God Be With You

I've often wondered why the Apostle John limited what he wrote about the Lord Jesus. What might he have said if he were recording the events of Jesus' life in the form of a blog? Would he have posted his words daily or weekly and for years? Limited as he was, this is what he wrote at the end of his Gospel.

This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. - Jhn 21:24-25 ESV

What were those "many other things that Jesus did"? Will we ever know? Obviously not—at least not in this age. And what does he mean when he says that "Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written"? Perhaps he wants us to realize that He has and continues to fill all creation with His wondrous deeds.

With those words before me I am announcing that I am ceasing to add my thoughts about Jesus' deeds and what they mean—at least for now. I've written this blog now for just short of seven years. I've posted 836 times and witnessed 92,676 page views (so Google tells me). How many actually read what I have written I shall never know.

But I am weary—and currently am very much too busy tending the flock I've been given in Tomball, TX., the flock that is busy seeking a new pastor. And in the interim I'm overseeing them and joining them in their prayers.

Perhaps the next time I take up this blogging business it will be in the form of some new blog, with a new purpose or direction. Meanwhile if you stumble across this page, accept my thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to read my words. And above all know that I am also thankful to have made a tiny, tiny contribution to the strengthening of your and others' faith in our beloved Lord Jesus.

God bless and keep you.

—Al

It All Depends On Jesus' Resurrection

I notice a strange and awesome thing as I continue to read the letter to the Hebrews. The writer looks at the Old Testament Scriptures as if they are a record of God the Father having a conversation with His Son. In other words, he seriously believes that God is speaking through these words and has been from the time they were first written. This is not at all how many view the O.T. Bible in our day. Listen to what the writer says about Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"; as he says also in another place, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." - Hebrews 5:5-6 ESV

That first quote is from David's psalm.

"As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. - Psa 2:6-7 ESV 

The Apostle Paul referred to that psalm in his sermon to the Jewish synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia, a city on the Mediterranean coast in the southwestern part of modern Turkey (Acts 13:16-41). In his sermon he points out that Jesus was the direct descendant of King David. The promise spoken to David about a King on Mt. Zion or Jerusalem has now been fulfilled. David was not that king. He lived for a time and died. Who then is the Son who would be the permanent king on Zion, God's holy hill? Who is the promised Anointed One (Messiah)? Answer: Jesus! This has been confirmed by Jesus' resurrection from the dead. That too was promised in Psalm 16, also written by David, but ultimately not about David. It was rather about David's greater Son, Jesus. It did not refer to David, because David died and his body did see corruption. But Jesus' body did not see corruption.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. - Psa 16:10 ESV

Jesus lives! His resurrection was confirmed by hundreds and hundreds (1 Cor. 15:3-8). Paul himself saw and spoke with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19 and retold in Acts 22:6-21 and 26:12-18). This Jesus is indeed the promised Christ and the Son begotten by the Father before the creation of all things. The Nicene creed puts it this way:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him, Paul continues, comes freedom and forgiveness of sins. This freedom is not possible by keeping the law of Moses. It is only possible by putting your trust and faith in Jesus. He is the great  eternal high priest who pleads forever before the Father's throne on behalf of those who put their faith and hope in him. He is both the priest and the sacrifice offered upon the cross, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 

That too was promised in another of the psalms of David that speak about the Messiah who rules from Mt. Zion forever as both king and priest.

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." - Psa 110:4 ESV

Melchizedek was the strange king to whom Abraham gave gifts after he returned from rescuing his nephew Lot. The Hebrews letter will discuss this further in chapters 6 and 7, 

The wonder of all these quotes from the psalms is that they were and are fulfilled in Jesus. The truth of this statement is Jesus' return from the dead, his resurrection. This is what we Christians celebrate each Sunday. On the first day of the week we recall that Christ is risen. If he is not risen then everything we believe and all that we proclaim is empty and meaningless. Then there is no forgiveness and no hope of our own resurrection. Then the Scriptures are not true. In one of his letters to Corinth Paul puts it like this. 

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. - 1Cor 15:12-19 ESV

No other religion, no other religious system, no one else can make these outrageous claims and back them up. Only Jesus died and rose again. Only Jesus' body saw no corruption. Only Jesus is the eternal high priest. We'll have much more to say about this as we continue our study of this wonderful epistle. And as we do, we'll affirm again and again that Christ is risen indeed!

My Birthday Gift To You

Last Sunday I heard a sermon that touched me deeply. The Pastor spoke about how we all like to compare ourselves to others. They have this, but I don't. They are recognized and praised, but I am not. Or the other way around. I'm so very happy that I have this or that I am better than him. And so forth. Yes, I realized, this is indeed how I am. I'm forever comparing myself to someone else, someone who is better than me, who has what I want and so forth.

At that point he changed gears and asked all of us hearers to turn to Psalm 139.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. ... 

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! - Psa 139:1-2, 11-17 ESV

My LORD Jesus knows everything about me. He knows how my pride-filled heart urges me to be jealous of others or to boast about how wonderful I am in comparison to them. He knows how I love to make myself out to be what I am not or how I beat myself down because I am not applauded as this one or that one is. . . He knows my sin and my sinful nature.

And yet He loves me, forgives me and has formed all these days for me, days in which I may receive His forgiveness and mercy, days in which I may praise and thank Him, days in which I may serve others in His name. He had this all worked out long before I was formed in my mother's womb, when as yet there was not a single day in which I lived.

All this is so precious, so wonderful, so vast. And it comes to me from the living and active Word of God. This is the Word that gets to the very bottom of my being, dividing even my soul from my spirit, just as if I were slicing up a side of beef or pork for a meal. My God discerns every thought and intention in my heart, knows them better than I do. Not a single one of my thoughts is hidden from Him. I stand naked and exposed before Him. . . and yet He loves me. This is what Jesus has come to reveal to me. This is what the Hebrews letter tells me—and you as well (Hebrews 4:12-13).

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. - Hbr 4:14-15 ESV

Jesus, my high priest, understands me. He knows my weakness. He knows how I fall into the temptation to boast one day and then the next fall head-long into the ditch of despair and doubt. He sympathizes with me. He can relate, because He too faced these temptations, along with all other kinds. But He did not sin. Instead He assumed responsibility for my sin.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hbr 4:16 ESV 

Because Jesus has identified with me, because He understands what I'm going through, I can draw near to Him unafraid. He is praying for me. He is pleading my case before His Father. He is asking the Father to forgive and bless me—all because of His perfect obedience and His suffering and dying upon the cross for my sake. So He is always there with His undeserved yet complete grace. In my time of need I always have Him.

As I said, I needed to hear that last Sunday. I want you to know about it today. Today is my birth-day. And on this day I want this good news to give you new birth, new life, a new beginning. It is my birthday gift to you—in the name of Jesus.

Where Science And Christian Theology Meet Today

I do not know whether you are into the philosophy behind modern science. I suspect that most of my readers are not. Philosophy tends to be abstract, even arcane and modern sciences certainly require a background that many of us do not have. Nevertheless, I struggle with it, because I'm very convinced that Biblical theology must come to grips with scientific studies so that the message of Christ may be clearly presented.

AND . . . behind all science is some kind of philosophy. By philosophy I mean the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, of what is real and of who are we as humans. Every scientist has some kind of philosophy behind his study, his work. It guides him, even controls him and keeps him focused.


That's why I'm reading a fascinating book. If you're into building a bridge between theology and science at all you need to read it. It is called  Information and the Nature of Reality, a series of essays by prominent scientists and theologians, with Paul Davies and Niels Henrik Gregersen as Editors.


In their introductory remarks Davies and Gregersen point to the concluding essays by Gregersen and Michael Welker. They point to the new scientific perspective of matter and information brought on by the pursuit of quantum mechanics and the possibility of quantum computing. In this perspective matter is no longer the foundation for reality, for what is. Matter is rather another name for the Unknown. "It is perhaps not an overstatement to say that the developments in physics briefly summarized here provide a powerful empirical refutation of that materialist world view"("Unsolved dilemmas" - Philip Clayton, Kindle location 1117).

Gregersen and Welker tell us that "The Johannine vision of divine Logos being co-extensive with the world of matter may be sustained and further elucidated in the context of present-day concepts of matter and information . . ."

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:1-5, 14 ESV

To say that the divine Logos of John 1:1-5, 14 is co-extensive with the world of matter is to affirm that when God became flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth He assumed not only the flesh of the boy from Nazareth, "but also a human being, an animal, and the material stuff itself. In Biblical language, God became a human being, a sparrow that flies and falls to the ground, became the green and withering grass, in order to become one with earthly matter (sarx). . . Logos is present—as Creator and as Redeemer—at the very core of material existence" (Gregersen). The "flesh" of the material world is saturated by the presence of the divine Logos. He has united himself with the world of creation. He creates differences. He shapes and reshapes the creation. He creates vibrations between organisms and their environments that enable them to absorb and connect. He makes meaning and communication possible. He is the One who enables us to "make sense" of things. God's creative power is at work in every and all levels of creation.

The letter to the Hebrews points to this amazing insight as it begins.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, - Hebr 1:1-3 ESV

Paul put another way in his talk with the Greeks at Athens when he quoted Epimenedes of Crete and  Aratus’s poem “Phainomena”:

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' - Act 17:26-28 ESV

The concept of Shekinah refers to this in the OT. Although it is not a word found in the Bible, Shekinah is a form of a Hebrew word that literally means "He caused to dwell." God's Shekinah-presence became evident to the Israelites led by Moses from Egypt in the pillar of fire by night and as a cloud by day.

And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. - Exd 13:20-22 ESV

The amazing thing happening in our day is that this vision of God totally present to create the entire universe and to sustain and give meaning to all things —to be the source of all information—is where scientists are being forced to go by their studies of quantum mechanics and the foundational reality of information.

Making It Personal

I have this thing about the use of modern media. I have a love/hate relationship with it. I am obviously using it to write this blog, but I much, much prefer to speak to someone face to face and have someone do the same for me. That's why, I suppose, I have always had such a hard time with sermons that are read. I do NOT want my pastor to read his sermon. I can do that without his help if he would but put it up on the church's website for example or send me a written copy of what he wants to say. What I do want is for him to look me and the rest of his congregation directly in the eye and talk to us as a personal representative of our Lord Jesus.

I have this understanding—is it so strange?—that pastors are called by the LORD Jesus to be His spokesmen. Through them the LORD speaks His Word, warning us about disobeying God's commands, but also speaking about God's mercy offered to us from Jesus' cross. I don't want an essay about this Good Word. I want a face-to-face, person-to-person conversation. That's my view of what a sermon should be. It's the way I've always attempted to preach, both when I served a congregation and now when I'm invited to be a guest preacher. Is it so strange?

The writer of this book we're studying, this Letter to the Hebrews, resorted to the written word. It was all he had in those days. The letter came to be seen as a letter from God Himself and over these next two millennia has been re-copied countless times. Who the original author was no one knows for certain. The letter does mention one of the Apostle Paul's proteges, Timothy—assuming this was the same Timothy to whom Paul wrote (1 & 2 Timothy).

You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. - Hbr 13:23 ESV

It is impossible to know to what incident this refers. Released from where and by whom? We simply do not know. Does this mean that Paul wrote this letter? We don't know that either.  Luther believed Apollos wrote the book (Acts 18:24). He was both eloquent and competent in the OT Scriptures. The letter must have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The author is very concerned about the Old Covenant being superseded by the New in Christ and would surely not have ignored Jerusalem's and Jerusalem's temple's destruction by the Roman General Titus and his army.

All that aside the author is concerned that we know in these last days—the period we now live in—God has spoken and continues to speak to us by his son.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. - Hbr 1:1-2 ESV

In the days before Christ, God spoke to His prophets and through them to His people. He spoke to

• Moses by a burning bush (Exod. 3:1-22). He was to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt to freedom in the promised land. 
• Elijah by still, small voice after he fled from the anger of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel (1 Kings 19:1-21)
• Isaiah by heavenly vision (Isa. 6:1-13). The people would not listen and would be sent into exile.  
• Hosea by family crisis. He was commanded to marry Gomer, a whore (Hos. 1:2).
• Amos by basket of summer fruit. The end has come upon Israel (Amos 8:1).

The letter emphasizes that God still speaks to us through these ancient prophecies. God uses the written Word as His medium to this day. But He now speaks in a clearer and purer manner in His Son. All the writings of the OT pointed to Christ. He is the fulfiller and completion of all that the prophets heard and proclaimed. As we work through the letter to the Hebrews we'll learn more about this wonder. We shall learn about that to which the Apostle John wrote, the Word of Life. 

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. - 1Jo 1:1-3 ESV 

This is personal to each one of us. I only wish I could say this to you face-to-face. I trust that if you have a pastor he will do what I cannot through this media. I trust that he will help you to know more and more about the fact that Jesus is now God speaking to you face-to-face and person-to-person. 

Come With Me To Mount Hebrews

It has been a month since I've written on this blog. During that time my wife and I took a wonderful trip to Alaska to visit several families of cousins. And what a awesome experience it was. In addition to the joy of seeing these people once again, we had a renewed sense of wonder at the vastness and beauty of God's creation. The entire state is dominated by Mt. McKinley or in the native Alaskan tongue, Denali (Koyukon Athabaskan for "The High One"), at 20,320 feet above sea level, the largest mountain on the North American continent. Here's a photo that I took from a field near the home of cousins Kathy and Rick.

As you can see, that huge mountain dominates the landscape. Because it is so high, it is often clouded, but on this particular evening the clouds had dissipated and the mountain became very visible. The sign in front points to the fact that Rick maintains a field of grain set aside especially as a sanctuary for cranes. 

All that got me to thinking about the wonder of God's revelation. What He has revealed in Christ dominates all of human history. This fact is particularly lifted up in the Epistle to the Hebrews where the writer begins his letter with these words: 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high . . .  - Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV

• God has spoken to us by His Son 

• Heir of all things 

• Creator of time and the universe 

• The Radiance of God's glory 

• The exact Imprint of God's nature 

• Upholder of the universe 

• God's Right Hand on high

• Purifier for all  sins

Over the next months I want to spend some time gazing upon that Revelation through the eyes of the writer of this wondrous epistle. Some long ago suggested that the Apostle Paul wrote it, but such a claim (inserted in some manuscripts) is uncertain. At best we can say it was written to believers who were well established in the Old Testament Scriptures. Those Scriptures, the history of the Children of Israel and the religious rites they practiced all point to Jesus, the Messiah or Christ. He is the Fulfiller of all God has spoken by the prophets of old. 

I invite you to join me on this new journey—not to Alaska, but through the wondrous terrain of the Epistle to the Hebrews and to the awesome mountain of His revelation in Christ. 

What Does The Bible Say About Reincarnation?

My past several posts have explored the Christian teaching about the resurrection of the body and the promise of eternal life. One opposing view that I have not explored in any great depth is reincarnation, the idea that after death an individual survives and later enters a new body, not necessarily human. In April, 2010 I wrote The Mystery of a Butterfly,

Recently, I received an unpublished essay by an author struggling with the sudden death of his first wife while they were on vacation in Mexico many years earlier. He honored her request to be cremated at once and now struggled with the mystery of what happened and its meaning in his own life.  What had become of the molecules and atoms that once comprised her body? 

I will not attempt to emulate the beauty and profundity of that author's writing—he is a newspaper man with a working knowledge of modern scientific theories. He is also a Christian with a deep faith.

His questions:

• Is this universe all a matter of chance? 

• Or is there an omnipotent, all-knowing Creator who has designed it all? 

• What hope lies beyond death? 

• Is there some kind of parallel universe to which the dead go? 

• How does the promise of resurrection differ from reincarnation and the recycling of matter?

• Why do these mysteries demand humility?

Bob Schwarz was the author of that unpublished essay,  Tiger Behind Me, River Ahead. He permitted me to publish it in a series of three blogs in May, 2010. Check out,

DEATH, PARTICLE PHYSICS AND OTHER IMAGININGS ON MY PATIO

I now  had to believe that God very likely created just one building block for everything in this universe and that He is that building block or creation itself. He did name Himself  in front of Moses, "I AM."  Recalling that the Holy Grail for physicists today is a uniform theory that would explain how our universe works with the four fundamental forces of nature—the strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism, and gravity—I became audacious with another wish: that  physicists  poke around with an equation  even more straightforward than E = mc2 . Let them try: G = R—God Equals Reality. 

To follow Bob's other writings go to his blog: Exodus Trekkers. I especially recommend his comments about his brother Lester, A Trek From Bondage To Freedom.

If the misguided teaching about reincarnation troubles you or someone you know I further commend the following to your careful study: What does the Bible say about reincarnation? | Bible.org

Christianity rejects reincarnation for ten reasons. 

1. It is contradicted by Scripture (Heb 9:27) 

2. It is contradicted by orthodox tradition in all churches.  

3. It would reduce the Incarnation (referring to Christ’s incarnation) to a mere appearance, the crucifixion to an accident, and Christ to one among many philosophers or avatars. It would also confuse what Christ did with what creatures do: incarnation with reincarnation. 

4. It implies that God made a mistake in designing our souls to live in bodies, that we are really pure spirits in prison or angels in costume. 

5. It is contradicted by psychology and common sense, for its view of souls as imprisoned in alien bodies denies the natural psychosomatic unity.

6. It entails a very low view of the body, as a prison, a punishment.

7. It usually blames sin on the body and the body’s power to confuse and darken the mind. This is passing the buck from soul to body, as well as from will to mind, and a confusion of sin with ignorance. 

8. The idea that we are reincarnated in order to learn lessons we failed to learn in a past earthly life is contrary to both common sense and basic educational psychology. I cannot learn something if there is no continuity of memory. I can learn from my mistakes only if I remember them. People do not usually remember these past “reincarnations.” 

9. The supposed evidence for reincarnation, rememberings from past lives that come out under hypnosis or “past life regression” can be explained—if they truly occur at all—as mental telepathy from other living beings, from the souls of dead humans in purgatory or hell, or from demons. The real possibility of the latter should make us extremely skittish about opening our souls to “past life regressions.” 

10. Reincarnation cannot account for itself. Why are our souls imprisoned in bodies? Is it the just punishment for evils we committed in past reincarnations? But why were those past reincarnations necessary? For the same reason. But the beginning of the process that justly imprisoned our souls in bodies in the first place—this must have antedated the series of bodies. How could we have committed evil in the state of perfect, pure, heavenly spirituality? Further, if we sinned in that paradise, it is not paradisical after all. Yet that is the state that reincarnation is supposed to lead us back to after all our embodied yearnings are over.

The Bible.org site also quotes from The Bible Has the Answer by Henry M. Morris and Martin E. Clark

Further, reincarnation schemes make men’s spiritual advancement contingent upon his mortal efforts, attempting to make merit outweigh demerit. Christianity shows, however, that salvation cannot be earned by sinful man, but rather, it is merited by Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection for all who believe. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Also, many theories of reincarnation hold that man’s spiritual, physical, and moral conditions are determined by a former life and therefore not under his control. Physically, this has led to a passive, pessimistic acceptance of untold misery that was actually unnecessary. Spiritually, it is even more devastating. The Bible reveals that no one is bound in his sins against his will, and though born under Adam’s curse, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Through God’s forgiving grace, “though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Consequently, the Christian does not worry about his merit outweighing his demerit, for his sins have been forgiven, God having promised, “I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). 

Finally, some people attempt to equate reincarnation with the Christian doctrine of resurrection, but in doing so, violate the meanings of both reincarnation and resurrection. Reincarnation advances a future life on earth, bound by similar constraints and physical laws, while the resurrection speaks of that time when earthly bodies with all their accoutrements will be transformed and fitted for their eternal estate (John 5:29). Reincarnation holds that matter is essentially evil, while resurrection demonstrates that there is no moral dualism between matter and spirit. Reincarnation posits a future life in a different body (or even a different order of physical life), while resurrection promises that one’s own body will take on a new, incorruptible, glorified form. Describing the resurrection, Paul stated, “It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body . . . it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42, 44).

Who Dares Do Greater Works Than Jesus?

Many times I've seen a young pastor, newly ordained, on fire for the Lord and ready to do great things. But then he is called to serve a small, insignificant parish with worship attendance of 50 or 60 and members with no greater zeal than to pay their pastor's meager salary and keep up maintenance on their little church building. After a few years of frustration this young pastor is tired of praying for something to happen and filled with doubt about his calling into the public ministry. With apathetic eyes he gazes upon these words from the Gospel of John and shrugs his shoulders in disbelief:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. - Jhn 14:12-14 ESV

Where are the greater works? Where are the miracles, the huge crowds pushing to follow Christ, the healing of crippled and wasted bodies, even the raising up of the dead? Perhaps the whole enterprise of the great kingdom of God is a sham after all! Or perhaps he doesn't have true faith and God's power is withheld from him and Jesus is seeking out someone else with deeper convictions.

So our young pastor loses his kingdom zeal and begins to plod along like a slug, plagued by doubtful resolution. He is not one of the chosen great ones. No glory is to be his and all he can do is to accept his fate as best he can and wait for the end of his weary life-long journey.

Did Jesus thus present to his disciples with a most discouraging word and are the days of greater works at an end? Where is God's kingdom of glory and majesty? What does our Lord mean to say to this young pastor and to any one of us?

Begin by asking what the works of Jesus were? Listen to Jesus himself answer your question. His disciples had been sent to buy lunch in a Samaritan village. When they returned they urged Jesus to eat, but he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So they wondered if someone had already brought him something to eat. To this he replied,

"My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." - John 4:34-38 ESV

The harvest awaiting Jesus and his disciples stood before them. The Samaritan woman Jesus had met there at the well had been married to five men and the man she was currently with was not her husband. Her life had been filled with failures, disappointments, disobedience and despair. And yet Jesus reached out to her. With insight and concern he led her to believe in him as the promised Messiah. And with this new faith burning in her heart she raced into the village to bring others out to see him.

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." - Jhn 4:39-42 ESV

Jesus' food was to do his Father's will and to accomplish that work. The work of the Messiah, the Christ, was to offer his life as a ransom for sinners like this woman and all the sinners of the world. He has completed that work. On the cross he cried, "It is finished!" (John 19:30) The verb translated as finished is the same as to accomplish (Greek teleioō) above.

The only work any of us may do now is to believe in Jesus, trust in his work of salvation upon the cross and humbly submit to his call and leading. This is what Jesus urged when the Jews chased after him after he fed them by the thousands. They wanted to make him their bread king. Jesus answered them,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." 

Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" 

Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." - Jhn 6:26-29 ESV

Much, much more needs to be said about this greater works issue. We all want earthly goods, glory and greatness. It is part of our sinful nature. But I must urge my fictional young pastor to rethink his Call from Jesus and submit to our Lord's guiding. Open your eyes, young man. There before you in your miserable little parish is a person struggling with the same sin as the Samaritan woman. Lead her to her Messiah. Teach her to trust in his love for her—even her. Love her as does Jesus and see what harvest he will accomplish. That is your greater work! You can ask for no greater work than to bring a soul to Jesus.

More on this another time. 

Hell Must Be Forever

The Christian church has always taught that hell is eternal, forever, unending. Holy Scripture quotes our Lord Jesus' reply to those who reject him in this life, contrasting hell with heaven.

Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." - Mat 25:45-46 ESV

John the Baptist is quoted as saying the same thing,

For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. - John 3:34-36 ESV

Yes, it is true that the term eternity is sometimes used in the weakened sense of long duration. For example,

"This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever (Hebr. 'owlam), you shall keep it as a feast. ... You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. - Exod 12:14, 24 ESV 

The Passover has been replaced by the Lord's Supper. Consequently the term forever does not mean eternal or without end in such references, but in all references to heaven and hell it does indeed mean forever. So the Apostle Paul also writes about the misery of those damned in hell.

Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering-- since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. - 2 Thess 1:4-10 ESV

But why? Why? we ask again. Why would a loving God bring eternal destruction upon a world that he claims to love so much? The answer  lies in the very nature of God. He is totally reliable. You can always depend upon him and his Word. He never lies. He never changes. He is always the same. He is completely worthy of our trust. He does not change his mind. He will do what he has said he will do.

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. - 1 Thess 5:24 ESV 

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? - Num 23:19 ESV

There is but one God. To reject him is to reject life itself. This was so from the very beginning. And yet God loves us all, regardless of race, status, position or place. But there is not a just man among us who has loved God with all his or her heart, mind and power (Rom. 3:10-18). How can we possibly be reconciled to God? How can God remain true to himself and still forgive us and freely give to us eternal life? Only in Jesus Christ. In Christ God has reconciled us all to himself. So the Apostle writes of Christ,

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, - Col 1:19-22 ESV

It follows then that God has no other choice. To be who he is, both just, faithful and loving, he must pronounce judgment and eternal death upon  those who turn their backs upon his mercy and forgiveness freely offered in Christ. To quote John as I did above, "whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36).

Who Is Messiah?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently made a speech before the United Nations proclaiming that he and his country were preparing the way for the appearance of the Shiite Islamic messiah figure – the Mahdi. Many are concerned that a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic committed to this goal through destruction and war could trigger a global conflagration. 

Shiite writings describe events surrounding the return of the Mahdi in apocalyptic terms. In one scenario, the forces of evil would come from Syria and Iraq and clash with forces of good from Iran. The battle would commence at Kufa – the Iraqi town near the holy city of Najaf.
Even more controversial is Ahmadinejad’s repeated invocation of Imam Mahdi, known as “the Savior of Times.” According to Shiite tradition, Imam Mahdi will appear on Judgment Day to herald a truly just government. 

The Mahdi or Muslim Messiah will rule the entire world, according to this teaching. As Christians await Jesus, the Christ or Messiah, to return, so Muslims await both the Mahdi and Jesus.

In the simplest of terms, the Mahdi is Islam’s Messiah, or Savior. While the actual terms “Messiah” and “Messianism” have very clearly Judeo-Christian roots, University of Virginia Professor Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina agrees that these terms are appropriately used in an Islamic context when referring to the Mahdi. In his scholarly work on the subject, Islamic Messianism, Sachedina elaborates thusly: 

The term “messianism” in the Islamic context is frequently used to translate the important concept of an eschatological figure, the Mahdi, who as the foreordained leader “will rise” to launch a great social transformation in order to restore and adjust all things under divine guidance. The Islamic messiah, thus, embodies the aspirations of his followers in the restoration of the purity of the Faith which will bring true and uncorrupted guidance to all mankind, creating a just social order and a world free from oppression in which the Islamic revelation will be the norm for all nations. 

When Jesus appeared at the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem in the autumn before his crucifixion many were asking whether he was indeed the promised Messiah. However, there was controversy among them about who he was. Was Jesus the Messiah? How would the Messiah appear?

Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ (Messiah in Hebrew)? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from." So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me." So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, "When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?" - Jhn 7:25-31 ESV

Some thought the the promised Messiah's origin would be unknown. He would suddenly and mysteriously appear, announcing his presence through signs and wonders. Still others said he would come from Bethlehem and would be a descendant of Israel's great anointed king David (Isa. 7:14; 9:6). He would be Immanuel, God with us, the Prince of Peace. Still others were looking for the prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15).

In these tense and dangerous days it is critical that we Christians be certain and confident about who is and who is not the Messiah. The Bible speaks often about false messiahs who will seek to lead many astray. It also speaks about The Anti-Christ (or anti-messiah) who will arise in the final days. Over the centuries many have attempted to identify who this is. Currently some suggest that the Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi will be the Anti-Christ.

At another time I will go into more detail about the Biblical teaching about the antichrist. For today let us be certain that we humble ourselves before God and willingly admit that we who are sinners have no right to His forgiveness. Yet we rejoice that our God loves us so deeply that He sent His only Son into this world to offer His life for us all. This is His glory (John 2:11; 3:14-18; 12:44-47). And in that faith we are at peace and unafraid, regardless of what various antichrist's may shout and proclaim.

Disciple Or Mere Member Of The Crowd

For the Jews the Passover was a festival of beginnings, a time to remember who they were and where they came from. Each year during that time they a recalled 40-year journey in the wilderness that brought them from slavery to freedom, from Egypt to the Land of Promise. And all during those 40 years the LORD God fed them with some kind of bread from heaven, bread never known before or since; hence called in Hebrew Manna—what is it.

So the Apostle John begins his account of Jesus feeding thousands out in the hills near the inland Sea of Galilee:

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. - Jhn 6:1-6 ESV

Why did the crowd follow Jesus? Because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

As some of you know if you've been reading my blogs, I recently had my heart's aortic valve replaced by means of a procedure known as trans-catheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). I find now that people with heart disease ask me where this was done and who the physicians were. I'm always happy to share this information with them, as well as to offer myself as an example of the success of this medical practice.

That was what brought the thousands out to where Jesus was. The word was out. This man from Nazareth healed people from blindness, dropsy, blood diseases, leprosy and all sorts of other things. They even said he had raised a young man and a little girl from the dead. And many told them he drove out demons and restored crazy people to sanity. This was a man they had to see! Who wouldn't want to follow such a doctor to gain from his expertise and find healing?

The doctors that performed their amazing work on my body's blood-pump are marvelous people. I am most grateful to them. From what they told me, my blood-pump (heart) was under extreme pressure as it pumped blood to the rest of my body through such a narrowed sclerotic or hardened valve. A couple more years, perhaps less, was all I had. In a very real sense they saved or extended my life. For this work they will be well paid, both by my insurance company and by me.

However, I will never be a their disciple! Notice what John wrote,

. . . a large crowd was following him. . . Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.

The crowd followed Jesus, but they were not his disciples. What is a disciple, particularly as John uses the word in his Gospel? We encounter the word at the very beginning of John's Gospel.

(Andrew) first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). ... Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. . . Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" - Jhn 1:41,45,49 ESV

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. - Jhn 2:1-2 ESV

The word Messiah (Christ in Greek) had a peculiar meaning among those Jews. It was directly related to the Passover season and Jewish history. It went back to the days of David, son of Jesse, who, at God's command, was anointed by the prophet-judge Samuel to replace Israel's first failed king, Saul, son of Kish (1 Samuel 9:1-2; 16:1-13). During the 10th century B.C., under David and then his son Solomon the first Temple was built in Jerusalem and Israel rose to the zenith of its power and glory (1 Kings 10:1-29). From that point on everything went downhill. In the days of Jesus Israel was nothing but a vassal state of the Roman Empire. But the Jews clung to the dream and the hope that one day God would raise up a new anointed king (Messiah) who would restore Israel's power and glory.

The prophets wrote about it. The Jews gathered on each Passover to pray for Messiah's coming.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. . . - Isa 11:1-16 ESV

Jesus initially gathered men as his disciples because they believed him to be the Messiah, but they had a long, long way to go to understand what that really meant. Nevertheless, this faith distinguished them from the crowd that came to Jesus merely for healing. John writes that Jesus' acts of healing were signs pointing to a much deeper reality. The crowd that followed him did not grasp that. His disciples had some understanding, but there was so much more.

In my next posts I will explore what all this means for us who call ourselves Christians or followers of Jesus today. What's the difference between being a member of the crowd and a true disciple?

The Foolishness of Wisdom For Old People

As noted in my previous post, there are warnings in the Bible about overlooking the fact that our bodies grow old and weak and finally die. One such example is Psalm 90:

You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. - Psa 90:8-12 ESV

Toil and trouble, soon gone. This somber view of life can lead old people to melancholy and even despair. Perhaps that's why seniors spend so much time recalling and retelling the stories of the past. However, I'd like to focus upon some other words of the psalm, a prayer we all need to offer: 

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 

What does it mean to "number our days" in order to get a heart of wisdom? And what is a "heart of wisdom"?


To number anything is to count, but it is doubtful that Moses is encouraging us to count how many days we have been alive. On my upcoming birthday that would be 79 x 365 + leap years. Surely that little exercise will not get me a heart of wisdom. What wisdom is there in knowing how many days I have been wandering around this planet? So what does the prophet suggest?

We do find days (yowmim in Hebr.) used in that manner. Abraham's life was measured as the days of the years.

These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. - Gen 25:7-8 ESV

Somebody kept track of the days of the years. altogether 175 years. And notice that they are called a good old age. What made Abraham's years good? The fact that he lived about a hundred years longer than most of us will in our day? Surely not that in itself. It must be that Abraham had gotten during his good old age this heart of wisdom that Moses wrote about in Psalm 90. So what is this heart of wisdom?

Heart in the Bible always refers to the inner life of a person, his thoughts, plans, ideas and dreams. So we read that prior to the Flood the intentions and thoughts of men were "only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). In turn, the LORD was sorry that he had even made man and it grieved him to his heart (Gen. 6:5-6). So the disobedient world of men was destroyed by the waters of the flood and we are once more reminded that the LORD knows what is in our hearts. He knows and remembers our thoughts, desires and plans from day to day, even to old age.

Later in the story of God's people Moses is speaking to Israel as they are about to enter the long awaited land of promise. He writes,

"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. - Deu 10:12-15 ESV

Here then is the secret to attaining a good old age. In your heart and soul learn to fear and love the LORD, serve Him and keep His commandments. This is wisdom. But there is more to wisdom than a mere command, however important that may be. One cannot attain wisdom by obeying commands, for as we noted above, our hearts, like the people of the days of the Flood are naturally inclined toward evil. How then comes this wisdom?

The answer is found in the story of Israel as recorded in Scripture. The story moves on through hundreds and hundreds of years until the coming of the LORD Himself in human flesh and blood. Then we discover how deeply personal wisdom truly is. Paul writes,

. . . but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. - 1Cr 1:23-25 ESV

True wisdom lies in the person of Jesus Christ, God's Son. No mere man is he. He is, in truth, God with us. In him God reveals his deep and amazing love for sinners. The foolishness of God is found in the cross of Jesus Christ. There we view the LORD Himself winning for us forgiveness for all the foolishness, all the failures, all the stupidity, all the rebellion of our days. The man or woman who has faith and trust in Jesus Christ learns to love him and longs to serve and obey him. Thus he or she has received a heart of wisdom.

We must go from here. In my next posts I want to discuss what we wise seniors who have received the gift of faith in Christ are to do with our wisdom. In other words, what meaning may we find in our old age?

The Tragedy of Divorce

As we continue our discussion of the tragedy of divorce one of you writes, 

I have been in a marriage for 28 years and my husband verbally and emotionally abuses me daily. When other people are around his whole demeanor changes and he is attentive to me and speaks highly of me. When we are out of earshot of our friends the verbal abuse begins. He is always angry at me. I am 63 years old now and do not want to be alone, but find myself dreaming of starting a new life away from this mental abuse. What does the Lord teach about a woman divorcing her husband because he does not love her?

Pretense, anger, mockery, contempt, demands, neglect, shouting, physical and mental abuse—over and over and over again. How often have I seen these things, poured upon a marriage partner sometimes by a husband and, yes, sometimes by a wife. Where is love? What indeed does the Lord teach about divorce in such instances? Are these legitimate and proper reasons for divorce? Or, as we have so often heard, is fornication the only ground for divorce? Others have written that malicious desertion with no intent ever to return to the marriage is also a reason for divorce, because by that disertion the marriage has already been broken. In that connection they quote Paul (1 Corinthians 7:15): 

But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. 

The critical word in the above quote from Paul is peace. What does the Apostle mean to tell us by reminding us that God has called us to peace? The word has its roots in the entire teaching of the Old Testament. Among God's Hebrew speaking people it is called shalom. In its verbal form shalom points to the act of finishing what you started, completing your transaction, paying your debts and making a permanent covenant.


Consider the way the people of Gibeon made peace (shalom) when Israel moved in to conquer the promised land. When the Gibeonites heard what had happened to Jericho and the little town of Ai, they were frightened out of their wits. So they tricked Joshua and the Israelites into thinking they were a group of travelers and "Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them" (Joshua 9:15). There would be no war or fighting among them. The Gibeonites became servants to the Israelites.


The whole idea of shalom means more than the absence of war, however. It refers to wholeness, harmony, unity, oneness, completeness. This is what God offered to His people after King David's reign. David had been a man of war. Under him Israel had become a mighty nation, but it did not have true shalom. That was to come from David's son, Solomon. His very name meant shalom. He would be a Prince of Peace. The Lord promises, "Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace (shalom) and quiet to Israel in his days" (1 Samuel 22:9).


Yet even Solomon could not bring permanent and lasting peace. At best it was rest from all of Israel's enemies. Lasting peace was yet to come in the greater son of David. Solomon was but a type, an example, pointing to what was yet to be. So the prophet Isaiah saw in a prophetic vision the coming of the true Prince of Peace:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

This is what the angel proclaimed to the shepherds on the night that Jesus was born: 

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14). 

This is what Jesus brought to the earth through His life, death and resurrection. So the Apostle teaches,

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:13-14).

Marriage is to be the earthly sign of that peace, that shalom. Later in his letter the Apostle writes that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, His body, and gave Himself for her. A man's wife is his body which he feeds, nourishes, protects and cares for. That is his bonded responsibility, his joyful obligation. She and he are one, bound together in this mysterious union that is renewed day by day. In this union we glimpse what is yet to come when Christ presents His bride, His body, the church to His Father on the last day (Ephesians 5:26-33).


It remains yet to answer my correspondent's question, "What does the Lord teach about a woman divorcing her husband because he does not love her?" It seems that your husband has broken the covenant between you. He has built a wall of hostility and hatred between you. You and he are no longer at peace, one in Christ and one with one another. It seems that you are not married and have not been so for quite some time.


Of course, I do not know your husband. I do not know his heart. Nor do I know you. This I do know. Marriage always involves both of you. Things have happened between the two of you. You both have brought your past with you into the marriage and continue to do it daily. For whatever reasons you no longer have a oneness between you. Only mutual sorrow and repentance, plus mutual forgiveness in Christ can truly break down the wall that now divides you. I urge you both to go to your pastor or to a Christian counselor. See if there is any chance, any possibility of shalom in your marriage.


Ultimately—and I speak with deep concern and humility—if your husband persists in building that wall between you, you may have to treat him as the one who has abandoned the marriage, deserted you. No one can stand in your way. God has called us to peace! 



  

Honey and Water From The Rock

In my meditations upon the psalms during this Lenten season I came upon this phrase from Psalm 81:7, "In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder." A search of the Internet brought me to the following poem I commend to you today. 

The poem is from D.L. Tanner's  first book A Truly Successful Life . 

In the Secret Place of Thunder

(Psalm 81: 5, 7 NRSV)

In the black silence of night

I hear a voice whispering

That I had not known:

“In distress you called, and I rescued you;

I answered you

In the secret place of thunder.”

As the storms of life rolled overhead

My God was there

In the secret place of thunder.

As the lightning flashed and the sky shook

My God was there

In the secret place of thunder.

When the rain pelted me

And I stumbled and fell

And cried in the night –

When the floods boiled about me

And threatened to drown me

In murky darkness –

In the midst of it all

My God was there

In the secret place of thunder.

So when my life is dark

And the thunder rumbles,

I know I am never alone.

Even in the fiercest storm

My God is there

In the secret place of thunder.

Psalm 81 concludes with these encouraging words to God's children: "But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you" (Psalm 81:16). This reminds us that the Lord brought His people to a good land, as He promised to do. Speaking of their journey from bondage to freedom, the Apostle Paul encourages us to learn from them and trust in the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (Romans 10:4). 

Oh, Grow Up!

"Oh grow up!" she said. "You're such a child!"
"I am not," he shouted back. "Besides, what do you know—with all your bragging and selfishness?"

Ever had this conversation? Ever heard it going on in your family? I'm confident it goes on everywhere. Children and childish ways are OK for children, but when you get older you have to stop acting and thinking as a child. At least that's the claim, depending on what we're talking about.

To show you how ancient this way of talking is permit me a few Biblical quotes:

• "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways" (1 Corinthians 13:11).

• "But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).

• "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child" (Hebrews 5:12-13).

These Biblical writers are talking about spiritual matters, our new birth by the Holy Spirit and our growth in the Word of God. They do not address children as not belonging to the family of God. They do not suggest that they are without faith in Christ. They are not suggesting that the Holy Spirit does not dwell in them. But they are children, not in terms of years lived, but in their relationship to the heavenly Father and in their willingness and ability to obey His commands and guidance, as well as their ability to resist temptations from their old human nature, the fallen world and the demonic forces that rule the world.

What are some examples of acting as a spiritual child? What does it mean to speak, think and act like such a child? 

Paul says that quarreling about whose pastor or teacher is best is childish (study the context of the passage quoted). Anytime you start bragging about your teacher and putting another down you are being childish.

The writer to the Hebrews chides his readers because they are not interested in learning about how carefully and how long the Lord God planned their rescue and redemption in Christ. They are, he says, "unskilled in the word of righteousness." He worries that if they do not move on in their spiritual growth they will ultimately lose their faith altogether. From his perspective such folks are in danger of mocking Jesus and their need for what He alone brings them, the forgiveness of sins and life eternal. And once that happens there is no turning back (Hebrews 6:1-8). 

All I can say therefore is that it is dangerous to remain a spiritual child and to try to survive on milk. There are big, strong, dangerous spiritual enemies around who love to run off with children. We all need to hear God's Spirit pleading with us. Please. It's time to be weaned. It's time to start eating solid food. It's time to grow up.  

So, What Is Your View Of History?

Those of you uninterested in history—how many that includes—may wonder why I seem to be preoccupied with it. When hearing about my latest and soon to be published novel, they ask, "Is it a historical novel?" And my answer is yes or at least so it seems. It is historical fiction, that is fiction related to events that really happened. 


So is that what the Bible is, fiction based upon events that really happened? For many it seems so, especially when they come across a couple phrases from the Bible passage I've been pondering this week—Hebrews 9:24-28—"he (Christ) has appeared once for all . . . Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people."


That once-for-all idea has a ton of historical controversy behind it. Who ever came up with this idea that a young Jew was God and that by dying on a Roman cross he could atone for the sins of every human being who has ever lived and breathed upon this planet from the beginning of time until now and on into the endless future? Preposterous! Unless this man Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Son of God, "very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father"  (Nicene Creed).

Here's an alternate view of history from the novel, one fervently held by many Germans, even before the rise of Nazism. My protagonist, Albert, is talking with the vivacious Hulda Schwarz, priestess of the goddess Freya.


“Albert, Albert, you have so much to learn."


She spoke with what seemed greater intensity as the pitch of her voice rose. “For centuries before your bumbling Italian stumbled upon the North American continent, the great Vikings navigated back and forth from Scandinavia.They cruised the Great Lakes to explore this place, your so-called Indians called Minnesota, the land of sky blue waters. The Vikings had villages here. Their runes prove it. Have you never heard about a stone discovered here in Minnesota over thirty years ago with powerful runes written upon it?"


Al stared at her, “What are these fairy tales?”


“Before the great Vikings, even for thousands and thousands of years before the birth of Christ, we Aryans ruled these lands. Albert, all the way to the South American continent. We were the Aztecs and the Maya. We Aryans also ruled the islands of the Mediterranean Sea and established great kingdoms from Crete to Egypt and Ethiopia. Our power reached out to India and beyond, even to the lands of the Chinese.”


“But, but how can this be, Fraulein? No one ever spoke about this to me. Are, are you certain this is true?”


His mumbling and fumbling made him feel like a fool. Did she have access to some hidden knowledge or was she a raving lunatic?


Hulda smiled as she turned to Al. “You have so much to learn, Albert, so much. Be patient. You are on the right track and Woden smiles upon you!”


“Woden?”


Hulda sighed and seemed to let out a long, almost exasperated breath. “I, too, must be patient. I know it, but I forget. You have been taught empty myths about the Jewish god. You have probably been taught that the Jesus, the Jew of Nazareth, was a god! In time you will learn the truth and give your allegiance to the true gods, the gods of the North, the Aryan gods!”


“Perhaps, but who is this Woden you speak about?”


“Woden—some call him Odin—is the Father of us all, Albert.”


Her words came out slow, quiet reverently. She bowed her head and gazed again out the window. It seemed to Al as if she was worshiping this Woden person right in front of him.


Turning back to him, she continued. “Albert, Woden is the All-Father, the ruler of all spirits. He is the First One, the Creator. In him lives all knowledge and wisdom. To him we sing our songs, for all comes from him.” 


What is your view of history?