Thursday, December 3, 2015

Loving the least lovable: Christians must be the example

Loving the least lovable:  
Christians must be the example   
by Rev. Jack Hulsey



 I like the idea of having accountability partners, someone who's painfully honest with us about our shortcomings.  Being told you're doing wrong isn't easy to hear, but it is much easier to have someone who knows and loves you to tell you these things rather than having to find them out the hard way.  In a profile of pastor and author Stu Weber, Dave Goetz wrote that, “Weber developed a temper which exploded into its full glory in high school and college.”  Upon entering the military he found that his temper only got worse and hindered the development of his relational skills.
It got bad enough that early in his ministry he stopped playing church league basketball entirely, because that famous temper kept flaring up embarrassing both him and his church.
But then 10 years of relative quiet went by.  "I hadn't had a flash temper for years," Weber said.  "I thought, the Lord had been good.  I'm actually growing."
Then his oldest son made the high school varsity basketball squad.  "I began living my life through my son."  Weber terrorized the referees. On one occasion, seated in the second row, he wound up on the floor level with no recollection of how he got there.  As a result, he got some very nasty letters from church members which (he says now) "were absolutely right on." 
But then he got another note: "Stu, I know your heart.  I know that's not you.  I know that you want to live for Christ and His reputation.  And I know that's not happened at these ballgames.  If it would be helpful to you I'd like to come to the games with you and sit beside you."
The letter was from one of his accountability partner's.  "He saved my life," Weber says.  "It was an invitation, a gracious extension of truth.  He assumed the best and believed in me."
How do we love someone who stumbles?  Do we believe in and hope the best for them even when they fail?
Anyone can love lovable people.  But as Christians we are called to love the least loveable, because if we don't, we're no different from the pagan world. 
God loved us all when we least deserved it.  If we are able to mirror him, and be the witness he's called us to be, then it is up to us to show his love to the world out there that today needs it more than ever.

For a Definition of "Commitment" Look Under "Volunteers"

For a Definition of “Commitment”
Look Under “Volunteers” 
by Rev. Jack Hulsey



It is not often that I have the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Woodlake Baptist Church’s volunteers. Commitment within a church body is of critical importance and it occurred to me that within Woodlake Baptist there are many examples of Christian’s committed to the work and without them this church would not be the church that it is today.


Our organizational chart has 150 plus names on it, folks serving in every position from the Benevolence Committee to Chairman of the Stewardship Committee.  Some of these individuals are serving in two, three or four different positions. In Baptist life, our committees tend to be the brunt of far too many stale jokes and cheap shots (a group of people who can't decide how to do what one person can't do on his own, etc.), but here's a fact we all have to learn to deal with: this system of church government permits you, the member, more say and more influence than Democratic governments do.  The government of the typical Baptist Church could easily be a model for secular government to imitate. We can thank our committee members – volunteers all – for this.
If they were not fully committed to carrying out the work we profess to believe the Lord has given us to do, it would show up in virtually everything that happens in this church body.  As it is we have numerous key functions being carried out by volunteers that most larger churches hire people to take care of. We can't do without Sunday school. We can't do without a church treasurer to manage the business end of things.  We can't do without a group to formulate our annual budget or schedule our mission trips or prepare the hundreds and hundreds of meals we have for special occasions. We certainly can't do without people to take care of the maintenance and upkeep of this physical facility. We can't do without Vacation Bible School. And with all the advances in computer technology that keep coming along – and the reliance we place on that technology for record keeping and financial accounting – we are increasingly dependent upon someone to offer constant technical expertise.
Those are all fields for which the mega-churches hire experts and pay them big money. But at Woodlake Baptist Church, everything described above is handled by volunteers – volunteers so dedicated, so committed to his or her mission that we can call upon them 24/7 and they'll be right on the case, no questions asked. 
There are lower-profile committee positions too, positions that don't have the glamour and glitz of some of the others. Each and every one of them, however, contribute something very necessary. The Bible says to let our commitment to the work reflect our commitment to the Lord. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23).  That is what I see mirrored in our volunteers. They are pulling this church’s oars, and I hope we appreciate them for all they are worth.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

God and the Soldier -- Let's Show Some Love

God and the Soldier --
Let's Show Some Love
by Rev. Jack Hulsey


God and the soldier we adore/in time of danger, not before./The danger passed and all things righted,/God is forgotten and the soldier slighted. – Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling was never a soldier, but his son John was.   John was killed in World War I, and his death inspired the creation of Kipling's poem My Boy Jack. This poem strikes me having certain parallels to the Hulsey family saga: I was never a soldier either, but all three of my sons have served (one is still serving). As for the conclusion to Kipling’s grief, you always have to pray something like that doesn’t happen to your loved one, but when you are a soldier – or soldier’s parent – that's something you have to be prepared for. 
Kipling's observation quoted above seems to be as true as ever. It wasn't more than four or five years ago we were having special ministries to send letters to soldiers in Iraq or special prayers for soldiers fighting in the war over there, with Valentine gifts or Thanksgiving gifts or Christmas gifts. It became such a matter of routine in our Wednesday prayer services to remember soldiers all over the world that in time it became a kind of almost meaningless chant, and I've noticed that it gets skipped entirely now and then. The danger passed, and all things righted…
Kipling was better known as a poet than as a Christian, but he does make a telling point about many of us: we hold God much in the same esteem we hold the soldier. But we seem only to hold Him and the reverence He deserves when trouble is just outside the door. The rest of the time He is banished to a more or less ceremonial role in our lives. We don't love Him any less, but we don't feel the need to show him quite so much love quite so often.
Living in a military community we see the price some of our wounded soldiers who have paid for what this country believed it had to do. I'd like to urge all of us to try and see Christ the same way – the way He appeared to the apostles just after the crucifixion, with His wounds still fresh. We were bought at a price, it says in 1 Corinthians the price was blood.
This country is free because of the blood of its soldiers. We are free from eternal separation from God because the blood of His Son. Neither of these conditions came about simply because somebody thought it would be nice if that's the way things were. It was Thomas Jefferson who said, “the price of freedom is eternal vigilance."  What is the price for our salvation?  Acceptance of God's grace through his son Jesus Christ because “it is by grace alone you are saved through faith." (Ephesians 2:8)  Eternal gratitude ought to be the result of receiving such a gift. We didn't deserve it any more than we deserve to have our young men and women sacrifice lives and limbs for us. Let us be Christian enough not to take any of this for granted let's show our gratitude with love and respect – for God and for our soldiers who have suffered and fallen. 
From the Pastor's Study, Praise and Worship of Woodlake Baptist Church, May 24, 2015

Monday, May 18, 2015

Providence of God - Healing of the Blind Man, John 9

Sound advice for graduates

Sound advice for graduates
by Rev. Jack Hulsey

Congratulations graduate.  You have just come to a significant milepost in your life. Within the next few days and weeks you'll be hearing words like this from your parents, school faculty and other well wishers.  

For much of your life until now we've talked at you, not to you. That's only right. You were children then, and we had a responsibility to teach you, whether you wanted it or not.  From this point forward you will find less and less of that.  At this time you will be given more and more advice because we will not always be there to tell you what to do.  I know you have already received a lot of advice about what you should do next; but if you will indulge me for a moment, I would like to add mine. It's not the first time anybody's said any of these things, but it’s sound advice nevertheless.  It's the result of several nationwide polls of hundreds of thousands of young people who responded to a questionnaire on “Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before I Graduated.”

1. Choose purity. More people express regret over this than over any other subject. You pay a great price when you forget that your body is a precious gift from God, that it is not to be given away indiscriminately. Choose modesty in dress and behavior. When you're clothing says, “I want people to look at me even if it makes them struggle with temptation,” you are sending the wrong message.

2. Stay out of debt. Graduates, you are about to have undeserved credit thrown directly at you. It takes virtually no time at all to get completely over your head in debt through credit cards. The book of Proverbs says you are in bondage to your creditors, and credit card debt is a terrible kind of prison.

3. If you find yourself wondering “should I be doing this," you probably shouldn't.  You don't wonder about the things you should do, like brushing your teeth or being kind to your friends. So hearing that internal alarm go off should be all the signal you need.

4. Choose your friends wisely. You will become just like the people you hang out with. So pick friends with beliefs and behaviors consistent with godliness.

5. Don't forget Jesus. Less than half the students in church youth groups will still be walking with Christ ten years after they graduate. Don't become one of them. Go to church every Sunday. Stay plugged into the Christian life. Don't forget the one who redeemed you, who loved you, who brought you to where you are today. He is the only one you can always depend on. Cultivate your relationship with Him.

From the Pastor's Study by Rev. Jack Hulsey, Praise & Worship of Woodlake Baptist Church, May 17, 2015

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Mother's love: a reflection of God's love for us

Mother's love: a reflection of God's love for us
by Rev. Jack Hulsey

The world would be a much better place if motherhood – if parenthood in general – where the noble and selfless institution God meant it to be. But the terrible truth is that poor parenting is at the root of most of the ills society struggles with in our modern world. The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NASB) The fact is, in whatever way you train your child is the way “he will not depart from,” be it right or wrong. Teaching children wrongly (or not at all) is a virtual guarantee of producing a problem adult.

God most often expresses his kinship to us as that of a parent, usually the father. But now and then in the Bible he invites us to think of him as a mother. In Isaiah 49, the Jewish nation laments that God has forgotten them, and God replies "can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?"  This is a potent image. God could have said, "Can a father forget the son he has sired?"  But the answer then (and today) could easily be yes, because it happens all the time. Men/dads whose only desire is for a moment of self-gratification often walk away from responsibility leaving a mother to fend for herself and their child. 

However, some mothers’ behavior toward their children can be as bad or worse than the fathers, but the evidence that fathers are more likely to abuse or neglect a child, gives testimony to how seemingly unnatural it would be for a mother’s’ conduct to be anything less than nurturing.

Through the passage (Isaiah 49:15) God chose a compelling illustration of motherhood to help His people understand His love for them.

Jesus likewise was never one to miss a good metaphor. Expressing His sorrow for Jerusalem when they had strayed from God, He said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem … How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!” Luke 13:34 (NASB) Jesus may have been acknowledging that it is often possible to find more selfless examples of motherhood in nature than in the human world. Some birds (killdeers and some species of owls) actually pretend to be injured to lure predators away from their hatchlings.

I have had many people over the years tell me, "my mother says she loves me no matter what." To me, that sounds like the love Jesus expressed toward us.  He loved us when we were the most unlovable.

The nurturing, protecting, encouraging love shown by God to those in the Old Testament and the same love demonstrated by Jesus in the New Testament is a beautiful image of what a mother’s love should look like.
(From the Pastor's Study, by Rev. Jack Hulsey,  Praise and Worship, Woodlake Baptist Church, May 10, 2015)

Monday, May 4, 2015

Loving the least lovable: Christians must be the example

Loving the least lovable: Christians must be the example
by Rev. Jack Hulsey

I like the idea of having accountability partners, someone who's painfully honest with us about our shortcomings.  Being told you're doing wrong isn't easy to hear, but it is much easier to have someone who knows and loves you to tell you these things rather than having to find them out the hard way.  In a profile of pastor and author Stu Weber, Dave Goetz wrote that, “Weber developed a temper which exploded into its full glory in high school and college.”  Upon entering the military he found that his temper only got worse and hindered the development of his relational skills.

It got bad enough that early in his ministry he stopped playing church league basketball entirely, because that famous temper kept flaring up embarrassing both him and his church.

But then 10 years of relative quiet went by.  "I hadn't had a flash temper for years," Weber said.  "I thought, the Lord had been good.  I'm actually growing."

Then his oldest son made the high school varsity basketball squad.  "I began living my life through my son."  Weber terrorized the referees. On one occasion, seated in the second row, he wound up on the floor level with no recollection of how he got there.  As a result, he got some very nasty letters from church members which (he says now) "were absolutely right on." 

But then he got another note: "Stu, I know your heart.  I know that's not you.  I know that you want to live for Christ and His reputation.  And I know that's not happened at these ballgames.  If it would be helpful to you I'd like to come to the games with you and sit beside you."

The letter was from one of his accountability partner's.  "He saved my life," Weber says.  "It was an invitation, a gracious extension of truth.  He assumed the best and believed in me."

How do we love someone who stumbles?  Do we believe in and hope the best for them even when they fail?

Anyone can love lovable people.  But as Christians we are called to love the least loveable, because if we don't, we're no different from the pagan world. 

God loved us all when we least deserved it.  If we are able to mirror him, and be the witness he's called us to be, then it is up to us to show his love to the world out there that today needs it more than ever.
(From the Pastor's Study, by Rev. Jack Hulsey, Praise & Worship, Woodlake Baptist Church, May 3, 2015)
 

The turtle-on-a-fence-post test

The turtle-on-a-fence-post test
by Rev. Jack Hulsey

Quick: when you see a turtle on a fence post, what does that tell you?  It tells you somebody put it there, doesn't it? Of course it does, unless you live in a part of the country where they have fence-post jumping turtles, that is.  That bit of humor has a deeper vein of wisdom below the surface. It's a way of reminding us that there are some things in this world that definitely and probably don't happen by accident, and the proof of that is in the event.

 I was reading a book several years ago called The Handbook of Magazine Article Writing, in it there was a piece about Alex Haley (Roots).  It seems he keeps in his office a picture of a turtle on a fence post.  “Any time I start thinking WOW, isn't it marvelous what I've done,” Haley says, “I look at that picture and remember how this turtle – me – got up on that post."

Remembering how we got where we are is a problem for many of us. In the Bible, you find characters from the first book to the last who never tired of giving themselves the credit for things God had done for them. Years ago former Texas governor Ann Richards liked to say, "They were born on third base, but came to believe that they hit a triple."

One biblical character, whose whole life, sadly seemed to have no higher purpose than to illustrate this principle was a king named Uzziah. The most detailed version of his life story is told in 2 Chronicles chapter 26. 

Uzziah became king at sixteen and served as king for 52 years.  It is significant to note that he started out very much in God's good graces. "As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success (v 5b)," the story goes.

Triumph after triumph followed in his wake.  But then came that one dark moment when he stepped over the line, started believing perhaps that he was bigger than he really was.  We can almost see the end of this story coming, can't we? 

In verse 16 it tells us that Uzziah probably didn’t know about the turtle on the fence post because he began to think that his great success gave him the right to act corruptly and unfaithfully before the Lord.  He entered the Temple and began to burn incense on the Altar of Incense.  That wasn’t his job to do and when Azariah the priest ordered him to “get out of the sanctuary,” he said, “for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the Lord God."  Uzziah, of course, got angry at the priests and then, all of a sudden, broke out with leprosy on his forehead.  The Bible tells us that he was a leper until the day he died.

I hope as you read this today and hear the message that you will remember the turtle on the fence post and understand how important it is to acknowledge God's providence, presence, and provision as we journey through this life.

(From the Pastor's Study, by Rev. Jack Hulsey, Praise & Worship of Woodlake Baptist Church, April 26, 2015)
 

If it feels good, do it! Bumper sticker ethics

If it feels good, do it!
Bumper sticker ethics
by Rev. Jack Hulsey

It is a measure of the age we live in that most people prefer to live "instinctively" rather than by a set of rules. This is the result of an accumulation of philosophies dating from the 1960s, starting with “if it feels good, do it;" "go with the flow;" "do what comes naturally;" “go with your gut," and a host of similar sayings that have created a kind of bumper sticker ethics that are widely accepted. We have come to equate spontaneity with honesty and “being real,” while adhering to a set of rules which label us as plastic and artificial.

People have an amazing amount of confidence in their own intuition, especially when it comes to living the Christian life. We have reached a point where we place a higher value on how we feel rather than what God's word says. I can't begin to tell you how many people have said to me – with complete confidence and assurance – that this or that thing “surely couldn't be wrong, because a loving God would never feel that way.”

The only problem with this is that these folks are usually referring to something which the Bible really says is wrong – and they know it. And a good sit-down with their Bible, a long period of study, would help them understand how God really does feel about the subject. But that would invalidate their feelings, so they don't even make the effort. "Don't confuse me with the facts," as the saying goes. “My mind is made up.”

The worst side effect of this is that such a person can never be much of a witness to God's work in their lives. How are we to give God's gospel to a lost world when we ourselves don't have confidence in it? 

When Christ gave the great commission, he prefaced it with: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Matthew 28:18).  Most of us take this for granted, of course, but I am not sure how much actual thought we give to it. Christ has the authority to speak to us and to command us to act and believe in certain ways. As the old joke goes, they are not called “The Ten Suggestions.”  Jesus came, in great part, to change how we think about things, to "trust Him with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5).  Trusting him means living according to His will and His word.

Christ didn't come to take away our freedoms, but to expand them. But freedom only comes from knowing – and living – what is true: that truth is always found in His word, rarely in what our intuition tells us.  "If it feels good, do it" can easily be the wide smooth road leading to destruction.
 
(From the Pastor's Study, by Rev. Jack Hulsey - Praise & Worship of Woodlake Baptist Church, April 19, 2015)

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

THE LIE

From the Pastor's Study by Rev. Jack Hulsey
 
The Lie
 
It is absolutely true that you can make a word seem meaningless by just saying it over and over enough times.  Say the word  “important," for instance – say it about 20 times – and you'll come away with this sort of dizzy feeling that nothing in the world may really be all that important.

That is probably one reason the world has so many problems with the truth today.  To most people, it is just a word that means whatever you want it to mean, this, and the fact that anti-truth (i.e., lying) has been massively promoted as an acceptable way for society to carry on its business and social relationships.

But wait a minute – don't people hate to be lied to?  Of course they do, when they're hurt by it.  But what about someone who persuades you that you need a brand new pickup truck when you're old pickup truck is running perfectly well?  They do this by showing you amazing pictures on television of pickup trucks doing spectacular, unbelievable feats, like coming to a screeching halt right at the edge of a cliff while trailering a ton of steel beams.  It can carry you up the mountain and stop you before you go over the edge; everyone needs one of these trucks.

Of course, you know that in your heart of hearts this isn't true, but you aren't there to ask questions.  Desire has been kindled and that desire has become perceived as a need.  It's all by the miracle of computer-generated animation, of course, and none of this stuff is really true.  But you can bet that somewhere, some goober thinks it's the real deal.  The First Amendment allows you to use hyperbole such as this (or to flat-out lie, for that matter).  It's the American way of doing things, a little wild exaggeration here and there.

The problem is, you can't dip into lying just a teeny bit and come out clean, any more than you can dip into any other kind of sin.  Lying is one of the worst habits that all of us have.  Some people might call it “spin" others might call it “persuasive speech" but we find ourselves believing we can take huge liberties with the truth, if we do it for the right reason, and God won't mind so much.

But it is Satan who is the architect of the lie, plain and simple.  Jesus said," you are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  (John 8:44 NASB)
 
There is one and only one antidote to the lie and that is the truth.  The truth may seem very mysterious and elusive to many people, but it all focuses down to one point, which the Bible is very clear on:" I am the way, the truth and the life."(John 14:6).  Christ is the essential truth of all things, and any search for the truth has to proceed from Him.  With all the lies the world tries to make you believe this is why our eyes and ears should be focused on Him.

(From the Pastor by Rev. Jack Hulsey, Praise & Worship / April 12, 2015, Woodlake Baptist Church)

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

From the Pastor: Easter affirms the gift of God's grace


Easter affirms the gift of God's grace.

by Rev. Jack Hulsey


Today is not the only day that Christians reflect upon the resurrection of Christ, but it is certainly a day that we make the center of our worship. Unlike Christmas, the Bible is quite clear about when this all took place, – during the time of the Jewish Passover, or the 15th of Nisan on the Jewish calendar, which corresponds to late March /early April – and so it truly is an anniversary of sorts. Since we know Jesus was 33 at the time he was crucified, this means it's almost precisely 1,982 years today since that special dawn when Mary Magdalene and the other women discovered the empty tomb.

Jesus said," do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17). Anytime you see Jesus referring to "the law or the prophets," He's talking about the Old Testament. The law is the first five books of the Bible (which the Jews called the Torah) and the prophets are the rest of it.

For the first century or so after Christ's resurrection, Christians had only the Old Testament for a Bible and a collection of letters (mostly from Paul), which it's debatable that they would have called “Scriptures.”  Jesus had gone on to say, after talking about not abolishing the law, "… anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven…"(Matthew 5:19), so it's obvious he wasn't telling people to toss the Old Testament in the trash bin.

That said; Jesus did change a great deal about the law. He said, for instance, that it was possible to break the law (sin, in other words) by simply wanting to, even if you didn't actually do the deed in question. 

("I tell you, anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment."  Matthew 5:21). You certainly won't find any "Thou shalt not be angry" in the Old Testament, but Jesus was adding this dimension to the law to show people that it was totally impossible for human being to keep every aspect of the law. Our hearts and minds our whole human nature would eventually betray us.

The resurrection demonstrated conclusively that Jesus Christ was God with us, as prophesied in the Old Testament. Who else but the Lord of all creation would be able to offer us eternal life purely as a gift?  Not because of anything we would do, but simply for repenting of sin and believing in Him. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…"(Ephesians 2:8).

On this Easter Sunday, I hope that anyone reading this who doesn't know Jesus Christ will take a moment to consider placing their lives in his hands. Turn to him in faith, accepts the gift of God's grace and mercy, and began a glorious new life free of the slavery of sin. Just as all things become new during the spring time of the year, so will you become a new creation in Him. This is why Easter is so very special to Christians, as an affirmation of Christ’s Lordship over all there is including even death. Only one with such power could grant us the gift of eternal life.

From the Pastor's Study by Rev. Jack Hulsey
Printed in Praise & Worship, Woodlake Baptist Church / April 5, 2015