Large Plants & Middle East Real Estate

We know God's intention was to redeem humanity, but we really have no idea how difficult that will be.  Go ahead, read the account again and again, and each time you can see another facet of the plan. Dirt, air, promises, and faith. 

found this image online at baddom24.blogspot.com

Most are familiar with the death warning attached to joining oneself to the knowledge of good and evil, illustrating God's desire that His creation choose to honor and serve Him as an act of free-will. But there is so much more packed in a few verses.

 Couple things to look at. Apparently the specifics of God's request were not communicated accurately. God told Adam to not eat (become one with) the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (judgment)...  Genesis 2: 9, 16, 17

And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil...And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

But that's not what Eve told Satan in Genesis 3:2, 3:

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

What?  Wait a minute.  Who said anything about touching?  And hello, news flash! There were two trees in the middle of God's garden;  life AND the knowledge of good and evil (judgment).   Talk about getting lost in translation!

I think Adam, in an attempt to protect Eve beefed up the warning (cuz God so needs our help).  Don't eat it, better yet, don't even touch it.... no, in fact don't go anywhere near it - steer clear of the tree that'll kill you - too bad the tree of life is right next door, but better safe than sorry. Tell you what, I'm making a new and better law; stay away from the middle of the garden. (Artistic license being liberally applied here)

And like every other time we think God needs our help, things got all messed up.

Another disturbing issue, definitions of death and life. 

Genesis 3:4, 5, 
 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

Seemed plausible.  Here was a creature that, by Eve's estimation, appeared to be alive.  It was breathing, speaking, and reasoning. Lesson to be learned: without an accurate definition of life, death is unrecognizable as well.  

Jesus cleared up the confusion in John 17:3
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

Life eternal is found in knowing God. If that isn't clear, we substitute knowing God with knowing good and evil and then we can be duped into thinking life is nothing more than having a body that continues to breathe.  

Point #3

Genesis 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Hold the phone.  What did God say about trees? They are good to look at and good for food.  They are not avenues for attaining wisdom.  

Proverbs 2:6
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 

By now I hope you realize that 'trees' are more than large plants,  Trees represent any number of intellectual, creative, fascinating, spiritual, physical, or economic pursuits. None of which are fountains of life or actual wisdom.  You have probably figured out that God's garden is in the hearts of humanity, not just a piece of Middle East Real Estate. 

By now I hope you recognize areas in your own life where you have a grip on something, maybe it's a profession, maybe it's a hobby, maybe it's an intellectual understanding or academic accomplishment. Go ahead. You can touch it, but don't be deceived into thinking it is adequate for defining you or being a life-source. 

By know I hope you know that Life is knowing God.  Once that issue is settled, all the other stuff is just stuff.  Not life-giving stuff.  Not wisdom-giving stuff.  Not purpose-for-existence stuff.  Not this-is-who-I-am stuff.  Not I-will-be-less-than-who-God-created-me-to-be-if-I don't-have-it stuff.  Stuff given richly for you to enjoy (I Tim. 6:17) not to judge the value of your life by.

Here we are, 6,000 years removed from that life altering, history defining event, and we find ourselves fighting the same battle. Only our 'tree' might look like a relationship, or a college degree, or a bank account, or a church membership, or a grudge, or a political platform, or a .....  But God remains the only true source of life, purpose, and wisdom.  Oh, did I mention that the Cross is what makes it possible for mankind to once again have access to the 'tree' that is Life?  Yep, That was the prize The Father had His heart set on and the Son recovered.  That is the prize we are tempted to diminish, overlook, or over complicate. I'm His. He's mine. That's it. What if The Cross Changed Everything?




  

Magnanimous Planner & A Magnificent Plan

Of course, we know that the ransom demands came as no surprise to God.  John writes in Revelation 13:8 that the Lamb (Jesus Christ) was slain from the foundation (establishment) of the world.

Standing here in 2018, we know that Jesus redeemed us, but I suspect the enemy would have seen no value in human beings  apart from what they could do in furthering his agenda.  They are, in his estimation, nothing more than the disposable vessels that carry the treasure he's obsessed with obtaining.

When I imagine Satan demanding the blood of a sinless man it becomes immediately apparent that humanity isn't what the enemy is most interested in.  Humans are so easily duped having proven themselves - throughout history - to be weak, powerless, and therefore worthless. Besides, if  God could actually deliver a sinless human being, there was a world full of these propagating expendables  just waiting to be deceived and incarcerated. Think about it, even if it was about liberating the enslaved and imprisoned, it wouldn't take but a generation to fill the emptied coffers.

Which begs the question; what if Satan thought he was negotiating the terms of redeeming the planet and not its inhabitants?  I can easily imagine Satan thinking God would be wanting to regain control of Planet Earth. Real Estate, that's a prize worth fighting for.  We see this throughout history - wars fought over dirt.  Also, this idea isn't too far fetched when we look at what he used in tempting Jesus: food to eat, power to wield  and kingdoms to rule.  Doesn't appear that the redemption of human souls made his list of temptations worth offering.

When it was declared that nothing less than the blood of a sinless man would satisfy a criminal's demand, God already had the plan and set about implementing it.   I don't think humanity's accuser had any idea what game he was playing.  Pride does that.  It's so focused on overestimating self, that others are automatically underestimated.

Psalm 24 is a great read and it starts off by establishing that the earth and what fills it belongs to the Lord. The word 'earth' as used by David was as encompassing as our usage of it today; as big as the planet or as small as a speck of dirt... Dirt! When God decided to create a race of humans specifically for the  purpose of tilling the ground (Genesis 2:5) whose life-force was the breath of God Himself (Genesis 2:7) what did He use?  Dirt. Thus insuring from before the very outset that humans could be counted among the Lord's sole possessions.  Colossians 1:26-27

Like the song says,  Your love is extravagant! 

He has no intention of leaving his children at the mercy of a cruel, merciless, captor. He has a plan so magnificent and magnanimous that 2000 years later we are still trying to grasp the magnitude of it.

Stay tuned... the Cross Changed Everything!

What God Can Do With A Pile O' Dirt!

Continuing on the theme of the Lord's legal accomplishments...

"We don't know who discovered water, but we know it wasn't a fish."  Marshal McLuhan

Every year our state's elected legislators head to the capitol to write the laws that govern our lives, most of which the governed population are ignorant of, until we find ourselves in violation of or stonewalled by in some way.  We then have several choices: conform our actions to fall within the stipulations of the law, abandon our plan, or ignore the law believing it either: a)doesn't apply to us or b) hope to not get caught violating it.  None of which have any effect on the law itself.  Laws effect me, I don't effect them.  (I do appreciate living in a nation where I have the right to affect the law, but that's another blog.)

Going back to the garden we have the law (do not consume the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and the consequences of its violation (in the day that you consume of it, you will surely die).  We all know the story.  Or do we?

"In an obscure, unspectacular moment of time, humans chose to live a life governed by what appealed to their physical senses and reasoning abilities. By rejecting the truths of Life governed by Love and embracing the dichotomous concepts of an existence governed by good/evil, right/wrong, punish/pay the world quickly descended into fear and death—an existence ruled by the laws of sin and death.

After hi-jacking the authority that God had delegated to humanity, the evil, dictatorial ruler of that miserable, lifeless existence was certain he had all of humanity locked up tight in his ‘iron clad’ penal system.

Thank God (literally) for the ‘dust-clad’ design He had up His sleeve; those few ambiguous loopholes set the stage for the implementation of His magnificent plan."  What If The Cross Changed Everything?  

Make no mistake.  The enemy never intended to lose his grip on the lives of God's image bearers. So when it came to negotiating the terms of redemption it's safe to assume pride convinced him that  he'd crafted a scheme inaccessible even to the Creator of the universe.

What was God left with to design a plan for humanity's redemption? Dirt, air, promises, and faith.
I absolutely love it!

PDF version of
What If The Cross Changed Everything?
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Who Establishes The Terms Of Redemption?

Christ's Legal Accomplishments

If you've read my book, What If The Cross Changed Everything?, you know that my take on John's Revelation of Jesus is quite a departure from the eschatological explanations currently in vogue.

The interpretation I offer focuses on Jesus and his accomplishments made on our behalf. He was, in fact, a stickler for the law.  We read in Matthew 5:17 where he declared his intent and purpose at his first recorded public meeting, "I came, not to destroy the law but to fulfill it". And the last words he spoke before surrendering his spirit was to proclaim, "It is finished".  

What law was he talking about? What 'it' was he referring to?

Romans 10:4 tells us that He was the end of the law for righteousness. Sounds like this is the law we need to focus on.

The law for righteousness doesn't mean we are now guilt and sin free, squeaky clean and chaste as the driven snow.  I suspect this misunderstanding of 'being made righteous' has led to many disqualifying themselves from walking with God.

Reason enough to drill down on this concept.

To be made righteous means that things have been put to rights; back the way they were.  To be righteous means the way it was originally intended.  For human beings to be made righteous means we have been reunited with our Creator.  Making that a reality is what the cross was all about.

Prison at Castillo San Cristobal Fort in San Juan Puerto Rico
Yes, it really is as small as it looks.

Who established the terms of redemption?  For decades I credited God with that, but- just like everything else I thought I believed - decided to scrutinize this belief as well. Thankfully doing so didn't require too many brain cells to upend.

In any hostage, extortion, or incarceration situation who sets the terms of redemption?  Not the one against whom the demands are being made! Not the imprisoned. It's always the extortioner who makes the demands.  In the case of humanity's entrapment and captivity to the warden of the law of sin and death, the terms of our release were set by the captor.  The Bible records for us the 4,000 years it took (working in the earth and through human beings) to secure the demands made for our ransom.

Having this perspective completely revolutionizes the way one reads the Bible.  It means that God is not, as some mistakenly believe, a blood-thirsty, iron-fisted, narcissistic egomaniac undeserving of worship and service.  Nope.  Instead we see Him as any earthly father of an abducted, tortured child.

Stay tuned - my goal, between now and April 1, is to explore the magnificent ways Christ fulfilled the demands of our ransom.  It just might make the upcoming celebration of His resurrection more palpable than it is already.

 I would like to offer the readers of this blog series a PDF version of What If The Cross Changed Everything?  Click  to access your free gift. 

Plight of the Tepid

So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth... Revelation 3:16

This verse is often interpreted as a warning  to keep the heat turned up on performing in order to be accepted by God. The proponents of this interpretation tend to point out marginal efforts made by those professing Christ as proof of humanity's death knell. That line of thinking leads to a logical conclusion.  If 'hot' is good then 'cold' is bad.  

But the verse says ‘lukewarm' is bad, which leaves cold being just as desirable as hot.  Well then, what's the point of keeping the embers burning if the same status is awarded when putting forth no effort?

Probably a good time to mine an interpretation that makes more sense when viewed through the Cross of Christ.

When was humanity's salvation and righteousness contingent on works?  Before the cross. So...since the Cross, what is humanity's salvation, redemption, and righteousness contingent on?  His work.  

This verse is addressing their failure to trust in the sufficiency of the cross for  salvation, redemption, and righteousness.  These folks were propping up the gospel with their works and using  financial success as their proof. We know that from the next verse.

17: You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

18:  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

How do we buy what Jesus accomplished?  The point is, we can’t! That was the purpose of the law all along. (Check out Romans 3:19-28)  The word translated 'buy' infers to be in the market for, so the folks of Laodicea - and anyone else struggling to divorce themselves from the idea that salvation is a mixture of pre-cross effort and post-cross grace - are being instructed to remember that what Jesus accomplished is impossible for them to purchase.  

Live as a disciple of Moses or Christ but don't mix the two.  You either understand that Jesus accomplished the impossible or you don't. Mixing the two gets you wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  Don’t settle for that.  The cross changed everything!

Motivation or Manipulation?

One of my favorite tools for helping folks understand themselves and the people in their lives is the DiSC Behavior Profile System.  It's a simple, yet fascinating, study into the motivations behind various expression of  human behavior.  I've lost count how many times I've taught these concepts.  But each time I do, something new is discovered or something previously known is brought into sharper focus.  The current evolution my imagination has been drawn to focuses on the differences in environmental needs.

Cliff note version:

Image from www.equanimityexecutive.com

Dominate "D" types thrive in challenging, competitive, and even antagonistic environments.
Influencing "i" types seek fun, friendly, people-filled ones.
Steady "S" folks are on the hunt for calm, conflict-free environments where they can roll up their sleeves and offer a helping hand. Conscientious "C" people are looking for non-confrontational environments that appreciate and satisfy their need for facts and honors their need for order.

There are, of course, secondary and tertiary combinations of these basic archetypes, but for simplicity's sake we'll stick with the fantastic four.

So, let's assume a person wakes up one morning and realizes they are not enjoying the environment staring them in the face.   The "D" might be bored to tears with the thought of one more minute of the same old routine or an "i" might feel suffocated by what feels like fun-draining hostility and rejection.  The proverbial light bulb might one day reach its glowing apex for the "S" when it finally registers that what they have to offer isn't really wanted or needed and might (horror or horrors) be contributing to a conflict rather than helping resolve it.  The final straw for a "C" might come from the sheer exhaustion that comes from trying to make sense of  the chaos or the pressure that comes from  people and situations that don't make sense or follow the rules.

Why do these things matter?  Because every person you come in contact with is unconsciously working to create their optimum environment, and there's a really good chance their optimum is diametrically opposed to yours.  And that's when the fireworks (or slow simmer depending on style) begin.

Here's the deal - if you love the people in your life, and truly want to see them succeed, it's imperative they have an environment in which to thrive.  And here's a kicker - love, by definition,  is not self-seeking.  Which means if I genuinely care about the needs of someone I claim to love, I will put effort into helping create environments that serve them and their needs.  (Told you it was a kicker)  When others have needs that are off your mind's grid, it takes deliberate intention to recognize, accommodate and not belittle them for needing something so foreign to your way of thinking.

If you are one who is energized and motivated by competition, challenge and antagonism your natural tendency, when wanting to motivate someone else, is to create an environment that is competitive, antagonistic and might throw in a competition or two.  NEWS FLASH If the person(s) in your life are not wired that same way your efforts will produce a completely opposite result than intended.  They are not just demotivated, there's a good chance they will be doing the exact opposite in their subconscious effort to protect themselves from the antagonistic onslaught.

Or maybe your's is a conflict-free, no-big-surprises environment of choice.  There's a good chance the fun/adventure seekers in your world, might find themselves bored to tears and battling a level of frustration foreign to you.  (My sincere apologies to my own adventure-seeking, fun-loving children for having learned this too late for them to have benefited from the knowledge.)

Admittedly, this proposition is difficult but not impossible.  As a person infused with the grace, power, and love of God, it is within your ability to make love for others your motive and impetus.  If I continue to insist the people in my life come over to my way of thinking or motivation - that isn't loving nor is it motivating.  It is control and manipulation.  And that, regardless of behavior style, isn't cool.

Pardon Me

Caught the line of a song the other day and as intended it caught my attention, although I doubt the path it led me down was the lyricist's intended.  It took me back to 1966.

I was with my mom and older brother (our younger one didn't get here 'til '67) at the grocery store.  More specifically, at the bulk candy area of the grocery store staring at the lemon drop bin.  Nothing activates creative problem solving quite like an ignored request.

Armed with the short-sightedness of a fixated preschooler lacking pockets of her own, I convinced my brother to procure a fistful of my obsession.  I'm not sure how many lemon drops fit in a 6 year old's tiny hand; three maybe four. The particulars are fuzzy when five decades separate the event from the memory but not as fuzzy as those lemon drops were after having spent the rest of the shopping trip clutched in a sweaty fist inside his fleece-lined coat pocket.

What's not fuzzy is that emotional cluster exploding in my heart and head when Mom told the cashier that we had a purchase to make and then asked Rick to put what he had in his pocket on the conveyor belt so he could pay for it.  Money?!?  We had no money!  The cashier insisted that it was not a big deal.  Mom insisted otherwise.  I believe the agreed upon restitution was one cent per drop.  Might as well have been 100 dollars per drop.  If you don't have it, you don't have it.  Mom eventually paid the bail after we agreed to work off  our debt but our relief was short-lived.  Before leaving the store, or earshot of the checkout stand, she insisted we consume our ill-gotten-gains.  Sweaty palms, fleece-lined pockets harboring long forgotten treasures, fear-bred snot and relief-bred tears is a memorable concoction.  Desire, anticipation, terror, guilt, redemption, relief, shame...lesson eternally etched.

Had the cashier gotten his way, we would have been pardoned.  Mom had a different idea. What we got was a lesson in guilt, redemption, restitution and forgiveness. But what I (can't speak for my brother) wanted more than anything was to be innocent.  Impossible.  I am forever the mastermind behind the great lemon-drop heist of 1966.  My influence was directly responsible for dragging another human being into the cesspool of criminal activity.  Innocent can never be a part of the definition of who I am.  I am forgiven...but not innocent. Restitution has been made, a price had to be paid because of guilt.

So when I hear a song declaring "I'm forgiven.... I am innocent,"  I say no!  Forgiven, by definition implicates guilt. Innocent means I did nothing wrong.  To be innocent means I have no need of forgiveness.  No need for redemption.  No need for pardon. And if there is anything I am in need of, it is forgiveness, redemption and pardon.  Remembering that keeps me grateful, appreciative and never wanting to be the cause of another's fall from grace. 

Hand-me-downs

Been spending lots of time at my childhood home lately.  That seems to be fueling multiple trips down memory lane.  Never sure where the road might lead, or where I might find a point along the trail to pull off and ponder a scenic overlook.  Today's retrospective --- hand-me-downs.

In those younger years, my wardrobe was made up, almost exclusively, of the outgrown cast-offs from others. Don't get me wrong; I thought then, as I believe now, that it is a perfectly wonderful arrangement. In fact, one of my favorite current hobbies involves trying to breathe new life into old articles of clothing. Thank goodness for community theater costuming needs!

This month my dad turned 82.  I watched him open a gift containing shirts (new with tags).  Will he wear them?  Doubtful.  Why?  They are labeled extra large.  And my dad insists he's a medium.  Oh, Dad, that train left the station a few decades back, but he's become so accustom to ill-fitting clothes he thinks that is how things are supposed to fit.  Ever found yourself in that situation?  I love the line from Dolly Parton's character in Steel Magnolias when they're discussing shoe size.  "I wear a 6, but a 7 feels so good that I buy an 8."

All that aside, I'm reminded of an ancient story involving hand-me-downs. Well hand-me-ups better describes the situation.  David. Sandwiched between the time of his service to Saul as an armor bearer, and taking the throne, was that little Goliath incident.  1 Samuel 17 tells us the story.  Before the sling's shot that was heard around the world, Saul, who was "head and shoulders" taller than the average Israelite, offered his battle gear for David to wear. Intention far outweighing execution here.

My guy is exactly head and shoulders taller than I, and that amounts to a 12 inch difference.  Google Iron Age armor and it's easy to see why Saul's offer lacked wisdom and foresight. There's no 'give' in that stuff! What was he thinking?

What was David, who had been charged with hauling that stuff around prior to this altercation with the Philistine, thinking?  He would had to have known that he wouldn't  be his most effective self ensconced behind a wall of iron, I wouldn't be surprised if  he hadn't actually already tried the stuff on back when he was Saul's armor barer. It would be hard to resist.  And we know David had difficulty in that area, but that's a story for another day.

Today has me wondering  what is it any of  us might be thinking when we, like Saul,  insist others walk in a life not designed for them?  Or, how delusional one must be to ignore the pain of trying to wear the ill-fitting armor fashioned specifically for another?  Thankfully David came to his senses, shed Saul's stuff, and trusted in what he knew: his God, and his God's promise as well as his own practiced skill.

What happens when we refuse to honestly assess our lives by comparing them with another's or even against what may have been our own but is no longer relevant?

Today I look at my closet and I see a lot of  hand-me-downs. Most fit me well enough and were perfectly suited to the person I was yesterday.  But today's a new day.  And there's nothing pretty about insisting on squishing into a medium when my needs have expanded to accommodate an extra large. Not sure what that means but it's time to find out.

The 'sons of god'

The ‘sons of god’

1928 Excavation

This three word label, as used in the Old Testament, is responsible for countless theological debates.  Frankly, I’ve read more academic papers on the subject than I care to admit. Granted I’d rather read an academic paper – dull as it might be – as opposed to hearing another single regurgitation of the theory scraped out of The Book of Enoch.  If you don’t know what that entails – don’t worry, you’re not missing a thing.  If you’d like to research a bit on your own, I recommend checking out what  www.refuteit.com/article-blog/the-dangers-of-the-book-of-enoch  has to say on the subject.

After having wrestled nearly five decades with this myself (not even kidding!), I stumbled on something that has settled the question for me.  Much like the Rosetta Stone provided the key to deciphering all Egyptian writing forms, this 100 year old discovery has the potential to shed light on some long held assumptive guesses we have had in Biblical interpretation and understanding. The ‘sons of god’ being one of them.

Enter the world or Ugaritic Text.  What?  Never heard of it?  Neither had I, until recently.  The condensed version: in 1928 the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit was discovered along the Mediterranean Coast of modern day Syria.  This city had been built during the Neolithic period at about 6000BC (roughly the time the Bible tells us that Noah’s grandson, Canaan would have been marking his territory – but hey, that’s another blog). Archeologist uncovered a massive amount of written information housed in the city of Ugarit. What’s interesting are the languages that information was written in: three known and one previously unknown.  That unknown language has been dubbed, Ugaritic, and is presumed to be a transition-era blended version of alphabet script (like Hebrew) and cuneiform (like Hittite, Sumerian, and Ancient Persia). 

World's first alphabet - 1400 BCIt appears that the Ugaritic language and Hebrew are kissing cousins, and that’s what makes it so important for anyone interested in Biblical history.  The city of Ugarit was a thriving metropolis at the time of Joshua’s conquest and during the 400 years recorded in the book of Judges.  And what has been established thus far, is that the grid through which our Western eyes have tried to understand the ancient Hebrew world needs to be a lot less Babylonian (which is between 500 and 1,000 years too recent) and a lot more Canaanite. Ugaritic texts are the solution to the myopia.

All this to say, it was a simple phrase used by the worshipping Canaanites discovered in the Ugaritic writing that ended my 50 year questioning conundrum…Baal worshippers referred to themselves as ‘sons of god’.  Which god (el)?  Which ever one chosen from a plethora: Baal and Dagon were among the favorites.

Because the writers of the ancient Hebrew Bible knew their audience and shared similar cultural understandings, there was not the confusion we have today with the phrase, ‘sons of god’.  Easy, peasy. No need to upend the laws of physics, nor speculate on the amorous urges of disenfranchised angelic beings, or resort to an 1,800 year old work of fascinating fiction in an effort to come to grips with the meaning of those three little words, ‘sons of god’. 

Now that that is settled, it’s time to head into my craft room and hopefully unearth a few treasures of my own. 

What Can You Do About It?

What is it about humans that make us want to look for answers where they are not found?  Years ago I had a brief conversation with a person pontificating against a strongly felt issue.  After agreeing I asked, “What can you do about it?”   

*Insert cricket chirps here.*

I get it.  It’s easy to rail against what we find objectionable. After tying on a good old fashioned gripe-fest, a person often feels a sense of resolve, as if something has been accomplished.  But has it really?

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve participated in my share of gripe-fests, but all that’s needed to shut them down is to ask, “What am I going to do about it?”  I will either shut-up or search for an answer. 

We often feel powerless; like insignificant specks in a great cosmic pinball game. It takes less effort to think that than to believe otherwise.  What if this thing we call life isn’t something that just bangs us around while we cross our fingers and hope for the best?  What if your life is so significant that it can - like the stars did the Magi 2000 years ago - lead others to life and freedom? 

The disciples asked Jesus for a sign to show them when His inauguration would take place. They’d imagined Him becoming a King, like David, to lead their nation in conquest over the stifling Roman government.  His answer is recorded in Matthew 24.  After describing the tribulation that would be preceding the destruction of Jerusalem and their Temple He said there would be a moment when they would understand. Jesus said, “the light would arise out of the East and go to the West (meaning a new level of understanding was on the horizon) and the sun will be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven and the power of the heavens shall be shaken.” WHAT?!? The light will arise, but the lights are going to become dark?

Translation:  The heavenly signs that had been used to point to The Savior’s coming would no longer carry any weight.  The Savior had already come. Stop looking for the stars as the guide to His presence. Look, instead, for lives that shine with the glory of God’s life, light and love reigning and changing the hearts of people.  That’s His Kingdom plan for righting the world’s wrongs.

What can you do about it? 

Are The Stars Trying To Tell Us Something?

With next week’s eclipse followed by another astronomical anomaly next month, speculators are making their predictions and well intentioned individuals are issuing warnings based on those predictions. 

What's all the excitement about?  

On September 23^rd the constellations Virgo and Leo will be hosting 4 planets: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus as well as both the sun and the moon.  What bumps this up on the interest scale is that John wrote about it in Revelation 12: 1-2

And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of 12 stars, and she, being with child cried, travailing in birth…

The apostle John was actually describing – in this passage - the birth of Jesus. Verses 3-6 describe his life, ministry, and the Roman government under which he lived.  Revelation 12 tells us about the sign in the heavens that convinced the Magi to leave Babylon in the East and head West in search of a King so magnanimous that his life’s purpose was written in the stars.   Check out The Star of Bethlehem  on youtube if you’d like to learn more about this. You’ll not be disappointed. 

My prediction?  We will wake up September 24^th  and life will look like it did the day before.

I know my prediction goes against the grain of heavenly sign seekers.  I might be labeled a heretic (wouldn’t be the first time). Some will accuse me of not believing the Bible – let me set the record straight on that one.  I believe the Bible. It’s reckless, fear-based interpretations I have issues with. 

Three Questions - At this point you really must read Matthew 23. Jesus has just delivered a scathing message to the Jewish leaders gathered in Jerusalem.  The Scribes and Pharisees who are disciples of Moses and have taken it upon themselves to sit in judgement.  In verse 37 He addresses Jerusalem and the consequences it will face because of their refusal to recognize and the murder of  every single prophet that had been sent before His arrival.  And in verse 39 He warns them that they too are as blind as their predecessors and will not see Jesus for who He is until they hear of His return.   

In Matthew 24 Jesus answers three questions his disciples had asked. One was concerning the destruction of Jerusalem that Jesus had just prophesied.  

Question number two asked about the sign of his coming (the word translated coming might also be translated presence or in this case His return mentioned in 23:39).  Remember, they weren’t asking when he was going to come again after having been crucified, raised from the dead and ascend to heaven. None of those things had happened yet.  No, they were asking when Jesus was going to take the throne as King of the kingdom after Jerusalem fell in ruins.  

Question number three, when is the end of the age.  Again, they weren’t curious about the end of life on the planet, they wanted to know when the Kingdom that Jesus had been teaching about was going to be established bringing to an end the horrible chapter they were living in. Not only under Roman oppression but also the issue at hand, ousting the Scribes and Pharisees from the power they had illegitimately been wielding for centuries.   

Jesus describes in verses 4-25 of Matthew 24, the horrors of Jerusalem being under siege by the Roman army. He warns the listeners to not hesitate for a minute, get out of the city.   

What is the sign of your coming? He warns them to not be fooled or deceived by false messiahs.Verse 27, the sign of my coming (presence) will be lives that are illuminated, light coming from the East (beginning, origin) and shining its light to the West. 

Remember the questions being addressed! 

Verse 29, “after the tribulation of those days” – which days?  The destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give light, and the stars will fall and the powers of heaven will be shaken”.

He is saying that after the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, the celestial signs cease.  All that they had been pointing to would be fulfilled.  To continue to seek for answers and directions in the sky is foolish, the message they carried is now yesterday’s news.  To find him, don’t look in deserts or secret places.  The new 'sign' to look for is changed hearts and lives.  That is the sign of God’s presence. 

So, September 23, 2017 will be a rare alignment of our solar system’s planets having occurred only a handful of times throughout history.  That’s cool.  It is the same alignment just over 2000 years ago that God used to proclaim the birth of humanity’s savior.   But does it signal the end of the age? No. That was fulfilled in 70AD. Does it signal the coming (presence) of Christ?  No, he’s to be found in your own heart, let his presence transform your life, making it a light that points others to the Savior. 

The Wisdom of Jesus on Display

In the tenth chapter of Mark we read about the Pharisees’ plot to catch the Lord in a war of wits. Their trap came in the form of a question. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”  It’s  important to note that the word translated ‘divorce’ in Mark 10:2 ought to be translated ‘put away’; a practice that is unknown in our Western culture. 

The Lord’s parlay; “What did Moses say about it?”

Brilliant!  Why? Because the Pharisees were disciples of Moses.  Jesus was saying, in essence, it doesn’t matter what I think, what does your own authority figure say on the subject? 

Because they were so skilled at quoting the law – they trapped themselves in the pit they intended for Jesus to fall in.

Verse 4, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

At this point my imagination has Jesus’ head tilt to one side.  His eyes get wide, brows raise, and the palms of both hands turn upward in that full body gesture that says “and there you have it. Clear as day.”

Only trouble was, they didn’t get it. 

What did they miss? 

That Moses commanded a two-fold process, both legal and emotional.  The Pharisees had so accepted the cultural norms that they were blind to the obvious.  It was culturally acceptable for men to apolyo (put away) their wives because their hearts were hard and calloused.  To apolyo a wife meant she was nothing to you.  Like rubbish.  Men having more than one wife at a time was culturally acceptable.  The real kicker wasn’t the polygamy it was their refusal to sign the necessary documentation releasing the put away woman so she could legally remarry.  When hard-hearted men refused to provide their discarded wives with a certificate of divorce, they were sadistically forcing the women into lives of poverty or, if they were to remarry without the certificate of divorce they would legally be classified as adulterers.  The adultery Jesus speaks of was a legal issue that hard hearted men were forcing upon the women they had abandoned.

The trap they set for Jesus to fall in trapped them instead by revealing the wickedness of their hard-hearted, evil intentioned practices.  He also made it clear in verse 12 that women discarding men were equally guilty.  A backdoor way of elevating women in a culture that had relegated them to a status so much lower than God’s intended design.   

Even though our culture doesn’t have a recognized equivalent to the ancient practice of putting away ending a marriage is two-fold.  Apolyo AND grapho biblion apostasion.  One speaks to emotional ties, the other to legal matters.  One is handled in a county courtroom, the other in the courtroom of Heaven.  The ruling in one courtroom does not satisfy the needs of the other.  One determines the separation (forgiving) of tangible things, the other will deal with the separation (forgiving) of heart things. 

Evolution of a Prayer’s Life

My earliest memories involve prayer. They include: 

Grace at meal-time

 “Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for the world so sweet. Thank you for the birds that sing. Thank you Lord for everything.”  Succinct. Adequate. God focused.

The classic bedtime prayer

“Now I lay me down to sleep ...  If I should die, before I wake...”  What?!?!  Sleeping carries the possibility of death?  (This 'I' focused prayer set the misguided standard for adulthood prayer-life.)

The Lord’s Prayer added to my repertoire: 

Our Father Who art in Heaven.  Art’s in Heaven?   Like Rick’s Popeye picture on Grandma’s fridge?   

Hallowed be thy name. Oh, a name. Must be talking about Uncle Art.

Thy kingdom come. How long will that  take? Must be harder to make a kingdom than Heavens Earth.

Thy will be done.  God’s will doesn’t just happen?

On Earth as it is in Heaven.  God gets His way in Heaven, but not on Earth? 

Give us this day, our daily bread. Not Captain Crunch?

And forgive us our trespasses.

As we forgive those who trespass against us. We don’t have any ‘No Trespassing’ tire signs hanging on our fences like Uncle Walter does. So I don’t think this applies to us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  WHAT?! Isn’t this a given?  I have to ask to not be taken to evil I? This prayer must activate the default override and cause God to be merciful to me. 

For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. I thought the kingdom needs to come but now it’s forever?  When Jesus first prayed this the kingdom must have come sometime between ‘Thy will be done’ and ‘forgive us our trespasses’. Confusion reigns.

Then came variations of that bed-time prayer. I call them the Sales-Pitch, Instruction Manual, and Indictment prayers:

The Sales-Pitch involves enumerating commendable attributes and accomplishments in an effort to build a case in the hopes of swaying a stingy god to generosity.

The Instruction Manual is the creature telling Creator what to do and how to do it.

The Indictment (most often employed when ‘praying’ for others):

Contemptible accusations are recounted and preferred consequences described in an attempt to extort 'justice' and condemnation.

Much later in life I realized God is God.  I am not.  That’s the day my prayers became a lot less talk and a lot more listen.