Quotes of the Day

"It really doesn't matter who's in the great White House.
What matters is who's on the Great White Throne."
-- Stuart Bricoe, as quoted by wife Jill at Crossroads Bible Church, Oct. 23, 2008

"Someone once said, 'Discouragement is like a tired soul looking for someplace to sit down.'"
-- Jill Briscoe

Isn't that so true?

More Random Thought Offerings...

I'm wondering why...

... believers insist on replacing Israel with the United States of America. What makes America greater than Britain, which has Christianity as its official religion? What makes it better than Ethiopia, which also has Christianity as its official religion and a direct tie-in to the Bible? They say America was founded by Christians who wanted Christians to worship without government influence. This is a half-truth. America was founded by a mixture of Deists (who denied the deity of Christ), agnostics, and Christians. The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was not a believer in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Neither were Franklin, Adams, and a few other fathers. I find it fascinating that there is no mention of Jesus in any official U.S. document of that period. Why? Because the founding fathers wanted all religions to have freedom to worship in America, including Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, and all cults related to them. How we Christians have distorted this truth in a effort to place America in a covenant with God! Only Israel was in covenant with God. Now He makes one covenant with individuals -- the covenant of grace.

... that believers close to me and unknown take exception at the previous statement and I cannot reason with them. They see the whole world in black and white while I see the Gospel in black and white. There is a lot of gray in this world. And I'll go gray trying to argue that with them! It does no good for any of us. Argue over the Gospel, not politics.

... that we believers have a bad habit of labeling things. This applies to both theology and politics. It applies to music, art and church life. We just love putting things into boxes and forcing them to stay there regardless of what anyone else says. A "liberal" is a demon, a "conservative" a saint. "Reformed" is deceptive, "grace" is pure truth. A "Catholic" is going to hell and one "born again" is truly saved. Why do we do this? I quote Saint Paul: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:26)." Liberals can be Christians, conservatives can be heathens, reformed theologians can be loving and "grace" theologians can be cold. What matters is not what we do on the outside -- it's what we do on the inside. Stop labeling people!

... that the inside of my car is my "safety zone," where I can fuss, yell, cry, and sing without fear of reprimand. I've had so many "upset" conversations and prayers in my car with no one present but myself and the Lord. And I'm so glad no one else is there! And I'm glad my car cannot speak. If it could, I'd be ruined!

I'm Thinking About...

...stress, and how it can affect the human body and mind. I've just come through four of the most stressful days of my working life and each day I have gone home shaking from the stress. Stress makes my hands shake and my elbows and knees ache. It's funny how busyness can affect the body. And I sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen all day! There is truth to the fact that our bodies and our minds are not separate from each other. They are intimately connected. One affects the other and vice versa.

...the heart, and how easy it is to wound. Especially if it is my own heart. You see, I have a bad habit of holding high expectations for things I plan, whether it is a romantic evening, a small group or a newsletter. And when those plans suddenly change, are canceled, or fail to live up to my expectations, my heart gets hurt. Oh, I'm sure I could try to be thick-skinned, calloused, and cold, but to do so would deny things that make me human. I have emotion. I have a heart. And it breaks. Too often, I believe, but it does break. God has replaced my heart of stone with a heart of flesh (2 Cor. 3:3; Jer 31:31-34). I will not trade it back. I just need to either lower my expectations or learn to better deal with their failure.

...the passing of time, and how my days seem shorter and emptier when the sun goes down earlier. I bought a new chainsaw yesterday -- an electric one -- but I don't have an hour of daylight to use it. Even when I come home from work a 5, I have other more important things to care for at home. By the time I get changed into work clothes, the sun is about to set and the trees are blocking whatever daylight I have left. I have work lights outside, so that I can tend my garden at night, but I feel I should refrain from using outdoor power equipment after the sun sets. I think it's a neighbor taboo. Time messes with us so badly. Makes me long for eternity and the sunrise that has no sunset.

...encouragement, and how words and e-mails don't usually encourage me nearly as much as actions. Though I must confess that I was greatly blessed by the retelling of a recent mission trip by one of my pastors. He went to Ukraine with a church missionary and encountered a church in Kiev that really blessed him. He met person after person who were kind and humble, offering service, food, and fellowship. The church across the world is amazing. Just reading about the neat people my pastor met really encouraged me as a believer.

The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)

If you were a Jew living two thousand years ago, there was no getting around it: Yom Kippur was the holiest, most special day of the year. It was Easter for Christians, Labor Day for workaholics, Memorial Day for Veterans. Jews were required by Law to gather at Jerusalem, if physically possible, and wait in eager anticipation for the high priest to enter the Holy of Holies and present the blood of a bull before God Almighty. The Jews would hold their breath while the priest was in the most scared chamber and pray that their offering would be accpeted by God to atone for the annual sins of the nation. There were few guarantees. God would not accept an unacceptable sacrifice by an unacceptable priest.

Yom Kippur was sacred. It was the holiest day of the year. Today, October 9, is Yom Kippur.

The devout Jews of today will cease their labor and reflect all day upon their sin. There is no more animal sacrifice, so I'm not sure how they handle atonement, but they still revere today as the most sacred day. For 1500 years, sacrifices were made on Yom Kippur to atone of the year's sin. Israel was a nation in covenant with God. And Yom Kippur paid for the sins of the nation.

But there was a problem with Yom Kippur. Read Hebrews 10:3 and following, "But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. By the will [of God] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD."

Thankfully, there was a sacrifice that was offered before God to take away not only the sins of the year, but also the sins of all eternity.

Will you join with me in saying a prayer for the Jewish people today? Will you join me in praying that they will accept the one true sacrifice that took away their sin, the atoning death of Jesus, their messiah? Will you join me in praying for their salvation?

Out of Context

I was forwarded a political-religious e-mail over the weekend from a gentleman in my church that said:

"This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever faced. From the looks of the polls, the Christians aren't voting Christian values. We all need to be on our knees. Do you believe we can take God at His word? His scripture gives us, as Christians, ownership of this land and the ability to call upon God to heal it. I challenge you to do so. We have never been more desperate than now for God to heal our land."

The e-mail then quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 as its Scriptural foundation:

"[if] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Even though I've been accustomed to hearing this verse used during election seasons, the fact that the verse itself has been taken out of context and run through the political washing machine always bothers me. This may be the most misinterpreted verse of the Old Testament used by Christians in America today. I hear it on Christian radio and see it in Christian bookstores. Young Christians across the nation rally around this verse every time they gather at school flagpoles to pray. But what does it really mean? Who are the "My people" called by "My name"? I think it useless to point out the truth about this verse, but here are a few things to ponder:

1. Context -- The verse comes from a paragraph of dialogue delivered by God to Israel's King Solomon in a dream.

2. Grammar -- It is a conditional statement preceded by and followed by declarations. God says He will hear prayers offered at the Temple before and after verse 14. The verse itself is introduced by a clause... IF in times of famine or pestilence, verse 13 says...

3. Time -- God is speaking to Solomon at a time before Christ -- before the Church. He is having a one-on-one conversation (one-sided, I might add!) with the wise king, who has just constructed a Temple to house the manifest presence of God.

4. Interpretation -- Who is the "My people" called by "My name"? Israel. Yes, folks, it's not America. In fact, Ethiopia has a greater claim to being a theocracy than the U.S. of A. After all, Christianity is the official religion there. It is not the official religion of the U.S. Israel is the one who prayed at the Temple. Israel received famine and pestilence as a result of its sin. Israel was called upon to humble itself and turn to the Temple and pray for healing. Its land was hurt by its sin. Israel is the recipient of this conditional promise.

5. Covenants -- God has made no covenant with a nation since Sinai. The founding fathers of the USA did not make a covenant with God. Not all believed in God. Not all believed in the deity of Jesus Christ. And God certainly didn't reach down to them to speak to them in a dream and promise them things.

You see, God saves individuals now, not nations. In fact, God even spoke to and saved individuals outside of the Law in the Old Testament! 2 Chronicles 7:14 does not apply to America. It never did. It never will.

Is this election scary? Not to me. God is in control. And He loves you and He loves me no matter who is in the Oval Office. And He asks you to pray for that person and then choose to live in peace and quietness under his authority (1 Timothy 2:1-3; Rom 13:1-3). Can you accept this? I can.

Of Earthly Tents & Heavenly Homes

"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

I've been thinking a lot lately about this one particular passage of Paul's as I watch my grandparents get frail and as I feel my own body get aches and pains in places and ways I never experienced before. Our bodies, as we know them, are meant for temporary living on this earth. They are tents, breaking down through time, but good for withstanding the forces of this world. We endure hardship and pain, storms and rain; we fall down and get up again, in our earthly tents of cells and bone. I long for a body that does not break down, as I look at my grandfather, struggling with cancer, and long for his body to be the same. I yearn for a body that is eternal and bulletproof, just like Paul did. And I know that I will one day receive that body. Something tells me it's gonna look an awfully lot like the one I have now, save for a number of nicks and scratches. Oh, and it will be unbreakable. God has promised. And He isn't in the habit of breaking His promises.