Alliances Or Crocodile Tears

Today, we live in a world in which there are few absolutes…things seem to be neither black or white, and everything gets a kind of dirty gray.

Sometimes our politics and world government gets this way too. It all depends on which side you are on, as to whether something seems to be right or wrong. In Biblical times, the prophet Isaiah spoke to King Ahaz about this. Israel was being pushed and taxed by powers from the East. The only solution the King saw was an alliance with Egypt to the south-west.

To remain at risk did not seem absolutely right, but to deal with the foreign power, Egypt, was not absolutely wrong either. Isaiah said the King’s sin was not that he chose one or the other of two possible evils, but that he failed to consider a third alternative altogether, namely to ask, “What is the Lord’s will?”

Ahaz was running scared. He was looking for security from somewhere. And Isaiah proclaimed, “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord.” (Isaiah 31:1)

In life, we have to ask the question, “Where can I place my trust? What is real?” But we have faith in the wrong things. We have tried to buy our safety with warfare, and military might. We have assumed that strong banks and Savings and Loans could save us. And suddenly we discover that we are under greater jeopardy than before. Who needs a good educational system? Just give our kids a good time, and they’ll turn out O.K. Why worry about morality or Christian faith? You can’t eat it.

We are much like the business-man with a sign on his back, that read: “My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with the facts!” And so we claim to have our minds made up. We believe in Christianity and the way of love, but we believe more in armies and in guns. We know that love is the will and the way of God, but we practice hatred and suspicion. Just don’t “confuse us with the facts!”

We are making our secular alliances, but we are not placing our trust in God. And yet, God is the only Reality. Our alliances with money, and securities, and the morality of the movies, and the violence of the drug crowd, leaves us shedding great alligator tears.

With God, we need not fear. The depression can hurt us. The lack of jobs can break us. The wages of crime will haunt us. The enmity of nations will cause us distress. And yet, all of this will pass. But in God’s great classroom of life, will you and I pass? This is the only question that really matters.

Good Morning

I've never made a fortune,
and it's probably too late now.
But I don't worry about that much.
I'm happy anyhow.

And as I go along life's way,
I'm reaping better than I sowed.
I'm drinking from my saucer.
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

Haven't got a lot of riches,
and sometimes the going's tough
But I've got loving ones all around me,
and that makes me rich enough.

I thank God for his blessings,
and the mercies He's bestowed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

I remember times when things went wrong.
My faith wore somewhat thin.
But all at once the dark clouds broke,
and the sun peeped through again.

So Lord, help me not to gripe,
about the tough rows I have hoed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

If God gives me strength and courage,
When the way grows steep and rough,
I'll not ask for other blessings,
I'm already blessed enough.

And may I never be too busy,
to help others bear their loads.
Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

(taken from anE-mail received recently)

Known But To God (Memorial Day)

At Arlington National Cemetery, is to be found the tomb of the unknown soldier. On that marker are these words: “Here rests in honored glory an American Soldier, known but to God.”

In fact, the tomb contains the body of not just one soldier, but several: the remains of a soldier from the First World War, one from the Second World War, one from the Korean conflict, and one from the Vietnam Conflict.

From the thousands of tiny white crosses dotting memorial cemeteries, caskets had been dis-interred. By a complicated means of mixing and chance selection, the identities are guaranteed absolute anonymity. No one knows which dead soldiers were selected. They are “known but to God”.

And so for this reason, every parent losing someone in the war, may go to that monument, with its closely guarded secret, and there shed a tear or two, in the knowledge that it might be their son or daughter.

It is better that some things are “known but to God”. In J. B. Phillips translation of Romans 14, he has Paul saying, “The truth is that we neither live nor die as self-contained units. At every turn, life links us to God…”

To “know everything” is a burden too heavy to bear. It is better that way, that some things are known, “but to God”.

The future is one of these things. There are some who claim that the Bible gives us knowledge of when the Lord will return, but the Bible also says that “no man knoweth the times or the seasons of the Lord’s coming” (Acts 1:7). And it is better this way. Because the future is unknown, and I do not know the way, I must place my hands in those of Him who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6)

It was Mary G. Brainard who wrote:

“So, on I go, not knowing

I would not, if I might.

I would rather walk in the dark with God

Than walk alone in the light.

I would rather walk with Him by faith

Than walk alone by sight.”

It is better also that my personal mistakes are not known to the whole world, but by God alone. And my inner thoughts are known also only to Him, and I am glad.

“At every turn”, Paul said, “life links us to God”. Some things we know, and other things are unknown to us and it is best that way, “for when we die we come face to face with Him, and then we shall know even as now we are fully known.”

Known but to God is the identity of the soldiers at rest in the famous tomb at Arlington National Cemetery, and known but to God are a thousand and one things about life which cause us to trust because we cannot see.

Thank God that we are not “self-contained units”…”islands of solitude” in a sea of indifference. But that at every turn, we are linked to God and that whether in life or in death, we are in His hands.

The custom of placing flowers upon graves
is an old one, and exists in many countries.
The Greeks had rites called 'zoai', which were
performed over each new grave. If the
flowers took root and blossomed on the graves,
it meant the souls were sending back the message
that they had found happiness.

Just A Second, Please

There are times I wish the Lord would give me just a bit more time. I need to change. I need to be a better person. I need renovation, but I keep so busy, and there just isn’t that much time for self-improvement.

Once every four years, we get a leap year, and God does give us one entire new day. And yet, it doesn’t seem that I make much use of that extra day. I keep on doing the same old things I’ve always done.

In June of 1992, we were told that we would be given an extra second. And all the world clocks had to move ahead just a little.

I suppose it doesn’t help much to wait for any more seconds or Leap Years to get started on my personal needs. It’s time I started now! “Now is the day of salvation”, the Bible says. Today is the day, I wished I had yesterday. What will I do with it? Do I keep saying, “Just a minute, God!”? Or can I speak up like the great Christians of old and say, “Here am I, Lord, send me.”

God has all the time in the world. He can wait. Indeed, He will wait, if we fail to come through. We may even destroy this old world God was good enough to give us. And if we do so, God will just try again. And eventually “the kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdom of our God.” That’s the gospel truth. But when we say, “wait a second, Lord,” aren’t we just digging our own grave?

The Lord needs us now. He wants us today. Heaven waits with bated breath for my commitment and for yours. It’s hard for us to believe it, but Christ has no hands but ours. Christ is able to walk in love in this world, only through us. God with all His power and majesty, breathes His will into the world, but we must respond.

In Process

Many of us have wrong ideas about the book of Job in the Old Testament. We have always said the primary theme was that of “suffering”. And yet, more correctly, it seeks to help us decide “what is the meaning of faith?”

Also, we believed that Job represented the epitome of patience. In reality, he was at times a man of terrible impatience.

We have declared that this book says, if you trust in God, everything will come out all right, and that if you don’t lose faith, your story will come out with a happy ending. But the “happy ending” people should not look here. For although the last seven verses of the last chapter affirm that God made everything turn out O.K., the author is really saying, “I doubt that!”

His book uses an ancient legend about a great heavenly contest between God and Satan with Job as the innocent victim. The theme of a righteous man suffering because he is being tested by rival deities, or divine beings is an old one. It comes out of several of the ancient religions.

The author concludes the story as he does to keep intact the ancient material, but his basic question throughout the writing is “What is the meaning of faith?” “What is a man’s relation to God?” “Does a man believe in God for nothing, or because it gets him something?”

It calls into question our reason for being Christians. Are we Christian because we think it will be good for us…good for our business...good for our standing in the community? Or, are we Christians simply because we believe this is the only relationship there ought to be between God as He is and people as they are? Are we Christians because we believe that what Jesus said is basic truth, whether it brings us prosperity or adversity? Are we able to say with Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him”? (Job 13:15)

Do we trust Him, because we believe He will protect us, and shelter us, and no evil will befall us? Do we trust Him, because we believe He will prosper us, and make us great? Doesn’t the New Testament really teach, that if we trust Him and are faithful, that God may even reward us with suffering and persecution?

Rewards? Yes, we will have our rewards. Jesus said, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Our reward may be to take up a cross and follow Him. It looks to me like a lot of people are following for the wrong reasons. Perhaps that is why both Job and Jesus scare me a lot.

I am sometimes like the person who cried out in despair, “I wish I had never been made!” And a friend replied: “Just remember, you’re not made yet, you’re only being made. And this is the Maker’s process!”

It's A Heavy Burden

The Beatitudes make a tremendous demand upon us. “Blessedness” is not an easy burden to carry. “Blessed are the merciful,” Jesus said. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he continued. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,” he adds. (Matthew 5:7,9,10)

And the average Christian wails, “I thought a blessing was supposed to be a blessing, but instead it looks like something altogether different than that. We might even get hurt, while being ‘blessed’. Blessedness is indeed a ‘sticky wicket’!”

One of the great saints of the Church once said, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of Almighty God.” It is much like having a tiger by the tail, you see. It can be a dangerous thing to commit yourself to the Lord’s blessings.

In one of the Peanuts cartoons, Linus and Lucy are watching their baby sister crawl across the floor. Linus asks, “How long do you think it will be before Sally starts to walk?” And Lucy in her cynical way answers: “Good grief. What’s the hurry? Let her crawl around for awhile! Don’t rush her! Once you stand up, and start to walk, you’re committed for life!”

When we reach out in faith to God, He gives us the ability to walk. But then, there is no turning back. We’re committed for life.

A Quilt Or A Comforter

In Genesis 17:10, the Lord talks to Abraham and says, “Walk before me, and be blameless.” This was a major moment in his life, for from that time on, he would no longer be called Abram, but Abraham. It was to be a mark of new beginnings. He took on a new name. From this moment, Abraham was to walk in faith, not knowing for sure, where God would lead him, but assured that he had been in tune with the Almighty, and that this was the One who would call the tune from here on.

This did not mean that Abraham would not make any more mistakes, and in fact, he made some big ones. But it did mean that he had the assurance that the Lord would be with him.

A Seminary student while typing a class essay, used the phrase, “Jesus has taken away my guilt.” His typewriter, however, typed a “q’ for the “g”. When the professor returned the paper, he had written alongside the student’s sentence…”Jesus has taken away my quilt,” the additional words, “It’s O.K. He has promised to send us a comforter.”

Yes, God can take away our mistakes, our guilts, as well as our quilts (“security blankets”) and He gives to us something infinitely better…Himself, the Holy Comforter.

I know that I will not always be able to walk before the Lord, blameless…but with God’s help, I’m surely going to try.

Brush Your Tongue

Many of the “body parts” are mentioned in Scripture, but none refers to the “tongue” quite as much as the New Testament writer, James.

“If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue…this man’s religion is vain”, he says. (James 1:26) And again, just two chapters later, he comments, “The tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire”. (James 3:5) He then goes on to say, “The tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body.” He says, “Every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no human being can tame the tongue---a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and with it, we curse men.” (James 3:6-9)

Recently, I experienced some dental problems, and along with it, discovered that I had bad breath. The dental work was corrected, but the bad breath continued. What to do? The dentist asked, “Do you brush your tongue? In the grooves of the tongue, bacterial growth can take place”. Strange as it felt, I tried it, and discovered that indeed the tongue can be a “restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

How often do we take to heart the words of James and keep our tongue in discipline to the dictates of Christ’s loving spirit? When was the last time I spoke in anger, or with bitterness, or with scorn or malice? When was the last time I hurt someone needlessly by careless and hurting words? It happens, doesn’t it? Why couldn’t I have made those words helpful? Any reason why words of compliment, or words of encouragement, or words of love might have come from my tongue instead?

Our faith is in vain, James says, if we fail to bridle our tongue, and let it be a power for good rather than something that sets a “dangerous” fire.

You're Taking Quite A Chance

I did some thinking today about people who take “chances”. Chances on the highway, chances in the lottery, chances in the use of drugs! It’s a risky business!

And then it occurred to me, that some of us are taking an awful chance with God.

Some church members haven’t taken Communion for quite awhile…I wonder if the Lord has noticed?

Some folks just sleep in on Sunday mornings…too tired (they claim)…I wonder if the Lord cares?

Some folks haven’t assumed their church responsibilities for quite awhile…I wonder what the Lord has written on their golden ledger books?

By what line of reasoning do we assume that we can stay away from worship, forget our prayer life, let someone else carry the load, and believe that God isn’t going to hold us responsible?

This week, we received a catalog, with a letter stapled to the front. It said, “This may be the last catalog I can send you, unless you place an order.”

What if this was the last worship service we could attend before the end of the world? What if the Lord held no promise of mercy for us, if we missed another Communion service? What if our church would no longer be available to us when we got sick, or needed a funeral, or counseling from our pastor?

What if God invited us all to a party, and nobody came? You’re right…God is inviting us all to come to His service of worship this week, and all through the year. Will we say “yes” or “no”?

The letter with the catalog, had this additional word, “I wanted to make sure that not one customer missed out on all the good things in this catalog…”

And that’s the message of the Church…we just want to make sure that not one member or friend misses out on the good news of the Gospel. But don’t take chances with the Eternal…you can miss some T.V….you can miss some basketball and hockey…you can miss a little sleep…but don’t miss the invitation of the Lord of Hosts!

Get Out The Camphor Bottle

Donald A. Laird, the psychologist, said that whenever his grandmother was over-wrought she would get the camphor bottle and put a little camphor on her fore-head, behind each ear, and on her throat. Then she would sit in her rocking chair, close her eyes, and relax.

Dr. Laird said that the camphor bit was simply a gimmick. Grandma used it as an aid to relax her tensions. Most of us don’t have a rocking chair or camphor bottle handy, but we use sedatives, aspirins, etc. as one of the contemporary remedies to life’s anxieties.

All of this, it would seem is quite unnecessary, if we could just learn some of life’s basic rules.

So perfect have become the computerized lift-off procedures of our modern-day space vehicles, that we sometimes wonder why our own lives cannot run so smoothly? And yet, people are not like rockets and should accept the fact that there are very few times in a person’s life when all conditions are “go”.

No, we must live by an acceptance of our humanness, our limitations, our imperfections. We are tiny specks in an amazingly big universe. We are imperfect, and more than that, we are inclined to self-centeredness, making us sinful and rebellious to the basic rules of life. We cannot make that trip to our space rendezvous, because we are too much “a-go-go” and not enough “go-ye”. Our lives are lived by our feet and our anxieties, rather than by our commitments and our fidelity to our Maker.

The ancient prophet once said, “In returning and rest shall ye be saved: in quietness and confidence shall be your strength”. (Is. 30:15) God is saying to us through the prophet Isaiah, that we should learn to trust in Him more than in our own schemes and defenses.

It is good advice, for so much of our anxiety and tension comes not from actual situations as from nameless dread of situations beyond our control. The unsettled condition of our world is contagious. But we cheat ourselves when we worry, for it does us no good, and certainly no one else. To be concerned…yes! To do what we can…yes! All of this we must do. But beyond that point, let us learn to use either Grandma’s camphor and rocking chair…or, better yet…shift the burdens that are too big for us to God. Then we will find to our amazement that God is able to take that which we have committed unto Him against that day, and care for both us and His world.

We will be taking a little break

--nothing is broken….

until Tue. May 23. See you then.

Perhaps The Lord Will Still Be With Us

The Psalmist announced “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Ps. 24:1)

But the children of this world keep arguing, “No, it is ours! It is all ours, and we will do with it what we please!” And so the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, even though there is enough here to guarantee that everyone has enough to eat, and to maintain their lives.

We probe the earth miles beneath the surface for oil, we strip the surface for coal, we tap nuclear power for electricity, and then scatter the radio-active by-products, we spend ¾ of all the wealth of the world to pay for past, present, and future wars…and the blood of our brave young men and women flows like a river!

We strip the forests and encourage floods, we are careless about rich black top-soil that took millions of years to produce, we do nuclear testing, and disturb magnetic fields that surround our planet. We can agree with the old commercial, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature”!

And so, we pay for our folly, until we can learn a new stewardship of the good earth, and lift up the words, “the earth is the Lord’s”. No, it isn’t nice to “fool Mother Nature”. And it is not nice to take God’s good earth, and make it into an insane asylum!

When will we learn the lessons of peace? When shall we learn the lessons of stewardship and give to the Lord what is His due?

Let us bow before Him! Let us confess our sins and our faithlessness! Let us join faithfully to praise His Name. Perhaps He will still be merciful to us, and shower once more His blessings upon the land.

No Gloves On His Hands!

If we are honest with the New Testament, we discover that Jesus was a lot less critical of some things and some people, than we are. We have established a kind of legalistic morality. We are extremely hard on certain sinners, but terribly lenient of others. And the fact is, of course, that we are all sinners.

Are the drunkards the sinners? Are the sex perverts, the thieves, the murderers the sinners? What does it mean to say that “my sin is less than theirs”? My sin is perhaps more serious, because I ought to know better! Some of us actually “look down upon some people”. We find ourselves sub-consciously saying, “Lord, I thank Thee that I am not like that man over there”.

If there is someone without sin, then let him affirm it! It is not a case of whether we are greater sinners, or lesser sinners. It is just a matter of what kind of sinners we are. And so I guess this means that I am: a conscientious church-going, Protestant, senior-citizen, male parent, trying-to-be-a-good-Christian-type of sinner! And next to the holiness of God, my own goodness is like filthy rags, by contrast.

Have you ever gone into a home, so filthy, so dirty, that you thought you would be contaminated to sit down? I did once. I was invited to eat dinner there. I did so, but with a queasy feeling inside. I confess I ate with self-righteousness, thinking to myself, “I am clean…they are not!”

I wondered how God feels. Our hands are stained, our lives are not clean, and still He invites us to come: “All who do truly and earnestly repent of their sins and are in love and fellowship with their neighbors, and intend to live a new life, come!” He really is inviting us!

There is a delightful story told about the former President Lyndon Johnson, when he was on a tour in Africa. He was riding through the streets of an African town with the local ambassador. In typical style, he reached over the edge of the car to shake hands with the people running alongside. The ambassador grabbed his arm back and insisted that Johnson wear gloves, so his hands, his flesh not be contaminated by the grime and dirt. It is no surprise that our President refused to wear the gloves!

Jesus set the pace! He ate and had fellowship with the outcast, the scorned, the prostitute. He wore no gloves! But how am I any better than the outcast, the prostitute? Are my sins any less, or just of another kind? The wonder of it all is, we were not clean when our Savior invited us. Our sin-stained lives were obvious when He accepted us. He took us, with no glove upon His Hand. And He led us to the center of His love.

Shall we, who profess His name, do any less…be less accepting, less forgiving? For only as we forgive, shall we be forgiven. Only as we accept, shall we be accepted.

Listen To The Signal From Space!

A farmer was working in his barn and amidst the hay, dropped his watch. He stomped all over the floor, and raked the hay, and poked into the dark corners with a flashlight to find the lost time-piece, but to no avail. Finally, he gave up his fruit-less search and went in for lunch. His small boy ran out to the barn, and a few minutes later came in with the watch. “How did you find it” his father asked? “I just lay down on the floor and kept very still, and soon I heard the watch ticking.”

There is a lesson to be learned from this simple story. Far too many of us waste our energies with a great deal of stewing and fretting and stomping through life. As we do so, we lose one of our most valuable possessions, namely fellowship and contact with our Creator.

There is a Divine resonance, a holy signal, a faint moving of the Spirit of God, that sets the pace and directs the inner heart to a life of significance, and an inner peace. This beat of the universe is ever present. This “Music of the Spheres” is always there. This still small voice is available. But we have so completely tuned it out by our loud and frantic strivings.

If we would make this day, or tomorrow, one that responds to the beat of the universe, instead of having it shake and tremble in discord, then we must learn to wait upon the Lord, to be still and know that God is God. There is a signal there. There is a still small voice waiting to give direction, give hope, and give peace, if we but listen for it. God has not left us desolate.

A German astronomer, Sebastian von Hoerner, says that there are at least ten civilized communities on planets within one thousand light years of the earth. He thinks that some of these people may be far more advanced than ourselves. He believes our best hope of avoiding disaster is to listen for some message from outer space which might save us and our civilization.

It is an interesting idea. Our amazingly sensitive listening devices have never picked up any such signal or voice. And even if we heard, would we obey?

Man does need a wisdom and a signal higher and wiser than his own. But we have such a message already. It comes to us from the eternal, sovereign God, the Creator of all the universes that may exist. The simple, universal code of love, forgiveness, mercy, and justice has been tapping out its message through the centuries. It has come down to us through the prophets and most perfectly through Jesus Christ.

When we become quiet enough to listen for this Voice, to discover the inner serenity and power of His Spirit, then life may be lived victoriously and meaningfully. The Voice out of Space has come. Will we be obedient to it, now that we know what it is?

Are You Pusillanimous?

Someone once asked the question whether Cross-word Puzzle fans usually had a great vocabulary? The answer was that most puzzle fans increase their word power, but not their vocabulary. After all, how often every day do you use such words as “erudite”, “Gaelic”, or “matriculate”?

None-the-less, I’m all for it, and especially after my wife came home the other night pondering the word, “pusillanimous”. We weren’t even certain there was such a word, but sure enough, Webster said there was, and it meant “destitute of manly strength and firmness of mind; cowardly…evincing a want of courage”, etc.

I got to thinking about the many times I had been “pusillanimous” and hadn’t spoken out against things that were wrong, and the number of cowardly instances in my own life. I guess I’m not alone, because the world is filled with “pusillanimous” people like me.

And yet, I live with a Christian faith that should help me make right decisions, even if I have to stand alone to do so. Jesus didn’t worry about being popular. He was concerned about being right! He left us with the power of his Holy Spirit, and this has enabled millions of Christians to suffer persecution, and go their lonely ways walking the “straight and narrow”, rather than following the broad path that leads to destruction!

Psalm 27 gives me lots to think about in this matter. I’m not sure I’ve got a new word I plan to use very much, but I’m going to try not to be “pusillanimous”. And I plan to take the Psalmist’s advice to “wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.” (Ps. 27:14)

Happy Mothers' Day

Catch The Vision

This morning, I had another vision! This is not to say that I have them often, like daily, or monthly, or every so many years. Indeed, I am really not inclined to have such things. In fact, I have sometimes been a bit critical of others who made such claims.

But I have discovered that my problem was not the lack of visions, but my lack of eyes! I just had not been seeing what was there to see. Having eyes, I saw not!

My vision this morning was a beautiful flock of geese…an arrow pointing due north…one of those awe-inspiring sights that thrills the soul. “But that’s no vision”, you say…”that was simply a beautiful sight…a herald of spring!”

That’s right…but the “vision” was still there…because my vision was of something within the tiny brain of each flying bird that was drawing him like an arrow to his destination!...and each bird responded to that inner instinct.

God is tugging at our hearts. He is calling us to come up higher…to live more perfectly…to love more completely. Here then was my vision: when we come to God to worship, or to pray, or to grow…when we follow the way of the cross…when we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…and when we respond to this inner “tug”, we too become a beautiful sign in the sky.

Here is the way! Walk in it! Here is the Savior! Follow Him! Here is Life! Live it to the best of your ability! Like an arrow…moves the Church of God…a sign, a promise, a hope to all who behold!

Noah Was Listening

In the story of Noah and the ark, we ask ourselves, “Didn’t God care enough to speak to anyone else but Noah?” “Wasn’t there enough wood for a thousand arks?” “Why couldn’t thousands have been saved, rather than just one family?”

And the truth is that God probably did speak to every man, woman and child…but the sad fact remains that only Noah listened, only Noah heard, and obeyed!

God is trying to say something to us! In the message of Easter, and in the power of the resurrection, God is telling us something…there is HOPE, and there is LIFE…life everlasting!

Economic recession and taxes may engulf me, but I am not afraid! I may lose my job, I may lose my health, I may lose my friends, but I have not lost my HOPE! When I am on the side of Christ, I am on the side of victory! When I have been raised with Him, the world cannot harm me! Nuclear warfare may destroy me, but though I die, yet shall I live!

This is a message clearly written for all to see. This is the story of a great stone rolled away from the tomb, and an empty grave. This is God’s answer to all the gloomy predictions and the dismal miseries mankind has brought upon his fellow-man.

God is not dead! God is alive! And that makes my future bright…if I listen, that is, and if I obey!

Is The Lord Watching?

There is a beautiful old phrase that comes out of the story of Jacob and his father-in-law in the Old Testament. We call it the “Mizpah” benediction. It goes like this: “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another.” (Genesis 31:49)

Originally, the meaning was somewhat sinister: “remember, the Lord is watching…keep your distance!” But through the years, we have come to think of it in more endearing terms.

One person remembered that her father always concluded his letters to her by using the word, “Mizpah”. This is a greeting that we could say to one another as we leave church, or as we go on a long journey, or as we separate after a family reunion.

“Mizpah”…”May the Lord watch between me and thee.” How beautiful to know that He is watching, that He is there to care for us in our separateness.

It is good to learn to trust our loved ones to God’s care as we leave them, whether it be for a day, or an hour, or many years. As we send our children off to camp, or when they simply cross the street, “Mizpah”…may the Lord watch over them as we are apart. As we lose loved ones in death…”Mizpah”…they are in His care and keeping. We can be sure He is watching over them!

Every day, I ask the Lord to watch over family and neighbors, and the many loved ones we have come to know through the years. Yes, thank God, He never sleeps, never leaves on vacation, never deserts His post! Our Lord watches over us, each and every one. Aren’t you glad?

Just a thought: With Mother's Day just around the
corner, someone has suggested that the fact that
Adam had no mother could be the reason for the
terrible mess the world is in.

Do You "Know" Jesus?

On a trip to the Holy Land, I visited the country of the lowly carpenter. I sailed the Sea of Galilee. I walked “the Way of the Cross”. I saw where Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. I looked into the tomb. I climbed to the Chapel of the Ascension.

But to “know” Jesus according to Philippians 3:10 is more than walking the pathways of Israel.

In Bethlehem, I purchased an olive wood carving. It was the head of Christ, circled by thorns. It was a beautiful piece of workmanship, and it showed the agony of his pain. I cringed as I thought of the cruelty of those who hung Jesus upon the cross.

Now, I come closer to “knowing” him, for Paul said that “knowing” him was to begin to share his sufferings, and even become like him in his death.

Most of the time, I have run away from sharing his sufferings. I don’t want to see movies of the hunger of the world. I resist programs telling about the agonies of people. I change channels all too easily from stories of people in anguish. My Jesus feels the thorns again and again, in the suffering of his children, but I don’t!

“Lord, how can I know the ‘power of your resurrection or obtain the resurrection from the dead’, if I don’t even now begin to care about your pain?”

Does Your Religion "Bug You" or "Bless You"?

For many people in today’s world, their religion “bugs” them! Whenever they want a Sunday family picnic, the need to teach that Sunday School class of boys really “bugs” them. When they are tempted to take an over-payment of change at the store, their religious scruples “bug” them until they are miserable. And then, how about those times when they are asked to give generously to the missionary fund, and all those other things they’ve been wanting so much seem to be saying, “Why give it to missions anyway? You could really use it here!”

On the other hand, there are those who find that their faith doesn’t make them into a “sad-sack” Christian. They’re not fanatic tithers, but they have found the joy of tithing. They’re not complaining…because they could never be happier. They’ve found the excitement of the faith, not the drudgery of it.

A missionary was once asked if he enjoyed his work, and his answer was, “Not really. I don’t enjoy leaving home for years at a time, or casting my lot with people who will never challenge my intellectual abilities, but God help us, if we only do those things we ‘want’ to do. And yet,” he continued, “I am very happy in my task.”

My faith blesses me with sweet peace when I find myself trying to be on God’s side. I don’t have to cover up my actions. I don’t have to apologize for seeking to do good. I never have to bite my tongue when I act in kindness rather than in revenge. I can hold my head high and not in shame for seeking first the things of the Kingdom.

If you have only allowed your faith to “bug” you, it is a severe liability. But if that faith gives you peaceful sleep, a clean conscience, friends who trust you at your word, and happiness in assuming your share of the world’s responsibilities, then indeed it is worth all the treasures in the world.

Gold Medal Christians

There is an Olympic affair of the heart going on in our world, that matches any of the Olympic meets.

Day after day of testing on the farm front, at school, and in the business and labor worlds, is producing an astonishing array of records.

Here are Christians of every race and nation who have decided not to hate…who take abuse and do not retaliate…who are exposed to the same temptations as others to lift a little here, take a little there, but who are faithful to the commandments. Here are young people who have decided not to give in to the taunting suggestions: “everybody else is doing it”…”it will make you more popular!” Here are people just as tired from their week of labor as others, who still rise early on the Sabbath to get to Sunday School and church, because they feel a need for that extra dimension. They do not say, “Sorry, I can’t make it, but I’ll be with you in spirit.” They know that “spirits” don’t fill pews, and “spirits” don’t pay bills, and “spirits” don’t get the work of the Lord done either…especially when they are “vacant spirits.”

Yes, you’d be surprised at the host of “gold-medal” winners in God’s Olympics. They don’t get front-page attention, but they get HIS attention. “Well done, good and faithful servants” are HIS words…and the flags fly, and the trumpets of heaven blow, and every angel above rejoices. There’s nothing wrong with getting world-wide attention and acclaim. But, personally I’d just as soon be a winner in an Olympic affair of the heart, with God as the Judge.

With Mother’s Day soon upon us, here is a
significant thought

I make my prayer each night, dear God
I ask no other boon
I ask not for the sun, the moon,
But this, oh Lord, let be:
That I may always be the man
That Mother thinks I am.

What's In A Name?

Names are important. They tell us who we are! Several years ago, our family discovered that Guither used to be Geuther, and that we have relatives in Germany we didn’t know existed, by that name! Suddenly, we have a tie with our past, because we know our name!

A good many years ago, our son called and told us about their new baby! He has a beautiful name….Joshua Paul. Suddenly, we were reminded of the Old Testament Joshua, strong leader of Israel…the same root name from which the name Jesus comes! And then, another good name, Paul…great Christian missionary and apostle who in one short life-time, spread the Christian faith almost all the way around the Mediterranean.

Those names may be a heavy burden to place on the shoulders of a tiny 9 lb. 11 oz. child…but, who can under-estimate the value of having a “good name”?

Tom, Slim, Maude, or Hattie are names, and they stand for people who have value and worth. But how infinitely more beautiful are those names when they are linked with the name of Jesus. “Carol…she walked with Jesus.” “Frank…he walked with, and was faithful to the Lord.” Put the name of Jesus after your name, and see what a difference just a name can make!

Fire When Ready

Paul reminds us that there are spiritual gifts and that love is one of them. “Make love your aim.” He said in I Cor. 14:1, “and earnestly desire the Spiritual gifts…”

How can we strive for love, when it is a gift? Can we set out on a day’s journey to find it? Can we plan a program of activity whereby we can earn love? Is it a reward for good living?

If love is given, then perhaps some people are blessed with it, and others never receive it! If love is a gift…then will some divine Santa Claus bestow it upon me some day? How un-interesting!

Is not love a part of creation? We were made with it inside! Everyone has it…but many deny it! Some reject it…act as though it weren’t so!

But for the person who aims his life at Christ, seeks to know the fullness of Christian grace and forgiveness, then love blossoms forth like the plum tree in Spring, like the ears of corn in Summer, and like the pears in the Fall.

“Make love your aim,” Paul said. I say: “Good hunting! Take careful aim, and fire, when ready!”

Can You "Break Out"?

Where is the real person? Are we what we appear to be, or is there a hidden person hiding inside? Michaelangelo, the great artist of past centuries, has created many marvelous sculptures. In several of them, he has carved a portion of the human body seeming to be struggling to break out of the marble in which it is trapped: a hand, arm, or leg, or whole portion of the body, or a face. And the rest seems to be straining to come forth.

Sometimes I see people looking like that. They are struggling to break out of that which traps them: their jobs, their backgrounds, their cultures. Some do it beautifully. Others just look like they are trapped forever! They are unable to relax, to smile, to love life.

Like the marble statue, I cannot liberate myself. I need the hand of another. Love is the key that opens the door to the hidden you…the love of another, and especially the love of a Heavenly Father. Our Savior Jesus Christ has unbound us, released us. What was an arm, a face, a torso, striving to be released, now becomes a whole person gloriously free.

A beautiful verse from First Peter reads:

“Let not yours be the outward adorning with

braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing

of robes, but let it be the hidden person of the

heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and

quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”

(I Peter 3:3,4)

Some persons have their hidden selves tied up in knots of fear, bottled-up anger, resentment. Those who have been released by love have an inward freedom that is first cousin to inward beauty. Don’t be surprised. You just might win a beauty contest! Because, when Christ sets you free…you’re a real beauty!

We Have A "Lift"

A world traveler once told of a sign that he saw in front of a hotel in Hamburg, Germany that said simply, “Wir haben ein lift.” It meant that the hotel had an elevator!

This is the kind of sign that Christian churches should place alongside the road. We ought to be telling the world that passes by:

“We have a lift for those of you who are in the depth of

despair.”

“We have a lift for you who have lost hope.”

“We have a lift for those who think the world is doomed

to frustration.”

On Saturday evening, March 27, 1976, the population clock ticked off the fact that we had 4 billion people on the surface of this planet. Whereas, it took until the 1800’s to get the 1^st billion people, from 3 to 4 billion took only 15 years and we are now running into the 6 billion figure. It takes a lot to “lift” that many people. But the power of the Gospel, and the resurrection glory of Jesus Christ is that elevator that gives the lift to all who will enter through its doors.

An old church hymn carries these beautiful words: “Love lifted me…Love lifted me. When nothing else could help, Love lifted me.” (Howard Smith). Get yourself a “lift”. You may be only one person in the midst of 6 billion. But you are that one person for whom God sent His son for the salvation of the world.

God has lifted us. Through His great love, He has lifted us! Through Jesus’ death upon the cross, He has lifted us! By His mighty resurrection from the dead, He has lifted us! Lift your eyes to Him. He is forever reaching down to give a lift to all who call upon Him.

Get Rid Of The Thistles

When I was a kid, my father said he would pay me a penny for every two thistles I dug out of the pasture. I thought those purple flowers were sort of pretty, but he reminded me that they ruined the pasture, and were bad for the horses we had grazing there.

Pretty things are not always good! I discovered quickly how unpleasant those purple flowers were when I tried to pick them up and put them in my basket for counting. And the roots!...those roots went deep!

So also, we need to be reminded that some of the most attractive commercials are designed to sell us things that are destructive to our health. I recently saw a slick, full-color magazine, designed for the sole purpose of exploiting the “merits” of cocaine, and every drug that the drug-pushers can pander. It’s hard to believe that such a magazine could be on the market.

The same thing could be said about the porno-magazines, exploiting sex as a cheap, degrading thing, rather than the beautiful thing God made it to be.

God made the thistles and they are not bad. My Dad just didn’t want them in his pasture. God made his world, and nothing of itself is bad. It’s just the way we use things that makes them destructive. I am reminded of what George Washington Carver, a famous black scientist said about tobacco. “There’s nothing wrong with it,” he said, “but I believe if God had intended for me to make a smoke-stack of my nose, he would have turned it up the other way.”

There are many things that are pretty, and “delightful to the eyes”, but unlike Eve in the Garden of Eden, we must be more perceptive, more discerning.

“Walk circumspectly”…live carefully with others, because life is holy…don’t be fooled by lying words or pretty faces. Things are not always what they seem to be. In I Peter 3:10-12 we read:

“Whoever would love life and see good days,

must keep his tongue from evil and keep his

lips from deceitful speech. He must turn

from evil and do good; he must seek peace

and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are

on the righteous and his ears are attentive

to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is

against those who do evil.”

Don't Be A Fool

“What fools we mortals be!” The newspapers report our foolishness day after day. We are fools to think we can lie and steal and not take the consequences. We are fools to think we can prepare for war and not get involved. We are fools to believe that we can hate our neighbors, and ever expect to live with them…and of course, we cannot live without them!

Jesus Christ talked about love and forgiveness, and turning the other cheek. It seemed like foolishness to many. But when we see the results of living without Jesus Christ, there is not much question as to who the real fools are!

Many years ago, a certain king kept a jester in his house, as great men did in those days, for their amusement. This king gave a staff to his jester and charged him to keep it until he met a greater fool than himself…and if he met one to deliver it to him.

Not many years after, the king fell sick. His jester came to see him. He found his king seriously ill, and asked him,” And whither wilt thou go?” “On a long journey”, said the king. “And when will you return…within a month?” “No”. “What then…never?” “Never”, said the king. “And what provision hast thou made for the journey?” “None at all,” answered the king. “Art thou going forever”, said the jester, “and hast made no provision before thy departure? Here then take my staff. You seem to be a greater fool than I, because I am not guilty of any such folly as that. For earthly journeys you make elaborate preparations, but none for the eternal journey?”

“What fools we mortals be”…to think that we have done all that is necessary: when we have earned a living, but have not prepared for LIFE.

There Is Good News Today

What a thrilling phrase, but tell us, “Is there really good news?” “Yes. It is the good news about MANKIND.”

The Christian Church is here to affirm that whereas, much of the world considers the human creature to be of little value, there is a God who considers us to be of infinite worth!

Many folks have apparently convinced themselves that people can never be good, that we will always resort to brutality, and bloodshed and lust. And yet we remember the prayer of St. Augustine, “thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee.”

The message of the Bible is this: that mankind, evil as he or she is, can be redeemed! Human nature is sinful, but it can be transformed! Human experience reveals that we are creatures of passion, selfishness, and sin. But by the grace of God, we can be changed! The Bible says it well, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)

This is the very good news about mankind. Though we be creatures subject to failure and weakness, we are of all creation, the chosen children of God! Think about that good news for today, and rejoice!