The Seventh Trumpet-- - Are you listening for it?

 

"The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and  ever.'"

(Revelation 11:15)

Jesus has already begun His kingdom reign, in us, His willing subjects.

As He reigns in our hearts, the rest of creation is groaning in eagerness and longing as we await the return of our Righteous King to His throne He was ordained to rule from since before earthly time began.

His reign will cover the whole cosmos and all His subjects will be the willing, loving, redeemed and rescued ones He brought into His eternal family.

We spend a lot of time analyzing and investigating visible signs of His coming, but maybe we should have our ears tuned to hear that trumpet!

Matthew 24:29-31 tells us how we will all be gathered from all over the earth to join His reigning kingdom.

And in the Old Testament book of Daniel we read how the prophet Daniel explained and predicted that coming kingdom to  Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon: centuries earlier:

     And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up  a  kingdom that will never be destroyed..it shall stand forever....

     (Daniel 2:44-45)

With all this information recorded for us, certainly no one should be surprised when it happens!

Nothing can stop it!

The bright Morning Star
Heralds the advent of dawn
Nothing can stop it

The early morning sky these days is crystal clear. I find myself staring at the Morning Star and finding new meaning in its position.

Right now the horizon is just beginning to lighten, with shades of mauve and golden moving upward into the sky. (As Emily Dickinson says about the sunrise: 'a ribbon at a time.')

The Morning Star is still visible though and will be until dawn makes it glorious appearance.

A favorite childhood hymn comes to mind:

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me
There a Bright and Morning Star
Shed its beams around me.

To the church at Thyatira, John records God's message --to him who overcomes I will give the morning star. And at the end of The Revelation we see Christ Himself saying ...I am the bright Morning Star.

He is coming and He will herald the New Day of Creation.

And nothing will stop it!

An old hymn:

I was a seeker for light in a dark world

I looked for truth, but settled for lies

I had been blinded, I couldn't see

Till the Star of Bethlehem's sky opened my eyes.

I have seen the Light shining in the darkness

Bursting through the shadows, delivering the dawn

I have seen the Light whose holy name is Jesus

His kingdom is forever. He reigns on Heaven's throne!

It's the Morning Star that announces the coming of dawn.


It's Jesus Himself who will bring in the new day.

And nothing will stop it!

Even so, come quickly! Lord Jesus.

Isaiah 60:22: I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly."

Slingshots - then and now

Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:40.

How many times have I read or heard this story? Hundreds? At least! And yet it is still so astonishing. Containing all the elements of a heroic epic, this simple story of a young brave boy challenging and overcoming the enemies of his people, remains thrilling.

I have heard secular historians making fun of this tale, as an "obvious myth written to encourage primitive people." Like a Hebrew Beowulf, they would say.

It is certainly not fantasy. It is in God's record. Also, it is not fantasy because, unknown by most secular historians, "slingshooters" were an important part of the armies of the ancient world.

The Greeks had large companies of them going into battle. And in Judges 20:16 we read
that the tribe of Benjamin had "seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss."

Slingshots were formidable military weapons, capable of being propelled (underhanded seemed to work best) with deadly accuracy.

(Hand-sized round stones are sometimes found by archaeologists. The leather slings have long ago vanished.)

Obviously young David would not do well with a sword (he would be too short and unable to get close enough) and what good would a suit of armor be if your enemy towered over you?

As Goliath closed in, David ran "quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead" (1 Samuel 17).

So David chose the right weapon to kill Goliath. And then he chose a sword to cut his head off.

David was a hero for many reasons: he was young and not a military man, he was brave, he was eager to serve God. But more importantly, he was armed with the name of God. ...I come against you, he told Goliath, not with a sword and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Remember reading Hamlet?

These words of Shakespeare, a Bible student, are often memorized by students:

To be or not to be: that is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing them end
them?

David chose to fight, to take arms against the sea of troubles surrounding God's people and to end them.

We are in a battle, too, "against the flaming arrows of evil" (Ephesians 6). And we have a lot of miltary equipment at our disposal. Paul encourages us to use it all.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the devil's schemes. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God....with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, the breastplate of righteousness in place, and your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace....the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one...the helmet of salvation...the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

(Ephesians 6)

The sword is the only offensive weapon mentioned here. The other items are defensive-- critical armor to provide for our safety.

Paul lists a lot of enemies here and urges us (he repeats it twice to make certain we understand) to put on all the armor to defend ourselves from their assaults. Just one or two pieces of the armor won't do it -- we must have ALL of the armor.

How could we go into battle without our helmet? our shield? That would be really stupid!

Soldiers regularly check their weapons, their jeeps and tanks, their head gear, cleaning and oiling and refitting them, doing whatever it takes to keep them in good working order. After all, their life depends on how well their equipment functions!


We need to keep our equipment in good working order, too. And we must be clothed with protective armor to repel all the slings and arrows Satan hurls against us.

After all, we are soldiers in a battle that has eternal consequences.


Note: As slings were used in the ancient world they became larger and heavier, and then they were mechanized and became catapults. The armies also used archers with bows and arrows. They too became larger and heavier and had to be braced against a person's stomach. They later became crossbows.

Summer Christmas Gift - - The Gift of Becoming

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
          -- Romans 6:23

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions... For it is by grace you have been saved through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God...
          -- Ephesians 2:4-8


It was the first thing we learned as we came to Christ: it is because of God's grace we are saved. It is a gift of God -- completely free and unfettered-- completely unaffected by our own works -- because of God's grace we receive the free gift of His love and salvation.

The Rest of the Story

Then what happens?

Once we receive the gift we become the gift!

See these verses from John 17 (Christ's prayer for His disciples and for us who follow):

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you have granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him (verses 1-2).

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me...(verse 6).

I pray for them...for those you have given me (verse 9).


Once we receive the gift we become the gift!

The gift God the Father joyfully gives His Son: we are that gift!

(But first we have to receive the gift!)

Why did He do this? this rescue mission to earth to
bring His disobedient children back into His family -

We are told in Hebrews 12:2:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God...

"For the joy set before him...."  We are the cause of that joy -- because we are God's gift to our Savior.

~~~~~~~~~~

How to receive the gift?

He [the jailer] brought them [Paul and Silas] out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."
                     -- Acts 16:23

Abba, Father - Jerry Bridges

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, Abba, Father (Romans 8:15).

But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full right of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father" (Galatians' 4:4-6)


What does it mean to be adopted as sons of God? For one thing, it means that we have been brought into a close personal relationship with Him.

Remember, we were rebels on death row, awaiting our execution date. But when  God pardoned us, He adopted us and brought us into His royal family.

What's more, we have confident and ready access to Him.

He gives us the privilege of addressing Him as "Abba, Father."

Abba was the word for father in the Aramaic language of Jews in Paul's day.

It was a term of intimate endearment toward and confidence in the one so addressed.

It was the term used by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He prayed to his Father that the cup of wrath might be taken from Him (Mark 14:36).

And Paul tells us that because of our adoption of as sons we can address the eternal God of the universe -- the One whom we have rebelled against - as "Abba, Father."

--From The Gospel for Real Life, Chapter 12, by
Jerry Bridges

He Spoke for Himself (US)

It is a story that is hard to believe - that the Omnipotent God, Creator and Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, would come to earth in the body of a human being, live a life of perfect righteousness and obedience, suffer a cruel death -- all to redeem His fallen and disobedient unworthy creatures and save them forever.

I know it's hard to believe.

That's why most people don't believe it.

To millions (billions?) of people it is the most outlandish claim possible.

"God would never do such a thing. Not a real God.
Maybe a make-believe God (on the other hand, who would make up such an outlandish story?) but not a real God," people say to me.

"My God is just too great to do such a thing," a friend told me.


I tried to explain -- that's exactly why He did it - because He is so great!


Wonder if you loved a woman, I asked my friend -- really loved her, wanted to be with her forever -- would you go yourself and tell her, or would you send her a message -- an email or text, or send a friend to tell her.

Of course not! You would go yourself.

God did that. He sent His prophets and His messages, but when it came time to really show His love, He came Himself!

God displays the greatness of His love, not by staying far from us, but by coming directly to us.

There's a great tale from the early Puritan days of America that reflects this.


We all learned it as children.


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recorded it in verse in
The Courtship of Miles Standish.


     Romantic love was important to the Puritans.

     Miles Standish, the military leader of the Plymouth colony, loved Priscilla Mullins.  He was not good with words and had difficulty expressing himself.

     His dear young friend, John Alden, was a thoughtful and clever writer.

     John was good with words and passionate, and so Miles asked him to go to Priscilla and make his case. To tell her that he loved her and wanted to marry  her.

     The problem was that John also loved Priscilla. But loyal to his dear friend, he went to Priscilla to deliver the love message.

     As he approached the little cabin where Priscilla sat spinning, he could hear her singing. He gathered flowers into a bouquet and listened for a few moments.

(Remember what she was singing? Longfellow tells us it was Psalm 100!)

     He went to the door and greeted her, shared some random conversation and then gave her his important message from Miles Standish, explaining that Captain Standish was very busy and wanted John to deliver his heart-felt desire for her.

     Her answer?

       "Has he not time for such things, as you call it,
     before he is married, would he be likely to
     find it, or make it, after the wedding?

       "That is the way with you men; you don't
     understand us, you cannot.

       "....When one is truly in love, one not only
     says it, but shows it....

       "...Why don't you speak for yourself, John Alden?"


So Priscilla Mullins married John Alden -


If Miles had come himself, Longfellow indicates, the tale would have had a different ending.


When John Alden came to visit Priscilla, he heard her singing Psalm 100 -- a real favorite of the Puritans.

Here are the words of another  hymn - one sung by the early Christians in Philippi -- recorded by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:6-11--

     (5) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

     Who, being in the very nature God,

     did not consider equality with God something

     to be grasped

     But made Himself nothing,

     Taking the very nature of a servant,

     Being made in human likeness

     And being found in appearance as a man,

     He humbled Himself and became obedient

     to death--even death on a cross!

     Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place

           And gave Him the name that is

     above every name

     That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

     in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

     and every tongue confess that

     Jesus Christ is Lord,

     To the glory of God the Father.

Because of His greatness and His all-consuming love, He came Himself! He didn't send angels or videos -

God spoke for Himself!

PS Wouldn't be great if we knew the tunes the early Christians used to sing their hymns?

Mid-way to Christmas!

Six months from today is Christmas  - the happiest, most glorious time of the year!

I think I "Need a little Christmas now!"

Yes, right now!

I am putting on my Christmas music and singing loudly - and remembering that old wonderful Christmas carol, "What Child is this?"




Remember that 2nd verse:

 Why lies Him here in such mean estate

Where ox and ass are feeding

Good Christians fear:

For sinners, here, the silent Word is pleading.

I had two thoughts:

(1) the glorious fact of our rescue plan...

designed by God before the creation of the world...

described to mankind at the beginning of history...

reminded to mankind continually throughout history....

revealed to mankind in the incarnation of Jesus Christ the Word....

explained to mankind through the

written record of the New Testament...

and finally, totally, accomplished through the coronation of Jesus Christ as Lord of all.

Then "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Philippians 2)

When Mary laid Him there in that manger, when the shepherds came to worship, when Joseph stood by to protect Him, in that tiny Body God's grace was already being worked out.

(2) God loves to surprise us!

Think of it!  The Creator--God--King arriving in Bethlehem of Judea in a stable! Who would ever make up a story like that!

And then in the last days John sees the throne of God and the elders call, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed."

And what does he see: "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as it it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne" (Revelation 5).

Not a fearful mighty Lion, but a wounded Lamb....the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the world (Revelation 13).

God's amazing rescue plan -- wrapped in a surprise package -- and so we can now begin to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!

May the awe and wonder of Christmas astonish us every day!

Quoteworthy - Godly answer from an ungodly scientist

Godly answer from an ungodly scientist...

This quote from Robert Jastrow, astronomer and physicist, founder and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and self-described agnostic. He died in 2008. But these words will live on for future generations:

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

What Does Prayer Really Do? C S Lewis

 

                          

                    What Does Prayer Really Do? C S Lewis

"Prayer is either a sheer illusion or a personal contact between embryonic, incomplete persons (ourselves) and the utterly complete Person.

Prayer, in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision and the enjoyment of God its bread and wine.

In it God shows Himself to us."

So in prayer God shows Himself to us....don't we usually get it ackwards?

The Problem for Agnostics...Tim Warner

Agnostics - What Kind of God Would You Want?



The question that ought to be asked by someone questioning God's existence is this: What kind of evidence would the God portrayed in the Bible give?

He is presented in Scripture as a God who desires a personal relationship with those whom He created in His own image.

Logically, we should expect the evidence to be the kind of evidence that engenders us to trust Him in a personal relationship. And trust is based on a consistent record -- faithfulness in keeping one's word.

When we look in Scripture we see a  long record of God's interaction with a select group of people [individually and collectively] -- the nation that sprang from the loins of Abraham through Sarah.

And that nation exists today.

It is not difficult to judge whether God's claims about that nation are true, whether Israel's history bears out God's making good on His promises and threats, and whether Israel's modern history is consistent with what God has said.

This historical record is spread over four thousand years. It gives us a very good body of evidence to assess this God and decide whether He deserves our trust or whether He is the figment of a collective consciousness. Israel has survived all these centuries against incredible odds, just as God promised.

Yet she has suffered in exile also, just as He threatened.

She has never had, and will never have, peace and permanent possession of the land until she acknowledges her Messiah Jesus.

Forty years before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, Jesus warned,

"If you have known, even you, especially in your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in one every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:42-44).

Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled to the letter, when Titus and the Roman armies leveled Jerusalem and the Temple. And He predicted that "Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).

That has indeed been the state of Jerusalem ever since.

           ---From The Mystery of the Mazzaroth, by Tim Warner



The Bible presents convincing evidence that the God portrayed in its pages is faithful to His Word.

Feeling Out of Place?

               Are You Feeling Out of Place?

Great comments from Donald Grey Barnhouse:

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, writing a few years ago on Revelation, wrote this:

There are four things out of place in the universe.

The church is out of place. She ought to be in heaven.

Israel is out of place. She should be in the land that has been sworn to her and possess every part of it.


The devil is out of place. He ought to be in the lake of fire, but he's still roaming free.

And Christ is out of place. He should be through with intercession and seated on His throne, reigning, instead of upon His Father's throne interceding.

So here in the vision (Revelation) we begin to see all of these things that are out of place being put in their rightful place.

The church is in heaven.

Israel is about to be given back her kingdom and her land and salvation.

The devil is going to be bound and cast into the lake of fire.

And Christ is about to reign.

And those in heaven know this. And so in verse 8 of Chapter 5, we read "after He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb."

And that initiates immense worship--extreme worship.

And everything is put back the way it is supposed to be!

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

                                    HOME AGAIN

Thoughts from Philip Yancey....

"If Easter Sunday was the most exciting day of the disciples'  lives, for Jesus, it was probably the day of Ascension  [40 days later].

"He, the Creator, who had descended so far and given up so much, was now headed home. Like a soldier returning across the ocean from a long, bloody war. Like an astronaut shedding his spacesuit to gulp in the familiar atmosphere of earth. 

"Home at last.

"Jesus' prayer at the Last Supper with His disciples reveals something of this point of view: 'I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do,' Jesus prayed.

'And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began.'

Before the world began! Jesus, who was sitting in a stuffy room in Jerusalem, was letting His mind wander back to a time before the Milky Way and Andromeda. On an earthly night dark with fear and menace, Jesus was making preparations to return home, to assume the glory He had set aside."

  From, The Jesus I Never Knew, by  Philip Yancey, chapter 12.

 The God of power, He did ride

In His majestic robes of glory

Resolved to light; and so one day

He did descend, undressing all the way.

  -- George Herbert

Where is God When We Pray? C S Lewis

An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers.

He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him through the Holy Spirit.

But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God--that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him.

You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying--the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually involved in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers.

The man is being caught up into the high kinds of life--what I call Zoe or spiritual life: he is being pulled into God, by God, while still remaining himself.

---C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The Joy of the Lord - Where does it come from?

                 A favorite verse - The Joy of the Lord is my Strength!

It's from Nehemiah,  chapter 8. It's a popular verse - and the context in which we find it is even more remarkable.

Here's the rest of the story....

The Hebrews who had returned to Jerusalem from  their Babylonian (and then Persian) captivity in the 6th century BC, began to rebuild their temple which lay in ruins. They started with the altar, but were distracted by other building projects and were challenged by local enemies.  

Ezra, a priest and a "scribe skilled in the law," heard of the problems being faced by his kinsmen and desired to see the matters corrected and the temple finished.

He set out with a large caravan of more returning exiles and arrived in Jerusalem to start the work again.The people were eager to obey God and resume His worship.
They asked Ezra to bring out his copy of the Law of Moses and read it to them. They built a high wooden platform for him to stand on while he read. 

"All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people sood up. Ezra praised the LORD, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, 'Amen! Amen!' 

Then they bowed down and worshipped the LORD...the Levites instructed the people in the Law while they were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so the people could understand what was being read.

Then Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites said to them all, 'This day is holy to the LORD our God. Do not mourn or weep' for all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Nehemiah said, 'Go and enjoy choice good and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. They went away to eat and drink and celebrate with great joy, because now they understood the words that had been made known to them.'"

They had joy because they understood God's Word! Understanding God's Word give us joy and makes us strong!

Stop and read Nehemiah 8...and see how His Word does this for us!

 

h

Thoughts of an old Monk

I'm reading a great book: "On Loving God" by Bernard of Clairvaux, written about 900 years ago.

We often think of these ancient saints as rigid and austere.
And we are often wrong. He is loving and joyous in his writing
and displays those attitudes in simple, yet dignified, language.

He also wrote a favorite hymn: "Jesus, the Very Thought of  Thee."

Here are some of the lines:

   "Jesus, the very thought of Thee, with sweetness fills my breast.
   But sweeter, still, Thy face to see and in Thy presence rest.

   O hope of every contrite heart, O joy of all the meek
   To those who fall how kind Thou art, how good to all who seek!

    But what of those who find? Ah, this no pen or tongue can show
   -the love of Jesus, what it is, none but His loved ones know!"

Sort of reminds me of a more modern hymn, "And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own....and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known!"

These words are from "In the Garden,"  a favorite of my father's, written about 100 years ago by Charles Austin Miles.

So wouldn't be glorious to meet these two men someday and
"Jesus talk" with them!  Maybe we will!

Charles Spurgeon - The Winter in My Soul - Even in June

You have made summer and winter.

Psalm 74:17

My soul, begin this wintry month with God.

The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind you that He keeps His covenant with day and night and serve to assure you that He will also keep that glorious covenant that He has made with you in the person of Christ Jesus.

He who is true to His Word  in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved Son.

Winter in the soul is be no means a comfortable season, and if it is upon you just now, it will be very painful to you: but there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it.

He sends the sharp blast of adversity to nip the buds of expectation. He scatters the frozen dew like ashes over the once fresh green meadows of our joy.

He dispenses His icy morsels, freezing the streams of our delight.

He does it all; He is the great Winter King and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore you cannot murmur.

Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills are of the Lord's sending and come to us with wise design.

Frosts kill harmful insects and restrain raging diseases; they break up the clods and sweeten the soul.

O that such results would always follow our winters of affliction!

How we prize the fire just now!  How pleasant is its cheerful glow!

Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble.

Let us draw near to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing.

Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and keep working, unlike the lazy man who refuses to plow because it is too cold; in the summer he will have nothing and will be forced to beg for breed.


---- From Morning and Evening, by Charles Spurgeon

We Reap What We Sow

Meantime I seek no sympathies, nor need;
The thorns which I have reaped are of the tree
I planted -- they have torn me, -- and I bleed.
I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.

-- From Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, by Lord Byron


And from the New Testament....

Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person
plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others --ignoring God! --harvests a  crop of weeds. All he'll have a show for his life is weeds! But the one plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real, eternal life.
Galatians 6:7 (MSG)

Shalom Shalom

     For many years these verses, Isaiah 26:3-4, have brought me comfort and encouragement:

     You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You,

because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, 

    for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

So simple. So profound. As we keep our minds focused on our LORD, everything else diminishes in importance. And peace arrives and settles down in our hearts.

Our pastor mentioned Wednesday night that "perfect peace" could be translated  "shalom shalom."

I love it! What a great way to greet people! Now  I am saying "shalom shalom" throughout the day!  GIve it a try!

The Good Judge

I know that the LORD will  maintain the cause of the afflicted

and give justice for the poor. 

Surely the righteous shall give thanks in Your name;

the upright will dwell in Your presence.

Psalm 140:12-13

Father,

The world seems so full of hurt for so many.

It is distressing to see how the poor and powerless are often

treated.

We know You are the only truly righteous Judge, and someday You will even things out.

In the meantime, You have asked us to extend justice in Your name. To seek out injustice and cruelty and evil around us and confront it  whenever we can, and to begin to establish Your perfect and holy 

kingdom  here "on earth, as it is in heaven."

Help us be strong and speak for You. Show us where we can do the most good. Help us relieve suffering wherever we encounter it --

for all Your created ones.

And help us keep our eyes on that future  kingdom that is still to come -- that kingdom that will be all eternal goodness and perfection for ever.

Help us to find people to bring with us when we arrive in Your

presence where there is no sadness, no suffering, no tears -- only perfect joy with You forever!

Holiness - Intend to fly? - William Law

 This selection is from William Law's (1686-1761) The Holy Life:


Just as we cannot live a holy life without prayer, so we cannot have prayer without a holy life. To be foolish in the way we spend our time and money is no greater mistake than to be foolish in relation to our prayers.

If our lives cannot be offered to God, how can our prayers?


.....


Our lives should be as holy and as heavenly as our prayers. It is our strict duty to live by reason, to devote all of the action of our lives to God, to walk before Him in wisdom and holiness...and to do everything in His name and for His glory.

If our prayers do not lead to this, they are of no value no matter how wise or heavenly.

No, such prayers would be absurdities. They would be like prayers for wings though we never intended to fly.

The Way of Wisdom - The House of Mourning

...the day of death is better than the day of birth.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man...

Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

        --Ecclesiastes 7:1-4


At one time I was confounded by these, what I thought of as dreary, passages.... 

the day of death is better than the day of birth....

{that's sort of 'Jewish' in that it reminds us all of that
old Jewish traditional proverb: 'cry when a baby is born and rejoice when he dies'...a reality certainly played out in Jewish history....}

better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of merry-making....

a sad face is good for the heart....

and that last line...the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning....

As the author focuses on sorrow and mourning, he repeatedly uses the terms good and better. And then tells us that the way to wisdom is through the house of mourning....

The older I get I begin to understand Solomon's philosophy here....it's just the simple truth - real, enduring, life-changing wisdom comes through pain and suffering -

As happy it is to experience the arrival of a tiny baby,
that occasion does not provide the wisdom and perspective that grief and death do.

Death causes us to stop and reflect, at a deeply profound and personal level, on life - its purpose, its journey, and its destination.

Death forces us to focus, at least for a moment, on the frailty and brevity of life.

Death reminds us it exists because of sin and that one day it will be utterly destroyed. Death itself will eventually be shown to be the frail and temporary condition - and eternal life will be the permanent conqueror.

And death reminds us that, ultimately, we have important choices to make.

Reflecting on death is the way of wisdom....Death points us to the Eternal One, who has the power over death and promises us the hope of the resurrection and glorious eternal life for those who trust in the finished work of Jesus.


As I look back on my life I see how much more I learned in those times of pain -- it's obvious to me now -- I experience more of God in the house of mourning than I do in the house of merry-making.

Bringing to mind God's words in Jeremiah 22:21:

I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, "I will not hear." This has been your manner since your youth, that you did not obey my voice.

That seems to be my story, too.

This is the journey of wisdom -- we cling to Jesus when we grieve and eagerly await His return.


For on that day, "He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 22:4).

             Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

First Thoughts -- First Words - Eric Metaxas - From The Moon

From Eric Metaxas...


It's interesting to think that some of the first words ever spoken on the surface of the moon were those of Jesus.


"I am the vine, you are the branches. [Whoever] abides in Me...will bring forth much fruit...(John 15:5)



Astronaut Buzz Aldrin said that he'd intended to read this communion passage in his transmission back to earth, but at the same time, NASA was embroiled in a legal battle with Madalyn O'Hair, the outspoken atheist who was suing NASA becase the Apollo 8 crew had read a few scriptures from Genesis when they orbited the moon on Christmas of 1968.



Aldrin had been asked not to read the scriptures over the radio, and he reluctantly complied, reading them quietly as he gave thanks to God.



"It was interesting for me think," he said some years later, "the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements."




And interesting for us to think that the first symbolic act on the moon was a remembrance of a self-sacrificial act of grace made 2000 years earlier by the One who made the moon and the Earth and the stars.

Feeding The World

                                        How To Feed the World   

          Luke 9  --  Great crowds were following Jesus. Late one afternoon the disciples came to Him and said He should send the crowd away so they could go somewhere and find food.

           He replied, "You give them something to eat."

           What a command! He wanted them to feed the crowd!

            As I look around today I see a hungry crowd everywhere I look. I think He's telling us to feed them!

           Gloria Gaither wrote a beautiful song about that. She titled it "I Then Shall Live" and sings it to Sibelius' composition "Finlandia." These are my favorite passages when I think about that event recorded in Luke 9:

I then shall live as one who's been forgiven

I'll walk with joy to know my debts are paid

I know my name is clear before my Father

I am His child and I am not afraid.

So greatly pardoned, I'll forgive my brother

The law of love I gladly will obey.

Your Kingdom come around and through and in me

Your Power and Glory, let them shine through me.

Your hallowed Name, O may I bear with honor

And may Your living Kingdom come in me.

The bread of life, O may I share with honor, 

And may You feed a hungry world through me."

Let's go out and feed our hungry world today!

    

       

(US) In honor of our veterans - FDR's Prayer on D Day

"For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people."

Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer

June 6, 1944

My fellow Americans, last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer:

Almighty God: our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a  mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard, for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tired, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice rise, and tolerance and good will among all thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other. Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled...

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy... Lead us to the saving of our country...

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.