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  Flight Paths

Nicknames

9/30/2021

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His name was Joseph.  He came from an island off the coast, but had family in the city, and had come to worship at the two feast days, probably staying with his close relative Mary.  While he was there he saw and heard amazing things:  people speaking languages they had never studied, something that looked like fire but wasn’t, something that sounded like a windstorm but wasn’t, and a sermon that both astonished and convicted him.  He wound up staying in town, along with several thousand others who had become part of God’s new kingdom, the one they had been waiting for so long. 
            Despite their previous plans, they all chose to stay so they could learn, so they could grow, so they could mature before they went off on their own to spread the word in a world of sin, a world, they were told, that would reject them more often than accept them.  It wasn’t long till the practical needs of several thousand homeless people with no income could no longer be ignored. 
            Those who lived in the city helped as much as they could.  They took people in and collected funds to buy extra food and clothing.  Men were chosen to see to these needs.  Joseph helped as well, selling off extra property he owned, and donating the full amount to the group. 
            But that was not all he did.  Here was a man who excelled at encouragement, consolation, exhortation.  He was the first to give a pat on the back when it was needed, a hug, a kind word, a stern word, a teaching word, a “rah-rah” from the sidelines, a second chance to those whom others had given up on.  In fact, he became so good at it that the apostles gave him the nickname, “son of encouragement/consolation/exhortation,” whatever your version says in Acts 4:36.  And forever more in the scriptures, that is how we know him—Barnabas.  Did you even know that was not his real name?
            Whenever I think of that man, I wonder what nickname the apostles would give me?  Whiny Winnie?  Gossip Gail?  My-Way Marian?  Grumpy Gert?  Cold-hearted Catherine?  Hotheaded Harriet?   Wondering about that will give your character a real shot in the arm.  I’d much rather have something like Generous Joyce or Compassionate Kate. 
            Your assignment for today?  Try to figure out what they would call you.  Be honest.  You can always change that name, just by changing yourself.


A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold,  Prov 22:1.



Dene Ward
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Father God

9/29/2021

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Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

With nearly 2000 years of the history of God as Father, it is difficult for us to imagine the impact the gospel had on the ancient world.  Gospel means “Good News.”  To us, it is so familiar that we cannot even comprehend why they thought of it as astoundingly good.

My purpose is that we see the gospel the same way those ancient pagans did which will help us see why the gospel of Jesus exploded across the empire.

The pagan view of god was one reasoned by the philosophers such as Plato, Zeno, Aristotle, and others not so well known.  They felt that god must be far removed from this corrupt world and indifferent to it.  As a being of pure reason, how could god care what happened to men or even be aware of it.  In fact, the philosophers held matter, and especially emotion, to be so evil in relation to the purity of reason that god himself could not have created them.  The god was unemotional, implacable, unmovable (sort of like the god of Calvinism's predestination).  An emanation thousands of descents removed from god was the actual creator and then not a participant in creation.  Inasmuch as lesser gods than even he interacted with humans at all, they were capricious at best and vicious on a whim.  The major goal of the pagan sacrificial system was to get god to leave them alone.  A pagan’s life was spent hoping the gods never noticed him or at least did not care enough to lash out at him.

Into this world burst the gospel of a God who cares, A God who is good and sends good things, A God who loves and not only loves, but loved so much that he sent his Son.  Gods coming to be among men was not new in the mythologies, but they came to satisfy their own lusts and to toy with men.  God sent his Son to rescue men and elevate them and give them hope.  When this gospel was ratified by signs from heaven and not just magical wonders, but signs that healed and helped mortals, men flocked to the truth. 

Further, the gospel offered hope: hope now and hope to come.  What could an ordinary man be? He would live and work and die and, outside his city, who would know or care? The gospel offered meaning to life, to engage in cosmic warfare in the heavenlies.  A Christian was a warrior known by name to his Captain who strengthened him and rewarded him in life.  And in place of the dismal realms of the dead found in the mythologies, the gospel offered eternal life.  To be somebody--even kings and presidents are not remembered long--but God knows your name.  Men’s monumental achievements are forgotten in a generation and who cares anyway (except for the history test), but righteousness and holiness is a victory written in the Book of Life before the Father’s throne.

That gospel is still good news to the nobodies, to the downtrodden and forgotten, to the everyday man who will never be the footnote to a footnote in history.  Is that not who heard Jesus gladly?

"“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  "
(John 3:16).

Don't you long to forever be where that love is?
 
Keith Ward

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Right of Way

9/28/2021

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Paul wrote a scathing letter to the Corinthian brothers and sisters.  This was a church with so many problems many might have refused to call them “sound” nowadays.  The root of every problem they had could probably be summed up as “immaturity.”  Paul, in fact, calls them babes.  You know what he would have said in our language?  “I could not speak to you as spiritual adults because you are a bunch of big babies!”  1 Cor 3:1.
            In chapter six these immature people were taking each other to court.  Paul tells them that this only hurts the church’s reputation in the world.  “What?” he says.  “Don’t you have any one wise enough to help you settle your disputes?  You are doing harm to the church and ought to be willing to suffer wrong instead of making God’s kingdom look bad” (chapter 6, more or less).
            I don’t think that only applies to legal matters.  This was recorded for us, and if we are as smart as we think we are, we ought to be able to apply it in all sorts of situations.  The problem is, we are Americans, and proud of it.  We have rights!  And we often insist on those rights, regardless of how it might make others view the body of which we claim to be a part.
            And then there are the situations that really have nothing to do with “rights,” just convenience or “feelings.”  I love the insurance commercial that says, “The drivers on the road are people.  So treat them like they are in your home, not in your way.”  I wonder if the ad man who came up with that is a Christian.  He sounds more like one than some I know who are. 
            So the next time the person ahead of you in the check-out line takes a long time writing a check, or when the person in the car ahead of you is not as brave as you are about making that left turn across traffic, “take wrong” and “be defrauded” of a few minutes in your day instead of letting him know how much he exasperates you. 
            What if either of those people walk into services Sunday morning, looking for the truth of God’s Word and recognizes you?  Exactly how has your “looking out for your rights” affected their hearts?  Do you think they are likely to be more or less receptive to the gospel? 
            What if, at a family gathering or a church potluck someone says something that you find insulting?  “Take wrong” or “be defrauded” of your feelings for the sake of the others there, including children whose fun might be ruined when you cause a scene and walk off in a huff, or a visitor someone has brought to the potluck who might now have a bad opinion of the church.  In all these cases, just like little children, we often see and care only how things affect us, and not how they will affect others.
            If we cannot yield the right of way when it only affects our convenience, what makes us think we can when it is a matter of legal rights?  If we cannot sacrifice a few precious feelings, we have already failed the test of whether we would sacrifice our lives.  He who is faithful in little is faithful in much; he who is unfaithful in little, is unfaithful in much, Luke 16:10.
            It takes maturity to yield, especially when you are in the right, especially when the other person is not looking out for your good, especially when you have to suffer wrong, or even just inconvenience, to do so.  It also takes maturity to remember this in the heat of the moment.  Would Paul call us a bunch of big babies, too? 
I say this to your shame.  Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you.  Why not rather suffer wrong?  Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves [by this behavior] wrong and defraud—even your own brothers, 1 Cor 6:5-8.

 Dene Ward

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Book Review:  The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey

9/27/2021

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Philip Yancey had the same problem I did:  he was raised on the stories of a six foot brown-haired Jesus who wore a halo and a sweet smile, had a pale face, and long tapered hands which patted children and held sleeping lambs.  He never uttered a cross word and certainly never offended anyone.  That is not the picture the Gospels paint.  Part of it is the baggage we bring to the Gospels from those childhood Bible classes as well as America's picture of a mealy-mouthed Jesus.  Another part is a complete failure to understand the culture and times Jesus lived in. In The Jesus I Never Knew Philip Yancey sets things right.

            Suddenly you will see the tactless Jesus, the frustrated Jesus, even the angry Jesus, all done without sin, and you will understand.  You will read the Sermon on the Mount and realize how difficult it was for those people to even begin to accept, "Love your enemies," when those enemies were just as likely to invade your village and kill men, women, and children just to satisfy some Roman leader's notion of punishment or revenge.  What enemies do we have?  The driver who cut us off in traffic?  The neighbor who turns up his stereo too loud?  We look down on these people for not "figuring it out," when in the same circumstances I wonder if we, if I, would have done any better.
            This book is a challenging read, but if you dare, you may understand the Gospels better than you ever have before, and see things you have missed with your culture-blinded eyes.  Maybe that's the way to get you to read it—I dare you!
               The Jesus I Never Knew is published by Zondervan Publishing House.
 
Dene Ward
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September 25, 1493—Self-Deception

9/24/2021

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We are all familiar with the date October 12, 1492, the date Columbus first made landfall in the New World, mistaking it for the East Indies.  The actual site is uncertain, but most believe it was San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.  On October 28, he found Cuba, thinking that was Cipango, Japan, but by November 1, he had decided it was actually China (Cathay) despite the fact that he had not found any of the cities he knew were there.  Further searching took him to a place the Taino natives called Ayti (Haiti) and on December 6, he renamed it El Isla Española (Hispaniola).  Since he had decided that Cuba was Cathay, he seems to have thought that this was the town in Japan that he had first assumed of Cuba.  Despite all of these back and forth changes of mind, Columbus held on to the belief that he had actually sailed to the Far East.  Nothing and no one could tell him otherwise.

To appease his benefactors, he found and took back with him to Spain enough gold, spices, strange new foods, animals, and captives to make a name for himself, and on September 25, 1493,  our date to remember today, he set sail on his second voyage, this time not with just three ships, but with 17.  His passengers included a small troop of cavalry and a group of priests for converting natives.  He was at the height of his popularity, regardless of his mistaken notions about where he was going and where he had landed.  Neither his second, third, nor fourth voyages ended as well as the first.  He did not find what his royal sponsors had sent him to find—a direct route to India and China, King Solomon's gold mines, or possibly another unknown continent on the other side of the world (antipodean).  Even his own crews had begun to doubt him when he maintained against all common sense that he had found Cathay, but he never gave up that claim.  He had simply deceived himself into believing it.

In his last years, Columbus lived well on the 10% commission of the gold he brought back, but he seriously damaged his relationships with boasts that became more and more ludicrous to those around him.  He felt used by the Spanish government and his persecution complex made him even more miserable as he followed King Ferdinand around (Isabella, his favorite royal, had died), making his claims of unfair treatment and trying to gain redress.  One wonders how different it might have been for him if he had seen what was right in front of him—not the Far East, but a brand new world.

All of that reminded me of another victim of self-deception.  An elderly lady we ran into a long, long time ago told us that the Holy Spirit had spoken to her the night before and gave her a new piece of information.  Unfortunately, that information directly contradicted the plain statement of scripture.  How do you correct someone who believes they have a direct line to God?  You cannot, because no matter what you show them, they know better, and until they receive another "revelation" correcting the first, they believe they know more than you do.

It did not take long before I found others who would not listen to the plain truth of God’s word.  I even discovered that good-hearted Christians will not always see the truth as easily as I had thought.  And then one day not more than ten years ago I was slapped in the face with the realization that I had read a passage for years and completely missed a vital truth in it.  When someone rubbed my nose in it I was appalled at how I could ever have missed it.

 What has this taught me?  It has not taught me that as long as you are a good-hearted person you can believe a lie and still be perfectly fine with God.  Jesus said of the Pharisees, you compass sea and land to make one proselyte and when he has become so, you make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves, Matt 23:15.

God cannot lie, the scriptures tell us.  He will not contradict himself.  That first woman I mentioned needed to have heeded the warning of Paul in Galatians 1:8, Though we or an angel from heaven preach to you any other gospel than that which we have preached, let him be accursed.  The Holy Spirit would never change the word of God.  Just as Columbus wanted so badly to believe he had found China that he couldn't face the truth, we sometimes come to the Bible with our minds made up about what we believe it says and miss the obvious.

Jude tells us in verse 3 that the word was once for all delivered to the saints.  Can you imagine how discouraging it would be to think that God might be changing things around night after night and no one ever told you about it?

He isn’t, and he won’t.  Our job is to make certain we know it well, to check out those who teach it, and to never allow preconceived notions to keep us from seeing the obvious and deceiving ourselves.
 
Every word of God is tried; he is a shield unto those who take refuge in him.  Add not to his words, lest he reprove you and you be found a liar, Prov 30:5,6.              

 

Dene Ward
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Look Under the Pillow

9/23/2021

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A few mornings back Keith and I took our last cup of coffee to the carport and sat in our nylon lounge chairs, the kind with the attached pillow you can flip over the back if you do not care to use it. We did use them, both of us, and leaned back, watching the mockingbird flit back and forth to its nest in the bloom-laden rose trellis and the hummingbirds guard their two feeders like Fort Knox. A couple of squirrels ran along the “highway,” a route they use every day from one live oak top to another, down the limbs and across the fence.  Off in the distance a hawk screamed, a rooster crowed, and a wild turkey gobbled.  Occasionally we flipped a treat out for Chloe to chase.  It was still the middle of spring, cool and bugless, humidity low for a Florida morning, low enough that the scent of jasmine reached us from the vine 75 feet down the drive. 

After twenty minutes or so, we got up to start our morning. As soon as Keith stood, a snake slithered out from under his pillow, down the back of the chair and dropped onto the carport. Our chairs are only six inches apart. If that thing had stuck its head out between us from under the pillow, judging by the roar when he saw it, Keith might have had a heart attack, and I might still be running.  Talk about “Flight Paths”—I would have made a good one.

Guess what we do every morning now?  That’s right. We flip those pillows back and look under them before we sit down.  People say habits are hard to break.  We didn’t have a bit of trouble breaking ourselves of sitting down before we looked.  Depends upon the motivation, I guess.  Maybe that’s why we have such a hard time breaking ourselves of sinful habits—we enjoy them too much, or we just don’t think they are that important.


From another perspective, we didn’t have a bit of trouble creating a new habit either.  Same reason—motivation.  I really do not want to think about a snake lying under the pillow I am leaning my head against, or the possibility of it slithering down my back, do you?


So why can’t we make new habits to rid ourselves of that besetting sin in our lives?  Can’t I learn to pray for self-control before I leave the house when I know I have trouble behind the wheel?  Can’t I learn to recite a few passages about longsuffering and kindness just before I walk into a meeting with that particularly obnoxious colleague?  Can’t I learn to avoid situations that I know will tempt me instead of purposefully putting my soul in harm’s way?  Of course I can, if I care enough, if I believe God would want me to do so, if I think of Him instead of me and my stubborn will. 


AND, if I believe that Satan is real, that he is out there trying to find a way to make me fall.  He is, you know.  He is right under that pillow, waiting for you to sit down without a care in the world and lean your vulnerable neck back into reach of his fangs.


Change a habit today.  LOOK! before you sit down.

 
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Rom 13:14
 
Dene Ward
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The Problem Isn't Old Vs New

9/22/2021

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Today's post is by guest writer Matt Bassford, and was originally printed in the emagazine Pressing On edited by Mark Roberts.  Contact me (left sidebar) for subscription information.

For years, I’ve been an advocate of using quality hymns in worship. Not surprisingly, there are plenty of folks who disagree with me, particularly when I get to picking on contemporary praise songs that I don’t think are useful in congregational worship. They’ve even been known to get upset about it. It’s like I called their dog ugly or something.

One of the most common countercharges is that I don’t like the contemporary songs I don’t like because I’m stuck in the past. According to this way of thinking, I believe the only good hymns are the ones written in the 19th century, filled with “Thee” and “Thou”, and possessed of syntax so convoluted that only Yoda could love it. Oh, and the music has to sound like it was born on a pipe organ too.

There are certainly people who believe such things, but I’m not one of them. I think “Abide with Me” is a wonderful hymn, but not every hymn has to sound like “Abide with Me” to be good. Instead, my usual indictment of many modern worship songs is that 1) they lack strong Biblical content, and 2) the music is too complicated for a congregation to learn easily.

Neither one of these things is a necessary attribute of sacred songs written in the past 50 years, though such songs often fail on one or both counts. Rather, they are frequently problems because modern authors and composers generally don’t make good content and congregationality their priorities, particularly the latter.

Chris Tomlin doesn’t write music for me and my modest range. He writes music for Chris Tomlin, Chris Tomlin’s wonderful range, and Chris Tomlin’s backup band of professional musicians. Most brethren, however, have musical gifts much more like mine than like Chris Tomlin’s. Is it any wonder when they struggle with the Chris Tomlin repertoire?

However, when contemporary writers pay attention to content and the musical abilities of ordinary worshipers, they can turn out some excellent work that is eminently suitable for use in our assemblies. By now, most brethren are familiar with “In Christ Alone”, written by Stuart Townend and Keith and Kristin Getty. Together and separately, they’ve written plenty of other hymns that are comparable in quality and usefulness. The same goes for Bob Kauflin and the many writers who have been associated with Sovereign Grace through the years.

Recently, the Australian group CityAlight has attracted my attention (the tagline on their website is “Christian worship music with Biblically rich lyrics”, which is a good sign). Yes, they use drums and guitars, but brethren have been adapting denominational hymns for a-cappella use since the Restoration. We can do it here too.

Consider, for instance, the CityAlight song “Jesus Strong and Kind”, which I recently encountered for the first time. Its lyrics are:

1. Jesus said that if I thirst
I should come to Him;
No one else can satisfy;
I should come to Him.
2. Jesus said if I am weak
I should come to Him;
No one else can be my strength;
I should come to Him.
Chorus:
For the Lord is good and faithful;
He will keep us day and night;
We can always run to Jesus,
Jesus, strong and kind.
3. Jesus said that if I fear
I should come to Him;
No one else can be my shield;
I should come to Him.
(Chorus)
4. Jesus said if I am lost
He will come to me;
And He showed me on that cross
He will come to me.
(Chorus)

That’s good. It doesn’t look like the hymns Isaac Watts wrote, nor yet like the hymns I write. It’s still good. It reveals Biblical study and contemplation, it is focused, and it is deeply meaningful to the believer, especially those who also have spent time in study of the word.

If I may indulge in hymn-geekery for a moment, it’s also good because of its structural strength. Like many modern praise songs, it doesn’t use a strong rhyme scheme and can’t develop structure that way. Instead, it employs repetition, mixed with a few powerful word changes, as its structural element. The change from “thirst” and “satisfy” to “weak” and “strength” makes v. 2 meaningfully different from v. 1, even though most of the words are the same. However, the whole still has unity because of those similarities.

The music is also (or should be, at least) congregationally accessible. The use of verses means that brethren who learn music by rote don’t have to learn as much. The range is limited to a congregation-friendly octave, C to C in the original sheet music, though I’d probably raise it to D or Eb for four-part a-cappella use. I like the tune, too. Churches of Christ should be able to sing this one easily.

When was this fine piece of hymnody written? 2019. All it takes is somebody in the denominational world who cares about the Bible and congregational singing, and they’ll hand us something we can use.

Indeed, this happens frequently. This year, I wrote a workbook called Singing with Understanding for a Bible class I taught. Each lesson of the workbook pitted an unfamiliar hymn I liked against an unfamiliar hymn I didn’t so that the class could analyze the qualities of good and bad hymns. For the sake of fairness, I segregated hymns by time period: old good against old bad, new good against new bad. Of the four categories, I had by far the easiest time filling out the “New Good” category because so many of the best worship songs being written now are unfamiliar to the church.

That’s a shame. Rather than allowing CCM icons and praise teams to drive the additions to our repertoire, we ought instead to be looking for songs that are written for and will benefit the congregation. If we seek, we will find, and our song worship will benefit immeasurably thereby.

Matthew Bassford

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Emergency!

9/21/2021

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It started the night before, a strong pain in my lower abdomen, a little lower than an appendix might be, I thought, so I ruled that out, and slowly it began to subside and I managed a little sleep that Saturday night.  The next morning all was fine, but just as I finished dressing for morning services, it started again, even stronger this time and it gradually spread up over my right hip and around to my back.  Suddenly memories came flooding back to me.  I had two 9+ pound baby boys, one 21 inches and the other 22, and they were both posterior—“sunny side up.”  That meant all my labor was back labor, and here for the first time in over 35 years, I was having it again.
            “Kidney stones,” my doctor told me and sent me straight to the emergency room.  Notice that:  “emergency” room.  Doesn’t that mean everyone should be hustling around to make this pain go away?  But no, I had to answer a couple dozen questions, then list medications, then get the vitals, all while leaning over trying not to groan too loudly, before I even got my own little room in the back. 
              And what happened there?  More waiting while people strolled around, talking to one another about their Saturday night fun, ostensibly giving orders on my behalf but no one treating it like orders.  And while I lay curled in a fetal position in that sterile little room on that narrow gurney, surrounded by stainless steel trays on which stood clear glass jars of cotton balls and swabs, pink plastic tubs, bedpans, blue open-backed hospital gowns, and plastic squeeze bottles of clear, blue, and orange liquids, up on the wall for my amusement hung a television.  SpongeBob SquarePants cavorted soundlessly with his fellow weirdos.  Really?  SpongeBob?  This is how you treat an emergency?  I lay there strongly tempted to start my Lamaze breathing—if I could only remember how to do it.  Maybe if I actually gave birth, someone would notice.
             Of course that was not a life-threatening emergency, even if it did feel like one.  I am sure if my heart had stopped, someone would have come running.  At least I hope so.  But isn’t that exactly the way we treat soul-threatening emergencies all the time?  No big deal.  We’ve got time to talk to him.  We’ve got time to teach them the gospel.  We’ve got time to bring that lost sheep back to the fold before a wolf gets him for good.  Do we?
             I understand “speaking truth in love” and I do my best to do that all the time.  But some people define that so narrowly that sin-sick people do not get the treatment they need for their desperately—terminally—ill souls.  Our culture has raised a generation that cannot take correction of any kind unless it is so camouflaged it completely slips past them as correction.  “Woe is me.  Someone dared to tell me I was wrong about something.  Someone actually hurt my feelings by rebuking me.  Poor little me.”  And in society in general, that means the corrector is rebuked, usually unjustly, and the one in the wrong gets off scot free—in fact, he usually becomes a hero.  “Look at the poor mistreated miscreant who stands against injustice!”  And let’s riot a little if such doesn’t occur.  Don’t think for a minute it doesn’t happen in the church. 
             And so instead of treating him like someone in need of emergency care, we give him a comfortable little room with SpongeBob prancing on the TV, followed by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as I recall—I was in there for both of those two shows and the beginnings of another before my problem was even diagnosed (even though we already knew what it was) and dealt with.  Good thing it was kidney stones.  I wasn’t likely to die of that.  But there are souls out there who need a good dose of medicine to even have a chance of saving them, and we’re just patting their hands and watching TV with them while they fade off into an eternity in Hell.
 
And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Jude 1:22-23

 
Dene Ward

 
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September 20, 1814  The Star Spangled Banner

9/20/2021

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I imagine everyone knows the story of our national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner," or, its original title, "The Defense of Ft. McHenry."  You know the story of a battle besieged Baltimore, hit on September 13, 1814, by a 27 hour bombardment from British troops who had already burned both the White House and the Capitol.  Francis Scott Key, an attorney, was on board an American truce ship, tethered to a British naval ship after successfully negotiating a prisoner exchange when the shelling began.  The British did not want him to reveal anything he might have overheard so he was forced to stay there.  He could only watch through a spy glass, being several miles away, as the city was hit again and again. It seemed it could not help but fall. Yet when morning came, the American flag still flew over Ft McHenry and Key was moved to write the lyrics to a song he already had in mind, it seemed.  Over the next few days the British gave up their assault and released him.
            The song was passed on to the Baltimore Patriot and Evening Advertiser, printed on September 20, and immediately became popular.  It may have been 1931 before Congress officially declared it our national anthem, but it had been treated so almost from the beginning, certainly by the 1820s and 30s.  It had already become the national anthem of the US Army and Navy by the beginning of World War I.  I can understand why.  It may be one of the most difficult songs to sing for ordinary people (or even some professionals!), but it never fails to send a thrill or two down my spine.  There is just something about it.  Which is why people become highly offended by anyone who disrespects this symbol of our country.
            This is NOT something new.  God knew exactly how music effects the beings he created.  His people have always sung.  And in at least two dispensations, they were commanded to do so, sometimes in very specific ways.  What is it exactly that singing does for us?
            1) Singing teaches.  How did you learn your alphabet?  How did you learn the twelve apostles, the sons of Jacob, and the books of both the Old and New Testaments?  You sang them.  If you are like me, you sometimes have to sing them under your breath still to find the one you want!  Singing can teach in other ways than lists too.  "Psalm 19" will help you memorize a portion of that great psalm.
            2)  Singing admonishes.  Even pop music has been known to carry serious messages.  Do you remember "The Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin?  I imagine I am giving away my age, but if you have never heard it, google the lyrics.  If pop music can do it, surely the spiritual songs and hymns we sing can not only admonish us, but bring us to our knees.  "Follow Me" and "Angry Words" come immediately to mind.  Similar to a sermon, if a hymn can't cause repentance, I wonder if it is worth singing.
            3) Singing comforts us.  Did you know that the majority of psalms are laments?  It's David or Solomon or Moses or Asaph or some other writer casting his complaints before God in the plainest of words, words that sometimes make me cringe.  Can I actually talk to God that way?  Since he saved those songs and prayers for us, I think so.  And notice this, in those laments when the complaining is over, the praise begins—even before God has fixed the problem.  The psalmist is so comforted that he treats the answer to his petition as already having been received.  Talk about faith!  "In the Hour of Trial" and "Be with Me Lord" seem to fall into this category.
            4) Singing encourages.  It moves us to fight harder and never give up.  I read an article once in which the writer made it obvious that he hates songs that call us soldiers.  Well, Paul calls us exactly that.  Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2Tim 2:3).  And what do soldiers often do as they go off into battle?  They sing!  It raises the spirits and gives inner strength.  It reminds us that trials make us stronger and buoy our spirits when the going is hard.  "Count Your Many Blessings" and "The Battle Belongs to the Lord" are great examples.  Did you ever exercise or run to music?  Sometimes that is how I make those last ten steps when otherwise I would have stopped long before.  Singing spiritual songs can do the same for us.
            5)  And singing unifies.  If "The Star Spangled Banner" can make for instant camaraderie in a highly partisan crowd of spectators at a sporting event, surely "Marching to Zion" and "Blessed Be the Tie" can do so in our spiritual assembly.  If we can all sing the same words, it means we are all in this together, fighting the same enemy, spreading the Word, and holding one another up as we do so.  We are one people headed for the same place.
            Is it really so amazing that our Creator knew how this activity would affect us?  If it isn't affecting you that way, maybe you should pay more attention to what you are singing.  If it's all about you, all about what you think, all about how you feel, and nothing about the God we worship and the gratitude and reverence we should have for him, maybe that's the problem.
 
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD (Ps 27:6).

 

Dene Ward
For myths concerning the writing of our national anthem, which I have tried to correct in this article, see www.constitutioncenter.org.
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Oracles to Women 5 Snobs

9/17/2021

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“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’ ​The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness that, behold, the days are coming upon you, when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks. ​And you shall go out through the breaches, each one straight ahead; and you shall be cast out into Harmon,” declares the LORD, Amos 4:1-3.
            “Cows of Bashan”—that has to be one of my favorite lines in the Bible.  I can just see the faces of these haughty women when that rough old country boy Amos spun that one out.  There they lay on their silk cushions commanding even their own husbands to wait on them.  These spoiled women have many sisters in spirit today.  Just check out these other passages in Amos:
            Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— Amos 2:6.  Translation:  I will punish you for not looking after those in need just so you could buy yet another pair of new shoes.
​            I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end,” declares the LORD, Amos 3:15.  Translation:  I will destroy not just your upscale houses but also the cabin in the mountains, the condo on the beach, and the time share you visit every summer.
            “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, ​who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, ​who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! ​Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.” Amos 6:4-7.  Translation:  Disaster will come on those with the best and most expensively decorated homes, who eat lamb and veal—the most expensive meats in the market—who like to be entertained lavishly, who use the most expensive perfumes and makeups and judge their haircuts by who paid the most, yet are not concerned one iota over the spiritual state of this nation.
            If you cannot see our culture in these verses, it may just be that you are one of these people, more concerned about what you can have here and now, about your status among the rest of the snobs, about your comfort and convenience than about your relationship with God.  Those people broke their covenant with God, thinking that sacrifices and tithes (4:4) could make up for trampling on the needy in order to make even more money (5:11), or just ignoring them and blaming them for their own problems as we tend to do. 
            And they judged greatest among them those who spent the most on clothing and jewelry and perfume and homes and probably even manicures, while God’s Word shows us that great women are known for purity, for love, for strength of character, for teaching, for serving the poor, the ill, the weak, or even those who don’t deserve it at all.
            We have now seen all four of the oracles God sent specifically to women—the manipulators, the high maintenance, the weak who cannot face facts, and the snobs who judge by society’s standards instead of God’s.  I have known all four of them.  The goal for me—and you--is to make sure we are never counted among them.
 

She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens… She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong… She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy… ​Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness… “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”  Prov 31:15,17,20,25-27,29.

 
Dene Ward
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    Dene Ward has taught the Bible for more than  forty years, spoken at women’s retreats and lectureships, and has written both devotional books and class materials. She lives in Lake Butler, Florida, with her husband Keith.


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