Connecting Points

PDF Copy of Pastor Jason’s Letter

August 19, 2021

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Fall semester is upon us: the school year has started for many, children’s extracurricular activities are in full swing, students are returning to campus, and our church is beginning its full slate of ministries. As we enter the Fall semester together, our desire to be good witnesses to our neighbors and a commitment to in-person corporate worship continues. These remain high priorities for the leadership of the church; we also know it remains important to you. We want you to know clearly that we are listening to you and have been united with you in prayer as we enter into all the decisions before us.

We have decided to alter the two service times on Sunday mornings beginning August 29. The first service will begin at 8:45 a.m. and the second service at 10:30 a.m. The evening service will remain at the regular 6:00 p.m. We will also continue to livestream these services (10:30 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.), though we encourage you to attend in-person if you are able.

As was communicated before the summer months, our hope and intention was to return to no or limited health protocols this Fall. We have decided to remain on that path with our ministries, activities, the evening service, and second morning service. However, we will maintain the first morning service as a mask required service (in the sanctuary and nursery) with social distancing. After much prayer and discussion with many in the congregation, this decision affords the greatest opportunity to care for our membership with health issues and concerns for the coming weeks or months. As your pastor I have been especially blessed over these past couple of weeks to hear many express a desire for the Session to make this or a similar decision out of care and concern for their brothers and sisters who attend the earlier service. Thank you for seeking to love and serve one another well.

We look forward to seeing how the Lord works in us and through us for His glory in these upcoming months. As we have discussed over the past couple of weeks, let’s continue seeking fellowship and hospitality as we seek to Glorify Christ and Grow in Grace together.

By His Grace,

Pastor Jason Helopoulos on behalf of the Session of University Reformed Church

This devotional will be the final installment in this more-than-year-long series, and we thought Chris Spencer’s charge to the congregation from the 4/25/21 evening service would be a fitting way to end it. So as we move forward together as a church, let us be joyful in hope, patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer!

by Chris Spencer

The charge I have for all of us tonight is from Romans 12.  Starting at verse 9:

Let love be genuine.  Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  Love one another with brotherly affection.  Outdo one another in showing honor.  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Romans 12:9-13

This text is fitting for the occasion because directly preceding it, Paul describes the giving of gifts of grace to the body: one body with many members, having different functions and roles, receiving varying measures of grace for their callings. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 13, Paul does the same sequence, going from spiritual gifts and the diverse members of the body directly to how to love one another. “And I will show you a still more excellent way,” he says of the ways of love.  It is not difficult to understand why he thinks we need to hear 13 rapid exhortations after telling us about varying gifts and functions in the body – this is a scenario ripe for trouble in our natural inclinations. Self-sufficiency, self-rule, self-love are deeply embedded in these bodies of death. How can we possibly accomplish this charge?

The answer to that question is found in verse 1 of chapter 12: 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Paul’s appeal to us is that we can only do this by the mercies of God.  You hear it with the therefore. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God.” The preceding chapters of Romans are summed up with that one phrase, “by the mercies of God.” He starts with  11 chapters of rich gospel explanation: 

• For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [3:23]
• For the wages of sin is death [6:23]
• But [Christ] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification [4:25]
• He brings us to faith and pours out his Holy Spirit on us [5:5]
• Not only is there now no condemnation, we are more than conquerors [8:1, 8:37]
• God is now for us, and no one can be against us.  He graciously gives us all things [8:31-32]
• His providence is such that all things work together for our good [8:28]
• His love is such that nothing can separate us from it [8:38-39]

Only by these mercies of God in Christ Jesus can we present ourselves as living sacrifices, each submitting our work fully to our king, interdependent with his church, entrusting him with the outcome.

It’s not a perfect picture, but one image that may be helpful is that of a benevolent king leading his army in the restoration of his rightful kingdom.  We were, each one of us, traitors to this king, but in mercy that cost him everything, he not only granted us pardon but gave us royal standing in his kingdom.  As evidence of our gratitude and desire to serve him, we present ourselves for duty, willing to give all we have for the sake of his kingdom.  He gives all manner of gifts and equipment to us for the accomplishing of his work.  There are infantry and cavalry, cooks and nurses, scouts and captains and generals.  Some are out on the front lines, others are rarely seen.  All are following him.  This does not mean that there aren’t conflicts.  As he goes ahead of us, there can be arguments about which way to go, or what to prioritize as we follow him.  But because all trust him and his sure victory and all remember the mercy they were shown, we are able to genuinely love and honor each other.

In closing, I want to focus on three specific ways we can press on together by the mercies of God:

1. Rejoice in hope – what is visible and what is temporal is a very, very small fraction of our ultimate reality.  We have such a great hope and such a sure hope that we can rejoice in it even right now. This joy honors our Lord and is encouragingly contagious.
2. Be patient in tribulation – because of that assured hope, we can be patient.  We know the end.  It may not feel like it, but it is only a short matter of time.  For the joy set before him Christ endured the cross.  Let us endure patiently together
3. Be constant in prayer – Matthew Henry says that prayer is a friend to hope and patience.  God knows our frame and exactly what we need; exactly what our church needs. He is for us – his power, his wisdom, his love all working for his glory and our good.  Ask him!

And finally, as Paul reminds us just before chapter 12, all of this – the source, the means, the destination, the purpose, are His:

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

by Brad Beals

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” Rev 12:10

Our picture of Satan probably doesn’t include horns and a pitchfork, but how we think of him as active in the world and in our lives today may still need tweaking. Yes, Satan is a deceiver (Rev 12:9), a schemer (Eph 6:11), a rebel (Is 14:13), and a fraud (1 Cor 11:14). He is also a liar, thief, destroyer, and murderer (Jn 8:44, 10:10). But his primary effort against God’s people involves a more subtle kind of work: accusation. Satan is the accuser of the church.

That is, he was the accuser until Christ threw him down. Before the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, Satan had good reasons to accuse us: 1) We were guilty of sin, and 2) God cannot let sin go unpunished. But Christ’s atoning work on the cross and his victory over death have satisfied completely the demands of God’s law. Jesus utterly destroyed Satan’s basis for accusation. If you are in Christ, this is absolutely true for you right here, right now, in time and space, today and forevermore. Satan simply has no grounds for accusing you. 

And yet, for many of us this truth feels anything but settled. If our sins (past, present, and future) have been removed, why do we seem to struggle so often with guilt and heavy consciences? If Satan is defeated, why does it seem that he is still such an effective accuser?

Part of the answer is that we’re willing to listen. Satan can no longer accuse us before God because Christ is there at the throne defending us, and that defense strategy is foolproof. Satan can’t defeat it. Instead, he whispers to us, reminding us of past sins, enticing us to rehearse them in detail, accusing us all over again of guilt before God. Our adversary knows that if he can shake us to the point where we doubt our assurance, then he’ll have moved us off the solid ground of truth (where Paul’s soldier in Ephesians 6 stands firm) and onto his own ground where  he can employ his other roles, those of schemer, deceiver, liar, and murderer. 

The other part of the answer is that we may not know how to leave those past sins in the past. Satan can remind us of them precisely because our brains don’t forget them. Paul remembered his own sins and even wrote about them. In Galatians 1 he says, “I persecuted the church violently and tried to destroy it.” To Timothy Paul calls himself the foremost of sinners, and to the Corinthians he says, “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (v15:9)” 

Paul is fine with mentioning his sins because he understands the gospel that he preaches. It is because of this gospel that he is also fine with saying things like “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” And before the Sanhedrin he says, “I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.” Paul knows his sins, and yet his conscience is clear. He sees no contradiction in these things because he knows the work of Christ.   

In three of the four gospels we read of the strong man. “No one plunders the strong man’s house,” Jesus says, “until he first binds the strong man.” As Jesus was about to ascend to the right hand of the Father and reign until all of his enemies are put under his feet, he gave the church her marching orders: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

Satan, the strong man and our would-be accuser, was thrown down and tied up 2000 years ago, and the church has been plundering his house ever since. Each of us is a part of that plunder. We have been won and claimed by Jesus, and he has purchased for us (at an inestimable price to himself) a clear conscience before God and man. 

Grace Greater than Our Sin
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

~ Julia H. Johnston (1849-1919)

by Nick Setterington

The past few months our international Bible study has been working through the book of 1 John. I was particularly challenged as we reflected upon these verses chapter 2:

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 

John warns us that what we most love and desire will influence our present and shape our future. Are your desires set on the things you find in this world or on the greatest thing that stands behind and outside it? John is using the term world (gr: kosmos), not in reference to people or to the creation itself, but in terms of a system that is under the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19). Under his reign we are captive to the impulses of our flesh, the allure of our eyes, and the promise of power and fame within his realm. It’s a reminder for us that there is a real demonic presence in the systems of this world. People are not as free as they think.  

So what’s the solution to our problem of desire? Is it a form of Buddhist doctrine, the need to empty ourselves of any and all desire, to detach ourselves from the things of this earth? Not for John. He offers a better solution. The solution is not to empty ourselves of desire, but rather to heighten it to a better one, one that finds its source and aim in something beyond this world. This world is passing away along with its desires (verse 17). But. There’s the link. There’s something greater to set our passions upon. It’s doing the will of God (a word which is sometimes translated as desire). God’s will (his desire) isn’t an abstract reference to something that is beyond our reach. John tells us that the will of God is something we can do.  When we set our passions and desires upon God, our present is transformed and our future becomes glorious. 

How can God’s desire become our desire? Another way to ask this question, how can we overcome this world and align ourselves with a better one? John tells us: “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4). Being born of God through faith joins us to Christ, who conquered sin, Satan, and death, and makes us conquerors and overcomers of this world. 

The wonder of the gospel is a realigning of desire. When our desire aligns with God’s desire, we have overcome the world and are on the path of eternity. Augustine said of 1 John 2:17, “Hold fast to Christ. For you he became temporal, so that you might partake of eternity” (quoted in the ESV Study Bible). Which would you rather partake of: a temporal world that is passing away or an eternity with the God of light and love? To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, why waste our time with mud pies in the slum when we can have a wonderful holiday at the sea? 

Here’s the warning and rebuke for us: “The world is passing away along with its desires.” But here’s the good news: “Whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

PDF copy of the Session’s Letter

Dear URC,

The Lord has been kind to our church during a unique and trying year. We are thankful as we look back, and as we continue to move forward as a congregation. The Session recently approved the plan below for increased openness in the coming months. Our original six guiding principles continue to shape our thinking. We have sought to faithfully and prayerfully lead with these in mind: glorify the Lord and honor His word, love our neighbors, uphold the importance of gathered corporate worship, honor the governing authorities, respect the consciences of brothers and sisters, and walk humbly recognizing we don’t know what we don’t know. The plan outlined below may need to be adjusted, and in such a scenario we will communicate the reasons.

Leaders for Growth Groups and URC ministries will be working with staff and elders if they anticipate disruption to their ministry from the changes above.

Thank you for your patience, perseverance, and prayerfulness as we continue to move forward together glorifying Christ and growing in grace. We are blessed with a great church and an even greater Savior. 

With much love,

The Session of University Reformed Church

by Peeter Lukas

We’re all familiar with the ethereal beauty of 1 Corinthians 13. In verses 1-3 Paul speaks of the absolute necessity of love. If it’s absent then I am a mere clanging cymbal or resounding gong, I’m nothing, and I gain nothing. In verses 4-7 the apostle uses 15 verbs to describe the characteristics of love, and in verses 8 and 13 he says that “Love never fails” and “the greatest of these is love.” But I want to focus on two specific aspects of love that we find in this chapter. Verse 13:4a reads, “Love is patient and kind…” That’s from the ESV; the KJV may be an even more revealing translation: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind…”

Love defines life for the Christian. John 13:34,35 reads, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” But 1 Cor.13:4 serves as a reality check to this command. There are evil and injury in a fallen world, and so there are weaknesses and sins amongst God‘s people. And yet we’re called to suffereth long and to be kind. 

“Love suffereth long.” Here is the passive quality of love. It considers that we are unloveable. Matt.5:46 – “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” And it considers our suffering. Romans 8:23 – “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” 

“Love is kind.” Here is the active goodness of love. It listens and engages with others even at personal cost. It extends Gospel goodness, even in the face of being rebuffed. Could there be a more active exercise of love than imitating Christ’s love for us? John 15:12 – “…love one another as I have loved you.” 

Love suffereth long and is kind…. Can any Christian read these words and say, “I got this!”? Of course not. We have all failed and will continue to fail. Paul assumes this in Eph. 4:2 when he says, “…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” Bearing with one another requires love.

Love to God and others is exhaustive in its scope, and perfection is its expectation. Are we therefore hopeless? No, because the love that we see in 1Cor 13 is for those in Christ. We are the objects of God’s perfect love. 2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” His righteous judgment has been averted in the death of His Son. 

And Longsuffering describes His attitude and disposition towards us now. Rich in mercy, God pours out blessings upon His people day in and day out. Paul had only to look upon his life to say, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) And to say, “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:16,17)

There is no shortage of “What the post COVID church will look like” internet articles these days. But we have the answer. Love to God and love to neighbor — the two tables of the law, in that order — must forever and a day be the foundation of how the Church moves forward. The love of God suffereth long and is kind, and therefore, so must the love of God’s people.

by Tim Herwaldt

Where does the Bible rank on your list of reading priorities? Most of us probably read from many sources every day. Some of us still read printed newspapers. Many read magazines, books, internet articles. There are things to read about innumerable topics: Fishing, politics, history, cooking, woodworking, sports, theology, and on and on. Whatever your preferences for reading material, I’d like to suggest that almost every one of us would do well to replace some of what we usually read with a little more time reading the Bible. There are many Biblical reasons we could draw from to support this notion, but I’d like to use one of the shortest verses in the Bible as my inspiration for urging that we consider this. John 17 records for us the prayer that Jesus prayed on the night that he was betrayed. Among the things he prays for is that the Father would continue to keep his followers, even as he, Jesus, prepares to finish his ministry on earth and return to his Father in heaven. He prays in ways that should be a great encouragement to us.  In verse 9 he says that he is not praying for everyone but very particularly for those who belong to him:  “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”  In verse 11 he prays that the Father would keep them, and prays that they’d be unified: “…keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” In verse 15 he prays that the Father would keep them from the evil one: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” Especially encouraging is verse 20 where he prays for us, those who would believe in later generations, long after that of the original 12 disciples: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” So where does the idea that we should be reading the Bible more faithfully come from? Tucked into the heart of this prayer is verse 17 which says, “ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” We understand that sanctification is the process of growing in holiness and that this is the Lord’s desire for all of his people. The fact that this is his desire for us is spelled out very clearly in 1 Thessalonians 4:3a where Paul instructs these believers this way: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…” So, God’s will for us is that we grow in holiness, and by pairing this notion with the one presented in John 17:17, we can see that reading and growing in our understanding of God’s word is an integral part of this process. If we see this as a scriptural mandate for us, then it should motivate us to make Bible reading a regular and important part of our lives. A once a week “fill up” on Sundays is not sufficient. We need to be reading in a way that increases both the breadth and the depth of our knowledge of the word of God. It’s good for us to bear in mind that each of us will find certain parts of scripture easier to read or more attractive to us than other parts. Paul’s word to Timothy is a good reminder that all of scripture is important for us as followers of Jesus Christ. In 2 Timothy 3:15-17 he assures his younger brother in the faith like this: “ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The “sacred writings” that Paul references here are the scriptures we know as the Old Testament today, and they, like the New Testament are breathed out by God and profitable for us. If reading scripture regularly and meaningfully has proven to be difficult for you to maintain, I’d like to suggest that you pray that God would give you a heart that reflects the heart of the author of Psalm 119. In verses 97-104 he proclaims his love for the word of God and describes some of its benefits for him… “Oh how I love your law!     It is my meditation all the day. 98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,     for it is ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,     for your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the aged,     for I keep your precepts. 101 I hold back my feet from every evil way,     in order to keep your word. 102 I do not turn aside from your rules,     for you have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste,     sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through your precepts I get understanding;     therefore I hate every false way.“ Pray faithfully and regularly that the Lord would increase in your heart a love for his word that would encourage you to grow in being regularly immersed in his word. You can confidently pray a prayer like this because you are asking him to help you love his priorities for you. And as you pray this kind of prayer, pick up your Bible and read!

by Allan Knapp

I love lists and I love to nail down where Bible phrases come from. Have you ever wondered where “your heart of stone will be changed to a heart of flesh” comes from? Read Ezekiel 36:22–32:

²²“Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. ²³And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. ²⁴I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

That stone-to-flesh miracle is just one of a great list of ways that God is going to act for His people! God will be doing ALL the work to…

• Vindicate the holiness of His great name, even before the eyes of the nations,
• Gather his people from multiple countries and nations,
• Sprinkle clean water and cleanse us, His people, from all our uncleanness,
• Give us a new heart and a new spirit,
• Remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh,
• Put His Spirit within us,
• Cause us to walk in His statutes and obey His rules, AND most importantly,
• He will be our God.

Why is he doing these marvelous things? Verse 22 makes it clear it is not because of anything we have ever done, but for the sake of HIS holy name. And verse 32, just past the passage above, confirms this idea: “It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you.” This is the same motivation that we see in Psalm 23:3 where David says, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Our status as God’s people with His Spirit within us is well explained in the first Heidelberg Question and Answer:
Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A: That am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful savior Jesus Christ.”

There are many phrases for becoming a Christian – ‘Born again’, ‘come to faith’, ‘the moment you truly believe’, ‘saved’, ‘accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.’ I like ‘heart of stone to heart of flesh’ because it denotes the miraculous nature of what only God can do, and it is part of that long list of what God continues to do for his elect followers.

by Allan Knapp

Luke 11:9–13
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Romans 8:26–28
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Kids, how does your mom or dad answer when you ask for dessert? Of course, you have to ask nicely, don’t whine, say ‘please’ and all that. But when your request is made in a respectable manner, what is the answer you get? It’s not always the same, is it? Sometimes ‘Yes’, sometimes ‘No’, sometimes ‘Maybe’, sometimes ‘Wait until everyone is done with dinner.’ Best of all, sometimes when you ask for one Oreo, you get cake and ice cream. And the adults get crème brûlée.

The reason for the answer can vary. Maybe you and your siblings already had too many sweets. Maybe the cookies are all gone. Maybe there was a promise made earlier in the day, like ‘thanks for cleaning up your room, I think we should have ice cream tonight,’ or, ‘that was very naughty, no dessert for you tonight.’ Maybe it’s Halloween and desserts galore are in your near future.

Mom and Dad desire good things for you but like all humans, they don’t know everything; only God does. And we see in the passages above that God not only desires to give good gifts to His people, but EVERYTHING works together for good for those who love Him. One of the many gifts God gives is His Holy Spirit. And the Spirit’s intercessory too-deep-for-words groanings are always according to the will of God. Even though our prayers, like our requests for dessert, might not be done in a respectable manner, the Holy Spirit always provides a super-clean filter when bringing them before God.

So, what answers can you expect when you pray? ‘Yes.’ ‘No.’ ‘Maybe.’ ‘Wait.’ Those are all possibilities. We might not know or understand the answer for a while; waiting can be hard. Similarly, we might not know the reason for the answer we receive. Some prayers, like asking for wisdom (James 1:5) or asking for Jesus to return soon God readily answers with a ‘Yes’ because he promised He would. He also promises in 1 John 1:9 that he would say ‘Yes’ if we confess and request forgiveness. And confessing sin is also a good idea because that unrepentant sin can be hindering the content and the reception of our prayers; like naughty behavior might prevent dessert tonight.

Sometimes the answer to your prayers is much better than what you were asking for. Maybe your congregation had prayed for some building with more worship, classroom, and parking space. You were given a wonderful church building with three times the worship, classroom and parking space at a price that allowed tremendous renovations. Be looking for such answers and give thanks like Paul does in Ephesians 3:20 with the phrase, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…”

  by Kevin Phipps

How do we navigate life in the information age? Data, figures, and statistics are instantly available to any who search. We no longer need to wait for the nightly news, much less the morning paper to get in the know about what is going on. But more often than not, the onslaught of information produces weariness. The weariness doesn’t just come from the burden of knowing too much, but from the need to exercise constant discernment, to acknowledge that pristine objectivity is impossible, and to see that differing worldviews can produce wildly divergent narratives to explain events and statistics.

Living in the information age often feels like drowning in a pool of mayonnaise – you’re surrounded and don’t know which way is up.

How should we interpret the abundance of information and then make actual decisions that will impact our lives and others? We need wisdom. Wisdom is a theme we have returned to several times in these devotionals. Why? It is challenging to live as a faithful and God honoring disciple of Jesus in a fallen world. It was before the information age, and our day has brought new challenges. While there are many situations in our lives where drawing a line from the ten commandments to our circumstances is easy, there are also many other situations that we face that are several steps removed from what is clearly revealed in Scripture. We need wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to apply information in the right way. It is the ability to apply knowledge from special revelation (truth supernaturally revealed in the Bible) to the crisis or decision we are facing – even when there is no specific chapter and verse. Wisdom is also the ability to apply knowledge from general revelation (truth revealed in the created order) to a crisis or decision.

James tells us that if we lack wisdom, we can ask for it and God always gives it to those who ask in faith (James 1:5-8.) It is important to note that James doesn’t just tell us to ask for wisdom, he also equips us to recognize wisdom that is from God.

 ¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.  James 3:13-18

There is true wisdom, wisdom from above. There is also false wisdom, wisdom from below. How do we discern between the two? Well, we should first reject any supposed wisdom that doesn’t align with the testimony of special revelation or the message of the gospel (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.) And then here in James chapter three we have Holy Spirit inspired instructions on how to evaluate whether wisdom is from above or below.

James identifies wisdom from below as being void of meekness (James 3:13.) The character of wisdom from above is humbleness, not arrogance or pridefulness. What marks wisdom from below is jealousy and selfish ambition. Wisdom from below will produce disorder and leads to every vile practice (James 3:16.) It produces terrible fruit because of its source; it is from that which is earthly, unspiritual, demonic (James 3:15.)

On the other hand, what marks heavenly wisdom is purity, peaceableness, gentleness, and reasonableness (James 3:17a.) Wisdom from above is full of mercy, produces good fruit, and prioritizes peace (James 3:17b-18.) We can identify the source of the wisdom by what it promotes and produces.

I am constantly praying for wisdom from above, for myself and for you. May we walk in heavenly wisdom and by God’s grace see a harvest of righteousness.