Christian, What Do You Believe?

Christian, what do you believe about the Bible? It's a question many are asking at the church I work at after recent events. Earlier this year, my boss--the pastor here for five years--passed away in his sleep after a year-long battle with LGL Leukemia. Since this is a denomination in which pastors are assigned, an interim pastor was appointed until an official pastor could be found. That happened earlier this month. When the announcement was made, aftershocks swept through the church. Why? Because it was a woman.

Many will say so what? It's a big what, and it started numerous discussions about what the Bible teaches about women holding church office, the denomination's stance on the scriptures and tradition, and even the origin of the denomination itself. Which is good. Such conversations should be held. It forces people to examine what they believe and why. However, I knew what the Scriptures said on the subject and knew I was about to lose my job.

That, too, sent a bit of a shockwave through those who heard. I like working here and they like my work. "Wasn't that fundamentalism?" one person asked. Not at all. I'm sure others felt it was legalistic. Even as I processed the shock of the unexpected and upcoming demise of my job and paycheck, I explained the Scriptural stance, that it had nothing to do with chauvinism, patriarchies, legalism, or even capability. It was a simple obedience to the Scriptures, i.e. placing a man in the position of pastor is a picture of Christ the Bridegroom caring for His bride, the Church. 

There are other factors at play. As I explained to everyone who asked, there is a group in our denomination that is working hard to subvert the standards and, "change the fabric" of our denomination so that it better fits a particular social view. A group that fully holds to the ordination of women. My husband is a pastor in that denomination, and he and I have been speaking out against this push. If the Bible isn't the "light" and "lamp" for God's people, "God-breathed and...useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work," why in the world did we have had to leave our children and the place we love so that my husband could teach the full counsel of the Scriptures in context? Considering those circumstances, I couldn't speak out against the ordination of women at our church and then go to another church and support a woman in that role.

However, I truly didn't want to lose my job and paycheck (I cannot emphasize that last part enough) so I prayed about it, discussed it with my husband, and consulted with someone in our denomination, who, after a week of prayer, counseled me to resign. A co-worker and I even looked for loopholes (yes, I regret that now.) When it came down to it, I couldn't do my job without violating the Scriptures and my conscience. I have no choice but to leave at an appointed time.

Some felt we just need to give her a chance. One person stated this person had faced similar objections at her previous assignments, but eventually overcame them. I'm not surprised. When pushing for something contrary to the Scriptures, the goal is to "overcome (objections) through familiarity." A sentence and truth I found in a chapter on why the Huguenot assimilated with the Anglicans in the 1700s after migrating to South Carolina. But this wasn't about her at all. It was about a female serving as an ordained pastor. One person tried to justify it by using the example of Lydia (when he meant Phoebe) who was called a servant, in the original Greek a word some like to translate as Deaconess. But the Scriptures never indicate she held an actual office in the church. Another person said, "I know it's in the Bible but...." My heart sank at that, as the hearts of many in the ministry must sink when someone admits they know the Word of God but they do what they want anyway. 

That, my friends, is Sin Nature and the reason we need a Savior in the first place.

Biblical illiteracy is high in this day and age. People simply don't know what's in in the Scriptures. Some won't read it at all, either because they're intimidated by its size or because they're afraid they won't understand it. Consequently, they rely on others to tell them what's inside without examining the Scriptures as the Bereans did to see if what was spoken is true. Many infuse their politics into their faith, perverting the Word of God for a social agenda. 

Do you know what you believe and why? Do you know what your denomination holds to and on what basis it came into existence? We're all to, "Do (our) best to present (ourselves) to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." (emphasis mine.) If you don't know I've been quoting Scripture or where to find them, start reading. Pick a gospel and then read Acts, Paul's epistles and then the general epistles. Read three chapters a day and keep everything in context of what the disciple of Christ is saying, to whom, and why. When you're done, start on the Old Testament. And keep reading over the years. Then you can better decide what you believe and know when it's time for you to make a sacrifice for the faith.

What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do

From an early age, I had two major goals in life. I worked on those goals during the majority of my adult years, investing time, money, and a lot of effort in the hopes of achieving them. Despite all that effort, neither goal came to pass. To say I was--and still am--disappointed is an understatement.

I'm a Type A person who loves to be busy and to produce. At a time I expected to find myself working hard on the other side of my met goals, I instead found myself with very little to do. Getting forced to stay inside a house in a rural region during a pandemic didn't help. So I did what I could do. I started a large crochet project. I learned how to make and can strawberry and peach jam (I tried blueberry, but it kept coming out more like candy than jam.)

Though I don't play the piano, I memorized a couple of songs that could be useful in church, since we lost our high-risk pianist to concerns over COVID. I made a few masks for people at church. I cut out pieces for a purse that I've yet to put together because sewing construction is hard. I started a new crochet project after completing the previous one and read until my wonky vision made both impossible to do (one cataract surgery down, one to go, so please pardon any typos I made.)

I watched TV, started listening to podcasts, took bike rides and walks. My husband bought a big garden box for me and I planted vegetables in it. Now, I've turned my attention to learning how to make small quilts. I do anything I can to produce, because I can't stand feeling useless.

Some may call that being busy. While it is, it's busy work, filler, with some ministerial applications, since I did some of it for others. None of it is what I feel I was meant or called to do.

God places His people on this earth for a purpose--to minister to the Body of Christ around the world, to do good works that will glorify His name, to teach others about Him and more. What my purpose is, I don't know yet. Maybe the busy work is it. Perhaps, like a quilt or that purse I've yet to pin together to sew, I'm gathering all the pieces and tools I'll need for whatever it is I'm supposed to do. In the meantime, I'll keep learning and doing stuff.

Short Story: Moonbow

The following short story originally appeared on Christian Fiction Online Magazine. It isn’t fully autobiographical; I’ve never stolen a neighbor’s property or their husband. Instead, it’s based on a verse in the fifth chapter of the book of Mark. There we read of the healing of the demon-possessed man called Legion. After Jesus cast the spirits from him, the reborn man expressed his desire to go with Jesus. Jesus denied his request saying to him--and to us--“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Going home to our families and sharing our testimony is a daunting prospect for many Christians. Those people knew us at our worst. My husband and I know from experience that trying to reach family and friends under such circumstance is difficult. My brother blew me off. My father-in-law reacted angrily to my husband. And yet, we’re to witness to them.

I address this dilemma in the story below. As with the majority of my stories, I used the landscape to emphasis my point. On this occasion, I used the moonbow at Cumberland Falls State Park in Kentucky.

Moonbow

Science tells us rainbows form when light refracts through a prism such as rain. However, I never knew if the phenomenon occurred when a beam of light shone through a single bead of water, or if it took thousands of drops to form the bow. If the former, the sky should be filled with brightly colored arcs after a storm, delighting those lucky enough to see such a sight. If the latter, then science failed to explain to me how light bending through a myriad of drops can form a single, massive, unbroken bow separated into a palette of colors.

Foamy white water nearly obscured by a cloud gushed over a cliff into an unseen pool sixty-eight feet below, its perpetual roar serving as a locator beacon in the dark. A fine mist blowing up from Cumberland Falls dampened my skin. Tightening my fleece around me to fight off the chill, I crept across the overlook located just off the bank of the river. Though the sandstone typical of the Cumberland Plateau had eroded in places, leaving an uneven surface littered with potholes, I didn’t need a flashlight to make my way around the state park. My kin had been roaming this area of Kentucky for over two-hundred years.

And that was the problem.

Family, friends, and neighbors—people who'd known me as a child and who knew every sin I’d committed while growing up—still lived in Corbin. When I left for college four years before, I was still the girl they knew me to be. As rebellious as I was back then, I didn’t care what they said or thought.

That was before the weight of those sins brought me to my knees before Christ during my senior year in college. Though God had given me a new heart to go along with my new life, I couldn’t forget my past. And I doubted those in my old stomping grounds could either.

My pastor and his wife claimed that was the very reason I should head home after graduation. They pointed to a verse in Mark where Jesus had instructed a man He’d healed to go home and tell his family what the Lord had done for him. I’d promised to consider it, but the verse about a prophet having no honor in his hometown kept running through my mind. In a town where I’d stolen everything from patio furniture to a woman’s husband, dishonor was all I could expect.

But God had made His wishes clear the following week. On the day my landlord informed me he was selling the building and couldn’t renew my lease, a teaching position opened up at my old elementary school.

Footsteps and flashlights brought me back to the edge of the Cumberland River. Tourists and campers would soon crowd beside me on a rock some claimed was as old as the Ancient of Days. I would rather have the moment to myself, but I understood the lure of witnessing a miracle no one could fully explain.

A chorus of shushes nearly drowned out the rumble of the falls. As those around me extinguished flashlights, a cloud as stubborn as I once had been shifted, revealing a full moon, dazzling this deep in the dark country. Moments later, an arc of color shimmered, and the famous moonbow formed across Cumberland Falls.

Children and adults, their voices quivering with excitement, tried to take pictures with their cell phones. I reached out along with several others, unable to touch that which I could plainly see.

I once heard darkness is the absence of light, but the Apostle John reminds us the light of Jesus shines in the darkness, and the darkness can’t overcome it. Maybe God wanted me to go to Corbin for that very reason. Whether He intended to shine His light through me alone or to use me as one of a thousand droplets, I didn’t know. But if He could use the mist from a waterfall located in the middle of nowhere to project a miracle, then maybe, just maybe, He could use me.

Copyright Kimberli Buffaloe. All Rights Reserved. May not be used in whole without express permission. May not be used in part except allowed by law in a review.

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So Is God Still Good?

Those of us who are connected to Christians on social media often see the proclamation shouted in a post: This wonderful thing happened to me. God is good!

• My fairy tale wedding was beautiful. God is good!
• I was able to move to the place I love. God is good!
• I/my child finally got that college degree. God is good!
• A publisher accepted my manuscript. I'm going to be published! God is so good!

The subject of God's goodness came up during a staff meeting this week at the church where I work.The discussion involved people who were going through hardships and our readiness to recognize God's goodness when our lives are going well. That begged the question, is God not good when all isn't going well?

• What about the Christians in China who are undergoing severe persecution right now, is God not good? 
• And those Christian in Nigeria who are being slaughtered for their faith, is God not good? 
• If the child of a Christian couple is diagnosed with cancer, is God not good? 

And what about my life experiences, which seem puny compared to those examples. Thanks to my mother seriously underestimating my soon-to-be husband's tolerance for crazed-fueled drama, our small wedding in front of a JP was hardly fairy tale. Decades later, ministry sent us far from our children as well as the region I loved. Despite trying for years--attending two community colleges and four universities, maintaining a 4.0 average for much of that, and earning over 90 hours of credits--I couldn't earn that coveted Bachelor's Degree. My husband's job transfers and his education, including seminary, had to come first. And a book contract? I don't even want to go there.

I didn't get what I wanted. Does that mean God isn't good?

We have a habit of measuring God's goodness by our successes and His willingness to fulfill our deepest desires. When He chooses to shower gifts on us, we recognize His goodness. And come on, admit it, when God opts not to shower those same gifts on others, we secretly feel that person (even if that person is us) has some manner of spiritual flaw and thus is undeserving. After all, the Lord said, "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."

So those who didn't receive the goodies they wanted are faithless, right?

No. God is good all the time, even when He doesn't grant our wishes.

• Did Abraham receive his God-given promise during his lifetime?
• Was Moses able to go into that promised land even after leading the rebellious Israelite community through the wilderness for forty years?
• Did Mary outlive her innocent son instead of having to watch him die a horrible death on a cross? 
• Did the disciples lead nice, quiet lives and die peaceful deaths at a good old age?
• Did Christians throughout church history enjoy lives of ease from the wonderful plan God had for their lives? 

No, no, and more no. And yet, God is good. He provided the ultimate atoning sacrifice for His people even though we are most undeserving of that grace and mercy. He gave us His word and His spirit to guide us as we live our temporal life on this earth. He gave us the Body of Christ, who, when we do what we're supposed to do, serve as a support to those grieving parents and for others enduring hardships. And He gave His people eternal life. The saints undergoing severe persecution know this and are comforted by it even in their distress.

As for me and my meager issues, which at times don't feel so meager, maybe I didn't get that beautiful wedding, but I did get a wonderful, faithful husband who loves me even nearly forty years later, and who faithfully serves the Lord, teaching his congregation the scriptures and doctrines in context, and who ministers to the church as a shepherd to his flock. I didn't get that coveted degree. With tuition prices, I never will. However, the Lord gave me the desire and ability to keep learning, which I do, even now studying history and the French language. Yes, I do live far from my family and the region I love, but I can squeeze in visits here and there. So writing didn't work out as I was certain it would, but I gave it my best effort, and I wanted to do so for God's glory and for His kingdom (I've been told numerous times my stories are too Christian for the Christian market.)

Perhaps the reason I didn't get the desires of my heart really is due to some manner of spiritual flaw, I don't know. But if so, that means God is working in my life and He'll ultimately use that work for His glory.

I wanted some things, yes, but what matters most is what God wanted for me. As I look at His creation, the salvation He provided, His work around the world and in our congregation, and the life He gave me, I can easily see and readily say that yes, God most certainly is good.

Lessons: Hearing When We Hear

"Whoever has ears, let them hear."

The Lord's words as recorded in Isaiah 6 and repeated in Mark 4 and Matthew 13 are familiar to most Christians, and even some unbelievers. In its context, the Lord is talking about the hard-hardheartedness of the Israelites and those in the crowd as Jesus taught. In the ESV, it's related in Matthew 13 as follows:

"Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
The disciples came to him and asked, 
“Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “Because the knowledge of the 
secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been 
given to you, but not to them.

Whoever has will be given more, 
and they will have an abundance. 
Whoever does not have, even 
what they have will be taken from them.

This is why I speak to them in parables: 
“Though seeing, they do not see; though 
hearing, they do not hear or understand.

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 
“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; 
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused; 
they hardly hear with their ears, and they have 
closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see 
with their eyes, hear with their ears, 
understand with their hearts and turn, 
and I would heal them.’

I've always taken the "seeing they do not see," and "though hearing, they do not hear" as a euphemism for they didn't get it. And then later, when I really read the passage, I took it to mean the Lord blinded them so that they didn't understand, because "the secrets of the kingdom of heaven" wasn't theirs to hear or see.

However, there is a literal aspect to this scenario, which I finally caught onto this past week. I sometimes listen to audio books during my drive to work. At one point, something in the reading caught my attention, and I realized my mind had drifted moments before. This isn't anything new--I've been a daydreamer since I was little, and I often find myself on some mental adventure or sorting through story ideas.

When I daydreamed on this occasion, I missed something in the book that I would have liked to have heard, and the verse, "hearing, they do not hear," came to mind.

I technically heard what was being said, but I didn't hear it. I then began to think of all those who literally heard the prophets and those who were blessed enough to hear Jesus speak, and yet they didn't hear what anyone was saying. They weren't deaf. They could hear if they so chose, but their minds were on something they felt was more important.

The Lord indicated the secrets of the kingdom of heaven didn't belong to these people. If you attend church because it's the right thing to do, because your parents taught you to, because you need to network for your business, or because your granddaddy helped build the structure (true story, and the lady made sure I knew it minutes after I walked through the door) and you know that you sit through an entire sermon with your mind on anything but what's being taught, the Lord's words should scare you.

The Lord ended the parable by saying, "Whoever has ears, let them hear." I'm assuming he meant that in the literal sense as well as in the figurative. Our minds will drift at times--that's natural and keeping constant focus is a struggle for me--but if we're serious about our faith and salvation, we cannot allow our attention to perpetually drift away from the teaching of the Word of God.

May all we who have ears hear and understand that.

Reflections

I've wanted to blog about several items this week ranging from my disgust over so called televangelists begging viewers for a thousand bucks (Christian, God only asked for 10% of your income to help fund the churches and charities they're supposed to oversee. Those people are marking up the price) to my disgust over Americans selling their freedoms for a model that has been proven to be oppressive, but my thoughts have been on the magnificence and fragility of life.

A dear friend of ours passed on last week. Her leaving wasn't unexpected, but the timing was. We'd hoped to have her around until sometime next year, but weakness and infection set in. She went gently, as we prayed she would. And while Christmas is a bit more somber because of her absence, I can't help but appreciate it more. For with the birth of Jesus came the fulfillment of the promise God made for a redeemer. The "scapegoat", the final sacrifice who paid the penalty for sins. As one who received him, who believed on his name, my dear friend was given the right to be called (a child) of God, and that payment was applied to her. As my husband said, while we celebrate Christmas here, she's celebrating in heaven. What a comfort. What a God.

Revive Us Again

First, I'd like to welcome my new reader from Charlestown, Mass. As you can see, I don't post every day, just when I'm inspired to do so. So if you haven't given up, welcome and thanks for stopping by ;)

I'm putting my fingers to the keys on this day because of the upcoming Reformation Celebration. October 31st marks the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg. According to Websters, a theses is also "a position or proposition that a person (as a candidate for scholastic honors) advances and offers to maintain by argument". That's precisely what this lawyer-turned-monk did in A.D. 1517 after studying and comparing Scripture to accepted religious norms. In short, it didn't match up.

Luther challenged the teachings of the church in the hopes of moving it back to the beauty of the Gospel—salvation by grace alone—and obliterating the rules, rules, and more rules that weighed down the hearts and souls of the masses and led to death. The church refused, but Luther's theses, aided by the new Guttenberg press, spread through the known world, upending the status quo and changing hearts. This county experienced a wealth of that renewal when reformers sailed to the new world to live according to Scriptures without fear of death.

This isn't the first time a hard look at the Scriptures turned the heads of those who profess to be God's people. II Kings 22 relates the account of the finding of the scrolls (now the first five books of the Bible) in a temple wall during renovation:

Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.

King Josiah wasn't the only one upset after he read those great words and learned of the covenant God had made. In chapter 23, we see the scrolls were read to the people, and change swept through the nation.

Why do I bring this up now? In an age where one finds one or two churches on every corner, in which division has invaded the body to the point it seems every person carries their own belief system (consult the book of Judges on the danger of being right in one's own eyes) and somehow, the Gospel has turned into an American religion, I pray people would take this to heart, read the Scriptures and, as Martin Luther questioned his beliefs and then the norm, God's people would do the same, returning to that great heritage as recorded in the Scriptures.

For more information, read your Bible.