I'm a Nitpicker

     Yes, and unapologetically so—at least when it comes to works that claims to be “exact, word-for-word” translations of God’s word. Such claims are rash at least, and possibly unfounded. Fact is, “exact, word-for-word” translations of ancient Hebrew into English are impossible, as the two languages are completely unrelated. Such misrepresentation throws suspicion on the whole work’s integrity.

     Some will wonder what the big deal is. Well, it's personal. 


Thing is, while I enjoy wearing wool for its warmth and other qualities, I don't enjoying having it pulled over my eyes, especially for important issues such as my health, both physically and spiritually.

     That applies both for Scripture translations and interpretations thereof. They say, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I've been fooled in matters of faith, probably, too often to count. And while I have no objective assurance that I'm not currently being fooled, I've learned to be wary of what I hear. That's why I want to know what God is actually telling me, not what somebody says He's telling me. And that's why I try my best to listen to God's Holy Spirit when I study His word.

     After all, God's word isn't ink on paper or print on a computer monitor. It's what God installs in your heart upon diligently reading or hearing, then meditating on the Bible.

Why Us?

God's word says He speaks to us in a "still small voice." Today's ODB speaks to me loudly, with a familiar, but oft-forgotten message. He made me specially, personally, including my problematic temperament, to fulfill His perfect will. My job is to trust His wisdom and love by allowing Him to work through me, as I am, warts and all.

As God is the very embodiment of love, He created us to serve as recipients of that love, and He created the universe to fill us with awe at His infinite power and intelligence. We, however, are "the fly in the ointment" of God's love, infecting creation with our rejection of His Way.

Even though God declared his creation "very good," and said we were "skillfully woven," that perfection was simply mankind's starting condition. The Creator gave us stewardship over his perfect work, and that included responsibility for how we handled His divine gift of free will. When we violated that stewardship through willful disobedience, we sowed the seed of corruption, not only our own, but for His entire creation. Apostle Paul expresses those ramifications in the passage quoted below.

Vss. 22 & 23 clearly show our fallen condition. If creation were still resting in the perfect state in which God left it at the end of the Sixth Day, it, including humanity, would certainly not now be groaning in birth pains. Does that "birth pains" part sound far fetched? Just take a good look around. What you see is not what God made. The rest of the passage presents God's good news of redemption through Christ Jesus.

Most people think of God's plan of redemption as salvation for mankind only. But this passage shows His redemption will cover the corruption of all creation. Why else would He give us "a new heaven and a new earth," as clearly stated in the Revelation?

God purposed His first creation as a culling, or testing ground. The Old Testament records His laying the groundwork of the law and the prophets, foretelling His coming Messiah. The New Testament introduces us to Jesus, His eternal Word incarnate, and shows us the life-pattern of His church, the firstfruits of His new creation.

God isn't governed by His creation's whims. If we want to enjoy His new creation, we have only One Way. Carefully read Jesus' words in John 14:5-6 MKJV  Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You go, and how can we know the way?  (6)  Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.

Exclusive? Yes.

Politically correct? Hardly.

Essential? Absolutely!

Rom 8:16-31 MKJV  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.  (17)  And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together.  (18)  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed in us.  (19)  For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.  (20)  For the creation was not willingly subjected to vanity, but because of Him who subjected it on hope  (21)  that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22)  And we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.  (23)  And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, awaiting adoption, the redemption of our body.  (24)  For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope; for what anyone sees, why does he also hope for it?  (25)  But if we hope for that which we do not see, then we wait for it with patience.  (26)  Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  (27)  And He searching the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.  (28)  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  (29)  For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be the First-born among many brothers.  (30)  But whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, those He also justified. And whom He justified, these He also glorified.  (31)  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Winning Smiles

President Obama's winning smile.

Chancellor Hitler's winning smile.















There's more to a man than his smile. (Matthew 7:11-21)

An "Easy" Life

Here's an encouraging word from Our Daily Bread titled "The Way To An 'Easy' Life," having to do with the eventual consequences for young people whose parents try to cushion them from life's uncertainties and rough roads. 

Great point, but this devotional hits another point that is just as crucial to me: Expectations, not just for an easy life, but for life to be fair, both in the way others deal with us, and in trying to hold God accountable to us for answering our selfish prayers. What nerve!

Okay, I realize I'm preachin' to the choir again, but this issue of expectations is a constant battle for me, and I'm fairly sure I'm not that unique. Human nature can be nutshelled in a simple sentence, "I want it my way ... now!" For a Christ-follower, expectations get exponentially more complicated with a simple change in that sentence: "He wants it my way," producing "consecrated" expectations. That error is perhaps the most universal of all within the church.

At the risk of going on too long, I need to include one of this principle's foundational Scripture passages:

Isa 55:6-9 ESV  "Seek the LORD (the eternal, self-existent One) while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;  (7)  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  (8)  'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD.  (9)  'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

The great news is, as true Christ-followers already know, we have God's Spirit abiding within us, the promised Paraclete, to guide and strengthen us in the Way. If we abandon our preconceptions and selfish expectations, He can do His job, but ours is a constant battle with the flesh. I know from long experience how hard discerning His still, small voice can be. My flesh is the world's best God-impersonator. Isn’t it odd how we so often can’t hear the One who spoke the universe into being?

We want something, or someone, but the desire of our heart doesn’t align with God's word. So we pursue that desire anyway, half-heartedly asking God to close the unrighteous door, while our foot blocks it open like the stereotypical encyclopedia salesman. Can this be anything short of premeditated sin? Little wonder that God’s church has become so impotent.

Old-fashioned self-denial,

No longer in style.

Like the old dinosaur,

Not around anymore.

It never gets boring,

And sure beats imploring,

For cups of cold water

When no one will bother.

Do you want to find

The best peace of mind?

Live God’s way, and see

His gift for eternity.

She Knows

An Afternoon Walk

Feeling burdened with unspecified, “personal issues,” I headed out for a brisk, springtime afternoon walk. Within the first block I began gazing at the blue sky and wispy clouds while taking in great gulps of Northwest Montana’s pristine, springtime air. And my self-pity began to slip off my back as I began a prayer of gratitude.

Within a few energetic paces, a praise litany of my Father’s love-stained attributes and works started coursing through my mind and spirit, but soon I realized that what I know about him isn’t even a thimbleful out of the ocean of his infinite reality. A feeling of frustration and inadequacy began to overtake me as once again I realized my gross ignorance of the universe’s most hard won knowledge, but what would have soon became a runaway elevator of emotional baggage stopped its plunge and shot straight to the Son.

My Lord Jesus bought me a place before the Throne of Grace, where I will bask, unprotected, in God’s glorious radiance, gazing forever at his infinite light in full knowledge of who he really is. What thrills me the most is I’ll never run short of things to praise him for, my voice will never crack from the singing, and my arms will never wear out from keeping them uplifted before him. It’ll be like an anointed camp meeting to the nth degree and forever.

But wait! There’s more. Not only will I share in the infinite joy of worshiping him among the multitude of the redeemed, but I’ll have personal access to the eternal, self-existent Father and his Word incarnate, Jesus, his glorified Son. I’ll walk with him in the cool, golden radiance of the New Jerusalem, even as the first Adam walked with him in the cool of Eden’s evenings. I will no longer cringe in the shame of his fully knowing my inner darkness because I’ll know better. I’ll completely understand his perfect love, and finally know how he could love and die for me, even with my many imperfections.

I felt like the Apostle Paul’s description of a man “caught up unto the third heaven.” Though my “vision” was certainly not that vivid or out-of-body, the Lord edified me nonetheless.

My cool, Montana afternoon’s walk had become a stroll through paradise with my loving, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The one thing I deserve least in this world had become the most real experience ever.

Need to Share

While I was bursting with joy and the need to share it, I thought of Nancy, and wished she were still at home so I could hurry back and tell her of my enlightening time in the Lord. But after all these months I began crying anew with her loss. My emotional elevator began plummeting back toward earth like a space capsule near to burning up on reentry.

As the heat of despair threatened to penetrate my emotional shield, another realization arrested my fall quicker than a parachute. And this thought really turned on my emotional faucet.

Nancy loved two things in this world more than all else: Her Savior. And hugs. At this moment, wherever heaven is, Nancy is enjoying a King-size bear hug in her Savior’s arms, and if possible, squeezing the air out of his lungs as well.

I don’t have to tell her about heaven’s wonders. She already knows!

Christian Marriage Today

Knot Untying 101

As I was thinking about all the second marriages, ended marriages and ex-spouses, I lamented the state of “Christian marriages” today. It seems as if they were truly Christian, they’d be centered on him, not on the spouses. Yet, one or both become disillusioned, disappointed, or otherwise discombobulated and they trot off to a divorce lawyer, who in turn makes another gleeful trip to the bank with the legal fees.

Okay, that’s an oversimplification. Too often the grievances are quite real, but it still means at least one of the blissful couple fowled up badly enough for the other to call it quits. Whether the “innocent” party was truly innocent, refused to consider forgiveness and reconciliation, or was just looking for an excuse to split, only God knows for sure. No matter who was at fault for the failed marriage, God hates divorce.

So, why get married?

If God had intended women only for reproduction, he could as easily have created man with asexual reproduction, but he removed the rib and formed it into a unique being. God made man in-complete in order to complete him.

And Jehovah God formed the rib which He had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.

(Gen 2:22 LITV)

Ecc 4:9-12 LITV

(9) Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor.

(10) For if they fall, this one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him, the one that falls, and there is not another to lift him up.

(11) Also if two lie together, then they have warmth; but for one, how is he warm?

(12) And if one overthrows him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly torn apart. (The threefold cord includes God as the strongest strand.)

Together, these passages point out that people—especially male and female-type people—need each other. God did not create men and women to live in monasteries and convents, but to complement and help one another. In the fallen world, with our current self-centered expectations, only a very few couples are sufficiently compatible to remain together for life. But in a marriage centered on Jesus, though the spouses will experience much of the same misunderstanding, disillusionment and disappointment, Godly love will overcome all human weaknesses.

Heaven Is For Lovers

And Only For Lovers

Now, don’t get your shorts all in a bind. How would you like to arrive on Heaven’s track number nine, climb down to the station cloud, and find folks bickering and name-calling ‘cause their bags didn’t arrive as advertized?

Then you walk over to the baggage cart and look at the troublemaker who’s painting the air blue, and he stabs you with his red eyes and loudly challenges, “You got a problem?”

You step back quickly and dig into your ticket, check the destination, and it says clear as the eternal light, “HEAVEN.” You mumble, “Must be some mistake. This couldn’t be heaven.”

The conductor, whom you suddenly realize is standing at your elbow, says, “Well? What did you expect? Perfection?”

In a flash, the truth nearly decks you: “I’m facing an eternity filled with people just like me!”

From the Creator’s Mouth

If you claim to be a Christian, you already believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father; that’s a given. If you’re not a Christian, all bets are off, and you’re gambling on your own “wisdom” over God’s word. Good luck.

To Christ’s followers, God’s word says a lot about love, both about what His brand of love is, and how essential it is to practice it His way if we really want to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Considering the alternative, that seems like the best idea ever.

First, what is God’s love, and is it essential?

1 Corinthians 13(NLT) If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

That’s the kind of love everybody wants, but few are willing to give. Problem is … well, God says it best through Jesus words, recorded by His Apostle John.

John 13:34(NLT) So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

How much does Jesus love us? That’s not just us, but you, and me, one-on-one, personally.

John 15:13-14(NLT) There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

Think about that for a minute.

Time’s up. Every Sunday school kid knows Jesus died for our sins. Roman’s Road and all that stuff. Done deal, right?

Well, sorta. But if we stop to consider what Jesus, God’s eternal Word who thought the universe into existence, gave up to spend thirty-three years as a man among corrupt men on this corrupted planet, “Done deal” takes on a bit more significance. That alone took more love than we puny earthlings can even imagine.

But, what about the dying part? When I read in the Bible what Jesus endured just to get to his death, and I take an objective look at my selfish motives, self-righteous works and self-centered attitudes, all I can do is hang my head and weep.

So, what’s next? Weeping is a great start when we get a glimpse of God’s depth of love, but if we fail to take corrective action, we’re looking at an eternity of weeping. “Corrective action” is just a fancy way of saying, repent! We must turn away from our selfish attitudes and sorry excuse for love, and toward the kind of selfless love Jesus demonstrated once for all through his passion, death, and resurrection that guarantees each obedient Christ-follower the eternal life he created us for.

Think You’re Good Enough Now?

Take a good look at Christ’s character. He’s good enough, so what about you? If, perchance, you’re not that good, repentance is still in order, and praise the loving, eternal God for his merciful grace in Christ Jesus.

Unreal

While watching a delightful episode of Bones, I got to see a tub full of lye and organic material representing a human body. What a treat!
The point is I was able to watch it because I knew it was nothing but special effects, or “FX,” as they say in the business. If it had been real, it would have upset me terribly.
We’re used to seeing depictions awful things in the movies and TV, so we’ve become desensitized to such scenes. Fights, murders, rapes, all flash before us with little effect because we know they’re unreal.

Moral Callouses

A common occurrence in high-crime cities is violence against men, women and children taking place in full view of neighbors and onlookers with no one getting involved, or even reporting it to the police. While fear plays a huge part in that callousness, desensitization by depictions of violence in the entertainment media also plays a significant role in it.
Both of those phenomena also effect our view of the Bible, where we read right over true accounts of horrendous or miraculous events without reaction. By immersing ourselves in the media’s mock violence and FX, God’s truth tends to lose its impact on us.
The entertainment, and even the news media, also take their toll on our worldview*. Christ-followers today are becoming more worldly, materialistic and relativistic, than those of past centuries. Back then, such gross carnality characterized only nominal Christians, who, arguably, weren’t authentic believers at all. Now, you often can’t distinguish church members from non-believers, whether by appearance or by behavior.

Exceptions, Please

After all that moralizing, I’d love to say I shield myself from worldly entertainments, but I can’t. Am I a hypocrite? I’ll leave that for God to judge. Does it have an influence on me? Yes, but mostly not a negative one. The thing is, after all these years of immersing myself in Bible teaching and critically observing the world around me, I’ve developed a fairly solid, Biblical worldview. When I see the world’s lies they stand out like a flagman waving a caution or stop sign, but the same can’t be said for the young or otherwise impressionable.

A Solution

Tragically, we can’t completely shield our children from worldly influences. We can, however, expose the world’s lies while helping them to develop critical thinking through a gradual, consistent, teaching process. At first, they won’t like it a bit, as you’ll spoil their fun by interrupting carefully selected programs with your teaching. And for the not-so carefully selected programs, you will exemplify your judgment by consistently shutting off the boob tube, switching channels, or ending the rotten games and movies. Example is, after all, the most effective teaching.
Bottom line? To develop new believers, and especially our children, into mature Christ-followers, we need to reinforce the real while exposing the unreal, so anyone on whom we have influence will learn the difference.



*Worldview, for the uninformed, is like wearing glasses that filter everything you see. Those with a Biblical worldview have a well developed lie detector achieved through extensive discipling by mature Christ-followers. Other religious worldviews may produce similar standards, but the Bible is God’s only true revelation. End of story.

No Worries

My retail dealings with the public for a number of years gave me a virtual, “Window on Main Street,” for insight into many kinds of people and subcultures. One phrase that often surfaced, and seemed like music to my ears, was, “No Worries,” expressed when an issue might have been disputable, but the customer simply let it pass. In fact, I became so fond of the phrase that I adopted it as my own.

Its application to life, however, covers far more than the simple issues retailers and customers encounter. God’s word* repeatedly tells us that anxiety, care and concern for our circumstances are inappropriate for Christ-followers, as such worries demonstrate our failure to trust his sovereign love for us.

Doctor James Dobson once illustrated simple, childlike trust by recounting the time his small son Ryan tried to exit the rear of a parked moving-van and found himself dangling over what, to him, felt like an abyss. In panic, Ryan began calling, “Help the boy,” in the most plaintive voice imaginable. As the loving daddy, Dr. Dobson ran over to Ryan and found the boy’s toes swinging only an inch above the pavement. It took some coaxing, but finally the little guy let himself down to the pavement without injury, and learned an important lesson about trusting the One who loves you perfectly. (Luke 11:11-13)

Worry and anxiety are so naturally human that our heavenly Father provided the remedy for that and all other sins this fallen race commits. His Son Jesus, the eternal, self-existent Word incarnate, freely offered to take God’s just punishment for our sin-guilt upon his frail, human body, while leaving us sinners fully justified before himself. In view of that unfathomable love, how can we presume to worry about our paltry, temporary needs? (Romans 8:26-28) Practice saying, and believing, “No worries,” when life’s cares overtake you.

*For further study, click the following links:
Hebrews 11; Psalms 119:9-11; Romans 10:8-10; Ephesians 2:4-10; Acts 10:43; John 14; John 11:25-26; and many more.

Ya Gotta Love Language

According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, Conversation is defined as follows:
Conversation
CONVERSATION, n.

1. General course of manners; behavior; deportment; especially as it respects morals.

Let your conversation be as becometh the gospel. Phil 1.

Be ye holy in all manner of conversation. 1 Pet 1.

2. A keeping company; familiar intercourse; intimate fellowship or association; commerce in social life. Knowledge of men and manners is best acquired by conversation with the best company.

3. Intimate and familiar acquaintance; as a conversation with books, or other object.

4. Familiar discourse; general intercourse of sentiments; chat; unrestrained talk; opposed to a formal conference.

What I mentioned in conversation was not a new thought.

[This is now the most general use of the word.]

Apparently, where language is concerned, I’m a classicist, in that I am comfortable with many of the traditional English definitions. For example, conversation, defined by Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, receives four variant definitions. The first of which is obviously obsolete, while the second through the fourth remain as useful definitions.

The problem with a fluid language is during a word’s transition to a different use, we risk significant misunderstanding by using it without attaching disclaimers or caveats.

By Webster’s definitions, Conversation, as an activity, implied no superficiality, but conveyed honest, even probing communication intended to further one’s knowledge of another person’s character, preferences and values. Parties to such conversation must mutually understand the trust-factor required and either agree to it or set clear limits on it. Setting such limits, however, introduces the question of why they need to be in place, as friendship infers no such constraints.

How, then, does Webster’s 1828 Dictionary define friend? Glad you asked.

Friend
FRIEND, n. frend.

1. One who is attached to another by affection; one who entertains for another sentiments of esteem, respect and affection, which lead him to desire his company, and to seek to promote his happiness and prosperity; opposed to foe or enemy.

A friend loveth at all times. Prov 17.

2. One not hostile; opposed to an enemy in war.

3. One reconciled after enmity. Let us be friends again.

4. An attendant; a companion.

5. A favorer; one who is propitious; as a friend to commerce; a friend to poetry; a friend to charitable institution.

6. A favorite. Hushai was David's friend.

7. A term of salutation; a familiar compellation.

Friend, how camest thou in hither? Mat 22.

So Christ calls Judas his friend, though a traitor.

Mat 26.

8. Formerly, a paramour.

9. A friend at court, one who has sufficient interest to serve another.

FRIEND, v.t. frend. To favor; to countenance; to befriend; to support or aid. [But we now use befriend.]