Today's post is by guest writer Rebekah Craig.  (The dorm she refers to is a place where she lives while working at CEI Bookstore, and thus the Dorm parents are the homeowners.  dw)
 
Yesterday morning we found out that what we thought was a nasty head cold in C-Dorm (affectionately coined by a friend), was the infamous COVID virus herself. It suddenly made a lot of sense why Dorm Dad has not been himself. Over the past year, our household has brushed by the virus, even up close and personal, but we somehow managed to make it through the whole year without contracting it. You would think that after a year of exposures, consequent on and off quarantines, and having to cancel and reschedule plans, that it would be a breeze. Even though I wasn't upset at anyone and certainly don't blame anybody, it left me particularly unsettled and self-concerned.

"But what about all of the plans I have coming up?"
"But...my routine."
"But I thought we were invincible."
"But this will throw us all off."
"I was just starting to hang out with people again."

While I tried to adjust to the cold-water change of routine that happened in the middle of the day yesterday, the well-known passage in James sat in the back of my mind. I finally sat down and read it today:

"Come now, you who say, 'today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade a make a profit' -- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." (4:13-17)

If I were to outline this passage in a way that is relative to me, as if I were reiterating something James told me personally, this is how I would do it:

--I hear you have plans for today and later and you're feeling pretty sure about
them.
--Just remember, you don't know what tomorrow holds.
--In this life, your life is as transient as a mist or vapor.
--It is good for you to rest your plans under the assumption that God's plans are always bigger and more important.
--Otherwise, you're being prideful in yourself.
--You know what is the right thing to do, so do it always, no matter what changes or circumstances arise, otherwise, it is the same as sinning.

I think that opportunities like quarantines show us the importance of having work to do and for crafting routines and making plans. But it's also humbling because it shows us that no matter what we decide to do, there are forces at work our of our control that can pin us down when we want to be moving. Our plans become like the steam out of a tea kettle, instead of the concrete securities that help us sleep at night. Our sense of purpose feels threatened, instead of solidified in our personal accomplishments.

I think it's interesting that in the following passages, James admonishes the rich, talking about the temporal nature of their materialistic wealth, and how they "lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence." (5:5) Later, James admonishes the brethren as a whole, to be patient like a farmer who waits for the fruit to grow, and to "establish" their hearts (5:8).

What does this tell me, that James is first calling a person's life a misty vapor, and then admonishing these same people to be like a farmer? Aren't these two examples entirely different?

They're compatible, because the fleeting nature of my life is a reality. The patience of the farmer is an attitude. When I rest my hope and security in plans I have made for myself, I am leaning on a distorted reality. Consequently, patience will not be my knee-jerk reaction. I'm more likely to be anxious, troubled, and prideful, and totally disregard the good that I can do in an unexpected situation. When I have the mindset of a farmer, someone who prepares the field, sows the seed, nourishes the seed, and waits for growth, I know that there will be frosts and storms and animals and all kinds of elements that will come in and try to undo the work and progress I've made. But in establishing my heart in the Lord, I will be ready to do what I know is good, come what may.

"...you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful." (5:11)

God's plans are bigger and layered with more grace and compassion than I could ever imagine. So let's grab the plow and dig where he wants us to dig, and wait when he wants us to wait.
 
Rebekah Craig

A new series by our guest writer, Lucas Ward
 
"In the Orient a name is more than an identification.  A man's name is not only descriptive of its bearer, it may stand as the equivalent to his very nature and individuality. . .  The names of God as they are revealed in scripture serve to depict His person and His attributes."  J. Barton Payne, The Theology of the Older Testament. 
 
Following Dr. Payne's thought, I decided to see what I could learn from an examination of God's names and titles as revealed in the scriptures.  I found not only the normally known names and titles of God, but many self-descriptions as God taught His people about Himself.  Let's start by examining the more commonly known names.

Elohim.
This is simply the Hebrew word for deity.  It not only refers to the Lord, but is used of idols and all false gods.  Scripturally, the word elohim becomes defined by who God is, the true Elohim.  Meaning deity, this just emphasizes that God is the boss, the one in control.  As you likely already know, elohim is a plural word, with el being the singular word for god.  Hebrew doesn't have superlatives (-er and -est) and so often uses repetition and plural words for singular nouns to indicate greatness or majesty.  It is not an early hint of the Godhead, but rather the method the Israelites used to emphasize how great their God was.

El Shaddai.
"God Almighty" was the characteristic divine name used by the patriarchs, e.g. Gen. 17:1.  This is the Overpowering God, the creator, the flood sender, the God who confused the languages at Babel.  The All Mighty God.

El Elyon.
"God Most High"  This is the descriptor given by Melchizedek in Gen 14:18-19 after Abraham defeated the kings from the north.  Most High shows that there is none with more authority than He.  God is the sovereign Lord of all creation and all nations. 

El Olam.
"The Everlasting God", from Gen. 21:33, just points to the eternal nature of God.

YHWH.
This is the Name God gave Himself in Ex. 3:14 when Moses asked.  Unlike the previous entries, this is not a title or descriptor, but the chosen Name of God.  Older translations of the Bible transliterated this as Jehovah, probably erroneously.  Newer scholars guess that the pronunciation is closer to Yahweh.  Far less important than the pronunciation is what the name stands for.  I AM THAT I AM probably does not refer to God's eternal self-existence, as we have often heard from the pulpit.  Instead it likely refers to God's continued activity in the lives of His people.  J. Barton Payne says that the flavor of Ex. 3:14 is closer to "I AM Present is who I AM", while Walter Kaiser paraphrases it as "I AM the God who will be there."  As this is the name God always invokes when referring to the covenant relationship between Himself and His people, it makes sense that the Name itself reminds of His continued active presence.
 
So what we have so far is that our God is, indeed, God.  He is the highest authority, the most powerful of all, and He is eternal.  Finally, He chose a name for Himself that emphasizes His relationship with His people.  Despite His power and lofty status, He is the God who cares. 
 
This also shows through in the self-descriptions God uses and the testimonials of His closest followers.  For example, in Gen. 15:7 God identifies Himself to Abram as "the God who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldees".  Moses declares Him the God who will go before and "will himself fight for you".  (Deut. 1:30).  He is the God who will keep his covenant and will display lovingkindness.  (Deut. 7:9).  He is the God who delivers from enemies, saves from calamities and pardons iniquities (Judges 8:34, 1 Sam. 10:19, Micah 7:18).  Most often God identifies Himself as the God who brought the Israelites out from the bondage of Egypt.  That self-description is used at least 16 times in the Old Testament. 
 
From all of these descriptions, we learn of a God who maintained a relationship with His people, who fought for them, looked out for them, forgave them and freed them from slavery.  These self-descriptions show us a God who is active and present in the lives of His people.  This is not the absent God of Deism, nor some mystical force, but a Personal God who cares and is active in our lives and who actively looks out for us. 

Over the next several entries we will examine a few of "the God who" passages in which God reveals Himself through self-description and see if we can't come to a fuller understanding of the person of the God we worship and serve.
 
1 Peter 5:7  "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."
  
Lucas Ward
 

Today's post is by guest writer, Keith Ward.

During Dene’s major eye surgeries (2005-2008), I realized she would not be able to stand much light, reading would be limited and TV boring.  I had just read an article about attracting birds, so I built a 4’ long trough between 2 boards (total width one foot) on posts just a foot from the window by her recliner.  The birds began coming: counting those passing through, we have fed over 30 different kinds of birds (she has a category of devotionals on the sidebar, “Birds & Animals”).  It is not unusual to count 20+ cardinals at once around 5pm—“the cardinal hour”.  Suddenly they are all gone!  We see a couple of doves, a catbird or two, maybe, and a cardinal in a whole day.  No titmice, no wrens, no chickadees.  This has never happened before.  Of course, with spring we get some travelers, the dozens of sparrows migrate away and “our” (generations have been hatched here) cardinals come less frequently, but never such a total absence of birds.  No, there have been no signs of predators or predation. 

But this made me think a bit, I think the Bible calls it meditation, all the beautiful things we have are evidences of God’s grace and love.  We live in a world of sin and have become so accustomed to it that we do not comprehend its ugliness.  One man did.

Jesus, holy one of God who left purity and wonder beyond imagination to walk through a cesspool for over 30 years said more about hell than all the rest of the Bible.  These are the descriptions of punishments that make us begin to understand how awful sin must appear to God (and what a sacrifice it was for Jesus to even live as a man).  They are contradictory and exorbitant because they are figures of speech to convey the inexpressible.  “Unquenchable fire,” “Outer darkness,” “their worm dieth not.” At a loss for words to convey the horror more clearly, Jesus said that it would be better to tear out your own eyeball than to go there.  God is just.  These describe the wrath of God that Jesus saved us from.  God is just and such a destiny is the fair end for those who sin.  We had best distance ourselves from sin.

But, in this life, brambles, thorns, sickness, cancer, are all the results of God’s curse on the world for Adam’s sin and “because all sinned” (Rom 5:12).  Should we consider the “exceeding sinfulness of sin” we would wonder why there are any flowers, beautiful birds, colors, music, tastes, beauties anywhere.  A sin cursed world should be bleak, ugly-only and nasty. 

But, God gives us birdsong, flowers and fragrances, sounds and tastes that delight the senses, scenery that awes the soul.  Why?  He loves us.  These are signs of his grace to reveal his character.  “And so, because we have sinned, there is ugliness, but because God is good, there is beauty and wonder.
 
If God can leave such grace and wonder in our sin cursed world, truly, “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be.” When God so loved that he gave his only begotten son, can you imagine what it must be like to be where that love is, and is forever? 
 
Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned…But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many (Rom 5:12,15).

Keith Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

I do not have any children so you may think I don’t have anything worth listening to.  The thing is, for 7 years I was in the position of managing some of Mama's little darlings in what was, for many of them, their first job.  So I saw up close and personal the results of modern American child rearing.  It was rarely pretty.  
            Most kids, as they first get out into the world, have no sense of cause and effect. They have no idea that they should ever put the group ahead of themselves. They don't know how to deal with adversity because they've never been allowed to experience it before. They don't know what work is, have no sense of responsibility, and don't acknowledge any absolutes. AND THESE ARE THE GOOD KIDS!
            Good parents should raise their children to succeed in life, and if they cannot hold down a job, they won’t.  Period.  So here are some suggestions from the boss they might work for someday, who is probably a lot like most bosses.
            1) Don't protect your kids from their mistakes.  If they goof up, allow them to feel the pain it causes.  Point out the relationship between their actions and the consequences.  When it’s their fault, they need to own it, not blame someone else.
            2) Don't protect your kids from life.  I once was talking to one of my employees and said, "Life isn't fair."  She looked at me strangely and said, "Yes it is, or it always has been to me."  All I could do was stare at her with my mouth hanging open and think "Oh, you poor girl!"  She had no defenses built up.  When something unfair happens to her, which it will, she will have no idea how to handle it.  She'll likely fall apart.  Inoculate your children against life by letting them see what goes on and showing them how to handle it.
            3) Teach your children that they aren't the most important thing in the world.  (I know, they are the most important thing to you, but if you aren't careful you'll teach them to act as if they are the world's royalty.)  When I was growing up I didn't always get what I wanted, not always because it was a bad thing or because my parents couldn't afford it, but because it was my brother's turn to choose or Dad or Mom wanted to do something different.  We were also taught to consider how our actions affected others. There was no quicker way to anger Dad than to be noisy when Mom was napping. We were taught to think of others.
            4) Teach your children what work is.  If you live in town, this may be harder – no, I don't consider taking the trash out twice a week and mowing a quarter acre lawn on a riding mower to be work -- but figure something out.  I had good kids as employees who wanted to be good employees, but just didn't know how to work: how to stick with a job, how to see what needed to be done and do it, how to stay busy.  There's an old phrase that really needs to be reintroduced to America's youth: "An honest day's work for an honest day's pay".  Most kids today think that clocking in on time, working while the boss is watching, and talking to their friends the rest of the time is "work".  The company isn't paying them to stand around, and one day they may find out the hard way.
            5) While there are some gray areas, some things are right and some are wrong.  Even modern psychology tells us that children are happier with boundaries—it makes them feel secure.  The same fence that keeps them in, keeps the bad things out.  So teach them some absolute guidelines. Best place to start: your Bible.
            Wow, I've become a cranky old man.                                            
                                                                                                           
Lucas Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.
 
I think I may have figured out why the ecology-freaks come on so strong. From their viewpoint, bad things are happening to the ecology, the world may not survive; certainly, if we don’t do something, humankind will not survive. There have even been episodes on the History Channel picturing a world without humans.

Since their philosophy leaves no room for God, there is no one to save the world if they do not. If they don’t stop global warming, no one will; there is no God to watch over things. They may even admit that some of their worries may not be as probable as they scream, but they cannot afford to take the chance. They must fix it and right now, lest something happen to end life or the world or…..

So they go around in a constant panic mode, demanding, lobbying, preaching, terrorizing, because they must save the world. Literally, since there is no God, THEY HAVE PUT THEMSELVES IN THE PLACE OF GOD. They are the watchers, the overseers and since they were not designed for that, they can only run about and scream and shout from one crisis to another.

You and I KNOW that God is in heaven and HE is in control. The world will end when he chooses. HE has designed into our creation all the things needed for it to last till HE decides otherwise.

Witness the Gulf oil spill. They ran around and screamed till the oil companies put in chemicals to change the spilled oil. Others said the resultant chemical stuff was more dangerous to the ecology than the natural crude. Turns out that long ago, God created oil-eating bacteria because thousands of gallons of oil seep into the gulf every year from crevices in the sea bed. This is not to say we should do nothing when things go wrong--man has proven his ability to destroy things in God’s creation. It is to say that no man or group has the wisdom to be God, but that is exactly what they are doing.

Someone has to be God. That is the way HE designed us. Do you want God to be the loving one of the Bible or a group of self-appointed scientists? This is what the evolution debate is really about.
 
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things...they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator...  (Rom 1:22-25).
 
Keith Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.
 
Elijah was one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament era. He continued to prophesy and preach at a time when the queen, Jezebel, was actively killing all prophets of Jehovah, when the king, Ahab, was actively leading the nation into Baal worship, and when the people seemed happy to accept this. Through Elijah, God imposed a three year drought on the land. Because of Elijah, the people knew God wasn’t happy. At the end of those three years, Elijah appears before Ahab and tells him to gather the nation at the summit of Mount Carmel, along with the prophets of Baal. This is recorded in 1 Kings 18.

As the people are gathered, Elijah addresses them. Vs. 21 “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.” Elijah enjoins them to make a choice. It doesn’t make sense to worship both Baal and Jehovah; they contradict each other. Choose! He then issues a challenge, and we all know this story. He, alone, would build an altar to God. The 450 priests would build an altar to Baal. Each would put an offering upon their altar. The god who responded by sending fire to light the altar would be God. The people think this is a fine idea. Verses 25-29 tell of the Baal prophets’ attempt. They pray, shout, leap, cut themselves, etc, all to get their god to respond. In verse 27, Elijah mocks them mercilessly, but he does give them all day for their attempt. Finally, at the end of the day, Elijah readies his altar. He put the offering upon it and then douses it repeatedly with water. The offering, wood, and altar were all dripping wet. There was a moat about the altar that was full of water, too (vs. 30-35). Elijah then prays to God, vs. 36-37, and God responds by sending fire which burnt up the offering, wood, altar, and water surrounding the altar. Here is the response of the people: “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.’” vs. 39. The people seem convinced. They aid Elijah in rounding up the prophets of Baal and slaughtering them. Elijah seems to have turned the heart of the nation back to God. It was a new day in Israel!

Except, of course, it wasn’t. Jezebel sends a message to Elijah promising his death(19:1-2). The nation seems to be going about things, business as usual. All of Elijah’s work hasn’t seemed to change anything. His elation turned to despair, and quickly. Fleeing Jezebel, Elijah runs to the wilderness south of Judah. As he lays down for rest, he prays to God for death. (vs. 3-5) This is actually quite understandable. He had devoted his life to serving God. He had hidden from Ahab and Jezebel’s army for years. He had worked a great work, a grand and enormous sign to the people in the effort to get the people to turn back to God and. . . nothing changed. Nothing changed! He began to feel like there was no point in continuing. Why shouldn’t he just quit?

Do you know how Elijah felt? Have you ever felt that way? Let me tell you, I get it, at least a little. A lady from church and I met once a week and spent hours each time walking through the neighborhoods near the building knocking on doors and inviting people to join our congregation in worship. We weren’t doing any serious evangelizing, just inviting people to services. We spent dozens of hours, knocked on hundreds of doors, and got no response from anyone. There was perhaps one family who worshiped with us three times because we knocked on their door, then the Air Force transferred them away. So we changed tactics. We invited Tom Hamilton to do a series of classes on what the Bible is all about and why we should care. We advertised it in several newspapers, on various neighborhood facebook pages and we also printed 1,000 door hangers advertising the event. Those were hung on every doorknob within a half mile of the building, and some farther away. We didn’t get a single response from the community. One can start to feel like there is no point in working for the Lord.

Or maybe your discouragement is in failures to overcome temptation. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you pray or read the scriptures there is one temptation that you can’t seem to overcome. Instead, it overcomes you. Repeated failures can make you want to quit trying. “After all, I’m just going to fail anyway, I might as well give in.”

Or maybe I’m discouraged because the brethren aren’t acting correctly. Have you ever been doing all you know how to do for the Lord and then found out that the brethren, or some of them, are bad mouthing you for your efforts? “Oh that Lucas.  He thinks he’s a big-shot Christian, like a deacon or something.”(This hasn’t happened to me personally, but I know of people to whom it has happened.) When the people who are supposed to be supporting you the most are instead tearing you down, it can make you want to quit, as Elijah knew.

Or maybe it’s your relationship with your spouse or children that is discouraging. No matter how grand the gesture, nothing seems to get through to them. So, why should you bother?

As we follow Elijah’s story, we see that he isn’t allowed to die. Beginning in 1 Kings 19:5 we see that he is fed twice by an angel and then led to Mount Sinai. Once there, God asks him why he isn't in Israel, working. In verse 10, Elijah recounts his woes. He is told to stand at the mouth of the cave and he then sees a great wind, capable of breaking rocks. He experiences a powerful earthquake. He sees a fierce fire. God is in none of these breath-taking events. Elijah then hears a “still, small voice” and covers his face, because God is in the small voice. God then repeats His question to Elijah, who repeats his tale of woe. God then sends Elijah back to work.

The lesson for us is that God’s work isn’t accomplished in the grand events, but in the small, steady, continuous work. It’s not the big Gospel meetings that are going to evangelize the community, it is each individual Christian shining his light as he lives day by day. It is our “still, small voices” that daily reach dozens of lost souls and it is our voices which can eventually reach many of our neighbors and coworkers. But we have to keep at it, day by day. We can’t get discouraged and quit.

There is no magic pill for overcoming temptation. There is no heroic labor I can accomplish to be free from temptation for the rest of my life. I have to, day by day, decide to follow Jesus and overcome. I have to keep at it, little by little.

In our relationships the grand gesture might not get through, but the daily effort of being a good spouse or parent will. Maybe the three dozen roses didn’t make her happy, but what will work is doing the dishes and bathing the kids some of the time. Women (so I’ve heard) don’t want men to die for them in a grand gesture, they want men to live with them. Kids don’t respond as well to “quality time” as they do to quantity time. They know who has been with them, raising them on a daily basis. It is the still, small voice of daily effort that wins in the end.

The Christian life isn’t about doing one great thing and being done. It is daily, continuously doing the small things. It is being the light in your workplace. It is overcoming this temptation this time and worrying about the next one when it comes along. It is about keeping on keeping on. Christianity is a life-time walk, not a ten-minute sprint. If we just keep going, God will see our efforts prevail.

Phil. 3:11-14 …that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
 
Lucas Ward

I recently found this compilation on berksblog by Warren Berkley:

Henry Ward Beecher: “Let me speak in the language of heaven and call you Christians.”

Albert Barnes: “These divisions should be merged into the holy name Christian.”

Martin Luther: “I pray you leave my name alone. Do not call yourselves Lutherans, but Christians.”

John Wesley: “I wish the name Methodist might never be mentioned again, but lost in eternal oblivion.”

Charles Spurgeon: “I say of the Baptist name, let it perish, but let Christ’s name last forever. I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be a Baptist living.”

Peter, the Apostle: “Yet, if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but glorify God in this name,” (1 Pet. 4:16).

Paul, the Apostle: “Now, this I say, that every one of you says, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:12-13).

Luke, the writer of Acts: “…And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch,” (Acts 11:26).

(Pulpit Helps, 7-89)  From Expository Files 4.3; March 199

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

It seems to be popular to make comments about the old church of Christ attitudes as though the last generation knew little of grace and faith and focused only on obedience, exact obedience.  I have made a few of those comments myself and can point to sermon outlines from 35 years ago where I endeavored to change such attitudes. However, when the comments become disparaging and self-serving (look how much better I am), then perhaps it is time to consider.
 
They grew up in tough economic times, faced tough spiritual battles to be allowed to exercise their faith in the way God commanded, and they did not express emotions as readily as today’s generations. They did not talk a lot about God’s grace for that was God’s business. Their business was to obey God.
 
That they did understand that obedience must proceed from faithful trust and was founded on God’s grace can best be understood by the songs they sang:
 
“True hearted whole hearted, faithful and loyal…..
“My faith looks up to thee……
“Looking to thee from day to day, trusting thy grace along the way….Sure of thy soul redeeming love….
“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
“I know whom I have believed….
“He will give me grace and glory…where he leads me I will follow, I’ll go with him, with him all the way
“Faith is the victory….
“Is thy heart right with God?
“To Christ be loyal and be true in noble service prove your faith and your fidelity, the fervor of your love
“What a friend we have in Jesus….
“Purer in heart O God….
Take time to be holy….
“Only in thee….trusting, I’m cleansed from ev’ry stain, thou art my only plea….
 
And it was in those days and by one of those men that “Lord I believe” was written.
 
And, the list could go on and on.
 
 Because some treated service like a checklist and may not have expressed as much heart as some do today, please do not mark them all as empty. In fact, if a checklist religion was the spiritual ceiling for some, “who art thou that judges the servant of another?” (Rom 14).  More people should fear minding God’s business about God’s servants!
 
And, if all the expression of heart and trust and faith and grace today makes one careless toward obedience, then how is that one any better before God?
 
These were our parents and grandparents, our spiritual fathers in the faith.  Most knew more about the grace of God than many today who spout fancy words, but they just tended to their own business of serving faithfully.
 
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness (Rom 6:17-18).
 
 
Keith Ward
 

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.
 
I think most all church members are familiar with the story of the prophet Nathan confronting David after David’s sin with Bathsheba. (2 Sam. 12:1-7a) We know God sent Nathan to David. We know the story that Nathan told David about the rich man who stole the pet ewe from his poor neighbor rather than taking from his own multitudinous flock to feed his visitor. We know how David, in righteous anger, declared that rich man worthy of death and passed the sentence that the man would repay his poor neighbor fourfold. We know how Nathan then looked in David’s eye and said, “Thou art the man!” My question is, how excited do you think Nathan was to get out of bed that morning?

Think about who David was at the time that Nathan confronted him. He was the warrior hero of the nation and the scourge of all the surrounding nations. When David took over as king, Israel was in sad shape. The entire coastline and all the coastal plains were occupied by the Philistines, the Canaanites, and the Phoenicians. Syria had taken over most of what should have been Israel’s land north of the Sea of Galilee, and Moab, Ammon, and Edom occupied Trans-Jordan and large parts of Southern Israel. The Israelites occupied only the mountainous interior and were subject to constant raids by their neighbors. When David first became king (of Judah only for the first seven years) it seems that the Philistines considered him a vassal king. Then David defeated the Canaanites, the Moabites and Edomites. He conquered the then existing two Syrian kingdoms. He pushed the Philistines back into their five base cities and denied them any further expansion. David also received tribute from the Phoenicians (Tyre & Sidon) and the kingdom of Hamath. At the time of his sin with Bathsheba, David was completing his last major conquest (Ammon) which would ensure his kingdom’s security. He was at this time just over 50 years old. He was the revered hero of his nation. He had also already murdered Uriah to keep the secret of his sin with Bathsheba. So, do you think Nathan was at all worried about confronting him? If David had truly broken with God, Nathan likely wouldn’t survive the day. I think I’d be nervous.

While it is unlikely that we will ever have to confront a warlord about his adultery and murder, we are commanded to correct erring brothers: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1) This obligation often makes us uncomfortable because we are nervous about how the brother or sister might react. Sometimes we avoid this duty because we don’t want to deal with the drama that might result. Maybe we are afraid this person won’t be our friend anymore. They will yell at us, hurt OUR feelings, and then things will be awkward forever after that. Regardless of all that, which are legitimate fears, the Bible makes it clear that confronting erring brothers is an obligation placed upon us by God. Rom. 15:14, 1 Thess. 5:14 and 2 Thess. 3:15 all show that part of our duty as Christians is to admonish one another.

Our obligation goes beyond just “getting on” each other. Among other passages, 1 Thess. 5:11 and Heb. 3:13 teach us that we should be exhorting each other. Heb. 10:24-25 tells us that the whole reason we are to attend church services is to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works”. We should be thinking about each other and trying to find the best ways to encourage each other as we work our way to Heaven. And, as needed, we should be admonishing and confronting each other about sins we might become caught up in.

One other reason we shy away from this uncomfortable duty is the fear that if the erring brother is offended, he might leave the church. While that would be sad, if the brother is so caught up in his sin that he won’t repent, he needs to be removed from the church anyway. Paul discusses this exact scenario in 1 Cor. 5: “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (vs. 7-8) Just as God commanded Nathan to go to David, we are to go to our erring brethren and do our best to bring them back to the fold.

The other side of this story is, of course, David’s reaction. He didn’t become angry. He didn’t act affronted. He didn’t try to lie or cover it up. In 2 Sam. 12:13, he admitted his guilt. We know from other passages, notably Ps. 51, that this wasn’t a bare admittance of guilt, but the beginning of a true and deep repentance. Just as we can learn something from Nathan’s courage in confronting David about his sin, we can learn from David how to handle it if we are ever on the receiving end of the admonishment. The natural reaction to having a brother tell us he thinks we are in sin might be, “How dare you accuse me?!” But this should not be the reaction of a Christian whose primary motivation is to please God.

While the conversation will probably catch us off guard, and our first reaction might be to deny, these opportunities are the perfect chance to check up on ourselves. After all, 2 Cor. 13:5 does teach us to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” If your brother comes to you with a concern, think about it. Examine yourself and test yourself out. Your brother might be wrong. He might have misunderstood. He might even have poor motives in telling you. Weighed against the possibility of losing your eternal soul, however, none of that matters much. Consider carefully whatever he or she said to make sure you are still in the faith. After all, we are to “. . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). If, upon contemplation, you discover that your brother is right and you are erring, repent and fix it. If you realize that your brother made a mistake in admonishing you, thank him for his concern. After all, it wasn’t easy for him to confront you. He was likely just as nervous, uncomfortable, and even scared as you would be if you were to have to confront him. He loved you enough to overcome that fear and come to you anyway. That kind of love is precious.

Like Nathan, we have obligations to confront erring brethren. Like David, we should listen, consider the admonishment, and if sinning, we need to admit it, repent, and move forward. In all this, our love for each other and for God should be the over-riding motivation.
 
Lucas Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

What do we pray for?  Typically, we pray for the sick, the elders, the success of the gospel, our country, some spiritually weak person.  But Paul shows a spiritual depth we should try to develop.  He prays for the Ephesians to “have the eyes of their hearts enlightened that they may know …the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe” How much power is that?  “The strength of his might which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit in the heavenly places.” (Eph 1:15-20, selected). 

God first exercised this power when we were “dead in our trespasses and sins, sons of disobedience and children of wrath and lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind.  But God loved us and made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and made us to sit in the heavenly places.  For we are created in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:1-10, selected)

The thought of being raised with Christ should remind us of our baptism, “Or are you ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we also might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this that our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away, so that we should no longer be in bondage to sin; for he that has died is justified from sin” (Rom 6:3-7).  Though even more dead than the dust from which God made Adam, He saved us, made us alive.

In neither passage was the Holy Spirit encouraging sinners to be baptized.  He was encouraging Christians to allow God to keep acting through them by his great power to transform.  We take the Lord’s Supper each week to remember both Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and our own with him.  We take the bread and remember his incarnation, the life he lived as a man, tempted, yet without sin.  And, we should consider our life that we are now committed to making like his.  We take the cup and remember his body on the cross, his dying, his blood (life) poured out as an offering for sin.  And, we should remember our death to sin.   We remember his resurrection without which his life and death are meaningless, and focus on the power that God works in us to create the new man in us. 

We cannot stay the same week after week, memorial after memorial, praying for God to accept us the way we were last week and the week before.  There is power beyond our own abilities for us to change, power beyond our imaginations to become like Jesus. 

 Paul again prayed, that they/we, “be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith to the end that we being rooted and grounded in love may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge” (Eph 3:16-19).

Motivating inmates to reach out for spirituality which they have never known is actually easy.  I tell them about the love, the love on the cross, the love to call us while we were dead in sin, the love of Christ named above that is with us and in us, and then I ask, “Don’t you want to be forever where that love is?” Many of them have never been loved, for real, never been loved by anyone, even their parents.  Some of us have the same doubts.   But, there is no doubting the love of Christ.

Finally, Paul prayed, “Now to him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.”  What power is that which works in us?  That same power that raised Christ from the dead and made us new creatures.

 It is past time for us to stop telling ourselves and others that we are doing the best we can and that is all God requires.  Really, we probably know we are deceiving ourselves, but we are unwilling to face the mirror and change.  God requires that we grow and change according to the power he works in us through Christ. 

This is the commitment we make when we take the Lord’s Supper.
 
"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.  " (2Cor 3:18).
 
Keith Ward