Deep Dive into Jesus

 

Jesus Christ is the most revered, the most respected, the most pivotal Person who ever lived. But He is also the most reviled, the most controversial, the most misunderstood, it seems to me. His entrance onto the stage of history changed everything, and yet, people still do all they can to explain away, deny, or resist the Savior’s influence.

To believers, Jesus Christ means salvation from all that is wrong with this world, and from all that is wrong with ourselves, as well as all that is wrong between us and our Creator. His humble birth, His sinless life, His atoning death, His victorious resurrection, and His promise of forgiveness and eternal life all make Him one of a kind.

So…I have to ask myself: Why am I so often ashamed of Jesus Christ?

If I truly, totally, savingly trust in Him as my Savior, Lord and King, then why is His name so seldom found on my lips, in my conversations, sometimes even in my prayers? Is it just that there is a pervasive anti-religious sentiment in our culture permeating the air all around me? Is it merely because of our pluralistic philosophical bent I’ve been steeped in here in the American “melting pot”?

If I had a machine in my possession that could completely do away with war, disease, hatred, greed, crime, poverty…and I was too ashamed to tell people about it–tell everybody I knew–wouldn’t you call me a fool…an insane monster…to keep quiet about it? Is my thinking so twisted and clouded and cowardly, that I tend to keep the truth of Jesus Christ to myself?

For the past year or so, I’ve been listening to a certain podcast on the internet that focuses on one of my favorite TV shows from back in the 1960s. It happens to be a very unique series that was adventurous, fun and thought-provoking. For its time, it was quite controversial in many ways. This podcast features two men in their 40s who were analyzing the series episode by episode, doing what they referred to as a “deep dive” into the writing, the characters, the direction, the messages, and the lasting impact of that TV program. Both hosts on the podcast confessed that they were so obsessed with the show, they considered it a major influence in their lives.

They also confessed that, when they were in their teens, their devotion to this particular show had been ridiculed by their peers, and they had both suffered from a kind of “geek shame” over their obsession, and secretly wondered if there was something wrong with them deep down. In their minds, while they loved this TV series immensely, they still felt alone and isolated in their devotion to it. But their love for the show persisted over the years, and when they finally met one another and discovered how they shared this obsession, they were eager to explore the show from a more analytical standpoint, digging into how it was written, how the characters were developed, etc.

One of the results was that they came to realize how absurd it was for them to have been ashamed of their obsession. The more they did their “deep dives” into each of the episodes, the more reasons they found to be proud of their original devotion to the series, its excellence, its ideals, its sense of adventure, its prophetic outlook toward the future. As they describe this growing realization, it almost comes across like a religious epiphany or a life manifesto.

While I listen to this podcast, and the rapturous words of the two guys hosting it, I can’t help but compare their obsession to the other fandoms that exist in our TV and movie-soaked culture today: Lord of the Rings…Marvel characters…Harry Potter…Jane Austen novels and films…the list is endless. Certainly we all have our favorites, our pet obsessions. And then I think…

What do we think of Jesus? How obsessed are we with the Savior? The King whose story wasn’t concocted in the mind of a TV or screen writer, but in the mind of Almighty God? All the heroic and grand ideals you and I meet in our favorite myths and adventure tales pale to nothing in comparison with the eternal God’s plan of redemption that features His one and only Son.

A wonderful book I’ve been reading by teacher and theologian Dr. Michael Bennett is entitled Beginning with Moses: Finding Christ in the Old Testament. Dr. Bennett does a fantastic job as he dives deep into the Scriptures to discover the clues of Jesus’ mission, His offices, His roles, His names, His appearances, His place in prophecy, things that span the entire timeline of this planet…and beyond! As I read this insightful book, my excitement swells considering the total tapestry of the Father’s plan–a plan to rescue and redeem a fallen, helpless, sin-ridden race, all for the sake of His beloved Son. Who could not be moved by the story of a Father who chose to sacrifice His Son for ungrateful sinners such as I?

When I think of this story–this true story, I want to dive deep, deeper, deepest, into the chronicle of God’s truth, God’s holy Scripture. And I want to become so obsessed with the riches of His living Word, His only begotten Son, that His name is continually in my mind, on my heart, falling from my lips. I want everyone to hear of Him, to love Him, to trust Him, to know Him eternally. I want you, my friend, to become part of His story.

MNA (3/21/2023)

Hope in Heaven

There is hope in Heaven

Where an emerald rainbow shines

Round the throne resplendent

With the glory of the Divine;

Hope for helpless sinners

Who by gracious, transforming pow’r

Loved and trusted Jesus

And were cleansed by mercy’s show’r

There is hope in Heaven

Even though a stern God frowns

With fierce wrath and vengeance

At the debt Adam’s race yet owns…

But amidst the fallen,

Christ the Shepherd sends His call

To flocks from every nation

And in grace shall He save them all.

There is hope in Heaven

Where rejoice an unnumbered throng

Around the Lamb and Lion,

Lifting up a new, heartfelt song.

Vileness, pain and sorrow

Are erased from each heart and face

And hope is changed to gladness

In the Heaven of Christ’s embrace.

MNA

April, 2008

How Things Can Change

 The younger son in Jesus’ “Prodigal Son” parable was an anonymous character, whose actions, words and thoughts revealed a great deal about him. This was also very true about the father and the older son who were cast in the Master’s story. We may not know their names, but their actions and words tell us a lot.

Let’s give them some names, though. I’m calling the father “Richard” because the name has a kingly connotation and this man was in fact a man of wealth and property. The older son I will call “Obie” which is short for Obadiah. He was big on obedience, after all, and the Hebrew meaning of Obadiah could be rendered “slave of Yahweh.”

What do we call the younger son? I think an appropriate name would be “Jack” because it makes you think of impetuous, quick, impatient things like jackrabbits or jackhammers or Jack-in-the-boxes that suddenly spring to life and can quickly change direction. 

Throughout Christ’s parable, we can trace the changes that come over these three characters, at least, the changes in how their different qualities are made manifest by the events that take place. The demand that Jack makes of his dad, Richard’s surprisingly lenient response, Jack’s departure and reckless period of pleasure-seeking, the severe famine that strikes, Jack’s destitution and his resolution to return home, Richard’s even more surprising welcome of Jack, and then there is Obie’s refusal to join in the joyful celebration marking his brother’s return.

Jack is a changed person, indeed, from the time he leaves to the day Richard throws him his welcome-home feast. The ways he experienced those changes, both physical ways and psychological ways, can be traced in his words, thoughts and actions. Originally, at the time Jack made his outlandish demand for his inheritance, his outlook and attitude might be interpreted as follows:

“Life here at Richard’s place is pure boredom. I’m dying to be on my own. I’ll never measure up to Obie – to Mr. Perfect who never makes a mistake. I’m always in his shadow. And dad is still so healthy; it will be years and years yet before I’ll inherit and have the freedom to do my own thing. I feel like a prisoner here. If I just tell Richard how things are, hopefully he’ll be reasonable, give me my money, and be happy to get rid of me. Then I’ll be free to go somewhere I’ll be appreciated.”

There are quite a few areas in the previous description that were destined for change. And perhaps Richard wasn’t as blind to those necessities of change as might have appeared on the day he signed over one third of his wealth to his younger son. He might have signed the check with tears in his eyes, or simply trusting that Providence would teach Jack the life lessons he needed, lessons Richard had been unable to teach up to that point. But, from how things eventually DID change, we see some clear reflections of our Savior’s love in the way Richard reacted to Jack’s demand, and the way He acted at Jack's return.

Jack cashed Richard’s check, and before you knew it, was gone. He was out of the box, so to speak. He dashed, quick as a bunny, to Pleasure Town, U.S.A. And there, he threw himself the party he’d always dreamed of. An unending jubilee to celebrate his independence from the realm of King Richard. He surrounded himself with happy, exciting people who, like him, were drunk with pleasure. No annoying “Obie” types around to spoil the fun.

But inevitably, Jack ran out of jack. The money was depleted. The party was over. Food was scarce even when he could afford to buy some. None of his friends would help him and most of them were begging as well. Jack came face to face with himself for the first time. He found himself alone. Scraping for a living in a pigsty. His clothes had holes in them and his innards were grinding with hunger. Fate hadn’t been kind. Lady Luck was on a vacation. Life just wasn’t fair. He HAD to find SOMETHING to eat!

But there was no one around who could help him. No food pantries, no aid societies, no homeless shelters, no government welfare. He was far from home…

HOME. All of a sudden, it occurred to Jack that home was his only hope. But he could never return there. Leastways, not as a SON.

The hard facts of life had done a number on Jack’s mindset. At the beginning, all he wanted from Richard was money and freedom. “Just give me what’s mine, and let me go!” was his attitude and his desire. But now, all he knew he could expect from Richard was resentment and judgment. The money was all spent. The freedom was wasted and discarded. Now there was only emptiness, hunger, need. What he wanted now was mercy. Mercy and life. He had blown it. All he amounted to now was a pitiful charity case.

This is how drastically things can change.

“Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in your sight. I am not worthy anymore to be your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. Just let me work for some food. Whatever you can spare, I’ll be thankful. I’ll never ask you for another thing!” Jack’s plea ran through his imagination constantly as he hitched and walked his way back from Pleasure Town – where life had drained him of his pride and arrogance. The disappointment on Richard’s face was there in his mind, haunting his dreams. His past failures and the shameful way he’d left his home must have gnawed at his soul.

Jack’s life was full of surprises. He was likely surprised that Richard had agreed so readily to give him his inheritance. He was surprised how easy the good life was when you could spend money freely. Then, he was surprised how quickly life turned against you when the funds ran low. Surprised at how low you could get when you were lost and alone with no one who knew or cared.

But the new, humble Jack was in for his greatest surprise of all. His begging speech was only just beginning when he found himself in a place he had never hoped to be.

Back in his father’s arms!

Finally, Jack was coming to know what REAL life was all about. I suppose he’d always known that Richard was a loving person – maybe even a “pushover” who would be generous with a demanding son. But life had taught Jack that you couldn’t always count on people’s generosity to get you by. Now, however, in the embrace of his weeping, joyful father, he found out what love truly is.

Love doesn’t expect you always to “toe the line” like Obie did, and obey out of pure obligation and the threat of punishment. Love doesn’t even INSIST that you love in return if you aren’t ready or willing. Love gives. And gives. And keeps on giving. And when love loses someone, it is willing to wait for the lost to return.

Then, when the lost one comes home, humble, broken, dirty and sore-footed, love calls for the feast to begin!

Richard’s household had never experienced a blowout like the one that welcomed Jack back home. And the only one who could threaten the happy father’s joy… was Obie. The firstborn of the house. The heir of the “lion’s share” of wealth. The one who still dreamed of freedom when Richard breathed his last, but was willing to wait things out.

Life had taken its toll on Obie as well. Life had taught him that it was cold, demanding and inflexible. You had to stay in your place, stake out your territory, learn and follow the rules, be the best, excel, meet everyone’s expectations, take no chances. You reap what you sow. End of story. 

Life had taught Obie nothing, or at least very little, about Richard’s love. Richard’s heart. Richard’s hope for lost Jack. Obie’s only hope for Jack was that he would learn the lesson that sin brought inevitable and unremitting punishment. That Jack would get what he deserved!

Both sons began basically in the same place in relation to their dad. Both Jack and Obie saw Richard as a source of wealth and freedom. Things that would be theirs someday. Neither of them really loved their father. Jack finally learned what love truly is.

I wonder if Obie ever learned that lesson. Or have I?

Prevailing

Knocking, seeking, asking
for shelter, wisdom, strength;
care on Jesus casting,
we'll never know the length,
breadth or depth or distance
His love for us will go ---
ours is but a pittance
compared to Christ's, we know.

Boldly, daily trusting
the grace found at His throne,
humbly, trembling, resting,
we claim it for our own.
Weak and sinful, failing,
we scramble up the Rock,
there, by prayer prevailing,
we ask, we seek, we knock.

MNA

1/16/05

Whose Glory?

One of my favorite "modern" movies (produced after the year 1960) is the Spielberg film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Not only is it a great father-son story about alienation and reconciliation between Indy and his dad Henry, it's also a story that suggests tension within a number of deep theological issues.

Holy grail-lore expert Prof. Henry Jones is missing from a privately financed hunt for the cup of Christ. Archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones hurries to Venice, Italy in order to find his missing father. Suddenly, unidentified assassins begin attacking him, thinking that, like his dad, Indy is seeking the holy grail. They are members of a secret band of soldiers sworn to safeguard the secret of the grail's whereabouts with their lives.

During this action-packed story, two key confrontations stand out. First is the meeting of the chief of the secret band with Indy, where the chief asks him: "Why do you seek the cup of Christ? Is it for His glory...or for yours?" Indy assures the man that all he wants is to find and rescue his father. Informed of the location where Henry is being held, Jones continues his quest to free him.

Later, after rescuing his dad, the two of them are on the run to evade the Nazis who pursue them. At a crossroads--one leading back to Venice, the other to Berlin--Henry insists that they go to Berlin to retrieve his grail diary, in which there are clues that will safely guide them to find the grail. Indiana strongly objects to venturing into the Nazi stronghold, but Henry counters: "The quest for the grail isn't archaeology. It's a race against evil." It seems that the Germans also want the cup of Christ to help them capture the world.

Fanciful grail legends aside, one must admit that the stakes are even higher than world domination, when it comes to deciding WHOSE glory each of us is seeking, whatever our personal "quest" may be. When Henry Jones suddenly slaps his son in the face after Indy, in frustration, uses "Jesus Christ" as a curse, and tells him, "That's for blasphemy!", he suggests a world and life view that includes an overpowering belief in God. Henry's quest for the grail is not for his own glory. He has something much greater and higher in mind. He is on a divine mission.

I believe that a compelling reason so many are doing all they can to avoid God, Christ, and the church, in our day, is that they find it impossible to live with the idea of an all-powerful Being who designed and created and sustains this universe for HIS glory and not for OURS.

Even worse than those who flat-out deny God's reality are those who vainly attempt to re-define who He is. This includes folks in so many of our churches who pick and choose among the Lord's biblical attributes to cobble together a Frankenstein-like deity of their own liking. A tame, toothless God they can live with. A God who lets humans "fulfill their own destiny" or "just follow their hearts." A grandfatherly semi-supreme Being who doesn't really judge anyone for his or her sins.

Asking myself, "Will this glorify God...or myself?" in regard to what I am thinking, doing, saying, seeking, is probably the most important question I could possibly ponder. And the one I'm least likely to ask. Why? Because the remaining sin within me is resting too comfortably. Because I deplore confrontations (especially with myself!). And, honestly, because I am normally too insulated against the glories of God's creation that shout, scream and sing about the glorious Being HE truly is!

The Apostle Paul wrote to his son in the faith, young Timothy: "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith." He claimed that a crown of life was awaiting him in glory. Heaven is where God's people will graciously be permitted to share in the glory that is Christ's. But for now, we are on a divine quest. A quest for HIS glory. Like Henry Jones told his son, "It's a race against evil!" To focus on heavenly glory, I must confront and kill the evil WITHIN.

Our Captain, King Jesus, is coming again, perhaps sooner than we imagine. He will be leading his armies into the true "Last Crusade" to deliver his people and crush their enemies. When He comes, will he find you "seeking HIS glory...or YOURS?"

MNA
4/2/2020

Life's Final Exam

Socrates famously said that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I don’t know about you, but self-examination is difficult for me and often painful. Without being maudlin or, hopefully, self-centered, when I examine life, it is so much easier to point my finger at others and act the know-it-all critic of what I see “out there.”

Some of my friends seem to be walking a roof ledge of despair. Too many people are examining their lives and coming dreadfully close to a personal death wish. They’ve weighed their own existence and found it wanting. As I reflect on my own, I find an optimism and sense of purpose that makes their despair seem all the more tragic.

Coming face to face with my sins and foibles and weaknesses and follies, I sometimes stand astonished that a good God would permit such a poor, vile creature like me to go on living, enjoying His blessings, taking up room in His creation. My lustful thoughts, my thoughtless words and mannerisms, my indulgent life-style, my wastefulness and laziness, my ignorance and apathy...my carefully guarded secrets that, if known, would cause even my closest loved ones to despise and pity me...these dark blots on my character haunt me and cause me to tremble.

But.

The supreme irony of my life is that Someone infinitely more just and fair and knowledgeable than I has examined my life, has passed sentence on me, and has transferred all the guilt of all my crimes onto the record of His only begotten Son. Jesus paid the penalty for each and every sin when He suffered on the cross two thousand years ago!

We should examine ourselves. We need to be honest and thorough. We are called to see ourselves the way we truly are. Those who claim they look back on their lives with “no regrets” are, in my opinion, either lying or deluded. I may not have been abused physically as so many have, but I have suffered abuse on an emotional level, and I confess that I’ve submitted others to various kinds of abuse in my thoughts and with my words. None of us has treated God or others with the selfless love our supreme Lover and Lawgiver demands from us.

When I reach my most honest level of self-examination, I must admit that I’m not qualified to pass final judgment, even on myself. Another Voice gives me daily assurance that I am not my own. I belong to the One whom I have believed. Jesus Christ the God-man, who now sits on the throne of Heaven, has all authority to command all things and all people, including me.

And because I’m His, ruled by Christ, taught by Him, examined by Him, rebuked and corrected by Him, directed and empowered by Him, given life and health and purpose by Him, promised eternal forgiveness and paradise by Him...

Because of those realities, self-examination can only send me to my knees in supplication, confession, adoration and praise. Never to despair.

(518 words)

Timetables

“Life is just a game...at the end, the one with the most toys is the winner!”

Such homespun philosophies become the stuff of clever bumper stickers, but I don’t seriously believe that most people think in such fatalistic terms. Deep down in even the most calloused human heart, there is much more of a hunger for significance and a confidence that life and death are so much more than a game--some kind of cosmic joke.

But, to be sure, there are episodes in every life--many of them prolonged and agonizing--that make it appear confusing, tragic and disillusioning. The Bible certainly reflects this. Read the Old Testament books of Job and Ecclesiastes if you doubt that!

For millenia, all men, including all men of God, have wrestled with the troubling questions involving life and death:

- Why do the righteous often suffer while the wicked prosper and outlive them?
- What is the purpose behind the deaths of infants and the promising young people who are taken?
- If God is all-powerful, why doesn’t He deal with the wicked before they unleash their evil?
- Is it really necessary for natural disasters to occur throughout our fallen world?

In a way, it’s understandable that avowed atheists throw such challenges in Christians’ faces, because, in all honesty, we believers also struggle with those kinds of conundrums. We believe in a God of mercy and love, yet we behold tragedy again and again, bred in the cauldron of this sin-sick world. And we can’t help but wonder from time to time, “Where is God in all of that?”

Simon Peter, former fisherman, Jesus’ right-hand man, fierce, fiery preacher of the early book of Acts--Peter sat in a dark, dank prison cell, chained between two soldiers, scheduled to be beheaded the following day. King Herod had very recently executed James, another of Jesus’ close friends, to the great delight of the enemies of Christ. Now, it was Peter’s turn to be martyred. Or so Herod thought.

But Acts 12 goes on to tell of Peter’s miraculous release from that prison. You see, in God’s timetable, Peter had a lot more ministry ahead of him. Actually, as we read at the end of that chapter, it was almost time for Herod to become worm-food, rather than the Apostle he had thrown in prison.

James’s death...Peter’s rescue...both for the glory of God.

James and Peter were both strong pillars of Christ’s early church. Persecution had driven most of the believers away from the church’s birthplace: Jerusalem. Where Jesus died and was buried and rose again--where the Holy Spirit had descended and thousands had heard the Messiah’s message in their own miraculously given languages. James and Peter both remained where the opposition was hottest. They knew the dangers, the murderous threats. Yet they stayed to teach and encourage the Jerusalem believers.

Herod beheaded James...and because that pleased the Jews, he planned to do the same to Peter. Now the enemies of Christ’s church had the civil government on their side, with the combined might of the Roman empire behind it and them.

James was dead...Peter was next in line...the little church gathered to pray the night before the execution. The little prayer meeting lengthened far into the night...

Then, there came a knock at the door. Keep on praying, brothers and sisters, Rhoda will run and see who it is at this late hour.

Rhoda...who was it?...Who?? Peter??? Rhoda, you’re out of your mind!

But it was Peter. The believers were “astonished.” But God’s timetable always runs “on time.” It was time for James to graduate to glory. Perhaps that was the sacrifice necessary to encourage the church to pray earnestly for Peter’s release? It was time for Peter to be rescued for future ministry. Perhaps to reward the church for its earnest prayer and convince them of its power to move the arm of the Almighty!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

We can look at the world of life, death, delight and tragedy in two very different ways: Some, like Herod, look at events as only things that he has the power to manipulate and react to with his own limited wisdom. Others, like the tiny Jerusalem church, see events as under the sovereign control of an all-wise, all-powerful God who decrees from all eternity that those events will serve His own glory and His people’s best good.

When those events trouble and provoke us to doubt, isn’t it only because we are failing to take our wise Father’s timetable into account? Eternity is in our hearts. Let’s keep remembering that everything is--or will be--beautiful in its own time.

Because God has made it that way.

Run, Rejoice, Rest

O run away! Escape Destruction City.
Proud Babylon has held thee far too long,
Imprisoned by her pleasures cheap and pretty,
And lulled in senseless slumber by her song.
Succumb not to her wisdom vain and witty:
Flee now to Christ and leave her hellish throng.

Rejoice in Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior
Who, sinless, died for sinners on the tree;
For never did His virtue wane or waver,
But, raised up, Jesus silenced death’s decree!
Today, on high, He guides our gospel labor,
From Satan’s kingdom setting spirits free!

O rest and worship in His holy presence
‘Til Jesus comes all nations to depose.
This age shall pass, of faith and of repentance,
And Christ return to vanquish all our foes.
He calls all men to hush and give attendance--
O heed His word! This day of Grace shall close!


MNA
3.8.16

Friends Forever!

“Peace on earth and mercy mild; God and sinners reconciled!
Joyful, all ye nations rise--join the triumph of the skies!”
                                                              -- from a Christmas carol

One of the least contemplated needs of men and women in our secular age, is the need for reconciliation with their Maker. Yet, know it or not, that is humanity’s most pressing need--far more so than self-esteem, shelter, or even daily bread.

Of course, for two parties to be reconciled, the first step is certainly an awareness that they are, in fact, estranged from one another. Either one or the other party has committed some crime or offense that has caused the animosity that exists--an offense that MUST be addressed before there can be an end to hostilities and a peaceful resolution.

I would venture that only a tiny minority of folks today are aware that human beings are truly born enemies of God. Most people would be horrified if you even suggested such a notion. “What, ME? God’s ENEMY? That’s ridiculous! Why, there’s no reason God could have any grievance with me...I’ve never even thought about Him enough to give Him any grounds for a complaint!”

But what most people are apt to forget, is that we are living, moving, having our being, as created beings in a created world. Each of us owes his or her life--body, soul and substance--to a Supreme Ruler who made us for a PURPOSE. Rather than occupy ourselves with discovering that purpose and fulfilling it, the vast majority would rather ignore God completely, all the while enjoying all the pleasures and benefits His creation and His providence gives them.

In short, we are REBELS at heart. We could be compared with an infestation of termites in a large, grand house. The homeowner discovers this tiny colony of enemies within his walls, a host of creatures who are enjoying themselves by eating away at what their human host has built, not giving a tiny termite thought that they’ve angered this host in any way.

Ignoring and offending God with our sins has become so second-nature to us, that if and when He ever calls the exterminators to come and deal with the infestation of His home, our jaws would surely drop open and we’d be shocked and amazed.

The sad difference between us and the insects is that we don’t really need the hammer to fall to inform us that we are overstepping the moral boundaries our Maker set for us. We need no stone tablets with graven commandments to tell us that we are not what He means for us to be. The voice of our conscience is ever whispering...sighing...pleading...screaming to us, reminding us that this world isn’t all there is. That there is another Hand at work, another Verdict to be pronounced, another World beyond this one, where we will be held accountable for the lives we’ve lived.

There is a post-war Tribunal at which all the crimes against our Supreme Ruler will at last be fully addressed. All His enemies will be judged with perfect justice and fairness. And there will be no “higher court” to which one may appeal.

In the writings of the New Testament, reconciliation is a major, if not THE major, theme. The Apostle Paul was once a staunch enemy of Jesus Christ and His followers. He spent several years as a young Pharasaic scholar, doing all he could to persecute and stamp out the infant church of the crucified Nazarene.

But one day, on his way to Damascus, the risen and ascended Jesus shone on him with a blinding light and Paul was converted. Christ Himself called him to a new life and a new mission to carry His saving message of reconciliation to the far reaches of the Roman world. Eventually, Paul made it to Rome, the capital of the empire itself, where he faced capital punishment under the persecution of Emperor Nero.

Along the way, Paul’s mission included the authorship of many letters to the churches he helped establish during his journeys. But his lengthiest letter, to the Romans, was written to believers he’d never met. He wanted to give them a thorough, scholarly treatise on the roots, the nature, and the meaning, of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Who He was, why He came, why He died and rose again, and how His finished work could benefit all who would believe in Him.

How does this Jesus, this workman and preacher from Galilee, bring the animosity between man and God to an end? Here are some of Paul’s immortal words:

“For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received this reconciliation” Romans 5:10-11

Paul, former enemy and eventual apostle of Christ, never got over the amazing grace that caused Jesus to die in his place on the cross. He continued to rejoice, as do all of Jesus’ people, that their Lord didn’t stay in the tomb. Because He lived a perfect life on our behalf and died for the sins of all believers...because He ascended to heaven’s throne and now rules and intercedes for us, our reconciliation with the Maker we’ve offended is guaranteed to last forever.

Because Christ died, our war with God can be over. Simply trust and submit to Him.

Because Christ lives, that war, once over, can never begin again. We are reconciled FOREVER!


(960 words)

The Feeding Trough

The days come ‘round again to read
of a place where creatures come to feed
and satisfy many a basic need:
for bodies a meal...for spirits, a creed.

For the wealthy, and those less well-off,
for the unschooled and the college prof,
the souls that pray, and those who scoff
all repair to the feeding trough.

For humans, no less than bird or beast,
from hunger’s shackles must be released,
be it a bare crust or a sultan’s feast...
our flagging forces must be increased.

So, who provides for our needs each day
and fills the feeding trough with hay?
Who pities the fevered, famished stray
that wanders headstrong out and away?

And what do his creatures need the most
from the treasuries of this kindly host?
Are our hearts and bodies too engrossed
to hail our Lord with a thankful toast?

For in the night this Lord came flying
to the aid of lost ones dead and dying;
O see Him there in the manger lying,
with His fouled creatures identifying...

In the feeding trough of Bethlehem
see the Baby--Heaven’s priceless gem--
who is born to feed the least of them:
even those who’d mock him and condemn!

They borrowed a manger for His birth
when their own Creator graced this earth.
Let us feed on Christ with thankful mirth:
Bread of endless life...Wine of wondrous worth!


by Mark Aikins
December 13, 2015

Salt and Light

One of the most basic and challenging problems of being faced with biblical truth, is the problem of the conventional voices we hear all around us: voices that present themselves as “common sense” while, biblically, they are known as “worldly wisdom.”

Horrific episodes such as world wars, mass murders, despotic regimes, sex trafficking, crime waves and the like, leave no doubt that our world is a broken, hurting, often desperate place. Yet, contrary to what the Scriptures teach, a myth continues to prevail in the thinking of average people that unaided human effort will be able, given enough time, money, education, unification, government programs and legislation, to cure this sick world we live in.

At the beginning of Jesus Christ’s most famous sermon--the Sermon on the Mount, after listing the virtues that encapsulate the character of His followers (the Beatitudes), the Lord launches into His stirring interpretation of the law of God. Throughout His message to His disciples, Jesus continues to emphasize the inner spirit of the law, making the point that even the most pious outward behavior of the most devoted law-keeper (such as your average Pharisee) is not enough to earn entrance into God’s eternal presence and blessing.

One can readily see that this is why Christ’s sermon started with a Beatitude countdown, designed to include both outward actions such as mourning and peacemaking, and inner attitudes like poorness of spirit and purity of heart. His listeners there in the First Century, every bit as much as readers here in the Twenty-first, tend to limit their attention and energies to the urgent business of “doing the right thing,” while neglecting the inner spirit of the law. Not only is it crucial to give attention to both inner and outward aspects of God’s requirements in order to please our Maker...it is also crucial in the practical battle of curing the world’s ills!

Even the most heroic human efforts to quash the forces that cause moral darkness and decay, end up leaving the root cause of the disease unaddressed. This root cause is what theologians have called “original sin,” and the only divinely prescribed remedy is what Jesus Himself described as a new birth--a birth from above (see John chapter 3).

In Matthew 5, immediately after the Beatitudes section, we read Jesus’ famous words to His disciples: “You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world.” Was He simply engaging His followers with a rah-rah-style pep talk meant to energize them before He sent them out to change the world with their unaided manpower? No. He had already listed character traits that set the standard far higher than a merely human cross-bar. These qualities were clearly ones that necessitate a profound, supernatural, spiritual heart transplant!

Let’s paraphrase this for a moment: Jesus told them, “You followers of mine, you who are poor in spirit, weep over your sins, are known for your meekness, yearn to be right with God, are quick to forgive and sacrifice for others, major on keeping a clear conscience, do all you can to heal all grievances, follow after godliness even when it costs you everything...you are salt and light for the rottenness and darkness of this sin-sick world!”

Can we agree that these traits are pretty far off the radar screen for your average heroic type-A human problem-solver? What government initiative or non-profit bureaucracy even pretends to see these as job qualifications for its agents of progress? Only one organization on earth can lay claim to such a roll-call of spiritual prerequisites--the one Jesus claimed He would build on the foundation of the prophets and apostles...the one He would empower to overrun the very gates of Hell.

The shocking, earth-shaking point the Savior is making in this pronouncement is that His church, made up of born-again believers who receive and obey His truth with childlike faith, they are the ones He is counting on to reverse the tide of global corruption and bring the floodlights of divine truth to the darkened corners of Satan’s dominion.

Christian leader, worker, teacher, businessman, official, dad, mom, teenager, writer, blogger, athlete, couch potato, whatever...

Christian: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.

Christian: Go and spread your saltiness on others. Go and shine the light of God’s Good News.

Christian: Do it now. Do it today. Do it everywhere and anyway you can.

God has no other plan.

Unburied Treasure

“Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, 

where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and thieves do not break in and steal...

for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” 

(Matthew 6:20-21)

Bilbo Baggins the hobbit gazed down miserably from Ravenhill, into the valley between two great arms of the Lonely Mountain. There before him a vicious battle was raging, pitting dwarves, elves and men against a ghastly host of goblins and their allies, the evil wargs.

His adventure had come to an end. Chosen by Gandalf the wizard and Thorin the dwarf-lord as the “burglar” who would spy out the dark passages of the Mountain and venture into the fearsome lair of the wicked dragon, Smaug, Bilbo, with the aid of a magical ring, had amply fulfilled his contract. He had rescued Thorin and his twelve companions several times during their journey, had played a key role in discovering the way into the mountain halls, and had even reported Smaug’s weak spot so that the mighty bowman Bard was able to shoot down the dragon in its flight with his final arrow! For these remarkable services, the tiny hobbit had been promised one fourteenth share of the dragon’s stolen and hoarded treasure.

But now, what had seemed like a tremendous victory was turning into a calamity greater than the death and destruction dealt out by the dragon himself. This Battle of the Five Armies was the direct result of the news that Smaug’s golden hoard was no longer guarded by the monster, and Thorin, heir of the dwarf-kings of old, was unwilling to divide his treasure with other races, even when their claims seemed valid.

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, dwarves were described as expert miners, smiths and craftsmen, digging, delving and building vast underground cities. Beneath the earth they sought out the natural treasuries of iron, copper, silver, gold and gems, which they fashioned into works of inexpressible beauty. With so much hard work invested in their treasures, it is easy to see why it filled Thorin’s heart with such hot desire, and made him willing to guard it with his own life, as well as the lives of his companions.

But later, at the side of Thorin’s death-bed, Bilbo would hear words of repentance from the lips of this proud King Under the Mountain. The hobbit cared little for the glitter of trinkets or the light of jewels...he had repeatedly longed only to return safely to his comfortable home under the Hill back in the Shire, with or without his fourteenth share of dragon-treasure. Thorin praised these simple desires in the end, confessing that if more people desired such things above the lust for gold and other riches, the world would be a merrier place.

Tolkien then put even more telling words into Thorin’s mouth as he was dying. He told Bilbo that he was about to go to sit among his ancestors and wait with them, “until the world is renewed.” What a poignant reminder that this world--Middle-earth or our own world--is not our final dwelling place. Nothing here that we value so highly is of permanent value; all will pass away. I might dig and dig for an entire lifetime, unearthing mineral riches that will satisfy even a dragon’s lust for treasure. It will vanish in the end. The Creator of heaven and earth, who spoke this universe into being, will just as easily speak it back into nothingness.

What will endure beyond the world’s renewal are the lives of the people around us. Contrary to the naturalistic fatalism of our times, physical death is not the end. None of us faces oblivion when he or she passes out of this world. Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes that God has placed eternity in the heart of man. We instinctively know that we are destined for an eternal, unending existence. Here, on this planet, we value things for their beauty, their splendor and craftsmanship, the passing pleasure they give...and, most of all, their “permanence.” But we know down deep that this permanence is not truly permanent, after all. You and I will outlast these things we cherish so highly. We will enter eternity someday and face our Creator. And he will either hail us as his beloved children, or judge and banish us as his bitter enemies.

Earthly treasures will not comfort us on that day. Fortunes we have amassed on planet earth will be left behind. Power, prestige, possessions and all our noble plans for the future will be stripped away. All that will matter is the treasure of knowing Jesus Christ.

How can I obtain this Person? This priceless treasure? Not by paying for it. Not by earning or deserving it. Jesus gives Himself to me freely as my Savior and King. I must merely reach out empty hands of faith and receive Him.

All during his adventurous travels, Bilbo Baggins kept longing for home. That is where his chief treasure lay. He eventually made it back there in one piece.

By God’s grace, may you and I do the same--and may your Treasure be waiting there to welcome you.