The month of January has shown us some dramatic behavior of the natural world.

Fires that started in Los Angeles on January 7 have continued to burn and to spread. Nearly 16,000 structures have been destroyed and 28 lives have been lost. Mercifully, rain was predicted for the area this weekend, but the damage that’s already done is staggering.

Then there are the winter storms which have blanketed balmy Southern states with far more snow and ice than they are used to. All-time record snowfall in some areas like coastal Alabama and southwest Texas brought dangerous road conditions that led to the deaths of at least five people and the complete halt of a lot of infrastructure.

Times like these serve to remind us that while we may applaud ourselves for great human accomplishments, we remain nowhere close to omnipotence. In fact, we can be overwhelmed by the very things that we need and enjoy. Fire is a gift that brings warmth, sanitizes, and helps us prepare food. But right now, it’s a major threat to life. Snow is a gift of moisture to the earth and a thing of pure beauty. But right now, it’s a roadblock to human movement.

We need to occasionally be reminded of all that out-powers us. We can have some dominion over the natural world, but we will never have total control. That remains solely in the hands of the one who created it and rules it with just the sound of his voice (cf. Mk. 4:41). And so when we see the great power of God’s world, we bow our heads and worship him: the creator, the sustainer, and the sovereign ruler of it all.

- Dan Lankford, minister

When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3-4), Moses was understandably nervous to answer the great calling. But his understandable nervousness turned into unfaithful excuses. Four times in the conversation at the burning bush, he gave God reasons why he didn’t think he was the one for this task (and the fifth time, he simply said, “Please send someone else.”). His fearfulness had turned into disrespect. What may have started as humility had become cowardice. It’s no wonder that by Exodus 4:14, God was getting angry with Moses.

We often do the same thing with God’s commandments. We do not have the chance to argue verbally with him, but we go back and forth in our minds, rationalizing whether we will obey or make excuses for disobeying.

• God says: “Give to those who are in need.” We respond: “But I don’t have enough, and they wouldn’t appreciate it properly anyway.”
• God says: “Teach the lost about salvation thru my son.” We respond: “But evangelism isn’t my gift, and I don’t even know any non-Christians.”
• God says: “Keep far away from sexual immorality.” We respond: “But I have needs that aren’t being met,” or “How will I find my soulmate if I don’t…?”
• God says: “Don’t be greedy for money.” We respond: “I’m not being greedy; I just need enough money to give me security and joy in life.”

Our excuses do nothing to change what God has commanded; they only serve to anger our Father when we behave as disobedient children. We must have humble hearts to simply trust and obey—to do what God asks of us and make no excuses. Moses eventually obeyed God’s commands. Let’s strive to be more compliant than he was.

- Dan Lankford, minister

“This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child… that you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” (1 Tim. 1:18-19a)

“…though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…” (1 Cor. 10:3-5)

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From time immemorial to today, a war rages between the spiritual forces of darkness and God’s power of good in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:10-12ff). Though unseen, this war touches Earth and affects the rising and falling of humanity through cycles of good and evil. The territory being fought over is each human heart, and while the final victor of eternity is already decided, our task remains to fight off the dark forces’ power within ourselves and everyone we know.

The Holy Spirit describes Christians as soldiers in that great war. And yet, it tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not swords, guns, or war machines. Nor are they organizations, political structures, or educational systems. No, our weapons are simple and powerful: hearts and minds that are truly transformed—completely renewed by the powerful truth from God. That is an arsenal unto itself, and if we have the humility and dedication to let God’s word do its work in us, we will find that though we face many conflicts with the enemy (see The Book of Acts for evidence), through the power of God it will be ours to overcome every opinion that thinks itself so lofty as to deny the truth about Christ. And, in the final assessment of all things, we will have served the great victor of eternity: Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega.

- Dan Lankford, minister

There are two ways to create a sense of security in relationships

The first is by control; always watching closely for things to go wrong and doing all things possible to prevent problems. These relationships require tight boundaries, frequent questioning, stern lecturing, and at least a few emotional walls to prevent us from getting wounded. The best metaphor for this kind of atmosphere is a prison—a place with maximum security but with minimal freedom.

The second way to create security in a relationship, however, is by trust; believing that each party will do what’s best and knowing that difficulties can be met with truthfulness, confidence, and peacemaking efforts. These relationships require selflessness and humility, affirmations of trust, and questions asked for information rather than for accusation. The best metaphor for this kind of atmosphere is a pasture—a place with  security is accepted as a gift; where all parties accept the risk of problems because they are sure those problems can be overcome; where all parties enjoy great freedom.

As parents, as bosses, as spouses, as teachers, as church leaders, as mentors, as friends… we all have the potential to foster both kinds of relationships. We can let the people around live in a pasture or a prison. Both will create their own type of security, but only one is like the relationships that God wants to bless us with: those which are led by still waters, which fear no evil even when they walk thru the valley of the shadow of death, and which are peaceful enough to lie down in green pastures (Ps. 23). That is God’s gift to us, if we’ll receive it. Is it the gift that we’re giving to others?

- Dan Lankford, minister

With election season now fully upon us, I think it’s important that we be reminded of a few powerful, life-shaping truths:

First, that the church’s primary tool for changing the world is not politics; it’s The Gospel. Our task is not necessarily to get Christians into high offices; it’s for us Christians to be “the salt of the earth” that makes a positive impact on the world through our relationships in everyday life. Would it be better for everyone if our country’s laws were more faithful to God’s character and the Bible’s teachings? Yes. But will we still be able to serve God faithfully if the laws are not according to his ways? Also yes. Our king is Jesus, no matter who our President is.

Second, that there is no Bible command for who we should vote for. If you have convictions about that, keep in mind that while they may be Biblically informed and dearly held, it’s not a Christian’s place to bind them upon others as a matter of their righteousness.

Third, that neither political party will do the work of God in this world—that’s the job of Jesus’ church (which is his people). When I look at the two predominating political parties in this country, I see institutionalized error and attempts at righteous things in both. And so our choice is not between one that is right and the other that is wrong; our choice is which group of flawed humans and their ideals we will entrust to lead our country for the next four years.

And finally, that no matter who gains The White House in next month’s election, God will still reign over all the world’s kingdoms. Psalm 2 reminds us that YHWH and his Son reign above all the earth’s kings, and Psalm 1 reminds us that his righteous ones always put our total confidence in him alone!

- Dan Lankford, minister

“When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. And he said, ‘If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.’” (2 Sam. 10:9-11)

Joab was David’s top-ranking general—a man with ample knowledge of both politics and battle tactics. He was a man who had fought for his king against impossible odds, who had seen the king fight his way out of his enemies’ traps, and who had seen YHWH defeat great hordes before the army of Israel. And he was also a man who knew when he needed help.

When the general was pinned between two armies, he turned to his brother for help. Each had their own battle to fight, but each knew that the other would come to help immediately if he saw a brother losing a battle. And by God’s grace, both of them stood victorious that day (see vv. 13-14).

The willingness of those brothers to fight side-by-side—to drop everything when needed and run to a brother’s aid—is a powerful model for us to follow today. It’s the calling that we will be exploring in this week’s lessons by our brother Jim: the call to strive side-by-side with others in the work and the fight of discipleship. Even great warriors need help sometimes to win their battles, and the same is true for great spiritual warriors. Let’s keep our eyes up and face our great enemy together, for the glory of God!

- Dan Lankford, minister

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of cars around town with the stickers that plead, “Be patient. Student driver.” And they’ve got me thinking about all the timidity, missteps, halts, false starts, and distractedness that are common with new drivers. It’s to be expected in the process of learning the new skill, but it would be a big problem if someone continued to act like a rookie driver, even years into the process.

I think there’s a good comparison in that to the Christian walk. Because it’s to be expected that new Christians won’t navigate The Way like their more experienced faith siblings. There will usually be timidity—a persistent fear of messing up. There will be mistakes—a sin of omission or of commission that is committed unknowingly (Lev. and Num. speak often of sins unintentionally committed).

There will be halts and false starts and hiccups as each new level of working in the Kingdom begins. And there are likely to be strong distractions—things that try hard to draw our attention away from the things of God when we are just getting started (cf. Mt. 13:22). Those of us who are mature should expect these things of new believers, and we should help them work through it all. “Be patient. Growing Christian.”

But when we have been in the faith long enough to grow beyond those spiritual upstart struggles, if we’re still experiencing them, we have a serious problem on our hands. That is a lack of spiritual maturity, and it ought to wake us up, call us to prayer, and compel us to repent. A certain level of spirituality is expected of us after a certain time (cf. Hb. 5:11-6:3), and we’d better be diligently seeking it every day. “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity” (Hb. 6:1).

- Dan Lankford, minister

This past week, a sister from another state asked me, “How do you stop someone that you’re discipling from thinking that they are just a project to you? I feel like when I work with someone to help them understand God and live as a Christian, I’m making them feel like they’re just a charity project—like a statistic that I need to earn.”

How would you answer that? At the time, I said, “I think it’s ultimately about an authentic relationship. You have to really be building that relationship so that they don’t fear that you’re breaking away from them once they are ‘completed.’” Having thought about it for a few more days, I think one word would capture that truth best: LOVE.

As Jesus’s people, we must love others the way that he did. That means that our evangelism and the whole discipling process will be naturally motivated by genuine love for the people we help. It won’t be about successfully using a certain system, adding them to our “stats” as a Christian, making them “just like us,” or even about getting them strong enough to let you ‘move on’ to someone else. Evangelism will always be about loving others and helping them believe in Jesus to be saved and transformed by him. Loving them enough to do that will lead to quality, loving relationships based in all that we share in Christ.

Paul told the brothers and sisters in Ephesus to go about life, “speaking the truth in love, [so that all may] grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…” (Eph. 4:15) An attitude like that won’t think of anyone as a statistic or a project, but always as a person in need of genuine, selfless, wholesome love—both from Christ and from us.

- Dan Lankford, minister

King Nebuchadnezzar was a truly powerful world leader. His kingdom was richer, bigger, and more feared than almost any other national power before it or contemporary to it. And he knew it too (see Dan. 4). But God reminded him that even as great as he was, there was a kingdom that would far exceed his in influence, area, and power. In Daniel 2, God showed him a vision of a future kingdom that was built by divine hands—not human ones—and that would expand to fill the entire earth. That kingdom is the church of Jesus Christ—his people, living his way, sharing his grace with the world, shining with the light of his glory, and exercising a more powerful influence in the world than any kingdom of mankind ever can.

So how does that picture of the world accord with what we see today? When tensions between powerful nations threaten world peace and safety, and when we, the church, seem to just be carried along in the tide of victims to world leaders’ decisions, how can we believe the promises of the church’s power found in Daniel’s prophecies?

The reality is that the power of God’s kingdom doesn’t come from national laws and policies, or from military might, or from economic prosperity, or from the size of its territory. The power of God’s kingdom is his personal influence over hearts. That’s a power that no kingdom of mankind can ever have—the power to change the very heart of each citizen. And that’s a power that can work subversively in the regime of any man-made kingdom, even one that is actively trying to stamp out Christianity. No matter how much a government may try to police its people’s thoughts and control their decisions the best it can hope for is to control the behaviors of its people; not to create goodness from their hearts as God’s Spirit does in us. That’s what Christ was talking about when he said, “my kingdom is not from the world.” It’s not a kingdom that’s built by top-down control and coercion, but rather with inside-to-outside conversion, changing hearts that lead to changes in entire cultures.

So, if we look around at the world and wonder when God’s kingdom will expand into the grand influence that Nebuchadnezzar’s vision predicted, let’s be reminded that it’s up to us and our relationship with Christ and our influence in others’ lives. The power of Christ’s kingdom is not in politics, but in people. It’s not in our laws but in our lives. It’s not in elections but in the elect—his saved ones. Brothers and sisters, “we are” that kingdom that is expanding to fill and change the entire world as we teach the Good News to each new generation, to our friends & neighbors, and to everyone who will be saved and live by faith in the Son of God.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven.”

- Dan Lankford, minister

There are some really exciting events and moments in the life of a Christian. Especially in the lives of young Christians, camp or vacation Bible school can bring so much joy into our times of learning and worshiping God. Bible-related activities, building new relationships, creative teaching techniques, excited singing, bonding experiences, and a general increase of spiritual thinking all come together to renew our sense of dedication and excitement about spiritual things. We walk away from events like those on a spiritual high, thinking things like, “I had forgotten how good we have it as Christians!” Or, “I wish we could have things like this more often! They do so much good for my Christian walk!”

These peaks of spirituality are a healthy thing, and we should thank God for them when they come. While there may be an impulse among some believers to equalize (or suppress) our levels of emotion in all spiritual things, I don’t see any Biblical reason to do so. If camp or VBS or some other spiritual experience is done righteously and it’s exciting, let it be so. In fact, I hope that’s what happens for all of you who are going to camp this week—I hope that it rejuvenates you!

Let’s also remember to wise about those emotional moments in life. And here’s just one consideration in that regard:
Often, when we experience a spiritual high, we think “This is how Christianity is supposed to feel.” And so for that reason, we double our efforts in spiritual pursuits like Bible study and prayer and we expect to keep experiencing the same highs because it’s supposed to feel a certain way.

We need to be careful of striving for how Christianity is supposed to feel. God talks surprisingly little about that. Instead, he talks much more about who we should be and what we should do as Christians (see Eph. 2:10). Doing spiritual things with the goal of experiencing a feeling is what we would usually call emotionalism, and that’s not God’s intention for us.

Consider Jeremiah’s example: he may not have experienced a single day of these emotional highs, and yet he pleased God. We need not fall into thinking that we need those emotional highs in order to keep our efforts as Christians up to their full potential. We should be serving God at full capacity no matter what. And we need to not allow ourselves to become discouraged because somehow our Christian experience doesn’t feel just right. The goal of spirituality is not emotions; it’s faithfulness. So let’s enjoy the mountaintop experiences when God gives us to them, and let’s also be committed to living a life that pleases God in all places and times.

- Dan Lankford, minister