by Michiana Covenant | Feb 11, 2016 | Women, Women's Ministry
By Elizabeth Sunshine
I was honored to be asked to lead a devotional at the 2016 MCPC women’s tea on the topic of “books.” I asked my dad for suggestions, and he pointed me to Ecclesiastes 12:12. “My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” As a grad student, I can confirm that the verse is very true. In fact, I’d consider putting it on t-shirts for my classmates. But I didn’t think that’s what the event’s organizers had in mind, so instead I focused on the ways books in general and fiction in particular have influenced my life. I chose this because the value of reading non-fiction for spiritual growth can be relatively obvious. The influence of stories is more subtle but no less real.
We get a hint of the importance of stories in the structure of the Bible. Though we think of it as one book, the Bible is actually many books in many different genres. It contains theological treatises (such as Romans), law codes, also poetry, prophecy (in both prose and poetry) and lots of narratives. Stories take up a large percentage the Bible, and while many of them are history, Jesus’ parables are a kind of fiction. God uses this huge variety of forms to communicate to us because different types of writing speak to our experiences in different ways and affect us differently. And if God considers stories a helpful way of communicating truth, so should we.
One of the first things the Bible tells us about human beings is that we’re made in the image of God. We find this out in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible. At that point, all we’ve been told about God is that He created everything and did it by speaking. Authors, like their Creator create using words. So every time we pick up a book we should recognize that God’s image is being expressed. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everything in every book is good. Authors are also fallen, so we need to read any book with discernment. But we should give thanks to God for the amazing privilege of being made in His image and for the joy we gain from seeing the ways authors intentionally or unintentionally reveal His image in them.
Stories can aid our spiritual growth by helping us develop empathy. They let us get inside the head of someone different from us and understand the world as they experience it. This in turn can help us understand the real people who have had similar experiences. When you meet someone on the street, you don’t know what they’re thinking or their backstory. But when you read a book, the author often tells you that, which makes it easier to understand and relate to the characters.
Fiction is also a huge source of encouragement for me, something my parents taught me at a young age. When I was 10, my parents took my family to Europe for several months, and we traveled to Hungary. We took a night train into Budapest and transferred to another train that would eventually take us to the town where we would be staying. The schedule said the train would have a snack car, so my parents planned on eating breakfast on the train. As the train left the station, a blizzard hit our area. It was then that we discovered the train had little to no heat. My brother and my father walked along the train looking for the snack car. Snow blew upward between holes in the floor of the passages connecting different cars. One bicycle car was covered with ice because the door was opened. My dad tried to close it, but it was jammed. To quote my father, “the bathrooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the fall of Communism” (this was 1999). My father and brother reached the end of the train, but there was no snack car. So my brother and I sat in the compartment bundled up in our coats while my mom fed us gummy bears that she had found in her purse. We had been reading The Hobbit as a family, so my dad said, “Bilbo Baggins describes adventures as ‘nasty, unpleasant things that make you late for breakfast.’ That means we’re having an adventure.” Suddenly, I was excited because I was on an adventure. I was still cold and hungry, but I wasn’t miserable because I saw my predicament differently.
I still draw on Tolkien for encouragement and inspiration, especially when life seems overwhelming. Tolkien does a great job depicting both genuine good and genuine evil and helping us recognize the difference. He also shows us ordinary people, like the Hobbits, standing up against this evil and making a difference. Good stories aren’t just a way to escape from the evil in the world. They’re a picture of what we can do, and they can provide motivation to take risks and do things that may be frightening. G.K. Chesterton once said, “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” The problems that face the heroes in fairy tales are symbols of the evil in the world. And when we see characters in stories slaying their dragons, it can encourage us to stand up and face our dragons.
We’re all busy, so I’m sure many of you don’t have much time for reading. But when you do encounter stories, either in books or in movies, I think it’s helpful to think about them and draw lessons or encouragement from them. I’d also like to encourage you to give thanks to God for the gift of books and the way He can use books of all kinds to make us more like Christ.
by Michiana Covenant | Dec 10, 2015 | Women's Ministry
A Facebook post from Rachel Jankovic (12/9)…
I can’t imagine that in 20 years when my kids get together they will look back in joy on the year Mom finally figured out a way to keep the snow clothes tidy. A bunch of adults sitting around, “Remember that year when everything was clean before Christmas? That was the best! I hope we can do that for our kids this year!” Somehow doesn’t ring true, does it?
It is as though when I become stressed about the home, my kids don’t become stressed about the home- they become stressed about me, and any joy a clean home would have given gets swallowed up in that. But when I lay that all aside and rejoice in the mess, in the kids, in the crazy boxes that don’t stop coming from Amazon- my kids rejoice in all that their hearts want to naturally, and in me too.
The kids will remember the diving into new Lego sets and not the little plastic baggie carnage and the random tiny ninja swords that show up everywhere. They will remember eating candy canes without a care and not the tiny shards of stickiness after. They will remember a home full of excitement, and joy, and anticipation over the birth of our Savior. And I hope they remember their mother, in the middle of it all laughing. With a mad baby in the Ergo, trying to pick up laundry with her toes and wrap gifts with her teeth. I hope they remember a Merry Christmas! All of it!
by Michiana Covenant | Nov 18, 2015 | Women's Ministry
By Lindsey L. Tollefson (FenleyFlat)
When Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, saying, “Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.”
Jesus saith unto him, “I will come and heal him.”
The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”
When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
And Jesus said unto the centurion, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the same hour.” (Matthew 8)
I often hear faith equivocated with being bold, with putting everything on the line and not being afraid to take risks. I hear people talking about faith as a lack of worry when things aren’t looking so great. I hear of faith as a reassurance in your heart and soul that you have been bought with His blood. Faith has many facets, and faith manifests itself in our stories in many different ways. In His interaction with the centurion, Christ gives us another angle on faith that many of us miss. The centurion tells Christ if He will just say the words then his servant will be healed. How does he know this? Because he understands authority and submission and obedience, and he believes that Jesus is God the Creator, which means that Jesus has authority over words and bodies and “the palsy”. Jesus says this is the greatest faith he has seen in all of Israel! It is so easy to skip over the centurion’s explanation of his own ranking in the military line of authority and think that his faith is praised because he believes Christ is a healer. But that is not what is happening here. Jesus praises the centurion’s faith because the centurion understands authority, and he understands that if Christ is in authority of heaven and earth then His words cannot return void. He merely has to speak the word and the servant will be healed.
We are drowning in a culture that has no idea how authority should function. We are a people who dishonors parents, who disrespects teachers, who humiliates pastors, who pokes fun at political leaders, who complains about bosses, who tears down husbands. We think we have a right to disrespect men or women in authority because we disagree with them. It is possible that the only place where we even begin to properly recognize authority is within sports, on the ball-field, with coaches and umpires and referees, but even then we feel it is our right to scream and yell if we do not get our way. Perhaps the military has a small grasp on how to respect an authority, which was the case with the centurion. Of all the men in Israel, Jesus had found no one else whose faith was as strong as the centurion’s. His understanding and respect of Jesus’ authority was attributed to him as faith.
How can we even begin to understand faith when we are so confused on what it means to respect authority? Christ is our King! I think we spend more time meditating Christ as a servant than meditating on being obedient to His marching orders. We focus so much on the cross (which is wonderful!!), but we forget that our faith is not only believing in that event. What happens next? Christ says that if we love Him we will obey His commands. Our faith is manifested in following His lead, in obeying Him, in recognizing His authority over all words and events. Our faith is manifested in joyful submission to whatever He is doing in our lives and however He has chosen to tell our stories.
And what has He done in your life? Has he given you parents? Honor them, speak kind words about them. Has He given you a husband? Praise him, defer to him, obey him. Has He given you a pastor? Treat him with respect, listen to him, trust him. Has He given you a boss? Obey them, work hard for them, speak kindly of them.
We are quick to think of exceptions, aren’t we? We are quick to say “yes, but what about when an authority is mistreating you? When an authority is not acting wisely? When your boss really does overwork you and underpay you? When your parents act selfishly?” We are quick to think we are all Abigails and it would be Godly to call our husbands fools. We are quick to compare our authority figures to Sisera and think of ourselves as Jael. We are quick to think that because an authority figure has made a mistake or has a weakness it gives us the right to speak out against them and demand an apology. We are quick to say that because it is possible to abuse authority, therefore no one should have authority, and we mock and start name calling so everyone knows that NO AUTHORITY IS ABSOLUTE. It is very possible that we are focusing on the wrong end of the spectrum. Christ equivocates the centurion’s faith with his understanding of obedience under authority. Maybe we should spend more time looking for ways to respect authority than looking for exceptions, and maybe this would be accounted to us as faith. Maybe the faith that Christ is asking us to show is faith in the ones He has placed in authority in your story, faith that He wants you to honor and respect them, faith that He knows all their faults and shortcomings and He knows how obedience to them will work in your story for your good.
There will be situations where authority is abused, where husbands are lazy and ask too much of their wives, where parents are selfish and put ridiculously restraining rules on their children, where governments tax too much. Remember David? When his King and father-in-law was chasing him through the Desert of En Gedi trying to kill him and Saul fell asleep in the cave? David’s men were urging him to kill Saul, but instead David just cut off a corner of his robe. And afterward “David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul.”(1 Samuel 24) David was on the run. He fled from Saul multiple times. He did not put his own life in danger or the lives of the men with him, but He refused to harm the one that God had chosen to put in authority over Israel. That was the Lord’s decision, and David’s faith was manifested in recognizing that he had no right to harm one whom the Lord put in authority over him. There is obviously a time when fleeing from an authority is right, when disagreeing with an authority is wise, and turning an authority over to a greater authority is prudent, but we often think that this is a free pass for disrespect. We are often more interested in making sure everyone else knows about how we were wronged than about forgiveness and having faith that the Lord is the judge and He will not let our righteousness be overlooked.
For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him. (Psalm 37)
by Michiana Covenant | Sep 10, 2015 | Baptism
And what is a Christian?
In light of all the discussions about Kim Davis and her anti-Trinitarian church, it is useful to think about how the Bible describes a Christian:
“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26)
What is a Christian? A Christian is a disciple of Jesus. It is convenient for us that Jesus has told us how to define a disciple: “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Therefore, a Christian is one who has been baptized in the triune name of God and is being taught to observe all that Christ commanded.
So when I say that someone is a Christian, I am making a verifiable claim about their objective status as a part of the visible church. The New Testament *never* uses the term “Christian” to refer to some inner reality that no one else can know. Christian is the term that refers to one’s public, outward participation in the church of Jesus Christ. In the same way that a Muslim is someone who conforms to the outward requirements of Islam, a Christian is someone who conforms to the outward requirements of Christianity.
At least, that’s what the Bible says.
Of course, Jesus also makes it clear that not all Christians will enter into glory (e.g., Matthew 25:31-46). It is permissible to say that not all Christians are “truly Christian” — because there are those who apostatize. But unfortunately, many people today seem to take this secondary sense of the word as the primary sense. They use the term “Christian” to refer to those who will enter glory at the final judgment. But that is *not* how the Bible uses the term Christian.
When I say that Kim Davis is not a Christian, I am not saying that she is eternally damned. I have known many Oneness Pentecostals who appear to have truly believed the gospel (and generally speaking, they wind up leaving the Oneness Pentecostal religion and they become Christians by being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and are taught to observe all that Christ commanded!). The question of one’s eternal destiny is not identical to the question of whether they are a Christian! To put it simply, the thief on the cross *never* became a Christian (he was never baptized), but Jesus says that he belonged to Him — and I make a particular point to avoid disagreeing with Jesus!
But *ordinarily* there is no salvation outside the church. And since Jesus has reserved to himself the right to judge extraordinary cases, I leave it to Jesus to make those decisions!
But if you are not baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit — and if you are not currently being taught to observe all that Jesus commanded (in other words, if you are not part of a Christian church) — then you are simply not a Christian.
by Michiana Covenant | May 11, 2015 | Bible, Preaching
Does God hate you?
In Jeremiah 11, the prophet lays out God’s covenant lawsuit against Jerusalem. The logic of the chapter is pretty simple: God said that if you disobey him and turn to idols, then he will destroy you. Well, for generations now Israel and Judah have disobeyed God and turned to idols. Therefore, God will now destroy you.
Sometimes we hear this and think that God is just a cosmic sadist, watching our misery for his good pleasure! If God is a God of love, then how come he allows this to continue?
We need to keep reading. In Jeremiah 12, verse 7, the LORD says:
“I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.”
Think about this! The temple where I said I would dwell with my people forever? I have forsaken it.
My beloved bride – the one who I called “my people”? I have given her into the hands of her enemies.
You can hear the grief in the LORD’s voice – even as you hear the anger:
“My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.” (Jeremiah 12:8)
What does a lion do – when she “lifts up her voice against me”? When does a lion roar? Lions do not roar before they pounce. Lions are silent stalkers. They only lift up their voice after they have subdued their prey!
God has been mauled by his people! You – and I – mauled God. Our sin sent Jesus to the cross. WE might as well have bee the ones who spit on him, beat him, and hammered the nails into his hands!
“Therefore I hate her.”
Wait. God hates us? Yes, he cannot help but hate us! For we have sinned.
But doesn’t God love us? Oh yes, but that is precisely why he must also hate us. For we have sinned. He loves the good that he created. And therefore he hates that which has marred his good creation.
But take heart, for if God only hates us because he loves what he made us to be, then we can trust him to do what it takes to remove the evil.
Indeed, only a love so deep that it is willing to hate is worthy of being called love! I knew a man who did not seem to care that his wife had cheated on him. That man did not love his wife. A man who loves his wife will hate her for cheating on him. Only such a man will be able to bear the cross needed to restore the marriage!
Only when you understand the depth of God’s hatred and sorrow over our sin and rebellion can you truly understand the beauty of John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You can listen to the whole sermon here
