“But to preach the Gospel is not just to tell the truth but to tell the truth in love,and to tell the truth in love means to tell it with concern not only for the truth that is being told but with concern also for the people it is being told to.”
~ Frederick Buechner, “Telling the Truth”
“There is not a book on earth so favourable to all the kind, and to all the sublime, affections, or so unfriendly to hatred and persecution, to tyranny, injustice, and every sort of malevolence, as the GOSPEL. It breathes nothing throughout but mercy, benevolence, and peace…. Such of the doctrines of the gospel as are level to human capacity appear to be agreeable to the purest truth and soundest morality. All the genius and learning of the heathen world, all the penetration of Pythagoras, Socrates, and Aristotle, had never been able to produce such a system of moral duty, and so rational an account of Providence and of man, as is to be found in the New Testament.”
~ James Beattie
In honor of James Beattie, a Scottish poet and philosopher, who died on this day in 1803.
Resources:
This Day in History for 18th August
James Beattie Quotes
“The glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with respect to its dignity, depth, and importance, may seem a fitter theme for the tongue of an angel than of a man; but angels never sinned; and though they might proclaim its excellency, they could not, from experience, speak of its efficacy. In this respect sinful worms are better qualified to preach to others, concerning him by whom they have, themselves, been healed and saved. Their weakness, likewise, is better suited to show that the influence and success of the Gospel is wholly owing to the power of God. It has, therefore, pleased God to ‘put this treasure into earthen vessels,’ [2 Corinthians 4:7] and to commit the ministry of his word, not to angels, but to men.”
~ John Newton
In honor of John Newton, former slave ship captain, Pastor, and author of “Amazing Grace”, who was born on this day in 1725.
Resources:
July 24 – Today in Christian History
John Newton Quotes
“Run, John, and work, the law commands,
yet finds me neither feet nor hands,
But sweeter news the gospel brings,
it bids me fly and lends me wings!”
~ John Berridge
In honor of John Berridge, Anglican evangelical revivalist and hymnist,who preached his first outdoor sermon on this day in 1759.
Resources:
Today in Christian History
John Berridge
“Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God.” Luke 4:34
I know there are many who live by the K.I.S.S. principle – Keep It Simple Stupid. It is a good principle, in so far as it is possible. However, we can delude ourselves in simplicity as avoidance to the difficulties of the complex. We live in a complex world that has layers of intricacies that are scarcely understood.
I sit here reading my Bible and writing my thoughts from those scriptures. I can tell you that I just read my Bible and I thought about it. However, I don’t know how my brain did that. I don’t know how my eyes absorbed light, how my optical nerves transformed those electrons into electrical impulses, how those impulses made it to the correct segments of my brain, how my brain recognizes electrical impulses as letters, words, paragraphs, language, ideas…I really don’t know how my brain then thinks about those translated impulses in abstract ways.
The complexity of simply reading and thinking is amazing. I think we have a tendency to over-simplify the familiar. We look past all that is normal and fail to gaze deeply upon all that is so very amazing in our everyday lives.
I have a tendency to over-simply the holiness of God.
God the Father 11 (Photo credit: Waiting For The Word)
Holiness is a term we Christians throw around with a casual familiarity that belies the complexity of its reality. We are told to be holy, because God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). In my simple mind, I tend to think of holiness in terms of following Christ in obedience. The fruit of the Spirit that results from setting my mind on the things of the Spirit and living according to the Spirit is how I can be holy because God is holy.
I believe that is a tremendous over-simplification of holiness.
The holiness of God is terrifyingly dangerous. It probably is the single most destructive element to the flesh of man in the entire universe. Consider the precautions the Nation of Israel had to take, to be in the proximity of holiness without dying.
A specially designated and clothed person had to go into the tabernacle to cover all that the holiness of God was upon. This priest covered the items with blue cloth and goat skin so that the selected clan of the Levites could carry the items without dying.
Nadab and Abihu, two of these specially designated and clothed priests, offered unauthorized fire before the Lord and were immediately consumed by fire.
Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God when the oxen stumbled and he was immediately struck down by God for taking hold of an item that was holy to God.
The priest of the Temple would go into the holy of holiness with a rope tied to his ankle just in case he was struck dead in the presence of God’s holiness, his body could be drug out.
That is what happens when raw and revealed holiness is exposed to a fallen mankind. Being in the presence of God’s holiness, simply touching His holiness is like being exposed to the core of a nuclear reactor. Handling the core material of a reactor is complex. Special clothing and precautions are necessary because human cells cannot withstand the high energy of that sort of radiation.
The holiness of God is so much more radioactive and destructive to fallen human flesh. The demon Jesus confronted, understood this reality. The Holy One of God stood before him. His question was “have you come to destroy us”. It is a reasonable question because that is what happens when holiness comes into contact with unholiness. Holiness destroys unholiness.
It is a terrifying thing for the unholy to fall into the hands of the living and holy God Almighty.
The fact that this demon was not immediately consumed by the fire of God by being in the presence of the Holy One of God, reveals a complexity beyond the description.
The fact that the Holy One of God could walk this world in human form, interacting with sinful man, reveals an intricacy that escapes understanding.
The fact that the Holy Spirit can be within those who are His, while we still do unholy acts defies a simple explanation.
The fact that redeemed souls will spend eternity in the presence of the holy Lord God Almighty is unfathomable when we appreciate God’s holiness.
The holiness of God is amazing. It is not something that God turns on or off. It is who He is – holy is His name (Luke 1:49). We should not allow our familiarity with Christ to over-simplify His holiness. Our familiarity with our precious Lord and Savior should result in more awe, honor, and reverence because we know how unholy we are. We know that Christ has made a way for us to exist within a fallen sinner’s most destructive environment. We can live as loved children of our holy Father without dying because He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. (Romans 8:3)
God did the complex,
transforming the unholy into holy,
through His amazing mercy,
He gave life rather than destruction.
That should astound us!
May we join the host of Heaven in our praise of God for what He has done –
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory”.
(Isaiah 6:3)
PRAYER: Father, thank you fo protecting me from your righteousness and holiness. Thank you for sending your own Son to condemn the unholy sin in my flesh so that your righteousness might reign in me. Forgive me for taking your holiness for granted. Forgive me for over-simplifying all that you have done for me. Forgive my lack of awe and honor of how truly spectacular you are and what you have done. Lord, I praise your holy name. You truly are worthy of all praise and honor. The whole earth is full of you glory. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“For no one who has a blemish, shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles.” Leviticus 21:18-20
My last business trip involved an airplane ride to Sacramento, California. I was acutely aware of all the engineering involved in the optimizing of economy class passenger seating. I am not a particularly tall person but I am at the limit of the “design passenger” used to arrange seats on airliners. My knees just fit within the space allotted. However, I often feel as if my fellow traveling companion in front of me is in my lap when he reclines his seat.
This was particularly awkward on my last flight. The passenger ahead of me was a business man judging from his attire. He had a nice business suit and leather briefcase. He was attentively groomed with hair cut close enough to reveal his scalp.
His scalp became of particular interest to me about half way through our flight. I became aware of a habitual hand motion to the back of his head. Through the flight, he continued to reach to the back of his head with a scratch, pick, pinch and rub ritual. Due to his short haircut, I could easily observe the source of his discomfort.
He had two massive zits at the base of his neck, just inside the hairline. It was apparent that these twin mountains of acne had been bothering this polished business man for sometime since they both had thick scabs. However, my traveling mate had no intention of allowing his sores to heal properly.
I squirmed in the limited confines of my seat each time I watched his hand reach back. A couple picks around the edges and then would come the pinch and my real concerns. With each pinch, I cursed the airplane designers for placing me in the splash zone of this man’s clogged pores. Obviously, the scenario that I was experiencing was not accounted for in their calculation because if either of those inflamed cannons burst, my flight was going to get really bad.
Fortunately, the flight mercifully ended without fluids erupting into the air or onto me. The scab-picker stood from his seat and straightened his suit while he retrieved his briefcase from the overhead compartment. He gave a pleasant glance in my direction, completely oblivious to the duress he had caused me.
He had no idea how gross he was.
I completely understand God’s prohibition of scab-pickers from the priesthood.
For no one who has a blemish, shall draw near, a man blind or lame, … or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. (Leviticus 21:18-20)
I don’t know anything about the man who sat in front of me but I did find the blemishes on the back of his head and his chosen remedy very unclean. I can understand why God would not want him to approach His altar.
However, I realized that I was equally disqualified by the very same passage. Thankfully, my testicles are fine but my sight is not so good. I have the blemish of nearsightedness. While I might be able to argue that my blemish is not as bad as scab-picker’s blemish, I have to concede that at least his blemish will heal if he were to leave it alone. My eyesight is only going to get worse with age. Therefore, I am forever disqualified from coming before God in my physical condition.
That is a rather shocking revelation. God does not accept blemished people and it does not matter whether they were born with the blemish or if it was their own fault. We live in a blemished world so I think it is difficult to understand God’s insistence upon perfection. I don’t think any of us understand how blemished we really are in comparison to God. Scab-picker did not know how blemished he was. I had never really thought of nearsightedness as a disqualifying blemish. Yet, the standards of God’s law are so exacting that no one is qualified to stand before the altar of God on their own merit.
Herein lays the good news of the Gospel. Christ came to fulfill the standard for us. He is the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 2:2) Christ is the sacrifice to God that takes away the enmity of our blemishes (sins) that stand between us and God.
We should never deny our blemishes because the glory of the Gospel comes from the reality that in Christ we are new creations, pure and blameless.
…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling and questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world… (Philippians 2:13-15)
It is in Christ and Christ alone where we will be without blemishes. It is only when we are blemish- free that we can enter our rest in the presence of the Lord.
Therefore, I don’t want to feel good about my blemishes.
I don’t want to be convinced that my blemishes can be overcome by thinking positively.
I refuse to live like my blemishes are irrelevant to God’s love.
My blemishes remind me of my need for a Savior. My blemishes draw me close to my Lord, Jesus Christ because without him I am without hope. I leave my blemishes at His feet, emerge, cleansed in His blood, and live in the joy and hope of a new life founded in Christ and Christ alone.
To God alone be all glory.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for making me pure and blameless. Thank you for cleansing me of all my blemishes. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ to be my propitiation. Thank you for making a way for me to come before your altar. I praise and glorify your name for all that you have done for me. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them.”
~ Mahalia Jackson
In honor of Mahalia Jackson, known as the “Queen of Gospel”, who died on this day in 1972.
Resources:
Today in History – January 27
Mahalia Jackson – Biography
Quotes and Poems.com
Related Videos
Mahalia Jackson – O Holy Night
Mahalia Jackson – Move On Up a Little Higher
Mahalia Jackson – Precious Lord Take My Hand
Mahalia Jackson – His Eye is on the Sparrow
“You have been speaking about William Carey. When I am gone, say nothing about William Carey-speak only about William Carey’s Savior.”
~ William Carey
In honor of William Carey, known as the “father of modern missions”, who, along with 11 other Baptist pastors formed the Particular Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen (catchy title) on this day in 1792.
Resources:
Today in History – January 2
William Carey > Quotes
Related articles
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” Revelation 21:10-11
I ran across a website the other day that uses a statistical analysis tool to analyze your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers. It then tells you the famous writer you write like. (I Write Like) I was intrigued to discover what famous writer had seeped into my psyche to influence my writing. I read my writing and am without any reasonable explanation as to the influence in the style and words I use.
I cut and pasted the text from my last blog post, Spiritual Thermodynamics, into the analysis tool on the website. As I completed the menial task, I imagined which names might emerge from the analysis.
C.S. Lewis … John Steinbeck … Nathaniel Hawthorne … J.R.R. Tolkien…
Robert Frost … Daniel Silva … Mark Buchanan … Edmund Morris…
David McCullough … Louis L’Amour… John Piper…
Tom Clancy … Jerry Bridges … Joel Rosenberg…
I have read multiple books by these authors. Surely, their style has crept into how I put words to computer screen.
I finished the cutting and pasting of the text of my writing and with anticipation clicked the Analyze button. I had wanted the program to take some time in processing its work but it immediately provided its analysis:
H. P. Lovecraft (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yeah!???
I had no idea who H. P. Lovecraft was. Therefore, I did what every modern scholar does. I Googled him. According to H.P Lovecraft Archieves, “HOWARD PHILLIPS LOVECRAFT (20 August 1890–15 March 1937) is probably best known as a writer of weird fiction…”. He is universally consider the father of modern horror and the inspiration for modern-day stories of success such as Stephen King (“The Shining”), John Carpenter (“In the Mouth of Madness”), Robert Bloch (“Psycho”), Clive Barker (“Hellraiser”) and Anne Rice (“Interview with the Vampire”). (H.P. Lovecraft – Biography)
This was not the famous writer that I thought might be lurking in my style, particularly since I have never read any of his writing.
I realize that there is a difference between writing style and genre. However, it strikes me as a little strange that a horror writer and a devotional writer would have the same writing style. Although, the similarities of our writing may actually extend beyond mere word choice and style.
I write short devotionals based upon my morning Bible reading. To me, I am not writing horror stories but consider the message to those who reject my faith and beliefs. I have once again finished reading through the entire Bible. I love the completeness of scripture. I love the fact that God’s redemptive plan can be seen in Genesis. I love that the pattern for the forgiveness of sin is laid out in the Law of Moses. I am comforted by God’s longsuffering patience with a rebellious people. I am astounded by His abounding love in sending His Son as the lamb for propitiation of a sinful people. I am speechlessly grateful for His grace and mercy in the creation of new life in those who are born again. I am dumbfounded by the mysteries of sanctification. I am fearful of His justice.
I am in awe of my God who has revealed Himself through this Word that I call the Bible.
I absolutely love Chapter 22 of Revelations because it is such a fitting manner to conclude the inspired words of Moses, the prophets, disciples and apostles. All of scripture comes to a crescendo in what was shown to John:
…the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; … No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelations 22:1-5)
That is a message of hope for me, but it is not a universal message of hope for all people.
I read Revelation 21:6 and am encouraged:
And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”
To those who reject Christ, they read Revelation 21:7:
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexual immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
That truly is a horror story. The message of the gospel to me is eternal life with the God of love and mercy. The message of the gospel is foolishness to those who stumble over God’s judgment as a horror story too harsh to believe. They read Jonathan Edwards‘ sermon, Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God, and reject that God as a relic of a superstitious age.
Yet, there are real horror stories in this world. The greatest horror story is the just punishment of those who reject the Son of God and the redemption from their sin. We should never soften the reality of the horror of this fallen world. Jonathan Edwards’ sermon was an instrumental spark for the Great Awakening. The message of the Bible is “come”. Come to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh for your sin and my sin, to condemn sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us (Romans 8:3). No one needs to “come” if there is no horror to escape. The good news remains that God has provided a way from all who come to Him to escape the horror of judgment.
Don’t stumble over the message of Jesus Christ. Hear His words and respond:
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Revelation 22:17).
PRAYER: O Lord, thank you for opening my eyes to the good news of the Gospel. Thank you for saving me from the horror of suffering the punishment that I have earned from my sin. Jesus, I long for the day of your return. May the day that you establish your kingdom here on earth come quickly. Lord, thank you for your patience. Thank you for granting more time for the lost to be drawn to you. Father, call your children home; move them to respond to your voice and to come. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.” Acts 26:2-3
Pro se is the legal term for advocating one’s own behalf before a court. My experience with the legal system has been limited and mostly unpleasant. I would not ever consider going pro se before a court if I had any other recourse.
Recently, I participated in a mediation process to resolve a dispute between my company and a former client. The process went exceedingly well. We agreed to accept less than what we thought that we were due but received more than we dared to hope for. I think the resolution equally displeased both parties, which probably makes it a good compromise. The best result was that we stayed out of the courtroom.
However, we were both represented by our legal advisors in the mediation. My legal team was very instrumental in resolving the complaint and keeping it from getting larger and more expensive. I am afraid if I had gone pro se that my ignorance of the legal system would have caused a more unsatisfactory result.
I have never faced a court when life has been on the line. I would be terrified to be pro se when the potential sentence is death. Yet, that was exactly what Paul had to do in front of the courts in Caesarea. Paul stood before Porcuis Festus, the Roman Governor, King Agrippa and Bernice, military tribunes, and all the prominent men of the city to make a defense of his actions.
I wonder if Paul had longed for legal representation. I don’t know if that was even an option or if he had decided to go pro se. What I do know is that Paul presented a wonderful defense of the gospel:
He told of his life before he came to Christ (vs. 4-11);
He told of his conversion (vs. 12-16);
He spoke about the reality that all men are in darkness and under the power of Satan and must turn to the light and God (vs. 18);
He referred to the scriptures, the prophets and Moses, and how they taught that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he proclaimed light (vs. 23);
He spoke the truth in a rational manner (vs. 25);
He spoke with boldness (vs. 26);
He appealed to all those who heard him to change and become like him – a follower of Christ (vs. 29);
In many ways, all followers of Christ are advocates. We are all in a pro se defense of our beliefs in which the goal is not to convince others that we are right but to appeal to them to become like us. We do not have the option to hire someone to make our own personal appeal. We must advocate on our own behalf in the court of other people’s opinion because we want them to be like us – children of God.
How much time have you spent on the preparation of your defense?
I can attest to the fact that my company spent a lot of time and money in preparing our case in our recent dispute. Money was all that swung in the balance in that case. In the case of the gospel, the eternal lives of those who have not come to Christ are in the balance.
How much time and preparation is that worth?
I wrote a very similar post as this one awhile back, about the need to be prepared to present the good news of Jesus Christ. GREAT INTENTIONS – March 5 . Sherry, a fellow blogger at He Hath Said , made the following comment to that post:
I believe those Christians with blogs, no matter the subject, should have a page that introduces their unregenerated readers to Christ Jesus and the reason they need Him as their Lord and Savior. We must look for opportunities to share the Gospel in any godly way possible. But, let there be prayers by all for the raising up of laborers to bring in the harvest as well as the preparing of an unsaved soul by God’s Holy Spirit to receive the salvation upon hearing the Word of God presented.
I heartily agreed with Sherry and promptly did … nothing.
The Apostle Paul and Sherry have encouraged me to do something. Therefore, I am going to take the next day or two to prepare my defense. My next post, Lord willing, will be my own personal defense that will find a home on a new page of my website, as Sherry suggested.
Therefore, I beg that you will, at that time, read patiently the appeal of my heart.
PRAYER: Lord, thank you for giving me your Spirit. Thank you for giving us your Spirit to bear witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Lord, fill me to the brim with your Spirit. Make me overflow with the goodness that comes only from You. Help me set my mind on You and the things of your Spirit. May I glorify and enjoy You in all that I do for all of my days. . . Amen.
A DEVOTED LIFE 