December 6, 2014

Posted on December 9, 2014 by jgarrott

Revelation 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.

It seems to me that a lot of Christians never read Revelation at all. There are some who seem to read it almost exclusively, and that too is a mistake, but the Bible needs to be taken as a whole to stay in balance. Groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses spring up because of an obsession with “End Times,” but failure to keep it in your mind and heart that God is eventually going to say “Enough” to all the nonsense can lead to all sorts of other aberrations. One striking feature of Revelation is that it doesn’t present “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,” but a conquering Warrior King. It does speak of His “wiping away every tear,” (Revelation 7:17; 21:4, echoing Isaiah 25:8) but the image in general is certainly not pacifist. Many Christians have a knee-jerk reaction that war is always bad, but that really walls off large chunks of the Bible. Jesus indeed said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God,” (Matthew 5:9) but peace is far more than the absence of visible conflict. True peace comes about only in submission to and agreement with the Prince of Peace, and there are groups and individuals, and places within almost every individual, that rebel against that. In the final analysis, such rebellion cannot stand against omnipotent and omniscient God. We get into real trouble when we imagine ourselves to be God’s “enforcers,” trying to impose the kingdom of God on people and situations by our own strength, but we still need to remember that God does use human instruments, and not try to limit how He might do that.

I certainly didn’t expect to write this this morning! I was drafted back in 1970 and spent two years in the infantry, but training was distasteful to me to the point that I wrote, and performed, a poem that almost got me a court martial! Thankfully my assignment was Hawaii rather than Vietnam, so I never saw combat, but I certainly rubbed shoulders with lots of guys who did. Also, I attended school at Itazuke Air Force Base in Fukuoka, Japan, as a child, and right now we are a little over an hour away from Sasebo Navy Base, so I have had considerable exposure to professional military people. I have at times been offended by their cultural insensitivity, but that is no worse than what is often shown by non-military tourists. I have come through all of this not at all a pacifist, but certainly not eager for conflict of any sort. I am very aware that the world is a very violent place at this point, and sometimes that violence is unavoidable. I am to maintain my own connection to the Prince of Peace and offer that connection in love to as many as will receive it, so that they will be on the right side in the final conflict.

Father, this isn’t an easy subject even to think about. You know I’m big on conflict avoidance! Help me be a peacemaker by Your definition, letting Your Spirit flow through me at all times in all situations, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 5, 2014

Posted on December 6, 2014 by jgarrott

Revelation 19:10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow-servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

This verse is rightly used to teach that we must never worship angels, no matter how impressive they might be, but it is the very last part of the verse that caught my attention just now. People tend to make a great deal over prophecy. We tend to place people who have that gift on a special plane, and in the process we miss the fact that Paul said he would like it if all believers prophesied, (1 Corinthians 14:5, 39) and we even miss the whole point of New Testament prophecy. It would be hard to find a Bible scholar who would not say that we are all supposed to testify of Jesus. The angel here is telling us that such testimony is the spirit of prophecy! The thing is, New Testament prophecy is occasionally a matter of speaking of coming events, but in general it is simply speaking out what God is saying, in encouragement, comfort, or whatever, and the Father is always talking about the Son, just as Jesus was always pointing people to the Father. The angel’s point was that yes, he was speaking the words of God, but John and his brothers in faith could and would to the same thing. There are certainly different levels of prophetic anointing, among individuals and even in the same individual at different times, but any time we open our mouths to tell others of God’s great love and grace through His Son Jesus we are prophesying. The thing is, we tend to focus on the container rather than the contents. We idolize people with a demonstrated prophetic anointing (even though the angel here said don’t do it) and we disqualify ourselves as unworthy and think we could never speak for God. As Paul said, “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) The vessel must be yielded, but otherwise it is remarkably insignificant.

I had the immense blessing of being raised in an environment of anything being possible for me. My parents set boundaries for me, but they never told me I didn’t have the ability to do anything it crossed my mind to try. That may have had an influence on my delay in receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, because I was trying to “get the gift of tongues,” instead of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit with faith and gratitude. The thing is, prophecy and all the other gifts must be empowered by the Holy Spirit or they are counterfeit. (The devil is eager to do that, by the way, if we keep pursuing the gift instead of the Giver.) It is significant, and a great blessing, that the way I knew God had indeed poured His Spirit into me was when I abruptly realized that for the first time in my life I was testifying of Jesus to a total stranger. I remembered Acts 1:8 and was filled with joy and gratitude. The gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 came later, but I knew then, and know now, that without question Jesus pours His Spirit out on us so that we may be His witnesses. As a pastor it is my prayer and my goal that everyone in my flock would be active as witnesses, with whatever gifts God knows they need to do the task at hand, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this very clear exposition. I’ve got another sermon, and I haven’t preached the last one You gave me! Help me be faithful as a vessel, a steward, of all You’ve placed in me, so that it may accomplish Your purposes for it, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 4, 2014

Posted on December 6, 2014 by jgarrott

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Once again we are back to the immense practicality of the Bible. True Christianity is never an “ivory tower” religion. Times of intense private and corporate worship and praise are always reflected in interaction with the world around us. If they are not, they are not worship in truth, and Jesus specified that the worshipers the Father seeks are those who will worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24) We certainly need “mountain-top” experiences to encourage us and keep us going in the valleys, but going from conference to conference, speaker to speaker, chasing such experiences is ultimately neither productive nor pleasing to God. It is a huge blessing to be in a meeting where the presence of the Lord is strong, but if that doesn’t change how we live in the daily grind, then our personal experience was a counterfeit, however real it might have been for the person next to us. God desires fellowship with us, and such fellowship is incredibly sweet, but that fellowship is brought to depth and maturity only as we allow Him to live and act through us toward the people around us. That is what John is talking about here. It’s very clear that protestations of love while you’re seeing someone else on the side are pretty empty, but many Christians fail to realize that their Sunday morning activities are meaningless unless they are living out their faith the other six days of the week. None of us are perfect, but all of us need to be active in applying what we say we believe, in every area of our daily lives.

This is something I thankfully realized quite a few years ago. It certainly helped that I was raised by parents who lived out their faith in just about every way imaginable. Even so, I have demonstrated that I am all too proficient at deceiving myself. (James 1:22) Precisely because I know the “approved forms” so well, it is too easy to just go through the motions and so depart from the truth. It is only as I allow God’s love to flow through me to others that I will appreciate and appropriate it fully myself. I too need mountain-top experiences from time to time, because slogging through the valleys can get pretty draining, but it is in the valleys that I am most transformed to be like Jesus. I can’t write that without a particular song running through my mind and heart: “For the God of the mountains is still God in the valleys….” My experience is not unique precisely because it is true, so I need to “be there” for others, whether they are on the mountain-top or in the valley.

Father, thank You for the privilege of ministering to a sister over the past few of days as she went through the valley of her father’s death and funeral. Thank You for the mountain-top of his being baptized on his hospital bed, so that she has the assurance that she will see him again. I pray that the love that flowed over the past two days in particular would draw all of his family and friends to the same commitment he made. May theirs not be as last-minute as His! I pray that You would continue to work through all Your children to draw many more into Your family, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 3, 2014

Posted on December 6, 2014 by jgarrott

1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

I think I could preach on just about any verse John wrote, either in his Gospel or his letters! There is so much marvelous truth there, and it blesses me to read and meditate on it. There is a musical setting to the first half of this verse that I have liked for many years, that I have translated into Japanese with the prayer that this truth would sink into the believers here, because it is indeed life-changing to understand how much God loves us. That said, the last part of the verse is also a big encouragement. Frankly, we like recognition; we like to be known. There are those who dedicate themselves to that end, and some subscribe to the maxim that “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” However, that is all ephemeral and futile. All that really matters is knowing God and being known, that is, acknowledged and received, by Him. God of course knows every tiniest detail about us, but what He desires is a true relationship with us. Such a relationship is more valuable than the whole world. However, those who are of the world can’t see that, much less acknowledge it, so they don’t acknowledge those who make such a relationship their goal. Immature believers are sometimes torn, hungering for recognition by the world because they haven’t grown in recognizing all that God’s love means to them. That doesn’t mean they aren’t saved, just that they are immature.

Like every other believer, I’ve had to grow in my appreciation of this truth. I’ll confess that worldly recognition still feels good! However, I have tasted enough of a relationship with my Father to know that it is better than all worldly recognition possible. After all, this relationship is forever! I am not to be aiming for worldly recognition, or be distracted when it happens or doesn’t happen. My purpose is to “walk humbly with my God,” (Micah 6:8) doing His will on His schedule for His glory. The rewards for doing that are beyond telling!

Father, thank You for the incredible privilege of addressing You this way, talking with You and resting in Your love. Thank You for the privilege of sharing Your love with others, and for the joy of seeing some of them receive it. Thank You for the brother who was baptized in his hospital bed last week, whose funeral I am doing today. I pray that the things I said last night and will say today may draw those who hear who are not yet in relationship with You to hunger for that relationship, so that they too may open their hearts to receive Your love, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 2, 2014

Posted on December 3, 2014 by jgarrott

1 John 2:23 No-one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

This was written at a time when there were fewer Christians than Jews, and that is the context. However, today it is particularly applicable because of such groups as the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses that deny the full deity of Jesus Christ. (I feel there are individuals in those groups who accept Jesus as the only divine Son of God and Savior, but that is not what the theology of those groups says.) The fictional story of the billionaire’s estate auction that ended after the initial sale, for a very low price, of an amateur artist’s portrait of the wealthy man’s son is a pretty good parable. The punch line, of course, is that if you have the Son you have everything, but without the Son you have nothing. This verse is a further rebuttal of those who try to claim that “there are many paths to truth,” and one religion is equivalent to another. That falsehood was ultimately settled by Jesus Himself, when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) That’s pretty plain! The best part of this, however, is that whereas we cannot know everything of God, we can receive everything of Him by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus was born as a human baby precisely so that we could have a member of the Godhead on our scale, on our level, so that we could believe personally and practically, and not just as some theoretical philosophy. Everything of the Father is embodied in the Son, (Colossians 2:9) in a package we have some hope of getting our minds around.

This is extremely pertinent to me, ministering in Japan, because of the very widespread thinking that “Christianity is just another religion.” The claims of Christ are unique, and the results of faith in Him are also unique. It is heartbreaking when people reject the Son, because I know they are also rejecting the Father, and eternal life. However, there are those who do receive the whole package, and that is joyful indeed. Today I will conduct the wake service, and tomorrow the funeral, of a man who cemented his choice at the last minute, but it was a sincere and valid commitment. I can assure his daughter and grandson that he is currently rejoicing beyond words before the throne of the Father. For his daughter, that is comfort indeed. For his grandson, who has not yet received the Son, it is a mystery. The activities of today and tomorrow need to point him, and all who attend as mourners, to the Father’s offer that is open to them as well.

Father, on a personal level this is very difficult timing, but You do all things well, so thank You. Thank You that I have no emotional or theological difficulty in conducting the two services. I pray that all the physical arrangements would go smoothly so that nothing will interfere with Your Spirit touching all involved. I pray for physical and emotional strength as well. Thank You for Your assurance that Your grace is sufficient for me. May I be an open channel of that grace to all I touch, especially in these two days, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 1, 2014

Posted on December 3, 2014 by jgarrott

1 John 2:3-4 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

It is very interesting and significant that John, the “Apostle of Love,” would write something as blunt and hard-hitting as this. Real love isn’t weak! But then John was the one who recorded Jesus saying, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) There are so many people who say to Jesus, “I love you, but…” When it comes to knowing and loving God, the proof of the pudding is in the eating! Actually, this line of thinking is throughout the Bible, with Moses, David, Paul, James, and several prophets all chiming in. Today you find numbers of people who say things like “God wouldn’t condemn me for being gay.” He won’t condemn you for feeling same-sex attraction, but He has very clearly said that acting out such attraction physically is forbidden. The devil lies to us in every way, but one of the chief of those ways is, “If it feels good, do it.” The thing is, the “feels” there is always physical. It feels very good to bless others and meet their needs, and there is very little risk to that. However, distortions of our natural – and originally pure and beautiful – desires abound, and they can be pitfalls indeed. Knowing God is our highest calling, and as such carries the greatest rewards, but there are no shortcuts that we can make; it has to come through obedience.

I know all about this one! Growing up immersed in the Bible as I did, I knew a great deal about God, but that wasn’t at all the same thing as knowing Him. I was already married and a father when the Lord very gently – though it was a huge shock to me – brought me to my senses. I wish I could say I went immediately to full obedience at that point, but I can’t. Growth in knowing Him has very much been growth in obedience. Willful disobedience is like taking a “stupid pill!” I have found that choosing to disobey God immediately disconnects me from logic and reason, and the results are all too predictable. As a pastor/teacher I am charged with teaching others about God, but I must make it clear that knowing Him involves obedience. There is a man who has attended this church for several years without committing to Jesus as Lord, because there’s one area in which he has no intention of obeying what he knows is God’s will. It’s quite pathetic, really. He has no real joy, but he fears the “loss” of his favorite vice. To him and to everyone I am to speak the truth in love by the power of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to do the convicting and not trying to do it myself. In that and in everything else I am to seek God’s will to do it, for His glory.

Father, thank You for making it possible to know You. That’s incredibly gracious of You! Help me press in more and more, in ever-deepening fellowship and obedience, so that Your will may be done in and through me on every level, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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November 30, 2014

Posted on December 3, 2014 by jgarrott

1 John 1:6-7 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

I am in real trouble when someone asks what my “favorite” book, chapter, or verse in the Bible is, because there are so many. It would be impossible to overstate the wealth, the value of the Bible! That said, I certainly love this little passage. It is sad that so many people fit the description in verse 6, claiming they are Christians yet not living like it, walking in darkness no differently than their non-Christian neighbors. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see people like the Duggars and the Robertsons living out their faith very publicly. They are not perfect but their commitment is real, and since they are in the limelight, they take the opportunity and proclaim Christ. That’s why they come under such attack and face such hatred, really. By demonstrating the truth, they make falsehood very obvious. They have been labeled “extreme” by many, when from a Biblical standpoint they should be the norm! The thing is, the average man on the street has no idea of the value of real fellowship with his Creator, and so he doesn’t work toward it. It actually is very obvious, when you think about it. Since we are all very limited, in even more ways than we are aware of, isn’t the best course to have as much fellowship as possible with the infinite, absolutely unlimited God who created us, especially since He desires it? The parent/child relationship is certainly applicable. Any good parent is delighted to have real fellowship with their children and is hurt when those children reject such fellowship. Rejecting fellowship doesn’t make them cease to be children, but it does cut them off from some of the benefits of being children. I think many people fail to seek fellowship with God because they haven’t had good fellowship with their physical parents, so they don’t have a framework for understanding what is possible. God desires to heal those wounds, but we need to make the choice to “come for treatment,” so to speak.

I obviously could write on this a long time! I was blessed with parents who loved God and had good fellowship with Him. To be honest, my father didn’t prioritize fellowship with his children sufficiently, but the relationship was not bad even so. I likewise have not been a perfect parent, certainly, but I have tasted real fellowship with my heavenly Father, and my heart’s cry is that my children, both physical and spiritual, would do likewise. David put it like this: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8) David spoke of “taking refuge in” God, but fellowship is much more than just when you’re in trouble. Too often, God has to allow trouble to cause us to turn to Him! I know from experience and from the Word that the more closely I walk with Him the less trouble I will experience, and the less the things I experience will seem like trouble. Jesus assured us that in this world we would have trouble, but when we are walking in fellowship with Him, we walk in His victory. (John 16:33) It’s no surprise that the apostle who recorded those words wrote this letter!

Father, thank You for the incredible privilege of fellowship with You by Your Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ Your Son. I am bombarded with temptations and distractions from that fellowship. Help me be fully submitted to You so that I may stand firm against every trick of the devil, walking in Your light indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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November 29, 2014

Posted on December 3, 2014 by jgarrott

2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever! Amen.

In reading this just now I noticed something I’m not sure has registered before. The phrase, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” has become pretty standard, but it has two sides to it, and that’s what just clicked. I have tended to think of it in terms of, get more grace and more knowledge. We indeed need to appropriate more of His grace and learn more about Him. However, the other side of it is that it is His grace and the knowledge of Him that enable us to grow. Without His grace, without knowing Him, we can’t grow spiritually, and we must never forget that. Growth can be healthy or it can be pathological. Pathological growth can include such forms of gigantism as Marfan Syndrome, but a more common illustration is cancer. Trying to grow spiritually apart from Christ produces distortion at best, and is usually malignant. Every human being should desire to grow, and keep growing. There are natural limits to physical growth, but essentially no limits to mental and spiritual growth. It has been rightly said that when we stop growing we start dying. That is all the more reason to focus in on the Lord Jesus Christ, learning more of Him by His grace, just as Paul did. (Philippians 3:9-11) This is the common experience of all the saints throughout the ages, and we do well to make that the focus and commitment of our lives.

This gets really personal for me. Thankfully I have had some marvelous examples of people close to me who never stopped growing. My uncle, Dr. C. T. Bahner, was a biochemist who continued to work on chemotherapy drugs, as well as expand his mind in other ways, all his life. He was in his office working just a week before his death at 93! He was also a dedicated Christian, and along with my parents and many others, he kept pressing in to know more of Christ in ever-deepening fellowship. That’s an example worth following! As a pastor I desire to inspire others to make that their life goal, whatever career choices or other things might be involved. I deal with issues of goal-setting all the time, especially with young people. Clear goals and dreams are wonderful, but I know that I was never so purposeful in my own youth. The most important thing is knowing our Creator and getting with His program for our lives. That’s going to look different for every individual, but it will always include growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, thank You for this very clear exposition. Help me know when and how to share it with others, so that those who are anxious about their future path may have peace, joy, and an anticipation of what You are going to do in and through them, for Your kingdom and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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November 28, 2014

Posted on December 3, 2014 by jgarrott

2 Peter 2:18-19 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

Peter minces no words, any more than Paul did. When mortal danger is involved, political correctness is criminal. Today we tiptoe around issues without saying them outright, for fear of “offending” someone, and in the process try to treat cancer with face cream. By being so graphic in his description of false teachers, (the Japanese says, “vomit out boastful words) Peter is making it very clear what a danger they are, so that his readers may be on the lookout and protect themselves. We need to love people enough to be as blunt as necessary, but that doesn’t mean we are to be needlessly offensive, either. Most of the time both extremes come from a failure to love the other person as we love ourselves. Either we are too worried about whether they will like us or think well of us, or we simply don’t care what they think or how they feel. Neither is a good attitude! We need to care enough to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) for the sake of our hearers, regardless of the consequences to us.

I was literally treated with steroid creams for a year for what was actually a skin cancer, so I am a living illustration of this point! Thankfully it was a basal cell carcinoma, which is perhaps the least serious of all forms of cancer, but what should have been a minor out-patient procedure became surgery involving hospitalization. I had asked for a biopsy about 6 months before surgery was actually done, but the doctor didn’t want to cut me. His motive was kindness, but the result was less than kind. (The reason for the misdiagnosis was that on Japanese people, basal cell carcinomas are dark, but mine was completely skin-colored until the last couple of months, when it became increasingly red.) I have experienced similar things with failure to speak necessary words out of fear they would hurt, when that failure allowed things to get much worse. Those experiences have been both from my failure to say what was needed to others, and from their failure to say what was needed to me. My distaste for confrontation has ended up rupturing relationships that probably could have been saved and strengthened. I need to learn from Peter and Paul to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through me unhindered, rather than squelching Him for fear of the consequences to me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I’ve been so slow to learn this! Help me love people enough to risk their not liking me, in order to impart the blessings You have for them through me. Thank You. Praise God!

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November 27, 2014

Posted on November 28, 2014 by jgarrott

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

I am no Greek scholar, but I have heard from multiple sources that 1 Peter is excellent Greek, while 2 Peter is several notches below that in literary quality. The reason is generally agreed to be found in 1 Peter 5:12, where he mentions that he was helped in writing by Silas (Silvanus), who evidently served as his scribe. Silas cleared up his pronouns and his prepositions and straightened out his misplaced modifiers to the point that 1 Peter is used as the text in many 1st year Biblical Greek classes. However, Peter evidently didn’t have such help when he wrote his second letter, and the distinctly unpolished Greek of a Galilean fisherman is on full display. The reason this is so interesting to me is that I minister mostly in Japanese, while all of my academic training has been in English. Even so, having been born and raised in Japan I have some major advantages over the majority of non-Japanese who try to minister here. Peter’s two letters are proof that whereas a top-level command of the language is desirable, a much lower level still can communicate divine truth. As Peter says here, knowing Christ personally is the important thing, because He will supply everything we need to live lives worthy of His Name. Many people won’t open their mouths to talk about Jesus because they don’t feel qualified for one reason or another. The only qualification necessary is to know Him! I have seen and heard beautiful truth expressed through mangled grammar, and it still communicated!

On the one hand I still make strange errors at times in my Japanese, but on the other hand I have had several people tell me just recently that I speak better than most Japanese. I’ll let God be the judge of that, but the point is that I am certainly an imperfect vessel, but the contents are glorious! (2 Corinthians 4:7) As Paul says, God uses our imperfections to remind us that it’s not about us, it’s about Him. This is a message I keep trying to get across to the believers, with varying success. They look at me, with seminary training and 40 years in ministry, and thinking they can never measure up, they don’t even try. That’s tragic! By the help of the Holy Spirit, I need to help them understand that God can and will use them just as they are right now, and in the process will grow and mature and polish them to be what He wants them to be, a shining instrument of His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the opportunity I’ve had in recent days to give a younger pastor on-the-job training in hospital visitation. Thank You for the fruit we have seen from that. Thank You that I will be baptizing a man today who probably doesn’t have many more days on this earth. Thank You for his clear commitment. I pray Your peace and joy for him and for his family in this time. At 88, he is aware that his time is up. May today be all that You want it to be, for him, for his family, and for all with whom he interacts for as long as You keep him here, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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