United Church Podcast

The American culture is working tirelessly to make your life more siloed, isolated, and disconnected from community so that you will depend on it for your purpose and satisfaction.  In this host culture we all live in, there is no greater problem that we face than a siloed, isolated existence. From the rise in depression, the rise in suicide, political polarization, and addiction, to the extreme beliefs that people hold with conviction no matter how it conflicts with reality… I could keep going — it is all amplified by the extreme level of isolation and disconnected lives our culture wants us to live.  Here is what I find fascinating; I don’t have to spend any time convincing you about this. Nearly everyone hearing this would go yeah. The truth is we all pretty much resent the way this life is but feel powerless to do anything about it. Short of buying a plot of land in South Dakota and starting a commune with a group of friends, getting out of this way of life feels impossible. So, for most people, the answer is just apathy.  I need you to know that what you feel here is not wrong. This way of life that our host culture wants us to live is the opposite of God’s design for us. The Bible, and specifically Jesus, believes that every person should be part of a unified community where they can love and be loved.

You will never be a perfect mother, and you will never be everything your child needs, but you can be faithful to the task of raising your children in the way they should go, loving them in the way that they are, and trusting Jesus with the rest.  So today, I invite you to consider three things I learned from my mother and watch in my wife, which I hope bring new joy to your motherhood journey.  It goes without saying that I am not pedestooling them as the paragon of motherhood, but they are the two moms I know best!

“Giving is the greatest pleasure in life.” - Julius Rosenwald No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, we all want to live like this. We all want to be people who bless others with that level of impact, joy, and dedication. As we read in proverbs earlier, we want to be a soul of blessing. As inspiring as that story is, and just as much as we might aspire to be that type of person, there is an equal counter-motivator we deal with. Giving feels like losing. Whether we are in touch with the feeling itself or not, I imagine if you did a quick inventory of your heart, you would find resonance there. Giving—for many of us—feels like a loss. We might feel we are losing out on something we want or think we need. We might feel a loss of a greater sense of security. Or perhaps a loss of control. Whatever it is, when faced with the prospect treating our resources the way the Bible describes, our immediate feeling is often... loss. To some extent this is natural, when we go to the store and give our money, we get our bags immediately. We see where the $100 or more went. Giving to God might not immediately yield a return, so it might feel like you didn’t get anything back. Even though God promises that everything we give to Him will be returned in exponentially greater ways, our inability to delay gratification has hamstrung us.

We wonder how we will avoid boredom in eternity because we have been taught to believe eternity is an immaterial realm where we don’t eat, drink, play, create or relate—we just worship all day.  Living with those beliefs can leave us feeling confused and unsure about eternity, and no one should have to be unsure of what the hope of eternity is. The Scriptures teach an incredible continuity between this world and the one to come. Discovering this in Scripture has not only strengthened my faith and excitement about eternity, but it has also given me new language to share that hope with those who are far from God, and I believe it will do the same for you. Today, as it has been each week, will not be comprehensive enough to answer every question you might have about life after life after death or, more simply, life after Heaven. 

The problem of Hell in our time is twofold: 1. The Bible is less clear on the nature of Hell than on its existence. 2. The word Hell conjures up images in our mind gained more from medieval imagery than from the Scriptures and the earliest Christian writings. Just as many were brought up to think of God as a bearded old man or the “big guy in the sky” stopped believing in that image and so stopped believing in God, there are many who were taught to think of Hell as a literal underground location full of worms and fire, or as a “torture chamber” and so decided that when they stopped believing in that, they stopped believing in Hell. However, if we are indeed Christians, we do not have the choice to reject believing in something captured throughout Scripture. Even Evangelical Universalists believe in the existence of Hell and that people will go there. So we are left with one choice—search the Scriptures to try and discern the most biblical understanding of Hell’s nature. I believe most everyone wants that understanding to some degree or another. I would imagine, most of all, we want to be relieved of anything that doesn't line up with the Scriptures, like rage-filled preaching about medieval imagery and calling it hell.

In the previous section of John’s Gospel, Jesus spoke directly to Peter. Now, he broadens his focus to include the other disciples, for they, too, are troubled—not because they rush toward pain, disgrace, shame, or crucifixion but because they are confused and uncertain of what Jesus means about His imminent departure.  Jesus’ talk about departure and denial disturbed them greatly. It is no wonder the Eleven are profoundly upset.  The way the disciples are to calm their hearts, Jesus spells out for them—Believe in God; believe also in me. Another way to say it is to trust God and trust me. They can only find real hope and confidence by focusing on God rather than themselves. The reason He gives for leaving them is a promise—He is leaving to prepare a place for them. His departure is to their advantage. Yes, He is going away, but He is going away to make a home for them. The language Jesus employs here—Father’s house and rooms—is used in many Jewish sources when speaking of Heaven. Since Heaven is pictured here as the Father’s house, it is more natural to think of ‘dwelling places’ within a home such as rooms or suites in a large resort, not individual mansions. The point, of course, is not the extravagance of each suite but the fact that Jesus is making such ample provision that there is more than enough space for every one of Jesus’ friends to join Him in his Father’s home.  Interestingly, this begins to answer our question: What is Heaven?

It is reasonable to wonder about what happens when we die, and sadly, Christians' varying beliefs on the matter are often not tethered to Scripture. The chaos on this topic creates mistakes in our thinking, praying, liturgies, practices and mission to the world.  So, we will answer this question today from the Scriptures, and I hope we can dispel all confusion. While there have been many views and teachings on what happens at death, my goal is to teach the most historically accepted Christian orthodox understanding of life after death. So, if something is particularly challenging for you and you want to reach out, I’m happy to discuss what the scriptures say.

It is a human issue. Personal and global events only serve to exacerbate it. Yes, it is mainly in the rearview window now, but we lost over a million of our fellow citizens and 6 million of our fellow image-bearers of God globally to a pandemic.  Are the cultural patterns we see today not profoundly influenced by that? From the great resignation to the massive separation to the hyper-politicization, while not exclusively a result of our collective loss, they are most certainly influenced by it. Our collective mortality confronted us, and it altered us.  It heightened our collective fear of that spectre of death. The fear that plagues us is just wrong. No one should live in fear of death.

What does it look like to fully commit to Jesus?   To learn more visit renovationchurch.com

Our host culture, for many reasons—some understandable—is oppositional to our faith in Jesus. We are unlikely at this stage to face the end of a knife or even lose our job for loving Jesus, but there is still opposition, and if we are honest, we do not want to contend with it. If you are anything like me, the threat of opposition can create a palpable fear in you. And then, when you give in to the temptation to shrink in the face of resistance to your faith, a wave of shame usually follows.  “I should have said more…” “I should have said something…” “I knew the truth and I pushed it down.” But can I encourage you? Fear and shame should not have the power to silence your faith. Every person who practices the way of Jesus should be able to live a courageous faith. I do not say that without empathy. Rest assured that I completely understand the fear and shame that arise from not being bold about my faith. I am intimately familiar with those emotions. But you can overcome those emotions. Over the years, especially the last four years, I have gained what can only be called a holy confidence, and that confidence came through repeated exposure to the Holy Spirit.  Being filled and refilled with God’s Spirit keeps the truest truth at the forefront of my mind—who I am in Jesus is what matters most. I encourage you to embrace that same truth, and courage will come, courage that does not fold in the face of aggressive or passive-aggressive opposition. In Acts chapter four, Jesus’ followers find themselves similarly faced with a moment that will test their mettle.