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In the book of Ruth we are introduced to a Jewish family consisting of a married couple… Elimilech and Naomi and their two sons… Mahlon and Kilion. There is a great famine in Judah so they temporarily relocate to the gentile country of Moab where there is food.
Elimilech dies in Moab and Naomi becomes a widow. Even in this life changing event Naomi finds some joy (for a while) as her two sons marry two young Moabite women… Orpah and Ruth and the prospect of grandchildren and an extension of Naomi’s family line looks promising.
But Mahlon and Kilion are married to their wives for ten years and no children… and then tragedy is compounded with tragedy and both Mahlon and Kilion die and now there are three widows living together… Naomi, Orpah and Ruth.
Naomi decides to go back to her hometown of Bethlehem and urges her daughter-in-laws not to come with her. After all, both of their parents are still alive, there hometown is in Moab along with all their friends. With many tears Orpah takes Naomi’s advice but not Ruth. Ruth utters these famous words…
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
You see, Ruth probably became a Jew when she married Kilion and she wasn’t going to turn her back on Naomi and watch her walk the road to Bethlehem by herself to an uncertain future. She just wasn’t going to do it. Whatever the future held they would face it together and trust in God.
When they get to Bethlehem the whole town is “stirred up” and excited to see Naomi and of course they hear the story of Ruth’s unwavering devotion to Naomi and that story is told and retold through-out Bethlehem.
Ruth, following the Jewish system to provide for widows goes out to glean the fields. That is to follow the harvesters and collect whatever they have missed and ends up in a field owned by an older man named Boaz. Boaz happens to be a “kinsman-redeemer” a relative of Elimilech’s who is obligated to buy Elimilech’s ancestral land from his widow Naomi and take Ruth as his wife (and provide her with a child) to continue the familial line of Elimilech.
Boaz notices Ruth and asks who she is. He already knows Ruth by reputation and even though he is much older than Ruth commends her for not running after a younger man and makes her his wife.
Ruth becomes pregnant and she and Boaz have a son named Obed. The town is ecstatic and over joyed for Naomi. They give a blessing to Naomi and Obed and proclaim that Ruth is worth 7 sons to Naomi.
The book finishes by giving a short genealogy that shows that Obed’s son is Jesse and Jesse’s son is David (who killed Goliath). Ruth the young woman from Moab is the great grandmother of the famous and renowned King David.
We never hear anything else about Orpah. She probably went to live with her mom and dad and then married and had children and probably lived a nice life in Moab. She took Naomi’s advice and made a perfectly logical choice.
Ruth followed her heart and with no assurance of what the future might hold walked to Bethlehem hand in hand with Naomi.
Not only did God bless her with a great grandson in David… King of Israel (whom she probably knew) but also blessed her to be the mother of Jesus Christ… King of the Earth for eternity.
Logical decisions are good but may fail us. Always listen to your heart. Ruth did and look what God did for her.
Successful businesses usually have a superior front desk. After all, the front desk is who your clientele sees first and who they see last so it’s important to make a good impression at the front desk.
At the front desk you hire for personality and not for skills… you can train skills but you can’t train personality.
I recently had to join a new gym because my old gym closed down. I was in there one day and a very personable young man who happened (as I found out later) to be the director of trainers for this corporate owned gym walked up to me and introduced himself. He showed interest in me and invited me to join his Kettlebell class. He had personality and advanced social skills.
After several weeks in his class he turned the class over to a young woman trainer. I had noticed this trainer before and found her to be quiet and aloof and had already made the judgment that she wasn’t very “good”, but I loved the Kettlebell class and continued on.
I found this woman to be very skilled and once I got to know her came to like her and found her class to be better than the other guys.
In congregations, it is very important to greet visitors in such a way that they want to continue “the class”… so to speak.
Congregations should identify those (men and women) who have winning personalities (so important in businesses and gyms) and place them in a position to greet visitors. That means they probably need to sit in the back or make their way to the back during the announcements at the close of services because visitors tend to leave early. This way the greeters can hold the visitors up so the rest of the congregation can interact with them.
It takes a team in congregations and everyone needs to understand their own strengths and weaknesses.
We have an employee who works back in out kennel and it takes a special person to work back there with all the barking, etc. When Ethel (not her real name) brings boarding dogs up she interacts with the owners and they just love her. Ethel could never work at our front desk (and she knows that) but she is one of our most valuable employees and makes our business better.
Let’s work on making our congregations better too.
I was born in San Diego, California in 1954. Mother and Dad attended Johnson Street Church of Christ. We moved away when I was in the First grade. Of course I was just a kid but I remember all my parents friends were Christians. They were always in the homes of their friends and we had a lot of company as well. They would always be some of the last people to leave because they would stay so long visiting.
Next we lived in Brigham City, Utah and attended a church of Christ. It was pretty small as most of the people who lived there were Mormons. We met in some kind of school house. We would get there early and set out chairs and put them up after services. The classes were in the basement that was accessed by a trap door. When we would get out of class we would climb the stairs and lift the door up with our heads while the adults were still having their class. I remember we went on something called an encampment with the other members and we camped and cooked outside. Dad said this church was a “liberal” church but was too poor to spend their money in a “liberal” way.
When I was in the fourth grade we moved to Athens, Alabama. It seemed like there were Churches of Christ on every street corner and we went to a big one. We only lived there for a year (1965) and I don’t remember much about it. I do remember that the members would stop by and visit occasionally and I attended Athens Bible School.
Then we moved to Annandale, Virginia to another small church that met in a school house. I threw a snowball and broke out a window at the school. I don’t remember getting in trouble for it. Very friendly people there and I was baptized when I was in the 8th grade. Of course mother and dad were some of the most active members in whatever church we attended and in most of them they were always the youngest couple.
Round about 1968 we moved to Houston, Texas and attended at Spring Branch Church of Christ. It seemed huge… maybe about 300 members. The church had Elders and Deacons and was a fantastic church. I was 6’-1” in the eighth grade and we first attended on a Wednesday night. A lot of the girls were interested in me until they found out how young I was. Houston at the time was the longest we had lived anywhere. I had plenty of friends my age at church and we ran around together. Mother had company every Sunday for lunch. Dad became a Deacon there and they let me lead songs on Sunday morning. Men like Roy Cogdill, Herbert Thornton, Kent Ellis, Maurice Jackson and Robert Harkrider preached while we were there.
I met Julie there one Sunday morning in Bible class and made many life-long friends. The church split after I went to college and there was a lot of heartache over that.
Julie and I married and moved to College Station, Texas to attend school. We attended Twin City Church of Christ for the eight years we were up there. We attended on a regular basis and I led songs, etc. David Smitherman and Joe Fitch preached while we were there and we became life-long friends.
After graduation (1981) our young family… Julie, Walker and I moved to Mexia, Texas where we attended Shiloh Church of Christ… another small church. We had some friends up there and that’s part of the reason we moved there. Almost the minute we stepped in the door they asked me if I would teach the auditorium class. We were and still are close to the Lucas family who live there. Joe Lucas was my dad’s best friend.
In 1982 we moved to Corpus Christi (Julie was pregnant with Lauren) and placed membership at Parkway Church of Christ where we remain to this date (2020). This congregation owns my heart and is my life’s work. I became a Deacon and Elder here. When we moved here Elmer Moore was preaching followed by Charles Boshart, Sakkie Pretorius, David Smitherman, Jeff Carr, and now Marc Hinds. I have served as an Elder with David, Gus Cargile, Bill Chambers and Ricardo Baca. We raised our kids in this congregation and now all six of our grandkids are here as well.
If you think I don’t know I’ve been blessed… well… your wrong about that. Sometimes it’s good to look back at where you’ve been and the people and experiences that have shaped you and I thank God… and you for that.
Acts 6 reveals a problem in the early church in Jerusalem. The first problem was that there were widows in the church who didn’t have enough to eat. So the church steps up to care for them.
It must have been a tremendous undertaking because for one thing it needed seven men to oversee it… so probably a lot of widows… maybe in the hundreds.
The text also implies that the church set up a place to serve the widows… not serving them in their own homes… because Peter said “we don’t have time to wait on tables”.
So think about what this must have involved… procurement of food (grains, vegetables, lamb), preparation of those foods (cooks and kitchens) and a place to serve it all with tables.
The seven men assigned to this task must have been on site and managing the whole thing.
The second problem was that the families of the Grecian widows thought their people were being neglected and that the widows from Judea were being shown favoritism. Of course in general Jews who lived in Judea thought they were superior to the Jews who were from gentile nations.
What must that have looked like? Maybe the Grecian widows weren’t seated in the most desirable locations… maybe like a table with a window. Maybe the Grecian widows were served last. Maybe the Grecian widows thought they were getting smaller portions or not getting “seconds”. Maybe the support staff didn’t smile and visit with them.
Who really knows for sure but remember that if you have been treated like you were inferior all your life it doesn’t take much to get your feelings hurt. So the 7 overseers were there to make sure everyone was treated with the same care and consideration.
Of course the same thing can happen in congregations today. If you know some members better than others or if you prefer the company of some more than others or heaven forbid if there are members who you can’t even remember their names… they will notice that… and feelings will be hurt. We have to work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Those seven guys could have been going out and knocking on doors and trying to convert more Jews to Christianity and spending all day in prayer but instead they had to go manage a job that someone else was failing at… and it was an important job.
Remember James 1:27
Several passages in the New Testament reference a famine in Judea and Greek Christians collecting funds to send in relief of those Christians in Judea. Acts 11:30 says that these funds were given to the Elders of the Church in Jerusalem.
From this we conclude that the church is not a world-wide relief organization and church funds collected on the Lord’s Day are only authorized to be used for needy Christians. Of course that certainly does not relieve individual Christians from helping those who are not Christians.
I always wonder about the details of distributing that money to those needy Christians.
- Perhaps you have a member that doesn’t attend all the services and maybe just attends at Christmas and Easter. Do we help that member?
- What if you have a fellow Christian that has some doctrinal issues that are kind of “deal breakers”? Does that member get 100% help?
- You have a member whose husband is not a Christian and you give her some funds but find out she has been feeding her husband with funds that are only supposed to be used for Christians.
- You receive some funds and are feeding your family but there’s a Jewish family next door with a bunch of little kids that are starving. Can you use funds that are designated only for Christians? If you are an Elder and find out someone is feeding kids from the tribe that crucified Jesus Christ what do you do?
Here’s the other thing that I have wondered… maybe those funds were limited to Christians only because there wasn’t enough to feed the non-Christians.
Like if the church had a million dollars in its treasury and had fed all the Christians until they couldn’t eat any more would it be okay then to help some of those other families (non-Christian) who are starving?
These are the kinds of questions I ask myself. Thanks for listening.
Sometimes understanding the Bible can be like working a jigsaw puzzle. When you first start that puzzle it’s hard to get a clear and complete understanding of it. The more pieces you connect the clearer it becomes and the easier it gets.
Growing up during the Christmas season my mother would put a big puzzle out on the table and we would work on it from time to time all week long. It was a great family activity.
Usually you do the easy pieces first… the corners and the straight edge pieces… those are the easiest ones, but then it tends to get more complicated before it gets easier again.
I see my grandkids putting puzzles together and sometimes they can force two pieces together that don’t really belong.
Sometimes when you’re putting a big 10,000 piece puzzle together it seems like an impossible task and you just give up and walk away.
Sometimes the cat knocks all the pieces off the table.
Of course it always helps to look at the picture on the front of the box to help figure it out.
As the puzzle got more complete and there were just a few pieces left we would race to see who would finish it first (sometimes we would hide a piece so we could put the last piece in).
Bible study can be kind of like working those old puzzles. It always helps to have a picture to understand where all the Bible pieces fit together. The picture that helps me is what Jesus said are the two greatest commands… to love God with all your heart… and your neighbor as yourself. If that’s not what the final product looks like then you haven’t put the pieces together correctly.
Sometimes people have a picture in mind (that isn’t correct) and try to make all the pieces fit that picture. That’s kind of like my grandkids forcing two pieces together that don’t belong.
Some people try to minimize the Old Testament in the picture and make the picture all about the New Testament… big mistake… huge mistake.
Some people just think it’s too complicated and give up too easy. Remember… it is just one book and you have a lifetime to put it all together and the more pieces you successfully put together the easier it becomes. If it seems too hard take a break and come back to it.
Understanding the Bible becomes easier when you have some friends to help you… just like a puzzle. It builds community.
At home when we would complete a puzzle we would feel a real sense of accomplishment and leave it out for a few days just to look at it and remember the work we had put into it, but then we would take it apart, box it up and put it up in a closet where it never left.
That’s the big difference between working out a puzzle and figuring out the Bible. Once we have that Bible figured out it stays figured out in our hearts forever and we can help the new Christian figure out how all the pieces fit together to get a true picture of God… and then rejoice together at the accomplishment.
There’s a thought process among people… even godly people that runs counter to God’s wishes for us. Let’s look at a few examples.
- The fellow who doesn’t carry any money in his wallet so when someone asks for a little help he can flash open that empty wallet. As if… oh yeah I would help you, I just happen to be broke today… you caught me at the wrong time… sorry.
- The fellow in the congregation who doesn’t really want to take the time get to know anybody for whatever the reason. Maybe the fellow thinks he is unlikeable or maybe he just likes being alone. Or maybe he’s afraid someone willl ask for some help so it’s better just not to know anybody very well.
- It’s like the fellow who visited a church semi-regularly and found out the preacher liked to call on people during Bible class. So every time the preacher introduced himself the visitor gave a different name so he wouldn’t be called on (true story).
- The fellow who thinks he can be a good Christian and not be a member of a church because there might be a hypocrite who is a member there and “Jesus didn’t like hypocrites so why should I” Besides church can be watched on TV.
- Or the fellow who says…I can’t go to that party… they might have alcohol there and I don’t want to sully my influence by being around people who are drinking or who might say a bad word.
There’s a fatal flaw in this kind of thinking. You see Jesus wants us to be interacting with all sorts of folks… beggars, needy Christians, hypocrites, imbibers of spirits and even people with salty language. God works through his people and his people are at their best when they are interacting and working with other people… people who are comfortable with sin and people who have made up their minds not to sin.
It’s kind of like keeping money in the safe deposit box… that money is decreasing in value every day it sits there. Put that money to work so it can either hold or increase in value.
Put some small bills in your wallet (small enough so you won’t go broke), introduce yourself to someone (you might get along together like peas and carrots). Go to that party and if someone offers you a beer tell them you would rather have a Big Red or Root Beer. If someone starts using bad language tell them you have a picture of your momma in your wallet and she might be offended by that kind of language.
Trot that Christianity out and take her for a spin… no telling where it might take you.
Matthew records the episode of Jesus walking on the water. Peter sees Jesus walking on the water… and I love this about Peter… he asks Jesus if he can walk on the water too. Imagine Peter’s excitement when he can walk on the water just like Jesus! But then Peter looks down (and takes his eyes off of Jesus) and gets a little scared and starts sinking and of course Jesus won’t let him drown.
In my opinion, this story foreshadows Peter’s denial of Jesus. The Jews come for Jesus and Peter sees Judas betray Jesus and all of the disciples, but Peter is still walking on the water and full of courage and pulls his sword out and attempts to defend Jesus. However, there a lot more of the Jews than the disciples and they have torches and swords and spears and Peter’s faith begins to sink and he runs like a scared cat.
Peter’s fear turns to selfish protection as he denies Jesus three times (and takes his eyes off of Jesus) and he sinks even further into the water.
But wait! Jesus has already given Peter a life preserver and he has it in his back pocket. Jesus has warned Peter that Satan will tempt him and he will fail and instructed Peter that after his failure, to swim back to the surface and get about the work of establishing the church.
We too may from time to time take our eyes off of Jesus and sink into the deep waters of sin but remember Jesus is watching from Heaven and praying for us and has his eyes on us watching to see if we will remember the great sacrifice he made for us and swim to the surface and start walking on water again with him.
The New Testament reveals that there was a huge controversy among the Jews as to their eternal destination… some believed in Heaven and some did not. That’s understandable because there is almost no mention of a heavenly reward in the Old Testament.
The question is then asked… what was the purpose of following God’s commands in the Old Testament?
Deuteronomy 28 states that if God’s commands are followed then the people would have abundant children, livestock and crops. In addition, they would live long lives and not get sick… but no mention of a Heavenly reward. In addition, the Jews expected for their nation to dominate all other nations on earth as God's "chosen" nation. Keeping God’s commands in the Old Testament were rewarded with earthly prosperity.
The people under the Law of Moses however never realized all of the promised blessings because they couldn’t fulfill their end of this conditional promise. The Law of Moses was almost impossible to keep so their crops failed, their livestock struggled, they got sick and oftentimes their women failed to conceive.
Contrast that with the New Testament. The New Testament is full of references to Heaven and an eternal reward (and also eternal punishment).
Not only that but by comparison Christ’s Law is easy to keep and keeping it means not only a blessed life on earth but an eternity of blessings while living in the very presence of God.
It starts with belief being transformed into faith and having your sins washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ, and rising up a new creature in a new relationship (son-ship) with God the father.
Thank God almighty that we don’t live under a Law that can’t be kept with promises that are always beyond our reach!
Sodom and Jericho were both destroyed by God because of their “detestable practices”. However, in both cities God found a few who were worthy of being spared his destruction.
God sent two angels to Sodom. Lot welcomed them and took them into his house. When the citizens of Sodom heard there were visitors in town they tried to take and rape them but Lot protected them.
For Lot’s hospitality God spared Lot and his family when he destroyed Sodom.
Joshua sent two spies to Jericho. The king of Jericho heard they were in town and tried to capture them. Rahab extended hospitality by taking them in and protecting them (Like Lot did).
For her hospitality God spared Rahab and her family when he destroyed Jericho.
One of the tenets of hospitality is reciprocation. Those who are hospitable should have a reasonable expectation of reciprocated hospitality or even a blessing from man and God on the home that extends hospitality.
God overlooked Rahab the prostitute’s sin and other short comings and blessed her for her hospitality. It had to be a transforming moment in her life. She had to turn her back on her previous life and on everyone she knew and take the simple step of hospitality to please God.
How transformational was it? One of her sons in the distant future was Jesus Christ. Can we be less hospitable?
Several years ago I went to visit a preacher i had known since I was a kid. He was well known and respected and held a lot of Gospel Meetings… the only thing was that now he was dying of cancer. Anyway I went to go see him in that hospital and he said… Rob I want to tell you something I’ve never told anyone else.
He continued, that when he was a young preacher the congregation had a Deacon who was called to serve in Viet Nam and while the soldier/deacon was overseas he had an affair with his wife. Of course I was shocked but it got worse… the old preacher continued that the woman became pregnant and her husband was coming home and she didn’t know what to do.
The old preacher told me that he panicked and when the soldier/deacon got home he went over one night and cut the brake lines to his truck. As fate would have it the soldier/Deacon died in the crash and the preacher married his adulteress widow. No one ever knew what he had done.
Of course I was shocked but the preacher continued and said even though he knew he was forgiven he prayed everyday that his conscience could be cleaned up but it never was… he still lived with his guilt.
That old preacher died and left a widow and four sons to mourn him. One of those sons became a preacher and the other three became Elders in the Lord’s church. He died leaving many grandchildren and several great grand children.
I hope you’ve read this far because that story is a complete fabrication… I made it up, but it is very similar to the story of King David, Bathsheba and Uriah.
King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and caused the death of her husband… Uriah. David mourned his great sin (as reflected in several of the Psalms) and never forgot it… but married and built his life with the adulteress Bathsheba. Their son Solomon went on to become King of Israel and ultimately another son would be born in the distant future who would become King of the world… Jesus Christ.
The things is David lived under the Law of Moses and legally, according to God’s Law, he and Bathsheba should have been executed for their sin… stoned with rocks! However, God set aside his Law to forgive them both. He extended mercy.
We may get ourselves in a horrible bind and no matter what the sin is we are still amenable to the Law of Jesus Christ but when things get so tangled up it seems impossible to untangle them I’m comforted that our great God almighty can judge the situation and the sinner and perhaps like with his son David… extend mercy.
Nehemiah is a keen example of leadership. He identified a project (rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem) and built a team of people to complete that project. Let’s consider a few things about Nehemiah.
- Nehemiah cared about the condition of Jerusalem without walls. He bought into it emotionally. Even though he had zero abilities at wall building (he was a cupbearer)he knew that with the help of God he could do it.
- Nehemiah fasted and prayed to God about the project. I don’t know if God responded to him or if he did what God told him to do but people of faith always go to God first.
- Nehemiah was the cup bearer for the king of the Medo-Persian empire. Nehemiah knew he would need the king’s help and knew what kind of man the king was. So Nehemiah prepared for the one and only moment that would present itself.
- When the moment came Nehemiah presented the King with the scope and magnitude of the project, a time line, a materials list and letters of authorization including for safe passage. He was prepared.
- When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem he didn’t know who his friends or who his enemies were so some level of secrecy was required and he went out at night by himself to view the project. He wanted his own eyes on it.
- Nehemiah assembled the people and communicated to them the need to rebuild the walls and a team was built on that day and the repair started.
- Nehemiah strengthened his team by writing down and naming who all was doing the work. He didn’t take credit himself but gave all the credit to the workers. People like being identified.
- Enemies to the project arose. Those enemies included outsiders but also many insiders including some of the priests who’s families had inter married with the outsiders. Again Nehemiah went directly to God in prayer for help with the enemies and he had to think on his feet.
- Nehemiah had spies who learned of the enemies actions and Nehemiah was able to counter their evil plans.
- Nehemiah had the right to eat the delicate food that the king provided him but he refused to do so. He wanted to identify with the working people not the privileged royalty.
- Nehemiah identified for the people why the walls had been torn down in the first place and that the same behaviors still existed. Why rebuild a wall that is just going to be torn down again if the people aren’t living righteously? So Nehemiah had the priests communicating God’s word to the people.
Nowadays two types of people are commonly identified “wow” people and “how” people. Wow people have lots of ideas and are volunteering them to anyone who will listen. How people listed to the ideas and say… OK, have you given any thought to how your wow idea can be accomplished?
So which one was Nehemiah? He was both… he was a Wow-How guy. Those types of people are pretty rare… except with God’s help.
Have a wow-type of idea? Buy into it, ask for God’s help (every day) and prepare, prepare, prepare and God will help you with the “How” and maybe… like Nehemiah… you can build a wall around God’s city.
A transformation has occurred in my prayer life, one that I didn’t predict or expect and I don’t really know when it happened but it’s real. It dawned on me tonight when I was sitting in on a Bible class about prayer and our attitude about prayer.
I guess prayer for me has been an obligatory sort of thing… a measure of faith as a Christian. I am a Christian therefore I pray.
Tonight I realized that I love my “hour” of prayer and look forward to it. In fact, if somehow something interferes with it… I am deeply annoyed.
You see for some time now I get up in the morning and sit down with my Bible and read it. After I am done reading I get down on my knees and pray.
Sometimes I pray about things that are bothering me… like an issue with someone or something and I tell God that my spirit is troubled and I’m not sure what to do and to please help me. Let me tell you this God has helped me 100% of the time with those situations and of course I always thank him.
I thank God for Julie and ask him that we might have a long life together and that we would die on the exact same day.
I thank God for our family and my mother and Julie’s mother.
I thank God for our children and their excellent mates.
I thank God for my grandchildren and ask him to protect them.
I pray that my family members that need it would find faith.
I pray for the old folks at church that I love so much.
I pray for the special needs of the congregation that I am a shepherd of.
I thank God for that morning’s reading.
I pray that God would open my eyes so I might understand the truths he has recorded for me.
I pray to God that he would help me write articles and that I may become a better teacher.
I thank God for my prosperity and my good health.
And I pray that God would use me to influence others to become faithful.
I love my “hour of prayer” that doesn’t quite last an hour. If something happens and I need to talk to God I impatiently wait for that special time I have with him.
I was reading in Deuteronomy this morning that Israel had to “tithe” in order to learn to revere God. I suspect the same thing is true with prayer… you start praying because you are commanded to and then wake up one day and realize that God is not just some made up story but a true and real friend that you can’t do without.
I don’t remember exactly when I attended my first funeral and made the long walk down to the casket to look at the recently deceased… maybe when I was a young adult. However, at this point in my life I’ve been to plenty of funerals and seen plenty of caskets.
I’m always kind of shocked by the cost of coffins. They can be quite ornate and I guess you can spend as much as you want to on them. Coffins of course are single use items… they end up being buried 6 feet underground where no one can see their magnificent beauty. And in that vessel are the remains of perhaps the most beloved person in the world to you… slowly disintegrating in that beautiful container.
Jesus told the Jewish religious elite that they were like beautiful coffins full of dead men’s bones. He meant by that… that on the outside they had the “right” look. They dressed appropriately, they washed their hands before their meals, they prayed like angels from Heaven and even cried with you at the loss of a loved one. But on the inside… they were rotten.
Looks can be deceiving unless God is the one doing the looking and when God looked at them they looked like folks who were destined to burn in the fires of Hell for eternity.
So what did God see that we can’t see?
- He saw people who were prideful and loved attention from others.
- They loved their money and wouldn’t spend it on the people who needed it for just the basics of living… food, clothing and shelter.
- They loved “judging” other people, like prostitutes, adulterers, the sick, etc. They were too holy to associate with those types lest somehow by association they too would be stained with uncleanness.
- They emphasized their favorite spiritual directives like tithing (giving 10% of everything they owned) and minimized God’s favorite spiritual directives… justice, mercy and faithfulness.
- They would fabricate lies to achieve their goals… like accusing Jesus of Blasphemy.
Well the reality is you don’t have to be God to see some of those things unless you are wearing rose tinted glasses and everything looks rosey to you.
I don’t remember anything about that first funeral I attended but I do remember my dad’s funeral. They said the embalmer did a great job and dad “looked good” but he didn’t look good to me. The only thing I like to remember about that open casket were the grandkids writing notes to their grandpa and sticking them in his suit jacket.
When I think of him I like to think of his great love for the Lord that manifested itself in the way he treated other people… with justice, mercy and faithfulness.
His coffin may be filled with dead men’s bones and a few tattered pieces of paper but that’s not him and that’s not where he is.
The most important person to look at is our selves. Let’s be sure to start with that person before we take on our brethren, family and friends. Let’s pull those rose tinted glasses off and take a long look at ourselves through the lens of God’s eyes which are found in his word and we can all conquer the curse of the coffin which is filled with dead men’s bones doomed to suffer for eternity.
Visitors to congregations are very important… especially local visitors. Local visitors are usually visiting either because they feel some acute need for a connection with God or they are looking for a place to become a member.
I love interacting with visitors. I try to put myself in their position and ask myself what I would want to see when visiting a congregation.
The first thing I would want to see is if anyone cared that I was there (besides the preacher). Like… how many people introduced themselves to me or… was it just a superficial greeting like… “Howdy glad to have you come back again.”
Someone who is artful in the mechanics of conversation will use the Socratic method of asking questions and letting them do most of the talking like… 1) Where are you from? 2) Oh you’re from in town? How did you hear about us? 3) Where have you been attending?
You also want to make a personal connection and ask a question like… what kind of work do you do? Oh! You’re a welder… so am I or if you are not a welder then you can introduce them to someone else who is a welder or whatever occupation they are.
The second thing I want them to see in our congregation is racial diversity. Especially in our day and age of charges of racism I want the visitor to see people of every color in our congregation.
Thirdly I want them to see that our hour of worship is inspiring. People are singing their hearts out. I don’t want them to hear a “canned” prayer but one that is heartfelt and inspiring and perhaps relates to things that are troubling about our society today… a contemporary prayer. I want them to hear a sermon that makes them want to come back and hear another.
Generally you only have one shot at a visitor so I want to try to make it as memorable as I can.
For the two individual visitors to day I asked them each individually if I could buy their lunches today. They both turned me down but that invitation should be burned into their memories. I don’t think I have ever visited a church where a member has invited me to dinner.
Usually I write my name and number down and give it to them and let them know I have lived here a long time and know the best mechanics, plumbers, AC people, etc. in town. Several have taken advantage of that offer.
I also try to find them on Facebook and send a friend request. In addition, I take a photo of their visitor card and share it on our private Parkway member page to give the rest of our team (who are on FB) an opportunity to get involved.
Visitors are very important. We might be able to help them with some spiritual need or we might be able to add them to our local army of Christian soldiers in our fight against Satan.
Take the opportunity to be hospitable because you may not get another chance and maybe… God sent that person to test and reward you.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
Sometimes the question is posed… if you could have any super power… what would you choose?
I always thought I would like the power to heal anyone of any kind of disease or any kind of suffering.
Can you imagine the good you could do if at the snap of your fingers you could heal someone of cancer?
Imagine if someone you loved had lost their mind to Alzheimer’s and couldn’t even recognize the people who loved them the most and you walked into the room and pressed your finger to their temple and all their lost memories came back?
Can you imagine the gratitude? If you cared about money you could charge anything you wanted to and the sick folks and their families would willingly pay twice that amount.
My Dad died when he was just 62 years old and if I could have him back… even if just for a visit to show him our families I would empty my bank account.
But … there’s a down side to gifts. What if you wanted to take your wife out to eat but couldn’t even sit down and eat a meal because people were dragging in all these sick folk to you?
Surely that must have been what it was like for Jesus and why he had to go to a mountain for a little alone time.
Even without the super power to heal… all people sometimes get tired of doing well. Hence, the scripture I quoted…”Do not grow weary or tired of doing well”.
People might get tired of doing good if it doesn’t seem appreciated or maybe if you find you don’t have enough time for your own needs… or maybe your family’s needs.
We might not have the super power of healing everyone we want to, but… *God does*… and maybe... just maybe he’s waiting to see how much good we’ll commit to before he makes any kind of commitment.
If I had the super power of healing I would drive down to Spohn Hospital and go room by room and heal every one there but since I don’t (and you don’t) have those kinds of powers what’s stopping us from exercising the powers that we do have? The power to visit the sick, the power to pray with the families and the power to help in any way we can?
If a power can have super results doesn’t that make it a super power? Sometimes we just have to do what we can do and leave the rest up to God.
I finished a book recently that describes why doctors think the way they do. One of the things illustrated was that General Practitioners had a tendency to accept whatever diagnosis that a specialist makes because they are board certified specialists… experts if you will. The problem is that specialists tend to be wrong 20% of the time.
I think a similar problem can exist among preachers, teachers and Christians in general. We have a tendency to accept the teachings of our own heroes of faith as being infallible. Perhaps a Preacher whose tutelage we grew up under or a noted Gospel Meeting preacher or maybe a preacher who wrote a book. Going back further… maybe someone who taught during the so called “issues” of the 1950s or even someone who taught during the restoration movement, etc.
In a medical condition a wrong diagnosis can lead to a life time of the wrong medications, continued poor health and maybe even death.
What if our great heroes of faith were wrong 20% of the time? How would that affect our spiritual health?
Study God’s word continuously. Pray to God for spiritual enlightenment. Don’t be afraid to listen to opposing views and don’t be afraid to change your mind.
Listen to your doctor but don’t be afraid to get a second, third or however many opinions you might need for your physical health and remember that your spiritual health is much more important than your physical health
Nadab and Abihu were two priests of God who had specific instructions about lighting incense and offering it to God.
Lev.10:1-2, states that they lit their incense with unauthorized fire and God killed them both with his own fire.
We don’t know their motivations or why they did what they did and I guess it really doesn’t matter. The thing that does matter is you have to follow God’s instructions and they didn’t.
Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land and brought the proceeds to the Apostles to be distributed to help the poor (Acts 5). The only thing was they fibbed about it. They claimed they were giving all of the proceeds but held back some of it. Like Nadab and Abihu God struck them both dead.
I suppose you could say that Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of the love of money and that love of money led them to tell a lie. I guess the only thing they loved more than money was their love of themselves… they wanted to look good.
God still gives specific instructions about what he wants from us. For one thing he wants us to be “cheerful” in our giving. He wants us to know that everything we have comes from him so that when the time comes to give a little bit of it back to him on a Sunday it’s an easy thing for us to do.
God doesn’t want us to give any kind of an offering in a public way because that kind of display feeds egos… humble people don’t do that.
So just what all does God want from us? That’s an easy one… he wants us. He expects us to live lives worthy of being his sons and daughters and if we’re not living like that then… well… he doesn’t really care what we put in the offering plate. Just ask Nadab, Abihu, Ananias and Sapphira if what you offer matters.
In the book of Exodus we learn that God gave Moses detailed instructions to build a portable Tabernacle which would become a place for God to live with his people as they traveled. Moses was instructed to use the very best of materials.
In the book of 1 Kings we learn that God gave Solomon detailed instructions to build a Temple which would become a place for God to live among his people. Solomon was instructed to use the very best materials.
In Matthew 16:18 Jesus prophecies to the Apostle Peter that he would “build his church…”
Ephesians 2:20-22 describes the building of the church. Each Christian is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11) then each building is assembled with each other and builds a structure (the church) which is described as a “holy temple in the Lord” built for a dwelling place for God.
John 4 contains a discussion between the Samaritan woman and Jesus Christ. Jesus tells her that her people worshipped (incorrectly) on a mountain and the Jews (correctly) worshipped in the Temple in Jerusalem. He foretells that the time would come when the worship of God would be in neither place nor would worship be in a man-made structure but true worship would be in “spirit and in truth”.
Formerly God lived among his people (Israel) in a particular land and in a particular place. Today God lives among and within his people wherever they are and wherever they assemble. He still requires the very best of materials… people who have disciplined themselves to eliminate sin from their lives and replace it with sacrificial works for the benefit of others.
I wish I could go back in time and view the Tabernacle and the Temple… they must have been incredible structures. However, there is nothing more beautiful than God’s people (the church) working and assembling together in love and peace and harmony and Moses and Solomon longed to see that day.
1 Corinthians 3 contains a segment where Paul uses the figure of building a house to describe how Christians are built. He describes himself as a “wise master builder”. In other words… it’s not the first house he has ever built. He lays the perfect foundation… Jesus Christ and then builds the rest of the house out of the best and most durable materials… gold, silver and stone.
He implies that other builders (teachers) may build on the same foundation (Jesus Christ) and use inferior materials… combustible materials… wood, hay and stubble.
He warns that one day a fire is going to test these buildings (Christians) and the buildings (Christians) that are lost will also have other consequences… their builders (teachers) will also suffer.
Contextually these foolish amateur builders have to be teachers who were sometimes called Judaizing teachers. They were teaching new Greek converts that they also had to obey elements of the Law of Moses… be circumcised, obey food laws and feast days etc. making them a sort of hybrid Jew.
Because Paul taught otherwise these teachers questioned his Apostleship and even taught that if you were baptized by Paul you were baptized with an inferior baptism… making you inferior.
Of course you have the same types of teachers teaching today. They teach doctrines of men and not of God. They are soft on their teachings and are just trying to make their listeners feel good. They de-emphasize the Bible by hardly ever referencing it… etc. etc. etc.
Look for a wise master builder to help you build your spiritual house so that when the day of fire comes you are… spiritually incombustible, while the other houses around you are sadly… burning to the ground.
There’s a common motif that is repeated throughout the Bible… a person of faith (man or woman) with humble beginnings rises to great heights being blessed by God and those blessings extend to the people around that person.
Let’s look at three examples… Joseph, Daniel and Esther/Mordecai.
Joseph of course was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery. He excelled as a slave and ascended to second in command of the nation of Egypt (behind only Pharaoh). Joseph was a Jew and the Egyptians despised Jews and would not even eat with them. God blessed Joseph and as a result Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt was also blessed.
Daniel as a young Jew of noble birth was taken into the Babylonian captivity and made to serve in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar. After many challenges (that Daniel overcomes with his faith) he is made…
“Ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed in charge of all its wise men.”
God blessed Daniel and the nation of Babylon was also blessed.
Esther and her father-figure Mordecai are Jews in the Medo-Persian Empire. The queen of the empire has been demoted and a new queen is being sought. Esther is one of 127 beautiful women competing for that honor and the young Jewish maiden is selected. She is wife and queen to the most powerful King of the world. Mordecai is also elevated to the number two political position of the empire. Esther and Mordecai overcame trials of racism and threats of death to reach their positions. God’s blessings extended to the Medo-Persian Empire because of Esther and Mordecai.
Let’s re-examine the motif… humble beginnings, faith, God blesses the faithful and the nations they are associated with. Note that in these three examples non-Jewish nations are blessed.
Nothing recorded in the Bible is accidental or just serves for entertainment value.
Consider Jesus Christ… humble beginnings, no formal education, he is persecuted for his faith and teachings… even to death, but arises to sit at the right hand side of Jehovah God and all nations are blessed… Jew and Gentile… past, present and future.
All these stories in the Bible lead us to Jesus Christ and give us great confidence that no matter what our position in life is, no matter how we are mistreated no matter… anything. Maintain and cultivate your faith and God will bless you too and… maybe, just maybe bless your family, your city, your state and your nation.
Let’s pretend I had an employee (let’s call him Barney) at Tejas Veterinary Clinic who embezzled money then ran away to a different state. We pressed legal charges and the law was on the look out for this former employee. At some point later I get a call from a Christian I know (Fred) who tells me that he taught the Gospel to Barney and baptized him. Fred tells me that Barney is penitent and committed to living a Christian life and Fred wants to personally pay back the money that Barney has stolen from me. Fred asks if I would consider dropping the charges against Barney.
That’s kind of like the story of Paul, Philemon and Onesimus.
Onesimus was a slave. A slave in the Roman world had no rights. Many slaves in the Roman world were soldiers from other countries who had been conquered in battles with the Roman armies. Onesimus may have been one of those. We can’t know for sure.
Onesimus ran away from his owner Philemon (who by the way was a Christian) and had traveled approximately 1,200 miles from Colossae to Rome where somehow he came in contact with the Apostle Paul.
From Paul, Onesminus heard about Jesus Christ and the implanted word grew in his heart. Onesimus confessed to Paul that he was a runaway slave. Onesimus was compelled to confess this because he knew that it was a sin and was inconsistent with the life of a Christian.
Amazingly when Paul found out that Onesimus was an escaped slave he also found out that he knew Onesimus’ owner and knew him quite well… Philemon was a Christian well known to the Apostle Paul!
Who knows why Onesimus escaped… maybe he was trying to get back to his home country and to his wife and children. Who knows? What Onesimus did know was that as a Christian he was obligated to go back to his owner and face whatever punishment he deserved.
When Paul found out that Onesimus was an escaped slave he had several things to consider. First, harboring an escaped slave was a crime that Paul could be punished for. Secondly, Paul had an obligation to Philemon. Onesimus had sinned against Philemon and Onesimus had to make that right.
Runaway slaves could be punished severely. They could be whipped, they could be killed and they could be branded on their faces to identify them as runaways. Obviously, Paul was going to restore Onesimus to Philemon but didn’t want Philemon to use his legal right to brutalize and brand Onesimus.
Paul implored Philemon in a written letter to receive Onesimus back and treat him as a fellow brother in Christ, i.e. to forgive him. Paul even offered to make restitution for whatever Onesimus might have owed Philemon.
Barney made some serious mistakes but I guess everyone does. My buddy Fred obviously loved his new convert and brother in Christ Barney very much.
Of course I would drop the charges and of course I can’t take Fred’s money. I just hope that I can one day step up like Fred did and love a soul more than I love my own money and be a true peace maker between two brothers in Christ.
When the two sister’s brother Lazarus died and Martha and Mary went to Jesus separately one sister cried and caused Jesus to cry and the other sister didn’t. Martha and Mary were different and different is okay.
Which brings us to the story of Jesus eating a meal in their home, the text says that “Martha opened her home”. Martha demonstrated hospitality to Jesus and his companions.
I’m guessing that Martha’s home was immaculate… everything in its place, clean and well swept. Not even a cob web in the corner.
Jesus, of course, starts teaching and everyone there listens to him except… Martha. Why? Because Martha has invited the Master into her home and she is worried and anxious about the details of being hospitable.
In fact the text said, “She was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made”. Things like setting the table, checking the food, making sure there weren’t any flies in the house, things to wash feet with, etc.
Later in the text Jesus tells her… “You are worried and upset about many things…”
Martha couldn’t listen to Jesus because she was “worried”, “upset” and “distracted” and none of those things were sin-related. They were hospitality-related.
Here’s another thing about Martha, not only was she not listening to Jesus but she wasn’t looking at him either… she was looking at her sister Mary.
Sometimes when we are worried, upset and distracted we take our eyes off of the better things of God and focus on what we think other people should be doing.
I’m sure Martha was surprised that Jesus was not more sympathetic towards her. She had presented her case to Jesus and asked Jesus to tell Mary to help her but Jesus didn’t. He told Martha in a gentle way that Martha was too worked up over relatively unimportant things and that Mary had chosen the more important thing.
I’m guessing that Martha sighed, took off her apron and sat down next to Mary and listened to what Jesus had to say and then afterwards they all got up and prepared the supper and enjoyed a meal together.
Its human nature to get worried, upset and distracted but an awful lot of it is caused by pressures we place upon ourselves and which we then vent upon others. Be careful about that and maybe take a long look at how we got there in the first place and just relax and listen to the Lord.
When I was growing up it seemed like there was a lot of preaching about things you couldn’t do. Like it was wrong to wear shorts, it was wrong for boys and girls to swim together and it was wrong to dance.
In fact when I was in the 8th grade the PE teacher informed us one day that they were going to combine the boys and girls and we were all going to learn to Square Dance. I thought to myself… I’m not going to Square Dance because it’s a sin and smugly went home and told my parents what the Devil’s minions wanted me to do. Imagine my surprise when my parents said… it won’t hurt you to learn how to Square Dance. I guess that was my first lesson that just because you heard a preacher, preach something, didn’t necessarily mean it was true.
Of course in the Bible there is no command not to dance, there is no example of it being identified as a sin and there is no necessary inference that it is wrong. So, where is the authority for teaching that dancing is wrong and sinful?
Usually dancing is taught as being wrong because it might promote lust between a man and a woman and lead to fornication. If that’s a legitimate reason for forbidding a practice then we should also throw out dating or holding hands or putting on make-up or… so many things. And if we don’t include those activities then we are not being consistent in our arguments,
Sometimes preachers teach that dancing might hurt our Christian influence. Really? How could it hurt our influence if no one else sees anything wrong with it? I think it might do more damage to our influence if we condemn a practice that is not condemned in the scriptures.
If we really want to be biblical why don’t we teach and preach against lust and fornication… primarily… and mention activities that might promote those sins secondarily?
I still remember dancing with that girl in the 8th grade. I was so scared and nervous and couldn’t wait for it to be over. I also remember when one of my nephews got married that there was some dancing going on. My mother was 80 years old at the time and I asked her if she would dance with me and we did. I’ll never forget it… I think I cried.
Is dancing wrong? No it isn’t. What is wrong is the blanket condemnation of dancing, which is disingenuous, paints a false portrait of Christ and cripples the Cross of Jesus Christ.
John 11 contains the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
Martha and Mary were at home with their brother when he fell sick. Everyone gets sick but Lazarus day by day kept getting sicker. Jesus had been in the home of Martha and Mary at least once and probably several times because he had developed a relationship with them. The scriptures said… he loved them.
Martha and Mary knew how busy Jesus was but they feared for their brother’s life and sent the message to Jesus… “Lord the one you love is sick.” A simple, understated message that hardly revealed the hidden emotions behind it… unless you were Jesus.
Even though Jesus loved this family he waited two days to do anything about it. Imagine sitting at your brother’s bed side as his health waned and viewing the agonal breathing that precedes death and wondering why the one who could heal him hasn’t come? I mean… you loved Jesus and thought he loved you and yet at the hour of your greatest need Jesus doesn’t show up.
Your brother dies, you bury him and all the friends come to comfort you in your great sorrow… but Jesus isn’t there.
Finally the two sisters get word that Jesus is coming. Martha hears first and goes to meet Jesus on the road and says… “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died” They have a brief conversation about the after-life and in spite of all the emotions and disappointment Martha says… “I know that you are the Christ the Son of God who was to come into the world.”
Amazing! In spite of Jesus’ failure to help her brother she still believes.
Then comes Mary. She hears that Jesus is on the road and comes quickly. Maybe she even ran. Unlike Martha when she sees Jesus she drops to her knees and through her tears states the same thing that Martha had… “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.”
Jesus sees her tears and is overwhelmed with emotion and cries himself.
Notice the difference in the two sisters and Jesus’ response. Martha controlled her emotions and Jesus told her in a logical way the things she needed to hear.
Mary expressed her emotions and Jesus also gave her the thing that she needed the most… his emotions.
Jesus gave Martha the thing she needed to hear and gave Mary the thing she needed to see.
Of course we know how the story ends. Jesus gave both sisters the thing they most wanted… their brother.
Just like Martha and Mary we are all built a little different. One personality is not better or worse than the other personality.
We are all going to lose someone we cherish the most in the world. We may pray to God and their health may be restored or we may lose that cherished person.
Remember Martha and Mary and don’t ever lose your faith. Whether you have your loved one returned to you on earth or whether you see them in Heaven one day… God is in control and is the only one who can help you.
I like reading the logical things recorded in the scriptures but I also like knowing that Jesus understands my emotions and can even read my heart when emotions overcome my logic and understanding fails me.
The context of Matthew 18 begins with a question from Jesus’ disciples… “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus answers by talking about humility and receiving “little ones” and not causing them to stumble.
He continues by asking them if they had 100 sheep and 1of them strayed wouldn’t they leave the 99 to go find the lost 1?
He concludes that story with the statement…”even so it is not the will of God that one of these “little ones” should perish.
Here are some questions that should be asked… Who is the owner of the sheep? Who are the 99 sheep? Who is the lost sheep and how do we find and bring the lost sheep back?
I think those questions are answered in verses 15-17.
18:15a. If your brother sins (or sins against you), go and show him his fault.
The lost sheep is the sinner who is also a “little one”. His fault or sin makes him lost.
18:15b. If he hears you, you have gained your brother back.
In this story the one looking for the sheep is his spiritual brother. He takes “ownership” of the other sheep by caring for their safety.
18:16-17. If he won’t listen take two or three witnesses and if he won’t hear them tell it to the congregation.
The congregation are the 99 other sheep who have not strayed.
Here’s the thing about the “little ones” who are trapped in the web of sin. We should make every effort to pull them loose. All of us should, not just the Preacher, Elders or Deacons. We do that by approaching the individual and identifying his sin. If we are rejected we don’t give up. We take a few others with us. If we are rejected we still don’t give up. The whole congregation tries to pull this “little one” out of his sin.
God doesn’t want to lose any of his “little ones” his mechanism for achieving that is the action of the other Christians. Pride and indignation over another’s sin is counter-productive.
The Christian arms himself with humility and loving concern to bring the lost sheep back. Sometimes in spite of all this the sheep won’t come back to the flock. That sheep is no longer part of the flock and all relationships are severed.
However, remember the prodigal son… that relationship was also severed but the sheep eventually made his way back.
The greatest ones in the Kingdom are those care and sacrifice for their brother sheep. Be great through sacrifice.
Growing up my dad never hired anyone (that I can remember) to do anything. I remember he had a 1964 step side Chevrolet pickup truck with a manual transmission that was acting up. Dad went to the local library and borrowed a Chilton’s manual and fixed that transmission.
He taught me and my two brothers how to work on cars. When I went to college I worked construction jobs and learned carpentry. When the kids were young and money was tight I fixed everything I could on my own.
Even now when money is in better supply I find myself still fixing things. One of my weak points now-a-days is to just hire someone to fix things. 4-5 times our pool equipment has needed to be repaired so I call the pool guy and he will say I’ll be there in a week or two. I say… never mind and fix it myself. I’m a little impatient too.
I’ve had some projects that seem a little overwhelming and will call for a price quote which usually seems too high and then decide just to do it myself.
I’ve had a lot of friends that were old men (most of them are dead now) that I’ve learned a lot from. One of those was RD Cave. RD and some of the other old guys used to eat breakfast together and then meet at the church building to do maintenance. RD Cave at 80 some odd years old… I’ve never seen anyone work so slow or get so much done. He just kept at it. He’s my hero.
Here’s what I really wanted to talk about… Bible study and Bible knowledge. Most people want to learn their Bible like RIGHT NOW. One of my favorite things to ask is… “Do you know how long it takes to get a year’s experience?” When they shrug their shoulders quizzically I reply “12 months… there are no shortcuts”.
I look back at when they made me an Elder at Parkway and my Bible knowledge was pretty good back then but not near as good as it is now. The best way for me to learn Bible has been to participate as a student in Bible classes and to regularly teach in Bible classes. Another way has been to write a blog and come up with a Bible article every week.
I read out of a chronologic Bible every morning and mark it up pretty good with notes and such. If I have an idea for an article I write the page number down in the back of that Bible… there’s not much room left on those pages.
Some people try to take short cuts to improve their Bible knowledge like spending their time listening to preachers and reading up in commentaries. That’s OK… I do that too, but don’t use that as a crutch or substitute for real, down home, earnest Bible study.
Dad taught us to work on our own and not rely too much on others and I miss him every day. Do your own work… you’ll be prouder and better for it and I’m not just talking about auto repair or carpentry.
In Larry’s class tonight we talked about influence and all the ways we can enhance that. As Christians we are changing spiritually into Jesus Christ and as Christ is formed in us we become powerful influencers without even trying that hard.
Let me give you a few examples. Many years ago several Parkway members got together to play Volleyball along with whoever else wanted to play. James was one of those other guys… about my age and looked like he had tried about everything this life has to offer. One evening he called me to the side and asked me to pray for him and his wife… they were having problems. That was the opening I was looking for and we prayed but I also invited him into our home. He started attending with us and at some point he told me he hadn’t been to church since he was a kid but saw something in our lives that was lacking in his and wanted to make a change.
The other guy was also a Volleyball player. He had been a drug dealer and been shot a few times and spent some time in prison. Also he told me he had been with about a thousand women. I asked him how that happened and he said that when the women came to buy drugs you also usually had sex with them. Of course all that was in the past for him. Anyway he was a really nice guy and I liked him. At some point he started going to the church where he was raised, got married and was very active in his congregation. He was a contractor and we hired him to do a few little jobs at the congregation where he also became friends with David Smitherman.
At some point he told me that the reason he started going back to church was because of me and David Smitherman and his respect for us. I had no idea.
I see people putting bumper stickers on their cars about Jesus and getting religious tattoos and quoting Bible verses at the drop of a hat and all that is OK… but let me see it in your lives because that’s the greatest advertisement there is for Jesus Christ. You want to be of great influence? Transform into Jesus Christ and be active in the community where people can see Him and you will help change a few lives.
In this parable Jesus weaves a story about a King who is throwing a wedding party for his son. He had his “A” list of invitees but they refused to come. So he sent the invitation again, this time with more details… fattened beef cooked to perfection, etc. They still refused to come and went about their own business.
Some of them seized the King’s messengers and mistreated and killed some of them. The King was so mad he sent his army and killed those murderers and destroyed their city.
Then he told his messengers to go out among his kingdom and find whoever they could to come to the party. It didn’t matter who they were. At last the wedding hall was filled to capacity.
As the King was intermingling with the guests he came across a fellow that wasn’t dressed appropriately. The King told his servants to tie him up and throw him into outer darkness… for many are called but few are chosen.
The King is God. The wedding party is the uniting of Jesus Christ (his son) with his bride the church (God’s people).
The first guests invited were the Jews. They rejected God’s invitation and killed his messengers (John the Baptist, etc.)
God destroyed them and their city (Jerusalem) in AD 70.
The next guests who were invited were the sinners and the Gentiles (the rest of humanity). Unlike the Jewish establishment they were glad to come to the party. However, some of them didn’t abide by God’s rules… they didn’t give up sin and were unsuitable to be at the party.
You see this wasn’t just a wedding party they were invited to… they were invited to marry Jesus Christ the Son of God… to become “one flesh” with him. But they didn’t recognize Him and they didn’t understand the unspeakable value of the gift they were turning down.
God still invites humanity to be in a spiritual relationship with his Son… don’t pass it up or you will be really, really sorry.
In John 13, the disciples were having a little argument among themselves about who was the greatest. I’m sure each of them had a little evidence to support their claim.
That’s kind of natural, I know among the three brothers (Me, Scott and Greg) sometimes I wonder… who makes the most money? Who is the most successful? Who is the strongest? Who is the funniest? Who does mom love the most? Things like that.
So Jesus is listening to all this and he tells them… that’s the world’s way, not my way. Jesus’ way is the way where one who serves others the most is the greatest.
Now… none of them thought they were greater than Jesus but Jesus had just stated a “rule of greatness” and he had to demonstrate that the rule applied to him as well. So he got down on his hands and knees and started washing their feet… 12 pairs of feet… 24 in all. Keep in mind… they had the ability to wash their own feet.
Jesus could have said… Peter, I’m going to wash your feet and then you wash John’s feet, and then John you wash James’… so forth and so on. And still get the message across. But that’s not what he did… he wanted each and every one of them to know that their Lord and Savior had personally washed their feet and that they were all EQUAL!
And I’ll bet Jesus did a bang up job of washing feet… those had to have been some of the cleanest feet in Jerusalem… maybe in the whole county… even Judas’ feet were spotless.
OK present day application since we don’t wash feet any more. What if you decided that once a month you were going to mow another member’s lawn… someone who has a good lawnmower and a strong back. You just show up one day and start at it and not only mow it but edge it and clean up afterwards. In fact, when you finish it's the best that lawn has ever looked. What if you did that? What if you served in that way?
It’s natural to compare ourselves to each other… after all it’s a human thing right? But we're not humans... we're the bride of Christ… we are “one” with him and we are sons and daughters of God. That has to mean that we have a little deity in us right? At least in the way deity acts. Let’s quit acting like a bunch of humans and start acting like God and then you will be really great.
I find myself thinking about the concept of church all the time. The church as it exists in a universal verses a local sense for instance.
What is the work of the church (local)? Is it different from the work of an individual Christian?
Is the local church working outside the assembly? That is if I do some spiritual work is it I as an individual working? Is it an extension of the local work? Or is it both?
I was reading Acts 8 the other day and ran across this… “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.”
Paul didn’t go to the assembly to “destroy the church” he went into the homes of the members of the church. They were the church even in their homes.
Here are some questions…
- Can you destroy the church by putting members in prison?
- If we are the church in our homes are we also the church in prison?
- What was being destroyed the church local or the church universal?
- How can the church be destroyed if “the gates of Hell shall not prevail… “?
- If we are the church away from the assembly them am I not working the work of the church away from the assembly?
Anyway… I think about the concept of church all the time and I hope you do as well.
In Acts 9 the holy record states that Saul was persecuting the Christians. On the road to Damascus Jesus got his attention and said “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?”
That’s an important point… persecution (and anything else we do to Christians) is the same as doing it to Jesus Christ!
If we slander, malign, ignore, ridicule (all negatives) our brethren we are actually doing those things to Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at the other side of that coin. If we show compassion, love, patience (anything positive) then we must also be doing these things to Jesus Christ… right?
How can that be? Maybe it’s because Christians are the “Bride of Christ” and the two have become “one flesh” and whatever one does to the bride they also do it to the bride groom.
Don’t mess with Christ’s bride or talk bad about her. He loves her with all his heart and won’t stand for it.
We always have to remember that the Bible was written by and for a very archaic people that had no inkling of human physiology.
When an animal or human lost all of its blood it lost its life. So a natural conclusion would be that there was life in the blood. There was also a distinction in the value of blood… animal blood, human blood and the blood of deity (Jesus Christ).
So when humans tried to appease pagan Gods they might start with animal blood and if that didn’t seem to be working they might offer the blood of those who were most precious to them… their sons and daughters. All to appease Gods who might be withholding rain or any other necessary thing. Pagan God’s apparently would not give something unless they received something.
The other thing that archaic people associated with life was their breath. When an animal or human was no longer breathing they were dead. They might have all their blood but if they weren’t moving air they were dead.
In the New Testament the word “Pneuma” can either be translated as breath, wind or spirit and how it is translated depends on the context. You might see how archaic people would note the similarities between the movement of air when a person breathed and when the wind blew.
Enter the Pneuma (wind/breath/spirit) of God. If human Pneuma (wind/breath/spirit) could give and sustain life imagine what the promised Pneuma (wind/breath/spirit) of God could do!
God’s blood could not only give us life but eternal life and his Spirit could make us like God in the sense of being able to do and understand things no other human could do (miracles, wisdom, divine insight, etc.)
Of course today we understand how blood and how breath (Pneuma) give life from a physiologic standpoint. That understanding does not invalidate what God has supplied for us.
For the Bible student I think it helps viewing the elements of life (blood and breath) and God’s use of those elements from the standpoint of the people who it was originally written to.
I got a question last week from a church leader about what I thought about cancelling Sunday night services and meeting for three hours on Sunday mornings. Never one to mince words I said… I don’t like it. It’s a question I’ve fielded several times in the 23 years I’ve been an Elder at Parkway and I’ve had plenty of time to think about it.
Usually the reason given for making a move like that is to make it easier for the members who live further out to cut down on their driving time. Keep in mind I live about 25 minutes out depending on how I hit those stoplights. If Julie’s driving it’s about 21 minutes.
The first reason I don’t like it is I don’t want to meet for three hours on a Sunday morning.
It’s hard for me to do anything (that’s not very active) for three hours. I know Paul preached until midnight but a young man did fall to sleep and fell out of a window and died. I’m just saying.
Secondly, I like Sunday night services and never ever even think about the drive. Sunday nights are less formal and more relaxed. We get to go to Bible class and I have to stay on my toes in case Marc asks me a question. I rely on Bible classes to stimulate my thinking so I can write blog articles. I like watching the young kids play in the courtyard and I like getting together with other Christians Sunday night after church.
I like Sunday nights because we get to use people… like song leaders, teachers and others who aren’t quite ready for prime time on Sunday mornings. If you did away with Sunday night services you lose those opportunities for growth.
I told this church leader that if Parkway (for instance) cancelled Sunday night services that some of our members would look to attend somewhere else on Sunday nights and count me among that number.
I can imagine if I started attending somewhere else on Sunday nights and they said things like brother Perkins do you mind leading a prayer or if they asked me to help them out leading songs or teaching classes or preaching or you name it, that before long I might start thinking… I really like these people and they like me… maybe I ought to be a member here.
I happen to know of specific congregations who have discontinued Sunday night services and lost members all because they didn’t want to inconvenience their members who might have to drive a little farther.
In case you haven’t noticed I consider Parkway my life’s work and I am extremely proud of her… extremely. I will do everything and anything to protect the congregation and stimulate her to be better. If I miss any services you can be sure there is a solid reason. Where the sheep are is where you’re going to find me.
When folks say bad things about the congregation it’s like they are saying bad things about me. When they reject the congregation and go somewhere else I take it personally… I pretend not to but I do.
So, would I ever be in favor of doing something like dismissing Sunday night services and potentially harm the congregation? You know the answer.
Tonight during Bible class Marc asked us if anyone thought they had grown spiritually today and I raised my hand.
This morning there was about 10 minutes left in Bible class and our security guy tapped me on the shoulder and said someone was in the foyer who wanted to talk to me. I didn’t figure it was an emergency so I told him I would talk to the fellow after class.
When I went back to the foyer I saw about what I expected to see… a young man who was about 30 years old, tatted up pretty good and who looked homeless. When I sat next to him he didn’t smell very pleasant either. As I talked to him I discovered he was a little different than most… he started sobbing and telling me what a bad life he had lived and how he didn’t know what to do. He had spent some time in jail and had been living on the streets for about 8 months.
He lived by walking up and down streets asking if people needed any help and made a few dollars. He also said some would hire him for a whole day and then at the end of the day laugh at him and refuse to pay him.
I talked a while with him and then Larry talked to him for a while. When services started he came and sat on the back pew with us and started sobbing. Larry brought a box of tissues to him. Then Noe got up from his seat and sat next to him and consoled him. I made closing announcements and mentioned a few things about the young man and the congregation showed an outpouring of love towards him.
I had been wondering what to do with him after services and thought about taking him to lunch with our family but was uncomfortable with him being in our car sitting behind us. So I decided to offer him some money. I looked in my wallet and there were five one dollar bills and a fifty dollar bill. I really didn’t want to give him the fifty but the ones were not enough so I crumpled the 50 in my hand and told him I wanted to help him. Guess what… he refused to take any money. He said he couldn’t take any money he hadn’t earned. Dude… that is really different… like unheard of. So I asked him if him if he would like to go eat lunch with us. He gladly accepted.
We went to a hamburger place and he only took about two bites out of his hamburger and said his stomach was upset. Later I found out he hadn’t eaten in two days.
So… I had been thinking about what to do with him after lunch. I didn’t really want to invite him into our home because I still had a notion in the back of my head that this might be some kind of set up. I asked him what he was going to do? He said, walk around and try to make some money and figure out where he was going to sleep tonight.
My conscience whipped up on me again and I said… would you like to spend the day with me? … yes, he would.
He talked to us about his mom who lives in Fairfield, Texas and I asked him if he would like to use my phone to call her. I heard him tell her that he had been to church and how nice everyone had been to him. She told him that maybe if he came home they both could go to church.
During the day he told me he had never been in a church building… that when he was in jail some inmates had shared a Bible with him and he read the Book of Job. He said he was walking down Weber road and something told him to turn down a side street and he saw our building and he walked in. He said everyone in the congregation was so friendly to him and as he sat on the pew and thought about the horrible life he lived and the unexpected friendliness the congregation had for him that he just started crying.
He said Marc’s lesson had a lot of meaning for him. As we were out driving he had mentioned that he would like to go back home to his mother. I told him that I could find him some odd jobs and if he demonstrated responsibility I could probably find him a better job or… if he wanted I would loan him the money to get a bus ticket back to Fairfield. Note… I said loan him because he had previously rejected free money.
He thought for a minute and said… I would like to go home. Julie got on line and bought him a bus ticket for Fairfield, Texas. He leaves at 11:45 tomorrow morning and has a 14 hour bus trip ahead of him. He said with the ticket the bus company would let him spend the night in the station. Julie, bless her righteous heart, wanted to get him a hotel room but I told her he was plenty happy with what we had done already.
We went to services with him Sunday night and I was talking to Noe about him and Noe said… we need to talk to him about being baptized! So we did.
We baptized Juan right then and right there. When he came out I was the first one to hug him. He was shaking and sobbing and held me for a long time and I cried too. We exchanged contact information and he said he would like to come to Corpus Christi to visit and talk every once in a while.
So when Marc asked during class if anyone had grown spiritually… yes… definitely me. The Lord took away all my second thoughts and doubts and a soul was saved today.
We have a lot of members with a lot of talents but thank you Lord for sending Noe to us… he has a great heart!
There’s a video of the baptism that I’ll put up on our public FB page.
Uncle Rob
I used to raise Rio Grande Turkeys and my goal was to raise them up and set them free on the land surrounding our home so I could watch them live free in nature. I started by ordering eggs online and incubating them.
When that first batch of eggs started hatching I figured I would help them out of their shells and all the ones I helped ended up dying. You see… sometimes its good and necessary to let nature takes its course. Turns out God knew more about hatching Turkeys than I did.
Sometimes the same thing is true with people.
When I was in the Big Brother program my young charge showed me a scratch on his hand and I looked at it and said… I wouldn’t worry about that. He went inside and Ms. Julie cleaned it up for him and bandaged it along with some very soothing words.
People get hurt on the Volleyball court. Usually a turned ankle but sometimes a dislocated finger. A young woman turned her ankle and laid on the floor for a while crying and I helped her off the court, etc. One of the older Volleyball players later counseled me not to show too much sympathy… they need to get off the court and can cry on the bench. One of the players dislocated a finger and without a tear or a whimper asked me if I could stretch it out and put it back in and I did.
Or the parent who thinks their little genius can do no wrong and it must be the teachers fault.
Or the wife who makes excuses for a lazy husband.
Or the person who is caught up in sin and claims… that’s just who they are and can’t change.
Successful Christians are those who take responsibility and ownership for their sins and work to live sin free lives. Their friends help them by telling them the truth and by holding them accountable. Ultimately they have to hatch out of that old sinful shell themselves.
You know I finally learned how to successful incubate Turkey eggs and released 30 Rio Grande Turkeys into the wild but within a couple of days they were back at my house looking for a hand out of corn. Turns out you can tame anything with corn (and pampering).
I first started playing Volleyball about thirty years ago and found out I loved the sport. The only problem was I was the worst player on the court and the other players let me know it… not by overt words but things like body language and other expressions of contempt. Often times the better players will hit hard balls at inferior players to run them off, etc.
I experienced all those things but… I loved Volleyball and I told myself and reassured myself that all I needed was time and repetition to develop the needed skill set. To be successful at anything you have to develop mental toughness.
You have to be mentally tough to be a good Christian too. You may take a long look at your life and compare it to someone else’s and decide you need Christ and Christianity. You may even love the Christian life but find that there are those who criticize you… maybe even people you love the most in the world. They may say things like… Christians are hypocrites or… that church is a cult. They may look at the things you’re trying to correct and control in your life and tempt you with those same things.
I knew a young man who wanted to go to church on Sunday mornings but his wife would offer to be intimate with him if he stayed home… so he stayed home.
If you’re going to be a Christian you have to be mentally tough and have faith in God’s plan to turn you into who you need to be. You have to build new habits and you may have to lose a few old friends… but let me tell you this… whatever you have to give up will pale in comparison to what you will be blessed with.
I turned 65 last year and this month I’m going to a Volleyball tournament in San Antonio to qualify for the U.S. Nationals in Florida. I gave myself time to develop the skills I needed, I ignored all the naysayers and I never gave up on the sport I love or myself.
Study your Bibles, grow in faith, congregate with your fellow Christians and get rid of all those friends who want you to fail and we’ll march into Heaven together.
Julie and I built our home about 25 years ago. We contracted it ourselves and did a lot of the work ourselves (painting, finish carpentry, floors, etc.) We did a lot of the work ourselves because we couldn’t afford the things we liked unless we did the work ourselves (we were poor).
Over the years we have accumulated antiques and other nice things that suit our tastes. We still visit antique shops but only occasionally buy things if we think the items are worthy of replacing what we already have.
Consider, 2 Timothy 2:20-26…
“In a large house there are articles not only of silver and gold but also of wood and clay… if a man removes the wood and clay items (from his life) he will be an instrument for noble purposes… made holy, useful to the master and prepared to do any good work.”
Of course the author is using the figure of furnishing a house (by replacing things of lessor worth with things of greater worth) to furnishing a life with things of great worth to God.
Specifically, if there are things in your life like “evil desires of youth”, “engaging in stupid arguments” and “quarreling” those things need to be replaced with “kindness to everyone” and “not being a resentful person” and “gentle instruction”
I’m sure there are a host of other examples of things that need to be replaced but these are specifically mentioned in the text.
But look here… the purpose behind replacing these things is so that one can be made “useful to the master”. For a young evangelist like Timothy it would be so that he could lead folks to a knowledge of truth so that they will come to their senses and escape the trap that Satan has set for them.
Julie and I have furnished our home with things that we like because it brings us great pleasure especially when guests come into out home who appreciate the same things that we like.
Julie and I both attend a lot of estate sales and see all the accumulations of things that people have made being distributed and sold off. The other day at an estate sale Julie told me that it made her sad because one day that would be us… and she’s right about that.
It’s OK to have a nicely furnished home but it is so much better to have a nicely furnished life because with that life you are useful to the Lord and on earth folks can look at you and say things like… look there goes a real Christian.
And as we walk through the pearly gates of Heaven angels will be waiting to shake your hand and say… we’ve been looking for you… well done faithful servant!
Identify those ugly things in your life and replace them with beautiful things… you won’t be sorry.
