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One in the Spirit

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By Jeff Foerster

Cross, Jesus, Christ, Sky, Faith, Jesus Christ

In the beginning, the Deceiver had a plan.  His target was God, but his mark was man.

God created the world.  God created Adam and Eve; in His own image He created them.  Satan’s fall from heaven landed him upon the back of man.  His hatred for God gave him fuel for the fire he unleashed upon mankind.  His attack upon image-bearing humanity is ultimately an attack upon God himself.  Adam and Eve were a means to an end.

The Accuser began by offering and fostering doubt.  He sowed seeds of distrust of God in the hearts of Adam and Eve.  He distracted them, exploiting their vulnerability and shifting their focus from God.

Doubt led to distraction, distraction led to division.  Once fellowship with the Almighty was broken God’s beloved image-bearers followed not the lead of their faithful Creator and Father, but of the one who came to kill and destroy.  The man blamed the woman (and by extension, God) and the woman blamed the serpent.  Fingers were pointed and blame was placed. They chose division over unity.  They chose accusation over responsibility.

Of course they did.  They were deceived, they were distracted, and they lost focus.  We are not so dissimilar from our original ancestors.  We have a tendency to wander from our Creator, become distracted, and seek to place blame.  The result of this will always be division.

Yet hope remains!  The finished work of Jesus Christ has delivered us from bondage to doubt, distraction, and division.

If we experience doubt, distraction, or division, know that these are tactics of the evil one.  And he has been defeated by the blood of the Lamb, our Savior, Jesus Christ!  We need not give in to these difficulties but recognize them for what they are and work to preserve the unity of all believers by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” –Galatians 3:27-28

Unity comes by prayer, it comes by seeking the good of others, and it comes by grounding ourselves in the love of our Father, and dependence upon Him in all things and at all times.  To do so is to live a life perpetually fixing our focus upon Jesus, our one true Hope!

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Our Hope

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By Kendrick & Janna Gilli

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. Isaiah 51:6

Fear is a crippling thing. It can wreck our lives, destroy our minds and bodies, and take our focus off the one thing that can help us: our hope in the Lord.

Lately we have had a lot to worry about. Satan has provided us with an abundance of reasons: COVID, riots, corrupt politicians, failing businesses, illness, death, loss, our economy, jobs … the list goes on and on. And if we let ourselves focus on our world and the downward turn it has taken, well, things could look very bleak indeed. In fact, depression and suicide are on the rise. People are focusing on their circumstances and they are forgetting what is desperately important.

Elim, our world IS going to get worse; the Bible is very clear on that. However, the Bible is also very clear on what WILL last and that is our salvation, our heavenly home, and God’s plan for us. No matter how bleak things seem or how much Satan seems to have taken hold, God is on His throne and has won the war.

This week God sent me a special reminder of this. We are visiting the Sharpes in Colorado and they took us on a spectacular hike in the mountains. It was breathtaking, and as we reached the top, I stopped for a breath on a boulder, looking out over the expanse of mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and lakes. My heart was filled with wonder and joy at such amazing creation and God’s love.

Suddenly and without warning, a huge, violent wind began blowing, and there were dark clouds where seconds before was blue sky. It began thundering ominously and I knew that we better get off that mountain. In that moment, God spoke to me and said, “See my power! I am the God that calms a storm in an instant. I am the God that shakes the mountains. I am God and I am in control!” An awe of my God took my breath away, and I had tears running down my cheeks even as the rain began to pelt me while I hurried down the trail.

Later, after we were safely back in the car, I began to contemplate what God had spoken to me. I felt that God wanted me to share this message of hope with Elim.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4: 29-32

Let’s focus not upon our circumstances, but upon our hope in Christ. Our identity is not our jobs, our economy, or our political affiliations. Our identity is in Christ and our citizenship is in heaven. We need to conduct ourselves as daughters and sons of the King, loving each other well with our words and deeds. During these days of turmoil we need to stand together, setting aside our political views and differences. We need to love and encourage each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. When we start focusing our eyes on the battle around us and are filled with fear, let’s remind each other of our future and that God is on His throne through it all. Let’s stay focused on the real mission at hand: to glorify God by helping people know Christ personally, follow Him completely, and make him known throughout Puyallup and the world.

5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6

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A Favorite Verse That is So Much More

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By Dan Amos

Have you ever run across a verse that acts as the proverbial two-by-four upside the head? I can definitely point to Romans 1:20 as an example. I read it. Then I re-read it over and over. I pondered it and printed it out and posted it on my monitor at work. It was such a foundational verse, one that underpins my worldview and helps to explain our current situation.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse (Romans 1:20).

This is a verse of incredible hope to me. God created. He’s in control, always has been and always will be. While He has chosen to limit His revelation to us, enough is there that we can know, whether we are a scientist or not. There’s enough evidence to acknowledge His majesty, that we have to actively deny Him to not see it. I see how we are fearfully and wonderfully made and I know that I don’t have the kind of faith to believe inorganic matter spontaneously came alive on its own and overcame entropy to organize into the complex, interdependent organisms that are people.

The rest of the chapter is less hopeful, more instructive as it describes the consequences of our denial:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ( Romans 1: 21-22)

We know the consequences of our sin and that of our ancestors. What was made very good was spoiled. Life became difficult and finite as a result. What we are experiencing today was not part of His plan, but it is redeemable even in the tragedy and loss.

I count myself fortunate and blessed in this time. I am thankful more than ever and for more than before. I have often given thanks for those who serve in our military, law enforcement and medical service. Now, I recognize my gratitude for the truckers, the clerks, the stockers. I am thankful for all those people who make everyday living possible and who continue on today under difficult conditions and often with smiles under their masks. I hope as we return to a new normal, whatever that may be, that we don’t forget how we were served so well by so many.

There are many who are making an extraordinary effort on our behalf. We have Sunday service because of many sacrificially serving. Every week because of people like Lars P. and Gregg Z., we are getting closer and closer connected while physically apart. How wonderful that they are harnessing technology to serve.

And of course the Good News is we are not doomed to condemnation without hope:

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21-24)

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The Last Family on Earth

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By Larry Short

I was struck today by Pastor Steve’s thought-provoking Oasis: Elim at Home message about isolation and Noah’s Ark. You may already know that I’m a huge fan of the Noah’s ark story (Genesis 6-8). My entire office at home is decorated with Noah’s ark artwork. When I was in my 20s, I wrote a novel about the situation in Noah’s day. I’ve always found thinking about this biblical-historical account extremely fascinating. And despite the critics of the story, I have no doubt it’s literally true—because Jesus Himself said so.

In fact, I was super excited a few years back when Russell Crowe (an actor I respect) starred in a new movie called Noah. Darlene and I found the nicest theater we could watch it in and rushed to see one of the first showings.

And we were bitterly disappointed. To the point of anger, even. How could anyone possibly mess up such a beautiful, compelling story so badly?

Anyway, I won’t give my critical review here. Suffice it to say, if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t bother.

But with all my thinking over the years about Noah and his story, I had never really thought about what it must have felt like to actually BE the last family on earth—isolated with a menagerie in a huge barge, being tossed about on the waves in a world gone mad.

Steve asked some perceptive questions that got me going:

What was the downside of being on the ark?

Well, at first you think of all the obvious things. The smell must have been special. No power, no running water, no real sanitation—and I doubt you’d want to build a fire on a big wooden boat made of pitch, so how would you cook? Meals must have been rather dull.

But beyond that, there are the incalculables more difficult to imagine. How would you actually feel knowing that you were the last family on earth? How would you feel knowing that everyone else you had ever met and cared for was now dead? Talk about a feeling of isolation!

And how would you think about the future? Would you wonder, as the days dragged on, if you might have to live out the rest of your life on that big, stinky boat? How they must have longed for dry land.

What do you think Noah and his family were missing?

I am a person who loves to spend time in the mountains. Normally April would be the start of my morel mushroom-hunting season, and my son Nathan and I would head out to the Eastern Cascades, probably meeting my sister Kay and her husband Tom there, to launch out into our state’s beautiful forests in search of our elusive prey. But now, all the national forestlands, national and state parks, and camping facilities have been closed. I can still walk through the little wooded areas near my home, such as the Tacoma Watershed, which is nice, but it’s not the same. I’m itching to get back out into the mountains and hunt some mushrooms again!

And I also feel guilty when I feel this way, because I know it’s far worse for many others, such as for our friends Larry and Marilyn Nelson, who are confined in their small apartment in a retirement home, and for those who have been exposed to the virus and live in fear or who are sick and are not yet sure why. I am thankful every day not to be in that boat.

But I wonder how Noah’s sons and daughters-in-law felt when they looked out over the rail onto that endless, churning sea. Would a day ever come when things would be different? When the hope they had for a new and better world would become a reality?

Finally, what were the advantages of being isolated on the ark?

I think the biggest and most obvious advantage was that they were alive! In His mercy, God spared them from His incredible judgment against a rebellious world.

And this knowledge would have given rise to an incredible sense of hope. God had a plan. He intended to restart civilization. They would see it through. They had a second chance!

In many ways, I feel the same way about the current crisis. Yes, we are at home, isolated. But we are alive! God in His grace and mercy has spared us from this plague. And, while a resurgence is always possible and we must be diligent to guard against it, Washington State Department of Health data shows that infections and deaths in our state are on a downslope. Things will get better! God has a plan. There is hope.

Hope is incredibly important to the human condition. Many people misunderstand the word hope because it has been diluted by our culture’s current abuse of the term. But really, in my view, it is more akin to the term vision.

And the Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV).

I think the same thing is true of hope. It is a gift from God to renew us (Isaiah 40:31) and keep us focused on His plan (Jeremiah 29:11). It’s hope that arises because He has saved us and has called us to love Him and live committed to His purposes (Romans 8:28)—hope that we are on a journey, and at the end of that journey will be a new and better world!

There are many good things about our current isolation: It is keeping us safe. It gives us time to think, time to get our priorities straight, time to readjust our focus. And it brings to us hope for a coming day when we will see the goodness of our beautiful Savior in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13)!

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The Antidote for Burnout

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By Larry Short

Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. (Romans 12:11-13, MSG)

In challenging times such as these, which seem to take an extraordinary level of effort to hold onto whatever hope can be had—when we are tempted to throw in the towel and retreat into ourselves—we seriously need the perspective that the Apostle Paul provides us with in his letter to the Romans.

What is God’s will for us, when we are in danger of burnout? “Keep yourselves fueled and aflame.” And how exactly do we do this?

  1. Realize that we are not the bosses of ourselves! We have a Master. He is calling us to reject cynicism and to be “cheerfully expectant.” He is the God of all hope; and even when we can’t see the sunrise on the horizon, He promises that it is coming. “With God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). We must not quit in hard times, but stick to our commitment to keep on keepin’ on until we see Him finish the good work that He has begun in us and has promised that He will finish (Philippians 1:6).
  2. “Pray all the harder.” I don’t know about you, but I have to confess that I don’t pray all that hard. I can do a lot of things hard—complain hard, lick my own wounds hard, or guard my own self-interests hard. But pray hard? In times when we feel like quitting, God is calling us to pray harder instead.
  3. Help needy Christians. As we walk down this hard-packed path of life, we are surrounded by people with needs. Do we keep our eyes open to those needs, allowing them to touch our hearts? For Jesus, when He saw human need, He had compassion and was moved to action. “Lift your eyes,” He told us, “for the fields are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). The executive fire chief for Central Pierce County recently told me that the majority of calls his 9-1-1 operators received were not specifically related to emergencies, but were made by lonely, hurting, and desperate people who just needed to connect with people who cared. Are we willing to “lift our eyes” and see these needs around us? Ironically, spending ourselves to help others is a key way to “keep ourselves fueled and aflame.”
  4. And this is one I really think Elim needs to hear. Paul says, “Be inventive in hospitality.” Literally, “pursue hospitality.” Not simply “practice hospitality” or “be hospitable,” but be passionate and creative in pursuit of it! God calls us to open our hearts and lives to those around us who aren’t necessarily “in our circle,” to those who are on the fringe, to outsiders. We are very good at connecting with those inside our circle, but not nearly as good at breaking the circle and inviting others in. The extent to which we will be energetically inventive in hospitality is the extent to which we ourselves will be kept aflame and refueled.

Do you feel like you are out of gas? Close to burnout? Do you want to give up, to retreat, to withdraw? Trust in God’s Word and do the exact opposite of what you feel your “own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) is calling you to do. Rather than hunker down, hop up and open up your arms to others around you. Embrace a cheerful hope. Pray hard. Invest in helping others. And pursue creative ways to open up your life to those outside your circle!

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How Important Is Hope?

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by Larry Short

World Vision friends and colleagues Brian Sytsma (left) and Rob Moll. Rob was killed last month in a climbing accident on Mt. Rainier. Photo courtesy Brian's Facebook page.
Two World Vision colleagues and friends hiking: Brian Sytsma (left) and Rob Moll (right). Rob was killed in a hiking accident on Mt. Rainier last month. Photo courtesy Brian’s Facebook page.

Last week I learned that someone I loved and respected at World Vision, looked up to as a mentor and considered a friend who had been very kind to me, died very suddenly and unexpectedly on Mt. Rainier.

Rob Moll was an editor at Christianity Today for many years, before coming to World Vision and taking a job (as writer for the president) that I had applied for. I was vaguely annoyed, of course, even though I recognized he was far more qualified than I was — an amazing writer and editor who had published several brilliant books.

But my annoyance faded quickly as I got to know Rob. He was a riveting presenter at chapels, and his intense curiosity, scientific interest, and passionate love for Jesus made it hard to stay annoyed. The last time we met was an informal lunch at World Vision’s U.S. headquarters, where I sought and received from him some good advice on how to get my novel professionally reviewed.

Rob left World Vision shortly thereafter for a job in Boston, but retained some good friends here, and came back here last month to climb Mt. Rainier with one of them, a colleague and friend named Brian. They were climbing an escarpment when Rob lost his footing and fell 100 feet. Brian descended quickly to find him unresponsive, and by the time the helicopter arrived, he had passed into the presence of Jesus.

One of Rob’s books is titled: The Art of Dying: Living Fully Into the Life to Come.

Rob was only 41. He had a wife and four children. His funeral is Friday afternoon. (Please let me know if anyone would like to go with me.)

Rob’s passing was the second brush with grief I’d had in the past few months. I struggled when I learned earlier this year that Pastor Martin and Kim were moving on. Martin is a good friend and mentor and one of the key reasons Darlene and I fell in love with this church and have enjoyed being a part of this body for the past 20 years or so.

And of course I’ve also lost my mom and dad, both sets of grandparents, other aunts and uncles, and many other friends, many of them here at Elim. I don’t think it’s possible to experience living until you are in your 60s without the shared experience of loss and grief.

What buoys us up in the midst of such loss? What sustains us and helps us to keep going? It’s hope.

Hope tells me that Rob and I will have lunch once again. It tells me that I will be joyfully reunited with my parents and other lost loved ones, and that we will together explore the hills of heaven and enjoy a deeper and more personal knowledge of our Savior when we do.

Hope also reassures me that God knows what he is doing in a church which experiences the loss of a pastor and friend like Martin!

Hope is not wistful or wishful thinking, like our culture sometimes thinks it is: “Wow, I really hope that happens ….” No, it’s something completely different. Hebrews 11:1 assures us: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So hope is all tied up in this package with faith and conviction. It’s something you believe, because the God who is faithful and who keeps His promises says that it is so.

And it has occurred to me more than once, and more vividly recently, that if we can trust God to reunite us with our loved ones, if we can trust Him when He promises life eternal, we can also trust Him when He plainly tells us other things. In one sense, smaller things … things like: “Do not fear” (which he repeats over and over again in Scripture), or promises of His presence with us now, or of His imminent return, or promises that if we ask for the good gift of the Holy Spirit, He will grant that Gift.

While the pain of loss and grief diminishes over time, I don’t think it ever disappears completely in this life. But the promise of hope tells us there is a life coming when Christ will “wipe every tear from our eyes” (Rev. 7:17 and 21:4). Loss will then be a distant and powerless memory, when we are confronted with the reality of the coming Kingdom, eternal life, and the King in all His glory!

I’ve been thinking about and working on the challenge Pastor Steve shared Sunday: What letter might Christ write to us, just as He wrote to the seven churches in Asia Minor through John? Part of that assignment is, what might Christ commend in our church? For me, I think the answer is that Elim is a place that has, for me, nourished hope. We are excitedly and expectantly, together, looking forward to that day when He will wipe away our tears!

P.S.: Go here if you’d like to contribute to a special memorial campaign for a project that was near and dear to Rob’s heart, life-saving clean water in Malawi. Or click for the Gofundme page set up to help Rob’s family.

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