Becoming Jonathans Part 1

During my pre-pubescent years, I remember on more than one occasion my father impressing upon me that he had a sovereign right to rule in his own house. I didn't like it but I had to admit that a paddle in his hand sure did sting when he used it.

Even when I was older and bigger, I could not dissuade him from that sovereign right. So, in the natural order of things, I couldn't wait to get out of his house and 'be my own man.'

Of course that scene has come and gone full circle now in my life. My right to rule in my house was challenged and I prevailed...more or less...it seems that our dog usually got her way.

This perceived right to rule is why I find the relationship of Jonathan and David so intriguing.

Bitter For Sweet And Sweet For Bitter

 [Isa 5:20 KJV] 20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

We live in a rapidly changing world. The values of a virtuous society are being completely turned on its head. That moral center that is proven to be the blessing to any people is now thought to be a curse.

The Apostle Paul spoke of this as something that he called the mystery of lawlessness that is already at work in the world.

What is the mystery of iniquity or lawlessness that he wrote of in his second letter to the Thessalonians? (2 Thesss 2:7)

How is it already at work?

A trip back into time reveals what may be the answer.

Making Pearls

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." (Matt. 13:45, 46)

Sin wounds us and destroys the soul by keeping us from finding God. Yet in this parable, we learn that God can make something precious out of our sin and sorrows. Just as Jesus Christ has given all for us, we must be willing to give up all that we are to Him.

We also learn in this parable that the Kingdom is as precious to the King as it is to the citizens of the Kingdom. Each are willing to give all in order to gain it.

• The King gives all to gain a citizen, 
• The citizen gives all to gain the King.

The Kingdom of heaven and its King are:

1. Priceless
2. Hidden
3. Personally appropriated
4. A source of great joy
5. Some people stumble on to it and some are actively seeking it.
6. A personal transaction of giving up all that we have as the Lord Jesus has given up all that He has.

How the Pearl is Made

By wounding the inner mantle of an oyster, creating an inflammatory response, expending precious bodily fluids (Calcium Carbonate) the oyster or mollusk forms a hard, iridescent ball that when exposed to the sun, reflects its light like a rainbow.

Who Will Rule Egypt?

Isa 19:1	The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
Isa 19:2	And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom. Brother against Brother, city against city and every one against his neighbor By Mike Collett-White and Alastair Macdonald CAIRO | Fri Jul 5, 2013 7:46pm EDT (Reuters) - At least 24 people died across Egypt on Friday as Islamists opposed to the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi took to the streets to vent their fury at what they say was a military coup. Fierce clashes in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria left 12 dead and 200 injured, while in Cairo, five people were killed as pro- and anti-Mursi protesters ran amok in central areas and armored personnel carriers rumbled among them to restore calm. Five police officers were gunned down in separate incidents in the North Sinai town of El Arish, and while it was not clear whether the attacks were linked to Mursi's ouster, hardline Islamists there have warned they would fight back. Kingdom against Kingdom By Tarek Amara TUNIS | Thu Jul 4, 2013 12:44pm EDT (Reuters) - The toppling of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi divided the Middle East on Thursday, with Tunisia's ruling Islamists denouncing it as a coup while Gulf Arab leaders celebrated. The United States expressed concern at the overthrow of the elected Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood and called for a swift return to democracy, as did the European Union. But they stopped short of calling it a coup, which might have led to sanctions. The 54-nation African Union was likely to suspend Egypt for allowing "unconstitutional change", a senior AU source told Reuters. Across the Middle East, governments reacted to Mursi's fall in ways that reflected their embrace or loathing of political Islam.
Isa 19:3	And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. "Egyptians are deeply religious and superstitious at all levels of society. That is certain. Rich and poor alike keep talismans or purify their homes with incense. It is not unusual for Egyptians to observe the strictest religious rituals and, at the same time and without any sense of contradiction, hold to a belief in the protective blue bead, fortune-telling games, purifying with incense, palmistry and offerings to the divine (if only a piece of cloth), not to mention sacrifices..." Al Ahram weekly 11 - 17 June 2009  Issue No. 951

The Teachable God

Is it blasphemy to assert that God is teachable?

God is omniscient, He knows all things and does not need man to teach Him anything. Clearly, the Word of God teaches us that we have nothing to inform God of.

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being] his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and [who] instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?"

Isaiah 40:12-14

Yet, the idea that God is come in the flesh as a lowly carpenter's son, formed as an embryo in the womb of a young virgin is truly mysterious and beyond what we could imagine or even dare to contemplate, much less proclaim to the world.

"Without controversy, Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received up into glory." 1 Timothy 3:16

Allow The Plow

The danger of frost had not passed.

I thought that it had, but it came and took a toll on the new growth.
Fortunately the roots of the corn and tomatoes were well protected, but the leaves wilted and it will take awhile for new growth to emerge.

This is not unlike the chill that comes into my soul from the sin which so easily besets me.  Any new growth leading to fruitfulness is easily stifled.

The chill gives an advantage to that root of sin that is so insidious, I don't even realize when I am engaged in the idolatry of self. Only by God's grace does the rain of God's righteousness on newly plowed furrows of my soul restore me to fruitfulness.

It is the discipline of grace from God that cuts into the hardened clay of my heart and turns it over to expose this idolatry.  I do not like it, yet it deepens my experience with God.

When you or I allow the plow, we see what God sees, we know as

What Is Keeping You Out Of The Garden?

For people who live at latitudes that experience changing seasons, springtime is a delightful time. It motivates us to shrug of the doldrums of coldness and share in the experience of God's promise of new life springing up from soil once rendered dormant by the lack of warmth from the sun.

While I am anxious for the fruit of labors in the garden, I am not so crazy about the actual work involved in getting the earth ready to plant. What's more the prospect of what thorns, thistles and rock may be uncovered bars me from making the commitment to get into the garden.

Four Life Lessons From Boys Basketball

Are you a team player?

Recently, I took some time to watch some six year old boys play a game of supervised basketball. It was entertaining and instructive to note the differing levels of ability and participation in the game.

Many of the boys were eager learners. They were keen to take the ball and run with it. In their excitement they forgot or hadn't yet learned the fundamental rule to bounce the ball. They also crowded the ball making it difficult for the ball handler to make any progress.

Their outward appearance marked a distinction in what team they belonged to. One or two wore the uniform of the team but were clearly not part of the team and not the least bit interested in the game.

When Sin Does Not Feel Like Sin

I felt ashamed.

Our five year old grandson asked one of those probing questions that the adults in his life didn't want to answer. No, it's not what you might be thinking....it's worse.

It was asked on the periphery of my attention.  When I heard the dreaded, "Why don't you ask Steve?" I felt an overwhelming urge to run from the room, but I was trapped. I had to formulate an answer to a difficult question that a five year old could understand. 

I bailed. 

I fell back on a stock, simplistic, unsatisfying, albeit correct catch phrase.

The Blessing of Repentance

"Ya cain't git thar-a from here-a"

The two older men sat on the porch of the 'A' framed general store and 'fill up' station. It was like a scene out of Mayberry RFD only it was Asheville, North Carolina. My friend and I had been driving for nearly 20 hours, taking turns at napping and driving when we first realized that we were lost.

Well, that isn't really true. We had actually been on the road for 18 hours when we first realized we were lost.

Hmmm...my conscience is reminding me that it was my friend that realized that we were lost for two hours before I finally admitted it.

Okay, it was more like two and a half to three hours and it took me at least a half of an hour to admit it and relent to the rather strongly worded suggestion that we stop and ask for directions.

Turning into the morning shade of a quaint little general store, I approached the two seasoned citizens who had their gaze fixed on the new, but dusty, 1976 Toyota Corolla we were driving as we entered their domain.

Joy For The Journey

I am concerned that we are too focused on the trip rather than the destination.

Joy comes in anticipating our destination, not necessarily the ‘getting there’.

A visit to Grandma, Grandpa and the cousins in Waterloo, IA was a rare delight when I was a child. Riding to Grandma’s in a smoke filled car was another matter. 

In those days both of our parents smoked and there was little awareness or concern over 'second-hand smoke' or even the discomfort it caused to non smokers. 

Today a trip from the Quad Cities where we lived to Waterloo, Iowa would take about 2 1/2 hours on four lane highway. When I was a boy, it would usually be a five to six hour trip on two lane roads.

My brother and I as restless boys would inevitably argue as to where the placement of the invisible line down the center of the bench seat should be drawn. It was a like a demilitarized zone across which we taunted each other, like two Koreas.

Any encroachment, real or imagined would result in a little shoving match with tempers flaring, voices raised and usually ending with my father’s big hand slicing the air like a guided missle aimed at my thigh or backside.

At those times of 'focused attention', it became very clear why my older brother insisted on taking the seat behind our dad.

Seven Present Realities For The Persecuted Church

"But you are come to Mount Zion..." 

(Hebrews 12:22)

The Persecuted Church is Growing.

Not only is the persecution of the church growing worldwide, but the church itself is growing as a result. Modern communications are all but impossible to stop except through imprisonment and death. Yet the more people see that there is something worth dying for, the more people see that Jesus is worth living for.

For us in the west, persecution is growing but has not yet reached the level of other parts of the world. Yet regardless of the level or intensity of the persecution, believers need to be fortified by knowing what it is that we already possess.

This was certainly the case for the Hebrew believers of the first century. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews goes to great lengths to prove the surpassing worth of the New Covenant over the Old Covenant. 

Those that followed Christ lost everything that the world considers valuable. They needed to be encouraged about what they already had in Christ. This should also encourage all believers today regardless of the level of persecution and loss that they face presently due to their faith.  

To these persecuted believers of the first century we can tease out seven questions that appear to be implied by a list of seven present realities that every believer is already come to. (Hebrews 12:22-24)

Pressing On To The Lord's Return

 

Much of what we read in the epistles and in particular, the letter to the Hebrews is written to believers that are experiencing varying degrees of persecution and suffering for their faith.

This letter is an exhortation to press on, to continue, to show the reality of faith that it is independent of present circumstances. Faith expects and indeed grows through suffering. 

We come to a clearer understanding of scripture through suffering and sacrifice. After all, coming to faith in Christ begins with a sacrifice of self. Nevertheless, throughout our Christian experience, we struggle to keep self on the altar. The Word of God compels us to stay there. 

Sitting In Judgment On God

"...All this most horrible injustice ever, perpetrated by the religious leaders of Israel...judges who themselves were criminals and a seeming criminal who is himself the real judge. His majesty, His innocence, His silence is wondrous. They condemn themselves. They damn themselves.

And so will you if you wrongly judge Christ. There is no escaping that. If you wrongly judge Christ, mark it, He will rightly judge you. Unbelief, impenitence, independence, standing apart from Christ will condemn you just as it condemned them. There is no escape. All men render a verdict on Christ. They did and so do you. And it is a verdict that has massive consequences for eternity.." 

John MacArthur 

Some time ago I spoke similar words to these when my mother was in the audience. Her reaction was to accuse me of anti-semitism

April 30, 1975 - Saigon

-->Portions of the following account is taken from an article in the San Diego Union Tribune April 29, 2012

 

____________________________

April 30, 1975 - Saigon

For the previous ten years, the democratically elected government of South Vietnam and her American allies fought the communist troops of North Vietnam. The United States had never demonstrated the political will to win the war outright so that the costs and sacrifice had become enormous and America decided to leave.

Now, divisions of North Vietnamese Communist troops encircled Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. The airstrip was cratered and blocked by smoldering aircraft. The only way out for the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies was Operation Frequent Wind, a heliborne evacuation.

In those last days, the Marine security guards had worked with little or no sleep, shoveling sensitive documents into furnaces and panicked Vietnamese onto departing flights.

Ken Crouse, was a 19-year-old lance corporal at the time.

"We tried to keep them in family groups. That was very important," he recalled.

They crammed twice the number of passengers as normal into the helicopters, allowing each person one small bag.