The year before had been a warm winter.  In fact, it had been unseasonably warm for several weeks, so warm the blueberries had begun to bloom.  Not good in January, for in North Florida we could be sure more frosts and freezes awaited us.  But there was nothing we could do about it, so we went on about our business, and one morning as I pulled myself along with the trekking poles, walking Chloe around the property, I suddenly came upon a yellow daisy right in the middle of a patch of green grass, another product of the warm spell.  It sat there only four inches off the ground and a little scraggly.  Still, it made me smile.
            Then I got a virus and found myself in the sickbed for over a week.  Finally, the chest congestion drained, the ears stopped aching, and the nose could suddenly breathe again, so after one more day of recovery, I took Chloe on another walk.  As I came around the blueberries I saw it again, still hanging on in spite of the now cooler temperatures--and once again I smiled.
            I suddenly wondered if we aren’t supposed to be like that lone little daisy out in the world.  Do we make anyone smile?  Or are we just like everyone else, hurrying along, consumed with ourselves and our business, impatient, or even angry, with the ones who get in our way and slow us down?  We have an obligation to others we pass along the way. 
            You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again. Deuteronomy 22:4
            That one is pretty easy, we say.  Who wouldn’t stop for a brother on the side of the road whose donkey (or car) was broken down?  Keith stood by the side of the road next to a disabled car one night, and watched brother after brother pass him on the way to the gospel meeting that was being held just a mile or two down the highway, so don’t be too sure of yourself.
            Yet the law also says this:  "If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him, Exodus 23:4-5.  How many of us feel any obligation at all to bear the burden of an enemy, or just a stranger? 
            Let’s not make it one of those situations where we excuse ourselves by talking about crime and good sense.  How about this?  Did you make the cashier’s day a little brighter or a little tougher when you went through the line this morning?  Did you stop and help the harried young mother who dropped her grocery list and sent coupons scattering across the aisle, or did you sigh loudly at the inconvenience of her, her cart, and her three rowdy children because you were in a hurry to get home?  Did you make small talk with the waitress who poured your coffee, or did you treat her like a piece of furniture?  Did you slow down and make room for the car that cut you off in traffic, or did you talk and gesticulate and lay on the horn long enough for someone to think we were in an air raid?  Did you make anyone smile this morning?
            At my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me, Paul said in 2 Tim 4:16.  Nearly impossible to imagine, isn’t it?  Yet the night before Keith was scheduled to testify in a trial where we knew the only defense was to try to discredit him, a brother decided he needed to call him up and castigate him for an imagined slight, something that he had simply misunderstood.  When all we can think about is ourselves instead of bearing one another’s burdens, Gal 6:2, instead of helping the weak, 1 Thes 5:14, instead of comforting one another, 2 Cor 1:4, that’s exactly what happens.
            Yes, we get comfort from God, but guess how that often happens?  But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 2 Corinthians 7:6.  We are the comfort that God gives.  We are the help that He provides. It’s up to us to pay attention and think of someone besides ourselves.
            Today, be a January daisy, something lovely and unexpected in the life of someone who needs it, whether a brother, or an enemy, or just a stranger.  Make someone smile.
 
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. Proverbs 16:24
I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus… for they refreshed my spirit... 1 Corinthians 16:17-18
 
Dene Ward

Instead of always whining and complaining about the morals of the world about us, God's people would do better to just demonstrate, in the pulpit and the pew, the qualities that are desirable. Let us say and do, preach and live moral purity of the very highest possible degree. Let the thoughts of our minds, the words of our lips, and the deeds of our bodies be holy, godly, and righteous altogether. This would abound to the glory of God, to satisfaction in life, and usefulness to the world.

Leslie Diestelkamp • Think, Vol. 2, No. 5, July 1971

Our culture gets in the way of our Bible study far too often.  It is a lesson taught to me by a younger woman about twenty years ago.  During that class we were discussing the wives of David and the problems that might have caused—all of them being wives of the same man.  Naturally the idea of jealousy and resentment came up first, and we discussed that for several minutes. Finally this young woman spoke up and said, "I don't think we have any idea how those women felt.  They grew up with the idea of polygamy.  It was all around them, especially in the neighboring countries, and even among the richer Israelites.  They knew from the beginning that they might find themselves in this situation.  Their own mothers might have been in that situation.  How can we who are used to monogamy even imagine what they were feeling?"
            I knew immediately that she was correct.  We carry our cultural baggage into our Bible study when we need to be dropping it off at the study door.  The only way to know how these women might have felt is to talk to a woman who has experienced it since none of us have.
            And because of our cultural baggage we miss a lot of other examples in the Biblical text.  Lately, I find lessons in passages I have studied for years, even decades, without ever seeing before.  I suppose that some of these things just take age and experience to realize, as well as hour after hour of study. 
            And there are other problems as well.  When you have studied something for years, it is difficult to enter into it again without remembering all the things you have already discovered or thought about.  It is especially difficult if you have them written all over your Bible.  It will be practically impossible to see anything new.  My husband and a couple of the Florida College Bible faculty have openly recommended that you only write in one Bible and leave your study Bible blank for exactly that reason.  You may think those little squiggles won't influence you as you study the passage anew, but you are wrong.  It's like the elephant in the room—they are there and you can't help but think about them, even if you try to make a point not to read them.  And if you are young and absolutely sure that such is not the case with you, please take a step back and think about the arrogance of chucking advice from older, wiser, and far more knowledgeable heads.
            And then there is the old intellectual snobbery problem.  We think we are so much smarter than those "primitive" people back then, and that our culture is so much more enlightened.  And that effectively wipes out some of the more important lessons they can teach us.  And so I plan to present a series of lessons we might have missed.  I really do not know how long this series will last.  It might stop and then start again when I find other lessons I have not yet thought of.  For now, most of these will revolve around Abraham and Sarah.
            We will begin next week, one lesson a week to give you time to absorb something new, but in the meantime, let me challenge you to start reading all those old Bible narratives, look again at those characters, and see if you can find something new yourself.  Perhaps you can share your discoveries with me as we go along.  I would love to hear them.
 
Wherefore also it was reckoned unto [Abraham] for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was reckoned unto him; but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead (Rom 4:22-24).
 
Dene Ward

I had heard of it happening before, washing machines walking across a room during a spin cycle because they were out of balance.  The washers of our day must be more attuned to the problem.  In fact, several years back when I put something large and heavy in the washer, as it began to spin, it simply cut itself off—some sort of failsafe, I suppose.  I rearranged the heavy bedspread and it spun just fine, finishing the load as programmed.
            Yet a couple of months ago, I went to move the towel load from the washer to the dryer, and found my machine sitting cockeyed from the wall.  In fact, if the back corner of the machine hadn’t hit the sidewall of the nook where it sat, it might have done a complete 360, water spewing everywhere when the hose pulled out of the wall.
            Ever since then, any sort of semi-heavy load sets the machine to walking—towels, jeans, sheets—and I have numerous dings in my laundry nook wall where that back corner always slams into the wall.  The washer man gave us some instructions, but nothing works.  Somehow my washing machine has become out of balance, and it appears it will stay that way.  On our recently slashed retirement budget, it isn’t worth the money to fix.
            Some of us have the same problem.  We can’t seem to find the balance.  Some stress obedience to the neglect of sincerity; others say, “The heart is all that matters.”  Some emphasize purity and truth to the point that compassion is all but lost, while others view mercy and compassion as the be-all-and-end-all.  A good many believe that wisdom and common sense will solve all matters, avoiding sacrifice for others and unquestioning faith in a God who controls all.
            “It isn’t good stewardship of my money.”
            “God would never expect…”
            “He meant well, and that’s what counts.”
            “They have family.  Let them do it.”
            “At least they attend a sound church.”
            “I thought we’d never get him baptized.”
            “This isn’t wrong but it might lead to…”
            All of these statements are a sign of a washing machine out of balance, banging against the wall as it pits one scripture against another, wresting the Word of God to make it fit what I want, instead of weighing the spirit of the law, and making a righteous decision based upon an appropriate balance of faith and wisdom, purity and compassion, obedience and sincerity.
            I know a man who had to study to make an important decision in his life.  He said, “I studied it knowing the wrong decision would send me to Hell.”  He’s the same man who will reach into his pocket the moment he hears of a need.  If you have that kind of balance in your life, none of this will be as difficult as the contentious always want to make it.
             
But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless, Matt 12:7.
 
Dene Ward

I read an article in the newspaper several months ago that I wanted to stand up and applaud.  Then I wanted to sit down and cry.  Let me give you some quotes from that article written by a woman named Debra Nussbaum.
           
            “…Sometimes when I’m at Dunkin’ Donuts I think of [that] quote from Hamlet... ‘The apparel oft proclaims the man.’ 
            “What is the guy in front of me proclaiming with his pajama bottoms?  And the woman behind me in an oversize white tank top that shows every inch of her black bra, what is her proclamation?  Is the guy revealing 80 percent of his boxers sending a message?
            “We have lost the subtle internal rule that tells one not to…wear a skirt the size of a dish towel to school or a religious sanctuary; and not, not, not to feel the need to reveal one’s underwear to the public.
            “A funeral isn’t the place for a miniskirt and 5 inch heels.  A lot of cleavage is…not appropriate for a Tuesday morning at the office or in school.  In fact, it’s bad manners.”
           
            Why is it that the world knows when something is inappropriate, and the people of God make excuses for it?  Why is it that the world cares more about rudeness than we do about sin?
            I was in my neighbor’s home one day visiting.  “Did you see the movie--?  No, wait,” he interrupted himself.  “You’re a Christian.  You wouldn’t have seen that movie.”
            It seems the world knows what a Christian ought to be better than some of my brethren do.  The Corinthians had that problem too.  It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles…1 Cor 5:1.
            Maybe we should take a poll.  Ask your neighbors what a Christian would and wouldn’t do.   I understand that they are not completely informed, that there may be aspects of New Testament Christianity they miss or even categorize as hateful, mean-spirited, and ignorant.  Just stick with basic morality.  What would a Christian wear or not wear?  What movies or TV shows would he not watch?  What behaviors would he avoid?  Drinking?  Smoking?  Gambling?  Why is it they can clearly see the problems with these things while we tie ourselves in knots trying to excuse them?
            When amoral people know how a Christian ought to act, ought to dress, and ought to speak and we who call ourselves the true followers don’t, something is wrong.  The same thing happened to God’s people of old, and the words He sent then will apply to us too.  Read them and weep with me.
 
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again, Ezekiel 5:7-9.
 
Dene Ward

I can remember my daddy uttering those very words every time we pulled up to what was then called a “service station,” a glassed-in office with two service bays and usually two gas islands, sporting regular, premium and mid-grade pumps, the older models rounded on the top and the newer ones square-cornered and squat.  An attendant came out of one of the bays, summoned to us by the double-ding of the bell hoses we ran over with both front and rear tires, usually wiping his hands with a greasy blue rag, and did the honors while we sat in the car waiting.  He also checked the water in the radiator and battery, and cleaned the windshields.  When the pump kicked off, he carefully finished filling the tank and then bent his head to the open window to tell us the amount we owed.  If we paid cash, he brought back change.  If we used our gas company credit card, he took it and ran it, bringing back a dark blue clipboard with slip attached and a pen for a signature.
            Unlike today's self-serve stations, we never left the car, never lifted a finger.  It was all done for us.  Maybe that’s why we seem to expect God to “fill ‘er up” without having to make any effort at all ourselves.  Maybe that’s what we’re thinking when we sit in our pews on Sunday morning—we’re expecting the teachers, song leaders, and preachers to “fill ‘her up.” 
            “I didn’t get anything out of services this morning,” we say, as if that were the only purpose to our being there, to allow others to wait on us just like an attendant at an old-fashioned service station; as if that were the only possible way to fill oneself up spiritually.
            Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled, Matt 5:6.  Do we really think that righteousness can be poured in like gasoline, that we can sit passively while it happens?
            John tells us, Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, 1 John 3:7.  Being filled with righteousness has far more to do with what I do anywhere else besides a church building than it does with listening to a sermon and expecting to walk away holy because of it.
            God also expects us to fill ourselves with knowledge.  Anyone who thinks that comes from osmosis on Sunday mornings as we doze in our pews or play with the babies in front of us had better not apply for a school teaching job any time soon. You won’t keep it long.
            Paul says, And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, Colossians 1:9-10.  Becoming knowledgeable takes work far above and beyond listening to a couple hours a week of sermons and Bible classes.  Making it stick means applying what you learn, “bearing fruit” as you put that knowledge into practice.
            But others have the problem of which tank to use.  They seem satisfied with “regular.”  Since my daddy worked for Gulf, we always went to Gulf stations.  “Regular” was called “Good Gulf” and premium was called “Gulftane,” a play on the fact that the octane was higher.  A soul created in the image of God requires nothing less than premium.
            I read a book once in which the writer was at a loss to know how to refill herself after giving so much to marriage, children, and society.  Her problem was thinking she could do it herself, with things that have no eternal existence and purpose.  She was trying to fill up on “regular.”   Christians know better.
            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 15:13.
            “Fill ‘er up,” we used to say to the gas attendant.  Far more important, we should say it to God, and then do our part as He fills us to the brim.  It’s the only way to keep your life from running on empty.
 
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God, Philippians 1:9-11.
 
Dene Ward

If you are a regular blog reader, you know that I post book reviews about once a month.  Keith has been reading these sorts of things for nearly all our married life as part of his Bible study.  He seldom has a book out without his Bible next to it.  I decided that if he could handle this sort of reading so could I.  However, I did ask for his recommendations.  If a book is too heavily into theology and requires a dictionary as well as a Bible in order to understand it, it probably isn't meant to be helpful in a practical, daily way.  Those I wanted to avoid.  So he has passed along the ones he thought that not only I could read and benefit from, but things my readers could benefit from as well.
            In case something in you shies away from any reading except your Bible, please consider this.  The Apostle Paul quotes the poet Aratus of Cilicia in Acts 17:28.  He quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12.  He quotes Menander, a comic poet (so he had a sense of humor, too) in 1 Cor 15:33:  "Bad company corrupts good morals," which might actually have been a quote from a play by Euripides.  These are not religious writings, but Paul was able to use them in that way and relate to people of all sorts of backgrounds with them.  Yes, we must all be careful of bad influences and things that are just plain wrong.  But it is foolish to ignore the things of our culture and somehow think we can refute them.
            So I would like to challenge you.  Go to my book reviews category.  Read through a few and pick two or three books to read this year.  I believe I have given you enough information to make a good choice.  Then go to the "Contact Dene" page and send me a thought or two about what you have read.  Beginning about August or September, I will start rerunning the reviews of the books I have received the most comments on, copying and pasting your comments at the bottom.  I hope this will encourage others to broaden their reading as well.  Please give me an identifier of your choice which I will honor when I post your comments, perhaps a first name only, a set of initials, or something like, "Susan from Dallas."  If you don't mind using your whole name, I will do that, but only if you say so.
            Believe me when I say that I am not trying to sell books.  As the author of 7 or 8, I can tell you that no one writes religious books to make money.  Generally you are lucky to break even.  I tell you in each of my reviews how to get the book, the publisher and some outlets as well, and if you have a well-read preacher in your family, perhaps you can borrow some of them.  Please help me make this an encouraging venture this year.
 
The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when you come, and the books, especially the parchments. (2Tim 4:13).  Even Paul traveled with books to read!
 
Dene Ward

I will be taking a break until January 6.  I hope you have a wonderful couple of weeks with family and friends.  We will be alone but I hope that means I will have time to replenish my files.  If you find yourself with time, the archives are available all the way back to 2012, or you can concentrate on one of the categories.  Whichever, please enjoy, and if you travel, stay safe. 

"See" you in a couple of weeks!

Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.
 
I grew up with an axe in my hands. Granddad had an old one that he let us boys use. I recall being 6 or 7 and trying to split pieces of wood, sometimes in competition with visiting cousins. [Can you imagine today's parents allowing children to have a pocketknife, much less play with an axe—no phones, no ambulances, no supervision. Perhaps I should do this on raising a nation of wimps and how that attitude creeps into the church.] In the Ozarks of NW Arkansas, we used double-bitted axes: one side kept sharp for cutting limbs or small trees and the other for any time the axe might hit the ground which was rocky. Woe be unto him who struck the ground with the sharp side. No one had a powered wood splitter or even a splitting maul. Wood was split by learning where to hit and then being able to hit that spot however many times it took.
 
By the time we bought our 5 acres in North Florida, I had a 12 pound all steel splitting maul. I borrowed a chain-saw for the financially lean first years. Sometimes, we had pieces that did not split with one blow. Both boys can tell of times I put 6 or 8 full roundhouse swings within ¼ inch. Eventually, I learned that one need not always go through the middle and large pieces are more easily "cornered" off the edges until they are smaller.
 
Peter warned, "But like as he who called you is holy, be yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, You shall be holy; for I am holy. And if you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear: " (1Pet 1:15-17).  Now, this means real fear of the kind Jesus said to not fear those who can kill us, but to fear HIM who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. (Mt 10:28).
 
Motivated by such fear, we first need to learn to aim for holiness as I learned to aim an axe to hit a spot so well that I could split kindling not much larger than 1" by 1" (Often done when Dene and I camped to make fires that quickly burned to coals for grilling over). Next, we must consistently work at being holy. When we heated with wood, I only occasionally "missed the mark," but as I've aged I have gotten out of practice. The remedy is to swing again and hit the mark. Holiness comes from everyday living, not just going to church.
 
Unless I misread Peter, you go check it out, unholy living makes it a lie to pray, "Our Father……" Certainly, we need to ask forgiveness but then we must correct our lives to be holy.
 
By de-emphasizing the Bible's teaching on fear and the call for absolute holiness, we have often raised a church full of wimps who expect to gain holiness with one swing of the axe on Sundays.
 
"Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2Cor 7:1).
"Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. " (Heb 12:14).
 
Keith Ward

[Charlene Warren is an old friend who just recently lost her husband Rick.  She posted these words on Facebook a few months afterward and I was astounded at her wonderful attitude.  I will always try to remember this perspective should I someday become a widow.  I hope it will also help the widows out there who are struggling.  I am publishing this with Charlene's permission.]

I remember when Leslie [her oldest daughter] first left for college. There were things those of us still at home wanted to participate in, and I would think, "Oh, but Leslie isn't here to do that with us, we should wait." Then, I learned about all of the new friends she was making, and activities she was participating in daily, and at night as well. So then I realized she was busy and having the time of her life at Florida College, and I just started letting our lives go ahead and do things without her being here. It felt weird at first, but we did it.

This morning I remembered about that. Rick is having the best time of his life now, and we can go ahead and do things without him here, and whatever we do would only pale in comparison. When we sing at church, and it sounds "the best this side of Heaven" I think how magnificent the singing is that he is participating in, in Heaven. No more cancer, no pain, and he can get around like everyone else does in Heaven. I see new construction going on that he would have taken notice of, and think to tell him, and then I am reminded that this stuff on earth no longer would be interesting to him at all. How blessed he is to know now what Heaven truly is like, and to hug the neck of Jesus.

Lord come quickly!!!
Charlene Warren