Halloween

 October 31, 2024

Tonight I want to do honor to All Hallow’s Eve, otherwise known as Halloween. Unless you live under a rock, you know that this day generates all sorts of comments and responses from Christians. Is it Satanic as some say, or merely a night of mischief? I used to think the latter, but it does seem to get darker every year. But that’s not what’s on my mind. Here’s what I’m thinking:

Why do we have a holiday that celebrates the macabre, that honors the dark, ghoulish, and nightmarish things in life? Why are there so many costumes of witches, goblins, zombies and such? Have you ever heard of anyone wearing a costume of a saint? Why are Halloween movies such a bloody, gory wallowing in evil? Here’s what I think: We have no trouble imagining evil, but much difficulty imagining the good. Among other things, our imagination has been hijacked by sin. The Bible recognizes this almost from the beginning. Just before Noah’s flood we read,

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” —Genesis 6:5 

This theme is repeated throughout the Bible; fourteen times it reminds us that the imagination of our hearts is consistently evil. It is easier to imagine evil than good. But in Jesus Christ we are to have a new heart, as Ezekiel says:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” —Ezekiel 36:26 

This Halloween, instead of taking the easy way out by imagining the dark, give your new heart in Christ freedom to imagine the breadth of his love, the glories of heaven, and the wonder of his salvation.

Jesus on a Shelf

 October 30, 2024

After re-reading yesterday’s musings, I realized that I was setting things up today asking a question I had answered the day before yesterday: “How do I make this eternal life my own?” I told you the story of Frankie and the Heinekens. If you want eternal life, you must take what it comes in, which is Jesus Christ.

John 1:12 addresses this issue directly: 

“As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”

It is one thing to be offered a gift; it’s quite another to receive it…to REALLY receive it. If you offered me a Christmas present, I have a choice: I can receive it or reject it. Since I’m not a complete social idiot, I would choose to take it from you with a thank you. But what if after taking it from your hands all I did was look at it and put it on a shelf? Did I really receive it?

A lot of people do that with Jesus. They want eternal life and know it is found in Jesus, but after praying a prayer or joining a church, they put Jesus on a shelf in their lives. They “received” him, but didn’t really receive him. He hasn’t become an integral part of their lives.

John Wesley called them “Almost Christians.”Don’t be an “Almost Christian.” Say Yes to him every day. Make sure he is at the heart of all you do, and you will discover that eternal life isn’t something to look forward to after you die; it’s a quality of life you can enjoy here and now.

Only Jesus

 October 29, 2024

If, as we saw yesterday, eternal life is found in Jesus, there are two questions that come to mind: 1) Eternal life is in Jesus, but is it only in Jesus? And, 2) How do I make that eternal life mine?

Let’s take the first of those questions today. 

I’ve heard a lot of people say, “Well, you follow Jesus; I am a Buddhist, Muslim, (or something else). All religions teach pretty much the same thing, and all end up in the same place.” Well, that’s just not true, and it’s easily proven. 

In John’s gospel, Jesus said, (14:6). And in Acts 4:12, Peter says of Jesus, “There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Both of these statements are core statements of our faith, given by the founder and most influential of his first followers. Both statements are exclusive. “THE Way, THE Truth, THE Life” don’t leave a lot of wiggle room for anyone else to share those positions. And Peter’s declaration that there is no other name is pretty conclusive proof that the founders of our faith closed the door to any other way to salvation. 

We live in an age where the government exercises increasing control over our lives. That’s what governments do, till they are able to demand complete control. They promise a better way, a better life, and claim to be ultimate purveyors of truth. But they lie. 

People, sports, alcohol and drugs, business, religion—all offer some sort of salvation from the hum-drum, or the pain of life. But they fall short. Jesus alone has the power to deliver what he promises: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” I’ve found this to be true. And so can you.

Heinekens and Jesus

 “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord.” —Romans 6:23

Those last five words are important: “in Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Yesterday we learned that we cannot earn eternal life; the cost is more than we can afford. It’s only available as a gift. But the gift comes in the form of Jesus Christ. 

Let me tell you a true story. Years ago, I was flying to Florida to spend some time with my parents who were living there at the time. I had boarded the plane and was waiting for the other passengers to get settled when a man came swaggering down the aisle. He was stocky, shirt opened halfway to his navel, gold chains around his neck, and swearing a blue streak. Wouldn’t you know it—he sat down beside me; Frankie Gallo was his name.

He was mad because he had lost his phone in the airport bar; it had all his contacts in it, and he needed them. He was a professional drummer; had played with Blood, Sweat, and Tears, but was down on his luck. He kept cursing until he asked what I did for a living. When I told him, he apologized and began asking me questions about God. He was desperate.

He had had enough to drink already, but ordered two Heinekens as we got underway. In short order, one of them was empty. I had already told him about receiving Jesus to receive eternal life, but he couldn’t understand.

I set the unopened Heinekens in front of him. “Frankie, if you want this beer, you have to take the can it’s in. You can’t have the beer without taking the can. In the same way, if you want eternal life, you have to take the container it’s in, and that container is Jesus.”

He understood, and right there, he prayed for Jesus to forgive his sins and come into his heart. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had. And from that day to this, I’ve never compared Jesus to a Heinekens or any other beer, for that matter. But it’s true: If you want eternal life, you have to take the package it comes in. That package is Jesus Christ. Eternal life is in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Wages

 October 27, 2024

A couple days ago we began laying the foundation of the Christian life with Romans 3:23—“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Today we look at the second foundation stone; Romans 6:23: 

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

First of all, notice the difference between wages and gift. Wages are what we get in exchange for our work. We earn them. A gift on the other hand, is not, and cannot be earned. If it is earned, by definition it can’t be a gift. 

What this means is this: missing the mark earns us death. We might not like those wages; we might think we deserve something different, just like we wouldn’t like getting paid less than we bargained for when we took the job. Here’s the deal: you might not have known what the wages were, but that doesn’t change them. The wages of sin is death.

The other side of this is the gift. If it’s a gift, we cannot earn eternal life. Work all you want; it’ll never be enough. Because the only way we can obtain it is to receive it as a gift. If we try to gain eternal life by working for it, we’ll never get it because the price is beyond our ability to pay. It’s always and only obtainable by receiving it as a gift. The gift of God is eternal life. Tomorrow we’ll look at how we can make it our own.

God’s Glory

 October 26, 2024

We are all (hopefully) on a journey from lost to found, sin to salvation, death to life. Yesterday we took the first step by defining the word sin as missing the target, even if you tried really hard to hit the bullseye. It’s found in Romans 3:23—“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” 

The next question is what in the world we mean when we say “the glory of God?” Look at it this way: Suppose I am wearing a white shirt. It looks clean and, well…white. But you come along wearing a shirt that has just been bleached. We stand side by side, and it becomes obvious that your white shirt is far brighter and whiter than mine. 

Or consider playing a musical instrument. I play the double bass. You might think I’m pretty good at it. I might even brag a bit about it. But then along comes one of the bass students at Fredonia State who makes me look like my fingers are made of sausages.

That’s a poor illustration of the glory of God. We have a standard by which we measure right and wrong, and it looks pretty good to us. Till we stand next to God’s standard. What once seemed pure and pristine now looks second-rate shoddy. God’s goodness is so far beyond ours that we look positively dirty beside it.

That’s what sin is—missing the bullseye of perfection. You miss. I miss. We all miss. except Jesus, but we’ll talk about that in a few days.

YFC Training

 October 25, 2024

Last month I was thinking about the basics of our faith and remembered the “plan of salvation” I was taught in a Youth for Christ leadership training retreat led by Sterling Huston and Fred Thomas. Those of you who grew up in the Rochester area in the 60’s will know who I mean. This method of sharing the Gospel lays out in an orderly way how a person can go from lost to found, sin to salvation, death to life.

We’ll begin with Romans 3:23—“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” 

It’s pretty straightforward, except for one thing: we often give assent to this Scripture, but don’t really believe it. “All have sinned” sounds pretty judgmental and condemning. When I look at people, I don’t automatically think to myself, “There is a sinner.” Most of the time I see “good” people, not sinners. 

My problem is in the meaning of the word “sinner.” We tend to think of it as being a bad person doing bad things. But that’s not what the word means. The most common word for sin in the New Testament is a military term which simply means “to miss the mark.” You aim your gun or bow and do your best to hit the bullseye, but miss. That’s sin. Bad people sin, but so do good people. 

We may do our best, but we all miss the target of God’s glory. We fall short. Some aren’t aiming at all; others are being as careful as they can, but we all still miss. That’s sin. Tomorrow, we’ll look at what the target is.

Perspective

 October 24, 2024

It’s election year; both sides are heating up the rhetoric, accusing the other of lying, filing lawsuits, predicting the end of all things if the other side wins. People are glued to the polls, pundits are making their predictions, and most of us feel rather helpless in the whole affair. After all, as Josef Stalin said, “It’s not the votes that count, it’s who counts the votes.” So here’s some perspective to take you through the next couple weeks.

“But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” —Haggai 2:4 NLT

Haggai prophesied toward the end of the Babylonian captivity, somewhere around 520 BC. Israel had been conquered seventy years before, and were now just a shadow of what they had been. Even at their height, they were only a second-rate nation that happened to sit on the crossroads of the great ancient empires of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and eventually Rome. 

But notice what Haggai says about the Lord: He is Lord of Heaven’s armies, or as the old versions put it, the heavenly host. If Haggai had been the only one to address God this way, we could perhaps just write it off as his literary style, but check this out: Haggai calls God “the Lord of heaven’s armies at least six times, and Zechariah does the same twelve times. Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Malachi also use these words to refer to God. 

Here’s my point: Israel—poor, little, beat-up Israel saw God in a majesty far greater than their circumstances would suggest. You can do the same. It may seem like everyone and everything is bigger than you, but our God is the Lord of the Heavenly Armies against which the powers and authorities of this world are weak and helpless.

Focused Prayer

 October 23, 2024

I’ve been thinking about an incident recorded in Acts 12, where Peter has been imprisoned by Herod, and presumably is awaiting execution. On this particular evening, he’s sound asleep, chained between two guards…maximum security. But…

“prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him.” —Acts 12:5 

I LOVE this verse! See how it describes the church’s prayers: “Without ceasing.” “By the church.” “Unto God.” “For him.” This was focused determination. The entire church was involved. They didn’t quit. These weren’t vague “thinking of you” prayers. Peter was the subject. When we pray with that kind of focus, God does amazing things.

Look at Peter. He’s asleep in a prison, like a lot of people, unbelievers and Christians alike. So many are shackled to habits, false teaching, depression, emotional, psychological, and spiritual jailers…and they don’t even know it because they’re asleep. They need an angel to slap them alongside the head and command them to get up and get out of jail, just as this angel did for Peter. And let’s not forget that sometimes we ourselves are Peter. If you’re sleeping, may God’s angel come and slap you awake. If you’re already awake, follow him out of your personal prison into the freedom Jesus offers.

So, though Linda and I are not the entire church, we are a part of it, and when we hear of a need are praying…without ceasing…unto God…for you.

God’s Time

 October 22, 2024

There’s more in Daniel about time, but I think it’s about time to put it to rest. There’s his cryptic “time, times, and half a time” in 7:25 and 12:7, but I want to take you to the Psalm 31:15 for my last thoughts on time.

“My times are in your hands.”

I learned this verse in vacation Bible school when I was around 11 or 12 years old. Our class was in the balcony of Westside Baptist Church, and was being taught by Chuck Bassett. VBS always had a craft time, and ours was making wooden clock faces with moveable hands and this verse embossed on the face. 

It’s funny how something so simple can have such a lasting impact. From that time on, I’ve never doubted God’s plans for me. I haven’t always understood them, but I’ve never doubted them. Life can throw some pretty wicked curves your way, but if you will hold onto this simple verse, you’ll be able to handle the worst of them. Your times are in God’s hands. Whether it’s waiting or moving, enduring or overcoming, you can trust God’s timing, knowing from birth to grave, you are in his loving hands.

Don’t Worry

 October 21, 2024

A big part of Bible study is simply paying attention to details and patterns. Of course, the same is true of life. Much of the success Linda and I have had in our marriage comes from paying attention to little details and patterns in each other’s habits. 

Here’s an example from Daniel:

Nebuchadnezzar is threatening his counselors: 

“You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.”                                 —Daniel 2:9

When the counselors couldn’t tell the king his dream, Daniel was called in. He told the king,

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.”        —Daniel 2:20-21 

The counselors were stalling, hoping to put him off until circumstances changed. It sounds like Nebuchadnezzar’s fears were well founded; they may have been plotting a coup. Daniel on the other hand, simply stated the truth: the time will change, but not necessarily in the way the counselors planned, because God is the one who changes the times and seasons.

So what does this have to do with you? Among other things, you don’t have to worry about what others plot and plan against you. God is in control, and while we don’t understand why he lets some things happen, we can live with confidence when our trust is in him. Peter didn’t understand that it was part of God’s plan for Jesus to suffer and die, but out of that tragedy came the greatest blessing the world has known. And out of your test can come a testimony if you trust him.

Waiting

 October 20, 2024

Awhile back, I was reading an old devotional that belonged to my mother. It’s underlined, marked, and filled with comments in the margins. It has become one of my most valued possessions, giving me insights into her heart that I hadn’t known when she was still with us. Here’s a sample.

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” —Psalm 27:14

I’ve often read about how we need to wait on the Lord. Isaiah 40:31 is perhaps the most quoted Scripture in this regard:

“but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Notice the difference between these two verses. The psalm encourages us to wait FOR the Lord, while Isaiah speaks about waiting ON the Lord. I believe this is significant. We wait on the Lord because we aren’t ready for what he is doing. So we go to him in prayer, watching and waiting till we are ready for the work he is calling us to do. When we wait for the Lord, it’s because he isn’t ready. 

I remember when I first came to Christ, I was impatient to get busy serving him. I didn’t want to wait for college, but had I not waited, I never would have met Linda. God knew I would need her, so he made me wait…on him, and for him. 

There are often circumstances he needs to get in place before he is ready to proceed. We get impatient, wanting to move before we’re ready, or eager to move before God is ready. Either way, waiting can be hard, but it’s important that we learn the lessons of patience, and that we don’t get ourselves ahead of him. 

Stalling for Time

October 19, 2024

Remember this? 

“Time,” the test proctor announced. You looked up and asked hopefully, “Just a few minutes more?”

“Time’s up,” she said with finality. You stalled for time as best you could, hoping a little more time would change things, but now you’re out of time. Finished or not, you put down your pencil and hoped for the best.

That’s the situation Nebuchadnezzar was in. He was suspicious, all too aware that any of his counselors could be plotting against him. His dream gave him an idea; he would devise a little test to see if his advisors would be honest with him. When they failed, he believed they were stalling for time for circumstances to provide an opportunity to depose him.  

“You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.””

—Daniel 2:9 

How often have you stalled for time with God, hoping he would change his mind; that what he declared to be sin would no longer be wrong, or that he would renege on the call he placed on your life when you first came to Christ? God’s time hasn’t changed, nor has his holiness. If you, like Nebuchadnezzar’s advisors, have been stalling for time, hoping God would change his mind, you’re wasting your time and his. Wherever you’ve been dragging your feet, stalling for time, STOP IT! It’s time to come back and say yes to Jesus.

 

The Right Time

 October 18, 2024

Back to Daniel and time.

Nebuchadnezzar had a problem. Though he was the most powerful man on earth, he was insecure. As a military conqueror himself, he knew how tenuous was his hold on that power. There were always intrigues in shadowy conversations whispered in secret hidden places. 

He had a dream of a huge figure of a man whose head was gold, chest silver, loins bronze, legs iron, and feet a mixture of clay and iron. We are left in the dark as to whether or not he understood the meaning of his dream and was testing the loyalty of his chief officers, or whether he really didn’t know. Either way, he insisted they tell him not only the meaning of the dream, but its content as well. They were baffled and protested. Nebuchadnezzar’s response?

“I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:” —Daniel 2:8 

A modern translation spells it out clearly:

“I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious.” —Daniel 2:8 NLT

We often imagine life would be so much better if we only had this or that thing we want; some tangible object, a different relationship, a different personality, anything that would bring some security or safety. Like Nebuchadnezzar, no matter what we do have, it cannot satisfy, can’t fill the hole in our hearts that only Christ can fill. So we look here or there for answers, And like Nebuchadnezzar, we become impatient and even angry, knowing time is running out like sand through an hourglass.

We stall for time, hoping a little more will bring a different outcome. But remember the two different words for time. A little more chronological time can’t do for us what kairos time offers, ie. the opportunity to choose Jesus right now.