Daily Butter1/21: Family Matters

My little addition to Our Daily Bread (1/21/12):

 

But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer* who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.

(1 Corinthians 5:11 HCSB)

 

Paul’s clarification here of an earlier instruction (v9) is a key distinction. To disassociate from every single person with any of the listed traits is inconsistent with our call to be the light of the world (Matt 5:14-16) and our task to be Christ’s ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20) since it clearly contradicts His words highlighted yesterday the He came to call sinners. Like yesterday, I found the translator’s footnote (at the star above) meaningful that it was “Lit[erally] anyone named a brother.” Those who claim to have been made a new creation through Christ cannot REALLY tolerate such filth. This is a cancer and needs removed. Just remember you get measured by the same ruler you use.

 

- Andy Jentes

Daily Butter 1/20: Pick Me

My little addition to Our Daily Bread (1/20/12):

 

Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.

(Matthew 9:13 HCSB)

 

What struck me afresh from this verse is not so much what it says but what it doesn’t say. So often I have heard this quoted, as David C. McCasland did in today’s ODB from the King James or New King James Version that to see the verse end this way seemed odd yet enlightening (though to be fair the Holman Christian Standard Bible translators did in include the footnote at the end of this verse that “Other mss add to repentance”). I looked a several other modern translations I trust (NASB, NIV, and NLT namely) only to see that those translators also chose not to include the mention of repentance at the end.

 

In conjunction with my commitment to read through the Bible with those from my home church (see also my post 2012 Plan) where we are finishing up Genesis, this verse served only to highlight something He has been teaching me: God chooses broken people because that’s His choice. He’s God and does not need to justify His choice according to human wisdom. Quite often I wind up scratching my head wondering shy He would choose such people as “His chosen people,” but then I look in the mirror and praise Him that he chooses unworthy people.

 

- Andy Jentes

2012 plan

I mentioned that I was taking the challenge with my brothers and sisters at First Baptist Gallatin to progress through the Bible in 2012. We are using READER'S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE - Chronological Reading Plan which has already proven a great tool. Not only does the chronological progression and notes from Dr. George H. Guthrie provide fresh insights, the schedule has been much kinder as it follows the model given to us in creation: six days per week with the seventh off. Being a 21st Century American who has jam packed days, I fear this is less often a day of rest than one of catching up on the things undone. This has proved helpful in keeping up so far, so if all holds to this pattern I will likely resume ODB readings & MDB writings by the beginning of February.

Year end

Sorry that the pace of my jobs in December has made time for this blog difficult. Taking a challenge to read through the Bible "chronologically" this year will likely change the shape of future entries, but stay tuned. Below is our family "Christmas letter" - a kind of "state of the family" letter for friends and extended family. God Bless! More soon.

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Dear Family & Friends,

With the end of 2011, we look back at the blessings and challenges thanking the Lord for all He has done. Andy still works full-time with Gaylord Opryland through the nights and part-time at Publix Supermarket in the afternoons. Sharon is enjoying being a stay-at-home mom to David and the new opportunity to truly be a homemaker in our new home. While we had looked for a house in 2010, we began searching with determination again in late summer. We grew a lot in the process and looked through a lot of very nice houses here in Middle Tennessee. Any home (even if you're building it from the foundation up I've heard) has pluses and minuses, and so we looked at a lot of area properties in our price range. In the process, we trusted that the Lord had a home in mind for us and we found encouragement seeking His guiding hand from the promise of scripture:

“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NASB)

We found one that seemed to have everything we needed, and began packing up to move in August. It is a beautiful home in a great established neighborhood. We received down payment assistance through a program for first-time home buyers through THDA, but a rescheduling of a class required by the program caused our closing to be delayed from Sept. 28^th until late on Sept. 29^th (which actually meant we didn't get the key until Sept. 30^th). We had everything arranged to have help, rental truck and time away from work for Andy based upon moving the evening of closing and the entire following day. It caused hassles with missing an additional night of work and spending a night at Sharon's parents' home with nearly all of our things locked in a moving van. But it all worked out and we got every­thing moved in with help from our First Baptist Church Gallatin family and coworkers from Publix.

So not only was October a big month with both Sharon’s and Andy’s birthday, but it was the beginning of the adventure of home ownership. We knew from the beginning that we were going to be taking some time to move the back yard fences out to the property lines, but added more work as we found out about some plumbing issues that needed urgent attention. There is no maintenance man to call like at the apartments; it had to be addressed, so it was up to us. Not having any real maintenance know-how ourselves, Sharon’s father, Ron Hoffman, was invaluable in getting the problems fixed. Mom & Dad Hoffman also surprised us with housewarming / birthday gifts of a storage shed, additional fencing and screen doors (with assembly assistance – Dad with labor, tools, and expertise & Mom with loving care for David and wonderful food).

Not everything on the upgrade and repairs list is complete (though I fear no fifty-year-old home ever has maintenance “complete”), but with furniture finding places, opportunity for Sharon and David to meet some of our new neighbors during trick-or-treat, and most of the household items finding places other than boxes, the house was beginning to feel like home. And just in time to prepare for Carl Jentes to fly down from Ohio for Thanksgiving with us in our guestroom. We thought it important to have Dad come to get to spend time with his family (especially his grandson) in this, the first full year without Pat. Though she is greatly missed, we know she moved to her Father’s house and we will be together again. As we look forward to our first full year in our new home and the joys of planting flowers and a garden in the rebirth that is Spring, we know that her joy is complete now in her new home that her walk with her Lord is can now be side-by-side and unclouded by pain.

We are so blessed to have a great church home at First Baptist Church Gallatin where Sharon teaches the “Walkers” Sunday School class and Andy assists with the audio/visual production team. I cannot imagine being able to make it without the support of a local church body through which we have received so many blessings “coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17 NASB). Please remember this Christmas that it is His gift at Christmas (becoming one of us to do for us what we could not do to restore our relationship to the Father) that brings true joy and life without end.

In His Service and Only By His Grace,

Andy, Sharon & David Jentes

Daily Butter 12/15: Calling

My little addition to Our Daily Bread (12/15/11):

Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

(Romans 12:16 HCSB)

I’ve been silent for the past few days because of pressures at work and its affect on my attitude inhibiting my heart to dig in to the Word. But several times in recent days as work has weighed on me that I wonder why not look toward full-time ministry. While I know it would also weigh on a person in many ways, there is such a joy I find in growing to know Him more by finding new things or fresh perspectives in His Word and trying to put that into words to share. But the statement at the end of this verse that the New Living Translation translated “And don't think you know it all!” reminds me again why I have not looked toward full-time ministry: it’s not about me. Yes, I have an education from a Christian college that included some Bible and theology classes. Yes, I’ve had brothers and sisters in the faith tell me I have a talent for it. Yes, I think I might be fairly good at it. BUT I will not be starting “The First Church of Andy,” so it’s not my choice.  While I do think I could be good at it, I KNOW I can’t do it. He could use me and empower me, but I have yet to hear a definite call from Him that He has chosen me for that purpose. I will continue to serve in the best ways I know how and seek opportunities to use my talents in His church. Pray for me that I will continue to serve faithfully and be a light in whatever position I am in. Pray also that My heart will stay tender so it may see His guiding hand as it leads and hear His still small voice if He does call.

- Andy Jentes

Daily Butter 12/7: The Gift of Remembrance

My apologies for the lapse in my writing – the effects of heavy demands from employers for my time over this weekend had me reeling. I'm just now getting back to "normal" sleep/meal patterns.

My little addition to Our Daily Bread (12/7/11): 

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26 HCSB)

My generation (with war experience only of Desert Shield, Storm and 9/11 aftermath) may not grasp the importance this day has held for this nation for nearly two-thirds of a century. Though it is with limited understanding of the cost, I salute those who willingly and/or dutifully risked and gave everything in service to this nation. It bothers me that failure to set aside time to remember things like the momentous happenings of 12/7/1941 has led to entitlement and self-focused attitudes for those my age and younger. It is imperative that we remember the cost of freedom, for if we disrespect and forget the price paid by past generations, we will doom our children to repay the price (with decades of inflation).

I agree with what Randy Kilgore said in today's ODB about Christ instituting "the Eucharist" (while not the common Protestant term, I like it because it "is derived from Greek "εὐχαριστία" (transliterated as "eucharistia"), which means thankfulness, gratitude, giving of thanks" according to Wikipedia). But I feel it was not only a way to institute of remembrance, it was a teaching tool. Remember that Christ stated "Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Matt 5:17 HCSB) As Christians, we sometimes forget that the bread and cup were at the table set for Christ and his disciples to eat the Passover Feast. Just as sailors saluting at the rail sailing into Pearl Harbor act as bridge between the past and present, this table was similar for a Jew. Christ not only made a remembrance ritual for us now in future generations looking back, but He did so by tying it to the remembrance of redemption that had been in place for generations in Israel. Just as they were reminded of the miraculous salvation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt through the blood of an unblemished lamb, Christ showed his disciples precisely what He was doing: Fulfilling all that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been doing throughout history. As we come into Christmas and the time we remember His incarnation, let's not forget that God provided His perfect, unblemished Lamb (in a livestock shed welcomed by shepherds) to pay the debt once for all that we might also be saved from slavery.

This is what I saw, so I would echo the challenge from today's ODB:

Action Suggestion:

Read with fresh eyes the detailed instructions Scripture

offers for the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11, and

experience anew its power in your spiritual journey.

- Andy Jentes

Daily Butter 12/3: Perspective

My little addition to Our Daily Bread (12/3/11):

If that's how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will He do for you — you of little faith? Don't keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don't be anxious.

(Luke 12:28-29 HCSB)

I love what Joe Stowell wrote in today’s ODB about the temporary nature of all these “important” things over which we get so uptight. Just last night before coming to work I had a conversation with my wife how much I miss just getting to spend time with my family. With the time demands of the two jobs just trying to “make ends meet” and the little bit of time I am at home spent on the biological necessities of sleep, eating, and hygiene doesn’t leave much.

I can’t count how many times I’ve read these words of Christ (either in Luke’s account here or from Matthew’s chapter), but still the urgency of this world’s pressures get us “conformed to this age” (Romans 12:2) of just getting by. The words “you of little faith” at the end of verse twenty-eight hit hard. Do I live like I believe Christ meant what he said?

 

- Andy Jentes