Facts Or Feelings?

During the long checkered history of humanity, most of us have learned that tolerance of varying points of view is generally a good, positive thing. The great American ideal of religious freedom and equal treatment under the law has permitted many brands of religious faith to flourish. The persecution of this or that sect or denomination by other groups, or by the government, has all but vanished from our culture.

However, only the very naive will insist that competition between religious viewpoints has ceased to exist. The fact that all religions (excepting those that promote the victimization of people) are equally tolerated in our land, has unfortunately led some to the mistaken notion that all religions are, therefore, equally valid in their truth claims.

To give an obvious example: One religion claims that its primary historical figure was not only a great teacher and prophet, but God incarnate, the second Person and Son of the true, triune Creator... 

...While a competing religion denies that this same man was divine, and insists that the Creator has no “Son.”

Such a contradiction makes it impossible for both viewpoints to be equally valid. No matter how the question is resolved, sadly, somebody is wrong. To be wrong need not be a terrible problem, so long as both adherents are willing to honestly examine the available evidence and possibly change their mind.

What makes it a terrifying problem is when somebody claims that whether someone is right or wrong makes no difference, but matters not at all! When people begin to say that contradictory truth claims can all be “right” depending on the whim of each claimant, that is when we have passed through the proverbial looking glass into a land of absurdity.

A land in which Jesus can be Lord and God in the world of person A, and not Lord and God in the world of person B. In the real world, the objective world of reality, either Jesus is who Christians believe Him to be, or He isn’t.

When it comes to spiritual things, there are far too many folks walking around feeling instead of thinking. People who are content to “feel” what must be true, instead of facing hard facts and reasoning things out. I might feel like it would be great if I could travel through time in a sports car a la Back to the Future. But reality makes such travel impossible. Imagination might create all kinds of alternate realities for us to pretend in. But objective reality is quite different.

I strongly suspect that many of these “feeling”-type folks live in their make-believe world where right or wrong beliefs don’t matter, simply because, for them, they genuinely don’t matter. They have come to the conclusion that objective spiritual/religious truth doesn’t exist, and that God the Creator, Redeemer and Judge might not exist either, so why sweat the details?

But the Bible clearly teaches that all people, regardless of how they feel, or what they think, will one day stand before their Maker and face ultimate judgment. According to this Book of books, Heaven and Hell are realities that one day will no longer be deniable.

To put it realistically, I am a sinner against a holy God who will one day have to “face the facts.” And according to His word, I will need a Savior on that day to plead my case. Do you have One to plead yours? Read His word and find Him now. 

Jesus Christ is the ultimate reality.

MNA

2/7/2021

What a Kingdom! What a King!

 

“The kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever!” 

I can’t really recite those immortal words without hearing the powerful choral strains of Handel’s Hallelujah chorus echoing in my brain. I suspect that the heavenly choir itself will be singing that masterpiece right up to and forever after the final consummation, resulting in “a new Heaven and a new Earth,” ushering in the blessed, eternal state.

The kingdom of God, of Heaven, of Christ Jesus our Lord, is far more than an incidental theme of holy scripture. Kingdom created, polluted, re-taken, restored, recreated--this is certainly the background theme that ties all of the varied subtexts of the Bible together. And in the New Testament Gospels and other apostolic accounts, the Lord’s kingdom takes center stage again and again as the King Himself steps onto the stage of earth’s history.

The Son of God had, like David of old, been anointed by His Father as the rightful King of kings and Lord of lords. Various Old Testament “Christophanies” such as the Commander of the Lord’s armies who faced off with Joshua, suggested that God the Son had visited the earth personally before His future incarnation. But Jesus’ conception and birth as a human child meant far more than just another “sightseeing” visit, only to return to His past glory. 

In becoming a man, God’s anointed King was stepping across a veritable Rubicon of space and time that would unite godhead with humanity in an indissoluble link--the Person of Jesus Christ. Saint Matthew’s genealogy traced the kingly line of David to its ultimate Potentate, the One who was to receive “all authority in heaven and earth.” The risen Christ had finished His life of active and passive obedience to the Father, which had secured our redemption from sin and death. And on the basis of His hard-fought victory, He gave the martial orders to His followers: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations... You shall be my witnesses.”

Back in the Garden of Eden, the original Man and Woman fell to the wiles of the devil, surrendering to him the power and authority over the earth that their Creator had meant to be ours. Ever since then, down through our tragic and sickening history, mankind has made a mess of this world, all in the name of pride, arrogance, sinful autonomy and evil desire. Greed, lust, laziness, violence, wrath, and all the other escapees from Pandora’s box, have plagued the hearts, minds and accomplishments of humanity. It seemed like God’s kingdom-dream had been a cruel joke, a pipe dream never to be realized.

But, as the long, intricate pages of the Bible reveal to us, for centuries the sovereign unseen hand of God was moving, predicting, presaging, preparing the stage for the promised “Seed of the woman” who was to crush the wily serpent’s ugly head!

The story of the Old Testament is a story about kings and kingdoms. Most of the kings portrayed were inadequate at best, and positively bestial at worst. Earthly kings comprised a “rogues gallery” of imperfect--in fact, rebellious--rascals and tyrants. They squandered and misused the power that Providence put into their hands. And the Lord God had no alternative but to punish them and the wayward people who followed their loathsome example. And to add insult to injury, He lashed their backs and their foolish pride with the whips of nations even more wicked than His own chosen people had become!

With infinite, sublime patience, Jehovah God was teaching them, and us, and the world, that Adam and Eve’s disobedience--their “declaration of independence” from their Creator, was not worth the price they and we would have to pay. Satan had decided that, for himself, it was “better to rule in hell, than to serve in heaven.” And Adam’s race had chosen to join that rebellion, turning our backs on the loving kingship of our kind heavenly Father. But God was not willing to “wash His hands” of our predicament and let us face eternal hell with the devilish dragon!

From all eternity, His anointed King was preparing to enter history as ONE of us. Armed with the “full armor of God” and filled with the Spirit. Resisting Satan’s temptations, casting out his minions from their human hosts, remaining strong in His times of pain and weakness, willing to pay the horrendous price of forsaken-ness and death on the cross.

“You shall be my witnesses,” the King told his followers. King Jesus calls us His witnesses still. Yes, I’m a citizen of the United States, and proud of it. But I’m enormously MORE glad to be a subject of a far BETTER nation--a KINGDOM that will never be shaken. It is a kingdom that is calling out to those in rebellion, those who are the King’s sworn enemies. It is a kingdom that offers peace, joy, love, mercy, forgiveness... and eternal life.

To enter this better kingdom costs a person nothing in the way of qualifications or payment. Jesus the King has supplied both the holiness we need, and the payment we could never afford.

On the other hand, entering God’s kingdom costs a person EVERYTHING. You must renounce and turn your back on your previous life of rebellion and self-sufficiency. You must willingly begin again, with Christ as your King. 

Believe me, you’ll find in Jesus not only a gracious Ruler and Protector, but your dearest Friend. Leave your past behind you, child of this world, and kneel before your true King.

MNA

11/14/2020

Obey the Call

He entered the human world 

    without the fertilization of a human father.
His birth was foretold by centuries-old prophecies 

    and angelic messengers.
He grew up among the poor and oppressed, 

    one day to challenge the rich and oppressors.
His powers healed and freed from demons, 

    His teaching lighted the spiritually blind.
He ruled over nature--even death!--with His word, 

    He resisted the very powers of hell.
His followers tried to crown Him their king, 

    His enemies’ attempts to smear Him all failed.
He claimed Heaven as His origin, God as His Father, 

    Himself as the only way to be saved.
His warnings threatened eternal torment, 

    His promises offered joys beyond hope or thought.
He told fallen women that faith had saved them, 

    He told pious men they must be re-born.
His fellow rabbis marveled yet resented His audacity, 

    kings and rulers feared His popularity.
He warned His disciples they must be ready to die, 

    and predicted his own death many times.
His entire life’s plan was to orchestrate His own sacrificial death 

    on a cross during Passover.
He entered Jerusalem as a King, cleansed its Temple as a Priest, 

    taught there as a Prophet.
His call rang out across and beyond the Holy Land, 

    so that even Gentiles were seeking Him.
He eluded arrest more than once, 

    then yielded to the mob after preparing His soul to die.
His trusted treasurer sold Him out, His best friend denied Him, 

    His closest followers fled.
He spoke the truth at His trial and it condemned Him, 

    His truth perplexed even Pontius Pilate.
His road to execution was pure torture, 

    His body and soul were bared and forsaken even by God.
He lived the only pure and perfect life ever lived, 

    so saintly and sinless even death released Him.
His agony on the cross bore the weight of man’s sin, 

    paying the debt we could never afford.
He came out of the tomb never to die again, 

    glorified by His Father, ready to take His Throne.
His disciples encountered Him numerous times after His death, 

    changing their lives forever.
He calls out still today by His followers, His word, His Spirit, 

    commanding repentance and faith.
His call is, “Come to Me. I am what you need. 

    I have what you need. Leave all else behind.”

Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, Jesus Light of the World.

The greatest human being who ever lived was God Himself in human flesh. This God-man did nothing but good, spoke nothing but truth, offers nothing but the beauty of union with Him and His Father.

 
Jesus Christ is the worthiest human being in existence, now occupying the throne of the universe. He is also the most ignored, neglected, hated person in all creation. His followers must still be prepared to suffer, because in His own words, “Remember, they hated Me first.”

But the reason He came in the first place was to SAVE His Father’s enemies from their SIN. Our own human rebellion made this world a place of suffering. Right now, Christ is gathering a new humanity that will stand with Him against that rebellion until He comes back to make ALL things new!

Obey His call. Join with Jesus. Surrender, repent, believe, obey Him. 

The day He returns, my friend, it will be TOO LATE.

MNA
10/31/2020

Together Again!

 Once again, R.C. Sproul’s series on the life of Joseph has inspired some fresh insights in my heart and mind. Hope they are helpful to some of you out there in the “real world.”

His lesson this morning concerning the reunion of Joseph with his father Jacob reminded me of how precious the relationships in our lives remain even after they’ve been broken for a number of years. And how great the joy can be, and will be, one day when those broken relationships are healed, re-established or reunited.

As I think back over the years, so many people come to mind that I’ve shared cherished friendships with, or family closeness, but have since lost touch with either by death, or by distance, or even by disagreements that cannot be reconciled. Although I still have wonderful relationships with many friends and family members in the present, I can’t help but think of my departed Mom and Dad, for example, who always were there for me, cheering me on in my endeavors, my successes and defeats. The joy we shared together is all the more precious even as a fond memory after their death. And, like Jacob and Joseph, our reunion in Heaven will be a time of unspeakable ecstasy as well.

There are friends from my school days that were as close to me as family, but are gone as well, such as my pal David Wade, a fellow I witnessed to and prayed for constantly, but never knew whether or not the Lord saved him before he passed away. There is a couple that Linda and I got to know at one of the many churches I directed music for. They befriended us in an especially beautiful way, and especially appreciated the poems I shared with them. I don’t even recall their names, but they brought an abundance of joy and encouragement into my soul without even knowing it at the time.

Glen Rosenberger is another friend of immensely joyful memory who has passed on. He counseled Linda and me during a very challenging “rough patch” in the beginning phase of our marriage. I’ll never forget his useful metaphor of loving servanthood: being willing to be “the Lord’s donkey” rather than a heroic stallion! Glen poured his time and prayer so selflessly into our lives at that time, as did many other teachers and pastors down through the years!

I just recently got back in touch with a pastor’s wife we had a strong personal friendship with years ago while the children were little and our family was traveling around doing concerts. What a special joy it has been to share with her, now that her husband is in a nursing home facing some awesome challenges. It was so good to find out that their memories of Linda and me are equally precious to them!

Toward the end of the book of Genesis, when Joseph’s brothers return home and tell Jacob their father the good news that his favorite son still lives and is Prime Minister in Egypt, he first finds it hard to believe. He has spent several decades pining away and mourning the loss of Joseph, believing him to be the fatal victim of ravenous beasts. 

Finally, when their father chooses to believe their astonishing report, he exclaims: “It is enough. I will go down to Egypt and see Joseph before I die.” Like the old saint Simeon, who held the baby Jesus in the Jerusalem temple, father Jacob was faced with the fulfillment of a long lost hope: to somehow be reunited with Joseph after many years (and tears!) of separation. After nearing the very edge of despair, as if truly believing “everything is against me!”, this venerable patriarch was as “surprised by joy” as anyone in biblical history.

At their actual meeting down in Egypt, Joseph showed an equal level of joy at their reunion by falling on his father’s neck and he “wept on his neck a good while” (Genesis 46:29). Tears of joy will certainly flow that day when all the relationships we’ve cherished and lost are brought back together. Like the overjoyed father of the prodigal son, we will rejoice that lost, seemingly dead, relationships are “alive again!”

Treasuring and cherishing the people in our life ought to be near the top of our list of priorities. Filling those relationships with times of deep, lasting, truth-filled enjoyment, centered on our shared love for our Lord and Savior, will make our memories of one another worthwhile, even when distance, disagreement, or even death itself, comes between us.

And, then, Lord willing, “When we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!”

MNA

10/24/2020

PRIDE...KILLS...LOVE

Power, all authority, was there

Resting on the shoulders of the just.

In the Upper Room, so unaware,

Disciples lounged, their feet adorned with dust.

Every one preoccupied with self,

Keeping close the greatness self assumed,

Intimacy languished on the shelf.

Like a pet, egos were fondly groomed.

Love, however, made its presence plain

Softly, unobtrusively and low;

Leaving them to preen, He rose again.

Over to the basin stand to go.

Volunteering humbly, love complete,

Exemplifying grace, He washed their feet.

MNA

10/11/2020

Some Testing Required

R.C. Sproul’s series of Saturday messages on the life of Joseph, the Old Testament patriarch, have been both fascinating and inspiring. Not long ago, my own pastor preached a series on the providence of God, in which he highlighted several Biblical characters, including Joseph. 

There are many reasons why believers ought to find Joseph’s story so helpful in our journey to sanctification. This man’s unique dreams, his privileged upbringing, the betrayal and enslavement at the hands of his own brothers, his reaction to being sold as a slave in another country, his faithfulness to the Lord when faced with sexual temptation, his loyalty and good will toward fellow prisoners, his wisdom and wise use of his God-given gifts, and the list goes on.

I was especially struck this morning by the way that testing figures throughout the story of Joseph. God appears to be putting Jacob and his family to the test by giving Joseph his bizarre dreams of future prominence. Obviously, Joseph’s older brothers react to this test in a purely negative way, seeing those dreams as simply a way their spoiled sibling is “lording it over” the rest of them. The very way they decide to “solve” this problem ironically ends up sending their hated brother into the path that eventually leads to the dreams’ fulfillment!

The next series of tests is directed at Joseph, at least primarily. His faith and his faithfulness are sorely tested through a gauntlet of crushing disappointments, all while he is choosing to do the right thing time after time. Repeatedly the devil seems to be whispering, “Just give in and accept the fact that God has abandoned you. There’s no use in remaining virtuous. Surrender is your only logical option...” Joseph seemed to be destined for obscurity by the dismal circumstances in which he found himself. Can’t you imagine the echoes of despair in his mind, like: “May as well have gone ahead and given in to Potiphar’s wife. Certainly, God wouldn’t have cared!”

But, no, Joseph somehow, with God’s help, waited patiently for the tide to turn. Patient endurance is certainly a virtue that this present culture of “gotta have it now” must reacquire. And it must be admitted that Christ’s church must also seek to major on such ideals if it is to become all our Master wants us to be!

All the while that Joseph is waiting, his father is also being tested. Jacob has seemingly lost his favorite, darling boy. But it’s interesting that when God requires him to suffer this great loss, Joseph’s father ends up favoring the younger of the two sons borne by his favorite wife. Benjamin becomes the new Joseph in Jacob’s life, to be coddled and protected at all costs. Rather than seeing his loss as an opportunity to sharpen his parenting skills, he falls back on his old habits of favoritism. And when Benjamin must accompany his older brothers to Egypt, he can only moan that everything seems to be against him!

I’m challenged by this negative example to have a more optimistic view as I face the future. May the Lord give me the trust in Him it will require to take future losses in stride, and see them as opportunities to grow and change for the better. We must realize that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, even as Job of old admitted. When we advance in years (and, hopefully, in wisdom) we often find that more gets taken away than we’re comfortable with. At those times, we need to recall the words God gave Paul concerning his “thorn in the flesh.”

Well, God’s grace was certainly “sufficient” for Joseph, especially when the day came for this former slave and long-time prisoner to be elevated to the role of Prime Minister in the land of his captivity! It amazes me that somewhere in the intervening years, Joseph apparently developed or otherwise obtained the gift of interpreting dreams, not just having them himself. Either that, or he was taking a tremendous leap of faith when he encouraged his fellow prisoners to share their visions with him. “Don’t interpretations belong to God?” he asked them, then urged, “Tell me your dreams.”

Tested and tried over and over, this young man refused to let the disappointments drive him deeper and deeper into himself, becoming a bitter, hermit-like malcontent. Rather, he remained outgoing and interested in the moods and the needs of others. God gave him a caring heart that shone out even when few people if any seemed to care about him. When the day came for him to leave the prison forever, he was prepared to set that caring heart loose to meet the needs of entire nations of people faced with a seemingly worldwide famine.

Then, the rest of Joseph’s story continues the testing theme in a beautiful, yet intriguing way: the way that this new Prime Minister of Egypt takes the unexpected opportunity to put his own family to the test! It seems to me that Joseph is absolutely justified in acting almost like the unseen hand of God Himself in the lives of his ten older brothers when they come before him to purchase life-sustaining grain for their families. All the while he is magnanimously meeting their physical needs, Joseph is giving them almost playful little tests to sound out their characters and get them to face their own suppressed guilt. His use of his own elevated position to manipulate their circumstances--all for their own good--may seem arbitrary to those used to democratic rule. But isn’t it a great picture of how Romans 8:28 is worked out in all our lives?

And at the end of the road that God’s providence lays out for you and me, there is a “land of Goshen,” a new heaven and new earth, waiting for those who remain faithful through all the testing and trials He planned for us along the way.

MNA

10/3/2020

Four Haiku

One

"Never" is a ghost,
ever lost in time and space,
ever chased by hope.

Two

Hunting man foresees
times of want and scarcity
that may never come.

Three

Hawk wings her foray
high above the land of life,
dropping swift with death.

Four

Dark it stalks its prey
while we mask our hunted nerves
with our viral posts.

by MNA
7/27/2020

hai·ku

/ˈhīˌko͞o/

noun

• 1.a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.