Which Master?

My pastor (Douglas Wilson) is fond of saying, "It's not whether, but which."

That ties well with something Dennis F. Kinlaw wrote: "Satan disguises submission to himself under the ruse of personal autonomy. He never asks us to become his servants. Never once did the serpent say to Eve, "I want to be your master." The shift in commitment is never from Christ to evil; it is always from Christ to self. And instead of his will, self-interest now rules and what I want reigns. And that is the essence of sin."

There is always a master. Which would you rather serve: Jesus Christ? or Satan? Christ died for others. Satan died for nobody. So who's the more loving master?

If you think you are the master of your own life, then ultimately you're serving the devil. When we serve only ourselves, the devil gets what he wants. That's the lie he sells: "Be your own master. Determine your own fate." -- So how's that working out for you?

"A Prophet Without Honor Among His Own" Must Keep Prophesying

The parallels abound between OT figures and Christ Himself.  Another one stood out to me while working through today's Bible Reading Challenge passage from Genesis (particularly 37:13-14).  Jacob sends Joseph to check up on his brothers, who reject him, though Joseph yet becomes a great governor.  Jesse sends David to check up on his brothers, one of whom criticizes David, who subsequently becomes king.  Then the Heavenly Father sends His Son, Who "came unto His own and His own received Him not," yet Christ is set at God's "own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and [God] hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:20-23).  Amen.

So when you have truth to share, share it, even if those around you don't look upon you so favorably.  Look at what Joseph, David, and Christ reaped.  Look, as Christ did, for the joy set before you.  "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9).

Practice, Practice, Practice Courage

Christian Friend, do you Really love the LORD?

If a gun is put to your head by somebody telling you to denounce Christ Jesus, will you exercise courage to confess that you know and love Him?  How do you know you will?  

Have you been practicing courage even in the smaller things of life?

Did you ever raise your hand in school to openly challenge the atheistic evolutionist or philosopher?

Have you ever asked a co-worker to not profane the Lord's name?

Do you walk away from your friends as they enjoy a dirty joke?

Have you stood by yourself, holding a sign, on a public sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood?

When was the last time you mentioned God within the first 10 minutes of a conversation with a complete stranger?

Do you know the feeling of your heart racing as you enter a store without wearing a mask?

Have you ever held the hand of an injured stranger and prayed aloud for them while waiting for the medical personnel to arrive?

When bullets are flying on the battlefield, we want soldiers there on our behalf who have previously practiced these scenarios.  We don't tell them to just take it easy at bootcamp and on the base. "You don't need to practice the live-fire drills;  we know you'll stand strong when it really matters," said no sergeant ever.

If you're going to be courageous when it really matters, you need to be practicing now.

Psalm 27:14 - "Wait on the LORD:  be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart:  wait, I say, on the LORD."

Fear vs Risk

Some stay home because they are motivated by love. Others may act differently in these times and circumstances and yet their actions could still be motivated by love also. Loving others doesn't necessarily mean that I have to stay home.
I don't suppose that any honorable, respectable person wants to cause the death of another respectable person unnecessarily. But then, isn't that what military commanders do in battle? Isn't that the risk that NASCAR drivers take? How about truck drivers, circus performers, policemen, football players, healthcare officials, motorcycle riders? (And before you say "well, it's different if somebody wants to risk their own life," please note that I listed professions where all of these people are also in a position to potentially cause unwanted harm to others who interact with them.)

Wanting to enjoy the things that God gave us to enjoy is not selfish. How is going out, traveling, exploring, playing, and interacting with family going to cause the virus to spread?

61,000 people died of flu in the US alone during the winter of 2017-18. That was just a couple years ago. Remember that? You know, the winter that the entire nation's economy shut down and everybody stayed home? 61,000. That's more US deaths than we've had so far from COVID-19.

In 2018, there were 36,560 deaths due to automobile crashes. Even more the year before. And even more the year before that. From 1993 thru 2007, there were over 40,000 auto deaths every single year in a row of those fourteen years. That's a lot of US deaths, especially if you compare them to the COVID-19 numbers. ~~ And every single death is sad; I don't want to disregard that. ~~ And yet millions continue to go out every day, get in their cars, and take the risks.

Parents must make decisions that significantly impact the lives of spouse and children. Will you take them on motorcycle rides? Will you let them ride bicycles in the street? Will you encourage them to climb trees? Will you let them play football or baseball, play with BB guns, go swimming, canoeing, horseback riding? Will you let them have a pet? Will you let them go to a friend's house who was sick just the other day? -- Are you realizing that all of these actions could result in your child getting hurt, or sick, or worse?

Of course, one way to avoid any problems associated with these activities is to just stay home, stay inside, don't be too rambunctious, and don't let your children be. ~~ But is that what God wants? Doesn't he want people to take responsibility and even to take risks. Of course, we should be wise and not reckless. But I believe that God is pleased with wise, careful risk-taking. If nobody ever took risks, we wouldn't have airplanes, cars, motorcycles, vaccinations, tasty foods, electricians, football players, boxers, rugby players, soldiers, policemen, high divers, sky divers, skyscrapers, carnivals, circuses, escape artists, olympics, gymnasts, stunt men, tree houses, towers, .... ~~ How 'bout you name some?

But fear stops many people from participating in these activities and professions. Yet "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love Him, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:17-19) We are to "fear God" above all; and if we fear Him in the right way, then we need not fear anything else in the wrong way.

The End Is NOT Near

I don't think Jesus is coming soon.

The end is Not near. Well, the end of my life (and yours) is near -- sometime within the next 70 years, maybe even today. So we need to be always faithful to Christ. Be prepared.

But Christians need to read Ephesians more, ... more carefully, more often.

"God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, ... has made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." -- Ephesians 2:4-7

God has made us sit in Christ. And where is Christ? At God's "own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named" (Eph. 1:20-21). To continue, God has "put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body" (Eph. 1:22).

Do you see that? We the church are positioned with great authority. ~ But is that the sense you get from the brothers and sisters in your particular Christian circle(s)? Do they go about with the confidence of "conquering and to conquer"?

Notice, too, that Paul speaks of "ages to come." The age in which Paul was living was coming to an end, but there were yet "ages to come" including the one in which you and I now live. And what's to be expected in these ages? "Exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Exceeding riches!

So let's live as if our Father "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the Power that works in us" (Eph. 3:20). Take dominion. Take charge. Conquer the world! Build the kingdom! After all, "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 11:15).

A Gettysburg Thanksgiving

Four score and seven years ago plus another three-hundred eight, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new holiday: conceived in humble gratitude, and dedicated to the conviction that all ‘good and perfect gifts come down from the Father’ in heaven.

Now we are engaged in a great culture war, testing whether that holiday, or any holiday so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.  We are met on a great social network of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that harvest-time as a day for feasting, celebrating, and giving thanks by those who here have tasted the bountiful blessings of Divine Providence that that holiday might live.  It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, most Americans observing this holiday cannot dedicate, they cannot consecrate, they cannot hallow this feast.  The holy men and women of God whose hearts are merry have consecrated it far above the heathens’ poor power to add or detract (Proverbs 15:15;  Ecclesiastes 9:7).  The world will little note nor long remember what we say here; but it must never forget the LORD and what He did here, what He is doing, and what He will continue to do.  It is for us the merry-hearted, rather, to be here dedicated to the unfinished work of setting the table which they who cooked, fried, baked, and basted here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from the Pilgrims we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the first full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these turkeys shall not have died in vain – that this holiday, under God, shall have a new birth of merry observance – and that this festive thanksgiving in Christ’s kingdom, by God’s Spirit, for the Father’s glory shall not perish from the calendar.

Outsmarting God

I know my own imperfect heart well enough to know that there have been times, when I have sinned against the Lord and have been expecting discipline from Him, that I try to manipulate that discipline (put a book in the seat of my pants, talk Him into taking fewer swats, color a picture for Him to put on the fridge before He finds out what I did).  --  As if I can outsmart God when He has determined to do what needs done.  My pastor points out that such an approach -- trying to "manage" God's judgment -- is likely what many conservatives are attempting to accomplish through their voting ....

"Whether we get Trump or Hillary, one thing is certain.  We deserve worse than that.  We have to take up our problem with God, because He is the one visiting this plague of an election on us.  And He is doing so for reasons that are righteous, holy and just.  We deserve the rulers we have gotten, are getting, and are going to get.  Wicked people get wicked options in their elections.  The problem is not the RNC, or the DNC, or whoever else we might want to blame.  We have met the enemy, as Pogo said, and he is us.

"If the hand of the Lord is upon us, the way out is repentance.  We cannot manage our way out.  We cannot do a little voting triage.  We cannot game the system.  What is happening is the judgment of God. And if God is judging a stiff-necked people, as He manifestly is, it is no solution to suggest that we try to dodge the flaming hailstones.  The way out is repentance.  And I don’t primarily mean repentance at the polling booth.  Right repentance will eventually show up at the polls, but I am talking about the country turning back to Jesus Christ through a great reformation and revival.  If you want anything else, you are desiring salvation without a Savior." - Douglas Wilson

(https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/dodging-flaming-hailstones.html)

More Than a Feeling

I've been impressed at how quickly a good country song can take me, in just 4 minutes, from tapping my toe to crying.  I've also stood in the edge of the ocean and, in about the same amount of time, felt the waves take sand from under my feet and bury them without any effort on my part.

Emotions are sand.  And what did Christ tell us about the house built on sand (Matthew 7:26-27)?  Too many in our culture build their worship experiences and their marriage relationships on emotions.

This World Is Not My Home; I'm Just a-Shirking Through

When some mess in our nation or in the Christian church is motivating a discussion with opposing views, I will occasionally observe someone saying, "At the end of the day, this earth is not our final destination and these worldly matters are distracting us from our relationship with God."

If a personal relationship with God is all that matters, then why are we still here? Once that relationship has been established, why not just go immediately to be with Him?

Apparently, the One with Whom we are in relationship wants to see growth in that relationship via a life on this earth. Apparently, He wants us to honor Him by how we live here on this planet, by how we seek His face, by how we heed His Word, by how we engage with our neighbors, and by how we love those neighbors through our votes (or abstentions) in regard to policies (and politicians) that will certainly affect those neighbors.

A Married Man Is Wiser

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22).  “Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;  he who does so destroys his own soul” (Proverbs 6:32).

Got that?  A man who finds a wife “obtains favor from the Lord,” but if he sins against her by committing adultery, he “destroys his own soul.”

Now hear these words that Wisdom speaks (from Proverbs 8:35-36): “’For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord;  but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;  all those who hate me love death.’”  –  Sound familiar?  What Proverbs says of Wisdom, it also says of a wife – nearly word for word.

So it’s not a stretch to suggest that a young man gains wisdom by marrying and being faithful to his wife.  And what does that imply of a man who has the opportunity to pursue a wife but fails to do so?

For more on this, check out these links:

https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/7-reasons-young-men-marry-23rd-birthday.html

https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/110542.html

From Dream to Déjà Vu

Ever had a bizarre dream? (duh) ... where you were in some location that you didn't really recognize?

Ever had déjà vu ... in a place where you're sure you've never previously been?

Now you know why:  It's probably that place you didn't recognize in an earlier dream.

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(Oh, the things I can come up with when I have a bit more spare time than usual!  If you want to be further impressed, check out my syllogism on Peter Piper.)

"Your Descendants Will Love the LORD!"

"And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." -- Deuteronomy 30:6

One of the deepest desires of my heart is to see every single one of my descendants enjoying God eternally. Given the context for the above verse, God is promising His people that, if they wholeheartedly repent and obey His commandments, He will grant hearts and souls of love and life to them and their descendants. ~~ What an awesome (conditional) promise!

As long as you're tryin' to do what's right ..., right?

"In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes." -- Judges 17:6 & 21:25

This verse is not a compliment to the culture in Israel during the time of the judges. This verse shows up twice in the book of Judges as book-ends to two very strange stories that show the depravity of a culture where God, the One Who is Truth, Beauty, & Goodness, had been all but forgotten. But if the implication of those crazy stories doesn't quite convince you that "every man doing what was right in his own eyes" was actually a bad thing, then please consider the following clear instruction from Deuteronomy 12:8 -- "Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes."

Have you ever been to a church where you were encouraged to worship the Lord in your own way? Were you ever given the impression that God doesn't care so much about what you do or how you do it as long as your why (your motive) is right? Sure, if your motive is wrong, that's not good. But as long as your doing "whatsoever is right in your own eyes," well, then ....

Does God Care about Politics?

Is Jesus King of Nations? Or is He only King of individual hearts? Does God care about national and global politics?

"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." -- Proverbs 14:34

"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." -- Proverbs 21:1

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." -- Proverbs 29:2

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." -- Proverbs 33:12

One Sam Gives Us Another

Think you’ve got it bad?  Well, for this celebration of Uncle Sam’s birthday, I’d like to tell you just a little of another Sam – a true story.

Sam was the 4^th child of 12 that his mother, Mary, bore;  but he was one of the only 3 who survived past age 2.  Mary yet encouraged Sam’s faith in God;  so he married Elizabeth, a minister’s daughter who had more than just Christian faith in common with Sam.  She, too, was one of only 3 who survived to adulthood out of the 12 children born to her own mother.

Soon Elizabeth began bearing Sam’s children.  Their 1^st was “a boy who lived for only 18 days.  A year later, she gave birth to a son, Samuel, who lived to adulthood.  … She gave birth to a 3^rd child, a son, who lived only 37 hours.  Her 1^st daughter … died after 3 months and 9 days. Her 2^nd daughter, Hannah, … lived to adulthood.  Her 6^th delivery … was a stillborn son.  For 19 days, [Elizabeth] lingered.  Then, at 8 A.M. on Sunday, July 25, 1757, she passed away.”  Thus were just some of the challenging circumstances in the life of a young Samuel Adams.

“Samuel Adams was the archetype of the religiously passionate American founder, the founder as biblical prophet, an apostle of liberty.  …  He was the moral conscience of the American Revolution, a man who never lost sight of the Revolution’s political  and religious goals, which for him were fundamentally intertwined.”

I’m looking forward to reading the “book about who Samuel Adams was, why he is forgotten, why he should be remembered.”  --  Samuel Adams:  A Life, by Ira Stoll.  (Free Press, New York, NY.  Copyright 2008.  Pp. 23, 8, 9, & 11, respectively.)