Memorial Day

Recently, my father introduced me to a man that was at Normandy on D-Day. My father calls him a hero. I suspect that there are few that would disagree. My father served in World War II also, but he does not consider himself a hero. I found it interesting that my father’s friend did not call himself a hero, but neither did he argue when my father called him one. I suspect that very few (if any) actual heroes refer to themselves as heroes, in fact, most true heroes probably don’t even consider themselves such. Personally, I think any person who voluntarily puts on a uniform, and puts his life on the line to defend his country, is a hero. There are, of course, varying degrees of volunteerism: a draftee is not normally considered a volunteer, but we know there have been many draft-dodgers; even someone serving after being drafted has to have some level of willingness to report for duty when his country calls.

There are many heroes in the Bible, and many examples of different kinds of service. Paul was a draftee. Jonah was a deserter. Joshua and Caleb reconnoitered Canaan. David was clearly a volunteer. Joab turned traitor, after serving King David bravely and faithfully for many years. Of course, David had a few good men. Hebrews 11 gives a list of some of the more impressive heroes of the Bible, and the things that they did that proved their faith. It is not all-inclusive, but it is a fine listing: Abel was known to be righteous because he sacrificed the firstfruits of his labor to God. Enoch was translated that he should not see death. Noah built the ark. Abraham left his home to go someplace he had never been, simply because God told him to. Sarah was able to give birth in her old age because she made a decision to believe God. Amram and Jochebed, Moses’ parents, hid him for three months out of faith. Moses himself, who could have been a prince in Egypt, chose to lead his people out. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho. This chapter also talks about Isaac, Joseph, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets; it is well worth reading.

Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus went on to lay down His life, not just for His friends, but also for people that He had never even met. Most of us hadn’t even been born yet. Many of our military heroes emulate Christ’s example, laying down their lives, not just for their friends, but for people that they’ve never met. In some cases, for people that don’t even appreciate the sacrifice. I realize that Memorial Day has already passed us by this year, but I hope that each of us has honored the military men and women that have given their lives for our continued freedom (and if Memorial Day was just another day to you this year, then please don’t wait until next Memorial Day to spend some time in remembrance). Remember also the sacrifice that our Lord and Savior made for us.

The Great Commission

Jesus’ last words to His apostles have become known as the Great Commission. One thing that many people don’t seem to realize is that there are four gospels, and, therefore, different versions of the Great Commission. I think that it is important to note that each of the writers wrote down what was most important to him, and, apparently, didn’t try to write down the entire message. The different accounts are, in fact, quite different.

Matthew recorded it this way: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Mark: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Luke: “And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

And, finally, John really didn’t write an account of the Great Commission, but, according to him, Jesus’ last words to His disciples were, “Follow me.”

If we examine the words, we find that Jesus said that all power was His. Not some of the power, or that He was part a committee that had all power, but that all power was His. Some may ask, “Well, who gave it to Him? Did He give it to Himself?” Quite possibly He did, otherwise, someone else gave it to Him, without reserving any power to themselves. He told them to teach all nations. Teach them what? Well, He also said to preach the Gospel to every creature (creature meaning created being—in this instance, meaning beings created by God). So, by looking at those two together, it is clear that we should be teaching (or preaching) the Gospel; in Luke it talks about repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations, so repentence and remission must be part of the Gospel message. Matthew and Mark both talk about baptism, where Luke talks about tarrying at Jerusalem, until they were endued with power from on high. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that the disciples tarried at Jerusalem until the day of Pentacost, when the Holy Ghost fell (enduing them with power), and they had the first post-resurrection baptismal service (and, when Peter told the crowd to be baptized, he specifically used the terms “repent” and “remission of sins”). So, really, Luke is talking about baptism, too, although he may not have realized that at the time (or, alternatively, he thought it was obvious, and didn’t consider us trying to understand his context almost two thousand years later). Mark goes on to talk about signs that shall follow the believers: New tongues, taking up serpents, not being harmed by drinking deadly things, and healing the sick. I have pointed out before that I don’t think every believer is going to show each of those signs, and least, not in a purely literal sense. In a Spiritual sense, I know that I gained a new tongue when I accepted salvation. Of course, I was born again, so all of me was effectively new, but one of the most striking changes in me was that certain words that I had been trying unsuccessfully to drop from my vocabulary for years were suddenly gone. I have had to take up two-legged serpents that would have liked to separate me from the love of God. I have drunken in all kinds of deadly things with my eyes and ears and continued my walk with Christ. There have been times when I have been able to encourage a brother or sister who was Spiritually ill, and see them recover.

Nobody's Perfect

Nobody’s perfect. I think most of us have heard that pretty much all of our lives, and yet, I think sometimes we don’t really believe it. Jesus actually commanded us to be perfect; the commandment is echoed in First Peter and in James but, we will never be perfect, at least, not in this lifetime.

Don’t misunderstand me, each of us should strive to be perfect, but not take it personally when we don’t succeed. We all have faults; that’s why we are commanded to confess our faults one to another. Each of us will come short of the glory of God, the Bible says so. Apostle Paul wrote in one place about having a thorn in his flesh, that God would not remove, and in another place about not being perfect yet.

If you aren’t making mistakes, then you aren’t making any progress, either. You may have heard that Thomas Edison tried over a thousand different things before he figured out how to make a filament glow as a result of electric current in an evacuated globe. I’m not sure how many different materials he tried before he hit on the idea of keeping the filament in a vacuum, or whether he went back and tried each of the previous materials in a vacuum when it did occur to him. I have heard it said that he didn’t fail a thousand times, but that the invention of the light bulb was a journey of a thousand steps. It’s all a matter of perspective.

One thing to keep in mind is that God can bring good out of anything. Now, the good that comes from your mistake may not be the good that God had intended for that situation, but He can turn it into good, anyway. I just recently finished reading C. S. Lewis’s Perelandra, and there is some discussion in there about the good that is, and the good that would have been. In that discussion, it seems pretty clear that the good that God intended is better than the good that came from error, but it’s hard to judge reality against a hypothetical. I have to say though, that it seems pretty obvious that God wants the best for us, and if He has to bring good out of our mistakes, then that good will not be as good as the good that He had intended for us.

My point though, is this: Everybody makes mistakes, but God forgives mistakes. He has a harder time forgiving inaction. Remember the parable of the talents? The guy that didn’t do anything with his talent got into trouble. Why didn’t he do anything with it? Because he was afraid of making a mistake! James tells us that faith without works is dead. It seems to me that it’s better to the wrong thing for the right reason, than to do nothing at all for fear of doing the wrong thing. I admit it, many times I find myself in the situation that if I say something, I may offend the person that I am trying to help, but, if I don’t say something, they may suffer the ultimate price, and I have to ask myself, which would offend them more? It is those times that I have to prayerfully evaluate what is the best way to say what needs to be said, and try to warn that individual away from the path that they are taking while creating the least possible offense…

Scripture as Nutrition

I overheard a comment the other day: A lady at church was talking about being at a buffet with a friend of hers, and her friend refused to eat any sweet potatoes because she objected to the name: They aren’t sweet, and they aren’t potatoes. She suggested that her friend try some of the yams, instead.

I used to know a chef that told me that sweet potatoes and yams are very different. I asked him to explain the difference to me, because I have eaten both, and I am unaware of any. He insisted that they were very different, and refused to elucidate any further. Most people I would take that to mean that there really isn’t any difference, but this guy was a straight-shooter. If he says there’s a lot of difference, even if he doesn’t want to get into what the differences are, then I tend to believe him. I did some research on the matter, and found that they really are two different things, but, that sweet potatoes are often referred to as yams (in fact, from what I read, the ‘yams’ at the buffet were most likely sweet potatoes in all actuality). So maybe I haven’t really had both. Maybe the candied yams I had were really sweetened sweet potatoes; I don’t know, but at least they were sweet. Just as an aside, I found out that ube, which had been introduced to me as a Filipino sweet potato, is actually in the yam family.

This morning I was reading Proverbs, and I remembered that several years ago, someone commented to me that Psalms and Proverbs are like the candy of the Scriptures. At the time, that struck as being slightly wrong, although I understood what he was trying to say. They are generally easy reading, and pleasant to read (there are exceptions, of course, many of the psalms begin with dark situations, but at least end on a hopeful note). Bible scholars refer to these books as books of wisdom. There is a lot in them about how to live life without getting entailed in the things that, in the long run, you don’t really want to be involved in, even when those things seem so desirable in the here and now. There have been times in my life when I have felt down, and I have read for a while in Psalms or Proverbs, and then felt much better; more positive about myself, and spiritually cleaner. Some of those times I walked away without even a memory of what I had read, and I think that is unfortunate. The term candy, though, suggests, not only sweetness, but a total lack of nutritional value. Believe me when I tell you that you can provide your soul with a lot of nourishment by reading Psalms and Proverbs. I will admit that sometimes it doesn’t seem like you’re getting a lot of good from reading them, but the good is there. If you really spend some time studying what they have to say (not just reading it, setting down, and walking away from it, without even remembering what you read, as I have done), then it could really do you some good. Both yams and sweet potatoes have appreciable nutritional value, even if they don’t really seem like it when you are eating them, even when they are “candied.” I would like to suggest that it is more appropriate to refer to Psalms and Proverbs as the sweet potatoes of the Scripture, rather than the candy. I’d also like to point out that, if we’re going to identify different parts of the bible as different foods, then it’s important to get a well-rounded diet. Make sure that you are getting sustenance from all the different food groups; in other words, don’t just pick some parts of the bible that you like, and read those parts over and over, but read the whole thing over and over.

Christian Science Fiction

Some of you may have been reading my blog long enough to know that I am something of a science-fiction fan. I don’t write about it here very much because it doesn’t seem to apply, but, I have started reading C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy. I was, until recently, completely unaware that such a series even existed.

To be honest, I don’t think that Lewis’s works are in the same league as, say, Jules Verne (if you’ll pardon the expression). Still, he has come up with some interesting ideas. I finished Out of the Silent Planet the other night, and started reading Perelandra, the second book in the series. By the way, I haven’t been to see the new Star Trek movie yet, but it’s on my list. I read the other day that, in this new movie, Kirk gets the green girl (again), although I have to question the accuracy of that report, if only because it was Pike that got the green girl the first time, but, still, I can’t help but wonder about the timing: I just read where Ransom (Lewis’s intrepid hero) meets up with a green girl on the planet Perelandra. Now I can’t help but wonder if Gene Roddenberry read C. S. Lewis… (somehow I doubt it)

I think the thing that normally draws me to science-fiction is that good science fiction spends a lot of effort trying to make things seem real that, theoretically, could be real, in the future, or somewhere else. A lot of movies today concern themselves with how much adult material they can package into ninety minutes. Star Trek of course, started out as a TV series, and, even on the big screen, seems to embrace big-screen production values while not overstepping the bounds of small-screen morality (as I say this, it occurs to me that there is an old story about NBC worrying about ratings, and encouraging Roddenberry to push the envelope on censorship—which he refused to do, although, admittedly, Federation women traditionally had the shortest skirts of all civilized worlds (until sometime during the airing of the Next Generation, after someone complained that one of the Enterprise’s senior officers looked like an inter-galactic cheerleader). When Star Wars first came out, I really thought that the light sabers were stupid, but I was thrilled at the idea that, although the plot-line was thin, and the acting was less-than-stellar, the story kept moving, and stayed afloat through momentum and special effects, rather than foul language and “adult situations.” Think about it: The original Star Wars had one kiss in it, and later one we find out that kiss was between a brother and his sister, and is still one of the top-grossing pictures of all time.

Not too long ago, I was complaining that it seems like so many movies now are remakes, sequels, or revamped TV shows, and someone asked me if I thought there were any good stories that haven’t already been filmed. I said at the time that I believed that there were, although I couldn’t think of any at the time. Now it occurs to me that I don’t think anything like Lewis’s Space Trilogy has ever been filmed. To be honest, as a live-action film, the technology barely exists to do the story justice, but I am a little surprised that no one has done a animated feature based on the books. The Chronicles of Narnia stories have been done several times, after all. Of course, I don’t mean to suggest that the sales of the Space Trilogy are as impressive as the Chronicles of Narnia (as I said earlier, I only recently heard of the Space Trilogy myself), but still.

UPDATE: I commented yesterday that Gene Roddenberry may have read C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, because both writers included a green lady in their works. I wasn't entirely serious; green skin color is kind of exotic, and it doesn't surprise me at all that the idea could be devloped by two different writers independent of each other. I read further in Perelandra last night, after posting the above, and found Ransom discussing the idea that perhaps God and the Devil were not two seperate forces at work in the universe, but two sides of the same Force. Now I can't help but wonder if George Lucas has read the Space Trilogy.

The Body of Christ

Scripture tells us that flesh and blood can not inherit the Kingdom of God, and that corruption shall not inherit incorruption. Of course, if ever there was an example of human flesh being uncorrupted, it was Jesus Christ, in the flesh. But, we know that Jesus existed before He became flesh (John 1:1, 14, 1 Timothy 3:16, John 10:30), and we know that He continues to exist, free of His mortal body. In other words, even though He ascended, and left no body behind (at least, not that we know of; that could be an interesting discussion some other time). He would appear to have translated, as Enoch did.

So there is a definite difference between Jesus, the man, and Jesus’ Spirit. That flesh only existed for a finite period of time—about 33 years—from the time that Mary gave birth until the Ascension. The flesh was only part of the story. While Jesus walked the earth, He was very careful about what He said and did in regards to His flesh, because He did not want anyone to worship that human body. It was never the body that was extraordinary, in fact, He had no physical attractiveness about Him. Clearly, though, there was something that drew people to Him.

When Jesus appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, many of them did not know what to think of it. Some thought that they were seeing a ghost. Jesus assured them that He was flesh and blood, even going so far as to eat something to prove it (a spiritual being doesn’t need physical sustenance, although, under certain circumstances, a spiritual being can take on physical form, and then eat, but Jesus wanted them to know that He was at least in physical form).

It is also important to note that now we are the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul takes the Corinthians to task because some of their members thought that they weren’t important, or perhaps, some of the Corinthians thought that they were more important than others. If you don’t think that you are important, then be sure to read that chapter, but just to recap, Paul compared the Body of Christ to a natural body. He talked about if the foot compared itself to the hand, and decided that it wasn’t really part of the body, because it couldn’t do what the hand did, well, quite frankly, it would be hard for a person to walk around with no feet. Sometimes we get hung up on what somebody else is good at, but God has given each of us the talents and abilities that we need to do whatever it is that He would have us to do. Comparing yourself to someone else just doesn’t make sense. They almost certainly have faults that you are completely unaware of, and their purpose in the Body of Christ is different than yours is (other than the obvious common purposes of staying saved and seeing others saved). If someone else has a great singing voice, but your talents run more toward office skills; so what? Where would the church be without people keeping records? If you want to be a cook, but have trouble boiling water, well, maybe you need to spend more time developing your talents—and accept the fact that maybe God didn’t call you to be a cook (pray it through, though, because that desire may be of God, and it just takes more work to build up that particular ability). The important thing, though, is that you understand that you matter to God. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, but, understand that gift is for you personally. Don’t think abut that in terms of how many people God offered it to; understand that He offered it specifically to you. We know that most people will never even accept the gift of salvation; what you may not understand is that the gift is there for you, even if you were the only one who ever truly accepted it. Take that personally; God meant for you to.

Good Things

Ever since I’ve been a Christian, I’ve heard people debate over whether something is essential to salvation, or just a good thing to do. To some extent, it seems like a worse than useless discussion, because if I tell you that something is just a good thing to do, when it is really essential, then I will be held responsible for that in judgment. On the other hand, if I tell you something is essential, and I’m wrong, but you decide that you just can’t handle that, then, once again, I have to answer for that.

Having said that, though, let me point out that there are some that have incorporated snake-handling into their worship services, citing Mark 16:18. I agree that the Scripture says that one of the signs that will follow the believers is that they shall take up serpents. I don’t see anything that suggests that it’s essential to salvation I’m not going to criticize it: If handling snakes makes you feel closer to God, then I’m not going to try to stop you. I would encourage you to be as judicious as you can be in your snake-handling, because I don’t want you to get hurt, but, it’s up to you. In the Book of Acts, Paul was once bitten by a snake, and suffered no harm, but, other than that, I don’t see any mention of anyone in the early church practicing snake-handling, so I’m going to keep my worship to the less dangerous forms of worship.

Some believe that speaking in tongues is essential to salvation, citing Mark 16:17 (the verse right before the one cited above, in fact, the same sentence from Jesus’ mouth). Again, this is a sign that will follow the believers, but not necessarily every believer. Apostle Paul admonished the Corinthians that they put entirely too much emphasis on speaking in tongues, and that, although it certainly has its place, speaking in tongues edifies no one but the speaker (unless of course, there are unbelievers who hear and understand, but that’s not how speaking in tongues usually works). Now, there are some who believe that tongues was just for the early church. I am not in that camp. I don’t believe that God has removed any gifts from the church. The usual Scripture used is in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10; it says that we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. The justification is that the Bible is the perfect Word of God, and once it was compiled, there was no longer any need for tongues. I don’t really follow that logic; it seems to me that when Paul said that when that which is perfect is come, he was referring to the Second Coming. When I tell tongue-naysayers this, though, they usually ask me why I don’t believe that the Bible is perfect. I respond by asking them why they don’t think Jesus is perfect… I do think that tongues is much more rare now than it was in the early church, but I think that has more to do with the fact that the church has drifted from where it was than anything else.

Some people practice foot-washing. Jesus did tell His disciples that they should wash one another’s feet. I don’t have anything against foot-washing, but I don’t put the kind of emphasis on it that I would expect in a society where people walk around all the time in sandals in the desert… Don’t misunderstand me, walking around all day in a suburban environment, wearing comfortable shoes and socks, my feet need washing occasionally, too, but I’m guessing not like the people living in Israel in Jesus’ time. Remember that Jesus had a difference of opinion with that one Pharisee that invited Jesus to dinner, but didn’t wash His feet? That makes it pretty apparent that it was considered common courtesy to wash one’s guest’s feet, or, at the very least, to have one’s servants do it. Jesus wanted the disciples to learn to be each others’ servants, and He wants us to bear one another’s burdens, but that doesn’t necessarily include washing their feet. But, again, if you want to wash feet, I will support you all the way. I might even be drawn in to washing a few feet myself, but only because I think it’s a good thing to do.

The Power of the Spirit

The question has been raised, “What power do I, as an individual, really have?” That’s an interesting question, and well worth some discussion.

Many times we feel that we are essentially nothing. God created us, yet, He is so much greater than we are . King David once wrote that he was a worm, and no man. The Scripture says that His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways. He is so far beyond what we are capable of… Yet, Jesus said that he has given us power; He even said that we would do greater works than the ones that He did. John 1:12 says that we have the power to become sons of God. We are given some indication of that power in the Gospels; it says that Jesus sent them out two-by-two, and told them not to take anything with them, and yet, when they returned, they attested that they had lacked nothing. Further, Apostle Paul told us that he could do all things in Christ Jesus. And yet, Jesus Himself said that He could do nothing of Himself. Of course, Colossians 2:9 tells us exactly what was in Christ’s physical body to allow Him to do the miracles that He did.

So, you may ask, how do we obtain that power? In Acts 1:8, Jesus told the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Ghost was come upon them (which it did, in Acts 2:4Acts Chapter 2). Does that mean that one has to speak in tongues to receive that power? Again, that is an entirely different subject; certainly there is power in knowing that God has taken control of your tongue and made words come out of your mouth that you didn’t even understand (you know that God has complete control over you when that happens), but, what about someone who is mute? There is a power from on high that doesn’t involve speaking in tongues. So, to receive that power, ask for it in Jesus’ Name. Of course, you have to ask in faith believing; if you don’t believe, then you won’t receive.

Understand also that there is power in the spoken word. James warned us that the tongue, though a small member, can do a lot of damage, or a lot of good, depending upon how it is used. James also told us that you can tell a lot about a man by how well he can control his tongue. In Mark Chapter 11, Jesus saw a fig tree off in the distance that had leaves on it, and, although figs were not in season, usually leaves grow on fig trees at about the same time that the tree bears fruit. When Jesus got to the tree, however, there were no figs on it, and He told the tree, “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.” (This could be taken as a warning to avoid the appearance of bearing fruit unless one actually is bearing fruit, but that’s a completely different subject). The next day, the disciples came by that same tree, and were amazed to see that it had withered and died. Jesus went on to tell them that they had the power to move mountains, just by telling the mountain to move. Now, if we have His Spirit in us, then our words can have devastating effect. Of course, if the Spirit is truly in us, then God should be working in us to do His good pleasure. That doesn’t mean that if you call yourself a Christian, then you can do no wrong, but it does mean that if you stay prayed up, and continue to seek God’s will for your life, and you allow yourself to be used of God, then you will only mess up when you get sidetracked, and forget whose you are. That’s one of those human traits.