Christian Life

The U.S. Religion Census just came out with their once-every-ten-year numbers trekking religious involvement state by state. A decade ago, the state of Washington placed 49^th (one position ahead of Oregon—we can’t beat them in football but we can beat them to the pew on Sunday morning). In 2000, 33% of our population claimed religious affiliation to a church, temple, synagogue, or mosque. Now we are in 45^th place as 34.6% of our residents are attending religious services—a whopping increase of 1.6%. For comparison purposes, the national average is now just under 50%.

What do we make of these numbers? Remembering that non-Christian groups are included (Mormons, Buddhists, Muslims, etc.) makes the percentage of those attending Bible believing churches much less. And then there is this development, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) grew by 50% in the past decade in our state. In 2000, there were only 49 Mormon congregations; that number has grown considerably since—they now have over 500. Muslims grew by 23% and Buddhists are also on the upsurge with close to 50,000 adherents. When you start peeling off some of the main-line denominations that play games with the authority of Scripture (endorse gay marriage, for instance) and are debating (and in some cases already denying) that Jesus is the only Savior—that 34.6% number is looking even more anemic. Should it be adjusted to single digits? Here is the cold reality, there aren’t very many evangelicals living in the state of Washington! Can you say mission field?

The local director of Associated Ministries also believes the 34.6% needs to be adjusted. He believes, however, it should be adjusted to include more. In his interview with The News Tribune (May 2, 2012), he said he believes the vast majority of people of faith in Pierce County have chosen not to join a faith community (and are therefore not included in the 34.6% figure). He goes on to say that these people experience their spirituality through personal devotions, in the environment, at book clubs or at the local coffee shop. “That’s the way it is here. People are looking for community. They’re just not looking for it inside a congregation’s door.”

What is troubling about the 34.6% number is that many included in it believe all is well with their soul because their “faith community” is included in the number. What is also troubling is that many not included believe their soul is well because they sip down a latte on Saturdays in a quaint coffee shop with friends discussing the most recent New York Times bestseller. It does matter that you belong to a “faith community”—but it also matters to which one.

“Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” (Zechariah 1:12). It may surprise you, but the Angel of the Lord asks this question, doing so in the Prophet Zechariah’s night vision. Israel had been exiled some 70 years by the Babylonians, shackled and hauled away in disgrace to their oppressor’s land. Jerusalem was in shambles; the wall was full of holes and the temple leveled. Henceforth the question from the angel, a question every Jew wondered to himself: “How long will You withhold mercy…?” Have you ever asked God that question?

The Lord answers the inquiry in the next verse. Zechariah over hears and records it for us: “[T]he Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel…” (verse 13). His “kind and comforting words” promised this: “[T]he Lord will again comfort Zion” (verse 17).

I was blessed devotionally a few days ago, when reading from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening:

History shows us that whenever God uses a rod to chasten his servants he always breaks it afterwards, as if he loathed the rod which gave his children pain. He feels the smart far more than his people. ‘Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him.’ God has not forgotten us because he smites. His blows are no evidences of want of love…You may fear that the Lord has passed you by, but it is not so: he who counts the stars and calls them by their names is in no danger of forgetting his own children. He knows your case thoroughly as if you were the only creature he ever made or the only saint he ever loved. (Morning and Evening, evening devotional for February 24)

None of His children are immune from difficult providence. There is a season for us all; for most there are multiple seasons. In Zechariah, the question “How long, Lord?” is asked—did you note that the question isn’t chastened? God is not offended by the inquiry. In fact, it is His angel who asks. In reply, God offers “kind and comforting” words. We would hear similar if we would ask and listen.

“Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning,” sings the psalmist (Psalm 30:5). The Christian is never told the length of his night; but he is always promised a morning.

Pastor Rich Hamlin

May 3, 2012

I was so excited to get my first check, after all, I didn’t even own a bed. Rent was $525. When you divide that by the other five (all of us buddies who had just graduated from Pacific Lutheran University) each share was just $87.50 per month. But when you were just starting out, every dollar was significant. Besides, with six guys in one house, we knew we needed to save some money for a housecleaner every once in awhile (we hired a cheerleader once a month; she even brought us cookies—such a deal).

So when that first check came from the Bethel School District (I was a high school teacher), I scoured over every deduction. “What’s this, union dues? I didn’t join any union.” I would come to find out that every employee was in the union unless you opted out. And to opt out, you had to request a special “opt out form,” fill it out, send it via certified mail, and you could only do so during a one-week window during the summer. And as I recall, I had to snoop out all this information, too—no one provided it. The end result was that it was a really difficult process to get out of the union. The system was set up for you to be in it.

God has given directives to His church and to the believer. There are certain things we are told to do. The church is to preach the Gospel and administrate the sacraments, for example. The believer is to love, serve, forgive, and so on. The Bible is full of such commands. One that’s on the list is to take care of widows and orphans (Isaiah 1:17, Jeremiah 22:3, James 1:27). Jesus’ parable of the “Sheep and the Goats” (Matthew 25:31-46) with His instruction to take care of the “least of these” probably refers to widows and orphans, too.

Which gets to my point; we don’t need to be told to take care of the orphan—the command has already been given. Sometimes we wait for directives from God. But what if He has already provided it? As Christians, we are to be in the “taking care of orphans business” already. The number not caring for the orphan suggests, however, there’s an “opt out” available somewhere. I’ve never seen that “form.” How would you even fill it out if you secured one? “Memo to God, I’m asking for an exemption on the orphan ‘thing’—I don’t really have the resources. Sorry.” Does any Christian want to send that certified mail to God?

This is not a blog to incite guilt. It is one to take our responsibilities more seriously than we sometimes do. It is also to inform the members of our church that a couple hundred dollars each month of your tithes and offerings goes to the orphan care ministry of Youth for Christ.

But truth be told—we didn’t have a choice.

Pastor Rich Hamlin

March 15, 2012

On one end the psalmist says, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Ps. 122:1). On the other end were the people of Malachi’s day who had a different thought about going to God’s house, “What a weariness this is” (Mal. 1:13). On one end is the psalmist, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere” (Ps. 84:10). On the other end were the people of Amos’ day who inquired instead “[When will] the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?” (Amos 8:5). The psalmist delighted at the thought of worshiping God; the people of Malachi and Amos’ day loathed it and couldn’t wait till it was over.

With this as our “worship continuum,” where do you graph on the line? I suspect somewhere in between. But are you comfortable with your position?

Most parents have to deal with the tired teenager who wants to sleep in on Sunday after being out late on Saturday. Sometimes there is an estranged relationship at church that you want the week off from having to deal with. Maybe you convince yourself you’re up for missing because you haven’t for a while. Or it’s that favorite NFL or NBA team on television that starts at 10 a.m. Or maybe it’s the thought of a quiet house while everyone else is at church that is just too tempting of a scenario.

Let’s call the examples above “worship skirmishes”—skirmishes with self or with others in your family. Do they reveal something about you or a family member’s passion and joy of worshiping? Is what is revealed move you further away from the psalmist’s end?

The psalmist really liked worshiping God, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple” (Ps. 27:4). If we find ourselves asking instead for “two more hours of sleep,” or for a “break from church,” isolated requests may be no big deal. But if they start piling up, we’re sounding far too much like the people of Malachi and Amos’ day—and that’s the end of the “worship continuum” we don’t want to be.

Pastor Rich Hamlin

February 23, 2012

Have you seen it? It is difficult to describe. But if you look close, it’s almost always there.

Let me back up first; back up to an Old Testament minor prophet. Hosea prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel, just before its captivity by Assyria in 722 B.C. As a vivid object lesson, God tells Hosea to marry an adulterous wife, a symbol of Israel’s unfaithful relationship to God. Hosea marries Gomer, and despite bearing him three children, she still found her way to the street corner in the bad part of town. She prostituted herself to other lovers. Likewise, Israel tried to wed the worship of God to Canaanite religion. After all, Canaanite religion was a lot of fun—it deified sex—going to “church” was going to the brothel. God makes His assessment of His wayward people, “They consecrated themselves to that shameful idol [Baal] and became as vile as the thing they loved” (Hosea 9:10). What God is saying is that the character of what is worshiped rubs off; people become like the objects they love.

And this is the “look.” I have seen it many times. Masks and make-up can veil it for awhile, but in time, the unfaithful heart reaches the surface. People ensnared in sin or vice begin to look different. I’m not talking about the emaciated junkie. I’m talking about the effects of idolatrous sin on one’s countenance and even on one’s features.

Have you seen someone you may have known for years come to saving faith and before long, they look different? Once again, I’m not talking about someone getting a haircut or straightening their teeth, I’m talking about that new look in their eye or that new smile that reveals something very real and profound has happened inside of them.

But Hosea is talking about the opposite scenario. We actually take on the character of the idol or sin we bow to or fondle. People start to look different. I’ve especially seen it with sexual sin. If I may, people actually look uglier! It makes sense; sin and idolatry is acidic; unbeknownst to the deceived is that which they embrace is spiritually killing them. And what is happening on the inside begins to make its way to the outside.

Do you have the “look”? You don’t need to gaze in a mirror, simply be honest with God. Have you replaced Him with someone or something else? Have you downplayed sin in your life, perhaps even redefining it as something else?

Do you see the “look” in others? Do you love them enough to speak with them about it, doing so with humility and love?

Don’t think the “look” just goes away. What is behind it must be confessed: “Say to [God]: ‘Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips’” (Hosea 14:2). The prophet’s final words are these, “Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them” (Hosea 14:9).

Be wise and discerning, lose the “look.”

Pastor Rich Hamlin

February 9, 2012 

“Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?” declared Pharaoh in Exodus 5:2.

“This day I defy the ranks of Israel,” boasted Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:10.

“I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High,” promised Babylon in Isaiah 14:13-14.

“Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” crowed King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:30.

The Scriptures are full of those who were full of themselves, setting themselves up as God. It appears Olympia is full of them, too. Politicians have been hell-bent for sometime to change God’s definition of marriage. This past week, twenty-eight Washington state senators did just that. Next week, fifty-some house members will add their vote of support to the new definition and then one beaming governor will sign it into law. They even had the gall to defeat a clause that would have put the matter on next November’s ballot. Their message was clear, “We not only don’t care what God thinks, we don’t care what the people think, either; we alone know what’s best.”

God said marriage is the union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24). Olympia said it’s also the union of one man and one man; and one woman and one woman.

What is ironic is that it is the Bible-believing Christian who is accused of arrogance. How is that? We just believe God’s Word; it’s not us who believes we can amend it.

On trial before Pilate, Jesus said, “For this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” At this, Pilate, who thought he could sit in judgment of the Son of God, scoffed, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38). Just like Pilate, Olympia arrogantly believes it is whatever they want it to be.

Pastor Rich Hamlin

February 2, 2012

Times were difficult in the days of Daniel. Judah had been overrun by Babylon. Much of the nation had been deported—Daniel included. Babylon was quite proud she had destroyed Jerusalem and raided the temple of God. The people of God were defeated and discouraged. Was Marduk (the chief god of Babylon) stronger than God?

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar (the king of Babylon) has a troubling dream; he wants to know what it means. He orders his cabinet, “Tell me its meaning.” But he also throws them a curve ball: “Tell me my dream before you give me its meaning.” When they protest and say that’s impossible, he orders them killed. Daniel finds out about the king’s decree when they come for him. That night, God gives Daniel the dream and the interpretation. The next day, he reveals it to the king.

In short, the dream was this: Nebuchadnezzar saw an enormous, dazzling statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron with feet a mixture of iron and clay. Then a rock not cut by human hands smashes and levels the statue. Like chaff, the wind blows the broken pieces away. The rock, however, becomes a huge mountain and fills the whole earth (Daniel 2:31-35). It is understandable the king was troubled; the dream too much for his Tylenol PM.

After faithfully regurgitating the dream, Daniel tells the king the interpretation given him by God. The dream was about four great pagan kingdoms. Babylon was the golden head, now reigning. Three successive empires (Media/Persia, Greece, and Rome) would follow. All would enjoy their time until the “rock” appears smashing all subordinate kingdoms and reigning forever. That “rock” was Jesus (1 Peter 2:8), who comes six centuries later. He now sits upon the throne of God’s worldwide empire.

At the time of the dream, God’s people were in exile. Things were not looking so good. For six centuries, pagan empires were enormous—they looked dazzling. The Medes, who succeeded the Babylonians, let Israel go home. But shortly after their return, the Greek’s ascended to power and then the Romans began their ruthless reign. God’s voice was silent in Israel. For over six hundred years, it looked as if God, his people, and his Kingdom had lost. And then, the silence was shattered, when the “Word became flesh” (John 1:14)—the “rock” had arrived. The Kingdom of God was established and the mountain still grows.

I gave you a little from Daniel and a little from history to tell you this: it is easy to get discouraged by what we read, see, and hear. Culture sours and smells. Politicians play God. Even the church seems to be blowing in the wind, uncomfortable in its skin and seeking to redefine itself once again.

In times such as these, we must remember Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Daniel concluded the interpretation this way: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed… It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Daniel 2:44).

Where is Babylon, where are the Medes and the Persians and the Greeks and the Romans? They are no more. As it was then; so shall it be again. Those who seem to wield the power only do so for a time. But they don’t even wield it at all. Nebuchadnezzar would learn this personally two chapters later, rightly declaring, “His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34-35).

The Rock won. The Rock always does.

Pastor Rich Hamlin

January 26, 2012

I know why you speak of rights, fairness, and equality whenever you make your case for same-sex marriage. Just 20 years ago, your side was losing the debate. Then, like a struggling business or a losing sport’s team, you repackaged yourselves. Rather then portraying homosexuality as a deviant and promiscuous sexual minority, you began presenting yourselves as mainstream citizens in search of equal treatment. The outlandish “gay parades” were spectacle (still are), but they weren’t creating sympathy or generating votes—after all, cocky men in leather and drag queens aren’t very appealing.

You then changed the words, too. It was no longer an issue of “preference”—that implies a person making a choice to be gay. Now its labeled “orientation”—a word that communicates gays are born not made; that it is simply genetically who they are. The plan worked. The movement ceased being about sordid sexuality, it became one of rights—civil rights, actually. Just as women were denied the right to vote and blacks were deemed second-class in the previous century; the face of the movement became “normal” men and women who were treated unfairly and simply wanted the same rights as everyone else. And it’s hard to argue against someone’s civil rights—this is America. It is why same-sex proponents now enjoy the momentum.

I’ve also noticed you have sugared your position by saying you will provide “opt-outs” for churches; not forcing pastors to perform same-sex unions. But isn’t it against the law to arbitrarily opt-out of civil rights legislation? Regardless of one’s opinion, real civil rights are the law of the land. Skinheads have their opinion, but if they discriminate, they are breaking the law—period. You either don’t see the inconsistency in your “opt-out” logic or you do. I suspect you do. Just as denouncing homosexuality from the pulpit may soon be construed as “hate-speech”; you know the courts will eventually erase the “opt-outs” for Bible-believing pastors. You’re an attorney; maybe you even have a copy of your movement’s “play-book”—the one that lists the step-by-step strategies your side has employed to get to this point. I’m sure there are more chapters in it, too.

Some politicians say this is personally such a hard issue for them to decide—something about seeing the arguments of both sides. When argued as a civil right, it is difficult to oppose same-sex marriage. But it’s not about rights. It’s ultimately about the right of God to define His institution. Which He has done clearly: marriage is between one man and one woman. It is why same-sex marriage has nothing in common with women’s suffrage or blacks sitting in the back of the bus. It’s all about whether we believe God gets to decide the matter or politicians do.

Pastor Rich Hamlin

January 12, 2012

Our governor has “flipped,” as they say in politics. I don’t think so, though. She’s a lame-duck so she’s probably just doing what she has wanted to do since she was first elected back in 2004. But what she says is that she’s taken a “personal journey” concerning the matter. I’d like a follow-up, “From where to where, governor?” Here are her words from her press conference on January 4, 2012: “This was all about my personal faith,” said Governor Chris Gregoire, a professing Roman Catholic, “I came to understand my religion is one thing, but as governor of the state and as a human being, I believe in equality. And I don’t respect a state who discriminates.” It was difficult to type her quote; it’s such a ridiculous one, so full of illogic.

But let’s back up. We are talking about Olympia’s push to make Washington the seventh state in the union to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. And Gregoire is excited to be the proposed legislation’s torch-bearer.

In 2004, she supported legal rights for same-sex couples. In 2007, she signed a domestic partnership law toward that end. In 2009, she supported the passage of Referendum 71, the so-called “everything but marriage” law; the law where same-sex couples were granted all rights enjoyed by married couples except the one they coveted most—the ability to marry. And it’s this last one they so desperately want because their deviancy will then possess the language of normalcy.

But back to our governor’s carefully crafted quote from above. Parsing through it, here is what I find behind her words: “My faith really isn’t that important to me; certainly not enough for it to impact the way I govern. I know the Bible defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman. I also know it calls homosexuality a sin. But that’s so judgmental and not fair. And I don’t want to be associated with a state that listens to God concerning such things.”

That was some “personal journey”! She discarded whatever semblance of faith she had, declaring God’s way archaic and discriminatory; and happy to have arrived upon the shores of progress, acceptance, and enlightenment.

But if I may; could someone let her know her office is subordinate to the Throne of God? She needs to take another “personal journey”; this time, one that arrives upon the shores of God’s never-ending truth.

Pastor Rich Hamlin

Back to those “holes” in your backyard (please see previous blog: “Take a Drink”); those “cisterns” you’ve been drinking from in hopes of being refreshed. If you don’t know, a cistern is not a well. A cistern is a dug out reservoir to hold water; water directed to it from a nearby spring or more commonly, rainwater. Where a well generates its own water; a cistern is nothing more than a tank.

Very few people had a well in ancient Palestine; but virtually every home had a cistern. Jerusalem, in particular, had water issues. It is built mostly on a rock mount. Excavation into the rock and then often built up with stonework above ground gave the cistern the look of a well. But it certainly was not. A well replenishes itself; a cistern has a limited supply and often goes dry. In ancient Israel, a broken cistern was a common problem; the water simply was used up, evaporated, or more commonly, just leaked out the bottom.

This is the imagery God uses to charge unfaithful Judah with neglecting Him and chasing after other gods: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). They turned away from God (“the spring of living water”) and went looking for other gods to satisfy—false gods (“broken cisterns”) that were useless and empty.

Now back to your backyard. Over the years, most of us have dug a few “cisterns” ourselves. We don’t see them as idols, but that is what they become. When a bottle is used to calm or a joint or pill to sooth; we have granted them deity status. When a relationship becomes the basis of our worth or our job becomes our “chief end”; they have been given the role of a god. And when a friend’s approval becomes of first concern or “secret sins” become our source of pleasure; then we are bowing to a foreign alter. What also complicates and confuses is that “good things” can easily become “broken cisterns.” A growing church for a pastor or beautiful and successful children for a mother can become little idols, too.

In ancient Israel, empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons or places of confinement. Joseph was cast into one by his brothers (Genesis 37:22). Those who did not like God’s prophetic voice “lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud” (Jeremiah 38:6). And that’s another problem with broken cisterns; they become prisons. Are you in one?

The exhortation is the same as the previous blog. Stop looking for water elsewhere, my friend. Jesus is enough. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). Put down the shovel, get out of the mud, and drink from the only well that never runs dry.