Tyre

Is this your jubilant city; whose origin is from antiquity, whose feet used to carry her to colonize distant places? Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns; whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth? The LORD of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty, to despise all the honored of the earth. – Isaiah 23:7-9

Like the United States, Tyre was a country of merchants. She was known worldwide for her merchant marine. Her trading posts stretched from the Mediterranean to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean[1]. In fact, the only thing that would slow down her virtual monopoly on sea trading was an all-out war. Her goods were shipped the world over. Her culture was the envy of all other nations. Her scholars were top notch and are generally credited with the invention of the alphabet and the textile industry.

She not only had a world-class navy, but some of the best defenses money could buy. Though she was the ultimate plum, she was rarely taken. She was surrounded by water and thus, nearly inaccessible. Nebuchadnezzar tried to take her for thirteen years straight. Three hundred years later it took Alexander the Great, the mighty world conqueror seven months to penetrate her defenses. He was so enraged at the delay that, contrary to his usual lenient approach to the defeated, he killed most of her inhabitants and sold the rest into slavery.

She had the best infrastructure in the world with cathedrals, sports stadiums, cemeteries (a first in this region) and aqueducts that carried her water from afar.

The Bible describes Tyre as a “bestower of crowns[2].” Apparently she used her trading monopoly, naval power and unsurpassed wealth to influence the leadership of foreign powers. Does this sound familiar?

But God was not impressed. Though the world considered her traders princes and her merchants were the honored ones of the earth, God decided to desecrate and disgrace her. The Lord was not arbitrary in His decision. He was punishing her pride. She did not fall because she provoked her neighbors. She fell by tempting them with her wealth. I’m sure there were many other sins running rampant in this wealthy nation. But in the end, her pride was enough.

God will always try to convince us of the futility of placing our trust in our own strength and wealth. All our scholarship is nothing next to God’s wisdom. To trust it is to trust foolishness. All our power is nothing compared to omnipotence. Our wealth is insignificant to the One who owns the universe.

Today, the only way to remember forgotten Tyre is to dig. And one day, if the Lord tarries, the US will go the way every other major empire has. It is hubris to think otherwise. Let us humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. Or, we too will go the way of Tyre.

[1] Isaiah 23:2-3
[2] Isaiah 23:8

Yahweh Elohim – The Lord God

But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the Lord God as you should.” - Exodus 9:30 (NASB)

One time many years ago, the king of Hungary found himself depressed and unhappy. Though he was a believer, the king had gotten a glimpse of his guilt for the way he'd been living lately, and he seriously wanted help. He sent for his brother, a good-natured, but rather indifferent prince. The king said to him, "I am a great sinner; I fear to meet God." But the prince only laughed, which didn't help the king's disposition any.

There was a custom in Hungary at that time. If the executioner sounded a trumpet before a man's door at any hour, the occupant of the house had to present himself for arrest. The trumpet call was a signal that he was to be led to his execution.

The king sent the executioner in the dead of night to sound the fateful blast at his brother's door. The prince realized with horror what was happening. Quickly dressing, he stepped to the door, was seized by the executioner, and was dragged pale and trembling into the king's presence. In an agony of terror, he fell on his knees before his brother and begged to know how he had offended him. "My brother," answered the king, "if the sight of a human executioner is so terrible to you, shall I, having grievously offended God, not fear to be brought before the judgment seat of Christ?"

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:7) If we have not put God first in our lives and made Him the Sovereign Lord, then we should “fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28) But even those who have decided to accept Christ as their personal Savior should not entirely lose their fear of Yahweh Elohim. It is true that He has become our Father. It is true that He is now our Savior. However, a judgment yet remains for us (Romans 14:10; Hebrews 9:27).

The judgment seat before which Christians will stand is called the Bema Seat. The Bema Seat involves responsibility for our works (Romans 14:12), review of our motives, methods, means and manners (1 Corinthians 3:11-13; 4:5), and rewards for a job well done and a life well lived (1 Corinthians 3:14).

We often mistake God’s goodness for safety. A criminal is not safe in the presence of a good judge. Make no mistake – we are criminals. We may have received a pardon, but we continue periodically to sin. Let’s not forget our true nature and the nature of He with Whom we deal!

Many people struggle with a fear of other people. They fear ridicule. They fear rejection. Perhaps they have not yet learned this lesson: We fear men so much because we fear God so little.

Spiritual Lemmings

“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” The Lord of Hosts has revealed this in my hearing: “This sin of yours will never be wiped out.” The Lord God of Hosts has spoken. - Isaiah 22:13b-14 (NASB)

I once read a book that described the insane partying that went on at the end of World War II in Berlin while the Allies carpet-bombed the city and the dreaded Russian army advanced into its suburbs. They literally put on burlesque shows while people were being shot outside on the streets!

In my discussion with some Korean War veterans, I learned that the number one industry that sprouted up in the Korean population when the armies came through was not laundry or cooking, but prostitution. The same thing happened in the Philippines while I was in the Marines.

Did you ever watch a Vietnam War movie like “Apocalypse Now” or “Platoon”? If you did, you probably saw soldiers returning from the killing fields only to party like crazy. Faced with mind-numbing death every day, they chose to numb their minds even more with alcohol, drugs and sex.

While living in Central African Empire, I watched the African truck drivers as they traveled up and down the Trans-African highway, having sex with prostitutes at every truck stop – right under signs that warned about the inherent dangers. AIDS had not yet been heard of, but there were plenty of rumors about a strange disease that afflicted those who had sex with prostitutes. AIDS has since devastated sub-Saharan Africa. Some 24.5 million people presently have the killer disease and approximately 2.7 million more are infected every year. In 2006 alone, two million sub-Saharan Africans died of AIDS leaving behind more than twelve million orphans. Yet the sexual activity has not even slowed down.

What is it about us that when faced with death, we try to deny its existence through substance abuse, or drown ourselves in illicit pleasures? You’d think that as Death made its rounds, those left unscathed would live lives marked either by gratitude for their deliverance or by preparation for the Reaper’s soon return.

But because we will not confess our sins, repent of them and seek God’s favor, we render our sins unforgivable. They are not unforgivable because of some lack in God’s mercy or grace. They are unforgivable because instead of admitting that we NEED forgiveness, we rise up in righteous indignation against God’s judgment and think to ourselves “How dare He? How dare He call my lifestyle a sin?”

And so, like the Babylonians in 538 BC, who partied while the Medes and Persians diverted their waterway and marched right under the walls, we too party and celebrate while our enemy mows us down by the millions. In this steadfast march into oblivion, we are not much better than spiritual lemmings, all following the crowd all the way to the very gates of hell.

D’vekut

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:26-27 (NASB)

God’s original intent was for humanity to bear His image and to be in communion with the Godhead. We see what made that essential difference in humanity’s creation. In Genesis[1], we read, “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

All the other creatures were created with souls, but only in humankind was the “nephesh,” the breath of God, breathed. The original golem named Adam received a spirit to complement his soul and passed it on to all other humans ever since. Unfortunately, that wonderful gift is a double-edged sword because it was passed on infected with sin[2].

But it is in our spirit that true worship takes place. After all, doesn’t it say “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”?[3]

That communion, that mystical union between the spirit of man and of God called “d’vekut”, was exemplified when the Son of God came walking in the Garden in the cool of the day[4]. We lost the right to a full enjoyment of that communion when Adam and Eve willfully and unrepentantly chose to disobey their Creator.

But God is always prevenient, which means He always initiates the relationship. Adam and Eve sinned and sought to withdraw and hide. God came looking for them. He sought Abraham’s friendship[5]. He referred to David as a man after His own heart[6], let John lean against His chest[7], and restored traitorous Peter to fellowship[8]. He even used mass-murdering[9] Paul who “ravaged the church”[10] to write two-thirds of the New Testament and bring the Good News to the Gentiles[11].

It was never God’s intent that any should perish, but that all should come to everlasting life[12]. If we end up in hell, it is literally over His dead body[13]. But if we are willing to submit our will to His and trust His Son’s sacrifice on the cross to be sufficient for our salvation, we can go to heaven.

Yet, He’s not satisfied with that. He wants to give us more. According to the Master, He is inviting us into d’vekut – a deep, intimate, passionate communion, a mystical union with the Godhead[14].

[1] Genesis 2:7
[2] Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10
[3] John 4:24
[4] Genesis 3:8
[5] 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8
[6] Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 13:13-14
[7] John 21:20-24
[8] John 21:17
[9] Acts 9:1-2
[10] Acts 8:3
[11] Acts 9:15-16
[12] 2 Peter 3:9
[13] Romans 5:8
[14] John 17:20-21

El Gibhor (Mighty God)

“And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God (El Gibhor), who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered be as nothing to you. “ Nehemiah 9:32a

Babylon rebelled against the Assyrian Empire in 626 BC, overthrew Nineveh in 612 BC and defeated Egypt in 605 BC. Shortly thereafter, it captured Jerusalem and took the best of the Jewish youth and leadership to its courts to be reeducated. One of those hostages was a godly young man by the name of Daniel. He had been given a special gift of prophecy by God. Around 530 BC he made the following predictions:

The kingdom of Babylon would not last. A kingdom would rise with two leaders and cause Babylon’s. Then in fulfillment, the Medes and the Persians did in fact conquer Babylon.

Daniel predicted that another kingdom would arise after the rule of the Medes and Persians. He described it as a leopard with four wings and four heads, or as a male goat with one great horn, four horns and a little horn. Then, indeed, Greece arose and with great swiftness conquered the world under the leadership of Alexander the Great. Upon his death, his kingdom was divided under four generals. The rather small horn was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who made a determined effort to destroy the Jewish faith.

Daniel also predicted the rise, the division and the fall of the Roman Empire. He went on to predict a future man who will revive the old Roman Empire in order to advance his own power. Many refer to this man as the “Antichrist”.

God the Father, being outside of time, can see the ebb and flow of human endeavor and the rise and fall of empires. He can even accurately predict the names of future emperors as He did through Isaiah one hundred years before Cyrus’ birth (Isaiah 44:28).To transcendent God, the creation of Adam, the arrival of Jesus, the fall of Jerusalem, the fall of the Soviet Union, the coming of the Antichrist and the coming of Jesus’ reign on earth all happen “now”, simultaneously.

But the truly amazing thing is that with all this history before Him, with all these mighty men and great deeds happening, He is deeply concerned with the mundane details of our lives! If we gain great perspective, if we are responsible for more people, if we are kings, or presidents or generals, we humans tend to lose sight of the individuals. We forget the cost of our battles to the mothers and wives. We fail to consider the cost of our policies to the retired, the elderly, and the disenfranchised. But Matthew 10:29-31 tells us that El Gibhor, God Almighty, is concerned when a sparrow falls out of its nest, and He knows the number of hairs that are on our head. Psalm 56:8 tells us that God keeps track of all our sorrows, that He collects our tears in a bottle and records each one in His book.

Damocles’ Sword

It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment – Hebrews 9:27

I live every day with the effects of a terrible tropical disease contracted while living in Africa. I am going deaf, am often completely crippled and live in constant pain. But one of the most vexing effects is to my heart. Because of the damage to my nervous system, I sometimes have arrhythmias. Someday, the signal to my heart may be so mixed up that it might simply stop beating.

So I go to sleep every night and awake every morning with the thought that my heart could stop beating at any time. Some people shake their heads in sympathy and ask “How can you live with such knowledge?”

But the truth of the matter is that my disease simply forces me to pay attention to a pre-existing truth. Each of us may die at any moment. I am not any different than anyone else. My chances of dying are not any greater or less than any other human on this planet because my God is in control and will not allow me to die before my appointed time. Until He is done with me, no one may kill me. When He is done with me, no one can do anything to keep me alive. Therefore I live every day firmly within His grasp.

There was once a man named Damocles who envied his king. He thought that to be rich, powerful and pampered would be a wonderful thing. So King Dionysius granted Damocles one day to live as a king. At first, Damocles basked in the throne’s luxury, but then he noticed a large, sharp sword was dangling right over his head, hung by a mere horse hair! That thread looked so frail that it could snap at any moment. He was no longer interested in the king’s fine food, the beautiful music or sweet perfumes. He suddenly realized that the king had to live every moment with the fear of assassination or betrayal and he did not envy the king any more.

Each of us lives with the Damoclean sword of death hanging over our heads every moment of every day. We just choose to ignore that irrefutable fact most of our lives. But we need to not merely acknowledge this truth; we need to embrace it and let it change the way we live. Our circumstances may fluctuate between poverty and wealth. Our health may go from wellness to disease. Even our minds can be changed by the slightest ebb or flow of chemistry in our brains. But one unchanging fact of life is that none of us will survive. The wage of sin is death and we are all, unfortunately, infected.

Live each moment as though it were your last. Prepare for the Judgment seat. Get your affairs in order. Then you will be able to look up, see what’s hanging over you - and smile.

Entranced

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. – Hebrews 11:8

There once was an old tzaddik who was often entranced by his love for the Lord. One summer evening, he was delving deeply into a scriptural text and while pacing about the room, he didn’t notice that his pacing had caused him to step outside. He continued down the street, meditating on the Word, and actually ended up in a nearby town, about two or three miles away.

In that town, another man who knew the old tzaddik was getting ready to begin the day’s work when he recognized the elder. He could tell by the teacher’s clothes that man had wandered there unintentionally.

He called out. The tzaddik responded with surprise, “Why – what are you doing here?”

The man gently answered, “Teacher, you have wandered to my town.” Then, he took the tzaddik home.

We would look at such a man, ignore his brilliant teaching and deep fervor for the Lord, shake our heads and mutter, “Must be early onset of Alzheimer’s.” But deep in our hearts there is a longing for such a passion. We want to be lost in something greater, deeper and more beautiful than ourselves.

Have you ever gotten so completely entranced by love that time and space simply slipped by unnoticed? I have a wonderful wife; beautiful, intelligent, talented – a truly great lady. Such a wife is a gift from God[1].

There have been times when my ministry has so overwhelmed me that I have been ready to quit. But I have gone home and as I listened to my lady’s quiet voice, watched her move confidently about her domain and deal patiently, but persistently with the children, I have become so entranced that I have forgotten my frustrations and became able to simply go on.

Christian, a great love is available to you. All that is required is that you put God’s kingdom above all else and this world will no longer seem like your home. Like Abraham, you will wander here, but know that you are a stranger passing through[2]. Like Moses, you will stand in Pharaoh’s palace and despise it for the temporary shack that it is[3].

This sacred bemusement, this sacred forgetfulness – it is not the product of simple minds. It does, however, require simplicity of heart[4]. Apparently, our hearts are too small to hold more than one master at a time[5]. We cannot simultaneously serve Christ and materialism. We must choose to either follow Christ or our families. We cannot place Christ on the throne if our spouse or our children are already there. We must choose.

Whom do we love? By whom are we entranced[6]?

[1] Proverbs 18:22
[2] Hebrews 11:8-10
[3] Hebrews 11:24-27
[4] Matthew 10:16
[5] Matthew 6:24
[6] Joshua 24:15

Adonai - Sovereign Lord and Master

The Lord appeared again to Abraham while he was camped near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day about noon, as Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, he suddenly noticed three men standing nearby. He got up and ran to meet them, welcoming them by bowing low to the ground. “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while. - Genesis 18:1-3

One day while walking with some children, Queen Mary was caught in a sudden shower. Quickly taking shelter on the porch of a home, she knocked at the door and asked to borrow an umbrella. “I’ll send it back tomorrow,” she said. The queen had deliberately disguised her appearance by putting on a hat that partially covered her face and wearing some very plain clothes. The homeowner, reluctant to give a stranger her best umbrella, offered her a castoff she found in the attic. One rib was broken and there were several holes in it. Apologizing, she turned it over to the monarch, whom she did not recognize.

The next day the homeowner had another visitor—a man with gold braid on his uniform and an envelope in his hand. “The queen sent me with this letter,” he said, “and also asked me to thank you personally for the loan of your umbrella.” Stunned, the woman burst into tears. “Oh, what an opportunity I missed to give my very best,” she cried.

Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent. Perhaps he was enjoying a breeze in the heat of the day. Suddenly, three figures appeared out of the shimmering heat waves. Abraham immediately approached them with an invitation to enjoy his hospitality. He did not immediately recognize them as heavenly beings (vv. 3-8) but still treated them with the respectful common courtesy. He obviously realized that one was the leader because he did not address them as a group but instead referred to one of them as “adon” or “my lord.” In its singular form, this was a form of address that was used commonly for nobility.

However, the truth finally dawned on him that these were no mere men. He had, as described in Hebrews 13:2, entertained angels unawares. And then, as the conversation progressed and this lead angel told him the future, Abraham finally came to the stunning conclusion that he was face to face with Adonai, the Sovereign Lord and Master of the universe. How glad he must have been that he had hurried to serve the Master!

But the truth is, we all come face to face with the Master every day. We are taught in Matthew 25:31-46 that we serve Adonai when we serve the poor, the thirsty, the hungry, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. Just as Adonai accepted Abraham’s service, He is waiting for yours. What have you done for Him lately?

When the Body Leads the Heart

And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet. – 2 Samuel 6:14-15

Two old tzaddiks ate quietly together, not talking at all, but simply meditating on the Holy Word and God’s great goodness. Suddenly, without any warning at all, one of them leaped to his feet and began dancing around the room. He jumped, twirled, stomped, tapped, raised his arms, clapped his hands and clicked his fingers to some inward rhythm unheard by the other.

As he danced with greater and greater vigor, he began to sweat and a broad smile began to form on his lips. His eyes were closed in ecstasy, his head thrown back and his hair disheveled. The other tzaddik watched him with curiosity, but did not join him. He simply continued meditating on the Scripture and enjoyed the show.

Finally, the dancing elder came to a stop and simply stood, rocking back and forth on his heels, with his hands half raised in prayer. When he returned to the table, his companion asked, “What were you doing?”

Heaving a great sigh of relief and satisfaction, the tzaddik responded, “My heart was not right with God. I could not get my emotions to match what my mind knew to be true. Therefore, I made my body dance until my emotions decided to join my mind in worshipping the Lord.”

The other tzaddik simply nodded his head in understanding and they both returned to their Bible study.

I cannot tell you how many times I have come to church and simply gone through the motions because my heart lagged behind my mind. I do what I must because I know it’s the right thing to do, but it’s so much nicer when my emotions decide to cooperate.

I am fortunate enough to attend a church where music, dance, the arts and the freedom to physically express worship are all celebrated. Many times, my congregation has lifted my spirit as I joined them in praising the Lord by singing, clapping, tapping our feet and even occasionally dancing. We shout “Amen!” to truth revealed by the Word. We respond with “Hallelujahs” to blessings demonstrated and prayers answered by the Giver of good gifts.

When you are down, don’t withdraw. Obey even when you don’t feel like it. And as your body goes through the motions you will suddenly discover that its chemistry will shift and you will feel what you have been proclaiming.

Is this hypocrisy? Not at all. It is obedience. It is discipline. You are making your emotions submit to the will of God in praising Him (2 Corinthians 10:5). You are worshipping the Lord with all your heart (volition), soul (emotion), mind (intellect) and strength (body). (Mark 12:30)

Dancing With God

Let them praise His name with dancing; let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre. – Psalm 149:3

During the Holocaust, a group of young Jews in the Nazi death camp Auschwitz were about to be taken to the gas chamber. The prison guards had stripped them of all their earthly possessions, leaving them to stand naked in a huddled group in a bare room as they waited for death. The Nazis had even removed any gold fillings from their teeth!

But one of them suddenly remembered that it was Simchat Torah, a day when Jews celebrate the writing of the first five books of the Bible. They determined that regardless of their circumstances they would rejoice in God, celebrating His presence and the great gift of His Word.

When the Nazis came to lead the Jews to their death, they found their victims dancing with joy in a circle around that gloomy room!

Joyful praise does not come naturally to a sinful people. That is why God felt it necessary to command it[1]. We are not instinctively grateful. In our flesh we are prone to immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing and things like these[2]. All these sins demonstrate a narcissistic bent. We feel, deep in our hearts, that we are not that bad and that we SHOULD get some of the good things in life.

The people who can truly dance with God are those who come to the altar beating their chests in remorse for their sin[3], who are willing to back protestations of humility with real acts of contrition and restitution[4], and who then pass that received grace on to others[5],.

What does it mean to “dance with God”? We are used to hearing about “walking with the Lord” or “resting in the Lord”, but this kind of language is unfamiliar to many Christians. Yet recognition of God’s grace has driven many biblical saints to literally, physically dance[6]. As someone who is often in a wheelchair and even on his best day, has the rhythm of a galumphing hippo, I am certainly not advocating that everyone should physically dance as a means of worship. Though that is a possibility, what I am talking about is that inner joy that wells up like a continuous stream[7], regardless of our circumstances, and leaves us simultaneously satiated and yet longing for more. To quote St. Bernard,

We taste Thee O Thou Living Bread,

And long to feast upon Thee still;

We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead

And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

To rejoice in the presence of God, to constantly reminding ourselves of His goodness and mercy and to be so thirsty for Him that all other appetites fail – that is what it means to dance with God.

[1] Philippians 4:4; 3:1; 2:18
[2] Galatians 5:19-21
[3] Luke 18:9-14
[4] Matthew 5:24
[5] Matthew 18:21-35
[6] Exodus 15:20; 2 Samuel 6:14-15
[7] John 4:14

Yahweh Asah (God our Maker)

Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker (Yahweh Asah), for he is our God. - Psalm 95:6

Upon examining the laws of probability for a single molecule of high dissymmetry to be formed by the action of chance, the scientist DeNouy found that the time needed to form one such earthly molecule would be about 10 to the 253rd power (i.e. billions of years). Given enough time, even such a small chance could happen. However, one molecule is of no use. Hundreds of millions of identical ones are necessary. Thus we either admit the miracle or doubt the absolute truth of science.

We must recognize that there is a Creator - a Maker and immediately drop to our knees in worship. A creature Who can with a single thought bring a universe as vast as ours into existence; Who with a word is able to create life and with a breath make the spirit and mind of Mankind is terrifying. We should find it impossible to not fear such a Person.

The Psalmist seems to agree with that view when he says “What are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us?” (Psalm 8:4).

And yet the Psalmist continues, “For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor. You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things—“(Psalm 8:5-6). Wonder of wonders. This all-powerful Maker cares for us! He is concerned with our needs and has placed us in a position of authority! He has made us the caretakers of the universe!

A little boy was eagerly looking forward to the birthday party of a friend who lived only a few blocks away. When the day finally arrived, a blizzard made the sidewalks and roads nearly impassable. The lad's father, sensing the danger, hesitated to let his son go. The youngster reacted tearfully. "But Dad," he pleaded, "all the other kids will be there. Their parents are letting them go."

The father thought for a moment, then replied softly, "All right, you may go." Surprised but overjoyed, the boy bundled up and plunged into the raging storm. The driving snow made visibility almost impossible, and it took him more than half an hour to trudge the short distance to the party. As he rang the doorbell, he turned briefly to look out into the storm. His eye caught the shadow of a retreating figure. It was his father. He had followed his son's every step to make sure he arrived safely.

If we look carefully around us, we will find the signs of our Heavenly Father’s work. And if we look a little more closely, we will see the evidence of His care, of His loving concern. Let’s exclaim with King David, “O Lord, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!” (Psalm 8:9).

The Corinthian’s Restoration

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. – 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (NASB)

A man in the Corinthian church was sleeping with his father’s wife and the whole community knew about it. The church, instead of sorrowfully dealing with the incestuous relationship with the strict vigor required by a holy and righteous God, had arrogantly prided themselves on their “grace” and “understanding”.

Paul warned them that if they excused and made room for sin, it would grow and infect the whole church. What amazes me is that Paul, the “apostle of grace”, in directing their behavior, quoted a principle of biblical law that in every instance was accompanied by capital punishment[1]!

People often feel that they are extending love by “forgiving” and “restoring” sinners. I put those words in quotes because there seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding of the scriptural meaning of these terms.

What some well-meaning people fail to realize is that by not confronting the sin and administering the proper healing regimen, they end up exacerbating the sinner’s plight and infecting others to boot! Imagine determining that someone was infected with a terrible contagious disease that threatened not only their lives, but the lives of their loved ones and deciding to simply smile and pat their hands!

Didn’t Paul compare the church to a body[2]? If a member of my body becomes infected and threatens my life, I must do something. Wouldn’t it be better to amputate a limb than lose the entire body?

We don’t know how long the situation described in 1 Corinthians had gone on, but it must have been for quite a while. The news of their shame had reached Paul in Ephesus in a day when news had to travel on foot. Apparently, the church’s initial approach was not working!

Once the steps were taken to publicly rebuke the man’s sin and shun him, the social ostracizing did its work and he repented[3]. But, in normal human fashion, the church went too far the other way and was too slow to restore him. Paul again had to warn them to forgive and comfort the man, lest his sorrow overwhelm him.

So, we must confront sin boldly. We must remove it from our midst and have no tolerance for it. But we must maintain the good of the sinner in our minds and seek to do what is best, not only for the congregation but also for the sinner. Though church discipline may seem harsh, in the long run it is only when we obey ALL of the Scriptures that we can truly help the sinner. The goal of church discipline must be health – not comfort.

[1] Deuteronomy 13:5; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21
[2] 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
[3] 2 Corinthians 2:5-7

Sacred Forgetfulness

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ – Philippians 3:8

I am something of an expert on forgetfulness, seeing as I routinely lose money. I tend to use it as a page holder instead of its original, intended purpose. I often lose my way as I travel around in the pursuit of pastoral duties because I am thinking or praying so hard about something that I don’t pay attention to where I am. I even showed up one day at a McDonald’s in my pajamas!

But d’vekut (the mystical communion between man’s spirit and God’s) can lead us into a sacred forgetfulness. We can become so lost in the delight of prayer, Bible study or some other Christian discipline that all other things seem to simply fade away. In completely committing ourselves[1] and consecrating every activity as a living sacrifice to God[2], we begin to forget our ego and our petty concerns.

We can even forget pain and suffering. Our Master, after receiving a beating that would kill most[3] and being nailed to a cross[4], was able to calmly care for his mother[5], assure a thief of his place in paradise[6] and forgive those who were sinning against Him[7]. Peter and the apostles were able to walk away from imprisonment and flogging rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name[8]. It allowed Paul and Silas to have a sing along while shackled in a Philippian jail after being beaten[9].

We are told not only to expect persecution[10] but to actually rejoice when we are persecuted[11] knowing that good things are going to come out of it. We are to accept the seizure of our property with joyfulness knowing that we have for ourselves a better possession and a lasting one[12]. We are to boldly speak the Gospel amid much persecution, even after having suffered and been mistreated[13].

How do we do this? It can only be done by so focusing our devotion on Christ that all other things fade to mere petty distractions. But we are to go way beyond mere tolerance. We are expected to actually love those who persecute us[14].

Only when we enter fully into sacred activity, simultaneously losing ourselves and finding our larger, truer selves can we be so focused on the reality of God that this world dims. It’s as though our focus on the sun of God precludes the perception of this world’s dim candle – and sacred forgetfulness begins.

[1] Ecclesiastes 9:10; Romans 12:11; Colossians 3:23; Ephesians 6:7
[2] Romans 12:1
[3] Matthew 27:15-26; Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:39-19:16
[4] Matthew 27:32-44; Mark 15:21-32; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:17-27
[5] John 19:26-27
[6] Luke 23:42-43
[7] Luke 23:34
[8] Acts 4:40-42
[9] Acts 16: 23-25
[10] James 1:2
[11] Matthew 5:12
[12] Hebrews 10:34
[13] 1 Thessalonians 2:2
[14] Matthew 5:43-44

Peter’s Restoration

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You" Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep. – John 21:17 (NASB)

Peter had vowed that he would be the most loyal of all men to the Lord[1]. But when Jesus wouldn’t let Peter show his loyalty in the way he wanted[2], I think Peter got mad. He was not a fearful man; he demonstrated a willingness to face thugs in the middle of the night with only one sword. But Jesus rejected his gift, in much the same way that God rejected Cain’s offering[3]. And I believe that just like Cain, Peter pouted and then became angry. Soon after, Peter denied the Master three times before people who, compared to the bloodthirsty mob that had come to arrest the Lord hours earlier, were positively non-threatening[4].

His sin was short-term, spanning a few hours at most. His sin was verbal and attitudinal, without the long-term consequences inherent in sins against the body or against the trust of others. And as soon as Jesus looked at him, Peter reacted with repentance. He didn’t try to deny it any further and he even made a public spectacle of his contrition.

After seeing the empty tomb[5] and perhaps seeing Jesus privately[6] as well as publicly[7], Peter was willing to leave his ministry[8] because of this one late-night, emotionally driven, stress-ridden reaction.

It was only when he recognized that he was probably unfit for ministry and actually returned to his old vocation that Jesus came to restore him. When Peter recognized his Master, he did not speak a word. He simply threw himself into the sea and by the time everyone else got to shore, he had a fire going with fish and bread cooking. Then Peter personally drew a net full of 153 fish to shore alone. He no longer spoke. He served.

That lake-side meal was a silent one. The Bible says that is was when they were done eating that Jesus challenged Peter’s love. Peter humbly qualified his passion and placed his trust in Jesus. Immediate remorse, contrition, public repentance, leaving the ministry, quietness, service and humility all had to precede his restoration.

And his restoration was limited. Besides that first great sermon, you don’t really hear much about Peter, except when Paul had to rebuke him for hypocrisy[9]. James took the leadership of the Jerusalem church[10] and Paul became the great founder of the early churches.

We need to understand that sin always has a consequence. We can be forgiven and we can even be restored. But we will never be quite as good as we could have been. It’s best to simply not sin in the first place. We need the shield of righteousness[11].

________________
[1] Matthew 26:33
[2] Matthew 26:51; Mark 14:47; Luke 22:50; John 18:10
[3] Genesis 4:3-8
[4] first Matthew 26:69-70; Mark 14:66-68; Luke 22:55-57; John 18:15-18 – second Matthew 26:71-72; Mark 14:69; Luke 22:58-59; John 18:25 – third Matthew 26:73-75; Mark 14:70-72; Luke 22:60-62; John 18:26-27
[5] Luke 24:12; John 20:3-10
[6] 1 Corinthians 15:5a
[7] Mark 16:14; Luke 24: 36-48; John 20:19-25; 1 Corinthians 15:5b; John 20:26-29 and then 20:30-21:14
[8] John 21:3
[9] Galatians 2:10
[10] Acts 15:13-20
[11] Ephesians 6:11-17

I Know It Says That But…

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. - James 1:22-25

Each generation has had its parenting advisors. We’ve had Dr. Spock, Dr. Judy, Dr. Phil and Dr. Dobson. We have run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime. Each of these men and women has offered their counsel on marriage and parenting. Some have been found to be idiots, some to be wise and on some, the jury is still out. That’s always the test, isn’t it? Time.

The Bible has been around for thousands of years. Even if you don’t believe in God, you can believe in its longevity. Only something timeless and classic would have endured this long. Even if you don’t believe that it was divinely inspired, but simply the distillation of humanity’s wisdom, anything that didn’t work would have been sloughed off long ago. People have gone to the Holy Writings for thousands of years for advice and have found it. Millions of people have followed its precepts and have led successful, happy, purposeful lives. That should tell you something. Why listen to anything less than the best?

However, the Bible’s instructions must be put into practice to be any good. It is useless to hear the timeless principles of the Word and yet not act upon them. That would be like buying a recipe book, turning to the page dealing with a cake you would like to cook, reading through the entire recipe and then doing something completely different. The recipe calls for chocolate sauce and you use ketchup instead. The recipe says to bake for two hours and you decide fifteen minutes is enough. It requires sugar and you decide it would be better with salt. Get the picture? What kind of cake would that be? The only thing that would make it worse would be to complain about the recipe and declare that it was outdated or confusing.

We need to make sure we have an accurate picture of God. So, where do you turn for that? After all, there are thousands of religions, hundreds of denominations and probably 50 churches within driving distance of your house that would each claim to have the truth! Don’t rely on your own image of God. Instead, listen to the Holy Spirit as you read God’s love letter to you – the Bible.

The apostle Paul warned us about making up our own image of what God is when he described some foolish people: Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. (Romans 1:21-22). In your heart of hearts, you know that God deserves your respect and obedience. You know deep down that you need to listen to and follow the Holy Scriptures so my best advice to you would be ‘Don’t just listen – do. Follow the recipe!’

The Minute Mind

“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace.” Matthew 6:6 (The Message)

“Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.” Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But it’s actually one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. This is one of the key elements of meditation. Just be there. We spend much of our time with our bodies in one place and our minds in another. People will sit in the pews of a church and respond with “Amen!” while their minds are on the lunch that they are about to eat. Sometimes the preacher will preach his sermon while wondering in his mind how that parishioner is reacting to the new hymnbooks, the position of the piano, or if his hair is in place.

Try to discipline your mind to think fully about what you are working on. If we focused our entire mind on our work while we were working, there’s no telling what we could get done. But our minds are too undisciplined. Try this. Take an analog clock. Remove the cover and place a small fluorescent dot on the end of the second hand. Sit down and place the clock in front of you at a comfortable angle so you can easily keep your eyes on it. Relax and try to think of nothing else but that dot for one minute. Every time your mind wanders or you become aware of other things simply stop and try again when the second hand reaches the top. Hard, isn’t it? You mind starts playing games with you. You start remembering all the things you have to do. You suddenly remember it’s Aunt Frieda’s birthday and you haven’t thought of her for years! When you get to the point where you can focus fully and unreservedly on that dot for one minute, step up the difficulty a little. Place the clock in front of the TV. Turn on the TV but mute the sound so that you only have the flickering images behind the clock. Now try it. If you can get to the point where you can focus completely and entirely on that, turn up the volume and try it.

What does this have to do with prayer? It is that kind of discipline, that kind of focused awareness that is required for effective prayer. It is not some kind of gift that God will zap you with some day. Like anything else, it requires work. If you don’t want to work at it, then don’t whine about your wimpy prayer life.

The Perfect Parent

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'” - Matthew 6:9-13

The young couple was struggling as they tried to take care of their jobs, their home and their baby. So many important and necessary lessons had either not been taught or not been learned through their high school years and now they felt as though they were the only ones having such a tough time. Decisions flooded them every day from the mundane, ‘how do I get this kid to go to sleep’ to the critical ‘should she keep her job and help maintain a better standard of living or stay home and focus on the baby?’ Their family was far away and was of little help even had they been next door. Their parents had disapproved of the marriage and were keeping their advice and their money to themselves.

Where can such a young couple find help? Oh, they could go down to the local library or bookstore and find whole shelves of books on parenting and marriage, but how do they know which of these books offer sound advice? Dr. Spock offered his advice to a generation of Americans and just about ruined them! Just because a person has a PhD doesn’t mean they are wise.

But they have a person who is willing to help, if only they will turn to him. He is a loving and compassionate father figure who checks in on them constantly even if they don’t realize it. He is old – ancient beyond all comprehension – and has gathered the wisdom of his years in one place for them to access if they wish.

I am speaking of course of Yahweh, God the Father. Have you ever considered that of all the titles He could have chosen for Himself (Majesty, Sovereign Lord, King, Emperor are a few that first come to mind) He chose the simple title Father? What a wonderful role model! Who could be a better parent than God Himself? If we could only determine what He would do in any given parenting situation and then brace ourselves to actually imitate Him, we could hope to not only survive parenthood but thrive in that ever-challenging state.

Consider how God the Father parents. Is He strict? Does He spoil? Is He patient? As you read the Scriptures, try to determine for yourself God’s character and practice. Then try to imitate your Father.

The Good Samaritan

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 2:3-5

The hero of Luke 10:30-37 might be surprised to know that we now call him the “good” Samaritan. In his world, “good” was usually credited to folks like the priests and Levites who had power. All he did was pause along his way and do the right thing, thereby setting an example for the ages.

Servanthood is often like that. Unselfish. Spontaneous. Private. Your best work may never be recognized on earth, but it will never be forgotten in eternity.

Paul stressed humility when he taught the Philippians about servanthood: ”Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:3-5).

The same wisdom applies to our opportunities for ministry. What kind of difference can you make? What do you have to give? Maybe more than you realize.

Give Time – As you pray for the needs in your church, listen quietly for ways you might help. Visit someone lonely in a retirement home or the hospital. Guide a child through Scouting or Big Brother/ Big Sister programs.

Give Literacy – By some estimates, up to 40 million Americans cannot read well enough to function in society – much less understand the Scriptures.

Give your old Bibles – The Bible League (http://www.bibleleague.org/) reports that they can send five Bibles overseas for the cost of printing one. Your notes in the margins make your gift all the richer.

Give Blood – We all expect blood to be there in an emergency, yet nine out of ten healthy persons never donate blood. Give before Valentine’s Day and call it – in honor of someone you love – a gift from the heart.

Give your Excess – Rather than fill your attic with baby furniture, give it to a Pregnancy Resource Center. While there, ask how you might volunteer.

Give your Expertise – Hundreds of doctors spend their vacations and retirements overseas on short-term missionary trips with organizations such as World Medical Mission. Pianists can teach at churches whose children cannot afford lessons. Ask yourself how you might share your unique talents.

Give your Energy – You don’t have to be an expert to help elderly neighbors with yard work, to serve in a soup kitchen, or even to help build a house with Habitat for Humanity.

Don’t limit yourself to Christian charities. Your work in a secular organization could be a witness to other volunteers who never go to church. Keep your eyes open for the blessings that will return to you. And whatever you do, do it with joy!

The School of Hard Knocks

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! – James 1:22a (The Message)

There seems to be a loss of connection between what student nurses are taught and what they need to know when working in hospital wards. Research shows that these students find it difficult to bring together and make sense of their theory (school of nursing) and their practice (hospital ward). This gap between theory and practice is not a situation confined to social work and nursing. The same problem besets those who work in education or many other professions, such as medicine, law enforcement, and the church.

One way to prevent the development of a theory/practice gap is to have the nursing teachers give up a period of instruction in the school, and begin training nursing students in the wards on the very first day. To avoid a similar problem with ministers, students of theology should begin their course of study with work in a church along with the academic instruction.

The very word “theology” has been used more than once as a pejorative word meaning irrelevant. Arguments put forward are often dismissed as “mere theology”: that is, the arguments in the speaker’s mind did not connect with the practical situation. Theology in the mind of a secular society has come to stand for irrelevant theory, just as rhetoric now means irrelevant speech.

The beginning of this gap between theory and practice lies far back in history, and it was certainly an issue in the very early church. The Apostle James took to task those who emphasized faith at the expense of works. Both faith and works, he points out, belong to one another:

“Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! …this kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.” (James 1: 22,27)

Perhaps this very problem is what Jesus addressed when He prayed “I’m not asking that you (God the Father) take them out of the world but that you guard them from the Evil One. They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world. Make them holy – consecrated – with the truth; your word is consecrating truth. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.”

Notice that He didn’t just leave us with theory (truth), but with instruction that theory leads immediately to mission? Not just words, but also works.

Too Busy To Not Pray

We can spend our time in prayer and preaching and teaching the word. Acts 6:4

This decision by the apostles came at a time when the Holy Spirit was bringing thousands to the church daily. This growth brought with it very real logistical problems. Don’t you think they had babies crying during the services? Where would they get all the bread and wine for a communion service for five thousand people? Every day there were new widows and orphans to be taken under wing due to the persecutions. A million logistical and bureaucratic needs – all legitimate – crying out for immediate attention. Their response? We need to pray more and get into the Word more.

Many of the books on church growth today focus on all these logistical issues. Many provide programs for integrating the newcomers into the life of the church. There are special classes you can teach so that you develop the leaders required to take care of the entire visitation and shut-in ministries that come with an onslaught of people. But how did the first mega-church deal with these things? They assigned some people to take care of them but the leadership got more and more into prayer and study. Were the apostles hiding from the increased responsibility by delegating it to others? Not at all. They were actually choosing the more difficult of the two sides of the issue. It takes more courage to deal with people’s spiritual needs than it does to take care of their physical needs. People will often respond with gratitude when you feed them, give them directions to find their way, seat them or help them in some other way. People are rarely grateful when you point out their sins and try to push them to take care of business with God. It is a rare person who is humble enough to respond with gratitude when confronted with their flaws.

Because of the difficulty of the task, the apostles chose to spend more time in personal prayer. However, it should not be only the church leadership that steps up to this task. Prayer is something any Christian can do. It is universally available. There is an abundance of need for prayer, but there is rarely a surplus of prayer warriors. In our busy schedules we often feel that we are too occupied to spend time praying and meditating. In reality, life is too busy to NOT spend time praying and meditating. We need that time to ground ourselves, to return to our roots, and to remember our dependence on God.

This year the church I pastor grew 150%. If that trend continues, there will be many logistical problems. We will need to be creative, inventive, patient and accepting. But above all, let us determine to spend more time in prayer, in Bible study, and in teaching the Word.

The Ultimate Multi-Tool

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this violent storm is past. - Psalm 51:1

I have a little tool that hangs on my belt. It has a knife, scissors, screwdrivers, pliers, picks, awls…all kinds of tools. Some of the things on this wonderful device have uses that I’m not sure of. When I was in the military, I knew enough to watch the old timers and follow their example. I noticed that the young bucks usually had huge bowie knives - a la Rambo. They wielded these blades that might as well have been machetes. However, they were limited in their uses. Most of the old timers, on the other hand, carried these little multi-tools. They were useful in setting or defusing explosives. You could open up a can of food, or perform simple repairs to your gear. They were light and they were almost endlessly useful.

Prayer can be the ultimate tool. It can disarm the most difficult enemy. It can give you strength you never knew. Use prayer before an important meeting to predispose the other person’s heart to you. Use it to gain insight and discernment into a particularly pernicious, interpersonal problem. It can be used to protect you on long journeys. It can provide an outlet when you are frustrated with life’s little aggravations. Some people who possess more wisdom than average even use prayer to get God to point out their sin and character flaws so they can improve themselves.

We often limit the use of prayer to thanking God for the food. Sometimes we even neglect that. If I could offer you a biochip that you could attach to your brain and would give you all the knowledge of the world instantly, wouldn’t you want it? I would. But prayer is just such a thing. Through prayer you get direct access to the ultimate source of truth and wisdom. But greater than mere knowledge or insight, you get action. It’s like having the ability to call in air strikes on life’s problems. A simple little radio call and you get amazing power and influence. Most of us carry this ability around with us and let it grow rusty with disuse. What a shame to have the ultimate tool and not even be a handy man.

Prayer “Rests”

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “It is now Israel, because you have struggled with both God and men and have won.” – Ge. 32:28

In our attempts to understand the freedom of grace and the benefits of free access to God, we sometimes get unbalanced our view. We must keep in mind that sometimes prayer is a battle. Sure, there are sweet moments of serenity and peace. There are times when the answer comes almost before your lips can form the request. But as often as not, we struggle to make contact with heaven. Why is that? Is God at times deaf? Certainly not. The problem usually lies within ourselves and our treacherous hearts. It is difficult to put down the old fleshly desires and truly pray God’s will. It is almost impossible to look into our hearts and determine what our true motives are. We are distracted from our focus by a million petty things.

Sometimes, though, every thing can be right and yet, the struggle remains. We must be aware of the spiritual Armageddon that surrounds us as we kneel or prostrate ourselves before the Master. Angels and demons clash in fury over the actions of a lowly human. Messages are delayed and the confusion of battle sets in. Why doesn’t God simply set the demons aside and allow the messages to come clearly and immediately?

When you train in sports, you will generally hear a good coach discuss a graduated resistance program. Simply put, you start with a little resistance and gradually increase it as your strength increases. It is because of the resistance, the strain that the muscles develop and health is achieved. A dove flying through the sky may feel the resistance of the air and think that he could fly higher and faster if only it weren’t for that resistance. He doesn’t realize that it is that resistance that is actually keeping him up in the air. As his wings push down, they push against the air and cause lift. If there were nothing to push against, he would make no headway. Our prayer battles are increasing our faith, improving our patience, and causing us to rely more and more on the Father.

Besides, the pleasure can be more in the anticipation than the actual completion. When you listen to music, there are sometimes dissonant chords that cause a certain tension in anyone with a musical ear. When those chords are resolved … ah, the sweetness! A good composer will know how to balance moments of silence with moments of grandeur, dissonance with resolution. Put it all together and you have a moving piece. But you have to trust the Composer of life to bring it to that point. If you get up and walk out too soon, you’ll miss the climax.

Good Advice

Fools think they need no advice, but the wise listen to others. – Proverbs 12:15

Sam Levenson once said, “You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.” I’m not sure about that because Lord knows I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I’m only 41. God willing, I still have plenty of time to make many, many more mistakes.

There is certain validity to education via “school of hard knocks.” For those with the ability to learn from their mistakes, it’s a good education, but the fees are awfully high. It would be much better if we could simply learn from other’s mistakes without having to actually repeat them.

This is why the Old Testament is so valuable. It gives us case history to learn from. It reveals God’s saints in all their bright, or sin-dimmed glory. From David we learn “do not lay around when you should be out doing your work or you might fall into sin.” Moses’ lesson? “Do not let your temper make you lose out.” From Adam we learn by experience what Paul taught by theory, “be content!”

I love going to older folks and listening to their stories. It’s one thing to read about history in a book. It’s another to hear about it first hand. And some of them have tremendous common-sense life lessons of which we should carefully take note.

We should look around for wise saints to mentor us. Solomon told us why: “the godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.” (Proverbs 12:26). Oh, you could go down to the local pub and get plenty of advice – but I’m not sure how good it would be.

Better yet, think about the possibilities inherent in a God-breathed Book that lists case history and actually draws the conclusions for you! The oldest person in the world has nothing on the nearly 2,000 years of history recorded in the Bible. So many characters, both evil and good! So many lessons, both positive and negative! If we could carefully list all the major characters in Scripture and preach just one sermon a week on each person, there would not be enough Sundays in a preacher’s life to get to them all.

You see, we tend to think about the Bible as being man’s book about God. But a more accurate description is that the Bible is God’s book about man! He said that His Word “is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).

When it comes to human problems, there is nothing new (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Trust me – regardless of the variations and complexities of your situation, there’s good advice to be found in the Word of God.

The Laughing Saint

Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. – Psalm 126:2-3

A great king once asked for a ring with an engraving that would fit every occasion – whether fortuitous or calamitous. The jeweler brought a ring on which had been written three Hebrew letters: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" which means - "This too shall pass."

Humor reminds us that everything in this world is fleeting and should not be taken TOO seriously. Fame will fade. Riches will pass. Calamities will not last forever. All we have to do is wait and “this too shall pass.”

Laughter is fundamentally an act of faith. A good belly laugh says “no matter how ridiculously difficult life gets, joy and humor can still be found.” Humor enlarges and relaxes our perspective. It does not blind us to the tragedies of life, but it does allow us to confront serious issues armed and prepared with a humble spirit.

Eating and worship have always gone hand in hand. In Deuteronomy 14:23-26, we see that God actually mandated eating and drinking as part of celebratory worship. And Solomon said, “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7)

The connection between worship, laughter and food lies in grateful hearts. Our gratitude for having been rescued from slavery to sin and self should drive us to shout “Hallelujah!” Our appreciation for God accepting our small tokens of service should impel us to have a party.

I recently read that Norman Cousins, founder of psychoneuroimmunology, in discussing the possibility of mentally influencing the immune system said that positive emotions were critical. He defined positive emotions as maintaining a sense of humor and general joyfulness. He called laughter “internal jogging” (1989; Head First: The Biology of Hope, New York: NAL/Dutton). But thousands of years ago the Teacher said “a joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22)

A person who enjoys God’s many good gifts and develops a fine sense of the ironic will not be overcome by the many little aggravations and the few great tragedies that life inevitably sends our way.

So we laugh because we know that all things are fleeting, including evil; because we know that God can make even the terrible things in life work out for our good; because God commands us to worship Him with gladness; because it reveals a humble heart and it is downright good for us.
But finally, laughter builds our courage. It distracts us from crippling fear. Nachman of Bratslav once said, “The world is a narrow bridge. The key to the crossing is not to be afraid.” So we laugh and step out.

Kabalah and Masoret

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. – 2 Timothy 2:2

There are two Jewish words for tradition – kabalah (which is not the same thing as the Jewish mysticism the pop-singer Madonna follows called Kabbalah) and masoret. Kabalah is what we receive and masoret is what we pass on to others.

All of us are steeped in some form of kabalah. We have a history that is uniquely American. Another people have a culture that is uniquely Iranian. Ours is a religious culture that is imbibed by Christians and yet, another culture in another place is predominantly Hindu. Our culture forms our mindsets, tweaks our philosophies, meddles with our world views and is very nearly impossible to escape.

And yet Paul says that we are to escape any tradition or world view that is ungodly. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” he says in Romans 12:2. He recognized that it would be a tremendous struggle and that at times, it would be confrontational. He described his ministry saying, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

What if all the preceding scientists never bothered to record their findings? What if Ptolemy discovered that the world was a globe, figured out how big it was and then simply neglected to tell anyone else? What if Copernicus had never written “Revolution of Heavenly Bodies” or Einstein, in his absent mindedness had not jotted down “E=mc2”?

It is important that we not only learn, but that we teach; that we not only gain wisdom, but that we pass it on. Both a willingness to learn from kabalah and to undertake masoret is required. This is, in fact, the very core of the Great Commission: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you (emphasis mine); and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)

Granted, there is a certain danger. There is a very real and valuable lesson to be learned from the Pharisees. They started out with the best of intentions. They began their existence trying to maintain the teachings they had derived from the Scriptures. But somewhere they lost their way and began allowing their masoret to be more kabalah and less Scripture. When the Messiah came, their kabalah kept them from recognizing Him (John 1:11) and He rebuked them saying, “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:8)

We must find the balance between kabalah and masoret; including both, neglecting neither, but always guiding them by the steadfast and unmovable reference point of the Word.

Am Hasefer – People of the Book

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. – Acts 2:42

My grandmother is a great, godly lady. For as long as I can remember, she has read the Bible once a year, the New Testament twice a year and the book of Proverbs once a month. Year after year, decade after decade, she has followed this disciplined practice. As a result of constantly bathing her mind in the Word, her daily conversation is filled with Scripture. She doesn’t make a show of it – she has simply so filled her spirit with Bible that when she opens her mouth, the Bible pops out.

Grandmother is one of the Am Hasefer – the People of the Book. I hope to be like her someday. I follow in her footsteps and also daily read the Word, hoping that at some point in my life, my mind will be so completely washed in the Word that only God’s words will come out when I speak.

It’s very hard. James warns, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.” (James 3:1-2)

Solomon agrees with James saying, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19)

But apparently it is possible because Job, with all his sufferings and miserable friends, managed to control his tongue (Job 2:10). And Jesus specifically promised that the Holy Spirit would help us speak well when we are persecuted (Luke 21:15). That was not just a promise about some indefinable future because Stephen, the first martyr, was able to see its fulfillment in his life (Acts 6:10). And Paul says that all the apostles were also able to claim this promise in their lives (1 Corinthians 2:12-13).

You may, like me, struggle with your tongue. You may be short-tempered and speak harsh words you later regret. Or, you may be too quick to make coarse jokes even though we are warned against doing so by Paul who said, “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” (Ephesians 5:3-4).

The only thing that I have found that helps is to continuously wash my mind with the Scriptures (Ephesians 5:25). We need to have it on our minds when we get up, when we lay down and when we’re going about our daily business (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 1:8-9). Our only hope is to become Am Hasefer.

Wealth Without Work

An inheritance obtained early in life is not a blessing in the end. – Proverbs 20:21 (NLT)

Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi and Solomon ben David both agree. Wealth obtained without work is a curse, not a blessing. Gandhi listed what he termed the Seven Deadly Sins of society and put wealth without work at the top. Why? Why did Solomon, probably the richest man in the world in his day, and who inherited most of it from his father, King David, say that it was not a blessing in the end?

Ill-gotten gain has no lasting value, but right living can save your life. (Proverbs 10:2) If you have money, but no character, you are still going to be miserable. Character, which comes from right living, is its own reward.

The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin. (Proverbs 10:16) If you have the requisite character to be able to handle wealth, it can do a tremendous amount of good. But all that power and influence in the hands of an overgrown narcissistic child is a disaster waiting to happen.

Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows. (Proverbs 13:11) Money gotten without work doesn’t teach you any skills. A person with skills will simply rebuild their fortune if it is lost. A person without skills who simply inherited their wealth are up a creek without a paddle if and when it disappears!

We need to value work for its own sake. Sniff with suspicion get-rich-quick schemes and lottery winnings. The devil’s best hooks are always baited well. Didn’t Jesus warn us that it is very difficult for rich people to enter the Kingdom? If that is the case, we should never make the multiplication of funds an end in itself. If we do what we love, are passionate about it and become skilled at it, others will pay us for that ability. And even if they don’t, and we die starving artists, we are at least artists.

I believe one of America’s greatest curses is its wealthy lifestyle. It has become so necessary to live a certain way that we are willing to borrow our lives away trying to keep up! I simply pray with Agur,

“O God, I beg two favors from you before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name. (Proverbs 30:7-9) May God preserve us from the deadly sin of wealth without work.

Ubiquity

Wisdom shouts in the street, she lifts her voice in the square; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings. – Proverbs 1:20-21

A man lived his entire life in one house. He was born, raised, and educated there. He ate all his meals inside and worked from his home. He was not agoraphobic, because he would work in the yard and would leave from time to time to go grocery shopping. But he was never gone for more than a few hours; never left the city limits; never traveled or vacationed.

When a friend asked why he never left his house, his astonishing reply was, “I never leave because I must have water.”

The friend, trying to understand, asked “Surely you can get water anywhere?”

“Oh no!” The man exclaimed. “Only the water from my kitchen faucet is pure.”

Obviously, we would think the man had developed some kind of mental defect and needed psychological counseling. But religious people are often just as crazy. We each believe that our religion is absolutely right and that everyone else’s is completely wrong.

Notice that I used the word religion. I did that very deliberately because God’s revealed Truth is very clear and absolutely correct. But the assumptions we develop about Him and about worship always have some degree of error.

I’m not spouting some kind of compromising pluralistic blather here - so, Christian, you can calm down. I absolutely believe the Master when He said, “I am THE Way, THE Truth and THE life.” I’m simply taking for granted that Solomon knew what he was talking about when he said that some wisdom can be found anywhere. Just because someone is wrong, maybe almost completely wrong, doesn’t mean that they haven’t discovered some piece of truth. Even if they are so completely off-track that they don’t have a single thought in common with reality, we can still learn from that, can’t we?

I have read the Koran very carefully. I have also read the Tao Te Ching, Kabbalah, Way of a Pilgrim, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Bhagavad Gita, Book of Mormon and even the Satanic Bible. Each said something that was true.

Without question, the ultimate standard must be God’s revealed truth – the Bible. It is spiritual super-food having everything we need in one place. The parts of these other religions that are wise are all parts that agree with the Scriptures. The wicked parts are all missing from the Bible’s message.

But when you encounter someone who believes differently, give them some credit for brains. Try to find areas where you can build bridges they can cross to meet you and hopefully, grow to love Christ. Like Paul, introduce them to the “unknown God.” Learn what you can, teach what you can, and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit. There’s a deep dark theological word for that concept. It’s called “humility.”