February 7

GENESIS 40
In 2007 shortly before I left for Senegal, I had a very brief vision. It was rather cartoonish in nature, but it was clearly the Lord speaking to me on the approach to a significant time of ministry. In the vision, the Lord simply asked me with a smile, “So, you wanna be a door keeper? I have often pondered the meaning of it and whether it was just for that trip or for my life as a whole. To this day I am not completely sure what it meant. It is the pleasure of God to speak to the one who will listen and obey. Three things are clear from Scripture:

1) God speaks to people in dreams and visions. Examples? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Pharaoh, Moses, Balaam, almost every one of the OT prophets Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Cyrus. In the New Testament there were Zacharias, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna, Peter, John, Phillip the evangelist, the leaders at Antioch, Paul.
2) Those to whom He spoke in dreams and visions seem to be people whom He could trust to be obedient, or who were at a crossroads in history in which He would use them as significant players, whether or not they were obedient to Him.
3) The number of people with whom it is recorded that He spoke that way are a significantly small number of people in relation the general population.

Joseph’s dad, Grandpa, and Great Grandpa had all been communicated with by the Lord through dreams. When Joseph had his dreams as a teenager and shared them with his family, his father’s argument was not that God does not do such things, but whether Joseph had really interpreted it correctly. Maybe that was why Joseph said, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.” Maybe He was thinking of his father’s response to his early dreams. Maybe he himself was beginning to wonder if those dreams would ever come true. After all at this point, Joseph has been in slavery and/or prison for 11 years. Yet he obviously still believed; otherwise, he would not have insisted that they tell him their dreams. God was with Joseph, and I think Joseph knew and believed it. Do you suppose that Joseph thought that somehow the dream of his fellow prisoners might somehow be related to the interpretation of his own dream which had been rejected by his father and his own experience to this point? Yet he still had the audacity to say, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.” God cannot lie, and Joseph knew it. God gave him the interpretations. Those interpretations led to the fulfillment of his own dreams.
Do you suppose that God really wants me to be a doorkeeper? Is there really any sense in which He will use me to unlock or lock doors of spiritual regions for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus? If He does, then it will only be glory for Him. After 57 years of life, I am convinced of one thing: If I accomplish any thing of significance, then it will not be because of me, but solely because of His mighty power. It will be only for His glory and none of mine. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 38
I do not know that I have ever experienced this kind of depression. I mean, look at what David says,

“There is no soundness in my flesh. . . my iniquities have gone over my head. . .my wounds are foul and festering. . . My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, And my relatives stand afar off. . . I am like a deaf man who does not hear.”

When did David ever experience this? Did this all literally happen, or in his depression does he just feel this way? Certainly when he sinned with Bathsheba and against Uriah, he would have felt the weight of his iniquities. But what wounds did he have? He had stayed home from war. That is what placed him in trouble with Bathsheba. When was he deserted by friends and family? Even when being chased by Saul, his cousins and the discontent of Israel joined and supported him. He had 600 men following him. When pursued by his son Absalom, he was still supported by his old guard who delivered him from Absalom.
When we are in depression, we frequently amplify our pain and make it greater than it is. I remember a time when I was attacked by those I was shepherding. It is hard to think straight when depressed. It was only a third of those, whom I was shepherding, that attacked, but it felt like everybody. If you have lived any amount of time, you probably know exactly what I am talking about. How do we triumph in those circumstances? David has the key: “In You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God.” When our hope is in Him, He makes the worst of circumstances tolerable because of His great presence. We will slop through the situation, but He will eventually come to us. In the midst of the attack He communicates His love for us. That communication is worth all the depression and pain. The smile of the Creator upon us creates inestimable joy. May the Lord make haste to us in our need. That is where we see His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOB 6
She had called a few minutes before and asked if she could come see me. She said that she had a word from the Lord for me. It was my first experience with a genuine intercessor. She said, “The Lord spoke to me this morning and said to tell pastor john, ‘You have been praying much for revival, but if I gave it to you, would you be ready for it?’” Apologetically, she said, “I do not know what that means. All I know is that the Lord wanted me to tell you that.” I didn’t really quite understand it either. That was in 1994, 19 years ago.
A year and a half later, I was at a prayer summit where Armin Guesswein was one of the leaders. At lunch time I told him of the experience, and I asked him what it meant. He guffawed and said, “Well it meant just that! Are you ready?” Am I ready? What is everything involved in being ready for revival? Is anyone really ready when it comes? The implication of the question is that I am not ready, and therefore, for God to send revival would not be a good thing, for God is always ready to give us what is good. Hmmm. . . Nineteen years down the road, I still occasionally think on that. What needs to change in me so that revival would be a request God would grant?
Job 6:8–10

“Oh, that I might have my request, That God would grant me the thing that I long for! That it would please God to crush me, That He would loose His hand and cut me off! Then I would still have comfort; Though in anguish I would exult, He will not spare; For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

Job had a request. He wanted to die. God would not grant it. I remember being sick in bed for over three weeks with mononucleosis. I dropped down to 130 pounds—pretty skinny for my 6’ frame. At times during that illness, I was pretty ugly toward my lovely bride. I expressed to her that I wished I was dead. She almost wished the same. God did not grant that request for either Job or me. Why? Well, He had something better in store for us. As awful as Job’s experience was, God had something better for Job. It is the mystery of suffering. Sometimes God does not alleviate it because He has something better down the road that the suffering will accomplish. The suffering prepares us for the something better. If God would have granted his request and crushed him, we would never have seen the triumph of the faith of Job, nor would we have seen that wonderful exchange between God and Job at the end of the book, nor would Job have received back all the new sons and daughters and the wealth that God restored to him.
I am still not sure that I know what God meant by His question, “Are you ready?” but I continue to seek to be ready. God will eventually give something better. I don’t know what that is, but I do know that if I ask for bread, He won’t give me a stone. It is the glory of God to not grant some of our requests, in order that He might give us something better. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MATTHEW 24:1-28
In 19 B.C. Herod the Great sought to appease his Jewish subjects by making the temple one of the architectural wonders of the world. The main building was finished 10 years later but the temple complex was not finished until 64 A.D., shortly before its destruction by the Romans. The complex and temple were truly amazing by the time that Jesus visited it. It covered an area that could have supported 24 football fields (about 490 yards by 325 yards)! The gold and white stone shone so brightly in the sun that it was difficult to look directly at the Temple. The disciples were truly impressed. I think we would have been impressed as well.
Are we impressed as well with the glory of the Lord Jesus? He says here that these stones would be thrown down. History tells us that when the Romans burned the temple that it burned with such heat that some of the gold lining the temple walls melted down into the cracks of the floor stones. The Romans tore downs the walls and pulled up some of the floor covering stones in order to retrieve the melted gold. In another place Jesus said, "Tear down this temple and I will raise it up in three days," referring to the temple of His body.
How is His glory greater than the temple? Is not the building of great buildings a symbol of national prosperity and power? Before He comes, He tells us that the world will be plagued with wars and rumors of wars and nations will rise up against nation. Reasons for wars are often complex but is it not true that in essence wars are a violent struggle for power? Sometimes the struggle is self-defense and a nation must act to protect its citizens. But why must they protect and how do you differentiate protection from aggression? Yet I submit to you that if all the nations would submit themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, conflicts of nation against nation would cease immediately. He permits conflicts to exist in order to show us the selfishness of our hearts. He alone can change our hearts.
How is His glory greater than the temple? Plenty of food, health and security from the ravages of nature are things we all desire and crave. Yet He says that scarcity of those things will increase as we approach His coming. We currently have the farming technology to produce enough food to feed the world many times over. Yet, one third of the world goes to bed hungry every night. Why? The simplistic answer is lack of distribution caused ultimately by greed. We need our hearts changed. Why does He allow it? For those of you who have viewed the Transformation videos, or have studied the history of revivals, one of the characteristics of true revival is that land is healed and a general prosperity for the ones who have experienced the revival is more of the rule than the exception. Why? I think He is demonstrating for all to see that the greatest need that we need is a changed heart. He alone can change our hearts.
How is His glory greater than the temple? False prophets abound in our world today. They existed in the temple in His day. They exist now. There is no falsehood in Him. He is the truth. Why does He allow false prophets? Again it is to show us the depravity of the heart of man. People believe false prophets, more often than not, because they want to believe falsehood. It is a heart problem. He alone can change our hearts. That is why the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom must be preached as a witness to all the world. Every ethnic group must have the opportunity to hear the good news of the One who can change their hearts. When that happens, the end will come. That is why we must speak His glory to one another. Otherwise, we focus on the earthly glory of temples rather than His heavenly glory. The Lord Jesus is indeed glorious. Speak His glory to someone else today.
--Pastor John

February 6

GENESIS 39
Look at these verses in chapter 39:

2The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand.
21But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. 23The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

Do you suppose the Lord is trying to make a point to us here? The phrase is repeated four times. Do you ever think:

Excuse me, The Lord was with him? Joseph was almost killed by his brothers; he is sold into slavery; he is falsely accused of rape; he imprisoned without hope of parole because of the false accusation. You are telling me that the Lord was with him? I’d hate to think what the Lord does for people whom He hates.

Yes, the Lord was with Him, and it seems that Joseph realized it. Perhaps for Joseph, the mere knowledge of the presence of the Lord was worthy compensation for the crummy circumstances. I have had times when I have been falsely accused. I have had things done to me that I would rather not have had done. I have had the rug pulled out from underneath me. But in those times I can say that I have experienced the presence of the Lord in ways that I did not experience Him in the good times. That presence is so sweet that if He required it, I would choose the bad times again just to experience His sweet presence. You see, that is the glory of His presence. It far exceeds the worst circumstance. He is the One who is there, and His presence is our exceeding great reward. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 37
Look at all of the commands that the Lord gives us in this Psalm. He has a lot of things for us to do and to focus upon! It is really easy for me to focus upon the commands. His commands are for our good.

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
3Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
27Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
34Wait on the LORD,
And keep His way,
37Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.

Why are all these commands here? Running mixed with these admonitions is the underlying teaching that God is righteous. In the words of R.G.Lee’s famous sermon, there is a “Payday Someday.” In this values-mixed-up world it is easy in to lose sight of that very basic fact. God is righteous. When all is said and done, righteousness will prevail, one way or another. In relation to man, righteousness will prevail. Wrath against all unrighteousness will fall either on Jesus on the Cross where wrath’s demand is satisfied, or it will fall on those who refuse to receive the mercy of the Cross by receiving Jesus. What a motivation that should be to us to obey these commands!! It is not a motivation of fear but a motivation of gratitude for His great mercy and love. When I realize and contemplate upon His great mercy and love for me, how can I but love Him? If I love Him, how can I but do His commands? OH He is soooo wonderful! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOB 5
The TV evangelists have it partly right. God does want the best for us right now. Unfortunately we usually define ‘best’ slightly different than does God. That is where the rub is and where His glory gets hijacked. I was blessed with good long distance vision until I hit 50. I could typically see, distinguish or read at 20 feet what the average person had to be at 5 or 10 feet to see. Alas, my vision at only 1 foot away has never been that great. Understanding God’s ‘best’ is somewhat like needing to be able to see it well close up, as well as being able to see it from a great distance. Both are needed to properly understand it. God, who sees all things from an eternal viewpoint, does not always see ‘best’ the same way we do. He sees the total plan; we see only the momentary. In the total plan, righteousness and peace are more important than ‘stuff.’ Relationship with Him is more important than the things or even people He gives.
It is thus true that: He gives rain; He raises the lowly; He frustrates the devices of the crafty; He saves the needy; the poor have hope; He delivers those in trouble; He redeems from death; He enables us to laugh in famine; He wants peace in our homes with nothing amiss; He wants our descendants to be many; and that we should live a long and full life. But Eliphaz’s point is that the Lord is chastening and correcting Job. He is implying that Job’s problem is the result of sin, or as the TV evangelist would say, ‘unbelief.’ But this does not accurately represent Job’s situation. Somehow God’s best for Job and for us is that Job would encounter these problems even though Job is not responsible for committing a sin which is the direct reason for which these evil things have come upon him. But it is best for us and for him for him to experience these horrific experiences. In so doing, from the eternal point of view, we see the glory of God. The next time I/we experience a horrible experience, we do need to ask God, “Why?” We need to ask so that we can gain an eternal perspective; we then may respond properly to His leading. The problem is that the intervening time from our asking, “Why?” and our receiving God’s answer, there may be a long period of silence from God. In the silence our trust in His glory is tested! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MATTHEW 23:23-39
From time to time I come across a street preacher who constantly denounces the sin of people. I guess there is a place for that kind of ministry. My sons tell me of the activity of Preacher Bob at the campus of OSU. He apparently can get pretty caustic with the students in condemning their sin. One difference is that Preacher Bob seems to be addressing the wickedness of those who do not even seem to be attempting to meet the righteous standard of God. Another difference is that he seems to delight in the condemnation of other people. These woes in Matthew 23 at times rub me the wrong way. Part of the reason is they remind me of street preachers like Preacher Bob. I don’t want to think of Jesus like that.
But then I must remember, Jesus was denouncing a false self-righteousness. The scribes and Pharisees really thought they could make themselves righteous by doing the law. They refused to see their need for Jesus to make them able to meet the law. Jesus can and will forgive any sin, if we are willing to recognize our need and come to Him in repentance and receiving His forgiveness. Another thing I see here is that when Jesus was done denouncing them, He wept over their unwillingness to return to Him. He wanted them to come to Him. He compares His love for them to that of mother hen for her chicks. It was not a problem of His unwillingness to receive them but rather, their unwillingness to come. I have never seen a street preacher weeping over the stiff-necked unrepentance of his audience. But Jesus did.
Now that’s glory. He holds a high standard and lowers it for no one. He dies in our place when we cannot make the standard. He comes to live in us to enable us to meet the standard. He weeps over those who will not come to Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

February 5

GENESIS 38
Her face glowed with joy. Joy just seemed to ooze out of her. I met her for the first and only time at a Bible Study. The leader of the Bible Study told me that she had only been saved a week. He said that she looked 10 years younger now, than what she looked like the week previous. She had been a drug addict and prostitute. When she met Jesus, she not only left the world’s oldest profession, but she also was instantly delivered from the drug addictions that held her in bondage. Jesus always seemed to have a soft spot in his heart for prostitutes. After all, Tamar resorts to prostitution to get what she wanted. Rahab was a harlot. These are both mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. Many of His acquaintances were prostitutes or at least very promiscuous. Does that mean that Jesus approves of sexual promiscuity or harlotry? No, not at all. It just magnifies His glorious mercy and grace.
What a pathetic family line Jesus comes from! Tamar does some rather unconventional acts in order to get what conventionally should have been hers. In her culture children were the conventional form of social security for a woman. Why didn’t Judah provide what should have been a right, according to her culture?
If not already recognized at this point, eventually Judah would be recognized as the one through whom would come the promise to Abraham, Isaac and Israel (49:8-12). Simeon and Levi had disqualified themselves in the murder of the men of Shechem (34 & 49:5-7). Reuben disqualified himself in defiling his father’s bed (35:22 & 49:3-4). I suspect that Israel (and perhaps even Isaac, 35:29) had some sort of discussion with Judah concerning this before his deathbed. Yet Judah married a Canaanite woman (reprehensible in the eyes of Abraham and Isaac). Why did Judah do that? Then when his two oldest sons were grown and did not produce an heir, but were killed by the Lord for doing some undisclosed evil, He did not follow the cultural mandate of giving Tamar to his third son, for he thought Shela would die too. Maybe he reasoned because he married a Canaanite, perhaps he thought that God would not allow an heir to continue. At any rate he gives no opportunity for his daughter-in-law to produce an heir. Neither does Judah produce another child by Shua. After a long time Shua dies (38:12). Yet he still seems to have a strong sex drive but to be unwilling to produce an heir. Hence, he visits a shrine prostitute. Any child born to a shrine prostitute could not make claim to Judah’s inheritance. It would appear that the heroine of this story is Tamar for she does what is necessary to produce an heir. This is rather bizarre to my western mind.
Does this incident mean that the Lord approves of the behavior in the story? No, not at all. But it does show us the magnitude of His grace. Does this mean that we can presume upon His grace? We had better not! Even as recipients of grace, there are still consequences of sin in the family, just look at Tamar’s family. But it is a great reminder of His awesome grace.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin.
How shall my tongue describe it.
Where shall His praise begin.
Taking away my burden.
Setting my spirit free!
Oh the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!
Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 36
For just one second the light was out. It was long enough to know that I had forgotten how dark utter darkness is. We were in Hezekiah’s tunnel. If you have ever been in a cave or cavern without light or in a photographic darkroom, you know exactly what I am talking about. You can try to see all you want, but it will never happen. In the midst of Hezekiah’s tunnel, I began having thoughts of what if. What if, my cheap $1.00 dollar flash light wasn’t strong enough to make it to the end? What if, I dropped it in the water? What if I did not have the emotional stamina to walk 500 meters in utter darkness? What if, the tunnel had a fork that led you into a loop from which you could not feel your way out? The last question was leading me into unreality. I had read about Hezekiah’s tunnel, and I knew that there were no loops. Sure it twisted and turned a lot, but there were no loops. But then, right before we entered Hezekiah’s tunnel we came to the entrance of the Canaanite Tunnel or the dry path. I had never heard of that before. What if there were other such tunnels at the end, which I had not read about. What if... Darkness is unsettling.
What makes the wicked, wicked? David says that it is, “There is no fear of God before His eyes. He flatters Himself in His own eyes.” The wicked takes the spiritual vacuum in his life and says, “I know what is here, and this god, who is here, is like this. . .” In reality he has no concept of the true God. Will this gracious God leave us to wander in darkness and all its attendant fears? The wicked think they know what true pleasure and delight is. They think that the true God only wants to take those pleasures away. They think that His light depletes their pleasure. They think this because there is no fear of God before their eyes. Will God leave him to wander in spiritual darkness? Will he spend his days wandering in loops of utter spiritual darkness? Have I not at times been there, and are there not times when I am there? I am convinced that this is the plight of every child ever born on the planet earth, save, of course, Jesus.
But this is where the glory of the Lord Jesus comes in. He is the fountain of life. He is the fountain of true pleasure. In His light we see light! When He is before our eyes, when there is a true fear of Him, we can see reality. Yes, we see the ugliness of things around us, but we also see that His pleasures can eventually wash the ugliness away. Drinking from and walking in His waters washes away the ugly dryness of our souls. It causes true beauty to gradually emerge and begin growing. We don’t have to try to manipulate the darkness because we see His reality. Hezekiah’s tunnel was truly refreshing. As we walked through the cool waters of the tunnel with our little flashlight, we were refreshed from the heat of the day above ground. Jesus is the same way. As we walk in the waters of His cleansing fountain, in the light of His path, we are cleansed, healed and refreshed and gradually see the true nature of reality. The whispers of ‘what if’ fade away in the pleasure of the fountain of His water and the glow of His light. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOB 4
We sat in the dark stillness of the church’s building praying. As we lifted up our praise, an overwhelming sense of the presence of the Holy One filled the room. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. I knew that there was a manifest presence of God in this room. It was an experience that occurred with some regularity as we sought to meet the Lord together. I was a high school student, most of the others in room were college-aged young men who delighted in the presence of God. We knew that God was there, and to be honest at times it was quite eerie. None of us have turned out to be supermen in the Kingdom of God, but for the time and place, God used us. I dare not say any more than, “God was there.” To say anything beyond that might be to presume upon God.
Eliphaz has this experience with God before he comes to speak with Job. Is it not interesting how so many people can have an experience with God, and suddenly they think themselves experts in what God is doing in other people’s lives? Now certainly, God chooses to speak through people to other people about what He desires, but we must be careful that we do not go beyond what He reveals. There is certainly truth in what Eliphaz says. “Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?” In the spirit visitation Eliphaz learns a clear truth about our relationship with God. We cannot be more righteous than God. We cannot be more pure than our Maker. After all the definition of pure precludes being more pure than pure, otherwise the former ‘pure’ was not pure to begin with. If Eliphaz would have left his counseling with Job at that, he would not have been at fault, but he went beyond that.
We can learn one thing from Eliphaz’s flawed reasoning. We cannot be more pure than God. We cannot justify ourselves before God. However, we can come to Him in humility. We can confess our impurity. We can confess our unrighteousness. We can trust him to remove our impurity and unrighteousness as far as the East is from the West. That is what makes Him glorious. Our low estate may or may not have anything to do with our personal impurity. But if we come to him in humility, He will remove the impurity. Ultimately He will one day remove our low estate; maybe not in this life, but it will happen. That is what makes Him glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MATTHEW 23:1-22
I remember my football coaches. They came up with all kinds of schemes to make us stronger and more agile. It wasn’t because they were lazy but because they wanted to produce the best in us. Some of you may know what I am talking about when I mention a blocking sled. We had a two man blocking sled that he would stand on while we had to hit and drive the sled all over the playing field. He would have all kinds of comments as we drove it, especially if we were not doing as well as he thought we ought to be doing, which was most of the time. But he never came down and helped us drive it. He just yelled a little louder.
The Scribes and Pharisees had many rules that they had come up with to “help people gain the righteousness of God.” They ranged from memory cards strapped to the forehead, to special greetings, to beautiful flowery prayers, to special evangelism techniques, to special rules for tithing, to special oaths which were breakable and oaths which were not breakable. They were kind of like my football coaches who stood on the blocking sleds. They kept calling out cajoling and criticizing, maybe encouraging. But they never came down and helped someone keep the burden of the law. They were an ever reminder that one could not meet the righteous demands of the Law. Yet they gave the false illusion that the demands of the Law could be met, when actually, they couldn’t.
Not so with Jesus. He still holds a high standard for the Law. As a matter of fact, He raised the standard presented by the rabbis of the day. But unlike the rabbis, He got off of the sled. He took the weight of the sled, the Law upon Himself. What we could not fulfill, He did. He did it vicariously upon the cross and in His resurrection. But He didn’t stop there. When He ascended into heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to live within us so that through Him we might have the power to live out the Law’s demands of righteousness. He drives the sled through us. He doesn’t stand on it cracking a whip and yelling about our deficiencies. He calls us to yield to Him, to take His yoke upon ourselves. Now that is glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

February 4

GENESIS 37
Where is the glory in this? If I did not already know the end of this story, I would see very little of the glory of Jesus in this. But I do know the end. And you probably know it as well. First, we have what would appear on the surface a very snooty little brother with some kind of leadership delusions. Second, we have envious older brothers who cannot stand the sight of their younger brother because he is their father’s favorite. Third, we have a very dysfunctional household because we have four women, all who are essentially married to the same man, at the same time, living in the same household. That is a recipe for disaster in any culture.
Where is the glory? Somehow Joseph learns to know that God is with him. (You ought to hear Andy Stanley’s sermon on this. It is really good.) Do you suppose being Israel’s favorite that he conversed with his father concerning the Lord’s appearances. Do you suppose he grasped the message of learning to wait for the blessing of the Lord rather than trying to force it to happen? How do you suppose sharing his dreams with his brothers and parents fits into that concept? Perhaps sitting in the pit waiting to be sold as a slave by his brothers, he had time to dwell upon that concept. Hmm. . . It is the glory of the Lord that he takes our pits and turns them into His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 35
Of all people who could legitimately claim that he was being hunted down without a cause, David is probably one of the foremost in history. He had been fiercely loyal to Saul, yet Saul sought to destroy him. After Saul’s death, he had sought to unite the kingdom, yet the northern tribes rejected him for Saul’s general. For seven years his men fought battle after battle until the enemy capitulated. Absalom should have been grateful that his father somewhat restored him to the kingdom, yet he undermined his father’s power base and started a revolt seeking to kill David. Finally there was Sheba who led a rebellion after Absalom. David had more than his share of unjust opponents.
What is going on here? Shouldn’t one who sought after God with his whole heart experience a road marked with less opposition and suffering? That might be the case in our expectations, but in real life the one who seeks God experiences opposition. That is why Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” So much of this Psalm is David’s complaint and his request for God to pay them back. How does David handle it? Obviously, he brings his complaint to the Lord. The Lord apparently invites our complaint, as long as it is done respectfully and in a manner that does not cast blame upon Him. But notice that while the majority of the Psalm is complaint, the last strophe of the Psalm ends in praise.
Notice in particular that He says, “Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” Does God really have pleasure in the prosperity of His servant? Then why did He allow David to run from Saul for more than ten years? Why did He let David be pursued by Absalom? Why did he permit Sheba to rebel? I think God defines prosperity differently than we do. Yet, He does take pleasure in my prosperity. Even in the most humbling of circumstances, His goal is our prosperity. The model is Jesus, as is recorded in Philippians 2:1-11. That is what God delights in. He is not stuck in one moment in time in order to define prosperity. Rather His is an eternal view. My problem is that I am such a creature of time. He created time. He defines prosperity from an eternal viewpoint. Lord, help me to rejoice from your eternal viewpoint! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOB 3
Have you ever felt that low? “Why does God let me live when life is miserable and so bitter?” The question blatantly questions God’s love. “I have no peace or rest—only troubles and worries.” Sometimes the pain is so bad that we just can’t get off of the focus upon our own rotten circumstances—and they are rotten. Is that part of what Jesus was experiencing when upon the cross He cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Somehow, I think the level of spiritual pain that Jesus was experiencing was far deeper than Job’s worst nightmares. Jesus could have come off of the cross had he chosen to do so. But in the midst of the pain, He chose to stay. Conversely, Job could not bring himself out of his pit, but he would have if he had the opportunity. Jesus stayed on the cross to the point of death in order to deliver us from death. That is love! The next time that I am wallowing in self-pity, I need to remember that Jesus endured worse, and He endured it for me, for us. Perhaps my suffering with that attitude will bring more glory to Him. Lord, help me to keep my eyes on You and not my circumstances. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MATTHEW 22:23-46
OK, I admit it. I am a slow thinker. When confronted with a question for which I have not spent recent time thinking about how to answer it, I usually go blank. Like Bilbo Baggins when pressed for an answer, I feel like calling out, "Time! Time!" Except, I am not so lucky as to have accidentally blurted out the answer to the question by calling for time. I often end up answering the question poorly and later being held accountable for something I didn't quite mean. It seems there is always some old knight like in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, who is standing in the shadows ready to say, "He chose, poorly."
Not so with our King! The Sadducees, Scribes and Pharisees had planned in advance their questions to entangle Him in His talk. But He is completely wise. He didn't miss a beat, three questions, "How sovereign is God?" "What about the resurrection?" and "Which is the greatest commandment?" He handled each question with magnificent precision which astonished the people because not only was it well answered, but it revealed that Jesus knew their hearts.
But He wasn't content with just answering their tricky questions wisely. He desired to reveal to them the evil intentions of their own hearts. You see, they refused to receive Him as the Son of the King of the Universe. They would not prepare themselves for the great wedding feast to come. He asked them a simple question from Scriptures that they had often debated, Psalm 110:1, "Whose Son is the Christ?" Psalm 110 was widely recognized as having been written by David. It was widely accepted that Psalm 110 spoke of the Messiah. It was widely accepted that the Messiah was the Son of David. Yet David calls his Son, "Lord." To give the correct answer would have forced them to consider Jesus as the answer. They could not answer the question without giving recognition to the real identity of Jesus as the Son of the King of the Universe. With that recognition they would be obligated to receive Him as the King and to celebrate in His arrival for the wedding feast. They could not answer. They would not answer. They are willfully rejecting Him. That is the reason for Jesus' harsh words for them in the next chapter.
Our King is wise. He knows the right answers without having to think them through beforehand. He can reveal hearts by just asking questions. There is no slow thinking with Him. He knows He is being rejected by them. He asks questions to help them see their own heart. He never chooses His words poorly. They still reject Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

February 3

GENESIS 35-36
What’s in a name? In the Biblical context the name is very important. The name speaks of the attributes of a person. Most Europeans don’t put a whole lot of thought into the meaning of names. I have noticed that Native Americans give, what is from a European perspective, unusual names. I observed in Monday’s News Press that a Native American artist would be lecturing at OSU. His name is Edgar Heap of Birds. Right across the page from that announcement was an obituary of a man about my age. He was given the Native American name Ski-Chne Lugela meaning Little Plays Lightning. Now, I obviously do not understand how the meaning of names plays into the naming of Native American peoples, but I can only surmise that the meaning is significant in some way. ‘Lighting’, was he quick? Was he bright? Was he playful? Then I think about my name, John. I looked it up in Strong’s Guide to Bible Words. The name can be traced back into the Hebrew, and it means Jehovah favored. Now, I’d like to think that I am favored by Jehovah; however, my mother told me that I was named after her father, John Miller.
My daughter Elizabeth asked me what her name meant. The only Elizabeth in the Bible is in the New Testament. She was John the Baptist’s mother, and she was the wife of Zachariah. Being a good Jewish woman, Elisabeth is probably a Greek corruption of the name Elisheba, which means God of the Oath. Zachariah means God Remembers. Put them together and you get God remembers His oath. What an excellent name for the parents of the forerunner of Jesus, the Messiah. God was remembering His oath to Abraham that One of His seed would bless the whole world. I can say to my daughter that she is to be an example to the world of how God keeps his oath.
But, here we are in Genesis with Jacob/Israel. If you remember from 32:28 when Jacob wrestled with God who appeared in the form of a man, the man changed Jacob’s name. Once again God meets with Jacob/Israel at Bethel, where Jacob began this 20+ year journey. Jacob has learned a little about waiting upon the Lord to receive His blessing rather than forcing it to happen. The Lord very strikingly reminds Jacob of His name change. He is no longer Jacob, which means ‘heal catcher.’ By extension it means a supplanter, one who trips others to take advantage of them. That name spoke volumes of Jacob’s life until he wrestled with God. Now God gives him the name, Israel, or he will rule as God. Hmm. . . God gave him the authority of His name.
You know, the Bible speaks a lot about how the Lord exalts His own name and how He expects us to honor His name. Yet, it also speaks of how believers can become children of God. We receive His name. I received my maternal grandfather’s first name and my father’s surname. But those names don’t even compare with the new name that my heavenly Father has given me; it is His name. It is given to me that I might honor Him. At one and the same time it is an awesome privilege and an awesome responsibility. If you know Jesus, He has done the same for you. What glory He permits us to share in. Oh that I might not sully His name! Oh that I might only add to the glory of His name! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

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 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 me 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 wants to 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 firsthand 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

JOB 2
This all-loving all-powerful God permits Satan to take his best shot at God’s most loyal subject. That is love? Why? I think it is for the benefit of all creation. How would we know if loving God is worth it unless we are put in the worst of circumstances in order to experience God in the midst of the worst circumstances? When Job’s closest friend sums up the situation and advises him to “curse God and die,” how will he respond? Will he find that the experience of God is worth the adversity? That is indeed the theme of the book. What is Job’s response? “Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity?” We are about to find out if it is worth the adversity. The next 40 chapters records the adversity and Job’s struggle with the pain of his detractors and the pain of feeling misused by God. Job is indeed angry with God at times, but in the end when he comes face-to-face with the Almighty, he repents. Hmm. . . I have never suffered to the extent Job suffered. But I have found that in my worst times of feeling abused, that is when the presence of God was the strongest. I don’t want those times of being abused, but I will take them for that increased sense of God’s presence. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MATTHEW 22:1-22
Weddings are one of the few places where we celebrate in our lives. My wedding was held in my in-law's back yard. We borrowed folding chairs from the funeral home, made fabric flowers, hired a flutist. My father-in-law built a shed in his back yard that was almost the size of a small garage. We put the wedding cake and food table in there. We had a lot of fun. Even though it was outside, everyone still dressed up in their wedding garments.
I can't imagine any of our friends or family having made light of the occasion and ignored it. Yes, I had a lot of family that lived over 1,200 miles away and just could not be there. But they would have been there had it been closer. As it was, I had my parents and two brothers who greatly sacrificed to come because they wanted to be there. Neither can I imagine, given the festive nature, that any of them would have shown up in clothes that would have demonstrated that they did not want to celebrate with me in one of the happiest days of my life. And it was indeed one of the happiest days in my life. Only one exceeds it--the day I met Jesus. Five others rival it--the birth of my children. Nothing else compares, not even graduation from Seminary.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like. . . Jesus uses that several times to compare unseen things with what we know and experience. In this parable God the Father is the King. He is the sovereign. His Son is the Prince, Jesus, heir to the throne. We know from other places in Scripture that the bride is all those who are born again to a living hope, the church, the redeemed. He is molding and making us into something really beautiful such that when He presents us to Himself, the Lord Jesus, as a man, can say, "This is the happiest day of my Life!"
There were those in Jesus' midst who rejected Him as the Prince, the Son of the Great King. They made light of His wedding. Even today there are those in our midst who make light of Him and His wedding. They refuse to either come or prepare themselves for the celebration. They are invited to join in. But they won't. They even join in to try to trap Jesus, thinking that He is not the sovereign One--"Is it lawful to pay taxes?" The Sovereign One answers, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
Our Sovereign One is calling us to Himself. One day we will stand before Him as He presents us all to Himself as His spotless bride. It will be for Him, as a man, the happiest day of His life. There is no question that for us, it will be the happiest day of our lives also. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

February 2

GENESIS 34
Where is the glory in this chapter? Sometimes such awful things happen that we cannot help but think, “Where is the Mighty God of Israel?” He certainly does not seem to be active in this episode! Their little sister is raped. Their father is doing nothing about it. Hmm. . . They will take care of the problem. Why didn’t Jacob/Israel do anything? Maybe he was finally learning to wait upon his mighty God for a solution rather than plowing ahead with his own. However, years of Jacob sowing his own seed of applying his own solution have take root in his sons. They are every bit as deceitful as he once was. They take it a step further and add murder to their sin.
One of the things that strikes me concerning the veracity of the Scripture is that it never paints its heroes as morally perfect. It is interesting to me that the one who is called honorable in all this is Shechem. But how can we see the glory of Christ in sordid mess of rape, lying and murder? I think it is that the Lord can take this sordid mess a mold it in order to bring a Savior through the line of these rotten people. Indeed, as old men, these men seem to come to an understanding that when God blesses, He adds no sorrow. If the Lord can bring glory out of this mess, there is hope for me. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

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

JOB 1
“How many of you still believe that there is an all-powerful and all-loving God?” Such was the question at the end of the first third of the semester in my agnostic professor’s “Philosophical Problems class.” I and maybe two other guys in the class raised our hands. The prof latched on to me and said, “I want to know why.” Unable to answer some of the other questions, which he had raised, I simply responded with, “Because I believe in the undeniable evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” His response was that that was an appeal to authority and that was not acceptable in a philosophy class. I tried to rebut, but he cut me off and moved the class on.
I believe there are three instinctive tests that God has given to all humans in order to determine truth. The first is, “Is the truth claim consistent with reality?” The second is, “Is the truth claim consistent with itself?” The third is, “Does the truth claim satisfy the desires of my heart?” Right or wrong, deceived or not deceived, we all depend upon how we answer those tests in order to determine the validity of truth claims. In my opinion, the truth claim that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, is the most consistent claim with the evidence of the empty tomb. It certainly is consistent with itself and clearly satisfies the desire of my heart.
I clearly could not deal well with some of the problems that I ran into in reconciling the clear evils in the world with the truth claim that God is both all-loving and all-powerful. If He is both, why does he allow evil to exist at all? Somewhere in the infinite mind of God the answer is more brilliant than the sun. However, I am finite and sinful. I have a problem grasping this whole concept of infinity, much less an infinite God. This much I understand. I am sinful; therefore, if I want all evil to be annihilated or to have never happened, then if that happens, I will disappear. It would be as though I never was, am or would be. That certainly is not consistent with reality or the desire of my heart. I like my existence. Along with Descartes, I claim, “I think; therefore, I am.”
One of the things that I learned in the “Problems of Philosophy” class is that the problem of why a loving God allows evil is never really answered frontally by God in the book of Job. Through this first chapter, we simply see that evil exists. It exists in Job. It exists in his children. Indeed, he sees the need to act as a family priest for his children in sacrificing for them on a regular basis. We see the evil in other people who attack Job. We see evil in nature as fire falls from heaven destroying much of his goods, and as a tornado collapses his children’s house killing them. These evils come, with the permission of God, from Satan. Now that scenario is very consistent with reality. Evil does exist, and it exists in me! Should I then charge God with wrong because the world and I are the way we are? I don’t think so. God is busy restoring His kingdom. He calls me to obedience while I watch His restoration in me and in others. Now that is consistent with itself. It is consistent with reality. Is it consistent with the desires of my heart? That one is up to me. If it is not, then I need a new heart. How do I get it? I get it by repentance and faith in Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MATTHEW 21:23-46
Over thirty years ago I visited my brother Eugene who lived in Karlsruhe, West Germany. He took me on a boat ride on the Rhine River. Thirty years has taken its toll on my memory. I don't remember the exact city. It think it was Speyer. We stopped to look at this gigantic Cathedral. For a country boy from Oklahoma where no massive buildings were built until after 1889, this 12th century cathedral was indeed impressive. We are not talking about steel and glass that is slapped together with modern technology. We're talking massive stones, shaped and put into place using hand tools. It was simply beautiful. The spire was taller than most buildings in Oklahoma. Most of the original buildings built immediately after the land run of '89 in OK are no longer in existence. They were often built of the native cottonwood trees, which are not known for their long-term durability. After 50 years they tend to sag and fall apart.
I understand that old buildings like the cathedral in Germany have a cornerstone from which the rest of the building gets its orientation. It is the main stone in the foundation. You want to pick the best quality for that stone. It is usually massive and perfectly shaped. By uniting two intersecting walls, a cornerstone helped align the whole building and tie it together. Jesus says that He is the stone the builders rejected. He became the chief cornerstone.
The wall of heaven and the wall of earth intersects. Ever since the fall of Adam, the human cathedral was falling. It collided with heaven's wall. The human wall was crooked and never fit. God gave some instructions to the Jewish nation concerning how to build. Imbedded within that instruction were prophecies concerning the Cornerstone. Indeed, Jesus is quoting Psalm 118:22,23.
Apart from Jesus our lives are badly splintered. They sag. Our walls are crooked and lack orientation. We have difficulty connecting and aligning with others. But when we submit to Him, He takes our feeble cottonwood structure and turns us into living stones and begins fitting us into His building. Properly yielded to Him, we come into alignment, and we become part of something greater and more beautiful than we could ever imagine. Those who do not yield are ground to powder by His massive weight. We are becoming a beautiful living building for His habitation. We won't stand for just a few hundred years, but rather, for eternity.
Not yielding to Jesus is like wanting to build a cathedral out of cottonwood. When I look at the strife going on in the world and yes even in the church, I would despair except for this, "He is the Chief Cornerstone and builder. He will accomplish a great work, and you and I are privileged to be part of the materials that He is using. When finished, we will be more beautiful than anyone can ever imagine! It will all be to His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious serving King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

February 1

GENESIS 33
I awakened to Laura’s scream and to the sight of snow covering the windshield. It was around 2 in the morning. I had been sleeping. Laura was driving on I-70 in Indiana when we hit black ice. Later she told me that when she hit it, the car immediately went into a spin. In front of us was a semi and behind us was a semi. She said it was like somebody just took the steering and guided it into a snow bank. Gathering my sleepy thoughts, I realized that steam was pouring out from under the hood. My next thought was, ”Oh no, the engine block cracked. I had a very difficult time getting out of the car for the snow was packed around the car half-way up the door. Getting out and popping the hood, I observed that the impact packed snow up into the engine compartment and completely surrounded the engine. The steam was from the melting snow. A highway patrolman almost immediately drove up, got out his shovel and helped dig me out. He helped push me back up onto the road, and then said, “There is an exit in 2 miles. You need get off there and check into the motel and wait till late morning to finish your trip.” He got back into his car and drove off into the night. Later I realized what an amazing thing it was that our car was removed from spinning at 55 mph between two semis and strategically landed in a deep snow bank cushioning our stop (no brakes were applied) so that there was absolutely no damage to either our car or our bodies. Most times we attribute such happenings to coincidence. I have too many such “coincidences” to think of them as just coincidences. I find it harder to believe in coincidences than that the mighty power of God was involved.
For those who have walked with God for some time, there come moments when you look back and have this overwhelming realization about the mighty power of God. It is not only that He is mighty, but it is also that he has used that power on your behalf. Such was Jacob’s experience upon arrival at Shechem. It motivated him to build an altar and call it Elelohe-Israel which means mighty God of Israel. No longer was He the God of his father Isaac and Abraham. Now He was the mighty God of Israel. What prompted this building of an altar? I think he was reflecting upon where God had taken him the last 20+ years. He left Isaac penniless, single and a fugitive from Esau. He is now returning, married, twelve kids, wealthy, and reconciled to Esau. Only the power of God could change Esau’s attitude. He claimed that mighty God for himself. His time wrestling with God the night before meeting Esau and the evidence of God’s completed promise in Esau’s reconciled attitude wrought a change in Jacob’s attitude. Jacob/Israel had received more than just a glimpse of the glory of the Lord, and it changed him. How about you? Have you seen the mighty God of Israel. More important, have you seen the mighty God of __________ (insert your name in the blank.) That is when it begins to make a difference in us. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

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

ESTHER 9-10
What is there of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ here in this story? Perhaps, on a literal level, it is that the Lord provided deliverance to His people through Mordecai and Esther. On symbolic level, is it not that when we needed protection from our enemies, our Lord came and became flesh to redeem us from the curse of law and deliver us from the hand of the enemy. He has come and crushed the head of our enemy, Satan, the serpent of the Garden. He will soon crush him completely under our feet. It may be at the end of our lives, but he will do it!
If I were a believer living in Egypt on this day in time, how would this passage speak to me? Egypt at this moment is undergoing much political instability right now. As a result, much violence and theft is being committed. Some of it is directed at Christians by Muslim fundamentalists. If I were a believer experiencing these problems, how would this passage speak to me? I would need to live with the realization that Jesus will one day bring justice. I might not see it in my life time, but He will one day execute justice upon the earth. Until then I must be willing to lay down all that is in my life for His glory. I must cling to the future promise. But I am not a believer living in Egypt. Yet that same attitude must drive my life here and now. I will lay down all that is in my life for His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MATTHEW 21:1-22
JFK's presidency is often referred to as the age of Camelot. I was almost 6 years old when he was inaugurated. So I can't really say that I emotionally grasped the euphoria of the age of Camelot. But I do remember his famous speech where he said something to the effect of, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country." Why is Camelot idealized? Why is JFK idolized? I often wonder if JFK had not been assassinated, would he still have been idolized?
Camelot is idealized because Arthur was a king that broke the mold. JFK is idolized because he was a president that seemed to be breaking the mold. Arthur fought to establish right as might. Kings (at least from an American viewpoint) are thought of as powerful men who yield to their subjects only if it increases their own power. We view it as though they only care about their subjects, if it increases their control over them. Cynically, we also view our politicians the same way. JFK brought a young perspective to the presidency that inspired many young people to service. Arthur brought relief to the monarchy that inspired many knights to serve their country rather than themselves.
What's this got to do with Jesus? He is the epitome of the righteous King. He came to serve. Even as He presented Himself to the people as a King, He did so riding upon a donkey. By this time in His ministry, He could probably have organized His admirers to obtain chariots and bands and made quite a parade to enter Jerusalem to present Himself as Israel's King.
He entered the temple. He could have presented His plans to make Herod's temple even greater if He was recognized as King. But He drove out those who were profiting from religious corruption. He called the people back to humble prayer before God in the temple. The blind and the lame had been banned from the inner courts of the temple. The outer courts had been consumed by religious corruption. Obviously, this is the first time in a long time that the blind and lame could come in to worship. He healed them there in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of 35:5,6. He served even the least of the people.
He looked for fruit from His nation. But He found none. In one great prophetic act, He cursed the fig tree that bore no fruit for Him. It withered. He used it as a teaching point for the disciples. Whatever you ask in faith, believing, you will receive. Faith in what? Believing what? Faith in Him as King. Believing in Him as King. Here is this serving King. He calls His servants to serve one another even as He serves. He doesn't tell us one thing while He does another. He served and called us to follow suit. Then He equips us with the promise that whatever we need to serve, ask for it trusting Him, and then we will receive it.
Now, I call that glory! It is a glory that far exceeds Camelot. It far exceeds any of the euphoric expectations of JFK's days as president. It is a glory that is the only true reality. It is a glory that will one day cover the whole earth. Let us hasten that day by serving, by proclaiming the glory of our King. Indeed we serve a glorious serving King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John