The well-being of our Troops. The Army reports there were 17 reported suicides among active and reserve soldiers in May, more than twice as many as in the previous month.
The country's economy. The Labor Department reports that the amount of newly laid-off Americans filing for jobless benefits decreased last week by 24,000.
Both of these items relate to morale, and I think it continues to fall in our country. We need something to encourage us...
6 Don't let those who look to you in hope
Be discouraged by what happens to me,
Dear Lord! God of the armies!
Don't let those out looking for you
Come to a dead end by following me�
Please, dear God of Israel!
7 Because of you I look like an idiot,
I walk around ashamed to show my face.
8 My brothers shun me like a bum off the street;
My family treats me like an unwanted guest.
9 I love you more than I can say.
Because I'm madly in love with you,
They blame me for everything they dislike about you.
10 When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting,
All it got me was more contempt.
11 When I put on a sad face,
They treated me like a clown.
12 Now drunks and gluttons
Make up drinking songs about me.
13 And me? I pray.
God, it's time for a break!
God, answer in love!
Answer with your sure salvation!
14 Rescue me from the swamp,
Don't let me go under for good,
Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;
This whirlpool is sucking me down.
15 Don't let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole
Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.
16 Now answer me, God, because you love me;
Let me see your great mercy full-face.
17 Don't look the other way; your servant can't take it.
I'm in trouble. Answer right now!
18 Come close, God; get me out of here.
Rescue me from this deathtrap.
19 You know how they kick me around�
Pin on me the donkey's ears, the dunce's cap.
20 I'm broken by their taunts,
Flat on my face, reduced to a nothing.
I looked in vain for one friendly face. Not one.
I couldn't find one shoulder to cry on.
21 They put poison in my soup,
Vinegar in my drink. (The Message)
David cries out to God, here, over his treatment by men, even those whom he thought to be his friends. Yet his confidence is not swayed.
"If we are hated by the world for making a public confession of the faith, a thing which we are to expect, it being evident from observation that the wicked ordinarily are never more fierce than when they assault the truth of God and the true religion, we have ground to entertain double confidence."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"When the Outside Looks In"
1 Timothy 3:6-7
6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (ESV)
Paul admonishes Timothy not to ordain recent converts as elders. I couldn't agree more. One of the biggest mistakes I have ever seen Baptist churches make (and I've seen this happen a lot) is turn new Christians loose on our children as Sunday School teachers. It is a travesty to allow someone who knows virtually nothing about the Scriptures to be in charge of teaching young minds about the Bible. New converts must go through a time of maturation and learning before they can be allowed to hold positions of authority in the Church. This does not mean that they are not capable at all. It just means that they need to learn.
In terms of the position of elder, "without seasoning and maturation, men are ill-equipped to deal with the complexities that confront the church..." "Overestimating their own wisdom, they may deal poorly with people, lording their authority over God's flock instead of shepherding with lovingkindness."
"Non-Christians usually rejoice when such things happen or when they see that unrepentant hypocrites have been made church leaders." (Robert Tilton comes to mind here...) "These things create obstacles to the hearing of the gospel, which is why Paul also commands the church to ordain only those well thought of by outsiders.
What Paul is looking for here is not perfection. But, rather, one of whom a pagan might say, "I may not agree with him, but I know that he tries to live his life according to what he says is right and wrong." For the most part, this is all the world is looking for. Someone who is honest and acts with integrity and practices what he preaches.
"Grace To Others"
Matthew 18:33
And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? (ESV)
Everything that happens to us as we enter and live in God's Kingdom happens by grace. God's grace is extended to us. We are, in turn, to extend grace to others.
Because we are all sinners and on an equal plane with each other, "we cannot exercise grace as God does, but we can relate to one another as those who have received grace and who wish to operate on the principles of grace."
In fact, it is arguable that we cannot live a life of peace unless we are willing to extend grace to others. The verse above comes from a parable that Jesus told, in which a servant who received a nearly infinite gift of grace was unwilling to extend a mere handful of grace to someone else.
"The person who is living by grace sees the vast contrast between his own sins against God and the offenses of others against him. He forgives others because he himself has been so graciously forgiven. He realizes that by receiving God's forgiveness through Christ he has forfeited the right to be offended when others hurt him." That last statement is huge. Read it again. And again and again, until it sinks in. We literally have no right to be offended when others hurt us. This is, perhaps, one of the most difficult truths in the Christian life. But it is not impossible, if we are living by grace.
And don't think for a minute that I have this down. Not at all. I have a long way to go to in this area, but God is teaching me...slowly because I'm a slow learner.
I pray that I will be a willing vessel to extend that grace on to others with whom I come in contact. For some, that may be the only grace they see. Continue to teach me, God. Hammer it into my heart until I finally get it. Don't let up on me. More importantly, don't give up on me.
I also pray that, even though I am not seeking the office of "elder," I would be one who would be looked at as one who lives honestly and with integrity. Let me never bring shame to your name by my actions or attitudes. Let me always hold up the name of Jesus with grace and honor.
Grace and peace, friends!