Pastors' Blog

By Pioneer Pastors

April 10, 2008
Want to know why God doesn’t wear a watch?
By Dwight K. Nelson

Want to know why God doesn’t wear a watch?  Probably because it would drive him to the same distraction it drives us!  Ever find yourself racing across a parking lot or down a hallway or into a building or up a sidewalk . . . and constantly cocking your arm to check your watch?  Someone once asked Mark Buchanan what his biggest regret in life was.  He replied, “Being in a hurry.  Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me.  I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry.  But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all that rushing.”  (Spirit of Revival vol 39 no 1 p 10)  Who has time to rest when we’re in such an insane hurry?

According to the January 2008 Reader’s Digest the average American worker receives 108 emails every day.  243 million Americans own cell phones or handheld wireless devices.  Google currently indexes 3,307,998,701 web pages.  We now get more information in 72 hours than our parents likely received in a month. (Ibid p 25)  Who has time to rest!

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  But how can I be still when my Timex ticks so loudly?  Perhaps Calvin Miller is right, “Time itself must be surrendered to the pursuit of the depths of God.  All watches must be checked at the gates of the throne room.” (Ibid)

Isn’t that the secret to the Sabbath as well?  Checking my watch at the gates of his throne room?  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  But if my Blackberry’s beeping, my Timex is ticking, my laptop is flickering and my iPod is playing . . . how can I possibly check all my stresses at the gate of his Sabbath?

So here’s an idea.  What if for the Sabbath we kept time the way God did “in the beginning?”  Checking our watches at the gate, we enter his time, twenty-four hours of rest, bookended only by two glorious sunsets.  No watches . . . one friendship . . . two sunsets . . . and the three words of our very best Friend:  “Come to me.”  Can you imagine a rest more satisfying?

April 3, 2008
Want to know what one of the most contagious human activities is?
By Dwight K. Nelson

Want to know what one of the most contagious human activities is?  Don’t be surprised.  It’s yawning.  That’s right—opening your mouth so wide it feels like your jaw might drop off as you breathe in all the air around you—that six second (on the average) act of yours will lead 55% of the people who watched you yawn do it themselves within five minutes!  In fact, you don’t even have to see someone do it.  The blind will yawn simply from hearing an audio tape of someone else yawning.  In fact, you don’t even need to hear a yawn.  Just reading the word can cause you to yawn (as I happen to be doing right now—are you?).

Do we yawn because we’re tired?  Nobody knows for sure, though it appears that we yawn the most frequently an hour before going to bed and the hour after waking up from sleep.  Do we yawn because we’re bored?  Who knows?  Maybe it’s just that our bodies need more oxygen.  After all Olympic athletes often yawn just before their competition.  But one of the leading experts in yawning, Dr. Robert Provine, a psychologist at the University of Maryland (Baltimore County), has determined that giving people more oxygen does not decrease yawning (nor does decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide).  It turns out that the most significant fact about yawning is that nobody knows for certain why we do it.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say we yawn because we’re tired.  According to a study released by the National Sleep Foundation last month “nearly 50 million Americans chronically suffer from sleep problems and disorders that affect their careers, their personal relationships and safety on the roads” (AFP March 3, 2008).  In response to our national need, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued the following list on how to enjoy a good night’s sleep:  follow a consistent bedtime routine; establish a relaxing setting at bedtime; get a full night’s sleep every night; avoid foods or drinks that contain caffeine, as well as any medicine that has a stimulant prior to bedtime; do not bring your worries to bed with you; do not go to bed hungry, but don’t eat a big meal before bedtime either; avoid any rigorous exercise within six hours of your bedtime; make your bedroom quiet, dark and a little bit cool; get up the same time every morning (April 1, 2008 @ www.medicalnewstoday.com). 

There’s one more tip the AASM neglected to mention.  And this one is a divine remedy that can become the greatest cure for our deepest fatigue.  As we share “God’s Party: Facebook”  today, join me in discovering the secret to the second greatest gift ever given to the human race—which, of course, is nothing to yawn about.

March 28, 2008
Is there a soul that doesn’t love a party?
By Dwight K. Nelson

Is there a soul that doesn’t love a party? How about that surprise your mother threw for you long ago—remember? God bless her—how she pulled it off with holding down a job and keeping you and your siblings clothed and fed we’ll never know. But when you came bursting through the door after school that day, to your wide-eyed wonder the walls and ceiling above your family table were draped with brightly colored crepe paper streamers and festive skinny and fat balloons as far as the eye could see. The table was set with the accoutrements of children, and wafting in the air was the unmistakable mouth-watering hint that your very favorite cake was hiding somewhere, with a frosting decoration that was so totally you! And remember, no sooner were you home than the doorbell began to ring—all your little friends who’d been able (don’t ask me how) to keep the secret and show up on time for that grand and glorious event. It’s party time!

God loves a party, too. Only for his birthday, he’s even more of a Child than we—counting the days until the next celebration. Wait another year? Impossible! Once a month? Still too long a wait. And so God throws a birthday party every single week! You’ve got to admit that you’d have to be a party-lover to plan a calendar like ours—in which every seventh day is declared God’s party for his earth children. The Bible calls it the Sabbath. God simply thinks of it as “a delight” (Isaiah 58:13)! No question, it’s his party for his children.

And why not? If the grand quest of the human journey is to experience our divinely intended “self-actualization” (thank you, Abraham Maslow), then doesn’t it make all the sense in the world that the One who created us for that ultimate discovery would be the same One who invites us to rediscover his destiny through a weekly, deeply personal interaction with him? For that he gave us a Day—but we already knew that.

The bigger question now is How? How can we experience “God’s Party” to the max and reap the phenomenal mental, emotional, physical and spiritual benefits that are promised to those who show up for his Day? Join me in a fresh new “how to” journey for this cyberspace generation—a podcast or telecast journey with five stops along the way: “MySpace,” “Facebook,” “YouTube for YouToo,” “Green Google” and “Yahoo!” Because now that we know the Day, let’s explore the way. It’s party time!

March 24, 2008
I watched a resurrection last Tuesday night.
By Dwight K. Nelson

I watched a resurrection last Tuesday night. One of our viewers is a Pentecostal pastor with whom I’ve had the privilege of studying the Bible the last few months. It was my turn to visit his church this week, and no sooner had we sat down in his small sanctuary than he picked up a video and played it, “You need to see this.”

It was an amazing “documentary-like” report from Africa about a pastor who didn’t survive a car accident. In a series of interviews with the pastor’s wife, the attending physician, and the mortician the story emerges of a wife who refused to quit praying, claiming the scriptural line, “Women received their dead raised to life again” (Hebrews 11:35). In fact three to four days after his death (with the embalming process already begun), this woman drove to the mortuary, convinced the mortician to release her husband’s body to her, coffin and all, so that she might take it to a visiting well-known European evangelist for prayer (truth in advertising—the video was produced by the evangelist). There at the large Christian center, crowded for the noon services, the widow approached two church workers with her plea.

On camera these two men describe what took place that afternoon, as the corpse of the deceased pastor was placed inside one of the church class rooms. The wife was praying, the men were wondering what to do next, when suddenly the dead pastor began to breathe. At this point in the video, clips from either a video or cell phone camera are inserted, and you actually witness the deceased “returning” to life, as it were. Soon word spills out and a crowd gathers around the doors of the class room. With photographs spliced into the continuing interviews, the story climaxes with the full resuscitation of the deceased, who at the end of the video gives his testimony.

Skeptical western biases aside, I’ll confess it a fascinating testimonial. Because irrespective of the veracity of this resurrection, we all readily admit that to witness a human return from the dead (after three or four days and embalming) would be the most spectacular experience we can imagine, television lights or not!

Imagine then the utter shock of the eleven disciples of Christ when the Deceased suddenly appeared in their midst! The four gospel accounts ignore human incredulity with the simple narrative of Jesus’ resurrection, as a matter of fact and history. And over two billion Christians this Easter weekend joyfully assent to those four testimonials, “He is risen!”

And because he is, we cling to the resilient hope and promise of a resurrection yet future. With our lists growing of those we love who sleep in death, may the Christ of the empty tomb revive our faith, ignite our hope, compel our love, and infill our lives. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Amen.

March 12, 2008
What is there about a rumor that gives it a life of its own?
By Dwight K. Nelson

What is there about a rumor that gives it a life of its own? In this hyper season of politics and elections the talking heads of television thrive on rumors, innuendos and unsubstantiated stories. Why? Because rumors are the staple of our very human curiosity, the stuff of our fascination. And we often cling to them as hopeful corroboration for our personal convictions or strongly held opinions. “That’s what I believe—don’t confuse me with the facts!” The world loves a rumor.

And so does the church. The internet has been humming with a circulated email report of a clandestine meeting a few months ago in the nation’s capital. This by-invitation-only gathering behind closed doors purportedly was convened to consider, among other agenda, the need for a “national day of rest.” Representatives from three grassroots organizations, along with a highly placed religious leader and a national political leader were said to be present. The discussions behind those closed doors were characterized and described by this rumor, along with plans for a reconvening of the group in the spring, when an even more prominent religious leader would be present.

Rumor or reality? That’s been the buzz. But what are the facts? Religious liberty attorneys, who have been hired by the church to champion the constitutional rights and freedoms of all Americans, were naturally very curious about this rumor and quickly began their own investigation into the authenticity of the circulating report. And after tracing the available leads, after seeking to meet with the source of the rumor (who has refused such a meeting), the attorneys have concluded that their research “has turned up no evidence that would tend to corroborate the rumor. Rather, the closer we have looked at the situation surrounding the rumor, the more it appears to be false.”

Moral of the story? If what you believe is true—whether politically, biblically or personally—it remains true with or without the support of any rumor, does it not? Which is why Jesus could be so direct: “‘If they say to you, “Look, He is in the desert!” do not go out; or “Look, He is in the inner rooms!” do not believe it’” (Matthew 24:26). Rumors about the secret return of Christ will abound, the Savior warns. “Don’t believe them.” Then shall we reject the reality the rumors are purported to support—in this case the second coming of Jesus? Hardly! Rather reject the attached rumors, no matter how well-intentioned they may be. Truth doesn’t need the support of rumors to corroborate it.

Which is just as true about these most recent rumors. The truth they are attempting to substantiate is true. And one day there will be events on either side of closed doors that will verify long-held understanding of Bible prophecy. It’s just that truth doesn’t need the “faint praise” of unsubstantiated rumor. Because the One who is the truth will always have the last word anyway. And that is not a rumor!

March 4, 2008
“A small crisis of my faith” is how the student put it.
By Dwight K. Nelson

“A small crisis of my faith” is how the student put it. His email to me included an attachment of a letter he was writing to the campus paper. Turns out his young heart and mind were troubled by what appeared to him to be a contradiction of faith and life at a public event not long ago. So he exercised the very proper and academic right of public expression to voice his convictions. It is the stuff of university life—this free-for-all exchange of thought and belief. Whether this young adult’s opinion is the minority opinion these days is really immaterial, isn’t it? An institution of higher learning like this one is the great protector of such expression. And a Christian university is surely even more the defender of a faith confession such as this young man has made, is it not?

I replied to his email with these words: “Thank you for your note and the attached SM letter. Well written and clearly expressed. God will honor your desire to live faithfully for him. And I’m certain he will bless your witness via the campus paper. BTW, don't worry about the numbers—Daniel, his three friends, Joseph, Esther, John the Baptist and Jesus didn't! God will have his way. So keep kneeling down . . . and standing up . . . for him! DKN.”

Why share this simple email exchange? Because university churches need at times to give voice to those whose voices may otherwise be unheard, ignored or drowned out. While the academy across this nation seems more and more to be chained to its own veneration of political correctness (read, the majority opinion), is it not the place and cause of the community of Christ to give voice to those who humbly seek to know the meaning of faithfulness in contradistinction to the majority? The issue here is not the issues of the young man’s concern, but rather a pastoral affirmation that wider communities must be defenders of narrower interests (which may not be so narrow after all, given Jesus’ own propensity to champion the “narrow way”—Matthew 7:13, 14).

The student was concerned his letter might not see the light of day, and so wrote me to be assured at least someone would hear his heart. It was heard. And having heard, I am reminded that perhaps it is in the hearing that some of the most important teaching takes place. And surely that is what this academy is most about, isn’t it?

February 28, 2008
There is an old Swahili proverb: “Travel with open eyes and you will become a scholar.”
By Dwight K. Nelson

There is an old Swahili proverb:  “Travel with open eyes and you will become a scholar.”  Our recent journey to the Horn of Africa was certainly an eye-opening experience for me.  For two weeks we were able to slip behind the headlines of conflict and violence (of which we encountered none), and quietly observe the fingerprints of God upon two very diverse spiritual movements.

 

Philip Jenkins, the renowned historian, has observed that the future of Christianity will be written in the south.  For indeed the Southern Hemisphere here in the West, along with Africa, the great continent of the South, have become the fertile fields for the mighty plantings and reapings of the Spirit of God.  And in a matter of years, it seems clear, the most vibrant and active manifestation of Christian faith will radiate from these southern regions of earth.   Today there are movements within the great monotheistic religions of Africa—Christianity and Islam—that are providing new opportunities for third millennial contextualization.  As I wrote in my blog last week, we were able to observe (and participate) in the living out of Paul’s great missionary passion:  “So though I was not a slave to any human being, I put myself in slavery to all people, to win as many as I could.  To the Jews I made myself as a Jew, to win the Jews. . . . To the weak, I made myself weak, to win the weak. I accommodated myself to people in all kinds of different situations, so that by all possible means I might bring some to salvation.  All this I do for the sake of the gospel, that I may share its benefits with others” (I Corinthians 9:19-23 NJB).  Paul is not describing the accommodating or watering down of either his faith or divine truth in order to reach earth’s diverse populace.  But it is clear that he was willing to immerse himself in the faith culture (or lack thereof) of the people group he was seeking to reach on behalf of the gospel.  Acts describes Paul’s adjusting his worship practice, adapting the emphasis of his theology and teaching, shifting both his civil and ecclesiastical identity—all of it dependent on the group he was seeking to penetrate.  He “became” one of them in order to reach some of them.  Could it be that there are people groups on earth today that will only be effectively reached for God by men and women, young adults, who are willing to embrace a new identity or at least a new identification with those groups?  Could it be that changing our living habits, our dress, our language, along with refocusing our faith practice and adapting our theological expression might be prompted by the Spirit of God . . . just as he did with Paul?  Twelve miles up the road from this university is the second most depressed inner city (per capita) in the U.S.  Could it be contextualization doesn’t have to cross the equator or the seas to be strategic for God?  Perhaps he is calling students and families right here in our parish to “move in” to the new culture and context of Benton Harbor for the sake of the everlasting gospel.  This much is clear to me—given that God contextualized himself into our human journey through the incarnation, all for the sake of saving some, he will surely bless both the desire and the efforts of those of us today who are willing to do the same, in grateful obedience to the Christ who has saved us, too.

 

February 21, 2008
Having just returned with Karen from two weeks in the Horn of Africa,
By Dwight K. Nelson

Having just returned with Karen from two weeks in the Horn of Africa, I’ve had the chance to ponder the meaning of a word we don’t use much in daily conversation.  But as we spent time in the company of two very different communities of people there, the word has taken on a new meaning for me.
Paul never used the word.  But in a letter he once wrote, he described it graphically.  “To the Jews I made myself as a Jew, to win the Jews . . . to those outside the Law [I made myself] as one outside the Law . . . to the weak, I made myself weak, to win the weak.”  And all of this for what?  “I accommodated myself to people in all kinds of different situations, so that by all possible means I might bring some to salvation” (I Corinthians 9:20-22 NJB). 
Reread his words a few times, and I think you’ll agree with me that this intrepid missionary is advocating a radical modus operandi for the mission of God!  Namely, the good news of the Kingdom is most effectively communicated when the communicator is “in context” with the community he/she is seeking to reach.  I.e., to reach Jews, become as a Jew, embracing the common ground of their faith, affirming the shared truth of their beliefs.  Paul did.  To reach the weak, take off your power suit and tie, and wear the garb and display the mind and heart of the humble, the weak, the disenfranchised.  I.e., become one of them in order to reach one of them. 
That little used word?  “Contextualization.”  And the reason it’s been on my mind these past two weeks is that I’ve been wondering if Paul’s strategy could also be expressed, “To the Muslim, I became as a Muslim”?  And what about, “to the Pentecostal, I became as a Pentecostal”?  I.e., is being “in context” as essential for the divine mission today as it was in Paul’s day?
But how far does “contextualization” go without compromising your own faith?  How closely do I need to resemble the one I’m trying to reach without sacrificing my own spiritual identity, values and truth?  Someday perhaps you and I can share a story or two from the Horn of Africa as a part of seeking the answers.  But in the mean time, we can share the prayer that God might enable us as he did Paul to accommodate ourselves to people “in all kinds of different situations, so that by all possible means [we] might bring some to salvation.” 
After all, wasn’t that God’s personal mission two thousand years ago, when he became “one with us” in order that he might save even one of us?  Clearly “contextualization” has a most compelling precedent, wouldn’t you agree?

January 30, 2008
Ever wonder what God’s “State of the Union” would be?
By Dwight K. Nelson

Ever wonder what God’s “State of the Union” would be?  The President addressed both houses of Congress and the nation Monday evening, delivering his seventh and final State of the Union address.  Fifty-three minutes of speech interrupted seventy times by applause—both partisan and bipartisan.  There were no spectacular pronouncements or announcements, just the last review, pundits suggested, of a presidency and administration laying out its final agenda before becoming eclipsed by the election of a successor.  So what if God took the podium of earth and gave an address?  No doubt there would be plenty of partisan applause- or amen-bursts for him, too.  And no doubt it would garner global attention.  But how would his review of the past read, and how would his agenda for the future play?  And would he need fifty-three minutes?  The Apocalypse, amazingly enough, actually captures God’s final address-appeal to earth.  While it doesn’t describe him at the podium of a government house, it portrays his global address as three angel beings streaking across the earth heavens, each with a passionate pronouncement and appeal.  Combined they are clearly the divine State of the Union for earth’s populace in its final generation. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’” (Revelation 14:6, 7 NKJV).   And behind the first angel appears a second pronouncing the fall of “ Babylon the Great.”  And on his heels flies a third angel with the urgent warning for earth inhabitants to resist the “mark of the beast.”  And the summation of their combined messages is a description of God’s partisan loyalists at the end:  “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12 NRSV).   

 

And did you catch the first angel’s appeal, “Worship the Creator!”  Because wouldn’t you know it, the issue of a divine Creator with his seventh-day Sabbath will take center stage on earth just before his return.  No wonder the Creator’s partisan loyal supporters are described the way they are!  Because as we saw Monday evening, when you’re loyal to your Leader, you’ll stand to your feet even if you’re the only one applauding.

January 23, 2008
Aren’t you glad God isn’t like the stock market?
By Dwight K. Nelson

Aren’t you glad God isn’t like the stock market?  What a ride this week is turning out to be for investors the world over!  The unraveling mortgage crisis here in the U.S. and the ensuing credit crunch, coupled with volatility in the global oil markets and the threat of recession prompted the President last week to announce a $150 billion tax cut bailout for American taxpayers.  But the world markets apparently were not impressed on Monday, as one by one from Japan to Hong Kong to India to Europe markets plunged over investor jitters.  And had the Federal Reserve not stepped in with its ¾ point interest rate reduction early Tuesday morning, who knows if the sky would’ve fallen on Wall Street! And where does all of this leave us?  On the precarious edge of economic recession, perhaps.  But nevertheless, secure in the care and keeping of the God whose compassionate commitment to his earth children is unwavering.  “For I am the LORD, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6).  No volatility, no gyrating, no roller coaster plunges with the Lord of the universe.  “Because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning.  Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22, 23).  Did you catch that?  Unfailing, unchanging—that is the God who stands beside us at every dawn and offers again to walk the new day and night through with us.  When the immensity of that assurance sinks into our consciousness, surely it can birth an unshakeable confidence in him, can’t it?  What a God to call our Friend!  As for the future of our national and global economy, who can say?  There is a thought I keep tucked away in the back of my mind.  “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them” (I Thessalonians 5:3).  I.e., neither predictions of economic security nor pronouncements of financial doom are going to determine earth’s outcome.  If the story of Noah teaches us anything, it is surely that when the sun is shining in all its glory and life seems most secure and promising, earth’s history can radically reverse itself, all prognostications to the contrary.  Which being interpreted must mean that our deepest security will always lie in the nail-scarred hands of the Savior of this world.  After all the sun may be shining and the markets rising on the day Christ returns to earth.  “As the days of Noah were,” he once intoned, “so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37).  Which is reason enough for you and me to place our lives, our 401Ks, and all our plans, dreams and ambitions for the future in trust with the one God who will not change though the heavens fall.  Because when the sky does fall, I want to be rising with him, don’t you?