What if you’d never seen a grape?

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The plan, several months in the making, was for Brother John Morris, and I to travel to West Africa and meet with disciples in Ghana who identify themselves as “the Christians.” We hoped to learn about their beliefs and practices firsthand, determining also whether we could and how we should be of assistance to them and whether we might be able to teach something that would be of benefit to them. Bureaucratic red tape (or foot dragging) resulted in a delay of John’s visa, and so on March 20, 2000 I boarded a 747 in Los Angeles to fly to Amsterdam, en route to Ghana, arriving Tuesday evening, March 21 in Accra. Continue reading

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Fanny Crosby

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Songwriter Fanny Jane Crosby was born of humble parents at Southeast, New York, on March 24, 1823. She was blinded at the age of six weeks by improper medical treatment. She was educated in the New York School for The Blind and was a member of St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City. She taught in the school for the blind from 1847 to 1858, when she married a blind musician, Alexander Van Alstyne.

Fanny Crosby showed her talent for poetry early in life. When she was eight years old she wrote: Continue reading

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Firm and Flexible

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Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (Luke 1:45, NIV, -she was Mary)

No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Rom 4:20_21, RSV -he was Abraham)

There are some things that God wants us to be very firm about. Continue reading

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The Wisdom of Innocence

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Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. (1 Cor 14:20 NIV)

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Pet 2:2_3 NIV)

Jesus taught his disciples to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Christians are called to be pure and without guile, but not naive about the world or mankind. Continue reading

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The Mirror of the Soul

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“The Mirror of the Soul”
Allie R. Fry
As we live on this, “God’s footstool”,
Let’s prepare for heaven’s goal;
Let us look into the mirror;
“The mirror of the soul.”

We look often in the looking glass
To try and look just so,
But let’s look more in the mirror,
“The mirror of the soul.”

God has given us the Bible,
That we his will might know;
Yes the Bible is our mirror,
“The mirror of the soul.”

We may put on fine apparel,
To make an outward show;
But let’s not forget the mirror,
“The mirror of the soul.”

God looks on your heart my brother,
Your every thought he knows;
So keep looking in his mirror,
“The mirror of the soul.”

When you look into the Bible, what Bible do you use? Continue reading

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Powers and Authorities

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1. All powers and authorities originate in God.

Rom 13:1-2 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (NIV)

See also Col. 1:16, 1 Pet 2:13-14

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Called, and Chosen, and Faithful

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Among the visions seen by John on the Island of Patmos was a scene of conflict in which ten kingdoms were united against the Lamb, Jesus Christ (Rev. 17:12-14). John saw that the Lamb was victorious in that battle because he is “Lord of lords and King of kings”, and that his victory was also shared by those who were with him – though the overcoming is altogether accredited to the Lamb. Those who are with him and share his victory “are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14 KJV). If we share, or will share, in the Lamb’s victory, then that’s who we have to be, the “called, and chosen, and faithful.” Continue reading

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Forging The Sword – The Writing and Organizing of The Bible

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There once was a time when there was no Bible, but it was quite a long time ago. The first Bible that we know anything about was written and put into use nearly 3500 years ago. This early Bible was based on the inspiration and authority of Moses and Joshua. When we say “Bible” in this way we are talking about a volume or collection of authoritative writings sanctioned by God that truly reveal something about God and his will for humans. The Bible as we know it in English consists of 66 books containing an amalgam of history, poetry, prophecy, moral instruction and other information about the nature of God and our own nature. It exists as it does for a purpose, perhaps for several purposes, Continue reading

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The “Best” of Religious Society

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Every human society seems to have some sort of honored elite (sometimes more honored by themselves than by anyone else), the special in-group, the privileged few, the informed and superior inner circle. There are religious elites, political elites, power elites, wealthy elites, educated elites, and so forth. Labeling select groups like these should not persuade us that elitism is above or beyond any of us though, because the tendency to behave as if some people are better than others flows through every level of society. In every group and sub-group there are those who seem to be more “in” than others, those who are recognizably cool or respectably capable; those who can talk right or move right or buy right, or look right or some way just be “right.” And elitism, the sense of superiority/inferiority it cultivates, always divides and excludes, always exalts some at the expense of abasing others.

In Jesus’ day there was a recognizable religious elite, a “better” religious society. Some of the prominent priests and Pharisees considered themselves above the common Jew and despised those they considered their religious inferiors, people who couldn’t possible understand what the law and prophets were getting at. The chief priests and Pharisees who were the in-group of the Jerusalem temple crowd felt that the beliefs of the crowds following Jesus were useless, their opinions without value. They asked, “Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” (John 7:48-49 NKJV). This was religious elitism, snobbishly honoring the perspective of the “better” religious crowd, ignoring the thoughts and hopes and needs of the untrained and uninitiated commoners. The circle was closed, and in closing the circle around an honored elite, their minds were closed too. Pride of station (perceived station) resulted in pride of interpretation, exclusion of new ideas and better approaches, and ultimately, disaster. This is the “knowledge” that produces arrogance (1 Cor. 8:1-2). The elite, those religiously “better”, should have listened to the crowds they despised. Pride of station, certainty that they already had it, prevented them from hearing the truth and seeing the potential of a man named Jesus who wouldn’t join the in-crowd or chase the privileges and recognition that elitism seemed to offer a select few.

The same religious elitism that prevented many of the prominent priests and Pharisees from seeing the reality of Jesus identity came out in the form of harassment in the story of the blind man Jesus healed on the Sabbath day (John 9). When the man’s neighbors couldn’t readily explain an abnormal event like his being healed, they declined to wrestle with the implications of it and chose instead to shove it up the ladder to the “better” crowd of Pharisees (John 9:8-13). They accepted the idea of an elite that ought to handle matters that seemed mysterious, and the Pharisees to whom the matter was referred basked in the glory of their own religious superiority. They made several unsound assertions about Jesus and the man who had been healed (9:24, 28-29, 34), ending with a total rejection of the man, saying, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” and kicking him out of the synagogue. Facts and reason had little to do with the process that was followed in this inquiry, and closed-minded elitism carried the day. The Pharisees in this story couldn’t even consider the feelings or thoughts of the healed man in a reasonable way, because they were sure of his inferiority, their superiority, before they started.

One doesn’t have to be a chief priest or Pharisee though to engage in religious elitism of this sort. Any one of us can easily slip into a pattern of “better than” thinking. It is terribly easy to think of ourselves in all our doctrinal wisdom and insight as having arrived when few others have. Perhaps we see ourselves sometimes as better than those Israelites in the wilderness, better than those slow learning disciples, better than those first century Jews, better than those people down the road who haven’t gotten hold of the truth like we have. Of course we really aren’t better than any of those people, but are essentially the same as them (Rom. 3:23, remember) and just miss the point when we feel or sound superior to anyone. Paul specifically excludes any sense of religious “better-than-ism” in Romans 11:6-22 (as well as 2:17ff and several other passages in this epistle and others). “Do not boast against the branches” he tells us, and “remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.” And “do not be haughty, but fear.” It is still a terrible blunder to think that we have received God’s grace because we are somehow better than someone else, and it is still a terrible mistake to despise another human being because of their genetics or their possessions or their beliefs. Having an exalted position in Christ is not dependant on or augmented by the degradation or belittling of anyone else. Being exalted in Christ is dependent on God having fulfilled his promises, and continuing to do so in His Son, Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:3-5, Eph. 2:4-9).

Religious elites might perceive themselves as being better than other people, more capable of knowing God’s will, but they actually set themselves at odds with God, whether they are a particular priesthood, or sect, or church. The “best” of religious society does not set itself up as an elite, a group of “better-thans”, but instead always searches for truth, and always seeks for souls. The “best” of religious society doesn’t need to pat itself on the back, or push the other guy down, but is content to rest in the promise of Jesus that he will exalt and lift up the one who trusts him (Rev. 3:9). The “best” of religious society knows that the battle is won (by and through Jesus), and is able to be humble without needing to humiliate anyone else. And the “best” of religious society knows that absolutely anyone has full opportunity to get in, to be included in the chosen few, to be accepted as a child of God, without prejudice or partiality on the part of God or his family.

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Where Have All The (Good) Manners Gone?

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4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Cor 13:4-7 NIV)

Perhaps you’ve noticed that good manners have become an endangered species, although they have yet to gain “protected” status. Almost everyone still enjoys being on the receiving end of polite treatment, but few seem to care to cultivate the behavior in themselves-and good manners have to be cultivated, they seldom grow naturally. Clearly there is a lot to be said in favor of practicing good manners, much to be gained by simple politeness, but it takes some real effort and motivation to incorporate good manners in our normal behavior. For Christians that motivation is simply expressed when Paul says that “love is not rude” (or “ill-mannered” or “unseemly,” 1 Cor. 13:5).

Though it can be shown that good manners are of value to everyone and good for all of society, people cannot generally be expected to behave well for a vague or intangible reason. The easiest and perhaps most natural response to bad behavior is bad behavior. Even if we know that bad manners contribute to societal decay and an overall atmosphere of violence and intolerance few people think about such concepts in a moment of anger, frustration, or impatience. Many of the ways that we interact with strangers today seem to be almost designed to promote the attitudes that provoke bad manners (freeway driving, shopping lines, drive through service, telephone sales, etc.) In fact, in keeping with the general decline in the practice of good manners, there are multitudes of training programs today that actually encourage bad manners as a device for personal success under the banner of “assertiveness.”

Some seem to think that the solution to the problems associated with bad manners in general is to be found in fear (“an armed society is a polite society”) or else in regimentation and mandated conformity (dress codes, regulations). These are unlikely solutions though. They do not address the basic problem of (not) respecting and caring for other people. While either fear or rules can provoke an attitude, neither can provide effective motivation for a sustained good attitude. The attitude that produces good manners is a product of training and motivation. People will not behave well unless they 1) want to behave well and 2) know how to. “Love is not rude.” People (you and I) have to learn-again-to value people. Christian leaders are directed to teach people “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone” (Titus 3:2 NRSV). The gospel of God’s love supplies the motive to want to behave well and the church is to be a training ground for good manners, teaching believers how to behave well. The Christian way of life is directly based on values that demand good manners, respectful and polite treatment of other people-thoughtfulness, even toward anonymous strangers. Wherever society’s manners may go, the Christian mandate is to behave well among the misbehaving. Good deeds truly begin with good manners. Jesus summarized the concept by saying, “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” (Matthew 7:12)

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