Today my daughter got baptized, signifying her decision to follow the Lord Jesus. A day of great rejoicing for my heart, as it is with each of my children as they commit to the Messiah.

She had approached my a few months ago, speaking of her heart and desire to get baptized. On top of that great news, she honored me with the request for her ol’ dad to perform the ceremony. This was shocking for me, for I am a layman and not ordained in any ministry. I let her know that the church leadership would have to approve of this request (in order to provide no offence), and if acceptable, I would be overjoyed to witness this confession of faith first hand. To my great relief, the church only requested to know of my commitment to the Lord, of which I gladly confessed Jesus as my Savior.

In the following week, I spread the good news of my daughters intent of baptism with any who would listen, and many were happy with the news. Even those not committed to the Lord spoke well of the news.

Except.

One of my oldest friends did not rejoice. He is a passionate man, having confessed of his faith for decades, and has a deep desire to evangelize the lost. At one point in his families life, they entered into mission training for the land of Indonesia. He has sought to honor God in his faith!

He spent years living with us early on, and we had many great times of study. I look back on those days as a time of growth for us both, and he has been a dear brother.

At times it has been difficult to communicate with him, as he is in a foreign land and I sometimes loose his information. Nevertheless, we have been in communication recently and when I spoke of my good news, he came off as condescending, metaphorically looking down on me, telling me I am confused.

Carl – don’t be fooled by religion – baptism isn’t for believers today. Haven’t you read your Bible? As a matter of fact, the Lord’s supper isn’t a requirement of the New Testament church either.

What?

My friends, as those in the Body of Christ, we are to rejoice when others rejoice. This teaching he has recently fallen under is separating him from the Body of Christ, not only doctrinally (in my opinion), but also in his attitude towards those in the Body.

Of course my perception of his condescension is simply that – my perception. Yet the fact that he would encourage the denial of the two consistently accepted ordinances of the church for the last two thousand years, speaks of a haughtiness this teaching breeds. It breaks my heart to see my brother being deceived!

Nevertheless, my daughter is getting baptized and I rejoice. Her transformation in the last few years has been heart warming, and the public declaration of her faith is worth rejoicing in.

Rejoice with me, and may God be glorified in His many works!

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This week was a bit of a rough one.

For the past few years, my wife and I have prayed over and asked for guidance from the Lord on major decisions as we developed a plan of actions for our remaining years. This “plan” we developed required, at least in my mind, two actions to occur within a couple weeks of each other. We had some control of the timing, but in the end, the specific timing would rely completely on the hand of God.

Yes, I am sure we had (most likely) prayed that we wanted His will and not ours. Yes, we surely (most likely) were willing to accept His will. Yet when I got the call, having the first action completed, and the second still in progress, I was not ready for the disappointment.

Our timeline would not go as we had planned. Many situations played into this, including one of the actors in this plan loosing her employment, and another the inability to get a prompt answer from a government type committee, but all of that needs to be brought into focus. The Lord has His hand in the mix, and that night as my wife lovingly cooked me some cheesy eggs, I finally found a peace about the situation. It is the Lord’s will at this time!

Is it fixed? Not at all! Is there a way out? Maybe, and we are pursuing alternate plans, but in the midst of it all, it is good to know the Lord and His caring guidance in all of this.

This willingness to allow the Lord’s will to actively be accepted is a lesson I have not been especially good at learning.

It was a few years ago, when one of my five children had been picked up by customs officials, and sent to immigration detention within our city, that we prayed for His power to save. We spent countless hours begging the Lord to provide His deliverance from this prison time for my daughter. Yes, my daughter was dropped into a federal prison, waiting for determination of deportation.

Hours of begging, negotiating and pleading with God in prayer for her release. Buckets of tears flowed again over the injustice we were experiencing in our lives, for this is the third child who has experienced this crisis in our lives.

It was a testing that I would wish on no one.

What is my point in telling this second story? I remember well the couch I was kneeling at in prayer, when I finally gave my daughter up to Him, releasing her to His will. If the Lord wanted her to be away from us, may the Lord’s will be accomplished.

My friends, I would like to tell you my daughter showed up on my doorstep that morning, but that was not the outcome. After two court appearances, my daughter was asked to stay behind. The judge was like a machine with all the other subjects, spitting out decisions rapid fire, sealing the fate of many. When it came to her, the judge cleared the room, leaving only my wife and I with her. He proceeded to upbraid the injustice that had occurred in this incarceration, and declared her to be freed immediately.

She was coming home!

By sharing both of these stories, I would like to encourage all who are in the midst of disappointment and disillusionment to give up your self imposed expectations, to lay down the struggle and submit to the obvious, immediate will of God in your life. Disappointments, I have found, are often an indicator of a wrong focus in my life, of setting up expectations that I depended on instead of on the Lord.

Regarding the plans above, I realize I was depending on my timeline. In my heart, our plans were set in stone, and God was to act as our magic genie, providing His power to supply our wants. How could a believer think this way?

Regarding my daughter, I realize I had elevated family above Him, and He graciously taught this ol’ fool, providing her back to us.

In all of life, even in the disappointments, we are called to give thanks. Let me tell you, I have found it impossible to truly give thanks as I struggled with missed expectations from God. The key is to submit to the will of God. It is our calling.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

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Colossians 2:23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

If you have followed my blog for any time now, you will understand that I am a Civil Engineer, an engineer that designs and manages transportation projects.

I am very thankful for the second law of thermodynamics, for this law describes the world we live in, a world that is going from order to disorder. Simply put, this second law of thermodynamics speaks of the world progressing into greater disorder and randomness.

Things fall apart, and engineers get to rebuild them, or provide maintenance processes that extend their life by slowing the process of decay, or in some circumstances, covering over the decay – but that is not preferred, and you didn’t hear it from me!

Nevertheless, the process of decay is unstoppable.. It does not only effect the world around us, it is a principal force that impacts our lives everyday. The creaking of my back, the weakening of my eyes, and the decreasing muscle mass makes entropy a minute by minute reality in my life.

For those who may be young and fit, enjoy these days of freedom. Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics is coming for you! But I digress.

In the world around us, I find the destruction of high strength concrete, the type that is often used on highways and byways by the lowly weed to be instructive.

As concrete ages, microcracking occurs due to the constant variation of temperatures it goes through, expanding and contracting. Microscopic cracks become tiny cracks, which become small cracks. At some point the temperature variations become less of the problem, and the mighty “weed” takes over. Oh, it is just a little dandelion, or some other weed seed that settles in a welcoming crack, but as the weed sends out it’s roots, it continues the decay process.

Given enough time, the concrete will have been defeated by the lowly weed.

Engineers have sought to fight against this decay system for centuries. There have been some amazing breakthroughs in concrete technology, but alas, concrete will break, and weeds will dominate. It is merely a matter of time!

But let’s cut to the chase. This entropy that I speak of, that all the fancy physicists describe, is simply the result of sin entering creation.

But as an engineer, I am trained to find solutions for problems, and I spend my days in “solution” mode. Before I was trained as an engineer, I also sought to solve problems. Problems that were not necessarily of the physical world, but of the spiritual world. Let me explain my failure.

As a very young believer in the Messiah, I became very religious. I fell into very good churches and had amazing folk teach me truth. I am very thankful for the patience of the saints when it came to dealing with me. I was (am) a piece of work!

But as I grew in the Lord, I also took on religious habits that, though beneficial for my knowledge of the Lord, also became a target for my faith. I walked a little bit away from the Lord and a little bit toward religion, thinking I could solve the sin problem with rules. A little more dedication at Bible study, and few more verses to memorize, attend one additional church service, teach one more Bible class. The list seemed endless.

Now don’t get me wrong – all of these practices are good and were meant to honor the Lord, but I began to trust them as opposed to the Savior.

I think I was falling into a trap somewhat like the Colossians. Yes, they were not touching, handling or tasting, thinking that the ascetic lifestyle would present themselves in a better light before the Savior.

Colossians 2:21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”
Colossians 2:22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)–according to human precepts and teachings?

Their refusal to take part in certain activities, and my dedication to certain activities resulted in exposing our loss of focus.

Entropy / sin is in our very veins and both myself and our brothers in Colossae were trying to create a stronger concrete than that which had provided. We sought to build a concrete structure in our lives which would not crack, which would not allow any weeds to settle in.

I depended on habits that indeed appeared to have wisdom, but in all of my efforts, weeds continued to grow in my life. Eventually my whole family were sprouting weeds all over the place. The weeds were out of control, and my solution? More rules, more strictness. Heavier concrete!

Engineers build better concrete, and the result is cost savings, and less construction interruptions on the highway hopefully. Better concrete reduces the rate of decay, but we live in a world of decay. Stronger concrete simply stalls the decay slightly.

Personally, in my relationship with the Lord, I am thankful for the disciplines I was introduced to early in my faith. The disciplines became a focus of my faith, and became rules that lorded over my spirit. Yet the very rules I trusted in did not stop my flesh from indulging in it’s desires. Even as I applied stricter and stricter rules, my old flesh simply found other cracks in my concrete!

As I close, I want to be clear that the disciplines I spoke of were noble, right and provided my life great guidance and knowledge of the Lord and His ways, even as I was pursuing a sanctification that was leaving the Lord behind. I had chosen rules to control my life and the concrete got heavier and heavier. So heavy!

Consider which rules in your life are taking the place of faith in the Living God. Don’t put this self review off, for though I speak of entropy as the decay in our daily life, we all know the trendline of entropy is death!

1 Corinthians 15:56-57

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

He even saves us from entropy. Trust Him, and not your rules. He is the Savior, and not yourself! He is much better at dealing with entropy than we are.

Now I need to go put some ointment on my shoulder! Ooooo the pain!

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I just got home from a busy week, putting in my regular hours at the office, and then travelled to northwest with my wife to paint the inside of a home.

Of course, as we were cleaning, repairing, and painting this dwelling, we found we were both a bit sensitive to each other’s moods and tempers.

Don’t get me wrong, for when I mention “temper”, many may think I am referring to uncontrolled emotional outbursts of negative passion (how is that for wordsmithing that term “anger”).

At this point in our journey together, anger has become a rare commodity between us. As a matter of fact, with my favorite, she has this anger thing seemingly controlled most times, except when a puppy dog had been ignored, a little baby has been mistreated, or a person of weakness has been taken advantage of. She tends to find her anger in these circumstances, and rightly so! (Ephesians 4:26)

But anger isn’t the topic of my post today.

Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

My wifey and I have been together now close to 45 years, and she is the love of my life, but I will tell you that as we travel this life together, I have found that we are becoming more one than two. We tend to be thinking the same thoughts, sometimes at the very same time. We seem top need less words to explain ideas and generally aim at the same targets in both our efforts and plans.

Yet we are two different souls, one of us a bit of a self serving, “I’m important” type of person, while the other exhibits the traits of a listening ear, an understanding heart and a gentle soul. We will leave the identification of each to our readers judgement, but I may drop a hint later to help you identify that self server!

As I mentioned early on in this post, we put in a full week at work and then took on this additional task. The painting of the interior of a home. Ceilings, walls, doors, trim, repair of sheetrock, fan repair, shower cleaning, tub scrubbing etc. etc. Let me just state that when we got to bed, it was with a larger dose of gratefulness than usual!

So all of this is told to provide a background to a telling moment with my favorite. Remember my sweetie does not shy away from seeking justice when someone is wronged, and after completing our self inflicted tasks for the week, we still needed to sort out a (minor) wrong we had experienced. As I sought to iron out this problem with a certain service provider, I tried to tell them my concerns, and I suppose my favorite thought I missed an important fact. She couldn’t resist inserting a fact, and in so doing, I shut down. I stopped my story so she could complete it.

All is well until we are away from anyone who could hear, and I explained why I shut down. All typical fare for my wife and I as we try to speak of things of concern between us. But in this particular instance, after the long hours of the week had wore us down, I expressed my complaint without considering her as the weaker vessel. I expressed it as from my need and not hers! Did I mention a self server above? A bit of a hint there who I was referring to!

Yes, married folk have the privilege of becoming one flesh, and this privilege is a gift of the Lord that we may enter into if we understand our mate as a different soul, a different person, a person who has different needs and perspectives.

We are becoming one flesh, and this joining together has it’s mystery in the church, for we believers are His bride, and as I need to take my wife’s needs into consideration to minister to her, to express my love and commitment to her, I am reminded that my fractured effort to relate to her is but a weak reflection of the Lord and His commitment to the church, and to each believer as they seek to follow Him is a weak.

As we were painting last night, both of us covered in white paint, I let her know that there was no one on earth I would rather be painting with.

I wonder what the Lord’s thoughts are?

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A short post this morning.

I would like to thanks all who have subscribed to my scrawling, those who read my muddled thoughts, of those who try to understand the goodness of God with me, and all those who take the time to comment on a post, or send me a question.

This post will be my two thousandth post, and little did I know that by getting the feedback I have received, you (and the mercy of God) have drew me along in this adventure of Considering the Bible.

As I mentioned, my wandering style is cut short today, for I simply and only want to thank those who interact and encourage me in this adventure.

Thankyou.

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Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

It has been a while since I read of the importance of disagreement in the church. One book I read a few years back, “The Gospel according to Moses“, offered a discussion on the value of alternate opinions on topics of faith. The author’s argument in the book was that bringing up alternate ways of considering portions of Scripture is a healthy way of learning. Interaction with alternate points of view provides challenges to misconceptions and misunderstandings we may have of Bible truths, and allows for each disciple to think, ponder, and possibly self correct.

I say this is the best way to understanding a truth, instead of simply accepting a statement. Be exposed to teaching that does not allow you to be comfortable. Open yourself to what the Word is teaching, even in those portions of Scripture that are difficult, scary or suggest an alternate view of that which you have accepted. After all, if we have the truth, we should be willing to accept all challengers!

Prior to this though, a foundational truth needs to be established. As believers, we must humbly confess that the Word is the source of all truth, that it contains the message we are to follow, that the Word is a message we are to dedicate our lives to learning and obeying, and that the Word is deep, eternal, mysterious, puzzling and most of all, honors the Lord Jesus (and not us) in all it’s message.

The Word as the authority for our faith is foundational. Let the Word be the fire we need, the hammer it is!

In practice though, as modern believers, we tend to gather with believers that are carbon copies of ourselves. When we gather with those who think like we do, and allow one man to monologue the group into his understanding of the Word, I fear we may tend to go numb. We interpret group think as synonymous with peace in the church. It may simply be numbness.

Sadly, this condition of “group think” can also foster a culture of superiority, of thinking we have arrived, that other believers are wrong in some (or many) areas of faith. Alternate opinions are considered sources of confusion (or worse “of the devil”), and this surely is not God’s intent, is it?

Does not the Word speak of confusion as not from God?

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

We may claim alternate teaching as confusing, not because it is, but due to our own laziness, our mental unwillingness to be set off balance, to be challenged.

My point may be further defined in this. Is there any profit (spiritually) to be challenged in your understanding of the Word, of God, of Jesus and His mission?

Is there a possible downside to the modern concept of being “fed” the truth? Is the main source of truth for your life the same general understanding, the same viewpoint on the Scripture that is rediscovered every Sunday morning? Might there be benefit in finding a friend or teacher to challenge our understanding? Should we as believers consider the first truths we were taught to be the only truth?

1 Corinthians 14:36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?

Test your own body of believers next time you get together. Do you find yourself sitting together, simply reinforcing already accepted truths? The same old truths spoken as all our eyes gloss over, slowly becoming detached to the challenge of understanding such a fantastic book, a message from God!

We may justify our reluctance to be challenged by claiming we have the truth already (sounds boastful in my mind) and desire to maintain a “purity” of doctrine. When a sensitive topic or “difficult” verse enters a conversation, does the group chase it, consider it, dig into it, or does someone simply throw a verse reference at it and move on? I cannot count the number of times I have offered questions and was told to look up a verse later, only to find the verse had nothing to do with my question.

This test may also be misunderstood by my reader, for you may be thinking I am suggesting we reconsider the deity of Christ, or the eternality of God, or any other central doctrine the faithful have clung to through the ages. This is not what I am suggesting. It is more of the secondary doctrines, or those that are on the fringe that need to be considered, examined, and understood, (even if not accepted) as we grow into Christ. It is good to understand our brothers and sisters position in Christ, to have an attitude of teachableness, of humility, and of a willingness to consider their knowledge in the Word.

Personally, the first topic that I tripped over, and that was a test for the body I belonged to at the time, was the topic of tithing. Surely this is not a cardinal doctrine, (though for the church I belonged to at the time, it seemed to be equal in importance to the Atonement.) I have wrote on this topic before so I shall not bore you with the conclusion of the “discussion” on tithing with the leadership, but it did set a mind in me to not simply accept what one man teaches without searching out the Word, looking for answers, and allowing myself to be wrong in my faith.

Since then, I have adjusted my understanding of the Word in a number of it’s teachings, and am thankful the Lord has directed me as I learned. I am also very cognizant of the fact that I still have much to learn and could be wrong in areas I am “sure of”.

No matter, for if we are willing to listen to our brothers, without putting up a wall, without formulating a defense as they explain their position, and express a humility and desire to understand their point of view, much could be accomplished in the fractured church we exist in.

One of the most difficult exercises I have had to practice in this regard is to shut up and to listen! It’s really quite a challenge!

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It was a good day, a day when things were getting accomplished, when I was finding success in connecting with people, coordinating actions and discussing ideas for the near and far future.

Yes I was enjoying my day, thinking I have it good – which is the truth! I have a beautiful family, having fathered five great children, and now the happy grandfather of nine more living souls. I am feeling healthy, having lost weight and having my doctor report that my blood pressure is down. I have a great job and so many multiple blessings have showered on my life, I feel it would be boastful to express them all.

Yes, I was having a great day. Nothing was at odds, until I took a bio-break, as as I was leaving the restroom, and washing my hands, I looked up into the mirror and noticed my pink shirt has a small stain on it. Just a small smudge, in the left side of my right pocket. A small discoloration, nothing to drastic.

And I became self aware.

Now, when I would enter into someone’s office to discuss an action item, I thought of my appearance. Although I have never thought of my self as a “clothes horse”, this small stain impacted my ability to freely discuss openly with my peers items related to work. I found myself using alternate methods of communication instead of simply walking to a peers desk.

Before I noticed the stain, I had relatively no hesitation to be with people. After, I was reluctant, withdrawn and quieter.

And this got me to thinking. Nothing in my experience regarding all the blessings God has showered down on me had changed. I still had a wonderful wife. My family hadn’t changed in the least. My job was great. Why the inner change with relating to others?

I became self aware. I was concerned with my appearance. I was focused on ME. This inner adjustment happens to all of us at different times in our lives, some more than others. Of course, some are consumed with this self awareness to the point they think of nothing but of themselves.

I suppose I should take note that when I think of myself, when I am consumed with ME, I am not purposedly thinking thoughts of how to please God, of what I should do in my life, how to think and act to reflect the mercy of God I have experienced, of how to relate to others and to be a servant to those I work with.

Am I advocating wearing spotted and stained shirts to work? I think you may be missing the point.

To be concerned with me, myself and I is the antipathy of walking the Christian life. It is not that I should be thinking little of myself, but that I should not be thinking of myself. To think of myself is to start to hollow out my life, to become a shell, a bit lonelier than I was a moment before.

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Paul tells us not to think of ourselves more highly that we ought to think, but to think with sober judgement. In this context he is speaking of the reception of gifts from God, and even in the receiving of gifts from God, we are not to think of ourselves, other than in a sober judgement.

One last passage to dwell on for this topic of self awareness and its unfruitfulness. (Trust me, there are multiple passages that speak this truth!)

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Paul speaks of thinking on attributes of God and of His nature, and of these attributes being exhibited amongst us as we walk this earth. At no time do I see him addressing me as being worthy of thinking on, but the attributes we are to mimic.

Sometimes in my foolish walk, the Lord uses various ways to “”knock me on the head”. Something to take my attention off myself. I am sure His ministry in my life has greater challenges than simply redirecting my thoughts, but I am thankful I have a Savior that will continue to teach and direct me in my day to day walk with Him.

To think of His teaching His child by a stain on a pink shirt! He is so capable to communicate, and as believers, we need to be open to listening to some possibly surprising incidents, always checking with the truth of God’s Word to filter truth from mundane experiences.

A pink shirt. I think I may wear that shirt to work next week! And just forget about that stain!

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Texting with a friend, (an international friend who lives far away), and the topic came up of the definition of church, where it is, how it occurs, and when it happens.

A little background. My brother volunteers at a coffee shop in his home town that is a ministry for those that are down on their luck. He has recently been chatting with a fellow who is struggling over trials in his life, and of course he invited his friend to church on Sunday.

For some reason, he never attended the church. Eventually the questions of where church happens, when a church starts to exist and how church occurs lifted its head in my mind. A few verses came to mind in the middle of last night and I would like to offer them to the reader for their consideration.

Where church happens?

As you may know through reading previous posts on this blog, I personally favor a home church, or at least a home based fellowship. Can this be properly called a church according to the Word?

Throughout the New Testament, churches were always referred to as being in a home.

Romans 16:5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.

1 Corinthians 16:19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.

Colossians 4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.

Philemon 1:2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:

Saul, a great enemy of the church, knew exactly where to go to find a church. Homes

Acts 8:3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

In my mind, I find little direct support for the creation of a separate building to hold “church in” from the Word. Of course some may consider the hall of Tyrannus to be the seed bed of the modern church edifice.

Acts 19:9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

Would you consider the intent of this verse to be directing believers into halls for the sake of living “churchlife”? I am not convinced. It appears that moving into the hall of Tyrannus was an effort on Paul’s part to provide a teaching area for disciples, since the synagogue had become so poisonous to Paul’s “reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”

Remember that the city of Ephesus had become a major hub of Christian ministry, a city with an increasing number of believers. Yet this hall of Tyrannus is never described as a church, for it seems that the idea of church was firmly lodged in Luke’s mind of not being a building, but a group of people, a group of believers.

Please don’t consider this a call to abandon the modern church life, with the pews, pulpits and professional preachers. It is what it is, but consider the root teaching of where church happens. It is organic, not highly organized, not full of overhead and organizational structure. It was a simple home where believers lived and met together, not a separate edifice.

When church starts to exist?

When does a church begin to exist? Is it with the binding of the church covenant? The filing of existence with the government?

How about when the elders of a church are called into formal existence? Might that be a good point to consider church formally beginning? Maybe, for you see when Paul left the island of Crete, he wrote to Titus and informed him of the need to appoint elders in every town.

Titus 1:5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you–

Yes, I know that Paul did not specifically call any of these congregations “church” in his letter to the young preacher. A valid point, and he did mention that it is what remained to be put into order.

A possible answer to our question “When does a church start” may be that spiritual leadership is called into existence.

I wish to make a finer point on this for the sake of clarity. For a man to declare himself a elder, or spiritual leader does not make it so. Flashy signs and expensive advertising makes not an elder, no matter how hard they may proclaim their self importance. Elders are not self proclaimed, but appointed/chosen by other believers who have been appointed/chosen by other believers who have – never mind – you get my point I think.

How church occurs?

Are pews required? A pulpit? Is church to be centered about watching a band perform? Or a prescribed time of listening to a monologue from a professional preacher? Maybe. At least in our culture this is the accepted manner in which church occurs.

Yet to find where those who attend a body that are all integrally linked together emotionally through a living connection with Jesus seems to be, in my mind the end goal.

How church occurs depends on the saints involved. Is their a prescribed plan for church to occur within? Should it be heavy on singing, more of a teaching body, centered around a meal and personal connections? As mentioned above, to be considered a church seems to be associated with the establishment of elders, men who are able and willing to lead a body of believers on the path of following Jesus.

Another reason elders may be the causation of church formation may be for the exercise of church discipline.

Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Although Jesus does not mention elders, and that the relationship complaint is to be resolved through telling it to the church, representatives of the church – elders – would provide the guidance to the body for the exclusion of this brother from the body.

Now if this body of believers is as I imagine, that of a tight knit group of people congregating in a home, having shared struggles and personal concerns with others, this exclusion from the body may be much more effective than what the modern church provides.

So in conclusion, I want to admit this post wasn’t so much of a story as a brief look into what a church is. That is on me, but I started on a good topic and couldn’t shut up!

My friend has told me that the soul he is trying to reach has returned to the cafe, and is still asking questions. For him, this may be a form of what he considers church. So be it!

If I know my brother, he will exercise patience and care for him, hoping and praying him into the kingdom. And I am looking forward to hearing of how the Spirit of God will draw this soul into a relationship with our Lord.

Church life will occur after that!

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We were on the way to church, enjoying the beautiful day the Lord provided, and as we travelled, I stopped off at a C-store to pick up some Peace Tea for my best friend. She really likes the peach and raspberry flavors!

So as I was away from the truck, she stumbled over a you tube short that spoke volumes to me.

I believe I have informed those who follow my blog that I am a reformed “know it all”. Give me a Bible teaching and I will argue it to the end, cutting and hacking the opponent until I am victorious! I needed to win! I was brutal, and thankfully I have been humbled, being exposed for the Pharisee I was. Thankfully the Lord’s mercy is pulling me out of this mud pit of a life style! What a mess!

Some of my posts may have this tendency in my spirit sneak through, and for that I ask for forgiveness if my approach or manner of communicating was not out of love. Of course if the Scripture offends you, you have bigger fish to fry than to be offended with me – who am I but someone who is trying to learn along side of others.

Back to the point of this post. I won bible arguments, and for some reason, thought I was “doing the Lord’s work”! The post my wife found for us is a short post of Nick Freitas.

It spoke volumes to me, realizing the untold opportunities I had squelched due to my argumentative nature and pride of self! Of the pain inflicted on others to make myself feel good. Shameful!

What think you?

Could it be that loosing an argument, or at least avoiding an argument may actually win people to Christ?

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I can’t tell you how often I am driving to work and as I am pulling into my parking spot, a passage I am listening to takes on a slightly different perspective, provides a different meaning. As you may know, I grew up in the church upon my salvation at the old age of 21, and delved into studying the old King James Version This passage this time was found in the book of James, chapter 2.

James 2:12 (KJV) So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

This passage spoke to me of end time judgement, of the great white throne, of the end of life. The believer was to be judged by the law of liberty, and that judgment was to be without mercy to those who showed no mercy. The last phrase just seemed to be tacked on. I was never quite sure of the intent or reason it was just hanging onto the last of the verse. Don’t get me wrong – I thought it bode some type of good news for the one being judged, but it just didn’t click!

Fast forward 30 years and I begin to read the ESV, along with other translations.

James 2:12 (ESV) So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

This verse seemed to clear up that hanging portion, where James speaks of mercy triumphing over judgement, and it continued to offer great hope, though the judgement spoke of was without mercy!

Enter the paraphrase version of the Message, and this morning as I parked my jalopy, this passage was brand new, and I understand it differently.

James 2:12 (MSG) Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. 2:13 For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.

As the previous versions spoke of judgement, and the law of liberty, I envisioned end of life judgements as I spoke of above. Yet this passage is in the middle of a portion of Scripture that describes a “respect of persons” problem in my life, that is my estimation of a person’s worth based on his or her appearance. Check the chapter out for a quick review.

James then enters into this talk of judgement. Judgement based on a rule that sets us free. Might this rule of freedom, this law of liberty, be that which frees us to be kind, loving joyful, faithful, gentle, and the such?

Might James be addressing how we relate to those less fortunate, and that by refusing to act kindly to the less fortunate, we should expect the same. We should expect to be treated unkindly. Isn’t it true that this is standard operating procedure for this world, to make judgements that result in unkind actions towards the poor?

And that last phrase?

A believers kind mercy will win in the end, though judgement by others may be inevitable, it is not the final word. Kind mercy has greater impact on others than exercising judging attitudes.

James message? Be kind to those less fortunate. It is our calling! This passage is for today, and not for end of life judgements. James is teaching in real world, present time life situations.

I tell you, it blew me away, for the rest of my walk that morning was consumed with how blunt I had been in my understanding of the Word and it’s message to me.

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It may have been a week ago when I wrote on Forgiveness and Justice, and since then, I have come across a passage in Romans that has brought an alternate idea to my mind, a concept that provides an alternate reaction to injustice other that through forgiveness

Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
Romans 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Romans 12:20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

And what might that idea be Carl?

Revenge.

Is not revenge a form of justice, and we know God loves justice. Is revenge not a way of creating a fair and equitable resolution to the injustice we all suffer?

But I am getting ahead of myself. What is revenge?

The Greek word is ἐκδικέω ekdikéō, from which we get the translation “avenge” in our verse. A few years ago, I penned a blog series about a Christian’s relationship to judging (Judge Judge Judge), I recorded a short study on dikē. I think the root word may be recognized in our word for revenge.

With that connection, I submit to my reader that revenge has the component of judgement. Not judgement as in condemnation, although it may include it, but the judgement is the determination that a certain action was unjust.

Two items to consider.

Emotion & Knowledge (of circumstance)

A judge is to be impassionate about the determination of any righteousness being broken. Not only is the judge to be impartial, and without emotional connections to the plaintiff or the defendant, but he is to have knowledge of all the circumstances of the occurrence being judged.

How inadequate we are in both these arenas of ability, when we seek to make a judgement on the actions of another, to determine if injustice has be inflicted on us

Knowledge of the Law

The second item to consider when we seek to make judgement, beyond the emotional bias and the lack of knowledge of the circumstances from both parties perspective, is the intimate knowledge of the law, or standard by which we are to make judgement.

Of course I have intimate knowledge of the law I want to use, the law of Carl, the law that is malleable and forever favoring my weaknesses, while harshly falling on my inflictor of pain!

That law is deceptive, and full of hypocrisies. It may appear fair to myself, but it is not a standard that anyone else accepts.

The law by which all judgement is to be determined is of course the law of God, the standard which we are too often incapable to discern when we are hurt or treated poorly.

It is in these times when we have been, in our opinion or in truth, treated unfairly that we need to pull back and not make judgement on the circumstances.

Our word in Romans actually is translated as “take revenge”, as in it is our prerogative to make a judgement and determine the punishment based on the judgement. Our judgement of the injustice! Our decision on the severity of the punishment!

Paul suggests we do not take revenge. Take it cool, try not to make any judgement in order to determine a punishment, and then to inflict it on someone, even though they may not even understand my actions. Seems fair!

Golly. That is not what Paul is saying. Let us read it once more, though it is a difficult word!

Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Never. Never avenge yourselves. As we have ventured through this short review, it has been important to remember that it is in the heart and mind, that revenge begins. I quickly can make a decision or judgement that what I experience is “unfair” or “unjust”. As a matter of fact, my decision making skills in this regard are instantaneous

Even if the action is not a perceived injustice, but in actual fact a unjust action against me, inflicted on me with evil intent, Paul tells us to never take revenge

We ain’t got the knowledge, and we ain’t got the impartiality to make a just judgement. And we certainly don’t know the law as intimately as the true Judge, the law that is the standard for judgement to be determined and justice to be accomplished

With Paul, I theoretically echo his admonition to each of us.

Romans 12:19 – 21 c…it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

May this teaching Paul provides become less theoretical and increase in practical application in our lives.

When your spouse says something that may offend you, don’t make an internal judgement and decide on how to get back at her. Either talk with him/her about it, or simply forgive them.

When your boss, who is extremely busy, cannot answer an important question you need answered, realize the situation make an informed decision based on your current knowledge and do your best. And don’t harbor unjust thoughts towards him or her.

When a church friend or official looks like they are not “walking properly”, make an effort to openly discuss with them the appearance of impropriety. Sitting back and stewing about it, or spreading gossip is not the type of action that is pleasing to the Lord.

When I started this post, I said there was an option on how to deal with injustice other than through forgiveness. For the lost, this is the only alternative. For the believer this is not an available option, though it is too often exercised.

Relating to believers, I was wrong in my earlier statement! Revenge and the believer are not to be in the same room!

Let the Lord, the One who has intimate knowledge of the true law, has the capability to be impartial between two parties, and knows all the circumstances of the infraction; let Him be the judge and the One who passes the sentence.

He is the Only One who will do it correctly.

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2 Chronicles 6:28 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,
2 Chronicles 6:29 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house,
2 Chronicles 6:30 then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind,
2 Chronicles 6:31 that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

We were in church on Sunday and was listening to the preacher teach on prayer, and as he was reading through the above passage, verse 30 caught my ear.

The passage begins with Solomon asking God to forgive those who are suffering under a famine, a pestilence, a blight, or mildew or locust or caterpillar, even if their enemies besiege them at the gates – whatever the plague many be, Solomon asks God to hear their prayer from heaven, and to forgive them.

During his reading, I was tracking with the preacher, but then he read out the following

and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways

Forgiveness and justice? If we are forgiven, why does Solomon suddenly revert to associating what the Israelite gets with what he does, with the way he walks and lives his life?

Something seemed off in my mind, and as usual, when misunderstanding a passage of Scripture, what was off was my mind, my way of thinking!

You see, during his reading I had brought into my thinking that forgiveness removed the past, removed history from my life, removed my past actions and wrongdoings, with all the impacts and damage that come as a result of walking in sin.

Forgiveness removes guilt, and restores relationship. Forgiveness does not change the past. Forgiveness can change the future, but the past is cast in stone!

So often we think that forgiveness is the cure all for a life of sin, that we can run with the devil and get right with God at the end, with all our destructive ways somehow becoming rainbows and lollipops. Our rebellion will leave scars on our lives and the lives we touch, but thankfully, with the forgiveness provided by the Lord, we have hope that under His leadership, our ways will produce opportunity for blessings to flow from our lives.

As we follow Him, and understand how blessed He is, and how often and deeply He blesses us, we are to follow in the same, and provide blessing to others.

For Solomon, I can imagine him telling us that the blessings God renders to each of our hearts is according to all of our ways. Rebellion produces bitterness, anger, resentment, confusion, hatred, and such.

But be careful, for this is not simply a tit for tat type of message, for our hearts have to be changed in order to produce the ways God is pleased with. Our hearts have to be forgiven, in order for us to truly forgive others, to reach out to those we may have hurt and find ways to bless them.

Forgiveness and justice are related, but not the way I originally thought in my broken mind. Justice occurs to every single person on this earth. It may be delayed, or seem out of place at times, but justice is an unavoidable reality for each of us. Forgiveness provides us the strength to accept the just results of a life poorly lived, the wisdom to resolve those acts of sin against others in the past (if possible), and the power to be different, to be a blessing instead of a selfish &#!!!*%. His death provided us the opportunity for forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection provides us this power to live a life of blessing others.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
Galatians 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

My friend – Get right with God as early as possible, so that you may experience the opportunity of being a blessing to others and as a side benefit, allow the God of justice to render to your life the blessings He wants to shower on you. But as we who know the Lord, He is One who does hoard blessings to Himself but is gracious, giving and loving. As we share, we will find out that God renders blessings to those whose ways are a blessing.

Be a blessing to someone today. Go out of your way to help someone, to surprise them with a kind word or action. And be blessed by blessing them.

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We were in Sunday School class yesterday and looking at the passage in Exodus where Moses and the Israelites were being chased by Pharoah’s best charioteers. Things were looking pretty dire for this young nation, possibly a nation that may only exist for a few weeks! Not only was the previous master coming to get his slaves, Moses had guided them right into the middle of the shores of the Red Sea.

This has got to be a mistake! How could you Moses? Can’t you read a map, or don’t you know what you are doing? Moses – this is the worst! Can you hear those Israelites talking bout their graves even as we read this passage in Exodus

Exodus 14:11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
Exodus 14:12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

These folk were not remembering what God, through Moses, had accomplished a few weeks ago. I’m fairly certain they never really captured the idea of God working in their midst! They were so smart, reminding Moses of just leaving well enough alone. It was obvious to all that this decision of Moses was foolish. You are so wrong in your leadership and decision making skills!

Finally Moses addressed the people. Now remember, there may have been upwards of 2 million people being led by Moses at this time, and Moses was not a public speaker – at least in the past he claimed to be!

Nevertheless, he was between a rock and a hard place. (Actually an army and a sea, but you get my point.) Everything the camp of Israel had said had a hint of truth in it, and the deliverance Moses had promised seemed to be very short-lived. It was only a matter of time before the Israelites would be taken back to Israel, if any survived!

Yet, Moses spoke some mighty famous words at this critical time.

Exodus 14:13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Moses told the Israelites to stand firm. Some translations speak of standing still (KJV, NLT) , or standing by (LSB, NASB). It seems Moses was telling the people to stop moving. What a necessary direction when we are under pressure or not able to think, but simply reacting to a situation.

Fear not, stand firm, see the salvation of the Lord. A very common refrain through the Word, where the people of God are directed to stand firm.

2 Chronicles 20:17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD …”

Isaiah 46:8 “Remember this and stand firm…

Daniel 11:32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

1 Corinthians 16:13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brothers, stand firm …

1 Peter 5:12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

What I am about to suggest is that though Moses made this claim of God, that is to stand firm, it may not have captured everything God wanted the Israelites to know. Moses spoke for God in his direction to the people of Israel, a truth that is often repeated for the saints through the ages, and yet in the very next verse, God directs Moses to get those Israelites to go forward.

Exodus 14:15 The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
Exodus 14:16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

Was Moses incorrect in his direction to the Israelites? Did he represent God incorrectly? Yes and no.

Yes, in that it seems God corrected Moses right after this direction was given to the Israelites. The Lord did question Moses regarding his directing the Israelites to stand by! As a side bar, is it not good to see the Lord’s mercy in that He spoke to Moses only in correcting him. He protects his prophets and priests, teaching them as they grow.

Did Moses represent God incorrectly? Not exactly, for though our (and the Israelites) impression of Moses command to stand firm seems to imply inactivity, God did not necessarily change the command, but gave additional direction for Moses and direction for the nation to move forward. There was a time of “standing by”, but in relation to physically standing by, it was relatively short lived.

Notice that in Exodus 14:15-16 speaks of the nation going forward, and going through.

Exodus 14:15 …..Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
Exodus 14:16 …..that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

This concept is echoed as a few of the verses above.

Daniel 11:32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

The passage spoke to me of a misconception I had, as I think of the commands of God referring to standing firm.

To stand firm is not a call to stand still, but to go forward in faith, standing firm in my heart and mind as my legs move this old body to it’s next assignment.

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I have been trained as an engineer and in my career, I have been led to project management as a career path. I have been blessed to work for a great boss – Yes that is you Jimmy – and meet some fantastic folks that have helped me is so many ways become a better leader.

For those reading who may not be in the same industry as I, to be a project manager is to be ruled by scope of work, budgets and schedules! Those I have the privilege of working with need to provide deliverables within a specified time – a deadline or milestone – that has been agreed upon by both the client and ourselves.

Why do I bring this up? Because work life overflows into personal life and I find I see life as “tasks” that need to be completed (on time of course) and not as a people related opportunity to increase closeness of relationship.

Let me tell you why this is a concern for me.

For the last year, my wife and I have been building our retirement home on the weekends, a little spot in the woods, where we can eventually have a place to raise a few chickens, have a couple gardens, and to watch the birds as we have our morning coffee. I cannot tell you of the times I have set self imposed schedules in my mind and then drove those I love a bit too hard, or experienced an internal attitude battle, simply to get a self imposed goal completed.

Just recently, my son came to visit us from Canada and helped us erect our four exterior walls on our first floor. A lot of work for two old fogies and a middle aged fella! But in the midst of the work, I struggled with loosing a peace, loosing my focus on the fact I had two of the most important people in the world with me, and I was looking to meet schedules.

They understand this ol’ fart and my foibles, and the way we worked together after I got my head on straight was an experience I am very thankful for.

Now please understand. Production, schedules, planning and budgets are important. Projects can’t be completed successfully and properly without them. But they are to be tools used to progress projects, and we are not to let them be controlling monsters over our lives.

We are to be led of the Spirit, and sometimes His schedule is different than mine. In this case, the minor changes the Lord required not only straightened me out, but provided a much more enjoyable time with my loved ones.

And for that I am thankful.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all.

P.S. – We actually got more accomplished than I had scheduled! Yippee!

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I remember driving into work, turning through the parking garage, just prior to finding my parking spot when I heard John 11:40 over my car speaker.

John 11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

As soon as I heard it, I thought – What if you didn’t believe? Was it not just a few verses earlier that the Word spoke of the Jews who were with her?

John 11:33 ESV – When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

What about the Jews who had come with Martha ? They saw Lazarus come out of the tomb. Did they see the glory of God? What did those who did not believe see?

John made sure I understood the reason Jesus performed this miracle in front of Mary, Martha and the Jews who had come to the tomb with Jesus and the disciples.

John 11:42 ESV – I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

His intent was for those who were present to believe that God the Father had sent Jesus. He was (and is) seeking others. The raising of Lazarus produced believers. They saw the resuscitation of Lazarus, and believed.

John 11:45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,

Yet the question remains. What did those who did not believe and were present see, when Lazarus came out of that tomb? John did not keep me hanging in mystery about my question.

John 11:46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

They saw opportunity. A chance to find favor with religious leaders. They may have been plants, moles in the crowd that the Pharisees planted, but that is just my wild imagination running away with my thoughts.

What is clear is that those who were mourning the death of Lazarus moments previously, were now on the doorstep of the Pharisees, ratting on Jesus. This information was the final straw, and John informs us that the plot to kill Jesus was formalized.

Isn’t this the nature of faith shown in this simple question? To believe is to see glory of God. To not believe is to see opportunity for self, even though a miracle is obvious to all. The character of faith is to look away from self and to look to God. The character of non-faith, or unbelief is to look away from God and to look for self.

Note that the works produced from this act of unbelief was death. The Jews information of Lazarus to the Pharisees provided the last straw, the final motivation to plan the death of Jesus. The die was cast for the final Glory of God to be sacrificed in full view of the world, and to be raised up to never die again, and to provide a free and full salvation for all who would believe.

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A few weeks back, I wrote a post on the topic of Female Leaders in the church environment. The topic was sparked in my mind by having visited a number of churches in the recent past, and being taught/preached to by a female leader within some of these churches. You may want to refer to my previous thoughts – See Let Me Tell You a Story – Female Leaders.

This past weekend, my wife and I were out of the city and ended up in a tiny town, with a small community church near by. We were a bit early for service, and decided to go in to meet some of the believers.

What a friendly group! Granted, the congregation was very small, but they were so very friendly! It was a bit unbalancing. Don’t get me wrong – it was a blessing to be around folks that were accepting, willing to enter into a conversation with strangers, just to chat. A real blessing!

We were there a half hour before a layman mentioned a Pastor, and that he was an older gentleman, with a heart condition. Eventually, we met him, and he appeared to be a fine believer, seeking to honor the Lord, yet he appeared very weak, almost fragile.

Not a few minutes later, his wife appeared and started to introduce herself. One of the first things discussed was that though her husband was the executive pastor, she was the preaching pastor.

My wife and I looked at each other, considering our past visits with lady preachers, and the coincidence of it all. Coincidence? Or is it that there are more women leaders in the church than we imagined? Nevertheless, I am not intending to rehash my thoughts on the previous post. My readers do not need to have that repeated over again!

No – as we were sitting there, and especially as the service came to a close, I could not help but think of the passage in Jeremiah, where his servant Baruch is rebuked. Let’s read it and I will try to explain my thoughts.

Jeremiah 45:1-5

1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch:
3 You said, ‘Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’
4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up–that is, the whole land.
5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the LORD. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”

With Baruch, he was a servant to the weeping prophet, in the days when God was tearing down the nation, plucking up the vine He planted centuries ago. Baruch had suffered with Jeremiah, being a servant to God in the midst of a very depressing, forlorn time in Israel’s history. Babylon was on the march, and Israel was about to be consumed, destroyed and carted off to a foreign land.

Notice that in verse 2, Baruch had been speaking of his grief, and the added sorrow, that he was fainting and found no rest. He was exhausted. It is interesting that in Baruch’s complaint, He refers to himself 5 times in the short verse.

You said, ‘Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’

A bit later, the Lord speaks of Baruch’s seeking of great things. Might Baruch have thought his life would turn out to be filled with glory, fame, reputation and possibly riches? No idea what exactly Baruch was dreaming of, but the Lord exposed his hopes, and rebuked him in them. He reminded Baruch of his circumstances and that time would only get worse. Get prepared Baruch for more disappointment. Quit looking for status, reputation riches position etc…. God is tearing things down!

And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not..

Baruch’s brother had attained to high ranking status under Zedekiah! An officer of high rank (Jeremiah 51:59). Yet Baruch was aligned with Jeremiah, a man of God. A prophet that was bringing a message of doom and captivity. For Baruch, he would not attain to “great things”, for he knew the future of the nation, and that it was doomed. Thinking of attaining great things, dwelling on these dreams of grandeur only wore him out, wearing on his spirit, bringing greater disappointment. God was essentially telling Baruch to live in the real world!

She did not preach on this passage, and it is not for me to repeat her message at this time, though portions of her message was much different than I originally expected. No, it was the appearance of superiority that seemed to exude from her that got me to thinking of the passage above.

I walked away from that meeting, after listening to this lady preaching, thinking she is dreaming of great things for herself, and, in a way, I surely hope her dreams are met in the will of God. Yet the message and the delivery she provided, when compared with her surroundings, brought about a conflict in my mind. Was she seeking great things for herself? Great things that would lift her to positions of power, to areas of influence, to exercising great gifts and mighty powers?

In reality, she was in a real fine little church, with very friendly congregants, and a humble godly man for a husband that had served the Lord for decades. Yet her heart seemed to be seeking for greater things, things of glory and status. Of course, I may be completely wrong, for we can not judge intent or motivations, but the brief time we were there led me to this conclusion.

What to make of this experience?

Be content in the situation God has placed you in. Be thankful for His many blessings. Live in the real world, the situations you have been placed in, the circumstances that surround you, and honor God.

This teaching is so prevalent in the Word, Although Paul’s topic in the New Testament is regarding marriage for believers, the summary statement he provides is applicable for us tonight.

1 Corinthians 7:24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

Do not seek great things for yourself! Seek Him and let Him take you where He wants you.

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Revelation 6:9-10

9-When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.
10- They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

I am not in the book of Revelation very much but recently found myself in the 6th chapter, considering the above verses. What a horrible situation we find described here.

Those who stood up for the Word of God had been slain. Take that in for a moment. The injustice, the hatred, the total rejection of God in the killing of His messengers. Yet it is curious, if that is the correct way of speaking, that the souls were under the altar.

Would not the souls, being those of the righteous, be with the Lord? This was an assumption that I usually make, backed up with a verse such as

2 Corinthians 5:8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Yet we find the souls of the righteous under the altar, crying out for justice on those who dwell on the earth, on those who poured out their blood. But wait – we have a picture of a sacrifice in the souls of the righteous, with the blood, and an altar being spoken of. And we have those who are to be judged, presumably for the death of the saints.

Could this picture imply who the saints were persecuted by, and that should receive justice from God? John speaks of those who “dwell on the earth”, yet the picture presented seems to allow the persecutors, those who committed the murders of the saints, to be of a religious persuasion, spilling blood at an altar.

How is it that to be understood? We are constantly associating religion with God, yet there are numerous instances within the Word where we find the saint is persecuted primarily by those who are the most religious!

Surely, as an example we do not have to go far, for the most religious people on earth spent years finding a way to kill Him, and eventually they succeeded. His blood was shed on an altar of His own choice, and His experience with the religious has much to teach us.

That is why it is so important for us to recognize the spirit of God being expressed in the character of the believer, having been described by the apostles of the Lord.

May I offer a few verses that describe the saint, as opposed to the religious amongst us.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,

I could bury this post in verses that speak of humility, patience, endurance, love, joy, sacrifice, and gentleness but I think my point is clear.

The religious amongst us may not be our ally, but actually, without knowing, distract, delude, deceive, disappoint and destroy the believer. This truth should spark us to realize we need the Lord in relating with those who are both openly against us, and those who may seem to be with us. The Word has given us guidance in finding discernment of those surrounding us, and direction in how to related to them.

Both brother and enemy is to experience love from the believer, yet the believer is to discern and understand those we are amongst.

A bit of a ramble, but this short passage stirred something in me, and reminded me that to be religious is not necessarily the path God wants me to be on.

He wants us to follow Jesus, and He was one of the most irreligious, and yet most righteous, Man who ever walked the earth!

May we be a bit more like Him today, and a bit less religious!

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The last few weeks I have had the opportunity to visit two different churches in other communities outside of our local area. It just so happens that in both of these churches, a female has taken the position of Lead, or Executive, or Head Pastor.

Before I make any comments, the message provided by both of these lady ministers had truth in it, referred to the Word, contained an element of passion and I found some encouragement in the message.

But prior to each female taking to the pulpit, both ladies introduced her husband. Now I cannot believe both lady ministers introduce their husbands each week to the congregation, so it was a curious coincidence, and it caused me to consider the husbands situation during her lecture/preaching.

We have a believer, a man who is to lead his family, sitting under his wife as she takes the lead, declaring her leadership over the church, speaking of her wisdom in guiding the flock and telling everyone she has been called to this ministry. I couldn’t help thinking – how does the husband process this environment each week?

During the last church meeting I attended, the lady minister actually felt she needed to remind the congregation of Debra and Barak, speaking of how men refuse to step up and take the lead. This I heartily agree is a problem! She certainly mentioned a hot topic, of how she is “forced” to lead because of inactivity of the men in the Body! And again, she is declaring this complaint to her own flock of men, even her husband – how does the husband process this environment each week?!

You see, I think women leaders (such as Debra/Barak) in the Old Testament, or even the New Testament are examples that have been allowed by God.

Never mind the verses that you may have expected me to trot out on this subject, that relate to the topic of female leadership within the church body, and that deserves a fuller treatment than I intend to provide in this short post. Verses such as 1 Tim 2:11-15 & 1 Cor 14:34-35,1 Timothy 5:2, 9-10, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9.

This post is simply asking a question. How does the husband process this environment each week? How does a believing man handle the apparent conflict inside when his wife, whom he is to lead, places him amongst those she leads?

At my current stage in the Christian life and my current understanding of the Word, I would personally have inner conflict and turmoil if my wife were to assume a position of leadership over me. Thankfully my wife is a lovely, quiet lady who loves the Lord, seeks to serve her family, and sacrifices her wants and desires for those she meets.

What does my reader think?

Leave a comment, and let me know if this topic may be a subject we should talk about.

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Jeremiah 12:5

If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

Years back I was called upon to provide a eulogy for my father in law at his funeral.

As you may know if you have read my testimony, my father passed when I was a young boy, thereby growing up without a strong father figure in my life. When I met my wifey, I naturally sought her father’s approval, not only to best my chances at snagging his pretty daughter, but also since he was a man willing to take on this mess of a fella, a young man who needed some guidance from one who had went before.

So as I entered into my wife’s family, I found my attachment to Pop became stronger and stronger, seeking him out every time we visited, looking for chances to have coffee with him, or maybe go on a call with him. Pop was a man who serviced furnaces in a small town north of Toronto, and his winters were busy!

Nevertheless, as I grew closer to him, I found I thought of him as a father, and not just a man who provided me a wonderful wife. So, when he passed, I was struck. And as was obvious to all, many in the family saw my connection with Pop and asked me to share a story or two of his impact on my life at his funeral.

To my shame, I could not control my emotions. I stood there, crying like a little boy, uncontrolled and of no use to those Pop left behind, of no benefit to his memory. They all knew I loved him, but my tears didn’t add anything to his memory for their sakes.

I hadn’t thought of this incident until recently, when I again was in a position where my emotions may steal away an opportunity to be of use to the Lord and to one of His.

A dear lady, who has been experiencing great pain due to witnessing her husband suffer the onslaught of cancer for over 4 years, has now been informed there is nothing the medical profession can do to provide hope. As I watch this young lady live her life, I am amazed at her faith, at her resiliency, at her willingness to be faithful and suffer pain for the one she loves. I have known her for many years, and as I consider her many trials, I stand back and am thankful for knowing her.

It was only a night or so back when I had the opportunity to pray with her, and when we held hands to pray, the emotion welled up in my heart and I fell apart.

At this point of weakness, I thought of Pops, and of the verse I began this post with. Though the Lord can hear our heartbreak, this young lady needed to hear more than an old man weeping.

You know, when things are good, it is easy to keep up, to say the right things, to be the one who appears to be in control. It is when things are tough, when we are competing against things greater than us, that we need to stand up and be counted, to control our lives in order to be a blessing to those about us, to forget about ourselves.

I think back on Pops, and realize I was consumed in my own grief, and my own memories and my own thoughts. It was about me at that time. Me me me.

My goodness, may the Lord rescue me from my self absorbed life and help me run with the horses when the times come.

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Many on the news and internet are speaking of very difficult times coming for those of us in the western hemisphere. Those in the east have been experiencing difficult times for decades, and we need to remember them in our prayers. Whether it be the Uyghurs in China or believers in North Korea, there have been difficult times for many that we in the west simply can not imagine.

Difficult times are not a recent development for believers, or have not been experienced by believers before. Difficult times are what this post is about. A specific difficult time, in the days of Jeremiah.

With all that said, I want to recount last Sunday during worship service, where the church was led through the great hymn – Great is thy Faithfulness. As we sang this hymn, it occurred to me that this truth was taken from Jeremiah’s pen, when he wrote it in the saddest book of the Bible.

Lamentations 3

22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations is a book describing the horrors of a war with the Babylonians, and the eventual conquering of the nation of Israel. The Babylonians defeated the nation of Israel, destroyed the city of David, desecrated the temple, and was deporting all those Israeli’s that had not yet been murdered.

Get a grip on that my friend. Jeremiah saw the temple go down and the people of God decimated, with the land becoming barren, and in the end, he was hated by those few that remained.

And yet he declared

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.

In Jeremiah’s eyes there must have been nothing but discouragement, disappointment, and despair. Yes – he had been promised the nation would rise up again, but that would be seven decades later.

Yet Jeremiah wrote.

his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;

The nation had been corrupt, the priesthood had been compromised and was worse than the neighboring heathen. The people sinned and blamed everyone else for the nations condition. No one was following the Lord, but only following their own desires and wants. There was no earthly help for the nation, for the people who made up the nation were sick, nearing death and had refused any spiritual help.

And yet Jeremiah penned the great passage

they (God’s mercies) are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

In the midst of trials, difficult times and possible future devastation in our lives, let us practice this discipline of Jeremiah, recognizing the mercies of God in our lives, and realizing His faithfulness to us.

He truly is good, and He is good all the time!

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Leave it to a Civil Engineer to title a blog about gravel properties, but please don’t leave me yet. I bring this topic up because it has reminded me of the gospel, and of love. Now I guess you are thinking I’m nuts. That’s alright – I get that sometimes.

The background to my story is the filling of some potholes I was working on this afternoon on my driveway. We picked up a material that is called road base and it has little stones in it, medium stones in it, and some larger stones. A little bit of sand and a touch of clay, and abra cadabra, – fill for a pothole.

As I was shoveling the material out of the truck, my wife would level it out with a rake, and as she was leveling, she asked me why we didn’t use sand for the holes since we have so much available on site. I had to reach back to my schooling, but I described sand as a uniformly graded material very much like marbles, and any effort to pile marbles usually results in the marbles rolling away from each other. Hence the footprint in the sand syndrome!

The material we picked up was a non-uniformly graded base material with interlocking structures. The differing sizes find their place amongst the other stones, and the result is that after a bit of packing, the stones fill up the voids, allowing for greater bearing capacity for the road bed.

After all my rambling on about stones, I eventually looked up and saw that my wife was sincerely looking to understand something that was a part of my life. Please understand that my wife is an awesome lady, a sensitive loving person that cares for sick puppies, loves her garden, finds enjoyment in cleaning her home, and loves to dress up to go out. She is, in my opinion, the perfect example of a Christian lady, but then I may be a bit biased!

In all of this, she entered into my world of logic and analysis, of design and structure, of numbers and schedules to try to understand the fundamentals of gravel. 

Who cares about gravel? 

That’s the point. Gravel is about as interesting as watching paint dry, even for an engineer, but she was sincerely involved in the conversation, trying to understand it for the sake of understanding. Maybe to try to understand me a bit better.

You know, there is another who has taken an interest in our world. He has come down to talk of farmers and pearls, fish and tax collectors, kings and beggars, prostitutes and lepers. He often asked questions to bring people into conversations.

As He is God Almighty, it is not as if He needed any knowledge, or direction or input, but He involved Himself with a motley gang of unknown men, and expressed His love to them in all the interactions He entered into. And I am sure that each interaction left a mark on the disciple or friend, and His attention to their lives became an anchor for their memory of Him.

I wonder if He chatted with one of them about non-uniformly graded base with interlocking granular structures? I think He would have made it very interesting!

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Romans 5:2-5

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

I was listening to a podcast recently – forgive me if I don’t recall the name of the presenter, but as I was listening, he told a story of a scientist who drowned rats for science sake. Yes – rats! I told my wifey ’bout this and she was all in – She hates the vermin and would like to see them all perish.

Nevertheless, this scientist spent copious amounts of time studying rats and their responses to being in a tub filled with water. Two types of rats were studied. First, a dozen or so of the domesticated rat, the type that experienced interaction with humans. These rats, once they were placed in a tub they could not escape from, were initially docile, floating about for a short period of time. Eventually, within a minute or so, they began to swim about in the tub, looking for a way of escape. A few drowned fairly quickly, (do I hear my wife cheering?) but a majority of these domesticated rats swam valiantly for days, finally drowning from exhaustion.

What did the scientist learn? At this point nothing to speak of other than the hope of the domesticated rat was quite amazing.

The second stage was to use wild rats, rats that had to continually fight the elements, swim through rivers and fast rushing streams, fighting off all enemies. First thought as I listened was that these rats would survive much longer than the “soft” domesticated rats, but such was not the case. After a few minutes of discovering their predicament, all the wild rats simply rolled over and died.

Did you expect that outcome? Do you have any idea why this unexpected outcome occurred? Let’s push on to the next stage in this scientists study. This next stage may hold a key to this mystery.

The scientist tried the same experiment with a twist. Using domesticated rats again, the scientist placed a number of the rats in the same tub, and proceeded to let them fight for their lives. At the point of drowning and succumbing to death, the scientist pulled each rat out of the water, dried the rat off, resuscitated the rat and provided care to a level state of life.

Once the rats had been stabilized, the scientist placed them in the same tub.

What might you expect from these rats. The scientist discovered these rats would fight for far longer than the previous struggle, and the only difference was that the rats had HOPE, hope of being rescued from a death experience.

HOPE.

Without it we are just waiting for our death. With it we can experience far greater perseverance than previously thought possible. Of course we are greater than rats, yet at times we may sense we are only treading water, waiting for the inevitable. We are just keeping our nose above the waves, second by second, minute by minute. But for us as believers, there is hope of rescue, for we have experienced that first “plucking out of danger”, as the rats were plucked from the water and resuscitated. We have a new life and a living hope, granted to us by our Savior. He provides that hope, and from that hope, we can exercise a tenacity to hang on in the darkest of situations.

If you are suffering through a difficult time, hang on. He is our Hope, our Saving God, and He has impeccable timing.

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I’ll admit it. As a young believer, I grew up in the Lord in a Baptist church and when we spoke of fellowship, we all knew what it meant! Pot providence. (Christians don’t dare believe in luck, therefore pot providence.) A typical gathering in the basement of the old church with Miss Betty’s best rhubarb pie, fried chicken and of course casseroles of exceeding abundance and variety. Looking back, I am shocked at the number of varieties of casseroles that would show up.

Yes – Baptist fellowship was, for a large part of my young church going life, centered around food. Of course, we all know that fellowship is to be centered around the Lord Jesus, but sometimes the breaking of bread, that is munching on casseroles, fried chicken, multiple pies and cakes, hamburgers, hotdogs, french fries, green beans, – must I go on?) actually enables a bonding that the Lord desires with His people. The logic, I think, was that having a meal with another believer is a means to an end, and that is of sharing with others what we have, taking time to be with others around the table. Jesus broke bread with His disciples and during these times, He spoke some of His deepest and richest teachings, sharing His heart with His disciples.

Yes, fellowship still is a food thing for me, and I want to let you know that if a brother invites you to a meal, be thankful. I know – that is so obvious, but my story for this post involves a group of believers that attended our home Bible study years ago. We had about 4 or 5 families coming pretty regular, enjoying a couple hours chatting about life and reading the Word.

After a few months, my wifey wanted to host a meal with the group on a Sunday after church, just to let our hair down a bit with everyone. Thought it was a great idea, and since we usually got together around 3 on a Sunday afternoon, we asked all if a couple hours early would be good this one time. All agreed, and my wife started planning.

Barbecue, tater salad, pies, french fries, salads, and a couple casseroles, if I remember correctly. She really done it up good, and I was anticipating a real good feast with folks around the table. Except, that isn’t what happened. Most of the families that came enjoyed the taste of the food, but two of the families refrained from eating. The stood off in the distance, sat on the couch, and waited for the remainder of the group to finish.

I need to let you know that the two families belonged to a denomination that I wasn’t familiar with, yet in their studies, they seemed very earnest, very passionate. One topic seemed to get stuck in their throat as we had been getting together, but that is something that we all understood and realized they had their convictions. No problem.

Yet when they declined to break bread with us, that became an incident that was telling of a general attitude of those committed to this church. We were not worthy to share a meal with.

How hurtful for the young church after the resurrection, to be split in factions due to religion! How that burned in Paul’s heart, and I somewhat understand. It has been decades since this incident, but Sweetie and I came away from it hurt, shocked and somewhat disbelieving it even happened. In the end I think we have come to understand that doctrine is not the be all and end all. For you see the Word states that without love, we are nothing. A judgmental attitude towards those who claim the name of Jesus, though in a different denomination, is a damaging, destroying attitude that simply brings death to a body of believers.

Galatians 5:14, 15 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

When a brother offers you something, be grateful, share in it, and bring the love of God into it. It is the best way for both giver and receiver to maximize the blessings available!

As an aside, it seems coincidental that Paul brings into the passage above the concept of biting and devouring. Could he be referring to the same problem in the Galatian church? No matter – I just know that I am gonna sign off get myself a burger – this talk of food has got me hunnery!

Remember – God is good, and His children are to mimic Him.

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