Abused Pets

Last evening, a commercial came on showing pictures of cats and dogs with an announcer telling us how one pet is abused every 10 seconds in our country. The commercial was quite touching, encouraging folks to adopt one of these suffering pets.

What if there was a commercial showing murdered humans, the result of an abortion, with an announcer telling us how one baby is murdered every 20-30 seconds in our country? The commercial could encourage those carrying children to have their babies and give them up for adoption.

What do you believe would happen if such a commericial aired?

Stonewall Jackson is 185 Today

January 21, 2009 marks the 185th birthday of one of the most famous Confederate generals of the War between the States, Stonewall Jackson. More importantly to me, Jackson was a devout Christian and one of my "heroes of the faith". To honor this man today, I thought I would simply post one of the letters he wrote. This letter, quite typical among the letters we have from Jackson, clearly reveals his devotion to our Lord. May God send us many more leaders such as this man.

The letter was written to Rev. Dr. Francis McFarland. Dr. McFarland was a pastor near Greenville, Virginia as well as a trustee of Washington College in Jackson's town of residence, Lexington, Virginia. He also served in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the Confederate States of America. Dr. McFarland and Jackson exchanged several letters during the war. He also had three sons who served in the Confederate army.

July 31st, 1862
My dear Doctor,

I am very grateful to you for your prayers to God for the success of the operation which God has entrusted to me. Please continue to pray for me and for the success of the troops entrusted to me. It cheers my heart to think that many of God's people are praying to our very kind Heavenly Father for the success of the army to which I belong. Without God's blessing I look for no success, and for every success my prayer is, that all the glory may be given unto Him to whom it is properly due. If people would but give all the glory to God, and regard his creatures as but unworthy instruments, my heart would rejoice. Alas too frequently the praise is bestowed upon the creature. Whilst we must not forget the superior importance of spiritual victories, yet I trust that you will under God's direction do what you can in securing the prayers of His people for the success of our arms, especially for the success of them which are entrusted to me, an unworthy servant, but who desires to glorify His name even in my present military calling. My trust is in God for success. Praying for a continuation of your usefulness I remain your much attached friend

T. J. Jackson

Following Christ and Killing Our Babies - Part 2: Christmas

She’s only a teenager even though she is engaged to an older man. Her family is not wealthy and neither is her future husband’s family. Both of them live in a small community. Her education has primarily been at home. Her fiancé has had some education but is now learning the trade of his father, namely, carpentry. Their life together holds no outstanding promise. It will be a life requiring sacrifice and suffering but it will be a life together.

But now the “gossip chain” is in full force throughout the town. The young girl is pregnant! As if that isn’t bad enough, the father is not the fiancé! Disgrace is upon her, her family, and her promised husband.

Remarks are being heard such as “How can she take care of a baby? She’s much too young.” “I bet the engagement is off now. She’ll be all alone. How will she provide for the child?” “Maybe she should get rid of the baby. She can’t afford it. She can’t take care of it. She won’t have a man to help her.” “Yeah, an abortion would be the best route for everyone.”

Such words and thoughts would likely be common place in 2008. I can almost visualize her parents secretly driving their young daughter to the local Planned Parenthood clinic for a referral (and maybe a voucher) to an abortion clinic. Or, perhaps the daughter runs away on her own to “take care of the problem.” Many in our country would think nothing of it and, in fact, agree wholeheartedly with her actions.

But, when we relocate this story to Nazareth in the Middle East, reposition it in time to 6 B.C., and attach the names of Mary and Joseph to the engaged couple, most of us see things in a different light. Mary was well aware who the father of her child was: the Lord God Himself! Joseph, initially deciding to divorce (break off the engagement) quietly to avoid shame falling on Mary, was convinced by God not to do so. But no one discussed abortion because all knew the unborn child was just that, a child. It was not a fetus but a baby. No matter how difficult the situation was going to be, the baby would be born. Praise God that was the case. If Mary had become pregnant under similar circumstances in the United States these days, the outcome may have been different.

Certainly the birth of Christ gives solid Scriptural support against the notion of abortion. Even before Jesus is conceived in Mary’s womb, the angel makes this clear. Gabriel announces to her “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31). The word “son” is the direct object of both future tense verbs “will conceive” and “bear”. The conception of Mary’s baby is a son, not an it.

Scientifically, we know today this is true. The child’s sex is determined at the moment of conception. At that moment, you know the species and the sex. In Mary’s case the new offspring will be a human male. Despite the fact the conception begins with one cell, the result of that conception is finalized: human male. No matter its appearance, no matter how small, no matter it is within a woman’s womb, conception has resulted in a new human life.

For over 35 years in this country we have given people the right to kill this life at any point prior to its actual birth. Somehow we believe by doing so we are helping the expectant mother. Maybe so but at what cost? We are killing a human life no matter at what point during the pregnancy the abortion is performed.

The birth of Jesus is a testimony to the sanctity of human life. Jesus WAS a male child at the moment Mary conceived. Praise God she never considered or pursued a pro-death solution.

A Deeply Worried Place

The headline on the “Money” section (section B) of Tuesday’s USA Today reads “Poll: USA’s a deeply worried place”. The subtitle of the article, written by John Waggoner, was “79% of those asked fear nation in for a depression”. The remainder of the article goes downhill from there. One paragraph discusses the impact of the economy on retirement:

“Another 62% said they were worried about having enough money for retirement. ‘For those of us getting closer to retirement, the stress level has increased dramatically because we have seen huge losses in our home values and our 401(k)/IRA balances’…”.

Well, I never think much about retirement since I don’t ever see myself doing so. Oh, I may change jobs or doing something less demanding that my present occupation but retiring? I just can’t seem to find that concept in the Scripture. As I read God’s Word, my retirement begins the day I find myself in glory with the Lord.

Be that as it may, my “worry” for our nation is not in its economic condition. Yes, the economy is bad when compared to the past few years. But what greatly concerns me about the United States may be found elsewhere in the same USA Today. Note some of the stories covered by Tuesday’s paper.

“The impeachment process begins for Illinois governor”
“Shoe thrower called hero, ‘hothead’”
“Vegas bets on its ties to Mob”
“Sect leader convicted of sex crime”
“Probe continues in Palin church fire”
“Relatives of toddler await word on remains”
“American security expert kidnapped in Mexico”

Unrighteousness abounds even in the good, old United States. The economic depression pales in comparison to spiritual depression our nation is in. Unfortunately (although Providentially!), our future looks no better. The Obama administration has publically made statements indicating our nation is headed toward more unrighteousness, especially in the realm of killing unborn children.

Perhaps part of our economic turmoil is the result of God’s judgment upon our nation for our growing wickedness. But, the bottom line is clear: America is in a spiritual depression and needs a mighty revival from God. Scripture says “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12). Let’s face facts; our nation no longer considers its God to be the Lord. If it has a god, it is the god of secularism, materialism, “me-ism”.

Those of us who truly know Jesus as our Lord and our nation’s Lord need to pray earnestly and continually for God to send a revival through our churches and across this land. The United States will never regain its place in the world as a “city on a hill” until it turns from its sin. For God has said, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

May God have mercy on each of us and upon our nation.

Thanksgiving to God in 2008

Certainly Thanksgiving Day in America is a special time for thanking the Lord for His many blessings. Since my Thanksgiving thoughts this year center on my family, I posted an entry in our family website here.

Following Christ and Killing Our Babies: Part 1

“I’m a follower of Jesus Christ and also pro-choice.”

Oh, really? From this point forward, you will have to PROVE to me you are truly a follower of our great Lord and God Jesus Christ. I don’t believe you.

Personally, I am sick and tired of hearing remarks like these from individuals who simply want somehow to justify their support of killing our children by invoking the name of the Lord. Do you honestly believe Jesus Christ, if He were physically present at the moment a doctor (maybe I should say butcher) was performing an abortion, would support that action? How blind are you?

Over the coming weeks I will post entries in this blog arguing that a true follower of Christ will NOT support pro-death. Some things I am going to say are not going to be well received. But, in my opinion, this is the most critical matter facing our nation. True believers must return to the battlefield because the war is about to intensify. Our President-Elect has, both in word and deed, proven he will be the most radical supporter of the pro-death movement ever to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“But I am a Christian! Abortion is legal in the United States and it is a matter between a woman and her doctor. There is no contradiction between my faith and my stance on life.”

HOG WASH! If you profess to be a child of the Lord and support pro-death policies and practices then I must conclude one of the following 3 possibilities:

1. You are truly born again but are ignorant in your understanding of what God says about life.

2. You are truly born again but are living in rebellion and disobedience before God by supporting death.

3. You are fooling yourself and are in danger of eternal punishment in Hell because you are not truly born again and are not a true follower of the Lord Jesus.

I see no other possibility. A true follower of our Lord who is seeking Him and who has studied the Scripture knows in his heart that abortion is immoral and sinful in the sight of God, PERIOD.

So, what I am going to do in subsequent posts is to look at each of the above possibilities. My next post will examine the Scripture and present the case against abortion based on God’s Word. Next, I will consult the Scripture to see what God says about His true children who, despite their knowledge of the Word, still support death over life. My third post will examine the Scripture to see who the true believers of Christ are. I suspect each of these “three posts” will consist of multiple posts.

My sincere prayer is those who are in the “pro-choice” camp and claim to be Christian would wake up and sincerely examine their position. I believe if they do, many will turn from being pro-death to pro-life. I also believe many will realize they are lost and doomed and will sincerely and truly repent and trust Jesus Christ for their salvation.

May God bless my efforts by preserving the lives of many Americans who are yet to be born.

Killing Our Unborn Children

Over the waning weeks of the Presidential campaign, God began to impress on my heart the issue of abortion even more deeply than before. I believe President-Elect Obama's stance on this issue may be a contributing factor to this growing conviction. Despite claims from his camp, it has been proven that our newly elected President not only supports abortion, he also supports partial-birth abortion (a technique never medically required from what I understand), and, even worse, supports not caring for babies who are born despite an attempted abortion (which I consider to be infanticide).

I have opposed abortion for as long as I can remember but my hatred of the practice has now increased. Exactly how I am going to express my growing opposition to "baby killing" is still not certain. However, I do expect to be more vocal in blogs and in letters, especially to politicians at all levels. Furthermore, I expect to be more "confrontational" to those who profess to be Christians yet support killing our unborn.

That brings me to my letter to the President-Elect which I e-mailed to him today. It is my opening political attack on abortion and calls for President-Elect Obama to lead the charge to ban the practice. I firmly believe my opposition to abortion is Biblical but, in this letter, I based my argument only on civil rights. Since my future arguments against abortion will likely find a home in this blog, I decided to include my letter to the President-Elect even though it contains no Scripture references. Future posts will clearly outline the Biblical arguments this evil practice.

November 5, 2008

President-Elect Obama,

Congratulations on your campaign and your victory! Your election is further proof of the greatness of the United States of America!

I did not support your candidacy and did not vote for you yesterday. Your past legislative record and your remarks throughout your career alarm me. I have written blog entries and letters opposing you throughout the past few months and will continue to oppose the policies you outlined in the campaign. Nevertheless, I respect you as my next President and will pray for God to give you wisdom in your position as the leader of the free world.

Your election fulfills the dream of the Civil Rights movement. The African-American community, once slaves to white Americans and often punished and even killed as such, have now seen America erase that dark spot in the election of one of their own as President. Praise God such racial slavery has been removed from our nation! But, Mr. President-Elect, there still remains a civil rights battle in our country. There are still those in the United States who are in bondage and at the whim of their masters. They need their rights restored and I call on you as President-Elect to make this your number one priority. The group to whom I refer are our unborn children.

Every day in our nation since 1973, 4000 unborn Americans have their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness destroyed because their mother exercises her “freedom to choose”. The life of the mother, rape, and incest account for a small percentage (less than 5%) of the abortions performed in our country. Thousands of unborn Americans lose their right to life everyday at the hands of a mother who doesn’t want to be burdened by them.

Mr. President-Elect, women do not lose their “right to choose” if the practice of abortion is ended. When women engage in the sexual act they exercise their choice and must accept the possible consequences of that act, namely, a new, unborn American.

I call on you, President-Elect Obama, to lead the charge in our nation to eliminate the barbaric practice of killing our unborn citizens and, instead, to restore their right to live equally with other Americans.

Sincerely,

Bruce D. Walker
St. Charles, MO

Render to Caesar

And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?" But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's." Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at him. Mark 12:13-17

I briefly touched on this passage in my Sunday School class yesterday as we continued our quick exposition of the Gospel of Mark. Obviously, it was the Lord's providence to bring this text to our attention on the Sunday before election day!

This short incident contains so much which can be discussed. Yet I only pointed out a couple of items during class time.

1. Jesus certainly instructs His followers to obey their rulers (i.e., government). This makes sense because God has ordained the government ruling over us. Paul makes this quite clear in Romans 13 among other places. Jesus, being God in the flesh, understood this truth. We are to obey the commandments (i.e., laws) of our government except ...

2. ... when a government law is contrary to the law of God. Peter stated this argument concerning civil disobedience in Acts 5:29. The religious leaders commanded the apostles not to preach Jesus. Peter responded, "We must obey God rather than men."

3. In the first century, Caesar (and Rome) often commanded men to do things contrary to God's Word. Some of the Caesars demanded worship which, of course, Christians would not give to any but the one true God. Such situations resulted in many conflicts between authorities and the Lord's followers.

4. Obviously, conflicts should not arise when the laws of government are consistent with the law of God. In the Mark 12 passage, nothing in God's law forbids the paying of taxes to the government. So, Jesus commanded men to do just that.

5. First century Palestine differs from twenty-first century America, though. Jesus and His followers had no say when it came to who was Caesar or who occupied a seat in the Roman Senate. They could not prevent men who might be opposed to the Word of God from occupying those positions. But, in the United States, WE ELECT OUR CAESAR! Our government leaders are REPRESENTATIVES chosen by us! What a unique but wonderful blessing God has given us in terms of our government!

6. Therefore, when we elect OUR CAESAR, let's elect men and women who are most likely to lead and legislate in agreement with God's Word. By doing so, we reduce the likelihood of future conflicts, the necessity for civil disobedience, and bring glory to God as a nation.

Tomorrow is election day. Vote wisely for YOUR CAESAR!

Josiah and the United States

Perhaps it is a “stretch” to compare Judah and its ruler King Josiah to the United States and President Reagan, but, I must confess, that is one of the first thoughts to cross my mind when I was reviewing the life of this great king. The story of Josiah may be found in 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel had fallen to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. and, a few years later, threatened Judah. At that time, Hezekiah reigned as king. The Scripture notes “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done” (2 Kings 18:3). Sennacherib led the Assyrians towards Judah and was threatening to take Jerusalem. Hezekiah prayed and requested the prophet Isaiah’s counsel on the matter. Isaiah responded that Sennacherib would not take the city. Sure enough, that night an angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians and Sennarcherib plus his army returned to Nineveh.

Hezekiah, a devoted follower of the Lord, though, was followed by his son Manasseh, one of the most evil kings in the history of Judah. He ruled for fifty-five years and idolatry was very much the story of the nation. Manasseh’s son, Amon, took over the throne after his father’s death and the Scripture says “he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:22). His servants assassinated him and his son, Josiah, was appointed king at the age of 8.

Josiah began to seek the Lord at an early age (2 Chronicles 34:3) and, in the 18th year of his reign, the Book of the Law was discovered in the Temple. Immediately, Josiah instituted reforms in the land of Judah. 2 Chronicles 34 paints the picture:

Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers. (2 Chronicles 34:29-33)

Josiah would be killed in battle just 13 years later. Judah immediately fell back into sin and, twenty-two years after Josiah’s death, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem and took Judah as its prisoner.

Obviously, the revival under King Josiah was an outward revival. Did the King truly trust the Lord and follow Him? Yes, the Scripture indicates Josiah was sincere in his commitment to God. But the people were not as sincere and their return to sin following Josiah’s death clearly reveals the terrible truth: Josiah’s revival was an outward revival to them. Nothing changed in their heart.

Look at the text I just quoted. Note these two phrases: “Then he (Josiah) MADE all who were present … stand to it.” “All HIS days THEY did not turn…”. Judah experienced a national revival under King Josiah but, regrettably, they did not experience a true spiritual revival in their hearts. They remained far from God.

Every time I read this story, my mind quickly recalls the events of the 1980s. The United States had suffered greatly during the prior decade. We experienced the sin of Watergate and the resignation of a Vice President and a President. The war in Vietnam finally ended but not without significant human losses and civil unrest in the states. We elected a Washington outsider as President and soon discovered that was a mistake. Hostages were taken overseas and gasoline prices went up. And to epitomize the spiritual depravity of our nation at the time, the Supreme Court called the act of abortion constitutional. The United States gave its blessing to the killing of its own unborn. We needed a revival.

Then President Ronald Reagan appeared. Quickly, the outlook of Americans changed. Americans were proud again to be Americans. The Soviet nation clearly was on the downward path. The economy drastically improved for most citizens. There seemed to be a religious revival in our country during the 80s.

Our scenario sounds much like Judah. Reeling after Manasseh and Amon, the nation needed a Josiah and there he was. Reeling after the miseries of the 1970s, the nation needed a Reagan and there he was.

Unfortunately, the scenario after Reagan is much like the situation in Judah after Josiah. The revival under Josiah quickly waned because it had no spiritual roots. The revival in our country has waned as well because it had no spiritual roots. The evidence of this truth is the outward boasting of sinful acts you see in our country today: abortion, sodomy, “gay” marriage, boasting terrorists, business theft and so on.

We need a revival in our nation. We need a revival which will shatter the bondage of sin we see on all fronts. But such a revival must be a spiritual revival sent by our Lord and not simply a “national revival” from a politician or a political party. We need God to move in the hearts of His people bringing repentance and a renewal of their lives to His service. We need God, through His Spirit, to regenerate the hearts of many Americans who are without Christ resulting in their conversion to the Lord and their justification before God. Only when God brings about a true spiritual revival in America will we see an America which, once again, shines among the nations of the world.

Let us pray for our nation and for God to bring great, spiritual revival to the hearts of all Americans.

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!

Christ in You

Thank goodness, the 2008 election is almost here and, therefore, almost over! Politicians have been running for office more than 18 months and I, personally, am tired of the whole affair. My understanding of the position of each Presidential candidate is stated elsewhere in my blogs so I need not repeat those. I have done what I can to convince others of the dangers of voting for various candidates and my concerns for our nation. My positions have been expressed in the blogs, verbally, and, possibly, in a local newspaper. All I can do from this point forward is to pray and to vote.

But I want to clearly state that I have absolutely NO HOPE that any of the Presidential candidates can rescue our nation from its road to destruction. Elsewhere, I have used the analogy of a locomotive racing down the hill toward oblivion. If we elect John McCain, he will try to put on the brakes to our runaway train and, possibly, slow it down just a bit. If we elect Barack Obama, he will throw the train into full speed forward and the end will approach much more rapidly. Yet neither candidate can stop our nation’s destruction and, even more importantly, turn it around and put it on the right path. There’s only one person who can do that: Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote to the Colossians the following phrase in chapter 1, verse 27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The hope for any soul to ever be right with God is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only He can take a life on the path to eternal darkness and turn it to the path of light. Only He can take a depraved sinner and declare him (and, ultimately, make him) to be perfectly righteous before God. Only Christ can accomplish the radical change each of us needs in our life so that we may be right before our Creator.

The same is true of any nation. God has ordained the government we have (Romans 13) but doesn’t promise it will exist forever. God’s intention is not that we rely on our government but that we rely on Him. God does not intend we place our hope in any man (including any politician) but that we place our hope in Christ. Our nation needs a spiritual revival, not a political one. We have lost our nation’s spiritual moorings.

So, after much research, analysis, and prayer, I will pull the lever for John McCain and Sarah Palin next Tuesday. But, no matter whether Senator McCain or Senator Obama is declared to be the President elect on November 5th, my hope for my personal salvation and for our nation’s future will remain firmly on my Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ.

May He be glorified even next Tuesday!

Began to Teach

My Bible reading yesterday brought me to John chapter 7 and Jesus’ encounter with the Jews (i.e., Jewish leaders) during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Early in the narrative, Jesus does not openly appear during the Feast and, by verse 11, the Jewish leaders are looking for Him. The following two verses grabbed my attention:

“When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple complex and began to teach. Then the Jews were amazed and said, ‘How does He know the Scriptures, since He hasn’t been trained?’” (vv. 14-15, Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Some observations I made as I read this text included:

(1) Jesus acts based on His schedule, not man’s. The Feast of Tabernacles lasted from the 15th to the 21st day of the Jewish month of Tishri (roughly our October) and the Jewish leaders were looking for the Lord. But Jesus refused to follow their desires and remained hidden until the middle of the festival. When the time was right, He appeared. Jesus always acts based on His schedule for He is the sovereign God.

(2) Jesus taught. Yes, at times Jesus healed, at times He helped others with physical needs and so should we. But over and over again in the Gospels, you see the focus of the Lord’s earthly ministry was one of preaching and teaching. He proclaimed to man their spiritual need and God’s spiritual provision, namely, eternal life through the Son. Teaching and preaching the Word of God is still a critical necessity in the 21st century because men, women, and children need to know how serious their spiritual condition is and how wonderful the grace of God’s provision is.

(3) Jesus taught the Scriptures. The Jewish leaders confirmed this fact with their response in verse 15. Jesus spoke the true Word of God. When we preach and teach our message is to be the Word of God and not our opinion. We don’t simply teach what we know others want to hear. Jesus could have done that when He taught in the Temple. He knew what the Jewish leaders believed and He knew He could earn their friendship and assistance by teaching what they taught. But Jesus was not in the Temple that day to earn friendships and popularity with the religious leaders. He was there to teach the Word of God no matter how it affected His listeners. Likewise, we are to teach and preach the Scriptures even if we know some who hear it will be offended.

(4) Jesus taught in such a way as to keep the attention of His audience. While this is not outwardly said in this text, I believe the implication is there. It would seem if Jesus’ teaching did not grab the attention of His audience, the response of the Jewish leaders would have been to ignore Him altogether. Who cares if He knows the Scriptures and teaches them if no one listens to Him. The amazement of the religious leaders at the grasp of Scripture Jesus has implies the listeners that day were, indeed, listening.

(5) The Jews were amazed. As I understand the text, the Jews were not amazed at what He said. They recognized He knew the Scriptures. What amazed them was Jesus had such knowledge of the Scriptures yet had no formal rabbinical training. They had attended such schools and were recognized as scholars. Yet here is one proclaiming the Scriptures without such training. How remarkable is that! Perhaps we should be a little more cautious when our pulpit committees reject individuals simply based on the degrees they have received according to their resumes.

Don’t you wonder what the Lord taught that day? The Scriptures are silent on that so we can only speculate. Could it be He used the festival to explain the passages in the Pentateuch which described the protection God gave His people during their wanderings in the wilderness? Such teaching, of course, would also remind the people of Israel’s sin of disbelief at Kadesh-Barnea which resulted in the 40 years of wandering. Such sin demanded a sacrifice and He would be the perfect, complete sacrifice. Perhaps He used the festival, which marked the completion of the harvest, as an opportunity to teach about the fields which were white unto harvest with souls. Or maybe He used the festival to teach how the peace and prosperity seen in the Feast of Tabernacles foreshadows the peace and prosperity which will come with the Lord’s reign on earth.

May the Lord guide me when I teach and preach in such a way that my message is only the Word of God and that the Holy Spirit would grab the attention of my audience and drive that message straight to the heart!

Economic Crisis

The United States House of Representatives approved a "bail out" bill today ending a fierce debate in our nation's captial over the past two weeks. I use the word "ending" quite loosely for the economic problems of our country are far from over. Personally, I was against such a "bail out" and had asked my representatives to oppose it. Nevertheless, both houses of Congress have approved the bill. No matter who is elected the next President, they will inherit quite a mess.

I briefly chatted with a work associate this week. He has been looking forward to retiring in a couple of years. Like most of us, his retirement package has been hammered hard by the activity on Wall Street these past two weeks. He told me he had cashed out his stock, taking quite a loss in the process. But he feared the entire economy was about to crash and decided to get what he could on the deal. Since I am no economic expert, I have left my investments alone. I'm certain that was probably not very wise but I decided just to ride this out.

My family is not wealthy despite the good salary I make. Raising my children and trying to provide for my family without being a complete Scrooge consumes lots of my funds. Also, contributing to the work of our local church as well as various missionary ventures requires significant investments. So, I have never considered retiring from working until the Lord makes it impossible for me to work. I am not complaining, just stating the facts. Accumulating money for retirement has never been a priority in my life. We are not wealthy and likely never will be.

So, in the midst of such turmoil as we have seen this month, it is easy to get caught up in the world's view of the situation and panic about our future. At times like these, we need to return to God's Word. Listen to Paul's Word in 1 Timothy 6.

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. (1 Timothy 6:5-11)

Being rich is not necessary evil. Loving one's riches and living for them is.

Let us be satisfied with what the Lord has given us and make certain our number one goal in life is to glorify Him.

Ezra's Confession

My daily reading schedule took me to the last two chapters of Ezra. Of course, chapter 9 is Ezra's famous prayer of confession which most of us have read multiple times. However, reading this chapter 9 today made a deeper impression on me than in past readings. Perhaps this is because there are so many similarities in my life to those days in Israel. They had sin in the camp primarily due to the marriage of the chosen people of God with those of foreign backgrounds in direct disobedience to the commandment of God. They disobeyed and mixed the world into the things of God.

I certainly see this in the life of our nation. The Judeo-Christian background of our country seems to be crumbling more and more each day. The United States needs to repent and return to the faith of our fathers.

This mixture is also obvious in our churches, even those which profess to be evangelical. Some members sit in the pews who never exhibit any of the grace, mercy, or love of God in their lives. They do nothing which bears any evidence of God's regenerating work. And what can we say of those "members" who rarely attend worship or participate in our church's fellowship? Yes, there is a "mixed marriage" in many of our churches.

And I see this most clearly in my own life. How easy it is to permit the world to enter in and contaminate us even as we are trying to serve our Lord.

Therefore, I took Ezra's confession much more to heart during my reading today than I have in the past. Here is his confession for your reading and consideration (Holman Christian Standard Bible).

6 And I said:

My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than [our] heads and our guilt is as high as the heavens. 7 Our guilt has been terrible from the days of our fathers until the present. Because of our iniquities we have been handed over, along with our kings and priests, to the surrounding kings, and to the sword, captivity, plundering, and open shame, as it is today. 8 But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve a remnant for us and give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our slavery, God has given us new life and light to our eyes. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our slavery. He has extended grace to us in the presence of the Persian kings, giving us new life, so that we can rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 Now, our God, what can we say in light of this? For we have abandoned the commandments 11 You gave through Your servants the prophets, saying: "The land you are entering to possess is an impure land. The surrounding peoples have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness by their impurity and detestable practices. 12 So do not give your daughters to their sons in marriage or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you will be strong, eat the good things of the land, and leave [it] as an inheritance to your sons forever." 13 After all that has happened to us because of our evil deeds and terrible guilt—though You, our God, have punished [us] less than our sins [deserve] and have allowed us to survive — 14 should we break Your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who commit these detestable practices? Wouldn't You become [so] angry with us that You would destroy us, leaving no survivors? 15 LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before You with our guilt, though no one can stand in Your presence because of this.

The Stennett Family: Never Deviated, Never Compromised

Some of my reading time yesterday included a chapter from a work on the British Particular Baptists. The specific chapter was writted by B. A. (Benjamin Ashworth) Ramsbottom, editor of The Gospel Standard. He briefly covered four generations of the Stennett Family which I found fascinating. Four generations of ministers and devoted servants of the Lord from one family (Edward, Joseph, Joseph the younger, Samuel)! Actually, in 1950 Oscar Burdick wrote a dissertation on the Stennett family and included a fifth generation Stennett (Joseph V)! How I long for my family's history to be such servants even beyond five generations.

Mr. Ramsbottom's final two paragraphs provide an excellent summary of the chapter.

So we give thanks to God for the Stennetts, especially because of their faithful witness to the truth. They never deviated, they never compromised. Some of them were called to suffer, some of them had the greatest allurements to draw them aside, but they never deviated from the truth.

Their witness stretches over a period of a hundred and fifty years: first, the Civil War; then Commonwealth times, the times of the Puritans; then days of persecution; then times of toleration; then the Age of Reason, in which there was awful spiritual decline in Great Britain; finally the Evangelical Revival, and afterwards. Their witness stretched over all those times--a period of a hundred and fifty years. Learned, refined, honorable, above everything else godly, they were faithful to the truth as in Jesus. They never deviated, they never compromised.

Baptist History Celebration 2007

Recently I obtained a copy of “Baptist History Celebration 2007: A Symposium on Our History, Theology, and Hymnody”, a volume containing addresses given at the Tercentenary Anniversary Tribute to the founding of the Philadelphia Baptist Association. The conference was held at First Baptist Church of Charleston and had many speakers on several subjects.

Flipping through the pages just to survey the book, I stumbled onto the article “Transatlantic Patterns in Baptist Theology 1609 to 1800” by William H. Brackney. I turned to the final paragraphs of the article to see Dr. Brackney’s conclusion and read the following:

After more reflection and discovery of local congregational and personal theological data, and with the inclusion of multiple types of Baptists in England and North America 1600-1750, we can reach several ongoing conclusions. First, on both sides of the Atlantic in their early development Baptists were a theologically engaging people. The charge that we have no theology or that our theology is a poor version of someone else’s, must be permanently silenced. … We can go even farther and assert that early Baptists lie in the stream called the Reformed tradition (read Calvin, with a spoonful of Luther and Hubmaier) in contrast with other possibilities like the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, or spiritualist alternatives. What distinguished all of our theological reflection from the rest was our preoccupation with ecclesiology. … Baptists have felt deeply that such matters were not extraneous to the theological task but inherent in it.

There is a lot to discuss in that one paragraph alone and, one day, maybe I will do so.

I look forward to reading through this collection of what appears to be great pieces on Baptist History!