Tuesday, May 28, 2013

In the Beginning God Created (Genesis 1:1-26)


God meticulously and purposefully created everything that exists. John 1:3 tells us that "apart from him nothing came into being..." God created everything in perfect order, harmony and balance. He knows and understands every minute detail of how and why everything that was created was created, and how it works in His perfect Eco-system.

God knows and understands everything about every plant and animal. He meticulously made each animal and plant for a purpose, to work together in a beautiful life flow. He knows why some animals are small and cute, while some are strong and vicious. He has a purpose for every beautiful shrub and flower. He made the insects and snakes and rodents as part of that life flow, even if we may be terrorized by them. And God said, they were good.

Then God created "very good"- man. Man was created in God's image or likeness or shadow (Genesis 1:26). Man was given the wisdom and authority to cultivate the world God created (2:15). God placed man in authority over His creation for his life and enjoyment, to develop it within the context of God's vision (sadly man has decided to cultivate God's creation in his own image and vision).

God meticulously created His world in perfect order, balance and harmony. His creative system is perfect, and man was created to cultivate that perfect vision. As a result of sin God's creation has been twisted and broken; but Christians are called to restore that creative vision by God's wisdom, authority and power. It seems like an impossible task, but we must understand that ultimately it is God who restores, we are just called to do what God calls us to personally do.

How do we begin restoration? First we must ask God to help us recreate His creative vision in our minds: what did it look like? How did it operate? How was it blessed and a blessing? What was man's role, and how might this restoration be accomplished?

First we must ask God to restore His vision of His creation to our minds and souls. We have lived so long in this sinfully driven and defined world, it is hard to envision the world as God created it to be. But man was created to cultivate creation, therefore for man to ever know effectiveness and fulfillment, he must get back to the work he was created for. So we must be restored (saved, sanctified) by the grace (gift or restoration) of God, so we can envision and begin the task of restoring and cultivating the world God placed us in. God made that restoration available as the result of His death on the cross, His resurrection and in the sending of the person of His Holy Spirit. In this experience God will begin to restore His vision in us.

Then we must begin the task of restoration/cultivation. God placed us in a specific place, with specific people and specific struggles. That world (specific place) is our responsibility.We can fear, whine and blame like our original father (Adam); or we can take the grace of God and begin to restore our world step by step and person by person. God does not play games, so we can count on His power and authority every step of the way. We may want to start in our own personal lives and our own homes, and work out from there. There will be resistance since we live in a world that is comfortable with the destruction it is experiencing, and will fight against anyone who will not normalize their destruction. But we can begin the restoration.

Please do not expect restoration to be easy or comfortable. This world has normalized every twisted/destructive abomination man can imagine. And he will work to destroy anyone who has the audacity to question his twisted logic. But our responsibility is to stay focused on the truth of God, not change truth in hopes that everyone will like us. They hated Jesus Christ, why would they like us? We must stay focused on the fact that restoring our world to God's creative vision is eternally good for everyone, whether they like the restoration or not.

I'm not sure what is involved in the restoration in your world. I'm not sure what destruction you are dealing with in your world. But I know this, restoration is God's will and you can count on His power and wisdom to accomplish this. To restore your life will be beneficial to every person in your world. To restore your home will benefit everyone in your neighborhood. To restore your profession will benefit everyone involved. To restore your church will benefit everyone the church touches. Restoration is eternally beneficial to everyone in your world and beyond.

Too many Christians have given up on restoration. They believe it is too big and difficult a task. But our God is powerful enough to accomplish the task. He has the vision, authority and ability to accomplish this restorative task. The question is not, can He, it is will we? Will we allow God to restore us to the cultivators we were created to be? Will we allow God to provide us the focus and authoritative we need to accomplish the task? God bless you as you pray through this restorative task you were saved to accomplish!

Dr. John Letterman

Friday, May 17, 2013

In the Beginning (Genesis 1:1)


Nothing existed before God. None of our problems, governments, TV and media, 24/7 news cycles or anything or anyone else- Nothing. He existed before, and is above and beyond, everything we will ever deal with in this world. His wisdom and power far exceed any person or force we will ever encounter in our lives. The order of prominence and power never changes- He is/was/and always will be before and above all.

So what does that mean to me? 1) Nothing that impacts you in this world can ever propel you out of His plan or providence. Some things that happen in life seem to have lasting, almost in-correctable affects on our lives. Death, divorce, public sin, etc. seem to scar us so significantly that things will never be the same- and they may never be; but that does not mean that you are beyond the breadth and scope of God's eternal plan. God does not promise to "work everything for good" (Romans 8:28) without the ability to pull it off. David was a man after God's own heart (not really sure what that means, but sounds pretty cool), and took care of the giant Goliath; but then he became a knuckle-head and committed adultery and murder. When he finally took responsibility it hit him hard, and he was really down. But God raised him up to be the greatest King the Israelite's ever had- although the wound of that sin never totally disappeared. No matter what, there is nothing beyond God's ability to restore and use you again.

2) No problem, addiction, temptation or anything else that might come against you is beyond eternal God's ability to conquer and deal with. Elisha was up against an army that humanly was unconquerable.Everyone around him was freaking-out, so he sent a young man out to observe the situation. The first time he looked all he saw was the army that was about to whoop them. But Elisha sent him out again, and this time he saw the extraordinary army of eternal God surrounding this unbeatable human army. God is eternally and extraordinarily beyond any army or evil that might come against us. The question is not whether He can, the question is are we willing to see Him, in all His glory and power and eternal prominence?

In the beginning God. In the middle God. In the end God. Are we willing to see God for who He is? Are we willing to realize that the God who loves us enough to die for us is above, beyond, over, under, around and whatever else we need Him to be, when life comes at us? Are we willing to couple the reality of God's eternal sovereignty with His love in/for the reality of our lives? If we did, we would be an unconquerable force, no matter who or what the adversary might be! Are you willing?



Dr. John Letterman

Friday, May 3, 2013

In to heal. Out to love

In to Heal: Jesus Christ healed all forms and magnitudes of sicknesses and maladies. He healed everything from lifelong blindness to seeming-epilepsy to mental illness. Healing is a tough topic since God heals one persons struggle as he wishes but not another, it doesn't seem fair. But God sees things from an eternal vantage, not a limited-temporary-selfish view. He heals as He deems eternally most expedient.

I would love to tell you like some in the Christian entertainment field that Jesus will heal you the way you want if you have enough faith, or if you frame your prayer correctly, or if you quote the right scriptures in the context of your prayers; but God heals in whatever way He knows will benefit us eternally, not to pacify our non-negotiable demands.   Don't misunderstand me, God can heal anything He chooses, no matter it's intensity or debilitating affects, but He always acts with eternity in mind, not our immediate desires.

If you don't mind, I would like to tweak the word heal from our immediate vision to, God making us eternally healthy. No matter how God heals, His desire is that we be transformed to eternal health and happiness. I have ministered to people with the most debilitating diseases who were spiritually effective, and happy beyond my imagination. I have watched people die of the most painful sicknesses in extraordinary health and happiness, it made me ashamed of my personal whining and griping. God can make us healthy and happy no matter this life's circumstances.The question is, do we want to be healthy? Do we want to be happy? Or will we only feel healthy and effective if we get what we want, when we want it?

I will never forget Bob. He rarely attended church, or focused on Christ; but as he became sick God lead him into the most happy, spiritually extravagant, joy-filled life you could imagine. He could not be with God's people enough. He could not love-on and appreciate his pastor enough. He told everyone in his world about the love and grace of Jesus Christ. He was most definitely healed and made healthy without being healed in the temporal sense, he dies with a smile on his face.

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul asked to be healed of a thorn 3 times (I believe he never named the struggle so we could fill in the gap). God never said yes or no, He said, my grace (gift of whatever you need, whenever you need it) is sufficient... and My power is perfected in your weakness. Will we allow God's grace be sufficient, no matter what He chooses for us in this life? Will we allow Him to give us the power to be healthy, whether we get what we want in this world, or not? It is God's will to heal you perfectly, even though God's perfect and our perfect may not be the same perfect.

Out to Love: Love is an overused, yet under-lived force. In America (especially in the church) we have so emptied the word of any authentic meaning that we can love everything from a person to a TV show, with little difference in fervency or commitment. The love we speak of in our mission statement is the love Jesus Christ lived- agape. Agape is: 1) unconditional. Somehow God loves us in spite of our wounds and warts.  2) Sacrificial. Jesus died for us, even though we were rebellious sinners. 3) Never-ending. No matter how goofy and rebellious we may be, God never gives up on us or quits investing in us.

I'm not so heavenly minded that I have no human common sense. We are not going to love everyone like we love our spouse. We will never have the loving affinity that we have for our children with everyone we meet. But we as Christians need to love others as God gives us opportunity and as He equips us. Some need counsel and/or mentoring, yet others need a sink or a window fixed. My whole life is developed for spiritual-life coaching, but you do not want me to fix anything. God does not usually call us to do something we are not equipped to do (although there are times of extraordinary gifting), but we are responsible to invest what we are equipped for. But this is what the church is all about, one person is gifted in fixing windows, while others fix minds and hearts. What a wonderful plan. Do we love?

Are you healing? Are you becoming healthy in the context of your real life? Are you healthy enough to invest in others, even when life is not neat and pretty? This is what Riverview Christian is all about. Are we absolutely functionally perfect- no. But are we focused in this direction- yes! You are always welcome to experience the healing power and vision God is blessing us with.

Dr. John Letterman