It was a lawyer who spoke these words to Jesus when asked “What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26)  But the lawyer’s first question was simply, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25)  While this encounter focuses on “who is my neighbor?”  I would like to take a closer look at the first part of the lawyer’s answer.

He is quoting the great Sh’ma, the basic creed of the Jewish people found in Deuteronomy 6:4.  These words have been uttered on the lips of the Jewish people in all circumstances – even while being lined up to be shot and killed by their Nazi oppressors.  For the twenty-first century Christian, we often read these words, but don’t have the depth of its meaning in our minds our on our lips.

We read this text and understand it as saying that we should love God with our deepest emotions and passion.  But an understanding of the Hebrew word for soul (nephesh) can give us an even deeper meaning.  The word nephesh (translated “soul” would be better translated “life.”  It means your total being.  All your life.  Every moment.  All the time.   That means that everything you do, every activity you participate in whether dinner with your family, working at your favorite hobby, whatever show you are watching on TV, every word you say, should be done with God at the forefront of your mind and actions.

This leaves no room for division: this is the stuff I do for God and this is the stuff I do for me. That won’t work.  Every breath we take should be taken with thanksgiving for the One who gives breath.  Every idle word is a word wasted since it is not to the glory of God.

The apostle Paul took this very Jewish understanding of nephesh and fleshed it out in Romans 12:1: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do you really “love the Lord your God” with absolutely everything you are and have?  That’s what is required to be a true follower of God.   He doesn’t want some of you; He wants all of you.

Seeking to love the Lord with all my nephesh,

Pastor Leslie

All-Church Picnic – August 15th at 5:30 p.m. at Kruse Park.

At 5:30 we will have our closing VBS program. Dinner will be served at 6:00. Hot Dogs and Beverages will be provided. Please bring a large salad or dessert to share (to serve 8-12 people), plates and tableware. We have invited the VBS families to be our guests.

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2 – 4 ESV)

Is this the voice of a discouraged man?  And he’s one of God’s choice servants!  If you read further in Habakkuk, you’ll see that there are yet more complaints by the prophet.  Well, like I said, deep discouragement comes into all our lives at various times.  I don’t want you to think that the answer comes in a beautifully wrapped package and “BINGO!” your problem is solved and your distress and discouragement immediately disappear.  But I can tell you that the fight for joy is worth it!  Our problem is that we need to continually preach the gospel to ourselves.  We need to remember where to find strength.  Scripture tells us plainly; do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10 ESV)

That’s such heartening news.  You and I may not find joy in many of the circumstances of life, be we can find joy in the Lord!  That is our strength.  So don’t give up.  Keep your hope and trust in the One who created you and gave His Son for you.   Your strength comes through your unswerving gaze at the beauty and goodness of the Lord.  Glory in Him!  Joy in Him!

After Habakkuk’s complaints, he comes face to face with who God really is and he is able to say at the end of his book, 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17 – 19 ESV)

Fighting the good fight and rejoicing with you,

Pastor Leslie

Converge Michigan Muskegon Area Churches Good Friday Service – April 2, 2010 1:00 p.m.

Special Speaker: Pastor Gary Rohrmayer, Executive District Minister of Converge MidAmerica

A special offering will be taken for the Haiti Baptist Mission to help with needs as a result of the January earthquake.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:8 – 10)

Following Christ is not like the way advertisers try to hawk their products, telling us that their “new and improved” whatever will make your hair shinier, make your teeth brighter, or driving “our brand” of automobile will make you look more sophisticated.  These advertisers try to sell you the “goods” without pointing out the bad.

Jesus made no bones about it.  He said, “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38).  “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32 – 33).

The words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:8 – 10 is what one author calls “the fine print of the Christian life.”  Too many Christians lose grip of their faith when trials come.  They came to Christ to get into heaven.  But Jesus signs us up to be His disciples, not just “life insurance” holders.  Paul tells us that it is through our weaknesses, our difficulties that Christ is magnified.  That’s what we are to be all about – making much of Christ.  People will see Him most when we are least.

In the words of author John Fischer, “This is not just endurance training through tough times.  This is God’s strategy for ministry through us.  There is no other way for it to be done.  His strategy is His power and strength through our weakness – His life through our death.  This doesn’t just happen to some Christians; it happens to us all if we desire to be effective in our faith.

Let’s commit ourselves to live our lives to the glory and honor of Christ.  Let’s be willing to be wholehearted disciples of the one who gave His life, so that we could honor His life, with ours.

Pastor Leslie

The entire world has been shocked by the powerful and destructive earthquake that rocked the country of Haiti in January 2010.  At least 150, 000 men, women, and children have already been buried, mostly in massed graves and the Haitian government fears that there are still at least 50,000 bodies still trapped under the tons of rubble that is yet to be cleared in and around Haiti’s capital.

Some have looked at this tragedy and decided that there is no God, because a loving and compassionate God would never allow a disaster like this to occur.  But I think just the opposite.  Of course God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8) and we can’t (nor should we try) to fully understand why He has allowed the earth to move as it did, at that particular spot where millions of people lived.

Just how is God seen in such a disaster?  Compassion.  It may not register at first, but God is a compassionate God.  Much has been seen in the countless men and women who have made their way to Haiti to help; medically, rescuing, tearing down unsafe buildings, feeding the hungry, holding young orphans and showing them love.  What moved these people and millions more around the world to send money and supplies to this tiny nation and its people?  Compassion.  Why did so many people show compassion?  The answer – God.  When Moses asked to see the Lord’s glory, this is how YHWH replied, “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression sin . . .” (Exodus 34:6 – 7a).  The psalmist says of the Lord, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13).

One of God’s attributes is His compassion.  All humankind is an image-bearer of the Creator.  Why would so many people respond to the earthquake crisis as they did and continue to do? It is the feelings of compassion toward others, which is one of the great gifts that God has given to men and women; boys and girls.  It’s unique to human beings.  Do elephants come and help a pride of lions that have gone through a crisis?  Do penguins try to show compassion to a hurt elephant seal?  Of course not!  But we humans without a second thought will freely help people that we don’t even know, from another culture, and thousands of miles away will show compassion just as God does when a lonely, dying sinner receives the greatest gift of compassion, a relationship with the Heavenly Father through the blood atonement of His only Son.  That’s love!  That’s compassion!

Yes, there is a God.  And He cares more than anyone that a destructive earthquake destroyed the homes and lives of so many people.  But in God’s perfect, holy plan, “just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after comes judgment, so Christ,  having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:27 – 28).

Waiting with you for the perfection of all things,

Pastor Leslie

Please join us

Wednesday Mornings @ 10:00 a.m.
Pastor Lew will begin a study on
“The Book of Judges” on September 15th.
Come and enjoy a time of Bible study, prayer and fellowship with other believers.

Please join us

Wednesday Mornings @ 10:00 a.m.
Pastor Lew continues a study on
“The Book of Daniel”
Come and enjoy a time of Bible study, prayer and fellowship with other believers.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord (Psalm 40:3). This verse comes in the midst of a psalm of David who reflects on the many ways that God had taken care of him, even through times of great trial and difficulty.  With the single turning of a page of the calendar, we often find ourselves in David’s place, reflecting on the past year and reflecting on the events that shaped our lives.  Hopefully, like David, we too will sing a song of praise to God.

So what has this past year brought you?  Are you bitter over difficulties or losses?  Don’t lose the perspective that the psalmist had.  In verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 40, David sang, I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.  He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. Perhaps you still feel like you are in the pit of destruction and your steps feel unsure as you look into the future. Go back to the beginning of this Psalm and wait patiently for the Lord.

As we enter 2010 (can you believe it!) we can find all the trust and confidence that we need from the Lord’s hand.  I would like to challenge everyone who is a part of Lakeside, to seek together for the Lord’s hand in our individual and congregational lives.

We are facing a very important milestone in our church as we gather on Sunday, January 17^th to vote on a proposed new constitution as a document to guide Lakeside Baptist Church into the future.  I believe that this new constitution articulates biblical principles of leadership and church governance.  We do need to remember that this document, like any written by human hands, is imperfect and will be used by imperfect people.  But with the Lord’s guiding hand, we will be able to say I delight to do your will, O my God, your law is within my heart (Psalm 40:8).

Let’s be sure that in this new year of 2010, the words of the psalmist will ring true in our hearts.  But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” (Psalm 40:16).

May the grace, peace, and love of God be with you in 2010.

Pastor Leslie