What to wear ... or not?

Clothing, fashion, what is modest? Proper?  I just read an article in a popular Christian magazine that spent many pages on this issue with some decent thought but I really feel still missed part of the Biblical importance of the discussion.  So here I throw out my thoughts.

As I read the Bible and review verses and passages about what people are to wear, I am finding most of them fit into one of the following 3 categories.  God specifically instructed, used to illustrate a teaching and examples to re-enforce a principle.  I will give you a quick summary of each to help you know what I am talking about.

God specifically instructed the people of Israel about the clothing required for the priests.  This was not some principle or illustration (though you may find some as well) but a specific requirement for the priests, NOT OPTIONAL.  

The Bible uses clothing to illustrate a teaching, such as being clothed in righteousness or holiness.  

The Bible uses examples of specific clothing, dress, jewellery  etc...  to re-enforce a principle being taught.  A great example of this would be the teachings from the Apostle Paul regarding what to NOT wear during worship like gold and braided hair etc...

What the Bible does not teach anywhere is that the world's view of "formal" dress code is inherently spiritual.  In fact what we wear does say a lot and has meaning but I would suggest that we are called to not embrace the world's view of this.  Instead we are to first seek out what honours God and gives Him glory in what we wear.

So here goes, this is what I believe is a Biblical stance for Christians on how to dress.

• Always we are to publicly display modesty, dressing in a way to draw inappropriate attention to our bodies is not healthy for our Christian walk or testimony to the world.
• Always we are to present ourselves in a way that fits with our desire to walk in humility.  Jesus wants us to glorify Him and not ourselves, we are not to focus on building ourselves up by being the most fashionable person around.

• The above 2 points apply to all of us all the time including when we go to Church.

• We should seek to dress in a manner that shows proper respect for others, but only in so much as it is for the benefit of the Gospel and the glory of God.  Not so that we just gain more friends or "brownie points" with those in authority.
• When we are at an event, including Church services, we should attempt to dress in a manner that does not draw special attention to ourselves, keeping in mind that the above points still stand.  So to wear a suit and tie when you are visiting a small rural African Church might make you stand out more than your skin colour does and give the wrong example of what is important.  In the same way visiting an inner-city Church that has a high level of un-employed attenders might not be the best place to wear your latest Armoni suit.  However when you go to the typical old school country Church you may want to dress up a little more and wear a suit.  This is for the benefit of the Body of Christ so that we are not a distraction in worship.
• We need to not sit in our "glory days of old" and believe that our favourite style of clothing is "more pleasing to God".  May we never be these people.  This is full of horrible pride.  Jesus did not wear our clothing style, the apostles did not either, do we think our clothes make us better than them?  Our styles should and will change and this is fine and should be expected, not frowned upon.  As long as we are following Biblical teaching on modesty and loving God and others, then the style does not matter.

God is never going to be impressed by what I wear.  If others are impressed by what I wear then maybe I am too much the focus.  If others are horrified by what I wear then maybe I am allowing myself to be too much of a focus.  We must seek to make how we dress a secondary issue.  It should not matter so much that it took 8 blog pages to try and sort it out.  

God is our focus, people are where we find our ministry, Love is our method, the Gospel is our tool, prayer is our fuel, the Spirit is our guide, the Word is our teacher, Worship is to be life-long and our lives are to give glory to Jesus.

Let's not allow the formal / informal agendas to distract us from what is truly important.

Pastor Bruce 

Are you "bent" towards "lent"?

Every year there seems to be a growing trend of evangelical Christian believers celebrating "lent" in some form.  I have found it very interesting and I am sure that a few of you have as well.  As a child I can remember being told that only the "Catholics" practiced "lent" and that it was not for us.  Ever since that time I have been aware and listening as people who are not "catholic" celebrate "lent".  If you want to know about "lent" then feel free to use this link to wikipedia about it.

The concept of denying yourself as a part of your Christian Faith is found in many places in the Bible.  We could take the time today to go through them all but we wont.  Please feel free to do your own study on that.  Instead I want to talk about why as a Christian I would fast or deny myself for a period of time.

We are to understand that the Bible clearly teaches that our works will never save us, they will never clean us up enough for God to be pleased with us.  My works, whether they be of activity or sacrifice will not erase my sin.  Only Jesus and His completed work can provide salvation, freedom, cleansing from sin, placing us into God's family being reconciled to Him forever.  So "lent" or any other fasting and denial will not save us, in full or in part.

So what then?  Why should we fast?  We should fast and pray and deny ourselves at times because we need to put aside our humanity.  We need to keep our selfish, sinful, flesh in check.  By doing this we also use such time to with greater intent and clarity focus on God.  This type of fasting and prayer is for the Christian, we are to draw near to God in part by challenging our flesh.  Fasting and self denial is part of how we train our physical self to greater appreciate our Lord.  But then we must also set a strong focus on the Word of God, the Bible is our main tool for the Christian's mind to be renewed in the process.  And the third thing is prayer, we must "commune" with the Father, spend time in communication with Him, this is good for our Soul.  None of this is to improve our standing with God, but should be driven by our desire to have a healthy relationship with God.

So...  "lent" ... are you "bent" towards "lent".  I hope you are not.  Mostly because of the root of the practice is found in trying to please God and prepare ourselves by purification, to celebrate Easter.  Christians are not to fast to please God and we cannot physically prepare ourselves for Easter.  However to take time to fast and pray and camp in the Bible, is good practice as we seek obedience to our Lord and Master.  So my stance is that if you do "lent" then please keep evaluating why you are doing so and do not let yourself be deceived and drawn into a works based salvation.

May we live in a greater understanding every day of the sufficiency of the work of Jesus on our behalf.

Pastor Bruce

Learning to Love

It can be very hard having to learn from your own sermons, maybe it is that way because I tend to be harder on myself at times than on others.  But here I am finding myself struggling to live out the love that I have received from God and others in a proper way.  

We are still getting the new house in order and are very busy.  We are all tired and at times I find myself "grumpy" and "irritated" which usually means that my tone of voice and sharp answers can be hurtful towards others.  My mind swirls with comments about how everyone else needs to start to understand me and my situation better.  Then the Holy Spirit reminds me that life does not revolve around me.  Conviction sets in and my heart becomes repentant for my selfishness.  Apologies are given with hugs and some tears at times.  

Learning to love is a hard road filled with mistakes.  But if we learn to listen to the correction of the Spirit and repentantly apologize, we can repair damage a lot quicker and learn to love more effectively.  I am thankful because the Lord Jesus has given me a wonderful wife and family that forgive me often.  

Stress and busy times are no excuse to hurt others.  May we all grow together with grace for one another as we forgive each other so that we can better love one another and glorify God with our lives.

Let us walk together.

Pastor Bruce

What to do with an "off" day?

Today I feel "off".  I mean I have a headache, I feel sore, tired my head is a little cloudy.  No one thing but just "off".  At times I feel like calling it a day and heading home to bed.  But for some reason or reasons I do not.

What about you?  Do you have days like that?  Maybe you do go home and get some rest?  I find it is a challenge because there is always a lot to do, but that never changes whether you take the time off or not.  Sometimes I think we do not take the time off we need because of our own fears.

We fear what others will think.  Will they think I am lazy?  Will they think I can't handle things?  Will they look down on me?  Will they begin to treat me different?  Will I be the gossip topic around the office?  Will they believe that I need the time off?  Will it hurt my hopes for lfeadvancement?

Sometimes we let the fear of people rule our life and decisions.  This is just an example.  But the hard part of this is a bigger question.  Do I fear people or do I fear God?  I must learn to fear God more than people.  If I get this right then I will have no problem taking time off when it is needed, as long as my first desire is to honour God then the rest will be ok.

When we fear people more than God, then we will work too much, buy things we do not need but that make us some more friends.  We will do what ever we need to so that we look better at work and in the community.  We will follow the popular agendas of our friends to make sure we are included.  Etc....

Yet we are to Love God first (as I talked about last time) which means we are to fear God above anyone else also.  To fear and honour God is hard work and a lot of change from our current culture.  How and Why we make decisions has to change.  If I want to Love God fully, then I must fear Him in a healthy way, so that I follow in proper obedience.  I love and fear God so I work hard, care for my family, love my friends, serve my Church, embrace my community and take my rest.  But not to please others or myself, but to live for Him who made me and saved me.

So I urge you today to Fear the God that you truly Love, do not give in to the pressures put on you by others or yourself.  Honour God with your life.

Pastor Bruce

I will Love God

I will love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind.

This was what we ended the sermon with today, a statement of commitment to really and truly LOVE God.  Not some emotional roller coaster but a true commitment to living my life with my primary, first love, being God.  This needs to be far more than a simple statement or understanding.  This is more than a desire to go to Church or to give more of my money or time.  It is a shift in thinking, in attitude that should affect my whole life.

If I am to live this commitment to Love God more, then my life will change.  My decisions and priorities will reflect what is real to me.  If my time and energy is all eaten up by work and playing hockey, then I am probably not living this commitment.  However if out of living this commitment, I also work hard as a testimony of what God has done and is doing in my life and play some hockey keeping in mind the testimony i have on and off the ice and how I can honor my Lord in this endeavor, then maybe I am following this concept of loving God truer and deeper than I have before.

Maybe it is not based on what I do so much as what I will not do.  So I have decided to make myself a list to remind me of my commitment.

1. I will not put my work, family or friends in the spot of first priority in my life, God and only God should ever be in that position.
2. I will not live my life according to my own selfishness or the thinking of the world, God and His Word (the Bible) will be my guide and standard for living.
3. I will not abuse the time, talents and treasures that God has given to me, I will use all of who I am in service to Him and Him alone.
4. I will not worship other gods, people, things or ideas, including myself, the true God, Creator and Redeemer, deserves my worship and only Him.
5. I will not live in a pride filled state, I will seek to live in humility, repenting of my sins especially as I find myself not living up to this list.

Maybe your list would look different?  But I hope that you will join me in a fresh commitment to truly, from the core of you, love God.  Hold nothing back from Him, He will not turn you away if you submit yourself to His Lordship.

Let us walk together, setting our focus on our one true love,  Jesus - the Creator God of all things, our Savior & Lord.

Pastor Bruce

Love God - Glorify God

Today I am pondering the worship of God.  The Bible in the book of Philippians chapter 2 verses 9 through 11 says this ... 

God has  highly exalted him and bestowed on him  the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus  every knee should bow,  in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and  every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is  Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (ESV)

As I consider the challenge we have received from Jesus to "Love God", I begin to consider what that means, how do I do that?  My mind turns to passages like the one from Philippians above and I think about worship.  To Love God must include worship.  If we Love god we will demonstrate our Love in worship.  This will include our Sunday morning service, our singing, our prayer, our reading of the Bible, our hearing the teaching and preaching of the Word, but also a whole lot more. 

My Love for God is to display the Lordship of Jesus in my life. This is about a life of worship, not just a time of worship.  Everything I do is to be in worship, displaying my Love for God.  My thoughts conclude that this must be a part of my Love of God.  

Then I realize that I do not measure up to this.  I am not perfect in living a life of worship.  I am not even close.  I cannot even perfect a time of worship.  I find myself distracted and wound up in the wrong mindset.  Too often treating worship as something that "feeds me".  Something that is about what "I like".  Yet it is not supposed to be about me at all.  It is supposed to be about God.  About worshiping Him.  About His honor and glory.  Not about my preference, my style, my comfort.  Worship, like my life, is to be all about Love for God.

And so I sense conviction.  Conviction that I need to humbly walk in repentance for my self-centered attitudes.  Conviction that I need to seek to Love God more and more.  Conviction that the more I Love God the more He will change me.  The more God changes me, for His purposes, then I will be able to glorify Him and honor Him better, living out my Love for God.

So I come to a conclusion that I need humble myself.  So that I can Love God more which should result in glorifying God in a life of worship.

What about you?

Pastor Bruce

Where is the Love?

Even though I think that the black eyed peas did a good job on the song "where is the love" that is not my inspiration for today's post.  I would love to think I was that hip and cool but, well, I am not. :) ...  Anyway my mind has been pondering the idea of loving each other and how that is supposed to work.  As Christians we are told, instructed even, to love our enemies, to bless those who persecute you.  This is not only to help on a practical level and diffuse conflict, but also to be a testimony of what Jesus has done in our lives.  People more and more have embraced this idea as a part of their outreach.  I am glad to see people take an active love based approach to reaching out to the lost and hopeless world around us.  It is who we are to be as followers of Jesus.

Yet ...  I am troubled.  We are also instructed to love one another.  To show selfless, care, concern, and service for other believers.  we are to live in healthy community, encouraging people and meeting their needs.  We are to be a people known, not for our political moral stance, not for our scowls and frowns at those who do not measure up, not for our strict rules and policies, not for some legalistic mindset about how life is to be lived.  No we are to be known for our love.  This is to be a reputation not just for how we deal with those outside the Faith, but for how we treat each other inside the Faith.

This means we are to go out of our way, out of our comfort zone, away from our own desires and felt needs and instead to embark on a journey of entering the world of others.   so that we can share true love and encouragement with them.  We are to serve each other and that means we are not to get ourselves into silly petty disagreements about things that are different or new, but are not in anyway against the teaching of Scripture.  Here is a great example, I will pick on the men.

We were in a Church that had men's breakfast events every couple of months and their would be a speaker and some singing and some guys in the kitchen making a big breakfast for everyone.  This was a great time and encouraged a lot of the men.  When it was brought forward that it would be good to have something more often.  The idea was quickly shut down because no one would commit to plan and operate such an event more often.  The guys who brought forward the change then responded that the additional times could be simpler, a time of devotional and prayer then go out to a local restaurant for breakfast.  This was met with a scowl and a response along the lines of we don't expect our guys to go out for breakfast, it would become a burden.  This became a problem, a division among men.  It never should have.  Those guys many years ago may have had good points for discussion on both sides of the argument, but there was no real reason for the argument other than some people like control and do not like anything new.

Instead what should have happened is acts of love.  Love should patiently listen to a new idea, it should respond with kind wisdom and encouragement.  On issues like this we should never take a harsh stance, it is simply not worth it.  I believe people mean well but they do not think through how their response to another person's felt need will be taken.  They may not mean to come across as a person who lacks love and care but in their hasty harsh response they do not realize they have hurt others far more than the issue warranted.  We all need to learn to live in a way that shows healthy love.  I know that most of you are like me and it is not "natural".  That is common because showing love is not out of our personality it is a spiritual issue.  How and why and whether we show love to our brothers and sisters in a proper way is a spiritual issue.

We need to repent of our selfish attitudes, when we respond without love it is my own flesh that is responding.  When we respond properly in a loving way, honoring Christ, then it is Jesus in us showing up and responding.  This should be our desire, not to allow our natural person to show up and cause problems.

So let us live in humble repentance, seeking to build one another up in the Faith with encouragement and Love.

Walk on together!

Pastor Bruce

Community Service

Today as I prepare for preaching tomorrow and as I rest from the busy day yesterday, my mind is full of gratitude and joy because of "Community Service".  No not the kind specified as punishment by the court system, that is not a good definition of Community Service.  Rather I am thinking about how God's people come together in community and serve together.  Sometimes it is very official and organized, which is a good thing.  But even more exciting to me is the unofficial, natural getting together to help, to serve and encourage. 

I got to experience this yesterday and I hope to continue to experience it.  People came together to help my son and his wife move into their new apartment.  Some were family, some were friends and even one person was newly introduced there at the move to everyone.  It was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun, people talked and laughed while they helped out.  People came and went as they could give of their time and energy.  The encouragement felt amazing, God used His people in a practical and yet wonderful way.  

It can mean a lot to people when we do this, but there are a couple other things that I was reminded of as well.  The first was that as others experience us coming together like this to serve each other and care for needs we are a living testimony of Jesus.  We can show the community around us that Jesus makes such an incredible difference in us that people from different homes, work places, backgrounds, cultures, etc... can come together in a healthy positive way to make a difference in someone's life.  The second is that everything is an opportunity.  As we serve together and encounter others that we may not know or who may need to know that Lord, we can then make and intentional effort to connect with them more.  As we bring people into this concept of healthy Christian community then we have a greater opportunity to share with them about God and what He has done for us.

So gather together in community and serve the Lord together as you serve one another.  It is an encouragement, a testimony and an opportunity.

Let's walk together!

Pastor Bruce