Flight Paths

 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God. Therefore he that resists the power, withstands the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgmentRom13:1,2

 On July 30, 1619 the first elected legislative assembly in America met in Jamestown Colony, Virginia.  Known as the House of Burgesses, they met for a six day session.  According to historicjamestown.org, they were tasked with making “just laws for the happy guiding and governing of the people there inhabiting.”

 The first law passed was that tobacco should be sold for at least three shillings a pound.  Since they grew tobacco that one seems a little self-serving.  But they also passed laws prohibiting gambling, drunkenness, and idleness, and made Sabbath observation mandatory.  While we have learned over the centuries that one cannot legislate morality, it makes a pleasant change to read of that society’s values.

 God’s ordination of civil government certainly means that a Christian is supposed to obey the laws of the land, unless, of course, those laws stand in opposition of God’s laws (Acts 5:29). The verses quoted above tell us that anyone who disobeys the law of the land is disobeying God.  Period.  No matter what we might think about a particular law.  But, even understanding that, I think we completely miss the purpose of civil government in God’s Eternal Purpose.  Take a moment and look at this:

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 Saviour; who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth1Tim2:1-4.

 Did you catch that?  We are to pray for our leaders so that they may lead us in a way that our lives are quiet and tranquil.  And why is that?  So that we can preach the gospel without fear and disruption, so that all may “come to a knowledge of the truth.”  Simply put, so that we can sit down with our neighbor on any given night and show him the gospel without having to worry about home invasions, rioters in the street, or enemies attacking from afar.  When criminals run rampant or we must be ready to run to a bomb shelter at a moment’s notice, we certainly can’t get much teaching accomplished!

 And so in our country, even before we were a country, there was law and order.  And we should pray every day that it continues.  Even more, we should take advantage of the peace we have to talk to our neighbors, the cashier at the grocery store, the waitress at the diner, the postman making his rounds—anyone we come in contact with.  THAT is why we have a civil government ordained by God.

 Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. For so is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:  as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king  1Pet2:13-17

Dene Ward

I just made a chocolate mousse cake.  This is one of THOSE recipes—you know, one of those trendy kinds you find in upscale restaurants, the kind that come with a chocolate or raspberry swirl on the white china plate, a piped dollop of whipped cream on the side and maybe even a shard of caramel “glass” sticking up out of it.  This recipe is bound to get me oohs and aahs at the table from excited guests who suddenly think I must be a gourmet cook.  And that’s when I start feeling guilty.  Why?  Because this conglomeration of bittersweet chocolate, butter, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla took me exactly 15 minutes to put together and throw in the oven.  The only thing hard about it is waiting 8 hours for it to chill so it won’t fall completely apart when you try to cut it.

I don’t deserve any oohs and aahs and it certainly wasn’t hard to do.  I will grant you that it tastes amazing—but look at that ingredient list above and tell me how it could not.  I have absolutely nothing to do with how it tastes unless I buy cheap ingredients—like Hershey bars and margarine.  Taking a bow for producing this cake is like claiming a cordon bleu culinary education when all you’ve had is watching your mother and grandmother and reading a few cookbooks.

Have you ever had a friend ask you how you do it?  How you go through some of the trials you have been through, yet live a happy and contented life, in fact, a life of joy and faith? What do you instantly say?  Do you claim huge inner strength and unimpeachable character?  Do you talk about your spiritual integrity?  Of course not.  You tell them that you had nothing to do with it except having the sense, or maybe the desperation, to take your Heavenly Father’s offer and let Him handle things.

And it was just that simple, wasn’t it?  No, not really.  A lot of time passed before it really “took,” before you really could face your demons with assurance instead of doubt, before you could race toward that “way of escape” instead of stumbling through it, before you could sit back and let God be in control and accept His will instead of trying to figure things out so you could understand them.  And sometimes you still don't quite manage.

It takes a long time to say those words Abraham said on that mountaintop 4000 years ago—God is able; God will provide.  But once you have reached that point, it’s just that simple.  Every time life hands you the inexplicable, you don’t try to understand, you just count on God to handle it.  How can anyone take the credit for that?

Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name, 1Chr 29:12-13

Dene Ward

“It’s just for fun,” I keep hearing.  “I know it doesn’t mean anything.” 

If it doesn’t mean anything, why am I wasting my time on it?  And since when does God ever countenance sin “just for fun?”

Astrology, palm reading, psychics, mediums, “ghost whisperers”—God condemns every one of these things and all their cousins in His word. 

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this, Deut 18:10-14.  “God has not allowed you to do this.”  Isn’t that plain enough?  And if it isn’t, do you really want to be lumped in with people who sacrifice their children?

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers (people who claim to consult the dead}; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God, Lev 19:31.  It makes you unclean, unfit to serve God.

And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead? Isa 8:19.  It doesn’t even make sense, God tells us. 

But it does make sense to Satan.  If he can get you to listen to anyone besides God, he has made his first inroad into your heart.  And lest anyone say, “These are all Old Testament passages,” let’s remind him of Gal 5:20 where these things are lumped under the heading of sorcery and labeled “a work of the flesh.”

And no, these condemnations are not only to those who actually practice these things as Ezekiel makes crystal clear:  And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the [false] prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike—Ezek 14:10.  You can’t play around with this stuff and not be considered guilty, even if all you do is ask them a question.  Even brand new Christians understood that in Acts 19:18-20, and at great financial loss burned their books of divination.  It was obvious to them, babes that they were, that these things were an abomination to God.

So please, stop playing with fire.  Stop making excuses.  Don’t let yourself be so fascinated that you lose all sense of right and wrong.  God will not tolerate a little playing around.  To Him it is sin, plain and simple.

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death, Rev 21:8.

Dene Ward

Part 2 in the Series. 

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people, Titus 3:1-2.

You would think a Christian wouldn’t need such reminders, but look at the list above.  Aren’t these the most difficult things for us to do?  To submit to someone else’s decisions, especially if we seriously disagree with them; to obey even when you had rather not; to be eager to serve others; to stop arguing and just accept; to be kind, even to those who do not deserve it; and to be courteous, even when people are not courteous to us—none of these things comes without effort.  In fact, they usually don’t come at all, and when their opposite surfaces, we are full of excuses.  He did it first; he needs to see what it feels like; if he can do it, so can I.  No you can’t.  Not and stay faithful to the Lord.

Did you notice that most of these things are simply a matter of submitting one’s will to another?  And God always says that the reason for this is “the Lord’s sake” not the sake of the person you are submitting to, and that’s why we fail so often.  We look at the wrong person and when we see that person doesn’t deserve such submission, we find excuses.  You see it every day on the pages of social media—rants about the government in words that are hardly “submissive.”  Even if you do obey, the submission is not there.  Let me ask you husbands, would you call a wife who rants at you in the same words you do at the President and congress “submissive?”  Parents, would you accept the attitude of a child who, while he ultimately obeyed, rolled his eyes and made sarcastic remarks while he did so?

And so we have to be reminded to behave ourselves, every bit as much as a child needs that reminder, because, like a child, we are “slaves to our passion” (v 3), especially our passion for self.  We submit our desires, our opinions, and that pesky thing called “self” because when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life, v 4-7.  We do not deserve our salvation any more than those people deserve our submission, service, and courtesy.  Are you going to give it up just to prove a point?

No, we do not have to be reminded to do the easy things, so obviously these are difficult.  We need the reminder.  We need sometimes a reminder as sharp as a slap in the face.  Read the prophets.  They were good at that.  And the New Testament writers were not far behind.  I’ve been told that sometimes I’m not either.

But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder…Rom 15:15. 

Dene Ward

A couple of years ago, Keith received a veteran’s pass to a Tampa Bay Rays game in St Petersburg.  (By the way, there may be a Green Bay, but there is no such town as Tampa Bay.  Tampa Bay signifies an area on the central west coast of Florida, usually including Tampa, St Petersburg, Clearwater and their suburbs.) 

But the game was at the end of the season after the Rays’ play-off hopes were gone.  At first you would think it wouldn’t be much of a game, but you would be wrong.  Young players who had been called up from farm teams for the expanded September rosters were playing for a place on the major league team next season.  Older players were playing to show their worth, either for a contract renewal or for another team to show some interest in a trade.  Established players were playing for personal records—a better ERA, consecutive years with a certain number of home runs and RBIs.  I knew it would still be a game worth watching.  No one would be “phoning it in.”

But imagine there was nothing left to play for.  Imagine they were just playing out the season because it was a contract requirement.  How many home runs would you expect?  How many wins?  And how many fans would bother to show up at all?

Some of us play at the game of life like that.  We look at our meager accomplishments, at the few years we have left, and decide there is nothing worth living for, nothing worth working for, nothing to look forward to but day after day of waking up to uselessness until one morning you don’t wake up at all.  And as far as heaven goes?  We seem to hope we have enough warning before death to shoot off a last prayer for forgiveness because surely that’s the only “hope” we have.

Too many of us have bought into the world’s idea of hope—something insecure, uncertain, and probably not going to happen at all. Go out tomorrow and plant a seed.  Now read 1 Cor 9:10:  the plowman plows in hope.  What do you think is going to happen to that seed you planted?  You “hope” it will grow.  If a farmer hoped the way most of us hope, he would never plant in the first place.  “Hope” in the Bible means something is going to happen, and you are simply waiting for it, waiting like someone standing at an established bus stop at the established time, not someone who just guessed what route the bus takes and which corner it might stop at and when, and “hoping” you guessed correctly.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance…for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations who builder and designer is God…these all died not having received the promises but having seen and greeted them from afar, Heb 11:8,10,13.  Could wealthy Abraham have given up a comfortable home to live in tents the last half of his life, could he have stood on that mountain ready to sacrifice his son if he had just crossed his fingers and “hoped” he had a future beyond this life?  No, he had Biblical hope.  He knew he had a reward waiting.

And so do you—something even better than moving up from Double A, or even Triple A, to a permanent place on the roster of a major league team, and something a whole lot more certain—even if your batting average isn’t quite as high as the next guy’s, even if all they can count on you for is a sac-fly every so often instead of a grand slam.  You still have something to play for, a place “prepared from the foundation of the world,” one that will be there no matter who wins the pennant.

And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises, Heb 6:11-12.

Dene Ward

I have been doing a lot of outside reading for some classes I am teaching, and find myself reading blurbs on the backs of these books at odd times, usually when my mind needs a rest from all the scholarly stuff my old and feeble brain is trying to make sense of.  I saw this one a few weeks ago and it stopped me in my tracks.

“In Story as Torah Gordon Wenham showed how biblical narrative texts little used by ethicists, can inform Christian moral teaching.”  John Barton, University of Oxford.

In other words, the man has written a book in which he uses the Bible “stories,” as we are prone to call them, to teach us right and wrong.  First, I do understand that the word “inform” has a special meaning in scholarly circles, but it still seems plain to me that the critic is saying that using the Bible this way is highly unusual, in fact, a groundbreaking idea. 

I sit here wondering why they are reading their Bibles at all if they have not figured this out before.  We do this every Sunday in Bible classes.  I did it every day when my children were growing up.  I do it now when my grandsons come for a visit.  We talk about the Bible narratives and how they teach us we should be behaving in our lives.  We talk about Noah and how “everyone is doing it,” proves that “it” is probably wrong.  We talk about Daniel and how important prayer is, and how God takes care of the faithful.  We talk about Elijah and the One True God.  We talk about Judas and betrayal, about Peter and impetuosity—and then forgiveness.  We talk about Jonah and God’s love for everyone and our responsibility to share that love.  My children grew up knowing what the Bible is for.  What in the world did these people think they should do with it?

And we can laugh at them and think ourselves so much better than they, but are we?  We know the Bible is to be used to “inform” our lives, but does it?  Does the sermon go in one ear and out the other?  Do the Bible classes become exercises in finding yet another way to bring up my pet hobby, or to show everyone how much I know instead of finding something I need to improve on?  Do I give the right answers and then go out and live the wrong ones?

Before we laugh at men who have become a little too smart for their own good, let’s check our own behavior.  We may know better, but are we doing it?

Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come, 1Cor 10:6-11.

Dene Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Joanne Beckley.

Psalm 34:11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12 Who is the man who desires life, And loves [length of] days that he may see good?

13 Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.

14 Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, And His ears are [open] to their cry.

16 The face of the LORD is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the

earth.

17 [The righteous] cry and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Psalm 34:11 tells us that to fear the Lord is to live a godly life. We know this because the

psalmist tells us specifically what we must learn that will prove what it means to fear the

Lord! These verses are like a recipe for life, for a long life, for a good life. Details are not

given but there are two points necessary for this godly life – the fear of the Lord. They are

(1) right speech (v13) and (2) right conduct (v14). Until a person has made this his aim

and goal, he has not learned “the fear of the LORD.”

From these verses, we also learn that there is third point necessary to help achieve the fear

of the Lord: (3) seek peace and pursue it (v14). Thus, one’s attitude in life comes into

play and must also be addressed. By controlling our tongues and doing good we learn to

live at peace with ourselves, with others, and with God. Indeed, there is no other way to

peace except through the right heart. “Righteousness and peace kiss each other” (Ps

85:10).

Verse 15 addresses how we are to achieve peace because living a righteous life must

include the right attitude toward any sin residing in our hearts. In verse 15, the favor of

God rests upon the righteous, the brokenhearted, and the crushed in spirit. (See also Psa

51:17; 145:18; Isa 57:15; 61:1; 66:2)

The psalmist rounded out his advice and admonitions with this: we must be willing to

accept that when we trust in God we are not shielded from all troubles.

v19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.

God is with us during crisis situations. What a blessing!

Eric Liddell (remember the winning runner in the movie Chariots of Fire?), in his last

years in China as a missionary, was incarcerated and did not know what his fate would

be. While awaiting his end he wrote these words to Chinese Christians:

“Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might nor by power but by a

practical confidence in life and by allowing His spirit to dwell in our hearts and control

our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort so that when the days of

hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them.”

James 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3

knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have [its]

perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of

you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without

reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for

the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

The apostle Paul also wrote to expect trials in the life of a Christian and gave Timothy

this admonition:

2Tim 3:12And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13

But evil men and impostors will proceed [from bad] to worse, deceiving and being

deceived. 14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become

convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned [them].

Ps 16:11 Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fulness of joy; In

Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

As David said in his psalm, it is His presence that makes it possible to triumph in the

midst of trials.

Philippians 4:13I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

The New Testament tells us of the reality of deliverance beyond death. May we all

continue learning the fear of the Lord and live in His presence.

Joanne Beckley

I am different from most women, I guess.  I do not enjoy those cutesy-pie sayings that sound like they came straight out of a sugar canister.  For one thing, I think they can engender the opposite feeling they are intending to--guilt, mainly.  How many times have you heard that even if you don’t feel good, you should go to the assembly because it will make you feel better when you leave?  Yes, on occasion, it does just that, mainly because I was too busy having a pity party and the services put my mind on things besides me. 

But what about the person who is genuinely ill, or who is so old and feeble that he needs to rest after putting one sock on?  My own Daddy reached that point before he passed on.  Do I really think that going to church and spreading germs to the elderly and small children is going to make me feel better, and even if it did, wasn’t that awfully selfish of me?  Or if pushing myself too hard could cause me to collapse during the services, what great good did that accomplish for anyone else?  Yet sometimes these people do push themselves—they are in fact the ones most likely to push themselves--so they come and infect everyone else, because they have been made to feel guilty for not doing so by things I have come to call duck-billed platitudes.

I see another problem with some of these things—they smack a little of the health and wealth gospel.  “Sacrifice for the Lord isn’t sacrifice if you really love the Lord.”  Nonsense.  Try that one on a first century Christian who is about to have his throat chomped on and his belly ripped open by the lions in the Coliseum.  Sacrifice feels like sacrifice and God never promised anything else.  What He did promise was that sacrifice is worth it.  That doesn’t mean anything if you have annulled the pain of the sacrifice.

The things we need to hear are the true things.  Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution...For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps, 2Tim 3:12; 1Pet 2:20-21.  What we need is to be told how to endure what will surely come if we live like Christ did, not how to avoid it or worse yet, how to make it “fun.”

Sometimes life is just plain hard.  That was the punishment we got when we were thrown out of Eden.  Christians are not immune to that penalty, we are just forgiven for it.

Be strong, God is always telling us in His Word.  Be courageous.  It isn’t courage to turn everything into one giant tea party.  That’s denial, and I see too many Christians living in that state.  And this is what it leads to when you finally realize you cannot platitude your way out of it—“Why did this happen to me?”  This is why:  We live in an imperfect world, made that way by sin, which, no matter how much we like to believe otherwise, we have participated in.  And it won’t get any better.  Tragedies are a part of life.  BUT---

We live in hope of a better world, a better place that will be perfect and will never end.  That is what you need to remember, not a bunch of saccharine sayings on poster after poster after poster.  I have something much better, and so do you if you will take hold of it.  It does not tell us that everything will be wonderful in this life, that God will spare us from anything painful.  Instead it promises pain, but it also says this:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:35-39.

Dene Ward

I am constantly shocked by the way people, including Christians, treat the Bible.  We act like God wrote it in some way other than normal communication.  I have actually heard these things come out of the mouths of believers:  “Jesus never used figurative language.”  “You won’t find irony in the Bible.”  “Sarcasm is neither present nor allowed in the scriptures.”  And because of that you will hear some of the weirdest interpretations of scripture imaginable.

We knew a man once who said that since Jesus said you should not “let your right hand know what your left hand doeth,” that you should reach into your pocket before the plate is passed and take out whatever you find without looking at it.  I wonder how he got whatever was in his pocket in there that morning without knowing what it was, or did he make sure nothing over $10 was lying on top of his dresser?

But you will also find those who deny there is any literary aspect to the scriptures at all.  Try studying the psalms in detail and see if you think that’s so.  The psalms are poetry.  Like all poets, those inspired poets used poetic elements to make them catch our fancy, speak to us more keenly than prose would, and make us think deeper thoughts than we might have otherwise.  You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure.  Doesn’t that say more to you than, “These people are really upset”?

One place this is obvious is the fifteen Psalms of Ascents.  Psalms 120-134 are presumed to have been sung while the Jews traveled up the hill to Jerusalem to worship on the various feast days.  The word for “ascents” is the same Hebrew word translated “steps” in Ezek 40:26 and 31, as in the steps of a staircase.  One psalm in particular uses words to show these steps.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.  Psalm 130.

Imagine each of the following words, taken in order from the psalm above, sitting on the steps of a staircase from bottom to top:  depths, pleas, iniquities, wait, hope, steadfast love, plentiful redemption.  Now add this to the mix:  the word for “depths” is used several times in the scripture for the deepest places on earth, including the very bottom of the ocean.  And that implies a man’s complete inability to get himself “out of the depths.”  All through this psalm we see the literary devices of the poet, gradually pulling us out of the mire we are stuck in and up the staircase to the place of full—and even more than necessary, “plentiful”—redemption.  God didn’t barely save us, He pulled us up on top of the mountains.  Read through that psalm again now.  Can you see it?  Can feel it? 

God is the one who made us able to appreciate art of all kinds, including literary art.  He gave us the emotions that a good artist of any type can evoke.  It’s one of the things that makes you different from your dog!  God wrote the Bible.  He made you and made you able to communicate.  He speaks to us the way He knows is best for our understanding.  Who am I to say otherwise?

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person discerns all things…1Cor 2:14-15.

Dene Ward

 We have always tried to be mindful of the widows and those whose husbands abandoned them every place we have lived.  That often meant extra visits and calls to make sure they were not in need in any way at all.  Usually it also meant having them over for a meal, sometimes separately, sometimes as a group.  In one place Keith made the rounds one morning, picking up all these lonely women and bringing the carful to our home for lunch, since none of that particular group could drive any longer due to vision and other health issues.  You would have thought we were taking them to visit the President they were so excited.

 At another place we had only two widows and we invited them over for Sunday dinner.  These two white haired lovelies stood with me in the kitchen while I finished up the last minute prep.  I reached into the pantry only to find an empty canister. “Well, I am out of rice and hadn’t noticed,” I told them.  “I guess potatoes will have to do.”  You see, pork chops were on the menu and, even though Keith much prefers mashed potatoes to rice, with pork chops and thick, brown pork chop gravy, he wants rice.  “Just wait,” I added. “When he looks at the table he will say, ‘Where’s the rice?’ “

 So I quickly peeled, boiled, and mashed the potatoes, finishing the table setting and putting the biscuits in the oven while they boiled.  Everything hit the table within 20 more minutes and we sat down to eat.  Keith asked the blessing on the food, then, as he lifted his eyes toward the table he said, “Where’s the rice?”  We three women burst out laughing—then I had to explain that to him.

 Now let me ask you something.  Did I cause Keith to ask, “Where’s the rice?”  Of course not.  What we had there was a woman who knew her husband so well (and after less than 10 years, I might add) that she could predict his reaction and even the very words he would say.  Now, why is it that people cannot understand that God, who certainly knows his creatures far better than any woman anywhere knows her husband no matter how long she has been married, can predict what one will do without causing that person to do that predicted thing? 

 Let me ask you another question.  Did you listen to the weather forecast last night?  Did the weatherman get it right this time?  Does that means he caused the rain or the sunshine or the cold front or whatever it was he predicted?  Of course not.  It just means he knows his subject so well that he can predict things with a fair amount of accuracy.  So why can’t God, who created weather patterns and climates and metereorology long before it ever became a recognized science, predict what will happen in the world?

 Are you getting my point this morning?  Do not let those who believe in unscriptural doctrines like individual predestination entangle you in arguments that are not valid and cannot stand up to reality.  God does not cause anyone to sin and, in fact, will not even tempt you to sin (James 1:13).  When people start causing you consternation over Pharaoh, for example, just open your Bible and read it yourself.  Then apply a little logic.  Pharaoh was stubborn from the beginning.  I bet even his wife could have told you what he would say.  Yet she certainly did not cause it, and neither did God.  There are too many passages in the Bible telling us to make a choice for it to be any other way.

 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed;Deut3019 to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days... Deut30:20

Dene Ward