Today’s post is by guest writer Keith Ward

Such a simple problem—if faith comes by hearing, why doesn’t everyone believe?  Paul clearly states that not all obeyed the “glad tidings,” which matches our experience (Rom 10:16-17).  In fact, few believe.

Shall we blame God?  Perhaps the problem is that most never have an opportunity to hear the word.  That seems to match the reality of billions of people and relatively few Christians of any shade, much less those preaching the whole gospel.  But, Paul declares, “Their sound went out into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world” (10:18).  When we note that God manifested himself clearly in the things that are made, “his everlasting power and divinity,” the reality is that the gospel is available to any with open ears (Rom 1:18-20).  Most of us can relate stories that are ridiculously unbelievable concerning an honest seeker finding the gospel over insurmountable odds—how about the Ethiopian Eunuch?  The Philippian Jailor?  God’s word is available.

Well, then, if the word is God’s power and is available to all, why do the majority fail to have faith?  Paul is especially concerned that the majority of the chosen people, his people the Jews, had not found faith in Christ.  He points out that they had been warned that this would come to pass.  Israel would be provoked by other nations finding God and God declaring himself to them while they were left behind. (10:19-20).  This failure to believe is an open refusal to face facts, and the reason most never come to faith.  And Israel’s failure is often reflected in the churches of Christ where people will not hear the reading of scripture that does not match “the way we have always done it.”  As Daddy used to say, “It goes in one ear and out the other.”  Whether it be that the work of the preacher is not visiting the sick, or that the Lord’s Supper is to be a  fellowship/communion not oneself alone with his thoughts, or that the church was not given a name or any number of other traditions that simply are not so, THE people do not hear, but those without prior understanding—usually new converts--have open hearts.

Paul identifies the problem as the same one Jesus described in the parable of the soils.  There was no problem with the seed.  There was no problem in the manner of sowing.  The problem was the hearts into which it fell, or, “all the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and contrary people.” (10:21).  People do not hear because they do not want to be accountable to do what the gospel says and thus they turn away or never expose themselves to truth that might inconvenience their choices.  Others have that contrary attitude that seeks exceptions and excuses and problems, and never yields to the things that are heard.

So, indeed, Faith does come to ALL who hear the word.  The disappointment is that so few, in or out of the church, will hear.

If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead, Luke 16:31.

Keith Ward

Silas came to visit a few weeks ago all by himself.  Granddad had carefully planned the play time, and on the first afternoon, as the thermometer hit 95, and the sun beat down mercilessly, he grabbed the garden hose and I knew immediately what was up.

Keith was always a hands-on Dad, more hands on than the boys wanted in some cases, but also in the fun times.  He played with them from the time they were born, carefully moderating his strength when they were small, but never moderating the little boy inside that never quite left him.  One of my favorite pictures came when he knocked on the door one rainy day, and there the three of them stood, streaked with mud, having played in the soft warm rain throwing mud balls until you could only tell which was which by their relative size.

So now it was four year old Silas’s turn, his baptism by mud, so to speak, as Keith filled up the low spot in front of the sour orange and the herb bed, dammed by a berm so the water would back up and have time to soak into the ground before rushing on down the hill to the run just off the east side of the property.  As soon as the spot was a couple inches deep, Keith called him in to splash around.  Even that took awhile, but finally Silas waded in and started jumping up and down, squealing with delight as the water splashed up around him, and especially when it splashed on Granddad.

Then came the magic moment.  Keith reached down into the black mud, scratched up a handful, and flung it carefully onto Silas’s back.  Talk about indignant!  He scrambled up the slope to the carport where I sat in the breeze of a fan, drinking iced tea and watching the fun.  “Granddad threw mud on me,” he complained as he spun in a circle trying to see the damage behind him.

“So throw some on him!”  I said encouragingly.

He was aghast.  “But it’s dirty,” he argued.

“That’s the fun,” I told him, and he slowly walked back to the puddle, glancing over his shoulder at me with a skeptical look.

Granddad met him with another handful of mud, this time on the chest.  “Arghh!” he protested and scrambled away, but this time not to me.  I was obviously not on his side in this one.

“Here,” Keith said, and stood, chest bare and arms out wide.  “Throw some on me.”

Once again, Silas yelled, “No,” but it wasn’t long till he finally picked up a handful of mud on his own.  Keith stood there with a grin, waiting as Silas walked up to him.  But the little guy couldn’t stand it.  Just as he got within a four-year-old’s throwing range, he turned and threw the mud into the puddle instead.  Immediately, Keith picked up a handful and threw it on him.  Silas ran around in circles, but never left the area this time.  In a flash he had another fistful, but once again threw it in the puddle. 

Finally, Keith sat down in the mud.  “See?  I’m already muddy now.  It’s okay to throw it on me.”

It still took another five minutes, but finally Silas got into the spirit of the thing and threw a generous handful at Keith.   I am not sure how much reached skin, but he was as thrilled as if he had dumped a bucketful on him.

For the next thirty minutes the mud was flying.  They both wound up with mud caked on their shorts, dripping from clumps on their shoulders, bellies, backs, and even their heads.  I doubt Silas had ever been that dirty in his entire life, and he thoroughly enjoyed it.

I could do a lot with this one.  I could talk about hands-on fathering.  I could talk about shucking your dignity so you can play with your child, about shedding that authoritative image so he will know you love him enough not just to correct him, but to enjoy being with him--on his level, not yours.  That’s easy, so I will let you take care of that one.

How about this?  Did you notice how hard it was for Silas to actually start throwing the mud?  Even though he was assured it was all right, even though he was encouraged to have fun that normally was not allowed, it still took a long time for him to give in, but give in he did.  Why do we think we can hold up against far more powerful forces than that when we place our souls in harm’s way?

The world will tell you it’s all right.  The world will tell you it’s fun.  The world will say, “Look at me.  See?  I’m doing just fine, and so will you.”  If you think you won’t give in, you probably have an inflated opinion of your spiritual strength.  The truly strong person would have never been there to begin with.

So take it from a little boy who had the time of his life in a mud fight.  You will give in too, only your fight will end up with a dirt that can’t be washed away with a hose, and you may enjoy it too much to ever leave the mud puddle behind.

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen, 2 Peter 3:17-18.

Dene Ward

If you missed yesterday’s Part 1 post, take a minute now and read it.  Today we will make a memory verse card.
             
Get out your pencils and let’s try a few things. But before you do, let me add this—you do not have to be an artist.  The only one who is worried about what
those drawings look like is you.  Once the child knows what they are, he uses them like other people use mnemonics—to help him remember.  And this is where the good old stick man comes into play.

I cannot draw.  I can’t even do a Jackson Pollock splatter.  Oh, I can do the basic tree--a brown stick with a fluffy green cloud on top. I can do a light bulb, which comes in handy every time you come across the word “light” in a verse. 
I can do the daisy on a stem with two leaves and the square house with
two windows and a door.  For a sheep, I can draw yet another fluffy cloud, this one white, with four stick legs, and a head and tail.  
 
No, I can’t do much in the way of drawing—but I can make a stick man do
practically anything.  He can pray, he can kneel, he can run, he can walk, he can fish (I will make you fishers of men), he can sleep, he can shout, he can talk or preach or sing or any other sound, simply by drawing him an open mouth. You tell the children what he is doing—trust me, they will remember.  
             
One other thing:  make important words look special.  Always put God or Lord or Spirit in a puffy cloud.  Draw only the bottom half of a cloud and write “heaven” in it when you need that word.  Take words like faith and grace and good and evil, put them in all caps and box them in an appropriate color, like blue for good and red for evil.  Before long, those children who are “too young to learn anything” will actually start to recognize those special words.

So what did I do with that hard memory verse?  Remember as you read the verse below, the drawings replace one word or phrase; you don’t write the words under the drawing.  What I drew ended up like this (the brackets are the pictures I drew instead of the word or phrase immediately preceding them):  
             
See [Stick man with hand above his eyes as if he is looking off in the distance] what kind of love [heart] the FATHER (in a cloud) has given to us [3 stick men, one handing something to two others] that we should be called [stick man with
hands around his mouth and flared out lines coming from his mouth] children
[several smaller stick people] of GOD (in a cloud).

Silas learned that verse in one afternoon, and he loved that card.  If he could learn that one, what’s to stop him from simple things like “You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill?”  Come on now, you can draw that one yourself, right?
             
One more step remains in this process.  Eventually you should reach the point
that you can draw only one or two of the pictures from that card onto a smaller
one.  Then use it like a flashcard.  When your child sees it, s/he should automatically spout out the longer verse.  It will happen.  As you add verses, you constantly go over the old ones using only the small “one picture”
flashcards.  I used to have the parents come into the class after services at the end of every quarter.  When they saw their two and three year olds quoting ten or eleven memory verses just from looking at a simple line drawing, or a good old stick man, on an index card, they were amazed.
         
Your child can do it too.  I know it, and so does God.

Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children--Deuteronomy 4:9.


Dene Ward


  

The mind of a child is an amazing thing.  It processes and stores information like a computer, tons of it every day as he learns how to communicate, how to get along with others, how to quantify, how to adapt.  And he learns these things much faster than we seem to realize.  Trust me, your child knows when you are happy with him and when you are not before he is a year old, and he knows how to get exactly what he wants—he will train you far better than you will train him if you aren’t careful.

Although I taught all ages of piano and voice students, my Bible class teaching gradually shifted till I was teaching the middle school class most of the time.  I forgot some of the techniques I had used so long ago when my own boys were toddlers.  Then Silas came to visit during Vacation Bible School and they sent him back to us with a memory verse, the wording of which I knew immediately would be difficult for a three year old.: See what manner of love the father has given to us that we should be called children of God, 1 John 3:1.

Just repeating this three or four times was not going to get it done.  Then I remembered the old memory verse cards I used to make for the toddler class.  You turn the memory verse into something resembling a rebus, a picture puzzle, substituting drawings for certain words.  I developed my own “ethics” though.  I never used what I call text language.  No number 4 for the word “for” and no homonyms.  That would only make the verse harder for them to comprehend, which was the ultimate goal. 

That leads me to an important aside.  Some people are convinced that small children cannot memorize; some are even convinced that memory verses are overrated.  Small children cannot memorize?  Have you ever heard a two year old recite word for word an entire scene from a Disney movie?  Have you ever accidentally misread their favorite book only to have them say, “No!  It goes like this…” and then proceed to finish the page for you? 

Just because it’s scripture doesn’t mean they can’t do it.  Josephus says of the Jews that their children were “nourished up in the laws from their infancy.”  Edersheim says in Sketches of Jewish Social Life that in the time of Christ, home teaching began when the child was three, and then at five he started the book of Leviticus!  What a way to begin. As far as memory verses being overrated, I don’t know what I would do without the verses that were implanted in both my head and heart from the time I can remember.  They rise up when I need them, and have gotten me through a number of tough situations.  How can anyone say that having the word of God instantly spring to your lips and your mind is overrated?

As for these memory verse cards, Silas loved them.  Even though he couldn’t read them, he carefully pointed out word for word, using the pictures to jog his memory.  Whenever I pulled it out he asked, “Can I hold it?” and was thrilled to show others how he could say his memory verse.  Isn’t that the kind of reaction you want from your children as they learn the word of God? 

Tomorrow’s post will lead you through the process of making a memory verse card.  I hope you will overcome your skepticism and join me again.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber…Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. Joel 2:15,16; 1:3.

Dene Ward

When Silas came to stay all by himself for the first time, we were not sure how he would handle being away from Mommy and Daddy.  Especially since we were over two hours away, it would have been impossible to get him back home quickly if he were too homesick to last.  He was still three, barely, and, though he had stayed alone with us the night Judah was born, and the night after as well, that was at his own home and he slept in his own bed.

We managed to keep him talking about happy things all the way home, deeper and deeper into the “dark, spooky woods” as he later called it.  It was after nine o’clock at night and, if you have never experienced it, there is nothing quite as dark as “country dark”—away from the streetlights, traffic lights, parking lot lights, and neon signs of the city.  Only once or twice did he stray into the dangerous territory of “Where will I sleep tonight?” in a pensive tone of voice.

“We’re here!” we shouted as we pulled up to the gate, wondering aloud in excited voices if Chloe would come to meet us.  That kept him happy as we pulled into the carport and unfastened his booster seat straps.  Then, just as we walked toward the back porch, an owl screamed not fifty feet away, sounding every bit like a hysterical woman, followed by a “Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha” before finally settling into its usual “Who-hoo.” Silas was up those steps in a flash, plastered next to his grandfather’s leg and looking over his shoulders with eyes as big as Frisbees.  How could I tell in the dark?  Even in the dim starlight I could see white all the way around those big blue irises.

“Uh-oh,” I thought.  “He will be terrified for the rest of the night.”  Luckily Grandma had made some ooey-gooey chocolate cookies and that took care of the problem.  That first impression, which could have ruined the entire stay, was fairly easily overcome, but I think it often is for children.  It’s the adults among us who hang on to them.

And that brings me to today’s point.  We all know that old saying, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.”  I wish we could remember that all the time, not just when we are meeting someone we hope to impress for our own selfish interests.  Everyone who comes into contact with us, anywhere and any time, is a soul we might be able to save.  What if that first impression you make is the only impression you will ever make?

I try to remind myself of that when I have a bad experience at a store or in a restaurant.  If I fly off the handle and act like a jerk, if I indulge in harsh words that suit my sense of an injustice having been done me, demanding “my rights” as a customer or patron, how will I ever persuade them to study the Bible with me?  Could I turn right around and hand them an invitation to church services, a gospel meeting, or a ladies Bible class?  Just exactly what kind of reaction do you think I would get?  Did you have a bad morning?  Our bad moods can be very expensive—they can cost someone else his soul.

So remind yourself the next time you are caught in a tricky situation.  Paul told the Corinthians they should be willing to suffer wrong so the church wouldn’t be ridiculed by the litigious behavior among them (1 Cor 6:7).  What are we willing to suffer so the first impression we leave with someone, won’t guarantee that it will be the last?

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us, Titus 2:7-8.

Dene Ward        

As Keith says, we are so typical it’s embarrassing.  Be that as it may, let me tell you about my grandson.

He had just turned two.  As he sat there in his high chair licking the frosting off his cupcake he quite deliberately read the letters on his Happy Birthday sign, the one that used to hang over our dining room windows when his father and uncle had a birthday, “H-A-P-P-Y,” all the way through to the end, never missing a letter.  Then he told us what colors the letters were, each one different.  Before that he had recited the alphabet, not sung it mind you, but recited it.  Then he had counted to nearly 20 and recognized all the numbers.  All day he had been pointing out shapes, including “oval” and “rhombus.”

Shortly after we had arrived, his granddad had read him a book.  “See the fish?” he said.

”Dolphin,” two year old Silas instantly corrected.

His parents told us about a time a couple months before when a friend from church had come walking through the restaurant where they sat.  “Hi Mark,” they said, and suddenly my 22 month old grandson was reciting, “Luke, John, Acts, Romans,” taking up right where he thought his parents had left off. 

Isn’t it normal for parents and grandparents to brag on their kids?  Do you think God doesn’t have the same feelings we do?  When I brag on my grandson, when I say he is the cutest, smartest little boy in the whole world, I am simply living up to the image in which I was created.  “Have you considered my servant Job?” God asked Satan.  “There is none like him in all the earth.”

At least twice God spoke from Heaven about his Son, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.”  Don’t you know God loved saying that?

When God made Israel his chosen people, his children, he had every right to expect them to behave like his children should.  Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Ex 19:5,6. 

When they didn’t he was just as devastated as we would be if our children did not behave themselves well. For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen, Jer 13:11.

In a Messianic passage, Isaiah speaks of the coming kingdom, the church.  You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her…for the LORD delights in you, Isa 62:3,4.  Just as Old Testament Israel had the chance to make God proud of them, we have that chance today. 

What would people think about your Father if they saw your behavior and heard you speak?  What would they think if they saw how you treated the poor, the sick and the weak?  What would they think if they saw how you drive, how you dress, how you work for your employer?  All some people will ever know about God is what they see in you.

Make your Heavenly Father proud enough to brag about you today.  “Have you seen my child?  There is none like him in all the earth.”

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire, 2 Pet 1:3,4.

Dene Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Helene Smith.  See more at maidservantsofChrist.com.

The day my oldest daughter was born I couldn't help thinking of Mary.  Here I was in July, in an air-conditioned hospital room, hopped up on pain killers, following a C-section, and I am thinking about nativity scenes.  Weird, I know.  But I bet I am not the only Christian mom who looked at her own baby and thought of the mother of that holy baby. Mary was haunting my thoughts.

Luke records Mary's story almost as if he sat down and chatted with her.   He was inspired but he still did research (Luke 1:1-3). So I wonder about his source. Did he have her diary? Did he sit down with one of her children or an old familiar friend to record such intimate things? How did he know Mary "treasured these things in her heart?" (Luke 1-2) Regardless of his research materials, Luke lays out Mary's path, beginning with joy and confusion, passing through deep sorrow and landing soundly back in the land of joy.

After the angel delivers the astonishing news that she, a virgin, will conceive, she runs off to see Elizabeth. She declares in her song, "For the Mighty One has done great things for me" (Luke 1:49). Elizabeth names her blessed among women and Mary says that she will be counted as blessed for all generations.  The conversation between the two of them overflows with the idea that Mary has been gifted by God.  

Yet only a few months later the story seems bleaker.  Joseph, hearing that the girl he never touched is pregnant, almost ends their engagement.  After angelic interference he remains betrothed to her, but it was not the marriage she envisioned. They remain celibate until after the baby's birth.  Not every young girl's dream.  When Augustus' fiscal policy crashes through their life, things get even worse.  Swinging a heavy belly in front of her, Mary walks (my college professors thought that donkey thing was unlikely at best) all the way from Galilee to the overcrowded Bethlehem.  

Far from her home and family, far from all the things she would have carefully prepared for her baby, she gives birth to the son of God. This blessing thing doesn't seem to be working out for Mary.  An unexpected twist brings some shepherds in to see the new baby.  So instead of the parade of adoring grandparents she might have had, she has a parade of shepherds. Instead of old friends comfortably passing the news about the weight and length of her little son, she has shepherds proclaiming all through the streets that her son's birth was hailed by an angelic chorus.  
 
Mary was blessed and that very blessing caused her pain. Although the idea seems a little strange at the outset, it is the story of being a mom.  We see the double lines on the stick and we cry with joy.  Even moms who regretted a pregnancy find it impossible not to delight in those tiny little fingers and tiny little toes.  Yet no child is brought into the world without pain. The 5-year old who brings us daisies is the 15 year old who screams, "I hate you" across the house.  

If we stopped here, things don't look too bad. On the eighth day, Mary and Joseph head to Jerusalem to circumcise Jesus.  In a lesser known story they meet two elderly people, Simeon and Anna, who see the infant Savior and instantly know who he is.  Simeon breaks up what till now has been a relatively cheerful tale. He looks at Mary and says, "and a sword will pierce even your own soul."  That doesn't sound like a story with a happy ending.

When our children are born, we aren't promised happy endings.  I have a friend whose son was born with several birth defects that will prevent him from reaching adulthood.  I know a couple whose middle school aged daughter has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I knew an elderly couple who though 10 years removed from the event, never made it back to full functioning after the death of their daughter.  I can't imagine a more accurate description of the horror of losing a child than "a sword will pierce even your own soul."

Jesus had two parents standing by the cross.  One watched from Heaven and the other from earth.  I cannot comprehend what it must have cost both of them.  But I understand Mary the better of the two.   When I think of the "fellowship of His sufferings," it's Mary that comes to mind. (2 Corinthians 1:5, Philippians 3:10, 1 Peter 2:21, 4:13).  

I can mouth the words, "suffer with Christ," but Mary stood there and watched her oldest child, the one she played patty-cake with, the one she bathed, the one she watched take his first step, die.  I've given baths and played patty cake, so I can begin to imagine how I could share in His sufferings.  I have a friend who's a missionary.  When she left home it broke her mother's heart.  Having a mom with enough faith to send her anyway healed my friend's heart.  What comfort it must have been for Jesus to look down and see Mary there suffering alongside him.  

The day my oldest girl was born my feet were set on a path of blessing and suffering, and I began to learn what it is like to be Mary. I want to suffer at the sight of my Savior's suffering.  More than that, I want to stop whining about the minuscule things I suffer for Him.  Mary's story ends in joy.  Her son went from the Suffering Servant to the resurrected glorified Messiah.  Even if we have to follow Mary's path all the way to the end, we have the hope that we too shall be reunited with our children in glory.

Helene Smith

WED An Unfair Fight
            She took him into her home.  She fed him.  She offered him a place to rest, a place he felt safe.  Then, when he was sound asleep, she knelt next to him and pounded a tent pin through his temple. 

            Many times I have heard Jael, the wife of Heber, described as a sneaky, devious, blood-thirsty woman.  We in our civilized, politically correct, white collar world decry any ancient blood-letting as barbaric, even though people of our own era commit atrocities, from the mega-massacres of Stalin and Hitler to the mob mentality that runs rampant in both the inner cities and suburbia at the lowest flashpoint, be it outrage or fear.  So, in our blindness to our own hidden savagery, we read the account in Judges 4 with a jaundiced and arrogant eye.  If we had spent any time at all on the song of Deborah in Judges 5, we would have avoided contradicting divinely inspired opinion about Jael’s actions.  Blessed above women shall Jael be, v 24.

            Certainly that should settle the matter.  Just for the added emphasis of common sense, though, let’s ponder this question:  What was this nomadic shepherd woman, alone at home, supposed to do?  Should we require that she meet a trained warrior, the captain of a mighty army, in a fair fight?  Indeed, I read that the customs of the day said for a man to force his way into another man’s tent, or to merely enter that same tent when the man was not at home, was an action worthy of death. 

            But how do we reconcile this type of behavior with Jesus’ teaching.  I say unto you, love your enemies, do good to them who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who despitefully use you.  To him who smites you on the one cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your cloak, withhold not your coat also.  Give to everyone who asks and from him who takes away your goods, ask them not again.  And as you would that men should do to you, do also unto them likewise, Luke 6:27-31.  Some would say, “Jael was under the old law. Things are different now.”  While that is so, it only skims the surface of the matter.

            Old Testament Israel was a physical kingdom with a physical king sitting on a physical throne.  They fought physical wars using physical weapons.  Isaiah prophesies a coming kingdom where they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more, 2:4; a kingdom that would have no physical boundaries, but would encompass the whole world, one into which all nations shall flow, 2:2.  Jesus established that kingdom, the church, his throne not on this earth but in Heaven.

            Yet we still fight battles.  Paul spent a good amount of time detailing our armor (Eph 6), our weapons and battle tactics (2 Cor 10), and the characteristics of a faithful soldier (2 Tim 2). 

            Every time we overcome temptation, we win a battle; every time we speak of our faith to others, we take an enemy captive; every time a Christian leaves this world, having been faithful to the end, we pound a tent pin into the temple of Satan.  If we are too politically correct to fight a battle, if we are too finicky for hand-to-hand combat, if we are too “civilized” to pick up a sword and slash our way through the enemy forces, we don’t have what it takes to be a follower of Christ.

            Make no mistake about it.  You are going to war today.  Be prepared to fight in it.

Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ, for no soldier on service entangles himself in the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier, 2 Tim 2:3,4.

Dene Ward

            A few years ago my eyes went to Auckland, New Zealand.  Later they went to Singapore.  They have also traveled to Honolulu, Lisbon, Amsterdam, London, and Brandenburg, Germany.  I suppose it is ironic that although my eyes have been to all those places, I have never seen any of them, and never will.  The magic of digital photography, videotape, and DVDs have taken my eyes to far away, exotic places, and because of that, medical magic will help others.

            I have heard many speak badly of doctors whose conferences take them to places like these; things like, “I wish I could count my vacation as a business deduction.”  Have you ever seen one of the programs for these conferences?  Yes, there are sightseeing tours arranged for the doctors (which they pay for), but they are sandwiched in between seminars, lectures, demonstrations, and panel discussions that you and I could never make heads nor tails of because we did not sign what amounted to a mortgage in order to attend years of medical school, nor have to pay an annual six figure malpractice insurance premium to protect ourselves from those who think doctors should be perfect.

            For any who complain about their travels, I hope you never need to rely on two doctors who live a thousand miles apart having met one another by chance several thousands of miles away from their homes in order to save your sight, or worse, your life.  Let them sightsee a little.  It’s worth it, if not to you, then to some poor soul somewhere.

            That was extra.  Here is my point this morning.  I will never see those places, except in pictures.  Abraham did not even have pictures as evidence when he left his home at God’s command.  He had no deed in his hand when he believed God would give him the land of Canaan, nor did Isaac and Jacob, or their wives.  But we are told, These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, Heb 11:13.  Amazing faith, we think.  There was nothing that even hinted to them that they would inherit that land.  At times they were run off it, even threatened if they stayed, but they still believed God would keep his promise. 

            That’s what we do today, isn’t it?  Some might think we have it even harder.  At least the three patriarchs eventually stood on actual land--dirt and grass and watering holes, with trees growing and animals wandering about.  We must believe in something we can’t see or touch.  Oh, really.  Do you think they didn’t believe in that place too?  …and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth…they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one, wherefore God is not ashamed…to be called their God, but he has prepared for them a city, Heb 11:13,16.

            Their faith went beyond the physical, just as ours should.  It may be a tall order, but look at all those who have gone before us and managed it.  Why is it we treat the faith requirement as some sort of burden?  “Don’t lose faith,” we say when someone has a problem, creating yet another problem for them.  Faith should be an asset.  It causes hope, and how many people have lived longer lives because a doctor gave them a little thing called hope?

              The hope we have is for something even better.  Unlike all those amazing places my eyes have been but I have never seen, this is one I will see, the most amazing place of all, forever.

For in hope were we saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for that which he sees?  But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it, Rom 8:24,25. 

Dene Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

Psychologists have long argued over the topic of "Nature vs. Nurture," what makes a person who he is. Which makes a bigger impact, the inborn traits inherited from parents and ancestors (Nature) or how he was raised and the environment he was exposed to at an early age (Nurture)? One of their favorite tests is to study the personalities of identical twins who, for whatever reason, were separated at birth and raised in completely different environments. Both have the same genetic inheritance from their parents, so how did the different types of child rearing philosophies, economic strata, and/or geographical locations affect who these people became? It is an interesting debate and I have my personal theories, but what is truly intriguing is that God weighs in on the matter. 
God's attitude seems to be that the whole question is moot. Regardless of what you have inherited or what you've been through, you had better live righteously, or else.
Let's take the "Nature" side of the argument first. What if I were to say to God, "I've inherited these tendencies; it's in my DNA; I can't help myself?" What would God's reaction be?

Interestingly, someone did say something like this to God. Ezekiel 33:10 "And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel, "Thus ye speak, saying 'Our transgressions and sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?'" They believe they are swallowed up in their sins and can't change. "How then can we live" speaks to their mindset, as does "we pine away in them". They know they are sinning, they know the consequences, yet they feel that they just can't change. "This is just who I am!"

God’s response is “Turn from your evil ways.  O why will you die?”  His attitude toward this seems to be, "Well, I don't like how you are, so change." Apparently, he doesn't think that DNA controls our every action. Remember, he knows more about DNA than any scientist. After all, he created it. Apparently, he expects us to learn to control the tendencies that our DNA has programmed into us. (Rom 7)
"But my Daddy was a bad man and he trained me to believe in and do bad things. It's not my fault, it's just how I was raised!"

Ezekiel 18 answers this with the hypothetical story of three generations: a righteous man who has a wicked son who in turn has a righteous son. The two who are righteous aren't punished for the wicked, the wicked isn't saved by the righteous, and the son of the wicked doesn't get a free pass because he was raised in a bad environment. He is judged the same as the others, based on how he lived his life. The circumstances don't seem to matter. How we live our lives is what matters. Our Lord said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." He didn't discuss the type of tree and whether this strain generally yields as well as that strain. Neither does he discuss the type of soil the tree is planted in, nor whether it has rained recently, nor the amount of sun the tree has received. All he mentions is the fruit borne by the tree.
As Christians, we must hold OURSELVES responsible for our sins. While there may be a lot of circumstances and pressures and other reasons that led to our sin, we need to realize that, bottom line, we've sinned. God isn't happy with us. We need to change. No one is saying it will be easy. Change never is and some of us have a lot more obstacles to overcome in our efforts to change than others of us do. Still, we need to realize that our sins are OUR FAULT, not Dad's fault or circumstances’ fault, or society’s fault, or anything else's fault except ours, and "man up" (1 Cor 16:13).

If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things sake comes the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience; wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things: but now do ye also put them all away: wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings and have put on the new man, that being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him, Col 3:1-10.



Lucas Ward