June 22

DEUTERONOMY 27
Saturday I had the privilege of going to the Mongolian National Museum. On display there is a huge granite stone many centuries old. It was quarried as a tall rectangle at least 8 feet tall. Engraved on three sides was Mongolian script, and on the back side was Chinese script. I have forgotten now what the text was about. But I am sure that it had something to do with the glory of the country and its laws. In ancient times it was a practice for rulers and conquerors to record their glories on large upright stones for all to read. It was a way in which they could live forever by recording what they accomplished. Other kings, such as Hammurabi, would record the laws of the land. By these stones we know how just the kings were. The Egyptians had engravings for the important things. But for things of slightly less importance they would plaster stones and then paint on them. This was an easier, and hence, somewhat cheaper method.
The Lord instructs the Israelites to build a heap of stones on Mt. Ebal, plaster it, and then write the Law upon it. A few days ago we looked at the justice of God. Here we see on display once again His mighty justice. It was to be recorded for all to read. But wait, is God cheap? Why does he have them plaster the stones and paint upon them. We all know that the best paint jobs left out in the weather never last more than one generation at best. Could it be that God wanted this to be a continual event, so that at least once every generation, the nation would be reminded of His glorious justice? There is a place for meditating upon justice. Without it we do not understand mercy and grace. I want to revel in mercy and grace, but without understanding justice, mercy and grace are meaningless. I am so glad that God is just, aren’t you? Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PROVERBS 22
“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.“ What does it mean to be rich or poor. Recently in our Getting Ahead circles, we have from time to time mentioned that poverty is not always economic poverty. There are many kinds of poverty other than economic. There is emotional poverty, spiritual poverty, relational poverty, family poverty, intellectual poverty. You can probably think of a few other types of poverty. Just as there are many types of poverty, there are also many types of riches. I remember one time, when I was very young (at least under 6), asking my mother if we were rich. I had never had any memory of not having something which we needed. She gave a very perceptive but non-committal answer, “Some would say we are. What does it mean to be rich?” I was too young to understand the question, much less give a good answer. Looking back on it, of course my question was in relation to financial poverty. My parents were always able to give us what we needed, if not what we wanted. Is that rich? At least 1/3 of the 7 billion people in the world would say so. It was before Johnson’s war on poverty, and I suspect that we would have been ranked at just barely above the poverty level of the USA.
I learned from watching how they lived (raise up a child) that a good name is to be chosen rather than riches. I know that from 1981 through 1994, if you look at my Social Security records, it would reveal that my income was below the U.S. government’s standard for poverty for a household of four. But I was more interested in choosing to follow the Lord than to pursue financial riches. Many of those years we would have been eligible for food stamps and other government programs. There was only one government program which we used, WIC. Why? We wanted our Father to be our primary care giver. We wanted His name to be exalted in us.
Jesus set the example. He gave up the riches of heaven to become one of His creatures. Not only did He give up riches, but He took my spiritual poverty upon Himself going to the cross, dying a transgressor’s death, experiencing the wrath of the Father against my sin. The Father recognized the great love that His Son had for Him because the Son chose the name of the Father rather than great riches. Because of this excellent choice, the Father gave Him a name above any other name that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord! He exalted the living Word above His name.
Ever notice the relationship in Scripture between name, word and deed? Consider the following Scriptures:

Psalm 138:2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
Isaiah 45:23 (The Living Bible) I have sworn by myself, and I will never go back on my word, for it is true—that every knee in all the world shall bow to me, and every tongue shall swear allegiance to my name.
John 17:6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
Revelation 19:13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Deeds are performed because of choices which are made. Choices are made upon the basis of the understanding which we have of them. The understanding we have of them comes as a result of the words spoken about them. The deeds, choices and words done by or for someone all contribute to the glory or defamation of their name. Jesus, the Eternal Word of God, communicates to us the value of what God is like. He performed deeds which explain God. He made choices which reveal what God is like. His greatest choice in relation to us is the cross. The cross speaks deeds and words of what God is like. Simultaneously the cross speaks of God’s intense hatred for sin and passionate love within the Trinity and for us.
Does God hate sin? Absolutely! Just look at the cross! That is what God does to sin! Does The Son love the Father? Absolutely! Just look at the cross! Jesus was willing to endure the cross for the love of the Father. Does God love me? Absolutely! Just look at the cross! Jesus was willing to become sin in my place so that the punishment of my sin might be carried out upon Him rather than me. Is God able to change me? Absolutely! Just look at the resurrection! He could raise Jesus from the dead after 3 days. He can also enliven me so that I may live victoriously over sin. All of this glorifies His name. It stemmed from a choice, deed and words that Jesus did. Lord let me ever live in that choice, those deeds resting in those words for they bring glory to Your Name!!! In all of this I am rich! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 17
Dr. Strangelove was a strange movie. Maybe I should have reviewed it before using it as an illustration. But one scene stands out in my mind. It is toward the end of the movie. The warplane had arrived at its target but could not deliver its atomic bomb payload because it was stuck. Slim Pickens straddles the bomb and does what is necessary to release it from the bomb bay. But he is released with the bomb. What I remember was that as the bomb descends, you see him straddled upon the bomb as though he were riding a bucking bronco. In true cowboy form he waves his hat and yells, “Yee! Hah!” as he descends to his doom and the doom of the world. What would motivate a man to celebrate like that in the day of doom? The message of the movie is the absurdity of war. It is an apt scene to communicate that message.
The Lord places a very powerful juxtaposition before us in this chapter. On the one hand, He curses those who rely upon the strength of the flesh. Notice that He curses them! That is a very powerful statement! It is a curse! Lord, am I relying in any form upon my flesh? I have been reading David Platt’s Radical Together and have been challenged. Is the weakness of the American church that which most perceive it be its strength? Look at what we have! Slick packaged programs now abound so much that it is almost impossible to keep up with all of them, let alone just the ones that become popular. We have “Christian” music in every genre to attract people from every segment of society. We have video pastor’s so that we can have the “best” pastors broadcast into every congregation, or for that matter in some cases the most deceptive. We can control the atmosphere of our auditoriums to fit whatever we think will appeal to our target audience. That might mean low lights, bright lights, sun lights, video clips, dramas, humor, art, couches, pews, chairs, coffee shops, bookstores etc. None of these in and of themselves are necessarily bad, but if they are all so good, why is the American church so weak and ineffective? Why are we not growing? Oh sure individual churches increase in numbers, but the research continues to show that in general it is just a redistribution of population from one church to another, as we continue to close churches in record number and the overall growth of the church is minimal. Why does the church seem to be growing only in areas of the world where they do not have these things? Could it possibly be that we have placed our trust in these things rather than the simple word of the Lord and His Holy Spirit? What does the Lord say about that? “If your eye offend you, pluck it out.” Does He really want us to rip out our eyes?
On the other hand in this juxtaposition, He says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord.” Does this mean that this man or church does not have all of the things mentioned above? Not necessarily. It simply means that his trust and hope are in the Lord. Those things are immaterial to him. The only time that those things matter is when they keep him from trusting or hoping in the Lord. Then he rips them out. He knows that drought times will come when those things will not protect or produce life, but He will continue to produce the life of the Lord because ultimately it is the Lord who produces life. He knows that there is a doomsday coming through which he might have to live, but because he is trusting and hoping in the Lord, he looks forward to the future because his glorious Lord is in control. Because he has this hope and trust, he bears fruit that remains in drought and doom.
Right in the middle of this juxtaposition, He declares:

9”The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

My heart and mind keep wanting to depend upon the flesh. It is a principle of this life. We have no option but to keep asking the Lord to test our hearts and minds. Why does the Lord test the heart? Is it so that He might find out what is in it? NO!!!! He already and always knows our hearts. The test is for us. It is His glory to show us our hearts and mind if we will ask Him. Beware! We may not like what we see. But, if we repent, we can place our hope in Him rather than the things around us. The benefit will be that in the drought and day of doom, we will still be producing fruit for eternity. Unlike Slim Pickens we can yell, “Yee! Hah!” Not because of the absurdity of our action, but because we know our destiny is to walk through the day of doom into the glory of God. O Lord, test my heart! Keep my trust and hope only in You!! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 6
"There arose a complaint." Satan is always trying to destroy the glory of Christ. His best weapon is to use Christians. He tried it in Ananias and Saphira. It backfired on him. Here he is trying the racism angle. In a city made up mainly of Hebrews, the complaint among believers arose. The Gentile widows felt that they were being neglected in the church's care. Real or perceived it was a complaint. If it was real, then the racist fault lay with the Hebrews. If it was perceived, then the fault lay with the Greeks. If it was a mixture of the real and the perceived, then some fault lay on both sides. The unity of the young church is being tested. How will our glorious Lord respond? That the unity of the church had not been tested before this point is a real tribute to the glory of our Lord. Adding up the numbers given in previous chapters, the church has to number more than 10,000 by this point in her life. It is no wonder that the religious leaders were threatened. They were losing control, losing members.
The solution of the twelve, as they reasoned together, was to select seven servants, for the purpose of overseeing the distribution of food to the widows. It is amazing to me that they could ever have grown this large and only just now needing to elect deacons! It is a great testimony to the glory of the Lord. When thousands are yielded to Him, filled with His Spirit, He can move them with very little "official" leaders. The key is that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and were focused on the glory of Christ. What was the criteria for selecting these seven?

1. of good reputation
2. full of the Holy Spirit
3. full of wisdom

What is the Lord of Glory's answer to complaint? Assign the problem to men who have a reputation for being full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. His glory shines through them, as is seen in the stories of 2 of the 7, Stephen and Philip. Apparently the Lord's plan worked. We have no more report of complaint. Indeed our King is a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John