Meditations on the Glory of Christ

February 10

2012-02-10T09:51:00.001-08:00

Psalm 41
Can the Lord reach into my soul and heal me when I feel that I have been betrayed? This Psalm searches some of the limits of that question. David begins by blessing the one who considers the poor. Why would he do that? Often times David had fled those whom he had trusted. Often his flight was so sudden that he could not plan. He fled Saul without even a sword in his hand to defend himself against foes or predators. He had to depend upon the priest to give him the sword of Goliath. He fled Absalom without having made adequate provision for his army. He had to depend upon Barzillai for some of those provisions. Later David was betrayed by Sheba the son of Bichri. This time he called upon general Amasa to put down the rebellion. Amasa drug his feet taking his sweet time to assemble the troops. Joab had to sweep in and pick up the slack. David was familiar with betrayal which left him vulnerable and poor. He was grateful for those who helped him. Therefore, he blessed them.
Many of those times, those betrayals came from those who were closest to him. It was then that he experienced the greatest deprivation. It wasn’t just the economic deprivation; it was also emotional wasting. Jesus was no stranger to this kind of deprivation. As a matter of fact the New Testament writers quote verse 9 in reference to Judas. Jesus was also poor. The only thing of value that He owned was literally the cloak which He wore. This man in poverty had 12 close associates that traveled with Him for the majority of his ministry, about 3 years. One of those associates traded Him in for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. Jesus, knowing full well what Judas was about to do, extended friendship to him right up unto the very end.
That is the glory of Jesus. He knows our betrayal. But He extends the offer of friendship to us right up until the very end. I can turn from my betrayal and receive His forgiveness, or I can reject it and receive His wrath. When I receive His forgiveness, He expects me to extend the same forgiveness to the poor, because we also were poor. Some will lift up their heel against us, but what else should we expect? If they treated our Lord and Master that way, then we should expect nothing less from some of them. How do you keep motivated? You focus on His glory when He did it. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

February 3

2012-02-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Psalm 34
Have you ever done something really stupid and then in the middle of it realized, “Oh my, what have I done?” Our 4¾ years in Portland during seminary were very lean years financially. The first six months that we were there, the only furniture that we had was our mattress, our baby’s crib, a desk, a big ugly black box and somebody gave us a really ugly worn out sofa-better than nothing. After a while, I scraped together enough cash to buy a sheet of chip board and some 2x4s. I made a table and a bench out of it. From time to time over the years somebody would give us a piece of their worn out furniture, and we gained what we needed, although most of it was rather seedy looking. By the end of those years I was making a livable wage working part time at UPS and delivering the Wall Street Journal after I was done at UPS. The running joke for Laura and I was, “Someday when we have the money . . . “
I took my first pastorate in Oklahoma along with a pay cut in comparison to what I was making part time at UPS in Oregon. But the prospects were good and I presumed that things would pick up. Needless to say much of the furniture was not worth the cost of moving to Oklahoma. We joined a purchasing club when we moved. The things that the club listed were much less expensive than if purchased at Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club. Then after a couple of months we realized, that was really stupid. We weren’t making enough to buy anything. We paid the membership fee but were never able to take advantage of the membership. After a year, we had purchased nothing. We let the membership lapse. That was a waste of money. Maybe if I had listened to the Lord first, I could have saved the membership fee and used it for something else. The joke continued, “Someday when we have the money. . . “
Saul had attempted to murder David twice. David had been a faithful servant for years, and Saul was repaying him by trying to kill him. David probably reasoned, “Since I am now Saul’s enemy, maybe I can go to his enemies and they will protect me.” He jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. In the middle of it he realized, “Abimelech is wants kill me just as much as Saul wants to kill me.” Wow! Did David stop to consult the Lord about the wisdom of running off to Abimelech before doing it? I doubt it. But did God abandon him for it? No, He did not abandon David. In the midst of his stupidity, David realized what he had done, and he called out to the Lord. “6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.” The Lord taught David first hand what deliverance was all about.
In further response to this situation David says, “8Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! 9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.” Want, by the way, has the meaning of lack in relation to necessities, not desires beyond necessities. For the next 5-10 years David lived a life of deprivation in relation to desires for comfort, but he never lacked for necessities. He was a young lion and he never went hungry. He knew that his afflictions would be many, but he also trusted that the Lord would deliver him out of it. I have learned that and I continue to learn it over again. There are many afflictions that will come my way, but the Lord will deliver me out of all of them. The only question is, “Will I consult Him first and obey his answer, or will I follow what I think best first?” I hope I will consult Him and obey. Otherwise, I will continue to do stupid things and compound the problems of my life. But either way, He shows His glory in the way He delivers me. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

February 2

2012-02-03T08:46:00.002-08:00

Psalm 33
I remember as a kid getting up on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. Frequently I would awake before the station even signed on for the morning. I would turn on the TV and watch the test pattern come on. After the test pattern, came The Star-Spangled Banner with a picture of the flag & the Blue Angels flying in the background. Following the anthem there was a voice over with the words on the screen, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Years later, when I was of the age where I would rather be awake when the station signed off the air at night, I found that they had the same routine at night. I no longer watch broadcast TV, so I really don’t know if stations even sign on and off the air anymore, and if they do, do they still say, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord?”
May I ask a question which to some the answer should be obvious? Why would a nation whose God is the Lord be blessed? Well, a nation whose God is the Lord, would be blessed because He loves righteousness and justice. A nation, whose God is the Lord, will pursue righteousness and justice in their dealings within themselves and with other nations. That, in and of itself, would result in blessings for the nation. A nation, whose God is the Lord, would realize that He is the Creator of all the earth, and as such, would be good stewards over the land that God has entrusted them. A nation, whose God is the Lord, would realize that any counsel but His would eventually come to nothing. So, that nation would highly prize His counsel before making any decision. A nation, whose God is the Lord, would consider the wisdom of war and plead before God what He wants. That nation would realize that ultimately their deliverance was not in their military strength, but in God. I wonder how it would change our country if our churches would throw ourselves before the throne of God asking for His intervention rather only trusting in our elected officials? Would God show His glory to us if we did that? Hmm. . . Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

February 1

2012-02-03T08:46:00.001-08:00

Psalm 32
Somewhere in 2000 or 2001 my oldest brother was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. They gave him about 10 years to live. Myeloma is a bone marrow cancer that often occurs in multiple spots. It was treatable with chemotherapy. The cancer would go into remission. He would quit taking the chemo. Sometime later the cancer would come back again. I remember when I visited him during his first round of chemo. He looked so weak from the chemo that I thought he was going to die while I was visiting him, but he bounced back after the chemo was over. The chemo never removed the disease. It just covered it for a while. Each time he took the chemo, his body was less able to finish the chemo course. He finally succumbed to death in the fall of 2009, almost ten years. When he died it really wasn’t from the cancer but from the ravages of the chemo and the cancer on other parts of the body.
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” In the religious system of David’s day the sins were covered once per year on the Day of Atonement, but the sacrifice had to be completed every year. Why? In reality, it was not the blood of bulls and goats that covered the sin of the people. The sacrifices always looked forward to one final sacrifice. They were mere pictures of a future truth. They were pictures of the sacrifice of Jesus. Christ’s sacrifice is once and for all. When a sin is committed, the eternal Holy God sees that sin. Because He is eternal, He sees it eternally. Because He is Holy, He is offended by that sin. Because He is eternal and Holy, He is eternally offended. Because He is just He must punish that sin. Because He is eternal and just, He must punish that sin eternally. No wonder there is a hell, but that is bad news for all of us who have sinned. But the good news is that the blood of Jesus eternally satisfies the justice of our eternal, holy God. When his blood is applied to my life, first it covers my sin, and second it washes it away. God chooses to forget about my sin. He has the ability to recall my sin, but because the blood is there, it covers it eternally and He does not recall it. It is gone. There is no need for anymore sacrifice. Wow! That makes me happy!
Before I repent and confess my sin, my sin is like a cancer in my bones. When I repent and confess, He removes it from me. Because He has removed that sin from me, He is the one place to which I can run to hide out in times of trouble. If He will receive me and remove my sin, what place or person could be any safer? He delivers me and then gives me instruction in the way that I should go. Now if He is willing to do all that, why am I so hard headed about listening to His instruction. Wouldn’t it just make sense that I should instantly listen to and obey His instruction? Lord, help me not be like the mule that needs a bit and bridle or it will not come near. I will shout for joy to the Lord, who takes my spiritual cancer from my spiritual bones. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 31, 2012

2012-01-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

Psalm 31
I remember Mom making preserves. She made several kinds, but foremost in my memory is the sand plum preserves. Sand plums grow wild in thickets. The cattle used to like to go into the thickets to get shade from the hot summer sun. If I remember right the sand plums ripened in early summer. We went out to the cattle lease to the thickets and picked them empty. When we brought them home, Mom cooked them and did whatever it is you do to fruit to sweeten and preserve it. We had preserves to eat with our peanut butter for months to come. But if they were not preserved, they only lasted a few days at most.
It always strikes me as odd when I read the Psalm and hear it say, “The Lord preserves the faithful.” I get images of the Lord cooking us down to mush and adding sugar and whatever in order to make us tasty and to not spoil. I almost get the image of Him putting us on the shelf for Him to come back later and consume. After all, we were created by His desire, His will, as the KJV puts it, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” So when I cry out, “Preserve me, O God!” I know that what I mean is, “Don’t let me be destroyed!” But do I stop to think that the preservation might involve some unpleasantries comparable to the metaphor of being cooked down to mush and having other ingredients added in order to make me palatable to His taste, and that the whole process is to please Him and not necessarily me?
What does David mean when he cries out, “9 Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body! 10 For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing; My strength fails because of my iniquity, And my bones waste away?” Sounds like being cooked down to mush to me. How does that bring glory to our God? Well the cooking process destroys the bacteria that bring ruin to the fruit. The cooking process in our lives destroys the sin that brings ruin to the eternal fruit of our lives. In so doing, He can enjoy us forever, and we can enjoy Him forever. Preserve me, O Lord! Love the Lord all you His saints! Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 30

2012-01-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

Psalm 30
“You hid Your face and I was troubled.” Everything else can be going fine, but if I can’t see His glory, what is the use? Every once-in-a-while I get in a funk. It seems that I just can’t see Him. It is indeed troubling. Why does that happen? Why does He hide His face? I suppose there are a variety of contributing factors. Sin of course is an obvious reason. If I regard iniquity in my heart, he does not hear me. I would suppose that he also hides His face at those times. Sometimes I think He does it to make me desire Him more. Sometimes I think He does it to test me and show me my heart. Sometimes I think He does it to strengthen my resolve. Sometimes I think He does it to teach me to seek His face and not His hands (blessings). Whatever the reason, it is always troubling.
His anger over my sin remains only as long as I hold on to the sin. So there is weeping until I finally let go. He once again reveals His face and there is joy again. His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime. Last night in Families in the Word we emphasized, “Truth lasts forever, but lies last only a moment.” That is an interesting comparison. His anger over my lies lasts only a moment (or until there has been true repentance). His glory is seen when I turn from my lies to His truth. When I walk in His truth, His glory is seen. The truth is this: He has not withheld His only Son, so that I might walk with Him. He smiles on that. I enjoy basking in the warmth of His smile. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 26

2012-01-26T08:15:00.001-08:00

Psalm 26
What makes me pure in His sight? How could I ever ask Him to judge me? I could make noise like David has made here about having walked in integrity. Comparing myself to other men, I might be able to make a pretty good case for being a man of integrity. But the problem is that the standard is not other men; it is God’s own character. David implores God to not gather his soul with bloody men. Yet God Himself would not allow David to build the temple because, as God put it, “You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.” How could David have the gall to say to God, “Vindicate me, O LORD, For I have walked in my integrity.” Even if this was written before he sinned with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, he was still responsible for the death of thousands of men and had multiple wives. How can he ever claim to walk in integrity?
His loving kindness is always surrounding me. Because of that, I will go about (walk in circles around) His altar. The altar is where sacrifices for sin were made. David was a man of integrity in one respect. He knew that the only way to have his sin covered was at the altar. He knew God was full of loving kindness as well as full of justice. He knew that he could meet God at the altar and be cleansed. Today I can rejoice in the loving kindness of the Lord. I constantly dwell at His altar, the cross of Jesus Christ. There I find and experience His lovingkindness. There my sin is washed away and not just covered! There I am empowered to go and sin no more! I come to the cross for one purpose, to die with Him. When I die with Him, I am raised with Him. What loving kindness! What love! What glory! Lord help me to die with You for Your loving kindness surrounds me there and raises me to new life! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 25

2012-01-25T10:02:00.001-08:00

Psalm 25
Hurry up and wait. All morning long I had been hurrying to get things done on time, but now I was waiting in the backyard driveway behind the privet hedge of my any-moment-to-be in-laws. The Wedding ceremony was supposed to have started 15 minutes earlier. I was waiting and would wait a little longer. But it was okay. I knew that she would eventually come out. It was a beautiful June day; I was enjoying the weather and the anticipation of the event. Finally, someone came out of the house to tell me what was going on. Laura’s wedding dress was homemade, and unfortunately things just didn’t get finished. They were literally sewing her up in her wedding dress. Eventually the ceremony began and my beautiful bride came around the corner escorted by her Dad. She was and always has been worth the wait.
The Psalmist uses the term ‘wait’ three times in this Psalm, verses 3,5 & 21. According to TWOT this root means to look for with eager expectation. The first thing that the Psalmist tells us about waiting is that those who wait will never be ashamed. As I waited for Laura, I was looking with eager expectation. I certainly was not and never have been ashamed. But the context of the wedding and the Psalm are completely different. The context of the Psalm is that he is surrounded by enemies who were seeking his demise. The context of a wedding is that I was surrounded by friends and family who were seeking to celebrate with me. His plea is that in his waiting, nothing would be accomplished by his enemies that would cause him shame. I think it might be easier to look with eager expectation for a beautiful bride to come around the corner than for deliverance from a host of enemies. But that is why he asks for no shame as he waits. He understands that God’s glory is at stake, not his. He waits on the glory of the Lord to be revealed in and through him.
David then uses the term ‘wait’ in relation to his own attitude as he looks for the changes that need to take place in his character in the presence of a holy God. As he waits, he becomes ever more aware of his own sin and the need for change in order to experience the presence of the Lord. What if in my hurry to prepare for my wedding (getting folding chairs, setting them up in the yard, decorating, placing other furniture etc.), I had forgotten to put on my tuxedo? While waiting out by the privet hedge and seeing all the finely dressed guests, I think I would have realized my shabbiness. As we wait upon the Lord, He reveals His holiness to us. That reveals our sinfulness in His light. As we see our sin in His light, we confess our sin and he is righteous and just to forgive. If we refuse to acknowledge the sin, the light goes out. We are no longer waiting. We are hiding. Finally, David uses the term ‘wait’ to sum up what he has said and done. Only in waiting in integrity can our sin be removed and we see His glory. But when we see it, oh it is worth the wait, and it always shall be! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 23

2012-01-23T12:25:00.001-08:00

Psalm 23
Hands down, this is one of the most popular and widely used portions of Scripture to encourage and bring comfort to people. It is widely used to read at funerals and to read at times of extreme health problems. I have had friends who raised sheep. I have read Phillip Keller’s A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. It is not very flattering to be called a sheep. Sheep are dumb, defenseless, dirty (3D) animals that require constant attention if the flock is to be prosperous. David knew that as a shepherd. That is why he picked shepherd as a metaphor concerning the relationship between God and himself and His people. You see the focus of the Psalm is to explain what God is like in relation to His people. The focus is God. If we are talking about how great God is in comparison to us, then it is an appropriate metaphor.
It is His greatness that feeds, waters and restores our souls. He is the One who makes me capable of living a righteous life. When I have no ability to walk righteously, He enables me. When death surrounds me or my loved ones, He is with me. His tools of correction and protection are ever with me. Even when I am surrounded by enemies, He enables me to relax and I can eat without threat of them. Sheep often have problems with parasites invading the ears. The result could drive a sheep insane with the irritation. Oil poured in the ear would drown the parasite and bring relief. His anointing oil brings healing to the irritations of life brought to me by parasites. He gives me more than enough to satisfy my thirsty life. Goodness and mercy are always following me. To top it off, I get to go live in His house when I die. What more could I ask? All of this is because of His Glory! . Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

January 21

2012-01-21T07:12:00.001-08:00

Psalm 21
John Piper said it best years ago, “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.” That thought rings through this Psalm. Do I come to God because He gives me good things? Well, to be honest yes. I like the good things He gives me. But is that the only reason I come to Him? That is what the book of Job is all about. It is a test to see if Job would still come to God if he were stripped of everything good thing that God could give him. Job grudgingly passes the test. He declares, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” What is it about God that we could do that? The Psalmist puts it this way, “You have made him (the king) exceedingly glad with Your presence.” If God allowed Satan to take away my house, my money, my animals, my children, my grandchildren, my health and even my wife, would I still be content with just His presence?
The few times that I have had a strong sense of the manifest presence of God have led me to trust that, “Yes His presence alone is enough.” Interestingly enough, the two times that I have felt the manifest presence of God the strongest were both times when I was under attack. They were times when the world would say, “You are not receiving the goodness of God.” Yet, I would not trade the reversal of the sense of His presence for a reversal of those adverse circumstances. He is good especially in adverse circumstance. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 20

2012-01-20T07:42:00.001-08:00

Psalm 20
The Lord saves His anointed. This Psalm has all the earmarks of what David perhaps prayed over his men and himself before he went into battle with them. God calls us into battle today, not physical battle but spiritual battle. It is His glory to answer, defend, help and strengthen us in the midst of that battle. He seeks to grant our heart’s desire as we seek to fulfill His purpose for us in the midst of that battle. He fulfills our petitions as we rejoice under His banner. Prayer, individual and corporate, becomes the key element in realizing the victory of the Lord in our battle. Some trust in programs in advancing the kingdom of God. Ultimately, programs are like chariots and horses, the top military technology of David’s day. David used chariots and horses, but he trusted in the name of the Lord. We can use programs, but we had better not be trusting in them, rather we had better be trusting in the name of the Lord. True trust will exhibit itself in prayer, corporate and individual. Only in response to prayer is the glory of the Lord revealed. It is in the midst of prayer that His plan is revealed. It is in the midst of prayer that His program is claimed and received. It is in the midst of prayer that His glory is revealed. Lord teach me to pray! Lord teach us to pray! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 19

2012-01-19T12:21:00.001-08:00

Psalm 19
Wow! I could ramble on forever about the Glory of the Lord from this Psalm, and everything I would write would fall far short of His glory! Years ago Laura and I lived in the Portland, OR metro area. Just a half-hour drive from our house was Larch mountain. It wasn’t a tall mountain, but its summit had a rocky peak that the park service had put up steps and railing to make it safe and accessible. The peak platform was an area about as large as my office, but it had an un-obstructed view 360degrees. It was a breath taking sight. On a really really clear day, you could see Mt. Rainer to the north (near Seattle), Mt. St. Helens, Mt Jefferson, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Three Sisters etc. Wow! It just takes your breath away to think that our Creator made all of this. It gives a new sense of awe and wonder when you stop and see what He has made and know that we are so small. His glory pour forth day after day, if only we stop to look. Like the sun, it never stops. It is true of all His creation around us! But even more stunning is His word. His word is there to show us what He is like. In His creation we see His power; in His word see Him. In keeping His word there is great reward. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 18, 2012

2012-01-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

Psalm 18
I was dancing around with the money I had just counted. “Wow! Look at this! Eighty dollars!” I had been working and saving for it for a couple of years. That was a grand sum for an eleven-year-old in 1966. I was excited about my achievement. All of a sudden the atmosphere changed to one of fire and smoke as my dad angrily snapped, “You don’t even have enough for a down payment on a car!” To this day I am not sure why Dad was so angry about it, but I will never forget the negative electricity in the air. I can relate to the David’s statements about the anger of the Lord:
Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
When Dad was angry, the whole room was filled, as it were, with “smoke and devouring fire.”
The glory of the Lord is that at times His anger is terrifying. Is it right for the Creator of the Universe to exhibit such anger? Let me ask you this, “If you were unjustly being pursued by a murderer who was hell bent on killing you, would you want a just God to be angry about the murderer’s intent?” I would. At what point should God cease being angry with sin? Is it just murder? Is it adultery? If I lust after a woman in my heart, but never do anything about it, is God still just in being angry with me? Is it lying? If I tell a lie in order to protect someone, is God still just in being angry with me? If I covet the world’s goods so that I dance around rejoicing in what I have earned, while my brother goes without, is God just in being angry with me? At what point. . . .
Lest you think that my concept of God is a Supreme Being who is always angry, consider the rest of the Psalm. The anger was against the murderer, Saul, who was pursuing David to kill him. Now look at it from David’s perspective. He is helpless before his earthly king who is hotly pursuing him to end his life.
He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my support.
He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
This Psalm drips with the mercies and lovingkindesses of the Lord. The glory of the Lord is that He does intervene in order to rescue us. If there were no anger against sin, would He intervene? So, is the intervention of God somewhat a function not only of His mercy but also of justice? “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Lord thank you for your justice, and thank you for your mercy, and thank you that mercy triumphs over judgment! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 13

2012-01-13T12:40:00.001-08:00

Psalm 13
I have a friend who recently felt like he was cheated out of $15.00 in an undisclosed set up fee from someone else who is also a friend of mine. He called the one up and complained. Whether he meant to or not, he came across as “yelling and screaming” on the phone. It all escalated. Both friends are currently in difficult situations. Both felt unjustly used by the other. I told the one friend that he was within his rights to complain about the $15.00 dollars, but the manner in which he did it was wrong, and he owed the other an apology. You can imagine how that went. He is obsessed with his rights and the $15.00. He is convinced that he did not yell and scream at the other. Yet I cannot understand how the other friend can be so upset if he did not in some fashion raise his voice. Anyway it is a big enough deal between them both that they are emotionally stressed out over $15.00. What’s going on here?
What is going on here in Psalm 13? On the one hand, the Psalmist seems to be in the depths of despair. The enemy seems to have surrounded him. He has daily sorrow. He is genuinely afraid of dying. On the other hand, he concludes, “The Lord has dealt bountifully with me.” What made the difference? Three statements separate the two outlooks.
The first statement is that he will trust in the mercy of the Lord. The word that is here translated as ‘mercy’ refers to the abundant loving kindnesses of God’s eternal nature. It may also have reference to the covenant relationship with Yahweh. As David looks at his situation, he makes the choice to take his focus off of his situation and put it on the eternal character of God. He knows how God is, and he is willing to wait upon the appearance of those loving kindnesses.
The second statement is that he will rejoice in the Lord’s salvation. He makes a willful choice to rejoice. He is on the verge of dying and he makes a choice to rejoice! May his tribe ever increase! How I need to learn to rejoice in the midst of dramatic struggle, especially facing death
The third statement is that he will sing to the Lord. Nothing lifts the spirit like singing to the Lord. Remember the Dallas Holms song?
When you’re up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams,
And your hopes are cruelly crushed by Satan’s manifested schemes,
And you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fears,
Don’t let the faith you’re standing in, seem to disappear.
Praise the Lord! He can work through those who praise Him.
Praise the Lord! Our God inhabits praises.
Praise the Lord! The chains that seek to bind you,
Serve only to remind you they fall powerless behind you when you praise Him!
That is the glory of our Lord! Our measly $15.00, $15,000.00, $15,000,000.00, $15,000,000,000.00 or even $15,000,000,000,000.00 is nothing compared to His glory! We can let it go. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 12

2012-01-12T08:29:00.001-08:00

Psalm 12
A friend of mine was just in my office. He is constantly flattering me. I presume he does it because he thinks that I will help him more if he flatters me all the time. I hope he is incorrect. I hope that what I do is done because it is what Jesus would have me do. Sometimes I just want to tell him to shut up, but that would be rude. Maybe I should tell him that the Psalmist asks the Lord to cut off all flattering lips. Now that evokes a gross mental picture. Flattering lips mix truth with exaggeration in order to manipulate the one being flattered into action that the flatterer desires.
The words of the Lord are pure words. What does that mean? I was looking at some of the cross references for this. Consider these verses:
2 Samuel 22:31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Psalm 18:31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Psalm 19:8b The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Pure and proven refer to the refiner’s fire. The refiner brings the metal to its melting point where the different metals or impurities separate. He is then able separate them and gain only the metal desired. Pure words are not mixed with any false meaning. The Lord does not exaggerate His words in order to manipulate us into doing what He desires. Yes, He occasionally uses the figure of speech called hyperbole, but He does not do it to manipulate us into obeying Him. He commands us.
It is interesting to me that the pure words of our Lord become a shield to us if we trust Him. Shield from what? They protect me from walking in a path of wickedness. His words tell me that He has loved me with an everlasting love. That tells me that I am valuable in His sight and motivates me to seek Him. His words also tell me that He is a jealous God and won’t forever strive with my sin and foolishness. That tells me that I do have sin and foolishness, and I had better not mess with it. His words tell me what that sin is. If I trust and listen, His words protect me from a path of foolishness and sin then end of which is waste and death. Thank You, Lord, that your words are pure. Enable me to listen to Your words and trust in You. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 11

2012-01-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

Psalm 11
We have once again entered a political season. It seems that we never leave the political season. I remember from past political seasons much criticism of the President, whether Republican or Democrat, for spending too much time out of the office. The criticism was that he was campaigning and not running the country. In all cases there was probably some truth on both sides of the fence. The point was that the President was not in his office doing his job. Does God have an office?
“The Lord is in His holy temple.” Well, where else would He be? Why do we need to be told that? We need to be told because we think and act like He is not. A king would be in His court for several reasons: 1) to receive worship (honor from others), 2) to reveal, establish and administrate justice, mercy and grace, 3) to transact the business of the kingdom, 4) interact with his subjects. God is in His temple for the same reasons.
There are times when we feel like He is not in His office. There are times when we feel like He no longer reveals, establishes or administrates justice, mercy or grace. David was in one of those times when he penned this Psalm. Was it when he was being hunted by Saul? Or perhaps it was in Absalom’s rebellion. Whatever the case, he had a sense that the foundations of righteousness and justice had been obliterated. What was he to do? There was no one to whom He could run. It appeared helpless. He purposely slows down and reminds himself, “The Lord is in His holy temple.” He reminds himself that the Lord is, loves and administers righteousness. There are times when we must slow ourselves down and remind ourselves of the very same thing.
We have an advantage over David. He had to go to the tabernacle to seek the presence of God, which he did on one occasion. Today we, the people of God, are his temple. The Lord is in His temple in heaven, but He is also in His temple on earth, the people of God. He is among us to reveal, establish and administrate justice, mercy and grace. Let us NEVER forget that! He seeks to do that in us! That is His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 10

2012-01-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

Psalm 10
David Hannum, P.T. Barnum’s rival in the Cardiff Giant Hoax is reported to have said, “A sucker is born every minute.” It was eventually revealed that Hannum was the sucker. Perhaps Barnum could have added to the quote, “And two out looking for him.” That is a very cynical view of life, but probably fairly true. Have you ever wondered why payday loan stores and pawn shops are usually located in or near a low income community? One reason is that the rich do not need them. Another reason is that the rich are rich because they understand the principle of unreasonable usury. If the rich need a loan, they know how to and are able to get a low interest rate and to borrow only what they know they can pay back. They know that if you convert the fees and charges of a payday loan that it would convert into an APR that would be equal to 50-200%! On the other hand the poor are usually desperate and make desperate decisions in order to make ends meet now.
Jesus said that the poor will always be with us. It is easy to make a simple claim that the poor are with us because, as the first thirteen verses of this Psalm indicate, the wicked are abundant and seek to take advantage of those who have the propensity to fall into poverty. Indeed, that is one of the reasons that the poor are with us. But there would be those who are in poverty whether or not the wicked were there. Otherwise, how could the wicked crouch and wait to catch the poor in his net? It is also easy to make a simple claim that the poor are with us because of their own poor decisions. And that would very often be accurate. So it would seem that the poor will always be with us because of two reasons. The poor are desperate, and the rich are heartless.
Why doesn’t God do anything? Is it His place? To the degree that He is the Great Judge of all the earth. It is His place. And because we are moral agents, He delays His judgment for at least two reasons, to reveal our hearts and to give us time to repent. During that delay, it appears that God doesn’t care. But let us not be deceived. God is a judge and a help, particularly to those most vulnerable, the fatherless and the oppressed. They are in poverty not by choice but by circumstance. A simple view of the Lord as our King and Judge forces us to declare and ask that He will bring do something about the poverty. When we ask Him to do something, He calls us to join in with Him in doing something. He asks us to work with Him in seeing His glory in the way He works to rescue the perishing. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 9

2012-01-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

Psalm 9
We were driving in the middle of the night going east on I-70. Laura was driving; I was sleeping. We hit black ice at 70mph. I woke up when she screamed. The first thing that I saw was snow coming over the hood. My first thought was, “Lord, I’m coming home!” It was rather frightening. We came to an abrupt stop in a 4-foot-deep snow bank. A highway patrolman came right behind us and dug us out. He said, “It is black ice all the way from here to the border. Take the next exit and find a motel.” We started on our way. This time I was driving. Even going slow, I soon went into a spin. I was trying to remember my driver’s education, “When you go into a spin, turn into the direction of the spin.” That was just counter-intuitive. Its kind-of like, if a guy throws a left hook, you lean into it. I soon found myself sliding off the highway again. We dug ourselves out again, and we took the next exit.
The Lord is a just judge. The concept is both frightening and comforting at the same time. It is frightening because I know that I have sinned. In Psalm 7 we learned that the Lord is angry with the wicked all day long. How many sins must I commit in order to be considered wicked? The Scripture is clear, one sin makes me wicked. IF the Judge is angry with me, I am fearful to be judged by Him. However, this judge is also merciful. 9:10 says, “You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.” So, I, who am wicked, am supposed to run to the judge, who is angry with the wicked all day long?
That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. It seems counter-intuitive. It is kind-of like turning into the direction of a spin on ice. Yet, that is what He desires. He delights as a judge in dispensing mercy. He wants to show us His mercy so that we may revel in His love. It is only by turning into His direction of the spin that we are in that we can find mercy. It always brings us back to Him. Turning into His direction is called, ‘repentance’. When I turn that direction, instead of finding a God who is angry with me all day long, I find a God who delights in my embrace. To turn away from Him is to invite His wrath. To turn toward Him is to invite His embrace. Why do I hesitate? Should be a no-brainer. But it is not. It is counter-intuitive. I rejoice in the fact that He is a just judge and invites me to seek Him. What glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 7

2012-01-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

Psalm 7
There have been times in my life when I have been attacked by those whom I considered to be my brothers. While I make no claim to being sinless, in many of those instances there was no sin of my own of which I needed to repent, but rather, they were looking for fault in me because they did not like the direction we were going. It is painful indeed. What is the appropriate response?
The title to this Psalm indicates that it is a response to the words of Cush the Benjamite. Saul was a Benjamite. We can only assume that this near or distant kinsman of Saul had been slandering David. Most likely this occurred during the time before David became the king of the united kingdom. How did David respond? He first spent some time in self-evaluation. He sought to see if any of the accusations were true. How else could he say, “ If I have . . . , Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, And lay my honor in the dust.” Then he appeals to the Lord to rise up and judge. He asks for a judgment of the wicked. Finally, he rests in the fact that God is a just judge. He is angry with the wicked every day. He lets it go there.
Hmm. . . if God is angry with those who have inappropriately judged me, why should I be angry with them. If I really believe that God is a just judge, it is only right that I should rejoice in justice, but why should I take their punishment into my own hands? I would not want to be a sinner in the hands of an angry God. He is much more capable of punishing sin than I am. He is also much more capable of extending mercy than I am. It is His glory to extend both as needed. The appropriate response to being attacked is to spend time in letting God judge me and reveal to me my heart. Then it is appropriate to call upon Him to judge. Then it is appropriate to revel in the fact that He is a just and merciful judge. When I do that, it allows for others to see the operation of His justice and His mercy. It also allows for greater healing in my life. Lord search me and try me and show me any hurtful way. Judge me and those around me. You are a just judge! Be merciful in judgment! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 6

2012-01-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

January 6, 2012
I began my first class of seminary when I was 25, almost26. I walked across the stage to receive my diploma when I had just turned 30, little over 4 years of constant toil. To a 25-30 year-old, 4 years seems a long time. Working full-time, going to graduate school full-time, having a family, and spending 10 hours a week in ministry was very wearying to the body, mind and spirit. When 2 years were completed and there were still 2 more years to go, it seemed that I had been working forever and that eternity stretched out before me. I was weak, and my bones were troubled. The question was, “How long O Lord?”
David was in a worse situation. He knows that he is guilty of sin for he cries out, “Do not chasten me in Your displeasure!” Could this be one of the Psalms that he penned after lusting after Bathsheba or wrongfully taking the census? Or could it be just some other occasion of which we are not informed of his sin? After all, he is a man of bloodshed, a man who had a minimum of 8 wives. He was a man full of passion—not just sexual passion. Perhaps his guilt is in one of those other areas of unbridled passion. Whatever his guilt, it is immaterial to the Psalm. In his misery he cries out, “How long O Lord?”
Tell me, was his question directed toward how long the Lord would put up with his mess or how long until he would be delivered? He desired to be healed of the trouble. Am I troubled by my sin, or do I push it off and cover it up in hopes that it will go away? Do I want to be healed of it, not just forgiven for it, but healed of it? Do I want it departed from me?
One thing that David knows is that it is the presence of the Lord that heals. He cries out, “Return to me!” When all other remedies lead to death, and we recognize that they lead to death, then we can honestly cry out, “Return to me, deliver me!” It is in that time of vulnerability that the Lord returns.
In that self-revelation of truth, that vulnerable moment, he makes the decision, “Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!” David wants no part in being tempted back into participating in his former state. He wants to walk worthy of the Lord. That is when the Lord meets him and delivers him.
After two years of seminary, it seemed that I had endured an eternity and had another eternity to go. How long? I called upon the Lord and kept on the path that He had revealed. Laura prayed for me and helped me. The Lord met me and enabled me to keep on pursuing Him and His course of action. He delivered me. That is always the case. Even when I am guilty of sin, He waits for me to come again to that point of repentance where I can honestly say, “Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!” Why? Because only in that state, can I truly be interested in His glory. It is no longer about me and only about Him. There is one day when He will judge the world. Those who have never come to that point of repentance, to them He will say, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity.”
That is His glory. He will exchange my iniquity for His glory if I will repent and believe. He will empower me to live as He directs. He will judge those who do not. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 3

2012-01-03T19:54:00.001-08:00

January 3, 2012
Salvation belongs to our God. What does He save us from? He saves us from His own wrath. He saves us from ourselves. He saves us from our families. He saves us from our enemies. Wow, salvation belongs to Him! At a time when he was at one of his greatest emotional lows, David declares that salvation belongs to our God.
Can you imagine being hunted by your son? Absalom was a son who was truly gifted. He was good looking and charismatic. He was talented enough to have won the hearts of the people over to himself. He had a sense of justice. When Absalom’s full sister was raped by her half-brother, he waited for David to execute justice. It was not executed. Absalom made it happen with His own hands. David couldn’t bring himself to forgive Absalom or completely condemn him. It led to David’s downfall and crowned the schism between them. Surely David was proud of him. Now Absalom was seeking to kill him.
David is dying. His own past condemns him. His son seeks his life. How can God save him? But He does. God saves David. He heals David’s broken heart. He delivers David from death. In the midst of it all David can say, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” If He can do that for David, He can do that for me! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

January 2

2012-01-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

Psalm 2
Yesterday I installed an antenna on my HD TV. For the first time in over 4 years, I have broadcast TV. I haven’t missed a whole lot. Although, it is nice to have access to news and weather. I have to admit, it will be nice to be able to see OSU play football once or twice a year, especially today’s game. We watched an episode of George Lopez. George’s son’s dog was dying of a malignant tumor. His son manipulated George into praying for the dog’s healing. In his prayer George made a deal with God that if he would heal the dog, he would crawl on his knees for a mile at a cathedral in Mexico. The dog was miraculously healed. George was annoyed. He never really believed that his prayer would be answered. He was forced by his son and his conscience to keep his promise, which he tried every way not to keep. In one instance he quipped to his wife, “If God expected us to keep every promise, and we did not, then the world would be filled with wars and poverty.” Hmmm. . .
Are we like the kings of the earth who wrangle for power and wealth? We make promises and don’t keep them. If they even acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being, they seem to think that the Lord will do nothing to stop them. Our world is filled with men seeking to gain preeminence over other men and nations. They are in total disregard of the Sovereignty of God. Yet are we any different? Maybe what we wrangle over are the same kind of things but upon a much smaller scale, like keeping promises. Am I trying to break the bonds of the purpose for which the Lord has created me? Have I identified who I am in His sight so that I may fulfill His plan?
If I really grasped that He does sit in heaven and scoffs at my plans of mutiny against His purpose, would I still follow the daily and moment by moment course that I follow? If I was really convinced that He will one day return to secure His throne as King of the nations, would my interests still lie in the same area in which they presently lie? Would I be more careful in making promises and more consistent in keeping them? Do I really understand how my life fits into His purpose and how my living that daily purpose fits into bringing Him back as King of kings and Lord of lords? Lord Jesus, let me embrace Your discipline and instruction so that I may fully live my life as one which fully trusts in Your plan for Me, those around me and the nations. Perform Your plan in me! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

December 29

2011-12-29T12:22:00.001-08:00

2 Chronicles 34
Manasseh set into motion the straw that broke the camel’s back. Although he later repented, the nation did not repent. His son, Amon, reaped the bitter rewards of Manasseh’s early life. Amon was evil also. He became king at the age of 22. He was so evil that he was assassinated after only 2 years of reigning. So Amon’s son, Josiah, became king as an 8-year-old. That means that he was born when Amon was probably around 16 years of age. It is possible that Josiah was 6 when Manasseh died. As an 8-year-old, Josiah began to do what was right in the sight of the LORD. Where did he learn that? The text does not say. Maybe Manasseh saw how he had ruined Amon. Maybe Manasseh communicated that to Josiah. Maybe Josiah saw the evil in his own dad and knew of the change in his grandfather. Maybe Josiah realized that he needed a different path than the path which his father took. Maybe his mother taught him. At any rate, Josiah never had a copy of the Scriptures until he was 26-years-old. So how did he know how to do what was right in the sight of the LORD?
We are told that it was in the eighth year of his reign that he began to seek the God of his father David. He was 16 years old. Amon was 16 when Josiah was born. Do you suppose that knowledge triggered something in himself to drive Him to seek the LORD? Do you suppose on his 16th birthday that his mother reminded him that Amon was 16 when Josiah was born? He had 10 years to go before he would get his own copy of the Law of Moses. How did he know to do what was right? When he was 20, he began to purge the country of false gods and images. When he was 26 he ordered the repair and remodeling of the temple of the LORD.
During the remodeling process, the priests found the Law of Moses and sent it to Josiah. The king had the Law read. Having heard it, he repented and sent to inquire of the prophetess to find out what should be done. Maybe that is how he knew what was right and how to seek the Lord. Maybe not. At any rate, now he had heard the Law. Now there was not excuse. I cannot help but think that this is a marvelous example of how God is so gracious that He will move heaven and earth to bring a knowledge of Himself to someone who truly wants to know Him. The truth is that we really do not seek after Him as we ought to seek after Him, but for that rare person who does seek Him, He brings them to Himself, eventually bringing them His written word.
Manasseh brought the final judgment upon the nation. Josiah temporarily stayed the hand of judgment because he sought the LORD. Furthermore, the LORD said to him, “Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.” Wow what mercy!
Lord indeed you have extended such mercy toward me. Even when I did not seek you, you gave me Your word! You do not give me what I deserve, rather You give me Yourself! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

December 28

2011-12-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

2 Chronicles 33
I am amazed at the mercy of our Lord! No one was ever as wicked as Manasseh. He even made his own son pass through the fire, i.e. sacrificed him on a pagan altar. Not only was he personally wicked, but he also seduced “Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.” How could a man who had such a great father go so far astray? But obviously he went astray. But God disciplined him greatly. The king of Assyria came and took Manasseh into captivity. There he was disciplined. As the passage says:
12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.
Isn’t that amazing? God would forgive a man who was such a low life! Indeed our God is a marvelous king! He forgives Manasseh and He forgives me! Wow! But I should never forget that even though Manasseh repented, it was too late. The people had been seduced, and the people did not repent.
Oh Lord, You are so kind and merciful to forgive me of my sin. You are so gracious to enable me to turn from my sin. Let me never presume upon Your mercy and grace! Rather whenever your Holy Spirit convicts me of sin, let me repent immediately turning to You. Indeed You are a merciful God! . Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

December 26

2011-12-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

2 Chronicles 31
Why do I give to the United States Treasury? I give for one overriding reason. If I do not, I will be charged penalties and interest. If I ignore the penalties and interest long enough, the U.S. Government will confiscate all my belongings to pay what I owe, or throw me in jail, or both. Why do I give to the State of Oklahoma, or the county of Payne? I give for the same reason that I give to the U.S. Government. If it were not forced, would I do it? Probably not. Yet, the federal, state, county and city governments provide services that greatly enhance my quality of life. Because of their work, I have good running water, sewer, electricity, natural gas, police protection, ambulance coverage, decent roads to drive upon, safety in travel from state to state, protection from foreign invaders, quality higher education for my children, etc. If the governments did not require it, would I still pay for the benefits? Hmmmm. . . I am pretty short sighted. I would pay if I saw the direct benefit. I would probably not pay if I did not see the direct benefit.
In the late 1800’s when the men at the Oklahoma A&M campus planted trees, did they do it for their benefit? No they did it for generations to come. Today I enjoy the shade and beauty of large oak and cypress trees on the OSU campus because of their foresight. They paid for others as well as themselves.
Hezekiah’s revival brought a renewed vision for the glory of the Lord. That glory required the service of many priests and Levites that had previously not been supported by the people. Hezekiah required the people to tithe. That requirement came at the height of the revival when the vision of the glory of the Lord had been renewed. Having seen the glory of the Lord and having the king’s requirement, the people brought in their tithes. Being an agrarian society, they stacked their tithes in three gigantic piles. They took 4 months to heap it all up. The leaders saw it and blessed the people. It could have been smaller heaps. The people could probably have cheated a little and succeeded, but they saw the glory of the Lord. It was worth it to them to give to the Lord.
It was an issue of value received for a gift given. They valued the glory of the Lord. He was worth their gift. Do I view Him that way? Jesus put it this way, “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Am I so short sighted that I cling to the things of this world?” Is my focus on the value of the world or the value of His glory? When it is His glory, I will let go of the things of the world because they will pale in value compared to the things of the Lord. When it is the things of this world, I have to be commanded to give to His kingdom, and if I give, it is grudgingly. When my focus is His glory, His command is not burdensome. I am excited to participate in His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

December 25

2011-12-26T12:38:00.001-08:00

2 Chronicles 30
We had a baptism this morning, Christmas morning. I filled the tank before I went home Friday. I remember years ago when First Baptist Church of BSL burned down early one Sunday Morning. The cause of the fire was traced to a faulty water pump/heater for the baptistery. With that in mind and since Christmas Eve was a Saturday, I decided to get up at 6:00 on Christmas morning to start the heater. It would just be done later. I didn’t want to be gone a day while the heater was running. Unfortunately, the pump seized up when I tried to start it. It became really hot to the touch. It was too late to call a plumber to fix the heater for the morning’s baptism. Sometimes things just don’t get done in time. Later in the morning, I learned that one of the baptismal candidates was ill. She and her husband could not attend. Their baptism would be done later. Sometimes things just have to be done later. We went ahead and had the baptisms with the other candidates. Brrrrr. . . it was cold.
The Passover is a celebration of Jesus. The Lord wants us to celebrate Him. It is His glory for us to celebrate Him. Sometimes things just don’t happen in time for it to happen. Sometimes things just don’t get done in time. As marvelous as was the revival in Hezekiah's day, it just did not get done in time to allow the priests to properly prepare for the Passover. But the law had a provision for celebrating the Passover in the second month for those who could not celebrate it in the first month. So, Hezekiah called the nation to celebrate the Passover in the second month. Sometimes things just have to be done later. It is the glory of the Lord to recognize this and mercifully allow for change. When there is real change going on in our lives, He makes allowance for us. He is so merciful to allow for my slowness, as long as there is real change going on. What was the result in Jerusalem? There was joy! Lord, keep the change going on in my life! Thank you for Your mercy in giving me more time. Keep me from presuming upon Your mercy! You are so glorious in Your patience with me! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

December 4

2011-12-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

Malachi 4
Do you enjoy promises? Of course you do. Promises are the basis of good relationships. Thirty-four and a half years ago, I made a promise to Laura and she to me. Those promises have been the bed rock of our marriage. Yes, you guessed it. They were our wedding vows. Those promises have made our marriage work. Why? Because we both honored them. We can trust each other even during trying times. She honors my name. Because she honors my name, it is my delight to do everything that I can to demonstrate my love for her. Part of the wedding vows, which I regularly include in my wedding ceremonies, includes the following vow that the groom gives to the bride:
I (Groom’s name) take you, (Bride’s name), as my wedded wife; to love you with all my heart's affection; to give you all my earthly possessions; to give you all the honor of my name; and to share with you the grace of my God.
Malachi 4 is a promise to “those who fear My Name.” He promises to be the sun of righteousness, who has healing in His wings. The healing extends to hurting relationships, especially to turn fathers back to children. He heals families. Now that is glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

December 3

2011-12-06T09:17:00.001-08:00

Malachi 3
There is so much of the glory of the Lord in this chapter! In the last chapter we ended with the people complaining too much. Their complaint was, “Where is the God of justice?” In this chapter He warns them that the God of justice is coming. Before He comes He will send His messenger to prepare the way for Him. Before He comes we must prepare ourselves through repentance. That was John the Baptist’s message. It remains true today that if we want to know the God of Justice we must repent. That is, we must bring our thought processes in line with His thoughts. He demands that we return to Him. How have we strayed away? We have robbed Him. How? In Malachi’s day it was the keeping back of the tithes and offerings. Today Jesus calls us to leave it all at His feet.
What does it mean to leave it all? The last time that I checked, “all” did not mean 10%; it meant 100%. I have heard so much preaching and teaching that we must give the Lord our tithe or our 10%. That teaching is so miserly with the way we treat God. It is no wonder that we are so anemic in our spirituality. Jesus makes it plain. He wants it all. Why don’t we test Him with it? Why not give it all? I am so stingy with Him. His glory is that when I release it all to Him, He meets my need. Why am I stingy? It is because I have my focus on my glory and not His glory. If I really saw His greatness, I wouldn’t have a problem with leaving at His feet. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

December 2

2011-12-02T10:34:00.001-08:00

2 Malachi 2
The Lord directs this chapter toward the priests. Now, priests no longer exist in Israel or Judaism. So how does this apply to the Christian? According to 1 Peter 2:5&9 we are priests,
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
So the principles directed toward the priests could be directed toward us. Malachi instructs them to take the rebuke to heart so that they might give glory to God’s name. What were the rebukes? The priests had failed to teach the people how to walk in the ways of the Lord. It is to the glory of the Lord that we walk in His ways and teach others how to walk in His ways as we walk the walk before them. What does that mean? First we seek Him in His word constantly to hear is voice and do what He instructs us. What does His word instruct? That we love others as He loves us. Wow! That is a tall order.
The next rebuke, which He gave, related to the family. He rebukes the nation for marrying the daughter of a foreign god and for dealing treacherously with the wife of their youth. Both of these practices put at risk the desire that the Lord had for the nation. What was His desire? He wanted a godly offspring. This theme traces itself in Scripture to the creation. At creation God said,
Genesis 1:26-28 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
From the beginning God’s plan was to fill the earth with people who reflect His image. Marriage and the procreation of children was for that purpose. Through the ages men have subverted that purpose. The men of Israel at the time of Malachi were choosing wives not on the basis of how his wife could help him reflect the image of God, but upon his own pleasure. Was she pleasing to him? As his relationship with her progressed, and as she no longer was pleasing to him, he would divorce the wife of his youth in order to find a wife pleasing to him.
Our marriages should reflect what God is like. What is He like? Well that is a question that is full of many answers. There is the issue of attributes. Literally thousands of books have been written on that question. There is the issue of the Trinity. There is only one God in essence eternally existing in three persons. There is an eternal commitment to each other in the persons of the Trinity. The desire of the Lord is that husband and wife become one flesh. While the phrase does refer to our sexuality, it goes way beyond that and is inclusive of us emotionally and spiritually. There is to be a oneness in our marriage relationship that reflects to the world what God is like. When we as believers bail out of our marriages, we make it difficult for our children, our friends and the world to see the reflection of God in us. It is like trying to view yourself in a shattered mirror; it is possible, but obscure.
Attitudes in couples that lead to unequally yoked marriages and/or divorce also wreak havoc upon the children of those unions. The children see the differing commitments to the Lord God in the unequal unions, and they see and sense the hypocrisy in the union of their parents, who are not one, or who go to the divorce court. Those parental attitudes produce one more hurdle for the children to pursue hard after God.
So where is the glory in all of this? We must recognize that God has designed every detail of our lives to bring glory to Him. He wants those around us to see Him in us, particularly our family. It is not the end of the world if we blow it. However, we have to pursue the goal for His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

December 1

2011-12-01T11:30:00.001-08:00

Malachi 1
Can I rest in the simple fact that He loves me? At the same time, can I dwell in the knowledge that He is a great King? Often times we let our thoughts be channeled by the world. Love according to the world is demonstrated by what one provides for the object of one’s love. Does love provide the right kind of housing? Does it provide food in proper quantities and taste? Does it provide the right clothing? Does it provide recreational activities desired? Does it provide time? When God says that He loves the poor of this world, and they remain in poverty (by our standards) does that mean that He does not love them? At what point do our needs have to be met in order for us to feel that God has demonstrated that He loves us? The word is very clear, “God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And again the Scripture says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” The greatest demonstration that He loves us is the cross. The greatest demonstration that He hates sin is the cross. Is it not interesting that to us, whom He loves, He says, “Take up your cross and follow Me.” The voice of love incarnate says, “Take up your cross and follow Me.” It is not about houses, food, clothes, recreation or even time. It is about giving ourselves. He did it first; we simply follow.
So is he a great King? Do I really believe that He is a great King who loves me and will freely give me all things that are necessary to demonstrate that love? When I hang on to the things of this world, as did the people in Malachi’s day, rather than letting everything go to His hand, I am demonstrating that I believe one of two things, 1) He really doesn’t love me, or 2) He really is not great enough to meet my need. My mind tells me both of those statements are wrong. My flesh continues to grasp at the things of this world. That is why He says, “Take up your cross, and follow me.” I won’t win the struggle unless the flesh is crucified with Christ. He really does love, and He really is great, but He will not force me to let go. He wants me to voluntarily go to the cross. His glory wins the struggle. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 30

2011-11-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

Zechariah 14
Zechariah looks to the great Day of the Lord. Jerusalem will be under siege. The nations will be at her gates dividing the spoils. It will appear that all hope is gone. Then the Lord shall come. He shall return in the same way and to the same spot from which He left. In Acts 1:11 we have the record of the angel’s testimony, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Zechariah says that when His feet touch down, an earthquake of unimaginable proportions will occur. The Mount of Olives will split in half allowing living waters to bubble up from out of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be a watershed divide. Some of the water will flow to the Mediterranean; some will flow to the Dead Sea. His very presence will bring terrifying changes in the structure of the earth that will bring down His enemies and deliver His people. The feast of Tabernacles will then be celebrated by all nations. Anyone who refuses to celebrate will receive a plague from the Lord. Finally, He shall be our tabernacle, our dwelling place!
On the Mount of Transfiguration, that was what was in Peter’s mind when he wanted to build a tabernacle for the Lord, Moses and Elijah. Peter, James and John had that word of prophecy made more sure as they became eyewitnesses of the Lord’s future glory. We who hold fast to the end shall see it one day and celebrate that feast of Tabernacles. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 29

2011-11-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

Zechariah 13
I stood on the sidelines and watched my son’s football game. I was amazed at the coach. Troy had played five years as a professional football player. So, obviously he knew what he was doing. What has always amazed me most, though, was how these coaches almost always knew what play the other team was about to run. It certainly was true of Troy. I remember hearing him warn the defensive end and people on the nearside, “They are going to run a sweep to your side!” Sure enough they ran it to their side. Time and time throughout the game, he would warn them about the play the other team was going to run, and time and time again, they would run it. It did not seem to make much difference to our guys. They seemed to get blown away each time. How much more could a coach have prepared them? I‘m glad I wasn’t coaching. I would have been extremely frustrated.
Both Matthew and Mark record Jesus as quoting Zech 13:7 to the disciples as they walked together on the way to the Mount of Olives on the night on which He was betrayed. He always knew what was happening. He made sure that He communicated what was happening to His disciples when they needed to know what was happening. Like a coach who knew what the play of the opponent, He knew what the next step was, and He warned His disciples, “Hey guys, this is the crucifixion play we discussed. It’s going to happen now! Get ready! You’re about to be swept away.” The warning didn’t seem to sink in. They didn’t get it. They were swept away.
He does the same for us. He gives us general instruction about life and expects us to prepare accordingly. Then during the play, at the appropriate moment when we need His instruction, He gives it. He is constantly warning us. Like the disciples, we are usually too dumfounded to really get it. We get swept away and scattered. But He is a good coach. He calls us back into the huddle and His Holy Spirit begins to prepare and empower us for the next play. Sometimes He says, “Okay John, this is the crucifixion play. You need to die to self and sin and let me live in you, or you will be swept away.” What I need to do is listen and yield to Him. If I die, I live. If I insist on living, I am swept away. Now that is something to praise Him for and about. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 28

2011-11-28T12:08:00.002-08:00

Zechariah 12
“Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens.” Dr. Ross Humphries has a book, Starlight and Time, where he deals with this oft repeated phrase of Scripture. He demonstrates how using Einstein’s theory applied to this phrase that starlight could have the appearance of billions of years old and yet only be thousands of years old. Interesting book. However, the point is that He is the Creator. All things come from Him. This Creator became flesh. He came to His own. His own did not receive Him. Not only did His own not receive Him, but they nailed Him to a tree. Yet, one day the descendants of those, who nailed Him to the tree, will look upon Him who they pierced and they will mourn. They will return to Him. He will receive them. That is His glory! Christ receives sinful men! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 27

2011-11-28T12:08:00.001-08:00

Zechariah 11
Today’s passage is a marvelous double fulfillment prophecy of the rejection of the Messiah and the consequent destruction of the nation by Rome and then again in the day of Jacob’s trouble. Verse 4 presents God the Father speaking to God the Son as the Good Shepherd. The flock, Israel, was prepared for their slaughter because of their rejection of the Messiah. The Messiah takes two staffs. The oriental shepherd used two staffs, “one to protect the sheep from wild beasts and the other to assist the sheep in difficult and dangerous places. “ He calls them Beauty and Bonds or grace and unity respectively. It is interesting that it is grace that gives the body of Christ the gifts to build itself up to protect itself and it is unity that encourages us to propel us through difficult times and dangerous places
When Jesus presented Himself as King to the nation, He was rejected by the officials who fulfilled the roles of prophet, priest and king of that day. Perhaps that is what He meant by the reference to dismissing the three shepherds in verse 8. They rejected Him; He in turn dismissed them. So He demanded His wages. They weighed out 30 pieces of silver as they valued Him. Exodus 21:32 values a maimed servant at 30 pieces of silver. He is valued cheap, not even the value of a healthy slave. The priests who gave Judas his blood money would have been well aware of the Scriptural value which they paid Judas. It was probably an intentional insult. The command is given to throw the money to the potter. So it was thrown in the house of the Lord for the potter. The potter makes things of the earth. He was not even valued on a spiritual level. In sarcasm He calls it that “princely price.” The poor of the flock were watching. The spiritually humble, the disciples, were the ones that eventually recognized the prophetic impact of the events. One of those disciples, Matthew, clearly understood the import of the action of the chief priests and appears to quote Zechariah but attributes it to Jeremiah. The KJV Commentary has this to say about designating the source of the quote.
Some have expressed concern over the mention of Jeremiah in this passage on the basis that the quotation apparently comes from Zechariah. While there is an allusion here to Zechariah 11:12–13, the actual words do not agree with either the Hebrew or the LXX. The major difference is the addition of the word field, upon which the fulfillment claimed is based. This word, and the conception behind it, comes from Jeremiah 32:6–9, where the prophet refers to the purchase of a field for certain pieces of silver. It is obvious that Matthew’s concept of prophetic fulfillment rests upon both passages. Thus, he combines both passages into one quotation, giving credit to Jeremiah as the older and more predominant of the two prophets. Hendricksen (p. 948) draws the same conclusion, noting that a major prophet is preferred over a minor one in a similar double reference in Mark 1:2–3. There Isaiah is credited instead of Malachi (see Mal 3:1). This is certainly to be preferred to Plummer’s suggestion (p. 386) that it was a “slip of the memory.”
What an amazing thing about our Lord! He controls even the details of His death! He knew the rejection He would experience. He knew the price at which they would value Him. He did it all for us. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 26

2011-11-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

Zechariah 10
The Lord has a fierce loyalty to His people. He will draw them back to Himself, even after they wandered like sheep, even when the appointed shepherds don’t behave as shepherds. He still cares about and calls His people back to Himself causing them to wend their way home. This is His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 25

2011-11-25T08:32:00.000-08:00

Zechariah 9
Our King has come to deliver us! He came riding upon a donkey’s colt. 550 years before it happened, Zechariah spoke of it. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day saw the obvious claim that Jesus was making as He rode into Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday. Their response? “It is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” But because Jesus submitted to the Father in this, He will one day reign from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. Upon a donkey He came to die to purchase the right to reign. Upon a mighty steed He shall return to tread out the fierceness of His wrath upon the nations who refuse to repent.
Because of the blood of His covenant with us, He comes to us who are bound in the slavery of our waterless pits and lift us out of the pits. We are set free to become prisoners of hope. We have genuine hope! It was for freedom that Christ set us free. We no longer are bound by the chains of sin. We can walk now as heirs to the throne of God. We have everything we need in Christ Jesus, for as we live and die in Him He raises us to walk in newness of life! Now that is hope! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 24

2011-11-24T08:07:00.001-08:00

Zechariah 8
I didn’t realize how blessed I was to grow up when and where I did. Born in 1955, my parents moved to Glencoe, Oklahoma in the summer of 1962. Glencoe had about 280 people in the town limits. The whole school system, first grade through 12th grade had barely 200 students. It was mostly a farming community or people who had jobs in the “big city” (lol) of Stillwater about 15 miles away. I had two guys my age that lived in the town limits. We could play in the streets in safety and often did. If we were bored with the streets, we were less than blocks away from the countryside and woods. Life was relaxed. It was an idyllic world! In the summer of 1967 we moved to Stillwater. Although I could no longer play in the street (my parents lived on a major thoroughfare), it was, none-the-less, a pleasant place for me to grow up. With all the accoutrements of a major university, OSU, it still had the feel of a small town. The main advantages were security and prosperity.
Jerusalem lost both security and prosperity when the Babylonians came. Indeed, she lost everything. Even under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua she was neither secure nor prosperous. But the Lord points to a time when she will have a King who will restore both. It will be under the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself shall reign in Jerusalem. His beauty will be so evident that people from all over the world will come there to pray and seek Him. Once again children will play in the streets. If we kneel before Him, He brings true peace and prosperity for eternity. Oh may that day come soon. This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the little bit of security and prosperity I enjoyed as a child. However, I am more thankful for the coming security and prosperity that will be when He returns! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 23

2011-11-23T07:49:00.001-08:00

Zechariah 7
In Ezra 2:28 we learn that 223 exiles had settled Bethel (House of God). The better translation of verse 2 is, “When Sherezer came with Regem-Melech and his men from Bethel, to pray before the LORD.” These men came with a legitimate question. Jerusalem was breached and burned in the fifth month, and Gedeliah, the provisional governor was assassinated in the seventh month. Without the instruction of the Lord, they had been observing these fast days for over 76 years to commemorate these events before the Lord. Some Orthodox Jews still observe these fasts to this day. Now that they had returned and the temple was in the process of being rebuilt, was this fast necessary?
What seemed like a great idea receives a surprising answer from the Lord. Verse 5 “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?’” Sometimes our focus leads us to make decisions that are full of zeal but misguided. Fasting can be a very empowering discipline, but the Lord is not so concerned about some of our outward disciplines as He is the attitudes of our hearts. Part of the sin that had sent the nation into exile was their attitude toward the disadvantaged in their society. The exile seems to have cured them of their blatant idolatry, but it did not change their attitude toward the poor. Fasting is supposed to demonstrate our mourning over sin, not the discipline brought to correct us of our sin. They simply didn’t get it. They were like children who mourned being spanked not mourning that they had done wrong.
The Lord’s answer was simple. He just wants us to execute true justice showing mercy and compassion to everybody. What is playing out before us is a very real example of the Lord’s parable of the unforgiving servant. It is really pretty simple. But they would not hear it. The Lord just wanted them to reflect His true justice, mercy and compassion. Is that so hard? Apparently it is because we never get it right. They walked away in disobedience. As a result, the Lord refused to hear them.
The glory of the Lord is that He wants to display His true justice, mercy and compassion through us. Is that not incredible? Should we not then be the most just, merciful and compassionate people on the face of the earth? If we are reflecting His image, we are. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 22

2011-11-23T07:48:00.002-08:00

Zechariah 6
“Behold the Man!” I cut short the full quotation from Zechariah; however, they are the same words that Pilate used when he presented Jesus as the King of the Jews. The crowd demanded His execution. Interesting is it not that when Zechariah is using the words that he is referring to the chief priest and is placing a crown upon his head. The crown is the symbol of a king, and yet Joshua is a priest. It is interesting that the name Joshua is the Hebrew form of the Greek name, Jesus. Jesus is our priest and king. He is called the branch. As Joshua rebuilt the temple in Zechariah’s day, Jesus is rebuilding His temple now. We are being built upon Him as the chief cornerstone. He desires to sit upon His throne and rule as a priest over us. One day His rule will be supreme. He will rule from a literal throne and judge the nations. Right now He rules over His church. Let us be responsive to our priest and king! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 21

2011-11-23T07:48:00.001-08:00

Zechariah 5
God’s imagination in His communicating to us often times amazes me. I mean, “flying scrolls,” and “women in baskets.” If this were not so serious, I would almost think that He is writing a comedy here, but God is serious here. The flying scroll speaks of the swiftness of the judgment that is coming. The contents of the scroll speak of the sin. In this case the sin is lying and theft. The woman in the basket is representative of wickedness. The basket is an ephah, the largest grain measurement of Israel. The harvest of wickedness is come and it is to be carried off to Babylon for the judgment where it will reside permanently.
I am reminded of 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” We become His when we repent and believe. The result is that we should depart from iniquity, pretty simple concept. He supplies the grace to do it. So He is glorified when it happens. Lord, keep me from lying, theft and iniquity. Let’s do it! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 20

2011-11-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

Zechariah 4
There is no light at the end of the tunnel. When I was in seminary, the administration told us that the hardest time of the years was in the middle of the program. If you took a full load each quarter, the M.Div. program was three years long. After a year and a half, the excitement of beginning a new thing was definitely worn off. There was still no light at the end of the tunnel. It was still another year and a half or two years until the toil was finished. A lot of guys became discouraged and quit at that point. For them it was a mountain that could not even be climbed, much less moved.
Zerubbabel had been building the temple for ten years. It was a monumental task. It probably seemed that it would never end. The Lord comes alongside him to encourage him. Mountain moving is a specialty of the Lord; after all, He made them. The Lord wanted him to know that only His Spirit could accomplish such a task. 6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts. 7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ” The Lord gives us the grace to complete the tasks which He gives us. Grace is the unmerited favor and ability to accomplish what God designs for us to do.
We are designed to build the temple, His church. It is a life-long task. Often times it seems as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Weariness can easily set in, but our Lord is mountain mover. Sometimes He is a tunnel digger, and always He is the light in the tunnel. In the toil and in the darkness, He calls out, “Grace, grace to it!” He gives us what we need. That is His glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 18

2011-11-19T08:39:00.001-08:00

Zechariah 3
In this vision, Joshua the High Priest is standing before the Lord in filthy garments. Should it not have been unthinkable for a High Priest to do his mediatorial work in filthy garments? Such is the nature of sin that once we have wallowed in it awhile, we no longer are aware of its filthiness. When we do become aware, we do not have the capability of removing it from us. But the glory of the Lord is such that He will not let His people remain in their sin. But He chooses to send forth His Branch, His Stone, for the purpose of removing the iniquity of the people. Both terms are ones used of the Lord Jesus Christ to describe Him. The Branch is also used in Zech 6:12; Isa 4:2; 11:1; Jer 23:5; 33:15. The Stone is also used in Gen 49:24; Ps 118:22; Isa 28:16; Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11; I Pet 2:6. Our Jesus is a life giving branch through Whom the sap of eternal life flows, quickening us from the dead! He gives us the life and ability to live righteous lives and enjoy life more abundantly! Our Jesus is the stone which the builders rejected upon Whom we can be built as a living stone into His temple for His habitation. He is the firm foundation which brings stability and usefulness to our lives which will last for eternity and His glory.
It all begins on the day when He removes the iniquity of His people. Notice that He says that He will remove it in one day. He did! He removed it in one day at Calvary. And it is applied the day that I repent and believe!
Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my sin was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!
Oh, precious fact, when my Savior died,
Not only sin's debt was satisfied;
Life's flowing fountain was opened wide!
Glory to His name!
--Elisha Hoffman
Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 17

2011-11-17T21:31:00.001-08:00

Zechariah 1
It was an early April snow, very unusual for Oklahoma. The storm dumped 6-8 inches on us overnight. For northern states that have the equipment to remove snow, it would have been nothing. But for us, it is safer to just call off school for the day and let it melt. It would all be gone in a day anyway. With school out, our neighborhood decided to have a snowball fight with the guys from a near by neighborhood. I was one of the youngest in the group. I think that I was in the 7th grade. I was able to sneak up on a guy two years older than I, and I nailed him. He wasn’t about to take that from a squirt like me. So he began his revenge. I was getting hammered terribly, but then my brother, a senior in High School, saw my plight. He came to the rescue. Boy did he come to the rescue! I almost felt sorry for the guy who was pummeling me. It kind of ended the snowball fight. Now, my brother and I once in a while would have a disagreement (usually I was the aggressor), but I had never seen anger like that out of him! He was zealous for me.
The Lord says, “I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. I am exceeding angry with the nations at ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped—but with evil intent. Therefore thus says the Lord: I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it.” The Lord was indeed a little angry with His people, Judah. He used other nations to kick them out of the land. But as His tool of disciplining His children, they had evil intent. The result? The Lord was very angry. My brother might get angry with me, but you’d better not mess with me. The Lord gets angry with the disobedience of His children, but you had better not mess with His children! That is part of His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 16

2011-11-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

Haggai 2
We drove by the house to see what it looked like. My brother and I had not been there since January 1962. It was now May 1973. Eleven years had passed. I was 6 when we moved. I had just turned 18. What in my memory had loomed as a gigantic house now appeared small and unimpressive. It probably had around 800—1,000 square feet on the first floor and less on the second floor. It did have a full unfinished basement. My memories were much larger than the reality. It was kind of disappointing.
The old men of Zerubbabel’s party wept when the foundation of the temple was laid because it did not meet up to the memory of the glory of the previous temple. They did not have the silver and gold needed to adorn this smaller one as the former one was adorned. What is the use in trying if you can’t do it well? They slipped into neutral for 18 years. God asks them, “Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?”
Do we do the same thing? Perhaps we experienced a time in the past, when we were enjoying the blessing of God in the building of His temple, the church. (See yesterday’s meditation. I am not talking about a physical building.) Something went wrong, the blessing of God seemed to be removed. The glory of the former is greater than the glory of now. Discouragement sets in. The church shifts into neutral. But God calls us to answer His questions. He instructs us to cease thinking about former glory and fix our eyes on Him and obey Him. The principle is that if we will bring our lives into line with His instruction, then He will use us to build a living temple suitable to fill with His glory. It matters not how much silver and gold we have because He owns it all. He supplies what is needed. He instructs us to, “Be strong, all you people . . .and work; for I am with you.” But it is very important to work His work, not the work of the memory of our past. It is a work that must be done in holiness for the unclean will defile the clean, but clean does not clean the unclean. Personal and corporate holiness is a requirement. So we put away the unclean and receive His cleansing. We place ourselves in a blessable position. Mark Barnard calls it a blessing point.
Many times we live in the past trying to recreate the former times. But the Lord wants to fill His temple with His glory and He wants to build it through us in new and fresh ways. For when He does it in the new way, everyone recognizes it as His work. But there are old principles that He never changes. He does not use an unclean vessel, and He chooses to use people completely consecrated to Him who want only His glory to be seen. Henry Varley, a British revivalist, once said to D.L. Moody, “Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.” Years later Mood told Mr. Varley:
Those were the words sent to my soul, through you, from the Living God. As I crossed the wide Atlantic, the boards of the deck of the vessel were engraved with them, and when I reached Chicago, the very paving stones seemed marked with ‘Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.’ Under the power of those words I have come back to England, and I felt that I must not let more time pass until I let you know how God had used your words to my inmost soul.
When Zerubbabel and Joshua rallied the people to repent and return to the Lord, to receive His cleansing, to once again begin the work of building the temple, they placed themselves at a blessing point. They were at a point that God wanted to bless them because He could then display His glory and not have it obscured by them. Oh Lord, help me, help us to place ourselves in a blessing point to receive Your cleansing so that we might be empowered to do the work which You have called us to do, so that You may display Your glory for the world to see! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 15

2011-11-15T13:13:00.001-08:00

Haggai 1
“Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody care?” Maybe you recognize the lyrics from the classic rock song by Chicago. Do you know what time it is? The people of Haggai’s day didn’t. They were part of the first return to Jerusalem from their exile in Mesopotamia. About 50,000 of them had arrived about 538 B.C. under Zerubbabel’s civil leadership and Joshua’s priestly leadership. Their purpose was to rebuild the temple. They laid the foundation, became discouraged and quit. Haggai comes along about 520 B.C., about 18 years later. They were not even working on the temple. Haggai exhorts them that it is past time to finish and complete the temple, the house of God. For the Old Testament saints, it was the place where God’s glory dwelt! Instead of building the glory of the Lord they built their own houses. Their commitment to their own dwelling had become greater than their commitment to the dwelling of the Lord! It was past time to build the temple of the Lord.
Now God is not against us building houses, but He is against us making our houses more important than His house. That is exactly what they had done. As He puts it, “My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.” What a picture of the American Church! Does anyone really know what time it is? For the New Testament believer, it is not physical buildings in which the glory of Jesus dwells. His glory is found in the building of His body, the spiritual house of the Lord Jesus Christ! Peter put it this way, “4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” He is the chief cornerstone and we lay the foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God, of doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Are we more committed to the building of His body, His spiritual temple, than we are to our houses?
I spend a lot of time working on my house. The average American spends 30 years of his work life working to pay for his house, not to mention the hours of upkeep. For those who do not buy, they spend hours working to pay their rent. When I come to the end of my life, will I have spent more time working on my house or the Lord’s house? Is that not an indicator of where my priorities lie? Again, God is not against us building houses, He knows that we need good shelter. Do I really know what time it is? Do I have an over emphasis on my house? Why is this an issue? It is all about where God’s glory dwells. He does not dwell primarily in my house but rather in His church. He has gifted you and me to build up His temple for His glory to dwell. Am I exercising that gift to His glory? Those gifts are interdependent upon each other. When I do not pursue the exercise of my gift, the body suffers. When I control someone else’s gift, the body suffers. Let us pursue the building up of the body in love, submitting to one another in the fear of God! Does anyone really know what time it is? It is time to glorify the Lord! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 14

2011-11-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Zephaniah 3
Some years ago Laura’s mother was nearing her death. She was in the ICU at the hospital. That morning I read in my quiet time Zephaniah 1-3. I was struck by the iniquity of Judah and the promised judgment of the Lord, but then the Lord shifts gears and talks about how he would bring Judah back into the land in belief. Verse 17 says, “ The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” That concept of the Lord of the Universe singing over us is really amazing to me. What tenderness, what love, what compassion is expressed in that act! I spent much time meditating on the fact that the God of the Universe would rejoice and sing over us. Later in the morning we went to visit Laura’s mother at the hospital.
As we sat there quietly next to her bed, Mrs. Mummery commented to Laura, “That is beautiful music you are singing; did John write it?”
Laura responded, “Mom, we are not singing. What do you hear?”
“Oh it is beautiful music! Did John write it?”
“Mom, tell me about the music you hear.”
“Oh it is beautiful! It is all about Jesus and God. Did John write it?”
Mrs. Mummery had never heard any of the songs I have written, nor am I aware that she knew if I had ever written a song. It was one of those rare moments where God clearly had spoken. I pulled out the Gideon Bible found in the hospital room and explained what I had read that morning and then read Zephaniah 3:17. Laura and I needed that encouragement from the Lord. Later that afternoon Mrs. Mummery stepped into eternity with the God of the Universe singing over her. Isn’t He incredible? Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 13

2011-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Zephaniah 2
Yesterday we looked at Zephaniah’s denunciation of the nation of Judah who were at fault because they were complacent concerning what they thought the Lord might do in their nation. Today the prophet turns his attention to the surrounding nations as he looks to the day of judgment of the day of the Lord. Even in the midst of announcing the coming judgment He warns them to, “Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zephaniah, by the way, means hidden of the Lord or darkness of the Lord.) This is the glory of the Lord that we should meekly uphold justice seeking righteousness and humility. The anger of the Lord is reserved for those who do not do so. In the midst of His anger as it falls upon those around us, we can find refuge by hiding in Him. This is the glory of the Lord! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 11

2011-11-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Habakkuk 3
Habakkuk gets a vision of the glory of the Lord. He says that it covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. The first part of the vision is very disturbing. It almost describes the night we had a few nights ago when we experienced lightning, thunder, hail, torrential rain, tornados and earthquake all at once. It almost sounds like he was caught outside in it. But after experiencing the glory, he sums it all up by saying,
17 Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.
Hmmmm. . . As fearful was His vision of the glory of the Lord, there was just something about it that made utter economic ruin and famine to become not fearful because the Lord was with him. Do I have that kind of vision of my Lord? Lord, may it ever be, and may it ever increase! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 10

2011-11-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Habakkuk 2
“I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected!” Can I say that? I am convinced that most of those in the USA, who name the name of Christ, cannot say that. But, can I say that? Can I daily stand in His word looking to see the glory of the Lord. Do I wait in His word looking to see what the Spirit will say to me through His word? What will I do when I am corrected? Will I bring myself into obedience with His teaching, or will my stubborn will win out insisting that I was “right” that I was “justified?” Like it or not, one day, “The earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.” When that day comes the only thing of value that will remain is that which acknowledged and submitted to the glory of the Lord. Lord enable me to crucify that flesh which wars against Your Spirit. Enable me to truly stand my watch and do what you say to me for I wish to enjoy Your glory and not fear it! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 9

2011-11-09T09:06:00.001-08:00

Habakkuk
13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than he? Obviously, Habakkuk does not mean literally that cannot see evil; otherwise, He could not judge it. Clearly, the meaning Is that God does not look upon evil with favor. Yet why does it always seem that the wicked get away with their evil? That is the point of this little book. The answer is simply, “God’s eyes are indeed too pure to behold evil.” He will eventually judge. We just have to wait and be patient. His waiting on judgment is giving us time to repent. If I think about it that way, then wow, He is really merciful, even in His justice. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 8

2011-11-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

Nahum 3
What a contrast between the ending of Micah and the ending of Nahum! Micah ends with hope as a promise of the forgiveness of sins is extended. Nahum ends with despair:
Your injury has no healing,
Your wound is severe.
All who hear news of you
Will clap their hands over you,
For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
Micah was addressed to Israel and Judah. Nahum was addressed to Nineveh, Assyria. Both were accused of spiritual harlotry. God seems to frequently compare our sin to harlotry. What God values in us is that we reflect what He is like. There is such an unbreakable bond in the essence of the Godhead that if it were broken, the very universe would unravel. He created us in His image. Male and female he created us. Our marriages are to reflect that image in the oneness of our union. When we break that covenant relationship we mar part of the image of what He is like. That is one of the reasons that fornications and adulteries should be shunned among those who call upon His name. Our failure mars the image of God. It keeps people from trusting in Him.
The church is to reflect what He is like. The oneness of Him is to be reflected in us. That is why love and loyalty among the body is so crucial for the world to believe the witness that we profess. It is a witness that we are in communion with Him. Our disunity mars the image of Him. It is the result of spiritual harlotry, and it is spiritual harlotry. Our failure mars the image of God. It keeps people from trusting in Him.
Why was Israel granted repentance and Nineveh not? Part of the answer lies in the purpose and providence of God. Part of the answer lies in will of man. Nineveh chose not to repent. Israel partially remains today, and one day will occupy the land in belief. Nineveh was destroyed in 612 B.C., as prophesied by Nahum. Its destruction was so complete that for many years some scholars even questioned the existence of Nineveh. It was discovered by archeologists in 1845–1854. It is a silent testimony that those who curse Israel will be cursed. It is also a silent testimony that spiritual harlotry leads us to death both individually and corporately. God will display His glory either in love and compassion leading to life or in judgment leading to death. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 7

2011-11-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

Nahum 2
When God becomes our enemy, our demise is certain and unavoidable. So it was with Assyria. This is part of His glory. He defeats His enemies thoroughly and certainly. I must remember that when I am tempted to think that He will not prevail. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 6

2011-11-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

Nahum 1
What a contrast is today’s reading compared to yesterday’s final chapter of Micah. Last night as the fans were beginning to leave the football stadium after OSU’s narrow victory over Kansas State, we felt the rumbles of a 5.6 magnitude earthquake, whose epicenter was 40 miles southeast of here. Today we read:
The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
6 Who can stand before His indignation?
And who can endure the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by Him.
The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him.
Yes, judgment and justice are coming. But it is good to know that in the middle of it, the Lord is good. He is our stronghold in trouble. He knows when we truly trust in Him. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 5

2011-11-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

Micah 7
I love the way Micah ends:
18 Who is a God like You,
Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy.
19 He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give truth to Jacob And mercy to Abraham,
Which You have sworn to our fathers From days of old.
Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 4

2011-11-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Micah 6
“Each blade of grass whispered to the other, “The king of Togo Togo has two horns!” You may have heard the old African fable which was used to teach children the value of keeping secrets. When God made His covenant with Israel, He used the covenant form of the cultural day. Part of that form was to call witnesses who would be able to come back later and witness both the covenant and its violation. He called the mountains and hills to be witnesses when He made his covenant with Israel. God is calling in His witnesses. The violation of the covenant can no longer be ignored. In the court room, He asks, “How have I wearied you?”
How could we ever be weary of a God whose glory is as great as our God's glory? It is simple; we put our eyes on something that is not His glory. Oh we may think it is, but it is not. Someone I know who became a Christian as an adult said that one of the things that turns her family off toward the church is that it is “cheesy.” Why is it “cheesy?” maybe because it is that we have exchanged the glory of our Lord for a cheap imitation. Oh it has many of the right words, but the Spirit of power behind the words is not there because His glory is not preeminent.
He fills out the problem a little later on in the passage: v.8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Inwardly, they had forgotten justice. Their material possessions were more important than their obedience to the Lord in dealing with the poor, the widows and the orphan. Outwardly, they showed no mercy or pity upon the destitute. Upwardly, they thought the outward performance of the commanded sacrifices made them right before God. How had God wearied them? He hadn’t. They settled for a cheap imitation and refused to come to the true fountain of life.
It is God’s glory that He stands with arms open commanding us to return. When we put our eyes on something else, we may be fooled, but the world smells a cheap imitation immediately, and the world whispers to each other, “The church of Jesus Christ has two horns.” Lord, let me not be fooled with the imitation. Keep my heart hot to pursue Your glory! I easily forget justice and abandoned mercy. I easily become proud before You. Forgive me Lord, and let Your glory shine in me! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 3

2011-11-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Micah 5
Micah switches gears back to the future. In chapter 4 we began looking at the Millennium. Then he digresses back to the great battle which will usher in the Messianic kingdom where the nations that oppose the Messiah are crushed. Then in 5:1 he shifts further back to the future when Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem and finally strikes Zedekiah with a rod bringing a permanent end to the line of kings until the Messiah would appear. But He leaves Judah with hope. He catapults back to the future 582 years. Out of little Bethlehem, the birth place of David and only five miles from the temple in Jerusalem, he announces the birth of last and great ruler. Out of you Bethlehem, a little insignificant town, a town so small that it is not listed in the list of cities conquered by Joshua. Its only significance is that when the nation was on the verge of subjugation to the Philistines a young man came forth to lead the nation into victory and lead the nation to the status of a world power of the time. But that was the past. Micah takes us back to the future when the world is on the brink of being destroyed by those who follow the powers of darkness. A ruler will step forth from Bethlehem, and he will intervene.
I felt compelled to consult a commentary on this passage and came across something of great interest to me. This phrase, ”Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel,” what does it mean, “shall come forth to Me?” Listen to this from the commentary:
Willis, while maintaining the MT, offers an unusual interpretation based on parallels: “From you [a city] will come to me [a person],” meaning that the Messiah will come out of Bethlehem as an inferior king to meet Yahweh, his superior king, in order to submit himself to him. Renaud (La Formation, p. 224) objects that, among other arguments, all of Willis’s invoked parallels are located in a clear context of surrender, whereas here the context is one of victory, not surrender. Besides, none of the parallels use “l.” (to)
I suggest that they are both correct as long as we understand that the words ‘inferior’ and ‘superior’ do not refer to quality of person but to the concept of submission. The result would be that unlike other kings of Judah, the Messiah, Jesus, comes out of Bethlehem to submit Himself to the will of the Lord which results in overwhelming victory! Thus Willis is correct in terms of submission, and Renaud is correct in terms of victory. Jesus’ path to victory is through submission to the Father.
This one who submits to the Father is the One who is from everlasting. Immediately the words of Moses in Psalm 90:2, “Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” He who submits to God the Father is God, God the Son! Clearly this is one of the mysteries of the Universe! God the Son eternally submits to the will of the Father, God the Holy Spirit eternally submits to God the Son and God the Father. The love of the Son for the Father is proven by His submission to His will. The love of the Holy Spirit for the Father and the Son is proven by His submission to their will. The love of God the Father for God the Son is proven by His exaltation to His right hand, being given a name that is above all names and given as His inheritance those for whom He died. What great glory is seen in this eternal love affair, of which He has made us part!
This all sounds very cerebral, but there is a very practical side to this. Jesus’ submission is plastered throughout the New Testament. He Himself said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be serve, but serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Who was He serving? Us? Yes. The Father? Yes. He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does.” His submission was moment by moment and dependent upon the Father. His eyes were clearly fixed upon what the Father was doing.
His evening with the disciples before His crucifixion was filled with this, “So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” What was He doing? He was cleaning them. He was talking about spiritual cleansing. Jesus’ death brought the cleansing that they needed. One among them was not clean, Judas. Did Jesus wash Judas’ feet? Yep. He served the one whom He knew would betray Him. The others were clean, except. Except what? Except the dirt that had come upon them from living their daily life. Think spiritually.
How do we clean each other’s feet? Think spiritually. If cleaning each other’s feet is at all possible, it is only possible if we are in total submission to the Lord Jesus Christ and to each other. What does that look like? It looks like Jesus
Philippians 2:1-111 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Does this look anything like our church, or the church in America? Where is the submission to one another? We approach church from a consumerism mentality. Does this church meet my needs or my family’s needs? Oh, I will take this entrée from this church, this dessert from this church, this fruit from that church. But am I committed to the people of this congregation? What if this congregation does not have a menu which I like? If they do not, then I will just go to one that has the right menu. Lord forbid if someone should point out my sin! If they do, then I’ll just go to another congregation. Am lowly minded enough that if my brother points out my sin, I won’t be defensive? Will I truly consider his point? Submission to one another is a forgotten concept much less work.
Yet, this is the glory of Jesus. He submitted to the Father. He calls us to do the same and to submit to each other, and in so doing, we reflect His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

November 1

2011-11-01T08:25:00.001-07:00

Micah 3
Because the Lord is just, he has set a chain of command in place in this corrupt human race. It is the duty of the leaders of a society to protect the poor, the innocent and the righteous. When the leaders corrupt their God-given role to twist it to their advantage, the anger of the Lord is engaged. The Lord is so furious with the leaders of Israel that he uses the simile of a butcher to describe the heinousness of their works. He describes them as cannibalistic fiends. As if they were preparing for a meal feasting on those whom they were charged to protect. Were they really doing this? Only in the most perverted of cultures does this ever happen. But the Lord is attempting to give greater impact upon the foulness of their works. Yet it appears that they did not heed the Lord’s warning.
Indeed they are unaware that the Lord no longer is among them. Happy with the money that they receive for ruling, teaching or prophesying, they continue on keeping up appearances that the Lord is among them, when He is far removed. But the Lord will not allow such nonsense, especially in His household. His glory is to plow them like a field. What do you do with a field that is unfruitful at the end of the season? You plow it under and start again attempting to use the appropriate seed herbicides, pesticides, fertilizer, and irrigation in the next growing season. And so, the Lord does with His people. It is part of His glory.
Lord enable me to uproot any foreign seed in my life. Uproot any foreign seed in this congregation. Make us fit for growing the fruit which You desire. Make us a field that displays the pleasant aspects of your glory rather than the justice that brings recompense to our evil deeds! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 31

2011-10-31T09:18:00.000-07:00

Micah 2
I find some aspects of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement amusing. Look at this statement from their website:
Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.
This #ows movement empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians to build a better society
I find it amusing because by definition a leaderless movement is doomed to be led nowhere. If find it amusing because a movement being led nowhere can only in the long run be destructive, even if it uses non-violence and wants to build a better society. I find it amusing and sad that they think they can accomplish these things, and yet they leave God out of the equation. (Sounds like the American church) I find is laudable because it protests the greed and corruption of our society, but are they really any less greedy? In some senses I suspect they protest the greed only because they don’t possess what they think is wealth. I find it sad because they are expending a tremendous amount of energy for something that will accomplish nothing. How can one accomplish anything by protesting what is really a problem of the individual and corporate heart? Protests don’t change hearts. Greed can only be changed by changing the heart.
“From their children you have taken away My Glory forever.” The rulers and aristocrats of Judah and Israel had arranged things in their country to increase their own wealth. The result was the expulsion of widows and orphans from their homes. He labels that as “taking away His Glory forever.” Now that is greed. How did God handle it? He kicked the people out of the country. Only the poor remained. There comes a time when a society’s greed is great that He removes their place in the world. Now that is severe! When His glory is obscured so much that the poor children of the society can no longer have opportunity to see His glory, He removes them. I wonder if He does the same with churches?
But along with the promise to destroy the nation, He brings a promise to restore His people. This promise looks beyond the return from Babylon to the return of the King in the Millennium. The Lord will be at our head. The only way a fair society will be produced is through a leader who has only one goal in mind, the exaltation of the glory of God as He rules in justice and power. A leaderless movement will not produce it. A movement lead by a mere man will not produce it. He will produce it for His glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 28

2011-10-28T08:33:00.001-07:00

Jonah 3
Why would anyone believe Jonah? As far as we know, they knew nothing of Jonah. There was no reason to believe him. Yet when he preached the God-given message at God’s command, they believed God—not Jonah—and brought forth the fruit of godly sorrow and repentance. If I went out preaching this message today, what would be the response? Probably nothing of value. What is the difference and why? I can only come to one conclusion. God wanted to demonstrate, for all the world to see, His willingness to receive an exceedingly wicked but repentant people. This tells me that no matter how wicked might be the audience today, if we have been commanded preach a message (and we have) then there is somebody out there that God is working in to bring repentance and belief. If they believe, it is not because of me, but it is because of God. My job is to listen to the voice of the Lord and obey. His job is to draw men and women to Himself. If God uses my preaching to bring someone to Himself, there is no glory in it for me. The only thing I can say is that He empowered me to obey! Everything else is His work. He alone receives any glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 27

2011-10-27T07:58:00.003-07:00

Jonah 2
Yes, it easy to throw stones at Jonah, but at least when he reached the end of his rope, he repented. Boy did he reach the end of his rope! He was swallowed whole by a great fish. Seaweed was wrapped around his head. He had sunk to the bottom of the sea. His soul had fainted, and he was probably dead. But there he realized his folly. There he called upon the Lord, recalling to mind His mercy. He knows that he is about to stand in judgment before a Holy God. He chooses to not forsake the mercy that he knows is there. He chooses to come in line with what God has told him. He chooses to pay his vows. The Lord gives him one more chance and makes the fish vomit him upon the shore.
Isn’t that amazing? He willfully sinned. He refused his God given mission. Not only did he say, “No!” he ran the opposite direction! What mercy God revealed and showered upon him! He showers the same mercy upon us, but we need to be very careful. If we do not obey, there eventually comes an end to the Lord’s patience. Eventually He says, “No more!” and He takes us out of this world. That is the glory of our Lord!
But there is more than the Mercy of the Lord that is seen in this passage. There is also resurrection power that was extended to Jonah. Once Jonah had died to his own desires (refusal to preach mercy to those whom he hated), the Lord raised him up. No matter upon what beach Jonah was vomited, he still had a several hundred mile journey on foot. Can you imagine having died and spent 3 days and nights in the stomach of a great fish what kind of physical condition you would be in the natural. Man I bet he stank! But he got up and fulfilled his vow. He could only do that if he were miraculously empowered by the Lord. What grace the Lord provides His servant to perform His will! That same grace is available to us. All we need do is be willing to heed His command and step out in faith to do it. His resurrection power is available to us if we will die to ourselves. That is exactly what Paul was talking about in Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
What mercy He extends to us for not obeying! What grace He extends to us for obeying! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 26

2011-10-27T07:58:00.001-07:00

Jonah 1
It is easy to throw stones at Jonah. He, as a prophet of the Lord, should have known that one cannot escape the presence of God. He, as a prophet would have read David’s 139th Psalm, “Where can I flee from your presence, O Lord?” But then, he would also know that there is the omnipresence of God and then there is the manifest presence of God. He was seeking to escape the manifest presence of God. Wow, with all the talk of seeking the manifest presence of God, here is a man who had experienced it, but wanted to flee! He knew it could cost him something, his life. Oh but it was more than his physical life that it could cost him. It included the price tag of forgiving ones whom he hated culturally. The Assyrians had brought much warfare to Israel, and eventually would destroy the country. They were a harsh people and deeply hated by Israelites. Not only would he be fraternizing with the enemy, but he would raise the eyebrows of many an Israelite. But wouldn’t all those things be worth the trouble of his life, forgiving his enemy and risking the ire of his follow Israelites, apparently not to Jonah.
Yes, it is easy to throw stones at Jonah. But am I, are we, any different? In order to experience the true manifest presence of God and His miraculous power flowing through me, am I willing to trade my life, forgive my enemy, risk being viewed by those closest to me as a traitor, fanatic or idiot? Do I choose to cling to the glory of the Lord because I understand that it is of infinite more worth than my puny life, my petty grudges or the approval of my peers? Lord, what a weak minded and willed man that I am! Deliver me such petty thoughts of You! I lay everything at Your feet for Your glory is worth it all! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 24

2011-10-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Amos 9
The little cart rumbled through the haunted ghost mine on the track while the strobe light flashed and produced a sense of terror upon the eyes and mind. New scenes of gore and horror appeared at each turn of the track. As an 8-year-old, it was indeed a terrifying experience as I rode with my friends through the twisted path. About half-way through a hand touched me on the shoulder from behind sending an adrenaline rush through my body that caused me to bolt to remove the unwanted grasp from my shoulder. But as quickly as I tried to move, the hand was gone. But the hand had produced its desired effect, a sense of terror.
The Lord reveals His terror to and upon us. His is not for the effect of an adrenaline rush, but rather that of a changed life. The terror of the Lord is indeed something that should frighten us. His terror has been observed throughout this little book of Amos. As always, His terror should lead us beyond the experience to something rewarding. The Lord calls for the destruction of the nation, the scattering of the people for the goal of an eventual restoration. He will filter the people through the other nations for the purpose of restoring His people in holiness.
Notice from this passage that His terror is inescapable. One can go to Hell or Heaven, to the mountain top or bottom of the Sea, to Rivers that produce abundance or to the nations that are influential, but one can never escape His sight. He finds us wherever we try to hide. His terror sifts us like flour through the twisted paths of life. We can attach to what is evil and remain in the sieve forever, or we can submit to His filtering process and look for restoration to come. His reward is equally inescapable.
Israel benefitted from the sieve process. The benefit was a restoration of the tabernacle of David. In the Acts 15:16-20 James refers to this tabernacle as the church through which the Gentiles would be able to come and seek the Lord. If that is the case, then Paul refers to this (Ephesians 2:11-13 and Galatians 3:26-29) as Jesus breaking down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile to place them in one body. During that journey through the sieve, those who believed in Jesus remained and were made part of the tabernacle of David, and those who did not believe experienced the true terror of the Lord.
What a difference! Through many trials and tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Therefore let us remain steadfast in clinging to and relying upon the Lord Jesus for if we do, we will receive an eternal reward. If we do not we will receive eternal terror. That is His glory, eternal joy for those who believe, eternal terror for those who do not. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October21

2011-10-21T11:41:00.001-07:00

Amos 6
Ever seen the movie Sabrina? There are two by that title which share the same plot. One starred Humphrey Bogart. The other starred Harrison Ford. The plot is about a chauffer’s daughter who falls in love with her father’s boss. The opulence of the boss and his brother is staggering. They are much like the passage described here in Amos 6.
Who lie on beds of ivory,
Stretch out on your couches,
Eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall;
5 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,
And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;
6 Who drink wine from bowls,
And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,
But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives,
And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
Does God have a problem with us celebrating? Absolutely not, He commanded many festivals in the Old Testament. He has a problem with celebrating for the sake of indulging the flesh at the expense of the poor and as an expression of pride. Drinking wine from bowls spoke to more than just volume of wine. Bowls were used in the collection of blood from the sacrificial offering. By using similar bowls, they were placing themselves on the level of god. In their celebrations they turned justice and righteousness in to something bitter. They rejoiced over nothing. They reveled in what they thought was their strength instead of His. The Lord has a problem with that. It is His glory to destroy it.
Lord I enjoy celebrating. Enable me to celebrate Your Glory. Keep me from celebrating for the indulgence of my own flesh. Keep me from being enamored with my own strength. Enable me to bring the poor into celebrating You with me! Let us rejoice in You together! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 20

2011-10-20T07:36:00.002-07:00

Amos 5
It was 1997 at the Clergy Keepers conference in Atlanta. The evening before we had sung a song that I had never heard before, All I Once Held Dear or better known as Knowing You. How my heart resonated with the words of that song which are taken from the Scripture! The next morning in the shower, I was singing it to the Lord. Then as I sang the chorus ending in, “And I love You, Lord,” the Lord spoke to me in one of the most clear ways that I have ever heard Him speak. He simply said, “And I love you too.” I melted. I fell to the shower floor under the awe of such a thought, such a communication. Often in times of struggle, I recall that experience to mind. It encourages me to keep pursuing Him. But you know, I cannot live in the past. I cannot be dependent upon that one experience.
The Lord tells Israel, “Seek Me and live; But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing.” Why these places? They are historic places where God had met Israel’s ancestors. It was at Behel that God met Jacob, not once but twice. It was Bethel where Jeroboam defiled the country by placing a golden calf for the country to come worship. It was at Gilgal where Israel renewed the covenant after crossing the Jordan before conquering the land. It was at Beersheba that God did at least two significant works in Abraham’s life. Beersheba was the location where, when Hagar was reduced to nothing, the Lord met her need. It was Beersheba where the Lord appeared to Isaac. It was at Beersheba where the Lord appeared again to Jacob. All of these places are rich with past experience of the Lord meeting with His people. The mere mention of them would bring to mind to the past experience of the revelation of God to the people of Israel. But they had perverted it. They worshipped the memory not the Lord in the memory.
Worship of a memory leads to perversion in our lives. Memory, even 100% accurate memory, does not change us. He changes us. When we honor just a memory, we cease to hear what He has to say about our lives right now. At least that is what happened in Israel. How did it pervert them? Past memories don’t convict us of change needed now. When we worship a memory, we cease viewing what the Lord wants done in our lives today. When we worship a memory, injustice occurs around us and we are not outraged. When we worship a memory, God blesses us with material goods meant to be shared with others, and we spend it mostly upon ourselves. When we worship a memory, even the God-ordained methods of worship become a sham and an affront to Him. When we worship a memory, it opens the door for us to bring in even other gods to use to worship Him.
Lord, empower me to worship You today. Thank you for the memories of the past powerful ways in which You have met me. Thank You for the strength those memories give me in current struggles. But Lord, I need You today! Only You can keep me from slipping down the wrong path. Only You can keep me from becoming unjust. Help Lord! I choose to receive Your grace to seek You and live!
Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 19

2011-10-20T07:36:00.001-07:00

Amos 4
Have you ever considered the sarcasm of God? Sarcasm is one of the most biting of humors. It is painful, and as such, it usually gets attention. This passage reeks of it. He calls the women ‘cows of Bashan.’ Bashan was known for its rich pasture land and therefore fat cows. It is a symbol of rich opulence. How would you like to be called a cow? The rich women of Israel had reached a place of hardness of heart that they crushed the poor and needy in order to continue enjoying their drunken parties. He calls them to worship at Bethel, one of the places where Jeroboam set up the golden calves to keep people from going to the appointed place of worship. He calls them to Gilgal, the place where Israel renewed the covenant after crossing the Jordan by circumcising all of the men. He calls them to offer thank offerings using leaven, a practice forbidden by the Lord in the Law. Leaven was a symbol of sin. Yes the passage drips with sarcasm.
Yet in the biting humor, He gives reason after reason why judgment is about to fall upon them. He gave them cleanness of teeth, lack of food to eat, lack of water to drink, blight & mildew upon their crops, plague and war. The refrain for each one is, “Yet you have not returned to Me.” He desires us to return. The bad things are designed to make us think, “What have I done wrong? What must I do to return to the Lord?” Yet, they did not, hence the sarcasm. It was meant to get their attention. But now He has one thing to say, “Prepare to meet your God!” He then describes Himself
For behold, He who forms mountains, And creates the wind, Who declares to man what his thought is, And makes the morning darkness, Who treads the high places of the earth— The LORD God of hosts is His name.
Wow! Man you talk about a majestic description! I wouldn’t want to meet Him when He has just shared His sarcasm concerning my absolute defiance of Him. Lord, help me to hear and heed Your warnings toward me. Do not let me experience Your warnings without repentance! You are the glorious King! You deserve all of my obedience! I need You. I need a good relationship with You! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 18

2011-10-18T09:12:00.001-07:00

Amos 3
I have a friend who used to joke with me that one of God’s names was Shirley. “After all,” he said, “the Scripture says, ‘Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.’” Okay, I admit it. It is a bad pun. But it does bring an interesting point in today’s passage. Does God still operate that way? Many would say that the prophet was an Old Testament thing and does not belong to the church. O really? I guess then that they have to reinterpret many major passages of the Scripture such as Acts 11:27; 13:1; 15:32; 21:10; Roman 12:6; 1 Cor. 12-14; Eph 2:20; 4:11; 1Jn. 4:1.
The prophets of the Old Testament were often viewed as troublesome people, kind of thorny. As one king of Israel said of a famous prophet, “Can’t you find someone else? He never has anything good to say about me.” (2 Chronicles 18:7 Chaffin paraphrase.) The Old Testament prophets served in several ways. One major function was to correct the nation when they had strayed from the covenant. If the king and/or people would repent, they also would bring comfort and hope as they extended mercy in the future and for the present,. You can imagine then, if you think you’re right and you are not, along comes the prophet who publicly rebukes you, it is a very thorny situation. You really only have three choices of action: 1) repent & submit, which really is quite embarrassing; 2) ignore him and hope he goes away, which could begin to foment problems resulting in civil unrest; 3) stop him from speaking. Many chose the last option resulting in many prophets being scourged, chained, thrown in prisons, stoned, sawn in half, killed with a sword etc.
How do the prophets serve in the New Testament? Since they are given to the church, would not one of their functions be to correct when the church is going or has gone astray from the New Covenant? As such they might be viewed as troublesome people, kind of thorny, perhaps even abusive. Indeed, if the prophet operates in the flesh, he could become abusive. But if the prophet operates in the Spirit and the church repents, would not the prophet then bring comfort and hope both for the present and the future? But what happens if the message of the prophet is not received? Probably people ignore him and hope he goes away or they stop him from speaking in some way.
Does the Lord still do nothing, unless He reveals it to His servants the prophets? Why don’t we hear more from the prophets? Maybe it is because we do not listen. Maybe it is because we silence their voices. Maybe it is because we cannot distinguish between the voice of the prophet and false prophet. Maybe they are afraid to speak. I think it is still the glory of the Lord to reveal His will to the church. Since there is a gift of prophecy, one of the routes through which He reveals His will is through His prophets. It is to His glory for us to listen to the prophets. Since there are false prophets, it is to His glory to discern between the true and false prophets. It is a tough task to correct each ‘maybe’ and to discern truth and error. But if it is His glory to provide us the grace, the divine enablement to do each one, is it not worth our trust to seek Him for that enablement? When He provides that grace, will it not bring Him greater glory? Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 13

2011-10-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Joel 1
The road ahead looked like a thin cloud. As we approached it, we realized it was a cloud of grasshoppers. It was a 100+ degree August day in 1978. We were traveling east on the plains of eastern Colorado. Our ’72 Pinto had no air conditioning, and we had to roll up the windows to keep the grasshoppers from dive bombing through open windows. It lasted for miles and miles. Man it got hot inside! When the grasshopper plague finally eased up, the thought occurred to me that my radiator might be covered with smashed grasshoppers which would impede the cooling process for the engine. I pulled over. Sure enough, the radiator was covered in smashed grasshoppers. I did my best to brush the majority of them off without burning my hands. That was almost like a plague of “Biblical Proportions.”
The Locust in the Middle East have a 17 year cycle. My OT professor in seminary brought back a specimen that he had purchased in Israel. It was at least 4 inches long. They can be quite destructive at the peak of their cycle. Apparently, the peak that Joel speaks of was worse than the normal peaks. It killed everything. In an agrarian society a locust plague would be devastating. If it were nationwide, it would be crippling to the nation. The prophet calls upon the people to “Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.” Sometimes plagues, famines, droughts, economic difficulty, relational difficulty, natural disasters are just the result of living in a fallen world. Sometimes God orchestrates them to get our attention. Always God wants us to turn to Him in the midst of them. Why? So that we will learn our need of holiness before a Holy God and that we will seek Him for it.
In the midst of those times we can call upon the Lord, and if there is repentance in our hearts, He will hear us. Is it time to call a sacred assembly? Do our lives individually and corporately seem to be covered with a cloud of locust. Do the grasshoppers seem to be dive bombing through the open windows of our lives. If we roll up the windows, do we feel like we are in an oven? Maybe the Lord is shouting at us, “Repent!”
“To you, O Lord, I call, for fire has devoured the open pastures and flames have burned up all the trees of the field. Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the open pastures.” Sounds like Oklahoma this past summer. The glory of the Lord in this is that we can call upon Him. He invites us to call upon Him. He is most amazing in his mercy! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 12

2011-10-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

Hosea 14
It was a PTA meeting where all the kids came and we played outside while the adults did whatever it is that adults do in PTA meetings. I was having a blast with my friends. But all good things come to an end. My mother, who was also a teacher, was very tired, so she went on home. (We only lived a block from the school.) There were still a few families at the school who had friends my age. I wanted to stay. So I did. After a while my mother sent my older brother to tell me that it was time to come home. I was having too much fun, so I refused. As older brothers are sometimes prone to do, he tried to force me to come home. I wiggled and squirmed and managed to escape. He gave up the chase and went on home. I played for only a couple of minutes and then all of my friends were gone. The school yard isn’t so much fun alone. Now I had to deal with disobeying my mom and return home. Funny how long one block can be when you know you’ve been disobedient and you are not sure what the reception will be at the other end.
He calls us to return to Him. By the end of Hosea we find how repugnant our adulterous heart toward God is to Him. Yet even at this, He calls us to return to Him. He encourages us to say to Him, “Take away our iniquity, and receive us graciously.” If He encourages us to seek that of Him, then it must be that He is willing to do that. He encourages us to say that we will no longer say to the works of our hands, “You are our gods.” How insulting it must be to Him that we worship our own creation! Yet is it not what do so readily? Are not our jobs, our lands, our cars, yes even our families often more important than Him? Yet He calls us to return to Him. In Him we will find mercy. He will heal our backsliding. He will love us freely.
The one block was a long walk home. I wasn’t sure how I would be received. Yes, I received a strong rebuke when I arrived home, but I did find mercy. That is what we find with our Lord when we truly repent. He will love us freely. Why do we wait so long to repent? Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 10

2011-10-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

Hosea 12
The cares of this life beckon to us aggressively, constantly and totally. Jacob began his pursuit to grasp after the cares of this life even in the womb. As Esau was exiting the womb first, he grasped his heel not wanting to be left behind. That single birth act not only influenced the giving of his name, but it also summarized the thrust of his life. He was constantly striving to better his situation. He was constantly struggling to get what others had, it was birthright, blessing, wife, children, cattle etc. He constantly strove for what was not his, constantly struggling for just a little bit more. What an image of most of us!
At Peniel Jacob wrestled with God. Through the tears of a dislocated hip, he finally found submission to the Lord. At Bethel Jacob met the God who was, who is and who is to come. He learned the meaning of His memorial name. He learned that all of his striving for the things which he had gained was empty. The real treasure was the relationship which he had with the LORD. Ephraim, the name given to the northern kingdom had followed down the same path as Jacob with one exception; they never really found the one who was, who is and who is to come. They replaced Him with idols as they continued to strive for just a little bit more.
Lord, You are the One who shines through eternity. Let me seek Your face now and be satisfied only with You from now and into eternity! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

October 7

2011-10-07T10:42:00.001-07:00

Hosea 9
Where is the glory in this? It seems to only be about the shame of Israel in their idolatry. They made love to their Gods on the threshing floor. God had given them great material blessing in their abundant harvests. But rather than thanking Him for the abundance, they worshipped their idols and attributed their abundance to them. God in His glory provides us with abundance, but rather than thanking Him for the abundance and giving it to others, we attribute it to ourselves and spend it upon ourselves. We in essence worship the idol of ourselves, materialism. It is His glory that He is so patient with us. It is His glory that His patience one day comes to an end. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 30

2011-09-30T07:41:00.001-07:00

Hosea 1
“Go take yourself a wife of harlotry.” Pardon me Lord, what did you say? You want me to marry a woman that You and I know will jump between the sheets with someone else? Lord, You want me to marry a woman by whom I can never be sure if her children are mine? Lord, do You know how that will reflect upon how I will be viewed as a prophet? You want me to name my children what? God sows, Not my people and No mercy? What? Do you want them to become professional wrestlers? You want me to have a marriage that is in constant turmoil, children that I don’t know for sure if they are mine, a career where everyone laughs behind my back?
My name is what? Why did my dad name me that? My mother does what? Why is she always doing that? Why don’t the ‘respectable’ people let me play with their kids? Why does everyone laugh at my dad? Why is he always going from city to city preaching? Why is he always so serious, so stern.
Yeah well, Judah told me that he bought a half hour with Gomer for a really cheap price, and Hosea calls himself a man of God. Well he certainly has a wife that is giving. She’s the gift that keeps on giving . . . to all the wrong people! With a wife like that, I certainly don’t want Hosea as my Rabbi.
Hosea is gone again on another preaching tour. He just doesn’t understand that I need a man to listen to me, to look after my needs, to hold me. . . Judah was really flirting with me the other day. Maybe I’ll just walk to the market place and see who is there. . . Hosea didn’t really leave me with any money to spend. You know Judah is really charming and he always has the money to have a good time. . . It felt so good to have his attention and he had plenty of money. . .

God designed Hosea and Gomer’s marriage to illustrate the relationship between Him and His people, Israel and Judah. Hosea is illustrative of Him. Gomer is illustrative of His people. Ultimately it illustrates how He feels about us. He loves us passionately. He demands holiness and loyalty out of us. He goes to great lengths to deliver us from our sin, but there is a limit to what He will do. He will deliver us back into bondage, if we choose that route. It brings great embarrassment upon Him in the realm that is watching the unholy drama. Ultimately, it will bring Him great glory as He redeems us and delivers us out of the slave pit of sin. Above were just some thoughts from four different perspectives of the situation. All of them could be launch pads for sin. But the Lord clearly designed this situation to teach us about our relationship with Him, our need for cleansing, His warning of coming judgment, and His undying love for us. There is no justification for sin. If I quit looking at my justifications for sin and look at His glorious judgment and love, embracing them, it becomes an overwhelming motivation for seeking Him to receive His power for living. Wow, what a loving God! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 20

2011-09-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Daniel 2

Sometimes the politics and wars of this world seem more than overwhelming. In the words of “Bones” in the old Star Trek TV series, it is, “Madness!” The killing is everywhere. If God is there, why does He not stop it? If He really does raise up and take down the rulers of this world, why does He permit the Hitlers, the Stalins, the Husseins, the Ammins, the Kim Ils, of this world to rule so long and wreak so much havoc? Daniel knew firsthand the ruler/builder/killer/madman of his world, Nebuchadnezzar. It was Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed Judah. It was he who defeated Egypt at Carchemish. It was he who humbled nations from Persia to Egypt, and he did not achieve it by being Mr. Niceguy. It was to this ruler/madman that God reveals his world plan.

It was in a dream, a dream that haunted the ruler of the world, a dream meant for instruction, a dream meant to bring action and hope, a dream of warning. God revealed that yes, He is in control of the rulers of this world. It was a dream that was so accurate that skeptics refuse to believe that it could have been recorded by Daniel, for if Daniel recorded it, then indeed the Lord is the ruler of all! It projected the history of the Near East for the next 500 years and then to the end of the world. It revealed that ultimately the Kingdom of God would destroy every ruler of man, and He would then rule as king forever!

You and I are players in that dream, like Nebuchadnezzar we have a role to play. It may not be as dramatic or as visible as his, but it is never-the-less a similar role. Our role is to choose. Will we choose to cling to the fact that:

Wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.

And so choosing will we permit that faith to yield obedience? Why does God permit this madness? He does so to demonstrate the human heart. We all think we are little kings and queens of our universe. We want our sovereign will to be accomplished. God permits us to have our own way for several reasons, but one is to clearly demonstrate to us that if He permits us to go our own way, we will together become corrupt unto madness. Ultimately He will step in and defeat our madness. The only question which we can answer is which side will we be on when He steps in? I want to be in His light, basking in His glory. I want to be found in the sanity of His glory, not the madness of man! Yes, He is in control, even when it hurts. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 8

2011-09-08T13:05:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 38
Someone just e-mailed me some pictures from WWII of the death, destruction and mayhem. How could war ever magnify God? How could it ever sanctify Him? How could it ever make people know that He is God? Yet God describes His battle with Gog in this way, “ Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” Who is this Gog? Who is this chief prince of Meshech and Tubal? The identification is not entirely clear. The characters appear again in Revelation 20. There are some differences though. Here in Ezekiel, God gathers these foes together in what appears to be the Messianic age. In Revelation Satan gathers them together after the Millennium is over. With both the number is beyond calculating and their destruction is by supernatural means; God does it! His judgment magnifies His name. Many around me are headed for His judgment. Without Jesus, they have no hope. Jesus will be glorified, either by the way He judges them or by the way He pours His compassion upon them. Like the pictures of death and destruction from WWII, the judgment will not be pretty, but it must be done. Or He will not be just. It should motivate me to take the offer of mercy to those around me who have not heard. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 7

2011-09-07T08:14:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 37
Bones, they can tell us a lot about how a person lived and died. But we cannot, as of yet, bring them back to life. Archaeologists sort through the trash piles of ancient civilizations finding artifacts, foundations, walls and even bones. They interpret what they find, and bring us all kinds of theories about the civilization which has disappeared. But for all their brilliant investigation, they can never bring the civilization back to life. What happened to the ancient people of Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat and countless other civilizations? We study the stones and bones of them, but unless we have direct writings of the people who lived in them, the explanations of their lives are mere conjecture. Of those civilizations which completely vanished such as Stonehenge or Ebla or others, could their national unity be reconstructed? Certainly their descendents, if they exist, could be traced by God, but we know nothing of them.
Now take Israel, she was destroyed in the days of Ezekiel. She never was completely sovereign as a nation again. The Lord brought her back to the land, but she was always under the thumb of some other ruler, Persia, Greece or Rome. Then in 70 A.D. she was completely wasted and removed. Never did she regain any sovereignty. Unlike other ancient civilizations, her people never lost their identity even though they had lost their homeland. Scattered throughout the world, her people remained unique and identifiable. Could such a people be brought back and made to live again? Our glorious Lord told Ezekiel that it would indeed happen. Could it be that the formation of Israel in 1948, 1878 years after her demolition, be the beginning of the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy? It might be. One thing is certain it is certainly unheard of. Our God can re-attach dry bones, put muscle organs, skin and hair on them and breathe the breath of life into it.
If He can do that for Israel, what can He do for me and you? Lord make me live again. I mean truly live the life that You have designed for me to live. Let me not be satisfied with anymore half-hearted living! Let me not settle for anything less! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 6

2011-09-06T09:22:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 36
What a deal! He will take out their old, hard, stony heart and give them a new heart of flesh. They won’t have to do it themselves, and indeed, cannot do it themselves. He will do it not for their sakes. But then, for whose sake will He do it? For His own? Yes. For the nations? Yes. He closes this thought with the refrain which is sown throughout Ezekiel, “Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” That is basically what the Lord wants. He wants us to know that He is the LORD. He wants us to enjoy Him. He wants us to respond to His blessing. Lord, take my cold stony heart and make it soft and hot toward YOU! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 5

2011-09-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 35
“I beat your . . . “ He spoke the words with a snarl as we entered the shower room after football practice. What could I say? It was true, and he was reveling in it. But what could I do? He was our first string defensive tackle, and I was playing offensive tackle on our scout team. He outweighed me by 40 pounds. He was stronger, faster and smarter. I never have figured out why he didn’t like me, but he didn’t, and he was loving every minute of making me miserable. He loved gloating over my demise. It sparked a fire of anger in my heart that did not go out for at least 24hrs.
Mt. Seir is the rugged desolate mountainous area south of the Dead Sea. It was inhabited by the descendants of Esau. The nation was called Edom. Israel had an “ancient” feud with Edom, beginning with Esau and extended two thousand years through his descendents. The Edomites would not allow Israel to travel through their land when Israel was trying to move from the wilderness to the east side of the Jordan. David subdued the Edomites and made the part of his kingdom. From time to time they rebelled under subsequent kings. They obviously gloated over Israel’s demise when Nebuchadnezzar first subdued then destroyed them. The Lord pronounces the doom of Edom. Why? Because Edom gloated over Israel when He, the Lord, was in Israel. It was an offense against His glory. So He returned unto Edom what Israel received.
Today we have many Christians throughout the world who are being persecuted for the mere reason that the Lord is in their midst. Like Edom, the Lord will one day return their hatred upon them. To be sure some persecutors will be shown mercy, even as Paul was shown mercy, but the mercy will only come if they repent and believe. That is part of the glory of our Lord.
The next day after my opponent on the football field gloated over me was different. This time when we came in from the practice field, he had a slight concussion. It was exhibited by a mild case of amnesia. To my shame I had a fierce anger toward him during practice. I wanted to hurt him. I, quite likely, was the cause of his concussion. Learning that he had a concussion immediately killed my anger. But even though I regret wanting and trying to hurt him, somehow I still find some kind of pleasure that justice was served. The gloater, the boaster fell. The glory of the Lord is that ultimately, justice will be served. We will not necessarily rejoice in the death of the wicked, but we will rejoice that justice prevailed and mercy was offered. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 2

2011-09-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Eziekel 32
About 3 weeks ago someone stole Liam’s bicycle. Liam was enraged, rightly so. Whoever stole took from Liam one of his most prized possessions. Justice for that theft will probably never be served in this world. Last night the dogs were barking wildly at our bedroom window. Laura got up and looked out. Somebody was going through a bag of stuff. They came back a little later and seemed to be trying to steal the bicycles locked to our porch rail. She called the police. They said they would send an officer to drive around and look. This morning I found a few items on the ground by our trash can, some pictures in frames, an empty jewelry box, a half-full box of rifle shells. I guess that the person that the dogs had been barking at had stolen some things and was getting rid of the things that they did not want. Probably, justice will never be served in this world for his theft.
It is easy to complain against God that justice is not served. That has been a common complaint toward God throughout the ages, especially toward tyrants and unjust countries. Ezekiel sings a lament about Egypt finally receiving the justice due her. She will go down to Sheol, and what will she find there? She will find a host of other countries there that have also found the justice due them. There she will find the princes of Assyria, Elam, Meshech, Tubal and Edom. God does bring justice. It just might not come in our time.
The thief outside my door will receive justice. He will find it in one of two ways. He will repent and believe in Jesus. In which case, justice will have been served upon Jesus upon His cross. Or, he will receive justice for refusing to repent and believe. Either way, justice is served. Either way, mercy is extended, but mercy is only realized if it is received. It is the glory of our Lord to serve justice and extend mercy. Lord, I receive Your mercy! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 1

2011-09-01T08:52:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 31 Learn from the sins of others. The glory of God is that He warns us to learn from the sins of others. Assyria was at one time the world power. She dominated even Egypt at times. She had, as the Scriptures say, become rich and luxuriant. She was powerful. But in her fierce wrath against other nations, she eventually developed enough enemies that they began to chip away at her strength. In 606 B.C. the last Assyrian king fell fighting the Scythians. Nabopolassar, the viceroy of Babylon had joined the northern invaders against Assyria. Realizing the power void in the North, Pharaoh Necho took his army north to meet Nabopolassar at Carchemesh. Josiah, the last good king of Judah, opposed Necho’s march through Israel. Necho killed Josiah. Pharaoh should have learned from Assyria. He did not. Pharaoh, and Egypt, was doomed. Do I learn from the sins of others. The Lord often warns through the discipline of others, but do I learn from it? It is human nature to think that I am not like someone else. Lord help me to hear You in the fabric of life. When I see your discipline in others, enable me to take to heart the lesson there and learn from it. Show me Your glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!--Pastor john

August 31

2011-08-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 30
It was one of those scenes that will be embedded in my mind until I die. I exited church as quickly as it was over and walked home. I was not home more than 5 or 10 minutes when mom drove partially into our driveway, got out went inside and got my dad. My older brother was sitting in the car crying. Walking over to find out what was wrong, I observed that his arm was in an unnaturally curved shape. He had fallen on the church steps and broken both bones of his forearm. It ran shivers up and down my spine to look at it. My parents took him to Stillwater to have the doctor tend to it. The doctor thought it was beyond his ability and wanted to send him on to Tulsa to have a specialist take care of it, but mom talked him in to setting it rather than causing him to ride two more hours in pain to Tulsa. Over the next few months his arm healed, but it sure limited the things he could do.
When God says that He will break the arms of Egypt, and He will break the broken one twice, I cringe. I remember the unnatural curvature of my brother’s arm. I remember the cry of pain. I remember the months of limited mobility. Egypt, the past military power of the world, God says that He will break his arms. He will scatter Egypt among the nations. Today that would be like saying, “I will break the arms of the USA and scatter him throughout the nations.” Could anyone of that day have believed it? Do you think anyone cringed at the word of the Lord through Ezekiel? Yet, He did it. Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt. Egypt has never been the top world power since. God does what He says He will do! That is His glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 30

2011-08-30T09:29:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 29
“Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup,” so stated the bumper sticker on Christy’s car. In Scripture Egypt is often compared to a dragon or sea monster. The imagery comes from the Nile which also had crocodiles that lived in the river. Ancient advanced civilizations are usually found near great rivers that regularly flood their banks. The flooding provides needed water and nutrients for the soil. Thus Egypt, with the regular flooding of the Nile, was able to establish an advanced civilization because they could depend upon the established agrarian cycle of crops. This enabled others in the culture to specialize in other building activities. The result was an advanced civilization. Egypt knew that one of the sources of its strength was the Nile river. They established great confidence in their economy that the Nile provided for their country.
Rather than seeking the Lord, Israel sought help from Egypt against Babylon. It was wrong of Egypt to help, and it was wrong for Israel to seek Egypt’s help. Israel was meddling in the affairs of dragons. Ultimately, the source of provision and strength for any country is the Lord. How does the God of glory solve this problem? Not only does he discipline Israel, but he also disciplines the dragon. Ezekiel predicts the discipline of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar as the pay for Nebuchadnezzar’s work in disciplining Tyre. Listen to what the KJV commentary says about the fulfillment of this prophecy:
The date is March-April of 571 B.C. Though Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege to Tyre for thirteen years, the campaign was an economic loss. Since he had no booty with which to pay his soldiers, he invaded Egypt and got booty, the wages for his army. Thus, both Tyre and Egypt, proud because of their wealth, were humbled by God’s instrument, Nebuchadnezzar.
Persia defeated Babylon in 539. The Egyptian captives were eventually allowed to go home, but they would never again become the world power, true to Ezekiel’s prophecy.
God always performs His word. We do not need to appeal to the dragons of this world for our help. When we do, it is certain that we will get mixed with ketchup. That is not a good thing. God will perform His word. It is part of His glory. We need to wait upon Him. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 29

2011-08-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 28
Am I a god? The prince of Tyre unconsciously came to that conclusion. Tyre was a magnificent city at the time of Ezekiel. Sitting on the eastern end of the Mediterranean it had become wealthy through its merchant trade that spanned from Spain in the west to its location in the east. Centrally located, it could receive goods from a thousand miles inland to the east and distribute it throughout the Mediterranean world. The merchants of Tyre did great business. Ithbaal II, the prince of Tyre in Ezekiel’s day, attained great wealth through his portion of the trade and through taxes levied on commerce flowing through his port city. Exalted and wealthy and possessing a great business mind, he became quite proud without probably even realizing his pride. After all, he was able to gain this wealth and power through his great business skills. He came to feel that he was the author of his wealth and wisdom. He needed to submit to no one. Only God is the author of true wealth and wisdom. Are you a god?
Two thousand seven hundred years later we fall into the same trap. Here in the USA, we live in a culture that makes it possible for individual wealth and power to be gained for the individual who knows how to manipulate the wisdom of this world. A decade ago it prompted a famous secular author to state that if anyone in the USA made less than $250,000.00 per year, then he was not pulling his own weight. We might quibble on where he set the bar, but I suspect that most Americans would agree. The question is, “Where do we set the bar--$25,000, $50,000, $100,000, $250,000?” Most of us would say that we are rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing. We have become gods, or so we think.
The problem is that there is only room for One God. He destroys all others; that is part of His glory. He takes all who seek to be gods and throws them into the pit. Those princes who seek to be gods end up like their father, the king of Tyre. He is the one who started it all. The last half of Ezekiel 28 has baffled theologians for years. Many aspects of it make it seem to be directed toward someone who is more than a man, but then he is addressed as a Man. He is called the anointed cherub. From Exodus 25:18-22, we can deduce that the role of cherubim was to protect and proclaim the holiness of God. Satan, the king of Tyre once did that, but he corrupted his wisdom for the sake of his own splendor. We do the same. God allows no room for it. There is after all only One God. There is no room for another. That is His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 26

2011-08-26T08:37:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 25
1 Peter 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” Many people tire quickly of Ezekiel because it is chapter after chapter of judgment. Indeed the first 24 chapters of Ezekiel deal with the glory of God in particular as He is dispensing judgment upon the house of God. The time had come for God to judge His house. Now a shift has come in Ezekiel. He begins to judge the countries outside the house of God. The judgment upon His house was harsh and hot, but the house of God, the descendants of Abraham, the descendents of those with whom He made the Mosaic covenant are still recognizable today.
What about the peoples to whom He now turns His attention? What about, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. Those people groups are no longer recognizable even though there are people living in those lands which still bear their names. Where does Amman, Jordan get its name? Probably from Ammon. Where do the Palestinians get their name? It is derived from the Roman designation of the area which referred to the area as Palestine which meant Philistine. But would a Palestinian today claim to be a Philistine? Absolutely not! Would one born and raised in Amman, Jordan claim to be an Ammonite or a Moabite or a Edomite? Absolutely not! The cultural identity of those groups from the day of Ezekiel has been lost, but not the Israelite! Hmmm. . .
The fact that there is therefore, now, no condemnation for those to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, does not protect us from the judgment of the house of God. There is a difference between a judgment that brings condemnation and a fiery judgment that disciplines and burns away what is ungodly. Judgment that brings condemnation ends in eternal separation from our loving King. Judgment that disciplines and burns away what is ungodly purifies us and brings us into loving relationship with our Father and Lord. Lord, it is to Your glory that I be purified of all ungodliness. Lord, I welcome Your discipline, and I also choose to walk according to Your Spirit. Yielding to You, I claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called me to walk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what You will do with one sinner who will yield to You. Lord, do not stop on the individual level. May the congregation which I pastor yield corporately to You. May we claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called us to walk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what you will do with a congregation that corporately yields to You. Lord, do not stop with this one congregation in Stillwater. May the church of Stillwater yield corporately to You. May we claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called us to wallk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what you will do with church of a community that corporately yields to You. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 24

2011-08-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 23

Samaria, Oholah means ‘her own tabernacle.’ Jerusalem, Oholibah means ‘My tabernacle is in her.’ In order to maintain the split to between the two countries/cities, Jeroboam instituted two other places of worship in the northern kingdom, Dan and Bethel. The move was basically established in order to keep the northern people from returning to Jerusalem to worship. Jeroboam was fearful that regular returns to Jerusalem to worship might incite a desire to reunite the country, and he or his descendants might lose their power. Eventually after the exile, the Samaritans built their own temple on Mt. Gerazim near the city of Samaria. The woman at the well unsuccessfully sought to draw Jesus into the argument on the proper place to worship. The split remains to this day. Samaritans still worship on Mt. Gerazim and Jews at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. The Lord points out through Ezekiel that both of them have committed spiritual adultery with other gods in their places of worship. They were both guilty of exchanging the worship of the true God for the worship of false gods. Not only did they worship other gods, but they tried to incorporate that worship into the worship of the Lord. But the Lord will not share His glory with any other. It’s like sharing your wife with someone else. It just doesn’t work.

I wonder if the reason that the American church is so weak is that we have placed our own spiritual desires in place of true worship of our Lord. We have dressed it up nicely. It looks like it is worshipping the Lord, but spiritually we’ve gone to bed with another god. The Lord doesn’t put up with that. Lord, remove any spiritual unfaithfulness in me so that your glory might shine alone in me. Lord, cure us of our spiritual whoredom so that Your glory might reign supreme in us! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

August 23

2011-08-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 22
It was kind of an eerie glow. The molten aluminum glowed in the dark. Working second shift at Mercruiser, I would on occasion walk back into the die cast department during break. There was no second shift, so the lights would be out. It was too inefficient to turn off the vats that fed the molten aluminum into the machines, so they would remain heated through the night. The glow from the vat was beautiful. It was almost transparent. There was no impurity, no dross, nothing to fowl the aluminum. It was enchanting.
Listen to what the KJV Commentary says of this passage.
A stronger indictment against a city, people, and land wholly gone into moral decay could not be expressed. They have served idols instead of the Lord; by bloodshed they have despised the sanctity of life; by sexual perversion they have despised the highest form of creation, man’s body; by seeking material gain at any cost, they have put the material above the spiritual. They have done all of this because they have forgotten the Lord GOD.
All segments of the social structure have become involved in this decay: prophet, priest, prince, and people. Therefore, the Lord must bring judgment by dispersion to a remnant, and fire, sword, and plague to the others. God’s holy purpose in this is to purge out filthiness and dross, appease His wrath against sin, and bring His people back to Himself. . . . He must deal with His sinful people in judgment.
The fire of God’s wrath produces that which is beautiful. They nation was so corrupt that there was no one to “stand in the gap and close up the wall.” There was nothing left to do but to melt the nation down consume the dross and inject the molten metal into a new mold. I am so thankful that the Lord is melting me down. He consumed my dross on the cross. He is injecting me into a new mold, one that looks like His Son. It is sometimes painful, but he has promised not to leave me nor forsake me. What remains will be beautiful. Someday I will glow because of what He has done. Some say that I’m already kind of eerie, but I don’t think they mean it in a good way. Anyway, if there is any glowing it will be from Him for He is the beautiful One. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 22

2011-08-22T07:58:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 21
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” So goes the well known hyperbolic saying of epic proportions. I don’t know. I have never experienced it. But I would agree with this, “Hell is the fury of God scorned.” Fury is sometimes defined as destructive rage. God describes Himself as exhibiting fury when He judges and destroys Jerusalem. Listen to verse 17, “I also will beat My fists together, And I will cause My fury to rest; I, the LORD, have spoken.” There has to be something glorious about the fury of the Lord. On that fateful day when the Lord casts Satan into the Lake of fire, I think we will all be shouting, “Glory!” We will all be joyous when the would-be usurper of the throne of the Universe is finally put out of action forever! If God does not do this someday, then He is not just. Fury against sin must be!
He must rule over what He has created, or He is impotent and not worthy praise. Thus we will one day shout with joy, “Overthrown, overthrown, He has made it overthrown! He whose right it is has come, and the Father has given it to Him. The destruction of Jerusalem is just a microcosm of that greater judgment which He will bring, and it is glorious! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 19

2011-08-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 18
A few days ago I watched the original pilot episode for the TV show Stark Trek. The episode was not broadcast as originally produced because it was deemed ‘too cerebral.’ Interesting, I never thought of Star Trek as ever possibly being ‘too cerebral’. Anyway, the pilot deals with Captain Pike and landing party beaming down to a planet inhabited by a race which was greatly mentally evolved but not evolved emotionally or physically. They had gained the ability to use mental telepathy to change the way lower life forms viewed reality. The motivation for the superior being to do so was that they could then live vicariously through the thoughts and emotions of the lower beings. They could not force the lower beings to do anything, but they would manipulate them to do what they wanted by controlling their thoughts. In one scene they forced Captain Pike to writhe in agony in a pool of molten brimstone and fire. The superior being then told him that the scene was taken from a fable buried deep within the recesses of his mind. Obviously implied in the statement is the idea that there is no hell.
What is behind the idea that hell does not exist? Is it not that if there is a hell, then God must take pleasure in it? To think that God would take pleasure in the eternal torture of someone is rather twisted.
God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Some liberal theologians posit that the God of the Old Testament is a harsh and vengeful God and that the God of the New Testament is a God of love and mercy. Yet it is the New Testament and Jesus that speak so much of hell. Some people including Christians seem to live under a cloud that God is harsh and joyless. Yet when I come across passages like today’s passage, I see the compassion and mercy of a just God. He must be just or we would want nothing to do with Him. He must be compassionate and merciful, or He would strike us dead. When God assigns someone to hell, it is because He must do so or He is no longer just, but He has no pleasure in their death. It is simply what must be, in order for justice to be just. The real problem lies in our distorted views of justice and compassion. He is indeed just and compassionate. Therein lies the depths of His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 18

2011-08-18T09:46:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 17
When I was a Boy Scout, we started every meeting reciting, among other things, the Scout Oath:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
Every four years in the United States we all usually take a little time out to watch a very important event during the inauguration of the president. We all huddle around our televisions to watch the president swear an oath to defend, protect and uphold the constitution of the United States of America. A little closer to home, on occasion we attend a wedding ceremony where we watch friends or family swear oaths of fidelity to each other. Sometimes when churches receive new members the ceremony will include pledges of fidelity to one another as members of that local body of Christ.
Nebuchadnezzar replaced Jehoiachin as king of Judah with Zedekiah. In the process Zedekiah had to publicly swear an oath of loyalty and obedience to Babylon. God takes all oaths very seriously for they are a reflection of what He is like. He never breaks an oath. Zedekiah broke the oath which he had made to Babylon. He sought the help of the Pharaoh of Egypt in order to throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. So, The Lord promised Zedekiah that he would die in Babylon. The Lord points out that the breaking of the covenant was really against Him, not Nebuchadnezzar, a very serious offense.
What strikes me even more about this passage is that after pointing out the extreme infidelity of nation and the severe punishment that is pronounced, then the Lord announces that He will keep His oath with the nation. He will take a small remnant and replant it and make a great nation. He is serious about keeping His oath. It is part of His glory that He always keeps His oaths, and He expects us to keep ours.
Makes me think! Have I kept my Scout Oath? Do Christians keep their marriage vows? Many people do not bother to marry anymore because they know that they cannot keep the vow anyway, so why make it? Do we keep our promises to each other to be faithful to each other in the body of Christ? Do you suppose that one of the reasons people do not commit be a member of a local church is because they know they cannot be faithful to that body? Yet in the midst of all of our infidelity, He remains faithful! Now that is glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 17

2011-08-17T08:02:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 16
The ladies of the night were across the street. They were frequently there when we picked up our newspapers. Usually they left us alone, but one night the truck was just a little bit late. Everyone was sitting around waiting and talking, and it attracted the night girl’s attention. One of them wandered over and then the truck came. She watched as all the paper bundles were being tossed out the back of the truck. “Whatcha doing?” she called out.
One of us replied, “We’re working.”
“Working?” she queried, “Oh well I work too. I am just a working girl also.” Each time she put her emphasis on “work.”
“Yeah, well we do a different type of work,” another replied.
“Oh I just wanted you to know that I’m a working girl also.”
By that time I had found my bundles of newspapers and had thrown them in my T-1000, and I drove off.
I never have quite understood the emotional desperation that would drive a woman to sell herself on the street, but obviously it is a very real desperation. It has been called, “the world’s oldest profession.” Then there are those women who sell themselves for the hope of being loved, usually only finding that instead of being loved, they are just used. I understand that everyone has a deep God-given drive to feel loved. It is just that sex alone does not provide love, so to give oneself sexually in exchange for love usually leads to bitter disappointment.
But every time that I read this parable, I am once again struck by the depravity that the Lord attributes to Judah. She does not sell herself to her partners; she pays them to have sex with her. She does this after having been provided with everything she could want for life and love. What kind of desperation is going on here? Yet it is a desperation that describes the spiritual desperation of every human who has ever lived except for the Lord Jesus.
Then I find an even more amazing thing in this parable
60“Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. . . . 63bwhen I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”
As desperate as we are to find love in a person other than the Lord, He still desires that we should return to Him and to find our love only in Him. What a wondrous love is this! Why are we so desperate to turn our backs on Him? What an encouragement it is to us to receive this love and live in it! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 16

2011-08-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 15
In Portland, OR, the blackberry vines were everywhere. They were almost a nuisance. If you didn’t keep mowing them, they were like what kudzu is to the south. They would take over an empty lot if left unchecked. After they reached a certain size, the lawn mower could not handle them. I have seen blackberry brambles on empty lots that grew taller than I. They had only one purpose, to produce blackberries. The vines are not useful for anything else. But ohh in August, when the blackberries were ripe, they were wonderful! The fruit has only one purpose—to reproduce the life of the vine. I guarantee you that if they did not produce fruit, no one would put up with them. Without the fruit they are just a nuisance, fit only for burning.
We are called to seek the Lord. That is our life. We were created for the purpose of knowing and glorifying Him. What does the Lord do when we cease to fulfill that purpose? He first calls us to repent. What if we ignore that call? He continues to call. What if we continue in resisting Him? Eventually, He will burn those who continue in resistance. When we seek Him, His fruit, His life, is produced in our lives. Apart from His fruit, we are just a nuisance, fit only for burning. Everything else is useless vine. But ohh, when the fruit of His life is ripe in our lives, something wonderful happens. He wants that something wonderful to happen. If it persistently does not happen, He will burn His vine. He wants us to know Him, that is when the fruit is produced. And ohh His fruit is wonderful! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 15

2011-08-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 14
Noah, Daniel and Job, all three experienced unparalleled disaster, and yet all three passed through the disasters and were comforted that the Lord was righteous. Noah spent 100 years building a giant ark. During that time, he preached to all who would listen, but none listened. At the end of the 100 years he spent a year with his family sequestered inside the ark. The world as he knew it was destroyed when he emerged. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord to deliver himself and his family, but the rest of the world was destroyed. Was he comforted? Why did he get drunk?
Daniel saw his nation buckle to the king of Babylon. He and thousands of the best of Jerusalem were drug off to Babylon. He was separated from his family and all but 3 of his people. He was placed in a high pressure situation where the easiest thing would have been to forget about righteousness. He chose not to. The Lord delivered him and his three friends. Was he comforted?
Job lost his wealth, his children and his health; his wife and friends turned on him. Even in the midst of his questioning the righteousness of the Lord, he refused to curse God. He remained adamant that the Lord would deliver Him. The Lord did deliver him. Was he comforted?
These three men are held up as being unparalleled in righteousness, yet they were also unparalleled in experiencing disaster. Yet their great righteousness was insufficient to deliver anyone else. There is only One Whose righteousness is sufficient to deliver me. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. While I may see unparalleled disaster going on around me, touching my very life, if I trust in Him, He will deliver me through it, and He will comfort me. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August12

2011-08-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 11
“You’re as cold as ice; you’re much too willing to sacrifice our love.” So go the lyrics to the song which the internet tells me was written by a group called Foreigner. Here the Lord compares the heart of Judah to stone. Indeed, they do have a heart of stone. As He continues to withdraw his presence from them, He stops to tell them,
I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
When will He give them a new heart? When they have put away their abominations, He will give them new heart. What are their abominations? Their trust in other gods, their seeking of other gods, the creation of their own hands are their gods.
My heart is also prone to become hard. I am too quick to worship the work of my own hands and to worship my own desires. It makes my heart grow cold and hard as stone.
My eyes are dry
My faith is old
My heart is hard
My prayers are cold
And I know how I ought to be
Alive to You and dead to me
But what can be done
For an old heart like mine
Soften it up
With oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love
Please wash me anew
With the wine of Your Blood
Keith Green
It is His glory to soften our hearts if we let Him. It is His glory to wash us anew with the wine of His Blood, if we repent. It is His glory to fill us with His Spirit, if we yield. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 11

2011-08-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 10
The lights faded in the review mirror as we departed from Ocean City. I paused within my mind and reflected. It marked the end of a wonderful summer adventure with 60 other collegiate members of Campus Crusade for Christ. We had prayed, studied the Word, evangelized, fellowshipped and obeyed the Lord together for the last three months. I still remember many of their names and think about them from time to time. It was a great summer! As I viewed the fading lights and paused, I mourned that it was over.
Standing at the airline gate, I watched her walk down the causeway to board the jet to Philadelphia. The tears were flowing down her beautiful cheeks as she boarded the plane to go home. I had never become so close to someone before. Each step she took seemed to step upon my heart. She had become my sunshine, and now she was taking it away. I didn’t know where the relationship would go from here, but I knew that already I missed her. Standing there, I did not realize that less than a year later she would be my wife.
I could relate experience after experience similar to these, when I have had to turn my back on a chapter of life and remove myself from it. It is always a time for pausing to remember and reflect on where I have been and where I am going. It is always a time to stand still and ponder where I have been and where I am going from here.
4Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’s glory. . . . 18Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
The glory is departing so that He may judge and destroy the city. Yet even as He does so in the fierceness of His anger, He pauses; He stands still. I believe that He was mourning the relationship that could have been if only Judah had only trusted and obeyed. Think of that! Our awesome, all powerful, magnificent God mourns and misses the lost relationship with us. In the midst of His glory is intense desire that He has for us to repent and turn to Him. Knowing what He is about to do to Jerusalem, He pauses and stands and mourns. Judah is unfit to be His ‘bride’. She is little more than a whore. But what He is about to do is designed to cure her of that. What can we say of His church? His judgments and disciplines are made to cure us of our whoredom, so that we might become His pure and spotless bride. Had my time in Ocean City not been so wonderful, I do not think I would have paused for a moment. I would have been glad leave town. Had the girl walking down the causeway not been so wonderful, I would not have given her the time to take her to the airport, much less stand and feel her footsteps crunch my heart. How much greater is He that he loves us and disciplines us so that He might draw us to Himself. Now that is glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 10

2011-08-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 9
In the previous chapter we saw a number of abominations that the people had brought into the temple rather than seeking the glory of the Lord. In this chapter the Lord marks those who had bemoaned the fact that the abominations had been allowed into the temple. The others were killed. The glory, which once dwelt only in the holy of holies, now begins to move to the threshold. The Lord is removing His manifest presence from the temple and from the city in order that He might destroy the city. These abominations had been in the temple for years, yet no one had noticed that the glory of the Lord had been over shadowed. Outwardly, the abominations had all the religious trappings, but they were merely the works of mans hands. Yet few really noticed or objected to the difference.
Fast forward 2600 years. Has the church replaced the glory of the Lord with the work of our own hands? Tough question. When the Lord removes His presence, do we really notice or object to the difference? All that I know is that if His presence leaves, I do not want to stay. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 8

2011-08-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 7
Is there beauty in justice? If one turned to pop culture, one would definitely get the answer, “Yes.” Last night I watched the most recent True Grit. If you haven’t seen it or read it, it is about a 14-year-old girl on a journey to bring the murderer of her father to justice. Although she hired a U.S. Marshall to help her, ultimately she becomes the executioner with the aid of the Marshal and a Texas Ranger. Part of the ‘fun’ of the movie is that she obtains the justice which she so deeply desires. Everyone wants the ‘bad guys’ to be brought to justice. Even one of the ending scenes where she meets an old Frank James who rudely refuses to stand in her presence, she tells him, “Keep your seat, Trash.” She has a way of demanding and getting justice. We all have a sense of a time past when we did not get justice, and we want justice served. We also think that the ‘bad guys’ are much worse than we are; therefore, they deserve our retribution. There is beauty in justice; we sense it innately. The problem lies in that we never think it should be applied to us for we think we are never at fault.
Are not the people of Jerusalem a people just like us? Indeed they are. Maybe that is why many liberals like to use the justice of God found in this passage to make a supposed difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. The doom of Jerusalem is proclaimed to the exiles. Retribution in coming! We don’t like that message. It is not beautiful; it is painful. How can that be part of love? But if God is love and just at the same time, then the justice must somehow also be love. That is the beauty of the cross. It is both Divine justice and love in one beautiful act, or is it an ugly act? I’m uncomfortable with the destruction of Jerusalem in such a violent manner, but they had it coming.
I am uncomfortable with the cross, but I had it coming. Fortunately for me, I had a substitute. Fortunately for me, when I identify with the cross, justice is served against me. Fortunately for me, my substitute bore the justice due me. Fortunately for me, my substitute overcame the death that the executioner exacted upon Him. Fortunately for me, I live because my substitute lives. The cross is beautiful because of what it produced. The destruction of Jerusalem is beautiful because of what it produced. Is there beauty in justice? Yes. My Lord is beautiful. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 7

2011-08-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 6
Ever been in a romance that went bad? Perhaps it was a boyfriend or girlfriend whom you really liked, but they decided that they did not want you anymore? Perhaps it was a marital mate. Perhaps it was a good friendship that went sour. Remember the anger? Even more, there was the feeling of being crushed by their rejection. Is it not strange that we should refer to the beginning stage of a romance as a ‘crush’ and to the breakup of a romance as being crushed by it?
I do not find the anger of the Lord to be surprising when we reject Him. After all, He is the perfect One. To reject Him is to reject perfection. It’s just, wrong. But do you ever stop to consider that He is ‘crushed’ by our idolatry? In verse 9 the NKJV says, “I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols.” The Lord of Heaven says that he is emotionally wounded by our adulterous heart! That is hard to understand. That is part of His glory. That is a facet of His love which I must grasp, but I don’t grasp it. Have you ever heard Him say, “I am crushed by your adulterous heart, your sin?” Lord, change my adulterous heart so that I might be pure only for You! Give me eyes only for You! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 6

2011-08-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 5
I still remember my first trip to the barber shop where I paid for my own haircut. Until then Dad had always cut my hair. He did a good job, but in junior high in 1968, his style had not changed in the 13 years that he had been cutting my hair. I could have him cut it to any length and style I wanted it cut, as long as it was his. I had a paper route; I could afford to pay a barber, even though it cost a great deal in relation to how long it took me to earn the money. All I wanted was to look a little more like everyone else. In 1968/69 the Broadway musical, Hair, had rocked the nation. Hair had become a symbol not of mere style change but of challenging the moral system of the nation. The Cowsil’s recording of Hair climbed to Billboard’s #2, and helped a hair style become more than a fashion statement.
Hair has long been more than a fashion statement. It has also been a moral statement. Under the Old Testament Law, when one took a Nazarite vow, one never cut one’s hair until one had completed the Nazarite vow, then he would shave his head. Thus when Samson, who had a life-long Nazarite vow, cut his hair, it was the final breaking of the three signs of his Nazarite vow, and it demonstrated his complete abandonment of his moral commitment to the vows. Two women in Jesus’ day washed Jesus’ feet and dried them with their hair. Both were acts demonstrating extreme devotion to the Lord. In the days of New Testament Corinth, long hair on a woman seems to have been a symbol that she is in submission to her husband or father. It would appear that the prostitutes in Corinth (of which there were many) often shaved their heads. Long hair was a public statement of a woman’s submission and fidelity to her husband.
The Lord uses Ezekiel’s hair to make a judgment statement. What Ezekiel did with his hair graphically portrayed what God was doing in judging the nation. Judah had been unfaithful to Him. Therefore, He was judging her. He was cutting her off. She was receiving double for her sins. Let us never forget that a great part of the glory of the Lord is that He does judge. It is unpleasant for us to view, but nevertheless, it is His glory! Whenever we see His judgment, we should remember that it is also His glory! It is amazing that he can even use our hair to bring glory to His name! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 5

2011-08-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 4
I once owned some land in a community which was built on land that was a drained swamp. Before I built on the land, the house behind it had caught fire and burned to the ground and caught the land on fire. In order to contain the fire, the fire department plowed fire breaks in the peat/ground around the fire to keep it from spreading. One place, where the furrows met, greatly resembled the topography of Jerusalem of where the Kidron, Tyropean and Hinnom Valleys meet. At one point in time, I daydreamed about making a model of Jerusalem on the little mounds. I thought it might be a good teaching lesson for teaching the Scripture.
Ezekiel was given a rather bizarre job. He had to make a model of Jerusalem on a clay tablet and set it up where people would see it. Then he built siege walls all around it. Sounds like something that I would have loved to have done when I was a boy. He had to lay on his left side for 390 days and lay siege to the city to represent the years of Israel’s captivity. Then he had to lay on his right side for 40 days to represent the years of Judah’s captivity. He could only eat 20 ounces of mixed grain per day as representative of the famine that would be in Jerusalem as Nebuchadnezzar lay siege to it. He was limited to a quart of water per day. Definitely siege rations. Since in the midst of a siege, no firewood could be gathered, the Lord instructed him to cook his grain into bread using human dung as fire fuel. That was a little over the top for Ezekiel, so the Lord allowed him to use dried animal dung instead.
It reminds me of a line from an old cowboy song from the Chisolm trail of Oklahoma, “Pickin’ up chips to keep from freezin’, way out west in No Man’s Land.” To this day the town of Beaver, OK, hosts the world’s cowchip throwin’ contest. What a great claim to fame!
I wonder what it was like for Ezekiel to lie on his side and play army for a year and two months. His neighbors in Tel-Abib must have thought that he was mentally ill. I can only imagine having made the model of Jerusalem in my side yard and spending the next 430 days lying in front of it. I am sure the neighbors would have all thought that I was losing my mind. But for Ezekiel, Tel-Abib was the city where the exiled elders of Israel came to discuss what to do about eventually going home. It was more than a weird diversion; it was a clear object lesson to the exiles. The city was going to be lay siege, breached and destroyed. It was clear to Ezekiel’s audience what he was communicating. Did he have fun playing army each day?
Where is the glory of the Lord in all of this? He communicates to us let us know our end. Today in the park a little three-year-old boy came singing, “God has a wonderful plan for your life.” I told him, that’s right, you keep singing it. Moments later he collided with his older brother and fell to the ground hitting his head on the ground. He cried for the next 20 minutes. I couldn’t ask him, “Do you still think God has a wonderful plan for your life?” Suppose I did, would he still say, “Yes?” Most 3-year-olds would probably say, “No.” But as an adult, I know that life has its moments, but over the long haul, I can say, “God has had a wonderful plan for my life.” If you asked someone in the siege of Jerusalem, “Is this God’s wonderful plan for us?” they would likely have answered, “Absolutely not.” But ultimately as we saw in Jeremiah, God knew the plans for them, plans for welfare. The siege was to cure them of their idolatry and iniquity. Where is the glory of the Lord? In the times in which we would deem evil, if we yield to Him, He will turn those times into times of welfare. He calls us to yield to Him and hold fast to the end. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 4

2011-08-05T14:29:00.002-07:00

Ezekiel 3
It is the glory of the Lord that He should reveal Himself to humans, that He should give them a vision of Himself, that He should send them to other humans to proclaim His word, that He should empower them to do so. Lord, let me be so enraptured with your glory that that becomes true of me. Let me see Your glory! Let me be changed by Your Glory! Let me be controlled by your glory! Let me proclaim Your glory! Let your glory be my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night! Let Your glory be my constant meditation and conversation! Help, for I cannot produce this on my own! I need Your Spirit to enter me and lift me higher than myself so that your glory would be seen first. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

August 3

2011-08-05T14:29:00.001-07:00

Ezekiel 2
The last line of Ezekiel 1 indicates that Ezekiel fell at the feet of the Lord when He saw His glory.
The Lord says to him, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Awestruck by His glory, Ezekiel falls to the ground in the presence of the glory of God. What a privilege! But, it is one that no unsanctified human can bear. God help me to seek and find Your glory! Finding Ezekiel in his helpless position gives him a command with a promise, “Stand on your feet!” How can one stand in the presence of sheer Majesty? But what the Lord commands, He provides. The Holy Spirit entered Ezekiel and stood him up on his feet. It was the Spirit who set him upright when he had been given the command to stand. It was the Sprit who gave him the ability to hear and to listen. It was the Spirit who gave him the ability to go as he was sent to do the really weird commands given in his lifetime. Why could Ezekiel do what he did? It was because of the glory and the Spirit. Lord let me see Your glory, as did Ezekiel, and fill me with Your Spirit as you did Ezekiel. Let me obey Your commands that Your glory may increase! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

July 28

2011-07-29T12:42:00.001-07:00

Lamentations 2
In January of 1995 I moved from a suburb of Oklahoma City to North Carolina. In April of 1995 Timothy McVeigh and his accomplice left a rental truck filled with fertilizer in front of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City. When it exploded, it shook the nation. As I watched the destruction on the news and the internet, I was absolutely aghast. I knew one person whose office was located in the building. As far as I know, his body was never found. My mind immediately landed in Lamentations. “Young and old lie on the ground in the streets.” Jeremiah was familiar with such devastation inflicted by humans against humans. In what way does destruction and death reveal the glory of the Lord?
Jeremiah lays the blame for the destruction of Jerusalem at the feet of the Lord. He does not blame the Babylonians. Time and again he charges the Lord with the authorization of the destruction of His people. But in the midst of the charge against Him, Jeremiah introduces a rationale for the Lord’s judgment. Speaking to Israel the Lord says, “Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.” One of the roles of a prophet is to act as a prosecuting attorney on behalf of the Lord. He is to denounce the sin of the people so that they may repent and return to the Lord. Jeremiah had spoken clearly in that role, but the leaders and people would have nothing to do with it. Instead they listened to false prophets who proclaimed a message they wanted to hear. It is the glory of the Lord to warn a people of their sin and to judge them if they do not repent. It is the glory of the Lord to warn a people of their sin and to grant them mercy if they repent.
Was there a particular sin of which Oklahoman’s needed to repent when the Lord permitted the OKC bombing? Maybe, maybe not. But more importantly, when events like these happen, we need to come to the Lord and ask, “Lord, how are you speaking to us through this event?” What about the USA right now? Our economic system seems to be on the brink of economic disaster, and our congress cannot agree on how to address it. Is this a time when perhaps we should be corporately calling out to the Lord and asking, “Lord, how are you speaking to us through these events?” Our churches in America are dying. Every year we close more churches in the USA than we open. There is not a single county in the USA where percentage of church attendees in the county is on the increase. Yes there are churches that are growing, but the statistics would seem to indicate that overall, the shift is just from one church to another. Is it not a time when we should begin asking, “Lord, how are you speaking to us through these events.”
The Lord will glorify Himself in one of two ways. He will glorify Himself in His great justice. He will glorify Himself in His great mercy. In His glory, He lets us choose which one in which we will participate! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john