Blog Archives

The Cafe

11/28/2014

Today’s post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

How do you measure things?

We went to a favorite café for breakfast the other day. We cannot eat before our doctor appointments due to one or the other of us needing lab work. We see our friend/doctor together. So, even with an early morning appointment by the time we get there, we are ready to pig out on what is my favorite meal of the day. As usual, I had the “monster-everything” and she ordered small and nibbled on mine. A main reason the place got to be our favorite is because the sausage gravy is about the best we’ve had anywhere. Well, last week, it was mediocre at best. Not bad, but far from the usual excellent. I looked at Dene and said, well, if this were our first visit, I doubt we would be back. Since we have experience there, we will give them another chance and hope this was an aberration.

So is my life. I would hate to be judged by the worst I have done. I am seldom THAT bad. Nor do I wish to be judged by the best. I am seldom that good. We understand that with people we know well and make allowances for their bad days or moments. But, if it is a first impression, we all too often write that person off. He may not even know why, ever.

I take my business where service is good and the product meets my desires. But I now resolve that with my brother, I will be more willing to believe that any bad is abnormal and treat him so. Will you?

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment, James 2:12,13..

Keith Ward

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Sand Pears

11/26/2014

The first time I received a bushel of pears from a neighbor out here in the country I was disappointed. I was used to the pears in the store, especially juicy Bartletts, and creamy, vanilla-scented Boscs. As with a great many things here in this odd state, only certain types grow well, and they are nothing like the varieties you see in the seed and plant catalogues or on the Food Network shows. We always called them Florida Pears, but recently learned they were Sand Pears, and in this sandy state that makes good sense. They are hard and tasteless. In fact, Keith and I decided you could stone someone to death with them. We nearly threw them away.
   Then an older friend told me what to do with them. They make the best pear preserves you ever dripped over a biscuit—amber colored, clear chunks of fruit swimming in a sea of thick, caramel flavored syrup. Then she made a cobbler and I thought I was eating apples instead of pears. No, you don’t want to eat them out of hand unless they are almost overripe, but you most certainly do want to spoon out those preserves and dig into that cinnamon-scented, crunchy topped cobbler. They aren’t pretty; they are hard to peel and chop; but don’t give up on them if you are ever lucky enough to get some.
   A lot of us give up on people out there. We see the open sin in their lives and the culture they come from and decide they could never change. Have you ever studied the Herods in the New Testament? If ever there was a soap opera family, one that would even make Jerry Springer blush, it’s them. They were completely devoid of “natural affection,” sons trying to assassinate fathers, and fathers putting sons and wives to death. Their sex lives were an open sewer—swapping husbands at a whim; a brother and sister living together as a married couple; leaving marriages without even a Roman divorce and solely for the sake of power and influence.
   Yet Paul approaches Herod Agrippa II, the son of Herod Agrippa I who had James killed and Peter imprisoned, the grandnephew of Antipas who had John the Baptist imprisoned and killed after taking his brother’s wife, great-grandson of Herod the Great who had the babies killed at Jesus’ birth, a man who even then was living with his sister, almost as if he expected to convert him. Listen to this:
   I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently, Acts 26:2,3.
   Yes, I am sure there was some tact involved there, but did you know that Agrippa had been appointed advisor in Jewish social and religious customs? Somehow the Romans knew that he had spent time becoming familiar with his adopted religion—during the time between the Testaments the Herods were forced to become Jews and then later married into the family of John Hyrcanus, a priest. No, he didn’t live Judaism very well, but then neither did many of the Pharisees nor half the priesthood at that point. But Agrippa knew Judaism, and Paul was counting on that.
   Paul then spends verses 9 through 23 telling Agrippa of the monumental change he had made in his own life. Here was a man educated at the feet of the most famous teacher of his times, the rising star of Judaism, destined to the Sanhedrin at the very least, fame and probably fortune as well. Look at the list of things he “counts as loss” in Philippians 3. Yet this man gives it all up and becomes one of the hated group he had formerly imprisoned and persecuted to the death, forced to live on the charity of the very group he had hated along with a pittance from making a tent here and there. Talk about a turnaround. Do you think he told Agrippa his story just to entertain him? Maybe he was making this point—yes, you have a lot to change, but if I could do it, so can you.
   In verse 27, he makes his final plea--King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe! Paul had not given up on changing this man whom many of us would never have even tried to convert. And it “almost” worked.
   Who have you given up on? Who has a hard heart, a lifestyle that would be useless to anyone but God? Who, like these pears, needs the heat of preaching and the sweet of compassion? Who could change if someone just believed in them enough?
   Sand pears seem tasteless to people who don’t work with them, who don’t spend the time necessary to treat them in the way they require. Are we too busy to save a soul that is a little harder than most? Who took the time to cook you into a malleable heart for God? It’s time to return the favor.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses... Ezek 36:26-29.

Dene Ward

The Hero of the Story

11/25/2014

I have a problem. I believe that life is a book and I am the hero of the story. Everything anyone does is done with me in mind because I am the central character. Any time I rub shoulders with another person in my daily life, that person did it solely because he wanted to hurt me, or inconvenience me, or insult me, or otherwise bother my life.
    What is really happening is that person thinks his life is a book and he is the hero, and I am the one causing him trouble. The things I often get so upset about are nothing more than an accidental crossing of paths or an idiosyncrasy that, in my own self-centeredness, I have decided to take as a personal offense when the other person was not directing it toward me at all.
    And in the same vein, I think everything is supposed to turn out wonderfully, a happily ever after for all my goodness and faithfulness, because I am the hero after all. Admit it: you have the same problem, and it can cost us our souls if we are not careful.
    I think of John the Baptist, a man whose birth was announced by the same angel who announced Jesus’ birth. He gave up any semblance of a normal life to fulfill the mission God gave him. If not for John’s preaching, what would have become of Christianity? If it took several years for the men who actually walked with Jesus to figure things out, what of the masses if John had not worked so hard to prepare them for the coming of the kingdom? The thought of 3000 being baptized on the Day of Pentecost would have been nothing more than a pipe dream.
    John also gave up what others might have expected in the way of glory. He watched Jesus begin his ministry and gradually take away many of his own disciples. For all his sacrifice this is the thanks he gets? John did not look for thanks. Indeed, as his ministry waned and an unjust death at about the age of 31 loomed, his remaining disciples came to him complaining about Jesus’ growing popularity as if it were an affront to John. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him. He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is made full. He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:27-30.
    It may have been written many years after his death, but John understood the true meaning of to them that love God all things work together for good, Rom 8:28. He understood because he recognized the part that we ignore: according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren: and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified, vv 29,30. John knew he was not the hero of the story. He knew that he need not expect this life to be a bed of roses with a happy ending.
    He also knew that the purpose of God for which he worked was to give everyone the opportunity to be saved, and that was the good for which all things worked together. If it took his not being able to have a family, if it took living a meager existence in the wilderness, if it took his murder, he was willing to bear it.
    If John could have that attitude, a man who lived a short, strange, sacrificial life and died a martyr by the hand of a ruthless woman and her weak husband, why can’t we who live relatively normal, happy, safe lives?
    There will be trials. There will be moments of grief. The life we live here may not have the happy ending we always dreamed of, but the purpose of God will make it seem like a mere trifle if we just stop thinking everything is about us, and remember who the real Hero is.

Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, Heb 12:1,2.

Dene Ward

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The Naomi Project 5--Grandchildren

11/24/2014

If you really want to hurt a woman, hurt her children. If you think no one would do such a thing, you haven’t been to as many places as I have nor lived as long.
    I have seen grandmothers pass their favoritism on to the next generation. If one child is not particularly liked, then his children won’t be either.
    I have seen grandmothers show that favoritism in gifts, in words, and most shameful of all, in hugs. I have seen grandchildren pitted against one another, one side always believed over the other, regardless of evidence. I have seen grandchildren used to create tension between their parents, either siblings of one another, or spouses.
    Children should be sacred ground when it comes to family squabbles. You never hurt a child, regardless whose he is. If there is something unnatural about a mother hurting her own child, there is something just plain loathsome about a grandmother doing it. Isn’t that why the story of Athaliah, the wicked queen who had all her grandchildren killed to secure her own reign, horrifies us? Women like that deserve the worst of punishments, and God made sure Athaliah got hers.
    Then there is the matter of “blood.” I have seen blood grandchildren obviously favored over adopted. I have seen step-grandchildren totally ignored. A child cannot help where he came from. If he has been specially chosen to be in the family, he should be treated as family as much as any other child—he IS family.
    Naomi is the perfect example. Ruth was her daughter-in-law, not her daughter. Boaz may have been a distant relative, but he was not her son. Yet how did she accept their child? So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son…Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse, Ruth 4:13,16. According to Keil, “became his nurse” is tantamount to adopting him as her own son, not just her grandson. Could she have made her love and acceptance of this child any clearer?
    Surely a grandmother should not need to be told to love her grandchildren. Even if there is some legitimate reason for an estrangement with their parents, do not take it out on the children. It is not their fault how their parents act. The list of pagan sins in Romans 1:28-32 includes “without natural affection” in the KJV and ASV. That is translated “heartless” in the ESV. Only a heartless grandmother refuses her grandchildren. Only a heartless mother-in-law does it to retaliate against a daughter- or son-in-law.
    Naomi’s love and acceptance of Ruth in all the ways we have discussed made for a relationship that has transcended the ages. Ruth returned that love with her own genuine affection, with acceptance, and with the physical care every older parent has a right to expect. Naomi and Ruth were not physically related in any way at all, but they treated one another as if they were, in fact, better than some blood relatives treat one another. This is the way it is supposed to work. May we all work harder to make it happen in our own homes.

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in unto her, and Jehovah gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be Jehovah, who has not left you this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto you a restorer of life, and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him, Ruth 4:13-15

Dene Ward

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Read the Buttons!

11/21/2014

“Buttons! Buttons! Read the buttons!” and so for the fortieth time that week I sit down with my two year old grandson Judah and read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. And every time we reach the page where Pete loses his last button but doesn’t let it get him down because “buttons come and buttons go,” and where Pete looks down at his buttonless shirt hanging open and the author asks, “what does he see?” Judah springs up, holds his little arms high over his head with a big grin on his face and says, “His bel-ly but-ton!” with exactly the same amount of glee and excitement as the first time he ever heard the book read.
   He loves that book and the other two Pete the Cat books he has, as well as the one called Click, Clack, Boo, plus the one based on Ezekiel 37 called Dem Bones. That week we babysat we learned by the third day to be careful what we said or it would remind him of one of those books and he would toddle off to find it and ask for it to be read not once again, but three, four, five times again.
   Yet here we sit with a shelf full of Bibles, every version you can imagine, amplified and not, written in and bare, paragraphed and versed, and now even some in large print, and do we ever have the same amount of desire to read it as a two year old who can’t even read it to himself yet? He knows those “Pete” books so well you can leave off a word and he will fill it in. You can say the wrong word and he will shout, “No! No! It’s ______!” You can mention one word completely out of context and he will immediately think of that book and go looking for it.
   Yet we seem loathe to pick up what is supposed to be our spiritual food and drink, the lamp that lights our way in the dark, and the weapon to fight our spiritual battles. We moan over daily reading programs, especially when we get to Leviticus or the genealogies. We complain when the scripture reading at church is longer than 5 verses, especially if we are one of those congregations that, like the people in Nehemiah, stand at the reading of God’s Word. We gripe when the Bible class teacher asks us to read more than one chapter before next week’s class. What in the world is wrong with us?
   This little two-year-old puts us to shame. Just from hearing it read, he can quote practically a whole book, several of them, in fact. His whole face lights up when you read it to him yet again. I have to admit, Keith and I would occasionally try to hide those books by the end of a day. We may not do that with God’s Word, at least not literally, but leaving it to sit on the shelf and gather dust isn’t much different.

I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law. Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules. Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble, Psalms 119:162-165.

Dene Ward

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Hannah and Prayer

11/20/2014

Most of us know the story of Hannah who asked God for a son and promised to give him back. She certainly made an amazing vow and an astounding sacrifice I can scarcely understand. But do we consider her many examples in prayer?

    Hannah was the second wife of a man of Ephraim, a Levite (1 Chron 6:33-38) named Elkanah. The story reminds me a bit of Leah and Rachel, except that Hannah and Peninnah were not sisters, and Hannah, the favored wife, was far more righteous and God-fearing than Rachel, who stole her father’s household gods (Gen 31:19) and nagged Jacob to death about her inability to conceive as if it were his fault (Gen 30:1,2). Going to God was Rachel’s last resort, after first badgering Jacob, then offering her handmaid (Gen 30:3) and finally using mandrakes (Gen 30:14), the aphrodisiac of the day. You should take a few minutes sometime and read the meanings of her children’s names (by her handmaid) if you want a flavor of her mindset, and compare them with the names of Leah’s children. Then of course, there was Joseph. When God answered her prayer for her own child, she named him, “Give me another one.” Look at the marvelous contrast of Hannah, who after asking for a child and receiving him, gave him up to God, with no promise that she would ever have another.

    Hannah shows us what prayer is supposed to be—not some halfhearted muttering of ritual phrases, but a “pouring out of the soul” 1 Sam 1:15. She prayed so fervently that Eli, watching her, thought she was drunk. As she told Eli, “Out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken” v 16. Her prayer life was such that her relationship with Jehovah gave her the confidence to tell him exactly how she felt, in the plainest of speech, evidently. You do not speak to someone that way unless you have spent plenty of time with him and know him intimately. Are we that close to God?

    She also teaches us what prayer should do for us. Look at the contrast between v 10 and v 18. Before her prayer “she was in bitterness of soul…and wept sore.” Afterward, she “went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.”

    Of course, Hannah had the reassurances of a priest and judge that God would give her what she had prayed for, but don’t we have the assurance of the Holy Spirit through the word He gave that God listens and answers our prayers? Shouldn’t we exhibit some measure of ease after our prayers?    In whom do we have our faith? If the doctors say it is hopeless, do we pray anyway? Do we carry our umbrellas, even though the weatherman says, “No rain in sight?” Do we pray on and on and on, even when it seems that what we ask will never come to pass? God does not run by a timetable like we do. Hannah had the faith that says, “It’s in God’s hands now,” and she was able to get on with her life. Life does go on, no matter which answer we get, and God expects us to continue to serve Him with a “thy will be done” attitude.

    “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much,” James tells us in 5:16. Hannah shows us it works for righteous women as well. Can people tell by our lives that we believe it?

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I call unto you, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been a refuge to me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will dwell in your tabernacle forever. I will take refuge in the covert of your wings. Psa 61:1-4

Dene Ward

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Blessing God

11/19/2014

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Psalm 103:1

   In our Psalms class we came upon this call from David to bless Jehovah, a wake-up call directed first to himself as he sat complacent and satisfied with his ho-hum worship, and then later to the people who were following their king’s lead. The question quite naturally arose then, how can a man bless God? So we did a little research.
   Your first thought might be that there are two distinct words for “bless”—one for God blessing men and one for men blessing God. Not true. Both are the same Hebrew word. It doesn’t take a Hebrew scholar to look at the anglicized word barak in several different verses and see that it is indeed the same word.
   Here is something else we discovered with but a small amount of time searching the scriptures: “bless” usually does not involve physical things. We tend to think that way in our all too materialistic culture. When asked to count our blessings, what do we list? When we ask God to bless us, what do we expect? Yet in the scriptures, I found that well over half the times the word “bless” was used it involved nothing more than what we might call “well wishes,” wanting good to happen to the other person. Now think about the opposite—if someone curses a person, what is it exactly that he wants? He wants evil to befall that person. We understand that perfectly fine; the problem comes when we think a blessing always involves a tangible gift. Of course we cannot do that for God, but we can give God other “blessings.”
   We checked out over 300 verses using the word “bless,” many of which involved men blessing God. It helped enormously when we saw the various ways that word is translated in the KJV. In fact, some of these things completely lost their punch in the newer versions. Let that be a lesson to you not to completely ignore those older versions. They lasted a long time for a good reason.
   Five times the word is translated “salute.” In the newer versions that word is translated “greet.” There is a world of difference between saluting someone and simply saying hello. Salutations involve respect. Especially in 1 Sam 25:14 the difference between David’s men “saluting” Nabal and just greeting him color how we view Nabal’s reaction—it was completely out of line if he had been saluted.
   One time the word is translated “congratulate” (1 Chron 18:10). When do you usually congratulate someone? When he has received an accolade or a well-deserved award. This word involves honor.
   One time the word barak is translated “thanks.” This denotes gratitude and appreciation.
   Three times it is translated “kneel” or some variation of it. That word signifies humility and submission.
   All of these are other English words used to translate the word “bless” found in Psalm 103:1, Bless God, O my soul. So how do we as mere mortal men bless an Eternal and Almighty God? We show respect, we give Him honor, we appreciate the things He has done for us, and with humility we submit our lives to Him.
   Can a disobedient person bless God? Read that last paragraph again. No, he cannot. Can a self-righteous person bless God? No, not a chance in the world. Can a half-hearted Christian, who somehow thinks there is a minimum he can do to get by bless God? None of those things show honor, respect, gratitude, and humility.
   Be careful before you read Psalm 103. It demands a whole lot more than most people want to give.

Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the LORD your God.” And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king, 1 Chron 29:20.

Dene Ward

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Cruciverbalism

11/18/2014

I am a cruciverbalist, or at least I try to be. A cruciverbalist is simply an expert at solving crossword puzzles—“cruci” = cross, “verbal” = having to do with words.
    I do a dozen crossword puzzles a week, sometimes more. Lucas got me started on the Simon and Schuster books, which besides giving me 225 to work on, are also larger print than the newspapers. After going through 7 books in the past four years (yes, that’s 1575 of them) plus any others I can pick up anywhere else, I have become, in Nathan’s words, “A treasure trove of useless information.”
    “Medieval helmet,” 5 letters: armet.   What does it look like? I have no idea.
    “Betel palm,” 5 letters: areca. Where do they grow? Beats me.
    “Anoa’s home,” 7 letters: Celebes. Can I find the Celebes Islands on a map? No, but I know they have an ox there called an anoa!
    Sometimes, though, instead of being a “crossword specialist,” I become a “cross word specialist.” That, unfortunately, is a whole lot easier. Just let someone throw me a curveball, upsetting my carefully planned schedule, and I become a real grump. No matter how many times they try to appease me, I won’t let them. I am upset and that is all I care about at the moment.
    I also become cross when I hear secondhand something less than complimentary about myself. My mind starts running in circles as I mentally tell off the one who dared say such a thing, over and over, sometimes even ruining my sleep at night, which serves me right for caring so much about something that really does not matter.
    Do you have your cross word specialties? Is it griping about everything? Some people really enjoy complaining. They cannot be happy if they can’t be miserable.
    Is it passing on gossip? For some people that is the most exciting thing in life. They actually get a rush from it.
    Is it sarcasm, open contemptuous mocking of other people’s suggestions, ideas, or even their hobbies and interests? Such scorn is disrespect, not teasing.
    Is it just plain meanness toward others? I have heard things come out of Christians’ mouths that have stopped me in my tracks. I am usually so shocked I just stand there open-mouthed.
    I do not like The Message. Whenever someone calls it a “translation,” I bristle, but for some things it is helpful. We read the Proverbs and they go right over our heads because of the stilted language. I don’t do those things! But listen to the following.
    Mean people spread mean gossip…troublemakers start fights, and gossips break up friendships…fools openly spread slander…you love malicious gossip, you foul-mouth.
    Those are the Message’s interpretations of Proverbs 16:27,28; 10:18; and Psalm 52:4. I think he has hit the nail on the head. You see, if I spread mean gossip, I am a mean person. Spreading any gossip makes me a “foul-mouth,” a description most of us save for those who use four letter words. It also makes me a fool. And I may not mean to do anything bad, but my words can ruin people’s lives.
    No one wants to associate with those who constantly scoff, complain, slander, lie, or otherwise cause trouble. Not only do those things not make for peace between brethren, but they will eat at the soul of the listener. It’s like purposefully infecting yourself with a lethal virus. You will soon become that person you hate being around for very long at a time, a “cross word specialist.”

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones, Prov 16:24.

Dene Ward

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The Naomi Project 4--Advisor

11/17/2014

Is there anything more ticklish than the subject of advice between the older and younger generations? Yet the Bible clearly teaches that older women are “to train the young women,” Titus 2:4, among many other passages. So why is giving advice such a source of friction? Naomi gave an awful lot of advice that was well-accepted. Maybe we can learn a thing or two from her.
    In the first place, we don’t see much advice given in the book of Ruth until the two women return to Israel. This was a brand new experience, a brand new culture with a new set of traditions for Ruth, and Naomi knew it. So did Ruth. She had no familiarity with the gleaning system of “welfare” practiced by the Hebrews. Even though it reads as if she were the one to suggest her gleaning, she would not have known the laws unless Naomi had previously taught her. And so Naomi likely told her, “This is how it’s done,” and she listened because she knew she needed it to get along in her new environment.
    Do you give advice when you have a different way of doing ordinary things, or when you know your daughter-in-law is in a completely new situation? Young people nowadays are very well educated, so I have tried to keep quiet unless asked, but once in awhile the asking can be done with a sigh of frustration. If you aren’t sitting there trying to change all of her methods simply because they don’t match yours, and if there has been some indication that it is wanted, your advice will probably be graciously accepted. And if, after trying it out, she decides not to follow it, that’s fine. Don’t mention it again. We all have our own comfortable ways of doing things.
    Don’t be judgmental about your advice. Just because she uses more convenience food than you did, doesn’t mean she is a bad wife and mother. Probably the time saved she uses on something that was not your talent and that you did not have time for because you cooked from scratch. Despite modern catch phrases, you can’t do it all, and different doesn’t always mean worse.
    Remember, as we have seen previously, Naomi had carefully nurtured this relationship with acceptance, love, and friendship. If you haven’t done that, don’t even try to give advice. Pay close attention to Naomi’s motivation. Some of her advice came with the name of God attached (2:20). Other times it was for the sake of Ruth’s safety (2:22), or for her future welfare and reputation (3:1ff). Why, exactly, are you giving advice? Is it to impart the will of the Lord? Is it a matter of health and safety? Or do you simply think she should fold the towels the same way you do? If you are giving advice for every little petty thing that comes along, especially if it comes with that disapproving nasal whine we all recognize, it’s time to stop. If it comes with a tone of superiority, don’t bother. You might as well be holding up a sign saying, “Don’t pay any attention to me,” because she won’t. You wouldn’t either if it were your mother-in-law.
    Listen to the way young women give each other advice. Never a hint of superiority or criticism, just simple sharing—“This worked for me…I read this once…I never tried it myself, but my neighbor said…” Their advice never comes with the unspoken but clearly heard, “And if you don’t do it my way, I’m going to take it as a personal affront.” No wonder they go to their peers for advice instead of us older women. But no wonder Ruth listened to Naomi. Ruth’s attitude toward advice in chapters 2-4 testifies to the manner in which Naomi must have advised and taught in those early years of chapter 1.
    So, all mothers-in-law out there listen to Naomi! Giving advice is about content, manner, and motive. It should be given seldom, carefully, and for all the right reasons. I hope I’m getting better at it.

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his [or her!] earnest counsel, Prov 27:9.

Dene Ward

Figuring It Out

11/14/2014

Today’s post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

When Peter gets to Cornelius's house, he states that he wouldn't normally have attended a Gentile's invitation, "but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean." (10:28) Wait! God never told him that! There is no place in the whole Bible where God tells Peter that he shouldn't call people common or unclean. It's just not there. However, Peter doesn't say God told him, he said God showed him. But again, God never showed him anything about people. Earlier in chapter ten God showed Peter a vision of animals and encourages Peter to "kill and eat". Peter refuses, saying that he's never eaten anything unclean. This is where the heavenly voice says, "What God has made clean, do not call common." (vs 15) So, God showed Peter about animals and Peter figured out that He was talking about more than just animals. The Holy Spirit's instruction to go with these Gentiles and Cornelius's obvious humility and desire to learn things pointed to this conclusion. In fact, it was almost necessary that he infer this conclusion . . . .WAIT A MINUTE!

This is an almost perfect example of what preachers/teachers/theologians mean when they say "necessary inference". While Peter was never out-and-out told that no person was common or unclean, he was given so many hints along those lines that any other conclusion was impossible. If he was thinking about God's revelations at all, then this was the conclusion he had to come to. This conclusion is later backed up by the Holy Spirit falling upon the Gentiles, proving that no man was common or unclean due to his race. Also notice that this wasn't the product of wishful thinking on Peter's part, nor was it the result of taking one bit of revelation and twisting it beyond its original intent. After Peter considered all that God had revealed to him on this subject, this was the only conclusion possible.

Another thing to look at is the first 18 verses of chapter 11. When the Jewish Christians accosted Peter in Jerusalem, he was not able to answer them in the way of the OT prophets; he could not say "Thus sayeth Jehovah" because God had never told him directly to do what was done with Cornelius. So, how did he answer? He told them of the vision. He told them that he was ordered to go with these men "nothing doubting" (the only direct verbal statement of God during this whole incident). He recounts what Cornelius had told him regarding the angel's visit. He tells of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius et al and that the incident brought to mind a saying of Jesus. He summed it all up by saying, "who was I, that I could withstand God?" (11:17) Upon hearing this, the Jewish Christians praised God that the Gospel was extended to the Gentiles, too. But what was Peter's justification built on? One generalized statement of the Lord and one statement by the Holy Spirit to go, one rather cryptic vision, a Gentile's claim to having seen an angel, and the rather emphatic proof of God's approval of what was going on. (By the time the Holy Spirit had fallen upon them, Peter had already preached the Gospel to them; he had already come to his conclusion by that point -- the Holy Spirit's outpouring was for the benefit of others.) To understand what God wanted and approved of, Peter and the rest of the Jewish Christians examined all the evidence available, the whole of God's revelation on the subject to that point, and came to a conclusion. In other words, they had to exercise their gray matter upon the subject and think.

Yes, God expects us to think about His revelation and our religion. Isa 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." God wants us to think, just as He implored the ancient Israelites. The "wise of this world" scoff at religion and label it the domain of unthinking brutes -- and many do unthinkingly follow religious leaders to horrible ends -- but the religion God set up is a religion for thinkers. Not that you have to be super smart. Not that it is extremely difficult to understand. But God has given us His word and expects us to understand it. To do so, we must read and think about it. Understand it as a whole, rather than wresting individual bits of it. See what God is clearly implying about how we should live our lives.

Peter figured it out and he was an uneducated fishermen. Surely we can follow his example.

Lucas Ward

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