Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord
I grew up in a Housing and Urban Development housing project in Ashland, Kentucky. After my parents divorced, we moved to Ashland, and lived a few months with my grandparents. We moved again to an apartment that was two blocks from where they lived. The final move was to Deboard Hill, where HUD had built a number of four-apartment buildings. We were in the apartment at the fork of the road where Stratton Drive and Reeves went their seperate ways. I lived there with my mom and two sisters until 1982, after I graduated from high school.
Every year my mom would deposit a little bit of money into the Christmas club at the bank, and then beginning in November she would begin purchasing pounds of sugar and food coloring and flavoring so she could make cream candy. The cream candy became popular among friends and extended family who would purchase loads of the sugary confection and either eat it themselves or would give to others as gifts. About a week or two before Christmas, she would give us about $50 cash and we would go to a local department store and shop for gifts.
At home we wrapped our gifts when no one else was around. In time our grandfather would come and pick us up, and we would load into his 1967 Chevy Impala and move in with them for a few days, including over Christmas. Also over Christmas break, my dad would drive down from Dayton, Ohio, and pick me and my two sisters up and we would spend a week with him and see our cousins and aunt and grandmother. We also opened presents with them. The last visit we made with our dad to Dayton was over Christmas break in 1981. He bought me the matching jacket and pants that I would wear in May for my high school graduation ceremony.
Christmas was always a time of mixed messages, now that I think about it. There was always Santa Clause at the mall, getting his picture taken with little kids who told him what they wanted for Christmas. I guess it was one way for parents to learn what their children wanted so they could make the purchases and make sure they were happy on Christmas morning. I don't recall ever asking for it, but I always got a 1/72 scale model of an F-14 "Tomcat." I think once I got two models of German tanks from WWII. I can't remember every little thing I got for Christmas. I do remember buying my dad socks and wishing I would have gotten him something better than that. I never knew what to get him. Parents don't talk a lot with Santa like little kids do.
Christmas cards featured angels, trees, stars, snow-covered houses, sleighs, reindeer, and well-wishes that there will be "peace on earth, good will to all mankind." There were Nativity scenes with wise men, shepherds, Mary and Joseph, and baby Jesus in the manger. There were snowmen and Santa Clause in cute poses with cute captions. Cards came from family members that were only seen maybe once a year at a family reunion.
Peace on earth with the gift of armored fighting vehicles and navy jet fighters. Not sure if there was ever a grudge match between Christ and Santa over who had rightful claim over the holidy season. I only remember one sermon preached while in the Free-will Baptist church we attended that said the Spirit of Christmas should be with us all year 'round. We should not just give gifts once a year, but every day of the year we should give the gift of Christ and the gift of ourselves. Be the gift. Share the gift of God's love. something similar was said regarding the concept of giving thanks, not just on Thanksgiving, but to have the spirit of thanksgiving with us every day of the year.
It matters not to me what day Jesus Christ was born. A pastor pointed out that the gift is more important than the day the gift was shared. There is good reason why the date of Jesus' birth isn't given, but we know the date of His crucifixion on the cross of Calvary, for it is the hinge of Bible prophecy. We can date with accuracy that He was baptized in 27 AD. We can do the math and determine His death was on the Passover weekend in 30 AD, and that line in Daniel 9:27 comes to an end in 33 AD with the stoning of Stephen in Acts 6. The gift that God gave the human race that day in Bethleham was His only begotten Son. The example of Jesus Christ in how to share and how to give thanks are two things we as Christians need desperately in these times. We need to have sharing hearts and thankful hearts. If we did, then it would be so much easier to proclaim the message of John the Baptist, to "prepare the way of the Lord."
Jesus Christ is soon to return to this world, when He rewards His faithful children with the gift of eternal life, for they believed His promises. They hungered and thirsted after His righteousness and it was given to them to eat and drink. They sought first the kingdom of God. They boldly knocked on the door and God opened it. They diligently sought the face of the Lord with all their heart and found Him. They humbly asked and God smiled and gave the blessings that met their needs. Boldy they proclaimed, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."
It is our turn to give this message to the world. It is our turn to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts and to declare "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." No other gift we have to offer than the love of God to a fallen world that gets more and more degenerate with each passing day.
The Father wants to send Jesus to us so He can take us home to be with Him forever. He's given us a gift of patience that can never be measured. In the coming year, may we somehow learn to be as patient with God and with others as He has been with us. And may we be found patiently waiting upon the Lord on that day of His appearing.
God bless us, everyone. And may we share those blessings with the spirit of giving that this world desperately needs now more than ever. If we won't start today, then when is a good time to start?
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Character of Heart
A Nazirite was a person who swore an oath to God to commit himself or herself for a certain period of time. It could be as short as 30 days, or it could be a lifetime commitment. For Samson and John the Baptist, the Nazirite lifestyle was the way of life they were to live from conception. The mothers were not allowed to have grapes in their diet during the time of their pregnancy until the child was weaned. As they grew, these two men were not to cut their hair or to shave their beards. This is cosmetic. The mission these men were given is more important than the lifestyle.
Too often decisions of marriage have been made based on how good a person looks. When Samuel went looking for a king, Saul was chosen by God and was anointed the first king of Israel. The people thought he was very kingly in his appearance. However, in his character, Saul eventually became a disappointment, and it broke Samuel's heart that God rejected Saul. While searching for a king to replace Saul, Samuel had an interview with the sons of Jesse. The first son approached Samuel, who looked upon him and thought that he looked very much the way a king should look. God told Samuel that men look at the outward appearance, but He looked upon the heart of men. Samuel interviewed each son of Jesse, except the one who was actually out doing his job. A young shepherd boy was called in, had his interview with Samuel, and was accepted by God to be the next leader of the Israelites. It was with peace of heart and mind that Samuel was able to anoint David the next king of Israel.
The character of any follower of God is critical, for a sinful world is watching and waiting for a sign and wonder from heaven to prove to them there is a God. A few simple facts need to be addressed that the world does not seem to understand and that Christians are apt to forget.
There are none righteous in the world. Not one person has any form of righteousness to call his or her own. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Because we are all sinners, people who have broken God's law, we are all worthy of death. Death in this case is eternal separation from God. It is more than the simple state of unconsciousness one faces at the end of one's natural life. When it comes to accusing a person of sin, no one has "the high moral ground."
God alone holds the moral high ground from which to judge spiritual matters of the heart. These laws, the Ten Commandments, are found in Exodus 20. They are a direct revelation of the character of God. God's character is worthy of being imprinted upon the hearts and minds of those who would seek to be like God. We must acknowledge this because 1) He leads us out of slavery, meaning that we do not have to continue living in bondage to sin; 2) He has no equal worthy to be worshiped, for there is no one in the universe who is like Him in any way; 3) He is not the figment of our imagination, and since we have never seen Him face to face, we do not have any right to make a god in our own image to bow down to or commit our lives to, nor do we have the right to use His name in a way that brings shame, humiliation, or disgrace to Him; 4) He is our Creator, but also created the heavens under which we live and the waters that we drink and the land from which the food we eat is produced, and we are obligated to Him to keep holy the seventh day of the week, for He set it apart from the rest of the week, blessed it, made it sacred, and allows us to take a break from all our work; 5) He is the only God to claim to be our Father, and loves all of His creation with a mighty love as only a Father can, for it is His nature to love, so He deserves to be honored by His children; 6)He created life and claims to be our Father, so it is not in God's character for Him to willingly seek to hate or to destroy any child of His, and therefore the brothers and sisters of God's family must love each other, for love reflects His character; 7) He has committed Himself to us, has bound Himself to us with an oath that He can never break, and seeks to have an intimate relationship with each of His children; 8) He gives without taking from the abundance of His heart and never takes anything from us by force, but He asks that we willingly surrender that which He knows is not healthy for us or for our relationship with Him; 9) He has been honest with us about our origins, has been forthcoming about the truth of His love for us, and has never broken a promise if we in turn honored our commitments to Him; 10) He has no desire to take from us any blessing with which He has shared with us, for His heart is a heart of giving, and it seeks nothing of its own.
Throughout the Psalms, the writer desires for God to write His laws and commands and statutes into his heart. He meditates upon them. He sees the beauty of God reflected in the words written upon stone and placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, under the mercy seat where God Himself sits. These laws were to be fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ, and they are to be fulfilled in the lives of every believer, for to act upon these laws is to act in love returned to God and shared with every human being. These laws were nailed to the cross of Calvary when Jesus died, and taken into the tomb. Upon the third day, when Christ was resurrected, the law was again brought back to life in Him.
Jesus told the disciples that if they had seen Him, then they have seen the Father, for Jesus and the Father are one, united in principle, united in character, united in their love for the sinful human race. It was the finger of Jesus that wrote the commandments into tables of stone. It is the desire of God to write the commandments into hearts of flesh so that they may be brought to life. If a follower of Jesus Christ loves Him, then He obeys Him, and the true disciples of Christ will be known by the love they have one for another. It is a love that is never withheld from anyone for any purpose. There is no room for falsehood in such a love as this.
If we would be committed to the cause of Christ, then we must have a love for souls, and a desire to seek those who are lost. We must love the missionary work we are called to do. The character of God's heart is love, and this love must be our love. Without it, we are nothing, and the religion we believe in is useless to humanity.
A Nazirite is nothing without love. The lifestyle is useless without love. If one has no love, then it is a useless gesture to dedicate oneself to God. If we have no love, then we are not true followers of Jesus Christ, but we are offspring of the father of lies. We must allow the Holy Spirit come into our lives and work within us to make the character of our heavenly Father come to life within us. We must be made ready for heaven. We must be totally surrendered, totally committed to the will of God.
Too often decisions of marriage have been made based on how good a person looks. When Samuel went looking for a king, Saul was chosen by God and was anointed the first king of Israel. The people thought he was very kingly in his appearance. However, in his character, Saul eventually became a disappointment, and it broke Samuel's heart that God rejected Saul. While searching for a king to replace Saul, Samuel had an interview with the sons of Jesse. The first son approached Samuel, who looked upon him and thought that he looked very much the way a king should look. God told Samuel that men look at the outward appearance, but He looked upon the heart of men. Samuel interviewed each son of Jesse, except the one who was actually out doing his job. A young shepherd boy was called in, had his interview with Samuel, and was accepted by God to be the next leader of the Israelites. It was with peace of heart and mind that Samuel was able to anoint David the next king of Israel.
The character of any follower of God is critical, for a sinful world is watching and waiting for a sign and wonder from heaven to prove to them there is a God. A few simple facts need to be addressed that the world does not seem to understand and that Christians are apt to forget.
There are none righteous in the world. Not one person has any form of righteousness to call his or her own. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Because we are all sinners, people who have broken God's law, we are all worthy of death. Death in this case is eternal separation from God. It is more than the simple state of unconsciousness one faces at the end of one's natural life. When it comes to accusing a person of sin, no one has "the high moral ground."
God alone holds the moral high ground from which to judge spiritual matters of the heart. These laws, the Ten Commandments, are found in Exodus 20. They are a direct revelation of the character of God. God's character is worthy of being imprinted upon the hearts and minds of those who would seek to be like God. We must acknowledge this because 1) He leads us out of slavery, meaning that we do not have to continue living in bondage to sin; 2) He has no equal worthy to be worshiped, for there is no one in the universe who is like Him in any way; 3) He is not the figment of our imagination, and since we have never seen Him face to face, we do not have any right to make a god in our own image to bow down to or commit our lives to, nor do we have the right to use His name in a way that brings shame, humiliation, or disgrace to Him; 4) He is our Creator, but also created the heavens under which we live and the waters that we drink and the land from which the food we eat is produced, and we are obligated to Him to keep holy the seventh day of the week, for He set it apart from the rest of the week, blessed it, made it sacred, and allows us to take a break from all our work; 5) He is the only God to claim to be our Father, and loves all of His creation with a mighty love as only a Father can, for it is His nature to love, so He deserves to be honored by His children; 6)He created life and claims to be our Father, so it is not in God's character for Him to willingly seek to hate or to destroy any child of His, and therefore the brothers and sisters of God's family must love each other, for love reflects His character; 7) He has committed Himself to us, has bound Himself to us with an oath that He can never break, and seeks to have an intimate relationship with each of His children; 8) He gives without taking from the abundance of His heart and never takes anything from us by force, but He asks that we willingly surrender that which He knows is not healthy for us or for our relationship with Him; 9) He has been honest with us about our origins, has been forthcoming about the truth of His love for us, and has never broken a promise if we in turn honored our commitments to Him; 10) He has no desire to take from us any blessing with which He has shared with us, for His heart is a heart of giving, and it seeks nothing of its own.
Throughout the Psalms, the writer desires for God to write His laws and commands and statutes into his heart. He meditates upon them. He sees the beauty of God reflected in the words written upon stone and placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, under the mercy seat where God Himself sits. These laws were to be fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ, and they are to be fulfilled in the lives of every believer, for to act upon these laws is to act in love returned to God and shared with every human being. These laws were nailed to the cross of Calvary when Jesus died, and taken into the tomb. Upon the third day, when Christ was resurrected, the law was again brought back to life in Him.
Jesus told the disciples that if they had seen Him, then they have seen the Father, for Jesus and the Father are one, united in principle, united in character, united in their love for the sinful human race. It was the finger of Jesus that wrote the commandments into tables of stone. It is the desire of God to write the commandments into hearts of flesh so that they may be brought to life. If a follower of Jesus Christ loves Him, then He obeys Him, and the true disciples of Christ will be known by the love they have one for another. It is a love that is never withheld from anyone for any purpose. There is no room for falsehood in such a love as this.
If we would be committed to the cause of Christ, then we must have a love for souls, and a desire to seek those who are lost. We must love the missionary work we are called to do. The character of God's heart is love, and this love must be our love. Without it, we are nothing, and the religion we believe in is useless to humanity.
A Nazirite is nothing without love. The lifestyle is useless without love. If one has no love, then it is a useless gesture to dedicate oneself to God. If we have no love, then we are not true followers of Jesus Christ, but we are offspring of the father of lies. We must allow the Holy Spirit come into our lives and work within us to make the character of our heavenly Father come to life within us. We must be made ready for heaven. We must be totally surrendered, totally committed to the will of God.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
in the beginning
From childhood I have been somewhat fascinated by the Nazirites found in the Bible. Three of them are quite famous for their exploits. The first one was a jerk named Samson. If you pay attention to his story, you can understand why I call him a jerk. At the end of his life, Samson returns to his faith and his calling. His faith in God places him in the Hall of Faith of Hebrews 11. He may not have been a very pleasant person most of his life, but in the end he rededicated himself to his God and his faith was rewarded. Samuel was a Nazirite who annointed Saul to be the first king of Israel, and later a young shepherd named David. The third Nazirite was John the Baptist, the "voice in the wilderness" encouraging people to prepare themselves for the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
A Nazirite is one who consecrates his or her life to YHWH. A less technical way of saying this would be that one dedicates his or her life to God. The description of the Nazirite lifestyle is found in Numbers 6. Some parts of this are now obsolete, in that the animal sacrifices came to an end with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross. However, other parts are still binding, and perhaps should be modified in order to bring them into the 21st century.
For a while I have been thinking about what it would mean to be a Nazirite. The level of dedication one would need to live committed to God with no compromise to the standards, requirements or demands of the rest of the world would separate one from most if not all of society. Realistically speaking, there would be no place found for them. On the job market, most employers require men to be clean-shaven with short hair. The Nazirite was not to allow a razor to cut his hair, so the crew cut is out. The only reason why short hair became a standard for men was due to its interference in combat. When fighting hand to hand, the hair and the beard can become weapons used against a person. Grap a man's beard and you can pull him off balance, cause him to drop his defenses from the pain of having that hair pulled. If attacked from the rear, the hair can be grabbed, jerking the head back, leaving the throat exposed. If one has a helmet, the hair will cause problems with it fitting properly. In today's military, the beard prevents protective masks from sealing properly, exposing a soldier to nuclear, biological or chemical agents. The wisdom of the world requires men to shave and to get the occasional haircut.
I have never really enjoyed the taste of grape juice. When my dad introduced me to grape wine, I immediately didn't like it. I tasted it, and it wasn't good. So living without grapes has been easy for me. But why is the grape and its juice/wine addressed in this lifestyle? Simply enough, the Nazirite was to be sober in all that he or she did. It is possible that one reason a man would make the Nazirite vow was due to problems with alcoholism. One complaint I have heard from a few people who stopped attending church was due to relatives with hangovers singing in the choir on Sunday morning following a Saturday night spent drinking beer or whiskey. This simple lesson is that a Nazirite was to be sober and self-controlled, living a temperate lifestyle that honored God. I look at my ancestry and consider the contributions they made to contemporary drinking culture. The Scots and Irish developed their versions of whiskey. The Germans perfected the brewing of beers, lagers, and ales. The Norse worked with honey to make mead. I am sure that deep enough in my family history are the French who worked their own wonders with the grape. While serving as a missionary in South Korea, there were times when I wasn't too comfortable eating with students as they drank soju, an alcoholic beverage first introduced to Korea during the time of the Mongul invasions. About the only time I drink anything with grape juice in it is during the communion service at my church.
What I do have a problem with when it comes to drinking are the carbonated sodas that are loaded with caffeine and high fructose corn syrup. These things are, for me, a modern version of strong drink that don't need to be in my diet. Coca-cola, Pepsi, Lipton, doesn't matter. It all has to go. I want go get to the point to where I never again drink this stuff. And I write this a few minutes after having had a bottle of Pepsi. Yes, I am a hypocrite. I'm working on overcoming a lot of things.
For a few months now I have been thinking about the implications of being a Nazirite. What does it mean to be totally dedicated to God? It is more than an issue over haircuts and what one chooses to eat and drink. It deals with the commitment one is willing to bring to a relationship with God. I will share my thoughts on that soon.
Your prayers are appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
A Nazirite is one who consecrates his or her life to YHWH. A less technical way of saying this would be that one dedicates his or her life to God. The description of the Nazirite lifestyle is found in Numbers 6. Some parts of this are now obsolete, in that the animal sacrifices came to an end with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross. However, other parts are still binding, and perhaps should be modified in order to bring them into the 21st century.
For a while I have been thinking about what it would mean to be a Nazirite. The level of dedication one would need to live committed to God with no compromise to the standards, requirements or demands of the rest of the world would separate one from most if not all of society. Realistically speaking, there would be no place found for them. On the job market, most employers require men to be clean-shaven with short hair. The Nazirite was not to allow a razor to cut his hair, so the crew cut is out. The only reason why short hair became a standard for men was due to its interference in combat. When fighting hand to hand, the hair and the beard can become weapons used against a person. Grap a man's beard and you can pull him off balance, cause him to drop his defenses from the pain of having that hair pulled. If attacked from the rear, the hair can be grabbed, jerking the head back, leaving the throat exposed. If one has a helmet, the hair will cause problems with it fitting properly. In today's military, the beard prevents protective masks from sealing properly, exposing a soldier to nuclear, biological or chemical agents. The wisdom of the world requires men to shave and to get the occasional haircut.
I have never really enjoyed the taste of grape juice. When my dad introduced me to grape wine, I immediately didn't like it. I tasted it, and it wasn't good. So living without grapes has been easy for me. But why is the grape and its juice/wine addressed in this lifestyle? Simply enough, the Nazirite was to be sober in all that he or she did. It is possible that one reason a man would make the Nazirite vow was due to problems with alcoholism. One complaint I have heard from a few people who stopped attending church was due to relatives with hangovers singing in the choir on Sunday morning following a Saturday night spent drinking beer or whiskey. This simple lesson is that a Nazirite was to be sober and self-controlled, living a temperate lifestyle that honored God. I look at my ancestry and consider the contributions they made to contemporary drinking culture. The Scots and Irish developed their versions of whiskey. The Germans perfected the brewing of beers, lagers, and ales. The Norse worked with honey to make mead. I am sure that deep enough in my family history are the French who worked their own wonders with the grape. While serving as a missionary in South Korea, there were times when I wasn't too comfortable eating with students as they drank soju, an alcoholic beverage first introduced to Korea during the time of the Mongul invasions. About the only time I drink anything with grape juice in it is during the communion service at my church.
What I do have a problem with when it comes to drinking are the carbonated sodas that are loaded with caffeine and high fructose corn syrup. These things are, for me, a modern version of strong drink that don't need to be in my diet. Coca-cola, Pepsi, Lipton, doesn't matter. It all has to go. I want go get to the point to where I never again drink this stuff. And I write this a few minutes after having had a bottle of Pepsi. Yes, I am a hypocrite. I'm working on overcoming a lot of things.
For a few months now I have been thinking about the implications of being a Nazirite. What does it mean to be totally dedicated to God? It is more than an issue over haircuts and what one chooses to eat and drink. It deals with the commitment one is willing to bring to a relationship with God. I will share my thoughts on that soon.
Your prayers are appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
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