Tag: bible

Bible Defies Human Description

The past several Sundays our pastors have tried to teach us what the Bible is and where it gets its authority. And basically, I have come away with the understanding that, as humans, it is not possible to do that beyond stating the obvious – God wrote it through people and we are to obey what it says.

And I guess that makes sense. Since it was written by God’s Spirit through people, it, as an entity, is above our understanding. Yet, its teachings are simple enough that even the youngest child among us is able to understand it.

God says that His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours. And God asks us to become like little children to follow Him. So it makes sense that the Bible is above definition, yet is useful for teaching, rebuking and instructing in all righteousness.

It, as always, comes down to faith. Do you believe it? Do you plan to follow it?

As the old song goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

The American Dream works because American Dreamers work

I was musing this morning about how so many of us dream of getting rich quick and then taking it easy. We complain about being so tired in our 30s and 40s and wished that we could just be done working. I was one of those, dreaming about retirement.

Now, as retirement looms closer, I am realizing how much I actually enjoy working and how much I will miss it when I truly am too tired to do it.

Both Plymouth Colony and Virginia Colony started out as communes. Plymouth Colony was supposed to be a Utopian Commune with everyone holding everything in common. The Virginia Colony was supposed to encourage capitalism, but everyone was first indentured so lived communistically until their indenture had been paid.

Both colonies had a hard time flourishing, because those that could work hard had no incentive to when they received the same recompense as those that could not work hard. So three years in, Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony decided to shift to capitalism. Within the year the colony was on excellent footing. About that same year, Puritans took over Virginia Colony and also gave colonists their own land to take care of, even though their indentures were not yet through. This also saved Virginia Colony.

There are some people who inherit money. There are some people who work extremely hard their whole life and barely scrape by. There are people who do run into horrible obstacles such as racism, ageism, disabilities not of their own making, and many other things. But in general, if you are willing to work, there is a dream to be had here. You may not have the grandest house, the fastest car, the fanciest clothes, the most lavish food or the most impressive vacations, but you can live a good life that includes sharing that goodness with others.

The Bible gives us many instructions on how to live a successful life. One of the first is in the very first few chapters. Exodus 20:9-10 tells us that we should labor for six days and rest on the seventh.

One of my ancestors, John Quincy Adams, worked toward his dream of having a country free of slavery, dying before he saw the dream, but dying trying. He had been a Senator, then the 6th President and finally, died working as a member of the House of Representatives. He did not let status get in the way of working for what he dreamed of. And because of his efforts, and the effort of many others, slavery was abolished just 15 years later.

Here’s to dreamers and the work it takes to realize those dreams!

Now I get it!

When I would read the Bible passage about leaving the weeds in the field with the good grain, I have to admit that I kind of wondered about it. The explanation given is that if the weeds are pulled up, the wheat amongst which the weeds are growing may also be uprooted.

(See the Bible passage, Matthew 13:24-30, here)

But if the gardeners went really slowly and were really careful, shouldn’t it be possible to uproot the weeds without pulling up the wanted plants. I’m not saying that it would be easy, but shouldn’t it be doable?

Fast forward not quite 2000 years to today.

I have been working in my garden this spring to uproot a particularly aggressive ground cover that not only likes to cover the ground, but grow over and choke out everything else in its path.

For those who know me well, I can be considered rather slow at whatever I accomplish. I like to be careful and thorough. Things often turn out well, but I have been known to be told that I am as slow as molasses in January. My response to that – I was born in January, so I guess there isn’t much I can do about it! I have learned to pick up the pace when necessary, but it is not me preferred way of operation.

So, in my usual slow, methodical way I have been carefully eradicating the beautiful but destructive ground cover from my front flower bed. And even as slow and careful as I am trying to be, I cannot even begin to tell you how many plants that were supposed to stay planted have also come out of the ground with the unwanted pest.

Now I get it!

Thank you, God, for your gentleness and patience, even when it means that you must endure weeds in your garden.

Oh, and the good news of the Gospel is that if we happen to be a weed, we can easily ask Jesus to make us into the wanted wheat simply by admitting we are a weed and accepting that he makes us wheat through his death and resurrection.

Only by the Grace of God

The older I get the more amazed I am at all of the good things that happen around me.

I know how lazy and evil I can be. And I know how just plain inept I am, even when I am trying my best. And I was voted, “Most Likely to Succeed,” by my high school classmates. If I, who am considered successful by others, am this incompetent, how does anything good get accomplished?

I was talking to my daughter about this last Saturday evening, realizing how much God must fill in for our lack.

Then, Sunday morning, our first hymn was this:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
  the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy
  health and salvation!
    All ye who hear,
Now to His temple draw near;
Sing now in glad adoration!

Praise to the Lord, who o’er all
  things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on wings of an eagle,
  uplifteth, sustaineth.
    Hast thou not seen
How thy desires all have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully,
  wondrously, made thee!
Health hath vouchsafed and, when
  heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
    What need or grief
Ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper
  thy work and defend thee,
Who from the heavens the streams of
  His mercy doth send thee.
    Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
Who with His love doth befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that
  is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come
  now with praises before Him!
    Let the Amen
Sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

I see, therefore I believe

“I know someone in a non-heterosexual marriage relationship that is much healthier than a lot of heterosexual ones I know. So that’s why I have a problem considering non-heterosexual marriages ungodly.”

I have been told this by several friends who I consider to be strong Christians.

I could ask how they know for sure that their friend’s non-heterosexual marriage is healthier than their heterosexual friend’s marriage?

Only God knows what is done in secret and what happens in the heart.

I could also ask what they consider a healthy relationship? Are any of us healthy enough to judge that?

God reminds us that He is to be the judge in all things. Therefore, I leave it to God’s word to explain the situation.

Nowhere in the Bible does God condone non-heterosexual marriages. Every time that non-heterosexual sexual relationships are discussed in the Bible they are unconditionally condemned.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:18