Fire Ants

Fire Ants

I don’t like fire ants, but I do admire them. I suppose that is kind of a strange statement, so let me explain. Last week I was out in the yard playing catch with my son Gavin. I was wearing my flip-flop sandals, and I became an easy target for those pesky critters. It did not take long before I recognized their presence from their pinch-like sting. They left several pips on my feet where they got me. I moved, but they seemed to be everywhere. I finally went inside the house. Today, as I looked around the yard, I noticed several mounds that had arisen after the recent rains. The amount of dirt that they can move in a few days is impressive for their size. They are diligent creatures.fire ants

In Proverbs 6:6-8, the Holy Spirit teaches us about the power of diligence from the example of the ant. “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.” The power of the ant is the power of consistent effort. The ant, though small and insignificant, was able to drive me back into my house from enjoying a wonderful afternoon. The tiny ant can move mounds of dirt from below to above ground. How do they do it? They work together. They do not give up. They are consistent. They practice self-sacrifice.

We need to follow their example in taking the gospel to the world around us. Are we working together to do that? Are we being consistent in doing that? Are we being faithful? Are we being self-sacrificial? Do not forget 1 Corinthians 15:58.

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Letters in the Sand Washed Away

Letters in the Sand Washed Away

Pat Boone was not the only singer who recorded it, but he was the one whose version soared to the greatest heights in the late 50s. He sang about how he and his loved one wrote “Love Letters in the Sand” and how his heart was broken as the incoming tide washed those letters away. Think about this for a moment, and you can see there are many things in our life we need to have washed out.

Sometimes we need to wash away the anger in our lives. Anger itself is not sinful. It is a godly quality. The psalmist said, “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psa. 7:11). However, he also said, “Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah” (Psa. 2:12). Jesus is the One we long to be exactly as He was. “He looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their heart” (Mark 3:6). So, the next time you see evil, or when someone has wronged you, do not engrave their words in stone within your heart. We are commanded, “Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (Eph. 4:26). Let the waves of agape love wash away your anger.

Write your “list” of past accomplishments in the sand and let them be washed away. Human nature is to look at oneself and think about what he/she has personally accomplished. Paul did not keep a list of all those he had baptized so that he might tell others about it (1 Cor. 1:16-17). Serve Him every day but avoid the pitfall of pride of glorying about how brightly our lights have been shining. Paul had done so much, but when He looked inward, He said, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal…” (Phil. 3:13-14, ESV). Jesus said, “When you have done all those things commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” (Luke 17:10). Let the waves of humility wash away past accomplishments.

Finally, write the sins of the past in the sand. Far too many Christians, even knowing they are forgiven, carry the guilt of past sins and this discourages them. You can never forget past wrongs, but you can let them be overshadowed by the remembrance of that time when God forgave them. He forgives the ungodly when they are baptized, but He forgives the godly when they acknowledge their sins. We should be thankful that He has said, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Get rid of the burden of guilt, write those wrongs in the sand and let His blood wash them away.

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An American Losing Their Faith?

An American Losing Their Faith?

Buried among the headlines of riots and viruses, a three-thousand person survey found that 52% of those that responded did not believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, but only a good teacher. The headlines read, “52% of American Adults Do Not Believe that Jesus Was God.” In this same survey, it was revealed that over 30% of evangelicals did not believe Jesus was God. Is this concerning?

In one sense, we should be concerned about the decline of faith in society. The Bible says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). As a rule of thumb, lawlessness increases proportionally to the decrease of faith. I do not know of anyone who wants to live in a lawless society. So, inasmuch as faith is decreasing, we should be concerned about the relative lawlessness of our communities and how to address such issues.american faith

On the other hand, the Christian knows that faithfulness means walking a narrow way that most will not walk. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The majority are and always have been under the dominion of Satan. “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). The good news is that we do not have to live that way. We can make a choice to follow Jesus despite what the world does. “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward” (Hebrews 10:35).

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Christmas Celebration: Religious Day?

Christmas Celebration as a Religious Holiday?

Christmas is an object of debate and controversy by many because its celebration did not originate in the Bible, and because many of its customs contain a mixture of non-Christian ideas which evolved from various secular and pagan cultures over a period of centuries. Christmas is never mentioned in the New Testament, and we have no evidence that it was ever celebrated by the earliest believers.

Constantine, Emperor of Rome (306-337) converted to a form of Christianity and legalized it in the Empire.  In an effort to promote acceptance of Christianity, Constantine combined numerous pagan customs with his version of state Christianity.  This action introduced many of the traditions observed by pagan worship of that era into state Christianity.  Such mergers became common practice for Constantine.  After legalizing Christianity, these mergers of religions became the foundation of Christmas as a religious holiday today. Christmas celebration

December 25 was the day when people in Roman empire celebrated the winter solstice and the birthday of the pagan sun god Sol Invictus: the day was called ‘dies natalis Invicti’. Sol Invictus (the ‘unconquered sun’ or ‘unconquerable sun’) was depicted as driving a racing-chariot (quadriga) drawn by four horses. The Romans interpreted the sun as Sol racing his chariot or ‘quadriga’ across the sky from sunrise to sunset. The Circus Maximus in Rome included a temple of Sol (dedicated to Sol Invictus) and featured a statue of Sol driving his chariot and four horses. Roman circuses around the Roman empire featured statues of Sol in their central barriers. December 25th was the day when the Roman Empire celebrated this pagan god with the festival of Sol Invictus.

This date coincided with the winter solstice. To understand the origins of Christmas on December 25, one must understand the festival of the winter solstice. Solstice means “standing-still-sun.” Winter solstice is the day of the year when sunshine is the shortest and the sun is at its lowest point (arc) in the sky. The sun appears to be “standing still.” The ancients knew of this yearly event (usually December 21st-22nd by the modern calendar) and made the days and weeks surrounding the solstice a time of renewal, sacrifice, and celebration. Celestial bodies were worshipped to supposedly prevent disaster and calamity from destroying the world. They feared that the daylight might not resume if the proper reverence was not shown.

The Roman emperor Aurelian created the cult of Sol Invictus during his reign in AD 270-275 (in the 3rd century) and, on his coins, Sol was described as ‘Dominus Imperii Romani’, the official deity of the Roman empire. The cult of Sol Invictus was centered in Rome but it was followed across the Roman empire. Sol Invictus, the pagan god of the sun, was one of their most important gods and symbolized victory, as he defeated darkness and rose every morning. Sol Invictus was also the patron of Roman soldiers.

In AD 274 the Roman Emperor Aurelian made December 25th the focal point of the Roman Saturnalia. The date was chosen in honor of the sun god, and echoed the ancient belief that worship of the sun insured its return to rescue the earth from eternal winter. The customs of Saturnalia were very similar to those of modern Christmas: work was suspended, students were released from study, gifts were exchanged, and homes were decorated with candles and greenery.

The Romans had an entire pantheon of pagan gods.  Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving and partying.

When Constantine was the emperor in 306 to 337 he sparked a huge change in the religious culture of the Roman empire by ending all persecution of Christianity and forced the empire to be tolerant of it.   Christianity began to spread all over the empire and later in the century it became the official state religion.  However, as a state religion, it bore scant resemblance to authentic Christianity of the first century.

While the Roman Empire worshipped many man-made Gods, true Christianity was intolerant of it on any level whatsoever.  To make things easier for everyone, the Son of God, (Jesus), which represented light took the place of the sun God, (Sol Invictus) and inherited his birthday.  The pagan god Saturn was also worshipped during this period of the year.    It was a match that was easy to make and everyone was tolerant of it.  Emperor Constantine’s policy of tolerance led to the melding together of Christianity and the pagan worship of Saturn and Sol Invictus and thus formed the foundation of the Christmas religious holiday observed today.

This adoption of new religious holidays was nothing new.  The Judaizers of the first century, eager to see their traditions observed in Christianity, tried to get the sabbath day and their festivals and religious holy days accepted into Christianity.

In Galatians 4:8-11, Paul wrote, “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain’” (NKJV).

The days, months, times and years mentioned by Paul here are a reference to traditions and elements under the law of Moses.  Paul was very clear in this letter to the Galatians that to observe the old Jewish traditions carried the consequence of falling from grace (Galatians 5:4).  In Colossians 2:20-23, Paul wrote, “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations —  21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” (NKJV).

Matthew 15:8-9, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'” (NKJV)   See also a parallel in Mark 7:7.

Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (NKJV)  we are commanded to do everything in the name of Jesus.  This means if it does not have His endorsement, we cannot do it.  Anything that is not supported in His Word does not have His endorsement and cannot be done in His name.  Jesus is the Word of God, (John 1) and as such, His Word is His endorsement.  Anything not found in His Word, does not have the necessary credentials.

Romans 10:1-3, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (NKJV)   Paul is contrasting the Law of Moses with the Law of Faith here.  But the fact remains, we cannot approach God with our ideas of righteousness.  We do not tell God how we are going to serve Him.  Paul echoes this in Philippians 3:9-11.

There is not one verse of scripture that commands, suggests, implies, or asks anyone to turn the birth of Christ into a religious observation.  And yet here we are with one that has been going on for centuries.  It’s the exact same thing with Easter.  These are manmade religious activities that quite simply are condemned in God’s Word.  We do not have the authority or permission to decide how God is to be worshipped.  Romans 14:5-6 provides us with the authority to observe secular days in accordance with custom or tradition.  But if we go beyond that and elevate Jesus’ birth to something beyond that, we have crossed a line for which there is no authority.  A great many people choose to abandon any observation of Christmas whatsoever, choosing to separate themselves from it as far as possible.  To them, the very association of it with its pagan roots is reason enough to utterly shun all activities of it completely.

Jesus’ birth, while heralded by God and the angels, is not the event in His life that is the most significant to us.  His sacrifice for our sins through His death is an event Christians remember every week through the observation of the Lord’s supper.  We are not commanded to commemorate His birth.  We do however remember and celebrate the sacrifice that reconciles us to fellowship with God every first day of the week as done by the first century Christians (Acts 20:7).  We do not know what Jesus’ actual birthday is.  We can be certain that if God wanted His birth celebrated, that information would be provided in His inspired Word.  The fact that His birth is celebrated on the same day as the supposed birthday of the pagan god, Sol Invictus, seems an incredible coincidence.

Timothy and Titus were both circumcised to facilitate the spreading of the Gospel because without it, they could not get a proverbial foot in the door to evangelize Jews that were so hung up on the law of Moses and circumcision, they wouldn’t even consider it.  The Christmas season is a time when people’s hearts may be open to the reception of Jesus.

We all love Christmas.  It is a time of family, goodwill, and fellowship.  But it is not Christ’s birthday, nor is the celebration of His birthday as a religious ordinance sanctioned within His Word.  Romans 14:5-6 gives us the authority to gather and remember the life of Jesus as a matter of tradition and custom, but if we try and make it into a religious event, we have crossed a line that is condemned in God’s Word.  We must operate within parameters given to us by God.  These parameters are designed with our best interests, and those of the Kingdom of God in mind.  We would do well to make sure we stay within our limits and to avail ourselves of every opportunity to spread the gospel.

Birth of Jesus Christ Chronologically

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Wash Yourselves: Plead for the Widow (6 of 6)

Wash Yourselves: Plead for the Widow (6 of 6)

Plead for the widow”!  Isaiah directs the people of Judah to vigorously defend these women.  As with the orphan or fatherless, the leader of their family no longer exists.  However, their defense differs.  Unlike the fatherless, the widow typically does not need to be trained and guided to know how to follow the laws of God.  Without dismissing the need for the spiritual, the more immediate concern for widows centers on provision of their material needs and protection from those would take advantage of them (Isaiah 10:1-3).  Sadly, neglected widows existed before the time of Isaiah and continue to exist today.

The country a widow lives in can greatly affect her treatment.  In the country of India, tens of millions of widows exist.  Socially and economically, the widows endure rejection.  They experience neglect and suffer hardship. (1)  In Mali, a woman widow often loses her right to the land upon which she lived. (2)  Reports of Muslim widows in Bangladesh list the frequent experience of violence, robbery, and eviction.  Pakistani widows may suffer imprisonment or death based on whether they receive accusation of shaming their family.  The sex trade often forces itself upon Cambodian widows.  The world over, widowed women often suffer from poverty, malnutrition, failing health, no inheritance rights, and the list goes on.  Even though national or international laws exist, corruption and inaction often prevail. (3)   During the time of Judah, judicial neglect ruled (Isaiah 1:23).

When Jesus walked upon the earth, He made comment about the Pharisees treatment of the widows of Jerusalem (Matthew 12:40).  According to the writings of commentator Albert Barnes, the Pharisees would take advantage of the widows by encouraging them to hand over management of their property or by causing them to give large sums for “religious purposes”. (4)  How could those wonderfully pious Pharisees with their heartfelt prayers to God act in such a manner?  Jesus called them hypocrites (Matthew 15:8-9).  In reality, Pharisees deceived these women in the name of God.  The Pharisees aware of God’s Old Law instruction from ages before (Deuteronomy 27:19) chose to rebelliously take advantage of the widows.  They did not make a plea for the widows and their welfare.

Evil takes many forms.  Sometimes, no criminal intent exists, but it develops out of partiality as with the widows of Acts 6:1-4.  In that situation, the apostles addressed the disciples in regard to Grecian widows not receiving the proper daily aid scheduled for the Christian widows at that time.  The text infers the Hebrews saw to their widows, but overlooked the Greeks.  This harkens back to the physical Israel seeing themselves as the only people of God.  This barrier came down in Christ (Galatians 3:28).  Caring for widows greatly concerns the teachings of the New Testament.  The Apostles made a plea on their behalf based on the Word of God.  Christ did not teach partiality.  Paul makes this clear when he talks to the Ephesian Elders in Acts 20:35 reminding them of his teaching: care for the weak and focus on giving rather than receiving.

The Words imparted by Christ through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles established a pattern for the care of widows.  James 1:27 states the following:

 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

 The term “visit” in this passage does not mean to drop by, say “Hi!  Be warmed and filled!”, and then after doing nothing go on down the road (James 2:15-17).  It means to inspect or examine with the intention of relieving.  This command points to every individual.  This passage speaks to physical, spiritual, financial, judicial, and any other needs regarding the widow.

Responsibility for widows first comes from their families (I Timothy 5:8).  However, in the case of widows sixty years or older, righteous and active for God, with no one to care for them, God commanded the Church to take special care for them (I Timothy 5:3-16).  The action of a Church does not remove the responsibility of mankind to watch over and care for widows.  The Church’s responsibility only reaffirms God’s love for His faithful.  The letter to Timothy states clearly what God desires of the family, Christian, Church, and widow.

Some believe the Church should go beyond God’s direction and hand out food, finances, clothing, and more, not only to God’s faithful, but to all mankind.  This role of the Church cannot be found in scripture.  The Church’s predominant role in scripture reflects the dissemination of the Word of God for the teaching, reproving, correction, and instruction of man.  Benevolence beyond the individual and family comes only after one last entity performs its role.  The government performs a role as an agent of good on behalf of the people it oversees (Romans 13:4).  When the individual and family  performs its role properly, the government if acting according to the plan of God (which sadly it rarely does, either going behind or ignoring God’s Word) makes the occurrence of the Church having to “wait tables” for the truly needy a rare occurrence.  When the government receives the call to take up the plea of the widow, God expects justice.

One final and important aspect of taking up the plea of the widow shows God didn’t build a hedge around the sinful in the first century or in the time of Isaiah.  The following passage shows this:

 Isaiah 9:17 – Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for every one is profane and an evil-doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

 God never provides aid for the need of those practicing sin and keeping their back to Him, even if they are fatherless or widowed.  He does not expect the government to take care of the lazy or those with access to care for themselves.  He doesn’t expect the government to enable those who would take advantage of the widow or anyone else, but rather to punish them.  He does not see the Church as a financial institution set up to provide gas bill money and soup for the public.  Even with the widow, one of the weakest members of society, God requires a lifetime of faithfulness with absence of other means of care before the Church is to play the role of provider.  Saints who can care for themselves are to do so (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12).  When saints work as commanded, they can better fulfill their duties to plea for the widow and do good.  In doing so the saints will more readily possess the means to aid others (Ephesians 4:28).  God’s plan for mankind and his needy faithful represents perfection and useless hardship occurs only when man steps away from God’s plan.  Unfortunately, such hardship became commonplace in Judah and commonplace today because man closes his ears to God.

This concludes this series examining Isaiah’s instruction for Judah to cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.  If heeded by any person, these six examinations result in righteousness.  The individual and society strengthen exponentially when they listen to God.  The encouragement of the oppressor fails and the oppressed enjoy the comfort of a caring society.  Such lessons do not target any particular region or timeframe, but apply universally to the entire generation of men.  In not heeding the warnings, only ruin and destruction result.  As seen by the history of Judah and other sinful people, God blesses based upon obedience to these principles and punishes when they are not observed.

Footnote:

(1)  Jill McGivering, BBC News; “India’s Neglected Widows”; 2002

(2)  Dominique van De Walle, World Bank; “Neglected and poor widows in Mali”; 2011

(3)  United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affiars.  Women 2000: “Widowhood: Invisible Women, secluded or excluded

(4)  Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible;  Albert Barnes (1798-1870)

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