Noah Was Prepared For Rain, Are You?

The following is a test: “How many animals did Moses take with him into the ark?” You flunked it, if you said “2”, because Moses didn’t take any…Noah did!

Old jokes like that never seem to die, but a lot of people do, because they remain deaf to God’s plea to be prepared.

There is a book called “The Devil’s Dictionary” with wit and witticism that is not always the kindest. But for the word “deluge” or “flood”, the definition is given: “A notable first experiment in baptism which washed away the sins and the sinners of the world.”

Noah lived at a time when people were careless about their lives, but Noah knew when to come in out of the rain when it was time. The story of the flood in the Bible is trying to teach us that we have a God who cares, and a God who saves. God has made provision for His people. Punishment for our moral bankruptcy is there, but salvation is there too. Things may get awfully bad, but there is also a rainbow. There is Hope. Don’t ever give it up!

A world in revolt against God brings retribution. As the morals and decency of a nation or a people disintegrate, there comes a point when something has to break. For about so long, the forces of decency upon the earth are able to hold out, and then the floods come.

The wars and the brutality of our world are like a horrible nightmare, and the wash and welter of it may prevail not only “a hundred and fifty days” as in the time of Noah, but through dragging decades in which the aftermath of evil still spreads its slime of bitterness and suffering.

The ancient story is a parable of terrible reality. Whenever man begins to live as though God did not exist; whenever people take truth and bend and twist it to their own convenience, then the tides of cause and effect begin to build up. Perhaps we shall need an ark very soon!

With all of its imperfections, sometimes we wonder whether the Church (not any one Church, but the Holy Universal Church) is today’s “ark” for mankind? Sometimes “the stink within, is worse than the storm without”, but still the Church exists for a few people here and there who still believe in righteousness, and who long for the Kingdom of God upon earth, and actively work for its fulfillment.

There are clouds upon the horizon, and there is rain a-comin’…it is the flood of moral retribution which has been held back thus far. Enter the ark, then, not as saints, but as sinners who are humble enough to be ashamed. The Church of Jesus Christ is the saving remnant. Will we be sensible enough and obedient enough to get in?

Blackballed With Balloons

We saw a birthday celebration the other day at a local business. One of the employees had reached 40. Signs here and there read, “Over the hill”. And all around were balloons: red, yellow, blue, and here and there black ones!

Why black? Through the years, we have never associated black with joy or celebration. Perhaps if we were of the black race, we would do so…”black is beautiful”. Yes it is!

Although I love the daylight, and the colors of the day, sometimes I love even more the quiet beauty of the night. How peaceful, how quiet, how beautiful when you realize that only then can the stars come out.

Maybe 40 isn’t “over the hill”, but sometimes people who are getting older begin to wonder whether life holds much for them up ahead. Sometimes the eyes begin to dim…the hearing gets distant, and the health falters and fails. But, in truth, only when some of the noise and confusion of the chaotic world around us begins to slow down, and maybe even go away…only then do we begin to discover that night is but the wonderful prelude to another day.

Only then do we begin to see that God is preparing us, in the quiet times of retirement, for a Special Day…a Day so bright and glorious, so marvelously different than the one in which we have been living for three score years and ten, that truly “black is beautiful”, and the night is not the end of anything, except the beginning of something uniquely new.

The apostle Paul had his complaints too. And in Romans 5:3ff, he says we may even be able to “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts.”

I’m a sucker for “hope”. And I can’t help but believe that God doesn’t “blackball” us, but that He beautifully rewards us with all the colors of the rainbow, along with a certain amount of darkness, in preparation for an eternity with Him.

Casually Yours

Many years ago, Hitler said something that was very true. Just because he was an evil man, does not mean that sometimes bad persons do not say something good. Even a clock that is stopped gives the right time twice every day. Hitler in his “Mein Kampf” once wrote, that the revolution that he was preparing, could be stopped only by those who brought against it, “an explosive idea”. And Hitler was right! Because there is an explosive idea that puts a stop to the kind of thing that Hitlers and dictators try to do. It is the explosive idea of Christ and Christ’s teachings.

Christians have a bombshell! Jesus Christ explodes hatred, wars, immorality, fear, and the evils that prevail upon this world. The apostle Paul would never agree that two plus two could ever equal 5. It has to be 4. And so it is with belief. It has to be the right answer. It has to be the explosive love of Jesus Christ. In Romans 10:8, Paul says “For the secret is very near you, in your own heart, in your own mouth! It is the secret of faith, which is the burden of our preaching.” (Phillips translation)

In a ladies department store, a coat was listed for sale under the name, “Casually yours”. Perhaps that fits people of our day. The advertisement said, “This coat captures beautifully that fine air of informal unconcern.”

Is this what is wrong with us? We have too much of that “fine air of informal unconcern”. The sin of casualness…careless casualness…that’s the nail that crucifies the Christ again and again. A Christian must never be “casually yours”. But always “devotedly yours”, or “enthusiastically yours”.

The secret of our salvation is “belief”. And belief must move us to commitment, and commitment must shove us always to do a little more, give more, care a lot more, and let the love show! It’s not the “casual” thing to do.

In one of the Peanuts cartoons, Lucy is terribly
frightened because it has been raining and raining
and raining. She begins to wonder aloud if there
might be a repetition of Noah’s flood. But Charlie
Brown reassures her. He tells her about God’s
promise and the meaning of the rainbow and the
covenant.

Much relieved, Lucy says, “Thanks, Charlie Brown,
you’ve taken a load off my mind!” To which Charlie
Brown replies: “Good theology has a way of doing
that!” (from The Santuary for Lent 2006 by James
W. Moore

The Hilarity of The Gospel

Do you recall the hell-fire and damnation preaching, the “Amen” shouting, the “saw-dust trail” of past decades in the church? Or surely you have heard about it? Although we may not wish to return to them, at times we have become so formal in the life of the church, so staid and sour, that we no longer act or sound like Christians.

There was something marvelously relaxed and joyous about the life of our Lord as he walked this earth. It is something we wish we might duplicate.

In the book of Acts, we read that the early disciples proclaimed the risen Christ with such hilarious joy and exuberance, that they were accused of being addicted to wine. Peter said, ”No, it was too early in the day for that.” This was not alcoholism, but the heady wine of the Spirit. It was that which caused men to see visions, and dream dreams.

Diedrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian, executed on the Nazi gallows, defined “hilaritas”, the Latin word, as a certain confidence in your work; as a certain boldness and defiance of the world and of popular opinion; and as a certain steadfastness that what we do, benefits the world.

The Christian works with a kind of assurance of freedom. We are not under Law, but under Love. The burden of the Law was like shackles of steel. The fruit of Love is exhilaration, joy, peace, and freedom.

The early Christians learned the cost of freedom, but they would not be shackled again. They could be persecuted, burned at the stake, but they would sing as they burned. They could be thrown to the lions, but they went rejoicing.

With our small sacrifices today, have we forgotten the Gospel with its joy, with its Good News? Call me a fool, if you want, for Christ’s sake, but I don’t care. I have Jesus. Accuse me of indulging, if you will, but the only intoxicant I have been drinking is the wine of the Spirit. I have filled my cup with the sacrament of Life, and I am hilariously happy with the Savior!

Love Is Not Optional

When you buy a car, you first get a price that is very basic. It may seem like a lot, but the salesman convinces you it is a bargain. Then you talk about the extras: the “On Star” phone connection, the sun-roof, the CD player, the computer analyzer, etc.

It may seem very difficult, but it is possible to refuse the extras, and still get the car.

In the Christian life, some people want the superficial extras, but think they can get along without the basic equipment. They can take the sacrament, they can attend church, have their names on the rolls, come to the church suppers and even sing in the choir. They are sold on the extras, but just as a car is not a car without wheels, so the Christian is not a Christian without love. Love is not optional!

The epistle-writer says: “If any one says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar’. (I Jn. 4:20). We thought maybe this basic equipment could wait. We know we are supposed to love our neighbors, but at the moment, we just can’t do it. So, we’d like the optional equipment first, and maybe some day get around to the basics. It doesn’t work. It’s no soap! It isn’t good logic, and it isn’t good Christianity.

I have no alternative. I may not agree with my neighbors. I may not like my neighbors, but nonetheless I must love them. Love is not optional. And this comes at times, as a terrifying reality. It moves me out of the theoretical into the realm of the actual.

The story of hate down through the centuries has been a grim one. Hatred is not just an absence of love, it is a violation of the law of love. Just as holding your breath is a violation of the law of breathing, so hatred is a violation of the law of loving. The effects are deadly!

There is a cross that stands at the center of our faith. And the epistle-writer says: “Herein is love…that God loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.” He then concludes. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (I John 4:10,11)

If I am a Christian, I have no choice. My job is not to change my neighbor, or even to agree with him in everything. My job is simply to love him. I may not learn to like the garlic he eats, or enjoy the music to which he listens. I may not like the way he combs his hair, or the cut of his clothes, but I must love him as I love myself…to want for him, what I want for myself…to guarantee for him every freedom which I wish to guarantee for myself.

Sometimes this drives me to distraction, but the automobile of faith won’t move without it.

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Begin With Goodbye

The good Lord surely knew what He was doing when He made us! He gave us a front and a back, and our heads were screwed on so that we look towards where we are going, and not where we’ve been. I can look back, and there are times when I need to do so, but I was designed to look ahead.

It is sad when some people live in the past. They glory over past victories, until they become a stumbling-block, preventing them from living in the present. And there are others who get hung up on their failures, and on personal misfortunes, and with deep sorrow, they bury themselves in self-pity.

The Scriptures tell us that Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt because she couldn’t leave the past. She kept turning around, grieving over what she was leaving. She was not ready to face the future. And because of this, she had no future!

There are circumstances in life when we need to begin with “good-bye”. Beginning a New Year is one of them. Moving to a new community is another. Taking a new job is such an experience. There must be a movement from grief to new beginnings. Sure, last year had its good moments. Yes, your own community means a lot to you, and the old job wasn’t all that bad. But life goes on!

The apostle Paul was wise enough to say that “he died daily”. As parents, we died a little death, when we released our first child to go to school. We died a little death when our daughter walked down the aisle to her future husband. We die little deaths when we go for surgery. On each of these times, we trusted ourselves and our loved ones to Life.

Perhaps God has so ordained that we die these little deaths so that we can make a final transition some day. Unless we can trust, and really say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded, that He is willing to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him, against that day.” (II Timothy 1:12) then we are not ready for that final act of BEGINNING.

Endings and beginnings are built into all of life, to keep us conscious of this truth. Each morning, we get up…each evening we go to bed. There is healing in saying the smaller good-byes, in dealing with the smaller death, so that we may be able to deal with the larger separations that come to us.

The past is past. We must learn to say “good-bye” to our sins, to our failures. Lay your sorrows and your hang-ups, your fears and your tensions at the feet of the Savior. For He is faithful and just to forgive your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, if you come to Him. (I John 1:9) To deny that He does this is to blaspheme God and His promises.

A Sunday Morning Priority

Some people go to church, but wonder why? “What’s in it for me?” they ask. “Where’s the gain?”

In my business, there is “gain” (at least there is supposed to be). I can see it. Working around the house gives me a nicer place. I can see it. Going out for a drive, or heading for the lake gives me pleasure. I feel it. But sometimes going to church makes me feel, “Where’s the gain?”

But wait a minute: there is gain!...infinite gain! And without it, there is loss!...infinite loss! This is not like hot dogs or sunshine, or cool water, or sand in our sandwiches. This is like life or death, like breathing or not breathing. The eternal God who made you, who gave you life, who has the world in His hands, who can destroy us with one breath, is waiting to be praised! He waits at the altar for the penitent heart to worship. There is infinite gain in going to church, and infinite loss in not going.

Take a look: When we worship God, it removes us from the danger of idolatry. It is not a question of whether we will worship or not, but of what we shall worship? We all know how easy it is to give first-rate priority to second-rate things. And so, I go to church to keep my worship lifted upon the Holy of Holies. It would not be safe to have it anyplace else.

And then I go, because it makes me part of a great fellowship. If God is my Father, then all persons are my brothers and sisters. Some want to worship God in fractions, as long as He allows them to accept only white people, or only “my kind of people”. But God cannot be worshiped as a fraction. And there is no such thing as fractional brotherhood. Going to church makes me brother to every other child of God in the universe, and that’s a tremendous thing!

I go to Church, furthermore, because God has made me restless until I find my rest in Him.

I go to Church, also, because I must know the Truth. I am not always sure I am getting the truth from my government, or the T.V. news, and the politicians are not noted for giving us the truth. But Truth is our field. God’s truth is the only truth there is. All else is falsehood.

There is a world of invisible Truth…laws far more important than the ones we learn in our science books. They are the mental, the moral, and the spiritual laws. You cannot break these. You only get broken upon them. Love is truth. You can try to break that law with hate, but when you do so, you get ulcers and become spiteful and small. You cannot break the law of forgiveness, it breaks you.

You may have other priorities on Sunday morning, but God won’t take second place. And so I go to establish these priorities in my life. God has a lot at stake in us. And you and I have all of Eternity at stake…in Him!

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Lord, Them's My Sentiments

In the prayer wheels of Tibet, there was a mechanical arrangement that enabled each person’s prayer to be lifted up before the altar again and again without the worshiper even being present. It makes you think of some kind of Rube Goldberg contraption.

It’s not too different, however, from the little boy who crawled into bed, and pointing to a note at the foot of his bed that he had written the night before, said: “Them’s my sentiments, God. Good night.”

Of course, the prayer without the pray-er is of no value, though it be repeated parrot-like a million times.

Prayer that is real keeps us in the supply line of strength, and without it, we discover that we have been shorn of our locks like Samson, who failed to realize, until too late, that his strength was gone.

The Lord’s Payer is the great model that Jesus gave to his disciples. Jesus said, ”pray then, like this.” It is a brief prayer, it is a child-like prayer, and yet no prayer could portray more profoundly the theology of the Church. It is a prayer that sets first things first.

It starts out with three things: God’s nature, God’s Kingdom, and God’s will: “hallowed be thy name…thy kingdom come…thy will be done.” And then follows the four petitions of man’s needs: his daily temporal needs (“give us this day our daily bread”), his need for forgiveness, (“forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”), his defense against the onset of temptation (“lead us not into temptation”) and his deliverance from evil (“deliver us from evil”). And then comes the closing doxology: “thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.” Amen.

The story is told about a man who left his car parked in a “no Parking” zone. He left a note, “I’ve driven around this block 20 times and found no place except here. I have an appointment. Forgive us our trespasses.”

When he came back, he found a traffic ticket on the window, and this note: “I’ve been driving around this block for 20 years on my beat, and if I don’t give you a ticket, I may lose my job.” And then he added, “Lead us not into temptation.”

The Lord’s Prayer has been used, and it has been abused. But it holds before us the truth that the way to pray is not complicated. It is our needful way of communicating with the Eternal.

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Cancel Tomorrow

On a college wall, a student had scribbled these thought-provoking words: “Due to lack of interest, tomorrow has been cancelled.”

What a thought! Perhaps these words could be revised to say: “Due to lack of commitment, life has come to a grinding halt.” And now we begin to get the idea.

Across the land, a lot of people are “on strike”. They cherish the meaning of citizenship, but forget that it means for them a moral commitment to help keep our country great. Within the Church Universal, there are people who are happy to call themselves Christian, but are just holding back, waiting for God to improve the conditions, and make a better world.

And so, due to lack of interest, churches have to close their doors. Due to lack of interest, P.T.A.’s decide to disband. Due to lack of interest and commitment, people decide that liberty means “license” and decide to do whatever they want. They forget that liberty prevails only when we restrain ourselves, so as not to deny rights to others along the way.

The writer of Revelation said to one of the Churches of Asia Minor: “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:15)

Unfortunately, we have become so dead-locked into pessimism, that we no longer believe in the triumph of good over evil. And so, we reject our faith, which proclaims that not only are we to be triumphant over death some day, but we are also to be victorious over the world. We are not victims, but victors. We are on the side of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is not worthy of us to be discouraged, when we have pledged ourselves to the Master of HOPE.

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Compassion Fatigue

There is a kind of battle-fatigue known to men and women on the service fronts of the world. It is characterized by shock, lack of feeling, imperviousness to anything. After so much noise of shells and bombs, so much plodding through mud and weeds, they develop a kind of wall of insensitivity.

Sometimes I get that way too. I get tired of doing good, being helpful, trying to be sensitive to the hurts of the world. We hear so much about evil in our world, drugs, deception in high places, terrorism, starvation, cruel and vicious deaths. And I begin to build up a kind of compassion-fatigue. What’s the use? How can anybody do anything for this crazy, mixed-up world?

There is a story about a ball team with a rookie playing right field. When the batter hit a Texas leaguer his way, sure enough, it squirted through his hands. The next pop up, he lost in the sun. Then followed a nice direct hit, and he fell over his shoe laces, trying to get it.

The manager got him back on the bench and looking down on him said, “Son, let me show you how to play right field.” So, as might be expected, the first hit went bounding between his legs. A second hit bounced off his mitt like rubber, and the next pop-up coming his way, he lost in the sun.

Storming back to the bench, he looked down at the rookie and said, “Man, you’ve messed up that right field so bad, nobody can play it anymore!”

Not so with God. His grace is greater than all of our bobbling of the ball. Nobody can mess up life so bad, that God’s compassion is not able to redeem it. This is the story of how man’s sinfulness is met by Divine Grace. His love is never dimmed. And so, I register myself among the sinners, grateful that the love of God is never diminished, that His compassion is never fatigued, and that there is room in His heart for you and me.

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What's Going On Here?

In the third chapter of Acts, there is the story of Peter and John, at the city gate, being approached by a cripple, who asked for money. Peter’s response was “silver and gold have I none, but what I have, I give…In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (3:6) And lo, he did!

The follow-up of the story is that some of the priests and Sadducees were disturbed by what Peter had done, and began the inquisition: “What’s going on here?” they demanded.

Of course, it was obvious what had been going on here. A cripple was now walking and in good health. Shortly before this, Peter had preached a great sermon, and 5,000 people believed. And of course, it was only a few weeks before that Jesus had been crucified and sealed away in a tomb. That tomb had turned out to be an “open door”. Death had no power over this amazing Jesus. And now, some of it seemed to have rubbed off on his disciples.

Peter and John, therefore, were quite obviously continuing something that people thought had been sealed away in a tomb. And as Christian history was being formed, a Saul became a Paul, and Christians sang as they were burned at the stake, and an Emperor named Constantine decided that the entire Empire ought to become Christian, and a Francis of Assissi gave up everything he owned, to live as a simple man of love, and a Luther and a Wesley were born, and so it continued down to our day.

There’s something that goes on here, whenever Jesus Christ is proclaimed. Lives are being changed, and miracles take p

Heartbreak House

Why do so many good people go bad? Why do some children turn against their parents? What a heartbreaking experience to have a child turn to drugs, or alcohol, or end up in jail. Why? Why does it happen?

Perhaps the best answer we can give to parental heart-break is that it happens to God too. We who are His children disappoint and hurt Him. We cause Him great pain. But this is what the Gospel is all about…God’s amazing love for foolish, sinful children.

In John 14, we find the words of Jesus telling about a Heavenly Father, who has a marvelous house with many rooms. In this beautiful passage, often used as funeral scripture, he explains that he will go on ahead to prepare a place for us.

But the spiritual home that we call “Heaven” must be the original “Heartbreak House”, because so many of its rooms are empty! God has an occupancy problem. He has a room for everyone, but rooms are empty because they are not claimed.

It is because God loves us, that He has given us the freedom to say “Yes” or “No” to Him and to His spiritual laws. We are not puppets on a string. We are not electronic machinery, powered by a divine battery, and controlled by a super divine computer. We are the prodigal sons, who can freely take God’s marvelous gifts and squander them, until finally the hell on earth of our own sins causes us to say, “Even the servants in my father’s house are better off than I.”

With this mood of desperation, or because of good common sense reasoning, some of God’s children decide to take a second look and say, “I will return.”

How wonderful that “Heartbreak House” can become “Rejoicing House”. For when even one sinner comes to his senses, we are told that literally “all the angels in heaven rejoice.”

Through the centuries there have been too many un-occupied rooms in God’s great mansion. This is the burden of God’s heart. But you and I can change God’s sorrow into rejoicing, when we come to our senses. We each have a claim on that Heavenly real estate. What a shame that so many just ignore it.


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Pick A Minor Ecstasy

Psalm 144:9 says: “I will sing a new song to thee, O God.” For some of us, the song has gone sour. For some, life has become drudgery, not joy.

Why? What is it that moves us? What starts us into the day with a sense of meaning and purpose? How do we get the joy back into life again?

A big dog saw a little dog chasing its tail, and asked, “Why are you chasing your tail so?” Said the puppy, “I have mastered philosophy. I have solved the problems of the universe which no dog before me has rightly solved. I have learned that the best thing for a dog is happiness, and that happiness is in my tail. Therefore, I am chasing it; and when I catch it, I shall have it.”

Said the old dog, “My son, I too have paid attention to the problems of the universe in my weak way, and formed some opinions. I too have judged that happiness is a fine thing for a dog, and that happiness is in my tail. But I have noticed that when I chase it, it keeps running away from me; but when I go about my business, it comes right along behind me.”

We need vacations, hobbies, joyous moments with great music. We all need a kind of tail-chasing ecstasy, to take away the drabness, the sameness, and the boredom of daily tasks. But if we pick it properly, it will help us to maintain our major priorities.

The disciple, Peter, loved to fish, but Jesus changed his priorities, and he became a “fisher of men.” He learned that when he went about his major business of seeking Christ’s Kingdom, the minor ecstasy was still there to pull him out of a fatal nose-dive!

Pick one for yourself…a minor ecstasy, that is. Try “following a smile,” for example. Smile at someone, and then watch it move on like a chain reaction. One of the poets asked, “Have you had a kindness shown? Pass it on! ‘Twas not given to you alone! Pass it on! Let it travel down the years, let is wipe another’s tears, ‘Till in heaven the deed appears. Pass it on.”

Someone once said, “A hobby is something you go nuts about, in order to keep from going crazy.” These are pleasant “minor ecstasies”. They keep us alert, alive, and going straight in our major tasks.

Have you seen the modern kites? They’ve gone professional. Some have elaborate 50 foot tails which seem like needless appendages! But without them, the kite will not fly. Happiness in the tail may not be everything. But like the old dog, we discover that when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then the joy, the happiness, the significance to life seems to come along quite naturally too. Work at it, and you will once again, be able to “sing a new song unto the Lord”…one that will lift you out of the blues, into joy.

Losing All To Gain One

Years ago, I descended deep into a private zinc and lead mine, and had the privilege of collecting golden calcite crystals…beautiful keepsake specimens. I filled my bag with them, always looking for that one crystal, more perfect than the others.

Berry pickers rejoice in the rich fruit, but they keep reaching past the thorns for the bigger, juicier ones just beyond their reach.

Can you visualize a collector of gems? Before him is a pile of glittering stones. He rejoices in them, but suddenly he is confronted with a stone, so precious, so desirable, so valuable, that he would gladly give up his entire collection, to obtain that one perfect gem.

The apostle Paul had everything that the good Jew might have wanted: he came from a noble family, educated by the best of scholars, he was a Pharisee, and by all standards of “legal righteousness”, he possessed everything!

But there came a time when he said, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things…in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in him.” (Phil. 3:7-9) And he continues, “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own…I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:12.14)

Sometimes we say, “this one thing I do”, but in reality we are saying: “these many things I dabble in”. Aiming for greatness, financial success, earthly power, or any of these goals, can only be considered “baubles and trinkets”, when held next to the goal of “living for Christ and his Kingdom”.

Have we really focused in on “the Pearl of great price”? Sometimes, there is value in losing all things, in order to gain that one thing that is beyond earthly values. Paul discovered that in Jesus Christ, there was a power that not only “rolled away stones” (a resurrection power), but a power to live life at its fullest.

Don’t be a collector of baubles. Find the ultimate treasure!

Good News and the Bad

Here is one of the old “good news-bad news” stories. Have you heard it?

One beautiful day, a pilot was flying his plane. That’s good! Suddenly, he ran out of gas. That’s bad! But he had a second tank, so he switched over. That’s good! But that tank was empty too. That’s bad! So he had to bail out. It was O.K. He had his parachute. That’s good! But the parachute didn’t open. That’s bad! He looked down, and saw that he was falling towards a hay stack. That’s good! But there was a pitch fork in the middle of it. That’s bad! He missed the pitch fork. That’s good! But, he missed the hay stack too!

Does this remind you a bit of the Christian Gospel? God loves us. That’s good. But mankind doesn’t really love God. That’s bad. God sent his son to live and to die for us. That’s good. But we just can’t seem to understand it. That’s bad.

In Matt. 5:48, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. Suddenly the good news becomes the bad news, because we know we cannot do it. If our job is to imitate Jesus, then how discouraging. If the gospel requires that we be like this perfect Son of God, then this is bad news.

However, with further study, we find that the scripture tense is future. The word “be” is actually “become”. It is a partial demand for the present, but it is also a promise for the future. We recognize the impossibility of perfection now, but it is a call of our Lord towards something better.

The apostle Paul said, “I press on towards the goal.” Christian perfection is that state of attainment, which is just beyond our present attainment. In this life, the Christian does not “arrive”. But he or she should always be “arriving”. If we can be kind, we could always be a bit kinder. If we are friendly, we can always be friendlier. We can be good, but we could also be better.

Christian perfection suggests that our virtue must never be fractional. Our forgiveness must never be half-hearted. Our mercy must always go “the second mile”.

It is not easy to be a good Christian. That’s the bad side. But the Christian seems to be the only kind of being who is vibrating with the good vibrations of the universe. That's the eternal “good side” of it.

How To Turn Yourself Inside Out

In the process of creation, God developed many different kinds of life. Some were formed with hard shells and armor on the outside, like the oyster, the crayfish, and the turtle. Some of the great pre-historic monsters had massive armor plates.

These had great protection, but they were also slow, stupid creatures, doing little that was more brilliant than eating and fighting. Some of them lost out entirely in the drama of life.

In developing the higher forms, however, God did a very daring thing! Human beings were literally turned inside out. The bony structure, with its protection and armor, was situated deep in the middle, leaving the raw, exposed nerve endings and flesh exposed.

As a result, people cannot pull themselves into their shells (although some try). We have no protection from the elements around us. Thorns will tear the flesh, fire will burn us, we are bruised by a bump, and stunned by a blow. Humans are much more exposed to danger this way; but on the other hand, they are also more sensitive to the world around them. They are better able to adjust to it.

In the Chinese language, words are made up of several characters. The Chinese word for “crisis,” for example, is made up of two characters, one which means “danger,” and the other which means “opportunity”. Put them together, and you have the word “crisis”.

As humans appeared on the face of the earth, they literally moved into a crisis. Exposed on every hand to danger, they also were able to appreciate great music, enjoy fine art, and feel the tender touch of love and caring.

When we are not sensitive to human needs, we are much like the turtle. People who build walls around themselves, who have “chips on their shoulders” are doomed to oyster and turtle development. Unlike the oyster, we can be hurt very easily.

There is a difference between the hand of the human and the hoof of the ox. The hand can be mangled, but it can also handle a scalpel. If we had the choice, who would trade a human hand, however, for an ox’s hoof? Hands can hold you, help and protect you. The hand and the body are vulnerable, but having feelings, whether they be good or bad, make it all worthwhile.

Jesus said our job as Christians was to turn tenderness out upon the world…to look, even if the view is bad; to feel, even though it hurts; to have compassion, even though it disturbs our composure. While the world is dying, let us not complain about sore toes. With our fat tummies, we must never argue that we are too poor to give or care. These are the privileges given us when God turned us inside out.

Someone has said that true faith is like
having a tiger by the tail. You can hardly
hang on, and you dare not let go.

We Christians celebrate the fact that
about 2,000 years ago, the disciples
had gotten hold of a power that sent
them to all parts of the world.

And if all the power of God is wrapped
up in Jesus, then truly, we are dealing
with tiger material!

Scared to Die?

Although some people are afraid to die, there are perhaps even more persons who are literally afraid to live.

Life is scary at times. It has problems and nobody promised that it would be easy. But sometimes we discover that struggle and personal tragedy do add a whole new dimension to life. Without the struggle, there would be no victory. An unknown author has given this illustration:

Imagine, if you can, two unborn babies in the mother’s womb. Each of them is talking about the uncertain prospects of what is just ahead.

The one twin says: “Leaving this womb can mean nothing but death. We are absolutely dependent upon this womb, which sustains and feeds us.”

The other baby replies: “But nature has been developing us for nine months. Nature is not utterly irrational. She is preparing us for something.”

“But,” the unbelieving twin answers: “Describe if you can, the kind of a world into which we are going to be born. What is it like?”

And that, of course, completely stumps the believing child. “I can’t describe it,” he replies. “I have no idea what it is like, but I am sure that nature would never do what she has been doing all these months, with no meaning or purpose in the process.”

To which the unbelieving baby replies, “But that is just blind faith!”

Of course, the believing child is right. Unknown to us, there is a reason and purpose behind this life of toil and sorrow. Life is going someplace, and it is not just blind faith.

When these two children are born, they will discover that life is both good and bad. There is evil and there is good. There is struggle and there can be victory. There is sadness, but there is also joy.

And the same thing may be said when we approach the end of our lives here. To die may seem scary, but to be born is equally so. Some may say that it is just “blind faith” that causes us as Christians to believe that God has planned something more just ahead. But we say we believe we have spent these three score years and ten as part of God’s great training program for what has been prepared, but is as yet unseen.

To be born, and to die are both fearful experiences, until we recognize the ongoing Presence of One who hasn’t stopped loving us yet, and has promised that He will love and care for us, even to eternity.

Still Evolving

What does it mean to be human? Does it mean that we are thinking beings? Does it mean that we make decisions? Does it mean that we have a conscience, a soul, a spirit that continues after the physical body dies?

We are more than animals, though we are listed as being of the animal kingdom. The Bible says that we were made “in the image of God”. Surely this makes us “human” in the best sense of the word.

But some reject the “image”. Daily news reports indicate that we are breeding crueler versions of “beasts”. We are selfish and that’s not the “image of God”. Many are filled with hatred, and that’s not the image. We have learned how to destroy and kill and maim our fellows. And surely this is not the “image of God.”

Are we fooling ourselves? The potential for humanness is there. The possibilities of “soul” are there. But it happens only when the Lord “breathes into us of His Spirit.” Only then, do we become truly human!

Look at the record of our inhumanity: Destruction of the Jews in the Christian crusades: death to the American Indians as we settled and over-ran this land; destruction of thousands of Russians inside the U.S.S.R. during the last 50 years; decimation of the Vietnamese by Pol Pot just a generation ago; gassing and extermination of thousands and thousands of Jews by the Germans; massacre of his own people in Sadaam Hussein’s civil strife, and destruction of the Kurds; plus the enslavement of blacks in our country, and in South Africa, and the bloodshed of world and local wars all throughout history.

Where is the “humanity” in all of this? Are we not still animals? Maybe animal intelligence would rate higher than our own!

Although Adam was given the “image of God,” did he not reject it along with so many of the rest who followed in his footsteps? But a second Adam (Jesus Christ) came, and people became new creatures in Him. Perhaps for the very first time, we began to experience real “humanity” as God meant it to be. We were designed to be like Jesus. His image is to be within us…His love, His forgiveness, and His mercy.

Our world is still evolving out of the swampy mists of bestiality, but thank God, there is a new life-style coming through. The evolution of the flesh is going at a slow pace. We can build better, taller, and smarter beings than before. But the evolution of the spirit is creating an exciting new kind of person. Thank God, the news isn’t all bad. There is still hope for humanity.

You Got A Sermon?

“No”, you say, “I’m no preacher. I don’t preach!” And yet the Scriptures talk about the early converts going out to tell everyone what they knew about Jesus.

But what did they know? They never went to Seminary. They didn’t take courses in theology. They weren’t orators. They couldn’t take the Old Testament, and open it up to their listeners with all the legal intricacies of the law. Certainly they knew nothing about sanctification, or justification, or any of the big words preachers toss around on Sundays. By what logic could they possibly go out and bring the message of faith?

And yet, isn’t this the very heart of the Gospel? They had been with Jesus. They knew something about his spirit, his love, his concern for forgiveness, and truth. This is what they could talk about. They had found someone, a very special Someone. And as a result, they could not rest until they had spread the word.

Why are we so concerned with doctrine today? Why do we split into a thousand camps because of our technicality with Biblical hair-splitting? We know Jesus. Shouldn’t this be enough to qualify us as ambassadors of the Lord Christ?

Of course there are doctrinal ramifications. Of course there are rights and wrongs about the faith that make us either faithful or untrue. But, shouldn’t the life of the Church be a simple sharing of what we believe about Jesus, and how that knowledge changes life, rather than all the other things that have separated us into a thousand bickering camps?

The Lord must hate, indeed despise our splintering. But are we not all guilty of making Bible proof-texting and doctrinal absolutes of more importance than the simple act of obedience to the One who calls us to follow?

When it comes right down to it, it’s just possible that you might share a better sermon through your daily life and conversations, than a thousand fancy words given from a pulpit. You’re sounding good, Sister…Keep it going, Brother.

Rainbow Over Calvary

“The Niagara River is only a few miles long, but what makes it of significance is that at Niagara Falls, there is a tragedy in the channel, a break in the even flow of the stream, so that the waters make a stupendous leap into the gorge below. As they are shattered and bruised on the rocks beneath the falls, however, there is cast up into the sunlight the exquisite rainbow of the Niagara, which even kings and queens come from the ends of the earth to see”. (Wm. Ellis)

Here is a parable of life. There are tragic moments, when the earth shudders and the rocks split, and this little stream called life is convulsed.

The Old Testament is filled with the tragic record of Hebrew history…a convulsing of hopes and dreams, and a seeming frustration of everything for which they had looked. But it is not difficult to carry some of these illustrations over into our own lives. How often, we have said, “Lord, why?” Again and again, we have felt the pins being knocked out from under us. Our health, our business, our family situations seem to sicken and bring heartache.

Even our faith looks a bit bleak at times when we behold Christ upon the cross, the obvious victim of evil persons intent upon subverting goodness. Isaiah said of just such a person yet to come, “He was despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” His own people spurned such a Messiah, but Jesus said, “That’s it! Only when life is poured out in love, can the dream be fulfilled. Here, let me demonstrate it for you, and he took bread, and broke it, and took the cup and said, ‘this is my blood, poured out for many.’” And then he died.

Many saw it only as tragedy. But others saw it as fulfillment. Life is filled with many costly interruptions. Some people see them as cataclysmic. Others are able to see the rainbow over Calvary, and learn to walk on, and find peace.

Gabriel's Horn and Hell's Bells

In the delightful production, “Green Pastures”, Gabriel just can’t wait to blow his horn. He keeps saying, “Is it time now, Lord? Can I blow my horn now, Lord?” And one of these times, I suppose the Lord is going to say: “Blow, Gabriel, blow.”

Of course, none of us knows under just what circumstances this might take place. There is a day of judgment, and we are accountable.

Someone once said that we have a choice of ending the world in three different ways: “If the bomb doesn’t get us, pollution will. And if pollution doesn’t do it fast enough, the population explosion will.” Suddenly the global squeeze is upon us.

In the days of Jesus, there were only 250 million people on the entire globe. It took 1850 years to get the 1^st billion people. It took 100 years more to get to 2 ½ billion. In 40 years more (1990), we reached 5 billion. All of this in spite of wars and plagues and famine. Scientists now predict that in another 40 years, we will double it again to 10 billion.

One authority says that 8 billion people is the absolute maximum the world can possibly support with food, water, air, and the means of life. Are we then talking about the “end of the world” for mankind in about 20-25 years?

The Biblical idea of the “end of the world” is probably one of the most misunderstood doctrines of the church. Someone once asked me if I was post-millenialist or pre-millenialist or a-millenialist, and I said, “None of the above. I was just a humble Christian, trying to do my job. And if the Lord came for me in death tomorrow, I planned to be ‘ready’.”

Years ago, I cut my spiritual eye-teeth on the book of Revelation and Daniel, and learned the vocabulary of the “mark of the Beast” and the “Rapture”, and all those other strange and seemingly indecipherable calculations found in apocalyptic literature. As a child, I was fearful of the strange predictions of those who seemed so sure of the future.

I would lay awake at night, wondering if the Lord had already come, and left poor sinful me behind. And then a wonderful Christian said to me, “Francis, the Second Coming of the Lord has already taken place in your life, if you have accepted him into your heart.” He is always coming, coming, coming, if we open our lives and hearts to Him.

The scientists’ “end of the world” and the Biblical “end of the world” have one great thing in common: someone is going to be held responsible for our sins and grievous failures with this old world, and this short life. Since it could be me, I’m going to try hard to be part of the answer, rather than part of the problem.

Where Are You Going?

You may remember in the story of Alice in Wonderland that Alice came to a fork in the road. She asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, “What road do I take?”

The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know”, Alice answered.

“Then”, said the cat, “it really doesn’t matter, does it?”

Some people are content to live in that kind of nether-world, but once you have caught the vision of the truth that God has given to His people through Jesus Christ, anything less than that is unacceptable.

As someone once said, “Once you’ve seen a sunrise, you can get ‘hooked’ on it.” So, living with Jesus in your life, and the power of truth in your heart, can become a delicious habit!

“Without a vision, the people perish” is the old proverb. So also, we can say that if you don’t know where you are going, you are going to end up in the ditch. Without a worthy purpose to begin each day, you will soon find yourself like the proverbial dog chasing it’s tail, and getting absolutely nowhere!

Like the plants of the field, we cease to live when we are no longer illuminated by the SUN. As Christians, we cease to have life with meaning, when we are no longer illuminated by the power of the SON, the Son of God.

I've been thinking about a statement from Blaise
Pascal, who said: "Men never do evil so completely
and cheerfully as when they do it from religious
conviction."

How sad this is, but true...and during Lent, I wish
to confess my sins of believing that my righteousness
is better than yours.

Thanks God, I Needed That

In a Reader’s Digest article, the question was asked, “Have Astronomers Found God?” The writer, a scientist, said that although he was an agnostic himself, he felt that the astronomers were being forced to consider the possibility of a divine Creator. Because of the “Big Bang” theory, there seems no alternative but to believe that there had to be a beginning moment…and beyond that moment, there had to be One who did the beginning. “In the beginning…God.” We’ve been saying that for a long time!

Personally, I don’t really care whether the scientists are the ones who discover that, or the theologians…for I have discovered that not only is there a God who started everything, but One who continues to stay with His creation, to sustain it, and work with us in our problems, and love us in our sinful condition.

No matter where I go, this great God has gone first. It was the Psalmist who said: “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Thy hand shall lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” (Ps. 139:9,10) That’s a beautiful re-assurance!

So, today I say: “Thanks God, I needed that!”

Did You Get The Word?

“In the beginning, God!” Not what, nor how, nor why, but WHO? That’s what the Bible is all about. It is a book about God. Unfortunately we try to make it a book of science; a book of magic, a book of history. We try to force it to do all kinds of things it was never intended to do! It is a book of religion. It is the devout, word of faith, of sincere God-inspired men and women who were confident that God is, and that God moves in marvelous ways to make it possible for His children…all people on earth, to live an abundant, happy life.”

Several years ago, in a hospital bed, I wrote the above as the beginning of a book I proposed to write. Three chapters later, I was released from the hospital, and the book went no further for a long time.

How typical of the way we treat the Bible…picking it up for awhile, and then forgetting for long periods to study its sacred pages.

Someone has said:

“It is a word of comfort in a world of fear.

It is a word of love in a world of hate.

It is a word of mercy in a world of injustice.

It is a word of judgment in a world of unrighteousness.

It is a word of authority in a world needing a divine

mandate.”

Most of all, I need to ask: “Has the Word gotten into me in such a way as to make any difference?”

Love And Demons

A fascinating story is told in three of the Gospels about Jesus meeting a disturbed man (“a man from the city who had demons”) Lk. 8:26-39, Matt. 8:28-34, Mk. 5:1-20

Today, we would say this man had mental illness. Jesus came into this man’s life, and the demons went out! What a wonder-cure this is to our pressure-filled world. When Jesus comes in…demons go out! When love comes in, demons must flee!

And here is a miracle-cure just as real as penicillin, just as valid as insulin; just as real as any of the modern wonder-working medical drugs. If only we realized the power of the love of Jesus! If only we believed the cure of His Presence in human life.

You and I have a power that we can give to those around us! It is the power of love…it is the saving presence of Jesus that is better than aspirin, more powerful than cobalt treatment or a laser beam. Demons go down by the bushel when love comes in! Thank God, we don’t have to wait years and years for any other wonder-cure! It began in the heart of God; it became crystal clear on a hill-side cross; it takes place any day, any time, in the human heart, when we accept the healing love of God through Jesus Christ.

How's Your Peacemaker Doing?

The story is told of a woman who in a conversation asked how a friend’s “peacemaker”…no, “pacemaker” was doing. After the slip of the tongues, she began to think about what she had said.

Truly, into the heart of every Christian, our Lord has implanted a “peacemaker”, and the question is, “How is it doing?” Is it helping us overcome our bad tempers? Is it giving us a sweeter disposition? Or does it have long periods when it never functions? Are people within the church learning to be forgiving and accepting of one another? Could anyone tell, if he saw you at work, that you had a “peacemaker” implanted within you?

When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, maybe we shorted out the wires so that the “peacemaker” would never work. If so, then life is running out for us fast. Anyone who puts on an exterior of piety, and does not seek to prove it through actions that back up his words, is no more than a hollow shell, and the life of the Savior is not in him.

Or, maybe we let the power go out of our “peacemaker” by failure to nurture the soul and cultivate the heart through worship and prayer. A phone call came to a certain church one day. The caller asked, “Is Rev. So and So preaching tomorrow?” The church secretary answered, “No, but we believe that God will be there, and that’s good enough for us.”

Get the power from the Source, and keep your “peacemaker” alive and strong. The slogan that says, “Seven days without worship and prayer, makes one weak!” is absolutely true.

Because Christians have failed to respond to the implanting of God’s Holy Spirit within them, the world grows increasingly evil; the Church grows increasingly weak; and the heart of the Savior bleeds again. Our society needs Christ in the heart, or peace in the world will never start.

Hope

There’s more to life than complaining!...there’s always HOPE! When it’s hot outside, I’ll think cool! When it’s cold, I’ll think warm. When there’s nothing but trouble, I’ll try to whistle. When people say it can’t be done, I’ll remember those who have worked miracles before. When evil seems to be in charge, I’ll remember God!

The author of Lamentations gives us a good thought for each day:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

His mercies never come to an end;

They are new every morning:

Great is thy faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, says my soul.

Therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Without hope, life would be an impossible nightmare! With hope, life is a challenge and an act of praise! “Great is thy faithfulness” the author said of the Lord, “this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.” (vs. 21)

Accepting Failure

Are you a perfectionist? Many people are! And how could we get along, without those sincere, hard-working, conscientious people who are forever “doing their best” and striving for “perfection.”

And yet, sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that “succeeding”, and doing a “perfect” job is expected of us! Who do we think we are…God? Only God is perfect, and some of us are dangerously on the ragged edge of “playing God” in our perfectionism.

Better for us, if we accept from the beginning that we are imperfect, and that we cannot be a success in everything, and that we are going to fail sometimes; but that God loves us anyway, and (hopefully) others will too, even when we fail! We do not have value because we succeed or fail, but we have value in God’s eyes, because we are human, and imperfect, and sinful creatures.

Someone once said, “Nothing fails like success!” In a sense, it is true. We learn only a very little from our successes; but it is from many failures, that we learn and grow.

I find this a great comfort, that I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to “succeed”! I just have to rejoice in my son-ship, with a heavenly Father who loves me just as I am in my human condition.

Romans 5:8 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

I don’t think anyone should be satisfied with a poor job, or sloppy workmanship, but I am grateful that the mess that I sometimes am, is still O.K. with God. Could I ask you to judge me kindly, and say that it’s O.K. with you too? That would really make my day!

Please note: for someone with good or great intentions, all of this material may be copied or stolen, and used (hopefully) to the Glory of God.

Just Suppose

I was just thinking…”suppose God had waited until Moses was perfect before He called him to deliver his people?”

I recall in the Scriptures how Moses hemmed and hawed, finding every excuse in the books to let God know he couldn’t do the job. But God didn’t let something like stammering and a faltering speech get in the way. He used Moses anyway!

Suppose God had waited until Peter had been perfect before Jesus called him for a disciple. Peter had a lot of weaknesses. He was over-confident, he had racial prejudice (which Paul pointed out later); he let Jesus down when he needed him most. What a poor selection! But God made good use of a poor prospect, anyway!

And just suppose God waited until you or I were perfect, before He allowed us to do the work of ministering in His Church. The church would fold up right now!

But fortunately for all of us, God doesn’t wait for perfect people. He can use weak, sinful, imperfect specimens to do the job. And that’s what the Church of Jesus Christ is…a motley bunch of inadequate, imperfect folk (who realize what they are), men and women who just do their best, knowing that God is working with them to join His perfect power with their stumbling weaknesses.

If you thought you needed to wait unto you were better, to join the church, or to work in the Lord’s Kingdom, put your mind at ease. The Lord has “in-service” training for anyone who trusts Him enough to just take a chance with God and jump in.

And Lazarus Laughed

Life is always bigger than we thought. We look at the starry heavens, and field glasses reveal what the naked eye cannot see. A powerful telescope shows us more than the field glasses. And then the scientists come up with more wonders…there are stars in the gaps. And then wonder of wonders, there are myriads of additional stars in the gaps beyond the gaps!

In the play, “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder, a girl and a boy are talking about a letter addressed to “Grover’s Corners. Sutton County, New Hampshire, the United States of America, Continent of North America, Western Hemisphere, the Earth, the Solar System, the Universe, the Mind of God…” And the boy whispers in awe, “Well what do you know…what do you know?”

Again and again in our world, we fail to realize how big life is and the greatness of the God who made it. Death comes to a friend, or a neighbor, or to thousands of tragic victims of war or plague, and we say to ourselves, “Why can’t God stop the sorrow, the hurting, the tragedies?” “Isn’t God big enough to stop it?”

Bad people seem to go around as they please, killing and hurting, and doing evil. They look for thorny crowns and purple robes. And they hurl a ghastly contradiction such as a cross in the face of God, and go around acting as though they had won. But they have not won, because God says a thunderous “No!" at every gleeful crucifixion. People reject God, they poke fun at His people, and His work in the world, and think they have the last word.

There is an interesting story by Eugene O”Neill called “Lazarus Laughed,” and it says that the brother of Mary and Martha came forth bound hand and foot with the grave-cloths. And as they unbound him, they heard him laughing softly, as out of a vision, a man in love with God, who knew that there was no death. And then the story goes on to say that when he heard about the death of Jesus upon the cross that he began to laugh a low musical laugh. Martha and Mary cursed him. They thought he was possessed.

You see, the world with all its pygmy people could not understand this Jesus. Indeed, they could not tolerate Him, and so they put him to death. And Lazarus laughed, because he had caught a glimpse of how God’s ways are different than man’s ways. And he saw how death was not victorious, and that the grave had no sting. Lazarus laughed at the absurdity of trying to box God and real “life” into an earthen grave.

People scoffed and mocked. They said, “If you are the Christ, come down from the cross.” And today, people say: “If you are God, then stop the wars, stop the anguish. Lord, can’t you see we are hurting? Can’t you see that the end of the world is coming?”

But our end, seems to be His beginning. We see through a glass darkly. There is so much more, and Lazarus just laughs.