The Courage of Our Convictions

“Be strong and courageous; do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

What enables the Iranian housewife to step into the river to be baptized knowing that persecution, and quite possibly death, might well await her?
The courage of her convictions.

What moves the Chinese pastor to withhold the location of their secret church in the face of torture and imprisonment by government authorities?
The courage of his convictions.

What was behind Eric Liddell giving up his chance at an Olympic gold medal in the 100 yard dash, his best event, rather than run on a Sunday?
The courage of his convictions.

We could talk about the husband or wife who refuses to leave their spouse despite mounting difficulties, and in the face of feeling abandoned and betrayed; or the man or woman who refuses to lie, cheat or deceive at work knowing it might cost them their desperately needed job. And the teenager who would rather spend Friday nights at home alone than be with school friends who are drinking and doing drugs would be another all too real example. And the reason why, in each case and in the untold examples that dot our lives, would be “the courage of their convictions.”

We could define it as having enough courage and determination to carry out one’s goals and stay true to one’s beliefs. The courage of our convictions is having the boldness and the confidence to do or say what you think is right regardless of who disagrees with you and regardless of what the consequences might be.

The conviction part is easy – we should all have “firmly held beliefs or opinions.” But that conviction is only as valid as the cost we are willing to pay to live it out. And that’s where courage comes in. The Iranian housewife, the Chinese pastor and the Scottish runner all have one thing in common -  they each needed courage to live out their Christian beliefs.

The courage to stand, the courage to fight, the courage to suffer if need be, the courage to not give up, and the courage to say no are the marks of those who have faced a challenge to their beliefs and not relented to the pressure. My prayer is that we’ll find strength today from the encouragement that the Lord gave Joshua, “be strong and courageous – I’ll be with you” to live out our beliefs, and to stand for the convictions of our heart.

God Bless

Pastor Joe

Gateway Church

A Priceless Painting

“The Lord within her is righteous; He does no
wrong. Morning by morning He dispenses His
justice, and every new day He does not fail.”
Zephaniah 3:5

Look through a list of the most expensive paintings ever sold and you’ll be staggered by the value placed by collectors on some of the rare treasures adorning canvases around the world. Take for example Paul Cezanne’s ‘The Card Player’, finished in 1893; this famous masterpiece, holding the distinction for topping the sales chart, was purchased by the royal family of Qatar in 2011 for an astounding $250 million. The values might go down from there but sales of artwork at exorbitant prices, in the tens of millions of dollars, have become commonplace in our day.

In reality, we are all painters but our canvases are our minds and the subjects of our works range far and wide. We paint pictures of what people are like, of how they’ll respond to us, of what is motivating their behavior, and more. We paint pictures of our future, how certain events will play out and what the end result of our actions will be. But by far the most crucial, and potentially the most valuable, picture we will ever paint is the one we paint of God.

What I want to propose is that if you paint a right picture of God in your mind, it will become the most priceless treasure you’ll ever possess, able to keep you through the most difficult of times. And without a doubt that is one of those ‘easier said than done’ propositions. You’ve got to get the love of God and the mercy of God just right, not to mention having the justice of God and the righteousness of God in just the right proportions. And you’ve got to rightly depict the heart of God, using His Word, without letting the circumstances of life distort the picture you’re painting of God. Not enough love and the picture won’t sell at Wal-Mart. Not enough justice and the picture will sell like hotcakes but the value will plummet over time. Not enough greatness or goodness, and even you won’t want to put your God on display for all to see.

On this Easter morning, we have a beautiful vantage point from which to create the most precious painting of all time. The empty cross, the ultimate symbol of selfless, sacrificial love, still stained by the blood of a Savior, is perfectly visible; the empty tomb of a Risen Christ, whose righteousness death could not overcome, offers us life, hope and unending joy; and the power of God, seen this Resurrection Sunday, is on display for all to see and lay hold of!

Happy Easter,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

The Speedwell

“The dangers were great, but not desperate; the difficulties were many, but not invincible …. their ends were good and honorable …. and therefore they might expect the blessing of God.”

William Bradford

The painting adorning the walls of the Rotunda in the Capitol of the United States is entitled Embarkation of the Pilgrims and depicts the Pilgrims, with knees bowed, and Bible in hand, preparing to depart for the New World and the religious freedom it offered them. The date was July 22, 1620; the place was Delfs Haven, Holland, but the ship was not, as most would expect, the Mayflower. Hidden on a plank in that painting, viewed by tens of thousands annually as they tour The Capitol, is the name of the ship the Pilgrims sailed forth on that day, the Speedwell.

Arriving in England, this group of determined travelers met up with others who were to make the journey and set sail from Southampton on August 15th aboard two vessels, the Speedwell and the Mayflower. Barely out of sight of the shoreline, the Speedwell began to leak, however, and when timely repairs could not be made, the Mayflower gathered both ship’s passengers and sailed alone for the shores of North America.

History has been kind to the Mayflower while effectively ignoring the Speedwell’s contribution to the journey of the Pilgrims. And perhaps a lesson can be learned from that because it is not in the beginning of any effort that honor is given but in its completion. David wrote, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me” and Paul penned “He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion.” We don’t take note of the star marathon runner who drops out of a race for whatever the reason but stories abound of those who cross the finish line hours after others because of their dogged determination to finish what they began.

In many ways, beginning is the easy part; finishing the journey is what takes heart, character, and commitment. We’re each on a journey; and finishing strong has to be the goal we set for ourselves. The Speedwell is unknown to the vast majority of us for one very simple reason: it didn’t finish the journey it began. Maybe it’s time to plug up some leaks; deal with some things that we know deep down will eventually catch up with us; and continue on in our journey of faith with a renewed determination to grow into the man or woman God has called us to be.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Missing Dinner

“He brought me to the banqueting table,

and His banner over me was love.”
Song of Solomon 2:4

 

Imagine being invited to a top-of-the-line banquet, the best food possible with no expense spared, hosted by the wealthiest person around, yet, when the time comes to attend, making lame excuses why you wouldn’t be able to attend. That was the exact story Jesus told with the end result being people missing out on something that could only be described as the opportunity of a lifetime.

 

An excuse is an explanation given as a pretext for our doing or not doing something. The dictionary gives us this sentence to help us understand: ‘He used his poor health as an excuse for evading all responsibility.’ We may try to convince ourselves that our excuses are valid reasons for what we’re hoping to justify but, like the men in the story, they’re often without validity and cause us to miss out on some needful and valuable life experiences. Consider the following points:

 

• Excuses are the enemies of change.
• Excuses are the enemies of growth.
• Excuses are the enemies of sacrifice.
• Excuses are a way out of paying the price being required of us.
• Excuses try to cleverly disguise themselves as reasons when they are not.
• Excuses are silent, unlikely enemies out to hold us back from all the good things that the Lord desires to do in our lives.
• Excuses are a clear, unobstructed path to selfishness and laziness.
• Excuses are like sugarcoated lies that we hope the Lord will not see through and others will not call us out on.

 

A seat at the Lord’s banqueting table, the opportunity to partake of His grace and goodness, and an invitation to greater fulfillment and satisfaction in life is waiting for each of us. But any penchant we might have for making excuses when things get tough and when the price gets steep has to be dealt with and exposed for what it is. The banquet the Lord’s prepared for us is just that incredible, far too valuable to allow our fondness for making excuses to stand in our way.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

The Sad Story of Kitty Genovese

‘And Isaiah answered, “Here am I Lord. Send me.”’  

Isaiah 6:8

Some anniversaries provide time for reflection rather than an opportunity to celebrate and yesterday’s 50th anniversary of Kitty Genovese’s murder on the streets on Queens was one of those. Her stabbing death in the middle of the night on March 13th, 1964, stunned a nation, not because of the senselessness of the violence but because of the number of people who witnessed the attack and heard Kitty’s cries for help, without anyone coming to her aid or calling the police.

The Kitty Genovese murder has become the focus of many case studies over the years on the subject of how, why and when people get involved in the troubles of others. One study coined the phrase ‘The Bystander Effect’ based on it, summarizing their findings that as more people witness something, the less likely each one is to help because they believe someone else will intervene or call the police. In the early morning hours of that spring night, no less than 38 people went to their windows, turned on the lights in their apartments, and, in tragic silence, witnessed the murder of the 28-year-old young woman. And a nation was forced to grapple with the question of why would civilized people, behind the safety of their locked doors, turn away from another human being in dire need of assistance.

In reality, we all face many problems in life that need fixing and require addressing, in our personal lives, in our marriages, in the churches we attend, and in the places we work. But, as this story reminds us, the existence of a problem is not the real issue we have to confront. No, the challenge we face is whether apathy and fear will win the day, as they did with Kitty Genovese’s neighbors, or whether we will choose to respond with action. We can hide from problems; we can run from situations where something not of our doing is clearly wrong, or we can choose to be the solution. Gandhi is often quoted for his short statement confronting the reticence of so many, simply saying, “Be The Change.” His was a call to model the behavior that we see missing in our circle of influence. His was a call to be the solution to the problems that have become obvious to us. His was a call to be the answer to the situation that needs someone to step forward and be the vessel of change in your home, your marriage, your church and your workplace.

We cannot afford to be like the 38 silent witnesses that night in 1964 who felt no responsibility to act because there were other witnesses. We have a God given responsibility to be part of the solution. Hiding, running, staying silent, and remaining passive can never be our options. Change has to start somewhere and my prayer is that it will begin, at this sad anniversary, with you and I.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

The Midnight Ride of ... William Dawes?

“A friend loves at all time and a brother is born for adversity.”

 Proverbs 17:17

Imagine my surprise, in reading recently, to find that Paul Revere was not the lone rider that fateful night of April 18th, 1775, as he made his famous “midnight ride” to warn colonists that the British were on their way. After becoming aware of British plans to arrest the colonial leaders in Lexington and then seize the guns and ammunition they had stored up in Concord, two men had set out to sound the alarm and to hopefully raise a defense. Two men carried with them the identical message; two men traveled just as many miles and through just as many towns as the other.  Yet only one of their names has been recorded in our history books and only one of the men has been given credit for the warning that was such a major turning point in the colonists stand against the British.

Paul Revere and William Dawes both set out from Boston late that night but the effects of their rides were vastly different. Those who heard the news from Paul Revere quickly responded, gathering the local militia, beginning preparations, and spreading the news further throughout their towns. But the same was not true of those warned by William Dawes, as history records a very subdued response in the towns Dawes rode through that night. What made the difference? And what can we learn from the midnight rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes?

One history writer tried to sum up the reason for the different responses to the two men by saying this: Paul Revere had far more “personal connections” than William Dawes, in effect saying that Paul Revere built far more relationships with people over the course of his years. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book The Tipping Point, said this about Paul Revere: “He would have known exactly whose door to knock on, who the key people in the town were as he would have met most of them before. And they knew and respected him as well.” Paul Revere’s success had nothing to do with the sound or strength of his voice but everything to do with the place people had in his life.

For Paul Revere, the seeds of success were sown not in the spirited ride on horseback, but in the years of relationship building and in the personal connections he established over the years. Showing an interest in people paid dividends that night as he hurriedly rode from town to town. Taking time to develop friendships paid dividends as he sounded the alarm that the British were coming. Relationships developed over years paid dividends in the dark of the night as those hearing his voice knew that the warning came from someone who cared and could be trusted. What a lesson on the value of building relationships in our lives, and on the importance of making those genuine personal connections with those whose paths our lives cross. People are always the best investment we can make; relationships pay far greater dividends than anything this world offers, and taking the time to make “personal connections” open doors like nothing else can!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Dirty Dishes

“There is really only one thing worth being concerned about.
Mary has discovered it—and I won’t take it away from her.”

Luke 10:42

The story is about two sisters who had very different priorities: all Mary could think about was getting to spend time with Jesus while Martha was consumed with all the preparations that were needed. As the story goes on, Martha’s frustration boiled over and she went to Jesus expecting to find a sympathetic ear to her plight of doing all the work by herself while her sister just sat around. Instead, she was given a lesson on perspective that we all could use a refresher course on.

Perspective is defined in the dictionary as this: a way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance; the proper or accurate point of view or the ability to see life objectively.

Jesus response to Mary could be summed up this way: Mary, you’re worried and troubled, you’ve gotten yourself all worked up and all because you’ve lost your perspective on what is most important. The germ for thinking on perspective was planted Saturday here in Manila as I looked out over a packed sanctuary of people who had come for a seven hour seminar to hear a pastor from Chesterfield Michigan speak on the Lord’s Prayer. Tack on an hour before and after battling Manila traffic and they were investing nine hours of their Saturday to hopefully learn something that would help them in their walk with the Lord and in their desire to be fruitful in their families, local churches and communities.

People who had dirty dishes waiting for them in the sink at home, laundry that needed to be done and meals to be prepared had a perspective on the relative importance of how they spent their time that caused them to choose spending the day learning more about prayer. Here’s the lesson: perspective determines priorities, how we spend our time, finances and energy, and our perspective can be wrong. Let’s make sure that our perspective focuses on what is really important in life!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church