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And the Winner Is . . .

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Jeff Foerster

Odds favor that on January 20, 2021, the United States of America will inaugurate Joe Biden as our 46th president. Presidential Election Day falls on the first Tuesday of November every four years and, approximately 10 weeks later, the first day of the presidential term begins. Our republic has an organized system of governance and election protocols. While I won’t dig deeply into detail, here are a few key dates to be aware of:

  • November 3: Election Day
  • December 14: Electoral college voting
  • January 6: Congressional counting of electoral college ballots
  • January 20: Presidential Inauguration Day

Currently, we have a contested election. This means for most of us in the general public, a period of waiting. Waiting for legal issues to be resolved, waiting for state ballot counts to be certified, waiting for the electoral college to meet, waiting for those ballots to be tabulated in Congress, waiting for Inauguration Day.

At Elim, we know waiting, and we know there can be some discomfort in the process. We await God’s revealing of a permanent lead pastor. In this time of not knowing, we do well to rest in the trust of God’s continuing provision and, therefore, His preparation of the man who will serve Jesus, in our midst, into the future.

In this world, there will be legal battles. There will be wars of words. There will be tumult and tempests. This is certainly true when it comes to our political environment. And to put it lightly, God has some knowledge and experience in this area.

Jesus, facing the greatest “political” battle of his life, stood before Pilate, Governor of Judaea. He spoke these words:

My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm. (John 18:36, my emphasis)

Did you catch that? Jesus’s fight is not a political one and neither is that of His followers. The kingdom of Jesus, of which every born-again Christian is a part, neither rises nor falls with the fortunes of any political party. Though there are significant differences between party platforms and candidates, the will of God is sovereign over all, and we can have peace in the midst of the storm because our King is the King of Peace.

We don’t fight like men fight, with destruction and division, but we are to wage war. We war in ways which sinful man cannot understand, nor can he comprehend. Our weapons are truth and faith and prayer and submission and trust—not to human outcomes, but to our God and Creator who rules over all, and that, forevermore. And the result? Peace. A peace that none can take away.

So I urge you to draw near, in this time of waiting, not to television sets or iPhones for the latest political update, but draw near to God, and love one another as He has loved you.

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Why I Do What I Do

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By Dan Amos

Saturday, I drove a 20-foot moving van to north of Bellingham. One of my sons and his wife moved there to start the next chapter in their life together. For her it will be graduate school, and for him it will be starting a new job. The truck was large and fully packed. It was wide enough to fill the lane of any road, and when you add the mirrors on either side, it stretched from line to line. Halfway there, I picked up one of my other sons. I was looking forward to the time together, and we were talking about jobs and technology and life. It was great, but about 30 or 40 minutes into that leg, the brake lights on the cars directly in front of me suddenly flashed. Smoke billowed from their tires from hard braking. Almost simultaneously, plastic parts filled the air and I think one of the cars was lifted into the air from its now-missing bumper.

On Sunday, Pastor Steve preached from Philippians 3, where Paul contrasts a life by works and a life by grace. Paul recounted his previous attempt to gain favor with God by what he (Paul) did. He was born one of God’s chosen people, followed the law, and persecuted those who chose Jesus. After his encounter with the resurrected Christ, he realized none of that mattered. Nothing he could do would be good enough, and Jesus had provided the only way to salvation. He did not deserve it, but it was given to him by God’s grace.

I’ll admit, I am a mass of insecurity and contradiction, but my bedrock faith is in Christ. The Bible shapes my worldview. In the good times, I understand the nature of sin and its effects. Bad things happen, sometimes without my having done anything wrong. I say “in the good times” to say that in the bad times, I already know that it is the result of a fallen world. God is sovereign, He is in control, and He is active in our lives. He knows the beginning and the end. He is grieved by sin and its consequences, but through Jesus we can be rescued, reconciled, and renewed. Still the consequences on this earth, at this time, remain. I’m treading into deep theological waters, and that’s not the point of where I’m heading.

Many of you know that nine years ago I was unemployed for 54 weeks. Gene Davies consistently prayed for me and would greet me each Sunday with “Do you have a job yet?” He was convinced God was going to give me a job. I will forever remember him and be thankful for him, but I did not share that same conviction. Instead, I was convinced that God would see me and my family through to whatever would achieve his purposes. God’s promise in Christ is true. The belief in promises of material blessing is made up and dangerous. I can find no other explanation for the real suffering of Christians whose faith is so much greater than mine.

Along with my view of God, sovereignty, and sin, the Bible gives wisdom. We can choose to do things that put us at risk, but we are taught to recognize danger and act accordingly. I honestly can’t say how the accident unfolded in front of me. I jumped on the brake and Fran, who was following behind me, says the truck tires smoked as they brought us to a stop. We stopped in a straight line a truck’s length or two from the four or five vehicles that collided. It happened so quickly, I don’t know if I reacted from the instant it started or further along. I think a half second or so divided us from being a part of that mess. If we had collided, the mass of that truck could have caused serious injury to those people.

The point is before setting out on the trip, I consciously thought about driving an unfamiliar, large vehicle and determined to stay in the right lane and keep an extra distance between me and the cars ahead. Sometimes that meant dropping below the speed limit, which is frustrating to me on a long trip. It was a prudent choice based on the conditions. I could have driven normally, and I would have been much closer and had less time to react. But again, it happened so fast, I can’t say if our safety was due to cautious actions or divine intervention or both. I do know that I expressed my gratitude to God for the outcome. No one appeared to be injured, though several vehicles were a total loss.

Right now, 2020 feels like an unfamiliar truck hurtling down an interstate on a variety of levels. I want to get to the other end of this journey as quickly as possible, but I have chosen a path of caution. I know some will agree this is prudent and others will disagree that it is unnecessary and needlessly disrupts our fellowship together. These are extra-grace-required situations. But I hope you will understand why I do what I do.

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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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Jesus and the Idiot Optimist

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By Jason Comerford

                Y’know what most of my life experience has led me to believe?

                Things work out for Jason Comerford.

 I have this weird, ill-defined feeling about how things tend to generally go well for me. This is, I suspect, thanks to growing up in a middle-class household with good parents, being an only child who never had to share, and generally reaping the benefits that come from being born white and male in America. A lifetime filled with financial security and parental affection has built into me this very undeserved sense that the world bends itself toward taking care of me.

Idiot optimism, I’m calling it.

Aside from being obviously wrong, there’s a lot of ways this sentiment can go dangerously sideways. I can become arrogant, imagining that my hard work or my intelligence caused this. Or maybe I’m just inherently so special, so important, that the world around me DOES bend to my will to keep me safe. Delusion at its finest.

But the most dangerous aspect of it, I’ve discovered, is that idiot optimism doesn’t require any faith. Optimism looks like faith, but it lacks any kind of reason for assurance or hope. And it’s hard to tell the difference. It’s an insidious counterfeit, mimicking the peace and decision-making of ACTUAL hope in Jesus Christ.

Faith, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal. Faith is, very specifically, trust in a person.

Don’t skim over that. This is no vague, unproven sense that things will be okay. Faith has a reason for thinking things will turn out okay and be made right one day. That reason is Jesus.

Jesus, who gives His own kingdom to the poor. (Matthew 5:3)

Jesus, who promises to comfort the mourning. (Matthew 5:4)

Jesus, who heals sick people. (John 5:1–9)

Jesus, who forgives all of our sins. (Mark 2:1–12)

Jesus, who grieves over the lost. (Luke 13:34–35)

Jesus, who casts out demons. (Mark 5:1–20)

Jesus, who conquered death. (Revelation 1:18)

Faith hears and believes that everything really will be made right one day, that a happy future really does await all those who trust Jesus. That no matter the heartache, no matter the darkness, no matter the injustice, no matter the danger that faces us, Jesus will restore all things and wipe every tear from our eyes. He will make things right. It may not be in this lifetime, but it will happen.

 And not because of any silly notion that the world bends to my will.

But because it bends to His.

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Everyday Faith

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By Jeff Foerster

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? (James 2:14–17)

Faith will present itself. It happens simply by living. If we sit in a chair, we have demonstrated faith in the power of the chair to lend its support. If we swallow pills from the pharmacy, we demonstrate faith in the pharmacist and the manufacturer. Just the opposite is true as well. If we refuse to sit in a four-legged chair that only has three stable legs, our faith is revealed as lacking. Likewise, if we notice packaging that’s been tampered with, we may refuse the medication, thereby also revealing a lack of faith.

Faith for the believer in Jesus engages salvation, and salvation works itself out with fear and trembling. In other words, saving faith will continue to produce good fruit, or works, in the believer’s life; actions will tell the tale of faith. These actions are like the bloom of a flower: the bloom does not create a flower, but its existence signals that it came from one.

Flicks and Faith

Faith exhibits itself when I choose entertainment. Take movies for example. If I take care when choosing, by using information on a site such as Plugged In or even considering the MPAA rating system, then my concern shows faith that God has set limits on me and, by extension, the entertainment I enjoy. If, on the other hand, my attitude is, “I’m adult enough to see a movie without being negatively affected by it,” then I likely am unaware of, or do not have faith in, God’s Word, which says I can be deceived by my own heart, my own desires. Faith is grounded in truth, and truth is found in the person and character of God revealed in the Bible.

Trying Traffic

So what happens when driving down the road and some “jerk” cuts in front of me and slows down, almost causing an accident? (I’m not saying that’s ever happened to me.) What does faith have to do with it? Well, faith remembers that Jesus suffered unjustly at the hands of sinners. Faith remembers that I am to be like Him, suffering wrong and not seeking vengeance for myself in the form of aggressive driving or gestures not-quite loving. No, I am not equating crucifixion with rush-hour traffic; my attitude is symbolic, a representation of the attitude of Christ, forgiving others apart from their deservedness. When we remember Jesus and seek His ways, that’s acting in faith.

Money Matters

Confronted by a stack of bills or maybe just thoughts of them, I am facing a faith issue. Will I let worry over due dates and available funds plague my mind and keep me from praising the God who saved me? Or will I recall the words that tell me I am worth much more to God than many sparrows, whom He provides for consistently? What shall I choose? Will I place faith in my Provider or in the provision of my own hands? Where will my faith be revealed?

Identity Instigator

There is nothing more precious than the lilting voice of a child . . . until that child says, “I hate you!” And what takes place next? Do I react out of my woundedness? Does my faith in my identity, founded on being liked, being valued by others, form my reaction? However, if I am saved from my sins, I am a new creation. Can I tell myself the truth that God has told me and choose to live out of and love from the identity I have from being a son or daughter of Christ? Do I really have faith that I have been adopted into His family and that adoption is reality?

What to Do?

Unforeseen events. Long lines. Complicated circumstances. Have you ever had one phone call turn into two more, resulting in waiting on a return call that won’t seem to come? And that was only one of the dozen items on the must-do section of your to-do list—today? When my plans don’t produce fruit, does anxiety or anger become the next item on the list? What does that tell me about my faith and whom—or what—it’s placed in? Can I recall that God’s Word tells me that He is working all things in my life to produce good fruit? Will I let this truth be where my faith is found?

“Nice Ride”

Installing a new battery in my nearing “vintage” car, my neighbor rolls by in a beautiful 2019 Envy (made by Ford, I think). Again with the choices. Do I recount how I work harder, attend church more, pray harder, give more, blah, blah, blah, than my neighbor, so why can’t I have pretty things too? Or, I could recall the truth spoken through the apostle and savor the eternal glory I’ll share with the Father: “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

I could go on . . . and on . . . and on . . . until your eyeballs bleed. For where we are, I am convinced, is a land of faith. It can be faith based in what we experience, what we feel, and what we see and think, or we can look beyond—to a world that transcends our five senses, to things unseen. Faith ultimately comes back to and begins in a person: Jesus Christ. He is our Lord and our Master, our Savior and our Teacher. Faith in Him means valuing Him above all else, seeking Him above all else, and listening to Him above all else. We walk by faith, not by sight. Faith acts as a reset, a recalibration of reality to conform to the truth. And knowing the Truth will set you free!

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Remember!

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By Dan Amos

This year, our family exchanged gifts and had our family meal on December 23. It’s our newest phase of life, in which Fran and I no longer set the agenda but coordinate getting together with our sons’ three families and their families. But when we did, as we’ve done for dozens of years before, we read of Christ’s birth from Luke’s account. It’s difficult not to think of Linus from A Charlie Brown Christmas, but I read from the NIV instead of King James. Even this set off an amusing discussion of translations among the now four families being created out of our one.

The following evening, we participated in the Christmas Eve service in which Brian and the team led us through the story of Christ from Old Testament prophecies to His birth, death, and resurrection. Brian repeated throughout Israel’s history how families recounted the prophecies pointing to the Savior that was to come. In reading the story of Jesus’s birth, we continued the tradition of retelling His birth from a virgin in the town of David and all to God’s glory.

Martin and Brian led us through December to the annual celebration by recounting essential doctrines: the Trinity, how we are created for God’s glory, and how we shattered that glory with sin. God provided the solution for our sin in the form of Jesus—our one and only way to redemption.

These are fundamental doctrines of our faith. Yet throughout the Christmas season, I was bombarded not with truth but with Santa, excessive consumption, and annoyingly odd commercial images intended to make me think of a smell. There was no mention outside of church of Jesus.

Israel was given festivals and commemorations precisely to help them remember. The Christian church was given Communion to remember Christ’s death and resurrection. Christmas will cease to be a remembrance if we let it.

So when we study doctrine, we keep it firm in our understanding and the core of our faith. As Martin pointed out, even within the churches of America, too many fail to understand the divinity of Christ and what he has done for us. The power of the Gospel is rooted in the truth of God’s revelation of himself.

Charles Schulz got pushback from his producer about including New Testament Scripture in the Peanuts special. But he countered with, “Bill, if we don’t, who will?” That remains our question today. If we don’t hold to the truth, if we don’t speak it and remember it, who will?

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