Signs, Signs, Everywhere there's Signs

One of the really neat aspects of ministry at Woodward Park is our Deaf Ministry. We have three wonderful ladies (Cindy, Jamie and Myrna) who interpret all of our assemblies for the deaf. Additionally, a deaf class is offered on Sundays and Wednesdays and on Tuesdays as a part of our Prime Time Tuesday.

Yesterday, Mandy, Trae and I took our first class to learn ASL (American Sign Language). Our teacher is one of the deaf members at Woodward Park, Judy Eberwein. To help us immerse ourselves into ASL, we attended the deaf class on Tuesday night, taught by Lee Dial from the Hanford church. Lee is a dynamo signer and is unparalleled in his expressiveness while signing.

We are excited about learning ASL and I am especially excited about reaching a point of proficiency in order to incorporate ASL into my ministry. We (Mandy and I) are also thrilled that Trae is so excited about learning ASL in the hopes it will provide an avenue of service for her as she grows.

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Alright, I'm coming clean.

The worst kept secret at last night's Prime Time dinner was the fact that I received a traffic citation on Tuesday morning from a Fresno cop.

My crime?

Failing to use my turn signal at a four-way stop when no other cars were stopped at the intersection.

I pleaded my case before the cop...to no avail. "Do you guys not give warnings?" I asked.

"No sir, we don't."

Something tells me the city of Fresno is suffering a revenue shortage.

Something else tells me this story will be told again during my Sunday evening sermon series on Paul's letter to the Galatians.

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Dealing with the traffic citation yesterday reminded me of something my friend, Gregg Worthey, once pointed out to me. While preaching in Selmer, Tennessee, Gregg often made the trek back home across the Tennessee-Mississippi state line to his hometown of Amory, Mississippi. During his travels, Gregg noticed a stark difference in the way Tennessee and Mississippi portrayed their seat belt laws on signs near the state line.

The Mississippi sign declared, "Buckle Up! It's the LAW!"

The Tennessee sign implored, "Buckle Up because Tennessee cares."

Do you sense the difference between the two signs admonishing the same aim? Whereas Mississippi's sign boldly declared their law for the driver and his/her passengers, Tennessee gently urged the same appeal with a spirit of goodwill and grace.

Throughout Galatians, Paul draws a similar distinction between "those who have faith" (The Tennessee approach, see Galatians 3.9) and "those who rely on observing the law" (The Mississippi approach, see Galatians 3.10). Those who have faith are blessed the same way Abraham was blessed -- on the basis of faith. Those who rely on observing the law are, in the words of Paul reaching back to the very foundation of the Old Covenant, under a curse.

As I admonished the Woodward Park family last Sunday night, let's never settle for second fiddle (the Mississippi approach -- the law that brings cursing) when first chair is available (the Tennessee approach -- the faith that brings blessing).

I Love To Tell the Story

"...and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born" (1 Corinthians 15.8).

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul delineates the simple, all-sufficient truth of the gospel: the gospel is the death, burial, resurrection, appearances and ascension of Jesus Christ. Period.

But for Paul, when did the gospel become real? It wasn't real, producing grace and peace in his life, until Jesus appeared to him.

Throughout his letters, Paul typically has to defend himself in the face of trumped-up charges from his opponents. In Galatians, when those sympathetic to their Jewish roots charged that Paul's apostleship and gospel were fraudulent, Paul defended himself and his message by telling a story.

Galatians 1.10-2.10 is a story, a testimony from Paul, rooted in historical facts. Paul tells his story in three veins: pre-conversion, conversion, and post-conversion. He does so to uphold the sufficiency of the gospel and to defend his credentials as a bona-fide apostle of Jesus.

Have you ever written out the story of your salvation? Interestingly, when Jesus exorcised the demons from the man in the Gerasene region in Mark 5, he charged the newly-healed man to return home and tell his story to his family; to witness the qualitative difference God had made in his life (see Mark 5.1-20).

What we call "evangelism," Scripture calls "witnessing" (Notice in Acts 1.22 that in the search to replace Judas in the apostleship, the qualification is not someone who was an "eyewitness" of Jesus, as we often read verse 22, but someone who "must become a witness of his resurrection").

Becoming a witness is rooted in telling two stories: (1) The historical story of Jesus's all-sufficient power to save humanity; (2) The personal story of how Jesus saved you and transformed your life.

From both Jesus and Paul, I learn that the power of the gospel is not only found in the factual retelling of the historical story of Calvary but in the personal testimony of how Calvary makes a difference in my life.

What might help us in our quest to be more effective evangelists is an exercise that would be great, not only for those you seek to reach with the good news of Jesus, but also for yourself and your children. Write out your own conversion story. How has Jesus changed your life? Tell about your life pre-conversion. Tell about the moments surrounding the time when Jesus became real to you -- the critical understanding that led you to conversion and the confession that Jesus is Lord and Savior, the Son of God. Tell about your life post-conversion. How has obedient faith in Jesus made a qualitative difference in your life?

Taking the time to write out your story arms you with evidence of the difference Jesus can make the lives of those you seek to reach. Like the Samaritan woman who ran back into Sychar and told her friends about the difference Jesus had made in her life (see John 4), your friends and most especially, your children and grandchildren will appreciate knowing how the gospel has the power to change lives on a personal level.

Gaining Approval

So Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn were both voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. My question is: how did those two not amass 100% of the vote? Ripken garnered 98%; Gwynn 97%. While their vote totals are the two highest totals ever in the history of Hall of Fame voting, I'd be curious as to who did not vote them in?

Whoever it was should immediately have their Hall of Fame voting privileges banished.

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I love Paul's letter to the Galatians. It is chock-full of practical theology on the simplicity and sufficiency of the gospel to justify mankind in the eyes of God. What Jesus accomplished at Calvary -- signified by his declaration, "It is finished" from the cross -- was the turning point in all history; the moment when the redeeming work of man was done.

Throughout Galatians, Paul's principles ring truth into the hearts of men and women, calling them outside of themselves and their comfort zones for the sake of the gospel. Galatians is a radical call away from cultural and national imperialism -- evidenced by Paul's adamant stance against imposing the requirements on Moses upon disciples of Jesus -- as Paul makes clear the salvation found in the gospel is available to all mankind.

Galatians also calls us out of ourselves and our incessant quest to win the approval of our peers. As disciples of Jesus, our aim should be righteousness in the sight of God, even if that quest prompts some social disapproval along the way. Consider these words from Scot McKnight

"We need to examine ourselves to see if we are 'seeking to gain the approval of men' or succumbing to social and peer pressure (see Galatians 1.10). Probably no feature of life is more difficult than this: discerning where our own line of approval is actually going. Is it going in the direction of God or is it being rerouted through the approval of human leaders, spouses, and friends? Are we doing what we think is right or are we trying to be diplomatic or political? This rerouting can be subtle indeed: from the glance of a spouse during a conversation to a letter to a Christian friend. When the conviction of our own faithfulness to truth and the apostolic gospel gives way to the desire of approval from a friend, we have joined the ranks of those whom Paul attacks.

There is a fine line between being approved by others and having such approval as our motivation. Our motivation must always be to please God and him alone; if others disapprove of us when we know God approves of us, we must disregard their disapprovals. Our fear must be of God, not of humans" (The NIV Application Commentary: Galatians. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1995. p. 67-68).