Time to Shine

“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Pr 17:17 AV)

Such an appropriate verse considering what we are all going through.  This time of difficulty will challenge the very core of who and what we are.  The verse above is a reminder we are blessed to have people.  My fear is we will begin to see one another as a threat rather than our fellow human beings who are in the same predicament as we are.  However, I have high hopes.  All one has to do is look at the response of our nation in such times as 9/11, Katrina, or any other natural or manmade disaster.  We seem to fall back on our roots.  We are first and foremost a Christian nation.  Whether the secular world wants to admit it or not, that is our history.  That is our foundation.  And it shows.  Just a few stories to encourage your heart.

I relayed the experience of last Friday when I was sent to the store to get the hottest commodity on the market – toilet paper.  What an experience.  There was no shoving, pushing, or the threatening of life and limb.  It was very civil.  We may point out the absurdity of a world going nuts over toilet paper, but let us look at another aspect.  The civility of a Christian nation.  There was a video posted recently of a pallet being unloaded by shoppers as a way of revealing our panic over toilet paper.  Point made.  But I saw another side.  I saw a group of people who were not fighting.  I saw a group of people who were handing to others a package of toilet paper.  There was no shoving.  No pushing.  A very neighborly way of distribution.  There was another example of such an attitude.  As I waited on my friend to finish his shopping, a man came up to me and shared that all this hoarding was unnecessary.  It was just he and his wife so he didn’t need to hoard TP.  Cooler heads, or should we say, Christianized heads, were prevailing.

As a believer and called man of God, I wish to encourage all to remember we are not isolated.  Even though the protocol is isolation, the human race is not.  We are fellow human beings who are going through this together and we need to help where we can.  We need to be a help and assistance to those who need it.  There shouldn’t be anyone in a high-risk group out and about fending for their own needs.  Those of us who can, should run some errands and do their shopping.  If we have more than enough for our own, we should consider sharing with those who have none.  There are many ways in which we can be a neighbor or a brother.  Now is the time for the world to see what makes America great.  It isn’t our prosperity.  It isn’t our politics.  What makes, and always have made, America great is our values and care one for another.

Own Your Opinion

“The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.” (De 17:7 AV)

It’s easy to make an accusation or condemn one as guilty.  However, if the one making the accusation must live with the consequences of his judgment, he might not be so quick to judge.  In our passage above, if a person was found guilty of a capital offense, those who found him guilty had to be the first ones to cast stones upon the condemned as do so until he expired.  The purpose might be multifaceted here.  It could be for closure.  If the judges, who most certainly would have contained the victimized, could execute the guilty, it would relieve the grief they felt at the innocent death of a loved one.  Another purpose is stated above.  One must own their opinions.  They cannot render judgment and then walk away from the consequences of that judgment.

Sorry, but another illustration from my days as a juror.  In the jury selection phase, there were many questions asked of the pool.  Some were generic questions that would apply no matter the case at hand.  Other questions were geared more towards the nature of the case.  Our defendant was accused of violating his parole agreement sixteen times.  If I had to guess what those violations were, I think they would have been violating an order not to contact the victim and the violations were text messages sent by the accused.  We will never know because a plea was reached.  Anyway, a question was asked if we could render a fair verdict even though the defendant had twenty-something charged leveled against him, or if we thought the sheer number of counts meant he was guilty of something.  Two ladies vigorously stated the defendant was guilty of something if he had twenty-something charges leveled against him.  They rendered a verdict without hearing all the evidence.  Why was that important to the rest of us?  It revealed the severity of what we were asked to do.  We were asked to render a judgment that would forever alter someone’s life.  If we were not people of conscience, then we could not serve.  In other words, the defense counselor was manifesting this truth in the question he posed.  Our judgment of guilty would forever alter this defendant’s life.  More importantly, we would have to live with our opinion and know that a man was behind bars for a very long time because of our judgment of guilty.

One would wonder if we would forebear our judgments if we had to live with the consequences of those judgments.  Especially if they involve the character of another.  If we spread vicious opinions of another, it will forever affect his or her life.  The opinions of others will change.  Their interaction with the individual will change.  I cannot imagine what it would feel like to participate in the execution of another.  Even if that person took someone close to me.  I think it would forever alter my life.  A talebearer rarely must suffer the consequences of freely shared opinion.  But a talebearer should.  Those who would lend an ear must hold the talebearer accountable for words ill-spoken.  If we are required to render a judgment, let us remember that judgments have consequences.  These consequences are not in a vacuum.  They will affect us whether we like it or not.  Be prepared to cast the first stone and stay with it until that judgment is complete.  Otherwise, leave it to someone with a conscience.

Tune In for Good News

“The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.” (Pr 15:30 AV)

Our media thrives on bad news.  Human tragedy and crisis are sellers.  Their objective is to get you to listen or view so that you’ll be exposed to the advertisements of their clients.  This is how they make their money.  They have to hawk the products of those who advertise with them but they cannot sell to an empty audience.  So, the more tragic or critical a news story is, the more likely it is we will tune in.  Our eyes cannot avert a dramatic situation.  Just think of a rubber-necker delay.  Everyone wants to know what happened.  Was it an accident?  Is it a drug bust?  Do I know the people involved?  We gravitate towards the depravity of mankind.  We cannot help it.  If there is a tornado, we are tuned into the Weather Channel so we can see the depths of our human condition and the courage and faith it takes to overcome.  When I was a kid, if there were fire trucks called to a fire, we would hop on our bikes to go see what happened.  The problem is, a  steady diet of bad news (much being overly exaggerated), will sap the life out of our souls.  Just recently, a foolish Ohio official made the statement there could be 100,000 infected citizens of their state with absolutely no data to back it up.  We as God’s people have the answer.  We have the good news which the world desperately needs.  We have the good report that will calm a world that has gone mad!  And by the way, believer, watch how much doom and gloom coverage you consume.  Balance it with news from unbiased sources who are not out to make a profit or influence an election. 

There is a verse that I often quote.  “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” (Ec 7:8 AV)  I have quoted this verse to people going through a difficult time.  The point of the verse is that even if our times are troublesome, give it enough time and you will see God’s hand in it all.  You will also see that good can come of it.  Tragedy is not one-faced.  It is not without some good which comes from it.  How we respond to trouble tells us a lot about ourselves.  If we cower in the corner and fear for every day, then our faith was not very big at all.  As Solomon says, “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” (Pr 24:10 AV)  We are fainting because we have lost our ability to live in faith and hope.  This faith and hope come not from all the bad news but must come from a good report.  As believers, we have much to report.

For example, the most important of all good reports is the gospel itself.  There is security in death.  Having our sins forgiven and covered in the blood of Christ removes the curse of sin and death.  Paul asks this very question and gives glorious hope.  “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Co 15:55-57 AV)  As we mentioned yesterday, we all have a 100% chance of dying.  It is inevitable.  Whether by a virus, a disease, and accident, or simply old age, we will all die.  This is not a defeat.  That is if we are saved.  It is a victory!  Another glorious good report is God’s faithfulness.  “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Heb 13:5 AV)  If we know Christ as our Savior, He is always by our side, virus or not.  We can also have the good report that God has a plan for it all.  This tribulation is not random.  It is all a part of what the LORD desired for mankind and that is, to be drawn to Him, changed into the likeness of Christ.  “The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” (Ps 138:8 AV)

So, believer, how are you going to react?  Are you going to sap the life out of everyone you meet by rehashing all the bad news?  Or, are you going to do what the LORD would have you to do and be that ray of hope the world desperately needs?  What kind of report are you going to give?  One that takes away every last ray of sunshine?  Or, are you going to help the world see that trouble or no, God has not abandoned them and all they have to do is turn to Him?  The choice is yours.

Prudence and Prayer. Not Panic!

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps 27:1 AV)

There is great fear gripping our world and nation right now.  Some of it is warranted.  Most of it is not.  The media has hyped a concern into a crisis.  We know this is not, nor will it be, a globally devastating pestilence equal to or greater than the one which will arise in the tribulation.  If we are this upset over our current threat, imagine what it will be like during the seven-year reign of the Antichrist.  Within the first few judgments, a sixth of the world will perish.  That is far greater than what we may experience through our present situation.  The key is to know what will happen to your soul when you die.  Not by what means you will die.  Many percentages are flying around.  If we look at the numbers with the most data possible, the fatality rate is somewhere between %0.6 and 2.7%.  Perhaps higher if you look at other numbers.  What the world is forgetting is that everyone has a 100% chance of death!  It is far more important to consider the end of death than by what means one gets there.

But I want to talk to the saints this morning.  Yesterday, a member and I were shopping for staples to prepare for our quarterly men’s prayer breakfast.  Cheesy grits and shrimp!  Awesome.  We had to go to one of those warehouse outlets.  My wife wanted me to pick up some toilet paper because it was being rationed.  To say it was a madhouse is an understatement.  Praise the LORD everyone was acting sane.  No violence.  But the stores are completely empty and people are acting as though we are facing the end of the world.  What I noticed was two types of people.  Some clearly had fear all over their faces.  Others seemed as though there was no care in the world.  There was no in-between.  One was either grossly concerned for their safety as well as all they love, and others who seemed to see this for what it is.  What shocks me is this crisis has the potential of collapsing our economy and our churches.  Churches, in particular, are going to be hard hit.  When a crisis comes, benevolence depletes.  I fear that when this is all over, there will be many churches shuttered because they could not afford their present financial obligations.

What I am not saying is that we should ignore prudent steps to avoid catching an illness.  But let us remember, illness and death are the result of the fall of man in the garden and will never be eradicated.  At least not until eternity.  For believers to treat this crisis as the world does and panic because the world is, is a sad testimony to the powerful God in whom we say we believe.  Again, don’t misunderstand me.  I have my annual check-up in the middle of next month.  I plan on shaving my goatee and wearing a face mask when I go.  A simple adjustment to lessen the chances I’ll get sick.  After all, I will be in a waiting room with sick people.    Fearing a disease that results in death is not a Christian attitude.  Security in our salvation and faith in our God is.  Let us be prudent.  But let us not panic.  Otherwise, we have no good news to share with anyone.  If our God is not greater than the smallest bug, then our God isn’t great at all.

In closing, let me say the greatest weapon against any threat is prayer.  I know the left likes to mock it, but that’s o.k.  They don’t have to thank us for praying when God answers those prayers.  Let us pray for our leaders.  Most importantly, they need prayer for wisdom.  Let us pray for our scientists and pharmaceutical companies that God would lead them to get to market and inoculation quickly.  Let us pray for those who will inevitably succumb to this bug.  Especially the elderly.  The latest statistic I saw was a mortality rate of 8.4% of those over 80 years old.  Let us pray for the families that will be impacted by this.  Let us pray for the businesses that are already struggling to stay open and the workers who will have no wage while we navigate these waters.  Let us pray that if we are a Christian nation, our true spirit of compassion will rise to the top.  Just like it did on 9/11!  Just like it does for every national emergency.  Let us pray the spirit of benevolence, charity, and kindness may spew forth.  Most of all, let us pray that lost souls will come to Christ through this all!

Inferiority, Not Superiority

“Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.” (De 9:4 AV)

This is good advice.  The last thing we need to do is get an elevated opinion of ourselves.  The temptation is easy to understand.  Once Israel began to possess the land, they could get the idea their success came from their own righteousness.  They could believe God was judging other nations because Israel was the holy nation.  This temptation is one of which the saints of God often face.  When we see God using us to correct someone else, we can get in our mind the idea that we have not been corrected because we are somewhat more righteous than the one whom we helped.  Paul warns of this attitude.  He states, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Ga 6:1 AV) Christ also reminds us to remove the beam from our own eye before we help someone else remove the beam that is in their eye.  His point is we all have beams.  We all have faults.  We are to help others remove their faults.  Absolutely.  But we are to remember we have faults of our own.

To elevate oneself to a morally superior status is dangerous.  If we begin to think ourselves more morally superior to others, it will not take very long before we fall into something equal to, or worse, then that which we have judged.  I had an interesting experience.  Last year, I was finally seated as a juror.  The reason I say finally is that every time I get a new license, whatever algorithm is used to send out jury duty letters tends to pick my name.  No kidding.  Since I moved from my father’s house in my early twenties, I have been summoned no less than six times.  Up until the last time, I had been excused because I have three siblings who work in law enforcement.  Coupled with the fact I am a minister and am uncomfortable with sitting on a jury where there will be one side of the dispute to whom I will never have ministry based on their feelings over the verdict, serving on a jury was not going to happen.  That is, until this last time.  What I found interesting was the dichotomy of the jurors waiting to sit and hear the case.  We were removed from the courtroom twice.  Which means we all sat together for the better part of a day in a small room above the courtroom.  Conversations among jurors were about a myriad of things.  However, sometimes they delved into the case at hand.  Which, by the way, they were not supposed to.  Anyway, the interesting thing was the matter-of-fact way in which the jurors viewed the accusations against the accused.  To a person, not one of them expressed any hint of moral superiority.  The facts of the case were all that mattered.  This is crucial to be fair and impartial.  I was rather proud of being part of this group.

Every nation used of God to correct Israel made the mistake of feeling morally superior.  Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and even Germany all believed themselves to be superior to God’s people simply because they won a physical battle.  If the people of God are not careful, we can do the same thing.  If parents are not careful, they can do the same thing.  If any authority figure thinks he or she is morally superior to those whom they are correcting, they are doing the same thing.  God did not use Israel to chasten and judge the enemies of God because they were morally superior.   God used them because they were chosen as part of God’s plan.  A parent is not a parent because he or she is morally superior to a child.  A police officer is not one because he is morally superior to a criminal.  A boss is not a boss because he is morally superior.  A judge is not a judge because he or she is morally superior.  A teacher is not a teacher because she is morally superior.  Meekness, as Paul stated, is the key.  We are no better than the one whom we are correcting.  We need to remember this lest we fall into a worse situation than the ones whom we are trying to help.

Preferential Mercy

“And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” (De 5:10 AV)

God shows mercy to all.  In one form of another.  The Bible tells us He sends rain on the just and the unjust.  The fact we don’t get all we deserve in this life is a testament to the fact God is merciful.  However, there is a relationship between God’s mercy to those who love Him and seek to obey Him.  When the saints think of this truth, Romans 8:28 comes to mind.  It is evident there is more mercy for those who love the LORD than those who do not.  The LORD is a bit more tolerant of the errors of His people because they repent of their wickedness.  He is not so tolerant of those who want nothing to do with Him.

This principle is born out in our legal system.  Suppose there is a speed trap.  Two cars are pulled over.  Both drivers are given tickets for going fifteen miles over the speed limit.  Both have the same court date.  The first driver comes to court in ripped blue jeans, a t-shirt with obscene words on it, unkempt hair, and smells like a sewer.  The second driver comes with dress slacks and a button-up shirt.  His hair is neat and clean.  He is clean-shaven and it is apparent he showered.  The first driver, when called to the bench, was asked a plea.  Innocent was his plea.  The same was true of the second.  Then the judge looks up previous court records of the first driver.  She notices he has gotten multiple tickets in the past and is close to losing his license.  He has been fired from multiple jobs.  He has a record of misdemeanors going back several years.  The second has a completely spotless record.  He volunteers at a local soup kitchen.  He has stable employment and his address is a respectable apartment.  Which one do you think will garner more mercy from the judge?  The one who didn’t care one bit about following the law, or the second who made a one-time poor judgment?

We forsake our mercy when we refuse to capitulate to the presence and law of God.  We expect the LORD to rescue us from the messes we have caused all the while ignoring the word of God or showing no respect towards the LORD Himself.  God is very clear here.  He will show mercy towards those who love Him.  He will show mercy towards those who strive to live according to the word of God even if we fail from time to time.  If we will no honor the LORD, then we cannot expect Him to oblige us.  If we have no respect for the word of God, the house of God, the people of God, or the house of God, how can we reasonably expect the LORD to intervene on our behalf?  God makes promises.  These promises He intends to keep.  We forsake our own mercy when we disrespect the very One whose mercy we need the most

Inevitable fall; inevitable grace

“And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.” (De 4:28 AV)

This statement is a puzzling one.  Moses is speaking his final words to the children of Israel before he dies and Joshua assumes command.  They are about to cross over Jordan and claim the land given to them by God.  Canaan will soon be theirs.  These words are in the midst of other words that are meant to encourage.  Yet the words above seem to be defeatist.  In essence, Moses is telling the people when they capture the land of Canaan, they will fall to the temptations of the nations around them.  One would think these words are not the most encouraging words which can be spoken by a leader who is about to leave them.  What follows these words is the comforting truth that they will repent from their backsliding and God will work again for them.  What Moses is doing is preparing them for reality.  It is one thing to be positive.  It is one thing to encourage the people to always believe they will do nothing but please the LORD.  It is quite another to be honest letting the people know there will be times of failure.  It is important for reality to be shared.  Giving people false hope makes them frustrated in their walk with God.

One of the great ministries of my home church what their discipleship ministry.  My home church would have home bible studies with the newly saved and train them in the things of the Bible.  They would train them in the basics of doctrine and Christian living.  I remember our leader making the statement that the things over which we gain victory in our early Christian walk will seem minor compared to what faces us years down the road.  Getting our hair cut to acceptable lengths, trashing the rock music, ceasing the gutter mouth, etc all came rather easily.  He was right.  I could never have imagined the battles that would be fought, and still are fought, thirty-eight years later.  Our leader did the same as Moses.  He warned us that not all days would be good days.  The old man was still a part of who we were and we would succumb to it more than we wished to.  The old man is part of us until the day we die and there will be times it will entice us to make choices which we know we should not.  Times of backsliding is inevitable.  To think we can live our lives in the pleasure of God’s perfect will every waking moment of our lives is a great goal.  A wonderful goal.  An inspirational goal.  A goal that we should pursue with our whole being.  But this is also a goal that will fail.  The older we get in the LORD, the fewer these failures happen.  The more mature in the LORD we get, the less likely backsliding becomes a part of our walk.

The reason for this is found in the context of our verse above.  Moses rightly warns them there will be times of backsliding.  But he also encourages them that as much as these times are an inevitable event, so too is the mercy of God.  God forgives.  God restores.  God reconciles.  And God repairs.  The reality of our failures may be hard to face.  They are for me.  What encourages the failing saint is the nature of our faithful God.  As much as I do not like to read the book of Judges, it is as much a record of Israel’s failure as it is God’s mercy.  We cannot allow the Devil to convince us that God does not wish to show mercy.  He wants us to believe there is a point of backsliding from which the LORD will not bring us back.  This is not true.  Even if we are hopelessly backslidden, there will come a time when He calls us home and glorifies this sin-sick soul of ours.  The victory is guaranteed.  He will forgive.  He will restore.  We are not hopelessly defeated.  It will happen.  But the Father is waiting for His prodigal to get so sick and tired of his sin that he desires the love of the Father over any and all other enticements.  The Father will be there!  Count on it!