Someone recently asked me what I thought a kindergarten aged child should know about the Bible.  All I can tell you is from my own experience. 

I believe they should know about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit—and that all of those beings love him no matter what.  They should know every major Bible story, and be able to name the books of the Bible, the apostles, the sons of Jacob, and the judges.  They should have some major memorizing done, individual verses here and there, and larger passages as well, e.g., the 23rd Psalm, the beatitudes, scriptures like Rom 12:1-3 and good old John 3:16.  And those things should be explained as well as a five or six year old can understand them, which may be more than you think.  They should have a large repertoire of spiritual songs, not just children’s songs, but some of the hymns from the songbook as well.  They should be praying several times a day.

The person who asked looked at me, dumbfounded.  “That’s impossible,” he said.  No.  It’s not.  I could do most of that, and my children could do all of it.  I can still hear five year old Lucas reciting the twenty-third psalm, and three year old Nathan singing all five verses of “Twust and Obey.”

What’s that? “It isn’t about learning facts.”  Of course, it isn’t.  But tell me, which do you teach first, critical analysis of the poetry of Keats versus that of Milton, or memorizing the alphabet?  They will never understand faith till they see it working in the life of Abraham; or courage, until they know the stories of David and Esther; or unselfish devotion until they hear about Ruth gleaning in the field.  Isn’t that why God put those facts there in the first place? …things…written aforetime were written for our learning, (Rom 15:4).

And you know what works even better?  Learning about the generosity of Barnabas and then seeing a father like mine, who gave so generously that the IRS audited him.  And learning about the compassion of Dorcas and then a seeing a mother like mine, who took food off her table to give to a neighbor whose husband was killed in an automobile accident, and then organized a food drive for that same neighbor and her five small children.   

And as to the amount I think a child should know so early?  The problem is not a child’s capacity.  The problem is adults underestimating their capacity. And maybe the problem is we do not want to spend the time it takes to do this.  This is not something you accomplish in 15 minutes a day of “quality time,” that great myth that has been foisted on American parents.  God never expected that meager amount to be the time we spend teaching our children. 

Hear, O Israel:  Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.  And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might.  And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and upon your gates.  Deut 6:4-9.

I think that pretty well covers it all, don’t you?

Dene Ward

The one and only time I went to the Florida College Summer Camp was when I was 8.  It was held on campus and I had the first floor dorm room in Sutton Hall that looks out toward what I knew later as Upper Division Dorm. 

The last night of camp, when all the parents came to pick us up, the counselors staged a “Bible Bee.”  We all stood in a circle, beginning with the youngest on to the oldest.  Someone asked Bible questions around the circle and if you missed the question you sat down.  After about 30 minutes there were five of us left—me, all alone on the “kiddy” side of the nearly depleted circle, and, on the other side, 4 teenagers who looked as big as adults to me.

I only remember one question.  I was flabbergasted when a 16 year old could not answer, “Who was thrown into the lion’s den?”  The question came to me next, and I actually felt embarrassed for the boy when I answered, “Daniel.”  That was as far as I got.  You would think I would remember the question that did me in, but I don’t.  I do remember that I could hardly comprehend what was being asked, so it must have been a doozy. 

Eventually, one of the older teenagers won the bee, and I could not understand why so many people came up to me saying how impressed they were.  Except for that last question they were all so easy.  You see, it had absolutely nothing to do with me, and everything to do with my parents.

My sister and I were raised knowing the importance of Bible knowledge.  My mother was a first generation Christian and back then did not have the teaching resources I had available when I was raising my children.  But judging by that “bee,” she and my father, who was only second generation himself, did a much better job of teaching than most who had more advantages.  They answered all the questions we asked, helped us when we needed it, and made sure we did our Bible lessons. They bought us a big beautiful Bible story book.  I did not realize then how expensive it was, but now I can look back and appreciate how lavishly they spent on us and why, especially given our un-lavish lifestyle.  They even allowed us to stay up 15 minutes late so we could read it every night, and later our own Bibles, before bed.  That certainly instilled its importance to me.  Because of their diligence, I cannot understand parents who allow their children—no matter how old they are--to get in the car on Sunday morning without checking to see that they have their lesson books and their Bibles, and without making sure the lessons were done the night before. 

Something just as important--I always saw my parents doing their own lessons, whether it involved doing a workbook or reading a passage of scripture.  Their Bibles and class materials always had a special place on the shelf by the carport door.  If it was not there, they were studying, or they were at class.  None of this “I forgot” business.  And they talked about the scriptures on days other than Sunday and Wednesday.  We grew up knowing that you were supposed to think about these things every day.

That is how I did so well at the Summer Camp Bible Bee.  Like I said, it really had nothing at all to do with me.

…having been reminded of the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded in you also. 2 Tim 1:5

Dene Ward

Have you ever daydreamed about a perfect life?  I suppose most of us have.  Enough that mountains of money have been saved so that at retirement couples could live the life they have always dreamed of.  Are they really happy?  I have this theory:  if you cannot be happy living a normal everyday life no matter what your circumstances, you will never be happy living your idea of a perfect life either. 

Take a minute now and jot down your idea of a perfect life.  Be as specific as possible.  Since you are just wishing anyway, you might as well make it good.

Now think about this.  As our Creator, God knows what would make us happy.  Too often we treat living by His standards as living a miserable existence with no fun allowed at all.  But when you think about it, He should know best, shouldn’t He?  In fact, when He made man, He created a perfect place, a perfect life, a perfect home.  Take a look at the Garden of Eden.  What did He give His newly created children?

He gave them a beautiful garden that furnished their food and delighted their eyes.  I doubt they had truffles, either vegetable or chocolate.  I know they did not have pate de fois gras or chateaubriand.  But they had plenty, and it was certainly organic!  Gen 1:29

He gave them each other.  Not one man with a different woman every night, or one woman with several men.  He did not make two men or two women, but one man for one woman for one lifetime, 2:24. 

He gave them work to do.  What?!  A perfect place meant having to work?  Exactly.  Not an all consuming career, but productive work tending the garden that fed them.  Not difficult work, as was promised after the fall, but something that fulfilled man’s need to pass the time and stay physically fit, 2:15.

I assume He gave them some sort of house, but do you realize it is never mentioned in Genesis?  Evidently God’s notion of paradise for man did not include having a dream house that cost more in taxes and upkeep in a year than most third world families make in a lifetime.

And best of all, He gave them His fellowship.  It seems to have been His habit to walk and talk with His children in the cool of the day, 3:8.

Now look at your list.  Does it match God’s list at all?  Maybe we need to adjust our thinking—seems to me I have to do a lot of that.  I have another theory:  if my list is not a whole lot like God’s, maybe I won’t enjoy Heaven either.  Maybe I won’t even be allowed to find out.

For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile; and let him turn away from evil and do good.  Let him seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears unto their supplication.  But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.  1 Pet 3:10-12

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. Rev 2:7

Dene Ward

I have been going up the step from the back porch into the laundry room for over 25 years.  I never look down, and I never fall--until the other morning.  And as I fell I just had time to say to myself, “There is nothing you can do about this,” and splat!  Rug rash on both elbows and one knee.  In fact, the right knee hit so hard that a layer of skin embedded itself into my leggings, and when I pulled them off to check for bleeding, the skin stuck to them instead of me.  Worst abrasion I ever had in my life, plus achy hip, achy neck, and a headache that started in the afternoon and would not leave no matter what I took.  At least I did not break anything, not even the floor. Do I need any more proof that Keith did not marry me for my grace?

And yet, as rough a fall as that was, it is nothing compared to a spiritual fall.  And should I think that a saved person cannot fall, hear Paul’s warning to the Galatian brethren:  You who would be justified by the law are severed from Christ; you are fallen away from grace. Gal 5:4.  If they can be severed from Christ, they were once in Him; if they can fall from grace, they once stood upon its peak.  As Paul said earlier in the epistle, I should not listen to anyone who tells me otherwise, not even an angel from heaven. 

And that fall will not bring skinned knees and an aching neck.  For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, their last state is worse than the first. 2 Pet 3:20.  That fall will cost my soul.   My bruises and abrasions will eventually heal, but spiritual injuries will not, without repentance.

Isn’t it interesting how many physical terms the Holy Spirit uses to get across his point?  Perhaps any physical fall we take should make us stop and examine where we stand spiritually as well.  We might stop just in time, one step before the edge, and save ourselves a headlong spiritual fall that will cost us more than a little skin.

They also that seek after my life lay snares for me, and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all the day long…In you O Jehovah, do I hope.  You will answer, O Lord my God.  For I said, lest they rejoice over me.  When my feet slip, they magnify themselves against me.  For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me…Forsake me not, O Jehovah.  O my God, be not far from me.  Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.  Psalm 38:12, 15-17, 21, 22.

Dene Ward

This year I will celebrate a landmark birthday.  Suddenly  birthdays have become less than exciting.  But all these years have given me one thing that I find invaluable, at least now that I am past them—a boatload of experiences.  In fact, you may be getting tired of hearing about them.

Here is one that struck me just the other day:  I now need more than two hands to count the number of times a Christian has told me about having his horoscope read, having a tarot card reading, or going to a palm reader—“just to see what it’s like”—and have him tell me how astounded he was.   “I know it isn’t real, but it was so close, it was uncanny.”

And do you think Satan is going to allow them to be so far off that you won’t even be tempted to believe in them?  Really now, Satan is not that stupid.  But sometimes I wonder about us!  Excuse me, I guess the word should be “gullible,” or perhaps the more politically correct “naïve.”  Solomon was not nearly so concerned about being PC.  The word he used when a child of God put himself into a position to be deceived was “fool.”

Because deception is what surely follows if we are not careful.  This “uncanny” ability to be so accurate (we think) draws us closer and closer, until finally we are relying on those things more than God, and eventually instead of God.  Yes, it can happen to you.  I have heard Christians I thought were strong tell me they could not make a decision until they had read their horoscopes for the day. 

And you know what is even scarier?  When it becomes obvious that we want to rely on these things instead of God, He will allow it.  And for this cause God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie, that they might all be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness, 2 Thes 2:11,12.  He considers all such things “idolatry” because they are more important to the person than He is, and “adultery” because that person has been unfaithful to Him.  This is a serious matter.  That is another way Satan can get to you.  He will tell you it is just a fun little pastime.  Read Ezekiel 16 sometime today and see exactly how God depicts this “harmless” recreation.  I will judge you as women who commit adultery and murder are judged, and I will bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy, Ezek 16:38.   

So think about it today.  What are we doing that seems harmless but that could have dire consequences if we let it go to its natural end?  Satan has dozens of beautifully crafted lures to draw us in, set the hook, and catch us before we even realize we are in danger.  He is not so stupid that he will make the traps obvious.  Be careful out there today.  Rely on God and Him alone.  Be faithful to Him and He will never be unfaithful to you.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ.  And no marvel, for even Satan fashions himself into an angel of light.  It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works, 2 Cor 11:13-15.

Dene Ward

Too many times we studio teachers teach only the instrument, piano and voice in my case, and neglect the other things that make one a well-rounded musician—history, theory, ear training.  So for my students I made up history notebooks focusing on one particular composer each year containing articles, worksheets, and listening labs.  When the makeup of the studio suddenly increased to 40% voice students, I decided to make a notebook with them in mind, one on opera.  Besides, even piano students needed to know about opera.

I began with worksheets on the history of opera and types of operas.  Then we moved on to study the stories of 5 different operas, followed by a listening lab on one of the more famous arias from each opera.  I live in a rural county.  The closest thing to opera any of these students had ever seen or heard was their grandparents’ reminiscences of Minnie Pearl and the Grand Ol’ Opry.  The answers I received on many of the listening labs often made me laugh out loud and taught me a lot about perspective.

“Nessun dorma” from Turandot:  (All the recordings were in the original language of the opera.)  On the question, “Describe the melody,” a 6 year old wrote, “Sounds Italian to me.”  How could I argue with that?

Another question attempted to point out the emotion in the singers’ voices by asking, “Where in the music do you think he sings, ‘I will win!  I will win!’?”  Though it was in Italian it was obvious; even the 6 year old got it.  But one 10 year old thoroughly misunderstood the question and wrote, “I don’t know, but he was so loud, he MUST have been outside somewhere.”

“La donna mobile” from Rigoletto:  “What are the main difficulties of this aria?”  A 9 year old answered, “He’s trying to get a woman, but can’t.”

We could not have left out Carmen, though presenting this less than moral character to children took a bit of discretion.  We listened to the “Habanera,” which is, in reality, a dance.  “Carmen likes to flirt a lot.  How does the fact that she is singing to a dance make it sound ‘flirty?’”  A 9 year answered, “It shows she’s pretty smart if she can sing a dance!”

Because the majority of my singers were 14-16 year old girls, I chose Charlotte Church’s recording over Maria Callas’s version of Carmen.  Charlotte was only 15 at the time and I felt they could better relate to her.  However, this brought about the question, “How is her ability to sing this character likely to change as she gets older?”  Talk about perspective, a 9 year old boy wrote, “She’ll soon be married and she’d better not be flirting with other men!!!!”  But a 16 year old girl wrote--now remember Charlotte was only 15 on this recording--“It won’t be long till she is so old she won’t even remember how to flirt any more.” 

Was this notebook successful?  When I took up the final exams I wondered.  The first question was “Define opera.”  An 11 year old wrote, “A type of music for men and women where you sing real LOUD.”

But I also had them write, both at the beginning of the study and at the end, what they honestly thought about opera.  One 14 year old was very tactful at the beginning of the year when she wrote, “I think people who can sing it are very talented.”  But at the end of the year she wrote, “If this is opera, I really like it.  And I learned not to ever say I don’t like something when I don’t really know anything about it.”

I wonder how many people approach the Bible that way?  They believe it to be a book of myths, a storybook, only a suggestion for how to live, anything but the Word of God when they have absolutely no personal knowledge on the subject.  They have never considered the evidence; they have never made comparisons to other ancient writings that are far less convincing.  We have only 643 copies of Homer’s Iliad but over 5700 copies of the scriptures, and no one ever questions the completeness and accuracy of that Greek epic.  We believe George Washington existed and became our first president.  Why?  Because of eyewitness accounts, the same type of accounts available in historical documents about Jesus.  Even people who accept Jesus as the Son of God, question the validity of the New Testament because it was a translation, yet Jesus himself quoted a translation of the Old Testament, one about as far removed from him in time as the New Testament is from us, and all this barely skims the surface of internal and external evidences validating the Bible.

My students learned a valuable lesson the year we studied opera:  don’t judge until you check it out yourself.  If you are wondering about the Bible, about Jesus, and even about the existence of a Creator, the only logical and fair thing is for you to do that too.

For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.                   1 Corinthians 1:18-21

Dene Ward

Could there be a more obvious lie in all of retail sales?  “One size fits all.”  Of course it does, if you call fitting one person like a circus tent around a beanpole and another like a sausage in a casing a couple of perfect fits.  There is a reason that a custom tailored suit costs about 200 times more than a one size fits all tee shirt, and it’s not just the material.

Yet there is one instance where the phrase is as apt as can be.  Sin is a “one size fits all” commodity.  For we before laid charge both of Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin…For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rom 3:9,23.  And we do not get that sin from some mystical contagion.  Therefore as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death passed unto all men for that all sinned, Rom 5:12.  We are under the charge of sin, because we sin, every one of us, no matter how good we think we are. 

And sin is sin is sin:  For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.  For He who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill.  Now if you do not commit adultery, but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law, James 2:10, 11.  And in that context, James was talking to people who discriminate against others.  Bigotry, he meant them to understand, is as bad as adultery and murder.

Even righteous men in the Old Testament understood that the Law could not save them.  As sinners, they counted on the grace of God.  David wrote a Psalm about it, the fourteenth.  Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who did understand.  They were all gone aside; they are together become filthy; there is none that does good, no, not one, v2,3.  We are all in the same boat—none of us deserve salvation.

But Christ came to offer us a salvation that would fit all of us, too, no matter how many times we have sinned, no matter the heinousness of our sins, as men would categorize them.  Christ does indeed fit all, and not only that, His one size is available to all as well, no matter who we are or what our stations in life.  All we have to do is put it on.  The grace of God will always be a perfect fit.

For the love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again, 2 Cor 5:14,15.

Dene Ward

We’ve been studying faith lately in our weekly women’s class.  Part of that study involved looking up every passage we could find that contained the word, then categorizing the verses into some sort of sensible outline.  One of the categories we called “acts” of faith, all the verbs associated with the word. 

constantly remind the class that I am not a Greek scholar.  I have enough trouble with English.  Yet looking at a Greek word can instantly bring another English word to mind and give you some insight into the word.  Here are some of the things we found.

2 Cor 5:7 says “we walk by faith not by sight.”  That word is peripateo and you should instantly think of the word “peripatetic.”  Someone who is peripatetic is a pacer, constantly moving back and forth, usually talking at the same time.  Think ADD and you have the picture.  We aren’t to be just strolling on this walk of ours.

Gal 5:6 mentions “faith working through love.”  The word for “working” is energeo.  That brings to mind the English words “energy” and “energetic.”  This is not a lethargic faith that simply assents to a belief, but one that works because of that belief.

Paul says we are to be “striving for the faith” in Phil 1:27.  That word is sunathleo.  Don’t you see the word “athlete” there?  We are supposed to be working at it the way an athlete works out—hard enough to raise a sweat.

“Fight the good fight of faith,” Paul says in 1 Tim 6:12.  “Fight” is agon and if you don’t see the word “agony” there, you simply won’t see anything.  Then there is this, which I have gleaned from years of crossword puzzles—an agon was the fight between two gladiators in the coliseum, a public fight, usually to the death.  Are you publicly fighting for your faith, and fighting so hard that you often find yourself in agony from the sheer effort you are putting forth?

We found several other passages as well, all of them strong active words.  None of them had anything to do with mental assent, with saying, “I believe,” and thinking that would do.  Even such simple things as “Ask in faith,” took on a new meaning when we discovered that the word is often translated “beg” or “plead.”  This is not a casual request.

No one should ever need to ask if you are a believer.  It should be evident every minute of your life.  They should see it in your service to others (Phil 2:17), in your morality (Phil 1:27), in your love (Eph 6:23), in your confidence (Heb 10:22).  Believers do work and they work hard.  Lazy people need not apply.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10

Dene Ward

Wordplay

I have discovered a little trick to help me get more out of my Bible study.  Too often, I read through passages that deal directly with things in my life without even realizing that they do.  It just goes right past me.  So, after a little meditation, I find something comparable in my own culture and time that I can “plant” into the passage.  Please note:  I am not trying to change the Word of God or make my own “private interpretation.”  I just want to be able to apply it to me and my problems so I can grow.  Here are a couple that have really helped me.  The bracketed words are the ones I planted.  You might want to read the cited passage before reading these altered ones.

Rom 2:24,25:  For the name of God is blasphemed among [people of the world] because of you, even as it is written.  For [baptism] indeed profits if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your [baptism] has become [un-baptism]. 

Since circumcision, the token of the Old Covenant, is compared to baptism in Col 2:11,12, this was a no-brainer.  However, if you press it too far, you could wind up with a theological problem or two, so be careful.  The point is to make a passage sing out loud to you!  Reading the passage this way I can see that I cannot rely on having once been baptized to save me if my life does not live up to the New Covenant it represents.

1 Cor 13:1-3:  [If I go to church three times a week in a certain building with a certain sign over the door] but have not love, I am become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  [If I take the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, give more than a tenth, sing loudly, and say amen to every prayer] but have not love, I am nothing.  [If I don’t cheat on my spouse, lie, drink, or cuss] but have not love it profits me nothing. 

As you can imagine, that one really strikes home.  How many times do I define faithfulness as “going to church and not doing the big bad sins?”  Faithfulness to the Lord involves striving to become like Him, and that means learning a selfless love, not following a learned routine.

I believe the Word of God is alive and relevant to everyone’s life; God meant it to be that way.  Keeping it limited to another time and culture may make me feel better, but it won’t do a thing for my soul.  So give yourself some help today with a little wordplay.

For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart, Heb 4:12.

Dene Ward

You think Black Friday is bad?  I was reading through some historical trivia and found this:  on Saturday, March 18, 1944, guards and floorwalkers at a Chicago department store were trampled by 2500 women storming the store doors for 1500 alarm clocks that had been announced for sale.  Alarm clocks?  In March?  What in the world was that about?  I did a little checking but with my severely limited equipment I was unable to find the exact store and the exact price on those clocks, or what made them so special.  It must have been some sale, though, or some alarm clock.

Isn’t it a shame that the doors of meetinghouses all over this country aren’t stormed in a similar way every Sunday?  Isn’t it heartbreaking that we can hardly get a neighbor to study with us until he experiences some sort of horrible tragedy in his life?  Isn’t it a travesty beyond measure that God can say, “I have something for you that is absolutely free,” and hardly anyone cares? 

Buy the truth and sell it not, the Proverb writer says in 23:23, adding yea, buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.  Don’t you wish they were for sale?  What I wouldn’t give for the wisdom to better handle this life, for direct instruction from God when I am floundering about, wondering what to do, and to know the truth about every question I have or am asked. 

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46.  I have brethren who won’t even give up their time on the weekends much less be willing to sell everything they own for a place in that kingdom.

We may have a good head for numbers and be able to plan what we think of as a secure future for ourselves, but our definition of security is wrong.  God told his people in Isa 55:2 and 3, Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.  Moses even earlier had said, Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, Deut 8:3.

As smart as we think we are, one of these days we will learn unequivocally that we have placed value on the wrong things.  Real faith does not “rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God,” and “surpassing power belongs to God and not to us,” 1 Cor 2:5; 2 Cor 4:7.

Not so, we say with our deeds, if not our words: “God has no idea how to handle money!”  We may boast of our faith, but our actions often belie it and at the same time accuse God of being a fool.

For what would you be willing to camp outside all night in the cold in order to buy at first light?  For what would you pound on the doors of the store?  For what would you pay a jacked-up price because you want it so badly, or tear out of another’s hand at the risk of losing your own?  Why are we so enamored of “things” and think so little of the spiritual wealth God offers for free every day?

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Revelation 3:15-19

Dene Ward