Author: Pastor Stephen Dufresne

Who’s Inside Your Head?

Psalm 119:11 (ESV) “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Coaches constantly warn their players not to let the other team get inside their heads.  The other team wants to trash-talk and intimidate and sow doubt about your abilities and chances of winning the game. 

There are all kinds of ways things can “get inside your head” as a Christian.  Constant attention to the wrong messages via all the things you watch, people you listen to (drama), or messages you read can keep you so busy that God’s word drifts to the background.   

Psalm 119:11 (Romans 12:2) teaches us that the Word of God should be inside our heads and hearts guiding, directing, and shaping our thoughts, actions and emotions.  In this way, we are kept from sinning.

There is another thing coaches say a lot, “Play your own game.”  Trust what you have learned from the coach and put it into practice even when the other team says it will never work.  God’s word can be trusted above every other message.  Store it up and practice it in your life.

“One Teacher”

You and I speak English, read English, and write in English.  Yet we all had different teachers growing up. We each know addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Yet we all had different teachers along the way.  For math and reading, it really doesn’t matter who teaches them.  After all, math has nothing to do with my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Card.   And English doesn’t necessitate knowing my fourth grade teacher Miss. Bonn.  But if you want to know God, and know how to have life and live life then it is of utmost importance that you learn from Jesus. There is just no other way to the Father then through the Son.

Disciples Growing Together

My daughter and I are doing a 500 piece puzzle together. There are 4 pieces that have two straight edges (so far we have found only 3). There are many more that have one straight edge.  The vast majority have no straight edges at all. Every piece requires other pieces and all 500 need the other 499 to reveal the picture promised on the cover of the box. The church is a gathering of many different pieces. As disciples, Christians need each other to see the big picture of what Jesus intends for His Church. Are you in the picture?

Which Christianity?

Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, in an article posted by CNN on Thursday, January 24, 2019, declared that “Christianity’s future looks more like Lady Gaga than Mike Pence.” At stake, in Graves-Fitzsimmons’ mind, was which Christian self-identity will win out in the end. It is no wonder that, in our current culture, Christianity is not defined by God’s word, but by man’s self-identification and popular opinion. This is not new to those who know a little about the history of Christianity. The massive influence of Christianity on western civilization has led many seeking power or putting forth policies to claim they bear the banner of Christianity in their pursuits. It is the weaponization of the Christian label and it has confused many, disgusted many, and has been wielded by many with disasterous effect. Providence Church is committed to the glory of God and his revelation of himself in his word. We don’t get our understanding of truth from the polls or the loudest voice. We get it from God’s word. The future of religion may be squarely on Lady Gaga’s side, but the future of biblical Christianity is securely on the side of those who believe the Scriptures are God’s inspired, infallible and inerrant word.

Covid-19 and the Reality of Death

We work in science and medicine and encourage some precautions not to cheat death, but to make sure that we respect the life God has given to us and others.

There is no unanimity about how dangerous the Covid-19 is and how to respond to it. 

Is there a conspiracy?  Sinful human nature, with the heavy weight it puts on self-interest, makes some measure of corruption in all of this probable. Is Covid-19 more dangerous than we realize?  Sinful human nature can easily underestimate the danger of this fallen world in order to pursue a casually normal life; “I’m ok and you’re ok. Or at least you should be because I am.”

I do not have certainty concerning all the conspiracies that may be lurking in the hearts of leaders, scientists, doctors, and the press.  Some do not lurk but stand openly.  I do not have certainty about how dangerous the virus is as a percentage of those who actually have it. It is clearly dangerous to those with underlying conditions.

I do know two things for certain, however.

First, death is part of this fallen world.  We should not be offended that it should be packaged in something so small as a virus. Neither should we be so fearful that we cease to live in order to simply keep from dying.  Choosing the misery of separation has never saved anyone from death. It still comes.  Choosing to ignore danger has never derailed death’s timely advance.  It is always right on time. 

We work in science and medicine and encourage some precautions not to cheat death, but to make sure that we respect the life God has given to us and others. Being careless about real danger does not respect life. Being careless about our calling to work and serve does not respect life either.

The second thing about which I am certain is that Jesus is the only one who saves us from the condemnation of death. Christians may disagree about where the conspiracies lie and how far reaching any danger might be.  As Christians, we are not motivated by fear or presumption, but by thanksgiving for God’s grace.

Don’t Miss the Good That’s Coming.

Jeremiah 29:32 “. . . therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the LORD, for he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.’ ”

Shemaiah stirred up trouble against Jeremiah.  He called for him to be shut up and even locked up because of his prophecy of a long captivity.  As a result, Shemaiah and his family were cursed.  His line would end.  But there was more than that.

Jeremiah did not only prophecy the long captivity in Babylon, he also prophesied the great restoration and the future hope of Israel. Chapters 30-32 are wonderful comforts to God’s people and they look forward to the greater son of David; our Lord Jesus Christ.

Shamaiah’s loss for his rebellion would be “he shall not see the good that I will do to my people.”

  Jeremiah expects that God’s people would want to see beyond the difficult providences of God to the good.  Those who rebel against him in times of trial may miss that good. They may not be around or they may not recognize it when it comes.

In everything that is going on in our world today, God plans a good that he will do to his people.  Ultimately that good is our sanctification and its end, eternal life. Don’t you want to see it? Stay faithful, be watchful, and keep waiting.  You won’t want to miss it.

“Now Is a Good Time to Buy a Field”

In Jeremiah 32, the Lord instructs the prophet to buy a field. The timing is important because the economy didn’t look good and the prospects for Israel didn’t look good. It was the “tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.” The armies of Babylon had besieged Jerusalem. All of life was in shambles and there was no end to the troubles in sight. 

The purchase was to be done as a redemption of family land.  How it was lost by his uncle and how it was that his cousin could not redeem it is not specifically said.  Yet we know that things were very difficult.  It was a time of loss.

Jeremiah bought the field, as the Lord had told him.  The deed was buried in an earthenware vessel so that it would last “a long time.” It was a good investment. It was “insider trading” because Jeremiah was told that the people would be restored to the land. We have insider news as well. We will be delivered one day from this world of sin and misery. 

We all know that things are tough right now.  It is the tough times that remind us to invest in the kingdom of God.  Jesus told the parable of the man that found a treasure in a field. He sold everything he had to buy the field (Mt. 13:44).  He, like Jeremiah, was convinced of a sure thing and acted on it without regard to the cost. 

Are you confident of the sure things God has promised to his children?  Can you see what is happening and yet stay invested in a kingdom that will not be undone by a bad economy, sickness, death, or anything else?  Hard times are the best times to double down on our investment in God’s kingdom.  Keep trusting, keep serving, and keep waiting for Christ’s return.

— Stephen Dufresne

Pig Pile!

As boys, my brothers and I, along with the other boys in the neighborhood, played “pig pile”. The rule of the game was simple: whoever had the ball would get tackled and then everyone else would pile on. The boy at the bottom could not move and breathing was hard. The weight of 3, 4, or 5 others prevented it. Immobility and difficulty breathing were the consequences of being the guy with the ball.

Paul wrote to the Romans (Romans 5:20) that the law came in to “increase the trespass.” The law piles on the sinner increasing the sin and the weight of sin as it exposes every dark aspect of man’s disobedience. The sinner could not move to help himself and it only got harder to breath. There is no way to get out from under the pig pile as commandment 1, 2, 3 . . . 8, 9, 10 all threw their weight on top.

No matter how big the pile, however, God’s grace in Christ is able to topple it over and remove every ounce of sin. “Where sin increased, grace abounded more.” That’s good news.

A Box of Tissues and God Almighty

What if all God had to offer was a box of tissues? You know, like that commercial where the man sits out in the street and people come and bear their soul only to be sent away with a tissue and a hug. That’s not much help is it?

God is much more serious than a box of tissues. He is more than a hug and a wave goodbye. He is the God who can actually do something about our troubled lives. That’s great news, because, the truth be told, we are in more trouble than we think.

God’s word says that there is none righteous, no not one. It also says that we should not fear man who can destroy our body, but God who can destroy both soul and body in hell. That’s a lot of trouble.

Thankfully, His word also says that He so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

And, by the way, He is like a box of tissues in this way: one day He will wipe away all our tears.