I am sure you know someone just like him—or her, for that matter.  I know one of each.  "No one can tell me what to do," they say loudly and often.  At the same time, they renew their driver's licenses, pay their bills on time, file a tax return, stop at red lights, and, if they don't obey the speed limit otherwise, they will slam on brakes when a trooper appears over the next rise.

              Still, they rankle when told what to do, even kindly-intentioned advice.  All rules are for others, not them.  And conscientiousness is only for wimps.  When people like this become Christians, if that attitude does not become "Thy will be done," and "Each counting other as better than himself," they will cause trouble wherever they go.  They willfully forget this:  Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. (Heb 5:8).

              Jesus, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe, learned to obey.  As someone recently told me, I am probably the least qualified person out there to exegete a passage theologically, but this one seems to say that someone did, and indeed could, tell Jesus what to do.  Let's see if we can learn anything from the humble obedience of our Lord.

              1.  Jesus paid the Temple tax, even though he, of all people, should not have had to (Matt 17:24-27).  Peter had assumed the Lord would pay the tax just like everyone else.  It was part of the Law.  First Jesus patiently instructed Peter about why he was not obligated to pay, but then told him he would, "so as not to give offense."  I have seen too many Christians claiming their rights when concern for others' souls should have caused some discretion.  Humility does what it doesn't necessarily have to do for the sake of others.

              2.  Jesus told the people to obey the Pharisees even though they were hypocrites (Matt 23:1).  I have seen Christians go out of their way not to listen to people they disagreed with, even if those people were right according to Scripture.  In fact, I have seen them change their minds just so they wouldn't be on the same "side."  Truth is the only side we should be on.  If that means we are obeying elders or preachers or Bible class teachers who are scripturally correct about that particular thing, even though we might disagree with them about something else, then so be it.  To do otherwise is to disobey God, not men.

              3.  Jesus allowed himself to be led by the Spirit to be tempted (Matt 4:1).  He obeyed this direction of the Spirit for us, so show us how to meet temptation and to prove that it can be done.  How many trials and temptations would we willingly take on for someone else?  It's all most people can do to serve when it's pleasant and convenient, much less uncomfortable and even dangerous. 

              4.  Jesus put up with a group of hard-headed, obtuse, petty, arrogant men, just so he could leave this world with qualified leaders for his church (Matt 16:18, 17:17, etc).  That church was part of God's plan from the beginning (Eph 3:8-12), so it had to be done.  These were the 12 best he could find, yet still it was a struggle, and not all of them made it despite his work, worry, sweat, and tears.  But Jesus did it because it was the Father's plan.  And he puts up with us for the same reason.

              5.  Jesus went to the cross, even though he was sinless and did not deserve it, because it was God's will ("Let this cup pass…but Thy will be done").  "This is not fair," would have come out of my mouth.  How about yours?  And if he thought it, he never said it, and certainly did not act on it.  He obeyed to the point of death—for us.

              Now, what was that about no one telling me what to do? 
 
​“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15).
 
Dene Ward

We saw that sign on the side of the road, complete with exclamation point at the end.  “Fresh Cut Firewood!” followed by a phone number.  I wondered how many people fell for it. 
 
             Here’s another one:  “Olives fresh off the tree!”  I actually saw someone fall for that one, and he never will again.

              You see what sounds good may not always be good.  Fresh cut firewood is green—it won’t burn.  Firewood needs to sit and dry out for awhile, at least a year down here in this humid climate.  In fact, when Keith cuts wood in the winter, it is for the next year, not the present year.

              When it comes to religion a lot of people fall for what sounds good.  For example, just like firewood is a good thing to have when you own a woodstove, unity is a good thing to have among Christians.  God demands it among His people.  We are not supposed to be arguing all the time.  We should not be dividing into cliques and basing that upon carnal things like status and wealth.  But God also set some qualifications on the matter. 

              The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable…James 3:17.  Unity is a wonderful thing, but you never sacrifice purity for the sake of unity.  The New Testament is full of admonitions to be pure in heart, pure in doctrine, pure in fellowship.  “A little leaven leavens the whole lump,” Paul warns the Corinthians when he tells them to withdraw from the adulterous brother (1 Cor 5:6).  If you want to worship a holy Father, then you have to be holy, Peter tells his readers (1 Pet 1:15,16). 

              As children of God we hope to be like Him some day, John says, but that will only happen if we purify ourselves and stay that way (1 John 5:2,3).  Earlier in his letter he talks about fellowship with God.  Fellowship implies unity, but while unity with one another is important, unity with God is even more important and it cannot happen if we do not keep ourselves pure, or place unity with the impure ahead of unity with God.

              As to that second sign I mentioned above, olives fresh off the tree may sound good, but the informed know that they are too bitter to eat.  They must be processed first or they will turn your mouth inside out in a permanent pucker.  I am sure you could go on and on with the things you are familiar with that others might not be.  Here is the point:  don’t be taken in by how things sound.  Read the Word.  Study it and see the entirety of truth on a subject, not just one angle.  God expects you to see His angle, not the one you think sounds best.
 
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness, 2 Thes 2:9-12.
 
Dene Ward
 

On October 17, 1963 the Beatles recorded "I Want to Hold Your Hand," the first of their songs to catch on in America.  "Love Me Do" and "She Loves You" had already been released and, though hits in England, flopped in this country.  This one not only caught on, it became #1 on the charts.  It is still the best selling Beatles single in America. 

              It may have been a romantic gesture in the song, but holding hands means much more than that.  Every time we pray in our assembly of saints, two hands instantly reach for mine and hold them until the amens echo around the building.
 
             The hand on my right is my husband’s.  After spending over forty-five years together, it seems only natural.  We are always touching, patting, and hugging.  To walk past one another without some sort of physical contact is unthinkable.  What has made this relationship even more remarkable though, is the spiritual sharing and touching.  When two people pray for the same things, hope for the same things, and endure the same things with the help of the same Comforter, two people who were so unalike in the beginning that several people tried to talk us out of this marriage, the closeness can only be with the help of the Divine Creator who united us in far more than holy matrimony.

              The other hand belongs to a friend, someone I have known for several years now, who has supported me in every way imaginable, who has stood by me and has lifted my name up in prayer, who has shared her own trials with me and allowed me to help her as well, someone who lives nearly fifty miles from me, whom I would never have known except that we share the same Savior and the same hope and a place in the same spiritual family.

              Some people view holding hands in prayer as nothing more than an outward show of emotionalism.  To me those hands signify the unifying power of the grace of God.  That unity began with 12 men who would never have come together in any other way, and soon spread to add one more.  Some were urbane city dwellers who looked down on lowly Galileans.  Some were working class men while another was a highly educated Pharisee.  Some had Hebrew/Aramaic names while others’ names bore the influence of Hellenism.  One was a Zealot and another his political enemy, a tax collector.  Yet the Lord brought them all together in a unity that conquered the world.

              I have held black hands, brown hands and white hands.  I have held plump soft hands and rough calloused hands.  I have held the tender hands of the young and the withered hands of the old.  I have held the hands of lawyers and doctors and plumbers and farmers, teachers and nurses and secretaries and homemakers, hands that hammer nails and hands that type on computer keyboards, hands that cook and sew and even hands that carry a weapon on the job.  We all have this in common—our Lord saved us when none of us deserved it.  That is His unifying power. 

              The hand of God is the one that makes all of our hands worth holding.
 
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Romans 15:5-7
 
Dene Ward

Let me tell you a sad story.

            A long time ago, Keith had one of those “try-out” visits that churches offer preachers.  I’ve often wondered whether these things would go better if the church considered itself being “tried out” that weekend as well, but that’s another blog for another time.

            We had lunch and spent the afternoon with a couple who would probably have been considered “pillars” of the church, primarily because they were better educated, had more money, and could quote more scriptures. 

            The church sat smack dab in the middle of farm country amid acres of melons, corn, peas, and tobacco.  Most of the members lived in old frame farmhouses and had dropped out of or barely completed high school.  A remark was made about the church members that gave me pause, but I was very young, wrestling with a two year old and an infant so I didn’t trust myself to have good judgment on the matter or even to have heard it well enough to comment on, so I let it pass.

            I shouldn’t have.  We hadn’t been there six months before the same woman told me I needed to meet the “cream of the crop” in the county.  She proceeded to take me to a gathering of what she considered such women.  Having grown up with parents who told me that the best people in the world were those who sat on the pew next to you on Sunday mornings, I was shocked to see who this Christian considered “elite.” 

            As we ate our finger sandwiches and mingled, I discovered that they all had money, judging from their dress and jewelry, and later the vehicles they left in.  Most were professionals or married to one.  Some of the others were farmers all right, but not hardscrabble farmers or sharecroppers.  These farmers owned large farms or ranches, big business enterprises, or had inherited both the farms and the money from generations past.  And notice this—she and I were the only Christians there.

            Now consider David’s statement in Psalm 16:3.  As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.  David took delight in the saints in Israel, their social class notwithstanding. 

            Where do I find “social class” in that verse?  The word translated “excellent” in the psalm is translated “nobles” in 2 Chron 23:20 (KJV), and they are grouped with high ranking military officers and governors.  In Judges 5:15 it is translated “lordly.”  Jer 25:34 calls them “principals of the flock” and Psalm 136:18 says they are “famous.”  Just to make sure you know who we are talking about, Nehemiah complains in 3:5 that those “nobles” were too good to work like the common folk.  Now do you know who we’re talking about? 

            Our culture idolizes the cult of the rich and famous—how they dress, how they talk, how they live.  We call them “America’s royalty.”  We do the same when we show partiality in the church based upon wealth, popularity, education, and social status.  It is a tacit admission that we consider ourselves better than our brothers and sisters who do not have such “assets.”  It is the opposite of “each counting the other better than himself,” Phil 2:3.

            David says the true “nobles,” the “excellent ones,” are the people who fear God, who live the life they preach, with justice, fairness, kindness, goodness, and grace.  These people “delight” him.  Now ask yourself:  who do I spend most of my time with, especially in the church?  Are we as wise as David?

            One of the common questions in an interview is, “Who would you like to have dinner with?”  Journalists choose that question because the answer tells a whole lot more about that person than they seem to realize.  The person you want to eat with is the one you want to develop a relationship with, the one who interests you, the one you might even model your life after.  The answer to that question shows who you consider the aristocracy in your world.

            Who is on your list?
           
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Ps 84:10
 
 
Dene Ward

I have never been a shoe person.  The last pair of dress shoes I had were classic black pumps—they were the only pair of dress shoes I needed because they went with everything.  I wore them until the heels were wrapped in black electrical tape to hide the nicks and scrapes, and the soles had worn through, showing the white plastic bottoms, about ten years I’d guess.  Then I went shoe shopping. 

              I have never seen so many ugly excuses for shoes in my life.  It seems today’s women want to walk on either ten penny nails or bricks.  The first are uncomfortable and the second are hideous.  Give me a toe that is at least a little rounded, a lower heel, and no pain.  I finally found a pair on a clearance rack for $19.99 that was perfect.  I was beginning to think I was going to have to find a blacksmith.

              And about those ten penny nails—after learning why men like women in stiletto heels, I am surprised that today’s modern, “liberated”, woman would wear anything that makes a man objectify her in the worst way.  Fashion designers obviously have no respect for the women they dress.

              Funny that shoes in the Bible can be matters of respect, too.  Take your sandals off your feet for the place on which you are standing is holy ground, God told both Moses (Ex 3:5) and Joshua (Josh 5:15).  Even today I am told that Muslims and several other Eastern religions take off their shoes as a sign that they are laying aside the pollution of the world to enter into a holy place.

              Are they really?  What about the olive oil stain on their sleeves from lunch?  What about the cigarette smoke soaked into the folds of their robes from an earlier encounter?  What about the everyday miasma we carry around with us from our environment, both in the home and out in the streets?  Of course they are still stained with their everyday lives.  Taking off the shoes is just a symbol of respect.  Does that make it wrong?

              In the West, we have a different symbol.  Men take off their hats.  They do it when they enter a room, when they greet someone, when the flag passes by, and during an outdoor prayer (it’s supposed to already be off indoors). According to the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable by E. Cobham Brewer, the custom began when men took off their helmets to show they did not consider the person they were meeting a danger.  Thus it became a symbol of trust, and one can understand how not removing the hat could be considered an insult.  It still is.

              A certain generation likes to say that symbols do not count, that the only thing that really counts is the heart.  While it is true that the heart is the crux of the matter, I think I can show you that God still expects a few symbols from us too.

              But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless, Matt 22:11,12.  I won’t go into the parable, just notice this:  Jesus did not say the custom was wrong.  Instead, he knew everyone would understand the parable because in that society it was a sign of disrespect to show up at a wedding in something other than “a wedding garment.”  The garment was a symbol of respect for the occasion in that culture.

              God has always expected His people to know the difference between, in the wording of Scripture, the holy and the profane.  “Profane” does not mean crude and vulgar—it means having to do with common, ordinary life.

              The Levites were warned, you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die, Num 18:32.  Now that sounds serious.

              Ezekiel said of the priests in the restored Temple, They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, 44:23.  He also warned, This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut, 44:2.  As a symbol of respect for God, the door he entered was to remain shut and no one else could use it.

              And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood, Neh 8:5.  They showed respect for the Word of God by standing when it was read.

              Clearly, God expects some sort of symbolic respect for sacred things.  What does that mean for us today?  I am not sure.  Maybe it hasn’t been specified because God knew that this new covenant would be open not just to one group, but to all peoples.  What is respectful in one culture, may not be in another.  (Try belching out loud at a dinner party here in America.)

              In our congregation, we stand for the scripture reading.  Does that mean that everyone there has that much respect for the Word of God?  No.  For some it is just an outward sign.  They aren’t paying a bit of attention, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a sign of respect for the rest of us. 

              Take a few minutes today and think of the sacred things in your life.  Maybe that is a first step—our culture has become so “casual” that some people couldn’t even come up with a list of things that deserve that kind of respect.  We should be better than that.  These things do not have to be tangible like your Bible, though that might be a good one to add to the list—your Bible and how you treat it.  Do you just toss it around like a library book?

              As to the intangible, your marriage might be a good thing to show respect for in a visible way.  When our boys were little, they knew better than to ever sit between us at church.  That was just our little thing—it showed them that we were always one and they could never come between us.  I am sure you could think of another way to show respect to that God-ordained institution, one that means something to you too.

              Try to think of at least a few others.  Then think of ways to show that those things are sacred to you, not just some sort of mundane piece of life.  You might be surprised at how that one little sign of respect affects your whole attitude.
 
Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean…so that I am profaned among them, Ezek 22:26.
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Warren Berkley.

A.W. Tozer was precise and scripturally correct when he said: “Self-knowledge is so critically important to us in our pursuit of God and His righteousness that we lie under heavy obligation to do immediately whatever is necessary to remove the disguise and permit our real selves to be known.”

Central to all your character and conduct is your self-concept. This simply means how you see yourself, knowing who you are. You must avoid an unhealthy preoccupation or obsession with self. Subjective distortions can be detrimental. But there is an awareness of yourself and perception of who you are that is central to your potential. It is important to be strong and clear about who you are. Perhaps these inquiries will find a place in forming and maintaining clarity in your knowledge of who you are.

Do you see yourself as a giver or taker? Actually each of us are takers (receivers), for we are the unworthy recipients of the generosity of God evident in our very existence (Acts 17:28). Christians are recipients of the grace of God and Christ, “through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life,” (Titus 3:5b-7). Each of us, therefore, are takers (receivers, partakers). But in another sense the question ought to be weighed: Do you have greater interests in taking than giving? That goes to character. The teaching of Acts 20:35 is germane to this. “…And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.”  The generosity of Jesus’ character & teaching ought to become our purpose, so that we are focused on giving not taking.  (See also Rom. 12:8; Isa. 32:8; 2 Cor. 8:2).

Do you see yourself as a victim or perpetrator? There is a bothersome grumbling seen in people, always blaming others, pointing to circumstances and claiming to be victims. The cry (spoken or implied) is: “Everybody else is wrong. Everybody else is incorrect. Everybody else should take responsibility. Everybody should see and acknowledge my purity and know how unfairly I’m treated!” This is childish. It will help us – when things happen and generally in life – to prayerfully and cautiously evaluate if we were victimized or did we perpetrate the event or events. If you fall into the habit of dogmatically claiming to be the victim, this reflects an absence of humility. Assuming you never do anything wrong is a wrong approach. We are not always victims! We must not always and immediately come to our defense. Sometimes we are perpetrators! In fact, we are all perpetrators in this sense: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom. 3:23). There is great value in humble self-examination.

Do you see yourself as a servant or a master? The Lord’s disciples, in their early days of coming to grips with the truth, sought greatness and vanity. Jesus responded by using a child to teach these grown men the humility they hadn’t yet embraced (Matt. 18:1-5). A few days later, the same ambition showed itself. Jesus responded again: “And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many,” (Matt. 20:27,28).

Oswald Chambers has said: “If you are going to live for the service of your fellowmen, you will certainly be pierced through with many sorrows, for you will meet with more base ingratitude from your fellowmen than you would from a dog. You will meet with unkindness and two-facedness, and if your motive is love for your fellowmen, you will be exhausted in the battle of life. But if the mainspring of your service is love for God, no ingratitude, no sin, no devil, no angel, can hinder you from serving your fellowmen, no matter how they treat you. You can love your neighbor as yourself, not from pity, but from the true centering of yourself in God.”

Ultimately, all our inquires into self need to answer the question: Am I a child of God, or a child of the devil? Because of what Jesus Christ did, you can become a child of God; you can use the Word of God to know yourself, improve yourself and give of yourself to the Creator, to the Savior, to your family, your brethren and your fellowman.
 
Warren Berkley
berksblog.net

“Wonderful Love of Jesus” is an early 20th century hymn I remember singing often as a child.  But I must admit, I never knew what in the world was “lying around” when we sang “in vain in high and holy lays.”  Even as a musician who knows that a “lay” is a song, it took me decades to actually associate that with this hymn and understand what it meant.

             A “high and holy lay” is a sacred song, what we would call a hymn.  Even with that tidbit of knowledge it takes a little thinking to make sense of that first verse.
             
              In vain in high and holy lays
              My soul her grateful voice would raise,
              For who can sing the worthy praise of the
              Wonderful love of Jesus?
 
It is impossible for human voices, even singing the holiest songs they can compose, to praise the love of Christ as much as it deserves.  All our efforts are “in vain.”  That’s what it means.
 
           How can it have taken so long for me to figure it out when the scriptures are full of the same thought?

              Praise Jehovah. Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness [endures] for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah, Or show forth all his praise? Psalm 106:1,2.

              You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. Psalm 40:5.

              My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. Psalm 71:15

              Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” Rom 11:33-35.

              As you can see, it isn’t just the love of God we cannot speak adequately of, but also His wisdom, His righteousness, and His mighty works.  If ever there was a hymn of humility it is this one.  We cannot even begin to fully comprehend any of the Godhead and thus we cannot praise as they deserve.  We do so “in vain,” yet our gratitude continues to compel us to try, and so we do with songs like this one.  It may be “high and holy” but it is not equal to the task. 

              Yet now that I know what I am singing, I can hardly wait to sing it again.
 
[That you] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:18, 19.
 
Dene Ward

The last in the series. 

After I read the book to my grandsons, I took it and looked on every page, up and down, backwards and forwards and could not find her.  I knew He-Did-It Harriet was in there somewhere.  Then I began looking for torn out pages.  Nope.  The book was intact.  Finally, I remembered where she was—in my class's imagination.  They told me the book was incomplete, that several people were missing.  So I told them to come up with the missing children themselves, and they did.  After all these years, Harriet is the only one I remember.
 
             He-Did-It-Harriet has several problems.  First, she's the tattletale.  It isn't that she cares about people and whether they might get hurt—she wants them to get in trouble.  Do you think adults don't think the same way sometimes?  Usually after you point out a problem they have.  "Maybe what I did was wrong, but you…"  Or "brother so and so," Or "sister whatsis."  Tattling on anyone to divert the attention of the elders, the preacher, or any other kind soul who is simply trying to help.  Harriet needs to be told in no uncertain terms that what anyone else did does not make her sins okay.

              Harriet's other problem, especially as an adult, is to blame everyone else for her sin.  "But I'm a victim," she says of poor parenting, of a violent culture, or abuse of one sort or another.  And especially, "He was mean to me.  That's why I quit going to church."  You mean, you allowed someone else to cause you to abandon the Lord who gave his life for you?  That same Lord said, "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."  He said through his prophet Ezekiel, "The soul that sins, he shall die."  My sin is my fault because I let it happen, not because of anything anyone else did.  Never in the Bible will you find a place where someone else's failings actually excused the sin of another.

              And Harriet will never see her own failures.  I have lived long enough to know that practically every problem between two people has two sides.  Harriet, though, sees only her side.  She will judge the motives of others and criticize their actions and words, demanding an apology.  When the other side does this too, things will never be straightened out.  But what often happens is the other side will read in their Bible, "Love covers a multitude of sins," and though they, too, were hurt, they will be the first to proffer the demanded apology, hoping for one in return, and when they don’t get it from the self-absorbed Harriet, just go along for the sake of unity and peace in the family or the church rather than make their own demands.  Harriet is so wrapped up in herself that she will never recognize this fact:  one apology almost always demands one in return because no one is perfect.

              Our entire culture is full of He-Did-It Harriets, people who refuse to take accountability for their actions and blame everything and everyone they can for their failings.  When we let that invade the church, even taking up for the Harriets out there who try to blame it on the preachers, teachers, elders, and caring brothers and sisters who dared to tell her she was wrong, we give the Devil a victory.  He has won Harriet, but he has also won anyone else who sees her get away with sin and still be accepted as a part of what should be a holy brotherhood.  Now they know exactly how they can get away with it, too.

              The children did not know when they made up Harriet that this one might be the most important one of all.  Or maybe they did.  Maybe they have seen it too long among their playmates and while they cannot see from experience the evil that is wrought by them, something in them saw a problem.

              If you should use this book with your children or your Bible classes, try this simple exercise.  Have them come up with characters they do not like to be around and do not want to grow up to be like.  Children are far wiser than we sometimes think.
 
He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Gen 3:11-13).
 
And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” (Exod 32:21-24).
 
And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” (1Sam 15:20-23).
 
Dene Ward

Picky Pete is another character from the book in the table manners section.  He is the child who will only eat about 5 things—if you are lucky—and it must be the correct brand prepared in the correct way or it doesn't count.  If you have a Picky Pete—and I did—you must eventually teach him to gratefully accept what is placed before him.  Unless he has a certifiable illness or allergy, it is rude not to.  In the first place, someone has worked long and hard to prepare that meal.  In the second, and most important, God has provided it, and that is the only reason he is not starving.  (But parents, cleaning your plate is not predicated on the children in China, okay?)
 
             We had a rule in our house.  You try everything once.  And if you ever say, "Yuk!" (or "Eeew" or any other such word of disgust) you have to eat a double serving.  At least I was never embarrassed at someone else's house that way, and they did discover that some things they thought might be awful actually tasted pretty good.

              The problem with Picky Pete is that the more he is catered to, the worse he gets.  And when he grows up, it will show in ways that are much more of a problem. 

              Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.  (2Tim 2:14 )

              Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.  (2Tim 2:23 )

              As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. (1Tim 1:3,4 )

              Pay special attention to that last one.  Folks, we are not talking about doctrine.  God expects exact obedience.  You cannot honestly study the whole Bible and come up with any other conclusion.  But some things are just not worth bringing up, especially in a mixed group of beginners and older Christians.  They will cause more confusion than clarity.  And you know exactly what I am talking about.  Picky Pete loves these things, and he doesn't care whose faith he ruins, just so he can get a good argument going.  Wise, considerate people who enjoy discussing those trickier things, and whose faith is mature enough to handle it, know that is it better to get together privately to do so.

              Picky Pete is not about details—God expects us to faithfully follow the pattern.  No, Picky Pete is about causing a ruckus regardless the collateral damage.
 
He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth... 1 Tim 6:4,5
 
Dene Ward

I can’t really believe it.  I was going through all those painful physical therapy exercises you have to do to keep moving when you have injuries or surgeries, and to keep my mind off the pain and the endless repetitions, I flipped on a channel that runs only old shows, about the only kind I can stand to watch any longer.  On a defunct old program I suddenly heard something profound enough to catch my attention.  A character was complaining about his life and how bad he felt.  Another character looked at him and said, “If you want to feel better, take a pill.  If you want to BE better, face the truth about yourself.”
That old show was the original Perry Mason, which debuted on CBS on September 21, 1957 and ran until May 22, 1966.  It was television's first weekly one hour drama.  Based on Erle Stanley Gardner's books, it was every bit the hit they were, collecting a Golden Globe and at least 4 Emmys, along with a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association.  I remember hearing that stirring music as my parents watched the show from the warmth of my bed as a very small child.  I was an adult before I ever saw an episode or read one of the books.

              As for that line of dialogue, it was spoken by Raymond Burr as he portrayed the eminent lawyer. I stopped mid-rep, losing count completely.  What was that I had heard?  I repeated it to myself at least three times so I wouldn’t forget it—maybe—and it was weighty enough a thought that it did stay with me until I could write it down.  “This one I must use sometime,” I thought, and then suddenly realized that God has been using it for millennia, sort of.

              “Face the truth about yourself,” we say.  He says:

              Be not wise in your own eyes…Prov 3:7.

              There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death, Prov 16:25.

              Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart, Prov 21:2.

              There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth, Prov 30:12.

              He feeds on ashes, his deluded mind deceives him, he cannot rescue himself,,,Isa 44:20.

              Let no one deceive himself.  If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise, 1 Cor 3:18.

              For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself, Gal 6:3.

              If anyone thinks he is religious but does not bridle his tongue and deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless, James 1:26.

              Your head should be spinning by now.  How many times have I deceived myself into ignoring rebukes and shunning well-intentioned advice?  And then, when it all falls apart and I am left hurt and weeping, did I ever once stop and think over that advice and those rebukes again and think maybe—just maybe—I should have listened?  Maybe—just maybe—I am not as astute as I seem to think I am.  Oh, I say the right words (“I am not perfect”), but when the fruit reveals itself in my actions, everyone knows I cannot be reasoned with because “My case is different.”  So many people think themselves the exception to the rule that you wonder why God bothered to write a guidebook for us—it doesn’t apply to anyone! 

              A rebuke should make me stop and consider, not stomp and smolder.  Yes, that is still difficult.  I am not sure it ever becomes easy.  But those scriptures up there say that if I do not consider, the vengeance I wreak with my answering anger to the one who cared enough to try, will only destroy me.

              “If you want to feel better, take a pill.  If you want to BE better, face the truth about yourself.”
 
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. Jas 1:22-25
 
Dene Ward