"Learning to do, doing to learn, learning to live, living to serve."  Such is the motto of the National Future Farmers of America, as the organization was originally called.  It was established during its first annual convention, attended by 33 young farm boys from 18 different states.  That first convention took place around November 20, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri, with the final banquet occurring on that date.  The stated goals of the new organization were to further personal growth and career success through agricultural education.  The name was later changed to the National FFA organization to represent growing diversity in agriculture.
            Today, let's focus on their motto, especially that last phrase, "living to serve."  If anyone should have such a motto, it's the Christian.
            We are a self-centered and selfish culture.  If you think that has not found its way into the church, you are wrong.  If you think it hasn’t found its way into your own heart, you are probably wrong again.  Have these words ever left your mouth?  “No one came to see me when I was sick/injured/in the hospital?”  There is your evidence right there.
            God meant for us to minister to others every day and in every circumstance of life.  Too often, if we see our lives as a ministry at all, we see it as periods of service broken up by periods when we cannot serve—for example, when we are ill.  In other words, when things don’t come easily, when things are not perfect, we are “on break” or “out to lunch.”  
            If anyone had an excuse for taking a break, it was Paul while he was in prison.  Yet he tells the Philippians that he was fulfilling his mission to preach the gospel, “this grace,” even while imprisoned, Phil 1:5-7.  God recently taught us this lesson of perpetual ministry in a way we will not soon forget.
            Keith had major surgery that kept him in the hospital five days.  In fact, it kept me in with him since I can more easily communicate with this deaf spouse of 46 years than anyone else can, and I took care of many basic nursing chores too. 
            We have always made it a point to treat service people as people, not personal slaves or furniture.  Many waitresses have told us they remember us from earlier visits precisely because of that.  We tried to do the same with the hospital medical staff.  We didn’t complain; we didn’t make demands; we took care of our own needs as often as possible, and said please and thank you when we had to ask for something.  We never really thought about that—it’s just something we do because the Lord would have us treat everyone kindly and with respect.
            One night one of the nurses took me aside and asked about our “religion.”  “There’s something different about you,” she said, and gave me an opening to talk with her about the Lord and our church family. 
            Another night one of the nurses stayed in our room talking to us far longer than she needed to accomplish her task.  Finally she said with a sigh, “I need to go check on the others, but I’ll be back to talk more when I can.”
            Yet another day, one of the nurses who had been with us for three days was leaving for four days off, and knew that she wouldn’t see us again.  She made a point to come say good-bye. 
            While we were there we handed out tracts and blog cards.  We wrote down church addresses and website addresses.  We gave out email addresses.  Although we had taken those things with us “just in case,” I was shocked at how many we were able to give out, at how many people wanted to talk.  We thought we needed their care, but God gave us a pointed lesson on how to give it right back.
            What is happening in your life right now?  Don’t assume that you cannot serve when you are physically indisposed.  Don’t hang an “out to lunch” sign on your life because you have too much going on right now to pay attention to anyone else.  What did Jesus do while he was hanging on the cross?  How many did he minister to?  His mother, a thief, the very men who drove the nails, and all of us as he died for our sins.
            Jesus expects us to live as he did, thinking of others’ needs first.  If you have done it long enough, it comes without thought, even in turbulent times, painful times, sorrowful times.  The trick is to do it while things are good.  Do it in the grocery store.  Do it on the freeway.  Do it at school and work and when you speak to your neighbor.  It must become natural in order to come automatically in trying circumstances.  Any difficulty you have, especially when things are easy, is a telling factor—it shows how little you have been working on it.
            Service, first, last, always--and regardless of circumstances—that is the motto of a true disciple of Christ.
 
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ, Philippians 1:12-13.
 
To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak, Ephesians 6:18-20.
 
Dene Ward

Keith noticed it first, a dove that sat quiet and almost still on the ground beneath one of the hanging bird feeders.  While other doves and a bevy of cardinals hopped around him pecking at the ground, then flying up and down from the feeder, he barely moved a foot in two hours, and always one small, hesitant hop at a time.  By late evening most of the other birds were gone, finished with their free supper and off to find a good roosting place for the night, but he still sat there.
            By then I was a little worried.  I grabbed the binoculars for a closer look.  He had puffed himself up twice his size as birds will do in the winter to keep warm.  But it was still early September and the humid evening air hovered in the upper 80s.  Suddenly his head popped up, stretching out his neck just a bit, and then immediately back into the folds of feathers around his shoulders.  As I continued to watch I noticed it every five minutes or so.  It almost looked like he had hiccups, but somehow I did not think that was the problem.  Something worse was happening.
            Near dusk he suddenly flew straight up to the feeder itself.  Instead of perching on the outer rung designed for a bird to curl its feet around and be able to lean forward to eat from the small trough that ran around the bottom of the feeder, he flew into the trough itself, hunched down, and leaned against the clear plastic wall of the feeder.  Then he became completely still—no more twitching or bouncing.  I watched until it was too dark to see any longer. 
            The next morning I went out with my pail of birdseed to refill all the feeders around the house.  There beneath the feeder lay the now much smaller body of the dove.  Sometime in the night he had died and fallen off the feeder.  We carefully disposed of the small body for the sake of the other birds and our Chloe just in case it had carried a contagious illness.  It was a sad moment.  I couldn’t help but think, “You weren’t alone, little guy.  We watched you and we cared.”
            We weren’t the only ones watching.  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father, Matt 10:29.  God notices when every little bird falls to the ground.  And never forget the lesson Jesus draws from that:  But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows, Matt 10:30-31.
            Dying alone has become a metaphor for a purposeless existence. “We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone,” (Orson Welles).
            It’s used to depict life and death as a beginning and end that you cannot effect one way or the other.  “Don’t expect anyone to stick around.  You were born alone and you will die alone,” (Anonymous).
            It’s used as a desperate pitiful plea for someone to care:  “I just don’t want to die alone, that’s all.  That’s not too much to ask for, is it?  It would be nice to have someone care for me, for who I am, not about my wallet,” (Richard Pryor).
            It’s used to show the meaninglessness of life:  “At the end, we all die alone,” (Anonymous).
            Is it any wonder that skeptics and atheists commit suicide?  None of these things is true for a Christian. 
            For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever… Ps 37:28.
            Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you, Heb 13:5.
            Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go, Josh 1:9.
            Sometimes we can quote passages like these until we are blue in the face, but when the hour of trial comes, any sort of trial, and no one stands with us, we allow the physical eye to fool us into believing we are alone.  We need to learn to see with spiritual eyes like our Lord did:  Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me, John 16:32.  We are the only ones who can take that promise away—when we don’t believe it.  With God a believer is never alone no matter how much vacant space surrounds him.
            If God promised to watch for every fallen bird, He will watch for me.  Even if some day I breathe my last breath in an otherwise empty room, I can know that Someone cares enough to be nearby, watching and waiting to take me home.
 
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints, Ps 116:15.
And I will gather you to your fathers…2 Chron 34:28.
 
Dene Ward

On November 18, 1928, Steamboat Willie, AKA Mickey Mouse, made his film debut in the animated short called by that name.  Although he had appeared in two other cartoons before that, Walt Disney considered this one his "birthday" possibly because it was the first to use synchronized sound.  The "sound" was actually Walt Disney himself making an assortment of grunts, whistles, and laughs—there was actually no dialogue at all.  Steamboat Willie was a smash, and Walt Disney began a career that led to at least 142 films earning Walt Disney himself 26 Oscars, and eventually to Disneyland and Disneyworld.
            Those two amusement parks earn their big, big dollars with the concept of making dreams come true.  Where else would you find the castle that inhabits every little girl's dreams and the spaceships that fly little boys into space?  Where else can you see ghosts and not be harmed, fly in a magic car, and wander around a treehouse for castaways that has all the comforts of home?  "If you can dream it," Walt Disney famously said, "you can do it."  And everyone has heard Jiminy Cricket advise us that "If you keep on believing, the dream that you wish can come true."  Maybe it depends upon what you are dreaming about.
             We have done a lot of babysitting for the grandchildren over the years.  The spring Judah was twenty months old, we kept them for a week.  Every evening he climbed into my lap as I drank my last cup of coffee.  It took me a minute to figure it out the first time his little hand reached out into the air.  Finally I realized he was trying to catch the steam wafting over my mug, and was completely mystified when it disappeared between his little fingers.
            A lot of people spend their lives trying to catch the steam, vapors that seem solid but disintegrate in their grasping hands.  They do it in all sorts of ways, and all of them are useless. 
            Do they really think they can stop time?  Over 11,000,000 surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures were performed in this country in 2013, and we aren’t talking medically necessary procedures.  The top five were liposuctions, breast augmentations, eyelid surgeries, tummy tucks, and nose surgeries.*  I doubt the number has decreased any.
            Then there are the folks chasing wealth and security.  Didn’t the recent Great Recession, as it is now called, and the economic problems of 2020 teach them anything? 
            Others are striving to make a name for themselves.  These are usually the same folks who tell Christians how pathetic we are to believe that some Higher Power would ever notice we even exist on this puny blue dot in the universe.  Yet there they all go, looking for fame, fortune, notoriety, beauty, or even their version of eternal life.  All of it is nothing more than a dream.  It will disappear, if not in a natural disaster or an economic meltdown, then the day they die—and they will die no matter how hard they try not to.  They are the ones grasping at dreams which are only a vapor that disappears in a flash.
            Our dream isn’t a dream at all.  It is a hope, which in the Biblical sense means it is all but realized.  Sin and death have been conquered by a force we can only try to comprehend, by a love we can never repay, and by a will we can but do our best to imitate.  Yet there it is, not a wisp of white floating over a warm porcelain mug, but a solid foundation upon which we base our faith.  Heb 6:19 calls it “an anchor.”  Have you ever seen a real anchor?  If there is anything the opposite of a wisp of steam, that’s it—solid and strong, able to hold us steady in the worst winds of life.  Tell me how a pert nose and a full bank account can do that!
            It's time to leave the amusement parks and the words of cartoon characters.  The world thinks it knows what is real while we sit like a toddler grasping at steam.  When eternity comes, they will finally see that they are wrong.  Spiritual things are the only things that last, the only real things at all.
 
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal, 2 Cor 4:6-8.
 
*Information from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
 
Dene Ward

I have been doing a lot of outside reading for some classes I am teaching, and find myself reading blurbs on the backs of these books at odd times, usually when my mind needs a rest from all the scholarly stuff my old and feeble brain is trying to make sense of.  I saw this one a few weeks ago and it stopped me in my tracks.
            “In Story as Torah Gordon Wenham showed how biblical narrative texts little used by ethicists, can inform Christian moral teaching.”  John Barton, University of Oxford.
            In other words, the man has written a book in which he uses the Bible “stories,” as we are prone to call them, to teach us right and wrong.  First, I do understand that the word “inform” has a special meaning in scholarly circles, but it still seems plain to me that the critic is saying that using the Bible this way is highly unusual, in fact, a groundbreaking idea. 
            I sit here wondering why they are reading their Bibles at all if they have not figured this out before.  We do this every Sunday in Bible classes.  I did it every day when my children were growing up.  I do it now when my grandsons come for a visit.  We talk about the Bible narratives and how they teach us we should be behaving in our lives.  We talk about Noah and how “everyone is doing it,” proves that “it” is probably wrong.  We talk about Daniel and how important prayer is, and how God takes care of the faithful.  We talk about Elijah and the One True God.  We talk about Judas and betrayal, about Peter and impetuosity—and then forgiveness.  We talk about Jonah and God’s love for everyone and our responsibility to share that love.  My children grew up knowing what the Bible is for.  What in the world did these people think they should do with it?
            And we can laugh at them and think ourselves so much better than they, but are we?  We know the Bible is to be used to “inform” our lives, but does it?  Does the sermon go in one ear and out the other?  Do the Bible classes become exercises in finding yet another way to bring up my pet hobby, or to show everyone how much I know instead of finding something I need to improve on?  Do I give the right answers and then go out and live the wrong ones?
            Before we laugh at men who have become a little too smart for their own good, let’s check our own behavior.  We may know better, but are we doing it?
 
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come, 1Cor 10:6-11.
 
Dene Ward
 

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.  It is the last in his series on Proverbs.
 
In a world of situational ethics and the forced acceptance of all beliefs and lifestyles, does it really matter if I live a righteous life?  Is there really any kind of standard?  Who enforces it?  Are there really any consequences for not living righteously?  Again, Solomon weighs in, with at least 68 passages in Proverbs dealing with the idea of blessing for the righteous and punishment for the wicked.
 
Who enforces the standard?
Prov. 17:3  “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.”
Prov. 15:3  “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” 
God is the judge.  He tests hearts like a goldsmith tests gold.  He sees everything, whether good or bad.
 
Is it really that important?
Prov. 23:15-18  "My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.  My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.  Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.  Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off."
Prov. 15:24  “The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.”
Prov. 19:16  “Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die.”
If you continue in the fear of the Lord, you have a future.  (What's the alternative?  No future.)  The prudent life leads up, away from hell.  The commandment keeper also keeps his life.  Otherwise, he dies.  Is it that important?  Yeah, I'd say so. 
 
Yet, it's not only important because it averts destruction, but because God blesses the righteous.  You see, righteousness allows for hope.
Prov. 10:24, 28  What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted. . . . The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish." 
While the wicked have nothing but dread, the righteous can confidently expect the joy of the Lord. 
Prov. 11:18  “The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.”
Prov. 11:23  “The desire of the righteous ends only in good, the expectation of the wicked in wrath.”
Christians should never feel hopeless.  Because we are living righteous lives, we have a hope that can be counted on. We can wait for the sure reward.  God has also set up many other blessings for the righteous.  (Perhaps this is a good place to remind ourselves that proverbs are general statements that are generally true.  The temporal blessings all carry that caveat, the eternal ones do not.)
 
The righteous are established.
Prov. 10:25  “When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.”
Prov. 10:30  “The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.”
Prov. 12:7  “The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.”
Prov. 12:19  “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”
The wicked often seem to get ahead, but their status rarely survives even in this world and when death comes, they are truly removed.  The righteous remains, and when death comes he is truly established.
 
The righteous are a blessing to their children.
Prov. 11:21  “Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.”
Prov. 20:7  “The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him!”
The children of the righteous are blessed and delivered.  They are inherently better off than the children of the wicked.  How often does a kid get a second chance because of who his parents are?  Not the evil influence of powerful men, but a situation like this:  "This is Joe's kid.  Joe's a good guy.  I'm going to give his kid a second chance."  That happens, quite often.  Why?  Because the righteousness of the parent blesses the child.
 
The righteous are provided for.
Prov. 10:2-3  "Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.  The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked."
Prov. 13:25  “The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.” 
Have Christians ever starved?  Yes.  But the general truth is that, unless he needs them as modern day Jobs, God provides for His own.
 
Prov. 22:4  “The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.” 
Prov. 28:25  “A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched.”
We are not proclaiming the Prosperity Gospel, but, generally speaking, if a man is righteous and follows the principles in Proverbs, he will do well for himself.
 
The righteous walk surely.
Prov. 10:9  “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.”
Prov. 11:3  “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.”
Prov. 15:19  “The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.”
Making decisions about how to live can be hard, but if we follow the principles of righteousness we can be sure of the path.  Our lives will be like a level highway that we can cruise.  Not that everything will be easy, but choosing the path and knowing where to go can be easy if we are guided by righteousness and integrity.
 
The righteous can rely upon God.
Prov. 14:26  “In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.”
Prov. 18:10  “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”
Prov. 29:25  “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.”
Prov. 21:21  “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.”
We can trust in the Lord and have a refuge.  He will be a strong tower to keep us safe and as we pursue righteousness, we will find life.  If we live in righteousness, we can count on the Lord for help and protection.
 
Finally, the righteous live.
Prov. 19:23  “The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.”
Prov. 11:19  “Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die.”
Prov. 14:11  “The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.” 
These passages not only show the security of the righteous, but the end of the wicked: death.    We can be blessed by God for living righteously, or we can live in dread because of our wickedness and, ultimately, die. 
 
So, how do I live righteously?  A few quick passages:
Prov. 12:10  “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.”
Prov. 29:7  “A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.”
A righteous man is kind even to animals and doesn't squash the rights of the poor.  Instead, he treats them as people too.
Prov. 13:5  “The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.” 
Prov. 15:28  “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.”
The righteous man never lies and thinks before he speaks.
Prov. 19:11  “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” 
Prov. 12:26  “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
The righteous man can control his temper and his life is a guide to all who see him. 
 
So, yes, there is a standard, set, and watched, by God.  It does matter because the wicked will be destroyed while the righteous enjoy many blessings both here and eternally. 

Prov. 15:9  “. . . He loves him who pursues righteousness.”
 
Lucas Ward

Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. 2Cor 10:7.
            We’ve been examining all the repeated lessons in the New Testament, the ones the writers felt needed a rerun because they were that important.  Usually we look at the passage in context.  This one we will take squarely out of context.  The message still works and it is rerun again and again, in every context imaginable.  We obviously need, as the passage says, reminding.
            Some of the Corinthians were still having difficulty accepting Paul as an apostle.  In this short verse he reminds them of what should have been obvious:  We both belong to Christ.  That should have had an impact on them when they considered what he was telling them and how they received him.  Don’t you judge the motives of a brother differently than anyone else?  You ought to because you know he has sworn allegiance to the same Lord as you, the one who demands a lifestyle that abhors sin.  He isn’t a pagan.  And that kinship creates an instant bond no matter where you may run into one another.
            This lesson has been taught in the scripture since the beginning.  The fact that Cain killed his own brother made that murder even worse.  When Lot and Abraham began having difficulties, Abraham came to him to work things out.  It shouldn’t be like this, he told Lot, because, “We are brethren,” Gen 13:8.  When Moses saw the two Hebrews fighting he said to them, “You are brothers.  Why do you wrong each other?” Acts 7:26. 
            Yes, if we are brethren, if we both belong to Christ, it should make a difference in how we treat one another.  Peter goes so far as to say that obeying the truth should have the effect of producing in us not just cold, formal love for each other, but an intense and passionate love, one that never pretends.   Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 1Pet 1:22.  If I do not feel that way about my brothers and sisters, he seems to be saying, then maybe I haven’t really “obeyed the truth.”
            John agrees.  He says if we do not love our brethren, we are in darkness and in death; that we are liars and murderers, 1 John 2:9-11; 3:14-19; 4:20,21.  Christ died for us all.  If he loved me that much, he loved you that much, too, which means I should love you that much and you me.  We are instantly bound together in the same emotional context of gratitude and wonder and unity. 
            I know, I know.  You’ve heard these “love” lessons all your life.  When you hear another starting, you almost sigh and roll your eyes.  “Again?  What else is there to say?”
            Nothing.  It’s a rerun, but it’s a rerun found in nearly every book of the Bible.  That means it’s worth our hearing again.  And again.  And again. 
            Unless you think you’ve already got this one whipped?
 
With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Eph 4:2-3.
 
Dene Ward

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly, 2Pet 3:1-7.

Before we get to the meat of the matter, please notice the beginning of this little reminder Peter wrote.  He wanted us to remember “the commandment of our Lord and Savior through your apostles.”  Did you catch that?  A lot of people out there insist on red letter editions not so the words of Jesus will be obvious to them, but so they can ignore anything in black and white.  “Only the words of Jesus,” they say, are worth listening to.  The apostles and their teaching do not matter.

Oh yes we do, Peter says.  Where do you think you got those words of Jesus?  We reported them to you.  We wrote them.  As Jesus Himself said (in red letters) “Teach them to observe all things I command you,” Matt 28:20.  If you ignore the words of the apostles you are ignoring the words of Jesus, whether they are red or purple or blue with pink polka dots.

And his words continue on to remind us that God will indeed destroy this world.  When?  That we are not told, but do not, Peter says, forget it.  Do not count God as unfaithful to His promise.  The people in the time of the flood didn’t believe either.  And they only had 120 years to wait.

But think of this:  the Jews had been waiting for thousands of years.  They waited through the times of the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the growth of that family from one “only begotten son” to a clan of 70.  They waited through the slavery in Egypt, about 400 years.  They waited through the times of the Judges, another 350 or so.  They waited through the united and divided kingdoms, another 400 plus or minus.  Then they waited through a horrible destruction, captivity, and eventual restoration, about 300 more, and finally they waited through 400 years of absolute silence from God.

Yet the faithful were still looking when the Messiah came upon the scene.  Some seem to have given up, but the Joseph and Marys, the Zacharias and Elizabeths, the Simeons and Annas, the Salomes and Zebedees, there were enough still waiting, still believing, to form that first church on Pentecost.  And they found yet more.

We have been waiting about the same amount of time they did, and we have something more.  We have the examples of promises fulfilled, from the flood, to the Abrahamic promises, to the coming of the Messiah.  God kept all those promises and He will keep this last one. 

Our unbelieving society will tell you it’s just a myth, it won’t happen, if it does, it will be man’s doing and not God’s.  So go ahead and live your life as you please.  You are not accountable to a mythological being who doesn’t really exist anyway.  That is Satan talking.  He will use every ruse in the book and making you feel foolish for your faith is just one of them.  Don’t climb on the bandwagon with the rest of the world.  God has given us evidence.  Clear your mind and examine it. 

You can be among the faithful few who still looked, who still hoped, who still dreamed of the day when their Lord would come in power and glory.  They saw that Messiah come to earth, perform miracles, teach Divine truths as they had never been taught before, and rise from the dead.  Don’t give up hope, Peter says.  Remember all the times God kept His promises.  Remind yourself often.  It may be the most important rerun of a lesson you ever hear.
 
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed, 2Pet 3:9-10.
 
Dene Ward

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire, Jude 1:5-7.
            If ever we need a rerun of a lesson in this age it’s this one:  Jesus absolutely, definitely, most certainly will punish.  Too many times we who “once fully knew it” fall into the false security of the world, calling Jesus the gentle, the loving, the merciful, which is all true, but it is meant to imply that he would never punish anyone for a sin.  Maybe God would, especially that mean, angry Old Testament God, but certainly not Jesus.  The people Jude wrote to must have forgotten as well.  Jesus, the same one who saved the people out of Egypt, turned right around and destroyed a whole lot of them not long afterward. 
            Then Jude gives us three things to watch out for specifically.  First, in his allusion to the Israelites, he mentions unbelief.  How could they not believe in a God who spoke to them, who caused Sinai to shake, who had previously demonstrated His power in the plagues and at the Red Sea?  The Hebrew writer tells us, And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief, Heb 3:18-19.  He equates disobedience with unbelief, and it only makes sense.  If I really believe what God says, that He will do what he says He will do if I disobey Him, then I will not disobey.  Disobedience means I think I can get away with it, so it means I do not believe God, and Jesus, will punish.
            Then Jude mentions the angels “who left their proper dwelling.”  This cannot be talking about being cast out of Heaven because it says “they left,” which seems voluntary.  The understanding I get from scholars is they went beyond the bounds God set for them.  If a man walks into work and begins ordering people around like he was the boss, firing, hiring, and changing orders, he has “left his proper dwelling.”  Who are you supposed to submit to in your life?  Your husband?  Your elders?  Your boss?  Your government?  How about your fellow Christians (Eph 5:21)?  Have you left your proper place in life?  Jesus will punish.
            And then there is the issue of the day—sexual immorality and unnatural desire as exemplified by the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Jesus will punish.
            Remember, Jude tells them.  You used to know this.  What happened?  Maybe the same thing that has happened to us—listening to the culture we live in turn Jesus into a weak, instead of meek, pushover.  You can make him angry (Mark 3:5).  He will punish.  Don’t give him a reason to.
 
…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, 2Thess 1:7-8.
 
Dene Ward

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people, Titus 3:1-2.
            You would think a Christian wouldn’t need such reminders, but look at the things above.  Aren’t these the most difficult things for us to do?  To submit to someone else’s decisions, especially if we seriously disagree with them; to obey even when you had rather not; to be eager to serve others; to stop arguing and just accept; to be kind, even to those who do not deserve it; and to be courteous, even when people are not courteous to us—none of these things comes without effort.  In fact, they usually don’t come at all, and when their opposite surfaces, we are full of excuses.  He did it first; he needs to see what it feels like; if he can do it, so can I.  No you can’t.  Not and stay faithful to the Lord.
            Did you notice that most of these things are simply a matter of submitting one’s will to another?  And God always says that the reason for this is “the Lord’s sake” not the sake of the person you are submitting to, and that’s why we fail so often.  We look at the wrong person and when we see that person doesn’t deserve such submission, we find excuses.  You see it every day on the pages of facebook—rants about the government in words that are hardly “submissive.”  Even if you do obey, the submission is not there.  Let me ask you husbands, would you call a wife who rants at you in the same words you do at the President and congress “submissive?”  Parents, would you accept the attitude of a child who, while he ultimately obeyed, rolled his eyes and made sarcastic remarks while he did so?
            And so we have to be reminded to behave ourselves, every bit as much as a child needs that reminder, and because, like a child, we are “slaves to our passion” (v 3), especially our passion for self.  We submit our desires, our opinions, and that pesky thing called “self” because when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life, v 4-7.  We do not deserve our salvation any more than those people deserve our submission, service, and courtesy.  Are you going to give it up just to prove a point?
            No, we do not have to be reminded to do the easy things, so obviously these are difficult.  We need the reminder.  We need sometimes a reminder as sharp as a slap in the face.  Read the prophets.  They were good at that.  And the New Testament writers were not far behind.  I’ve been told that sometimes I’m not either.
 
But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder…Rom 15:15. 

Dene Ward

If you watch much television, you have just finished a season of reruns.  I would say THE season if it were still my childhood.  Back then a show lasted at least 9 months and you didn’t have any reruns at all until summer.  Nowadays you are likely to have one by Thanksgiving, and then off and on all year long. 
            One thing about growing older—reruns are a lot more interesting.  You don’t always remember what happened the first time, or whodunit or why.  In fact, since I usually watch only older shows, I really don’t remember.  It’s like watching a brand new show, and since it’s an older one, it’s a lot more palatable too.  Have you noticed that even when they care to “bleep” these days, they leave so much of the word you might as well have heard it in the first place?  Talk about unpalatable.
            A year or so ago Lucas said about the blog, “I finally read a new article that had something in it you already said!”  What in the world is he thinking, I wondered.  I've written over a thousand of these things.  How in the world could I NOT repeat myself?  And I have scriptural authority to do so:
            Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things, 2Pet 1:12-15.
            All things being equal, my departure should not be quite as imminent as Peter’s, but I will follow his example as long as I can by reminding you of things you have already heard at least once, if not a hundred times.
            And all that got me to thinking about the admitted reruns in the Bible—things the writers said were repeats of former lessons.  I did some research and have found a list of things these inspired men thought they should remind people of.  And that means I have a scripturally sound, ready-made list of things to remind you of.  And that’s what we will do this week.  I hope you don't find these "reruns" too boring to read.  If God thought these things were worth repeating, we should probably pay close attention.
 
Dene Ward