The Gift of Salvation

This Friday many people will once again enter the frenzy of materialism and validate spending time and money on what they see as expressions of love. Many will be unpleasant and impatient as they purchase these tokens of love (if a $2,000 big screen TV or mounds of presents under the tree can be seen as a token). Many will leave their children on one of the rare days they could spend together--without the distractions of work, school, sports practices and music lessons--to shop for presents to give in the name of a folk hero named Santa Claus. Many will stress the family finances to "buy memories" for their kids.

Lest one think I am setting myself up as better than that, I myself have played this game, even, one Christmas, receiving a "token" of love in the form of a motorcycle from my husband. So I personally understand and have not been exempt from over-the-top, present-focused, Santa-obsessed Christmas gift giving (I no longer have the motorcycle).

As my husband and I grow in our faith, our idea of giving gifts in the name of love has changed dramatically because our understanding of what love is has changed dramatically. Until we understood and became the recipients of God's love for us through Jesus, we had no clue as to what a real gift is or what real love is. We had no understanding of the meaning and purpose of Christmas (lest people reading this think I'm saying that God only loves some people--NO--God loves all of us. But not all people accept that love. They reject it and in rebellion go their own way, not being able to experience the love of God because they've chosen not to.)

So as I ponder my gift-giving this year, I'm thinking about the greatest gift I ever received--Salvation and New Life in Jesus Christ--and I'm trying to find resources God can use to bring that gift to others. The following message by Pastor Alistair Begg is one of the gifts some of the people in my life will be receiving this Christmas, along with my prayers that God will bless their hearts, minds and souls with the desire to know Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

You can listen to the message here:

http://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/salvation-comes-from-the-lord/

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Gettysburg Address

On this day in history: The Gettysburg Address Gettysburg, Pennsylvania November 19, 1863

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?" Isaiah 58:6

"Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand

Laura Hillenbrand, author of "Seabiscuit," has written another book, this time about an Olympic athlete and World War II hero. The subject of the book, 93-year-old Louis Zamperini, is a born-again Christian. An article in the Friday, November 12, Wall Street Journal explains his conversion, which came about following his return to the United States after enduring 25 months in various Japanese POW camps:

“Although Mr. Zamperini came back to California in one piece, he was emotionally ruined. At night, his demons descended in the form of vengeful dreams about Mr. Watanabe. He drank heavily. He nearly destroyed his marriage. In 1949, at the urging of his wife, Cynthia, Mr. Zamperini attended a Billy Graham crusade in downtown Los Angeles, where he became a Christian. (The conversion of the war hero helped put the young evangelist on the map.) Ultimately Mr. Zamperini forgave his tormentors and enjoyed a successful career running a center for troubled youth. He even reached out to Mr. Watanabe. ‘As a result of my prisoner of war experience under your unwarranted and unreasonable punishment,’ Mr. Zamperini wrote his former guard in the 1990’s, ‘my post-war life became a nightmare—but thanks to a confrontation with God…I committed my life to Christ. Love replaced the hate I had for you.’” Steve Oney, writing in The Wall Street Journal

The Mr. Watanabe mentioned above was a guard in one of the POW camps who incessantly punished and humiliated Mr. Zamperini, and who was ranked seventh, according to The Wall Street Journal, among Japan’s most wanted war criminals.

To read Steve Oney’s full review of Laura Hillenbrand’s “Unbroken,” go to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514904575602540345409292.html.

Needless to say, I’ll be reading “Unbroken,” an incredible testimony to the new life available in Christ.

“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Foolish Chatter

Last week, my son and I visited a Bible college that my son is interested in attending after high school. While there, we sat in on a Freshman Spanish class. The professor explained how, in America, we talk casually and don’t really think a whole lot about what we say or how we say it. However, in the Hispanic culture, according to the professor, speaking is much more formal and not nearly as cavalier. In short, they just don’t whip out responses. They think before they speak, and they speak much more succinctly.

In the days since our visit, I’ve been thinking about what the professor said. His illustration has motivated me to curb my own talkiness, for lack of a better term. For instance, I’d like to stop speaking off-the-cuff and thinking out loud. I’d like to consider first and verbalize last, if at all. And it's not so much about putting my foot in my mouth, although that does occur with regular frequency. It’s that I often make mindless comments or contribute my two cents worth where it isn’t needed, which aggravates situations, clutters conversations or results in gossip.

The Bible makes it clear that we will be held accountable for every word we say—every single word (Matthew 12:36-37). So doesn’t it make sense to hold our tongue more? It surely pleases God and I’m sure will please others when we talk less, observe more and realize that not everything requires our instant perceptions and running commentary. And then when we do finally speak, perhaps we’ll actually have something to say.

copyright Barb Harwood

“He who winks maliciously causes grief, and a chattering fool comes to ruin.” Proverbs 10:10

“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37

“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6

“Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” 2 Timothy 2:16

Going Forward Under God

Yesterday, as I voted and watched the election results, I wondered if America is perhaps at a point in time where the newly elected politicians and the people already in office are finally ready to sit down and act like the grown-ups they are and do the work they are elected to do (while checking their egos, party, vendettas, power-plays and future election goals at the door). I'm praying they will govern in humbleness and an attitude of being teachable. And I’m praying that the Christians in office will seize this opportunity to be the salt and light we so desperately need in the leading of this country.

I believe the words of two of the founding fathers below provide excellent wisdom on how politicians and citizens alike can best proceed:

James Madison: “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia]


Benjamin Franklin: | Portrait of Ben Franklin 
“God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” –Constitutional Convention of 1787 | original manuscript of this speech

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1

Early Public University Profs Prayed

This is from the October 23-24, 2010, Wall Street Journal:

"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which formally opened in January 1795 with a single professor, Rev. David Ker, was the country's first public university to admit students. One of the duties of the school's early professors was to perform morning and evening prayers and examine students on the 'principles of morality and religion.' By the end of June, 41 students had enrolled."

Now that's Higher education!

Regrettably, our public universities no longer petition God's assistance or rely on His wisdom in setting parameters for moral behavior, which leaves public universities sorely man-centered, falsely liberated and secularly narrow-minded. They've exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:25).

"Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith." 1 Timothy 6:20-21

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:3-4

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:1-6

Consistent With God

One of the things that is making life easier is my recent decision to assign God to be the only one I answer to, as opposed to myself or the person I’m talking to. With tendencies toward amiableness (which I like to call being a chameleon), I can easily agree with the reasoning or opinions of those around me. So if I’m with A, their way of seeing things might make sense, and then if I’m with B, their reasoning might make sense. Now, this might not seem like such a bad thing. Oftentimes, the world likes to call this being “open minded” or a “peacemaker.” But there’s a saying that says if we’re too open minded, our brains will fall out. And that’s how it feels sometimes when I try to accommodate everybody’s thoughts and opinions, including my own. Trying to placate everyone is not a peaceful feeling, and, I’ve found, it creates anything but peace in relationships.

The Bible addresses this very issue when it says to not be double-minded (James 1:7). The way not to be double-minded is to look to God first for His take on every opinion, worldview, situation and decision. That means we replace wanting to please or appease others with obedience to God.

In my marriage, as I’ve been answering to God first, my husband and I have been growing spiritually because there is much more accountability to living Biblically, as opposed to selfishly. With my kids, I am allowing God to guide or admonish, as the case may be, and find that I am relating to them on a much steadier and confident level. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).

With friends and extended family, I am practicing speaking honestly (as God directs) and am no longer hiding the fact that I’m a Christian. The result is that the resentment I used to feel after family visits disappears because I’m no longer beating myself up for once again denying my Lord.

When it’s God’s perspective, arrived at by being quick to listen but slower to answer so that we can give things over to God in prayer (even just a quick “God, speak your words right now”), through reading the Bible, and taking time to discern what He would have us say or do, everybody wins. Even if our answer or decision isn’t what the other person wants to hear, when we back it up with how we arrived there through God, it’s pretty hard to argue with. Then we must all trust that God will bless the decisions and situations in His way and timing.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” James 1:5-8