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.
 

Soul Armor – Part 3

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
 
Before we get to the application of these verses, maybe we need to unpack the encouragement of what they promise. It is an audacious claim. If we short circuit our brooding anxiousness by following this command, we will experience peace
  • of divine origin,
  • superior over the seat of our personality (intellect & emotions)
  • able to protect both our head and heart!
The word translated “guard” is a military term used for sentinels who kept watch at the walls of a citadel. Their vigilance ensured that the city remained safe … intact. In some ways, I think the ancient Jew’s were superior in their view of the human Psyche (soul) because they did not have strict distinctions between the emotions and intellect. Their view was integrated. Paul (the Jew) writing to a Greek audience includes both heart and mind. He was promising that the peace given by God can keep who you are as a person intact. First century audiences were also well aware that the brain and the heart were the most vital areas to “guard” in a battle. Gladiators not wishing to be encumbered by bulky armor often wore a helmet and a small shield that covered their heart. The peace of God is soul armor.
 
The most important thing I can say about this Soul Armor is that it comes from God through Christ. You will notice in verse 7 that “the peace of God … guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” An old saying is borne out by this promise; ‘No Christ … No Peace.’  ‘Know Christ … Know Peace.’
 
If you feel like you can’t wait for the application, I’ve already posted next week’s blog (or I will tomorrow).
 
 
 


Soul Armor – Part 2

     Do not be anxious about anything …   Philippians 4:6

Oh Please! Get Real! Are you serious? Just a few of the tamer responses I can imagine to this command from God’s word.
 How can I …
  • “not be anxious” (NIV) or
  • “not worry” (several other translations) or
  • “be careful for nothing” (KJV)?
Is that even humanly possible? Even more challenging, the command is, “do not worry about ANYTHING.” Granted, I worry about many inconsequential things … but surely there are some exceptions to this rule. Does God expect me to face financial ruin, my loved one’s fatal diagnosis, my child’s disintegrating life or my culture’s headlong spiral toward oblivion … without being anxious?
 
Consider an infant girl … surprised suddenly by the appearance of her father’s face from behind a blanket. Can you picture it? Her eyes blink rapidly, her chin tucks, her head trembles, her hands jerk … her first response is involuntary. But what comes next … does the child descend into a fit or wailing or burst into sweet laughter? Our first response to trials is no more voluntary. God understands; He wired us to respond to our surroundings and to act. Even the fear response is part of God’s good provision for preserving our lives.
 
The secret to understanding this command is in the second response. Built into the Greek phrase translated “do not be anxious” is the idea of prolonged apprehension. An English word that communicates this well would be “brooding.” In His kindness, our Creator bids us not carry our first response of shock, fear or anger … into brooding anxiousness. Do not continue in anxiousness, “but in everything” or “rather in all situations …”
 
Sorry to keep you in suspense … but tune in next week. 🙂
 
 

 



Soul Armor – Part 1

According to a report entitled, “The State of Mental Health in America –2017,” access to mental health care has increased, but so have mental health issues. Depression rates in youth continue to rise year after year. The report estimates that one in five U.S. citizens have some level of mental health condition. The study decries the lack of professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, and psychiatric nurses) reporting that the least resourced state has an average of only one mental health professional per 1000 citizens. If we take that lowest rate of coverage against the U.S. population, that means there are at least 321,400 mental health professionals in the U.S. That outnumbers churches! It also outnumbers mental health professionals in every region of the world with the exclusion of Europe. With such abundant resources, why aren’t we in better mental shape?
 
That’s a complex question with a multifaceted answer far beyond the scope of one Pastor’s Corner. I believe the decline in mental health is rooted in what we’re ignoring. Psychology, if traced to its Greek roots (psyche—logia), literally means a “study of the soul.” But today’s dictionary definition reduces the field to brains and behaviors …“the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context.” Let me humbly suggest that society will continue to grow more unstable as long as we marginalize or ignore the soul. We are more than heads and chemicals. We are beings created by God for a relationship with him. Modern Psychology in it’s materialistic bent cannot have the ultimate answer. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks as I unpack this passage that promises armor for our psyche,
 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
 
 


Pyrotechnic Praise

The polychromatic spectacle filled my vision to utter periphery. No colors on the palette compare with variegations of fire against an inky black sky. But the experience was not all for the eyes; crackling reports, sizzles, bass notes perceived with both the tympani and the sternum … all this mixed with exclamation from the enraptured crowd. Tactile and olfactory: the rain of husks and ash, the smell of Chinese paper and gunpowder. Standing at ground-zero of a fireworks display is immersive … and joyful.
 
Yes, I said joyful. I found myself with a long lingering sense of delight. My wife kept laughing at me all evening, because the smile had not faded. I couldn’t explain it myself. I’ve always liked fireworks, but this was … joy. I found myself wondering as to the source of this feeling; lightness mixed with deep satisfaction. Why do we enJOY anything?
 
Doubtless someone could answer my question in a very scientific sounding way, explaining the stimulation of the optic nerve, the firing of synapsis and the pumping of endorphins. Another might turn to psychology, explaining the number of combined positives that it took to move me above average on the hedonic treadmill. Yet another to sociology, claiming my experience was rooted in the shared culture experience. There is no doubt some truth and worth in all such explanations but they are not The Truth.
 
The truth is … joy is the latent witness to our Creator. After testifying to God as the creator of all things, the Apostle Paul asserted, “In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
 
God’s kind provision for mankind … and the fact that they experience that provision with joy is an ongoing testimony to His existence and involvement in our lives. Paul said that to unbelievers. How great should the testimony of joy be for those who believe?  Next time you find yourself deeply enjoying some good thing, in joy remember your Creator and let your joy turn to praise!  (See also Psalm 65:8)
 
 
 


“I pledge allegiance to … what?”

Dad was gazing with obvious love and pride at our nation’s flag. I was staring at him with the same emotions. My mind can still look up at him through five-year-old eyes and beyond him the Stars and Stripes fluttering in the evening breeze. Sometimes I think my love of country is partially transferred love for my father and what he loved. Something caught rather than taught. It’s strange to reimagine the memory. It could have looked quite different.
 

History is simple when you’re a child, but Betsy Ross did not stitch the first U.S. flag. Our first official pennant as a newly founded nation was stitched together by soldiers at Fort Stanwix, New York on August 3rd, 1777. They gave up their shirts for the white stripes and stars; the officer’s wives gave up red flannel from their petticoats; and Captain Abraham Swartwout sacrificed his coat for the sea of blue. Congress paid Capt. Swartwout for his coat … our nation still has the receipt. The exact design of that flag is lost to history, but it probably resembled the Serapis Flag hastily constructed for John Paul Jones during the 1779 Battle of Flamborough Head. Similar designs were seriously considered for the U.S. flag.

 
If Prime Minister Pearson would have had his way, a strikingly different flag would be flying over Canada. It took the examination of almost 5,900 suggested designs and 308 speeches in the House of Commons to resolve the “Great Flag Debate.” Queen Elizabeth the Second proclaimed the current red and white maple leaf design on January 28, 1965. Had they chosen Pearson’s Pennant, the inaugural crowd still would have sung “O Canada” and “God Save the Queen.”
 
I am thankful to God for the land in which I was raised. The more I know of the world, the more humbled I am by the privilege of being raised with sufficient food, ample opportunity, abundant freedom and prevalent peace. But there is something healthy in realizing that our treasured symbols are changeable … ephemeral. So are the countries which they represent. Love your country, but fix your allegiance on something that cannot fail.
 
The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. Daniel 2:44