Decline And Fall?

Posted on by July 4, 2013
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July 4, 2013

Daniel 5:27-28 — This is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

The thought behind today’s devotion came, complete, during my quiet time yesterday. Words have been much more difficult to find. In the end there may be too many because there is so much to say. Forgive me, then, if that’s how you feel.

That great and sweet man of God Charles Colson wrote a book: “How Now Shall We Live?” Today’s question, this Fourth of July is similar: “How Now Shall We Pray?” How shall we pray for these United States of America?

I believe America was created under God’s guidance as a special nation – as a country with a covenant relationship with God, and as a country different in kind than others because of the religious character of its earliest founders and its birth in the fires of revolution. With that in mind, should I expect that America will follow the arc of so many great nation states from emergence, to preeminence, to triumphalism to decline and to – if not “fall” – the backwaters of insignificance? Should I rather expect that there will be a continued path of leadership into the foreseeable future? Which of these futures should a Christian prefer and pray for? Pray for a return to the Christian values of the first Americans, and to moral leadership!

It does seem that over the past twenty five years there seems to have been an unwarranted shift to a kind of triumphalism. Webster’s Dictionary defines triumphalism:

An attitude or feeling of victory or superiority: as the attitude that one religious creed is superior to all others or smug or boastful pride in the success or dominance of one’s nation or ideology over others

The crumbling of the Soviet Empire, marked especially by the destruction of the Berlin Wall seemed to some to suggest that with only one superpower left, it was America’s job to make the “big decisions” about world politics and economics. This political view was paired with the thought that Democratic capitalism had proven to be the only workable model for managing the business of nations.
This feeling of superiority was supported by a sense of well-being, of entitlement, fostered by a period of economic growth. I remember going to a conference in 1999 that suggested we had entered a golden economic age in which every financial indicator would trend forever upwards!

By now, I hope you’re feeling uneasy. After 2000 came 2001, and then the horrors of 9/11. The economic golden age thinking is long gone, swept away by the mortgage crisis of 2009 and all that followed. Triumphalism, perhaps, was just a “blip” and this unique nation will surely recognize the writing of the wall, and repent before it is too late? Will America follow the former paths back to preeminence or go on to decline and fall into irrelevance? Has the Glory of God been driven into exile forever? How should we pray? Pray for a rejection of any claims to worthless political and economic superiority!

In a speech on “Patriotism” in 1923 Calvin Coolidge said:

“If there be a destiny, it is of no avail for us unless we work with it. The ways of Providence will be of no advantage to us unless we proceed in the same direction. If we perceive a destiny in America, if we believe that Providence has been the guide, our own success, our own salvation require that we should act and serve in harmony and obedience”

I fear for America. Not for myself, not for God’s church, nor for the Kingdom. There is a heavenly government and economy that protects all believers. But I do fear for America. Hedonism – the philosophy defined by Englishman Jeremy Bentham as “avoiding pain and gaining pleasure” seems to have become the guide for many. This is a worldly, humanistic and materialistic view of life and it appears to be taking root in many American lives. Christianity takes the opposite position, the guide is “trust and obey” with “each giving preference to the other”. A Christian nation CANNOT be a hedonist nation! For America, “the pursuit of happiness” cannot mean each individual avoiding pain and gaining pleasure. If it does, there can be no return to a covenant relationship with God. Pray for Americans who do not see their lives as “consisting in the abundance of the things which they possess” but who are prepared to “act and serve in harmony and obedience”.

If we cannot turn the ship, so we will surely be weighed and found wanting, and our Kingdom – not perhaps the geographic kingdom, but the “kingdom” of moral, political and economic authority will surely be torn from us and given to “another”. On the Jefferson memorial, his prophetic words are found:

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

Pray with me that it is not too late. Pray that there is yet a great awakening to come as part of God’s plan for the coming of His Kingdom. Pray that, perhaps, this Fourth of July can see the dawn of a new day.

A Strong Tower

Posted on by July 3, 2013
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July 3, 2013

Proverbs 18:10 — The name of the LORD is a strong tower: The righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

 Caution! As Tom says, “I might tread on your toes today” …

Do you like the song? “The name of The Lord is, a strong tow-ow-er. The righteous run into it, they-ey are saved!” Catchy. I have to say that I love to sing it. As I thought about it today, it seemed a little too catchy, not grand enough for our great God.

What the Hebrew says might better be translated, “The name of Jehovah is a tower of strength, the righteous run into it, and is set on high.” “Jehovah”.   You know, that’s the special name that God used to show Himself to the Hebrews. As time went by the Jews came to hold that name so sacred that it was never spoken except by the high priest on the one day – the great Day of Atonement — when he entered into the Holy of Holies. How do we hold the name of The Lord today? Are you, like me, sickened by “OMG!”?

I remembered reading something A.W. Tozer said about this, and I went to look it up. In “The Knowledge of the Holy” he said:

Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God. Thought and speech are God’s gifts to creatures made in His image; these are intimately associated with Him and impossible apart from Him. … Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. … It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the twentieth century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute for professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity.

It can only seem that from those middle years of the twentieth century to these early years of the twenty-first century, the decline of the reputation of God has continued.

If we are going to claim the promises in the proverb, that the name of God will protect us and sustain us, we must, of course, be righteous – in the sense that we know ourselves to be sinners made righteous by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But we must also hold the name of The Lord as a precious jewel, beyond price. That sense of value should pervade our conversation, our life, our worship. May we be protected from ever trivializing and undermining our Strong Tower.

Happy Birthday To Me?

Posted on by July 2, 2013
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July 2, 2013

 Lamentations 3:21-23 — This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

 It’s my birthday today. Now when this guy (you know who you are …) suggested I write a birthday devotional, I wasn’t sure. I don’t really get a free choice. I write what it feels like I’m being told to write. But it seems he was more in sync than me, because this seems to be what has been chosen for today.

Here’s the thing. 15 years ago, before I got saved, I was starting to be less crazy about birthdays. I don’t know if I was sure that I would live this long, and I wasn’t at all sure what — if anything — would come next.

A lot has happened in the past 15 years, I got saved, and cleared up that matter of what comes next. I have a hope and a future! I married the most wonderful wife a man could have (I won’t be offended if you disagree, I’ll just smile gently, secure in the knowledge that I know what I know!). We moved to America, and joined a GREAT church…

I love birthdays now. In fact I’ll take any chance I can get to celebrate. But is it really Biblical? You know birthdays don’t get a great write-up in Scripture. It’s a fair guess that Job’s first family got wiped out at a birthday feast, another birthday feast was the occasion of John the Baptist losing his head, and yet another celebration proved a mixed blessing to Pharaoh’s servants! On the other hand, it’s very clear that people all through the Bible kept track of how old they were, and that it was important for some purposes (like determining if a man was the right age for temple service).

Here’s how I feel now. Every day is a cause for gratitude, as our text says, and as John Keble says in another verse from this hymn I quoted a few days ago.

 New every morning is the love our waking and uprising prove: through sleep and darkness safely brought, restored to life and power and thought.

 Every day is a day to be grateful, and marking the passage from one year to another just feels like a really good way to recognize God’s goodness with those who care for me. If that sounds a bit self-conscious, I suppose it is. I’d never really thought about it much before, but I’ll be more aware if I’m blessed with more birthdays!

Sharp Tongue, Dull Mind?

Posted on by July 1, 2013
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July 01, 2013

James 3:5-6 — Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

I have a nice calendar on my office wall. It has a message for each month taken from a wayside pulpit. You know the kind of thing, messages lik : “The Bible is the breakfast of champions. What did you have for breakfast?”, “Jesus is alive: Living proof you can’t keep a God man down“, and  “Sign Broken. Message inside” (That’s one of my favorites!).

I turned over the calendar today (July 1st – I’m alert!). What did I see?

“A SHARP TONGUE & A DULL MIND ARE USUALLY FOUND IN THE SAME HEAD”

Ouch. I admit that I sometimes have a sharp tongue – although I have tried to become gentler. I know that “a soothing tongue is a tree of life”, and that “a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger”. My bigger problem now (and I think it might apply to other people), is with “conversations” that are conducted electronically. You know, phone, email, Facebook, Twitter, IM … Getting “tone of voice” is hard enough face to face. Getting it right electronically is almost impossible! (In my case, it’s made worse because I work with people worldwide, so there are cultural issues layered on top of everything else.)

So how does the “dull mind” part of that wayside message come into play? I can think of at least three ways.

First, you might not even be aware that your word are sharp – and flaming arrows are hard to call back, once launched. I have a 1-minute delay on email leaving my “outbox” to help with that.

Second, sometimes it’s too much effort to make a point “nicely” when a sharp jab is so easy. Do you ever read things and ask, “Can I say the same thing without being hurtful?”

Lastly, there are the times when you just can’t see a kind way to make your point. I have to admit there have been times when I cared more about what I was saying than who I was saying it to.

Feel free to (verbally) smack me if you think I’m letting my dull mind drive my sharp tongue. If words are going from mind to keyboard without passing through the “Holy Spirit-powered filter”, tell me! For your part, if some threads you’re seeing in social media or email are getting mean, please gently back away … let’s start fewer fires, and “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” (Colossians 4:6).

Small Services, Great Servants

Posted on by June 30, 2013
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June 30, 2013

 Matthew 25:40 —  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.

 Another Sunday. Another chance to worship with friends and fellow-believers, as well as some who aren’t sure yet that church is home, or that Jesus is Lord. But it’s not those kind of services I have in mind today. No, what I have in mind are the small services, often unnoticed — the unconsidered trifles — that quiet people do. The quiet people, so often Martha, or Dorcas, doing the small things that make life work.  The quiet people, who may in the end be the greatest of the servants of The Lord.

It was small services in our church that rose to the surface of my mind when this thought came into my head. If you were in the 9:30 (worship!) service at 9:30 today I wonder if you noticed the red stoles? Those stoles are reversible, purple on one side, red on the other. If someone hadn’t mentioned it on Wednesday then (to my shame) it would not have occurred to me that someone was quietly performing the small service of reversing them …

There’s another “small service” that happens that supports the worship service. If you were there you will have heard mention of a card in the seat back in front off you. Not many people know that on Friday mornings a small “gang” of volunteers prepare those seat backs for the weekend’s worship. It’s a small group of quiet people performing a “small service” for a lot of people who know nothing about it …

I think the Kingdom of Heaven will have a lot more small people in it than “big people”. I have this feeling that God sees those quiet people as great servants – He is, to borrow Shakespeare’s phrase, “a snapper-up of ill-considered trifles”.

Life is impossible without the quiet people and their small services. So how about you? Do you provide any — or are you too important, reserved for bigger things? (Yes, I know, that’s a cheap mean shot.) Read the verse above, though. What does it really say? “Whatever you do for anybody”? No. It speaks about “the least of these my brethren“. It seems God sets a very high value on the services done for those who are in His Church.

Do you ever feel you’re not doing enough of those small services? I do. Maybe we’d better watch out! Remember the punchline to the story in Matthew 25:45-46:

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. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Fun in Heaven, Fun on Earth!

Posted on by June 29, 2013
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June 29, 2013

Genesis 1:31 —  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

How much does The Father love His creation? Maybe this is not the most instructive or theological of devotions, but today my heart filled with love at the thought of God just having Fun. I can almost see and hear Him in heaven turning to Jesus and saying, “Watch this, this is such fun … this is Soooo cool!”

Let me explain. This morning Myra and I were having our devotions, and she told me about something that happened for her yesterday, when she was having her quiet time. She was sitting on our lanai, which looks over a small lake, when a flock of little birds — like starlings maybe — swooped down on the lake, in formation, perhaps feeding on the insects floating on the surface, It was almost like an air display, for her especial benefit.

Those little birds don’t bump into each other. Nobody overshoots. Nobody undershoots and ends in the water. These little guys are precision artists! And I think God loves it, and He loves to put on a show for us — He “gives us all things richly to enjoy”.

So maybe you can share my picture … The Father on His throne. Our Lord Jesus at His right hand. The court’s in session and divine administration is underway when … “Hey Jesus, look at this … see down there? That’s my girl Myra. She really loves me. She comes to me every day, to let me know what’s on her heart and mind.She keeps seeking me out, wanting to know me, wanting to get closer. You know I love all my children … so don’t tell anyone, but I have a soft spot for Myra. See my little birds down there? Watch me put on a show …”

Oh, I know it’s not really like that. I know that God is not a man. I know that His thoughts are not like our thoughts, and that even to try to imagine a physical God is a kind of mistake. At the same time, I know that God saw what He had made, and that it was good. Our God loves His creation and we are made in His image …

We are made in God’s image! It’s obviously not some physical image, so what is the likeness? The likeness is surely in our cast of mind, that we must — in some way — see things the way He does. With that in mind, I believe the playful element in our natures is a reflection of the twinkle in God’s eye!

The Daily Round …

Posted on by June 28, 2013
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June 28, 2013

Genesis 3:19 —  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken:

 I had a good day in the office yesterday. I’m praising The Lord for it because, to be honest, some of the days recently have not been so easy, the going has been uphill. There have been times when I’ve been bothered that I might suffer the fate that 19th century French preacher Adolphe Monod warned of — “Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing.” But shouldn’t I be expecting it? Sin does not go unpunished. The punishment for Adam’s sin is that work has turned from being a joy, to being a burden. But as I thought about work, and what God told Adam, I realized that there was more to it than I had realized before:

  • First, as well as the      hardship of labor, The Lord promises to sustain me — “thou shalt eat      bread”. Yes, there is work, but there is reward too. His faithfulness      is great, and His mercies are new every morning.
  • Second, there is      work, but the term of the sentence is limited — “till thou return to      the ground”. The sentence is limited, and the future is unlimited and      full of joy.

As I thought some more about work, it brought me back to think about my recent working days … And about yesterday and its satisfactions. I realized that I continue to draw some satisfaction about continuing to fight uphill, to keep pushing. I realized that the occasional successes provide momentum, but that day-to-day work carries its own reward. Sometimes in my school chapel we would sing a hymn  — “New Every Morning” by the 19th century English poet and churchman John keble. I never understood:

“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.”

But I get it now. Sticking to it is part of God’s plan for us. “Doing the job” is the job He has for me to do. And it’s the same for you — worker, working Mom, Grandparent, “retired” …  Or even invalid, suffering through the days … For most of us, for most of the time, the daily round is one of God’s ways of drawing us closer to Him.

When God set Adam to work in the Garden, He gave him a gift. It’s still a gift. I’m grateful. How about you?

The Sin Cycle

Posted on by February 8, 2014
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June 27, 2013

Judges 21:25 — In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

A central theme to the Book of Judges is the sin cycle — the people are doing well, and turn away from God. God sends something to punish the people — to get their attention. The suffering people repent, God relents and sends a judge — effectively a leader — to rescue them. … The people are doing well, and turn away from God … And on it goes.

Are you tempted to see parallels in today’s America? I’m not. I can’t see the evidence of the turning back, and relenting, and provision of a leader … No, I see something different. I see an accelerating moral decline as we rush, headlong, to the end of days. But that’s not what is on my mind today.

I do see a parallel to the sin cycle. I see it in myself. Suppose I rewrite the scripture: “In those days there was no king in Ian: every day he did that which was right in his own eyes. ” How far is that from the truth? Of course there is a King in me, or at least His Holy Spirit. But it takes great faith always to obey the promptings of the Spirit. And I have some recurrent sins that drag me back, that I have to repent, and return to the leadership of My Lord.

I am prone to worry. I know it’s irrational, and unfaithful. I know I have a hope, and a future. But I’m weak, and sometimes it catches me. I have fought a lifelong battle with anger. I’ve done much better with that one since I was born again, but my enemy is still crouching at my door, ready to pounce.  “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” You know the answer to that one … “Thanks be to The Lord Jesus Christ.”

Do you have to deal with the sin cycle? I don’t have any instant cure. I don’t even have a guaranteed long term cure. There are things that work for me — prayer, study, quiet time and — of course — 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I would have given up on me long ago. God hasn’t. He doesn’t. He’s in the redemption business, not the rejection business. One of the many unique things about Christianity is that it has a built-in precise understanding of human nature, and provision of the remedy. One more reason to worship!

It’s Amazing … But Not Surprising

Posted on by February 8, 2014
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June 26, 2013

Psalm 104:1-2 — Bless the Lord, O my soul.  O Lord my God, thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

 So Myra and I were driving home through the thunderstorm last night. It was spectacular! We were amazed. It got us talking. We were talking about how we were constantly amazed at what God does — not that He does stuff, but how amazing the stuff is!

What’s your “most amazing”? How about hummingbirds or rainbows, or earthquakes or thunderstorms, or redwoods or coral, or elephants or spiders, or…

Are you surprised that God does these things? Why? “In the beginning…” Our God created all the world we know from nothing!

Maybe your most amazing is something else … The music of birds, or the wind, or the waves. The roar of lions, or the whisper of grasshoppers …are you amazed at the wonders of God’s choir? Be amazed, but not that the God  who created a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder could produce music beyond our ability to produce.

Perhaps your most amazing is more subtle … The look in your beloved’s eyes, the chuckle of a baby, the pride you have in your children … The marvel that is every person you meet. Every one is amazing…, Each one of us — every person that was ever fearfully and wonderfully made; but this is the God who has made billions of stars, and placed every one just where it should be, in perfect harmony with its neighbors. What God does is amazing — but this is the infinitely powerful at work.

Almighty … Is that one of those words your eyes tend to slip over when you read the Bible? Stop and think (actually, next time you see it, stop … Roll it around your mind, relish it, enjoy it … It’s a great word …) Almighty, all powerful, ruler of all. An ALMIGHTY God can do ANYTHING. I’m not almighty. I can’t do much … Unless I do it in His power. If I manage to forget myself for a moment and do something half good, that’s amazing. But ALMIGHTY GOD does more amazing things every moment than you and I can ever imagine … And we can stand in amazement at the activity … But faith demands that we recognize who we are dealing with, and never be surprised at the ability!

Have You Got Ears That Hear?

Posted on by February 8, 2014
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June 25, 2013

 Hebrews 1:1-2 — God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

 Who do you listen to? I don’t mean what’s your favorite music, or political commentator, or even (necessarily) devotional writer.  I mean, when it comes to forming your views about things that matter in life, and deciding who you are and how you feel about yourself … then, who do you listen to?

If you’re anything like me, sometimes you’re listening to the wrong voices. Sometimes in the Bible we find references to those with “ears to hear”. There always seem to be two senses. One is “if you are the sort of person that listens to the right things, this is a good time to listen” end the other is “I’ve got something important to say … so listen”. And in Isaiah 32:3 and Matthew 11:15 there seems to be a special context of “Are you going to receive God’s Word”? That’s the point. In the past, God spoke in many different ways, through the prophets, to His people. In the Church Age God speaks through His Word – His Son, who has provided us a Helper — the Holy Spirit. That means we don’t need to take our primary guidance from:

  • Negative voices from our past
  • Rumors
  • Social media sites (I love Facebook too, but it’s not how I form my worldview, decide who I am, and decide how I feel about myself!)
  • Friends (unless they are pointing to scripture)
  • News media
  •  … or any other “false prophets”!

I found a great comment on this issue on the “Focus on the family” web site … “A biblical worldview is based on the infallible Word of God. When you believe the Bible is entirely true, then you allow it to be the foundation of everything you say and do. That means, for instance, you take seriously the mandate in Romans 13 to honor the governing authorities by researching the candidates and issues, making voting a priority.” (http://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/christian_worldview/whats_a_christian_worldview.aspx)

That’s it. There is only one voice. The voice is the Word, the Word is the voice … and if you take that on board, here’s a few things that the voice has to say about you (assuming you’re a born-again Christian) – you are adopted by God, you are a little less than angels, you are victorious, you can do anything in Christ Jesus who strengthens you …

Open your ears!