Building the Church vs. Building the Church

The church building in Malhati fell down as a result of a cyclone that passed through in April. (Above is a picture of the building at its inauguration, which I attended.) Today the pastor, Emmanuel, came to visit me to tell me of their plight. They need 20,000 Indian Rupees (about $425) to rebuild their church building.

It was a great opportunity to talk about building the church. We talked about the fact that it is God's church, and that He promised to build His church (Matthew 16:18). Of course His church isn't the building (although, He owns that too according to Psalm 24:1), but the people.

We talked about the fact that so many of the churches in this region have financial difficulties and how that is a result of people not giving, which is a sign of lack of faith. We read Exodus 35:20-29 and 36:4-7, where the people gave willingly and in such abundance that they had to be commanded to stop giving. We read Luke 21:1-4, where the widow gave her last pennies. We read 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, where from poverty and affliction they overflowed with joy in their generous giving. We talked about how it takes a miracle for people to give out of their lack. It's like water coming from a rock. Yet, it's possible with God.

Emmanuel left committed to pray for a miracle. He's praying that God would show him if there's any areas in his life where he can be more faithful and a better steward. He's praying that the 19 families that make up the church would be built up - growing in their faith and that they will give. He's going to share the stories we looked at together and ask them how they can apply them in their lives. He's praying for God to build His church and for God to provide to build His church building.

I'm praying that God would do as He promised and build His church, the people who are living stones (1 Peter 2:5). As they grow in their faith, I'm praying that their building would be repaired as well. Will you pray with me?

Delighting in His Law

"His delight is in the Law of the Lord and in the Law, he meditates day and night."

This is part of Psalm 1, which I'm teaching on in our home fellowship this Sunday. I memorized the Psalm and have been meditating on it quite a bit. I also have listened to 4 sermons on Psalm 1 in the last 3 days.

I thought I would share some of my musings with you.

Psalm 1 is full of contrasts: There's the wicked vs. the righteous. There's those that are firmly rooted vs. those blown away by the wind. There's the path of the righteous vs. the path of the sinner. There's the path that is known (approved and preserved) vs. the path that perishes. There's delight in the Law (instruction) vs. the counsel of the wicked.

There's the question of who is righteous. Many will so, none are righteous (Ro 3:9-10). Yet, in the Psalms and elsewhere in scripture, there's a clear distinction between righteous and unrighteous and between godly and ungodly. In Romans 3, Paul is obviously talking about the fact that there is no one righteous apart from Christ. However, in Christ we are made righteous.

There seems to be a progression of sin, where you go from moving in sin to standing in sin to sitting in sin. The progression is towards being more stuck or fixed in sin.

That raises the question of being fixed or firmly planted. Even though someone is fixed in sin, they are like chaff which is blown away by the wind and they will not be able to stand in judgment. Whereas, the righteous man - the man who delights in the law, will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. That man will be firmly fixed and the implication is that he'll be able to withstand judgment.

Sometimes people think that living a sinful life is more free than the Christian life which is filled with rules and regulations. The fact is that there is life in the tree that is firmly planted. It yields fruit, it's leaf doesn't wither (read into that a person who is full of life even in a dry period) and it prospers. The one that is "free" is blown about. They are subject to their environment and therefore less free than the one who is firmly planted.

Finally, let's look at Delighting in the Law. This I think is the key to the passage and the thing I'm still meditating on and wrestling with. What does it mean to delight in the law other than that it includes meditating on it? How does one come to the place of delighting in the law?

So far, for the second question the two things that strike me are that prayer is one way to delight in the law and that actually spending time with the law is key to seeing its value and beauty which will result in delight. Psalm 119:18 is an example of someone praying this very thing.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these two questions, this chapter or on delighting in God's Word.

Drunk, Delirious or Demonized?

"Welcome to India," spoken with an Indian accent is something we often say to each other when we experience something really weird here. Well we've been back in India for a week and last night I had my "Welcome to India" moment.

I was driving home late at night (around 10:30). It was drizzling. It was very difficult to see. I hate driving at night here because my windows always fog up (part of the poor design of my Indian made Bolero), people don't know how or simply refuse to dim their lights and there's always huge pot holes or other obstacles in the road. These obstacles usually take the form of a bicycle, rickshaw, cow or a pedestrian.

Last night's obstacle was a bit unusual, even for India. I was driving along, squinting, trying to make sure I didn't kill anyone. All of the sudden I see a man walking in the road. This man wasn't walking on the side of the road as is common, but in the middle of my lane. What was really unusual was that he was buck naked.

I was so shocked, I didn't really know what to think about him. I did manage to swerve around him. As I drove on, I was left thinking, "What on earth would possess a man to do that?" I finally decided either he was drunk, delirious or demonized.

Someone asked, "Did you stop?" The answer is no. I guess I'm not the good Samaritan. I did take time to pray for him - knowing that whether he was drunk, delirious or demonized, there's not much I could do for him other than pray for his deliverance. If God moves you to do the same, I hope you'll pray not only for him, but for the countless like him.