“On that day it will be said, ‘Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.’ For the Lord’s power will rest on this mountain.” Isaiah 25:9-10 HCASB
The verses before speak of the “Feast of the Father” as labeled by Timothy Keller in his book, Prodigal God, which I have spent the last few months going through with some brothers I’ve joined on Wednesday nights at Knox Presbyterian Church in A2…just up the street from my home in the Orchard Grove Community. Though the feast is of great importance to us, all of us, as believers, it is the following two verses immediately after that seemed to hit me after this weekend experience.
Because of the generosity of a brother in the group, whom I shall probably never know, I was able to attend a 24-hour seminar with the larger community of Knox men at a Retreat at Camp FoHoLo (Faith, Love, Hope) in Grass Lake Michigan. It is the Knox Men’s annual retreat, dating back to I believe 1996.
One of the greatest sorrows in my life has always been the lost of the community of men that I have been blessed to be in fellowship out in Troy, the M3 and Able Men under the leadership of Scott Engleman. When we moved out to A2, I left that community which had become further physical and spiritually from me in hopes of finding another with the same fellowship and impact that had shaped me into a man questing after God. I haven’t been blessed to be immersed into such fellowship, though I have a good ‘communal’ relationship with Mosaic’s Men’s Fraternity group and have come to cherish the time with the group under the leadership of Lewis Clark at Knox’s Wednesday night. I even appreciate the fellowship of several ‘long-distance’ brothers whom I have shared a cyber connection to in several online communities.
In this season, where God seems to be waiting upon me to take up the mantle of what He has purposed and called me to, such loss of deep committed fellowship is less than problematic as it is dangerous. A mentor once told me that I would know when God was truly prompting me to go when I started ‘gathering’ a team to hold me accountable, edify the call and ensure support (spiritual) in the path ahead. To ‘jump the gun’ and charge in would be to invite human fragility to become the dangerous ingredient and ultimate reason for my demise.
Bowery this year left me very unsettled, because I saw what God can do and the difference of my obedience and my disobedience to the purpose. I also recognized ‘key’ players in my life; some that were even unaware of such designations and probably never will know. I recognized too, in a renewed sense of clarity, the realization that my call did not support my ‘desire’ to fix the church that has gone off mission in several regards but rather, focus on the purposed calling of my anointing and leave the church renewal to those who have been so purposed by God to do so.
Pastor Chuck, the Lead Pastor of Knox, talked about Gideon…that ‘weakest of the weakest’ warrior who led 300 against 135,000 and saw victory. We all know of this little man of Manasseh told in the pages of Judges 6-8. I’ve written about Gideon as well, http://chapel-michigan.blogspot.com/2007/10/but-i-am-least-of-least.html . But, as I have discovered in my years since I’ve answered that still small voice’s question that overturned my soul, God works in layers of His Word, helping us discover in the same passages new meanings for the seasons of our life here on this world. And Pastor Chuck brought this hero alive once more. And God challenged me to accept His vision of who I am even as I struggle to believe its truth.
Gideon, weakest of the weakest, was a little man who was hiding in a winepress trying to ‘eek’ out a living in an oppressed land. And the Angel of the Lord came to him and called him a “mighty man of valor.” Gideon signed on for the mission and immediately engaged in it. At the end, in chapter 8 of Judges, it is interesting to see how the defeated and captured Kings of Midan told him he …..”resembled a son of a king.” From the weakest of the weakest to a son of a king.
Being a man of valor doesn’t mean we have some exceptional skills or opportunity. We don’t have to be Upper class or even middle class. We can be the poorest of the poor and weakest of the weak and yet, when we step into the mission purpose that God has given us….putting on the armor and protection of our King……..mighty deeds are done through the strength He’s given us by the Spirit.
And I saw a lot of Gideons at the Knox Men’s Retreat yesterday……..mighty men of valor!
Showing posts with label Heroes of the Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heroes of the Bible. Show all posts
Sunday, March 27
Tuesday, June 23
"In a pit with a Lion on a snow day"...lessons garnered from another
“Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, a fighting-man of Kabzeel, had done great acts; he put to death two young lions going into their secret place; and he went down into a hole and put a lion to death in time of snow. And he made an attack on an Egyptian, a very tall man about five cubits high, armed with a spear like a cloth-worker's rod; he went down to him with a stick, and pulling his spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, put him to death with that same spear. These were the acts of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who had a great name among the thirty men of war. He was honoured over the thirty, but he was not equal to the first three: and David put him over his servants.” (1 Chronicles 11:22-25 BBE)
A co-worker with whom I have some theological debates from time to time hurried over to me Monday morning as we prepared to work and said, “Who was in charge of David’s bodyguards?” I couldn’t come up with a name, although I knew the exploits of the Mighty Men of David and their existence….men who came to him as ‘men in distress, in debt and embittered in spirit,’ (1 Samuel 22:1-2) numbering 30 among about 400 men of similar dispositions and did great deeds under David, their Captain and future King. We tried to find the reference that my friend had heard, but couldn’t so I asked him for the church’s website to see if I could pull the sermon or audio off the site to study this suddenly perplexing question and see where God was leading me in this. I sent the pastor a message requesting sermon paper or audio.
Pastor John Lane, shepherd of the Bedford Free Methodist Church in Bedford, Indiana, was quick and gracious in his response…..apologizing for the technical difficulties with the audio that caused no recording to be available but who was nice enough to send me a copy of his rough notes for the sermon, prepared for Father’s day and entitled “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snow Day.”
The name that escaped me was Benaiah, which means “Built up by Jehovah.” He was son of Jehoiada, the chief priest, who was set by David over his personal bodyguards of Cherethites and Pelethites (2Sa_8:18; 1Ki_1:32; 1Ch_18:17). The Cherethites, as a people, were the inhabitants of Southern Philistia (Philistines) and many believe they were the ‘executioners’ of David’s decrees. The Pelethites, as a people, were believed to be another group of Philistines and are only mentioned in conjunction with the Cherethites. The word is believed to mean “couriers or runners” and it is that function that many theologians attribute to them. Both groups were standing with the enemy of their countrymen, protecting the very source of that army’s strength and power……in human terms. And Benaiah was the captain of them…in charge of this powerful young man named David. This service would extend to David’s son, Solomon where he would appointed as ‘commander-in-chief’ of the Israelite Army. From a ‘broken’ refugee to the most powerful warrior in the entire nation’s army…..all under the leadership of a man ‘after God’s own heart, built up through the work of the Holy Spirit…..
As I read Pastor Lane’s notes, a powerful sermon for the fathers of the modern age, the image came to my mind of the movie 300, in the opening moments of the tale where the one-eyed solider speaks of the Spartan practice of growing warriors….mighty and powerful warriors….by throwing them out into the wilderness. A young leonius, future King of Sparta who would stand against Xerxes of the Esther tale, is armed with only a spear and is set upon by a mountain lion….he is hungry and cold…..and afraid, to a degree. He uses his terrain against the beast and triumphs, skinning the animal and returning to his people victorious. Much like Lane speaks in his sermon, the focus of which is the defeat of the lion in a pit on a snowy day…..fear is felt but not allowed to control the actions and desire of the young warrior (Benaiah as well as Leonius). The spirit within the young Spartan demands and empowers him to stand in the face of overwhelming odds….The lion is mightier in mass and strength, speed and agility….to overcome this certainty of death. He becomes the King who can command three hundred warriors to stand against a sea of thousands upon thousands of enemy combatants in the assurance of death’s embrace.
In our wilderness, thrust out (unfairly it may seem) by God and similarly apparently alone, we face our lions in the barren harshness of the worldly landscape armed with only a spear…..hungry, cold, tired and our limbs laced with fear…..with only the hope to keep us warm and the spirit’s prompting to move our feet as we stumble backwards against the oncoming assault of the massive beast of our sinfulness……seeking a way out, a salvation that seems will never come…..and, as the beast snarls in unholy rage at the mountain sides that prevent it from reaching us, its prey, striking with a true and desperation-driven thrust……and returning home victorious, our testimony speaking of God’s provision, strength and hope given to us in our need. Too few have only one or two wilderness experiences that drive us into a more dependent and intimate relationship with God….others, like me, require more……much more….coming out at the end something greater than we could ever be without the repetition, servant-warriors of the One, True King.
Benaiah faces his wilderness ‘shaping’ in, as Pastor Lane points out in the biblical text, the form of two Moabite warriors (their best, no some run-of-the-mill conscripted warriors), an Egyptian 7 and ½ feet tall armed with only a ‘stick’ while that giant carried a ‘spear like a weaver’s rod,’ (Lane offers a visual comparison…..Shaquille O’Neal is 7 feet 1 inch tall with a wingspan of 7 inches and a reach of 9 and ½ feet standing) and a lion (Lane gives us some stats; common foe of shepherds in that day, 8-10 feet long, 416 average pounds, capable of 50 miles an hour in short distances and a roar that can be heard 5 miles away) in a pit on a snowy day. From the man represented in 1 Samuel to the warrior declared mighty and his feats proclaimed in 1 Chronicles and then Commander-in-chief of the whole of Israel’s armies in 1 Kings.
As Pastor Lane points out, Benaiah teaches us that we are not called to safety, avoidance of fear or even a 'comfortable' retirement in this life, as men. Our attempts at establishing a boring life of safety, avoiding our 'wilderness experiences' wrought with fear and seeking a life of simple comfort in the elder days of our lives are foolish to attempt and absent of God's enticement to join Him in the work He would have us do. The goal of masculinity, of all of God's children, is to be faithfulness Lane points out….encountering our lions (those situations that we'd like to avoid but need to be confronted). In a life pleasing to God, we must face the best of the Moabites (modern day representation….lusts of the flesh…), our giants (the worldliness of Egypt) and the lions (Lane quotes 1 Peter 5:8 "your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion"). How do we, as broken men who haven't had an example per se of godly masculinity, be a Benaiah?
We each have our Davids in our lives. We each have our 'three mightier men' that even our best cannot match. Men who have heard the yearning of their David's and sought out the simple desires in the face of overwhelming odds, showing a faithfulness to David and ultimately to the God he serves. Men who fight their battles with lions, giants and the fallenness of the world with the throbbing passion of faith…..Israel's God, David's God, their God….the True God…..is alive and victorious yesterday, today and tomorrow. Men who move in the face of overwhelming fear, certain defeat and looming death to walk in the purpose of God and perform the work to which He calls us all.
Though my exploits aren't even close to the mighty deeds performed by my 'three' and my spiritual leadership cannot even come to measure against my 'David', I stand counted by these men as one among them…..…the few who girth themselves in the armor of the Lord and step into the world to bring the truth and light to all who are stained in the darkness of their sins and the blindness of the enemy's grasp. Men, who recognize that the battle isn't of a physical nature but a spiritual one, and who move despite the fear to face the enemy. A band of brothers, who fight alongside each other, living a life unsafe, robbed of comfort's laziness and struggle fully in the light of day in faithfulness to be examples for themselves, each other and those they know in the darkness of night. For the wives to which they must live, the sons to which they must teach, and the daughters to which they must represent godly manhood in the ordained, created and designed model that God sets forth in the Word.
Men who don't claim superiority, but humility, in these efforts to live a godly design. Men who, like the mighty men of David's time, speak not of their exploits nor boast in their victories but simply move as God has called them to, without claiming the glory that is God's alone but with the intentionality of providing Him with the testimony of that Glory. Men who live what they believe, represent what they have faith in and empower the generations to come with the truth.
I know who my David is, who the 'three mightier than the mighty men' are, and even the second tier of heroes that walk in the landscape of this world…..and there are my brothers in arms who stand with me in the spiritual battles that men were built to fight; to bless those around them.
I will not fear, I will not run and I will not turn from the struggle to be an example to my children of the man God made me to be. Will you?
This morning, when I went to the website of the church, I was impressed with the ‘motto’ if you will of this distant part of the family of God (in physical distance that is)…..”Empowered through Christ, we will Serve, Save, Strengthen and Send” Serving the community, introducing saving faith to others, strengthen believers and sending loving people into the world to ‘repeat’….it is seldom that you see such an impactful statement in the churches of this western culture today and it would be interesting to see how effective they are being in faithful execution to their god-purposed mission. There are so few churches that are empowering the body with the good fruit of the Gospel that the masses are surrendering to the bondage of the enemy just to be able to eat unclean food. The Bedford FM church’s website is www.bedfordfmc.org . I’d recommend a look and a visit if you are in the area.
A co-worker with whom I have some theological debates from time to time hurried over to me Monday morning as we prepared to work and said, “Who was in charge of David’s bodyguards?” I couldn’t come up with a name, although I knew the exploits of the Mighty Men of David and their existence….men who came to him as ‘men in distress, in debt and embittered in spirit,’ (1 Samuel 22:1-2) numbering 30 among about 400 men of similar dispositions and did great deeds under David, their Captain and future King. We tried to find the reference that my friend had heard, but couldn’t so I asked him for the church’s website to see if I could pull the sermon or audio off the site to study this suddenly perplexing question and see where God was leading me in this. I sent the pastor a message requesting sermon paper or audio.
Pastor John Lane, shepherd of the Bedford Free Methodist Church in Bedford, Indiana, was quick and gracious in his response…..apologizing for the technical difficulties with the audio that caused no recording to be available but who was nice enough to send me a copy of his rough notes for the sermon, prepared for Father’s day and entitled “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snow Day.”
The name that escaped me was Benaiah, which means “Built up by Jehovah.” He was son of Jehoiada, the chief priest, who was set by David over his personal bodyguards of Cherethites and Pelethites (2Sa_8:18; 1Ki_1:32; 1Ch_18:17). The Cherethites, as a people, were the inhabitants of Southern Philistia (Philistines) and many believe they were the ‘executioners’ of David’s decrees. The Pelethites, as a people, were believed to be another group of Philistines and are only mentioned in conjunction with the Cherethites. The word is believed to mean “couriers or runners” and it is that function that many theologians attribute to them. Both groups were standing with the enemy of their countrymen, protecting the very source of that army’s strength and power……in human terms. And Benaiah was the captain of them…in charge of this powerful young man named David. This service would extend to David’s son, Solomon where he would appointed as ‘commander-in-chief’ of the Israelite Army. From a ‘broken’ refugee to the most powerful warrior in the entire nation’s army…..all under the leadership of a man ‘after God’s own heart, built up through the work of the Holy Spirit…..
As I read Pastor Lane’s notes, a powerful sermon for the fathers of the modern age, the image came to my mind of the movie 300, in the opening moments of the tale where the one-eyed solider speaks of the Spartan practice of growing warriors….mighty and powerful warriors….by throwing them out into the wilderness. A young leonius, future King of Sparta who would stand against Xerxes of the Esther tale, is armed with only a spear and is set upon by a mountain lion….he is hungry and cold…..and afraid, to a degree. He uses his terrain against the beast and triumphs, skinning the animal and returning to his people victorious. Much like Lane speaks in his sermon, the focus of which is the defeat of the lion in a pit on a snowy day…..fear is felt but not allowed to control the actions and desire of the young warrior (Benaiah as well as Leonius). The spirit within the young Spartan demands and empowers him to stand in the face of overwhelming odds….The lion is mightier in mass and strength, speed and agility….to overcome this certainty of death. He becomes the King who can command three hundred warriors to stand against a sea of thousands upon thousands of enemy combatants in the assurance of death’s embrace.
In our wilderness, thrust out (unfairly it may seem) by God and similarly apparently alone, we face our lions in the barren harshness of the worldly landscape armed with only a spear…..hungry, cold, tired and our limbs laced with fear…..with only the hope to keep us warm and the spirit’s prompting to move our feet as we stumble backwards against the oncoming assault of the massive beast of our sinfulness……seeking a way out, a salvation that seems will never come…..and, as the beast snarls in unholy rage at the mountain sides that prevent it from reaching us, its prey, striking with a true and desperation-driven thrust……and returning home victorious, our testimony speaking of God’s provision, strength and hope given to us in our need. Too few have only one or two wilderness experiences that drive us into a more dependent and intimate relationship with God….others, like me, require more……much more….coming out at the end something greater than we could ever be without the repetition, servant-warriors of the One, True King.
Benaiah faces his wilderness ‘shaping’ in, as Pastor Lane points out in the biblical text, the form of two Moabite warriors (their best, no some run-of-the-mill conscripted warriors), an Egyptian 7 and ½ feet tall armed with only a ‘stick’ while that giant carried a ‘spear like a weaver’s rod,’ (Lane offers a visual comparison…..Shaquille O’Neal is 7 feet 1 inch tall with a wingspan of 7 inches and a reach of 9 and ½ feet standing) and a lion (Lane gives us some stats; common foe of shepherds in that day, 8-10 feet long, 416 average pounds, capable of 50 miles an hour in short distances and a roar that can be heard 5 miles away) in a pit on a snowy day. From the man represented in 1 Samuel to the warrior declared mighty and his feats proclaimed in 1 Chronicles and then Commander-in-chief of the whole of Israel’s armies in 1 Kings.
As Pastor Lane points out, Benaiah teaches us that we are not called to safety, avoidance of fear or even a 'comfortable' retirement in this life, as men. Our attempts at establishing a boring life of safety, avoiding our 'wilderness experiences' wrought with fear and seeking a life of simple comfort in the elder days of our lives are foolish to attempt and absent of God's enticement to join Him in the work He would have us do. The goal of masculinity, of all of God's children, is to be faithfulness Lane points out….encountering our lions (those situations that we'd like to avoid but need to be confronted). In a life pleasing to God, we must face the best of the Moabites (modern day representation….lusts of the flesh…), our giants (the worldliness of Egypt) and the lions (Lane quotes 1 Peter 5:8 "your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion"). How do we, as broken men who haven't had an example per se of godly masculinity, be a Benaiah?
We each have our Davids in our lives. We each have our 'three mightier men' that even our best cannot match. Men who have heard the yearning of their David's and sought out the simple desires in the face of overwhelming odds, showing a faithfulness to David and ultimately to the God he serves. Men who fight their battles with lions, giants and the fallenness of the world with the throbbing passion of faith…..Israel's God, David's God, their God….the True God…..is alive and victorious yesterday, today and tomorrow. Men who move in the face of overwhelming fear, certain defeat and looming death to walk in the purpose of God and perform the work to which He calls us all.
Though my exploits aren't even close to the mighty deeds performed by my 'three' and my spiritual leadership cannot even come to measure against my 'David', I stand counted by these men as one among them…..…the few who girth themselves in the armor of the Lord and step into the world to bring the truth and light to all who are stained in the darkness of their sins and the blindness of the enemy's grasp. Men, who recognize that the battle isn't of a physical nature but a spiritual one, and who move despite the fear to face the enemy. A band of brothers, who fight alongside each other, living a life unsafe, robbed of comfort's laziness and struggle fully in the light of day in faithfulness to be examples for themselves, each other and those they know in the darkness of night. For the wives to which they must live, the sons to which they must teach, and the daughters to which they must represent godly manhood in the ordained, created and designed model that God sets forth in the Word.
Men who don't claim superiority, but humility, in these efforts to live a godly design. Men who, like the mighty men of David's time, speak not of their exploits nor boast in their victories but simply move as God has called them to, without claiming the glory that is God's alone but with the intentionality of providing Him with the testimony of that Glory. Men who live what they believe, represent what they have faith in and empower the generations to come with the truth.
I know who my David is, who the 'three mightier than the mighty men' are, and even the second tier of heroes that walk in the landscape of this world…..and there are my brothers in arms who stand with me in the spiritual battles that men were built to fight; to bless those around them.
I will not fear, I will not run and I will not turn from the struggle to be an example to my children of the man God made me to be. Will you?
This morning, when I went to the website of the church, I was impressed with the ‘motto’ if you will of this distant part of the family of God (in physical distance that is)…..”Empowered through Christ, we will Serve, Save, Strengthen and Send” Serving the community, introducing saving faith to others, strengthen believers and sending loving people into the world to ‘repeat’….it is seldom that you see such an impactful statement in the churches of this western culture today and it would be interesting to see how effective they are being in faithful execution to their god-purposed mission. There are so few churches that are empowering the body with the good fruit of the Gospel that the masses are surrendering to the bondage of the enemy just to be able to eat unclean food. The Bedford FM church’s website is www.bedfordfmc.org . I’d recommend a look and a visit if you are in the area.
Thursday, December 4
A different kind of Christmas poem......emailed to me....worth a reposting!
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq
Monday, November 24
Son of encouragement
"After the news about Antioch reached the church in Jerusalem, Barnabas was sent to Antioch. When he arrived there, he was pleased to see what God had done for them out of kindness. So he encouraged all the people to remain solidly committed to the Lord. Barnabas was a dependable man, and he was full of the Holy Spirit and faith. A large crowd believed in the Lord. Then Barnabas left Antioch to go to the city of Tarsus to look for Saul. After finding Saul, Barnabas brought him back to Antioch. Barnabas and Saul met with the church in Antioch for a whole year and taught a large group of people. The disciples were called Christians for the first time in the city of Antioch." Acts 11:22-26 (GWT)
Barnabas, Son of Encouragement (Acts 4:36), left Antioch...the Antioch (Antiocheia) that was on the river Orontes and the capital city of ancient Syria. In time, it would stand as the 3rd Patriarchal see of the early Church, after Rome and Jerusalem and would be destroyed by the Persian invasion of AD 538.
Fourteen years after the Jerusalem church sent Saul to Tarsus, after his inciting 'murderous responses', Barnabas would come seeking this individual whom he had vouched for to the original eleven disciples in Jerusalem in a city second only to Antioch in economically, culturally and politically in the region. Tarsus was a bustling seaport where the ancient religion of the god Mithras was prominent. This has led many anti-Christian theologians and historians to compare the religions and find what they claim are co-opted myths, blended into the new found movement of Christianity by Gaius Julius Paulus (some claim his name was).
"What part did his stay there play in his later effectiveness?" one researcher asks, "I expect that a time of tempering, including growth in humility, ……. time is essential for the ingredients of something to blend properly. Tea has to be steeped, wine has to be aged……changes in life have to be assimilated and lived out."
We know that Paul's character was drastically changed even before he departed the Jerusalem church at the behest of the leadership. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes him before his conversion as an intolerant, bitter, persecuting, religious bigot - proud and temperamental. After his conversion he is pictured as patient, kind, enduring, and self-sacrificing. Paul's combative relationship with the followers of Jesus Christ was so changed with the help of Barnabas' introduction that he had received the 'right hand of fellowship', which meant that the leadership considered him as an equal.
According to most theologians, Saul likely didn't remain idle while he was in a 'place of higher learning' in Tarsus, which hosted a Jewish population evidenced by several archaeological records. After inciting such violent feelings among the Jerusalem Jewish population, he may have avoided most of the Jewish thoughts and instead listened in on the current philosophical arguments of the Greeks, although he probably did visit with relatives and family. He may have traveled home to gather linen for his trade as a tentmaker, which he used so as to 'not become a burden' to the congregations he founded and visited, though it would seem he got sidetracked for a period of time.
The explosive growth of the church in Antioch, which Barnabas was sent to pastor most likely led to his decision to seek out help, but it is interesting that Barnabas went seeking Saul in Tarsus instead of calling for some of the apostles to help him with the growing Antioch church. Barnabas always sought God’s direction in his decisions and often exercised his leadership abilities in the support of others who, not necessarily were better than he is, but more suitable for the work at hand. Since he knew of Saul’s desire to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, he went to seek him out.
The story between these two apostles would span a long time, a disagreement over John Mark and the endorsement of the Jerusalem church of Paul and Silas no doubt bothered Barnabas to some degree, but never to the point of contention. He simply moved out on his own, taking whom God led him to take, and would never speak with Paul again, at least according to the biblical accounts.
Paul, upon his final imprisonment, would speak of his foolishness concerning John Mark, in 2 Timothy…….
“Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” 4:9-11 (NIV)
Barnabas would remain true; never forgetting the apostle he introduced to the leadership in Jerusalem, whom he taught a growing number of believers with in Antioch, and whom he helped found numerous churches through their missionary journeys. When Paul was sent away for inciting bad feelings to Tarsus, it is Barnabas who came to seek him out. When it was time to go on missionary trips, it was Barnabas by Paul’s side. And, when it was Paul’s pride that got in the way of the mission to proclaim the gospel, it was Barnabas who stepped out and took John Mark with him.
He never stopped believing in Paul; in the journey that God surely showed him that this once-persecutor of the faithful would travel. He never turned his back upon Paul, even with fourteen years between seeing him and most likely never stopped praying for him.
How many of us in the church are Barnabas? Very few, unfortunately, although we are all called to be such an impactful leader, not for our glory but God’s.
I miss my Barnabas, that one son of encouragement that God blessed me with when I was just starting out on this journey towards God, who never laughed at the Call, never questioned God’s impact, and never stopped believing in this young upstart whom he called friend and brother.
I know that, in the passage of time that my Barnabas (whether he wears a new face or an old one) will come and draw me out of the quiet contemplative place I am in, observing and learning, to help fulfill my Call where God directs him to bring me.
Barnabas, Son of Encouragement (Acts 4:36), left Antioch...the Antioch (Antiocheia) that was on the river Orontes and the capital city of ancient Syria. In time, it would stand as the 3rd Patriarchal see of the early Church, after Rome and Jerusalem and would be destroyed by the Persian invasion of AD 538.
Fourteen years after the Jerusalem church sent Saul to Tarsus, after his inciting 'murderous responses', Barnabas would come seeking this individual whom he had vouched for to the original eleven disciples in Jerusalem in a city second only to Antioch in economically, culturally and politically in the region. Tarsus was a bustling seaport where the ancient religion of the god Mithras was prominent. This has led many anti-Christian theologians and historians to compare the religions and find what they claim are co-opted myths, blended into the new found movement of Christianity by Gaius Julius Paulus (some claim his name was).
"What part did his stay there play in his later effectiveness?" one researcher asks, "I expect that a time of tempering, including growth in humility, ……. time is essential for the ingredients of something to blend properly. Tea has to be steeped, wine has to be aged……changes in life have to be assimilated and lived out."
We know that Paul's character was drastically changed even before he departed the Jerusalem church at the behest of the leadership. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes him before his conversion as an intolerant, bitter, persecuting, religious bigot - proud and temperamental. After his conversion he is pictured as patient, kind, enduring, and self-sacrificing. Paul's combative relationship with the followers of Jesus Christ was so changed with the help of Barnabas' introduction that he had received the 'right hand of fellowship', which meant that the leadership considered him as an equal.
According to most theologians, Saul likely didn't remain idle while he was in a 'place of higher learning' in Tarsus, which hosted a Jewish population evidenced by several archaeological records. After inciting such violent feelings among the Jerusalem Jewish population, he may have avoided most of the Jewish thoughts and instead listened in on the current philosophical arguments of the Greeks, although he probably did visit with relatives and family. He may have traveled home to gather linen for his trade as a tentmaker, which he used so as to 'not become a burden' to the congregations he founded and visited, though it would seem he got sidetracked for a period of time.
The explosive growth of the church in Antioch, which Barnabas was sent to pastor most likely led to his decision to seek out help, but it is interesting that Barnabas went seeking Saul in Tarsus instead of calling for some of the apostles to help him with the growing Antioch church. Barnabas always sought God’s direction in his decisions and often exercised his leadership abilities in the support of others who, not necessarily were better than he is, but more suitable for the work at hand. Since he knew of Saul’s desire to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, he went to seek him out.
The story between these two apostles would span a long time, a disagreement over John Mark and the endorsement of the Jerusalem church of Paul and Silas no doubt bothered Barnabas to some degree, but never to the point of contention. He simply moved out on his own, taking whom God led him to take, and would never speak with Paul again, at least according to the biblical accounts.
Paul, upon his final imprisonment, would speak of his foolishness concerning John Mark, in 2 Timothy…….
“Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” 4:9-11 (NIV)
Barnabas would remain true; never forgetting the apostle he introduced to the leadership in Jerusalem, whom he taught a growing number of believers with in Antioch, and whom he helped found numerous churches through their missionary journeys. When Paul was sent away for inciting bad feelings to Tarsus, it is Barnabas who came to seek him out. When it was time to go on missionary trips, it was Barnabas by Paul’s side. And, when it was Paul’s pride that got in the way of the mission to proclaim the gospel, it was Barnabas who stepped out and took John Mark with him.
He never stopped believing in Paul; in the journey that God surely showed him that this once-persecutor of the faithful would travel. He never turned his back upon Paul, even with fourteen years between seeing him and most likely never stopped praying for him.
How many of us in the church are Barnabas? Very few, unfortunately, although we are all called to be such an impactful leader, not for our glory but God’s.
I miss my Barnabas, that one son of encouragement that God blessed me with when I was just starting out on this journey towards God, who never laughed at the Call, never questioned God’s impact, and never stopped believing in this young upstart whom he called friend and brother.
I know that, in the passage of time that my Barnabas (whether he wears a new face or an old one) will come and draw me out of the quiet contemplative place I am in, observing and learning, to help fulfill my Call where God directs him to bring me.
Thursday, November 13
A Christian nation....
"Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless people. A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment..." Proverbs 28:15-16a (NIV)
I am sure, as one of my close friends remarked the other night, that most of us are tired of hearing of the 'danger of our President-elect' and his liberal policies. Especially from a 'move-on' attitude.
As a Christian, I offer prayers up for the transition of Presidents and the crisis that the majority of Americans are now experiencing, along with the rest of the world. I know that God is God and that hasn't change, even with the approval of the liberal, socialist agenda by the American people, at least the majority.
With cries of 'stop being racist' and 'get over it', I've penned an article that grew and grew...large enough to post on www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=89715, It is entitled "The new division" and speaks of what I think was hiding underneath the 'racial equality' line.
The election was a symbolic step towards the biblical mandate of 'brotherhood', but in taking that step, we've exposed the true culprit to any sinful expression within our humanistic culture.
One of the columnists for WORLD Magazine, Inc., said that conservative Christians should go to our African-American brethren and find out how it feels to be a pernenial minority, for our time has come in the movement of society to be labeled such. I would contend that we have been a minority for some time, with an estimated 7% evangelical Christians living in the United States of America.
The Barna report I wrote about in my faithwriters article, "A New Division", brings that into sharp focus and brings anew the ability of the liberal left to use previously 'racial' terms to blight the difference between born-agains and evangelicals.
Many born-agains voted for Obama, separating the meager and culturally sensitive expression of their faith from the biblical mandates for leadership; often saying that abortion was the one thing they disagreed with him on, but that it was time for change......... the evangelical in me says, "But???"
Dr. Alveda King, pastoral associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said Obama’s policies will increase the number of abortions. “Pro-lifers must promise to redouble our efforts to resist anti-life proposals, speak up for the babies and, above all, pray,” King said. "The elections are over. The pro-life battle begins anew.”
My article quotes some of our founding fathers, those men who were responsible for the birth of this once great and successful Republic. I was looking into other quotes to maybe include in my blog today and found this one by Ben Franklin:
"If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish Church, but practiced it upon the Puritans. They found it wrong in Bishops, but fell into the practice themselves both there (England) and in New England."
Of course, there are those who are attempting to intellectually rewrite history, so that the liberal and socialist historical argument that our founding fathers were nothing more than secular religious....often mislabeled as Dietist (believe in God, who has left us to our own devices) a early form of emergent and universalist faiths.
They often quote Madison, who's angry quotes dot the documents of the time such as "A memorial and Remonstrance" penned in 1785;
"Experience witnesseth that ecclesiastical establishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of religion, have had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."
And there is also Thomas Paine, who is often referred to as a atheist, who penned The Age of Reason;
“All natural institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
The fact is that 52 of the 55 signers of "The Declaration of Independence" claimed provable orthodox Christianity as their faith and were deeply committed to its promotion and growthh. The remaining three expressed the belief of the Bible being the Divine truth of the God of Scripture and that He personally intervened in the affairs of men.
Congress formed the ABS (American Bible Society) after the Declaration was penned and voted to purchase 20,000 copies of Scripture for the American people. Even the very same Thomas Paine, who I've quoted above, said:
"It is by the exercise of our reason that we are enabled to contemplate God in His works, and imitate Him in His ways. When we see His care and goodness extended over all His creatures, it teaches us our duty toward each other, while it calls forth our gratitude to Him. It is by forgetting God in His works, and running after the books of pretended revelation, that man has wandered from the straight path of duty and happiness, and become by turns the victim of doubt and the dupe of delusion."
As I said before, we have been a minority for much of this Republic's history....it's just been 'by turns' that the American people have turned a nation comptemplative of God's hand and proper imitation of His ways into a victim of doubt and duped by delusion.
We have allowed the society to emerge that would cause someone like President-elect Obama an easy path to the White House. I was wrong to think that Barrack Obama wasn't represenative of the emergent American culture, population, and faith. He is, as proven by the ease in which he gained several 'christian' leaders to follow his agenda to promote the liberal, big-government entitlement policies of the Democrat party.
Patrick Henry in 1776 wrote that "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here."
Of course, those who would rewrite the religiousity of our founding fathers call upon modern historians's interpretation of their religion. Robert T. Handy, one such historian, points to the fact that no more than 10 percent of the population of early America were members of a congregation and fails to consider that the movement of the early colonists were to meet in communities; homes and businesses with their neighbors and friends.
The commonality of the expression of Christian thought peppers the papers; both personal and public, of our first citizentry of those days. As Henry stated, it was because of the persecution of Christianity that allowed the freedom of even false doctrines. It was the human invention of denominations that caused rifts to occur in the religious experiment of the Republic and was often the frustration written by the founding fathers.
As James Madison expressed, "All men having power ought to be mistrusted. Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government. I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse. The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."
It wasn't the separation of the true church from the state that Madison is talking about but the human endeavour of the creation of religion through the forced application of the government that "soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."
In the Supreme Court's 1892 Holy Trinity Church vs. United States, Justice David Brewer wrote that "this is a Christian nation" 'in dicta', meant as a personal opinion that has been taken out of context according to the secular historians by Christians. Justice Brewer explained this opinion later, "But in what sense can [the United States] be called a Christian nation? Not in the sense that Christianity is the established religion or the people are compelled in any manner to support it. On the contrary, the Constitution specifically provides that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Neither is it Christian in the sense that all its citizens are either in fact or in name Christians. On the contrary, all religions have free scope within its borders. Numbers of our people profess other religions, and many reject all."
In the sense that Christianity was the 'established' religion of the United States, as Brewer says, there is no such nation. The very lifeblood of the Constitution, the governing document of the young nation says as much....not against the promotion of Christianity but against its human establishment according to human means as a law of the land. Which is reflective of the design of the Designer.
We were given free will, and in the acknowledgement of Christianity and the mandate of the Great Commission, we aren't called to force conversion, as is often the case when religion is a human invention or coopted by human forces, but to allow a choice to be made upon the informed and debating conversation of free men.
One of the scholars discussed in one of the articles I read below concludes "neither strict separationists of today nor those who argue that the U.S. was founded as a "Christian nation" get it right. The truth is in the middle, the founding fathers affirmed religion's importance and most practiced their faith publicly, but they created a nation where faith would not be polluted by politics, and politics would have no say in an individual's faith."
I would take it one step further....the Founding Fathers affirmed the vitaliness and importance of any nation's or individual's pursuit of the True God, written and discoverable in the Scriptures as I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, visible through the public and private practice of its expression in their lives and warned of the danger of humanization of such religious beliefs due to the danger evidenced in history of the destructive power of mankind in the handling of divine power.
It's a truth that is evident clearly within our borders even today. So what is our mandate, our calling, our destiny for these days?
Will we walk as the heroes of old, steadfast after God? Because in our day prophecy spoken by Jesus himself concerning the last days seems to be coming true: "because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." [Matthew 24:12]
We can follow the paths of Moses, Josiah, and Paul all who walked amidst incredible idolatry and sin in the world, but instead of catering or yielding to it, we can use all the authority given to us in the Constitution and our governing laws to stop its spread and redeem a nation.
We have to be fearless in our hatred of sin due to an intense love of God and not let that love grow cold, for it will allow us to bring those lost in sin's embrace to the light of God's love as we accurately reflect it into the dark world.
Sin abounds in the world, around us and to some extent IN us, but Christ tells us we can triumph with the intensity of the love God gives to us.
Keep the passion of God true, pure, and unblemished by human inventions. Each Christian is alive for such times as these.
Shining for the world tossed in darkness reflecting the love of our Heavenly Father to all who would look for solace and comfort in such troubling tiems.
Resources:
http://discuss.infidels.org/showthread.php?t=244904
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/secular.html
http://www.mccoolportraits.com/TrueHistory.htm
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000008659.cfm
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=315364
http://www.barefootsworld.net/founding.html
I am sure, as one of my close friends remarked the other night, that most of us are tired of hearing of the 'danger of our President-elect' and his liberal policies. Especially from a 'move-on' attitude.
As a Christian, I offer prayers up for the transition of Presidents and the crisis that the majority of Americans are now experiencing, along with the rest of the world. I know that God is God and that hasn't change, even with the approval of the liberal, socialist agenda by the American people, at least the majority.
With cries of 'stop being racist' and 'get over it', I've penned an article that grew and grew...large enough to post on www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=89715, It is entitled "The new division" and speaks of what I think was hiding underneath the 'racial equality' line.
The election was a symbolic step towards the biblical mandate of 'brotherhood', but in taking that step, we've exposed the true culprit to any sinful expression within our humanistic culture.
One of the columnists for WORLD Magazine, Inc., said that conservative Christians should go to our African-American brethren and find out how it feels to be a pernenial minority, for our time has come in the movement of society to be labeled such. I would contend that we have been a minority for some time, with an estimated 7% evangelical Christians living in the United States of America.
The Barna report I wrote about in my faithwriters article, "A New Division", brings that into sharp focus and brings anew the ability of the liberal left to use previously 'racial' terms to blight the difference between born-agains and evangelicals.
Many born-agains voted for Obama, separating the meager and culturally sensitive expression of their faith from the biblical mandates for leadership; often saying that abortion was the one thing they disagreed with him on, but that it was time for change......... the evangelical in me says, "But???"
Dr. Alveda King, pastoral associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said Obama’s policies will increase the number of abortions. “Pro-lifers must promise to redouble our efforts to resist anti-life proposals, speak up for the babies and, above all, pray,” King said. "The elections are over. The pro-life battle begins anew.”
My article quotes some of our founding fathers, those men who were responsible for the birth of this once great and successful Republic. I was looking into other quotes to maybe include in my blog today and found this one by Ben Franklin:
"If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practiced it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England blamed persecution in the Romish Church, but practiced it upon the Puritans. They found it wrong in Bishops, but fell into the practice themselves both there (England) and in New England."
Of course, there are those who are attempting to intellectually rewrite history, so that the liberal and socialist historical argument that our founding fathers were nothing more than secular religious....often mislabeled as Dietist (believe in God, who has left us to our own devices) a early form of emergent and universalist faiths.
They often quote Madison, who's angry quotes dot the documents of the time such as "A memorial and Remonstrance" penned in 1785;
"Experience witnesseth that ecclesiastical establishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of religion, have had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."
And there is also Thomas Paine, who is often referred to as a atheist, who penned The Age of Reason;
“All natural institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
The fact is that 52 of the 55 signers of "The Declaration of Independence" claimed provable orthodox Christianity as their faith and were deeply committed to its promotion and growthh. The remaining three expressed the belief of the Bible being the Divine truth of the God of Scripture and that He personally intervened in the affairs of men.
Congress formed the ABS (American Bible Society) after the Declaration was penned and voted to purchase 20,000 copies of Scripture for the American people. Even the very same Thomas Paine, who I've quoted above, said:
"It is by the exercise of our reason that we are enabled to contemplate God in His works, and imitate Him in His ways. When we see His care and goodness extended over all His creatures, it teaches us our duty toward each other, while it calls forth our gratitude to Him. It is by forgetting God in His works, and running after the books of pretended revelation, that man has wandered from the straight path of duty and happiness, and become by turns the victim of doubt and the dupe of delusion."
As I said before, we have been a minority for much of this Republic's history....it's just been 'by turns' that the American people have turned a nation comptemplative of God's hand and proper imitation of His ways into a victim of doubt and duped by delusion.
We have allowed the society to emerge that would cause someone like President-elect Obama an easy path to the White House. I was wrong to think that Barrack Obama wasn't represenative of the emergent American culture, population, and faith. He is, as proven by the ease in which he gained several 'christian' leaders to follow his agenda to promote the liberal, big-government entitlement policies of the Democrat party.
Patrick Henry in 1776 wrote that "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here."
Of course, those who would rewrite the religiousity of our founding fathers call upon modern historians's interpretation of their religion. Robert T. Handy, one such historian, points to the fact that no more than 10 percent of the population of early America were members of a congregation and fails to consider that the movement of the early colonists were to meet in communities; homes and businesses with their neighbors and friends.
The commonality of the expression of Christian thought peppers the papers; both personal and public, of our first citizentry of those days. As Henry stated, it was because of the persecution of Christianity that allowed the freedom of even false doctrines. It was the human invention of denominations that caused rifts to occur in the religious experiment of the Republic and was often the frustration written by the founding fathers.
As James Madison expressed, "All men having power ought to be mistrusted. Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government. I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse. The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."
It wasn't the separation of the true church from the state that Madison is talking about but the human endeavour of the creation of religion through the forced application of the government that "soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."
In the Supreme Court's 1892 Holy Trinity Church vs. United States, Justice David Brewer wrote that "this is a Christian nation" 'in dicta', meant as a personal opinion that has been taken out of context according to the secular historians by Christians. Justice Brewer explained this opinion later, "But in what sense can [the United States] be called a Christian nation? Not in the sense that Christianity is the established religion or the people are compelled in any manner to support it. On the contrary, the Constitution specifically provides that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Neither is it Christian in the sense that all its citizens are either in fact or in name Christians. On the contrary, all religions have free scope within its borders. Numbers of our people profess other religions, and many reject all."
In the sense that Christianity was the 'established' religion of the United States, as Brewer says, there is no such nation. The very lifeblood of the Constitution, the governing document of the young nation says as much....not against the promotion of Christianity but against its human establishment according to human means as a law of the land. Which is reflective of the design of the Designer.
We were given free will, and in the acknowledgement of Christianity and the mandate of the Great Commission, we aren't called to force conversion, as is often the case when religion is a human invention or coopted by human forces, but to allow a choice to be made upon the informed and debating conversation of free men.
One of the scholars discussed in one of the articles I read below concludes "neither strict separationists of today nor those who argue that the U.S. was founded as a "Christian nation" get it right. The truth is in the middle, the founding fathers affirmed religion's importance and most practiced their faith publicly, but they created a nation where faith would not be polluted by politics, and politics would have no say in an individual's faith."
I would take it one step further....the Founding Fathers affirmed the vitaliness and importance of any nation's or individual's pursuit of the True God, written and discoverable in the Scriptures as I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, visible through the public and private practice of its expression in their lives and warned of the danger of humanization of such religious beliefs due to the danger evidenced in history of the destructive power of mankind in the handling of divine power.
It's a truth that is evident clearly within our borders even today. So what is our mandate, our calling, our destiny for these days?
Will we walk as the heroes of old, steadfast after God? Because in our day prophecy spoken by Jesus himself concerning the last days seems to be coming true: "because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." [Matthew 24:12]
We can follow the paths of Moses, Josiah, and Paul all who walked amidst incredible idolatry and sin in the world, but instead of catering or yielding to it, we can use all the authority given to us in the Constitution and our governing laws to stop its spread and redeem a nation.
We have to be fearless in our hatred of sin due to an intense love of God and not let that love grow cold, for it will allow us to bring those lost in sin's embrace to the light of God's love as we accurately reflect it into the dark world.
Sin abounds in the world, around us and to some extent IN us, but Christ tells us we can triumph with the intensity of the love God gives to us.
Keep the passion of God true, pure, and unblemished by human inventions. Each Christian is alive for such times as these.
Shining for the world tossed in darkness reflecting the love of our Heavenly Father to all who would look for solace and comfort in such troubling tiems.
Resources:
http://discuss.infidels.org/showthread.php?t=244904
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/secular.html
http://www.mccoolportraits.com/TrueHistory.htm
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000008659.cfm
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=315364
http://www.barefootsworld.net/founding.html
Sunday, August 17
There are Goliaths in front of us........
“A man named Goliath, from the city of Gath, came out from the Philistine camp to challenge the Israelites. He was over nine feet tall and wore bronze armor that weighed about 125 pounds and a bronze helmet. His legs were also protected by bronze armor, and he carried a bronze javelin slung over his shoulder. His spear was as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom, and its iron head weighed about fifteen pounds. A soldier walked in front of him carrying his shield.” (1Sa 17:4-7 GNB)
Today, Goliath stands before me and all I can think is that someone lied to me, the old stories of glory and honor upon the battlefield where the knight is ablaze in the afternoon sun in his shining armor stands valiantly upon his feet, sword drawn (sharp and dangerous within his hand) and shield slung low upon his guard arm, defiant in his boasts to the enemy before him, and energized with the power of righteousness.
Someone lied to me. The stories aren’t true.
And the reality is much harsher than I could’ve ever imagined.
No where in the descriptions of glorious battles of old are the cruelty of the beating, relentless sun that smothers my very breath that weasels through my clenched teeth. No one speaks of the grittiness of the sand that blows through the valley, scrubbing harsh and raw upon the exposed flesh of my arms, nor of the painful invasion of it into the crevices of my feet to grind away at the sensitive skin between them. The powerful image of the shining armor is replaced by the dinginess of my woven, stained, and tattered cloak, tied not by an elaborate sword belt or hefted by an ornate belt. No mention is made of the beating in painful thumps, the heart, or the absence of available air that starving lungs cry out for in supplication of a life that seems measured in a matter of seconds or minutes rather than years.
The ‘romance’ of battle is nothing more than a fantasy of men who never stood where I stand.
And, no where….I mean NO WHERE…..is the sheer enormancy of the enemy warrior so inadequate, so incomplete, and so wrong….I have been duped, misled, and am now left in the realization of my folly; that I could do what the seasoned warriors of numerous battles could not……..stand for the honor and glory of my King.
The jaunty walk to the field of honor has been replaced by cement shoes, dragged in halting steps to a destiny that I am no longer sure I want to partake of. The assurance of the hand, the cockiness of the stance have melted into a trembling, unglorified crouch of a frightened little boy who is wearing clothes that are way too big for him. A boy playing at being a man, mistaken to be one by others that wait his ‘rude awakening’ at the hands of this superior foe.
This warrior stands miles, not feet, high and I feel so unprepared, so inadequate for the task I’ve confidently commanded moments before in front of my peers and my heroes. His armor would liquefy my bones, not merely snap them, with its weight if I wore it upon my body. His sword, miles long and as heavy as a ten-ton beam of steel, looks to be a mere toy in his hand, which I could run a marathon along its circumference. His spear, as thick as my entire width of body, wouldn’t merely pierce me with its tip, but would cleave me in two without ever leaving a connection between the halves my body would become.
I am not merely scared.
I am frozen by the sheer audacity of my fear, unable to form a coherent thought or to effect a brave pose.
My mind forms only one repeating thought:
I AM GOING TO DIE!
Not a honorable death, played out before the gathered hosts of both armies where stories will be told of the fateful day that a foolish little boy took up a warriors weapons and, with misplaced bravo, stood before a superior enemy and was killed. Oh no, there will be no admiration from the enemy’s comrades of this boy who stood up against impossible odds and lost, but was brave enough to face his death with dignity.
No, this death, played out in my mind’s eye is one of enormous pain, brevity of time, and inglorious in its conclusion.
But, some stupid little piece of honor remains that locks my knees in their shaking, weak stance and guides my fumbling, trembling hands into the pouch filled with impossibility slippery, tiny stones that once seemed like mighty boulders before reality set in. A bit of misplaced ‘glory’ holds the straps of my sling in my throwing hand. My mind screams to run, to hide, to face the ridicule and the scorn of those ‘mighty’ warriors that stand quaking behind my sweat-stained back but is overridden by a shred of honor, to know that even though I go to face my Creator this day that I face Him with the knowledge that I did not quit.
Today, I face one of my Goliaths, and I do not want to die.
My swing is less perfect than the countless times I have struck with its surety of purpose, against lesser foes that have threatened my family, my loved ones, and myself. I hear the gasps of warriors of my own army as it strikes violently against shaky legs, bruising the flesh so horribly treated and the laughter of the enemy’s forces as this puny boy stands against their champion.
I close my eyes in an effort, however clumsy, to die with a shred of dignity. I swing again.
The wobbling sound of the slice through the air that signals my sling’s activation echoes throughout the valley upon the pregnant pause of the waiting forces upon which the battles outcome depends. Isolated and very alone in the midst of the gathered, I swing with a desperation of a foolish boy to whom the outcome of the striking stone is assured.
Releasing my will to the fate of the moment, I let loose on the downward stroke of my swing and watch with sad expectation at the trajectory of the stone as it flies to the enemy standing bored before me. No one breathes, no one moves. Time, in its superiority, even stops to watch this ending.
It strikes the broad, expansive plain of Goliath’s forehead and falls to the ground, spent and useless.
And Goliath stands. A vision of impatience, of anger at the momentary flash of this disturbance washes across his face as his eyes glare, projecting the images of pain, blood, and messy death that he will now reek upon my fragile body. He steps forward, one step away from the place to which such destruction will commence. One less moment of breath I’ll have to take……
This weekend, at the M3 meeting, the topic was the ceremony of entrance into the community of Men, something that a lot of men in American society never have experienced. Many of us have never been told that we are able to move from the boyhood innocence of our youth into the turbulent and confusing world of Manhood. And society is failing because of it. The adoption of our male youth into the larger community of men, to be mentored and guided by older men, has been twisted and maligned. It is not the village’s purpose to grow boys into men, it is the community of men who were called to bring about the generational future of this world.
As women are called not to raise the men of a godly purpose, but are to be examples of godly daughters. This is why there is so many women who want godly men, but cannot find them because of a society that has confused the generations now coming of age.
It is time that men reclaim that rite of passage and pass it on to their sons, not only the sons of biology but the sons of the larger community of society. It is when this ‘graduation’ into the warrior period of a man’s life that our society’s illnesses will be smitten in righteous reclamation of a God-designed and purposed honoring of our creation. To give our sons, the young future, the assurance that they can become the men God intended them to be, that they are not alone where their mistakes are under a microscope of intimation and failure from other men, and they can become what they are meant to be; warriors who stand between chaos and destruction to protect the beauty and order of those they are called to defend.
Such was the teaching, and the testimony of one of the newest member to the community of men. A rite of passage, an acceptance into the larger community, and a realization that he, the young boy who is becoming a man. Amongst a group of men who testified to him, entreated him and will stand in their promise to mentor him in his journey to manhood. It was an inspiring, hope-filled, and honoring story to be told.
Something I personally, and something that society as a whole, has told our younger generation the total opposite of.
Something my heart mourned, as it did with many of the men present at the meeting atop of the National City Bank building in Troy Michigan yesterday.
And then I walked into a meeting that I have been honored to attend who’s focus is bringing men back into God’s designed purpose to be such a community of men. And, Scott Engelmann, the leader of this raggedy band of men, issued a challenge that was spoken to his heart, and expressed in his life………………..
And Goliath rose from the dust of the dessert floor, gaining life from my fears, as the call to be something so beyond my imagination and far beyond my unrealized potential was given breath.
To be a leader of men.
To be a servant of God.
To move into a landscape where the inevitability of death carries a weight that hazy dreams and fuzzy directions do not have. To move with a decisive, designed, and sacrificial purpose into the higher calling of the community of men and reclaim with our own stories the hearts and passions of the future.
To be a leader standing alone against the tide of culturism, modernism, and commercialism and shout out against the haters of the God-designed purpose of the sexes to say;
This is God’s purpose for us, for our families, for our sons, for our daughters, and for our world.
Not to reinstate the barbaric, human-declared design of what makes a man, what makes a woman and what the purpose of each is; where a woman is lesser than a man and a man is a god……NO……
But to reinstate, reclaim, and resecure the God-designed, inspirational purpose of what a man and a woman are supposed to be, supposed to create, and supposed to pass on to the generations to come……
Goliath is massive, so much bigger than the original tales that we, this little band of men, were told he was.
And the challenge to stand in front of the larger community of men; cloaked in a meager, coarse coat of camel hair and gripping a small, seemingly-ineffective sling with a single pebble against the giant of the enemy’s champion and swing……….is bigger than anything even the most knowledgeable, passionate, and driven amongst us had ever realized.
Be careful what you wish for, God said in that meeting today. If you have declared yourself ready for what I have planned, I will take you at your word. I will bring about Goliath and see if you will stand as David did. Without the assurance of victory by your hands and through the trials of perfection.
Will you face your Goliath today?
Today, Goliath stands before me and all I can think is that someone lied to me, the old stories of glory and honor upon the battlefield where the knight is ablaze in the afternoon sun in his shining armor stands valiantly upon his feet, sword drawn (sharp and dangerous within his hand) and shield slung low upon his guard arm, defiant in his boasts to the enemy before him, and energized with the power of righteousness.
Someone lied to me. The stories aren’t true.
And the reality is much harsher than I could’ve ever imagined.
No where in the descriptions of glorious battles of old are the cruelty of the beating, relentless sun that smothers my very breath that weasels through my clenched teeth. No one speaks of the grittiness of the sand that blows through the valley, scrubbing harsh and raw upon the exposed flesh of my arms, nor of the painful invasion of it into the crevices of my feet to grind away at the sensitive skin between them. The powerful image of the shining armor is replaced by the dinginess of my woven, stained, and tattered cloak, tied not by an elaborate sword belt or hefted by an ornate belt. No mention is made of the beating in painful thumps, the heart, or the absence of available air that starving lungs cry out for in supplication of a life that seems measured in a matter of seconds or minutes rather than years.
The ‘romance’ of battle is nothing more than a fantasy of men who never stood where I stand.
And, no where….I mean NO WHERE…..is the sheer enormancy of the enemy warrior so inadequate, so incomplete, and so wrong….I have been duped, misled, and am now left in the realization of my folly; that I could do what the seasoned warriors of numerous battles could not……..stand for the honor and glory of my King.
The jaunty walk to the field of honor has been replaced by cement shoes, dragged in halting steps to a destiny that I am no longer sure I want to partake of. The assurance of the hand, the cockiness of the stance have melted into a trembling, unglorified crouch of a frightened little boy who is wearing clothes that are way too big for him. A boy playing at being a man, mistaken to be one by others that wait his ‘rude awakening’ at the hands of this superior foe.
This warrior stands miles, not feet, high and I feel so unprepared, so inadequate for the task I’ve confidently commanded moments before in front of my peers and my heroes. His armor would liquefy my bones, not merely snap them, with its weight if I wore it upon my body. His sword, miles long and as heavy as a ten-ton beam of steel, looks to be a mere toy in his hand, which I could run a marathon along its circumference. His spear, as thick as my entire width of body, wouldn’t merely pierce me with its tip, but would cleave me in two without ever leaving a connection between the halves my body would become.
I am not merely scared.
I am frozen by the sheer audacity of my fear, unable to form a coherent thought or to effect a brave pose.
My mind forms only one repeating thought:
I AM GOING TO DIE!
Not a honorable death, played out before the gathered hosts of both armies where stories will be told of the fateful day that a foolish little boy took up a warriors weapons and, with misplaced bravo, stood before a superior enemy and was killed. Oh no, there will be no admiration from the enemy’s comrades of this boy who stood up against impossible odds and lost, but was brave enough to face his death with dignity.
No, this death, played out in my mind’s eye is one of enormous pain, brevity of time, and inglorious in its conclusion.
But, some stupid little piece of honor remains that locks my knees in their shaking, weak stance and guides my fumbling, trembling hands into the pouch filled with impossibility slippery, tiny stones that once seemed like mighty boulders before reality set in. A bit of misplaced ‘glory’ holds the straps of my sling in my throwing hand. My mind screams to run, to hide, to face the ridicule and the scorn of those ‘mighty’ warriors that stand quaking behind my sweat-stained back but is overridden by a shred of honor, to know that even though I go to face my Creator this day that I face Him with the knowledge that I did not quit.
Today, I face one of my Goliaths, and I do not want to die.
My swing is less perfect than the countless times I have struck with its surety of purpose, against lesser foes that have threatened my family, my loved ones, and myself. I hear the gasps of warriors of my own army as it strikes violently against shaky legs, bruising the flesh so horribly treated and the laughter of the enemy’s forces as this puny boy stands against their champion.
I close my eyes in an effort, however clumsy, to die with a shred of dignity. I swing again.
The wobbling sound of the slice through the air that signals my sling’s activation echoes throughout the valley upon the pregnant pause of the waiting forces upon which the battles outcome depends. Isolated and very alone in the midst of the gathered, I swing with a desperation of a foolish boy to whom the outcome of the striking stone is assured.
Releasing my will to the fate of the moment, I let loose on the downward stroke of my swing and watch with sad expectation at the trajectory of the stone as it flies to the enemy standing bored before me. No one breathes, no one moves. Time, in its superiority, even stops to watch this ending.
It strikes the broad, expansive plain of Goliath’s forehead and falls to the ground, spent and useless.
And Goliath stands. A vision of impatience, of anger at the momentary flash of this disturbance washes across his face as his eyes glare, projecting the images of pain, blood, and messy death that he will now reek upon my fragile body. He steps forward, one step away from the place to which such destruction will commence. One less moment of breath I’ll have to take……
This weekend, at the M3 meeting, the topic was the ceremony of entrance into the community of Men, something that a lot of men in American society never have experienced. Many of us have never been told that we are able to move from the boyhood innocence of our youth into the turbulent and confusing world of Manhood. And society is failing because of it. The adoption of our male youth into the larger community of men, to be mentored and guided by older men, has been twisted and maligned. It is not the village’s purpose to grow boys into men, it is the community of men who were called to bring about the generational future of this world.
As women are called not to raise the men of a godly purpose, but are to be examples of godly daughters. This is why there is so many women who want godly men, but cannot find them because of a society that has confused the generations now coming of age.
It is time that men reclaim that rite of passage and pass it on to their sons, not only the sons of biology but the sons of the larger community of society. It is when this ‘graduation’ into the warrior period of a man’s life that our society’s illnesses will be smitten in righteous reclamation of a God-designed and purposed honoring of our creation. To give our sons, the young future, the assurance that they can become the men God intended them to be, that they are not alone where their mistakes are under a microscope of intimation and failure from other men, and they can become what they are meant to be; warriors who stand between chaos and destruction to protect the beauty and order of those they are called to defend.
Such was the teaching, and the testimony of one of the newest member to the community of men. A rite of passage, an acceptance into the larger community, and a realization that he, the young boy who is becoming a man. Amongst a group of men who testified to him, entreated him and will stand in their promise to mentor him in his journey to manhood. It was an inspiring, hope-filled, and honoring story to be told.
Something I personally, and something that society as a whole, has told our younger generation the total opposite of.
Something my heart mourned, as it did with many of the men present at the meeting atop of the National City Bank building in Troy Michigan yesterday.
And then I walked into a meeting that I have been honored to attend who’s focus is bringing men back into God’s designed purpose to be such a community of men. And, Scott Engelmann, the leader of this raggedy band of men, issued a challenge that was spoken to his heart, and expressed in his life………………..
And Goliath rose from the dust of the dessert floor, gaining life from my fears, as the call to be something so beyond my imagination and far beyond my unrealized potential was given breath.
To be a leader of men.
To be a servant of God.
To move into a landscape where the inevitability of death carries a weight that hazy dreams and fuzzy directions do not have. To move with a decisive, designed, and sacrificial purpose into the higher calling of the community of men and reclaim with our own stories the hearts and passions of the future.
To be a leader standing alone against the tide of culturism, modernism, and commercialism and shout out against the haters of the God-designed purpose of the sexes to say;
This is God’s purpose for us, for our families, for our sons, for our daughters, and for our world.
Not to reinstate the barbaric, human-declared design of what makes a man, what makes a woman and what the purpose of each is; where a woman is lesser than a man and a man is a god……NO……
But to reinstate, reclaim, and resecure the God-designed, inspirational purpose of what a man and a woman are supposed to be, supposed to create, and supposed to pass on to the generations to come……
Goliath is massive, so much bigger than the original tales that we, this little band of men, were told he was.
And the challenge to stand in front of the larger community of men; cloaked in a meager, coarse coat of camel hair and gripping a small, seemingly-ineffective sling with a single pebble against the giant of the enemy’s champion and swing……….is bigger than anything even the most knowledgeable, passionate, and driven amongst us had ever realized.
Be careful what you wish for, God said in that meeting today. If you have declared yourself ready for what I have planned, I will take you at your word. I will bring about Goliath and see if you will stand as David did. Without the assurance of victory by your hands and through the trials of perfection.
Will you face your Goliath today?
Monday, July 14
An answer in the mist of the war......
''And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! ''Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:4-7
Amid the battle in this world, swinging the sword of God's warrior and taking wounds from unexpected quarters, God answered a prayer. One I've prayed since I first took up the sword and shield and answered the call to be in His Army as a leader, a minister.
It seems, lately in this battle over the old self and its sinful ways---fighting an enemy that knows me all to well from the past association we have shared when I once walked in the darkness of his world, that I have been battered from all sides and my faith has remained. Enough to raise the sword again, enough to raise the shield once more.
And in the mist of the din and clamor of war, for war my dear brothers and sisters is what this world has for us who call Christ King and Savior, a voice cried out ever so softly and so broken. Piercing my heart for the King, calling my attention to His purpose and His fight. And He answered a prayer in my response, stumbling and halting as it was, as I responded to that cry.
Pastor Dave spoke of Moses' call, the burning bush. He spoke of knowing who we are, not what we do. Moses was an man on the lamb, unable to go back to his previous life because of the murder that he committed in the land of Egypt. Yet God called him to be His answer to the cries of the enslaved people of Israel.
It is important, Dave said, that we know who we are, children of God, and who our Father is. At least, that is what God spoke to me. But Dave was burdened with a soul that was in need of this realization and he told the congregation that there was one who this was the cry of their soul.
And the answer was Jesus, the identity that we have but to claim is children of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And this cry I heard was near me, a young woman that I have had the honor of getting to know and understand. Someone who has been burdened with the abuses of this world and those who have entered into her life, and left her broken. God whispered to her heart this Sunday morning past, and her heart recognized the call to His side. In my path to her side, I called two other warriors to join in this battle, which seems such a small part of the war, but is why we fight the fight of the King, to save one more soul...to seize one more from Satan's grip, to declare NOT THIS ONE!
I spoke later in the day to this tender soul, trying to answer the yearning of her heart. Speaking of my own journey from when God whispered to me until the moment in time where we stood, my shield given for service to the King surrounding her from the din of the fight. Raising the sword in praise and honor to the Lord I serve when the heart answered the call, recognized the need and accepted life. And the words of my fellow warrior echoed in my ears above the cry of joy, "This is your call, to minister" And I knew God had answered my prayer, my Gideon skin, through the salvation of another.
Isaiah 43:19 "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert."
Worthy news ministry's devotional for today references this verse. And George writes of most of the men of faith spending time in the wilderness of their lives; desperate and yearning, still and quiet to hear the voice of God upon their hearts in answer to their hunger and thirst. The hebrew word for wilderness is "meed-bahr", which means "to speak".
As I walk in my own wilderness, I hear the call of God more insistent and it is not only the call to minister, but it is full of a legacy of those who have walked in faithful living of the God they have served in heroic and humble fashion.......a revisiting of those 'rocks' that have filled my vessel and shorted the portion of God's love, mercy, and peace in my subjection of my will to His.
No expectation of a financial windfall to answer the demands of those who hold my home, utilities, and job in their hands. No sudden realization of how to be His child in this mess. A clarity of call to arms, to realize regardless that He has called me to serve, is shaping me in His way to serve, and therein lies a blessing that defies the burdens of this life. Growth in the wilderness and a source of thirst-quenching water in this desert portion of this journey.
And my heart sings out in the words of the Psalmist......
"For you, O God, have made answer to my prayers; you have given me the heritage of those who give honour to your name." Psalm 61:5 BBE
Today is a good day, and I swing the sword anew....fighting those demons that the enemy sends to attack my weaknesses and seeking those who cry out in the darkness of this world for the light of the Savior and the peace of His love.
Today is a good day to die again in the service to my KING!
Singing, "Give me Your eyes for just one second, give me Your eyes so I can see. Everything that I've been missing, give me Your love for humanity. Give me Your arms for the brokenhearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach." (Brandon Heath...Give me Your eyes)
AMEN!!
Amid the battle in this world, swinging the sword of God's warrior and taking wounds from unexpected quarters, God answered a prayer. One I've prayed since I first took up the sword and shield and answered the call to be in His Army as a leader, a minister.
It seems, lately in this battle over the old self and its sinful ways---fighting an enemy that knows me all to well from the past association we have shared when I once walked in the darkness of his world, that I have been battered from all sides and my faith has remained. Enough to raise the sword again, enough to raise the shield once more.
And in the mist of the din and clamor of war, for war my dear brothers and sisters is what this world has for us who call Christ King and Savior, a voice cried out ever so softly and so broken. Piercing my heart for the King, calling my attention to His purpose and His fight. And He answered a prayer in my response, stumbling and halting as it was, as I responded to that cry.
Pastor Dave spoke of Moses' call, the burning bush. He spoke of knowing who we are, not what we do. Moses was an man on the lamb, unable to go back to his previous life because of the murder that he committed in the land of Egypt. Yet God called him to be His answer to the cries of the enslaved people of Israel.
It is important, Dave said, that we know who we are, children of God, and who our Father is. At least, that is what God spoke to me. But Dave was burdened with a soul that was in need of this realization and he told the congregation that there was one who this was the cry of their soul.
And the answer was Jesus, the identity that we have but to claim is children of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And this cry I heard was near me, a young woman that I have had the honor of getting to know and understand. Someone who has been burdened with the abuses of this world and those who have entered into her life, and left her broken. God whispered to her heart this Sunday morning past, and her heart recognized the call to His side. In my path to her side, I called two other warriors to join in this battle, which seems such a small part of the war, but is why we fight the fight of the King, to save one more soul...to seize one more from Satan's grip, to declare NOT THIS ONE!
I spoke later in the day to this tender soul, trying to answer the yearning of her heart. Speaking of my own journey from when God whispered to me until the moment in time where we stood, my shield given for service to the King surrounding her from the din of the fight. Raising the sword in praise and honor to the Lord I serve when the heart answered the call, recognized the need and accepted life. And the words of my fellow warrior echoed in my ears above the cry of joy, "This is your call, to minister" And I knew God had answered my prayer, my Gideon skin, through the salvation of another.
Isaiah 43:19 "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert."
Worthy news ministry's devotional for today references this verse. And George writes of most of the men of faith spending time in the wilderness of their lives; desperate and yearning, still and quiet to hear the voice of God upon their hearts in answer to their hunger and thirst. The hebrew word for wilderness is "meed-bahr", which means "to speak".
As I walk in my own wilderness, I hear the call of God more insistent and it is not only the call to minister, but it is full of a legacy of those who have walked in faithful living of the God they have served in heroic and humble fashion.......a revisiting of those 'rocks' that have filled my vessel and shorted the portion of God's love, mercy, and peace in my subjection of my will to His.
No expectation of a financial windfall to answer the demands of those who hold my home, utilities, and job in their hands. No sudden realization of how to be His child in this mess. A clarity of call to arms, to realize regardless that He has called me to serve, is shaping me in His way to serve, and therein lies a blessing that defies the burdens of this life. Growth in the wilderness and a source of thirst-quenching water in this desert portion of this journey.
And my heart sings out in the words of the Psalmist......
"For you, O God, have made answer to my prayers; you have given me the heritage of those who give honour to your name." Psalm 61:5 BBE
Today is a good day, and I swing the sword anew....fighting those demons that the enemy sends to attack my weaknesses and seeking those who cry out in the darkness of this world for the light of the Savior and the peace of His love.
Today is a good day to die again in the service to my KING!
Singing, "Give me Your eyes for just one second, give me Your eyes so I can see. Everything that I've been missing, give me Your love for humanity. Give me Your arms for the brokenhearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach." (Brandon Heath...Give me Your eyes)
AMEN!!
Thursday, April 10
Swindoll devotional from a friend....Moses...
Yesterday Jim Hutson taught about "Moses, the delivering Hero" - thanks Jim! I ran into this devotional today and I thought I would pass it along since it supports what Jim taught.
I pray it blesses you.
Joe
"Exodus 14:15-22 (New International Version)
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
"THE HIGHWAY TO THE PROMISED LAND
by Charles R. Swindoll
Read Exodus 14:15--22
Had we been in charge of the Red Sea project, we would have handled it differently. Our group of engineers would have pushed back that water a week in advance. We would have installed great, massive fans to dry out the land. We would have erected huge neon signs. Somebody would have brought in concession stands to handle the hot dogs and drinks. You see, when people do it, the project takes on all the trademarks of market-driven hotshots. The supernatural is easily eclipsed by human ingenuity.
That's not God's plan. When He wants you cornered, outnumbered. And there are no signs. There is no slick ad campaign. There are no great human resources to trust in. There's just an uncrossable Red Sea and an encroaching army of impossibilities. So you wait. And time passes. He will fight His way at His time. Bite your nails all you want to---He's in no hurry.
Do you feel cornered right now? Up against it? Overwhelmed? Listen, child of God, your predicament is by His design. It takes those dark and dreary streets of heartache and those dead-end feelings of intimidation to prepare you for the glorious days of deliverance.
Perhaps you're a single adult. Those can be frustrating, hard years and lonely times. More than anything you'd like to find a spouse.
Or maybe you're married. You can be so involved in making a living that you fail to make a life, and then the time is gone.
Or perhaps you feel backed into some physical cul-de-sac, where you've languished for weeks, months, maybe years . . . still in that wheelchair.
Listen carefully. Read this slowly. Coming to the Red Sea is just as much a part of His plan as crossing it. It may well be that the Lord is breaking a habit born in Egypt, a habit that has no business living in Canaan. Those habits are tough to break. The tears flow as God works in His time. But in the burning of those tears, God becomes very significant and real. And we realize, at last, that a predicament in God's hands finally leads to a highway to the Promised Land."
I pray it blesses you.
Joe
"Exodus 14:15-22 (New International Version)
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
"THE HIGHWAY TO THE PROMISED LAND
by Charles R. Swindoll
Read Exodus 14:15--22
Had we been in charge of the Red Sea project, we would have handled it differently. Our group of engineers would have pushed back that water a week in advance. We would have installed great, massive fans to dry out the land. We would have erected huge neon signs. Somebody would have brought in concession stands to handle the hot dogs and drinks. You see, when people do it, the project takes on all the trademarks of market-driven hotshots. The supernatural is easily eclipsed by human ingenuity.
That's not God's plan. When He wants you cornered, outnumbered. And there are no signs. There is no slick ad campaign. There are no great human resources to trust in. There's just an uncrossable Red Sea and an encroaching army of impossibilities. So you wait. And time passes. He will fight His way at His time. Bite your nails all you want to---He's in no hurry.
Do you feel cornered right now? Up against it? Overwhelmed? Listen, child of God, your predicament is by His design. It takes those dark and dreary streets of heartache and those dead-end feelings of intimidation to prepare you for the glorious days of deliverance.
Perhaps you're a single adult. Those can be frustrating, hard years and lonely times. More than anything you'd like to find a spouse.
Or maybe you're married. You can be so involved in making a living that you fail to make a life, and then the time is gone.
Or perhaps you feel backed into some physical cul-de-sac, where you've languished for weeks, months, maybe years . . . still in that wheelchair.
Listen carefully. Read this slowly. Coming to the Red Sea is just as much a part of His plan as crossing it. It may well be that the Lord is breaking a habit born in Egypt, a habit that has no business living in Canaan. Those habits are tough to break. The tears flow as God works in His time. But in the burning of those tears, God becomes very significant and real. And we realize, at last, that a predicament in God's hands finally leads to a highway to the Promised Land."
Wednesday, March 26
Abraham, a study in faith
"Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed." So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran." Genesis 12:1-4 (NAS)
Everyone knows who Abraham was and the great story of the testing of his faith with Isaac, the promised offspring of God's covenant with Abram. This patriarchal figure spans the gap between denominations and even major religions. He is known in Jewish, Christian, Islamic traditions, and even the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) hold claim to the name, if not the historical and biblical facts of this founding father of many nations.
The Israelites, Ishamelites, and Edomite people claim him as their founding patriarch and the spawning of generations of "True Arabs" and "Arabized Arabs" (to mention a few) follow their lineage back to him. The Judeo-Christian faith is based on the lineage traced back to Abram and the promise made to him and point to Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of that promise.
But who was this great man that Christianity and many other religions claim to be their own?
As always, man has a desperate need most of the time to prove the faith of Judeo-Christians either perfectly truthful or flawed by inconsistencies. This is usually done with a historical 'check' into the background of the individual or the context in question. Abraham is no different and as his descendent, Jesus Christ, has been maligned and torn apart in an effort to make him a fictional character to the world.
Historically, there is enough non-biblical and biblical evidence to prove that such a figure walked on the earth. Of course, it is up to you to believe whether this or that scholar is correct and ultimately up to you as to whether or not such historical evidence is a linchpin to your faith. But, let's look at this rediscoverer of the monotheistic faith in God.
According to non-biblical evidence, such as Josephus in the 1st century, we find that Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees which was located at that time in Northern Mesopotamia (modern-day Turkey) or the nearby Urkesh that is often identified as the "Ur of the Chaldee". Josephus isn't the only Jewish authority to claim this, Maimonides and others do as well, and they all seem to be in agreement. Since the Jewish lineage is traced back to Abraham, it would seem to be a valid conclusion to find agreement between the Torah and historical accounts. Christian scholars believe that Abraham came from the Chaldean City of Ur, also, but place the modern day equivalent in Iraq. Even the Islamic faith have this specific location, Ur of the Chaldee, as Abraham's birthplace. If we look around the countryside of Haran, we find cities with the names of Peleg, Serug, Nahor, and Terah that are the forefathers of Abraham . This would also lay additional evidence, logically, that such a man came from this area.
There is evidence that the Kings that Abraham fought against to reclaim his nephew Lot were also in existence during his lifetime and in the areas mentioned in biblical accounts. But there has been such disparity between scholars on what to believe and how that I will only mention that such claims exists and are widely varied.
In conclusion, there seems to be enough evidence to point to a man named Abram/Abraham existed in that time and culture. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions point to this patriarch as an important figure in their faiths. But beyond the historical, each have different views on the life and character of this man of faith.
I will look at the differences between the faiths in my next blog.
This was a series I did on the Biblical Heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11. I have been asked to lead a bible study in this series I gave as a sermon, and so looked into a deeper understanding of the characters mentioned. I will blog my discussion as I have time.
Everyone knows who Abraham was and the great story of the testing of his faith with Isaac, the promised offspring of God's covenant with Abram. This patriarchal figure spans the gap between denominations and even major religions. He is known in Jewish, Christian, Islamic traditions, and even the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) hold claim to the name, if not the historical and biblical facts of this founding father of many nations.
The Israelites, Ishamelites, and Edomite people claim him as their founding patriarch and the spawning of generations of "True Arabs" and "Arabized Arabs" (to mention a few) follow their lineage back to him. The Judeo-Christian faith is based on the lineage traced back to Abram and the promise made to him and point to Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of that promise.
But who was this great man that Christianity and many other religions claim to be their own?
As always, man has a desperate need most of the time to prove the faith of Judeo-Christians either perfectly truthful or flawed by inconsistencies. This is usually done with a historical 'check' into the background of the individual or the context in question. Abraham is no different and as his descendent, Jesus Christ, has been maligned and torn apart in an effort to make him a fictional character to the world.
Historically, there is enough non-biblical and biblical evidence to prove that such a figure walked on the earth. Of course, it is up to you to believe whether this or that scholar is correct and ultimately up to you as to whether or not such historical evidence is a linchpin to your faith. But, let's look at this rediscoverer of the monotheistic faith in God.
According to non-biblical evidence, such as Josephus in the 1st century, we find that Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees which was located at that time in Northern Mesopotamia (modern-day Turkey) or the nearby Urkesh that is often identified as the "Ur of the Chaldee". Josephus isn't the only Jewish authority to claim this, Maimonides and others do as well, and they all seem to be in agreement. Since the Jewish lineage is traced back to Abraham, it would seem to be a valid conclusion to find agreement between the Torah and historical accounts. Christian scholars believe that Abraham came from the Chaldean City of Ur, also, but place the modern day equivalent in Iraq. Even the Islamic faith have this specific location, Ur of the Chaldee, as Abraham's birthplace. If we look around the countryside of Haran, we find cities with the names of Peleg, Serug, Nahor, and Terah that are the forefathers of Abraham . This would also lay additional evidence, logically, that such a man came from this area.
There is evidence that the Kings that Abraham fought against to reclaim his nephew Lot were also in existence during his lifetime and in the areas mentioned in biblical accounts. But there has been such disparity between scholars on what to believe and how that I will only mention that such claims exists and are widely varied.
In conclusion, there seems to be enough evidence to point to a man named Abram/Abraham existed in that time and culture. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions point to this patriarch as an important figure in their faiths. But beyond the historical, each have different views on the life and character of this man of faith.
I will look at the differences between the faiths in my next blog.
This was a series I did on the Biblical Heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11. I have been asked to lead a bible study in this series I gave as a sermon, and so looked into a deeper understanding of the characters mentioned. I will blog my discussion as I have time.
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