On A Lighter Note …

Posted on by January 29, 2014
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Revelation 5:9 –And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

I admit, sometimes my thoughts are a little odd! Even those who love me will tell you that sometimes my mind goes to weird places …
Wednesday’s are often a highlight in my week, as it’s the day we have our Choir rehearsal. So perhaps it’s natural that my mind turned to the song of the redeemed today. But somehow I think I came from a sideways direction.
“So,” I thought, “I wonder what language they sing in?” Then I thought, “In Heaven. Wonder what style they sing in?”
OK, the language thing is easy. Remember what happened at the first Pentecost? “Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (Acts 2:6) I think the song of the redeemed can be understood by everyone. But the style thing? After all, there are people “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation”. That’s a whole lot of different musical and vocal styles!
Come out on a limb with me… I believe (with no biblical foundation) that the song of the redeemed is an expression, an outpouring of pure love — my thoughts about language, and style, are completely irrelevant. Heavenly worship is a bliss-filled outpouring of love and praise.
Of course I’m speculating, wildly, following the trail of a random thought. But I am sure as sure can be that music is a language close to God’s heart. David Jeremiah notes that there are 575 references to praise, music and singing in the Bible.
When God created the Earth, ” … when I laid the foundations of the earth” … “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:4)
When God gave us the Bible, He gave us — among all it’s other treasures — the greatest of songbooks, the Book of Psalms. Much of the songbook was given through the man “close to God’s own heart”, David, the “sweet singer of Zion”.
The end of this is that worship is the main activity of those in Heaven:

Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. (Nehemiah 9:6)

Now I’ve followed my silly thought to its end … I don’t know what worship in Heaven will be like. It’s indescribable. But I do know that I’m looking forward to it! I cannot imagine any more wonderful thing.

A Second Holocaust

Posted on by January 28, 2014
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Psalm 127:3 — Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord : and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

There are pieces I really don’t want to write. They are the controversial ones — the ones that are bound to offend somebody. This one might even offend everybody, but it is laid upon me that I must address the topic of abortion. I’m not expecting to change any minds — but I need to say what I believe.
As I noted yesterday, the Nazi holocaust killed — legally, by the evil and warped standards of the German government of the day, at least six million … and some estimates that include other targeted groups rise to as many as seventeen million.
From 1973 to 2010 according to CDC statistics — which are more conservative than many other sources — there have been more than forty one million perfectly legal abortions in the United States. Many decent people not only see nothing wrong with the process, but defend it as an expression of a woman’s right to control her own body. This argument is often developed as a discussion of the morality of bringing unwanted children into the world, the right of every child to be loved or the right for every person to choose their own moral framework.
Now I’m not a clever philosopher or smart theologian. So I know I can get into some deep water here. And if any lady wants to say to me “you’re a man nearly 60 years old … what can you know about it?” I’ll freely grant the point. But there are some things that tug at my heart strings.
There are forty one million young people missing from our society. Now I’m not concerned about missing Mozarts … I’m sure those kids would have been like the rest of us — some really good, some really bad, and a whole lot in the middle. I do know, though, that we are missing a whole lot of love, life and energy in our society.
There are forty one million women, many of them terribly young, who have lived through a terrible period of their lives, made fearful decisions and are scarred forever.
The revenue from providing abortions is over $800m annually. That’s a lot of money from misery, no matter how you slice it.
Now, unlike many of my friends — and many of you reading this, I suspect — I can’t say that there are no circumstances in which abortion is allowable. I would for instance support a woman who had been raped if she wished to have an abortion. But I do know that many if the arguments that have been advanced in favor of the current legal environment amount to not much more than “kids are an inconvenience and a woman shouldn’t be forced to deal with them.” And that’s not enough.
The central issue, to me, has to be one if faith. What does God say? The Bible does not directly ban abortion. It doesn’t need to. The value God places on life, and children, is repeated again and again. God’s control of the “opening and closing of the womb” is stated and restated. It is made clear that the baby in the womb is a person (see, for instance, Isaiah 44:2). The weight of the Biblical evidence is, to me, clear. God is opposed to abortion and so, in general, am I.

Endurance

Posted on by January 27, 2014
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Luke 21:24 — And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Since 2005, January 27th has been observed as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime in Germany. Two things struck me as I thought about this today.
The first thought was about the thread of hate that runs through history. From Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews recounted in Esther, through the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, through the persecutions of Jews in Europe in the Middle Ages, to the Holocaust, to the never-ending hostility to the modern state of Israel — the acid thread of hate corrodes its way through history.
The second thought was about the indestructible spirit of the Jewish people. Mordechai resists Haman’s plot, the Maccabees rebel against Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Zealots resist the Romans at Masada, and so it went … In modern times, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, the Israeli war of Independence in 1948, the Six Day War of 1967 … The flame burns on.
A poem was found on the wall of a cave in Cologne where Jews had been in hiding. The translation by Hilda Schiff is luminous in it’s communication of that spirit of endurance:

    I Believe

I believe in the sun though it is late in rising.
I believe in love, though it is absent
I believe in God though he is silent…

We Christians should be aware. There is a time coming when we will be the victims. So far we have played two roles in this tragic history. We have played the persecutor and — worse in it’s way — we have played the bystander. Deny it how we will, Christianity stood by and watched the holocaust. Renowned holocaust scholar D. S. Wyman summarized the response of American Christians: “At the heart of Christianity is the commitment to help the helpless. Yet, for the most part, America’s Christian Churches looked away while European Jews perished.”
We Christians have been persecutors, and bystanders … but the time is surely coming when we will be the victims. It might be that the signs are already all around us.
We live in an era when the Christian worldview is rapidly becoming the minority point of view. As we lovingly, but firmly, seek to defend the beliefs we hold dear we see brothers and sisters being prosecuted. We see businesses being destroyed. We hear moral truths being condemned as “hate speech”.
It will be no surprise if Christians face increasingly violent persecution. We may not face official death squads knocking on the door and taking Christians to concentration camps and death squads. Perhaps we will face “vigilantes” killing Christians without fear of retribution. It will be time to remember that we reap what we sow, and that “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (1 Peter 2:21 KJVDA)”. It will be our time to endure.

Careless Talk

Posted on by January 26, 2014
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Judges 11:30-31 — And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord ‘s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

In the Second World War the British Government ran a propaganda campaign — “Careless Talk Costs Lives”. The story of Jephthah’s careless vow and the tragic consequent death of his daughters is, perhaps, the most poignant Biblical example.
Not every instance of careless talk has such immediate, obvious, and painful consequences. But many a word spoken in haste can have dramatic unexpected effects, even to the extent of being a turning point — for good or ill — in the speakers life. Two such instances, one in each direction, crossed my mind today.
Let’s talk about Esau who sold his birthright to Jacob. The heart of the story is a few short verses in Genesis 25:

Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” (Genesis 25:29-32)

It probably didn’t seem like a big deal to Esau. Instant gratification instead of long-term prospects — food now instead of an inheritance later — seemed like a good idea. He had no thought of the longer term implications, or how God might regard such a transaction. Jacob was of another sort, and had God as his witness. There was probably already resentment between the brothers, fostered by their parents picking of favorites. Esau’s words were pivotal. His disdain for his birthright was the downhill turning point in his life. You know the story, I’m sure. Jacob steals his father’s blessing and becomes the patriarch of Israel. Esau marries Hittite women, and becomes the father of the Edomites, who become Israel’s bitterest enemies even to the time of the Idumean Herod the Great.
The other example that crossed my mind was Peter. His rash words became a turning point too — but unlike Esau’s turning, Peter’s turn was uphill. You know that story too. Peter swears, rashly, that he will never desert Jesus. Matthew tells the story:

Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples. (Matthew 26:33-35)

Jesus is captured. Peter denies him three times. The rooster crows … Peter could have crumbled, gone downhill, gone bad — but the story of Jesus’s forgiveness and Peter’s restoration and emergence as the rock Jesus had declare him to be is one of the most uplifting, to me, in all scripture.
We have no idea what the consequences of our careless words might be. But time and again the Bible — Old Testament and New — warns us to guard our tongues. Careless talk costs!

One

Posted on by January 25, 2014
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Matthew 25:40, 45 — And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. … Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Every time I read these words, as I did in our devotion this morning, I am struck with an awareness of the awful consequences of my actions. Do right, and be one of the blessed, move on to eternal life. Miss the opportunity , and be one of the cursed, move on to eternal damnation.
There is a change of pace in Jesus’s teaching as He comes to this passage. He has used parables to describe the Kingdom of Heaven — but there is nothing of the parable in the description of the judgment. Here is concrete reality — this is what will happen when the Son of man shall come in his majesty. When He comes in majesty I will be judged as I have treated the brothers, the fellow disciples — the “ones” that I will meet.
Perhaps the teaching seems simple, but in it is a deep lesson. The hypocrite will look for the celebrity, the leader, the “important” person in the ministry and look to serve his every need. The true saint will not “look” for anyone — but will see the need in even “one of the least of these my brethren”. The true saint will notice the simplest need; see the need for food, water, a welcome, clothes, a visit … And take care of it.
The contrast in judgment reflects the contrasts in the attitude if the sheep and the goats. The goats completely miss the point. It’s as if they say “Well, Lord, of course if we had seen you, we would have taken care of your every need. We longed to serve you!” The sheep say, “Oh that? We didn’t do anything special. This is what people do isn’t it?” There is a humble inability to see anything special in what they did.
Do you remember the last charge Jesus gave to Peter? “Feed my sheep”. He had such love and compassion for His flock. Once again Alexander Mackaren shines a light:

The best token of a Christian’s love to Jesus Christ is his service of man for Christ’s sake. ‘Lovest thou Me?’ ‘Yea! Lord.’ Thou hast said; go and do, ‘Feed My lambs; feed My sheep.’ … if you want men to believe in your love, however Jesus Christ may know it, go and work in the Master’s vineyard. The service of man is the garb of the love of God.

In the end, if we would be saints, we must be shepherds, we must take care of our fellow sheep. If we don’t, we’re kidding ourselves about our faith, and we’ll end up in a herd of goats!

It’s Good To Be Ordinary

Posted on by January 24, 2014
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Luke 10:40 — But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

I’ve been doing some slogging at work this week. You know — pick one foot up, put it down. Pick up the other foot, put it down. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat … You know, you’ve been there …
For a couple of days it got me down. “Really? Is this how it’s going to be?” But then it clicked. This is how it is — and that’s good.
One of my favorite English hymns has these lovely words by John Keble:

New every morning is the love our wakening and uprising prove; through sleep and darkness safely brought, restored to life and power and thought.
New mercies, each returning day, hover around us while we pray; new perils past, new sins forgiven,new thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.
If on our daily course our mind be set to hallow all we find, new treasures still, of countless price,God will provide for sacrifice.
Old friends, old scenes, will lovelier be, as more of heaven in each we see; some softening gleam of love and prayer shall dawn on every cross and care.
The trivial round, the common task, will furnish all we ought to ask: room to deny ourselves; a road to bring us daily nearer God.
Only, O Lord, in thy dear love, fit us for perfect rest above; and help us, this and every day, to live more nearly as we pray

That fifth verse says it — “The trivial round, the common task … A road to bring us daily nearer to God”. There is such a gift in being ordinary. There is no distraction, no other focus than God.
Sometimes the miraculous is hidden in the ordinary. For instance, there was that time when the sons of the prophets were chopping down trees and the axe head fell into the water and Elisha made it float. Sometimes, too, the ordinary cloaks the extraordinary — there’s David — just an ordinary shepherd boy, taking food to his brothers, who turned into the great king (and sweet singer) of Israel. And there were the two men entertained by Lot who turned out to be angels.
I’m sure that, from time to time, most men get tired of the daily trudge … to our shame. But I suspect that more women are tempted to frustration with the trivial round. To them, though, William Barclay says:

It is the simple fact that there is no greater task, responsibility and privilege in this world than to make a home. It may well be that, when women are involved in all the exhausting duties which children and a home bring with them, they may say: ‘If only I could be done with all this, so that I could live a truly religious life.’ There is in fact nowhere where a truly religious life can better be lived than within the home.

So celebrate being ordinary with me! You know — pick one foot up, put it down. Pick up the other foot, put it down. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Thank God!

How Great Is Our God?

Posted on by January 23, 2014
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Job 11:7-9 — Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

Yesterday’s topic was philosophy — should we philosophize? Since I came down on the “yes” side, I thought I’d invite you to join me in a bit of philosophizing today.
What do you think about the proposition that God is infinite? Actually, infinity suggests a whole bunch of attributes. Let’s just pick one: Omnipresence — the idea that God has not limited in space. What do you think? Job was pretty clear – and so was John Marriott who in 1813 wrote the hymn “Thou, whose almighty word” based on the text above. The last verse is:

Holy and blessed Three, Glorious Trinity, Wisdom, Love, Might!
Boundless as ocean’s tide, Rolling in fullest pride, Thro’ the earth, far and wide, Let there be light!

Paul was clear about it too. When he spoke to the Greeks on the Areopagus he described God: “for in him we live, and move, and have our being”.
But maybe you’re not clear? This is the sort of stuff I think about from time to time. Here’s the sort of thing that stretches my mind:
If God is not infinite, does that mean there’s an area outside God? Does He not control that area — How would that work?
On the other hand, if we live and move and have our being in Him, doesn’t that mean that our sin somehow exists within God? That makes no sense!
Is your head aching yet? Mine was. Eventually I came back to a realization. You can’t think of God’s relationship to space in the same way as you think about man’s relationship to space. God is Spirit, not matter!
Wayne Grudem helps in his “Systematic Theology”:

God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places. … Yet there are also specific passages that speak of God’s presence in every part of space. We read in Jeremiah, “Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord” (Jer. 23:23–24).

So there you have it. God is everywhere. He fills space and time. But it’s a different kind of filling. God is spirit — we are in Him, and He might be in us … If we invite Him. But we can ignore Him too, and claim He isn’t there! But you can claim the oxygen isn’t there as well … But it doesn’t stop it being everywhere!
Well that’s philosophy for today. God is omnipresent, but there’s plenty of room for us. I don’t think about this stuff all the time …

Empty Philosophy?

Posted on by January 22, 2014
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Colossians 2:8 — Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

I recently followed a facebook discussion on the nature of God. Is He infinite and eternal? Do those words have any meaning when you talk about God? I stopped following the discussion when it became circular, and comments were made about the quality of people’s thought processes — I generally find that as the heat goes up in those discussions the light is dimmed! Afterwards, I was thinking about what had been — essentially — a philosophical discussion.
I do spend a fair amount of time thinking about that nature of God, and trying to get back to some very basic ideas. Am I going wrong. Should I take Paul’s comment in his letter to the Colossians as blocking of the philosophical route? I have seen it suggested …
Let me tip my hand. I think Christians are obligated to use the tools of philosophy. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines philosophy as “the study of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life, etc.”. It defines theology as “the study of religious faith, practice, and experience : the study of God and God’s relation to the world”. I don’t suppose most Christians would deny that some study of theology would do them good. But I’m of the opinion that it’s hard to do theology without having some confidence in your understanding of things like knowledge, truth, and the nature and meaning of life.
But in thinking about Colossians 2:8, we shouldn’t just refute it on the basis of an opinion about the relationship between theology and philosophy. We should firmly reject the very bad habit of quoting verses out of context! Colossians 2:8 is, in fact, the endpoint of a philosophical argument. Let’s look at the whole passage:

And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

The whole passage says not “don’t do philosophy”, it says “don’t do philosophy as an alternative to (Christian) theology” — Paul starts by saying “watch out for people who set out to confuse you with arguments that don’t stand up to scrutiny”. Next he says “listen to people you can trust — people who, like me, have given you Christ’s teaching, and are still with you in writings and in your memories.” Then he goes on to suggest that having received the Christian talk from Paul, they should continue to walk the Christian walk. Finally, he restates it: “Don’t let slick talkers trick you into following the world’s rules instead of the kingdom’s”. Paul is not against philosophy — in fact his writings make it clear that he had a sound philosophical grounding. He was against worldly “false prophets” leading the flock astray … And so am I!

What Are You Reading?

Posted on by January 21, 2014
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Psalm 119:15-16 — I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

Back in July I wrote a couple of devotions about Bible reading – how I do it, and why I do it.
I have a really good Bible-reading application on my iPad, and recently the publishers have been emailing me hints and suggestions about following a daily reading plan. As it happens, Myra and I have been reading through the Bible every year for a few years now, but it seemed a prompt to return to an important topic and to nag anyone who needs it!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 are often quoted to encourage Bible reading : “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Or sometimes Psalm 119:11 : “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” They’re sources of excellent reasons for reading the Bible — for studying it, meditating on it, soaking yourself in it — but they don’t really provide the drive for daily reading. A passage that perhaps comes closer is found in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 : “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up….” Now there’s a couple of verses that make it clear that reading the Bible, and not just reading it but making it the topic of our regular discourse, should be a constant activity. Still doesn’t really get to the heart of why I read the Bible every day, and not just in the morning, but at times through the day and in the evening too.
I read the Bible because it’s how God talks to me, and He loves me. Why wouldn’t I want to listen to what He wants to say to me, day by day, hour by hour? If I am ever to catch the thoughts of God, surely this will be it, this will be the way.
When I read the Bible I hear God’s love for me. I get guidance on how to deal with the problems of the day. (No, I don’t often get answers, or fixes — but somehow I do get my attitude reset so what looks like a “problem” turns out to be something else.)
If you’re a parent, have there been times when your children didn’t want to talk, and didn’t want to listen? How did that work out? I’ve a feeling that could be like that — or a whole lot worse — if I refused to “listen” to my Heavenly Father!

No Hiding Place

Posted on by January 20, 2014
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Psalm 139:11-12 — If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Rituals are important in marriage — I like the way Dr. William J. Doherty put it at the 2000 Denver Smart Marriages conference: “And so, when we cling to each other through our marital rituals, we are set free. Free to risk the uncertainties and pain of conflict, free to explore the astonishing emotional intimacy that only marriage can offer us, knowing that when we cling always, we are free to fly together.”
Myra and I have a lot of rituals that I suppose some people would call silly, but which mean a lot to us. One is a way in which she reminds me, every morning, that God is watching me. Now this morning I had to be into work early, so when Myra reminded me I pointed out that it was dark! Just kidding of course, but it reminded me of this passage. (I keep saying I don’t have favorite bits in the Bible, but if I did, Psalm 139 would be one of my favorite Psalms!). There are those who try to hide their misdeeds in the dark — but it can’t be done. Isaac Watts states the case in the last verse of his hymn “I sing the mighty power of God”. Verse 6 says “Creatures that borrow life from Thee are subject to Thy care; There’s not a place where we can flee, but God is present there.” In his master work on the Psalms, The Treasury of David, Spurgeon comments:

A good man will not wish to be hidden by the darkness, a wise man will not expect any such thing. If we were so foolish as to make sure of concealment because the place was shrouded in midnight, we might well be alarmed out of our security by the fact that, as far as God is concerned, we always dwell in the light; for even the night itself glows with a revealing force,—“even the night shall be light about me.”

That first sentence goes to the heart of the issue. Not only is it not smart to think we can hide from God — but we shouldn’t even seek to — 1 John 1:5-7 provides the point of view we should be taking:
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
To wrap it all up then, just as Adam found in the Garden, there is no hiding place from God … so Myra’s reminder that He’s watches me constantly still applies!