"I wouldn't want to be a member of it."
            The above comment came after a Bible class in which we studied and discussed the very first church, the one established on Pentecost (Acts 2).  Because it began with a membership of 3000 and quickly grew to 5000 men (Acts 4:4), which could easily have translated to 10,000 when counting wives and widows, this comment was muttered by one of the women sitting in the class.  She didn't like "big" churches, and evidently that included the congregation founded on the Day of Pentecost.  Can you imagine saying that you would not have wanted to be a member of the first church, the one where the apostles themselves did the teaching, where miracles were still performed, and the Holy Spirit made himself evident?  Unfortunately, I think I have a lot of brethren who feel the same way whether they say so or not.
            They want a small congregation so they can become "involved" and, though they probably won't say this, "important."  They want a church where they can know everyone personally and have close relationships with everyone.  They want a church where what they say and think matters and where they have as much say-so as the next guy because there are no elders.  Do you think I exaggerate and presume?  I have heard all of these things.
            We forget what the church is.  Jesus did not die for a social club where we get to make the dress codes and decide who can belong based upon the severity of their problems or their social stratum.  (When we fail to meet and greet certain ones in a friendly fashion, that is exactly what we are deciding.)  The church does not exist so we can all get a turn showing off our perceived talents and abilities and garner praise from everyone else, or so we can be sure to have a group who will give our children a wedding shower or a graduation present, or so we can have people to cater the family meal after a loved one dies.  Those are simply the side benefits of being in a body of Christians.  And if those things do not happen for us, we do not have an automatic right to leave the Lord.
            What Jesus died to establish is a dynamic group of believers whose minds are on the spiritual world (the "heavenlies") not the physical; who understand the severity of God's judgment; who believe it is not only their mission to make sure they are saved, but also to take as many as they can with them; who believe their worship must include a life of service to others; and who put the unity and good of the body ahead of their own likes and dislikes.  When we reach that point, statements like the one at the top of this post will simply disappear.
 
But you have come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape who turn away from him that warns from heaven…Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:22-25,28-29).
 
Dene Ward
 

If there was ever a new church that struggled with its spirituality, it was the church at Corinth.  Paul scolded them:  And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. [Read that:  “you are acting like a bunch of big babies,” and you will get the picture.]   I fed you with milk, not with meat, for you were not yet able to bear it, no, not even now are you able, for you are still carnal, 1 Cor 3:1-3.  We have a tendency to think of things sexual when we see that word “carnal,” but Paul tells us in the next phrase or two what it really means:  “walking after the manner of men,” in other words, being physically minded instead of spiritually minded.  He then spent most of that first letter telling them how to become more spiritually minded. 
            Their struggle over spiritual gifts surely has to be the most obvious example.  They actually rated them as to importance, using, of course, carnal measurements--the flashier and showier the better.  So Paul spends most of chapter 12 telling them that no one is more important than anyone else.  Everyone is useful in the body of Christ, and if any one of them was not there, something would be obviously missing.  In chapter 14, when their sense of importance is leading to a confused and disorderly assembly because none will yield his “gift” time to another, he actually gives them specific instructions about how to order things, all of which are pure common sense if you have the correct object in mind, the edification of the church rather than the glorification of the individual.  He even spells it out several times:  if there is no edification, let them keep silence. 
            And of course, there is the pitiful business with suing one another, letting things of this physical life effect how they dealt with spiritual brothers and sisters.
            Those poor Corinthians at whom we so often shake our heads are not the only ones with these problems.  We are beset by the same weaknesses, and the same feelings.  In fact, as I was reading and thinking about these things it suddenly struck me that almost any time I take an idle remark as a personal attack, it falls right into the same category. 
            I believe there is such a thing as being sinfully sensitive.  Think about it.  How many times could Jesus have “gotten his feelings hurt” or “felt insulted?”  You could make a list as long as an entire book in the Bible, but he did not allow his feelings to keep him from completing a mission that was more important than anything else in the world. 
            When I commit myself to being his disciple, don’t I promise to follow his example?  The problem with being too sensitive is that it causes me to stop what I am doing and spend time on nothing but myself, usually moping or pouting, or even beginning a campaign against the other person.  Nothing anyone says to me or about me, or that I might even possibly construe to be about me, is an excuse for setting myself up as more important than my mission as Jesus’ disciple.  As a mature Christian, those things should roll right off me, because my concern is God’s glorification, not my own.  That is what spirituality is all about.  And if we cannot even begin to get a handle on it here, why should we be allowed to live in that exalted state for an Eternity? 
            Something to think about as we interact with one another today.
 
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves, Phil 2:3.
The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult, Prov 12:16.
 
Dene Ward

"You're bringing the wrong class of people to church."
            He was a young, full-time preacher, and this particular congregation was quite sure they were the answer to any young preacher's prayer.  He was told that he was so lucky such a wonderful congregation hired him, a group so faithful that the Sunday morning attendance and the Wednesday night attendance were exactly the same, and who could certainly teach him a few things about being a gospel preacher.
            He was still new to the community and had no direct contacts nor any referrals from the members.  So he did it the old-fashioned way—he went out door-knocking, passing out literature and offering personal Bible studies.  He quickly discovered that the poorer, blue collar neighborhoods were the most accepting and willing to talk, even if only on the door step, while the upper middle-class were more likely to slam the door in his face.
            Gradually, several of the ones he had met and studied with came to church.  One Sunday, when four or five of them were standing to the side after services, not one member went to meet them and shake their hands.  Finally a younger couple, saw what was happening and headed straight to the visitors to meet them and greet them.  This should have shamed everyone else, all of whom were older and considered themselves pillars of the church, but it did not.  At the next business meeting, the statement at the top of this essay was made.  Never mind that the young preacher was the only one bringing anyone to church—they were not the preferred class.
            I hope you are completely horrified that such a thing would be said at all, much less by a former elder who had moved there from another location.  But take a minute now and examine your own hearts.  Who do you run to greet?  The well-dressed ones or the leather-clad tattooed ones?  The ones who obviously know how to act in a worship service, or the ones who haven't seen a razor in a week or a barber in a couple of months?  None of the people who were considered "the wrong class" were dirty, unshaven, loud, nor did they "act out" as some might say.  They simply did not wear jackets and ties, skirts and heels in a day when that is what everyone wore.
            Realize this—unless you were raised going to church, you might never have listened to someone knocking on your door.  People with solid marriages and strong nuclear families who do not have major problems, don't see a need for God.  The gospel has always spoken loudest to those who need it the most.  For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called (1Cor 1:26). 
         This congregation wanted to pick and choose the ones they thought worthy of them.  Jesus had a parable for them.  He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ​I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner! I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:9-14).
          People like me who have always been in a church building on Sunday morning, who never had difficulties being tempted by liquor, drugs, and promiscuity, need to be grateful for the legacy our parents left us and then be even more determined to help those who were not so fortunate.  When someone comes out of a pagan world, he has a lot more baggage to unpack and leave behind.  Let's welcome them gladly and help them do it.
 
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?...Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits (Jas 2:5; 1:9-11).
 
Dene Ward

Samuel Colt, the founder of the Colt Patent Fire-Arm Manufacturing Company was born in Hartford, Connecticut on July 19, 1814.  Perhaps his most famous gun is the Colt Single Action Army Peacemaker.
            Isn’t it ironic that “peacemaker” is the name of a gun?  The Peacemaker was designed in 1873 and the standard military service pistol until 1892.  I sometimes think we must have the same definition for “peacemaker”—a weapon of war. 
            More and more I see people starting fights over things not worth fighting about.  More and more I see people not only excusing their aggressive behavior, but justifying it as righteous.  Maybe it is because I am older now, but “zealous” no longer means “quick to fight” to me, and I think it never did to God.
            “Blessed are the peacemakers,” is not a concept foreign to the old law.  God’s people have always understood that righteousness is not about contention.  David is a prime example.
            He refused to harm Saul, whom he called “the Lord’s anointed,” even though Saul had sworn to kill him, 1 Sam 24:6.
            He bowed before Saul, even though he himself had been anointed king, 24:8.
            He promised not to harm Saul’s heirs, even though they might have tried to claim the throne God wanted him to have, 24:21,22.
            It’s easier when those around you have the same attitude, but David even managed to keep his peacemaking attitude when surrounded by warmongers, Psa 120:6,7.
            Yet this is a man who did fight for God, who lived in a time of a physical kingdom that fought physical wars against physical enemies.  He bravely went into battles and killed God’s adversaries, so much so that he was not allowed to build the Temple with his blood-stained hands, so we cannot call him a wimpy, namby-pamby by any means.  He simply knew when it was time to fight and when it wasn’t.  Like Paul in Acts 16:3 and Gal 2:3-5, he depended on the circumstances to help him decide what justified either action in exactly the same issue, and never let his passion for God push him further than he knew his Father would want.  It wasn’t about having his own way, about not allowing anyone to tell him what he could and couldn’t do.  In all things the ultimate mission, God’s mission, was his goal, not saving face.
            Jesus’ mission was the same—peace.  He brought peace between men (Eph. 2:12-14) and peace between man and God (Rom 5:1-2).  Then he told us that was our mission too—bringing peace to the world. 
            Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.  Whose children are you?
 
It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Prov 20:3; Psa 34:14; Heb 12:14; Rom 12:18; 2 Cor 13:11.
 
Dene Ward

God has tried again and again to give us the perfect place.
            It started with Eden.  All of our physical needs were met in a place of perfection.  And the God who loved us came to walk with us every night "in the cool of the day."  But what happened?  We messed it up.  We listened to the one who did not love us and believed his lie.
            Then God took us to a land flowing with milk and honey, the place he had promised Abraham 400 years before.  And what happened?  We messed it up.  Even though God had shown us His power again and again—the plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea—we failed to trust that He would help us win the land.
            So forty years later, God tried again.  The Jordan parted.  The walls of Jericho fell.  And what happened?  We messed it up.  We failed to drive out the sin and the sinners, but took it all into our bosoms and nurtured it.  Once again we discarded His perfect Plan A and drove God to Plan B, judges to deliver us when the oppression got so bad that we actually repented.
            And you are saying, "What?  That was them, not us."  Really?
            One more time God has given us the perfect place.  A kingdom that cannot be shaken.  A King who is King of kings, who sacrificed himself for us, and ever lives to make intercession.   A place of righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.  And what happens?  We mess it up.  We fail to "be of the same mind," to do "nothing of faction or pride," to "each count the other as better than self" (Phil 2:2,3).  We forget to "be kind, tender-hearted, and to forgive" (Eph 4:32).  We certainly never "take wrong" for the good of the kingdom and its mission in this world (1 Cor 6:7).  We ignore God's authority because, "God wouldn't mind if…" and "God wants us to be happy! (Col 3:17)"
            Every time we misbehave in this ideal kingdom God has blessed us with, we are Eve taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, we are the 10 craven spies shaking in our boots, we are the unspiritual men who failed to drive out the pagans and their worship from the Promised Land.
            But this time, we can still be part of that perfect kingdom.  God is gracious and forgiving.  His lovingkindness endures forever.  And even in Sardis, there were …a few names…that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy (Rev 3:4).  I can be one of those few, even amid a crowd of the others, and so can you.
            God is giving us one more chance with his perfect kingdom, the one his Son died for and now rules over.  Don't mess up again.
 
​The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. ​You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you (Isa 62:2-5).
 
Dene Ward

After decades of scrimping, doing without, patching and re-using when most would have tossed the old one and bought a new one, things have gotten a little easier for us.  I guess it finally hit me the day I was sweeping our bedroom, picked up the old plastic trash can next to my dresser to sweep under it, then flipped it over to empty into a trash bag I was carrying room to room.  There on the bottom was a piece of duct tape over a long crack that somehow, despite weekly cleaning, I had forgotten about.  I suppose I had just gotten so used to it that it disappeared from view.  We couldn't afford anything unnecessary for so long, and that handy swath of duct tape made buying a new one "unnecessary."
            But things are different now and that fact suddenly broke through old attitudes and habits.  "What does one of these cost?" I asked myself.  "Five dollars?  Six?  I think we can afford that now." And the next week on our once a week trip to town (we still don't make extra trips at two gallons of gas per trip), I bought myself a new trash can for the bedroom.
            And now Keith has decided that we can afford to have our house cleaned every other week.  I can't deny that my old age ailments make doing it myself a lot more difficult and painful than ever before.  However, it does cost extra money.  [Actually, I did not want this godly woman wasting her energy and time cleaning and then being too tired to prepare these posts and her classes, kw inserted.]
            So he found a young Mennonite woman who is an excellent cleaner and hard worker, and who charges half the going rate to boot.  We give her a substantial Christmas bonus so she won't go out of business any time soon.
            Do you know the hardest part of having someone clean my house?  Actually letting her clean it.  I want to go around the day before she comes cleaning bathrooms, dusting shelves, and scrubbing floors.  It's too embarrassing to let someone else see my dirt.  Why am I like this?  I could blame my mother, a perfect housekeeper who kept our home spotless with everything in its place.  But it probably has a whole lot more to do with pride and plain old embarrassment. 
            That may be the problem people have when it comes to conversion.  Do you know how many times we have heard, "I have some things I need to work on first?"  As if things so monumental, in our minds, that they will keep the Lord from accepting us, are things we can easily handle on our own.  Even after years of NOT being able to handle it on our own.  Do you really think the Lord hasn't already seen your dirt?
            While the Lord certainly expects us to clean up our lives when we commit them to him, he never expected us to do it beforehand and without his help, and he was willing to spend an awful lot to make that help available.  Stifle your pride and embarrassment.  Come "just as you are" and let him help you change that.
 
​Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt 11:28-30).
 
Dene Ward

When my boys were still at home, family meal time was important.  We all made an effort to be together as many nights a week as possible, even as their schedules became busier in the high school years.  The majority of the time, we managed to do so. 
            I recently read a couple of articles discussing the importance of families eating together.  A family that eats together has better nutrition and the girls have fewer eating disorders.  The children do better at school.  They develop better language skills. They are less likely to take drugs, smoke, or drink.  Eating together, especially the evening meal, helps maintain accountability.  It is a “check-in time” which fosters a sense of togetherness.  (www.sixwise.com)
            “Dinnertime should be treated like a reunion, a respite from the outside world, a moment of strengthening relationships, and a pleasant experience that should always be cherished,” Ron Afable, “Eating Together as a Family," www.adam.org.
            When I read that last quote I was stunned.  Was he talking about family dinnertime or the Lord’s Supper?  God tells us we are to have this meal when we are “gathered together,” not each in his own home.  The reasons are precisely those reasons.  When I walk into the church’s gathering place I should have a feeling of relief, a “Whew! I made it!” moment.  This is my haven; these people are my support group; this is where I gather the strength to face another week of trials and temptations.  Is it any wonder God chose something that was part of a family meal to celebrate our one-ness with Him, with our Savior, and with each other? 
            The denominational world says that having this meal as often as the first Christians did—every Sunday—makes it less special, yet what does the world say about families having meals together on a regular basis?  Surely that applies here as well.  We are better nourished spiritually, we grow in the knowledge of the Word, we sin less because of the accountability regular meetings require, and we develop stronger relationships with one another.  Funny how God knew what He was doing, isn’t it?
            We often say that we should forget the outside world during this special time, but more than that, we should remember our “inside world”--our bond with one another.  Disagreements should melt away.  Aggravations with others should be covered by our love.  Personality problems should take the place they deserve—the bottom of the barrel.  To do otherwise is to make a mockery of the feast, and “drink damnation to ourselves.” 
            Our Father calls us to this special suppertime to reunite, to rest and recover, and to remember who we are and how we got here. This special dinnertime should always be cherished.  Don’t make a habit of missing it.
 
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ; the bread which we break, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ?  Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread, 1 Cor 10:16,17.
 
Dene Ward

I am sure every mother has heard the above sentence, yelled in an outraged voice as her children play together.  And if she doesn't go in right then, eventually one outraged child will run to tell her that big brother or sister has tried to tell them what to do as if s/he were the parent.  I guess it's normal, because it happened with adults in the Bible more than once.  It has even happened with non-humans.
            We all have a place of authority in our own little world.  Even those who have no family have their own authority to make their own decisions.  Once family does enter into the equation there is the husband/wife dynamic and the parent/child dynamic.  Out in the world there may be an employer/employee relationship and there is always the citizen/government issue.  And ultimately, all of us are under the authority of God who gives all other kinds of authority to others.  But that is the issue here today—the authority given has a realm which must not be violated.
            And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day (Jude 1:6).  Here are the non-humans I mentioned before.  These angels somehow left their "position of authority."  How, we are not told, but the seriousness of this error is seen in their punishment.
            We have another example in King Uzziah.  But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor, and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God.” Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the LORD had struck him. And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD…(2Chr 26:16-21).  Even kings, we are meant to understand have a position of authority they must not exceed.  No one was allowed to burn incense but a priest and that did not change because the King wanted it to.
            In the New Testament Peter tells elders that they are to "shepherd the flock that is among them."  When a group of elders decides to butt into the business of another congregation of God's people and tell them what to do, they have "left their position of authority," and they should beware.  The consequences will not be pleasant.
            And that leads me to Miriam.  Miriam was given a leadership role among the Israelites.   For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam (Mic 6:4).
            We are not sure exactly what Miriam did during the forty years.  We do know that in the beginning, right after crossing the Red Sea, she led the women in worship.  For Micah to place her with Moses and Aaron as one of the three who were sent to lead, I think it is a fair judgment that Miriam continued in that role.  However, a little over a year after the Red Sea crossing, Miriam became dissatisfied with her God-given role and sought to be on a plane with Moses.  She pulled Aaron into it for support, but the punishment—leprosy--and the original Hebrew (I am told) make it plain that this was all her doing.  Once again, we have someone leaving their position of authority, even complaining that the position God gave her was not good enough.  God's summons, reprimand, and punishment put her back into her place.  To her credit, she seems to have taken up her position once again after her punishment, this time without fuss.  How else could Micah have described her as he did if she never led the women again in the next 39 years?
            That last example is one we women need to consider.  God has given us a position of authority.  We are one of two parents our children are told to obey, Eph 6:1.  We are to be managers of the home, 1 Tim 5:14.  We teach and admonish as we sing in worship to God, Col 3:16.  We older women teach the younger women, Titus 2:3-6.  We even teach men in a private setting, Acts 18:24-26.  As nearly as I can tell from reading the New Testament, that is the scope of our authority. 
            In our culture, we are encouraged to not only go beyond that scope, but to demand a broader realm, exactly as Miriam did.  Please go back and read the examples above, and please do not leave out the one about the angels who dared to go beyond their place.  That Miriam had a place that long ago and in that society was a gift from God.  She was singularly ungrateful and presumptuous in her attitude.  She was trying to "be the boss" of not only her siblings, but of God.  Don't make the same mistake she did.
 
​Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression (Ps 19:13).
 
Dene Ward

I published my first book of Bible class literature when I was 25 years old.  It has weathered well, but I still rewrote the teachers’ manual just a few years ago, giving this as one of the reasons:  “I have found things I hope no one thinks I still believe.  I really have learned better, I promise!”
            That is embarrassing, but I suppose it would be even more embarrassing if I had not learned better.  That is one problem with writing things down when you are young.  They follow you your whole life.  I worry about the folks who still have that old manual.  What I worry most is that they will have discovered better all by themselves and any influence I may have now will be destroyed because they think I still believe those wrong notions.
            When I was young, I was happy to give advice, too.  I thought I knew every answer because to me everything was cut and dried, black and white, and I was happy to share my vast knowledge.  Unfortunately, my vast inexperience got in the way.  I am no longer eager to give advice.  When someone approaches me asking for some, I instantly send up a prayer, “Lord, please let it be an easy one this time.”  I am willing to help whenever someone needs me, but now I take greater care with my choice of words.  If you are still eager to offer advice, even when it is not asked for, you need to take a step backwards and think awhile.  Realize that God will hold you accountable for the results.
            Nowadays we have something else to worry about—the blogosphere.  I know many who accomplish good things with their web logs, but like anything else we do, we need to be careful.  You never know who will read it, how young they might be, how inexperienced, how ungrounded, how fragile their souls.  Unless you have a foolproof way of limiting access to it, your blog needs to be exactly the way God expects your life to be—a good example that will help and serve, not a poor example that may lead someone astray. 
            Your blog does not come with a built in “tone of voice.”  It does not come with a commentary that spells out exactly what you might mean when something clearly has more than one meaning.  And realize this:  what you perceive as the only possible interpretation of what you have said isn’t!  Your background, culture, and personal baggage make you unable to see in your words alternate interpretations which may be perfectly obvious to others. 
            I have learned all this the hard way.  Not only do I have a blog, but the many words I have written in class literature, devotional books, and periodicals, and the many I have spoken in classes and speaking engagements have sometimes come back to haunt me, though I regularly pray over them, and have others read them first for any problems they might see.  So take this advice, something for once I am happy to share if it will save you from some of the problems I have had—be careful out there.  The world is a smaller place than ever before, and you never know who is listening.
 
Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment, James 3:1.
 
Dene Ward

"Why do you have to know that stuff anyway?"
            This one I heard after we had studied the Minor Prophets on Wednesday evenings several years ago.  Why should we be studying all these old stuffy hellfire and brimstone preachers when they aren't even talking about us anyway?
            Aren't they?  The biggest mistake we can make is to assume that things in the Bible do not apply to us.  Why in the world do we think God saved them for us?  For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (Rom 15:4).  By studying how God dealt with those people we can learn the character and nature of God.  We can learn what pleases and displeases him.  Sadly, we can learn that we aren't really any different from those people and our nation is going the way of that one.  That makes those passages a warning we need to heed if we hope to survive where they did not.
            But sometimes I hear from young women teaching my own Bible study material in other places that they not only hear that question, they also have people actually becoming upset because things are being taught that they never heard before, and that their old view of a specific Bible event was inaccurate.  Never mind that these "new things" are solidly supported by scripture or other documentation.  If they didn't know it or never heard it, it can't be true or if it is, it can't be important.  That is exactly what our friends and neighbors do when we try to teach them the truth of the Bible.  Any excuse is good enough if it gets us off the hook.
            But why would anyone want to find an excuse not to learn something new?  Yes, it changes a lot of preconceived notions and wrong pictures we have in our heads about Biblical narratives when we do a little study of culture, when we carefully read and reread the scripture and actually find things we have missed all these years.  And that means we have probably been teaching our children wrong things, too.  Check those Bible story pictures we put out for them to color.  A lot of them are just plain wrong!  Don't we want to teach our children correctly?  We had better because God will hold us accountable for what we teach.  Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness (Jas 3:1).
            "But it's such a little thing," I often hear about some of the things that I point out.  Well, it may be, but what about the next thing and the next?  As one of my newer students said in class one day, "You keep getting the little things wrong and soon the whole thing is wrong."  As another one put it, "Knowing things like ages [that take time and math to figure out] can help you understand motivations better.  Suddenly it makes sense that Rebekah would follow her husband's instructions about pretending to be his sister when you know he was old enough to be her father and she was very young."  It might not make it right, but you can see how it would happen much more easily.
            And really, how can anyone ever say about the Word of God, "Why do we have to know that stuff anyway?"  Doesn't that display an attitude we should abhor?  There may be deeper things that we can learn over time because they do not affect the "now" urgency of salvation, but that doesn't mean we ignore them forever.  It should mean we are more eager to get to them than ever before.
 
Give instruction to a wise person, and he will become wiser still; ​​​​​​teach a righteous person and he will add to his learning. Prov 9:9
 
Dene Ward