Glad Tidings

Love in Marriage

5 May , 2020  

Married Love

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote Sonnet 43 as a poem of love for the person she cherished. It was dedicated to her husband, poet Robert Browning.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.    (1850)

This is an impressive expression of love. The breadth and scope she describes are total commitment to her loved husband. It springs from a magnificent passion.

Over the last several centuries, romantic love has dominated among the “loves”, i.e. love of God, love of country, love of parents, love of friends. For the centuries before romantic love has only been in the background. Marriages were arranged by parents, who tended to consider romance a distraction. Fathers would seek a “profitable match” for each of his daughters. That meant a man of good prospects; which meant he would be able to support his wife and family.

In mostly agrarian societies, the prospective husband needed a grant of land from his father. Then He would build a dwelling for his wife. Often there was a bride price to pay; likely in the form of livestock.

Land, a dwelling and livestock were tokens of a responsible man, who could take care of the father’s daughter and ensuing grandchildren, providing for them well. Most importantly, the husband would provide the basic necessities for his family. Secondarily, that the groom was responsible and capable enough, so that the bride and the children did not have to come back to be an additional burden on her father.

Thus, marriage was, foremost, a practical matter. Romance was a luxury that agrarian societies could most often not afford. Survival was always tenuous, so a young man’s abilities were the singular concern and a girl’s romantic ideas were of no account.    dove-vector-clipart

Married Love Today

We are no longer an agrarian society. Survival is not tenuous (in case you hadn’t noticed). We are by any reasonable measure a rich society. The vast majority of families may have working parents, so they have the income to provide the basic necessities. There are many luxuries that today are considered “necessities”, but they could be eliminated, saving the family a significant amount of money. The family would still be able to have the necessary (please note the word) food, clothing and shelter.

Because of our wealth we have the luxury of romantic love that seems to dominate all the kinds of love. In romance movies a young woman will be asked about her fiance. She responds, “Oh, he’s got a great job with opportunity for advancement. He really is good to me. He is good with children (all important qualifications).” The best friend presses, “Good, but do you love him?!” That is the single most important qualification. Forget the fact that he has never had a steady job, lives in a basement room of his parents’ home; mostly plays video games.

While I do no seek to toss away romantic love, I do insist that it is far overrated and needs to become the crust on a meat pie, good to have, tasty, but the important part is the healthy filling.

Commitment in Marriage

Love is not “hearts and flowers”. True love is commitment.

The traditional vows are a solid commitment and surrender through thick and thin, war and peace, ups and downs. “I, (Name), take thee, (Name), to be my wedded (husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance: and thereto I (give/plight) my troth.”

Can you see the length, width and depth of the commitment a couple affirms to one another, the community and to Almighty God?

One of the modern bastardizations of these solemn vows is to change “so long as we both shall live” into, “so long as we both shall love”. By that they define it as romantic love that is not permanent, but is emotional and flies away at a whim.  dove-vector-clipart

For Better Or Worse

In any human relationship differences crop up; tares are sown among the wheat.

During the dating and engagement, a man and a woman are on their best behavior. They are displaying their attractive qualities. They either hide or explain away any negative characteristics. The attraction to the other puts pressure on one to avoid anything that would make the other think again about continuing in the relationship.

Once married, the security of the commitment allows greater freedom to be “yourself”. Time wears away the effort to project “sweetness and light”. Overlooked differences during courtship become sharp differences, that lead to serious arguments. If the commitment is not strong the marriage can be broken off as soon as the honeymoon period is over.

When the relationship is based on a firm commitment, true love will rise above sharp differences. The first several years are the “shakedown cruise”. Those are the times when the “gloves come off” and the “warts show”. “I am angry with you, now, but I love you and I will not leave you.” A couple in real love enjoy the making up, because of the contrast of the loving sweetness to the separation caused by the broken fellowship.

Working Together in Marriage

There is a deep joy in working together, each sharing strengths to accomplish an important goal. The mutual thanks for one another’s contribution invigorate their love and deepens and enhances their intimacy.

Loving intimacy in a secure marriage commitment make procreation a deep and exhilarating joy. The companionship of the birth of a child supercharges the mutual admiration of the one for the other. A man’s wife needs her husband’s strength, love and concern to weather the agony of the birth process. The husband’s deep concern for her struggle breaks forth into amazing gratitude to her, when he holds that baby, she suffered to present to him and to the world. They have been partners in creation and birthing. Their bond of love is not romantic, but transformational.

As the decades pass, children and care for them often interferes with the relationship of the wife and husband. Committed love, seeks ways in the midst of an overfull life to reconnect on a foundational level. Once the children are launched, the couple can recapture the interrupted relationship. They are able in a more mature way to build their intimacy. For many (but I fear too few) they become “Golden Years” of working together, recreating together, laughing together, planning together. Through it all, they have satisfaction in what they have accomplished together. They rejoice together in one another’s awards for the works each has done separately

Toward the end of life, the diminishing ability and the struggles with infirmity and sickness place a heavy burden on each. The extra care one must have for the other in a deeply committed love is not a burden on the soul. It is a joy to care for the treasured one. In ways far beyond words, the gift the needy one gives is to receive the ministrations of the healthier one. Even the knowing that it cannot be repaid in kind, is a gift. This is love that is pure, strong and to be treasured as something far more precious than “houses or lands”.  dove-vector-clipart

For Richer Or Poorer

When I was a teen and contemplating marriage – off somewhere in the dim outer reaches of life, one of the things I was aware of was that a man needed to have a good-paying job to afford a wife. The “two can lie as cheaply as one” was a romantic fallacy. It is the reality of youth that most married couples do not have the income to be comfortable.

When I married Ruth, the ethos was that the man provided for the family. The wife was not expected to work. Thus, the pay of the Man set the standard of life for the beginning family. Newly married young couples generally struggled financially, during the early years, until the man worked his way up to a pay level that makes life more comfortable.

When Ruth and I got married, I was selling real estate. Laura was born shortly before our first anniversary. Susan came two years later. I was struggling financially. I could not make sales often enough. I was able to change jobs to obtain a regular salary that did provide adequately for our family.

Through the years, we have been both rich and poor. We have learned to live as the Apostle Paul,

I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want.   (Philippians 4:12).

Money in Marriage

Controversy over finances is one of the sources of acrimony in marriages. The increasing needs of a growing family often outstrips the ability of the parents to provide. The decisions over spending of scarce resources can lead to acrimony; and too often they become continuing tension, separating the couple.

On the other hand, riches can also be a separating influence in the life of the couple. A man in a high-powered job brings home an enormous paycheck and provides a large house with swimming pool and all the extras. But he is never home. The woman becomes engaged in a social circle and in her husband’s absence, looks for companionship elsewhere. Riches do strain the commitment.

We must submit to God’s plan for our lives. We must come back again and again to Paul’s affirmation of contentment, stated above.  dove-vector-clipart

Until Death Parts Us

Our Sovereign Lord God planned for Marriage to be the foundation of Civilization. He brought Eve to Adam, and they loved and worked together. They had children and they became a family. As family groups increased, that became the genesis of civilization. They built relationships among the various family groups and began the complexity of interrelationships.

This is where God’s laws of love modified frictions between groups. The learning process began in families, starting with the interrelationship between man and woman in marriage.

God purposed that “these two become one flesh”. His desire is that they unite in agreement over life’s direction, shared purposes, combined goals. He has revealed the truth of strength in numbers.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone? And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.   (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

The Wife and Husband are the basic church.

Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.   (Matthew 18:19-20)

God’s will is for mutual submission, at the same time a wife is to defer to her husband.

… subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their husbands in everything.   (Ephesians 5: 21-24)

This submission of the wife seems to our culture very hard duty. Until we look at God’s directive for husbands,

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;   (Ephesians 5:25).

He is to sacrifice himself for her. He is to nourish and cherish” her. This is a mutual collaboration, a covenant relationship with strong demands laid on both husband and wife by our Righteous God.

Submitting to One Another

It has been said that the woman has been given command to submit to her husband because she, being more spiritually attuned would tend to take over the spiritual leadership. Without the command to submit, forcing the man to be the spiritual leader, many men would and do drop out, spiritually.

On the other hand, husbands have been commanded to love their wives, sacrificially. Men tend to love their work most. Peter gives husbands further instruction,

Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered.   (1 Peter 3:7)

In this mutual relationship of loving commitment, couples grow into that “one flesh” relationship”– shared hopes, dreams, ideals, purposes. All are indications of the “one flesh” that a married wife and husband share. As they age together, they ripen in their love and understanding of one another. Their psyches are so attuned that they can finish one another’s sentences. They agree on all the major issues in their lives. They are synchronized in their absolute trust in God’s love and provision.

God becomes the glue that holds them together. As they each grow closer to Jesus through the decades of their lives together, they grow closer to one another. Jesus is the one who lives in both and is the buffer that smooths the rough edges of each to make them an increasingly better fit as life together prolongs.

There comes a time that each is aware of the approaching end of life. It is rare that both die at the same time. Therefore, there is a growing concern of one being left alone. The three-fold mutual love is so strong that the thought of separation can be devastating.

However, God steps in and gives the believing couple assurance that the separation will be brief. The rejoining in Paradise will be joyful beyond imagining. Further, the marriage that lasts a lifetime gives each and both a preview of the love that awaits around their loving God’s throne.

God promises the surviving spouse the comfort of the Holy Spirit. God fills the hole left by the departing spouse. He surrounds the grief and mutes the anguish. He gives the one left a new direction that steps off from the foundation laid by the married love. Our Father knows our need and has already put in place what is needed to compensate for the loss of a life-long love.

God gives us the Grace for each day and joy in the remaining life that buoys the spirit. Anticipation grows in the meantime; anticipation of being unshackled by the flesh; anticipation of being reunited not only with the spouse, but also with all the loved ones that have gone on before; and then the anticipation of the glorious, magnificent entry into the Presence of God!  dove-vector-clipart

Questions Demanding Answers

This is a recurring feature. I pose a question in this issue. You have the opportunity to send me answers. I will publish the best ones in the next issue. Please cite Biblical authority, and keep you answer within 250 words.

QUESTION: Why did Abraham lie to Pharaoh, saying, Sarah was his sister?  (Genesis 12:10-20)

ANSWER: Because he was afraid. He and Sarah (and household) fled famine in Canaan for the breadbasket of Egypt. Abraham looked at the reality of the situation. His household was powerless against the might of Pharaoh. Sarah was beautiful. Pharaoh was an absolute monarch. The ethos of the broader culture was against stealing a man’s wife, but not against killing him and then taking her. So, to protect himself, he sacrificed Sarah. The lie was a half-truth. He had married his half-sister.

But his action raises several issues. A man ought to protect his wife at the risk of his own. He could have slipped into the large nation of Egypt and remained unnoticed. He should have trusted Go to protect both Sarah and him.

First, we must not expect A.D. 21st Century mores out of 20th Century B.C. people. That culture put a lower value on women, so the sacrifice of one’s wife was the natural thing to do.

Second, Scripture does not say, and I can find nothing that requires, immigrants had to check in with the local constabulary, bringing one to the notice of Pharaoh.

Third, Abraham had experienced יהוה, Jehovah, for only a short time, so he may not have been aware of God’s intimate care of each individual.

Pharaoh did take Sarah into his Harim. God protected Sarah from being molested and he sent a plague on Pharaoh’s household. Some scholars think it was a plague of barrenness in both women and animals. We do not have a time frame, so perhaps the evidence was a rash of stillborn sheep and cattle.

Apparently, God had spoken the truth to Pharaoh, that he had usurped another man’s wife and that was the cause of the plague.

Pharaoh was furious. He had given Abraham sheep, oxen, he asses, menservants, maidservants, she asses and camels in exchange for Sarah. To get rid of Abraham and the plague, Pharaoh sent him away, demanding back none of his gifts to Abraham.

The moral of this story is NOT “Honesty is NOT the best policy.” We learn from Abraham’s mistake that we can trust God in even the most threatening situations. God not only takes care of us but rewards us.

Unhappily, Abraham did not learn to trust God. Ca. 23 years later (Ch. 20), the King of Gerar, Abimelech had eyes for Sarah. Abraham again lied. Again, Sarah was taken into a Harim, again the king was plagued, again, God punished the king and demanded Sarah’s return and insisted that gifts be given to Abraham. Some of us are slow learners.

QUESTION: Why is fear a faith-betraying emotion?

The Holy of Holies

Join me in bowing before our God in gratitude that we can speak directly and personally to Him. He is our loving Father, so we can embrace Him boldly, but respectfully.

Father, our nation and our world are in a serious state due to the corona virus. Is this Your judgment poured out on us for our rejecting You? You sent plagues as punishment among the Children of Israel. They were seriously afflicted, but You sent release each time. You sent a plague as judgment against Israel because of King David’s sin. Upon His repentance You stayed the plague.

Lord, our Righteous God we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have sinned against Your divine Majesty. Have mercy upon us for rejecting You and putting our trust in man’s abilities. We have embraced materialism and rejected spirituality. We have legislated against praying to God publicly in government, in schools. Business for fear of law suits has proscribed prayer and even saying Your name, unless it is a swear word. We are stripping our nation of any reference to God. We have made our schools into indoctrination institutions against faith in You. We have presided over the slaughter of innocents, legislating ever broadening the legal aborting. We have legally codified the abomination of homosexuality. We have made divorce, which You hate, easy. We have legalized the “marriage” of homosexuals. We have embraced “recreational sex” and made fornication and adultery common as peanuts.

“There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation; Neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over my head: As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds are loathsome and corrupt, Because of my foolishness.” (Psalms 38:3-5)

We, through our own fault, have wandered away from You, our One and only God. We have become altogether corrupt. We have no ability to make restitution for our flagrant sin.

Have mercy upon us, Almighty God. Have pity on our weaknesses. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot even turn away from sin and turn to embrace You, for our own strength is leached away by our egregious sin,

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, And blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with a willing spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; And sinners shall be converted unto thee. (Psalms 51:7-12)

Have mercy on us. Deliver us from our unrighteousness. I worship You, o, most holy One. Unworthy as we are, honor us with deliverance, as we continue to praise Your holiness. Hallelujah!! Hallelujah! Amen!

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Glad Tidings

GT—Volume 13 Issue 9

2 Sep , 2016  

Fatherhood God’s Way

Dad.ca.67

My hard-working father, George Bradshaw, 1967

George Bradshaw married Jane Swift in 1930. Both sets of their parents approved of the match. Unhappily, the plans for a society wedding became overwhelming. To “simplify” matters George and Jane, much to the distress of her mother, Nanny, eloped! George and Jane quit school, got a small apartment and George began driving a cab. For a while, he was a loan officer and then a real estate salesman. When my older sister, Barbara, was coming, they rented a small house.

My Can-Do Dad

By the time Joan was born in 1934, Nanny saw that George could provide for his family. Jane’s father called him “George the Plumber” or “George the Mechanic” or “George the Carpenter” whenever he needed something done.

When Jane’s father died ca. 1936, he left a chain of 12 drug stores. Nanny respected George’s “can-do” ability enough to sell him one of the drug stores in a prime location. By the time I was born in 1939, we were living in our own home. Dad learned from scratch how to run the store. He worked many hours in his store, building up the business and paying off Nanny. Still he had time for my fond memories of playing “horsie”; Daddy on hands and knees, me holding onto his suspenders.

WWII years were prosperous in the drug store. He bought a big, beautiful home in an upscale neighborhood. At times Dad put in 22-hour days. A patriot who hated the war, he served in the Coast Guard Reserve, looking for periscopes in Puget Sound. Still he squeezed out time for his little boy. Mom put me on a bus to downtown, telling the driver where to put me off (You could safely do that in those days. People looked out after children.) Daddy met the bus and took me to the YMCA to watch while he played handball with Dr, Bebe. Then he took me swimming in the “Y” pool.

Jedidiah Island, BC, Canada

Jedediah Island Marine Provincial Park, isolated and tranquil.

By the time the war ended, Dad had made a pile of money, but he got sick of the rat race. He longed for the simpler life he had lived during the summers on his grandfather’s farm. So, he bought an island, Jedidiah Island,  in the waters off Vancouver, B.C. It turned out that we could not move there (that is a story for another time). Undeterred he bought 10 acres in Kirkland. Subsistence farming could not provide for us.

So, Dad bought 100 acres on Whidbey Island. There he did everything, learning as he went: cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, geese, butchering beeves and pork. That was not enough to stem the outflow of a family, by then, of six plus his grandmother from Iowa. “Can-do George” saw the trees on the farm as possible dollars. He learned logging and we cut old growth Douglas Fir for “peeler logs to make plywood. We cut and split Hemlock and White Fir for pulpwood. We cut Alder for furniture wood.

George-Bradshaw

Can-Do George Bradshaw, working on the farm, carrying a bucket of slop for the hogs, Teronda Lodge, Whidbey Island, WA, 1950.

Dad bought a crawler tractor and taught himself how to drive it. He taught me to drive it at age 10. He did many things to earn money to stop the constant drain: took men out fishing in Puget Sound, hauled loganberries to Pomerelle Winery, “tossed squash” (loaded squash on a truck), hired out as a logger, rented cabins on our property, began transforming a stud barn into an apartment complex. Still, the expenses of the family were too great.

After seven years, Dad realized farming was not going to provide for his family. He moved back into Seattle, WA, and re-entered the real estate business. Within 3 years he recouped his fortunes, finished putting two daughters through college, bought a real estate company and purchased a sizeable home. Upon his death he left his wife well fixed and upon her death they left his children a goodly inheritance. Yes, George Bradshaw was a “Can Do” man.     dove-vector-clipart

Can’t Do Fathers

Unhappily, and too often tragically, progenitors of children are not good fathers. Some lack the drive, some lack ability, some lack commitment, and others are too self-centered.

Fatherhood requires hard work. A father has three essential responsibilities. First, a man must love a woman and be wholly committed to her. Second, he must love his children and nurture them. Thirdly, he must provide the money to support his family. These are not all but they are the foremost responsibilities. A man must divide himself three ways and put energy and feeling into each. This takes hard intentional effort, i.e. hard work.

The man who does not have the drive or will to do the hard work will short-change one or another of these responsibilities. Too often such men invest themselves in their work and leave the raising of the children to their wives.

Some fathers find themselves “trapped” with children and a wife. They do not have the emotional stability to give all (or even a little) of their emotional strength to dealing with the inevitable conflicts among children, within the family, and within themselves. They throw up their hands and leave. They abandon their post, going AWOL,

Father and SonMany are not “in it for the long haul”. They never thought through the commitment it takes to spend the middle 20 or 30 years of their lives committed to supporting a family, training children and loving one woman exclusively. Sometime along in that period they ask themselves (consciously or unconsciously) “Is it worth it?” Their answer is, “Nope!”; and they bail out. They often begin looking for a “honey” who dotes on them, appreciating their maturity, knowledge and position. The girl laughs at his old jokes, relishes in his established income and satisfies him in all ways, with little commitment.

Perhaps the saddest of all is the father who needs attention. The truth that he takes a secondary role to his children comes as a terrible shock. The more children they have, the more he feels pressed to the periphery of his wife’s concern. His demands for attention increasingly irritate his wife and eventually anger her. He ceases to get the tender understanding and attention that his wife gave him before they married and before the children came along. He may take solace in a bottle; he may continue to storm and disrupt the family peace; or he may leave and look for that “honey”.      dove-vector-clipart

Need More Martyrs

NewsThe word “martyr” comes from the Greek μάρτυς (martus)a witness. True fatherhood is a witness to the virtues that are required to be a father. In the common parlance, a martyr is one who feels so strongly about a conviction that he or she is willing to sacrifice his or her life to be faithful.

When a man says “I do”, it should be with an exclamation mark, “I do!” The officiant (minister or public officer) should repeat the traditional formula, “The marriage obligations should not be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly and in fear of God.” This gives the man a reminder that marriage is not to transform a “one night stand” into a repetition “for as long as they both shall love”. Marriage properly entered into means that each one gives up something for other “things” that are better.

A man witnesses that he is ready to take on the responsibility of cherishing his wife and in the process of time nurturing his children. Thus, his “I do” is a witness to his martyrdom of his independent, self-centered life for the cause of raising a family.

Men and women are different. This is a controversial statement in our society. Nevertheless, it is true. A women’s constitution is built to be a nurturer; therefore, she needs a secure environment in which to raise children. A stable marriage with a man she can depend upon provides this security best.

Men are goal oriented. They tend to take on the world and seek to make it bow to their commands. They have less need for a wife and family. This is why predominantly more men abandon their wives and children than women.

While it is not a sacrifice for a woman to commit her life to raising children, it is for a man. This is faithful commitment with both meanings of “martyr”. It is a witness to the world of his priorities; and it is a sacrifice of the world to commit to his family.     dove-vector-clipart

Fatherhood Examined

Survey after honest survey verifies that children raised in a stable, loving home are less likely to be in trouble, less likely to end up in prison, do better in school and achieve more in life. Fathers contribute a great deal to this formula. The man who commits to his marriage “until death do us part” establishes a stance of life that his wife, the mother of his children can trust. This gives her the security she needs to commit herself wholeheartedly to her children. The man who accepts the joint responsibility of nurturing his children contributes to their wholesome upbringing.

Daughters learn from their father how to be a woman with a man. This is essential in their formation later in life of a stable relationship with a reliable man.

Sons learn from their fathers how to be a man with a woman. They learn how to treat a woman with respect, how to support her financially, emotionally and to lend his strengths to fill in her needs.

Fathers take the lead in working to support their families. Unhappily, in today’s economy that is harder, since it often takes two incomes to support a “middle class family”. This prevents a mother from nurturing her children. They, too often, childcare workers actually raise them. However, if families are willing to make the sacrifices of a lower standard of living, the long run payoff is great in the lives of the children.

StudyingFathers need to be involved in the nurture of children. Children need to know that their fathers are deeply concerned with their lives and development. Dad’s hands hugging them, Dad disciplining them, Dad in the bleachers or audience builds a sense of being loved and being important. Fathers are instrumental in building self esteem.

The regular paycheck that fathers provide gives financial security and teaches children that hard work pays off. His working around the home teaches that he values the family’s environment. His assigning chores and disciplining the children to accomplish them teaches that work, even though not enjoyable is important.

In this limited space, we just scratch the surface of the importance of fathers accepting and living up to their responsibilities to the family and the children.     dove-vector-clipart

The Most Important Gift Fathers Give

A father’s faith in Jesus is the most important gift to his children. His faith is communicable. “Like father, like son”, “the apple does not fall far from the tree” are two “old saws”; nevertheless, they are true. While all these traits of reliability, love and nurture are important to healthy family and personal development, the most A vital element is missing: a father’s commitment to Christ. The mother’s commitment to Jesus is also vital, but here I am dealing only with the father.

Family w BookA loving father, whose heart belongs to Jesus, shows most clearly the character of God the Father. Children who see their father pray and study Scripture, recognize the reality and vitality of trusting in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. His example of right living, even when it hurts, gives his children the confidence to make hard godly choices in the face of worldly opposition and hostility.

The father who bravely endures sacrifice for his faith tells his children the importance of faith in Jesus. It teaches them to obey God’s direction, regardless of the price.

On the other hand, a godly father shows his family that their blessings are all at the hand of God. He teaches them that God, their Father, is watching over them and protecting them. They believe this is true because they see these characteristics of trust in God in their earthly father. His love shows them that God is love.     dove-vector-clipart

Fatherhood Of God

The Cotton Patch Gospel says God was like a mammy, kneeling down in the mud making a man like kneading bread dough. This is a tender vision of the care with which God created Man. All other elements of creation, the stars and planets, vegetation, animals, Scripture says were created by His word, whereas, man was created personally. “God made man in His own image”. This speaks of God’s special love for man. He did not create a flawed person. He created man perfect. Then he breathed into man His Spirit.

Thus, God has demonstrated His astounding love for mankind. He wants man to companion with Him, so he gave mankind another extraordinary gift–the will to choose. He frees man to decide for or against Him (amazingly); knowing man would rebel and forsake God’s blessings.

God gave individuals uncounted opportunities to return to trust Him implicitly. He gave them a code of laws as a guideline to right behavior. Finally, he gave people an astonishing gift. He sent His Son to suffer God’s judgment for the sin of mankind and to pay the eternal price–death.

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8 TLV)

Here is the pinnacle of sacrificial love. God the Father loves us so much that He surrendered His only begotten Son. He allowed His Son to leave His right hand to be born a baby, and become the God/man. “Now if that ain’t love …”

His love is absolutely dependable. Nothing can take it away from us, nor can we lose it (Romans 8:31-39, q.v.) God’s presence is always with us. He is ever at our side, at all the events of our lives. In the depths of terrible times, our Savior is down in the muck with us (Psalms 139:7-14, q.v.)

As Creator He has made us and has taken great care in forming us.

For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well. My frame was not hidden from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.   (Psalms 139:13-16)

Since God took such care, we can expect that He loves us eternally.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.   (Romans 8:14-17)

God has made the way for us to become not just His creations, but His sons and daughters as adopted brothers and sisters of Christ. Further, it means that we are fully God’s and heirs of eternal life. Just as Jesus was resurrected, even so we will be resurrected to have imperishable celestial bodies in our father’s glorious realm. There sickness, sadness, infirmity, grief, pain and all of the earthly inconveniences will no longer exist.

And there we shall ever be with the Lord.    (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Divinci CreationThe pinnacle of fatherhood is God the Father. True men will embrace the challenges of fatherhood, surrender their lives to Jesus Christ and live to emulate God their Father. They will embrace the “bondage” of marriage. They will embrace the wives of their youth all the days of their lives. They will be fruitful and multiply. They will own the responsibilities of marriage and family rearing. They will rejoice in their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In this life, as examples of God the Father, they will bring glory to Him and receive uncounted blessings at His hand. The “high praises of God will be in their mouths”  (Psalm 149:6) day and night for the privilege of being fathers in God’s place.   dove-vector-clipart

Questions Demanding Answers

This is a recurring feature. I pose a question in one issue. You have the opportunity to send me answers. I publish the best ones in the next issue. Please cite Biblical authority, and keep you answer within 250 words.

QUESTION: Why did King Herod slaughter babies under two years old?

ANSWER: Herod was an evil man. He was paranoid that someone would rival his right to rule in Judea. When he thought anyone – anyone! – was seeking his throne he slew them. Herod killed, with impunity, his father-in-law, several of his ten wives, and two of his sons.

In those days, kings had ultimate authority within their realms. The lives of king’s subjects’ were in his hands. “Off with their heads!” was real, not a joke. Those who were close to kings were either toadies, i.e. “yes men”, or they were very brave. Josephus, a Jewish historian, stated that Herod was so concerned that no one would mourn his death, he commanded a large group of distinguished Jews to come to Jericho. Herod ordered them killed at the time of his death so that the displays of grief that he craved would take place. Fortunately, for the captives, Herod’s son Archilaus and sister Salome did not carry out this wish.

Magi followed the star that had heralded the birth of “the King of the Jews to Jerusalem. They inquired of Herod where this “king” was to be born. Deeply alarmed, this evil man sent his scholars to research. Upon learning the site was Bethlehem, ca. 12 miles SW of Jerusalem, he put on his religious face. He sent the Magi on their way, extracting the promise to return and tell him where they found the “king’. Duplicitously he stated, “That I may come and worship him.”

Likely, the Magi had been traveling some time since the first appearance of the star, perhaps as much as 18 months. Joseph’s family had moved from the stable into a house for that was where the Magi found the family. They did obeisance to the Christ child, who was no longer an infant, gave Him their gifts and left. An angel told them not to return to Jerusalem to report to Herod.

The wicked king waited impatiently for their return, so he could remove the perceived threat to his throne. When it was clear that the Magi would not report as promised, Herod took matters into his own hands. He ordered a troop of soldiers to Bethlehem.

Knowing Herod would attempt to kill His Son, God notified Joseph to leave Bethlehem quietly, and go where God directed them.

When the troop arrived, not knowing which child was the promised king, the soldiers seized baby boys two years old and under. They killed them all, according to Herod’s orders. The “slaughter of innocents” was likely not very many, but still horrific. Bethlehem was more that a village, but less than a city. We do not know the population, but I suspect that there were not more than a dozen boy babies slain, and more likely a half dozen. Nevertheless, Herod’s act was heinous in the extreme!

QUESTION: What was the history of the blood sacrifice for atonement for sin.?

The Holy of Holies

Join me in bowing before our God in gratitude that we can speak directly and personally to Him. He is our loving Father, so we can embrace Him boldly, but respectfully.

 Almighty and ever loving Father, there are billions of people in the world. Out of these teeming millions, You chose me to be your child. O, my God, I am eternally grateful for Your including me in the family of God.

Father, show me how to honor you by my life. I want to please and glorify You in all I do. Your glory is magnificent. Your love is greater than all the oceans in existence. Your mercy exceeds the highest mountains in height and the deepest trenches of the oceans in depth.

Father, there are many people around me that are in need of Your love. They believe their lives to be reasonably good and “if there is Heaven” they expect to be included. They have no concept of the pervasiveness of their sins. They do not know that without the blood of Your Son applied to their sins, blotting them out, they are subject to the full penalty of the LAW – death for eternity, but never unconscious.

Show me how to bless them with the truth of Your saving and forgiving love.

Father, there are people I care for deeply who are struggling with sickness and disease. As Your blessed Son touched and healed multitudes, touch these with Your healing love. Relieve their suffering; ease and eradicate their pain and discomfort. Release them from the bondage to sickness to live free again.

I bewail the sickness of disbelief in America that likely pains Your heart, too. You, my Father, could sweep away all our disbelief, defiance and blindness. Gracious Lord, have mercy on these people deluded by Your enemy and ours. He has convinced them that to avoid guilt from sin they need only discard belief in You. That lie has no merit, since You are real and actively involved in Your creation. And yet, despite all the evidence You have left in the world, they choose to ignore it and take comfort in their delusion.

Have mercy on America, our Father. Remember the faith of our founding fathers. Return America to our first love, our gracious Heavenly Father. You led us to liberty from the oppression of the greatest military force in that era. The founders acknowledged Your sovereignty and proclaimed You as the author of our freedom and independence.

Teach us again the truth of Your loving guidance on the road to glory. For that to happen we need, desperately need, Your Holy Spirit to move across America turning the hearts of the people to You in a uniting wave of anguish for our sin, deep remorse and universal repentance. Open our hearts to the conviction of Your Holy Spirit. Humble us to recognize our need of You. Give us a burning desire to know, love and serve You.

 Pour out upon America a baptism of holy fire to cleanse us from sin and turn us as one person to embrace righteousness.

I want to live on the crest of praise to give You all glory. Praise God for His majesty. Praise God for His Justice. Praise God for His Love. Praise God for His mercy

Hallelujah, Hallelujah! We long for You, our God! Amen!

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Glad Tidings

GT—Volume 13 Issue 8

5 Aug , 2016  

Rose-Colored Glasses

Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil

“Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil” is an unrealistic stance in life. The truth is that evil prospers when good men do nothing!

I started a book, “What the World Needs is More Martyrs”, citing the need to stand up for Christianity and morality, despite the cost of loss of jobs and friends and in the face of judicial penalties. That was several years ago when a wedding photographer was sued for refusing to photograph a homosexual uniting ceremony. While the book has been in process, the climate has gotten more hostile to morality and Christianity. We have seen punitive actions taken against a wedding cake baker and a florist for holding to their moral scruples against homosexual ceremonies.

Our state, Washington, has declared all bathrooms and shower rooms free for all. Now teen boys get to ogle teen girls in the shower and the toilet, whenever their lust desires. I do not understand the refusal to see the dangerous consequences of these kinds of rulings. Behind their Rose-Colored Glasses, promoters are blind to the logical end of their foolish policies. They have a very unrealistic view of human nature. Voyeurism is at least an invasion of privacy and at worst the prelude to sexual assault. All an objective observer has to do is watch a “Gay Pride” parade and see their degrading of humanity to know how bankrupt such rulings are.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”   George Santayana

God revealed to the Children of Israel that there was a moral way to live. When they lived accordingly, they prospered. When they violated His moral laws, nations that were more powerful defeated and enslaved them. Christianity, standing on the shoulders of their Jewish forebears in the Roman Empire, was but a minor religion in the polytheistic and immoral culture. The Empire was victorious in all its wars of conquest for hundred’s of years. Christianity began from only a single God/man with 120 faithful followers. They had no other weapons than faith and morality. They took on the Roman Empire.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6).

In less than 300 years, by the 4th Century, Christianity became the faith of the Roman Empire, (which became “The Holy Roman Empire”). In the ensuing decades they reverted to their immoral past and as a result they lost their edge and Rome was sacked.

However, Christian faith and morality transformed the pagan Franks, Goths, Picts and other European pagan tribes.   dove-vector-clipart

Frog in the Kettle

A number of times in the past I have quoted Alexander Pope.

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace.”  Alexander Pope

There is a constant struggle against the self when a culture holds the line of morality against immorality. Our soul wants to enjoy vice. We want money without working for it. We want freedom without striving to keep it. We want sex without responsibility.

Therefore, to have a civilization that works over the centuries we have embraced morals that God handed to mankind. They restrict the nature of men and women, but are essential to the formation of the healthy individuals. Faithful monogamy laid the foundation for the reliable structure that forms a child into a healthy, responsible, reliable adult. That stability built character into the “Greatest Generation” that fought and won a two-front war and rebuilt both Europe and Japan after World War II. The stable families and the moral training built strengths into the soldiers that made them strong in the face of the horrors of combat and courageous in the face of degrading imprisonment as POW’s.

The deterioration of both faith in God and the strict morality of their parents became evident in mid 20th Century. Easy divorce promoted the breakdown of marriage (violating the Scriptural stance against divorce). The 60’s introduced a moral devolution, spawning rampant “free love” (violating the Scriptural prohibition against fornication). In 1973, the Supreme Court declared that murder of innocents in the womb to be legal (violating the sixth Commandment). In 2009, the Federal Government declared homosexuals a protected class (violating God’s prohibition of that perversion).

Here we have the warming, and then the heating, of the kettle holding the truths of the God who created us and then gave us a structure to live in a healthy way. We are approaching the point where the water is dangerously hot. We can still turn down the heat, but we must do it soon or we will kill our society.   dove-vector-clipart            

Fool’s Paradise

“If we make these changes, it will make a better, freer world.” Progressives use this logic repeatedly. “Restrictions on people are bad, so remove the restrictions and everyone will be happier.” By the same logic, we should disband the laws against bank robbery. The resultant spreading of the wealth that is stored up in banks would make the beneficiaries of that rescinded law very happy.

Those advocating these changes have an unrealistic view of human nature. They believe that century-old lie, “Down deep there is good in all people. All one has to do is relieve people from all hindrances; that will allow the good to surface.”

In the name of tolerance, the federal government has followed some states to mandate that all bathrooms and shower rooms in schools be freely accessible to all students. They cannot conceive (or do not care) that anyone would use that freedom for evil purposes.

Those currently forcing these changes upon us are living in a world that does not exist. In their world, all Caucasian people are rich racists. They contrast that with the belief that all other races are downtrodden and could not possibly be racist. In their world, all people who have money have stolen it from those who are down trodden. They see America as the greatest force for evil in the world, despite all the benefits America has brought to the rest of the world not only by their dollars generously given, but also by the blood of her sons on the battlefields of the world. Misunderstanding the character of mankind, in their delusion, they believe if the oppressors can be eliminated, love will predominate.

Billy Graham

Self-centered indulgence, pride and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle. — Billy Graham

The sad truth is that each man woman and child (I know this is a hard and unpopular truth, but it is reality) is self-centered and will do anything he or she can to survive. To himself or herself, anything one can get away with is alright. Why otherwise do people take advantage of a riot about a perceived wrong to break into and loot stores unrelated to the controversy?

On my way to work, I see the vandalism of graffiti along the freeways. Watch a train. It is rare to see a train car that does not have graffiti all over them. Traffic signs are sometimes so covered with spurious paint that drivers cannot read the warnings. These pose a traffic hazard, but obviously the “artists” do not care.

Despite the destruction of property, defacing buildings, and requiring private companies and the government costly and time-consuming repainting and/or replacement, people gush over the “art’ and bewail the painting over. These foolish people have misplaced values. They are living in a fool’s paradise.

Mary Eberstadt

Mary Tedeschi Eberstadt is an American essayist, novelist, and author of several books of non-fiction. Her writing has appeared in magazines including TIME, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Review, First Things, The Weekly Standard, and other venues.

In her book, It’s Dangerous To Believe, New York, Harper, 2016, Mary Eberstadt states “Many progressive-minded Americans have absorbed the belief that they are heirs to Voltaire, Clarence Darrow, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and other apostles of secular enlightenment. They should know that a lot of what’s committed against religious believers in progressivism’s name these days shares no such dignified pedigree. It smacks instead of intimidation, condescension and vengeance.” (Introduction, pgs. xxv-xxvi).    dove-vector-clipart

Need More Martyrs

One must understand that believing Christians have strong Biblical warrant to oppose homosexuality and all other perversions of natural heterosexuality. Christian professionals who choose not to contribute to such uniting ceremonies are being faithful to the Lord God. Their faith does not allow them to participate in any way, even to provide cakes or flowers or to take photos.

About six years ago, motivated by the alarming trend to stigmatize believers I began collecting material for What This World Needs Is More Martyrs, a work in progress. I am beginning to think it is too late for such a warning.

The truth is we have Christian martyrs everywhere. We do not hear about them, because most news media choose not to report the great number of incidences.

  • National Review, September 7, 2015 “Always Ready To Give An Answer”, by David FrenchInterVarsity college Christian fellowship is being banished from college campuses across the nation. This began in 2000 with a Tufts University campus fellowship recent decision to deny a lesbian student’s application to lead the group. Not only did the student expressly disagree with InterVarsity’s teachings on marriage, family, and human sexuality, she also specifically stated that she wanted to use her position at the Fellowship to advocate gay rights. InterVarsity faced possible expulsion at dozens of campuses. It was de-recognized at all 23 schools of the California State University system.
  • Julea Ward was told to change her Christian beliefs or leave Eastern Michigan University’s counseling program. At the formal review before a panel comprised of three university professors and one student, Julea was grilled about her Christian beliefs with questions like whether she viewed her form of Christianity as superior and if she believed homosexual behavior is a choice. Julea again clarified her position that she would not be able to affirm a homosexual relationship because it went against her biblical convictions. A few days later, Julea was notified by letter that she had been dismissed from EMU’s graduate program.
  • A Pastor and his wife have been holding a Bible study in their home for five years. On Good Friday, 2009, an employee of San Diego County code enforcement officer came to their home asking questions. Upon learning they say, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord”, the County found they were conducting religious services and issued an order to either obtain an expensive permit or refrain from conducting religious services in their home.

Not all of these attacks ended unhappily. InterVarsity has actually grown because of the persecution. Julea Ward, at last check, supported by the Alliance Defending Freedom is still battling in court. In San Diego, when the code enforcement story became public the outcry it generated forced San Diego to reverse its ruling and permit the Bible study. Nevertheless, these are bellwethers clanging. We must expect that unbelievers will increasingly attack Christians for espousing their faith in public. Currently, Pastors are subject to personal lawsuit if they refuse to officiate at homosexual uniting ceremony, unless their church as a condition of employment forbids such officiating.  dove-vector-clipart

Who’s In Charge, Anyhow?

In my lifetime, I have seen society transform from Christ-centered to essentially Godless. I have seen the Federal government mandate first taking prayer out of schools, and later forbidding students to pray, carry Bible or even wear a cross. I have witnessed the barring of any religious symbols on federal and state property. I have seen a CEO of Foxfire fired because out of Christian principles he supported an initiative declaring the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

Christian believers must wake up to the harsh reality of the growing momentum to purge American society of Christian principles and Christianity as a faith.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a communist; then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist; then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew; then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak out for me.   —  Martin Niemöller

However, in Christ there is “Victory in Surrender”. Jesus surrendered to the hate of the religious establishment of His time, who tortured and killed Him. Jesus Christ triumphed over sin and death to pave the way for believers to triumph over their society in any century.

The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.  —  Church Father Tertullian, 2nd-century

Willing sacrifice of Martyrs’ lives lead to the conversion of others. In God’s economy, the voice of the dying martyr speaks in the hearts of people near to the execution and those distant in both time and space.

That means for some of God’s people, it is better to surrender one’s life than to seek to preserve it; better for God’s purpose and better for the individual. God instantly translates him into His blessed eternal life. That seems to the worldly wise as foolishness, because they have invested in this material world. Our material lives, so precious to us, are insignificant to God. What is significant in our lives is our relationship with Jesus the LORD God.

As for man, his days are as grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;   (Psalm 103:15-16)

Once Jesus establishes a relationship with us as Savior and saved; God, as Father and adopted child, then our eternal destiny is fixed. This life becomes a husk that we can shed anytime it is God’s time. When we hold our lives loosely, we have the greatest freedom. No one can intimidate us. No sacrifice in this life is too great. Loss of job is not a crisis. Loss of income is not a disaster. Ultimately, loss of life can actually be a blessing.

Looking at our lives from God’s perspective, all these setbacks are as small dust in the balance with our eternal security in Christ. He gave us this body to use for time. During time, we are to nurture it and be good stewards of it while we live. Nevertheless, God has given us a disposable model. When his time comes, we will discard both this body and this life, and then enter into an eternal realm of existence. “Oh that will be glory for me!” You see, Our Father God has a celestial body reserved for us. He has a spiritual life awaiting to replace one’s life in this world (the world itself is disposable and will one day be dissolved, leaving only, we suppose) God’s celestial world. It will be wonderful beyond our most exaggerating imaginations. The Bible intimates that believers will be invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We envision the Supper as a table groaning with its load of delicacies and the cups of wine overflowing, making our hearts glad, but not intoxicating our brains.

Therefore, although we see evil, hear evil, we speak no evil. We offer God’s grace freely. We do not take umbrage, because God is the one who is in charge. Jesus suffered greatly through the torture of the crucifixion, but…

…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Because Scripture states that the believers’ future will be a time of suffering and pain, we should not be surprised when they turn up the heat in the kettle. It does not catch us unawares.

But ye shall be delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” (Luke 21:16-17)

While we wait for “Pie in the sky bye and bye”, believers are not living in a Fool’s Paradise. We are living in a reality that the world cannot perceive. God our Savior promised that we will have a marvelous share in God’s glorious Kingdom.

…so shall we ever be with the Lord.   (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

So, my brothers and sisters, with the world collapsing around us, catch hold of God’s promises and continue to praise and glorify Him! Hallelujah! We are victorious in Christ!   dove-vector-clipart

Questions Demanding Answers

This is a recurring feature. I pose a question in one issue. You have the opportunity to send me answers. I publish the best ones in the next issue. Please cite Biblical authority, and keep you answer within 250 words.

QUESTION: Who is Melchizedek and what does he have to do with Jesus?

ANSWER: He was a Priest of the Most High God who was also the King of Salem. (Genesis 14:18) He was both a king and a priest.

Jesus the Messiah was both a king and a priest. He was a king by descent from the Tribe of Judah. However, since He was not a descendant of the Tribe of Levi, he could not be a priest of the Aaronic line.

The Letter to the Hebrews (7:2) points out that “Melchizedek” means “king of righteousness” and as King of Salem (meaning peace) he is king of peace. He was both a king and a priest.

In Psalm 110, Jehovah is speaking to Adoni. He declared to His Son, …

Thou art a priest for ever, After the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:4)

Therefore, Jesus’ priesthood comes not from Aaron. It precedes the Aaronic priesthood, since He is in the mystical order of Melchizedek.

“without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God), abideth a priest continually.”  (Hebrews 7:3)

So, we have in three places in the Bible reference to Melchizedek. These three appear to converge in pointing to Jesus.

  1. Melchizedek appears and disappears in just three verses of introduction
  2. His lineage is assigned to the Son of God, Messiah
  3. The inspired author of Hebrews devotes a significant portion (ch. 7) to showing that Christ’s priesthood is in the order of Melchizedek’s; that Christ’s priesthood is superior to Aaron’s

Thus, the king of righteousness and peace and the priest of the most high God is spiritually the ancestor of the Messiah. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the Holy Righteous Son of God and the supreme High Priest that offered the perfect sacrifice for our sin. His own blood cleanses from sin, all who appeal to Him.

Now, we may surrender to Jesus on a daily basis, confident that not only does Jesus have the position, but also the authority to cleanse us from unrighteousness and sin. It behooves all believers to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”. We are saved to begin the process of opening our lives to the sanctifying process of the Holy Spirit. His job is to convince us of sin, righteousness and of judgment. He shows us we are sinners. He reveals to us the path of righteousness and He makes it clear that all will face the Judgment. It is vital that we secure our lives in Christ, and then seek out and confess all the sins of our lives, daily.

QUESTION: Why did King Herod slaughter babies under two years old?

The Holy of Holies

Join me in bowing before our God in gratitude that we can speak directly and personally to Him. He is our loving Father, so we can embrace Him boldly, but respectfully.

 Lord Jesus, Our nation and the world are in an awful mess. We have violated Your word and Your will. We are steeped in idolatry. We are sold under sin. There is nothing redeeming about us. We are lost without You. Save us, Lord Jesus, I pray. We are in desperate need of your redemption.

 Almighty, Lord God, we do not need remediation, we do not need a band aid. We need major heart surgery. Our hearts are sold out to sin. We are deplorable. We are despicable. Come, LORD Jesus and rescue us from evil and degradation. There is no help in us. Our sin disqualifies us from receiving any good thing from You. O, LORD God, have mercy on us and deliver us from the wickedness that makes our feet flee from Your path. Rescue us from our wayward hearts that cling to godlessness, immorality and love of self.

In You alone, we have hope. In Jesus, there is a slight possibility of rescue from the disaster that certainly awaits our world, our nation and me as a sinner.

Lord God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, have mercy upon us. You have saved me by Your precious blood that cleanses me from sin. Now my God save our nation and the world. The need is desperate beyond calculation. In You alone is there relief from the suffering under sin, which in truth we do not recognize as such. Take pity on our ignorance and our blindness. Gracious Lord, You have taken the first step in saving each individual billions of times. You out of Love for lovelessness have reached out to us in our lostness. You, out of Your grace, have knelt down in the muck of this world and dirtied Your pure hands by grappling with me, and so many others like me, to draw us into Your perfect heart. You have patiently allowed us to besmirch Your glory by our poor praise. You have endured our slander and defamation of Your Character by claiming to be Yours, but living as if we were not.

Your love is the most magnificent in all the world. Your truth is the most pure in all the universe. Your Majesty is the most superb in all creation. I love You because You first loved me. I worship You because You chose me to be Yours.

 Glory be to God in the highest. All honor, majesty, power, dominion are Yours most Holy and Loving Father, Wonderful Son, Glorious Holy Spirit.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah! I worship You my God! Amen!

 

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Christ and Culture

Marriage in the Culture vs. Marriage in Christ

23 Jun , 2014  

Gratia Christi, quod Sum, quod Vivo, quoque Laboro facit. 

“The grace of Christ makes what I am, what I live, what I do”

Love in the 60’s

Ruth and I began dating and because we liked one another, we became “steadies”. We fell in love in 1960, and began looking toward marriage as the consummation of our relationship. In those days, the vast majority of couples who dated seriously married. Couples just did not move in together! It meant social ostracism to do so. Pre-marital sex was rare. It was done furtively and kept a secret. We have come a long way, baby!

Love Generation

In the ‘70’s, couples began to question marriage. “It’s just a bit of paper. We love each other! We don’t need a piece of paper.” The arguments for marriage sounded pretty thin to the lusty youth of the after ‘60’s “Love Generation”, and the “Question Authority” crowd. The incidence of marriage has declined over the decades, while “living together” has skyrocketed.

It is certainly a lot easier to move out then to get a divorce. This of course has the consequence of at precipitous drop in commitment. Attendant is the increase of childless couples.

Family formation has taken a back seat to romance. As long as they both shall love, they stay together. Birth control (actually birth prevention techniques) has led to a significant reduction in the nation’s indigenous population. The self-centeredness and irresponsibility of the general population has increased. With no commitment to a marital partner and no responsibility to raise children life is pretty sweet. Right? Actually, the lack of permanent relationships creates a lonely population and some pretty depressing elder years.

Lack of Commitment

Not to forget marriage, the same lack of commitment and irresponsibility has infected marital couples and families. That lack of commitment has increased the divorce rate over the last half century from about 20% to over 50% today. Some think they are clever to change the wedding vows from “so long as we both shall live” (a lifetime commitment) to “so long as we both shall ‘LOVE’ ” (admitting that each is planning to bail out when things get tough).

Since the “honeymoon” may last a half dozen years, the family including children has likely grown from two to four or five. Divorce not only breaks the relationship between the man and the woman, but it also damages the children. They lose the important values stemming from integrity in family relationships. The breaking of the relationship erodes trust. How can one trust the faithfulness of others when someone intimately related in marriage breaks his or her vows and walks out? How can I trust myself in a relationship if I have not been able to stick it out in a previous relationship? The answer to both questions is that trust is the victim on both sides of a broken commitment.

Marriage Back in the News

Recently marriage has re-surged in popularity only because homosexuals want to cover their nakedness with the sham of marriage. They think if they codify in law the acknowledgement of their relationship, that will make them more acceptable to society. Probably that is less true than they expect. The people who accept their relationship will do so regardless of governmental sanction. The people who do not accept their relationship will not accept it regardless of governmental sanction.

This brief treatise perhaps gives an idea of the confusion and brokenness that cultural view of marriage brings. Now we turn to Christ’s view of marriage.

God’s Plan for Marriage

In the beginning God created man and woman. He did not create man and a variation of man. Throughout the animal world, the Almighty created two sexes. Both are necessary for procreation of life. That is only natural. He created the two sexes very similar, but also very different. Among mankind (which is what concerns us here), men and women are complementary. It was His plan from the beginning to bring man and woman into an exclusive life-long relationship.

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)

This “one flesh” concept means that they become joined in a mutual, committed, interrelationship that is life-long. Only those who have lived in marriage under Christ for many decades can truly understand the “one flesh” concept. It is in fact the most healthy, blessed relationship among humans.

Healthy Families

Life-long commitment is the foundation of healthy families. As children are raised they begin to understand the differences and the needs of men and women by constantly living with mom and dad. They see them together working out hard times and enjoying bountiful times. The children grow up in security. They know that when mom or dad leaves she or he will always come back. The trust between the woman and man allows the failures of each to be met with understanding and forgiveness. Children see that breaches do not mean destruction of the relationship. Growing this environment, allows the children to develop a strong commitment to loyalty and honor (both sadly lacking in today’s culture).

When two people who love Jesus marry, they participate in a ceremony involving three persons. The couple makes vows in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They vow to love, honor and obey; to be faithful to one another; and to support one another in plenty and adversity. Since their vows are sanctioned by God, breaking them is an affront to God’s majesty. So when times get tough their vows before God lead each spouse to appeal to Him for the strength to honor them. When they pass through troubled waters they are stronger and even more blended into one flesh than before.

While statistics show the extremely positive results of a Christ-blessed marriage and children raised under it, they cannot come close to measuring the real bounty in the lives of each member of those families.

Christ in Marriage

If you are living together unmarried, ask Jesus into your relationship and commit to a marriage under His blessing.

If you are married but have not entered into it under Jesus’ blessing, find a believing Pastor and consecrate your selves and your marriage to Jesus and receive His blessings.

If you are married and have consecrated your selves and your marriage to Jesus, but are experiencing troubled waters, reach out for the hand of Christ and trust Him to lead you through.

If you are homosexuals and seeking acknowledgment of your relationship under the banner of marriage, recognize that God will not sanction your relationship. Turn away from your “identity” and turn to Jesus. He will transform your life and give you fulfillment in the sex He created you.

In all these cases, please pray with me this prayer:

Lord Jesus, I acknowledge you as the Lord of my life. You created me with unique characteristics. You gave me the capability to love. Let my first and foremost love be to You. Give me the will to be fully obedient to your will. Grant me the grace to fully submit to You.

As a result of my surrender to You, Give me a holy relationship with the opposite sex. Lead me into a life-long commitment to my spouse. Build into our relationship the mutual respect for the differences between man and woman. Give us hearts to submit to one another as unto the Lord. Give us love for one another that will overcome the hard times, weather the disappointments, and forgive the failures. Give us the openness to confess quickly our offenses against one another. And then as you give us stewardship over children, give is the wisdom to raise them up in the faith, nurture and strengths of Almighty God.

In Jesus’ name,  Amen.

Maranatha!                                     tb

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Christ and Culture

Court Culture vs. Christ’s Culture

26 May , 2014  

Gratia Christi, quod Sum, quod Vivo, quoque Laboro facit.

“The grace of Christ makes what I am, what I live, what I do”

Court Culture vs. Christ’s Culture

In the last several years, the homosexual lobby has been vociferously advocating for general recognition of homosexual unions as legal marriages. They have not been satisfied with their recognition under the various jurisdictions’ laws protecting “Same-sex Unions”.

The unspoken purpose is to breakdown the morality of our nation by attacking and redefining the basic unit of society. Several decades ago homosexuals stated all they wanted was to change the laws to eliminate the illegality of homosexuality. They got that.

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