Full & Clear Evidence

Well....,
I am through making promises. Back in the middle of last year, I made myself and all the poor, hoodwinked folks who read this blog, a promise to post once a month and update the prayer request each week. It is now February of 2011, and not once, NOT ONCE, I have I posted a thing. I might as well face the fact that, a pastor only has so much time, and blogging just doesn't always fit into the schedule.

There's been lots to ponder about these past few months. Big events in our world. Sad events in our world. Events to make you weep. And 'twas humans that did it all.

One of the awfulest happenings of the past year was the horrific Case of the Killer Colonel. Canada has had it's fair share of unspeakable criminal acts, and I suppose in many ways, the Killer Colonel wasn't really any worse than others that have made the headlines. Yet, there was something about the case that I found particularly captivating.

Colonel William Russel. The face of Canada's pride & joy; decorated soldier, even piloted her Majesty's plane will she toured Canada, and seemingly faithful & devoted husband to an unsuspecting wife. But behind the facade, things were going on that no one could have imagined. Behind the mask, evil lurked, growing in the shadows. The Colonel had a double life. He was a predator of the worst kind, a sexual deviant extraordinaire, a contemptible peeping tom, a warped sicko with a twisted fetish, a KILLER. As a final touch to this revolting speciman of criminality, he documented all his heinous exploits with almost compulsive detail and order.

But the devil was in the details, and one of those details lead the RCMP to the killer at last. Videos showed the colonel cornered like a rat, first in the police interegation room and, subsequently, in court. All the hellish details he had taken such pains to preserve were presented as evidence. The evidence was full & clear, impossible to deny or avoid: videos, pictures, and stolen items of clothing from his victims.

The news media had a field day with the story of the Killer Colonel. Contempt, hatred and scorn was lavished on the Killer Colonel, and rightly so.

But one thought kept haunting me: what wickedness and deviancy would come to the light if the imaginations and thoughts of all humanity were suddenly revealed?

It is very easy to take pot shots at Killer Colonels, nor is it wrong to do so. What William Russel did deserved to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law; he was absolutely deserving of everything justice could bring down upon his miserable pate. But, what about us? The ones whom the law has never caught up with? We may not all be Killer Colonels (by the grace of God I'm not!), but what would the light of truth reveal if the secrets of our hearts were suddenly revealed?

It's a thought well-worth pondering, considering that someday every secret of of every human heart WILL be laid bare to the universe. Before God, the countless angels, and every member of Adam's race, our sins, our thoughts, our every word, our every attitude shall be exposed. The evidence will be full & clear. There will be no chance of denying any of it. Nothing will be hidden and nothing witheld.

We will be prosecuted to the fullest extant of the law, and we will deserve it. Even we won't be able to gainsay the sentence.

So, I ask you, what evidence is against you?

Watching & prayering,
Pastor Chelle

No More Apologies

It is with a very red face that I sit down to my trusty keyboard to post once more. Ah, I had such good intentions - a weekly prayer request and a monthly blog, and, yet, here it is three month later without so much as a peep from me. Truly the saddest tale is the one that might have been.

At any rate I'm back... let the banners fly and the bells ring out... or not....

This summer has been eventful, wonderfully so. I had the rare privilege of seeing three people give their heart to Jesus at Bible camp. It was beautiful to behold! A puddle of snot and tears on the altar, but, hey, the peace and joy on their faces was worth it all.

And it was seeing the look on the faces of those new baby Christians, and hearing their testimonies that has swept aside any lingering doubts I've had about my faith. My doubts recently haven't really amounted to anything, but the last stray cobweb of doubt has been whisked away to wherever it is that old doubts go.

Jesus saves. He satisfies. He forgives sin, and He gives peace. And all the atheists, agnostics and skeptics of every sort can't change my mind.

This last experience, and two other things have convinced me that atheism & agnosticism are mistaken perspectives. Upon studying the atheistic and agnostic writers, one thing became glaringly obvious. So many atheists and their ilk have an attitude problem. As gently as I know how, let me say, that their attitude stinks. If Christianity is up for questioning because of the attitude of some of its proponents, then what's sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose. Atheism is rife with prideful, arrogant philosophical snobbery, and it has turned my stomach. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll take Jesus - the meek and the lowly any day.

As an illustration, I was reading an atheistic posting on the Internet one day, and they had the nerve to ask that nobody debate with them unless the would-be debater had at least college education. Sheesh, Louise. As if the world of academia has the corner on intelligence and brilliant discoveries!

The final nail in the atheist coffin, was the lives of the atheist/agnostic philosophers themselves. When I read of the shenanigans of Sartre, Russel, and Nietzsche, and I couldn't help but echo with the Good Book, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be as their end!" As John Wesley said so poignantly about the early Methodists, "They may not like our theology, much less our enthusiasm, but they cannot deny, we die well!" Charles Templeton said that when Billy Graham chose to preach the gospel without reservation and to accept the word of God by faith alone, Billy Graham committed intellectual suicide. But when I compare Billy Graham's life with Chuck's, I say if that be intellectual suicide, then I will gladly commit it!

So, away with doubts and a fig for the old croakers: God is still God. Faith brings meaning to life, hope to the hopeless, strength to the weak, comfort to those who mourn, and help to the helpless. And most of all, Jesus still saves.

"Give the winds a mighty voice:
'Jesus saves, Jesus saves;'
Let the nations now rejoice:
'Jesus saves, Jesus saves!"
Shout salvation full and free,
Highest hills and deepest caves;
This our song of victory:
'Jesus saves, Jesus saves!'"


Happy with Jesus,
Pastor Chelle

So, You Want God to Judge You?

Easter has come and gone without so much as a click of my trusty laptops keys. If you know anything about life as a pastor, you know that life around Christmas and Easter is full to overflowing with things to do, places to go, and people to see, and there is no room for so much as an extra exclamation point, much less a full blog. However, I'm back and typing fast and furiously.

"Only God can judge me."

Ever heard that phrase before? I don't know about you, but I've heard it a-plenty. Tupac Shakur used it a lot, and just recently I saw it emblazoned on the back of a pick-up truck. I admit candidly those five words set my teeth on edge.

No doubt someone will accuse me of "judging," but I get the distinct impression that little axiom is merely a pseudo-sanctimonious way of saying, "No one can tell me I'm wrong; God excuses me, and I will never have to pay the consequences for my misdeeds." Willful defiance thinly masked by shallow spirituality. Particularly when the ones who quote it are clearly and unmistakably living in direct violation of what God has explicitly commanded. My friend, if God has already judged what you are doing as wrong/sin, it doesn't matter who tells you otherwise, you are still doing wrong/sinning... neither does it matter who judges you or not, if it comes to that. And there will be hell to pay.

However, before proceeding to my punch line(s), allow me to clear up another small matter.

Other ill-informed souls looking to dodge the bullet are also fond of quoting Jesus' famous line: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Matthew 7:1) Popular opinion seems to have concluded this means nobody can tell anybody else they are wrong or that they are doing wrong. What said popular opinion fails to realize is that the same Jesus told us to "judge righteous judgement." (John 7:24) If you haven't heard this already, "judge not" refers to our attitude when we are forced to make a judgement call. "Righteous judgement" refers to the fact that we are to make judgement calls based on what God has revealed as truth. Nowhere are we forbidden to come to a rational conclusion that wrong is wrong and right is right.

But most importantly, may I suggest that those who oft claim only God can judge them are really appealing to God's mercy whether they know it or not. Folks, the last thing you really want is for God to enter into judgement with you. In His sight nobody will be justified since His standard is perfection. The Psalmist knew this, and prayed, "Enter not into judgement with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." Psalm 143:2

What you really want - and need - is for God to overlook your faults, see your needs, and forgive. This is called "grace." And, believe me, it is amazing.

So, I urge you, abandon this foolish appeal to God's judgement. Acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you are sinning. Appeal to Him for mercy, for forgiveness... for deliverance from sin and wrong doing.

Being forgiven by God sure beats being judged by Him.

It also insures you won't be always looking over your shoulder, always trying to justify the un-justifiable... or worrying about what will happen when you see God face to face.

By His grace,
Pastor Chelle

One Question

Well, it has been awhile since I last posted. Believe me, I have not been inactive during that period. In fact, I spent 3 hours on a blog post, only to hit one measly button, and permanently erase what I had written. Talk about a blogger's worst nightmare.

I could have wept bitter tears of frustration.

But in the interim I've been thinking maybe that technological disaster was for the best. Methinks that this blog, at least for this subject needs to be short - like a hard, quick hook to the jaw. In my last blog, I took to task Christians for failing to confront popular culture and for doing such a miserable job when they do contrive to do so. This time around I want to deliver a wake up call to the stars who create pop culture.

Within myself I despair I will ever be heard, or, should I be heard, that anyone will heed what I have to say. We seem to live in a society that has lost the ability to feel shame or to acknowledge that anything is wrong, much less sinful. It is highly doubtful that the countless myriads of anecdotes from the lives of the rich and famous and the endless examples from movies, music, and the arts which I could produce would move my hearers to acquiesce for one moment that they are committing moral transgression.

All that I have read, watched, and listened to convince me that the majority of those whom we honor with the title celebrity delight in living and entertaining as if their are no rules, no boundaries, no right and no wrong.

Furthermore, from all that I have observed, great contempt is borne for the poor sap like me who would dare to confront them on their despicable behavior. I make no apology for the use of the adjective "despicable." The endless parade of nudity, semi-nudity, explicit sex acts, violence, and blasphemy that society calls entertainment is despicable.

But I have one question for those artists who seem to delight in living as though there are no rules: just how would you like to be treated as if there really were no rules?

It's all fun and games to live without absolutes until someone cheats on you, rapes you, violates you, steals from you - in short, until someone who is living by your ethical code, breaks your heart.

And so I submit this plea: ladies and gentlemen of the world of stardom, please examine what you do in the name of entertainment, and think seriously about the impact you are having on society. Take responsibility for your wrong doing. Please.

You are both the product and the purveyor of culture, and you are answerable for your role in shaping society's values. May God grant you the grace to acknowledge that you have sinned, and the grace and space to repent before we all live to regret your foolish choices.

With greatest love,
Pastor Chelle

To Engage or Not to Engage

Mixed feelings is the only way to describe my feelings on how the religious community, particularly the Christian community, should engage the celebrity world. Part of me is scared to death that they won't open their mouth, and part of me is scared to death they will. Quite a dilemma.

That the world of stardom needs to be engaged and confronted there can be no doubt. But, the million dollar question is, do Christians have what it takes to do the job, and do it right? Do we have the wisdom we need? Are we as wise as serpents and harmless as doves as Jesus mandates? Or will we simply come off as fanatics and wackos? I'm often appalled at the lack of common sense and class - yes, I said class - Christians have when it comes to sharing their faith. I swear we look like bumptious hicks sometimes... or spineless jelly fish - I don't know which is worse.

We use "Christianese" as a matter of course, never thinking that nobody has a clue what we are talking about, and thereby exposing our faith to unwarranted ridicule. I remember once of hearing about a person who confronted an atheist by saying, "The Holy Spirit's gonna getcha!" Oh, help. While the atheist in question wasn't a celebrity, that little anecdote illustrates my point perfectly. If we ever do manage to engage the celebrity world, may Heaven help us to talk plain English and refrain from unwise use of righteous speak! And may the Lord deliver us from a swaggering, cocky attitude when we do witness. (Humility is an indispensable virtue for those who would talk to others of their humble Lord.) From cynicism, facetiousness, and sarcasm, good Lord, deliver us, too. And save us, oh, Lord, from giving a testimony so weak and shallow, the recipient mistakes it for bilge water.

It is also distressing to see Christians confront people with their faith when they themselves are ignorant. I would not discourage new converts from sharing their testimony of what the Lord has done for them. Rather I am cautioning against the practice of what is commonly called "going off half-cocked." Make sure you take careful aim, and have plenty of rounds of ammunition in your chamber. It is most distressing to see the quarry dodge the bullet and run off without being pierced by the truth because of a want of preparation and foresight. If you are going to engage someone in something so profound as faith, which touches on every aspect of life and existence, be prepared to answer for it. As the Good Book says, "Be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks of you a reason for the hope that lies within you."

But, most importantly, if we are going to convince the celebrities and stars of their need of a Saviour and a change of lifestyle, we are going to have to be the genuine article ourselves. We are going to have to bear witness by our behavior that Jesus' saving power is efficacious. There has been far too much preaching and too little living. Too much mouthing off and too little loving. I am sure as I am sure of anything that one of the reasons Christian seem to have such a relatively small impact on society is because there is such a dichotomy between what we preach and how we live. Recent comments by Sandra Bullock convince me more than ever this is so. She made the comment concerning the making of the movie The Blind Side, that the Touhys, the wife of which family she impersonated in the movie, were the first genuine Christians she ever met, who actually lived the way they said they believed.

As Christians, we are the pipe through which Divine Power - Divine Power to convince and convert the sinner - flows, and if the pipe be clogged with the scummy build-up of sin, all our efforts are in vain. Mark it down, if we aren't having the impact we should, there is a pipe clogged somewhere. Those who are weary of immodesty amongst the stars ought to be sure you dress modestly themself - no use complaining about Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" while your cleavage is showing. Those who are weary of the immorality in the celebrity world shouldn't be sleeping around and living common-law. Hypocrisy will get us nowhere fast.

And here I must say, if Christians would exhibit the love and holiness they should, it would make up for many of our shortcomings when we do bear witness to our faith- shortcomings, which, all too frequently, are a direct result of not living as we ought. We may not have our presentation together as we should, and we may not be able to answer every theological and philosophical question that is hurled at us, but it will be very hard for the opposing party to argue with a life well lived.

My fear is that we have reached such a state in society, that if Christians really lived the life they should, we might bring an avalanche of persecution on our heads when we did engage the celebrity world. But that's a thought for another time.

I have more to say on this important topic, but I think it's best if I wait. A blog is a bit like pie: make the "byte" too big and the connoisseur will choke.

Love, and lots of it, until the next time,
Pastor Chelle
P.S. Happy New Year, everybody! May God bless it to you.

Immanuel

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name, 'Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

To my mind, there is one word that sums up the entire Bible.
Immanuel.
God with us.

If it is suddenly so significant that God is with us, then that implies that there was a time when God and humanity were separated, and then there was a reunion. This is the essence of the Bible message.

The Bible teaches that in the beginning God and humanity were in union and communion, but that the creature rebelled, and a terrible chasm appeared in the spiritual and moral universe. A chasm that man was neither capable nor fit to bridge. God was seen as distant and angry. And so God could have let the matter stand. However, God, had other ideas. He decided to do what man could not - He bridged the gap Himself. Rather than waiting for humanity to maybe someday become good enough or capable enough to come to Him, He came to humanity.

Not contented to merely come to us, He became one of us, experiencing the whole of the human experience. No on can thrust an accusing finger in the face of God, and proclaim, "You don't know what I'm going through!" He's been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt with His sweat, blood, and tears.

See Him as a Baby lying in a manger. See Him as a Man without a bed or a roof over His head. "Foxes have holes," said Jesus, "and the birds of the air of have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head." That's God with us enduring poverty.

See Him leaning in fatigue against the well of Sychar. See Him retreating into the wilderness for a break. That's God with us experiencing weariness and weakness.

Listen as they mock Him for a mad man, listen as they criticize Him for healing on the Sabbath Day, and hear Him referred to with sneers and knowing smirks. That's God with us bearing scorn and ridicule.

See Him growing up in a Jewish ghetto, and called a Nazarene, which was little more than a racial slur. That's God with us suffering the bitterness of racism and the injustice of the class system.

See Him weeping at Lazarus' grave. Divinty weeps at the grave of humanity! Oh, behold, the Man of Sorrows! That's God with us grieving and mourning.

See Him at the wedding of Cana, feasting with friends (and enemies, too!), and holding little children on His knee. That's God with us, partaking of our joys as well as our pain.

See Him in Gethsemane. Sweat and blood flow mingled down. That's God with us facing the terror of the unknown and the fear of death.

See Him sold for thirty pieces of silver, betrayed by a kiss, forsaken by His disciples, and denied by His best friend, Peter. That's God with us suffering abandonment, rejection, and betrayal.

See Him before Caiphas and Pilate. See Him mocked, beaten, lashed, spit upon, and His beard plucked out. Watch as He staggers beneath His cross. Hear the ring of the hammer and the groans of agony. That's God with us insulted, abused, bearing unimaginable pain, and utterly helpless.

See as He breathes His last, and His head falls to His chest. That's God with us dying.

Such a panorama is breath-taking, and it should be more than enough. But God is a generous and extravagant God. The job of Immanuel was not done until humanity could get to God.

He came to be Immanuel so He could take destroy, once and for all, the thing that had separated humanity and God in the first place: sin. When sin is removed, God and humanity can once again join in union and communion. When sin is removed, God by His Holy Spirit comes to live with us - then we can truly call Him Immanuel, God with us. He is no longer distant and angry; instead He is with us through every action of our life to protect, defend, enlighten, and comfort us. Through every moment of every day, He is with us. No wonder they call Him Immanuel!

And when our life comes to a close, and we stand before the judgement bar of a thrice holy God, Immanuel is there acting as our lawyer. Because our sins have been forgiven for His dear sake, we shall be acquitted. Then we shall really know the full meaning of His name. For when the Book of Life is closed, He will be with us and in us, and we with Him and in Him forever.
Immanuel, our precious Immanuel.

Merry Christmas, everybody!
Pastor Chelle

Catching up on Culture

Last blog, I alluded to the fact that I was raised without TV. We still don't have a TV in our home; at least in the sense where we can actually watch channels. So, whenever I get the chance to really watch TV, I take advantage of it. It's my way of getting a crash course in culture. I got one such opportunity to catch up on culture during my recent trip to Indianapolis..., and I'm still in recovery.


In fact, I've been left speechless. In all likelihood, this will be a very short blog as a result. All I can say is that it's going to be a very long time before I get over the profligacy, the decadence, the violence, the indecency, the vulgarity, the vapidness, the profanity, and the irreverence of what I witnessed in my motel room. I came away sick at heart - grieved to my inmost being.


I have no harsh words, at this point for those in show business, but I wondered... still wonder... is there no one in the world of Hollywood, is there no one in the ranks of talk show personalities, is there no one in the dressing rooms of showbiz that is tired of the shallowness and petty dramas of celebrity squabbles? Is no one weary of the endless parade of corruption and degradation of morals that so cheapens the worth of humanity? Much of what I saw folks would say is mere show, but I am left to ponder how much the showmen/women have bought into the show?


Now, I know why the prophet Jeremiah once poetically and poignantly lamented, "Oh, that my eyes were rivers of water to weep for the wound ... of my people!" Oh, that I could weep for the emptiness of our culture! Or as the prophet Isaiah said, "Judgement is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter."


You see, above all else, what I witnessed was an absence of truth. Everybody is doing what is right in their own eyes - a sure recipe for disaster, and then we wonder why our world is so chaotic and wretched. It was no accident, that as I flipped wide-eyed through the channels, I saw hedonism on one hand and violence on the other. Just like a ship without a compass, without a rudder, we are drifting, and we are sure to make shipwreck on the shores of time. Whenever truth departs, tragedy fills the remaining void. It is a tried and true formula.


So, if you are reading this blog, and you find you have a heartache, and an inner emptiness that is not satisfied with typical Hollywood fare and the Beverly Hills lifestyle, if you find you are lost and drifting like a ship without a compass, I'm happy to proclaim to you that there is help, there is hope - there is a compass you can rely on to give direction to your life: His name is Jesus. He is the Way, the TRUTH, and the life. He is the Way for those who are lost, He is the Truth for those who are searching, and He is the Life for those who can't find satisfaction in a palatial house, all the toys, and mutiple relationships. He is what Hollywood... and the world... needs now more than ever.


'Til next time,
Pastor Chelle