The new year often is a time of new commitments. Maybe you have made some resolutions to guide you in the new year. The 18^th Century pastor Jonathan Edwards made some resolutions for himself during 1722 and 1723 when he was about 20 years old. Maybe within them you might find some ideas for how you might serve the Lord afresh this year. Maybe within his words you will find some encouragement in your own life.

• Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory and to my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time... Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general...

• Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can...

• Resolved, never to do anything that I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life...

• Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death...

• Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge...

• Resolved, never to do anything that, if I should see it in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him, for, or think any way the more meanly of him.

• Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, mighty, vigor, and vehemence, yea, violence (fervor), I am capable of...

• Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of them.

• Resolved, in narrations never to speak anything but the pure and simple verity...

• Resolved, to improve every opportunity... to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have the assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer.

Paul, in his letter to the church at Colossae, gives a list in chapter three of the character traits of those called by Christ. At the end of verse fifteen, he states simply and concisely, “be thankful.” As a Christ follower, we have been given abundantly more than we could ever imagine. We have been given more, through the power of Christ, than we could have earned or deserve. He has forgiven us while we were still dead in our sin. Therefore, simply put, we should be and must be thankful. Our calling in life is not to be jealous of what others have or strive to have more than we have now. Our calling is to be thankful for what the Lord has blessed and entrusted us with.

This includes thankfulness in our difficulties. We are often not thankful for our difficulties. We do not see how they shaped us, how they pointed us toward Christ, and how He used them to reveal our dependence upon Him. Often the Lord will send us hardship to call us to Himself. Even in those times of adversity, our calling it to be thankful.

Consider these words from the Puritan Richard Sibbes as he writes about God’s correction of us and our thankful response: This bruising is required before conversion that so the Spirit may make way for himself into the heart by leveling all proud, high thoughts, and that we may understand ourselves to be what indeed we are by nature. We love to wander from ourselves and to be strangers at home, till God bruises us by one cross or other, and then we `begin to think’, and come home to ourselves with the prodigal (Luke 15:17). It is a very hard thing to bring a dull and an evasive heart to cry with feeling for mercy. Our hearts, like criminals, until they be beaten from all evasions, never cry for the mercy of the judge.

Again, this bruising makes us set a high price upon Christ. Then the gospel becomes the gospel indeed; then the fig leaves of morality will do us no good. And it makes us more thankful, and, from thankfulness, more fruitful in our lives; for what makes many so cold and barren, but that bruising for sin never endeared God’s grace to them?

Likewise this dealing of God establishes us the more in his ways, having had knocks and bruisings in our own ways. This is often the cause of relapses and apostasy, because men never smarted for sin at the first; they were not long enough under the lash of the law. Hence this inferior work of the Spirit in bringing down high thoughts (2 Cor. 10:5) is necessary before conversion. And, for the most part, the Holy Spirit, to further the work of conviction, joins with it some affliction, which, when sanctified, has a healing and purging power. - The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

Some people have been delivered by God from things that are illegal—things that are criminal. The Psalmist has in mind in this passage someone who is sitting in the darkness in the shadow of death—prisoners in affliction and irons. We see someone who has been imprisoned because he has broken the law, whether man’s or God’s, and for it he is paying with his life. Their sin against God has landed them in chains.

It is important for us to remember that when we commit a sin it is ultimately against God. Now there are times when we have to pay for those sins with some type of criminal punishment. If you drive over the speed limit and the trooper pulls you over you are going to pay the government for your sins. If you kill someone you are going to pay our society for your sin. You are going to sit in jail behind iron bars. You are going to be incarcerated maybe for the rest of your life. Ultimately, however, our sin is against God.

The good news for us is that our God is big enough to deliver people from things that are illegal. He delivers people from things that are criminal. I think it is interesting that he refers to them as not only sitting in darkness but also as being in the shadow of death. It is interesting that those who commit crimes in our society, those who do things illegal, are most often those people who live in constant fear of their own life. They fear that someone, because of their illegal activities, is going to take their life. Many fear that the victims of their crimes will seek retribution for what they have done. They have to think that they may die because of their criminal activities.

The Psalmist thinks about those people here. He thinks about those people who have lived lives that are very unpleasing to God. They have committed terrible crimes that have led to their incarceration. However, God is not powerless and can bring them out. God is able to deliver them from that sin and deliver them into a relationship with Him.

In verse thirteen, as they sat there their hearts bowed down and no one help, verse twelve says they cry out to the LORD in their trouble and He delivered them from their distress. It is amazing that God delivers them and He destroys their bonds. He shatters doors of bronze and He cuts in two the bars of iron. God is able to deliver criminals from their sin. How sad it is that those of us in the church have no desire to see these people delivered.

I sat down a couple of months ago after watching news of someone dying on death row and I began reading the last words of those condemned to die. The state of Texas keeps a record of the final meal and last words of every inmate who is put to death. They make it available where the public can go and read it. I read the final statements of dozens of the executed—so many of them defiant until the last moment. So many admitted to what they had done and were proud of it even to the moment where a needle was plunged into their arm causing a sleep from which they would never awaken. However, there were some, when you read what they spoke that used those final words to ask families for forgiveness. Some even used this time to proclaim that their life belonged to the Lord. I do not know enough about any of them to go back and say that they were genuine in this or if this was just something they said. They may have wanted to feel better with their conscience in their last moment of life.

How interesting, though, to think that because there are people who are concerned and go into our prisons and our jails sharing the gospel with those who have been so terribly afflicted by sin there can be hope. That though there are some who have committed the most heinous crimes and are about to pay for it with their life to our society there can be redemption. In that moment they can have the calm assurance of knowing that their sin has been taken off their life and has been placed on Christ. The most wretched sinner can know that God has looked on them and through Christ has forgiven them of their sin. How great a Savior we have that He is willing to look to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and offer them forgiveness—to exclaim to them that “today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43).

My mind goes back to the children. Even as the children of my church are being loud and rambunctious outside my office door, I think of the relative safety and security we are able to provide for them between the shores of our nation. Those children who were summarily snuffed out in the suburbs of Damascus will never know that security. They only know war and the oppression of evil. It has been said that, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” It is a noble statement, but problematic in our current dilemma. Is this the case where good men will do something only to replace evil with evil? Do we need more war? Will inaction be a license for further atrocities? The Apostle Paul reminds those who follow Christ to, “overcome evil with good.” I struggle with what that looks like in Syria. I know they need our prayers. I am confident they need our help. However, I am glad my voice does not matter much in this debate, because the more I think about it, the less I am sure what to say or do.

I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference

by Thom Rainer (B&H Books, 2013)

It seems there have been few, if any, recent studies that have reached positive conclusions on the overall health of churches. By and large they have painted a bleak outlook on the direction of God’s chosen vessel of the Great Commission. Thom Rainer paints a different picture of what might be in I Am a Church Member.

Working from the obvious premise that overall church health is a byproduct of the health of its members, the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources presents six commitments that church members must make if they are to function as biblically focused church members. These are not simple doctrinal affirmations or even the written statements provided at the end of each chapter. For most they would require a deep and lasting change of heart and mind. They constitute a change in belief and action.

Rainer’s first pledge is: I will be a functioning church member. For Rainer, biblical church members “give abundantly and serve without hesitation.” These two commitments come from the idea that church members have the love of Christ dwelling within them and it guides their life. It is a natural reaction to the knowledge that as members of a church we are part of a body. We are brought together to function as one in Christ, even with our distinct gifts and characteristics.

The second pledge is: I will be a unifying church member. No church can claim vitality without unity. Church members must put to death gossip and other negative talk. These have no benefit for the mission of the believer. These are replaced with forgiveness. Forgiveness breeds unity. Rainer writes, “church unity is torn apart when members refuse to forgive, when any member is too prideful to grant forgiveness.”

The third pledge is: I will not let my church be about my preferences and desires. I often tell folks in my church that God does not really care what they think. He definitely does not care about the preferences of their pastor. Much of the disputes and upheaval in the local church begins with the phrase “I want” or “I think.” These are a poor substitute for “thus says the Lord.” Rainer encourages us to take on the roll of a servant, making our minds and attitude that of Christ’s. In the end, church is not about us, and all about Him.

Rainer’s fourth exhortation is: I will pray for my church leaders. I have worked in churches where I was the only minister. There have been other times when I worked with a team of folks serving together. However, in both situations I have still found plenty of time to be lonely. Serving as God’s under-shepherd requires long hours, precious time away from family, and caring the burdens (often alone) of many of the people in your care. Pastors need prayer. Rainer encourages his readers to pray for pastors and their families, pray for their protection, and pray for their mental and physical health. I do not know how often I have been to the breaking point only to find someone praying for me. Just the knowledge that they have taken my name before our Heavenly Father has reenergized my outlook.

Part of being a biblical church member is leading others to do the same. Rainer considers this with his fifth pledge: I will lead my family to be healthy church members. The family and the church are really inseparable. Therefore, we must pray together, worship together, and fall deeply in live with Christ together. Rainer writes, “as I grow more deeply in love with my church, I will do all I can in God’s power to bring my family with me. We will pray for our church leaders together, we will worship together. And we will serve together.”

In many ways the sixth pledge serves to tie the others together: I will treasure church membership as a gift. So often we treat church membership as something we are entitled to because of our goodness or lineage. However, being a member of the church of the living God is a wonderful and marvelous gift – a gift that demands a response. Rainer writes, “when we receive a gift with true appreciation, we naturally want to respond to the Giver. We, therefore, see service to God as a natural outflow of the joy of our salvation and the consequent joy of our church membership. We consider it a privilege to serve the King, so we look for those opportunities at the church where we serve.”

I have served six Baptist churches in various ministry capacities since I was 17 years old. They each have had different struggles. They have each had struggles common to all churches. After reading I Am a Church Member, I have concluded that the struggles of each congregation were tied up to a commitment problem in one or more of these areas that Rainer lays out before us. If we are to love and treasure the church of the Living God in a similar fashion to Christ – He gave Himself for her – we must all make the commitment: I Am a Church Member.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Micheal Pardue is pastor of First Baptist Icard in Connelly Springs.)

I want to ask for your prayers for my family. About two and a half weeks ago, on Father’s Day, my mother informed me that she had received negative results from a recent medical test. Since then we have found that she has a tumor in her lung that will require surgery. That surgery is currently scheduled for next Wednesday, July 10, at Frye Hospital. I had planned to mention this on Sunday as we were gathered for worship, but, since my mom was with us, I figured I would become a bumbling mess and decided not to. However, my mother has taken this news much better than the rest of us (which is not out of character for her) and has shared this with someone of you already.

I ask that above all else you take time to pray for my mother, father, sister, and the nine grandchildren. We are not entirely sure of the prognosis as of yet, but I am confident that our God is a big God who kills cancer. He is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). When we consider our God, we know that “the works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy” (Psalm 111:7). Rachel and I appreciate everything that you have done for us since we arrived here in Icard and I am grateful that as we go through this difficult season you will be with us.

To reach this conclusion, I assume that to be a Christian nation, we would have to reflect, at least in part, God’s nation of believers: the Kingdom of God (1 Pt. 2:9). Unfortunately, there are several places where they diverge:

Our country was founded to be a nation of independent people.
The Kingdom was founded as a nation of dependent people.

Our country holds to the principle of rugged individualism.
The Kingdom is a community where others are put before self.

Our country holds to the rule of law.
The Kingdom holds to every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Our country encourages justice that is blind.
The Kingdom has an omniscient Savior who is just.

Our country encourages her citizens to follow their dreams.
The Kingdom says deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus.

Our country promises the “American Dream.”
The Kingdom promises a resurrection to life.

Our country confers equal protection under the law.
The Kingdom proclaims that no man is secure except through Christ.

Our country gained her independence with muskets and cannons.
The Kingdom was inaugurated with nails a cross and an empty tomb.

My friends, as believers, we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.” However, he has made us these things not to instill nationalistic pride or to encourage sociopolitical warfare, but so that we “may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

I read recently about several people who I grew up with who have been arrested on charges related to drug use. As I saw the mug shots that accompanied the story of their arrest, my mind was drawn to the pictures in our class yearbook. Those seemed to be happy times as people were all smiles for their senior pictures. Their mug shot seems to be a more accurate portrait of the turmoil within—a turmoil that may have been present underneath that smile of those pictures taken a decade ago.
Why do I mention this? Here are people who I once knew. Some of whom I considered to be friends, and yet now I see the fiasco that is their life.

What do they need? I’m sure the answer is “a lot”. I’m sure there are myriads and myriads of answers to that question. However, at the core of their problems is the absence of a savior—they need Jesus. That is where we come in.

We do VBS so we can tell people about Jesus. We have outreach event so we can tell people about Christ. We give to missions and befriend our neighbors to show them the Savior. We will never make apologies for that. We want people to have fun. We want people to fellowship. However, we exist to make Christ known to those who are perishing. My hope is that we will always take full advantage of the great calling God has given us.

I want to leave you with these words from the hymnist Fanny Crosby on our great calling to reach out to those who do not know our Lord:

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
weep over the erring one, lift up the fallen,
tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.