Entitlement—the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.

    I wish I had a nickel for every conservative politician, even every Christian, I’ve heard complaining about people who have entitlement issues.  The ones who act like the world owes them a living; like they should never have to reap the consequences of their sown wild oats; who think that having money or, interestingly enough, NOT having money, makes them exempt from the laws of the land.  While I find myself agreeing with most of those opinions, I also see this:  every one of them, politician and Christian alike, has an entitlement issue of his own.

    First there is the husband who wants everything done in a certain way, even if it is a lot more work for his wife; who demands certain foods cooked a certain way and served with certain other foods or he refuses to eat it; who requires every item of clothing pressed, even if they are permanent press and no one else will know the difference; who wants his big boy toys because he’s “worked hard and earned it,” even if it means others in the family will do without.  After all, he is the head of the house.

    Then there is the wife who wants everything the neighbors have, even if the neighbor makes a lot more money; who thinks she must have plenty of time and money allotted for preening; who considers sacrificing for her family a kind of torture; who believes that life is for recreation and begrudges every minute she must spend caring for the children or keeping the house or cooking meals; who recites her list of woes to anyone who will listen every time she has the opportunity so she can be properly pitied and praised for dealing with them.  After all no one should have to go without a new pair of shoes for every outfit.

    And don’t forget the children these two raise:  selfish, materialistic whiners who are never satisfied; who think that their parents owe them every new electronic gizmo the world creates; and who never once utter the word, “Thank you,” much less actually treat their parents with enough respect and courtesy to even look up from their phones and carry on a civil conversation.  After all, they didn’t ask to be born so they deserve everything they want to make up for it.

    Do you think these attitudes hasn’t invaded the church?  Where do you think we get those members who refuse to do as they are asked for the sake of visitors from the community?  Why, no one can have my perfect parking place (under the shade tree) or my perfect seat (in the rear).  Why do you think we have people who treat their precious opinions like the first principles of Christianity—basic and undeniable, and shame on anyone who isn’t as enlightened as I am?  Where do they come from, the people who will raise an argument about the trivial just to show their smarts and regardless of who may need the larger point being made?  Or the ones who, when they suffer, raise their fists at God and complain, “I’ve served you all my life.  Why me?” as if they could have ever earned any blessing at all?

    And why do you think we have such a hard time overcoming a single besetting sin?  “That’s just the way I am,” we think, as if the Lord should count Himself blessed to have us and overlook it.

    Yes, we are all guilty.  And what does Jesus have to say about that when he hears us pontificating about “those people” with entitlement issues?
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye, Matt 7:3-5.

    Be careful the next time you rant about entitlement.

Dene Ward

            Summer thunderstorms are nothing unusual in Florida.  Even when we don’t have a hurricane, we can count on dark skies, roiling clouds, strong winds, and heavy downpours almost every afternoon from June through September.  This summer seems to have been worse than usual.

            Just in the past four days we have had two storms that knocked the power out for a total of seven hours, with two plus inches falling in an hour’s time.  In fact, this last time we had an inch and a half in thirty minutes flat.  The water ran down from the top of the hill in a river around the house and down to the creek just past the boundary fence.  The wind blew the rain in vertical sheets, leaving standing water an inch deep on the covered carport, and the screened porch floor wet to the wall of the house.  The wind blew in gusts that twisted fifteen foot long pine limbs off the trees—green limbs, not rotten ones.  Smaller limbs flew by as we watched, almost as thick as the rainwater.  The lightning was loud and close and almost constant.  When I stepped inside and saw the power was out I was not really surprised.  This was one angry storm.

            And suddenly I thought, “This was the kind of rain Noah lived through.”  God was angry.  He would not have sent a gentle patter of raindrops on that gopher wood roof.  His wrath would have been obvious in the gusty winds tearing roofs off houses and branches off trees.  He would have vented his anger in the boom of thunder rolling over the hills, hills that slowly and inevitably disappeared under the waves.  That last storm we had scared me just a little; I bet the one Noah endured for forty days was terrifying.

            And we need to be terrified too.  An angry God is not the God we want to face on judgment day.  Do not let the world, and sometimes even the brethren, blur your view of an irate God who cannot countenance sin.  You need that picture to keep you straight sometimes, and so do I.  It’s too easy to think, “This is no big deal; God won’t mind this once; God is a God of mercy,” and forget the God of wrath and vengeance.  Don’t let anyone turn “fear” into nothing more than respect.  You can love someone and fear them too.  Anyone who had a godly father knows that.  Don’t let them lie to you and steal your soul by telling you otherwise.

            By the end of summer I am ready for a calm fall.  I want sunny days and gentle breezes.  I am sure that’s what we want from God too, but just as those storms do good for this land—replenishing the water table and keeping the tropical plants green—remembering the stormy wrath of God can do your soul good too.  Don’t forget it.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end, Ezek 13:13.

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous ( that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience, Eph 5:3-6.

Dene Ward

When my boys were still at home, family meal time was important.  We all made an effort to be together as many nights a week as possible, even as their schedules became busier in the high school years.  The majority of the time, we managed to do so. 

            I recently read a couple of articles discussing the importance of families eating together.  A family that eats together has better nutrition and the girls have fewer eating disorders.  The children do better at school.  They develop better language skills. They are less likely to take drugs, smoke, or drink.  Eating together, especially the evening meal, helps maintain accountability.  It is a “check-in time” which fosters a sense of togetherness.  (www.sixwise.com)

            “Dinnertime should be treated like a reunion, a respite from the outside world, a moment of strengthening relationships, and a pleasant experience that should always be cherished,” Ron Afable, “Eating Together as a Family, www.adam.org.

            When I read that last quote I was stunned.  Was he talking about family dinnertime or the Lord’s Supper?  God tells us we are to have this meal when we are “gathered together,” not each in his own home.  The reasons are precisely those reasons.  When I walk into the church’s gathering place I should have a feeling of relief, a “Whew! I made it!” moment.  This is my haven; these people are my support group; this is where I gather the strength to face another week of trials and temptations.  Is it any wonder God chose something that was part of a family meal to celebrate our one-ness with Him, with our Savior, and with each other? 

            The denominational world says that having this meal as often as the first Christians did—every Sunday—makes it less special, yet what does the world say about families having meals together on a regular basis?  Surely that applies here as well.  We are better nourished spiritually, we grow in the knowledge of the Word, we sin less because of the accountability regular meetings require, and we develop stronger relationships with one another.  Funny how God knew what He was doing, isn’t it?

            We often say that we should forget the outside world during this special time, but more than that, we should remember our “inside world”--our bond with one another.  Disagreements should melt away.  Aggravations with others should be covered by our love.  Personality problems should take the place they deserve—the bottom of the barrel.  To do otherwise is to make a mockery of the feast, and “drink damnation to ourselves.” 

            Our Father calls us to this special suppertime to reunite, to rest and recover, and to remember who we are and how we got here. This special dinnertime should always be cherished.  Don’t make a habit of missing it.

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ; the bread which we break, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ?  Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread, 1 Cor 10:16,17.

Dene Ward

I bet you have some of those recipes yourself—Hawaiian pizza, nacho cheese stuffed shells, Mexican lasagna, spinach and feta calzones.  It may not be an upscale restaurant’s version of fusion cooking, but for most of us it’s as close as it gets.  Italian cuisine mixed with Mexican, Greek mixed with Asian, French with Thai, anything to put a little variety in the weeknight meals.  And for many of us, they become some of the family’s favorite dishes.  When the flavors don’t clash but meld together beautifully, the whole dish is improved.

            Isn’t that the way the church is supposed to work?  God never meant us to gather in monochromatic assemblies.  He never meant for one ethnic or economic group to position itself higher in the pecking order as the more learned, the more spiritual, the more zealous.  The prophets prophesied a multi-cultural kingdom.  It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways... Isa 2:2-3. 

            Even as far back as Abraham God promised, “In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed,” Gen 22:17.  Not one nation, not two, but all.  When you read the book of Genesis and watch God funnel his choice down to one people, then in the New Testament see that funnel turned upside down to include salvation for all in the fulfillment of that promise, you cannot possibly exclude anyone and still show a true appreciation for God’s plan. 

            And you cannot make yourself better than any other without annulling grace.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love, Gal 5:6.

            “God is no respecter of persons,” Peter said to Cornelius, and even he had to learn that lesson and teach it to others.  And the struggle went on for years.  Have we not in two millennia finally figured this out?  Even Jesus began the process when he chose Simon the Zealot and Matthew the publican.  If ever two people, even of the same race, could be polar opposites in ideology, it was these two, but they overcame their biases and went on to work peaceably and respectfully together to conquer the world for their Lord—the whole world, not just one race.

            Who are you teaching?  Who are you welcoming into your assemblies?  Who puts their feet under your table and holds your hands during the prayer of thanksgiving for the meal?

            A long time ago, my little boys wanted some friends to stay overnight and go to school with them in the morning.  “We’ll tell the teachers they are our cousins.” 

We adults looked at one another and smiled.  These playmates were black and my boys were about as fair-skinnedl as they come.  Their father shook his head and said, “I don’t think that will work.”

In all innocence and sincerity they asked, “Why not?”

Finally Keith looked at the father and said, “We’re brothers, aren’t we?  So I guess that makes them cousins after all.”

Would that we could all be as color-blind as an innocent child, as color blind as the Lord who died for all.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise, Gal 3:27-29.

Dene Ward

Keith is a certified firearms instructor for the State Department of Corrections.  Whenever he has a class on the range and they run out of ammunition, he makes them pop open their revolvers, allowing the casings to scatter wherever they fall, snap in a speed loader, and start shooting again.  Any who empty the casings into their hands get a stern lecture.  Why?  Because in a state of emergency, you will do what you practice.  After gunfights, they have found dead policemen with bullet casings in their hands; men who, on the practice range, took the time to pour the empties into their hands so they wouldn’t have to crawl around picking them up later, so that is what they did under pressure, and those few precious seconds when the bullets were flying cost them their lives.  There is always time after practice to pick up the brass.

            Whenever an emergency arises, whenever you find yourself under extreme pressure, you will always do what you have trained yourself to do. 

            You will not say, “Oh, I shouldn’t take the time to pick up these casings right now.  There are bad guys out there trying to kill me so I need to reload as quickly as possible.”  You will simply do what you have always done.  It’s why schools and workplaces run fire drills, why the flight attendants tell you how to operate those dangling masks every time you get on a plane, and why the various branches of the armed forces run drills over and over and over.

            Why is it important to memorize scriptures, to sing hymns during the day, to talk to God as if He were right there with you all day long?  Why is it important to train yourself not to use foul language even when no one else is around, not to lose your temper over even the smallest matters, not to develop dependencies other than God when you are feeling down, not to return evil for evil, even when you are just driving down the road?  Because when life’s pressures rise, you will do what you practice. 

            If you curse in private, you will curse for all to hear; but if you pray at the drop of a hat whenever something does not go well, that is what you will do instead.  If you have trained yourself to turn the other cheek at the least little grievance, you will more easily do so with the larger ones.  If you have filled yourself with the scriptures, those precious words will spring to mind and bail you out of temptation.

            In case of emergency, you will do what you have trained yourself to do.  Is it time for a spiritual fire drill?

With my whole heart have I sought you: Oh let me not wander from your commandments.
Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Blessed art thou, O Jehovah: Teach me your statutes.
With my lips have I declared all the ordinances of your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, As much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts, and have respect unto your ways.
I will delight myself in your statutes: I will not forget your word. Psalm 119:10-16

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 989 of these things (counting this one).  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 every so often in the future.  Look for the title “Reruns” with some descriptive phrase after it.  I will try to put the series on Mondays when it happens, since that has been the practice of the past.  That means you are more likely to remember it, right?  Routine has its own built-in memory system.

            And if God thought these things were worth repeating, we should probably pay close attention.

Dene Ward

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel! Ps 128.

            Nearly every commentator believes the Psalms of Ascents (120-134) were psalms sung by families as they made their way up the hill (ascending) to Jerusalem to worship on the feast days, especially the agricultural feast days of Passover, Tabernacles, and Weeks.  As such you see in your mind’s eye the extended family of parents, children, grandparents, and perhaps maiden aunts or other singles stepping out to the tune of these psalms, year after year, a tradition kept by every generation.  This particular psalm is a picture of the life that family leads the rest of the year, another routine that some might even consider dull but which God calls blessed.

            The father works, but the implication is not one of a career-minded workaholic.  This man labors for his family, to provide those meals they meet around the table to eat together and the sacrifices they are able to make on their annual pilgrimages. 

            The mother is “a fruitful vine within the house.”  That does not mean she never steps outside the door—it means she, too, is family-oriented.  Like the ideal woman of Proverbs 31, caring for her family may force her to leave the home occasionally, but she is the direct opposite of that other woman in Proverbs:  She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home; now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait, Prov 7:11-12.

            This blessed family meets at the table every evening and has their meal together.  And several times a year they make that journey to Jerusalem, to God’s Temple, to the assembled worship prescribed by the Law.  When I think about this family, I think of my childhood.  Every Sunday we had a routine.  We rose, ate breakfast together, and then dressed to go meet with the saints.  No one ever asked where we would be or what we would do on Sunday.  We all knew exactly where we would be and what we would be doing.

            When I raised my family, the same thing happened.  Maybe the routine was a little different, but it was a routine.  My boys never had to ask what or where.  They knew.

            And now I watch my son and his family doing the same thing.  It may be a different routine, but it leads them to the same place—a meeting with the people of God.

            A lot of people think that routine is useless, that since it is so much routine it no longer has any meaning.  But consider this for one minute.  What if we had to do this in secret?  What if the church had been bankrupted because of its beliefs, its leaders fined or even jailed, and our only recourse was to go “underground?”  This country is fast moving in that direction.  These things may not happen in our lifetimes, but our children or grandchildren will almost certainly face them.  I know God has a plan, but His plans have not always meant that none of His people suffered or even died.

            What you look at with disdain today may sometime in the future be a distant memory of how well we had it.  Of families that could meet every Sunday in a place they had pooled their resources to buy, with a sign on the side of the road that proclaimed who we are and what we were doing:  Christians meet here.

            Suddenly, the routine you consider boring and unmeaningful will be the thing you wish you had appreciated far more when you had it.  Think about that and appreciate it like you ought to today.

 

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem— built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” For my brothers and companions' sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good, Psalm 122

This morning I sat outside by the remains of last night’s fire, drinking my last cup of coffee and petting the dogs.  Suddenly I heard the hawk in a tree just across the drive.  This was the closest he had come in awhile.  I do not know if it was the first hawk that grew up on our property, or his son or grandson, but it was one of those I had talked to as he sat in his nest as a baby.  He would never have gotten that close to me otherwise.

            No other bird would have talked to me that way either.  He didn’t call out with the loud, echoing cry of a mature hawk, but with the baby sounds he used to make way up in his nest as I talked to him, the same sounds he always greeted his parents with when they brought him food during the day.  This was intimate hawk talk, not formal hawk talk.  He still recognized me from his baby days, and knew I was a friend.  He knew he could let down his guard and be that little baby hawk one more time.

            Sometimes I get tired of being grown up.  I get tired of being the mature one who is always supposed to know what to say and how to say it.  Sometimes I want to be the little kid who can run to a great big grown-up, spill my heart, and have him tell me everything is going to be all right.

            That is exactly what we can do with God.  Job said, My soul is weary of my life; I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul, 10:1.  Job said he could tell God everything, no holding back—“free course.”  David said, I pour out my complaint before Him, I show Him my trouble, Psa 142:2.  Both of these strong men of God had moments when they let it all out, just like little children who are afraid and don’t understand.  Why do I think I need to be any better than they?

            My children used to come to me with their troubles, usually small, inconsequential things.  But to them, those things were HUGE.  I never acted like they were silly to worry over them, but did my best to comfort them, and even fix the things I could fix for them.  Most of the things we find ourselves going to God with are inconsequential in His grand scheme of things, but He still treats them as important because they are important to His children.  He will listen to even the smallest concern, the pettiest, even the selfish ones, as so many turn out to be. 

            We never need to hold back with God, especially now, because we have a Mediator who understands how those small things can seem so large. We can run to God any time we need to, and talk as a child to a Father who listens and who cares.  It’s okay to have a little baby talk with God.

For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one who has been in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help in time of need, Heb 4:15,16.

Dene Ward

On September 16, 1940, as a result of the Burke-Wadsworth Act , the United States imposed the first peacetime draft in its history.  Men aged 21 to 36 were required to register and it was estimated that 20 million were eligible.  50% were rejected for health reasons or illiteracy.  By the end of World War II, the age requirement had stretched to 37.  34 million had registered and 10 million had served.  Although a Conscientious Objector status was created, 5000-6000 were imprisoned for failing to register or serve.

            God’s kingdom has no need of a Selective Service System because everyone is “drafted” at their new birth.  You cannot be a citizen in His kingdom without being a soldier as well.  We are required to fight every day of our lives, in every arena imaginable.  In the home, at the office, at school, in traffic or crowded malls, even in the solitude of our own rooms Satan can find a way to pick a fight.  Sometimes it’s an open battle against a false doctrine.  Other times it’s a quiet struggle against temptation.  No matter what kind of battle he wages, God expects us to equip ourselves for it and to fight with all our strength.

            We cannot beg off duty because of spiritual flat feet.  We won’t be rejected due to spiritual illiteracy.  If we have not worked to make ourselves strong and studied to gain the knowledge and encouragement we need to win, we will become an easy mark in the war, and we will have only ourselves to blame.

            And if we refuse to register and serve?  The enemy is out there whether we choose to fight or not.  We will simply become the first of many casualties.

            Yet for the Christian who serves willingly, who arms himself with the invincible armor of God, the war has already been won.  We are simply fighting the last skirmishes, the clean-up operations, which will finally, and utterly, destroy the enemy and grant us eternal peace.

Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ.  No soldier on service entangles himself in the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier, 2 Tim 2:3,4.

Dene Ward

I learned when I was still in school that it is difficult to proofread your own writing.  Especially in the moments immediately after writing it down, your mind will not only supply the missing words and read the transposed lettering correctly, it will also impose the meaning you had on it when you wrote it, blissfully unaware that it might be construed differently by someone else, or that the inference you thought was so obvious is not.

            I have learned to proofread immediately for the easy things, then put it aside for at least twenty-four hours before trying again.  Then as long as a week later, proofread again.  Every time I still manage to find things to correct.  If I have the luxury of waiting a month before I need to use the writing, I will suddenly see the needed connections my mind supplied but which I left out of the writing, leaving the reader to ponder, “What in the world is she referring to?”

            No, the best way to proofread your writing is to have someone else do it.  They come to it totally unaware of your mindset and can see, not only the homophone errors and transposed letters, but also the places where you have been less than clear.  Their perspective helps them to see things you cannot see. 

            And therein is the value to having someone else proofread your life.  I may think I know my own motivation, when often I am simply rationalizing a wrong.  I think I know the situation best because I am standing in the middle of it when, instead, I am only seeing it from one angle and missing the bigger picture. 

            I often, in haste, type “there” for “they’re” or “to” for “too.”  I know better, but I am in such a hurry my hands take over for my mind and type the wrong thing.  Other times I hit the space bar in the wrong sequence and “three swings and a miss” becomes “threes wing sand amiss.”  The correct elements are there, they are just misplaced, and what a difference it makes. 

            The next time someone tries to help you proofread your life, be grateful.  They can make all the difference in your world, both this one and the next.

Better is an open rebuke than love that is hidden.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are profuse, Prov 27:5,6. 

Dene Ward