Listening to God's Creation

“All creation is meant to be a finger pointing us to ultimate glory, the only glory that can ever satisfy the human heart, the glory of God.”  Paul Tripp

  Did you see the Youtube making the rounds some years ago with three-year-old Mateo. “Linda! Linda, just listen to me!” Little Mateo is very frustrated with his Mom. When she said, “No cupcakes,” Mateo disagreed. After all, he’s at Grandma’s house. Everybody knows Grandma makes the rules at her house, not Mom. Mateo’s mom wanted to set her little boy straight, but each time she began to correct him, Mateo protested with “Linda! Linda! Listen to me!” It’s hilarious and obviously Mateo’s mom found some humor in the whole thing because she recorded it and posted it where it went viral.

  Yet, what isn’t so funny is that too often I know that I’m like Mateo. I’m either so busy or talking so much that I’m not listening to my parent, my Heavenly Father. Are you like me? I find it hard to drive without music or a podcast playing. At the very least I’m catching up on phone calls. Currently, I’m seeking to keep my digital leash turned off. Either I’ve been successful or I’m in a rubber room surrounded by men in white suits. I find I’m often so obsessed with being connected, I miss what God is saying.

  This world is anxious with silence. Every moment of the day is filled with motion and sound. Even in the middle of the night, our phones buzz and beep. Never-ending noise is exhausting. In the midst of all of this God quietly speaks, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). To be spiritually healthy, we need periods of silence. We need times of indulging in the wonders of God’s creation.

  Ironically, as humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation, we tend to be isolated from creation. A defining feature of Scripture is how often the Bible points us to God’s world. Scripture assumes a level of understanding about nature. Yet, if we fail to unplug and step outdoors, or experience and engage in God’s creation, our faith suffers.

  Nearly every book of the Bible bursts with references to creation, chronicling in soaring prose the making of the universe, identifying God’s covenant promise with a myriad of colors in the sky. He invites us to gaze in wonder alongside Abraham at the starry hosts, where an even greater promise was written. The Psalmist compares the longing of his soul for God with the thirst of a deer running to the water, fully expecting his readers to get the word picture! He sings of the heavens’ divine declaration, he praises the Lord for making mankind ruler of “all flocks and herds…animals of the wild…birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea…”

  In the earliest book of the Bible, “Ask the beasts, and they will teach you,” exclaims Job, “the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; the bushes of the earth and they will teach you, and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” The prophets look forward to the restoration of creation using vivid imagery of a radically transformed created order: wolves lying down with lambs, lions eating straw like oxen, and myrtles and cypress replacing the thorns and briars of the curse.

  The Lord Jesus announced the Kingdom of God with parables about trees, seeds, birds of the air which God feeds, along with lilies of the field He clothes. The Bible at length promises that the consummation of history, like its beginning, will take place in a garden-city atop a mountain, with a river of life and trees whose leaves are to heal the nations.

  Yet, if we never stop and spend time outside in God’s creation, we’ll never fully grasp things Scripture wants us to understand. Technology tends to cut us off from the natural world and the general revelation of God, perhaps more than ever before in history. Whether it’s our temperature-regulated homes and offices, our glowing screens, or our asphalt jungles, much of our lives happen in an artificial world designed to insulate us from nature. C. S. Lewis insightfully said, “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.” To enjoy what God created for us, we must first stop to enjoy it. How can we cultivate this in our lives?

  We simply ask God to help us. Ask the Lord to help you stop, to open  your eyes and ears to experience more of your Father’s handiwork.

  We search out God’s beauty. We study the Scriptures that reveal specific aspects of His beauty. We look for tokens of it in His creation and science. We behold God’s beauty in little glimpses about Him as we search for insight through Scripture, creation, science, and history, and so on—brief glimpses that bring a spark of inspiration to our heart and mind. A life isn’t usually transformed by one huge insight, but by the accumulative effect of many small insights and glimpses of His beauty over the years.

  We experience God’s creation. It’s simple – Go outside! Take a walk in your own yard or a local park. Opportunities to experience the majesty of God’s creation are all around us. Yet, when was the last time you let yourself intentionally get wet in the rain. Let the wind nearly blow you over or walked barefoot through the shallows of a river or lake? When you do one of these things, be intentional and think about God and His created intent. Not only will it lead to a greater sense of awe about God and His world, but you’ll also better understand His written Word.

  We thank the Lord for the beauty of His creation. We verbalize our admiration of God’s beauty and glory. We speak out in gratitude for the small things we see about Him. When we praise Him for small insights into even one facet of His beauty, we’ll often receive more insight, inspiration, and delight. Encountering the beauty of creation is essential to experiencing victory in our lives, especially in this hour when fear, lust, offense, rejection, and violence are increasing in society. God’s desire is that we’d more fully experience the wonder of His creation, realizing that the same Creator-God loves us and we’re His children. Take some steps to encounter and enjoy more of His beauty that He made for you this week.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Earth Day or God the Creator Day?

“All creation is meant to be a finger pointing us to ultimate glory, the only glory that can ever satisfy the human heart, the glory of God.”

                                                                                                Paul Tripp

  You have to admire commitment and creativity. After all, that’s how God designed us. Thirty-two-year-old Korey Nolan of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, spent seven months collecting hundreds of used Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cups to fashion a surfboard made out of 700 cups and more than 30 plastic straws along with other materials. Most of the cups came from family members who gave them to him, though some were picked up from the roadside. He placed 2^nd out of 15 finalists in an innovation contest a competition put on by surf brand Vissla called the Creators and Innovators Upcycle Contest. Nolan compressed the raw materials together and finished his board using bamboo, epoxy, fiberglass cloth, fiberboard and Masonite compression mold. He says it “rides great.” That’s creativity!

  As Bible-believers, we’re to obey God’s Creation Mandate first given to Adam and Eve in the Garden, “And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).   

  Why do Christians often overlook a biblical commitment to creation? Last Monday was Earth Day. Many celebrating Earth Day “worship” the earth and creation living out Romans 1:25, “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” Such wrongheaded thinking prioritizes creation over the Creator or the pinnacle of God’s creation – Man. We are and should be repulsed by idolatry. It can result in a foolish approach to environmentalism with a lack of thinking and an overreaction. A.W. Tozer insightfully observed, “the modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world.” Yet, we are wrong to jettison a commitment to rightly manage God’s world that He’s entrusted to us because some prioritize the creation over the Creator.

  We must not allow those who are foolish to alienate us from our biblical responsibility. For example, some States and large cities, like San Francisco, have banned  plastic straws. Supposedly San Francisco uses a million plastic straws a day, but while the city bans straws, San Francisco hands out nearly 5 million hypodermic needles to drug addicts across the city. The claim that a straw policy is for the betterment of the environment, yet needles they distribute and also the lack of enforcement of not using streets as an open toilet go against that absurd thinking. Add to that, a straw ban hurts the disabled and can be a matter of life or death. Even a national ban won’t dent worldwide plastic output, and where is any serious research justifying a straw ban. The oft-cited figure that “Americans use 500 million plastic straws a day comes from a survey conducted by a 9-year-old.” It seems that a strawman is the basis of a straw ban.

  Another example would be Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent inane comment that “the world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change.” While it made headlines (and her look foolish), such “the sky is falling” thinking isn’t backed up by real science.  While we must be committed to taking care of creation, if it’s not accompanied by an international commitment, we’re only hamstringing our own economy. Unless China or India and a host of other countries agree, we could sanitize the air to nearly pure oxygen, yet it won’t make a difference if those nations are polluting what we’re seeking to purify. Wise solutions to environmental issues are complex and need much more than fads and knee jerk reactions. Bible-believers should be some of the most respectful and wise when it comes to creation. Why?

  We’re managers of God’s property. Because God is the Creator and since humanity is the pinnacle of His creation, He’s entrusted this world to us. We must take seriously what’s been termed “creation care” and care for God’s property that He’s entrusted to us wisely. Wanton pollution or wasted resources are disrespectful and disobedience of God.

  God’s primary posture toward creation is affection, not apathy. God cares when a sparrow dies, so shouldn’t we to some level? We must care about what God cares about if we’re going to have the heart of God. Noah could have built a much smaller boat if God didn’t care for His creation.

  God’s primary posture toward Creation is pleasure, not production. In Proverbs 8. wisdom is symbolized as a woman. Proverbs 8 reminds us that  God rejoices and delights in His creation (vss. 30 & 31). One of the funniest animals is the platypus. Study a platypus or a monkey and try to argue that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. Have you ever made something just for fun? It doesn’t do anything. It’s just for sheer pleasure. God enjoys His creation and wants us to enjoy it, too.  

  God’s primary posture toward Creation is celebration, not consumption. Seven times in Genesis 1, we find this phrase, “God saw that it was good.” God celebrates His creation. What do we do with flowers? We admire their beauty and smell them. Painters paint them, photographers take pictures of them, but you don’t often eat flowers. Much of God’s creation is like that. We celebrate its beauty, admire and appreciate it.

  Christians and contemporary environmentalists share many common goals. Both oppose the abuse of nature. Yet, environmentalists often function from a worldview that condemns virtually all human activity as intrinsically evil. The child of God cares for creation for a greater reason – we are obeying our Heavenly Father’s mandate. Good management of His creation that He has given us dominion and responsibility over honors and pleases Him…after all, this is our Father’s world.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

A Grace Driven Approach to Incarceration

“Going to prison is like dying with your eyes open.”  Bernard Kerik

    There are two phrases from Jesus’ first public words of ministry that weigh heavily on me:

“He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives…        
to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).

  Twice we find the word “liberty” as part of our Lord’s purpose and ministry – liberty for captives and liberty for the oppressed. While the oppressed may be somewhat qualified, captives is not. It’s a broad term. What did Jesus mean by captives? To be a captive means you’re a prisoner of someone or something. You’ve been captured, taken hold of, put into chains and bondage – with or against your will. Obviously, Jesus was speaking first about freeing those in bondage to sin. Yet, I don’t think it excludes those who’ve been physically enslaved or judicially incarcerated.

  If there’s any area of ministry that the Church for the most part has failed, it’s for those imprisoned or incarcerated. For me it’s become a great burden, though I certainly have more questions than answers at this juncture of my life.

  Our church used to support The New Man Project. This ministry’s purpose was to provide employment for recently released prisoners, paying a family-supporting wage to enable them to become healthy citizens. The primary goal was to share the Gospel. True change occurs in a community one person at a time and only comes as we’re transformed by God’s grace, repent, accept by faith Christ’s sacrificial death for us, becoming a new person. Sadly, they had difficulty finding financial support to maintain this ministry and are currently in hiatus, seeking new funding for a re-start.

  The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration. While home to only 5% of the world’s population, we house 25% of the world’s prisoners. Criminologists have coined the term “mass incarceration” to describe the 500% increase in the prison population in the U.S. over the last 40 years.

  Our judicial and incarceration system is a failure. The philosophy of just building more prisons to lock up more people is ludicrous, even from a fiscal perspective. Keeping just one inmate incarcerated, on average, for a year costs over $30,000.00. Yes, we must lock up violent and sexual criminals, but what are we truly accomplishing when we incarcerate shoplifters, addicts, those convicted of fraud or drunk drivers? Wouldn’t it be better to have a system of restitution and rehabilitation without incarceration? Should a shoplifter really be locked up with a rapist? 

  Please understand, it doesn’t excuse it, yet many repeat offenders grew up in homes where they themselves experienced terrible trauma in the forms of neglect, abandonment, sexual or physical abuse. Punishment for them then is seen as something to endure, not a learning tool. Planning or thinking in life-skill categories isn’t part of their life. They live in survival mode. Think about it, who plans for the future when there probably isn’t one? Trauma during those early years increases the likelihood of criminal behavior, mental illness or substance abuse later on. Those of us from relatively stable homes just don’t think the way that they think.

  Jesus has called us to be incarnational. We must seek to understand and even enter their world, just as He entered ours. Those who have been incarcerated are often bruised, broken and wounded. If you take those who are physically broken and wounded to a hospital, shouldn’t you take those who are emotionally broken and wounded to a spiritual hospital, to the church? Shouldn’t our church be the place for healing and transformation?

  As Paul Tripp writes, “What is the church? A well-led successful organization or a hospital full of diseased people? Everywhere you look, you will find couples who are struggling to love, parents who are struggling to be patient, children who are attracted to temptation and friends who battle the disappointments of imperfect relationships. This is 100% of the church’s membership! The church is not a theological classroom. It is a conversion, confession, repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness and sanctification center.” The church is to be a wonderful, healing place! You don’t have to be perfect or good or even pretend. You can be a mess because Jesus loves to fix messes. That’s why Jesus died…for messes like you and me.

  I don’t have all the answers but I know the One who does. At Grace, we’re not about us, our wants or needs. God has called us to be a lighthouse of hope to our community through astonishing, sacrificial acts of compassion. As others see Christ’s love manifested in us, not just talked about, they’re more open to listening to our message. We must be a church known for deeds of love, mercy and compassion. Our world will never accept Jesus until they first see Jesus in us. It means loving those who humanly speaking we may be repulsed by, like the incarcerated. Our Savior reached out to us though our sin was an abomination to Him. Then He died so that we could be free! Surely by His grace, we can show love, sharing acts of compassion for the incarcerated and those who are sin’s prisoners.  

  God may have brought someone into your life who, humanly speaking, you wouldn’t walk across the street for. We’re motivated by a higher calling to walk across a bridge for them, the bridge of the Cross. We must share God’s love, that there’s forgiveness, hope and restoration. Will you walk across the bridge of the Gospel to set a captive free? Will our church be a place of hope for those society considers hopeless? Are you in? I am! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.