JESUS CHRIST: KING OF KINGS

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

I am now just recovering from an intense cold--I haven't been able to put together a coherent thought in close to a week.  I hope these thoughts make sense.

Our current president would like to be king because working with congress is such a messy and cumbersome business.  Congress has made it almost impossible to get the president's agenda passed into law.  That means, of course, that the government is working exactly as the framers of the Constitution intended.  We have lived in a democracy so long that we do not appreciate what it was actually like to live under a king who had executive, legislative and judicial powers to use at his whim.  Life and death could be executed at his word.  That kind of power makes government very efficient and can be very good if a good king is the ruler.  But, our fore fathers were Christians and they understood the Biblical truth that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Men of earth, sons of Adam, cannot handle that kind of power.

There is one who wields that kind of power and authority already: But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom" (Hebrews 1:8). 
There is no higher authority than the authority of Jesus Christ. His rule is incorruptible!  Even with all the checks and balances in our constitutional government we still have to deal with plenty of corruption.  We look forward to the day when government will be perfect: They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers (Revelation 17:14).

In Hope,
Tom

JESUS IS TO BE WORSHIPPED

But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son . . . (Galatians 4:4).

If God could be fully comprehended He would not be God--some of what the Bible says about Him is difficult to understand.  We only know about Him from what He has created,  from what He has chosen to reveal to us in the historical records and in His Spiritual revelation, the Bible.  History tells us that Jesus Christ was born about 6-4 BC.  More than any other person, Christ has shaped the cultures and the history of the world in which we live.  Today, for every eight people in the world, one of them is a practicing Christian.  While Islamists use force, violence and death to convert people to Islam, Christians use the Divinely powerful weapons of truth and love to bring people to submission to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the characteristics of Christ is that He is worthy of worship: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).  What legitimate prophet would accept worship?  In the Bible there are none.  The Bible does not record angels accepting worship either.  Anyone professes to be an angel or a prophet who accepts worship is false and not to be believed!

One of the reasons Jesus is to be worshipped is that He is in the form of God and equal with God (Philippians 2:6-8).  Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be held on to, but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant and was born in the likeness of a human being.  He submitted Himself to the Father, becoming obedient unto death on a cross to pay for the sins of humanity.  If that great act of love does not touch your heart to worship, most likely, nothing will.

Our Father's Love,
Tom

WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS?

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, other say Elijah,  and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:13-17).

The truth that is one of the foundation rocks of the Christian faith is that Jesus is the Christ, the one specifically appointed and annointed by God to be the Lord and Savior of the world.  Muslims call him a prophet, and that he was, but he was much more than a prophet.  "Jehovah's Witness" call him an angel, but he was much more than an angel, being the very Son of God (Hebrews 1:1-4).

"Trinity" is a word used in Christian theology to partially describe God.  "Trinity" is not found as a word in the Bible so it must be understood that it is not a word that was inspiried by the Holy Spirit to be a description of God.  It was on that basis that a number of great Christians were not "trinitarians" in their Christian theology, Isaac Newton being one of them.  One of the problems with using non-inspired words is that they can be deficient in communicating the exact truth that God wants communicated, though they can be helpful in bringing a truth into clarity.  In the coming "Bullets," the use of the term, "trinity," will be avoided, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions about who Jesus is.

One truth that is clear about Jesus, if he is not believed to be the Lord of your life and the one and only savior from your sin, your faith is deficient.  Who do you believe Jesus is?

Our Father's Love,
Tom  

FAITH IN CHRIST IS CRUCIAL

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him (John 3:36).

Recently, a "Jehovah's Witness" stopped at my house intending to "witness."  At the time it was not convenient to visit so a lively discussion did not happen, but that encounter made me think that I should make a special effort to communicate to all that one's believe about Jesus Christ is the most crucial belief one can ever have.  It makes the difference between life and death, salvation and hell.

A person cannot read Matthew, Mark, Luke or John and not be confronted with a decision to make.  One can read about any other person in history and his thinking about that person makes little difference--Mohammed pales in comparison.  Not so with Jesus.  An encounter with Jesus Christ in the gospels forces one to make a decision about him.  Is he the Lord and Savior? Or, is he a liar and fraud or lunatic?  Those are the only choices that can be made about him.

So, the next few "Bullets" will be about Jesus Christ because what you believe about Christ is crucial!

Our Father's Love,
Tom  

CHRISTIAN CONFLICT RESOLUTION

For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

I am the chairman of the board of a small non-profit service organization.  At a recent board meeting our director did not like the direction the board was taking so she made an emotional display and left the meeting.  At that point it was not possible to continue the meeting so the official meeting was adjourned even though there was business that needed attention.  Though our director was successful in short-term control of the meeting, in the long term, business has to proceed or it will mean the death of our non-profit.  No business can be emotionally directed without failure.

How to proceed?  First, pray a lot.  The real adversary, who can stimulate our emotions so that we act in a manner that is not wise, is active.  We need God's help.  In these kinds of situations it is always necessary to remember that satan is the one behind the event.  Satan is a destroyer, not a builder! 

Second, we must remember that our director is a sister in Christ, not an enemy combatant!  She is due the respect of her Christian family.  Being a Christian, I have every confidence that she will consider the difference between what her flesh desires and the legitimate direction of the board of directors.

Third, keep meetings logical and fact-based, do not allow emotions to rule.  This is the mark of emotional maturity. 

Our Father's Love,
Tom

FAMILY: FOUNDATION OF A NATION

. . . let each of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:33).

The family is the foundation of the nation.  According to a Family Research Council study cited in "The Foster Report,"*  a married couple's decision to stay together is more influential in lowering the number of teenage out-of-wedlock births, unemployed dads, and Americans on welfare than any other factor.  Family cohesion is the main factor in determining whether a child will graduate from high school, families will end up on welfare, and young men will be employed or not.

Encouraging and cultivating good marriages is very very difficult in our present culture, but it must be done--the health of a nation depends on it!

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom

*The Foster Report is page of cited trends and facts in The Christian Counseling Connection. 

MINISTERING TO THE WHOLE PERSON

May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

At my home church, the sign over the main entrance to the gymnasium reads, "FAMILY LIFE CENTER, Ministering to the WHOLE person."  One of the foundational beliefs of my church is that a person is not just a spirit, though he is a spiritual being. That is what it means to be created in the image of God.  Jesus also spoke of our spiritual nature when quoted from Psalms 82:6 which speaks of humans as being gods (See John 10:34).  Certainly, the ministry of the Church of Christ has to be a ministry that feeds the spiritual nature of a person.

A person is a body as well.  The genetic code of each person is a little different, perhaps by degrees of minutia, but still making each of us different and unique.  Medical science would not be possible if there were huge differences in people's physical make up, so while being more alike than we are different there are still enough differences to make each of us unique as a snowflake--and we are all a little "flaky" at times.  The body is a temporary dwelling place of the spirit/soul until its death.  The stewardship of the body is essential, enabling us to serve the Lord as best as we can as long as we can.

The soul is the result of spirit and body coming together.  The basic outline of this is Genesis 2:7 which says that the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life and man became a living soul.  The soul is the image of God expressed within the framework of the body's genetic code.

So, what do we do as a church to minister to the whole person?  First and foremost, we worship our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.  We teach the word of the Spirit, the Bible, to nourish and strengthen our spirits. We emphasize Christian fellowship because God intends for us to be social--we need "Jesus with skin on" for mutual support as we live in this.  We work together, doing acts of service.  We pray together.  We have a community vollyball league in the gym opening opportunities for relational evangelism. 

At my church, we want our people to do well in every way.  We want them to be spiritually healthy, physically healthy, financially healthy, and have emotional/social health.  One of the signs of the presence of the Kingdom of God is wholeness.  My church can do better in ministry to the whole person--we are not there yet.  With God's help, we will do better, that is our goal.

Grace&Peace,
Tom

NO PAIN NO GAIN

Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing ( James 1:2-4).

My grandson, Alex, is already training for the track season.  Every athlete can relate a saying or anecdote that his/her coach is fond of using.  Alex told us a saying that his track coach uses: "Pain is weakness leaving the body."  I think it is a good saying for athletes because it takes a lot of pain to prepare for competition.
It is also true for us who are competing for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Pain helps us to become toughened for the battle as we serve Him.

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom

THE ECONOMICS OF CHRIST 4

I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality.  As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack" (2 Corinthians 8:13-15).

The wealth of a nation, more than any other factor, is the character of its people. 

The attitudes and values of a person or nation are more indicative of personal or national success than any other factor.  When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, his purpose was the collection of a free-will offering to aid the extremely impoverished Christian brothers and sisters in Jerusalem--he was not advocating taxation to fund a government program.  But Paul was engaged in character building when he said that there must be an economic balance in the kingdom of God.  He told the Corinthians to remember the example of Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, became poor so that by his poverty they could become rich (8:8-9).  Having the character of Christ is true wealth.

  As servant/slaves of Christ, all of the income or wealth we create belongs to the master.  He is the one who has ownership of it, but, His servants have stewardship of it, using it according to the Master's will.  Is it the Master's will to economically support those who are in legitimate need?  Yes.  Is it the Master's will to provide economic support to those who think they are entitled to it whether they work or not?  No.  The Old Testament reference to which 2 Corinthians 8:15 refers is Exodus 16:18.  It is about gathering manna, the food God sent the Israelites from heaven.  Some were physically able to gather more than others, but to each it was just enough.  Though it was free food, it still had to be gathered, and each who gathered had enough.  Though the manna from heaven was a gracious gift, it still had to be gathered.

In the economy of Christ there is balance.  Christians have a responsibility to each other.  The Old Testament shows us that there is economic balance under the Law.  How much more so should there be balance in the New Covenant economy.  In my view, the church must be more involved in the lives of its people, developing Christian structures for health care and financial management because the old structures are breaking down. 

The true wealth of a nation is the character of its people who freely serve from their hearts, not because of any kind of compulsion other than the love of Christ.

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom

THE ECONOMICS OF CHRIST 3

For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat.  For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work (2 Thessalonians 3:10-11).

I was surprised to learn that verse 10 has been a favorite of marxist/socialist proponents--it even appeared in the Soviet constitution.  One of the inherent problems with socialism is that there are a lot of slackers and freeloaders that contribute nothing and are a drag on the economy.  In cases of old-age and disability there has to be some allowances made, otherwise everyone has to contribute equally to receive equally.  It sounds good in theory, but in socialist/marxist economies some are more equal than others.  Party elites and cronies make out like royalty while common folks work and are deprived.  Socialism and marxism sound good in theory, but the reality is quite different.

The Bible does not endorse one form of earthly government.  It may be that the church in Thessalonica, like the one in Jerusalem, formed a more socialistic relationship because the return of the Lord Jesus would be soon--it was a temporary relationship.  But as in all socialistic relationships there were the lazy idlers and slackers and that is why Paul said what he said.  The problem with earthly socialistic governments is that they do not follow God's word and they give to those who refuse to work while taking from honest workers and achievers.  Socialistic experiments in Jerusalem and Thessalonica were voluntary, they were not forced on the members of the church.

I had always assumed that verse 10 was only used by people who favored a market economy.  In a market economy people are free to work as much or as little as they want, but there is always the understanding that the one who works little will receive less than those who work more.  When one experiences the natural consequences of eating less, one will, most likely will be spurred on to work more.  I'm being cynical here, but they will work hard at forming a political party to get the money out of your pocketbook and into their hands.

What is true here is that able bodied people who can work must not be enabled to not work by giving to them inappropriately--it's a sin.  Natural consequences are important teachers if one will be taught.
 
It is interesting to me that both liberals and conservatives claim verse 10.

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom

THE ECONOMICS OF CHRIST, part 2

Not that I complain of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.  I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want.  I can do all things in him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:11-13).

Helen and I started farming during the farm crisis of the 1980's.  Many were leaving the farm, we were just beginning.  When we were going over the rental agreement with my parents, the lawyer told us that we would be living on "bread and water" for quite a while, and that we did.  During that time I remember reading Paul's words here and thinking, "Ya, but he didn't have a wife and three children to support."  By the Lord's providence we made it through the farm crisis, though I can't say yet that I have the faith of Paul and can be content in all circumstances.

One thing to be noted here is that Paul, like Jesus, does not contend for a political/economic system to deal with the needs of people, rather, contentedness comes from putting first things first and second things will follow.  Discontent comes primarily from a lack of faith that God will provide for his children the things which they need.  Beyond that, discontent comes, not because there is a lack of necessities, but a lack of personal desires, vanities, as I call them.

One of the mistakes a discontented person makes is to assume that one's present situation is the last word on a person's future. It is not!  The wealth of the world is God's, he owns "the cattle on a thousand hills," so in his providence he makes provision for his children in many different ways.  Stop and think for a moment, "How is it that you are where you are?"  What part does God have in that?

One of the foundation stones to the economics of Christ is not a certain political or economic system, though Satanic ones can certainly bring general poverty, but focusing first on Christ and his kingdom and, as a result, our existential needs will follow in abundance.

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom

THE ECONOMICS OF CHRIST

One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me."  But he said to him, "Man, who made me judge or divider over you?"  And he said to them, "Take heed and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life doesnot consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:13-15).

I have been doing some reading about economics lately.  As a pastor/counselor it has motivated me to think about how Christ and Christianity fit into today's world.  It is important to think about because, though the American economy maybe nearly last in the race to the bottom, it is still headed for the bottom.  So what should be our concerns and our responsibility right now?

My "Silver Bullets" have never been thoroughly refined, but are, rather, thoughts that have come to me as a result of reading, study and conversation with others.  There might be some gapping holes in my reasoning, but putting my thoughts into writing helps me to think things through.

In the time of his flesh Jesus was among people who were taxed to death, paying taxes to the Romans, to the "Herods", client kings of the Romans and paying the temple tax for the building and maintaining the temple.  Though there were wealthy people, most were poor.  If a day's labor was missed, a day's eating, if not missed, was very slim.  In this kind of poverty, the teaching of Jesus did not champion a particular kind of economic system or political system, though I do believe Adam Smith's "invisible hand" connects with Christian teaching far more than socialism or marxism.

What we know about Christ and economics from this text is that Jesus was not a materialist.  If we reduce life to materialism then life becomes meaningless and without value.  It is important to note that the economic systems that do this are inherent killers.  In the 20th century, socialist/marxist/facist governments destroyed way over one hundred million of their own people.  Life consists in putting first things first and then an abundance of good second things will follow.

Until next time, read Luke 12:16-21.

Love & Prayers,
Tom 

THE ONE LIKE MOSES

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him (Deuteronomy 18:15).

Moses said, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you"  (Acts 3:22).

I am currently reading through the book of Deuteronomy.  Reading this inspired me to write this advent meditation.  One of the foundation stones of Christian apologetics is the fulfillment of prophecy.  It was essential for the apostles, preachers and teachers of the New Testament to show how the coming of Jesus, the Christ, fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament.

Fourteen hundred years before Christ, Moses prophesied that God would raise up a propet like himself.  In the apostle Peter's second sermon, he says that Jesus is the one like Moses.  Being like Moses was one of the necessary qualifications of the Messia that people were looking for (John 1:45).  There are many similarities between Jesus and Moses.  The following list only contains the salient similarities:
1. They were both born under difficult circumstances in which their lives were in danger.
2. They both came out of Egypt.
3. They both enjoyed intimate communication with God (Deut. 34:10 & John 1:18).
4. Moses was the mediator between God and His people.  Jesus is the great mediator between God & His own (Hebrews 4:14-16).
5. Moses delivered Israel from slavery.  Jesus is the great deliverer from sin.
6. Both Moses and Jesus were miracle workers to credential their authority.  Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea; Jesus calmed the storms on Galilee.  Moses brought manna from heaven; Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes to feed the fultitudes.  Moses turned the waters of Egypt to blood; Jesus turned the water to wine at a wedding feast in Cana.  Truly, Jesus Christ is the only one who fulfills the prophecy of Moses.  So, as both Moses and God said (Matthew 17:1-5) we must listen to Jesus.

Our Father's Love,
Tom

WHAT IS LIFE?

And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-2).

I came that they might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10b).

I typed into my search engine, What is life?  Anticipating a lot of Christian references in answer to my question, I was shocked to find not one.  There was, however, a science text written in 1944 with that question as the title as well as a hit single by George Harrison with that tital in 1971.  Thus, I titled this "bullet" with that question.

A dictionary definition of life goes something like this, 'Life is the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter.  Life grows, reproduces, has functional activity and continually changes until death.'  All living things die while inorganic matter will never live, thus inorganic matter can never die.  The Arapaho Indians had a saying, "Only the rocks live forever.*"

I. Life is a loving relationship with God (Luke 15:32).  When the lost son came home he passed from death to life.

II. Life is the awareness that God knows all and He strengthens all who wait on Him (Isaiah 40:27-31).

III. God defines life differently; not as the world defines it--note Ephesians 2:1-2.  "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).

Life is Jesus Christ.

Our Father's Love,
Tom

*From James Michener's Centennial
**Factoid from Forbes magazine October 12, 2013: Forty people per day are accidently deemed dead by the Feds each day.

America Needs Farmers

Back in the early 1980's, Iowa's legendary coach, Haden Fry, wanted to support the moral of Iowa's farmers during the farm crisis so, as a result of his concern, from that time to this day, Iowa Hawkeye football helmets have sported the "ANF" decal. No land-grant university in the country did anything similar, which might say something about where their true sentiments lie. In all the intervening years, I have not had an Iowa Hawkeye ANF t-shirt or sweat shirt. If my own family does not step up to the plate and buy me one for Christmas, I will get one for myself. Just letting my request be known. Tom

ASSUMING HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (II Corinthians 3:18).

Spiritual formation is a fashionable topic these days.  It would be a mistake to think that Spiritual formation is not occuring if the church is not specifically programming for it.  I have been involved in Christian ministry for nearly fifty years.  One of the things I know about living the Christian life and the life of the church is that is cannot be done by our own "steam."  If Holy Spirit is not in us, molding, shaping, empowering and leading us, all of our programming is simply perpetuating a social club or a service organization.

Certainly, Holy Spirit will not be present where disrespect, gossip, fighting, selfishness and immorality are present, but I do understand that we can assume Holy Spirit's active presence when a place is made for Him.  Having said that, I'm going to share ten verbs from the New Testament that describe Holy Spirit' work in our lives and in the church.*

1.  Holy Spirit fills us (Ephesians 5:18).                          2. Holy Spirit teaches us (John 14:26).
3.  Holy Spirit reminds (John 14:26).                              4. Holy Spirit guides us (John 16:13).
5.  Holy Spirit searches (I Corinthians 2:10-11).             6. Holy Spirit testifies to us (Romans 8:16).
7.  Holy Spirit helps (Romans 8:26).                               8. Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Ro. 8:26-27).
9.  Holy Spirit convicts (John 16:8).                               10. Holy Spirit enlightens (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Our Father's Love,
Tom

*These verbs were taken from an article in the Christian Standard (Feb. 2013) by J.K. Jones

YOUR ATTITUDE IS SHOWING

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).

The third in a series of sermons from Philippians is about attitudes.  How would you define attitude?  If one is in aviation, attitude, or the position of the airplane means everything--it is the difference between flying safely or crashing.  It is a little tougher to define what a human attitude is.  I have read a half dozen different definitions in dictionaries and on line and each one has a little different shade of meaning.  But one thing is consistent with the attitude of an airplane; it is the difference between flying safely or eventually crashing.  More than any other factor, attitude determines a person's success.

Here is my definition of attitude that, I think, is true to the grammar of the scripture text and fits human experience as well: Attitude is a settled way of thinking and feeling that is reflected in a person's behavior.  Attitude is not simply a result of intelectual exercise, emotion is involved as well.  And, it should be mentioned that, sound thinking drives healthy emotions rather than emotion driving the thinking.  If a person is primarily emotionally driven, crashing and burning is a virtual certainty.

Attitude development is a project that a Christian should work on each day, checking our thoughts and feelings so that they are consistent with the word of God.  In verse 5 Paul strongly suggests that you check your attitude with Christ's.  If one's attitude conforms to the attitude of Christ then: . . . the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (4:7).

Our Father's Love,
Tom

TEARS OF JOY

. . . always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.  For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:4-6).

I'm working on the 2nd in a series of sermons from the book of Philippians.  In the first, I pointed out that the Church, and individual Christians, are out-posts of Heaven.  Like the city of Philippi was an out-post of Rome, committed to Roman law, culture and defense, so the Church, and its members, are committed to Jesus Christ, his law, his culture and his defense--For our citizenship is in heaven . . . (3:20).

The 2nd in the series, I am looking at joy as the theme.  How are we able to be joyful in the face of adversity?  The culture of Christ is not one of "gloom and doom" in times of adversity and trials, but of optimism and joy.  I will freely admit that there are times when the trials come that we are "misty optics" rather than "optimistics" as we look at life through a vale of tears.  In a recent Christian Counseling Today I read an article written by Gary Oliver called, Lessons Learned from the Doorstep of Death.  In it he chronicled the deaths of his dad, wife, son, sister and his own personal battle with cancer.  As a result of his tribulations, Dr. Oliver shares this wisdom, I have discovered there is a big difference between surviving and thriving and know Christ did not die and rise again for us to merely survive. Just treading water is not what He meant by "becoming more than conquerors." (emphasis is mine)

In faith we draw on a resevoir of Divine grace, hope and fellowship so that we can live out our days, until His return, with joy.  The Christian does not deny the pain of tribulation in his life, but, while acknowledging it, chooses to be joyful because Christ is working in us and he will keep his promises.

Our Father's Love,
Tom

CLEAN UP YOUR PLATE, IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE

And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost."  So they gathered them up and fill twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten (JOHN 6:12-13).

Feedstuffs is a newspaper for agribusiness that I receive each week.  In a recent issue Rod Smith wrote a column called, "Food waste astounding."  He begins the column with these words and basic statistics: In a day and time when agriculture is under increasing pressure to produce 70% more food for 30% more people in 40 years, it's incredible that one-third of food production is wasted every year, yet that's the estimate from the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization.  That's a lot of waste!

Waste is part of living in a fallen world; it can never be eliminated.  Nevertheless, it should be a high priority to reduce it as much as possible.  In America we have been bountifully blessed, so much so that American waste as much as 40% of their food and food waste is the largest single kind of waste entering land fills. If just 25% of what is wasted in America and Europe could be reclaimed there would be enough to solve world hunger.**  I might add that politicians are the biggest obstacle to solving world hunger.

Jesus did not believe in wasting food.  That which was left from the multiplication of the loaves and fishes was saved to be distributed to the poor and needy.  Christians must understand that it does make a difference to someone else in the world if they waste their food.

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom

*EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe

**food waste expert Tristram Stuart

A TASTE OF NEW WINE

Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now (John 2:10-11).

The United States has a long-standing tradition of temperence.  We owe the Methodist circuit riding preachers a debt of gratitude.  They recognized what unrestricted consumption of home-brewed alcohol was doing to children and families.  They preached against it and worked for legislation against it.  Thomas Welch was a Methodist minister who started making non alcoholic grape juice with which to celebrate the Lord's Supper.

Today, within the Stone-Campbell restoration movement, there are quite a number of preachers, ministers and pastors who regularly drink alcoholic beverages.  The purpose of this bullet is not to consign such leaders to hell, but it is intended to remind each one of their responsibility to be an example.  I have known of such drinking leaders who, when they go on paid leave to a Christian convention, will, skip the convention to celebrate their "freedom in Christ" by partying and drinking.  They wouldn't be employed at my church very long.  The Church must be a safe place for addicts and sinners! 

In the United States, each year approximately 80,000 deaths are directly attributed to alcohol consumption.  Gun violence, domestic abuse, automobile accidents all increase as alcohol consumption increases.  Because of how alcohol effects the brain, one under the influence KNOWS what he is doing, he just doesn't care.  There are 14 million alcohol addicts in the United States.  The cost of alcohol to the U.S. economy is about $230 billion dollars each year.  Is it any wonder that Solomon warned his sons, 'Do not even wish you could have some wine' (Tom Steele paraphrase of Proverbs 23:31).

I do not believe Jesus consumed wine with alcohol.  I know there are scholars who will "guffaw" this and think I am ignorant, so be it.  But I am willing to do a word-study with you if you like.

Experts say that the use of yeast for making alcoholic wine has been around since about 4,000 BC.  That is fairly consistent with the Biblical record of Noah's wine making.  Generally, from the beginning to the end, the Bible takes a dim view of alcohol consumption, but commends those who abstain.  Among those are the Rechabites of Jeremiah 35 of whom God said they "shall never lack a man to stand before me" because they obeyed the command of  Jonadab, their father, to not drink alcohol.

What would Jesus do?

Our Father's Love,
Tom

*It's just an opinion of mine that the water Jesus turned to wine was what wine will be in the new creation.