Flight Paths

A long time ago, I invited a newcomer to our women’s Bible study and was shocked when she adamantly refused to come.  “I know what happens in those so-called classes,” she said.  “They gossip and try to run the church.”  I assured her that such was not the case in our class, but she soon left our congregation without ever giving us the opportunity to prove it. 
            That comment upset a lot of the women in that place, but you know, she had probably seen a class that did do those things.  I have heard of classes like that from others.  I have also visited in places where the cotton candy fluff being touted as serious Bible study was enough to turn me off as well.  Then I recently sat in a gathering of women where we were told that we probably had more interest in the teacher’s choice of makeup brand than in her qualifications to teach us.  Shame on us if that is true, and double shame for perpetuating it.
            Some shallow-minded women probably do sit on the pews in every meetinghouse—right beside men who spend more time talking sports, cars, and tools than they do Bible.  Trivial pursuit has nothing to do with gender; it is just that each gender considers the others’ more trivial than theirs.           Why we think that women are incapable of deep study and deep thought is a mystery.  I can bear witness to more deep discussions on a Tuesday morning than I have ever heard on Sundays or Wednesdays in a class dominated by male conversation.  It may be true that women are the practical ones who get things done, but that does not mean they cannot think!
            There have always been Marys, willing to sit at the Lord’s feet.  But just because Martha was busy serving—especially in John 12 where she was not chided by the Lord—does not mean she was not listening.  If women couldn’t cook supper and hear what was going on across the room at the same time, the family would fall apart.  At the death of her brother, Martha met Jesus with exactly the same words her sister did, Lord if you had been here, he would not have died, but she went on to add, and even now I  know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you, 11:21,22.  She then discussed the final resurrection with him.  Don’t tell me this woman was shallow because she knew how to cook.
            When Paul says to Timothy, From a babe you have known the sacred scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation through Jesus Christ, 2 Tim 3:15, it wasn’t his Greek father who taught him that.  It was his mother and grandmother, and they taught him about Christ from the Old Testament in such a way that all of them could recognize him when he came along, something most of the scribes, priests, rabbis, and Pharisees, learned men that they were, could not do.
            In every place I have been, I have found a group of women who will spend hours studying the scriptures, who will dig deeply into subjects that confound even the great Biblical scholars.  They not only do it, they eat it up.  Once or twice, the growth of the women has finally inspired their men to study more, just so they wouldn’t be embarrassed.
            Today, ladies, I challenge you to study—to dig deeply into subjects you may have never even heard of.  Open your minds to ideas that may seem new and show God that you do care about Him and what He says, and not just the daily running of your homes.  If people think we cannot handle the depth, it is up to us to show them otherwise.  Don’t just get angry at the stereotypes, prove them false.
 
And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.  And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38.   

Dene Ward

We were driving down the country highway to Bible study.  It became apparent when we crossed the county line that the mowers had been sent out to cut the grass on the right of way.  I suddenly thought of the increasing gas prices and asked Keith, “Is there a valid reason to mow the side of the road these days?”
            Turns out there is.  “It increases visibility for the ones pulling out of the driveways and lanes.”  Fewer accidents is certainly cost effective, not to mention the value of saved lives.  It also helps the ones already on the road to see the deer or the raccoons or the possums or the stray dogs standing at the side so they can be aware and slow down.  I never would have thought of that if I hadn’t asked.
            God obviously intended that we should ask why.  Remember those piles of stones taken from the bottom of the Jordan River? When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them… Josh 4:6.
            I have been places where anyone who asked why was treated like either a troublemaker or a heretic.  It isn’t unscriptural to ask why.  In fact, the unscriptural thing is not to explain why.  God meant us to tell each generation why we do what we do.  He meant us to carefully explain his authority, his plan, and his promises.  Maybe some are trying to make trouble, but the remedy is the same as for those who are sincere—tell them why! 
            Do we want our children to carry on the plan of God in the next generation?  Do we want them to have the same hope that we do?  They cannot get to Heaven on our coattails.  They must have their own faith, a faith that comes by hearing the word of God, just as ours did.  Or did it?  Are we also carrying on practices we cannot prove are correct, only because that is what we’ve always done?  Have we mistaken traditions for laws, binding the commandments of men on others just as those we so often condemn?  If we don’t know the answers to why, we might be open to the same criticism.
            I have heard people ruin the opportunity when an interested soul asks why.  If a friend or neighbor asks why we do things that way in “our church,” we often jump on that phrase and explain, scoldingly, that the church belongs to Christ, and the poor questioner never does get an answer to his question.  Instead he feels attacked and never asks again. 
            More than once Keith has been addressed as “pastor” when a similar question was asked.  Imagine if he had simply spent the time pontificating about the correct Biblical meaning of “pastor” instead of answering the question.
            God always expected people to ask why. Check out these passages:  Ex 12:26; 13:14; Deut 6:20,21; Psa 78:3,4; Isa 38:19.  Even today he expects us to be able to answer the question, “Why?”  But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear, 1Pe 3:15.
            Perhaps you should begin with this question:  Can I do that?  Can I give the “why” for my hope?  Peter gives you the answer if you just keep reading.  Let that be your project for the day.
 
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Col 4:5-6.         
 
Dene Ward

No work of art is more important than the Christian’s own life, and every Christian is called upon to be an artist in this sense. He may have no gift of writing, no gift of composing or singing, but each man has the gift of creativity in terms of the way he lives his life. In this sense, the Christian’s life is to be an art work. The Christian’s life is to be a thing of truth and also a thing of beauty in the midst of a lost and despairing world.

Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible, InterVarsity Press, 94.

Peter still didn’t get it.
            "Lord, do you wash my feet?"
            Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."
            Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet."
            Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me."
            Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" (John 13:6-9)
            Typical Peter, we always say, always overdoing it.  No, he didn’t overdo it.  He didn’t go far enough, in fact.  None of them did.  Not a one of them said, “No, Lord.  We ought to be washing YOUR feet.”          
            It wasn’t that difficult a concept.  Two women had already figured it out, one identified as “a sinful woman” in Luke 7, and then Mary, Lazarus’s sister, in John 12. 
            One of those apostles should have said, “Why didn’t we think of that?” but none of them did, not even the three from that inner circle.  If ever they failed to show their understanding of who Jesus really was, it was that night in the upper room.  In fact, instead of serving him as Mary did a few days earlier, they all, not just Judas, resented the fact that so much was spent on that very gesture (Matt 26:8).
            But just a few weeks later—“afterward,” as Jesus had said--they did get it.  All of them, even that apostle born out of season, figured out what service and humility meant.  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake, 2 Cor 4:5.  Paul and all the others except John were ultimately martyred in their service to the Lord, along the way serving others at huge costs.  They washed their Lord’s feet, not with water, but with their own blood.
            Do we get it?  Do we understand humility, or is saving face more important?  Can we give it all up for Christ, or do our opinions and think-sos matter more than the body for which he died?  Can we subject ourselves, our preferences, our goods, even our lifestyles to others for their souls’ sakes, 1 Cor 9:20-22? 
            I once spoke about subjection at a women’s meeting.  As I was giving an illustration one of the women spoke out loud for all to hear, “That’s where I draw the line.”  No, we were not discussing Acts 5:29 where such a statement would have been appropriate.  We were just talking about sacrificing for others.  Yet she wasn’t even embarrassed to say such a thing.  She obviously didn’t get it.   If she had been next to Peter that horrible night, she would have been happy to sit back and let the Lord wait on her, as long as the water wasn’t too hot and the towel was nice and soft.
            Consider this thought for a moment: what would I have done that night?  Would I have gone at least as far as Peter and the rest, and let the Lord wash my feet, learning the whole lesson eventually?  Or would I have already been there with my pan in hand, as those two other women had been, ready to wait on him and his disciples, anxious to show my devotion to my Lord and Master? 
            Now take it a step farther:  what am I willing to do today?  Am I willing to wash feet, not just with time, effort, and money, but with my own blood?  If we would draw a line anywhere, Satan will make sure we come face to face with that line sometime in our lives.
 
Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Luke 7:44-48.
 
Dene Ward
 

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

Josh. 24:15  ". . . choose you this day whom ye will serve . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah."
            We usually see this verse as a great statement of faith and devotion by Joshua, which it is, but I wonder if we miss the full implications of his statement.  Joshua doesn't say, "I will follow Jehovah," he says, "me and my house".  This declaration isn't just a wonder of personal faith, it is an example of family leadership. 
            Guys, we need to step up as husbands and fathers (writes the single, childless man).  Clearly, God has given us leadership in the family (Eph. 5:23 
"For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church" and 6:4  "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord") and if Joshua's example is an approved one, then the responsibility is ours to ensure that not only we, but our families are serving the Lord. 
            This demands thought and purposeful action in every aspect of our family lives.  From carefully choosing our spouse for her spiritual beauty more than her physical looks, to being the spiritual leader she needs.  Eve was created to help Adam, which necessarily implies that Adam was the prime mover.  Our role is leadership, most importantly in things spiritual.  Surely part of nourishing and cherishing her (Eph. 5:29) is leading her toward heaven.  And so husbands and wives ought to be praying together, reading and discussing scripture together and deciding together how best to serve the Lord with their resources in their daily lives, with the husband being the initiator and driving force.
            It is also the fathers' job to nurture the children in the "chastening and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4).  While the wives are to run the household (1 Tim. 5:14), ultimate responsibility falls on the father.  This takes thoughtful, planned action, as well as relentless repetition. Deut. 11:18-21  “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,  that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth."
           Moses tells fathers that raising children in the Lord is an all day, every day task.  They were to inculcate their kids with God's Word while accomplishing all the tasks of the day.  Moses' statement shines light on Solomon's proverb:  "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6).  That training is more than just making sure they attend Sunday School. 
            Joshua's statement also implies some tough love.  "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" but what if, despite the best training or because of failures long since repented of, a family member decides not to serve the Lord?  Joshua said his house would serve.  If one didn't, I am under the strong impression that they would no longer be in Joshua's house.  While we need to approach such situations with love and compassion, there comes a time to "deliver [them] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that [their] spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." (1 Cor. 5:5).  'My house, God's rules' should be the mantra of every Christian father in the unfortunate event of such a challenge. 
            Men, God gave us a big job to do, which is why He created such wonderful ladies to help us complete it. 
 
Lucas Ward

One of the prettiest views of our property in North Florida is coming down the shady lane late in the afternoon as the western sun sets behind the tall pines.  The live oaks spread their arms over the house and carport and most of the yard, dripping with Spanish moss and providing an even deeper shade over the lush green grass.  It isn’t fancy by any means.  It isn’t the grandeur of mountains and valleys that dwarf the human spirit.  It isn’t the sculptured and manicured lawn of a great mansion.  But it’s homey and comfortable and inviting.
            All that moss is part of the charm.  We’ve had people try to tell us to remove it.  “It’s a parasite,” they tell us, a common misconception.  Actually, it’s a bromeliad, related to the pineapple.  According to the Sarasota County Forestry Division, Spanish moss, the beard of ancient live oaks, does not jeopardize the trees.  It does not steal nutrients.  It is an air plant that prefers to perch on horizontal limbs like those of live oaks, which provide more access to sunlight and water than vertical limbs.  It processes its food from the rainwater that runs off the leaves and limbs of the trees.  Nothing is stolen from the tree.  Just look around.  Moss even hangs from power lines and fences, and it seems to prefer dead trees to live ones.  So much for the myth that it’s a parasite.
            However, the moss can become so thick that it shades the leaves of the trees from the sunshine, the thing necessary for photosynthesis.  During the rainy season, thick moss can become so heavy that it breaks branches. 
            I think Spanish moss must be a little like worry.  Let’s dismiss the notion that any worry at all is a sin.  Paul talks about “the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches,” 2 Cor 11:28.  He may not use the word “worry,” but that is exactly what he is talking about—anxiety, care, concern, the “daily pressure.”  Sometimes that emotion is legitimate and we become petty when we start forbidding certain words while accepting the feelings as long as we call it something else.
            Yet worldly care and worry can rob us of our spirituality and our usefulness to God.  It can make us “unfruitful,” Mark 4:19.  It can “entangle” us in worldly pursuits, 2 Tim 2:4.  It can tell tales about our hearts with misplaced priorities, Luke 12:22,23, doubt, Luke 12:29, and lack of faith, Matt 6:30.  All of that can choke the word right out of us and when trials come, instead of trusting a God who loves us and provides our needs, we may break from the stress.
            If you have trouble with worry, camp awhile in Matthew 6.  Don’t you understand, Jesus asks, that life is more than food and clothing, v 25?  Don’t you know that God loves you even more than he loves the birds and the flowers, vv 26,30?  Are you so arrogant that you think your worry will fix anything, v 27?  Don’t you have more faith than the heathens, vv 30,32?  Jesus always has a way of laying it on the line, doesn’t he?
            While there may be legitimate concerns, things we pray about even in agony as Jesus did in Gethsemane, and there may be good things that occupy our minds, like our care for the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church and the spiritual progress of our children, don’t let the trivial things, the things of this life that you can’t do anything about anyway, become such a heavy burden that you break under its weight.  Rid yourself of the moss that robs you of the Light.  “Let not your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said, John 14:27.  He came to bring us peace instead.
 
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27
 
Dene Ward

My family loves gravy.  I would never think of serving bare rice or naked mashed potatoes.  There must always be gravy. 
            On the other hand, sometimes you cannot have gravy.  When you grill a steak, there is no gravy.  When you smoke a chicken quarter, there is no gravy, and if somehow you did catch the drippings, you wouldn’t want them.  Believe me, I tried it once.  Smoked drippings simply taste bitter.  Oh, you can always fake it with butter, flour, and canned broth, but any gravy connoisseur will know the difference.  You only get really good gravy with fresh meat drippings, flour sizzled in the pan, and some kind of liquid.
            Yet, if your life depended upon it, you would choose the meat over the gravy any time.  You would know that the only real nutritional value, the only real protein, is in the meat and not the gravy.  If you tried to live on nothing but gravy alone, you would soon starve.  You might be round as a beach ball, but you would still starve.
            Too many times we give up the meat for the gravy.  We give up marriages and families for the sake of career and money.  We give up a spiritual family that will help us no matter what for fair weather friends who won’t.  We even give up our souls for the sake of good times, status, and convenience.
            Then there are the times when it seems like life makes no gravy.  So we give up God because he dared to allow something less than ease, comfort, and fun into our lives.  Can’t have the gravy too?  Then I don’t want you, Lord.  You’re going to give up a grilled rib eye because it doesn’t come with gravy?  Really?
            I doubt we realize exactly what we are doing.  The problem is that we have things reversed.  We think this life is the meat, and the next is just the gravy.  That is what we are saying when we give up on God because things didn’t turn out so well here.  Justin Martyr, a philosopher who was converted to Christianity in the early half of the second century wrote, “Since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men put us to death.  Death is a debt we must all pay anyway” First Apology, chapter 11. 
            Can we say that, or are we too addicted to our pleasure loving, wealthy culture?  The first Christians converted with the knowledge that they would probably lose everything they owned and die within a matter of weeks, if not days.  And us?  We are out there looking for the gravy and blaming God for his scanty menu.
            The fact is we do have some gravy promised in this life.  We just look for it in the wrong places.  Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" Jesus said to them …everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Matt 19:27,29.  Are you still looking to the world for your gravy?  Jesus plainly says the place to look is in your spiritual family.  When it works as he intended--even if it only comes close—it is far better than anything the world will ever offer you.
            So remember where to find your spiritual sustenance.  Remember where to go when times are rough and you need a hand.  And even those things are not the meat.  The meat is eternal life with a Creator who loved you enough to die in your place.
            Everything else is just gravy.
 
…train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come, 1 Tim 4:7,8.
 
Dene Ward

In high school American history class we learned that Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense.  We learned that it was a 47 page document, written in plain language that all could understand, questioning the authority of the British monarchy over the thirteen colonies.  It was the first open request for independence.  It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776.
            Probably because of the understandable language, it was openly read in meeting halls and taverns and, proportionate to the population at that time, has the largest sale and circulation of any book in American history.  It approached the idea of American independence in a way it had never been before, and was indeed, Common Sense.  It is still in print today.  Oh, if we could only get God's people to operate on common sense nowadays.  Just a couple of "for instances:"
          We seldom buy a newspaper any more, though sometimes we might pick up a Sunday paper for the coupons.  The business page one recent week sounded like something you might read in a church bulletin—or at least hear from the pulpit or a Bible class lectern.   Notice:
            “A start [to reduce our stress] is to mitigate the desire to acquire.  Folks with a high net worth are frequently coupon clippers and sale shoppers who resist the urge to splurge…Many times the difference between true wealth and ‘advertised’ wealth is that those with true wealth are smart enough not to succumb to the lure of what it can buy.”  Margaret McDowell, “Lieutenant Dan, George Bailey, and Picasso,” Gainesville Sun, 12-14-14.
            When I turned the page I found this:  “Dress appropriately [for the office party].  Ladies…Lots of skin and lots of leg is inappropriate…Keep it classy.” Eva Del Rio, “Company Holiday Party Do’s and Don’ts for Millennials,” Gainesville Sun, 12/14/14.
            Jesus once told a parable we call “The Unrighteous Steward.”  In it, he took the actions of a devious man and applauded his wisdom.  He ended it with this statement:  For the sons of this world are for their generation, wiser than the sons of the light, Luke 16:8.  Jesus never meant that the man’s actions were approved.  What he meant was he wished his followers had as much common sense as people who don’t even care about spiritual things.
            We still fall for Satan’s traps in our finances, believing that just a little more money will solve all of our problems.  We still listen to him when he says that our dress is our business and no one else’s.  It isn’t just short-sighted to think that accumulating things will make us happy—even experts in that field will tell you it’s not “smart.”  It isn’t just a daring statement of individuality to wear provocative clothing, it’s cheap and “classless.”
            If we used our brains a little more, there would be less arguing about what is right and what is wrong.  We could figure it out with a lot of soul-searching and a little common sense. 
            Why is it that I regularly overspend?  Because I am looking for love and acceptance from the world?  Because I trust a portfolio in the hand instead of a God in the burning bush?  Because I have absolutely no self-control? 
            Why do I insist on wearing clothing that is the opposite of good taste and decorum?  Because I do not care about my brothers’ souls?  Because I do care about the wrong people’s opinions?  Because I am loud and brash and think meekness is a sign of weakness instead of strength?  Or maybe it isn’t any of these bad motives—maybe it’s just a lack of wisdom.  Is there any wonder that the book of Proverbs is included for us, and that so many times it labels people with no wisdom “fools?”
            Not just wealth and dress, but practically everything we struggle with could be overcome by being as wise as at least some of the “children of this world.”  Isn’t it sad that they so often outdo us in good old common sense?
 
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, Eph 5:15-17.
 
Dene Ward

My grandson came by for a quick visit recently.  I spent a couple of hours preparing the house, putting up the things that might hurt him and the things that could get him into trouble.  Then I put out the old toys his daddy used to play with, the “new” ones I had picked up at a thrift store, the crayons, a small plastic chair I had bought for him, as well as my old rocking chair, the one I sat in until I outgrew it.
            You are never really sure what a two year old will find interesting.  Their likes and dislikes change with every mood.  I picked up blueberries and chicken nuggets, two of his favorite things, at least the last time I was with him.  That doesn’t mean he will like them this time.  At least I know that about toddlers.  It would have been more helpful to have been able to remember well my own preschool days.  Then I might have stood a better chance of pleasing him.  All of that is entirely normal. 
            In fact, that is normal in every case.  If you could climb into the mind of the person you are trying to relate to, wouldn’t it be much easier to understand them and get along?  A long time ago, Job said the same thing about man and God.  There was no one who could “lay his hand on both” God and man, 9:33. 
            Which is precisely why the Word “became flesh and dwelt among us,” John 1:14.  The Hebrew writer says, “He had to be made like his brothers in every respect” so that he could become our high priest, our intercessor, the one who stands between us and God, laying his hand on both because he understands both worlds, 2:17.  Paul makes it plain in 1 Tim 2:5 that Jesus is the only one of the Godhead who fulfills that requirement--There is one mediator between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus.
            So now we cannot say, “No one understands.”  Jesus went through a lot of pain and sorrow and injustice and indignity just so he could understand.  Any time we excuse ourselves with something like, “Well of course he could overcome sin, he was the Son of God!” we are demeaning the sacrifice he made for us, and the things he bore on our behalf so he could be “the missing link” between our Father and his children.  We are saying that he doesn’t, and can never understand what it is like to be human.
            The Son of God is also the Son of Man.  He knows how we think, he knows how we feel, and he knows what we can and cannot endure.  He sits at the right hand of God even now, making intercession for us, Rom 8:34, because he searches our hearts and knows what is in them (v 27 with Rev 2:23).
            I may make a mistake about what will pique the interest of my two year old grandson.  Christ will never make the same mistake about us.
 
This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them, Heb 7:22-25.

Dene Ward
 

When we bought our paint, it might have been the first time I realized that every can of paint in the store was white.  No matter what color you want, it starts out white.  Then the man at the counter will look up something or other on his computer screen, open the can and squeeze a set number of color squirts into the can.  (Don't you love my technical vocabulary?)  After it's shaken the requisite amount of time in the paint milkshake machine, you have the color you asked for.  Works every time.
            But notice—even for the lightest colors, one squirt and the paint is no longer white.  That's the case with purity, folks.  One sin, and your soul is no longer white.  Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven…(Matt 5:19).  We do our best to get around that, labelling some big and some little, even calling some sins "white," as in "little white lies," but the paint is no longer pure white no matter what we may call it.  It doesn't matter if you grew up going to church and never doing the big, bad sins as we like to say.  It doesn't matter if no one knows about them.  It doesn't matter if we are blind to our own faults.  None of us is pure white any longer and we need to recognize that sooner rather than later, and stop judging others before we recognize our own.
            As dire as that may sound, the amazing thing is, regardless the properties of paint at the paint store, God can make your soul white again, as white as you were before.  Not because you are still white, nor because of the false label you have put on your own sin, but because you have admitted those squirts of sin, no matter how few or how small in our own eyes, and done your best to change—to repent. 
            We were all pure white once, but somewhere along the way we failed.  The only way to get it back is to add the bright red blood of Jesus and, even more amazingly than the paint store, we will once again be a whole can of white paint.
 
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb 9:13-14).
 
Dene Ward