According to the story, on September 14, 1822, Jean Francois Champollion burst into his brother's room and declared, "Je tiens mon affaire!"  (I've got it!) and then passed out.  Supposedly, it took five days for him to recover.  So what was so important?  The man, a lifelong Egyptologist, had just cracked the code to the Rosetta Stone.  On September 27, he presented his discovery to a conference of his peers.  This was the discovery of a lifetime for an Egyptologist—how to interpret ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.  For twenty years since the Stone's discovery, scientists and historians had labored over three lines of texts. 
            The Rosetta Stone contained a decree to celebrate the anniversary of the coronation of Ptolemy V.  The decree was repeated in ancient Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphics.  Perhaps because the Rosetta Stone was only a large piece of the original, what some thought should have taken a couple of weeks, actually took two decades to interpret.  Whatever the cause, once Champollion cracked the code, ancient Egyptian culture opened wide to the historians.
            Aren't we grateful that God did not leave us with such an unsolved mystery with His Word?  In fact, if anyone tells you that the Bible is too difficult to understand, you will know that they have not studied it as they ought to have.  I remember as a child hearing denominational preachers in snatches on the radio or television talk about the great mystery of the Gospel as if it still were an unknown. Paul says otherwise.  For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph 3:1-6).  So much for the great mystery.  Prophets of old had not understood it (1 Pet 3:10,11), but now, Paul has, through his writings, [brought] to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things (Eph 3:9).  All you have to do is read it.
            And think about it.  Even Jesus said that he spoke in parables so that those who were truly interested—the ones who cared enough to examine scriptures, listen to words, and think—could understand, and those who didn't care would not (Matt 13:13).
            God did not write pulp fiction.  And while the mystery has been revealed for anyone who wants it, it isn't written in primer language.  It isn't, "See Spot.  See Spot run."  God expects us to work at it.  When I was a child, the figures in Revelation were often interpreted as the USSR with army tanks.  Now you hear other interpretations that fit the present age.  How in the world could either of those have helped first century Christians who were about to undergo persecution?  No, what you have in those cases are people who haven't put the time into studying the Bible as a whole.  The Rosetta Stone for the book of Revelation is the Old Testament, particularly the prophets.  You will never understand it until you know the prophets and are familiar with prophetic language. 
            I once heard a young man ask why we had to study those obsolete books in the Old Testament.  They aren't really that important, are they?  Well, that Rosetta Stone was far less important.  It listed Ptolemy's accomplishments, affirmed him as divinity, and affirmed his royal cult.  The importance came from the decoding, and its opening up of all hieroglyphs.  Suddenly, we knew the ancient Egyptian culture like never before.
            The Old Testament is far more important as it begins the plan of God in Genesis 3 and follows it through the centuries until finally, in the New Testament it culminates in the coming of the Messianic kingdom and the salvation of all who will accept it on God's terms, not their own.  Surely it is worth studying, worth knowing, worth meditating on until you finally understand the depth of God's love and are grateful enough to serve Him in a committed life.  Then, finally, you can exclaim, "I've got it!"
 
Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith. (Rom 16:25-26).
 
Dene Ward

Tarragon is a difficult herb.  It’s even hard to find at the local garden shops.  You have to go to the independent, specialty shops where everything costs twice as much.  Then when you get it, it’s hard to grow.  Not only is the flavor delicate, so is the plant.  I have killed more than my share of these fragile babies. 
            But speaking of delicate flavor, it is almost paradoxical that something so delicate is also so distinctive.  Like cilantro, you know when a dish has even a hint of tarragon in it, but at the same time it won’t take over.  Tarragon in a chicken salad makes it a main event, and I have a pork chop recipe with tarragon cream sauce that turns that mundane diner staple into fine dining.  (See the recipe page if you are interested.)
            As I said, I usually wind up killing whatever tarragon plants I manage to find.  I always thought it was the heat, but maybe it’s me.  Somehow, last year’s plant survived until frost.  Then I got another wonderful surprise.  This spring it came back from the root.  I didn’t believe it at first.  It looked like tarragon, and it was in the same spot as the plant last summer, but I still didn’t believe it—not until I pinched off a leaf and smelled it.  Yesssss!  This year I don’t have to comb the garden shops looking for another one to kill.  It’s right there in my herb bed, waiting for its execution day.
            Speaking of these sorts of things, I find it bewildering that people get themselves so wrought up over whether or not the Lord’s church existed somewhere in hiding in the Middle Ages.  Maybe it did; maybe it didn’t.  Maybe there actually was a spell when no one alive even bothered trying to follow the New Testament pattern.  Why should that affect my faith?  The seed is the Word of God, Luke 8:11.  We still have that seed.  We can still plant it and it will produce after its own kind, just as God ordained for every seed from the moment He created the first one. 
            Sometimes we keep leftover seeds in the freezer.  If we had a bumper crop and I put up way too much corn, I may not plant any the next year, or even the next.  But when I get that seed out, as I did a few weeks ago, we can plant it again, and lo and behold there is now corn growing in the garden, a few silks already turning brown. It will happen every time we plant that seed, no matter how long it’s been since the last time we planted it.  The same will happen when we plant the Word of God, the seed that produces Christians.
            And what’s more, we still have the Root, and that’s even better.  As long as the gospel exists and we can preach about that Root, the one who came to earth, lived as we do, died, and rose again, faith will spring up from that Root, and the Lord’s body will once again exist. 
            Why is this so surprising?  Why indeed should it bother me one way or the other if I trust God?  He ordained this rule.  Who could ever undo it?  And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. (Rom 4:3).  Do you believe Him?
 
And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope." May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:12-13
 
Dene Ward

"Singing is easy and so is painting compared with this exacting, soul-taxing art of living. One cannot think anything he pleases, or feel as he wants to, or act as he is inclined to. He must walk the narrow path. Jesus walked it, and he calls men everywhere to become his followers. He is rigorous in his demands. He is inexorable in his commands. He is despotic in the limitations which he imposes. He says, 'Come unto me!' We ask, cannot we go to others? His reply is, There are no others. Come to me! And when we come he says, 'Follow me!' We hesitate and ask, 'Is this really necessary, can we not choose an easier way?' His reply is: 'Follow me.' 'If you do not take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple, and no one comes to the Father except through me.' He says, 'Abide in me!' and we demur and wonder if after all it is necessary to shut ourselves up in what seems to be so narrow and limited a sphere. But he says to us with that strange, dogmatic, compelling accent which stirred the hearts of the people long ago in Galilee, 'Verily I say unto you, unless you abide in me, you have no life at all in you!'"
Charles Edward Jefferson, "The Character of Jesus," p62-63
{Via Edwin Crozier)

I picked up the phone and within ten seconds wished I hadn’t.  I was a new bride and it was my first experience with a telemarketer. I couldn’t fathom someone who had an answer for every reason to say “No.” 
            I’d been taught to always be polite so as long as he talked I listened.  Finally I said, “I couldn’t spend this much money without talking to my husband first anyway.”
            Yes, he even had an answer for that one.  “Don’t you think it’s about time you learned how to make decisions on your own?”
            He had finally gone too far.  “How we run our marriage is our business, not yours,” I replied and hung up.  He found out in short order that my acceptance of my husband’s authority didn’t mean I was spineless.
            Too many women today seem to think it does, and worse, care far too much about what other people think about them.  I feel the same way about that as I do about men who won’t help with child care and housework because, “That’s woman’s work.”  Shakespeare put it best:  “Methinks thou doth protest too much.”  It takes strength to submit; weakness cannot overcome the natural tendency to want attention and power.
            Sarah comes to mind.  In a misguided attempt to help God fulfill his promises to Abraham, she and Abraham arranged a surrogate mother.  Hagar was “her handmaid,” Gen 16:1,3, a personal servant of Sarah’s, not a simple slave girl who would have been under Abraham’s authority (Growth of the Seed, Nathan Ward).  When Hagar’s attitude toward Sarah eroded into hateful disrespect--“her mistress became despised in her eyes” v 4—Sarah was ready to throw her out.  At that time, in that culture, Hagar as her handmaid was her business, not Abraham’s.  Yet Sarah, in her submission as a wife, still went to Abraham first.  Even he said, “Behold, your maid is in your hands.  Do what you think is best,” v 6.
            Please note, the surrogacy arrangement did not change Hagar’s status.  She is still called “handmaid” by the writer and by God (21:12), and the angel of Jehovah told her she was wrong to have fled, that the right thing was to return to her mistress (16:7-9), just as it was for Onesimus to return to Philemon.  Sarah did not have to ask Abraham for permission, but she went the extra mile in her submission to him.
            So how am I doing at this submission business?  Do my friends know that my husband is the head of the house, or would they throw their heads back in gales of laughter at the very thought?  Am I embarrassed to say, “I need to talk with my husband,” before making a major decision?
            Even the New Testament recognizes that a woman has a realm of authority in the home.  Widows are to remarry and “rule the household,” 1 Tim 5:14.  That word “rule” is not the same Greek word as the one in 3:4, elders should “rule well their own household.”  The word in 5:14 is one that means “manage [the home specifically] under a master.”  Just as the store manager does not expect to be micromanaged by the owner of the business, he still understands that he must ultimately answer to that owner.  Would anyone expect otherwise?
            It is time to stop being cowed by our increasingly godless culture, afraid to admit that we actually believe what the Bible says about unpopular things.  The next time someone insults you for your voluntary subjection to your husband, show them just how much spine you do have.
 
For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening, 1 Peter 3:5-6
 
Dene Ward

I warned you—here is another book by those Ward people, Nathan, this time.  I plan to do at least one more of his earlier books because they might have gotten lost in the shuffle of years, especially since his much acclaimed book on prayer, Our Eyes Are on You, came out.  This one in particular deserves your notice.
            If you think you know what the book of Genesis is about, get this book and try again.  It isn't about the beginning of the world, although it does tell us about that.  It isn't about the beginning of man, though it does tell us that too.  Rather, it is about the beginning of sin and the unfolding of God's eternal plan to remedy that sin.  Nathan has done all the work for you to be able to have an outstanding class or personal study on that foundational book of the Bible.  You won't have to read a dozen books for your research, he has done it for you, quoting the best of the best, as well as giving his own scholarly insights.  I use this book every single time I teach my Born of a Woman class and, frankly, I don't know how I managed to do that the thirty or so years before Nathan wrote this.
            Here's what you do:  Using the divisions in this book, usually by chapter in Genesis, read that section of Genesis, then read the notes for that section in his book.  Then read that same Genesis section again.  I guarantee you will find something new that makes you think, "Why didn't I see that before?"
            In addition, he takes several "excursions" from the main track (Genesis) in order to discuss side issues in that book of Moses.  Things like how to and how NOT to use genealogies, who are these Nephilim, what about this Melchizedek guy, and who is this Angel of the Lord?  You will learn more than you have in any Bible class in a long, long time.  He also includes some shorter "Theological Reflections" that might answer questions you have had in your mind for years.
            The Growth of the Seed is published by DeWard Publishing.
 
Dene Ward

     One thing our utter ignorance about the Psalms has done to us, is make us think we should never worry, never doubt, never complain to our Father.  We talk about maintaining a "stiff upper lip" and never losing our smile, about showing nothing but calm assurance when the trials of life afflict us again and again.  No wonder so many of us just give up and leave.
     I hear even from pulpits that the Book of Psalms is a book of praise.  That is just plain ignorant.  When it comes to sorting out and labeling psalms, the majority of them are psalms of lament.  We think we should never complain to God because that is a sign of ingratitude.  The ancient Jews knew otherwise.  God wants to hear our complaints.  Those complaints show Him that we are dependent upon Him, that we recognize that all our blessings come from Him and that He is the only one who can fix our problems, all of which are signs of great faith.  Let's look at a few of those complaints.

My heart is in anguish within me: And the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, And horror overwhelms me (Psalm 55:4-5).
Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint… (Psalm 61:1-2).
For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread. Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh. I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places; I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop (Psalm 102:3-7).

     These psalms are by people of God, including David.  Do you see the words they have chosen?  Anguish, terror, fear and trembling, faint heart.  The psalmist is so upset he can't sleep, he can't eat, and this has been going on so long that he has lost weight ("my bones cling to my flesh").  Most of us would chide him for his lack of faith, but only true faith will believe it can go to God with anything, describing his feelings freely.  Only true faith trusts that God cares and will not only hear, but act on our prayers.  We need to get our perspective in the same order as those earlier believers before our mistaken idea of faith destroys us.
     It's all right to be afraid.  It's all right to wonder if God has abandoned you.  It's all right to weep aloud and complain with all you have within you.  For those very complaints and meditations will lead us to a new understanding of faith as well as a deeper variety of faith.  After the psalmists complain, they inevitably restate their trust to an even stronger degree in a God they know loves them.  Look at the endings of all those psalms we quoted above.

But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. ​Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice (Ps 55:16-17).
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.  For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. (Psalm 61:2,3,5).
For the LORD builds up Zion; he appears in his glory; he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer (Psalm 102:16-17).

     Lest we think this only applied in the Old Testament, and today we should never show fear, doubt, or upset, let alone complain, let's see what Paul had to say about that.

For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn— fighting without and fear within (2 Corinthians 7:5).  Sounds to me like Paul is admitting that he was afraid.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).  This sounds like people shared their problems not only with one another, but with God first.

     Over and over we will find exhortations to help the afflicted, to pray for the afflicted, the comfort the afflicted, to "weep with those who weep".  None of this sounds like a people who suffer in silence.
     It's okay to be afraid when life hands you something scary.  Never think that fear and trembling during those times is a lack of faith and trust in God.  Maybe those things were meant to turn you to Him more often, more diligently, and more intensely.  Complain with all your heart, but complain to the God who can help you through it, and who will do His best to lend you the comfort you need in those times.  In your complaint, you will find your faith.

Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. ​Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul (Psalm 143:7-8).

Dene Ward

Despite my trekking poles, I still have an occasional stumble as I walk Chloe around the property in the mornings.  Trees have a way of shedding limbs, especially in a brisk spring breeze, of pelting the ground with pine cones that roll beneath the feet, and showering the ground with slick leaves and needles.  All of those things hide holes and depressions that can turn an ankle.  I haven’t fallen in awhile, thanks to these sturdy fiberglass poles, but it’s still a little dangerous out there for someone with limited vision.
            Most of those trees are ancient by human standards.  After watching a live oak we planted grow from a one foot “stick” to a fifteen foot sapling in 20 years, I know the ones that spread over our house, so large it would take four people to hold hands around them, must be closing in on the century mark.  The wonderful thing about those trees, especially in this climate, is the shade.  With limbs stretching out thirty to forty feet, and dense foliage, the temperature beneath them can be ten to fifteen degrees cooler than in the sun. 
            Trees, then, can be either a source of comfort or a hindrance.  On occasion, a tree has deposited a limb right in the middle of our driveway, and there are few places along its length where you can drive out of the road around a blockage.  The older the trees, in fact, the bigger the problem they can cause.  We pray constantly, especially in hurricane season, that one of those thousand pound limbs will not fall on the house.
            As I become older, I realize the same is true of me.  The aged can be a source of strength, wisdom, and encouragement.  God surely intended that to be the case.  Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days, Job 12:12.  Unfortunately we can also be a source of discouragement and a hindrance to spiritual life.  Instead of gaining wisdom, some of us store up hurts and slights, many of them magnified through the years or even imagined.  Instead of learning the lessons of life, we become bitter.  Instead of maturing and reaching out to others, we continue, as we so often did when young, to demand attention.
            On this rural property we have learned through the years which trees are most helpful and which are most damaging.  I step over far more pine limbs than oak, but even among those stately hardwoods are some we have learned to be wary of.  A water oak will drop branches on your house or your car or your power lines, will in fact, be as likely as a pine tree to completely fall over. 
            It may not seem fair, but if you are a young person looking for a mentor, you must, as Jesus said, judge people by their fruits.  If you find yourself hearing nothing but the negative, you are taking shelter under the wrong tree. 
            If you, like me, are heading toward that label “elderly,” you need to think about the shelter you offer the young.  I will be judged by “every idle word.”  Certainly around the young and impressionable, around those who may look to me for wisdom and advice, I must be careful not to cause them to stumble in their confidence by casting off branches of discouragement.  I must not block their pathway to spiritual growth with selfish resentment about the past.  I certainly must not squash their zeal with cynicism about either the world or their brethren.  If ever there is a time when our choice of words is crucial, it is old age, when the young look to us for advice and help.
            We cannot help becoming old.  But we can all determine how we will act as one of those older “trees.”  What did Jesus say about branches that were unfruitful?  Do we really think he will do less to us if we fail in our purpose as the older, wiser branches of his spiritual family tree?
 
O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Psalms 71:17-18.
 
Dene Ward

We plant a lot of tomatoes in our garden.  We have learned by trial and error that it is far better to plant more than you think you can possibly use of several different varieties.  Some years one type produces better than the others.  Some years one will be wiped out by a disease that doesn’t touch the others.  Usually there is neither rhyme nor reason for any of it.  By planting several types, we can be sure to have some, if not all, bear fruit, and by planting too many, if it’s a bad year, we still have enough.  On the other hand, if it’s a good year, we can be generous with friends and neighbors.
            We have also learned which types work best in our area.  For a long time we could always find what we needed in plants, but gardening has become the fashion now, and just like clothes, certain types of tomatoes are popular.  You used to search far and wide for heirlooms.  Now you must search far and wide for the ordinary hybrids.  The problem with heirlooms, at least in our part of the country, is that they bear about 5% as much as the ordinary hybrid.  We usually plant 90-95 tomatoes to fill our needs in canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and salsa.  It isn’t so much that we put up a lot; it’s that in this heat, tomatoes stop bearing by the end of June.  We may have a shorter growing season than our northern neighbors and if we used heirlooms exclusively, we would need to plant nearly 2000.
            If we can’t find the reliable varieties of plants in the garden shops any longer, we can find their seeds in at least one of the half dozen seed catalogues we receive.  It’s a lot more trouble.  In our small home, we have to use the entire back bedroom to lay out the seed sponges and set up the grow-lights.  When they outgrow the sponges, they are still too small and delicate to place outdoors and the weather still too cold, so we have to transplant each one into a larger cup—all 90, one by one.  Then, when the weather finally turns, we have to carry them outside every day, a little longer every day, to harden them for the final transplant into the garden where they will be prey to sun, wind, insects, birds, and animals.  Because of our careful preparation, most of them make it.  We seldom lose more than half a dozen.
            All that because fashion has taken over in gardening instead of common sense and proven track records.  It happens in every area of life. 
            Don’t get me started on the organic craze.  People had been eating organic foods for thousands of years when Jesus came along and there were still plenty of sick people for him to heal and raise from the dead.  Don’t tell me they didn’t have cancer in those days.  Herod the Great is thought to have died of it based upon descriptions of his illness.
            Everyone knows how music changes.  As far as our songs in the assembled worship, we are seeing a whole lot more rhythm and a whole lot less depth in the words.  Or, “Wow!” someone says—usually someone with a music background—“this one actually uses Dorian mode!”  Yes, but can an untrained congregation sing it easily enough to focus on the lyrics and actually do some “teaching and admonishing?”
            Teaching has its fads.  We gave up phonics and wound up with “Johnny Can’t Read.”  In Bible classes we stopped teaching Bible facts to our children because we wanted them to develop the “heart” and not just the knowledge.  So now we have ignorant people tearing churches apart over things they should have been taught as children.  We used to be known for our Bible knowledge—now many of us are as clueless as any unbeliever on the streets.
            Yes, some things are changeable expedients, and I have agreed with most of ours.  However, those things should be carefully weighed not only for their rightness, but also for the sake of pure old common sense.  Do we want to do it because it will work better for this group of people, or because everyone else is doing it?  Some of us wind up planting 2000 tomatoes just so we look good to the world, when 90 of the right kind would do just fine, probably better, at fulfilling the need. 
            The seed is the word of God, Jesus said.  Maybe it’s time we used the seed instead of chasing around looking for something new and exciting.  God’s way works, but only if you know it, and only if you use it.
 
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. Hosea 14:9
 
Dene Ward
 

Too many times we studio teachers teach only the instrument, piano and voice in my case, and neglect the other things that make one a well-rounded musician—history, theory, ear training.  So for my students I made up history notebooks focusing on one particular composer each year containing articles, worksheets, and listening labs.  When the makeup of the studio suddenly increased to 40% voice students, I decided to make a notebook with them in mind, one on opera.  Besides, even piano students needed to know about opera.
            I began with worksheets on the history of opera and types of operas.  Then we moved on to study the stories of 5 different operas, followed by a listening lab on one of the more famous arias from each opera.  I live in a rural county.  The closest thing to opera any of these students had ever seen or heard was their grandparents’ reminiscences of Minnie Pearl and the Grand Ol’ Opry.  The answers I received on many of the listening labs often made me laugh out loud and taught me a lot about perspective.
            “Nessun dorma” from Turandot:  (All the recordings were in the original language of the opera.)  On the question, “Describe the melody,” a 6 year old wrote, “Sounds Italian to me.”  How could I argue with that?
            Another question attempted to point out the emotion in the singers’ voices by asking, “Where in the music do you think he sings, ‘I will win!  I will win!’?”  Though it was in Italian it was obvious; even the 6 year old got it.  But one 10 year old thoroughly misunderstood the question and wrote, “I don’t know, but he was so loud, he MUST have been outside somewhere.”
            “La donna mobile” from Rigoletto:  “What are the main difficulties of this aria?”  A 9 year old answered, “He’s trying to get a woman, but can’t.”
            We could not have left out Carmen, though presenting this less than moral character to children took a bit of discretion.  We listened to the “Habanera,” which is, in reality, a dance.  “Carmen likes to flirt a lot.  How does the fact that she is singing to a dance make it sound ‘flirty?’”  A 9 year answered, “It shows she’s pretty smart if she can sing a dance!”
            Because the majority of my singers were 14-16 year old girls, I chose Charlotte Church’s recording over Maria Callas’s version of Carmen.  Charlotte was only 15 at the time and I felt they could better relate to her.  However, this brought about the question, “How is her ability to sing this character likely to change as she gets older?”  Talk about perspective, a 9 year old boy wrote, “She’ll soon be married and she’d better not be flirting with other men!!!!”  But a 16 year old girl wrote--now remember Charlotte was only 15 on this recording--“It won’t be long till she is so old she won’t even remember how to flirt any more.” 
            Was this notebook successful?  When I took up the final exams I wondered.  The first question was “Define opera.”  An 11 year old wrote, “A type of music for men and women where you sing real LOUD.”
            But I also had them write, both at the beginning of the study and at the end, what they honestly thought about opera.  One 14 year old was very tactful at the beginning of the year when she wrote, “I think people who can sing it are very talented.”  But at the end of the year she wrote, “If this is opera, I really like it.  And I learned not to ever say I don’t like something when I don’t really know anything about it.”
            I wonder how many people approach the Bible that way?  They believe it to be a book of myths, a storybook, only a suggestion for how to live, anything but the Word of God when they have absolutely no personal knowledge on the subject.  They have never considered the evidence; they have never made comparisons to other ancient writings that are far less convincing.  We have only 643 copies of Homer’s Iliad but over 5700 copies of the scriptures, and no one ever questions the completeness and accuracy of that Greek epic.  We believe George Washington existed and became our first president.  Why?  Because of eyewitness accounts, the same type of accounts available in historical documents about Jesus.  Even people who accept Jesus as the Son of God, question the validity of the New Testament because it was a translation, yet Jesus himself quoted a translation of the Old Testament, one about as far removed from him in time as the New Testament is from us, and all this barely skims the surface of internal and external evidences validating the Bible.
            My students learned a valuable lesson the year we studied opera:  don’t judge until you check it out yourself.  If you are wondering about the Bible, about Jesus, and even about the existence of a Creator, the only logical and fair thing is for you to do that too.
 
For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. 1 Corinthians 1:18-21
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Joanne Beckley
 
The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
2Thes 3:5
 
This is a benediction which all of us would like to receive. In Christ, patience has its perfection. Jesus did not have a life sheltered from the evils of this world created by mankind. But he endured with sensitivity, seeking out the good in people. His patience with his disciples was demonstrated over and over and over. Among all he met along the way He never showed impatience, but gave freely of the richest and best of His own life to heal and comfort. The majority rejected His gifts of love, but He never wearied in his offerings, even from his out-stretched arms on the cross.
 
So how do we demonstrate Jesus’ patience in us? He has given us all that we need, both from His example, and from within His words in order to exhibit the same patience. But perhaps we need to stop and consider whether our actions demonstrate the patience of Christ.
 
In the home
Too often we throw away thought filled words and are apt to speak or act disagreeably. We assert ourselves and are willfully exacting in our expectations. We lose our patience and speak unadvisedly and unkindly. These impatient words hurt and sometimes hurt irreparably.  
 
Eph 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
1Pe 3:7 “You husbands likewise, live with [your wives] in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”
 
Wherever else we may fail in our patience, it should not be in our own homes. This is the place that should be the nearest we have to our heavenly home. But is it? We don’t have long to stay together and we should be patient and gentle for the time we may have.
 
In society
We need the patience of Christ with whomever we meet, in business or among all that we meet, including our neighbors. Not everyone is agreeable and reasonable to our efforts to be patient. They may be thinking of us as we do of them because we are not exhibiting Christ. If this is true, we may not be able to bring that person to Christ.

Ec 7:8 “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.”
Ro 2:4 “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not  knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
 
In the church
We need the patience of Christ the moment we step into the company of His disciples. We are to bind up broken hearts, help the weak, and encourage the inexperienced with patient love. It is not a time to be self-seeking, but with patience seek to offer what is needed. All of us who would put our hands in any way on other lives need a large measure of the patience of Christ. Be patient and seek a good time to speak loving words. But in our very interest in others, we are in danger continually of speaking inopportunely.

Col 3:12-15 “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.  And beyond all these things [put on] love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”
 
The trials of life
We need patience all the more to face the trials of life. Remember all that Jesus endured during His trials. Consider all the wrongs that brought him pain and suffering and how they were faced. We must face the same in our own lives. This lesson is hard to learn. We will feel resentment, perhaps even to the point of verbal anger at what we feel is unfair or untrue. Jesus can help us to be silent and patient in the time of distress. He can turn our cry of pain into a song of submission and joy, for He is our source of peace. It is so important in every area of our lives to develop a willingness to persevere and be patient. Do not relax your vigilance. Often the need for patience will come as a surprise.

1Co 13:4 “Love is patient, love is kind, [and] is not jealous; love does not brag [and] is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong [suffered,] 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

May the Lord direct your heart into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
Joanne Beckley