A Blog Sabbatical

As I wrote about a couple of days ago, our Elders are sending me on a sabbatical. Today is actually Day 1. I have many varied goals for this summer, but writing here is not one of them. Devouring God's Word is my intention, but I plan to give this blog a sabbatical.

One of the things I have been thinking about is a 'Media Fast.' How much media (TV, Internet, newspaper, etc.) to consume or not - and what would it be like to simply go without all of those things. How much time would be saved and energy allowed to give to other things? I've been thinking about that... so, no blogging this season.

To my one faithful reader, I love you Katie! If there are any others out there, I wouldn't know. If you are... I'll see you in the Fall.

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Gospel Tension

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Romans 10:13-15

There is this tension in Romans 9 and 10. I'm seeing it as a healthy tension. It reflects the mystery of God and the power of the Gospel. Yesterday I read these verses from Romans 9:

¹⁴What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! ¹⁵For he says to Moses,"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." ¹⁶It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

So here's the tension. God is Sovereign and will have compassion on whom He will have compassion AND it does not depend on people's desire or effort. In the next chapter Paul makes it equally clear that people can only hear and come to faith in Jesus when people preach/share the Gospel with them. People can't go unless they are sent. We all have a part in this Kingdom adventure. Our heart's desire and effort for Jesus matters. People can hear the good news, believe it and call on the Name of the Lord. Salvation happens.

No answers today. I'm wrestling with the tension and in awe of our great God!

Father, You are awesome and mighty! You can do whatever You want. Thank you for deciding to use me in building Your Kingdom this day. Wow, You are powerful if You can do that! I am weak and needy, yet you use me. Only You could do that! I worship You today.

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Norkenzie's Sabbatical Policy

The Elders at Norkenzie have encouraged me to take a sabbatical, and I am blessed. At the beginning of this year they said that if we could work out the details in the next 18 months, that would be good. It seems clear to me that God has orchestrated the events so that the sabbatical will be sooner rather than later.

Tim Miller, a Norkenzie native who was born, raised, baptized, married and ordained here, is available to preach for me this summer. I'm so glad! As I hope you'll experience, Tim has a preaching gift and has a great heart for the Lord. It's also significant to me that he can spend this time at his home church before heading off to the next ministry that God has planned for him. As I overheard this past Sunday, "This is going to be a great summer!"

I've been asked if this was a 'forced' sabbatical. Not at all. I'm blessed to be given the opportunity to 'get off the treadmill' for a season and get recharged a bit. There is a predictable drain in ministry and, after 20 years, I feel it. I'm grateful for the chance to have my cup filled up again!

I've been asked if I'm going to leave for another church. Are you kidding me?! I love our church! This sabbatical is intended to be a blessing to me, my family and the church family. If it were detrimental to any of us, we wouldn't be making this investment. Below is the Sabbatical Policy and, as you'll see, it's pretty clear that I'm not supposed to be looking for another job! (smile) The Johnstons' roots are pretty deep here. God could move us, of course, but our desire is to serve at Norkenzie for a long, long time.

Do you have a question? Email me.

From the Personnel Policy Handbook

Sabbatical Leave - a leave of absence for personal renewal and professional advancement. During or after the seventh year of service (and every seven years thereafter) the pastor is encouraged to take a sabbatical. Norkenzie Christian Church will provide up to 3 months of paid leave for the purpose of a sabbatical.

Pastors invest in people. The sabbatical is one way for Norkenzie Christian Church to invest in the pastor! For the pastor, a sabbatical is a season without the pressure to produce. Both the pastor and Norkenzie Christian Church will be the long-term beneficiaries of a successful sabbatical.

The expectations of the pastor are:

1. Plan ahead! What will you do on your sabbatical? Where will you go to accomplish the goals of the sabbatical? How will you finance your sabbatical?
2. Equip people to lead the ministry in your absence.
3. Provide a written plan to the Elders and Senior Pastor answering the questions from #1 and the schedule of #2, with dates and names of ministry leaders.
4. It is a strong expectation of Norkenzie Christian Church’s leadership that the pastor on sabbatical not entertain job offers from other church ministries during the sabbatical.
5. A written evaluation of the sabbatical will be due the first elders’ meeting following the sabbatical. The leadership will be interested to know if the sabbatical was successful in reaching its goals.
   

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Sacrificial Love

³¹What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:31-32

God loves me SO much that He didn't even stop short of giving up His own Son. Jesus died for me. He is a demonstration of God's love (Romans 5:8). So... if God will go to that length for me, will He take care of the rest?

It's a rhetorical question! "How will He not also graciously give us all things?" The answer is, He will! God will provide all that we need. Not want, of course... but what we need. What I need most is to be like Jesus.

Father, thank You for this great love! You are showing me how love is demonstrated in sacrifice. Help me love people this day...

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A Constant Companion

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Romans 7:21-24

Romans 6 and 7 are amazing chapters! Paul writes about the reality of grace and the reality of sin. Sin is even personified as being an entity.

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Romans 6:14; 7:17, 20

Sin is a constant companion. Paul describes his own spiritual schizophrenia here in Romans 7, which is quite famous. (Every Bible student who has ever grappled with sin and addiction has resonated with Paul’s words in Romans 7.) For Paul the schizophrenia is not okay. Our struggle in the flesh with sin is horrible and ugly and deserving of judgment. Paul feels this to the extent of saying “What a wretched man I am!”

Paul’s the wretch. He’s the sinner. He’s the one who sins in the flesh. He’s the one with the propensity for evil. He’s the one who needs a Savior. “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Can any of us deny this spiritual reality? We could, but then we wouldn’t be biblical. We are spiritual being created in the image of God who are housed in bodies of corrupted flesh. “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” The only way to avoid this is by not wanting to do good. Yikes! If you give yourself to sin and pursue nothing of God, understand, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We don’t want to go there.

If Paul could ‘fess up’ to this spiritual reality, I’m encouraged to do the same. I’m the wretch in need of a Savior too. I have a constant companion that is with me all the time.

What’s liberating about the Gospel is that this constant companion is mute and has no strength. Because of the cross of Jesus and the grace I’ve received, the companion is constant, but has been stripped of his power. He cannot speak into my life because I am dead to him. I am no longer his slave (read Romans 6). I am dead to sin but alive to Christ! (Romans 6:11) So, who can rescue me?

Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 7:25-8:2

Father, I worship You today. You alone have the power and love to save wretched people like me. Thank You! I choose to live this day in the reality of Your Gospel. I am alive because of You. Live through me this day…

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Fresh Air!

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:21-24

Reading Romans 1:18-3:20 you understand the gravity of sin and the difficult place that we are in. Romans 3:21ff is water to the soul! Fresh air! Hope.

God has given me righteousness by His grace through the blood of Jesus. As I receive today the redemption that Jesus has provided for me, I am righteous before God! I am able to approach Him now. I can relate to Him as my Father and I His son. What amazing grace.

All pretense fades away in the light of His grace.

Father, thank you…

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The Lord Reigns

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.
Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.
His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols—worship him, all you gods!
Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O LORD.
For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

Psalm 97

The Lord reigns. He is the King of the universe. He is the Lord of all. He is the Master of all creation. He is the former President, the current President and the President-Elect. He rules. He’s on the throne. He calls the shots. He sets the course, determines the direction and decides when we’re finished. He’s the Boss, the Director, the CEO. The Lord God reigns…

Let the earth rejoice! Let the earth see and tremble. Let the heavens proclaim His righteousness and the peoples see His glory!

Worship Him! Hear, rejoice and be glad! The Lord Most High reigns over all the earth. He is exalted far above all others. Far, far above all gods.

The foundation of His reign is righteousness and justice. People suppress the truth of God by their wickedness. There is no excuse for this! God’s power and beautiful qualities have been made known. They are clearly seen through what He has made, but people exchanged all of that… all of who He is… all of His glory for lesser things. For evil things. God gave them over to the lusts of their hearts allowing them to live out the lies they embrace, but only for a time. Why? The Lord reigns!

Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world and the earth trembles. The mountains melt like wax before this great God! His wrath is being revealed against all the godlessness and wickedness of men. He rules in righteousness. He reigns in truth. The Lord is King! Let the earth rejoice and the peoples be glad.

I praise You, Lord God, that Your righteousness and justice were satisfied toward me on the cross of Your Son, Jesus. Thank You for removing my sin far from me so that I can be Your son and worship You freely in spirit and in truth. There is no God like You!

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