August 19, 2012

July 1, 2012

June 30, 2012

June 11, 2012

  • God Wouldn't Stay in His Room!

                

            Since the fall of humanity in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to sever the intimate relationship they had enjoyed with their creator, Yahweh God, there has been a deep divide.  There was a separation, an alienation, a hostility and for them--death as they were cast out of Eden where the tree of Life remained.  For God, His inter-sanctum was Heaven, the most Holy Place of His dwelling.  A typical view of His usual domain is an immense room centered by a throne with a sea of glass surrounding it and immersed in unapproachable light emanating from the glory of His presence.  It is a profoundly sacred place.

             In stark contrast is the earth which is clearly depicted by Scriptures as a polluted and completely profane environment, corrupted by satan and sin, and plagued by death.  It should not be surprising therefore that on those rare occasions when Yahweh visited earth, it was a big deal.  Often fire (a cleansing agent), smoke, bright glistening light (unbearably bright) or the thunderous rushing sound of great volumes of water accompanied Him.  And of course whenever the Holy God of Heaven came into the midst of sinful unholy human beings, people died--often a lot of them.  Yahweh God knew this.  So, although we might think His remaining in Heaven would be a good thing for us, He understood that it wasn’t.

            Though confining Himself to Heaven for the short term might seem to be good for sparing human life, in reality Yahweh knew full well that that would mean the ultimate death for all  humanity.  Jeremiah had spoken quite correctly; “I know God, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives, that men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of life” (Jeremiah 10:23 [MSG]).  And the Psalmist backed that up with the clear assertion that people are totally incapable of keeping “themselves alive” (Psalm 22:29).  Humankind without divine intervention, implodes completely.  It is an inevitable, but intolerable reality for both ourselves and God!

    Consider the impassioned cry of Yahweh over His creation as viewed through the pen of Hosea His prophet: 

                        

            This reading contains both the dilemma and its solution.  The Holy God of Heaven loves intensely and has always longed for an intimately close relationship with an unholy people that His Holiness cannot tolerate.  People need  an intimately close relationship with Him for their very existence.  They cannot live without Him!  However, it is humanly impossible for His people to erase (even if they wanted  to which they often did not!) the anger and hostility that their sinfulness had created.  The answer to this impossible dilemma is that God is not human.  God is GOD.  As God, He has done the impossible!   He has both retained His innate Holiness and intimately embraced a people that had been very unholy (He has come into their very midst for their good!).

            Jesus, the Immanuel (‘God with us’) came to earth, lived a perfect life, died a perfect death, was raised from the tomb and ascended on high presenting Himself (and His blood) as atonement for the sins of all humanity before His Father’s throne once for all time.  As He died on the cross, Jesus had cried out; “It is finished!”  And in that moment of His death, the veil or curtain of the temple had been ripped from top to bottom signifying that free and open access to the Father was now available to all  people everywhere through His Son, Jesus Christ. The work had been done and Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father on High.

            As long as God stayed in His throne room [Heaven], there would be distance, alienation, enmity, hostility, anger, wrath, separation----and death–for humanity.  It was an intolerable situation both for us--and  for God.  As long as we were separated from God--the source of life, we were, distant, alienated and condemned-without help or hope in this world.  And this was a big deal for God as well.  We need God for life, but He has chosen to need us for love!  And because of this great and profound love and compassion for His people and the total ruin that devastated them, God couldn’t stay in His room  and refused to do so!  

            The message of the ‘torn curtain’ is that God is no longer angry with us—He is out of His room!   Not only are we now able to approach the majestic throne of Yahweh God with confidence and boldness, but He also now has free and open access to us, His people!  He is here  in our midst—among us  and there is now no fear, devastation or death!  He dwells among us for our good and blessing!  And it is the message of Peace!

                         

                                                                                                                                                             

    [References  for further study:  Isaiah 59:2, Revelation 4:1-8, I John 5:19, II Corinthians 4:4, Hebrews 9:1-28, I Timothy 3:16, John 19:30, Mark 15:37-8, Hebrews 10:12 and Revelation 21:1-7] 

     

June 6, 2012

April 20, 2012

  • Paradigm Shifts

    ParadgmShfts4-12
    other tools and materials that I had failed to place within easy reach beside me on the floor in the first place. Getting up off the floor to run for another tool used to be so effortless--now it is often a long agonizing, time consuming process (I now thank God for grand-children and cell phones–"Debs would you please get me a phillips screwdriver?")! Such jobs are eventually completed, but the time in which it takes me to do them has increased dramatically. I don’t like it, but I have come to accept the reality. I now simply live with it.

          In some respects, living as a believer may be similar. The Apostle Peter spoke of the need to "crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it [we] grow up in [our] salvation, now that [we] have tasted that the Lord is good" (I Peter 2:2). Life as a follower of Christ is not static, without development or progression. He speaks of some things that we are to grow out of: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. The motivation for casting these things aside is the fact that we have experienced the Lord’s goodness in our lives. As difficult and time consuming as it may be to rid ourselves of these proclivities, we nevertheless move to do so because we are enjoying the Lord’s goodness toward us.

          Until recently, in the course of heated discussions or debate, I’ve often heard myself repeat some form of the following statement: "If you want to believe that, that is your business!" I don’t do that anymore (at least not quite so often). Martin Luther, appearing before the Diet of Worms in 1521 exposed and repudiated this kind of thinking. In response to their demands that he renounce or affirm his teachings, he told them; "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scripture or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

          Convictions--strongly held beliefs, are not to be exchanged or released in a light or frivolous manner. We must not allow ourselves to be "tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead . . , we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ" (Ephesians 4:14-15). Occasionally, however, the process of growing up in Christ requires that we understand that change, as unpleasant as it may be, is not only not a bad thing, but may be the only viable option available to us in our determination to be true to God!

          Saul (later the Apostle Paul) found this to be very true. As he drew near to the city of Demascus, he was confronted with a colossal life changing paradigm shift. In promoting his faith and religion as a Jew, he had been doing everything within his power to oppose and destroy Christianity and those who had embraced it. At that very moment when Jesus the Christ confronted him on that road, Saul was compelled to completely and dramatically change his mind and life! He did a complete about face and instead of fiercely opposing the Gospel, he soon became one of the greatest advocates for Christ and the faith. The Lord should have struck His enemy, Saul, DRT (‘Dead Right There’). Instead, in His mercy, Jesus chose to confront Saul with his utter foolishness. Because of this, Saul had to make the immediate right decision, and he did!

          However, in a sense, I think this was extremely difficult for him. It was not one that I think he particularly relished having to make--especially if he had had the time to think it through. Yes, it was the right decision--one that he quite willingly made, and yet it was one that would have a radical effect on how he was to live--and die, as well. In part, Paul described some of the effects of his decision to follow and serve Christ;

                            　Paradigm4-12.PhilQute

          How long, do you suppose it took Paul to work through the many far reaching implications of this choice and the tremendous impact they had upon his life? I suspect it was a never ending process that continued til the day of his death.

           Believers are confronted with life and the ensuing process of living that life. Our inflexible loyalty to Yahweh God and His Christ must remain intact and every onslaught that is thrown against us by the enemy, must be faced with courage, determination and integrity. And yet, an integral part of that determination will also involve our willingness to allow the ramifications of the Gospel to work completely through and through our thinking and convictions like yeast in a batch of dough.

          It is true that Jesus accepts us as we are, but His clear intentions are that we not remain in that static condition before Him. He intends to do major renovations in our lives–perhaps even radical alterations to the way that we think and live.

          Reality or truth never changes, but our understanding and perceptions of truth probably will and should. This was what Peter meant when he encouraged his readers to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18). It means not just making incidental cosmetic changes, but learning again and again and again, the very heart of Jesus in our increasing understanding of what is vitally important. This will often result in us discarding what we may even once assumed was essential. And in the process, we will be released from lives of self-defeat and self-condemnation or congratulation. Jesus said; "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32)."

          Strong beliefs and convictions hardly ever come to us easily and they die even harder (and they should). Before God, deeply held convictions are not to be trifled with. We should never flippantly pick and choose or abruptly shift the way we think or live! Changing our minds--giving up ideas that have been held dear to our hearts for years must be released cautiously--I doubt that they will often be things that we will want to change our minds about. It is vital that we come to the place of releasing cherished items of faith not because we desire to do so but because we have finally realized that not letting them go even now hinders God’s rule in our lives. Really it is an expression of rebellion against God and what He ultimately wants for us.

          Who we are must always be tempered by our understanding of Who God is and what He convinces us we need to be and do to become more like Him! And this is hardly ever an easy task.  But--He gently and insistently whispers; "I will never leave you nor ever forsake you!"--and that's  enough to get us home!

    LAWEnvro

April 8, 2012

April 5, 2012

  • 'Click' the link below to view the lesson for July 8th on my web bookpage:                                                                                     

    http://www.turniphdpubs.byethost32.com/page44.html         (Fighting the Madness with Madness!)

     http://www.turniphdpubs.byethost32.com/index.html                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

          

March 4, 2012

February 20, 2012

  • George Washington, the Father of our Nation

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    February 22, is George Washington’s Birthday!

    George Washington has correctly been called the ‘indispensable man’ of U.S. history. Yet, many modern U.S. history text books tell us more about Marilyn Monroe than about Washington. To our shame, we don’t even independently celebrate his birthday anymore.

    While all the other Founding Fathers were signing founding documents, George Washington was in the field training an army in the courage, stamina and skill required to stand behind the words on those documents. General Washington fought long and hard against the most powerful army on earth for the birth of freedom in America.

    After winning a nearly impossible victory, he served as his new nation’s first constitutional president for two terms and then stepped down, refusing to trade our hard-fought freedom for the personal prestige of wearing a crown. Washington lived in an era of tyrants; like King George III, Robespierre, Napoleon, and others. Washington had enough popularity and prestige to become the first American king. Times were chaotic and these United States were not so united. Calls for him to rule for life were frequent and loud. Nevertheless, he gave up his power and returned to his farm. For over 2,000 years since Cincinnatus returned to his plow, no leader in similar circumstances had done what Washington did.

    Washington’s greatness can be seen in contrast to the power-hungry Napoleon who, in exile, whined, "They wanted me to be another Washington." Napoleon was incapable of such greatness. As a general, Washington overcame immense disadvantages. Napoleon exploited the disadvantages of others. Washington lost more battles than he won, but hung tough until he won his last one. Napoleon won nearly every battle he fought, except his last. Napoleon had genius, but Washington had something better; moral character and strength of conviction! Even King George III once called his nemesis "the most distinguished man alive."

    Congress wanted to bury Washington in the Capitol Rotunda. Washington declined. For this democracy to flourish, he believed, the Capitol must not be a mausoleum for any man but a house for the people. His love of liberty trumped his vanity.

    by Joel Solliday

    Some memorable quotes:

    * "The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained." ~ George Washington (1732-1799), First Inaugural Address. April, 1789.

    * "Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government." ~ George Washington, Farewell Address. September 19, 1796.

    * "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." ~ George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

    * "We cannot expect national morality to prevail in exclusion of religious principle." ~ George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796.

    [Many have maligned and ridiculed George Washington and others (like Abraham Lincoln), and anyone who would suggest that there is anything in their lives worth emulating by people today. And yet, though it must be admitted that these great people very much had ‘feet of clay’ (they were, after all, very human, prone to the same passions and serious errors/sins as we all are), they aspired to and accomplished some very admirable things in their lives. We would do well to consider them and allow ourselves to be challenged by them. LAW]