New Harmony Church https://nharmony.org Tue, 16 Oct 2018 19:32:00 +0000 Tue, 16 Oct 2018 19:32:00 +0000 hourly 1 3600 SnapPages.com Trial and Crucifixion What does thi...]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/07/trial-and-crucifixion Fri, 07 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/07/trial-and-crucifixion

Isaiah 53 and John Chapters 18-19

Pastor Jimmy Decker

A couple weeks ago I had the privilege to go on a camping trip with some men and their kids from our church. It was a very cold, and memorable time, not just because of the low temperatures, but because I had the honor of participating in a flag retirement ceremony. I had never witnessed this before, and as we circled around a warm campfire, the question was asked of everyone there; “What does this flag mean and represent to you?”  As we stood there on that cold and windy night, men and boys began to speak up of what that old flag meant to them. They said words like freedom, hope, sacrifice, honor, peace, pride, and strength. We were honored to have a close friend and marine there to explain and show us the proper way to retire a United States of America flag.
He called us to remove our caps and to stand at attention in silence as they placed the tightly folded, tattered flag into the bright and hot campfire. As we all stood there in silence honoring the flag that once flew high in the sky, a mix of emotions and thoughts began to stir with in me. I began to think about to think about the words of our national anthem and all the men and women who gave so much, even to death, so we can have our freedoms. I even thought about the moms, dads, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, and children that stay behind not knowing if they’d ever see their loved ones again. All these thoughts and emotions took place within a few minutes as the flag was place and consumed within that fire. It was a moment that I’ll never forget, especially in the future when I see or even hear a flag flapping in the wind.  I’ll remember and thank those who gave so much for my freedom.
Now here we are on Good Friday; my mind and emotions are going wild again thinking about all Christ did at calvary so we can have eternal life with him. I’m thinking about the betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane and how he came forth to save his disciples and all who believe in him (John 18:8). Jesus stepped forward, fully knowing all that was going to happen to him. Facing an unjust trial, experience being beat by trained roman soldiers, and even hanging upon an old rugged cross even to the point of death (John 18-19).  Jesus stepped forward like a soldier, because he knew the only way we could be reconciled to God was to offer himself as the ultimate and final sacrifice for us. Stepping up to do something we could never do for ourselves!
The next time you take the Lord's Supper, see a cross, or even when you sit down to enjoy your Easter dinner with your friends and family, take time to remember the price Christ paid for our freedom, peace, joy, hope, and eternal life. Because he gave it all!
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/07/trial-and-crucifixion#comments 1 That They May Be One https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/06/that-they-may-be-one Thu, 06 Apr 2023 08:36:32 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/06/that-they-may-be-one

John 17:11

Pastor Shane Callicutt

Christ's High Priestly prayer is His longest recorded prayer. It is the entirety of John chapter 17. As I considered what to write concerning His prayer, verse eleven came to mind. It says:

"And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one."

Jesus was about to leave. His time with His disciples was short. Even during the forty days after His resurrection, He had relatively little time with them. Notice what He said in this verse.

  • He was returning to the Father.
  • They were remaining in the world.
  • He asked the Father to keep them in His name.
  • It was the name that the Father had given Him.
  • So that they would be one as He and the Father are one.
What does it mean to be one as Jesus and the Father are one? In a broad sense, it means that we are unified concerning the Gospel and the core non-negotiable beliefs that make us Christians. But because of how Jesus describes it - being unified like He and the Father - it seems like there's more to it. I'm not sure I'm qualified to give you a comprehensive answer, but for a moment, let me remind you of what it isn't.
It doesn't mean we don't have differences. We don't have to march in locked step on all second tier doctrinal beliefs. We agree on the things that are essential to being a Christian, and we walk in charity with everything else as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
It doesn't mean that we tolerate sin in the body. As with anything that makes our physical bodies sick, we should be diligent to cleanse ourselves of impure things. We should hold each other accountable and encourage one another to walk in the light as He is in the light.
It also doesn't mean that we ignore the diligent pursuit of reconciliation with one another when we sin against others or are sinned against by someone. We cannot allow roots of bitterness to take hold and defile many. We cannot be ok with brothers and sisters who don't pursue reconciliation.
So much more can be said. So let me close with a few questions for contemplation this week.

  • How is your unity with the Body of Christ?
  • Are you allowing secondary doctrines to create division?
  • Are you tolerating sin in the name of not rocking the boat?
  • Are you pursuing reconciliation as much as it depends upon you?
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/06/that-they-may-be-one#comments 1 The Last Supper https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/05/the-last-supper Wed, 05 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/05/the-last-supper

Matthew 26:17–29

Pastor Matt Milligan

The Last Supper is spoke of five different times in scripture. To get a complete picture of what happened before our Lord and savior Jesus Christ was crucified, you really need to read them all.
(Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38; John 13:1-17:26 and 1 Corinthians 11:23–25).
God wanted this moment to be captured in scripture for generations upon generations to read and understand. Christ was showing and teaching us at the same time.
He washes the feet of the disciples to teach humility. He foretells Peter’s denial to bring Peter to dependence. He exposes the betrayer (Judas) to show his power and control. He sets up the Lord’s Supper to be a reminder of His sacrifice. He speaks wisdom about many foundational topics of the faith in the book of John
  • “Let not your hearts be troubled”
  • “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”
  • “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you”
  • “I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser”
  • “Abide in me, and I in you”
  • “I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth”
Right before Jesus was taken away and crucified, he had wisdom he wanted to walk out in front of us and some wisdom he wanted to speak directly to us.

In your life today, are you walking in the wisdom of Christ?
In your life today, are you speaking the wisdom of Christ?
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/05/the-last-supper#comments 1 Jesus Cleansed the Temple https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/04/jesus-cleansed-the-temple Tue, 04 Apr 2023 14:55:16 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/04/jesus-cleansed-the-temple

Luke 19:45-48

Pastor Shane Callicutt

This isn't the first time Jesus cleansed the Temple. He did it approximately three years earlier as well. After his miracle at the wedding of Cana, He went to Jerusalem for Passover and did the same thing (John 2:13-22). At that time, he made a whip and drove out the money-changers, His disciples remembered that "Zeal for your house will consume me," (Psalm 69:9) and the Jews questioned Him about His authority to cleanse the Temple, demanding a sign. His answer:

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

Cryptic. John's Gospel even says that the disciples didn't get it either until after Christ was raised from the dead.
So, here Jesus is doing the same thing again. He's chasing money-changers out of the Temple, albeit, without a whip this time. And again, those in authority were trying to trap Him in His words. And again, they couldn't. But this time, a small detail is added. Verse 48 says that all the people were hanging on his words. 
I'm sure they were. Just the day before, the people hailed Him as He entered the city. They blessed Him as their King crying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Luke19:38) Of course they are hanging on His every word! And of course the Jewish leaders were trying to find fault because He represented a very real threat to their authority.
But this day was only a cog in the wheel of God's greater plan. Within the span of a week Jesus would go from beloved King to crucified criminal. The LORD used this day to create anger in the hearts of the chief priests and scribes which would build up to their plot to kill Jesus.
Think about the fickle nature of the people. They are hanging on His every word right now, but in a matter of days, they will shout "Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Let His blood be on us and all our children!" They will play their role in destroying His temple, which God would raise on the third day. 
Don't be too judgmental on the people. We all have fickle hearts. As we move closer to Resurrection Sunday, consider how you have been fickle with the LORD. Ask Him to show you, and then repent of whatever He brings to mind.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/04/jesus-cleansed-the-temple#comments 0 Christ's Triumphal Entry https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/04/christ-s-triumphal-entry Tue, 04 Apr 2023 13:56:10 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/04/christ-s-triumphal-entry

Mark 11:1-11

Pastor Noah Schlag

Much can be said of the triumphal entry that Jesus made as he headed toward the temple on what we often refer to as Palm Sunday. This event was clearly a fulfilment of ancient prophecy (Zech. 9:9) and even alluded to as early as Gen. 49. The unabated display of Christ as King and Messiah stood in stark contrast to his previous dealings where Bible readers are regularly reminded that His time had not yet come. Christ’s time had now come and in kingly fashion Jesus commandeered a beast of burden on which none had ever ridden and entered Jerusalem like that of the newly appointed King Jehu in 2 Kings 9:13 where garments were spread before him on the ground. One could study Ezekiel’s vision (10:18-19) of the departure of the glory of God from the temple and how Christ’s entrance into the temple marked a return of the glory of the Lord to the temple once again as a full and final sacrifice was only days away.
While all the aforementioned aspects of Palm Sunday are worthy of our time in study and prayerful thought, consider the fact that so many during this time expected Christ to reign and rule so as to overthrow Roman occupation and the oppression that came with it. Yet we learn later that his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Many who hailed Christ on Sunday later walked in disappointment as Jesus hung on the cross, their expectations dying with him.
Jesus’ triumphal entry is a timely reminder that the Lord regularly works in ways that may not align with our expectations.  The Gospels reveal to us often that there is far more to Jesus than meets the eye and much of what he did required closer examination to fully understand. As you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus keep in mind that the Lord is at work in your life. His depth is vast, his judgements unsearchable and his ways are inscrutable. Even when the Lord doesn’t work how we’d like it is important to understand that our unmet expectations in no way diminish his lordship. He is the King who conquered death and we have every reason to believe that he reigns supreme over every aspect of our lives. Let’s celebrate our King this week and praise him even if we don’t fully understand all that he is doing as we can rest assured that he’ll work for our good and his glory.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2023/04/04/christ-s-triumphal-entry#comments 1 Trees https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/10/06/trees Tue, 06 Oct 2020 13:47:06 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/10/06/trees
Trees have been on my mind. Around here, they’re starting to turn. A few of the maple trees have already broken into fiery bright orange. It’s almost cliché to say this, but Fall is my favorite season. Every year I get nostalgic in the Fall. Lots of great things happened to me in the Fall. I met my wife in the Fall. We got married in the Fall. I have lots of fond memories of bonfires and costume parties from my youth. But this morning, the trees are stealing the show.

It’s not the foliage, although it is beautiful. But instead, the life cycle of a tree has captivated me. Trees represent something. The Word of God is replete with important things happening around trees. Two trees in the middle of the Lord’s garden had great significance. The Tree of Life represented the ongoing, eternal life we were designed to enjoy with the Lord. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolized a life of ongoing death separated from fellowship with the Lord. Of course, mankind was deceived into choosing a life of ongoing death, which brought a curse, and severed us from the Tree of Life.

The Word of God is replete with important things happening around trees.

After that, trees were pivotal in the rescue of Noah’s family from the flood. The Lord had Noah build an ark out of Gopher trees. The English word wood is used in Genesis 6:14, but the Hebrew word often means tree. A little farther along, and the Lord appears to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1).

Fast-forward again, and the Hebrew word for tree is in Genesis 22:6, where it says that Abraham took the tree (wood) of the burnt offering and laid it on his son, Isaac.

And of course, Jesus was hung on a cross, but the Apostles also used the metaphor hung on a tree. They did this because it was a tie-in with the Law of Moses, where it says anyone hanged on a tree is cursed (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).

Then go all the way to the end of the Bible, and what is there? A tree. The Tree of Life is made available to God’s human family once again (Revelation 22:2).

His people will be like healthy trees.

This isn’t a comprehensive list of important moments with trees, but it should be enough to whet your appetite. Trees mean something. So, what do they mean right now? Does every tree mean something? Should we be thinking about trees differently? Should we find a new respect for trees?

Yes.

I’m not talking about some kind of hippie-dippy tree-hugging, although I’m an advocate for responsible forestry and conservation. What I am talking about is messaging. What is the Lord saying to us through creation, specifically through trees? Twice He used trees as instrumental parts of saving humanity: the ark and the cross. He has a plan for trees in the New Jerusalem with the Tree of Life. So, in the here and now, what do trees tell us about God’s plan?

For one, the Lord tells us that His people will be like healthy trees.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. – Psalm 1:3

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. – Psalm 92:12

A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. – Proverbs 15:4

So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. – Matthew 7:17

The theme of trees is threaded throughout the entire Bible, and often God’s people are compared to them. The prophets and Jesus even go the other direction and compare rebellious Israel to unhealthy trees.  You could say that the Bible ties people and trees together in a cohabitation. Wherever people are, there will be trees. Unsurprisingly, God’s dwelling on earth and the places he often appeared to people had trees.

The Garden of Eden was filled with trees. The Tabernacle had a symbolic tree in the golden lampstand; it had flowers, branches, and was essentially modeled after a flowering almond tree. God appeared to Abraham and Gideon under trees. In fact, trees are mentioned in the Bible more frequently than any other living creature after God and people.

But here’s my favorite. The life cycle of trees is a constant reminder of God’s plan for His people. Right now, the trees are “dying.” Their leaves are changing color, and likely by the middle of next month, they’ll be mostly fallen. All winter long, the trees will remain bare of any sign of life. By all appearances, they’ll be dead. Then somewhere around the middle to the end of March, life will emerge. The leaves will begin to bud, and what was “dead” will come to life again. The trees remind us of resurrection. God built into the trees a yearly reminder of His intentions for His people: to raise us from death, just like He raised His Son, Jesus.

But the reminder isn’t limited to our ultimate resurrection. God can and does raise us again and again from the ashes of our ruins. Your bad choices, your poor judgment, and every step you’ve taken in the wrong direction that has sown death and sorrow into your life will never be too much for God to resurrect. Look at the trees. New life blooms again and again, with the passing of each year. All you must do is plant yourself in Jesus the way the tree is planted by streams of water. If you do that, though it may take time to see fruit, you will see resurrection power blow through your life.

The trees remind us of resurrection.

I know that this sounds perhaps a little strange, but trees have meaning. It would do our souls well to restore some of the wonders that modern life has stolen. The Lord has built creation in a way that speaks to us. It contains divine messaging. Not in the sense that we don’t need the Word. In fact, we need the Word to even know what creation is saying to us. The divine messaging of creation points us to the Creator. The trees tell us something. Let them encourage you and remind you of God’s promise and His faithfulness.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/10/06/trees#comments 0 We Need His Peace The Salem News, September 1, 2020]In these days of COVID-19, racial tension, civil unrest, and killer Asian hornets, we search for answers. Who can blame us? It's not that we weren't searching for answers before. We were. It's just now we have a more profound sense of urgency. We sense the social fabric of our nation has torn from top to bottom. We are separated along...]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/09/02/we-need-his-peace Wed, 02 Sep 2020 23:25:41 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/09/02/we-need-his-peace

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27, ESV

[This article was written for The Salem News, September 1, 2020]

In these days of COVID-19, racial tension, civil unrest, and killer Asian hornets, we search for answers. Who can blame us? It's not that we weren't searching for answers before. We were. It's just now we have a more profound sense of urgency. We sense the social fabric of our nation has torn from top to bottom. We are separated along political lines, racial lines, over how the spread of COVID-19 should be handled; those things are on top of the issues that were already fracturing us.

I’m challenged, and I am, as my brother-in-law has said before, unflappable. This has shaken my unflappability. As a husband and father, at times, I feel helpless to protect. As a minister, because of the weight of helping shepherd people who have opinions that span the spectrum from deep conspiracy to wearing a mask in the shower, at times, I feel drawn and quartered.
It's these feelings that have led me to a constant prayer. We need His peace. Jesus promised us peace. However, even in little ole Salem, we seem to be lacking in this one thing. Let not your hearts be troubled. Yet, we’re troubled. Neither let them be afraid. Nevertheless, we're afraid. May I submit to you that if you're troubled or afraid (or both), you have valued something else a greater possession than the peace of Christ.

On the one hand, many of us are afraid of getting sick. On the other, many of us are fearful of losing liberty. Ironically, both groups are fishing on different sides of the same boat. Both groups are afraid, neither have peace. Fear opens the door to self-righteous anger. The Apostle James says, “[for] the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:20, ESV

We need the peace of Christ. We need His peace to dominate our lives. We need His peace more than we need a cure for COVID-19. We need His peace more than we need civil liberties. Until we believe that, we will continue to look down on each other from our ideological pedestals and cast judgment. When we seek and find His peace, masks and liberties won't become unimportant; they only cease to be most important.

The peace of Christ in these times of unrest maybe one of the most substantial evidences of His power. It will help make us more peculiar people. Jesus called us salt and light. Too much salt and a meal is ruined. Too much light and it is blinding. Living in His peace while the world seems to be imploding is one way we entice people to the Gospel. It is just enough salt and light that people can taste and see that the Lord is good.

Will you seek His peace? He has already given it through the Holy Spirit. If you trust Jesus more than masks and liberty, you will find it.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/09/02/we-need-his-peace#comments 0 Update | August 21, 2020 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/08/21/update-august-21-2020 Fri, 21 Aug 2020 10:37:41 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/08/21/update-august-21-2020
Church family, here's an update for you. Last week we let you know that all of the elders had been exposed to COVID-19. We're happy to report that we're all doing just fine. Here's what this weekend is going to look like.

First, to be perfectly clear, we are definitely having live services.

Pastor David will be back in the pulpit and ready to preach live and in person!

Pastor Matt will also be back with us FULLY RECOVERED!! Praise the Lord!

Pastor Noah and Pastor Shane will still have a couple of days to go on their quarantine, but they're completely healthy and excited to get back to worshiping with everyone on the 30th.

We hope to see you this weekend. We know these are challenging days, but God is faithful and isn't surprised by any of this. Be led by the Spirit, not by fear. See you Sunday!
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/08/21/update-august-21-2020#comments 2 Public Service Announcement | August 15, 2020 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/08/15/public-service-announcement-august-15-2020 Sat, 15 Aug 2020 12:10:13 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/08/15/public-service-announcement-august-15-2020
Church family,

In the course of this past week between August 10-12, each of the elders have had close contact with an active COVID-19 case and have been asked to quarantine. For us, this happened mid-week and not during our regular services. Each of us were made aware on Friday, and since then we’ve been in close contact with the Dent County Health Department to understand how we should proceed. We will be quarantining as requested. We believe this is the appropriate course of action.

While the elders quarantine, we don’t believe canceling our Sunday gatherings is warranted. We believe that everyone will make the best decisions for themselves and their families. The live-stream will continue to be available as it has been. This Sunday, August 16, Pastor Noah will still be preaching, just through video. However, Wednesday worship will be discontinued until September. During our quarantine, each of us remain available for phone calls, texts, Facebook, etc. If you need to reach one of us, by all means reach out.

We want you to know that this is not a cause for discouragement, but a time for the Body of Christ to rally and cry out Jesus. Though among the elders we each have our own thoughts and opinions about quarantining, we believe for the sake of unity in the Body it is best that we do this. Pray for us, pray for the church, pray for our community. This will pass and the Church will remain, so work eagerly to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3).

Much Love in Christ
NHC Elders
]]> Be Kind | Response to Yesterday's Sermon https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/08/10/be-kind-response-to-yesterday-s-sermon Mon, 10 Aug 2020 12:26:00 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/08/10/be-kind-response-to-yesterday-s-sermon
Church family, my intention is not to repreach Pastor Noah's sermon from August 9, 2020. You can watch it or listen to it here. I was so moved yesterday by the Word, I'm compelled to come here kind of unload on you some thoughts.

How have we been unkind? Three ways, and I'll explain each one.
  • The pursuit of theological purity and unanimity at the expense of personal dignity.
  • Imposing our personal convictions and interpretations on others as a litmus test for spirituality.
  • Letting our own wounds and hurts from our past dictate how we treat people in the present.

The pursuit of theological purity and unanimity at the expense of personal dignity.

If you know me, you know that I am a man of theology. I have spent most of my adult life studying the Word, reading books, listening to men and women who are beasts in the Word, and bouncing things back and forth with my trusted Christian friends. In fact, if I could be completely honest, I struggle with things like small talk because I'd rather talk about something theological.

I know... I'm a nerd.

But, I say that to say this: I love theological purity. I pursue it in my personal life, therefore I understand the importance of it in the larger life of the Church. I think every believer should pursue this purity in their personal lives.

Where this sours is when we reach for theological unanimity within a local church. First off, let's be real. It's not attainable unless your church is comprised of five people and four of them are your immediate family. Even then it's difficult. But what happens is you have sects and factions form within the church of like-minded people on particular theological issues. To some extent, this happens naturally. But at times and with some people, instead of being content with differences, it becomes their mission to bring everyone over to their understanding of an issue.

[To be clear, I'm not talking about non-negotiable Christian beliefs like the virgin birth, or the sinless life of Jesus. However, even in these kinds of disagreement, kindness is still important.]

Things get unkind when agreement cannot be reached. It's not usually some face-to-face disagreement. It manifests in gossip and slander. It gets talked about around the dinner table. It gets talked about at lunch with a friend. All of these side-conversations have a goal of gathering people to your point of view. It's similar to drafting troops. Even if you're right and they're wrong, and even if everyone is a steel vault and it never goes anywhere else, all gossip and slander is unkind. It creates factions and divisions that ultimately hurt people and harm the advance of the Kingdom.

The solution is get over your need for everyone around you to agree with you. Understand that your mission to bring every believer over to your way of believing is perhaps more about control than Truth. Allow people the dignity of having different beliefs and thoughts about issues. and let them sharpen you as much as you want to sharpen them.

Imposing our personal convictions and interpretations on others as a litmus test for spirituality

I promised myself that I would never use this issue to make a point, but it's just too obvious to let it go. Not every believer does this, but I have a sneaky suspicion that more do it than will admit. This point is illustrated well by the mask/no mask issue that is raging in culture right now. I've listened in on conversations of believers on both sides of the issue where the use or non-use of a mask somehow becomes an arbiter of whether they are faithful Christians.

Friends, we cannot do this. But let's take it beyond face masks. We've been doing this for way longer on other issues. Remember when we were only testing people's spirituality over the issue of alcohol without drunkenness, or no alcohol at all?

I miss those days...

...Oh, I've just been informed that we still do that. Nevermind.

The point is this. It's unkind to judge a person's spirituality with these kinds of litmus tests. They're unfair, they don't take into account the larger story of a person's whole journey. Sure they had a beer at dinner, then wore a mask into Walmart. Did you know that they led three people to the Lord last week? No? Oh, you just saw them at Applebee's and Walmart yesterday. Ok. And how many people have you shared your faith with lately?

Hmmm.

Letting our own wounds and hurts from our past dictate how we treat people in the present.

I'm not sure that this one isn't the most damaging of the three. Have you ever been hurt and then proceeded to make a internal vow? "I'll never let another ________ hurt me again." Or, "I'll never do __________ again." These kinds of internal vows may seem harmless in the moment, but depending on the severity of the hurt they actually wield power over your present in unexpected, harmful ways. The internal vow becomes a lower-case savior of sorts. In many cases you become an evangelist of your internal vow. You'll never do _______ again, and neither should anyone else.

Now if your blank is heroin, then of course you should definitely evangelize others away from doing heroin. But if you say, "I'll never trust a man again," or, "I'll never let another church hurt me," then you have a problem. The problem manifests in how you evangelize others to feel the same way as you do.

  • You tell other women to be cautious of all men because they all only want one thing from you.
  • You tell as many people as you can that church is optional because it's full of hypocrites and hurtful people.

When an internal vow that has roots in hurts and wounds becomes a savior, you start telling others about it. It begins telling us how to treat others. And suddenly we're not led by the Holy Spirit, but another spirit in whom we've trusted to protect us. If it's not Jesus telling us how to treat others, we will invariably hurt people in similar ways that we've been hurt. We will be unkind to others when what they say and do treads too closely to the boundary our internal vows have drawn for us.

Maybe our unkindness serves as evidence that one or all of these things maybe at work in our lives. I'm sure at one point or another, all of us would agree that we've been one or all three of these people; and this certainly isn't an exhaustive list of reasons for unkindness. All I'm suggesting in light of Sunday's sermon is that we test ourselves against the kindness of Jesus. Don't test yourself against my kindness or anyone else's... except Jesus. Where are we failing? Where are we succeeding? How much of the grief that we endure is linked to the consequences of our own unkindness or the unkindness of others?

Think about these things as you journey with Jesus this week.

Grace and peace to all of you.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/08/10/be-kind-response-to-yesterday-s-sermon#comments 0 New Harmony Church COVID-19 Statement https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/03/16/new-harmony-church-covid-19-statement Mon, 16 Mar 2020 17:10:19 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/03/16/new-harmony-church-covid-19-statement
We have always been proactive about ensuring that our facility is disinfected well on a regular basis. High standards of cleanliness will continue to be part of what we do.  However, as we watch the ongoing development of the COVID-19 issue, we need to clarify NHC’s response.

We understand that there are many opinions among our faithful attenders and members about how we should respond to COVID-19. The elders have prayed and discussed our options, and we are pursuing a policy of responsibility and respect. In an effort to be responsible and respectful, we will abide by the recommendations of the local, state, and federal authorities.

In light of our policy of responsibility and respect, here is our response.

  • We will follow the schedule of the R-80 school district. If R-80 is in session, we will have normal services. If R-80 is dismissed, we will move to live-streamed services only.
  • [Update: April 23, 2020] Following Governor Parson's announcement of a statewide shelter-at-home order on April 3, 2020, and the cancellation of the remainder of the Missouri school year on April 9, 2020, moving forward we will follow the social-distancing guidelines put forth by the governor's office until such a time that we believe our regular gatherings should resume.
  • To maintain our regular rhythms, we will live-stream during our regular service times. We’re asking that only the people who help make the live-stream possible come to the church.
  • [UPDATE: May 10, 2020] Beginning May 10, 2020 we will resume in-person gatherings with social distancing practices in effect. To accomplish social distancing practices, we have removed approximately half of our seating capacity and spaced the rows six feet apart. We will have two services, at 9 AM and 11 AM each Sunday and have placed a limit of 175 people per service.
  • To assist in keeping our numbers beneath those imposed limits, we have partnered with Brushfire.com. They will provide a reservation system so you can reserve seats for your family in a service. Reservations are first come first serve and are, of course, free. You do not need to bring a "ticket" with you to get in. These reservations are a temporary measure until it becomes evident that they are no longer necessary. You can make a reservation here.
  • While we conduct live-streamed services, we encourage you to view and participate in your homes as families and preserve the unity of fellowship.
  • [UPDATE: June 14, 2020] Beginning June 14, 2020 we will resume our regular Sundays with one service at 9:30 AM. At this time childcare is provided only for children up to Pre-School. We encourage attendees to self-govern and respect the wishes of others as we continue to return to our normal gatherings.
  • We will continue to provide a livestream of our 9 AM gathering for those who are unable to attend, or are not ready to return to in-person fellowship. Continue worshiping with your family at home until you feel it's safe for your family to return in person.
  • In all things we want to present no stumbling stones for the world. Romans 13 tells us to subject ourselves to governing authorities. We want to conduct ourselves in a way that both honors the name of Jesus, and gives the world no grounds for accusations.

We ask for grace and patience as we walk through this in a way that we believe pleases the Lord. We ask that everyone do all that is possible to preserve unity in the Body of Christ so that we can continue to impact our community for God’s Kingdom.
]]> I'm Moving https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/01/02/i-m-moving Thu, 02 Jan 2020 21:08:11 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/01/02/i-m-moving
I got some news today that kind put me in a sad mood. It wasn't bad news, it was just news that I knew would come one day, but I wasn't ready for it. Nothing ever stays the same. Things are always in motion. Sometimes that motion brings people in, and other times it moves them out.

I received this news in the middle of some family time at my house, so when the chance to make a run to Sonic to get ice cream for everyone came, I took it for a little alone time. Well, time with me and the Lord to talk.

I sat there in my space at Sonic, waiting for my order to show up. With my cash on the dash and a cool breeze blowing in the window, I put my head back, closed my eyes, and started thinking through what this news would mean in the coming weeks and months. I was calculating loss, rethinking schedules, and forecasting what things would be like until it all settled into a new normal.

Then it occurred to me that I hadn't done the one thing that I wanted to do while I was at Sonic. I hadn't listened for the Lord. I was planning. I was forecasting. I was basically trying to fix it.  So I stopped all of that and quieted my mind and gave the Lord room to speak. After a moment, I received two words.

"I'm moving."

When those words hit me, peace filled my heart. Then memories of prayers flooded my mind. They were prayers where I or others had asked the Holy Spirit to move. It occurred to me while I waited at Sonic that this news was an answer to one of those prayers.

The lesson for me is this. When change comes, I need to stop scrambling to minimize the change. I need to first talk with the Holy Spirit and wait for Him to lead me. The change may be of His doing and I'd rather not be trying to patch up something that He has changed.

But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ~ Jude 20-21

As we enter 2020, let's pray in the Holy Spirit as a matter of first action. When change hits us, don't automatically enter into damage control, or anxiety, or any kind of works to maintain the status quo. It could be that the Holy Spirit is working out these changes for greater Kingdom impact. Wait for his assurance that He's moving, trust Him, follow Him wherever He leads, then believe that His plan is better than yours.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2020/01/02/i-m-moving#comments 0 Dueling Affections https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/12/19/dueling-affections Thu, 19 Dec 2019 08:51:50 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/12/19/dueling-affections

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Good music always makes me peaceful, especially music with outstanding cello work.  There’s something about cellos that sounds yearning, waiting for the dawn to break, waiting for the hero to deliver.  I struggle to describe it well.  Why? I don’t know, but everyone has something like this. Maybe yours is harmonica, or piano, or perhaps not a musical instrument at all but instead smells that bring back memories that remind you of home, of hope. I believe deep within, even in the most hardened person, there is a sight, a sound, a smell, a taste that raises our affections.

If nothing else, life is a series of competing affections. One affection draws us to this, another to that, and in this competition, the strongest do indeed survive. We are wired this way.  The strongest affections in life lead us. Indeed there are times when we look around our lives and ask, “How did I get here?” Often (not always) you must only trace back the trails of your affections. What you have loved has led you to where you find yourself.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” These words have echoed through the ages – the call to the most powerful, most enthralling, most enduring affection in all of creation. Repeated again by Jesus and hailed as the greatest commandment, this affection is to be nurtured, and held closely as one would hold to a life ring in the middle of the raging ocean.

What you have loved has led you to where you find yourself.

Your affection for God, your love for Jesus, when nurtured, when cultivated will overpower and drive out the weaker affections of this life.  Have an affection for lust?  Have an affection for money? Alcohol? Drugs? Or maybe it’s something more seemingly benign.  Love gossip? Love being busy in other people’s business? Love being the center of attention? Love being the answer guy or girl that everyone goes to with questions? Whether you know it or not, these things drive your life. They drive your choice of friends, your choice of career, your recreational choices, everything is driven by your affections! So the question really is, who or what do you love most?

An old Puritan once said, “Misplaced affections need to be replaced by the far greater power of the affection of the Gospel.” The sermon this statement came from was titled, “The Expulsive Power a New Affection” and the title couldn’t be clearer. Want your old affections to be replaced? Love Jesus more than your old affection.  Believe that he is far better than the affections that have led you thus far.  Nurture your affection for Christ by immersing yourself in the Gospel. In doing this your affection for God will rise above all of those old affections, effectively supplanting them. The competition will continue so far as the old affections will constantly tempt you to reinstate their former position, but so long as you continually nurture your affection for Christ, they will not succeed.

Surround yourself with people and things that elevate your affections beyond the gift to the Giver of all good gifts.

How? For some, drastic immediate changes are necessary.  New playmates, new playground, new everything will be required in order to effectively break free from the power of old affections. But everyone has to make many small changes.  We all must remain in the Word, in prayer, in fellowship with other believers.  Beyond that, find those things that lift your affections to God. Mine is good music, especially music with cello.  Anything that lifts your affections beyond the gift is legit.  You don’t just love music, your love is elevated to the One who made us musical. Surround yourself with people and things that elevate your affections beyond the gift to the Giver of all good gifts.  Let the Gospel of Christ be fresh in your heart in and through all the things in life that you cherish.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/12/19/dueling-affections#comments 1 Eve's Redemption I originally wrote this on December 24, 2014. Thought I'd share it again (slightly edited) because the truth is timeless. Keep in mind, I’m not letting Adam off the hook in what follows here. This picture is packed with meaning. It isn’t a manly picture. It’s two women drawn in a kind of medieval fashion. But the message of this artwork goes beyond gender. It is the message of Christmas. On the le...]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/12/07/eve-s-redemption Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:11:08 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/12/07/eve-s-redemption
Image used with permission.
I originally wrote this on December 24, 2014. Thought I'd share it again (slightly edited) because the truth is timeless.
Keep in mind, I’m not letting Adam off the hook in what follows here. This picture is packed with meaning. It isn’t a manly picture. It’s two women drawn in a kind of medieval fashion. But the message of this artwork goes beyond gender. It is the message of Christmas. On the left, Eve, the first woman, the one who listened to the serpent. The one who took the first bite of the fruit that was forbidden. The one on whose shoulders rests the blame for mankind’s fall.

Shame.

Guilt.

Death.

She carries with her a burden that no woman has since experienced. For the rest of her life, regret was her companion and self-contempt her theme. With every thorn, every thistle, every pain of childbirth, the remorse is fresh again. The picture shows the serpent coiled up her leg. Every step she took after the fall was on an Earth that was turned against her and her husband, Adam. God held Adam responsible, but her mind was fixed on her own actions and she took the entire blame upon herself. She was inwardly dying a little more each day.
The only hope she could grasp was in words that weren’t even spoken to her. God told the serpent that a Redeemer would come.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

The woman on the right. A young woman, pregnant, but yet she shouldn’t be. A virgin, but the whispers in her family, in her village, the accusations against her betrothed, Joseph, the rumors and slander that she is a whore, were tearing at her heart. Yet, she trusted the Lord. She celebrated that she was chosen.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Luke 1:46-49

But the words hurt. The slander takes a toll. Though she has been chosen for this glorious honor, she is consequently humiliated. She will live with a certain stigma, a particular reputation among some, for the rest of her days. Joseph would share in this as well, and in some ways she would be often tempted to blame herself for many of his troubles.

Both women have been humbled. Both women suffer. Yet the picture is one of incredible hope. In Eve you have the kind of humility that comes from being a sinner. In Mary you have the kind of humility that comes from being sinned against. These are two women of humble estate. The sinner. The sinned against. Christ comes to redeem them both.

The birth of Christ is Eve’s redemption. He was born to reconcile sinners to God the Father (Romans 5:10). Eve’s actions may have separated us from God, but Christ’s actions would reconcile us. Everything that was undone by Eve would be restored by Christ. And Christ would crush the head of the serpent once and for all.

The birth of Christ is Mary’s redemption. She needs redemption regardless because she was born, like all of us, a sinner. But she was also sinned against. If there was ever a woman in history who was unjustly accused, it was Mary. Who would believe her? God sent an angel to convince her own betrothed that she was telling the truth (Matthew 1:20). Christ came to redeem the sinned against. When we are sinned against, we naturally wish to lash out, to retaliate and respond in kind. Jesus redeems us to the degree that even when we are sinned against, we can be filled with God’s grace toward our enemies.

So today, as I have pondered the depth of this picture, my own sin has surfaced. The things that I am ashamed to even speak of with God, even knowing that he already knows, drive me to run and hide from him just like Adam and Eve. I hide in things like work, sometimes I hide in hobbies, and I’ve been known to try hiding with a marathon of binge watching on Netflix. But more than anything, I hide behind a kind of facade that looks, smells, tastes, and feels like everything is peachy.

So do you.

Christmas should undo my facade. Mary carried the hope of the world within her for nine months. She raised him. She watched him mature. She beheld him in his young adulthood as he worked and dealt with people. And as rosy as that sounds, her experience was full of suffering. Not only was her reputation destroyed, but the birth of her baby heralded the slaughter of many young sons in the region of Judea (Matthew 2:16).

Christmas is a train wreck. It is messy, despite the sanitized version that we present. But the good news is that because Christmas is a messy, blood ridden, reputation ruining, scandalous affair, my own personal train wreck of a life can be outed for what it is. Jesus was born in a mess, lived through a mess, died in a mess, and rose from death so he can redeem my mess.

Eve’s redemption is found in the train wreck of Mary’s ruined reputation. Mary’s redemption is found in allowing herself to be ruined for the glory of God. Both women ruined and humbled. Both women redeemed. Jesus Christ’s birth heralds to us that redemption is only for those who have are undone and are willing to be undone even more.

He didn’t come for the healthy. He came for the ruined. He’s not interested in rescuing the strong. He’s interested in raising the dead.

Christmas is a time where we hope for peace on earth and good will toward men, but peace and good will don’t come unless men and women are willing to face their ruin. That means Christmas, taken seriously as a celebration of Hope, is a day of reckoning. The sin of Adam and Eve, and the rest of humanity needs a Savior. That’s why he came. That’s why he was promised. This is what we celebrate on Christmas.

Christmas shouldn’t be morose, but as you celebrate, remember that your sin and my sin, the sins of our fathers before us, and the sins of our children after us is the reason Jesus was born. He is our hope for redemption, and that is what makes Christmas a day of celebration in the midst of ruin. He is the Redeemer of our ruin.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/12/07/eve-s-redemption#comments 0 Taking Responsibility https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/10/24/taking-responsibility Thu, 24 Oct 2019 12:13:31 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/10/24/taking-responsibility
While farming several years ago I learned a lesson that will not likely forget. Forecasted rains would undoubtedly interrupt the fall harvest so my father and I worked late into the night in an effort to beat the coming rains. At 2 a.m. we reached a stopping point, so I hurriedly began the short trip back to the farm driving a tractor with a large grain cart in tow. What I failed to realize in my wearied state was that I had forgotten to fold the unloading auger down and out of the way of a tree residing alongside the driveway of my parent’s farm. As I came barreling down the driveway happy to be done for the day the auger collided violently with the tree as my onlooking father stood nearby. Standing beside the totaled grain cart my father hugged me and assured me all would be well while fully aware that he was now forced to pay for a new cart. Though not his fault, my father took responsibility for what had just occurred.

That night I learned that many events will occur in life that, though not our fault, are our responsibility. The events of Esther echo this theme. Esther chapter four introduces readers to a situation where God’s covenant people, facing extinction, needed someone to act on their behalf. Responding to encouragement from her cousin Mordecai, Queen Esther called for a three day fast and prepared to stand before the king. At first glance this act does not seem exceedingly daring or risky until one realizes the Persian law permitted the king to put to death anyone who approached him without an official summons. Esther willingly approached the throne of a man who held her life in his hands unaware of whether or not she would live or die. The Bible says that when the king saw Esther, she found favor in his sight and was permitted to approach the king rather than being killed. This allowed Esther to eventually make the king aware of her ethnicity, the coming genocide of her people, and beg for his help. Though not her fault, Esther took responsibility for the situation and laid her life on the line that others might live.

Centuries later, God’s only Son Jesus came to earth and modeled this same lesson by absorbing God’s wrath through His atoning death on the cross. Though divine, Jesus dwelt among sinful people in this broken world, ministering until his death, burial, and resurrection. While not at fault, Jesus took responsibility for the sins of all who would call on Him, bearing their sin, shame, and guilt on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21). It is no surprise then that those who know and follow Jesus would follow this pattern by lovingly taking responsibility in this world for issues which are not our fault. Adoption, fostering, and counseling are a few ways in which Christians can accomplish this in the world. Rather than determining who is at fault for problems, let’s consider how we can take responsibility while sharing the Gospel of Jesus with the world.

Pastor Noah Schlag
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/10/24/taking-responsibility#comments 0 A Fool in Old Age https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/09/10/a-fool-in-old-age Tue, 10 Sep 2019 09:18:43 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/09/10/a-fool-in-old-age
There's something that's always bothered me about King Solomon.  How can the wisest man who ever lived be so foolish in his old age?  Look at 1 Kings 11:4.

For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

It's kind of cliché to question Solomon's wisdom for having 700 wives and 300 concubines. But even if it's cliché, it's a valid question.  Why in the world would Solomon, the wisest man ever, have so many wives?  1 Kings 11:2 gives us a clue.

Solomon clung to these in love.

That's a curious insert by the author. He makes special note that Solomon "clung" to his wives "in love." It's worth noting that the Hebrew word for love used here is a broad term that can be used in many ways. Two meanings stick out in this context: Sexual love, and appetite for things like food or sleep. Solomon apparently had a ravenous sexual appetite.  The wisest man to ever live was likely a sexual addict.  But let's look a little deeper before we hand out labels.  
Let's look at Solomon's family history.  His father was King David and his mother was Bathsheba. Solomon was born from a marriage that began with his parents' lust and a scandalous affair where David had Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, murdered.  David was also a man who had many wives (only eight of them are named).  David's sin - polygamy and lust - became a generational sin that Solomon repeated but in a much greater magnitude.

The sins of fathers are often played on repeat in their children, only louder and larger.

Solomon's downfall had to do with his unchecked sin.  Though God blessed him and made him the wisest of all men, Solomon's blind spot was his uncontrolled lust. And like his father, David, his lust created problems later in life. David's house was afflicted by violence for much of the rest of his life.  In fact, that violence led to his oldest son Absalom leading a coup and ultimately losing his life.  It's ironic that David's sin is what led to Solomon's ascension to the throne.  And Solomon repeated his father's sin in far greater magnitude.
Solomon's lust led to his massive polygamy.  And in his old age, his many wives persuaded Solomon to worship their gods alongside Yahweh.  In the time of his life when his wisdom should have reached it's pinnacle, he slid into idolatry and angered the Lord against him, and became a fool.
I can hear your objection.

"But Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes in his old age, he wasn't a fool!"

I suggest you read Ecclesiastes again. One of the primary themes of Ecclesiastes is Solomon's foolishness! He calls himself out as having lived foolishly! Consider his words in Ecclesiastes 2:1-2.

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

While Ecclesiastes is notoriously difficult to study, one theme rises to the top. Solomon goes on and on about his folly and his vanity - at times even seeming to contradict himself (compare 2:16 to 7:12 and 4:2 to 9:4) - but concludes the volume with this:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. - Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

The lesson from Solomon's life seems to be this. Old age is no guarantee of wisdom. Wisdom is no guarantee against becoming a fool.  Even in old age, wisdom can fail, foolishness can parade itself, and you can lose everything you worked for. What's the answer?

Obedience

Solomon's final word in Ecclesiastes was fear God and keep his commands. Think about what might've been if Solomon had obeyed God's commands instead of his flesh? How would the history of Israel have been different if Solomon halted the generational sin of his father, David? We can't say.  All we can say is that for all his wisdom, Solomon was still a fool because he didn't obey the voice of the Lord his God.  A lack of obedience burned down the house that Solomon's wisdom built.

What about us?

Paul wrote something really important in relation to wisdom... "the world did not know God through wisdom." (1 Corinthians 1:21) That isn't meant as jab at the pursuit of wisdom.  The New Testament encourages us to pursue wisdom in many places.  But what that means is this. First, God isn't found in becoming wise.  God is only found in Jesus Christ through the Gospel of his immeasurable grace toward us.  Second, God isn't pleased by wisdom.  God is pleased when we love him by obeying his commands.  In Christ, we become wise through obeying the Word and the Spirit. Wisdom is a fruit of loving obedience.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. - James 3:17

Sounds like the fruit of the Spirit... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)
Don't think that just because you're old that you're wise.  Don't think that just because you're wise that you're not a fool.  Don't wait till the end of your life - like Solomon - to figure that out. But only measure your life through your loving obedience to Jesus. That's the only real protection against becoming a fool.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/09/10/a-fool-in-old-age#comments 2 The Breathless Queen https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/08/26/the-breathless-queen Mon, 26 Aug 2019 23:11:41 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/08/26/the-breathless-queen

The Queen of Sheba is definitely a character of interest.

Have you ever heard the expression, “Who do you think you are? The Queen of Sheba?” That might be a little old for some of you, but it’s an expression I’ve heard in movies and from older family members over the years. You would basically say it to young ladies who thought a little too highly of themselves.
I think my daughters would say a girl like that is being a little “extra.” (But what do I know?)
The Queen of Sheba is definitely a character of interest. The first place she was ever mentioned is in the Hebrew Bible. Since then she’s featured in many religious texts, medieval paintings and works of art, and most recently in film and television as early as 1921 and late as 2017.
So much has been said about her, yet so little is actually revealed in the story. I am aware of the extra-biblical stories about her and Solomon having a son together, and her alleged conversion to the worship of Yahweh, but none of that is clearly substantiated in the Word. It’s from Ethiopian literature which attempts to show that they possess the Ark of the Covenant and a pure Solomonic Dynasty (read about the Kebra Nagast).

There’s usually something between the lines when you read narrative.

But as I read and prayed, the Lord actually showed me something from the story.  There’s usually something between the lines when you read narrative. It started with noticing the Queen’s reaction to Solomon’s wisdom.
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. (1 Kings 10:4-5)
I read this in several translations, looked it up in the Hebrew, and the phrase there was no more breath in her comes across the same way.  She was astounded to the point of being breathless. All of Solomon’s wisdom and splendor took her breath away!  Then the next thing that caught my attention is what she said when she regained her breath.  She praised his wealth and wisdom, but then ended her praise with this.
Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness. (1 Kings 10:9)
She blesses the Lord for putting Solomon as king over Israel. She recognized the hand of God in Solomon’s reign, she saw how Israel was benefiting, and gave the Lord praise for his wisdom at work through Solomon.
But I was convicted of something here. There’s nothing here to suggest that she converted to Solomon’s faith. If she had, surely the Scripture would have made mention. The Word makes clear mention of General Naaman’s conversion when Elisha healed his leprosy (2 Kings 5:17). If the Queen of Sheba converted here then it has been conspicuously omitted from the story.

Follow me. From here on this is a flow of thought more than an explanation of the passage.

If she had this incredible experience, perhaps even an ecstatic one since she found herself breathless, and even praised Yahweh for his wisdom in making Solomon king, why would she leave Jerusalem still worshiping the gods of Sheba? That question made me think about how we respond to revelation. There are moments in my life where God has left me breathless, speechless, or just reduced to tears, and the question I had to ask myself is this.  Did those ecstatic experiences produce any change in my life? And I had to reluctantly admit that they seldom have. Reluctantly because they probably should have, but they didn’t. And that brought me to this thought.

Ecstatic experiences don’t transform us.

In fact, I don’t think they’re meant to be transformative.  Think about it.  When Jesus transfigured in front of Peter, James, and John, that was an ecstatic experience (Luke 9:28-43).  The Word shows us that Peter was maybe the most affected of the three by that experience. Yet, just a few months later, Peter denies that he even knows Jesus three times in one night! Now that doesn’t mean that his experience was useless, it just wasn’t transformative. That leads to this thought.
I believe ecstatic experiences are given to us for our encouragement, not growth. Now encouragement is a good thing for growth, but it’s more of a fertilizer than water and good soil.  In Colorado, where I had to grow and maintain my own grass in sandy soil, I learned that fertilizer is a good thing until you use too much of it, then you burn your grass.  But just the right amounts at the right times makes the grass greener and more lush. Ecstatic experiences are no substitute for Word, prayer, and community.  The pure emotionalism of the ecstatic will ruin you if that’s all you ever pursue. It would be like forgoing water and soil and just planting your grass in a bag of fertilizer.

Emotions enrich our lives, but they are not the fertile soil where life flourishes.

I’m not against emotions. I love emotions. In fact, I think emotions get a bad rep in a lot of churches. Emotions enrich our lives, but they are not the fertile soil where life flourishes. The journey of the Christian life is about becoming more like Jesus, not chasing after things that Jesus can make us feel.
How did the Queen of Sheba take me to these thoughts? Well, it appears that the Queen of Sheba essentially had her experience, got her “blessing” and went home.  She experienced and tasted of God’s goodness in Solomon’s court, then left. Is that not what the author of Hebrews warns against (Hebrews 6:4-6)? If you taste of God’s goodness, benefit from his generosity, witness his glorious majesty in others, and yet still refuse to worship him, you’re treading on dangerous ground!
Maybe the lesson from the Queen of Sheba is this: don’t be satisfied with ecstatic moments that leave you breathless. Those are the teasers that lead you into a deeper pursuit of Jesus which satisfies far deeper, far better than the mountaintop highs we occasionally experience. Don’t just get your blessing and go.  Stay, be blessed, and share the wealth of Christ’s riches that you discover on the journey with others.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/08/26/the-breathless-queen#comments 0 Fight! I Kissed Dating Goodbye, announced on his Instagram account that he and his wife are divorcing and that he no longer considers himself a Christian. Let me say up front, I have never read I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I was already married by the time it was published, so it seemed a little anticlim...]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/07/30/fight Tue, 30 Jul 2019 10:26:05 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/07/30/fight
This weekend I was taken aback by some news. Joshua Harris, former pastor and author of the bestselling, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, announced on his Instagram account that he and his wife are divorcing and that he no longer considers himself a Christian.
Let me say up front, I have never read I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I was already married by the time it was published, so it seemed a little anticlimactic to read it. Also, I’ve not been a huge follower of Joshua Harris’ ministry over the years. I've only occasionally read articles he wrote for The Gospel Coalition.  So with that said, I’m not here to bring criticism of his ministry or his books, but only one about his Instagram post.

Fight for your faith, fight for your marriage.

If you take the time to seek out his Instagram post, you’ll note the upbeat tone which he has chosen to announce his departure from his faith and divorce.  And here is my only criticism. Divorce, even at its best, is still devastating.  By all accounts of people I know who’ve been divorced, even the amicable ones leave emotional and spiritual destruction.  I’ve never been divorced, but I have close family member, good friends, and an uncounted number of church family who have.  So far, zero of them were painless. I found Harris’ choice of tone to be unsympathetic and unrealistic. It’s unsympathetic to the droves of people, Christian and non-Christian, who have endured divorce. It’s unrealistic about the damage it causes to his own life.
However, that’s where my criticisms stop.  I’ve read people’s comments, and they run the gamut from, “You’re so brave,” to, “You’re apostate and going to hell,” and everything in between.  I think since he made a public statement about his divorce and fall from faith, by that choice he’s opened himself up to some criticism, but as usual people don’t seem to understand or care about healthy boundaries.
This event, though, has stirred up two huge thoughts in my mind that hopefully can be lessons you and I can digest from this.
Fight for your faith, and fight for your marriage.  Understand this:  the fight is on all day, every day, not just when things are rough. Let’s talk about faith first.  

Fight for your faith.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. – 2 Timothy 4:7

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 1:6

There are two truths here that we should remember. First, there is absolutely going to be trouble. Paul says at the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight.”  Jesus told us that in this world we will have troubles (John 16:33). Fight for your faith, first by rejecting the false teaching that Christ will make your life easy. As much as I teach people to walk in their new identity in Christ, we also have to remember that the Church is full of broken people who are all works in progress.  When trouble comes and we experience hurt, don’t be surprised.  Don’t allow that to shake your faith in Jesus Christ because he told us from the start that things like this could and would happen.
Second, the battle belongs to the Lord. Fight for your faith by planting yourself in this truth: God will bring what he begins in us to completion.  That means that no matter how fierce the battle rages, we can trust the Lord to bring us through it because he’s promised to finish our transformation.
We have battles to fight, so stand firm.  We also have a God who has secured victory for us, so stand back and let him go before you into battle.

Fight for your marriage.

Fighting for your marriage begins way before you’re trying to patch things up with your spouse. It begins with date nights.  It begins with words of affirmation. It begins with loving service. If you aren’t doing these kinds of things, then you’re essentially a city with no walls. These kinds of investments are both defensive and offensive moves.  They’re defensive because they build security and trust.  They’re offensive because every date night, word of affirmation, act of service, even every word of just simple pillow talk is a choice to do something rather than nothing. Faithful, loving words and actions during times of peace build a strong fortress for times of trouble.
But also, as believers, fighting for our marriage is inseparable from fighting for our faith. The Bible is super clear that marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:25-32).  If you aren’t fighting for your faith, your marriage will be vulnerable in ways you won’t always perceive.
I don’t know if Joshua Harris did this or not. I’m not here to judge how he conducted himself in his private life because I don’t know.  But I do know this.  If we don’t do at least these two things, we make ourselves vulnerable to the same things that have ravaged his faith and marriage.  We can never forget that there’s a spiritual battle always raging around us.  To forget or ignore that is to walk naked into a hornet nest.
Armor up, stand firm, fight, stay in the word, pray without ceasing, love, serve, speak words that build up, not tear down, pay attention, and trust the power of God to win the day.  And even if the day feels lost after you do everything, remember that a new day is coming with new mercy, fresh grace, and power to endure again.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2019/07/30/fight#comments 0 Shoehorned Holidays https://nharmony.org/blog/2018/11/28/shoehorned-holidays Wed, 28 Nov 2018 12:00:00 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2018/11/28/shoehorned-holidays
This past Sunday, our Senior Pastor, David Gidcumb, made a confession during his sermon. He said, "I'm not a holiday sermon guy." I'll be honest with you. I'm not either. I love Thanksgiving, I love Christmas, but I'm not the guy who tries to fit in a Thanksgiving sermon, or a Christmas sermon just because those holidays are imminent on the calendar. A little of that is because I have a thread of rebellion in me that wants to swim against the current. But mostly it's because I have no desire to simply shoehorn a message.

Life happens, and it doesn't care what holidays are coming on the calendar. As I write this, Thanksgiving will be this week and the reality of life is this. Many of us are in the middle of trials and tribulations that aren't going to take a break just because Thanksgiving arrives on November 22. Christmas is coming thirty-three days after Thanksgiving. Will the pressures and circumstances of your life relent just because the observed birthday of Jesus Christ is coming? Not a chance.

What am I getting at? It doesn't matter where you are on your journey right now, don't pile more guilt and shame upon yourself just because this year these holidays may not be picture perfect. Don't shoehorn a holiday into your journey, with all its expectations, all its accoutrements, and decorations if it will only result in piling on disappointment, shame, and condemnation. Life is full of enough tribulation all by itself, so do yourself a favor and don't allow a holiday to take your spiritual health hostage.

I know this isn't what you may have been expecting for an article about the holidays and how special they should be to our families, so let me get to the meat of what I'm saying in the limited space I have been given. Again, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas and I try to make sure that when I come to the table with my family on these days, I have a clear conscience and that all which needs forgiveness has been confessed and covered. But the reality for many of us is that our families aren't always peaceful when these special days come around. If that's you, let me speak some encouragement into your heart.

Jesus knows. He knows, and he cares. He cares about you more than you care about yourself. What he doesn't care about are arbitrary dates that we have chosen on our calendar for holidays. The holidays have a dark side that no one likes to talk about. WebMD has even devoted a section to Holiday Depression and Stress. This is for you, broken friends, broken families, and those who are in tribulation during the time of year when those things make us feel condemned.
"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18 (ESV)
If your holiday hopes have crumbled beneath the weight of relationship brokenness, there is one person who remains constant. Jesus Christ is our Advocate, our Peace, and our Comfort. Spend these holidays pursuing Him.
]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2018/11/28/shoehorned-holidays#comments 0 Peacemaking and Reconciliation Journeys "Peacemaking doesn’t mean passivity. It’s the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful arduous pursuit of ...]]> https://nharmony.org/blog/2018/10/16/peacemaking-and-reconciliation-journeys Tue, 16 Oct 2018 19:32:00 +0000 https://nharmony.org/blog/2018/10/16/peacemaking-and-reconciliation-journeys
Today, a good friend shared something that sent my mind tumbling in a good way. It was a definition of peacemaking. Here’s what it says.
"Peacemaking doesn’t mean passivity. It’s the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice."
If there was ever a better definition, I don’t know of it. The whole definition is great, but the parts that stuck out to me are the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, and the phrase arduous pursuit. Let me share some bits of a journey that I’ve been on over the past year.
About a year ago I was asked to help a family out with some internal conflict; to basically mediate for them. Everyone in this situation loves Jesus and has been born again into his family, so everyone wants to do this Biblically. I had some reservations about my ability to remain objective because I know everyone in this situation, but all parties agreed that I was the person they wanted… and at that moment, it was one of the few things on which they could agree. So I agreed to help.
Meetings happened. Conversations happened. One on one counseling happened. One on many counseling happened. And as with a lot of reconciliation stories, there was a lot of one step forward, two steps back that happened. And a year later, there’s some good fruit starting to blossom.
A year? You heard me: a year. Now when I began this journey, I expected a much shorter timeframe in the beginning, but the deeper we went, the more it became apparent that this wouldn’t be fixed in three months. Then three months passed and I began to think this might be done in six months. Then six months passed, and I basically told myself, I have no idea how long this is going to take.
The moment I accepted that reconciliation can’t be saddled with a timeframe of my choosing, a huge burden lifted from my soul. It was then that the bitterness that I felt building in my heart toward all parties in this situation evaporated. I was getting bitter because I didn’t feel like they were listening. But really my bitterness was being fed by my own insistence that they get on board with what I felt like was an acceptable timeframe for healing. And don’t misunderstand: I loved them the whole way, even as I was becoming a little begrudged, and I still love them. It’s a complex relationship between the mediator and the mediated.
So what does this have to do with the definition of peacemaking that I started with? To help people reconcile, and to do it without destroying them, it will be a difficult and arduous journey. Time frames put pressure on the mediator to coerce conformity. Shame them into taking your advice. Guilt them into apologizing to each other. And do it by throwing Scripture at them so they feel like failure to comply would disappoint Jesus as well. This never works. And any peace that it appears to create, is false peace because it was rooted from shame.

How do you disarm evil without destroying the evildoer?

First, remind everyone involved that everyone involved is still sinning.

No one at the table has achieved perfection, in fact everyone at the table would be straining to say that they’ve achieved a C average when it comes to our moral performance. So because everyone at the table is still broken, still in progress in their sanctification, everyone at the table needs to show grace to each other when we inevitably say or do something hurtful or disappointing.

Second, remind everyone involved that the Devil is in the details.

Because they’re seeking a Biblical reconciliation, the powers of darkness will actively work against them as they work toward closing and healing the relational chasms that have formed between them. Therefore, even more grace toward each other will be required as Satan tries to make a bad situation even worse.
Let me stop here. These two things alone – that we’re all still broken, and that Satan will get in the mix to try preventing real reconciliation – are enough to torpedo all attempts to reconcile if these realities are not taken seriously throughout the journey, not just at the beginning.
To continually take these realities seriously, you have to be willing to scrutinize yourself at a level that you may have never done before. You’ll need to open yourself up to criticism from the people who are at odds with you because though they may not be completely right, they’re almost never completely wrong. Take these criticisms to Jesus, don’t just toss them out as sour grapes from the person who’s angry with you. Let Jesus separate the wheat from the chaff in every criticism. Ask him to show you how your words and actions might have been used by the enemy to widen the chasm between you and your loved one. If you don’t possess this kind of humility, the reconciling journey will be as long as your pride is deep.

Third, don’t trust your feelings.

Feelings are the most easily manipulated part of the human experience. If the Devil is in the details, then you can be sure that your feelings are being toyed with to derail your reconciliation journey. I’m not saying your feelings are irrelevant, I’m just saying they’re easily manipulated so that makes them a very bad measurement of reality. However…

Fourth, don’t discount anyone’s else’s feelings.

As unreliable as your own feelings can be, you cannot discount or disparage the feelings of others, nor should you instruct them in how they should feel about anything. Your own feelings are the only ones you have permission to scrutinize. Everyone else’s feelings are off limits. Sin has made our feelings unreliable, but our feelings are part of the Imago Dei (image of God) in us. As imagers of God, we do possess emotions because God is an emotional being. That makes our feelings important to our emotional and spiritual health, and frankly, important to God. I know it’s popular to say that God isn’t concerned with your feelings, but I think the way we’ve phrased that is really unfortunate. God is concerned that you have right feelings about things. He wants your heart to break over the things that breaks his heart. He wants you to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. Our emotions are an inseparable part of our character because that’s how God designed humanity – as imagers of who He is.
So when we come to the table to reconcile, the quickest way to destroy another person is to disregard their feelings by labeling them irrelevant, or by telling them how they should feel about what has happened. The only feelings you have permission to call irrelevant are your own. You cannot destroy the feelings of another person without destroying the person. This is the hard part of reconciliation.
Let me add this caveat that applies to all parties. If reconciliation is going to happen, people must be won over, not dominated and conquered. They must be affirmed, not proven wrong. Affirming someone while hoping to bring some changes… this is what makes the journey long. And winning someone over isn’t accomplished by just caving in, but through gentle persuasion that this relationship is valuable to you and is worth rebuilding. In other words, you win them through words and actions which demonstrate that you value them and love them.

Fifth, don’t come with a list of demands.

Instead come with a spirit of hope and service. Your hopes for the outcome have their best chance when you come to the table to serve rather than be served. A list of demands essentially communicates that you must be served in these ways before you’re willing to have relationship. Whereas if everyone comes to the table to serve the other, then you’ve basically taken one of the Devil’s biggest weapons away, and the journey to reconciliation can be a little less difficult.
[UPDATE]: I need to add this after a few conversations. This doesn’t mean that reconciliation doesn’t include a time for airing the grievances that drove the wedge in the relationship. This must happen. However, the airing of grievances must be done in humility, and receiving the grievances that are directed at you should be received in the spirit of a servant, not in defiance.

Sixth, cultivate love.

The fact that everyone is even sitting down to reconcile means that there’s at least some love at work. That love needs to be stoked. Love is how evil is disarmed.
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8
The multitude of sins that bring us to the table for reconciliation can easily multiply if we don’t cultivate love for each other. Keep love for one another in our sights. Defy your hurt and do loving things for each other during the journey to reconciliation.
This is how I’ve learned to destroy evil without destroying the evildoer. And because you must take all these things into consideration, the journey will always take more time than you’d like for it to take. The journey cannot be hurried. It’s better to elongate the journey with caution than to destroy it with impatience. You won’t always get to be blunt. You won’t always get to go for the jugular. Preserving life seldom requires amputation. In most cases, preserving life takes surgical precision. You operate with a scalpel, not a hatchet.
And in as in all things, consider how careful and how patient Jesus has been with you in your failures. How often do you deserve a smack, but instead Jesus offers a gentle response? I know we like to say that Jesus hits us hard at times, but let’s be honest: in comparison to what he suffered for us, he’s hardly raised his voice. In all our ways, we should seek to handle things as Jesus would. I know it’s hard to see at times. But that’s why we need to be people of the Book, digging into it, unearthing the precious things that aren’t always apparent on the surface.
I hope this was helpful. I was recently reminded that we are to share all good things with the people we love. This has been a good thing in my life. I may be wrong on a few points because I’m still growing in this, but I hope you understand the direction I’m driving. Hopefully this leads to some good things for you as well.
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