Flight Paths

It was almost amusing when it happened. 

            Many years ago at one of the congregations where Keith preached, one of the older men made it a point to say to him, “I know you are a hard worker.  But you still have children at home.  You need to make sure you spend time with them.” 

            We appreciated that.  Keith was a hard worker, spending at least 30 hours a week with the Word, just as Paul told Timothy and Titus they needed to be doing as young evangelists, plus the four hours preaching and teaching in the assembly every week, and then holding Bible studies, usually in the evenings, with interested people, or looking for more interested folks as he passed out flyers and meeting announcements, sent out and graded correspondence courses, and wrote articles in the local paper.  I often met him at the local pond loaded down with old towels and blankets, especially in the winter, for a baptism.  He seldom worked less than 60 hours a week.

            Yet not long afterward, the same man’s wife came up to him and scolded him because he had missed putting an article in the paper the week we moved from one house to another.  Everything else was done, but something had to give that week, and he preferred that one article not be written rather than his boys not have time with their father.

            I fear too many churches are more like the wife of that couple than the husband.  Especially if a man is supported mainly by other churches, the pressure is felt, even if it isn’t applied.  Then there are the men who do not even need that pressure to avoid their obligations at home, using the same excuse  Here is what Jesus had to say about that. 

            And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, "Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban"' (that is, given to God)-- then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do."  Mark 7:9-13.

            Those people got out of their financial obligations to their elderly parents by claiming their money was “given to God,” whether or not it ever actually made it to the Temple coffers! 

            “And many such things you do,” Jesus tacked on the end of that. .”  As long as you can say you are using it for God, whatever “it” is, you don’t have to give it to anyone else.  Tell me that saying your time is given to God (Corban) so it’s all right if you don’t spend enough of it with your children to teach them basic skills of life, to discuss the Word of God “when you walk and talk,” to just listen to their childish concerns and give them the fatherly wisdom they crave, or enough time to nurture your relationship with the wife whom you have come to take for granted, aren’t “such things.

            I have seen old pioneer preachers lauded for sacrificing their family lives to go off for months at a time to preach the gospel.  I am not sure the Lord would have been among their admirers.  If they were single, fine, but choosing to have a family places other obligations on you.  Isn’t that what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7?  I would rather you be like me (single) so you do not have the obligations that having a family puts on you, duties which God does expect you to fulfill.  Paul certainly didn’t say those obligations were negated by spiritual things.

            Churches need to look at their preachers’ schedules for this reason:  see if he is raising his children; see if he is spending time with his wife.  The Lord made a family with both a mother and a father present in the home.  He made the woman to be a help not a substitute father.  Jesus said, “Don’t blame what you do for God as the reason you neglect your family obligations.”  He says you make void the Word of God when you do that.  Churches, do you want to be a party, or perhaps the main cause, for a man to make void the Word of God?

            And we can also say this applies to anyone who hides behind “spiritual things” to avoid his family responsibilities—he is calling his family, “Corban.”

            We call the argument about “quality time” between working mothers and their children a “myth.”  Quality time can only happen when a quantity of time is being spent.  What applies to mothers, certainly applies to fathers too.  Jesus seems to agree.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4.  Read that without the parenthetical statement—just the underlined words.

Dene Ward

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            For the past few years wild blackberries have been rare.  The vines are there, full of their painful and aggravatingly sticky thorns, but the fruit dries up before it can fully ripen.  First the drought of the late 90’s, and then the following dry years of this regular weather cycle of wet and dry have meant that when the time is right, usually early to mid-June, there is nothing to pick. The few that might have survived are devoured quickly by the birds.

            This year Lucas found some on a nearby service road, and Keith picked enough for one cobbler for the first time in years.  Probably because it has been awhile, I think that was the best blackberry cobbler we ever had.  Maybe next year I can make jelly too.

            Blackberries are a lot of trouble.  The thorns seem like they reach out and grab you.  I have often come home with bloody hands and torn clothing—you never wear anything you might wear elsewhere when you pick blackberries.  But that is not the half of it.

            You must also spray yourself and your long-sleeved shirt prodigiously with an insect repellent, and tuck the cuffs of your long pants into your socks.  No matter how hot the weather, you must be covered.  Without these measures chiggers will find their way in and you will be revisiting your time in the woods far longer and in more unpleasant ways than you wish.  Ticks are also a problem.  Make sure you pick with someone you don’t mind checking you over after you get back home, especially your hair.  More than once I have had a tick crawl out of my mop of curls several hours later. 

            Finally, you must always carry a big stick or a pistol.  I prefer pistols because you don’t have to get quite as close to the snake to kill it.  Birds love blackberries, and snakes like birds, so they often sit coiled under the canes waiting for their meals to fly in.  Keith has killed more than one rattlesnake while picking wild blackberries.

            Because of all this, since I have Keith, I seldom pick blackberries any more—I let him do it for both of us.  Especially since I stand for hours in a hot kitchen afterward, it seems a fair division of labor.  When I am making jelly, straining that hot juice through cheesecloth to catch the plenteous seeds and ladling that hot syrupy liquid into hot jars isn’t much easier than picking them.  But wild blackberries are worth all the trouble.  Their scent is sweet and heady and their taste, especially in homemade jellies, almost exotic. The purple hands, teeth, and tongue blackberry lovers wind up with are worth it too.   If all you have ever had is commercially grown blackberries and store bought blackberry jelly, you really don’t know what they taste like.        

            Why is it that I can make myself go to all this trouble for something good to eat, and then throw away something far more valuable because “it’s not worth it?”  Why does teasing my taste buds matter more to me than saving my soul?  How many spiritual delicacies have I missed out on because it wasn’t worth the trouble? 

            Serious Bible study can be tedious, but isn’t having the Word of God coming instantly to mind when I really need it worth it?  When I have taken the time to explore deeply instead of the superficial knowledge most have, isn’t it great in the middle of a sermon or Bible class, to suddenly have another passage spring to life right before my mental eyes?  “So that’s what that means!” is a eureka moment that is nearly incomparable.  And while increased knowledge does not necessarily mean increased faith, faith without knowledge is a sham.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, Rom 10:17.  The more scripture you know, the stronger your faith because the more you know about what God has done for us, the more you appreciate it and want to show that appreciation by the service you willingly give.

            So many other things we miss out on because we don’t want to go to the trouble—cultivating an active prayer life, socializing with brothers and sisters in the faith, helping a new Christian grow, serving the community we live in simply because we care--while at the same time we go to all sorts of trouble for earthly pleasures—sitting in the hot sun on a hard bench amid crude, rowdy people to watch a ball game; searching for a parking space for hours then walking ten blocks in high heels for a favorite meal at a downtown restaurant; standing in long lines at an amusement park, while someone else’s ice cream melts on your shirt, and at the same time juggling your own handfuls of fast food, cameras, and tickets, and trying to keep up with rambunctious children.  All these things are “worth it.” Did you ever ask yourself, “Worth what?”  And how long did that pleasure, or whatever your answer is, last?

            I would never go to the same amount of trouble for rhubarb that I do for blackberries.  That doesn’t mean I don’t like rhubarb—I make a pretty good strawberry rhubarb cobbler.  But rhubarb cannot match blackberries. Spiritually, we too often settle for rhubarb instead of blackberries. You can always tell the ones who don’t “settle”—the “purple” fingers from handling the Word of God, and the “purple” teeth and tongues from taking it in on a daily basis and living a life as His servant, give them away.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life, 1 Tim 6:17-19..

 

Dene Ward

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Forget-me-nots are small unassuming plants with tiny blooms.  I read one legend in which God is busy naming the flowers and nearly finished when a small one whispers plaintively, “Forget-me-not.”  God replies, “I won’t, and that shall be your name.”  Of course that is not how it happened, but the plea for God not to “forget me” has sounded out down through the ages.

            How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever? Psalm 13:1. 

            Of course God does not forget His people.  But Zion said…the Lord has forgotten me.  Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb.  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you, Isa 49:14,15.

            Everyone knows God does not forget us, but even a nursing child, when hunger strikes, wonders why his mother is not taking care of him RIGHT THIS MINUTE!  “She must have forgotten me.”

            If we do a little research, we can understand what David meant in the psalm.  The opposite of “forget” is “remember” and both words have connotations we may not realize.

            In Gen 8:1 “God remembered” Noah and the animals, and made the rain stop.

            In Gen 19:29, “God remembered” Abraham, and spared Lot from Sodom.

            In Gen 30:22, “God remembered” Rachel, and gave her a son.

            In Ex 2:24, “God remembered” his covenant with Abraham, and sent Moses to save the people

            In 1 Sam 1:19,20, “God remembered” Hannah, and gave her a son.

            Do you see it?  Every time we are told “God remembered” He acted.  If “remembering” means to act, then “forgetting” means the opposite, no action.  David could see no deliverance.  It was not that he thought God had really removed him from His mind, it was that he could not see God coming to his aid when he needed it.

            In the midst of trials we may not be able to see the hand of God.  He often works behind the scenes.  He usually uses the hands of others to accomplish His will and those hands may be slow in acting.  His timetable may not match ours.  In fact, we may even face times when it seems He “forgot” us.  Rest assured He has not. 

            It is not for us to demand explanations from an Almighty Creator.  It is for us to follow the solution David ultimately came to in verse five:  I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.  David had not yet seen that salvation, but he trusted so implicitly it was as if it had already happened.  I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me, v 6.

            David began this psalm with fear and depression which fell on him because the trial was long and hard and he saw no relief in sight.  Eventually he sank into despondency.  He felt completely alone. Because he felt alone, he even looked to himself for advice.   How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart?  The worst counselor you can have is yourself.  If all you do is look inward, you will despair.  According to David, you must look outside yourself to find help and consolation.

            When David states his solution, “I will trust in the Lord,” he is making a choice:  “I will.”  That choice to trust God cannot be taken away from you by anyone, whether physical or spiritual Enemy. 

            When we face trials—especially long, difficult ordeals—we should remember Psalm 13.  What began with a charge of God forgetting ended with a trust in His bounty so complete it is as if it had already been accomplished, even more (“bountifully”) than was necessary.

            God did not forget the tiny flower and He does not forget us either.  It is up to us to choose His help when it is offered and how it is offered, not the way we think is best, but in the manner our Wise Creator knows is best.

Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love,  Psalm 33:18.

Dene Ward
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            In a couple of places where we have lived, a local farmer has allowed Keith to milk his cow.  The farmer furnished the cow and the feed, while Keith furnished the labor, and we split the milk.  Our cut was usually a gallon a day, which was good with two boys who drank it by the quart.  I also used the cream to make our own butter.  There is nothing quite like a Southern pound cake made with homemade butter, homemade sour cream, and eggs fresh out of the chicken that morning.  Our mashed potatoes were so creamy you might as well have troweled them onto your hips, and the homemade ice cream so rich it had flecks of butter in it.

            When a dairy cow needs milking, it needs milking, period.  Keith was away overnight once, not due back till late afternoon the next day.  All I could think about was that poor cow.  Having nursed babies, I understood her pain.  Surely I could take care of this, I thought, and help both of them.

            This cow was known to be a kicker.  She had only recently gotten used to Keith, finally allowing him to milk her while she ate feed from the trough.  I knew the drill, so I got a bucket of feed and headed for the corral.  I also knew her penchant for kicking, so I put on Keith’s jacket and hat before I left the house.  I thought I would look and smell like him and she would never know the difference.

            As I headed for the stall she saw me coming, and began a slow walk in my direction.  I made my first mistake.  Keith always called her with the same phrase every day, so I did too, lowering my voice as much as possible.  The cow stopped and looked at me across the fence railing.  For a few minutes I thought she had me, but I held up the bucket so the scent of the feed reached her on the breeze, and she started walking again.

            After that I kept my mouth shut.  I simply poured the feed into the trough and waited for her to put her head down.  Then I reached out and started milking.  Instantly her head was up again, and she looked over her shoulder at me.  I stepped back, keeping a careful eye on her hind legs, ready to jump if she looked like she was even thinking about kicking. 

            For a long moment we stood there eying one another.  Finally, she gave a snort and shake of the head.  The jig was up, as they say.  For all the world it looked like she was saying, “I really need this right now, so go ahead.  But don’t think I’m not on to you.”  She put her head back in the trough, and I began milking again.  It was a compromise.  She gave me just enough to get the pressure off her aching udder, but not enough so I would think she had not seen through my disguise.  A quart later, she stepped back from the trough, and I took both the hint and the milk into the house.  When Keith got home, she gladly let him finish the job.

            Isaiah had a lot to say about this same point.  If a cow—a dumb unreasoning animal—can know its master, why can’t we so-called intelligent human beings recognize ours?  If a donkey knows where to get its sustenance, why can’t we figure out who we must depend upon? 

            Have you ever seen a cow path?  Cows learn when it is time to head for the barn, and they take the shortest route every evening at the same time, following one another down the path, until it is beaten from their hooves and so obvious anyone could follow it.  I look around our world every day and marvel at how many smart people don’t seem to have a clue where the path is, and what’s more, brag about it.  Then I look at God’s people and cry for all the ones who claim to be His children, but act the same way.

 

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah has spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.  The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not consider, Isa 1:2,3.

Dene Ward

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On August 3, 1970, Mairiam Hargrave of Yorkshire, England passed her driving test.  So? you ask.  You passed yours too, I bet, and didn’t even consider it important enough to remember the date.  Why in the world would anyone remember someone else’s?  Because Mairiam passed her test on her fortieth try, that’s why. 

           After twenty tries she began to make the papers.  After thirty-seven she made the Guinness Book of World Records.  She kept trying and nine years after her first test, she passed.  And no, her examiner did not just take pity on her—he didn’t know anything about her previous failures until she told him, after he passed her.  This woman spent over $700 taking driving lessons.  Even though she became a laughingstock, she never gave up.

            How easily do we give up?  How many times do we have to fail before we say, “It isn’t worth it?”  If we’re talking about overcoming a sin, I hope we have the endurance of Mrs. Hargrave.  If we’re talking about praying, I hope we ask again and again.  If we’re talking about having a relationship with God, I hope persistence is our middle name.

            Remember the Syrophenician woman whose little girl was ill with a demon (Matt 15:22ff)?  The first time she approached Jesus he never even acknowledged her.  The second time he insulted her.  Yet still she kept coming and soon her great faith was rewarded.

            Remember the parable of the widow who pestered a judge to death until he finally gave her what she wanted (Luke 18:1ff)?  Just to get her off his back he relented.  Jesus’ point is if it works with an unrighteous man, surely it will work with a Holy Father. 

            Remember Paul’s admonition to the Galatians?  They seemed to be wondering if all their labor was worth it.  Paul reminded them of the law of reaping and sowing.  Sooner or later, he said, you will benefit from the good works you do.  Do not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.  Waiting for God’s timetable may well be the most difficult thing He has asked us to do, and the greatest test of our endurance.  Don’t give up.

            The church at Ephesus may have had many faults, but the Lord does say to them, I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary, Rev 2:3.  Can He say that about us?  Or have we given up, whining about the pressures of temptation, not just bent but completely broken from the trials, deciding that being a disciple of Jesus’ simply isn’t worth the bother?

            What if He had decided you weren’t worth it?  What if he had told God that the cost was too high, that you weren’t worth the trouble, the pain, the anguish of taking on a human form and dying a hideous death after the spiritual torture of taking on every person’s sin throughout all history?  What would you say to him if you knew he had been about to quit?  How hard would you have begged him not to?

            Surely you have more grit, more tenacity, and more determination for spiritual things than a 62 year old grandmother had for a driver’s license.  Surely you won’t give up now.

      

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted, Hebrews 12:3.

Dene Ward

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One of the benefits of becoming a birdwatcher is learning their songs.  It’s been eight years now, and every year I learn another call or sometimes unlearn one I thought I knew.  For the longest time I thought I was hearing a cardinal, when it was really a wren, but now I know them instantly. 

            I also know now that the same bird produces more than one call.  A cardinal will peep, one high light note at a time, or he will purty, purty, purty, or what, what, what, what, or even cheer, cheer, cheer, cheer, cheer.  It all depends upon whether he is courting a female, defending his territory from other males, warning other birds of interlopers, or just contentedly enjoying his meal.  But whichever call he uses, now I know it.

            Some bird songs are deceptive.  A mourning dove sounds almost like some kind of soft-spoken owl.  A blue jay’s whistle might sound a bit like a cuckoo to someone who is used to listening to cuckoo clocks.  And did you know that the movies often use a hawk’s call when an eagle is pictured because it sounds much more regal for our national bird than the squawk an eagle usually produces.  And so you have to be educated to these sounds to know them, to distinguish one from the other. 

            The same is true of the Bible.  The things I see people falling for astonish me.  How could they possibly believe such craziness?  How?  Because they have never educated themselves in the scriptures.  If you know the general teaching of the Bible, the general layout of the plot (yes, there is one), more than that, if you know the God and the Christ presented in those Scriptures, you won’t fall for the false teachings out there.  You may not know exactly what is wrong, but your mind will instantly say, “Wait a minute.  Something doesn’t sound right.”

            You can only do that by paying attention to everything Jesus says, not just the parts you like.  Too many of us don’t want a Savior who demands that we follow him only, that we give up ourselves, our likes and dislikes, our loyalties and loves, and who makes statements like, “Sin no more,” and “You are of your father the devil.”  We want the loving Jesus who forgives sins and holds the little children in his lap.  To truly accept Jesus is to accept all of his words and ways, not just the parts we like.  “The sheep follow the shepherd,” Jesus says, “because they know his voice” John 10:3.  Even the stern, disciplinary voice.

            Jesus is our Good Shepherd.  We must learn all of his words in order to truly know him and not be deceived.  All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen, John 10:8.  I’m afraid too many of us would listen, and become lost sheep in the process.

            Do you know his voice?  If you don’t know the whole of Jesus, you don’t.  If all you have are your favorite sayings and favorite anecdotes, you are in danger of being led astray.  If I can learn a couple dozen bird calls in such a short amount of time, surely you can learn the call of a Savior who wants you to know him in even less. 

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32

Dene Ward

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            I have started a new study habit, something Keith came up with when he first started preaching full time.  He had seen too many of his young preaching brothers be led off the deep end by spending more time in commentaries than in the Word.  Every day he read one hour in the Old Testament and one hour in the New.  On Sunday mornings he rose early enough to read through the Timothys and Titus—Paul’s instructions to young evangelists—before stepping into the pulpit to speak as the oracle of God.  All this in addition to his regular studies for classes, sermons, and in-home Bible studies with members and non-members alike.  All in all he spent nearly forty hours a week with the Word of God, then he got on with what congregations think is a preacher’s job.

            He had another habit as well, and this is the one I am trying to develop.  The book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, a very handy number when you think about it.  Seven months of the year have 31 days, and all but one of the others have 30.  Whatever day of the month it is, that is the chapter in Proverbs I read.  I will get through the entire book seven times in a year, and most of it 12 times.  In shorter months I could double up on those ending chapters, but honestly, after a couple dozen proverbs my brain is like an old wet sponge—it gets saturated much too easily.  The second chapter’s worth just seeps out into a stagnant pool around me.  Besides I have studied chapter 31 in depth so many times, reading it every other month or so is enough to renew my interest.

            Speaking of proverbs, you probably grew up hearing the old saws like I did, and despite the fact that you rolled your eyes at them like most young people did, you have found yourself repeating them—they are true after all.  When I was a child someone came up with the fun notion to rephrase them using ten dollar words, leaving everyone to guess the original adage.  The only one I can remember is “Never calculate the juvenile poultry before the proper process of incubation has fully materialized.”  It’s easy enough now, but it took a few minutes for a ten year old to come up with the solution.  I don’t know why someone did this, but for a few minutes, people were once again pondering those wise sayings, and I know that I learned more of them than I would have otherwise.

            I have always been amazed by people who can come up with quotes to suit any situation—Shakespeare, poetry, the works of the great philosophers.  It would be so much more beneficial to quote the words of God.

            Tomorrow is the first day of a thirty-one day month, so why not start this habit with me?  I read through the chapter slowly twice, once in my good old 1901 ASV, then in the NIV.  I make note of 1 or 2 proverbs that really strike me at the time.  You see, reading is not enough.  You have to go through “the proper process of incubation” for the effects of your study to “fully materialize.”  You may find some of these materializations in future articles.

            Come on.  This will be easy.  Even if you backslide you can pick it up and start again at any time, even in the middle of the book since there is no plot to worry about.  And as long as you have a calendar you won’t even need a bookmark.

The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel:  to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding; to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, in justice, and in equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion; that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; and that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels; to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their dark sayings, Prov 1:1-6.

Dene Ward

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Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

It is such a simple problem—if faith comes by hearing, why doesn’t everyone believe?  Paul clearly states that not all obeyed the “glad tidings,” which matches our experience (Rom 10:16-17).  In fact, few believe.

 Shall we blame God?  Perhaps the problem is that most never have an opportunity to hear the word?  That seems to match the reality of billions of people and relatively few Christians of any shade, much less those preaching the whole gospel.  But, Paul declares, “Their sound went out into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world” (10:18).  When we note that God manifested himself clearly in the things that are made, “his everlasting power and divinity,” the reality is that the gospel is available to any with open ears (Rom 1:18-20).   Most of us can relate stories that are ridiculously unbelievable concerning an honest seeker finding the gospel over insurmountable odds—how about the Ethiopian Eunuch?  The Philippian Jailor?  God’s word is available.

 Well, then, if the word is God’s power and it is available to all, why do the majority fail to have faith?  Paul is especially concerned that the majority of the chosen people, his people the Jews, had not found faith in Christ.  He points out that they had been warned that this would come to pass.  Israel would be provoked by other nations finding God and God declaring himself to them while Israel was left behind. (10:19-20).  This failure to believe is an open refusal to face facts, and the reason most never come to faith.  And Israel’s failure is often reflected in the churches of Christ where people will not hear the reading of scripture that does not match “the way we have always done it.”  As Daddy used to say, “It goes in one ear and out the other.”  Whether it be that the work of the preacher is not visiting the sick, or that the Lord’s Supper is to be a fellowship and communion with others not with oneself alone in his thoughts, or that the church was not given a name or any number of other ideas, THE people do not hear, but those without prior understanding—usually new converts--have open hearts.

 Paul identifies the problem as the same one Jesus described in the parable of the soils.  There was no problem with the seed.  There was no problem in the manner of sowing.  The problem was the hearts into which it fell, or, “all the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and contrary people.”(10:21).  People do not hear because they do not want to be accountable to do what the gospel says and thus they turn away or never expose themselves to truth that might inconvenience their choices. Others have that contrary attitude that seeks exceptions and excuses and problems, and never yields to the things that are heard.

 So, indeed, Faith does come to ALL who hear the word.  The disappointment is that so few, in or out of the church, will hear.

 Keith Ward

            I had just checked the day before.  How could this be?  The herbed rice pilaf was simmering on the stove, and I had run out to the herb garden to cut some parsley to add just before serving.  Five healthy Italian flat leaf parsley plants were stripped bare.  I leaned to look closer and there they were--four black and green striped parsley worms.  They may well have been there the day before, hidden by the bushy leaves, and their green color, the same shade as the parsley stems, but to me it was as if they had eaten them all overnight.

            Luckily, the butter, onions, garlic, chicken broth, thyme and toasted almonds gave the pilaf a little flavor at least, and the rest of the meal turned out fine.  Enough sauce covered the cider-braised pork chops so that anyone desiring to could spoon it over the rice as well.  But it was still missing those pretty flecks of green and the freshness that a good-sized handful of fresh parsley added at the last minute brings.  If only I had looked a little closer the day before, even I might have seen those little stinkers. 

            It can happen to us as easily as to parsley plants.  False teachers are charming, logical, and usually attractive people.  They will appeal to your sense of justice, common sense, compassion, ego, even your pocketbook, whatever it takes to get your attention and draw you in.  Many of them sincerely believe what they teach, having been previously deceived by yet another false teacher.  Those are especially difficult to ignore—what seems like an honest and sincere person cannot be the evil wolf Jesus warns us about, can he?  And no marvel; for even Satan fashions himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness… 2 Cor 11:14,15.

            So whose fault is it if we are taken in by these people?  God makes it clear in both the Old and New Testaments that we are responsible for our own souls. 

            A wonderful and a horrible thing has come to pass in the land.  The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so…Jer 5:30,31. 

            For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Jehovah, that say to the Seers, see not, and to the Prophets, prophesy not right things, but speak to us smooth things…Isa 30:9,10.

            For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts, and will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside unto fables, 2 Tim 4:3,4.

            Scary, isn’t it?  Don’t think it cannot happen to you and, like my parsley plants, happen quickly.  Before the apostles were dead, the first “-ism” was already upon the church.  They were fighting the Judaizing brethren, the Gnostics, the Nicolaitans, and others we probably will never know about. 

            I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ, Paul told the Galatians in 1:6,7, not twenty years after founding the churches in that area.  How about us two thousand years removed?  If there was ever a time for vigilance, for going back to the basics, for attempting to restore the New Testament church as God intended it to be, it is now.  So many have strayed so far.

            When your elders and preachers seem harsh and intolerant toward a teacher or group, or even toward you, give them a break.  Your souls are in their hands.  They are seeing things that you, caught up in your emotions and prejudices, might not.  Like parents protecting a child from the predators out there in the world, they can see the danger.  Instead of adolescently complaining, “You’re mean.  You don’t understand,” pay attention.  Ultimately, if you choose not to listen to them, the parsley worms will eat up your souls, leaving nothing but useless stems, and God will hold you accountable.

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will recognize them by their fruits...Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world, Matt 7:15,16; 1 John 4:1.

Dene Ward

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            My grandsons love playing in the park.  Their city yard is postage stamp small without room for two active boys to run around much, so they enjoy a place with swings, slides, jungle gyms and seesaws. 

            Seesaws may be fun at the playground, but they are not God’s idea of ideal service.  Yes, we may falter once in awhile.  Many passages speak of faith in flux, but as we mature in that faith, the flux should become smaller and smaller.  David speaks of the opposite of a seesaw faith, even when he is running for his life in Psalm 57:7.  “My heart is steadfast, O God,” or, in several other versions, “My heart is fixed.”  In a time of fear when others would have wavered, David is able to keep his faith in God steady. 

            So the question is, how do we avoid the seesaws in life?  First, let’s make it clear—you can’t avoid the park altogether.  I hear people talking about life as if it is always supposed to be fun, always easy, and always good, and something is wrong when anything bad happens.  Nonsense.  We live on an earth that has been cursed because of man’s sin.  When God curses something, he does a bang-up job of it.  To think we would still be living in something resembling Eden is ridiculous. 

            We are all dying from the moment we are born.  Some of us just manage to hang on longer than others.  Some of us catch diseases because they are out there due to sin and Satan.  Some of us are injured.  Some of us have disabilities.  Some of us are never able to lead a normal life.  It has nothing to do with God being mean, or not loving us, or not paying attention to us one way or the other, and everything to do with being alive.  Everyone receives bad news once in awhile—it isn’t out of the ordinary.  Everyone experiences moments of fear and doubt.  We all go through trials.  But just because you are in the park, doesn’t mean you have to get on the seesaw.

            We must have a steadfast faith no matter what happens to us.  “The Lord is faithful; He will establish you…” 2 Thes 3:3.  Our hearts can be “established by grace,” Heb 13:9.  But those things are nebulous, nothing we can really lay our hands on in our daily struggles.  Am I supposed to just think real hard about God and grace and somehow get stronger?  Yes, it will help, but God knows we are tethered to this life through tangible things and He gives us plenty of that sort of help as well, help we sometimes do not want to recognize because of the responsibility it places upon us to act. 

            We must be willing to be guided to that steadfastness by faithful leaders, 2 Thes 3:3-5.  We must be willing to obey God’s law, James 1:22-24, and live a life of righteousness, Psa 112:6, before steadfastness makes an appearance.  We must become a part of God’s people and associate with them as much as possible, Heb 10:19-25.  We must study the lives of those who have gone before and imitate their steadfastness, laying aside sin if we hope to endure as they did, Heb 12:1-2.  Every one of those things will keep us off the seesaw.

            To change one’s life and become part of God’s people, the church—for some reason those are the very things the world will laugh to scorn.  It preaches a Jesus who “loves me as I am” without demanding any change, and divides His body from His being, labeling it a manmade placeholder for the true kingdom to come.  “I can have a relationship with God without having a relationship with anyone else,” we say, and promptly climb aboard the seesaw, Satan laughing gleefully at us from the other end.  Guess what?  That’s who we are having a relationship with.

            Get off the seesaw now before he has you sitting so high up on it, your legs dangling beneath you, that you are unable to reach the grounding your faith needs.  You may still have moments of weakness and doubt, but those things will grow less and less if you make use of the help God has given you.  You can have a steadfast faith, even if it finds you hiding in a cave from your enemies.  “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast…For your steadfast love is great to the heavens; your faithfulness to the clouds.”

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58.

Dene Ward

(For hints, help, and instructions on using this blog, click on the FAQ/Tutorial page on the left sidebar)