October 7, 2014 · 3:02 pm

In Defense of Potluck

I have decided to do something a bit different today and defend what may seem indefensible.  The potluck.

No.  I am actually not talking about the reality of the potluck that the symbol points to.  I often find it hard to defend assorted jellos with mayonnaise in them, various casseroles of assorted things, and other essentially indefensible things.

I am actually talking about the word:  potluck.

OH.  You may say, afraid that by this word I may be bowing before a 1st century Roman god of chance.  Rushing to the defense of the mysterious providence of God, you say with a knowing smile, “You mean a pot providence.”

No.  I actually don’t.  I mean a pot luck.  I do not at all deny the mysterious and wonderful providence of God, by which He upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.

With all Christians, I sound a hearty AMEN to that statement, found in question 27 of the Heidelberg Catechism.

But the fact is that language is a wonderful, nuanced, careful, cacophonous, brilliant and God- imaging thing,  Adjectives fail me.

I began this post saying that I decided to do something different.  By this, I did not mean that I have independent free-will apart from the decree of God. I simply meant that I made a decision.  I could have decided not to write this blog; or I could have decided to write it.  I have not yet decided to publish.  You will know if you are reading it what my decision will be.

We don’t live in the mind of God.  We don’t have access to His secret decrees.  What has been revealed to us are those things that Solomon calls, “The things under the sun.”

We are not commanded to pry into the book of life and see whose names are written there.  We are commanded to come to Christ, who freely offers salvation to all.

We are not commanded to sit under a tree and ponder when and how God will provide our daily bread; we are commanded to get a job and go to work.

That is part of what has been revealed to us.

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
(Deu 29:29 KJG)

Often we act like children taking quizzes answering every question with “Because that’s how God made the world.”

What were some of the causes of the War of 1812?  God’s providence.

Why did the apple fall on Newton’s head?  God’s providence.

What were the causes of the crusades.  God’s providence.

Eventually it becomes silly.  We all (as Christians) know and love the doctrine of God’s providence.  But we also live under the sun and are called to apply our hearts to wisdom.

And there is a remarkable thing that happens under the sun.  Sometimes events happen that are inexplicable.  There are wondrous coincidences.  There are almost mystical convergences that take place that change the course of history.  One may be righteous, and die; and one may be wicked and live.  One might be the fastest runner, but he stumbles on a nail that just happens to be on the road.  As the proverb goes, for want of a nail, the war was lost.

We all know that these are attributed solely to God’s hand of providence.  But the word “providence” includes everything that takes place in or under heaven.  Some things work on very precise mathematical principles.  Often, human behavior is predictable to a remarkable degree.  Weather patterns can be followed and weather forecasts can be made.

And we know that it is all attributable to God’s providence.  And yet, we don’t insist that every time we speak of any fact we again remind our hearers of God’s providence.  Science books and history tomes would be even more ponderous than they already are if with every sentence you had to say, “By God’s providence, of course.”  Couldn’t we just understand that principle and read and think in the light of it, rather than give ourselves to vain repetition?

By God’s providence, the alarm clock went off at exactly the same time that I set it.

By God’s providence, the bread dough rose exactly as it was supposed to.

By God’s providence, the man that I insulted and hit became angry with me.

All of these statements are factually true, but lack wisdom and insight.  We are better than that.

Human beings have a word that describes those inexplicable happenings, those things that have no earthly explanation. Those fortuitous events that come together without any expectation, contrary to what experience would allow.  It is true that all of these events are also in the hand of God’s providence, but that is sloppy language.

The word that we have in English is “chance”, or sometimes, “luck”.

When my house catches fire, but I happen to be awake at 3:00 in the morning, contrary to my usual pattern, and so I am able to warn my family and flee to safety, I might say, “I was lucky that I was up then!”

I would praise the sovereign hand of God, give him thanks for his providence and rejoice in Him for His goodness.

But if I said, “By God’s providence, I was up then,” then I haven’t communicated anything meaningful.  I have not told you if it was my normal practice, whether I had a predictable reason for being up, or whether my insomnia was inexplicable.

“Luck” or “chance” covers those things that are inexplicable and fortuitous.  “I happened to come by just as the accident happened.”  “I was lucky to have found the child before he was seriously injured.”

The problem with using the term “providence” to describe those events that happen by chance, is that it leaves the impression that providence does not cover those events that happen expectedly.  Let’s look at an example from the Bible.

Jesus is telling a parable.  He says,

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (Luk 10:31 KJG)

He uses the Greek word “sugkuria”, which means “chance”.  I am sure that a modern expert on theology would have corrected him here and said, “Wait.  You mean ‘by providence'”

No.  Being the eternal word of God, Jesus never tried to say anything, nor did he ever misspeak.  He meant, “By chance”.  He is not delving into the mysteries of God’s providential hand.  He is stressing the fact that there was no earthly reason for a priest to be walking the road at this time.  At this exact moment, out of the blue, completely unexpectedly, a priest walks by.

If Jesus had said, “By God’s sovereign decree, a priest was walking by…” the meaning of the sentence would be different.  It would not be clear if this was an ordinary occurrence, according to the natural laws of priests, something that was expected, or if this was something OUT of the ordinary and unexpected and unpredictable.

Jesus’ point was that this was unpredictable and marvelously unexpected.  That is highlighted with the only word that could have been used.  Sugkuria, or, as we would say, “Chance” or “luck”.

Let’s look at the Old Testament.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. (Ecc 9:11 KJG)

The Old Testament word is “pega'”.  It again means “chance.” Once again, I can hear the corrections in my head.  “Oh, poor Solomon.  He means ‘Time and providence happeneth to them all.’

Once again, no he didn’t.  The point in this verse is NOT that God’s hand is over everything, and not even a hair can fall from our heads without the will of our Father in Heaven.  That point is stressed throughout scripture and we see God’s hand in the smallest and largest events.

But that isn’t the point in this passage.  The point is that under the sun things happen that can never be explained and never be expected.  This world is vanity under the sun.  We can prepare to be the strongest, fastest, and mightiest and get run over by an oxcart in the street.  Time and chance happen to everyone.

Only when we lift our eyes to heaven can we trust in God’s hand even in those events of chance. But by denying chance at all, we attempt to explain and quantify that which cannot be explained and quantified.  We not only lose the mystery that is in the world, but we also ROB from the doctrine of God’s providence.

Just as the doctrine of election includes my free-will decisions; just as the government and order of God’s creation includes scientific laws, so also the providence of God includes those events of time and chance and luck.  In none of these is the choice “Either/or”; it is always, “Both/and.”

The writer of Esther could have written, “Because God’s hand is over all things and nothing happens outside of His decree, that night the king couldn’t sleep….” and we would have glossed over it and not have seen how astounding it was that on this night, of all nights, the ONE NIGHT that wicked Haman was plotting against the Jews, the king couldn’t sleep.

But by saying, “On that night, could not the king sleep” (Esther 6:1), the master story-teller stresses something astounding that a systematic theology could not say with the same punch.  If it was the night before, or if it was the night after, the hope of the entire world would have been lost.  But on THAT ONE night, it happened that the king couldn’t sleep.

Instead of denying God’s providence, the writer exalts the amazing hand of almighty God with art and skill and mystery, without even saying the words.  It lifts the heart to heaven in wonder; it opens the lips to praise and the heart to mystery!  It takes the breath away at the wonderful, glorious, almighty hand of God in even the sleep patterns of the kings of Persia.  The master story teller SHOWS us God’s providence, without ever even mentioning the word.

So also the potluck.  We could say, “Pot providence” but that doesn’t communicate the same thing.  I could assign everyone in the church to bring an assigned item, lay it out like a banquet, fully knowing what to expect, and still call it a “pot providence.” I could actually cater a meal, go to a restaurant, or order fast food, and have a “pot providence”.  Is God’s hand only seen in the inexplicable and unexpected?  God forbid.

When we say potluck, we are simply saying, “everybody bring what you want.  The meal will be unexpected, marvelous, strange, a bit wacky perhaps, and scientifically inexplicable – like Jello with peas and onions and Aunt Edna’s casserole that no one has ever been able to explain.”

It means precisely that there are no rules, no menu and what we will be eating will be inexplicable.

If we insist on “pot providence” let’s at least be consistent and instead of asking for menus, ask for the providence list; instead of seating charts, we could call them providence charts.  Instead of family style, we could say, providence style.

And we would be boring, uncommunicative, non-creative and say absolutely nothing.

The fact is, whether we go to Burger King, Five Guys, Red Robin, or have a potluck at church, all our food is controlled by the providence of God.  We know that as Christians.

That doesn’t mean that we turn our brains off and make no distinctions and use no definitions.

Being created in the image of God, man gave names to all the animals.  It is part of our image bearing to name those things that are under the sun.  One of those things is the uncaused event, the unpredictable and unexpected, the fortuitous and almost miraculous.

Those things have names too.  Let’s use them, and understand that God’s providence is indeed over all.  For now, I will praise the hand of God and proudly say, “Next Sunday, we’re having a potluck.  You know what that means!”

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October 2, 2014 · 11:29 am

Oppression and Relief

8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. (Pro 31:8-9 KJV)

Most of us are familiar with the Proverbs 31 woman.  We heard about her, we studied her and we tried hard to either be her of have a wife like her (some of us have done pretty good with that one).  Unfortunately, men have also used the “Proverbs 31” woman in churches to keep their wife silent, in the kitchen and doing what she is “supposed to do”. Much ink has been spilled praising the virtue of this woman while at the same time professionally “exegeting” the passage to make sure that the women don’t get too uppity.

Let me run through a quick survey.  How many of you have heard how a woman can consider and buy a field and plant a vineyard without every working outside the home?

Next question.  How many of you have read, studied and applied the two verses right before the section on the Proverbs 31 woman?  I’ve listed them above (Proverbs 31:8-9).  I would imagine that now we are hearing crickets.

Run a search on the Proverbs 31 Woman.  How many books, lectures, conferences, blogs and articles do we find?

Now check the upcoming calendar for the year.  How many conferences are there on these two verses?

Don’t get me wrong.  Proverbs 31:10-31 is a wonderful, moving, hopeful and joyful celebration of wisdom.  It needs much more meditation, study and reflection in all of our lives (notice that I didn’t say “conferences, blogs, bible studies, articles and personal opinions”).

But part of the same passage, the same instructions that King Lemuel’s mother gave to him, are these two verses.  It all goes together.

The Proverbs 31 woman doesn’t begin at verse 10.  The instructions begin with the man.  In order for the wife to flourish in wisdom the man must take heed to his heart.  First, he must be devoted to her, married to her (verse 3).  He must not let his heart wander around in fornication and adultery, but must “live with her in understanding” (1 Peter 3:7); he must “love her as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her” (Eph. 5:25).  He must not live as a miserable drunk, but live as a king and priest under Jesus Christ (verses 4-7).  Miserable wretches are drunkards; that is not us.  We have been made members of Christ and partakers of his anointing.

Both of those concepts are for another time and another place.

God has given gifts to mankind according to his wisdom.  To some, he has given authority, responsibility, wealth.  Some have a voice that is heard.  Some have office in the church.  Some are kings.

Our human nature wants to take these gifts that we have been given and use them to control and devour the sheep.  Human depravity always seeks to elevate itself as god in the place of God.  Authority and responsibility quickly become abused to the destruction of those whom God has placed to benefit from godly structure.  And God will hold those in authority accountable  for their abuse of authority.  This is why Israel and Judah were destroyed and taken captive into Babylon.

Because human nature is thus depraved, there are many who have no voice, have no hope, have no help.  They neither have the money to purchase justice from corrupt judges, nor do they have any skills for making a case for themselves.  Perhaps their words get jumbled.  Perhaps they are frightened.  Perhaps they simply cannot speak for themselves. Perhaps they have no legal standing, either in church or in the state.

If King Lemuel is to be a good steward of the gifts that God has given him, he MUST use the authority, responsibility and power that he has been given to be the voice for those who do not have one.  Of course, if I were of the patriarchal persuasion, I might ask what King Lemuel was doing still listening to his mother when he was clearly over the age of 13, but since I am not of that persuasion, I will let those that are continue to blog trying to explain it.

But that is neither here nor there.

Open your mouth for those who can’t (verse 8).  The second half of this verse uses Hebrew idioms that sound a bit awkward in English.

Literally, it says, “Open your mouth on behalf of those who cannot speak, into judgment on behalf of the children of vanishing.”

“Judgment” means the legal process.  It means that which determines situations righteously and with equity.  It means not to look at wealth, power, privilege and position, but to judge according to equity, according to the Law of God.

“Children of vanishing” are all of those without a voice, who are not seen and are not heard.  They are those who have been silenced by oppression, have learned from an early age to vanish into corners, keep their mouths shut.  They are the Harry Potters of the world, hiding under the stairs with no voice, no hope, no future.  They are the ones that fade into the mass graves of the world, who are unnoticed in the marketplace.  They are those who hide the bruises and the scars with long sleeves and long tales, unnoticed by the “important” people, who wish to not be bothered by uncomfortable things.

The King James calls them, “those who are appointed to destruction.”  The ESV says, “all who are destitute”.  The NKJV says, “appointed to die” and the ASV says “the unfortunate”.  All of them (except arguably the ASV) come close to the meaning of the Hebrew idiom.  All of this, and more.  They are the “children of vanishing”.  Those who are marginalized, outcast, voiceless, powerless and helpless.

All who have been given a voice are commanded by God to speak for those who cannot, to plead the cause of the poor.  We all have our corners of responsibility and everyone who has been given responsibility has been given responsibility over only a certain area.  We have our families, our churches, our cities, our neighborhoods.  These are our first responsibilities.  The poor we will always have with us, and we cannot shut our eyes and ears to the cries of the oppressed right in our own midst.

We cannot look the other way while the powerful abuse, beat and torment the sheep.  We cannot pretend that “mistakes were made” when pastors and church leaders get rich on the backs of the oppressed.  We cannot hide our eyes as the gifted ones of the church stomp over the quiet saints of God, running them out of the church and leaving them broken and wounded, without a home.

Perhaps I am a “bleeding heart”.  This kind of talk always seems to make conservative Reformed people a little nervous, as if someone is about to go off and become a “new dealer”.

No.  I’m not talking about ending one form of abuse with another form of officially sanctioned government abuse.

I am talking about a righteous king.  All who have been given voices, responsibility, or even authority.  Whatever sphere God has placed you in and whatever gifts God has given to you it is your responsibility to be a voice to those who have none.  If the church had done this, there wouldn’t have been the necessity of adding a bureaucracy to step in.  But we have miserably failed.   We have historically shut our eyes, ears and mouths against the cry of the oppressed and silenced.

We have not practiced church discipline against those who bought and sold slaves, or even those who attempt to justify such wickedness.

We have not protected wives from abusive, drunken husbands.

We have looked the other way and pretended not to hear the cries of sexually abused children.

The Anglicans who occupied Ireland watched millions starve to death during the potato famine and did nothing.  There was plenty of food, but it went into the pockets of the rich land owners – all of them professing the name of Christ.  The bodies of the poor lay dead on the sides of the roads as the wealthy protestants filled out eviction notices.

It’s time to end it.  It is time for every pastor, elder, deacon, wealthy and powerful church member, all those who have a voice to say, “Enough.”

I am not talking about civil unrest, picketing or even how we vote.  We in the church have been given a tremendously powerful tool against all oppression and wickedness.  We just don’t use it.

That tool is church discipline.  Unfortunately, we most often use church discipline against those who have no voice, because we listen to the ones who have a voice.  It is time to open up different ears and learn how to hear the voice of the voiceless.  It is time to open our mouths and speak for those who are “children of vanishing”.  It is time to hear with the ears given to us by Christ, with minds that distinguish between wolves and sheep, with eyes that discern according to truth and hearts that don’t tremble at the fierce and violent words of the powerful.

This, by the way, is how to build a church.  Not programs, tent meetings and sparkly evangelists.  The church is built of the outcast, the wounded, the sick and those who have no voice.  Follow Christ.  Speak for those who cannot.

6 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment (Eze 34:1 KJV)

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October 1, 2014 · 3:51 pm

Too Filthy to Serve?

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. (Zec 3:1-5 KJV)

Have you ever believed that you were so shameful and filthy that there was no way you could ever serve the Lord?

This is exactly what Joshua the High Priest was going through.  When Zechariah the Prophet ministered, Israel had just returned from their exile in Babylon.  Joshua was the grandson of the High Priest who was carried away with Jeconiah and the rest of the captives.  They had spent 70 years in Babylon. They had rebelled against God and God drove them from His presence.  Joshua had known nothing else but the experience of being an exile in a corrupt and filthy culture.

But now the exiles had returned!  Zerubbabel had begun to build the temple, and Joshua, the descendant of the first High Priest, Aaron, was to begin his service.  What a tremendous calling!  When you read about the cleansing of the High Priest to make him fit for service (Exodus 39-40), it can take your breath away.  The High Priest stood in the very presence of a Holy God, making intercession for the people.  But Joshua was defiled.

He not only was defiled by his own sins, but he was also defiled by the sins of his father, his grandfather and the whole nation of Israel, all the way back to his first parents, Adam and Eve.  He had been an outcast and an exile, alienated from the land and the covenant of God.  Jeremiah wrote, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed!”  Joshua, and all the rest of Israel, were only alive because God saved a remnant, not because they deserved it.

But the fact remained that they were filthy.

Satan, the accuser of the brethren, was on hand to remind Joshua how filthy he was.  “Look at you!  How can you possibly serve God?  You are fit for nothing, skilled in nothing, covered with corruption just like your parents before you!”

His was the voice of the abuser.  “You are worthless. Scum. Violated.  Outcast. You don’t deserve anything and should be grateful that you are even alive.  Now you want to serve God?  Wait until everyone finds out who you really are!”

The scene in Zechariah 3 is the courtroom of God.  Satan is on Joshua’s right hand to resist him.

But then the Lord silences the mouth of Satan.  It isn’t that Joshua WASN’T unclean.  He certainly was.  His garments were filthy (the Hebrew here means to be covered with excrement).  He certainly was not at all fit for God’s service.  He was a sinner, from a line of sinners, corrupted by birth – even as all the others.

But the voice of shame and condemnation came from Satan, not from God.  God’s voice rebukes Satan.  And there is only one reason.  God chose Joshua.  God chose to make Joshua his servant.  God not only chose Joshua, God also makes Joshua fit for service.  He commands the angels to take off Joshua’s filthy garments and clothe him with clean clothes.  God commands them to put a turban, the symbol of the priest’s authority on his head.

God makes Joshua fit for service!

Of course, this is all a picture.  It is a vision that Zechariah sees in heaven.  The reality is this.  God has chosen his church, calls them to service.  Each one of us is called to serve.  We are called to love God with our whole heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  We are called to worship and serve the Lord.  We are called to use our gifts readily and cheerfully for the advantage and welfare of the church of God.

And Satan is still there to oppose us.  “YOU? Nobody wants to talk to you.  What if they find out who you really are?  What if they find out about your childhood?  What if they find out who your parents really were?  You aren’t fit to serve.  You’ve been defiled.  You are unclean.  You have no skill, no gift, no ability that anyone would want.  You’re just a drain on everybody.  Just go home.  Nobody likes you anyway.”

But if you have come to Christ in repentance and faith, this isn’t the voice of God calling you filthy and worthless.  This is the voice of Satan.  His name means, “The accuser”.  He is also a liar and he has many children on this earth who do his bidding.  They are the ones that snort with contempt when you speak.  They are the ones that cut you down and tear you to pieces. They are the ones that make sure you always remember just how stupid, useless, and wasteful your whole life is. They act like they are just “speaking the truth”, but they neglect something very crucial.  You aren’t wearing filthy garments any more!

Your sins and your shame were put on Jesus Christ.  He was beaten and mocked and reproached as a criminal in your place.  And now you are His and He is yours.  THIS is who you are, and never let anyone tell you otherwise.

You are not worthless anymore.  You are not unclean, defiled, filthy and unwanted.

You have been fit for service.  You have been clothed with Christ and all of His righteousness.  When the devil says you are worthless, he is really saying that Jesus is worthless, because you are a member of Christ and a partaker of His anointing.

Statistics tell us that one out of four women are sexually abused in their lifetimes.  A very common side-effect of sexual abuse is this:  I am defiled.  I am worthless.  I have no value.  I have nothing to offer.

Some victims go on to live lives of worthlessness and hopelessness, believing that they have nothing to offer.  Drug use, prostitution, marrying abusive men, cutting, eating disorders and sometimes even suicide.

A recent question has surfaced in social media since the Ray Rice story surfaced.  “Why did she stay?”  Why would a woman choose to stay with an abuser?

I believe that there are many different answers because human nature is what it is.  It is complex.  The heart is deceitful and only God knows it.

But I also know that one answer comes up again and again.  “I’m not worth anything else.  I have no gifts.  I have no value.  At least he wants me.  No one else does.”

That’s a lie of the devil.  There is One who wants you.  He wants you to come to Him and cry out to Him and cast all of your sins and shame upon Him.  There is one who shouts in the crowd, “Come to me, all who are thirsty! Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden!”

There is One who has given his life to redeem.  To redeem means to buy out of bondage.  He came to rescue and redeem the Joshuas and the Rahabs and that Tamars of the world.  The hurt and broken and sinful and weary.  He cries out to all of them with a loud voice, “Come to me and I will give the water of life freely!”  And whoever comes to Him He will never, ever cast away.

In fact, He not only will never cast them away, He will make them His bride!  He will gather, defend and preserve them to the end!  He will take off the filthy garments and give you the garments of a priest!  Listen to what the Bible says concerning those who were unclean, filthy, outcast and worthless.  They came to Christ and now they are no longer outcast and unclean, but this:

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. (1Pe 2:9-10 KJV)

The mercy of God is astounding!  We have truly been fit for service!  We have truly been given the garments and the turban of a king and a priest because we belong to our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, Son of Man and Son of God.

May glory and honor and might and praise and dominion be His forever and ever!

Amen.

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September 24, 2014 · 4:59 pm

What’s Wrong With Biblical Patriarchy

What’s Wrong With Biblical Patriarchy.

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September 15, 2014 · 7:55 pm

Whom Will You Serve?

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
(Matt. 4:8-10)

When Jesus was born, the angels told Mary that God would give Him the kingdom of His father David.  Jesus came to do the will of His Father in Heaven and He knew that this will would lead Him to the cross.  Only by suffering the death of the cross would He inherit the kingdom through the resurrection from the dead.

The kingdoms of the world had been given into the hand of Satan as a just punishment for sin.  When Adam fell, mankind became slaves of sin and misery and under the bondage of the devil.

If Jesus was to “plunder the kingdom of Satan”, Satan must first be bound (Matt. 12:29-30).  In order for Satan’s kingdom to be plundered, Jesus must deal with sin.  The only way to deal with sin was to go to the cross and suffer the pangs and torments of hell in the place of His people.

But when Jesus was in the wilderness, Satan offered Him another way.  “I will concede every kingdom to you.  You can usher in peace, prosperity, long life and endless joy – just fall down and worship me, and all this will be yours. No cross.  No wrathful God to deal with.  Just me.”

And so it always is.  He offered the same thing to Adam.  He offers the same thing to every believer.  “Just fall down, serve me, and I will give you your heart’s desire.”

“Are you lonely?  Just one night with that girl in the bar”.

“That man that you have your eyes on can make all of your dreams come true.  God is not good.  He won’t bless you.  Reach out.  Serve me.  Everything will be better.”

“Perhaps if you just work a bit harder; submit a bit more; make sure dinner is on time – then you can have the home of your dreams.  Your husband is angry and stressed.  Make things easier on him and you can have all you want.  Serve a little harder.  Try a little more.  Work a little longer.”

And how often do we forget that God alone is the fountain of all good.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (Jam 1:17 KJV)

We reach out to people or to things or to ideas in order to ease the pain of a cursed world, and forget that Jesus already paid it all.  He alone can salve this broken and contrite heart.  He alone can take away the curse.

But the devil and his children will always offer another way.  “Just serve me a bit better, a bit more; just work harder, and you can have whatever you dream of.”

But whatever you do, and whatever you say, and however hard you work, you will never attain it.  It’s a lie.  It’s a lie because the devil is a murderer and a liar and his children follow in his footsteps.

They can’t give you eternal life.  They can’t give you peace.  They can’t even give you food and drink.  They can never ease the loneliness and the heartache of living in a sinful world.  But they can enslave you to a life of “work harder; do better; submit more; don’t make me mad – you know how my temper is!”

If this sounds like your life,  please remember what Jesus said to the tempter.  “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Wow.  Astounding words! He will do good to all men.  He will willingly wash feet.  He will take the lowest form and die the death of a criminal.  He will do good deeds of love and mercy and truth.  He will become servant to all and call us to do the same thing.

But He will never, ever worship anything or anyone other than the One True God who has revealed Himself in His word.

As redeemed men and women, we have the glorious calling of reflecting Christ’s glory – of being transformed into His glorious image.  We have the Holy Spirit.  God calls us the apple of His eye!

When the devil and his children give this promise, “I will give you what you want if you will only serve me,” remember where it comes from.  That which comes from God is pure and peaceable, brings joy and reconciliation, and gladdens the heart.  the promise of the devil brings shame and guilt and bondage.  There are always strings attached to every promise of an evil man.

You shall worship the Lord Your God, and Him alone shall you serve.

But there’s more.  Jesus commanded Satan to depart.  Satan and his children will never settle for anything less than worship. They will continue to hound, berate, revile and reproach you until you are finally grovelling at their feet – but even then, they will not be satisfied.

There is only one thing to do with this:  Cast him out.  Get out!  I will worship God alone.

I will serve God in my marriage by seeking my spouse’s good; by taking the lower place and joyfully doing what God has called me to.  I will joyfully give up my rights and even my life if that is what God calls me to.  But I will never, ever, worship and serve the creature.  I will worship and serve God alone and expect good only from His hand.  If my marriage has been irretrievably broken by the wicked actions of my spouse, I will pursue divorce; but I will no longer submit to the demands of the wicked one to bow and serve and worship the creature rather than the Creator.

I will not grovel at the feet of a scoffer and reviler hoping for some crumbs of peace to fall.

I will not serve a son of Belial in the desperate hope for a smile from the sneering face.

I will not seek from the creature what only the Creator can give.  I will seek reconciliation; I will seek forgiveness; I will seek peace, but if they are for war, I will withdraw and plead my case to the Almighty.  But I will never worship the creature.

Only the Creator can give me peace.  It will never come from the lies of the devil.  Jesus has freed me from the bondage of sin and misery.  He has made me an heir to eternal life!

I can’t earn it.  I can’t work harder and get it.  It’s the devil that tells me to work more, be better, grovel more, abuse my body more.  Jesus’ love is sanctifying, cleansing, unearned, complete and infinite.

Husbands, if you are withholding love and tenderness and honor from your wife until she works harder, submits more and learns her place, ask yourself who you most resemble.  Is this the picture of Christ, who loved the church and gave Himself for her?  Or is it the picture of Satan who said, “All this I will give you, if you only fall down and worship me.”

Perhaps this is why Paul said that a reviler (one who uses abusive and vicious speech to belittle and intimidate others) will never inherit the kingdom of heaven (I Cor. 6:9).  Nothing can be further from the beauty and love of Jesus than a reviler.  A reviler says, “Worship me, and I will give you rest.”  But the reviler is the one causing the unrest!  So not only is he a reviler, he is also an extortioner.  How can he inherit the kingdom of heaven unless he repents and becomes something else?

But Jesus actually gives rest.  He takes away sin and shame, doesn’t use it to control and manipulate.  He covers our ugliness and bitterness with His perfect righteousness.  He gives us a new heart and a new spirit so that we can become more and more like him.

So we can say with confidence, “I will do good to all whom God has placed in my path.  But I will worship and serve God alone.”

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September 5, 2014 · 11:17 am

Badgering Badgers

An excellent analysis

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September 1, 2014 · 3:57 pm

Maybe just a little more…

It was an exhausting day.  It wasn’t a bad day.  Just exhausting.

I washed the dust, sweat and grime of the day down the shower drain, put on pajamas and sat back in my lazy boy recliner.  I opened Biblical Theology and read until I could not keep my eyes open any longer.  Contentedly, I headed off to bed.

I climbed into my Sleep-number adjustable bed and settled down for the night.  That’s when the trouble started.

First, I sighed a deep relaxing sigh.  “I am as comfortable as I could be,” I said, relaxing into a light doze.

Then I said, “Maybe not quite.  There might be a small wrinkle right around where my knee is.”  No big deal.  I could ignore it.

No.  It grew larger and larger in my mind.  I knew that I would not be able to go to sleep on top of that huge mess that is wreaking havoc on my leg.  So I leaned forward and adjusted the wrinkle.  “Ahhhhh.”

Now my covers were messed up.  I had to arrange them again.  They were pressing down too hard on my foot.  That might cause me some pain in the morning.  So I kicked, trying to make a pocket for my feet.

Ahhhh.

Is that a crumb?  I think that there is a crumb in my bed.  How can I sleep with a crumb in my bed.  Where is it?  Where did it go?

Why is my pillow flat now?  I removed the crumb.  I fluffed the pillow.  I settled back down.

Now I’m hot and starting to sweat again.  I throw the covers off.

Now I’m cold. Why can’t the temperature be perfect?  Why is the crumb back?

I remove the imaginary crumb, fluff again.  Pull the covers back up.

Now there’s a wrinkle under my leg.

I never have this problem when I am camping.  I know that there is no way I am actually going to get comfortable, so I just go to sleep.

Eventually, I fluff and worry and toss and turn and fuss myself to sleep.  Other nights, I give up and get up before I wake my wife.

But the other night something came to me:

Isn’t this the heart of covetousness?

No matter what good gifts God gives us, no matter what we have, we always say to ourselves, “Do you know what I need?  Just a little more.  Then I will be content.”

If only I had a bigger truck, a bigger car, a better house.  Look at my neighbor’s house.  He sure is lucky.  If I had that house, then I would be happy.

Look at his wife.  Man, how’d he score a woman like that?  If I had his wife, then I’d be happy.  I wish my kids were like that guys kids.

This food doesn’t taste quite as good as it should.  This chair isn’t quite as comfortable as it could be. If I had one more gadget, a little more money, a little better friends.

If my preacher was a little more interesting, if my church was a little bit more attentive to my needs.

Then for sure I would be content.

This is the first thing Satan said to man,”Yea, hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Is there really something that God didn’t let you have??  The nerve!

And so our sinful hearts are again revealed.  Covetous is the plaguing thought that you are not really getting everything that you are owed, that something is being held from you – something that you deserve. God owes you.  He really isn’t good.  He’s stingy and holding out on you.  Look at your neighbor; what’s he got that I don’t got?

Then we read what Paul writes.

11Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am,therewith to be content. 12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.  (Phil. 4:11-13).

It would help us to remember that Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote this.  He learned to be content in every situation.  He understood that the problem was not in the goodness of God.  God’s goodness is infinite.  He is our almighty Father, able to give us all things necessary for body and soul, and willing also, being a faithful Father.

The problem is our sinful heart.  Covetousness makes us restless.  Discontent drives our grumbling and murmuring.  And the heart of it is idolatry.  We worship and serve the creature, rather than the creator.  We look to things for our comfort, placing our trust in money, gadgets, friends, things, and wrinkle free sheets.

Notice also that Paul says he has learned contentment with nothing as well as contentment with abundance.  Contentment with abundance is frequently the harder of the two.  When you have nothing, you have very low expectations from your possessions.  But when you abound, it is very simple to turn those possessions into idols, and seek from them that which they can never provide.

Augustine prayed, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.”

My wife says, “Why don’t you just go to sleep, you weirdo.”

And I am again reminded that this earth is not our home.  We are commanded to set our affections on things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

As long as our minds are on this earth, there is always one more wrinkle, one more crumb, one more aching joint.  We can really get ourselves into a dither over nothing.

I know that there are many with problems far greater than a wrinkled sheet.  I have my own things over which I could fret, some huge, some smaller.  When it comes to the great big things: betrayal, slander, abuse, chronic illness, death, and so on, we immediately look to Jesus, saying to us, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

But we often don’t think of that when we get ourselves into a dither over wrinkled sheets.  But the wrinkled sheets expose our restless hearts every bit as much as the big things.  The things of the earth can never be your only comfort in life and in death.  They will never be a solid ground on which to place your trust.  But they can make you exhausted and restless, until you finally cry out to the Lord to cleanse you from your covetousness and teach you contentment.  This is what Paul means when he says that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him.

 

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August 29, 2014 · 3:56 pm

He Sets the Prisoner Free

For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death (Ps. 102:19-20).

“Tomorrow I will be a better person.”

How many times have you told yourself that? You may have gone to therapists. You have gone to the meetings. You may even have tried “religion”. But you still find that your conscience accuses you. At night you lie on your bed unable to sleep as your mind plays your failures over and over again.

You are told that you are basically a good person. Perhaps you have addictions – sex, drugs, alcohol. Perhaps you just can’t control your urges or your temper. You lash out at your loved ones. You stay up at night browsing porn sites until early morning. No matter what you do to stop, you still find yourself doing the same things.

You have seen the religious experts. They may have told you to try harder. “Find an accountability partner”, you are told. If you would just quit sinning and if you had better influences around you, you could overcome this. But long and cruel experience has told you otherwise. None of your good intentions can break down the walls of your prison.

Is there any hope? You have tried everything. Promises have been made and broken. You have been promised that this time it will be different. But it isn’t.

The Bible tells us what the problem is. The human race is in bondage to sin. The reason that you can’t keep your promises is that you are enslaved; you are a prisoner in the prison of your own making. You cannot break free. What you need is for someone to break down the walls of your prison and deliver you.

But the only one that can do that is God Himself. Only the Creator of heaven and earth can set you free. But now there is a problem. The Creator of heaven and earth has placed you under the death penalty – and He cannot lie. He said, “The soul that sins shall die”. You have sinned.

“But,” you say, “I have had some lapses in judgment, but I am really not all that bad.”

But God doesn’t grade on a curve. God has told us very clearly what sin is. It is even clearer than the speed limit sign posted on the highways. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. Don’t lie. Don’t commit adultery…

“But I haven’t done these things,” you say. But God doesn’t just look at your outward behavior. He looks at the heart. Have you lusted after a woman in your heart? Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever hated someone or held a grudge against someone? Have you ever wanted to steal?  Of course, these are just the “respectable sins”.  The reality is that the heart is so vile and corrupt that we dare not even acknowledge our darkest desires.  What if every thought that you ever had was broadcast to the whole world, and exposed for all to see?

You know in your own conscience that you are guilty, and the Judge is a hanging Judge who will NEVER acquit the guilty. If you need to be delivered from your sins, if the only one who can deliver you is God, and if God has pronounced the sentence of death upon you, then how can you possibly be set free?

Imagine that you are on death row. The crime that you are accused of is a capital offense. In a few hours you will be taken from you chamber, marched down the corridor, strapped into the chair and executed. You have no appeals. You did the crime and you know you did the crime. You know that the judge is perfectly just and will never go against his own justice. He has never once granted clemency. What hope can you have?

You may have heard that the prison is only in your own head. You just need to declare yourself “not guilty” and walk out. But you know better.

You may have heard that “God is love” and He would never execute judgment. But you know better.

You may have heard that all you need to do is exercise your free will and do better, and the prison doors will magically swing open. But you know better.

There is only one hope: When you are executed, the sentence is carried out. Only then can the demands of the law be satisfied. In other words, only when you are dead and buried can you be free from the walls of your prison.

But that isn’t good news. The good news (gospel) is this: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

The only way to be truly free from your prison is if the death sentence is carried out. You must either do it yourself (eternal death and damnation) or believe in Jesus, who did it for us.

He came into the world in the womb of the virgin, Mary, for only one purpose: to take our curse and our death sentence upon himself. He did this on the cross. He died a death that was accursed of God, so that we might be assured that he truly took the curse upon himself. Then, on the third day, he rose from the dead – raising us up out of the grave with him, so that we might have the eternal life that he has.

If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then his death on the cross is your death; and his resurrection from the dead is your resurrection from the dead. The prison walls are broken down forever, because you were already executed, taken out of the prison, and buried with Christ. But he didn’t remain in the grave. If you believe on him, you are also raised with him to everlasting life.

When you have exhausted every other possibility; when you have reached the end of your rope; there is nothing else to do except come to the only one who can set you free. Isn’t it time that you quit trying to do that which is impossible? Isn’t it time that you quit pretending that you can escape from your prison in your own power, free-will and wisdom? Isn’t it time to come to Christ, and say, “Lord, have mercy on me; a sinner”?

9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.

 10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.

 11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die. (Ps. 79:9-11)

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August 29, 2014 · 6:33 am

Are Blacks Being Eliminated in the US?

An excellent article by my friend

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August 12, 2014 · 4:37 pm

Sometimes, we just need to be quiet

You might have noticed that I haven’t posted in a little while.  I have been feeling a bit under the weather, but that really doesn’t have much to do with it.
I’ve been thinking lately – sometimes I just need to stop and meditate.

When I say stop and meditate, I am not talking about what normally passes for meditation: emptying your mind, feeling one with the universe – whatever that means.  I mean it the way the Scripture means it.  David wrote, concerning the blessed man, that he was one who meditates on the law day and night.  The word that we translated “meditate” means to make a low grumbling sound, somewhat like thunder, or the purr of a great lion.
It seems like an odd word to use.  But now imagine that you are in a room of people, all studying, memorizing, reading aloud to themselves, practicing pronunciation, all of them buried in the words of the Holy Scripture.  That’s the sound it would make, wouldn’t it?  Not very many in David’s time could go to Sam’s Club and buy a bible.  They had to go to where the scrolls were and use them together.

To meditate is to sit quietly and think about a passage of scripture.  It means to be slow to speak and quick to hear.  It means that wisdom does not come by reading through a passage once or twice, but by committing it to the heart, through the eyes and ears, running it around and around in your mind.

It means to compare scripture with scripture; to pray for understanding.  It means to take out all the rot and error and ignorance in my own heart, and put the Word of God in.

Meditation in the world means to quiet yourself so you can hear your own heart; but in the Bible it means to change what is in your heart to what is in God’s word.

This can only be done if you quit arguing with God and put all of your ideas on the prisoner’s dock to be judged by the Word.

Sometimes I have to shut up enough to hear God’s word.

I had a lot to say, and I still do.  I’m letting it roll around a bit, marinating in the word.

But there is one thing that I would like to say today:  A very beloved and famous man died a tragic and lonely death this past week.

Why do we then immediately feel the need to spout off our opinions about the “sinfulness of depression”?

Why do we need to make decisions about his eternal state?

Why do we have to always try to make straight what God has made crooked?  Why do we always think that we have all the answers?

Is it necessary to make an ultimatum about what depression is or is not?  Wouldn’t it be far better to simply show the love of Jesus to those who hurt in a lost and broken world?

Why do we need to shout others down?  Do we live in such fear of our beliefs that we cannot allow any opposition?

Are we so sure that depression is always sinful?  I read a majority of the Psalms that describe depression exactly.  Are they sinning, or are the psalmists simply grieving in a broken, sinful and cursed world, and crying out to God, “How long?”

Maybe instead of launching our mostly ill-begotten opinions, all of us should grieve for a lost man in a broken world.

Maybe we should pray for his wife and family.

Maybe we should leave hard questions in the hands of God.  He is perfectly capable of doing what is right.

Maybe this is the time, instead of harping on those who struggle with depression, to reach out and say,

“It’s an ugly and broken world; but God came in the flesh, in the person of Christ, to take that curse upon himself.  He died in my place and rose from the dead, conquering sin and death and the curse forever, and someday, He will make it all right and beautiful and good and peaceful again.

“Take my hand.  I’ll walk with you through your tears, through your pain, through your sorrow, and show you the One who died for the sins of the world.  Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.”

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