Father Damien, a true hero

When I lived in Hawai’i I was aware of Damien High school. At first, all I knew about them was they were never very good in football. Then I heard about “Father Damien” the priest who ministered to the lepers in Molokai. I didn’t know a lot about him, but there was just a positive vibe connected with Father Damien.

Over the years I learned a little more about the man, enough to have him become a hero to me. I recently read Damien the Leper by John Farrow. This book further established that notion.

He was born Josef De Veuster in Belgium, but when he became a priest, yes, a Catholic Priest, he changed his name to Damien. He was sent to Hawai’i as a missionary and was serving effectively on the Big Island when he heard about Molokai. Actually, he was attending a conference, heard the need for someone to minister to the lepers exiled to Molokai and volunteered himself.

At the time, this leper colony was a hopeless, lawless place. Leprosy was spreading like a plague and lepers were being rounded up, dropped off, and left to die. Damien knew that by going to this place, he would contract leprosy and die himself. Still, he went.

He visited them, cared for them, washed their open sores, built their houses, built a chapel, fed them, ate with them, created an orderly society, built their coffins (probably, nearly a thousand!) and dug their graves, and buried them. All of these lepers were Hawaiians. He was the only white man among them. Yet, he was so beloved by these folk that he was given a Hawaiian name, Kamiano.

I am not ashamed to act as mason or carpenter, when it is for the glory of God.  These ten years I have been on the mission I have built a church or chapel every year.  The habit I had at home of practising different kinds of work, is of immense use to me here." - Father Damien in a letter to his parents.

Listen to a leper describing him, "He overwhelms us with his...care, and he himself builds our houses.  When any one of us is ill, he gives him tea, biscuits and sugar; and to the poor he gives clothes."

Damien is to me a hero, a person to look up to and emulate.

I know, there may be people thinking, “But, he was Catholic.” And others, even more strongly, “He was a stinking Catholic! You know how those Catholics believe all that heretical stuff. He was probably trying to earn his salvation by going to Molokai. Catholics are like that, y’know.” There were people in his own day who offered the same objections.

I only see out of one eye, but I am not so blind as to know that he and I might have disagreed on some things. But, listen to his heart:

I wish to give myself unconditionally to the poor lepers. The harvest appears to be ripe here. Pray, and ask others to pray both for me and for all.

My greatest pleasure is to serve the Lord in his poor children rejected by other people.

I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.

Here was a man who was full of the love of God. His love for Jesus moved him to give his life for these lepers.

Queen Liliuokalani spent a day visiting him in Molokai. As she was preparing to return to Honolulu, she told Damien it was hard to believe anyone should stay in this tragic place of his own free will.
“It is my work. You see, Madame, they are my parishioners.”
“Your parishioners . . . and my people.”

He led a worship service every morning. He usually began with, “My brethren…” one morning he began the service, “We lepers…” He had so identified himself with them that he now had leprosy and he eventually died of it.

Having no doubts about the true nature of the disease, I am calm, resigned, and very happy in the midst of my people. God certainly knows what is best for my sanctification and I gladly repeat: ‘Thy will be done.’

He was a man and had his own peculiar faults etc. but I don’t know that I have ever even met anyone as full of the love of God as he was. One of the charges against him was “he had fallen into something of the ways and habits of thought of a Kanaka” – that is, he lived and ate like a Hawaiian. He became one of them. I think this is more a compliment!

Eventually, Damien died of leprosy. He gave his life in loving service to the Lord and for these people. What an example! I fully expect Damien to shine brightly in the kingdom of Christ. Because of all his work and sacrifice? No, because of the grace of God. And it was this very grace that empowered him to labor so abundantly. He is a testimony to grace as well as a trophy of grace.

What an interesting post a couple of days before Christmas, yet, I think a fitting one. Christmas is the celebration of the love of God and the gift of His Son. Damien is the story of a man who knew that love and lived out that gift.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Today is my first born daughter’s birthday

Today is my firstborn daughter’s birthday and I was reminiscing last night. The only date I will mention in this post is the year we got married, which was 1975. After Mary graduated from Nursing School we moved to Memphis. She worked at Methodist Central and I attended Mid-South Bible College.

When we learned that Mary was pregnant, we signed up for Lamaze training (a natural birth method). Two things I remember most about Lamaze: (1) “They are not labor pains, they are simply contractions; and by controlled breathing you can control the contractions.” (2) Our instructor informed us one night that her house was haunted, which they didn’t mind. The only issue was the ghost was afraid of the Christmas tree!

We decided to name all our children with names that signified what we were trusting the Lord to do in them. We chose Anne Katherine for our first one: “pure and full of grace, mercy and prayer.” We were informed numerous times that our chosen name was backwards and just wouldn’t work, “Everyone knows that it should be Katherine Anne.” We seemed to be the only ones who did not know this! But for us, her name was Anne. Katherine was her middle name. And it was to be Anne, not Ann. They just sound different to me.

We prepared for the momentous event: the nursery was decorated, diapers were bought, Pampers were bought for the first little bit. We were ready!

I recall two sad instances while we awaited her arrival. The first, I made Mary cry when I got a little frustrated and said, “I hope when this baby is born we can talk about something other than the baby!” The second, while Mary was still struggling with morning sickness, we were sitting outside, enjoying the evening, and she asked, “How many children do you think you want?” I replied, “I don’t know, five?” She got up and went inside!

Anne’s due date was December 11. That Monday came and Anne did not. Nor the 12th, or 13th, or 14th. A whole week passed and no baby. I had a final exam on Monday the 18th and Mary went up to the school with me. While I took my test, Mary had it out with the Lord. She spent the entire time walking around the football field. Actually, in her own words, she was “stomping” around the football field! That night she went into labor.

I woke up around 5:30 and found Mary in full labor. She had been up most of the night and had made the classic mistake of not waking me. And when I woke up, I was not able to help her get in control of her contractions. This was not setting up too well. We called the doctor and he said it was indeed time to go to the hospital.

This is shortly before 7 AM in Memphis, TN and the hospital is downtown. We safely arrived at the hospital around 7:20 only to see a fire-truck parked outside the Emergency Entrance. Somehow a laundry chute was on fire! Great. But we made it in and got her admitted.

The doctor came in and almost immediately announced he would have to do a Caesarian section. This was news to us! We learned later that this was a common practice for him. That rascal knew all along that he was going to do a Caesarian…

Anne was delivered that morning. And a beautiful baby she was! I can still remember holding her that morning. When the overhead lights were on, she would squint her eyes shut, but when they were turned off, her eyes would pop open and she would look around. Amazing!

In those days you stayed in the hospital a few days after giving birth and add a day or two for a C-section. One day Mary called me and was frantic, “They have the medicine to dry me up at the desk!” Her intention was to breast feed, but you can’t do that when they dry up your milk. So I ran up to the hospital to stop that!

Then the day came to bring the baby home. We loaded everyone and everything in the car and came home. We brought her into the apartment and placed her in her bassinet in her own room. We both looked down at her and said aloud, “What do we do now?” We must have figured something out! One thing I can recall is the doctor or someone telling us to feed her every four hours. But from the beginning we determined we were not going to wake her up in the middle of the night to nurse her.

My heart was full of love for my baby girl! So much so that the thought of having another child was deeply troubling, “How will I have any love left for another one?” I learned a tremendous lesson about love when we did have another child, and a third and fourth – Love is not a quantifiable ‘thing’. It’s not something that has to be divided or shared, so that one gets more and another gets cheated. I can love my first born with all my heart. And my second and third and fourth born too! And even as I love each daughter with all my heart, yet it is still a specific love.

Anne grew up to become a beautiful young woman. And now she has a family of her own. And her first born, another girl, doubles as my first born grandchild! Anne is an amazing woman, wife and mother.

I have truly been blessed: I have Anne (and her sisters) as my daughter(s). But I admit, it’s not a fair or equal blessing, I get Anne but she gets me! So pray for her (and her sisters)!!

Happy Birthday, Anne!

Remission of sins, just the beginning

When my pastor asked me to preach for him on December 1, we talked about that being the beginning of Advent. I asked him what his theme was going to be and he said that he had not yet decided. I thought about it and offered a couple of suggestions. The first one was to go through Luke 1 & 2. He decided to go in a different direction. Well, I’ve been sorta thinking about Luke 1 & 2 ever since. 

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy [promised] to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness and [in] the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Amen. What a wonderful prophecy! I was struck by one particular verse:
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins

Remission or forgiveness of sins. What a sweet word! Christ came, He died on the cross, so that our sins could be forgiven. As a person who has a history of sin, I find this glorious!

I have ceased from my wand’ring and going astray,

Since Jesus came into my heart!

And my sins, which were many, are all washed away,

Since Jesus came into my heart!

Ah, but notice, To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. The forgiveness of sins is the doorway to salvation. So often we have reduced salvation to forgiveness. Yet, the Holy Spirit says remission of sins leads to the knowledge of salvation. In other words, there is so much more to salvation than just being forgiven. And Zacharias provides an amazing description of salvation.

Forgiveness of our sins is not salvation, it is the grace of God that opens the door to salvation. It is like buying a house. You sign all the papers and the house is yours. But you don’t stop there. You bought the house to move into it! Forgiveness of my sins is awesome! Thank you, Lord, that you forgave my sins and restored me to You that, being delivered out of the hand of my enemies, I might serve You without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of my life, and then enjoy eternal life with You! Amen.

Remission of sins is awesome beyond description, but it’s only the beginning. That’s what I thought about when I meditated on this prophecy.

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins

They just seem the same

When my pastor asked me to preach for him on December 1, we talked about that being the beginning of Advent. I asked him what his theme was going to be and he said that he had not yet decided. I thought about it and offered a couple of suggestions. The first one was to go through Luke 1 & 2. He decided to go in a different direction. Well, I’ve been sorta thinking about Luke 1 & 2 ever since. 

Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Two seemingly similar questions, but they received very different responses.

The first question was asked by Zacharias. He was a priest and was married to Elisabeth. They were child-less and were now both well stricken in years. While he was in the temple, executing the priest’s office, an angel appeared to him and gave him great news:

Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

The angel announced that John would go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah . . . to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. His son, the forerunner of the Messiah!

Zacharias and Elisabeth wanted children. They had been praying for God to bless them with children. And now, in a dramatic way, an angel told Zacharias that his prayer was about to be answered. And this brings us to Zacharias’ question: Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

The angel then struck him mute for 9 months!

The second question was asked by Mary. Six months after speaking to Zacharias the same angel came to her and announced:

And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” He told her that her child would be the Messiah! And her question? “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

This time the angel offered her an explanation of how this would happen.

Why did the angel answer Mary and smite Zacharias??

Gabriel’s announcement to Zacharias is in Luke 1:13-17. He offered him great detail about the birth and life of this promised son. This is no fleeting feeling - God sent an angel to him to tell him his prayer was answered! And this is what the angel said about Zacharias’ question, thou believest not my words. Ah, even though Zacharias knew how babies were made and had been praying for a child, he did not believe the report. To be fair, they had spent many years trying to have a child with no success and now they were well past child bearing years. They were no doubt discouraged and this is a hard thing to believe. But, while we may excuse him, God did not. Zacharias did not believe God.

Mary was a virgin. She was engaged to be married, but was not yet married. She was still a virgin. When the angel announced that she would have a son her question was understandable, “Uh, how can this be? I’m a virgin.” Zacharias responded, “Yeah right, we’re too old to have children.” He had enough information (he knew how these things happened), he just didn’t accept the Word from God. Mary, on the other hand, simply needed a little more information (how could this happen?). And how do we know this? From her response to the angel’s explanation, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

Amen. Mary walked in faith, Zacharias did not. Did Mary completely understand the how of all this? I doubt it. But God said it and she believed it. Zacharias on the other hand, heard the Word and did not believe it. He knew his Bible. He knew the story of Abraham, who against hope believed in hope . . . And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Zacharias staggered at the promise of God.

What’s all this to me today? I want to walk in faith like Abraham and Mary. I need to accept God’s Word over what I see or hear. The twelve spies all saw the same thing: a land of abundance with giants! Ten saw the giants, Joshua and Caleb saw the Lord. Amen.

This is also a reminder that God is not opposed to questions. Basically, Mary said, “Lord, you are promising me great things but how can this be? How can I have a baby, I’ve never been with a man?” This is a fair question and God provides the answer. The prophet Habakkuk is a great example of this. The book begins with a serious question, O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? God answered him, but the answer was even more difficult to understand than the current conditions, so Habakkuk cried out, “Lord! What? How? I don’t understand.” Then he did the wisest thing he could, “I will wait for his answer.” And God did answer! The just shall live by his faith. There is much more in chapter 2, but this is the essence, “Trust me.” Habakkuk got the message and he did trust the Lord - chapter 3 is a prayer/song that ends with a great confession of confidence in God!

And speaking of examples! Habakkuk was a man so full of love for God that he was not merely saddened and distressed by the terrible spiritual conditions around him, he was moved to intercession. And he fervently persevered in that intercession until he heard from God. And when he didn’t understand that word, he waited until he heard again. Is this not the violence God delights in? (Matt 11:12)

And back to Mary. By faith she responded, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. We don’t get it. In our day a single woman having a baby is no big deal. It’s almost the norm. In fact, if you don’t have sex before you get married, you are the odd duck. So we merely see the struggle of believing she will give birth to the Messiah. But Mary knew the stigma this would bring. Even though believing God would increase hardship, she said, Be it unto me according to thy word. Ah Mary, Blessed art thou among women.

Finally, a note to myself, if I ever have an angel appear to me and give me a Word from God . . . believe it!

The desire of my heart

There is a desire of my heart, a request of God, that I think about, contemplate, and pray over often. Several week ago I woke up early one Saturday morning and the cry of my heart was, “How can I do this?” That is, What steps can I take to see this come to pass? The Lord ministered to me very clearly that morning about only receiving the things God brings into your life. I said, Yeah; Amen; Hallelujah! And rested in Him to bring this to pass. And He began!

The last couple of days I have returned to thinking of ways this could be realized, even how I could indirectly raise the subject and offer suggestions. I realized I was scheming! Psalm 37:4 came to mind, Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. I knew there were other instructions surrounding this verse and since I couldn't exactly recall them, I looked up the Psalm. Here they are: †

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 
4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 
5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him . . . 

Wow! Instead of scheming, plotting, arranging, God tells me to Trust Him; Delight in Him; Commit my way to Him; Rest in Him; Wait patiently for Him.

Ouch and Amen!

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 
No schemes, trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land – trust in the Lord and you will dwell in the promised land, the abundant life.

4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 
Delight, not in my desires or my plans, but in the Lord. Not as a means to my desires, but just because he is the Lord.

5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
How this contrasts with planning, plotting, scheming! Commit your way to the Lord and trust him; he will bring it to pass.

7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him . . . 
How do I deal with the anxiety of how and when this could come to pass? Rest in the Lord. Wait patiently.

I was summarily dealt with! If you want My blessing, then it will be My way.

Why is it sometimes so difficult to trust, rest, and wait for the Lord? I don’t even know what the rest of the day holds, He knows everything!

Father, you know the desire of my heart. Give me grace to trust You. Teach me to delight in Thee. By Thy mercy help me to commit my way unto Thee, to rest in Thee, and to wait patiently for Thee.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, 

thoughts of peace, and not of evil, 

to give you an expected end.

Then shall ye call upon me, 

and ye shall go and pray unto me, 

and I will hearken unto you.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, 

when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

And I will be found of you:

and I will turn away your captivity. . .

† I know the context of these verses is the prosperity of the unrighteous as set in v 1, Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. But I am persuaded that these are fundamental principles that can be applied to many and various circumstances. And I am just as confident, that what God spoke to the nation in Jeremiah 29:11-14 above, the principles apply to me the individual,

I made a fire and thought about Watch

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

Watch ye. I have been thinking about this for a while. Back in June of 2012 I wrote a post on this very subject. You can read it here.

I confess, I don’t pray as much as I should. I’m not being humble, I know this is an area of weakness. But I have been impressed over this past year that I don’t know much about watching. And here it is again.

Tonight, I made a fire. When I sit by the fire I have time to think and meditate. Tonight I realized you have to watch a fire. You have to add more wood: sometimes small pieces, other times larger pieces. Sometimes you stir it up. Other times you move the wood around so it will burn better or more evenly. When a piece of wood falls off to the side, you put it back on the fire. While I enjoy the fire, the flames, the color, the warmth, I have to watch it to get the full benefit.

I thought, “Could this be what watch is like?” There are some comments in my earlier post along this very line. Watch ye. Be awake. Be alert. What do I need to pray for and about? What is God doing? Where is He working? What do I need Him to do? I need to meditate on this earlier post. Watching is important and I need to take heed and watch unto prayer. The Lord seems to be stressing this to me.

Lord, teach me to watch.

until the day dawn

until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts

I woke up this morning very early. So early it was still the middle of the night! I read a little from a couple chapters from two very serious books, drank some hot chocolate, finished my White Owl, and thought about what I wanted to do so early in my day.

I had several options. I chose to go out back and make a fire. It was a rather cold morning and the fire was hot. Nice.

When I went outside it was still dark. As I sat there the day began to dawn. What a cool morning this was. The colors in the clouds! Not red, not pink. I don’t even know the name of the color. I thought about running inside, getting the camera and taking a picture. Alas, my camera cannot quite capture these colors. So I just sat there and enjoyed it.

As the light increased more and more of the backyard was revealed. Slowly, the colors sharpened. I was sitting on the ground in order to be close to the fire, so the contours of the land came into focus. I have a nice backyard. The birds were singing. I’ve been in my backyard plenty of times, yet I was seeing it in a whole new light. It was awesome!

As I witnessed daybreak, I thought about this verse. This is what it’s like when the day dawns in your heart. Everything comes into focus. You see the details, the colors, the beauty of God’s creation. Everthing seems fresh and new. Amen. May the day dawn in my heart; may the Son rise and shine in me!

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

A facebook post that made me think

'In the church context, it was culturally unacceptable to have problems; it was called being sinful. At Alcoholics Anonymous, it was culturally unacceptable to be perfect; that was called denial. In church, people looked better and got worse, and in the AA group they looked worse and got better!’ [Henry Cloud, Changes That Heal]

A friend of mine posted this on facebook recently. I got to thinking about it. This is a bit of an overstatement, but has enough truth to be a source of sadness. Of course, there is victory in the Christian life and it is not denial to testify to it. And wallowing in sin and defeat is sinful. Still, this is something to consider.

The churches I pastored had a culture of testifying. I am persuaded this is a very healthy practice. But I realized at some point that people usually shared victory and answers to prayer. These are good, but only half the story. We tried to address this. These same churches were also praying churches, frequently meeting in small groups for prayer. I believe this was one way the brethren could share their struggles: “Pray for me about…” and “I’m praying about…”

I would also often ask for testimonies of salvation. One Sunday, the Lord showed me that by doing this I was magnifying the sensational ("Man, I was really bad...") and marginalizing the saints who had been believers since childhood. The way we were doing this, they had no story. And yet they did! In addition, the Spirit showed me that the Lord Jesus said, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. He said confess, not testify.

From that day forward I changed my approach. I began asking, "Anyone want to confess their faith in Christ?" or, "Anyone willing to confess they believe Jesus is the Son of God?" That way, everyone who had accepted Christ at the age of 5 and had never wandered off into sin had a glorious testimony too! And isn’t that what Jesus called for? confess me before men. And it was effective.

I believe Jesus saves, that there is victory in Christ, that God answers prayer, and that we are changed into the same image from glory to glory. And I believe in the practice of testifying. Frequent testimonies are a sign of a vibrant church. Churches have to be careful lest they create the culture described in the quote above, but testifying and the expectation of victory should be the norm in a church.

We used to sing:

Victory, O victory, it is mine 2x

If I hold my peace, 

let the Lord fight my battles

Victory, O victory, it is mine

Victory, O victory, it is yours… 

Victory, O victory, it is ours…

We should hold forth expectations of God moving in our midst and doing great things. We should also have the tradition of testifying to what He is doing and has done. But, to be a fully biblical church, we also need the freedom and transparency to Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. Otherwise we fall into the trap mentioned at the beginning.

Isn’t it cool when a simple facebook post causes you to think?

Walk humbly with thy God

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

I searched mishpat (judgment) and chesed (mercy). Now for walk humbly with thy God. Funny thing is, this is the only occurrence of this word in the Old Testament. So there's no word search but just a few thoughts on to walk humbly…

Pride is a problem we all face. But it is an especially insidious temptation in spiritual matters. What?!? What could I ever be tempted to be proud about? This is spiritual pride: I know something, have something, experienced something that you don’t know, don’t have, have not experienced.

“I know God. My sins are forgiven. I have eternal life. I have a spiritual gift. I know the Bible. God answers my prayers. I’m walking in victory. Our church is growing. Our church is Bible-based… and you don’t.”  You don’t consciously think this way, but it so easily creeps in. “Those that are spiritual proud, have a high conceit of these two things, their light, and their humility.” (Jonathan Edwards).

But this need not be! But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:6, 10

I can humble myself. And as I consciously humble myself before God, he will give me more grace.

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 

Ephesians 4:1-2  I … beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 

Amen. I put on lowliness of mind and God gives me grace to be truly humble.

“The eminently humble Christian is as it were clothed with lowliness, mildness, meekness, gentleness of spirit and behavior, and with a soft, sweet, condescending, winning air and deportment; these things are just like garments to him, he is clothed all over with them.” Jonathan Edwards

Amen. Be a doer of his Word (do judgment), love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

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Spiritual Pride

by Jonathan Edwards

"those that are spiritual proud, have a high conceit of these two things, their light, and their humility"

Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others; whereas an humble saint is so suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The spiritually proud person is apt to find fault with other saints, that they are low in grace; and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are; and being quick to discern and take notice of their deficiencies. But the humble Christian has so much to do at home . . . that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts . . . He is apt to esteem others better than himself, and is ready to hope that [everyone] has more love and thankfulness to God than he.

Pride magnifies the faults of other Christians and diminishes their graces, while it diminishes the faults and magnifies the graces of its subject. It is apt to treat the needs of others as occasions of contempt and laughter rather than as sources of concern or shock.

"Spiritual pride takes great notice of opposition and injuries that are received, and is apt to be often speaking of them, and to be much in taking notice of their aggravations, either with an air of bitterness or contempt."
The humble Christian is as it were clothed with lowliness, mildness, meekness, gentleness of spirit and behavior, and with a soft, sweet, condescending, winning air and deportment; these things are just like garments to him, he is clothed all over with them . . . Pure Christian humility has no such thing as roughness, or contempt, or fierceness, or bitterness in its nature; it makes a person like a little child, harmless and innocent, that none need to be afraid of; or like a lamb, destitute of all bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamor; agreeable to Eph. iv.31. . . . [Ministers] ought indeed . . . not to be gentle and moderate in searching and awakening the conscience, but should be sons of thunder . . . Yet they should do it without judging particular persons, leaving it to conscience and the Spirit of God to make the particular application. But all their conversation should savor of nothing but lowliness and good-will, love and pity to all mankind; so that such a spirit should be like a sweet odor diffused around them wherever they go. They should be like lions to guilty consciences, but like lambs to men’s persons.

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And for a fuller discussion of spiritual pride:

http://www.grace-abounding.com/Articles/Sin/Pride_Edwards.htm

and to love mercy

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8

My last post was what I learned about the phrase, to do justly or to do judgment. My next search was the phrase, to love mercy. Wow!

The Hebrew word for mercy is chesed. It is usually translated mercy, lovingkindness, or kindness. I learned some interesting things about mercy.

† it is linked with a variety of interesting words. (chesed is in italics)
mercy and truth, mercy and favour, longsuffering and mercy, grace and favour, life and favour, goodness and mercy, tender mercies and lovingkindnesses, mercy and judgment.

† there are other Hebrew words for mercy, and they are sometimes used with chesed (again, in italics).
Psalm 51:1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

I noted these other words but did not study them. But it looked interesting

† mercy is used most often in reference to God. In fact, in the Psalms it is only used of God.

Nehemiah 9:17 …but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness…

Psalm 86: 15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

Psalm 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

And it is God’s lovingkindness that serves as the motive and model for our showing mercy.

† And here is the main point: chesed (mercy, lovingkindness) is not so much an attitude as it is the action that flows from that attitude. “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Chesed is that compassion, grace, and longsuffering in action. God has compassion on me and shows me mercy. Even so with us, mercy is doing something for another.

Joshua 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:
13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
 14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

Rahab was not interested in their compassion. She asked for chesed – save my family.

So, how do we love mercy? How do we show mercy to people around us? Clearly it is the kindness we show to people. Even though Jesus did not quote this verse, he obviously taught the truth of this verse.

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  
This is the first and great commandment.  
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-40

And Jesus illustrates this loving your neighbor as yourself in Luke 10:30-38. To love mercy is to treat people the way I wish they treated me, to do for them what I would want done for me.

This is big. This is really big! Mercy is acts of kindness, compassion in action. Giving, doing, helping. Even little things like a kind word. Amen.

What doth the Lord require of thee but to do judgment and to love mercy

For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Psalm 86:5

O Lord, help me to fully know your mercy toward me, fill my heart with your love and teach me to love mercy.


Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Hosea 12:6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

Zechariah 7:9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

Amen.

To do justly or Gottes Wort halten

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8

We sang the Maranatha! Praise version of this chorus in church a few weeks ago. I thought at the time, “Wow, we could end church right now!” I began meditating on this verse and a couple of weeks after that I decided to search the Old Testament for the words justly and mercy in order to get a better understanding. Oh my, lots of verses!

I recently finished justly. I was rather surprised at what I found. Before this study, I would have completely agreed with one of my favorite commentators, “To do justly; to give to all their due.” I was startled to learn that on this verse he had not done his homework! Let’s do ours.

First, the Hebrew word translated justly is mishpat. That tells you everything, right? Well, I confess, not me. I did learn, though, that the basic meaning of mishpat is judgment.

Second, I learned that mishpat occurs quite often, over 400 times in the Old Testament! And yes, I read through every single one. This must be a very important word and concept, since it occurs so often and in nearly every book of the Old Testament.

Third, it is translated by a lot of different English words. Some of them: judgment, manner, right, cause, ordinance. That’s because it is used in a variety of ways. And that is what I found so surprising. And helpful.

and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do judgment. Judgment is often used to refer to just that, judgment. By God or by human leaders.  But judgment is also one of the words used by God concerning the Law. Commandments, statutes, ordinances, judgments. Now the light is getting brighter. I came to the conclusion that to do judgment meant to keep the Law, obey the Word. I have often read that to do justly means to do the right thing. And that is correct, except we’re still left with, What is the right thing? But when we understand mishpat (judgment), that question is answered. In the Law He gave His judgments, what is the right thing to do. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

And in speaking of the coming Messiah, we read in Isaiah 42
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.  
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.  
3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.  
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. 

Messiah will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Is that not what he did? “You have heard it said…but I say...”

And in some collateral reading I came across Martin Luther’s translation of to do justly, Gottes Wort halten. Oh yeah, that is as helpful as mishpat! Well, Gottes Wort halten in plain English is keep God’s Word. Amen! Martin Luther agrees with me! Well, I should say, I came to the same conclusion he did, just a few years before me.

Anyway, the thing that mattered the most to God in the Old Testament was this, that a man should keep His commandments. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee but to keep his word. And while this verse is never quoted in the New Testament, is this not the same thing taught by Christ?

if any many love me he will keep my commandments

And the Apostles picked up on this:

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments

This is really cool. Really plain. Straightforward and simple. and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to Gottes Wort halten, keep God’s Word. Jesus Christ has brought forth judgment to the Gentiles, in his own teaching and through his apostles. What is good and what does God require of me? but to do these judgments, to Gottes Wort halten, keep God’s Word.

In Isaiah 26:8-9 we read
Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Where am I going to find God? in the way of his judgments, that is, by walking in the truth and ordering my life by his Word. Then I will learn righteousness. Amen.

Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

Hosea 12:6

He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee but to

Gottes Wort halten

A Sunday Drive

I woke up at 4:30. Nothing unusual in that on my day off. I contemplated trying to go back to sleep, but decided to get up and prepare for a Sunday drive. “Yes, I’m going to Augusta today and I’m going to try and leave at 6.”

I showered, dressed, gathered what I wanted to take and was out the door shortly after 6. I headed to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast: two Boston Kremes and a cup of hot chocolate. They were so nice at Dunkin Donuts. All their Boston Kremes on the shelf were ruined by an orange drizzle (Halloween), I turned to go but they made two new ones just for me!

Ah, but I had forgotten an item and had to head back to the house to get it. And at 6:15, I was off!

It is still night at 6 am. When I turned onto the on ramp for I-77, it was dark. So dark I could barely see the ramp! But being the ‘plodder’ that I am, I pressed on. In the dark. The deep, deep dark, thankful that there wasn’t a lot of traffic. When I got into Chester County, it began to rain. “This is great, it is dark AND raining.” A one-eyed driver’s picture perfect trip. I pressed on, after all, Lucca and DC are at the other end.

Dawn. What an absolutely beautiful time of day. What was shrouded in darkness is now being revealed. It’s like the first day of creation all over again. The light is unlike the full light of day, and everything looks different. And beautiful. I was in awe of creation and wanted to take every road. Everything was so inviting. The entire trip was marked by distinct and changing colors, and the freshness of the morning. It was so beautiful, I had a brief moment of sadness, thinking about how it would all be changed by the light of full day.

It’s pretty much downhill from Rock Hill to Augusta. The respective elevations:

Rock Hill 676 ft
Columbia 292 ft
Augusta 136 ft

I’ve noticed this before, but everything looks different in the early morning. I would come to a hill and what a sight! Shortly after mile marker 50 on I-77 you can see the midlands below you. Beautiful. From Rock Hill (676) to Ridgeway (614) at exit 34, there is a drop of 62 feet. Right after this, Wow! You round a corner and the South Carolina midlands is in plain view. Beautiful! (You reckon they call it ‘Ridgeway’ for that reason?)

Same thing happens between Columbia (292 ft) and Augusta (136 ft). This is more dramatic by the rise to Aiken (515 ft), which obviously sits on some kind of ridge itself. You round a bend, and you can see for miles and miles and miles. And you know you are heading down to a river. Amazing!

Between Columbia and Augusta my attention was drawn to 2 Timothy 1:7, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. I delivered a wonderful teaching on the spirit of fear!

I arrived at Mary K’s house at 8:40. Lucca greeted me with, “We love you, Granddaddy.” This day just gets better and better!! We hopped into Mary K’s car and headed to church. Pretty good service. We sang “Come, thou fount” with all the original words! Even,

He to rescue me from danger

Interposed his precious blood

And we confessed (a slightly edited version of) the Apostle’s Creed. In a Baptist church!

We spent the afternoon at Mary K’s house, mostly in her backyard. When I announced I was leaving, DC said, "No" and grabbed me. So, I picked him up and hugged him for a while. Then at 4, I hopped into the jeep and headed back. Uphill all the way. Yet I made better time coming back.

It was a good day.

Mary K made a small fire. Lucca is adding sticks

Playing with Lucca on the swing. She had a wonderful laugh

Wednesday Night

Wednesday night, what a beginning!

Right at the start, a man came in to cash in two lottery tickets. He won $100 on the first ticket. I have a line forming and I know I don’t have that much money in my drawer, And actually, when you pay out $100 and more you are supposed to give them a money order. It is a little after 11 and I can’t do money orders right now. Since I am now concerned that he has won a lot, I ask if the other ticket is like the first. No, just $15. I asked him if wanted the money or if he wanted to buy some more tickets. More tickets (they nearly always buy more tickets). $25 worth. He got a lot of ones!

The woman behind him in line has three separate orders:
1. Gas on her debit card.
2. Sodas on her EBT card
3. Cigarettes with cash.

My night begins with two of my favorite things – lottery and EBT!

Shortly after this, a group of loud and profane young men come in. First guy makes a purchase and then asks for change for a $20. My third favorite thing, being treated like the bank! He got a lot of ones as well. He wasn’t too happy about it either. His buddy comes to the counter and asks for a cigar. He says, “I don’t have my ID, but I’m 21.” (People do this all the time, run around at night with no ID, intending to buy age-restricted products. They always seem surprised when asked for one, too.) I couldn’t tell if his look was a challenge or some kind of threat. I said, “Man, if you hadn’t told me you didn’t have an ID you would've been alright. But now that you’ve told, I can’t sell this to you.” He feebly argued that he was 21 but then turn to his friend and said, “OK, you get the cigar.” I said, “No. Can’t do that. I know he’s buying for you.”

As I said, what a beginning. Things slowed down for the rest of the night. Then, at 4:50 AM (I know what time it was because I had just finished day close and he was my first customer) a man brought a 12 pack of Milwaukee’s Best beer to the counter. I know he’s not on his way to work, but this IS ‘on the way to work’ time, so I commented, “Man, I gotta find out where you work so I can go to work like this too!” (I’m joking with the fellow, I don’t really want to go to work and drink 12 beers. Besides, I hear that Milwaukee’s Best is nasty stuff!) He said, “I’m a musician, we do what we want to!” HAHA! And he really was. He is the driver for one band, and had just returned from a ‘gig’ at Myrtle Beach, and the bass player for another band. And he spent ten years associated in some way with Chairman of the Board. We had a good laugh.

A little bit later, the manager of the McDonald’s across the street came in for her coffee for the morning and sodas for the day. She seems like a nice person and always positive and upbeat. I asked her, “Do you ever have a bad day?” She paid for her purchase and then replied, “Yeah, I have bad days now and then, but I get over them quickly.” Pretty cool, don’t you think?

And then my night ended on a real positive note – my manager said, “You can go now.”

Bezaleel: An Old Testament Hero

When we think of the leading figures of the Old Testament, we usually think of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Isaiah and the other prophets. And, without a doubt, the most important characters in the Old Testament are Abraham, Moses, and David. Last night, in my reading of Exodus, I came across a man who had a very important role and one we should not overlook: Bezaleel.

Exodus 31:1-11
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:  3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship…6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee

Bezaleel. Probably pronounced something like Betsal'el in Hebrew. His name means, “in the shadow of God.” He was filled with the Spirit. We usually think of that in terms of becoming a prophet or a king; and in the New Testament, tongues, prophecy, teaching, preaching. But, as far as we know, Bezaleel never uttered a word of prophecy, yet he was filled with the Spirit. How was this manifested in his life? I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.

God wanted Israel to have a tabernacle. He showed Moses exactly what He wanted. Moses saw it, wrote it down, but he couldn’t build it. So God gave him Bezaleel, a talented craftsman. And He filled Bezaleel with the Spirit for this work. And with this filling Bezaleel was equipped in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

Exodus 35:30-39:43 is devoted to metallurgy, sewing, engraving, carpentry. Four and a half chapters devoted to Bezaleel’s building the tabernacle! And this is all neatly summed up in 38:22-23
22 And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.  
23 And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

This is really neat - Bezaleel was every bit as important as Moses. Moses saw it, but Bezaleel built it. He was a craftsman, an artisan, a worker with his hands. He was filled with the Spirit and he built the tabernacle.

Exodus 39:33-43 gives us another neat picture:
33 And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses…
42 According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work.  
43 And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.
Moses didn’t see it or inspect it until it was all finished. The work of building the tabernacle was totally in Bezaleel’s hands.

Bezaleel didn’t prophecy, preach, teach, heal the sick or manifest any of the other gifts of the Spirit. But when he was filled with the Spirit, his talents and skills were used in a mighty way for the glory of God. A lot of craftsmen are men of few words, they can’t preach or teach, but their sanctified skill can be used in the kingdom!

Father Damien, missionary to Hawai’i, was a craftsman, a wood-worker. When he started his ministry among the outcast lepers on Moloka’i, with his own hands he built a church building, houses and other buildings. He preached and taught, but he was a Bezaleel at heart, and God used him in a wonderful way. Amen.

As I thought about this, I sort of stretched it out. Wherever we are, whatever work we do, if we are filled with the Spirit, we can glorify God in it. We all have talents and skills and a life calling, “whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” And the amazing thing is, if we let Him, God will fill us with His Spirit and make this possible.

I think this is pretty neat.

It’s Sunday and I don’t want to be here

Yesterday, after church, we went to lunch with some friends of ours. Ever notice how ‘friends of ours’ sounds friendlier than ‘a couple from church’? Anyway, we got to talking about work and when they learned that I had to work that night they asked, “Are Sunday nights busy?” Yes. Here are some clips from my Sunday night.

I’ve been off for two days and that first day back is difficult. The counter and register area has been completely re-arranged and there is not much counter space left. My manager, I like him, but he seems to thrive in clutter. The register area is cluttered, cramped, and claustrophobic. The main walkway is like a maze. And I am busy. People just keep coming and coming. I’m pretty steady for the first two, two and a half hours. As in, I’m pretty much stuck behind the counter.

People can’t read – they plant themseleves right in front of the “This Register Closed” sign and wait for service. “Oh, you’re on the other register?” Yes.

The first couple of hours feels like the ‘hood’.

I am still selling beer at 5 am.

Sometime during the night a police officer came in and she asked me how I was doing. I said, “Alright.”
“Just alright?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to be here tonight.”
“Isn’t that every night?”
You’re right, but some nights I don’t want to be here more than others.”
And being sharp she said, “And this is one of those ‘more than others’ nights?”

But the high note of the night came sometime between 1 and 1:30. Two guys come in and look around. One man comes to the counter for his purchase while his friend lingers at the doughnut case. He says to his friend, “Man, that red velvet muffin looks good.”
I have already counted them as waste so I say to him, “Tell you what, you can have it.”
"What?"
"Yes, you can have it."
"What?"
"You can have it."
This goes on for a couple of minutes as even his friend tries to convince him it is not a trick. I get this response a lot so it makes me wonder how many stores have tricked customers with fake free donuts and then charged them with shoplifting.
Then he asks, “Why? Why are you giving me this donut for free?”
So I explain that I put them out new every morning and then throw out the ones that don’t sell when I come back to work. His friend gets the picture, “Can we have them all?”
“Yep.”
They take several, thank me and head out to their car. But ‘red velvet man’ comes back inside and to the counter. He offers an explanation that I cannot hear and then he pulls out a Starburst candy from his pocket, “I was gonna steal this from you, but you were so nice that I brought it back.”
My response? “Thank you. The Lord bless you, man.”

That changed the night for me.

Why would God be so restrictive?

Three days ago I had a conversation with a customer about freedom and rights and how we are slowly losing both in America. It took an odd turn and he began to talk about the financial benefits of vice – as in, vice is what has made America prosperous. He ended the conversation (he left to go off to work) with this, “If it weren’t for vice there would be no need for religion.” I thought, “What an odd view. I need to take this up again next time he comes in.”

He came in this morning. And I did. I reminded him of his parting comment and said, “I won’t speak about ‘religion’ but Christianity is not about governing vice, it is about knowing God.”

He immediately replied, “You’re being rather narrow and restrictive.” I admit, I thought he was commenting on my definition of a Christian (someone who knows God) and I answered, “Intentionally so.” Ah, but he was talking about religion. Clearly, he had thought a lot about this and began to throw a lot of “religion has done lots of bad things” at me. I’m pretty sure he has done this before and is used to people being overwhelmed by this display, but I swept that aside. I was able to slowly direct him to the main issue, but time and an incredible amount of customers at that hour caused a halt. His main point was that all religions are talking about the same God, just using different names for Him. And to my objection to this he asked, “Why would God be so restrictive?”

Indeed, Why would God be so restrictive as to limit Himself to Christianity? This is an excellent question!

What is it about the Christian faith that makes it “better” than all other religions? Do we worship better? Pray better? Have better ‘rules’ than everyone else? If that were the case, then it would be just another religion and you could just pick the one that fits your culture best. But there is something absolutely unique about Christianity that sets it apart from everything else. What is it?

Jesus.

Which is where I was directing our conversation. How is Jesus different from Mohammed and Buddha? He was a man, they were men. He lived and died, they lived and died. What’s so different about him?

He is the Son of God. Not ‘a’ son of God, as in one of many, but ‘the Son’. The biblical term is, the only begotten Son. Christianity is unique among the faiths of the world because of Jesus.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Nothing can compare to what the Son reveals about God.

All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
No one knows the Father, except the Son. If you want to know God it has to be through His Son. When the Son speaks that’s final. This is exclusive.

Jesus.

He’s the difference. Jesus was born to a woman. All men are born to a woman. Nothing unique here. But Jesus was born of a virgin. That’s because he is the Son of God:
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Jesus died. All men die. Nothing unique here either. But Jesus was raised from the dead. That’s because he is the Son of God:
And declared to be the Son of God with power . . . by the resurrection from the dead

Jesus is the X-factor in all this. God has spoken, He has revealed Himself in a rich, full and complete way in Jesus, His only begotten Son. Nothing else needs to be added to this, or can be.

We are not arguing religious rules, ceremonies, practices, culture. We're saying Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. That’s what makes what he says “better” than what anybody else, everybody else, says.

Why would God be so restrictive? He only has one Son! Jesus and Buddha are mutually exclusive. If Jesus is the Son of God, Buddha is wrong. If Buddha is right, Jesus is not the Son of God.

True Christianity is Jesus: born of a virgin, lived, died on the cross, rose from the dead. The only begotten Son of God, who came to restore us to God. In other words, All roads may lead to Rome, but not all religions lead to God. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I don't know if I will get to go this far with this fellow, but this is where I want to take him and where I was leading him.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, 

and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

The power is in the promise

My pastor has been preaching from the book of Ezra. As we have neared the end of the book he has been emphasizing repentance, restoration and reconciliation. He has been preaching, I have been pondering. The same thoughts reached a crescendo the past few nights as I read the detailed instructions in Exodus for the building of the tabernacle.

What is it I have been dwelling on? The power is in the promise.

The prophet Zechariah prophesied during at least part of the time covered by the book of Ezra and his book opens with, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. Amen. Some time back I wrote about this verse and you can read it here. What a promise! But, if we only focus on turn ye unto me, we create a problem. We can create the impression, or begin to think ourselves, that repentance and faith carry weight with God.

As in, the wife and I go to a restaurant for supper. I want us to have a good meal and a good time, but I am watching prices because I only have $50. I’ll get good service and enjoy a nice meal, BUT, the man who comes in and makes it clear, Money is no object, he wants the best food and best service and he is willing to pay for it - he’s gonna have a better time. Money talks.

When we apply this kind of thinking to the things of God – oh, we don’t ever put it like that, but our whole emphasis is on turn ye unto me – then we begin to worry, Is our repentance/faith sincere enough? thorough enough? fervent enough?”

Many years ago I met a woman who worried about these very things. She went to a different church than the one I pastored, so I must have met her where she worked. She began to talk to me and to express her fears and doubts. She had very little assurance of salvation because she was afraid she had not believed the right way. Those were her actual words, “I’m afraid I did not do it the right way.” I tried to teach her that we are not saved by our faith, we are saved by Jesus. So,

It’s not you! It’s the promise of God. Yes, turn ye unto me. But, I will turn unto you is what makes it work. The power is in the promise.

As I mentioned, I have been reading about the tabernacle, and the detailed instructions for its construction. It was important for them to follow these instructions to the last letter. But was the power in the rearing of the tabernacle? No.

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 

The power was not in the building of the tabernacle. It was in the promise: Build me a tabernacle and I will dwell there. Amen! The power is in the promise.

Consider my house. It is fully wired and I have outlets everywhere, fans and lights etc. When I flip the switch, the light comes on. I am one powerful man! I flip a switch and a light comes on! BUT, if there is no power coming to the house, the light will never come on, no matter how I flip the switch. No matter how sincere, earnest, fervent I am – no power, no light.

Even so, the power is in the promise, not in my repenting or believing.

Consider some other promises

whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

Call unto me, and I will answer thee

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee,

I could call on the name of the Lord all day, every day, for the rest of my life, but without the promise: I will save, I will answer, I will deliver, nothing would ever happen. Yes, I need to call upon the name of the Lord, but the power is in the promise. I call because He promises to answer, deliver, and save.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved

I could believe everything about Jesus and be baptized every way and every day, but without the promise nothing would ever happen. There is no power in believing or in baptism. The power is in the promise: shall be saved.

That’s my incentive, my motive, and that’s what makes repenting and turning and believing effective! Yes, I must repent, I must return, I must believe if I would receive from God – I must flip the switch if I want the light on. But it’s not me, it’s Him. The power is in the promise! Amen.

Advocate or Lawyer?

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)

I made it to church this morning. First time this month! And Sunday School, too. In Sunday School they are going through 1 John. When we got to the verses above, it was mentioned that an “advocate” is like a lawyer and a little bit was said about lawyers.

DISCLAIMER: This is in no way intended as a comment on or correction of anything that was said by anyone in Sunday School! But, in Sunday School, in the worship service, and for the rest of the day, I’ve been thinking about “advocate.” And isn’t that the best kind of Bible study, one that causes you to meditate further on the passage?

Anyway, I began to think on this word "advocate” and why it is such a better translation than “lawyer.” While there are many kinds of lawyers, I suppose most of us think of court-room lawyers. There are two kinds of court-room lawyers: Prosecutor and Defense.

The prosecutor comes to the judge, points to you and cries, “He did it. He’s guilty. He broke the law and he must pay.”

The defense attempts to either demonstrate that you did not do it or seeks to find a loophole in the law, a technicality, that will get you off.

Jesus is not the prosecution, charging you, accusing you before the Father. No, it is the devil who is the accuser of our brethren…which accused them before our God day and night. And the truth is, the devil is correct – I did do it, I am guilty, and I should pay.

But neither is He the defense lawyer, attempting to prove that I did not do it, or that there is not enough evidence to convict me of it. Cause I did and there is!

Jesus is not our lawyer in heaven, He is our advocate. He is our high priest. As our priest and advocate He intercedes for us; He pleads for us. And what is His plea? A defense attorney will often plead the character of the accused: “He is not like this. This is not the kind of thing he does. He’s a good person.” He produces “character witnesses” who testify to this. And if you are actually guilty, your good character is adduced as reason for mercy and leniency this one time. I got to tell you, if Jesus pleads my character, I’m in trouble! Yes, I can say that by the grace of God I have walked in the ways of God much of my life as a believer. But I cannot say, “God, I stand or fall by my righteousness.”

No, Jesus does not plead me.

So what is His plea? The context helps us a lot: we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins. Amen! Amen! Amen! He pleads His blood, His work, His righteousness. My hope is not me. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I stumble, I sin, and the devil accuses me before God, “There! You saw it. Jeff sinned. He did it. He sinned and he deserves to die. Away with Jeff!” And what can I say? He’s right.

But Jesus, my high priest, my advocate, arises and pleads for me: “My blood was shed for him, my righteousness was imputed to him. He has taken refuge in me. He is mine. Forgive him for my sake.”

Words fail me as my heart rises in praise to God for such an advocate! Charles Wesley expressed it better than I ever could:

Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears;

The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears:

Before the throne my surety stands,

Before the throne my surety stands,

My name is written on His hands.

He ever lives above, for me to intercede;

His all redeeming love, His precious blood, to plead:

His blood atoned for all our race,

His blood atoned for all our race,

And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary;

They pour effectual prayers; they strongly speak for me:

“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,

“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,

“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”

The Father hears Him pray, His dear anointed One;

He cannot turn away, the presence of His Son;

His Spirit answers to the blood,

His Spirit answers to the blood,

And tells me I am born of God.

I now am reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear;

He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear:

With confidence I now draw nigh,

With confidence I now draw nigh,

And “Father, Abba, Father,” cry.

That’s what I thought about when I meditated on this verse, And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. O what a great salvation God has provided for us! A Savior and an Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous one!!

Wisdom or Caution - Let's try that again

A couple of days ago I made a post I called "Wisdom or Caution." This morning, someone at church came up to me and said they had read it. But this person came away with the idea that I was criticizing the young couple I briefly mention. I was shocked! The criticism was aimed at me. I thought that was plain. Obviously not. My attempt at succinctness sacrificed clarity. I have made one alteration that I hope will make it abundantly clear, all fingers are pointed at me!

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee . . . So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him . . . and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.  Genesis 12:1, 4

When you are young, you just know that you know everything.

With a few more years you begin to realize that that’s not quite true. Wisdom has begun.

When you are old, worked awhile, been married awhile, raised kids, you do have some wisdom. You’ve seen some things; been through some things; hopefully, learned some things.

The brashness of youth is replaced with the hesitancy of maturity.

Or, is it temerity replaced by timidity? *

In other words, is it Wisdom or Caution?

I know a couple in their twenties. They have sold or given everything away in order to spend two years on the Mercy Ship in ministry along the coast of Africa. Great! Right?

Yes. It is great. But I confess, I keep thinking about what they will do when their two years is up. They will have to start from scratch. This kind of thinking is not wisdom. It is terrible!

I’ve surrounded myself with a few of my favorite things; with comfort and routine. I don’t consider myself as having a lot of things, but I have realized recently, in reading the Sermon on the Mount, that I have so many things it would take me a while to up and move.

This is the caution of comfort and routine, not the hesitancy of wisdom.

This is what is so amazing about Abram. He was 75 years old. God said Get thee out of thy country and he went. I know there was some hesitancy on his part, and that he lived to be 175 years old - he was just barely middle age, but, he was 75 years old! When God said “Go” he went! He left his comfort and routine. That was wisdom.

It is always wisdom to obey the voice of the Lord.

The brashness of youth is often marked by rashness and presumption. The caution of old age by hesitancy. One steps too soon and too far. The other steps not at all. I want to be wise and not rash; to walk in faith and not presumption. But, when God speaks I want to have the temerity of faith and my youth, not the timidity of comfort and routine.



*Temerity - the quality of being confident and unafraid of danger
Timidity - lack of willingness to take risks

Wisdom or Caution

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee . . . So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him . . . and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.  Genesis 12:1, 4

When you are young, you just know that you know everything.

With a few more years you begin to realize that that’s not quite true. Wisdom has begun.

When you are old, worked awhile, been married awhile, raised kids, you do have some wisdom. You’ve seen some things; been through some things; hopefully, learned some things.

The brashness of youth is replaced with the hesitancy of maturity.

Or, is it temerity replaced by timidity? *

In other words, is it Wisdom or Caution?

I know a couple in their twenties. They have sold or given everything away in order to spend two years on the Mercy Ship in ministry along the coast of Africa. Great! Right?

Yes. It is great. But I confess, I keep thinking about what they will do when their two years is up. They will have to start from scratch. That is not wisdom. It is terrible!

I confess, I’ve surrounded myself with a few of my favorite things; with comfort and routine. I don’t consider myself as having a lot of things, but I have realized recently, in reading the Sermon on the Mount, that I have so many things it would take me a while to up and move.

This is the caution of comfort and routine, not the hesitancy of wisdom.

This is what is so amazing about Abram. He was 75 years old. God said Get thee out of thy country and he went. I know there was some hesitancy on his part, and that he lived to be 175 years old - he was just barely middle age, but, he was 75 years old! When God said “Go” he went! He left his comfort and routine. That was wisdom.

It is always wisdom to obey the voice of the Lord.

The brashness of youth is often marked by rashness and presumption. The caution of old age by hesitancy. One steps too soon and too far. The other steps not at all. I want to be wise and not rash; to walk in faith and not presumption. But, when God speaks I want to have the temerity of faith and my youth, not the timidity of comfort and routine.



*Temerity - the quality of being confident and unafraid of danger
Timidity - lack of willingness to take risks

Wednesday Night at the Roo

When I got to work last night there was a man hanging around the door. He appeared to be homeless. I asked the clerk I was relieving, “How long has he been here?” She was real perturbed by his presence and said, “I don’t know. Maybe two or three hours.”
There was a sheriff’s deputy in the store at the time, talking to two EMS guys. When they got ready to leave I asked the deputy, “Can you run this guy off?” He did.
So, my shift began with me harassing the homeless.


Shortly after this, a woman came in and asked if I could give her directions to the Marathon on Cherry Road (a sister store). Actually, she wanted to go to a specific road which I was unfamiliar with, but said she could find it if she could get to the Marathon. Said she and her friend had been driving in circles for two hours. I gave her what I thought were the safest directions. A little long, but safe.
As I finished her friend came in. This friend, another woman, was rather agitated and upset with her traveling companion who “kept getting lost” and they began to bicker about getting and being lost. This second woman said, “Give me directions to Cherry Road from I-77, then I can find my way from there.” Aha, this called for a new set of directions!
So, I began to explain how to get to Cherry Road where it intersects I-77. They are still fussing at each other. I mentioned I-77 as a landmark and the second woman snapped at me, “I don’t want to go to 77!” I replied, just a little testily, “I know, but you’re gonna pass under it.” She also made it clear that I was to give the directions to the first woman (who she was continually and loudly accusing of getting them lost), as woman #2 has “no sense of direction.”
They continued to carry on about whose fault it was that they were so lost. Woman #2 went to the rest room, muttering, and woman #1 went out to the car, muttering. I looked at the customer at the register and said, “I would NOT want to be in that car!”


A little later I got rather busy and had several customers. A man joined the crowd and asked if there is a 24 hour store close by. I tell him about two, both approximately three miles away. He asks, “Are they 24 hours?” Uh, yeah.
But he doesn’t leave. He wanders around the store for awhile and then asks a new question, “Do y’all take EBT?” I say, “Yep.” He proceeds to buy $17.81 worth of stuff: Slim Jims, ham and cheese sandwiches, Mountain Dews, Pringles etc. Clearly, he is not restricted to $4.50 a day.

Then between 2 and 2:30 another group comes in who just got off from work. They get $17.69 then $8.61 on EBT. Same kind of stuff (that’s the only stuff we carry!). And I hear how much she still has left on the card. Sounds like she’s getting more than $4.50 a day as well.


The newspapers are brought in each day by a family that happens to live just down the street from us. Nice folks. This morning Mom was talking about her need to find something to do that helps her relax. They have three boys. One is in the Marines; one is into sky diving; the other into tennis. “And my husband has more energy that all three boys combined!” We got to talking about their middle son. He just got his sky diving license or whatever you get and has a swim meet today. He was due in a few minutes with more papers so I said I would ask him about this.
When he got there, I asked him about the swim meet and sky diving. When I said sky diving, his face lit up. Obviously he really likes it and is excited about it!


Around 5:15 a woman came in for coffee. She got to the counter and I saw that her shirt said, Punxsutawney. I read it out loud and commented about her being rather far from home. She said, “That’s Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney Phil.”
I  said, “I know. That’ why I said you were far from home.”
She replied, “You’d be surprised how many people don’t know that.”
In a sad tone I said, “No I wouldn’t.”
She went on to tell me about her ties to Pennsylvania and a recent trip up that way for a memorial service for her husband’s grandmother. She told me the grandmother lived in Washington or Oregon. When I asked which, she said Washington.
“I know where that is too.”
She said, “I’ve run into people who don’t know where that is either.”


Yeah... Just a Wednesday night at the Roo.

Reflecting on the fire

Thursday

We have a really nice outdoor pit. Slate. Tiernan and I picked it out, I don't know, maybe three years ago. The pan has reached the end of it’s life. It already had a puka in it. I used aluminum foil to fix that. Well, the hole grew so large it became a sinkhole. The whole bottom of the pan is now gone and I can no longer use it. Been shopping around, but the slate part is still fine and I hated to just throw it out. Looked one more time for the paperwork for my fire pit. And I found it! See, it pays to never throw anything away! I called the number. They no longer make the fire pit, but they have parts. So I ordered my pan. Should come to me in 2 to 3 weeks.

Meanwhile, I was off and wanted an early evening fire. So it was out back at the old fire spot. The one in the backyard. Under the trees. The wood was very dry and started burning right away. Jack was over here on Wednesday and he wanted a fire there so Mary had brought the chairs out there. I was high class that night – I sat in a chair and not on the ground! Nice fire.

And instead of the crickets being off to the side, I was right in their midst. Must’ve been three different kind of crickets singing. The crescent moon was behind a tree, but you could see the light. Couldn’t hear any frogs, but it was neat to be right under the crickets. Nice fire.

But I did notice something. It was a lot noisier. Just that distance from the lanai to the back of the yard made a lot of difference. Road noises. And some little plane flying around in an irritating fashion, or some motor that sounded like a little plane. It’s quieter up on the patio. Location. Location. Location.

I was sitting there, enjoying the fire and my Reserva Real, thinking about time. Time fascinates me. I mean natural time, not minutes, seconds, hours. Anyway, I was pondering this when I saw a plane flying overhead, headed for the Charlotte Airport. I was struck by how different our nights were. Same night. Same hour. Yet, I’m sitting in the dark, around a nice fire, relaxing, listening to crickets, enjoying the night. They are sitting in a plane crammed full of people, straightening their seat backs, turning off their electronic devices, stowing everything under the seat in front of them, preparing to land. Once they land they have to rush off the plane, make their way to their cars and the ride home. I could see them and visualize their plight, but they couldn’t see me. I did not envy them at all.

The plane passed by and I went back to reflecting on the fire. A little irritated perhaps, at the rudeness of people, making so much noise on a Thursday night. How rude! My fire burned down and I went inside for a bowl of ice cream and a movie from Netflix, It Happened One Night.

One night off this week. Nice fire. Now it’s back to that place.

Take Heed

One of my goals for this year’s vacation was to take a look at take heed in the Bible.

So, using my BibleWorks computer Bible, I did a search for take heed. Right away I discovered that this warning occurs in the Old Testament as well, so I restricted myself, for now, to the New Testament. I looked at every occurrence and studied the context to gain a better understanding of each warning. This is a very brief summary of what I found.

First, take heed is a translation of different Greek words. There are two main words, two occasional words, and some really interesting combinations. I have not done the word studies yet.

Second, take heed occurs more often in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, never in John) than the rest of the New Testament combined.

Third, there are a lot of pertinent warnings here! But here are the most interesting to me:

Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
This one I expected. This next one, however, really surprised me


And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.  
Not only how I listen to the truth, but what I listen to! This has big ramifications


Take heed to yourselves
This occurred a few times. Apparently, I can be my own worst enemy


Take heed and beware
This seems like an especially serious warning and occurs more than once. It is noteworthy what the Lord says to beware of


Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
This one struck me as the most intense. Three imperatives in a row, piled one on top of another. An especially serious warning.


As I said above, I still have the word study to do and the Old Testament to go through, but it seems that watchful care is in order.