Political Weeds - An Observation

Every year in my garden, between May and July, there is something that springs up that I fondly refer to as “devil weeds”. They grow up with our peas and if we don’t get to them fast it is too late. They take over as quickly as ants would a grain of sugar. They look innocent enough but as soon as you reach down to try to pull one you discover they have long sharp thorns that are inescapable and razor sharp. You have to get the hoe and go deep to take them out at the root.

I’ve listened to debates and news aplenty the past few months and it occurred to me that we have these same weeds in our politics. They are horrible things that are rooted deep and will sting terribly if you touch them. I’m speaking of real issues like abortion and gay marriage among a multitude of others. Many Christians are out there hoeing away trying to go deep enough to root these monsters out and just not having a lot of success. Our country has been taken over and I’ll tell you why. We have been attacked at our foundation. The soil that so many Christians are throwing their seed (children) into has already been taken over by the enemy.

Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth.”

This truth is at the root of our faith and yet, our roots have been cut . Why are we losing over 80% of our children to the world? They have been systematically taught that there is NO God. We have little cliché excuses that make us feel better, like, “Our kids have a Christian teacher,” or “That’s really not taught at our school.” I’m 45 years old and even when I was in elementary and middle school we were “indoctrinated” with the “facts” that we evolved from monkeys. I can still see the little 2 pg. layout in my 6^th grade Social Studies book showing all the “stages” of man beginning with the APE. Even though my teacher told us that she didn’t believe this way, a picture is worth a thousand words. Children coming out of the public school system with their faith intact is strictly by the grace of God. And then at the college level, professors are “let go” from our top universities quite often for believing in a literal 6 day creation. All we have to do is look at the leaders of our country to see the effects of this.

If a politician believes in a literal creation today, they are a laughing stock, and labeled as a religious fanatic. Evolution is just assumed in any documentary that you watch, and yet an overwhelming number of scientists are saying it’s not a viable theory. I’m afraid it’s too late. Satan has done his best work in our education system. I’m thankful that we still have the freedom in our country to religiously educate our children, whether it be at home or at private schools, but the evidence is clear that the majority of our country does not believe in our God. President Obama was so right when he said that we were no longer a Christian nation.

We are reaping what we have sown. Since 1973, 54.5+ MILLION babies have been killed in the U.S. alone. Just from this statistic, without even touching the other weeds, it’s evident that our country does not believe in the God of the Bible.

We now look forward to another 4 years of a president who, from everything I have seen and read, is systematically trying to destroy our country. The majority of our country voted for this, and celebrated a great victory this month. I’m thinking at this point, all I can do is pray. I’m putting my hoe away. We can still gather the harvest as it comes in, but from experience I can tell you there is going to be pain involved.

Choosing a Church, Part 4 - Evangelism Implosion

When considering which church to attend, we must ask ourselves what a church should be. What is it’s primary purpose? I’m not even sure how it happened, but somewhere along the way our view of church has been turned upside down. The fundamental reason of church has changed over the years. The age of stadium evangelism has had a definite affect on the church and brought us into an age where most churches have an evangelistic, salvation message every Sunday morning so that the congregation can sing “Just As I Am” and the altar call can be given. I know the motive for this and I’m not trying to condemn anyone or make light of sincere conviction. The only problem is that we can be sincerely wrong.

We were missionaries for 10 years, so I definitely realize that reaching the lost is our goal. I can also say without hesitation that the church was NEVER intended to be an evangelistic tool. The church was established so that the saved could come together to worship, be strengthened and edified, and prepare themselves for war. The church was meant to be a retreat or a “sanctuary”  for a battle scarred, war torn people who were on the front lines every day of their lives. They sacrificed all they were and all they had to reach the lost in the world around them.

In Matthew we find the commission to the church to “GO, baptize, and teach” or disciple people, if you will, and all of that is done as you are GOING. As we “go out into the world”, which most of us do on a daily basis, we are supposed to take every opportunity to tell people about the object of our faith. Our message is the same one that John the Baptist preached, “REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We have the same message that Jonah preached to Nineveh, “REPENTANCE”. We have the same message that Jesus preached, “…unless ye REPENT, you shall all likewise perish.” God help us, this is not an easy task. Jesus also said, “ If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” Matthew 15:18,19 Have you ever wondered why they hated Christ? There were a number of reasons, but one of them was His message. When you tell someone to repent or they are going to perish, it infers that they have something to repent of.(sin) When you show someone their sin, they become angry. We have a nicer, gentler message today, that takes part of the truth and twists it, but doesn’t ruffle any feathers. The new message is this, “God loves you(which is true) and he understands you.(true) All you have to do is ask Jesus in your heart and you can go to heaven to be with Him forever.(not exactly true) When we leave out sin and repentance, we not only leave out the key to justification, we take away any reason for the world to hate us. That works out great for us, but not to good for anyone that we are trying to reach. Battling with Satan, and having the world hate them was why meeting daily and fellowship with the brethren was so important to the first church.  

Today, in our churches, we have become friends with the world. The church is “culturally relevant” and “seeker friendly” and many(not all) have become nothing more than glorified social clubs where believers come together with unbelievers to mingle. One would never want to offend the other. The message of the gospel is LOST.

When choosing a church, I recommend finding one that is fulfilling the great commission, the way Jesus instructed His disciples to do it. I’ll be really specific here. They need to be going OUT to reach the lost, not inviting them in every Wednesday for pizza and games.  Find a church where people are living out their faith on a daily basis. When our church has visitors we welcome them with open arms whether they are saved or lost. I’m not saying that the lost should not be welcome in churches. What I am trying to say, is that the church needs to carry out the purpose that it was intended for, in the way that Christ instructed for it to be carried out. When we start leaning to our own understanding, we get into trouble.

Choosing a Church, Part 3 - The Truth is Out There

Providentially, one of the things that we began doing when we returned from Romania was to go through a book of systematic theology by Norman Geisler.

Rob soon came to the realization that the sermons he had always prepared and preached were topical. This means that he chose a verse or verses from scripture and built a sermon around the passage, which is very typical of Baptist pastors. We had not heard much of the word of God preached expositorally or systematically.

When we started the church here, He determined to preach systematically through books of the Bible. He started in Romans and went verse by verse looking at words and their original meanings in context. I think all of us were surprised at the outcome. What we found was that even though we had all been taught the truth by great men of God and listened to powerful sermons, there were “holes”.

Before, when Rob sat down to study, he had a subject on his mind or he would find something that caught his attention that he would expound on and research. The problem with this is that inevitably things get passed over. Hard passages, things that are unclear or not easily understood are passed by or overlooked. Most of the time this is not even intentional, it just happens and then you have……holes.

So I said all of that to say this. When looking for a church home, search for truth in it’s entirety. Don’t settle for someone preaching to “itching ears”, telling the congregation what makes them feel good. The prescribed preaching of our day doesn’t want to condemn anyone or make them feel bad. Sin and hell are becoming taboo along with a lot of other things. There is a big problem with this. John 3 says we all stand condemned, and if there is no sin and no hell, what in the world is Jesus saving us from?

Several years ago someone asked my husband what Sunday School literature we would use, and he said none, that we were using the scripture as our text. Their reply was that you can get into all sorts of trouble doing that. Well, may be that’s true, we have certainly had some interesting discussions. Truth should be something we seek diligently. It should be our number one objective when we are looking for a church. So many times, we compromise and settle for a social club with enough games and gimmicks to keep our mind and body occupied so that we don’t actually have to face the truth, because the truth is not pleasant. We automatically seek pleasure and avoid pain. These are things that come naturally. When we truly seek God and the truth from His word, we get cut to the quick. A two edged sword cuts both ways and is not pleasurable coming or going, but it is needful. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:13 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” II Timothy 3:16

We didn’t arrive here overnight in this “hole” that we’re in. We are here because our pride tells us that no one has the right to “reprove, correct or instruct” me in anything. We have to realize before it’s too late that this is not true. The truth is out there. It’s harder than ever before to find someone called of God to declare it. If providence should lead you to a church that’s teaching it, you’re home.

Choosing a Church, Part 2

Many people today look at music as a decision making factor of where they will attend church. “I love the worship part of the service, it really gets me ready to hear the word, or I like the traditional hymns, and so on.” Music has been a huge part of my life, so I’m right here with you on this one. One of the things that I loved so much about our churches in Romania was the music. The people loved to sing and did so with no inhibition. They truly just made a joyful noise to the Lord and it was loud and strong and beautiful.

I remember when “worship and praise” music was becoming popular in churches and there was such a debate, especially between young and old, about the type of music that would be dominate in church. This goes right back to the problem of children not learning respect for their elders. Because this music makes ME  “FEEL” good and puts ME in the mood to worship, it has to be the best way, right? We have definitely learned the lesson well that it is all about “ME”.

I’ve seen churches go several different directions on this. I’ve seen churches split over it, I’ve seen churches segregate the age groups over it, I’ve seen split services, where the early morning service is “contemporary” and the later is “traditional” or vice versa. I have seen churches that just leave the traditional hymns and go strictly with praise and worship, which is where I think most have gone. Some try to incorporate both to make everyone happy.

When we first started having services, we did a good deal of looking back at the first church and what they did. What did their services look like. Even though our culture is a part of who we are, we don’t want it to rule us. Culture doesn’t dictate truth. Culture does affect our lives, but it changes with time and from place to place. Do we really want something that changes with the passage of time to be our standard of truth. Of course not. So, what did the first church sing? The Bible says, “… psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” All of us knew the hymns, and spiritual songs is a more broad term. Praise and worship music could even fall into this category, at least some of it. When we think about psalms, I could probably count the ones I knew on one hand. There were a few children’s songs I knew that were based on psalms, but not many. The elders discussed it and we ordered psalters. I have to admit when we first started singing psalms it was a little awkward. We didn’t know these songs and so it really didn’t “feel” right. It is still hard at times, but I can honestly say that it is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. God said His word doesn’t return void. What could be more beautiful that singing God’s words back to Him? We are also learning many of the psalms in 4 part harmony, which has also been a challenge. Sometimes after singing one that we’ve been working on for a while, the words of Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life”  come to mind, “Hot Dog! It’s just like an organ!”

I would say that music is definitely something to be considered in choosing a church home. Should it be a deciding factor? I don’t think so. It has too much sway over our emotions. The key is to look at the music in the church to discern whether it is God honoring, not according to how it makes us “feel”. My emotions and feelings can be manipulated and deceived. Not that they are bad, but I can’t trust them. Always go back to the word of God. The fact that there are actually songs in the Bible written specifically for praise and worship is amazing. I don’t see how we could do better than that.

How to Choose a Church, Part 1

As I drove by a church in town this week and read their sign it caused me to ponder the subject of choosing a church. How should we choose a church? The sign read, “Something for Everyone” and I immediately thought, “Really?” May be I’m a little cynical, but church signs bug me sometimes. That is another post entirely.

When we first came back from Romania our kids were 15 and 16 years old which is a really critical stage. Being raised in a developing country they were very different from the teenagers that they encountered here in the US, and each one in their own way was going through major culture shock. We were somewhat prepared for this, but the effect of life in a new country was greater than we had anticipated. My first thought in looking for a church was, “We need to find a church with a great youth group where our kids can make good Christian friends and assimilate into the culture.” That sounds logical, right? Many people choose a church according to the ages of their children. “This church has a nursery with people that I know and trust, or an amazing children’s program, a fantastic youth leader, or whatever.”

In the Bible, from the synagogues to the temples to the first churches in the New Testament you will never see a segregation of ages. Families worshiped and heard the word of God together. (Joshua 8:35)

The concept that children learn better when lessons are taught on their own level is very new. If we go back even 60-70 years to one room churches and schools, which many times were the same building, children were learning just as well if not better than they are now. But they weren’t just learning to read and write or hearing Bible stories, they were getting so much more. An attention span longer than 15 minutes or manners and the ability to be self controlled and disciplined are very important lessons that were learned in this type of environment.  

Another very important lesson for children, that is not being taught in our present system, is the respect of elders or authority. (One quick example of the lack thereof) In almost any church that I’ve attended in the past 10 years, if a meal is served, children are served first. This also, is a very new tradition. I realize the practicalities of this process. Children are fussy and loud, so if we feed them first, they will be pacified and the mother might actually be able to eat her lunch in peace. Sounds great to me, too, but believe it or not, children are learning something from this. If I am fussy and loud and make life difficult for my parents then they will serve “me first”. Whereas, the Bible teaches that “tribulation” (whether it be in the form of them not being first or something a little more straight forward if they get overly fussy or loud), worketh PATIENCE…”and patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed;” Romans 5

I’m not telling you that there is a set way to go through the lunch line in the Bible. I’m saying it is a good thing for children to learn order and respect for elders and that everything doesn’t revolve around them. Since we, as evangelicals are losing over 80 percent of our children to the world, as statistics indicate, I’m only suggesting that there may be a problem with the methods we are using in training them up. Instead of our children being part of a church where everything is centered around them, maybe they need a church where everything is actually centered around God.

We all love our children, and I’m not saying that it’s wrong to consider them when you are choosing a church, in fact I think we should consider them. Ask yourself some serious questions. Is this a place where my children will systematically be taught the truth from God’s word? Is this a place where my children will be taught to honor and respect their elders and the authorities placed over them? Is this a place where my children will be able to see a biblical role model for the family? Will they see families worshiping together? Will they see children older than themselves and teenagers and young adults that are striving to follow God and being a living example? No one is perfect and we’ve all heard the joke that says, “If you ever do find the perfect church, don’t join it. It wouldn’t be perfect anymore.” That is so true. Churches are just made up of sinners, but they are sinners saved by the grace of God to do good works and fulfill the work of God in their lives. Churches today, ours included, need to stop, take a look back about 2000 years or even 200 and remember their first love. Let’s don’t lose sight of the one that we need to keep our eyes fixed on, Christ, who is…….the head of the church.

Horton on Home Schooling

We downloaded "Horton Hears a Who" for our granddaughter Elizabeth this year. I had never actually sat down and watched it with her until recently. I try not to be too hard on cartoons, but I expected more from this one. The movie released in 2008 was highly praised by anti-abortion activists who claimed that the motto of the movie, "a person's a person, no matter how small" was somehow helpful to the cause. I highly doubt it. The statement is definitely true, and it would nice if everyone watching it would have miraculously come away realizing that the killing of millions of babies annually is an incomprehensible sin, but I'm not so sure it was that enlightening. While the 1954 book by Dr. Seuss was sweet right down to it's core, whoever made the movie definitely had their own agenda.
Jane, the proud, annoying kangaroo, was the antagonist in the story. In the movie, they brought out the fact that she "pouch schooled" little Rudy. Poor little guy, he had no socialization. Toward the end of the movie, Rudy, ignoring his mother's orders to return to the pouch, grabs the clover and gives it back to Horton saving the proverbial day. So the problem I have is this. The film shows home-schooling, which is good, as evil. It also portrays Rudy's disobedience to his mother, which is evil, as good. All of the good that I could have found in the movie, was voided by these two things. The fact that Horton was willing to lay down his life for his friends was a very Biblical concept. I could have probably stood the little jab at home-schooling, but the Bible states clearly that "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft". I heard in a sermon recently that "obedience" to God and His word does not mean that we follow His instructions only if we agree. Obedience means that we follow instructions even when we don't understand. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, Abraham didn't try to reason with God or persuade Him to his way of thinking. He obeyed. I realize that obedience and Biblical authority are not the order of our day, but do we really want our children seeing Rudy rebel and coming to the conclusion that the ends justify the means? I know most people say, "That's ridiculous. It's just a cartoon." Everyone has to draw their own lines, right? Actually, my lines have been drawn for me. If God calls something good, it's good. If God calls something evil, it's evil. In the words of Martin Luther, "Here I stand, I can do no other." So, my take on Horton? Skip it.

What is Your View?

I ended my last post with Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil…….” I have realized recently that I judge many things in the light of this scripture. Today’s mantra of NOT JUDGING is something taken completely out of context in the Bible. Everyone judges everything. Judging is simply to come to a conclusion about something (whether it be good, or whether it be evil), right? The standard by which we reach our decision is what is important. So many times we are guilty of coming to a conclusion about something by how it affects us. If you steal my car, that’s bad, because the car is mine, and if I don’t have it I can’t get to work or do the things I need to do. If you give me a million dollars, that’s good, because it would make me extremely happy and help me do a lot of things that would bring pleasure to me (and by extension, others). There is a problem with this sort of reasoning, though, and I’ll tell you what it is. I am not the standard of truth. Whether something affects me positively or negatively doesn’t bring to light whether it is good or bad. When we look at anything in life, we need to look at it through the light and truth from God’s word. Some people now, call the way we look at things our worldview. We all have some sort of filter that we put everything through before we reach our conclusion. I love the way C.S. Lewis said it,” I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

This is so true. Some of my future posts may surely be about everyday, ordinary things put under the microscope of God’s word. I think especially the things that we put before our eyes and the eyes of our children, and the things we listen to, should be put to this standard. I wasn’t always so careful about what I let my children watch or listen to. I guess I could say, “Look how they turned out. They’re o.k., they survived.” But then, how things affect me and my children, is not how I judge things. I pray it is not the way my children judge things.

Let’s take off those rose colored glasses of moral relativism and look at things the way God sees them. That’s one thing I pray for when I write my blog. I don’t want people to see my opinion, not that it doesn’t come out, I know it does. My prayer and my hope is that God will give me eyes to see and ears to hear what is true.

Mes Aieux

Degeneration - intellectual or moral decline tending toward dissolution of character or integrity 

progressive deterioration of characteristics from a level representing the norm of earlier generations or forms 

In a previous post I talked about being multi-generational minded. A few years ago I ran across a French song that really sums up our present state of “degeneration” (The translated lyrics follow, or you can watch the you tube video)

Mes Aieux (Degenerations)

Your great-great-grandfather, he cleared the soil
Your great-grandfather was the one who worked the soil
And your grandfather turned a profit on the land
And your father sold it to become a state employee

As for you, my boy, you don't know what you're gonna do
In your small one bedroom apartment, that’s too expensive and cold in the winter
Sometimes a vague desire comes over you
And you dream at night to own a small plot of land of your own

Your great-great-grandmother, she had fourteen children
Your great-grandmother had almost as many
And your grandmother had three, that was enough
And your mother didn't want any ; you were an accident.

As for you, my girl, you go from partner to partner
When you do something stupid, you get out of it with an abortion
But there are mornings, you wake up crying
After you dream at night of a big table surrounded by kids of your own

Yesterday’s sermon brought up the curse again. And Rob said something I thought was interesting. The curse for the man was not work. It was the fact that his work would be hard and painful because the ground would not give up it’s increase easily. The curse for the woman was not childbirth. It was the fact that her labor during childbirth would be hard and painful. In the end, work is a man’s blessing, and children are a blessing from God. When men don’t work, and women don’t have children, we have what is called, “depression”. You know, that’s what your doctor asks you every time you see him, “Are you depressed?” There is even a medication now to boost your anti-depressant if it is not working for you anymore.

Another item of conversation was President Obama’s coming out in support of gay marriage this week. The church in Florida was also discussed that is so very public and offensive with it’s opposition of sodomy. God’s word plainly states that God does hate sin of any kind, but if He wouldn’t have loved sinners, we would all be in trouble, right? The key is repentance. God doesn’t accept us IN our sin. We must turn away from it, and turn to Him. The old hymn “Just As I Am” was written in a time when people knew that we can do nothing but come to God just as we are, but it’s impossible to stay that way after you’ve fallen on your face before Him.

I think Americans are depressed like no other country on the planet because we had the truth and didn’t hold it in high regard. We are in a sad state of DEGENERATION.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20

Make an Awful Hole

We are just now getting to the point where we can plant a few things here on the farm. I was able to plant a few tomatoes and squash last week and have been watering them. They are looking good and I fully expect to enjoy tomatoes and squash this summer. I was thinking of the law of sowing and reaping this morning. At this point, whether I expect for these things to grow or not, doesn’t much matter. The fact is, there is a natural law set up by God. Everything produces after its kind. Galatians 6:7,8 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

Of course we are not just talking about tomatoes here. I think that most people don’t realize the full effects of this. THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR ACTIONS. Whether good or bad, what we do today, effects our lives down the road.

Often times, we reap what others sow, also. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m a product of my raising”? Well, in a way, that’s true. Anyone who has ever received an inheritance from a relative’s estate has reaped what someone else has sown. Any child who ends up in foster care because their parents were drug addicted or abusive in some way, is reaping what someone else has sown. Unfortunately, the consequences of what we do, are never limited to effect only us. We effect those around us by our actions in so many ways.

“Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?” Clarence Oddbody “It’s a Wonderful Life”

I pray that I can sow good seed, not grow weary in doing so, and leave an awful hole when I'm gone.

 

“A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.”
D. Elton Trueblood

Fairy Tales

“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” 
― G.K. Chesterton

"The old fairy tales endure forever. The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal." 

Chesterton

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” 
― Albert Einstein

Have you noticed the fascination that people have with fairy tales? It’s what is “in” this year. All of the movies, and many of the television series that I’ve seen lately are all based on fairy tales. Vampires are so last year, right? May be not…….. Anyway, my confession is that I love the newest trend. I love to pick up old fairy tale books, and have several from other countries. I even have a Russian version of Little Red Riding Hood!

Why do people have such a love affair with fairy tales? I think it is because they give us hope…that evil witches get theirs’ in the end, that ogres can have a change of heart, that the underdog can rise up and become something better than he/she was, and that somewhere out there, there could be a happy ending.

I must admit that the older I get, the more cynical I become. Prince Charming has issues, the fairy godmother never shows up on time, and my hair is brittle and gives me headaches when it gets too long. (I could never have people climbing it……) Not everyone gets a happy ending, I’ve been around, I’ve seen things. Ecclesiastes 1:18 says, “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” How does the old saying go? “Ignorance is bliss…..” When you are a child, you can believe in many things, Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, even the Tooth Fairy. Somehow along the way we lose the ability to dream and to imagine the impossible.

Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” He was speaking of entrance into heaven…..(rich men entering heaven and camels going through the eyes of needles) As hard as I find it these days to believe in fairy tales, it doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in anything. I hold on with all that I have to the truth. I have every confidence that one day, evil will be banished and that my Savior will come on a white horse. I am anticipating a beautiful mansion, and streets of pure gold, and have an earnest expectation of “happily ever after”. 

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Permission to "Wine"

     Let me begin by saying that Rob and I were raised Baptist and still consider ourselves thus. We spent 10 years as missionaries in an eastern European country were wine flowed like water and never tasted a drop (except for when we didn’t realize the grape juice we made had turned), even to the point of offending our brethren. One of the things that we learned during our time there, though, is that in a land where many grapes are grown, and there is little or no refrigeration, there will be wine. Just sayin.

When we returned to the states, Rob was complaining one evening (at a church function) about his reflux. A friend that was sitting next to us who was a church member and also a nurse replied, “Have you tried drinking a glass of wine before you go to bed at night?” Of course the reply was “no”, but that began a real study of the scripture on wine. There are scriptures in the old testament that seem to be against the drinking of any alcoholic beverage, but if taken in context are found to be to specific people in specific situations. (usually the sect of the Nasserites)

     We had read before in I Timothy were Paul instructed Timothy in I Timothy 5:23 to  “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.” We also knew from our study that this was not grape juice. Since then, we have discovered that most fermented things are actually good for digestion. And, surprise, surprise, the wine really helped.

 In Psalm 104 it speaks of many of the good gifts of God and says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty…………………………………………..

He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.” Does grape juice gladden your heart?

     So, we concluded that the drinking of alcohol is not prohibited in the Bible, but there is something that is strictly forbidden. Drunkenness is a sin. This is stressed over and over throughout the scripture. In Proverbs 23:21 it says,

     “For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty.” We need to reason all the way through to a conclusion on this one. If we say that to keep from being a drunkard we shouldn’t drink, then by that same reasoning, to keep from being a glutton, we shouldn’t eat. Not many of us have slowed down on our eating.

     This is just another instance where our reasoning and the tradition of man has trumped the scripture and the truth from God’s word. Of course we don’t want to offend a brother or do harm to our witness. That is a discussion for another day. The point I want to make is, whether we are eating or drinking or something else, we always need to practice self control and good judgement, but don’t put rules and restrictions where God didn’t place them.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self control: against such there is no law.”– Galatians 5:22-23 KJV

"Narrow" Minded

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13,14

“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” Luke 13:24

Can you imagine someone telling me I’m narrow minded? Yeah, well, I thought may be. I know my blog posts sound very opinionated at times, but my view of the world is wider and broader than it has ever been. My view of truth is much more narrow.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought the past week about why the way to heaven in narrow. I’m not sure I can tell you why, but I do know the key to get through it. If you go back up to the beginning of Luke 13, in verse 5, Jesus said, “…….unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” And then in 2 Corinthians 7:10 it says, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” I like the way Matthew Henry explains true repentance and this verse.

“Sorrow according to the will of God, tending to the glory of God, and wrought by the Spirit of God, (repentance) renders the heart humble, contrite, submissive, disposed to mortify every sin, and to walk in newness of life.”

During our 10 years in Romania, they called us “repenters”. The priest would tell his people that if they repented they would go to hell. What a shame. Repentance is the key that opens that narrow gate that leads to Christ.

So if repentance “renders the heart humble, contrite, submissive, disposed to mortify every sin, and to walk in newness of life”, what is the unrepentant heart like? Prideful, indifferent, rebellious, disposed to sin and to keep on sinning. No wonder the way is broad that leads to destruction, all of these things come so naturally don’t they?

 

 

Tell Me a Story

My dad told me a story a couple of weeks ago about when he was a boy and I think it’s worth repeating. He’s quite the storyteller, so I won’t be able to do it justice, but I would like to try because it bears testimony to just how fast a culture can change. Dad used to tell my kids stories. Some of them he made up and some of them were traditional favorites that he told like he knew the characters personally. My kids called them “Papa stories”.

He started out something like this, “You hear people talk about east Texas in the 1940’s and 50’s, about how many people, especially in the rural areas, were poor. When I think back, though, I really don’t remember that many people having it all that hard………… except for us. Now, we were poor. Yeah, we were poor.”

My grandma didn’t marry my grandpa until she was 30. My grandpa was a circuit preacher. My dad called them Ma and Pa. They married in their thirties and had 5 children. Ma had a stroke and was paralyzed on one side afterward. She had been a schoolteacher in her younger years. Pa tried everything to make ends meet and put food on the table. He tried tomato farming for a couple of years and kept my dad home a lot from school to help him with the planting. One day, my dad’s teacher, Mrs. Malone, sent a sealed envelope home with my dad and told him to give it to his ma. He said he wasn’t sure what it said, but ma got red in the face and picked up her Big Chief tablet and wrote out three pages (front and back) and put that letter in an envelope (unsealed), and told my dad to give it to Mrs. Malone when he got to school. Dad got about halfway to school and decided he had better take the letter out and read it. “I was glad I did” He said. Ma had written three pages on the trials and hardships of poor people in rural east Texas and how families had to work together to make it. Then at the very end, she wrote, “And besides all that, he really doesn’t like to go EVERY day, anyway.” He took the letter and buried it in a field, but said he had wished many times since then that he would have kept it. What a treasure that would have been. I would have loved to have read it. I never even got to meet my grandmother. She died before I was born, but stories like these help her to live on.