"The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, 'You have stayed long enough at this mountain."As the end of the last century approached, I was reminded of something D. L. Moody said at the end of the previous,Deuteronomy 1:6“I believe … four-fifths of the church is wandering around in the wilderness, far away from the cross of Calvary and the Promised Land.” Moody was commenting on the lives and character of Caleb and Joshua. Specifically he said, “… these two men … looked up yonder.” [Bible Characters: “Caleb”; Thos. W. Jackson Publishing Co., Chicago; 1902, pp.34-36]George W. Truett added, their report was a “full-of-grace” report. [“Jewels From Past Giants.” Pulpit Helps, January 1995, 6-7]
When I think of men of the bible, I do what others do (right after I think of Jesus): I think of Paul, David, Moses, etc. But when I take serious inventory of biblical men, four stand out: Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, and Stephen.
One reason I admire them [the same reason Moody gave] is, there’s nothing special about them. Basically, they were men like other men, who simply stood out; but they were additionally “can do” men. It seems our world lacks men of this caliber today.
Just a few years ago, the world fantasized at the character of Mel Gibson in Brave Heart; but the fact remains, his history was written by men and embellished by men. Men of Pure Heart, like Caleb and Joshua, are men of all heart; their stories written by the hand of God, through a man of God.
Look around today. Look at the devastation brought on by supposed men-of-conviction, who are not men-of-resolve. Look at the horrible decisions made in this world as the result of men who fear popular opinion.
Luther fanned the flames of revolution when he pointed the way to reformation; he swam against a huge tide of popular opinion. Our own American revolutionaries sacrificed virtually everything to secure this land for us. And what of Jesus? What did He secure for the Church? Political correctness?
Praise God some Christian men are recognize a higher standard of manhood than that foists upon us by our culture! Consider: In 1960 only 5% of American children went to bed without a father in the house; today the number exceeds 25%.
Recently a woman discovered she couldn’t obtain enough “Mother’s Day” cards to give to male inmates in her state’s prison system; on the other hand, she couldn’t give away the “Father’s Day” cards.
In a study of 11,000 crimes, no link was found between the crimes and poverty or race; a link was found, however, between the crimes and “father-absent households.”
And men continue to get women pregnant and remain strangely silent as they continue to abort their babies in record numbers.
Men who fearlessly face the bogeymen of life are invaluable to their nations, their neighbors, their families, and their churches.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
MAN: Not many pure hearts in that group!
TRADITIONS: The Old Rutted Road -- Part II!
And now, the twist to the story ... there's an interesting extension to the story about railroad gauges and horses' behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on the launch pad, we see two huge booster rockets saddled to either side of the rocket’s main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. Thiokol Corporation makes the SRBs at their factory at Utah.
The Thiokol SRB design engineers might have preferred to make them a bit bigger … wider not taller, but 1.) the SRBs had to ship by train from the factory to the launch site; 2.) the railroad line from the factory had to run through a tunnel in the mountains; 3.) the SRBs had to fit through a tunnel which is only slightly wider than the railroad track; and 4.) the railroad track is about as wide as two Imperial Roman war-horses.
So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined by the width of a horse's behind! Think about that!
Not only do unreasonable or irrational traditions ruin the vision of the church but they are the cause of some baggage that prevents it from being bigger and going higher and farther.
Ed. Note: Don't think that I'm anti-tradition; I am simply pro-church … the one that is made up of real, live, redeemed children of God.
[The Good, Clean Funnies List], Box 476, Harvest, AL 35749-0476; USA; “The Impact of the Roman Empire on Space Shuttle Design,” 20 October 1999, “ Received from L. Rodney Ford via Doug Taylor.”]
TRADITIONS: The Old Rutted Road -- Part I!
Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet 8.5 inches. Why? Because that’s the gauge used in England; English expatriates built our first railroads.Mark 2:27-28
Why that spacing? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Again, why? Because the people who built the tramways were wagon builders, and they used their wagon wheel spacing jigs and fixtures to set the tram wheels.
Okay! One more time! Why that odd spacing? Because, if any other spacing was used the wagon wheels would break on most of the old, cross country roads? Okay, why? Because the road ruts were that spacing.
So who built those old rutted roads? The first in Europe (and England) were built by Romans for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts? Roman chariots made the original ruts (which everyone else used for fear of destroying their wagons and wagon wheels). The wheel spacing of all Roman chariots was exactly alike.
Thus, we have the answer to the original question. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot.
It seems specs and bureaucracies are eternal. So, when you’re handed a specification and wonder which horse's behind came up with it, you may be more right than you know. Because Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the behinds of two Imperial Roman war-horses.
Beloved, much exists in the church today that’s tied to an ages old tradition without much adjustment for the people who have to live with them.
Jesus taught us, "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath”; since redeemed man is the Church, and the Church is to keep the Sabbath holy, we must likewise conclude the church was made for man, and not man for the church.
Traditions give flavor and honor to the blood, sweat, and tears of those who’ve gone on before us. But people use the traditions to provide the flavor and to give the honor, not the other way around. If the people of God decide to hold onto a tradition for a couple of centuries, or even a couple of millennia, that’s fine. But if the traditions are in place because of T’TW’ADTH (That’s the way we’ve always done things here), well then, the traditions are running us not the other way around.
[The Good, Clean Funnies List, Box 476, Harvest, AL 35749-0476; USA; “The Impact of the Roman Empire on Space Shuttle Design,” 20 October 1999; “ received from L. Rodney Ford via Doug Taylor.”]
EVANGELISM: The greatest danger to the Bride is her health!
We once lived in a mobile home park. Now you must understand, a mobile home park is a place where most everyone has enough time on their hands to be sure you're doing all you should be doing and "watch" you doing it.
One of the things that are evidently important to “seasoned-citizens” is your yard; you are regularly visited by people you don’t know, whose only interest is what you have or haven’t done to your yard.
At first, this seems picayune and a slightly irritating; but, as the Lord is fond of doing, this can provide you with an opportunity to reach out to these wonderfully nosy people. Not only that, but it can teach you something else: don't plant and ignore.
Plants need constant care. They must be constantly fed, watered (strangely they get very thirsty), nourished, protected, and pruned. But no matter how hard we work, some plants just don’t respond to what we do for them. We have to get beyond them.
The Lord never had it in mind that His disciples should be planted, then forgotten.
He challenged Peter to care for and protect His sheep [John 21:15]. The writer of the book of Hebrews says the mature disciple eats solid food [5:14].
Jesus said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ONLY, BUT ON EVERY WORD WHICH PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD’” [Matthew 4:4]. Jesus said to the woman at the well,“Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water which I shall give to him shall never thirst; but the water which I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”Jesus taught that His Father would prune fruit-bearing disciples, but that who were fruitless would be taken up and thrown out [John 15:2].John 4:13-14
My experiences with plants have taught me well … I‘m now watering, feeding, protecting, nourishing, and pruning all my nosy neighbors for the glory of God.
ATONEMENT: The greatest gift to another!
"... I am with you always, even to the end of the age."Back in 1999 the evening news aired a 911 emergency call. A handicapped child’s mother {Ed note: she had stayed with her son even though she could have gotten out herself} could be heard comforting her son as fire invaded the room where they were hiding.Matthew 28:20b
Right to the last you heard her comforting him soothingly, “Hang on honey, I’m not leaving you.” She died along with the boy.
Moses spoke for the Lord when he said, “the LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed.” [Deuteronomy 31:8]
We have the promise of the ages; if God were going to abandon us He would have done so in the Garden. The Lord Jesus Christ died in our place, the whole time telling His disciples to: “Hang on, I’m not leaving you!”
SOVEREIGNTY: The Pro up there!
Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"In his book Walking Through The Darkness, Neil Anderson tells the story of an amateur pilot caught in a fog without instruments. When the tower told him to do exactly as he was told he responded angrily, “Hey, you aren’t dealing with a seasoned pro up here!” The controller replied coolly, “No, were not! But you are down here!” [paraphrased]Exodus 3:13-14
Like the controller to the pilot, we can’t see God; yet we know he’s there, because we can hear His voice. We must simply trust and obey, for we’re dealing with a Professional up there.
SIN: The Christian's protective clothing!
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."Ephesians 6:10-13
As I understand it, nuclear medicines glow in the dark and appear very ominous when seen for the first time. I’m told, those who handle these isotopes must wear lead-lined aprons and gloves.
Brief encounters, or controlled treatments, with the medicines won’t hurt the patients, but continuous every day handling is quite risky. So medical personnel, who do so, take extra precautions to protect themselves.
Sin is different from these highly dangerous potions: whereas the latter do not endanger the patient, even the smallest of sins is dangerous to believer or non-believer alike.
Some people’s lives are such that they encounter little sin; yet, even they must go to Christ to be cleansed [1 John 1:9-2:2]. The serious believer, however, takes precautions and puts on the whole armor of God that he may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
Those, especially, who are committed to ministry come under intense attack. To go to battle against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places [Ephesians 6:12] is serious business, only a fool would engage the enemy unprotected.
EVANGELISM: Forewarned is forearmed!
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."The TV reporter was speaking in an excited, animated tone, obviously caught up in the unfolding catastrophe; smoke was drifting across the neighbors’ yards, as an orange glow shimmered on the advancing firefighters.Matthew 24:36
On the screen, to the right, a woman struggle fiercely with a policeman and a neighbor. She was trying with all of her might to free herself; to the left, several people were visibly shaken and grief stricken.
Why? Because all of the woman’s children were trapped inside the burning home. The mourners were the woman’s friends and neighbors. The commentator understood the gravity of the scene and was affected by it.
What is wrong with this picture? No one knew the fire would start in that house, on that night, at that time! The fire had progressed too far to expect anyone to save the children. And, besides, the children didn’t know what was happening; they most likely would sleep right to the end. But still, what’s wrong with this picture?
Could it be that we’ve been warned of a fire to come? [Matthew 3:7] We don’t know which house the fire will pass by or which it won’t, but we know it will affect every unprotected house, don’t we? [Exodus 12:27]
Oh, we don’t know of the day or the hour [Mark 13:32], but we know with certainty it’s coming, don’t we? [Revelation 22:20] Haven’t we been warned?
So why aren’t we grieving before our neighbors’ homes? Why aren’t we on their front lawns, mourning the soon coming calamity? Why aren’t we earnestly contending with those who would prevent us from reaching our neighbors? [Jude 1:3]
Isn’t the smoke of Hell’s fire drifting across the green lawns of our communities? Isn’t the glow of Hades seen on the faces of all too many people we know? Once the fire starts, won’t it also be too late to save them?
Or could it be that we’re ignoring the smoke, don’t see the glow, and don’t care about the kids?
HUMILITY: A Very Present Help!
“that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."Missouri has one of the greatest tourist attractions in America. It’s called Pro Bass Shop, which is located in Springfield. This place is a sportsman’s paradise.Hebrews 4:16
Any sportsman who goes there will think he has died and gone to heaven. The store must cover a hundred acres: it has live fish ponds, indoors; a full-service McDonald’s, indoors; an indoor firing range for your new deer rifle; small cabin cruisers, also indoors; and every fishing lure known to modern man.
On one of our two trips to this sportsmen’s smorgasbord, we sat by a live fish pond; one with decorative stumps and rocks for turtle sunbathing. Only they were indoors, so I guess they were “fluorescenting” themselves.
At any rate, we were all chuckling at this one turtle perched on top of a wooden pole. Now the turtle’s little legs hung over the edge of the pole and it was at least 18 inches out of the water.
Every time I think of that little critter I’m reminded of a turtle on a lamp-post in Alex Haley’s office. Haley, author of Roots, said it was there to remind him it needed help to get there, he didn’t do it on his own. So too, the turtle at the Pro Bass Shop.
We must all remember that we didn't get where we are by ourselves … we don’t live or exist in a vacuum. Priscilla and Aquila needed Paul’s help; Paul needed Barnabas and Silas; and so on! We all need God’s help.
LICENTIOUSNESS: Writing our own hall passes!
A few years ago, California Highway Patrol officers ticketed to a man on the one of their Interstate freeways. The officers observed a vehicle heading south toward San Diego, at freeway speed, with a lone driver and two legs hanging out from under the hood. It seems the carburetor linkage broke, so one steered and the other laid under the hood accelerating for his friend. The driver couldn’t believe he had been cited. [FxLine News, April 24, 1994]“ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness” Jude 1:4
This points out that relativism isn’t the only social ill we are dealing with today: licentiousness is another. Though the driver and his friend were going in the right direction, at the correct speed, they were driving the wrong way … just to get what they wanted.
Licentiousness is what I call “writing your own hall pass.” In our Jr. High School, we needed hall passes, signed by a teacher, to be in the halls during class time. In order to circumvent the rule, my friends and I stole a pad of passes and forged our teachers’ names. We did this for no other reason than that we wanted to do what we wanted, irrespective of right or wrong. [No, I’m not proud of what we did.]
Check the dictionary and you’ll see licentiousness is generally defined as “lacking moral discipline or ignoring legal or social restraint; having little or no regard for accepted rules or standards of behavior.”
Look around at the world today; you’ll be surprised at how many people are driving down the road of live with legs hanging out from under their hood.
THERMOSTATS: And other things that set the pace!
“choose for yourselves whom you will serve”A thermometer reflects the temperature of the room; a thermostat adjusts the temperature for the room.Joshua 24:15
God has too many children who are more like thermometers than thermostats; what he needs is a house full of the latter.
Like Rip Van Winkle, the church is asleep … when it awakens the world will be so hostile to her that it will find itself an impotent representative of an omnipotent God.
John Curran said, “The condition upon which God has given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime, and the punishment of his guilt.”
Our culture reflects a nation running so hot on relativism, materialism, voyeurism and depravity, that it’s screaming for those who have the courage to march on the wall of opposition. We need those with guts enough to adjust our nation’s temperature, rather than giving in to the pressure to reflect it.
The church is imitating secular society at an alarming rate. Increasingly we are adopting secular views which seem good and feel good; gleaning, as it were, here and there, as the world’s spirit moves us, ignoring the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth!
SELF: Burying The Old Nature!
"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."I love to scour old cemeteries; the history and the intrigue manifested in grave markers is fascinating. While in Boston about 17 years ago I made it a point to visit the old cemetery above the harbor near North Church. What a treat.Colossians 3:5
D. Gene Strother tells of a visit to Evergreen Cemetery in Paris, Texas. He describes all the monuments that fascinated him … the shrines, the crypts, the old-west styles … one had a statue of Jesus in a pair of cowboy boots.
A common sight was the family plot, where there is a central monument, with the family name on all four sides, and family members spread out from the center.
On one drive through Evergreen, Strother said he noticed one tombstone of particular note … not for its beauty but rather for its simplicity … the occupant was identified simply as SELF. Every family, every home in the world, needs a family plot with a grave marker like this … a place to put SELF.
God knows unbelievers won’t do it on their own; He expects, however, the believer to do so. Every believer, every soul, that trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ should have a place for self in his or her home!
[Adapted from a message by D. Gene Strother, Pulpit Helps, September 1995, p.1]
EQUIPPING: Left Behind!
I purchased a set of jumper cables for emergencies. I reasoned I’d be able to take care of myself in times of trouble, but others are not always equipped to do so. Some people just don’t prepare themselves for life’s trials and tribulations.“the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost"Luke 19:10
I thought if I ever came across any of those poor unfortunates, I’d be equipped to help them. A good set of cables can be used to rescue many people during a driver’s lifetime.
My motives were honorable but my follow through stinks. A set of jumper cables hanging on a nail in the carport is useless! You see, if you don’t take the equipment with you, you can’t help yourself, let alone others.
Sharing our faith is like that. God has given the church leaders to equip it [read “us”] to do the work of ministry [Ephesians 4:11, 12] and for seeking and saving the lost, as Christ commanded us to do [John 17:18; 20:21].
The greatest intentions in the world profit nothing if the equipment necessary to do the job is left at home.
We can choose to carry God’s gospel truth everywhere we go or we can choose not to go. We can also choose to let our training get rusty and fall into a state of disrepair or we can choose to keep them oiled and ready.
I don’t believe God supplies equipment or training that is rarely used.
RENEWAL: A Permanent-Fresh!
Not too long ago, we were fascinated with the development of “permanent-press” fabrics; now, thanks to a major advance in textile technology, we will soon have “permanent-fresh” fabrics.“but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”1 Corinthians 6:11
While this sounds like more frills on an already materialistic and pampered society, it is in fact quite an advance. Gang Sun, the developer, said, “Anti-microbial fabrics have great potential for … hospitals to prevent the spread of drug-resistant diseases ….” Hospital gowns, bedding and dressings will be adapted to reduce the spread of disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
Consumers would “charge” the permanently-fresh apparel by laundering it in a mild mixer of chlorine bleach. The garments would then be periodically “recharged” (much like rechargeable batteries) through rewashing.
This new technology solves the single greatest problem facing anti-microbial materials – durability. Scientists found it easy to attach the new chemicals to the fabric’s fibers; but keeping it there had been another matter. Typically, the chemicals were thrown out with the bath water.
In contrast, the new N-halamine coating thrives on laundering, being recharged with fresh chlorine atoms at each washing, recharging the garments to 100% of original potency. [“A new idea that doesn’t stink,” The Washington Times; August 30 - September 5, 1999, p. 2]
Because man has the Law written in his heart [Romans 2:14-16], most feel a strong need to do well; he’s tried every avenue he can think of to save himself. Yet the world assaults him, washing away whatever righteousness he has developed on his own. Doing what they believe is good is not the problem, the problem has been to get it to stick unto salvation [Romans 3:23 (see also 3:10-18)].
Those who are washed in the Blood of Christ have been made permanently-new [Romans 11:29; 2 Corinthians 5:17]. Not only is the original washing good for all eternity, it’s recharged to 110% with each washing [1 John 1:8-2:2].
MISSIONS: The reality of God's will!
Years ago a young man and his bride wanted to make a difference for God in this world; they applied and were accepted as missionaries to Africa.
Following their arrival in New York to prepare for oversees service, mission officials determined the rigors of Africa would put the wife at risk. The agency revoked their deputation.
The couple returned home, brokenhearted, wondering how to rebuild their shattered dream. They decided to make money – lots of money – to support missions. They figured they could make it possible to send others to share the gospel of Christ even though they could not go themselves.
The young man's father had been making unfermented wine for their church’s communion services. His son soon became involved with him. Their name was Welch. They manufacture Welch’s grape juice to this day. The company has given millions to spread the gospel through missions. Did they rebuild their dream?
Despite our human frailty - God wants to use us in a positive way in negative world. Remember who we are; we are a people of God’s own choosing, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
It only takes a grain of salt in a substance to know it’s there. Even though you may feel small, weak or insignificant - you're not! We are “the salt of the earth, the light of the world.”
GENEALOGY: Here's to my unknown relatives!
So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.Louis Mills tells a story of a woman in his local genealogical group.Acts 17:22-23 [16-34]
The woman told the group how she had spent countless hours accumulating names of all those she suspected were relatives. There was one group that was especially time consuming: they were all Inuit Indians living on an island off Alaska.
She said she had to seek the help of the library staff in order to sort out the confusing relationships … you see they all had the same surname, “Unk.” Though embarrassed, she had a good laugh when a librarian pointed out that Unk. meant "unknown."
Paul spoke of an Unknown God at the Areopagus in Acts 17:23; he spoke of how the people of Athens were “very religious,” but that their relationship with God was confused out of ignorance. He told them of a God not of this world, not made by the craft or craftiness of men, a God who can be known. He told them, that even though they were groping in darkness, they could find Him.
If the world would only go to the Son, “a Man whom He has appointed” [Acts 17:31], He would figure out this unknown relationship.
Jesus, knowing that non-believers have “the work of the Law written in their hearts” [Romans 2:11-16], knows that all men, in ignorance, are seeking after their roots, looking for that family tree which will reveal whether there is or is not a God they can know. God has “overlooked the times of ignorance” but is “now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent” [Acts 17:30].
Paul said elsewhere, “behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation’” [2 Corinthians 6:2].
[RootsWeb.com, Inc., RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Genealogy News, Vol. 2, No. 39, 29 September 1999.]
FAITH: Personal leap of faith!
"Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith."As a youngster I was always in trouble. When I would walk somewhere I could hear the doors and windows shutting in homes as I approached. I could hear people saying things like, “Look out Ethel, here comes that Gillmartin kid!”Habakkuk 2:4
I clearly remember one time when my friends and I took a joy ride [my wife swears I stole a car; I’m still in denial]. Well we wrecked it and all three of us took off running. I was one of the fastest kids in town and no one was going to catch me running scared.
I ran to a set of stairs on an embankment, going down about twenty-five steps in under five seconds. It was then I remembered there were over a 100 steps in all. I had visions of police at the top and police at the bottom.
I vaulted the handrail and ran into the dark, looking for a bush to hide in. I found a nice fat round one and leaped to hide … it had no bottom. The plant had grown horizontally over the abyss. The rapid descent got me down another 40 steps. "Thump" I landed. The Lord had prepared an area of nice soft forest mulch in advance for me.
That was my first leap of faith. The next day we were caught and had to take responsibility for our actions and make restitution [yes, there was a time, long ago, in America when people had to do that].
Looking back on the event from this distance I can see I didn’t learn my lesson very well at the time, but the Lord’s hand was clearly on my life.
Faith is like that bush; it’s sort of laid out there for any who have eyes to see. But faith is unlike that particular bush in one very critical way: faith has a rock under it, preventing our fall.
BURDENS: Bearing Burdens and Turn of Events!
"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."Wrestling was not my favorite sport in Middle School, but I was blessed with considerable athletic ability and did quite well in it. However, just about the time my little old heart got all puffed up with self-importance, I had the chance to wrestle a boy I did not like. I couldn’t tell you today why I didn’t like him, but I remember his name, Larry Hutchins.1 Corinthians 10:13
Well, I had just about “whupped” on this boy when there was a sudden turn of events. As I was taking him down for the third time and for the win, our weights shifted and I ended up falling with him on top of me. I threw my left arm out to catch us and my elbow locked as my hand hit the floor; my elbow did not appreciate our combined weight and it dislocated miserably. I suffer from that injury to this day.
God will not ask us to bear more than He has prepared for us to bear; and He will always equip us for the task. However, we are quite capable of loading upon ourselves much more than we are capable of holding up. God is not to blame for times like these.
NEIGHBORS: Silent discrimination!
"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"Listening to BreakPoint a couple of years ago, I heard Chuck Colson tell a story concerning the membership of a Florida church. Colson had been in the church when the pastor asked, “Do you remember the day the Brown family joined the church?” Many “amens” were heard among the people. The pastor continued, “Wasn’t that a great day for our church? (More amens.) He continued. “What with their financial support, their participation, and their children, it was a good day!”Luke 10:36
Then he asked, “Do you remember the other person that joined our church that day?” No one could; they blankly looked at each another. “His name was (insert name)! He joined the same morning as the Browns. We all got busy and put the Browns to work. I visited them! They’ve even become close friends. But we lost track of young (insert name)!”
The pastor then held up a newspaper with a picture of someone on the front page. “This is what has happened to young (insert name); he was arrested for murder last Wednesday.”
The story of King David’s treatment of Mephibosheth is classic and useful for understanding the treatment of others. David set aside all that would differentiate himself from Saul’s only heir. It is imperative we notice Mephiboseth’s demeanor.
To those who humble themselves before Him, to those who acknowledge their Master’s sovereignty, and commit themselves to His rule, He returns their forfeited inheritance, restores their pedigree, and provides that they should dine at His table with Him, not as one to be pitied, but rather as a member of the King’s family!
Who are we then to decide that these are somehow unworthy of our time and attention?
HYPOCRISY: Parenting, the greatest example!
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."The “greatest commandment” means, quite simply, we must put the love of God first; not in word only, but, as James says, as “an effectual doer”!Deuteronomy 6:4-9
A few years ago, in a study of apostasy among adult children of the faithful, the primary cause given for leaving the faith of their parents was hypocrisy among family and church members. [“Parents teach by example in matters of faith,” New York (AP); reported in Lake County Record-Bee, Friday, May 14, 1993, p. A8, in “Religious News.”]
The predominant perception of these adult children was that the lives of those who should have most reflected the teachings of Jesus, did not!
If our lives reflect a biblical faith and a child-like trust in God, our children will want what we have; they learn from us that life is only meaningful and only complete if Christ is the head of our homes.
CHRISTMAS: OK, I'll hurry just don't push!
"You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near."A young girl, dressed for the children’s Christmas program, was running as fast as she could to get to the church on time. As she ran, she prayed, “Dear Jesus, please don't let me be late! Dear Jesus, please don't let me be late!”.James 5:8
In her rush she caught her toe on the hem of her costume, tripped and fell. Her shepherd’s costume got quite a nasty grass stain when her knee hit the church lawn. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again, praying, “Dear Jesus, please don't let me be late! Dear Jesus, please don't let me be late! Only, DON’T PUSH!”
The prayers of children have much to teach us."The effective prayer of a [child] can accomplish much."Needless to say, most of the prayers saved in golden bowls in heaven [Revelation 5:8b; 8:3] will be those of kids (the remainder will be from little old ladies).James 5:16b [my personal translation]
SANCTITY OF LIFE: Ultimate Peer Pressure!
A few years ago an Illinois man was sentenced to life in prison for intimidating his wife to suicide … making him what's believed to be the first person convicted under a law which says it's a felony to induce anyone to take their own life.
The teaching of Darwinist evolution and post-modern relativism (combined with abortion, euthanasia, and public exhibitionism) have so cheapened human life it has lost its God given value to mankind.
WOMAN: Sex of the battlers!
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless."The English professor wrote on the chalkboard: punctuate this word string: “woman-without-her-man-is-nothing”!Ephesians 5:25-27
Male students wrote: “Woman, without her man, is nothing.”
Female students wrote: “Woman! Without her, man is nothing.”
[Adapted from Coolsigs]
ATONEMENT: Understand what finished work looks like!
"Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."In a Reader’s Digest article entitled “Fast-Track Fundamentals” by Richard A. Moran, a series of proverbs was supplied to remind career-oriented people of things they all too often don’t know or forget.John 19:30
One of these maxims was: "Understand what finished work looks like and deliver your work only when it is finished."
Jesus knew what finished work looked like and didn’t quit until His Father’s work was accomplished.
[Reader’s Digest, date unknown, 112-114; condensed from “Never Confuse A Memo With Reality,” Moran, © 1994, HarperCollins, NY.]
REBIRTH: Unexpected beauty and purpose for lives which were previously barbaric!
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."In the late '90s, Finland’s hottest rock group was Apocalyptica; their fans don’t use drugs or mosh, instead they sit quietly and listen attentively.2 Corinthians 5:17
Apocalyptica is composed of four young cellists, who study at Sibelius Academy, Finland’s top classical training ground. Their music? Metallica, Faith No More and other heavy-metal musicians.
Jim Heintz, writing for the Associated Press, says,“Apocalyptica achieves something that surprises adults: it finds dignity and intelligence in music usually dismissed as the theme songs of glue-sniffing morons. … The warm, woody tones of a cello can change a riff that that sounds shrill and ugly on an electric guitar into something yearning and lovely.”Heintz goes on to say,“The result is to bring an unexpected formality and deliberation to songs that in their original versions were barbaric yawps. In Apocalyptica’s hands, heavy metal leaves the torture chamber and becomes chamber music.”In the hands of God, the unrighteous and ungodly become dignified, “yearning and lovely”.
The world looks upon what once belonged to it and finds “an unexpected formality and deliberation” where once, “in their original versions,” stood “barbaric” noise.
In God’s hands, sinful man “leaves the torture chamber and becomes” free indeed.
[The Washington Times; July 12-18, 1999; 2]
HOMOSEXUALITY: Unrepentant, yet still loved by their Creator!
But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."#1) “John Dallas, author, public speaker, and counselor … said, the gay community is like a lot of folks: they hear what they want to hear. For example, pro-gay theologians make much of the silences of the Bible. Jesus, for instance, did not explicitly condemn homosexuality … . But … neither did Jesus specifically condemn wife-beating, incest, dope-taking, and a host of other evils.Mark 10:5-9
"What Jesus did do, in Mark 10:5-9, was affirm the Genesis account of creation, in which God 'made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife ….' Heterosexual marriage in other words.” [#1: “Pro-Gay Theology,” Part 2, Pulpit Helps, July 1999, 31]
#2) The conference speaker asked if someone in the audience would loan her a $20 bill. A gentleman obliged with a crisp new bill.
The speaker held it up for all to admire … . Then she crumpled the bill, inspected it briefly, then crushed it in her hands once again, until it was a shapeless mass. Holding it up, she asked the donor if he still wanted his money back. Yes, indeed, he answered.
“Ah,” said the speaker, “you mean it still has value, even though it has been used and abused?” He nodded, he did.
Quickly came the moral: “Just as that $20 bill still has value, so too are men and women and teenagers whose lives have been twisted and tainted by sin. They are still precious to God.”
Both components of this two part post must be read and contrasted; social-spiritual issues such as homosexuality are too critical in our day for knee-jerk reactions. [#2: “God Can Use Anyone,” selected, Pulpit Helps, July 1999, 6.]
PERSEVERANCE: Washing Your Car to Success
"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance."It was a strange place to have a motivational poster … the Men’s Room at a car wash; then again who’s surprised at anything these days. The message read: “PERSEVERANCE … never give up for that is the place the tide will turn.”Luke 8:15
The message is clear: “Keep on trying, you can make it, don’t quit. Persevere in reaching for the things the world offers, they are available to any who will try hard enough.” And you can do this while you’re having your car washed.
On the other hand, God also calls us to persevere; we’re to do this after we have received His free washing. But Jesus has said the tide will not turn unless you are born-again; unless you come to Him as a little child.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
EVOLUTION: It can't be true!
“We know evolution isn’t true; otherwise, why do mothers still only have two hands and politicians only one mouth!”
[Charles Lowery in SBC Life May 1998]
SALVATION: Open those doors!
"The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."The Associated Press is reporting Pope John Paul II will open special doors to symbolize entrance into the new millennium. The doors symbolize the gateway of salvation. These special doors are referred to as "Holy Doors"; apparently most basilicas have such a door. John Paul has decreed (for the first time in history) Rome's basilicas will open their Holy Doors at the same time.1 John 5:10-12
The reports say the Roman Church’s celebration of “Holy Years” dates back to the 1400s; each celebration is commemorated by the opening of a Holy Door in at least one of its basilicas.
This year the Pope will open the Holy Doors of every basilica in Rome: St. Peter's, Christmas Eve; St. John Lateran, Christmas Day; St. Mary Major, January 1; and St. Paul's, January 18. St. Peter's has at least two Holy Doors, since the Pope has mandated they will both be opened in a ceremony typifying the church's past and future. [Religion Today]
Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved.” [John 10:9] There is only one Holy Door, and that is through the One who tore down the veil which previously kept the door shut.
Jesus added, “No man comes unto the Father, but through me.” [John 14:6b] He said, “I am the way.”
And Luke recorded for all with ears to hear and eyes to see that there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved. [Acts 4:12]
Four things are really special about Christ as our door: first, He’s never closed for salvation business [Matthew 28:20]; second, no one must decree He be opened; and, third, He doesn’t need to be duplicated every time someone erects a building in His name … His Church is everywhere present.
CREATION: “Ah ha!”
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."They call it the “Ah ha!” experience. Kathy Hummel, media and production director of the National Scrabble Association says, “It comes from creating something out of nothing, you stick your hand in a bag and pull out seven random letters and build words.” The game is known as Scrabble.Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, Alfred Mosher Butts, an unemployed architect from Poughkeepsie, NY, decided he wanted to create a new game. He analyzed many games and found they fell into three categories: number games, such as dice and bingo; move games, such as chess and checkers; and word games, such as anagrams.
Wanting to create a game which would use both chance and skill, Butts combined features of anagrams and crossword puzzles. First called Lexiko, the game was later called Criss Cross Words. To decide on a letter distribution, Butts calculated the letter frequency on the front page of The New York Times.
In the depths of the Depression, Butts and entrepreneur James Brunot rented an abandoned schoolhouse in Dodgington, Conn., and turned out twelve games an hour, stamping letters on the wooden tiles.
In 1949, Brunot made 2,400 sets and lost $450. Then in the early 1950s, as legend has it, the president of Macy's discovered Scrabble on vacation and ordered some for the store. Within a year, demand was higher than supply and Scrabble had to be rationed to stores. Recently, Hasbro began selling Scrabble on CD.
I doubt it would be good to call the creation an “Ah ha” experience but, “In the beginning God” also created something out of nothing [we call it ex nihilo; Romans 4:17]. However, I believe if you and I had been there it might fairly be called the “Oh, my!” experience.
God didn’t have to reach into a bag to do it, either; He simple spoke it into existence [Hebrews 11:3]. But He did have trouble selling the idea … and still does. You see saved-man lives by faith and not by sight [2 Corinthians 5:7], while the unsaved insist on “seeing is believing.”
Also in the beginning was the Word. Only this Word was not made up of seven letters, it was made up of the Son of God [John 1:14]. And no one had to go to the front page of anything to see which words should be used in composing His Word.
ENTITLEMENT: Those Who Do Not Work!
"For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either."The Australian Associated Press is reporting new applicants for the dole (Aussie for welfare) will lose their payments unless they immediately join a work-for-dole plan, expected to be announced soon.2 Thessalonians 3:10
The AAP said the tough new measure, to take effect in the new year, is designed by the government to push people off welfare and into work.
Employment Services Minister Tony Abbott will reportedly deliver the following in an upcoming speech, “When government policy makes working more trouble than its worth, it's hardly surprising that welfare should become an entrenched way of life.” The aim of the policy is to ensure that all those “reasonably work-ready” engage in some useful paid activity and those who are reluctant face a “hassle” if they don't.
[“No work, no dole: new plan for jobless” AAP - National News, December 17 1999; © 1997-1999 Ninemsn Pty. Ltd.]
The Aussies are not alone in this dilemma; it seems every descendant of Britannia suffers from some form of welfare anomaly.
And the church herself is besieged with the same mentality. “Why work” church members ask, “when it’s the Pastor’s job?” Or they say, “When I see everyone else working, I’ll join in!” Or, “Oh, Preacher, I’ve done enough around here, it’s time for someone else to work.” They may be correct, but they’re dead wrong.
Yet the most infuriating is an old excuse, “Pastor, I just don’t have the gift of teaching!” Substitute any church job you can think of for “teaching” and you get the idea.
I’ve often wondered what would happen if we told those on the spiritual dole they’d not be allowed to sit at the Lord’s Table this month or feed on His word this next Sunday … unless they engage in some useful church activity. And I’ve fantasized about the reactions of a stubborn few, were they certain they’d be hassled for any unholy reluctance.
But then again, the Bride of the Lion of Judah is old and set in her ways, a toothless aging ewe, unable to chew the solid fodder [Hebrews 5:12-14].
HEALING: Good News, Bad News!
"Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked him of the LORD.'"A woman went to her doctor’s office for a minor complaint. She was seen by a younger doctor, fresh out of medical school. After about four minutes, the woman burst from the examination room, screaming as she ran down the hall. The head doctor in the practice stopped her and asked what happened … she explained. He sat her down in order to compose herself.1 Samuel 1:19-20
The older doctor marched back to the young doctor and demanded, “What's the matter with you? Mrs. Terry is 63-years old, she has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you tell her she’s pregnant?”
The new doctor smiled smugly as he continued to write on his clipboard, “Cured her hiccups though, didn't it?”
ORIGINS: What’s In a Name?
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."John Lang, writing in The Washington Times, says,
Acts 4:12“Names are going through some strange transformations … powerful … trends are at play as parents [exercise] their occasionally inspired but often lamented power of naming names into the next millennium.” He adds, “Plain Jane is apt to be … Jeyn or Janne. Today’s Tyrones and Terrells are more likely to have a name like Jamarcus or Jevonte … .”But Lang is speaking of first names; however, surnames (or last names) have also been affected by trends. My surname (Gillmartin; also Gilmartin, Guilmartin and Kilmartin) is of Scotch-Irish origin and they are pros when it comes to names, both logical and illogical. Up to the tenth century AD, surnames in Ireland were not hereditary.
[November 1-7, 1999, p. 2.]
Those, like mine, beginning with “Gil-“ or “Kil-” (an anglicized version of the Irish Giolla, meaning follower or devotee) reveal the influence of the church: Gillmartin (in Irish Mac Giolla Mhairtin; the prefix Mac meaning “son of”) means “son of a follower of Martin” (in this case St. Martin).
Similarly, the church is the origin of those names starting with “Mul-“, a version of the Irish Maol, meaning bald, applying to monks due to their distinctive hair styling, as well as many others.
The earliest names appear to be those incorporating “Ó” or its earlier form Ua, meaning “descendant of.” So O’Mulrennan (Ó Maoilbhreanainn) means “descendant of a bald-follower of Brendan,” probably a son or grandson of a monk in an order of St. Brendan.
While many of the names appearing in accounts of the time appear similar to modern Irish names, incorporating the prefix “Mac” or “O,” were in fact not hereditary, lasting only one generation. Hence Turlough mac Airt, was Turlough, son of Art; his son would be Conor mac Turlough, Conor son of Turlough.
Although the making of “fixed” hereditary surnames began early, the process was slow, continuing for over six hundred years. As the population grew and new families were formed, each sought to consolidate its identity by adopting hereditary surnames, usually by simply adding “Mac-“ to the first name of the founding ancestor. In the course of this process, then, many surnames were created which are in fact offshoots of more common names.
For example, the MacMahons and the McConsidines are descended from the O'Brien family, the former from Mahon O'Brien, who died in 1129, the latter from Constantine O'Brien, who died in 1193. This continuing division and sub-division of the most powerful Gaelic families almost certainly explains the great proliferation of Gaelic surnames.
[Adapted from “The Origins of Irish Surnames” from www.ireland.com on the Internet]
I’m glad the old ways have given way to more reasonable conventions. Today, under the old system, I might be known as Jion Ua Giolla Mhairtin Giolla Jesu Mac Gaud, or John O’Gillmartin Giljesus MacGod; literally, John a descendant of a follower of Martin, a follower of Jesus, Son of God.
But as names and naming processes go, I much prefer God’s way; for under His eternal system, I am Jion O’Gaud … simply John, child of God. For He has made me His child and written my name in the Book of Life, using the precious blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, the Son of God.
And I know, “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." [Acts 4:12]
NATURE: Careless Code Recycling Causes Killer Kangaroos!
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."It’s being reported that the reuse of old, object-oriented computer code has caused tactical stress for Australia's armed forces.Ephesians 5:1-2
As virtual reality simulators assume larger roles in helicopter combat training, programmers have gone to great lengths to increase the realism of each scenario. This can include very real landscapes and wildlife (i.e., herds of kangaroos, since disturbed animals might reveal a helicopter's position), as in the case of the Northern Territory's “Operation Phoenix.”
The head of the Defense Science & Technology Organization's Land Operations/Simulation Division reportedly instructed program developers to model the local marsupials' movements and reactions to helicopters. To achieve certain efficiencies, programmers appropriated some code originally used to model infantry detachment reactions under attack conditions, changed the mapped icon from a soldier to a kangaroo, and increased the figures' speed of movement.
After release, some hotshot Aussie pilots, eager to demonstrate their flying skills for visiting American pilots, buzzed the virtual kangaroos in low-flight simulation. The kangaroos scattered as planned, and the visiting Yanks nodded appreciatively ... then did a double-take as the kangaroos reappeared from behind a virtual hill and launched a barrage of Stinger missiles at the hapless helicopter.
Apparently the capable programmers had forgotten to remove that part of the infantry detachment coding. Objects in computer code are defined with certain attributes, and any new object defined in terms of an old one inherits all of its attributes.
Humbled programmers learned to be more careful in reusing object-oriented code, the Americans gained new respect for Australian wildlife, and simulator supervisors report Australian pilots strictly avoid kangaroos now.
[From June 15, 1999 Defense Science and Technology Organization Lecture Series, Melbourne, Australia, and staff reports under the title “Mutant Marsupials Take Up Arms Against Australian Air Force”; via Good Clean Funnies List, online at http://www.gcfl.net; “This funny was received from Rodney Ford,” published December 1999. Edited for publication by SIEW.]
It’s critical we model the right people; as Christians it’s important we model Christ Jesus. When people imitate others, they inherit the attributes of the ones they imitate [1 Corinthians 15:33]; when we imitate the Lord, we inherit His attributes … faithfulness, goodness, kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, etc. I believe Paul called these the “fruits of the Spirit” [Galatians 5:22-23].
When we’re born-again, God appropriates the code originally intended for righteous lives, changes the mapped icon of our hearts from Satan to Christ, and increases our spiritual movement.
He does, however, allow some of the old, object-oriented code to remain … something we call free will. That’s why every once in a while, when we drop our shield of faith, there’s the devil, or one of his henchmen, slinging flaming missiles at the opening in our armor [Ephesians 6:16].
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