A Word about Turning Points

Today I want to share a word about turning points, as I comment on Revelation 2:1-7. This Scripture reads: 

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’

One of our enduring ministries in the CBA is our partnership with Samford University in hosting classes for the Samford Ministry Training Institute, through which we offer Bible college-level classes here in our county. Pastor Ed Ganus was the founding director of our center nearly 40 years ago, he and served faithfully as our director until the end of 2017. I have been trying to fill his shoes for the past four years, and I believe that SMTI is a great equipping ministry. I wish more of our church leaders would take advantage of it!

 Prophetic Turning Points:

I am currently teaching on the Minor Prophets, and the author of our text, John Phillips, noted four turning points in prophetic history in the Old Testament: 

1. Urbanization and a change to a mercantile economy caused greater contact with other nations for the Children of Israel.
2. Assyrian Imperialism changed the face of foreign affairs for the Children of Israel.
3. The captivity and deportation of the Kingdom of Israel left Judah vulnerable and it ultimately capitulated to the Assyrians as well.
4. When Judah returned from exile to Jerusalem their spiritual condition did not materially improve.

Potential Turning Points:

God led me to apply those same turning points to our current situation in America:

1. Urbanization and a change to a mercantile economy has caused greater contact with other nations.
2. The rise of militant Islam and a return to an expansionist policy in Russia has changed the face of our foreign affairs.
3. National debt and competition from China left has left our national economy vulnerable.
4. When COVID-19 transformed from a pandemic to endemic, will the spiritual condition of God’s people materially improve or not?.

So, where does that leave us and our churches?

Points To Ponder:

In many ways, I believe we are like the church at Ephesus. Our doctrine is sound, our missions organizations are strong and innovative, our seminaries and Christian universities are filled with great professors, and our prosperity is such that we can fund any ministry we decide to to support. These are all great aspects of our ministry and our churches, but I wonder, are we excited about church anymore? Are we excited about worship? Are we excited about missions and evangelism? If not, why not?

As we learn to live with COVID-19 we are approaching a critical turning point for our churches. We may not have any influence over the first three items on our list of potential turning points, but we can affect the last point. It is up to us to reengage spiritually and to rededicate ourselves to evangelism and discipleship. 

The overarching message of the Minor Prophets is that since Biblical Israel had lost their love for God, they would be replaced. We know now that God has chosen to work through the church as He brings His plan to its ultimate fruition. 

While God will not replace the church as His instrument, our Scripture for today tells us emphatically that God will replace individual churches. We need to take the warning to the church at Ephesus seriously, and evaluate our love and commitment to God on both a personal and a corporate level.

The stakes are high! We have a choice to make! Which will you choose?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Waiting Upon the Lord

 

Today I want to share a word about waiting upon the Lord, as I comment on Psalm 37:1-11:

Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret--it leads only to evil. For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

The Impulse to Act:

When a crisis occurs or when trouble comes, one of the most common human reactions is, “We must do something!” 

Often, that cry for action reaches the ears of our political leadership and the result is hastily drafted and flawed legislation which is usually expensive and might even make the situation worse. Because, “We must do something!” 

One commenter has called this hasty impulse to act “moral panic,” and he may well be right.

The Wisdom of the Psalmist:

In fact, the wisdom of the Psalmist is just the opposite of a moral panic. The Psalmist’s answer to a crisis or trouble is to wait. Specifically, he urges us to wait upon the Lord. God’s timing is always perfect and when we get ahead of Him we usually make things worse. The Bible is full of examples of just this type of mistake.

One example is when Abraham and Sarah decided that he should have a son by Hagar, Sarah’s servant. From this act the Arab nations were born, and a conflict was sparked between the Jews and the Arabs that continues to trouble us until the present day.

Another example is how King Saul failed to wait for Samuel to arrive at Gilgal and make a sacrifice to the Lord which, Saul was not authorized to do. His troops were scared, and Samuel was delayed, so Saul “had to do something,” but actually he didn’t, since Samuel appeared just after the sacrifice was made. Because he failed to wait, Saul lost his crown.

A third example is when King David recaptured the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines. He didn’t wait for the Levites to come from Jerusalem to carry the Ark, but placed it on an oxcart. When the ox stumbled, a man named Uzzah placed a hand on the Ark to steady it, and God killed him for violating the Law. Of course, it was really David who had violated the Law, and he was so shaken he stored the Ark outside of Jerusalem for three months. A man’s life was a high price to pay for being impatient.

The Work of Waiting:

Military commanders have learned through hard experience that the first reports of both success and failure are inevitably wrong in some way, and often wildly so. Good commanders are patient and they have learned to wait for confirmation before responding to either good news or bad. So, when trouble comes, we need to learn to wait upon the Lord and not give in to moral panic. As we wait, however, God has given us some tasks to do:

• Trust in the Lord and do good.
• Take delight in the Lord and commit our way to him.
• Be still and do not fret.
• Learn to be meek and put away wrath.

If we focus on our relationship to God we will sooner or later see Him act to bless us and to glorify His Name. Like in the Parable of the Sower, grass may spring up today, and wither on the morrow. God is not laying down a sod lawn in our lives, but He is planting trees that thrive in living water. Trees take a considerable time to mature but they are inherently strong and resilient, especially when compared to grass. 

The Fruit of Our Efforts:

A great example of waiting on God is found in Acts 1 and 2. At the Ascension of Christ, the Disciples were told to go back to Jerusalem and to wait for the Holy Spirit. They did and while they waited, they prayed and sought God. On the Day of Pentecost, not before and not after, the Holy Spirit came, and a great harvest of souls was gathered in. 

God is growing spiritual trees in our lives and when we short-circuit that process we are the ones to suffer. Let’s learn to patiently and wisely wait upon the Lord!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Affairs of the Heart

Today I want to share a word about the affairs of the heart, as I comment on Jeremiah 17:5-10. This passage reads:

Thus says the LORD: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the LORD. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse-- who can understand it? I the LORD test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.

On February 14th many people around the world celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. This feast day in the Anglican Church tradition has come to symbolize romantic love, and like many traditions, its origin is somewhat murky, with little agreement about the details of why we celebrate romantic love on this day of the year.

The legends of St. Valentine’s Day are many. One such story has St. Valentine being martyred by the Roman empire for illegally marrying Christian couples. Another story asserts that the night before his execution, the future saint send a goodbye note to a loved one signed “Your Valentine,” from which we get the modern practice of sending Valentine’s cards. A third story details how St. Valentine would give heart-shaped pieces of parchment to couples to remind them of their marriage vows and of God’s love.  

These stories are not endless, but they are copious!

Whatever the actual truth may be, it is complicated by the fact that there were at least two leaders of the early church named Valentine who were martyred by the Romans for obeying God’s law above human law.  This too, is romantic, but not in the way St. Valentine’s Day portrays romance. There is something very appealing, however, about Christian believers who choose following God even to the cost of their own lives.

If we could inquire about the affairs of the human heart to Jeremiah today, his concern would not be about romantic love, or cards shaped like hearts. His concern would be if our hearts were aligned with God’s will or if they were in rebellion against God. And he would be concerned for the right reasons.

If our hearts are not right with God, the rest of our lives will be out of balance as well. Like the David in the 1st Psalm, Jeremiah clearly argues that the key to a happy life is not a happy wife as the saying goes, but a right relationship with God that transforms our hearts.

Because our hearts are naturally wicked, they must be made new by the power of God. When our spiritual lives thrive, that sets the conditions for our natural lives to thrive as well. Conversely, when we are spiritually weak, the ability to thrive in our natural lives will be equally compromised.

Celebrating St. Valentine’s day the way we do is fun and harmless. If we really wanted to celebrate the martyrs who share that name, however, we need to renew our love relationship with our Heavenly Father, so I will leave you with this command from Jesus:

“If you love me, keep my commandments”

Amen and amen!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Putting First Things First

 

 Today I want to share a word about putting first things first, as I comment on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. This Scripture reads:

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you--unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Follow the Proper Order in a Recipe:

I am not a good cook. In fact, I really can’t cook at all except for breakfast. When I was young, my dad would cook breakfast on Sunday mornings before church, and when I was a teenager I began to help him. I quickly found that dish that I cooked the best was hominy grits.

Grits as a food are a blank canvas. By themselves they are almost tasteless, but when properly seasoned, they can be very tasty. The key that I have discovered for preparing good grits is simple, but essential: you must add salt to the water BEFORE you boil it and BEFORE you add the grits.

It may not matter when you add the ingredients or the spices in the case of many recipes, You can just toss everything into a pan or bowl, add the right amount of heat for the right amount of time and, voilà! You have a masterpiece of a meal to serve. On the other hand, this is not true for many, even most, recipes, and it is certainly not true in my experience preparing grits. To me, there is no substitute for salting the water before adding the grits.

You may think I am crazy, but I believe that I can always tell when someone has failed to salt the water properly when cooking grits. I don’t think the salt can properly infuse the grits if you wait until later to add salt or only add salt when the grits are served. I am convinced of this fact, and you can’t tell me otherwise. 

Sorry! I am just a grits snob, I guess!

Follow the Proper Order in Serving God:

What does this have to do with our focal passage for today? Just this: Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthian Christians got the order correct in their minds and hearts. To Paul, it did not matter what you added into your spiritual life if, at first, you didn’t embrace the Gospel. The Gospel was essential, and it came first!

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul discussed the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the work of the church.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul discussed how you can be a very gifted person, but that you’d essentially be useless without embodying God’s love.

In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul discussed how you can be expressive in worship, but without God, all that would do is confuse people.

In our passage today, Paul took the Corinthians back to the core and essence of their faith, the Gospel, and reminded them without having the salvation of Christ all of the other things he talked about meant nothing. Paul taught firmly and directly that unless we embrace the Gospel first, we are hopeless, helpless, hapless, and, in truth, harmful to ourselves and others.

Conclusion:

If Paul was here addressing us today he’d tell us to put first things first! The Gospel must be first in our lives, or we will be as tasteless as unsalted grits. To be the the salt of the world we first must be infused with the Gospel!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt