Deuteronomy 11:11-12. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.
God especially cares for the land He was giving to His people.
When imaging God's creative hand at work in the "beginning" it is easy to envision His mighty arm stretching out and casting rainbows of color and crystals of gems, scattering them in profusion across the watery landscape of the new earth.
Did He have a blueprint? Or did He just thrust out His arm and randomly scatter the vibrant shades of mountains and flowers and animals as He determined at that moment? Did He "wing it?" Like an artist or interior designer, did He alter certain bits as He went along?
Did the angels sing and shout for joy at each thrust of His arm? Were they giving Him a standing ovation? Was that the "music of the spheres" and is it still echoing around this great universe?
Was His creation of nature general or specific?
It appears from the Old Testament that it was specific land He was creating to be the center of His Kingdom - and that He Himself is the Gardener - He cares for and watches over it.
Just glancing through the book of Deuteronomy the word land is used about 175 times - In Deuteronomy alone! and always about how God is giving it to His people as a special gift!
What does tell me? The land matters! God loves this physical planet. He watches the land itself. We must care for it, too...not destroy its ability to renew itself - not exploit its treasures for our own greed. We must care for the land He has given us!
Monday, March 14, 2022
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Grace Notes
A Glimpse of Grace
.....from an unexpected place....
"Because of the love that was between this man and me, My Lord King Arthur and his noble knights now lie dead. Therefore, Sir Lancelot, I now repent; and I would enter the kingdom of heaven through the grace of the passion of our Lord Jesu: for many are now in heaven who were on earth as sinful as we."
(Words of Lady Guinevere)
--from Le Morte D'Arthur [The Death of King Arthur], by Sir Mallory, written in 1485
From Jerry Bridges, written 2008. "Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace." We are never 'beyond the need' or 'beyond the reach.'
From Philip Yancy, written 2007. "There is nothing you can do to make God love you more. And there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less."
Monday, February 14, 2022
Trying to be Good - C S Lewis
Trying to be Good - Thoughts from C S Lewis
A Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good.
They hope, by being good, to please God, if there is one, or -- if there is not -- at least they hope to deserve approval from good men.
But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him.
He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us, just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.
Friday, February 4, 2022
Jesus' Close Friend - Andrew - Part 2
From Part 1...
So we have seen that the New Testament only gives us 3 personal pictures of Andrew. And we see from these 3 incidents that he was a man who brought others to Christ, including his famous brother, Simon Peter.
1. Andrew's first mission field was his family. "We have found the Messiah!" he proclaimed to his brother.
Not, "we might have..", "we think we have..." "we want your opinion..."
No, he declared as clearly as a gold miner might cry out: "Eureka! I found it!"
WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!
The long-expected and longed-for Messiah, the Son of God, the Anointed of God to redeem His people had arrived!
There was no doubt in Andrew's mind.
It was true then, and it is true now, that most people who come to Christ, come because of a testimony of another family member. The biggest mission field in the world is right at our own doorstep.
2. Andrew was sure of his message because he had spent many hours with Christ. From 4 PM until the following morning he had experienced being in the presence of God. We don't know what they discussed, likely much like Jesus' words to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) when they reported, "were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
Andrew did not go into great explanation to Simon. He did not argue. He did not "set up" the conversation with questions and thought-provoking
scenarios. Just a statement: "We have found the Messiah!"
When we have spent time with Jesus, our hearts will "burn within us" and we will feel compelled to go to our family and friends, with fervor and confidence.
"Come and you will see," Jesus had told them. And they did.
3. What happened to Andrew? According to tradition, Andrew was crucified during the reign of Nero, about 60 AD, in Patrae, Greece. We are told he "embraced" his cross and welcomed the opportunity to suffer as Christ suffered.
A more recent legend (14th century or so) tell us that he was given (or requested) an X-shaped cross, like we see today on his icons for his position as Patron Saint of both Scotland and Russia, as well as various
old manuscript illustrations and tapestries and paintings.
1. When Andrew brought his brother to Jesus, do you think he knew he would himself take a smaller role in the group of followers around Jesus? Did he anticipate that his brother would eclipse him in position and influence?
(Andrew is always listed in the group of disciples as one of the first four - along with Peter, James and John.)
2. Why do you think Andrew told Jesus about the young boy with a few loaves and fishes in John 6 at the Feeding of the Five Thousand event?
3. What do you admire most in Andrew's life? What would you wish to imitate?
4. When the Greek came to Philip and asked to meet Christ, why do you think Philip went to Andrew first? Why did the Greeks approach Philip?
Philip was a Greek name, meaning, "lover of horses" and was a popular name among Greeks, probably because of Alexander the Great's famous father, Philip of Macedon, who lived in the 4th century BC.
Did Philip perhaps speak Greek? (Andrew was also a Greek name.)
Hardly anyone remembers the name of Mr. Edward Kimball. But he was a very influential man and his dedication to Christ's mission changed the lives of thousands about a hundred years ago, just as Andrew's testimony to his brother Peter changed history two thousand years ago.
Mr. Kimball was a Sunday School teacher at Mount Vernon Church (Boston) where one of his young students (age 16) was Dwight L. Moody.
On young Moody's first Sunday in class, Mr. Kimball handed him a closed Bible and told him the lesson was in John. Moody fingered the Bible, opened it and began looking for the text.
Other young boys began to react to his ignorance, making fun of him as he attempted to locate the proper place in scripture.
Mr. Kimball realized what was happening and gave him his own Bible which was already opened to the text. Moody recalled that kind act years later.
But just teaching Sunday School class was not Mr. Kimball's full mission. He also visited with his young students and sought every opportunity to explain the full gospel message to them.
He decided to visit Moody at his work (Moody was a shoe salesman at Holston's shoe store). Kimball relates later:
I started down to Holston's. When I was nearly
there, I began to wonder whether I ought to go
just then, during business hours. And I thought
maybe my mission might embarrass the boy, that
when I went away the other clerks might ask who
I was and when they learned they might taunt
Moody and ask if I was trying to make a good
boy out of him.
While I was pondering over it all, I passed the
store without noticing it. Then when I found I
had passed the door, I determined to make a
dash for it and have it over at once.
I found Moody in the back part of the store
wrapping up shoes in paper and putting them
on shelves.
I went up to him and out my hand on his shoulder,
and as I leaned over I made my plea, and I feel
it was a very weak one. I don't know what words I
used...I simply told him of Christ's love for him
and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all
there was to it.
I think Mr. Moody said later that there were
tears in my eyes. It seemed the young man was
just ready for the light that then broke over him,
for there in the back of that shoe store in Boston
the future great evangelist gave himself and his
life to Christ.
Later Mr. Moody recalled, "....here is a man who
never saw me until lately, and he is weeping over
my sins and I never shed a tear about them.
"But I understand it now, and know what it is to
have a passion for men's souls and weep over
their sins. I don't remember what he said, but I
can feel the power of that man's hand on my
shoulder here to-night."
~~~~~
Historical Plaque commemorating the place where Dwight Moody was converted in 1855:
So we have seen that the New Testament only gives us 3 personal pictures of Andrew. And we see from these 3 incidents that he was a man who brought others to Christ, including his famous brother, Simon Peter.
Notes
1. Andrew's first mission field was his family. "We have found the Messiah!" he proclaimed to his brother.
Not, "we might have..", "we think we have..." "we want your opinion..."
No, he declared as clearly as a gold miner might cry out: "Eureka! I found it!"
WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!
The long-expected and longed-for Messiah, the Son of God, the Anointed of God to redeem His people had arrived!
There was no doubt in Andrew's mind.
It was true then, and it is true now, that most people who come to Christ, come because of a testimony of another family member. The biggest mission field in the world is right at our own doorstep.
2. Andrew was sure of his message because he had spent many hours with Christ. From 4 PM until the following morning he had experienced being in the presence of God. We don't know what they discussed, likely much like Jesus' words to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) when they reported, "were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
Andrew did not go into great explanation to Simon. He did not argue. He did not "set up" the conversation with questions and thought-provoking
scenarios. Just a statement: "We have found the Messiah!"
When we have spent time with Jesus, our hearts will "burn within us" and we will feel compelled to go to our family and friends, with fervor and confidence.
"Come and you will see," Jesus had told them. And they did.
3. What happened to Andrew? According to tradition, Andrew was crucified during the reign of Nero, about 60 AD, in Patrae, Greece. We are told he "embraced" his cross and welcomed the opportunity to suffer as Christ suffered.
A more recent legend (14th century or so) tell us that he was given (or requested) an X-shaped cross, like we see today on his icons for his position as Patron Saint of both Scotland and Russia, as well as various
old manuscript illustrations and tapestries and paintings.
Questions
1. When Andrew brought his brother to Jesus, do you think he knew he would himself take a smaller role in the group of followers around Jesus? Did he anticipate that his brother would eclipse him in position and influence?
(Andrew is always listed in the group of disciples as one of the first four - along with Peter, James and John.)
2. Why do you think Andrew told Jesus about the young boy with a few loaves and fishes in John 6 at the Feeding of the Five Thousand event?
3. What do you admire most in Andrew's life? What would you wish to imitate?
4. When the Greek came to Philip and asked to meet Christ, why do you think Philip went to Andrew first? Why did the Greeks approach Philip?
Philip was a Greek name, meaning, "lover of horses" and was a popular name among Greeks, probably because of Alexander the Great's famous father, Philip of Macedon, who lived in the 4th century BC.
Did Philip perhaps speak Greek? (Andrew was also a Greek name.)
AfterThoughts
Hardly anyone remembers the name of Mr. Edward Kimball. But he was a very influential man and his dedication to Christ's mission changed the lives of thousands about a hundred years ago, just as Andrew's testimony to his brother Peter changed history two thousand years ago.
Mr. Kimball was a Sunday School teacher at Mount Vernon Church (Boston) where one of his young students (age 16) was Dwight L. Moody.
On young Moody's first Sunday in class, Mr. Kimball handed him a closed Bible and told him the lesson was in John. Moody fingered the Bible, opened it and began looking for the text.
Other young boys began to react to his ignorance, making fun of him as he attempted to locate the proper place in scripture.
Mr. Kimball realized what was happening and gave him his own Bible which was already opened to the text. Moody recalled that kind act years later.
But just teaching Sunday School class was not Mr. Kimball's full mission. He also visited with his young students and sought every opportunity to explain the full gospel message to them.
He decided to visit Moody at his work (Moody was a shoe salesman at Holston's shoe store). Kimball relates later:
I started down to Holston's. When I was nearly
there, I began to wonder whether I ought to go
just then, during business hours. And I thought
maybe my mission might embarrass the boy, that
when I went away the other clerks might ask who
I was and when they learned they might taunt
Moody and ask if I was trying to make a good
boy out of him.
While I was pondering over it all, I passed the
store without noticing it. Then when I found I
had passed the door, I determined to make a
dash for it and have it over at once.
I found Moody in the back part of the store
wrapping up shoes in paper and putting them
on shelves.
I went up to him and out my hand on his shoulder,
and as I leaned over I made my plea, and I feel
it was a very weak one. I don't know what words I
used...I simply told him of Christ's love for him
and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all
there was to it.
I think Mr. Moody said later that there were
tears in my eyes. It seemed the young man was
just ready for the light that then broke over him,
for there in the back of that shoe store in Boston
the future great evangelist gave himself and his
life to Christ.
Later Mr. Moody recalled, "....here is a man who
never saw me until lately, and he is weeping over
my sins and I never shed a tear about them.
"But I understand it now, and know what it is to
have a passion for men's souls and weep over
their sins. I don't remember what he said, but I
can feel the power of that man's hand on my
shoulder here to-night."
~~~~~
Historical Marker
Historical Plaque commemorating the place where Dwight Moody was converted in 1855:
D. L. Moody
Christian Evangelist
Friend of Man
Founder of the
Northfield Schools
Was Converted to God
In a Shoe Store On
This Site
April 21, 1855
Christian Evangelist
Friend of Man
Founder of the
Northfield Schools
Was Converted to God
In a Shoe Store On
This Site
April 21, 1855
~~~~~
[Note: Notice Kimball's hesitation and second thoughts before he actually came to Moody and spoke with him. Ever feel that way?]
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Jesus' Close Friend -- Andrew - Part 1
Jesus' Close Friend - Andrew
Setting the scene....
The River Jordan, where John the Baptizer is with two of his disciples (Andrew and the unnamed disciple - probably John, the brother of James, who later became the famous disciple of Jesus).
Jesus, returning from his 40 days in the wilderness,
had seen the Baptizer the day before and had requested that he himself be baptized. John reluctantly agreed and received the heavenly sign that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.
Now Jesus approaches the area again.
The next day John was there again with two of
his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he
said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
When the two disciples heard him say this, they
followed Jesus.
Turning around, Jesus saw them following and
asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher),
"Where are you staying?"
"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying
and spent that day with him. It was about the
tenth hour.
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the
two who heard what John had said and who had
followed Jesus.
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother
Simon, and tell him, "We have found the
Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him
to Jesus.
--John 1:35-42
Scripture does not tell us a lot about Andrew. Certainly far less than of his famous brother, Simon Peter.
But we do know that Andrew is the one who first recognized the Messiah and the one who brought Peter to that same knowledge.
Mostly we refer to Andrew today as "The brother of Simon Peter."
What do we know about Andrew?
There are only three pictures of Andrew himself given us in the New Testament.
One is this glimpse here of Andrew's eagerness to share his great news -- We have found the Messiah -- with his prominent brother.
The second story is in John 6 when a multitude of spiritually hungry folks are listening to Christ's message (after all, He is the "Bread of Life") and it comes time for physical food to feed them.
Jesus asks his disciples, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (They were on the far side of the Sea of Galilee.)
Philip quickly answers, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
But Andrew, appearing before Jesus with a young boy, says, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves, and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
This story still amazes me. Why would Andrew even mention the boy with his small lunch? Did the other disciples roll their eyes in scorn?
"Andrew, for Pete's sake (pardon the pun), why are you bothering Jesus with that information?"
Was Andrew expecting something miraculous? We know from the early verses in John 6 that the crowds had been seeing the miraculous signs Jesus performed with the sick. Was Andrew looking for another miracle? Well, that's what he got! We call this event in Christ's ministry The Feeding of the 5000.
If I had been there, would I have brought the boy over to Jesus and offered that small meal? Or would I have reacted like Philip -- looking for an earthly, human solution to a crisis?
But Andrew expressed some kind of positive trust and hope in his statement -- "What are they among so many?"
In the third picture of Andrew's life (recorded for us in John 12), some Greeks, in Israel to "worship", came to Philip and said they wanted to be introduced to Christ.
The text says they were "Greeks," not Hellenistic Jews. So they must have been Gentiles, perhaps hearing about the Passover Feast, in curiosity, traveling to Jerusalem to be part of what was going on.
Or maybe they had family in the Jewish faith and took this opportunity to visit them.
Or maybe they were "seekers" who were drawn to the Holy City who truly wanted to find and worship the One Holy God.
This was Passover Week, the last week of Christ's ministry. Their famous request was, "We would like to see Jesus!"
So Philip went to Andrew and then both men went to Jesus and told him about the request from the Greeks.
Andrew Brings Others
So in these three brief glimpses of Andrew (from the beginning of Christ's ministry to the end) we see that he is someone to comes to Christ and who brings others.
As soon as he identified Christ he brought his brother. He brought the young boy with his meager lunch to Jesus. And then he comes with Philip to share the request of the Greeks visitors, who said they wanted to see Jesus.
Andrew does not rush off on his own (as perhaps his brother might) but he relies on his closeness to Jesus for his answers.
Notice in John 1 when Andrew and John (the other disciple referred to) meet Jesus they spent "the day" with him. Hours of listening to the Master, to the Teacher.
It was not until after these hours of sitting at the feet of Jesus that Andrew went to find his brother. Is there a lesson here for us?
AfterWords
When Things Happened
1. John the Baptizer baptized Jesus.
2. Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days.
3. John the Baptizer pointed out Jesus to Andrew and John (John 1:35: "Look, the Lamb of God!") and they followed Jesus to where He was staying.
4. Andrew finds his brother, Simon Peter, and tells him, "We have found the Messiah!" Andrew brings him to Jesus.
5. John the Baptizer sent to prison by Herod for speaking out against his marriage to Herodias
6. Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee and calls His first official disciples: Peter and Andrew and James and John.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into
Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom
of God is near. Repent and believe the good
news!" -- Mark 1:15
[Note: The Herod who arrested John the Baptizer was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great (who, thirty years earlier, had the babies killed in the vicinity of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, to destroy the new-born 'King of the Jews'. He was also, like his father, a cruel client king of Rome. He ruled an area smaller than his father's for about 40 years, and died a few years after Christ's crucifixion (39 AD).]
[Note: The Herod who arrested John the Baptizer was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great (who, thirty years earlier, had the babies killed in the vicinity of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, to destroy the new-born 'King of the Jews'. He was also, like his father, a cruel client king of Rome. He ruled an area smaller than his father's for about 40 years, and died a few years after Christ's crucifixion (39 AD).]
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