Racism: Let's be rational instead of reactionary

“Racism isn’t a bad habit; it’s not a mistake; it’s a sin. The answer is not sociology; it’s theology.”  Tony Evans

  As we were driving to Tennessee, the first reports of the police shooting of Philandro Castille in the Twin Cities began to seep out. As we were on vacation, we had not heard the report of the shooting of another black man by police officers, Alton Sterling, in Baton Rouge until after we heard about the tragic death of Philandro Castille. All of this was then followed by the assassinations of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge.

  Unfortunately, because we have access to news 24/7 and can instantly share our opinions, an ocean of emotional ignorance is frequently dumped on the public stage. Much of what’s shared are knee jerk reactions. Solutions are swiftly proposed with little thought or consideration.

  Let me state this unequivocally: No one on this planet has the solution to violent crime, racism or any other social injustice. Not POTUS, not any of the Presidential candidates, not any political party, group or individual. These are all sin issues our world has grappled with since Cain murdered Abel. We can hopefully limit these atrocities, but they’re unsolvable by fallen human beings, who themselves have sinful, violent hearts. 

  Recently, Jane and I watched Selma. Those events took place over fifty years ago and we are no closer to solving those terrible issues today than we were in 1965. Much of the time in our attempt to correct one social malady, we cause a host of new ones. So let me share some observations for you to consider and conclude with some action steps we as Christians can take in our sin-filled, racially fragmented culture to help us be peacemakers, and the salt and light we’re mandated to be by King Jesus.

  In our media engorged world we’ve forgotten a foundational premise – innocent until proven guilty. A few miles up the road from where Jane and I recently vacationed is a bump on the highway called “Hanging Limb.” Reportedly, it received its name because a black man was hung there.  

  Our justice system, while flawed, essentially works, yet, we’ve devolved into media lynchers without due process. None of us would want to face that if we were the accused, yet we’re often willing participants in the “lynching” of others…and we don’t have all the facts.

  The basis of justice is “innocent until proven guilty.” A short video can’t show all the facts. We must hear both sides, not just one. Proverbs 18:13, “He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.” Too many jump to conclusions based on fragments of information.

  This is further complicated by serious flaws in our justice system. 1) The snail pace of our judicial system. It shouldn’t take a year or more for a case to be tried. Ecclesiastes 8:11, “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.” 2) The guilty should not be acquitted because of frivolous technicalities. Our legal system has devolved into miniscule technicalities, rather than what’s morally right or wrong. Add to that, the problem of unequal representation in that those who can afford an expensive lawyer have a better chance of being acquitted. 3) The attitude of the average citizen toward jury duty. Serving on a jury should be an honor, not a curse. Wouldn’t each of us want to be tried before a jury of our peers, not poor saps who couldn’t find a way to wiggle out of their civic responsibility?

  Many crying out “black lives matter” are hypocrites. While it’s true all lives matter, there are serious issues in the black community, particularly in impoverished neighborhoods not found in suburbia. No one would protest “all diseases matter” at a fundraiser for a friend dying of a cancer.

  Yet, it’s repugnantly hypocritical to protest “black lives matter” if you’re pro-choice. Minority women constitute about 13% of the female population (age 15-44) in the U.S. but have approximately 36% of the abortions. Black women are more than 5 times as likely as white ones to have an abortion. Nearly 2000 black babies are aborted every day in America. Essentially, if Milwaukee were all black, the entire city would be executed annually.

  And what about other blacks murdered in their own neighborhoods? Where’s the outcry for these lost lives? Some 4,500 black men are killed by their “neighbors” annually. As black pastor, Thabiti Anyabwile, notes “People commit crimes in their own neighborhoods against their neighbors. The statistics don’t reveal a ‘race’ thing; it’s largely a zip code thing.” Why doesn’t this make headlines? Where are the protest marches?

  Add to that, the racial breakdown of those shot by police in 2015 went like this: the largest number, 494, were white; 258 were black; 172 were Hispanic with the remaining 66 were either “other” or unknown. The notion cops are gunning down innocent black people is one of today’s biggest and deadliest lies.

  There will always be bad cops. Power and authority corrupt. Like any profession (including ministers), there will always be those who take advantage of their power and authority. Most professions have the luxury to double-check a major decision. A police officer is asked to make a split second decision to use or not use deadly force. Sometimes he or she is going to be wrong. Most of us, faced with the same situation, would also make the wrong choice.

  We’ve become a nation of armchair quarterbacks of everyone in leadership and authority. Rather than assuming the worst, we’d be wiser to give those in leadership the benefit of the doubt, unless they’ve demonstrated they’re unworthy of our trust.

  The Cross is this world’s only hope. Throughout history only believers who have lived out their Christianity have calmed the storms of racism. Racism is a sin! Jesus died for all people groups. I love Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” We must judge it first in our own hearts and must not tolerate it in the Church.

  We must pray. If we talked about social issues as much as we pray about them, most of us wouldn’t have much to say. Pray specifically we’ll soon be able to start a Hispanic ministry, the largest ethnic group in our area. 

  Then, whether it’s at work, your neighborhood or just shopping in an urban area, remember you represent King Jesus. We’re His ambassadors.

  It means I’m to be gracious, treating everyone with respect, reaching out to them with His love...no matter what ethnic background they come from. For me, it means I try to smile and greet others in public (it causes a few shocked looks). I try to be observant and find ways to say kind things to others. I work at initiating conversations. The Gospel is too critical for me to stay silent in my safe cocoon. So I want to be the customer who was the highlight of their day, the stranger with a smile who was friendly, the one who said something encouraging. 

  While I can’t change the world, I can make a difference in mine…and so can you!

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500. 

ALL children's lives matter

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” 

  Plato

  One of the benefits of reading is it can give you a perspective you might never have. A book I read recently did that for me: Dancing with Max by Emily Colson. It’s one of the most moving books I’ve read in a long time.

  You may recognize the name, Colson. Emily is the late Chuck Colson’s only daughter. It was printed in 2010, two years before Chuck went Home to be with the Lord. Chuck wrote both the prologue and epilogue.

  While I can often read a novel in a day or so, biographies typically take me time to work through. I literally couldn’t put this biography down. Often I found myself weeping as Emily shared her story and that of her autistic son, Max. It’s a sad yet wonderful story, all at the same time. It was a blessing in that it gave me insights of what it must be like to parent an autistic child.

  Like me, I’m sure you’re thankful celebrities and athletes like Tim Tebow have such powerful testimonies. Yet, in our celebrity enamored world, it’s easy, even in the Church to forget Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians (I know I do), “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

  One of the most important lessons we forget is God loves everyone, Jesus died for everyone and the Church is for everyone. We’re truly to be the antithesis of the world which teaches that the beautiful, talented, intelligent, wealthy, athletic and popular have greater value. The Church is to be a safe place of grace for everyone, particularly the disenfranchised.

  No one seems to know why but the number of children diagnosed with autism or related disorders has grown at what many call an alarming rate. In the 1970s and 1980s, one out of every 2,000 children had autism. Today, the CDC estimates, one in 150 eight-year-olds in the U.S. fits the autism spectrum disorder, or ASD. If we are going to be the Church God has called us to be, we must find ways to love, minister and be a blessing to those others disdain and reject. What can we do as a church family and as individual believers to minister to special needs families?

  Be very sensitive to the amount of stress a special needs child puts on a marriage and family. Even in a church our size, we have two critical health situations. While these are not special needs children, they are critical care children. One family has a two year old granddaughter in need of a heart transplant. The other has a five year old grandson with a brain tumor who’s had surgery and is continuing chemo. And we have other families with special needs children – health, emotional, educational limitations, etc. at different levels, and we will have more.

  A crisis with a child puts incredible stress on a marriage. It did with Emily Colson. Even before they had a diagnosis of autism, the strain became too much and her husband filed for divorce.

  Most young couples struggle financially. Add to that the stress of a crisis with their child. Then, their child needs extra time and attention, yet they must work, just to stay ahead. To pay the extra bills, one or both may need to take a second job BUT their child still needs them, more than other children typically need their parents. Because of the needs of the child, attention which should be focused on each other and the marriage, often is consumed by the child and the crisis.

  How can we help? First, pray…really pray for them. Let them know you are praying for them…over and over again. Then, do it.

  Then, encourage them. One of Emily’s spiritually mature friends, Patti, called Max a “gift.” God used that to change Emily’s whole perspective. Max wasn’t some curse or a burden, this special autistic boy was a “gift” from God. And isn’t that what Scripture teaches? “Children are a gift from the Lord” (Psalms 127:3, NLT). The Bible doesn’t qualify it and say “perfect” children or “normal” children. Psalms 139:13-16 reminds us that each of us are designed by God. And that special child is not just a gift for those parents or that family, that child is a gift to us, to our church.

  Look too for ways to help them. Just the usual stuff of going to the grocery store can be a major crisis with a special needs child. Perhaps offer to watch the child while they do needed errands. Or, do the errands for them. Caring for a special needs child can be a 24/7 commitment. Just watching their child can be the sanity respite they desperately need.

  Be aware ministering to special needs children and their families help you and I grow spiritually. That’s what happened to Max’s grandfather, Chuck Colson. Max coming into his life helped Chuck grow in grace.

  Previously, Chuck had been a lawyer and on President Nixon’s staff. After going to prison and coming to Christ, he began a ministry to inmates, Prison Fellowship. But Chuck moved faster than the speed of light and kept his schedule overflowing. Max slowed him down…a lot. You just can’t rush a special needs child. It taught Chuck compassion and patience and was used by God to cultivate spiritual fruit in his life. God can use it to do the same for us.

  I worry about Christians who don’t want to serve, particularly with children. I worry their souls are shriveling. More than that, I fear what the Lord may do, because He loves us so much, because our spiritual growth is so vital to Him…what He will do to get us to grow.

  Some of the saddest comments I hear folk say, “I’ve done my turn with kids…I’m not a kid’s person…I don’t have the patience.” They’re very ignorant of their Bibles. Our Savior said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). The very best way to become more childlike is to be with experts – children. Amazingly, it was the spiritually stunted disciples who didn’t have time for children – Jesus always did. I don’t know about you but I want be like Jesus. I want to be a person who has His love, compassion and patience, even for the disenfranchised. Don’t you?

 

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500. 

You can't have your wedding cake and eat it, too

“Christians are supposed to be conspicuously holy, not for our own reputation but for God’s. We are to be the light of the world, so that when people see our good deeds they will glorify God.”   Mark Dever

  Have you used the Buy/Sell/Trade Sites on Facebook? You can find some real deals. Last Tuesday, June 28^th, was Jane’s birthday and yesterday, July 2^nd, was our 33^rd Anniversary. All that partying and gift-giving gets expensive. So I’m scanning these sites and stumbled on an elderly couple celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary. They’d planned a big celebration, purchased a huge cake BUT way overbought. Only a few friends were able to make it. So they’re stuck with all this cake with just a few slices missing. They’re on a fixed income and need money, so they listed this “used anniversary cake” for a song. I got a deal! They assured me, too, no one licked the knife and none of their friends have any communicable diseases…that they know of. So celebrate with us. It’s our anniversary weekend and we got a deal on this barely used cake. Join us in the coffee café for a piece of hardly used anniversary cake. You can barely see their names, Earline & Ralph, with the extra frosting covering them.

  If we announced there was “used” cake today, other than a few junior high boys who will eat anything, there wouldn’t be a long line for cake. Why is it we’re so concerned with purity when it comes to food, yet so casual about it when it comes to sexual intimacy?

  Before you read further, concluding I just stepped out of the Dark Ages, this particular column is only for those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, for those who have a personal relationship with Him, want to be obedient and please Him. They’re concerned about holiness. If you don’t know Jesus, while having sex outside of marriage has serious sociological and emotional ramifications, those concerns are minor compared to your greatest need of salvation. Those in God’s family are very concerned about pleasing Him and desire His blessing on their life and marriage.

  Because our culture is so oversexualized, our identity is no longer found in that we’re human beings made in God’s image. Instead, we’re primarily identified by our sex organs. Sexual behavior is our most talked about, joked about and considered our most valuable trait. Some 90% of sexual relations in the media are between unmarried individuals. Sex outside of marriage is promoted as healthy, natural and normal. That’s not what the Bible teaches. It’s instead a naturalistic worldview, not God’s viewpoint.

  God designed sex. Sexual intimacy is to be pleasurable and practiced often within marriage. During pre-marital counseling, I’ll ask couples: How do you spell sex? F-U-N! Sadly, too many have embraced a godless world’s viewpoint when it comes to sexuality. They’ll say things like “the Bible never says it’s wrong, I’ve studied it.” Or, the ultimate spiritual one upmanship, “We prayed about it.” Often, there’s little or no shame, even if they move in together. The greater tragedy is when Christian parents or grandparents give them their blessing. One colleague in ministry, prior to marriage, was encouraged by his future wife’s parents to move in with each other. It was the unmarried Christian couple who said, “No.” Rarely does anyone stop to consider that this is disobedience to God or the long term cost to the couple. Frankly, I think most parents would be more upset if their kids stole a candy bar, than they are with their children’s immoral behavior. No one seems to put together our epidemic emotional and mental health issues, exorbitant divorce rate, or rising violent and sexual crime rate with contemporary society’s laissez-faire attitude toward sexual intimacy.

  Please don’t take my word for it, examine for yourself what God’s Word says. Here are several passages which make it unequivocally clear any sexual relationship outside of marriage is wrong: Acts 15:20, 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:13, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 5:3 and Hebrews 13:4 to name a few.

  Sex is a gift from God to be pursued and enjoyed within the proper parameters of marriage. Playing in the sandbox may feel good, but it can’t compare to a day at the beach. In the same way, sex outside of marriage feels good, but that doesn’t mean it is good. Please pursue a greater pleasure. So why should anyone wait until marriage?

   Your relationship will be built on love that’s real, substantial, and stable. Love isn’t a feeling, it’s a choice. Many mistake feelings of pleasure for love. When you differentiate between love and sex, you love a person, not because of how you feel or what they do for you. You become spiritually, mentally and emotionally connected first. Sex within marriage is much more fulfilling and secure. It’s not about self or performance but love for your partner, meeting their needs and having yours met.  

  Waiting for sex helps control lust.  It greatly strengthens your trust in each other. The foundation of a healthy marriage is trust. When you resist sexual temptation with someone you love today, it helps build fences to not become sexually involved with someone who attracts you later. All of us find ourselves attracted to someone else from time to time.

  You become better communicators. What’s a continual problem in most marriages? Communication. When you wait, you build a communication foundation first. A married couple should be best friends, know each other better than anyone else, trust each other with inside information, trust even when flaws in our lives are exposed. It’s an intimacy sex alone can never achieve. Better communication even means more productive “fighting.” Issues are easier to resolve. We’re safe, comfortable and open with each other, and can express our emotions and needs better.

  You’re fighting for (and earning) that 1^st piece of wedding cake and amazing sex for your future marriage. Imagine your first night together after waiting, fighting temptation, growing in faith, knowing the deep emotional and spiritual love you have, and finally getting to have guilt-free and blessed by God sexual intimacy! It’s powerful and incomparable! It lowers feelings of self-consciousness, knowing how deeply you are loved!

  God designed sex for marriage and is the Designer we’re accountable to for all of our behavior, including sexuality. Marriage is the only covenant relationship where sexual expression is supposed to flourish. Scripture limits sex to within marriage only because sex is an expression of the lifetime covenantal union between husband and wife. When a relationship is merely a “test drive” both parties ask themselves stuff like, “Am I good enough?” or “Am I settling when I should be looking for someone better?” 

  Perhaps though you’ve already blown it. With our gracious God, it’s never too late to make the decision to pursue purity. Christ died for our sins. His grace is sufficient. All you must do is repent and commit, leaving old ways behind and following Jesus’ plan for your life (Ephesians 4:22-24). Then, you’ll find lasting and enduring joy. God Himself promises this!


Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500. 

The Old Testament's Gospel

“The most urgent task facing evangelical Christianity today is the recovery of the Gospel”  J.I. Packer

  Many liberal Bible scholars and Bible deniers consider the Old Testament sub-Christian and not to be considered authoritative. For them, it’s a closed chapter with zero relevance for the Church and little meaning for us today. The common claim is the God of the Old Testament is harsh, brutal…even evil. Maybe you’ve heard questions like these: How could God kill all those innocent people, even children, in the Flood? Why would God send the Israelites into Canaan to exterminate the innocent Canaanites living in the land? Why did God continually require blood sacrifices?

  A logical and initial response to this can simply be, “How can a skeptic or non-Christian say God is harsh, brutal, and evil when they deny the Bible, the very book that defines harsh, brutal, and evil?” Add to that, for atheistic, materialistic or evolutionary worldviews, such things are neither morally right nor wrong because there’s no transcendent God in their view to establish what is right or wrong. It’s all subjective. Those who believe in a naturalistic worldview accept as “natural” animals raping, murdering and eating their own kind yet attack the God of the Bible and call Him evil.

  But even the most fanatical atheists have an innate sense of right and wrong, wanting justice. They’d be outraged if Omar Mateen, the Islamic Orlando shooter, had survived and were allowed to go free without facing justice or consequences for his cold blooded massacre of 49 victims. Yet, if God really doesn’t exist and the Bible isn’t His Word, then those who attack God and His Word by calling Him harsh and evil shouldn’t care. If Naturalism rules, if it’s a dog eat dog world, justice is only a cultural or subjective human derivative. For example, what is justice for us in America would be heroism for much of the Islamic world.

  It’s only in Scripture, we find true justice and grace. They go all the way back to the beginning, Creation and the Fall. From an honest human standpoint, God’s mercy is counter-intuitive. We wouldn't expect a God of perfect justice and righteousness to put up with stubborn sinners. No, we’d expect Him to stamp out evil entirely. After all, aren't we tempted to avenge ourselves for much lesser faults?

  The Old Testament is the Bible Jesus and the early church used to explain His coming, His sacrifice and God’s plan of grace. It’s what Jesus shared after His resurrection with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-27).

  Even many well-meaning Christians have a file cabinet view of the accounts from the Old Testament. In that paradigm, the book of Psalms contains files of reassuring words for hard times. The Genesis file folder is full of interesting moral lessons. The book of Proverbs file is useful when one needs good advice. The Law and Minor Prophets? Many aren’t sure of their purpose. The file folders containing those stories often gather dust.

  This separate file folder approach to the Old Testament misses the connections between those accounts and the Gospel that Jesus explained on the road to Emmaus. As we look for the Gospel in the Old Testament, the file folders begin to open up and the characters stumble out of our filing cabinet, joining hands from Genesis until Jesus appears in person in the New Testament. Each story feeds the next, teaching us of God’s good plan before time even began – to forgive, show grace and redeem His people.

  This morning we’re beginning a new study: The Gospel in the Old Testament. God’s plan of forgiveness and redemption is not Plan B, or a New Testament God plan. It began in the Old Testament with the Fall when our first parents disobeyed God’s one command, bringing death upon themselves and the entire human race. If God had not rescued Adam and Eve, and the human race, if there had been no death and no plan of rescue, we’d have been forced to live in a sin-cursed world for all eternity.

  It’s why the path to the Tree of Life was guarded by an angel. Yet, by dying in this sin-cursed world with Jesus Christ as our Savior, one inherits the new heaven and new earth which will be restored to perfection, where there is no curse, death, or suffering for all eternity. Death will have no sting (1 Corinthians 15:53-56) for those in Christ. That’s the seed of the Gospel and goes all the way back to Genesis 3.

  Man sinned and God acted justly by punishing that sin, yet in love God also provided three blessings: a grace period, a means of salvation and a perfect place to live an eternal life without sin, death, or the curse. The New Testament simply can’t be understood in isolation from the Old Testament. The Scriptures which Jesus and the Apostles used in the authoritative proclamation of their message were those of the Old Testament. “The Gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures…” Romans 1:1-2. We miss so much of the force, as well as the richness and depth of the gospel, when we fail to see it against the backdrop of the Old Testament.

  The Old Testament is written in the context of the tragic human situation. Man, who was made in the image of God to rule, to inherit thrones and dominions and to enjoy God forever, is in a dire situation. He’s enslaved, oppressed and afflicted. The Old Testament rudely reminds us we’re victim to countless disorders and prey to the cruel tyrants of sin, misery and death. But there is hope...

  The Old Testament is filled with promises and prophecies of hope. They find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the Gospel. The Gospel announces God has acted in Christ to fulfill what He’d promised in the Old Testament. In Jesus these promises are no longer future tense. God has acted in Christ to do all He said He would do. It’s truly The Gospel in the Old Testament. 

  Please join us each Sunday this summer as we unpack God’s wonderful plan of grace for us from the dawn of time!

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500. 

Where have all the heroes gone?

“The most critical need of the church at this moment is men, bold men, free men. The church must seek, in prayer and much humility, the coming again of men made of the stuff of which prophets and martyrs are made.”  

A.W. Tozer

  A true hero died earlier this month but you’ve probably never heard of him. Other than some Christian periodicals and websites, his passing went virtually unnoticed. For twelve years he served as a missionary to Japan. That’s not why he was a hero. For a time he was a headmaster of a well-known school in North Carolina. That’s not why he was a hero. For twenty-two years he was president of a Bible college. That’s not why he was a hero. Under his leadership, that Christian college made major advancements in accreditation standing and faculty development, growth in the graduate and seminary programs, the initiation of radio ministry and the expansion of campus facilities. That’s not why he was a hero. In 2010 he was honored for his decades of work in Christian missions and received the 2010 Lifetime of Service Award from Missio Nexus. That’s not why he was a hero. On June 2^nd, Robertson McQuilkin went Home the age of 88. Why was he a hero? Robertson McQuilkin took his vows seriously.

  His life challenged me. His story always brings tears to my eyes. After serving as president of Columbia International University (CIU) for 22 years, in 1990, Robertson McQuilkin famously chose to resign though he was just eight years shy of his retirement. He resigned so he could care for his wife, Muriel, who had Alzheimer’s. His resignation speech is a classic godly example. Even today he still inspires many around the world on what it means to be a man, a husband and committed to his marriage.

  In his resignation he said: “I haven't in my life experienced easy decision-making on major decisions, but one of the simplest and clearest decisions I've had to make is this one, because circumstances dictated it. Muriel now, in the last couple of months, seems to be almost happy with me, and almost never happy when not with me. In fact, she seems to feel trapped, becomes very fearful, sometimes almost terror, and when she can't get to me there can be anger…she's in distress. But when I'm with her, she's happy and contented, and so I must be with her at all times…It's not only that I promised in sickness and in health, 'till death do us part — I'm a man of my word. But as I have said, (I don't know with this group, but I've said publicly), it's the only fair thing. She sacrificed for me for 40 years, to make my life possible…So, if I cared for her for 40 years, I'd still be in debt. However, there's much more…It's not that I have to. It's that I get to. I love her very dearly, and you can tell it's not easy to talk about. She's a delight. And it's a great honor to care for such a wonderful person.” And he did, for the next 12 years, until the Lord took Muriel Home.    

  Today it seems to be more confusing on what it means to be a godly man than perhaps at any other time in history, at least in Church History. Young men are very confused on what manhood is all about. Perhaps it’s because those of us who should know better send the wrong message. We attain our values from a sinful world, rather than God’s eternal Word.

  Being a godly man has nothing to do with being able to throw, catch, hit or even putt a ball. One of the greatest athletes in Scripture was a big dude named Goliath. Like many athletes, he ended up losing his head to his own arrogance. One can be very talented, whether it be athletically, musically or even academically and have zero character.

  So what are we modeling for our sons and grandsons when we’re on the edge of our seats during a game, but are bored or can’t stay awake during worship? What are we modeling when we know every iota of sports trivia, yet when it comes to biblical truth we’re essentially illiterate?

  Being a godly man has nothing to do with business or financial success. God was so impressed with the man on the cover of the Forbes of his day, the man ready to expand and tear down his barns to build bigger ones, God called him a “fool” and took him out (Luke 12:13-21). Nebuchadnezzar makes Warren Buffet look like a pauper. It wasn’t until he realized everything he had was a gift from God, just as it is for you and me, that he became a true success.

  Being a godly man has nothing to do with sexual prowess. King Solomon had a miserable life though he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Jack Nicholson, one of Hollywood’s most famous womanizers, in a recent interview, admitted how lonely he is and dreads dying alone. Because we believe the Bible, as Christians we must be unapologetically pro-life. Many miss that a biblical worldview of pro-life starts before sex. We victimize children when we don’t model or encourage a committed marriage. Children deserve more than a father whose wages are garnished, has minimal visitation rights, lives in his parents’ basement, and is flushing his life away playing Grand Theft Auto, and whose idea of gainful employment is flipping burgers.

  Being a godly man has nothing to do with being sensitively spineless. Godly men have backbone. They step up. They live out Joshua’s words, “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). He spiritually leads, even makes decisions. He initiates and is even willing to take heat, even from his wife or children because what he believes is right ticks them off. He’s responsible and dependable. He realizes God called him to be his kid’s father, not their buddy. He doesn’t wait to take a stand until he’s pushed and pushed and pushed, finally blowing his stack. That’s not leadership, courage or maturity, and certainly not godliness.

  Scripture clearly lays out qualifications for godly men (1 Timothy 3:1-13; 2 Timothy 2:1-13; Acts 6:1-6) which be summarized in four words. Commitment. Are you clearly committed to Jesus Christ? Different personalities express passion differently, yet there must be evidence of a fire inside to know and obey the Lord Jesus. Conviction. Do you have biblically informed convictions…about who God is, who you are, the meaning of human history, the nature of the church, and especially the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection? Are you learning what it means to be transformed by the renewal of the mind (Romans 12:2), to think biblically about every dimension of your life (money, time, sex, family, recreation)? Competency. Do you know God’s Word? Are you applying it to your life? Can you help others with biblical counsel? Character. Are you becoming more like Jesus? Not perfection, but direction. Do you exhibit self-control, hospitality, gentleness, a quest for holiness? Are you selfless? Are you lovingly faithful to your wife and a committed father? 

  I’ve known a lot of godly men like Robertson McQuilkin, sadly not enough. This world is dying for godly men! Will you be one? 

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500. 

Harriet Tubman: A True Christian Hero

“The good and the great are only separated by the 

willingness to sacrifice.”   Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

  Remember the commercial, “What have you got in your wallet?” Okay, I’ll confess. The favorite face I like to have inside my wallet is Benjamin Franklin. Unfortunately, he’s not there very often and leaves too quickly. When you hand him over at McDonald’s to be replaced by some of his lesser friends, the clerk will probably give you a look of disdain as she marks him up to make sure he’s for real.

  President Jackson is probably the most common face in my wallet. Having been raised in Atlanta, it’s rare for me to go anywhere without at least one Jackson tucked away. It’s called “mug money.” While I live in small town America where muggings are as common as traffic jams, old habits die hard. Add to that, I’m the only male in my family who’s never been mugged…I’d like to keep it that way.

  Too many of us tend to be resistant to change, especially if we’re conservative and the change smells like “political correctness” to us. Personally, I’m very pleased with the recent choice of Harriet Tubman to grace our $20 bills. I’d surmise many who are having such strong visceral reactions to this change don’t know much about either President Andrew Jackson or Harriet Tubman, other than he’s white and she’s black.

  In a day of growing political correctness and sensitivity, there could hardly be a more politically incorrect choice than Harriet Tubman. While she was a former slave, she could easily be the face for the NRA. She was known as the “Black Moses” because of the many slaves she rescued prior to the Civil War. Her rescue missions were very dangerous, so Tubman wisely demanded strict obedience from her escapees. A slave who returned to his master would likely be forced to reveal information which would compromise her mission. If a slave wanted to quit in the midst of a rescue, she’d hold a revolver to his head and ask him to reconsider. Asked whether she’d actually kill a reluctant escapee, she replied, “Yes, if he was weak enough to give out, he’d be weak enough to betray us all and all who had helped us, and do you think I'd let so many die just for one coward man?”

  While she never had to shoot a slave she helped, she did come close with one: “I told the boys to get their guns ready, and shoot him. They'd have done it in a minute; but when he heard that, he jumped right up and went on as well as anybody.”

  A foolish blunder today with our oversaturation of political correctness is the incessant judgment of yesterday’s choices by today’s standards. For example, do we think Harriet Tubman was right to threaten someone’s life? Personally, I can’t make that call. I’m just thankful she never had to make that choice. Yet, let’s not forget many innocent lives were at stake if her missions was discovered.

  The same is true of Andrew Jackson. One of the arguments made for this change is Jackson was a slave holder. But so was nearly everyone else. Do I believe he was correct or it can ever be rationalized? No, but I do believe there are things culturally accepted that even believers never evaluate in light of God’s Word because they’re so engrafted into the culture. Let me share just one example. Smoking today is a cultural taboo, yet not many years ago nearly everyone smoked, including many pastors like Spurgeon.

  As believers, we need to be biblically wise and cognizant that there are no good people, only a great God. We all have blind spots and chinks in our armor, often cultural ones. We must be cautious in judging others, particularly those from history. Yet, we often need to be better at judging ourselves and so thankful for God’s grace that He loves us in spite of our own spiritual blindness. It’s all of grace!

  Harriet Tubman was a Christian and a heroine. Raised in slavery in Maryland, she escaped in 1849. When she first reached the North, she said later, “I looked at my hands to see if I was de same person now I was free. Dere was such a glory ober eberything, de sun came like gold through de trees and ober de fields, and I felt like I was in heaven.” Yet, she was not satisfied with her own freedom and made 19 return trips to the South, helping to deliver at least 300 fellow slaves, boasting “I never lost a passenger.” Her friends and fellow abolitionists claimed the source of her strength came from her faith in God as deliverer and protector of the weak.

  “I always tole God,” she said, “I'm gwine to hole stiddy on you, an' you've got to see me through.” Incensed slave owners offered a $40,000 reward for her capture but she was never apprehended. “I can't die but once” became the motto of her life. With that philosophy she continued on with her mission of deliverance. For eight years, as America moved toward Civil War, she made many dangerous trips back to Maryland, leading slaves north to freedom. On each rescue mission she relied on God to guide and protect her. She gave all the credit to Him, explaining, “‘Twant me, ‘twas the Lord. I always told him, ‘I trusts to you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,’ and he always did.” No wonder she was known as Moses. Her faith deeply impressed others. Abolitionist Thomas Garrett said of her, “I never met with any person of any color who had more confidence in the voice of God, as spoken direct to her soul.”

  Later, during the Civil War, she served the Union as a scout, spy, cook, and nurse to wounded and sick soldiers. She even led an armed assault on Southern plantations, during which 750 slaves were rescued. In later years, she donated property to be turned into a home for indigent former slaves.

  Harriet Tubman was someone we all can learn from and emulate. She lived out being salt and light before a wicked world. Today there is even more evil that needs resisting. Each time we see her face on our money, may it remind us, as those who’ve been rescued, we, too, have a mission to rescue slaves…slaves of sin. As we grow weary, let’s remember her unflinching courage and unfailing faith in God’s guidance—renewing our efforts to be a “Moses” to the ones God has called us to rescue.  

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500. 

Not the same old face....

“We don’t grow older, we grow riper.”  

Pablo Picasso

Probably the biggest problem with Facebook is you’re supposed to post pictures of your face…at least periodically. Recently, Jane and I had lunch with her sister, Susan, and husband, Fred Froman. We then posted a picture of the four of us on Facebook. Darlene Gomes, a mutual friend who’d been in both of our youth groups many years ago in Warren, Michigan wrote underneath, “How did you guys get so old when I’ve only aged a little?”

  She was teasing (I hope). Darlene is a few years younger than us, yet she makes a valid point. No one can slow down the aging process. While we can’t keep ourselves from growing old, we have complete control over how we will grow old and what kind of older person we will be. Even if you’re already “older,” it’s not too late to make some needed adjustments.

  Unfortunately, most of us in our twenties or thirties, rarely consider what kind of older person we want to be. We tend to age purposelessly, much like bread grows mold. Habits or attitudes acquired early on often become entrenched in our sundown years. Yet, there’s something wonderful and fulfilling about being someone who’s “grown old in Jesus.” I’ve had the privilege of knowing a few. By God’s grace, I want to be one...don’t you?  

  The first funeral I conducted was for a dear saint, Bess Norum. She was nearly 95 years young when Jesus called her Home. Bess was sweet, yet a bit of a firecracker. When she was younger, she’d sung in Billy Sunday’s choir during one of his revivals. Even at 94, she had a powerful Christlike influence on others. Her closest friends had essentially dropped out of church yet because of Bess’ encouragement, came back. Back then, our church didn’t have air conditioning. For a small church of 40 people, to put it in was a chunk of change. At the information meeting, Bess quipped we could make a lot of lemonade for what it was going to cost. Yet, she was one of the early givers who helped pay for the new air conditioning.

  If we’re not already there, each of us will reach that stage where there’s more of life’s road in the rearview mirror than in the windshield. While there’s no shortage of old men and women, yet if you list out those you want to be like, who you want to emulate, the list will be alarmingly short.

  This is true for a variety of reasons. Too many drift into self-centeredness. Life becomes about “ME.” I remember trying to feign interest on one occasion as a retired couple droned on and on about the wonders of their RV and all the gadgets it had. Life was about travelling for them and all the things THEY were going to do, but nary a word about what they might do for someone else, even their own grandchildren. Many succumb to impatience, which is ironic if you stop and think about it – what pressing matters do they have? Others become critical or petty. Some sour with bitterness. Most live in the past and no longer lean forward into the future.

  You’ll find that those who are examples of quality aging will not attract you because of their achievements or success, as we often define it. What makes for an attractive aged person has much more to do with character, attitude, the fruit of the Spirit and Christlikeness. By God’s grace, all of us can make our twilight years our highlight years. Scripture has many examples of older saints, many who are well worth emulating like Abraham, Caleb, Simeon or Anna. Can I though focus on two elderly Bible saints often overlooked that we can learn so much from?

  One is Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Scripture gives us just a glimpse of this godly matriarch. I’d encourage you to take time to study her story for yourself in Luke 1. Elizabeth is well up in years but childless. Rather, than allowing that fate to embitter her, Elizabeth chose to be gracious, trusting the Lord. When she miraculously conceives yet learns her younger cousin, Mary, is expecting, though it means her son will play 2^nd fiddle to Mary’s Son, Elizabeth rejoices with her. She completely trusts and submits to God’s sovereign plan. She’s willing to go against the tide when it comes to naming her son. Her commitment is to pleasing the Lord even though it causes tongues to wag and say harsh things about her.

  I meet many older folk who’ve had hard lives. Some, every opportunity they have, let others know how unhappy they are. While others may not know the cause of the bitterness, they know this elderly person has more wrinkles on their soul than their face. They’re miserable to be around. Often they will bemoan, “None of my family or friends call me.” They fail to connect their dark outlook with others’ absence.

  The other one is Jacob. Here’s an individual who truly fits the words of famed Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, “The last days of the saints are sometimes their best days, and their last work is their best work.” Early in his life, Jacob had been a conniving, manipulative, deceitful and sour person. He was a success as far as this world is concerned, but true success came to him in the last two decades of his life.

  Jacob believed his son, Joseph, was dead. But when he learned Joseph was alive and went to Egypt to be taken care of by Joseph, it was then Jacob had a one man revival. He allowed the faith, forgiving spirit and graciousness of Joseph to influence him and re-direct the trajectory of his life. The man who’d lived most of his life in fear became a man of faith and vision. Prior to the Egypt years, Jacob’s children and grandchildren gave him a wide berth, but something happened. Jacob changed and grew a tender heart for God. He became a godly testimony to others. It’s why I love Jacob. His last years demonstrate there’s always hope. With Christ working in your life, anyone can change, no matter how old you are.

  Even if your life hasn’t turned out like you expected, ask yourself a vital question: What kind of old man or woman do I want to be? You can’t undo the past or always control your circumstances. You do have a choice about the life you’re going to live. Many of us have a gut-wrenching choice to make. We can put our lives on autopilot, drifting into becoming a grumpy geezer. Or, by God’s grace, we can do the hard work of reinventing ourselves, reworking the last chapters of life so we truly end “Happily Ever After with Jesus.” Do you need to write a new chapter? It’s never too late!

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500.