Author Archives: reveds

Unknown's avatar

About reveds

Occupation: Pastor, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Lennox, SD Education: BS - Christian Education, Sterling College; MDiv. - Princeton Theological Seminary Family: Married, with Four children. Hobbies: Running (will someday run a marathon), Sci-Fi (especially Doctor Who and Sherlock), Theater, and anything else my kids will let me do.

Stand Firm in the Truth

Posted on by
Reply

When you live in a day where the prevailing philosophy tells you there is no such thing as absolute truth (an absolute statement if ever there was one) it is hard to know where to stand. Everyone is encouraged to claim “their truth,” but that only ends up in chaos, because what is true for you might not necessarily be true for me. We’re left with Pilate asking, “What is truth?”

There are certain truths passed along in your education that you can bank on, and don’t have to rediscover for yourself. Pythagorean’s Theorem, for example, used in finding the longest side of a right triangle, A2 + B2 = C2. There’s also Newton’s Third Law of motion, which seems to apply in every realm of life: for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.

There are also shared truths, or axioms, that you come to learn through experience. One that I learned early was, “broken people do broken things.” The venomous, toxic and hate-filled people you encounter in life are often unhappy in their own lives, and their lips show the overflow of their hearts.

I recently came across an interview with Tom Hanks, when he said that one truth he wished he would have known this earlier in life was: “This too shall pass.” When you’re feeling down, defeated or bad about yourself, remember that “this too shall pass.”  When life doesn’t seem great, work is challenging, or your personal life is challenging, remember that with hard work and discipline it will change and get better. All of this is momentary.  When you’re feeling good about yourself, your personal life is great, business is amazing, feeling on top of the world, guess what? “This too shall pass.”Sometimes we feel like we have it all together, then the next, we feel out of control and like things are falling apart. Both those feelings will pass. That’s why it’s good to stay confident during challenging times, knowing that you’ll work your way through it. On the flip side, when things are going well and you feel on top of the world, remember to stay humble. That too will pass, and you’ll be wondering where all the answers are.  

More that these scientific theorems and axioms of life, there is a greater truth upon which you can build your life: The truth revealed in God’s Word. Here are just a few:

  1. There is a God, and it’s not you. There is an Almighty God who is sovereign, gracious, good, faithful, and true, righteous in all his deeds. There is a center of the universe, and it is not you. God’s ways are higher than our ways, His wisdom is not ours. But God has made himself known to us in His word, and the Bible reveals all we must know for our salvation
  2. We, as God’s creation, have fallen from God in our sin, and are deserving of God’s righteous anger and wrath. Romans 3:23 tells us, “All have sinned and fall from the glory of God.” Also we read in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”
  3. God loves and saves His people from sin and wrath. In John 3:16 “God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life.” Jesus came to demonstrate the love of God (Rom 5:8), and to show us how we are to love one another (John 13:33-35). The love of God was seen from the very beginning of the story of salvation (Gen 3:15; Deut 4:37; Isa 63:9), but His loving-kindness appeared in full in Jesus (Titus 3:4). 1 Timothy 1:15 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
  4. We know that Jesus is the only way to salvation. 1 Tim 2:5 teaches, “There is one God, one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ.” Jesus himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one may come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). And Romans 10:13 reminds us that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

These are just a few of the absolute truths of God’s Word, but this truth is the solid rock upon which we can build our lives. All the world may be like shifting sand, but this truth, the truth of Christ, is the very rock that will never be moved. Build your life upon Him!

Be Open to Correction

Posted on by
2

I’ve never claimed to be a great student, but I have always loved learning. When I was in high school, my only goal was to have a better GPA than my brother, and once I did that, I didn’t really push myself. When I was in college I saw which students were graduating with honors, and I figured I was at least as smart as they were, so I hit that standard as well.

It wasn’t until I got to seminary in preparation for Pastoral Ministry, and when I was paying for the education myself, that I really started to apply myself. I read everything that was assigned. I joined study groups, did extra assignments, and really pushed myself to achieve the best education I could. The big difference was I wasn’t as concerned about the grade, I was passionate about the study, and that made all the difference.

What I’ve found, however, over the years since seminary, is that I don’t much remember all the things I got right in school; what really stands out is what I got wrong. Case in point: the only question I remember from my Worship final in the Worship in the Reformed Tradition class is the one I got wrong.

I studied like crazy for that final, and it paid off. I sat down, began the test, and just felt confident with every answer. Except for this one: “What is the Haggadah?” When I read that, my mind went blank. I went through the rest of the test, answering everything as best I could, the circled back to this question, “What is the Haggadah?” Still nothing. Knowing I had done everything I could on the rest of the test, and knowing no amount of head-scratching was going to help me produce an answer to this question, I quickly wrote, “My favorite brand of Ice Cream…” and turned the test in.

I don’t remember any of the other questions from that test. But I do remember the Haggadah. And now I know what it means. In Hebrew, Haggadah means, “A retelling.” It comes from Deut 6, when the children would ask their parents what God’s commands and testimonies meant and why they were important, and the Father would retell the story of their deliverance from Egypt at God’s mighty hand. This is essential in our Biblical understanding of worship, because as we worship according to God’s Word, we are retelling the story of our salvation in God.

What stuck with me from that test is the lesson I learned in my error. I walked away knowing what I didn’t know and still needed to learn. And this is the mark of a wise man, he knows what he doesn’t know.

As you go through life, don’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know, to own your own mistakes. Our most important lessons are learned in our failures. The only people who don’t fail are those who don’t try. Mistakes and failures are not flaws in the system, they are how we learn and grow. The true fool is the one who refuses to learn from error, who continues in it, and only grows bitter and resentful when facing setbacks.

This is Biblical.

Proverbs 15:32 “Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.”

Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

In fact, God honors and exalts those who humble themselves with a penitent heart.

Is 57:15  For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Ps 149:4  For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

1 Pe 5:5  Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Be humble, knowing you will make mistakes. Listen to the advice of those who have gone before you that you may avoid their errors. And when you stumble and fall, for that is guaranteed, be humble, repent, admit your error, and with a heart seeking wisdom, grow in the grace of the Lord.

SDG