Morning Companion

Masters of Deceit

2012-01-31T15:46:00.000-08:00

J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, has been much maligned in our day, but this book, written in 1958, presents us with insights into the activities of Communism in the United States from the perspective of the day.

Although many have discounted Hoover’s account, it’s striking to me that many of the tactics Hoover describes are strikingly similar to those we find encouraged some 15 years later in Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals.

Also, substitute the word “Jihadist” for “Communist”, and the book could have been written in the 21st Century. And in some places we could substitute the word “cult” for “party”, and we would have a universal description for how controlling religious movements capture and retain the true believer.

Fascinating book.

On the Right Hand and the Left

2012-01-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

Things aren’t always as they seem.

The family of General Ulysses S Grant owned slaves. Robert E. Lee did not. Republican President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency and Affirmative Action. A larger percentage Republicans than Democrats – in both houses of Congress -- voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Even the devil can appear as an angel of light, and it’s evident from the Gospels that the disciples failed to see clearly the light of Jesus until some time after his resurrection.

Two of them approached him about sitting on his right hand and his left in the kingdom, showing among other things how little they grasped what the kingdom is all about. To them such a place seemed like a position of power and influence, but Jesus instructed them otherwise.

"Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"

"We can," they answered.

Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." (Mark 10:38-40 NIV)

The disciples assumed that the cup of which Jesus spoke was a cup of blessing, as the one in the 23rd Psalm that overflows with the good things of life. But Jesus’ cup was different indeed, for he pleaded that if there were any way that cup could pass from his lips, then so let it pass. The cup of which he was to take was his reason for coming to this earth, and he simply had to drink of the vile sins that filled it (Luke 22:42, John 18:11).

To be on his right hand and his left might have been an honor, but at his last there were two men, one on his right hand and his left. Two thieves had that place of honor, and they would have given anything not to have had it. Truly the disciples did not know what they had asked when they requested such a cup.

But, then again, that’s the way life is. Things aren’t always as they seem.

The Heart of the Matter

2012-01-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

There is a curious phenomenon this election cycle that has been building for decades and has now come into full blossom.

Forty years ago a president could not have been elected if he did not support family, marriage, and faith. This year, this 2012 campaign, such positions at least in some vocal quarters are considered to be too right wing to be acceptable to the voting public.

We’re not talking about government mandates for religious observance or lack of help for those in difficult situations. Rather, it’s a simple acknowledgement of the lessons of history. It acknowledges that if the family gets weaker, the government gets larger. It acknowledges that society is based on the family and perpetuates itself through values passed on through the family. It acknowledges that faith plays a dominant role in providing the rules of a civil society without government coercion. And it acknowledges that government’s role is to base its policies on upholding and encouraging such intermediary institutions rather than hindering and discouraging them.

This presidential cycle we’re being treated to the subtle propaganda that the main focus should be on economics, and indeed that is one central issue. But today the candidate who tells the truth is skewered as a right wing nut. And the truth is our economic problems are no more and no less than a reflection of our cultural problems. No matter that there is a demonstrable correlation between single parenthood and poverty. No matter that learning to work at an early age breaks the cycle of dependency on public and private charity. No matter that defining one’s self-worth on the ownership of stuff leads to unsustainable debt.

The bastion of freedom against intrusive government is the intermediary institutions of family, faith, charitable institutions, and the army of volunteers that provide their energy. A government dedicated to protecting liberty will encourage such institutions rather than co-opting or minimizing them.

Don't Sell Your Birthright

2012-01-07T06:03:00.000-08:00

“Don’t sell your birthright for a bowl of red soup.” That little allegory might be hard to understand, but it should be a part of our cultural literacy. It’s based on a story in the book of Genesis, where twin brothers became rivals and vied for supremacy. In ancient times, the older brother was entitled to the family birthright, but in this story the younger brother through savvy and deceit talked the older one in a moment of hunger to give up his birthright for one bowl of red soup.

Jacob and Esau were the two brothers’ names, and the account is in Genesis 25:29-34. It reads like this:

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" … Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

It is striking that someone could be shortsighted enough to give up the right by inheritance to wealth and position because of the expediency of the moment. I have an immediate physical desire (“right now I’m tired and hungry”), and I don’t have any immediate use for some undefined future bequest (“What is this birthright to me?”), so I’ll trade my most valuable crown jewels for some immediate gratification.

Is it any wonder that the writer of Hebrews calls Esau profane (Hebrews 12:16 KJV)?

It's tempting to think that no one would be foolish enough to sell one’s future for such a pittance, but a nation can also sell its birthright. Once the world’s largest creditor nation, the United States is now the world’s largest debtor nation. How did our nation morph from a nation of tremendous productive capacity to one that can’t seem to live within its means? How could a nation that was at one time economically self-sufficient become dependent upon nations who hate us and what we stand for?

Do you think this might have something to do with craving a bowl of red soup at the expense of greater things? Is it possible that life’s pleasures mean more to people than life’s purpose? Is it possible that the ambition of politics and finance leads to the erosion of our national treasure and will?

Is there a bowl of red soup on our national table?

Economics in One Easy Lesson

2011-12-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

We create wealth by growing it, mining it, or manufacturing it.

We do not create wealth by borrowing it from the Chinese. We do not create wealth by printing more paper. We do not create wealth by appropriating it from one person to give it to another. We do not create wealth by increasing government payrolls. We do not create wealth by educating more lawyers. We do not create wealth by more regulations.

We either grow it out of the ground, dig it out of the ground, or mold it into stuff after it comes out of the ground.

Got it?

Sparrows Fall from Heaven

2011-12-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matt 10:28-31 NIV)

Comforting words, those. If God is aware of sparrows falling from the sky, how much more does he know of our travails! Yet missed in this talk of God’s omniscience is a troubling fact: sparrows do fall from heaven, and God does nothing to stop it. Many sparrows have fallen in his sight, and not just sparrows. People fall too. It must grieve a loving God’s heart to see the sufferings of the ages. Pestilence and storms. Warfare and tyranny. The suffering of martyrs. Earthquakes and terror. It has all been in God’s plain view, and just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem, one must wonder if the Father’s heart is also grieved over the helpless falling of many sparrows.

I believe he does grieve, and I believe he can and does weep. “Why will you die, O house of Israel?” God asks more than once. (Ezekiel 18:31, 33:11 NIV) And yet the sparrows continue to fall. Because God’s purposes are beyond our poor power to understand, asking why can become an exercise in frustration.

The “why” is important, but something else is more so. Perhaps the better question when sparrows fall is not why, but what. What am I going to do about it? If a sparrow falls from the sky, do I curse the law of gravity? Do I resign myself to the inevitable evils of the world? Or do I nurse it back to health?

When the storms of the world strike our brothers, do we curse God? Do we languish in the misery of others? Or do we rush to their aid and help carry them? Paul calls us ambassadors for Christ (II Corinthians 5:20 ), and as such we need to be in the business of reconciliation. The “what” is to be a tool in God’s hands, to offer the comfort, the support, the cold cup of water, the shelter over one’s head, or a hot meal to the fallen.

In such times, the fallen sparrows need Christ. As his ambassadors we represent the God of the universe, and it is through us that God lights the world and reveals his love. If we want to see God’s hand, perhaps it is at the end of our own arms.

The Fathers Have Eaten Sour Grapes

2011-12-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Rick is from Texas, and it shows. One time he was acting a bit puny, so I asked him, “How are things going, Rick?” Rick says, “I’m lower than a snake’s belly in a wheel rut.” Expressions like that made living in Texas a bit more bearable way back when.

Here are more expressions from the Lone Star State.:

“Busier than a cat trying to cover it up on a frozen pond.”

“All hat, no cattle.”

“It’s hotter than a stolen tamale.”

“Busy as a hound in flea season.”

“She’s as jumpy as spit on a hot skillet.”

“You can’t get lard unless you boil the hog.”

The Bible has a saying or two as well, although most are not quite as earthy as those coming from our Texas friends. One that recently caught my attention goes like this: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” (Ezekiel 18:2) This was apparently common saying among the people in Ezekiel’s day, and it means that the children pay the price for the parents’ misdeeds.

This is certainly a sobering statement for those with children. What we do can and does affect them, perhaps for the rest of their lives. We can so wound their sense of security and self-worth that they will recover only with great effort. We can teach them wrong ways of living that they then emulate and thereby suffer the same dysfunction as previous generations. In a case relevant to our current national situation, a generation can borrow money by the trillions, setting on edge the teeth of their children for half a dozen decades.

This passage in Ezekiel and a companion one in the context of Jeremiah 31:29 are a reflection of several statements in the Torah (such as Numbers 14:18) that talk about how it often takes generations before the curses of family dysfunction dissipate.

Having said that, the passages in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, when read in context, hold out an alternative future. Ezekiel continues with this: “As I live, says the Lord God, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine, the soul of the father as the soul of the son is mine. The soul who sins shall die” (18:3-4). The passage then goes on to explain that even if someone has all the disadvantages in background, that person by changing ways can escape the natural curses that come from that background. Jeremiah’s passage says essentially the same thing.

Put differently, people can and do get caught in multi-generational habits that are difficult to escape. We often are victims of circumstances beyond our control. Poverty can be a family bequest, although one that we would neither want to bequeath nor accept. Such is the way the world works. We need to admit that, and we need to accept that the sour grapes that parents eat can be hard to escape for the generations that follow.

But it is also true that there is a way to escape from the cycle. Such dysfunction does not need to last for generations. The natural course of events might lead to generation after generation of the same mistakes being made, but fortunately we do have some measure of control over our own destiny.

Jeremiah’s passage speaks of the need to reform our hearts in order to escape the past. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Verse 33) Change your heart and change your life. Do that, and as they might say in Texas you’ll be happy as a clam at high tide.

The Gift of George Bailey

2011-12-11T13:30:00.001-08:00

George Bailey was the Jimmy Stewart character in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. Stewart played the frustrated building and loan manager who wished he had never been born, until he was given a glimpse of what his corner of the world would have been without him.

A few years back I left an employer of many years for an opportunity elsewhere. Some clients were people I had worked with for more than two decades on their personal financial affairs. During that time I walked with them through valleys and over mountaintops. I saw them though weddings and divorces, widowhood and acceptance. I guided them through goal setting and goal reaching. I helped people dream and helped those dreams become reality. I eased their paths and helped them to see that financial wellbeing is not a goal in itself but a means to freedom. I held them steady through trying financial times and through the emotions that accompany our major life events.

When caught in the middle of two decades of laying bricks one at time, we can fail to catch a glimpse of the building we are building. But the personal notes of thanks, the tears of farewell, the disbelief that “you’re leaving me”, and the expressions of hope that I would continue to work with them helped me to understand that the daily frustrations and often tedious work has borne some fruit. The odd thing about it was how I did not see the fruit at the time, but only after the fact. The daily act of living obscured the big picture of life, and only after stepping back and looking could I see that I had made a difference.

George Bailey had learned a lesson, that the lives he had touched with his own were better for it even if it was not apparent at the time. Elijah didn’t know that four thousand of his countrymen were on the same side of the cultural divide as he in spite of his perception that he was all alone.

Even the Apostle Paul needed to be brought back to the reality that what he was doing was making a difference. In the city of Corinth he preached the gospel in the synagogue, but was so frustrated by the apparent lack of interest that he exclaimed, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." (Acts 18:6 NIV) Yet immediately after that outburst, we’re told that he went “next door to the house of Titius Justus.” So in spite of Paul’s consternation, someone had responded to his preaching! And immediately after that Crispus, who was the chief ruler of the synagogue, his whole household, and many others also believed and were baptized.

Paul’s frustrations with his apparent lack of fruit were more of a problem of perception than reality. Jesus Christ himself had to tell to Paul in a vision to stay on in Corinth and to keep on working “because I have many people in this city.” (v9 – 10)

It’s easy to get frustrated with the nuts and bolts, but the world without you would be an incomplete place. You touch more lives than you know. Whether you are trying to get the gospel to the world or just doing what you do to make a living, what you do makes a difference. Casting your bread on the waters will always come back many fold. Some day you’ll know that what you do makes a difference. Just ask George Bailey.

Was Jesus a Socialist?

2011-12-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

I’m getting really tired of hearing people claim that Jesus was a socialist. One writer, Ned Lawrence, lists the following ten reasons why Jesus had to be one:

1. Jesus owned nothing.

2. Jesus argued for the dissolution of the family and the establishment of communes.

3. Jesus loved all people regardless of ethnicity or class.

4. Jesus revolted against the imperial government, established religion and finance capitalism (usury).

5. Jesus taught that we should act as one body, one blood.

6. Jesus taught that his kingdom (i.e. nation state) is in the heart and not below the feet.

7. Jesus taught that we should fight for Justice and 'turn the other cheek' to petty morality.

8. Jesus was a laborer and a teacher.

9. Jesus practiced healing and forgiveness.

10. Jesus taught that you can't be an imperialist and a disciple at the same time.

Aside from the fact that some of the “reasons” are demonstrably false (Jesus does not argue for the dissolution of families and the establishment of communes), much of what the author says has nothing to do with socialism vs. free enterprise. Is he saying that if one believes in free enterprise, we do not want to see the sick healed? That one can’t believe in free enterprise and still be a laborer or teacher? Or despise big government and see the evils of what he calls “finance capitalism”?

It seems to me the author confuses crony capitalism with free markets. As another writer illustrates, nothing like this is found in the gospels: "...and Jesus Christ forcibly took the money from all of the people gathered and gave it to the Pharisees to distribute as they felt. Thereafter the people rejoiced in the good deeds done by Jesus as they lived on socialized programs run by benevolent governments.” “Benevolent governments”, I might add, that take tax money from your local auto repair shop and which is then given to General Electric to invest in a Chinese jetliner factory. Or “benevolent governments” where Harry sits down with Nancy to decide what Sally is going to give to Sam. But I digress.

Let’s take one parable of Jesus that is sometimes cited as proof that Jesus was a socialist. It is found in Matthew 20:1-16. Generally, the parable goes like this: A man owns a vineyard, and goes to the marketplace looking for day laborers. He hires some at six in the morning to work the full 12-hour shift. At nine, he hires more men, hires more at noon, and even more at three in the afternoon. Finally, at 5 PM he hires more men to work. At the end of the work day, he calls all the laborers together and pays them. Lo and behold, he pays them all the same, even those who worked only one hour! Proof positive Jesus was a Socialist!

But people often forget that, in this very parable, Jesus puts these words in the landowner’s mouth: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” (verse 15). If I wish to be generous with “my own things”, you have no cause to argue on the basis of fairness.

Jesus uses this very same principle in two other parables (the Parable of the Pounds in Luke 19 and the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25), but with different outcomes. In these two parables, he takes the pound (or talent, as in Matthew’s case) from the person who has one and gives it to (or more accurately, puts it under the stewardship of) the one who already has ten. “But, Lord, he already has ten!” (Luke 19:25) Ah, but the pound was the nobleman’s, so he could do with it whatever he wished!

Admittedly, these parables are all designed to teach deeper spiritual lessons, but if Jesus analogizes himself as a property owner lawfully deciding what to do with his own things, he does not come across as a very good socialist to me.

The Spirit of Insanity

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

The news these days is filled with stories like these:

Congress as part of green fuels initiatives subsidizes cellulosic fuels, a product that doesn't exist, mandates its purchase even though it doesn't exist, is punishing oil companies for not buying the product that doesn't exist, and is now doubling down on the subsidies in the hope that someday it might exist.

The TSA detains seventeen year old Vanessa Gibbs in a Virginia airport for trying to board a plane while carrying a purse with an image of a gun embossed on its side.

The Administration in Washington offers taxpayer dollars to Brazil to help finance offshore drilling while denying permits to American oil companies to drill in the United States.

It is illegal for a school to give aspirin to a child without parental permission (which is a good thing), but the school can refer girls for abortions without parental notification.

In Boston, a seven year-old boy defends himself by kicking in the groin a bully who is trying to choke him. The boy is expelled from school and charged with sexual assault.

It’s almost like a spirit of insanity is running loose in the neighborhood, and it’s hard to believe that people making decisions about other people’s lives, as illustrated above, fail to see the disconnect from reason. What ever happened to sound judgement? Have we become like the people of Rome, who, “professing to be wise, they became fools”? (Romans 1:22)

Where Is God When You Need Him?

2011-12-04T15:53:00.000-08:00

Where is God when you need him? That’s the theological question of the ages, and attempting to answer it with some kind of unifying theory risks putting God in box. But there is an interesting incident about where God went and why he went there. At least in this one instance we know why he was where he was.

The tribes of Israel had escaped from Egypt just a few months before. Moses had disappeared into the clouds that sat atop a mountain to confer with God, and they hadn’t seen him for some time. While they wait, they craft a golden calf, substitute it for the true God, and then start a ribald celebration complete with debauchery.

God was not amused. But he was also merciful. Instead of destroying the nation in his anger, he simply got up and left the room. “Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Exodus 33:3)

Put differently, their behavior was so disgusting that God couldn’t stand being around them. “You go on up to your inheritance, and I’ll send an angel in front of you, but I’m out of here.” The stench of sin was so bad that God had the Tabernacle moved completely out of the camp. If people wanted to confer with God, they had to leave the camp to do so (Verse 7).

Two lessons among many can come from this. First – and remember not to put God in a box on this one – sometimes when we wonder where God is when we need him, it could be that he’s not around because we act like we don’t want him around. But remember that box. We shouldn’t discount the possibility that he has gone off someplace, but we should also not despair. God in fact could be right there with us and we just don’t recognize it.

But here’s another lesson. If God is not in the midst of your camp, he’s just outside of it and waiting for you to step outside the camp to approach him. It doesn’t matter that you might have done some disgusting things. He’s waiting outside the camp for you. Go out there and find him.

It Is Better to Suffer for Doing Good

2011-11-25T17:49:00.001-08:00

It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (I Peter 3:17 NIV)

Notice that Peter is admitting two things here. First, he is admitting that if someone is suffering, it could be because they are “doing good”. It is fantasy to believe that every bit of suffering we see in the world is payback for doing evil. Job’s friends made this error. Living according to God’s standards can cause problems in this sad world, sometimes bringing ridicule and sometimes persecution. History books are filled with stories of martyrs, and anyone who sees another’s suffering must not conclude that karma is working its magic. Following God brings its own challenges. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." (I Corinthians 15:19)

But Peter is also implying something else in this verse: some of the things we suffer are in fact a result of our own actions. We might find ourselves in financial straits from improper use of credit. We might find ourselves in bad health from improper lifestyles. Our family lives might be atrocious because of lack of respect. We might find ourselves in trouble with the law for dishonesty. It would not be “blaming the victim” to admit that.

Peter’s point is a good one. In this world we are going to have trials and woes. That being the case, it's better to suffer as a result of our righteousness.

Tribute to My Favorite World War II Veteran

2011-11-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

There is a generation that curses itsfather,

And does not bless its mother. (Proverbs 30:11)

* * * *

Sixty seven years ago in France theshape of the post World War II map hung in the balance. In a last, desperate attempt to break theback of the Allied advance, Adolph Hitler scraped up the last of his reservesand threw everything he had at his enemy’s lines. The battle became known as The Battle of theBulge. Had Hitler succeeded, the map of Europe today would be the worse for it.

At the 50-yearcommemoration of that event, I remembered something my father had said severaltimes when I was small, but had never registered on my young mind. He had mentioned that hewas in France and Belgium duringWorld War II. I decided to call and askhim some questions.

Nick Cacchio is of thegeneration that suffered the double whammy of a devastating depression and themost colossal war in history. This isthe generation that saved the world for freedom, built the strongest economy inhistory, spread American culture around the world, and hung steadfast as theworld watched the collapse of Communism.

Every president from Dwight Eisenhowerto George H. W. Bush was a veteran of World War II. Lyndon Johnson, who was a Congressman duringthat war, answered the call and ended up with a unit in the Far East. Only a direct orderfrom Franklin Roosevelt persuaded him to go back to Washington. John Kennedy’s valor with his famous PT 109 is almost legendary, as arethe elder George Bush’s brushes with death as a fighter pilot.

But there is a funny thing about thatgeneration - the almost unanimous refusal to take any credit. One of my uncles, an older brother of myfather, served as a military policeman in the US Army. He did his job, survived the war, came homeand lived quietly in a small Pennsylvaniavillage. When he died, the family was sortingthrough his things and they were shocked at the medals and decorations that hehad earned but had never talked about. Said one of his sisters, "He felt that everybody had a job to doand that he was just doing his part."

So I called Dad and I asked him if hewas there at the Battleof the Bulge. "Yep," he said. "I was there." What wasit like? What happened? He laughed histhroaty little laugh and said, "Well, we were waiting around for somethingto happen, and something happened. Iremember all the planes flying overhead and all the troops coming in. It was cold out, but we were young and wecould handle it."

"We could handle it." Typical generational understatement. Just doing what had to be done for home,country, and the girl next door.

Tom Brokaw calls the GI Generation thegreatest generation, and the man has a point. I could segue now into trite Bible quotationsabout no greater love than to lay down one's life and so forth, but instead Iam rather sad. Comparing my generationwith theirs leaves me empty. How can onecompare my generation's "accomplishments" with those of the GI Generation?

When I called my father in December of1994 to talk about the events of fifty years earlier, I kidded him about beingalive for one third of our history as a nation. Perhaps he had never thought of it that way before. Little did I know that within just a few years' time our lives would be thrown into a tizzy by some brash folks flying hijacked airplanes, and within just a few years after that our economic viability as a nation would be challenged. It is during such days that we can be servedwell by those who walked before us and the sense of history they imparted. Hopefully my generation also will be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to preserve our freedom for the sake of our posterity.

It is a shame to put the greatestgeneration out to pasture. They have somuch to teach those to whom the torch now passes.

Where Is Your Country?

2011-11-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

In an article a few year's back about George Schultz, National Review’s Jay Nordingler describes a snippet of his interview with this former Secretary of State:

“At Schultz’s side is an illuminated globe, and this prompts me to ask him about a test he would give to new U.S. Ambassadors. ‘They’d been through all kinds of exams and so on – confirmation – and I’d say to them, “Well, there’s just one more test you have to pass.”’ They’d usually groan. ‘”You have to walk over to that globe and demonstrate to me that you can identify your country.” And, inevitably, they would point to the country to which they had been assigned’“The correct answer of, of course, was the United States – that was their country. And Schultz’s moral was, ‘Never forget what country you’re representing.’”

I flinched when I read about Schultz’s final test. For a flag-waving patriot such as myself, it does not come easy to admit that I am a citizen of a greater country than the nation of my birth. In my head I know all the statements of Jesus and Paul about where our true citizenship is, and sometimes my heart even goes there. But I am what I am, and I know there is honor loving the people who are my neighbors and countrymen.

Paul himself said of his countrymen:

“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” (Romans 9:2-4 NIV)

But then I recall the same guy saying this:

“We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV)

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20 NIV)

In Hebrews we read about the heroes of the Old Testament:

“They admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13-16 NIV)

And Jesus said:

“My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)

The kingdom they describe will never disappoint us, and while we may be citizens of whatever political entity is ours by birth or choice – and those nations deserve our respect – our eternal citizenship lies elsewhere. That is the greater country we must represent to a world increasingly foreign to who we are.

Jesus Used Humor to Teach

2011-10-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Although he doesn’t always come across this way in our Bible translations, Jesus had a well-refined sense of humor. He once told a parable about two men who went up to the temple to pray. It’s a pithy, simple story and seems straightforward from a modern perspective.

Two men go to the temple to pray. One’s a Pharisee, one’s a tax collector. The Pharisee thanks God for making him such a great guy, and the tax collector confesses his sins. Guess which one goes home justified. (See Luke 18:9-14)

While the parable as it seems to read teaches a noble lesson, we miss something if we neglect to transport ourselves mentally into the context of the day. Imagine yourself listening to Jesus live, and he begins a little riff by saying, “A Pharisee and a tax collector walk into a bar ...”, or in this case the Temple. I think he will have you listening waiting for the punch line.

Then he gets to the Pharisee’s prayer. “God, I thank you that I’m not like everybody else. Look at all the good things I do. Why, I just can’t help giving myself a big hug for all my fastings and prayings and tithings and self-sacrificings.”

Jesus’ listeners would have been well-acquainted with such prayers because Jesus was giving a quirky parody of actual prayers offered in that day. The Talmud records such a prayer (Reference http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke18x9.htm):

“I give thanks to Thee, O Lord my God, that Thou has set my portion with those who sit in the Beth ha-Midrash [the house of study] and Thou has not set my portion with those who sit in [street] corners for I rise early and they rise early, but I rise early for words of Torah and they rise early for frivolous talk; I labor and they labor, but I labor and receive a reward and they labor and do not receive a reward; I run and they run, but I run to the life of the future world and they run to the pit of destruction.” [b. Ber. 28b (Soncino 1: 172), quoted in Hear Then the Parables by Bernard Brandon Scott]

Here’s another one:

“R.. Judah said: One must utter three praises everyday: Praised (be the Lord) that He did not make me a heathen, for all the heathen are as nothing before Him; praised be He, that He did not make me a woman, for woman is not under obligation to fulfill the law; praised by He that He did not make me ... an uneducated man, for the uneducated man is not cautious to avoid sins.”

It’s not a stretch at all to believe that Jesus’ gentle humor found a few laughs, but more importantly Jesus was calling attention to a mindset that was all too prevalent among the religious sorts of the day. But it isn’t just a First Century mindset. It is one with which we must still wrestle. The human condition is still the human condition, and sometimes religious people are the most insufferable.

They can even be worse than KU fans.

Do You Want the Ball?

2011-10-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

If you were a Cleveland Indians fan or Milwaukee Brewers fan in the 1970s or 80’s, you might have heard of Rick Manning. He was a Big League outfielder then. I knew Rick when we were high school kids. He played shortstop on the school team and I rode the bench. Even then he displayed the attitude that would take him to The Show.

After a particularly grueling inning in the field, where it appeared that the requisite three outs would happen some time tomorrow, the boys came in from the field dazed and shell-shocked. “I was praying they wouldn’t hit the ball to me,” one guy said, whereupon Rick looked him in the eye and said in voice everyone could hear, “Well, I was praying that they WOULD hit it to me.”

Wanting the ball seems to be the mark of excellence that separates the best from the rest. They know in a quiet, confident way that if called upon they can and will do the job, and will do it well.

Those of us in Kansas City had the privilege of watching the great Marcus Allen shatter touchdown records during his tenure here. Marcus had the knack for turning it up just a notch at the most critical juncture, falling forward, gaining those extra inches when they counted the most, finding a hole when there was no hole, never leaving any yardage on the field. He wanted the ball when the task was most difficult.

The young future king named David saw a swaggering Goliath and watched as the armies of Israel quaked. But David wanted the ball, so to speak, grabbed five smooth stones, and defeated the one who defied the living God.

After spying out the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb told the people, “We can do this thing. Those people are meat for us.” But Israel didn’t want the ball.

Sadly, many Christians seem to fear that the ball will be hit in their direction. What if my neighbor asks me why I am a believer? How do I comfort those in need? What if I am called upon to mentor a new Christian? How can I preach the gospel in my community, seeing I know not letters? What do I tell people when they ask me to explain the basis of my faith? How do I explain why the Bible is the Word of God? Why I don’t I party the way I used to?

All disciples, save one, abandoned Jesus when he was betrayed. They weren’t ready to have the ball hit to them. Yet just seven weeks later they preached the Good News with power, first in Jerusalem, then to the whole world. Maybe we don’t want the ball because we don’t have enough of God’s spirit. But I know this: When I meet God face to face, I want to be able to say to Him the words of Jesus, “Father, I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do (John 17:4). I don’t want to leave any yardage on the field. I want the ball hit to me.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

2011-09-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

A few years ago my family and I traveled to Panama City Beach in Florida for our annual Festival of Tabernacles celebration and convention with our church. One afternoon my younger daughter and I were enjoying the delicious sunshine and beaches, and separately waded into the Gulf waters and paddled around, lazy and oblivious to everything going on beyond the beach itself.

I came up from a dip from under the surface and glanced ashore, where I saw my friends, jumping, waving their arms in a frenzy, and yelling at me while pointing in my direction. I had no idea what was going on.

Until I saw it.

Coming toward me was a large twelve-foot long creature. Honestly, at first glance I thought I was looking at a dolphin. But then I realized that a dolphin is not a dull brown.

I have a dozen friends who witnessed this and can vouch for the fact that this hammerhead shark was swimming straight toward me – and then veered off to my left after getting within a yard. I could have literally reached out and touched the thing and nearly did.

You might think I was scared out of my mind and hurried to shore as fast as I could, but you would be wrong. My daughter was out farther than I and was oblivious to what was happening.

I could see the shark weaving around, and I half swam and half stumbled through the waters yelling “Get out of the water! Now! Get out! Now!”

Middle-teen that she was, she protested and wanted to know why, which only compelled me to move farther from shore and closer to her.

Clearly we both escaped without injury, but as I stood on the beach watching the huge ugly fish meandering around the shallow waters, someone asked me if I was afraid while everything was happening. I was not – not as long as my daughter was out there and I was trying to get her in. “But right now,” I said, “I’m shaking like a leaf.” And I was.

My perfect love for my daughter overrode my fear, and I did what I had to without hesitation and without regard for danger.

When John wrote, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), he was talking about a universal principle. Ten years ago the passengers of Flight 93 must have had some apprehension about storming the cockpit of a hijacked plane, but knowing that doing so would save lives, they performed an extreme act of love and courage. That love cast out their fear.

I wonder if Jesus, when facing the last few hours of his life, was emoting fear when he shouted, “Father, if there is any way to let this cup pass from me, let it pass!” But when we read his prayer in John 17, we see his focus changing to his disciples and to us. We hear him talking about his need to die for all mankind, and that love cast out his fear.

“Perfect love casts out fear” might be difficult to understand in the abstract, but it is very real in the acts of heroism that go on every day. That’s important to remember on this September 11 and every September 11 to follow.

By the way, after my near handshake with that shark, my friends were all gathered around me speculating why the shark turned away after getting a good look at me. My old buddy Kevin, I think, had it right. Sharks don’t like Italian food.

Give It to the Poor and Follow Me or Give It to Me and Be Proud of Your Poverty

2011-09-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

A young man came to Jesus and asked, “Good Master, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?” He was a rich young man, and after some discussion Jesus got to the nub of the stumbling block. “Go, sell all you have, give it to the poor, and come and follow me.”

Therefore, to fulfill God’s will in our lives and to assure eternal life, we all need to sell what we have, give it to the poor, rely totally on God for our sustenance, and that’s how we follow Jesus. Right?

Wrong!

Before anyone “steps out on faith” and impoverishes himself and thinks he is doing God a service by relying on the charity of others who have not impoverished themselves, remember that those instructions were given to one man, one time because of a specific stumbling block for the purpose of a specific calling. It’s dangerous to generalize based on this one specific.

Paul never demanded that the wealthy Philemon sell all his possessions. Jesus did not demand that the wealthy Zacchaeus give all his wealth away after he proclaimed he would he would give half. We have no record of Joseph of Arimathea divesting himself of his great wealth. Lydia, as far as we know, remained a successful businesswoman.

Abraham became very wealthy as a result of God’s blessings, and so did Jacob and also Joseph the son of Jacob. Job might have lost all his wealth at a trying time in his life, but God restored it two-fold at a later date.

If God has given you prosperity, no one has a right to make you feel guilty about it. At the same time prosperity does demand some obligations.

The first obligation is to recognize the source of your prosperity and appreciate it. Clearly God is the ultimate source of blessings, but often overlooked is a little appreciation for your customers and/or employer and the support of family. And if you received the reward of your labor from hard work and sacrifice – and risk-taking – you can take some credit for that.

You must also realize that money is not your god, nor your source of security, nor the definition of your identity, nor a means to control others. It is entirely possible that the rich young man whom Jesus loved was making one or more of these errors.

And we must also realize that prosperity itself can be a ministry. There seems to be an implicit assumption in some quarters that impoverishing oneself in the name of religion is a sign of nobility and that building wealth is a sign of selfishness. In the world where I live it is those with wealth who create employment opportunities that keeps people from being poor. It is those with wealth who invest in new ideas, contribute to worthy causes, pay taxes to fund the essential functions of government, and carry their own weight so that they do not become a burden on their children or strangers.

Maybe the best way a wealthy person can serve in ministry is not to give it all away, but to invest his capital in a new enterprise that can provide meaningful, livable, and sustainable employment opportunities so that fewer citizens need to rely on the charity of others.

This side of the kingdom the poor will always be with us. But the only way to end poverty is to create wealth. Don't let anyone discourage you from doing so.

The Lord Is With You.

2011-08-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

The nation of Israel was going through one of those calamities that struck them from time to time. Marauding tribes invaded the land, stealing crops and livestock, terrorizing the people, and impoverishing the nation to the point of despair. It didn’t help that they had not only ignored their God, but had blatantly taken to serving other gods.

That’s why it sounded like an odd comment when the Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12).

I know many people, faithful people, who are living through trials that are hard to endure. Many of these involve serious health problems. Others are dire financial problems. Some are having difficulties finding employment, or are being abused by their present employers. Family difficulties sometimes are a part of the mix. I even know some who are afflicted by all of these trials at the same time. If the Angel of the Lord were to approach them and say, “The Lord is with you”, as he did with Gideon, one could forgive them if they were answer as Gideon did:

“If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us.” (Judges 6:13 NIV)

One of the most difficult theological questions to address is this very question: If the Lord is for us, then why has all this happened to us? Clearly there is not an easy answer to this question, nor does any one answer address every situation. We know that in Gideon’s case, the nation had drifted from God and for that reason God gradually withdrew his protection from the nation’s enemies, and we also know that God responded when they cried out for deliverance. But we also know that the righteous really do suffer, and sometimes in the very presence of the wicked who are prospering. Scripture itself acknowledges such (Psalm 73 and the Book of Job).

This question of why the righteous suffer can be addressed in many ways, including that classic passage from Paul in II Corinthians 1:1-7, where we learn that the trials we face sometimes come our way so that we can better comfort others when they face such trials. Sometimes we suffer because of the natural order of this sin-laden and decaying world. Sometimes we suffer because we are reaping consequences of our own or others' mistakes.

Regardless of the cause of our suffering, Gideon’s comments intrigue me. The man was open enough to be honest about his doubts, even expressing those doubts and frustrations to God’s direct messenger.

Are you confident enough in your relationship with God to be this open and direct? “If the Lord is with me, then why is my wife perpetually sick? Why am I always running behind on my bills, and why is it so hard to find work? If the Lord is with me, why does the car break down at the most inopportune times? Why do we have family troubles? I know it rains on both the just and the unjust, but sometimes I get too much rain and sometimes not enough, while old Joe across the street who cusses up a storm and has no interest in his God whatsoever seems to be doing just fine.”

Would you have the nerve to question God in this way? Gideon did. And God didn’t condemn him for it. Instead he walked Gideon through his doubts and discouragement, showing that the Lord really was with him, and that he really was a mighty man of valor.

If life is handing you circumstances that cause doubt, ask the question. Persevere in your asking until you have the answer (Luke 11:8-13). You will learn something about yourself that you didn’t know, but more importantly, you’ll learn that God is who he says he is.

Jesus the Investment Banker

2011-08-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

The economy has a way of commanding our attention, and it should. While it’s tempting to ask what Jesus might do in times like these, it’s a tough question to answer without asking more questions. Do you mean what would he do as a carpenter from Nazareth? That would elicit an entirely different answer from what he would do as the King of Kings.

Just for the fun of it, let’s try to figure out what Jesus the Investment Banker might do. In fact, Jesus spoke a couple of parables that give us a strong indication of how he would approach a few challenges our economy faces.

In Luke 19 Jesus pictures himself as an investor who has a few bucks (or pounds) to put to work. He chooses ten people, gives them each the same amount of capital to invest, and tells them to do business with it while he’s out of town.

Some time later, he calls his ten entrepreneurs together to assess how they have done. Note that he gave capital to ten entrepreneurs, but in the parable he only interviewed three of them. Two of the three made good returns, and the third did nothing more than turn the original investment back over. Is it possible that the remaining seven lost everything? If so, are we permitted to contemplate that maybe those seven were not condemned for losing it all because at least they were willing to take a few risks, while the fellow who simply sat on his capital did receive a condemnation?

In any case, the investment banker makes a decision. He takes the money away from the guy who has just the one pound that he was given and gives it to the guy who has ten. That sounds callous to our ears today. In fact the disciples themselves questioned the fairness of this: “But Lord! He already has ten pounds!” (Luke 19:25)

That is what Jesus the Investment Banker would do. Instead of subsidizing ventures that are destined to fail, he would direct his capital to the ventures that would be the most productive. That’s as it should be. The banker began with ten pounds, and after his entrepreneurs went to work, his wealth had grown to sixteen (10+5+1). If he had tried to subsidize the non-productive enterprises via capital injection taken from the successful, he would eventually erode all his capital on the not so successful entrepreneurs, who would have been better served finding another line of work.

I suspect Ronald Reagan might have had this parable in mind when he said, “The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

Jesus might have had in mind the proverb from Ecclesiastes: “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” (11:16) The main actor in this parable clearly diversified his investments.

So Jesus the Investment Banker would not be doing to the financial system what some are doing today. Instead of injecting capital into failing institutions, he would be investing in those that have a proven ability to succeed. What would Jesus do? Something radically different from what is being done. And that should be no surprise to anyone.

Lincoln's Second Inaugural

2011-07-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Some have called it the greatest sermon ever delivered on American soil, but it’s more. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address rings as a literary masterpiece, but also as a window into the heart of the sixteenth president after four years of devastating warfare.

Lincoln historians are sometimes struck by his knowledge of the Scriptures even though for most of his adulthood he was understood to be a great skeptic. Many believe that his faith began to take root only after assuming the presidency, and although it has always been questioned whether he was a Christian in the orthodox sense, his growing awareness of what he called Providence and the The Almighty made its way into his speeches, writings, and conversations.

It is striking that his Second Inaugural sounds prophetic, not in the sense of predicting the future, but in the sense of having the feel of an Old Testament prophet. Those prophets spoke of national guilt and national responsibility bringing on the judgment of The Almighty. Christian theology tends to focus on each individual’s covenant and relationship with God, in contrast to the Old Testament’s focus on the relationship of one specific nation’s covenant with God.

Listen to these words, speaking of the North and the South:

Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

Notice that Lincoln viewed the troubles of his time as a just rendering for national sins. Now read this passage from Jeremiah 18:

If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. (Jeremiah 18:8-11 KJV)

Clearly the King James Bible influenced Lincoln’s writing style, but it is just as clear that the prophets influenced Lincoln’s theology. Do we believe that the God of the New Testament also rules in the affairs of nations? Do we see those Divine Beings as the same God? And do we take seriously that this God cares about the affairs of nations as well as the affairs of individuals?

For more reading, see Matthew 25:31-46, Leviticus 26, and Deuteronomy 28.

If the Pursuit of Happiness Is an Inalienable Right, Why Is There No Department of Happy?

2011-07-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

The argument that the Declaration of Independence promises the right to pursue happiness and not happiness itself is a good one as far as it goes, but it somewhat misses the point that Jefferson and the Founders were attempting to make.

“Happiness” is one of those mushy words that is hard to specifically define. Webster’s Online defines it this way: “An agreeable feeling or condition of the soul arising from good fortune or propitious happening of any kind; the possession of those circumstances or that state of being which is attended enjoyment; the state of being happy; contentment; joyful satisfaction; felicity; blessedness.”

So, according to Webster, happiness is a subjective thing dependent upon each individual’s experiences, circumstances. What brings you happiness might bring me distress. You might experience an “agreeable feeling or condition” watching a soccer game, something I might find aggravating and frustrating.

The Founders likely had something larger in mind when crafting the phrase “pursuit of happiness”. They knew the classics, and certainly they knew of Aristotle’s formulation of happiness. For Aristotle, happiness centered on the pursuit of virtue in order to reach one's potential as a human being. The right to pursue happiness becomes an interesting concept in this context.

Read Mortimer J. Adler's paper (link below) for additional insights. It discusses where the Founders were coming from.

http://www.utpa.edu/dept/curr_ins/faculty_folders/tevis_m/docs/TheoryOfHappiness.pdf

The State Is My Shepherd

2011-06-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

Here’s a challenge. Read the book of Psalms, but substitute the word “State” every time you see the word “Lord”. Watch what happens.

For example:

Psalm 106:1-2: O give thanks to the State, for it is good. It’s mercy endures forever! Who can utter the mighty acts of the State?

Psalm 103:2-3, 5, 6 : Bless the State, O my soul, and forget not all its benefits, which forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases ... which satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The State executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

Psalm 6:1-3: O State, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O State, for I am weak. O State, heal me for my bones are troubled.

Psalm 23:1-2: The State is my shepherd. I shall not want. It makes me lie down in green pastures. It leads me beside still waters.

These quirky Psalms aren’t much of a stretch when considered in light of a telling comment from Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards during the 2004 campaign. Quoted from CNN Politics news site of October 12, 2004:

"If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."

That, my friends, is a messianic claim.

Or how about this one from the 2008 campaign:

“That this was the moment that the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.”

When the Book of Revelation tells us that people will bow down to worship the Beast and say, “Who is like the Beast? Who is able to make war with him?” are they doing anything other than what our culture is doing to us? Are they not putting the State in place of God and looking to the State for sustenance, support, healing, and salvation? Are they not saying, “The State is my shepherd”?

For a great message from Ronald L. Dart on this subject go this link :

Civil Religion

Program notes can be found here:

Living to Win

Writing of Virtue

2011-06-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

“It is a risky enterprise to have to write of virtue”. Thus writes Thomas Keneally in his book Schindler’s List, made famous by Steven Spielberg’s movie of the same name. “He was Oskar Schindler”, says the book’s cover. “His name is in the Avenue of the Righteous People in Jerusalem. He ran a concentration camp. … A German-Catholic industrialist who, through daring, cunning and the use of his own great wealth, single-handedly saved more Jews at greater risk than any other person in World War II.”

He was a philanderer, a manipulator, and spendthrift. He depleted his personal fortune several times over and schmoozed his way up the Nazi hierarchy. Yet hundreds of Jews survived due to his efforts, and he openly wept that he could not save more.

It is truly a risky enterprise to write of virtue.

Scripture tells us that King David was a man after God’s own heart. Like Schindler, David was a manipulator and a liar. He was a philanderer and (worse than Schindler) a murderer. God himself called him a bloody man and would not permit him to build the temple. Many have puzzled over how such a one could be hailed as great. Yet God decreed that among David’s descendants would arise the Messiah.

It is a risky enterprise to write of virtue because God counts such men as David among the virtuous.

God sees not as men see, for God looks on the heart, and I am confident as in the case of Schindler and in the case of David that God saw things you and I would fail to see. God winked at David’s mistakes because his heart was right.

We find it right to write of virtue, for we cannot judge as God judges.

Are They Really Smarter than You?

2011-06-19T18:40:00.001-07:00

Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on him? (John 7:48)

Are you going to believe me or your own eyes? (Chico Marx)

I hate to admit this, but after a major political event I am more fascinated by the journalistic commentary that follows it than the event itself. That might be because so many political events and speeches are yawners reminiscent of college Speech 101.

But I’m also interested in other people’s take on what happened, even though it might remind me of Chico Marx’s line at the head of this column: “Are you going to believe me or your own eyes?”

Jesus had the same type of press. He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the multitudes, and taught a new and living way.

If that’s all he ever did, it’s doubtful that the religious elite of the day would have tried to destroy him. But Jesus had a little problem. His teachings did not fit in the little box of religion that his contemporaries had constructed for their concept of God. He preached unique ideas that threatened the current power structure. That was a threat they could not let stand.

Jesus once healed a blind man, who then came to the conclusion that “if this man were not of God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:33) The religious leaders’ retort? “You were altogether born in sin, and do you teach us?” (verse 34) Are you going to believe us or your own eyes?

Another time the Pharisees and chief priests sent a contingent of temple guards to arrest Jesus, but his teaching was so compelling that the guards refused their orders. “Never has a man spoken like this,” they told the Pharisees, who retorted, “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed on him? These people who are ignorant of the law are cursed.” (John 7:46-49)

These religious elites clearly held a high view of themselves and a condescending view of the unwashed masses. When they said, “These people who are ignorant of the law are cursed”, they sound suspiciously like certain elements of our own culture.

It’s good to seek out others’ opinions and to listen to their learned commentary, but no one has a right to tell you how to think or to call you names if you happen to disagree. There is a lot of that going on these days.

Lenny C.

Let My People Go

2011-06-11T20:42:00.001-07:00

Finish this sentence: “Let my people go ...”.

You’ll recognize those words as those coming from Moses’ mouth to Pharaoh’s ears. They were God’s demand to free the Israelite slaves, and thus became a rallying cry for those of us who love freedom.

And yet the sentence quoted above is incomplete. “Let my people go” is a phrase closely identified with the Passover and freedom from the slavery of Egypt. For Christians, not only does it look to the freeing of the people of Israel from bondage, but also the freeing of all mankind from the bondage of sin through the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb without blemish (I Peter 1:19, I Corinthians 5:7).

But freedom from bondage is only part of the story. The rest of the story is found in the rest of Moses’ words: “Let my people go that they may serve me.”

Freedom is a wonderful thing, but it is not the ultimate good. When we have freedom, it must be exercised for a greater cause than freedom for its own sake. Experience enough generations of freedom defined as doing whatever we please, or in Biblical parlance, whatever is right in our own eyes, and you’ll get a world like that of the last days in the Book of Judges. Read the 19th – 21st chapters of Judges to see what a society of unfettered freedom produces, a society that has forgotten the purpose for freedom. Read either that or tomorrow’s newspaper.

The fact is, the path of freedom without responsibility leads to chaos, which in turn leads back to slavery. We are meant to have freedom so that we can reach our true God-given potential.

The point we can take from Moses’ full statement is that freedom from sin, while great in its own right, is simply not enough. In fact, that’s why some fifty days after the Exodus the Israelites found that Moses had led them to the foot of Mt. Sinai where they were about to receive the Ten Commandments. Those commandments taught them how they were supposed to serve God.

Put differently, they were given a law that would ensure their liberty. It defined how free men and women were to live together in such a way that everyone’s rights could be respected.

Freedom is not enough. Ironic, is it not, that we are made free so that we can serve a better Master?

Why There Are No Easy Solutions in the Middle East

2011-06-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

Borrowed from a friend's Facebook wall.

From: Dr. Arieh Eldad:

I was instrumental in establishing the Israeli National Skin Bank, which is the largest in the world. The National Skin Bank stores skin for every day needs as well as for war ti...me or mass casualty situations. This skin bank is hosted by the Hadassah Ein Kerem University hospital in Jerusalem where I was the Chairman of plastic surgery. This is how I was asked to supply skin for an Arab woman from Gaza , who was hospitalized in Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, after her family burned her. Usually, such atrocities happen among Arab families when the women are suspected of having an affair.

We supplied all the needed Homografts for her treatment. She was successfully treated by my friend and colleague, Prof. Lior Rosenberg and discharged to return to Gaza . She was invited for regular follow-up visits to the outpatient clinic in Beersheva.

One day she was caught at a border crossing wearing a suicide belt. She meant to explode herself in the outpatient clinic of the hospital where they saved her life.

It seems that her family promised her that if she did that, they would forgive her.

This is only one example of the war between Jews and Muslims in the Land of Israel. It is not a territorial conflict. This is a civilizational conflict, or rather a war between civilization & barbarism.

Dr Arieh Eldad

Eldad is a professor and head of the plastic surgery and burns unit at the Hadassah Medical Center hospital in Jerusalem. He studied medicine at Tel Aviv University, where he earned his doctorate. He served as the chief medical officer and was the senior commander of the Israeli Defense Forces medical corps for 25 years, and reached a rank of Tat Aluf (Brigadier General). He is renowned worldwide for his treatment of burns and won the Evans Award from the American Burns Treatment Association.
He also lives in Kfar Adumim a settlement on the West Bank.

Coming Alongside

2011-06-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

The Message is a modern semi-translation, semi-paraphrase of the Bible.
One passage from this paraphrase nails a concept in a way found lacking in most translations. “All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” (II Corinthians 1:3-4, The Message)

The phrases “comes alongside” and “brings us alongside” do special justice to the meaning of the Greek words from which they are translated. They are derivatives of the Greek word "parakletos", a word Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit in John 14.

The word and its derivatives are sometimes translated “comforter”, “advocate”, “consolation”, and “encouragement”. In noun form its literal meaning is “one called alongside”. While “comforter” and “advocate” catch excellent nuances (the Holy Spirit does comfort and does advocate for us), The Message points out that the Holy Spirit also “comes alongside” us in times of need even as Aaron and Hur came alongside Moses to hold up his hands when he could no longer hold them up himself.

Just as God has sent a “parakletos” to us in the form of the Holy Spirit, II Corinthians 1 tells us that we ourselves need to be “parakletos”. If there is one thing that can be said about the Holy Spirit, it is an active spirit. The Scriptures begin with the Holy Spirit moving across the face of the waters and ends with the Holy Spirit flowing as living water for all who desire a drink. In between it is depicted rumbling as an earthquake, blowing as wind, flowing as water, consuming as fire, and power as coming from on high.

As the Spirit is always on the move, so the Spirit needs to flow through us that we might be a comforter, an advocate, a counselor, an encourager. We are the ones to come alongside others in times of need.

Someone once told me that the word “parakletos” painted a unique word picture for sailors of the ancient world, one that would not have been lost on the fisherman in Jesus entourage. When a ship became disabled because of wreck or disrepair, another ship would be dispatched to come alongside the first one and accompany the disabled vessel to safe harbor. The second ship was called a “parakletos”! Remember that word picture when someone you know is in need of safe harbor.

Chuck Colson's Lost at Sea

2011-05-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

You can listen to today's Breakpoint broadcast by Chuck Colson at this link:

www.breakpoint.org

The text:

Lost at Sea
Save Medicare Now, or Go Under Later

Medicare as we know it will change. The question is how. Because we sacrificed, or because we went bankrupt.

We really don’t get it, do we? A recent Associated Press poll reports that more than half of Americans believe we can balance the budget without cutting Medicare spending.

As the late great Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.

And the facts are clear. By the year 2024, unless we make real changes, Medicare will go broke. Done. Kaputt.

This is not a doomsday prediction like Harold Camping. It’s reality. Go ahead and Google “Medicare 2024” and read the results.

Oh, and for the 6 out of 10 Americans who believe we don’t have to make any changes in social security, well, at least we have until 2036 before it runs out of cash.

The urgent question before the American people is this: Are we willing to restrain ourselves now in a reasonable way or wait until bankruptcy forces us to -- with disastrous consequences?

Given the recent congressional election in New York, if the political pundits are right, the answer is frightening. In fact, Democratic politicians seem emboldened to hammer Republicans on Medicare reform, while many Republicans are becoming contortionists trying to avoid the topic. They’re both dead wrong.

Even the liberal New York Times gets it. “Sooner or later,” it opined last Thursday, “Democrats will have to admit that Medicare cannot keep running as it is -- its medical costs are out of control.”

So, we fix things now, or we go under later.

It’s like the old mariner's tale of the ship lost in a storm. The captain and eight surviving crew members found themselves in a small lifeboat far out to sea. By the captain’s calculations, given their position and the currents, it would take 24 days to reach shore. But the boat only had enough food and water to last 12 days. So, if all aboard agreed to half rations, they might just make it.

But the crew refused. They demanded full rations, and they made it very clear to the captain that he had no choice in the matter.

The captain kept a diary of their perilous journey. By day 6 it became even more clear that they would run out of provisions before reaching safe harbor. Yet still the crew would not agree to reduce rations. Even though the sun beat down on them mercilessly, at least their bellies were full and they had yet to feel real thirst.

By day 12, the captain recorded that the food and water were gone. Yet shore was nowhere in sight. By day 13, panic set in among the crew. It took every ounce of leadership skill to keep order on that little boat, surrounded by the endless expanse of the sea.

On day 24, just as the captain had predicted the currents had dragged the boat ashore. At least that’s what the recovery crew surmised after they found the captain’s diary aboard. Along with eight dead sailors. The captain was nowhere to be found -- unless the gnawed bones found on board...well, that’s another story.

Folks, the moral of the story -- and of our predicament today -- is that we can make it to safety if we marshal our resources wisely.

Or we can starve to death later.

We must save Medicare and Social Security. But to do so, the American people will have to summon the courage to make sacrifices. And to do that, we’ll have to re-learn the what was once called the Protestant work ethic, and re-invigorate a nearly lost Christian virtue called delayed gratification.

Listen to Your Enemies

2011-05-30T19:32:00.001-07:00

“Your nation exploits women like consumer products or advertising tools, calling upon customers to purchase them. . . . You plaster your naked daughters across billboards in order to sell a product without any shame. You have brainwashed your daughters into believing they are liberated by wearing revealing clothes, yet in reality all they have liberated is your sexual desire.” (Osama Bin Laden)

An interesting statement this is, from a man with three wives and a porn stash on his computer. Maybe he made this statement purely for propaganda and recruiting reasons, and maybe Bin Laden was the worst hypocrite north of the Indian Ocean in addition to being a mass murderer, but he makes a salient point that our own religious leaders could and should make.

Think of how America must look if all you know of it is what Madison Avenue and the entertainment industry portray. If you lived in a more traditional society, and a people who hold themselves out as the messengers of freedom ask you to become more like them, how would you react after seeing a Lady Gaga concert?

Sometimes we have to listen to truth wherever we might find it. God can work any way he wants to, sometimes even to the point of letting unsavory characters tell the truth. He did, after all, speak through Balaam’s ass, and not only that, he gave very accurate prophecies and blessings concerning Israel through that sleazy false prophet Balaam himself (Numbers 22 – 24).

He used a sorceress to condemn King Saul (I Samuel 28).

In Jesus’ day the high priest Caiaphas, no friend of the fledgling Jesus movement, said that is was expedient that one man should die for the people, that the whole nation not perish. John in his gospel points out that this remarkably accurate statement was from God, and that even Caiaphas didn’t know how profound the statement was (John 11:49 – 52).

Sometimes your worst enemies can provide the most uncomfortable truths. He was a wicked man, but he made a point worth considering.

God Makes the Lemonade

2011-05-16T14:37:00.001-07:00

“If life hands you a lemon, make some lemonade”. I don’t know about you, but when I’m going through a rough spot in life, the last thing I want to hear is someone telling me to “take that ol’ lemon and make some lemonade.” Instead of proverbs, I would rather have comfort.

That’s what Job was hoping for when lemons entered his life. To his three erstwhile friends after they gave him their third degree treatment he said, “Miserable comforters are you all!” (Job 16:2). In fact one of the lines of argument from his “friend” Eliphaz was to just cheer up. Good things can come of this if you take these lemons and make some lemonade (Job 4:1-9).

Job was not comforted by such comments, and I doubt most of us would be.

And yet there is something to be said about having trials in life. We might not understand them, but as James says, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith works patience” (James 1:2,3). Tough times can build something that easy times cannot.

The adventures of Joseph in the Old Testament begins with a description of a rather arrogant young man, his Dad’s favorite kid, who likes to taunt his older brothers with revelations about his own greatness, while tattling to Dad about their antics.

The brothers seize the opportunity to get him out of their lives by selling him into slavery, but resourceful fellow that he is, Joseph does quite well for himself even in slavery, until one day he finds himself in the dungeon through no fault of his own.

Life handed him some verifiable lemons, and even though we are not told he was discouraged, we can certainly guess that he was.

But as the story unfolds, we learn that the events in Joseph’s life were in fact a part of a grand Divine plan. Joseph arises from prison and slavery with a new level of maturity and high responsibility. His wisdom and skills save Egypt from starvation, and along with it he saves other nations as well.

Even his own estranged family is saved from extinction through Joseph.

Joseph’s words to his brothers after their reconciliation tell us something about lemons and lemonade: “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20)

And this is the real question behind the lemons to lemonade story. Notice the way Joseph phrases his statement. “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” Put differently. “You thought you handed me a lemon, but God used it to make lemonade.”

Life hands you a lemon? You can try to make it into lemonade if you wish, but Joseph gives us a better alternative. Let God use the lemon to make lemonade. God loves making lemonade.

New Blog: Prophecy Panic Button

2011-05-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

End time prophecy pundits have long used tales of Armageddon to rally followers and tally receipts. Some of these prophets really do believe their own tales of woe, but predicted dates come and go, and in their wake we find not the Kingdom of God but disappointed and sometimes destitute victims.

So what does a would-be prophet do when prophecies fail? Make more prophecies, of course!

Here’s a link to a thought-provoking article in the wonderful new blog Prophecy Panic Button, produced by my friend Pam Dewey: Prophecy Panic Button. Pam addresses both the psychology and theology of would-be end time prophets and their followers. That’s important given Jesus’ warnings about false christs and false prophets, even in the last days. “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert;’ or ‘Look, he is in the outer rooms!’ do not believe it” (Matthew 24:26). Jesus did, after all, warn us that we will not "know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13).

Read all of Matthew 24 and 25 and you’ll see warning after warning about religious charlatans who would do the world a favor by selling shoes instead of religion. There is honor in honest work, after all. What part of "No man knows" do they not understand?

Pam’s piece on a specific current “prophet” is: http://prophecypanicbutton.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/when-prophecy-fails/

Reprise: Dancing in the Streets - Expanded Version

2011-05-03T20:02:00.001-07:00

Here’s something I noticed about the dancing in the streets at the demise of Osama Bin Laden. By and large the participants looked like twenty-somethings. Ten years ago, when Bin Laden seared himself into the national consciousness, these celebrants would have been teens or younger. We know those attacks and the subsequent threats from Al-Qaeda had a profound impact on their formative years. But maybe we didn’t realize how much.

This jubilation in the streets was in one sense heartwarming to watch, but in another sense it provoked some troubling thoughts. When my peers were in their twenties and gathered in the streets, they were burning their draft cards and the flag. This generation of twenty-somethings is waving the flag and pledging allegiance to it. My generation said not to trust anyone over 30. This generation is singing the national anthem. We spat on the military when they came home. This generation is honoring them with thanks.

I would say there is quite a contrast here.

It’s a fair statement to say that Bin Laden had it coming, and it is a normal reaction to rejoice at the elimination of evil. When the nation of Israel watched the destruction of the Egyptian army, they rejoiced in song and dance (Exodus 15:1-15, 20, 21). Centuries later they still celebrated this deliverance by composing and singing more psalms of praise (Psalms 105 & 106).

And in the book of Revelation, when evil is finally expunged from the earth, the call is to “rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you in her.” (Revelation 18:20)

The destruction of evil appears to be something to celebrate, but at the same time I come back to Ezekiel 33:11 and the nature of the God we serve: “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”

This is what God really wants, not to avenge, but to forgive. It’s what we all should want. But if doesn’t happen that way, then the evil needs to be eliminated, and it needs to be eliminated in God’s way. The Apostle Paul tells us one way God uses to avenge evil, and it might surprise some.

In Romans 12, Paul reminds the Christians at Rome that they are not to take vengeance into their own hands. “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine. I will repay,’ says the Lord. "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty give him a drink, for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:19-21 NASB)

This is a popular passage among those of a strict pacifist background. But if we read on, into chapter 13, we see that Paul is not a strict pacifist at all. In the same context of those previous comments to us as individual Christians and citizens, he comments on the role of the governing authorities, and one of those roles is found in verse 4 of chapter 13.

“For it [the governing authority] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. (13:4)

So in matters such as that of Osama Bin Laden, we as individuals do not have the authority to avenge such wrongs, but the civil authorities do. In fact we could go so far as to say that they not only have the authority but also the obligation and duty to protect their citizens, even using force when necessary.

So I’m not offended at all when I see young people celebrating in the streets. I confess to rejoicing with them. But I’ll rejoice even more if the sinner repents.

About Those Celebrations in the Streets

2011-05-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Something I noticed about the dancing in the streets at the demise of Osama Bin Laden. By and large the participants looked like twenty-somethings. Ten years ago, when Bin Laden seared himself into the national consciousness, these celebrants would have been teens or younger. We know those attacks and the subsequent threatentings from Al-Qaeda had a profound impact on their formative years. But maybe we didn’t realize how much.

Be Careful How You Judge

2011-04-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

It’s tempting to attribute every natural disaster to God’s judgment, and maybe there is a time to do that. But the Almighty didn’t call me last week and tell me that tornadoes and floods would ravage large portions of the nation, and that it’s all our own fault. So I’ll refrain from speculating on that one for now.

But I will quote the words of Jesus:

There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem ? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."(Luke 13:1-5 RSV)

It seems to me that Jesus is telling us to refrain from judging others who have suffered calamities and not to impute motives to God. He does give some indication of God’s protection if we are his followers, but with the reminder that we are all in need of repentance.

Elsewhere we’re told that time and chance happen to all (Ecclesiastes 9:11) and that the rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), with both positive and negative implications.

It is wise and loving to avoid pointing the finger of judgment toward those who have suffered calamity. Read the Book of Job and find out why.

The Dual Mandate of the Federal Reserve

2011-04-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave his first ever press conference today, and in the wake of that it is relevant to address a few facts about the Federal Reserve in the hope of explaining a few Fed actions that otherwise are unexplainable.

Here's the central point. Most central banks elsewhere in the world have one charge: to protect the currency in order to control inflation. Unlike the other central banks, the Federal Reserve has a dual charge: To control inflation and to achieve full employment.

It is that second mandate that creates most of the mischief. In the 1970s, in the days of Arthur Burns as Fed chief, the Fed kept interest rates artificially low and pumped up the money supply because the primary focus at the time was on the second mandate. Inevitably, inflation hit double digits yet unemployment remained unacceptably high. With the entrance of Paul Volcker as Fed chief, the Fed recommitted to protect the currency and drive down inflation. The result was rapid economic growth with low inflation, something the Neo-Keynesian economists believed to be impossible. This approach persisted through the 1990s, with some observers even positing that the Fed had quietly established a quasi-gold standard by manipulating monetary policy with an eye toward stabilizing the price of gold in dollar terms.

Today those who control the halls of power really do believe that central authorities, by pushing the right buttons and pulling the right levers, can move the economy any way they like. And they also seem to take more seriously the mandate to use the Fed to create more jobs even to the exclusion of the first mandate of price stability.

Many of us operate on the understandable assumption that business owners create jobs, not the government and its agencies, but the world looks different from Washington, DC. The fact is, the Keynesian models are made to order for the big corporate state, because for Keynesian economics to work, there must be a large government presence in the economy. They have their complex econometric models requiring many inputs, such as labor costs, taxation, spending, interest rates, exchange rates, and dozens more, and the greater number of inputs under the control of the small, elite cadre of experts, the better the results. We cannot leave such important economic decisions in the hands of a free market where the unwashed masses rule. Or so the theory goes.

One problem of many that we have right now is how the Fed views the American currency. They do not perceive their primary role as one of defending the currency. Instead they view the value of the dollar as one input of many in their econometric model. And, as they see it, inputting a weak dollar into the model results in economic growth because it can increase exports from the US. Yes, I am saying the trashing of the dollar is very intentional. It's also a fools game, because ultimately it will kill the average American's pocketbook, make it harder to finance the deficit (who wants to buy the debt of a nation whose currency can't be trusted?), and generally impoverish most while enriching a few.

This has been tried before in this country, and it was in my lifetime not too many years ago. Read your your history and you'll see I'm right. Ultimately a strong-willed, principled Fed Chairman and a new President with an economics degree from the pre-Keynesian days solved the problem.

Maybe we'll get lucky again as we did circa 1980.

Isaiah 10:1-2: Robbing the Needy of Justice

2011-04-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed to rob the needy of justice, and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless. Isaiah 10:1-2 NKJV

If I saw Isaiah's comments on the editorial page of my newspaper, I would conclude that the prophet was talking about my own country and the terrible and unsuccessful policies we have for dealing with poverty. The record of our national model is clearly one that enslaves people even more to their condition rather than lifting them out of it.

And I can't help but thinking that this is not just good intentions gone awry. Some of it is an unabashed attempt to ensure a constituency's vote, a sort of modern 3/5's compromise where a few politicians can control a large block of votes.

The Vision Thing

2011-04-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Where there is no vision, the people perish. (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)

If I were to ask you what a good mission statement for our country would be, could you recite one? Likely you could come up with one with a little thought, but the fact that it takes some thought is symptomatic of the problem.

At critical times in our history, leadership has provided a unified vision around which the nation could rally. Ronald Reagan had his shining city on the hill, borrowed from John Winthrop’s City on a Hill sermon. Lincoln had his “last best hope of mankind” message. Roosevelt spoke of a rendezvous with destiny. Jefferson had his inalienable rights. Woodrow Wilson wanted to make the world safe for democracy. Emma Lazarus wrote of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Is there such a vision today? The glue that holds a nation together is a vision that is greater than itself, and it is up to the leadership of that nation to articulate that vision in such a way that the people feel it, see it, and almost touch it. I would submit that the nation has every reason to have such a vision, but for some reason does not.

Philosopher and theologian Francis Schaeffer made the following observation about Western Culture in his book How Should We Then Live?

[W]ill men stand for their liberties? Will they not give up their liberties, inch by inch, as long as their own personal peace and prosperity is sustained and not challenged, as long as the goods are delivered? (Page 227, Crossway Books, c. 1976)

Schaeffer points out that a society bent on itself thinks only of its own peace and its own prosperity without regard to what might be happening in Zimbabwe or even across town. As long as I am secure in my little corner of my neighborhood and the pizza delivery truck can make it through the barricades, then I am content and will reelect the guy who can guarantee it. Schaeffer continues:

I believe the majority of the silent majority, young and old, will sustain the loss of liberties without raising their voices as long as their own lifestyles are not threatened. And since personal peace and affluence are so often the only values that count with the majority, politicians know that to be elected they must promise these things. Politics has largely become not a matter of ideals – and truth – but of supplying a constituency with a frosting of personal peace and affluence. They know that voices will not be raised as long as people have these things, or at least an illusion of them. (ibid)

During the next election cycle listen to the stump speeches and posturing, and see Dr. Schaeffer’s prescience from over 30 years ago. Every nation needs leadership to provide the focal point for a vision greater than itself. If that vision does not come from inspired leadership, that nation risks domination by a vision rooted in the baser elements of the world.
In the days of Ezekiel, God pictured the walls of the city as fractured and broken. In those days the walls of the city provided protection from the enemy. He looked, he said, for a man who would “make a wall and stand in the gap before me … but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV). Leadership is the key to providing the vision thing. Absent that from the politicians, we must learn to stand in the gap ourselves.

A Little Leaven

2011-04-16T18:22:00.001-07:00

Along the New York State shores of Lake Erie are some of the finest winemaking facilities in the world. To my personal taste neither California nor France can hold a glass against the quality that comes from the vineyards of New York.

I had the fortunate experience of spending my first two years of college in the middle of that winemaking area and came to know the local beverages well. I even tried my hand at making my own. On the excuse that making wine is a wonderful way to get extra credit, I obtained some simple equipment from the chemistry lab. I then concocted a mixture of ingredients that included the perfect proportion of grape juice and sugar water.

Winemaking requires a chemical reaction that changes sugar into alcohol. In the natural world, yeast spores gather on the grapeskins, and when the grapes are crushed, the spores mingle with the juice and a natural fermentation begins. That’s just the nature of things; yeast spores permeate our environment and they infect everything from wine to sour dough to allergic reactions.

In my little chemistry experiment (for extra credit, of course), my bottle of pasteurized grape juice was devoid of natural yeast spores, so I added a bit of baker’s yeast to my concoction and assembled my apparatus. In a month or so I had two very palatable bottles of red wine.

My Funk and Wagnalls describes fermentation as “chemical changes in organic substances produced by the action of enzymes”, and I am able to vouch that my wine was chemically different from the grape juice I started with, and it was all started with just a few grams of yeast. To mix metaphors with James, “Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” Or, mixing metaphors with Paul, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump,” or in my case, two fifths.

When Paul mentioned the leaven issue to the Corinthians, he was using leaven as a metaphor for a certain egregious sin that had infected their church. Their failure to deal with the couple involved was infecting their entire church, just as leavening grows and spreads and chemically changes whatever it infects.

Paul chose an appropriate illustration in using the example of yeast to describe how sin operates. Just as yeast changes the nature of what it touches, so does sin change what it touches. Unless the people purged themselves of sin, they would become something other than what they were. In the case of Corinth, their church had already changed drastically, and not for the better. (I Corinthians 5)

And just as yeast spores are everywhere, so are the seeds of sin.

At the end of the fermentation process, the juice develops a high enough alcohol content that it kills the yeast spores and the fermentation stops. Death is a part of the process, and the yeast spores bring it upon themselves. That’s the same way sin works. “Each is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and is enticed. Then when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15 NKJV)

As it turned out, I got no credit in chemistry class for my little experiment, but the project had a reward of its own. The wine itself was gladly consumed, but that wasn’t the real reward. I believe the world around us speaks of the truth of God. In observing how yeast works, I had a better understanding of how sin works, and I determined not to let the process of corruption change me, and instead to purge out the leaven in my life. Sadly, I’m still purging, but happily, the blood of the Lamb, the wine that is wine indeed, purges the unwanted yeast from our lives and sets us on a course anew.

LC

Lessons from Quebec

2011-04-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

It is time to learn a lesson or two from the Quebec Act.

The Quebec Act of 1774 was an act of Britain’s parliament during the aftermath of the French and Indian War. Its purpose was to set the procedures for the governance of Quebec and other North American territory ceded to Britain as a result of France’s defeat. In its time the document was an enlightened one, although many American colonists didn’t see it that way.

Britain, by this time a solidly Protestant nation, guaranteed the free practice of the Roman Catholic faith in these newly acquired territories, a common sense provision given the heavily Catholic French population. But this provision for religious tolerance set off a storm of alarm in the thirteen colonies. Many of the colonies had designs on the formerly French lands of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and other areas that would eventually comprise the Northwest Territory, and these areas were included in the new act. Quebec was not that far away, and antagonism inherited from the European religious experience was very much in the cultural memory. Alexander Hamilton spoke for many when he said, “The act makes the effectual provision not only for the protection, but for the permanent support of Popery.”

Put differently, many colonists felt betrayed by what they viewed as a sell-out of principles.

Even as late as 1770, most of the colonies had a lingering, deeply engrained suspicion of Catholicism. Only three colonies allowed Catholics to vote. In the New England states, except Rhode Island, they were unable to hold public office. In addition, “the state of New York held the death penalty over priests who entered the colony; Virginia boasted that it would only arrest them. Georgia did not permit Catholics to reside within its boundaries; the Carolinas merely banned them from office.” (Religion and the Continental Congress: 1774 – 1789, by Derek Davis, p. 153)

The Continental Congress eventually petitioned the King, expressing their concerns over “establishing an absolute government and Roman Catholic religion throughout the vast region.” (Davis, p. 154)

History teaches an abundance of lessons. Several come to mind immediately.

1. The Olympic sport of “Jumping to Conclusions” was practiced during the Colonial days. British motives behind the Quebec Act were nothing more than a recognition of the reality on the ground. The newly acquired lands were unshakably Catholic, and anything but religious tolerance would ensure further conflict and bloodshed. The British understood the art of the possible, a lesson lost on many people then – and many people today. A small political compromise in order to ensure the enactment of 80% of what one wants is too often branded as a sell-out of principles and is often taken as proof of sinister motives and subterfuge.

2. The British move to enlightened self-interest in Quebec was a wise one, but it didn’t stop demagogues from milking it. The Continental Congress on the one hand protested to the King about the encroachment of “Popery” (notice the name calling, which should be a red flag in its own right), while with the other hand they were trying to court these same “papists” to the revolutionary cause. They even attempted to assure the Quebecois that the freedom of conscience in religious matters is one of the inalienable rights granted by the Creator. One must believe that the people of Quebec noticed the disconnect, but whatever they did or did not notice, they remained loyal to the British Crown during the conflict.

If you have ever been through a “church war”, you know about the barrage of accusations, personal attacks, and name-calling that seem to be the standard ammunition of such affairs. You know about the courting of prospective followers and the promises made. You also know about the political hay that is often made in the wake of decisions that are often simply a small administrative detail, but are viewed by others as the proverbial camel’s nose under the proverbial tent that will eventually lead to a full-blown retreat into paganism. And you would also know that most of the time this is overblown for political purposes.

3. The third lesson I draw from this is a positive one. Within a short radius of my office are numerous houses of worship, both churches and synagogues, reflecting the rich diversity of the community. That diversity is typical of most places in the country. That’s completely unremarkable today, but that’s unusual in the annals of history – indeed it is unusual in most of the contemporary world.

But the past few weeks I have noticed something that is in fact remarkable, and I noticed it more than once. The neighborhood around my office has a number of synagogues, and recently I have noticed next to the synagogues’ normal signage a second sign. The second sign announces to passersby notice of Sunday Christian church services to be held in the same building. Here are cases of two diverse religious groups, historically at odds to the point of persecution, sharing the same building for their respective worship services.

I have to believe that the great Virginians such as Madison, Jefferson, and Washington, all champions of religious liberty, would be very happy to see something like this that would have been unthinkable in Colonial times.

The Purposes of Prophecy

2011-04-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

The Purposes of Prophecy

This link is to a sermon I delivered April 2. It's an expanded version my March 23, 2011 blog.

Clarification on March 23 Blog

2011-04-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

On March 23, I posted a short blog entitled If These Are the Last Days, What Now Should We Do? You can read it here: If These Are the Last Days ...

Here's a link to a sermon I gave on the subject: Sermon

After some thought, I think it is important to clarify a few things. I believe wholeheartedly that if these are the last days, then storing up gold and silver will not do you much good in the long run. James makes that point in James 5. Jesus tells us in Luke 12, in the context of the last days, not to worry about our physical well-being, but that God can take care of us, and that our primary concern should be our relationship with God and with each other.

But suppose these are not the last days? What then?

Clearly, if these are not the last days, our focus should still be our relationship with God and man. But there is another operative principle at play, and it’s found in Proverbs 13:22. “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.”

Paul said something similar in II Corinthians 12:14: “For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.”

The point is, don’t neglect the things you should be doing. There is no condemnation for making prudent plans for yourself and your children.

A Healthy Dose of Neglect

2011-04-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

Many years ago some writer – it might have been Norman Vincent Peale – said, “Every child needs a good, healthy dose of neglect.” I can hear the horrors from parents of small children even as I write this! How could anyone say such a thing?

And yet this thought needs to be explored a bit. Clearly no wise parent will allow a two-year old to play unsupervised in Daddy’s tool shed or to explore his environment with a nail file in a room full of electrical outlets.

But having said that, as children mature they need to be cut loose from Mom & Dad’s all-seeing eyes, allowing them to make mistakes or better yet develop problem-solving skills with their playmates. If Mom and Dad are there to ride to the rescue every time a little difficulty arises, the child will remain a child even into adulthood. Dependency will be a habit and adulthood delayed.

Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he told his disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away” (John 16:7), and, “He that believes in me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto the Father” (John 14:12).

Maybe we can paraphrase it as: “It’s best I leave. I’ll send you some help, but you’ll have to learn how to step out of your comfort zones.”

Jesus was going to give them a good, healthy dose of neglect, but not without the help they would need. Even though he would not leave them comfortless, he was going to turn them loose. If he had hovered around, they likely would not have stepped out as they did because they would have had apron strings of their own imagination holding them back.

It’s the same with our children. We can’t tag along to their job interviews, although I understand that’s happening these days. We’ll cripple them if we try to shelter them from every trial and difficulty in life.

There is a wonderful little parable about a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. A child watched the process with fascination, but also deep concern. The new butterfly was struggling mightily to escape, and in kindness the boy decided to carefully cut the cocoon to ease the butterfly’s burden. Shortly after, the butterfly died, unable to fly. The story goes on to explain that a butterfly needs the struggle of escape from the cocoon in order to force fluid into the wings so it can fly.

It is through the struggle that they are able to fly.

In Memoriam: Nelson Caswell

2011-03-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you about Brother Nelson. When I first met him, my family and I were “between churches”. We had wrangled an invitation to a church’s potluck, and were enjoying the good food and kind people when I noticed Brother Nelson. He was a beehive of activity, first making sure the trash barrels had fresh bags in them, hauling out the trash if they were full, then making sure everyone had enough to eat, or seeing if anyone needed another drink, or sweeping up a spill on the floor. He managed to stop long enough to say a few words with everyone, including me, never once losing the smile from his face.

Finally, after everyone had gone through the line, Brother Nelson picked up a plate and flatware and took his helpings from whatever remained in the serving line.

My family and I had not been to services that day, but as we enjoyed the company around us, out of curiosity and courtesy I asked who the pastor was. They pointed to him, and it was Brother Nelson.

Many reading this article come from a church tradition where a minister serving his congregation is the norm, and therefore Brother Nelson’s activities are no surprise to you. But some of us come from a background where such things were simply not done.

I love the King James Version of the Bible, but it surely has its weaknesses. One such weakness is illustrated by this passage, as it reads in the King James:

Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. (Matt 20:25-26 KJV)

If we read this as translated in the King James, it implies that the greatest among us should be our ministers, and that concept has led some people to look upon certain types of service as being beneath the ministry. After all, aren’t the ministers supposed to be greatest among us?
But Brother Nelson, who as far as I know uses only the King James Version, understands the intent of the aforementioned passage. Here is what it says it the New King James Version:

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.”

Put differently, Jesus’ intent is the exact opposite of how some ministers I know treat their congregations. As Jesus himself said, “For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.” (Luke 22:27 NKJV)

In the intervening years I came to know Brother Nelson as both a brother and a friend, and he would be the first to tell you that if Jesus could live a life as one who came to serve, then so could he. No greater love has a man than this, to lay down his life for a friend. And that even means emptying a trashcan so the other guy can enjoy the potluck.

Eating My Words

2011-03-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

“If you don’t think you are paying enough in taxes, no one is stopping you from making a tax-deductible contribution to the treasury.” I have believed that for a long time and have so expressed it.

Now I find myself eating those words.

A few weeks ago the voters in Lee’s Summit rejected a Board of Education request to increase our levy. Both my daughters are products of this school district. Both have received an education far superior to the one I received. I look at their science and math texts, and my eyes glaze over. They are learning things far more advanced than I had even in college.

Both have picked up multiple college credits along the way, and have studied literature and the humanities in a balanced way, not only being exposed to the traditional liberal thought processes (as I was in high school), but also exploring the other side of the equation.

Did I mention how accommodating the schools and teachers have been to our family’s special needs and requests? Did I mention the dozens of teachers we have encountered who love their students and love to teach, but who never once overstepped their bounds as teachers and always respected parental prerogatives?

So here I am seeing my own words on paper screaming right back at me while I watch student programs being cut that meant so much to my girls, programs that I would have paid more for but am not being asked to. “If you don’t think you are paying enough ...”

And that puts me in a position to do something positive. The money I would have paid in higher school taxes that maybe would have gone to administration I now get to contribute to a program that has made a huge difference in the lives of my students and many others. My choice will be the Lee’s Summit North Music Parents to assist with an outstanding extracurricular activity that gets few accolades but contributes nevertheless to both character development and culture.

So, to everyone in Lee’s Summit who thinks the R-7 school district deserves our support, if you really think the district needs more money, take the R-7 challenge. Write a check to the district, the school, or a supporting organization. I will because it’s my way of saying thank you to my daughters’ teachers and counselors who stood in the gap in places where we could not.

If These Are the Last Days, What Now Should We Do?

2011-03-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I came across a statement by Bible expositor Warren Wiersbe. Says Wiersbe, “It is unfortunate when people run from one prophetic conference to another, filling their notebooks, marking their Bibles, drawing their charts, and not living their lives to the glory of God.”

Prophetic interpretation is a dangerous business because no one really knows what the future holds. Understanding prophecy is a challenge in its own right because locking into a specific misinterpretation risks a quick loss of credibility. As Wiersbe also says, “The purpose of prophetic truth is not speculation but motivation.” Or, as we might put it, prophecy is not meant to be a crystal ball parlor game. Prophecies are meant to motivate change in our lives.

Let’s assume for a second that certain prophecy pundits are right and that the end really is nigh. What would Jesus have us do? And what would he not have us do? Luke 12 addresses both those questions.

First he tells us what not to do: Don’t worry about what you’ll eat or what you’ll wear (verse 22). Don’t worry about what you’ll drink (verse 29). God knows that we need these things, so don’t worry and don’t be fearful (verse 29 & 32). Otherwise you are no better than unbelievers (verse 30). Having extra stores on hand might be prudent, but in the end your provision will come from God. “Being ready” means having our treasure in the right place (verse 34). It means treating others properly (verses 35 – 47), even to the point of giving away from generosity of heart what we stored up for ourselves (verse 33).

It’s about motivation and not speculation – motivation to live a life worthy of your calling. A further study of scriptures that provide instruction for the last days reveals an interesting pattern, one we often don’t hear from teachers of prophecy. Here is a sample:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6)

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? (2 Peter 3:11)

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. (I Thessalonians 5:11)

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10-24-25)

The point seems to be that God is more interested in our relationships, and when times get rough, those relationships will mean more to us than what we could possibly understand when times are good. We need to learn to get each others’ backs, as it were. In fact, in Jesus’ baccalaureate address just before his death (John 13 – 16), he repeatedly tells his disciples to love each other and serve each other, and then he prays for unity among them (Chapter 17).

So if you are concerned that these might be the last days, do the things you should be doing anyway. Heal broken relationships. Live a life of service and giving. Comfort each other. Edify and encourage each other. Store houses have wings. Only character endures.

Note: The text of Dr. Wiersbe's sermon can be downloaded as a Word document here:

calvarybaptist.darien.org/sermon08/serm0208/tg021008/tg021008.doc

She Did What She Could

2011-03-20T16:27:00.001-07:00

Near the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus was hosted at the house of one of his followers, and “there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very costly.” The woman broke the box of ointment and poured it on his head. This stuff was worth the equivalent of 300 days worth of wages, so the term “very costly” is an accurate one. As the story goes, the disciples protested this “waste”, and perhaps they had a case. Such an act would not change the course of history, nor would it feed the hungry, nor would it bring many to salvation, nor would it hasten the Kingdom of God to earth.

But Jesus made a comment about this that puts it all in perspective: “She did what she could.” It might not seem like much, and it might not end all suffering for all time, but she did what she could, and for that she is honored. (Mark 14:1-9)

Too often people discount the good things they do because their acts fall short of an historical epic. Jesus addressed this in one of his last discourses to his disciples, where he explained to them how the Judgement will work. He’ll separate people to his right and to his left, and those on the right will be praised because “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

The people so honored make the most interesting response: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” (Matthew 25: 31-46) They had no idea that God greatly honored the apparently little things they were doing. God does not despise the day of small things. The widow’s mite is a greater gift than the loud sacrifices that echo through the temple.

That son or daughter who cares for an elderly parent, or the volunteer at the crisis pregnancy center, or the friendly encouragement to one in the doldrums, or the parents who raise their children in a godly home, or a hot casserole delivered to a hungry family – they might seem small in the grand scheme of the universe, but such acts are not to be despised. As with the woman and the alabaster box of ointment, such deeds will be honored wherever the Kingdom of God will go, for those who have done such things have done what they could, and that is all that God requires.

A Narrow View

2011-03-17T17:08:00.001-07:00

Harry Truman once begged for a one-armed economist because, he said, “They are always saying ‘on the other hand.’”.

I htink I know a thing or two about the subject, and I have my own beef with economists. Too many from Bernanke and Company talk about how inflation is under control because core inflation in just 2%. “Core inflation” is inflation minus the increase in energy and food costs, which means if you stay home all day and don’t eat, you don’t have to worry about inflation.

Going by the book, the gentlemen may be right, but it points out one of the kinks of economics. On the average, everything might look good, but the way the world operates, those of us who are comfortable financially don’t spend as much on a percentage basis on energy and food than those who are lower income. I know Jesus once said that the poor will always be with us, but that doesn’t give us license to hurt them more than the rest of us during times of economic location.

Why They Give Us No Respect

2011-03-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

YouTube is a beautiful thing. I find myself searching it for old memories of television from bygone years. The old episodes of Marshall Matt Dillon cleaning up Dodge, or TV specials featuring Gene Kelly’s athletic dance or Carol Burnett’s offbeat humor make me wistful for a time that once was.

I know the good old days weren’t as good as a childhood memory might imagine it, but there is one thing that was good. There was a time not too many years ago when the world’s window to the popular culture of America presented an image of class, talent, confidence, and strength – and even a little morality to boot.

Imagine a popular culture with such masters as Sinatra singing, Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor dancing, and Louis Armstrong trumpeting. Imagine Matt Dillon upholding law and defending the defenseless, or a situation comedy with an intact family where Father really did know best instead of being a bumbling, browbeaten caricature of masculinity or of adolescent testosterone in the bodies of two and half men.

Imagine a musical like 42nd Street, with joyful singing and dancing, wrapped into a light story where the right thing happens to the right people at the end. Think of it as a window to the American psyche, and see it as a foreigner might.

Or think of Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a film that acknowledges the warts in the American political system, but one that reminds the world in general – and Americans in particular – that one man armed with principle, character, and the truth can change the world so long as he cares to fight for it. What a fitting message Mr. Capra was trying to send to his adopted country, and what an image he portrayed to those in the continent he had left behind!

If you were outside looking in, would you respect a nation with a culture like that and welcome their ideas into yours?

But that was a culture from a different time. The poets and prophets of today seem to be the Eminems and the Tupac Shakurs of the world, or they recruit the questionable types like Lady Gaga as the highest form of art. If I were a father of daughters in a more traditional society and caught a glimpse of the sexualized nature of today’s American culture and noticed the objectification of the Lindsey Lohans and Brittney Spears of the world, with them being presented as the poster girls for American womanhood, I surely would not welcome said culture into my living room. In fact I would fight to keep it out, recognizing it for what it is: an assault on decency.

The world is a complex place, and this is not to say that our popular culture is the only reason the more traditional parts of the world pay us no respect. But make no mistake: parents wish to protect their children from corruption, and the window this country shows to the world does not help us.

Religion and the Scientific Method

2011-03-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

An interesting piece on using the scientific method when chasing doctrine.

Science and Religion

Quote:

If you are studying something scientific or doctrinal and you find yourself shoe-horning contradictory evidence into something you already believe, then start over.

God Doesn’t Play “Gotcha”

2011-03-04T19:37:00.001-08:00

One summer my boyhood town in Upstate New York passed a parking ordinance that forbade parking on certain sides of the street on certain days of the week. The city council had their reasons for passing that law, and one benefit was an increase in revenues from cars ticketed for violations. The city, you see, didn’t post warning signs on the streets in question. In answer to queries from the local newspaper, a city spokesman pointed out that they had published a notice in the newspaper, and legally that’s all they had to do.

Maybe in this case the law was on the city’s side, but the concept of fair play was not. Ironically, many people see God’s justice in the same light. Conventional wisdom tells us that God has published his way for salvation, and that way must be honored in order to gain eternal life. But there is a problem when we realize that the majority of people who have walked this earth have never had a chance to consider that way of life. On the surface, at least, it would appear that the devil is winning the contest for souls, for billions have never held a Bible. Countless have been honestly, sincerely, yet totally deceived by theologies and philosophies other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And many have been legally barred from even being exposed to it.

God has his message, it seems, but he never got the signs posted, and ignorant or not, people bear their guilt and have a price to pay. And the way some would tell it, God is just in punishing the deceived in an equal measure with the rebellious.

But people who believe such things have some scriptures to explain.

Jesus said, “And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” (Luke 12:47-48 NKJV)

He also said that it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgement than for the people of his day, for “if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day” (Matthew 11:24-25 NKJV).

If we take these passages at face value, it would appear that God makes allowances of some kind if people just don’t know better. It will be more “tolerable” for them in the judgement. God is not like that Upstate New York town. He doesn’t purposely keep people ignorant so that he can get some benefit from a penalty imposed by the law’s violation.

The author of Hebrews makes a curious statement. After discussing the faithfulness of many Old Testament heroes, he says they were looking for a “better resurrection” (Hebrews 11:35). Conventional theology teaches that the dead will rise at Christ’s return and that judgement will be made on the righteous and unrighteous at that time. Yet the book of Revelation (chapter 20) tells a different story. And it is a story that is filled with hope for those of us with loved ones who never understood God nor accepted Jesus Christ. And it is hope for the billions of people of all times whom the Gospel never reached.

Revelation 20:4-6 talks about a resurrection at the return of Christ of those who were written in the book of life. These are clearly “those who are Christ’s at his coming”. And the Bible uses a curious phrase to describe this resurrection. It’s called the “first resurrection” (v. 5), and this resurrection is clearly a better resurrection, for those in it live and reign with Christ for 1000 years.

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished” , at which time they “stood”, that is, they are resurrected. “And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life” (v. 12). The book of life is being opened again! More names will be written in that book. Those who didn’t know better will have a chance to know better.

God doesn’t play “gotcha” with a little thing like salvation. He will make sure that everyone sees the signs and understands them. Then the decision will truly be theirs.

Lenny C.

My Will Be Done

2011-02-27T13:38:00.001-08:00

Unanswered prayer is one of the dilemmas of Christian life. On the one hand Jesus says, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” On the other hand examples abound in both scripture and experience where prayer is not always answered, at least not in the way we expect.

I don’t have the full answer to unanswered prayer. But I do know that sometimes the answers we want and the answers we need are two different things.

Think of it this way.

Suppose your 16-year old son comes to you and says he needs reliable transportation to get himself back and forth to school. He just turned 16 yesterday, and today he took his driving test and walked away with a new laminated card with a government issued mug shot.

His idea of “reliable transportation” of course is something similar to a shiny late model V-8 Camaro.

I won’t presume to tell you what you should do in this hypothetical case, but I think you will agree that while Junior’s basic reliable transportation needs will more than be fulfilled with such a vehicle, this mode of transportation might not be the best choice for a young man in this position. Maybe a serviceable used car with 4 cylinders and few harmless dents would work just as well, or maybe you decide that until Junior proves he’s responsible, a thing called a school bus can get him where he needs to go until circumstances allow him to afford part of the cost of ownership.

We adults can be a lot like that 16-year old. We might express a very real need or concern in prayer and then presume to tell God how to answer that prayer. Put differently, sometimes we want to tell God how to do his job, and then when he answers in a different way than we want, we assume that our prayers go unanswered.

I know this explanation is not the complete answer to unanswered prayer, but I do know that it is part of the answer. Sometimes our Father might look at us as though we are that 16-year old and just rolls his eyes. So if things turn out differently than what we had hoped, it’s time to pray again. Only this time, instead of saying, “My will be done”, say “Thy will be done.”

Biblical Topics from RAD Writings

2011-02-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

My friend Roger Day from Springfield has a new website that houses some well-researched and well-written articles on various Biblical topics. Give it a look. Good stuff to share.

Check it out here: RAD Writings

The King of the South

2011-02-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
(Dan 11:40 KJV)

Recent events in the Muslim world have led prophecy pundits to speculate whether we’re seeing Daniel 11 unfold before us. Surely that’s an understandable perspective. Tension between the western nations and the Islamic nations has been simmering for 1400 years, but never before has there been a time where the Islamic world had access to weapons and economic clout that could bring on a worldwide conflagration. The King of the South does appear to be pushing, and it’s normal to wonder what it all means.

In fact, I have my own ideas on what all this might mean. But I would offer a word of caution. If you are inclined to interpret today’s news in light of Bible prophecy, be very careful about the specifics, and certainly don’t get dogmatic about them. Not too many years ago some prophecy buffs were identifying Saddam Hussein as a key figure in end time events, and we know how that one turned out.

Theory upon theory is being floated today, everything from an alliance between the Vatican and Islam to speculation on the 12th Imam, and how all of these things might bring about end time events. Some of these ideas will prove to be wrong, some might prove to be right. The caution is not to get locked into any one prophetic interpretation, but to watch the play unfold before us with our Bibles and minds open. As for me, I’m not sharing my theories just yet, except to note that the tug of war between the King of the South and the King of the North has been going on since the days of Alexander the Great, and Islam has been trying to dominate Europe since the 700s.

And remember too that the Bible doesn’t have much good to say about either side.

Congress Shall Make No Law ...

2011-02-22T18:11:00.000-08:00

The house of representatives...can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interest, and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny.

James Madison, Federalist No. 57, February 19, 1788

We can presume that Madison’s concept as expressed in Federalist No. 57 was a view that most of the Founding Fathers espoused. But none of them invented this noble idea. Its roots are embedded in a great book of law that has been handed down for thousands of reason, although rarely taken seriously as a law that applies to our modern world.

In this ancient book of law, the king was instructed to “write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left.” (Deut. 17:18-20 NIV)

In our historical context we think of the king as being the absolute ruler, the one who makes the rules and by extension one who can exclude himself from the rules he imposes on others. Israel was unique because any monarchy that might arise (notwithstanding that the scriptures sternly warned the nation against the dangers of monarchy) was to be a limited monarchy, limited by the rule of law. Indeed, even in our own day -- even in a nation founded on the rule of law as opposed to the rule of lawmakers -- our duly elected officials routinely exempt themselves from the burdens they impose on others. As Madison warned, such every such government eventually degenerates into tyranny.

A very minor example: In my state, we have a no-call list. Those of us who have placed ourselves on that list can be assured that we will not be bothered be telemarketers. However, the law does not apply to politicians, whose campaign people can call me even during dinner time any time they want. Why a call from them deserves greater consideration than one from a poor guy trying to earn an honest living is beyond me.

Implicit in both Madison’s comments and in Deuteronomy is the simple concept that no one is above the law, even the king. If European kings, who had access to that book of law, had honored it with more than their lips, Europe would have been saved a history of grief. A real leader does not “consider himself better than his brothers”, but the lures of power make that easy to forget.

An Involuntary Sabbatical

2011-02-19T06:04:00.000-08:00

As job losses mount and incomes drop, I along with many of you have begun to contemplate what might happen if I find myself as a statistic next week. I have chosen to define any such event in my own terms and call it a “Self-funded Involuntary Sabbatical” (SIS). This phrase has a gentler ring than the traditional appellation.

A little time to stand back and reflect is a good thing, and an SIS can provide the opportunity to do just that. What if everyone were to have a chance for a Sabbatical every few years, a time to reconnect with the important things in life? If the scriptures offer any guide, a Sabbatical is supposed to be a blessing, unlike the SISs that so many experience today. The problem lies in the ability to afford it.

In the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) the idea of a Sabbatical is addressed several times, most notably in Leviticus 25. “When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.” (Leviticus 25:2-5 NIV)

The people of those days had the same concerns that we have about such involuntary Sabbaticals. Verse 20: “You may ask, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year [when I’m unemployed] if we do not plant or harvest our crops [and I don’t have a paycheck coming in]?’” The passage contains a two-fold answer, both of which provide good advice even for those of us who might be suffering from an unplanned Sabbatical.

First, verse 6 reminds us that God will provide our needs even if we can’t always see how he will. “Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.” If you’re unemployed, it’s good to remember that if our Father feeds the birds of the air, who neither reap nor sow, then why not us? (Matthew 6:25-34).

The second answer is for those of us who are not on an involuntary Sabbatical just yet. In the modern world we are at a disadvantage when compared to our ancient counterparts. They knew when their Sabbaticals would be and could prepare for them several years in advance. In today’s world, where SISs are unplanned and unwanted, planning has even more urgency. The admonition to plan ahead is just as important now as it was anciently.

Leviticus 25: “I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.” (Verses 21-22 NIV)

The injunction is to put back some of your production from the good years in anticipation of your SIS. If you are blessed with employment, stuff some of your earnings into a low-risk place where you can get to it should the normal exigencies of life happen. Losing your job will still be unpleasant, but it will buy you some time to refocus. It might just be that God can turn your Self-funded Involuntary Sabbatical into a blessed time. If nothing else planning ahead for your SIS will allow you to be a bit more choosy than you might otherwise be when testing the employment market.

Lenny C.

The Gospel According to Moses

2011-02-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

If anyone wants a free pdf copy of my latest book The Gospel According to Moses: The Feast Days of Leviticus 23, please send me an e-mail at:

cacchio@sbcglobal.net

Please include your e-mail address. It is also available in print at Amazon.com

Link: The Gospel According to Moses

Evil Words

2011-02-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

In his book Deliver Us from Evil Dr. Tom Dooley relates a punishment the Viet Minh, Communist predecessors to the Viet Cong, inflicted upon their countrymen for listening to evil words.

Says Dr. Dooley, “Each of them had a big scar where an ear should have been. I remembered that in the Roman Catholic province of Bao Lac, near the frontier of China, the Communist Viet Minh often would tear an ear partially off with a pincer-like pair of pliers and leave the ear dangling. That was the penalty for the crime of listening to the evil words. The evil words were the words of the Lord’s Prayer.”

Shocked, I hope? Why would anyone take offense at such a simple and loving prayer, even to the point of maiming people?

The Apostle Paul tells us that many do not like to retain God in their knowledge (Romans 1:28), but to take this to the extent of the Viet Minh seems to go beyond a simple rejection of the Creator. Dr. Dooley explains, “How downright treasonable to ask God for bread instead of applying to proper Communist authorities! How criminal to imply that the new People’s Republic was an evil from which one needed deliverance! A mutilated ear would remind such scoundrels of the necessity of re-education.” (Quoted from Dr. Tom Dooley’s Three Great Books, by Thomas A. Dooley, copyright 1956, pp.17-18)

Whether Communist or not, too many movers and shakers of this world want us to look to them for our sustenance and security. In them would reside our retirement and employment security, our food, our shelter, and our clothing. It is to them that we are to look for our protection and support.

Commentator Jonah Goldberg has coined the term “God-State” to describe this approach to ordering society, pointing out that this 20th Century virus has infected most ideologies in almost every corner of the globe. The “God-State” moniker highlights how people tend more and more to look to government for their daily bread, and as Dooley points out, “How downright treasonable to ask God for bread instead of applying to proper Communist [or any other human] authorities!”

In Revelation 13 John describes a beast that he sees rising out of the sea. It is significant that “all the world marveled and followed the beast” (verse 3) and that “they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast?’” And (verse 17), "No one may buy or sell, save he that has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Could there be a more appropriate description of the God-State?

Lenny C.

On This Day in 1979 ...

2011-02-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

Interesting indeed that on February 11, 1979 the Iranian royal regime collapsed, ushering in an Islamic "Republic". On this February 11 another dictator's regime collapsed. We pray that things will turn out better for the Egyptians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution

An Idea for a Party Game

2011-02-05T18:16:00.001-08:00

Here’s a new event for your next church picnic. Instead of three-legged races, egg tosses, and horseshoes, how about the old favorite called “Jumping to Conclusions.”

Anyone, regardless of age, temperament, or I.Q. can play this game. All you need is a few facts, but not too many facts. Those facts that don’t fit the conclusion you jumped to can be completely ignored or (your choice) interpreted away.

Jumping to Conclusions works best when in a crowd because others can add their own excitement to the game by jumping unpredictably to their own conclusions. This not only adds a creative twist to the game, it can also lead to spirited “discussions” that can spin both attitudes and truth into energetic directions.

Doctrinal arguments, personal conflict, hurt feelings! O if I were the devil how I would encourage this game! I would give you just enough facts to feed the imagination and let you run wherever your mental machinations lead.

The Islamic/Left Wing Love Affair

2011-02-01T16:39:00.001-08:00

I was going through some old Bible Study notes and found a study guide presented by Rod Handley in December of 2006. Rod is founder and president of Character that Counts (http://www.characterthatcounts.org/). He and several others conduct a Wednesday morning group here in Lee's Summit that I have attended for many years.

I found the following in my own handwriting on the study guide where I was trying to transcribe as fast as I could what Rod was saying. He nails something here.

Secularism cannot compete with Islam as a worldview because you can't beat something with nothing. That's why Muslims don't view secularism as a threat. Christianity, however, is a threat, for it is something, and it is something very tangible that answers the longings of the human heart in a way that secularism can't.

I Don’t Know What to Do

2011-01-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

It’s easy to sympathize with King Jehoshaphat. His country as in dire peril and there seemed to be no way to escape. A huge alliance of Judah’s enemies was arrayed against him, and were aiming their forces toward Jerusalem.

The text tells us, “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.” (II Chronicles 20:3 NIV)

He then prays a heartfelt prayer to the God of Israel and ends it with these words: “We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (verse 12)

Many times when facing unbearable challenges that we lack the wherewithal to solve, we agonize and anguish over realities as we see them, and the only thing to do is cry out, “I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on you.”

The good king models a great lesson here: When in dire need, don’t try to tell God how to do his job. Make the need known, admit your inability to deal with it, and then leave it in his capable hands.

The text shows that God in fact worked things out in his own way and time, and in a way that Jehoshaphat likely could not have anticipated. Don’t know what to do? Take your cue from King Jehoshaphat, then walk forward in faith with a song on your lips.

Gossip Kills Friendships

2011-01-20T12:37:00.001-08:00

An old Irish proverb says, “Who gossips with you will gossip of you.” How monstrously true that is!

Back in my schooldays I learned the truth of that little aphorism. I used to hang out with a “friend” whose favorite pastime was not baseball (he was terrible at the game), but watching for people with personal quirks or habits (chinks in their armor, as it were) that he could exploit for laughs and other unkind, cruel behavior.

It was great fun when he would sidle over and nudge his elbow into my side just before making some demeaning remark. It was only later that I realized when I wasn’t around, it was someone else getting the nudge in the side, with me at the other end of the laugh equation.

At the time I didn’t log that he was at heart an insecure soul, and that this mimicry of a henhouse pecking order was his way of attempting to inflate a badly bruised ego. Worse, it became almost an addiction, and certainly was a bad habit.

That old Irish proverb hits it about right, as does the Biblical book of Proverbs.

A gossip betrays a confidence, so avoid anyone who talks too much. (Proverbs 20:19)

Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9)

A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends (Proverbs 16:28)

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels. They go down to the innermost parts. (Proverbs 26:22)

Remember that those prone to gossip are often struggling with their own insecurities. That means you shouldn’t hate them. But it also means you shouldn’t confide in them.

Emil Gets It Right Again

2011-01-09T06:11:00.000-08:00

Emil is an old guy at church who reminds me a lot of Festus Hagen. Reliable, dedicated, principled, and like as not to show up at church in farmer’s overalls. And smart. Very smart.

In early December he said to me, “I been watchin’ these things since afore any of you was born, and I’m tellin’ you, I’ve seen weather like this, and around here we ain’t gettin’ no snow till middle o’ January. You wait and see”

Old Emil is right again. Why am I not surprised?

The Rule of Minimal Differences

2011-01-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

From a Teaching Company course by Professor Gary Rendsberg re: the rivalry among first century religious groups:

First, there is the "rule of minimal differences", whereby one group sees as its greatest adversary the group that is closest to it. We saw this earlier in our course with the Qumran community where it sees itself as the sons of light and the other Jews as the sons of darkness, without concerns for peoples who were even further removed such as the polytheists of the Greco-Roman world.

Many of you will recognize this immediately from your own experiences. Recognize it for what it is when you see it, and then avoid it.

If You Want to Know About Horses, First You Find a Horse

2010-12-31T09:26:00.000-08:00

Western Civilization is indebted to the Greeks for their advances in mathematics, philosophy, and science. We’re also indebted to them for their development of logic. But as with all good tools, they can become an end in themselves as opposed to a means to an end, the end in this case being a matter of reaching the truth.

Peter Lynch, the one-time investment manager of Fidelity Magellan Fund, credited much of his legendary success to his study of logic and philosophy, but he liked to point out that “the early Greeks used to sit around for days and debate how many teeth a horse has. They thought they could figure it out by just sitting there, instead of checking the horse."

If you think about it, many armchair theologians do pretty much the same thing when discussing weighty matters. Go to the library and you’ll find volumes on such theological subjects such as “reconciliation”, “redemption”, “salvation”, “justification”, “atonement”, and yes, even “grace”.

Many of us have sat through sermons and Bible Studies where certain Greek words are tracked through concordance and biblical text in an attempt to narrow in on an exact meaning and intent behind a term, and while we might in some cases satisfy some intellectual curiosity, in most instances people go home not really enlightened, and maybe even more confused.

And we fail because, like Lynch’s Greek philosophers, we’re not going out to look at the horse.

Take “grace”, for instance. Study the gospels, and I doubt you will find the two words “grace is” coming out of Jesus’ mouth, but it would be hard to claim he didn’t teach about grace. In fact, his entire life was one giant object lesson on grace. He defined grace for us, not with a dictionary and lexicon in hand, but through history, parable and example.

He reminds his listeners about the time when David and his men were hungry, and the priest gave them the showbread to eat, a bread that was legally reserved for the priests alone. Yet the priest was blameless for offering it and David's men were blameless in eating it. They were blameless because it was an act of grace.

He tells a parable about a man who owed an unpayable amount and begged forgiveness of the debt, but how the same debtor refused to forgive a pittance owed him by another man. By this he teaches that we are not to be just recipients of grace, but we are to offer it as well.

He points out to Simon the Leper by parable and object lesson that people we often see as "sinners" often have greater love because they have experienced a greater measure of grace.

And of course there are Jesus’ famous but difficult to emulate words, “Father, forgive them because they know not what they do.”

I think we can argue that Paul was a great teacher of grace. Here was a man who was steeped in both Greek philosophy and Hebrew theology, and his writings reveal an ability to use both the Greek method (heavy use of logic and reason) and Jesus’ method (experiential lessons through history and parable). Grace was such a central part of his teachings because, as he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of which I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who believe in him and receive eternal life.” (I Timothy 1:15 – 16 NIV)

Paul understood grace because he had received it -- lots of it. And during his life he learned how to offer it. If you want to learn about grace, do more than a word study. Go out and check the horse. You cannot understand grace until you have both accepted it and offered it.

Calendar controversies in the First Century

2010-12-30T17:12:00.000-08:00

Beginning on page 52 of the e-book referred to below.is a discussion of some of the calendar controversies of the 1st Century. Things just don't change. On page 70, lines 13 - 15 we see the Qumran Community objecting to being "late for the appointed times". Some scholars say this refers to the "postponements". They sure hated Rabbinical Judaism!

The Dead Sea Scrolls in English

Where Are the Leaders?

2010-12-28T16:40:00.000-08:00

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. (Psalm 118:9)

In the first volume of his World War II memoirs, Winston Churchill reports a remarkable admission by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who served in that office from 1935 – 1937. When challenged for not taking rearmament of Britain seriously in the face of growing threats from the Continent, he replied in Parliament with a remarkable admission of his true motives:

I put before the whole House my own views with an appalling frankness. … You will remember that at that time [the time of the election] there was probably a stronger pacifist feeling running through this country than at any time since the war. You will remember the election at Fulham in the autumn of 1933, when a seat which the National Government held was lost by about 7,000 votes on no issue but the pacifist. … I asked myself what chance was there … within the next year or two of that feeling being so changed that the country would give mandate for rearmament? Supposing I had gone to the country and said that Germany was rearming, and that we must rearm, does anybody think that this pacific democracy would have rallied to that cry at that moment? I cannot think of anything that would have made the loss of the election from my point of view more certain. (The Gathering Storm, by Winston S. Churchill, P.216)

As historian William Manchester notes, “Surely this admits of but one interpretation. Tory victories were more important to Baldwin than the specter of Luftwaffe bombers overhead.” (The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II, by William Manchester, P. 218). Or, as Churchill explained it, “That a Prime Minister should avow that he had not done his duty in regard to national safety because he was afraid of losing an election was an incident without parallel in our parliamentary history.”

But at least Baldwin owned up to it! Too often expediency trumps statesmanship, and it goes unchallenged and certainly not admitted. Hopefully a new Churchill awaits his call, but in any case our Western civilization faces a crisis of politics over leadership. Though distressing, such a state is common in the affairs of mankind. Ezekiel lamented the same faults of his day when he wrote, “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? … The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who are sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost.” (Ezekiel 34:2, 4 NKJV)

In this time of the never-ending election cycle, candidates seem to think they have a Constitutional right to elevate their importance, dominate the public discourse, campaign every day of every year, and then imply that they are the saviors of the human race. So we elect our Congress every two years and our Presidents every four, only to be disillusioned and even angry that they fail to deliver the goods.

And that is as it should be because these people are not our saviors, and they are not our benefactors. For the most part their interests are reelection and legacy-building, not public service and statesmanship. If we lean on the weak reed of human leadership, it will break in our hands and disappoint our hearts. Even Churchill was turned out of office immediately after the surrender of Germany. It is our duty as free citizens to learn as much as possible about candidates for office and vote for the people whom we believe would best serve the nation’s interest, even if what they must do is wholly unpopular. But in the end, they are all human. The Psalmist had it right: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” (Psalm 118:8-9 NKJV)

Lenny C.

When Kings Go to War

2010-12-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. (II Samuel 11:1 NIV)

I have some questions about this verse:

1. Was David a king?

2. What did kings do at that time of year?

3. If David was a king, what was he doing in Jerusalem instead of joining his men in the field?

David stumbled, and these questions point to a reason why. David failed to do the work of a king. The nation was at war, but David stayed in Jerusalem where he could enjoy his perks of office, rest comfortably in his own bed, eat the best foods, and have others fulfill his every whim.

If he had been doing the work of a king, he would not have been in his palace ogling down on the wife of one his trusted aides and sending a servant to fetch her for an afternoon tryst.

I wonder how often we Christians are content to keep our religion in our palaces while ignoring the duties that God sets before us. Instead of going off to fight in spiritual warfare, we want to stay back in our safe places and live a life of ease and comfort. When we do that -- when we abandon the post that God expects us to guard -- we risk getting too close to the edge of the wall and falling into the distractions of temptation.

This famous story of David and Bathsheba continues with David’s failed attempt to cover up his crime and David’s backhanded murder of Bathsheba’s husband in the field of battle. Under David’s orders the more honorable Uriah approached too close to the enemy’s wall, and this innocent man died.

This disgusting episode in the life of one of the most revered figures of the Bible is punctuated in Matthew’s genealogy of Christ. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew refuses to use Bathsheba’s name or to call her David’s wife, instead referencing her as “her that had been the wife of Uriah” (Matthew 1:6). It sounds like the stench was still in God’s nostrils over the betrayal and murder of a good man.

Keep fighting the good fight instead of seeking the creature comforts of the gilded palace where there lurks the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Stay in the fray of the battle and those temptations won’t be as tempting.

God Is Not A Buffalo Bills Fan

2010-12-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson set the sports world a-twitter after he dropped a sure game-winning touchdown pass in overtime. After the Bills’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Johnson logged himself on to that famous social-networking site and tweeted, "I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

Honestly, God has more important things to tend to than the outcome of a game in the National Football League, but having said that, Mr. Johnson might be showing more spiritual maturity than have some commentators who have snickered at this tweet.

If you are frustrated with God, is it acceptable to boldly go where Johnson went? In short, is honesty the best policy when talking to your Creator? Is standing naked before him something he can handle?

Somehow I believe that God expects something other than a poker face or a forced smile in his presence. In fact, the Biblical narrative illustrates just the opposite.

Job was open about the frustrating experiences life had handed him, even demanding an impartial judge between him and the Deity so that he could plead his case, yet later he receives praises for speaking correctly about God.

David’s Psalms are full of lament and questioning about the trials that rained upon him, yet David is called a man after God’s own heart. “How long, O Lord?” he questions.

Moses complains to God about the burdensome assignment of leading a complaining people, and God listens.

Abraham is so bold as to argue with God about the divine plan for Sodom and Gomorrah, obtaining some concessions if only a few requirements are met.

Maybe Stevie Johnson’s tweet reveals an honest and open relationship with his Maker that should elicit our envy instead of our scorn. Maybe he needs to get a better grip on the relative importance of a dropped ball in the overall scheme of the universe, but then again, isn’t that true about all of us?

Frustrated with God? Tell him. He already knows what you are thinking. And besides, he’s big enough to handle it.

What Would Jesus Say on Jay Leno?

2010-11-21T15:05:00.001-08:00

My oldest daughter first saw Toy Story 3 while studying abroad. She thoroughly enjoyed the flick, but had to admit that when viewed in Spanish some of the humor was lost in translation.

Sometimes I wonder if the same thing doesn’t happen with the Bible. The Bible was composed originally in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and it has in it almost every genre of literature we know, including poetry, history, biography, legal commentary, drama, philosophical treatises, personal correspondence, and just flat-out good story telling.

But what about humor? Does it get lost in the translation? Or were the Biblical authors a gang of disgruntled prophets, detached journalists, and pious poets who couldn’t be bothered with a bit of well-timed jesting?

Surely an accomplished storyteller like Jesus knew how to use a wisecrack or two to home in on a point or to grab the audience’s attention with a good set-up line. Maybe he said something like: “A Pharisee and a tax collector walk into a bar ... .” Or, as the original has it, they walk into the Temple.

So I wonder if, when Jesus seizes upon a teachable moment with “Whereunto shall I liken this generation?” his disciples craned their necks and turned their ears toward his words as much for the entertainment value as for the instruction. “What are they like?” he continues. And maybe at this point he takes a pregnant pause. Picture here some nearby children at the marketplace chanting one of their playful sing-song games, and Jesus points to them as we hear these words:

'A wedding song we played for you,
the dance you simply scorned.
A woeful dirge we chanted, too,
but then you did not mourn.'
(Luke 7:32 International Standard Version)

Maybe this relatively obscure version called the International Standard Version captures what is otherwise lost in translation. I wonder if Jesus went on a little riff here, pointing out that the religious leaders of the day were like kids who had trouble sharing their little sandbox with others. And then after a Jay Leno-like grin, did he draw the lesson about the curious differences between their whispering campaign against John the Baptist versus that against Jesus Christ?

If a Jay Leno or a P.J. O’Rourke can paint hilarious caricatures through verbal and expressive means, then surely Jesus could do the same.

And then Jesus says, “Ah, but wisdom is vindicated by all her children!” People have puzzled over what this little proverb means, but maybe he was simply reminding us that the puffery of adult hypocrisy is easily deflated with a rhyming lance of a children’s ditty.

It’s More Than Just Politics

2010-11-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

Rather than becoming engaged in such sedentary recreational amusements as the National Football League in general and the Kansas City Chiefs in particular, I have been getting my amusement quota filled for several years by watching the daily political shenanigans on various new channels. This is a more dangerous hobby than, say, watching the Kansas City Chiefs find ways to lose games or the KC Royals as they trade away star players for two relief pitchers to be named later. Both politics and Kansas City sport franchises can lead to hypertension, but clearly only one of these passions affects issues of pocketbook and liberty after the arena closes.

Unless, of course, one considers taxpayer dollars being “invested” in professional sport franchises. And that perhaps is one of the problems with politics these days: it has infested its tentacles into almost every fiber of daily living.

The easy critique is to blame our duly elected officials for the sad state in which we find ourselves, but I tend to agree with the French political philosopher Joseph de Maistre who posited that “every nation has the government that it deserves.”

I found an intriguing little story tucked away in one of the biblical history books, appended to II Samuel almost as an afterthought. The passage begins like this:

“Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and he moved David against them ... .”

Herein is a strange statement: God is angry with the people, so he arouses the king to do something stupid.

If you think that a gathering of political figures looks like a Barnum and Bailey clown convention, maybe you are simply seeing a reflection of the kind of government the people demand. Don’t blame the Congress and don’t blame the White House. Eventually in our system the people will get what they want, almost as it was in the last days of the judges of Israel. In those days of no strong central control, they demanded a king because everybody else had one, and in spite of the prophet’s warning that such a government would rob them of their wealth and liberty, they got what they wanted, much to their later regret.

While I understand the sentiment that government is the problem, maybe it is better to say that government is a symptom of the problem. Government reflects us. And maybe if we change ourselves, we can change how we’re governed.

Not Happy With Your Church?

2010-11-05T19:19:00.001-07:00

My friend hadn’t been to church for quite some time, so I invited out for a cup of coffee. “I can get more out of just staying home and studying my Bible than I can from the sermon.” Sadly, I had to agree. The sermons we had back then were models of disorganization and pabulum. What passed for fellowship was an exercise in inanities. Conversation was gossip warmed over, and cliques were formed, dissolved, and reformed almost as if by schedule.

Dysfunctional churches are a part of the national landscape, and more often than not such dysfunction can be traced to leadership or, better said, the lack thereof. Reading Paul’s letters to the churches reveals that this is not just a 21st Century phenomenon. The church at Corinth divided themselves by favorite religious guru and by social status. They tolerated egregious sins among themselves, made themselves gluttons and drunkards at the Lord’s Supper, and seemed to go out of their way to offend one another.

The Thessalonian church was so certain of Jesus soon return that many quit their jobs and mooched from the rest of the church for economic support. Most of the churches got themselves into various doctrinal errors, and they all had that sad human element we commonly call sin.

I could sympathize with my friend, and I could almost agree with him. But in sense he missed the point. Church is not just what you can get out of it. Perhaps it was legitimate to suspend oneself from church because it was a poor product, but that is only part of the equation.

Religion is not a spectator sport. Nor is church a consumer item. It is not just what we get out of it. It is also what we put into it. He could have kept right on attending with the idea of using his gifts and abilities to help solve some of the very problems he was complaining about. It is not about being served. It is also about being of service.

A man once told me that he long ago stopped looking for the perfect church, because if he were join it, it wouldn’t be perfect anymore. It was his way of saying that if you are not a part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.

Having said all this, there does come a time to find another church. In my friend’s case, the church structure was such that there was little he could do to change the church culture. Only the anointed few had any influence, and even that influence was severely limited. In my opinion, if you are serving and if you are growing, then it makes good sense to stay where you are. If you can no longer serve and no longer grow, it is time to find another place to hang your hat.

Eventually, as it turned out, both my friend and I left that church affiliation. I do not want to minimize the doctrinal drift that led to my seeking another fellowship, but after the passage of time I see that the lack of spiritual growth and inability to serve (i.e., using one’s God-given gifts) were at the root of the separation.

Don’t expect perfection from your church, and don’t lightly separate yourself from a fellowship. If you feel it is time to separate, do it for the right reasons.

LC

Two Holidays in One Week!

2010-10-23T19:45:00.001-07:00

I wasn’t sure what to write about today because during this next week we will have two different days either one of which would be a good topic: Halloween and Election Day.

Will Rogers once said that “we come pretty near to having two holidays of equal importance in the same week – Halloween and Election Day. And of the two, the Election provides us with the most fun. On Halloween they put pumpkins on their heads, and on Election Day they don’t have to.”

I settled on Halloween on the theory, to quote Rogers once again, that if God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates. (Disclaimer: I do vote and encourage you to inform yourself of the issues and do the same).

Not to gore anyone’s ox, but it’s hard for me a as Christian to see any redeeming value in a day that celebrates death, hobgoblins, witches, the occult, and demons. The day itself has its origins in the pagan Celtic festival of Sam-Hain, or “Summer’s End”.

They believed that on this particular day, the border between our world and the “other world” becomes thin, allowing spirits to pass through. They wore costumes and masks used to ward off evil spirits and hollowed out large turnips and carved them with faces.

Even human sacrifice sometimes had a part of these days.

Today Halloween is still a high day of the occult, including witchcraft, druidism, and paganism.

The Western Church adopted November 1st (All Hallows Day or All Saints Day) as a Holy Day during the Middle Ages during the days of Charlemagne. Hence the name “All Hallows Eve", or "Halloween" for the evening before. The practice of the medieval church had been to adopt traditions and days of the pagan world, in a sense “baptizing” them with a Christian façade in an attempt to use them as an evangelization tool.

But one must ask if the focus of the day has really changed much from its original pre-Christian meaning. A veneer of Christian theology hardly merits mention in most quarters where it is celebrated. The emphasis instead is on either a lighthearted treatment of the dark side of the spirit world or, in the world of the occult, an out and out celebration of Satan himself. Scripture tells us not even to attempt to worship God through such means. (Deuteronomy 12:29-32)

C.S. Lewis, in his introduction to the Screwtape Letters, said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”

I would submit that Halloween encourages both.

Whose Side Is God On?

2010-10-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

“Are you for us or our adversaries?” (Joshua 5:13)

During the Civil War someone asked Abraham Lincoln if he thought God was on the Union’s side. Lincoln is said to have answered, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side.”

As in times of warfare, the temptation during a political campaign is to claim the mantle of God’s endorsement. “God is on our side.” “How would Jesus vote?” “We’re doing the Lord’s work.”

We would do well to remember what happened when the Angel of the Lord stepped into the time and space around Joshua. They were about to conquer Jericho, and as Joshua was apparently reconnoitering the vicinity, he came across a mighty being standing before him, sword drawn as if ready for battle. “Are you for us or our adversaries?” Joshua queried.

The answer? “Neither!”

Face it. It was a great answer. To claim the imprimatur of the Almighty on our endeavors smacks of presumption. It may be so that one candidate is superior to another, and it may be true that living godly values places us on God’s side, but rather than claiming the mantle of Providential favor, it would be better to submit our endeavors to God’s service and will.

In Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, sometimes called the greatest sermon ever delivered on American soil, the theme surfaces again, this time as a reminder that God’s purposes are sometimes beyond our understanding and that victory after such an awful conflict should be viewed with humility, not the arrogance of the conquering self-righteous.

“Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. ... . Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. ... The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. ... With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds; ... to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

Eisenhower's First Rule

2010-10-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

The best place I know to find hidden treasures is in used bookstores. Today I found a gem hidden in a stack of pulp. It’s a 1969 book by Dwight Eisenhower entitled Pictures I’ve Kept, a sort of personal picture album of his life plus his autobiographical reflections.

In the very first pages, Ike tells of a time just a few months before his 5th birthday.

“I noticed a pair of barnyard geese,” he wrote. “The male resented my intrusion from our first meeting. Each time thereafter he would push along toward me aggressively and with hideous hissing noises so threatening my security that five-year-old courage could not stand the strain.

“Uncle Luther decided that something had to be done. He took a worn out broom and cut off the straw. With the weapon all set, he took me out into the yard. More frightened at the moment of his possible scolding than I was of aggression, I took what was meant to be a firm, but was really a trembling, stand the next time the fowl came close. Then I let out a yell and rushed toward him, swinging the club as fast as I could. He turned and I gave him a satisfying smack right in the fanny.

“From thence on, once he found out I had a stick, he would continue his belligerent noises whenever he saw me but he did not again come near me. I never made the mistake of being caught without my weapon. This all turned out to be a rather good lesson because I quickly learned never to negotiate with an adversary except from a position of strength.”

Funny how a five-year-old from Abilene, Kansas can learn on the farm what many Ivy Leaguers never seem to get.

Charlton Heston Parts the Red Sea

2010-10-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (Hebrews 11:1-2)

At the premier screening of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments Cecil B DeMille made an unusual onstage appearance.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “young and old, this may seem an unusual procedure, speaking to you before the picture begins. ... The theme of this picture is whether men ought to be ruled by God’s law or whether they will be ruled by the whims of a dictator like Rameses. Are men the property of the state, or are they free souls under God? The same battle continues throughout the world today.” (Quoted in America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story, by Bruce Feiler, pp. 227 – 228)

Some consider Charlton Heston, a.k.a. Moses, parting the Red Sea as the movie’s most memorable scene, especially given the comparatively limited special effects technology of the day. The Exodus record of that event tells us a lot about the people of Israel during those days and about whether they were ready to be the free souls under God that DeMille mentioned.

As they approached the Red Sea, they looked to their rear and saw Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit. They looked in front of them and saw the sea. “They were terrified, and cried out to the Lord.”(Exodus 14:10).

Those people were not much different than we are. They saw an impossible situation, one that could cost them their lives, and their reaction was panic and a crying out to a higher power for help. And they also did something else we might do. They turned on their leadership:

They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Verse 11)

It’s hard to condemn the Israelites for this. Maybe we too in similar circumstances would trade our liberty for a few meals and a roof over our heads. Servitude was all they had ever known, and they did not understand the demands of maintaining freedom. But then a scene follows where Charlton Heston (I mean, Moses) raises his staff, the sea parts, and the people walk through the seabed dry shod.

Quite a miracle, but there is a similar story that occurs some 40 years later. Under Joshua, Israel was to enter the Promised Land, but in order to do so, they first had to cross the Jordan River, and that event reveals how that generation, the wilderness-hardened children and grandchildren of the Exodus generation, conducted themselves.

The Jordan would have been at flood stage in the spring of the year, not an easy time for the passage.

Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away ... . So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. (Joshua 3:15-16)

This is a miracle similar to the Red Sea event, but with a big difference, one that illustrates the difference between the mentality required for freedom and the mentality of a slave. The Exodus generation entered the Red Sea only after the waters had parted, and only after they had panicked based on what they saw around them. Joshua’s generation entered the waters before they had parted based on faith and based on the hopes that the Promised Land would offer.

And here we see an illustration of the choices that DeMille mentioned back in 1956. Will we be ruled by tyrants because we take counsel of our fears and refuse to acknowledge God as our provider and hope, or will we look to God as our ruler, unafraid of the future and unafraid of the risks that freedom demands?

For a seldom-seen documentary on the movie by Demille self, view the link below. At about the 8:50-minute mark is a more complete version of his remarks at the premier.

Be Strong and of Good Courage

2010-09-28T06:46:00.001-07:00

One day last winter my wife Diane was reading the first chapter of Joshua, and she asked a question I couldn’t answer. “Why is it that the phrase ‘Be strong and of good courage’ appears so many time in this chapter?”

The question is a good one, and maybe even a better one than Diane thought. Not only do these words appear in Joshua 1, but also in Deuteronomy 31 where Moses aims “be strong and of good courage” at both Joshua and the people.

What is going on here that one of the most courageous biblical characters has those words directed at him seven times in those two chapters?

Put yourself in Joshua’s sandals. He was about to take over the leadership of a new nation that was preparing to capture its birthright. Both hardship and celebration lay ahead. Moses was dead, the same Moses who had met God face to face and who had confronted Pharaoh eyeball to eyeball. This was the Moses who had parted the Red Sea, turned the Nile into blood, visited plagues on Israel’s enemies, brought the law down from Mt. Sinai, called forth water from a rock, and led the nation of Israel in the wilderness for forty years.

Those were some shoes to fill, and it was Joshua’s job to fill them.

Is it any wonder that first Moses and then God himself had to tell him to “be strong and of good courage”? Joshua was human and would have the natural need for encouragement in times of transition.

And there is a little more to the story. In Deuteronomy 31, it is Moses encouraging Joshua. In Joshua 1 God himself encourages Joshua. But the very last verse of Joshua 1 provides us with an additional lesson, for it is neither God nor Moses providing the encouragement. It is the people themselves who encourage Joshua to be strong and and of good courage. Leaders often need the encouragement of those who follow them, else the leaders can be tempted to believe that the responsibilities of leadership are not worth the ingratitude. Followers sometimes have the responsibility to take the lead.

A National Day of Prayer and Fasting

2010-09-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

In times of crisis, American political leaders from time to time have called for a day of prayer, and sometimes even a day of fasting and prayer. The Pilgrims did it. The Puritans did it. In 1746 the settlements in New England did it when the French fleet threatened them. Shortly thereafter a storm destroyed the fleet.

In Revolutionary times, Civil War times, and even as recently as 2003, political leaders called for such observances. Various religious groups periodically call their congregations to days of prayer, and there is even a National Day of Prayer every May that Congress authorized in the 1950s.

God gave the nation of Israel a national day of prayer and fasting. It is commonly known today as Yom Kippur, or by its English name, the Day of Atonement. Why is this day a day of fasting? What are people praying and fasting for?

The key to the day’s nuances are found in the book of Hebrews. This New Testament book explained to the Jewish Christians of the time how their religious teachings and practices pointed forward to the Messiah. In chapter 9 the writer discusses the Day of Atonement.

Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. (Hebrews 9:6-9 NKJV)

No one was allowed to go behind the veil into the Most Holy Place except the High Priest, and he was allowed to do so only once per year, which was on the Day of Atonement. His function was to offer sacrifices both for himself and “for the sins of the people committed in ignorance”.

This day is a recognition that people sin. It recognizes that they often sin because they just don’t know better – they sin in ignorance. We all know people who are like this, and God has a day to recognize that people who are deceived need atonement too.

It is also a day for “the people”. If we go back to the Old Testament book of Leviticus where this day was given to Israel, we see that the Day of Atonement is about “the people”. It’s not about the king, not about the prophets, and not about the priests, but about “the people”. That word “people”, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, refers to a people, a tribe, or a nation.

In Leviticus 16, we see again and again that the rituals were for the “people”, or the “children of Israel”, or the “assembly” (verses 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 24, 33, 34). In chapter 23, we’re told that anyone who didn’t “afflict his soul” on that day was to be cut off from his people. That’s how important the day was, that a person who ignored the day would no longer be considered a part of the community.

Here is a day of national prayer and fasting for the nation’s sins committed in ignorance.

It would be a wonderful thing if all of God’s children everywhere used the Day of Atonement to pray and fast for their people, to intercede for the sins of their nations. Pray for God’s mercy on those who don’t know better. And of those who intentionally deceive others for their own gain or power, may God be their judge while not laying it to the people’s account.

More to the point, a nation at a crossroads needs a day of prayer and fasting. What better time in history to honor that day than our own?

A Healthy Dose of Neglect

2010-09-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

Many years ago some writer – it might have been Norman Vincent Peale – said, “Every child needs a good, healthy dose of neglect.” I can hear the horrors from parents of small children even as I write this! How could anyone say such a thing?

And yet this thought needs to be explored a bit. Clearly no wise parent will allow a two-year old to play unsupervised in Daddy’s tool shed or to explore his environment with a nail file in a room full of electrical outlets.

But having said that, as children mature they need to be cut loose from Mom & Dad’s all-seeing eyes, allowing them to make mistakes or better yet develop problem-solving skills with their playmates. If Mom and Dad are there to ride to the rescue every time a little difficulty arises, the child will remain a child even into adulthood. Dependency will be a habit and adulthood delayed.

Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he told his disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away” (John 16:7), and, “He that believes in me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto the Father” (John 14:12).

Maybe we can paraphrase it as: “It’s best I leave. I’ll send the Holy Spirit, but you’ll have to learn how to step out of your comfort zones.”

Jesus was going to give them a good, healthy dose of neglect, but not without the help they would need. Even though he would not leave them comfortless, he was going to turn them loose. If he had hovered around, they likely would not have stepped out as they did because they would have had apron strings of their own imagination holding them back.

It’s the same with our children. We can’t tag along to their job interviews, although I understand that’s happening these days. We’ll cripple them if we try to shelter them from every trial and difficulty in life.

There is a wonderful little parable about a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. A child watched the process with fascination, but also deep concern. The new butterfly was struggling mightily to escape, and in kindness the boy decided to carefully cut the cocoon to ease the butterfly’s burden. Shortly after, the butterfly died, unable to fly. The story goes on to explain that a butterfly needs the struggle of escape from the cocoon in order to force fluid into the wings so it can fly.

It is through the struggle that they are able to fly.

Trumpets!

2010-09-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'" (Lev 23:23-25 NKJV)

After Pentecost there is a long, dry, hot summer in the Middle East. Not until the seventh month of the year, typically straddling September and October, is there another Holy Day, and that Holy Day ushers in a scene of jubilation and victory.

This day is a day of “blowing of trumpets”, but a quick search of a Hebrew lexicon reveals that this phrase is translated from the Hebrew word teruwah, which can mean “an alarm, a signal, a sound of tempest, a shout, a shout or blast of war or alarm or joy” (from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright (c)1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.) Note that the word shophar is not used in this verse.

So it isn’t just a Day of Trumpets. It is also a day of shouting, a day of an alarm, a sound of tempest, and a blast of war, alarm, and joy.

As we’ll see, the symbols of this day point directly to the next step in God’s great plan. Consider the following scriptures:

Joel 2:1-2: Blow the trumpet (Hebrew: shophar) in Zion, and sound an alarm (Hebrew: ruwa) in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations.

Zephaniah 1:14-16: The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet (shophar) and alarm (teruwah) against the fortified cities and against the high towers.

Psalm 47:5-7: God has gone up with a shout (teruwah), the LORD with the sound of a trumpet (shophar). Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding.

Psalm 98:4-9: Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, with trumpets and the sound of a horn (shophar); shout joyfully (ruwa) before the LORD, the King. Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it; let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with equity.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Revelation 10:7: But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

Matt 24:29-31: Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1 Cor 15:50-54: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed -- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

Rev 19:1: After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!”

These are a sampling of the scriptures that bear some reference to the Holy Day commonly known as the Day of Trumpets. It would anti-climactic to try to add to the clear direction that scripture points us regarding the meaning of this day from an eschatological (end time) point of view.

It has been a long time since the Pentecost of Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit made a dramatic appearance in Jerusalem. Yet Jesus Christ has still not returned. But that what should be expected because it is a long, hot summer between Pentecost and the Day of Trumpets.

While the Day of Trumpets will mark a judgment upon this world’s system of government, it will be a day of salvation for the people of God. The dead in Christ will rise, who will live and reign with Christ for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4). The Kingdom of God will be on the earth, with Jesus Christ himself ruling as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

My Love/Hate Relationship

2010-09-08T18:27:00.001-07:00

I am in a love/hate relationship. I love the King James Version of the Bible. I love the cadence of language and the ease of memorization that such cadence provides. I love its impact on the history and culture of the English-speaking world. Scholarly works and study helps such as concordances are most often keyed to the King James Version. Of all the English translations I have used, I find myself always gravitating back to the King James Version. It is my main study Bible.

But the translation aggravates me time and again. I can get around the “thee’s” and “thou’s” and the archaic usage of certain words (“convict” instead of “convince” and “by and by” instead of “immediately”), but it is some egregious mistranslations that I find aggravating.

One such passage is Ephesians 4:11-12. In the King James it reads: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

The passage as translated implies that one function of the offices of the church is “for the work of the ministry”. Put differently, the offices are to help the ministry do their jobs. That’s not a heretical translation by any means, but it does not conform to the intent of the Greek. Here is verse 12 as translated in the New King James Version: “… for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” The New International Version: “… to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

The King James, by translating as it does, obscures the role of church leadership in equipping all of God’s people for the work of ministry (or more accurately, “works of service”). This is more than an academic point. It gets to the heart of the role of the church and its leadership. Ephesians 4 as translated by the King James Version could lead one to believe that it’s the job of the professional ministry to do the work of the church. Properly translated, the verse implies that the leadership’s job is to train the rest of us to do works of service. It makes us all responsible and not just the chosen few. It implies that we all have a calling, a vocation as it were (see Ephesians 4:1 for context).

This correct understanding has turned much of Christianity into a more participative venture. Even the more traditional hierarchical organizations have come to understand this. The New American Bible, the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church in America translates verse 12 as follows: “ … to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” This is accompanied by the footnote, “The ministerial leaders in v. 11 are to equip the whole people of God for their work of ministry.”

Christianity is not a spectator sport. We all have a role in spreading the Gospel, and we all need to be equipped to fulfill that role. It is gratifying to see so many coming to understand that. Hopefully, some day we can all be equipped in some manner for works of service.

We're All Socialists Now

2010-09-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

An elderly gentleman the other day betrayed the problem without realizing it. Here is what he told me.

“People who say they don’t like socialism won’t give up their Social Security or Medicare. Oh, they don’t like socialism until their unemployment checks are cut off or their kid’s college assistance dries up.”

Even after saying this, he couldn’t see that he had betrayed the very problem – the very trap – that the Socialists laid for us all many years ago when they began their New Deals, their Fair Deals, and their “chicken in every pot and car in every garage” approach to government largesse.

Here was how the game plan was supposed to work.

Make people so dependent on the government for everything that they become slaves to the system. Tax the wazoo out them so that they don’t have the money themselves to fund their own retirement, then give just enough back to them to keep them from starving. Then tell the people that they should be thankful to their benefactors in Washington for taking their money and giving it back later – or, perhaps more realistically, stealing the money from their grandchildren’s future because the politicos in the great white buildings have already spent the old folks’ money on their own pork projects.

If you ask me, they have done nothing less than foist upon all of us a mentality just one wrung above that of slaves. Without us, they would have you believe, you would have no income, no medical care, no food, no place to live. "We’ll make sure you have enough to get by, but in exchange you have to give us more of your money and lots more power to control you. Stay on the plantation and you can live. You are incapable of surviving any other way, so don’t even try to escape."

And in fact they have constructed such a world where that might just be true. But it’s that way not because it had to be, but because that is the way they constructed it. So my old friend was right – we are all a bit Socialistic now, not because we think it’s the best way, but because we are afraid to attempt otherwise.

A New Bible Translation: The All-American Version

2010-08-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

There is a screaming need today for a new translation of the Bible, one set in the popular American vernacular. Today we have paraphrases, translations, and revisions almost too numerous to count, but none of them seem to catch enough relevance to retain the attention of the modern reader.

I believe so strongly in this that I have decided to take on the project of a new translation. In fact, I already have some verses ready for print, and I want to provide the readers of this column with a few examples.

“Never miss a good opportunity to shut up.” (James 1:19)

“I’m lower than a snake’s belly in a wheel rut.” (Matthew 26:38)

“But Dad! Everybody else is doing it!” (I Samuel 8:5)

“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” (Ezekiel 13:11)

“ROTFLOL!!!” (Genesis 17:17)

“If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it still might not be a duck.” (Matthew 7:15)

‎"It's time for a break." (Genesis 2:2-3)

‎"Stupid is as stupid does." (Matthew 7:20)

‎"Get 'er done!" (Mark 16:15)

‎"A pox on both your houses." (Matthew 16:6)

“It wasn't all hakuna matata.” (Ecclesiastes 7:10)

‎"You're either all in or all out." (Revelation 3:15)

‎"Who in the hell are YOU?" (Matthew 5:23)

“Don't mess with the chicken while it's still laying eggs.” (Deuteronomy 22:6)

So what do you think of my idea? And oh yeah – I’m not really making a new translation. It’s all a joke. But I made you look. (Acts 17:11)

Harley-Davidson and the Church

2010-08-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

In the early 1980s Harley-Davidson’s Richard Teerlink was slapped with a problem. Harley was losing market share and sales, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. In response Teerlink organized Harley Owners’ Groups (HOGs), and he simply listened to what Harley owners were saying. He learned that people were buying Harleys not just because they wanted transportation or a classy bike. Instead, as one writer put it, “they were buying freedom, independence, and escape from stress and routine in their everyday lives.”

Teerlink listened to his customers and changed the marketing strategy accordingly. “Harley-Davidson” today is The Name in motorcycles. Said Teerlink, “Harley went up when we cared about our customers and employees. Harley went down when we stopped caring about customers and employees.”

“Marketing” might seem like a crass way to refer to evangelism, but in fact Christianity is faced with some of the same challenges and decisions that companies such as Harley-Davidson face. Who are we? How do we hold ourselves out in the marketplace of ideas? Who is our competition?

Some churches hold themselves out as the only true bearers and preservers of “The Truth”. “The Truth” in their view is defined as a set of exclusive doctrines that no other group or individuals hold in total. Those churches market themselves as an exclusive club of very special believers who know something the rest of us don’t. Evangelism in such an environment can easily become a sort of debating party or a Biblical sword fight. It can make for interesting entertainment, and can even be a profitable exercise at times, but would a church want to be perceived in the public square as masters of the art of argument? Is there more to attracting disciples than that?

Of all the alternatives available, what would motivate someone to choose Christianity in general or your church in particular? What do you have that no one else in town does? Is there something more to it than being able to make the best arguments?

Can you give people real hope? Can you give them real change for the better? Can you show them that God has a plan for them and for all of us? Can you answer if someone asks you what God’s purpose is for mankind? Can you show the real way to peace and give them an understanding of why the world lacks that peace today? If people visit your church, will they meet God there?

Are we selling a set of doctrines, or are we addressing real needs and questions?

Learning Moment: Game Theory and Market Bubbles

2010-08-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Suppose a professor of finance offers the following opportunity to his students:

He promises to give every student in his class an increase in one letter grade for doing nothing more than submitting a written request for the increased grade. The professor will grant the request from that point forward on all papers, exams, and other class work with no questions asked. However, once 50% of the students have made that request, every student who made the written request will thenceforth have a reduction in a letter grade for the remainder of the semester. The professor will not disclose the scorecard until the 50% level is reached.

How will this experiment play out?

1. Those who are already “A” students will likely not participate because they don’t need the extra grade.

2. Participation will be low at first, but as the buzz increases about the easy bonus grades, participation will increase. As participation increases, so will the anxiety.

What would happen if any of the following factors (or combination of factors) were added to the experiment?

1. Once the 50% threshold is reached, those remaining in the program get an automatic grade of “F” for the class.

2. If the 50% threshold is never reached, students who participate get an automatic grade of “A” for the class.

3. Students are allowed to exit the program any time they choose and from that point forward will not be subject to any penalties or further rewards (they are “stopped out”). However, their participation would still be counted toward the 50% threshold.

4. As participation approaches 50%, the professor increases the trigger point to 60%. Or, as participation approaches 40%, the professor decides to lower the trigger point from 50% to 40%.

Do you see the parallels between this and the investment markets?

Don't Sell Your Birthright

2010-08-17T19:18:00.001-07:00

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" … Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

It is striking that someone could be shortsighted enough to give up wealth and position that is his right by inheritance because of the expediency of the moment. I have an immediate physical desire (“right now I’m tired and hungry”), and I don’t have any immediate use for some undefined future bequest (“What is this birthright to me?”), so I’ll trade my most valuable crown jewels for some immediate gratification.

Is it any wonder that the writer of Hebrews calls Esau profane (Hebrews 12:16 KJV)?

We might be tempted to think that no one would be foolish enough to sell one’s future for such a pittance, but a nation can also sell its birthright. Once the world’s largest creditor nation, the United States is now the world’s largest debtor nation. How did our nation morph from a nation of tremendous productive capacity to one that can’t seem to live within its means? How could a nation that was at one time economically self-sufficient become dependent upon nations who hate us and what we stand for?

Do you think this might have something to do with craving a bowl of red soup at the expense of greater things? Is it possible that life’s pleasures mean more to people than life’s purpose? Is it possible that the ambition of politics and finance leads to the erosion of our national treasure and will?

Is there a bowl of red soup on our national table?

The Welfare of the City

2010-08-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

My friend’s note was full of discouragement as he related his observations on the latest manifestation of the spirit of insanity that seems to have taken over our age. He’s an acute observer of the human condition, and it distresses him to see the continuing assault on family, economy, and personal freedoms.

He’s not alone in his near-despair. Maybe we’re getting an idea of the emotion Jesus experienced when he wept over Jerusalem. “How often would I have gathered you under my wings!”

Well, here we are, and I think often of Jeremiah 29, where the Jews of the day were much like us, exiles living in a foreign land called Babylon. But rather than despairing, God instructs the exiles to build their houses, raise their families, and build their businesses. They were to be in foreign land for a long time, and it would do them no good to become discouraged and give up. God had a plan for them, to be salt and light to the dead and dark culture around them.

And he also tells them to seek the welfare (the “shalom”) of the city, because in its shalom (or “peace” or “prosperity”) you’ll have “shalom”. It’s the same with us. We must do what we can do, whatever that might be. The question for each of us – what can we do to seek the welfare of the city, all the while understanding that the ultimate shalom will only come when He returns to gather his people under his wings?

Bread and Circuses

2010-08-13T17:52:00.001-07:00

In 140 B.C., during the days of the Roman Republic, the politicians of the day realized that of the many threats to power, one of the most unpredictable was the threat of the people. People are notoriously uncontrollable, especially if they are discontent.

They needed a means to control the great, unwashed masses, keeping them from revolting while at the same time assuring their support. Government-provided bread and circuses was an easy way to win their support. Give them cheap food and base entertainment and they would no longer need to worry about providing any meaningful public service.

The poet Juvanel in about 100 A.D. wrote this in his Satire X:

... … Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.

Bread and circuses are the tantalizing palliative for difficult political dilemmas. If used as a means of control, they will work for a while, but will eventually lead to a degradation of the nation and the culture. The devil tempted Jesus with the very same prescription (Matthew 4). Are you hungry, Jesus? No problem. Just turn those stones into bread. That’s the easy way out. You don’t need to go through the suffering of fasting to achieve your aim. Just make a little miracle bread. Eat something. You’ll feel better.

And if you really want to get the attention of your fellow Israelites, just jump off the pinnacle of the Temple. God will send his angels and hold you up. The people will be amazed and in awe. You’ll have their attention, and they will flock to watch the spectacle.

Bread and circus tricks. That’s the ticket to political control -- if you are looking for the easy way. It’s telling that the temptation ended with the devil’s offer to give Jesus control over all the world’s kingdoms. Imagine, Jesus, the good you can do. You can end all the world’s wars. You can feed all the poor people. And you can do this without having to go through the suffering that you will endure if you do it your way.

Jesus didn’t fall for the temptation because he knew that the temporary satisfaction of warm bread, or the temporary thrill of a circus ride, or the temporal powers that would end with his life are in no way to be compared to the eternal values that come from the narrow way.

There is more to life than bred and circuses.

Reporters vs. Conservative Black Leaders at Press Conference 8 4 2010

2010-08-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

"Race should never be an issue."

The Giver of Every Good Gift

2010-07-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

The Social Security Administration website tells us that the first recipient ever of a Social Security check was a woman named Ida May Fuller. On January 31, 1940 she received a check for $22.54. Thirty-five years later, at the age of 100, she had collected a total of $22,888.92 in Social Security benefits.

In 1955 Ms. Fuller stated that “Social Security is a wonderful thing for the people.” Ms. Fuller did not mention that in her working career she had contributed to the trust fund total taxes of $24.75. Bernie Madoff would be proud of a scheme like this, and apparently so is the Social Security Administration. They tout Ida May Fuller’s story in the historical section of their website (www.ssa.gov/history/idapayroll.html).

Without making too much political hay out of an economic issue, it should be obvious that a system so structured cannot be sustainable forever, particularly with an advancing age demographic and declining payroll taxes. Clearly depending on Social Security for your security is a fool’s errand, particularly for those of us who are not yet receiving benefits. The system must have a major overhaul including reduced benefits as a cornerstone or the Treasury will print itself into economic oblivion.

This means you must do two things. First, don’t depend on the government for your sustenance and support. If you are collecting Social Security don’t feel guilty about taking a Social Security check, but realize they spent your share of the trust fund a long time ago and are currently borrowing form the Chinese to pay you.

If you aren’t receiving a check, do what you must to assure that you’ll be able to survive without one when the time comes. That might mean living below your means and accumulating your own personal retirement fund. It means a smaller house than the realtor says you can afford and a pre-owned car instead of a new one. It means less frequent vacations and maybe a longer working life. On behalf of the Baby Boomer generation, I apologize that we didn’t solve the problem on our own backs before it got out of hand, but if it makes you feel any better, we’ll have our own heavy price to pay as well, particularly because most of us never bothered to plan ahead. We weren’t called The Now Generation for nothing.

The second and the most important thing, we can do is to recognize the source of our true security. The most egregious disservice the government has foisted upon us is the false idea that the government is the source or our security and support. During the Silly Season of the political campaign cycle, they bombard us with the frightening prospect that unless we stay on the plantation and vote for the ruling establishment, we’ll all be poor, and will probably get sick and die. After all, we mere peons aren’t capable of taking care of our own needs, and without the benevolent hand of the Great White Father in Washington, we’ll be at a complete loss on how to live our lives. The Road to Serfdom is now a four-lane highway. Those arguments sound suspiciously similar to those their political predecessors used to justify the keeping of slaves.

Thus we have arrived at the place where the government has set itself up as a false god. Maybe that was the intent, or maybe not, but whatever the case, as society has become more and more secular there seems to be a concerted effort to ban the face of religion, particularly the Judeo-Christian kind, from the public square. The government does not like competition, and maybe Jonah Goldberg was on to something when he coined the term “God-State”. (Read his book Liberal Fascism for a full explanation).

It is to the God-State that we are to look for every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). Dance with them and they will direct economic activity in your direction (Revelation 18:3). But try to do without them, and they will make your survival difficult indeed (Revelation 13:16-17).

Or at least so goes their story. In the true reality, the reality beyond what we see, all governments that the human race establishes are fleeting entities. Far better to put your trust in the true Prince of Peace. In the words of the Psalmist, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” (Psalm 118:8-9)

The Baby on the Bottle

2010-07-26T17:10:00.001-07:00

A marketing genius told me about one of the more amusing marketing failures in the history of corporate America. The corporation in question decided to market its product in Africa. The target market in this story was an illiterate one, and the population identified the contents of the package by the picture on the label. If the label had a picture of a tomato, the can was a can of tomatoes. If the label had a picture of apples, then the jar was a jar of apples.

So when Gerber went to Africa and put a picture of a baby on the label, you can understand why they sold few jars of baby food.

One American auto company had trouble breaking into the Japanese market because, among other reasons, in Japan they drive on the left side of the road, whereas the imports from the good old USA assumed that everybody drives as we do.

That mistake was easily fixed, but another one still lives in the annals of cultural legends. General Motors had difficulty selling their most popular Chevy model south of the border until someone figured out that Nova in Spanish means, “It doesn’t go”. ( No va!) Would you buy a model named “It doesn’t go”?

Christianity, in order for it to be successful, also must be aware of the culture around it. Jesus and the earliest disciples all hailed from a Middle Eastern culture and were Jewish by religion and race. They viewed the world from the perspective of that people. But in order to break out of the culture of one people and to appeal to the entire world – a world that largely did not know the God of Israel – the peoples of other lands had to be approached from a perspective that they could understand.

When the Apostle Paul, who had the advantage of both a classical and a Jewish education, entered the picture he was able to speak in terms understandable to both Jew and Greek. “To the Jews I became a Jew,” he wrote, “that I might win the Jews. … To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. … I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

He knew how to approach people from their perspective, sometimes quoting their poets and always speaking their language. If Christianity is to capture the hearts of today’s world, today’s Christians need to learn all they can about popular culture and what makes the world tick. The language that worked in the more biblically aware world of fifty years ago cannot work today. It no longer works to tell people that they need to “be saved” because most don’t even know they are lost. Telling them to repent of their sins when “repent” is meaningless and “sin” a doubtful concept will do little more than solidify in their minds a stereotype of Christianity.

Just like those marketing gurus in foreign lands, we can have the best of intentions, but the signals we send do not address who we are and what we stand for. Just as Paul could converse in the language of the day, we must do the same. We must approach people in a way that is meaningful for them, and quite often that means providing a meaning to life in this increasingly nihilistic world. It means learning the rationale behind the relativistic philosophies of the day and showing where such philosophies inevitably lead.

And it means living in a way that is consistent with our values, not only to give glory to God (which is important), but to also show that the way we walk works, even in a world that might scorn it.

Lenny C.
www.kccog.org

The Mick

2010-07-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Every boy needs a hero, and mine was Mickey Mantle, the great Yankee slugger of the 1950s and 60s. That’s why I enjoyed the his autobiography, the great summertime read The Mick.

Written in 1985, long after his baseball career had ended and after his admirers had grown to adulthood, it was a good, light read for this former Yankee fan, a sin for which I long ago repented.

Though Mantle softens some of the more raucous experiences of his baseball years, he does paint a portrait of himself as a flawed human being who did many foolish things, but a man who loved the game of baseball and loved being a New York Yankee. His carousing and barroom brawls with his buddies Billy Martin and Whitey Ford make for great story telling, but the Mick is clear that his exuberance for living was fun at the time but foolish in the long run.

I was hoping for a redemption moment in his story, and after a manner there was one. Mantle’s last few chapters discuss the strain his career and antics placed on his family, and that he never grasped that until after he had hung up his bat and glove. The regret of not being there for his wife and boys from March to October during some very critical years was a palatable regret, but I was looking for more from this man whom I idolized in my youth.

Mantle was clearly a religious skeptic. He says that he began to doubt God when his father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The Mick had virtually no religious instruction as a youth and thus had no context in which to place the trials of life.

Later in the book he speaks of Bobby Richardson, the great Yankee second baseman well-known for his deep faith and commitment to that faith. Richardson conducted Bible studies for his Yankee teammates, and Mantle not only attended but recruited several of his fellow Yankees. Then Bobby Richardson made a mistake. Intentionally or not (I’m guessing not), Richardson embarrassed Mantle in front of his teammates by asking him if he would conclude their worship time by reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Mantle did not know the Lord’s Prayer! Feeling humiliated, he never went back.

This is an object lesson in how fragile people can be and the need to be sensitive to their unseen hurts and pains. Psychological and spiritual injuries are every bit as real as a broken arm, but with a broken arm we can immediately recognize the injury. You can’t tell that someone is hurting on the inside just by looking at them, nor can we always know what will act as a trigger. Those who are in position of encouraging and teaching others need a special bit of wisdom, a discernment that can only come from God.

No Wonder I'm Tired

2010-07-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting in my sister's backyard with family and I realize I'm the only one there who has a job. Then my niece shows up and I don't feel alone any more. Now I know how it feels to be a Gen Xer.

Printing Money Does Not Always Bring Inflation

2010-07-16T17:40:00.001-07:00

Printing more money does not always bring inflation. The Japanese have been trying to re-inflate their economy for two decades through deficit spending and a loose monetary policy, but have not been able to pull it off.

That seems counterintuitive. If there is more money available and no increase in goods and services for that money to purchase, it only stands to reason that prices would rise. Let’s examine this.

Suppose some guy – let’s call him Ben – gets in a helicopter and dumps $1 billion dollars on your town. Everybody now has millions of dollars of potential buying power, and all of these people converge on the local Wal-Mart and new car dealer shops to buy stuff. One of three things will immediately happen.

1. The shelves will be bare.
2. The retailers will increase their prices to soak up the additional demand.
3. A combination of the two.

But suppose something else happens. Instead of spending the money, people run around and gather up the $1 billion from Ben’s helicopter and furtively stuff all that dough in their mattresses. Therefore:

1. None of the shelves are bare
2. Prices will not increase to soak up the additional demand
3. There will be no combination of the two.

At its core, that second scenario is what is happening right now. The government is doing everything they can to pump more money into the economy, but people aren’t borrowing it, banks aren’t lending it, and people aren’t spending it. The Federal Reserve is literally letting banks borrow money from them at 0%, but the banks are simply taking that free money and turning right around and depositing it back in the Fed at .5%. Not a huge interest rate, but easy, risk free profits!

So all these bank reserves are in the system, but because they are not being use to demand goods and services, inflation has remained benign.

The government’s solution to this (at the urging of Keynesians like Paul Krugman) is to have the government borrow and spend the money for us. That, along with the eventual release of bank reserves that are currently staying put, could be an impetus for inflation in the future. Think of your home town and what would happen if everybody raided their mattresses all at the same time to buy stuff.

PJ O'Rourke on the Virtues of Automobiles

2010-07-12T04:44:00.001-07:00

We're told cars are dangerous. It's safer to drive through South Central Los Angeles than to walk there. We're told cars are wasteful. Wasteful of what? Oil did a lot of good sitting in the ground for millions of years. We're told cars should be replaced with mass transportation. But it's hard to reach the drive-through window at McDonald's from a speeding train. And we're told cars cause pollution. A hundred years ago city streets were ankle deep in horse excrement. What kind of pollution do you want? Would you rather die of cancer at eighty or typhoid fever at nine?

Turn Ye Again

2010-07-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever. (Jeremiah 25:5 KJV)

If you are inclined to blame political leadership for all the wrong in our country, you need to rethink it. Sometimes political leadership is nothing more than a reflection of the people it represents, and that is especially true in a representative republic such as ours.

In the last chapter of II Samuel, King David makes an appalling mistake. At the time he is a powerful figure in the Middle East. He has conquered lands as far away as present-day Iraq and beyond. He has friendly relations with the Lebanese to the north and the Egyptians to the south. His nation’s enemies are at his feet, and there is no national security interest for any further conquests.

But instead of glorifying God for his fortune and fame, he is moved to take a census of his troops in a possible precursor to more warfare.

This seems mighty stupid for a man who has everything, but according to the text, stupidity wasn’t the issue. In II Samuel 24:1 we see that he was more likely just a bit player in this display of hubris. Instead it was the sins of the people that led God to take away David’s sound judgement: “The anger of the Lord was roused against Israel, and he moved David against them.”

According to this, God was angry with the entire nation, and therefore, in order to move the nation back to him, he moved David to make a stupid decision.

The point is this. We can rail against ineptitude in our elected officials, but they might lack wisdom in judgement because the people of our nation don’t want leaders who have the fortitude to make tough, principled decisions. As in the words of Isaiah, “This is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the LORD; who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.’” (Isaiah 30:9-10)

Don’t tell us that we can no longer live beyond our means. Don’t tell us that pet spending projects and earmarks for my state are killing us. Don’t tell us that we need to sacrifice in order to successfully prosecute a war. Rather, tell us we need to spend more, and borrow more, and receive more benefits. Tell us that it’s okay to bust up families because the kids of such unions are resilient and probably better off anyway. Tell us that pornography is a victimless crime in spite of evidence that it is as destructive an addiction as any. In short, if it feels good, do it. Whatever floats your boat. You are free to do anything you want, but let’s not bring God into the equation, and frankly, I really don’t give a hoot what happens to anybody else as long as my team wins the game this weekend and the pizza delivery truck can make it to my neighborhood.

It might be that the culmination of decades of moral and cultural decline is finally presenting its harvest to us, and that the wind that was sown by the atrophy of the old ways has now become the whirlwind we see before us.

It just might be that the poor judgement we see in our leaders is not their fault at all but our own. It just might be that turning back to the ideals to which we once aspired, but admittedly never quite attained, will once again lead us to choose leaders who have the wisdom and foresight that comes from the Father of lights.

Or in the words of Shakespeare’s Cassius to Brutus, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

Jefferson and Adams

2010-07-05T07:02:00.000-07:00

It’s July 4, 1826. On this very day, a lifetime after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, two titans of American history, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, finish the final chapter of their lives.

These two men, one breathing his last in Massachusetts, the other in Virginia, had not been in each others’ presence for decades. In fact for several years these two men who were once close friends and had pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, were bitter political enemies.

In a sense Adams and Jefferson personified two strains of thought that have been a part of the American political landscape from its founding. John Adams supported a strong federal government. Jefferson was the champion of states’ rights. Adams supported a strong mercantile class, Jefferson the idyllic world of yeoman farmers and craftsman. Adams represented the world of the Reformation and religion, Jefferson the philosophy of the Enlightenment and the supremacy of Reason.

The break between these two patriots began in the early days of the Republic, but came to an explosive climax during the Adams Administration. Due to a fluke in that day’s electoral system Jefferson, despite his antipathy to Adams’ view of the role of the chief executive, was elected as Adams’ Vice President. Thus two men with radically different views become political enemies even while they were supposed to serve side by side in the government.

It was only when Jefferson had finished his second term as president that a common friend and fellow Signer, Dr. Benjamin Rush, played the role of peacemaker and nudged the two titans to begin a correspondence that would last the rest of their lives, rekindling a friendship and enriching the heritage of our country.

These two warriors of liberty, whose friendship turned to rivalry, then enmity, blossomed in their mutual respect and friendship once again with the coming of old-age and the march of time.

Jefferson and Adams provide a model for political rivals. They had two differing views on the role of government, and those differences transformed a friendship into bitterness. Yet through the influence of a peacemaking intermediary they finished their lives with renewed friendship and respect, and our nation is the richer for it.

It was fitting that both of these old patriots who signed the founding document five decades before left this life on the anniversary of the day that changed their lives and our world forever.

July 4, 1826. Two titans passed from the scene. But their republic endures.

Question Marks and Exclamation Points

2010-06-29T06:36:00.001-07:00

I know we sing it with an exclamation point, but the national anthem ends in a question mark: “Oh say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” That’s a question, not an exclamation. And it’s a question that each generation of Americans must answer for itself.

This is my home because I value every shred of freedom the Constitution protects. Where else in the world can a woman shout aloud proclaiming her disgust with a government that is bound to protect her right to make such statements? Where else in the world can a person provide for his own physical protection, practice an unorthodox religion, succeed or fail on merits, yet be a part of a society that is for the most part compassionate toward the weakest among us?

Where else are people free to pursue their own dreams and potential and freely search for God and meaning?

Where else have people from every race and nation, of various creeds and languages, been welcomed as part of the great experiment we sometimes call the melting pot?

Where else is it recognized that our freedoms come from God and not from some benevolent elite who believe that they “allow” our freedoms?

Where else can one shout from the mountaintop one’s faith in God, proclaim the Word in print and media, and know that the vast majority of the people believe in that same God even though they may fall short in understanding and practice?

The question is not whether we are the land of the free. It is whether we have the bravery to protect that freedom for our children. It aggravates me to see some of my own countrymen stating publicly that this country is not worth fighting for. What, pray tell, is worth fighting for if freedom is not? Should Americans passively watch as our freedoms are slowly eroded by confused judges, pandering legislators, and internationalist lobbyists who want to subjugate our Constitution to some multi-national body?

The current conflicts in which our nation is now engaged, which like it or not are struggles between world views, are very much about whether our freedoms and lives are worth protecting. The question is whether we have the patience when it takes longer and costs more than expected. Would our generation of Americans have stayed more than the decade long course that spanned the time between the Declaration of Independence and the ratification of the US Constitution? Would our generation tolerate the hundreds of thousands lost in World War II and the financial burden that went with it?

Today’s enemies of this country want to take our cherished freedoms, and some of them want to kill as many of us as they can. Those are stated aims. Are we still the home of the brave so that we can remain the land of the free?

The Star-Spangled Banner yet waves, but it waves only because the land of the free has been the home of the brave.

Unlike the first verse of the National Anthem, the seldom-sung last verse is an exclamation and not a question. May that ever be so.

Then conquer we must,
When our cause it is just;
And this be our motto:
“In God is our trust!”

And the Star-Spangled Banner
In triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free
And the home of the brave!

The Bramble and the Olive Trees

2010-06-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us!' But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?' Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come, reign over us!' But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?' Then the trees said to the vine, 'You come, reign over us!' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?' Finally all the trees said to the bramble, 'You come, reign over us!' And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.' (Judges 9:8-15 NAS)

That little parable told by Jotham son of Gideon should remind us of our responsibilities on the one hand and warn us on the other against craving to be ruled.

The people of Israel had experienced the wise and brave leadership of Gideon, but at his death they seemed to be incapable of living without someone around to tell them what to do. Just like the trees in the parable, they seemed to go from one honorable candidate to another offering to place themselves under rulership, but all the honorable ones refused. So the big, mighty trees submitted to the rule of the basest bramble. By doing so, they gave up their dignity, for to take refuge in the shade of the bramble, one must stoop to the bramble’s level. “But if not,” the bramble said, “may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.” Their rulership would be one based on coercion.

Israel was born a free nation. They had escaped from slavery, and it was God’s intent that they remain so. He was to be their only King, and they themselves were to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). But the history as recorded in the book of Judges shows the sorry result of a people who had freedom without character, for time and time again their freedom led to license, which led to moral laxity, which led to social disorder. Eventually the nation found itself in bondage to its enemies, or calling for a strong man to restore order. Freedom has its costs, and they seemed unwilling or unable to pay the price.

The lesson of Jotham’s parable is twofold. If good men are too content with their own lives to provide leadership, then the bramble will fill the vacuum. Good men are enjoined to do their civic duty.

But more than that, it is uncomely for the majestic trees of the forest to beg someone to rule over them. That is the road to serfdom.

As the American Republic goes through its renewal this election year, a renewal which the framers of the Constitution mandate, let us reflect on the freedoms we have lost because of our desire for security. To quote Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. "