The Twelve Mighty Men of Jesus Christ

In 2 Samuel we read of the Thirty Mighty men of King David of Israel. They were great warriors and had shed much blood in the defense of Israel. They are listed by name and therefore were memorialized forever.

In the New Testament we read of the Twelve disciples of Jesus Christ who might also be considered to be mighty men. They weren’t involved in physical warfare brandishing swords and shields and accompanied by the sounds of trumpets and battle cries vanquishing their enemies.

Rather they were spiritual heroes fighting a spiritual war against the enemies of Jesus Christ. They didn’t slaughter their enemies with the sword but rather allowed their own selves to be killed, tortured and slaughtered in the spreading of the good news of salvation offered by Jesus Christ.

Like the Thirty their names have been memorialized for eternity.

Who hasn’t heard the names of Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the zealot and Matthias who replaced Judas.

The Thirty’s mission was to kill and conquer their enemies… the twelve’s mission was to convert and build their enemies into fellow spiritual soldiers.

The Thirty were memorialized for their mighty deeds of war and accrued great honor and glory but their honor and glory paled in comparison to the honor and glory of the Twelve mighty men of Jesus Christ.

Who could have predicted that?

Sinner's Prayer?

During this time of the year (Christmas) I see TV commercials where the message to humanity is if you say the following prayer you will be saved…

“Dear God, I’m a sinner. I’m sorry for my sins. Forgive me. I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son. I believe that He took my sins to the cross, that He died in my place, and I believe that You raised Him to life, and I’d like to trust Him now as my Savior, and I want to follow Him as my Lord from this day forward forever. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen".(Human reasoning)

I mean… it sounds good and it contains several valid biblical concepts. The only problem with it is that it is not biblical as far as leading to salvation. You might even say it is anti-biblical.

For comparisons sake please consider what the Apostle Peter had to say when he was asked what to do to be saved…

“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

That’s a huge difference right? Why would a keen student of the Bible substitute “human reasoning” for “Acts 2:38”?

Here’s why… because proponents of the sinner’s prayer want to eliminate Baptism from any kind of role for salvation and they have to massage any scripture that couples baptism and salvation to make it mean something it doesn’t plainly mean.

Please, please, please search the scriptures and follow after God and not man. After all it could affect you eternally.

Piggyback Blessings

We’re introduced to Job in the same book that carries his name… Job. We find that he was “blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from all evil”.

He had been blessed with many children, livestock and servants and he was called “the greatest of all men in the east”.

Even Satan had heard of Job and accused God of “building a hedge (of protection) around him and blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land”.

Let me point out that nothing is said about the righteousness of Job’s sons and daughters or even of his wife and yet they shared in Jobs blessings by being of his household. Let me suggest a concept here… it’s possible to piggyback on the righteousness of others and share in their blessings with out any effort on our own part.

Also notice this God gave Satan permission to do anything he wanted to except for the taking of Job’s life. So, Satan didn’t waste any time killing Job’s 10 children and only spared Job and his wife. I wonder why Mrs. Job wasn’t killed too? It might be because Job was “one flesh” with his wife and killing her would be as close as you could get to killing Job. My guess is that even though her righteousness is not mentioned she was bound to be a righteous person as well by virtue of her oneness with Job.

So what does this mean for all of us? We might look at our own blessings and assume those blessings are based on our own righteousness when they may not be at all… we may just be kind of tagging along spiritually. Maybe a little spiritually lazy… always content to live in the shadow of others.

Job was a mountain of a man spiritually and cast a huge spiritual shadow and many were blessed living in his shadow. That’s great… bully for Job, but let’s step out from whosever shadow we may be standing in and let the sun shine in our faces and make our own shadows.

Salty Love

Most will recognize that 1 Corinthians 13 is the (so called) chapter on love. In fact you don’t even have to be a casual reader of the Bible to recognize the sentiments recorded there because these verses are often read at weddings and popularized in music.

I’m okay with reading these verses at weddings but when done so they are a secondary application of these verses and I’m not okay if our primary knowledge of Bible passages is based on a secondary application/understanding of said verses.

Note chapter 13 is found squarely in the middle of chapters 12 and 14.

Chapter 12 is about jealousy and envy among Christians in the Corinthian church about which gifts they had been given. Imagine that… God gives you something and you are envious of what God gave someone else. Sometimes someone will complement me on some attribute or the other that I might have and I’ll respond… it’s a gift and I can’t take credit for a gift. Nor can you accept a gift from God and wish it were a better gift.

Chapter 14 is about the misuse of these gifts during the assembly of the church. Their assembly had become a chaotic assembly characterized by people interrupting and demanding attention for themselves.

So Paul didn’t take a break from talking about spiritual gifts to have a dialogue on love so that we could have nice weddings surrounded by the release of butterflies and white dove and a reading of 1 Corinthians 13.

Note in chapter 13 that Paul personalizes what he says… “If I (Paul) speak with the gift of the languages of foreigners and angels and have not love…” etc. etc. etc.

Things that love doesn’t do… does not envy, does not elevate itself above others… etc. etc. etc.

Things that love does… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things… etc. etc. etc.

Paul is contrasting his behavior with their behavior especially as it is found in chapters 12 and 14 but really in the whole letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthians were childish, envious, jealous, tolerated sin, judged improperly and some of them charged Paul with not being a true Apostle and therefore not worthy of monetary support.

Paul was striving for spiritual perfection and if he suffered all that he suffered and responded to their mistreatment of him in an unloving manner then all was for naught.

Paul records the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians to illustrate the stark contrast between his behavior which was characterized by actionable love and their behavior which was in many ways worse than the behavior of the pagans whom they lived among and which bordered on Blasphemy.

So in summary I don’t mind at all the secondary applications that are based on 1 Corinthians but as Bible students we’re not worth our spiritual salt if we neglect or fail to understand the primary application of what we read.

Let’s be salty.

Maintain Elder Qualifications?

We were studying the qualifications for Elders in Bible class one Sunday morning and someone asked me a question that was kind of a trick question… does an Elder have to maintain the qualifications as found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 to continue to serve as an Elder?

The natural answer would be… yes… of course he does but let’s hold our horses for a few minutes.

Let’s say you have an Elder and he’s everything you would expect an Elder to be… he has keen leadership abilities, he manages spiritual problems as they arise and he’s a gifted teacher. He has a wife and three adult children who are as faithful as the day is long and then tragically his three children are killed in a car accident. He no longer has three “believing children” and cannot maintain that qualification.

Most folks would say of course he could continue as an Elder. It’s not his fault his children died and he is at the top of his game spiritually. Why harm the congregation un-necessarily?

Okay, if we can see that point then how about this one? Let’s say his wife is tragically killed in the car accident as well. He is no longer the “husband of one wife” and therefore cannot maintain that qualification.

Must an Elder “maintain his qualifications”? That depends on the qualification in my opinion. Of course he must be… above reproach, temperate, no brawler, etc. But those are qualities he can control. There are other qualities he cannot control like losing a wife and children for instance.

Thanks for thinking with me.

Did You Grow Today?

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

Spiritual Obesity

We had a client who brought their beloved dog in every year who was just obese… morbidly obese. Of course obesity in dogs can lead to early onset osteoarthritis, cancers and just poor quality of life and the owner knew this and was concerned about it. So we did all the lab work including testing for hypothyroidism and we used all the prescription diets designed to manage weight and still this poor canine was obese.

Actually I think our associates were the ones who had been seeing this dog and finally as fate would have it I happened to examine the dog. Finally I looked the owner square in the eye and told him I had an all-natural diet that I guaranteed would cause weight loss. It was a high protein, high fiber, low fat and low carbohydrate diet. The owner was very excited and said I’ll do it! So I told him to let his dog eat one Jack Rabbit every day and make his dog catch it.

There’s lots of applications we could make with that story…how to save a failing marriage, the challenges of parenting, etc. But let’s talk about the fellow who wants to be a better Christian… whatever that looks like. Maybe he wants to know his Bible backwards and forwards. Maybe he wants to preach or lead moving prayers. Maybe he wants to be the best Bible class teacher around, etc. But somehow he can’t seem to get past ground zero.

He knows his goal and wants to end up there but can’t seem to find the right path… the path he’s been on always ends up in the same place. He’s like that client who is looking for some exotic diagnosis and some magical medication that will affect a great cure and neglects to see the obvious.

It takes 12 months to get a year’s experience. There are no shortcuts to success.

If you don’t want to be spiritually obese maybe it’s time to start catching a few Jack Rabbits.

Let's Build a Temple for God to Live In

David King of Israel wanted to build a physical Temple for Jehovah God to live in. He wasn’t allowed to because he was a King who had spilled much blood in the killing of Israel’s enemies. Instead his son King Solomon built it.

Jesus Christ also wanted to build a temple for God to live in and he too like his forefather David was a spiller of blood. Not the blood of his enemies but his own blood.

The temple that Jesus built was not a physical temple in a physical place but a spiritual temple that exists in each and every person who believes in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Jesus allowed his own blood to be spilled so that he might purify and cleanse those who believed in him from sin, because God cannot live in a temple tainted by sin (1 Corinthians 6).

What a privilege and blessing that we as Christians have by God personally living in each and every one of us. Also, what an awesome responsibility we have to keep ourselves from sinning so that God feels welcome to continue to live with us.

Let’s not be like the great warrior David who killed his enemies and wasn’t allowed to build a Temple for God. But be more like Jesus Christ who died for his enemies to create more Temples for God to live in.

We are in the Temple making business… for ourselves and for others.

My Dad

I’ve been having dreams about my dad, that he didn’t die and was still with us but his illness had changed him… he was older and more feeble and he didn’t talk much anymore.

In the dream I had last night I was on a road trip with him and he was driving and we stopped at a gas station and he went up to the cashier and when he was backing up he bumped into a woman and he stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground. I ran up to him crying and said… dad… dad are you okay? And he looked up at me and I helped him up and I told the woman how sorry we were.

I really miss him but I guess everyone who has lost their father also misses them.

Dad of course loved the Lord. When I was active on a Christian discussion list he copied all my posts and kept them. I found them when I was going through his things when mom moved out of their home.

I’ve always written in my Bible and made notes and such in it and we were home one weekend and Dad happened to pick up my Bible and started lookin at it. I’ll never forget when he just kind of held that Bible to his heart and didn’t say a word but just kind of gave me a look that he told me he was proud of me.

I’m sure Dad told me he loved me but I don’t really remember him saying it but I never doubted it because he showed me love in so many ways.

I also don’t doubt that he’s in Heaven and he’s happy up there. I wonder if the Lord lets him know how is family is doing. If he does then I know Dad is really happy.

I’ve wished that the Lord would let me have one day with him so I could catch him up on some things like how well my son and daughter have married and introduce him to my six grandchildren each one of whom is so special to me. I would like to take him to church with me and introduce him to all the members who are also so special to me. And just let him know how much the Lord has blessed me.

I guess that will never happen but I have a great hope and base my faith on the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead and I will be too so that I can catch up with Dad in eternity.

In a few years my son and then my daughter will turn 44 years of age and when they do I’ll tell them (if I’m still alive) that they are the same age when I lost my dad and let that sink in.

Anyway, I woke up this morning crying remembering a dream and wishing I could see my dad just one more time.

Cleaning Up the Mosaic Law?

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another… commits adultery: and he that marries her when she is put away also commits adultery” Mt 19:3-9.

I was thinking about these verses the other day and wondered to myself if Jesus was teaching new law for the sake of Christians or just cleaning up the Mosaic Law for the people living under it in that day and age. I’m really not sure which. Certainly he says Moses allowing them a “certificate of divorcement” was taken away.

So I decided to take a look at these verses only through the lens of the Mosaic Law.

“I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another… commits adultery”

Why was the exception given for a man to remarry if his wife committed adultery? My guess is because under the Mosaic Law she would be punished for that sin (adultery) with the death penalty. Since she is “dead” the man is free to remarry. Even if the penalty was unlawfully not applied she was still under the sentence of death under the Law of Moses.

In addition, the husband who divorces his wife (except if she is guilty of adultery) and marries another is committing adultery. Why? Because Jesus does not allow a “certificate of Divorce” and the man is still lawfully bound to his original wife. He risks the Mosaic death penalty.

What about the situation if a wife is divorced for a reason other than adultery and remarries?

She cannot remarry because she is still legally bound to her first husband and therefore not eligible to remarry and if she does remarry she makes her new so-called husband an adulterer… and they are both eligible for the death penalty under the provisions of the Law of Moses.

Of course Jesus may not just be cleaning up the Law of Moses he may in fact be instituting new law and so we have to be very careful about the modern application of these verses. I’m continuing to think about these things and hope you are too. There are certainly other verses that need to be considered as well.

Events from God... Local, City-wide and the Whole Earth

When Jesus was born God sent an Angel to some shepherds to inform them of what happened. Other Angels and the “Heavenly host” appeared and with their voices praised God. He also sent a star that could be seen from the east so that wise men could follow it and find Jesus and when they found him they identified him as The “King of the Jews” and they worshipped that little baby Jesus.

When Jesus was crucified and killed God put out the sun so that all was in darkness. God also caused an earthquake and rocks were split open and many of God’s holy people who had died became alive again and walked out of their tombs.

The things that God did at the birth of Jesus were different than the things he did at the death of his son. The things God did in the small town of Bethlehem were smaller and to a select group than the things he did in the capital city of Jerusalem where everyone in the city could see what was happening.

When Jesus comes in his glory it will be on an even more massive scale… not just small groups of people like at his birth or even a whole city like Jerusalem at his death.

Jesus will descend from Heaven on the clouds with his mighty Angels and every eye on the earth will be able to see him. There will be noise… “a cry of command”, “voices of the arch angels” and “the sound of the trumpet of God.” There will also be a great “wailing from all the tribes of the earth”

And at his judgment “the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”

The first two miraculous events have already occurred and were seen by witnesses and written about for our benefit. Let me suggest that the third promised event will be just as real.

Don’t be among all the “wailing tribes of the earth”. Be saved from that wondrous and terrible event by believing in Jesus and by being washed in his blood so that you can be among all the rejoicing tribes of the earth gathered around the throne of God.

Singing Like Little Birds

Marc was talking this morning about singing to God in Heaven and mentioned that we should enjoy it on earth as well. I heard about a family one time where the dad made the comment that he didn’t want to go to Wednesday Singing night because he didn’t really like to sing. His child said… what? You don’t like to sing to our God?

Not everyone likes to sing but I’ve got a feeling in Heaven it will be different. Remember the first 6 months of this year when we didn’t get any rain and then finally it started raining. Do you remember what happened? Everything turned green and the birds started singing their heads off. It’s like they couldn’t help themselves. I’ve got a feeling that when we’re finished with this life and we come face to face to God we’re going to start singing too. Just like those little birds.

New Book

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Martha, Mary and Lazarus

In John 11 we read the account of Jesus raising Lazarus the brother of Martha and Mary from the dead.

Martha and Mary are no strangers to us. In Luke 10 we find Martha opening “her home” to Jesus for a meal and a teaching opportunity. It seems then that Martha must have been the oldest of the three siblings and my guess is that Lazarus was the youngest making Mary the middle child. Martha was more concerned for the practical matters of hospitality which demonstrates her maturity.

Of course all three of them were orphans… there is no mention of any parents and none of the three had any spouses. All they had in the world was each other.

There’s a closeness that occurs between siblings when they lose a parent and I suppose an even greater closeness when you lose both parents.

Undoubtedly they were familiar not only with sickness but also sickness that leads to death. When Martha and Mary’s little brother Lazarus got sick and every day got sicker the two sisters knew what the end would be.

The difference was of course that they believed in Jesus and had seen or heard of Jesus healing even the most gravely ill and even restoring life to the freshly dead.

So the sisters who only had one hope of saving their brother sent a tremendously understated message to Jesus that didn’t even mention their brother’s name… “the one that you love is ill.”

Of course Jesus had known Martha, Mary and Lazarus since the day he was born and the role they were destined to play in the proving of his deity. So he waited and waited until just the right time.

In the mean time the two sisters were agonizingly watching their little brother continue to slip into the arms of death… and still no Jesus. They bury Lazarus and still no Jesus. Could it be that Jesus didn’t even care?

Finally with Lazarus dead and buried Jesus arrives on the scene but it’s too late for Lazarus because four days into death all animal live has already begun to decompose and rot. The sisters meet individually with Jesus and professed their belief in him with the same words… “if you had only been here our brother would still be alive” and when Mary finished those words she broke into tears. And Jesus seeing those tears and knowing that he was going to give the sisters their brother back to them alive cried himself.

Here are a few things we need to remember…

Martha and Mary believed in Jesus but failed to understand just what all he could do. Sometimes that’s the case with us as well. Things happen to us in life and we just can’t understand why God would let those things happen or why he didn’t answer our prayers and we just want to give up because we feel that God has given up on us.

I love that Jesus was overcome with emotion and cried. It’s generally not easy for men to cry and the idea that our Lord, Savior and God could cry is very reassuring for me. Jesus could have responded to the two sisters in a very condescending way and with spiritual superiority to ridicule them for their weak faith but he didn’t.

I wish I could have been there to see the shock and joy in their faces and to see them turn from their brother Lazarus and fall at Jesus feet and just cry for happiness.

Jesus knows that maybe our faith isn’t what it should be yet but remember Jesus loves us and is patient with us and whatever struggles we have in this life will be quickly forgotten when we see him face to face in eternity.

And maybe on that day we’ll all cry for happiness together.

Spiritually Board Certified

A renowned and famous board certified Veterinary Internist once made the comment during a lecture that any Veterinarian who picked a subject, Kidney Disease for instance, and read up on that subject for 20 minutes every day would become an expert on that subject and equal to someone who is board certified

I suppose that’s good advice for any kind of occupation or for any kind of hobby.

What about for the Christian? What if a Christian picked a book/epistle or any Bible subject and studied on it for 20 minutes every day? What if, like the Internist, the Christian reviewed any new information written by experts that might come out? What if the Christian, like many Veterinarians, joined a chat group to discuss the subject of interest with other Christians?

That Christian conceivable could become an “expert” and could become a valuable resource to his local congregation and other congregations and maybe the world. He might publish his works. He might lecture.

What if in a congregation several members each chose a different subject and became experts? What would that congregation look like?

What are we waiting for to achieve something that great and that only costs 20 minutes a day? The five talent man would probably spend 40 minutes a day.

Mrs. Zebedee's Request

The mother of Zebedee’s children (James and John) came to Jesus with her sons. She got down on her knees before Jesus to ask something of Him. He said to her, “What do you want?” She said, “Say that my two sons may sit, one at your right side and one at your left side, when you are King.” Jesus said to her, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to take the suffering that I am about to take?” They said, “Yes, we are able.” He said to them, “You will suffer as I will suffer. But the places at my right side and at my left side are not mine to give. Whoever my Father says will have those places.”

Of course a mother always looks out for the best interests of her boys and Mrs. Zebedee certainly did. She knew that Jesus was going to rule over a great kingdom… she just didn’t understand what kind of kingdom.

Talk is often cheap and when James and John answered Jesus’ question about suffering they said they could suffer like Jesus.

In Acts 12 we find the very same Herod who was guilty of killing Jesus also killing James (with a sword). And while James wasn’t the first Christian to be martyred he was the first Apostle to follow the path of Jesus in suffering.

Mrs. Zebedee’s hope and expectation was that her sons would sit at either side of Jesus in his kingdom. Instead she was honored with one of her sons being the first Apostle martyred and I guess no matter where James is seated his mother was very proud of him for that gift and blessing.

Fertilizer and Fig Trees

Luke 13, “Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil? “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

God has a vineyard and the Fig trees in this vineyard are people. God goes to inspect his vineyard and sees a Fig tree (people) that has not produced a single Fig in three years and so he instructs his gardener (Jesus Christ) to cut it down. The gardener (Jesus Christ) says let me fertilize the soil and let’s give the tree one more year and if it still does not bear figs I will cut it down.

This particular vineyard is the Jewish nation. Under the old Mosaic Law they were not fruitful.

Jesus wants to infuse them with a new Law… a Law of love to see what they might produce. At the end of his three year ministry Jesus allows himself to be sacrificed and gave up his perfect life to demonstrate incomprehensible love to his disciples. And with that love God’s people who had been unproductive started sharing that love around the world and God’s garden got bigger and bigger and produced more and more figs.

It’s amazing what a little love can do.

Who are You? What's Your Name?

Luke 13 describes a scene where Jesus was asked if few or many would be saved. Of course Jesus answered… “few” and went on to describe a scene where the gates to Heaven were slammed shut and those who were not saved tried to defend themselves and to persuade God to let them in and God told them… I never knew you workers of iniquity.

To make matters worse the lost could see in the gates of heaven and see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. They could also see strangers from faraway lands sitting in places of honor where they should have been sitting.

Fast forward to our day and time. Maybe you’ve attended church with your family. Maybe you’ve shaken hands with the preacher every Sunday. Maybe you sang the loudest and even shed a tear or two at the Lord’s Supper but basically when away from the church building you did whatever you wanted to. You were just a Christian on Sunday mornings.

Jesus comes and gathers his sheep and carries them to Heaven. You’re there but you can’t get in. Wait… what’s that you see? Some stranger is sitting next to your wife. There’s your mom and dad. The last time you saw them was at their funerals. Oh look! There are all your kids and grandkids. But no one can see you and everyone is laughing and singing and it’s like you never ever existed and you have all of eternity to think back on how you lived and on what you have missed and maybe just maybe those are the real agonizing fires of Hell.

Wake up and prepare yourself for Heaven so you can enjoy Heaven with the ones you have loved the most in this life or sleep on and pay the price.

Widows and Jesus Christ

In the Old Testament, even though there was a tithing system in which Jews gave 10% of whatever they had on a regular basis, there is no indication that the Jews used this system to care for their widows.

In those days families were responsible for taking care of their own widows and if there were no family support system then the widows were allowed to “glean” the fields. In other words they could go into the fields after the harvesters finished and pick up whatever was left over

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Otherwise widows had to find whatever work they could find… or beg.

Enter Jesus Christ… in the New Testament Christians supported each other including selling whatever they had to raise funds to help people like widows. In Acts 6, there was a “daily ministration” run by the church and over seen by the Apostles to feed Christian widows on a regular basis.

In 1 Timothy 5, there are qualifications to distinguish which widows could live under the support of the Church. Did the widow have family? Was she of the age where she could remarry? Was she of an age where she could work? Did she live a life consistent with being a Christian? If the widow did not fall in one of these categories then the Church would step in and care for the widow.

Ask yourself this if you were an aged widow with no family and you couldn’t work would you rather be a Jew or a Christian? Obviously the Christian system reflects a superior system of love which manifests itself in the care of each other and being a part of that superior system makes us better people.

All the widows thank God for sending Jesus Christ!

Remember… “Pure religion and undefiled before our God and father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows…” James 1:27.

Study Guide for 2nd Corinthians

1. Read 2nd Corinthians as many times as you can before class

2. Identify differences between 1st and 2nd Corinthians

3. Mark down or high lite frequently repeated words (Comfort, Affliction/sufferings, power, etc.)

4. Paul references at least ten Old Testament passages go back and read those in their context.

5. Note the subjects from the first letter that are repeated in the second letter.

6. Outline the Epistle and identify its theme.

7. Study and understand all the geographical locations mentioned in the text.

The first class will be an introduction and overview of the letter and then the rest of the class will be a textual study. About one chapter per week.

The Chicken Killer: Forgiveness and Restrictions

We have some family members who have a dog that I really like and sometimes they will bring her to our house. One time though when we thought she was in a secure area she got out and killed one of our free ranging chickens. She was scolded and seemed sorrowful

It wasn’t a big deal (except to that chicken) because we still had 17 other chickens. I forgave that dog (although I do call her “Chicken Killer”) and I still like her. But… I made a rule, whenever she was at our house she had to stay on a cable or leash. We haven’t lost another chicken since then and I'm sure if the chickens could thank me they would.

Sin and sinners are kind of like that dog. Yes we can forgive them, even forgive them 70 time 7, but they need some restrictions.

For instance the fellow who pilfers out of the church treasury. Yes we accept his repentance but he can no longer be involved in the church treasury… sorry… not sorry.

The guy involved in chronic, repetitive sexual sin. Forgiven? Yes but perhaps no more unrestricted internet access to view pornography.

I’m sure there are plenty of other examples but those should suffice.

If all I did was forgive the “Chicken Killer” every time she killed a chicken eventually I wouldn’t have to forgive her any more because I would be out of chickens and we could be at peace but that’s a high price for peace.

Open your ears and listen to this… If we don’t put restrictions on those who sin chronically and repetitively we are complicit and guilty for those sins and don’t think the Lord doesn’t know that.

Help the poor sinner to live a pure sin free life. You will be doing him… and yourself a big favor.

Transition in the Old Testament and the Ark of the Covenant

There seems to be a transition in the Old Testament in regards to the Holy Ark of the Covenant.

Recall that the exact construction details of the Ark are given in the scriptures and also its contents… the ten commandments carved in stone, a container of manna and Aaron’s staff that budded.

We also know from the scriptures that only priests could transport the Ark and if anyone else, even by accident, touched it they would die instantly.

Early in the scriptures we see that the Ark is used by the Israelites to separate the river Jordan so the Israelites could cross over to the promised land.

The Ark was also taken into battle (Jericho) to help conquer enemies.

Hophni and Phineas took the Ark into battle against the Philistines and after the defeat of the Israelites the Philistines had it in their possession for seven months. They finally gave it up because the Lord struck them with disease and caused them a lot of trouble.

In 1 Kings 8:9 the scriptures state that the only thing in the Ark were the tablets of stone.

At some point King Manasseh removed the Ark from the Temple and replaced it with Idols.

King Josiah restored it to the Temple and that’s the last record we see of it in the scriptures (2 Chronicles 35:1-6).

About 40 years later King Nebuchadnezzar attacked and conquered Jerusalem and took all the Temple relics including presumably the Ark of the Covenant.

When those items were eventually restored to Jerusalem and the Temple there is no mention in the inventory that the Ark of the Covenant was ever returned.

See what I mean? In the early years only the Levites could handle it. In later years Philistines, Babylonians and King Manasseh handled it.

In the early years people died if they touched it. In later years people were struck with disease (hemorrhoids) or in the case of the Babylonians no distress or consequence is even mentioned.

In the early years the Ark was used to conquer enemies. In the later years it was not used in the huge and desperate battles against the Assyrians and Babylonians.

I really don’t know what all this means but as Bible students we should think about it and what it might mean.

The Court of Popular Opinion

1 Corinthians 5 contains a principle that in my opinion has application for us today as well. Remember that the Apostle Paul was admonishing the Christians in Corinth for taking each other to court over legal matters.

Among other things he advised them that their behavior did not reflect a good picture of the church to non-christians.

Let me suggest that taking our problems to another court… the Court of Popular Opinion might also reflect poorly on christians and the church.

Nowadays we have all kinds of platforms to complain about individuals and businesses… google reviews, yelp, Facebook, etc.

I personally have been called on social media both a “monster” and a “god”. Which is the truth? Probably neither. And here’s the other thing on these types of platforms you’re only seeing one side of it because it does no good… no good at all… to start a battle of words on a social platform.

I’ve noticed on some social media arguments that people go back and edit their comments so that it appears that they didn’t say at all what they did say and the responder’s comments then don’t make any kind of sense. So it’s just better to stay out of those kinds of arguments.

I’m reminded of something my mother told me… if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all.

Try to stay out of legal Courts and definitely don’t take your issues to the Court of Popular Opinion. If you can’t resolve your issue directly then remember what the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian Christians… its okay to take wrong without complaint. After all Jesus Christ is the supreme example of that isn’t he?

There's a Fungus Among Us

Most People know that Yeast is used in the manufacture of bread. There are many kinds of Yeast but the specific yeast that is used in the making of bread is “Saccharomyces cerevisiae” which means “Sugar eating fungi”

The flour dough is kneaded together with the yeast which eats the sugars in the dough and releases carbon dioxide which makes our bread nice and fluffy. The process is called leavening. In Latin… “to raise”.

In the scriptures Yeast is used figuratively to describe what sin does in a congregation (1 Corinthians 5) and how the Kingdom of Heaven changes the world (Luke 13:20).

In congregations, if sin is ignored and not addressed it has the potential to affect the whole congregation and change the congregation described in its purity as unleavened bread to impure leavened bread… a fungus (sin) has entered and changed the congregation.

In the Parable of the Yeast (Luke 13) the world is like a lump of dough. God’s word is like the yeast… it permeates and penetrates the dough (world) and like a fungus eats up all the sugars (sin) and changes the world to righteousness which is tasty and delectable to God.

As Christians we should be careful not to let the yeast of sin corrupt us and potentially corrupt the church.

If we do that, then the sinlessly pure collectivity of Christians (the Church) can spread like a fungus through the whole world and bring glory to God.

I Invented the Wheel

When I was in school taking Math classes the teacher during testing always wanted us to “show our work” he didn’t want to just see an answer… because even if we got the wrong answer he wanted to see where our thinking went awry so he could make the proper correction.

I see the same thing in Bible study. How do we reach the conclusions that we do in regards to God’s Holy Word?

Did we actually study and reach those conclusions on our own or did we, like happens sometimes in Math class, just cheat (so to speak) and copy the conclusions of others?

Here are some examples of conclusions reached by some that may be correct or may not be correct that we need to re-examine.

God will not violate the free will of people.

The Church is not only capable of completing its mission but no other organization is authorized to duplicate that mission.

The work of the individual and the work of the church are separate and distinct.

The Church exists in a universal sense and a local sense and the Church Universal has no mission or human hierarchy.

Once we’re saved we’re always saved and cannot lose our salvation.

One of the first questions we should ask ourselves is how do these conclusions fit with what we know about God. Another question would be do we have command, example or necessary inference for any of them? And was there some kind of motivation for reaching these or other conclusions?

Many years ago I reached some conclusion on my own and one of my friends commented…. “congratulations… you just invented the wheel”

In retrospect I’m proud of that because I did invent the wheel and it makes little difference that someone did it before me because my brain is better for it.

I encourage you as Bible students to not just learn or teach the conclusions of others. Investigate those conclusions and look at opposing views. Work those problems out on your own and “show your work”… you will be better for it and so will those you teach.

The Blood That Purifies

In Luke chapter 2 we read this (in part)…

The time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them… Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Jesus, like all babies, was born in sinless perfection. Contrariwise, unlike any other baby born on earth by the time Jesus was in his thirties he was still sinlessly perfect. And when he was nailed to the cross and his life ebbed out of him and his blood pooled at his feet it was pure and sinless blood… never guilty of anything.

Here’s the thing… that pure and holy blood that was spilled at the cross has the power to thoroughly cleanse us so we too can be sinlessly perfect… just like an innocent and pure and sinless baby.

Mary was given a great gift because she was chosen to be the mother of our Savior and Messiah. We have been given a great gift too… the gift of blood that enables us as chosen sons to approach the throne of our Father in purity and perfection.

Fishers of Men

Even though I have a fishing boat I still hire a guide to go fishing. Why? Because when I go with a guide we catch fish… when I take my boat out I don’t catch fish.

One thing I’ve learned from the guide is… where the fish are likely to be and if we go to that place and don’t find fish he won’t waste much time there… he’ll go to a different place.

Another thing I’ve learned is what kind of hook to use and how to set it. If we’re “free lining” and letting a live bait swim wherever it wants to he will wait for a bite and then slowly lower his fishing pole before he snaps it back and sets the hook.

If we’re fishing under a float he’ll use a treble hook and he says that type of hook doesn’t need to be set.

If we’re fishing for flounder he knows a flounder will just hold the bait in its mouth for a while before swallowing it. So he waits for a while before he sets the hook.

We have a member at church that will paddle out 8 miles to the oil rigs and always brings back fish. This same fisherman can be in an area crowded with boats and no one is catching fish except him.

Remember when Jesus said to his disciples… “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. Of course Jesus was the master fisherman of fish and men.

Sometimes as Christians we don’t catch fish because we aren’t fishing in the right places. We generally are only fishing in places where all the fish have already been caught. Like at the church building or among other righteous people.

Sometimes in cases like that we give up and say things like… “Well the fish just aren’t biting today” when maybe we should try fishing in another place where nobody else is fishing. Just how bad do you want to catch a fish? Will you paddle out eight miles into the Gulf?

Sometimes we just keep throwing the same old bait out and wonder why we aren’t catching fish. Did you know that you can’t catch Black Drum on live bait? You have to use dead shrimp. Maybe you can’t catch every kind of fish just by quoting Acts 2:38 all the time. Maybe you need a different scriptural approach. Maybe first of all you have to consider what kind of fish you are dealing with. Is it a Nicodemus fish or a Samaritan woman fish?

You might have a well-read Bible and know it backwards and forwards but just can’t seem to find the fish or catch them.

Maybe if you really want to catch fish you have to admit first of all that you don’t know that much about fishing and hook up with someone who does. Like a guy like me who has a boat and everything you need to catch fish with but lacks knowledge and experience and hires someone who does have the knowledge and experience so those things can be learned.

Some people love to go fishing so much that they might fish all day long and even if they don’t catch a fish they have had a good time. Me? I like to catch fish. One of the greatest fishing guides I ever met was Harold Dowdy who came and preached a Gospel meeting for us and taught me to fish.

The Assemblies of Christ Salute You

If you look up the word “church” in “Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” you will not find the Greek word for “church”. Instead it will reference you to the word “assembly” where the Greek word “Ekklesia” is found.

So, according to Vine’s, the word “church” does not belong in the Bible. Everywhere you read “church” you should be reading “assembly” or “congregation”.

So how did the translators come up with the word “church”. The word “church” is derived from the word “Kuriakos” which means “belonging to the Lord” and only occurs twice in the New Testament (1 Corinthians and Revelation) and never (ever) refers to the church.

I wonder why the translators decided to use a derivation of the word “Kuriakos” (church) instead of the proper translation “assembly”

It might be because the translators wanted to distinguish a Christian assembly from any other kind of assembly.

Sounds good and makes sense except that if the Holy Spirit had wanted to make that sort of distinction I’m sure he could have invented a word for it… maybe like Kuriako-ekklesia.

Understanding that… does it really make any difference? It might.

The work of the church… the work of the assembly

Church international and church local… assembly international and assembly local.

The churches of Christ salute you… the assemblies of Christ salute you.

Let’s go to church… let’s go assemble.

Words mean things and as Bible students we should strive to use proper words so we can have a proper understanding of what God has revealed for us. I wonder what the Holy Spirit thinks about mistranslating a word?

Prayer for Sins "Not unto Death"

1 John 5:13-21, contains a message to Christians that one of their greatest blessings was the power to pray to God and have that prayer answered positively (if it is according to God’s will). That would include, the blessing and responsibility, to pray for a brother (presumable unrepentant) to give him time to come to his senses.

It is not God’s will that we pray for an erring brother who is engaged in a “sin unto death”. So it is incumbent on Christians to not only watch for sin but also to categorize the sin so we can know if we should pray for it or not.

The conclusion of this section states… “My little children, guard yourselves from idols”

Let me suggest that the sin we are not to pray for is the sin that a Christian commits when he rejects Jesus Christ and returns to idol worship. Note that the word idol in any of its forms does not occur anywhere else in this letter except at the end of this section on prayer for the erring Christian. That’s important to note… in fact it is screaming at us.

Review with me Nehemiah 9:18,

“Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies”

The children of Israel had witnessed all of God’s great miracles against the false God’s of Egypt and at their first opportunity rejected God by molding the image of a golden calf and worshipping it. The Holy Scripture characterizes that action as a “great blasphemy”.

It is also a great blasphemy for a Christian who has experienced all the great blessings that Jesus has to offer and reject those blessings and reject Jesus Christ and replace him with an idol.

Christians can pray and should pray for any other sin that might be committed by a brother in Christ but not the sin of blasphemy against Jesus Christ. If you do… don’t expect that prayer to be answered.

Sin: Are You For or Against it?

There’s a story that is told of the fellow who asked the preacher what he was going to preach on the following Sunday. The preacher said “sin… I’m preaching on the subject of sin”. The fellow asking the question responded… “are you for it or against it?”

That’s a funny story but what’s not funny is that sometimes I can’t tell by observation if Christians are actually for or against sin.

I see some folks of the “once saved always saved” persuasion say things like… everyone’s a sinner so we’re going to sin from time to time and it doesn’t affect my salvation in any way. Kind of like a “get out of jail card free” that you can play. For example, you might see Christian men and women living together outside of the ties of marriage and it’s okay because they have been saved.

I see some folks say things like… the blood of Jesus Christ is so powerful that it can forgive anything. And you might see these kind of folks marrying, divorcing and remarrying seven times or even seventy times seven times because the powerful blood of Jesus Christ cleanses that sin right away and you’re so clean you can just move on to the next woman… there are no “consequences” to sin.

So just what is the truth on sin and how do we apply those truths to our lives?

Let me start with this… that might set some folks back on their heels… God expects us to be sinlessly perfect.

Matthew 5:48, states that we are to be “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”.

Ephesians 4: 15, states that we are to “grow into Him… even Jesus Christ”

Romans 12:2, states that we are to “transform ourselves by developing new minds”, i.e. we don’t even think about sin much less act upon it.

So that seems impossible for mortal men to achieve right? Wrong!

In Philippians 3:15, the apostle Paul says this… “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect be thus minded…”

Get this Paul identified himself as being perfect and others as well. What are we to assume? Paul was perfect as his heavenly Father was perfect (Mt. 5:48). Paul had grown into the image of Jesus Christ (Eph. 4). Paul had transformed his mind so he didn’t even consider sin (Romans 12) and others had too.

Let me suggest that your salvation might be in peril if you willfully and consistently violate God’s Law and twist God’s Word to justify it. Let me also suggest that there are consequences to sin. Oh yes, you can get the forgiveness of any sin but a consequence may be that you are not free to just remarry willy nilly.

That kind of behavior doesn’t even pass the smell test and in fact it stinks all the way up to Heaven.

Be perfect as God is perfect… it is what God expectes of you.

Lessons from Former Employees

Over the years I’ve seen a lot of employees come and go and am generally not too surprised at the process.

Some will get mad for some reason and just walk off the job… no notice or anything. They put not only the business in a bind but also their former fellow employees.

Some give notice and especially if they have been a long term employee we’ll give a card or a gift or buy lunch or have a going away party and we wish them well and mean it too. We’ve had more than one employee leave but come back later because they missed the work, the camaraderie and everything we do. Sometimes the grass is not greener.

Like I say… I’m never very surprised at the way people leave except for what happened the other day.

We had a long term employee who was one of our best who found a better opportunity and we wished her well and did all the things we do for someone like that.

On the day that she left she brought breakfast for everyone at work and on the following Saturday night threw a party at her house for all her fellow employees. Wow… I’ve never seen the like. To my best knowledge she isn’t even a Christian… she was just raised right. Color me impressed.

There’s a great lesson in that for Christians who may leave a job abruptly, call names, write ugly google reviews and the like. What kind of impression are you leaving? Would you be welcomed back? If they knew you were a Christian would they like to come visit services?

Sometimes we all let our emotions get the best of us and do things we might later regret. There’s a remedy for that… go and tell the person or former employer you regret your actions and the things that you said. Maybe even bring them breakfast one day. I’m telling you that will get their attention and God’s attention too.

How to Control Your Anger

"Be angry, yet do not sin." Do not let the sun set while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26)

Notes this… you can be angry and not sin and you can be angry and sin. One way (according to Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount) you can be angry and sin is by killing the person you’re angry at… definitely a sin and there are probably other ways to sin in your anger as well.

The second part of this verse, “Do not let the sun set while you’re angry” may have a non-sinful application. The Apostle may be giving an instruction on how to live happily.

Of course the sun sets long before most people go to bed but have you ever noticed that if you are angry and you go to bed that you can’t sleep? And of course you pay for it the next day when you go to work unrested.

Sometimes when we go to bed we don’t want to be angry or have any other kind of anxiety but we just can’t get those emotions out of our heads.

So what do we do in that situation? Here are a few ideas…

- Distract your brain by reading a book. Of course the Bible would be the best book to read but any book that fully engages your brain.

- Listen to mind soothing music.

- Watch a TV show.

- Go exercise or get involved in some activity that requires a focused mind.

- Go visit some people with some real problems like people in the hospital or in a nursing home. I had an employee tell me that when she was young her mother would take her to the nursing home to play games with those old folks. She said she loved that and learned a lot.

- If all that fails and I doubt that it will… take a doctor prescribed Valium.

Some anger is good and some anger is bad. God does not want us to be angry, spiteful people that act upon our anger in a sinful way. He wants us to be happy and sin free. Control your anger… don’t let it control you.

BBQ Sandwiches, The Sermon on the Mount and Blessings

In my High School/Young adult class this morning we were taking a look at the sermon on the mount and came to the part that said… “blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness’ sake for they shall be filled”. I told them I worked on Saturday and at lunch went to Mike Cotton’s BBQ and had a sliced brisket sandwich. I even told Cotton’s what cut of the brisket I wanted on it. That sandwich was so good that I dream about it and can’t wait for the next one.

Imagine if we hungered and thirsted after spiritual things like I did for that BBQ sandwich. It would be like watching the congregation like a hawk for an opportunity… where are the widows? Where are the meek and those who mourn, the persecuted, etc. I’m going to find them and do whatever I can do to help. I dream of that spiritual BBQ sandwich… I’m obsessed with it and won’t be stopped.

Imagine if the whole congregation was that way… what would it look like? To the world it would look like a bright shining light. To God it would smell like a sweet aroma. To Satan it would feel daunting and horrifying.

We have some work to do brothers and sisters!

Bear One Anothers Burdens

This morning in our High School/young adult class we talked about loving people so much that we feel a sense of obligation to advise them when we see them headed in the wrong direction (Galations 6:1).

Of course timing is an important part of that. For instance, you would wait for the drunk to sober up first… right? Also if someone is inappropriately angry you would give them time to settle down before you approached them. Or if you were angry with them… probably should take a little time to settle down first.

Of course the text says you should offer counsel in a spirit of gentleness… not self-righteousness or spiritual arrogance. Or derogatory language like… you’re just like your momma.

Let me offer one more thing… if you’ve never said an encouraging word to that person or done anything to help build them up then you’re not qualified to critique them either. I don’t have a verse for that one but think that I have the spirit of God with me on that concept.

It’s easy just to ignore people and their behaviors like they don’t even exist. Of course that’s not love right? And if someone is ignored long enough they start thinking they don’t matter to anyone and drift back into Satan’s flock. How horrible.

Taking Advantage of Widows

James 1:27 states “Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this… to visit the widows in their affliction…”

In our High School class we have been talking about this concept and things we can do.

Of course in the Mosaic Law farmers would let widows glean their fields but I hardly think today we could get the widows to go out into the cotton fields during the hottest month of the year to glean after the mechanical cotton strippers have done their job. We live in a different world… I doubt they would glean those fields even if they were air conditioned.

Many years ago I knew a fellow who had a huge antique tool collection and I bought some things from him. That had to be back in the 1990s and he has since passed. I happened to run into his daughter several months ago and she told me her mother would be glad to let me look at those old tools again.

That was months ago. Two days ago I called the 90 year old widow and she showed me that marvelous collection. Of course along the way she talked my ear off… I’ll probably never be able to wear eye glasses.

Anyway… all her stuff was really quite valuable and more than I wanted to pay but I told her I wanted to help her and told her and I knew someone in the auctioneer business who could sell all her stuff for her. She was very excited and thanked me because she had been trying to sell it for a long time and had given up.

So I took a lot of photos and messaged them to my friend and added that I would have liked to purchase some of her things but did not feel comfortable making an offer that might be viewed as taking advantage of a widow. BTW, this same auctioneer had helped another widow I identified for him. Here was my friend’s response…

“… you are one of the few people I know that won’t do that. Most do and it’s usually a relative or a real good friend that has no problem taking advantage of someone”

How sad.

Most of our widows today have plenty to eat but there’s also plenty of other things we can do the help. Look for those opportunities to help and to not take advantage of a widow.

Hook, Line and Sinker

Back when I was a junior or senior in High School we had a Bible class teacher that was truly memorable (for me). He was confident, he was dynamic and he knew his Bible. I still remember one of the lessons he taught us.

First he went to Ephesians 1:22, “… and gave Him (Jesus) to be head over all things to the church which is his body…” Conclusion… the church is Christ’s body.

Then he went to Ephesians 4:4, “There is one body, one Spirit…”

Conclusion… the church is Christ’s body and there’s only one body. Therefore there is only one church… the Church of Christ.

Very powerful logic but there’s only one thing wrong with it… its dead wrong. Those verses don’t teach that. What my teacher failed to recognize is the church exists in a general or universal sense and it exists in a specific local sense.

Paul in his letter to the Ephesians was addressing the church in a general or universal sense. He was trying to illustrate that there couldn’t be one church for the Greek Christians and one church for the Jewish Christians but one broad universal church that was inclusive of all races and all nationalities.

I loved that teacher and still do (even though I have lost track of him) and I guess the learning point here is don’t be so enamored with a teachers personality and teaching style that you fail to judge his message critically because I swallowed that teaching hook, line and sinker and taught it myself. Of course I was only 17 or 18 years old at the time so I forgive myself.

The Congregation of the Hypocrites

In Matthew 12 Jesus warned his disciples to “be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy”

This is interesting to me because generally we consider our own sin to have only consequences for ourselves. This passage suggests otherwise.

Yeast affects the whole loaf of bread and the same concept is repeated in 1 Corinthians 5 where Paul admonishes the Corinthians to keep the local congregation free from “yeast” (sin).

The Pharisees hypocrisy affected the whole of God’s Jewish nation because the Pharisees were in a position of leadership. Their hypocrisy could permeate and adversely affect the ones they were teaching and influencing making them hypocrites as well.

How can church leaders today be hypocrites? Here are a few things off the top of my head.

- The teacher who teaches kindness and compassion towards the poor but when given the opportunity to help the poor comes up with some excuse not to.

- The teacher who teaches the need for hospitality and the “oneness” hospitality helps create but is not hospitable at all except perhaps to his friends.

- The teacher who urges the congregation to invite their neighbors to church but never does himself.

I wish we had some kind of spiritual mirror where we could view ourselves as God views us with 20/20 spiritual vision. Of course we can look in God’s word but too often when we look in that mirror our eyes are often blurred with selfish hypocrisy that can harm the entire congregation and render it the Church of the Hypocrites.

The 10 Talent Man

We’ve been studying the Parable of the Talents in my High School/young adult class and have learned, correctly, that God assesses our ability and based on that assessment expects some kind of productivity out of us.

I asked my class that if God revealed to us what he thought of our individual abilities... how would that make us feel?

For instance, if God revealed to the whole class that we were all just one talent people what would be our response? Would we just respond by thinking… God knows everything and I am what I am or would we be so indignant at our own correctly assessed ability that we decide… I’m not going to be a one talent man… I’ll prove that I can be better?

What if God told everyone in the class that they were all five talent men what would our reaction bethen? We might be pretty happy and smug and maybe rest on our laurels.

If God told me that I was a five talent man I think that might motivate me to be even better. I might think I’m going to do so well they are going to have to write a new Parable about the 10, 5, 2 and 1 talent men.

You see, in John 15 we find out that God prunes his most productive people so we can be even more productive… that’s how a low talent man can be a higher talent man… by letting God prune him. And as one of the students pointed out this morning… pruning hurts the plant a little but it’s a pain that is soon forgotten, especially in comparison to the great joy we feel at pleasing God.

Let's be the best children of God that we can be and trust his process.

Jesus the Beginning and the End

I think an interesting study would be to compare the beginning and the end of Jesus’ ministry.

Of course it began with Jesus’ baptism and choosing to fast in the wilderness for 40 days and then to be unsuccessfully tempted by Satan.

Jesus’ choice to begin his ministry is interesting. My guess is he did it in this manner to foreshadow how his follower’s personal ministry must also begin by being cleansed by the waters of baptism and to receive the promised “gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

At the beginning of his ministry Jesus voluntarily deprived himself of a necessity of life… food.

At the end of his ministry he was deprived of another necessity of life… all his friends, followers and family.

Jesus was all alone at the beginning and all alone at the end.

Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness in an attempt to make Jesus his servant. Satan never tried that again but at the end successfully tempted Judas and Peter and manipulated the Jewish and Roman governments to kill Jesus. If Satan couldn’t make Jesus his servant he would kill him… or so he thought.

When Jesus was baptized a loud voice came from Heaven… this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

When Jesus died on the cross God spoke again by tearing the veil in the temple, sending an earthquake and making the dead rise from their graves.

Surely Jesus baptism foreshadowed his death, burial and “rebirth”… buried in the waters of baptism and buried in the ground. Arising from the waters of baptism and arising from the tomb.

All of this was an example for us. Remember… Satan never gives up. Sometimes he changes his tactics but he doesn’t give up and if we don’t give up either then like Jesus we can live for eternity in God’s presence and among the “principalities and powers in Heavenly places”.

The Lesson of the Spotted Sheep

In Genesis 30 Jacob was having a disagreement with his father-in-law Laban as to the division of their flocks.

Jacob proposed that he take all the sheep that were spotted and Laban could have the more valuable pure white sheep. Laban readily agreed to that.

The trouble for Laban was that God blessed Jacob and the majority of the lamb crop each year was spotted and Jacob’s flock prospered while Laban’s flock diminished.

Jesus during his three year ministry consistently chose the spotted sheep to minister to… the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the hypocritical Pharisees, the sick and the dying.

Of course the Lord’s church has been compared to a flock of sheep complete with Shepherds (Elders) who care for the sheep. The Lord’s church does its best work with spotted sheep that need shepherding.

Sometimes in a congregation we might want to “pick” our sheep. Oh here’s a nice moral family in a denomination let’s clean up their misunderstandings about the Bible and add them to our number and we can go out and eat and be friends and laugh and have a good time.

But the best work is accomplished when we can find someone filthy with sin and show them a little light at the end of the tunnel and with great patience and great spiritual stamina stick with them through thick and through thin until they become strong enough to stand on their own two feet. That my friends is a great victory over Satan and causes the angels in Heaven to rejoice.

And if there is anything to be learned from the Lesson of the Spotted Sheep it’s that God will make that flock of sheep great and prosperous to the bewilderment of folks like Laban who considered spotted sheep to be inferior.

And we’re not talking about sheep and flocks but rather people and congregations.

Smart Like Solomon

1 Kings 3 reveals some things about King Solomon…

“Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he was sacrificing and burning incense on the high places”

Worshipping in the “High places” was prohibited by God in Deuteronomy 12…

“You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains… And you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces… You shall not act this way toward the Lord your God. But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and you shall come there”

1 Kings 3 continues with the story of how God blessed Solomon in a dream and gave him unsurpassed wisdom. And then we come to 3:15…

“Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants”

Did you see that? Solomon was worshipping in the “High Places” but after the dream he was already smarter and wiser and worshipped God where he should have in the first place… before the “Ark of the Covenant”

God no longer speaks to us in dreams but through his Son Jesus Christ and in his revealed Word.

Maybe we better re-examine where and how we worship and if we find out (like Solomon did) that our worship is improper, make the proper correction.

We don’t have to be as smart as Solomon to do that… we can borrow his wisdom and mimic it. After all wasn’t that what God intended when he preserved these words for us?

Medals and Humility

I read an obituary in the Corpus Christi Caller Times last week. The subject of this particular obituary was a retired Lt. Col from the army. He lived 92 years on this earth.

His children wrote the obituary for the old widower and mentioned that when they were cleaning out the garage they came across a box that contained some medals… the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Silver Star and Bronze Star.

They were astonished… they had no idea. He had never mentioned any of those great honors. I think if I was one those kids I would have just sat there and cried. They don’t just hand out those kind of medals to just anyone. He had risked his life at great peril and shed his own blood probably to save his own men.

That my friends is great humility… to achieve so much and not ever mention it to anyone.

There’s a great lesson to be learned by that in our spiritual warfare. Don’t dwell on what you have done… how many people you have baptized, how popular you are as a preacher, how you defeated someone in a debate, how much money you gave to the poor, etc. Just keep working for God and don’t even think about what you’ve done in the past and keep your good deeds a secret between you and God.

2 Corinthians 5:10 says we will give an accounting before the throne of Jesus Christ for both the good things and the bad things we have done.

I don’t know what that venue is going to be like… if its private or public, but if it were public and you were watching your mom or your dad kneeling before Jesus and Jesus just went on and on about the good things your parents had done… maybe things you never even knew about wouldn’t that make you proud? Wouldn’t you just tremble at each word spoken?

I wish I had known Lt. Col John W. Dean, retired. He must have been quite a man and if you ask me… deserved the Medal of Honor for humility.

Unexpected Phone Calls

Unexpected phone calls… we all get them. You’re at work and you get a call… Your dad has cancer and has only 12 months to live. You’re at work and you get a call… your wife has been in a bad car accident… come quick. You’re sitting on the couch watching TV and get a call from Ray Torno… Linda just collapsed and died.

We moved here in 1982 and Ray and Linda were already members here. We don’t miss services very often and neither do they. So for forty years we have seen them three times a week. When we moved here in 1982 and rented a house Linda took her kids and went over and cleaned the place up for us before we moved in. She didn’t even know us. So many little individual acts of kindnesses that when tallied together equal a heart bursting with love. We’ve attended all the funerals of dear and old friends with Ray and Linda. All the baby showers. All the wedding showers. All the picnics. All the social gatherings.

Linda taught our kids and grandkids. After class she would come up to us and brag on them and tell us how much she loved them and how special they were. She truly had a gift for teaching and rarely took a quarter off.

She and her work with the “kiddos” helped make Parkway special.

I was talking with Julie the other week and told her… you know… one of us is going to get sick and our health is going to fail and one of us is going to have take care and to bury the other. It almost seems to me that the easier part is on the one whose health fails compared to the one who has to watch the person he loves the most in the world decline and fade away.

I told her… I hope you don’t have to take care of me

e.

It’s a time to mourn and reflect and we need this time. Linda is in a far, far better place and my guess is that she’ll find all the kiddos up there and love them with all her heart. Rest in peace Linda… we miss and love you.

Thank God we won’t be getting any unexpected phone calls in Heaven.

Please pray and be there for my old friend Ray Torno

David Consumes Uriah

Most of us are familiar with the story that Nathan the Prophet spun to help David understand the severity of his sin.

In short, there was a rich man with many herds of sheep and a poor man with just one lamb. The rich man needed to prepare a meal for a visitor and took the poor man’s only ewe lamb and killed it and prepared a meal for his guest.

Nathan asks David what should be done. David replied that the rich man deserved to die but should be punished by giving the poor man four of his lambs. Nathan said… you are the man.

Remember that David committed two grievous sins… he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah (one of the thirty mighty men) killed.

But wait the story only points at one sin… adultery with Bathsheba not the murder of Uriah… or does it?

The rich man with many sheep is David (he did have several wives). The poor man with one ewe lamb is Uriah the Hittite and the ewe lamb is Bathsheba.

Let me suggest that the ewe lamb is a double figure. The ewe lamb not only represents Bathsheba and the addition of her to David’s flock of wives but also represents Uriah because in Nathan’s tale the ewe lamb is killed and eaten… and so was Uriah the Hittite so David could have his wife.

Why didn’t Nathan just confront David and say you killed Uriah and had sex with his wife? Because the illustration in a story helped David understand the enormous magnitude of his sin and God’s enormous grace in forgiving him and not punishing him with taking his life… which he roundly deserved.

David never forgot his sin and probably remembered it every time he looked into the eyes of his wife Bathsheba. We should remember it too.

The Facade of Righteousness

“As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.” Ezekiel 33.

These are the words of Jehovah God speaking to his Prophet Ezekiel and secondarily spoken to us as well.

These words describe godly people who wear well the façade of godliness.

They may attend services well.

They may chastise others who do not attend well.

They may speak out in class.

They may shout out an Amen when the teacher/preacher makes a good point.

They may sing well with heart felt enthusiasm.

They may be willing to take a bullet for Jesus Christ.

All those things look good, but what good are they if…

They are unforgiving and unforgetting?

They talk bad about other people behind their backs?

They are easily offended?

They don’t sacrifice their own needs for the needs of others?

They are judgmental?

They are characterized by anger and inflammatory words?

They are not only willing to take a bullet for Jesus Christ but also willing to shoot a few others with bullets.

Let’s hope when the façade of righteousness is stripped off on the judgment day that God finds that we are righteous through and through.

Hear all of God’s words and devote yourselves to them 100%

Bad Sacrifices

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the Lord ’s Table is contemptible. When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong?

Malachi chapter one, demonstrates a principle of unacceptable sacrifice (or worship) to God. The Priests were not offering the best of their flocks for sacrifice but rather the worst. Oh yes, they were following the form of sacrifice but the substance of the sacrifice was improper.

So too sacrifice/worship today.

Prayer has been called the “sacrifice of our lips” Are our prayers more form or substance? Did we memorize a prayer when we were kids and still continue to offer that immature prayer to God on a regular basis or do our prayers reflect spiritual maturity and spiritual excellence?

Do we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in an obligatory way like making up our beds every morning or do we look forward to it as a time of reflection and a time when we can come together as a spiritual family to demonstrate the unity of love to our Holy Father?

Do we un-necessarily substitute our assembling with watching services on TV? Isn’t that a little like offering a one - eyed crippled lamb to God?

And in so many other areas.

As Christians let’s look at our flock and pick out the most excellent and very best lamb that we have to offer to God… he deserves no less and I’m not talking about sheep.

Sleeping Through Stormy Seas

There were two prophets identified in the scriptures who shared similar experiences… they were both in boats in stormy weather and were sleeping through the storm while the other occupants feared for their lives.

Jonah, in the Old Testament, had been sent to the Gentiles to deliver a message from God. He hated those Gentiles so much that he tried to out run God and God sent the furious storm… through which Jonah slept. He eventually repented and delivered (unwillingly) God’s message to the Gentiles.

Jesus, in the New Testament, with his disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee when another furious storm struck. Jesus of course, like Jonah, was sleeping through it. Unlike Jonah at the behest of the disciples Jesus spoke a few words and extinguished the storm.

And then, like Jonah, Jesus went to a Gentile country to do battle with Satan and cast demons out of a man and into a herd of unclean hogs.

Of course Jesus was no ordinary Prophet… he was the Son of God and had the power to extinguish any kind of storm and carry his message of salvation to unclean Gentiles to make them clean and acceptable in the sight of God. And sent the unclean demons where they belonged… not in the temple of God but into unclean swine.

It can’t be by accident that Jonah and Jesus both endured literal stormy weather and I guess the message for us is clear… we can have great storms in our lives, usually caused by Satan, but with confidence and faith in Jesus Christ those storms can be quieted so that we can sail through life in calm seas and sunny skies.

Give faith a try and let him lift you out of the storm.

At First You Caught My Eye...

“At first you caught my eye,

And then you stole my heart.

I didn’t think I could

Love you more after that.

But now I realize

You have even become

A part of the person I am.

And my very finest qualities

Come from loving you.”

I saw these sentiments written on a card and I was struck by the profundity of their meaning.

The beginning of a relationship with all its expectations and in its naivete being satisfied with those early emotions and considering them to be complete and enough.

And then the progression to a more mature relationship and the surprise at what the “two becoming one flesh” really means. Things better understood by experience rather than the expression of mere words.

And then finally realizing that loving another person causes changes in our very own selves that we had no way of expecting. Changes that are awe inspiring. The transforming power of love.

What a blessing here on earth, but understand… the real blessing is being transformed into the very image of Jesus Christ. Becoming a part of him and realizing that our very finest qualities come from not only his loving us but also from our loving him.

That’s hard to understand in the very earliest days of becoming a Christian and I suppose that’s the way God meant for it to be so that we can wake up each day and reflect on where we’ve been and where we are and where we are going.

Praise God!