Flight Paths

If you have been with me long, or in any of my classes, you know that I do my best to make my lessons practical.  Too many sermons end up short of the mark.  They are all theory, all concept, all theology, and fail to tell the listener how to apply those ideas to their lives in a concrete way.  “It’s up to the listener to apply it,” I heard one preacher say, which misses the most obvious point in the world: if that were easy to do, surely good people would have done it already.  And then there is the big stumbling block for us all:  Applying the scriptures to my life means I must examine myself for faults that need correcting, and who is eager to do that!?   

Read the prophets sometime.  They were specific in their catalog of sins. 

Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined. Amos 2:6-8.

Do you think that was specific enough?  Read Micah, Hosea, and Malachi.  They are all that way, and they were not the first.  “Thou art the man,” Nathan told David, leaving no room for doubt in David’s mind.  Concrete applications should be part of every lesson if for no other reason than to help people learn how to make those applications to themselves.

I recently sat in a hospitality “workshop” given by a wonderful sister in the Lord named Patricia Miozza, the very ideal of hospitality herself.  Yes, we studied the scriptures and talked about the sacred obligation that hospitality is and always has been.  But after that we put feet to the lesson, learning exactly how to offer warm hospitality.  We talked about excuses and how to overcome them.  We talked about the various methods of showing hospitality.  Then we even talked about making guests comfortable in our homes in an extremely practical way.  Patricia called it “The Hospitality Challenge,” and since I will be using her material, far be it from me to change the title.  Besides, it fits because for many of us it is a challenge, but one I hope you will take.

For the rest of this week I will share with you my take on Patricia’s eminently practical suggestions for us as we all do our best to practice this God-given duty.
 
Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Heb 13:1-2
 
Dene Ward

You know the story so I won’t go into much detail here.  Pharaoh had ordered the Hebrew baby boys killed and one mother had enough faith to put her infant into a lovingly woven and waterproofed basket and set it afloat in the Nile River.  Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river to bathe and found him, and his alert and very smart big sister offered to get him a Hebrew nurse—one who just happened to be his mother.
            And so Moses was raised by two mothers.  Jochebed kept him close to her those first years, probably as many as five to eight, before she weaned him.  But nursing was not all she did.  She taught him who he was, who his people were, and who his God was.  She did an amazing job.  In those few years she made him strong enough to stand against the temptations of wealth the like of which we have probably never seen.  And that wealth was not just contrasted with poverty, but with some of the most oppressive slavery imaginable. 
            After that, Moses lived in the palace with his “foster” mother for thirty years or more.  She undoubtedly lavished him with luxury and provided him with one of the best secular educations of the time.  Just look at the pyramids if you think those people were ignorant.  He became so much an Egyptian that he even looked like one (Ex 2:19).
            So here is our point today:  Which mother am I?  Do I check on their schoolwork, but never make sure their Bible lessons are done?  Do I even know if they have their lesson book and Bible with them when we leave the house Sunday morning?  Do I teach them how to make a budget and live within their means, but never teach them how to make time for prayer and Bible study?  Do I make sure they get to school but actually give them a choice about whether they go to church or not?  Do I teach them the social etiquette of what to wear at which occasion but never teach them about modesty?  Do I teach them the Bill of Rights but never talk about giving up those rights for the sake of the gospel and peoples’ souls?  Do I teach them to save for their financial security but never teach how to keep their souls secure?
            Your child knows what you think is most important.  He will take his cue from you.  Are you a Pharaoh’s daughter or a Jochebed?
 
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward. Heb 11:24-26
 
Dene Ward

  May 8 is National Coconut Cream Pie Day.  You may wonder what this has to do with a history post.  Well, in 1895, a French-owned company in what was then called Ceylon, off the southeastern tip of India, began shredding and drying coconut meat for easier shipping.  That same year in Philadelphia, a miller received a huge shipment of whole coconuts from a businessman in Cuba as partial payment for a substantial debt.  The miller began shredding and drying the coconut meat and Americans, at least in that city, finally had easy access to a tropical treat most would ordinarily never taste.  Did either of these coconut processes occur on May 8?  No one really knows the significance of May 8.  But for this post, National Coconut Cream Pie Day is our focus.
           Many years ago we were in a discussion with a group of Christians about the word “temptation” when Keith mentioned that “tempt” by its very definition means a possibility of and a desire to give in to that temptation.  No one wanted to accept that statement, probably because we all want to believe that we don’t want to sin.  We happened to know a certain brother’s dessert preferences because we had often eaten with that couple, and suddenly the solution came to me.
            “Bill cannot be tempted off his diet by a coconut cream pie,” I said.  “He cannot be tempted that way because he hates coconut.  Maybe chocolate, but not coconut.”  Click!  The light bulb went on for practically everyone.  Suddenly they understood what it meant to be tempted. 
            That understanding can lead to all sorts of discussions and get you into some deep water, but consider this one thing with me this morning.  I was “raised in the church,” as we often put it.  I had parents who taught me right from wrong in no uncertain terms.  Frankly, I have never even been tempted by most of the “moral” sins out there in the world.  I know a lot of others in the same situation.  But that doesn’t make us any better than someone who has just recently given his life to the Lord.  I am afraid that sometimes we think it does make us better.  When a young Christian tells me that older Christians look down on him when he says he still struggles with sin, I know we think so.
            Yet how does the fact that you have never struggled with a certain sin make you stronger than one who does?  In fact, since you have never struggled with it, how do you know you could win the fight at all?  There may be other temptations that cause us to fall, and not needing to fight one doesn’t mean we would be any better at fighting others.
            It only shows how weak we are when we pride ourselves on the fact that we have never been tempted in certain areas.  Ironically, that very feeling is our weakness, the thing that tempts us, and the thing in which we usually fail--pride, self-righteousness, unjust judgment, and a failure to love as we ought.
            What is your coconut cream pie?  What distaste keeps you from even being tempted in one area, and as a result, makes you fail the test of humility?  I might have to have a piece of pie while I think about it.
 
 And he spoke also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at nought: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get. But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. I say unto you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be humbled; but he that humbles himself shall be exalted, Luke 18:9-14.   
 
Dene Ward

Hindsight, rather than being 20/20 and helping us understand better, can often blind us when studying the Bible, particularly the life of Jesus.  Every time we see something Jesus did, we see it complete with the Son of God “halo” over his head and miss the effect it would have had on the people then.  What they saw was Josh, the son of Joe Carpenter, John 6:42.  (Joshua is Hebrew for Jesus.)
            Let’s try this:  Imagine five or six of the most stable, godly, faithful Christian women you know.  Go ahead, name them out loud—real people with faces you can see in your mind.  Now imagine they suddenly started following around some itinerant preacher who vilified the leading men of your congregation (Matt 23), taught things that seemed opposite of what you had heard all your life (Matt 5,6), and actually threw things and people out of the meetinghouse (John 2, Mark 11).  Not only that, but every time he needed something, these women whipped out their checkbooks and took care of it for him.  And he wasn’t even handsome (Isa 53:2).  What would you think?  Have they gone nuts?!!!    
            And it came to pass that he went about through cities and villages teaching…along with certain women who ministered to them of their substance.  Luke 8:1-3
            Susanna, Joanna, Mary Magdalene and others, probably Mary and Martha, and Aunt Salome, too, were those stable, godly, faithful women.  “They were following Jesus,” we think, “so it was perfectly normal,” and miss the sacrifices they made and the courage they had.  They were probably the topic of conversation in every home in their communities.  Can’t you just hear the women gossiping, and the men mocking their husbands?  “You mean he actually let’s her get away with that?  Just who wears the biggest robes in his family, anyway?”  They also risked being kicked out of the synagogue, which would have put an end to their social lives and maybe their economic lives as well. 
            Would I have been as brave?  Would you?  Are we that brave now, or do we find ourselves saying things like, “We need to be careful what the community thinks about us.  We don’t want to be controversial.  Why, they may think we’re fanatics!”  There are times when you just can’t worry about what other people think.
            The next time you study, remember, you are looking from only one perspective and sometimes that blinds you to things that should be obvious.  Clear your mind and appreciate what these people went through, and try to be as strong and brave as they were.
 
And who is he that will harm you if you are zealous of that which is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’s sake, blessed are you and fear not their fear, neither be troubled, but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord, being ready always to give answer to every man who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear, having a good conscience that, wherein you are spoken against they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. 1 Pet 3:13-16
 
Dene Ward
 

Now that I have what someone called an "undercut" hairstyle, when it gets close to trim time, I often find hair in my face when I need it least—like bending over to weed or cooking.  So I went out one day and bought myself some old-fashioned barrettes, the kind I had as a teen to hold back a thick mane of long, black hair.  I looked at the colors offered and picked up a card with dark brown and black barrettes, just as I always had before.  The first time I used them and glanced in the mirror I was stunned.
            "You idiot," I told myself.  "You are no longer a brunette and haven't been for over ten years now."  I should have picked up the silver barrettes.  Luckily, I seldom wear the things "out."  Most of the time I am trying to keep hair out of my face while I work.
            But that little episode reminded me yet again about the futility of looking in a mirror when you don't pay attention to what you are looking at.  James tells us that God's Word is a mirror.   For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: for he beholds himself, and goes away, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was (Jas 1:23-24).  For some reason, I leave the mirror and forget how gray I have become.  (I think everyone knows why.)  My brunette barrettes testify to that.  Far worse is to forget the character flaws I see when I look in God's mirror.
            But those barrettes can also testify to other things.  I am now in a new era of my life.  I am no longer a young mother.  I am no longer a middle-aged small business owner.  I am now the "older woman" Paul addresses in Titus chapter 2.  I am now a grandmother.  I am now a mentor.  That means new responsibilities, new work, and a different example to set.  When I keep trying to be something I am not, will I ever truly fulfill God's purpose for me as His servant?
            Those barrettes are sitting in a decorative glass bowl on my dresser.  Maybe I should take another look at them.  I have a feeling they will be a better reminder of who I am and what I need to do than my dresser mirror ever did.
 
But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continues, being not a hearer who forgets but a doer who works, this man shall be blessed in his doing (Jas 1:25).
 
Dene Ward
 

I sat on the carport today since the spring breeze is still cool, and relatively dry.  I was working on Proverbs with my trusty bodyguards lying at my feet, tails occasionally swishing sand across the concrete.  When we first moved here, thirty-six years ago now, it was the quietest place we had ever lived.  No neighbors revving up engines of various kinds, no traffic on the highway, certainly no sirens wailing in the air.  In the past two or three weeks alone, I have heard sirens three times, which is about as many times as I heard them the whole 36 years before.  People are moving here to have what we have, and in the process, destroying it.
            But that morning I was suddenly struck by how quiet it was—not exactly like all those years ago, but close.  I sat still and really listened; half a dozen different birds sounds, chirps, tweets, squawks, caws, shrieks, and crows; wings flapping in the oaks; a June bug buzzing over our heads in the sycamore,  two planes droning overhead, one a jet and the other a single-engine prop; hummingbirds humming and squeaking at the feeder; a semi roaring faintly down the highway to the west beyond the woods, hitting the speed bumps a good half mile away with a rhythmic brrrrump—brrrrump--brump, brump, brump. 
            Even the dogs seemed to realize how quiet things were, and they sat there with me, watching and listening.  Amazing things happen when you sit quietly and just listen.  A limb, evidently weakened by age and a recent wind, suddenly cracked and fell with a thump just up the driveway; a little flock of sparrows landed barely two feet off the concrete slab, hopping around on the ground as if totally unaware that a human and two dogs sat nearby; a pileated woodpecker suddenly swooped down across the drive and landed on the water oak trunk and began pecking for his lunch; a lizard crept out onto the steps and puffed out his red balloon of a throat when he suddenly realized we were there; and a black and yellow swallowtail butterfly landed on an azalea limb close enough for me to see its spots.
            I have heard that Abraham Lincoln was fond of saying, “Better to be quiet and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”  I didn’t realize that he was paraphrasing one of the proverbs:  Even a fool when he holds his peace is counted as wise; when he shuts his lips, he is esteemed as prudent, 17:28.  I suppose Lincoln’s version was a bit more colorful, but you get the point.  Amazing things can happen when you keep your mouth shut.  People may actually think you are wise!
            Someone else has also noted that when your mouth is open, your ears stop working, which is just a cute way of saying that when you are talking you can’t listen, and most of us need to do much more listening than talking.  I would guess that the majority of times we find ourselves in hot water it is because we talked when we should have been quiet.  Is there a problem in the home?  At work?  With a neighbor?  Look back in your mind and ‘listen’ to what happened.  Amazing things can happen when you listen.   You will probably see that it all began with a word NOT fitly spoken.  As James said:  Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God, 1:19,20.
            Listening is also a good way to serve others.  Don’t be so quick to give advice unless it is specifically asked for.  Don’t be so quick to take over the conversation with how you handled something similar.  Amazing things can happen when you listen.  By having a sympathetic listener, many people can figure their way out of problems on their own, and they will be so grateful for your “help.” 
            Ahem, men—she doesn’t want you to fix it, she just wants you to listen.  You will become her hero.  Truly amazing things can happen if you just listen.
            And always listen to God.  Too many times we are explaining ourselves to him instead.  Imagine that.  This is God we are talking about and we feel the need to explain something to him?  Listen instead.  Maybe the problem is we don’t want to hear what he has to say to us.  So if you do answer back, listen to that too.  You might realize your error and repent.  
            Amazing things can happen when you sit quietly and listen.
 
And Moses said, the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.  You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.  And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people, Acts 3:22,23.
 
Dene Ward

Keith mentioned a few weeks ago that Sonny James had died.  “Who?” I asked.
            “You know—‘Running Bear,’ and ‘Young Love’—the country singer.”
            Ah!  “Running Bear” I remembered.  It was on the radio nearly every day for a while when I was a young teen. 
           Sonny James was born on May 1, 1928.  Keith found an article and there it was all set out for us:  26 #1 hit singles and 16 #1 hits in a row.  He still holds the record for consecutive #1 hits by any solo recording artist throughout all musical genres.  And I couldn’t remember who he was!
            So, I got to thinking and, it being just passed, I looked up the Oscar winners.  Tell me, do you know who Warren Baxter was?  He won the 1930 Best Actor Oscar for his role in “In Old Arizona.”  I never even heard of the movie.  How about Paul Lukas?  He won in 1944.  Don’t tell me, “But that’s so long ago.”  It hasn’t even been a hundred years.  It certainly isn’t ancient history.
            How about nominees?  Let’s just sit awhile in the Best Actress category.  Ruth Chatterton?  Betty Compson? Jeanne Eagels?  They were nominated in 1928.  May Robson and Diana Wynyard?  They came along in 1932.  Martha Scott?  That was 1941, and Celia Johnson was nominated in 1945.  Okay, let’s make it easier.  How about 1966?  That was Ida Kaminska.  I still never heard of her.  Marie-Christine Barrault was nominated in 1976.  Surely you know her?  Here’s an easy one—1989.  Most of you were probably born by then.  Ever hear of Pauline Collins?  Me neither.
            I bet I could do the same thing with Emmys, Tonys, Grammys, and how about Heisman awards?  Do you see the point?  A huge percentage of these people will never be remembered by most people just a few years from now.  Acting is not that important in the grand scheme of things.  Touchdown passes, slam dunks, and home runs don’t really matter.  Why, oh why, do we lavish our praise and adoration on these people?  Why do we wear their colors and their uniform numbers, dress like they do, talk like they do, and want their signatures on hats and shirts and napkins?
            Think for a minute: who do we remember?  How about a widow who sewed for the poor in the town of Joppa?  How about a Christian couple who were chased out of Rome for being of Jewish extraction, but who kept traveling preachers in their home and even helped teach them and anyone else who came along, even at the risk of death?  How about a wealthy woman in Jerusalem who allowed the church to meet in her home in the midst of a dangerous persecution so they could pray for those in prison?  How about a disciple in Damascus who took his life into his hands to preach to one of the church’s worst persecutors?  How about yet another one who was known for his encouraging ways, who traveled and preached and took young preachers under his wing till they could grow to be mature servants of God?
            I bet you know every one of their names and can find their stories in your Bible.  These are the things that last.  These are the things that no one will forget.  These are the things that will make a difference to lives, and more than that, to eternal souls. 
            And most of these are things we can do, too.  Do you want to be remembered?  Put down the football.  Throw down the novel.  Turn off the DVD.  Pull out the earbuds.  Now go out there and do good to whomever you find, everywhere you can.  You will be remembered—by many, and especially by the One who counts.
 
​…Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ​For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also…for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.  Luke 12:33-34; 16:15.
 
Dene Ward

On March 9, 1831, King Louis-Philippe of France signed into existence the French Foreign Legion.  Many of us have seen old cartoons or black and white movies about the Legion—men in khaki with a white cap (kepi) and hanging kerchief covering the neck, especially in the desert campaigns.  They were considered "romantic adventurers" by the public.    Actually, they were all misfits:  refugees, illegal aliens, ex-convicts, down-and-out loners with nothing left to live for, and all from other countries, at least nominally.  While the majority were Swiss, German, Czech, Irish, Canadian, American, Algerian, and other nationalities, some were Frenchmen who listed themselves as Swiss or Belgian or Luxembourgers in order to gain admittance.  They got away with it because enlisting under an assumed name was required.  Their passports were confiscated to reduce desertion because Legion training was notoriously brutal, even cruel.  But gradually, over many years, the Legion became the most elite military unit in the world.
            Though it might be labeled "French," it was actually an army of mercenaries that could be hired by other countries.  It's most celebrated battle came on April 30, 1863, and not because they won.  62 legionnaires fought against several hundred Mexican soldiers in the Battle of Camerone.  At the end of the day, only five remained alive.  Even though they were offered a chance to surrender by an impressed, almost saddened, foe, they refused, and those last five died too, still fighting with sticks and anything else they could get their hands on because they had long before run out of ammunition.  That battle is still celebrated annually, a great source of pride for the Legion.
            The slogan for the French Foreign Legion is, "The Legion is our country."  That makes a lot of sense.  None of them were French, at least on paper, and many other countries were represented.  How much unity, how much loyalty to one another and the mission, would exist if all kept claiming their own separate nationality?  No, you could not be a Legionnaire unless you were loyal to the Legion and the Legion only.  This motto was repeated to the point that all would yell it out at the least provocation.  "The Legion is our country!"
            What country are you loyal to?  Paul tells us, But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 3:20).  Certainly that did not mean that his Roman citizenship meant nothing to him.  He used it often to help him as he preached, to take advantage of the rights it gave him, not for his own selfish aims, but so he could continue to spread the word and accomplish the will of God.  He was never one to claim his rights for any sort of personal agenda and, in fact, would give them up for the sake of the gospel whenever it was needed.
            In the last several years, I have begun to wonder if we truly understand where we belong and to whom.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph 2:19).  The context there is the unification of Jew and Gentile in the kingdom, a divide that came close to ruining that early institution when one group insisted that the other needed to become one of their own race or they were not welcome.  Haven't we learned the lesson yet, after 2000 years?  Or does Paul need to come teach us as he did them?  Unity, Jesus prayed in the garden, would show the world who we are.  I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ​that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17:20-21).  He was praying for us that night--"those who will believe in me through their word"—so we could understand the need for unity, for solidarity, for loyalty to the kingdom of God above all others.
            Learn it those early brothers and sisters did, and found the strength for their own Battle of Camerone in the Roman Coliseum and elsewhere through the centuries.  If we can't learn the lesson, I fear we will surrender to the enemy sooner or later instead of resisting to death.  If we won't preach the whole Truth from our pulpits out of fear, then where do we truly count our citizenship?
           The French Foreign Legion understood this, and so they instituted their slogan.  The Devil understands it too, and he will make you think your earthly country, indeed, your earthly existence, is the one that matters most.  Don't listen to him.  Heaven is our country.  The Kingdom of God is our country.  That is where our loyalty should lie, no matter what it costs.
 
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city (Heb 11:13-16).
 
Dene Ward

On a recent camping trip, we had one full day of rain.  Twenty-three hours in a tent went faster than we had expected since we had taken books to read, crossword puzzles to do, and a Boggle game.  But at supper time we needed more room and a table to cook on, so we carried our food and our propane stove under the shelter of an umbrella through the steady drizzle and down to the pavilion in that State Park to prepare our meal. 
            A nine year old girl pulled her bike into the shelter as the rain picked up.  She talked for a few minutes, and then we asked her name.
            “Grace,” she replied.
            “”Hmmm,” began Keith, “that means full of mercy and compassion.  Is that you?”
            She gave a wry grin beyond her years and said, “I don’t think so.”
            We talked awhile longer, and then she politely excused herself.  Later I thought, “How incredibly honest.”  Could I look at myself and give such an assessment without making qualifications and rationalizations?  I doubt it.  And woe to anyone who tries to do it for me.  No grace to him!
            But here is the irony—as an innocent child, this little girl Grace is a whole lot closer to the ideal of grace than I am.  Yet as a child of the God who gives grace abundantly, I must strive the harder to emulate my Heavenly Father, giving grace to all I meet just as He does for us—even though, as the very definition of the word states, we do not deserve it. 
Today let us all remember to be as generous as our Father, giving grace where none is due.
 
By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Eph 2:8
 
Above all things be fervent in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins…minister among yourselves as good stewards of the grace of God. I Pet 4:8, 10

Today's post is by guest writer, Keith Ward.

During Dene’s major eye surgeries (2005-2008), I realized she would not be able to stand much light, reading would be limited and TV boring.  I had just read an article about attracting birds, so I built a 4’ long trough between 2 boards (total width one foot) on posts just a foot from the window by her recliner.  The birds began coming: counting those passing through, we have fed over 30 different kinds of birds (she has a category of devotionals on the sidebar, “Birds & Animals”).  It is not unusual to count 20+ cardinals at once around 5pm—“the cardinal hour”.  Suddenly they are all gone!  We see a couple of doves, a catbird or two, maybe, and a cardinal in a whole day.  No titmice, no wrens, no chickadees.  This has never happened before.  Of course, with spring we get some travelers, the dozens of sparrows migrate away and “our” (generations have been hatched here) cardinals come less frequently, but never such a total absence of birds.  No, there have been no signs of predators or predation. 

But this made me think a bit, I think the Bible calls it meditation, all the beautiful things we have are evidences of God’s grace and love.  We live in a world of sin and have become so accustomed to it that we do not comprehend its ugliness.  One man did.

Jesus, holy one of God who left purity and wonder beyond imagination to walk through a cesspool for over 30 years said more about hell than all the rest of the Bible.  These are the descriptions of punishments that make us begin to understand how awful sin must appear to God (and what a sacrifice it was for Jesus to even live as a man).  They are contradictory and exorbitant because they are figures of speech to convey the inexpressible.  “Unquenchable fire,” “Outer darkness,” “their worm dieth not.” At a loss for words to convey the horror more clearly, Jesus said that it would be better to tear out your own eyeball than to go there.  God is just.  These describe the wrath of God that Jesus saved us from.  God is just and such a destiny is the fair end for those who sin.  We had best distance ourselves from sin.

But, in this life, brambles, thorns, sickness, cancer, are all the results of God’s curse on the world for Adam’s sin and “because all sinned” (Rom 5:12).  Should we consider the “exceeding sinfulness of sin” we would wonder why there are any flowers, beautiful birds, colors, music, tastes, beauties anywhere.  A sin cursed world should be bleak, ugly-only and nasty. 

But, God gives us birdsong, flowers and fragrances, sounds and tastes that delight the senses, scenery that awes the soul.  Why?  He loves us.  These are signs of his grace to reveal his character.  “And so, because we have sinned, there is ugliness, but because God is good, there is beauty and wonder.
 
If God can leave such grace and wonder in our sin cursed world, truly, “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be.” When God so loved that he gave his only begotten son, can you imagine what it must be like to be where that love is, and is forever? 
 
Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned…But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many (Rom 5:12,15).

Keith Ward