June 2, 202

     We are living in a world that’s kind of a mess. Political leaders are corrupt and ineffectual, society has lost its moral compass. It is harder to make a living than it has been in recent history. We could add many other things to this list. In addition, false religion is more popular than God’s truth and the small number who care seems to be shrinking. With all this in mind, I am reminded of a short thought from Dennis Curd from a few years ago.

     “Recently I heard a government official describe the economy of today as one we’ve never seen in as bad a condition as it is. In environmental matters the cry is constantly, “the sky is falling,” or some equivalent. The older generation sees the youth of today as the worst ever. The young often see the older ones as more out of touch than ever. In the church, alarms are often sounded that if we don’t watch, we’re going to see the church cease to exist. No wonder people are unhappy and worried.
     There’s good reason to be worried. Lots of things aren’t what they ought to be, and they might get worse. Who knows? Nobody likes to live in such a state. While ignoring the conditions of the times is like hiding ones head in the sand, thinking it’s all over is also unrealistic. A lot of people have lived before us in all sorts of circumstances. Don’t you think they sometimes thought things would never be better? Every generation is near-sighted, only seeing what’s right in front of them. They fail to see what has been and what happened then.
     Some perspective is in order. God holds the world tightly and as long as He does it will stay together (cf. Col. 1:17). God has promised that as long as the world stands, ”seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22) . So much for global warming or global freezing worries. A bit of God’s perspective takes away a lot of unnecessary worry.
     God rules in the Kingdoms of man as well (Dan. 4:32). He may even allow a bad ruler to thrive (Psalm 9:17), or a wicked nation to be victorious (cf. Isa 19:5 ff). But God’s plan for the work He is doing will always work toward His good (Rom. 8:28). If you think the morals of today are worse than ever, read the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19), or read of ancient Rome. Makes 2009 (or 2024) look pretty tame. Family values are greatly lacking, but are not so different than times past. Remember Judah (Gen. 3-8) and David. Most of us wouldn’t want to go back to those “good ole days”. As for the church condition, are we naïve enough to forget about Corinth, Sardis and Laodicea?
     In all these cases God didn’t quit working. Even with the flood when God only saved a few He still kept going with His plan of redemption. He promised that that kind of destruction will only happen one more time, at the final day of judgment. We can never fail to be serious about our troubles and meet them head-on, dealing with them aggressively. But we must never lose sight of the real power in the world. God and His word provide us with the proper perspective in which to see all things.”

     With all this in mind I would make two suggestions. First be diligent, the days are dark and light is more needed than ever. Second, be confident knowing that God is in control, his word is still the truth and whatever affliction we may face in this world it is not worthy to be compared to the glory that awaits.

~ Kevin Cleary

 

May 26, 202

     Things are sometime done differently in different parts of the world. While in China I watched a construction crew building a bridge. I saw all of the “I” beams on the ground waiting to be lifted into place. I assumed that shortly a crane would arrive on the site to lift the beams into place. While I watched a number of workers put together some bamboo scaffolding under the bridge. I was quite impressed that the light wood structure would hold the beams which were about three feet and a half high and about 230 pounds per foot. The eighty foot span would mean a beam weighing 18,400 pounds. I was very surprised when instead of a crane, what seemed to be about two hundred construction workers lined up on either side of the first beam and lifted it about three feet onto the first level of scaffolding. 

     Could there be a clearer portrayal of the power of team work? Who would think that 18,000 pounds could be handled by sheer man power? There are some things from this process that are worth noticing. First, there is no way the beam could be moved with one or even a few people, it took many hands. Second, the men all had to lift simultaneously. If only some lifted at one time they would never move the beam and could be in danger of tipping or dropping it. And third, there needed to be a clearly laid out plan before the efforts could begin.

     There are many times in life when we face daunting problems which, when we consider them, look to us like one person trying to lift an 18,000 pound steel beam. Thankfully God did not call us to serve him individually but in the context of a community, a called out people (church). When dealing with things we can’t lift, we need to be humble enough to look to our brethren. When we see a brother in need let’s remember Paul admonishes us to “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” Gal 6:2. 

     God has called us to work Eph 2:10, there are beams to be moved, and together we can achieve what one alone cannot. Let’s work together to achieve the plans God has for this church and this community.

~ Kevin Cleary

 

May 19, 202

     I have been working as a minister for a number of years and in that time, I have been involved in nearly every kind of trouble that humans can get themselves into. One thing that stands out is that rarely does anyone come into my office and say I knew this was a terrible idea, but I went ahead and did it anyway. It happens but it’s rare. More often than not people come in wringing their hands and saying I had no idea this was going to happen. 

     This makes me ask a question, how do we decide what is good and bad right and wrong helpful or unhelpful? To start off we may consider the obvious, we feel a need. If I feel cold I will dress warmer or turn up the heat or change my location. If I feel hungry, I eat. Already though we have stumbled  into a challenge. We understand humans often make poor choices about when to eat what to eat and how much to eat. Give me a pork chop and I will eat it gladly until I am satisfied. Give me some chicken wings and suddenly satisfaction has nothing to do with it, I will eat until I am physically unable to consume any more. I know that eating is helpful when I am hungry, but my good intentions quickly go awry when faced with the wrong stimulus. 

     Such is the case with many human needs, we need to work, we need relationships, we need shelter, the list could go on. What we need to remember is that not all needs are created equal and that some needs should take precedent over others. 

     In fact one need should be above all others that is our need for God. For his mercy and love and truth. Need for his direction and purpose. This need takes to top spot. The great thing is this need also comes with a matrix by which we can measure all other needs. Gods revelation for man speaks to all of our needs with truth and balance. One short article is not nearly long enough to discuss everything the bible says about meeting all of the needs that God knows humans have. Knowing that God knows does become a key element in finding the balance and direction we need.

     Matthew 6:25-33 offers a lot of help largely based on this exact truth that God knows our needs and cares that they are met. A second scripture that offers a great deal of insight is 1 Corinthians 6:12 where Paul explains that many things are fine to do but not all of these things are beneficial. This adds to our trusting God from Matthew 6 the idea that our intellect must rule over our cravings. We have choices about how and when we meet our needs. Some of those choices are better than others. For example Martha could have waited to do the preparations. Notice the text says they had to be made, further there is no indication that Martha did anything sinful. Therefor her actions fall into the category Paul describes above as something that’s fine to do. It just wasn’t the best thing to do. 

     My prayer for all of us is that our needs are met spiritual first and all others in abundance. For this to be the case none of our secondary needs can be allowed to rule us. I pray that as we make choices about how to meet our needs and wants that we will do so placing God first and taking his word as our guide.

~ Kevin Cleary

 

May 12, 202

I want to share a story from Steve Higginbotham and then make a brief extra observation. 

“I can remember a frequent routine that used to take place in our house when my youngest son was about six-years-old and my youngest daughter was about two-years-old.  It would be evening, the family would be upstairs, and I might ask my youngest son to retrieve something from the first floor.

He would quickly say, “But dad, no one’s down there.”  To which I would say, “I know.”  Then he would reply, “But it’s dark and the lights are out.”  I’d say, “Then turn on the lights and it won’t be dark anymore.”  Then he’d say, “But I’m afraid.”  And I’d say, “There’s nothing to be afraid of, now go on down there and get what I asked you to get.”  Finally, he would turn to his two-year-old sister and say, “Hey Anne Marie, do you want to go downstairs with me?

Through the years, I’ve laughed about that.  I mean, what’s a two-year-old girl going to do to help you when you’re scared? (Actually, I think I figured out his logic.  I think he planned on sacrificing her to the “monster” while he made his get-away!)

Anyway, to seriously answer my question, “What’s a two-year-old girl going to do to help you when you’re scared?”  Presence.  She’ll give you her presence.  We value presence more than we may realize.  Our fears aren’t as great when we’re with someone else.  The darkness doesn’t seem quite as dark.  And our imaginations are kept in check by the presence of others.

Friends, being alone is scary!  In fact one of the frightening things about Hell is that the presence of God will not be there, and we will be all alone (2 Thessalonians 1:9).  But thank God for two-year-old little girls who will go downstairs with their older brothers, and thank God for Jesus who promised to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).”

Steve makes a great point here, I would like to add two more. Remember when Job was suffering and his friends showed up to be with him. I suggest they were a good example of what Steve is saying here. When someone is going through something difficult we can do a lot just by being there. Second remember when Jesus sent out the disciples? He sent them two by two, again, I think this is a good example of Steve’s point. When someone is doing something hard we may not be able to lend much more than our presence but sometimes that makes all the difference. 

~ Kevin Cleary

 

May 5, 202

     If you want peaches, you need a peach tree, if you want cherries you need to plant a cherry tree, if you want apples you guessed it you need an apple tree.

     What if you want a healthy family, a cohesive society, a peaceful country, a thriving economy, a healthy environment to raise children? The tree that provides all of this is Christian Faith. For decades numerous parties have worked to remove every vestige of Christian faith from western civilization. Now the Nietzschean chickens have come home to roost, God has been pushed out and with Him, His common grace. It seems that some are starting to realize they like and even need the fruit of Christianity. 

     Nietzsche famously said: “When you give up Christian faith, you pull the rug out from under your right to Christian morality as well. This is anything but obvious: you have to keep driving this point home, English idiots to the contrary.” 

     When Richard Dawkins recently started to notice he said “You know I love hymns and Christmas Carols. I feel at home in the Christian ethos. I feel that we are a Christian country in that sense”.

     Joe Rogan in commenting on the state of the world said “we need Jesus” and says “If he is coming back now would be a good time”

     Jordan Peterson has been arguing for some time that the moral underpinnings of our civilization are derived practically from scripture. He has further concluded that it requires a metaphysical foundation. He has not commented on the historical realities of Christianity which I will be interested to see him deal with. At this point however he all but admits that the Christian God exists. 

     Atheist historian Tom Holland, commented on Dawkins above statement: “ secularism & Dawkins’ own brand of evangelical atheism are both expressions of a specifically Christian culture – as Dawkins himself, sitting on the branch he’s been sawing through and gazing nervously at the ground far below, seems to have begun to realize.”

     Recently Russel Brand has expressed his discovery of faith and has even been baptized. 

     Could it be that something of an awakening is taking place? Could it be that a larger world is waking up to what we as the body of Christ have known all along. The optimist in me says yes or at least maybe. However, my fear is that people will satisfy their desire for faith with empty easy belief, or they will return to the Catholicism, Methodism, or Pentecostalism of their family or youth. They may be drawn to the flashy options like Benny Hinn, or Joel Olsten. Any of these would be preferable to pure secularism. That said, my prayer is that they turn to the Bible. My aim it to do whatever I can to help them, and I’m sure that yours is as well. We should see the sentiments above as an opportunity, we should open our eyes and see the fields are white unto harvest. 

     What a great opportunity we have in this dark world to remind people that you can’t have the fruit of Christian morality without the tree of Christian Faith. 

~ Kevin Cleary