Category Archives: Insights and personal views

Have you ever been “ghosted”?

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Have you ever been “ghosted”? I hope not. And I hope you haven’t “ghosted” anyone either. Jesus said of the time before His return that, “The love of many shall grow cold”. (Matthew 24:12) So it’s almost a sign of the times that, in human relationships, “ghosting” has become the new vogue. Here’s a current definition of what “ghosting”:

Ghosting is breaking off a relationship (often an intimate relationship) by ceasing all communication and contact with the former partner without any apparent warning or justification, as well as ignoring the former partner’s attempts to reach out or communicate.

Does that ring a bell? Maybe your best friend suggested, laughingly, that you just “ghost” your current boyfriend or girlfriend because you were going through a rough patch. Life is tough enough, times are tough enough and the outlook for many is bleak enough that this is just another punch in the ribs to our humanity, our standard of behavior and our love for our friends. This is now the cool thing, “Just ghost ‘em.”

I’ve written before about hardening your heart and keeping your heart. This maybe is another aspect of it all, that, (God help us!) we don’t have to revert to the satanic cruelty of this modern form of breaking up so that the person you once loved or were at least close to you now treat with a cruelty you wouldn’t show to a stranger.

Love is under attack at every turn. Decency, altruism and truth itself are rained down upon with new methods of debaucher and disdain so that we’re persuaded that the loftier things we once held dear just are no longer a part of our makeup. We don’t need the Russians, ISIS, immigrant caravans or anything else to attack us from outside. It’s the inside attacks, the insidious “gas seeping under the door” that actually slays far more than those we think are our enemies.

How many die today, they commit suicide because someone they loved “ghosted” them? Sometimes those we love the most can become our greatest enemies. Jesus said so. But it shouldn’t be. It. Should. Not. Be.

The Bible says “Owe no man anything but to love him for he that loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8) You’re not getting along, don’t have those feelings anymore, want to drop ‘em and move on to someone else? Well, even if you do that, you can still be kind. And you should be.

Do you want to have that person’s suicide haunt you the rest of your life? Or want to have that cruel thing you said and did eat away at your conscious the rest of your life? I have things I said when I was 12 years old to a friend of mine who was not as cool as the others and I, going along with the crowd, said some cruel thing to him. He looked me right in the eyes, with tears, and said, “You too, Mark?” He knew that I knew better. He expected me to not be like the other cruel kids in our class. It’s a horrible feeling to know I did that and I regret it to this day.

But how about just “ghosting” your girlfriend or boyfriend? Or your fiancé or even husband or wife? Aren’t we better than that? Even if you’re not a believer, doesn’t love itself call upon us to be kinder to our fellow human being?

I went through a horrific divorce many years ago, one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced. Somehow, through it all, my former wife and I were able to maintain some semblance of communication and measure of respect for the 10 years we spent together and for our 4 children. I tried to never speak against my former wife to my kids. I tried to find slivers and strands of what was left of the relationship and to hold on to those until things could very gradually get better. I’d seen as I grew up, that 30 years before my birth a huge divorce and animosity had had such devastating effects on my relatives that for generations afterwards wounds never healed, over lifetimes.

Don’t be cruel to the ones you love or even to the ones that love you. “Charity suffers long and is kind.” (I Corinthians 13:4) “Love works no ill to his neighbor.” (Romans 13:10) I believe it is just absolutely satanic to turn into the cruelest hatred what was once a love you had for someone. Maybe love has grown cold. Maybe “you’ve lost that loving feeling”. Maybe “you’ve seen them for what they are.” But we still owe everyone love to the degree that we can try to make it easy for the one we are breaking up with.

Hardness of heart can be a form of insanity, one of the worst. It can drive the ones we love to despair and death itself. Don’t do it, any more than you’d do drugs or shoot someone with a gun.

If you are going to break up with someone, try to be kind. Try to not cut them off and stop communicating with them. You’ll be a better person for it, you’ll help the other person to survive the loss of the love that was there and God Himself will bless you for your doing the loving thing.

Commit

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Commit, committed, commitment; lots of really important words from the same root. It’s an often familiar concept, not only to Christians but to everyone. Commitment is usually needed at every level of life, not only for success but even for some measure of contentment.

But this morning that root word, “commit” stood out to me as I went to the Lord in prayer. The Bible says so much about “Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5) For the people of faith, this is one of the most essential steps in our spiritual life, one of the most important components of our inner character. The Lord said, “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) and so we are charged throughout the Bible, through one admonition or the other, to “Come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

I’ve heard that Martin Luther had so much to do one day that his helper, Philip Melanchthon, suggested that they cut their normal lengthy prayer time down so they would have time to do all that was before them. To this Luther replied that actually they would need to double their prayer time so that everything could be accomplished.

I expect that Luther fully understood the necessity of committing things to the Lord in prayer. One of the biggest changes in Luther’s life came in the middle of a lightning storm when he vowed to commit himself to the Lord if God would protect him through the storm.

For Christians there just isn’t any other way. Solomon even said, “Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts shall be established.” (Proverbs 16:3) God can even clear up your mind from plaguing “vain thoughts” if you take it all to the Lord.

There’s just a ton of Scripture to highlight the importance of committing everything to the Lord. Paul wrote to Timothy about the persecution he was receiving as well as his impending martyrdom, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (II Timothy 1:12)

Paul had committed it all to the Lord. He spoke of this to the Philippians, admonishing them to “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6 & 7)

That’s certainly one of the benefits of committing things to the Lord in prayer. You’ve laid your burden before the Lord, you’ve “cast all your cares on Him” (I Peter 5:7)  and you can have the peace of God through His Word that He’s going to take care of things. That’s just how it works for the people of faith. That’s the procedure, the contract, the method that God has laid out for us so that we’ll be in His will, we will have committed out way unto Him. And of course it should go without saying that we also continue to be open to His leading and guiding on the mater we’re praying about.

This is what I wrote about in “God will reveal”. The idea of course isn’t or shouldn’t be, “God, here’s what I want to happen! And now, God, make my plans all work out!” Hopefully we know better than that. Even Jesus said to His Father, “Not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

It should go without saying that what you’re praying about, what you’re asking God for should already be within His will and what He’s been leading you to do. This is what’s meant in I John 5:14 when it says, “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

But there has to be, not only commitment but also committing. We have to take it all, every worry, every need, every moment and task of the day to the Lord, asking Him to do it all. “Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do it.” (I Thesselonians 5:24) That’s the kind of results that come from committing our ever concern and action to the Lord.

Paul told the Philippians, “It is God that works in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philipians 2:13) And that happens after you’ve committed it all to the Lord, you are emptied of yourself as you pour out your heart to the Lord in prayer for Him to take over and work in you, through you and with you.

Maybe this isn’t normally a first grade lesson in the school of Christian faith and experience. But whenever it comes up in your life, I believe it’s a grace and quality that’s virtually indispensible in the fullness of the character the Lord wants us to have. I hope you’ve learned to daily commit your life, your thoughts, your heart, your desires, your will and your actions to the Lord. If you do that, He won’t fail to bless you beyond measure for your committing your life to Him.

Elections in Sweden

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There will be elections here in Sweden in a few days. Much of the nation is caught up with it as seemingly fundamental changes are in motion here, as they are across Europe and in the USA as well. Answers and explanations that were taken as givens for generations in Sweden, and in other countries in Europe, are now being seen to no longer be sufficient for these times. Political parties that dominated the landscape for decades are crumbling or in disarray and new movements and forces seem to have better answers and explanations for the challenges that have arisen in recent times.

And of course, if you’re reading this in the States, this can all sound familiar. For the last 100 years in America, the only two political choices have been “Democrats” and “Republicans”. But what do those words mean now? And the same kinds of questions without answers are on the minds of people here in Sweden and in Europe. “Left”? “Right”? “Neo-Nazi”? “Feminist”? “Social Democrat”? “Conservative”? “Liberal”? For very many, those words are much more fudged and hazy than they’ve almost ever been before.

Bob Dylan once sang, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” But I think that, in these times, many folks would be more than glad to find a competent and prescient “weatherman”, someone to make sense of these times, to rise above the petty and false in order to bring order out of chaos and wise explanations that ring true and break things down to simple clarity.

I’m personally trying to find clarity, through prayer and God’s Word, but also from competent, objective commentators in media sources worldwide. But it does look strongly like a storm is upon many nations , “the sea and the waves roaring and men’s hearts failing them for fear of those things which shall come to pass.” (Luke 21:25 & 26)

Confusion mixed with fear is a horrible thing. Of course those here in Sweden, as well as those in most of the rest of Europe and in North America, know virtually nothing of fear and confusion compared to the ones I met on the Turkish-Syrian border now almost 4 years ago, in Reyhanli. Friends I spoke to there had had barrel bombs dropped on their house and so had fled their country, as have millions of Syrians in these last years. We, the blessed in the West, have known no war in our lands since before I was born after World War II.

But still, there is much confusion in these times, and fear. The United States is now said to be more divided politically than at any time since the Civil War that took place between 1860 and 1865. I’ve sat in adult Sunday school classes in Texas where the discussion was on ways to openly, militarily defy and oppose in armed combat the United States government. There’s an underlying tension that has become the order of the day in America now. No one really knows where things will go and how things will develop between the increasingly strident extremes of Left and Right, Progressive and Conservative.

For me, the greatest call of allegiance in my heart is to Jesus Christ and His coming Kingdom on earth. That’s my sheet anchor of truth, morals, ethics and priorities. And some would say then that of course that means that you must fully put yourself down on the side of Right wing American political forces. You must be at the forefront of the cultural battle that rages and even be willing to “take up arms to take back our nation.”

But I’m not. Right wing American politics is just as laden with sin as is the Left. Different sins, certainly; but the quantity is about equal. So I don’t believe political activity is what Jesus Christ is leading me to do. Sometimes the very best any of us can do is just to “be still and know that I am God”, as the Lord told David in Psalm 46:10. If we do enter into unprecedented times, if some kind of social upheaval takes place in American or even other countries in the next months or years, my personal opinion is that the best thing I can do is to “dwell in the secret place of the most high” and “abide under the shadow of the almighty”. (Psalm 91:1) If a state of siege or martial law sweeps these lands, more than ever people will need friends to show them that there’s a greater stability and verifiable truth in the eternal God of Abraham and in His risen Son, Jesus of Nazareth. “Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.” (Romans 5:20)  “God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” (I Corinthians 14:33)

These are confusing, troubling, changing times and so much that seemed to be foundational is now found to be shaking or already destroyed. All the more then should each person cling to the greater truths of the Bible that says, “When my spirit is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is greater than I.” (Psalm 61:2) “God is our refugee and strength, a very present help in the time of trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” (Psalm 46:1 & 2)

Kicking against the pricks

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Some people’s heads are bloody but unbowed. They resist to the bitter end and even think they’re doing the right thing. But they may find out they’ve resisted the loving pleading and entreaties of God Himself. Yes, that can happen and does happen; sadly all too often.

God doesn’t usually override human will. He waits for us to be humbled and to recognize His hand in our lives. But there are oodles of folks who will just have none of it. For me, it took the experience of near death and hell to get me desperate enough and shook up enough to choose God. But that’s not even totally accurate because the Lord made it easy in some ways, allowing Satan himself to come and claim my soul, which was rightfully his at that time.

But once I realized that there was a Satan, it was almost like a clue that there must then be “the other one”, God Himself and I called out to Him to keep me from being carried off by Satan to my eternal damnation. And it may be like that for many people, perhaps not as dramatic and drastic as it was necessary for me but still, nevertheless, the Lord often has to draw the line and bring people to a decision, often even a final decision, before they will turn to Him.

As He said all the way back in Genesis 6:3, “My Spirit will not always strive with man.” Or again it’s like in Proverbs 29:1, “He that, being often reproved and hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed.” God never does anything quickly, except judgment. And “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) Whew, it’s a shake-up just even remembering those verses and writing them down.

But it’s the almost universal nature of every person to be stubborn, cock-sure, obstinate and defiant. Maybe some are less so than others. And maybe you even think that kind of attitude can actually be an asset and an advantage in some situations. But it’s not that way in our relationship with God.

God told Isaiah, “If you be willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.” (Isaiah 1:19 & 20) Willing and obedient. That should be our nature in our relationship with God. But, oh, how often He has to put up with us for so long and sadly rather work us over oftentimes before we learn to humble ourselves before Him.

Actually, when you think about it, it may not be that He “works us over” more than that He just lets us stew in our on juice. He lets us partake of the fruit of our own ways until we come to our senses and realize that we are deeply wrong to insist on our own will, while rejecting and ignoring His. Like the Prodigal Son, he “came to himself” in a far country, while feeding pigs. (Luke 15:17) That’s kind of a funny way of expressing it. Nowadays people say “the lights came on” or, if not, “he just didn’t get it.”

They say, “It takes an impossible situation for God to do a miracle.” And the reality is, each of us is an impossible situation. The Bible says to the believers, “Sin shall not have dominion over you…” (Romans 6:14) But for the unbelievers, the unsaved, the defiant and the vast multitude who continue to “kick against the pricks”, sin does have dominion over them.

Actually, if you don’t watch out (and if I don’t watch out) this can all end up rather depressing. You can get exasperated at how much some people defy the will and love of God. Or you can get exasperated at yourself for how many times you fall into some “besetting sin” (Hebrews 12:1). Like Paul so famously said, “The good that I would, I do not. But the evil that I would not, that I do. Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?!” (Romans 7:15 & 24)

But it was the grace of God that Paul could even see his condition and pray that prayer since he himself was the one the Lord originally said those words to, “It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.” It shows God can bring us out of our defiance and unbelief, our obstinacy, rebellion and darkness. But Paul had made progress, he had “seen the light” and turned, repented and started down the path of life that was God’s plan for him.

It’s sometimes hard to hold out in prayer and faith for loved ones who remain defiant towards the Love of God. It’s also hard to struggle with some elements of our own personality and areas of our lives which somehow remain unconquered by the power and love of God. The solution? Hold on, for others and for ourselves. Keep on believing , keep on looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Only He can do it, He’s our only hope.

 

 

“He gave good heed”

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I heard someone say, “You have to see God!” Equally, you’ve got to hear God. That’s what that verse means, “He gave good heed” (Ecc. 12:9), he was conscientious at hearing God’s voice. Sometimes it’s not even a voice; it’s a nudge or almost a breeze. But your life, your future and your destiny can totally depend on whether you “give good heed”.

Often things are really simple. This world may seem complicated but the most important stuff is simple. Solomon knew this when he advised, “Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23) Such a vital, important nugget from God’s Word, I wrote a blog article about keeping your heart which can be found here.

But it may not seem simple. You can wonder how you can get on board with all this. Where do I start? How can you “hear from God”? How can you “see God”? It does come back to your heart, your desires, your values. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Mat. 5:6) Do you have a heart that hungers for truth, for righteousness, for love, for the things of God? Well, God Himself is not unaware of your desires.

A verse that’s always encouraged me in this is, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect…” (II Chronicles 16:9) God sees your heart and innermost thoughts, even when you don’t even believe in God or know He’s there. And, like what certainly happened in my life, He is doing what He can to bring you to Him and to give you the desires of your heart, even while you may be inadvertently resisting the drawing of His Spirit working to win and help you.

The whole amazing subject of Salvation is so enormous in itself, how God’s brings us to call out to Him and His Son for the first time, often when we’ve been dwelling in such extreme spiritual darkness and rebellion for so long. That’s what happened to me, like the verse says, He “delivers from the lowest hell.” (Psalm 86:13)

But that’s not at all the end. It’s a magnificent beginning and perhaps the greatest beginning but it’s not supposed to be the end. Like Jesus said to one crippled man, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” (John 5:8). Sadly for some, if not many, they never really get to that “walk” part. They never really get going with following God. They don’t “take heed” first and then obey after that. So they miss so very much, even in this present life, of all that God could do for them and with them and through them.

But like I said, it all boils down to really simple stuff. This morning I was reviewing some of the Bible verses I’ve memorized over the years and I came to the ones where this verse about “giving good heed” comes from. They are very meaningful to me and I wrote a blog article on these which was very personal, called “Still”.

It’s personal to me because I think it was personal to Solomon when he wrote it. I feel it may be a personal word from Solomon himself about his life and how it had gone. Solomon says, speaking of himself that the Preacher “still taught the people wisdom. He set in order many proverbs.” (Ecc. 12:9) Solomon, in his great wisdom, probably knew that things had really taken a turn for the worse in the kingdom of Israel. But he says that “he still taught the people wisdom”, even though times were not as they had been before.

But Solomon also says in these same passages, “Yea, he gave good heed” which is a way of saying that he himself still made a real effort to hear from God and then to write it down and pass it on. He heard from God. He tried to keep his heart, even in spite of some grievous sins in his life. And God was still speaking to Him. Solomon hadn’t given up on God and God hadn’t given up on him.

And that right there may be some of the most basic, fundamental lessons of life that we can find. We have to hear from God. We have to, in a sense, see God. Jesus even said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) And of course it follows, we have to obey God. Peter the apostle famously stood up to the Pharisees of his day and said that God “gives the Holy Spirit to them that obey Him.” (Acts 5:32)

So, actually, it is all pretty simple. Life isn’t based on your technology, your university degree, your bank account or your nationality. It’s based on your heart. May God in His infinite mercy help each of us to “give good heed” to Him.

 

Seeing China

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I’ve been in China, my first time in this part of the world. Of course there’s a lot to see but then also I didn’t really come here to see the tourist sites. For people of faith, there’s just an extra dimension or two when traveling and often I end up getting so much more out of deep interaction with the people of a country I’ve never been in, rather than looking at the buildings.

That’s how it’s been here. I’ve met some really interesting people, ones who share my faith and that’s made it easier to talk about more than politics, money or the things that so often clutter our conversations.

But of course this is a very interesting place, there’s no denying that. I don’t know if China is taking over the world but certainly they’ve done some incredible things in the last decades in places like Africa, doing huge, monumental infrastructure projects in African countries to build roads and railroad lines where, in some places, there was very little before. China is a nation of nearly 1.4 billion people and this city of Beijing is about 22 million.

Like I was writing to some friends back in the States, the heart of man is pretty much the same the world over. People have hopes, fears, dreams, ambitions and, yes, sins that are often the same from one part of the world to the other. The food may be different, here at least the language is really different from what I’ve known before and the historic background of the nation is certainly different. But I’ve met people here who I’ve talked with for hours, people who’ve helped me in the things I came here to do, folks who share the same vision and goals as me and with whom I could talk deeply about the things of the Lord.

Maybe I’m just different but to me that’s more satisfying than seeing some famous site or going shopping. It’s like the Bible verses that say, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but the things that are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal but the things that are not seen are eternal”. (II Corinthians 4:18) For me, to have that connection with someone who’s background is so different from mine but still there’s that meaningful bond that’s possible between the people of faith around the world is just a priceless blessing. And I’ve certainly experienced that here.

But also I could tell you a little of what I’ve seen while I’ve been in China. Although it’s totally different, it’s also a little like parts of eastern Europe. It’s still easy to see structures that were built during the many decades that a strong Communist system was in full control here. There’s an architecture associated with this and I’ve seen it here the same way I’ve seen it in Russia, Poland, Bulgaria and other places. And in contrast, there are really plush shopping malls now everywhere here, again the same as can be seen across the former Communist countries of Europe.

There’s evidently very little crime in the part of Beijing where I am. My friends tell me there just isn’t much in the way of break-ins or robbery. I first used Uber about a month ago in the States and that’s very prevalent here, but a different company. There are very large building projects going up everywhere, very wide streets and boulevards, a new airport, lots of electric vehicles, and huge projects to build high rise apartments which are what most folks live in, like in Moscow. One impression I’ve come away with: they really like to do things big here and they are pretty good at it too.

And, all in all, the atmosphere is far less tense than I thought it might be. Also, although there is a strong police side to things, there’s also a lot of freedom. Which reminds me of something I wanted to tell you about when I thought of writing this.

When I was 24 years old, living in London, I had a very strong dream about China which woke me up and has stuck with me over the years.

In the dream I was in some kind of tropical place, working through the undergrowth. But then I came out to a clearing and before me was China; Canton, China in fact. It seemed like it was spring and there were these happy, lighthearted Chinese young people coming down this hill towards me. They seemed to be people of faith and there was a palatable spirit of joy and freedom that they carried.

It all shocked me so much that I woke up. At that time it was still very much the strictest of Communist times here and the spirit in this part of the world was not at all like I’d been seeing in my dream. So I wondered, “Does this mean I will be going to China?” “Where is Canton?” I found out it’s just across from Hong Kong and I was in Hong Kong for a week on this trip, just before coming to Beijing.

But most of all I wondered, “Could it really be like that in the future in China, that there would be an airy freedom with young people of faith enjoying their liberty in the Lord?” Back when I had that dream, it really seemed an impossibility. But, strangely but truly, I’m in China, I flew over Canton and “Today is the tomorrow you dreamed of yesterday”.

Certainly in the spirit there is more freedom here than there was in the past and there is a rapidly growing number of believers in God in this part of the world who have a strong desire for the deep things of the Lord. I’m most richly blessed to be here and my time here has gone well.

 

To Build and to Plant

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It’s easier to be a prophet of doom than a healer of wounds and a feeder of sheep. Sometimes it’s easy to see what’s wrong. But it’s often not easy to find a true solution, to champion genuine improvement and righteous progress. But without solutions, all our exposing of the darkness is mostly in vain.

At the beginning of the Jeremiah’s ministry, God spoke such mighty and eternal words to him, to define his future ministry. God said to Jeremiah, “See, I have set you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, to pull down, to destroy, to throw down; to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:10) What deep truth, what supernatural balance. God didn’t tell Jeremiah to just expose the evil, He also told him to “build and to plant”. To show and manifest what was good, right and Godly, not just expose the darkness.

My gosh, how that part is so often missed by most everyone in our times. It can be a weariness to hear all the shrill voices, pointing out (often rightly) what’s wrong and unjust in this present world. There are multitudes who are keen to “root out, pull down and destroy” but very few who are building and planting , few who have genuine, viable, functional solutions to the problems they see.

It’s almost “just not done” to be positive, creative proponents of righteous solutions to the ills that have beset so much of the world we’re in. But if you’ve abandoned the fact that there can be solutions, if you’ve abandoned hope in real truth, genuine betterment of yourself and mankind, then your general tune will be pretty forlorn, as so many are.

“Deconstruction” is the order of the day for most of those of an intellectual bent. Well, pardon me but to hell with that. When does the construction start? Let’s hear about those who are out there fixing things, making a better world, fighting for equal justice for all and trumpeting truth, starting with God’s truth.

All my life I’ve felt there was something wrong with just being negative about something if you don’t have an answer or solution. So instead of joining in the cacophony of voices which point out all the wrong in this world, I’d much rather hear about something that’s the answer. Who’s found a solution? Who’s pointing society to truly higher ground?

I’m so very thankful for the life I’ve had of Christian service and discipleship. So often, love itself is the answer to so many problems in this world, big or small. And living a life of, not just believing in Jesus, but endeavoring to serve the Lord and be His instrument of peace to people everywhere has been a rich reward in itself for me.

How well Jesus summed up the whole subject when he spoke of those “building their house on the sand” as opposed to those who “build their house on the rock.” Jesus said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be like unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

We’re to not only expose and throw down the evil of this world; we are to do like God commanded Jeremiah, “to build and to plant”. Jesus didn’t just say, “Woe unto you scribbles, Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:14) He also said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) He said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:15) So it is possible to build and to plant. There are solutions, even practical ones to the intricate, multifaceted complexities we face today.

And you might think I’m talking about doing what I have done, being a Christian missionary and at times doing social service work. I’m not. I have great respect for some I know who are putting their life on the line, often at the ends of the earth, to minister to the sick or help build infrastructure in underdeveloped areas. One time at about the utmost distance I’ve gone in my travels for the Lord, I met some dear people from “Doctors without Borders.” I was incredibly impressed by their bravery, dedication and selflessness to go where very few dared and to have genuine pragmatic concern for folks caught up in the Asian tsunami crisis of 2004.

So there are some who are building and planting, some who are laying down their lives for their fellow man. But I just wish there were more, perhaps especially among those in governments of the world at this time which seem so adrift and clueless. Are you building and planting? Or just pointing out all that’s wrong? May God help us all, and especially any in leadership of our nations, to effectively, vehemently build and plant.

“The LORD said to my Lord…”

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Perhaps the biggest surprise of my life was finding out who Jesus is/was. Maybe it’s second only to finding out earlier that God actually is for real. I’d been told that Jesus was a great man, a wonderful teacher. But that’s about it. “God? Well, yeah, He’s up there somewhere but we don’t hear much from him. Be good, do good and, yes, love people. That’s about all that it really amounts to.” So I’d thought.

But it took basically the edge of death and hell to bring me to realize that the spiritual world is real. And through some indescribable rough times, I did come to experience the reality of the God of Abraham, the God of the Bible. But then what?

Well I then had this question on my heart for months, “Who is Jesus?” And it was some activist young Christians who finally showed me from the Bible about receiving Jesus into my heart. I’d already been so whittled down by the Lord, my self confidence shaken and my heart engaged by the Holy Spirit that I did take that step and prayed for Jesus to come into my heart and life.

But I still didn’t feel like I knew who Jesus is or was. So a few days later I was asking my friends again, “But, who is Jesus?” So then one of my friends showed me verses that just exploded inside my mind and heart virtually like a bomb.

They showed me where it says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1) Then they showed me John 1:14, that was the one that really did it. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Spontaneously, almost immediately I got on my knees and face and prayed for I don’t know how long, for the first time in my life, to Jesus. “There are two of them!”, I thought. “Jesus was with God in the beginning and even before the beginning! He was like us but also He was not!” John 1:14 exploded in my heart and mind to show me for the first time who Jesus is and was, the question that had been on my heart for months.

Maybe it’s like the Bible says, “We are to be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead.” (Romans 7:4) But even in a worldly marriage, it goes through stages. The first time you saw each other. The first time you touched or kissed. Your marriage ceremony. The first time you were intimate. Your honeymoon and thereafter. There are so many stages in love and I think it’s the same in our relationship with the Lord.

But like a good marriage, it continues to grow and get better as the years go on. And it was the inflowing of truth into my heart of the Word of God through the Scriptures that began then and has continued since then. One of the most amazing things is the depths of it and particularly of prophecy. In fact the reality of Jesus as being one with God and also with God from the beginning was shown repeatedly to the Old Testament prophets. And maybe it’s like someone you are married to, you just never get over how amazing they are. I guess that’s how I am with Scripture and the truth revealed there.

To me perhaps the most amazing revelations of Jesus being with God and co-equal with God can be found in Psalm 110 and Daniel chapter 7. King David wrote “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’” (Psalm 110:1) But perhaps what some people notice, after the first reading, is that the word “Lord” is used twice but is written differently. Why?

Like a good mystery, the plot thickens with the telling. And we find that Jesus Himself, when He was on earth, specifically used Psalm 110:1 to try to elucidate His religious detractors. Here’s what the Bible says happened.  “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,  ‘What do you think of Christ? Whose son is he?’ They say to him, ‘The Son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How then does David in spirit call him Lord, saying,  ‘The LORD said unto my Lord, ‘Sit on my right hand, till I make your enemies thy footstool?’ If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?” (Matthew 22:41-45)

The Jewish leaders expected a Messiah to come who would be a descendent of King David (which Jesus actually was) and they expected the Messiah to be an earthly leader, a military man. But Jesus was bringing out through Psalm 110:1 that David in the Spirit of God, had seen “my Lord”, the Messiah to come, sitting at the right hand of God and being told that God was preparing for his future kingdom. David saw the Messiah and called him “my Lord”. This was a very different view indeed of the Messiah to come from what the Pharisees had, a Messiah sitting next to God the Father who David would call “Lord.”

Even in Old Testament times, God was revealing that the Messiah to come would be more than just a man. And this is something I brought out when I did the video on Daniel chapter 7. Because that’s another place where there’s an almost indescribable vision of Jesus Himself, seen over 500 years before He was on earth.

Abruptly, in the middle of his vision Daniel saw this, “I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garments were white as snow… Thousand thousands ministered unto Him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The judgment was set and the books were open.”  (Daniel 7: 9 & 10) This is one of the clearest visions of God the Father, the “Ancient of Days” in the Old Testament. And it has a strong resemblance to what King David spoke of at the beginning of Psalm 110, calling God the Father “The LORD…”.

And like we saw in Psalm 110:1, we see Jesus again in Daniel 7: 13 and 14. “And I beheld in the night vision and one like the Son of Man came unto the Ancient of Days and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Jesus Himself on earth almost never used the term, “the Son of God”. But He did use over 70 times in the 4 Gospels the term used to describe Him here in Daniel 7, “the son of man”.

What an abundance of grace and truth has been revealed to us! And for those who’d like to make this just some concoction of the followers of Jesus after He was crucified, we have it all here from centuries before Jesus’ birth on earth that the Son of David, the one David saw in the spirit seated next to God, and the one Daniel saw in spirit being brought before God, was already seen, spoken of and foretold to come. And then Jesus did.

It’s been decades ago since I was led into this truth and life. And like a good marriage, it just gets better, deeper and stronger through the years. I hope this look into the Scriptures to see our dear Lord in His glory and in His Word, even before He was ever even here on earth, has been a blessing to you. God bless you!

 

Ignorance and Prejudice or Truth and Integrity

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Ignorance and prejudice or truth and integrity? These things know no boundaries or borders. Are “They” ignorant and prejudice while “We” are innocent of those things? Nope. No one group anywhere has a monopoly on any of these, regardless of what you hear almost everywhere nowadays.

I’ve had some fascinating experiences recently on Facebook. I “boost” (as Facebook calls it) my blog posts and videos via Facebook to many countries and I receive some pretty interesting responses. I’ve lived in Islamic countries off and on for years and I guess I have a special interest in people in that part of the world. So when I’ve been able to boost the videos to Islamic countries, in languages spoken in those places, I’ve been interested to know what the response will be.

Recently one situation in particular has been special for me. A local language video I’ve done was going out to an Islamic country and I was getting feedback through Facebook. Yes, some of it could be called negative but I could tell that most of those responding had just never heard of the prophet Daniel. Some commented that this was just a Jewish myth. Others were taking an accepted Islamic response that there were only 25 prophets recognized in Islam and that Daniel was not listed as one of them.

But then Facebook responses started coming from a man from that country, trying to edify and correct what he could see were uneducated and often prejudiced comments that were being made. He is Islamic, not a Christian. But he was reproving his countrymen to not so quickly dismiss things they knew very little about.

The prophet Daniel’s tomb in Tarsus, Turkey

He told them that the prophet Daniel is not mentioned in the Koran but that he’s definitely mentioned in Islamic writings as being an ancient, genuine prophet of the Jews. He went on to tell them that the tomb of Daniel is said to be in Tarsus, Turkey.  He also found and shared in the chat discussion an Islamic website that has extensive information on Daniel chapter 2 from the Bible, the subject of the video I’d posted on line in their language.

And I was like, “Wow, God bless that guy. He’s not Christian but he’s standing up to the ignorance and some prejudice he’s seeing and is trying to rectify it, going against the wind and the trend in order to try to help his countrymen have a more educated, nuanced view of these things, even if he doesn’t actually fully agree with what I’ve shared in the video.”

I don’t know about you but I’m pained and grieved every single day by the prejudice and ignorance I see… everywhere. It seems to be one of the greatest banes of our times and it increases by the day. They say, “It’s not who’s right but what’s right.” So it should be, doubtless. But is that working where you are? Or does it seem that society is in some kind of centrifugal spin, separating into tribes, factions, movements and divisions with nothing but yawning gaps of hatred, ignorance and prejudice between them?

As they say, “Truth is the first causality of any war.” And finding those who’ll stand up for truth, particularly if it goes against their clan or interest group, is very rare indeed, at least as far as I know. So it was fascinating to see this Islamic man going against the wind where he lives, setting straight the uninformed and even prejudiced majority of commentators on my video postings. And actually this has happened with posts of mine to other Islamic countries in other parts of the world and in other languages, where local Islamic ones there also spoke up to set the record straight and inform those commenting that Daniel was in fact recognized in Islamic writings.

How about that? As far as I’m concerned, anyone in these times who stands up for truth and integrity, against prejudice and ignorance, deserves recognition and acclaim. Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” (John 18:37) So you may be part of my clan, living in my state here in America, look like me, talk like me and seemingly we’re really on the same page and in the same category. But if you’re prejudiced and ignorant, if you’re pulsing with hate and spewing out animosity, falsehood and slander against those you oppose, then I’m obliged as a Christian to stand up to your ignorance and prejudice, even if we’re the same in so many other ways.

And if I find “foreigners”, folks of a different religion, race and background from me who are opposing falsehood, ignorance and prejudice, then I strangely will end up feeling affinity with those folks, whoever they may be, who are fighting the same fight I am, for truth, love and righteousness. Jesus said “I am… the truth.” (John 14:6) And some people, even though they may not have all the truth that others of us have, if they’re doing the best they can to live and stand up for the truth they do have, I feel they deserve acclamation and encouragement.

Actually of course, all Christians should abhor and resist ignorance and prejudice. All of us should stand and fight for integrity and the holiness of truth. But, as most of you know, that’s really not what’s going on in our times, or certainly not nearly as much as there should be.

God help us all to oppose ignorance, prejudge and hatred and to do what we can to bring truth and genuine veracity to our friends and neighbors, even as this dear Islamic man recently did in response to the comments he saw about the videos I’ve done.

Jonathan, son of Saul

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Real heroes don’t often get the credit for their heroism in this world. But God has a great big book and He’s writing it all down, the good as well as the wrong. Jonathan, son of King Saul has always seemed to me one of the greatest heroes in the Bible. But you seldom hear much about him and few Christians know what a part he played as Israel rose to its glorious years under King David.

Jonathan was “the crown prince”, next in line to the throne of Israel, after his father, Saul. But King Saul’s life turned out to be one of the very saddest in the Bible. I have every reason to believe that King Saul was saved and that we’ll see him in heaven. He started out really great, anointed by Samuel the high priest, specifically chosen by God and he even had the gift of prophecy.

But through disobedience, self-will, arrogance and hellish pride, King Saul lost the anointing he had as king. Samuel ultimately told Saul, “When you were little in your own sight, the Lord highly exalted you. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought Him a man after his own heart. And the Lord has commanded him to be captain over His people, because you have not kept that which the Lord commanded you.” (I Samuel 13:13 & 14, 15:17) And that “man after God’s heart” turned out to be Israel’s best loved and most remembered monarch, King David, even though at the time Samuel spoke this message to Saul, David was still an obscure young shepherd boy.

And did King Saul humbly and meekly step aside at Samuel’s words and turn over the reins of government and power over the nation to young David? No, not at all. In fact, evidently Saul even got violent to some degree with the prophet and priest Samuel, for having spoken the word of the Lord to the king.

But then, like an excellent book or movie, “enter stage left” comes Saul’s son, Jonathan. “Samuel! What’s this about my dad loosing the kingdom!?” This would be what you could expect from 99% of men in Jonathan’s position. “Lose my crown, my throne, my future power!?” That’s what virtually every man of the world and of power would say. But Jonathan didn’t ever do that, even though he had been brought up by such a power-hungry, fallen failure of a man like his father, Saul. Wouldn’t Jonathan be just like Saul? Would his DNA pre-ordain him to follow the same Godless path?

This is where the miracle and godliness of Jonathan shows so brightly, so much so that it’s almost strange. Rather than working with his father, Saul, to resist the hand of God which was moving to make David the future king of Israel, Jonathan evidently saw from the beginning that God’s anointing was on David. When Saul, Jonathan and the whole army of Israel were pinned down by Goliath and the Philistines, it was the young teenage shepherd boy, David, who stepped out of the crowd to miraculously defeat the champion of the Philistines in single combat.

Sometimes, as some say, “You’ve got to see God.” And evidently Jonathan from the beginning saw the hand of God on David’s life, that he was God’s chosen and blessed to lead Israel. “Sure, easy enough,” you might say. But I’m sure it wasn’t. Never was it so clearly summed up when his own father, Saul, in an absolute rage, yelled at Jonathan, “Don’t you know you’ll never be king as long as David, the son of Jesse, is alive?!” (I Samuel 20:31) In other words, “David is going to take your crown! You are going to lose the kingdom to David!”

And this is where it’s almost a mystery what really went on in Jonathan’s heart. Because, as difficult as it must have been, he remained loyal to David and to what he knew was God’s will, rather than to his own career, power and supposedly inheritance. He even worked as an insider within the inner circle of Saul’s court to keep David informed of what his father’s plans were against him during the years when David was growing to full adulthood and was often on the run as a fugitive from Saul’s deteriorating regime and unhinged life.

It’s all just an incredible story that I don’t have room to go into here if this is to not become too long. But if you want drama, intrigue, heroism and the mighty hand of God working to have His will against the very worst of human nature and sin, you should read I Samuel 12 to 28 where this is all found.

Jonathan stayed true to David throughout his life, to his own loss in this world, as well as the loss of his dad’s kingdom and the kingdom of Israel shifting to David and his descendants. But there’s no sign Jonathan ever wavered in this. He played the role that God had for him to the utmost, against the course of this world, against his father’s raging and against what would seem to be all his own self-interest, as far as the world looks at things.

And David was fully aware of the sacrifice Jonathan was making for him during this time and the amazing loyalty, friendship and love in the Lord that Jonathan had in his heart for David. The last time they saw each other, as far as we know, Jonathan had just brought David word of Saul’s continued rage and vengeful attitude towards David. The Bible says:  “David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times [towards Jonathan]: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.”  (I Samuel 20:41)

It’s perhaps one of the greatest “love stories” in the Bible, but of Godly, selfless love and camaraderie between two men who were brought together in a drama of God’s making and who played their roles to the hilt. And it should go without saying that there was nothing of the remotest sort that was physical in their love for each other. But in our depraved and sunken world that we live in at this time, I’m probably compelled to just mention that here.

Jonathan must have been able to say what Paul said 1000 years later, “I have not been disobedient to the heavenly vision.” (Acts 26:19) The Bible doesn’t specifically tell us how Jonathan came to such an understanding and the stand of faith he took to go God’s way but to what was his own personal determent in this world. And he isn’t really remembered very much in the annals of the greats of the Bible.

Nevertheless, he was one of the most integral players and factors in the rise of David to the throne of Israel, someone who laid down his life in this world so that God’s will could prevail, even as he himself seemed to be one of the greatest losers in God’s plan. But I expect that we’ll see a mighty crown on Jonathan in heaven and be able to learn a lot more about his almost other-worldly vision, understanding and stand of faith that helped God’s will to be done on earth in his lifetime. “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) God help us all to have the selflessness and vision of Jonathan, even when it comes with our own personal loss in this world.