Practical Tips for Christians Shaping Personal Growth (Ashley Taylor)
It’s essential to figure out how to improve yourself spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
It might seem overwhelming, but self-improvement is entirely practical when you have the right strategies up your sleeve. From traditional religious practices to modern self-improvement methods, here’s how to become the best version of yourself.
Engage in Self-Care
Engaging in self-care by adopting healthy habits is a powerful way to boost your health and wellness, ensuring that you maintain the energy and mental clarity needed for daily life. One fundamental habit is to ensure you’re drinking at least two liters of water per day, which aids in hydration, digestion, and overall bodily function.
Keeping healthy snacks like fruit and nuts on hand can help satisfy hunger with nutrient-rich options, supporting your body’s needs and preventing energy slumps.
Additionally, starting a prayer practice can profoundly impact your mental and emotional well-being, reducing stress, enhancing focus, and promoting a sense of peace and balance.
Pray Regularly
Praying consistently is one of the most crucial habits you can develop to enhance your spiritual well-being. Praying helps you set aside time each day to communicate with God, reflect on your values, seek guidance, and give your Lord the praise and honor He deserves. Whether you pray in the morning, evening, or both, make it a priority to embrace the habit. You don’t have to spend hours in prayer every day; even a few minutes can boost your sense of inner peace and connection to God!
Keep Your Home Clean
Another crucial component of self-improvement is creating a healthy and harmonious environment in your home. A tidy home helps you feel more organized, focused, and calm.
Plus it’s an opportunity to steward your everyday gifts. Take small steps towards your goals, like decluttering, organizing, and cleaning one room at a time. When you have a bit more energy (and time), it will be easier to deep clean your living environment because everything will be in its rightful place. Enlist your kids’ help to make the work easier. A clean home will help you feel more comfortable and connected to your surroundings, ultimately having a positive effect on your spiritual and emotional well-being.
Start a Business Out of Your Passion
If you want to improve your professional and personal development and also make a difference in the lives of others, one option is turning your passion into a company. Create a business that reflects your core values, and work toward building something that aligns with your interests, beliefs, and goals. It could be a side hustle that you work on after hours or the beginning of a
full-time business. The most important thing is to focus on what you love doing and making a difference for the sake of the Kingdom, and you’ll find success and fulfillment.
Work Out More Often
Exercise is an excellent way to improve your physical and emotional well-being. Regular physical activity can significantly reduce stress, increase endorphins, and boost your overall health. Even a short walk or yoga session can yield immense benefits, and the process of tending your physical well-being is an opportunity to worship in a quiet and personal way.
Make it a habit to exercise daily, or try to do it at least three times a week. Walking regularly for exercise is not only beneficial for your physical health but also for your mental well-being, providing a simple yet effective way to stay active. To enhance your walking experience, consider using a walk score map to identify the best pedestrian-friendly areas nearby, ensuring your routes are both safe and enjoyable. These maps can help you discover new paths and scenic neighborhoods, making each walk an opportunity to explore while you keep fit.
Seek Out Supportive Friends and Community
Having a support network is crucial to your self-improvement goals. Seek out individuals and groups that share your values and interests and are willing to hold you accountable. Get involved in your community and go to workshops, seminars, and conferences to meet like-minded people and share in your journey. Aim to connect with individuals who can help you grow and challenge you to become a better person. Start a small group in your home, or join up with a prayer buddy for coffee. Remember that you want to surround yourself with people who will help you through hard times and push you to be your best self.
The Bottom Line
Self-improvement may seem like a daunting prospect, but you can achieve your goals and become the best version of yourself with the right mindset and tools. Cultivate a consistent prayer life, clean your home regularly, consider starting a business, and follow the other tips here. Most importantly, remember to celebrate your small successes along the way!
The Command to Rejoice (Morning Companion)
Let me tell you about a good, old friend. I can attest that he is in fact good, and he is in fact old. One time he said to me, “Getting old isn’t for sissies.”
I have come to appreciate that that wisdom as each year passes. Yet, in spite of his 92 years and hobbling by a stroke, he is one of the most positive, contented people I know. That got me thinking about why some people seem naturally content and others see only the clouds when the sky is filled with silver linings. So I decided to ask about that. Before I tell you what he said, I want to offer a disclaimer.
Some unhappiness in life is 100% rational. No one can blame you for discouragement over a horrible disease, or the loss of a loved one, or a major financial setback, or any other such events of life. It is perfectly okay to wail through the night, grieving mightily when necessary, even to questioning the Almighty Himself as did Job when calamities intrude. It is unhealthy to be pollyannish about such things.
Understand too that there is a difference between transitory happiness and a lifestyle of joy. I was happy when the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, but the very next day nothing of substance changed in my life or in the world, and I was back to my ordinary tasks of daily living. Happiness based on an outside happenings is a temporary dopamine kick. Joy, as modeled in my good, old friend, comes from something else.
Oddly enough, the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments actually commands us to rejoice:
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. (Philippians 3:1 NKJV, written from prison)
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4 NKJV)
Rejoice always. (I Thessalonians 5:16 NKJV)
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. (Psalm 2:11 NKJV)
Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name. (Psalm 97:12 NKJV)
You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you, and your son, and your daughter … And you shall rejoice in your feast … (Deuteronomy 16:11,14 NKJV)
Before I tell you my good, old friend’s secret to finding joy regardless of the state he is in, let’s talk a bit about why we have these commands to rejoice. Rejoicing is more than just feeling good on our insides.
Dennis Prager, in his Rational Bible commentary on Deuteronomy, offers four reasons that happiness is a moral obligation. (See The Rational Bible: Deuteronomy, Pages 407 – 409 by Dennis Prager, copyright 2022).
First, ask a child what it’s like growing up in a family of unhappy people. Maybe you grew up in such a home and were fed a diet of negative energy. It leaves scars and habits that instill unhealthy and even destructive patterns of thinking that are hard to overcome.
Second, happy people make for a better world. Unhappy people want to blame others for their unhappiness. In some cases they want to hurt or destroy the “other” whom they perceive as the cause of their unhappiness. This can even lead to a desire to destroy the culture and society of which they are apart. Revolutionaries are not happy people.
Third, people are more decent to others when they are happy.
Finally, unhappy religious people reflect poorly on God and religion. Prager notes that unhappy religious people make a great argument for atheism.
We’re commanded to rejoice, there are good reasons to rejoice, but we all know that there is no such thing as a “joy button” that we can push and magically start rejoicing. That’s where my good, old friend can help us. He gave me three keys that unlock the door to joy.
Number 1: Accept the facts you can’t change. He has accepted the fact that he can no longer do what he used to do. He sits in his chair most of the time, and he can either fret over it or accept it. Either way, he is where he is.
Number 2: He’s content with his blessings. He can fix his own lunch, live in his own home, and do his own laundry. He has friends and family who pay frequent visits. His mind is sharp, he can enjoy watching football, and listen to good music. And he can still engage his mind with college-level discussions on anything from modern construction methods to psychology.
Number 3: He knows what it is like to do without. By growing up in a hard scrabble condition with next to nothing in the way of material goods, where even necessities are scarce, it is no great feat to be grateful for a roof over your head and three squares a day, and knowing that the fruits of your own labor have been awarded. Too many who grow up with much seem discontented while desiring even more. By living through a period of want, it is easier to be thankful for what we have, especially if we worked for it. If you want joy in life, do something productive.
As my good, old friend related his three rules, I couldn’t help but say, “You are a happy, contented man because you know how to be thankful.” My friend made me see that the gateway to joy is gratitude, and it is a very biblical way to a satisfied, joyful life. Be thankful for what you have rather than envious of what you don’t.
Paul said something like that to the Philippians:
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice! Let your gentleness beknown to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ. (Philippians 4:4-7 NKJV)
Paul links thankfulness with rejoicing. Then he gives the Philippians a homework assignment in verse 8: Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.
If you need to learn to become thankful and thereby become a person who rejoices over what you have, take Paul’s advice to the next level by starting a daily gratitude journal. At the end of each day jot down a list of people, events, experiences, and so forth that you are thankful for, beginning with blessings from that day’s events. Make a commitment to give thanks to whom thanks is due, including thanks to the Almighty Himself. And remember that the gateway to joy is gratitude.
The Precious Gift of Prayer (Sabbath Thoughts)
You can talk with God. And God will listen.
The most powerful Being in this universe, and you have the ability to come before His throne – once, twice, a hundred times a day.
You can ask Him for help. You can tell Him what you’re struggling with.
You can request the mercy and forgiveness made freely available to you through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
You can tell Him about your hopes and dreams. Ask Him questions about the things you’re learning as you study His Word and listen to Him. Share the ten thousand different thoughts you’ve got running through your head.
You can talk to Him on your knees, with your face bowed down to the ground, with your arms raised up toward heaven, or as you walk by the way.
You can share your agonies, your joys, your most troubling questions, your most joyful discoveries, and every mundane and uninteresting thing in between. The God who created the universe allows you – invites you – to come and talk to Him.
What will you do with that invitation today?
How Much Sin Can You Handle? (Sabbath Thoughts)
Zero. The answer is zero. You can handle sin about as effectively as you can handle bullets in your vital organs – that is to say, not at all. Sin destroys. Sin requires a life. Sin devours potential and crushes hope and separates you from God, which means there is no “safe” amount of sin. There is no “safe” amount of a thing whose only function is to rip your life to shreds.
Before the very first murder, what was God’s warning to Cain? “Sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). Sin wants to own you. It wants to fill your heart and flood your life with its destructive effects. There’s a reason Paul warned against giving the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:26) – even the tiniest crack in our armor is more than enough room for our adversary to work with.
With such a powerful enemy so eagerly focused on our destruction, we need a battle plan. Not too long ago, we talked about how removing sin from our lives requires a better plan than simply “not sinning.” The same principle is at work here: a solid defense against our enemy requires so much more than striving “not to give him a foothold.” That’s too vague; too abstract. We need a plan with action steps; with things to do, not just things not to do.
Solomon wrote, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The issues of life begin with the heart. Who you are, your very identity, that begins with the heart. If our defense against Satan is to succeed, then it, too, must begin with the heart.
To “keep” our hearts means to protect them. To defend them. To guard them. The fact that such an action is necessary reminds us that something else – or rather, someone else – is looking for a way in. Jesus warned that “from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:21-23). But where do all these actions start, do you think? Does a heart suddenly overflow with wickedness, or do these things begin as seeds, tiny thoughts and feelings that we allow into our hearts, nurturing and protecting them while they take root and begin to produce the fruit of wickedness? My money’s on the latter. I don’t think anyone wakes up evil one morning – I think that’s the result of a heart in which a lot of evil things were allowed to flourish. Here, then, is the fundamental principle when it comes to not giving the devil a foothold: The things you let into your heart determine the things that come out of your heart.
Movies. Games. Music. Thoughts. Emotions. Friendships. Beliefs. These are the kinds of things that stand at the gate of your heart, demanding to be let in. Your job, every day, every moment, is deciding what gets in and what stays out. What meshes with God’s way of life and what doesn’t. When you’re in the movie theater and you realize the words or the images on screen don’t belong in your heart, there’s a decision to make. When you’re talking with a friend and you realize that relationship is taking you places you don’t want to go, there’s a decision to make. When the things you willingly let into your life don’t pass the Philippians 4:8 test – when they aren’t true or noble or just or pure or lovely or of good report or virtuous or praiseworthy – there are decisions to be made.
When we talked about spiritual vacuums, I had three steps for you. Today, I have only one. I’m sure we could put our heads together and come up with three, or seven, or a dozen, and I’m sure they’d each be good and valid and helpful. But I think this is the key step. I think this is the step that’s most necessary, most urgent, most uncomfortable to do, and most essential to our salvation: Attack.
When the nameless Israelite waltzed into the camp with a Midianite woman on his arm, Phinehas grabbed his spear. Twenty-four thousand of his brethren had died in a plague because of their shameless idolatry and harlotry – twenty-four thousand, can you imagine? – so when this man marched into camp and advertised his clear intention to sin, Phinehas took action. With his spear, he walked up to the Israelite’s tent and skewered the two of them doing exactly what it sounds like they were doing (Numbers 25:1-9).
Be Phinehas. Phinehas knew that the amount of sin the Israelite camp could handle was zero. They were the people of God. Twenty-four thousand corpses littered the camp because of an egregious sin, and here was a madman looking to reintroduce that exact sin while most of the camp was still weeping before the tabernacle. Unacceptable. Not even for a moment. Phinehas took up his spear and did something about it while the rest of Israel chose to stand by and watch.
When sin gathers at the gates of your heart, how do you handle it? Do you try to ignore it? Shoo it away? Let a little slip through the cracks as long as it’s not too much? Or do you follow the example of Phinehas, arm yourself for battle, and then eradicate it? Because that sin, however innocuous it appears, however innocent-looking, carries the seeds of destruction and death and you cannot handle it. This is not a matter of building up a tolerance or developing an immunity. You can’t. It’s impossible. All sin – all shapes, all sizes – can and will destroy you if you give it a home in your heart.
In Deuteronomy, God inspired Moses to record one of the Bible’s most difficult passages. It’s not difficult because it’s hard to understand, but because it’s hard to accept. He told the fledgling nation of Israel:
If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you. (Deuteronomy 13:6-11)
Your sibling. Your child. The spouse of your bosom, your friend who is as your own soul. Without question, these are the closest, most precious relationships any human being can have, and God singles them out to make a point. None of these relationships – not one, no matter how precious or how dear to our heart – none of these relationships are worth the price tag that comes with letting sin into our lives.
If this commandment seems harsh, consider Solomon, the wise king who warned us to guard our hearts. He failed to heed his own advice, and “it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods” (1 Kings 11:4-8).
Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, Molech – these false gods were all pagan deities whose worship included everything from ritual prostitution to child sacrifice. I sincerely doubt that Solomon woke up one morning feeling like child sacrifice was a good idea. The road to that kind of depravity is a long one, littered with compromises and excuses and justifications – until one day the wisest man on earth is building furnaces for his people to burn their infants alive in the name of gods who don’t exist.
Solomon didn’t guard his heart. He tried to handle sin, and instead it handled him. Israel was a people under a unique, nationwide covenant with God, so Deuteronomy 13:6-11 doesn’t translate perfectly into today’s world, but the principle remains: The closer and more intimate our relationship with someone, the more influence and sway that person holds over our hearts. When these people are pursuing a relationship with God, this is a fantastic principle. Iron sharpens iron and we all push ourselves to greater and greater heights. But when these people are pursuing other gods – modern gods of money or self-interest or pleasure – then this principle is dangerous. As the Bible says, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). The people you let into your heart are the people with the power to change your heart.
Who are you letting in? What are you letting in?
You cannot handle sin. Cannot. It lies at the door and waits, and it’s the only foothold Satan needs to step into your life and crush you. Don’t give him the chance. Be Phinehas. Take your spear and annihilate whatever thoughts and actions threaten to stand between you and your God. Give no quarter, take no prisoners. A war is raging, and your heart is the target. Will you keep it?
How do we know that there really was a Jesus? (Morning Companion)
How can we know that Jesus Christ really walked the face of the earth? Most people assumed that he lived. But is there any evidence of his existence other than what we find in the Bible?
The Bible tells us to prove all things. How can you know for a certainty that there really was a Jesus Christ?
Scripture tells us that Jesus’s life did not pass in obscurity – that his deeds were known and garnering much attention even during his lifetime. “Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.” (Luke 23:8)
Paul before Herod and Festus recounted the story of his conversion in Acts 26:24-28:
Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” NKJV
Outside the pages of the Bible, can we prove that around 30AD a man named Jesus, called the Christ, walked the face of the earth?
The Babylonian Talmud is a record of writings and sayings from Jewish scholars, much of which had its origin in oral tradition. We read in the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 43a:
On the Eve of Passover, they hanged Yeshu, and the herald went before him or forty days saying, “[Yeshu] is going forth to be stoned in that he hath practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel. Let everyone knowing aught in his defense come and plead for him.” But they found naught in his defense and hanged him on the eve of Passover.
Note that John 19:14 says that Jesus indeed was crucified on the eve of the Passover.
Following the above comments from the Talmud are remarks of ‘Ulla, a disciple of the Rabbi Yochanan, who lived in Palestine at the end of the third century:
‘Ulla said, “And do you suppose that for [Yeshu of Nazareth] there was any right of appeal? He was a beguiler, and the Merciful One hath said: Thou shalt not spare, neither shall you conceal him. It is otherwise with Yeshu, for he was near to the civil authority.”
What did the Pharisees and Scribes say Jesus was guilty of, that he would be worthy of death? See Mark 3/22, Matthew 9/34, and Matthew 12/24. “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the Prince of demons.”
Note what these passages tell us, and note also that they were written by people who were not allies of Jesus:
1. That Jesus was hanged.
2. That it was on the Eve of the Passover
3. That Jesus lived and died.
4. That he was a “beguiler”, i.e., that he performed miracles, though they ascribed those miracles to Beelzebub instead of the Father.
5. And then an intriguing remark “He was near to the civil authority”, implying that he “got away with” his deception as long as he did because he knew the right people.
Item number 5 is almost a tacit admission that he knew people in high places. We do know that nobleman and wealthy people came to him for healing and advice. In Luke 8:3 we’re told that Joanna, wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household was a follower of Jesus (NIV).
The point here is that Jesus’s own enemies admitted that he lived. and did not deny that he did miracles. First century contemporaries of Jesus and the apostles tried to discredit him through ad hominem attacks rather than than denying what he did.
One example is Rabbi Eliezer, a first century rabbi and contemporary of the apostles. He says the following:
Once I was walking along the upper market of Sepphoris and found one of the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, and Jacob of Kefar Sekanya was his name. He said to me, “It is written in your Law, `Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, etc.’ What was to be done with it: a latrine for the High Priest?” But I answered nothing. He said to me, “So Jesus of Nazareth [or Yeshu ben Pantere] taught me: For the hire of a harlot hath she gathered them, and unto the hire of a harlot shall they return.”
Why did the Rabbis refer to Jesus as “Yeshu ben Pantere”? See John 8:41. “We be not born of fornication.” Jesus’s enemies knew of the unusual circumstances of his birth and accused his mother of bearing him because of fornication. The phrase “Ben Pantere” means “son of Panther [or Pandera].” Rumor had it that Pandera was a Roman soldier who was supposed to have fathered Jesus. John 8:41 records their retort to Jesus. (“We be not born of fornication”).
The Greek word for “virgin” is parthenos, which could easily be corrupted to “Pantere” or “Pandera” to obscure the claim of Jesus being the son of a virgin.
We also have the testimony of Flavius Josephus, a first century historian and general. His two most famous works were Antiquities of the Jews and Wars of the Jews. He writes in Antiquities, Book XX, chap. 9.1:
And now Caesar, upon hearing of the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea as procurator … [The younger] Annanus … took the high priesthood … He was also of the sect of the Sadducees who were very rigid in judging offenders … When therefore Annanus was of this disposition, he thought he now had proper opportunity … So he assembled the Sanhedrin of the judges, and brought before him the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned.
James the brother of Jesus is referred to in Matthew 13:55, 27:56, Galatians 1:19, and James 1:1. In Acts 15:13, he was the presiding officer at a major conference held in Jerusalem.
Again, from Antiquities, Book XVIII, chap. 3.3:
Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man [if it be lawful to call him a man]. For he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. [He was the Messiah]. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him [for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him]. And the tribe of Christians, so named for him, are not extinct at this day.
Note: Some scholars believe that the bracketed phrases in the above passage were added by editors during the Middle Ages.
Even non-Christian Roman chroniclers refer to Jesus, such as the passage below from Tacitus’s Annales, written about 115 AD. Tacitus, no friend of Christianity, was a Roman historian. In this passage he discusses the burning of Rome in the time of Nero. He explains the origin of the name “Christian”:
Nero, in order stifle the rumor [as if he himself had set fire to Rome] ascribed it to those people who were hated for their wicked practices, and called by the vulgar “Christians”: these he punished exquisitely. The author of this name was Chrestus, who, in the reign of Tiberias, was brought to punishment by Pontius Pilate, the Procurator.
Note the salient points:
1. Tacitus wrote in the early 1st century.
2. He was a senator and had access to the official records of the Roman Empire.
3. By referring to the “mischievous superstition” that had at first been suppressed, but then broke out throughout the empire, he brings direct and unconscious testimony that the early Christians taught that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Other ancient writers appealed to official Roman records as proof that Jesus lived. Justin Martyr in 150 AD informs Antonius Pius of the fulfillment of Psalm 22:16:
But the words, “They pierced my hands and feet”, refer to the nails which were fixed in Jesus’ hands and feet on the cross; and after he was crucified, his executioners cast lots for his garments, and divided them up among themselves. That these things happened you may learn from the “Acts” which were recorded under Pontius Pilate” “That he performed these miracles you may easily satisfy yourself from the “Acts” of Pontius Pilate.
Justin asks the emperor to check up on him by reference to official records of the Roman Empire. Elsewhere, Justin appeals to census records to prove that Jesus really did live.
Says Joseph Klausner, professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and author of Jesus of Nazareth: His Life Teachings, and Times, says of the non-Christian historical evidence of Jesus:
If we possessed them alone, we would know nothing except that in Judea there had existed a Jew named Jesus who was called the Christ, the “Anointed”; that he performed miracles and taught the people; that he was killed by Pontius Pilate at the instigation of the Jews; that he had a brother named James, who was put to death by the High Priest Annas, the son of Annas; that owing to Jesus there arose a special sect known as Christians; that a community belonging to the sect existed in Rome fifty years after the birth of Jesus, and that because of this community the Jews were expelled from Rome; and finally, that from the time of Nero the sect greatly increased, regarding Jesus as virtually divine, and underwent severe persecution.
The ancient testimony that there really was a man named Jesus who walked this earth when the New Testament says he did. Was he merely a man? Was he what he and his disciples claimed him to be? Consider the words of C.S. Lewis: in Mere Christianity, Collier Books, pp 55-56:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He does not leave that open to us. He did not intend to. (From Mere Christianity, Collier Books, pp 55-56:)
When Messiah Comes (Think Red Ink Ministries)
How great it will be when Messiah comes and He explains everything that has been mysterious and contentious for thousands of years. The Samaritan “woman at the well” mentioned clarifications of doctrine that she expected will come “when we see Him.”
I would like you to listen carefully to Messiah’s answer. “Well, sister, you’ll hear the answers from your Samaritan leadership … maybe a big-shot Rabbi … or perhaps your God will send a book with all the answers!”
As you know, He said nothing of the sort. Concisely, what He said was, “No need to wait, I’m telling you now.” She would retort, “What about Messiah?”
Then Jesus drops the bomb. “I am He!”
What I would like to zero in on is that His self description contained an adjective phrase that we should never forget.
John 4:25 “The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.”
YHVH’s purpose has always been to communicate with us. From the days of walking with Adam in the cool of the day, to the giving of the Law at the first Pentecost, to speaking through His waiting ones at the Pentecost following the resurrection, to this day. He wants to speak to us.
So what was the descriptive used by Jesus to identify Himself?
“I that speak unto thee am he.”
Later on, to the chagrin of the religious leadership, Jesus healed a blind man. A man blind from birth. After the interrogations, allegations, and threats to the man and his family from the Synagogue leaders – the man was left alone. Jesus found him.
John 9:35, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.”
And in keeping with His method of identification as Messiah – Son of God – Annointed One, Jesus said to him … “It is He … that talketh with thee.”
Our Messiah, our Passover, our counselor, has a characteristic that separates Him from any other god.
I Timothy 2:25 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Jesus identified His unique position with YHVH through His communication – with us.
This is precisely why He is known as “The Word of God”.
Exactly who is Messiah? “It is He … that talketh with thee.”
Dangerous Beatitudes (Morning Companion)
What would you give to have a neighbor who lives a life of meekness and mercy, humility and honor? What if he is a justice-seeking warrior for peace, pure in heart, and poor in spirit? What if he stands boldly for doing what is right and does it with a humble servant’s heart? This sounds like someone I would love to have living next door to me.
Jesus begins his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, telling us to be that kind of neighbor (Matthew 5:1-10)
He says we are to be poor in spirit.
To mourn with those who mourn.
He says to be meek.
To hunger and thirst for righteousness.
To be humble, pure of heart, and a peacemaker.
Then he seasons this with something that seems so out of context for those who live such admirable lives:
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
Is Jesus saying that living a godly life in this world is downright dangerous? Try living such a life and see what happens.
Try humility in a world based on pride.
Try meekness in a system that rewards arrogance.
Try being a peacemaker when conflict is the currency of modern politics.
Try proclaiming righteousness in a society that celebrates deviancy.
Try being pure of heart in a culture bent on the narcissistic.
When Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world, when he told his disciples to count the cost of discipleship, when he counsels that following him means taking up a cross, when he said these things, he meant every single word of it.
Commit to a life as taught by the Savior, and prepare for a life of challenges.
Hiraeth for the Kingdom (Sabbath Thoughts)
One of my favorite things about foreign languages are the words that don’t translate well. A crêpe, for instance, is not what most Americans call a pancake. It’s similar, for sure, but not the same. If a flapjack house gave you a plate full of crêpes, you’d notice the difference – and there’s a reason you never hear anyone raving about Pancake Suzette. They’re different words, each with their own distinct meanings and subtleties.
“Hiraeth” is another one of those untranslatable words, this time from the Welsh. It’s a concept that doesn’t exist in the English language, at least not within a single word. The closest we have is “homesickness,” but hiraeth isn’t homesickness – not any more than a crêpe is a flapjack. In The Paris Review, Pamela Petro describes it as the “difference between hardwood and laminate. Homesickness is hiraeth-lite.”
The long and storied culture of the Welsh made a word like hiraeth inevitable. In 1282, the burgeoning English empire conquered a people known as the Cymry, acquiring its very first colony and stripping away Cymry independence. Even the given name of “Wales” was a reminder of subjugation – roughly translated, it means “Place of the Others.” The Cymry, now called “the Welsh,” were to be outsiders, foreigners in their own country. There could be no returning to the country of the Cymry. They could return to their houses, but their country, their identity, was gone. All they had left was the hope that the heroes of their past would one day return and restore their country to what it once was.
Petro goes on to say: Hiraeth is a protest. If it must be called homesickness, it’s a sickness come on – in Welsh ailments come onto you, as if hopping aboard ship – because home isn’t the place it should have been. It’s an unattainable longing for a place, a person, a figure, even a national history that may never have actually existed. To feel hiraeth is to feel a deep incompleteness and recognize it as familiar.
What a word.
We’re fond of calling Hebrews 11 the faith chapter, and rightly so. But I think it’s something else, too – something we’ve never quite had the word for. It’s filled with stories of faithful men and women who accomplished impossible things in impossible ways, who willingly sacrificed their lives when it came time to lay them down. Why? For what purpose?
The verses tell us, over and over. Abraham dwelt in his tents as a stranger, “for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Moses gave up a life of royalty, “esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:26). Others “were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented” (Hebrews 11:35-37). Why? Why?
Because of faith, yes, but faith in what? Where were they looking?
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.(Hebrews 11:13-16)
Hebrews 11 is the hiraeth chapter. It always has been. Faith is one thing; faith that gives you the courage to suffer and die is something else entirely. I have faith that when I go to the ATM, I can withdraw money from my bank account – but I have no desire to die because of that faith. The stories of Hebrews 11 are stories of hiraeth – stories of men and women who saw their homeland, clear as day, more real than the world around them. They saw the Kingdom. Can you?
If there was ever a man with a good reason to lose sight of the Kingdom, it was Paul. Paul, who stood at the receiving end of a laundry list of injustices and abuses. Paul, who tells us he was “in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).
Three shipwrecks. Three shipwrecks is about two shipwrecks past the point where most people start getting uncomfortable with the idea of boats. But not Paul. Paul had the faith to see the Kingdom and the hiraeth to remind him how desperately he longed to be there. His gaze was fixed on it. He could see it. He could see it while he was floating hopelessly on the sea. He could see it while his own countrymen pummeled him with rods and whips and stones. He could see it when he was hungry, when he was exhausted, when he was cold and naked and abandoned.
Years later, writing to the Philippians, Paul said, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Philippians 4:11-12, English Standard Version).
What a strange concept. A secret to dealing not only with adversity, but with abundance as well – and Paul had learned it. He shares that secret in the very next verse: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
That’s great. That’s extremely encouraging. But the question we need to be asking of this verse is “Why?” Why did Paul even want to be doing all things through Christ who strengthened him? Why didn’t Paul look back on his life and say, “you know what, three shipwrecks are three shipwrecks too many; I’m done doing all things. Let someone else worry about them”?
Hiraeth, that’s why.
Paul saw it. Every day, he saw the Kingdom. Every day, he knew it was where he was headed and he knew it was where he wanted to be. The secret to dealing with abundance and adversity is understanding that both those conditions can distract a Christian from what really matters. How can we seek the Kingdom when we’re struggling to feed our family? And how can we care about the Kingdom when we already have every material thing we could possibly need? The answer to both questions is the same: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Can you see it?
It’s not about “solving” or “fixing” adversity and abundance. It’s about accepting strength from Christ to look past both those trees and start paying attention to the forest. It’s about fixing our eyes on the one thing that truly matters and then pushing toward it with all of our might and with all of God’s might. Can you see it?
Earlier in Philippians – an epistle Paul most likely authored under house arrest – he explained, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain … For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (Philippians 1:21,23). There wasn’t a doubt in his mind – he was here on earth to do a job, to serve God and His people, but Paul’s ultimate desire was to “depart and be with Christ.”
Paul knew that, after his death, his next conscious moment would be with his Lord and Savior. The God he so zealously served would raise him from the dead, transformed in a way that defies imagination, and he would be home. Can you see it?
For Paul, that moment is still coming, just as it’s still coming for all of God’s faithful servants, “God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us” (Hebrews 11:40).
Brethren, can you see it?
In Paul’s very last epistle, written shortly before his execution, Paul left Timothy (and all of us) with these words:
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8) These are not the words of a man unsure of his destiny or struggling to come to terms with death. These are the words of a man of faith and zeal and hiraeth. At the moment he penned those words, Paul was the closest he had ever been to the Kingdom of God. All the beatings, the shipwrecks, the scourgings, the persecutions – every loss he suffered, he chose to “count as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). He knew where he was going and he knew what mattered – and it certainly wasn’t the rubbish all around him.
Paul saw his homeland, and he longed for it. Do you?
The Time That Matters (Sabbath Thoughts)
Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, and it turns out that that Bible gives short shrift to most of those years. It’s not immediately obvious until you pay close attention to the timestamps scattered throughout the Pentateuch, but 38 of those years happen between chapters 15 and 36 of the book of Numbers.
That’s a blip. Israel’s journey from Egypt to Canaan spans the books of Exodus all the way to Deuteronomy – and 38 years of that journey are crammed into 22 chapters. Why? Because those years, for the most part, don’t matter.
Those were the years of punishment. Israel lost their nerve in Numbers 14 – they rejected God, they rebelled against His commands, and they were sentenced to spend a total of 40 years wandering in the empty space between what they’d left behind and where they were going. An entire generation needed to die off before God would allow Israel a second opportunity to claim their inheritance.
Those years happened. That generation died. God doesn’t tell us much about what happened during that time. From what we can tell, most of those years weren’t time that mattered.
By contrast, Israel only spent about 11 months camped out in front of Mount Sinai. Those 11 months are recorded beginning in Exodus 19… and they continue on all the way into Numbers 10. That’s 59 chapters – over one and a half books of the Bible – dedicated to the events of 11 months.
What do we get in those 59 chapters? We get the Ten Commandments. We get the layout and the function of the tabernacle. We get insight into sacrifices and priestly duties and dozens upon dozens of statutes, precepts, and commandments detailing what it means to live a Godly way of life.
Time that matters. Time that doesn’t.
The 38 years those Israelites spent waiting to die weren’t actually shorter than the months they spent at Sinai – but they weren’t worth detailing in the same way.
The contrast is even sharper when you step back and look at the whole Pentateuch. The first five books of the Bible cover more than 2,500 years of human history. They take us from the dawn of creation all the way up to the border of the Promised Land – and God used one of those books (plus significant portions of two others) to tell us about what happened during a span of time measured in months. Then He gave us the book of Deuteronomy – essentially a highlight reel covering much of that same short timeframe.
Two and a half millennia stretching across 5 books, and around half of that text is focused on the 11 months Israel spent at Sinai. I think it’s safe to say that God places a special emphasis on those 11 months. I think it’s safe to say those might be 11 of the most important months in all of human history. I think it’s safe to say there’s a lesson for us in that.
A second is a second. An hour is an hour. A year is a year. There’s nothing inherently special about the passage of time itself. What makes a second or an hour or a year special is what we do with it.
Given the choice, are we more likely to spend our time wandering in the empty spaces of life, or seated before the mountain of God, waiting to hear what He has to say?
One is easy to do. One is hard. One matters. One doesn’t.
We won’t always get it right, but we always have the opportunity to get it right. That wasn’t true for the Israelites, but it is for us. No matter how long we’ve spent wandering, we always have the ability to come back, pitch our tent, and listen. God had a destination in mind for Israel, but they chose the long and painful route. If we trust Him, God will take use where we need to go, when we need to go there.
The time that matters is the time we spend following His lead.
The Five Most Important People in Your Life (Morning Companion)
Somebody once posited that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
If we hang around grumpy people, we tend to become grumpy.
If we hang around worriers, we tend to be filled with worry.
If we hang around successful people, we become more successful.
If we hang around happy, positive people, we become happier and more positive.
And so on.
There is a large kernel of truth in that observation, and it speaks to choosing your friends and associates wisely. Some interesting observations from the Book of Proverbs and elsewhere:
Proverbs 12:26 One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Proverbs 14:6-7 Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
Proverbs 22:24-25 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
Some practical advice:
* If you are in a toxic work environment, start looking for employment elsewhere. Not every workplace is a sweatshop.
* If your friends and acquaintances are the type who focus on the cloud when there is a silver lining, find some new friends and acquaintances.
* If your church focuses on the negative instead of the Good News, question whether or not they really understand the gospel. If they don’t understand the virtues of joy and grace, find a church that does.
* If the people you hang with or work with are satisfied with “good enough”, reject the settling for mediocrity and find associates who are dedicated to excellence.
* If people in your life are gaslighting you (look it up), get them out of your life immediately.
* If people gossip to you, they will also gossip about you. Keep your distance.
* Find five people who have interests and values you admire. Make these people a part of your life.
Personally, I find spending time in the Gospels to be a good adjunct to surrounding yourself with the people you want to be the most like. Jesus did say, did he not, that he considered his disciples to be his friends (John 15:15), and if so, then why not us?
The four Gospels show us how he influenced others, how he stood for the weak, and how he lived a life of compassion. They reveal a man of character and strength, intelligence and humor, service and self-sacrifice. Who wouldn’t want to become like that?
So pick your five friends carefully – but also remember that Sixth One.
“Are you going to believe me or your own eyes?” (Morning Companion)
After a major political event I am more fascinated by the journalistic commentary that follows it than the event itself. I’m interested in other people’s take on what happened, even though it might remind me of Chico Marx’s line at the head of this column.
Jesus had the same type of press. He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the multitudes, and taught a new and living way. If that’s all he ever did, it’s doubtful that the religious elite of the day would have tried to destroy him. But Jesus had a little problem. His teachings did not fit in the little box of religion that his contemporaries had constructed for their concept of God. He preached unique ideas that threatened the current power structure. That was a threat they could not let stand.
Jesus once healed a blind man, who then came to the conclusion that “if this man were not of God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:33) The religious leaders’ retort? “You were altogether born in sin, and do you teach us?” (verse 34) Are you going to believe us or your own eyes?
Another time the Pharisees and chief priests sent a contingent of temple guards to arrest Jesus, but his teaching was so compelling that the guards refused their orders. “Never has a man spoken like this,” they told the Pharisees, who retorted, “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed on him? These people who are ignorant of the law are cursed.” (John 7:46-49)
These religious elites clearly held a high view of themselves and a condescending view of the unwashed masses. When they said, “These people who are ignorant of the law are cursed”, they sound suspiciously like certain elements of our own culture.
It’s good to seek out others’ opinions and to listen to their learned commentary, but no one has a right to tell you how to think or to call you names if you happen to disagree. There is a lot of that going on these days.
“Service Engine Soon” (Sabbath Thoughts)
My “SERVICE ENGINE SOON” light came on today.
I hate that light. It is probably the most evil light in the world. That one light can mean everything from “Your fuel cap isn’t on tight enough” to “In less than two hours, your entire car is primed to explode,” and I have no way to know which. Not that it will stop me from trying. I already know that, sometime before I bring it to a mechanic (and probably while my wife is watching), I will open up the hood of my car and stare thoughtfully at the collection of unintelligible parts in front of me. My brow will likely be furrowed.
“The anti-carbonation injector is jammed,” I will say emphatically. “Maybe.” And then I will take it to someone who knows what they are doing, because I know in my heart that if I tried to tamper with any of those rubber hoses, my car would shoot transmission fluid out its exhaust pipe the next time I honked the horn.
After the mechanic has examined my car and explained the problem to me in a language I don’t understand, he will tell me that the part he needs to fix my problem is only manufactured in a war-torn country located in the Baltics, and that I will have to personally provide the airfare for the five secret agents who will be risking their lives to smuggle it into the United States. I will do this because I desperately want my transmission fluid to remain doing whatever it does in the transmission. Transmissioning, I guess.
Making the problem worse … It’s not that I’m stupid. I regularly change my own oil, and I’ve even (with help) swapped out a radiator and an alternator on separate occasions. I just don’t have the working knowledge of a car’s innards like a mechanic does – and even if I did, I likely wouldn’t have the tools required to get the job done right. If there’s a problem that takes much more than duct tape, WD-40 or Google to fix, I’m going to be seeking out a professional – someone with the knowledge and the resources to ensure the job gets done the way it needs to be done.
And yet, I’m amazed at how often I and others take the opposite approach when it comes to life’s problems. When the “SERVICE ENGINE SOON” light comes on in our own lives and we realize something’s wrong, our first reaction can be to confidently pop open the hood and start ripping out and replacing parts we know nothing about. Almost inevitably, those “improvements” tend to backfire in undesirable ways and make the matter worse – all because we tried fixing the problem before we were even sure what that problem was. There’s a better way.
The Master Mechanic designed your every working part; He has an intimate and perfect understanding of every little thing that has, will, or could possibly happen in your life and how it can affect you. Before you go trying to rebuild your entire engine based on your best guesses, why not consult your Creator? This is the same God who designed the complex interactions of the universe on an subatomic level and set the planets revolving around their respective suns; it’s safe to assume He can also show you the reason for your “SERVICE ENGINE SOON” light.
The book of Judges tells some of the early history of Israel, and its author was twice inspired to write, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). In the absence of any God-fearing leadership (or any leadership at all!), the nation of Israel had reverted to doing its own thing. Because the people on their own were not inclined to seek after God, Israel plunged itself again and again into a state of chaos and disrepair – and despite several instances of returning to seeking God, they would still choose to settle back into their approach of everyone doing “what was right in his own eyes.”
Read through the book of Judges and you’ll see a historical account of what this approach to life produces – more than anything, you’ll find a lack of order, safety, consistency and a degraded quality of life. That’s the same thing that happens when we try to fix ourselves without God’s help. When we ignore God’s infinite wisdom and act on our own ideas of right and wrong, we will find ourselves living a life filled with confusion and worries, falling consistently short of its potential.
Consult the owner’s manual
Inside your car’s glove box, probably buried under napkins and old receipts, is a thick little manual that explains how to take care of your car. It explains everything from how to turn it on to exactly how many pounds per square inch of air your tires need to be properly inflated, but there’s no way it can get that information to you if you don’t first open it up and read it.
Our owner’s manual, the Bible, was inspired by our Master Mechanic. We talk to God through prayer, and the Bible is one way He talks to us. It doesn’t make sense to call up a mechanic, tell him your car has a problem, and then hang up before he can answer – and it makes just as little sense to ask God for His help and then not read what He has to tell you in the pages of the Bible. If you want to know how to live your life to its maximum potential, read the manual. The Author knew what He was doing when He inspired it to be written. There is a part that looks right to a man…
This is a lesson I learned the hard way. When my brother-in-law and I tried to replace my car’s alternator, I went to O’Reily’s Auto Parts, I told them my car’s make, model and year, I bought the replacement part, we opened up the hood, and found … that it didn’t fit. Which was awesome.
Long story short, we found out my car changed its models mid-year, which meant the alternator I had was designed to fit in the car one model year behind mine. It looked just like the part we’d taken out, it performed the same function as the part we’d taken out, but it just didn’t fit right, no matter how many times we tried to muscle it on there. It didn’t matter that it was only one model year away from what we needed – it could have been one hundred years away and been just as useless. If you don’t have the right part, you can’t do the right job.
The Bible tells us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). After we’ve gone to God and studied His Word for an answer to our difficulty, we can sometimes trick ourselves into thinking we’ve found a replacement part that works just as well as what God prescribed. Sometimes, like in my story, we might honestly believe we’re putting the correct part in place, only to meet with frustration and wasted effort. There are parts that look right to us, but unless we’re absolutely sure that they’re the ones God told us to use, they can only end in headache.
In our physical, day-to-day lives, we take our cars to mechanics when the problem is beyond us because they have the knowledge and the ability to fix what’s broken. In our spiritual lives, we can – and must – take our problems to our Father, since He is the only one in the universe with the understanding and capacity to repair us. With Him, we have the added benefit of a Mechanic who never makes mistakes and who can perfectly diagnose and help us to correct the problem. The “SERVICE ENGINE SOON” light in your life need not be a mystery. As Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar, “there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets” (Daniel 2:28), and there is no doubt that He can do just that in our own lives. Ultimately, how you approach a problem in your life is your decision, but there are smart decisions and there are stupid decisions. Trying to do it your own way is undoubtedly a stupid decision.
As for me and my house, we will have our cars serviced by the Lord.
Who Is Your Canada? (New Church Lady)
Mary Ann Shadd Cary, born in 1823, was a writer, an educator, a lawyer, an abolitionist and the first black woman in North America to edit and publish a newspaper. Her obituary was published in the NY Times in June 2018 in a special series called Overlooked.
“In 1850, when the US Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act – which compelled Americans to assist in the capture of runaway slaves, and levied heavy penalties on those who did not comply – Shadd Cary and some other members of her family left the United States for Canada.
From there, she published several pieces that “advertised Canada as a safe haven for former slaves.”
During the Vietnam War, many American men, seeking to evade the draft fled to Canada – perhaps up to 40,000, according to some estimates. Among them was Eric Naglar:
“In Canada the worst that we had was the French-English problem …” he said.
“Why would I want to live there? This is a much, much better place to be.”
An article written by Robin Levinson King, “A Brief History of Americans Moving to Canada,” recounts this phenomenon going all the way back to the time when “About 100,000 colonists loyal to the king fled the thirteen colonies either during or just after the Revolutionary War”.
In the fictional book “The Handmaid’s Tale” written by Margaret Atwood, those seeking freedom from an oppressive regime, that has taken over the former USA, flee to Canada.
Who is your Canada? To where do you flee when you need to escape oppression? When you are afraid? When you need to be free?
The Psalms repeatedly point us to our place of refuge from any trouble, fear or trial.
Psalm 143:9 [NIV] Rescue me from my enemies, LORD, for I hide myself in you. The King James says I flee unto Thee to hide me.
Psalm 32:7 [NIV] You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 27:5 [ESV] For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
Psalm 64:2 [ESV] Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers.
Hopefully, all of you already view God as your place of refuge to hide from the storms of life and have developed the habit of fleeing to Him in prayer and study.
In addition to finding refuge in God’s presence, your place of worship should be a refuge – a place where you are safe from the struggles and drama of day-to-day living, free from tyranny and oppression and where you are welcomed, as Canada has welcomed US Citizens for centuries. You should look forward to going there and fellowshipping with other refugees from Satan’s world.
Loud World and a Quiet Voice (Sabbath Thoughts)
The world is so loud. All it takes is the push of a button for noise to come crashing in like an unrelenting waterfall. My car has a button that funnels popular music and obnoxious advertisements through my speakers. My remote control has a button than transforms my television from a sedentary black square into a theater filled with perpetually changing sounds and scenes. My laptop has a button that connects it to every opinion, production, and scrap of knowledge possessed by mankind.
That’s insane. There is a time within living memory when carrier pigeons were a viable means of communication; today a handful of devices found in most American homes are capable of sending messages across the world in less time than it takes to address an envelope. My toaster cannot yet access the Internet, but it is only a matter of time. Every day technology makes mind-boggling leaps and bounds into areas previously considered impossible – and every day, it grows increasingly intertwined with our lives.
I’m reminded somewhat of Elijah’s encounter with God, when God called him to “‘stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave” (1 Kings 19:11-13).
It was all so much noise, so much spectacle, so much distraction. What Elijah really needed to focus on was not the sight of the fire, or the sounds of the wind, or the rumblings of the earthquake. What God called him to that mountain to hear was instead a still small voice. God’s still small voice.
Elijah had winds and fires and earthquakes; we have Facebook and Primetime TV. These things aren’t wrong in and of themselves. They’re not inherently evil, but, like the things Elijah saw from atop the mountain, the Lord is not in them. When our time is filled mostly with the distractions – the parts of life that don’t contain God or Godly things – then we’ll start to notice that we’re hearing less and less of that still small voice. It’s not God getting quieter; it’s us getting louder.
Our Creator will not shout above the world in order to be heard. He wants to speak with us, but the words He wants us to hear are ones that will only do us good when we are willing to hear them. If the noise you let in is too chaotic to hear your own thoughts, how can you expect to hear God? To focus on the still small voice of the Lord, we must first quiet ourselves and shut out the noise of the world.
There exists within every human being a kind of vacuum. It isn’t comfortable. If anything, it’s unsettling – part of our very being, empty and crying out to be filled. The natural inclination is to fill it, and the myriad of stuff in the world seems like such a perfect fit. Even as converted, baptized Christians, it can be hard to resist filling that vacuum with the distractions around us – but, somewhere around our third time breaking our own video game high score, we become aware of the nagging realization that all these distractions aren’t filling anything. They only convince us to look the other way while the real problem worsens.
That vacuum within the inner parts of our being was designed to be, can only be, filled by God. Nothing the world has to offer, no matter how flashy, no matter how impressive, no matter how advanced, can fill that void. It’s God and God alone. If you want to try and fill it with other things, He won’t stop you from drowning out His still small voice while you seek out your own solution, but the end result will be the same. Until you tell the world you have more important things to do and begin to diligently seek after what that still small voice has to say, your vacuum will only tug at your consciousness harder and harder.
The world is so loud … but that doesn’t mean we’re obligated to listen to it. There are better things to give our attention to – and those things begin and end with God.
No Weapon Forged Against Us (New Church Lady)
Often, in the midst of trial, we can be comforted by Isaiah 54:17 [KJV], which says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue [that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This [is] the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness [is] of me, saith the LORD.”
Often, in prayer for someone struggling with a serious trial or temptation, we remind God of His promise that “no weapon formed against us will prosper.”
But, what does it mean that no weapon formed against us will prosper? What exactly is God guaranteeing in Isaiah 54:17? “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper”
The NIV puts it this way, “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.
The ESV says, “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”
Does this mean that God won’t let Satan send us trials? No. We see, for example, that God specifically gave Satan permission to cause Job to suffer a very severe trial.
Does it mean that God won’t let us be killed? No. Most of the apostles were martyred. I have personally witnessed many of God’s saints die from cancer – some of them leaving behind young children. I’ve known of faithful servants of God who lost a child to crib death or a mate in a car accident.
Does it mean that God won’t let us lose a job for obediently keeping His Sabbath or Holy Days? No. That happens even in countries like the USA, where the right to worship as we choose without persecution is supposed to be guaranteed.
Doesn’t it seem that, in these cases, the weapons formed against us have, in fact, actually prospered?
Satan’s weapons are powerful. They can hurt “like the devil” – wreck our lives, wreck our finances, wreck our health, rob us of sleep, rob us of loved ones, etc.
But make no mistake about it, the weapons Satan forges against us cannot prosper or prevail as long as we never let go of God. As long as the weapons forged against us do not loosen our grip on the promises of the Kingdom, these weapons do not prevail.
Further, Satan’s weapons cannot prosper because of what we read in Romans 8:35-39 [NIV] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As long as we cannot be separated from the love of God, nothing Satan throws at us, no weapon he forges against, can ultimately prosper. Though it kill us, that weapon will not prosper or succeed in its purpose.
You see, the weapons Satan forges against us are not primarily focused on making our lives miserable on this earth. Ruining a mere potential of “3 score and 10 years” of a believer’s life isn’t what Satan cares about. He is far more interested in destroying our eternity. And he fails every time a believer makes it through the trial without giving up his/her faith in God, focus on the Kingdom and commitment to obedience in spite of it all.
Every time a fellow servant dies in the faith, Satan’s weapon has failed. Every time a child of God shows love in response to hate or sows peace with one who intended war, Satan’s weapon has failed.
Every time a Christian puts God before job or country, Satan’s weapon has failed.
Every time, in the midst of great loss, a believer hangs on to faith, Satan’s weapon has failed.
Every time a sinner goes humbly before the Just Judge, admitting fault and begging forgiveness, and comes away washed clean by the precious blood of Jesus, Satan’s weapon has failed.
Because, as we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:19 [NIV], If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied, neither should we be focused on what Satan’s weapons may do to our bodies, minds, families, stature in the community or finances in these 70ish years of human life. We too should be focused on our hope in the next life.
With Jesus Christ on our side, the Holy Spirit in us, and our eyes firmly focused on the Kingdom of God, Satan’s weapons cannot succeed in their mission to destroy our eternal futures.
To wrap this up, I want to remind you of Romans 8:31 [NIV] What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? God is for us, sweet sisters. Satan forges many damaging weapons. The weapons of Satan do hurt and destroy, in this life. They can claim a few battles won. But they cannot prevail.
That is a promised forged in the Father’s own love for us and sealed with the precious blood of Jesus.
Warrior Builders (Sabbath Thoughts)
For seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar’s raids, the city of Jerusalem lay desolate. Its walls were toppled and burned, and the once awesome temple of God had been razed to the ground. Streets which had once been overrun with noise and clamor were as silent as the grave, and any houses that remained upright stood silently collecting the dust of seven decades. Centuries of God’s people rejecting His way and His protection had finally wrought the city’s destruction – those who hadn’t been slain in the battles were living as captives in a foreign land. Jerusalem was empty.
Empty, but not deserted. The God whose “eyes… run to and fro throughout the whole earth” (2 Chronicles 16:9) had never stopped watching over the city of His people – and even in the quietude of desolation, He was arranging events to bring His people back. At the end of the time frame established by God and at the command of a king whose name had long ago been prophesied (Jeremiah 25:12; Isaiah 44:28), a decree was made:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:2-4)
After seventy years of captivity, the Jews were free to go home to their country, and even King Cyrus had been divinely inspired (Ezra 1:1) to know the reason why: it was time to build.
Your purpose on earth
Let me ask a question. Why are you here?
It’s not a new question. The human race has been looking for an answer ever since it left the garden of Eden, and in that time we’ve managed to invent a staggering number of solutions … some mildly more coherent than others. But if you’ve been in the Church for any length of time, you know the real answer: we’re here because God is building a family, and because He wants us to be part of it.
But why are you here, specifically? If becoming part of God’s family is the ultimate goal, what’s the reason for this stint on earth as a human being? Why this life? Why this existence? Why are you here?
We talk sometimes about fighting the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12), about putting on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11), and about standing “against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10). These are all important things, and they are things a Christian can and must be doing. But are they the reasons we’re here? Did God put us on this earth just to fight against Satan and his demons?
A lesson from the exiles
The Jews in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah had the need to take up arms as well. Returning from captivity, they faced opposition from antagonists who wanted nothing more than to stop the reconstruction of God’s temple. When mountains of red tape and intimidation tactics ultimately failed, these adversaries resorted to a plan of outright bloodshed. They decided to attack and kill the Jews, reasoning that “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease” (Nehemiah 4:11).
Except God’s people caught wind of it. They took up swords, spears, and bows and stood watch wherever the wall was weak or unbuilt, and Nehemiah spurred the people on:
“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. (Nehemiah 4:14-18)
The Jews had not returned from captivity to fight. Circumstances, however, forced them to adapt, building with one hand and ready to fight with the other. Under Nehemiah’s guidance and God’s blessing, these former captives became a force to be reckoned with – they became warrior builders, prepared to do battle with anyone seeking to destroy what God had called them to build.
Warrior builders
Does any of this sound familiar? A chosen people, called out of captivity to build the temple of God under oppression from relentless adversaries. If you’re noticing a common thread, there’s a reason. One of the vital lessons of the books of Nehemiah and Ezra is why God’s people were there – and one of the vital truths we need to understand today is why we are here.
God did not put us on this earth just to pit us against Satan.
That’s not to say we don’t need to fight Satan. Like the adversaries of Nehemiah and Ezra, the devil and his demons are seeking to derail the work God is doing. Taking up the armor of God and fighting the good fight is an absolute necessity, but it’s not the main reason we’re here.
The people under Nehemiah were not warriors who had taken up remodeling as a hobby. They were builders who had taken up arms in order to protect what they had been divinely commanded to build. We likewise are not given the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) in order wage a one-man crusade against Satan. We take up the whole armor of God so that we can have the strength to “stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:13), but nowhere are we told to go pick a fight with him. No, we’re here for a much greater reason.
The greatest temple
God’s temple had several iterations throughout Israel’s history. King Solomon was the first to build it – a glorious house ornamented with precious metals, colorful threads, and beautiful woodwork. That temple was ultimately destroyed in the raids that desolated Jerusalem and placed her inhabitants into captivity. After seventy years, the temple was rebuilt and defended under leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah … but it, too, was destroyed after God’s people again fell into a pattern of rejecting Him.
But there’s another temple being built. Unlike the previous versions, this temple cannot be built with human hands or with human tools. Paul writes about it, asking, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, emphasis added). This new temple is God’s Church. Peter writes about us as “living stones”, who “are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ … a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:5, 9-10). We’re a work in progress. There’s still a great deal of building to be done, but that’s okay, because that’s why we’re here.
We just looked at Paul’s declaration that God’s temple is now composed of His people, but let’s back up just a few verses and get the context. Paul wrote:
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:13-16)
God has given us a set of plans for the greatest temple of them all – His Church. His family. You are here to help build it.
The Past: Learning From It, Without Living In It (Sabbath Meditations)
We may know of someone for whom past experience has soured current aspects of their life. It may be the person who, because of one or several failed romantic relationship, has exiled themselves to a life of loneliness, refusing to risk further emotional trauma. Or it might be the individual who, having been raised in an abusive childhood, determines to never bring children of their own into such a potentially painful world. Or perhaps it’s the Christian, having been soured by experience with “organized” religion, who washes their hands of it altogether, packs up their Bible and Concordance and proceeds to “go it alone” on their own little spiritual island.
Whatever the hurts and injustices we’ve suffered or witnessed in the past, living in it rather than using it as a tutor to guide ourselves or others to a more successful future, makes us its victim.
I believe that we as Christians, perhaps more than most, have a tendency to fall into this trap. We as a group have very sensitive noses for justice. We are keenly aware of right and wrong and we have a definite desire to see righteousness prevail and evil punished. Although a desirable quality in most cases, this sensitivity has the potential to work against us. In a world where the evil too often emerge victorious and injustices are a daily occurrence, our spirits can easily become embittered, cynical and negative. Allowed to linger, this fixation on the injustices of the world can ultimately serve to rob us of our joy and inhibit our growth forward. We become victims of the past rather than its students.
In Philippians 3:12, through the example of Paul, we are admonished to forget those things which are behind and reach forward to those things which are ahead.
In Matthew 10:16 Jesus tells us “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
Taken together, these passages encourage us to not let the past cripple us but rather to gain wisdom from the injustices we or others have witnessed or experienced, and use that wisdom to move forward in a positive, productive direction.
God wants us to look ahead to Him as the Author and Finisher of our Faith and toward what He has in store for us. We can’t do that if we are constantly obsessed by what’s back over our shoulder. Yes, it’s true. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. We shouldn’t ignore the past. Let’s learn from it, gain wisdom because of it, but not be victimized by it. It’s okay to visit there once in a while, but it’s definitely not a healthy place to live.
Burning the Scriptures We Don’t Like (Morning Companion)
There are times when I would love to take out my pocket knife and slice away the part of Scripture that I don’t like.
Who wants to be told that it’s not “all about me”, and that we need to be concerned about the needs of others? (Philippians 2:3)
Who wants to be told that hard work is better than laziness, and there are consequences to the habit of idleness? (Proverbs 6:6-11)
Who wants to be told that my body is not mine “to do with as I please as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody,” and that I am not really the arbiter of what is right and what is wrong? (I Corinthians 6:19)
Jeremiah’s book recounts a story of a king who, when confronted with some uncomfortable – nay, condemning – words from God, pulled out his pocket knife and began slicing away pieces of the text from which the scribe was reading and, to the horror of those around him, depositing such pieces into the blazing fireplace.
God was not amused, and he ordered Jeremiah to recreate the burned up text and add curses to it. It did not turn out well for that king or his nation when he rejected wholesale the message of the prophet.
We know that some people do like to burn books, and we rightly frown on this extreme form of censorship. But if we accept the Scripture as God’s Word, why would we decide which part is to be condemned to the flames and which part to keep? Do we base that decision on what feels good at the time?
In many ways we are no different than any other people at any time in history. We want to hear what we want to hear. Isaiah wrote of a people who said, “Do not prophesy to us right things. Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” Tell us we’re doing great, that we don’t need God, and if you do tell us about God, pretend that he doesn’t have any expectations, that any behavior we indulge he will accept or wink at, and it really doesn’t matter how we should treat each other. (Isaiah 30:10-11)
Things won’t turn out well for us if we confine to the fireplace everything that makes us uncomfortable. Sometimes we need to hear what we don’t want to hear, even if we are the king.
The God Who Sees (Sabbath Thoughts)
There are few things more discouraging than discovering you’re invisible – that your opinions don’t matter, that no one cares how you feel, that nothing you do is acknowledged or valued by anyone around you.
I wonder sometimes if Hagar felt like that. Her son, Ishmael, was not part of God’s plan to make Abraham into a great nation. He was, instead, the product of a lack of faith – an attempt to work out a divine plan through human reasoning.
It wasn’t Ishmael’s fault that he existed. It wasn’t Hagar’s fault, either. She was a handmaid, with precious little control over what happened to her or how she was treated – but that probably came as little consolation to the mother who found herself running away from a harsh, vindictive mistress. It must have been hard not to wonder if that’s all she and her unborn son were in the grand scheme of things:
Disposable. Inconsequential. A regrettable mistake. Invisible.
And then God spoke: “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Genesis 16:8).
Not that He didn’t know. He knew who Hagar was; He knew where she had come from and why. He commanded her to do the hard thing – to “return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand” (Genesis 16:9). But He also explained that He knew what Hagar was going through, and that He had a future in store for Ishmael, regardless of how Sarai felt about it.
And Hagar wondered: “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” (Genesis 16:13).
And she called God El Roi, “You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees” (Genesis 16:13).
The God Who Sees – maybe that moniker feels too obvious. Of course God sees. What kind of deity would He be if He couldn’t? But don’t forget that in the ancient world, gods were so often imagined with human shortcomings. They could be distracted, they could be in the wrong place at the wrong time, they could be asleep – they could simply not care. During the confrontation on Mount Carmel, the prophets of Baal “called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, ‘O Baal, hear us!’ But there was no voice; no one answered” (1 Kings 18:26). Elijah couldn’t help but mock the false prophets: “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened” (1 Kings 18:27, English Standard Version).
It’s easy to take it for granted that we serve the God who sees. It’s easy to forget how incredibly spectacular that truth is.
Jesus told the disciples, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Luke 12:7). Not just the disciples’ hairs. Not just yours. God has a perfect working knowledge of every hair on every head the world over.
Imagine knowing that. Imagine knowing the total number of hairs in the entire world at any given moment. Imagine knowing the exact moment when one fell out or a new one grew in. Imagine having all that information in your mind – having the capacity to see that, all at once, all the time, and not have your brain short out from the sheer overload of calculations and running tallies you’d have to keep track of every second of every day.
God does that. And He does it without letting it distract Him from seeing and knowing everything else there is to see and know: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). Never missing a beat. Never missing a thought or intent or feeling or action. He is not the God Who Sees Some Things, Depending on Where He Is Looking. He is not the God Who Sees Sometimes, When He Is Not Distracted.
He is the God Who Sees – all things, all the time. He saw the handmaiden, running away in fear – and He sees you, too.
That can be a comfort or a terror, and the difference depends on us.
God knows when we’ve been wronged – and when we’re doing wrong.
He knows when we’ve been persecuted – and when we’re persecuting.
He knows when we’ve been deceived – and when we’re deceitful.
He knows when others refuse to forgive us – and when we refuse to forgive others.
He knows, in short, when our hearts are right before Him and when they are not. And when they are not, when we are too stubborn to repent and change, there should be a certain terror in knowing that “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). But when our hearts are right, we can take comfort knowing that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
We serve the God Who Sees. He sees you. No matter how small and insignificant you might feel some days, no matter how invisible you might be to everyone around you, the God of the universe sees you. He sees you when your own problems feel a million miles away from anyone’s spotlight. He sees you while entire governments are in the throes of geopolitical upheaval. He sees you as He skillfully guides and weaves the threads of human history to a place where His plan will unfold in the perfect way and at the perfect time.
When you’re surrounded by a million other things that feel more important and more significant than you, God sees you. And loves you. And wants you in His family.
No matter what’s going on in or around your life, you are never invisible to God. You are known and loved by the God who holds the entire universe in His hands.
That’s what it means to serve the God Who Sees.
Why Are We Doing This? (Children of God)
With our Christian calling, we have embarked on an arduous and difficult journey. There are few who follow this Way. Why are we doing this? This is the kind of question that challenges our deepest reasons and motivations for serving God in the way that we do.
Why do we hold fast to the Sabbath, the Holy Days and God’s commands? Why are we trying so diligently to grow in the fruit of God’s Spirit? Why do we refuse to jeopardize our faith when others are more willing to compromise? Why, when it comes to The Truth, are we willing to stand against the whole world? Why, in the face of so many attacks, do we hold fast to the doctrines of Christ that we have believed for so long?
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 1:3)
We know our lives are finite – our days are fading away. We are mortal, weak, and often helpless. Yet, we have been called by God to be His Children. He has taught us His Way and has given us His Spirit. Yes, but why are we doing it ? Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)
Let’s reflect on some of the things we experience as Christians. We deny ourselves – and we enthusiastically bring ourselves into submission. We willingly forsake all that we have. We are put out of the congregation and suffer reproach for the name of Jesus Christ. We intensely walk the strait and narrow path to the Kingdom of God. Yes, but why are we doing it?
And he said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (Luke 13:24)
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)
For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe. (1 Timothy 4:10)
Why do we do it? What is our motivation? What compels us to do it? We can cite any number of reasons that might help explain our determination to serve God. Are these the reasons we do it?
● Because God has shown us His way, we know it is the right way.
● God has said that we shall see Him and be like He is.
● We want to become more like God, so that we can be His Children.
● God has promised to bless those who serve Him.
● God has threatened to punish all who disobey Him.
The last reason is interesting because it is precisely the wrong reason, per se. Indeed, God is just and right in promising the lake of fire to all who finally refuse to serve and obey Him, but fear itself will not produce the kind of behavior God expects to see in us. Seeking to save our own skin – does not grow into Godly love. In fact, obeying God out of that kind of fear eventually will destroy our faith and cause us to see God wrongly – in the same way as the faithless servant in Christ’s parable of Luke 19. Notice how the unfaithful servant responds to God.
For I feared you, because thou art an austere man: thou take up that thou laid not down, and reap that thou didst not sow. (Luke 19:21)
Because of the servant’s misplaced fear of his master, his assessment of his master was incorrect – and so he became too afraid to serve him properly. We do the same if our primary reason for serving God is fear that He might destroy us.
Here is another interesting question. Would we love and serve our God – even if there were no reward? Would we be willing to give honor and glory, respect and obedience to our creator if we were only like a beautiful flower that gives it’s all – only to fade away forever? Isn’t our great God worthy of all glory – without His having to extend the promise of a reward to us? Perfect love would dictate that we serve Him without the hope of reward.
Here’s the good part! We know that our God loves us, and He created us in order to share His LIFE with us forever. For this purpose, He trains us to be His children so that He might ultimately bless us. God wants us to succeed, and in many ways, to succeed big. Of course, big by His standards! God sent Christ as a sacrifice, and Christ came willingly, because They both want to share eternity with us!
For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
Notice Christ’s attitude toward us, His servants, and brothers and sisters!
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. (John 10:28-29)
We love God, because He loved us first. (1 John 4:19) We serve God because He first served us. He is our creator and savior. We serve God because we want to be His Children! We hold fast to the Father’s Truth because we want to please Him and our Lord, Jesus Christ. We want to be counted among the faithful servants of Jesus Christ when He returns. We love Them because They love us.
We are doing this because we are called now to be a part of that better resurrection with Jesus Christ – the inestimable privilege of being in God’s Family.
And this is the promise that He has promised us eternal life. (1 John 2:25)
Why are we doing this? We do this because we are the only people on earth who do know their creator God and who are able to worship Him in sincerity and truth. As though this were not enough – our Father and Jesus Christ want to share their eternal life with us.
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:11)
Move or Die (New Church Lady)
I was watching an episode from the Science Nature Page that showed the connection between physical activity and brain health. The video gave a summary of a medical study that found that people who are inactive, especially if they are unable to do load-bearing exercise, including bed-ridden people and even astronauts on long trips into space, not only lose muscle mass, but their body chemistry is altered at the cellular level and even their nervous system is adversely impacted.
It found that limiting physical activity, even if all other activity was normal, decreases the number of neuro stem cells by 70%. Further, the study showed that using our legs, particularly in weight-bearing exercise, sends signals to the brain that are vital for the production of healthy neural cells, which are essential for the brain and nervous system.
What does this mean to our Christian walk? Of course it reminds us that God didn’t just throw together some dirt to create us. It also supports what we read in Psalms 139:14 [KJV] I will praise thee; for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made: marvellous [are] thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well. (Emphasis mine.)
But that is not my focus today. What I wanted to point out is the spiritual lesson for us believers today: that activity is essential to our spiritual health – especially to our minds and hearts. Or as James put it: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [James 1:22 ESV]
Further, I believe that this is not just true from a personal standpoint (each individual believer), but also from an organizational standpoint (whether you meet with 5 other believers or in a church of 100).
Compassion is engaged, love is engaged, mercy is engaged when we help others. Further, I believe our understanding of scripture is enhanced when we put it to use by serving others. I believe this is true when that activity is heartfelt, sympathetic prayer for others, making cards for others, visiting the sick, taking up a donation for the poor, or any other active living of the commandment found in John 15:12 [ESV], where Jesus tells us: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
My message today is that, if you want to grow in grace and knowledge of the truth, serving others is essential. Yes, I am actually proposing that all the study of scripture, the discovering the root of Greek and Hebrew words, or connecting prophecies from the Old Testament to their fulfillment in Jesus’s life and ministry, or understanding the harmony of the Gospels, or memorizing key scriptures will not do as much for your spiritual health as actually doing something to serve another person.
Jesus’s own example is one of activity-based love. He certainly taught the people Bible truths, expanding our understanding of God’s law of love. He also fed them (Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6). He healed them (Matthew 14:14; Luke 6:17, 8:36, 13:14). He blessed their children (Mark 10:14-16). Jesus set an example of being a doer of the word, not just a hearer.
Of course, you do not need a corporation or even a group of friends in order to serve others. This is something each of us can do on our own. Further, I believe that the more our “doing” requires of us – the more it incorporates some form of “bearing the load” of others – the more our spiritual health will be improved by it. You know, “no pain, no gain”, but from a spiritual standpoint.
It is also my belief that the spiritual health of your home Bible study group, independent church or large church corporation is also directly tied to how much serving you do together. When we don’t make frequent efforts, as a group, at serving the poor and needy, not just in the church, but also in the community or around the world, we become more focused on our own struggles, wants and needs. We become more insular and that is not healthy environment for spiritual growth. In fact, I believe this lack of service activity will contribute to the spiritual atrophy – possibly even death – of any person or group.
So, if you are feeling that the interpretation of a key scripture escapes you, or if you feel the scriptures taking on a “ho-hum” place in your mind or heart, or if the sermons/studies in your group seem uninspired, then I suggest the remedy is to get moving. Have a food drive and go to the trouble of taking it to the shelter. Make care kits for the homeless, then actually take the kits around the city and hand them out. Collect blankets for a nursing home and then hand them out to the residents yourself. Mow a widow’s yard. Rock sick babies at a children’s hospital or read stories to the children with cancer.
I believe with all my heart that, when we take the time and make the effort to serve others, the Holy Spirit will be activated and our human spirits will be inspired, our Bible study will be enhanced and we will grow – both as individuals and in our church groups.
But, don’t take my word for it. Do your own experiment – exercise your spiritual muscles, bear the load of another person.
Even if I’m wrong, you will still have done what Jesus called us to do [See Matthew 25:31-46].
They All Saw It (Sabbath Thoughts)
Twelve spies saw the Promised Land. They all agreed that it was something special – a land filled with incredible blessings from God. They all agreed that it was occupied by formidable opponents – giants who made them feel like grasshoppers.
Ten of the spies thought it was a lost cause. The road blocks were too big, too insurmountable. Better to play it safe. Better to turn around and give up. The blessings weren’t worth the obstacles in the way.
Only two of the spies trusted God to be strong enough and dependable enough to give them the victory He had promised them.
They all saw the same blessings. They all saw the same obstacles. You’ve seen them, too. It’s not just about what we see – it’s how we evaluate it. The meaning we assign to the things we see.
Do you trust that God will help you fight the things that make you feel like a grasshopper? Do you believe the blessings are worth the battle?
No One Shall Make Them Afraid (Sabbath Thoughts)
When’s the last time you were afraid?
I’m not talking about feeling nervous or uneasy or a little anxious. I’m talking about fear – genuine fear you felt in a state of real or imagined danger. When I think about fear, my brain tends to default to the threat of physical violence – the danger of being in an environment or situation where I’m likely to experience physical harm.
But fear is bigger than that. You can feel fear at the threat of emotional violence. Or financial disaster. Or relationship conflict. Or being confronted with something that challenges how you view the world. Or… The list goes on.
But what I want to ask you to do today is to think back to the last time something made you truly, genuinely afraid. What was it? When was it? For some of you reading this, that might be a length of time you measure in years. Others of you might measure it in hours.
My point is that the sources (and frequency) of our fears can vary dramatically. I can only imagine that if we all got together and made a list of our collective fears, there would be items on that list that would make some of us laugh in disbelief – while others would shiver in agreement.
But that feeling of fear – of your heart kicking into overdrive, of the bottom falling out of your stomach, of your entire nervous systems switching into a state of fight or flight – of that overwhelming sense of hopelessness and helplessness – that, we’ve each experienced.
The circumstances might change from person to person, but the feeling is universal. I doubt anyone reading this can say they have not at some point in their lives experienced the feeling of fear. Which is why it’s so important to understand what God plans to do about fear.
Fear has been part of the human condition literally since we were evicted from the garden of Eden. Remember what Adam said when God asked him why he was hiding?
“I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid” (Genesis 3:10).
One generation later, after Cain kills Abel and starts to fear that someone else will kill him, he builds the first recorded city (Genesis 4:17).
Here’s a fun fact. The Hebrew word for “city” in that passage (ʿîr, Strong’s #H5892) often refers specifically to a walled city. In other words, Cain probably didn’t just go off and build a community – he likely built a community with a wall.
Ever since humanity stepped off the path God intended for us, fear has been part of the picture. And because of that fear, we do things like hiding from God’s voice. Building walls.
But walls can’t keep out fear, can they? Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel – these stories teach us that a life lived in opposition to God is a life that breeds fear. And even for those of us in God’s Church, dedicated to living God’s way of life – we still live in a world that has spent thousands of years in opposition to God. Thousands of years breeding fear and fearful things. And even though there is a peace that comes from placing ourselves in God’s hands, we’re still human. There are still things in this world that can make us afraid. Fear can still touch our lives.
Micah 4:4 is a classic Feast of Tabernacles scripture. You probably heard it referenced a few times this past week:
“Everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree.”
And that’s where my brain usually stops. It’s a beautiful Millennial scene. Here’s a picture of everyone – everyone – with their own land, their own reliable source of food, their own shelter. Here’s a world where everyone will have their basic human needs taken care of, where no one is overlooked. I love that. It’s beautiful.
But the next part of the verse is important, too:
“And no one shall make them afraid.”
Imagine that. We talk about the New Heaven and the New Earth being a place where there’s no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain – and those are wonderful things that we should be excited about – but before that, Micah 4:4 is an important reminder that the Millennium will be a time where you and I get to work with Jesus Christ to usher in a world where there will be no more fear. Where there will be nothing to be afraid of.
For the past 6,000 years or so of human history, God has been enacting a plan to undo the damage that comes from the collective disobedience of the human race – our collective rejection of His perfect way of life.
Part of that damage is fear – the fear that comes from wandering off that perfect path and into a world of negative consequences. Adam didn’t hide from God until he learned to be ashamed of the way God had created him. Cain didn’t have to worry about being killed until he committed the first murder.
This is the world the human race has been stewing in for literal millennia. This is the world you and I are in but not of. But this past week – this precious Feast of Tabernacles God calls us to observe year after year – marks the time when fear, humanity’s constant companion since we left the Garden of Eden, finally becomes obsolete. It marks the time when God intervenes and begins redirecting the whole world from the deluded, self-destructive road it currently follows and back onto the road of peace and prosperity He always intended for it.
One of my favorite prophecies about that future isn’t exactly a glamorous one – maybe not the first passage that comes to mind when we’re talking about how God will transform the world one day – but it’s such a beautiful snapshot of what’s coming:
Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. (Zechariah 8:4–5)
To the old men and old women reading this – how many streets do you feel safe sitting in today? To the parents reading this – how many streets do you feel safe letting your children play in today? I have a daughter and two sons. That is the world I want for them. That is the world I wish they could grow up in. The elderly and the young, two historically vulnerable groups of people, spending time in the streets without fear.
And after that snapshot of the Millennium, when we look forward to the New Jerusalem, there’s something special to notice about it. It’s a walled city, too (Revelation 21:12) – but unlike the city that Cain built all those centuries ago, this will be a city whose gates are never shut (Revelation 21:25). This will be a city with nothing to fear, because God dwells there.
That’s not the way things are right now. And that’s why I want to focus on what will happen to this specific emotion of fear. Because I know fear.
I know the fear of making a wrong turn in an unfamiliar town at night and finding yourself in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe stopping for gas. I know the fear of watching bills you can’t afford to pay pile up while you wonder how on earth you’re going to make it all work.
I know the fear of watching your newborn admitted into an ICU, spending days begging God to intervene because there’s nothing you can do.
And you know fear. You have your own list. Your own experiences. Your own by-products of living in a world that lives in opposition to its Creator.
Family – brothers and sisters – I don’t know about you, but I am ready for that fear to be a thing of the past. I am ready for vines and fig trees and a world of people who can lie down in peace. I am ready for my children to know that world.
The Feast of Tabernacles is a promise, a guarantee, of that future. We don’t know how long it will take to get here, but this past week was a reminder that it is real, it is coming, and it is on the horizon.
I want to end with a prophecy from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 54:11. God says:
O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted.
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt afflicted? Have you ever felt like you were being tossed around in a tempest? Have you ever been desperate for comfort in a trial you didn’t know how to navigate?
Here’s the promise God makes:
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones.
That’s beautiful – but not as beautiful as what comes next:
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established. You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. “Behold, I have created the blacksmith, who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the spoiler to destroy. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” says the LORD. (Isaiah 54:11-17)
Correct Diagnosis, Wrong Medicine (Morning Companion)
These times are challenging, and it’s easy to see why. Simply fire up your computer or turn on your favorite news channel. They’ll be glad to rattle off everything that’s going on in the world that cranks up our anxiety meters regarding our health, safety, and culture. Wars and rumors of war, high prices, rising crime, political corruption — it’s all there in living color and has been for some time.
Problems are easy to diagnose. When you ache because of poor diet or lifestyle, no one needs to tell you there is something wrong on your insides. But the diagnosis does not mean that the offered remedy is the correct medicine.
The Israelites in Samuel’s day had the diagnosis right. Samuel was for the most part a righteous leader, but his judgement was sometimes suspect. He had appointed his corrupt sons to important positions where they took bribes and perverted justice. Everybody knew it and the elders of the land complained about it. They correctly diagnosed the problem. It was their offered remedy that was the problem: Give us a king to judge us.
Think about this solution. They were upset at Samuel’s nepotism, yet they wanted a hereditary kingship that would change nepotism from a flaw to a feature. Samuel warned them of such dangers and more when an autocratic system is taken to its logical conclusion:
This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.
(1 Samuel 8:11-18 NIV)
That warning sounds familiar from where I’m sitting. The medicine the people demanded in response to a correct diagnosis turned out to be worse than the disease. They got a king named Saul, a history of questionable successors, and all the curses that Samuel predicted.
Remember that. When the modern successors of that philosophy offer more sacrifice from you and more control for them, run. Run away as fast as you can.
The Other Verse about Vines and Fig Trees (Sabbath Thoughts)
Mary and I were talking about a beautiful passage in the book of Habakkuk. Usually, when we talk about vines and fig trees, our minds go to the beautiful Millennial scriptures about the future, where “everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree” (Micah 4:4).
Habakkuk talks about vines and fig trees, but it’s probably not the first place we turn when we’re talking about the Feast of Tabernacles. It’s a sobering book about a prophet crying out to God for answers, but never quite receiving the explanation he desperately wants. And then it ends with a hymn. The beautiful passage we were talking about is there at the end of the hymn, and I think it’s particularly relevant for meditating on around this time:
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
(Habakkuk 3:17-18)
The festival is a reminder of an incredible future – one so beautiful, so perfect, it’s hard to imagine. But right now, it’s still just a reminder. A promise of what’s coming. And sometimes – sometimes, as excited as we are about the reminder, we’re going to be faced with the reality of the present.
Sometimes the fig trees aren’t going to blossom.
Sometimes there won’t be any fruit on the vines.
Sometimes the festival is going to be hard and demanding and exhausting. Sometimes it’s going to feel more like a trial than a blessing.
What do we do then?
When the imagery doesn’t match up with the reminder, can we still rejoice in the LORD? Can we still joy in the God of our salvation?
It’s not an easy thing to do. But it’s possible. And it’s important. The physical abundance and break from the world we often look forward to at the festival is only part of the picture – and not the most essential part, either. When it’s missing – when God allows Satan to throw a wrench into part or all of our festival – will we give up and call the festival ruined? Or will we work harder to praise God even when things aren’t what we hoped they’d be?
What is the Feast of Tabernacles if not a reminder that this life, as long we live it, is a temporary one filled with temporary things that pale in comparison to the glory that’s coming?
I wish it were true that we could say, “If only I can make it to the feast, everything will be okay.” But what is true is that we can say, “If only I can make it to what the feast pictures, everything will be okay.”
We’ve been called to inherit a kingdom and reign as children of God. Is that not something we can praise God for, regardless of what our vines and fig trees look like in the moment?
I hope, wherever you are, this proves to be your best feast yet. I hope it is filled with wonderful things and wonderful moments and wonderful people. I hope you are able to go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and rejoice before your God during a beautiful and inspiring eight days filled with not one single hardship.
But more than that – if this is a feast where the fig tree doesn’t blossom for you and you can’t find any fruit on the vines – I hope you are still able to find the strength to praise the God who points our attention toward an incredible future.
Our Daily Bread (Sabbath Thoughts)
It would be easier if all we had to do was pray for our weekly bread, wouldn’t it? Or monthly bread. Quarterly bread, even.
But that’s not the instruction Jesus gave us. He said to pray like this:
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).
We don’t get to ask for it in batches. We don’t get to say, “Give us this day our daily bread, and could You throw in the next few days as well because I have a lot to do this week and I’m going to be a little too busy to ask for it.”
Daily bread. When it comes time to consider how often we come to God in prayer, we should also consider how long we’d enjoy going without food.
It’s so easy for me to forget to ask God to supply my needs for the day. That’s why I’m writing this. I struggle to remember it. Oh, it’s easy to remember my immediate, pressing needs – the problems I’m actively stressing about – but my fridge already has food in it. My prayer tonight isn’t going to make the ingredients for breakfast appear in my pantry tomorrow.
At least, not directly. And that’s the whole point of it, I think.
Praying for our daily bread forces us to stop and reflect on where our daily bread comes from. The food in your fridge – that’s a blessing. Where did it come from? Why is it there? And more to the point, who has the power to ensure more of it shows up tomorrow – and the day after, and the day after? On the brink of entering the Promised Land, Moses warned Israel:
“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest – when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end – then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’” (Deuteronomy 8:11-17)
That’s the natural way of it when things start going well. But they don’t even have to be going extraordinarily well. I don’t know about you, but over the past couple years, my silver and gold have not been multiplying. I don’t have flocks. My house has cracks in it. I had to have a main waste line replaced and a transmission rebuilt. Things keep breaking, prices keep rising. I’m playing a constant game of chicken with my credit limit. (I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that, all that aside, God has still blessed us in countless ways, including through friends and family.) I guess the point I’m trying to make is, my heart is not particularly at risk of being lifted up in pride at my non-existent wealth.
Most of you are probably in a pretty similar boat. And yet, I find there are still ridiculous things I can think in my heart. “My cash and my job that I work have given me the ability to pay for these groceries.” Even trying to claw our way out of debt, I can still look at our household needs in terms of what I need to do, what I need to make happen. But it’s not true.
“And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).
The things we’re able to accomplish, the blessings we have, the food that’s in our fridge – where does the power to make it all happen come from? Not us.
It comes from the One who provides us with our daily bread. It comes from the One we need to be talking regularly to about our daily bread.
Christ chewed the Laodiceans out for believing themselves to be wealthy and in need of nothing when in fact they were “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).
It’s dangerous to view that as an attitude we can only fall into with excessive physical wealth – because at its core, it’s an attitude that comes from forgetting where the good things in life come from. Even the good things we need but don’t have yet.
Agur the son of Jakeh wrote:
“Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me;
Lest I be full and deny You, And say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8-9)
Agur recognized that there was a sweet spot in having only “the food allotted to me.” Too much, and we can forget where it came from. Too little, and we can get angry at God for not providing it. It’s possible to have wealth or poverty and still follow God, but Agur saw that the extremes offered far more opportunities to stumble – to forget about his daily bread and where it came from.
I’m ashamed of all the things in my life I take for granted – that I don’t recognize as blessings from God. I’m ashamed of how often I forget to ask God for the daily bread I know I need in my life – physical provisions, yes, but even more than that, the far more important spiritual provisions I need to survive as a follower of Christ.
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).
Maybe you’re already better at this than I am. I hope so! But I know it’s something I want to get better at doing. I need my daily bread – physical and spiritual – and my power and the might of my hand aren’t strong enough to provide them for me. Only God can do that.
In taking the time each day to intentionally ask God for the things we know only He can provide (whether they’re already sitting in our fridge or not) we can learn to better appreciate the daily bread He provides us – today and every day.
Stop Your Whining ~ God (Sabbath Meditations)
We Christians do a lot of whining.
As I write this, understand that I have one finger pointing out and three pointing back at me. We whine to God about so many things big and little.
It’s not as if we whine like spoiled little children. “Wahhh, that’s not fair!” “Wahhh, I want that toy! Give me that toy!” We know that wouldn’t fly with God. So, our whining is more refined, more … spiritual. “Please most powerful high benevolent God …” or “Oh merciful Father, who knows all of our needs and answers all of our prayers, please …” and then we proceed to pour out our litany of requests and petitions.
It’s not that asking God to provide for us is a bad thing. If it were, we wouldn’t be instructed to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” God wants His children to come to Him with their physical needs and concerns. But, there is a thin line between asking and whining.
“God, why do you allow our family to keep struggling financially?” “Why did you let my children abandon their faith?” “Why can’t you give me the perfect church to attend?” “Why can’t you change my husband or my wife?” In short, “Wahhh … I follow you, why aren’t you blessing me?”
When we question God, aren’t we really questioning whether He loves us? After all, if He really loved us, He would take care of all of the problems in our lives, wouldn’t He? Thus, we measure whether God really loves us by how He provides for our well being. God becomes a kind of magic “genie in a bottle.” If we rub that magic bottle by doing all the right things and obeying in every way, God will fulfill all our heart’s desires. We get so focused on all the things we don’t have that we forget the one huge thing we do.
The children of Israel spent a lot of time questioning God’s love. From the day they were delivered from Egypt, their voices were a constant stream of whining and complaining. It started with their sojourn in the wilderness and didn’t let up, even after entering the promised land.
God addresses their whining in Malachi 1:1-3, “The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, says the LORD. Yet you say, wherein have You loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.”
Notice how God cuts to the chase here. He doesn’t waste time addressing their litany of complaints and unmet requests. He gets to the heart of it. “You don’t think I love you?! For crying out loud, I chose you! I set My name on you! You are blessed above all the nations. Isn’t that enough?!”
In God’s words to Israel there is a powerful, perspective changer for you and me.
In John 3:16 we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Isn’t that amazing! Doesn’t that blow your mind? God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, loves you so much that He sent His Son to die on a cross for you. He made a way for those He would call to become part of His Family. He chose you. He set His name on you. If you never receive one more thing from God in this life, isn’t that enough?
Apparently Paul thought so. In Philippians 4:11-12 Paul writes, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
It’s not that Paul didn’t petition God to provide for his physical and emotional needs. He did. But regardless of the outcome of those requests, he didn’t question God’s love for Him. He knew he had plenty for which to be thankful and in that knowledge, he was content.
Notice it says that Paul learned these things. I wouldn’t go so far as to say Paul was a whiner. But it does seem that he didn’t always have the right perspective. It’s possible, that at one time, Paul had to learn to see beyond his physical condition, his physical needs and wants, to appreciate the one amazing gift he did possess.
In II Corinthians 12:7-9 Paul says, “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
God used this situation, only one of many in Paul’s life, to teach Him to be content in the grace that God had provided. God had redeemed Him. God had chosen Paul according to His purpose. God said, “Paul, if you get nothing else from Me, my grace should be enough.”
It’s that lesson that allowed Paul to declare in Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
I find it encouraging to think that if Paul, a man mightily used by God, can learn to see beyond today to the awesomeness of tomorrow and let that hope be sufficient to sustain, strengthen and drive Him, then maybe there is hope for this whiner. Maybe I can stop treating God like a genie in a bottle and truly give thanks for the awesome grace that I have been given through the loving gift of His Son. And maybe I can truly come to the place where, from my heart, I can say, “your grace is sufficient for me.” It is enough.
Dangerous Beatitudes (Morning Companion)
What would you give to have a neighbor who lives a life of meekness and mercy, humility and honor? What if he is a justice-seeking warrior for peace, pure in heart, and poor in spirit? What if he stands boldly for doing what is right and does it with a humble servant’s heart?
This sounds like someone I would love to have living next door to me.
Jesus begins his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, telling us to be that kind of neighbor (Matthew 5:1-10)
He says we are to be poor in spirit.
To mourn with those who mourn.
He says to be meek.
To hunger and thirst for righteousness.
To be humble, pure of heart, and a peacemaker.
Then he seasons this with something that seems so out of context for those who live such admirable lives:
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
Is Jesus saying that living a godly life in this world is downright dangerous? Try living such a life and see what happens.
Try humility in a world based on pride.
Try meekness in a system that rewards arrogance.
Try being a peacemaker when conflict is the currency of modern politics.
Try proclaiming righteousness in a society that celebrates deviancy.
Try being pure of heart in a culture bent on the narcissistic.
When Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world, when he told his disciples to count the cost of discipleship, when he counsels that following him means taking up a cross, when he said these things, he meant every single word of it.
Commit to a life as taught by the Savior, and prepare for a life of challenges.
The Wilderness Road (Sabbath Thoughts)
I was thinking this morning about the second generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt. I wonder if they ever resented their parents’ generation for failing to go up into Canaan when they had the chance. Sure, they were going to get into the Promised Land eventually, but Israel’s needless panic at the border turned a one-and-a-half-year trip into a 40-year one. It wasn’t the younger generation’s fault, but they were the ones saddled with an extra 38 and a half years of travel time because of choices they didn’t make.
Funny. Didn’t think about it until just now, but I’ve been baptized for about half that amount of time. Life is so much like that wilderness trek, isn’t it?
We’re wandering through a world that’s not what it’s supposed to be – not what it could have been if the people before us had made better decisions. In the opening pages of the Bible, two people eat the fruit they were never supposed to touch, and then there’s a series of about 4,000 years’ worth of bad decisions from people and nations. And here we are, stewing in the consequences. On our way to somewhere better, but stuck in a place we never asked to be. Makes it hard not to be bitter. Or frustrated. Frustrated at all the trials – and even inconveniences of this life. We could have been somewhere better.
It’s the wrong attitude. If nothing else, it doesn’t make the trip itself very pleasant – grumbling and sputtering about what could have been. The what-ifs aren’t all that relevant. You are where you are – and more importantly, you’re going where you’re going. A lot of you have been in the desert a lot longer than I have. Even longer than the Israelites themselves. I’m sure you had things you could have grumbled about – have grumbled about – but what about the blessings? There’s a lot of those. Pretty easy to focus on the blessings we’re moving toward and forget the ones that are around us right now.
The Israelites had food and water provided consistently by God Himself (Deuteronomy 8:3). For four decades, their clothes didn’t wear out and their feet didn’t swell up (Deuteronomy 8:4). They traveled with the very presence of God, and that presence shielded them from the heat of the sun and illuminated their path in the darkness, guiding and protecting them along their journey (Exodus 13:21-22; Numbers 14:14; Deuteronomy 1:33; Psalm 105:39). They had the perfect law of God establishing the boundaries of justice and equity.
Incredible blessings. Maybe a little easier to overlook every time you have to pull down and set up your tent, or march from one patch of wilderness to another. Maybe a little easier to take for granted after the 12,480th time you head outside your tent to gather your omer of manna for the day.
There’s a beautiful Millennial prophecy in Isaiah about a day when “the wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad … and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1).
(That’s the translation I’m used to, but the Hebrew there seems to be referring to a crocus, not a rose. Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue the same way, but we’re still talking about a breathtaking scene.)
That’s a day I look forward to seeing literally fulfilled. But I think right now, today, as we travel through the wilderness and wasteland of this world – as we pitch our tents and take them down, as we daily gather up the provisions that God provides for us – there are times when God fulfills that passage for us on a smaller scale.
When’s the last time you noticed the desert around you blossoming? When’s the last time God poured out heaven’s blessings on you to the point there wasn’t “room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10)? When’s the last time something truly beautiful gave you pause in your travels? It’s easy to resent being in this desert, this wilderness. It’s easy to be frustrated that we’re not at the destination yet – that the actions of others throughout history have moved us farther from that destination than we’d like. But the truth is that, no matter how long it’s been since we committed to this journey, we’re traveling with the presence of God, not just around us, but within us – transforming us a little more with each step we take.
I want to get where we’re going, too. I want to be somewhere my car doesn’t break down, where I don’t have to worry about growing financial stresses, where my kids can play safely outside, where the governmental structure is filled with servants instead of self-servants, where people don’t die early or senselessly, where relationships are repaired instead of abandoned, and where people instinctively consider the needs of those around them.
The Promised Land is what makes the journey worth it. It’s hard to be reminded that we’re here and not there. Hard to think about all the steps behind us and ahead of us. But the wilderness road is filled with blessings, too. The fact that there even is a road for us to take is a blessing all in itself. And sometimes … Sometimes it’s worth stopping to smell the crocuses.
The Second Best Time to Plant a Tree (Sabbath Thoughts)
To the people of Pompeii, Vesuvius erupted without warning. In the span of moments, the infamous volcano filled the air with thick clouds of ash, tephra, and other pyroclastic material. Temperatures soared, darkness and sulfuric fumes swallowed the surrounding areas, and chaos descended from the skies. Entire settlements were obliterated. One eyewitness wrote that, even from a distance, “I believed that I was perishing with the world, and the world with me.”
But volcanoes don’t just explode. The residents of Pompeii were witnessing the end of a long and gradual process that had begun days or even years earlier. During that time, magma from deep within the earth rose up within Vesuvius, releasing gasses that slowly increased the internal pressure of the mountain, building and building until, like an aerosol can in a bonfire, the rock walls gave way to an unstoppable wave of destruction and death.
The destruction of Pompeii, in other words, was a long time coming. As much as Vesuvius appeared to have erupted on the spur of the moment, volcanoes don’t work that way. There’s a process required – a slow and deliberate chain of events – before an eruption is even a possibility.
Time. In an always-on, 24/7, free-two-day-shipping culture, time is the overlooked ingredient. Order a burger at the drive-thru and it’s ready for you by the time you reach the window. Order a book from the other side of the country and, for a nominal fee, you can have it airlifted to your front door by tomorrow, guaranteed. Upload your pictures to the store of your choice, and you can pick up the prints within the hour. That’s incredible. We’ve designed a world where we can get anything we like, as quickly as we like – often by yesterday at the latest.
But nothing is truly instant. Not really. That burger you ordered was made a while ago in a batch of dozens or even hundreds, just in case someone like you wanted one. That book you ordered was manufactured on costly equipment that took years to develop and design, and then it was shipped through a delivery system that has been evolving and improving for centuries. And you uploaded your pictures through the Internet, which is an increasingly complex jungle of technological wonders, each painstakingly designed to communicate with the next, ending with an industrial printer programmed to interpret the incomprehensible stream of zeros and ones you just fed it and spit out a corresponding picture.
It feels instant, but it’s not. Every step in every one of those processes took years and years of research and development before it was ready for you to use on a whim. Like a volcano, this technological eruption we’re experiencing could never have happened without all the behind-the-scenes legwork that made it possible.
In the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), everyone fell asleep. That wasn’t what set the wise apart from the foolish – no, the real distinction between the two groups was their grasp of time. When the cry went out at midnight to go and meet the bridegroom, only five virgins had their lamps full of oil – that is, full of God’s Holy Spirit. The other five were running low.
All ten had lamps. All ten understood that the lamps required oil to function properly. All ten knew these lamps were necessary and important, but – and here’s the key distinction – only five had taken the time to actually fill them. The other five attempted to squeak by with what little they had, only to discover at the critical moment that what they had wasn’t enough (Matthew 25:8).
Then comes the tragedy. Because they lacked the oil they needed – and because the wise couldn’t afford to spare their own supplies, “lest there should not be enough for us and you” (Matthew 25:9) – the five foolish virgins had no choice but to go to the marketplace and get more. By the time they returned, the bridegroom had returned and the door was shut (Matthew 25:10). The five foolish virgins cried out, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” only to be met with the bridegroom’s chilling response from the other side of the door: “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you” (Matthew 25:11-12).
Some things require time. The degree to which we want or need them in a particular moment is completely irrelevant. These things do not come with “buy it now” or “one day shipping” options. They can only be attained through weeks, years, or even decades of effort and unceasing commitment.
The Holy Spirit is one of those things. We receive it as a gift at baptism – and all ten virgins had at least some oil in their lamps – but what happens afterward depends on us. We don’t just naturally interface with the limitless power of God, “the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). Tapping into the mind of God requires a lifetime of effort on our part – a lifetime of praying, of studying, of fasting, of meditating, and of spending time with our brethren. There are no shortcuts to any of these steps, which is why the five foolish virgins ran into trouble. When the bridegroom returned, the foolish virgins were hoping to acquire in a single moment something that had taken the wise virgins years to cultivate.
God’s Holy Spirit doesn’t work that way. You can’t just borrow it from someone else when you need it. When the bridegroom returns – when Jesus Christ descends from the heavens and gathers His brethren – your lamp will either be full or it won’t. In that moment, there will be no shortcuts, no easy fixes, no “buy it now” button. Either you put in the work or you didn’t. Either you nurtured your connection with God’s Spirit or you let it dwindle. Either you’re on the right side of the door or you’re not.
There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”
Volcanoes don’t just explode. Twenty-year-old trees don’t just appear. And your lamp won’t just “get full.” The bridegroom is coming, and a strong connection with the Holy Spirit of God is not a last-minute acquisition.
I’d love to say it’s never too late to start, but that’s simply not true. That’s the whole point. One day, it will be too late. The best time to begin filling your lamp was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.
Brother vs Brother (New Church Lady)
I was sharing coffee with my younger sister on her porch and chatting about church stuff. She mentioned that she had a hard time with a previous church pastor, because he had lived such a perfect life. He’d grown up a believer, never strayed from the faith, married in the faith, was still married to that woman of faith and served side-by-side with his wife in a Dallas-area mega church. She did not think this pastor had ever sinned. She just wondered how someone whose life was always focused on obedience could ever connect to “real” sinners who had made some painful, life-wrecking mistakes.
I was thinking two things: I wish someone would complain that I was too unstained by sin to relate to normal folks, and this reminds me of the non-prodigal brother of Luke 15:11-32.
I understand where my sister is coming from – you need to feel a connection to your church teachers and leaders. You need to know that they can feel your pain, understand your flaws, and sympathize with your temptations. A former prodigal son can likely say, “I made the same mistakes you did and worse.”
Paul was such a man. Listen to his testimony in his own words.
Acts 26:9-18 [ESV] “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests but, when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles – to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
We need the Saul/Pauls of this world for their testimonies of how Jesus can turn a life 180° from its previous path and redeem even the most sordid histories, transforming them into an entirely new story and future.
Recall these words: “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see.” Grace is never more amazing than when it turns a wretched sinner into a bullhorn for salvation through Jesus.
But the truth is that the church needs both brothers – the prodigal brother and the faithful brother. And, while those life-long faithful followers might not have a dramatic story to tell, I still believe they can minister to those whose lives were once prodigal. It just takes godly love and mercy toward those who did not have the benefit of a life of obedience. A true minister, that is a servant of the people, will have those qualities toward all of his congregants.
Timothy was raised as a second generation believer. In 2 Timothy 1:5 [ESV] we read: I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
David Guzik, in his study guide/commentary on 2 Timothy 1 says this: “Timothy’s mother and grandmother were believers, but his father was not (at least not at first). In the Roman world, fathers had absolute authority over the family, and since Timothy’s father was not a Christian, his home situation was less than ideal (though not necessarily terrible). But his mother and grandmother either led him to Jesus or grounded him in the faith. God wants to use parents and grandparents to pass on an eternal legacy to their children and grandchildren.” {emphasis mine}
You see, first generation believers may be comforted by a preacher whose life wasn’t always aligned with Jesus and who has made that dramatic change to obedience. But we all also need to believe that the non-prodigal life is possible for the second generation believers – our children. Because, while a first generation believer might feel a special connection to a pastor who had a dramatic story of repentance to tell, I don’t believe there is a parent alive who, having come to repentance and change themselves, still hopes their child will go through the trauma of a prodigal life.
No, we all want our children to learn from our mistakes, and from our teachings, that life is better when lived in alignment with God’s will from day one until their last breath. We all hope our children will be spared the guilt and grief that comes from living a life like the prodigal brother.
The church needs the Paul and the prodigal son stories so that we have hope that a lost, desperate, sin-filled life can be turned around. The church needs the faithful brother and the Timothy stories so that we can have hope that a life of obedience – of good, godly choices, of rejecting temptation and living faithfully – even in this sin-sick world – is possible. These faithful children we have raised will more likely feel a connection to someone who has also grown up in the faith and lived a life of faithfulness.
We can and should learn from both the prodigal brother and the faithful brother. As you read that story in Luke 15, please see that God has a place for the lessons from the lives of both brothers – and for you, whichever brother’s story is more aligned with the history of your life.
Lessons from a Bradford Pear (Sabbath Thoughts)
If you ever visit the south-eastern United States, during your travels you’ll come across little old country stores, herds of livestock, sprawling acres of land, and front yards proudly displaying a beautiful little tree.
The first thing you’ll notice about this tree is its shape. While the trees around it might grow wild and untrimmed, this particular tree looks stately and immaculate in its appearance. It heralds the springtime with a chorus of beautiful white flowers, and in the fall its tear-drop frame takes on the visage of fire with leaves of crimson, yellow, and orange. The tree itself reaches maturity in no time at all, and so for very little investment in time, money, or effort, homeowners can have themselves a beautiful ornamental tree as a showpiece for their yard. It is the Bradford pear, and it is a horrible, terrible mistake.
The Bradford pear is a specific cultivar of the Pyrus calleryana, and if that makes no sense to you, don’t worry – I had to look up half of those words myself when I was researching the tree. What it means, in layman’s terms, is that someone took a Callery pear tree (native to China and Vietnam) and kept selectively breeding it until he got a result he liked. That result was the Bradford pear, and beginning in 1963, it was marketed for two decades as one of America’s top ornamental trees. Unfortunately, those who sung the Bradford’s praises did so before learning what the tree would mature into. The promising adolescent cultivar produced beautiful foliage, showed a noteworthy resilience against disease, grew at remarkable pace, and was tolerant of poor soil and even pollution. It was everything anyone could ever want in an ornamental tree and then some, and customers snatched it up. Those first customers (and many more to follow) would learn the hard way that the Bradford pear cultivar came hardwired with a serious genetic defect: most of its main limbs branch out from the same point on the trunk. As the tree grows in height and stature, those same limbs begin to choke each other – each one requiring more and more space, but finding less and less. With the trunk under this stress and the limbs already so weakly attached, even a mild windstorm can easily knock off several branches of the tree, if not split the entire thing in half. The end result is a disfigured tree and a messy yard – and with Bradfords, such a disaster is not a question of “if,” but “when.” Author Steve Bender notes, “This unfixable quirk effectively reduces the useful life of a Bradford pear to about 20 years.” Despite its impressive appearance, the Bradford pear is genetically doomed to fall to pieces as soon as it faces any real strain.
It’s also worth noting that, although the Bradford is a member of the pear family, it doesn’t actually produce fruit – at least, not the kind you’d expect. The Callery pear is about the size of a marble and has all the edibility of a piece of wood, which is not a characteristic people tend to look for in a snack. In fact, the only thing these fruits tend to be good for is producing more trees like the one they came from.
There’s a passage in the Bible that describes God’s followers in terms of a tree.
A psalmist was inspired to write:
“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
(Psalm 92:12-15)
That description hardly fits the Bradford pear. Flourishing in old age? A Bradford is lucky if it makes it to old age at all; that it should make it there flourishing and bearing fruit is almost too much to ask of the poor thing. It’s a flimsy showpiece that has little going for it besides appearance – certainly not the kind of tree the psalmist was speaking of in these verses.
There’s probably a reason that, among the pages of the Bible, you won’t find any references to the Pyrus calleryana. You will find, however, more than a couple mentions of the Olea europaea – known more commonly as the olive tree. The olive tree is the polar opposite of the Bradford pear. While the Bradford opts for a flashy appearance, the olive tree tends to go for the “gnarled” look. (There’s a reason you don’t usually hear olive trees described as “immaculate.”) The Bradford has a useful life of maybe 20 years; the olive tree can outlast entire civilizations. The Bradford’s fruit is essentially useless to anyone but itself; the olive is edible on its own and is also used in creating olive oil, one of the world’s more valued (and expensive!) resources.
Do you want to be made well? (Sabbath Thoughts)
The pool of Bethesda was a magnet for the sick and the infirm of Jerusalem. A great and pitiful multitude lay sprawled out across its five covered porches, each of them looking for a miracle.
They were in the right place. Everyone knew Bethesda’s pool was the place to go for a miracle. On a regular basis, an angel would enter the water and stir it up (note: some manuscripts differ on this part of the story), and the first person to enter the pool would be healed. Just like that. All you had to do was be first.
But being first wasn’t easy. The cards were already stacked against you: a veritable host of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed all wanted the same thing you did, and if you were a man who had been without the use of his legs for 38 years, the odds were simply not in your favor – unless, of course, the Son of God happens to walk up and speak with you.
That’s exactly what happened to one man during the ministry of Jesus Christ. Why this particular man? I don’t know. We’re not told. But Jesus, in His infinite wisdom and understanding, singled this one man out of an entire multitude of the sick and mangled and then asked him a question:
“Do you want to be made well?”
For 38 years this man had been unable to walk, and Jesus asks him if he wants to be made well. Do you want to be made well? Does the sun rise in the east? Does gravity pull us back down to earth? What kind of question is that?
I don’t claim to know the mind of Christ in that moment, but I do know this: Jesus never healed the same way twice – not in the recorded gospels, at least. Every time we see Jesus perform a miracle, the procedure is a little different. I suppose He could have adopted some sort of trademarked move – the wave of a hand, a few important-sounding words, some elaborate ritual – but the fact that each healing was unique pointed back to the fact that God was the one doing the healing, not some magical concoction or mysterious phrase. The only thing all these healings had in common was Jesus Christ Himself.
More than that, the healings performed by Jesus all convey something deeper than the healing itself. They’re there to teach us something. When Christ healed a leper, Luke made sure to include in his account that Jesus “put out His hand and touched him” before healing him (Luke 5:13). Jesus didn’t need to do that. He could have stood at a distance and healed the man just as effectively, but Christ touched him. Lepers were untouchables, pariahs whose disease forced them to remain quarantined from the rest of civilization. In reaching out and touching that leper, Jesus revealed His deep compassion for a man who had likely been bereft of human contact for quite some time – and, by extension, His deep compassion for all those who need healing.
But what about this man at the pool of Bethesda? What made Christ ask what He did?
The gospel account tells us that from the moment Jesus saw the man lying near the pool, He “knew that he already had been in that condition a long time” (John 5:6). He knew. He knew how long the man had been plagued with this disease. He knew the man was at the pool where people went when they needed healing. He knew the man was looking for a miracle.
And yet He still asked, “Do you want to be made well?”
If you look carefully, there’s actually another question buried within in the one Jesus asked: “Are you comfortable being broken?”
Being healed would change everything about this man’s life. It would change how he got up in the morning and it would change why he got up in the morning. Christ was asking a legitimate question: “Is this what you want? I can make you well, but are you ready for your life to change on a fundamental level?”
All Scripture is given for a reason. As Paul said to Timothy, it is “given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).
So why was this healing – and, more specifically, Christ’s question – recorded for us? I think because Jesus is asking all of us that same question.
Baptism isn’t the end of the journey. It’s a step. That journey starts with repentance and continues on until perfection, and as Christians we’re all somewhere along that continuum.
Do you want to be made well? Are you comfortable being broken?
Because it can happen. I’d wager it has happened to each and every one of us. It’s a human tendency to stop at “good enough” – better than we were, but not quite where we’d intended to be. Are you there yet? Are you where you wanted to be? Are you where God wants you to be?
We can get so used to the way things are that the way things could be or the way things should be starts to scare us. Deep down, in the hidden parts of your heart and mind that only you and God can see, do you want to be made well?
Healing means changing. It’s a blessing, but it’s also a responsibility.
“To whom much is given, from him much will be required” (Luke 12:48).
When God heals us spiritually, He makes us capable of doing more. Of being more. Healing comes with the responsibility of putting that brand new potential to use.
Jesus told the man at Bethesda to take up his bed and walk, and the man did. Thirty-eight years of infirmity and atrophy, reversed in a single moment. But the blessing comes with a warning: “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14). The gift of walking physically came with the responsibility of walking spiritually.
How long has it been since God gave you the use of your legs? How long has it been since He led you to the straight and narrow path and pointed you toward salvation? How far have you come in that time?
Probably not as far as you’d like. I know I haven’t. I can see the path stretching on before me, and behind me I can see all the obstacles that have slowed me down – many of them of my own devising. Jesus wasn’t exaggerating when He said that the road we’re walking is narrow and difficult. But He also wasn’t exaggerating when He said it was worth walking – that at the end of that journey is a crown and a future worth striving toward.
Do you want to be made well? Then take up your bed and walk. There’s a long road ahead.
For Such a Time as This (Morning Companion)
Religious folks over the millennia have often felt the need to separate themselves from the world and its foibles, whether it be to hold up in a monastery, to form separate communities, or even to trek across mountains, prairie, and ocean for a completely new start in an untamed land.
I understand the sentiment. I confess to having such thoughts in my melancholy moments. After being bombarded with several days worth of distressing news stories, I have blurted out more than once a desire to move to Mars or other such climes, and while from time to time I have changed my fantasy destination, the desire to tell the world where to get off is a very real one.
In 1527 the plague inflicted the German city of Wittenberg. Wittenberg is otherwise famous as the site where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the church door. Luther was in the city at the time of this plague while many of the residents were leaving the city for healthier locations. The question naturally arose, what is the duty of the Christian in such a time as this?
Luther gave his answer in his treatise, Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague. Wrote Luther, “This I know, that if it were Christ or his mother who were laid low by illness everybody would be so solicitous and would gladly become a servant or helper. Everyone would want to be bold or fearless; nobody would flee but everyone would come running … If you wish to serve Christ and to wait on him, very well; you have a sick neighbor close at hand. Go to him and serve him, and you will surely find Christ in him.”
Martin Luther was saying what many Christian teachers have said for many years: It’s time for the church to be the church. This is an ailing world, and times such as this require a cadre of committed people who have their wits about them and are motivated by nothing less than a willingness to serve.
The world is hurting and it needs us. Perhaps, as with Esther, we have been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this.
Zero-Sum Game (Sabbath Thoughts)
In the zero-sum game, I can’t win unless you lose. I can’t do better unless you do worse.
Lots of things in life are zero-sum. Chess. Football games. Dividing an inheritance. Grabbing the last parking spot in a crowded lot. In all of these examples, one person’s gain means another person’s loss.
Our calling is not zero-sum. Not even close.
Paul says, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it” (1 Corinthians 9:24), but he’s not talking about outrunning the people you sit beside every week at services. You don’t get a prize for crossing the finish line before them; you don’t get extra points by doing better than them.
Your race is against your own human nature, your performance is measured only against God’s perfect standards, and you win by finishing. Not before someone else, not better than someone else. Just finishing.
I don’t think most of us look at our calling that way. I think most of us understand our mission isn’t to out-Christian our brethren. So here’s a question: If we’re not being measured against each other, what do we stand to lose by supporting and strengthening each other as we complete our races?
And another question: What do we stand to gain?
“Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed” (Hebrews 12:12-13).
The whole race changes when it stops being about us finishing and starts being about everyone finishing.
Who Decides Your Rights? (Morning Companion)
My beliefs would have received no more welcome in the Massachusetts of 1640 than they do in the Massachusetts of today. The Puritans of 1640 were a moralistic crew who had little tolerance for dissent unless it was their brand of dissent.
This hardy band was forced from England because of their dissenting ways, but once they established their own hegemony they forced all who would not conform to leave the colony. Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, the Seventh Day Baptists – all sought refuge in a small colony called Rhode Island in a quest for religious liberty.
Not long ago I was engaged in an interesting discussion on the internet regarding the concept of the role of religion in American history. Was the United States ever really a Christian nation? It became apparent to me that the real concern among the secularists goes straight back to the experiment at Massachusetts Bay where an attempt to bring a theocracy to the American continent resulted in inflexible intolerance and loss of liberty. Whereas some of us may view the term “Christian Nation” as generic shorthand for a kind of syncretism of a civil and religious ethic of behavior and thought, many view it in terms of the Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials. Who can blame them?
In fact, I would not want to go back to a society of Blue Laws and other subtle forms of discrimination against my brand of religion, while at the same time I bemoan and mourn the loss of the basic moral ethic that has its roots in Judeo-Christian thought. But then again, my contact with the Evangelical Right does not inspire worries about their agenda, nor do I have a concern about a return to expulsions from the body politic.
I am concerned, however, about the new Puritans, the Puritans of the left. They seem to have an entirely different ethic and even religious fervor that has its own non-negotiable rules of morality. The debate is over, they tell us, on climate change, carbon (dioxide) emissions, same sex marriage, illegal immigration, free speech rights, and whatever else that is a part of the new orthodoxy. Dissent is good, they say, even patriotic as long as they are the dissenters, but now the questions have all been decided. They won the election! Game over!
In this we see a new intolerance born of the misunderstanding of the origins of our liberty. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?” If one does not believe in universal, inalienable rights endowed by one’s Creator (for in the world of secularism, there is no Creator) then from where do your rights come?
My internet interlocutor offered the case that the people get to decide which rights we have. But if that’s the case, the people by a majority vote or a majority vote of their representatives can decide that no one has a right to be Jewish and can initiate an Inquisition. They can decide that homosexuals can be strung up and beaten with rubber hoses. They can legislate or even prohibit religious beliefs and enforce compliance. Why not? They won the election! Game over!
Inalienable rights endowed by a Creator is a more sure road to freedom. As for me, I prefer that world view whether this is a Christian nation or not.
Apple Pies and Holy Nations: The Upward Calling (Sabbath Thoughts)
In order to prove that God was no longer required by humankind, a coalition of prominent scientists joined forces with the goal of discovering some advancement that would put them on equal footing with their Creator. It took decades of grueling research and backbreaking labor, but at long last, they made an earth-shaking breakthrough. Soon, reporters and news anchors everywhere were raving about the newly constructed “Genesis machine” – a machine, everyone said, that would free humanity from its dependence on God.
With great pomp and circumstance, the scientists brought their invention before the throne of God for its grand unveiling. He watched patiently as they assembled the machine, piece by intricate piece, until they stood proudly before a rather impressive-looking contraption, covered in flashing lights and a mind-boggling array of buttons.
After a moment or two of silence, God gestured to the machine and said, “Well? What does it do?”
The lead scientist grinned widely and said, “We’ve done it! We’ve finally done it! This new invention proves once and for all that You, God, are obsolete!”
“Oh?” said God. “How so?”
With a grand sweep of his arm and a nod of his head, the lead scientist gestured for his companions to begin prepping the machine. Buttons were pressed, pistons and gears sprang to life, and lights flashed wildly. “With the Genesis machine,” he said, “we can now create life from inanimate matter. All it needs to begin is a small handful of dirt – and from there, anything is possible.”
“Most impressive!” said God. “Let’s see!”
The scientist knelt to the ground to scoop up a pile of dirt and began walking toward the great contraption – but just as he reached the machine, God snapped His fingers and the dirt vanished. Irritated, the scientist turned to God and shouted, “What’s the big idea?”
“I thought you were going to prove to Me that I was obsolete,” said God.
“I will!” shouted the scientist.
“That I am completely, entirely unnecessary to humanity.”
“You are!”
“Well then,” said God, leaning in close to the scientist and placing His hand on the man’s shoulder, “get your own dirt.”
Making Apple Pies
Mankind prides itself on its creative abilities. After all, what haven’t we created? From masterful paintings to towering buildings to technological advancements so complex they require several degrees to fully comprehend, it’s evident that the human race has a definite affinity for creating.
But are we really creators? It was the late Carl Sagan who once observed, “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” In the most literal sense, we can never claim to have made an apple pie from scratch because we didn’t make the ingredients. Even if you grew your own apples and milled your own wheat, can you claim to have made the apple tree? Where did the millstone come from – did you create the rock from which it was fashioned?
The universe and all its building blocks were established a long time ago, created from absolute nothing by the Word of God. As much ingenuity as we’ve shown in our time on earth, we haven’t technically created anything. We’ve just rearranged quite a bit of it.
The Original Creator
The very first sentence of the very first book of the entire Bible establishes God as the only true Creator: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The introduction to the entire written word of God is a reminder that God made everything. The computer you’re reading this on, the chair you’re sitting in, even the very clothes you’re wearing – the atoms and molecules that compose all of these began their journey when God spoke the universe into existence at the dawn of time.
We might be creative, but God is the Creator. “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9).
Qadash and Qodesh
At the end of the creation week, God did something special with His brand new universe. He took the seventh day and He “blessed … and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3).
The word “sanctified” is an interesting one. It is unfortunately one of those words that gets tossed around by religious communities without much attention to its actual meaning – a word that our minds might register as frivolous “religious speak” before reading right over it. But it’s an important word, so let’s take a minute to really look at it.
The word that was translated in Genesis 2:3 as “sanctified” is from the Hebrew word qadash, which means “to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate.” It’s also worth noting that qadash serves as the root of the Hebrew word translated “holy” (qodesh). So when we read that something has been sanctified or made holy, what this literally means is that it has been set apart in some way.
Apples and Apples
Okay, so I have ten apples. I take three of them and set them some distance away from the others. Are they holy apples now? Is the action of being set apart enough to make something holy? More important question: Are they even my apples?
Even though they’re in my possession, I can’t really call them mine. After all, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). Because God created everything, He owns everything – making Him the only being in the Universe with the right to sanctify anything at all. For one of us to try and do so would be roughly the same as a child pointing to some belonging of his parents’ and declaring, “I’m making this one special!” It’s not up to the child to decide – and it’s not up to us, either.
But when God makes something holy, He tells us, “Out of all the vast riches of My universe; out of every single galaxy I have fashioned, this is special to Me. There may be others that look like it, but I am making this one different; I am giving this one a special purpose.”
Setting aside time and space
We’ve already looked at the very first sanctification recorded in the Bible – the Sabbath day. God made the seventh day holy by setting it apart from all the other days of the week for the special purpose of providing rest. Later, it appears as the first of several “holy convocations” (Leviticus 23:1-3) which God set apart from the normal flow of time as special observances to remind His people of His plan for all humanity. Throughout the Bible, we see references to “holy ground” (Exodus 3:5), the “holy things [of the tabernacle]” (Numbers 4:4), a “holy border” (Psalm 78:54), and many other things set apart by God for special purposes. Out of all of time and space, God chose these times, objects, and places to become something more than what they were. But in addition to all of that, there’s one other thing that God makes holy: You.
A Holy Nation
You didn’t belong, once. There was a time, whether you grew up in the Church or not, when you didn’t have a relationship with God. There was a time when you hadn’t internalized the guiding light that is His word. There was a time when you were a common, ordinary human being.
But God changed that. He made you holy. He sanctified you; He set you apart. For “you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who were once not a people but now are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have the obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Whoever you were before, whatever road you left behind you, wherever it is you’ve been, you now belong in a holy nation. You have been chosen by the Creator, set aside by Him from the rest of the world to become one of His people. He called you and offered you a path from darkness into light, and you accepted.
The Antithesis of Holy
Unfortunately, there’s a problem. While it’s true that we cannot take something common and make it holy, we can do the opposite. We can take what God has set apart and treat it as common through a process called profaning. God warns repeatedly against profaning His name (Leviticus 18:21; Proverbs 30:9; Ezekiel 20:39) and His Sabbaths (Exodus 31:14; Ezekiel 22:8) by treating them as ordinary. Generally speaking, when Israel found itself oppressed by nearby nations, it was because they had stopped honoring both God and His Sabbaths.
When we stop treating God as holy, He stops setting us apart. We can’t profane the name of the One who sanctifies and expect to remain holy ourselves. In other words, when God sets something apart – when He makes something holy – we must be sure to treat it as such! When He sets rules and determines boundaries, we can’t treat them as suggestions or good ideas. If we’re given a commanded assembly, we need to make sure we’re there. If we’re shown a line and told not to cross it, we need to keep from skirting the edges. The high standard of holiness is not one we can meet by remaining stationary, but by constantly pressing on toward perfection.
Onward and Upward
“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:13-16).
Brethren, we have been set apart by God to become part of His holy family. One day the whole world will have this invitation, but for right now it’s just us. The road there is a hard one and we have been called to walk it while living in a world that opposes us at every turn. The days will be hard, the battles will be difficult, but the crown of righteousness lies ahead.
We serve a holy God, and He has called us to be holy, too. Let’s strive to meet that standard.
3 Ways to Move a Mountain (Sabbath Thoughts)
I know of three ways to move a mountain.
The first is to attempt some kind of herculean effort, tearing the whole thing off its base and tossing it aside. This is my usual approach, and it has never worked, not once. As a bonus, I end up feeling discouraged about my ability to accomplish anything, even though succeeding was impossible from the start.
Another, more practical way is with a shovel – showing up every day, day after day, chipping away at the problem one shovelful at a time. The difficulty with this approach is that it’s still easy to get discouraged. Comparing even your hardest day’s work to what remains to be done can make us feel like we haven’t really done anything.
The secret to this method is looking at the shovelfuls, not the mountain. Showing up consistently and getting to work. Yes, the results of a single day of shoveling might not be anything to write home about, but multiply that day by a week, a month, a year, a decade – a lifetime – and you’ll start to see the results you’re looking for.
The third way – the most important way – is prayer.
“Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).
Our God can and will help us move the mountains in our lives – but He isn’t always going to do the hard work for us, apart from us.
Sometimes, when we ask God to help us move a mountain, He’s going to hand us a shovel.
Learning to Love God’s Law (Sabbath Thoughts)
“Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).
For a long time, I had trouble wrapping my head around that sentiment.
It’s not that I didn’t appreciate God’s law. I did appreciate it. I had the blessing of being raised in the Church by two parents who helped me to see God’s law as valuable and precious.
But love it? That always felt like an odd feeling to have toward a law. By definition, a law is designed to prevent you from doing one thing, or to compel you to do something else. It’s a boundary, a fence, a requirement – something designed to limit what you’re allowed to do.
I didn’t understand how a person could love that. It’s not like anyone is going around writing 176 verse psalms of praise about the U.S. tax code, right? (I’m not even sure what that would sound like. “I will delight myself in Title 26, Subtitle A, Chapter 2, Section 1402(a)(1), which I love.”
Of course, the difference here is that God’s law is leagues apart from a country’s tax code. We’re not talking about a couple centuries’ worth of half-baked ideas and addendums haphazardly bolted onto a lopsided framework eroded by the misguided imaginings and greedy schemes of mere human beings.
We’re talking about the law of the God who set the universe in motion.
I think I’m finally getting to a point in my life where I can understand it – how it’s possible to love a set of restrictions and requirements – and more than that, why loving it is important.
It comes down to how we view fences.
If we only ever see God’s law as the fence that stands between us and the things we’d really rather be doing, then yes, it’s never going to be possible for us to love that law. It’s never going to be possible to offer God anything more than grudging obedience.
On the other hand, if we see God’s law as the fence that protects us from wandering into the darkest corners and most painful errors of this physical life, then, well…
That’s the kind of law someone could write a song about.
That’s the kind of law someone could learn to love.
That’s what the author of Psalm 119 saw. Look at the way he talks about God’s law:
“My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times” (verse 20).
“I long for Your precepts” (verse 40).
“Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage” (verse 54).
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (verse 103).
“Your testimonies … are the rejoicing of my heart” (verse 111).
“I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!” (verse 127).
“Your testimonies are wonderful” (verse 129).
“Consider how I love Your precepts” (verse 159).
“I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure” (verse 162).
“My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly” (verse 167).
“Your law is my delight” (verse 174 – compare verses 16, 24, 47, 70, 77, and 143).
The psalmist isn’t silent about why he feels this way, either.
God’s law is “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (verse 105).
It offers “more understanding than all my teachers” (verse 99) and “more than the aged” (verse 100, ESV).
It is a path (verse 35), a course to run (verse 32) that keeps us from wandering down every false (verse 104) and evil way (verse 101).
It’s what Moses pleaded for the Israelites to understand as they stood at the border of Canaan – every law God gives us, every precept, every testimony, every commandment, every statute – they place boundaries between us and self-destructive wickedness, all while ushering us toward a rewarding, fulfilling life.
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).
Go this way and live. Go that way and die.
The Creator of the universe, who has a vested interest in your journey through this physical life – who calls you His child and offers you a place of honor in His family – has laid out in great detail the physical and spiritual principles necessary for navigating this life and laying hold of eternity in the next.
That’s what God’s law does for us. That’s what makes it beautiful. That’s what makes it something to reach out and grasp tightly, to treasure, to meditate on in the night watches, to cling to like a lifeline.
That’s what makes it something to love.
Pray For Our Enemies (Morning Companion)
In my country we live in one of the most polarized periods in our history, or so we are told. If we were to track the roots of our divided family tree, we could rationally lay the blame on our political environment, although, if we were to ask the neighborhood, we would probably find that most of our neighbors don’t like the squabbling any more than we do. In fact, as is often the case under such ruckus, we could probably surmise that a few rock throwers on opposite sides of the road are the ones who are making most of the noise in the hopes that we’ll all join the rumble.
It has degenerated to the point in some quarters where those who have opinions differing from the politically acceptable wisdom of the day are being referred to as enemies, with the implication that the word should begin with a capital E.
I don’t know where all of my readers stand on every issue. We likely disagree — and disagree mightily — on something. That does not mean we need to be Enemies.
Sadly, not all look at the world in that way, and we can rightfully say they might very well be enemies.
And if that’s the case, we need to treat them as such.
So let me ask you a question. When was the last time you prayed for your enemies? Think of the sleaziest politician that you can and make that person a focus of your prayer, not in hate, but in love. Why would we not do this? What’s the worst that could happen if we did? What if they, like Saul of Tarsus, were to repent? Or maybe we need to do some repenting ourselves over our own attitudes. Would that be such a bad thing?
Regardless who is in the White House and who is in the outhouse, it’s good to remember how Paul instructs us to pray.
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
Not Of This World (Sabbath Thoughts)
“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36).
I’ve been thinking about that lately. The Jews of the first century – up to and including Jesus Christ’s own disciples, even after His resurrection – were looking for a Messiah who would overthrow the Romans and “restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6). What they got was a Savior who sacrificed Himself for the world and then asked His followers to do a very difficult thing: To wait.
Those are His last words in Luke’s gospel account: “tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).
Wait. Be patient. So they did. And they were. Finally, on the Festival of Pentecost, God poured out His Spirit on them, and they set about fulfilling their divine commission: to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey the words of God (Matthew 28:19-20).
All the while, these faithful disciples were looking to the horizon, waiting for the Kingdom their Lord and Savior had promised to establish at His return.
But it didn’t come – not during their lifetimes, anyway. Even Paul, who wrote with confidence about “we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15), eventually came to accept that Jesus would be returning after his own death, and not before (2 Timothy 4:6).
For the last 2,000 years, Christ’s disciples have been waiting. And while we wait for the Kingdom not of this world, Jesus asks us to do another difficult thing: To live like we’re not of this world.
Because, of course, we aren’t. Jesus told the Father, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). Paul told the Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). He told Timothy, “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him” (2 Timothy 2:4, ESV). The author of Hebrews urges us to follow the example of those who “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” who “declare plainly that they seek a homeland” (Hebrews 11:13-14).
The world wants you to get involved – to get entrenched – to find a hill to die on and battle it out till the bitter end. And if you want a hill to die on, this is a year to find one. There is no shortage of highly polarized issues you can focus on and fight about for as long as you like. Political issues, cultural issues, social issues, environmental issues – you name it, it’s there to fight over. Pick your platform and air your stance – and that’s all it takes to enter the fray.
The hard part is stepping back.
The hard part is remembering that this isn’t how things get fixed.
The hard part is confessing that we’re just passing through, declaring that our homeland is somewhere else.
Those who came before us faced their own challenges, too. “And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:15-16).
Satan would love to see you return to the country you left behind. He’d love to see you lose your focus by investing all your time and energy into arguing over temporary band-aids for a world that’s already irreparably broken.
Remember why you’re here. Remember where you’re going:
A city not of this world, prepared for a people not of this world. A Kingdom where all the issues of this world will be fixed by the God who knows how to fix them. Our homeland.
Jesus is coming quickly. “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).
For God Still Loves the World (Sabbath Thoughts)
I saw this phrase on the December 2020 cover of Christianity Today. A giant, cosmic hand reaches out toward a world wrapped in darkness, drifting alone in the starry expanse. The phrase floats along the curvature of our little planet, printed in letters so tiny you have to lean in to read them: “For God Still Loves the World.”
The cover was striking. So was the phrase.
They’ve both stayed with me, but the words especially have been floating around my head – probably because of the way they contrast with John 3:16, arguably the most well-known scripture of all time:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
That’s such a beautiful verse. We might roll our eyes at it when we see it overused or emphasized to the exclusion of all other context, but it doesn’t change the fact that these words contain a truly incredible truth:
God loved the world. The world full of wayward sinners and wicked miscreants, the world where even His own chosen people had (again) lost sight of what mattered – He looked at that world and loved it enough to send His Son to die in a truly excruciating way, all so that the doors of salvation could be opened to a planet full of people who didn’t deserve it. Who couldn’t deserve it, not in a million billion years.
And His Son loved the world enough to agree to the plan and follow through. But the problem with that verse (I speak as a fool) is that it’s in the past tense. Of course it is. It has to be – it’s talking about an event in the past. The real problem – not with the verse, but with the way we might be inclined to read it – is that it’s easy to look at God’s love as past tense.
“God so loved the world.” Then, but not now. Once upon a time.
I guess that’s why the phrase stuck with me the way it did. For God still loves the world. As if to say, “He’d do it all over again if He needed to.”
Even now. Even today. For any of us.
But He doesn’t need to do it over again, and that’s a beautiful thing, too.
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. (Hebrews 7:25-28)
The sacrifice that tore the veil to the Most Holy Place in half two thousand years ago is the same sacrifice that covers our sins today and lets us run our race to the Kingdom.
But it’s bigger than just our sins. It’s bigger than just the relative handful around the world who know God and who obey Him.
“And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
The whole world doesn’t know or understand that yet. It doesn’t know how to accept that propitiation or even why it needs it. But it will. In time, it will.
In time, “Ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (Zechariah 8:23).
In time, everyone will come to understand that the God who so loved the world is the God who still loves the world, and that from the dawn of time itself, He has been working toward the completion of His plan to transform flesh and blood humans into His sons and daughters, made fully and completely into His likeness, ready to explore the depths of eternity as His spiritual family.
The world is a confused and angry place right now. A lot of people are doing a lot of things they will one day look back on in shame and disgust. It’s hard, knowing the truth, not to be angry at so many of the things that are happening.
It’s hard not to be angry at the people doing those things, too. But maybe not wise. Wisdom asks us to be discerning about where our anger is directed. Yes, be angry at the sins. Be angry at how the beauty of God’s creation has been corrupted and trampled and perverted into a deformed husk of what it was intended to be. Be angry that our adversary the devil has convinced billions upon billions to heap pain and misery and suffering upon their own heads while believing they are doing something good and noble.
Be angry at all that, but never forget that God so loved the world.
That God still loves the world.
Festival of Firstfruits (New Horizons)
The festivals form a pattern based on the agricultural cycle, perfectly understandable in an agrarian society. The apostle Paul has much to say about the ‘First-fruit’, and he expands its significance beyond the harvest theme to embrace the glorious destiny mapped out for true believers.
The first festival of the Hebrew year is Passover/Unleavened Bread, and the firstfruit of the barley harvest was celebrated during it. When the Sabbath ended the Temple authorities cut a sheaf of ripe barley, which was presented next morning before the altar: ‘… he [priest] shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah for your acceptance; on the morrow of the sabbath [Sunday] he priest shall wave it’ (Leviticus 23:10). It was called the ‘Wavesheaf’.
The apostle applies this symbolism to Jesus: ‘… now Christ has been raised from the dead; He became the firstfruit of those having fallen asleep [i.e. who died]’ (1 Corinthians 15:20).
Passover marked the death of Jesus – which occurred as the Passover lamb was slain in the Temple. The harvesting of the Wavesheaf marked his resurrection from death, Jesus having spent three days in the grave (Matthew 12:40).
Sunday morning we find Mary at Jesus’s tomb, early, ‘while yet dark’- only to find him gone (John 20:1). Jesus then met Mary, but forbade her to touch him:
‘Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father’ (v.17).
He was about to ascend to heaven to be presented to the Father as the firstfruit (1 Corinthians 15:20) – at the time the firstfruit sheaf was to be presented in the Temple. We note that the disciples later that day embraced him when he appeared to them. Mission accomplished.
Noting that the wavesheaf consisted of many stalks of ripe grain, Paul unravels the significance: ‘…ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit’ (Romans 8:23). Every true Christian is a part of the ‘firstfruit harvest. James echoes this theme; if you are ‘in Christ’ you are ‘…a kind of firstfruits’ (James 1:18).
The barley harvest began only after that first sheaf of grain had been cut (Leviticus 23:14), and continued until the next festival seven weeks later. God instructed: ‘…you shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall you number fifty days’ (v.15-16). It culminated in the Feast of Weeks – in the New Testament called Pentecost (Acts 2:1).
It is of note that the first Christians joyfully accepted that the LORD expected them to observe His festivals. Thus we find Paul ‘was in a hurry to arrive in Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, if at all possible’ (Acts 20:16).
He had also issued guidance to the Corinthian brethren on the manner they should be observing these festivals (1 Corinthians 5).
Better than Stardust (Sabbath Thoughts)
Speaking of the formation of stars and solar systems, astronomer Carl Sagan once wrote:
All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star. We are made of star-stuff. (The Cosmic Connection, p.189-190)
Later, he would refine that thought for the first episode of Cosmos, a 1980 miniseries he hosted:
The cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.
For someone who believes that human life is a product of millions of years of evolution, it’s a compelling narrative – that our existence isn’t just a happy accident, but the universe becoming self-aware, understanding and experiencing itself through us.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist who hosted the follow-up series to Sagan’s Cosmos, would later echo the same thought in his 2017 book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry:
What we do know, and what we can assert without further hesitation, is that the universe had a beginning. The universe continues to evolve. And yes, every one of our body’s atoms is traceable to the big bang and to the thermonuclear furnaces within high-mass stars that exploded more than five billion years ago. We are stardust brought to life, then empowered by the universe to figure itself out – and we have only just begun.
There’s a certain beauty to that whole train of thought: The building blocks of our existence were forged in the hearts of stars that erupted from the birth of the universe. We are the universe – coming alive, coming to understand itself. But it’s the wrong train of thought, isn’t it? As poetic as it sounds, it falls woefully short of capturing the true beauty of what’s going on here.
Yes, if God created the universe through the mechanism of the Big Bang – and the current scientific evidence, as we understand it, suggests that He did – then maybe we are stardust.
But that’s not all we are. That’s so far from all we are.
Family, you and I were shaped by the hands that made the stars.
When God took the dust of the ground and formed the very first man – when He took a rib from that man and made a woman – He wasn’t enabling the universe to know itself.
He was creating life in His image – an entire race of beings, men and women, who were made to look like Him, who were infused with the potential to become like Him. When He made the sun and the stars and set them in “the firmament of the heavens” (Genesis 1:17), He was merely setting the stage. These great thermonuclear furnaces – these astronomical spheres of whirling plasma and incomprehensible circumference – they were set in place as a backdrop to the main event. Us. The stars are a trifle. A mesmerizing, beautiful trifle, an awe-inspiring wonder of the universe – but a trifle all the same. Nothing else in the creation week gets the introduction God gives the human race:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26–28)
It’s not a spotlight we’ve earned or deserved – it’s a spotlight God chose to shine. He made humans uniquely in His image because He wants to expand His family. Understand the enormity of that.
No other creature has that potential. The stars that fill the night sky certainly don’t. That ought to lead us to ask the same questions David asked:
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.(Psalm 8:3-5)
God’s creation is filled with wonders – testaments to His infinite creativity and wisdom, His “invisible attributes” on display for us to see (Romans 1:20). Eliphaz asked, “Is not God in the height of heaven? And see the highest stars, how lofty they are!” (Job 22:12). And yet none of those wonders have the potential future that God offers to human beings – the potential to live on into eternity as His children, in His image.
You are not the universe coming to know itself.
You are more than a curious by-product of the Big Bang.
You are a child of God, shaped by the hands that made the stars – and one day, you’ll outshine even the brightest of them. That’s so much better than stardust.
It’s OK to Smile in Church (Morning Companion)
In the 1970s, American humorist Erma Bombeck attended a worship service that she would never forget. Something happened that made her mad:
In church the other day I was intent on a small child who was turning around smiling at everyone. He wasn’t gurgling, spitting, humming, kicking, tearing the hymnals or rummaging through his mother’s handbag. He was just smiling.
Finally, his mother jerked him about and in a stage whisper that could be heard in a little theater off Broadway said, “Stop that grinning! You’re in church!” With that, she gave him a belt on his hind side and as the tears rolled down his cheeks added, “That’s better,” and returned to her prayers.
Suddenly I was angry. It occurred to me the entire world is in tears and if you’re not, then you’d better get with it. I wanted to grab this child with the tear-stained face close to me and tell him about my God. The happy God. The smiling God. The God who had to have a sense of humor to have created the likes of us. I wanted to tell him he is an understanding God who understands little children who pick their noses in church because they are bored. I wanted to tell him I’ve taken a few lumps in my time for daring to smile at religion.
It isn’t a sin to smile. It isn’t a sin to be happy. It isn’t a sin to have joy…even when those around you don’t!
Some may say that church isn’t the place to smile. I can think of none better.
Dare to Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord! by Erma Bombeck. Ocala Star-Banner, February 26, 1970.
Tedious Graffiti and Idle Scribbles (Sabbath Thoughts)
Before the city of Pompeii was entombed with ash for 1,500 years, it was covered with something else entirely: graffiti.
The eruption that destroyed the city ironically preserved the scribblings of the Romans who lived there – and if that graffiti goes to show anything, it’s that not much has changed in the past few millennia. Some people left their mark:
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Gaius Pumidius Dipilus was here on October 3rd 78 BC. (That date was, of course, converted in the translation process – I doubt Gaius knew how many years away the birth of Jesus Christ was.)
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Aufidius was here. Goodbye.
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Staphylus was here with Quieta.
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Romula hung out here with Staphylus.
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Publius Comicius Restitutus stood right here with his brother.
Some declared their love:
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Caesius faithfully loves M.
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Figulus loves Idaia.
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Marcus loves Spendusa.
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Rufus loves Cornelia Hele.
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Hectice, baby, Mercator says hello to you.
Some left wisdom:
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Traveler, you eat bread in Pompeii but you go to Nuceria to drink. At Nuceria, the drinking is better.
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Once you are dead, you are nothing.
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A small problem gets larger if you ignore it.
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Remove lustful expressions and flirtatious tender eyes from another man’s wife; may there be modesty in your expression.
Some left insults:
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Samius to Cornelius: go hang yourself!
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Epaphra, you are bald!
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Virgula to her friend Tertius: you are disgusting!
Some left warnings:
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This is not a place to idle. Shove off, loiterer.
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The finances officer of the emperor Nero says this food is poison.
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Postpone your tiresome quarrels if you can, or leave and take them home with you.
Of course, many left incredibly lewd and disgusting comments that I won’t bother to reproduce here – not unlike your average bathroom stall at a rest station. And some people… uh, made bread:
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On April 19th, I made bread.
But my favorite piece of vandalism by far is scrawled on the Basilica, which functioned as Pompeii’s court and town hall. There are a ton of remarks here, but one stands out:
O walls, you have held up so much tedious graffiti that I am amazed that you have not already collapsed in ruin.
There’s a certain sense of irony that this inscription managed to survive the calamity wreaked by Mt. Vesuvius – but irony aside, it’s a phrase that’s stayed with me since I first came across it two decades ago. (The translation I heard back then was, I wonder, O wall, that you have held up under the weight of so many idle scribblings.)
Tedious graffiti. Idle scribblings. Do you have a wall you like to write on? There’s the obvious analogy of social media – everyone on Facebook has a “wall” you can write on – but I want to go a little broader than that.
Where are you focusing your creative energies? Where are you investing your time? Is there a wall in your life that you’re filling up with tedious graffiti? Is it worth it?
At the end of the day, there’s really only one wall worth focusing on – the wall whose “foundation … is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
Nothing wrong with hobbies. Nothing wrong with creative outlets. Nothing wrong with having fun. But not every wall in our lives deserves equal attention – and if we’re not taking the time to add to the right foundation with the right materials, we may find that the only thing we’ve really accomplished is a portfolio of idle scribblings.
Against all odds, the “tedious graffiti” of Pompei’s Basilica was preserved for centuries. We know where Gaius Pumidius Dipilus was on October 3rd, 78 BC. We know someone baked some bread on April 19th. We know Marcus loved Spendusa, and we have reason to believe Epaphra was bald. So what? In the end, even those walls won’t last. When the Day of the Lord comes and “the heavens … pass away with a great noise, and the elements … melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10) – and 6,000 years of tedious human graffiti along with it.
You, on the other hand, have the opportunity to contribute to something lasting, meaningful, and precious. Better get building.
Revelation and the Three Seats of Power (Morning Companion)
This will be one of my rare forays into the Book of Revelation. It’s not that I discount its value. But having read and heard the failure of prognosticators’ prophetic timelines, I’m inclined to be extra careful when drawing any conclusions about prophecy and end-time interpretations.
Having said that, I find a certain section in the book to be an interesting framework by which to view the political history of the world, and, by extension, a framework that can help us understand the state of society in the end times.
The section in question is Revelation 17 and 18. But before we get into that, I’m going to posit a theory of history, and we’ll see how that matches up with those two chapters.
Under this theory of history, there are three centers of power. Let’s call them estates, borrowing a phrase from the French Revolution. These three estates are 1) the political, 2) the ecclesiastical, and 3) the financial. They will often work together to create a stable society (or to enrich and empower themselves), and at various times and places one of those three will have the dominance. For example, in Communist nations, the political dominates through its exercise of force. During the Middle Ages, the religious establishment dominated the kings and the financial interests of Medieval Europe. The city-states in Renaissance Italy were dominated by financial interests.
Under this theory, history is a matter of which estate is best positioned to dominate society. Sometimes two of the three estates will form an alliance to marginalize the third estate. It is also fair to say, even if they are rivals, and even if sometimes they hold great animosity for each other, they can all accumulate wealth and power.
Let’s take a look now at Revelation 17 & 18.
Chapter 17 pictures a harlot riding a beast. This symbol hearkens back to Greek mythology.
In this myth Europa, a virgin Phoenician princess, is seduced by Zeus. Zeus transforms himself into a bull, which seduces Europa into climbing onto the bull’s back. Zeus in the form of the bull then charges into the sea and brings Europa to Crete.
Early Christians reading Revelation would immediately make a connection between the Greek myth and the symbols that John uses in Revelation 17. They would connect the symbolism of a princess from Phoenicia, Jezebel’s land of origin and also that of Baal, and Zeus, a power from Europe, joining forces. Here we have a corrupt ecclesiastical system merging with a powerful and dominant political/military force. Here we have two of the three estates combining to exert power and influence. This is in stark contrast to Jesus’s statement that his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), nor are his followers of this world (John 17:16).
Revelation 17 shows in a metaphorical way what happens when the political and the ecclesiastical combine: the ecclesiastical does not purify the political. Instead, the political corrupts the ecclesiastical and then turns the ecclesiastical into a metaphorical Jezebel. It’s important to emphasize here that this metaphor does not point a finger exclusively at one prominent religious organization. It is a mistake to do that. Every religion of this world is at risk of that corrupting influence. It has happened in many Protestant and Orthodox-dominated countries, not to mention non-Christian religions such as Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism.
In any case, and relevant to the Christians reading and understanding Revelation, the warning to followers of Christ is to avoid becoming the consort — the “harlot” in Biblical terms — of politics or of any political party. They will court you and use you, but will end up resenting you and destroying you if you cease to submit to their manipulation (Revelation 17:16).
That becomes even more relevant when we consider the Jezebel nature of an ecclesiastical system that craves political power. The woman riding the beast will, like Jezebel, try to rule the politics of the domain and become drunk with power, often leading to death or banishment of those who dare to disagree with her enlightenment (Revelation 17:6).
The role of the Body of Christ, on the other hand, is an evangelistic and prophetic one: to preach the gospel to the world (Matthew 28:19-20) and to proclaim a prophetic message (Isaiah 58:1, John 16:8 on revealing to people their sins). Those roles are often incompatible with political goals, because the purpose of evangelism and moral teachings is not to gain power or money, but to advance this world’s rival, which is the Kingdom of God.
So far we have addressed two of the estates: the political and the ecclesiastical. The third estate, the financial, is addressed in Revelation 18. In this chapter the fall of Babylon is illustrated. If we take Babylon to mean the system of this world’s politics and its bedfellows which were introduced to this world in the mists of the ancient world dating back to the Tigris and Euphrates, we can see that the power and wealth of that system results in fantastic wealth and power for a few while the majority live subsistence lifestyles. Thus, when the Babylonian system falls and is replaced with the government of God that has an entirely new ethic (Luke 22:24-26, Matthew 5-7), the kings of the earth will weep over their loss (Revelation 18:9-10). So will the merchants of the earth (Revelation 18:11-19). Look at what this passage says. Notice the words in the italics that I have added:
“And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’
“They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’
The picture we see in chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation is one where all three estates are working closely together to achieve their sometimes overlapping objectives. Throughout history, each estate vies for supremacy and sometimes achieves it, but that supremacy is only temporary because the other two power bases act as rivals for the preeminence of power. When all three decide to cooperate and attempt to consolidate power, they will still be rivals, but their marriage of convenience spells the loss of freedom and the transfer of wealth from everyone who is not of their club. Notice the words bodies and souls of men in Revelation 18. That’s a reference to physical and psychological slavery for the rest of us.
The view of Revelation 17 and 18 through the lens of the Three Estates is probably different than the interpretations you have seen elsewhere, although likely complementary to most of them. It’s my belief that this most opaque book of the Bible was encrypted in the way it is in order to protect it, but also to hide its meaning until the time it needs to be revealed. As events unfold, the fog will begin to lift, we’ll see the connections of the book’s symbols with the real world. Then its meaning will become more clear.
Post Script: From C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. “What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’ – could set up on their own as if they had created themselves … invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history – money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery – the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
Smoking Flax and Bruised Reeds (Sabbath Thoughts)
Passover. It’s right around around the corner – the lynchpin on which hangs the crux of God’s entire plan of salvation. Very soon, we’ll be commemorating the death of our Savior – a death that, for us, opened the door to eternal life. The path to that night is never an easy one. In addition to Satan’s increased volleys against God’s people, we also face the emotionally taxing process of self-examination. We hold ourselves up to the standard of God’s word, we compare where we are to where we’ve been, and we measure our spiritual growth against the perfect model of our older Brother.
And if you’re anything like the rest of God’s people, you’ll find that you aren’t quite there yet. Because you’re weak. Because you’ve given in to temptations you thought you’d conquered. Because for every step forward, you can count too many steps back. Because you were hoping to be a roaring fire, and instead you feel like smoldering tinder. You look back on your shortcomings, your flaws, your sins, and you wonder how much more patience God could possibly have with you – how many more times He can possibly forgive you before deciding you just aren’t worth the effort.
These thoughts aren’t uncommon, and I think they’re one of the big reasons we need the Passover service every year – because it’s a reminder. A reminder that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). A reminder that He offered up His own life on our behalf “when we were still without strength” (Romans 5:6).
You weren’t worth the effort when Christ died for you. You just weren’t – not by any human standard. But He did it anyway, because He and God the Father love you. You have worth to Them – They want you in Their family forever, and so the Son of God willingly died to give you that opportunity. If They were willing to go through with that, do you think God is going to give up on you now just because it’s a harder road than you were expecting?
Sometimes I think we imagine God like the Greeks once imagined Zeus: lightning bolt held at the ready, just waiting for the smallest infraction to rain down punishment. But that isn’t the God we serve. While He certainly won’t abide a person or nation with a heart set on evil, He is also “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
One of my favorite prophecies about Christ is from Isaiah: “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench” (Isaiah 42:3). How often is that us? How often are we a bruised reed, struggling just to keep ourselves upright? How often are we a piece of flax, lacking the strength to do anything but smolder? – pinned down under the weight of trials and our own sins, bruised and smoking instead of standing tall and shining brightly. But when our Brother sees us in that condition, He doesn’t walk by and snap us in half for being weak. He doesn’t snuff out our last dying ember because we’re struggling to keep our heads above the water.
Christ builds us up. When He sees us at our weakest – when our fire is burning low and we can’t find the strength to build it back up, Christ gives us what we need to keep going (Philippians 4:13). It’s the reason Paul wrote, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). It’s the reason Christ Himself said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). If all we have left is the smoldering hope of a flame, Christ is going to work with that.
So maybe you are weak right now. Maybe you are a bruised reed or smoking flax. But Christ is the same Christ who died for you when you didn’t deserve it. God is the same God who gave you His Holy Spirit as a down payment when you hadn’t earned it. And that’s what Passover is really, truly about – remembering the sacrifice of a Brother who came to reinforce the bruised reeds and give fuel to the smoking flax, and looking to the covenant we made with a Father who calls us His sons and daughters.
When you accepted the sacrifice that Passover reminds us of, you entered into a special relationship with your Creator. You’re not where you want to be yet; none of us are. But you have the covenant promise of a Father who told us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
No, you’re not where you want to be, not yet – but that’s okay. God is going to get you there.
Ten Questions to ask before Passover (Sabbath Thoughts)
If I’m not careful, my pre-Passover self-examination can take a sharp turn into unhealthy territory. It’s so easy to see the failure. Where I am versus where I wanted to be. What I’ve overcome versus what I’m still struggling with. How much time I’ve had versus how much I’ve accomplished. A laundry list of weaknesses and inadequacies versus a few redeeming traits.
As Christians, we understand that growth is important. Growth is expected. We don’t sit where we are. We don’t bury the talent in the ground. God is expecting progress. It doesn’t take much for self-examination to turn into self-flagellation. Not good enough. Not far enough. Not strong enough. Not wise enough … but isn’t that the point?
The whole point of the Passover is to “proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). To honor and reflect on the sacrifice that paid the price for our inadequacies. What makes us think that, a year from now, we should be approaching this evening with all the kinks worked out? We won’t. We can’t. That’s not how this works.
Growth is important. We should pay attention to it. We should make a it a goal. We should be periodically measuring ourselves against our own spiritual growth chart and taking note of the ways we’ve changed. But we shouldn’t let it become the only thing that matters. It’s not.
This evening that’s fast approaching – it exists because we can never be good enough. No amount of growth, no track record of progress is enough to qualify us to become sons and daughters of God. From a human standpoint, there’s only one way we can approach the Passover evening: Inadequately.
If you disagree, answer me this: What amount of growth will make you feel qualified to eat the bread? Exactly how much spiritual progress do you need to feel entitled to drink the cup?
Passover is about more than saying, “Last year I was this tall, but now I’m this tall.” That’s important, but it’s not what the evening is about. It’s not about who we are and how far we’ve come; it’s about who Christ is and what He did. What He continues to do. Christ’s sacrifice is what allows you to walk into the room on Passover. Nothing else ever could.
Still, if you’re like me, it’s easy to fixate on the shortcomings – the unrealistic expectation – the “if I were a better Christian, I’d be at this level by now, but I’m not”. So instead, I’d like to offer you a handful of questions to incorporate into your self-examination this year. These aren’t questions that ask you to highlight how far you are from the goalpost you have in your mind – they’re questions to get you focused on the impact being a disciple of Jesus Christ has had in your life.
Over the course of the past year …
What are some specific ways God has shown you His love?
When have you been encouraged to “seek first the Kingdom?”
What passages of the Bible speak to you differently than they used to?
What moments made you grateful for God’s mercy?
What moments brought you to a deeper appreciation for God’s Word?
What scripture has offered you the most encouragement?
When has God’s grace given you hope and perspective?
What has been your biggest contribution to God’s Church?
What has the biggest blessing you’ve received from being part of God’s Church?
What part of your relationship with God is more important to you now than it was before?
Hopefully, the picture you see in answering those questions isn’t a measurement of the distance between you and perfection. Hopefully, it’s a painting of the beautiful way of life we’re all doing our best to live – and maybe even a reminder of why we’re living it in the first place.
Footnotes of Our Lives (Sabbath Thoughts)
I’m fascinated by the Bible characters we know next to nothing about. Euodia and Syntyche were two hard-working Christians who had trouble getting along (Philippians 4:2-3). Hymenaeus and Philetus were heretics whose message spread like cancer (2 Timothy 2:17-18). Jabez was a man determined not to cause pain to others (1 Chronicles 4:10). Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:24). Rhoda was the girl who was so excited about Peter’s return from prison that she forgot to open the gate before running off to spread the news (Acts 12:13-14).
These characters were just footnotes in a much bigger story. We’re only given the briefest of glimpses into their lives before they disappear from the Biblical account forever, which is exactly what makes them so interesting. An innumerable multitude of individuals have played some role in the stories of the Bible, but the vast majority of them go unnamed and unacknowledged. What makes this handful of individuals so different? Why are we hearing their names? Why are we seeing parts of their stories?
The really sobering question, though, is this: What if I were one of those footnotes?
This isn’t ultimately a story about us; it’s a story about the greatest thing that’s ever been done in the whole history of the created universe. We’re just the lucky ones who got in on the ground floor – and while we each play a role in that story, it doesn’t mean we all get to be Peter or Paul with pages and pages written about our exploits.
I do have to wonder, though, if my life were reduced to a footnote in the Bible’s narrative, what would it say? That I was strong in the faith? That I held fast? Or that I made a habit of sticking my foot in my mouth and making poor decisions and causing my brethren to stumble? What kind of legacy am I leaving behind – even if it’s only a footnote?
When it’s all said and done, if our lives are worth mentioning at all, it’s either going to be as a positive example or as a cautionary tale. The decisions we’re making today, in the here-and-now, are pushing us toward one of those two possibilities.
So which is it? What kind of footnote is your life shaping up to be?
One of my favorite briefly-mentioned Biblical characters is Dorcas. By the time we’re introduced to her, she’s already dead – but her legacy isn’t. We discover she was “full of good works and charitable deeds” (Acts 9:36). God uses Peter to bring Dorcas back to life, and that’s the last we see of her. That’s Dorcas’s footnote in its entirety: Full of good works and charitable deeds, and a roomful of people eager to testify on her behalf. That’s beautiful. I’m glad my life isn’t an open book for others to peer into, and I’m glad my worst decisions aren’t visible to anyone with a Bible – but the fact is, we’re leaving footnotes, you and I. Footnotes for the people around us, footnotes for the people coming after us. It’s not a matter of “if”; it’s simply a matter of “what kind.”
I hope, when future generations look back on the footnotes of our lives, they see what we see when we look back at Dorcas: Good works. Charitable deeds.
Naomi Wolf and the Return of the Gods (Morning Companion)
If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20 NKJV)
In her recent Substack post entitled Have the Ancient Gods Returned? commentator Naomi Wolf expresses her dismay at how quickly the spirit of the age has changed:
Institutions turned overnight into negative mirror images of themselves, with demonic policies replacing what had been at least on the surface, angelic ones. Human-history change is not that lightning-fast.
She thought about this puzzling situation further and realized that perhaps there is something to the theory that the dark side to the spirit world is actively at work.
I could not explain the way the Western world simply switched from being based at least overtly on values of human rights and decency, to values of death, exclusion and hatred, overnight, en masse — without reference to some metaphysical evil that goes above and beyond fallible, blundering human agency.
She then relates how she came across the writings of a Messianic Jew whose theories provided a plausible explanation for the insanity we see around us, that “we have turned away from the Judeo-Christian God and thus we opened a door into our civilization for the negative spirits of ‘the Gods’ to re-possess us.”
Put differently, the “gods” are a return of spirits long ago dispatched to the fringe through the Judeo-Christian ethic, but now invited back into the mainstream through the abandonment of our rich monotheistic heritage.
Writes Ms. Wolf:
Pastor Cahn’s theme is that, because we have turned away from our covenant with YHWH — especially we in America, and we in the West, and especially since the 1960s — therefore, the ancient “Gods”, or rather, ancient pagan energies, that had been vanquished by monotheism and exiled to the margins of civilization and human activity — have seen an “open door”, and thus a ready home to re-occupy, in us.
She then quotes from Matthew’s Gospel:
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV)
Specifically, three false gods that once plagued the ancient world seem to have invaded our culture, all with destructive effects: Baal, (the god of fertility), Ashtaroth (the goddess of sexuality), and Moloch (the god of destruction).
The sheer amoral power of Baal, the destructive force of Moloch, the unrestrained seductiveness and sexual licentiousness of Astarte or Ashera — those are the primal forces that do indeed seem to me to have “returned.”
May I add that it is good to remember that it was to Moloch that the ancients sacrificed their children. Can we admit that some in our culture look upon the modern equivalent as a sacrament?
Let’s theorize for a second that the suppositions of Naomi Wolf, Jonathan Cahn, and others are literally true. What if the pathologies we are seeing are in fact a push from the principalities and powers that Paul warns against in Ephesians 6? If that’s the case, we need to take a lesson from Jesus found in a in Matthew 17:14-21:
And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Not long before this these same disciples had been sent out two by two and healed multitudes, including the casting out of evil spirits. Their gifts no longer worked, so the disciples asked,
“Why couldn’t we cast them out?” Jesus answered, “Because of your unbelief”.
What kind of “unbelief”, or “little faith” (ESV), could Jesus have been talking about? Jesus immediately reminds his disciples that, “if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Jesus is saying that we don’t need mountains of faith to move mountains. We only need a tiny bit to move mountains. Apparently the disciples didn’t have even a mustard seed of faith at that time. Then Jesus says something that hits the mark:
However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
Remember that boy’s ailment was to some extent demonic torment. The disciples, apparently, had been trying to work a miracle based on faith in their own power rather than faith in the power of God. Jesus reminds them that the battle is spiritual and that prayer and fasting (an act of extreme humility: see Ezra 8:21, Nehemiah 1:4, Psalm 35:13, among other passages) are important weapons in battling the onslaught. Put differently, battling the devil with pride in your heart puts you on their turf, which means you have already lost the battle.
Remember who the real Adversary is. The struggle is not against flesh and blood. The battle is a spiritual one, and we can’t bring back sanity by our own power alone. Withstand it, of course. Be strong and of good courage. Face the challenge. But in all your withstanding, all your strength, all your courage, all the challenge, rely on the power of the Most High for victory. Go forward in prayer and humility.
The Overclocked Christian (Sabbath Thoughts)
The Raspberry Pi is a $35 credit-card sized computer that programming hobbyists have used in some pretty spectacular projects. A quick search will pull up hundreds of guides explaining how to use a Pi as the brains of a homemade weather station, arcade cabinet, media server, security system, home automation hub, AI assistant, motorized garden enclosure, robot, and a dozen other projects that might interest you.
One of the more useful things you can do, especially if your project is taxing the limits of your Pi, is a little trick called “overclocking.” Overclocking is the process of taking a computer and pushing it a little harder than the manufacturer intended for it to go.
For the Raspberry Pi, it’s a relatively simple process – open the right text file, find the right numbers, and replace those numbers with bigger numbers. Voila. Restart the system, and you’re overclocked. A higher clock speed means your computer can chew through difficult tasks faster – which, depending on what you’re using the Pi for, can make a huge difference in what your project is capable of accomplishing.
But there’s a trade-off, of course. Otherwise the manufacturer would have the clock speed cranked up as high as it could go. Overclocking requires more power. More power produces more heat. More heat and faster speeds generally mean a shorter lifespan for the components involved. Besides all that, changing the manufacturer’s clock settings both voids the warranty and introduces an element of instability into the system. Even with a dedicated cooling system, there’s a non-zero chance that tweaking those settings will crash your operating system or fry something important. In the case of the Pi, we’re talking about an easily replaceable $35 computer. As far as taking risks goes, messing with the settings a little bit isn’t exactly a huge gamble.
But it’s possible to overclock more than computers. If you want, you can overclock yourself.
I think Martha was probably an overclocked Christian. At least, I think she was during the brief little window we get to see her the first time we see her in the gospels. Martha and her sister, Mary, were hosting Jesus in Martha’s house. “But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me’” (Luke 10:40).
Martha was focused on being a good host. She was focused intently on that. The Bible says she was distracted with much serving. How much? Enough to forget what really mattered in the moment. Jesus (gently, I imagine) responded, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41).
Worried. Troubled. Distracted. I think we all know an overclocked Christian when we see one – especially because we all have the capacity to be an overclocked Christian.
Christ’s yoke is easy. His burden is light. When it’s not, there’s a good chance we’re overclocking ourselves – and the only thing we can accomplish with overclocking is unnecessary stress and inevitable burnout.
The Manufacturer set your clock speed where He did for a reason. Within those boundaries, you can be all the Christian you’ll ever need to be.
A Time to Choose (Morning Companion)
In 1946 an Italian immigrant named Frank Capra produced a movie that has become a classic tale about what is right with America. Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed starred in that story of a mythical town called Bedford Falls. When I moved to Lee’s Summit, Missouri some 30 years ago, I found a wonderful life here in my own Bedford Falls. It was a city of good neighbors, excellent schools, and responsible leadership. It was a growing community of neighborhoods and families. It was full of George Baileys committed to making our city into Hometown, USA.
Those 30 plus years since my move have seen many changes in this town, some good, some excellent, and some not so good. I’m blessed to live where I do, in this diverse, supportive neighborhood where neighbor still looks after neighbor.
But I am beginning to see more and more the shadows of Mr. Potter, where the desire for money and control — regardless of the consequences — is becoming more and more the focus at the expense of life style and the building of a caring community.
Where property values are more important than human values.
Where the enrichment of a few developers happens at the expense of the taxpayers.
Where our married children with their children cannot afford to build their homes in this town.
In Frank Capra’s classic film he portrayed two visions of his adopted homeland, a homeland he loved. He set before us the choice between Bedford Falls and Pottersville.
The Bedford Falls of George Bailey or the Pottersville motivated by power and the dollar.
The choice is before us: Bedford Falls or Pottersville?
When God is Silent (Sabbath Thoughts)
Between the last page of the Old Testament and the first page of the New sits about 400 years of silence. Four hundred years without a recorded prophet. Four hundred years without a message or a story or any kind of preserved word from God. For four hundred years, we have neither record nor rumor of God speaking to His people through the prophetic word.
Where was God during all this time? Had He finally given up on His people and His promises? Was this the end of the road for Israel and for the plan of God?
Thanks to the benefit of hindsight, we know the answers to those questions – but the people who lived during that 400 year span probably didn’t. Generations came and went, each likely filled with people wondering where God was and what He was doing. During that time, the remnant of Israel was subjugated again and again – by the Greeks, by the Egyptians, by the Syrians, and by the Romans. God, meanwhile, appears to have been silent.
If I had lived during that time, I suspect my conclusion would have felt obvious. God was done. Finished. Israel had faltered one too many times, and the world that had rejected God was on its own.
I would have been wrong, thankfully. God wasn’t done with the world at all. On the contrary, He was at work behind the scenes, shaping the world and guiding events until the time was right to set in motion the next part of His plan – a plan that He’d been working toward since before the foundation of the world. It took centuries before everything was in place, but “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
There’s a world of difference between silent and finished. In those four centuries of silence, no one knew what God was doing – in fact, all the way until the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it still wasn’t completely clear what God was doing. But He was doing something, even when no one knew it. Even when no one could see it. Silence doesn’t mean God is standing still.
Easy lesson to learn; hard lesson to live. It’s in the moments of silence that we’re most desperate to hear God’s voice, most eager for confirmation that He’s listening to us and seeking our good.
But we don’t always get that – at least, not at the times and in the ways we want. Sometimes we cry out to God and hear nothing in response, and in those moments, it’s easy to feel deserted. Abandoned. It’s easy to wonder if God is done with us; if perhaps we’ve failed too many times for Him to still care about us. It’s easy to share in Christ’s anguish on the cross:
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Except God isn’t done with you – just like He isn’t done with Israel, either.
The Old Testament ends with a promise from God: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5).
It took roughly four centuries before that promise was initially fulfilled by the ministry of John the Baptist (Matthew 11:13-15), but it happened. There was never the slightest chance of it not happening.
The New Testament likewise ends with a promise: “Surely I am coming quickly” (Revelation 22:20). Two thousand years later, we’re beginning to understand that “quickly” doesn’t mean what we thought it meant. The whole process is turning out to be longer and more involved than most of us anticipated. We’ve had to wait. And wait. And wait.
Just like those before us. Just like those before them. It’s a long chain of waiting, stretching from the present all the way back to that promise in Revelation. “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Just not today. And probably not tomorrow, either. Or the day after that.
In fact, in two thousand years, we’ve not had a single direct word from God. No new books of the Bible. No thunderings from Mount Sinai. No prophet with a divinely commissioned, “Thus sayeth the Lord.”
Is that reason to doubt God? Is it reason to assume He’s forgotten His promises and turned His back on us?
Instinctively, we know the answer to those questions. Of course not. Of course God is still working His plan out, just like He was between the Old and the New Testaments. We wouldn’t be running this race if we believed otherwise. We understand, like our forefathers did, that God is moving the pieces into place, and that it will happen in His perfect time:
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).
And that’s the key. God’s people see and cling to God’s promises. Even when they’re afar off. Even when God is quiet. The reality, the inevitability of those promises is enough to sustain them through the most difficult moments of their lives, because they know that even in the silence, God is busy. He’s getting things ready for “the fullness of time.”
And when He’s ready – when He pulls back that curtain and shows us what He’s been working on this entire time – we’ll say, “Of course. Of course it had to be this way. It could never have been anything else.”
That’s at the core of faith – not that God will grant our wishes like some genie in a bottle, but that He’ll do what’s best for us, when it’s best for us, and that eventually, it will all make perfect and beautiful sense.
And so it was by faith that Abel offered “a more excellent sacrifice” (Hebrews 11:4), even though it earned him the animosity of his brother and cost him his life. It was by faith that Noah loaded up his family on the ark and watched the water submerge his entire world (Hebrews 11:7).
It was by faith that Abraham “dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country” (Hebrews 11:8-9), and by faith that Sarah “received strength to conceive seed … because she judged Him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11).
Sometimes we look at faith as the ability to see the unseen, but I don’t know if that’s always the case. Sometimes – maybe often – I think faith is the ability to trust that God sees the unseen, even when we can’t. To hold onto the promises we’ve been given and trust that whatever God is doing in silence behind the curtain, it’s bringing us closer to where we need to be.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Even when He’s quiet. Even when we can’t see what He’s doing.
For 400 years, the Jews waited for the Elijah who was to come. For 2,000 years, the Church has been waiting for the return of our Lord and Savior. And during so many dark, trying moments in our own personal lives, we find ourselves waiting for some sign that God is still there; some sign that He has a plan; some sign that He cares.
Silence doesn’t mean God is standing still. That doesn’t make it easy or comfortable or enjoyable. But it is a reason to hold onto hope and faith even when everything around us is screaming to let go.
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)
The Reset (Sabbath Thoughts)
Some weeks, I don’t want the Sabbath. I don’t want to stop. There’s too much to do, or else I’m in the middle of a project I’m excited about. Putting it all down, hitting pause for 24 hours – if I’m being honest, there are times when that thought is more frustrating than exciting. But even then – even on the weeks when my human nature resents having to stop – I can’t think of a single week when I haven’t needed the Sabbath. It’s a reset, hard-coded into the DNA of the world itself.
“Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3).
Not just that first Sabbath day, but all Sabbath days, forever into the future. A day to stop. And not a day we can stop. A day we must stop. More than that – a day we need to stop. God knows when we need to stop. He made us, and then He made the Sabbath day for us (Mark 2:27). Can we physically survive working through one or two Sabbaths? Oh, absolutely. The majority of the world hasn’t stopped for a single Sabbath of their lives. But we wouldn’t gain what we might expect from that. We wouldn’t end up with extra time. We’d lose important spiritual time instead. The reset is a gift.
The week is ending; the creative work is on hold; we’re disconnecting from the world and strengthening our connection to the Creator of the world. The forced stop is a privilege we don’t deserve. Without it, we probably would keep working on whatever urgent project demanded our attention in that moment, repeating the process week after week, over and over, until …
Until what? Where does all that work ultimately get us? Not to a place that matters in the context of eternity. Instead …
If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words, Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 58:13-14)
The New International Commentary on the Old Testament has a great reflection on the beauty of this passage:
Here we cease our work and remind ourselves that it is God who supplies our needs, not we. Here we re-orient the compasses of our spirits to the true north of God’s gracious character, remembering as we give one-seventh of our time to him and his concerns that all our time is his. For those who approach the Sabbath in this way, the day is a precious gift (the sense of ʿōneg, delight, v.13). It is a special day, a holy one, to be guarded jealously, not because God will destroy us if we lift a pencil or throw a ball, but because here we have another chance to remind ourselves about what matters and what does not, about what passes away and what survives, about the fact that all we are and have is his, a gift freely given and freely to be returned to the Giver. (John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40-66, p.508-509)
What matters and what does not. What passes away and what survives.
A gift, freely given from God to us. Have a wonderful reset, family.
The Feet of Your Enemy (Sabbath Thoughts)
Jesus washed Judas’s feet.
He knew how the evening would unfold. He knew His disciple of three and a half years was about to betray Him into the hands of sinners – wicked men who would ensure He died one of the cruelest deaths any human could inflict on another. What’s more, He had known all this since day one.
“For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him … ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’” (John 6:64, 70).
Jesus picked Judas, knowing their relationship would culminate in His crucifixion. Knowing he would become a willing tool in the hands of Satan. Knowing that this man was going to prove himself to be a liar, a deceiver, and a thief.
Jesus washed his feet anyway.
There wasn’t any hope of redemption in the act. It didn’t change what was about to happen. Watching the Creator of the universe perform the duties of a servant didn’t make him rethink what he was doing.
Jesus washed his feet anyway.
There, wrapped up in that single act, is so much of what it means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. So much of where I fall short.
Jesus had already told His disciples the rules for this kind of situation. Now He was showing them what it looked like to live it.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:43–48).
In spite of it all, Jesus loved Judas. He didn’t love what he was doing. He wasn’t deciding not to hold him accountable for his sins. But He did wash his feet. Jesus loved him the way God loves all of us.
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
It didn’t matter that Judas ultimately rejected that love. It didn’t matter that Jesus knew that Judas would reject it. Jesus still gave him the same opportunity – the same love – that He gave the other disciples.
Love – service – laying down our lives – that’s a fairly easy thing to do when the feeling is mutual.
I wonder if I could have done it. I wonder if I could have got down on my knees and washed the feet of the man I knew was about to facilitate my death. I don’t think I could have. I think I would have told Judas to wait outside until I was finished with the others. I think I would have stared daggers at him the entire evening.
Which is why Jesus is God and I’m not. I’m still working on developing the kind of love that can do that – the kind of love that can kneel down and show undeserved kindness to my enemies – the ones who hate me, curse me, and spitefully use me.
One day, God willing, I’ll have it. But until then, I’m grateful God already does.
Jonah Went Down (Sabbath Thoughts)
From the moment Jonah chooses to run from God, he begins a spiritual downward spiral. The author of the book highlights that spiral in the way he narrates the story. As soon as Jonah decides to flee, the story says he “went down to Joppa” (Jonah 1:3). After paying the fare for a ship, he “went down into it” (verse 3). As the storm sent from God begins to tear the ship apart, Jonah is missing in action – because he “had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep” (verse 5). And after the sailors throw him overboard to put an end to the storm, Jonah finds himself drifting “down to the moorings of the mountains” (Jonah 2:6).
The narrator doesn’t mention Jonah moving upward again until he reaches his lowest point – literally and metaphorically. Even then, it’s God who does the moving. Inside the great fish, Jonah acknowledges God as the one who “brought up my life from the pit” (verse 6). God picked Jonah back up – even when he didn’t deserve it. Even when he had spent most of the story actively resisting it.
And in the end, that’s what the book is a about. Mercy – undeserved and desperately needed. Without mercy, Jonah dies at the bottom of the sea. Without mercy, Nineveh gets blasted off the map in a show of divine fury.
But it’s also a reminder that when we flee from God, we drag ourselves down. Step by step, one degree at a time, we begin to submerge ourselves into disaster.
We can count on God to show us the mercy we need to get back on track – to even extend His hand and give us a boost – and that’s wonderful. None of us would be here if it weren’t for that incredible aspect of God’s character. We should be grateful for it and comforted by it.
But I think the other big lesson of Jonah is this: Life is easier when we don’t run.
Making the Leaps (Sabbath Thoughts)
Growth is turbulent. That’s what I’ve discovered in my time as a parent.
Mary and I have three – three! – kids now, and I’ve watched this truth play out over and over again. The turbulence, from our perspective, always feels like it comes out of the blue. We find a rhythm, we establish habits, we have a system that works, things make sense – and then, without warning, chaos. Sleep schedules go topsy-turvy. Moods fluctuate rapidly between wild extremes. Everything in the world is either hilarious or devastating or infuriating. Tasks that were second nature yesterday become nightmarish challenges today. There are tears. Confusion. Frustrations. Screams. Misunderstandings. Clashes of wills.
Right about the time that Mary and I start looking out the window to check for a full moon or maybe the apocalypse, we notice it: The Change™.
By definition, the Change™ is always something new, so it’s hard to spot. But the seeds of it are always there, in the midst of the chaos. Something is different – the way they move, the way they’re thinking through things, the words they’re using. They’re growing. In developmental psychology, these moments are often called “leaps” – the rapid acquisition of a new set of skills, which ultimately result in a new way of seeing the world.
That’s the important bit. These aren’t just fancy new party tricks. Developing object permanence changes the way you see the world. Realizing a string of motions can be connected to a single action changes the way you see the world. Refining your depth perception changes the way you see the world. Understanding cause and effect changes the way you see the world. Learning to walk changes the way you see the world. Learning to verbalize your thoughts changes the way you see the world.
And it doesn’t just change the way you see it – it changes the way you exist in it. Each of those milestones changes the way you interact with the world – forever.
There’s a reason all these leaps are accompanied by chaos. They’re hard. They are, quite literally, life-changing. They fundamentally alter the way our brains are wired. They change what we perceive, what we understand. They throw our internal world into chaos – it only makes sense that the stress, the uncertainty, the newness of it all would spill over into our external world, too. I’m learning to be patient when these leaps crop up. I try to remember how I’d want to be treated if the inner workings of my world suddenly became unfamiliar and intimidating. Not that it’s easy. Sometimes I’m holding back my own shouts and screams and tears. Sometimes I want to grab their shoulders and ask what in the world they were thinking. But of course, that’s the point. Their brains are developing. Their thinking isn’t defensible. It’s all a bit of a murky soup, and they’re trying their best.
When the tough days start clumping together, I start looking for The Change™. I start trying to peer beyond the symptoms so I can understand what’s really going on and how I can help make the process easier.
I think being a Christian is a lot like being a kid. The same way a child’s mind has all this neuroplasticity – the same way it’s designed to tackle these enormous cognitive leaps at specific intervals as it matures – God’s Spirit also provides us with the potential for incredible change and growth.
But it’s hard. We want growth to be a perfect, predictable upward slope, but it’s not. Spiritual growth turns our world upside down. It’s uncomfortable. It’s a little scary. It forces us to see, to exist in the world differently. It makes it hard to react the way we ought to react or say the things we ought to say. Thankfully, our perfect Father in heaven is patient with us – more patient than we can be with our own kids sometimes. I’m glad for that. If I were in God’s shoes, I would have lost my cool with myself many, many times.
But “the Lord … is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, ESV). He gives us time to make sense of a spiritual way of thinking that is constantly unfolding into something bigger and grander before our very eyes – not that the way itself is changing, but that our perception of it is. Our understanding changes. We change. We grow.
Being a parent is without a doubt the most rewarding, exhausting, exciting, terrifying, gratifying, fantastically wonderful adventure I have ever been on in my life. I think about what my three kids were capable of when they came into this world, and I step back and compare that with what they’re capable of now, and it boggles my mind. Even Oliver, not two months old yet, has been growing and changing in amazing ways. Learning to focus his eyes. Learning to observe. Learning to listen.
Peter just figured out how to jump with two feet. He’s starting to put strings of words together. “Not hot!” “Hold Mama!” “Tag you, Prim Prim!” “Awwwww, baby cute!” He’s mastering all sorts of motor skills and even working on some elements of self-control.
And Prim … where to begin with Prim? I sit down and have conversations with her. She asks for explanations and understands most of them. She makes logical connections I haven’t even considered. She dresses herself, brushes her teeth, points out shapes and numbers and words, and has a list of things she’s excited to do when Jesus comes back to the earth. (Fly to Grandma’s house is somewhere at the top.)
Then I think about where they are now and where they will be one day, and my head just spins. There’s so much growth ahead of them still. So many changes. So many leaps to push through. All of it part of the process that God designed when He shaped us from the dust.
My point is – that is to say, if I have a point – which I think I do – is this:
The God who knows what it takes for little children to grow in a physical sense knows what it takes for you to grow in a spiritual sense. He is patient. He is kind. He loves you and He wants to see you grow.
The days that are frustrating, the days that don’t make sense, the days when you want to scream and yell and cry and laugh all at once, the days when the world you know is collapsing on itself – these days are part of the process. They’re not fun. They’re exhaustingly difficult. But those days are reminders that you’re moving forward – that you’re not stagnant. If we began and ended our journey as spiritual babes (1 Peter 2:2), there would be no challenge, no difficult moments – no growth. The world would always look the same to us, because our understanding of it would never improve.
No, our job is to keep on growing “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:13, 15).
The leaps are scary. The leaps don’t always make sense while they’re happening. But when we “let patience have its perfect work,” we allow God to help us to become a little more like our big Brother, “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4).
Growth is turbulent. The leaps are hard. But in the end, it’s the leaps that take us where we need to go. Even when they feel like chaos – even when they turn our world upside down – remember that things are going to make a whole lot more sense on the other side.
The Third Commandment (Morning Companion)
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7 NKJV)
Dennis Prager explains this commandment as follows:
Is there such a thing as a worst sin? Apparently there is and this is it. How do we know? Because it is the only one of the Ten Commandments whose violation God says He will not forgive – “The Lord will not hold him guiltless” (literally, “God will not cleanse” the one who violates this commandment.) (Quoted from Prager’s Rational Bible commentary, Exodus: God Slavery and Freedom, page 245)
What Prager relates bears a striking similarity to what Jesus said when He spoke of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit:
“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32 NKJV)
Many have speculated about this sin that “will not be forgiven”. Prager supplies an interesting take from his Orthodox Jewish perspective:
[T]his sin that is unforgiveable … can only be understood if we translate the verb of this commandment literally. Do not “take” is not what the commandment actually says. The Hebrew verb in the commandment, tisa, means “carry”. The commandment therefore reads, “Do not carry God’s name in vain.”
And who carries God’s name in vain? Any person who claims to be acting in God’s name while doing the opposite of what God wants — evil. Obvious modern examples would include Islamist terrorists who shout, Allahu Akbar (“God is the Greatest”) when they murder innocent people; or a priest or any other clergy who, utilizing the respect engendered by his clerical status, molests a child. There is little question Islamist terrorists and molesting clergy have both played a role of the rise of atheism in our time.” (Ibid)
That reflects Jesus’s words as quoted by Luke:
It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. (Luke 17:1-2)
Considering the irreparable and irreversible harm being perpetrated on vulnerable children these days in the name of God or Science, blood should be running cold in some veins.
When Jesus made his statement about the unpardonable sin, He was speaking directly to the religious leaders of the day who were accusing him of being a tool of the devil. Apparently, Jesus perceived that something beyond merely a false accusation was behind their words. At the very least, they probably knew better than to say such things, because Nicodemus himself admitted that “we know that you are teacher come from God, for no one can do these things you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Accusing Jesus of sorcery as the religious leaders did Matthew 12 when the signs clearly pointed otherwise was certainly doing evil in God’s name.
As his final word on the subject, Prager goes on to say:
No atheist activist is nearly as effective in alienating people from God and religion as are evil “religious” people.
As noted, the Hebrew word y’nakeh (“hold guiltless”) literally means “cleanse”. Essentially God is saying if anyone dirties God’s name, God will never cleanse that person’s name.
Driving Like Jehu (Sabbath Thoughts)
Imagine having a driving style so unique, so identifiably yours that someone could spot you from a mile away. Jehu had that.
When he led his insurrection against the kings of Israel and Judah, the watchman at the town of Jezreel recognized him from an incredible distance away. He shouted his report: “The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously!” (2 Kings 9:20).
Well, sort of. The Berean Standard Bible translates that final Hebrew word a little more accurately: “And the charioteer is driving like Jehu son of Nimshi—he is driving like a madman!”
Jehu didn’t drive angrily. He drove like a man who had lost his mind.
I don’t know what that translates to in terms of actual chariot-driving technique – but the watchman sure did. He knew it instinctively – long before he could see Jehu’s appearance or hear his voice, he knew. Only Jehu the son of Nimshi drives like that. Who else could it be?
How do you drive your chariot?
Jehu had a reputation for driving his like a man who was no longer in control of his mental faculties. That’s probably not the reputation you want. But that little detail is a reminder – there are qualities about each of us that make it easy for others to spot us a mile away. It’s not always the things we say or the way we look – more often than not, it’s the way we navigate through life. The way we drive our chariots.
Peter begged the Church, “as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12).
Drive your chariot knowing that you’ll be seen by others – not as a madman, crashing your way from one dumpster fire of a decision to the next, but as someone leaving a trail of good works in your wake. Do so much good that, when people who don’t know God try to accuse you of being an evildoer, they actually wind up with a reason to praise God when He arrives on the earth.
The one thing it’s hard to do in a chariot is drive in obscurity. You might not be the most famous driver – the one people recognize immediately, instinctively. But you’re going to be noticed. One way or another, you are going to leave an impact on the lives of others. The kind of impact you leave comes down to the kind of driver you are.
There are chariot drivers who make us grateful they passed through our lives, and there are chariot drivers who make us wish they had driven somewhere – anywhere – else.
Jehu’s driving style is a footnote in a much bigger story – but it is a reminder that our actions and reputation travel farther and faster than we ever could. You have the reins. Where will you drive your chariot? And, just as importantly, how will you drive on the way there?
Our Planned Future (New Horizons)
Armed conflict disrupts the lives of millions of earth’s populace – though ‘the West’ has been blessed with more than half a century of relative tranquillity, with a welcome rise in living standards. But inequalities persist, and world leaders are behind the scenes planning radical change, change that will affect all of mankind.
Our track record down the centuries, however, raises a red warning flag. After six millennia of civilisation governments have utterly failed to implement utopia: ‘the way of peace they have not known’. For every ‘solution’ is undermined by human nature and scorn for foundation principles.
Civilisation – and its governing laws – is formulated on the basis of majority opinion driven (despite democratic elections!) by those who wield power – overtly or from behind the scenes. Their agenda, however, sprouts from fallen human nature – which cannot discern right from wrong. To discern right from wrong demands a recognizable universal standard based on the divine ‘law of love’ as summarized in all ten of God’s guiding principles.
The imposition of the humanly devised standards has now devolved to a global level, with the ‘United Nations’ and its covert sponsors dictating the agenda for all nations from behind closed doors, with national governments, local councils – and the public – as enforcement pawns.
Our new rulers present their agenda as benign paternal leadership dedicated to the welfare of all mankind. Their clearly stated plan can be summed up as ‘net zero by 2050’, with implementation of most measures by 2030:
A laudable end to destructive air and water and agricultural pollution. An end to poverty and recurring pandemics and to the housing shortage.
Sounds good! The shock comes, as always, in the detail.
Public transport replaces cars. Air and sea travel curtailed. Food and water rationed. Meat banned. Animal husbandry eliminated. Hi-tech GM food. ‘Smart’ cities. Reliance on (fragile) internet technology. A cashless society. Behavioural monitoring via intrusive surveillance on out smartphones and TVs, Alexa, cctv etc.
But such aims can be achieved only by coercion. Indeed plans for this are well advanced as digital IDs are being imposed and an army of ‘hit squads’ recruited to monitor our spending, behaviour, our recycling, our eating habits, our travel.
Such humanist attempts to solve man’s challenges reject our Creator and His guidance. Man was created as a perfect, rational, sentient being created from earth’s elements but with an in-built guiding spirit (the ‘spirit in man’) and described as being ‘in the image of God’ (Genesis 1:27). His purpose is we become, through our life experiences, restored to that character image.
Our ‘operating system’ was ahab, agape – love, total harmony with the divine mind, the force that maintains our relationship with the Father and keeps us on the straight and narrow. Our rejection of that pathway (‘sin’) and our dependence on distorted human reasoning required the direct intervention of the God-head: ’God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish, but have everlasting life ‘(John 3:16).
It is ’the way of the world’ – a world rejected by those who are ‘in Christ: ‘Who but the man that believes that Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world?’ (I John 5:5). Our mission as Christians is to ‘walk as Jesus walked’ – to overcome the world and its ways, as did our Saviour: ‘I have spoken these things to you that you may have peace in Me. You have distress in the world; but be encouraged, I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33).
Much of society presently stumbles through a fog of fear – fear of a virus, fear of hospitals, fear of touching something, fear of being locked up for a so-called ’violation’ of an edict, fear of climate change.
But that’s not for us, for ‘There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love’. Paul adds: ‘So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me’ (Hebrews 13:6).
Marty’s #1 Rule (Morning Companion)
I first met Marty in the early days of my chosen career. I was new at the firm, and Marty was a well-seasoned, soon-to-be retired, straight-shooting salesman. His decades of sales experience taught him an important #1 ethical lesson: When talking to a potential customer, don’t tell him what’s wrong with your competitor’s product. Tell him what’s right with yours. Th
at bit of wisdom is exactly what Paul did in Athens when he was asked to present before the scholars at the great debating forum called the Areopagus*. Paul applies Marty’s Rule. Instead of attacking their paganism and false beliefs, he complimented them on their search for truth, building on this trait to show that his God was the God whose existence their poets acknowledged but did not understand, and that this “Unknown” God offered the promise of eternal life to everyone.
Paul was so effective in his presentation that a number of these great thinkers became believers.
I keep the seventh-day Sabbath. When people ask me why, I refrain from telling them that Sunday was originally the pagan day of worship of the sun god. Instead I tell them how God instituted the Sabbath at creation, that Jesus kept the Sabbath, and the blessings that day bestows when we dedicate that space in time to the things of God, family, and fellow believers.
I also keep the Holy Days as outlined in the Bible. Rather than telling people that the days they keep are pagan in origin, I speak of the beauty of the message that the Biblical days teach because they reveal God’s plan for each one of us.
In this way I’m telling them what’s right about God’s “product”. What’s wrong with the competing “product” can come later.
I’m sure Marty would approve of this.
* Acts 17:16-32
Whiter Than Snow (Sabbath Thoughts)
I wonder how long David hated himself for what he did to Uriah. I wonder how long it took for him to be able to look at Bathsheba without thinking immediately of the man whose death he ordered and the child God took from him in response.
We don’t know. The Bible doesn’t say. What we do see are the words of an emotionally and spiritually broken king, throwing himself upon God’s mercy and begging for forgiveness. “Do not cast me from your presence,” pleaded David, “and do not take from me your Holy Spirit” (Psalm 51:11).
David knew the road he was on, because he had watched Saul walk it before him. It was a road of self-justification and excuses; it was a road upon which genuine repentance could never set foot. David had come dangerously close to following his predecessor’s footsteps – but when brought face-to-face with the truth of his own ugly heart, David chose a different road.
“Have mercy upon me, O God,” he begged. “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:1,3).
We don’t know how many sleepless nights David spent tormented by his own terrible actions, but the man we see in Psalm 51 is a man who could not, would not, attempt to reason away his sins before God. He chose a path contrary to human nature – he took ownership of his wrong doing and repented.
But David asked for more than mercy and forgiveness in this psalm:
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:7-10)
It’s snowing as I write this – has been for several hours. The world outside my window is blanketed in sheets of white. It’s a peaceful scene – with the occasional exception of a solitary car making a cautious descent down the road, my little town is all hunkered down for the night, while a curtain of pure white snowflakes gently covers the ground. That’s the beautiful thing about a snowfall. For a few precious hours before that white carpet is sullied by muddy footprints and vehicle sludge, the whole world is peaceful. Pure. Untainted.
And that’s what David was asking for: a clean slate. David, the man whose hands were stained red with the blood of one of his most faithful servants; David, whose heart had been blackened by the sins of lust and adultery; David, whose outright disregard for the law of God had damaged his kingdom in a way that would last until it was carted off into captivity – that David was asking to be restored to purity, to become once again a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
Mainstream Christianity loves the word “grace”. It’s one of their favorites to use, and one of their least favorite to define. And because we know that God hasn’t done away with His perfect law, hearing a word so burdened with false doctrines and misconceptions makes it easy for us to swerve from one ditch and into another – to focus so heavily on what we need to be doing that we start to overlook what is impossible for us to do. We can become so focused on refuting some of the lies that others have built upon the doctrine of grace that the idea of grace itself can make us uneasy.
The epistle of Galatians was written to a very sincere, but very misguided, group of first century Christians. These men and women of God had become so focused on the importance of keeping God’s law that they had forgotten its function. They had begun to believe that keeping the law itself was enough to earn them salvation. Paul reprimands them by asking, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3). He continued, reminding them that “no one is justified by the law in the sight of God” (Galatians 3:11).
God never negated His law, and Paul never attempts to explain it away in Galatians. If that were true, what need would there be for repentance? Rather, what Paul wanted the Galatians (and us!) to understand is that no amount of perfect law keeping today will blot out a sin committed yesterday. Only one thing can do that – the very word we tend to shy away from because of its man-made connotations, Grace.
Grace, the unmerited pardon available to use through repentance and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Grace, a gift given from the goodness of the giver without regard to the worthiness of the recipient. Grace cannot be earned, cannot be purchased, cannot be worked for.
Grace is what David was praying for in Psalm 51. He knew that no amount of future righteousness could cleanse him of his present iniquities. There was nothing he could do to remove the spiritual stains for which he was responsible … but there was something God could do, and did do. We know from the prophet Ezekiel that David will be once again be the king of a resurrected Israel in the future (Ezekiel 37:24), and we also know that God would not put an unrepentant leader in that position.
Do you want a clean heart? Do you want a renewed and steadfast spirit? Do you want to be whiter than snow? Well, there’s nothing you can do to make those things a reality. Keep every jot and tittle of the law without flaw for the rest of your life and you’ll never succeed in erasing the stains of your past actions.
God, however, can. When we repent of our sins, when we seek God’s help in changing our course, when we ask Him to wash away our past missteps with the blood of our elder Brother, He will do those things. Whatever our past transgressions, whatever sins are ever before us, our Creator stands ready and willing to wash us whiter than snow. He promises us, “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
God’s law is just as valid today as the day He created mankind. We are still required to obey it. But it’s not like balancing a checkbook; we don’t make up for breaking the law by just keeping it really well in the future. No, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
None of us go through life perfectly. We all stumble, we all falter, and we are all powerless to remove the stains those transgressions leave behind.
But God isn’t. By the grace of God, we can find forgiveness. We can overcome our shortcomings. We can be whiter than snow. But first, we have to ask.
The Good Old Days of Religious Music (Morning Companion)
Why, do you suppose, were the old hymns so much better than most modern praise and worship music?
There is a little something known as survivorship bias, where the best in a class, whether music or literature or any of the arts, get passed on to the following generations, while the sub-par are flung into a cultural limbo. This happens even among the masters.
Beethoven, as one example, composed almost 130 works, but we are familiar with maybe a dozen. Some of his works were masterpieces (5th Symphony, 9th Symphony, Egmont, etc.), but some were so poorly composed that they exist only in some archives somewhere and are never performed. We think of Beethoven as a musical genius (and he was), but only his good stuff has survived the test of time.
It’s the same with hymns and worship music. The oldies we love are the ones that have survived, and they have survived because they were good. Hundreds and hundreds of hymns (you can find them in old, old hymnals) did not make it through the gauntlet of time because they simply were mediocre at best. We just don’t know about them because they are lost in the files.
It will be the same with much of our modern stuff. The really good pieces will survive, but most of it will disappear.
For fun’s sake, here are some lyrics from an old hymn from 1919 — The Royal Telephone. Go to this link for the full lyrics: The Royal Telephone:
Telephone to glory, oh, what joy divine!
I can feel the current moving on the line,
Built by God the Father for His loved and own,
We may talk to Jesus through this royal telephone.
Safe to say, that’s one hymn that didn’t make the historical cut.
What We Do In The Storms (Sabbath Thoughts)
I will always have a lot of respect for Job.
He catches a lot of flak for his behavior toward the end of the book, and it turns out, yes, when you’re at the lowest point of your life and dealing with three insensitive and unhelpful “friends”, some character defects are going to rise to the top. It’s inevitable. But I think leaving the camera zoomed in on those failures gives us an incomplete picture of who Job was.
To me, the verse that really defines Job’s character is in the very first chapter. A flood of messengers rush in to tell Job the worst possible news: He’s lost everything.
His possessions are gone. His children are dead. In a single moment, he transitioned from “the greatest of all the people of the East” (Job 1:3) to the most pitiable. So what does he do?
He tears his robe, shaves his head, then falls to the ground and worships: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21)
Where does a response like that come from? Not the heat of the moment; I can tell you that. You don’t lose nearly everything you hold dear and then decide to turn around and praise God. It doesn’t work like that.
The decision to praise God in the storms of life comes before the storm, not during.
It’s something we chose to do before things get bad – a choice we make in advance when we understand who God is and what He means to us. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah made the choice to obey God at all costs long before Nebuchadnezzar was threatening to throw them into the fire. Peter and the other disciples knew whose opinion of them mattered long before the Sanhedrin tried to browbeat them into submission. Stephen knew what was worth saying long before his life was on the line.
The decision, the attitude, the mindset – it comes first. Storms will come. They’re inevitable. Inescapable. What we’ll do when the next one hits depends on the decisions we’re making right now, in this moment.
When the winds start picking up, it’s probably too late to change course.
Did God Really Tell You That? (Morning Companion)
Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good. (I Thessalonians 5:21 KJV)
Test all things; hold fast what is good. (I Thessalonians 5:21 NKJV)
In every election cycle I hear candidates claiming that they are running for office because they believe God told them to. Though it would be improper for me to question one’s personal relationship with the Almighty, I do think it is prudent to ask whether they were hearing the voice of God or the voice of subconscious which they merely thought was the voice of God. Maybe losing a bid for office once or twice or a half dozen times answers that question. Or maybe not.
Regardless, how can we know if we are doing God’s will when we get that nudge to act? Is it the Spirit of God or the spirit of Lenny that motivates me forward? We can start with the quote at the top of this essay: “Prove (or test) all things.” “Prove” in this verse carries the sense of putting something to a test. Jesus spoke of a man who had a yoke of oxen that he wanted to “prove” (Luke 14:19 KJV). That meant taking the oxen into the field to test them, to try them out as good plow animals. It was a matter of proving them by experience and results.
A wonderful example of this is found in Genesis 24, where a servant of Abraham is tasked with finding a bride for Abraham’s son Isaac. We surmise from the narrative that the servant is unsure how to go about it, so he prays the following:
“O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.” (Genesis 24:12-14 NKJV)
Soon enough a young woman comes to the well and everything unfolds just the way the servant asked, but notice how he reacts to this. I submit he models an excellent example:
And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge? (Verses 21-23 NKJV, Emphasis added)
The servant knew better than to simply take everything at face value. He was looking for confirmation that this was an answer to his prayer. He did not assume anything at first blush. He waited, he observed, and he asked questions. Only after satisfactory confirmation did he accept that he was acting within God’s will.
May I suggest we do the same when looking for answers to prayer. Sometimes we want something so badly that we grab the first bubble that floats our way. Go for the bubble if you must. If it bursts, it bursts, but at least you’ll know.
It’s All Borrowed Time (Sabbath Thoughts)
“He’s living on borrowed time.”
He cheated fate, in other words. He used up the days allotted to him, came up against the moment that should have ended his life, and kept on living. From here on out, it’s borrowed time – minutes, days, maybe even years that he was never entitled to, never knowing when it might end.
Except that’s not really true, is it? The idea that we have a set amount of time that we’re inherently entitled to – where did it come from? When we say someone was “taken before their time,” what are we implying?
The truth is more uncomfortable than all of that. David wrote:
Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days,
that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You. Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. (Psalm 39:4-5)
Translation: It’s all borrowed time. Every bit of it. Starting from day one, you aren’t making withdrawals from your own personal time bank – you’re getting the moments God gives you, and nothing more.
That’s true for all of us. It’s true for the cancer survivor and for the man who’s never had anything worse than the flu. It’s true for the passenger who barely survived the crash at the intersection and for the woman who’s never broken a bone in her body.
It’s borrowed time. All of it. We’re not promised one moment beyond this one, and yet it’s so easy to live like we’ve been given eternity.
But we haven’t. Not yet. We have right now, this moment, and that’s it.
What are you doing with it? How are you using it?
Moses asked God, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Until we understand that our days are limited, that our time is borrowed, a heart of wisdom is going to be forever beyond our reach. There’s always tomorrow, after all. Or the day after. Or the day after … And then God thunders, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you” (Luke 12:20), and that’s it. Time’s up; game’s over. No more moments to waste.
Paul offers a better alternative: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-17).
Our days are limited, our time is borrowed, and the clock is ticking. That ought to light a fire under our butts and help us to fix our attention on the things that really matter – not the distractions of this life, but the coming Kingdom of God and who we need to become to be there.
Jesus offers these words of hope: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). God is on our side here. He wants to see us succeed. He wants us to make it – but that requires action from us.
“Borrowed time” has such an ominous connotation. It sounds like a loan that might be snatched back at any moment, and maybe that’s not the most encouraging way to look at it. This isn’t time we’ve borrowed from God as much as it is time God has given to us, so maybe that’s what we need to start calling it: gifted time. Time gifted to us by a loving Creator who wants us in His family.
We don’t need to be terrified of God waiting to take His gift back just to spite us, but we do need to understand that if we choose to squander the time we’re given, then the fault lies with us, not God.
Brethren, the Kingdom awaits. The race is waiting to be run. The clock is ticking. What are you doing with your gifted time?
Joy (New Church Lady)
James 1:2-4 [ESV] Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
The apostles themselves set an example in this very thing.
Acts 5:40-41 [ESV] “and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”
Given the trial of being beaten for preaching the Gospel, they rejoiced. I am definitely not there yet.
I have rejoiced to see the end of a trial and to have survived it, but I don’t think I have ever “counted it joy” when I first met a trial along the path of life. And maybe that isn’t exactly what James is asking us to do here.
Perhaps the key to the joy of meeting a trial is in coming out on the other side with growth in faith, finding that we are more steadfast and having gotten closer to perfection and completion for the work that God is doing within us. Acts 5 does tell us that the apostles rejoiced after the beating, when it was over. They did rejoice at going through it – at being counted worthy to suffer for Jesus. I am not saying they rejoiced because it was over, only when it was over.
Jesus set the same example. We read that He pleaded with the Father to take away the trial of beating and death on the stake. Afterwards, I’m sure the angels in heaven, the Father and Jesus rejoiced.
I am sure that the Father, Jesus and the angels also rejoice when they see each of us go through a trial and come out on the other side stronger in faith and more confident in our own steadfastness.
Like weightlifting, the more we work the greater the weight we can bear. Weightlifting creates tiny tears in the muscles we use. It is the overnight repair that builds the bulk and strength we are seeking while lifting weights. So, too, our work to make it through trials may leave tiny tears (or maybe large ones), in our bodies, finances and lives, but the bulk up our faith and steadfastness, moving us toward the goal of perfecting God’s work in us.
So when you meet a trial, choose to count it as joy for the godly work it brings you. Even if we can only say, “when this is done I will count it as joy for the work God is doing in me and for my hope of future glory with Jesus in the Kingdom.” I don’t think brother James is asking anything more of us.
Do Not Be Afraid (Forerunner)
“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.” (Matthew 10:29)
As I stopped to fuel my vehicle, a sparrow landed about five feet away and began pecking on some crumbs, seemingly unafraid of me. I watched him for several minutes until he flew off out of sight.
I could not help thinking of Jesus’s words in Matthew and Luke informing us that our great God is mindful of this little bird. It seemed a little ironic that the whole nation fears increasing gas prices, worrying how they will cope if the gas crisis continues, and this tiny, vulnerable bird simply goes about his daily search for food without a care. It is especially ironic because Jesus uses the sparrow to teach us not to fret but trust Him in all things.
He says in Matthew 10:31, “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Jesus chose this diminutive bird to answer the questions: Does God really notice us? Does He watch over us and love and care for each of us? Understanding the context of Matthew 10 is helpful. At its beginning, Matthew lists the names of the apostles Jesus called and then launches into His instructions regarding their commission to do God’s work (verses 1-10). Within His instructions are warnings that their lives will not be easy. Many people would not be receptive to their message, and the apostles would have to learn to deal with it (verses 11-15). In the next section (verses 16-24), He tells them directly that they will face persecution. They will suffer trials and difficult days, but He also comforts them three times, in verses 26, 28, 31 saying, “Do not fear.” In so doing, Jesus reassures them that God was with them every step of their journey.
In Matthew 10:29-31 and in Luke’s version of the same event (Luke 12:6-7), Jesus uses the example of the sparrow to teach that nothing escapes the attention of our loving God. Why did Christ choose the sparrow? Sparrows are not majestic or powerful like raptors but just the opposite: Sparrows are extremely vulnerable, especially susceptible to birds of prey like falcons, hawks, and eagles. Sparrows are small and nondescript. A sparrow’s average length is only five to six inches long, and one of the tiny creatures weighs less than an ounce. And most often, they go unnoticed even though they number in the billions (1.6 billion house sparrows are estimated to exist around the globe, and there are 28 true-sparrow species). They are drab brown and blend in with the ground, dry grass, or scrub.
I love to watch the cardinals perching in the small tree in our front yard, and in the trees behind our house, a family of blue jays often captures my attention until they fly off. Sparrows are there too, up on the powerline or hopping in the yard, but my eyes rarely rest on them. There is little to them to hold a person’s attention. They cannot match the brilliance of colored plumage other songbirds sport.
No one prizes sparrows. No one gets excited when one flies into sight. No one pays big money to import a pair from abroad. People do not keep them in cages for their pleasant song; in fact, their “song” is more of a squawk. To put it bluntly, the sparrow is probably the most insignificant of all birds. Yet, it is for this very reason that Jesus used them to teach the apostles about God’s watchful care over them and us today.
The two instances of Jesus’s comments about sparrows say much the same thing, although a few minor details are different:
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)
Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7) As Jesus often does, He uses an example that His contemporary audience would have easily understood. Vendors sold sparrows in first-century markets as food for the lower class, and Jesus draws on this common marketplace transaction to make His point. As mentioned above, sparrows are tiny; they typically weigh less than an ounce. One would hardly be a mouthful, and what is more, their nutritional value is meager. The sparrow was indeed a poor man’s food, and even several of them would hardly make a decent meal.
It is easy to understand how little value they had in the Roman-era marketplace. No one would get rich selling pairs of sparrows for a copper coin, typically the lowest-value coins, similar in value to our modern penny. These tiny birds hold even less value today since modern people do not use them as food.
Matthew phrases what Jesus says a little differently: “And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will” (Matthew 10:29).
The word “falls” (Strong’s #4098) is translated from the Greek word: piptō, which has the basic meaning of “to descend from a higher place to a lower one,” thus, “to fall.” For example, when the young man Eutychus “fell” from the third story of a house in Troas, the word Luke uses is a form of piptō. Luke also uses it to describe a donkey or an ox falling into a well (Luke 14:5), and Matthew uses it of a house falling or not falling due to flooding (Matthew 7:25, 27). Alternatively, it can mean “to light upon.” The more common usage in Scripture is “to fall,” but this connotation is worth considering.
Most people assume that Jesus means that God notices when a sparrow falls to the earth and dies. This understanding is natural. But William Barclay’s commentary on Matthew 10:29 and this particular word are noteworthy:
The Revised Standard Version—and it is a perfectly correct translation of the Greek—has it that not one sparrow will fall to the ground without the knowledge of God. In such a context, the word fall makes us naturally think of death; but in all probability the Greek is a translation of an Aramaic word which means to light upon the ground. It is not that God marks the sparrow when the sparrow falls dead; it is far more; it is that God marks the sparrow every time it lights and hops upon the ground. So it is Jesus’s argument that, if God cares like that for sparrows, [H]e will care much more for men and women.
Jesus is declaring that if God cares enough to notice and acknowledge when the millions and millions of these little, brown-feathered birds light upon the ground, then how much more does He care for us, His children, whom He has made in His image?
His point is that we should never think of God as distant and uncaring. No matter what we may be experiencing in life, God is aware of it. When we have times of suffering, sorrow, persecution, hardship, separation, or even death, God is not somewhere else. He is right there with us.
In each text, Jesus gives hope, comfort, and strength to His disciples for when they would face persecution for preaching the gospel. He wants the disciples and us today to be much more focused on God and His will than the opinions of those who may test or discourage us.
We do not know if the disciples grasped what Jesus was telling them then, but in time they learned from their experiences and the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. We can see it in 1 Peter 3:13-14 where the apostle encourages the church with the same thought:
And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”
Peter had no doubt that God knows everything; nothing escapes His recognition or understanding. He knows our every thought, every action, every circumstance, and every experience—good or bad. And he adds, “you are blessed,” knowing God’s protection and compassion are endless.
We live in an age when God’s love and care are continually questioned, privately and publicly. But if we believe God’s Word, we show a lack of faith when we allow ourselves to think He has less compassion for us than He has for the little sparrow.
It is encouraging that, right in the middle of the sparrow analogy, Jesus says, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Jesus puts His disciples dead-center in this analogy about sparrows.
Our Savior is saying God knows us better than we know ourselves. Do we know how many hairs are on our heads? Of course, those who are follicly-challenged have a far easier time counting. Yet, no matter how much hair we may have, God knows!
And we can be sure that His knowledge does not end with the number of hairs on our heads! God knows everything about us and cares about our every body part, thought, word, and action, and He still loves us.
We are like sparrows. Compared to the number of people who live on earth, compared to the great and the near great among humanity, we are so small and insignificant. Most of all, in comparison to God, we are literally worthless. We can offer Him nothing of value. Even our highest thoughts and ideas are meaningless.
Paul makes this point for us in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29:
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
In Matthew and Luke, Jesus chose, not the strong, powerful, stately eagle but the sparrow, the weak and base of the bird family, to make His point. In the larger setting of His purpose, He has chosen you and me, the truly weak and base, those who are nothing special among human beings.
But the key words are in Paul’s repeated phrase, “God has chosen.”
We did not volunteer to become His elect. God has chosen us. We did not have any special skills or abilities that impressed Him. God has chosen us despite our insignificance. We did not have any stature in society to advance His work. God has chosen us out of obscurity. God chose those who were foolish, base, despised, and nothing.
From the beginning, the sovereign God has been working (John 5:17), creating godly children in His image and character. He has set us apart for a special purpose, sanctifying us, a process that takes a lifetime of constant refinement. He tests us, honing our ability to endure and resist sin, purifying and perfecting our character, and bringing us ever closer to His own righteousness.
Throughout that lifetime of refinement, God is there with us, watching over us and loving us. He is neither distant nor uncaring. In fact, just the opposite, as Jesus tells us in Luke 12.32: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
This term, “Do not fear,” or similar ones like “fear not” or “do not be afraid,” appears over a hundred times in Scripture. By this repetition, God is driving home a point. Do we believe it?
Jesus wants us to be much more concerned with the will of our heavenly Father than the opinions of those that may test or discourage us. Every church member needs and desires encouragement from time to time, and we can find no greater encourager than God. Nothing is more encouraging than reading about God’s sure promises in His Word, like those we see in Matthew 10 and Luke 12 about the sparrow.
God does not forget us, not even for one minute—and definitely not when we are suffering under trials. One of the most heartening scriptures is Hebrews 13:5, where God Himself assures us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Sparrows will never know that a loving God watches over them constantly and never forgets them. They have no idea He notices when they simply light upon the ground. But we know. We know our great God is aware of us at every moment of the day and knows what is happening in our lives down to the smallest detail. Why? Because, in His eyes, we are worth far more than many sparrows.
How Does God Keep Score? (Morning Companion)
More decades ago than I care to think about, I was sitting in a catechism class for teenagers. Back in those more congenial days the State of New York allowed schools to close early once a week, releasing students from its secular confines to attend religious education classes at the church of our parents’ choice.
Being of my ethnic persuasion, the family chose St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church for my theological exposure, where a young man attempted to impart to us the classical principles of the ancient faith. He laid on us what seemed at first like heresy, but no more than five seconds into his explanation a lightbulb flashed in my half-formed brain. His point made sense.
“Do you think,” he said as he strolled to the blackboard, chalk in hand, “that God has a scoreboard up in heaven and tallies points for doing good and subtracts points for being bad? No! It doesn’t work that way.”
Is God a scorekeeper in the sky who keeps track of merits and demerits? Do we live our lives in order to buy favor with God? Is our relationship with God transactional or transformational? A man named Jacob illustrates the difference.
We read in Genesis about the young man and a deal he proffers with God. As he’s fleeing from a difficult and dangerous situation at home, he has an startling yet encouraging dream, after which he makes this bargain.
“If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I can return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” (Genesis 28:20-22 NIV)
That’s an example of treating God as a transactional God. It a quid pro quo, a this for that kind of thing. It is certainly not a transformational relationship.
Many years later, after the experience of life had knocked the pride out of Jacob’s psyche, he began a journey back home. The feud with his brother that had precipitated his flight those many years before had still not been healed, and Jacob, in fear for his life, did what he he needed to do. He prayed. Notice this prayer and how it differs from his earlier prayer:
“O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'” (Genesis 32:9-12 NIV)
It’s fair to say that Jacob went home with a transformational rather than a transactional relationship with God. His experience with the vagaries of life transformed him and he came to know God in a way he could not had his life been easy. And more to the point, he knew that a mature relationship with his Creator is not based on a quid pro quo, on a this for that. It’s not transactional. It’s transformative.
How to limit God in 3 easy steps (Sabbath Thoughts)
Are you tired of the continual presence of God in your life? Does the divine intervention of a loving, all-knowing Creator just get under your skin? Would your daily routine be easier without the constant meddling of a God who has your best interests at heart?
It might seem strange to suggest we can somehow limit the Creator of the universe, but we need look no further than the Bible’s account of the Israelites for proof that it can be done. It was King David himself who wrote, “Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel” (Psalm 78:41).
So what’s the secret? It’s simple, really. There is no limit to what God can do, but there is a very real limit to what He will do. Certain actions on our end will make it harder and harder for Him to be intimately involved in our lives—so if you’d like to keep your interaction with God at the absolute bare minimum, these three tried-and-true steps are guaranteed to keep Him at arm’s length. They worked for many people throughout history, and there’s no reason they can’t work for you too!
1. Doubt Him
When it comes to thoughts and actions, God operates on a completely different plane than human beings (Isaiah 55:9). Because of His unbiased perspective and perfect understanding, He often makes decisions that—from our inadequate vantage points—make absolutely no sense. You might think this should make it easier to trust God, but human nature enables us to set our own expectations as our standard. When God inevitably fails to rise (or rather, stoop) to those flawed expectations, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to transform that disappointment into skepticism and doubt. Remember that when Jesus came to visit his hometown of Nazareth, “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58).
The key to this step is simply latching on to any fragment of doubt you can muster. Once you get that far, you’ll discover how easy it is to nurture that doubt and let it grow into something massive. And don’t worry! Doubt is a hardy, extremely resilient weed, so you would need to make a very concentrated effort to do any serious damage to it. The Israelites watched God send down bread from heaven and call forth water out of a rock, but if they woke up in the mornings with so much as a crick in their neck, they were still able to immediately accuse God of irrationally plotting their total annihilation. It won’t happen overnight, but with enough practice, you too can have this level of doubt toward God!
Once your doubt is strong enough, you’ll begin to notice God seeming a little more absent from your life. If you’d like, feel free to view this as His fault and use it to further bolster your skepticism as you proceed to the next step.
A word of caution: As powerful as doubt can be, it’s necessary to remember that even a little perspective can undo all your hard work. The author of Hebrews notes that “he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6), and the apostle James adds that Christians are to come before God “in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6). Take this to heart! Making allowances for the fact that God might know and understand more than you is like taking an axe to the roots of your doubt—so be sure to avoid this under any circumstances!
2. Ignore Him
Through the Bible, God provides us with a great deal of instruction about getting the absolute most out of life. However, many of these instructions can appear counter-intuitive on the surface. Give up a tenth of our hard-earned money? Sacrifice one day out of seven to worship God? Lose our lives in order to find them? If you’ve really dedicated yourself to the previous step, then by now you ought to have a litany of questions about these instructions. Doesn’t God know I need that money to pay bills? Doesn’t God know I need that day to take care of all my responsibilities? If God really loves me, why does He want me to shift my focus from the things I love?
Excellent. At this point your doubt is strong enough to prompt some action on your part. You should be seriously concerned that God might not really know what’s best for you—which leaves you with only one choice, really. You’re going to have to start ignoring the instructions that are just asking too much of you. Not all at once, of course. There’s no need to jump in blindly, here—just dip your toes in for now. After all, what you really need is just a little breathing room. Maybe you don’t need to set aside a full 10% of your income—after all, 5% or 6% is more than enough, isn’t it? Maybe you don’t need to spend a full day observing the Sabbath—after all, you made it to services this week, didn’t you? And maybe it’s okay to put a couple things ahead of God—after all, this mortgage isn’t going to pay itself, you know?
It might take a while to get comfortable with this new approach, so don’t feel the need to rush. You’re probably going to feel some guilt for a while, but that’s okay—just stick with the gradual approach and eventually it will pass. There won’t be any bolts of lightning or pillars of fire. You’re just doing what you need to do—and once you’ve come to accept that, it’s time to move on to the final step.
A word of caution: Ignorance is vital here. The apostle Paul encourages Christians to “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
It is essential that you do not do this. If you faithfully tithe even when it seems to promise financial ruin, you might start to see God “open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). If you start to faithfully observe the Sabbath even though you’re not sure how you’ll manage without those extra 24 hours for getting things done, you might start to find that you “delight yourself in the Lord” who will “cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father” (Isaiah 58:14). And if you discover that seeking your own interests only leads to an empty vacuum of an existence, you might start to find the truth in Christ’s statement that “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). In other words, following God’s instructions will only bring you closer to Him, which is certainly not what you want.
3. Sin against Him
Satan wasn’t always known as Satan. In fact, the Bible tells us of a time when he was known as Heylel—the day star, the son of the morning (Isaiah 14:12). He was “the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,” established by God, and perfect in his ways from the day he was created (Ezekiel 28:12, 14-15), until …
Until something happened. Satan started doubting God—started doubting that He really knew what He was doing. And Satan started ignoring the commands of God—started coveting God’s position as the Most High. His next step was only logical. He told himself:
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High. (Isaiah 14:13-14)
If God doesn’t know what’s best for you, then you’re going to have to replace Him—and who better to lead you than … you? After all, you know what you want. You know what you need. Up until now it’s been a matter of gradually letting things fall away, but now it’s time to drop the façade. You don’t care what God thinks or what He wants you to do—you only know that it’s been a long time since you ever felt close to Him and that it’s high time to take matters into your own hands.
It didn’t end well for Satan, of course. God explains:
You became filled with violence within, and you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you. (Ezekiel 28:16-17)
No, it certainly didn’t end (and will not end) well for Satan. But that’s not what you wanted, was it? A good ending? No, as I recall, you wanted to keep God as far from you as possible. Well, Christ told the disciples that He “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). I don’t know how much farther you can get from God than being hurled by Him through the cosmos, and since these three steps have you following a path strikingly similar to the one Satan took, it’s safe to assume that you’ll find a similar void between yourself and your Creator. God will not dwell with sin (Psalm 5:4), to the point where He couldn’t even be close to His own Son when Christ became the sacrifice for our sins (Mark 15:34). And at this stage, you’re well on your way to willingly making sin your lifestyle.
Do you think God will want to be anywhere near that?
A word of caution: This might seem like the absolute end of the line—but believe it or not, it’s still possible to undo everything you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. Because God is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), your genuine repentance can still throw a giant monkey wrench into the gears of this whole process. God is more patient with us than we could possibly deserve, and ultimately desires every human being to join His perfect spiritual family—and while He hates sin in all its forms, He is eager to work with all those who are seeking both His forgiveness and a way to leave those sins behind forever.
Such a mindset would be absolutely detrimental to your plans of distancing yourself from God and must be avoided at all costs. So long as you cling to the prescribed attitude of willful and belligerent sin, you will be successful in completely severing any relationship between yourself and God—primarily because this is the path that will one day lead you to complete and final destruction in the lake of fire. God is longsuffering, but He is also merciful—if you are determined to live a life that brings pain to yourself and to those around you, the most merciful thing God can do for you is to end your existence. He wants you in His family, but He will not force you to be in it.
Of course, if you’re having second thoughts about whether or not this is the path for you, now would be the perfect time to reevaluate where this is all heading. It takes a very special kind of person to see this plan through to fruition, and if you decide an alternate destination sounds a little more appealing than total obliteration, it’s never too late to reconsider a relationship with God.
Thy Will and My Will (Sabbath Thoughts)
Given the choice, how would you run your life?
I’m not talking about the freedom you already have to make decisions and pursue goals—I’m talking about having the power to control exactly what happens to you. Would you choose to receive a vast inheritance from some heretofore unknown and eccentric uncle? Would you catapult yourself into the limelight, basking in the adoration of a million admirers? Would you have your siblings ambush you and sell you into slavery, and then have your new master’s wife falsely accuse you of attempting fornication with her, only to result in your unjust incarceration for several years?
If that last option sounds a little less than palatable, then congratulations, your sanity is more or less intact. There is absolutely nothing enticing about that last scenario, and certainly it would be one of the farthest choices from my mind if I had the ability to control the happenings of my day-to-day life. And yet, that same unfortunate chain of events belongs to the story of one of God’s most famous servants.
It’s not that Joseph asked for a life filled with servitude, false accusations, and time in the slammer. No one in their right mind asks for those kind of things—but a good portion of his story looks like a rollercoaster where every “up” teases the promise of stability and improvement right before plunging even deeper into a worrisome abyss of despair.
If you’re unfamiliar with Joseph’s story (Genesis 37-50), here’s the abridged version: Because of Joseph’s status as his father’s favorite son, along with a couple visions that cast his siblings in a less-than-favorable light, Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery and convince their father that Joseph was killed by a wild animal. Joseph prospers in his new home, quickly finding himself placed in charge of all his master’s goods, until his master’s wife tries to seduce him (repeatedly), fails (repeatedly), and then frames him as a would-be rapist. Joseph is thrown in prison where, again, he prospers and is placed in charge of essentially running the jail. While incarcerated, he interprets the dreams of two other prisoners, correctly predicting that one would be pardoned and the other, executed. Joseph asks the soon-to-be-pardoned cupbearer to put in a good word to Pharaoh on his behalf, and the cupbearer happily agrees. Oh, and then forgets about that agreement. For two years. Eventually the Pharaoh has two distressing dreams, and the cupbearer conveniently has an epiphany—he knows the perfect guy for the job! He’s not hard to find, on account of still being locked up in the royal jailhouse.
There’s more to the story, but I want to stop here for a minute because I’ve left out a very important detail. It’s one of the most important details of Joseph’s entire story, and the Bible mentions it twice: namely, “the Lord was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:2,21). The specific times this phrase is used are interesting as well—the first is during his time as a slave, and the second is during his time in prison. We don’t read, “and the Lord left Joseph in prison and decided to check on him in about two years,” because that isn’t how God works. He was there. Every step of Joseph’s misfortune-prone journey, God was there, helping Joseph to succeed wherever he found himself.
God didn’t abandon Joseph. He was with Joseph, most notably during the moments that made the least sense to him. I can only imagine how much time Joseph spent in deep personal reflection. Early on in life, God had shown him visions a future where his brothers would bow down to him. Did he ever start to question those visions? Did he ever start to question God? Because I think I would have a hard time not wondering whether or not God was still with me if I were in Joseph’s shoes.
Which is exactly why the Bible gives us an emphatic yes—even in the darkest, most perplexing hours of Joseph’s life, God was present … and He was working out a plan.
The rest of Joseph’s story reveals that God was using these pitfalls in Joseph’s life to bring about something grander than anyone involved could have ever imagined. His brothers’ betrayal allowed him to become the slave of a high-ranking Egyptian official. His imprisonment allowed him to enter the prison where he would meet Pharaoh’s cupbearer. The cupbearer’s delay in pleading Joseph’s case allowed Joseph to emerge from prison at the perfect time to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.
That dream was a warning from God about an impending famine in the land of Egypt, and after having this explained to him, Pharaoh installed Joseph as the second greatest authority in all the land. Through Joseph’s inspired planning, Egypt and surrounding nations were saved from a seven-year famine that would have otherwise decimated countless lives. Among those lives were those of his brothers, his father, and other family members—brothers who, incidentally, bowed to this strange Egyptian man they failed to recognize as the brother they sold all those years ago.
So now for the obvious question: why this way? Why all the hardship? Couldn’t God have just inspired Pharaoh to put Joseph in charge from the beginning? Yes, I suppose. But there would be a couple problems with that timeline. Who knows how Joseph would have handled all that power if he hadn’t spent time in charge of both Potiphar’s household and the royal prison? Those experiences taught him both humility and organization. Also, by the end of the story we see a marked change in Joseph’s brothers—Judah, who proposed selling Joseph, is now willing to become a slave himself to rescue young Benjamin. Would that character growth have occurred any other way, or would they have just hated Joseph even more than before?
It’s clear even at first glance that the way God organized things was to everyone’s benefit—to Joseph’s, his family’s, and even the surrounding nations’. God took what would have been an unfortunate situation and shaped it into a series of events that ultimately led to something incredible. Joseph himself recognized this by the end, telling his brothers, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones” (Genesis 50:20-21).
The little snippets you and I glimpse of God’s plan in our lives so often don’t make sense to us because from our tiny human vantage point, we can’t see the bigger picture. We can’t see the future steps—we see the here and now. Joseph didn’t know why God allowed him to become a slave, or why God allowed him to be thrown into jail for a crime he didn’t even commit, but here’s the thing: God did. God knew why He was allowing each and every moment in Joseph’s life—like a master chess player, God had a goal in mind and was actively moving Joseph toward it. It’s probably not the path Joseph would have chosen for himself, given the choice. Who would have? As we noted earlier, there’s nothing appealing about all those hardships—but when we look at the bigger picture, it becomes apparent that although it wasn’t the path we might have chosen, it was in fact the best path.
How many times have you and I wondered why God is allowing something in our lives? How many times have we grown anxious that what He’s letting us go through isn’t what’s best for us? How many times have we looked at the path God has set us on and wished we could do some course-correcting? One of the proverbs preserved in the pages of the Bible reminds us, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). We can plan our lives out all we like, but God is the one who ultimately decides what happens and what doesn’t. There’s nothing wrong with having plans, but those plans need to end with the contingency Christ gave to his prayer in the garden: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).
If the story of Joseph teaches us anything, let it be this: let us understand that we can’t see as God sees. We can’t see the trillion different possibilities stemming from each step we take, but God can trace each one down to its finish line. We can’t see the end of our plans; God can see the end of His. No, not everything God allows to happen in our lives is going to make sense, but it is only because we lack His perfect vantage point. It is never a failure of planning on His end, but a failure to see ahead on ours. When we submit our lives to God’s will and refrain from fighting Him at every curve, we will find not only a life of fulfillment, but a life with a greater ending than you and I could ever comprehend. No matter how perplexing, no matter how dark the moment, God will be there to guide us every step of the way.
God shaped Joseph into a ruler of Egypt. He’s shaping us into kings and priests of the universe. Is any path to that destiny not worth taking?
The Feast and God’s People (Search the Scriptures)
In ancient times the feast was about rejoicing in the fear of the ETERNAL. It was called the feast of the harvest, or feast of Ingathering, Feast of Tabernacles (Tents), or simply,” the feast.” The harvest was complete. Food was plenteous. The work was done and it was time to rejoice before the Eternal and give thanks to Him and learn to fear to disappoint Him.
People in Israel took their tithes of the land—food, wine, and animals– to the temple and ate in the place that God chose to place His Name — the city of Shiloh (at first) and Jerusalem (later). The emphasis was on rejoicing, eating the best, and drinking the best.
The New Testament refers to God’s feasts as love feasts (Jude 12). Surely the word “love” is not referring to the “love” of food, wine, and good times. The word “love” in Greek is “agape” and means the kind of love God is and manifests.
This is the love we are to give to God’s people – called the “love of the Brethren (Philadelphia) — and to God. But how do we show love to God? “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).
It is through the love we have toward one another that we love God also. Boiled down, the Feast is about God and His people. It’s about expressing love to God through His people. What does it mean to love people?
It means getting to know them and caring for them. It means to forgive them. It means to consider their needs, feelings, and sufferings. It means respecting their person and their property. It means accepting the fact that others have a right to their own ideas, values, and decisions – different though they may be from your own. It means knowing that we adhere to the main tenets of Christianity – Jesus Christ as Lord, the Son of God our Father!
We know that men and women are different. But we don’t need to judge them or criticize them but celebrate their differentness.
We are different from one another in many ways. Respecting other people’s right to be different, even their right to make mistakes, and their right to make their own choices is a form of love. The opposite is tyranny and accusing.
I believe the feast should be about growing in so many ways, but especially in our love for Christ, who is present in His people!
Here’s wishing you a very inspiring, loving, and edifying Feast!
Bold Thoughts (Sabbath Thoughts)
The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1)
The trumpets sounded. The harps and flutes and voices quickly joined in as the royal musicians of the world’s most powerful nation struck up a symphony to send a single message to its people: Bow down.
And so, fearing the wrath of their proud ruler, conquered nations and citizens alike bowed down to a giant golden idol, proving their loyalty to King Nebuchadnezzar. An entire empire lay prostrate before a statue.
An entire empire—with three exceptions. While the rest of their fellow subjects buried their faces in the ground, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah stood defiantly. Like the royal musicians, they too were sending a message: We will not.
Word rushed back to the king like a fire igniting his wrath. Bitter citizens informed Nebuchadnezzar that three of the Jews he had instated as officials in his empires were now openly defying him, refusing to bow before his statue as commanded. Enraged, the king sent for them and demanded an answer: Had they really been so foolish as to openly defy the orders of the most powerful man in the world? He then restated the ultimatum that the three men knew all too well—they could either bow down to the statue with the rest of the empire, or they could burn alive in a furnace.
What came next shook a kingdom.
God had given His people, the nation of Israel, chance after chance (and warning after warning) to choose Him as their God. Time after time, they rejected Him in favor of smelted idols or carved figurines—choosing creation over the Creator. Centuries later, Stephen would summarize their history as he reprimanded the Israelite leaders of his time: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51).
Our Creator is patient, but He will not endure sin forever. And so, after centuries of second chances, He removed His protection from the nation and allowed foreign powers to cart the once-great people into captivity. Assyria would plunder the majority of Israel first; Babylon would follow, conquering what remained. Among the spoils claimed by the now-mighty Babylonians were four men of note: Daniel (who you probably remember from his time in the lion’s den) and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (who you probably remember from their Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego).
It didn’t take long before these four faithful men of God distinguished themselves before the eyes of their captor, King Nebuchadnezzar. Through the inspiration of God, Daniel was able to both describe and interpret a dream of the king’s—a feat impossible for the alleged “wise men” of the Babylonian empire. This earned Daniel a promotion from captive to “ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:48). The king also agreed to “set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon” (Daniel 2:49).
The story might have ended there, if not for a minor problem: Nebuchadnezzar was not a particularly humble ruler. Something about being the most powerful man in the world had bloated his ego to mammoth proportions. So when construction finished on his 90-foot tall golden idol and he sent out the orders to worship it on pain of death whenever the royal musicians gave the cue, the very thought that three of his highest rulers would openly oppose his command was unacceptable. He summoned them and explained, with all the tenderness of an egotistical dictator, that their continued refusal would end with searing agony as they plummeted to the bottom of a burning fiery furnace.
There’s a good chance that Nebuchadnezzar had not solidified his authority by memorizing the birthdays of his officers’ children. Far more likely that the ruthless king had learned to make gruesome examples of those who opposed him—so it makes sense that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were not having this discussion in the king’s private quarters. When he shouted in rage, “And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” (Daniel 3:15), no doubt an entire court of officials stood stunned and silent, waiting anxiously to hear how the three rulers would answer. Could they possibly defy the king to his face? Would they be so foolish as to sign their own death sentence? Anyone with half a brain would surely realize that their only hope was to prostrate themselves like everyone else—but the three men were not interested in appeasing anyone.
Instead, their answer would be recorded in God’s Word, preserved for us down through the millennia as a defining example of what it means to be a Christian—and what it means to be as bold as lions. They told the king:
Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. (Daniel 3:16-18)
Unsurprisingly, King Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage, intent on making the consequences of disobedience unmistakably clear. The furnace was heated seven times hotter than usual—so hot that some of the finest soldiers in Nebuchadnezzar’s army were killed just by getting close enough to throw in the rebellious Jews. Much more surprising was when the king noticed the three men, not writhing in agony, but walking amidst the flames unharmed…and in the company of a fourth figure he could only describe as looking “like a son of the gods” (Daniel 3:25, New International Version).
Ego or not, the king of Babylon was forced to come face-to-face with one simple fact: There was a Being more powerful than him, and that Being didn’t approve of Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. The king called for Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego to come out of the furnace, then promoted them and made a decree that anyone who dared speak against the God of these three men would be sentenced to an unenviable death.
God’s miraculous rescue of His three faithful servants has made this story an enduring favorite, the real lesson lies in what happened before the fire. In fact, the real lesson lies in three simple words from the men’s short speech: “But if not.”
They told the king, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Contained within these three words is an attitude, a mindset, that any Christian who hopes to capture a lion’s boldness must have—a firm belief that serving God is unconditional.
Look at their words again. They begin by expressing their complete faith in God’s ability to save them from Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath. This king of Babylon saw himself as more powerful than the gods his people served—he had deluded himself into thinking he was omnipotent, unstoppable. When he asked, “And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” he wasn’t looking for a response. So when the three men responded with, “Our God,” it sent him into a rage. And if that had been all they said, this still would have made for a powerful account—but what makes it remarkable is what came next. The “But if not.”
The Biblical account in Daniel 3 mentions no divine revelation from God. We see no record of a vision or dream given to His servants, letting them know that they would be rescued by God. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego could not have been certain whether God would bring them alive out of the furnace. They knew He was able, but they didn’t know for sure that He would. So they tell the most powerful ruler on Earth that even if God doesn’t deliver them from the fire—even if they knew in advance that refusing to bow would result in an excruciating death, they would not bow.
Not knowing that a divine rescue was imminent, it would have been easy for most people to justify bowing to the statue. After all, they wouldn’t really be worshiping the idol. God would know their hearts. They’d just be keeping out of trouble so that they could keep on worshiping the real God later! And besides that, if they were to die, that would be three fewer followers of God in a pagan government. So really, it was in everyone’s best interest, especially God’s, that they stay alive—and if that means a little compromise, then so be it, right?
Wrong. Wrong in every sense of the word. If there’s one lesson in this story, it’s this: The conditions don’t matter. Following God has never and will never be a matter of, “I’ll serve God if…” Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego understood this. There was no, “We’ll only refuse to worship your statue if God rescues us.” It didn’t matter if God saved them or not—they were not going to bow, period. End of story. They would not compromise, and they would not blur any lines set by God, no matter the cost to their positions or their lives. And it’s because of this unconditional devotion to God that they were able to be bold as lions before King Nebuchadnezzar—the most powerful man in the world.
How about us? In our lives, we might not face anything so dramatic as a one-way trip into a burning fiery furnace. But we do face pressure to compromise—to blur the lines that God has set for us. We might even be able to convince ourselves that it’s okay, that God will understand because the ends justify the means, or because we’re not 100% sure that God will save us so it’s better to fend for ourselves. But the second we take that step, the second we choose to compromise even the slightest on God’s standards, we’ll be transformed from fearless, bold lions to whimpering, uncertain kittens. It might not show immediately on the outside; we may even manage to trick some people into thinking otherwise, but in our hearts, we’ll know—we’re not bold. We’re cowards.
On the contrary, when we choose to resist the pressure to compromise—whether or not we’ve fallen short before—we establish ourselves as bold lions. When we choose to stand up for God’s way, especially when we know it could cost us dearly, we not only maintain our integrity before God, but we also set an example of what it means to be a Christian.
King David wrote a verse that sums it all up beautifully; it may even have been going through the minds of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego when they made their now-famous speech. He wrote, “In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:11). When we trust God—truly trust in His omnipotence, omniscience and immense care for us—then we know that our fellow man can do nothing more to us than what God allows. More than that, we know that whatever God allows, however little we understand it, is for our good. Secure in this knowledge, we can be bold.
As we noted earlier in this story, the names you likely know these three men by are Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. These were the names assigned to them by their Babylonian captors and, for some reason, the names that stuck in this account. Because of this, it’s easy to overlook their real names—names that rightly give glory to their God. Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah respectively mean “God has favored,” “Who is like God?” and “God has helped.” Even the names of these three men powerfully reflect their confidence and faith in God’s unparalleled ability to deliver His people.
And, yes—in the end, God rescued His three servants and even caused Nebuchadnezzar to promote them and proclaim God’s greatness throughout his empire. But what makes this account so inspiring is that even if He hadn’t … it would still have been a story worth telling.
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were bold as lions. Will you be?
He asked for all the fish (Sabbath Thoughts)
Have you ever wondered why?
The Bible records two separate instances where Jesus miraculously fed thousands and thousands of people with only a handful of loaves and fish. In both accounts, the end result is a stuffed multitude and baskets and baskets of leftovers. And that’s the main focus of the miracle—Jesus Christ’s ability to do the impossible, over and over again.
But recently, when I read those accounts, something jumped out at me. When the disciples told Jesus, “We have here only five loaves and two fish” (|Matthew 14:17), His response was,
“Bring them here to Me’ … And He took the five loaves and the two fish” (Matthew 14:18-19).
That was it. That was the sum total of their available provisions. Christ tells them to feed the multitude, and they tell Him, “How can we? Look, this is all we’ve got!” So Jesus says, “Give it to Me.”
The second account follows the same theme. A hungry crowd of four thousand is following Jesus, and all the disciples have on hand is seven loaves “and a few little fish” (Matthew 15:34). And again, Jesus “took the seven loaves and the fish” (Matthew 15:36).
Why? Why did Jesus ask for everything? Did He need five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand people? Did He need seven loaves and a few fish to feed four thousand people? Couldn’t He have done it with one of each? Couldn’t He have done it with none of each?
And the answer is … yes. Of course He could have. He created the universe out of nothing; catering a meal for a few thousand people wasn’t somehow beyond His ability. And yet, both times, He asked for all the loaves. He asked for all the fish. And He used those loaves and those fish to provide so much abundance that the starving crowds were able to take up “large baskets full of the fragments that were left” (Matthew 15:37; cf. Matthew 14:20).
Because that’s how it works, isn’t it? In our lives, in our calling, God doesn’t ask us for a token gesture. He doesn’t ask us to give up just a little bit of ourselves. He asks us for everything. It’s not that He needs it. Of course He doesn’t need it. “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool,” He tells us, “Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?” (Isaiah 66:1). But He asks for it all the same—because we need it.
It’s right there in the terms and conditions: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).
When we make the commitment to follow God, we don’t get to keep any part of ourselves back. We don’t get to say, “You can do whatever You want with most of me, but this part, this loaf, this fish, I’m keeping it and You can’t have it.” It’s all or nothing. Try to keep it, try to hold onto it, and we lose everything.
But when we hand it over … When we hand it over, the impossible happens. If Jesus can turn a handful of fish and bread into dinner for thousands with baskets of leftovers, what can He do with your life? When we let go of the illusion that somehow we’re the ones best suited to guide and direct our own lives, when we hand over the reins to God and keep nothing back, He gives us so much more than we gave to Him.
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).
The Bible is full of stories of people who fought God on that—who tried to reap His blessings without giving Him control. Samson did it. Ananias and Sapphira did it. Simon the sorcerer did it. Judas did it. We know how those stories go; we know how they end.
But the Bible is also full of stories of people who did the opposite—who submitted to God’s will, albeit imperfectly at times, and let Him lead them. Abraham did it. Sarah did it. Moses did it. Stephen did it. Paul did it. Samson (eventually) did it. And we know how those stories go, too. We know that now they’re awaiting a better resurrection, that “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16).
All or nothing. That’s how this works. That’s how this has always worked.
We serve a God who asks for all the fish.
In Due Time (New Horizons)
There’s nothing random about when God enters the world of man. He has a plan—worked out before the material creation took shape. And He sticks to it, manipulating events to ensure the desired outcome. James, brother of Jesus stated:
Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Not that God enforces us to submit to His will, but that He works circumstances to bring about that desired outcome.)
A careful reading of history convinces that God has predetermined specific events. And those events impact the world exactly when He predicted.
He ‘has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation’ (Acts 17:26).
Sings the Psalmist: ‘The LORD brings the counsel of the heathen to nought: he makes the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel [plans] of the LORD stand for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations’.
God is the mover and shaker of events among men! What He determines will happen: ‘The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand’ (Isaiah 14:24).
[Our leaders—secular and religious—take note: unless you get in harmony with God’s
plans, your own schemes are doomed to fail!]
Built into the creation’s design there are ‘lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years’ (Genesis 1:14).
Note that term ‘seasons’ (Heb mo’ed). It is variously translated but it refers to God’s ‘appointed times’— a fixed time, as for example specified times to observe God’s festivals (Leviticus 23). Or seasonal—as with harvest seasons.
But not all such ‘appointments’ are clear to us: ‘It is not for you to know the times or the
seasons, which the Father has put in his own power’ (Acts 1:7).
Or, addressing the prophet Daniel: ‘Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and
sealed till the time of the end’ (ch 12:9).
Conversely: ‘times are not hidden from the Almighty’ (Job 24:1).
And through Moses: ‘The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law’ (Deuteronomy 29:29).
Wise King Solomon adds: ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a thing’ (Proverbs 25:2).
Such divine timing is especially clear in the life and times of Jesus the Messiah.
‘when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law’ (Galatians 4:4).
At Jesus’s birth an elderly devout man, Simeon, is described as having ‘revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ’ (Luke 2:26).
The ministry of Jesus was foretold, a prophecy given through Daniel, one of God’s
prophets living in the sixth century BC. That prophecy (Daniel 9:24-25), widely known as the ’Seventy Week’ prophecy, foretold the time of Messiah’s ministry. It outlines a period of 490 years, beginning with a decree from a Gentile king regarding the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The prophecy—in three time periods—was accurately fulfilled
when Jesus, referencing a related prophecy by Isaiah concerning his ministry, proclaimed:
‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears’ (Luke 4:21).
In the New Testament, Titus confirms:
‘[God] has in due times manifested his word through preaching’ (ch 1:3).
Precisely what Jesus did in that synagogue in Nazareth. Mark, too:
‘Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the gospel’ (ch.1:14-15).
His royal birth was, too, anticipated by the Magi from ‘the East’ (Matthew 2:2).
The Scriptures make clear that Jesus was fully aware of the Father’s time-frame for his
life—and death. At Cana –as his ministry was beginning—he told his mother ‘my hour is
not yet come’ (John 2:3-4). It wasn’t the time for his public manifestation through miraculous powers.
Yet as death approached Jesus makes clear that the time for him to fulfill his destiny had
arrived: ‘The Master says, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at your house with my disciples’ (Matthew 26:18).
John adds: ‘Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world
unto the Father’ (John 13:1). A couple of hours later, in Gethsemane, Jesus wakens the weary disciples with the words: ‘Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at
hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners’ (Matthew 26:45).
Reflecting on the crucifixion of Jesus, Paul says: ‘when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly’ (Romans 5:6).
In writing to Timothy he says: ‘[Jesus] who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time’ (I Timothy 2:6).
What God predicts through His prophets will come to pass. Not only so—they happen on time, His time. There are units of time revealed in the Scriptures—long periods (such as 2520 years, 360 years, 70 years), short periods (eg the precise prediction of the birth of Isaac, Genesis 17:21, 21:2).
Truly ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
The divine plan moves inexorably onward. As we approach the return of the Saviour we can expect further unveiling of that Grand Design:
‘How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that lives for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end’ (Daniel 12:6-9).
But a word of caution. Many have taken in hand to predict when that end will be. For Augustine it was 650AD, for William Miller it was 1884, Jehovah’s Witnesses 1914, Herbert Armstrong 1975. And then there is the Mayan prophecy—misunderstood to predict the end of the world in 2012.
Be Prepared It is for each Christian to ‘keep their powder dry’. ‘be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of comes’, said Jesus.
When trouble looms there’s a tendency to look the other way, hoping it will simply go away. Jesus predicted this attitude will mark the last days. It will, he said, be just like Noah’s day—everyone carrying on with daily life and ignoring the warning signs. Their end came suddenly,unexpectedly.
Wrote King Solomon: ‘When you see trouble coming, don’t be stupid and walk right into it — be smart and hide’ (Proverbs 22:3 CEV).
Speed Limits (Sabbath Thoughts)
There are quite a few ways to deal with speed limits.
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You can perpetually keep your speedometer sitting at five over. You can cheat the system juuuuuust enough to (almost) guarantee you’ll never get pulled, all while shaving a few seconds off your travel time.
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You can hit cruise control and only ever go one speed, regardless of whether the limit changes. Sometimes you’ll be in the right, sometimes you’ll be in the wrong, but you’ll be going at your own rate no matter what.
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You can bury the needle and go as fast as your car will let you. Others will hear you before they ever see you as you swerve in and out of lanes, keeping just a hair’s breadth between you and the car in front. You’ll always be one false move away from an accident.
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You can drive 20 miles per hour under the speed limit. You won’t be breaking any laws and you’ll still technically be within your rights, but you won’t be doing anyone around you any favors, either. Even cars going the speed limit will have to swerve around you at high speeds.
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You can keep one eye on the road and another on your phone, accelerating and decelerating as your focus comes and goes. The whole time, you’ll keep telling yourself that you’re the exception and you’ve got it handled.
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You can match your speed to the flow of traffic around you. Usually that means speeding, but who’s going to pull a whole pack of cars over? And besides, would it really be safe to slow down and only go the limit?
There are quite a few ways to deal with God’s law, too. The driving styles are similar, but the penalties are much worse than a ticket.
Drive carefully.
Righteous Lot (Morning Companion)
He delivered righteous Lot who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. (2 Peter 2:6)
When I read in Genesis about what Lot did, I wonder how Peter can refer to him as righteous Lot. Think about his history.
First, we see him choosing a residence overlooking the glitz and glamour of the city of Sodom. Before long he is so attracted to the lights and laughter of the place that he settles inside the city.
Then we see him “sitting in the gate” of Sodom (Genesis 19:1), which means that he was an official of the city.
He offered his daughters to the mob of depraved men in order to appease their violence and lust. He even call these desperados “brethren” (verse 7).
He had to be dragged bodily out of Sodom in order to avoid his own destruction (verse 16).
He argued with the angels of God about fleeing to the wilderness, begging instead to be given refuge in still another city (verses 17-20).
And there was the incident with his daughters that led to births of Moab and Ben-Ammi (verses 30-38).
In spite of all this, Peter calls him righteous Lot and says that his soul was grieved at the wickedness he saw around him.
Peter is clearly using Lot as an example for those of us upon whom the end of the age is coming. But if he is an example, we need to ask, “An example of what?” There are ways we want to be like Lot. I hope we all feel pangs of grief when we see the spiral of depravity that is unravelling Western Civilization. I hope we all desire to become engaged in spreading the light of the Gospel and the salt of the truth of God to our communities. Lot, it can be said, was righteous in that sense, for he saw wickedness and called it such (Genesis 19:7) even though the citizens of that town rejected that characterization.
But that’s not the whole story, nor is it the whole lesson. The experience of Lot spells out a danger, a moral trap, that we who are strangers and aliens in this world need to escape.
Though Lot saw the wickedness surrounding him, he was unaware that the city and its culture had subtly influenced his own thinking and actions. He did not realize that he had unwittingly absorbed some of the values of that culture and that the leaven of Sodom had corrupted and overcome his salt and light. Think about what he says and does in the episode at hand.
He is drawn to the lights of the city.
He offers his daughters as a sexual sop to the mob without a second thought (Genesis 19:8).
His compromises destroy the power of his witness so that even his own family rejects it (verse14).
He calls the angry mob his brethren (verse 7).
He hesitates when ordered to leave and begs to go to another city rather than to a safe place (verse 20).
And then there is the situation with his daughters.
How much of the our culture’s values and attitudes have we, like Lot, come to accept as normal without realizing those values contravene the values of God? What aberrations do we now accept as the normal course of events? Like a fish in water, are we unaware of the water we are in? Are we so used to breathing the polluted atmosphere of our age that we ignore its ability to corrupt our souls?
I believe the conundrum that a righteous Lot who stumbles badly is not a conundrum at all. It’s a lesson in reality. First, it’s a lesson of God’s grace and mercy, but more than that, it’s also a warning: watch out for the leaven of the age. It can influence you more than you can know.
There will be a Last Time (Sabbath Thoughts)
There will be a last time I ever make a stupid decision.
There will be a last time I stub my toe.
A last article I ever write.
A last time I take out the garbage.
A last time I eat a donut.
A last time I ever change a poopy diaper.
There will be a last time I ever see my parents in this life.
A last time I visit my childhood home.
A last time I see my own children.
And there will be a last time Satan and his demons ever deceive another human being.
There will be a last time I ever sin.
A last time I need to repent.
There will be a last time anyone ever has to die.
Some of these “last times” happen with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Some of them pass us by unnoticed, without any warning that they’ll never happen again. Some of them I’m looking forward to. Some of them I dread. But they’re coming, all the same.
Life is full of “last times.” We can stick our heads in the ground and pretend that they’ll never happen, or we can acknowledge that they’re unavoidable. Guess which approach makes them easier to deal with when they finally hit?
“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
The God Who Grieves (Morning Companion)
And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. (Mark 3:1-6 NKJV)
I was driving by a church in my neighborhood, when the marquee out front struck me in an odd way. It said, “God loves you just the way you are.”
Those are comforting sounding words. Too bad they are only half true.
It is true that God loves you. He loves you a lot. He even loves this evil world a lot: He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. But does he love you — or this world — just the way you are? Did the prodigal son’s father love his son just the way he was? Did he enable the dissipating lifestyle that he saw unfolding before him? As much as he loved his son, I suspect he grieved mightily over him, very much as Jesus grieved over the hardness of people’s hearts when he asked a question they couldn’t answer:
Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or evil?
Mark tells us that Jesus was both angry and grieved at the hardness of their hearts. That tells us that it is possible to be both angry and grieving when those we love are hurting themselves. Phillip Yancey tells this poignant story:
Not long ago I heard from a pastor friend who was battling with his fifteen-year-old daughter. He knew she was using birth control, and several nights she had not bothered to come home at all. The parent had tried various forms of punishment to no avail. The daughter lied to them, deceived them, and found a way to turn the tables on them: “It’s your fault for being so strict!”
My friend told me, “I remember standing before the plate-glass window in my living room, staring out into the darkness, waiting for her to come home. I felt such rage. I wanted to be like the father of the Prodigal Son, yet I was furious with my daughter for the way she would manipulate us and twist the knife to hurt us. And of course, she was hurting herself more than anyone. I understood then the passages in the prophets expressing God’s anger. The people knew how to wound him, and God cried out in pain.
“And yet I must tell you, when my daughter came home that night, or rather the next morning, I wanted nothing in the world so much as to take her in my arms, to love her, to tell her I wanted best for her. I was a helpless, lovesick father.”
(What’s So Amazing about Grace?, Zondervan Publishing House, copyright 1997, page 56)
When we read the Hebrew prophets who see a grieving Father angry over his self-destructive children, children who are bringing destruction and heartbreak upon themselves, and just as important, a Father who will bring judgement on those who are misleading his children. Do you want an example of teachers misleading people today? How about telling people that God loves them just the way they are. The truth is, God loves us in spite of what we are.
Getting Started (Sabbath Thoughts)
Over the last year or so, I’ve come across a handful of modern motivational phrases that have coalesced in my mind into something of a mantra:
Done is better than perfect.
Some is better than none.
Just get started.
We can hide behind perfect. If we’re not sure we can do something perfectly, it’s easier not to do it at all.
Doing nothing guarantees we never make progress.
No progress, ironically, keeps us from getting closer to perfect.
Your initial efforts are always going to be tiny and imperfect. The temptation is to come out of the gate with a masterpiece, but it doesn’t work like that. Behind any masterpiece is a whole host of (often unseen) painstaking attempts at progress – including failures and even steps backward.
That shouldn’t scare us from taking steps.
That shouldn’t scare us from trying.
Stumbling is part of the process. There’s no bypassing it. You don’t learn to walk without it. You don’t learn to run without it. Moving forward means accepting and embracing those moments of struggle as an unavoidable vehicle of progress. We can’t let our ultimate goal of perfection scare us from moving toward perfection.
I don’t know what you’ve been putting off, because of the gulf between what you’re capable of doing and what you wish you could do. Prayer? Bible study? Meditation? Fasting? Fellowship?
…Regularly updating your blog? (I know, I know, okay?)
The only way to get better at these things is to start doing them. Stumble if you have to, but take the steps to do something.
Done is better than perfect. Some is better than none. Just get started.
Love is a Decision (Sabbath Meditations)
When my son got his first job, he was very excited and called me at work during the middle of the day. The timing of his call was ironic. I was bogged down in the middle of a never ending project, clicking away at the computer, willing the clock to move just a little faster so I could pack up my lunch bag and my laptop and go home. Not that every day is like this. As with any job there are good days and bad, ups and downs, successes and failures. His call started me reflecting. There was a time when I loved this job. There were new challenges, new opportunities, and excitement about the contribution I could make. Some of that excitement, that promise, had faded. Was this now just a job, mindless labor? Was I going through the motions just to collect a pay packet? And, if I am going through the motions, what’s the point?
Finally, the long work week is over. Time to do what I want to do. Sleep in, read a good book, maybe see a movie with the family, ride my bike, take it easy. Oh yeah, then there’s that church thing. Gotta do that. Oh, and maybe a little extra time (emphasis on “little”) Bible Study and Prayer. Hmmm …
There had been a time when that church thing, that Bible Study and prayer thing, would have ranked a little higher, no, a lot higher on my list of desirable things to do “on my own time.” I guess some of the excitement, some of the enthusiasm for those things, had waned over the years. Had my faith simply become my religion? Had my first love become my 4th, 5th or 6th obligation? Was I just going through the motions, because that’s what people who call themselves Christians are supposed to do, mark off our spiritual to-do lists so we can get on guilt free with the things we really want to do with our free time? Had my faith become like going to work? Ughh … I wished my son hadn’t gotten so excited about getting that job!
In Revelation 2:1-5 Jesus, through the apostle John, says to the Ephesian church, after praising them for their labour in the faith, tells them: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
The Ephesus church was getting some things right, doing a lot of the right things, but there was something missing, they were just going through the motions. What should have been a labor of love, had become just labor. Jesus, loving as He is, doesn’t just leave them hanging with no solutions. He provides a two step solution …
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
Step 1: Remember. I guess that’s what my son’s phone call at work had done for me. Caused me to begin remembering. Remembering what an awesome blessing it is to know Him. Remember that, of all the firsts I have ever experienced or will ever experience, this first love is by far the greatest. If I truly appreciate it for the blessing it is, my excitement for it should never be allowed to wane.
Step 2: Repent and do the first works. My wife and I read a book by Gary Smalley when we were first married. It was called Love is a Decision. I highly recommend it for any new couple. Basically, the message of the book is that love between a husband and wife is not simply an emotional sense of well being, a feeling. Love, true love, is a conscious decision we make, to love the other person through good times and bad, when we feel like it and when we don’t because, as anyone who has been married for more than five years will tell you, sometimes you just don’t. Love that is based on emotion will be shallow, inconsistent, and disillusioning. Love based on a decision, in contrast, will grow richer and deeper over time. It will see its way through the hard times, the mundane times, the hurtful times. The highs will be higher and the lows will be not so low.
I think that is what Jesus is telling the Ephesians and us by extension. He’s saying in effect, “So you just don’t feel the same excitement about Me as you once did? So what! My relationship with you isn’t based on your feeling. Make a decision to Love Me like you did when our relationship first began. Put your faith, put Me, first. Do the first works.” You know what, over time, your love for Me will grow richer and deeper. It will survive the tests and trials. The good times and the bad. The disappointments. The lows won’t be quite so low and the highs….well, you can’t even imagine!
Why Are We Doing This? (Children of God)
With our Christian calling, we have embarked on an arduous and difficult journey. There are few who follow this Way. Why are we doing this? This is the kind of question that challenges our deepest reasons and motivations for serving God in the way that we do.
Why do we hold fast to the Sabbath, the Holy Days and God’s commands? Why are we trying so diligently to grow in the fruit of God’s Spirit? Why do we refuse to jeopardize our faith when others are more willing to compromise? Why, when it comes to The Truth, are we willing to stand against the whole world? Why, in the face of so many attacks, do we hold fast to the doctrines of Christ that we have believed for so long?
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 1:3)
We know our lives are finite – our days are fading away. We are mortal, weak, and often helpless. Yet, we have been called by God to be His Children. He has taught us His Way and has given us His Spirit. Yes, but why are we doing it ? Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)
Let’s reflect on some of the things we experience as Christians. We deny ourselves – and we enthusiastically bring ourselves into submission. We willingly forsake all that we have. We are put out of the congregation and suffer reproach for the name of Jesus Christ. We intensely walk the strait and narrow path to the Kingdom of God. Yes, but why are we doing it?
And he said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (Luke 13:24)
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)
For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe. (1 Timothy 4:10)
Why do we do it? What is our motivation? What compels us to do it? We can cite any number of reasons that might help explain our determination to serve God. Are these the reasons we do it?
● Because God has shown us His way, we know it is the right way.
● God has said that we shall see Him and be like He is.
● We want to become more like God, so that we can be His Children.
● God has promised to bless those who serve Him.
● God has threatened to punish all who disobey Him.
The last reason is interesting because it is precisely the wrong reason, per se. Indeed, God is just and right in promising the lake of fire to all who finally refuse to serve and obey Him, but fear itself will not produce the kind of behavior God expects to see in us. Seeking to save our own skin – does not grow into Godly love. In fact, obeying God out of that kind of fear eventually will destroy our faith and cause us to see God wrongly – in the same way as the faithless servant in Christ’s parable of Luke 19. Notice how the unfaithful servant responds to God.
For I feared you, because thou art an austere man: thou take up that thou laid not down, and reap that thou didst not sow. (Luke 19:21)
Because of the servant’s misplaced fear of his master, his assessment of his master was incorrect – and so he became too afraid to serve him properly. We do the same if our primary reason for serving God is fear that He might destroy us.
Here is another interesting question. Would we love and serve our God – even if there were no reward? Would we be willing to give honor and glory, respect and obedience to our creator if we were only like a beautiful flower that gives it’s all – only to fade away forever? Isn’t our great God worthy of all glory – without His having to extend the promise of a reward to us? Perfect love would dictate that we serve Him without the hope of reward.
Here’s the good part! We know that our God loves us, and He created us in order to share His LIFE with us forever. For this purpose, He trains us to be His children so that He might ultimately bless us. God wants us to succeed, and in many ways, to succeed big. Of course, big by His standards! God sent Christ as a sacrifice, and Christ came willingly, because They both want to share eternity with us!
For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
Notice Christ’s attitude toward us, His servants, and brothers and sisters!
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. (John 10:28-29)
We love God, because He loved us first. (1 John 4:19) We serve God because He first served us. He is our creator and savior. We serve God because we want to be His Children! We hold fast to the Father’s Truth because we want to please Him and our Lord, Jesus Christ. We want to be counted among the faithful servants of Jesus Christ when He returns. We love Them because They love us.
We are doing this because we are called now to be a part of that better resurrection with Jesus Christ – the inestimable privilege of being in God’s Family.
And this is the promise that He has promised us eternal life. (1 John 2:25)
Why are we doing this? We do this because we are the only people on earth who do know their creator God and who are able to worship Him in sincerity and truth. As though this were not enough – our Father and Jesus Christ want to share their eternal life with us.
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:11)
How to Save the World (Sabbath Thoughts)
I want to live in a world where black people don’t have to worry about being abused, harassed, or murdered by police officers who have no business wearing the badge.
I want to live in a world where police officers who put their lives on the line to protect others aren’t vilified for doing their job.
I want to live in a world where anarchists don’t see a protest as an opportunity to loot a city and set it on fire.
But we don’t live in that world. We are a million light-years away from that world. So how do we fix it? How do we save the world?
It’s simple, really: We can’t.
It isn’t possible. No matter how much we might want it, no matter how much effort we put into it, we’re dealing with a foundational issue that stretches back to the dawn of human history. The world has been coming undone for 6,000 years, and no human being – no coalition of human beings – will ever have the insight and the ability to reverse it.
Which is good. Paul explains:
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:20-23)
Birth pangs. You don’t reverse birth pangs. You don’t find a solution for birth pangs. You move forward into something new. The change is essential and inescapable.
That’s what’s coming. A change. Something new. That’s what the whole creation is groaning for, whether it knows it or not. It’s what we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit are groaning for.
When that Spirit was poured out during the Feast of Firstfruits – Pentecost – almost 2,000 years ago, Peter was inspired to quote from the prophet Joel:
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. (Acts 2:17-21)
The world can’t be saved. “The world is passing away” (1 John 2:17), to be replaced by “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). We need that, and nothing we’re capable of doing now can stand in as an acceptable substitute. But it’s not the world that needs saving, anyway. It’s the people in the world – and the solution has been sitting there in the book of Joel for thousands of years.
“Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
That’s the only solution, and that’s the reason any attempts to fix things in the here-and-now are doomed to failure. No problem in our world can be truly solved without repentant and obedient hearts that are willing to follow where God leads – and we will not have that until after things get much, much worse. Wonders in heaven above; signs in earth beneath. Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. It won’t be pretty – but it has to happen before things get better.
Pentecost is the start. Today is the start. So much of the world is burning, literally or metaphorically, and this is a day that reminds us why creation is groaning. A change is coming. Our ways aren’t working, our foundation is irreparably flawed, and we can’t fix any of it.
But God can. God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and those who turn to Him will be saved.
The Feast of Firstfruits pictures the beginning of a much greater harvest. Until then, we who have the firstfruits of that Spirit have to represent the change that’s coming. That means praying for a world that’s burning. That means treating others, even those who hate us, with love and respect. That means holding fast to the truth regardless of how others look at it.
None of it is going to be easy – but that day is a day that reminds us why it’s important. The harvest is coming, and even though we can’t save the world, God has a plan to save the people in it. Pentecost matters – not just for us, but for everyone.
There’s a reason the world is groaning. Don’t forget it.
Why Must Satan Be Released? (Prophecy Watch)
The great hope of Christians – and the essence of the gospel message – is that Jesus Christ will return to establish His Kingdom on Earth. He will be King of Kings and Lord of lords, governing mankind in a way that has never happened before. In addition, He will depose Satan from his current rulership of this world, thus silencing the malignant, unseen influence that has snared the unwary from the time of Eve.
English theologian Richard Baxter wrote, “The devil is always the governor where God’s government is rejected,“ an observation that speaks to why the world continues to produce such misery. Humanity has spurned God’s government from the very beginning, choosing to follow that cruelest of governors.
Conversely, we can glimpse in Baxter’s statement why the prophets speak of the Millennium in such extravagant terms. They foretell a time we can hardly imagine now, as we live and work in a spiritually bombed-out culture. We are surrounded by masses of human brokenness, urged on and tricked by the Deceiver, and as men further oppose God, the suffocating darkness deepens. But the Millennium will be glorious precisely because God will flip this order on its head. Satan will no longer rule, and God’s government will no longer be rejected.
Revelation 20:1-3 describes Satan’s future binding, when he will not be permitted to deceive the nations for the duration of the Millennium.
We have no frame of reference for what life will be like for humankind without the constant spiritual pressure, the unending broadcast of falsehood and rebellion against God. For the first time in human history, the Devil will not be whispering in man’s ears to do it his way.
Some have speculated that the binding and sealing of Satan means that sin will not occur during the Millennium, but that is not the case. The pulls of the flesh exist wherever there is flesh, and those pulls always – eventually – break out in sin (see James 1:14-15). Even the apostle Paul observed that nothing good dwelled in his flesh, and that he had sin and evil indwelling simply by virtue of having flesh (Romans 7:18-23). He nowhere suggests that the solution to indwelling sin is to bind Satan. It is not until man becomes spirit that he puts on incorruptibility (1 Corinthians 15:42-54).
Scriptures show that people will be sinning during the Millennium. Ezekiel’s vision shows the priests making sin offerings during that time (see Ezekiel 40-46), and Zechariah 14:18-19 prophesies that some nations will sin by choosing not to attend the Festival of Tabernacles. Christ will rule with a rod of iron precisely because that is how carnal – sinful – people must be ruled (Revelation 2:27; 12:5; 19:15).
Even though Satan’s binding will not destroy carnality and sin, consider how much easier it will be for humans to make right decisions when he is not continually receiving the persuasions of the Serpent. What an incredible blessing that will be!
Verse 3 contains a curious statement: “… after these things [Satan] must be released for a little while” (emphasis ours throughout). Satan’s release is a necessity in God’s plan, as we will see. Revelation 20:7-10 describes Satan’s release after the Millennium. Before considering Satan’s release, we will examine some aspects of his binding – Jude 6.
While referring to the rebellious angels in general, this example shows that the chains that bind sinning angels are not their final judgment. A measure of judgment is involved, but note that Jude explains that the chains reserve them for the judgment of the great day. When Satan is bound, it certainly will be a punishing experience for him, but it will not be the punishment – it is not his final judgment. The Bible clearly states that Satan’s judgment, written in advance, is to be burned (Ezekiel 28:18-19).
In Peter’s parallel account, the apostle describes the false prophets who are manifestations of Satan’s image: “By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber” (2 Peter 2:3). He writes about the false teachers and the spirit influences – including Satan – behind them. God has already handed down the verdict; He has determined their punishment and set the date.
In addition to being chained, Satan is also cast into the pit. He is totally immobilized, and moreover, he is shut up with a seal that restrains him from deceiving. He is completely powerless for a thousand years while he awaits the judgment of the great day. The prophet Isaiah also foretells a future binding of spirit beings (Isaiah 24:21-23).
Verse 23 mentions the moon and sun being dismayed and ashamed, providing a time reference. Revelation 21:23 describes the New Jerusalem descending from heaven sometime after the Millennium. When it does, those in New Jerusalem have no need of the sun or the moon. Those magnificent heavenly lights are figuratively disgraced and ashamed by the superior light of God. Isaiah 24:23, then, corresponds to the time after the Millennium.
But before that, the “powers in the heavens and the kings on the earth” will be shut up for a long time and then punished. The “powers in the heavens” refers to demonic principalities, including Satan (Romans 8:38; Ephesians 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Colossians 1:16; 2:15; I Peter 3:22). The New Kings James Version calls them “the host of exalted ones.”
Isaiah then refers to “the kings on the earth.” However, those kings – mentioned in parallel with the “powers in the heavens” – do not have to be human. Scripture alludes to spiritual rulers throughout its pages: The king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4), the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:12), and the princes of Persia (Daniel 10:13) and Greece (Daniel 10:20) are a few examples. “Gog … the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” may be another demon (Ezekiel 38:2, English Standard Version. See also Ezekiel 38:3; 39:1; Revelation 20:8).
These powers – these kings – will be shut up in prison, but their punishment does not come until “after many days” (Isaiah 24:22). (The word “days” is not restricted to 24-hour blocks of time; it can be used as a general marker of the passage of time.) Their binding serves as a prelude to their punishment.
Likewise, Satan’s binding is not his actual punishment. Its primary purpose is to protect the nations from deception, and then his punishment follows. The prophets describe him as being gazed upon by men during his imprisonment (Isaiah 14:16; Ezekiel 28:17). At this time, he is not on trial but on display, because God has already reached His verdict.
Psalm 2:2-3 speaks about the kings of the earth and the rulers. The spirit rulers are chafing at their chains, causing the nations to rage. Yet when Christ returns, these powers and kings will be shut up in prison.
This situation parallels Paul’s experience of binding in Acts 21-22, but there is also a marked contrast. The apostle was arrested at the Temple and subsequently bound for allegedly provoking a riot. He was later released from his bonds so that he could appear before the council for judgment. In fact, Paul was mostly in chains through chapter 28, not for punishment, but to keep him from getting into any more trouble.
Similarly, Satan will be arrested, as it were, because he provokes mankind to rebel, and God will intervene to silence him. The Devil, too, is bound, and he will be released in anticipation of God’s final judgment on him. In Matthew 12:37, Jesus delivers the universal principle that “by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Since Paul’s words were true, he was justified before God. But Satan begins deceiving humanity as soon as the seal is removed, and he condemns himself with his lying words. We may wonder why God waits a thousand years after Satan’s binding before judging him or why God did not judge the sinning angels as soon as they sinned. God shows us a consistent pattern that He allows deplorable circumstances to drag on as a testimony that His way is the only way that works, and all other ways bear only miserable fruit. God uses our experiences with sin to teach us what does not work. Likewise, rather than exact immediate justice, God will use Satan’s post-Millennium rebellion as a powerful lesson.
However, we should also understand that even though God uses Satan’s activities as part of humanity’s education, He in no way depends on Satan. During the Millennium and after, God will bring many more sons and daughters to glory without Satan being around than with Satan being around. Satan is not integral to God’s plan, but he does serve as an extraordinary warning against high-mindedness. His reservation for the judgment of the great day illustrates God’s perfect sovereignty. His plan did not require the angels to rebel, but neither was His plan thwarted by it.
Satan is released so he can commit his final rebellion. We catch a glimpse of his first rebellion in Genesis 1:2, where the earth became without form and was void and in darkness. God did not create it like this, but it became that way. Rebellion against God is introduced at the beginning of the Book, which rebellion Revelation 20 resolves – in God’s good time.
The prophesied release of Satan after the Millennium teaches us significant lessons. God says, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done” (Isaiah 46:9-10). What Satan does after he is released is history written in advance. His deceptions and warmongering are the future, recorded thousands of years before they happen.
This fact is remarkable to consider. Mankind desires to know the future; we look to news analysis and weather forecasts to glimpse an idea of what lies ahead so we can respond appropriately. We use such indicators to prepare for the future or perhaps to work to change the course of events.
What is astounding is that the Adversary also knows the Scriptures, and he sees his future written in advance. This reality provides vivid testimony of Satan’s nature – that he simply will not change, even knowing how disastrous the end will be for him. The advance knowledge makes no difference. So, in addition to God giving Satan his freedom so he can commit his final rebellion, a second reason He must release him is to provide us with this final, powerful lesson about the Serpent’s nature.
When God releases Satan, the Deceiver does what he has always done. Even after a thousand years of stasis, his nature remains unchanged. After a millennium of reflecting on his plight, calculating his ideal course of action, and contemplating his spiritual navel, as it were, he reaches the conclusion he started with: He knows better.
Something to Smile About (Sabbath Meditations)
God is being tossed out of our schools and our civic life; battles are waging over the definition of marriage and the rights of the unborn to life; our pocket books are being drained; illegal aliens are streaming over our borders; and terrorism is no longer something that happens somewhere else in the world. These are the realities we live with. It’s enough to wipe the smile away from even the most jovial among us.
Ephesians 5:19 tells us that we as Christians should be “singing and making melody in (our) heart to the Lord.” It’s difficult to make melody in your heart while your mind is consumed with the negative realities and Godlessness around us.
So, how do we do it? Should we strive to remain oblivious and detached from this world’s problems? I don’t believe so. We are told in Ezekiel 9:4 to “sigh and cry for the abominations that are done in this world.” We can’t very well be oblivious of the problems around us and simultaneously lament them.So how, then, are we supposed to make melody in our hearts and sigh and cry at the same time? How does that work?
The answer is simply this: Our internal reality must overpower and supersede the external one. We, as Christians, although recognizing and lamenting the state of our current world, should be primarily driven by, influenced by and responsive to our hope and confidence in Jesus Christ, which is our internal, and eternal, reality. The joy that our focus on that reality brings supersedes and overwhelms the negativity that living in this world would otherwise produce.
We are Ambassadors of a better world to come. If we are to be Ambassadors for Him, our countenance, both inside and out, should reflect that reality.
So does that mean we should all walk around with cheesy grins on our faces? No, not necessarily. We can’t very well portray the joy that is in our hearts when all that is etched on our faces is gloom and doom. The witness of a somber Christian is a bit like the ship captain who tells his passengers that the boat’s not going to sink, as he straps on his life vest and jumps into a life boat. He’s not very believable.
If our focus is on the hope that lies within us, the joy that is produced by that focus can’t help but overflow to our outward countenance. We will have a little extra spring in our step; a glimmer in our eye; and yes, the corners of our mouth will tend to turn up a little more often. That smile you have on the inside can’t help but occasionally spill over to the outside.
So, my dear Christian brothers and sisters. Do we live in a messed up world? Yes. Is it getting worse daily? Definitely, Yes. Should we be concerned and at times saddened by what we see around us? Our God is, so, yes, we should be as well. Should these realities, however, overwhelm and cause us despair? Most definitely No. The realities of this world are temporary. The reality we live in, we focus on, is eternal. That’s certainly something to smile about.
Riddles (New Church Lady)
Proverbs 1:5-6 [NLT] 5 Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance 6 by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles.
I really loved learning algebra. It was one of my favorite classes in school and I tutored more than one family member through their own algebra classes. It was like solving a puzzle or finding a treasure to me. Following the steps outlined, we solved the mathematical riddle. I enjoyed algebra even though there was one piece of the instruction I never really understood – the practical application of it.
The wiser people of this world, according to Proverbs, speak in riddles, proverbs and parables. The book of Proverbs was written to help us explore and understand their meaning so that we can apply them to our lives. Proverbs is like key to an algebra problem in that it is a key to a good life, helping us figure life out. Its practical application is to make our lives better, wiser – to guide us.
Here is one I like from Maya Angelou: When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. People can be a puzzle, but sometimes they show us the truth and we need to believe it.
Solomon took it upon himself to be our tutor through the puzzle of life. Ultimately, it seems that he didn’t always follow his own advice. For example, even though within the book of Proverbs he warned often against temptations of the opposite sex and those who would draw a person into sin, he didn’t take his own advice. Instead he gathered many pagan wives who he eventually followed into the sin of idolatry.
Proverbs 1:5-6 tells us that even those who are already wise can and should learn from this book. We should be always on a quest to understand God’s word better, to gain more knowledge of scripture and life lessons, and to apply them to the riddles of life – whether those riddles are people or events or opportunities.
God doesn’t expect us to just understand the proverbs. He doesn’t want us to just solve the riddle of living a good life. He wants us to apply these lessons, to be guided by them into a better and happier life – because all the pieces of the puzzle fit together when God’s word guides us.
What is Truth? (New Horizons)
Famously, our title is the question Pilate asked Jesus when arraigned before him. Are we any closer to an answer?
The bed-rock reply from the Christian viewpoint is, of course, ‘your word is truth’. All that God says, all that He is, cannot be shaken. It is one hundred per cent trustworthy, reliable. His promises (no matter how we misunderstand them), His prophetic statements, His actions among us – all are based on truth.
Not that our institutions – education, business, media and even our churches – truly believe it. For most the Scriptures are ‘old hat’, a relic of the past, an irrelevance. Yet they are the foundation of a sound society, and institutions built on any other are destined to crumble.
Now, supported by ‘royalty’, we have ‘my truth’ – truth is how I see it, no matter how far adrift from being anchored to reality.
On the world stage it is increasingly clear that the truth is distorted on several fronts. One example is that the number of covid deaths has been a huge exaggeration leading to disastrous effects – excessive lock-downs, school closures, mask and vaccine-induced illness, widespread fear and family division.
Then there is the current deception of the Russian people about their government’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine, aka war. The number of Russian military deaths and the lack of progress is grossly under-reported to the Russian populace In war, truth is the first casualty.
Truth can also be distorted by omission. Widely unreported are the on-going massacres in Yemen (377,000 killed by Saudis and by civil war). In Syria the ten-year war has to date seen the violent deaths of over 600,000 and displaced millions.
Closer to home are such scandals as the deliberate hiding of hospital deaths through medical negligence and neglect in care homes. During the pandemic it emerges that truth was distorted as to the true toll of those who succumbed.
Distortion of the truth, however, is not limited to the secular, for over Christendom their hangs a dark cloud of deception. Most representatives of the faith might be sincere in what they teach their flock but they have become entangled in a wilderness of false doctrine thus blinding them and their flock to the narrow way that leads to eternal life.
Not many centuries passed after the resurrection of Jesus before the church leadership distorted his message by introducing popular ancient customs and doctrines – ideas akin to the pagan teachings and practices so familiar in today’s mainstream Christianity – e.g. Christmas, Easter, Sunday. Truth suffered.
Indeed, despite elements of truth, all religions have succumbed to the devilish deception that blinds the world to the pure faith so clearly demonstrated by Jesus.
In his closing guidance to his disciples he solemnly warned:
‘Take heed that no man deceive you.’ (Matthew 24:5).
It applies to all those institutions that seek to manipulate us by burying the truth.
The God Who Sees (Morning Companion)
During the Korean War, the North Koreans imposed a curious form of mental torture on POWs. They would lock up prisoners in solitary confinement, post a guard at the door, and then deprive the prisoner of all human contact. The guards were instructed to ignore completely the prisoner no matter how much he yelled, screamed, and cussed. Such prisoners suffered terrible anguish from the lack of human contact.
We all have a craving to be seen, to be acknowledged, and the punishment of withholding recognition can be a brutal one. Some religious sects use the practice of shunning to discipline those who run afoul of the appointed authorities. Some parents will use this form of discipline against children who fall out of favor. Though clumsy as a way of enforcing a code of conduct, it can be an effective way to marginalize the wayward.
On the plus side, ignoring internet trolls is a great way to negate their vitriol and, if I may say it, fulfill the proverb that says to cast out the scorner that strife may cease. This expends zero energy and avoids enabling anti-social behavior. Some people get their jollies by stirring things up. These feel empowered when their targets expend their energy trying to counter them. What I am about to say does not apply when encountering sociopaths and other toxic people. Steer clear of them. They will drag you into the mud with them, and they will enjoy it.
Still, I wonder how much of this world’s social neuroses are a simple acting out of the frustrations of those, young and old, who are starved for attention. True, the attention they garner might be negative attention, but the attention is a payoff nevertheless, and certainly a psychological payoff of any kind is better than a complete denial of one’s existence.
One time Jesus was dining in the house of a Pharisee named Simon. The text reads:
A woman who was a sinner, when she saw that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed him with the fragrant oil (Luke 7:37-38).
In that society a woman who was a sinner became an ostracized woman, an outcast, a kind of nobody who would be shunned by decent society. The fact that her hair was let down instead of hidden under a veil gives a hint of the type of sins she was notorious for. The Pharisee who hosted the dinner wondered why Jesus let this non-person touch him:
This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner (Verse 39).
Jesus, however, saw through the cultural straightjacket and gazed into the heart of a broken soul. He saw what was there and wanted Simon the Pharisee to see the same: Do you see this woman? (Verse 44) Look at her, he says. See her as a hurting human being who is looking for answers and searching for hope. Look at her heart, look at her brokenness, look at her sorrow. Most of all, see her potential. Look at her heart and compare it to yours! Jesus finishes his instruction with a Jesus-like rebuke: Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little little is forgiven, the same loves little (Verse 47).
If we are honest with ourselves, we all at one time or another have felt alone, even abandoned, maybe even abandoned by God. We have all had our Hagar moments, wondering if God sees our plight. Hagar, of course, was a central figure in the sordid mess that Abraham and Sarah made of their family. Sarah couldn’t have children, so she gave Abraham permission to father a child through her servant Hagar. Predictable household turmoil and jealousies became normal, with Hagar packing her bags and trying to run away from that dysfunctional situation.
Hagar must have felt like an abandoned nobody. Where was that vaunted God with whom Abraham seemed to be aligned? Couldn’t this God of Abraham see her distress? Was there anyone who would acknowledge her pain?
Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness of Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going? (Genesis 16:7-8).
This Messenger of Yahweh engages Hagar. He shows an interest in her. He asks her questions the answers to which he already knows. He wants her to talk and he is willing to listen. He is acknowledging her pain. He encourages her to talk. He is acknowledging that she is. And — he is acknowledging that he sees.
Look at these words in verses 16 & 17: Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees [Hebrew: El-Roi]; for she said, Have I also seen him who sees me? Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi.
That Hebrew phrase means: Well of the one who lives and sees me.
Regardless of the trials, whether you find yourself in dry and desert times, or whether abandoned by all those around you, understand this. God sees. Sometimes the knowledge that someone is seeing and understanding becomes the seed of hope that leads to recovery and salvation.
Now let’s flip the script and take it to our own neighborhoods and trenches and foxholes. Sometimes we can be the one who sees, the one who acknowledges, who understands, thereby imparting the hope that so many need today. It’s not that God needs our help to see people in need. Not at all! What he wants is for us to be on his team.
Hence the question to Simon: Do you see this woman?
The Great Global Reset (New Horizons)
It’s coming! The world’s present economic, social, religious structures will be overturned, all its institutions replaced by a new benign world order, a great global reset, the outcome an orderly, peaceful and prosperous community of interdependent free nations.
Read behind the news headlines, however, and we uncover advanced plans to ‘make the world a better place’ for the ‘common good’ – but in ways that ignore the fundamental principles that underpin good governance. A plan that, if ever implemented, can do so only by strict authoritarian control.
That reset is pioneered by the United Nations and the World Economic Forum (WEF) the Founder of which, Klaus Schwab, said: ‘The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, re-imagine and reset our world’. It has been approved by nearly every nation and welcomed by leaders in all fields of endeavour, and bears the imprimatur of the Vatican.
The increasing interconnection of our world – education, economic, social, religious, health, transport – has spawned the desire for global solutions. Given that the world ‘ship’ is rudderless – i.e. rejecting divine guidance – our leaders apply well-meant humanly devised but flawed solutions which often conflict with our love of freedom. Hence the need for governments to implement them with force.
Schwab’s ‘re-set’, faced with human nature, demands draconian measures of control. Fear-induced passive acceptance has paved the way to a dystopian globalism.
Such human endeavour might, for the few, provide relative stability – but for a brief time. It represents mankind’s final rebellion against God and Satan’s last-ditch attempt to overthrow God’s plans. And it will herald His direct intervention when the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus, returns in majestic power to re-set humanity, to sweep away every evil influence.
Man was created to represent the Godhead – the Kingdom of God – as Earth’s Ruler, a role Adam yielded to the Devil by subscribing to his lies and rejecting God’s guidance in Eden. Satan became the ‘god of this world’, its ruler. Jesus had covenanted with the Father that, if Adam failed, He would take on human flesh and by living sinlessly would qualify to overthrow the
rule of Satan, the Devil – a role Jesus triumphantly fulfilled. The return of Jesus as King of kings resets the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Fundamental to the new world order will be the universal knowledge that God exists. We will have by then learned our lesson. Chastened by the overwhelming crisis at the close of man’s tenure of the planet the remnant of mankind will in contrition willingly submit to divine rule and will embrace the Gospel message as it is then proclaimed in every nation.
The world’s former vanquished ruler and ‘god’ will be banished, his evil influence removed and Messiah will reign over all the earth. Believers from every age will be restored to life to reign with Him, and will, under Christ, administer the laws of the Kingdom. As His children they are heirs of the Father: if children, also heirs; truly heirs of God, and joint-heirs of Christ (Romans 8:17).
The long-planned man-made (and devil inspired) global government, will be swiftly overthrown by the returning King of kings and LORD of lords, and the world fully re-set – on His terms.
Did God Curse the Ground? (Morning Companion)
Cursed is the ground for your sake. (Genesis 3:17)
When Adam sinned, God cursed the ground, or so it seems. It’s true that Adam had his own curses to deal with, but why would God curse the ground? The ground didn’t sin, did it?
First, understand the sentence construction. The text says, Cursed is the ground. Notice that this is in the passive voice, which in this case tells us only of the action (cursing) and not the actor (who did the cursing). It does not necessarily follow that it was God who did the cursing. It could easily be inferred that Adam’s own sin — and his trying to manage the land in his own way — would cause the earth to degrade and thus be cursed. If we look at our man-made ecological problems, we can easily see how this can be.
A major lesson comes from this. It is often stated that our private actions, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else, should be of no concern to anyone else. Often this is true. If you want to spend your money on a fancier car than I have, that’s your business, not mine. It neither breaks my leg nor robs me of wealth. If you want to go to trade school instead of going for a four-year degree, go for it! If you want to move to California to seek your fortune (why you would go there to seek a better life is beyond me), well, that’s up to you. But there are other times — and those times might be more frequent that what we think — where your private actions in fact do affect other people. You might make the choice to abuse controlled substances. You indeed will pay a cost (bring a curse upon yourself, if you will), but that curse doesn’t stop there. Your family will suffer, at least emotionally, and likely in other ways as well. Society as a whole will bear a curse as it treats you for the curses you have brought on yourself. Often private actions have knock-off effects that can and do cost others dearly. Those others, innocent though they may be, also bear the price of a curse for the actions of others. The excuse, as long as it doesn’t hurt, anybody is a nice sentiment, but too often we don’t anticipate the ensuing wreckage to our significant others and to society as a whole.
In Adam’s case it’s possible that the curse on the land was one of those effects. We can clearly see today that the actions of our race have placed a curse on the land. Cursed is the ground — and also much of the earth — for our sake. God didn’t have to do anything. We as a race have decided to do it our own way, and therefore we have what we have because our race is not as wise as we seem to think.
Remember this lesson. Our actions, our lifestyles, our choices do not occur in a vacuum. So often it is not God doing the cursing. The circle of our influence can either curse or bless others in more ways than we can know. And in that there is good news, for our actions do not need to result in a curse. They can also bless. Choose the tree whose fruit you will claim.
The Big Why (New Church Lady)
Proverbs 1:1-6 [CSB] 1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2 For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings; 3 for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity; 4 for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man — 5 let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance — 6 for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles.
Breaking from the ways of my parents, and of many from their generation, I told my children that they could ask me “why?” when I gave them instructions, rules or punishments, as long as they did it respectfully and listened to my responses. My hope was that a further explanation when they didn’t understand would allow them to grow in wisdom. Frankly, I also hoped it would help prevent them from rebelling against my reasonable edits. (At least, I thought I was reasonable.) I also understood that my explanations to my children would help me to ensure I was being fair and reasonable.
It didn’t always work so well or provide the desired effect. However, I believe it was still worth the effort to for me to give my children better understanding and for them the opportunity to gain better understanding.
God doesn’t always give us the “why” of His answers to our prayers. He doesn’t always tell us why we go through a particular trial. In 2 Corinthians 5:7, He tells us we walk by faith, not by sight. However, He inspired the writers of the book of Proverbs to tell us why the book was written. He lets us know that these wise words are here to change our lives.
Verse 6 indicates that what we learn here, will help us unravel the next scripture or book. It will help us build up our knowledge. Proverbs bids us not only to listen and increase learning, but also to obtain guidance. In other words, that learning isn’t just so we know stuff – it should guide our daily lives so that we live lives of righteousness, justice and integrity.
God also gives us the answer to what I call “the big why?” – Why are we here? Or why did God create us. We find the answer at the very beginning:
Genesis 1:26-27 [NKJV] 26 Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 27 So God created man in His [own] image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Our lives are a journey on the path to being made over into the image of God. Genesis 1 indicates that we look similar to Him physically now. However, His work did not end with the physical image. God continues to work with us through His word and His spirit so that our hearts and minds are crafted more in His image. It is a process we participate in by spending time in the Bible and by praying to Him.
Pandora’s Box (Brian Gale, Church of the Eternal God)
In the introduction in our booklet, entitled, God’s Teaching on Sexual Relationships, we state the following: “We live in a world of ever-changing relationships, be it among nations, peoples, or individuals, and along with these changes, there is no end to personal opinions as to what constitutes right or wrong actions. Yet out of the abundance of opinions, there is little regard for what God calls sin or what His standards are for happiness and health. Mankind, as a whole, is determined to live in ways that ‘seem right in his own eyes’ (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25).”
There can be no argument that there have been monumental changes in every phase of society around the world in the last few decades, with the pace of change accelerating at a frightening pace. A “Pandora’s box” has been opened.
Collins English Dictionary has this definition: “If someone or something opens a Pandora’s box, they do something that causes a lot of problems to appear that did not exist or were not known about before.”
In our booklet, we reference the ridiculous idea about there being 72 different gender designations. We wondered what would be next.
In the UK, the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013 legalized same-sex marriage in England and Wales, and former Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, was instrumental in this endeavour. In many nations around the world, same-sex marriages have become totally acceptable. But it has gotten worse.
We now have the revelation that last year, three men made history in Colombia by becoming the first trio to wed in a same-sex ceremony in Colombia – called a polyamorous family. A newspaper report revealed that “Three people are legally allowed to marry each other in Colombia, where it is known as a ‘trieja’ – a word derived from two others: trio and pareja: trio and couple.”
Another type of relationship revealed was where three women were married to each other and, at the time, were the world’s only wedded female threesome – and one of them was expecting a baby. This relationship, apparently, is called a throuple! No doubt, since then, more people have jumped on the same bandwagon.
I came across an article about a divorced British woman who finally found the partner of her dreams – her dog – and married her in a “romantic ceremony in Croatia, and the ceremony was attended by 200 people!” There have been quite a number of other such “arrangements”.
In this world, once Pandora’s Box is open, there is no going back.
Do The Work (Sabbath Thoughts)
From an agricultural perspective, Pentecost makes perfect sense. It’s the Feast of the Firstfruits – and firstfruits take time. They have to be planted, they need to be cared for, they have to be watered and nurtured. They need time to grow and come to fruition.
The time between the Last Day of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Pentecost is a reminder that we need to be growing – not waiting. You’re not where you need to be yet, and neither am I. We need to be taking every opportunity to grow in grace and knowledge, to cast aside the sin which so easily ensnares us, and to develop into the spiritual firstfruits God would have us become.
Pentecost itself, though – I think Pentecost is a reminder of something else:
We have work to do. It’s so easy to turn the cycle of personal growth into a way to hide. Self-examination means we’re confronted with our own flaws again and again – the reasons we’re not good enough, the ways we’re falling short of where we should be, the reasons God can’t use us.
And then we’re Moses, standing in front of the burning bush and explaining to God why His plan won’t work because, hey, let’s be honest, we’re just not the right person for the job. We’re so far from where we need to be; we have so much more growing to do before we’re ready to …
And then God tells us to quit making excuses and to go do the work. When Moses told God he wasn’t a good public speaker, God replied, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say” (Exodus 4:11-12).
When Jeremiah told God, “I cannot speak, for I am a youth,” God replied, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:6-8).
God knows who you are. He knows your weaknesses and your limitations – and He has a job for you to do. When we tell God all the reasons we can’t, He tells us all the reasons He can. Then He tells us to get to work.
We don’t get excuses with God. He made us; He formed us; He knows exactly what we’re capable of – and, more importantly, He knows exactly what He’s capable of.
Christianity is, in many ways, intensely personal. It’s about self-examination and how you’re growing as an individual. But Christianity isn’t compartmentalized, either. It’s not a matter of me growing quietly over here while my neighbor grows quietly over there, and we’ll just exchange pleasantries when our paths happen to cross.
God gave the Church work to do – and the Church is you. It’s me. It’s the entire assembly of God’s called-out ones, not just a handful of people working at a headquarters or home office. We all have different roles to play, for “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
We have work to do, you and I – and Pentecost reminds us to get to it.
When Peter gave his sermon on that fateful Pentecost, he got a response. His audience was “cut to the heart” and determined to find out the answer to an important question:
“Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
Peter gave them the initial steps: repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit. But it doesn’t stop there. Any veteran of the Church knows that receiving the Holy Spirit is only the beginning of the work; only the first step into a much grander and much bigger world.
Skip down a few verses, and you’ll find that “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Why do you think that was? Was it only Peter’s ability to deliver sermons that stirred people to action? Or did it have anything to do with the Church members who “ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:46-47)?
Which had the greater impact – one extremely effective speaker, or 3,000 lives all setting an example of Godly living for their friends and families and even enemies to see?
I think God used both those avenues to accomplish some incredible things, and I think it’s a powerful reminder that as members of the Body of Christ, the work we must do extends so far beyond just showing up for services once a week.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).
Light. Good works. We can’t stay forever in a loop of self-examination. Eventually, we have to stop navel-gazing and start doing, being “diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Our internal growth must result in action.
Passover teaches us to begin. Unleavened Bread tells us to keep going. And Pentecost has a message for us, too: No more excuses. No more delaying. No more hiding.
What is not in Paul’s writings (Search the Scriptures)
Most people read the Apostle Paul’s writings and are thrilled to understand his deeper views into Christ’s sacrifice, atonement, resurrection, and the meaning of all of this to us as those chosen by God to receive salvation.
But most people don’t think about what is not in Paul’s writings. We might find this a little curious as to why he says nothing about Jesus’s preaching the Kingdom of God. This phrase (KOG) occurs 51 in the gospels, but only 8 times in all of Paul’s 14 letters.
Paul never mentions that Jesus cast out demons, or that He healed the sick. He does not tell about Jesus’s conflicts with the Jewish authorities or religious leaders.
Paul does not mention Mary, Joseph, Caiaphas, or Mary Magdalene. Pontus Pilate is mentioned once in 1 Timothy 6:13.
When talking about the resurrection Paul states that Jesus:
appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. (1 Corinthians 15:5-8 NAU).
I have mentioned before that Paul does not mention the first people who saw Jesus after He was resurrected — the women who came to the tomb. We can explain this as Paul was interested in countering a false doctrine spreading through the church at Corinth — that the resurrection had passed or that there was no such thing as a resurrection. So he is using the most prominent of the apostles.
But he also doesn’t mention Stephen, the first martyr who said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 7:56 NAU).
Again, Stephen was not at that time a major church leader and Paul was using the authority of the apostles and Jesus’s appearing to them.
Why doesn’t he mention anything about Christ’s earthly ministry?
A couple of reasons: 1) The other Apostles who had been with Jesus before His resurrection were telling about Christ’s earthly life. 2) Paul never saw Jesus in the flesh, but only when He appeared to him on the road to Damascus. 3) Paul focused on the spiritual life of the resurrected Christ and what the crucified and resurrected Christ means to us today.
A passage of Scripture that may bear on this:
and He died for all so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Cor. 5:15-17 NAU)
Paul said that he knows about Christ’s earthly times. But now Paul is not concerned mainly with that but with a new creature in Christ. He is not so much concerned about the Jew vs Gentile conflict as he is with those who believe and accept Christ versus those who do not.
Surely Paul is not saying that Christ’s life in the flesh was not important. But that the new creature in Christ is more important and that the new things have come. Now we can see where Paul’s focus was. Being with Jesus after the resurrection, Paul probably got instruction as to what Christ wanted him to preach.
The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were being written and all the stories about Jesus and His miracles, preaching, healings and teachings would be presented. Several of Paul’s letters are the earliest N.T. books we have.
In three different passages, Paul refers to “my gospel” — see Romans 2:16 & 16:25; and 2 Timothy 2:8. His gospel placed more emphasis on the risen Jesus than on the earthly Jesus. Again, Paul knew and saw Jesus only AFTER Jesus’s resurrection.
To me, this explains why Paul doesn’t mention a lot of things contained in the four gospels.
Rending the Heart (Sabbath Thoughts)
Everybody thinks they know how to fix it. Just get enough of their guys making the decisions, enough of their rules being enforced, and things would be different.
But it doesn’t work like that. It’ll never work like that.
There is a sickness here that no one can legislate away. It’s an old sickness, buried deep in the human condition. Isaiah saw it: “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment” (Isaiah 1:5).
The discourse in the United States is going to shift pretty heavily to the gun debate – again. We should have less of them. We should have more of them. We should make them harder to get. We should hand them out to everyone. We’re missing the point.
Mass shootings are a symptom of the sickness. The guns are small pieces of the puzzle. Keep them, take them – that’s not how we fix this. The worst school massacre in United States history happened almost a hundred years ago when a disgruntled farmer used dynamite to murder 38 children and 6 adults. No guns. Just sickness.
There will always be a way for one human being to inflict suffering on others. Until we fix the sickness – until we find a way to end the moral depravity that can prompt a disgruntled psychopath to rampage through the world with the intent of causing pain – until we can reform our societies in such a way that we stop producing and incubating these kinds of monsters in the first place – what good will it do to take away some of their tools?
On Tuesday, Mary and I watched the news of the shooting in Uvalde. We were heartbroken. And angry. And a mess of other emotions.
The death count is at 21 now. Nineteen children, two adults. Nineteen kids. Mowed down. Terrified. Confused. Suffering at the hands of a deranged monster who just wanted to see people die. Nineteen kids whose parents now have to cope with all the “goodnights” they’ll never be able to say, all the little moments and milestones they’ll never get to see unfold, all the heartache and suffering that’s going to flood through the entirety of their being every time they look at an old photo or think back to an old memory.
And my thoughts drift to my daughter. My own little girl. Three years old. The youngest student who died at Uvalde was 8. Not that terribly far apart.
I think about that. I think about what it would be like if…
And that’s as far as I make it. I can’t handle the process of even trying to imagine. I can feel the waves of terror and anguish waiting around that corner. I resent what the world is right now. I resent what we as a race have turned it into. I resent, most of all, how Satan has led and deceived us into that act of creation.
The evil isn’t going away. Not yet. Can’t. Won’t. It’s part of us. Something we bring with us as long as we try to live outside of the boundaries God set for us. No human law can change that or take it away.
The Day of the Lord is a pretty terrifying theme in Scripture. Death and destruction meted out by divine judgment in response to an unswerving pattern of wickedness.
“Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,” says Joel, “for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand: a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains …The day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it?” (Joel 2:1-2, 11).
And yet that’s not the end of the story. “‘Now, therefore,’ says the LORD, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm” (Joel 2:12–13).
Tragedies like Uvalde are heart-rending – but they don’t always get us to rend our hearts. They don’t always get us to look at where we are in relation to where God says we need to be.
As a nation, we’re asking what we need to change about our laws.
Fine. Good. An acceptable question worth considering. But that won’t do it. The only thing that will do is asking what we need to change about ourselves. Our societies. Our values. Our hearts. One day, we’ll get there.
One day, “The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us continue to go and pray before the LORD, and seek the LORD of hosts’ … In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (Zechariah 8:21, 23).
But not today. Today, as God’s people, we can only sigh and cry as the sickness is allowed to continue festering and spreading. Wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, ignored and untreated. It’s heartbreaking. And heart-rending.
We have to hold onto what we know is coming – cling to the promise of a better day, taking comfort in the words God gave Habakkuk:
“For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Civilization in Decay (New Horizons)
Christianity is tough. Early believers were constantly at risk – initially from compatriots within Judaism, then from official Rome. The greatest threat, however, was the all-pervading corrupt moral environment that all but smothered the ancient world.
The New Testament, corroborating the contemporary secular authors, bears testimony to the foul practices that were endemic worldwide. It was out of such a debased and diseased culture that many early Christians were drawn – and a culture that sought to distract them from the high principles exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth.
The apostle Paul sums up that culture: ‘Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
He concludes with the clincher: ‘and such were some of you’ (v.11).
That was their environment. Writing to the brethren at the heart of the Empire, in Rome, he describes the debauched and destructive practices then indulged almost universally:
‘God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet’ (Romans 1:26-27).
Society had degenerated to such an extent that even pederasty, abortion and exposure of new-borns was accepted as ‘normal’ in almost every nation.
Paul summarizes to the Ephesian church, in another debauched city: ‘it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret’ (Ephesians 5:12).
[Perhaps a reference to the obscene Bacchanalia/Saturnalia.]
The early church was a bright beacon in a dark world. How, then, did the church degenerate from those original golden days of belief?
Soon after creation man’s concept of our origin evolved from the knowledge of one God to a belief in natural forces, eg the sun, man and the lower animate life (Romans 1:23).
By choosing to reject God and His counsel they erred, so God left men to their own devices.
A successful society needs stability, widely acknowledged as provided by the family structure as instituted by the Creator. This too was rejected and a variety of substitutes evolved (Genesis 6:4).
With the loss of this structure the role of parental guidance based on the true faith was grossly undermined, leading to widespread violence and the awesome judgment of the great Flood (v.5).
When the core principles of that faith (summarized in the ‘Ten Commandments’) are undermined, the scenario described by Paul envelops nations and individuals.
The benign light shed on mankind by the coming of Jesus has percolated most nations, thus saving mankind from total destruction. The underlying philosophy that drives the modern world turns this blinding light into gross darkness:
‘Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!’ (Isaiah 5:20).
Once-enlightened governments now openly flout the divine laws of life, legislating for the abominations that fatally undermined the ancient world. The fundamental divine pattern for the family is being tossed aside in favour of a pandora’s box of perverted sterile and damaging relationships, while the unrestricted shedding of innocent blood in the womb is legalized.
Non-Christian idolatrous faiths are encouraged, and symbols of ancient Baal worship openly displayed in public and in private.
The godly principles that once underpinned Western society – and spread worldwide largely through the influence of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible – no longer exert their former influence on society. The teachings of Scripture are no longer a force for morality and are alien to most children.
As in ancient Rome, gross immorality is accepted as ‘normal’ by the broadcast and written media and by on-screen entertainment, and forms the opinions and behaviour of people at large.
Criminality – theft, fraud, violence, corporate corruption – is rife. Rampant immorality – adultery, pornography, paedophilia, homosexuality, promiscuity – corrupts the nations, aided and abetted by legislation. The marriage bond is despised, divorce simplified, and the purpose of human sexuality forgotten.
Such a moral environment undermines the national foundations as corruption begets corruption. It is in the face of this that the fledging Christian must strive to survive. Jesus warned that before he returns, ‘the love of many will grow cold’, that for many deep spiritual roots would not develop, that the ordinary distractions of life would easily entangle us and block the path to eternity (see Matthew ch 13).
The true Christian life is indeed a challenge. The stupendous reward is for those who in such an environment remain faithful to Jesus.
Cain, Balaam and Korah (part 1) (Sabbath Thoughts)
I want to take a look at a single verse in the book of Jude.
But first, we need to set the scene with some context.
We don’t go to the book of Jude very often. In the original Greek, it’s only 461 words long, making it the fifth shortest book of the Bible, so that’s part of it. But it’s also not a particularly encouraging or uplifting book, either.
There’s a reason for that. As the gospel began to spread and the early Church began to grow, new philosophical and spiritual ideas also began working their way into the Church. These ideas started mixing with Church doctrine, gradually warping and corrupting the core message of the gospel. When Jude wrote his letter, Church members were beginning to be seriously affected by some of those ideas. He’s pretty clear from the outset that this wasn’t a letter he wanted to write – it was a letter he had to write.
Early on, he writes, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).
He wanted to write to them about the salvation we’re all looking forward to as Christians, but instead he “found it necessary” to urge them to “contend earnestly” for the foundational principles of the Christian faith. This is stronger language than it looks like in English. He’s essentially saying he felt he had no choice but to write this letter, that the brethren needed to contend, struggle, wrestle for the faith that had been delivered to them.
Why? “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:5).
Bible commentaries will describe these “ungodly men” with some fancy-sounding words – proto-gnostics, libertines, antinomians – but we’re not digging into those ideologies today. The context we have here is enough to understand the kind of person Jude was writing about.
These were men who were abusing the grace we’ve been given through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They either believed that God no longer held Christians to any kind of moral standard, or else believed that their sins gave God an opportunity to show extra grace.
That’s the train of thought Paul shot down when he asked, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:1-2) – or “May it never be!”
And so Jude feels compelled to write a letter to the Church, because these immoral, ungodly, lecherous human beings are peddling their twisted version of Christianity. Jude tells the Church, “No, this isn’t the faith that God delivered to us, and if you don’t fight for that faith, these men are going to trample all over it.”
And that’s just the first few verses! Jude also says, “These are spots [the Greek there means “hidden reefs” – not a stain, but something dangerous lurking below the surface, waiting to destroy entire ships] in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 1:12-13).
No one had to ask how Jude really felt about these men and their view of religion. He calls them “grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage” (Jude 1:16).
But what really fascinates me about this epistle is in verse 11: “But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah” (Jude 1:10-11).
I have wondered about that verse for years. Cain, Balaam, Korah.
Why those three men? The Bible is filled with dozens of rogues and villains. What about Ahab, or Sennacherib, or Nebuchadnezzar, or Saul, or Haman? Did Jude just reach into a jar of rotten Bible characters and run with the first three he pulled out?
I don’t think so. He’s very intentional in his choice of words here. There’s a progression, an order to this. They have gone in the way of Cain. They have run greedily in the error of Balaam. They have perished in the rebellion of Korah. They have gone, they have run, they have perished. The way, the error, the rebellion.
And when we look at the Greek, there’s an added layer of depth here. “The way” – probably not surprising, but it’s talking about a road, a path, a journey. The way of Cain is a lifestyle, a road we can choose to travel.
“Run greedily” is interesting, because the verb here is actually about pouring out water. They have poured themselves out in the error of Balaam, without restraint. And “error” is interesting too, because in English, we might talk about an error the way we’d talk about a mistake, an accident. But this word isn’t talking about “the whoopsie” of Balaam. The Greek word here deals with wandering or straying, and implies the delusion or deception that results from it. Jude is saying they’ve poured themselves out into deception or delusion for the sake of gaining something. The English Standard Version says they’ve “abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error,” which is a pretty accurate translation.
And then when it talks about the “rebellion” of Korah, the word there literally means “speaking against.” The King James Version calls it “the gainsaying” of Korah, which is a word we don’t really use anymore, but it helps highlight that rebellion isn’t just an action; it’s an entire campaign. There are a lot of words moving behind the scenes before the action ever happens.
So that’s sort of a high-level overview. The way of Cain, the error of Balaam for profit, the rebellion of Korah. But it still leaves us with a lot of questions, and I think the best way to explore those questions is to look at the stories of these three men and see what lessons we can learn from their lives.
To be clear, I don’t think any of us reading this are antinomians or libertines or Gnostics. I doubt that any of us are turning the grace of God into lewdness or denying the power of God the Father and Jesus Christ. But what Jude gives us here is a roadmap, a path that any of us could choose to walk down if we’re not careful. It begins with the way of Cain, pours us out into the error of Balaam, and rushes us headlong into the rebellion of Korah. It’s worth taking some time to understand this progression so that we can steer clear of it. Over the next three weeks, I want to ask two questions of each of these stories: What exactly was the problem Jude was highlighting, and what template should we follow instead?
Next Sabbath, we’ll start with Cain.
On Being Right (Morning Companion)
Let’s admit that politicians flip flop, and they often do it because of the expediency of the moment. But these people are people just like we are and therefore subject to human weaknesses. We can say we expect better from our duly elected officials, but we have what we have and often we have the leadership we deserve.
At the same time, what looks like a flip flop might not be a flip flop. Sir Winston Churchill, who many would say was more statesman than politician, began his political career as a Tory, switched to the Liberal Party, and then between the two world wars flip flopped back to the Tories.
Ronald Reagan, as governor of California, signed pro-choice legislation into law, but after consideration became a strong advocate for pro-life. George H. W. Bush took the same path in spite of wife Barbara’s still pro-choice position. Said Barbara, “With George, it’s a religious question.”
Even Benjamin Franklin initially favored the Crown over the Continentals, but as history unfolded before him, he took the patriot’s position, pledging his life and sacred honor to the cause.
Change is the essence of life, including the Christian way of life. When confronted with the evidence of God’s existence and interest in the affairs of mankind, we come to belief. When convicted of our culpability, we become motivated to change our lives. That happened to Paul on the road to Damascus, to the Eleven in the Upper Room, and to the three thousand on Pentecost. And it happens every day in profound and startling ways, so profound that some people refer to it as a born again experience.
Yes, the essence of becoming a Christian is to flip flop.
But here’s the difference. We don’t flip flop to pander, as is the habit in the world of politics. We flip flop because it is the right thing to do. Once I was lost, but now I am found. I was wrong, but accepted the right. I repented of my faulty words and actions and became a new creature in Christ. The facts change, so I change. What else can I do?
Legend has it that someone once confronted Churchill about his vaults back and forth between political parties. Wasn’t he being inconsistent? Churchill is said to have answered, “I would rather be right than consistent.” I would like to be both, but I will sacrifice the latter if I must.
A Tale of Two Kings (Sabbath Thoughts)
“And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.”
It’s not a statement that appears often in the history of the kings of Israel and Judah. In fact, after the kingdom of Israel was split in two, it became an accolade that (when it applied at all) belonged exclusively to kings of Judah. That statement alone sets apart a small handful of rulers who stand out for their dedication to honoring and observing the commandments of God – but of those kings, the story of King Uzziah stands out for an entirely different reason.
Uzziah took the throne at the age of sixteen, and right out the gate we read that “he did what was right in the sight of the Lord” and “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper” (2 Chronicles 26:4-5). The account goes on to mention his conquests against the Philistines, his army of 307,500 men and his 2,600 mighty men of valor, his innovations and fortifications in Jerusalem, and most importantly, the fact that “he was marvelously helped till he became strong” (2 Chronicles 26:14, cf. 26:7).
But then Uzziah suffered what we might call a spiritual heart attack. We’re told that “when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, to his destruction” (2 Chronicles 26:16). Probably intended as an act of worship and thanksgiving to God, Uzziah entered the temple and did what only the priests had been consecrated to do: burn incense before God. Somewhere along the line, Uzziah became convinced that the rules didn’t apply to him – that the same God who had strengthened him wouldn’t mind if he transgressed His law in an act of worship.
So when 81 priests charged into the temple after him and commanded him to stop trespassing before God, his response wasn’t one of repentance. It was of fury. He was Uzziah. King Uzziah. He had crushed armies, fortified his kingdom, and brought peace and prosperity to Jerusalem. How dare a lowly priest presume to tell him what he could and could not do!
“And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him. King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 26:19-21).
Because Uzziah did not keep his heart in check – because he forgot where his strength and success came from – his pride and arrogance cost him his health, his kingship, and the aid of his God.
Several generations later, twelve-year-old Manasseh came to the throne of Judah – and to call him wicked would be tantamount to calling Goliath “above-average in height.” Manasseh set himself apart as the most perverse king to ever rule over Judah, seducing “Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel” (2 Chronicles 33:9). Not only was he the worst king Judah ever had, he was more wicked than the pagan nations Israel had displaced. The beginning of 2 Chronicles 33 reads less like a biography and more like a laundry list of the worst possible sins a human being can commit – consulting spiritists, setting up altars and idols in the temple of God, worshipping every false god he could find, and even sacrificing his own children in fire.
In response to Manasseh’s flagrant sins (and refusal to heed divine warnings, cf. 2 Chronicles 33:10), God vowed to bring “such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down” (2 Kings 21:12-13).
Manasseh had earned the wrath of God in a way few people ever have, and so it was little surprise that God allowed the armies of Assyria to carry away Manasseh with hooks and fetters into captivity.
What is a surprise is what happened next. Manasseh again did what few others in his position have done – “he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him” (2 Chronicles 33:12-13). The most wicked king in the history of Judah humbled himself before God and changed his ways. The result? God “received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God” (2 Chronicles 33:13).
Rather than fall back into his sinful ways, Manasseh’s account ends by recording how he sought to reverse his terrible sins – tearing down his pagan altars and idols, repairing the altar in God’s temple, making peace and thank offerings on it, and commanding Judah to serve only the true God.
These two kings of Judah – Uzziah, who became mighty by seeking to follow God and then lost everything for the sake of pride, and Manasseh, who set a record in wickedness and then made a complete about-face by turning to God in humility – serve to illustrate one of the Bible’s most vital principles: namely, that we are judged for who we are, not who we’ve been.
God inspired Ezekiel to spell this out in Ezekiel 18, where God promises, “‘if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ says the Lord God, ‘and not that he should turn from his ways and live?’
“‘But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die’” (Ezekiel 18:21-24). Righteousness, God tells us, is not a bank. It’s not a balance where good deeds add to it and sins take away from it. On the contrary, it’s a state of being. Should we choose to sin and remain in sin, all the past righteousness in the world will not detract from our present state of being.
Uzziah did not get a free pass from his sin because of all the time he spent seeking God. He transgressed the law in pride, refused to repent, and was struck down in leprosy. His sin didn’t just detract from his righteousness, it erased it. Likewise, when Manasseh humbled himself before God, God didn’t tell him, “I’m sorry, but you’ve just sinned too much. There’s nothing I can do for you.” He was instead restored to the throne and allowed to live out the remainder of his years seeking after God.
The application for us, I hope, is plain. There is no such thing as a little sin (James 2:10). There is no sin in the world that can be counterbalanced by past righteousness, and no amount of living God’s way can cancel out the death penalty for our sins. There is no bank account, no balance – there is only living God’s way, or not. When we fail, we must repent, ask God to wipe away that sin with the blood of Christ’s sacrifice, and continue on in righteousness. The alternative is eternal death (Ezekiel 18:4).
We have, every moment in our lives, a choice: God’s way, or ours. Our failures or successes in the past aren’t what will determine our future – it’s the choices you and I are making right now, in each successive moment.
Therefore choose life.
Retreat of Freedom (New Horizons)
If all mankind were motivated by the consciousness of the 24 hour presence of the one true God would there be corrupt business practices, defrauding of customers, shoddy workmanship, secret bank accounts and corporate greed?
The encroaching deployment of authoritarian measures in society strips away personal responsibility for obedience to the one true Authority. It is an open door to compliance with the world and its standards.
Warned Jesus: ‘because lawlessness shall have been multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold’.
Few regulate their life by the revealed will of God. Millennia of neglect for God’s great law of love, that is, willing compliance with His perfect will, has adversely affected body and mind. God is not a constant presence (cf Psalm 10:4), nor is a balanced care for those around us, our neighbour’.
As wrote the prophet Isaiah: ‘Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!’ (ch.5:20).
Such a universal mindset influences the man-in-the-street. Having abandoned our moral compass (the Christian scriptures) society degenerates and all manner of sinful behaviour is tolerated, even embraced.
He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’
Despite our supposed Christian principles we are an ‘endangered species’ being slowly engulfed by a rising tide of illiberal pressures from governments in thrall to hidden authoritarian global forces.
It’s a well-publicized fact that government employs consultant psychologists to advise it on how to manipulate the populace to accept its plans. We are ‘nudged’ slowly, step-by-step to embrace concepts alien to us, a panoply of restrictive edicts such as face coverings, or social isolation or climate change ‘solutions’.
It has been said, a matter of common observation, that ‘every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business and eventually degenerates into a racket’.
It applies in every sphere of life, in business, in government, in entertainment and even in churches. And to promote the ‘common good’ movement we are guided towards ‘global solutions for global problems’.
No matter how high in the hierarchy of control, there is always someone ‘pulling the strings’.
Top-down (e.g. global) organization encourages dependency, and a dependent population is at the whim of the organizers and we can come to lose the readiness to think independently.
However benign the motive and however ‘soft’ the presentation (wolf dressed as lamb) basic freedoms are being eroded and we are increasingly at the mercy of forces alien to our settled way of life.
We might not like a particular government ‘nudge’, but hey! – it’s only a small step, we might say, so we take it on board, however reluctantly. The time comes, however, when enough is enough, for we begin to compromise with essentials, with the Word of God.
We still have choices, but our freedoms are slowly being stripped away (mandatory vaccine, cashless society, digital currency etc) as the state becomes increasingly authoritarian.
But what if, like the three Jewish lads in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar, you are faced with a life or death choice affecting your allegiance to God, to Jesus? When such authority touches faith? The three faithful Jews (see Daniel 3:3-21) faced with enforced idolatry responded:
‘If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up’.
Recall the admonition Jesus gave the apostles: ‘whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven’.
Loyalty is all. Loyalty to the one true God the Creator of all. Loyalty to His covenant with us. Loyalty to His revealed will, to His unchanging way of life as made plain in the Word of life, the Scriptures. As we edge towards the dawn of a new age, darkness dressed as light will envelop us. As Paul warned the Ephesian brethren: ‘Have nothing to do with the barren unprofitable deeds of darkness, but, instead of that, set your faces against them’ (Ephesians 5:11).
As brethren it is imperative we together face these forces, support and encourage one another, ‘knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed’.
Delighting in the Sabbath … Completely (Sabbath Meditations)
What a blessing is the Sabbath. It’s especially a blessing for us who live in a culture where each minute seems to be loaded to capacity. If not for the Sabbath, our lives would be lost in a sea of busy-ness … running here, running there. There are so many important places to be and important things to do. Our culture teaches us to put our lives in overdrive. Even our leisure time has become a harried experience. How many of us, after a long weekend getaway or an extended vacation, feel the need to recuperate from the experience?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that the prolonged stress of all this busyness takes its toll on our physical, mental and spiritual well-being. We just weren’t designed to take that kind of abuse. That’s why God gave us the wonderful blessing of the Sabbath. In it He holds up a stop sign at the end of each week allowing us to step out of the cyclone that is often our lives and focus and meditate on Him.
Meditation is a quality that has largely been lost in our society, even among many Christians. Take time to think? Who has the time?! There’s too much to do, too much to accomplish. It’s a concept that many of us who have observed the Sabbath for some time and are accustomed to taking one day out of seven to rest might even find challenging to apply. Oh, we have no problem curtailing our normal weekly physical activities. Curtailing the train of our mental activity, however, is a different matter altogether. It’s a little more of a challenge to set aside the cares, concerns and preoccupations of the work week in favor of meditating and focusing on the things of God.
Isaiah 58:13 tells us that we should call the Sabbath a delight. To delight in something entails giving it our full attention. Delighting takes us a step beyond merely resting from our physical activity. It’s about resting the complete self … physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Of course, we understand that entering His weekly rest doesn’t mean a complete cessation of physical or mental activity. The Sabbath rest was given as a means of redirecting our physical and mental activity toward Him. We find our rest in Him.
God wants us to enter completely into His rest; to be renewed, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Just putting our physical activity on hold while our brain continues to work on overdrive is analogous to accelerating a car while pressing our foot on the brake. The car might not be going anywhere, but would anyone say it is truly at rest? No, it’s only by fully delighting in the Sabbath, resting the complete self, that true renewal can occur.
What a wonderful gift our God has given us in this day. Let’s delight in it … completely.
“Then I Will Know” (Morning Companion)
Theophany. That’s a theological word that means a manifestation of God in a way that is tangible to the human senses. The theophany referred to in this blog is found in Genesis 18, where God and two other beings pay a visit to Abraham.
This encounter is a prologue to the well-known story of Lot and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. There are a number of curiosities in this account, such as God appearing as a wayfaring traveler in the desert with two companions, God having dust gather on his feet, Abraham offering to wash it off, and God sitting down for a sumptuous meal. The curiosity that interests me the most is found in verses 20 and 21:
Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”
Read this for what it says, and it looks like the LORD (Yahweh himself) didn’t think he had the complete story based upon reports he was receiving, and therefore was unable to make a valid judgement about what was going on in those two cities. The text says what it says, and it has to provide some interesting fodder for discussion among theologians. Are there things that God doesn’t know? But the point I want to pursue here is a more practical lesson. It jumps out of the passage about how God does things, a lesson that we should take to heart.
Most of us have played a game called Telephone. The game involves several people. The first person whispers a short story or phrase to the second person in line. The second person’s task is to retell the story to the next person in line, who then relays it to the next person, and so on. The person at the end of the line then recites the story or phrase to the entire group. Every time I have seen this game played, the story at the end of the line is nothing like the story as recited by the first person in line.
This is why hearsay evidence is of questionable value in a court of law. “Somebody told me that somebody said” is hardly any evidence of anything. It’s also how gossip, slander, and character assassination wiggle their way into our relationships.
We can have all kinds of theological discussion about why God didn’t seem to know exactly what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah and why he felt a need to check things out for himself. I would love to pursue that bit of theology someday. But the lesson we should take from this is the example he set. Don’t rush to judgement. Get the facts. Don’t believe chatter you hear without verification. Be skeptical. Don’t pass on what you hear on the Telephone because it ain’t necessarily so.
Growth Happens in the Secret Places (Sabbath Thoughts)
We forget that, sometimes.
It’s easy to think of growth as visible, obvious, easy to point to and say, “There it is.” But it’s not.
We see the fruits of growth in others. The by-products. We don’t see the actual growth, because that’s happening deep under the surface, where no one else can see.
That’s where it’s happening for you, too. Under the surface, in a place only you and God can see. Sometimes only God.
So many times now, I’ve watched my kids struggling for days or even months to master something. Walking, talking, using the potty, sure, but then a host of other things besides. Dancing. Blowing a harmonica. Drawing a picture. Expressing a complex thought. Brushing teeth. Singing. Labeling emotions. Pouring a glass of milk. Jumping. Handling emotions. Turning the pages of a book. Recognizing numbers and letters and pictures. They would struggle and struggle and struggle and then, one day, it was like a switch flipped in their mind and it was all second nature.
But the activity wasn’t the growth. The growth is what happened in a place deep inside, where I couldn’t see. They didn’t just decide to be good at these things one day – they grew, they began to understand things they couldn’t understand, started processing the world in new ways, started integrating new things into the way they thought.
And then it all exploded outward in a way I could see it.
The point is, the growing is always happening. Always. It doesn’t matter if you can see evidence of it in yourself right away. It doesn’t matter if others can. If you stick with it, if you’re trying, it doesn’t matter how many times you feel like you’re beating your head against the wall – eventually, the switch will flip, and “suddenly” (to others, not to you) you’ll discover you aren’t where you were before. You’ve moved forward. You’ve grown.
Paul reminded Timothy to focus on the fundamentals of Christianity – to “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” To “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” Timothy’s job was to “practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress” (1 Timothy 4:12-13,15, ESV).
We grow in what we immerse ourselves in. And eventually – eventually – that progress becomes obvious to those around us. But the growth that leads to that progress is like a seed growing in the dirt. A lot of things are happening under the soil before the plant is ready to emerge, and when it does emerge, it always feels like it came out of nowhere.
But it didn’t come out of nowhere. It was there the whole time. Changing. Transforming. Growing in ways no one else could see. You are, too.
Immerse yourself in the things that matter, give it time, and you’ll start to see the proof.
Weather – Why? (New Horizons)
Our climate is the headline consuming hot topic.
‘ A bit chilly today’. ‘I hate this weather’. Wow! Isn’t it hot – never seen anything like it’. Weather – it is (certainly in England) top of our small talk. From the seventeenth century’s ‘little ice age’ to today’s headline devouring ‘global warming’, we have been through every extreme.
Since we first put a spade into the ground, our local weather has determined our activity and we have been at its mercy. It has throughout history caused prosperity and it has, as today, driven mass emigration.
Meteorologists understand (partially) the complexity of the natural forces that shape today’s weather pattern near you. – from ocean currents to cosmic rays to the jet stream. And, of course, the various gaseous elements in the atmosphere: carbon dioxide, nitrogen, etc. All elements that are essential for life on earth to thrive. Indeed the data indicate that CO2 in the atmosphere has contributed to enhanced green growth, and may even be in deficit.
The apostle Paul observes:
‘[God] left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness’ (Acts 14:16, James 1:17).
And after the catastrophic climatic change of the great flood, He promised:
‘While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night won’t cease.’ (Genesis 8:22).
So – what happened? Why is our climate disrupted?
The ability to control our weather isn’t a skill claimed by science! Yet it isn’t just random, for it is firmly under the control of the Creator. God designed our world, He engineered the natural forces that underpin all life. Through trial nd error science discovers these fundamental interacting laws. And they learn to respect them, as do we all! Take the law of gravity – for we all quickly learn not to ‘break’ it! We avoid known poisons. On the global scale, however, the effect of transgressing the natural laws can be devastating. Like climate change or pollution.
There’s a tendency to treat statements in the Scriptures as mere suggestion – take it or leave it – and of no consequence. But our weather, our climate, depends on taking such seriously, for when God speaks (whether or not you believe He exists!) He means it and He has much to say about the climate:
‘The LORD will make the sky overhead seem like a bronze roof that keeps out the rain, and the ground under your feet will become as hard as iron. Your crops will be scorched by the hot east wind or ruined by mildew.’ (Deuteronomy 28:21-23 CEV)
That’s climate change. But why? Archaeologist David Wright notes:
‘Humans don’t exist in ecological vacuums. We are a keystone species and, as such, we make massive impacts on the entire ecological complexion of the Earth. Some of these can be good for us, but some have really threatened the long-term sustainability of the Earth’.
For example, it is now thought that the once verdant Sahara became desert as a result of human activity – overgrazing, deforestation etc.
Your lap-top is designed, made with purpose, and equipped with appropriate software – and an instruction manual, which guides you in its use. But misuse it and you are in trouble.
Planet earth with all its intricate interconnected programmed systems is like that. If you follow the ‘manual’ (ie the Scriptures) it works, but :
‘it shall be, if you will not heed the voice of your God, to take heed to do all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, even all these curses shall come on you and overtake you’ (Deuteronomy 28:15).
And there follows a list of the inevitable negative consequences.
Earth is mankind’s inheritance and it is our responsibility – long neglected – to preserve it. The Creator instructed our first parents ‘dress and keep it’ (Genesis 2:15). We now reap what we sowed – pollution, poor health, real poverty (people die), over population, drought, famine.
Neglect of these basic principles, however, is just one strand in how we experience the climate. For there is an unbreakable link between a harmonious climate and morality – as instanced by the great flood of Noah’s day:
’GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth’ (Genesis 6:6-7). He warned: ‘yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights’ (ch 7:4).
Mankind in general has failed to learn the lesson of that mass destruction four millennia ago. Nor from more recent mass climate change episodes, such as in the sixth century, which sealed the demise of the corrupt Roman Empire or the 14th century Black Death, which carried off 50% of the population of Europe.
Our failure to care for the planet, coupled with our neglect of divine moral requirements, directly affects our environment. A stable climate is a partnership between man and the Creator.
Resisting to Bloodshed (Sabbath Thoughts)
Here’s the bad news: Satan is out to get you. To destroy you. He wants very much to rip away your salvation, to crush your spiritual potential, and to leave you empty and ruined by the wayside of life.
Here’s the good news: He can’t. You and I are safe in our Father’s hands. We are Christ’s sheep, and He promises, “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:29).
More bad news: Just because Satan can’t attack our salvation directly doesn’t mean he can’t convince us to give it up. After 6,000 years of antagonizing the human race, Satan has an impressive repertoire of ways to leave us distracted, discouraged, and disillusioned about the path we’re on. At every opportunity, he’s going to bombard us with everything he can to get us to walk away from God’s calling of our own accord. He wants us to be too tired, too focused elsewhere, too resentful, too doubtful, too bitter to continue seeking the Kingdom of God.
More good news: That’s a fight he can only win if we let him.
One week without eating leaven, a week designed to teach us about taking the sin out of our lives, about being aware of all the ways our adversary tries to sneak it in without us noticing, and about replacing that sin with God’s righteousness. It has also been a week that teaches us about resisting.
Being aware of Satan’s tactics doesn’t make us impervious to them. The Bible is full of admonitions to actively oppose him. Peter warns, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Resisting isn’t a passive thing. We don’t resist by simply “not giving in.” We resist by pushing back. Planting our feet on God’s truth and shoving our enemy backward.
Paul tells us, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:11-12).
Wrestling doesn’t mean “sitting there and taking it.” It means grappling with our opponent and refusing to surrender. It means stepping onto the mat with every intention of winning. Not that it’ll be easy. Not that we’re capable of winning that fight without God’s mercy and grace. This is a battle that requires us to always be on guard, “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11).
Quick physics question for you: Two empty, identical clay flower pots fall from two equally high ledges at the same exact moment (no doubt due to the shameless machinations of a cat). When they hit the ground, one pot shatters immediately while the other bounces off the ground. Which pot hit the ground harder? Common sense would suggest the first pot. After all, it hit the ground so hard that it shattered! But common sense would be wrong.
You’re probably familiar with Newton’s third law of motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In our little flower pot scenario, that means that when the flower pots hit the ground, the ground hit back. As gravity did its work, the pots applied more and more force to the ground, which applied it right back to the pots. For the first pot, the stress was too much. It shattered, and both it and the ground stopped pushing so hard. But the pot that bounced actually absorbed (and applied) more force, enough to bounce back into the air.
Satan would like to shatter you. He wants to break you like that flower pot, which means he’s going to ratchet up the pressure every chance he gets, hoping you’ll crack.
But here’s the thing: We only shatter if we give up. If we stop pushing back. And no one understands that better than Jesus Christ, who “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). We can be certain that Satan used every weapon in his arsenal to take a swing at the Son of God, but none of it worked. Satan hit Jesus with everything he had, and Jesus pushed right back. Satan was standing in between Christ and His goal, and Christ refused to give in, which is why we in turn may “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
And we will have times of need. We’ll have moments where the battle is too much for us, when we falter and stumble, but through the grace and mercy of God, we can find the strength to get back on our feet and keep resisting.
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? (Hebrews 12:3-7)
We are the children of God. Our Father is shaping us in His perfect image, allowing us to endure the trials we need to build the character He requires in us. Meanwhile, our enemy is hoping those same trials will shatter us.
Resist. Resist now; resist all the way to bloodshed if that’s what God allows. That’s what Christ did. He strove against sin until His last breath, paving the way for us and opening the door to salvation. Now He stands as our High Priest, sympathizing with our weaknesses and providing the strength we need as we journey toward the Kingdom.
In this life, Satan is never going to stop pushing.
Keep pushing back.
Seeing Is Not Believing (Forerunner)
We all know the old saying that claims, “Seeing is believing.” It has us trusting that if we can see whatever it is with our own two eyes, we can accept it to be so.
For instance, we would probably be skeptical about a snake and a hamster being best friends. Perhaps even more astonishing would be the friendships among three predators: a bear, lion, and tiger (affectionately labeled “BLT”). Yet, these animals have grown up together since they were mere babies, and the bond between them is so close that it displaces their natural enmity. We can see pictures and videos of these “friendships” online. With such visible evidence of these animals co-existing, we find it easier to accept these assertions as true.
Perhaps we have an acquaintance whom we have always considered mean or rude, yet a friend tells us that he or she has changed. We are most likely to say, “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it.” However, the next time we cross paths, the person is kind, gentle, and soft-spoken. Having seen evidence of the purported change, we can now believe that the formerly mean person has matured.
We also rely quite a bit on our hearing. This reliance is especially true when it comes to human interaction and relationships. If someone tells us they will do something, we take them at their word, while hanging onto the thought that something could come up and change what we were initially told.
However, sight is different. When we see something, the truth seems almost imprinted in our minds. No one can change what we saw because, well, we saw it firsthand! It cannot be changed. Or can it?
In 2011, National Geographic debuted a show called “Brain Games,” which the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) describes as “an examination of the nature of human perception and how it can be fooled.” Several episodes revealed how magicians and even brain doctors use techniques like sleight-of-hand, distractions, and props to “play” the brain game.
It is truly amazing to see how an expert in sleight-of hand can make a coin appear to move upward from one hand to another! He then impresses all the onlookers by “miraculously” causing the coin to appear on his shoulder. Interestingly, the episode’s producers next show his actions in slow motion, pointing out his tricky movements along the way. The viewer can now see which hand holds the coin and how his hand and arm movements narrow the participant’s field of view. It becomes apparent that he uses distraction to “force” the participant to look where he wants him to look. He is so effective in distracting them that, not only did he make the quarter disappear then reappear on the participant’s shoulder, but also he removed the participant’s watch and put it on his own wrist without him noticing!
So, seeing is not necessarily believing.
This principle appears in a familiar episode in Scripture, John 7:21-24:
Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, why are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Jesus, referring to the miracle He had performed in John 5, healing the paralytic on the Sabbath, rebukes the Jews for condemning Him for healing on the Sabbath day. In doing this, they disregarded the fact that they circumcised baby boys on their eighth day, even if that day was a Sabbath. He instructs them not to judge solely according to what they see but with righteous judgment – how God sees things. He sees things far differently than we humans do.
The idea of seeing and believing appears again in John 20, where Christ appears to the disciples:
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:19-20, 24-29)
People are not always ready and easily persuaded to believe what people tell them. Thomas had the testimony of ten disciples; twenty eyeballs had witnessed Jesus appear in the closed room. They saw Him as He showed them His hands and side. They gave Thomas more than enough corroborating eyewitness accounts of the event, yet he still would not believe until he saw for himself.
People often refer to Thomas as “Doubting Thomas,” and one could conclude that he merely wanted the same validating experience that the other disciples had gone through. In verse 20, Jesus shows them His hands and side, so the ten saw the evidence that He indeed was the crucified Jesus, now alive again. Yet, Thomas’s own words in verse 25 go beyond this. He says that he needed even more sensory evidence to prove that the apparition was indeed the Christ: The disciple needed to see and touch His hands and His side. It seems he refused to rely on the testimonies of others based on sight alone. We realize God says and does things purposefully. Jesus appears to the disciples again eight days after the original appearance. He seems to reappear for Thomas’ edification alone, to help him specifically with his lack of belief. The Good Shepherd did not want to lose even one of His disciples, and as we know, He did not lose any except for the son of perdition, Judas Iscariot, who in the role of betrayer fulfilled scripture (John 17:12).
Notice verse 29 specifically: “Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”
Our eyes can be deceived – in fact, all our senses can be fooled. We can think that we have seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted something only to discover that our perspective was off, our hearing muffled, our touch calloused, our nose stuffed, and our taste distorted. Humans are easily distracted, which makes them susceptible to deception.
Jesus speaks to this fact in Matthew 24:23-26:
Then if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, “Look, He is in the desert!” do not go out; or “Look, He is in the inner rooms!” do not believe it.
Throughout the end times, we can expect frequent efforts to deceive us. People will believe they have “found” Christ in some secret place. False messiahs and prophets will rise and exhibit great signs and wonders – perhaps “magical” things like sleight-of-hand and distractions? – that have us looking in one direction while our very salvation is being threatened from another. Will we want to “see” them, believing that, if we can witness what the false teachers are up to, we will be able to determine if they are believable ourselves? To the contrary, Jesus says flatly, “Don’t believe it.”
In Matthew 9:27-30, two blind men ask Jesus to have mercy on them and restore their sight. Of course, they could not physically see Him, but they believed in His ability to heal them if He was willing. Jesus touches them and says, “According to your faith let it be to you.” And they were healed. They walked “by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7).
The author of Hebrews expresses the principle of faith before sight in Hebrews 11:1-3:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
At least in part, faith is generated by the evidence presented to us of things we have not seen. In verse 3, the writer provides an example: that the Word of God constructed “the worlds” (the times we live in) from invisible things. What we see, then, provides evidence that a Creator God, whom we cannot see with our eyes, exists. So, we can believe – have faith in – Him, despite His invisibility. Romans 1:20 supports this conclusion: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and [divine nature (margin)], so that they [humans] are without excuse.”
Considering all that God’s elect goes through – various sicknesses, employment trials, and tribulations created by governmental mandates – we need more than ever to find faith, hope, and strength in the Scriptures. We need to consider daily the One whom we believe in despite never setting eyes on Him. The apostle Peter writes in I Peter 1:6-9:
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.
“Brain Games” shows how our physical senses work and how our brains process what we see, revealing how easily we can be distracted and misled. Our attention can be directed toward a particular thing or place so that we miss what is happening outside our scope of vision. The show even illustrates how simple color changes can make our brains think a thing is in motion when it is completely stationary. We cannot always believe what we see with our physical eyes. And the story of Thomas teaches that, spiritually, belief through sensory validation is not the kind of faith that Christ seeks from us. Obviously, examples and metaphors break down at some point. For good reasons, God Himself created in humanity what the doctors and scientists presented on “Brain Games.” A takeaway from the show is that our complex brains need to be only slightly tweaked by various stimuli to re-write how our brains see and respond. We must be cautious about why we believe and trust certain people and ideas. Are our beliefs based on faith or sight?
Christ used Thomas’s physical sight to help his unbelief, and it serves as an excellent example for those of us who have not seen our Savior in person. Knowing that we believe in a perfect Creator and Son of God, One who took such wounds and died to pay for our sins – yet rose again! – should give us great joy.
Knowing and believing that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) and that “it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:17-18) should embolden our faith because we know that, unlike fallible men, God and Christ are working with us with purpose and design. They are creating a Family in God’s image and working diligently to bring the elect into the Kingdom of God to reign with Christ forever.
But, as humans, we want something we can see, something that provides us with evidence and makes us comfortable with what we believe. We, however, have something even better. Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:5-8:
Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
The Israelites had a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night that led them through the wilderness. They witnessed the Red Sea parting, manna provided every morning, and great armies decimated before their eyes. Yet they did not believe.
As the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), we in the church do not see such astounding miracles and the visible certainty of God’s presence in our lives. It is typically only after much reflection and prayer that we finally understand the true reason for what is happening to us. But we do see the evidence of Almighty God and Jesus Christ working in our lives and in creation. So, we can be of good cheer. We have genuine proof for our belief.
God has provided us with His words in the Bible, and they are true (John 17:17) and, like God Himself, unchanging (Malachi 3:6). He has given us His Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 2:6-16), one of power, love, and a sound mind (II Timothy 1:6-7). These gifts enable us to worship God in both spirit and truth (John 4:24) and open our eyes to “see” God working out His purpose. Finally, as Jesus says in John 20:29, we are among the blessed because we have not seen Him yet have believed. And that is something to be very thankful for!
Till We Can See The Sun (Sabbath Thoughts)
Before we say goodnight to our daughter Prim, Mary and I take turns every evening to sit beside her and have “chat time.” For about 10 minutes, one of us hangs out in her room and talks about – well, whatever her three-year-old mind feels like talking about.
Sometimes we puzzle over what giraffes would look like if they were blue and lived in the ocean. Sometimes we talk about the adventures she had that day (or the ones she wants to have tomorrow). Sometimes she wants to hear a story.
And sometimes … sometimes she has questions about God.
Those are always some of my favorite chat times, because I can see the little wheels in her head turning. Those are the moments when I know she’s been listening to what Mary and I have been trying to share with her about God and His plan for us.
I forget what prompted it, but in one of those moments, I was explaining to Prim what Jesus looked like. I told her how His throne looked like it was made out of beautiful blue stone (just like her favorite color!), how it was surrounded by a rainbow (Ezekiel 1:26-28), how His voice was like rushing water, how His hair was white, and how His face was like the sun (Revelation 1:12-20).
She looked confused for a second, then asked, “How are we going to look at Him?”
Smart kid. She made the obvious connection – Jesus is coming back to the earth one day (to heal all the boo-boos and make people “not dead anymore”), His face shines like the sun, we can’t look at the sun for very long, so how are we going to be able to look at Jesus?
I had to explain that when Jesus comes back, He’s going make us like He is. We’re going to be able to do what He can do, and looking at something as bright as the sun won’t even bother us.
Prim said, “Ohhhhhhhh,” and nodded like she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that herself. She thinks the idea of being able to fly is very cool. Once Jesus comes back, she plans to give Him a big hug, then fly to the Paw Patrol tower, followed by Mémère and Pépère’s house. (Priorities.)
But it got me thinking. We can’t really see the sun, can we? I mean, we know it’s there, and when it’s cloudy enough we can even glance at it for a few seconds. But even in those moments, we can’t really see it.
We can’t see what it really looks like. We can’t see the sunspots and solar flares that dance across its surface. We can’t see the radiation bursts and electromagnetic fields generated by its burning, swirling gases. We can’t see the 500 million metric tons of hydrogen it slams together each second to initiate the nuclear fusion that keeps it burning. We can’t see the gravimetric force it expends on the fabric of spacetime all around it.
We just see a bright circle that hurts to look at.
So much of God’s creation is like that. We see the colors that come from the wavelengths our eyes are capable of processing. We hear the sounds that come from the frequencies our ears can pick up. We feel, we taste, we smell within the limited, narrow band of stimuli that our bodies are designed to function in. Anything outside of that may as well be invisible to us.
The cells that make up our bodies are filled with microscopic structures built from atoms, which are made up of mysterious subatomic particles so small that the normal rules of the universe don’t seem to apply to them. We can’t perceive any of that – but it’s there. We can’t perceive the rotation of the Earth or the movement of the spiral arms of our galaxy. The physical universe, from microscopic to macroscopic, is filled with more secrets and wonders than we can possibly imagine – and our most advanced technology has just enough sophistication to show us that we were designed with the ability to perceive only a fraction of them.
That’s not how God sees the universe. He can see the sun. Not just look at it without hurting His eyes, but see it. Every atom whizzing around in every nuclear-powered collision – every electron circling those atoms – every subatomic particle composing those atoms – He sees it all, knows it all, and has power over it all. He made it and set it motion.
And one day, when the seventh trumpet sounds and Jesus returns, we’re going to be transformed. “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). That’s incredible enough on its own, but it’s not just Jesus and the Father we’ll be seeing differently.
One day, we’re going to see the sun – and the universe – like They do.
Won’t that be something?
Forgetting to Remember (Sabbath Meditations)
“Ughh … ten more miles to go … Come on … ignore the biting winter wind. Ignore the aching legs. Push through the burning in your lungs. Keep pedaling … just keep pedaling.”
I was pedaling along the snow and ice flanked country roads near my house when these thoughts began running, or more accurately, throbbing, through my mind. This day the winter wind was especially brutal, making my normal 24 mile training route feel more like 50. If the physical discomfort weren’t enough to make me question my sanity, the looks of passers-by gawking at me from the comfort of their heated car seats certainly did. “Why, exactly, am I putting myself through this torture again?!”
But as fast as that thought flooded my mind another thought, or rather an image, pushed it aside, strengthening my resolve to pedal harder. The image of a guy, 300 pounds and counting, sitting on the edge of a kayak on the muddy bank of a winding, secluded river, certain he was about to meet his Maker.
The source of that image? I took my kayak out alone (my first mistake) on what was supposed to be a leisurely two hour scouting trip to check out a route for an upcoming men’s group outing. Somewhere around 2½ hours into what turned out to be a four hour ordeal, just having pulled my kayak out of the river for the fifth or sixth time, up a muddy slope, through tangled brush and weeds around yet another of the many snags that had blocked my progress, I began to experience symptoms of what I feared was a heart attack. They were all there: shortness of breath, tingling in the arms and legs, a tight feeling behind my breastbone, cotton dry mouth … and fear, lots of fear … fear of dying … fear of my kids growing up, getting married, having their own kids, my grand children, without me. Fear of not seeing my wife again. Fear of dying … alone … here in this place.
It’s amazing how believing you are about to keel over can bring clarity to your thinking and sharpen your resolve. Sitting on the edge of that kayak, I determined that if I got out of there alive I’d do whatever was within my power to never feel that physically helpless again.
Needless to say, I lived to tell the tale. After half an hour of resting and fervent prayer, I summoned the strength to climb back in my kayak and paddle the mile or so, thankfully snag free, to the pickup point and call my by now very worried, and very relieved, wife.
The next week, after having been reassured by the guy with the stethoscope that what I had experienced was not a heart attack, but more probably physical exhaustion compounded by dehydration, I pulled my old mountain bike out of the rafters of our garage and began pedaling like there was no tomorrow.
Today, 70 pounds lighter, feeling healthier than I have since my college days, I’m still pedaling. What started out as a herculean sweat fest just to churn out a couple of miles around the neighborhood has turned into an average of 60 miles per week all over the county … wind, rain, snow or shine. When weather or darkness makes it impossible to ride outdoors I ride indoors.
I’m not trying to toot my own horn, though … okay, maybe a little toot … after all, it was a lot of work! The reality, though, is that my climb back from the brink of a health disaster had a lot more to do with the love, support and encouragement of others than it did with me. I have a lot of people to thank. My wife, who, though worrying every time I leave the house that I’ll end up as road kill somewhere, says a prayer and lets me go anyway. My kids, who support and encourage me while suppressing their horror at the spectacle of dad in Lycra. And my good friends, Pat, Jeremy and Doug, who, rather than roll their eyes … have pulled their own bikes out of the garage and pedaled along side.
It’s not only the image of the guy I was that inspires me to keep pedaling another mile, and another, but also the memory of all those who’ve shared, in one way or another, those miles with me.
It strikes me how this physical journey I’ve had mirrors the spiritual journey we all walk. I’ve tested my limits, struggled to be disciplined and committed and resisted temptation to go back to my old ways.
In Philippians 3 Paul tells us, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
As a rule, Paul tells Christians that they should focus their attention forward. Forward to God’s Kingdom. Forward to the return of our Lord. Forward to the joy that is set before us. Spending time looking back, re-living past failures, past defeats can keep us immobilized, unable to see, much less experience, the good things God has in store for those who love Him.
But there are times when looking back, remembering, can actually give us the resolve to keep going forward. Times when we get discouraged. Times when we get weary. Times when we question whether it’s all worth it. These are times that we can draw tremendous strength from remembering.
In fact, God, knowing the power of memory to re-energize and re-focus our commitment, gave us an entire season to do just that. It’s all about remembering.
Jesus, in Luke 22:19, after taking the bread, symbolic of His body which would soon be broken gave thanks and said to His disciples, and us by extension, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the symbols of the Passover we bring to remembrance what Jesus did for us. We remember His body that was broken and His blood that was spilled that we might be saved from our wretched state apart from Him. We’re reminded of where we began.
Ephesians 2 paints an even clearer image of where we once were without Jesus.
Ephesians 2:11-13: “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh – who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands – that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
We were, all of us, afar off, without hope, figuratively sitting in our kayaks in the middle of a wilderness, facing the prospect of eternal death.
Yes, Passover is a time to soberly take stock of the road ahead and how far we have yet to go, but it’s also a time to be encouraged in remembering. The strength to continue the journey sometimes comes from looking back at how far we’ve come down the road, but also reflecting on those who have traveled it with us. People the Lord has put in our lives so that we might grow to become more like Him. Those who have comforted us and encouraged us to persevere through hard times. Those who have modeled Godly marriages, Godly parenting, Godly responses to suffering. Those who have remained faithful when it’s hard to be faithful, and whose examples have strengthened and grounded our faith.
I’m thankful that I have been free of anything like the fear I felt sitting on my kayak on the edge of that river. Worries about a heart attack, diabetes, stroke, though never certain, for the most part I left somewhere many miles in the wake of my Surly’s rear tire. My health still isn’t quite where I want it to be. I’m still looking ahead, focused on conquering the next hill, seeing what lies around the next corner, and testing what this middle-aged body can do. But I know there are always going to be times, whether on my bike or along this Christian walk, when the long road ahead, the biting wind in my face, the weariness of mind and body might prompt me to question if it’s really all worth it. Those are times that I never want to forget to remember.
This Passover season, my prayer for all of God’s people is that none of us will forget to remember … and that in doing so we’ll each find the strength and encouragement to keep on pedaling.
Finding the Lonely Places in an Overly Connected World (Sabbath Thoughts)
Ding.
I hate that noise. No matter how hard I try, it’s impossible to keep my brain from honing in on the source with laser-like accuracy.
Ding. Facebook. Ding. Email. Ding. Text message. Ding. Google Hangouts. Ding. Some app I don’t even remember installing. Ding. Facebook again. Ding. Ding. Ding.
A single ding is all it takes to derail my train of thought and send it careening into the great abyss where, presumably, it explodes into a million pieces of shrapnel before vaporizing into total oblivion.
I can’t say for sure. At that point I’m usually too busy scrolling down my Facebook newsfeed, so it’s anyone’s guess. I just know that, wherever my train of thought goes during those dings, it never seems to find its way back.
Dopamine is the culprit, from what I understand. Dopamine is a chemical produced by your brain to give you a mental high-five for accomplishing something. “You did it! Great job! Here’s some dopamine, you go-getter, you!” And then you feel good for a bit, because you are the Accomplisher of Things, the Completer of Tasks, the Mayor of Git-R-Done-Ville, population you. It’s a great feeling, but it doesn’t last forever – so when it wears off, it’s time to go conquer a different mountain and get another high-five.
This is all gross simplification, but dopamine is essentially a mechanism God set up to keep us from staring at the wall all day and starving to death, because we just don’t care enough to eat. It’s dopamine that lets your brain say, “Pouring yourself a bowl of cereal, eh? High five for not dying, you roguishly handsome, breakfast-eating stud muffin!”
It’s a great system. You do stuff and your brain rewards you for not gazing into nothingness and composing poems about ennui. The problem is, it’s a system we can (and often do) short-circuit. Dopamine reinforces behavior, just not necessarily good behavior. The promise of dopamine is what makes addictions so hard to break. In Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek explains how excessive reliance on short-term, dopamine-powered rewards has poisoned corporate culture and how every ding or buzz from our cell phones prompts our brain to give us a shot of that addictive chemical. It’s hard to focus on anything else when your brain is shouting, “HEY CONGRATULATIONS YOU GOT A THING, GO CHECK IT OUT RIGHT NOW.”
It’s not going to get better any time soon. One of the big buzzwords in the world of software development right now is “the Internet of Things,” or “IoT.” The IoT is an environment where everything – yes, everything – can be given a unique IP address and then connected with everything else. According to WhatIs.com, “A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low – or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network.”
If that seems unrealistic, consider the fact that our current IPv6 protocol allows for 340 undecillion IP addresses. I don’t even know what that number means – but some basic math reveals that “we could assign an IPV6 address to EVERY ATOM ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH, and still have enough addresses left to do another 100+ earths.”
You think life is hectic now? Just wait till you start getting notifications from your toaster.
Ding. Your toast is ready. Ding. Your flowers need watering. Ding. You’re running low on peanut butter. Ding. The dishwasher is ready to be unloaded. Ding. Your coffee is finished brewing. Ding. Time for a new water filter. Ding. Ding. Dingdingdingdingdingdingding.
We can’t slow it down, either. In a lot of ways, it’s already here. Smart TVs? Internet of Things. WiFi lightbulbs? Internet of Things. Smart watches? Internet of Things. Personal voice assistants? Internet of Things. Automated homes? Internet of Things.
The technophile in me is overjoyed; the Christian in me is terrified. Daniel was told that, at the time of the end, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Daniel 12:4). I don’t believe we know what the word “hectic” even means. Not yet. All these “time-saving” technologies, they’re speeding us up, not slowing us down. We’re already moving at such a breakneck speed, but the technologies on the horizon are promising to get us moving even faster.
How much more can we handle? How much longer until we realize that “faster” and “more connected” don’t always mean “better”?
We can’t redline forever. The human mind has its limits, and we’re already pushing them. Being notified of everything makes it hard to pay attention to anything. Meanwhile, in the midst of all the dinging, all the speed, all the chaos and beeping and chirping and buzzing, the thing that most needs your attention has been making the least noise.
How’s your relationship with God?
Your Facebook account and your toaster might ding at you for your attention, but God doesn’t work that way. Quite the contrary, the Bible tells us that when the world around us gets loud, God tends to be the one speaking with a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). God isn’t going to out-shout your Twitter feed. The onus is on us to silence the competing noise and make time for Him. That’s what Christ had to do, too. The fame of the Man who could cure diseases and raise the dead spread like wildfire through the first-century world, and “great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities” (Luke 5:15). Jesus may not have had to contend with emails and text messages, but He did have to deal with the constant ding of those who sought His time and attention. How did He make time for God? According to the very next verse, “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed” (Luke 5:16). Other versions translate wilderness as “desolate” or “lonely places.” Whatever the translation, the point’s the same. He withdrew. He got away from the noise, away from the dings, away from every distraction, and He spent time with God. If Jesus Christ – if the very Son of God Himself needed to cut Himself off from the low-tech distractions of 2,000 years ago, how much more do we, in our twenty-first-century world, need to do the same?
Now, I’m guessing you’re not fortunate enough to have easy access to a wilderness for prayer. I know I don’t. But it’s okay – because as fancy as our technology is today, it still runs on power. Your Internet router has a plug. Your smartphone has an on/off button. Your computer has a hibernate setting. When Jesus gave us the model prayer, He told us to “go into your room, and … shut your door” (Matthew 6:6) before talking to God. Find a place where the distractions can’t reach you, even if that means unplugging a few gadgets for a while. Hit the power button. Silence the notifications. Open your Bible; start reading; start praying. The Lord of the universe wants to have a conversation with you, but that can’t happen in a world full of dings.
Power down and listen up.
How We Became a Melting Pot (Morning Companion)
For those who now consider Italian-Americans “white”–understand it wasn’t always so. The largest mass lynching in U.S. history took place in New Orleans in 1891 — and the victims were Italian-Americans. What was the reaction of our country’s leaders to these lynchings? Teddy Roosevelt, not yet president, famously said it was “a rather good thing.” The response in The New York Times on March 16, 1891 referred to the victims of the lynchings as “… sneaking and cowardly Sicilians, the descendants of bandits and assassins.” An editorial the next day argued that: “Lynch law was the only course open to the people of New Orleans. …” John Parker, who helped organize the lynch mob, later went on to be governor of Louisiana. In 1911, he said of Italians that they were “just a little worse than the Negro, being if anything filthier in [their] habits, lawless, and treacherous.” (Anthony Petrosino)
How did we of Italian descent end up being demoted (sarcasm intended) to whiteness? Much contributed to that sad shift (/snark) in history. Among the factors, of course, were strong family and community ties, strong religious connections that tied it to the mainstream, a willingness to battle the ugly criminal element in Italian-American culture (a battle still going on), and a willingness to work hard and fully integrate into the American culture.
But other institutions and traditions were just as important, and they originated in the American culture that was already here.
First among these was the Catholic Church, an institution that had been established in this country long before the first wave of Italian immigrants arrived. It provided both a moral base and formal education in the form of parochial schools that (contrary to propaganda of the time) reinforced traditional morals and American traditions. The Catholic Church brought together such diverse ethnic groups at Italians, Lebanese, Poles, Slavs, Germans, Irish, etc., and this motley ethnic milieu came to realize that they shared more than a common faith. Friendship and even marriages eventually followed.
Public education also became a major force in assimilation, something which was markedly different in years past from current educational theories. Among the goals of public schools in those days was the teaching of civics in the American tradition and the assimilation of European immigrants.
Then there was baseball. What could be more American than that? Many sons of Italian immigrants excelled at it. Phil Rizzuto, the DiMaggio brothers, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Sal Maglie, etc., etc. That game became a gateway to acceptance and commonality in the great American pageant.
And finally, World War II and the American military. Attitudes shifted greatly after WWII. Something about fighting together for a common cause changed attitudes. My father’s home town in rural Appalachian Pennsylvania had a different attitude toward him post-1945 than it did pre-1940.
There you have a blueprint. Family, community, self-policing. Assimilation and acceptance through worshipping together. Proper education, playing together, working together, and struggling together.
Why can’t that blueprint also work today?
Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver (Sabbath Thoughts)
James doesn’t have a lot of nice things to say about the tongue. He focuses on its destructive capabilities, calling it “a fire, a world of iniquity” that “defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell … It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:6,8).
It’s not hard to find examples of the kind of speech James is talking about. It’s everywhere.
But the tongue can do some truly incredible things, too. Solomon said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). He also said, “A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!” (Proverbs 15:23). Words – fitly spoken, offered in due season – can be as beautiful as an ornately crafted work of art. But the focus here is on when and how the word is given. There is a joy in giving a thoughtful and accurate answer that meets the needs of those hearing it. Inaccurate and unhelpful words, spoken at the wrong time and delivered in the wrong way – those can quickly become the destructive fire and deadly poison that James warns us about.
It’s on us, then, to be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19) – to wait for the right window, to carefully consider the impact of the words we’re choosing. In that vein, Paul tells us, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, ESV).
The ability of the tongue to encourage is just as potent as its ability to destroy … but it’s so much easier to tear down than it is to build up. As Christians, we’re supposed to be doing the harder thing: edifying, building each other up. We are “living stones … being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5-6).
So … are we doing that? Are we going out of our way to find opportunities to encourage each other? To build up this spiritual house through the power of our words? Mark Twain once wrote, “I can live on a good compliment two weeks with nothing else to eat,” and there’s a lot of truth to that. When someone comes up to Mary or me and tells us that we’re doing a good job parenting, or that they appreciate this, that, or the other about us – well, we’re always a little surprised, but that compliment, that encouragement, it hangs around. It builds us up. We draw some strength from it.
What about the last time you had a sincere compliment – especially one that came unprompted and out of the blue? How did it make you feel? Isn’t it such an uplifting thing to know that someone else sees the work you’re putting in – and values it? How would it make others feel if you made a point of doing the same thing for them?
That’s what it comes down to. Yes, we can do some incredible damage with our tongues – but we can also choose to be handing out apples of gold in settings of silver to those around us. Make the effort to choose the fitly spoken word.
The Vulgar State of America (Joseph Baity, Forerunner)
Time was, in America, when we did not accept crude language, gestures, or behavior in polite society – certainly not in mixed company – and never during prime-time television. Offensive words and actions, those that transgressed decency, were reserved for adult-only entertainment venues, back alleys, and the proverbial locker room. Alas, that is no longer the case. Public discourse and what passes for entertainment are now coarser than ever. Vulgarity has gone mainstream, and few, if any, seem to care.
Nine years ago, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, as president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, penned an article decrying the growth of vulgarity in America. In it, he proclaimed:
“The collapse of the barrier between popular culture and decadence has released a toxic mudslide of vulgarity into the nation’s family rooms – and just about everywhere else. There is almost no remote corner of this culture that is not marked by the toleration of vulgarity, or the outright celebration of depravity.”
Movie theaters and strip clubs used to be the only venues for viewing live-action, graphic sexuality. With the advent of the video cassette player/recorder, such base forms of “entertainment” entered the American living room. Today, the advancement of technology continues to play a significant role in mainstreaming our cultural vulgarity.
Pointing out technology’s unfortunate impact on our culture, American writer and cultural critic Lee Seigel authored a much-read article entitled “America the Vulgar” for the Wall Street Journal in December 2013. Seigel opined: “Today, our cultural norms are driven in large part by technology, which in turn is often shaped by the lowest impulses in the culture. Behind the Internet’s success in making obscene images commonplace is the dirty little fact that it was the pornography industry that revolutionized the technology of the Internet. Streaming video, technology like Flash, [and] sites that confirm the validity of credit cards were all innovations of the porn business.
Indeed, as technology advanced, especially in the realm of the Internet, pornography and all its vile and destructive heritage became more ubiquitous, less stigmatized, and highly monetized. As streaming platforms take over home television viewing, the most popular programming – not surprisingly – is steeped in indecency. The glorification of graphic violence, nudity, and X-rated language dominates most newer offerings. As a result, the legacy networks (like CBS, ABC, Fox, NBC) strive to compete by producing “edgier” material rife with coarser language, subject matter, and even blurred or pixelated nudity.
Even our politicians are getting in on the act. A recent trend reveals popular politicians peppering their speeches with crass, off-color language, fueling acrimony, loathing, and malice toward their opponents. And the conservative right wing of the Republican Party resorts to a rallying cry of “Let’s go, Brandon!” with its euphemistic, vulgar meaning.
Following the battles in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s to keep rock and pop music as “PG” as possible, especially on the radio, the over-the-top vulgarity of Rap and Hip Hop now confronts the popular music industry. Sadly, we are witnessing much less struggle and much more acceptance and compliance throughout the industry, media, and buying public for these genres. There is still censorship and bleeping of the most noxious language on the radio. Still, the music available for easy purchase and streaming by most anyone is depressingly repulsive. It promotes degenerate and debased sexual behavior, drug use, and violence, making celebrities out of shallow-minded women, gangsters, and thugs.
Each year, millions of American and international viewers look eagerly to the National Football League’s Super Bowl halftime entertainment show, typically performed by a popular musical artist, band, or collection of them. Often seen as a barometer of American culture, this year’s troubling offering was certainly no exception. The NFL, responsible for selecting the talent and managing the show, chose an infamous collection of Rap and Hip Hop “artists” to perform a tribute to the repugnant genres. For fifteen minutes, the massive Super Bowl audience, replete with young children, was subjected to a glorification and celebration of the Rap and Hip Hop culture – culture awash with hypersexuality, overt drug use, gang violence, and a general assault on civil society.
Rap and Hip Hop are each over 30 years old, so few were surprised at the profane content performed. However, what was surprising was the nearly unanimous acclaim the show received from the media, politicians, cultural observers, and the viewing audience. The few conservative spokespersons that dared to criticize were immediately shouted down, vilified, and shamed on all forms of media.
Author and columnist Steven Kalas, writing for the Sparks Tribune, declared in his 2017 article, “Vulgarity Won’t Make America Great”: “The wholesale surrender to vulgarity has consequences. It has an echo effect. It sets loose dark energies, ping-ponging a siren seduction of fear and anger.”
Sadly, Americans remain blinded by their Creator to these tragic consequences (Deuteronomy 28:28-29). Their wholesale acceptance of vulgarity is heartbreaking and portends a grim future. As Christians, we must remain wary about a society that celebrates openly unwholesome thoughts, speech, and activities, focusing instead on words and actions that uplift and edify everyone (Ephesians 4:29-32; 5:3-4; Galatians 5:19-22).
Written on your Doorposts (Sabbath Thoughts)
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
Look at the emphasis there. Look how comprehensive it is.
In your heart.
Teaching them diligently.
Talking of them in the house, by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up.
Bound on your hands, placed between your eyes, written on your doorposts and gates.
Am I that engaged with the Word of God?
Is it in my heart? Is it on my mind when I wake up and when I go to bed at night – or is my mind elsewhere? Is it guiding what I do with my hands, where I look with my eyes, and where I travel with my feet? Is it just as important to me inside my home as it is outside of it? Do I take every opportunity to share its guiding principles with my children?
I wish I could say the answer is an absolute, unqualified yes for every one of those questions. But it’s not. I don’t always measure up to those standards – but I want to. You do, too. And sometimes, it helps to hold up that passage like a mirror to our spiritual life and ask, “How am I doing? Where have I improved? Where am I falling short?”
David asked, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7). And that’s the goal, I think – to feel like there’s no area of our lives where God and His Word don’t have a place. When we walk, we take that Word with us. When we lie down, when we rise up – whatever we do, wherever we look, wherever we are – we take it with us.
The goal is to have it always there in our heart – because we value it enough to keep it there. Even when other things try to push it out, we make sure it has a constant, immovable place. We need to make sure it’s woven into the very fabric of our day-to-day life – that there’s nowhere we can go where it isn’t already firmly rooted.
That’s the goal.
Today is a chance to do it better than we did yesterday.
It’s time to be diligent.
The Secret is Showing Up (Sabbath Thoughts)
People talk a lot about “being your best self” and “doing your best work.” Those are, in a lot of ways, ideas I can get behind. Solomon said, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
We get one go-around in this physical life; there’s no sense wasting time with shoddy, half-hearted, lazy work. If you’re going to do it, give it everything you’ve got.
But I also have a problem with these ideas of “best self” and “best work.” I think they can easily become shields that we hide behind – excuses to stop doing work altogether. It happens to me a lot. There’s no telling how many words I’ve written in my life. I do it for my day job at work, I do it for my side project here. Whatever the number is, it’s a big one. But there’s also no telling how many words I’ve backspaced or crossed out. How many papers I’ve crumpled up and tossed aside. How many half-finished files I’ve left alone in some abandoned folder because they just weren’t coming together the way I wanted. Even though I love writing, it is work. And I always spend at least some of that time in my own head, doubting what I’m doing.
Is this my best work? Is it good enough? Am I good enough?
And there’s the trap – because it can always be better. Always. And from a purely objective standpoint, only one single project in my entire life’s anthology will really count as my “best work,” and I have no idea what it is or if I’ve even written it yet. I won’t know the answer to that question until after I’m dead. So the questioning and hemming and hawing and self-doubt winds up accomplishing very little, because the secret to any project is never being your best self and doing your best work.
The secret is showing up. That’s as complicated as it needs to be. It’s enough to show up and do good work. Consistently. Over and over again. That’s where growth comes from. That’s where progress comes from. Consistency in the things we find important. And in the process of all that, we wind up producing our best work and developing our best selves. But asking ourselves – interrogating ourselves – over and over about whether what we’ve done and who we are is our absolute, inarguable best is an absolute, inarguable waste.
“Do it with your might” doesn’t mean “make it a masterpiece every time.” It means give it your best shot. Show up and try. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be the best thing you’ve ever done.
Show up. Do good work. Move forward. Lather, rinse, repeat.
“Best” is an ideal. It’s what we’re chasing after. We “go on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1) – it’s not where God expects us to be every step of the way. That’s not how this works, and we sabotage ourselves if it becomes our expectation.
But there’s another aspect to all this. Showing up is the secret, yes – but we can’t show up for everything, all the time. There’s too much. Try and show up for all of it, and you’ll accomplish none of it. So we pick and choose instead. We have to decide what we’ll show up for. And that’s true for everything – in our professional lives, in our home lives, in our hobbies, and most importantly, in our spiritual lives. Bible study? You have to show up for that. Prayer? You have to show up for that. Meditation, fasting, fellowship? You have to show up for all of them. But it doesn’t need to be your best Bible study every time. Or your best prayer. Showing up consistently is so much more important than doing something excellent every once in a while. And the great big ironic paradox is that waiting for your work to be excellent is the best way to keep it from ever being excellent. We get there by showing up. One step at a time. One day at a time. Choosing to be there for the things that matter, choosing to try rather than hiding and waiting for the kind of perfection that’s just beyond our reach.
Paul tells us, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
The Greek word for “abounding” means “overflowing.” We are to be steadfast, immovable, and abounding in the work of the Lord. We don’t get there by waiting and hoping to become our “best selves” and do our “best work.” We get there by overflowing in our dedication to show up and try.
You might be wondering why Sabbath Thoughts has been inactive for so long. Last week’s post was the first new post since August of last year, and it’s only one of three that I’ve written in the past 365 days. There’s a long answer and a short answer. The long answer is that it has been an absolutely crazy year. Our van broke down and needed major repairs – twice. We had colds. We had COVID. Our waste line clogged and flooded – twice. The first time ruined the flooring in a third of our house, so we replaced it on our own – slowly, over the course of multiple months. Between two kids, we worked through potty training and sleep training and sleep regressions and all sorts of developmental milestones. We made multiple road trips to visit family. We signed up to help out with an assortment of other projects. It’s been a lot.
The short answer is that I was busy showing up for other things. And for the most part, I don’t regret those other things (except for maybe a few late-night Netflix binges). I made the choice to take care of other things, to spend more time focused on family, and to use my limited cache of spare time on other hobbies and projects. And in all honesty, I was getting a little burned out. I kept telling myself I’d get back to writing Sabbath Thoughts, but every week that went by without writing a new one made it easier and easier to let it go for another week, and another week.
All the same, it serves to drive home the point that you make progress on what you show up for. I stopped showing up for Sabbath Thoughts, and the site got stagnant. Something would have been better than nothing, but the longer I spent away from it, the more pressure I felt to make sure the first new post was “worth it” – whatever that means. I wanted it to be my best. Every time I tried to write something, it was never quite what I wanted it to be. Never quite good enough. And so here we are.
I want to start showing up for this site again. It means a lot to me, and many of you have expressed that it means a lot to you, too. I don’t know if that means a new post every week, but I’m going to try to make sure something goes up every week – even if it’s an older post. They might be shorter than usual, they might not be as insightful as I want them to be – I don’t know. But I do know that I want to show up consistently, because this is something worth showing up for. I might not be able to offer you my best self or my best work, but I do know this: I want to show up and try.
Three Questions for the Advanced Bible Student (Morning Companion)
Jeremiah asks a provocative question we all ask from time to time.
From Jeremiah 12 in the New Jerusalem Bible translation:
Your uprightness is too great, Yahweh, for me to dispute with you. But I should like to discuss some points of justice with you: Why is it that the way of the wicked prospers? Why do all treacherous people thrive? You plant them, they take root, they flourish, yes, and bear fruit. You are on their lips, yet far from their heart.
* How would you answer Jeremiah’s question?
* What other instances in the Hebrew Scriptures can you cite where followers of the God of Israel question God’s wisdom?
* Can you think of instances where God changes his mind after talking it over?
In the Christian way of thinking, this seems almost blasphemous. In the Jewish way of thinking, it’s a normal way to interact with God. Yet, even in the New Testament we find this: Luke 18:1-8 and Luke 11:5-8.
Could it be that we do not fully understand the relationship God wants to have with his people?
The Overview Effect (Sabbath Thoughts)
I watched a video of a dad sobbing as he said goodbye to his young daughter and wife as they boarded a bus. They were leaving; he was staying behind. Most people are saying the man is a Ukranian father sending his family to Hungary, so he can stay behind and fight the invading Russian troops. Others are saying he’s from the pro-Russian city of Gorlovka, sending his family to Russia, so he can stay behind and fight the invading Ukranian troops.
I don’t know which one is true. Maybe neither. And that’s part of the problem. I get so tired of having to sift through which parts of which news stories are true, which parts are false, and who stands to profit by peddling which cleverly spun lies.
Isaiah lamented, “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter” (Isaiah 59:14).
Every day, I feel like I can relate to that lament more and more.
But … that video. Whoever it was, whatever “side” he was on, whenever it happened – all I could think about was my own little girl. My son. My wife. I thought about how I would feel if it were me in his shoes – saying goodbye to my children, my wife – wondering, praying, hoping.
Blubbering. It made me angry. I’m still angry.
This is our world. This is the world humanity has managed to create in 6,000 years of doing whatever seems right in its own eyes. We pride ourselves on all our accomplishments, but at the core of it, we’ve never moved past that basic human instinct of saying, “I want what he has” – and trying to take it. From the man in the field with his brother Abel to the man in charge of a nuclear superpower, it’s the same old story. We want, we take, we destroy. Families are shattered. Lives are disrupted, ruined, ended.
And fathers put their daughters and wives on buses and weep.
When astronauts go into space for the first time and see our little blue-green planet floating in the inky, star-filled cosmos, they tend to experience something called the “overview effect.” Edgar Mitchell, an Apollo 14 astronaut, spent 33 hours on the moon in February of 1971. This is how he described the feeling of seeing Earth from that new perspective:
“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a b***h.’”
I hope you’ll forgive the language. But I think that quote communicates something powerful.
As Christians, our knowledge of God’s plan gives us something of an overview effect, too. We can have that feeling of stepping out into space and seeing the absolute madness of this world we’ve built for ourselves, of wanting to force the leaders of the world to see the same truths we can.
They can’t see, though. Not yet. But they will.
Isaiah may have seen truth fallen in the street, but he also saw a far better vision from God:
Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say,
“Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come, And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him. In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.” (Isaiah 45:22-25)
When we know what’s coming, the politics and wars of this world do become so petty – and so heartbreakingly pointless.
When every knee bows to the Creator of the universe, the pointlessness will finally come to an end. The brutal senselessness of invasions and territorial squabbles will be forcibly ended, because “everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken” (Micah 4:4).
The world will be what it was always meant to be, because the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. That is the world that’s coming. That is what we’re looking toward and praying for. Sometimes, it can be easy to forget how broken our little blue-green planet is. Sometimes, we can convince ourselves that the human race is actually doing pretty well and things aren’t so bad.
And then there’s a video of a daddy saying goodbye – maybe for the last time – to his little girl, and you realize how terribly we need those knees to bow. Habakkuk asked, “O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to You, ‘Violence!’ and You will not save. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? … The law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds” (Habakkuk 1:2-4).
God answered, “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:2-3, ESV).
The vision is coming. The knees will bow. The mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Revelation and the Three Seats of Power (Morning Companion)
This will be one of my rare forays into the Book of Revelation. It’s not that I discount its value. But having read and heard the failure of prognosticator’s prophetic timelines, I’m inclined to be extra careful when drawing any conclusions about prophecy and end-time interpretations.
Having said that, I find a certain section in the book to be an interesting framework by which to view the political history of the world, and, by extension, a framework that can help us understand the state of society in the end times.
The section in question is Revelation 17 and 18. But before we get into that, I’m going to posit a theory of history, and we’ll see how that matches up with those two chapters.
Under this theory of history, there are three centers of power. Let’s call them estates, borrowing a phrase from the French Revolution. These three estates are 1) the political, 2) the ecclesiastical, and 3) the financial. They will often work together to create a stable society (or to enrich and empower themselves), and at various times and places one of those three will have the dominance. For example, in Communist nations, the political dominates through its exercise of force. During the Middle Ages, the religious establishment dominated the kings and the financial interests of Medieval Europe. The city-states in Renaissance Italy were dominated by financial interests.
Under this theory, history is a matter of which estate is best positioned to dominate society. Sometimes two of the three estates will form an alliance to marginalize the third estate. It is also fair to say, even if they are rivals, and even if sometimes they hold great animosity for each other, they can all accumulate wealth and power.
Let’s take a look now at Revelation 17 & 18. Chapter 17 pictures a harlot riding a beast. This symbol hearkens back to Greek mythology.
In this myth Europa, a virgin Phoenician princess, is seduced by Zeus. Zeus transforms himself into a bull, which seduces Europa into climbing onto the bull’s back. Zeus in the form of the bull then charges into the sea and brings Europa to Crete.
Early Christians reading Revelation would immediately make a connection between the Greek myth and the symbols that John uses in Revelation 17. They would connect the symbolism of a princess from Phoenicia, Jezebel’s land of origin and also that of Baal, and Zeus, a power from Europe, joining forces. Here we have a corrupt ecclesiastical system merging with a powerful and dominant political/military force. Here we have two of the three estates combining to exert power and influence. This is in stark contrast to Jesus’s statement that his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), nor are his followers of this world (John 17:16).
Revelation 17 shows in a metaphorical way what happens when the political and the ecclesiastical combine: the ecclesiastical does not purify the political. Instead, the political corrupts the ecclesiastical and then turns the ecclesiastical into a metaphorical Jezebel. It’s important to emphasize here that this metaphor does not point a finger exclusively at one prominent religious organization. It is a mistake to do that. Every religion of this world is at risk of that corrupting influence. It has happened in many Protestant and Orthodox-dominated countries, not to mention non-Christian religions such as Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism.
In any case, and relevant to the Christians reading and understanding Revelation, the warning to followers of Christ is to avoid becoming the consort — the harlot in Biblical terms — of politics or of any political party. They will court you and use you, but will end up resenting you and destroying you if you cease to submit to their manipulation (Revelation 17:16).
That becomes even more relevant when we consider the Jezebel nature of an ecclesiastical system that craves political power. The woman riding the beast will, like Jezebel, try to rule the politics of the domain and become drunk with power, often leading to death or banishment of those who dare disagree with her enlightenment (Revelation 17:6).
The role of the Body of Christ, on the other hand, is an evangelistic and prophetic one: to preach the gospel to the world (Matthew 28:19-20) and to proclaim a prophetic message (Isaiah 58:1, John 16:8 on revealing to people their sins). Those roles are often incompatible with political goals because the purpose of evangelism and moral teachings is not to gain power or money, but to advance this world’s rival, which is the Kingdom of God.
So far we have addressed two of the estates: the political and the ecclesiastical. The third estate, the financial, is addressed in Revelation 18. In this chapter the fall of Babylon is illustrated. If we take Babylon to mean the system of this world’s politics and its bedfellows which were introduced to this world in the mists of the ancient world dating back to the Tigris and Euphrates, we can see that the power and wealth of that system results in fantastic wealth and power for a few while the majority live subsistence lifestyles. Thus, when the Babylonian system falls and is replaced with the government of God that has an entirely new ethic (Luke 22:24-26, Matthew 5-7), the kings of the earth will weep over their loss (Revelation 18:9-10). So will the merchants of the earth (Revelation 18:11-19). Look at what this passage says. Notice the words in the italics that I have added:
And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’
They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’
The picture we see in chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation is one where all three estates are working closely together to achieve their sometimes overlapping objectives. Throughout history, each estate vies for supremacy and sometimes achieves it, but that supremacy is only temporary because the other two power bases act as rivals for the preeminence of power. When all three decide to cooperate and attempt to consolidate power, they will still be rivals, but their marriage of convenience spells the loss of freedom and the transfer of wealth from everyone who is not of their club. Notice the words “body and souls of men” in Revelation 18. That’s a reference to physical and psychological slavery for the rest of us.
The view of Revelation 17 and 18 through the lens of the Three Estates is probably different than the interpretations you have seen elsewhere, although likely complementary to most of them. It is my belief that this most opaque book of the Bible was encrypted in the way it is in order to protect it, but also to hide its meaning until the time it needs to be revealed. As events unfold, the fog will begin to lift, we will see the connections of the book’s symbols with the real world. Then its meaning will become more clear.
Post Script: From C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. “What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves … invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.’
Life Without a Filter (Sabbath Thoughts)
Recently, our water filter converted itself into a hydro-powered jet engine. It’s the kind that screws on to your water faucet, and it seems like the threads on the actual faucet itself have decided to throw in the towel on corporeal existence. Which is fine, especially since this particular faucet was procured in (I believe) the third century B.C., and the poor things probably needed a break. It just comes with the added complication that, whenever we try to run water through the filter, the filter flies off like the world’s most poorly designed rocket ship, leaving us with a cluttered sink and a stream of city water.
There’s a very specific reason Jesus did not promise His followers “a pipeline of living city water” in John 7:38. Actually, there’s two. The first is that it would have been anachronistic and made no sense to His disciples; the other is that it would have been disgusting. Speaking as someone currently on city water, I’d say there’s a very good chance my water already is living, and not in the way Christ meant.
I didn’t always notice this, though. My wife grew up drinking well water, whereas I’d spent the majority of my life drinking whatever came through the city’s pipes. So when we got married and moved into our apartment, it wasn’t long before she was begging for a water filter.
To me, the water was fine. I could drink buckets of the stuff. (Although I didn’t, since I can only imagine the ramifications on my digestive tract.) But because it bothered her so much, we went ahead and purchased one. I didn’t notice any difference, although she claimed it tasted million times better.
And then it fell off. And I figured, “Oh well, the city water isn’t really that much different on its own and I don’t see how one little filter could make much of a difference and besides, WHO REPLACED OUR WATER LINE WITH THE GARBAGE PIPE.”
As it turns out, one little filter can make a very, very big difference. After a month of drinking water separated from most of its impurities, having to go back to the city’s supply was cringe-worthy. I had trouble even finishing a glass; it wasn’t long before we were buying bottled water from the grocery store.
The purpose of a filter, in any application, is to separate two things that are stuck together. The spam filter on whatever e-mail service you use is intended to keep you from receiving the stream of junk email that countless online shysters are sending your way. A circular polarizing filter for a camera lens makes sure only certain aspects of sunlight make it into your photo. And a water filter, of course, is for keeping unwanted sediment and debris from making it into your drinking glass.
A water filter does this by forcing the water from your faucet to run a sort of gauntlet. Physically, it provides a sort of “net” that anything bigger than a water molecule gets trapped in. Chemically, carbon blocks act as a sort of magnet, coaxing smaller debris out of their bond with water and onto itself. The end result is much, much cleaner water in your glass, with most of the unwanted gunk trapped in the filter.
What shocked me the most about my adventure with the water filter was that, not long ago, I’d been perfectly content to guzzle away at the same water that I now have to fight not to spew out. Until I was drinking filtered water on a regular basis, I couldn’t tell that there were any impurities in the city water. It was just normal, clean water to me.
When I was in Kenya to help out with a church camp, I was reminded on multiple occasions not to drink the local water. Sanitation was so non-existent there that well water was usually infested with the kind of bacteria your colon has nightmares about meeting, and drinking it would likely give you plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the layout of the country’s bathrooms. Native Kenyans, on the other hand, drink it on a regular basis. Because they’ve spent their whole lives with water that polluted, their bodies don’t make as much of a fuss about it. It seems as clean to them as city water once did to me.
In other, very simple terms: Just because what you’re allowing in your life seems clean doesn’t mean it is.
So let’s talk spiritual implications. We live in an unbelievably polluted world. Dissect any aspect of society’s day-to-day life, and you’ll find all manner of impurities. And as Christians, we face the challenge of living in it, without being a part of it (John 17:14-16). But how is that even possible?
Well, in simplest terms: a filter. That’s exactly what God’s law is – a filter designed to allow in the good parts of life while filtering out the garbage. Take a look at each of the Ten Commandments and what you’ll find aren’t arbitrary laws or whimsical statutes, but a set of filters to ensure better living. Keep lies out of your life and you’ll earn trust. Don’t allow yourself to covet and you won’t be plagued with the stress of keeping up with the Joneses. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy and you’ll find a much-needed day of rest and rejuvenation every week. The list goes on and on.
And it’s not just the Ten Commandments. The entirety of God’s law is a filter against the worst kind of garbage – sin. It is sin that tears apart relationships, shatters trust, destroys entire lives and just generally degrades us until nothing good remains. Remove even one facet of that filter, and you allow an entry way for sin to snake its way into your life.
You might be like I was with my city’s water. It tasted fine; I assumed it must be fine. Likewise we can look at our lives – at what we’ve come to accept as clean – and not realize just how much garbage we’re actually letting in. Christ reprimanded the congregation in Laodecia because “you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ – and do not know that that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Our imperfect senses can sometimes convince us that our condition is better than it really is.
God didn’t give us the Bible as a paperweight. It is filled with all the information we need to construct the perfect filter in our lives, keeping sin away from us and allowing the good in life to come through untainted. That filter requires continued maintenance, meaning we need to look at it every day and compare to what God recorded for us and make sure the two match up.
God didn’t intend our lives to be filled with garbage. But it’s out there, and when we don’t use His perfect law as a filter, we’re going to run into it.
As David writes, “Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (Psalm 34:12-16).
It sounds to me like a filter is a pretty worthwhile investment.
An Eye for an Eye? (Morning Companion)
An eye for an eye is not the way the government should be run.
(George Gascon, District Attorney, Los Angeles County)
With all due respect, the District Attorney doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If he understood the ancient saying and its context in the Book of the Law, his city and county wouldn’t be the criminal dystopia that it has become. The famous quote “an eye for an eye” is found in two places in the Law of Moses (Exodus 21 and Deuteronomy 19). Both instances refer to judicial proceedings, and it illustrates a profound advancement in jurisprudence that was revolutionary in its own time and too often ignored today. Anyone with a simple sense of justice will recognize the concept: the punishment must fit the crime.
Read this passage from Deuteronomy 19. It’s describing a due process for determining innocence or guilt that is in many ways similar to our current Common Law approach:
You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, then both the accuser and accused must appear before the Lord by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you. Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing. You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (Deuteronomy 19:15-21 New Living Translation)
Notice a few things. Where guilt has been established, the penalty must fit the offense. If something is stolen, for example, the guilty party must make restitution plus a 20% penalty to the offended party (see Leviticus 6:1-5). Note that the offender was not sent to prison. Nor did the government share in a piece of the action. The “eye for an eye” metaphor here demands a standard of fairness from the judges.
Notice too that, if the plaintiff was trying to frame the other person, he was to suffer the penalty that he hoped to impose on the innocent party. Imagine if we had a law like that today. It would discourage crooked cops from planting evidence and discourage ambitious prosecutors from tampering with and withholding evidence while coercing false pleadings from those they know to be innocent. “An eye for an eye” in that context does not look all that extreme, unless one considers it extreme to send crooked prosecutors and law enforcement officers to prison.
Finally, note that this passage refers to a legitimate function of a government — to try a case based on evidence, so that justice is rendered between the two parties and to the community as a whole. Without an official, sanctioned process that the community trusts, people revert to personal vengeance for justice, often carried out by vigilantes. Mr. Attorney General, if you believe your role is not to render justice in proportion to a crime, are you prepared for the damage that approach will render, indeed, is rendering upon your community?
This isn’t to say there is no room for mercy. Consider this proverb: People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving (Proverbs 6:30 NKJV).
There was a time in England, it has been said, that hungry children were executed for stealing a loaf of bread. Such is what happened in the case of Michael and Ann Hammond, ages 7 and 11, in 1708. That was not a case where the punishment fitted the crime, and it certainly was not an “eye for an eye”. Yet even in our day people have been incarcerated for lengthy periods for minor drug offenses. The “eye for an eye” can be cause for great mercy.
Sadly, the reverse is often happening in too many jurisdictions today, and that too is a miscarriage of justice. Consider the burning of police precincts, wholesale looting in the name of “social justice”, and run of the mill shoplifting, all occurring in the absence any meaningful prosecution. That also violates the principle of punishment fitting the crime. The “summer of love” as we had in 2020, where anarchy ran rampant for weeks, has escalated to a nationwide crime wave which will likely escalate in both scale and gravity. When prosecutors ignore such crimes, they invite more crime. Again, a proverb: Because a sentence of an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11).
So with all due respect to the office of that certain district attorney and others like him, an “eye for an eye” is more progressive and equitable jurisprudence than what you are imposing on your communities now. And the principle behind that ancient proverb is exactly how the government should be run, your uninformed statement notwithstanding.
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