Coffee With The Lord

Mountains!  Mountains!!  Mountains!!!

Now I was born and raised in the mountains – Western Montana mountains near Glacier Park – the Rockies, not “hills.”  I love ‘em!  They give me a sense of security, of wonder, of God’s greatness and grandeur, of “home!”  Now I know it’s not that way for many who were raised in the plains – they feel shut in, mountains are kind of scary.  But give me mountains!!!

I read a wonderful passage during my time of “coffee with the Lord” this morning that featured the imagery of mountains… Here it is:

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.”

Those who trust in the Lord enjoy the stability of… “Mount Zion” – where God manifested His presence!  Here, near Glacier National Park we’d think of the “Great Northern Peak” (the “granddaddy of them all!” – Great, tall, imposing and stable.  Listen, trust in the Lord bring God’s presence and power – that kind of stability!

And protection!  See that little cabin in the pic?  That’s the “Bartel cabin” and it resides in Hungry Horse, Montana at Glacier Bible Camp, just 10 miles from the entrance to Glacier National Park (where most of the pics come from).  It’s nestled in the midst of all those mountains on every side – mountains everywhere! …  And this is what came to mind as I read this passage today… “As the mountains surround “the Bartel cabin,” so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore!”  Gotta tell you, I’m depending on it!!!

Mountain!  Mountains!!  Mountains!!!  Love ‘em!!!

Whose advice would you listen to?

As a Christian, I would certainly listen to a wise, inspired person like Apostle Paul, wouldn’t you?

This morning, during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read the closing advice he gave fellow Christians in the little city of Colossae.  It registered powerfully with me!  It was like he was encouraging and counseling Christians who live in our world today and want to make a significant impact upon their country, communities, culture and neighbors.

Here is my feeble attempt at paraphrasing it (and then for the sake of accuracy, I’m going to give it to you right out of the Bible – you can check me out.  The passage is Colossians 4:2-6 – look it up)…

First of all, practice sustained prayer – don’t give up!  Keep on praying for the needs of others – especially who are communicating the Gospel with others (and don’t forget to be thankful!).

Secondly, watch your mouth!  Be careful what you say!  Don’t “pop off” with your mouth (or on social media) and hurt your Christian testimony or witness.

Here’s Paul’s words right out of the Bible (let it sink in – good advice!)

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison — that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:2–6 ESV)

Symbolism and imagery matter!  They can make things vivid and real to us; and that’s true of water baptism.

I think if I were pastoring a church today, I’d do water baptism services like this…

I’d encourage them to wear old, worn out clothes to the place where they were going to be baptized in water as a testimony to the fact that they were abandoning their old way of life.  The more old, tattered, worn out the clothes were, the better.  Those would be the clothes they would be baptized in.

Then after they were baptized (buried, so to speak, in the waters of baptism – symbolizing the fact that they were abandoning their old way of life, dying to sin and self-pursuit) I’d have them change into new, fresh, “Sunday, go-to-meeting, best” clothes, celebrating the new life they had been given through faith in Christ.

All of that came to mind as I read the following passage this morning in the Bible (a passage that I’m convinced Apostle Paul wrote with water baptism as the imagery behind it)…

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.  In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator… Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (from Colossians 3:1–17 ESV)

You see, baptism really is a burial service!  When we do it in faith and commitment we fully identify with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.  We bring our old, tattered lives of sin and we die to them through the one who died for our sins on the cross.  That old life is buried, so to speak, in the waters of baptism.  Then we are raised from the waters of baptism, identifying with the resurrection of Jesus, to live a new life… That’s where we celebrate our new life in Christ by putting on our “Sunday go-to-meeting best!”

As I say, imagery and symbolism matters!  And may there be, behind every water baptism, a spiritual reality!