifying our political opponents? The fact of the matter is that these examples I have noted simply scratch the surface of all of the ways we come up with to fulfill the verse above and praise God out of one side of our mouth while we curse His creation out of the other.

I think James was right to ask us to consider this uncomfortable truth about our “Stinking Irony”.¹⁰Think about it: Out of the same mouth come both praises and curses. My brothers and sisters, this is wrong, and it must stop.¹¹Does a spring bring forth fresh water one moment and sewage the next? None of us would be willing to go down into a sewer manhole, fill a cup and drink its contents. No one among us would consider it no matter how sanitary the manhole lid said it was. You can’t get fresh water from a sewer. Nor can pure water come from a place that allows even a little bit of sewage in. If I had a 5 gallon bucket of water and added only one cup of raw sewage into it…would you drink it? I hope not. Because even a little sewage allowed into the water contaminates the whole bucket.

What can help us overcome allowing sewage to contaminate our spring meant only to produce fresh water? Conforming to the image of Christ. One of the things we know about Jesus is that though He was reviled…He reviled not. That means that though he had every justification in the world for lashing out, for having bad things to say about His own stinking creation beating, torturing and finally executing their own Creator, (Talk about stinking irony) He didn’t do it. Jesus didn’t think or act selfishly, He allowed His outward thinking to selflessly lead Him to the cross. The bible says that for the joy set before Him, in other words for the opportunity to pay for our sin once and for all and to be able to set all of His creation right again, He endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)

So now, removing the sewage from the stream where only fresh, clean, clear water is supposed to flow…Go Be Awesome!

Hi this is Pastor Ken and these are my thoughts on a Thursday…Choosing Life
In past episodes of this podcast I have occasionally shared lessons I learned from experiencing cancer. I say that I experienced cancer because the disease did not cause me all of the pain and difficulty I have witnessed it cause others. Lynn and I have a dear friend who is at this moment battling cancer in a way I never had to, she is literally fighting for her life. When you pray today…please pray for Leasa and her family. As I said, the fight I had with cancer was not as intense as hers and others have been, so I feel it unfair for me to categorize my struggle with theirs.
Unfortunately, my cancer was not discovered until it had already engulfed my prostate. The cancer had a rather aggressive nature and according to my doctors should really only be treated by a complete removal of the affected organ. Other treatments were discussed but only as options for those where the cancer was less aggressive or the disease had not progressed to the extent mine had. Though each alternative treatment was explained, it was made abundantly clear to us that surgery was really the only way to go…if I wanted to live.
With that information in mind, my wife Lynn and I made one of the easiest, weighty decisions we ever have…I would have the surgery. It was weighty because any decision to have an organ removed, even a diseased one, should come only after a healthy dose of consideration. It was easy because choosing to keep the cancerous organ, would lead to death, while choosing to have it removed, would lead to life. When given the opportunity to choose life…choose life!
I have been spending some time reading in the book of James lately in my personal time with the Lord. In James 1:12-17 it says this in the New King James Version: 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
The spiritual decision before all of us is really no different than the one Lynn and I faced in that hospital room. To make one choice will lead to death, to choose the other will result in life…abundant life.
We are all tempted from time to time. In our current state, we are still subject to being called out to by our own evil selfish desires. We may even know that certain things are not good for us…and yet we can sometimes crave those very things. We can be fully aware that to act in one way toward another would be godly and selfless but still struggle to not look out for number one. We can, as James goes on to write about later say that we love God and even sing aloud his praises flowing into our cars via the Christian radio station…and then curse His creation out of the other side of our mouths when we get cut off in traffic. Examples abound, though I don’t think it necessary to name each one here. The fact of the matter is that when we are faced with those choices and others, it is a life and death decision. Don’t misunderstand. I am not saying that a Christ follower who momentarily exercises poor judgement is in danger of hell-fire. What I am saying is that when given choices like those I mentioned a moment ago, we are making a choice bigger than the particulars of the one at hand.
According to James, if we endure the temptations and make the right choices, the loving, selfless ones, we are blessed, become approved and can look forward to the gift of life, promised to those who love God. He goes on to say that we should understand where the choices come from in the first place. God does not implant in us a longing to do the wrong thing, it would go against His righteous nature. Temptations come from our own selfish desires, and if we give into those cravings, they become sin in our lives. Practicing sin, or in other words, making sinful action a regular and accepted way of life for us, brings death if it is not dealt with. We are all born in a fallen state, and that means we have a sin-nature that has to be controlled. Thank God He has provided the Holy Spirit who offers the ability to apply self-control to our sin nature.
When James says that every good gift, and every perfect gift comes from the Father, he is reminding us that God is good and therefore only offers to us what is good. In fact, He gave us the perfect gift, Jesus, who as the Lamb of God was the only sacrifice sufficient to forgive us of and erase the record of our sinfulness. James wanted us to know that this good, good Father never changes His position, He always loves us and always wants to give us everything we need to be able to choose life.
God is life. Choosing God’s Son, Jesus as Lord and Savior is the only choice that can bring life by eradicating and curing the cancerous sinful condition we all suffer from. James said it and I’ll say it again. When given the opportunity to choose life…choose life!
So now, choosing to live for Jesus because He died for you to cure your sin sickness…Go be awesome!

Hi, this is Pastor Ken and these are my thoughts on a Thursday…”Where’s my phone!?!”

The other day I got up and did all of the things I do on any other day. I dressed, went downstairs and let the dogs out into the back yard. While they were outside, I started a pot of coffee, put food and water down for them and then let them back in so they could eat their breakfast. Finally, it was time for my wife Lynn and I to settle into our chairs with our steaming cups of coffee and our bibles. We spend this time the same way every morning. We really enjoy getting to see each other invest in our personal relationship with Jesus. Beyond the confidence and spiritual intimacy that instills in our marriage, it offers us the opportunity to share with one another what we are reading about and learning from God’s word. We rarely find that we are reading in the same places in the scripture. As a result, the ability to share with one another what we are personally learning affords us the gift of encouraging each other before we begin our day, each of us going our separate ways to meet daily responsibilities.

As that sweet time came to its unavoidable conclusion that morning, I arose from my chair, filled my travel mug with its prescribed dose of coffee, grabbed my keys and headed out the front door toward my car. I got in as I have done countless times before, turned the key and backed out of the driveway. I was nearly halfway through the 20-minute drive to church when I thought of something I wanted to check on and reached into my pocket for my cell phone…it was not there. I patted my other jean pockets…not there either. I put my hands on my jacket pockets expecting I had simply deposited it there as I grabbed my keys on the way out the door…nope. Surely, it had to be there somewhere. Right? A quick scan of the console and front passenger seat confirmed my suspicions…I had left my cell phone at home.

I felt somewhat unsure what to do. Should I return home to retrieve it and simply be late for work? I decided that wouldn’t be possible because I had a meeting scheduled as soon as I arrived and needed to be there on time. I decided to continue on to my office, email Lynn that I had left it behind, and ask her to bring it to me later in the day.

In the past, I have observed people discover their cell phone missing. Some become perturbed or frustrated without it, knowing that necessary tasks will be more difficult minus their phone in hand. I have watched others exhibit signs of full-blown separation anxiety at the realization that they are detached from their phone. They show visible signs of concern that quickly turn to worry and sometimes even verge on panic that their electronic device is not in their immediate possession. On occasion, I have seen this displayed to the point that you would think the person in question had left some life saving device behind!

Why do we react in those ways when we find that our cell phones are missing albeit temporarily? I believe we have become so dependent upon them that no matter the level, most of us feel some sense of discomfort when we become disconnected from our phones. Many daily activities have become intertwined with the presence of a cell phone. We make and take calls, send and receive texts. With smartphones we have access to social media, news and weather forecasts for literally anywhere on the planet. Just today, I used my phone to play games, take pictures, create a PDF, send emails, listen to a book, look something up in a bible commentary, and check on the prices of a plane ticket to Orlando, Fla. We use our phones for nearly everything. They have become such an integral part of our daily lives it is no wonder we want them close at hand.

The bible talks about something we should be even more careful with than we are our cell phones. Something that we should be far more certain to never let out of our sight and consideration. Interestingly, the way that it speaks about it, one could almost imagine in our day and age that it is in fact, a cell phone that is being referred to. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reads as follows in the Good News Translation:  ⁴ “Israel, remember this! The Lord—and the Lord alone—is our God. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶ Never forget these commands that I am giving you today. ⁷ Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. ⁸ Tie them on your [hands]and wear them on your [heads] as a reminder. ⁹ Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

These verses speak of the most important thing we can remember to keep nearby at all times…and it isn’t our cell phone. Verse 4 reminds us that there is only one God, and He is supposed to be our Lord. Understanding full well I risk offending someone, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take today, I have a question. This isn’t a public challenge, and no one but you will know how you answer, so be honest. What would you say your actions indicate is more important to you, your bible or your cell phone? Which do you pay closer attention to? Which would you be more anxious if you didn’t know where it was for a full day? The answers to those questions beg the next. Who is your God? Is it the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or the god of At&T, T-Mobile and Verizon?

I like the way this scripture covers all of the bases. It reminds us that there can be but one god in our lives, and He ought to be The Lord God. It tells us how we will know who our god is, because who (or what) we love with ALL our heart, ALL our soul and ALL our strength will identify that. Verse 6 gives very important instruction as to how to keep putting God in His rightful place in our lives. We must always remember His instructions to us. We are to find every way possible to remind ourselves daily how He wants us to interact with Him and with those around us. In verse 7 we’re told to teach His ways to our children. We pass on to our kids many things. We illustrate regularly through our words and actions the things we think are most important, and what they should find important as well. The things we give the greatest value to, they will as also. If we want our kids to find God most important, we have to make it evident that nothing could be more important to us than God is in our life.

It goes on to say God’s praise and instruction should always be in the forefront of our conversations. Everywhere and all the time. When we are at home or when we are away. When we are at work or taking it easy. There is no time or place inappropriate to consider what God would have us do. I especially like verse 8. It says we should tie or bind God’s word to our hands and our heads. I like this because it is intended to be symbolic of attaching His written direction to our actions (the hand) and our thoughts (the head), and how we should let Him guide both. However, it is a bit amusing that it is prophetically analogous of the contemporary competition for our attention. Our cell phones are seemingly always either in our hands or held up to our heads.

Finally, in verse 9 we read the closing suggestion. Write them on your doorposts and your gates. This concluding statement is meant to indicate that we should allow God’s word to both define our homes as well as be the reminder of who and whose we are before we leave there each day.

So forget your cell phone from time to time…the world won’t come to an end, that was proven earlier this week while I was a work and mine was at home on my chair. But, don’t go anywhere without the One true God…He holds your world in the palm of His hand.

So now, with God’s word continually on your mind, heart, and lips…Go be Awesome!