The Backpage

By Pastor Bill Daniels


Introductory Thoughts

What follows is a collection of things written over the years for the back page of our weekly church bulletins.  Thus the title.  The thoughts expressed herein have largely arisen out of my study of God’s blessed Book of books and preparations for the teaching of it.  Though the expression of thoughts are my own, the seeds of many of them have been collected here and there from men much smarter than myself.  What you will find here are brief efforts at conciseness dealing with scattered subjects.  I present opinions I sincerely believe to be consistent with God’s own heart.  Not a word was written in bitterness, though I recognize some folks may deem some of these views harsh or “judgmental”.  You decide for yourself.  Please allow me to challenge your thinking.  I write to help not to hurt.  Like the surgeon’s scalpel, sometimes what is most helpful to us cuts and hurts at the first before its healing effect is seen.  May the Lord be our Teacher, and may we be genuine listeners to the details of what He’s saying to us.
 
“Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” (II Tim. 2:7)
 
 
20-Minute Sermons
 
We’ve all probably heard the psychological principle that the human attention span on any one subject is only about 20 minutes.  Therefore how foolish the preacher rambling beyond this natural limit.  He might just as well have shut down at 20, since his audience did at that point anyway.  As with many worldly doctrines, there may seem a touch of truism here. 
 
But my mind runs to the crowd gathered before Ezra in Nehemiah 8 as he read from the Bible and explained the sense, “from the morning until midday (all morning!), before the men and the women, and those that could understand (children); and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law” (vs.3).  How they hung on the teaching of God’s words, responding with strong emotion to the things they heard all morning long!  And then remember the Apostle Paul preaching late into the night in Acts 20 (vs. 7).  But of course Paul and Ezra didn’t have the benefits of our worldly wisdom, not realizing their grave offence against the human psyche.  It seems even God was in need of man’s modern insights, for His lengthy message to Job (Job 38-42) must surely have transgressed the limit.
 
Don’t you find it odd that folks don’t seem to concern themselves with that brief human interest window when organizing cricket matches?  And doesn’t it seem that a child’s attention span with a computer game is at least all weekend?  And when has Hollywood ever constrained itself to that ideal standard?
 
Do I detect a specious excuse offered to humanity, like a rotten tomato, to be cast at all input one would prefer not to endure?  Are we really talking about a can’t or a won’t here?  Is this not rather a dictum to be dismissed by thinking people?  Seems to me the real issue is one of interest.  Why not just make the decision to be interested, to stay focused on the sermon, to recognize the eternal worth of God’s things over man’s?

 
 
What Happened to Innocent Television?
 
While on holiday last week, we had access to a television.  We don’t have one at home, by choice.  I’m glad.  In our effort to view some innocent programming while avoiding obvious televised filth, there follows a sampling of sights we still managed to view;
 
-          A cartoon character with power to call upon a supposed terrifying god.
 
-          A “Survivors” couple called to a night in a jungle bed together.
 
-          A seemingly credible sweetheart relating her thrilling experience with a UFO and its caring alien visitor, coming to wish the best for earthlings. Her account was related with such believable clarity and emotion one might easily be led to swallow such satanic lies.
 
-          An advert for a coming movie with brief glimpse of a naked woman in bed.
 
-          Even a “safe” sport channel suddenly sent us to a Sports Illustrated photo shoot with writhing, busty swim costume babes (whatever that has to do with sport).
 
Watching television is like the dangerous task of making one’s way through a minefield.  You just never know what kind of shocking surprise the next step will bring.  And for what purpose, but for the enchanting, addicting quest for entertainment.  Like the alluring song of the Sirens of Greek Mythology, so attractive, yet calling their foolishly unsuspecting victims to ruin on the rocks.  Like the sweet smell and taste of the honey pot to the mindless flies, where they are likely to be caught and drowned.  It seems to me that if you choose to mess with television, the world, with the subtlety of Satan behind it, will simply not allow you and your children to watch only innocent programming, for such an animal would appear to be quite extinct.

 
 
Gecko Deliverance
 
The Lord sent an illustration past my vision some time back.  While I was with the Lord in my Quiet Time early one morning, a gecko (small lizzards common to more tropical regions) darted across the lounge floor and stopped in front of me before hurrying on his way.  My fleeting impression was that the little guy looked a bit thin.  You see, we have mosquito netting on all windows and doors, so we have few bugs in the house – not much food for the unfortunate gecko managing to get inside.
 
The thought then occurred to me that the humane thing to do would be to catch the poor beast and put him outside.  But putting yourself in his place for a moment, can you imagine from his perspective the terrifying ordeal of a huge, hideous monster (me) taking him in what would seem to him a hopeless death grip, all of his kicking and squeaked threats to no avail as I put him out the door?  Only then would he actually discover me to be, not a murderous monster after all, but a merciful messenger of deliverance, sending him on to the wonderful opportunities of a whole new world of bugs.
 
Consider how death, and the threat of it, is like that.  When God takes His child tenderly but firmly in His grip with a purpose to bring him home, He is not the hideous monster He at first might appear to be.  He is in fact a blessed messenger of deliverance, transporting us to a world of glorious opportunity.  “To die is gain”.
 
 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints”

 
 
A Church Commended
 
“I know thy works . . . and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars” (Revelation 2:2).
 
There were two areas of labour for which the Lord commended that church at Ephesus; they would not tolerate evil, and they would not tolerate error.  They were gloriously intolerant of all that was offensive to God.  They were an uncompromising people who abhorred that which was morally rotten and doctrinally wrong.  And the Lord of the churches said “WELL DONE!”  Hear His praise, oh generation given to compromise, both in moral purity and truth, so full of unholy tolerance of evil!  Where are today’s Nehemiahs, throwing out the Tobiahs found dwelling in the temple, pitching the wrong out of a passion for truth and the God of it?  We dress like prostitutes and sing like the world.  We hold hands with everybody who says “I’m a Christian too”, rather than rightly assessing whether they show it.  The Lord’s word to us in our day is, “Who gave you license to be so wickedly and foolishly tolerant of evil and error?  It was no authorization from the court of heaven.”  Understand then the true source.  We throw out sound doctrine instead of holding it dear and removing rather those who won’t.  We care little about purity of life and beliefs before the Lord and give our all to comfort and popularity before the world, displaying where our god really lies.  Oh hear with open ears the Lord’s commendation! 
 
Conventional wisdom says it’s wise to be loving enough to diminish the role of doctrine for the greater good of unity and tolerance of mankind.  Though his views be different than ours, he has a right to those views.  God’s wisdom says it’s wise to be loving enough to lift sound doctrine, emblazoning it in the skies, for the eternal good of mankind.  To be righteously intolerant of every view that leads not to the glory of the only true God, for a man surely clutches to his right to error with his right to perish.

 
 
A Different World
 
If young people spent as much time longingly gazing at the pure image of Christ in His perfect law of liberty as they do gawking at their own image in a mirror, it would be a very different world.
 
If young people were as given to the pure input of God through His eternal Word as they are to the polluted input of the world through the infernal media, it would be a very different world.
 
If young people spent as much time talking to and of the true Lord of glory as they do talking drivel with their friends (current movies, cellphone details, SMS contacts, rock groups and songs, computer games, etc.), it would be a very different world.
 
If young people spent as much money on the Lord’s work, and ministry to others, as they do fearfully keeping themselves wrapped (shrink-wrapped?) in the latest pagan dress code demands, it would be a very different world.
 
If young people were as ready to die to self for Christ, as they are to dye their hair, it would be a very different world.
 
If young people were as willing to bear in their bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus, as they are to sport some vain tattoo, it would be a very different world.
 
If young people were as given to labour as they are to leisure – to endeavour as they are to entertainment – to service as they are to sensuality – to offering prayers as they are to laughing at squares, it would be a very different world.
 
When outrageous ostentation finally gives way to courageous distinction, cosmetic change to core change, and a new image to a “new creation, it will be a very different world indeed.
 
I’m asking God for a different world!

 
 
Indispensable Youth Group
 
When one is asked about their church and they quickly refer to a lively youth group, rather than to the stand of the church or nature of the teaching, or when a church is sought for the former reason with little thought to the latter, could there perhaps be a wrong heart on display?
 
What youth group did David have but “those few sheep in the wilderness”?  Yet his heart soared to the heights as he sang his devotion to the Lord.  And as a result David soared to the heights of civil and spiritual leadership in his day.
 
What lively youth group did Jesus attend?  Yet even at the tender age of twelve His insights were a challenge to the doctors of the law, while busy with His Father’s business.  His heart was obviously consumed with God’s words (Col. 3:16), which would tend to put Him on His own more than with peers.  We faddishly ask the question “what would Jesus do?” but we don’t really care to know the answer, do we?
 
With what youth fellowship did young Samuel hang out in his lonely growth in the temple?  He was simply a consistent servant in a day marked by spiritual vacuum like our own.  He was just a godly young man who quietly walked with the Lord right into spiritual leadership over his nation.
 
Where was young Joseph’s spiritual support group?  Yet to find a finer saint in his adulthood would be a challenge.
 
These all simply walked with God and bloomed where they were planted (Micah 6:8).
 
There’s nothing wrong with desiring fellowship with Christians of a similar age, unless such a fellowship group becomes the “need” of the hour and the litmus test of a ministry, as in the twisted thinking of our day, to the exclusion of truly important concerns.

 
      
                                                                 When Our Young People Grow Up
 
                                                        If it truly is a good heart held under a bad ministry,
                                                        It will appreciate the good in the bad. 
                                                        And when finally free to make it’s own choice,
                                                        It will look for a good ministry and blossom there.
 
                                                        If it truly is a bad heart held under a good ministry,
                                                        It will find fault and focus on the bad in the good.
                                                        And when finally free to make it’s own choice,
                                                        It will run with the world, and look for no ministry at all.
 
                                                        There is a world of insight in what a young person does,
                                                        When at last free to make his own choice.

 
 
Thoughts on Standing
 
If you are not standing in the way of sin and error, then you are not standing for right and truth.
 
If you are not an obstacle to wickedness and unbelief, then you are an obstacle to righteousness and faith.
 
If you are not standing in the gap, heading off the inroads of evil, then where are you standing?  Certainly not with God’s great heritage of faithful, fearless leaders.
 
If you are not actively pitching out evil, then you are actively allowing its presence, surely resulting in its promotion.
 
It’s not the one standing for the truth who is the enemy of peace, but the one willing to share in a lie makes himself the enemy of all.
 
True peace is based upon the exclusiveness of truth, not upon some shared willingness for mutual delusion.
 
Words, though they be like a flood, can neither change nor ultimately hide the truth.

 
 
Birds of a Feather
 
The predator birds of our country, with roving eyes, fly over the land, looking for that which will satisfy their hunger.  The nature of the bird determines what it’s looking for.  The vulture, as any carrion eater, looks for something dead, something lying on the earth.  The eagle, as any raptor, seeks for something living, something standing upright on earth.  The character of the bird governs what it seeks.
 
With roving eyes the men of earth search for what will satisfy their taste.  The nature of the man determines what he’s looking for.  The carnal one looks for things carnal, things of the earth.  The spiritual one looks for things spiritually alive, things standing upright in their generation.  The character of the man determines what he’s looking for.
 
The men and women of earth, in seeking to attract interest from among the opposite sex, draw what they’re looking for, depending upon what bait they use.  If it’s a vulture you seek, use dead bait.  Think and dress and conduct your life in the carnal way of the earth.  If you’re looking for a soaring eagle, use live bait.  Think and dress and conduct yourself like one standing upright in his generation.  What you attract depends on how you present yourself.
 
Many a “Christian” young person feels free to dress like the world in things tight, revealing, and so terribly “cool”, as lacking in taste as it is in material.  They dress down to the world and do as the carnally corrupted of earth do, and then are somehow surprised to find vultures circling, looking to use them for the satisfaction of their hunger.
 
Just depends on what you’re looking for.

 
 
Slide Show
 (Members on the Move)
 
I’ve seen patterns in people over the years.  One all too common pattern is a study of folks down-stepping their way out of a Christ-honouring church.  Let me trace the pattern;
 
Step 1 – Commitment Test . . . Failed
 
-          Involvement in leadership or ministry responsibilities in the church are declined, perhaps even biblical baptism (reasons, reasons, reasons . . .).
 
Step 2 – Presence Test . . . Failed
 
-          Evening services become negotiable, as these folks slowly slide into the society of the Sunday mornings only crowd.
 
-          Sunday morning services soon become negotiable as well, as they slip further into the realms of those only marginally involved (reasons, reasons, reasons . . .).
 
-          Somewhere between these two steps tithing is diminished or dropped.
 
Step 3 – Tolerance Test . . . Failed
 
-          Since such folks have already fallen to the point of becoming a separation looking for a reason, they eventually find cause to make the break.  After all, no church is perfect.
 
-          Or as the critically-spirited Jewish leaders in their trial of Christ, such are not above creating cause for departure even where none actually exists.
 
Tell me they’re not treating God the same!  Tell me the issue is not a bad heart, rather than a bad church as they insist!  Maybe they’ll find another church, but it’s likely they’ll follow the same pattern there as well.
 
Reasons, reasons, reasons . . .

 
 
Hooked on the Bizarre
 
Our world is hooked on the outrageous.  Whether it be the far-out fashion scene, or the fast-paced flashing images of music videos, or the bizarre music, dance, & concert scene, or the outlandish weirdities of a “gay” parade, or even the wacky world of far-out sport.  You name it, the order of the day is outrageous (and the more the merrier), passed off as fun-loving, free-spirited charisma, but mostly driven it would seem by a vain, look-at-me mentality.  As with every other contemporary secular passion, pressure in this direction is brought upon the church as well, with obvious results – outrageous youth activities, wacky attention-grabbing church programs and outreach methods, wild world-like “Christian” music, performance routines, etc. 
 
Point to my rather sedate, strait-laced personality.  Call it unhealthy inhibition if you may.  But name for me one example of a bizarre man of God or ministry method in the Bible.  Are we perhaps being subtly led away from the ol’ Book my friends?  What prophet ever employed the far-out?  Did Moses, Daniel, Jonah, or Jesus ever resort to outlandish dress, manners, or methods to grab the attention of the crowds?  If they didn’t feel the need to do so, why do we?  Jesus merely displayed the wonder of Himself, the majesty of His mighty power, His evident tender care.  The Apostle Paul merely preached "Christ crucified" (I Cor. 1).  The bold, loving, rather conventional proclamation of the Word of God, with occasional use of illustrations and object lessons, has always been the way of God’s men – men given only to impressing the world with our God, rather than with themselves.
 
When will God’s people learn that we don’t need to follow the world or be like the world in order to reach the world?  If we would lead the world to worldliness, then we need to be like the world.  But if we would reach the world for God, then we need to be like God, glorify God, proclaim God’s words.  This alone was Christ’s earthly mission (Jn. 17:4, 6, 8), and must ever remain our own.

 
 
Seven Principles of the Harvest
 
These principles apply whether planting good or evil.  We’re sowing every moment of our lives.
 
1.        When sowing is done the reaping of a harvest will result (“they shall reap”, Hos. 8:7).
 
2.        What is sown determines what is harvested, for we reap in kind what we sow (“wind . . . whirlwind”, Hos. 8:7), “for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7).
 
3.        The measure harvested will exceed what is sown, for the produce is by nature a multiplication of the planting (“wind . . . whirlwind”, Hos. 8:7).  “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over” (Lk. 6:38).
 
4.        We reap in a different season than when we sow (“in due [right, appropriate] season”, Gal. 6:9).  Thus a farmer’s patience is required.
 
5.        We reap a full harvest, if we persist (“if we faint not”, Gal. 6:9).  Compare James 5:7.
 
6.        We reap in the same proportion with which we sow (“sparingly . . sparingly . . bountifully . . bountifully”, II Cor. 9:6), “for with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Lk. 6:38).  The function of the harvest is multiplication, the factor is determined by us.
 
7.        We can’t do anything about last year’s harvest, but we can about this year’s.  “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Phil. 3:13-14).  Whether to bemoan or to boast of the past, such a backward look will only trip you in your forward progress for the Lord today.

 
 
Finding the Father’s Will
 
Understand that it is our Father’s desire that we find and follow His perfect will for our lives.  “I will instruct thee . . . in the way which thou shalt go” (Ps. 32:8).
 
Be satisfied, willing, and busy today with every known aspect of the Lord’s will, and you’ll not miss His will for your tomorrow.
 
In dedication to the Lord, take an honestly neutral position before Him in all.  “Lord, what would You have me to do?”
 
Get a vision of what the Lord is about on this earth, and what you are to be about comes clear.  “Look on the fields . . . white already to harvest” (Jn. 4).
 
Get into motion in the direction you know to go, and the Spirit will begin to steer.  “I being in the way, the Lord led me" (Gen. 24:27).
 
God’s Spirit directs through His Word, as we study out the guiding principles of God’s will and way in every issue.
 
Exercise greatest caution in how you use the Bible in seeking guidance, in the laying out of a fleece before the Lord, and in reading the “tea leaves” of circumstances.
 
Pray in sincere search for the Lord’s guidance.
 
Honestly seek counsel from mature believers.
 
Labour to discern your spiritual gifts and how best to apply them.
 
Be attentive to the Spirit’s inner promptings.
 
Patiently wait on the Lord when uncertain, until His new direction comes clear.

 
 
Tips for a Good Run
 
“. . let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”  (Heb. 12:1-2).
  
 Keep your weight down – “let us lay aside every weight”
 
Tend to shed the useless, time-consuming aspects of your life that rob precious time and contribute nothing toward eternity, chipping away at your potential.  20 minutes wasted each day adds up to an entire year of an average life squandered!
 
Keep your limbs free – “the sin which doth so easily beset us”
 
To “easily beset” refers to entanglements that hinder the free movement of running, like clothing closely wrapped around us.  Running life’s race well requires keeping yourself free of the entanglements of bad habits, bad relationships, bad debt, etc., which hinder us from running all out for the Lord.
 
Keep your eyes right – “looking unto Jesus”
 
Every good sportsman knows the eyes are the key to all judgment ability.  Every good runner knows you can’t run well with your eyes or attention backward.  All concentrated focus must remain on pouring your all into what is before you (Phil. 3:13-14).  Never mind what other people are doing.  As the Lord’s blunt answer to Peter when his nose was in John’s business, “What is that to you?  You follow Me!” (Jn. 21:21).
 
Keep your pace up – “let us run with patience the race”
 
Behind the word “patience” is the idea of steadfast endurance.  The apostle Paul was at it for decades, strong for the Lord to the last, “that I might finish my course with joy” (Acts 20:24).  May we carry on running our very best for the Lord of glory with steadfast endurance to our last breath!

 
 
Jewish Example of Giving
 
Consider the example of a devout child of God of Old Testament times in his giving, as per God’s requirements.  Let’s assume 45 productive years in a man’s life. Thus;
 
1)     Weekly Sabbath (Ex. 23:12) – God said one day each week a man was not to work.  That’s about 50 days per year.  Thus 45 years x 50 days/yr = 2,250 days = 6.2 years out of his productive years given to God.
 
2)     Land Sabbath (Ex. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:1-7, 20-22) – Every 7th year the land was to be left fallow, translating into 6.4 years of his productive life given up out of devotion to the Lord in honour of His words.
 
3)     Three Pilgrimage Feasts (Ex. 34:23-24; 23:14-17) – Three yearly feasts required devout men to trek to Jerusalem with their families, involving about 21 days out of his fields each year, x 45 yrs = 945 days = 2.6 of his productive years given in respect to the Lord.
 
4)     Jubilee Year – (Lev. 25:8-11) – Every 50th year the land was to lay fallow.  Likely one per lifetime = 1 year.
 
5)     Tithes to the Levites (Num. 18:20ff) – 10% of all increase over 45 years = 4.5 years of labour given to the Lord.
 
6)     Incomplete Gleaning (Lev. 23:22; Deut. 24:19-22) – We can only estimate this at perhaps 1-2% of his field yield, say 1.5% = 0.67 years.  Let’s not even add this into the tally as a margin of error.
 
Total from above; 6.2 + 6.4 + 2.6 + 1 + 4.5 = 20.7 years, or 46% of a devout man’s total years of produce given to the Lord by faith!  Yet the Lord blessed that man with a cup running over!  And we quibble about giving our Sunday and our tithe to the Lord!
 
“Prove Me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not . . . pour
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

 
 
Biblical Principles of Business
 
                                                   Honesty – always (Prov. 21:6)
 
                                                   Standing surety – never (Prov. 6:1-4)
 
                                                   Lending – yes (Prov. 22:7; Deut. 28:12-13; Ps. 112:5)
 
                                                   Usury (high interest) – with a stranger, yes – with a brother, no (Deut. 23:20; Prov. 28:8)
 
                                                   Tithe – always (Prov. 3:9-10)
 
                                                   Help the needy – yes (Prov. 19:17)
 
                                                   The “Golden Rule” the general guiding principle (Matt. 7:12)
 
 
 
From Fair Haven
 (Acts 27)
 
The man of God said,
There is danger ahead
To the ship and the lives and the cargo.
 
But they went on instead,
For it was in their head
To Phēnī′cē at least to as far go.
 
So with care they did go
When a fair wind did blow,
In spite of the words of God’s prophet.
 
And were caught, don’t you know,
When a BIG wind did show,
To the loss of all peace, joy, and profit.
 
There’s a good lesson here,
Just for you and me, Dear,
Should we ever think God’s warnings worthless.
 
Though the way appear clear,
Overcoming our fear,
God so quickly can leave us quite shirtless!


He’s Just Like Me
 
It’s the hardest thing to teach my child,
To walk away when he’s been reviled.
 
His dented pride, his wounded honour,
He must uphold with great endeavour.
 
But where the honour, and where the pride?
From above, or from the other side?
 
I fear it could be safely shown,
It came from whence I got my own!
 
He’s just like me, that child of mine.
Perhaps I more subtle, more refined.
 
O Lord change me! my heart then cries,
That we might be pleasing in Your eyes!

 
 
In the Discipline of Our Children
  
There follows a brief description of the way we handled the discipline of our children through their growing up years. 
 
````````````````````
When there was an offence we would send the offender to stand by their bed.  There was never a question of whether or not they would do this.
 
We would then bring the paddle (“rod”).  It gave time for anger to cool to reason if need be.  We would not use our hand.  The Lord refers in His Word to the use of a rod.
 
We would begin with explanation, so that there were no doubts as to the why of the punishment.
 
We would then lean the offender over the bed and use that paddle on their bottom like we meant it, like it all depended upon us.  Several solid smacks.  This was no play at punishment.  “Thou shalt beat him with the rod” (Prov. 23:14). 
 
If there was crying in rage it was another round of smacks until the offender cried quietly.  In the early days we often spanked for the offence and again for rage . . . and again!  Harsh you say?  Well, we have to live with the results the rest of our days on earth.  “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul” (Prov. 29:17).
 
We would then hug our child, communicating that they could never lose our love, that the pain was brought in love.
 
Too painful you say?  Oh there will be a sight more pain in their lives later if you fail to so disappoint them now my friend!  Too much trouble?  We all have to live with the results the rest of our days on earth.
 
“He that spares his rod hates his son: but he that loves him chastens him betimes [early, diligently]” (Prov. 13:24)

 

 

The Counsel of the Ungodly

I love all my children – I’m sure that I do.
And I read in my Bible the Lord loves them too.
 
But I find a sharp contrast in how I’m to lead,
Between what God has taught and what Satan concedes.
 
God insists that I love my dear child with a rod,
If ever I’d lead him to walk with his God.
 
He must be taught firmly the rights and the wrongs,
If his heart would be happy and filled with God’s songs.
 
But the world’s evil mentor with this won’t agree.
Rather softness and “kid gloves” bring maturity.
 
But I see through his subtle and ruinous plan.
I know where he’s going with his specious scam.
 
How Satan does lead our strong influence away,
That he might be stronger to lead them astray.
 
He insists on my tolerant, permissive approach,
While he a demanding, intolerant coach.
 
He steps into the leadership gap he creates,
Boldly leading the world by his foolish dictates.
 
By faith, I’ve decided to do what God says!
He’s called for my leadership – “my” children are His.
 
By faith, I refuse to step out of the gap.
I’ve made the decision to keep handy the strap.
 
 
 
The Divorce Question
 
It was when Jesus was ministering across the Jordan in the province of Perea that the Jewish leaders challenged Him with the divorce question.  Do you understand why they hit Him with that question when and where they did?  Perea was ruled at that time by Herod Antipas, the man who dumped his own wife to marry Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.  John the Baptist rightly proclaimed that adulterous liaison unlawful, resulting in John’s capture by Herod, and eventual execution through the wicked wiles of odious Herodias.  You know the story, but so did the Jewish leaders!  Through their challenge with the question of divorce while Jesus was out there to the east, they were hoping to force Him into a statement in Herod’s own province, which would lead Jesus to a fate similar to John’s.
 
Those scheming serpents were a lesson in guile.  It was not that they were looking for God’s answers on the issue of divorce and remarriage.  It was not that those “religious leaders” were zealous for the Lord’s will at all.  There was no yearning in their hearts to seek and promote God’s pure truth, but only their own will and way, only to uphold their own pride against that pure One they had so foolishly made their adversary.  They were merely using the issue (God’s words) to advance their own agenda.  And behold how they were found running against God Himself in the process.
 
It will always be easy to point accusatory fingers at others.  But is it not true that God’s own children are sometimes found using the Bible to validate their own designs and desires, rather than sincerely looking for the detail of what God is saying in His Word?  We cannot listen with but one ear and run with partial obedience, and insist that we’re doing the Lord’s will.  Many have tried and failed on that score.  For partial obedience is no obedience, and to be half-way hearing is to be wilfully deaf!

 

Baby Christians
 
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ” (I Cor. 3:1)
 
In pondering the nature of babies, we can learn much about spiritual immaturity.  Consider a handful of comparisons;
 
Babies always want their own way, and can easily get upset when it doesn’t happen.  They have not yet learned to run by any higher principle than their own immediate comfort, never thinking to patiently forgo their own interests or pleasures for others.  Baby Christians are the same.
 
Babies can be quite possessive.  They can often be very reluctant to share their things with others.  They have yet to learn to trust themselves to God’s care, seeing their every possession as from Him.  Baby Christians are the same.
 
Babies are not yet able to learn the difficult lessons of life.  They simply don’t have the capacity or attention for it.  Even so baby Christians must still be fed the milk of God’s word, with little ability to cope with the meatier lessons of love and leadership.  They possess neither aptitude nor interest in moving “on unto perfection”.
 
Babies play while big things happen around them, things of which they’re not even aware or are simply unable to grasp the significance.  In the same way baby Christians fill their lives with pleasure and leisure, while larger realities pass by quite unnoticed.  They play while the wise and mature join the battle for souls in the great spiritual conflict on earth.
 
Babies cannot feed themselves.  They don’t run on their own, but require constant input from those responsible.  So baby Christians have yet to learn the discipline of feeding themselves from the Word.
 
Babyhood is a happy, natural stage in our lives, but so is the normal growth to maturity to follow.  Prolonged babyhood is abnormal and grotesque.  “Let us go on!”

 
 
A Biblical Case Against Depression
 
Please think very carefully and prayerfully through the following biblical points;
 
-          The Lord commands of us a life attitude of joy, particularly in the book of Philippians;
 
o        Phil. 3:1 – “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord”.  The Lord’s command to believers here indicates every true child of God is capable of obeying and is disobedient in refusing.
 
o        Phil. 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice”.  A double command, specifying the when of our rejoicing – “always”!
 
o        I Thess. 5:16 – “Rejoice evermore”.
 
-          The Lord commands and expects a life attitude of thankfulness;
 
o        I Thess. 5:18 – “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”.  This for all who are “in Christ Jesus”.  Here is God’s will for what happens in the heart of every believer at all times.  To not be thankful “in everything” (every moment, circumstance, set-back, trouble, agony, etc.) can only be a stubbornly disobedient use of the head and heart God has given us.
 
-          The Lord commands an end to all anxiety;
 
o        Phil. 4:6 – “Be careful [anxiously worried] for nothing”.  No circumstance is ever a proper cause for anxiety in a true child of God.  Jesus commands the same in Matt. 6:25-34, and the psalmist repeatedly insists that we "fret not" (Ps. 37).
 
Will you make the choice to simply obey the Lord in your heart?  It’s a question of “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”.
 
 

Signs of Imbalance
  

       God is Holy                                   God is Love   

 
Pure, without sin (I Jn. 1:5)                   Mercy, compassion,
Hates every form of evil                         grace, patience,
Demands perfect purity (Jm. 2:10)             kindness (Joel 2:13)
“Ye shall be holy” (Lev. 19:2)                    Pardon (Eph. 1:7)
Condemnation, punishment,                  Loving sacrifice
wrath (Isa. 13:9-13; 63:3;                       (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8)
II Thess. 1:8-9; Heb. 10:31)                    His Spirit recognized
Thunder & smoke of Sinai                   by love (I Jn. 4)
World of men destroyed (Gen. 6ff)          “Everlasting arms”
 
````````````````````
When one falls to an imbalanced view of God in either direction
 
God becomes a                               God becomes a soft,
condemning despot                        toothless push-over
Cares little, demands much          “No fear of God” (Rom. 3)
Critical, picky, no                           Few limits on lifestyle
compassion, hostile,                       Easy, comfy, popular
attacking, no patience                    Nod to God, but no bow
They emphasize negatives              They emphasize positives
Divisive & dictatorial                      Deny truth for unity
 
Note the balance in portions such as Ps. 2, Nahum 1, & Isa. 8:14.  The true God is fierce in anger and hatred toward sin and all untruth, yet quick to respond in love to repentance, faith, and obedience.  His faithful will display Him in balance.
 
 
 
Thoughts on the Trinity of God
 
The Bible teaches the Trinity or Tri-unity of God – that God is one, yet the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit are distinct beings or Persons within the unity of God.  The challenge for those who deny this is laid down in those Bible portions clearly elevating Jesus to deity.  Some examples;
 
-          Compare Christ’s words in John 8:58 with the Lord’s name in Exodus 3:14.  The Jews were ready to stone Jesus for blasphemy (John 8:59), for they understood that He was claiming the very name of Jehovah.
 
-          Note Isaiah 45:23, clearly referring to Jehovah God (context), yet applied directly to Jesus Christ in Phil. 2:9-11.  Jesus is Jehovah God.
 
-          Isaiah 9:6 refers to that child born and son given as the “mighty God”.
 
-          Jesus never corrected Thomas when he called Him “my Lord and my God” in John 20:28.
 
The Bible gives many, many such comparisons, subtle yet indisputable.  The subtlety perhaps for the same reason Christ taught in parables (Matt. 13:10ff).  Unless one plays games with the text in such passages there is no getting around Christ’s equality with the Father as God, though as two separate exalted Persons.  Yet the Bible is very specific that there is only one God.   Remember the context around Isaiah 45:22-23 (“none beside Me”), and consider verses such as Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:4; I Timothy 2:5.
 
Explain it?  I must confess that I cannot.  I can only point to the Lord’s own admission that “without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh” (I Tim. 3:16).  It should be no surprise that the infinite God, Creator of all, cannot be fully understood or explained by finite man.

 
 
Granville Sharp Rule
 
There is a little rule we learned in our college Greek class.  A little grammar rule, huge in its impact upon the doctrine of Jesus Christ.  A rule studied out by a man named Granville Sharp back in the late 1700’s in his effort to defend Christ’s deity against the rising Unitarianism in the America of his day.  A rule discerned from careful observation of word usage in the Greek language of the original New Testament writings.  In fact Granville Sharp recorded his findings in a little book, with a not so little title;
 
“Remarks on the Definite Article in the Greek Text of the New Testament, Containing Many New Proofs of the Divinity of Christ, from Passages Which are Wrongly Translated in the Common English Version”
 
You’d be correct in expecting great things from a book so grandly named.  In his book Granville Sharp presented six rules relating to the use of the Greek definite article (“the”).  But it’s the first of them that carries the greatest importance for New Testament study, and carrying his name as well, known as the Granville Sharp Rule. 
 
The rule goes something like this; if two or more nouns (or participles or adjectives, used as nouns) are joined by “and” (kai in Greek), and the article (“the”) precedes only the first noun, then the other noun(s) refer to the same person.  Got it?  As Mr. Sharp put it, “the second . . . noun denotes a farther description of the first-named person”.  Within certain observed limits, that’s the rule.  Perhaps some examples would best help to drop the penny.  Consider;
 
Heb. 12:2 – “Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”.  Here we have two nouns (“author”, “finisher”) joined by an “and”, with a definite article (“the”) before only the first noun.  The English rendering expresses very well the Greek behind it.  Thus according to Sharp’s rule of observation, both descriptive nouns refer to “Jesus”.  He is both the author and finisher. 
 
Heb. 3:1 – Speaks of Jesus as “the Apostle and High Priest of our profession”.  Jesus is both Apostle and High Priest.
 
I Pet. 1:3 – Peter refers to He who is both “God and Father”. 
 
Few would argue the meaning of such portions.  Ah but then there are the other portions, affording a bit more excitement;
 
Titus 2:13 – Paul wrote of “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”.  The construction here, in both Greek and English, is classic Granville Sharp.  Thus both nouns involved (“great God”, “our Saviour”), joined by “and”, with definite article preceding only the first noun, must refer to Jesus Christ.  He is both Saviour and God! 
 
II Pet. 1:1 – Peter spoke of “the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”.  The literal phrase in the Greek is, “by the righteousness of the God of us and Saviour Jesus Christ”.  Again, Jesus Christ is both our God and Saviour.
 
Please carefully consider these things, “and the Lord give thee understanding in all things”.

 
                
My Matchless Saviour
 
                                                    He was bound, that I might be freed from sin’s tyranny.
                                                    He was put to death, that I might live.
                                                    He was broken, that I might be made whole.
                                                    He was wounded, that I might be left unharmed.
                                                    He was condemned, that I might know “no condemnation”.
                                                    He was spent, that I might no longer be a debtor to God.
                                                    He was “made sin”, that I might be made righteousness.
                                                    He was stripped, that I might be clothed in white.
                                                    He, the innocent, died as a criminal, that I, the guilty, might live as though innocent.
                                                    He bore reproach before men, that I might not be reproached before God.
                                                    He was forsaken by man, that I might not be forsaken by God.
 
 
 
As Joseph So Jesus
 
As Joseph was handed over to Egypt, so Jesus was betrayed to Rome’s abuse.
 
As Joseph was hated by his own blood brothers, so Jesus “came unto His own, and His own received Him not”.
 
As “God was with” Joseph though rejected of men, so Jesus was blessed of God though cursed by men.
 
As Joseph was hated out of envy, so Jesus was hated for His evident hold on His Father’s love and His appeal to the nation (Matt. 27:18).
 
As Joseph’s brothers saw his virtue as vice, so the Jews read Christ’s sinlessness as sinfulness.
 
As it took Egyptians to see God’s blessing upon Joseph, so Christ’s worth is more recognized and accepted by the Gentile world.
 
As the Lord delivered Joseph out of His brothers’ intention of humiliation and death in Egypt, so the Lord delivered Jesus out of the Jewish intent to humiliate Him and plant Him permanently in the grave.
 
As the Lord more than delivered Joseph, exalting him to a place of highest earthly honour, 2nd in command over all of Egypt, so the Lord much more than delivered Jesus from death, exalting Him to highest heavenly honour, to the right hand of the Majesty on high.
 
As Joseph was rescued from the pit, so Jesus was raised from the more horrible pit of death, through resurrection.
 
As the suffering forced upon Joseph was turned to his exaltation, so Christ’s suffering like none other has turned to highest glory.
 
As the sons of Israel came on hard times for their harsh treatment of Joseph, driven by famine from their land, even so through their vicious handling of Christ the Lord brought upon Israel the longest dispersion from their land they’ve ever suffered.
 
As the Lord put the house of Jacob under the rule of that rejected brother, so He will drive that nation to submission under the rejected Son of God (through Antichrist).
 
As it was only through Joseph that there was sustenance in Egypt, so it is only through Christ’s sacrifice that there is any provision for man in heaven.  Israel’s only hope is in that rejected brother, and they don’t even know it!
 
As the Lord meant to turn the evil upon Joseph to the good of Egypt and Israel, so the Lord meant to turn the greatest tragedy the world has ever seen, in the great evil upon Jesus Christ, into the greatest triumph the world has ever known.
 
As God put Joseph in Egypt to use his God-given wisdom to save first Egypt and then his people, so God has put Jesus Christ in a position of Saviour, that through His wisdom and sacrifice He might save first the world, and then Israel.
 
As with both Joseph and Moses it was only “the second time” that they were recognized for who they were, so Jesus will only finally be recognized “the second time” He appears.
 
As Joseph returned grace for all the evil treatment of his brothers, so Jesus returns grace where wrath is deserved.
 
As the Lord ultimately brought a reunion of Jacob and sons with Joseph in his exaltation, so He will bring a reunion of Israel with Jesus Christ in His exaltation, when He returns in glory to Israel’s rescue at the battle of Armageddon.

 
 
As Moses So Jesus
 
As the time (400 yrs) had been given that Israel might know when to expect their deliverance from Egypt, so the timing of Christ’s first coming was given in prophecy (Dan. 9).  Those who are alert and listening to God live in expectation of His coming Deliverer.
 
As the Pharaoh of Egypt sought to destroy Moses in his infancy who would become Israel’s deliverer, so King Herod sought to destroy that One born king of the Jews.
 
As God protected the one in his new-born frailty, so the other.
 
As Moses “visited” his people, expecting them to recognize him as their deliverer, so God visited His people in Jesus Christ that they might recognize Him for the Saviour.
 
As the Hebrew nation did not recognize Moses as a deliverer and thrust him away, so the Jews did not recognize Jesus Christ as Saviour and cast Him away.
 
As one angry rejecter expressed the attitude of the nation in Egypt, so the Jewish leaders of Jesus day represented the attitude of the nation as a whole.
 
As Moses was implied a lawless murderer, so Jesus was counted among transgressors (Isa. 53:8-9), fit for a criminal’s death.
 
As Moses left the ease and honours of a royal court, giving up all for the promises of God and the God of the promises to serve as a saviour of his people, so Jesus gave up the glory of heaven to be the Saviour of mankind.
 
As Moses found a foreign bride in a foreign land while in exile, so Jesus, while in “exile”, receives a foreign bride in the church now being called out from among the Gentiles.
 
As Moses returned “the second time” in evident power to lead Israel to freedom, in the same wonderful way Jesus will return bringing liberty to all who love Him.
 
As Moses at first was rejected as ruler and judge by his own people yet God Himself later sent him back as ruler and deliverer, so Jesus, rejected at the first by His own, yet He is already appointed as “King upon My holy hill of Zion”.


 
Red Herring
 
At one time fish were used in the training of hunting dogs.  A herring was dragged on a line across the trail of the animal the dog was being trained to follow, to see if the dog could be distracted away from his primary target by another interesting smell.  This would create a useful opportunity to teach the dog to stay on the right trace without distraction.  Thus the term “red herring” comes to refer to something used to divert attention from the basic issue or real problem or primary purpose. 
 
Satan is the master of red herrings.  He is ever dragging the intriguing distractions of “other things” across the path of our lives in a desperate effort to divert God’s children from what must ever remain their chief aim in life – to glorify God through a life of holiness, and to help make disciples of Jesus Christ.  We have our marching orders;
 
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31).
 
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations . . . to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20).

 
 
Those Pearly Gates
 
It’s in Revelation 21:21 that we read of those famous gates of pearl at the entry ways into the future New Jerusalem, each gate formed of one entire pearl.  In the context of purity and clarity of crystal materials there in Rev. 21 it might seem a bit odd that pearl forms so prominent a feature.  Pearl is founded on impurity, forming from the nacreous secretions with which the oyster coats the problem of an unwanted bit of dirt thrusting itself in.  It’s the oyster’s way of coping with the entrance of something foreign, offensive, out of place.  A pearl represents a problem covered, beautified, even made precious.  Where would be the pearl without the dirt? 
 
Even so it is with the beauty of God’s plan of redemption.  For therein is showcased the radiant splendour of the Lord’s matchless love against the black backdrop of human sin.  God’s way of salvation in Jesus Christ is man’s greatest problem turned precious.  God used the dirt of man’s sin, thrust into His pristine creation as the impetus for displaying His abounding wisdom and grace.  How right then to make of pearl the point of entry into the Lord’s eternal presence and blessing!  Each of those pearly gates points to the beauty of God’s grace, never displayed so evidently than in His gracious response to sin.

 
 
“In a Moment”
 
Here’s an interesting particle of information for your pondering.  There is a little speck of a word in the original Greek language in which the New Testament was first written.  It’s a word used only once in the New Testament, meaning "minute""smaller than small".  What’s the word?  The word is atomos.   Ring any bells of recognition?  Obviously our word “atom” stems from it. This little word is derived from the Greek word tomos meaning “cut”.  In fact this word tomos comes across into English in all of the nasty “tomy’s” folks are often forced to endure in life – tonsillectomy, hysterectomy, and heaven forbid, lobotomy.  When we have something “tomied” it gets cut.
 
Now one more technical detail and we’re there.  Understand that an “a” added to the front end of a word in Greek often negates the idea of the word to which it’s added, like our English prefixes “un”, “in”, “dis”, etc.  Thus the core thought in the word a-tomos is “uncut”, what cannot be cut in two or divided.  It’s why an atom was named “atom”, before scientists realized that even these can be divided.
 
Let’s go now to that one place in the New Testament where this little word is used.  Consider I Corinthians 15:52;
 
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 
 
The term “in a moment” here is literally “in an atomos”.  In an indivisibly minute particle of time those who belong to Jesus Christ will be caught up to His presence at His coming.  When God’s time finally arrives to take His own to Himself He won’t waste around about it.  “And so shall we ever be with the Lord”.   Praise God for His happy assurances!  His words of promise confirm our souls in hope.

 
 
The Marriage of the Lamb
 
God often uses analogies to highlight His truths.  Consider some parallels between Jewish marriage and the relation of Jesus Christ to His church.
 
Betrothal
 
Jewish betrothal is unlike our western concept of engagement.  In betrothal a couple are legally bound together as if married, but they do not yet live together.  Thus betrothal is essentially the same as our concept of marriage, without the resulting togetherness.  In the Hebrew culture physical union comes only on the day of marriage. 
 
Even so from the moment of faith in Jesus Christ the believer is officially, eternally bound to Him in fixed, forever relation, as if already married.  The only aspect missing is the togetherness, to which we now look forward in that “blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”, when we will at last be forever united with Him.  “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”.
 
Marriage
 
According to good Hebrew custom, on the wedding night the bridegroom proceeds with friends from his father’s house to the home of the bride.   An event proverbial for greatest joy.  The night was appointed but the hour was not.  Thus the bride must wait in eager expectancy.  Upon arrival the groom received the bride, and she with family and attendants then returned with him to a feast prepared at his father’s house.  Ever after she lived with him as his wife.
 
Even so we who have found life in Jesus Christ await His return for His bride, the church with eager expectancy.  We know He will come, for so He has promised, though we know not the hour.  He’ll come with attendants (I Thess. 4:16) and with joy and singing (Zeph. 3:17).  And we who are His will be escorted back to that place He has prepared (Jn. 14:2-3).
 
“So shall we ever be with the Lord”

 
 
Prophecy and Modern Day “Prophets”
 
The gift of prophecy is the God-given ability to relate God’s revelation to man.  It was an important spiritual gift in the days of the early church (I Cor. 14:1-5), that gift through which the Lord conveyed His Bible to His people.
 
But once the New Testament (and therefore the entire Book of God’s revelation to man) was completed, and the last of the Apostles died, what’s the need for prophets and prophecy anymore?  Once “the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20) had been laid, why would the Lord re-lay the foundation? 
 
Ours is the age of the completed canon of Scripture.  Therefore the Lord’s focus has shifted from the gift of the prophet to the gift of the teacher (note II Peter 2:1 – prophets in their day, but teachers in our own day).  Through gifted pastors and teachers the Lord now teaches and leads His flock into an understanding and life application of His completed revelation already given. 
 
This shift from prophets laying the foundation to teachers building on that foundation is what the Lord meant when He prophesied in I Corinthians 13:8-10 that the gifts of prophecy, with tongues and supernatural knowledge, would pass away when the completed had come.  And then He sealed the completed Book with a grave warning to any who would presume to add to His revelation with any further bogus “prophecies” (Revelation 22:18).  No more the need for a prophet of God in our present day, and therefore there are no true prophets of the true God today.  I’m afraid all who claim to be such are deceived and deceivers.
 
May all who are the Lord’s and eager to please Him earnestly seek to understand and apply all that has already been revealed to us by the Lord through His true prophets of old, and leave off their foolish intrigue with all else.

 
 
A Man for a Woman
 
Maybe I’m just a simple man.  Perhaps I’m missing something.  But does it not strike you as obvious that a man wasn’t meant to have sex with a man, nor a woman with a woman?  Argue the point you may, but it seems rather self-evident that our Creator made a man for a woman and a woman for a man.  Whichever direction you come at it (reproduction, physiology, morality, Bible) the case stands.  In fact to deny the obvious is really rather odd.  I for one refuse to be led by the nose away from the apparent.  I frankly reject the modern conditioning efforts of our society (as in the story of the emperor and his "new clothes").  It may very well be that some will foolishly decide to thwart God and nature and go this direction, but no man, no government, no insane popular consensus of the global community has the right to force me to label right what is so obviously very wrong!
 
Within but a handful of lines God puts it all clearly in Romans 1:26-27;
 
“God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.”
 
We’ve all heard something of the recent public deliberations over the homo question, featuring more heat than true light it would appear.  Some of us are wondering what’s to debate?  God has already shed the light, and plenty enough of it.  Let me just highlight His terms here.  Little by way of explanation seems necessary.  “Vile affections”, “against nature”, “unseemly” (shamefully indecent), and clearly a case of God handing man over to his own passions, rather than holding him close any longer. 
 
I didn’t write it.  But I refuse the demand to deny it!

 
 
A Her at the Helm
 
I’m sure you’ve noticed how the Pastor & Mrs. Naidoo of yesterday has often become the Pastors Preggy & Pam of today, with the increasingly common husband and wife pastoring teams of our more modern church era.  Good?  Bad?  Indifferent?  The only right question to ask at such a time is what does God say in His eternal Word about women in spiritual leadership?  Let’s explore.
 
I Timothy 2:11-12 – “Let the women learn in silence, with all subjection.  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”  Reasons follow in the next couple of verses.  Rather than leading over men a woman finds her service in “good works” (vs. 10).  Her “silence” seems to relate here to the instructing of men.
 
I Corinthians 14:34-35 – “Let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.”  Behind the English translation this is written as a command to the women to “keep silence in the churches”.  The discussion in the immediate context relates to the exercise of spiritual gifts.  Again, silence relates to the matter of submission.
 
I Corinthians 11:1-16 – Whatever the question of head coverings entails here (hat or hair), the obvious issue under discussion is headship.  The Lord forbids women in this portion to do anything that might publicly imply authority over men.  The God-given headship of the man must be reflected in the church as well as in society.
 
Churches may do as they like, but we will continue to allow the Bible, not society, to dictate our way forward.  This is not an anti-woman stance, but a pro-God position.  Regardless of how unpopular a biblical stand may be, earthly popularity can never be our goal.  By God’s grace may we ever seek His praise, come what may!

 
 
Mithraism
 
Here’s an interesting bit of information for you history enthusiasts.  In the old Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, before their conversion to Islam, their sun god was known as “Mithras”.  Seems the worship of this god was just another form of the old Babylonian worship of Tammuz (of mother-child cult fame), condemned by the Lord as “abominations” in Ezek. 8:13-16.  This eastern religion of Mithras was carried west through Asia Minor, arriving in Rome about 35 years after Christ’s death.  It soon became quite popular and widespread within the Roman Empire, especially among soldiers and slaves.  By 100 A.D. Mithraism had run north into Europe, where for the next two centuries it was a major rival of Christianity, becoming popular for a time among the British legions as well.  The practices of this religion involved “elaborate rites and ceremonies” and “stern ordeals”.  Its followers would advance through levels of physical trauma and endurance, based upon the imagined adventures and afflictions of Mithras. 
 Now here’s the really intriguing part.  The chief feast day of Mithraism from of old was 25th December.  Thus by fixing this day as the supposed date of Christ’s birth the established church sought to strike a compromise with paganism, attempting to overwhelm both this feast of Mithras and the Roman Saturnalia with a christianised option.  Pope Gregory I put it into words when he said, “By all means, meet the pagans half-way, and so bring them into the church”. 

Is this God’s way, or man’s unenlightened method?  Is it our duty to dress up the true religion of Christ in a form we consider more acceptable to the unbelieving world?  Are we to compromise with paganism or just preach Christ?  This same method is still evident in the like of “Christian” rock, rap, and discos, leading only down to greater compromise. “We preach Christ crucified . . . unto the Greeks foolishness.”



On Public Debates with Heretics

In Mark 8:10-13 the Jewish leaders came to Jesus, again demanding a sign from Him, that He “prove it!” concerning who He is.  The Lord simply refused them, turned, and sailed away.  Indeed the Lord resists the proud, giving grace only to the humble.  From all coming to Him with an arrogant “go ahead, convince me!” sort of attitude He simply walked away.  They demanded proof of divine presence with no real givenness to the divine.  In the same way some demand proof of God’s presence in His divine Word, with no givenness to the true God of the Word.  From such we are wise to simply walk away!

Again, in John 10:24, the proud Jewish leaders demanded a clear statement from Jesus whether He is the Messiah or no, which He denied them.  Why did they want such a statement anyway?  Because they suspected it true?  Because they leaned toward belief in Him?  More likely they sought cause to express their rejection in stoning Him. (Jn. 10:31).  Jesus saw no need to supply further proofs to such rejecting hearts.  Despite the impatient, pushy demands of those leaders, and despite their position as those who thought they deserved some explanation, Jesus simply refused.  Christ’s identity was all quite clear already.  The same applies today with modern Christ-rejecters who demand opportunity to debate the merits of God’s truths.

Contrast Christ’s clear self-revelation to the woman at the well (Jn. 4:25-26), for there was one with a heart to believe.  And consider His blessing on Peter when he resolutely declared Jesus to be “the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the Living God” (John 6:67-69; Matt. 16:15-20).  For truly seeking hearts Jesus has time and telling revelation.   For rejecting hearts, demanding proofs they do not really want, He offers neither time nor further revelation.

“If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God” (John 7:17).



We Believe Another Book

 How are we to respond to those who just believe another book (Muslims, Mormons, Hindus, etc.), and even those who pervert God’s words (New World Trans. of the Jehovah’s Witnesses)?  It’s a tough one, for they all tend to say the same things Bible believers say in support of their books.  “If you claim the right to believe as you wish, so do we.  Prove that we must hear your Bible over the writings we’ve chosen!” 

In answer consider the Lord’s prophet, Micaiah, counsellor before King Ahab.  God gave to Micaiah the daunting task of contradicting Ahab’s 400 lying “prophets”.  In the poignant throne room scene described in I Ki. 22 the king’s prophets were unanimous in their counsel insisting “the Lord has spoken by us!”  But Micaiah’s response exposed them for liars, proclaiming himself God’s true spokesman.  And he was right!   And then, when challenged by those offended “prophets”, God’s prophet was faced with the same demand we face with those believing another book.  “Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to you?!” (vs. 24).  “Where do you get off, saying you have the true Spirit inspiring your words and we don’t?”  The answer of God’s man was quite simple and instructive.  Essentially, “You shall see when it comes to pass, in your coming moment of realisation and terror” (vs. 25).  Micaiah did not feel the need to lay out reasons why his words were to be accepted as God’s over the contrary counsel of the “other book”.  He made no attempt to convince them or to prove the “other book” wrong, for it seems he knew they already knew.  He just said, “God in time will show where lies the lie, and will vindicate me when my words come to pass.”  It was the indisputable argument of fulfilled prophecy, which only the Bible can claim.  What God says comes to pass!

As well, when a man found himself in hell, in Luke 16, and pled with Abraham that one might return from the dead to warn his yet living brothers, the answer of Abraham there speaks volumes (vs. 29-31).  Abraham explained that it’s quite enough that men have access to the words of Moses and the prophets.  He allowed for the need of no additional proofs, and implied that it’s a matter of the heart, not of the head.  For those who “hear not Moses and the prophets” will refuse the most miraculous influence or argument.

This other book business is just another expression of man’s wilful independence and pride.  For it is God Himself who confirms that all who follow any other way or book, other than His, are fools (Luke 24:25) and condemnable, following lying spirits.  By faith in God’s words we are confident that God will display this in time, and that the Spirit of God is already convincing the unsaved of these truths, and that the truth of the Word of God is already shining brightly enough to leave every man without excuse for rejecting the true Book, and the true God of the Book. 

“If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17).  The willingness to do brings the knowing of the true.
 


One Christian’s Answer to a Muslim

Please allow me to take you to the core difference between the religion of the Bible and every other religion, including your own.  The Bible describes the God who is holy, absolutely pure, without the least toleration of sin.  As well, the Bible constantly affirms the sinfulness of all men, with hearts not only wicked but “desperately” so (Jer. 17:9).  The vast gulf between holy God and sinful man is utterly unbridgeable from man’s side. Herein lies the great difference.  Your religion offers a blessing from your Allah that is attainable by your righteous actions of following steadfast in his teachings and obedience.  The Bible presents the God so holy, and human sin so evil, it is impossible for man to make amends with God by doing good.  It’s too late!  His evil and sin-defiled heart already stand in the way.  No amount of good deed can atone for evil.  Except man’s sin be put right and pardoned there is no hope!  And there is no hope in man for that vital work. 

God has long ago established the principle that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22).  In God’s reckoning death is sin’s due.  That’s what Jesus was all about.  God sent His own Son to die in man’s place (for God does indeed have a Son, as Psalm 2 makes clear).  Jesus allowed the punishment and death due to man to fall upon Himself in the suffering of the cross.  He was not weak.  He allowed what happened there in grace, that He might carry the power of sin away in death, that He might rise in victory over death forevermore, and that all who stand with Him might not bear their own judgment for their sin.  Now through faith in Jesus Christ, a soul finds forgiveness in the only way he can, not by his earning, but only by receiving it from God.

This does not make a Christian free to sin.  It makes him a loving, grateful child of God, who is learning to choose not to offend his holy heavenly Father by his sin anymore.



Evolution and the Bible Married?!

Some thoughts for those confused souls who want to believe both the Bible and evolutionary theories, thinking long ages of evolution can somehow be married to Bible truth.

Bible – Creation is a finished event, for “He rested from all His work which God created and made” (Gen. 2:3; Ex. 20:11), and “the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb. 4:3).

Evolution – “Creation” is an ongoing progression, for the development of all things is still becoming, a matter of natural processes which can be studied in operation now.

Bible – God created plants and creatures to reproduce “after his kind” (10 times in Gen. 1).  “After” – each new generation following the last in a fixed kind of flesh.  “His kind” – each differing “kind” a different kind of flesh (cf. I Cor. 15:39).

Evolution – All comes from common flesh or ancestor.  And there are no fixed boundaries of flesh kinds, for flesh is ever in a flux of continual development.

Bible – All of God’s works are according to ordered plan (Isa. 46:11; Eph. 1:9), “decently and in order”, for He “is not the author of confusion” (I Cor. 14:33, 40).

Evolution – All developed through a meandering trial and error, hit and miss process of random mutations with no apparent ordered design or Designer.

Bible – Man brought death into existence, through sin, “for since by man came death” (I Cor. 15:21; Rom. 5:12).

Evolution – Death brought man into existence, the fossil record presumed to show “millions of years” of life and death until man’s eventual development.

You cannot believe both I’m afraid, for these two views are clearly contradictory, proclaiming one or the other a lie. 

“Choose you this day whom ye will serve”



Headaches of Science

One of the many headaches evolutionary “science” faces is that when life forms begin to show in the fossil layers, they come in with a rush and with great complexity, rather than the slow rise from scarcity to abundance and from “simple” life forms to complex, as the evolution model would expect.  Could the model perhaps need adjustment?  Of course the biblical model suggests that the fossil records were laid down by Noah’s Flood.  This would imply an abundance of complex life forms from the first sedimentary layers, as the record shows.  Would it not seem that the Bible model is more likely correct?  As well, when the Lord spoke all sea creatures into existence on the 5th day of His creative week, saying in Genesis 1:20, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life”, He filled the waters with an abundance of life at that point.  The terms mean what they say – “bring forth abundantly” – abound, teem, swarm.  He filled on the 5th day the waters He separated out empty of life on the 2nd & 3rd days.

Be not faithless but believing my friend.  Don’t let your courage be bludgeoned into close-mouth quietude by the scorning “oppositions of science falsely so called”.  It’s all too evident that “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”.  And it is equally evident that the Lord then later destroyed most of life on earth, because “the wickedness of man was great”, laying down the fossil record.  Those records, which science so foolishly misreads, record far more than God-rejecting men care to admit.  They ensure man’s own ultimate doom at the hands of that One willing to “destroy man whom I have created.”



Things Self-Evident

One is sometimes given the impression by evolution’s defenders of a relatively complete array of transitional forms with a few elusive missing links.  How convincing were it true.  What has actually been found in the fossil records is relatively minor changes consistent with what we see within species today, i.e. physical differences in people of differing race, physical variations within canine, equine, bovine, etc. – movement within phyla, but not from phylum to phylum, from “kind” to “kind”.  And then these trivial findings are speciously extended into the hypothetical in an effort to cover for the yet missing, really significant and essential transitional forms so vital to the theory of evolution.  This combined as well with a white-knuckled grip on homology as further “proof” of evolution.  One wouldn’t need homology if palaeontology proved the point.  There was a day when such an approach might have carried more weight, back when relatively few fossil forms had been discovered, and the scientific community was electric with anticipation of what would be found when more fossil evidence was produced.  And indeed there has been a veritable landslide of fossil discovery and research in recent decades, motivated partly by the earnest effort to find transitional forms. But, alas, the defenders of evolution still just don’t have anything more of any tangible significance.  They are still conjecturing fins to feet.  They are still hypothesizing scales fraying into the complex structure of feathers.  Where are these transitions?!  With all of the evidence that has come in, they would have found them by now . . . if they existed.  Logically we must assume that the majority of fossils would be made up of such transitional forms from phylum to phylum were the theory of evolution true.  And yet palaeontology just cannot find these genuinely convincing transitions!  Indeed, they never will, because they simply are not there! 

Evolutionists continue to imagine the wonder and intricacy of the eye or the brain developing in a universe where the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is apparent to all.  They cannot explain why the earliest geologic layers suddenly show complex life forms.  Self-evident it is that the theory of evolution is simply not logical.  The evidence does not match the theory.  The less biased can easily see this.  Oh I wouldn’t claim to be unbiased, but certainly less biased than the evolutionist, and less desperate too.

How right Peter was when writing of latter-day “willing ignorance” (II Pet. 3:5).  For the willingly ignorant, evolution is a has-to-be, despite the facts.  “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:22).



Why the Question?

Why would we raise a question mark over the historical and chronological truthfulness of Genesis 1-11?  Few people in possession of the facts question the truth of Bible history back to the life of Abraham anymore (Gen. 12), thanks partly to the work of archaeology.  So why would we view Genesis 1-11 any differently?  The manner of writing of these questioned chapters is the same as in the rest of the book.  Chapter 11 merges easily into chapter 12, suggesting no distinctions between the portions.  The only factor leading people to doubt these earlier chapters is that they appear perhaps a bit harder to believe than the later chapters of Genesis in the “light” of science.  Should ease of belief factor in our acceptance of Scripture portions?  And if the historical truthfulness of Gen. 1-11 is in doubt, why does it seem that neither Jesus nor the gospel writers knew that?  Jesus quoted from Gen. 1 & 2 in Matt. 19:4 & 5.  In Jn. 8:44 He referred to the fact of the fall, found in Gen. 3.  Jesus pointed to the events of Gen. 4 in Luke 11:51.  Need I continue?  It doesn’t appear that Jesus even suspected what the terribly smart of our day are so easily preaching.


 
Letter to the Lonely Lost

I hear you say that you’re not lonely.  Yet I think I’m hearing a lonely person in you?  You’ve asked me to pray for you and this I will do.  But I will pray that you might find what I have found, and what I know you are needing, indeed crying out for in the depths of your being. 

Many years ago I was a lonely young man.  Until one day I discovered something absolutely stunning, that the God of heaven, the Creator Himself wished to be my friend!  But the reason He could not be my friend was because my sin stood in the way.  I learned that He had taken steps to deal with my sin, at great cost to Himself.  He had sent His own Son Jesus to die in my place, to take the punishment I deserve.  And now, if I would just believe on Jesus, call on Him, cry out to Him, receive Him, God would actually pardon my sin and make me His own child!!!  And so at last there came a moment when I knew I must have God’s pardon.  And I cried out to Him for His help, and confessed before Him that I am a miserable sinner deserving His anger and judgment, and asked Him please in His mercy to forgive my sin because of what Jesus did for me.  And my friend, I was saved in that moment, forgiven by God, and I knew it!  From that day God is now my Father and is always with me!  I talk to Him and He speaks to me through His Word, the Bible.  He helps me in my walk through this life, as if a child walking beside his loving father, holding his hand.  And I live without fear of death anymore.  For I know to die will be for my soul to be with Him.  May the Lord lead you through to the life and love I’ve found in Jesus Christ.  For my God wishes to be your friend and Father too.

“As many as received Him [Jesus], to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born . . . of God” (John 1:12-13).

Rejoicing in Jesus,

Your Concerned Friend
 


Somebody Died for You

You’re walking to school, and you’re in a hurry.  It has just been one of those mornings.  Your mum was angry and you’re running quite late, so you’re thinking more about speed than caution, and about the trouble you’re likely to be in when you get to school.  You’ve already realized that, in your hurry, you forgot to pick up your lunch when you left the house, but it’s too late to go back and you’re bugged about that too.  And so you’re quite distracted as you walk along, but you’re not thinking about how distracted you are.  You’re thinking about all the things you have to think about, when, without really thinking about it, you step off the pavement to cross the street.

And as you step out into the street, suddenly you remember that in the back of your mind you’ve been hearing the droning sound of a motor getting louder.  But you didn’t really think about that until the moment you stepped off the pavement.  But that thought suddenly snaps to your complete attention with the terrifying sound of air brakes fully applied on the street behind you.  And you quickly turn your head to see over your backpack, a big truck coming right at you!!

Now our thoughts at such times can flash through our heads with incredible speed.  People tell of their whole life flashing before their eyes at such moments.  And in that blip of a second several thoughts zip through your mind all at once.  In an instant you recognize that there is no chance of your getting out of the way of that oncoming truck – too close! too late!  And in that same moment you know that there is no way that truck is going to be able to stop in time – too big! too close! too fast!  too late!  And with sudden desperation you catch your breath as it dawns on you that you are going to be hit! And there’s no escaping it!  In fact, because of the speed and size of that horrible monster coming at you, you’re going to be hit badly!

And just then, almost in the very same moment that these thoughts are flashing through your consciousness, just as a thousand screams begin to rise in your throat, you’re suddenly hit from the side with such a tremendous thump that you’re knocked flying into a heap back onto the pavement, with the sickening sound behind you of a dull smack and grunt – something like the sound when you pop a big paper bag full of air.

As you quickly pick yourself up from the pavement, breathless and fearful that you might be hurt, you’re distantly aware that the truck has rolled on past and is grinding to a stop a little ways down the street.  Your first thought being that you were actually hit and thrown by the truck, you’re quite amazed to see that you don’t seem to be injured at all!

And then, another sound suddenly captures all of your attention.  A sound you’ll never forget!  You hear a strange sort of groaning, rasping breath behind you on the street.  And you quickly turn to see the most unbelievable sight.  There you see the crushed and battered body of a man, lying in an unnaturally twisted sort of way, there on the street where you just were. And it’s like you’re in a dream as you find yourself walking over to the mutilated form of that man, wondering how in the world he got there?  And what could have happened to him?  And knowing that it must have been that truck that made such a mess of his ruined body.  You’re vaguely thinking these things when suddenly you realize that the man is looking at you – and looking at you with something so out of place in his eyes, something quite unexpected.  He’s looking at you with compassion, with such unbelievable love and concern in his eyes.  And as you stand there dazed, stunned with it all; the twisted body of a man here on the street, and with what life is left in him, he’s looking up at you with such genuine compassion.  It just doesn’t make sense.

That’s when you realize that he’s trying to say something to you, but he’s able to speak only very faintly.  And so you bend close to hear him, with an awful sick feeling rising in your stomach.  And he’s saying (gasping) with his last breath, “ . . . saw the truck coming . . . no time to shout . . . pushed you out of the way . . .”.  And then you saw.  You were looking into those eyes of compassion, and you saw as his life slipped away from him, and you knew that he was gone.  And you were left standing there on the street over a dead man, as people began to run up to you.  Oh the shock as it all came clear to you in that moment of dawning, that this man – this incredible, caring man – had seen you thoughtlessly step out into the street, and had seen the truck coming at you, and had reacted in a moment and dove across in front of that truck, and had hit you with enough force to push you out of the way, before he himself had been hit and killed – instead of you – instead of you!  And now you’re standing there looking down at his dead and destroyed body.  This one who gave his life for yours!  And you know that you’ll never be the same.  You know that if he had not done what he did, sacrifice his own life, it would be your twisted and broken body lying there on the street right now!

And then a wave of nauseated anguish sweeps over you as you look down on that blessed, broken man – as you realize that it’s your fault, your thoughtless stupidity that caused the death of that incredible, caring man.  And you want more than anything else in life to say, “Thank you, sir!  Oh thank you for saving my life!  Oh I’m so sorry!” 

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

What Jesus Christ the Son of God did for us is much like this man in my story.  He did die in your place and mine.  Even when we hated Him, when we deserved His wrath, when we were not good, but sinners against His perfect nature!  And because He rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father, you and I can say “thank you!”  We can say “I’m so sorry for putting you there!” 

Have you ever done that?  Have you turned to Him with thankful, sorrowful, repentant heart and received Him as your own Saviour from sin?



I’m a Raindrop

I was sitting and watching the rain lightly fall, and I got to thinking of those little raindrops.  As we know, each one is a collection of water formed around a dust particle in the moist atmosphere of a cloud.  Then it falls from its misty place, bringing the benefit of water to earth.  A bit of a dirty start, yet how vital for life those blessed drops.

My thoughts then went to how I’m like one of those little raindrops sent and spent for earth’s benefit.  My life was like a dust particle, a little insignificant piece of dirt.  From dust the Lord formed man, and in the filth of sin was my existence.  Until Jesus found me, and I was born anew by faith in Him.  Then He began to change me, filling my heart and mouth with His reviving, life-giving words, turning my life to something useful.  Now I too am sent to earth, to be spent in bringing His benefit to man. 

There’s not much good this one little drop can bring.  But when sent with enough fellow drips the Lord can make a proper shower of us, a shower of blessing, yea storming the earth with the life-giving truth of His eternal words.

“The mouth of the righteous is a well of life” (Prov. 10:11)



Book of Life

Commonly arising in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is reference to the heavenly record called “the book of life”.  This book appears to be a roll of those who will enter the eternal rest and joy of God’s presence.  In fact, the Great White Throne judgment of those eternally lost will be based on names not found written in this book (Rev. 20:12 & 15, twice repeated for emphasis).

As early as Exodus 32:32 Moses suggested to the Lord that he be blotted “out of Thy book” for the sake of his disobedient people.  The Lord responded, “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book”.  This seems to imply that all names begin there, some later blotted out when confirming their souls in sin.  The same is implied in Psalm 69:28, when David prayed that his enemies, “be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous”.

Other portions speaking of this book include Daniel 12:1, where the future deliverance of the Jewish remnant is prophesied, even “every one that shall be found written in the book”, and Luke 10:20, where Jesus encouraged joy in His disciples since their names were “written in heaven”.  Compare as well Phil. 4:3 & Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 21:27.

Christ’s assurance that the names of the overcomers will not possibly be blotted from the book of life in Rev. 3:5 presents a problem for some, since it seems to imply potential loss of salvation, that the names of some could be blotted out.  It’s important to recognize here that Christ’s words are more assurance of eternal security, than inference of insecurity.  To be fair, this is only an assurance of names not possibly to be removed, proving the possibility of gaining such security without threat of removal.  ’Tis a word meant to release not increase anxiety.  Compare a similar form in John’s words elsewhere in Jn. 6:37 & 10:27-30.

But again, there is difficulty in concluding whether names are written in when saved, or all names begin in the book of life, only to be blotted out when a soul is confirmed as certainly lost.  Jesus Christ “tasted death for every man”, thus perhaps leaving every man with the tentative entry of his name in the book, its continuance there to be confirmed by his response to the gospel offer of salvation in Christ.  It seems that all the saved, at the moment of their salvation, find their names confirmed as irremovable from the book. 

To make our continuance in salvation in any way dependent upon our good deeds is to speak of salvation by works.  But God speaks of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, and “that [salvation] not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).  The apostle Paul’s confidence for eternity was not in his own keeping, but in the Lord, who “shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom” (II Tim. 4:18). 


 Hell is Real

In our study of Revelation 14:9-12, that fearful announcement of doom upon all who worship Antichrist in the last days, we are confronted with a graphic description of hell.  Consider;

The agony of hell (vs. 10) – Torment “with fire and brimstone”.  Jesus said the same of the perishing man in Luke 16, “in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments” (vs. 23).  The man himself titled his eternal abode “this place of torment”, expressing the main feature of the place!  Compare the phrase so common in Matthew’s gospel, “gnashing of teeth”, describing response to extreme pain.  There can be no fair questioning of the actual, unimaginable agony of hell. 

The eternality of hell (vs. 11) – “For ever and ever” is literally “into the ages of the ages”.  Hell’s torments are no momentary thing.  No sudden and complete annihilation out of existence and sensibility.  No Catholic purgatory, coming at last to a hoped for end.  Compare Christ’s repeated reference to the same, “where . . . the fire is not quenched” (Mk. 9:43-49).

The constancy of hell (vs. 11) – While the redeemed find “rest from their labours” (vs. 13), those who perish will never again know even a moment’s rest.  Only unrelenting anguish of soul.  No hope, no help, no horizon.  A one-way track of horror, hatred, heartache, and hurt extending into the vast and ageless expanse of eternity!

The reality of hell – Fools mock belief in a literal hell.  With broad brush of deceit liberal “scholars” think to whitewash over such difficult assurances from God, denying the obvious reading.  There can be no question that a real hell is clearly taught in the Bible!  Jesus said more about hell than all other New Testament contributors combined.  The answer is not to deny, but to allow such truth to lead us to a proper response.  To attempt to bring temporary comfort to our hearts by explaining away God’s truth is to play the fool.