Currently not being added to, but you are welcome to read previous entries.
 
The Pastor’s Corner is written by the pastor of Coronado Bible Church.
 

2019-08-25 – Tree Preachers, Weed Preachers

Jeremiah 23



Dream Big

Can you imagine your name inscribed in granite? No … no, not your tombstone. That’s not difficult to achieve. I’m talking about Hollywood Boulevard. Can you fathom being so famous you have a star in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre? To get there, you would have to distinguish yourself in one of five categories: Live Theater, Motion Pictures, Radio, Recording or Television. What if you were so famous you earned a star in all five categories. That’s only happened for one person … Gene Autry.

Anyway, you’d be in an elite group. From the 1920s to present, only 2600 people have been awarded stars. That’s a bit of a misstatement; three of that number were dogs and eighteen were fictional characters. Still … who wouldn’t want to be as famous as Lassie or Godzilla?

Have you secretly dreamt of fame and fortune? Maybe it wasn’t as a performer. You just wanted to stand out in your career. You fantasized about inventing the “next big thing.” You had lofty financial aspirations. You wanted to be a published author. Some of you even realized your dreams. 

Fame can be fickle though. When I was researching the “Walk of Fame,” articles kept talking about celebrities being “immortalized.” That’s seems a ridiculously overblown description for having your name in a granite monument less than a hundred years old. How long it will endure? Is your star secure? James Stewart, Gregory Peck and Kirk Douglas all had their stars stolen. Donald Trump’s star for the Apprentice TV series was recently hacked to bits by a man venting his political opinions. Most of the stars, which have remained intact, have fallen prey to another vandal … forgetfulness. That villain eventually erases almost everyone from public memory.

Despite these realities, I still treasure one dream of fame. There’s a group of luminaries which I long to join. The renown will not be ours, it will not accrue to our personal glory … but it will be truly immortal! There’s a day coming for honor … or shame. God told His prophet Daniel,

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. Daniel 12:2–3

If you’d like to be “immortalized” in the very best sense of the word, be wise and put your faith in Jesus Christ. If you’d like to shine like the stars … lead others to Him.
 
 


2019-08-18 – Boast About This

Jeremiah 9:23-24



A Healthy Hush

Growing up in a home with strong roots from the Old Country had its humorous peculiarities. My mother and her dad repeatedly used a German phrase with us kids. We knew its basic meaning was “Hush!” When our voices had reached full throttle, it meant, “Tone it down!” When we were verbally bucking a chore or protesting some perceived injustice, it meant, “Stop your whining!”

Now here’s the deal … the literal (and most polite) translation of that phrase is “Be, still … I’ll slap you naked.” It sounds like an awful threat, a bullying intimidation tactic, but it wasn’t like that. I can still see the twinkle in my grandfather’s eye when he said it. It was a genuine warning … but a good-natured and preemptive one. If we listened and corrected course, we were not in trouble. It was a humorous way of saying, “Remember your place … and who’s in authority here.” My emotion connected to that memory is a feeling of security. I’m so thankful for adults in my life who knew their place and reminded me of mine. I innately sensed that their power to correct meant they also had power to protect.

There is a phrase in Psalm 46 that begins with the command “Be still.” You’ve probably seen it on a plaque, a poster or a meme. Do an image search for Psalm 46:10. You will predominantly find the verse scrawled in cursive across some tranquil nature scene or a picture of a person sitting tranquilly in a tranquil nature scene.

Psalm 46 is certainly about peace and security for the God’s people, but the force of “Be still!” has more in common with my grandfather’s tone. It means “cease your striving” … “stop your raging.” The command was given in the face of international upheaval and military threat against the city of Jerusalem. In that setting, God commands, “Be still and know that I am God.” This is about positional security … peace based in the comprehension of God’s right and power to rule. In fact, the preceding verses say,

Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations He has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear, He burns the shields with fire. Psalm 46:8-9

I’m glad I have a heavenly Father who does not abdicate His role, His authority … His place. I am quite content to have Him remind me of my place. I feel most secure when I know that … He is God. Then I can say with the Psalmist, “The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:11
 
 


Questioning Orders

General Eisenhower and the top brass were arriving that afternoon, two days ahead of the scheduled base inspection. PFC Shippley was rushing through one of the last jobs that needed doing. He was painting the yellow parking space lines right outside of HQ. Moving towards the last spot (right next to the base flagpole) he tripped over one of the parking blocks. Yellow paint exploded from his toppled can blanketing the entire spot. Panicked, Shippley began futilely mopping at his gaff with a tiny rag. His heart almost stopped as he watched the paint spreading into every asphalt crevice. Suddenly a thundering voice interrupted his coronary. “No … no … no, we haven’t got time for that!” Then came the brilliant command, “Just paint it in!” The inspection went perfectly; no one gave another thought to a solid yellow parking space next to the flagpole.

Fifty years later, Colonel Shippley returned the base to speak at a company reunion. During the drive in, he was astounded that so little had changed since the 1940s. His driver swung the car to a halt in the spot indicated by an orderly. Colonel Shippley stepped out of his car (dramatic pause) into a solid yellow spot right next to the flagpole. No had ever given that spot another thought … literally. For fifty years no body questioned … they just kept refreshing the stain.

This is a longer than I normally quote for my Pastor’s Corner, but I invite you to read it thoughtfully,

Since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 1 Peter 4:1-5

The life of a Christ-follower is not intended to be one in which we “just keep refreshing the stain.” In fact, we are to be militant against sin, armed with the knowledge that Christ suffered and died to set us free. As Paul wrote, Christ died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:15  In the Army, it might be safer not to question orders … but when our sinful past or the old crowd try to bully us into continued disobedience, we look to Christ and refuse.