Pastor Wade's blog

A week of the cross

Pastor Wade — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:03:18 +0000

May this week be not THE week of the cross, but yet another week lived in the grace of God's cross. Or, in other words, don't confine the cross to the week before Resurrection Sunday.

Pastor Michael Brandt is a friend of Living Word, having been the pastor at our sister congregation (Abiding Savior Free Lutheran Church) when Living Word was planted. He now has a ministry to pastors and congregations called "Shepherding the Shepherds."

His take on Holy Week blessed me. The original context is pastoral ministry, but there are applications for every follower of Christ. Enjoy!

Go serve your King,
PW

THE CROSSROADS OF MINISTRY

“And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the CROSS, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed,” 1 Peter 2:24.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Peter 1:3.

All spiritual life finds its birth at the intersection of Calvary and Resurrection.

Every promise of God, even that of His Second Coming, finds its fulfillment in the culmination of Christ’s finished and triumphant work. From the covenant blessing bestowed on a child to the transformational conversion of a repentant sinner, it is Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the Devil that has made it all possible. The empty Cross and the empty Tomb declare, “This is where a dead-end existence can stop and an eternal life begin.”

It is at this Crossroad that we see the dark, vile effects of mankind’s sin. The righteous law of God demanded that sin be punished. At the Cross, it was executed on the sinless, Lamb of God. At the Cross, the so-called “white lie” was and is revealed to be black as sin. The self-righteous, do-gooder churchman was and is exposed as a hypocrite. The mocker who says, “There is no God and my choices don’t affect anyone but me.” was and is proven to be a fool. Yes, Christ’s innocent suffering, His shed blood, and His decent into Hell all revealed the costly price of sin and that apart from His merciful intervention, how utterly lost mankind was and is.

If one is truly convinced by it, in genuine repentance he will say, “O God, it should have been me. Lord, have mercy. Father, forgive me for I have sinned.

But, it is also at this Crossroad that hope springs eternal. The Savior’s substitutionary fulfillment of the law’s righteous demands becomes a believer’s hope. His atoning, innocent, shed blood becomes a believer’s cleansing. His decent into Hell becomes a believer’s freedom. His empty tomb becomes a believer’s victory. Yes, Christ’s redemptive and glorious triumphant at the Cross and the Grave provide an eternal ray of hope to all who believe.

If one truly believes it, in grateful acceptance he will say, “Lord Jesus, through faith, by Your grace, I receive You and the wonder of Your forgiving, transforming, gift of New Life.”

May your ministry always find you shepherding boys and girls, men and women to the intersection of Calvary and Resurrection.

March Madness

Pastor Wade — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:27:28 +0000

I'm not as bad as I used to be, but this time of year I can watch a LOT of basketball without tiring. Of course, any more a lot of that appeal is just being home with my family- there is nothing more energizing than time with Michele and the kids.

But I'm always a bit convicted: How can I watch up to 6 games in a single day- from 11AM until midnight- without losing focus, yet find it so hard to invest signficant time in prayer?

An orange bouncing ball or fellowship with the Living God?

It's madness.

I heard today of a Sudanese congregation that meets in our sister church's building. They requested an additional block of time for a prayer meeting.

A four hour prayer meeting.

Oh, my friends, we really are that dependent upon the LORD. It's time to invest the resources God gives us appropriately.

This will be challenged... tomorrow... but by the grace of God I'm going to stop the madness.

Go serve your King,
PW

Why am I so afraid?

Pastor Wade — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:11:55 +0000

A reminder- join us for Lenten service- 6:30 PM this Wednesday- as we consider the portion of the Apostle's Creed, "I believe in the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; and the forgiveness of sins."

As for yesterday, that sermon is posted online. It was an important message for me to hear. Contrary to popular belief, the preacher is himself a hearer and a learner. In fact, if this is not the case you shouldn't be listening that that preacher.

Fear is a big struggle in my life. My biggest fear is fear of failure. "What if I don't get this done? What if so and so doesn't do such and such? What if Living Word doesn't work? What if I'm a lousy father? What if I'm a terrible husband..."

None of that is productive, of course, and the nature of the questions even makes me look like a fatalistic pessimist, for fear turns our eyes from the opportunity to the potential lack; from what we can do in Christ to what we can't do on our own.

You have your set of "what if" questions, too. To break free, start saying "God will" instead. Base your thoughts, beliefs and behaviors not on the volume of your fears but on the character of the Living God.

Fear of God destroys fear of anything else. So cling to the cross. Trust Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then live a life of courage- doing what is right even when you are afraid.

Why am I so afraid?

Pastor Wade — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:54:22 +0000

Why am I- and everyone else for that matter- so afraid?

One of God's most frequent admonitions in Scripture is "do not fear."

So why do we?

This week- Mark 4:35-41- surprisingly, and direct follow up to last week's message about soul care.

Go serve your King,
PW

Delighting in the One Who Delights in You

Pastor Wade — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:27:46 +0000

Do you really want to know what is precious to someone? Get past their words and observe what they delight in.

Observe me lately. I delight in a little boy, a little girl and the wife of my youth. It's hard to hide.

Remember former Governor Mark Sanford's "confession/apology?" He confessed/apologized, then added, "This is a classic love story..." His delight convicted him of adultery.

Our delight either identifies us with the Living God or exposes us as idolaters. Forget the answers to probing questions about the condition of your soul. I want to know what you delight in.

God wants your delight. That is the point of Psalm 149:
v. 2- "Let Israel rejoice in their Maker..."
v. 4- "For the LORD takes delight in His people. He crowns the humble with salvation."

Delighting in the One who saved my soul,
PW

Why all the pain?

Pastor Wade — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:04:39 +0000

1 in 18 Americans takes anti-depressants.

A new commercial leads with "your current anti-depressant not working? Try adding ____________."

When I speak/write on personal pain and deliverance from the same, personal comments and blog traffic spike considerably.

And at the same time we live in a land of unparalleled prosperity. So why all the pain?

In an application to Romans 12:1-2, we will discover Sunday that when you replace lies you believe with the truth of God's Word, you allow God to care for your soul.

See you Sunday, and
Go serve your King,
PW

Jesus Christ, God's Only Son, Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary

Pastor Wade — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:48:42 +0000

During Lent we are examining the Apostle's Creed section by section. This Creed is almost universal throughout the Christian church, and we use it frequently as a confession of the essentials of the Christian faith.

During Lent we focus on the work of Christ leading to the cross. Wednesday night we focus on Jesus Christ's existence as the son of God and the Son of man- His necessary roles before He could go to the cross to take on our sin.

I believe in:
Jesus Christ
God's only Son
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
And born of the virgin Mary

We will also examine Mary's role in all this and a big accusation of recent years: "All this Jesus stuff is just myth, copying virgin birth myths of pagan religions." We'll look at that briefly, but our treatment of it will disarm a false claim that shakes a lot of Christians.

Go serve your King,
PW

Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. -Hebrews 2:17

Mongolia, Jeremiah and the Final Four

Pastor Wade — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:54:18 +0000

You shall say to them, "Thus says the LORD: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all nations of the earth" ... Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, "This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears. -Jeremiah 26:4-6, 11

Jeremiah had a tough call. God told him to tell the truth to people who didn't want to hear it. God wanted Judah to repent and be restored, but Judah was bent on rebelling against God unto their own destruction.

For the record, cooler heads prevailed this time, but the mere proclamation of a message almost cost Jeremiah his life.

How intolerant.

I've been reading Jeremiah lately and God has been affirming to me the need to speak the truth in love regardless of the cost. Why? The cost of modifying the message to gain the approval of man is too high- souls will go to hell because I compromised the message of God's Word. So a couple of news items got my attention today.

First, a local non-profit that does TV ministry in Mongolia (The AMONG Foundation) has come under fire. After a couple decades of great service the government has threatened their third party sattelite provider so severely that they feel they have no choice but to discontinue carrying these very popular programs. Their message of the Gospel is too offensive for some.

But that's far away. How about right here at home?

Today Focus on the Family announced that the NCAA has rejected an ad they were going to place at the Final Four that read "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life." Innocent enough. But gay/lesbian/transgender groups launched a protest based on the hate-filled content of Focus on the Family. Go ahead. Check out the web site. It's so awful. Really?

We are deeply offended that Mongolia would censor television programming just because it contained Christian messages. But we live in a land where the mere conviction that marriage is between one woman and one man causes your message to be rejected out of hand. Could our congregation publish an advertisement celebrating true, Biblical marriage? Would it be called "hate speech" and censored or prosecuted, as it is in Canada and Sweden?

My point, though, is surprising: It doesn't matter. Our job as followers of Christ is the same: Believe, teach and confess the truth, to the glory of the God and the benefit of precious eternal human souls. The best response to cultural developments as disturbing as these isn't fear or anger. Instead, respond with grace and truth, as Jeremiah did in v. 14-15- But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."

Go serve your King,
PW

Benjamin Paul Mobley

Pastor Wade — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:20:19 +0000

Benjamin Paul Mobley

7 pounds, 3 ounces, kind of, say, yay long (tbd)

Born 3:12 PM on Saturday, February 13, 2010

Everyone is healthy.

Praise God!

Blessed be the LORD, for He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. -Psalm 28:6

No baby yet... and did you see "The Ad?"

Pastor Wade — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:38:05 +0000

No baby yet- no change from last week, actually, so we wait...

I know you saw "The Game." But did you see "The Ad?"

With all the uproar it came kind as an anti-climax. Focus on the Family estimates that they had over 2.2 billion (with a b) "impressions" before the ad even aired. That's pretty good- even on Madison Avenue.

Perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise from the pastor of a congregation (ours) that helps place advocacy ads on local TV, but I loved the commercial. It was light, funny, serious and pointed a specific audience to an easy action step.

What interests me, though, is the uproar, and how it exposes the fragile ground on which pro-choice thinkers stand. Allow me to illustrate:

Somehow this ad came to be seen as "anti-gay," as it was sponsored by Focus on the Family.This makes protestors guilty of the "genetic fallicy," or the thought that something is false just because of its source. It is better illustrated by the cry of the Pharisees while referring to Jesus: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
After seeing the ad, at least one liberal group had to explain their hostility. Jehmu Greene, director of the Women's Media Center, called the ad "benign," but noted that the tackle in the commercial revealed an "undercurrent of violence against women." Seriously. If you want to see what the WMC is all about, you can see in their own words.
Finally, a shout out to voices who disagree- but do so rationally and constructively: Sally Jenkins, who, let's just say, isn't on the board at Focus on the Family, calls the uproar what it is: Intolerance in the name of tolerance. Thanks, Sally.

Conclusion: If an argument is too fragile to allow it to be challenged- even benignly- in the public arena, it likely isn't true. And that's the reason for the uproar: The pro-choice argument doesn't stand up to scrutiny. 51% (Gallup) of American's self-identify as pro-life. And, while a narrow majority still say they agree with abortion law in the United States, when pressed a plurality disagrees with elements of it, like the parental notice, viewing of ultrasounds, later term abortion and abortion for gender/trait selection.

Application: If you, as a follower of Christ, will not allow your viewpoints to be challenged- or can't answer those challenges from Scripture to at least some extent- you cause people to cast doubt on the veracity of those beliefs.

Application 2: Don't let bullies throw you for a loop. Thanks, Tim and Pam Tebow, for some courage. One author says there are "7 Habits of Highly Oppressive People." Fear of debating their viewpoint is one of them. Don't let someone bully you into silence. Instead, make a positive, constructive, winsome statement of truth.

Go serve your King,
PW