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Gum in Your Hair

8/25/2021 0 Comments

Chloe has nearly shed all her thick winter coat now. It has taken three months of active shedding, clumps falling out whenever she shakes or filling our hands whenever we pat her. Poor thing, it takes about over half the summer and then it is almost time for her to start growing it back before the first cool nights of fall. This year, though, she has several odd mats of fur sticking out in three or four places. I am not really certain what has gotten into her fur, but it looks a whole lot like my little friends used to look when they got bubble gum in their hair.
            I seemed to be the only one with short, curly hair when I was growing up. Everyone else had long, thin hair, straight as a board which, as teenagers, made them a whole lot more in style than I was, but as children gave them far more trouble when they got gum in their hair. It created exactly the same matted clumps I see on Chloe. How it happened was always a mystery to me, but I think it was because they kept taking it out of their mouths and playing with it. I remember their mothers going to the freezer for ice, trying to freeze the gum to make it less sticky so they could gradually untangle the chewed mass and pull it out, leaving as much hair as possible. You can also use peanut butter, vegetable oil, or vinegar, but none of my friends thought those worth it. Getting the messy peanut butter or oil out of one's hair would take several washings and who wants to end us smelling like vinegar all day? So ice it was.
            Unfortunately, nothing worked for some of them. Eventually their mothers had to get the scissors and cut the gum out, leaving what looked like a hole in their hair, and that usually meant getting a haircut forthwith, just so it wouldn't look so bad. Chloe is lucky—she won't stand still long enough for me to use the scissors on her.
            Some of us do worse than getting gum stuck in our hair. The Bible constantly warns us about becoming entangled or snared. A snare in Biblical times often involved a noose, so "entanglement" is an apt word for them as well. Notice these passages:
The graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire: you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it unto yourself, lest you be snared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehovah your God (Deut 7:25).
You have been snared with the words of your mouth, caught with the words of your mouth (Prov 6:2).
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1Tim 6:9-10).
And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature (Luke 8:14).
            Do you see how easy it is to get yourself stuck, tangled, snared, or choked? All your "stuff" can do it—even if you don't think you are rich. All the things that keep you too busy to spend time with the Word. All the things you put before such spiritual obligations as raising your children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Even your own words can trip you up and catch you like an animal in a trap. A "web of lies" comes to mind. We can easily add a "web of excuses."
            And getting yourself untangled can be just as messy in a figurative way as getting gum out of your hair. You may have to apply some self-discipline. You may need to humble yourself and make a few apologies. And you may have to get out the scissors and simply cut some things out of your life—or some people, if necessary. When anything becomes more important than service to God, it has snared you and "become an abomination."
            Far better to keep things in their proper place, and never let them get hold of your heart. Far better to keep the gum in your mouth and out of your hair.

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first (2Pet 2:20).

Dene Ward

One Size Fits All

8/24/2021 0 Comments

Could there be a more obvious lie in all of retail sales? “One size fits all.” Of course it does, if you call fitting one person like a circus tent around a beanpole and another like a sausage in a casing a couple of perfect fits. There is a reason that a custom tailored suit costs about 200 times more than a one size fits all tee shirt, and it’s not just the material.
            Yet there is one instance where the phrase is as apt as can be. Sin is a “one size fits all” commodity. For we before laid charge both of Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin…For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rom 3:9,23. And we do not get that sin from some mystical contagion. Therefore as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death passed unto all men for that all sinned, Rom 5:12. We are under the charge of sin, because we sin, every one of us, no matter how good we think we are.
            And sin is sin is sin: For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all. For He who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. Now if you do not commit adultery, but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law, James 2:10, 11. And in that context, James was talking to people who discriminate against others. Bigotry, he meant them to understand, is as bad as adultery and murder.
            Even righteous men in the Old Testament understood that the Law could not save them. As sinners, they counted on the grace of God. David wrote a Psalm about it, the fourteenth. Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who did understand. They were all gone aside; they are together become filthy; there is none that does good, no, not one, v2,3. We are all in the same boat—none of us deserve salvation.
            But Christ came to offer us a salvation that would fit all of us, too, no matter how many times we have sinned, no matter the heinousness of our sins, as men would categorize them. Christ does indeed fit all, and not only that, His one size is available to all as well, no matter who we are or what our stations in life. All we have to do is put it on. The grace of God will always be a perfect fit.

For the love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again, 2 Cor 5:14,15.

Dene Ward

Book Review: The Problem of God—Answering a Skeptic's Challenges to Christianity by Mark Clark

8/23/2021 0 Comments

A former atheist, Mark Clark had the gumption and fairness to diligently search out the accusations frequently made against Christianity. In his search he managed, as many before him have, to become a believer instead. He then wrote this book, a compilation of the lessons he regularly teaches other skeptics, and almost as regularly, manages to convert them with.

            In this study he answers nearly every question your friends and neighbors might ask and objection they might raise. Science proves the Bible wrong. Christ is just another pagan myth. Christians are hypocrites. The Bible is against sex. Hell is a repulsive doctrine. A benevolent God would not allow all the evil in the world. Plus several others, all of which we often find difficult to answer. Clark gives us persuasive, rational reasons to believe, all derived from copious research, Biblical passages, and pure logic. He does not avoid the difficult, but seems to revel in finding his way out of it.
            In all this information he does on only a few occasions (less than you can count on one hand) misuse or take out of context a passage of scripture. It becomes evident in a couple of places which doctrines he firmly believes. But even those are obvious to the well-taught and studied child of God. This is also a good layman's study of evidences.
            I recommend The Problem of God for any young Christian especially. You have heard these charges from your friends and teachers. Now you can answer them.
            The Problem of God is published by Zondervan.

Dene Ward

Living on Concrete

8/20/2021 2 Comments

I grew up in the city. We walked on concrete roads and sidewalks, pulled in on a concrete driveway, and parked on a concrete carport. When we swept and vacuumed the floors we only had to do it once or twice a week and hardly accumulated more than a tablespoon of sand (we're in Florida, remember) in the dustpan each time, and only had to change vacuum cleaner bags a couple times a year.
            But I have lived most of my married life in the country. For half that time we had no driveway or carport. Now we have a carport, but still no driveway. We do a considerable amount of living and working outdoors, taking care of a large garden and five acres. Our road is nearly a half mile long, private, and unpaved. When Keith walks that half mile to the mailbox down by the highway, he treads on dirt, sand, and limerock, not a sidewalk. Even though we have a mat by the door and a runner just inside it, we still track a considerable amount into the house. I could sweep every day but don't have the time. Even every other day will yield twice as much as a week's worth when I lived in the city. Every time I hear that passage, "Shake the dust off your feet," I wish we could do it just that easily.
            The inescapable conclusion is that living on concrete will keep more of the dirt out of your house. Too many Christians, and churches, want to keep the dirt out, to live on concrete spiritually. I am not talking about keeping sin out of our lives. I am talking about being such a clean freak that the only people we want to offer the gospel to are nice nuclear families with no marriage problems, no addictions, and no ongoing issues that might "cause problems." Many years ago I caught myself saying, "I should invite them to church. But wait, they are in second and third marriages. That's just asking for trouble." I don't remember how long it took for me to remember a certain woman at a well in Samaria whom Jesus went out of his way to speak to and offer a chance at salvation. She had one whale of a marriage issue, but Jesus didn't stay on the concrete.
            Long ago and far away a men's business meeting actually told Keith he was bringing "the wrong class of people" to church. Never mind that he was the only one bringing people from the community. What he had found out in his door knocking was that those were the people more likely to listen—the ones who had problems and didn't think they were just fine and dandy. It was in one of those nice upper middle class neighborhoods where those brothers wanted him to pass out invitations that the man outside watering his well-manicured flowerbeds turned his hose on Keith, his Bible, and all his fliers.
            Who listened to Jesus? Few of the middle class Pharisees and upper class Sadducees. Usually it was the blue collar workers and those in less than reputable occupations—fishermen, harlots, and publicans. If we want to reach people, we need to step off the concrete and walk around in the mud where they live like he did. We need to be willing to track in a little sand and then sweep it up. Yes, it's a lot more work dealing with those kinds of people, but that is what our lives are supposed to be about—sharing the good news and helping the babes grow. You offer the gospel to everyone. It is their decision whether they are devoted enough to the Lord to clean up their lives, not ours.
            Don't be satisfied with living on concrete—going about your life with your family, going to church on Sunday, and staying away from the big bad sins as we define them, while ignoring the opportunities to reach out that God sends your way. You might stay out of the dirt, but there will still be sand in your house—and it all came from you.
And it came to pass, that he was sitting at meat in his house, and many publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and publicans, said unto his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he said unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:15-17).

Dene Ward

Nursery Tales

8/19/2021 0 Comments

I was a lucky young mother. When my babies were small, I worshipped with church families that had no nurseries. I did not realize at the time what a blessing it was.
            When Lucas was a baby, we met with a small congregation that rented a union hall. The union must not have been very popular. At the end of a narrow hall was the only room big enough for meeting together, and thirty of us filled it up. Five of us were nursing mothers, and since that was over half the families in the congregation, the men agreed that we should be able to simply step out of the room to get ourselves situated, then come back in to sit and listen to the sermons or Bible classes while we nursed our babies. New babies have a tendency to nurse for long periods of time. We might have missed a full hour if these men had not been so mature-minded, and we ladies gratefully learned early how to stay modest while nursing. I doubt anyone walking in would have even known what we were doing.
            When Nathan was a toddler we had moved to a place with an actual meetinghouse. It was an old building way out in the country with absolutely no modern conveniences except electric lights, and certainly no nursery. You walked in the door and there you stood in the open auditorium. That meant when you had to deal with unruly children, you dealt with them and then came right back into the assembly.
            So why do I think I was lucky? Because I did not have the source of temptation that so many young mothers must deal with today. When you have no choice, there is no temptation. Young mothers today must be much stronger than I ever had to be.
            I gleaned advice from several older women during those years. My mother, for instance, was happy to tell me about how she foiled my attempts to ruin her worship services. I always acted up and she would take me to the nursery—she lived in the city. Finally, when I was 18 months old, she realized that she had not trained me, I had trained her—all I had to do was wiggle and squeal a little and I got to go play! The next Sunday, she took me, not to the nursery, but outside, and applied her hand to my bottom in a less than comforting way. Then she marched me right back into the auditorium. She said I looked at her with outrage, as if to say, “This is NOT how it works! You broke the rules!” But I was not a stupid child; I learned the new rule quickly: being taken out of the assembly is not a pleasant experience.
            I went to visit her once at this same meetinghouse. Suddenly, my baby needed a diaper change and needed it then. To have stayed sitting there any longer would have broken the commandment to “Love thy neighbor.”
            So I got up and took my twenty-month-old to the nursery. I was stunned when I walked in. Several young mothers, and a few who looked like grandmothers, were sitting in there chatting away. A playpen had been placed in the middle of the room, full of toys. The side of the playpen was lowered and each baby was sitting around it, reaching in and playing with both the toys and each other. Could the women see the preacher? Yes, there was a large picture window in front of them. Could they hear the preacher? Well, there was a speaker on the wall, but their talking and laughing drowned it out.
            After the diaper change, I got out of there as quickly as I could. I recognized the siren call immediately. I had dealt with two babies at once, while their father preached. We never lived close to family so I never had a grandparent to help out either. It was often tiring, frustrating and embarrassing to try to train my children to behave in the assembly. To have a place to go where I would no longer have to wrestle with them, where they could play and squeal to their heart’s content, would have been wonderful. But it would not have taught them how important the group worship of God is, how precious the rituals we follow, how much it meant to me and therefore how much it should mean to them.
            Being a parent is not for the weak of heart, mind, or body. You are on duty 24/7 and you must do what you must do no matter what else is going on in your life. Children will not wait. You cannot easily “unteach” what you later wish you had not taught. I would give anything to undo a lot of the mistakes I made, but it just won’t happen. In the end you hope you did more right than wrong, and that those right things were more lasting and impressive.
            Think about what you do, when you do it, and how. Think about what those little eyes see and those little ears hear. Think the most about what those little minds infer from what they see and hear you doing. Your children aren’t stupid either. Whatever it is you do, when you do it, it stays with them the longest.
And [Hannah] said, "Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have given him to the Lord.   As long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there, 1 Sam 1:26-28.

Dene Ward

August 18, 1999 Bread and Circuses

8/18/2021 0 Comments

The people who once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now meddle no more and longs eagerly for just two things—bread and circuses. Decimus Junius Juvenalis.
             I could not find any dates for that writing, which came from Juvenal's Satire X, nor even for Juvenal himself beyond "first century." However, the phrase he uses there has become famous in politics. Google it and you will find pages of citations. The most interesting site I found was the August 18, 1999 edition of The Onion, a satirical online publication that regularly publishes witty and biting pieces. If you want to read it, and it is still online at this point, here is a link: https://politics.theonion.com/congress-approves-4-billion-for-bread-circuses-1819565262
            As for the original writing, Juvenal used that phrase to describe how the Roman rulers kept the masses content, while gradually stealing away all their power. What had once been a Republic had become an empire ruled by selfish, immoral, greedy men, more interested in retaining power and wealth than caring for the people under their rule. And the people themselves deteriorated into a populace addicted to free distribution of food and violent gladiatorial contests. They were so distracted by mindless self-gratification that they had become unable to think, unable to recognize any greater good beyond their own desires.
            I can think of ways this might apply to America today, as I am sure you can, but it is nothing new. Jesus dealt with the same mindset. In John 6:26, he reproached the masses who followed him like this: You seek me…because you ate of the loaves and were filled. When he began to talk about the True Bread, they left.
            The Pharisees came on more than one occasion, and to test him they asked him to show a sign from Heaven, Matt 16:1. Herod on the night before he was crucified had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and was hoping to see some sign done by him, Luke 23:8. They wanted a show, a “circus,” not a sign that would produce faith. John tells us that for many of these people though he had done many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 12:27. Bread and circuses do not work in the spiritual world any more than they do in the physical. It may bring in more initially, but how many stay when they find out what is really required of a disciple?
            None of this is to say that we should not reach out to the world in as many ways as possible. After all, Jesus did feed them, and he did do signs. But sooner or later we must get past the superficial and reach the heart. If my neighbor is in need, why not help him? When I take a meal to the sick, perhaps he will be more willing to realize that his sick soul needs food too, and maybe he will come to me to feed it. If I am part of an assembly that is open and friendly, that worships whole-heartedly and obviously instead of sitting like bumps on a log, perhaps he will sooner understand that the heart is not all that matters because he will more often visit and hear the word of God spoken clearly and forcefully. But we must sooner or later do as Jesus did and force the choice upon them:
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever, John 6:54-58.
And when they refuse to exist on nothing but Christ, then we must also do as he did—let them go and not bother chasing them down. They have shown what they really wanted—bread and circuses--spirituality was not part of it. God does not want people who are so distracted by mindless self-gratification that they become unable to think, unable to recognize any greater good beyond their own lusts. He wants people who live on him and his word, even when it is uncomfortable and inconvenient, even if it costs more than they had ever imagined. He wants a people for his own possession, who will give him the glory and honor he deserves.
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, will you also go away? Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:66-69

Dene Ward

Identity Theft

8/17/2021 0 Comments

A look back at a difficult moment in my life, hoping this will help you in yours.

A few weeks ago, Satan finished what he started three years ago and stole my identity. I have packed up the last of my teaching supplies: sheet music, collections, method books, assignment notebooks, theory books, technique books, concerti, history notebooks, listening labs, computer disk theory games, stickers, rhythm instruments, home made music bingo games, magic slates with grand staffs permanently imprinted on them, even my old textbook How to Teach Piano Successfully. I have sent them on to a young piano teacher in Ohio, who is just starting out.

            I had a weepy moment or two. This part of my life—35 years worth plus all those years learning--is definitely over now. There is no going back; I simply cannot see the music any longer. But I am happy to know that these things will be put to good use—that other little children will learn with them, and that a young preaching couple will have a bit more coming in to help out with a skimpy income. But for a moment the large empty space under my piano made me feel invisible.
            I am no longer the piano and voice teacher in Union County.
            I no longer open my doors every afternoon to excited little faces, making sure that grubby little hands are washed before touching the keys, but still picking up every ailment my students brought my way, including parvo once, for goodness sake! It must have been all the hugs.
            I am no longer playing at weddings half a dozen times a year. I am no longer meeting with my fellow teachers once or twice a month, serving as association officer or chairman of this committee or that.
            I no longer take a dozen students to various competitions, crying with them for their losses and cheering for their wins. I no longer spend hours on themed spring programs, gathering up suitable music, matching it to each student’s personality, then working out the details, including skits and grand finales.
            I no longer present high school seniors in debut recitals with formals and tuxes, long-stemmed red roses, and a glittery reception afterward.
            Satan has stolen all of that from me with this disease.
            It could have been a real problem for me. I could have sunk into a depression difficult to come out of. Then I remembered my real identity.
            Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God; and we are, 1 John 3:1.
            Listen my beloved brethren did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him? James 2:4.
            But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, 1 Pet 2:9.
            He has granted unto us precious and exceeding great promises, that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, 2 Pet 1:4.
            The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him, Rom 8:16,17.

            I still have my identity, and so do you. It’s the one that counts, the one that Satan cannot steal, the one that will last forever.

Dene Ward

Why Should I Love My Brethren (Part 2 in the Series)

8/16/2021 0 Comments

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

I mean, let's face it, some of you aren't very lovable. I'm even less so. As we learned last time, the Bible defines love as action. Things we do for those we love, or things we refrain from. If I'm going to do all the work to love you, there had better be a good reason. Otherwise, I might sit this one out.
            So, why should I? Here's one reason: love is basic to Christianity. John 13:34-35 tells us that love of the brethren is a command from Christ. More than that, our love for each other is to be the identifier of His disciples. So, if Christ's followers are known by their love for each other, and I don't love my brethren, am I really a follower of Christ? Also, the Apostle John tells us that love for the brethren was one of the foundational commands of early Christianity. It was the "message heard from the beginning" (1 John 3:11) and "the commandment . . . heard from the beginning." (2 John 5-6) Paul tells us in Gal. 5:14 that love of the brethren has always been fundamental in being one of God's people. After all, the entire Law of Moses could be summed up by "love thy neighbor".

            A second reason to love your brothers is that you cannot have a relationship with God without loving them. After all, "He that loves not, knows not God". (1 John 4:8) And "if a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen." (1 John 4:20) The only way to have a successful relationship with God is to love your brethren. In fact, love of the brethren almost defines a relationship with God. "if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12)
            Then there is the fact that to walk with Christ is to love the brethren. "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. . . Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you." (John 15:12,14) The command is to love, and to be His friends we must obey His command. In other words, you can't be a friend of Jesus' if you don't love the brethren. Also, the only way to know we are of the truth is to love one another (1 John 3:18-19).
            So, love of the brethren is basic to the very concept of Christianity, is necessary to having relationships with either the Father or the Son, and is the only true way to know if I am of the truth. There is one other reason to love my brethren: to be ready for the judgment.
1 Pet. 4:7-8 "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves"
The end of all things is at hand and to prepare for it, then Peter tells us that "above all things" we should love one another. The most important thing I can do to get ready for judgment is to love my brethren.   The MOST IMPORTANT thing I can do to get ready for judgment is to love my brethren.
            Ok, ok, maybe I'll try to love you unlovable rascals.
1 Pet. 1:22 " . . . love one another from the heart fervently"
Lucas Ward

August 13, 1865 Wash Your Hands!

8/13/2021 0 Comments

Dr. Joseph Lister usually gets all the credit, or shares it a bit with Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Doctors should wash their hands before treating each patient, and their tools as well. But according to Steve Kellmeyer, a nationally known author and speaker, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss was actually the first physician to require hand washing before treating each patient in a maternity ward in Austria, putting an end to "childbed fever" in his ward. For all his work, his careful data keeping, and a mortality rate a mere fraction of others, he was roundly ridiculed. How could a speck of dirt under the nails or on the skin, or using the same tool on a live patient that was just used on a corpse during an autopsy cause death? It was all "Catholic superstition."
            Semmelweiss was professionally attacked, denied tenure at the university where he taught, and eventually suffered a mental breakdown from the stress, being placed in an insane asylum "where he was beaten until he died" at age 47 on August 13, 1865. His only crimes were he "believed in God and germs." (All quotes are from Kellmeyer in a comment on an article about Lister.)
            Not two years later, on March 16, 1867, Dr. Lister presented a paper titled "An Address on the Antiseptic System of Treatment in Surgery," and medicine was changed forever. Kellmeyer believes the only reason he was accepted and Semmelweiss was not is that Lister was not Catholic.
            If you know anything about Judaism, you know that hand washing was required of certain people at certain times, beginning in Exodus, shortly after the delivery of the Law on Mt. Sinai. The LORD said to Moses, “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the LORD, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations (Exod 30:17-21).
            Hand washing is still practiced today by Orthodox Jews. Although hand washing is certainly a healthy custom, that is not what the law is about in Judaism. In fact, it is required that the hands be clean before they are washed and soap is not used in the ceremonial washing. It is about ritual, not hygiene, and is symbolic of washing away impurities from our lives. However, by the first century the ritual was just that—an empty practice that never reached the heart. Jesus scandalized the Pharisees when he refused to wash his hands before a meal and denounced them for missing the whole point of the ritual. While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you (Luke 11:37-41).
            As Christians we also have a washing ritual, and too many times we also miss the point. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name (Acts 22:16). Too many sing "Just As I Am" and think that means they do not have to make a large and fundamental change in their lives by putting away impurity when they commit their lives to the Lord. Yes, Jesus will accept you as you are, but he expects you to change who you are. Go your way and sin no more (John 8:11). But some want to keep living as they have, enjoying the same lifestyles that smack far more of wallowing in the mud than washing away sins.    We must become "new creatures," living new lives with new motivations and new goals—living for Him and not for ourselves. When we confess Him, we deny ourselves. If that has not happened, we are just like those first century Pharisees whom Jesus so strongly denounced: "Hypocrites."
            Semmelweiss understood the value of literal washing and in a very real way, died for his belief. God expects us to die to sin, beginning with that first symbolic washing that for some of us occurred so very long ago. Was it only a symbol, or did it really mean something?

…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, (Eph 5:25-26).

Dene Ward

Refreshment

8/12/2021 0 Comments

We worked our boys hard when they were growing up, weeding and picking the garden in the heat of a Florida summer, standing in a hot kitchen working the assembly line of produce canning and freezing, mowing an acre’s worth of our five with a push mower—not a walk-behind, but a push mower—splitting and stacking wood for the wood stove, hauling brush, raking leaves, and dumping them for mulch. After hours of hard labor and buckets of sweat, nothing thrilled them more on a hot summer afternoon than a refreshing dip in a nearby spring.
            Springs, even in Florida, are cold. It is almost painful to step into one--they will literally take your breath away. I was one who gradually eased my way in to avoid the shock, but the boys wanted to “get it over with,” and usually jumped off the pier, the floating dock, or the rope swing, whatever that particular spring had as a point of entry, and if I was standing too close I “got it over with” too.
            One of their favorites was Ichetucknee, probably because that one took up a whole day as we rented tubes and floated down the river from the spring head, leaving the water three hours later when we reached the picnic pavilions. Even by that point in the float, the river was still close enough to the spring that we could chill a homegrown watermelon in its cool shallows while we ate tomato sandwiches and leftover fried chicken; and we never had to worry about snakes or alligators.
            We were always the only ones around clothed from our necks to our knees so we got a lot of strange looks. The clothes did not help a bit with the cold. They were for modesty only. Nothing about a freezing wet shirt sticking to your body will keep you warm, even in a patch of sunlight. Yet when I finally got wet enough that a mere splash did not make me squeal, the water was a refreshing respite from the sauna we call summer down here.
            Peter told the people of Jerusalem that if they repented they would receive “seasons of refreshing” in Acts 3:19. I am told that the word actually means “breathing,” as in catching one’s breath after hard labor or exercise. That indicates to me that God is not promising us a life of ease. Yes, we have blessings that others do not have, and that only those who are spiritually minded can even recognize and enjoy, but we will still experience heartache, persecution, illness, and other trials of life. We are expected to wear ourselves out with service to any in need, as long as there is life in us. God has no truck with laziness.
            But we have this promise—as surely as ice cold spring water lapping against an overheated body can refresh and renew, we will have refreshment from above that soothes our aches and heals our hurts, that rests our souls with the peace of fellowship with God, and that bestows grace on our tortured spirits. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; and that he may send the Christ who has been appointed for you, Jesus, Acts 3:19,20.

Dene Ward