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Asking the Right Question

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If I knew for sure that I would die tomorrow…I would strongly desire to spend my last night with my family and closest friends.

Wouldn’t you?

That’s exactly what Jesus chose to do. He shared a meal with His disciples, but none of them had any idea this would be their last meal with Jesus. John records these tender events for us in chapters 13 through 17 of his gospel. We call it “The Upper Room Discourse.”

The dinner begins with snippets of conversation about the day’s activities, but the atmosphere changes when Jesus rises to wash the feet of these proud men. Shame morphs into suspense when Jesus announces that one of them will betray Him that very night. There were only two natural responses to a statement like that: Either assume Jesus is mistaken, or try to imagine who is guilty.

Can you visualize the moment? Suspicious eyes dart from face to face, but nobody dares to ask. Except Peter, of course, who signals for John to ask Jesus. Judas is candidly exposed as the traitor. John’s account says that “as soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night” (John 13:30, niv).

Contemplate those last three words: “It was night.” Can you sense the foreboding? This was more than an ordinary night. It was much darker than that. This was spiritual darkness. It was Satanic.

We can understand and appreciate the conversation that followed by considering the questions tumbling from the disciples’ mouths. Each question reveals their deepening confusion and grief. The questions will evolve from Peter’s curious, “Who’s the traitor?” to the most profound question in life.

            After Judas departed to pursue his evil plot, Jesus began to talk about being glorified. Affectionately addressing them as “My children,” He said, “I will be with you only a little longer.” The word translated “little” is the Greek word micron, from which we get our English word micro. This is significant because whatever Jesus was predicting was going to happen very soon. Not centuries later. Not days. I believe Jesus was talking about tomorrow’s crucifixion and the resurrection to follow on Sunday. A cross, a grave and resurrection would result in great glory.

Peter asks another question. It was a question I would have considered asking if I had been there in the Upper Room that night: “Lord, where are you going?”                                   

Jesus responded, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”  Now try to wrap your mind around that response. If Jesus was referring to His crucifixion, remember thatHe would also predict Peter’s death by crucifixion (John 21:17-19).

Still in a fog, Peter responds, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” At this point, it seems to dawn on Peter that something violent is imminent—prompting him to declare his intent to defend Jesus, even to the death.

It’s a noble response. But when Jesus replies, it almost sounds sarcastic. “Will you really lay down your life for me?” He then adds, “I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

Before we condemn Peter, let me point out that when Jesus said, “I tell you,” the pronoun you is plural. Each of the eleven would deny Jesus in some degree that night. Check out John 16:32, where Jesus warns that each man would scatter, leaving Him alone in the hour of His greatest sorrow.

Jesus encourages them to not be afraid but to trust God, “I am going there (toHis Father’s House) to prepare a place for you.” We have all come to love those comforting words. He assures His disciples that He will return and take them to be with Him.

His affirmation that they already knew both the route and the destination initiated another question.

This time Thomas asks for clarification, “We don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  Sounds like a logical question, but I sense a tinge of anxiety in his voice. After all, if they were supposed to follow Jesus, they needed to know the destination. I am so grateful Thomas dared to ask his question, because Jesus’ response has become one of the most quoted verses in all of Scripture. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus explains that if they really knew who He was, they would also know the Father and added, “From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Still confused, Philip blurts out, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” In that one request, Philip asks the big question that every person must face. We want to know if there is a God what God is like. The answers to those questions are game changers. If there is no God, we are the product of chance and there is no reason to be good and no standard for determining what is good or bad. And since there is no life after death and no judgment to come, let’s pursue all the pleasure we can squeeze out of our short lives.

But then again, what if there really is a God? What then?

Perhaps you have prayed, at one time or another, “God, if You are there, reveal Yourself so that I can believe.” That was Philip’s request, but much more intriguing was Jesus’ response: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Think about it this way, Philip asked for evidence or truth about God—and the Truth, THE Truth, was standing right in front of him. Irrefutable evidence that Jesus was truly the way, the truth and the life was sitting at the table with the disciples.

They had spent almost three years sharing meals with Jesus, watching Him heal lepers and the crippled and those born blind. They had witnesses Him raising Lazarus from the dead, walking on water and feeding multitudes. What more was needed to validate Jesus’ amazing claim?

After thirteen radio interviews about the book, God in His Own Image, almost every interviewer has asked me to respond to a statement like this: “I love the God of the New Testament, but not the angry God of the Old Testament.”

My response is two-fold: Have they read the older Testament? For that matter, have they truly read the Newer Testament? The same God is revealed in both. Yahweh in the Old Testament is patient. His love is unbreakable. He prefers to respond with mercy but will mete out appropriate justice. Jesus in the New Testament is both a lamb and a lion. The gentle shepherd riding a donkey and the King of Kings with blood-stained robe mounted on a war horse rendering severe judgment. Jesus knew how to effectively use the whip, in righteous anger, to cleanse the Temple—His Father’s House.

Philip wasn’t only person in the Bible who asked for proof. Pilot asked Jesus, “What is truth?”

The answer remains the same: Truth was standing right in front of Pilate and Philip.

If you want to know God, consider Jesus. John wrote, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

I share a link to an exceptional song by the group, Acappella. Take time to listen, and note who the focus is upon in each of the three verses.

Pilot, Stephen…and yourself.

Family Albums

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I enjoy occasional visits through old family albums. I am greeted by curly-edged black-and- white photos of us three farm kids with our pets. Today the old Nebraska farmhouse stands neglected and destitute. Most of the out buildings have vanished, and if it weren’t for the old snapshots, they would be forever lost to future generations.

Kodachrome photos have been replaced by digital pictures stored on the Cloud. This, of course, is much more convenient than bulky old albums collecting dust on the top shelf of the closet, but the purpose remains the same: to preserve memories for the next generation.

Memory preservation predates photographs of any variety. Before the first camera shutter exposed light on a glass plate coated with a thin layer of silver iodide, parents found ways to preserve their family stories. God occasionally instructed the people of Israel to pass stories on to the next generations by preserving memories with a stone monument or a traditional dinner.

Consider these ancient memory albums.

Album #1: The Passover

God sent great plagues to break the will of Pharaoh, all-powerful ruler of Egypt. These startling acts of judgement also served as reminders of God’s love for and commitment to Israel. The Passover event that redeemed the firstborn sons of Israel—but killed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians—was so amazing that it was to never be forgotten. God established the annual Passover feast to serve like a photo in an old family album.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” (Exodus 10:1–2, esv)

 “And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” (Exodus 13:14–16, esv)

Frontlets between the eyes aren’t much in style these days. Today they would be replaced by a photo album—or a photo file on the Cloud.

Album #2: Crossing the Jordan

Forty long years after the exodus, the new generation that had survived the wilderness journey was poised on the bank of the Jordan River, preparing at long last to enter the Promised Land. God gave specific instructions to the priests on where to enter the river (now swift and swollen, at flood stage) and promised to literally dam the river upstream so the nation could cross safely. (Their parents had experienced something similar at the Red Sea.)

Having successfully crossed the Jordan, God gave Joshua the following instructions:

“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:1–7, esv)

Twelve stones became twelve snapshots in Israel’s family album to remind future generations of God’s mind-boggling deliverance. After Joshua’s death, however, the people of Israel apparently neglected that monument beside the Jordan River. Forgetting what it was and what it meant, they also failed to pass the amazing story on to their children. 

And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. (Judges 2:10, esv)

The rest of the book of The Judges serves as a warning about failing to pass on the stories of God’s deliverance and provision.

Album #3: The Miraculous Victory at Mizpah

After being severely defeated by the Philistines and ignoring instructions about the Ark of the Covenant, Israel treated it like a good luck charm or a mascot for a sports team, and were once again soundly defeated. Humbling themselves with fasting and prayer, they discarded their pagan idols and offered a burnt offering before resuming the battle. This time God miraculously put the Philistines into such confusion that they were defeated. After this “exodus-like” deliverance Samuel added another visual reminder to Israel’s family album.

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12, esv)

This stone’s name was a reminder that God had given them the victory. Ebenezer became another picture in Israel’s family album.

The idea of a stone monument dates all the way back to one of Israel’s founding fathers. Israel never lacks for stones, and Jacob had an experience with God so profound and life-changing that he wanted some kind of permanent marker.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel…. (Genesis 28:16–18, esv)

The Ultimate Album: Calvary

On the night preceding our Lord’s arrest and crucifixion, He introduced a new tradition to His followers: a visible reminder. He broke bread and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” He offered His disciples wine with these instructions” “This is the new covenant in my blood; do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Communion or The Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist (whatever your church calls it) is a reminder and a tool to pass the story of our deliverance and redemption. Like the Passover Dinner stimulated a child’s question, “Why is this night different?” so also communion is an opportunity to pass the story of our redemption on to our children.

Every family has stories they like to pass on from generation to generation. Mary and I have several experiences of how God uniquely and undeniably provided for us. Like the time we won a hundred dollars for naming a park—just enough for a badly needed set of tires. Or the time we received a check in our mailbox for the exact amount needed to replace my glasses lost on a white-water raft trip gone awry.

On my ministry trip to India and Pakistan I experienced God’s provision and protection. He provided a man (or was it an angel?) to guide me seamlessly through the chaos of Mumbai airport moments before boarding in New Delhi. He provided an impatient woman who cut into the line just before I passed through customs in Islamabad. The customs agent rebuked her and waved me through customs without going through my luggage that contained Christian literature. I could go on.

What are your stories? How has God provided or protected in unique, undeniable ways? Share these “God events” with your children and grandchildren. Help them understand that God is real and that He is still active in our lives. Create family traditions. Insert new photos in your family album. Take a selfie on the very spot and on the very day when God intervenes for you in a supernatural way.

Mark the places where God met you, and keep the memories alive.

The Power of a Word

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Sticks and stones may break my bones

But a words will never harm me.

Proverbs are short, pithy statements to teach a truth about what we can expect happen if we do something.

That old English proverb above was apparently meant to teach a child how to brush off insults. If only the proverb was true. If only the proverb worked in today’s culture of bullying. Words may not leave visible bruises but we all know from experience that words can bruise our ego and squash our spirit. Being a red-haired boy with more than my share of freckles I received more than a fair share of verbal taunting, especially the two years we lived in Akron, Colorado after moving from our farm in Nebraska. Being the new kid on the block whose father was a preacher made me a marked man.

Words are much more than ink on paper. More than sounds formed by lips and air moving over vocal chords. Words are tools to create beautiful art – a novel or a love song or a hymn of praise. Words can also be salve to help heal a wound. However, words can also be weapons to injure and kill.

Solomon understood the power of a word:

A word fitly spoken

is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold

is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest

is a faithful messenger to those who send him;

he refreshes the soul of his masters.

(Pr. 25:11-12)

Solomon understood the power of words to skillfully create something beautiful as custom designed jewelry. It is easy to imagine Solomon talking about soft, gentle, syrupy and flattering speech. However, note the word “reprover” in the fourth line above. Sometimes, the appropriate response may actually be a word of rebuke or correction. However, “in your face” rebuke often results in denial and counter-attack, but a proper word in a relationship of love can be a caution light to prevent a casualty down the road.

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,

but a good word makes him glad.

(Pr. 12:25)

When life is tough and we are ready to throw in the towel, a word of encouragement can be a game

Changer. Consider how a simple word of encouragement from a parent or a teacher can make a child’s grey day sunny.

Caution, exclusion clause: When a person is wrestling with grief and loss a listening ear or a warm

embrace is more appropriate than words of advice. Consider how the voluminous and wrong-headed

counsel of Job’s friends was more like rusty knife blades than healing salve.

To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,

and a word in season, how good it is! 

(Pr. 15:23)

An appropriate response shared at the appropriate time can refresh the one who hears it. I recall how God has sometimes used something I said, that seemed totally insignificant to me at the time, to encourage a friend. However, I confess there have been times when I felt I should say something but didn’t or worse said something inappropriate.

A soft answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

 (Pr. 15:1)

When dealing with conflict, an appropriate word spoken in the right spirit can defuse the atmosphere, but a hasty word spoken in anger is like pouring gas on a smouldering fire. How many domestic conflicts could be defused if only one “combatant” raised the white flag by lowering the decibel level and volatility of the vocabulary? It takes two to tangle; it takes only one to choose humility and reconciliation over conquest.

When I counseled as a pastor, I referred to Eph. 4:25-32 more than any other text in the Bible. Paul challenged his readers to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called….” (See Ephesians 4:1-3) This new way of thinking and living is demonstrated by our speech and actions toward one another. Ground zero in communication is to always speak truthfully. We are to decisively put away anything that smacks of deception or falsehood. Truth is that we can, in essence, lie to one another without deliberately forming a sentence containing an outright untruth. Sometimes we choose to just remain silent to avoid speaking truthfully. We’ve all been there.

Just like the proverbs above, Paul demonstrates the power of words to heal or hurt.

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)

Every word in that sentence is significant. Note that not even one “corrupting” word is ever appropriate. Some versions of the Bible translate corrupting as unwholesome. Some words are like a virus that can infect and destroy a relationship. Paul instructed Titus to teach “sound” doctrine. The Greek word translated sound is the source for our English word hygienic. A word can be either healthy or unhealthy- can heal or infect. Paul is not warning about using coarse or filthy vocabulary; such crude, locker room talk is forbidden in Ephessians 5:3-4.

Unwholesome words are words that we choose to use in the heat of the moment in order to shame and beat someone down. It’s negative motivation. Simple words that can be used appropriately are morphed into weapons to sting and wound and manipulate- simple words like “always” and “never” flung from the lips of a frustrated parent of spouse can wound. Accusations like “you always do that” or “you never…” are seldom true, but the listener receives the message that they are hopeless losers. Over time we build scar tissue to dull the pain or just give up trying to please the other person.

The alternative to unwholesome and unhealthy speech is to choose words that encourage. Words that give grace are always appropriate. Before I release the hurtful word out of the trap (mouth) I should stop to consider what the listener needs to hear rather than what I feel like spouting.

One word can break a child’s or spouse’s spirit or encourage them to succeed. I know because I have been on both ends of the conversation. I have felt, and can still feel, the sting of a careless word. I also have felt the shame and regret of a word I selfishly unleashed.

Before I close our conversation on the front porch today I offer another thought about using words appropriately. Silence is not always golden. Sometimes it is just cowardly yellow. When God provides a natural (perhaps supernatural) opportunity to express our faith in Christ let us be prepared to “give an answer for the hope within” us. (See 1 Peter 3:15.)

That’s it! Live and speak with such consistency that people take note we speak a different kind of language that the brutal and gutter language of the day. Then always be prepared to share our story about experiencing God’s amazing grace.

Psalm 141:5: “ Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him read rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it.”

How Can I Get to Heaven from Here?

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People have been wrestling with that question for a very long time.

That is essentially what religion is all about. Seeking to satisfy our inherent desire to believe there is something to anticipate after we exhale our last breath, men have offered their perspective on what heaven or nirvana or paradise is like. Then they offer their opinions on how to get there.

In its simplest form, the debate is whether there are many paths to God or just one. Another way of saying that is to ask if religion is inclusive or exclusive. Is the gate wide and the pathway broad or is the gate very narrow? That was the word picture favored by Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:22-24.

Perhaps the best example of those who advocate a very broad door—or multiple doors—on the path toward knowing God is the Bahai religion that originated in Iran and was founded by Bahá’u’lláhin 1863. He claimed to be the promised prophet like Jesus and Muhammad, and taught that throughout history the one God has manifested himself in different religions.

While students at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Mary and I visited the Bahai temple in Wilmette. The building is absolutely astounding in appearance. Set on the shores of Lake Michigan and surrounded by a manicured landscape, the white concrete with crushed quartz sparkles on a sunny day. The number nine, the highest single digit, is considered to represent perfection and is featured throughout the building. There are nine entrances (doors) into the temple, symbolizing major world religions and suggesting each and every religion leads to God. There are also nine alcoves, nine fountains and nine sections in the beautiful domed ceiling. The inclusive message sells quite well in an age where absolute truth is perishing.

Another religion promoting an inclusive philosophy is the Unitarian Universalist Church of America. Their theology, if it can be called that, is compressed in this statement: “A God of love would not create a person knowing that that person could be destined for eternal damnation.” Each person is responsible to search for truth and meaning, and “all sources of Scripture are admissible—none required.”

Wow! Imagine all the “holy books” stuffed into the seat pockets or pews: the Quran, Buddhist writings, Hindu Vedas, The Book of Mormon, a Bible and whatever flavor of philosophy you might choose on any given Sunday morning. As to who or what gods are addressed in prayer, well, it really doesn’t matter does it? After all, don’t “all roads lead to Rome”?

What I have described above is the purpose for the book, God in His Own Image. Either God has revealed Himself or the Burger King slogan is cosmic, and we are all free to “have it our way.” We have become our own authority about God, and that is precisely the problem. Without a trustworthy authority or map to guide us, we are left to wander around on dusty forest service roads hoping to find our way home before dark.

The true Christian faith is unique among world religions, because the Bible is the source of our belief system and the foundation of truth. Consider the title of the book we call The Holy Bible. Each word in the title is vital.

  • It claims to be The one and only revelation about God.
  • It is Holy because it isnot an ordinary book but unique, set apart from all other books claiming to point the way to God.
  • Bible is the English translation of a rather ordinary Greek word, biblios, or book.

I find it intriguing that when we call this one book The Bible, it’s because we believe it is from God Himself, and set apart from every other book in all the world. All other religious books (note I did not say “sacred”) were the creation of people like you and me, hungry to know if God exists and what He is like. Trying to solve the riddle of life and life hereafter, these authors have thought deeply—even meditated and imagined—about the god they prefer. None of these philosophers or self-proclaimed prophets could boast that they had come down from God or as we say, “been there and done that.” Only one man, a carpenter from Nazareth, dared make that claim and backed it up with evidence by rising from the dead.

Jesus said it this way, “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from the Father; only he has seen the Father” (John 6:46). Jesus then claimed to be the living bread that has come down from heaven so broken people can live forever with God in heaven.

If you ask me, then, whether Christianity is exclusive or inclusive, I might reply, “yes.” It is both.

For our Baha’i and Universalist neighbors let’s first consider their favorite term, inclusive. From the time of mankind’s alienation from God and declaration of independence from God’s rules, God has promised a pathway back. Implanted within the curses or judgments, God also promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head—while the serpent would only bruise the heel of the promised seed (Genesis 3:15).

That promised seed would come through Noah’s son, Shem (father of the Semites). God promised to make Abraham a great nation through whom all the nations, not just Israel, would be blessed. Even in the older testament, the blessing was always inclusive.

The promise is also inclusive in the newer testament. Consider this open invitation: “For God so love the world [all nations and races] that He gave His only begotten Son [the promised seed] that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

You’ve got to love whoever.

 It’s a term repeated over and over in the Bible.

No matter where they have been or what have done, anybody can claim this promise. Period. Christianity, then, offers a very inclusive path to God.

But that’s not the whole story. Christianity is also exclusive. Even amidst the inclusive “whoever” offers we discover exclusive conditions.

            “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only son” (John 3:18). There it is in black and white: there is but one way to God, through saving faith in Jesus Christ.

When Thomas asked Jesus about the way to God, Jesus responded, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) The Greek grammar is even more exclusive, for it could be translated, “I, myself and nobody else, is the way and truth and life.”

Paul writes in 1Timothy 2:5: “There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” Jesus knows how guilty I am, how holy God is and knows what will satisfy God’s righteous justice. Jesus intercedes on my behalf. As the son of the Great king He is my entre, the one who can introduce me to the Father. (Romans 5:1, 2)

Peter boldly proclaimed that there is salvation only in and through Jesus (Acts 4:12). The author of Hebrews presents Jesus as the one and only high priest who has offered the perfect sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 9:25-27).

I offer one more example from Jesus’ lips.  “Enter through the wide gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14).

            Can it be stated any more clearly than that? Two paths promise to take us to God, but one ends in destruction and eternal separation from God. That path is very broad, liberal if you will, like Baha’ism’s nine entrances. Can anything be more absurd than to believe Hinduism’s plurality of gods or Buddhism’s four-fold truths and eight-fold paths or the five pillars of Islam are the same road leading to the same destination? Only Jesus claimed that He not only knew the right road, but He is that road because He had been sent by the Father.

That’s the crux of Christianity. That’s why we call ourselves Christ followers. We believe Christ came from heaven to not only show us the right way to live but to take us home with Him.

A few weeks ago Mary and I took a drive to the Metolius Balancing Rocks here in Central Oregon. I had printed off a map from the Internet that led us awry. Finally, I stopped at a gated campground to ask for directions to the rocks. The woman knew about the rocks, but her instructions were so convoluted that we headed back down the road without discovering the balancing rocks. I asked a couple of guys in a Jeep about the rocks, but they hadn’t heard of them so they were no help.

I was almost ready to give up our search when the Jeep returned in a few minutes to say they had found the rocks about a mile or so up a dusty road. Now it was simple and comfortable. We had met someone who knew the way and had already been there.

That is what Jesus offers you and me.

A Road. A Guide. A Friend who will walk with us all the way through this life and into the next.

A Great Movie Never Filmed

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As a Bible teacher, I love to teach about and from the Bible. I love to dissect complex truths and present them with simple words so people can understand.

In my early ministry Paul’s epistles were my favorite because they present truth in a logical manner. In later years I have enjoyed helping students appreciate the Bible as great literature. I didn’t say the Bible was just literature, but that it is great literature.

No matter your favorite genre, whether presented in the pages of a book or on the large screen or small screen, chances are you can discover its roots in the Bible.

If you like romance, try Ruth or Esther for a good chick flick. If you want epic warfare, there’s plenty of that in the older testament and The Revelation. Enjoy poetry? The Psalms and many of the prophets’ sermons were composed by consummate wordsmiths. If you are a thinker and like philosophy, try Ecclesiastes or Job to help answer the riddle of life.

Did I hear you ask, “Where’s the comedy?” Satire drips from lips of several biblical characters, but for a real belly laugh consider these words describing a renegade prophet: “And Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. … And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside …” (Numbers 22:21, 23, kjv). Here we meet a talking donkey who understood the perilous situation better than the fool on his back.

We all enjoy a good drama, especially those that drain salty water from our eyes. I believe one of the greatest dramatic short stories ever written is recorded in Luke 15. We tend to call it the story of the prodigal son, but this is not his story nor is he the leading character. Rather this is the story about a compassionate, patient father whose love for his son can never be broken. There are only four characters in the story: a father, two brothers and a servant.

When I taught from this story at the Shepherds House several months ago, I challenged the men to help me make this story into a script for a movie. Here on the Front Porch Swing, let’s imagine we are producing a “made for television” movie based on this story. Let’s try to get inside the heads of the characters—to experience their emotions as the story unfolds.

What motivated the younger son to request his share of the inheritance while his father was still living? Was there sibling rivalry making home unbearable? Or was he simply tired of the dirty work of managing a farm? Did he have itching feet to explore the world—to see if the grass might really greener beyond the fences?

How might such a crude, insensitive request impact the father? Were tears streaking the father’s face as he watched his youngest disappear on the horizon? It’s your movie, so you decide.

Was the son whistling as he skipped down the path toward freedom? Did he pause to look back one last time to see if dad was still on the porch? Perhaps the jingle of the money in his pockets was music to his ears. As miles passed and borders were crossed, did he feel exhilarated in his new adventure?

Entering the big city with all the new sights and smells, did he check into the best hotel and spend the night out on the town? What kind of new acquaintances did he make, and what drew them to become his friends?

Meanwhile back at the home ranch there is an empty place at the table and a hole in the father’s heart. A cloud of grief filled every room. Imagine the old father kneeling by his bed praying for his son night after night, and wetting his pillow with tears.

Out in the far country, the scene has changed for the young rebel. Drought has come, and the son soon expends all his inheritance in pursuit of his new life. Like his money, his friends are gone. So where is he sleeping tonight? Famine-like conditions make life miserable for this immigrant kid in the big city. And what is that strange, uncomfortable sensation in his midsection? Is this what they call “hunger”? Seeking employment for the first time in his life (and without a resume), he settles for herding pigs, unclean animals he didn’t have to deal with back on the homestead.

Finally, groveling with the pigs for sustenance, he “comes to himself” and says, “How many of my father’s hired hands have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” Consider those last lamenting words, “starving to death” and describe his physical appearance compared to the day he skipped down the road and out the front gate wearing the best sandals and robe.

The broken lad continues, “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” Is that a true statement? Yes! He continues to refine his repentance speech, adding the line, “make me like one of your hired men.”

Then comes the moment when he leaves the pig pens behind, turns on his heel, and begins the long walk home. Back to his father. What is his emotional state now compared to the day he declared his freedom to be and do whatever he pleased? Night after dusty night he sleeps beside the path. Day after day he moves closer and closer to home; old familiar sights greet his eyes. Increasing shame weighs on his shoulders and drags at his feet.                  Early one morning, just like every other morning, the old father sits on the front porch watching, hoping–even imagining—his wayward son’s appearance down the pathway.

But this morning it is no daydream. It’s real. He sees the unmistakable figure of his young son plodding down the path. (Cue the dramatic music.) Filled with compassion and casting dignity to the wind, the old man pulls his robe high above his knees running as fast as his old legs can carry him.

This is the moment the son dreaded for days on end. But it is also the moment the father prayed for unceasingly. Two bodies meet on the path. Two hearts race with anticipation.

The son begins his recitation, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and you and am no longer worthy to be called your son…” Before he can complete his speech and bargain for a second chance, the father throws his arms around his son, kissing his dirty cheeks. Fearing and deserving the worst, the son discovers grace—amazing grace. A ring is placed on the boy’s finger. It’s a statement. This is no hired hand or second-class citizen. This is my son.

The rest of the story seems almost anticlimactic. A celebration breaks out and carries into the night. Everybody is happy except one. The older brother has never physically left home, but has remained a stranger in his father’s house and a stranger to grace—trapped in his own resentment and self-righteousness.

This story has universal appeal.  Each of us is a prodigal. We have all sinned against God and are not worthy of being called His child. Truth be told, we deserve spiritual death and separation from God. We live our lives experiencing alienation from God and from one another. Sin has introduced words like guilt, shame and alienation into our vocabulary.

Consider these lessons from this story:

It’s not what we have done, but what we will do that matters.

It’s not where we have been, but where we are going.

It’s not why we left home, but where we belong.

It’s not how long we have stayed away from home, but how soon will we return.

It’s not how unworthy we are feeling, but how much our father loves us.

It’s not what we plan to say, but what our father will say to us.

It’s not what we deserve, but what our father offers: amazing grace.

Word Thieves

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I enjoyed the 2013 movie, The Book Thief. The setting was World War II Germany during the Nazi era. A young girl, Liesel, begins stealing books to share with a young Jewish man that her family is sheltering.

Liesel was a thief, but at least her motives appeared noble. I wish I could say the same about the word thieves in our culture today. But I can’t. Because the thieves operating in our midst today aren’t noble at all. You may not be able to shoplift a word or carry it away in the dead of night, but you can pervert it by changing its intended meaning.

And that’s just as bad. Or maybe worse.

To pervert something is to…

  • To change something in an unnatural and often harmful way.
  • To corrupt or to deviate something from what is understood as normal.
  • To cause to turn aside or away from what is good or true or morally right.

Yes, we all realize that language is fluid, and that words can sometimes change meaning over the years through usage. Consider the word translated “prevent” in the King James Version of Thessalonians 4:16: “Those who are alive and remain shall not prevent those who have fallen asleep.” That same word is now translated “precede” in many contemporary translations. In 17th Century English, to “prevent” meant to go before; today it means to prohibit or stop something from happening.

That change took place over hundreds of years. Today, however, well-loved words are being hijacked and deliberately perverted. The motivation behind these perversions is to justify behavior that was once considered abnormal or immoral, in order to make them appear to be normal.

I offer five words that have been or are being perverted—terms that modern “word thieves” have stolen from the dictionary. And possibly stained and ruined them forever.

  • Gay:  I so regret the theft of this word. This is a word we once sang at Christmas, suggesting celebration or joy. It described happiness and a lightness of heart—and there was really no other English term just like it. Now, however, it has now been perverted and corrupted to identify homosexual relationships. “Don we now our gay apparel” would better describe recent parades celebrating and flaunting  unnatural sex that once was considered a perversion.
  • Marriage: Here we have a word that describes the covenant union between a man and a woman. Now, however, by adding the phrase “same sex,” it refers to a relationship between people of the same gender. What was immoral and even illegal in my youth is now legally protected. Something unnatural from the beginning of time is considered “natural.” Frankly, I am willing to let two men or two women do as they please in the privacy of their home. But it is still unnatural. It is still a perversion. The word thieves have stolen an infinitely precious and once sacred term—marriage—and twisted it to their own ends. Not long ago we, even the secular state, referred to marriage as “holy matrimony.” But what was once holy has been perverted.
  • Gender identity was once a simple matter settled at birth. The baby was identified by his or her genitals, and the resulting birth certificate declared what was perfectly and inarguably obvious. Today, however, we have opened a Pandora’s Box by passing laws that protect an individual’s freedom to choose their sexual identity, and use either a men’s or women’s restroom or locker room. That may become legal but it will never be natural or moral. People who have advocated the freedom to choose sexual identity or to pursue a gender change must now deal with problems such as a “woman” (once a man with a male body and testosterone) competing against natural women in athletic contests. It is not only confusing and unfair, but ridiculous and unnatural.
  • Rainbow. A welcome and surpassingly beautiful symbol of the Creator’s covenant to never again use a universal flood to mete out justice on a rebellious civilization has now become the flag—the standard—symbolizing rebellion against all that is natural and holy. Of all the symbols, why steal this one?
  • Embryonic pulsation. Now here is a very recent euphemism to justify the shameful reality of the abortion industry. If it only pulsates and is only embryonic is it any less a heartbeat? A human heartbeat in a real person? Please! Enough of this gibberish! It is never natural to willfully choose to kill one’s own offspring.

Have we forever cut civilization loose from the safe harbor of reality and decency? Is there no turning back? Drifting further and further into this world of illusion and shadows, a world that refuses to acknowledge God and His Word, is not a pretty picture. The apostle Paul’s stern warnings to Timothy have never seemed more appropriate: “Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days” (2 Timothy 3:1, niv).

I realize that I am speaking to the choir for the most part. But I suspect there may be a reader or two here on the Front Porch Swing who will discover this blog and push back. If so, I agree you have the right to choose your own path and your own destiny. Even so, I will never relinquish the right to identify this word thievery for what it is: a perversion and rebellion against the Creator.

Untold numbers of once great civilizations have collapsed from within.

Is America immune?  

How far must we drift before we can no longer see the lighthouse on the shore?

Word, Words, Words

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Words are powerful.

A simple word can motivate an athletic team—or an army—to persevere through conflict and hardship. A well-chosen word from a national leader can lift the soul of a nation, encouraging citizens to make necessary sacrifices in order to achieve victory in time of war or natural disaster. By the same token, a small, careless word—hastily and thoughtlessly spoken—can discourage and deplete the wounded and weak. And may be remembered for a generation.

For the next three weeks I want to use The Front Porch Swing to consider the power of our words. First of all, I want to address what I perceive to be a depleted dictionary in many churches today. I offer three words that I will call MIA words—words all too often missing in contemporary preaching.

It was while reading one of the final chapters in The Essential Edwards that the burden to write this article first impacted me. Chapter 23 began with the following brief, untitled poem, by 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson:


Those—dying then,

Knew where they went—

They went to God’s Right Hand—

That Hand is amputated now

And God cannot be found—

The abdication of Belief

Makes the Behavior small—

Better an ignis fatuus

Than no ilume at all

(Norton, 2383)

What in the world is “ignus fatuus,” you ask? The words describe the fluorescent-like light that can sometimes be seen at night above a swamp as a result of gasses released from decaying plants. Ignus fatuus is a way of describing something that only appears to be authentic. It only appears to be a light above the swamp. It’s like the weary hiker with a depleted water canteen pursuing mirages under the scorching desert sun. He sees the shimmering promise of a pool of water only to discover it isn’t really so.

Dickinson is not known for her passionate evangelical faith, but something must have been severely missing in many of the American pulpits in her day to cause her to compose those words. That’s also why I am writing this blog.

It seems to me that three words are vanishing from our Sunday morning vocabulary: sin, hell and heaven. When I reflect on five decades of preaching, it seems to me that I used those words less and less as the years went by. Back in 1969, I was more ready to use all three.

Why is that? Why would I shy away from these three vital, biblical words?

First, I suspect it’s because we don’t want to appear radical or “out there.” Who wants to be the hellfire-and-brimstone preacher these days? It’s certainly not “seeker friendly” to warn about the gravity of sin. Every sin we commit is against a holy God who will not excuse willful disobedience. We want our God to be known for His love and grace and mercy.

In Exodus 34:5-7, when God introduced Himself to Moses, He first shared His kinder, gentler, more welcome attributes—the ones we love to love. But He didn’t stop there. He went on to add, “yet, He does not leave the guilty unpunished.”

God’s holiness demands justice including wrath on sinners.

You and I can’t read Scripture without being confronted consistently about sin and the ultimate consequence of hell. We say that we love the kinder, gentler Jesus, but then try to ignore the wrathful God in the older testament. Do we realize that Jesus had more to say about hell than any other person in the Bible? Jesus believed hell was a real place of terrible suffering. He used descriptive words that, even if they were metaphors, warn about a literal place of suffering that follows every life lived in rebellion against God. So then why, if Jesus warned about hell, would we avoid the subject?

Would it be considered loving to see a family sleeping in a burning house and ignore the responsibility of trying to awaken them so that they could escape? Of course not! In fact, it would be criminally negligent.

Why then are we so passive about preaching against sin and warning about hell? Do we truly believe sin is lethal and that hell is real—or have we become skeptics? Maybe even practical atheists. Do we profess one thing yet deny it by our actions or lack of conversation about these uncomfortable truths?

We pastors would do well to revisit warnings such as these in Hebrews:

Just as a man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment… (9:27)

For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay” and again, “The Lord will judge his people. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (10:30, 31)

Do we avoid sin and hell in order to “win friends and influence people” to like our church? I hope not.

I wonder if there is also an absence of teaching about heaven today? If true, why would we be silent about something so wonderful? Once again, Jesus said more about heaven than anyone else in Scripture. He called it a place that He would prepare for us. He told stories about people like a beggar who inherited peace and bliss in heaven while the wealthy man who had failed to do justice ended up in a place of severe torment. Jesus closes the book of Revelation with a promise and a warning that He is coming again and will reward those who are faithful to the end. The response was (and is), “Amen, come, Lord Jesus.”

The author of Hebrews not only used the threat of punishment to motive his readers as noted above, but he also used the anticipation of meeting Jesus face to face as a motivation to finish the race strongly. (See Hebrews 12:1-3)

            When John wrote about Jesus’ glorious return and our gathering to meet Him he emphasized that, “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure (1 John 3:2-3).”

One of the motivations to cast off prevailing sins and to pursue holiness is the anticipation of meeting Jesus and inheriting an eternal home with Him in heaven. Could the loss of this motivation be the reason we seem to struggle spiritually today?

One last thought to consider. Why have we lost the passion for heaven? Why do we live as if Jesus isn’t returning at any moment, even if we say we believe that? I suspect our material success, or appearance of success, is part of the problem. We enjoy so much abundance here and now. Many Americans assume this is normal and appropriate. We have television evangelists promising a gospel of prosperity here and now.  

The truth is, even on my worst day with nothing but leftovers on the plate, I enjoy more than my friend Kato and his family in Uganda. This is especially true now with drought and crop failure and the threat of Ebola crossing the nearby border with the Congo. I am certain Kato’s family and fellow church members think more about heaven or Jesus’ return than I do.

I trust each of our two vehicles to start at the turn of the key and to carry me anywhere I wish to go in comfort. Kato would like to have a cheap Chinese motor-bike or a bicycle. Recently I helped him buy shoes to replace those worn out by walking kilometer after kilometer every day.

Jesus warned that the riches of this life will choke our spiritual appetite for heaven and for Him.

In light of these things, here is my prayer.

Oh, God, forgive me for living like a practical atheist. For spouting all the right jargon but failing to live as if heaven and hell were real. For losing focus on the important and eternal things and for assuming I deserve the bounty You have entrusted to me.

May I be a faithful steward anticipating those words, “Well done. You have been faithful in little things. I trust you with greater.”

The Best Miracle of All

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When Vic raised his hand at the back of our little, white-clapboard country church on Sunday night, everyone knew what song he would be requesting.

Vic had retired from a career in business and settled in our tiny village, becoming a faithful member of our first church: Pulaskiville Community Church in Central Ohio. And more than any other song or hymn, he loved to hear the congregation sing, “I Believe in Miracles.”

We all did. I liked the song because of a particular phrase that resonated with my Nebraska farmer’s heart.

I’ve seen the lily push its way

up through the stubborn sod,

I believe in miracles

for I believe in God.

Vic and the rest of the congregation, however, knew we weren’t just singing about flowers—or the power of a small seed to worm its way to the earth’s surface and greet the rising sun. No, it was more than that. We were celebrating the almost miraculous revival of a small, once-nearly-dying country church.

We were remembering the Sunday morning when God’s Spirit moved with such power in our congregation that almost every person in attendance surged to the front of the sanctuary, seeking prayer or praying with others. Lives were transformed that day. Destinies changed. Families were saved—spiritually and literally. Hardened husbands and fathers came broken, weeping, seeking God’s grace and mercy.

In almost fifty years of ministry, I have never witnessed anything like that Sunday morning in Pulaskiville. Everybody agreed it was a “God thing.” The Holy Spirit showed up to bring new life as only He can do. That’s why we sang about sprouting seeds and stubborn sod with such heartfelt joy. We had seen God’s work His miracles in our very midst.

Perhaps you have seen a dandelion pushing up through asphalt or a tiny wildflower sinking roots into a small fracture of a granite cliff. To witness such relentless power from something so fragile and inconspicuous ought to amaze us.

But there is something more amazing than that. It is the sheer power of a simple message that turns lives upside down and right-side up, and reconciles strained and broken relationships.

God delights in using simple, ordinary things to accomplish great purposes. He used a youthful shepherd with a sling to take down a giant and defeat an army. He used a donkey to turn around a wayward prophet. He used a dove to convince Noah it was time to dock the ark and build a home on terra firma. He used a boy’s picnic lunch to feed a hungry multitude. He depleted Gideon’s army to demonstrate how a handful of men with faith could scare the life out of marauding Midianites.

Biblical stories of God’s power to use the weak and confound the wise and the strong abound, but I also have an example from personal experience. It’s the story of how God transformed a bashful farm boy into a man He could equip to preach and teach for these past five decades.

Let’s turn to the Bible for examples of God power to do great things with ordinary people like you and me. Consider Paul’s personal testimony:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (Romans 1:16)

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (1 Corinthians 1:18, 19)

Paul concludes, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1: 22-24)

Imagine hearing rumors swirling through Jerusalem that a baby boy, the future King of Israel, had been born in a cave near Bethlehem. His parents were a common carpenter and a simple peasant girl from Nazareth. (Oh, by the way, rumor was she was pregnant prior to their marriage.) Some day, so the word on the street was, this little baby would rule over the entire world. Sound believable?

At least King Herod took it seriously, but he was so paranoid that he had also killed a wife and sons.

The message about a Jewish rabbi suffering on a Roman cross for the sins of the world may not sound impressive to our contemporary culture. Millions of people have heard about it and either vaguely remember it or dismiss it with a shrug.

But it’s hard to argue with the evidence of a changed life—something right before your eyes. No, it may not be as sudden or dramatic as a whirlwind or lightning strike. Even so, the gospel message about Jesus Christ is God’s incomparable tool to unleash life-bending, heart-transforming power. It’s a force that remolds lives, whether they are men battling addictions at the Shepherd’s House or white-collar criminals behind a desk on Wall Street.

That is the gospel! That is why Paul could say he was not ashamed of the gospel because it contains God’s power to transform the world one person at a time. Paul ought to know, because he was one of those hardened sinners whose life was turned 180 degrees after being knocked from his mount and blinded by indescribable light and hearing the sovereign in heaven asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

God has used and is still using a simple story about Jesus Christ and a cross to change lives. The gospel planted like a small seed has the power to break through the stubborn sod of the hardest sinner’s heart. That’s why I am proud to say that I am a preacher of the gospel.

Call it all foolish? Perhaps.

Call it weak and powerless? Never!

Vic requested a song because we all believed in miracles and in God. We had witnessed the visitation of heaven on a Sunday morning in that little, white, country church in Ohio.

The advent of a delicate flower somehow shouldering its way through hardened soil may be a miracle so common that we walk by it a hundred times a day without taking any notice at all. But the stunning reality of changed and transformed lives, made new forever through Christ, is a different proposition altogether. Families, friends, neighbors, and coworkers certainly take notice.

As do the angels.

How Do You Spell Relief?

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David, a member of the pastoral staff when I came to First Baptist Church a quarter of a century ago, preached a sermon I have never forgotten. He concluded with a simple question:

“How do you spell relief?”

You may be scratching your head at this point, saying something like, “Where is Syd going with this?”

Let me explain. Back then there was a television commercial for an anti-acid medication that asked, “How do you spell relief?” The answer was, R O L A I D S. David, however, put a new twist on the commercial. More about that in a moment.

Recently I preached a sermon from Jeremiah 9:23, 24 where the people of Judah were facing the imminent invasion of world power Babylon. God cautions His people against finding their identity or security in options that can never really deliver—things like human wisdom, physical ability and wealth. The message is still relevant today since these are the Big Three pursuits our contemporary culture values so highly.

  1. Wisdom or knowledge

We admire men and women with academic degrees earned from prestigious universities. We value best-selling authors and scientists who make discoveries that curtail deadly diseases. We value Nobel prize winners, but most of us can’t remember a single one. (Didn’t Alfred Nobel invent dynamite?) When the ink on the death certificate has dried, what difference will our academic prowess make?

  • Physical strength and athletic skills

We value Olympic medal winners who have earned bragging rights for the next four years. We celebrate MVP athletes, and may even wear their jerseys. Years ago, little boys wanted to grow up to “be like Mike,” but learned all too soon they couldn’t jump like Michael Jordan, or duplicate his smooth moves to the basket.

  • Wealth

We admire the men and women who earn a place on the front cover of Forbes Magazine. Today, the wealthiest man, as of April 2019, is Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. They say he is worth upwards of 170 billion dollars—or at least on paper. But I suspect that I am just as happy and contented, perhaps more contented, than Jeff.

Consider God’s priorities listed in Jeremiah 9:24:

  1. To understand and know God:

To understand God is to begin to comprehend who He is as a Person—not just to be able to rattle off a few of His attributes. To know God is to love Him and enter into a day-by-day, moment-by-moment relationship with Him. The Hebrew word translated “know” is the same word used in Genesis 4:1, where “Adam knew his wife and she bore him a son.” That is intimacy.

  • Loyal love:

God’s love is unending and unbreakable. He always keeps His covenant with His loved ones.

  • Justice:

God desires justice. He hates injustice and punishes the powerful who abuse the vulnerable.

  • Righteousness:

God always does the right thing. We can trust Him to do what is appropriate, wise, and good—even when we can’t begin to understand what He is doing at the moment.

                Those are the things God values and wants us to value. Wealth, athletic skills and academic achievements will be forgotten. Caps and gowns with be discarded. New athletic records will be set. Best-selling books will fade from the charts and end up on bargain tables. Academic degrees will no longer open doors after the ink has dried on our death certificate. Every rich person, even Jeff Bezos, leaves it all behind. Everything stays; nothing is taken with them to the next chapter of life.

                If all this sounds a little morbid, it was meant to. Jeremiah’s message was delivered to people who could hear the rumbling of Babylonian chariots and the hoofbeats of war horses in the north of Israel. Jerusalem was already being sacked. Corpses lay unburied. The grim reaper slithered through closed windows in Jerusalem’s finest palaces and peasant hovels.

Isaiah had a similar message for Israel. In chapter 40, with the Babylonian invasion imminent and the citizens of Jerusalem living in utter fear, God’s voice calls out in Isaiah 40:1: “Comfort, comfort my people. Speak tenderly to them.”

A voice in verse 6 responds, “What shall I cry?” The prophet wants to know what he can tell his people to comfort them in their desperate situation.

Listen to the answer. Hear it as if Isaiah was writing today. “Go up to a high mountain…say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold Your God!’”

That’s it! That’s the message for the contemporary church in America that seems to be losing its way. That’s the message for America. “Behold your God!”

A fresh, biblical understanding of God—as He is, not as we would like to re-make Him—is the antidote.

So how do you spell relief? The answer is as simple today as it was 2,500 years ago.

G-O-D!

“If It Don’t Work Out…”?

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As with most Nebraska farmers, I grew up on country music. In my teens, however, I had a conversion experience and pop music won the day. Today I listen to contemporary Christian music. But that doesn’t keep some of the old tunes and lyrics from escaping the memory vault and floating back through the floorboards of my mind. Sometimes, in spite of myself, I even hum the tune. Here is a recent example:

 

Kiss me each morning for a million years,

Hold me each evening by your side,

Tell me you’ll love me for a million years,

Then if it don’t work out,

Then if it don’t work out,

Then you can tell me goodbye.

 

So what’s the problem with those lyrics?

For starters, the grammar is terrible. Unfortunately, poor grammar has become part of our everyday language. Sometimes I wonder whatever happened to that good old contraction, “doesn’t.” Mrs. Oak, my freshman English grammar teacher, would wince to hear us say, “He don’t wear shoes” and “it don’t matter.”

Yes, I suppose you could call it poetic license. And I do understand that “doesn’t” adds another syllable and is more difficult to sing. And besides all that, lyricist John D. Loudermilk did just fine with his 1962 release without bothering to consult me.

Actually I have a much deeper problem with his lyrics. Kissing a person each morning for a million years and holding them each evening by your side sounds like marriage to me. It sounds like a genuine commitment, until we add the disclaimer, “If it don’t work out, then you can tell me goodbye.”

The lyrics reflect our times. Contemporary marriage ceremonies often become mere celebrations; the solemnity of the covenant is lost. The wedding vows often seem to reflect a choice of staying married until one or the other mates has a change of heart. No fault divorce has replaced “till death do us part” with something like “if it don’t work out.”

I remember when divorce wasn’t so easy. One of the married partners (then it was always a man and woman) had to prove just cause to be granted a legal divorce and to nullify the covenant that had been made before God and friends as witnesses. Now it’s nobody’s fault, and any old reason is sufficient to break the covenant.

If it don’t work out….

Tragically, the church has been caught up in that destructive cultural current. Fearing pushback or creating offense, many pastors choose to tiptoe around the whole subject of divorce. To do so, however, is to ignore God’s Word and the clear, specific teaching of Jesus Christ. For pastors, it’s a question of whose opinion matters most: God’s or contemporary culture’s.

Yes, divorce is a sad, ever-present reality on this broken world of ours. It has always been a problem—even among God’s people. Moses had to deal with it as did the prophets. Listen to God’s words through the lips of Malachi, explaining why God no longer accepted the priests’ offerings.

“Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and the wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?” (Malachi 2:14, 15; emphasis mine).

God charged the priests with having divorced their wives in order to marry younger, more attractive women—perhaps even from among the Canaanites. To do so was to defile their priestly garments with violence. Sounds very serious, wouldn’t you agree?

Note the two truths in verse 15: God had made them one, and the Spirit was involved in sealing that union between the man and his wife. If that means what it seems to be saying, how sacred is the marriage bond! “…A portion of the Spirit in their union….” With God that deeply involved and invested in something, how could we ever be so casual about it?

Divorce always affects more than a man and his wife. The Spirit of God has been violated! Divorce is the death of a relationship. It is like decapitating a head from a body. And if there are children, they also become collateral damage—often being shuttled between parents. Every holiday and family celebration tends to be painful, like picking a scab before the wound has healed.

In a word, there are no easy, painless divorces. Even divorces that are justified because of abuse and adultery are painful.

Yes, God will forgive a divorce, just as He forgives all our sins. The church must extend grace and support for the wounded and come alongside the single parent trying to be both bread-winner and nurturer without their covenant half.

So what’s the take away from this article?

I am asking churches and pastors to squash once-for-all the devil’s deceptive words: “How can it be wrong when it feels so right?”

How can it be right to casually dismantle a family unit? How can it be right to justify leaving one’s mate because someone more exciting (at the moment) has entered the stage? I have actually listened to professing Christians trying to convince me, their pastor, that God “brought” the other person into their life because He wants them to be happy. Whatever happened to being called by God to be holy as He is holy? To do the right thing because it is the righteous response? To do the noble thing. To keep a promise?

In his timely book, The Storm-Tossed Family, Russell Moore shares a story about a celebrity musician’s wife. When asked by a reporter for the secret of staying married so long, her response was stellar: “The main reason is that neither of us has died.”

For her, divorce was not an option.

“If it don’t work out” was just bad grammar in a silly lyric.