Keith and I have opposite opinions on how a home should look.  His idea of beauty involves bright colors everywhere.  Mine is simple elegance.  His idea of a comfortable home is convenience—everything should be exactly where he left it because he will need it there again sooner or later.  Mine is at least enough orderliness to soothe a frazzled mind.  I knew we would have a difficult time agreeing on anything in this new home.  He said everything was up to me.  Let's just say, he had good intentions.  I suppose if we hired an interior designer, s/he would have a difficult time pleasing us both.  Good thing we cannot afford to hire one.  It's up to us to somehow compromise with one another, just as we have the past 49 years.
            I think maybe that is why one can find so many "churches" out there.  Many of us have gotten so wealthy that we think we can just hire someone to do what we dictate even in the church.  This is how I want my church to be, what I want it to do, and how I want it to do it.  If it doesn't please me, you haven't done the job right.  We seem to forget that we did not design the church.  God planned before He ever made the world what the church should be (Eph 3:8-12).  He had the apostles teach the same things in every church so they would all be the same (1 Cor 4:17).  If one is different from the other, we are the ones who messed up.  We decided we were the interior designers, and worse, we decided not to follow the Customer's desires and opinions.  We decided we knew better than He about such things as our activities when we meet together and the use of our resources.  Just what would you do if the designer you hired changed the paint color you wanted without your permission and put a wall where you wanted an open concept?  I think you would fire him.
            So what in the world do you think God would do to the one who changed the pattern for the church His son died for, the body who is supposed to be subject to Him in all things, the family He is the head of, the flock He leads?  I think firing might be the least of that person's problems.
 
That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church…This is my rule in all the churches…as in all the churches of the saints… as I directed all the churches of Galatia, do also do you…(1Cor 4:17: 7:17;14:33; 16:1;  ).
 
Dene Ward

A few mornings ago Chloe and I walked out to Magdi’s grave for a few minutes and saw that the mums we planted there are coming back from the winter’s frost, and the grass around it is greening up as well.  As we headed back to the house, I stopped and listened.  I heard crows, wrens, titmice, cardinals, hawks, woodpeckers, chickadees, blue jays, and sparrows, as well as a few I haven’t yet learned to recognize.  The world seemed completely full of tweets, chirps, whistles, warbles, and trills.  I am hearing God, I thought, just as surely as if He had spoken out loud.  Who else could have created such diverse and beautiful sounds?  Everything else was manmade and ugly—a semi roaring out on the highway, the neighbor’s leaf blower whining, another’s raucous lawn mower spitting and sputtering, and still another’s old pickup truck revving loudly. 

              It made me stop to think of all the other times I have heard God in my life—the incessant pounding of the waves on the beach; the scream of a hawk diving for its prey; the sound of a little boy’s voice who, less than eight years ago, did not exist; my daddy’s final breath as he left for a better place.  Anyone who has not heard God in those things, probably does not hear Him in the place where He speaks plainest—His word, for God does not leave His children wondering just exactly what that metaphysical moment they experienced meant for them to do.  He tells them plainly.

              Remember the Day of Pentecost?  Everyone heard “a sound as of a rushing mighty wind” that “filled all the house,” a sound they all recognized as having come “from heaven,” Acts 2:2.  Yet when did they finally know what God wanted them to do?  Only after the apostles spoke.  “Then when they heard this,” they were told exactly what to do, 2:37. 

              When an angel spoke to Cornelius in a vision—an angel, mind you—he certainly heard God, but he was told to send for Peter who would speak “words whereby you shall be saved” 11:14.

              Paul told the Romans “faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ” 10:17, the same word, the same gospel he proclaimed “the power of God unto salvation” 1:16.

              Yes, it is possible to hear God in the world around you.  If you don’t, you have a remarkably unspiritual mind.  If the roar of the wind and crack of thunder in a storm doesn’t fill you with wonder at the power of an Almighty Creator, you need a few pointed reminders as to the brevity and fragility of life and the temporal nature of the world around you.  But if you really want to know what God wants of you, get out His Word and read it.  Only those who are ready to listen can really hear.
 
Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. John 8:47.
 
Dene Ward

"... church gurus will insist that we should have no negativism in our message—no guilt, no wrong, no justice, no judgment. We must not make people feel bad about themselves. But then the cross becomes a charade, for then there is no wrath of God that falls upon the Son of God, who took my hell as his portion. If you do not hear of your sin, your guilt, your ruin, how can the cross of Christ become the shelter of Christ from those very curses? But the current preference is to hear of the bland benevolence of a non-existent, spineless deity."

(D.R. Davis, "Micah," 50)

A few years ago Keith bought me a leaf blower for Valentine’s Day.  Yes, ladies, I know what you are thinking, but in this case you are wrong.  We don’t do diamonds.  We don’t do gold.  We don’t even do silver-plate.  We have always had to live so closely that any gift-giving occasion is treated as an excuse to buy what we need anyway.  Just ask the boys about the several Christmases when they got bedspreads, sheets, blinds, and even trash cans for their bedrooms.
            I had been spending hours every week sweeping the carport.  It was either that or spend even more time sweeping the house as the sand was tracked in.  With the blower I could get the job done in about five minutes, especially after I learned to handle the thing.  You never turn it on pointed down, unless you want a face full of sand, and be careful any direction you turn if you don’t want to blow on what you just blew off.  Even Chloe learned to keep her distance the first time I turned it on in her direction and for two days her fur looked like it had been caught in a hurricane blowing in the tail direction.
            Perhaps the most obvious point is to always blow in the direction of the wind.  I have quit trying to wait till the wind isn’t blowing, not out in the country in the middle of a field—I would never get it done.  So I settle for the couple of hours the carport looks nice afterward, and remind myself how awful it would have looked if I had just let the leaves and sand pile up.  But I have learned to test the wind.  It is much easier to blow the leaves the way the wind is blowing them anyway.  Otherwise it’s exactly like paddling upriver.  You can do it, but it takes a whole lot more work.
            I think that may be the best way to judge most decisions you have to make as a Christian—that is, conversely.  If it’s too easy, it’s probably the wrong decision.  If it doesn’t cost you anything, you are probably selling your soul. 
            God has always expected his people to make tough decisions.  By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward, Heb 11:24-26.  Moses chose God instead of wealth and power.
            Joseph chose prison instead of adultery, Gen 39:9.  Ruth chose a life of poverty (she thought) so she could worship God and be a part of his people rather than the comfort of her own culture, Ruth 1:16.  The apostles chose to follow an unpopular route that led to death, instead of staying in good graces with the powers that be and living a normal life.  For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake…we [are held] in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things, 1Cor 4:9-13.
            God’s people have always been challenged with this decision.  “Choose this day whom you will serve,” Joshua demanded of Israel, 24:15.  “How long will you go limping between two opinions?” Elijah asked in 1 Kgs 18:21.  Make a decision, they were saying.  We face the same challenge, and we face it every day. 
            If life has confronted you with a decision, I can almost guarantee you that the hard choice is the right one.  You have to blow against the winds of society, and even worse, the winds of self.  Christianity has never been the easy way out.  Yet, when you set your priorities correctly and think in spiritually mature terms, it’s the only obvious one.
 
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days… Deut 30:19-20.
 
Dene Ward

DeWard Publishing Company has begun a new collection called The Heritage of Faith Library, which they define as "Classic Christian Reprints."  All of these books are old, but all of them have stood the test of time and are still well worth yours.  I just finished reading one of them, The Training of the Twelve.
            First, what should be some obvious caveats.  When you are reading books over a century old as many (most?) of these are, the language will be challenging.  The sentence structure is a bit more complex.  You simply cannot rush through it.  You might need a dictionary at hand for words you have never heard in your life and which may no longer even be in use.  Consider it a learning experience.  Don't read too much at once, maybe 8-12 pages, depending on the length of a chapter or even a section in a chapter.  Then stop and think awhile.  Your critical thinking cannot help but improve.
            So why is this book worth all that trouble?  Suddenly you will see the Gospels as Jesus' method of teaching his disciples instead of a history/biography and/or a defining of the rules of the new Kingdom.  You will understand why Jesus may have chosen the parables he did at the time he did.  You will feel the impact of certain teachings on the disciples themselves.  For instance, even though I knew it and could have told you if you had asked, John 15 and the vine analogy occur the night Jesus was betrayed.  Within an hour or two, If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (John 15:6), was no longer theoretical, but painfully real about someone they had known very well for over three years.  I had never thought about that before, completely divorcing this chapter from its context.  This book will help you feel with the apostles the effects of Jesus' teachings in a tangible way.
            Another warning:  Bruce has a habit of paraphrasing and extrapolating.  Keep a Bible handy so you know when one stops and the other begins.  As for the paraphrasing, it is another way of helping you see the impact of Jesus' words and actions on his disciples.  It may or may not be exactly what they were thinking and feeling at the time, but you would never have even considered the possibilities without it. 
            DeWard has other books in this series that are well worth your time.  They are classics for a reason.  A guest writer has already reviewed Albertus Pieters's book on Revelation, The Lamb, the Woman, and the Dragon, and proclaimed it the best out there (see right sidebar for Book Reviews and scroll through it).  And everyone interested in evidences ought to read Haygood's Man of Galilee.  I heard J. W McGarvey's Original Commentary on Acts quoted from as a child.  Go to DeWard.com to find the complete collection of 14.  More may be in the works.  Keep an eye open for them.

Dene Ward

Keith said it not long ago and I know he is right.  When you take a cake to a potluck, no matter how small you cut the pieces, a woman will come along and cut one of those tiny smidgens in half.
            Once I took a large cake to a gathering.  It was a decidedly rich cake.  I knew that, so I carefully cut half inch slices, which tapered to veritably nothing in the middle.  Sure enough, along came a woman who stood there trying her best to cut one of those slices in half vertically.  What did she do?  She backed up the line for one thing because it took her well over five minutes, and all she ended up with was a pile of mush.  A three layer cake with frosting and filling will simply not hold together in a quarter inch slice.  I am strongly tempted to try that the next time and see if someone attempts to cut a quarter inch slice in half as well!  Can I suggest that it would be easier to take a whole slice and share with someone else, or wrap up the other half and take it home?
            But of course, the point today is a spiritual one.  How many times have you seen someone doing their best to get as little spirituality into their lives as possible?  What else can be the reason behind such questions as, "Do I have to attend on Wednesday nights?"  Or how about comments like, "I would love to go to that class, but they expect so much work out of you in between classes."  Or, "That class is too deep for me."  Those are just the ones having to do with Bible study.  One wonders how much is too much when it comes to living a Christlike life.  I have heard comments about drawing a line in their commitment that make me wonder if the person even understands the word at all.
            Stop cutting the cake in half.  Stop cutting the brownies that were already one inch square into quarter inch crumbs.  While it is true that there is more depth in even a half inch of God's Word than any other book ever written, He expects us to want to pig out on it, not get as little as possible!  And He expects our lives to be as full as the cup of blessings He gives us every day—full and running over.  Wouldn't you hate for Him to cut that in half?
 
What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people (Ps 116:12-14).
 
Dene Ward
 

Our last camping trip sent me home with legs chapped to a medium rare pink, an abrasion ring around both ankles from my trail shoes rubbing on the heavy wool socks, and dry, crackly lips and nostrils.  Did I say it was cold?  The rangers told us to leave the spigot dripping and the first morning we came out of tent to find a foot tall column of ice beneath it. 
            The forecast the week before did not prepare us for that weather.  It was only when we were on our way that it changed.  So why did we keep going rather than turning back?  Because if we hadn’t I would have missed waking to a couple of wrens serenading one another in the trees over our tent every morning.  I would never have marveled at a dry floodplain studded with knobby cypress knees, and carpeted in white rain lilies and patches of bright yellow marsh marigolds.  I never would have seen the family of deer traipsing through the woods ahead of us, then literally hightailing it off when they caught sight of our movements, white flag tails bouncing in the woodland shadows.
            Sometimes being a Christian, like camping, is filled with all sorts of trials, everything from the triviality of abrasion rings on the ankles to greater problems of becoming lost in the woods and wondering if you will find your way out before you freeze to death in the cold night.  But God tells us over and over that it is worth it.  You will never have the experiences you have as a Christian any other way.
            There is something almost magical about walking into a meetinghouse a thousand miles away from home and meeting people who instantly care about you and your problems.  Does anyone else in the world have this blessing?  Anywhere you go, you find people who will help you, even if they have never heard your name before.
            Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children…(Mar 10:29-30).
            Many times I have been made to feel uncomfortable, even disliked, because of my faith.  I haven’t yet experienced what we think of as full-blown persecution, but even small things can weigh on your mind and cause you to waver when they happen again and again.  Yet Christians are blessed with Divine help and comforting knowledge when that happens.
            So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" (Heb 13:6)
            And now as I grow older and face trying times I still have something that others do not.  How can they face serious illnesses thinking this is all there is?  How can they face the death of loved ones thinking they will never see them again?  How can they look death in the eye with dignity and grace when in their minds they will simply cease to exist?
            But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that you sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (1Th 4:13-14)
            For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Co 15:53-57)
            So yes, the trip was a little uncomfortable this time, especially when the rain started the morning we had to pack up and created a puddle two to four inches deep over half the campsite—including under the tent!  But we experienced plenty to offset the bad memories.  Far beyond that, if you remain faithful to God, I have no doubt that, regardless how unpleasant your life or your exit from it, when you wake up in eternal glory, you will shout from on high, “It was worth it!”
 
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory which shall be revealed to us (Rom 8:18).
 
Dene Ward
 

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

Only a few times in Scripture are mortals permitted a glimpse of God’s heavenly throne. His throne, I say, because we are never shown any representation of the Lord himself.  Read the great Old Testament vision scenes such as Isaiah 6 or Ezekiel 1 or in the New Testament, Revelation 4.  We find glorious descriptions of the throne, the pavement, the lights, etc., but never a description of God himself.  This underscores God’s declaration to Moses, "You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live" (Ex. 33:20).  So we are only allowed the sights and sounds surrounding the Lord: we see his attending angels, his robe, the lightning, the smoke; we hear the thunder and a mighty angelic chorus; we feel the earthquake.  If you can imagine yourself actually being there and experiencing all this, it will take your breath away.  But you never see God.

In the New Testament, aside from the very symbolic book of Revelation, we seemingly lack these glorious visions of the Lord . . . or do we? Philip raises the question in Jn 14, “Show us the Father.”  Jesus’ answer, if you think about it, is astounding, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”  Think about that: Jesus himself is our vision of God!

We should never allow ourselves to view this “vision” as being somehow inferior or less glorious than those other visions.  Jesus was not like one of the prophets, chosen and sent to us with God’s message.  He was God incarnate! Immanuel!  “God with us!”  Understand, not representatively but in reality he was God in the flesh.  Far more than the visions of God’s throne, this should take our breath away.

Philip wanted to see the Father.  I think we all do.  But why?  It’s pretty simple, I think.  We want to know what God is like.  Not merely what he looks like (as mortals, we can never know that) but what is he like toward me.  Does God love me?  Learn about Jesus and you have your answer.  Can God ever accept someone as corrupt as I am?  Look at Jesus, the friend of sinners.  Can God change my life?  Look at everyone Jesus came in contact with.  Who was not changed?  What does God want from me? To love God, obey him, and go about doing good, just like Jesus did.  Will I have to give up a lot for God?  Yes, everything!  But you get much more than you give up.  Look how God glorified Jesus (Eph 1:20-23).

So then, God has given us this vision of himself, the grandest and most glorious vision of them all.  This vision we can all understand, and yet in a way that is so profound that it staggers the imagination; we can never fully plumb its depths.  We continue to look at this Jesus, in wonder and amazement—this man—this glorious vision of God.

What more can we say then?  Such a vision lays claim on our lives, makes demands of us.  “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19).  That is what Paul said after seeing Jesus, and that is our question—you and I—are we obedient to Jesus, our heavenly vision?
 
…who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; (Col 1:15).

Keith Ward

We lived in Illinois for two winters.  It was this Florida native’s first experience with snow.  The neighbors laughed at us.  Despite a lack of children in the house, we built a snowman in the front yard, dug tunnels through the eight foot high drifts on the side of the house, and had snowball fights.  I had never had a chance to do those things before, or survive nighttime temperatures at zero or below, or drive on ice pack to the grocery store.  Suddenly I did them all.
            In mid-January I woke to another new experience--snowmelt dripping off the eaves on a sunny day.  I glanced outside and the snowman had gone on a crash diet, slimming to the point of losing appendages and facial features.  Before long patches of brown peeked through the white and the piles of dirty gray snow left by the snow plows on the roadsides were shrinking.  Salty slush splashed up under the passing cars.  We even abandoned our heavy coats for cardigans.  A few hardy souls went out in shirtsleeves as the thermometer climbed toward fifty. 
            “It’s over already?” I wondered.  “Is this spring?”  But no, not a week later a blizzard blew through.  The respite was over.  This was just “the January thaw,” I was told.  Some people dispute the notion of a January thaw.  Others, who have charted temperatures for decades, cite those figures to show that there is indeed a rise in them occurring the third week of January in New England, and a week or so earlier in the Plains states.  It may be folklore, but there appears to be something to it.
            The scriptures talk about a more important thaw—that of the heart.
            As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. Josh 5:1.  Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt, Isa 13:6,7.
            The Canaanites’ hearts melted with fear at the power of Jehovah.  The Babylonians would fear when that same Jehovah came in destruction on their empire.  Even his own people feared enough to repent for awhile.  The Bible is full of such language.  It is nothing more than pure terror.  In most of those cases, the fear subsided and the heart froze yet again.  How many times do we hear that Pharaoh once again “hardened his heart?”  Just as the presence of a trooper on the side of the road will lighten a lead foot for about a half mile, terror only lasts a short time.  And while fear certainly has its place in our relationship with God, it isn’t the antifreeze a heart needs to stay faithful.
         And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules, Ezek 36:26,27.  Just as Judah needed not just a melted heart, but a completely new and soft one, we also need a new heart—a new attitude—about who God is.  Not just an all powerful king and authority in our lives, but a provider, a redeemer, and a Father.
         Recognition of what God has done to save us, and the gratitude and love that follow will keep one’s heart warm toward God.  It will last more than a few days, and even through a blizzard of trials.  Then we can experience the true warmth of spring in our hearts, the flowering of new growth in our spirituality, and a flourishing relationship with our Creator.
 
I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you, 1 Chron 29:17,18.
 
Dene Ward
 

Having lived through the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, I grew up knowing about fallout.  I knew people who had bomb shelters in their backyards, and full pantries in their closets.  And at school we practiced diving under our desks, using our hands to cover the backs of our necks, every time a plane flew over.  At 8 or 9, I learned to live through national paranoia like we have never seen since.
            But about that fallout—originally it referred to radioactive particles that might descend through the atmosphere after a nuclear explosion.  We all understood that even if we survived the blast, we were not yet survivors.  Fallout could kill too, just not as quickly, and there would be nothing easy about it.
            I suppose this came to mind after I dirtied up four dust rags and two Swiffer dusters one morning during our recent renovations.  Scraping off popcorn ceilings and taking up 20 year old tiles will raise a dust worse than any Okie ever saw in the thirties.  When it was finally over, we changed air conditioner filters for about the fifth time and hired someone to come in and do a complete and thorough cleanup.  This old, arthritic body just cannot handle it any longer.
            These days, fallout has taken on a different meaning—secondary, lingering effects after an event.  Anyone who has lived through an emotional trauma understands the concept.  Children's misbehavior, depression, or even feelings of guilt after their parents' divorce.  Nightmares after being victimized by a crime.  For soldiers, PTSD.  Many of these people need counseling or some other sort of help because the emotional pain and scarring run so deep.
            But there are other kinds of fallout, some of which we cause out of carelessness.  Words are usually the weapons in those cases.  When two brothers raise a fuss in the Bible class, what do we think will be the effects on visitors from the community?  I once knew of body of the Lord's people which was known in the community as people who couldn't even get along with each other, much less their neighbors.  I wonder how many souls were lost in that area because of that?  When someone thinks it is their God-given right to blast out the preacher on the front steps after a difficult but necessary sermon, I wonder how many weak brothers and sisters are so disgusted they leave—for good?  When a young person overhears two women gossiping about another, I can only imagine how much respect they have lost or how that bad example will reap more just like them.  In each of these cases, it's a slow spiritual death that often follows.
            I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matt 12:36-37).
            We all need to be aware of the fallout we cause by our selfish and careless behavior.  In 1 Cor 6, Paul admonished us to be willing to take wrong rather than do harm to the reputation of the body.  And Jesus was even harder in his judgment.  But whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea (Matt 18:6).
When we set off a bomb, we are responsible for the fallout.  That means we are responsible for the deaths that follow as well.
 
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Eph 4:29).
 
Dene Ward