Archive for July, 2010

United We Stand

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

About the time “Cast Away” with Tom Hanks hit the theaters, there was a story going around about another castaway. This castaway had been on an island for many years and was only discovered because a plane veered off course and the pilot spotted the man’s call for help that he had written in the sand. As the pilot was landing the plane to rescue the man he noticed three huts on the island.

The pilot was curious about the huts and asked the man to explain the significance of each. The man walked to one hut and said, ”This is my home; this is where I live.” He then walked to a second hut and said, “This is my church; this is where I worship.” But the man clearly ignored the third hut, so the pilot asked him what it was for. To this the man looked distastefully at the hut and said, “That was my old church, but I didn’t like it there.”

This story makes me laugh even to this day. But it also makes me think. I have known people who have left “perfectly good churches” because of something one person said that hurt their feelings or because some church committee chose blue carpet for the sanctuary when they would have preferred purple.

Don’t misunderstand, there are valid reasons for changing churches, but what is sad is when someone leaves a church over some insignificant difference of opinion. I knew a man who left a church because he thought he should head up a particular committee but someone else was selected for the position. And, I knew a woman who left because they changed her Sunday school teacher and she didn’t like the new one.

In 1 Corinthians 11:18-34, Paul addresses a disagreement among the members of the church in Corinth. This particular passage is just one example of minor bickering within the body that can steal a church’s focus. I’m sure Paul had to deal with others, but he’s making a universal point with this one situation. What matters is that we all have the same core beliefs; we all know and believe the Gospel. Paul is telling us to avoid petty squabbles with our brothers and sisters in Christ because they damage the fabric of a church and they do serious damage to the faith of other believers.

In Psalms 133:1, David writes, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” You see, the triune nature of God (the Trinity) exemplifies unity. And since we were created in God’s image it makes sense that we should strive to live with our brothers and sisters in that same unity. After all, if it’s good enough for God, it’s reason enough for us.

Thom Fishow

July 25, 2010

Posted in General Info | No Comments »

Just a Good Story?

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Have you ever heard someone talk about a “story” in the Bible and, because they personally have a hard time accepting it as fact, they brush it off as an anecdote made up just to teach a particular lesson? They say something like, it’s okay that it’s not true and everyone knows it couldn’t really have happened like it says. One story that comes to mind is the story of Jonah, but I can think of others.

Now I know that living in the world today can make some stories in the Bible a little hard to believe. Fiction writing today is so true to life; and TV and movies have shown us that anything you can imagine in your mind can be recreated–even things that could never possibly happen in the real world. We’ve been conditioned to believe that just because we’ve seen it with our own eyes is no guarantee that it’s real. And the truth is, some people’s hearts have just become so hardened that they don’t appreciate what God is capable of doing.

And then I got to asking myself: What if the story of Jonah is simply a story made up to teach an important lesson? Would it matter? It’s still a good story. It impacted my life as I’m sure it has the lives of many people. Whether the story is true or not, I can definitely relate to Jonah; after all, I learned about obedience from his story. Even if it was just created for the purpose of teaching, people do learn from it.

So does it matter? Well, let’s see.

I remember story about a farmer who raised watermelons and had a problem with some of the local boys who would come by at night to steal a watermelon or two. The farmer, not wanting to lose his inventory but also not wanting to stay up all night guarding his field came up with what he thought was a pretty clever idea.

He put a sign in the field that said, “One of the watermelons is poisoned.” By doing this, the farmer thought, the boys wouldn’t know which watermelon was tainted and he figured they would leave all the watermelons alone. Problem solved. Or so he thought.

The next morning when the farmer awoke he walked to his field feeling proud of himself for his ingenuity and confident that the remaining watermelons would now be 100% safe for the market. But when he checked his field he found another sign left by the boys. This sign, a little smaller than his sign but equally as powerful, said simply, “Now there are two.”

Two watermelons are now poisoned. But, which one did the boys ruin?

If we accept that one or two stories in the bible could be just fictional stories, which ones are they? And, if there are one or two, could there be three? Or four? And, if one of the stories that’s just a story is Jonah, what about Sampson? Or the parting of the Red Sea?

Or the resurrection?

Don’t be deceived. The Bible is God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16) written down for us; it is true from Genesis to Revelation. Only Satan has an interest in turning it into just another book of cute stories.

Thom Fishow

July 18, 2010

Posted in Weekly Post | No Comments »

Don’t Diss Me, Man

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

I love it when my grandkids or some of the kids from my church who are the age of my grandkids come up to me with an expression or joke I heard when I was in my early teens. It really does take me back, and for just a minute I’m a teenager in middle school in Northern Virginia.

But then I do what many of us “old timers” do and say something like, “Wow, I haven’t heard that in 40 years.” And, to the kids, while hopefully it’s not too big a deal, I’m sure in their minds I’ve just dissed them (I think that’s the expression they use today) for something they thought was so original. You see, their joke or expression is still new to them. They’ve just learned it and they figure when they tell it to me or any adult, it will be no different from them telling it to one of their friends. They just assume everyone is hearing it for the first time.

I realize if I related just a little better with the younger generation I would simply laugh along with them and act like it was the first time I’d ever heard whatever it is they’re telling me.

And then I got to thinking. How often do we do the same thing with a new believer? Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly–mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2)

When a new believer comes to us spiritually mature Christians with something they’ve just learned about the Bible or some revelation they’ve had, do we share in their excitement, or do we act like we’ve known what they’re telling us all our lives? Or, worse yet, do we use it as a teaching moment–a chance to teach them how much smarter we are about spiritual things?

If a young Christian (and I don’t necessarily mean a young person, but someone who is young in his faith) comes to me and says something that is doctrinally not quite right, I have an obligation to explain what is correct. However, when a young believer gets excited because of something he just learned that I figured out 20 years ago, this should be an opportunity to simply share in his excitement. Not just for his sake, but for mine as well. I should use this opportunity to re-experience the newness of my early relationship with Christ.

Listen, the sanctification process is a journey. It doesn’t happen all at once. So what we learn as we grow in our faith and as we grow in our relationship with Jesus is also a journey. Just as I wouldn’t expect a child to know what an adult knows, I shouldn’t expect a believer who is still only drinking milk to instantly be ready to eat solid food. Here’s what I’ve learned: Even though spiritually I’ve gone beyond milk and have now progressed to solid food, I realize that the solid food is just pablum compared to the filet mignon on which I will feast in heaven.

Thom Fishow

July 11, 2010

Posted in General Info | No Comments »

Where is Your Trust?

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

As I was driving home from work the other day in rush hour traffic, I came to a stop several cars back at a major intersection because the light was red. The lane to my right was free of traffic and I glimpsed a red car in that lane proceeding to the intersection. Then, before it reached the intersection, the light turned green and the driver continued into the intersection.

Unfortunately, a black car coming from the cross road to the left attempted unsuccessfully to hurry through the intersection before the traffic that now had the right of way began moving. The result, as you probably guessed, was a collision between the red and black cars with glass and metal flying everywhere and both cars spinning through the intersection involving several other cars. It reminded me of a commercial on television where two cars suddenly collide and the voice over says, “I bet you weren’t expecting that.”

Thankfully, the occupants of the vehicles were okay and after less than a minute the drivers got out of their cars. The driver of the red car looked like he couldn’t believe what had just happened. He looked at his car which was badly damaged, then at the black car, also badly damaged, and then he looked down the road where the black car had come from as if there he would find an answer to an unspoken question. There was no answer. And then the driver did something I’ve only seen on TV. He literally threw up his hands.

After all, he had the green light, so how could this happen? Green means go. Red means stop. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. And laws, after all, are laws. So if you have a green light, you are safe to go. End of discussion.

But is it? After all, who can guarantee that just because the light turns green for you that it will turn red for the other traffic? It’s supposed to work that way, but what if it doesn’t? And even if it does, who’s to say the drivers will always stop just because their light turns red?

We just trust that these things will happen. The question is this: is our trust misplaced? Starting in Jeremiah 17:5 it says, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD. . . But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.”

Now I don’t think Jeremiah was talking about highway etiquette in this passage, but how many times each day do we just depend on the “rules of the road” and totally forget who is really in control? How often do we trust in “mere humans” and forget to ask God for His protection?

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think we should ignore good defensive driving when we head out to work or to the grocery store. But, if that’s all we’re doing to make sure we reach our destination, aren’t we simply trusting mere humans. Shouldn’t we include God when we get behind the wheel? Mirrors. Check. Seatbelt. Check. Protect me, God. Check.

Thom Fishow

July 4, 2010

Posted in Weekly Post | No Comments »