It is still unfolding–a staff retreat with my fellow elder-pastor from Christ Covenant Church and our wives. We are in western NC. The weather is in the 50s and 60s; we have had some rainfall; and the waterfalls are indeed living up to their name.
We are praying and listening and speaking with one another about where the Lord would have us lead CCC and the biblical ways to shepherd well.
It is hard for me to overestimate how much this week means to me–to all of us. We’re away, if you will, in order to be present.
Between discussions, we have been able to take in some of God’s creation, too. Below are some pictures and video of our time thus far.
We love you, CCC (3cs-canton.org), and remain optimistic about our future roles in the greater plan God continues to reveal about Christ Covenant Church.
CJ and I drove with some friends back to where I spent much time in my late teens and twenties. We all took a few days off from work to come to Cullowhee and surrounding areas. We’re using the week to think and pray through the direction for the future of the church body we serve.
We’re taking in the waterfalls, some of the local bookstores and ice cream and chocolate shops, stopping by my old college stomping grounds where I did a couple of my degrees, walking the grounds of which I have precious memories with Ken, Wayne, Barclay, Sara, Cameron, and others.
The school’s much larger now. The student body has doubled in size from when I arrived many moons ago. And Sylva has lots of new shops, but some of the old ones are still around, just in new locations. There are small breweries and art shops, though, and it still has that lovely western NC feel.
From the cabin where I sit now, the clouds hang like carefree marshmallows above the mountains. Two hummingbirds dart to and from the feeder hanging from the deck. I can hear the creek running down below us, swift due to the morning’s heavy rainfall. As far as you can see, it’s mountains and memories.
We patronized City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. I purchased a WCU sweatshirt for my wife from the campus bookstore. I looked at the wonderful Ron Rash books for sale to fellow bibliophiles and literature lovers.
It all washes over me, and something deep within my soul returns to being a boy here, finding my way, cruising the Blue Ridge Parkway with my buddies, hiking, and dreaming of our futures.
It’s only Tuesday, and I am already excited about tomorrow, when we’ll take in waterfalls, trek Highlands, Cashiers, and perhaps drive on up to the Parkway one more time–to gaze, ponder, and feel the strings of the soul plucked by the beauty pervading this place.
I didn’t have to go to drill as part of my military duties today, so I was able to meet a friend for Saturday morning coffee. I did my morning routine, put on a pair of shorts and t-shirt, running shoes, cap, and headed downstairs to my car. I drove down the hills and finally arrived at the local coffee shop he and I frequent. We both pulled into the parking lot at the same time and walked in together and ordered our bagels and coffee.
While standing in line, a lady turned around and said enthusiastically, “Hey, Jon!”
She’d caught me off guard, because I was watching the lady behind the counter toast my bagel. “Hi,” I returned.
“How’s the church going?” she asked. I suddenly realized I had not introduced my friend to her. Picking up on the timing, she introduced herself to him, and we all swapped pleasantries and caught up while we waited for our coffee and bagels.
My friend and I took a table outside (I don’t do well when it comes to hearing if there’s a crowd), as is our custom.
He had a couple of books with him–one of Christian creeds and confessions and another volume, an overview of church history. We discussed snippets of the week we’d had–things going on at work, with church, and more. And like all of our conversations, there was a genuineness that is lacking in most interactions. We really listened to one another.
He spoke of his longing to see his congregation reach the younger generations–Gens Z and Alpha. Inside my head, I was trying to make sure I had the accurate demographics in mind. I listened. Several terms recurred in his monologue. He said that people of my generation (I’m in my 50s) grew up and church was just what we did. Literally, there were churches on every street corner. People went Sundays, Wednesdays, etc. but the results were often scant. There was little to any depth. People went out of cultural conformity and tradition. It was comfortable. “It was just what you did,” he said.
“But people my age [he’s in his thirties] are hungry for purpose, connection, and meaning,” he said.
I found myself listening deeply.
When it was appropriate for me to speak, I told him what I’d understood him to have said.
“Yes, that’s right,” he said.
I had a woman who said to me months back a phrase that came to mind and I shared it with him.
“You know, I had a woman tell me some time back that people didn’t really desire truth. What they desire is comfort.”
“She’s right, Jon. That’s most people,” he said.
I love these Saturday morning conversations with my young friend. We exchange stories of our weeks. We listen carefully to one another. We speak of books we’re poring through. We sip our coffee and munch our bagels. We enjoy the staff at our local coffee shop. We speak of our love of the gospel and the church, and of how much we need to be more faithful in reaching the outside world with the message that satisfies the longings for purpose, connection, and meaning. We are, after all, made for meaning. And I think it may, more often than not, be found not in entertainment, online doomscrolling, and light shows. I think it is found in one-on-one conversations and investments with hungry souls right across the table from us.
Intro: I was reading the Old Testament prophet Zechariah. I love reading and studying the prophets. Almost always they endured lives of great trials and suffering, but God used them uniquely to speak truth. They loved truth more than they loved comfort.
In Zechariah 1, we have this passage:
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying,“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’” (Zech 1:1-6)
Context, Context, Context: Zechariah prophesied during the 500s B.C. This was during the time Cyrus the Great allowed the diaspora to return to Jerusalem from Babylon (present-day Iraq), where Nebuchadnezzar had exiled many Jews. So, now was the time (in Zechariah’s day) of return. The time was one of excitement and enthusiasm because people were allowed to return to their homeland. It was also a time for them to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed and desecrated. But here’s the crucial part: the temple was a picture, a symbol of the gospel, not an end in itself. It was to point the people to God. But then, just as now, so many people miss this point. Real estate is not the gospel. Buildings are not the gospel. God is the gospel. But then, just as now, many people worship a place, a thing, an idol, and miss the whole point.
Then Zechariah, the prophet of God, speaks forth God’s truth to all who will hear:
Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’” (Zech 1:17)
What is the prophet doing? Trying to get the people to understand that it’s the Lord–not a building–that’s crucial. It’s God who will again comfort Zion.
And how will He do that? Through the gospel.
The temple would again be rebuilt but it would also again be destroyed. Buildings come and go. But God abides forever.
Encouragement: Where will restless and suffering people find the comfort about which Zechariah prophesied? In Jesus. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Mt 5:4). That’s straight from the lips of Christ in His Sermon on the Mount.
When Paul addressed the Areopagus in Acts 17, he said, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
See what the focus is? It’s not on Jerusalem; it’s not on a temple; it’s not on geography. It’s on Christ. Comfort comes by way of the gospel–and the gospel is Christ.
Text: “Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife” (Pr 17:1).
Context, Context, Context: This is how Proverbs 17 opens. The Book of Proverbs was mostly penned by Solomon and is part of the Wisdom Literature in Scripture. The idea in this section of Proverbs deals with shalom, or spiritual peace that is found in God, through God, and because of God. It’s not just the absence of conflict; it is more than that. It’s an active, systemic well-being and soundness of mind and affections. It’s not something superficial; it’s not manufactured pleasantness. It goes to the core of a person.
Illustration: Recently I was with some of the other men from our church for some fellowship and a meal at one of our local BBQ places. The food was again excellent. But as impressed as I was by the proprietor’s Brunswick stew and ribs, what was tastier was the spiritual harmony among us. No jockeying for position; none of that immaturity. I listened to the other men tell of their backgrounds, what they do and/or did for careers. Some spoke of construction and architecture; others spoke of finance and insurance; others spoke of information technology and finance. And sports came up, as they invariably do when you have men gathered. On and on it went. But there was throughout a spiritual harmony in the tenor of conversation. That is increasingly rare in our day, when the default position seems to be one of dismissiveness. This is one more way in which Christians are salt and light in a world largely characterized by acrimony and dismissiveness.
Encouragement: Solomon uses the analogy of a simple household at peace. Though the family might not have much in terms of money, they have a peace that surpasses human understanding. Why? Because it is founded in God.
Text: “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act” (Ps 37:5).
Context, Context, Context: This is a psalm of David, part of what is called the Wisdom Literature in Scripture. The issue in Psalm 37 is a sensitive one: why do the wicked so often prosper in this life? Why do the godly often suffer profoundly?
What David pens should encourage all who have grappled with these existential questions. Why? Because one of the most obvious realities is that we find ourselves in a broken world. People are messy. Marriages suffer; friendships are tested; lies fill each day’s headlines; murderers go free; children are trafficked, and on and on it goes. If you want news of spiritual darkness, you do not have to look long or very far. Just turn on your favorite podcast, radio, news channel, etc. It’s all there—a litany of sad stories of cruel things done by people to other people. We are indeed a fallen creation, just as Scripture teaches.
But what about those who are trying to be good, those who are trying to live as salt and light in a morally rotten and darkening world? What does God have to say about that type of person’s character and about his affections/inclinations of his heart? That’s where Psalm 37 is so helpful.
A similar address is Proverbs 16:3. There we read, “Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”
Encouragement: What we discover in Psalm 37:5 and Proverbs 16:3 is the matter of patient endurance in a godly direction. In the psalm, David writes that the godly person must first commit his way to God. Commitment is covenantal language. It is like marriage language where we commit to our wife or husband, promising to be faithful. Second, we see an emphasis on enduring faith in the goodness of God. The reality is, from our perspective, God seems to delay. We might say, God “drags his feet.” We are often prone to impetuousness and impatience. But God is not like that. God will act, according to Psalm 37. David reminds us, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him . . .” (Ps 37:7a). To summarize, then, two things: commit and patiently endure in the faith (and that faith is in the complete goodness of God).
Introduction: What does it mean to test the spirits to see whether they are from God? The passage comes from the apostle John’s first epistle:
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 Jn 4:1-6)
Discussion: The issue revolves around the locus of rightful authority. Who is the true God? Are we to worship a Caesar? Should we worship a fickle mythical god like Zeus or Poseidon? Are we to offer a pinch of incense to Domitian, Nero, or any political tyrant or charismatic leader? Who’s the legitimate authority? The answer should be obvious: God. Not an idol, but God alone. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). The issue is the locus of rightful authority. Those who oppose Christ’s lordship are by definition anti-christs, i.e., opposed to God’s revelation. They are, to use the apostle John’s words, “from the world” and “speak from the world” and “the world listens to them.” What John means by that is the world system. There’s always a god of the system. If there’s no transcendent God above the system, then the system is the idol-god.
Encouragement: There is a high calling for followers of Christ. It involves testing the spirits to see whether they are from God. That means we are called to be a wise, discerning people, people who discern the reality from the appearances, the heart of the matter and not the facades.
I was reading in Micah. Specifically, I was in chapter 5. Micah prophesied to Israel and Judah from the time just before the fall of Samaria through the time of Hezekiah of Judah (c. 740s B.C.). He was a contemporary of Isaih and Hosea. Michah’s themes were judgment and forgiveness. The Lord was and is the Judge, but is also believers’ Shepherd-King. And what does He do? Gathers, protects, and forgives His flock. Why? Because He is faithful to His covenantal nature.
Now muster your troops, O daughterof troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. (Micah 5:1-5a, ESV)
The progression of the recurring plot is all here: 1) Judgment is to fall upon the flock because the sheep have strayed; 2) but out of a seemingly insignificant tribe (Bethlehem), a ruler is promised “whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2b); and 3) He will “shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD” (Micah 5:4).
Just as David was a type of this in the 900s B.C., a shepherd-boy who became king and ruler, so the covenantal promise is fulfilled ultimately in Christ, the Good Shepherd, who leads His people “in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Ps 23:3). And He bore the judgment the flock deserves.
All of the Bible points to Jesus. All of it. One coherent story. And God is the Hero.
Question: What does it say that we desire law for others but mercy and grace for ourselves?
Text:
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[a] and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant[b] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.[c] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Context, Context, Context: The reluctant, self-absorbed, narcissistic Jonah did not want grace and mercy for others. In this case, the “others” were the people of Nineveh. Yet Jonah had proclaimed an 8-word message to them, and many were saved: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4). And do you know what God did through that message? He saved people.
And we might think that Jonah would have rejoiced. But no. Jonah pouted. Why? Because it wasn’t about Jonah. It was about the message of redemption. It was about repentance and faith. And that infuriated Jonah. Jonah loved nothing quite so much as Jonah.
Encouragement: What does it say that we desire law for others but mercy and grace for ourselves? One of the beautiful works of the gospel is that it humbles us. It redirects our focus from being on ourselves, our own comforts. It makes us others-focused. Jonah very often failed to live out that transformation. He wanted mercy and grace for himself but he desired law for others. The pattern continues, sadly. How might we be of much more beautiful use if we desired others to experience mercy and grace as much as we long for those things for ourselves?
