Category Archives: Truth

Getting Us Ready

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When it came time for God to send His Son to save the world, first He sent a prophet to get us ready.  By doing what?  What would need to be done to get a people ready to receive the Son of the the Creator, ready to fully profit from His coming?

You might think the prophet would take them on spiritual retreats to fast and pray on the top of a mountain.  Perhaps a lot of humming and incense would be involved.  But, according to the last thing written in the Old Testament and the first thing in the New Testament, proclaimed by an angel to the father of this prophet, a major part of what he would do would be:

“… to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”  (Luke 1:17b, quoting from Malachi 4:6)

That seems a pretty basic thing to do to prepare people for God’s arrival.  And it is.  But, as we have experienced in the last several decades, the health and strength of a people is directly proportional to the loving concern of fathers for their children.  And vice versa.  When fathers abandon their children, even emotionally, the whole sound structure of wellbeing begins to crumble. 

Jesus came to bring us eternal life and reconciliation with God.  He came to bring the power of the Holy Spirit to us.  But He also came to repair the broken fabric of how simple, healthy life on earth was designed to be lived.  Starting, even before He showed up, with fathers.

We’d do well to pay attention to that and act accordingly…

Recalculating

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Before you make any resolutions, take a moment to recalibrate, to make sure you are heading in the right direction.  It’s no good making progress if you are going the wrong way.  In particular, it is important to resist following the thundering herd of common public opinion.  Groupthink is rarely carefully considered.  Instead, apply these lines from Psalm 1 to your personal situation.  And be blessed! 

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the  path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
                                       ( Psalm 1:1-3)

Happy New Year!

Unlikely but Certain

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Shepherds near here live in rustic, tiny wagons with rounded tops.  Pretty shabby accomodations but then shepherds are on the bottom of the food chain; they don’t command per diem expense accounts in fancy hotels.  Same thing was true in biblical days: shepherds were considered to be a pretty low and sleazy lot. 

Kings, on the other hand, jet around the world in private, posh comfort and command the highest respect and fanciest privileges.  As they have for thousands of years.  (Ok, they didn’t have Lear Jets back in the Bible days, but you get the idea…)

These days, the nations surrounding Israel want to wipe her off the map and take her land for themselves.  As was also the case a few hundred years before Christ.  And, just as they were about to conquer Israel, God made this astonishing promise:

“Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.  (Micah 5:1-5a)

Quick paraphrase.  God said, You, Israel, are about to get wiped out by your pagan neighbors.  But after you have been destroyed and things look hopeless, I will send you a King Who will be a Shepherd to His people.  His mother will give birth to Him in Bethlehem, the least likely of places.  But eventually, His reign will be accomplished by My unlimited power.  He will incorporate people from every nation into His flock and His reign will be supreme even to the ends of the earth.  He will bring peace because He will be peace. This may seem unlikely, but it is going to happen, because I planned and ordained His coming from ancient days past.

His birth was extremely unlikely.  But it happened, just as God said it would.

His dual role as Shepherd/King seemed like a ridiculous oxymoron.  And yet He affirmed both.

Perhaps least likely of all, that anyone one man could reign supreme to the ends of the earth and bring peace.  But His reign is already being established, growing and spreading around the globe.   Unlikely, but certain. 

The Day Will Come

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My brother and I would blast out the bedroom door, take a quick left and a right, and then tumble down the stairs, barely touching them.  The long wait was over; Christmas morning had finally come!  How well I can remember the excruciating wait for Christmas.  The days dragged by.  It seemed Christmas would never arrive. And when it did, we couldn’t get out of bed and downstairs fast enough. 

These days I feel a similar sense of anticipation, not for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but to get the party started celebrating His second coming. 
There were 400 years of darkness and confusion for God’s people, leading up to the birth of our Savior.  How they yearned for God to fulfill His promise. 
True, when He came, not everyone could see Jesus for Who He was.  But when they did (and when they still do!) their darkness was overcome by His great light, their despair was swallowed up by deep joy.

As we wait for Jesus’ return, once again there is darkness and confusion running loose on the planet.  I don’t need to list the examples; you watch the news, too.  Once again, we yearn for Christ to come.  It seems as though the day will never arrive.  But God is faithful and that day will surely come. 

For some, His coming will bring complete destruction as He sweeps away the wickedness and darkness. 

“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.”  (Malachi 4:1-2)

Just like my brother and me on Christmas morning…

Rule Number One

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Most people would agree it is wrong to steal.  Or murder.  In fact, most people  would agree the Ten Commandments are good laws to live by.  That is, unless they have actually read them.  I doubt most in this country would agree with the commandment that says,

“You shall have no other gods before me.  –  (Deuteronomy 5:7 NIV)

And yet, that is the first commandment of the ten.  Rule number one!  But it sounds so intolerant of other belief systems.  And it sounds petty, as though God is insecure or paranoid, afraid of sharing with any rivals the attention He wants for Himself.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  God gave the Ten Commandments to a people who had lived for 400 years as slaves and who were now wandering across a desert.  He gave them because they needed them so badly.  Slaves only need one commandment: Do what you are told.  Imagine how important it would be for hundreds of thousands of former slaves, experiencing freedom for the first time, to have a reliable ethical system to live by.  (There is a reason why college students, away from Mommy and Daddy for the first time, go wild in their first experience of freedom.)  The Ten Commandments were essential for their survival.  He gave the commandments to bless them.

And number one, before they got to the ones about stealing and lying, was this: don’t you dare consider following any other god.  If you trace the history of Israel, their times of prosperity and peace coincide with their obedience to that command.  And when they forgot that command, they experienced times of ruin, exile and defeat.  As inappropriate as it may sound to our ears, Israel discovered it was important.  There is only one God; worship and obey Him alone.  Such a command is only inappropriate if it is not true.  If it is true, it is the foundation of well being.  That’s why, when Jesus was asked the most important commandment,

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  –  (Mark 12:29–30  NIV84)

Most important for whom?  Not for God but for our own well being.  The most important rule to remember in our conduct of life is to love, honor, trust and obey the real God – exclusively.  If we go chasing after false gods. as interesting as they may seem to be, ultimately we do so to our own ruin.

Nothing I’ve written here would have surprised or offended the founders of this nation.  They knew it was important for the government not to establish an official religion.  But they were not confused about Who God is, not tempted away by different deities.  But today,politically correct wisdom says we must accept all gods and goddesses alike.  Perhaps it is no coincidence the United States is in decline in many ways.  As offensive as it may sound to our modern ears, I wonder if we might do better to pay attention to rule number one.  Maybe God was telling the truth when He said it was most important for our well being.

To Lie Down in Peace

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Next year I’m going to be selling a line of Black Friday helmets and protective gear, along with a self-test concussion assessment. Good idea? I think so and I hope your BF bruises are beginning to heal. Ah, yes: each year our anticipation of Christmas gets more and more exciting!

Before the birth of Christ, there was also great anticipation of His coming but for slightly different reasons. One of them was they knew this promise from God, written by the prophet, Ezekiel:

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. – (Ezekiel 34:15-16)

Perhaps you can relate to the sheep. When sheep lie down, it is because they are at peace – no threats, real or imagined to stir them up. No pacing about with anxious bleating. How would you like to find peace like that this Christmas? Maybe you understand what it feels like to be lost. Or to have strayed and not know how to find your way back. Perhaps you’ve been injured in life, or feel weak or oppressed. The promise of God was to be a shepherd for His people. He said “I myself will make them lie down…” No wonder there was such a yearning for His coming, such anticipation for the One Whose Name would be “God with Us.”

Regardless of how you spent Black Friday and Cyber Monday, my prayer is that this season you will find the One Who called Himself the “Good Shepherd,” the One in Whom we can truly lie down in peace.

And if you want to get in on the helmet thing, let me know…

Happy + Thanks + Giving Part 3

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Jesus talked about being “rich with respect to God.”  Intriguing phrase, but what did He mean?  This is the final segment of a Thanksgiving message.  If you missed them, you can find the first section posted HERE .  The second section is HERE.

Before I go fix a leftover turkey sandwich, I thought I’d let you know I’m thankful for YOU and all the others who regularly read this blog.  And I hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day.

Happy + Thanks + Giving Part 2

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What do many rich guys have in common with toddlers?  You can find out in this continuation of the Thanksgiving message posted last time (See Happy + Thanks + Giving).

Have a great Thanksgiving Day tomorrow.  I’ll post the conclusion to this message on Friday.

Running the Rapids with Jesus

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Before you even get in the raft, the white water guide begins to establish his or her authority and control.  In the early stages of the float trip they work hard to make sure everyone knows what to do, practicing the commands over and over.  “Back-paddle!”  “Right turn!”  “Let’s do it again!”  Why?  White water!  There’s rapids downstream and, when they get to them, it’s too late to begin figuring out what to do.  The idea is for everyone to be alert, trained and ready to respond quickly, without panic.  Even if the raft seems about to flip.

Jesus told the folks in His raft they would eventually confront dangerous rapids.  When they asked how they could know the end of the age was approaching, He didn’t mince words.  Instead, He prepared them (and us).   You can read what He told them in the 24th Chapter of Matthew, but here are some excepts of what He said:

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

In other words, “When things get dicey, make sure you listen to my commands and not anyone else.”

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 

In other words, “When you hear the roar of the rapids, don’t freak out;  I have told you this trip winds up in white water so keep your heads.”

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.   –  (Matthew 24:4–13 Excerpts – NIV84)

In other words, “Don’t be surprised at how violent the rapids will seem.  You may even get tossed out of the raft.  But remember to trust me.  Do what I say and you will come through just fine.”

Human history is filled with failed attempts to make our world better as we strive for utopia.  People even held the hope that World War I would serve to end all future wars.  No matter how or what we try, we have not succeeded in eradicating evil.  As we see the rise of ISIS, Russia’s alliances with wicked dictators and nations who pledge the destruction of Israel, it might seem discouraging and frightening.

But these kinds of events have been foretold in Scripture.  Jesus never whitewashed the truth: wickedness will increase as the age continues toward the end.  But He also said,  “see to it you are not alarmed.”  And, “don’t listen to others who will lead you astray.”  And, “stand firm in your faith and you will be saved.”

Mo Bettah

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There wasn’t much my mother and I agreed on during my adolescence.  Especially music (Yeah, I know: big surprise…).  She was into lofty, classical refinements; I tended toward Four Strong Winds and Mr. Tambourine Man.  So when she announced that she had bought me a ticket to a performance at the local university, I groaned and protested.  With great reluctance I slumped down the dusty halls of academia, preparing to sleep my way through some tedious Elizabethan minstrels or something.  But it was legendary blues great, Josh White playing!  Far from being tedious, he held the audience captive with his plaintive, rich baritone voice.  His soulful guitar work, replete with amazing, raspy slide licks with his leathery thumb, put the whole experience over the top.  An experience I almost missed because I assumed I knew what to expect.  Score one for Mother. 

So frequently when I try to communicate the exhilaration and joy I’ve found in Jesus, I am met with the same indifference.  Usually, I am convinced, it is because they hear the name, Jesus, and immediately associate it with dusty, boring, irrelevant religion.  But I’m talking about lighting the afterburners on life and blasting into a whole different reality.  

Of course, this is nothing new; you can hear a bit of similar frustration in Paul’s words:

“I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
  –  (Colossians 2:1)

He goes on to say that the purpose for his struggle is:

“… so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
  –  (Colossians 2:2b-3)

If you have kept yourself a safe distance from Jesus because of dull religious experiences (or worse), don’t let what you assume you know keep you from experiencing the “One in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge!”