Tag: christian

Laboring in Love

On By AaronIn Stuff About MeLeave a comment

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”  Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?  Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (Joh 3:1-15, ESV).”

I can’t believe it has already been a month since I watched the miracle of my daughter being born into this world.  It was a difficult delivery, and my wife was most impressive.  Have you ever wondered how you would hold up under adversity?  Have you ever wondered how far you would go under the influence of pain and discomfort?  Have you ever wondered what you would go through for another person?  I now know how far my wife will go for one she loves.  I suspect that she is capable of more but from this moment on I now know how far she went.  Who I see her to be and my understanding of what motivates her has changed in a big way.

I was again reminded of one of my favorite verses.  “…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).”  Women, since the Garden of Eden have endured childbirth for the joy that was set before them.  I witnessed my wife endure and I witnessed, no I shared, in the joy that her endurance produced.

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that to see the Kingdom of God you must be born again (Joh 3:4).  Of course, Nicodemus reacts with astonishment.  How can one be born again?  Jesus doubles down in His response, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again (Joh 3:5-7).’”

That got me thinking.  To be born of water, to be born into this world, requires the endurance of an ordeal that is difficult to match short of pointing to an act of intentional torture.  Does being born of the spirit require the endurance of an ordeal and if so, who must endure that ordeal?

The first obvious answer is to point to that which Christ endured on the Cross.  In Isaiah we read, “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities (Isa 53:11).”  John A. Martin commenting on this passage notes, “his suffering, which included His death, led to life (His resurrection). Satisfied that His substitutionary work was completed (“It is finished,” John 19:30), He now can justify (declare righteous) those who believe (Walvoord and Zuck 2004).”  Jesus had to die for you and me to be accounted righteous.  “…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (Joh 3:15).”

But I think there is second sense in which an ordeal must be endured. At the moment of belief, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior, it is a very clear fact that we are not whisked away to be at home with Him. We remain until He calls us home. God, for His own reasons, has asked us to participate in His work of salvation. From the moment you are saved, your life is no longer your own and your duty is to bring the Word of God, His good news, to the lost and the dying of this world. I am reminded of Corrie ten Boom, forced to survive a Nazi concentration camp for helping Jews to escape Germany, who came to count flees and lice a blessing. It was the flees and lice that kept the Nazis out of her barracks long enough for the prisoners to hold a small bible study. Is that not a difficult delivery? Was Corrie’s ability to count it a blessing not connected to the joy that was set before her, the joy of being present at the moment her fellow prisoners were born of the Spirit? The moment they accepted Jesus and were born again.

Paul, encouraging the Galatians writes, “…I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Gal 4:19)!” At the time of my daughter’s delivery the labor seemed endless. But it was only for a little while and then our joy was made complete. Our labors for those who are lost are also for only a little while. I would encourage you Christian to continue in the knowledge that one day your joy will be complete. The joy of living in fellowship with your Christian brothers and sisters for eternity.

One last thought, those for who we labor are both the source of our pain and the source of our joy.  The passage in which Jesus tells Nikodemus that he must be born again has a small intro…

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.  But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man (Joh 2:23-25).”

It seemed to me to be a strange introduction to the encounter but now from the perspective that men are the source of our pain in labor it seems to me that Jesus is saying that He knows with whom we are struggling. He knew and knows how difficult our labor can be. Again, keep laboring on in humbleness and gentleness of Spirit and always in prayer for those that Jesus loves we must love also.

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Behold, The Lamb of God

On By AaronIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

A regular daily blood sacrifice is an alien concept to us.  The very idea seems foreign and barbarian.  What an irony of history that it is the foundation of Christian doctrine.  That Jesus, the Christ, is our sacrifice; the Lamb of God.  In Old Testament times through the intertestamental period, right up until the destruction of the Temple in 70 a.d., the priests would put on their robes and go through the prescribed sacrifices given in God’s Law.  Julius Scott writes a wonderfully concise description of the process.

“Each day, near dawn, the priests who had slept in the temple were summoned. An officer cast lots to determine priestly responsibilities. Those priests who had been selected for duty that day washed their hands and feet; the others were dismissed. The temple precincts were inspected to assure that the courts had not been defiled. Ashes were removed from the bronze altar, and wood placed upon it. Worship began when daylight arrived. The lamps were cleaned, and fresh oil put in them, ashes removed from the altar of incense, and the temple doors opened to indicate the beginning of worship (Scott 1995, 151).”

“A sacrificial lamb was led into the slaughter area on the north side of the bronze altar. It was given a drink of water from a golden bowl and then killed. Its blood was collected, and its bodily parts divided, arranged, and kept on a marble table until they were to be carried to the altar. Priests and worshipers recited the Ten Commandments, the Shema, benedictions, and other prayers. The Mishnah set the particular psalm to be sung each day of the week (Scott 1995, 151).”

“…the priests who had been selected to offer the burnt offering threw the body parts of the sacrifice onto the altar. When the high priest officiated, the other priests handed the parts to him, and he performed the rite. The pouring out of the drink offering which followed was the signal for the Levites to begin singing, which was interspersed with the blowing of two silver trumpets. The people prostrated themselves with each trumpet blast. The end of the singing concluded the worship (Scott 1995, 152).”

            When John the Baptist first meets Jesus, he proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (Joh 1:29)!”  But before that, in the angel’s announcement to Mary, she is told that Jesus, “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luk 1:32-33).”  When the angels appeared to the shepherds, the shepherds were told, “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luk 2:11).” And the wise men came looking for the one, “who has been born king of the Jews (Mat 2:2)?”  Great, Son of the Most High, heir to the throne of King David, King of the Jews and Lamb of God.  It seems so incongruous.

            But Jesus had come to be the Lamb.  “And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour (Joh 12:27-28).”  He came to be the blood sacrifice that the justice against my sins requires!  The Son of the Most High came for this purpose.  He, “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Php 2:7-11).”

            This is why we worship on Sunday!  This is why we sing!  This is why the angels sang joy to the world!  This is the source of peace between men and God!  This is why we worship on Sunday!

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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The War we Wage

On By AaronIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Eph 6:10-11).”

This is a popular passage among soldiers and law enforcement professionals.  The passages that follow speak to us in terms that we can easily understand.  Armor, breastplates, sandals, helmets, and swords.  Even today our modern equipment is the equivalent.  However, right between standing against the schemes of the devil and putting on the whole armor of God is the clause, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood… (Eph 6:12).”

What would an engagement, not of flesh and blood, look like?

If the battle we fight is not against flesh and blood what is the battle against?  What would an engagement, not of flesh and blood, look like?  Peter answers that question in his second epistle.  “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty (2Pe 1:16).”  Here Peter places not another cleverly devised myth against the schemes of the devil but instead the truth of the power of Jesus.  Peter places the light of truth, the light of God’s revelation against the lies of the false prophets and teachers.  His second epistle was written for that very purpose.  False prophets had brought in “…destructive heresies, even denying the Master [Jesus]… (1Pe 2:1).”  This is still true today.  In fact, the destructive heresies have only multiplied.  Peter then reminds his readers of what is going to happen to those who persist in darkness referencing Noah’s flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as types of the judgment to come.  The battle then, is in the discernment of true revelation from God v. the lies and deceit of the enemy.

I love Peter’s description of these false teachers.  They are bold and willful (2Pe 2:10), irrational animals, creatures of instinct, ignorant (2Pe 2:12), daytime revelers, i.e. those who sin in broad daylight and boast about their sin, reveling in their deception of others (2Pe 2:13), who have eyes for adultery and are insatiable for sin (2Pe 2:14).  Their teachings are “…waterless springs and mists driven by storms (2Pe 2:17)” who, “entice… those who are barely escaping from those who live in error (2Pe 2:18).”  These false prophets and teachers hide their own enslavement to corruption with promises of freedom.  They offer only lies!

Our battle is in the realm of truth v. lie; what is real v. what is not; what saves v. what destroys.

We all know people who fit this description and as frustrating, challenging, and painful as our relationships with them are we love them.  This is why our battle is not against flesh and blood.  We do not wish the destruction of that which we love.  Our battle is against the schemes of the devil; the father of lies and his servants.  Our battle is in the realm of truth v. lie; what is real v. what is not; what saves v. what destroys.  Our battle is in the realm of ideas and ideals, and the truth behind them.

Paul, back in Ephesians, tells us that we are wrestling with, “authorities, cosmic powers, and the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places (Eph 6:12).”  And although I believe the existence of these entities to be true and real, we cannot fight them power for power; our battle is against the lies they devise.  We can only fight them truth for lie.  When we know this our focus for preparedness moves off the physical equipment Paul uses merely to describe our preparedness and onto the spiritual realities that prepare us for this battle.  Are you prepared for this battle?

I do not care if you have a good belt.  Do you know the truth?  You do not need a breastplate.  You need to know and understand the reality and source of your righteousness.  Shoes are cheap these days.  Do you believe and can you describe the Gospel of peace?  A Gospel so powerful that it makes you ready to go home to be with the Lord!  Ready to die!  How ready are you?  Is your faith (see more on that here) sufficient to shield you from the lies of the enemy?  Do you know and can you explain the source of your salvation?  If not, then what do you really believe?  Can you call yourself a Christian?

How well are you defended against a lie and how well can you wield the truth?

All of these are measures defensive in nature except for God’s Word, the sword.  How proficient are you with this sword?  Do you spend time in practice with it?  Do you know what makes it sharp, how it cuts, a riposte v. a parry?  Can you tell me why Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and how his message is relevant to today?  Could you explain to a cult leader why his Jesus does not match the Jesus of the Bible?  Can you tell me why the Jesus of the Bible is the only Jesus sufficient for your need?  Can you tie the Old Testament to the New and the New Testament to the Old?  Can you articulate the Gospel?  How well are you defended against a lie and how well can you wield the truth?

Now the Word of God is not your sword.  It is the sword of the Spirit.  We must defend ourselves against the lie and we must know the truth however, it is the Spirit that convicts, and that conviction is what leads to repentance.  It is the Spirit that leads our loved ones to salvation.  When properly armed and equipped we are the instrument of that Spirit.  What I do not want to be and what I do not want you to be is a rusty undefended instrument.  I do not want to be one of, “those… who are barely escaping those who live in error (2Pe 2:18).”  I want to take the truth to them; go on the offense!  Be used of the Spirit on a major offensive!

Angry chunks of shrapnel wiz through the air and bullets, not darts, snap close to home.

Make no mistake, the enemy has been sharpening his lies and improving his defenses.  Today, when you walk out your front door you are greeted with a constant bombardment of lies and deceit.  Angry chunks of shrapnel wiz through the air and bullets, not darts, snap close to home.  I do not want a breastplate, a helmet, and sandals.  I want a tank and access to artillery and air cover!  And today, we have access to just that.  Right now, as I write this, I am accessing online digital resources that Peter and Paul could have only dreamt of.  Just the other day I checked the claims of a man named Richard Rohr only to discover he is deceived and actively deceiving.  Would you know the difference between what I preach and what he preaches?  There are so many tools and resources at your fingertips we have no excuse.  Bottom line today’s spiritual battlefield has progressed not unlike the conventional battlefield.  Paul’s symbolic imagery would not be relevant today, but his message is.  How prepared are you?  Wrap yourself in the Armor of God so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes!  Let us arm ourselves with the truth so that we can take it to the enemy!!!  Don’t wait.

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Seek the Truth above ALL things!

On By AaronIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

“When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice (1Sa 8:1-3).”

I came across this passage last night as I continued my reading through First Samuel.  Samuel was a man of God.  He heard God, he listened to God, and he did what God instructed him to do.  And yet, his sons did not walk in their father’s ways.  I am sure that this grieved Samuel but what is interesting to me is the part Samuel’s sons played in Israel’s demand for a king.  A demand that was a direct rejection of God, “…they [Israel] have rejected me from being king over them (1Sa 8:7).” 

“The truth that Samuel knew, the truth that Samuel heard was true apart from Samuel’s representation of Him and apart from his son’s representation of Him. “

A common reason that people do not attend church is because church people do not represent God well.  I think for most of us this is common sense, and it does not really need more discussion.  We, even Christians, are flawed.  I do not always represent God well.  In fact, the longer you know me the more likely it is that I will let you down.  Some, reading this, have already been let down by me.  But that is know excuse for rejecting Him.  He, and the truth about Him, is independent of my representation of Him.

The truth that Samuel knew, the truth that Samuel heard was true apart from Samuel’s representation of Him and apart from his son’s representation of Him.  This is true not just of God’s truth but of truth in general.  The primary disagreement between a theist and an atheist is in the existence of a deity.  If it is true that there is no deity, then when the theist dies, he will meet no deity.  Likewise, if it is true that there is a deity then when the atheist dies, he will meet a deity.  The truth is independent of both.

“God did not want a king for Israel, God wanted to be Israel’s king.”

Joel and Abijah, Samuel’s sons were representing God in such a way that they were pushing God’s very people away from Him.  So much so that they would reject His leadership in favor of the style of leadership found in every other nation around them.  God did not want a king for Israel, God wanted to be Israel’s king.  As it would turn out Israel’s kings would plague her relationship with God.  Israel could not point to Joel and Abijah with any kind of justification.  They should have known despite the failure of Samuel’s sons.

That the Christian church is flawed by the very people who make it up is common knowledge.  So common that it is probably more an excuse to watch football on a Sunday morning or participate in a three-day weekend lacrosse tournament then a real theological argument for disbelieving the teachings of Christ.  Who are we really trying to convince then?

Apart from repentance Joel and Abijah would be held accountable for their unfaithfulness.  Apart from repentance those Israelites who demanded a king would be held accountable for their unfaithfulness…

“What empty things are you allowing to come between you and serving the LORD with your whole heart?”

“And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty (1Sa 12:19-21).”

What empty things are you allowing to come between you and serving the LORD with your whole heart?  What empty things are you allowing to come between you and a full knowledge of the truth?

“Pilate folded because determining the truth is hard.”

Now please do not misunderstand me.  Do not stay under the authority of a false teacher!  But know the difference between a false teacher and a flawed teacher.  The only way is to know the truth. No easy task made even more difficult by flawed representatives. Ironically, The truth stood before Pontius Pilate and revealed Himself and Pilate’s response was, “what is truth? (Joh 18:38).” Pilate folded because determining the truth is hard.

If you have read this far there are three things I want you to do. First, read the Bible. Read it regularly. It is God’s word and if you know what it says I want you to check what I tell you against it. I am astonished not by what non-Christians post on Facebook about the Bible but by what Christians post. Too often we reveal how little we have read. Second, know why God’s word can be trusted. Those who would tell you that it is no different than any other human work can only believe that apart from the evidence. How did the English translation come into your hands? Knowing the answer to that simple question will bolster your faith in what you are reading by a good 80%. Third, don’t ignore this if you are not a believer. If you do the first two and you disagree then at least you have evaluated the Biblical claim in your endeavor to find the truth.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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There is a good chance we’ll get there with DIRTY FEET

On By AaronIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Recently, I was dispatched to assist our local police department in a death notification.  A woman had committed suicide and we had the duty to notify her mother.  It is among the most difficult things that a police officer must do.  I have done them as a police officer and now I have done a handful as a chaplain.  I am always amazed at how different the experience is as a chaplain.  It is not better, it is not worse, it is just different.

Today, the officer’s heart was on his sleeve as he interacted with the family.  He gently answered their questions, I could tell that in his heart, he wanted to be able to undo what had been done; to remove the grief from this family; to take away their pain.  He had all the rapport with the family, and I was of little help except to ask a few questions about arrangements and then to conclude the encounter in prayer.  They appeared to be a church going family that had not been able to attend recently due to Covid and the elderly status of the mother.  They were comfortable with and even appreciative of my prayer.

“Suicide is not an unforgivable sin and there is the same hope for one who dies as the result of suicide as there is at the death of any of our loved ones.”

There are very few pains that rise to the level of that experienced by those left behind by suicide.  So many regrets and so many questions.  Among them is the question of hope.  Can we hope to see our loved one who has committed suicide again?  I am going to be right up front and then explain; suicide is not an unforgivable sin and there is the same hope for one who dies as the result of suicide as there is at the death of any of our loved ones.  Jesus is that hope!

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him (Joh 13:1-5).”

“Jesus knew that His hour had come.”

Jesus knew that His hour had come.  Jesus knew that He was to be the sacrifice that would cleanse the world of sin.  And in this moment, he gets up and prepares to wash His disciple’s feet.

“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”  Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”  Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me (Joh 13:6-8).”

This was classic Peter.  It makes sense.  Should you allow the creator of all creation to wash your feet?  Probably not… It could be a test.  But, Jesus rebukes Peter and there is little surprise here.  Peter is probably getting used to this.  However, in His rebuke, Jesus connects what is happening now, the washing of feet, to an understanding of what Jesus is going to do soon, wash us all of our sins, and He reassures them that when it is done, they will understand.  Furthermore, Jesus leaves out Peter’s feet in the rebuke; “If I do not wash you…”  That’s significant.

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean (Joh 13:9-11).”

“The cleansing that Jesus was about to accomplish, on the cross, was going to be complete.”

Again, classic Peter.  Do not just wash my feet then, wash my hands and my head.  But Jesus comment next is what intrigues me; He brings Peter back to the washing of his feet but in the context of a complete wash. “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean (Joh 13:10).”  The cleansing that Jesus was about to accomplish, on the cross, was going to be complete.  Jesus was going to wash us of all our sins leaving nothing behind.  Not one blemish.  The moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior that cleansing is ours and we are clean!

The problem is that we do not immediately go to be with the Lord.  It begs the question, “If the purpose of all creation is our salvation through redemption then why are we to remain here once we are saved?”  The answer is that at the moment of our salvation our lives are no longer our own and are no longer about us.  They are about those Jesus who Jesus also loves; those who are still dead in their sins.  We are left to walk this world in service to those who need Jesus that they might accept His offer of eternal life.  What that means is that our feet are going to get dirty.

“There is so much dirt that can get on our feet.”

That dirt could be the discouragement of a loved one who does not accept Jesus.  That dirt could be the discouragement of not receiving a well-earned promotion or recognition of our work.  The dirt could be the discouragement that comes with the loss of a loved one or the loss of a loved relationship.  And in those moments of discouragement when we fall back into whatever sin is most comfortable that dirt sticks to our feet.  There is so much dirt that can get on our feet.

To persevere, in order to remain close to God as we ambassador for Him we need to wash our feet and wash the feet of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We confess our sins because He is faithful to forgive them (1Jo 1:9).  It is in these moments that we begin to believe the lie that we are not forgiven; that we are somehow not good enough!  Adam Clarke comments that,  “he who is washed—who is justified through the blood of the Lamb, needeth only to wash his feet—to regulate all his affections and desires; and to get, by faith, his conscience cleansed from any fresh guilt, which he may have contracted since his justification.”  The blood of Christ has already cleansed us of yesterday’s sins, today’s sins, and tomorrow’s sins but our own guilty conscience will keep us from a close walk with God; it will keep us from being effective for God.  Unless we confess, we keep ourselves from God and when we confess, He is faithful in reminding us that we have been cleansed.  Where we go wrong is thinking that our new sin disqualifies us from salvation.

“There is a good chance we could enter heaven with dirty feet.”

If we make that false assumption, then it becomes absolutely necessary that before our death we must confess our very last sin lest we die in transgression.  I do not know about you, but I have been close to death and in what could have been the last moment of my life I dropped some foul language that could have bordered on blasphemy.  Had that been my last moment would I have died apart from salvation!  Absolutely not!  Does this give us license to sin with impunity?  Absolutely not!

What this means then is that there is a good chance we could enter heaven with dirty feet.  Do not get me wrong, none of that dirt will get into heaven but there is a good chance that we could show up at the door to heaven with dirt on our feet.  Would God turn us away?  Not if at some point we had already repented of all our sins and accepted His free gift.

“What a comfort it will be for them to know that I have gone to be with the Lord no matter the circumstances of my death.”

What does this mean for the hope of those who have lost a loved one to suicide?  Bottom line, suicide is not an automatic disqualifier.  I did not know the person who died today.  I do not know if she had accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.  If she had then her salvation is assured.  Her disobedience was punished on the cross and her last act of disobedience is no more disqualifying than the rest of the dirt that will fall from her feet as she steps across the threshold of heaven.  That is my hope for her and that is my hope for all the deceased I encounter in the course of my duties.  Delivering the news that a loved one has died is no easy task.  It is made easier with the hope that the deceased person is with the Lord.  An act of suicide is a disobedient act just like any other disobedient act.  And because Jesus’ work on the cross is sufficient for every disobedient act suicide can not remove the hope of eternal salvation any more than any other act of disobedience.

What I want my law enforcement brethren to know is that when we deliver the message to a family that their loved one has committed suicide, we are not giving them a message of hopelessness.  What I want everyone to know who makes it all the way through this message is that apart from Christ there is no hope.  Turn to him now.  Don’t wait! One day my wife and/or my mother will receive the news that I have passed from this life to the next. What a comfort it will be for them to know that I have gone to be with the Lord no matter the circumstances of my death.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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Baptism… That Which Unites Us

On By AaronIn Uncategorized2 Comments

When the writer of Hebrews tells us to, “leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation… of instruction about washings (Heb 6:1-2)” we have to ask the question what are the elementary Christian instructions about washings?  Many English translations translate Greek baptismôn into baptism and render the passage, “teaching about baptisms (LAB)” or “the doctrine of baptisms (NKJV)” but this can be a little misleading.  David Stern commenting on this scripture notes that the, “Greek baptismôn is the normal New Testament word not for the immersion which accompanies coming to faith (Act 2:37, 8:38, 16:32; see Mat 3:9) but for washings or purifications, of which the initial immersion is but one.” 

In the Old Testament there were laws relating to unclean people, food, and other objects as well as the requirements for cleaning them (Scott 1995, 254).  “There were indeed numerous prescribed ceremonial washings for all practicing Jews, both natural-born and proselytes; these washings were a major part of the requirements to become clean after contracting defilement (Scott 1995, 344).”  In the Gospel of Mark we read, “…the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders… (Mar 7:3-4).”  The Jews at the time of Jesus were so zealous that at the Wedding of Canna, recorded in the Gospel of John, were found six stone jars that could each hold twenty or thirty gallons of water (Joh 2:6).  That is from 120 to 180 gallons!

“…these ceremonies were never intended to make a person clean or undefiled.”

The Old Testament makes a clear distinction between clean and unclean; defiled and undefiled.  To be defiled or to be unclean was to be ceremonial disqualified from worship during special times and seasons.  But here is the rub, these ceremonies were never intended to make a person clean or undefiled.  They were used to teach the concept of clean and unclean and then to illustrate that we are all unclean.  Isaiah, prophesying to Israel, declared, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment (Isa 64:6).”  Isaiah was speaking to those who were practicing the ceremonies!  Jesus later explained, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him (Mar 7:14-15).”  It is our hearts that defile us and none of us are capable of changing our hearts.

If then, we are unclean and defiled, how are we to get clean?  That is the central question of all Scripture.  That is the central question of God’s plan of redemption.  How is God going to make us clean?  The blood of Jesus has cleansed us from our sin (1Jo 1:7).  That was the mission of His first coming and He was sufficient for the task and the task is complete.  “He [Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our only but also for the sins of the whole world (1Jo 2:2).”  He has washed us with His blood.  Grotesque when you take it word for word but when you understand that “His blood” is a reference to the only sacrifice sufficient to pay the debt owed to justice for your sins and that the debt has been, in fact, paid then it leaves the realm of the grotesque and enters the realm of the revolutionary.

“Confess your sins to God and He is faithful to forgive them.”

First John 1:9

Just the other day I was reading in Isaiah and found this gem.  “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes… (Isa 1:16)”  Do you know at the time that this was written there was not yet a propitiation for sin?  Jesus had not yet paid the penalty for their sins.  The command to wash yourself or make yourself clean from your evil deeds was impossible and God’s perfect justice could never forget the debt.  Almost 2,000 years ago God took care of that impossibility and today you can wash yourself and make yourself clean.  Confess your sins to God and He is faithful to forgive them (1Jo 1:9).  Revolutionary then and still revolutionary today!

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him (1Pe 3:18-22).”

“Your Baptism into Christ was an event in which you identified with His act of sacrifice on your behalf and became identified with Him as one of His own.”

Baptism then, is not a washing that can remove your uncleanliness.  It is an identification with “the” washing that has removed your uncleanliness.  Your Baptism into Christ was an event in which you identified with His act of sacrifice on your behalf and became identified with Him as one of His own.  Soldiers speak of their baptism by fire.  That moment, after which they are forever identified with those who have also experienced combat.  It is something that they each share that binds them into an identity that apart from that baptism cannot be shared.  The Israelites were baptized into Moses through the sea and the cloud not because those things served as a ritual of initiation but because everyone who was not an Israelite could point to those things and say there goes someone who passed through the Red Sea and followed the pillar of fire (1Co 10:1-4).  I too can point to my own Christian baptism as the moment I was united with every believer in Christ as a believer in Christ not because the water made me clean but because going through the water pointed to the one who did make me clean.

People have asked me, “do you need to be baptized to be saved?”  The answer is yes!  You must be identified with Christ to be saved.  And although that baptism may not look like the baptism found in our contemporary church it must be there.  The thief on the cross was not sprinkled or immersed and yet he was baptized into the Cross of Christ!  The real question is not whether you need to be baptized to be saved the real question is have you been baptized?  Have you accepted the cleansing that can only come from the sacrifice of Jesus and have you identified yourself with Him in a way in which He will identify Himself with you?

This was a continuation of a previous post. You might want to check it out here. Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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Of Mathematicians, Engineers and Faith

On By AaronIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Looking at the basic Christian doctrine of Faith in God as found in Hebrews 6 I have broken what might be one doctrine into two because I think the second half needs its own effort in terms of our understanding.  Faith in God is connected to our understanding of Dead works however, because you can not separate the bad news, that all of our works are dead, from the good news, that Jesus Christ has performed a good work on your behalf.  Christ’s good work is central to Christianity and what you believe about Christ is central to your Christianity.  Christian Faith, by definition, is what you believe about Christ.

“To have faith… is to be convinced of something.”

The Greek word from which we get our definition of faith is pistis, which means… “persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), espec. reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstr. constancy in such profession; by extension. the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:—assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.”  It comes from the Greek word pĕithō, which means… “to convince (by argument, true or false); by anal. to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflex. or pass. to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty):—agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) confient, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.

To have faith then is to be convinced of something.  But it is more than being convinced, it is being convinced by a convincing argument.  Your pistis is built upon your pĕithō.  To be convinced of Christ is to believe a convincing argument about Christ.

“That lie is that empiricism is better suited to answer the questions of ultimate reality.”

The first problem with this line of thought is that you and I are post enlightenment thinkers.  The enlightenment reduced reason to a kind of strict empiricism.  What was reasonable could only be determined if it could be tested and measured.  It was this same spirit of empiricism that reduced the validity of the miraculous because miracles, by definition, cannot be empirically verified.  Once the miraculous and that which could not be tested and verified was removed from the realm of reason not only was faith and reason divorced from one another, but the divorce has never been seen as amicable.  Reason and faith are placed against one another in the family court of philosophy.  And if the enlightenment was the judge then reason got almost full custody.

However, as the children of the enlightenment have matured, they are starting to discover that the underlying causes of the divorce were built on a lie.  That lie is that empiricism is better suited to answer the questions of ultimate reality.  David Hume, a philosophical proponent of empiricism, argued that if knowledge were based on experience then anything that could not be experienced could not be established as real beyond a probability.  But is something is known with a high enough probability then to experience it becomes redundant.

“It turns out that the ultimate meanings of this reality must be discerned by a shared custody of empiricism and what I call the “soft sciences” of philosophy.”

I am reminded of the joke that starts by asking how you tell the difference between a mathematician and an engineer.  You have to put them both together on one side of a room and on the other you place a very attracted woman.  You tell them both that they can get to her only by going halfway.  Once they have gone halfway, they can then go half way again.  The mathematician will throw up his arms in frustration because you will only ever get halfway.  The engineer will set off immediately because he understands that you only have to get within working distance.  This is the lie of empiricism.  You may have so much evidence about something you have never experienced that the probability is high enough to be a “working” certainty.

“Bottom line, if you want to have real faith you must have a convincing argument about that which you have faith in.”

It turns out that the ultimate meanings of this reality must be discerned by a shared custody of empiricism and what I call the “soft sciences” of philosophy.  When we ascribe faith to something, we ascribe that faith on not just the empirical evidence, but empirical evidence gets a vote.  Additionally, when we find ourselves unable to empirically evaluate something, we haven’t found ourselves outside of reason.  Astonishingly the laws of reason apply to that which cannot be measured.  For example, it is not unreasonable for the creator of the laws of physics to violate the laws of physics.  The fact that the creator of the laws of physics would be the only one who could break the laws of physics makes it impossible for anyone else to test the theory.  It is only unreasonable for a creator of the laws of physics to violate the laws of physics if you assume away the creator of the laws of physics.

Bottom line, if you want to have real faith you must have a convincing argument about that which you have faith in.  Empirical evidence is convincing.  It would be a challenge to convince Moses that the bush he saw burning in the desert was not what he saw.  But we are not limited by empirical data.  It is possible to be so certain of something that you have not experienced that it the evidence that makes you certain counts.  Faith, to avoid becoming wishful thinking can not be divorced from the evidence for that faith.  Do you know the evidence?

“Mature faith then must answer a more robust question; why do I believe in Christ and do I believe in the real Christ?”

That brings us to the second problem.  If the definition of Christian Faith is tied to that which you believe about Christ, then it would be important to believe the right things about Christ.  It would be misleading to say that you are great person of Christian Faith if your understanding of Christ was equal to that of the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause.  No, to put your faith in Christ is to put your faith in Christ.  I call this the second problem because often the Christ who is is not the Christ that we desire.  The Christ who was, and is, and is to come is a Christ who we must submit to.  The Christ we desire is usually a much more comfortable Christ.

Mature faith then must answer a more robust question; why do I believe in Christ and do I believe in the real Christ?  The first part is about really believing, and the second part is about believing something that is real.  But it is still not enough because, as I said in the beginning, this doctrine is connected to the first.  What you believe about Christ must be relevant to the reality that both your good works and your evil works are dead.  For a faith in Christ to produce any kind of real hope the Christ we have faith in must be able to solve the problem of our dead works.  That would be good news indeed!

“For the skeptic there will always be room for doubt.”

Paul had to remind the Corinthians of the good news that he had preached to them (1Co 15:1).  “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve (1Co 15:3-5).”  That he appeared to Cephas is almost empirical.  It was for Cephas!  But for you and I our evidence for the Christ who appeared to Cephas rests on the reliability of the testimony of Paul and its transmitting to our time.  Is the truth of that testimony probable enough for Cephas’ experience to count as “working”?  I think that it is, and the evidence backs up my conviction!  Do the Scriptures say that Christ died for my dead works, my sin?  They do!  What about the testimony of the resurrection?  It’s validity rests on the validity of the Scriptures as well and the probability of their truth.

For the skeptic there will always be room for doubt.  Just as the mathematician who can never get to where he wants to be the skeptic will always find space for doubt.  But Christian faith is based on evidence and if you want to have a stronger faith pursue the evidence.  One day, when you are hoping on God to be true to His promises you evidence will be the source of your faith and the substance of your hope.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

This post is part of a collection of posts about the basic doctrines of the Christian Faith as found in Hebrews 6. If you would like to read the others you can find them here.

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Not Good Works or Bad Works… Dead Works

On By AaronIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Recently I have been thinking about the five basic Christian doctrines identified in Hebrews 6.  According to the writer of Hebrews, they are those doctrines that Christians need to know before moving on to maturity.  You can find that post here.  The first one, that of repentance from dead works, struck me.  What has struck me is that it does not say that we are to repent of bad works or even evil works but of dead works. Could it bee that both our bad works and our good works are dead?

“The world today will try and convince you that these things are not obviously death producing but rather that some of them are only different alternatives in a more pluralistic culture.”

The first category of dead works I want to call the obvious dead works.  Paul, writing to the Galatians identifies these obvious works, “…the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-21).”  The world today will try and convince you that these things are not obviously death producing but instead they would convince you that some of them are only different alternatives in a more pluralistic, tolerant, and accommodating culture.  However, those of us who have been the victims of these works can attest to the injustice that these works produce; broken marriages, the trauma of a sexual encounter in the absence of or inability to consent, the family neglect of alcoholism and drug abuse, the physical and psychological abuse of an angry spouse or parent just to name a few.  If you love a person who has been the victim of any of these dead works and the injustices that they are, then you know what it is to demand justice and the very visceral rightness of the justice demanded.  These works produce death in that the justice warranted for them is the death they deserve!  But we also know that we too are guilty, if only in our hearts, of at least one of these listed works.

James writes how, “…each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death (Jas 1:14-15).”  It starts with our own evil desires.  It is our own lust that leads to sexual immorality, it is our own selfish desires for control that lead to idolatry, sorcery, enmity, and strife, and it is our own covetousness that leads to jealousy etc. and etc.  And when we act on those desires, we commit sin.

All sins are feelings or transgressions against something forbidden or required.  It is an offense against that for which something was created, and you were not created to be immoral, impure, nor any of the things listed above.  You were created for righteousness. And so, in not living out that which the creator has intended not only have we committed injustices against others, but we have committed injustices against ourselves and He who created us.  Our works were all birthed by our own desires and will bring forth death.

“The idea that any of our good works is sufficient to make amends for our bad works is not theologically or philosophically sound.”

But there is another kind of dead work.  And these dead works do not look as though they would produce death.  The quintessential example is that model prisoner, sentenced to a life of imprisonment, who builds a library that educates fellow inmates in order that they can build a good life when they are released.  Hundreds and then thousands of fellow inmates are impacted by their education for the better until one day someone makes the argument that the model inmates’ sentence should be commuted because of all the good that he has done since he was imprisoned.  But what if the person he had killed were your son or the woman he had raped were your daughter?  How many people would have to be helped before justice was served?  Ten, one hundred, one thousand?  How many lives would have to be saved before your son were returned?

The idea that any of our good works is sufficient to make amends for our bad works is not theologically or philosophically sound.  Even less so when we take into consideration that we were expected to be good and righteous by the one who created us and the very fact that we are not is a sin against that creator.  Can being what you were supposed to be amend for the fact that you once were not?  Could you make an argument that your works are good enough that you should not be judged for the works that were not good enough?  This was the error of the Pharisees in the time of Jesus.

“The Law was teaching them that righteousness cannot be found as an earned payment for legalistic works.”

David Stern writing about the Israelites of Jesus time argues that although they were pursuing the righteousness of The Law they missed that The Law was teaching them that righteousness cannot be found as an earned payment for legalistic works (Stern 1992, Rom 9:31).  J. Scott states plainly that, “both Intertestamental and Rabbinic Judaism were legalistic in nature, that they sought to earn or merit salvation by meticulous observance of the law (Scott 1995, 273-274).”  Are you trying to earn your righteousness, or do you mistakenly believe that you have already earned it?

We all know someone or some family of “good” people. They work hard, they don’t steal, and they are kind to one another. They may even go to church. But can any of this recover for them that which was lost in the fall? Do all of these good works when combined overcome the requirement for justice demanded by one evil deed or even one evil thought? The Bible teaches that the answer is a resounding no.

What is left then is to wonder, “are there any works that produce life?”  And the miracle of all miracles is that the answer is yes!!!  The work that Jesus completed on the cross is the only work that could and does produce life.  All our works produced and produce death and those deaths were paid for by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  The justice demanded for each of our dead works was paid, in full, by the very one who that justice is owed!  When you accept this work, you are brought out of your dead works and in freedom you are then able to serve one another through love (Gal 5:13).  That service will either encourage believers to persevere in their faith or cause unbelievers to accept Jesus’ work in faith.  Both of which are works of service that, through the work of Jesus, continue to produce life.

“We are to accept that our evil deeds, those that most obviously produce death, require justice.”

Finally, what does it mean then to repent from our dead works?  It means that we are to change our mind about righteousness.  We are to accept that our evil deeds, those that most obviously produce death, require justice; justice that is owed to our creator.  In our pride we decided that we new better what we were created for than He, and so we made ourselves into that which we were not intended to be.  We were intended to be righteous before God.  And in that lost righteousness we must also accept that we cannot generate our own righteousness or cover our own unrighteousness by our own “good” works.  Our “good” works are also dead.  Because we have offended against God.

Repent!  Accept Jesus work on your behalf by faith and start working to produce life in obedience to Him.  That is what it means to move on to maturity in Christ.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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Scott, J. Julius. Jewish Backgrounds Of The New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1995.

Stern, David H. Jewish New Testament Commentary. Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., 1992.

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The Priority of Our Questions

On By AaronIn Uncategorized5 Comments

             I have been reading a lot of posts lately by Christians in Christian groups on Facebook.  Great questions, and I am a firm believer that after the fear of the Lord it is our questions that lead us to wisdom.  A good question framed properly where the answer is diligently sought will always lead to a piece of knowledge that will augment our faith.  But we have also heard that there is not such thing as a dumb question, and I am not entirely convinced of the truth of that statement.

             Have you ever been in a conversation in which someone asked a question and although they were earnest in their desire for the answer the fact that they asked the question only revealed that the person still had much to learn?  I was sitting in my police car with a high school student who was taking advantage of our ride along program when he asked a question about how the radar worked.  We, as police officers, must be able to answer that question often as part of our testimony in court to demonstrate that we know how to correctly employ the device.  After about twenty minutes of explanation the young man pointed to a parked car and asked, “wouldn’t it be cool if the radar could detect that car?”  While it was clear that he genuinely wanted it to “be cool” he had not heard or maybe he had not understood, anything I had said in the previous twenty minutes about the functioning and purpose of the radar. A proper understanding would have alleviated the necessity of the question.

These are the kind of questions I have been seeing in the Christian Facebook posts.  Can god fix any kind of relationship; …even when it seems hopeless, can he restore it?  Is it okay for a Christian to listen to non-Christian music?  Is it normal to get sick and angry when people blaspheme the name of God?  All questions that need to be answered but all questions that may reveal that we do not have a firm grasp of the basics of Christianity.

“What would Paul have considered the basics of Christianity and would a proper understanding of these basics answer some of our other initial questions?”

I was reminded of a passage in which Paul told the Corinthians, “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it (1Co 3:2).”  What is the milk that we need before we are given solid food?  What would Paul have considered the basics of Christianity and would a proper understanding of these basics answer some of our other initial questions?

             Where Paul was telling the Corinthians that they are not yet ready for solid food the writer of Hebrews expressed to the Hebrews that they were ready and that they needed to move off the elementary doctrines.  Here, I think the writer identifies what those elementary doctrines might be.  “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  And this we will do if God permits (Heb 6:1-3).”  I suspect that the elementary doctrines are the doctrine of repentance from dead works, the doctrine of faith in God, the doctrine of washings, the doctrine of laying on of hands, the doctrine of resurrection from the dead, and the doctrine of eternal judgment.

             Could you explain those doctrines to a new believer?  Do you understand each of these doctrines enough to use them to answer those other basic questions?  I suspect that the answers to the earlier question about repaired relationships could be found or at least better understood through an understanding of the doctrine of faith and resurrection.  I suspect that questions about what is appropriate and what is not appropriate for Christian behavior could be best deciphered through an understanding of the doctrine of dead works.  What produces life versus that which produces death?  Anger could also be better understood in a context of the doctrines of dead works and even eternal judgment.

“Where can we go to learn these things if we are not learning them in the church?  What hope do we have apart from these basic doctrines?”

             I guess what I am saying is that my experiences on Facebook in these Christian groups is that the church, and I include myself in that body, is failing to communicate and teach these basic doctrines.  Where can we go to learn these things if we are not learning them in the church?  What hope do we have apart from these basic doctrines?  Every question, asked earnestly, is a good question but what are the most important questions?  The priority for us as Christians should be those doctrines listed above.  If we cannot answer those questions then we don’t know the basics of our identity in Christ, we can’t communicate those basics to others, and as a generation of believers we can’t hope to move on to maturity. The good news is that the answers to these questions are not restricted to those in possession of a theology degree. If anything my theology education has only made me more confident in that which I already knew.

What does it mean to repent from dead works?

What does it mean to put your faith in God?

What does the bible teach about washings?

Why and when do we lay on of hands?

What does the Bible say about the resurrection of the dead?

What is the Biblical teaching on eternal judgment?

“To be a Christian is to know what Christ taught on these basic doctrines.”

             One final thought.  Adam Clarke writing on the passage in Hebrews that I cited above says that he is, “inclined to think that all the terms in this verse, as well as those in the former, belong to the Levitical law, and are to be explained on that ground (Clarke 1810-1826, Heb 6).”  It is not enough to know what you feel these things mean.  To know the answers to these questions we have to know what they are as Jesus and the Disciples would have understood them to be.  To be a Christian is to know what Christ taught on these basic doctrines.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

Clarke, Adam. Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible. Public Domain, 1810-1826.

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Good Cop, Bad Cop, …and 28 Jelly Beans

On By AaronIn Stuff About Me2 Comments

The other day I had the privilege of taking my adorable wife to our local clinic so that she could be tested for gestational diabetes. And it IS one of the great privileges of this life to be able to enjoy it walking beside her. Often I will chuckle and she will ask me, “what are you laughing at?” And often I will answer, “just you.” It is not a statement of condescension but rather a statement of incredulity. I love her tremendously and yet we are so different it is hard to believe that she agreed to partner with me. That God has chosen her as my help mate is something that I will be smiling about for eternity.

Anyway, our trip was short and as she sat with her small bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans reading the flavors to me I started to realize that we hadn’t properly prepared for this appointment. The doctor had informed her that she would need to bring twenty-eight beans for this particular test. She has a few allergies and it would be important that we select the flavors that are least likely to contain anything that will trigger those reactions. Additionally, while I could just grab the first twenty eight beans that came out of the bag that is not in my wife’s nature. It came to me that we probably should have selected our 28 beans prior to our departure. This is the kind of decision that my wife would consider heavily not just in terms of which beans will trigger her allergies, but which flavors she would prefer, and which flavors would complement versus those that would distract from the others. The time required to drive to the clinic proved insufficient for making these decisions and, as we are living in the days of COVID, I had to leave her at the door of the clinic to proceed on her own.

Later, as she related her story, I learned that there were two nurses in the clinic who had assisted her in this process. She dutifully proffered her bag of jelly beans and clearly one nurse was sympathetic to Sarah’s plight while the other was less so; the good cop and the bad cop. As she told me the story I imagined the good cop holding out her gloved hands as she patiently received each of Sarah’s decided beans while the bad cop forcefully pronounced, “you only have five minutes to get this done!” The whole event culminating in the bad cop saying, “just put them all in your mouth” and Sarah resolutely doing as she was told. I chuckled again as my wife explained to me that she thought five minutes would be enough time to “enjoy” 28 jelly beans. Of course she did.

“How did I marry someone so different or more precisely how did I convince someone so different to marry me?”

As it turned out it was barely enough time to select them and then chew the whole mass into submission. As she asked, “what are you laughing at” I was amazed at her completely different understanding and conception of time than mine. Now please, this is not a moral judgment except in that she and I are different. I am an army officer and planner who trains army officers in the planning process. I once synchronized a one week collection plan down to two minute intervals. I would have plotted it down to the minute but Excel wouldn’t let me have enough columns and rows! How did I marry someone so different or more precisely how did I convince someone so different to marry me? And yet, her differences are so incredibly attractive to me and they never cease to surprise me in new and amusing ways.

Most of my family has heard that Sarah and I are expecting. But this may be new to some of my friends and I do apologize if you are hearing this news for the first time in this blog. We are in a high risk category and we are trying to temper our excitement with our desire not to “jinx” anything. Today, I find myself worrying about almost everything. I pray that our daughter is healthy, and smart, and beautiful. But most important I pray that Sarah and I are able to give her everything she needs to be prepared. Everyday, the world seems to be moving faster and things, often distant things, that I don’t understand have an impact on the very local nature of our day to day lives. Will I be able to prepare her for a world in which I struggle just to keep up? How will we prepare her for the times and the challenges that her generation will have? What will those challenges be?

This morning as I was reading through First Samuel I was struck by the story of Hannah and her son as contrasted to the story of Levi and his sons. Both Hannah and Levi were committed and devoted to the Lord and yet Hannah’s son grew up to be a man of character who understood the moral nature of his standing before God while it was written of Levi’s sons that they, “were worthless men. They did not know the Lord (1Sa 2:12, ESV).” Hannah had been barren and had prayed, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life…(1Sa 1:11)”. She prayed so earnestly and passionately that her lips moved through her silent prayer that Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk. Her prayers were heard and God answered with the birth of Samuel. Her prayer of response was, “For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord (1Sa 1:27-28).” In other words her prayer was that the Lord would raise Him. For another child I have prayed. A child that will soon arrive.

“I have no illusions that even if it were possible to be the “perfect” parent that the outcome is assured.”

I have no doubt that Levi prayed earnestly for his sons. I have no illusions that even if it were possible to be the “perfect” parent that the outcome is assured. But my prayer is that the Lord will use Sarah and I to raise His daughter that she will fear the Lord and come to love Him for what He has done for her. The salvation of her parents is assured I want her to know that, so that she will one day make a decision of her own will to place her trust in God for her salvation. What ever successes and failures that she has in this life, in those times that will be given to her, are insignificant in the absence of the one fact of her salvation.

“Why should Christians live obedient lives unto God?”

Adam Clarke, commenting on the worthlessness of Eli’s sons, writes, “These men were the principal cause of all the ungodliness of Israel. Their most execrable conduct… caused the people to abhor the Lord’s offering. An impious priesthood is the grand cause of the transgressions and ruin of any nation…” Why should Christians live obedient lives unto God? Because once our salvation is secure it is not about us anymore. Our obedience becomes a testimony before our nation and our world. Our obedience is about what everyone around us sees, that at the very best they would ask about our hope and our faith and at worse that we would not be the cause that brings anyone to, “abhor the Lord’s offering.”

I have learned much about God’s nature by trying to imitate Him within the context of my marriage. More often than not it only reveals not that I am a miserable husband but how much my flesh gets in the way of being the husband that I desire to be. I am confident that I will learn much about God’s nature as I struggle to be a father. It will probably reveal more ways in which my flesh will get in the way. But as long as I continue to persevere in my faith in God’s goodness towards the goodness that He has promised me He will not be ashamed to call Himself my God (Heb 11:16). And as one of His own my obedience will not hinder my daughter from drawing near to Him as well.

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Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

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