Pecan pie is a staple at our holiday table.  I found a great (and easy) recipe years ago and have not changed it a bit, which itself is notable.  Yet when I found a recipe recently for “the very best pecan pie,” I decided to give it a try.  Pecans, sugar, syrup, eggs, butter, and vanilla—how can you mess it up?

            I dutifully followed the recipe in every detail.  The only real difference was the syrup.  “Corn syrup is tasteless,” the author said, so she switched to real maple syrup.

            “This had better be good,” I thought as I shelled out seven dollars for one small bottle. It wasn’t.  No, that’s not fair.  It did not taste awful, but it wasn’t pecan pie.

            I reread the article.  I should have known when I saw the line, “All you can taste are the pecans,” referring to the standard recipe using corn syrup.  Well, it is called Pecan Pie.  It is all about the pecans to us Southerners.  This magazine was based in New England.  What the chef had created was a Maple Nut Pie because suddenly it was all about the maple syrup.  You could have added walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds and not have known the difference.  She had completely changed the focus of the pie.

            The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, Mark 2:27.  Over and over during his ministry, the scribes and Pharisees plagued Jesus with accusations of breaking the Sabbath.  Their many rules and regulations, not found in the law, had turned what God designed to be a blessing for man into a burden. 

            The Sabbath was a day of rest for God’s people, while the pagan world worked seven days a week just to survive.  It was a day when they could see to their spiritual needs, and renew their relationship with God.  It was a day of “holy convocation,” Lev 23:3.  The many rigorous—and ridiculous—traditions had made it a day to dread instead. 

            Jesus reminded them many times that man should be blessed by the Sabbath, that his good should come because of and sometimes even at the expense of the Sabbath.  They pulled their oxen out of the ditch.  Why shouldn’t he heal?

            When you change the focus of a law, you often lose the blessing God intended from that law.  Staying with the idea of a special day, what about our Lord’s Day?  Is it necessary to make it inconvenient in order for it to be sincere worship?  Yet, I have heard people argue about changing the times of service in exactly that way.  If we have many who come from a distance, and the price of gas has become prohibitive, why can’t we meet one time for longer instead of two shorter services without being accused of losing our faith? 

            Can’t you hear Jesus’ reaction?  The Lord’s Day is made for man, not man for the Lord’s Day. If inconvenience is what makes it true worship, let’s meet at 3 am. 

            To make another application, each one of us is responsible for how we view our assemblies, for our focus when we meet.  If instead of being a blessing it is nothing more than a rule to follow, then I need to change my focus to God’s intended one.  We are told that our assembling should “provoke one another to love and good works.”  Too many times all we get is provoked, and that is our own fault. Let all be done unto edifying, Paul tells those assembled in 1 Cor 14:26.  You can’t edify a person who sits there like a rock, who listens to find fault, or who wishes he were somewhere else. 

            Don’t change the focus of God’s laws.  He made them to bless us and help us.  When we can’t find the blessing, it’s because we are focused on ourselves, our own bad attitudes and evil motives, instead of on serving a Creator who loves us and blesses us, and on brethren who count on us for encouragement.
 
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous, 1 John 5:3.
 
Dene Ward

Yet another technological advance is making our lives easier—Keith now has a close-captioned phone.  Now he can make his own phone calls.  This has made my life so much easier.  Before, I spent hours on the phone because I had to do all of it.  When you add waiting on hold or for call backs, there were days I felt like a prisoner in my own home.

            However, this voice recognition technology is not the perfect cure.  For one thing, it takes a minute sometimes for the captions to register and print up on the screen.  Recorded menus will not wait a minute for the computer to recognize the words and print them, and then for the caller to read them.  By the time the whole process has occurred, the pleasant little voice will be saying, “I’m sorry.  I didn’t catch that,” and unlike a real person, you can’t interrupt and explain.  I still have to deal with the menus for him.

            Then there is the machine’s inability to recognize every word.  If a speaker is not loud enough, all you get is “Voice unclear.”  If a word or name is odd, it will come up with the closest “normal” name it can find in its vocabulary.  I have been everything from “Jane” to “Jeanie.”  And if the word is something not in a dictionary, like a brand name or company name, the machine goes completely haywire.  Not long ago, Keith had to call a man about our septic tank.  In the course of the call, the man recommended we use Rid-X.  What did the machine print on the screen?

            “You’ll have to put some rednecks down their once a month.”

            Yet another time when I was talking to Lucas, the machine told me something about a “pork picture.”  Lucas had said nothing even remotely close to cameras or ham.  But the computer decided he had, simply because his speech was a little garbled at that point in the conversation.  He was a little excited, talking quickly.

            It doesn’t have to be a closed caption system to show us our words are a little garbled occasionally, especially when we stop and think about what we just said.  Think about prayer for a moment.

            I’ve heard people say, “I don’t want to bother God with my little problems.”  Did you really say that?  You don’t want to “bother” God?  As if you think that God considers hearing from His children a “bother?”  Is that actually how you feel about your children?  Haven’t you read the parable of the unjust judge?

            And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  Luke 18:1-8

            If an unjust judge will pay attention to someone who “bothers” him, certainly a loving God will pay attention to someone He does not consider a bother at all.  In fact, he will give justice “speedily.”  Don’t think you are saving God trouble and merely being considerate.  Jesus said that when we won’t lay all our troubles on a Father who loves us, that the problem is a lack of faith, not an abundance of courtesy.

            And sometimes I hear, “God has too much to worry about without me unloading all my problems too.”  Once again, a lack of faith cloaked in consideration.  If you believe God is who He says He is, you cannot give Him too much to do.  In fact, the very wonder of it is that He pays attention to us at all!  What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Psa 8:4.  But pay attention He does, and He has the power to take my problems and your problems and everyone else’s problems and fix them in the blink of an eye.

            And I could go on with some of the thoughtless things I have heard—and said.  Sometimes our words are garbled.  They simply don’t make sense.  It would behoove us to listen to ourselves once in a while and straighten them out, because they certainly don’t give a pretty picture of our hearts.
 
​The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45
 
Dene Ward
 

I had finished my shopping in the small town grocery store and approached the check-out line with my wobbly shopping cart—somehow I had managed yet again to get the one with the wheel that won’t turn. 

           The lady in front of me was much older than I, probably in her mid-sixties, wearing pink pancake makeup that showed a definite line along her jaw, and sporting a headful of gray curls.  She had on a blue flower-print house dress with a white Peter Pan collar and a hand-knitted cardigan a shade darker than the dress.  Her stockings sagged just a bit above her black shoes, the narrow black laces looped through a three-pair eyelet across the tongue.  She must have noticed me out of the corner of her eye when I pushed my cart into line behind her, because she suddenly stood straight up and looked around. 

            Her gasp was audible from several feet away and a dozen people looked at me as she asked, “What are YOU doing here?” 

            She was a member of the church we had moved to work with just a couple of weeks before.  Lucky for me I recognized her and could actually say her name when I greeted her.  Before I could add anything about needing a few groceries she must have realized how she had sounded and, trying to undo any harm said, “Well, I guess you DO have to eat like the rest of us.”

            I thought of that incident when I saw a commercial the other day which stated at the bottom, “Real people, not actors.”

            Ah!  So actors are not real people.  Yes, I imagine they too have been accosted in grocery stores the same way I was.  What are you doing here?  You don’t need to eat—you aren’t a real person.  Evidently, neither are preachers and their families.

            But don’t we do that to so many others too?  How about the waitress at your favorite café?  Do you even talk to her or do you treat her like furniture?  How about the cashier at the grocery store?  The bagboy?  The deli guy who slices your meat?  Have you ever thought to ask them how they are?  What would you do if you saw your doctor or your child’s teacher at a restaurant?  Would it be the same reaction I got so many years ago?

            Do you know the problem with this sort of behavior?  If they aren’t “real people,” then I don’t have to treat them like people.  Do you know why road rage occurs?  Because it isn’t a real person you are angry with, it’s a car. 
            When Desert Storm began and the news shows showed the airstrikes and dogfights on television, I was appalled.  One night at a church gathering, I came upon two of our teenagers watching two fighter planes on the host’s television.  When the enemy plane exploded, they cheered just like they would have for a touchdown.  I looked at them and said, “You do realize you just saw someone die, don’t you?”  They calmed right down and looked ashamed.  I hope it was real shame.

            As long as we view anyone as something other than a “person,” it becomes much easier to treat them badly.  I did some research and found that every time Jesus tells us how to behave toward our enemies he uses the pronouns “he” or “those.”  Never does he call them anything dehumanizing—like jerk, scum of the earth, dirtbag, or (insert your own personal favorite).  And when we resort to that name-calling we will never be able to treat our enemy—or just our inconsiderate neighbor—the way Jesus tells us to.  And how does he tells us to treat him?  Love him, pray for him, do good to him, bless him, lend to him, feed him, forgive him, give him whatever he asks for—your time, your place in line, your pew, even your driving lane.

            You can only do those things for Real People.
 
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:16-21
 
Dene Ward

The first thing we had to do in my freshman music theory class was to memorize the types of melodic curves and find examples of each.  Talk about 101—if you used the note heads in the music as a connect-the-dot drawing, you had the shape right there in front of you.  You want a “falling line?”  The first line of the Habanera from Carmen is a perfect example.  You want a “bowl?”  Sing “Joy to the World.”  How about a “rising wave?”  Chopin’s Nocturne in E flat fills the bill.  All the other curves are just as easy to identify.  Even if you cannot read the music, you can do it.

            I have been thinking about melodic line a lot lately.  I think it has something do with some of those modern hymns we sing.  You know the ones.  You rumble down in the bottom of your range where you have absolutely no power at all for the whole verse, then immediately jump to the top of your range for the chorus, where the only way you can sing it (if, like me, you are getting long in the tooth and your range is the only part of your body that is shrinking) is to screech.  I have developed my own term for those songs—it’s a “grovel then soar” melodic curve.

            As a general rule, I am not crazy about those songs because they are so difficult to sing safely, but in a never ending search for ways to get the most out of them, I have decided that at least they remind me of my life before and after Christ.  You wallow around in the pit of sin until you finally reach the point that you know you need help.  So you fall prostrate before a Lord who offers you mercy and yes, you grovel before him because you have finally lost all that pride.  Then, because of his grace and your gratitude, you soar.  You soar over the sins that used to mire you down, you soar over the god of self that kept you pinned to this physical life, and eventually you soar with your Savior to a better place forever.  No more wallowing, no more groveling, no more weights to tie you down; you are free to skyrocket as high as you let your Lord take you.

            In music, this works best when the distinction is greatest.  The lower the “groveling” notes, the more the “soaring” notes affect the listener.  I am afraid it works best that way in your heart as well.  If you don’t realize how low your sins have sunk you and how much you need the Lord, you will never soar as high as you should.  That Pharisee who stood in the synagogue thanking God for how righteous he was never really understood how much he needed mercy.  So, Jesus sadly says, he went home unforgiven.  We, also, are prone to think we deserve salvation, especially when we have been Christians for awhile, especially when we have “grown up in the church.”  It shows when we question God for the pain in our lives, when we fail to preach to any but those we think “deserve” our attention, and when we refuse to forgive others for the wrongs they have done us.

            So use those difficult songs as I do.  The next time you sing them, remember:  You aren’t forgiven until you repent.  You cannot soar until you grovel.  And you won’t do that until you recognize your own need for mercy. 
 
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus, Eph 2:4-7.      

 Dene Ward

Part 3 of a series we began on Monday, Oct 17, by guest writer Lucas Ward.
 
Why does God care so much about His name?  Why is there such emphasis here, and such dire consequences?  In part, it’s a matter of respect.  Have you ever heard a sassy child yell to his/her friends “that’s my name, don’t wear it out”?  There is some of that here, in a much more serious way.  God doesn’t want us flippantly using His name.  If we do use it, it should be with the respect He and His name deserves.  I’ve read that the Mongols wouldn’t speak Genghis Khan’s name out of respect.  If people would so revere another person’s name, shouldn’t we give God’s name proper respect?
 
But there is far more to it that just giving God the proper respect.  His name is used to represent more than just His renown.  For one thing, His name represents the Covenant between Him and His people.
Ex. 6:6-8  “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:  and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you in unto the land which I sware to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am Jehovah.”
 
In this rather short passage we see God’s name tied to the idea of covenant in at least three ways.  His name is connected to the promise of freedom from Egyptian bondage. Notice that they will know that He is Jehovah when He releases them from the burden of bondage.  His name is also connected to the promise of a covenant relationship between them and Himself.  Finally, He connects His name to the promises made to their Patriarchs.  So, in three different ways His name is attached to promises or covenants.  Then, looking throughout the Pentateuch, we see His name routinely connected to mentions of the commandments from Sinai (the covenant), the blessings and the cursings (of the covenant), and to the Patriarchal covenant.  So His name is attached to and represents the covenant between His people and Himself.  That attachment is the guarantor of the covenant relationship.  So, when we profane His name, we cheapen the very covenantal relationship with Him that we so rely upon for our hope of Heaven.  
 
But that’s not all.  God often uses His name to stand in for Himself.  I could probably write a book on this, but I’ll try to be brief. 
 
Worshipping God is referred to as calling upon His name in innumerable passages.  E.g. Gen. 4:26 “. . . Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah.”  Also, Acts 22:16  “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.”  Notice, not calling upon Him, but upon His name.
 
Praying is also referred to as calling upon His name.  E.g.  1 Kings 18:24 “And call ye on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the God that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.”  Also Eph. 5:20 “giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”  Here, thanks is given in His name.  Not calling on God or giving thanks to God, but calling upon His name and giving thanks in His name.
 
His name was personified as if it were Him in at least one passage.  Isa. 30:27 “Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire.”  Notice that it is the name of Jehovah that is burning with His anger, rather than Jehovah Himself.  The Name seems to stand in as substitute for God in this passage.  Sticking with the theme of anger, His name was also used to curse His enemies:  2Ki 2:24 “And he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Jehovah.”
 
More pleasantly, His name also brought blessings.  Exo 20:24 “. . . in every place where I record my name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee.”  Also Num. 6:23-27 “Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel: ye shall say unto them, Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee:  Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.  So shall they put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”  The very presence of His name brought blessing.  And John 20:31 “but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name.”  In His name we have life.  Surely, that counts as a blessing.
 
Finally, note that God’s own glory is said to be partly due to His glorious name.  Ex. 33:18-19 “And he said, Show me, I pray thee, thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”  Notice that part of showing Moses God’s glory was proclaiming His name to Moses.  In Ex. 34:5-7, this takes place with the Name being proclaimed before Moses repeatedly. Also Ps. 48:10 “As is thy name, O God, So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: Thy right hand is full of righteousness.”  His praise is attached to His name. 
 
So, it should be clear from all these things that God’s name represents Him in a way much more closely and more fully than a simple designation.  His name almost IS Him.  So, to profane God’s name is to profane God Himself. 
 
This almost seems silly to mention after the weighty matters just discussed, but if we wear His name as His followers, then to profane His name is to profane ourselves.  We make ourselves smaller when we diminish His name, and as His agents and representatives on this earth, how much more harm can we do to His cause? 
 
And, finally, lest someone claim that the commands against taking His name in vain or profaning His name are just Mosaic Law and do not apply to those of us under the Perfect Law of Liberty, let me make clear that this command was brought forward to the New Testament era.  First note that in the Lord’s sample prayer, the first thing He mentions, His highest priority, was the state of God’s name:  Matt. 6:9 “After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”  As mentioned earlier, to hallow is to make holy and is the exact opposite of profaning.  So Jesus taught that care was to be taken with God’s name.  Then there is this, referring to Jesus:  Heb. 1:4 “having become by so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they.”   As the Son, He would naturally inherit from His Father.  Part of that inheritance was the Name.  Which I’ve already shown is to be honored.  So, that Name is brought out of the Old Testament Era and given to our Lord who instituted the New Testament.  Finally, His earthly name was also elevated – because of that inherited Name – to heavenly status:  Phil. 2:9-11 “Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  So, maybe I need to be more careful about using “Jesus!” as an expletive when I hit my finger with a hammer, hmmm? 
 
God’s name is to be honored, not profaned or used falsely.  As Christians, we should wince every time we hear people fouling His name.  We should be examples of proper respect in our speech.  We should always be careful not to allow such blasphemies to enter our own speech.  Frankly, I’d much rather know that a brother uses curses and profanities regularly than to know he peppers his speech with misuses of the Name.  I’m in no way condoning such speech, but from what I’ve studied, cursing is safer for your soul!
 
            “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy Name.”
 
Lucas Ward

Part 2 in a three part series by guest writer Lucas Ward. 
 
So the (11th?) commandment is to not profane His name.  How might I do that?  What we normally think of is using His name as a common expletive, as discussed in the intro.  The stereotypical teenaged girl for whom everything is OMG this and OMG that is profaning His name by treating it as a common interjection.  Worse is using it as a common profanity or curse. 
 
I once worked with a guy at Publix who used “Jesus” as a curse every time something went wrong.  I finally said to him, “You know, one of these days He’s going to answer you.”  He gave me a wry look, but didn’t slow up a bit.  Another example that comes to mind is the lyrics to “Freebird” by Lynard Skynard.  They use “Lord” (another designation for God) throughout the song as aural space filler.  Listen to the song and in place of Lord, just hum or sing “OOOh” and it doesn’t change the semantic meaning of the song one bit.  They’ve literally taken a designation for God from its exalted position and turned it into background noise!  That is profaning (making common) the name of the Lord. 
 
But we can also profane His name by how we live our lives.  Bear with me for a moment.  Start with the idea that a name isn’t just the designation of an individual.  It is also the reputation or renown that is attached to the name.  What do you think of when you hear the name Donald Trump?  Or Douglas MacArthur?  Or Babe Ruth?  The reputation/renown that is conjured at the mention of those men is part of their Names.  In fact, Hebrew uses the same word for both name and renown. 
 
And God worked to ensure that His name carried a certain renown with it.  Ex. 9:16  “but in very deed for this cause have I made thee to stand, to show thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.”  Is. 63:12-14  “that caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? that divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name? . . . so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.”  In the first passage, He made Pharaoh to stand so He could work great plagues against Egypt and make a name for Himself.  In the second, His power is displayed to make a great name.  In fact, in my study of the use of His name throughout the Bible, I discovered that almost every time we read of God doing something “for His name’s sake,” He is either fulfilling the covenant that His name is attached to or He is doing something to enhance His reputation.  To increase His renown.  So, God cares greatly for the reputation conveyed with His name.
 
Now, remember that God’s followers wear His name.  There are multiple passages which point this out.  Dan 9:19  “. . .because thy city and thy people are called by thy name.”  Doesn’t get much clearer, does it?  How about Matt 28:19?  “. . .baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  Notice, it doesn’t say “in the name of”, which would imply ‘by the authority of’, but rather “into the name of” which shows that believers have been brought into the family of God, into His name.  Finally, in John’s heavenly visions at the end of Revelation, God’s people literally wear His name:  Rev. 22:4  “and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads.” 
 
So we, as Christians, wear His name, literally, since “Christian” comes from “Christ”.  If we do not live according to His way while wearing His name, we profane His name.  His renown is damaged by his putative followers.  Lev. 18:21  “And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to make them pass through the fire to Molech; neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.”  Here we see it clearly stated that the actions of God’s followers can profane His name.  By sacrificing children to an idol-god, they would be harming God’s renown.
 
Another instance is after David’s sin with Bathsheba.  He had been forgiven, but Nathan told David that one of the punishments for that sin would be that his child with Bathsheba would die.  Here is the explanation:  2 Sam. 12:14  “Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.”  David was known as a man after God’s own heart.  When a man linked to God in such a close way sinned like he did, it naturally heaped shame on God, too.  It gave occasion to God’s enemies. 
 
This idea exists in the New Testament too.  Rom. 2:23  “thou who glories in the law, through thy transgression of the law dishonors thou God?  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written.”  Paul sums up the idea:  2 Tim. 2:19  “. . . Let everyone that names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”  
 
So, Mr. Christian who would never take the Lord’s name in vain, are you profaning His name by the way you live your life?  (That question steps on my toes!)  We will finish our discussion tomorrow.

Lucas Ward

Part 1 in a three day series going through Wednesday this week by guest writer Lucas Ward.
 
In 1939 a little known (*ahem*) movie called “Gone With the Wind” came out.    It was noteworthy for several reasons not least of which was Rhett Butler’s famous last line, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a d**n.”  This was the first time that profanity was permitted in the movies.  Even boundary-pushing Hollywood, however, knew better than to take the Lord’s name in vain.  As late as 1956, the MPAA’s censorship codes were updated to ban such use of the name and in 1963 Lenny Bruce was repeatedly arrested for such talk in his stand-up acts.  Twenty-four years after basic profanity first entered the movie business.  As wicked as Hollywood is, even they knew that taking the Lord’s name in vain was far worse than mere cursing. 
 
Boy, have the times changed!  The Lord’s name is thrown around like a common expletive or interjection.  Surprise someone and it’s “Oh my God, you scared me!”  Someone hits their finger with a hammer and it’s “Jesus, that hurt!”  Etc, etc.  [I hope the Lord will forgive me for some examples.]   Texters and tweeters have abbreviated it OMG.  It is around us all the time.  Even members of fairly conservative denominations think nothing of peppering their conversations with the frequent use of His name in various empty (“vain”) ways.  It is so ubiquitous that it can start to seep into our brains, and if we aren’t careful, even Christians may casually blaspheme in this manner.  So, I want to take a few moments to look at the seriousness of the third command.
 
Ex. 20:7  “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” 
 
This is the command from God on Mount Sinai.   Forty years later, when Moses re-gave the Law to the second generation of Israelites, we see this repeated almost word for word:
 
Deut. 5:11  “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain: for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
 
This seems a fairly straightforward command, but first notice the warning attached:  “Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain”.  Just what does this mean?  How serious is God taking this?  Well, check out Lev. 24:15-16  “And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curses his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemes the name of Jehovah, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the sojourner, as the home-born, when he blasphemes the name of Jehovah, shall be put to death.”  Blaspheming the Name of God was a capital offense.  The penalty was the same as the penalty of murder:  death.  So, apparently God takes this seriously.  Maybe we do need to spend some more time trying to understand the issues.
 
My first question is what does it mean to take His name in vain?  There are several different Hebrew words which are translated as vain or vanity.  Nabab means to be hollow.  Riq means to be empty.   These are the meanings we normally think of for vain/vanity.  Neither of these is the word used in Exodus 20, however.  Shav is the word used for taking His name in vain and it means falsehood.  So, literally, we are told not to take His name in falsehood.  This seems odd unless until we realize that God instructed the Israelites to swear only in His name.  For instance, Deut. 10:20  “Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; him shalt thou serve; and to him shalt thou cleave, and by his name shalt thou swear.” 
 
People have a tendency to strengthen their statements by swearing by all manner of things.  “By the moon and the stars” and “upon my mother’s grave” are two common modern examples.  The various gods were popularly used in Moses’ day and Jehovah didn’t want His people swearing by other gods.  If they needed to swear, they were to swear by Him.  Such oaths were not to be taken lightly, however:  Lev. 19:11-12  “Ye shall not steal; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another. And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.”  If they swore by His name, they had best do what they said they’d do.  In fact, God lists a failure in this regard as one of the reasons Israel had to be punished and wound up in captivity:  Jer. 5:2  “And though they say, As Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely.”  So, when God says “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain (or falsely)” this is what is in view.  Don’t fraudulently swear by His name.  Given what Jesus says in Matt. 5:37, most of us don’t commonly swear anyway.  So we are safe on this issue, right?  And lesson over.
 
Hold on, not so fast.  There is another commandment regarding the name of God.  Lev. 22:32  “And ye shall not profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am Jehovah who hallows you.”  Now this is closer to what we normally mean when we think about taking God’s name in vain, because to profane something means to pollute it or make it common.  This doesn’t describe God’s name:  Ps. 106:47  “Save us, O Jehovah our God, And gather us from among the nations, To give thanks unto thy holy name, And to triumph in thy praise.”  And Ps. 111:9  “He hath sent redemption unto his people; He hath commanded his covenant for ever: Holy and reverend is his name.”  His name is holy, which means set apart for special use, rather than common and profane. 
 
And we will discuss this tomorrow.
 
Lucas Ward

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

            While he is doing this, half a dozen folks start milling around, unsure of where they belong.

           Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ​I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

           The uncertain ones, who do not know exactly where they should line up, hear the commendation of the sheep and step into line behind them.  “Surely this is where we belong,” they assure one another quietly.  But the Lord leaves them standing.

           “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’

           “Wait,” one of them finally speaks up.  “We certainly don’t belong in that group.  Where is the other line?”

           Finally the Lord seems to notice them.  “I don’t see another line.”

           “But there must be!” they all insist with one voice.

           "So,” said the Lord, “tell me what line you think is missing.”

           Finally feeling a bit more confident, one man stepped up and said, “The one for people who get mad.”  Suddenly he realized how that sounded when he said it out loud, and quickly explained. 

           “I was a Christian for years but things got rough in my life.  I couldn’t quite get myself turned around and I—uh—well, I’m afraid I left the church.”
“Yes,” the Lord said quietly, “I know.”

            That didn’t even seem to faze the man and he went right on.  “Well, brother ________ came to talk to me.  I did not like the way he did it.  He told me I was wrong and I needed to straighten up my life, that I knew better than that.  He made me so mad I just couldn’t go back, ever again!”

            “I see,” said the Lord.  “You know, he spoke to me about that before he went to see you.  He asked for help to say the right things.  I’m sorry you didn’t like the way I helped him.  And you sister?” he asked, turning to the next person leaving the first man sputtering.

           “Sister _____________ came to me and she really hurt my feelings when she told me I should think about the clothes I was wearing.  What I wear is none of her business!”

           “Actually it is,” replied the Lord.  “You see I told the older women to teach young women like you.  She risked losing your good will to try to help you, and you have a remarkable lack of gratitude.”

            He turned to the next young woman.  “And you?”

         “The same as her, sir, except it wasn’t about my clothes.  I dress modestly all the time and,” she added, pointedly looking to the first man, “I never miss a service of the church.  But she had the nerve to tell me I should be careful in my speech.  I do NOT use bad language, just maybe I talk a little too much, especially about other people, but I mean no harm!  I’m just trying to help.”

           “Ah,” said the Lord.  “So what did you do then?”

          "I told everyone exactly how mean she was to me and how much she hurt my feelings!  And you know what?  All my friends agreed with me!” she crowed triumphantly.

           “So let’s see.  You went around slandering her to everyone, is that what you are confessing to?”

           The woman’s smug look suddenly disintegrated into one of uncertainty.  “Well, so many agreed with me.”

           The Lord looked over his shoulder to the line on the left.  “The people who did not try to save your soul, who, in fact, urged you on in your sin by refusing to correct you, are right over there with the other goats.  You just thought they were your friends.” 

          Then he looked over the whole group, which had begun increasing in size when the conversations had first begun as many left the left line suddenly seeing a way out.  “And the rest of you?  Same problem?  Someone ‘made you mad” or ‘hurt your feelings?’ And so you are looking for another line to stand in?  What should we call it?”

          They all stood there looking at one another and finally the first man spoke again.  “Well, we could be the ones who get in because someone was mean to us.”

         The Lord shook his head sadly.  “So how someone else talks to you—even someone who meant well and did their best, and even asked for my guidance in speaking to you—and because you did not like how they did it but got your revenge in slander and then remained in your sin, you still get to spend Eternity with me?”

           They looked at one another, hunching their shoulders as if trying to hide, no longer as sure of themselves as they had been.   

         “Let me tell you something,” he said.  “I saw every one of these ‘mean’ people in action.  I know their hearts.  Only a tiny fraction of them had a bad attitude, and they are over there in the left line where they belong.  You might recall Paul talking about some of them in Phil 1:14-18.  He didn’t care how those men spoke, just that the truth was being taught.  That’s the attitude you should have had.  There are a whole lot fewer of them than there are of you.  Nearly every person who tried to help you is in this line on the right.

            “So--if I can say, ‘well done,’ to you, then get in the line on my right with them.  But if I can’t say ‘well done,’ because you used someone else’s actions as your excuse and refused to change, get in the other one, right next to all my people down through the centuries who stoned preachers and killed the prophets who told them to repent.  

           “You see,” he finished, “there is no third line.”
 
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Matt 25:46.
 
Dene Ward

I stepped outside a few days ago, another humid late summer morning, and noticed first that it was not quite as warm as it has been, perhaps 70-71 instead of the usual overnight lows of 76-80.  A breeze soon picked up and Chloe quickened the pace to an excited romp as we walked around the fence line. 

            The birds enjoyed the morning as well, especially a red-bellied woodpecker that sat on the old corner post of the dog pen, singing his high pitched “chuck, chuck, chuck.”  A cardinal answered with “purty, purty, purty,” and soon a blue jay joined in the chorus with his pretty wooden whistle rather than the usual ugly squawk.  But by the time Chloe and I returned from the gate, the birds had stopped singing and smoke had begun to filter in.  Someone was burning off a field or a brush pile nearby, and before long I had to go inside just to take a deep breath and clear my lungs.

            Smoke has a way of taking over.  You can’t miss whatever smell it brings—acrid leaf fires, fragrant wood fires, aromatic barbecues, or the sad and awful smell of someone’s home burning to the ground. Whatever the odor, it hangs around for a long time, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not. 

            My favorite reference to smoke in the scriptures is the one in Rev 8:3,4.  And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Just as smoke cannot be ignored, just as burning incense fills your nostrils to the point that any other smell is extinguished, our prayers rise to God in a way He cannot disregard.  We mean that much to Him. 

            If you have ever been in a room where someone has lit a scented candle some time in the day, you know its odor lingers long after. In fact, I can smell mine just walking by the drawer where I keep them, even inside a plastic bag, never yet having been lit.  Incense is even stronger.  That smell will permeate the furniture and draperies.  It will seep through the cracks under and around the doors and waft down the halls.  That is the figure God chose to encourage us.  Even in the midst of the horrible suffering those early Christians were about to endure, He told them, “Your prayers to me will not be ignored.  I will smell them as intensely and constantly as one smells the smoke of incense.  I will not forget you or what you have endured for my sake.”

            That promise stands for us as well.  It is easy, as we endure trial after trial, to think that God has forgotten us, that He no longer hears our prayers.  Yet our prayers rise like incense every bit as much as those first Christians’ prayers.  Why did He save that writing for us if it isn’t true?  He knew what they were about to endure, and that they must endure it, so He gave them the ultimate encouragement—I am still here; I am still listening; I am in control and all will be well in the end.

            So how much smoke are you sending up to Him as you face your trials?  How strong is that burning incense?  Don’t make it so weak that even God would miss it.
 
O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!... Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! Psa 88:1,2; 141:2.
 
Dene Ward

This year’s garden has made me even more aware that I am growing older.  The heat makes me woozier than ever before.  The bending over gives me a backache that lasts all day and usually into the night.  My hands no longer have the strength to win the tug of war with most weeds.  And I just plain wear out faster.  We have looked at one another and asked, “How much longer can we do this?”  It’s not the only time we ask that question.

           Will this be our last dog?  Will this one be our last car?  How much longer can we take care of this acreage with a shovel, a tiller, and a chainsaw?  We did, in fact, decide that our last camping trip was probably the “last.”  The drive is harder on us.  The set-up takes longer and longer and more and more energy.  We often wind up just sitting around the fire a whole day afterward to recover.  Then there is the pull down and the drive home, and the seemingly endless unpacking and putting up.  When we found ourselves dreading the next trip, we knew it was time to quit.

            And so I look at our work in the kingdom and think, “How much longer do we have?”  How many more classes will we be able to teach?  How many more “weekends” will I be able to travel and give to large groups of ladies?  And the more I wonder these things, the more I feel like screaming out, “You need to call while you can!  You need to come while I am still able to see my notes and talk!  You need to arrange your schedule and get here if you want anything I have left to give.”  Because I really do want to share it with you, and I never know what tomorrow will bring. 

           I know several other older women who feel exactly the same way.  None of us are getting any younger and it is precisely that problem that gives us so much to share with you—experience only comes with age, but age makes life precarious.
           
           Every day we are closer to the last, and before that, we are closer to an age when our service will become limited, when all we may be able to do is offer to someone younger an opportunity to serve an older brother or sister.  We will eventually become like Barzillai, the wealthy old man who supported David when Absalom rebelled.  As David headed back to the palace, he asked Barzillai to come with him so he could be honored for his loyalty and service in an appropriate way.  But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years have I still to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? 2Sam 19:34-35.  But even at 80 he had served as he could, even if all it amounted to was using his wealth and his servants to do for his king, rather than doing the serving himself. 

           It is said of David after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation he fell asleep, Acts 13:36.  As long as we are still alive, there is still a purpose of God to be served—we just have to use a little more creativity in finding it!

           And for those who are young and reading this, your time is running out too.  None of us really knows how long we have left.  “All things being equal” we say about the young outliving us, but in this life nothing is ever “equal.”  I have seen too many young people lose their lives to disease and accident to feel at all comfortable for you.  You need to make the most of your time too.  The purpose God has in mind for you may be a very short one.

           And so it is up to all of us to make the most of the time, to “redeem it” as Paul told the Ephesians.  Do not put off the spiritual things—Bible study, prayer, meditating, serving.  Do not think that “someday” you will be in an easier time of life, a time when you can become a better Christian, a better father or mother, a better husband or wife.  That time will never come unless you make it happen.

           The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Ps 90:10 

           It flies faster than you can ever imagine, and if you have not prepared yourself properly, eternity will last longer than you ever thought possible.
 
O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Ps 71:17-18
 
Dene Ward