2023

Since the beginning of the earth with Cain and Abel, siblings have had rivalries.  From Jacob and Esau through James and John (two of Jesus’ disciples, a.k.a. Sons of Thunder), rivalry between brothers often led to bloodshed.  However, even military strategists have nothing on sisters.  Sisters can be the best of friends, supporting each other through the dramas of life or they can be the most bitter of rivals.  They know how to push each other’s buttons and how to manipulate mom or dad for attention. 

One of the most popular sister rivalries in the Bible comes from Martha and Mary.  (Read Luke 10:38-42 if you need a refresher.)  I believe each of us has a Mary and a Martha inside of us so there’s no reason to say that one is better or worse than the other.  No one would doubt that we live in a “Martha” world, but we can be a ‘Mary’ too, it’s all a matter of timing. 

Martha opened her home to Jesus but not JUST Him.  We need to remember that He always traveled with his 12 disciples and a full entourage of other men and women.  There were quite a few people and they all needed to be tended to.  (Picture 20 or so relatives coming for Christmas dinner….there you go.)  When Jesus entered the house, instead of waiting to be waited on, He sat down and started teaching.  Mary realized this was an opportunity not to be missed so she plopped down in front of Him and paid attention.  Not to belittle God by any means, but just to give you a reality visual: What if Elvis or Billy Joel or Aretha Franklin walked into your front door and started singing, would you leave them to go clean the bathrooms?  I don’t think so.  You’d want to appreciate every minute you had with them.  OR  Let’s get even closer to reality…you have family show up that you haven’t seen all year.  You know they don’t go to church.  It’s Christmas Eve and the Candlelight Service at church is starting in 30 minutes.  What do you do?  Martha would probably stay home and visit and entertain because, it’s just one service.  Mary might invite them to go with her and if they refused, she’d leave them there and go by herself.  Who knows, maybe the “I’d rather be with God for an hour before I visit with you” example will have a positive affect on them.  If not, you still did what God wanted you to do. 

But back to the Bible story, Martha felt overworked, misunderstood, and unappreciated.  Doesn’t that sound like our reality, especially in a house full of guests?  Our fallen, human nature takes the act of serving others in love and changes it to self-pity and works righteousness.  That’s not the way things were meant to be and certainly not the way we want to feel.  The church tells us to beat the pavement for the mission of the church, serve, respond to our calling and gifts, volunteer in the nursery, bake for the potluck, donate to the food pantry, serve on a committee, etc.  Of course, that’s in addition to grocery shopping, working a full-time job, driving kids to ??? practice, cooking healthy and nutritious dinners, doing laundry, scout meetings, birthday parties, etc.  Did I miss anything?  “Overworked” doesn’t begin to describe us.  Is it any wonder that she became so overwhelmed that she broke the cardinal rule of hospitality and focused on herself?  She even fussed at Jesus as if He was also falling short of what was expected of Him.  Sometimes we’re so busy trying to do EVERYTHING right that we can do nothing right.  Story. Of. My. Life.

So is it possible to be a Mary in a Martha world.  Yes.  Step One: It’s OK for your house to be messy because we are saved by grace, not works.  (That’s a Lutheran joke.)  Seriously, it’s OK to say “Yes” to the mess.  (I’m not including hoarders here, because you need serious help if you only have one path to go through your house.)  I’m talking about those that must have the dinner table set perfectly with pressed, cloth napkins and candles, etc. for every holiday.  They must have a decorated Christmas tree in every room of the house, even the bathrooms, (different themes for each, of course) along with lights and decorations and nick-nacks galore.  Hair and clothes always perfect.  (Yes, I know someone that does this.)  Many of us are juggling so many balls in the air at one time, working on a to-do list that never ends, we don’t take time for ourselves.  Remember the first rule of caring for others – take care of yourself first or you won’t be any good to anyone.  That’s what we do when we put Jesus and Bible study first.  Our soul gets fed and our empty and exhausted lives get refilled with what they need to continue.  This is the selfishness God approves of.  Remember, God created us for work and led by example with the creation of the universe and then taking a rest.  True, He only rested because there was nothing else to do but hey, He’s God, so we don’t have the luxury of being finished.  We need to take a rest and recharge our batteries with words from Him. 

We have to find a way to say “Yes” to the mess in our lives and balance our faith with our day-to-day.  How?  You have to answer that one for yourself.  I have no clue how you could do it in your life.  My ‘yes’ is to go to bed at a decent hour, stopping for prayer time first, even if the laundry isn’t folded and the dishwasher isn’t loaded.  We often get so pre-occupied with serving God, we don’t take time to know Him better. 

God wants everyone, even siblings, to live in harmony and love each other.  You know, “Love your neighbor as yourself”?  One of your ‘neighbors’ is your siblings.  “Love covers all wrongs” (Proverbs 10:12), even battling siblings.  These rivalries can come from just about anything from jealousy to selfishness and even parental partiality (real or imagined).  Who knows, Cain might have just been having one of those ‘I can do nothing right weeks’.  (I’ve had more than my share of those.)  Abel’s better offering might have been just the straw that broke the camel’s back.  We’ll never know.  Regardless, the causes can be overcome with kindness, respect, and love rather than revenge and violence. 

Jesus was really worried about Martha and how stressed she was.  He wasn’t happy that she thought He had to have the best food and entertainment and was driving herself crazy trying to do it all.  She did at least one thing right though, she went straight to Jesus with her problems.  Sure, she blamed Him partly but it’s OK, God can take our anger.  He understands it more than you realize.  Now, I have to put a word in here about Mary.  Martha is made out to be the ‘bad guy’ that messes up but what about Mary?  They’re SISTERS!  Why couldn’t she run to Martha and say, “Hey, come here a minute, you’ve got to hear what Jesus is talking about.”  The story makes her out to be all innocent but if you put yourself in their place, sometimes a different view isn’t a bad thing.

Serving others as well as caring for our families, pay bills, etc. are all important parts of life, but spending some time with God’s Word is more important.  Your relatives will understand if the baseboards aren’t dusted and you only have chips and dip to snack on.  Focus on the reason for the season now and let the feeling continue through next year.  If you listen to Jesus first, your good works will be the fruit of your faith.  God has given us one wild, precious life that is filled with comfort, challenge, love, and purpose.  It may be messy sometimes, but it is always filled with meaning.  Focus on the meaning.

This is the season of Advent in the church.  It’s the time when we both wait for Christ to come again and celebrate His birth.  I understand patiently waiting and looking forward to something.  I also understand wanting to put off something for as long as possible because I just don’t or can’t deal with it.  This is what a friend of mine termed: ‘swallowing the frog’.  It’s anything you don’t want to do but have to do; tackling your most challenging task.  You do it first and get it over with so you can enjoy other things.  I am anxiously waiting for Christmas because it’s the one time of the year I get to see most of my family.  I am also anxiously waiting for my 2024 vacation.  I have been planning and saving for it for the last 10 years and it’s almost here!! 

We hear the same Christmas story every year in church but I have to admit, I never REALLY thought about it.  The story of Mary getting the news she would be Jesus’ mother is in Luke 1:26-38.  I’ve heard it over 50 times but never took time to really think about it.  Here’s Mary, planning her wedding, dreaming of a life with Joseph, making her dress, etc. and an angel appears and says she’s going to be pregnant.  WAIT?!  WHAT?!?!  She has to tell her parents, Joseph, etc.  Who’s going to believe her?  The town will talk about her like she’s a tramp.  No one would blink an eye today but things were different 30 years ago, and much more so in Bible times.  She’ll have to face ridicule during the entire pregnancy.  No wonder she runs to Elizabeth’s house and stays there for three months.  She’s not ready for that frog yet.  She’s going to need to be around family members that understand and will support her in order to make it through the false assumptions and ridicule she’s up for.  She told the angel she agreed to cooperate but didn’t fully understand what it meant for her in the meantime.  Then there’s poor Joseph.  She gets back home after three months with her cousin and he finds out she’s 3 months pregnant and it’s God’s child.  Talk about timing.  The trials of life that test our faith rarely come when we are ready to face them.  They come when God is ready to turn our face toward Him.  Apparently, ‘frogs’ aren’t always ‘things to do’, but sometimes appear as ‘things to believe’.  Joseph had quite the frog as well and he didn’t even get an angel like Mary and Zachariah did, he just got a dream.  There’s an example of a strong faith for you.  It’s a shame he doesn’t get more credit in this story every year.

God’s timing sometimes doesn’t match with ours.  Some say that “man plans and God laughs”.  I don’t believe that.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)  Sure, we pray, “Thy will be done” but do we really mean it or do we say it without thinking like the above paragraph?  After all, we get our hearts set and when things change and we don’t know why, it’s a hard pill, er...frog, to swallow.  God loves us and wants us to be happy AND to trust Him to know and do what’s best for us but His timing is not always the same as ours.  Until then, we have to be patient, and patience comes from: giving God thanks in all situations for His support and love; seeking His purpose because sometimes our trials are to teach us to depend on Him; and remembering that God works for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28)

In the Bible, He spoke through people more often about what was to come in the future; what they could look forward to, and what disasters to prepare for.  ‘It’s going to rain for 40 days and nights, build a boat.  You will wander in the wilderness for 40 years.  You will enter into slavery, but I’ll get you out one day; until then, get married, have kids, enjoy yourselves.  You’re going to have 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine, don’t say you weren’t warned.  Etc.’  We don’t have that option in the same way today.  The thief on the cross didn’t look forward to eternity in heaven, but he got it.  Sometimes our plans don’t work to our satisfaction and sometimes they turn out better than expected.  In the meantime, we should love one another and live in harmony with each other.  “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”  (Romans 12:12)  Hope is a fine thing to have but it should be joined with prayer.  God knows what you want to happen, and why but He still wants us to ask for it and tell Him about it anyway.  If things don’t go your way sometimes, you can pray to understand, pray to help you get over the disappointment, pray to see the better alternative God had in mind and trust that His way is the best.  Does the heart still hurt?  Sure.  Those frogs aren't chocolate like in Harry Potter.  There’s no way to avoid heartaches on this sinful earth.  Thankfully, we won’t be here like this forever and to make it even better, Jesus swallowed the frog for us when he took ALL our sins and paid for them.  Did He really want to go through all that?  I’m guessing His human side didn’t or else He wouldn’t have asked God to take the cup from Him if it was God’s will.  I wish I had at least some of the answers in life, but I don’t.  I’ve been praying for many years to have peace in my heart to accept His way instead of mine.  The only advice I have, is for you to do the same. 

*[Disclaimer:  In this blog, I suggest telling fellow church members something that Christians don’t (shouldn’t) say.  I merely add this ‘expression’ in order to make a point and it is NOT to be taken literally.  To do so will most likely lead to therapy, bad blood, and gossip extreme.]*

I’ve always been attracted to the idea of using shock to draw people to a topic.  I’ve done it with several blogs in the past, like, “there are things that God can’t do”, and my personal favorite, “hey God, thanks for nothing!”  It gets your attention, right?  You want to know more.  You want to understand where this idea is coming from because it goes against everything you’ve ever been taught…or so it seems.  This is going to be another one of those gems.  Ready??  We should all turn to the person next to us in church and instead of sharing the peace, we should tell them to go to hell.  Do I have your attention?

One of the most dreaded parts of a worship service for many people is the Ritual of Friendship or Sharing the Peace.  The service is stopped and everyone puts on a fake smile, turns to those around them and shakes their hand, wishing them ‘God’s peace be with you’.  Some churches choose to not do this even though the tradition is steeped in Biblical history.  I don’t care what anyone says, it’s awkward in this day and age to be forced to tell someone ‘peace be with you’ if you’re not an ordained minister.  It’s just not an expression we use very much these days.  “God bless you” would be a more comfortable saying. 

Let’s look at the Beatitudes as they are written in Luke 6:17-26.  “Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.  Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.  Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”

Jesus is surrounded by a multitude of people.  He heals all of them, regardless of their disease, and then places blessings on those in a ‘material hell’ like the poor and the hungry, as well as those in a ‘spiritual hell’ like those who cry and are despised.  There is a future for them in the kingdom of God where these problems will no longer exist.  He then addresses those in seemingly good circumstances like the wealthy, well-fed, carefree, and popular.  Their prediction involves more dire consequences down the road.  It’s easier for those that are meek or impoverished to appreciate God’s strength and support in their lives now.  Those who enjoy good health and easy living now don’t see God’s hand in their lives as necessary.  They already have what they want.  The devil has them in a comfortable cage and they see no reason to leave.  One day though, the door will close, and they’ll be trapped forever.  Scary thought. 

For most of us, sometimes we fall into one category and sometimes the other, but we can’t allow God into our lives only when it’s convenient for us.  We spend considerable time and energy making our lives as safe and comfortable as possible.  Jesus turns this blessed existence upside-down and warns us of the dangers of being complacent.  So how do we break out of this shell that we surrounded ourselves with?  We follow Jesus’ example. 

Where did He go those three days before the resurrection?  He went to hell to proclaim His victory over sin and death.  As the continuing presence of Christ’s body on earth, we need to go find the neediest souls, those farthest from God and closest to despair…in hell.  That’s what hell on earth is after all.  It’s being separated from God’s love and mercy and grace.  To not know God is pure hell and you can be there even if you live in a big, fancy house and drive an expensive car.  People live in hell all around us.  It doesn’t always have to be a poverty-stricken, drug-plagued neighborhood or the homeless living on the street and in alleys.  Go into a mall and watch the well-off consumers that think they have no need for God.  Visit a homeless shelter or retirement complex where the residents have become ‘inmates’.  Ask your doctor or therapist the next time you go, because you will go again, if he or she is a Christian.  Start a conversation with the tellers at the bank while you’re waiting for them to process your request.  Say something to the person behind the counter at the gas station you always go to.  Even as much as a “God bless you” is getting a toe in the door and a place to start.  Reaching out into the world is uncomfortable at the very least, and can be dangerous, but it is the mission and message of the Church.  We don’t go to hell to join those who are there.  We go to hell to bring the lost back home to their Father’s eternal kingdom.  We have to remind ourselves to not stay safe in the bubble of friends and family that know Jesus, and reach out to others that might not fully know Him or understand His love and mercy. 

When Luke reports Jesus saying, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation,” it’s a very unusual Greek word he uses for “consolation.” It’s a commercial term that literally means, “having received what is due.” It’s the rubber stamp impression at the bottom of an invoice: “Paid in full.”  The self-satisfied high rollers, in other words, have been paid in full. They’ve been given much in this life, but they won’t receive a penny more.

Oscar Wilde once quipped: “In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants; the other is getting it.”

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor … the hungry … and those who weep,” he’s bearing witness to the truth that God is in charge of creation, and that God isn’t finished with us yet. God may bless us some day with what we most desire. Or, perhaps more likely, God may bless us through what we desire but don’t receive.  It’s not counting our blessings that’s important. It’s the blessing itself that counts: God’s blessing, that sojourns with us through wealth and poverty, health and sickness, laughter and tears. Praise to God, for knowing us better than we know ourselves, and for blessing us in every circumstance!

“You do you.”  What does that mean?  The general consensus is that we are each in complete charge of our own lives and can do whatever we want.  The person saying “you do you” probably does not agree with our decision and is therefore not responsible for the outcome but they think we’re making a mistake all the same.  Reminds me of childhood.  Kids want to be able to make all of their own decisions about their lives and parents “sometimes” let them but only because it’s a life lesson they have to learn.  Personally speaking, I would sometimes like others to make decisions for me now but not have ALL power over me.  You can’t pick and choose what you want control over however.  No one has any power or ability or even life, unless God grants it.  “John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven’” (John 3:27)  “…apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5b). 

We think we’re so smart and have such control over our lives.  Humph.  We know, because the Bible says so in Revelation 1:18, that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, He holds the keys of death and hell.  That means He has authority over death.  It cannot control Him or us.  So what do we do…we allow the devil to continue to hold the power of death over us through deception.  First, he makes us think our life can be improved by contradicting God’s design rather than living according to it.  (I have the power to control my life regardless of what God wants me to do.)  Next, he makes us think there is no remedy for our failure.  (It didn’t work out…I’m hopeless…)  Finally, he holds people in bondage by making them afraid to sacrifice their physical life in favor of the spiritual one.  (If I go to church and read my Bible and talk to others about Jesus, I won’t have time to do what “I” want to do.)  Jesus said only those who lose their lives can save them (Luke 17:33).  That means lose your desire to only serve yourself. 

Our focus is usually on the physical life in the material world rather than our eternal soul in God’s kingdom.  In other words, we focus on having treasures on earth rather than eternal treasures in heaven.  See Matthew 6:19-34 for more on this.  Sure, I talk the talk but do I walk the walk?  No; same as you.  Like you, I know what I need to do and how I should be, but still have a difficult time actually doing it.  So many things in this world are easier said than done but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth doing, or at least, trying.  Growing up, every time I was around my cousin who was an active ‘goer-doer’, I’d ask, “Where are you going?”.  Her answer was always, “To hell if I don’t change my ways.”  The thought of hell is where a lot of people get confused, I think.  They are taught, or given the impression, that if you do bad things now, you go to hell later.  If you do good now, you go to heaven later.  That’s not right though…see the picture for this blog.

Remember when you were a kid and your parents put you up against the wall to make a mark to show your growth?  They didn’t measure you against your siblings, the neighbor kids, or the kids on TV.  You measure yourself now against your previous self.  If you compare your relationships, successes, or anything against someone other than yourself, you’re not being fair to you.  We all progress at our own speed and have different paths to walk, different challenges to face, different God-given gifts to use.  If you are moving forward, you’re always learning new ways to improve yourself and your relationship with God. 

One Sunday in church, the pastor asked the congregation to look at the wall of stained glass the building had.  There were hundreds of pieces in all sizes, shapes, and colors.  We were asked to pick out one piece that would be “ours”.  The glass represented our presence in church.  He then asked us to imagine that all of the pieces of glass were there except for our one.  How ‘complete’ does a church wall of glass look with one section of white light shining through?  What if there were more than one?  That’s how one missing person should look to the congregation.  Do you have to go to church to improve your life and grow your faith?  No, but it makes things a lot easier because you’re not by yourself.  Do you have time to make your life easier?

Have you ever put together a model airplane?  Before you start, you have all these little pieces of wood.  You can throw them, but they won’t fly.  It’s not until you put them together and have each part doing what it’s meant to do that you have success.  Likewise, you have all these people attending church but until they assemble themselves, doing what they were created to do, you have no flight and the church will crash.  What would our lives be like if we did what God wanted us to do?  If you can find your place in the church, you can grow in faith more quickly.  God will not bottle-feed us forever.  This is not a new concept.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3:1-15) and reminded them that he fed them as infants in the faith because they were not ready.  They still have jealousy and strife among them so their growth is slow.  In Hebrews 5:12-14, it says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”  We need to learn to eat solid food in order to grow into the people God created us to be.  You only have this life to live up to your potential so what will it be… apple juice or apple cobbler? 

Stress, pressures, worry, anxiety.  The list goes on and on.  Is it any wonder that we need sleep aids?  That we sleep like babies?  (You know.  Wake up every 2 hours.)  Unfortunately, it’s impossible to turn off your brain.  Yes, you can do things to wind-down but it takes more than yoga, low lights, music, and warm milk to be successful.  Your brain will still focus on what you did right or wrong that day; what you wish you would have done or said; what you have to deal with tomorrow; etc.  1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you.”  Is that easy to do?  NO!, and I’ll tell you why.  It’s like wanting your husband to go to the doctor.  They don’t ‘need’ to go because they know what the doctor will say OR they don’t know what he’ll say and they’re afraid that what’s said won’t be what they want to hear.  Don’t we do that with God as well?  Worry that God won’t handle it the way we want or expect?  The doctor is going to listen to you and then do what he thinks is best for you.  God does the same – He’s the Great Physician.  We know God hears our prayers but we need to take it one step further and trust His timing.  He knows what He’s doing but we want God to take care of our lives, in our way.  Stupid, I know, but that’s the way humans are.

There’s an old story of two Japanese monks.

         Traveling a muddy road, a downpour only added to the difficulty of walking.  Around

         a bend in the road, they met a lovely girl in a flowing silk kimono, unable to cross the

         intersection.  One monk, Tanzan, immediately took the girl in his arms and carried her

         through the mud and onto more secure ground.  The two monks continued their hike,

         but the other monk, Ekido, spoke not a word until they reached their temple lodging

         that night.  Then, he restrained himself no longer: “We monks never go near females,”

         he challenged Tanzan, “most particularly not young and pretty ones.”  Ekido had to

         say more: “It is dangerous, it is tempting fate.  Why did you do it?”  “I left the girl

         there,” replied Tanzan in a quiet spirit.  “Are you still carrying her?”

We do that.  We continue to carry our nerves, worries, and regrets with us everywhere we go, even to bed.  We do what people tell us to do; we ‘sleep tight’.  What would it be like to ‘sleep loose’?  In 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, Paul is facing persecution, arrest, and death, yet he still takes time to tell the Corinthians how to ‘sleep loose’ through holy living.

“Strive for full restoration” – Put things in order.  Prioritize.  Focus on what’s important and let go of the junk that clutters your mind.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you.

“Encourage one another, be of one mind” – Don’t just tolerate each other, but celebrate each other, differences included.  Lift them up when they make a mistake.  Bearing a cross that isn’t yours is more Christ-like than nailing others to theirs.  Emphasize the positives and ‘Bless their heart’ in a good way.

“Live in peace” – Celebrating those you don’t like is an extreme challenge.  As you work toward that, live in peace.  God wants to help us, strengthen us, and encourage us.  Let Him.

“And the God of love and peace will be with you” – Receive God’s love.  This is easier for children.  Adults keep their vulnerabilities locked away tight behind the expectancy and pre-conceived notions.  This makes it harder to accept God’s peace and love for us. 

We tend to focus on what keeps us from God, mistakes and sins, rather than His forgiveness and peace.  This anxiety eventually leads to a decrease of faith because our trust in God’s control over our lives is reduced by the whisperings of Satan, the world, and our own conscious.  When stress dominates our life, it doesn’t mean we don’t trust God anymore, it just means we have a battle to fight.  If you think about it, stress is a battle that we started with ourselves.  So, are you going to fight yourself, or are you going to trust what God says in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I AM with you; be not dismayed, for I AM your God.  I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”?  I have found that the older I get, the more I realize that things I still hold myself accountable for and feel guilty about have been completely forgotten by those that knew about them back when.  I’m the only one still carrying a torch for my past mistakes; I’m still ‘carrying the girl’.  When I have a problem with the term, ‘forgive myself’, I decide to put it in God’s hands and let Him worry about it for awhile.  I write it all out on a piece of paper and then put it in a small, wooden box on my dresser.  Anything in that box is for God to deal with.  That takes it off my mind and oh, look!  There’s my bed!!

The whole idea here is to relax and accept the love of God that surrounds you.  He’s got this.  Get out of His way and let Him work.  There’s not enough room in your mind for both worry and faith.  You have to decide which one gets to live there.  Pick, pray, and then sleep loose.

Are you a left-brain, right-brain, or bird-brain?  Back in the 1960’s, a neuroscientist suggested that people have a ‘more dominant’ side of the brain that determines their personality, thoughts, and behavior.  The left-brain/right-brain term never fails to remind me of the Christian comedian, Jeanne Robertson, because she explains this concept very well. 

“Left-brain people are analytical people, they like things in order, they want details.  You know the box, people always talk about, ‘thinking outside the box’?  They’re happy in the box.  They take their Craftsman tape measure and measure the box to be certain it’s the same on all 4 sides.  Right-brained people don’t know where the box is.  We went to early service one Sunday and I said, “Wasn’t a big crowd in church”.  Left-brain (husband) said, “47, when they came down for communion there were 23 upstairs”.”

To speak about it more practically, a left-brained person is more likely to remember facts about past vehicles, tell you to the minute how long the sermon was, map every detail of a vacation including mileage, and feel the need to tell you what you’re doing (while you’re doing it).  They will focus on laws, truths, and tradition.  A right-brained person is the one to say, “pack a bag, we’re leaving for the weekend” and have no idea where you’ll end up.  They will look ahead for different possible outcomes because they accept that there may be more than one.  They are artistic, spontaneous, comfortable with mysteries and focus on the love of God.

Is one side better or worse than the other?  No.  More recent studies show that people use both sides of their brain but it depends on what they’re doing.  For example, the left side processes the language heard while both sides are necessary for comprehension.  They must work together.

God gave us brains with two sides so we should use both of them and not focus on one or the other.  We insult people by calling them bird-brains but that’s just as wrong as focusing on left or right.  That term has come to mean someone that is an idiot, imbecile, etc. but we couldn’t be more wrong.  Scientific research shows that some birds have episodic memory; something previously believed to be unique in human beings.  This means that they can recall memories relating to past events like where and when they hid food (similar to us retracing our steps to remember where we put our car keys).  Other birds grow brain cells to store information on where to find food.  When that information is no longer needed, the brain cells are discarded, producing constant rejuvenation. 

This leads us up to the best brain in the world; King Solomon.  When God told him to ask for anything, he asked for wisdom and understanding instead of power, riches, or any other instant gratification.  Many might call him a bird-brain for doing this; and they’d be right.  The first thing he did was remember past events: what God did for his father, David; what God did for Israel; what God did for Solomon, himself.  Solomon was already wise enough to know that he lacked experience so he asked for understanding to guide God’s people the right way.  (1 Kings 3:3-14)  He wanted to ‘be good’ more than ‘be great’ and serve God’s honor rather than advance his own.  God was so impressed that He gave Solomon what he asked for along with the riches, etc.  Remember Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Solomon was blessed with the understanding of a clear head and solid judgment so much so that no one to this day can equal it.  Here we must remember that wisdom is not the same as knowledge.  He probably couldn’t measure the force of gravity or solve algebraic equations but he was blessed with more wisdom than we could ever fathom. 

What do I mean?  Today, we are drunk with knowledge but we’re starving for wisdom.  Example: Jurassic Park.  They had the knowledge to create but didn’t have the wisdom to not do so.  With wisdom, knowledge is a blessing that can draw us closer to God.  Without wisdom, knowledge will get you into more trouble than you can imagine (and possibly eaten).  Knowledge is the accumulation of information and facts about people and the world.  Wisdom is the ability to apply this information based on experience, evaluation, and lessons learned.  That’s what Solomon had and what we need.  Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs which contains more mentions of wisdom than anywhere else.  Clearly, this is a case of “do as I say, not as I do”, since he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.  His wisdom kind of failed him there.

If we are low on wisdom, there’s hope in James 1:5, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”  We are surrounded by moral issues that cry out for wisdom, but we forget what God has done for us and who He is.  We fall back on our knowledge of what we want the world to be like because we like to be in control.  So here is our choice: go forward, secure in our knowledge and ignoring the fact that our brilliance will be our destruction OR go back, and remember the God that created this world and has a plan for it and for us even though we’ve rejected Him and need His forgiveness.  Remember the things God has done for you and blessings He’s given you.  Pray for wisdom and let God lead your actions to show Him to the world; not for your glory, but for His.

I recently went on a vacation in the mountains of North Carolina.  For a girl from the flatlands of south Texas, the roads (up and down with twists and turns) were an adventure.  They reminded me of how driving on them was similar to being a Christian.  On July 23, 2021, I wrote about the Bible being similar to rafting down a river.  Like the river, the roads have so many twists and turns, you never knew what was coming at you from the other direction most of the time.  If you were lucky, you could see ahead three to five car lengths before you hit the next turn.  Thankfully, most of the time they were two lane roads.  I repeat, MOST of the time. 

Like the river, the mountain roads have two sides but here, one side of the road is the mountain going straight up and the other side, straight down.  The mountain side has solidity (a.k.a. trees and rock), which stands for the Gospel.  The other side has a small, rail border (rarely) with trees that go down 50+ feet below the road and another 50+ feet towering above it.  You can’t see the bottom so you don’t know if there’s ground, water, anything.  It’s an abyss which represents the Law.  Not just the law of gravity, but the reminder that breaking the law brings certain death.  No “Dukes of Hazzard” happy landing here.  God gave us both Law and Gospel to guide us on our journey to eternal life.  The problem here is that the Gospel is safe and sure; Christ took on human form to take all sins upon Himself and pay for them so we receive forgiveness through faith and are saved eternally.  Since we must do nothing, we often take it for granted.  The Law, on the other hand, is confusing because we feel the need to make up laws to follow.  The laws God gave us just aren’t enough.

Back in Exodus 20, God give us 10 Commandments but these are only part of the Law.  God also gave instructions pertaining to the altar because the Law and altar go together.  The Law shows us that we need a Savior so there must be an altar on which to make the sacrifice.  There must be a shedding of blood to pay for sin.  Jesus made this payment for us so we keep altars in church to remind us.  I wonder, is there anything more common that we could use as a reminder of the Law?  After all, Texas is a little short on narrow ledges to drive on.

In the Small Catechism, we learn about the Law being seen as a curb, a ruler, and a mirror.

Curb – restrains sin in three ways: 1. Written law – has consequences for breaking them  (speeding – ticket, murder – prison, etc.).  2.  Peer pressure – societies’ laws that we must abide by to not be alienated or shamed.  3.  Conscience – built-in, God-given curb.

Ruler – increases sin.  A guide to show us not only how to live but also what is pleasing to God.  “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)  But how does it increase sin?  It brings to light more sins that we didn’t realize were there.  A glass shows the spots but doesn’t cause them.  Sun through a window shows the dust in the air you didn’t realize you were breathing.  A wound must be searched to find the cure.  Etc.

Mirror – reveals sin.  Where do we most likely find a mirror in our home?  The bathroom.  The mirror reflects our dirt (sin) exactly as it shows our reflection.  It shows up especially well with the light turned on over it.  (Light = Jesus.  OH THE SYMBOLISM!!)  You don’t wash yourself with the mirror, it only reveals the dirt.  But what is under the mirror?  The sink.  “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains."  Think about that the next time you cut yourself shaving.

Let’s play devil’s advocate now:  If Jesus fulfilled the Law completely, why do we still have it?  To realize the abundance of it and the terrors it brings makes the Gospel’s comforts all that much sweeter.  You are more grateful for the grace of having your sins erased if you understand how many there are and what put them there in the first place.  “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20).

So, we go down this road of life.  We have the solid wall next to us of God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  It’s assured, unmovable, so we should be not used to it, but always grateful for it.  We go down the road of twists and turns of obligations: go left (go to work), go right (feed the kids), go left (visit family), go right (pay taxes), etc.  At the same time, there are tempting dangers in this world coming at us that we need to avoid.  Huge dump truck taking the whole oncoming lane (attitude of “it’s my body so I can do what I want with it”…drugs, tattoos, sex changes, etc.), a motorcycle riding the center line (adultery opportunity), falling cows (I’m getting a divorce because I deserve to be happy.)  

We need to keep our focus on the road and our minds on where we’re going.  Thankfully, we have the church as our pull-over spot so we can get out once in awhile, rest from life’s worries, and better appreciate the view. 

In the course of Bible studies, I’ve been seeing the appearance of triangles more and more.  This goes beyond the obvious Triune God or even the previously mentioned ‘trinity of trinities’ of the world (solid, liquid, gas; past, present, future; length, width, height).  I’m talking about three things mentioned together that support each other and compliment each other without being very obvious.  Some thought is definitely needed to find them.  Here are three that I’ve found recently:

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

In the phrase, ‘Father of all mercies and God of all comfort’, the term “Father” implies mercy because we receive mercy (lack of punishment) from the discipline figure.  God of all comfort tells us comfort comes from God (triune God) because He speaks peace which comes from our remission of sins due to Christ and the influences of the Spirit.  That’s all well and good but that’s not the triangle. 

The relationship between suffering, comfort & salvation is the triangle:  suffering –brings a need for comfort and is a necessary part of salvation; comfort – a gift of God, received from salvation, to be shared with those suffering; salvation – arrived at through suffering and gives comfort   All suffering points to Jesus who gives us comfort through our salvation. 

Ephesians 4:1-16

This section has a double triangle.  In verses 1-6, “One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism” is important because it’s another triangle of teaching.  God, faith, and baptism are each a point on the triangle.  God gives us faith and makes us His through baptism.  In baptism, we confess our faith that we are a child of God.  Our faith in the one, true God is confessed in our baptism.  

Just a side note on the second half (v. 9-16), Paul was making a point in the ascension and descension of Jesus.  The descending into lower regions was not just going to hell to proclaim His victory but the also the conclusion of the self-humiliation of coming to earth in the incarnation. Then when He ascended, it was not just, “Oh, He’s leaving”, but He ascends to leave gifts with us; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Holy Spirit, one unity of the children of God in the calling, etc.  Everything links together, regardless if it's obvious or not.  Heaven - earth - hell.  Jesus came from heaven to earth as needed for our salvation.  Died on earth and went to hell to proclaim His victory.  Left hell to return to His throne in heaven.  Currently in heaven with the keys to death and hell.

Finally...

2 Timothy 1:3-7

Paul gives thanks with a clear conscience.  Paul’s conscience might possibly be troubled because he started out on the wrong path but he now serves God as he was meant to.  Faith can help in dealing with the conscience if you see it as a triangle answer: Word brings about faith which helps calm a conscience.  When our conscience is troubled, we turn to the Word to help strengthen our faith.  The Word that we read works on our conscience to justify our faith (in other words, you’re going the right way).  It helps with fear because faith brings calm in the face of chaos if you can put it in God’s hands and really trust Him to take care of it. 

I’ve taken many classes that focus on the triangle relationship of God with us, God with others, and us with others.  That’s a pretty common one.  Triangles are scattered all throughout the Bible.  You don't have to look for them but once you start seeing them, you'll see them more and more.  It's like buying a new car.  As soon as you do, that's all you see on the road.

As a rule, I don’t follow, participate in, or DO social media.  I don’t care what you had for dinner, don’t want to see your vacation pictures, and I can love God just fine without forwarding the post.  However, sometimes, I come across things that are actually meaningful and important.  Rare, but it happens.  It did so the other day when I came across a Facebook post of a debate between an atheist and a Christian.  Before I get into that though, I found arguments in my notes of how we can even know there is a God in the first place. 

9 ways we can know there is a God:

1.  The very order of nature itself (it had to be made intentionally in order to work)

2.  The nature of the human mind (different from animals)

3.  The difference between honorable and shameful (the fact that we understand right and wrong)

4.  Truthfulness of natural knowledge

5.  The terrors of the conscious (feeling guilt)

6.  The structure of human society (1 male, 1 female to reproduce, no other genders)

7.  The orderly process of cause and effect

8.  The signs of future events (we can predict things like high tides and cooler weather)

9.  There is a purpose that drives things

So, what do we do with this information?  I have no idea.  I just like the fact that they are reasonable arguments to encourage discussion with someone who believes there is no God who created everything and is in charge of everything.

To really understand something, you have to put the pieces together in your mind.  Sometimes, even after you have all the pieces, the puzzle doesn’t make sense.  That’s OK where God is concerned.  After all, if you could fully understand everything about God, you’d be on equal terms with Him.  That, we definitely are not.  But we still try to do the best we can and that’s OK with Him.  He wants us to know Him so that we trust, love, and fear Him.  (fear is not ‘afraid’ but ‘a healthy respect for’)

I really wish I could have seen the entire debate between those two I mentioned earlier, but they only posted one question/answer.  The answer was so amazing that I copied it down word-for-word to share with you.  I know my own beliefs and faith but often, I don’t have the exact words to express them to someone.  This gentleman had the words alright.  And he used them.

Atheist:  “Where did God come from and how can a spiritual force have an impact on a material universe to create it?”

Christian:  “The fact that you ask ‘Where did God come from?’ displays that you’re thinking of the wrong god.  The God of the Bible is not affected by time, space, or matter.  If He’s affected by time, space, or matter, he’s not God.  Time, space, and matter is what we call a continum.  All of them have to come into being at the same instant.  If there were matter and time, where would you put it?  If there were matter and space, when would you put it?  You cannot have them individually, they must come into existence simultaniously.  The Bible answers that in 10 words.  “In the beginning (time) God created the heavens (space) and the earth (matter).  So you have time, space, and matter there, a trinity of trinities because time is past, present, future; space has length, width, height, and matter is gas, solid, and liquid.  The God who created them has to be outside of them.  If He’s limited by time, He’s not God.  The God who created this universe is outside of it, above it, beyond it, in it, through it, He’s unaffected by it.  The statement that a spiritual force cannot have any affect on a physical body doesn’t explain things like emotion, love, hate, envy, jealousy, and rationality.  If your brain is just a random collection of chemicals formed by chance over time, how can you trust your own reasoning process and the thoughts that you think?  Your question, “Where did God come from?” is assuming a limited God.  And that’s your problem.  The God that I worship is not limited by time, space, or matter.  If I could fit the infinite God in my brain, He would not be worth worshipping, that’s for certain.”

DUDE!!  Mic drop!  God bless you!  One of the comments in the section below the post was a person that said, “He never answered the original question of where God came from.”  Seriously?  You are a tiny human being with a tiny human brain.  You want the truth?  YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH!  God has told us this over and over but we think if we’re smart enough, we’ll find our answers.  Some things are taken on faith and just flat none of our business. God said, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9) and of course we can’t forget the ‘beat-down’ Job got in Chapters 38-39, ending with, “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?  He who argues with God, let him answer it.”  We are ‘the creation’ and have no reason to expect the creator to explain Himself to us.  Let’s just focus on what He did give us (the Bible).  Even understanding that can take a lifetime so you’d better get started. 

I’m realizing I spend a lot of time in Genesis but that was the start of literally EVERYTHING and it has more well-known stories than any other book in the Old Testament.  Also, there is such a depth to things mentioned here that understanding background or how things go together makes Bible study so much more meaningful. 

Adam and Eve sinned and to cover their sin, they sewed what?  Fig leaves together to make coverings for their bodies.  Have you ever seen a fig leaf?  It doesn’t cover so much as the palm of your hand.  Didn’t they have elephant ear plants back then?  Maybe a philodendron?  Nope.  Fig leaf.  In doing this, their bodies were somewhat concealed but not completely covered.  I wonder what parts they covered up?...  Anyway, like their attempt at literal coverings, they didn’t confess their sin to God but just tried to cover it up by blaming someone else.  What would the world be like today if they had sinned but confessed to God what they did and came clean?  I wonder….

Actually, we’re still doing this today.  We never learn.  We use religion to cover our sin.  We get confirmed and go to church and do what we’re supposed to do but do we really go to God and confess?  Confess all our sins?  Or just ask Him to do things like protect us and our family, give us the job promotion, win the lotto, etc.?  How much of your prayers include you saying that you’re repentant for specific sins?  Be honest with yourself now.  I admit that I don’t do it.  I don't recall my daily sins.  I focus on thanking God for what He has given me and asking for needs of others.  I need to work on that. 

That’s not where the fig tree stops though.  It kept going, and going, and going.  The fig tree in the Bible is symbolic first of the nation of Israel itself.  It often symbolized the health of the nation both spiritually and physically. 

“When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.”  (Hosea 9:10)

“Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” (1 Kings 4:25)

Later still, following the minor prophets we can see warnings to the nation of how God would bring destruction and failure of crops as part of His judgement against them, specifying empty fig trees that were stripped bare and fruitless. (Joel, Habakkuk and Haggai) It’s almost as if the fig tree was something of a barometer of the health of the nation – taken away as punishment and flourishing in times of restoration.  Throughout Scriptures, the fig tree becomes a symbol of prosperity, wellbeing, and security.  Along with the vine, to sit under the plentiful shade of your own fig tree is the epitome of safety, peace, and wellbeing in many Biblical passages.  John 1:47-48 describes the calling of Nathanael who was “sitting under a fig tree” like a “true Israelite”. 

Another significant example is found in Matthew 21:18-19 and Mark 11:12-14.  We set the scene: Jesus had just left the city of Jerusalem after turning over the money-changer tables in the temple and He will be crucified in a few days.  As He leaves the city, He comes across a fig tree with no fruit and curses it so that it immediately withers and dies.  OH, the symbolism here!  The people that had just praised Him as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday had no real faithfulness.  The fig tree which covered Adam and Eve to an extent, will once again suffer as an illustration of the failure of man.  Like the master of the parable of the fig tree, Jesus had been looking for the fruits of faith (ANY shred of evidence of faith) from people for the three years He had been ministering to them.  His time is about up. 

This poor tree is also used as a metaphor of the end-times warning system in Isaiah 34:4 and Revelation 6:13.  “and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.”

We go full circle, back to the beginning and learn four lessons from the fig leaves.  1. Man must have adequate covering to approach God.  You can’t come on the basis of your good works but just as you are – a sinner.  2. Fig leaves are unacceptable because they are homemade.  God does not take a homemade garment.  You can’t save yourself by anything you do.  3.  God must provide the covering.  Ref. Matthew 22:1-14, the parable of the wedding feast.  The host provided the wedding clothes, but one man refused to wear them.  4.  The covering is only obtained through the death of Christ.  Like the animals were killed to make clothes for Adam and Eve, Christ also sheds His blood to cover our sinful bodies.  Only through Christ can we approach our heavenly Father.

…and figs taste really good when they’re canned.

If someone were to mention the name Cain to you, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  Three little words I’d guess: Cain killed Abel.  That seems to be the only thing he’s known for.  What’s confused me since childhood is why God approved of Abel’s gift and not Cain’s?  They don’t tell you that in Sunday School so I have to go looking for it.  I realized there are really two parts to Cain’s life.  That with his brother and that of his life afterward.

God established from the beginning that we needed a purpose on this earth.  He instructed Adam to rule the animals and tend the garden and fields.  His sons followed in his footsteps, Abel cared for the animals and Cain tended the gardens and fields.  Even though they were no longer in the Garden of Eden, they must have still spoken with God and had a special place set aside to worship Him.  “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”  (Genesis 4:3-7)

Normally, we wouldn’t look at God’s reasoning so hard.  After all, there’s no way we could know God’s mind (it’s none of our business anyway) but we are curious to know what was so bad about an offering that was yet another major turning point in human history.  What can we learn from this?  The Bible shares many hints throughout it as to the reasoning, so I think we have all the answer we’re going to get.  “Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.”  (Isaiah 23:18)  Basically, God gives us purpose and opportunity to provide for ourselves.  Our gifts should not be hoarded but given back to God and our neighbors in thankfulness.  Cain and Abel were raised by Adam and Eve and were taught what happens when you go against God’s will.  Like parents today, we should teach our children the right way to live but that’s not always ‘their’ choice to abide by our rules.  Let’s look at each of the brothers:

Cain was wicked and did not follow God’s laws with the respect they deserved.  He was under the influence of Satan like his parents were.  How do we know?  “[W]e should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.”  (1 John 3:11-12)  We aren’t told why he was wicked, only that he was.  AND, he was evil before the sacrifices.  Huh… His heart must have been unrepentant as well because we see that in his attitude while speaking with God.  If you look at the last verses in Genesis (shown above), God was giving him an “out”.  He was reminding Cain that the evil life is the opposite of the life he was meant for but he had to now work for it because sin was in the world.  This option was obviously rejected because right after God tells him this, he kills Abel.  When God confronts him again, he gives God back-talk, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  He obviously had little regard for his brother or God…or he was a teenager at the time.  Hard to know exactly but does it really make a difference?

Abel is called “righteous” in Matthew 23:35 and Hebrews 11:4.  This means his heart was upright and he led a life that was God-pleasing.  It is our duty to make sure that our hearts are in the right place when giving back to God.  This means humbly giving from the first-fruits (which God deserves) with a cheerful heart and the understanding that our gifts do not save us from rebuke of our sins. 

Cain’s offering was not given in faith but was a result of the works of his hands and acknowledgement of the gifts they had been given.  Abel’s offering was a sacrifice of atonement with a young animal (before it had a chance to grow, reproduce, and give back).  It showed his faith in God to provide for the future and it was a blood sacrifice which was necessary as a sinful human being.  His parents were clothed in the skin of an animal who died as a sacrifice and his offering is in light of this.  He has respect for what had taken place between his parents and God.  Meanwhile, Cain brings something from his own works that came from the cursed earth.  It denies the separation between God and man and implies that our actions can save us.  This is not to say that we shouldn’t care for the earth and produce, well…produce.  Vegetables are great but when giving back to God, they need to be exchanged for something more proper.  God went looking for Adam and Eve after they messed up.  They didn’t go to God and confess what they had done; even after confronted with it.  Likewise, God goes after Cain and confronts him with his wrongdoing and like his parents, he refused to be repentant when confronted. 

Cain is given his punishment to no longer work the earth and prosper but also to be a fugitive and wander the earth.  Instead of confessing and trying to make amends, he whines that it’s “not fair!”.  Yet again, there is nothing new under the sun.  A child is told what to do.  He refuses and then when punished, claims it’s not fair!  Still, God has mercy on him and says that He will protect Cain so no one will kill him.  God’s protecting a murderer.  But here’s the loophole.  He’s a sinner but not a transgressor because there’s been no law given about murder.  His sin so far is that he didn’t bring an acceptable gift to God when he knew better.  His evil manifested itself into killing his brother.  Unless it is curbed, evil will continue to grow and become worse than before. 

Cain leaves God’s presence and lived in the land of Nod.  This is not the same “land of nod” that many visit during a particularly long sermon on Sunday morning; but another area around the Garden of Eden.  He establishes a civilization that also removes itself from God’s presence and becomes city-life.  As we said, evil continues to grow unless stopped.  Cain’s great-great-great grandson, Lamech was the first person to commit polygamy (more than one wife at a time).  This hardly makes up for the fact that his children were the first craftsmen: Jabal (first housing contractor [tent maker] and rancher), Jubal (first musician), and Tubal-cain (brass & iron craftsman). 

So, does it matter if we know the exact reason why Cain’s gift was rejected by God?  No.  What does matter is that God’s Word gives us what we need to know about Him and our duty to Him is to accept not only the instruction but also the correction and rebuke we deserve when needed.  Cain was not ignorant of God’s righteousness, neither are we.  He chose to ignore it and go his own path.  Which way do you go?

I think I’ve discovered the 5 words that you can use at any time, among people of almost any age, to start a long…. debate.  “Do humans have free will?”  If you think about it, you could probably ask 100 people what free will is and get 100 different answers.  I’ve heard the phrase, “We have God-given free will”…but do we, really?  I’m ashamed to say that I’ve said this myself without really thinking about what it meant.  I had no idea how truly controversial this topic was until I started looking in to it.  Let me just clear it up for you now.  The answer is “Yes” and “No”.  Let’s look at both sides and see if that helps any.

YES:

1.  As long as technology does not allow people’s brains to be manipulated so that their decisions are controlled by others, we have free will and are morally responsible for our behavior.

2.  If our choices are determined by what we identify with.  In other words, my taste and my preferences are my decision.

NO:

1.  Science tells us that our subconscious mind is shaped and constrained by our environment, genes, and experiences in our upbringing.  This subconscious makes our decisions for us and then tells our conscious mind what they are.  Our conscious mind (“will”) has no say in the matter because we are at the mercy of our experiences and genetics.

2.  Psychologists say it doesn’t exist because of determinism (i.e., everything in our lives is caused by external factors, therefore, we are not morally responsible for our actions).  The fact that you chose strawberry ice cream instead of chocolate for a snack last night was a result of something that happened possibly hundreds of years ago.

I don’t know about you but I’m even more confused.  Let’s go to the Bible. 

We’ll start with Romans 7:18-20 - For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

I believe that mankind was originally created with free will.  God did not want puppets to control.  Adam and Eve were given the rules of life and it was their choice to abide by them.  They chose to make a poor decision that affected mankind for all eternity.  No big (sarcasm).  It shows that when we make choices in ignorance of the consequences, they are usually the wrong choices.  However, many times we cannot fully understand the consequences until we are living them.  (Tell me you don’t think differently about your parents after you become one yourself.)

So, God does not control us BUT every decision we make is saturated with our sinful nature.  O joy.  “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’” (John 8:34)  Because we are sinful, we prefer to satisfy our greedy, self-righteous, sinful natures rather than focusing on what God would have us do. 

Do we really want ‘free will’ with a sinful nature?  If so, we would be condemned from our own choices automatically.  Being sinful was not our decision.  Thankfully, being saved from sin was not up to us either.  We are justified by Christ’s blood.  It cannot be undone and is not our decision to accept or reject.  It goes much deeper than that.  Side Note:  this blog ties in with the one on March 6, 2020 about us being able to reject Christ but not accept Him.

Think on this: if we have free will, why are there addictions?  It’s one thing to enjoy doing something in moderation and another thing to lie to friends and loved ones in order to protect our addiction, knowing full well it could cost our lives.  Why are there regrets?  If your actions are YOUR choice, why do you sometimes feel guilt over them? 

We are of two natures, the sinful one that we made ourselves and the holy, forgiven one that we became when Christ died and rose again for us, paying for those sins.  On the one side, we have the devil, the world, and our flesh controlling us through sin and on the other side is the Word of God fighting for our attention among it all.  Whichever presence we focus on more in our lives, the world or the Word, determines which nature is more dominant.  While we are on earth now, sin is the hand that controls us as the picture shows.  By God’s grace, we are also redeemed by Christ and sanctified by the Spirit so it is God that is able to work His will in our lives regardless of how we are controlled.  God doesn’t give up, no matter how hard we fight against Him.  He can direct our lives for His purpose no matter what our “will” is.  We’re trying, God!!  Thy will be done.

Still in Luke 15, this parable of the Prodigal Son has the father and both sons intertwined.  To straighten it out a bit, I’ve got a section for each person.  This will just give you different ways to compare it to what you remember and maybe see it in a different light.

The Father

The heavenly Father is represented by the earthly father in this parable.  As a true father does, he shows grace and mercy to both sons; the younger son by going above and beyond the welcome the son expected (The father had forgiven him before he even made it all the way home.) and the older by personally going out to find him and not sending a servant to do it.  Despite their actions, he loves them both equally.  He embraced both sons.  God calls us to recognize that His mercy is for all people.  It’s ironic that the father called the younger son “lost” but only went looking for the older one.  He waited for the younger without physically searching for him but instead running out to meet him and treating him like he never left.

Jesus pictures the grace of God as ever ready to pardon the repentant sinner.  As if he were constantly watching the road, the father sees the son while he is yet in the distance.  The first glance fills his father’s heart with compassion.  This compassion alone is the sinner’s hope.  The entire action of the father displays the fact that the son is already pardoned before he utters a single word of confession.  The father interrupts his son’s words before he can complete them.  The son is spared his humiliating petition.  God doesn’t wait just for the lost ones and those who squandered His gifts.  He waits patiently for us to also rejoice that all who repent from sin will join one day at the heavenly banquet. 

The Younger Son

Jesus built His parable on an ancient custom.  By Jewish law, the oldest son received two-thirds of the inheritance, the rest was divided among the other children (Deuteronomy 21:17).  The parable permits only the younger son to ask for his share of the estate because the older son was expected to keep the home place and carry on.  The first wrongdoing is that in asking his father for his part now, he was basically saying he wanted his father dead.  Children did not have a right to ask for inheritance until after the parent’s death.  It is likely that the wealth of the father was part of the economy for the whole village.  If that was the case, everyone suffered when he took off with his wealth.  Prodigal means reckless and wasteful.  His character here is designed to represent that of sinners, all of us, in our natural state. 

He begins with, “Father, give me…”.  This is a demand and shows great stupidity for two reasons: 1.  It shows that we regard God’s gifts to us as debts that are owed to us and payable upon demand.  2.  It is a waste to only look at the things that are seen on earth now which satisfies our present gratification without a care for our future happiness.  He had pride and thought much of himself.  If only he had a lot of money, he could manage it better than his father did and be more important than everyone else.  Our first parents, Adam and Eve also ruined themselves with a foolish ambition to be independent and not beholden even to God.  I guess it’s appropriate to say here that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  (That’s a joke.)

After the inward separation comes the outward.  The sinner leaves his Father’s house, represented now by the church, the communion of saints.  The “far country” is the world with its promise of pleasure and glitter.  He squanders all of God’s gifts, because there are always people ready to help you be stupid, and then the famine sets in.  He is now in want not only because he’s broke but because he had nothing to fall back on.  When men reach this stage, the devil often reaps his harvest and they commit suicide.  With no money, pleasure, or friends, they think there is nothing left to live for.  Jesus might have had the son return home at this point but He goes a step farther.  He introduces one of the “citizens” there – men who were completely adjusted to life apart from God.  The son is given the assignment to feed the pigs.  Sin makes man a companion of swine in more ways than one.  To herd and pasture swine is not merely degrading; to the Jew it represented moral defilement and shame.  Now not only feeding the swine but feeding himself the swine’s food, he has sunk to the level of the beasts. 

The food is little, sickle-like pods of the carob tree, the goat’s-horn tree, which is still common in Palestine and around the Mediterranean.  The gelatinous substance in the pods has a sweetish taste.  Used as feed for hogs, these pods also contain small, shiny seed kernels.  The pods were eaten by the poor but not as regular food.  Here, they symbolize the empty, unsatisfying food that is offered to the starving souls of men by the world. 

“But when he came to himself” implies that he was converted in that instant and was previously not in his right mind.  Conversion means to become rational, right-minded, properly balanced again.  It is a sound, rational act to turn from sin and its curse and doom, to God’s pardon and salvation.  He realizes that he is starving while his father’s men have plenty of food to eat.  God enlightens the sinner – he begins to see things as they actually are.  The Law and Gospel thus begin to work in the sinner’s heart.  Jesus separates the elements in the sinner’s heart.  “Father, I did sin” – confession and admission of guilt.  “Against heaven” – includes God and all that is holy.  “And in thy sight” – implies the father saw his son’s sins and must judge him guilty.  ‘No longer worthy” – this humility gives up every claim of its own righteousness and past rights of sonship.  The sinner goes back to the Father, still calls him “Father”, dares to ask him at least to take him back to the lowest place in his house.  That is trust or faith which is inspired by what he knows of his Father (knowledge derived from the Gospel).

We have a God-shaped void in our hearts and we try to fill it with money, our job, hobbies, etc. when we really belong at home.  Adam and Eve left the garden and we’ve been trying to get back ever since.  Upon his arrival, his father greets him with a robe (The Talar is a long robe worn by nobles on state occasions.  It also represents the robes we have waiting for us in heaven (Revelation 7:13).), a ring (means honor because letters were sealed with wax and a signet ring pressed in it), sandals (meant belonging to a family, only slaves were barefoot), and a banquet.  The fatted calf and the feast were absolute opposite of the son sitting in rags among swine, longing for their food.  The father claimed his son was dead and came back to life just like God rejoices over the conversion of the sinner who was dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). 

The Older Son

The older son returns from the field and finds out his brother has returned.  He refuses to join the celebration because of his own self-righteousness, so his father goes after him.  In his little speech to his father, he sounds just like the Pharisees talking to Jesus…“We’re your favorites.  We are the chosen people.  We are Abraham’s descendants.  They are nobody.  They do everything wrong and you’re showing them favoritism.  We’ve been with you this whole time and never got any special treatment but now we want the recognition we deserve and we want it in front of them and we want more than what they received because we’re better and more loyal and more dedicated and it was promised to us first…”  They both sound like whiny, spoiled children that don’t want to share so they’re throwing a temper tantrum.  

They never spoke much about the older son in the Sunday School lessons but he was just as rotten as his brother.  He talks back, showing no respect.  He doesn’t reprimand his brother earlier for speaking like he did to their father.  If you read verse 30, he knew what his brother was doing the whole time but lets his father suffer by not knowing where he was.  He lets all his selfishness boil to the surface.  Not once does he say “father” or “my brother”, it’s just “you” and “son of yours”.  He throws it in his father’s face that he slaved for years and never messed up and was never appreciated.  He turns from boasting about himself to blaming his father. 

He thinks nothing of the time that he’s had to spend with his father.  His focus was solely on what his brother did wrong and the fact that he wasn’t being punished for it.  If his father hadn’t killed the fattened calf for his ‘good-for-nothing’ brother, he may have never complained about not having a party with his friends.  Once jealousy starts flowing, the thoughts of all your blessings just don’t matter.  Even today we don’t recognize the blessings we have right in front of us until they are taken away.  I don’t know if I could have kept that cool, but the father responds to the ranting by calling him “Son”.  There is no anger, only tenderness. 

Comparison

Neither son really wanted to spend time with their father because they were focused on themselves.  The younger son realized the value of time spent with him over the value of possessions but only after he lost everything.  The older son never really lost anything and still didn’t appreciate the time he had with his father.   Both turned their back on their father’s love.  Sons = us; father = God.  See any connection?

The younger son had a guilty conscience and returned to his father’s loving arms.  The older son felt no guilt because he didn’t understand it.  If you never have to deal with a guilty conscience, you can’t really understand what it means to be forgiven.

Both sons are lost because the older represents those who are outwardly in the church but inwardly have no faith.  The younger represents the sinners that turn and run from God into the sinful world.

If you think about it, the younger son partied before and still gets the party when he gets home.  God promises a future party of eternity to all believers but doesn’t promise us a party now, so it’s easier to associate with the older brother.  “I’ve gone to church all my life, done what I was raised to do, helped, and served.  Why should someone who’s done nothing but sleep in on Sundays and live for themselves be allowed the same eternity?”  Like both brothers, we squander God’s love and treat it as if it was our due and possession to give out.  The older brother wasted God’s mercy by not appreciating the fact that his spoiled little brat of a brother was loved just as much as he was.  What are you doing?

If you went to Confirmation Class as a young adult, you know what Sermon Notes are.  For those that never had the pleasure, Sermon Notes are a weekly assignment in which you attend church on Sunday and on Monday, turn in notes that you took regarding the message of the sermon, the text, the Law/Gospel, etc.  Somewhere around 2004, the Holy Spirit put in my heart that I need to begin taking notes again, in sermons, Bible Studies, college classes...etc.  I have about a 2-minute memory, so I write down everything for accuracy.  That’s where most of my blogs come from.  Right now, I have over 520 pages of notes from the Old and New Testaments.  

I would like to take a minute and thank the ladies of the White Oak Zone, LWML Tx. District, for allowing me to lead a Bible Study with them last weekend.  In my talk, I spoke about the importance of sermons and how fascinating it is to hear a sermon over the same text you’ve heard before but expressed in a completely different light.  I’ve heard the parable of the Prodigal Son told in different ways from different points of view and it never ceases to amaze me.  I’ve been wanting to write on it for awhile and now seems like a good time.  BUT.  It’s one of three parables that go together.  In order to do it justice, we have to look at them all which means the entire chapter of Luke 15.

Quick background.  A large crowd is following Jesus and as always, the pharisees and scribes are trying to catch Jesus doing something wrong.  They were angry that ‘heathens’ were called to repent and encouraged to hope for pardon.  After all, only Jews were the chosen people.  They couldn’t condemn Him for preaching because that would shame them.  Instead, they reproached him for eating with them. In reply, they get three parables. 

Although the last one gets more attention, they really should be regarded together.  Combined, they are an image of how God looks at each of His children with the same amount of love but reaches out to them personally in a way that they most need.  Each is lost and celebrated when it is found, but each situation emphasizes a different viewpoint regarding the one lost and the one searching.  For one thing, there is a steady increase in patience that is shown.  In the first, the shepherd vigorously (quickly) seeks the lamb because it is only getting further away and in more danger by the minute.  The woman has somewhat more patience because she knows the coin is not going anywhere.  Still, she won’t stop until she finds it.  Finally, the father looks down the road daily to wait for his son.  Again, doesn’t stop looking, but has the most patience because he doesn’t run off willy-nilly, looking for him.

The three stories emphasize the value and importance of "one".  In each story, the ratio of the lost is proportionate to its value.  1:100 lambs, 1:10 coins, 1:2 brothers.  Coins are worth more than lambs and brothers are worth more then both.  

Lost Lamb

The lamb that is lost is in definite danger.  If the shepherd doesn’t hurry, the lamb will only go farther from home.  The wolves will come.  Night, hunger and thirst surround this lamb.  The lamb itself is unaware of the danger and is going faster away from the shepherd.  He’s not making a circle and won’t be coming home with his tail wagging behind him.  He’s booking it out of here as fast as he can.  The longer you wait, the further he’s getting.  Why?  Well, because he’s a lamb which means he’s stupid.  When the shepherd finds it, he breaks its leg so it can’t walk.  He must carry the lamb everywhere now until the leg heals.  In doing so, the lamb will not remember how his leg broke, only that the shepherd is carrying it to food and water when needed, building trust with love and compassion to encourage it to not run away again.  How many times have you heard the phrase, “hitting rock bottom”?  You’ve gone as low as you can; nothing could be worse.  That’s the lamb when Jesus finds it.  That’s us when we run so far from Him, we’ve forgotten His love and can’t find our way back.  He comes and finds us.  Sometimes the rock bottom can be our ‘broken leg’ that will remind us of how much He cares for us and gives us something to return to.  Our empty churches remind us of the great number of missing lambs.  Each one is important.  Note how Jesus says, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.”  My sheep, not my stray.  He calls us by name, we are His.

Lost Coin

A woman has ten silver coins.  Why a woman?  Maybe because she will grieve for her loss more passionately and rejoice more than a man would, just a guess.  In the last parable, there was one in a hundred that was lost, now it is one in ten.  It is made of silver which means it has intrinsic worth and value.  It was lost in the dirt, a soul plunged into the world and overwhelmed.  A bit melodramatic maybe, but you get the image.  While the lamb is responsible for getting lost, the coin is lost by carelessness.  She takes a great deal of trouble to look for it, the expense in lighting a candle even though it’s not night, looking behind doors and under furniture and sweeping diligently.  These represent the various means that God uses to bring lost souls back to Himself.  He lights the candle of the Gospel; not to show Him how to find us, but to show us how to find Him.  Sweeps the house by convictions of the Word and seeks diligently, with His whole heart.  Again, just as much rejoicing.  

To put it in more modern terms, sometimes it's the churches fault when someone is "lost".  This is why the church must be diligent in seeking out the lost and returning them to the fold.  In this story, the woman is the church, the light is the Gospel and the broom is the Law.  We can't use one or the other.  Both must be used to bring people back.

Parables can have so many different meanings but they will all lead us back to God.  The lost items could be seen as faith.  The sheep wandered away out of curiosity, while the coin is someone who is so passive about their faith, they can be pushed into following the wrong person and so paralyzed by it, they believe they have to remain where they are and finally, the son is the one that deliberately, willfully walks away.  The Triune God works in all aspects of our lives but we can easily see Jesus as the Shepherd, the woman as the Holy Spirit that works through the church to save and the Father is the father with His abundant love.  

Next week….Lost Sons (yep, plural)

The other mountain we rarely hear about is Mount Gerizim even though it had three really important things happen on it. 

We start back in Exodus 19:11-13, 20:19.  The people of Israel have just been released from slavery and God has been caring for them in the wilderness where they repeatedly don’t follow His instructions and guidance.  Imagine that.  They arrive at Mount Sinai where the people and animals are warned repeatedly to not touch the mountain.  This, they actually listen to and only speak to ask that God not communicate with them directly or they’ll die.  Moses and Aaron talk to God and the result is the 10 Commandments.  This is one generation.  The next generation of Israelites comes after 40 years and is about to cross over into the Promised Land.  Before they do, however, God makes a separate covenant with them.  Each generation’s covenant is designed to suit their particular needs. 

Now we’re at the covenant at Mount Gerizim found in Deuteronomy 11:26-29 and Joshua 8:33-35.  Before they enter, God wants them to clearly understand the blessings and curses they would incur for obeying and disobeying His law.  The formal reading of the law in the people’s presence and with their participation represented a renewal of the covenant.  But first, a little geography.  (I don’t like it either but it helps.)  Mount Gerizim has a twin, Mount Ebal, to the north which might explain its name, meaning “mountain cut in two”.  Mount Gerizim was considered the ‘blessed’ and Mount Ebal, the ‘cursed’, because it was north and the Northern Kings of Israel were always more evil.  Between the two mountains lies the Valley of Shechem.  According to tradition, Mount Gerizim was lush and fertile while Mount Ebal was rocky and barren.  This clearly portrayed our choices; follow God and lead a rich, fruitful life or embrace evil which leads to an empty and barren life.

The tribes of Israel are divided up by God, six on each mountain with the priests with the Ark and the Levites in the valley between them.  The covenant made with the previous generation had them not touching the mountain but now they stood boldly on each mountain.  When the priests face Mt. Gerizim and recite a blessing, they are facing the fruitful mountain and also Jerusalem which lies to the south of Mt. Gerizim.  When they recite a curse, they face the barren mountain of Ebal and turn their back on Jerusalem.  (Remember that the ‘curse’ was not evil, but a consequence of not following God’s law.)  After each pronouncement, everyone would respond, “Amen.”  This showed that they heard, understood, and agreed because Amen means, “Yes, yes, it shall be so.”  Gone is the generation that escaped Egypt with God’s intervention and lived by His protection and sustenance.  Enter the new generation that will conquer the land, utilizing military ingenuity, and farm it.  On Mount Sinai, the focus was on the laws themselves.  Here, it shifts to the consequences for observing or violating those laws. 

The second event to happen on Mt. Gerizim was Jotham and the parable of the trees as found in Judges 9:7-15.  I have to say in all my years, I’ve never come across this parable before but it’s the first one recorded in Scripture and like the ones of Jesus, it has much to teach us.  After Gideon died, one of his sons, Abimelech (uh-BIM-uh-leck), talked the leaders of Shechem into making him king.  His first order of business was to kill all his brothers.  The only one that escaped death was Jotham, the youngest, because he hid.  Jotham went to the top of Mount Gerizim and told this parable to the people of Shechem.  The trees wanted someone to rule over them so in turn they asked the fig tree, the olive tree, and the grapevine.  All refused.  The bramble agreed if they took shade from him but if not, they would be destroyed by fire.  OK Lutherans, say it with me, “What does this mean?”   

Rather than be ruled by God, people wanted to shelter themselves under the influence and responsibility of leaders of their own choosing.  The ones they chose, fig, olive, and vine, refused because it was contrary to their purpose in life which was to be individual and fruit-bearing.  The trees (people) wanted to put the responsibility on one person instead of working together for the common good and being led by God.  This way, if something went wrong, they weren’t responsible.  For the good of everyone, we should all be willing to suffer some personal inconvenience.  Each of the fruit-bearing trees would have to sacrifice their purpose in life to take over, ruling the forest.  For this reason, the world would be better off having them do what they were made to do rather than rule.  God is not glorified by our fame or rank but by our fruitfulness (John 15:8).  Because the bramble thorns had the lowest nature, it strove even harder at greatness.  We need to be wary of someone who eagerly seeks a post because they may be the least fit for the position. 

The final event is described in John 4:3-24.  Jesus went from Judea to Galilee through Samaria.  Now, Jews didn’t go that way because they didn’t associate with Samaritans; but that’s another story.  It says, “And he had to pass through Samaria.”  There were other ways He could have gone but Jesus had to go this way to meet the woman at the well.  During His conversation with her, He mentions her past husbands and the man she’s living with now.  To change the topic, she asks Him why Jews say Jerusalem is the only place to worship when they have worshiped on Mt. Gerizim for generations.  This leads to Jesus teaching her, and us, four lessons about worship.  It’s not about a place, it’s about a person.  Samaritans didn’t fully understand who they worshiped but Jews did.  If you want to have a Spirit-filled worship with God, it’s more about how much you know about God that will affect how you worship Him.  It’s also not about a specific day.  Worship should be a way of life.  You can’t be spiritually in shape if you only work out on Sunday.  Next, worship must be rooted in truth.  We cannot worship God if we base it on something that sounds good but is not based in the Word.  Also, worship should be God-centered.  Our music and worship should be focused on who God is and not “man-centered”.  Music writers focused on God are trying to teach you about God.  Songs with lyrics like “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see You” are focusing on us, not God.  Finally, worship must be Spirit-led.  God is Spirit so our worship must be Spirit-led.  If we go to church and go through the motions and sing the songs we’re supposed to, we’re not fully engaged in what’s happening.  We need to feel it in our heart to be God-pleasing.  Amen.

I wish I was more like a Minion.  Yes, those little round and pill-shaped, yellow creatures.  Watching Minions in a movie is pure magic, so let’s break it down. 

Looks: They all look very similar.  To tell them apart, some are more round than others, some have one eye instead of two, some have more or less hair and fixed in different ways.  They are engineers and workers so they are always in denim coveralls with boots and gloves.  They wear goggles for several different reasons.  (Personally, I think people have spent way too much time thinking about this but…) The common thought is that they wear goggles because A. their eyes would float around their body if they didn’t; B. they have no eyelids so their eyes need to be protected; and C. they all have poor eyesight and need corrective lenses. 

Language: Although there are many species and things in movies that speak English (toys, fish, cars, monsters, dogs, rats, feelings, etc.), Minions have always had their own language and no subtitles.  I feel comfortable with this even though I have no idea what they are saying and their actions are speaking for them.  Forget about German, Italian, and Spanish.  I’m talking about professions that have their own language.  Have you ever spoken to a musician, computer analyst, post office worker, grocery store manager, scientist, etc. and didn’t have a clue what they were saying?  It happens all the time but doesn’t completely block communication. 

Personality: Here’s where it gets interesting.  Minions are the best and worst things about children and childhood, painted in the brightest colors.  We can relate to them because even though they seem simplistic, they can be a mass of contradictions.  They are pure joy, prone to distraction, extremely smart, very devoted, and don’t handle boredom well.  They are selfish but easily work together for a common goal.  They are driven to serve someone even though they are easily distracted and sometimes inept.  Sometimes they console someone who is sad and other times, they laugh at that person’s misfortune.  They are not bothered by anything that happens to them physically.  They just roll with the fact that they are turned into evil, purple things or they are floating off into space forever while eating a banana.  Oh, that I could have that temperament.

How closely can we relate to them?  Because they all have the same job, they speak the same language and wear the same clothes.  We vary in that respect because God made male and female.  No matter how we treat our bodies or what we call ourselves, the gender we are at birth holds more than just our looks.  God made us unique in that the two sexes compliment each other in a way that surgery can’t change.  There are no female Minions.  When asked about it, Minions creator and director, Pierre Coffin, said simply, “I never made any.  Seeing how dumb and stupid they often are, I couldn’t imagine Minions being girls.”  Wow.                                          

But can’t you see how closely this mirrors being a Christian?  Maybe I should say, how closely it SHOULD mirror being a Christian?  We are children of God.  He gives us a purpose in life and wants us to find joy in it along the way.  “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).  “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13).  Likewise, we should be driven to serve Him even though we are easily distracted and sometimes inept.  “Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statues and to keep His commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:61)  “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17).  We should show the same fierce loyalty and dedication to our Creator’s visions as they do.  No matter how we mess up, He still loves us and calls us each by name.  “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1).  “…He calls his own sheep by name..” (John 10:3).  Are you catching this?  Old Testament, New Testament, Old Testament, New Testament.  God keeps repeating Himself trying to get it through our thick skulls.  He loves us beyond our understanding and wants to help us when we have problems.  Why don’t we let Him?  Why don’t we make a bigger effort to share with others what He does for all of us in our lives?  Where is our devotion and loyalty?  Review the steps…

Step one is to separate yourself from those who are not loyal to God.  Even Moses had to deal with this back in Exodus 32:25-29 at the scene of the golden calf.  Moses didn’t play around.  God backs it up in Matthew 12:30, “He that is not with me is against me…”  and Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters…”.  Step two is a declaration of loyalty.  Do you stand before others and confess your faith?  My husband and I did that one Christmas in the mall when we were approached by a group of people taking of survey of what Christmas was really about.  We let them know the truth.  Step three is your association with your loyalty.  When you stand for God, being with others that share your faith will strengthen you and be healthy for you spiritually. 

So, children, are you with God or not? 

I’d like to keep going with my science theme for one more post.  Although my knowledge of science is limited, I taught a few classes on it years ago and they fascinated me.  Last time was the “Big Bang” so this time, it’s life on other planets as well as ours.  Let me stress first of all; my opinions are my own and you are entitled to yours. 

1.  Dinosaurs:  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep…” (Genesis 1:1-2a)  I have heard theories that between these two verses, God created the dinosaurs and they roamed the earth for millions of years.  Their reason being that God makes everything perfect, so an earth without form and void must describe the destruction made when dinosaurs went extinct.  Since “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8) I’m not saying this is not possible.  I toured an archeological dig this past weekend and there were plaques recording that such-and-such animal roamed the earth 23.8 million years ago.  Really!?!?  Point 8???  Why would God create an earth with only animals knowing He wanted children (humans).  It’s more likely that when He created the earth, He put the bones in it for us to find and speculate…gave us something to do, so to speak, along with exploring the oceans and the universe.  But that’s just my opinion.

2.  Sun:  So, the study I taught explained the “anthropic principle” - certain unique conditions exist that make Earth sustainable, but these conditions fail to exist anywhere else.  For example, hydrogen is necessary for the sun to sustain life.  If the sun consumed hydrogen too quickly, the sun would burn out.  Any slower, or weaker, and the sun would not burn at all.  It is exactly right to support a slow, continued burn rate to sustain life on Earth.  The same thing can be said for the speed that the Earth spins at, the distance from the sun, etc.  So many conditions had to be EXACTLY right for us to have life.  Did that just spontaneously happen?  I think not.

3.  Other planets & moons:  Jupiter and Saturn are the cosmic vacuum sweepers.  Without Jupiter, Earth would be struck by comets and asteroids 100 to 10,000 times more frequently and over time, human life would end.  Closer to home, our moon keeps us from tilting too close to the sun or too close to Jupiter.  One result would be us roasting, the other, a permanent ice age.  Even Stephen Hawking admits that the universe design is delicate.  If the expansion of the universe had been one in a hundred thousand million times smaller, it would have collapsed in on itself.  In addition, had it expanded one part in a million more than it did, it would have been too quickly for planets and stars to form.  It seems that God knew exactly what He was doing at creation.  How people don’t get that is beyond me.

4.  Life on other planets:  In the year 1600, a monk was burned at the stake for suggesting there was life on other planets.  400 years later, many agree with him, including Carl Sagan, M. Night Shyamalan, Bill Gates, etc.  In 1794, Thomas Paine claimed that beings on other worlds would render Christianity unbelievable.  Roland Puccetti agreed and said that approximately 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1018) sites of possible extraterrestrial life exist in the galaxy so Christ could not have redeemed all existing creatures, earthly and extra-earthly.  But do that many sites exist?  Astronomer Hugh Ross took into account 40 conditions that were necessary to sustain life.  He said the probability of all these occurring on a single planet was one in 1,000,000,000,000 (1012).  Frank Drake, the father of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) developed a mathematical formula, also known as “The Drake Equation” that measures the potential number of intelligent alien civilizations: 

N = R* x Fp x Ne x Fl x Fi x Fc x L. 

Let me just break that down for you: 

N (number of galactic civilizations releasing signals into space) is calculated by taking

R* (the average annual rate of star formation in the Milky Way galaxy) times

Fp (the fraction of those stars that formed a planet) times

Ne (the average number of those planets that lie in a habitable zone) times

Fl (the fraction of those planets that actually develop life at some point) times

Fi (the fraction of those life-bearing planets that develop intelligent life) times

Fc (the fraction of those planets that have civilizations that are capable of technology that can send signals into space) times

L (the length of time it takes to do all this). 

Basically what this whole paragraph is based on is assumption after assumption which will never equal FACT. 

What does the Bible say about it?  Nothing.  It doesn’t substantiate or deny the possibility of life on other planets.  Why?  Because it’s not important to our eternity.  Are there unidentified flying objects?  Certainly.  Are they spaceships containing little green men with huge heads and three fingers on each hand, looking for someone to kidnap?  Doubtful.  Regardless, it doesn’t matter.  The Bible has many things in it we cannot understand because of our limited intelligence.  Likewise, there are many things on Earth we cannot understand.  None of that is important to our salvation.  After Jesus’ resurrection, He walked with two of His followers to Emmaus.  He explained how all of the Scriptures testified to His appearance on Earth and His death and resurrection (Luke 24:25-27, 44-46).  That is what is important.  This should be our focus when studying the Bible and it should guide our interpretation.  God put Job in his place by asking where He was when the world was created.  We likewise should remember our place.  We can’t read what we want to in the Bible and move things around to fit our ideas. 

Look at Colossians 1:15-20.  “15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” 

In these six verses, Paul asserts the supremacy of Christ’s person and work.  Jesus is called the firstborn, not because He was born after God.  That wouldn’t make Him part of the Trinity.  Verse 16 starts with “For” because Paul’s telling us why Jesus is the “firstborn”.  It’s a title because He created all things and holds all things together.  He is the Reconciler of all creation – visible and invisible, earthly and extraterrestrial.  Should extraterrestrial life be discovered, Christian theology would stand firm.

It certainly gives us something to think about but it also should not be our focus or our life’s pursuit.  As I stated earlier, Jesus should be our only true focus because His work and resurrection is most important for our eternity.  If you’d like to read more on this, because I’m giving you the Cliff Notes version, get a copy of “Off the Edge: Faith on the Edge Series” from Concordia Publishing House.

I was going to write about something else today but my week has been so crazy, I’ve changed directions.  This is yet another one of my weeks where I can do nothing right.  I don’t have days like that, I have weeks.  Yea me…  When work gets crazy, I think of it like a tree.  I start out on one project, the trunk, that sometimes leads to something else I have to do first, branch, which reminds me of something else important, smaller branch, but first I’ve got to, twig, etc.  You know how it goes sometimes.  It takes a lot of work, focus, and concentration to work your way back along the path, finishing things as you go, to get back to that tree trunk; provided you can stay on the same path.  So in my brain all week is ‘making mistakes’ and ‘tree’.  That got me to thinking how much I have in common with the first mother, Eve. 

So she and Adam are hanging out, enjoying the good life, when she goes by the tree of good and evil.  We don’t know if Adam told her to avoid it or not.  We’ll never know.  Let’s say he did; but she’s curious.  God gave us free will and that includes curiosity.  So she’s standing there, looking at it and this snake starts talking to her.  Now, I’m not a quick thinker either so she’s probably thinking, “What in the world?!!”  Satan, performing as ‘the snake’, starts going over the pros and cons with her of having a snack.  Let’s stop right there.  If you have to think and make a list of pros and cons….you probably shouldn’t do it.  He starts her thinking about it.  Now, thinking can be a dangerous pastime.  I tried it once, didn’t much care for it.  He starts applying logic to his argument.  We know we can logic anything into something else if we want to, the devil taught us that.  Then he taunts her with, “Oh, you’re not good enough to eat from this tree.”  And she’s like, “Nope, can’t do it, forbidden.”  So far, so good.  He then tells her a lie she wants to hear.  “You won’t die but you’ll be like God.”  See, just the thought of ruining themselves would not have been enough if he hadn’t suggested a probability of bettering themselves to go with it.  This is where we all learned, ‘If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.’  Apparently, living in paradise, in perfection with God was not enough for her or Adam.  There must have been some discontent if they wanted to make things seemingly better.  After all, Satan was one of God’s angels with all the perks and benefits that come with it and he ruined himself by wanting to be God.  This ruined him so why not ruin God’s other creations with it too?  The devil still does his trick with us today.  He gives us misleading thoughts about God and stresses the benefits we’ll get by sinning.  Even the fact of wanting more than we need will partly turn us from God when we don’t get it. 

She’s looking at this fruit and thinking it looks just as good as all the other trees.  It doesn’t look like death or danger.  HELLO!?!?!?  You’re in paradise, how would you know what danger looks like??  Just because there’s no foul smell or skull and crossbones hovering above it doesn’t mean it’s not a bad idea.  We are often betrayed by having a desire to have our senses gratified.  Or, it was desired because it was forbidden.  Tell a child to not do something and see how fast they’ll do just that.  Let me lay a little Latin on you here… Nitimur in vetitum (NEE-tee-muhr in VAT-tee-numb) – We desire what is prohibited.  The important part to remember is that Satan can tempt but he cannot force.  The devil did not make you do it.  She took the fruit of her own free will and there was no going back.  She then took over for the devil and probably gave the same argument to Adam to get him to eat. 

So, she’s not a quick thinker, she’s easily deceived and guided by her own wishes, she probably would have been an impulse buyer too.  We have so much in common.  True the sin came from Adam but she was not innocent by any means so she shared in the punishment.  She was given pain in childbirth.  As one who also has that in common with her, I think she got the better end of the deal.  I’ve been watching a lot of Secrets of the Zoo lately.  These are shows about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of some of the larger zoos in the country.  In the episodes, we see births and deaths.  I’ve seen chimps, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, and wild dogs give birth.  You never hear a peep out of them.  It’s like a few pushes and the baby comes right out, no muss, no fuss, no changed expression on their face.  We, on the other hand, scream our bloody heads off (gives new meaning to "I am woman, hear me roar") and nearly crush our husband’s hands.  Guys, give a forearm, not a hand.  (And diamonds for "Push Presents" are not necessary....don't even get me started.)  Again, we have the better end of the deal because we don’t have to lick the baby clean and possibly have to eat the placenta.  Gross, I know but it’s the nature of the animal world; I've seen it.  And it REALLY makes you thankful you’re a human.

So, I’m very hard on myself when I make mistakes even though you’d think I’d be used to it by now.  I have to remember that mistakes mean learning; I’m not alone; don’t jump into something that looks good at first; and, there is always forgiveness when asked for in faith.  Happy ending!!

The interesting thing about the Bible is that it never changes.  The words are always exactly the same because they are God’s Words.  The uniqueness comes in the way we see them at work in our lives.  That’s why pastors are never at a loss for sermons.  There is always another way to look at a passage or paragraph and apply it to our lives, right now.  The verse that is in the foremost of my mind right now is, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5)  It’s one of the more common Bible passages but I’m seeing it lately in a different light.

I start with the end…lean not on your own understanding.  This can easily not only apply to the Bible but to our daily lives.  You’ve heard it before, “The only person you can trust is yourself”, “Focus on what you can control and don’t worry about what you can’t”, “We cannot control what others do to us but we can control the way we respond”, etc.  But can you really trust your own understanding?  Our emotions have a great deal to do with our “understanding” from minute to minute but there is no real control for emotions.  Society puts a lot of pressure on people to ‘be their own person’ and rely solely on controlling themselves as they see fit.  Unfortunately, that may not always be the best thing for you.  God did not put us on this earth to be solitary people.  We were made to interact, help those in need, and ask for help ourselves when needed.  When my children were young, we had a family doctor that lived by the belief that you must care for yourself for at least two weeks before going to see him.  Not for broken bones, of course, but things like a pulled muscle, or a cold.  Give yourself a little TLC instead of going straight to the heavy drugs.  Ever heard this before, “I don’t need to go to the doctor, I know what he’ll say”?  For most of the population, doctors say we need to lose weight.  We understand that.  We know what will work for our body to get healthier.  Doesn’t mean we’re going to do it, but we know.  Now here’s a crazy thought, instead of trying crazy solutions, go straight to the source.  When the doctor says, “lose weight”, reply back “help me”.  When you feel that the world is too dangerous to live in and all hope is lost, find someone you trust to help you see the positive side of life.  Most importantly, remember that God is the first source, not a last resort.

Speaking of the first… Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  What does this mean?  One definition of trust is the belief that someone or something can be relied on to do what they say they will.  It’s the cornerstone of any relationship and involves a degree of vulnerability.  It’s solid as a rock.  It’s also as fragile as a spider’s web.  It can be easily broken with just a word and once this happens, it will take a long time to rebuild and will never be the same again.  Fortunately, God can be relied on because

1.  He knows what will happen next and we don’t.  He also knows what’s best for us because we sure don’t.  The situation you’re in may be beyond your understanding but it’s not beyond God’s.  He knows all the hows, whens, and whys. 

2.  Jesus never changes.  He is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)  His power and His promises don’t change either.  He’s the same Savior that transformed lives and performed miracles in the Bible.

I like to think of it like this…I remember LOTS of really stupid mistakes I’ve made and decisions I’ve flubbed over my years.  Do I really want to put myself and my future in MY hands???  I’m smart enough to say NO.

Are you spiritual?  Why?  How do you know?  The term ‘spiritual’ can mean many different things to many different people.  The words ‘spiritual’ and ‘religious’ are often intertwined and thought of as the same thing but they are not.  Being a Christian myself, I’m going to stick with Christianity for this blog and not go into other beliefs and faiths.  A person’s faith could be said to be their religion.  When we speak of the Christian Church on earth, we refer to the entire (group) body of believers in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, regardless of their denomination, and not just those that attend services once a week in a large building with a cross on the top.  Spirituality then, is the outworking in real life of a person’s religious faith.  It’s what a person does with what they believe.  No matter what situation we find ourselves in, our core, spiritual beliefs will govern our behavior. 

There are those however that are under the belief that spirituality is a personal thing only. 

Some believe what is called moralism.  This is an attempt at a relationship with God through your conduct.  “I have to attempt to please God and make up for my failings through good behavior.”  God is not Santa Claus.  Yes, He is always watching but we cannot pay for our sins and failings with our actions, prayers, etc.  With this line of thinking, we attempt to establish our relationship with God based upon our own perfection.  Our deeds are our route to God.  WRONG!

Some believe in speculation.  This is a relationship with God through knowledge.  “If I can recite the appropriate passages and say enough of the right prayers, I have a relationship with God.”  By this route, we try to establish a relationship based on the acquisition of a secret, special, or hidden knowledge.  Our mind, and its memory, is our route to God.  WRONG!

Finally, others believe in mysticism.  This is the attempt at communication with God by becoming one with God.  This method could be through silent meditation or a constant repetition of a mantra.  We can try to form a union or oneness with God through “spiritual” practices like meditation, fasting, or the use of mind-altering drugs.  Another route would be things like standing on a mountain and viewing the wonders of creation.  This gives a peace and makes one feel as if they are one with God.  WRONG!

Instead of moralism, speculation, or mysticism, Biblical spirituality begins with recognizing our human sinfulness.  We are born sinful and nothing we can do, say, or feel, will help us link up a relationship with God.  The Bible says we are born dead in sin.  A dead person cannot do anything.  We need God to come to us and bring us to life with His grace, mercy, and forgiveness that brings true peace that surpasses all understanding.  God, through His great love, has established a relationship with us through His Son, Jesus Christ, who took our sins upon Himself.  Because He paid for them, we can go straight to God without worrying that we are not doing enough.  Amen.

The story of Easter is the story of our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection.  Full and complete payment for our sins by suffering unspeakable pain, humiliation, and suffering.  It’s during this time of the year that the TV stations run the Mel Gibson movie, “The Passion of Christ”.  This is supposed to be a highly accurate portrayal of what actually happened.  I have never seen the movie myself.  I have wanted to, I’m just too scared to.  The blood and horror doesn’t bother me in movies because I know it’s all fake.  Since it was on while I was flipping channels on Easter Sunday, I thought I’d give it a try.  I watched about 15 seconds before I had to flip to something else.  I went back a few minutes later and watched for about a full minute before I had to change the channel.  I couldn’t take it.  Sure, I knew the blood was fake and I had seen interviews with the actor that played Jesus.  He told several interesting “behind the scenes” stories of the making of that movie.  The problem was that this happened for real and not just for the movies…and it was my fault.  The fact that Jesus was put on that cross to suffer, just because I was alive and sinning, was something I couldn’t take thrown in my face no matter how true it is.  I’m not worth having someone go through hell on earth just for me but He did it anyway.  Each one of us ever born put Him on that cross, regardless if we accept that fact or not.  His love and willingness to do whatever was needed for us to receive salvation is that powerful.  Unfortunately, our fear, pride, etc. keep us from being the children we were meant to be because of it.

We sin, and in our lives, we focus on that sin.  I did a Bible Study in my first book on the movie, “Seven”.  It was a movie about the seven deadly sins: greed, pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, and lust.  They are like the commandments of sin.  If you’re doing one of these, you’re sinning.  While these actions are sinful, Christians should remember that ‘any’ sin could be a ‘mortal’ or ‘deadly’ sin if we refuse to repent and we reject Christ’s forgiveness.  These could be sins of commission (ones we know we commit) or sins of omission (failure to do what is right or abide by the law).  Examples of omission?  Failure to pay your taxes (the law) could get you some jail time.  To omit honoring your parents is to fail the law of the 4th Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother”. 

For generations, Christians have tried to rank sins and identify which ones are worse than others.  Regardless if you speak of “little white lies” or “the ultimate sin”, common, everyday speech betrays the widely held belief that individual sins can be weighed, measured, compared, and contrasted.  Common sense and notions of justice recoil at the thought of making deeds equal even though they have vastly different consequences.  (I hope no kids are reading this…)  It seems incredible to consider the sins of pedophiles and serial killers with well-meaning moms that tell their children stories of Santa, the Easter Bunny, and having eyes in the back of their heads to see what their little angel is doing at all times.  Fortunately, Scripture does recognize distinctions between various sins, their results, and the temporal penalties they deserve.  See Exodus 21-22 for examples.  Sin affects more than human society so it is not judged solely by its effects on society.  By its very nature, sin is a transgression of divine law, so it affects the relationship with the divine lawgiver.  When viewed from this perspective, the effects of all sins are indeed equal.  Breaking even one point of God’s law makes one guilty of breaking the whole of it (James 2:10).  So, are all sins equal?  YES…..and NO.  While on this earth, our sins must be judged and addressed individually against our fellow man.  When referring to eternal life and our relationship with our Creator, we cannot downplay the significance of even the most minor transgression.  We repent in the knowledge that even though our smallest sins separate us from God, those tiny sins through the greatest sins are forgiven through the death and resurrection of His Son. 

*As a side note, in the Middle Ages, the seven deadly sins were often depicted as deserving a very specific punishment in hell.  For example, one guilty of gluttony would be forced to eat rats, snakes, and toads in hell.  I’m assuming without the marinade or special sauce.

The topic of death has come at me several times and in several ways in the past weeks; so I address it.  Not the fact that we will all die, or how we will live forever in heaven or hell afterward, but what happens in-between. 

After death, the body that remains is usually either buried or cremated.  Both of these methods have Biblical precedence.  Jesus died and his body was buried in a tomb.  Mankind was created from the dust of the ground and will return to dust after the soul leaves it.  Cremation speeds up this process.  That second method is abundantly clear and often repeated.  “God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7)  “…, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)  “All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return”  (Ecclesiastes 3:20)  The body, no matter the method, will return to dust while the soul continues on.

So, what then?  What problems can arise with the physical remains of the body that is buried?  There are some cultures and faiths that believe that the body must be buried whole in order to go on to paradise.  In some cases, an amputated limb will be buried in the grave that the person has prepared for themselves in the future.  Unfortunately, there are many times when this is not possible such as war overseas, explosions, etc.  My question with this thought is, “Where do you draw the line?”  Does it have to be a limb?  What about a finger or appendix or tooth?  Most of us will go into our graves ‘as is’ and stay there.  Sometimes though, even that’s not possible.  There have been times when cemeteries must be moved or the family wants a loved one previously buried in another state or country moved closer to them.  Even though the person’s soul is no longer in the casket, we continue to visit the gravesites to feel a connection to them still.  And there is nothing wrong with that, either the moving of the body or the connection you feel.  Even Joseph in the Bible had his bones carted around after his death.  He made sure of it.  In Genesis 50:25, he speaks to the heads of the tribes and tells them that he will die soon in Egypt but when they are delivered in the future and go on to Canaan, they better take his bones with them.  Moses does this in Exodus 13:19 and Joshua 24:32 tells where they put him to rest again.

Then we have cremation.  What to do with the ashes?  After a little research, a.k.a. Googling, I discovered what I once believed as placing the ashes in an urn and putting it somewhere is grossly outdated.  You will probably say, “Sure, you can scatter them to the wind off a mountain or across the ocean.”  Nope.  These days, people are much more adventurous with their loved ones remains.  There are companies that will take some of your loved ones ashes and place them inside jewelry for you to wear or inside teddy bears for you to cuddle.  They can be made into diamonds, placed in bullets (so you can take them hunting with you), placed in fireworks, mixed with ink that you can have tattooed into your skin or mixed with paint that will be used to paint a picture of your loved one.  You can even have their ashes, thanks to our bodies being made of carbon, turned into 240 pencils with their names engraved on them.  (Don’t worry you won’t have anything left.  The sharpener is in the side of the box so when you’ve used them all, their remains will be a box of pencil shavings.)  To some people, this may seem very disrespectful but to others who are grieving, it is a way to help them work through the process of grief.  Again, they are only the body’s remains.  The soul, what actually makes up a person, has gone on.  The soul created for God, by God, will not rest until it rests in God.

So, do either of these methods, burial or cremation, make a difference on the Last Day when we will rise again?  Nope.  1 Corinthians 15:35-49 speaks very frankly about this.  “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies”.  Here, they are comparing a dead body to a seed planted in the ground.  Sometimes, you don’t know what plant will come up from a planted seed because many look alike.  God determines what body we will get in heaven.  We are of the dust of the earth now, and look it.  When we are in heaven, our bodies will be made of heaven.  Exactly what they will look like, we don’t know.  We do know that we will recognize each other and that’s good enough for me.  What God is basically saying here is that it doesn’t matter what happened to your earthly, physical body.  It will rise, because God will raise it from wherever it is, regardless if it’s the original burial site or tiny pieces scattered to the winds.  He can do that because if each of our hairs are numbered, each of our cells after our death can be found on His GPS if need be.  Who knows?  Maybe our bodies now won’t make a difference and He’ll make us all new bodies that look like these.  Anything is possible with God.  Our comfort comes with the fact that our loved ones that believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior are now with Him and what happens to their dusty remains has nothing to do with their eternity in paradise.

Fun fact – there are two men in all of history that did something even Jesus could not do.  They did not die.  Jesus had to die to pay for the sins of all humanity, and He did in the most horrible way.  There was no other option for Him.  On the third day, He rose from the dead and physically floated up to heaven 40 days later.  Enoch and Elijah were taken by God to heaven but never died.  “Enoch walked faithfully with God, and he was no more, for God took him away” (Genesis 5:24).  “As they [Elijah and Elisha] were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind” (2 Kings 2:11). 

It’s strange how everyone focuses on life in heaven but not the method of transportation.  All in all, we’d probably rather not think about it because the ways to die are limitless and we have no choice in the matter.  Personally, I attribute it to being a kid and falling asleep in the back seat of the car and waking up in bed.  We will fall asleep or lose consciousness here and wake up immediately in heaven.   No waiting room, no purgatory…done and done.  

Continuing on with our heavenly study, we are often confused about the workings of heaven.  For example, what will it look like?  First, it will be paradise.  What does this mean?  Well, it depends on who you ask.  A small child might say mommy’s lap; a teenager would reference Mall of America.  For adults, it might be a golf course or a Caribbean island.  The dictionary says it’s a place of great happiness where everything is what you want it to be.  On the cross, Jesus tells the criminal, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”  We will be with Jesus in person.  Does it really matter then what the surroundings look like?  Like a comedian once said about psychics who claim to speak to be able to speak to the dead.  If they try to contact her after she dies, her response will be, “I am in the presence of the Lord, LEAVE ME ALONE.”                           

Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”  Our minds picture huge mansions.  In the time of the Israelites, the head of the house would have his children build their houses onto his when they started their families.  Regardless, it really isn’t something we need to worry about.  We will have a place in heaven and should focus on dwelling with Jesus rather than a structure.

Rest.  Such a wonderful word.  Rest in peace.  They went to their eternal rest.  The only problem with that is the fact that we give that word the same meaning after we die as we do now.  True rest is being free of all earthly troubles and does not refer to inactivity.  Humans were meant to be active.  Adam and Eve didn’t spend their days in hammocks.  They worked in the garden.  Likewise, in heaven we will be able to sing and worship God just like the angels do now. 

Crowns.  A crown of righteousness, a crown of glory, a crown of life.  Regardless if they are actual crowns or not, we will in some way be ruling with Christ.  We will know the answers to all of our questions.  God will share His knowledge with us.  WOW.

Despite all of this, we are only given glimpses into our future with Him.  There is no way our earthly experiences and understanding could comprehend what we are in for.  We know there will be activity; there will be special places made just for us; there will be worship and food (heavenly banquet); relationships, etc.  Although we will have glorified bodies, we will still recognize each other and love everyone the same.  That will be quite a change since we don’t do that now.

Special places in heaven.  How often we use the term, there’s a special place in heaven for people that put up with ….. or deal with …..  But is that true?  I don’t think so.  The Bible says that we will all reign with Jesus as kings.  There’s no honor system or extra credit then for anything you do now.  If there are honors to bestow, God will give them in His way at His time.  It’s like a pastor explained it to me once, heaven is like Disneyworld; it doesn’t matter if you’re by Space Mountain or the Tea Cups.  You’re THERE!! 

Finally, the biggest question most people have.  Will my pets be in heaven?  The Bible doesn’t say specifically.  Because animals don’t have souls, there is no dog or cat heaven.  The Bible does speak of animal-like creatures being around the throne along with a lamb, horses and birds.  In the original paradise, man and animal lived together in peace and after the Last Day, it will be like that again.  God can do anything and understands our love for His creatures.  It’s not unrealistic to think that He will recreate our old pets for us to live with along with the lions, tigers, bears, etc. that will again once again roam the earth in peace with mankind.  Just a little something to look forward to.

             In my blogs, I sometimes share things I’ve learned in the Bible or about church.  At other times, it’s something funny that reminds me of God’s relationship with us.  Still other times, I hear the same phrase mentioned at least three different times and all from different sources.  I take this as God trying to get my attention.  This past week it has been the idea that everything we are going through is God preparing us for what we asked.  Because what is life?  It’s HARD!  Everything, regardless if it’s tying your shoe, an algebra assignment, or trying to understand your spouse’s moods, is hard until you learn how to do it.  It can be extremely frustrating but it’s part of the process that God created to move us on to do what He needs each of us to do.  Sometimes the process is done so smoothly, we aren’t even aware of it until it’s over.  Sometimes, we are all too aware and wonder why God is picking on us.

             The most important thing to remember is that we are not alone in our growing frustrations.  Here’s where I quote the Bible.  Adam and Eve had one of their children kill the other.  Joseph was sold into slavery and later put in jail only to end up ruling Egypt.  Job had a rougher life than pretty much anyone and in the end had twice as much as before.  Note: don’t focus on the wealth here.  The point was to keep your faith despite what is happening around you and to you.  Moses had an identity crisis and could have used some anger management classes but his story came out ok.  The list goes on.

             Unfortunately, our struggles don’t stop with physical things in life; we also struggle with our faith.  And by ‘we’, I’m including myself.  I admit that sometimes the thought pops in my head, “What if there is no heaven and when we die, that’s just it?”  That thought terrifies me and I know it’s not true but it comes to me just the same.  I’m not alone in this either.  John the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world but later, while in jail, sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was really the One.  Peter confessed that Jesus was the Son of the Living God and later denied even knowing Him.  Elijah killed false prophets but when Jezebel threatened to kick his butt, he took off like a coward.  Thomas had one of the strongest faiths of all but needed proof when Jesus appeared to him after Jesus’ resurrection.  No, we are not alone in our struggles by a long run.

             Thankfully, God sees something beyond our own understanding of our skills, traits, and talents.  He knows our heart better than we do.  Sometimes we pray to Him with our head and sometimes with our heart; either way, He hears us regardless if we thank Him or grumble to Him.  And we do.  As followers of Christ, we are promised troubles; troubles that will test and strengthen our faith.  “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)  Because of this, we should not be surprised when troubles come into our lives but we repeatedly are shocked.  Why me?  Trials will come regardless of who you are.  What we make of them shows what we are really made of.  You must persevere even if you don’t understand and that’s how we learn wisdom.  After all, if our lives, our families, the weather, were always perfect and exactly the way we wanted, would we really express our constant gratitude?  I think not.  The good life does not connect us spiritually to God; it connects us to ourselves and our wants.  We need troubles in our lives to keep our focus on God. 

I think Ron White is my favorite from the Blue Collar Comedy team.  I don’t remember the exact joke but the punch line from one of his jokes is his wife poking an index finger at him and saying, “Let me tell YOU something about YOU that YOU don’t know.”  I’m going to do the same here.  I’m going to tell you something about you that you don’t know.  You study theology.  Didn’t know that, did you?  If you read my blogs, you are studying theology.  I took classes in theology so I know what I’m talking about.

Christian theology is defined as the study of God as he reveals Himself.  It includes all His actions toward his creation and specifically His purpose, plan, and will for His children.  In other words; who God is, the human condition, God’s response in Christ, and the Christian life. 

So what’s the purpose?  The purpose is to further understand what God has chosen to reveal to us and how this revelation applies to our lives in this world and the next.  It’s goal is to proclaim the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ faithfully.  It points to the Savior and is not a list of things God said, a biography of Christ or the history of the church.  Every teaching relates to our salvation in Christ.  That’s what I’ve been trying to do all these years; communicate the saving Gospel and nurture faith.  So the first purpose is faith and salvation.

We can never know it all but if things are explained in different ways, we have a better chance of remembering them and making them a part of our lives.  Ron White says, “You can’t fix stupid.”  Forrest Gump says, “Stupid is as stupid does.”  A teacher will tell you there’s no such thing as a stupid question.  So many opinions about the word, stupid.  This brings us to the second purpose of theology.  We grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him and His Word; we learn to read and better understand the Scriptures; and we grow in our understanding of His will and ways.  Just because we don’t know everything about God does not mean we’re stupid.  There was only one guy in all of history that knew everything and even He had a 33 year lapse when He set His godhead aside.  (hint: Jesus)  As we learn more facts, ideas, and concepts found in the Bible, we will at the same time learn to know God better. 

So, is this task simple or difficult?  Both actually.  It is so simple that even a child can share that Jesus died and rose for them.  That is Christianity.  But, there are many more topics and themes to learn and we cannot neglect them just because we know the very basics.  If we avoid opportunities, like Bible Studies, to learn and grow, then the problem doesn’t lie with Christianity but with our ignorance of the richness of God’s Word.  There are complex and complicated teachings in Scripture that we need to attempt to understand.  Some things we will never understand because we don’t have God’s knowledge but we shouldn’t give up trying.  Because we are sinners in a sinful world, the heavenly realm is going to be a challenge to grasp.  Fortunately, God has given us a lifetime worth of things to study.  Let’s get started…