I just left Hope Unlimited, where I spoke with the staff about “being so hopeful in God, that our hope overflows into the lives of others.” It was a wonderful morning, as we talked about Psalm 19 and our desire to consciously see God at work all around us! I told the HU staff of our congregation’s desire to “love Paducah” this year – and they’re super stoked about seeing First Baptist Paducah become the hands and feet of Christ for many people. People who feel hopeless now, but that’s only because they haven’t yet met the Source of all hope. So we’re going to take Him to them.

Early on that first Easter morning (Luke 24:1-12), the women set out for the garden tomb. They had prepared spices in order to provide tender loving care for Jesus’ body. You’ll remember that our Lord had been very hastily entombed just in time for the Sabbath. But you also know the rest of the story: there was no body to be found! The ESV renders the women’s reaction as “perplexed” (coming from the Greek “confused state of mind”) – but their perplexity soon becomes a mixture of stunned and terrified. This dark and sad experience is instantaneously transformed into a scene where angels are shining with the Shekinah glory of God. And the angels announce the greatest news the world has ever heard: “He is not here, but has risen!”

For people still shell-shocked by Christ’s crucifixion, as the truth of Christ’s resurrection begins to sink in, all gloom is replaced by nearly indescribable excitement and joy.

The angels explain that Jesus had made it clear that He would rise from the dead. The angels say that the women have heard these words. So they had either heard them from the lips of Jesus while traveling with the disciples, or they had heard them from the Twelve.

“And they remembered his words” (Verse 8). Way cool! Their eyes have been opened to the glorious realities of a living Savior and King. Returning from the empty tomb, the women are changed forever.

Who are these women? They are disciples (followers of Christ) from Galilee whom Jesus has graciously made whole. Mary Magdalene has been delivered from demons. Mary the Mother of James is apparently “the other Mary” mentioned in Matthew 28:1. Now these women are filled with a hope they can’t possibly contain. It will take a little time for the men to get on board, but Christ will take care of that too. Peter finds nothing in the grave but linen cloths. Reminiscent of the resurrection of Lazarus, but even better. Peter, and then the others, will marvel at what God has done. Our greatest enemy – sin and death – conquered forever!

Are you encountering the risen the Lord Jesus as our church family comes together for worship? Are you excited about what Christ is doing in our midst? If you are, then I urge you not to keep that to yourself. The days have passed when we could expect the people of Western Kentucky to walk through our doors based on their self-perceived need for a church home. The only reason most of them will ever darken our doorway is if you bring them. Just as the women ran to share the hope of the resurrection with the men, I’m urging you not to take “no” for an answer.

Tom Rainer in “10 Symptoms of an Inwardly Focused Church” shares this observation as his number-10: “People are not inviting their friends … where life change happens, people want to attend and invite their friends.”

I believe that we are seeing lives changed. And that we are moving in the direction of taking the gospel to people outside our walls. And that we are developing a kingdom mindset that envisions First Baptist Paducah as a people more than a place. There’s more work to do, but don’t wait to invite and to bring. To go and to take.

We have the best news in the world: “He is risen indeed!” Let’s fill this place to overflowing with resurrection truth, joy, and hope. And may the hope spill over from here.

Beautiful, photograph, huh? The plains of Africa? Not exactly. West Paducah. Two days ago. (But off to the right you can almost see a giraffe.)

Joshua and I were driving between Lone Oak Road and 62 – not too far from the college – when I became vividly aware of this scene that was developing off to our left. A sunset. But more than a sunset. Somehow the terribly cold air seemed to light up the sky with a diamond-like brilliance that made every object to the west appear to be almost on fire. Beautiful indeed. The photo doesn’t fully capture the moment. (And Josh still isn’t happy about my stopping the car and embarrassing him. But that’s another story.)

As most of our nation – even South Texas – shivers from the plunge of the polar vortex, God surprises us with a sunset that couldn’t be topped from the Lido Deck of a Caribbean cruise. That’s how He does things. A bit surprising at times, but always awesome. (I know that “awesome” is way overused, but I’m employing it to describe the work of God’s hands – so I think it’s appropriate.)

This morning as I read from the Old Testament for my personal devotions I was struck by Isaiah 60:20 – “Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.”

Think about it. Here are the returned exiles plagued with all kinds of doubts about God. Does He still care? Is He still at work on their behalf? You and I can relate to times in life when questions like these emerge in our hearts as well.

But what is God saying through His prophet? There is a great future for God’s people! They’ve regained possession of the land, but that’s only the beginning. They can’t grasp it just yet – at least not in all its fullness – but they will be a light for all the nations of the earth. Somehow, marvelously, God weaves into Holy Scripture actual historical events with “visionary” descriptions of His far-reaching redemptive purposes.

The tone of Isaiah is shifting from God’s work in history to God’s work in eternity. The language continues to sound poetic – gorgeously so, don’t you agree? – but we immediately recognize that this is more than grand literature. It is a style of writing that blends the realities of the present evil age with the future glorious reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. The perfect age that is on the horizon.

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin’! I can barely wait.

“The Lord will be your everlasting light!” Even John will make much of this promise in Revelation (21:22-27; 22:5). Can you imagine how wonderful that day will be? “They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

Beloved, our Lamp will be the Lamb.

So cheer up, ye winter-weary! The days are getting longer, and a warm green spring is a blink away. And the time will come when Christ our Lord will light up the never-ending day with a beauty that will make my photograph melt away in insignificance.

But, until then, perhaps our great God has smiled on us with a tiny preview of the glory that awaits you and me.

The second session of our new midweek series can be listened to or downloaded here.  This message was recorded on Jan 15, 2014 in the Great Room: 2014.01.15.MidweekDressedForSuccess.Session2.CharlesMoore

Today I’ll try to wrap up this topic – at least for now – of right judging vs. sinful judging. There are some judgments that you and I, as Christ-followers, must make on a regular basis. When we “judge” in these ways, we are not violating Jesus’ prohibition of a judgmental spirit (Matthew 7:1).

1. I must make those judgments which are a normal and necessary part of everyday life.

The word “judge” can mean simply “decide” or “distinguish” – and it would be impossible for any of us to get through our daily responsibilities without judging in that sense of the word. We might call this sanctified common sense. This morning I decided that Joshua should not wear shorts to school. The temperature was 28. Shorts were a possibility in his mind, but I decided they weren’t the best option. I made a judgment.

2. I must distinguish between truth and error.

You can’t make it out of Matthew 7 (note especially 7:15-20) without discovering that a significant portion of our Christian responsibility is, in fact, to recognize false teaching and to identify it for what it is. We call this process discernment. That word simply means that we’re analyzing a situation (example: “What kind of fruit is this tree producing?) and making an appropriate judgment.

3. I must know right from wrong.

The Apostle Paul (in First Thessalonians 5:21) tells us to “test everything; hold fast what is good.” We must learn to discern! That’s how the Thessalonians were going to “abstain from every form of evil” (5:22).

4. I must recognize godliness in direct contrast with worldliness.

Paul told the Corinthian Church (from First Corinthians 2:6-16): “… among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age … But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory … these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit … Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God … The spiritual person judges all things … we have the mind of Christ.”

Wow! We can barely imagine the extent of our responsibility to rightly discern in light of all that we’ve been given in Jesus Christ! We’ve been given the very Spirit of the living God!

Beloved brothers and sisters, Biblical discernment has fallen on hard times. In Matthew 7:6 – where Jesus says, “Don’t throw your pearls before pigs” – what does He mean? I think He’s calling for our wisdom in making sound judgments. Something like this: “Don’t keep on offering what is sacred to those who have no appreciation for it. Such a gift will be contaminated and despised. You will be rebuffed and maybe openly attacked.” In that instance, Jesus wasn’t very complimentary toward dogs or pigs, but the allegorical language He used refers to worldly people.

You and I are stewards of God’s good gifts, and we must use them wisely. Jesus will reinforce this later in Matthew (10:16): “… I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Guess what that involves – all along the way? Making wise judgments.

There’s only one way we can do this – it’s the way to which the entire Sermon on the Mount points – and that is that we maintain a right view of eternity. Way back in the 1700’s, Jonathan Edwards preached one of the greatest sermons ever preached in America. It was so powerful that the people fell off their seats and clung to the pillars that were holding up the gallery. Before Edwards preached that day, he prayed over and over again: “O God, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.”

Not a bad prayer for us.

(By the way, today’s somewhat blurry photo is a picture of me from 5^th grade. After his mother’s death not too long ago, a friend from elementary school sent the pic to me from among his mom’s belongings. It was taken at the 4-H Camp dance. I’m the blonde kid sporting the plaid polyester pants, the totally non-coordinating shirt, and the white belt. The moral of the story is simply this: Sometimes your bad judgments will haunt you years later, so make good judgments instead.)

Last time I wrote I attempted to set forth what Jesus couldn’t possibly have meant when He instructed us: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). Several of you have mentioned to me that you’re glad that we’re looking into this, and some of you have undoubtedly felt uncomfortably silenced by a “judge not” that was rather indiscriminately hurled in your direction at one time or another. Many thanks as always for the back-and-forth on this subject.

Clearly Jesus is prohibiting judgment of some kind. That’s what we’ll explore today. Sinful judging. Sinful judgments. Based on my study of Matthew, I believe that our Lord is forbidding at least five kinds of judgments.

1. I am not to judge without any basis for judgment.

Jesus is aiming his pointed arrow at the Pharisees here. The Pharisees were professionals at unfair judgment. May you and I not behave like contemporary Pharisees! Make no mistake about it, Beloved: Evangelical churches are the breeding ground for “Pharisee-ism” today. Where there is truth, there is always the potential for that truth to be delivered without grace. (There is at least a little Pharisee in all of us. May God save us from us!)

2. I am not to judge rashly.

The same Jesus who tells us to “judge not” tells us clearly that some judgments are good judgments, and in fact instructs us to make good judgments: “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24). So you and I are to strive to make sound judgments. Settled judgments. Reasonable judgments. Even what Christ practically tells us to do in Matthew 7:5 – to take that huge log out of our own eye first (to see our own sin for what it is) – involves making a sound judgment!

3. I am not to judge with a hypercritical, faultfinding spirit.

The English word “judge” can mean “condemn,” “avenge,” or even “damn.” This kind of judging Jesus clearly prohibits in Matthew 7:1. We must understand the difference between judging (making judgments) and “judgmental-ism” (what we might describe as “being judgmental”). What Jesus condemns is our wrongly sitting in judgment of others, and our condemning them as if we were God. To be sinfully judgmental is to be constantly on the lookout for the faults and shortcomings of other people – and quick to rip them to shreds at the first sign or error or weakness.

In general, the scribes and Pharisees: were exceptionally rigid and severe in their judgment of others; were proud and conceited; were self-righteous (believed they could justify themselves); and (in their attempted self-justification) judged and condemned anyone who was not exactly like them.

4. I am not to judge by a standard that applies only to others.

This isn’t just hypercritical – it’s hypocritical. If it weren’t so deadly serious, the mental picture that we get upon reading Matthew 7:4-5 (the log and the speck scenario) would be downright funny. It makes no sense for me to see someone else’s fault while failing to see my own. Yet this is our universal problem (Romans 2:1-3). I sincerely encourage you to check out that Romans passage. Ouch!

And I will be judged. “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2). I think that perhaps the best medicine to treat my wrong judgment of others is the realization that Christ will one day judge me.

5. I am not to judge beyond my capacity to judge rightly.

I can’t read someone’s heart. I can’t read someone’s motives. Simply stated: I’m not God. In regard to Christ, the scribes and Pharisees: did not like the way Jesus did things at all (it wasn’t their way); did not believe that Jesus represented God’s kingdom in a manner befitting them; and had decided that Christ could not possibly be the promised Messiah. The sad part is this: There He was – the Son of God – in their very midst. But they couldn’t see Him. Their judgments were out of their league, and dead wrong.

In the next blog post, I’ll take up judgments that we must make as Christians.

Evening message recorded on January 12, 2014 in the FBC Chapel.  Session 1 of Pastor Charles’ message on Philippians 1:1-2 can be listened to or downloaded here: 2014.01.12PM.GoingTheDistance.Session1.CharlesMoore

The first session of our new midweek series can be listened to or downloaded here.  This message was recorded on Jan 8, 2014 in the Great Room:

2014.01.08.MidweekDressedForSuccess.Session1.CharlesMoore

I pray that your 2014 is off to a great start, and I’m so grateful to God to be part of life’s journey with you.

I know that some of you are wearied by the persistently gray and wintry weather. Eileen and I have a dear friend in Illinois, Lois, who is an artist, designer, and decorator. Right smack dab in the middle of winter, Lois paints beautiful springtime scenes. This is her latest. Enjoy! At least your heart can be warm.

I’m not sure if this is the appropriate forum, but I want to weigh in today on something that we as believers better get right – because just about everyone out there is getting it wrong. It comes from the lips of Jesus, and the Sermon on the Mount: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). I am quickly arriving at the conclusion that there is perhaps no verse in all the Bible that is more widely misunderstood and misapplied.

Let me begin by giving you my opinion regarding what this verse can’t possibly mean:

1. It can’t be a call to radical pluralism.

Pluralism is the undeniable fact that there exist a number of views, values, opinions, and practices among the members of our society. Radical pluralism – beyond simply calling for all people to be respected (an idea that we would clearly support on Biblical grounds) – labels any person who expresses a moral viewpoint as “intolerant” or “bigoted” or “hateful.” Jesus talked a great deal about sin. He wasn’t hateful, but was the very embodiment of Love.

2. It can’t be an endorsement of moral relativism (no absolute right or wrong).

Moral relativism is the conviction (we might even call it a “religion” because people hold to it with such gut-level tenacity) that there are no absolute standards. This view of “truth” (which actually renders truth unknowable) is not only pervasive in our culture, but gaining momentum. But we don’t have to look very far in our Bible before we figure out that God is holy, that He defines holiness, and that He has demanded absolute holiness from us (Leviticus 19:2 for starters). Were God’s holiness not reality, there would be no need for the gospel of Christ.

3. It can’t mean that everybody’s view of “truth” is just as valid as that of everyone else.

The God of the Bible has made it abundantly clear that His people are not to act like the people who aren’t His. God’s Word clearly teaches that the world has its standards, but that God maintains the only standards that count.

4. It can’t mean that we should never make a comment regarding right and wrong.

Christ has described us – in this same sermon – as “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” I think you would agree that our functioning as a moral preservative and moral illuminator would be nonsensical if we were forbidden to tell the truth about matters of morality.

5. It can’t mean that, in order to be respectable, we’re to pretend that we don’t know what’s right or wrong.

Jesus has already told us to let our “yes” mean “yes” and our “no” “no!”  That doesn’t allow us to hide who we are in the Lord just for the sake of “getting along” or what some call “political correctness.” (I suppose we could also call it “political politeness.”)

6. It can’t be an elevation of what the world now calls “tolerance” to the status of preeminent human virtue.

Tolerance, in its noblest sense, is a good thing. It’s respect for others. I’m all for it. But in our day “tolerance” means mostly “Hush!” Now there’s a place for keeping our opinions to ourselves, but – if that’s to be standard operating procedure for God’s people – then  a whole lot of prophets and preachers and faithful witnesses for Christ have died in vain. No, we are God’s ambassadors on Planet Earth – and that will mean at times saying unpopular things and being rejected for it (Luke 10:16).

7. It can’t be intended to prohibit us from engaging in issues that are complex or controversial.

The Bible is about life and death – heaven and hell – clearly matters of eternal significance. You and I at times must take up subjects where sparks may fly! Jesus certainly did on numerous occasions that are recorded in Scripture. Paul too.

I’ve gone on long enough about what Jesus didn’t mean. I’ve given you plenty to chew on for today. So I’ll spend the next blog entry or two trying to describe what kind of judging Jesus is prohibiting in Matthew 7:1, as well as what kind of judging we must engage in as faithful followers of our Lord and Savior.

Happy New Year from Boston! I trust that you’ve enjoyed friends and family over the Christmas season. I certainly delighted in all of FBC’s holiday events and observances. 2013 is a year that I always will remember with great fondness, as the Lord blessed us in so many ways by bringing us together as a church family.

Since arriving in New England, we’ve connected with family and old friends. We spent a couple of days downtown, and Joshua was thrilled by a chance to watch the Celtics play. Some snow is in the forecast, but not enough to cause major travel problems in these parts.

As you ring in 2014, don’t forget to thank God for His unyielding faithfulness on our behalf. Christ is worthy of all of our praise, and seeks to be the object of our greatest affection. Maintaining that priority is seldom easy for us, as we tend to allow all kinds of people and projects to usurp our passion for Jesus — so let’s start the year in humble dependence upon our Savior. Dependence for everything, even for our needed heart posture toward Him.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have much to celebrate! We have been made new creatures in Christ (Second Corinthians 5:17). As such, we are completely forgiven, and our names are written in heaven — where we will spend eternity enjoying unbroken fellowship with our Lord and with all of His redeemed people.

I’m so glad that we just spent a few weeks studying Galatians. Now we’re ready to enter the new year abundantly grateful for our gospel freedom from sin, shame, and separation. May 2014 be for you, Beloved, a preview of the glorious inheritance that is already yours in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What a great day it’s been at First Baptist!  Starting with Christ-centered worship and preaching and our annual Christmas Brunch fellowship, today was a true blessing.  Tonight’s Christmas Concert, Let Earth Receive Her King, will likely be one of my favorite experiences at FBC.  Having the opportunity to celebrate the Gospel being spread throughout the whole world was such an overwhelming and beautiful time of worship.  It was so encouraging to hear from our mission partners.  We saw glimpses of the Lord’s work in China, Romania, Ukraine, El Salvador, and Uganda.  What a mighty God we serve.  As always, the choir was excellent under Shea Nickell’s leadership and Tim Bertram’s live art was a special addition to the program.

As promised, we wanted to offer a blog entry where you could write praise reports of how God prompted you to participate in the Community Gift Initiative.  The money that was budgeted originally for new Christmas music and a paid orchestra was joyfully re-purposed for reaching out to our community.  We hope the cash given out throughout our community will be a small reminder of God’s love and ultimately be a catalyst for each of you participating to speak the Gospel as you hand out your gift to a stranger or loved one.  Please use the comments section below to let us know how God used you to remind someone of the true meaning of Christmas.  On behalf of the pastors and all the leadership that made tonight’s program possible, thank you.  It’s an honor to serve as your worship pastor.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come.  Let earth receive her King!  Let every heart prepare Him room, and Heaven and nature sing.  ~Isaac Watts

Gratefully,

Steve Moore