“[The Carpenter] cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.  He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.  Then it becomes fuel for a man.  He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread.  Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.  Half of it he burns in the fire.  Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied.  Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!”  And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it.  He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!
Isaiah 44:14-17 (ESV)

In my message on Sunday I referred to this verse in Isaiah 44 (hear the sermon here).  Since then, the passage has been stuck in my head like “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega.  Have you stopped to consider the total absurdity of idol worship?

Here Isaiah puts the whole thing in great perspective.  A carpenter finds a cedar or cypress tree.  He tends to the tree, which is basically sitting back and letting God do His work; bringing rain and sun to make the tree grow.  Then the carpenter cuts the tree down.  Most of it is used for fuel, either to heat his house, or to use for cooking.  What’s left might get used to make a table or a bench.  If there’s anything left over, while the carpenter is sitting on his bench, filled with the food he’s cooked over the fire, maybe he’ll whittle himself a little god.  He’ll give it a little body and head, maybe the god is perched on the back of a chariot or sitting on a throne.  The carpenter, having fashioned his god, places it on his mantle and bows down to worship it saying, “Save me, for you are my god!”

It is any wonder why God poured out his wrath on Israel.  God had revealed himself to His people in the wilderness, delivering them with his mighty hand from Pharaoh and his armies, providing for them in the wilderness, establishing them in the land promised to their fathers.  Still, the people “changed its gods, even though they are no gods” (Jer. 2:11), exchanging “the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Rom. 1:23).  Shame on them, we say, shame on them for following after those worthless idols!

But are we any better?  Sure, most of us don’t have little wooden idols on our mantels to which we fall down and pray.  We have, however, crafted for ourselves a legion of lesser gods whom we worship and serve:

The Idol of Success:  We seem to have convinced ourselves that a steady income and sound investments are a ready substitute for absolute dependence on the steadfast love of God.  Work harder for that promotion, climb up the corporate ladder, put a few more dollars in that nest-egg: do this and you will be secure.  But wherein lies your trust: in paper, in the promises of man?  Jesus taught us something much different.  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust can destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).

The Idol of Politics:  “If only my candidate wins this year… If only this bill will pass… If only we could change this or preserve that… then our lives will be secure and we can rest at ease.”  It matters not whether you vote Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal; we all fall into the worship of the demigods of politics.  How much stock to we put in the campaign promises of those who are running for office?  How much faith do we have in their ability to perform?  And yet, every year we convince ourselves that if the right person is in the office, things will be much better.  Our lives are tossed and turned by the political circus of the day.  We tend to forget that it is God who makes nations to rise and to fall (Psalm 22:28).  We should not remove ourselves from the political arena – it needs a faithful voice now more than ever.  Neither should it be the foundation of our hope:

“The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.  Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love…” Psalm 33:17-18.

The Idol of Poor Theology: Maybe the most pernicious of idols is that of bad theology.  Instead of knowing, fearing, honoring, and worshiping God as He has been revealed in Scripture we have created for ourselves a god in our own image, one who is more easily acceptable, safer, and manageable.  We have issues with a God who is jealous of our worship and adoration, we struggle with a God of judgment an wrath, we are stunned by a God who “allows evil to come to good people”; we reject the hard truths of who God is and re-create a god that fits comfortably in our quiet little lives.  Hear the words of Isaiah 46:9 “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”

Friends, is there anything in your life you simply couldn’t live without?  If your answer to that question is anything other than God’s steadfast love in Jesus Christ, then that has become your idol.  Anything that comes before God in our lives has in essence become an idol.  I encourage you to spend time this week examining just what brings you confidence and assurance so that we all may cast away our worthless idols and learn to trust in the Lord alone for our hope and salvation.

SDG

“And you were once dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…”
Ephesians 2:1-2

Have you noticed lately the prevalence of Zombie talk in the news, papers, and movies?  This Halloween season there is a new selection of Zombie movies to choose from.  There has been a surge of viral videos on the web in this genre.  Even in today’s paper there was a report of man in Iowa City who was approached by another man who called him a zombie, then proceeded to hit him in the eye and nose.  The walking dead have a certain appeal and fascination today.

Did you know that the Bible mentions Zombies as well?  They aren’t called Zombies by name, but the walking dead are clearly there.  Paul says in Ephesians 2: “And you were once dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…”  Have you ever really thought about what the Apostle Paul is saying here?  You – and this is a plural you which would include, you, me, and everyone else who has read Paul’s letter – even though you were spiritually dead in your sins, you continued to walk through this life. 

I first brought this up at my Junior and Senior High bible studies – I think they thought I had lost my mind.  I showed them Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” Video (which I remembered being a lot scarier when it first came out).  I really liked this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a6YdNmK77k.  We watched the movie trailer for ZombieLand.  Then we talked about Paul’s description of our lives before Christ.  Then just this week, in the my Men’s Bible Study on the Gospel of John this mornng we read this paragraph from John MacArthur:

A person who is spiritually dead has no life by which he can respond to spiritual things, much less live a spiritual life.  No amount of love, care, and words of affection from God can draw a response.  A spiritually dead person is alienated from God and therefore alienated from life.  He has no capacity to respond.  As the great Scottish commentator John Eadie said, “it is a case of death walking.”  Men apart from God are spiritual Zombies, the walking dead who do not know they are dead.  The go through the motions of life, but they do not possess it.  Above all else, a dead person needs to be made alive.

This is the condition of the human spirit, of your heart, before being made alive in Christ.  Jesus said, “No one can see the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again” (John 3:3).  Paul goes on to write in Ephesians that God, “being rich in mercy… made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5).  Those who place their faith in Christ Jesus, have been made alive by the grace of God and have been given the promise of really living.  We are resurrected from the dead, awakened from our slumber, and given new life to live today!

This Halloween, as the children (and some adults) dress up for Trick-or-Treating, be on the lookout for Zombies.  No, not the walking dead who are out to eat your brains.  Instead, watch for those who think they are alive, but are truly lost without Christ.  You were once one of them, but someone shared a word of promise with you, someone shared the Gospel, and you found new life in Jesus.  Rather than giving the Zombies candy and sending them on their way, do you think you could share a word of love, hope, and promise?

Grace and peace,

SDG (Sola Dei Gloria)

What does a man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:3

There are times when I really agree with the Preacher of Ecclesiastes.  Lately it seems that the more work I do, the further behind I get.  Trying to find a way to balance all the plates I have spinning, and all the hats I have to wear, the “woe is me” inside of me cries out, “It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.  I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after the wind” (Ecc. 1:13-14).

Still I know that there is meaning and purpose to life.  I was not put here for vanity’s sake.  I was created and called to glorify God, and so were you.  He has put eternity into our hearts (Eccl 3:11) so that we would long for God.  He has created us to know Him, to praise Him, and He has made us to know Him.  God has created us in such a way that we will not find our rest until we rest in Him, that we will have no lasting joy until our joy is found in Him. 

The way we live sometimes tries to deny this reality, but God is the center of the universe, all things were made by Him and for His glory.  When we scramble around frantically we act as though we are the center.  We soon find, though, that when we put ourselves in the center, we are merely in the eye of the hurricane – and we are powerless to still the winds.  The sooner we remember that this life is to be lived for God, we find He has the power to calm the storms we face.

Wonderfully, the flip-side of living for the glory of God is that we also get to enjoy His presence.  When God is at the very center of our lives, we our ultimate fulfillment is in honoring Him and living for His glory, we quickly discover the joy and blessing of God’s awesome presence.  We are overcome by His love.  We are stilled by His peace.  We are comforted by His mercy.  We are strengthened by His might right hand. 

What a promise we’ve been given.  This world is not “Vanity, Vanity!”  In spite of the busyness of our lives, we have a purpose and promise from God.  Maybe we simply need to stop and hear Him say again, “Be still and know that I am God.”

 Almighty God, bring our busyness to a crashing halt.  Remind us of the purpose and promise you’ve given.  My we find you in the center of our being, that we might live for your glory and know the joy of your presence.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

SDG

“Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Psalm 124:8

I read this week that this verse was read by John Calvin, as well as many other reformers, at the very beginning of every worship service, as a “solemn declaration of man’s helplessness.”  Calvin wrote of this verse in his commentary:
“The church cannot continue safe except in so far as she is protected by the hand of God.  The contrast between the help of God, and other resources in which the world vainly confides is to be noticed, that the faithful, purged from all false confidence, may rest themselves exclusively in his assistance, and depending upon it, may fearlessly despise whatever Satan and the world may plot against them.”

I read this verse, I read of our “solemn declaration of man’s helplessness, and I wonder, “Do I really need the lord?”  As I reflect on the things I faced yesterday, I ask myself, “Did I need God’s help?”  As I start out this morning I wonder, “What will I face today that demands His help?”

In my heart I know I need the Lord for my life and salvation, but has this dependency reached my head?  Are you convinced of your absolute dependence on the Lord, or do you still feel, like me, that there are some things for which we just don’t need the Lord?  Our rugged Midwestern independence, our stubborn Iowa pride, forbids us from admitting weakness, from confessing our dependence on someone else.

Maybe we just don’t want to bother God with the little things in our lives.  You know what I mean: the coworker who makes life miserable, the strong-willed child, the emotional rift between you and your spouse.  We say, “I’ll pray for you, but you don’t need to bother to pray for me.”  We’ll seek the Lord’s help on behalf of those around us, we’ll pray for world peace, but we don’t need God’s help for our day to day affairs.  Or do we?

How much of our lives are spent fretting and stressing over the things that we should in fact trust to God’s almighty hand?  The whole purpose of this passage, and the reason behind its frequent usage in worship, is to fill us with an assured hope that our lives are absolutely safe and secure in God’s care.  The Psalm reminds us that our help, in every situation, is in the name of the Lord.  Everything we face is subject to the sovereign and providential care of our loving heavenly Father.  The aid of this world, and the strength we possess, pale in comparison the help that the Lord provides.  Knowing this should purge us form “all false confidence [till we rest] exclusively in His assistance.”

Calvin goes on to write:
“Although all men freely and loudly confess that God is the creator of heaven and earth, so that even the most wicked are ashamed to withhold from him the honor of this title, yet no sooner does any crisis present itself to us than we are convicted of unbelief in hardly setting any value whatever upon the help which he has to bestow.”

Do I need God’s help today?  More than I know.  I believe God has and will help me through this day, to face with grace and peace all that I will encounter.  The problem is, I get so full of myself that I fail to rely on God’s strength, until a great crisis comes along to convict me of my unbelief, to purge me of my self-reliance, and to teach me to trust in God’s provision even more.

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

SDG

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
Psalm 139:17

Most of us are well acquainted with Psalm 139.  The Psalm is frequently used in worship services as a call to confession and assurance of pardon.  With familiar phrases like, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” or “Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence?” and “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalm 139 is easily one of the most recognizable of the Psalms.

Still, there are times when you read a very familiar passage and God’s Spirit will show you something new.  I was reading Psalm 139 yesterday when verse 17 suddenly leaped off the page, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God.”  I’m sure I’ve read the verse before, but it never really penetrated.  Perhaps I was preoccupied by the idea of God searching me and knowing me, and I was afraid of what God would find.  Maybe I was consumed by the thought of the inescapable One, a notion that can be both comforting and terrifying (depending on what I am doing at the moment).  Could be I was feeling reinvigorated after hearing that I, too, am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Regardless, verse 17 had been overlooked, until now.

The Psalmist cries out, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!”  It is a statement of praise and adoration.  Considering the vast and immeasurable knowledge of God, especially in light of the intimate knowledge God has of our lives.  God knows all there is about me, and while such knowledge is beyond me, I praise the one who knows me and still loves me.

However, in my fresh reading yesterday, I was lead to ask myself, “How precious to me are God’s thoughts, really?”  I know what is precious in my life:

• My family is precious to me. 
• My health is important (especially considering the sickness we’ve had in the house lately).
• My free time (of which there is precious little) is dear to me. 
• I even have some gadgets – my cell phone, iPod, laptop, palm pilot – that have great value in my life. 

But are the thoughts of God precious to me?  Do I treasure what God thinks, is it of utmost importance to me?

If you look at how I spend my time and money, the answer would have to be “No” (or at least, “not as precious as it ought to be!”).  My favorite shows, the latest gizmo, the busyness of work, the frothy latte in the morning, these things all seem to take a priority in my life over God’s word; and maybe your world as well. 

Maybe this is why our world seems so upside down.  Rather than spend our time and energy on passionately pursuing the One who knows us, and therefore can satisfy our every need, we chase after the things of this world which ultimately prove themselves empty and fading.

Let us hear Psalm 139:17 anew today, and learn to value God’s thoughts over everything else.  Let us make the time to not just read, but to dwell in God’s Word; thinking about His thoughts and letting them transform and renew us.  Let us put a priority on seeking God before anything else; a priority on worship, service and sharing our faith with others – giving to God from the abundance of our lives, not the leftovers.

God, may your thoughts be precious to me.  May they have such importance in my life that I would let everything else go to know what you think, and to have you think well of me.

SDG

I was recently invited to join the 185th Air Refueling Wing out of Sioux City on a Pastor’s Orientation Flight.  What an amazing day.  I want to say “Thank You” to the men and women who made this possible, and for their service to our country.  Below are some pictures:

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

— John Gillespie Magee, Jr

What a glorious God we have; that He would inspire the hearts and minds of His people to reach into the skies.

SDG

Let me take you through a typical day for the Sayler household.  We don’t set an alarm these days for two reasons, 1) we don’t want to wake the baby; and 2) the baby wakes us up early enough.  Usually at 6:30 sharp, Isaiah is up and ready to go for the day.  Since he shares a room with Noah, Noah is up as well.  We then spend the next 30 to 45 minutes trying rouse, dress, and feed Hannah and Caleb so that they are ready to go to school by 8:00.  I take all the kids with me to drop off the oldest two, so that Christi can then get herself ready for the day.  When I get back home, I then get ready for work, fix the Thomas the Train tracks about 10 times, and rush out the door. 

I can usually hear one song on the radio, depending on how I hit the light at Willow and 2^nd, and then I get right to business.  After a day of writing, praying, reading, studying, visiting, etc… I then rush home to help corral the kids while we get dinner on the table.  After dinner its bath-time, book-time, and bedtime, so that by 8:00, hopefully all the kids are in bed and Christi and I can finally crash.

I don’t tell you this to generate sympathy, but to let you know that I, too, know what it means to rush through life.  There are days when I get to the office and I can’t even tell you what the weather is outside because I never really stopped to pay attention.  Those of you with children, or whose children have grown, you know what busy means.  Sometimes it feels as if your just existing rather than really living.

But there are moments, few and far between, when we stop and are confronted with the glory of God.  For me, it’s usually when I’m taking the trash out at night (seriously).  I take my time walking back to the house, and look up into the night sky.  The stars are screaming to me from their silent posts, “There is more to this life…”  Sometimes we’re privileged to catch a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or to take in some great view of the fertile plains of Iowa, or maybe it’s just the rare occasion to sit back and relax on a sunny afternoon.  The Psalmist reminds us, “The heavens declare the glory of God…”  It’s no accident that moments like these cause us to stop and breathe deep the splendor of God’s wondrous work.  We were meant to enjoy His creation, to revel in His beauty, and to give glory to God for all that He has done and all the He is.

Sometimes I think we need to be a little shell-shocked by God’s glory to awaken us from the everyday rat-race that we have made of this life.  If we were to spend a little more time marveling at the glory of God each day, what would it look like?  One of my favorite songs is called “Intoxicating,” by the David Crowder Band.  (I’ve posted a copy of it here, it will help if you listen in.)  In the song, they sing about what the glorious presence of God has on us:

Intoxicating You are to me
Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see

And I’ve lost my mind, I’m sure to find
Need to apologize for my
Lack of inhibition, for my belligerent condition
But with You this near I’m dizzy

Inebriating You are to me
Completely captivating You are you see
Sending my world spinning You are, You see

I wonder how a radical encounter with the majesty and glory of God would transform us?  Maybe we’d go through this life with our eyes open to the glory and beauty of God all around us.  Maybe we’d become more worshipful in everything we’d do.  Maybe the world would begin to look at us and see the glory of God shining through. 

How have you seen the glory of God this week?  How has His glory transformed you?  How will you, then, live for His glory?

Grace and peace,

SDG

Q. 20. Will all men, then, be saved through Christ as they became lost through Adam?

A. No. Only those who, by true faith, are incorporated into him and accept all his benefits.

Q. 21. What is true faith?

A. It is not only a certain knowledge by which I accept as true all that God has revealed to us in his Word, but also a wholehearted trust which the Holy Spirit creates in me through the gospel, that, not only to others, but to me also God has given the forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation, out of sheer grace solely for the sake of Christ’s saving work.

Q. 22. What, then, must a Christian believe?

A. All that is promised us in the gospel, a summary of which is taught us in the articles of the Apostles’ Creed, our universally acknowledged confession of faith.

Q. 23. What are these articles?

A. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.

 There is an exclusivity to Christianity.  Scripture does teach, “God desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4).  But the very next sentence goes on to say, “there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5-6).  Jesus himself said, “God so loved the world he gave his only begotten, so that whoever shall believe in him … shall have everlasting life.”  To be saved, we must have a saving knowledge, that is, a saving relationship, with Christ.

Rich Mullins sings of the Creed, “I believe what I believe is what makes me who I am.  I did not make it, it is making me, it is the very truth of God, not the invention of any man.”  Simply and succinctly the creed sums up what we need to know.  Let it lead and guide you as you study God’s word and grow in your relationship with Christ the Lord.

Prayer

Thank you, Father, for your salvation in Christ alone, and for ancient faith and creeds which show us your truth.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Q. 16. Why must he be a true and righteous man?

A. Because God’s righteousness requires that man who has sinned should make reparation for sin, but the man who is himself a sinner cannot pay for others.

Q. 17. Why must he at the same time be true God?

A. So that by the power of his divinity he might bear as a man the burden of God’s wrath, and recover for us and restore to us righteousness and life.

Q. 18. Who is this mediator who is at the same time true God and a true and perfectly righteous man?

A. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is freely given to us for complete redemption and righteousness.

Q. 19. Whence do you know this?

A. From the holy gospel, which God himself revealed in the beginning in the Garden of Eden, afterward proclaimed through the holy patriarchs and prophets and foreshadowed through the sacrifices and other rites of the Old Covenant, and finally fulfilled through his own well-beloved Son.

 These questions today bring us to the heart of our Christian Faith.  If you want to know how Christianity is different from all the other religions in the world, look no further.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (2 Cor 5:19).  In no other religion will you find God breaking the barrier between the transcendent and the immanent.  Only in Christ will you find God bearing our burden of sin and restoring us to righteousness and life.  Indeed, Christ alone is “our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption” (1 Cor 1:30).

The entire testimony of Scripture makes this known.   From Genesis to Revelation we are promised a deliverer, and we find our deliverer in Christ. The law demonstrated our need, the prophets told us what to expect, the Temple sacrifice foreshadowed how Christ would complete our salvation.

The truth remains, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Prayer

Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we come to you, we praise you, and we give you thanks for our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption which is a gift from Christ’s own hand.  We thank you that there is no other name but Jesus, not even our own, by which we are saved.  It is in his name we pray.  Amen.

Q. 12. Since, then, by the righteous judgment of God we have deserved temporal and eternal punishment, how may we escape this punishment, come again to grace, and be reconciled to God?

A. God wills that his righteousness be satisfied; therefore, payment in full must be made to his righteousness, either by ourselves or by another.

Q. 13. Can we make this payment ourselves?

A. By no means. On the contrary, we increase our debt each day.

Q. 14. Can any mere creature make the payment for us?

A. No. First of all, God does not want to punish any other creature for man’s debt. Moreover, no mere creature can bear the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin and redeem others from it.

Q. 15. Then what kind of mediator and redeemer must we seek?

A. One who is a true and righteous man and yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is at the same time true God.

There once was a group of believers who were meeting by a river when one of their group fell into the water.  It was obvious that the man couldn’t swim, as he thrashed about wildly.  One of the believers was a strong swimmer and was called on to rescue the drowning man.  Though he was able to save him, he just watched until the wild struggles subsided.  Then he dove into the water and pulled the man to safety.

When the rescue was over, the rescuer explained his slowness to act.  “If I had jumped in immediately, he would have been strong enough to drown us both.  Only by waiting until he was too exhausted to try to save himself, could I save him.”

It seems to be all too easy for us to be like that drowning man.  Our self efforts can actually prevent us from being saved!  Unfortunately some people must reach the point of being too exhausted to continue trying to save themselves (by dealing with their own sin) before they become willing to trust in the Savior and accept his gift of salvation.

We cannot save ourselves; the water is too deep, the debt is too great.  We need a savior who knows the danger (our sin), but is also stronger than the waves.  We need Jesus!

Prayer

Father God, we know our debt is too great to repay.  We thank you that in Christ, you have removed our sin as far as the east is from the west.  Help us to trust and rely in him alone for our salvation. 

For Jesus’ sake.  Amen.