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Friends of God

12/31/2014

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

To have friends, one must be a friend. I have had a little success with this axiom of interpersonal relationships, but I am not a good practitioner. I became more concerned when I considered that Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:23). How does one act to become known in truth as God’s friend? Developing friends takes time; one must have time to listen, time to help out, time to “be there,” etc. How can one do these things for God?
   On one occasion, Jehoshaphat called Abraham “thy friend” as he prayed for God’s help (2 Chron 20:7). But, of more significance, God himself referred to “Abraham, my friend” (Isa 41:8). Does it not send thrills through your soul to consider the possibility that God might refer to you in that way? Friendship is a two-way street. We can readily understand what God did for Abraham, but find only question marks when we consider what Abraham might have done for God.
   I think I might be described as a good servant of God, but friend? How do I move up to that level?
   Friends do more than obey; friends do more than ask. Abraham talked with God, he did not just make requests.
Abram complained to God because he did not have offspring and God responded with clarification of the Promise and renewal of the covenant. They talked back and forth. When God came down in person to promise Isaac, Abram laughed and proposed that Ishmael be the one (17:22).   Rather than smite him, God reiterated the promise. Abram then expressed his faith by circumcising himself and his house.
   Later, when Sarah laughed, she evidently did not know the guest was God, but by the time Abraham spoke on behalf of Sodom, he knew.   He bargained with God, not as an equal but as one who had the right to so speak plainly. And God honored his pleas, and as a friend, went beyond them to rescue Lot from destruction.
   Yet, Abraham did not presume on his friendship to think he could disobey. When God said, “Go offer,” he went and only the hand of his Friend kept him from fulfilling his obedience. Friends do great deeds for their friends.
   So, today, how do I become a friend of God? Just praying the standard prayers is clearly insufficient. That is just asking/thanking. Where is the exchange that comes with friendship? To love the Lord with all my heart and soul and might involves more than an act of teeth-gritting determination to will it so. Being a friend involves much more than simple obedience. I must like God. More than worship him; more than obey him, God wants me to like him. He is not coming down to man’s level, he is asking me (and you) to step up and to consider him and to like him and be his friend.

Keith Ward

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The Car Seat

12/30/2014

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A few years ago we traded cars. The new one had a few new gadgets on it. You can raise and lower the driver’s seat, as well as pull it forward or push it back. You can position the steering column up or down, in or out. Unfortunately I had not yet learned how to do that the first time I climbed in to drive when Keith was at work.
   Instead of sliding onto the seat, I fell into a hole. If the seat was not actually sitting on the floorboards of the car, it was close. As I tried to slide my legs under the steering wheel, I realized that it was practically resting on the seat. I sat for a minute fumbling around, and never found the right button, knob, or lever to fix anything. Needless to say, my driving experience that day was far from relaxing. Every time I got in, I fell in, squeezed under the steering wheel, and then spent the entire drive doing pull-ups on it so I could see where I was going.
   All of that is because Keith is nearly six inches taller than I, and apparently his favored driving position is sitting on the floor with his knees up around his ears. That is why they make those seats movable—no two people are the same size and shape, and we all have our own definitions of comfort.
   We tend to forget that with one another in the church. Depending upon when we first came into contact with the gospel, and the background we brought to the baptistery, we are all in different places in our faith and understanding. While the New Testament strongly hints that God has put a timetable on our learning (“when by reason of time you ought to be teachers”), it may not be my place to judge your progress. True, if one has been a Christian forty years and still craves the milk of the word rather than the meat, there just might be a problem, but most of my impatience with my brothers and sisters has little to do with circumstances so obvious.
   The job of the priest under the old law was to bear gently with the ignorant and erring for he himself also is compassed with infirmity, Heb 5:2. Aren’t we all called priests of God under the new law, (1 Pet 2:5)? And Paul says to the weak I became as weak so that I might gain the weak, 1 Cor 9:22. He did not look down his nose at one who did not yet have his knowledge and comprehension of the plan of God through the ages.
   When the church is growing spiritually and has reached a point that change in its traditions becomes expedient for the progress of the gospel, some people have problems with it. They are stuck in a place where traditions in their minds have become laws. It becomes more difficult for them to change those things. Are we patient in our teaching?   Do we make ourselves “weak” by understanding how difficult this is for them, and so guide them along with compassion?
   Mind you, we are not talking about changing the rules of the road or even how a car operates. You must still drive on the “right” side of the road. You still have to press the accelerator to go and the brake to stop, but some of us shift gears smoothly and automatically, while others need to do it manually, slowly and methodically, one gear at a time.
   I usually see all those cars that impatiently pass me a little further down the road. Sometimes they sit on the shoulder with another car behind them, flashing its blue lights. Other times I quietly pull along side of them at the next stoplight as we both obey the law, idling in our separate lanes. So he got there ten seconds ahead of me—big deal. We both followed the rules and ended up in the same place.
   We must patiently show one another how to move the car seat so we can all more easily see down the road, so none of us is left sitting in a hole, awkwardly doing pull-ups on the steering wheel, trying to see where he is going.

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you have fallen on me, Rom 15:1-3

Dene Ward

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Looking for a Sign

12/29/2014

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“Are you looking for a sign? This is it!”

    We saw that on a highway somewhere when we were traveling, and under it the address of the local church. I laughed then, but maybe it wasn’t a bad idea. People are still looking for a sign, just as they were in Jesus’ day.

    I have heard a lot of talk about roadside signs in my lifetime, many of them negative, and I understand the concern. The church is an undenominational entity and those signs, if they are not carefully worded, can teach things we are trying not to teach. But can I say this one thing about them? Through the years, many people have shown up at various church doors where I worshiped because of the sign. They remembered it from childhood. Or maybe they remembered a neighbor who acted differently than their other neighbors, who helped their family when no one else did. They remembered other neighbors, people who faced their own tragedy and came through it with a smile and faith intact. Maybe they remembered the times that neighbor invited them to church and now they are in the middle of a crisis and they see a sign in front of a building that looks awfully familiar, one like the sign where their neighbor faithfully attended year after year no matter what was happening in their lives or in the world.

    That is certainly one benefit of those signs that people, including me, sometimes wish weren’t there any more, or were worded much differently. But maybe this is what we need to concentrate on: that sign wouldn’t have done a thing in the cases I mentioned if the remembered people hadn’t been the kind of people they were.

    Our lives are supposed to be the sign! In a world where “Christian” can mean anything and everything, you should still be able to tell a genuine one by how he acts. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven, Matt 5:16. If you really want people to be interested in your faith, then show them a faith worth being interested in.

    A lot of people in Jesus’ day wanted the other kind of sign. What did Jesus have to say about that? Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah, Matt 12:38,39. Jesus knew that a miraculous sign would do no good. He said as much in the parable where the rich man desired Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead as a sign to his brothers, but was told, “If they will not hear the Law and the prophets, they won’t hear if someone comes back from the dead.” The sign on Mt Carmel ultimately did no good either. The next morning Jezebel was still in power,able to threaten Elijah and send him running.

    No, the signs that really matter are the ones we act out in front of our friends. Those are the signs that spark their interest and lead them to ask questions, signs that will eventually start them reading the Word of God and finding their way to Him. Miracles didn’t work for Jesus, and he steadfastly refused to send a sign at their request. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, John 12:37. What worked were his words and the life he lived, and that’s what works today.

    You are the sign people are looking for. Word it carefully.

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God, Phil 1:27,28.

Dene Ward

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Canoe Trip

12/26/2014

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    On our last camping trip we stayed on the Blackwater River in the Florida panhandle, “the last white sand river in the country,” according to the brochures. We decided to take advantage of a local outfitter and rented a canoe. For the price they transport you upriver eleven miles so that when you get to your destination, your vehicle is waiting for you, and you can pull the canoe onshore and leave on your own schedule.

   It was a crisp winter morning, with a sky so clear and blue you wondered if God had simply done away with clouds forever. We put in on a white sand beach and headed off with our paddles dipping rhythmically at first, but eventually lying across our laps for the bulk of the trip as we drifted along with the current.

   We saw turtles by the dozen, sunning on logs near the shore, ducks splashing ahead of us by the river’s edge, a heron that seemed to taxi across the top of the water before its take-off, and an owl that took flight from a huge cypress branch as we passed him,. We scared up one poor water bird of some sort that would fly on ahead, and then as we came round the next bend, fly again. I felt sorry for the poor fellow. If he had only flown inland twenty or thirty feet and waited for us to pass, he could have stayed where he was. I wondered how far from home he finally ended up.

   We passed small streams emptying noisily into the bigger river, and backwaters that sat still and quiet, forested with cypress knees, and impervious to the river’s current. I am happy to report that we saw no alligators at all.

   About noon we pulled onto a white sand bar, sat in the shade of a scraggly myrtle, and dug into a backpack for a lunch of biscuits and sausage leftover from breakfast and a canteen of water. We wandered around and found some deer tracks by the water’s edge, freshly made we knew, because it had rained the night before.

   Then a half hour or so later, as we drifted on down the river, we suddenly found ourselves tangled among the branches of a cypress that had fallen into the river. We had not kept a lookout and floated right into it. Since we were there anyway, and stuck, we had a snack of tangerines, dropping the peels into the water to see if fish enjoyed that sort of thing. Evidently they don’t, so we extricated ourselves from among the branches and once again caught the current going downriver.

   That stop made a small respite but this morning it makes a big point. We spent most of the four and a half hours on the water drifting. We seldom put our oars in unless we saw something ahead that we wanted to avoid, usually fallen trees in the water, some just under the surface scraping the bottom of the canoe. Sometimes as we came round a bend, the current would send us toward shore and we had to paddle to keep from bottoming out. Usually it was no problem to stay out of trouble. That one time was a result of becoming so entranced with our surroundings that we did not notice what lay ahead.

   That is probably the way we wind up getting in trouble in our spiritual lives too. We get distracted by things, not necessarily sinful things, but things that keep our attention too long from the direction we should be going. When you are looking around, you can’t paddle straight, so you wind up drifting where the current takes you, and in this world, that may be a dangerous place. More likely it will be into a bend in the river where the current swirls around in a slow, endless eddy, leading you nowhere.

   So be careful of your surroundings today, be careful that the things of this world do not take too much of your time and energy away from things of the next world. You need to be involved in this world—how else can your light shine? But you do not need to wrap yourself up in it to the point that it squeezes out your spirituality and concern for Eternity. When visiting a lonely widow, cooking for a family burdened by illness, studying the Bible, or assembling with the saints becomes simply one more thing on a “to do” list, on the same plane as the PTA meeting, the piano lesson, and the Little League schedule, the priorities of life need a serious overhaul, even if it means giving up something.

   Don’t drift into the fallen logs and trees that will scrape up your soul. Don’t let the bottom of your canoe bump against things that could tip you and drown out your spirituality. Don’t bottom out, mired in the mud of life’s responsibilities. Don’t spend so much time looking at the world as you pass it by, that it winds up meaning more to you than the one you are supposed to be headed for.

And that which fell among the thorns, these are they that have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. Luke 8:14.

Dene Ward

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Wake Up Call

12/23/2014

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When I was very small, my favorite song was “Wake Up, Little Susie.” I am probably dating myself with that admission. In case you are from a different generation, the song was about a young couple who fell asleep during their movie date, and were afraid of what people might think.
   Psalm 103 is David’s version of the song—one he is singing to himself. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, vv 1-2. I found it difficult to see that “wake up” admonition, I admit. But every commentator I checked, five of them, saw it clear as a bell. One likened it to Psalm 42:5: Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. That one is much easier to see. Why are you so depressed, he asks himself, when you have the salvation offered by God? Now look again at 103: Bless the Lord…and forget not his benefits.”
   For isn’t that exactly what we do? We go along in our ordinary, normal lives, nothing important happens, nothing exciting happens, and we become complacent in our service and even a little despondent in our ordinariness, and forget what God has done for us. But just think about this morning. You woke up in your comfortable bed (check) in your comfortable house (check), possibly next to your beloved (check). You ate a breakfast from a pantry and refrigerator full of possibilities (check). You stood in front of a closet and chose from among all those clothes what you wanted to wear (check). You might have gotten in your car (check) and driven to school or work or the store without mishap (check). How many blessings is that already that you never even noticed? How many more will you receive the rest of the day, and still not notice?
   “Forget not his benefits!” David reminds himself—and later on the people of Israel, and ultimately us. Why is it that when something bad happens we will blame God, but never think to give Him credit for all the good we enjoy nearly every single minute of the day? “Wake up and praise the Lord!”
   And then there is this: while God gives us brethren to encourage us, David shows us that in the final analysis, we are responsible for our own rousing. We cannot blame the church, we cannot blame the elders, we cannot blame our families if we fall into hopelessness and despair—it’s my business to see myself clearly, to notice when I need a nudge or a prod or even a kick in the rear. And after I have awakened, then I will follow David’s example of leadership and wake others too.
   Which is what this has been, I hope—wake up little Susie, or Joey, or Charlie, or Cathy, or whatever your name may be. Do not forget the benefits of being God’s child. Always count your blessings, no matter how trite that may seem. David did. He’s not a bad leader to follow.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change, James 1:17.

Dene Ward

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Hamming It Up

12/22/2014

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Mothers must do a lot of acting. I remember an elementary school art class I was in. We filled coke bottle tops, those old metal ones that had to be pried off of the green glass bottles, with plaster of Paris. I dyed my plaster bright yellow, then laboriously applied glue and green glitter in the shape of Christmas trees. When they had set, we glued earring clips on the back. I wrapped those hideous things and put them under the tree as my gift to my mother.
   You would have thought they were encrusted with diamonds the way she went on about them. And then she wore them to church the next morning, showing them off with pride. I still cringe when I remember those earrings. Now that was an Oscar-worthy performance by a mother.
   Every Sunday, in many churches, other performances are not so worthy. When two men in a church have a personality conflict, or simply a disagreement about a passage of scripture, it does not take an expert to tell. What do they do? They may shake hands politely when they pass, but they never cross the room to do so with an outstretched palm and a genuine smile. They never make a point to amen one another in Bible classes about the things they do agree on. They never find ways to compliment one another when one has done a good job with a prayer, a talk, or anything else. They certainly never try to encourage one another. Rather, they take issue with one another at every opportunity. And they think no one notices. They think their acting job has us all fooled.
   They might as well be wearing tee shirts imprinted with “I Don’t Like Brother So-and-so.” I have had new people in a church say to me, “What is this that’s going on between those two?” I hope they would be ashamed to know that.
   When Paul told the Corinthians they should speak the same things…be…of the same mind and the same judgment, 1 Cor 1:10, he did not mean we have to agree on everything. Just a few pages later, in chapter 6, he tells them exactly how to act when they disagree with one another. He never told either party to change their minds, but he did tell them they should respect one another and get along anyway.
   “The same mind” we are to be of is a mind to make this body work, to put Christ’s mission for us ahead of our own rights, opinions, and desires. It’s the mindset we tell our young people they must have when they marry: I will do whatever it takes to make this marriage work. Then they see us tear apart the Bride of Christ because we didn’t get to lead singing as often as Brother So-and-So or think Brother Whozit is all wet in his views about the Holy Spirit.
   Paul uses the Lord’s Supper and the image of the body of Christ to tell us the importance of our unity in 1 Cor 10:16,17. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break is it not a communion of the body of Christ? Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread. The sacrifice of that body, the shedding of that blood is what made us one, and we remember it every Lord’s Day.
   When I divide that body, whether in actuality or simply in spirit, I am saying that my likes and dislikes, my interpretation of scripture, my status in the body, is more important than the sacrifice that saved me. Who would dare? Unfortunately, too often, we all do.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Eph 4:1-3.

Dene Ward

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Ultimate Croquet

12/19/2014

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A long time ago we gave the boys a croquet set. At first they seemed a little disappointed—croquet? How boring. Then we actually started playing and they discovered strategy, like whacking your opponent completely out of bounds with one of your free shots. Now that was fun.
   We have settled down to annual games during the holidays whenever we get together. It is the perfect way to let the turkey digest, and we usually wind up playing two or three times. But that time of year means a less than clear playing field on what is already a rollercoaster lawn. Our yard, you see, isn’t exactly a lawn. It’s an old watermelon field, and though the rows have settled somewhat after thirty years, we still have low spots, gopher holes, ant hills, and armadillo mounds. But in the fall we also have sycamore leaves the size of paper plates, pine cones, piles of Spanish moss, and cast off twigs from the windy fronts that come through every few days between October and March. You cannot keep it cleaned up if you want to do something besides yard work with your life. So when you swing your mallet, no matter how carefully you have aimed, you never really know where your ball will end up. We call it “ultimate croquet.” Anyone who is used to a tabletop green lawn would be easy pickings for one of us—even me, the perennial loser.
   All those “hazards” make for an interesting game of croquet, but let me tell you something. I have learned the hard way that an interesting life is not that great. I have dug ditches in a flooding rainstorm, cowered over my children during a tornado, prayed all night during a hurricane, climbed out of a totaled car, followed an ambulance all the way to the hospital, hugged a seizing baby in my lap as we drove ninety down country roads to the doctor’s office, bandaged bullet wounds, hauled drinking water and bath water for a month, signed my life away before experimental surgeries—well, you get the picture. Give me dull and routine any day.
   Dull and routine is exactly what Paul told Timothy to pray for. I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men; for kings and all that are in high place; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth, 1 Tim 2:1-5.
   Did you catch that? Pray that our leaders will do what is necessary for us to have a “tranquil and quiet life” so that all men can “come to a knowledge of the truth.” God’s ministers cannot preach the gospel in a country where everyone is in hiding or running in terror from the enemy, where you never have enough security to sit down with a man and discuss something spiritual for an hour or so, where you wonder how you will feed your family that night, let alone the next day. The Pax Romana was one of the reasons the gospel could spread—peace in the known world. That along with the ease of travel because every country was part of the same empire and a worldwide language made the first century “the fullness of times” predicted in the prophets.
   I don’t have much sympathy for people who are easily bored, who seem to think that life must always be exciting or it isn’t worth living. I am here to tell you that excitement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And God gave us plenty to do during those dull, routine times. It’s called serving others and spreading the Word. If you want some excitement, try that. It’s even better than Ultimate Croquet.

Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 1 Thes 4:9-11.

Dene Ward

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A Weary Soul

12/18/2014

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Today is something of a milestone for me. This is the longest I have been without a surgery in the past four and a half years, and it is still less than a year since the last one. In fact, in that time I have had six major surgeries and twelve minor procedures, many of them even more painful than the big ones. When I realized what this poor body has been through, plus the fact that I have also gotten exactly that many years older, I felt better about myself. No wonder it doesn’t take much to wear me out. No wonder my resistance is low and my endurance minimal. You might think otherwise, but it was an uplifting moment.
   A couple of summers ago things were really bad. The major surgery had not gone well. Complications had set in within twenty-four hours. I saw the doctor fourteen times in one month and had six more minor surgeries, each one taking more and more out of me. I was about ready to give up. We all know where this is heading, and these surgeries do nothing more than push that time a little further down the road—maybe. When the doctor once again patted my shoulder and said, “We need to do some more,” I nearly said, “No. No more. It’s not worth all this pain. It won’t fix the problem anyway, so why bother?”
   George Orwell once said, “The quickest way to end a war is to lose it,” (Polemic, May 1946, “Second Thoughts on James Burnham”).
   Do you ever feel that way about life? With all the things happening to him, even Job said, “My soul is weary of my life,” (10:1). We all experience those feelings. Illness, financial misfortune, family problems—all these things can sometimes seem insurmountable. Then, when you are completely exhausted, both physically and emotionally, the temptation is to end the war by simply surrendering.
   Don’t do it. This war has already been won. All we have to do is finish it--do the mop up work, so to speak.
   The problem too often is that we try to go it alone, refusing to turn our problems over to the Lord. If we insist on that, we have already lost. We are not alone in this fight. We have a Savior who understands everything we are going through and who will share our loads. Look how far you have already come with His help. Yes, you may be tired, and you may well have good reason to be, but be encouraged by your accomplishments through the abundant help you have been given. My grace is sufficient for you, 2 Cor 12:9.
   Let Jesus carry those burdens for you. He has already borne the biggest one, the sin that would have damned you for eternity. Surely He can handle the others, things which may seem huge to you now, but which eternal perspective will prove small. Some days you may feel like you are just plugging along, but that is all right too, so long as you don’t give up.

Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light, Matt 11:28-30.

Dene Ward

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Do You Know What You Are Singing--A Mighty Fortress

12/17/2014

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For people who are quick to quote John 4:24, that our worship must be “in spirit and in truth” and then simplify that to doing right things with the right attitude, which only begins to touch that statement, we certainly do a lot of “worshipping that which we know not” (4:22). This will be the first of several articles about some of the songs we sing and what they actually mean. They will appear every few weeks and you will recognize them by the title above, followed by the song in question.
    So tell me, when you sing “A Mighty Fortress” and you reach the second verse, what exactly do you think you are calling the Lord when you sing, “Lord Sabaoth his name?” No, it is not “Lord of the Sabbath,” which is what I thought for many years
    Sabaoth is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word Tzebhaoth. I don’t even pretend to be a Greek or Hebrew scholar, but I can read English fairly well. The word means armies or hosts. In fact, it can even refer to a specific campaign the army might be involved in at any given time. It is above all a military word. So any time you see “Lord of hosts” in your Bible you are seeing the word Sabaoth or Tzebhaoth, depending upon whether you are reading the Old Testament or the New.
    I cannot find the actual Hebrew word un-translated in any English version of the Old Testament—it is always converted to “LORD of hosts” or “Jehovah of hosts.” But you can find Sabaoth un-translated in the older versions of the New Testament in Romans 9:29 and James 5:4.
    And Isaiah cries concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved: for the Lord will execute [his] word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short. And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah, Rom 9:27-29.
    This passage is much more powerful when you understand the meaning of the word. The Lord, who commands all the powers and armies of the universe, could easily have wiped Israel off the earth. But in His mercy, He spared a remnant, Isaiah says. Paul’s point is that God has in the past come close to obliterating the Jewish race, and He will have no trouble doing it again if necessary. That’s the kind of power He has.
    Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, James 5:4.
    This passage makes you just as shivery. Anyone who cheats the laborers of their hire should remember that the Lord of Sabaoth hears their cry and is there to defend them. Do you really want the Lord of hosts with all His armies of angels and spiritual beings fighting you?
    Now look back at the song. “For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.” That may well be said about Satan, but we have Lord Sabaoth on our side—the Lord of hosts, the commander of all the spiritual forces of good “and He must win the battle.”
    We miss so much when we don’t care enough to research the songs we are singing. In fact, I have heard people complain about “all this archaic language.” If it’s in the Bible, people, we ought to care, and if we believe all those pet scriptures we always quote, we will want to “sing with the spirit and the understanding,” 1 Cor 14:24. The context of that passage may be spiritual gifts, but the meaning in every context is that what we sing must be understandable and edifying, and that requires some effort on our parts. Let’s see if we can practice what we preach.

The LORD of hosts [Sabaoth] is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. -- Selah, Psa 46:7.

Dene Ward

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Genes

12/16/2014

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When I became a grandmother we had to jump through all the insurance hoops to make sure that Silas had not inherited more than my neonatal milk allergy. I look into those big blue eyes that sparkle so when he smiles, trying to convince myself that they look more like his grandfather’s than mine. Even if they looked exactly like mine, odds are he did not inherit the condition. He may be 100 times more likely to have it than any other baby, but that still makes it a one in a million chance. It happened that way with his uncle. The minute they put him in my arms and I saw his eyes my heart froze, but seven months later we knew he had only inherited the look, not the problem. Still, I would feel horrible if I passed this on to poor little Silas, or now Judah.
   There are worse things to pass on to one’s children and grandchildren. And [Jehoram] walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah... [Ahaziah] also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly… And Joram said, Make ready. And they made ready his chariot. And Joram king of Israel…went out to meet Jehu…And…he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel…are so many? 2 Chron 21:6; 22:3; 2 Kgs 9:21.
   Are you familiar with this narrative in the Bible? Start in 1 Kings 16 and read through chapter 11 of 2 Kings some night when you want a really good story. It is a little of everything: a family saga; an action-adventure story; a political thriller. It has a villainess of unspeakable cruelty, an underground movement, a mole in the hierarchy, and a hero who saves the day. All of this was brought about by the evil influence Ahab and Jezebel had on their children and grandchildren.
   Perhaps the worst of the bunch was Athaliah, their daughter, who reached the point that she could order the murder of “all the seed royal,” among them her own grandchildren. I have always thought this woman’s crimes especially heinous but now, having held a grandchild in my arms, I know she must have reached a level of moral depravity nearly unheard of, at least among God’s people. That is what her parents passed on to her, for the next generation always sees our inconsistencies, the line we will not cross because of the inhibiting baggage we have brought to the table. They see that inconsistency and erase the line, taking what we have taught them to its logical end.
   I cannot control whether Silas and Judah will inherit my physical condition; but I can control my influence on their spiritual conditions. I can set an example of faith that will reinforce theirs in moments of trial. I can set an example of endurance to bolster their ability to overcome. I can show them how a mature Christian behaves, even when people are less than accommodating. Those things I can do, if I will.
   Having children is great motivation to be and do better. Because the end may be in sight and priorities have become clearer, having grandchildren should be the best motivation yet.

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience, how unceasing is my remembrance of you in my supplications, night and day longing to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy; having been reminded of the unfeigned faith that is in you; which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice; and, I am persuaded, in you also, 2 Tim 1:3-5.

Dene Ward

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