Salvation - Dene's Blog

Fishing

11/23/2021 0 Comments

My sister and I stood near the end of the long pier that jutted into the Gulf, a steady breeze blowing our hair across our faces, the hot sun pounding our shoulders as only a Florida sun can. The planks beneath our sandaled feet were thick and gray, old enough to have splintered on the surface here and there but still solid, only a faint vibration when anyone walked past us. The waves rolled in, small and steady, splashing the pilings beneath us and sprinkling us with salt spray.
            We had cane poles that day, no fancy rods and reels—just throw it in the water and pull it up when the fish bites. And all of a sudden one did. At 11 and with very little experience in the sport, it felt like a monster and I am sure I must have squealed. Suddenly I was surrounded and a hand helped me pull the thing up.
            “What is that!?” I asked no one in particular. It was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen, about 5 pounds worth of ugly.
            A man I didn’t know laughed. “It’s a cowfish,” he said, but actually the profile looked more like a pig’s than a cow’s to me. He advised me to throw it back and I did—the only fish I ever caught.
            Fishing is a common theme in the Bible—and I bet you’re thinking of the gospels. But Amos, Jeremiah, Habakkuk all used that metaphor too.
            The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness that, behold, the days are coming upon you, when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks. Amos 4:2
            “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. Jer 16:16
            You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever? Hab 1:14-17
            The prophets use the metaphor of God’s people being caught by a net or hook and carried into exile. It was a fearsome image, one far removed from the picture we might have of a quiet man meditatively casting his line into a babbling brook. It takes Jesus to turn that scary prophetic metaphor on its ear. Yes, we are “fishers of men,” but whereas the Assyrians and Babylonians made captives of those they caught, Jesus sets us free.
            For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Rom 8:2. Free from the law, free from sin, free from death. How could we be any freer?
            And it doesn’t really matter to him how ugly a fish we are. Unless we struggle in his hands, he won’t throw us back.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

Dene Ward

Do You Know What You Are Singing? O What a Savior

10/18/2021 0 Comments

Once I was straying in sin's dark valley,
No hope within could I see,
They searched thru heaven and found a Savior,
To save a poor lost soul like me

Chorus

Oh what a Savior! Oh Hallelujah
His heart was broken on Calvary,
HIs hands we nail scared: His side was driven,
He gave his life blood for you and me

He left the Father, with all his riches,
With calmness sweet and serene,
Came down from heaven and gave his life blood
To make the vilest sinner clean.

Chorus

Death's chilly waters I'll soon be crossing,
His hands will lead me safe o'er
I'll join the chorus in that great city,
And sing up there forever more
Chorus

            O What a Savior was written by Marvin P. Dalton in 1948. As a musician I find it one of the most beautiful hymn melodies we sing. Let's face it, folks—the modern hymns have a tendency to hover over four to six notes and repeat three or four of them incessantly (along with a lot of word repetition as well). I have asked more than once, "Can't anyone write a melody anymore?" Well, this man knew how to do it.
            Yet I have heard many want to do away with this hymn because of this one line: "They searched through Heaven and found a Savior." Why? Because we all know that God already had it in mind "before the foundation of the world" that Jesus would become flesh and dwell among us, eventually dying on the cross for our sins. No search was necessary! Well, of course God had it all planned, but that objection shows a whole lot of ignorance of Scripture.
            And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look thereon. And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look thereon: and one of the elders said unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof (Rev 5:2-5).
            Did you catch that? "No one was found"—that phrase implies a search. And where did they search? "In heaven, on the earth, or under the earth." John, speaking in figurative language, uses the metaphor of a search to impress upon us the absolute impossibility of anything or anyone other than Jesus the Messiah being able to save us. Just as God paraded the animals in front of Adam to prove to Adam (not Himself) that he needed the woman, John is showing us a search to prove to us that we need Christ. It's called poetic license, and if you read the Psalms, this sort of thing is not uncommon.
            God has always used language the way we use it, the same rules of logic, the same use of figures, the same rules of reading (such as context), and language that anyone, not just a scholar, can understand. The Psalms his people sang in the Old Testament used all these things, and John does, too, in his highly figurative Revelation. Mr. Dalton was simply using a time- and God-honored way of writing poetry. Sometimes we get so picky that if it were up to us half the Bible might be thrown out. Be careful what you are showing about your Biblical knowledge, or lack thereof, and enjoy this beautiful melody and thoroughly scriptural song.

Dene Ward

September 7, 1979 Sports Channels

9/7/2021 0 Comments

For something that is supposed to be the pre-eminent “Sports Channel,” ESPN leaves me remarkably cold—or actually hot. It was launched on September 7, 1979, at 7:00 pm, EDT, with the first ever telecast of "SportsCenter," to an estimated audience of 30,000. It was founded by Bill and Scott Rasmussen (father and son) and Ed Eagan. It may have begun with tractor pulls, Irish hurling, and skeet shooting, but ESPN has had remarkable growth since then, now boasting several affiliated channels and most of the college bowl games, along with the college world series, Major League Baseball games, and Monday Night Football.
            So why don't I like ESPN? I can count on CBS to replay nearly every play of any significance immediately. Not just touchdowns either. They will show the touchdown from several angles, then show the quarterback as he passed, or the line as they opened the holes for the runner, or any other contributing factor. If there is a penalty, we see it happen. If there was an excellent block, we see the block. If a defender made an amazing move around a lineman, we see the move.
            ESPN? I doubt that even half the plays are shown again. Instead, we get an interview with someone on the sideline who might possibly have something to do with the game, but more likely doesn’t—he just happens to be famous. Or we get an update from a game we chose not to watch and have to watch a piece of anyway rather than a replay of our chosen game. Most of the time, we never get the replay, even if it was a 50 yard run to set the team up with first and goal.
            On ESPN the commentators talk about every game except the one we are watching. In fact, they sometimes talk about a different sport altogether. We hear about other players, other coaches, and other schools—anything but the game we are watching. We are told the records of every Heisman hopeful, even if they are not playing in our game. We know which coach played for which other coaches, even if they are not coaching our team. And they can’t even do it with good grammar.
            But sometimes we’re stuck. It’s the only place we can see our team play—and win, we hope, despite not being able to see the instant replays in a timely fashion and at a meaningful angle.
            I guess a lot of people don’t mind. They are putting up with the same things at the church they attend. They say they are Christians but their preachers present sermons about societal ills—the ones deemed politically correct to talk about--about love and acceptance of everything and everyone no matter how many of Christ’s commands they break, and never once mention the name of the Savior they claim to worship—Rotary Club talks, inspirational talks, anything but a sermon. They are handed pamphlets that some board somewhere else decided they needed to study rather than the Word of God, and certainly nothing actually relevant to that particular group and its needs. If they learn anything, it’s about another game altogether, not God’s.
            Maybe these folks don’t know what to look for. They expect entertainment rather than edification, emotion rather than instruction, famous people and rip-roaring religious fervor, along with a meal or two to keep the belly from growling. Jesus had some choice things to say about people like that. Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal” John 6:26-27. It isn’t about the feel-good physical, he told them, it’s about ME!
            On Sunday mornings, I want to hear about my Lord. I want to study the Word of God and learn more from it than I knew the day before. On the other hand, I don’t mind a repeat of an old lesson, perhaps from a new angle, and certainly prefer that to an interview on the sideline with someone who is supposed to be “famous” in the religious world. Big name preachers can sin the same as the rest of us.
And you know what? We CAN turn this channel. We can look for something else.    You can look for something else. Give me the simple truth of the gospel and the simple worship of those people long ago. Why don’t you come with me so we can find it together? Nothing else can fill your soul quite the same way.

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh John 6:48-51.

Dene Ward

Living on Concrete

8/20/2021 2 Comments

I grew up in the city. We walked on concrete roads and sidewalks, pulled in on a concrete driveway, and parked on a concrete carport. When we swept and vacuumed the floors we only had to do it once or twice a week and hardly accumulated more than a tablespoon of sand (we're in Florida, remember) in the dustpan each time, and only had to change vacuum cleaner bags a couple times a year.
            But I have lived most of my married life in the country. For half that time we had no driveway or carport. Now we have a carport, but still no driveway. We do a considerable amount of living and working outdoors, taking care of a large garden and five acres. Our road is nearly a half mile long, private, and unpaved. When Keith walks that half mile to the mailbox down by the highway, he treads on dirt, sand, and limerock, not a sidewalk. Even though we have a mat by the door and a runner just inside it, we still track a considerable amount into the house. I could sweep every day but don't have the time. Even every other day will yield twice as much as a week's worth when I lived in the city. Every time I hear that passage, "Shake the dust off your feet," I wish we could do it just that easily.
            The inescapable conclusion is that living on concrete will keep more of the dirt out of your house. Too many Christians, and churches, want to keep the dirt out, to live on concrete spiritually. I am not talking about keeping sin out of our lives. I am talking about being such a clean freak that the only people we want to offer the gospel to are nice nuclear families with no marriage problems, no addictions, and no ongoing issues that might "cause problems." Many years ago I caught myself saying, "I should invite them to church. But wait, they are in second and third marriages. That's just asking for trouble." I don't remember how long it took for me to remember a certain woman at a well in Samaria whom Jesus went out of his way to speak to and offer a chance at salvation. She had one whale of a marriage issue, but Jesus didn't stay on the concrete.
            Long ago and far away a men's business meeting actually told Keith he was bringing "the wrong class of people" to church. Never mind that he was the only one bringing people from the community. What he had found out in his door knocking was that those were the people more likely to listen—the ones who had problems and didn't think they were just fine and dandy. It was in one of those nice upper middle class neighborhoods where those brothers wanted him to pass out invitations that the man outside watering his well-manicured flowerbeds turned his hose on Keith, his Bible, and all his fliers.
            Who listened to Jesus? Few of the middle class Pharisees and upper class Sadducees. Usually it was the blue collar workers and those in less than reputable occupations—fishermen, harlots, and publicans. If we want to reach people, we need to step off the concrete and walk around in the mud where they live like he did. We need to be willing to track in a little sand and then sweep it up. Yes, it's a lot more work dealing with those kinds of people, but that is what our lives are supposed to be about—sharing the good news and helping the babes grow. You offer the gospel to everyone. It is their decision whether they are devoted enough to the Lord to clean up their lives, not ours.
            Don't be satisfied with living on concrete—going about your life with your family, going to church on Sunday, and staying away from the big bad sins as we define them, while ignoring the opportunities to reach out that God sends your way. You might stay out of the dirt, but there will still be sand in your house—and it all came from you.
And it came to pass, that he was sitting at meat in his house, and many publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and publicans, said unto his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he said unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:15-17).

Dene Ward

August 13, 1865 Wash Your Hands!

8/13/2021 0 Comments

Dr. Joseph Lister usually gets all the credit, or shares it a bit with Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Doctors should wash their hands before treating each patient, and their tools as well. But according to Steve Kellmeyer, a nationally known author and speaker, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss was actually the first physician to require hand washing before treating each patient in a maternity ward in Austria, putting an end to "childbed fever" in his ward. For all his work, his careful data keeping, and a mortality rate a mere fraction of others, he was roundly ridiculed. How could a speck of dirt under the nails or on the skin, or using the same tool on a live patient that was just used on a corpse during an autopsy cause death? It was all "Catholic superstition."
            Semmelweiss was professionally attacked, denied tenure at the university where he taught, and eventually suffered a mental breakdown from the stress, being placed in an insane asylum "where he was beaten until he died" at age 47 on August 13, 1865. His only crimes were he "believed in God and germs." (All quotes are from Kellmeyer in a comment on an article about Lister.)
            Not two years later, on March 16, 1867, Dr. Lister presented a paper titled "An Address on the Antiseptic System of Treatment in Surgery," and medicine was changed forever. Kellmeyer believes the only reason he was accepted and Semmelweiss was not is that Lister was not Catholic.
            If you know anything about Judaism, you know that hand washing was required of certain people at certain times, beginning in Exodus, shortly after the delivery of the Law on Mt. Sinai. The LORD said to Moses, “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the LORD, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations (Exod 30:17-21).
            Hand washing is still practiced today by Orthodox Jews. Although hand washing is certainly a healthy custom, that is not what the law is about in Judaism. In fact, it is required that the hands be clean before they are washed and soap is not used in the ceremonial washing. It is about ritual, not hygiene, and is symbolic of washing away impurities from our lives. However, by the first century the ritual was just that—an empty practice that never reached the heart. Jesus scandalized the Pharisees when he refused to wash his hands before a meal and denounced them for missing the whole point of the ritual. While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you (Luke 11:37-41).
            As Christians we also have a washing ritual, and too many times we also miss the point. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name (Acts 22:16). Too many sing "Just As I Am" and think that means they do not have to make a large and fundamental change in their lives by putting away impurity when they commit their lives to the Lord. Yes, Jesus will accept you as you are, but he expects you to change who you are. Go your way and sin no more (John 8:11). But some want to keep living as they have, enjoying the same lifestyles that smack far more of wallowing in the mud than washing away sins.    We must become "new creatures," living new lives with new motivations and new goals—living for Him and not for ourselves. When we confess Him, we deny ourselves. If that has not happened, we are just like those first century Pharisees whom Jesus so strongly denounced: "Hypocrites."
            Semmelweiss understood the value of literal washing and in a very real way, died for his belief. God expects us to die to sin, beginning with that first symbolic washing that for some of us occurred so very long ago. Was it only a symbol, or did it really mean something?

…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, (Eph 5:25-26).

Dene Ward

Heartworms

8/2/2021 0 Comments

We did not know the facts all those years ago. We did not know that if you live in Florida your dog will almost certainly get heartworms if you do not use a preventive medication. And so one morning, our five-year-old mixed breed was running across the field, suddenly stopped and collapsed. He was panting heavily and it was obvious he was near the end. We sat there and petted him and told him what a good dog he had been, and he quietly passed on.

Heartworms are parasitic worms spread through the bite of a mosquito. They lodge in the heart, lungs, and blood vessels of the dog. Some of them (females) can grow to one foot long. When the "worm burden" is high enough, they can actually block blood flow to and from the heart. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, coughing, signs of heart failure, and other organ failure. It can take 5 to 7 years for an infected dog to die, which means that our Ezekiel must have been infected very young.

If you have a dog, you need to know these things. If you take your dog on vacations with you, the percentage of heartworm cases in your own home town no longer matters because you might very well be in a high percentage area for your entire vacation, and it only takes one bite. If you have an "indoor" dog, your dog still is not safe. Mosquitoes can fly in and out every time you open your door, and what about those walks you take him on? If you don't have "those kind" of mosquitoes in your area, just wait for the next big blow coming off the Gulf, one of the highest concentration areas there is, and you might. It has been known to happen. Heartworm cases have been reported in every state in the Union.

Needless to say, all of our pets since Zeke have been given a preventive as early as it is allowed. They are also tested every year to make sure. If you are going to have a dog, in Florida especially, you simply have to do this, or face losing a beloved pet every five years or so. The percentages are too high otherwise.

Sin is like that, but even worse. You may have a tiny chance that your pet will not be infected with heartworms in Florida, but you won't have any chance at all with sin. We are all infected, and it will kill our souls as surely as a badly infected dog will die of heartworms. The problem in our culture today is not taking sin seriously. It is fodder for comics (Flip Wilson's "the Devil made me do it"), something to ridicule in Christians, and an outdated philosophy. "Let go of the guilt," we are told. "There is nothing to feel guilty about." But there most certainly is—the infection rate is 100%, and it doesn't matter where you live. For all have sinned and fall short…" Rom 3:23, and I have yet to find anyone who claims to be perfect, not even an unbeliever.

Many heartworm treatments after infection are dangerous to the dog. They can kill the animal. The treatment for sin is not only 100% effective, but easy to use and has no harmful side effects, unless you count righteousness, hope, and joy as "harmful." All you need to do is pick up your Bible and start reading. Luke's gospel is a good place to start if you want to truly know the Savior, followed by the sequel by the same author, the book of Acts. In that book you will find conversion after conversion. Make a few lists as you read: where they began (Jews who knew the prophets, pagans who knew only their myths and philosophers), things they were told and what they ultimately did to gain salvation. You might be surprised what you don't find listed as well as what you do find listed in every single instance.

Heartworms are deadly serious to dogs. Sin is deadly, and eternally, serious to humans. Get yourself treated as soon as possible.

Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated (Ps 36:1-2).
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb 10:22).

Dene Ward

May 18, 2012--A Knock at the Door

5/18/2021 0 Comments

Wives of probation officers learn to live with a lot of things, including fear. As certified law enforcement officers their husbands regularly go alone into neighborhoods that well-armed policemen will not enter without back-up. Yet they do it on a regular basis to keep track of their caseload, making sure they are where they are supposed to be and not out getting into trouble again. Keeping the community safe by supervising convicted felons is their job. They knock on doors every day, never knowing who might answer, or what condition they might be in (drunk, high, angry) and what they might be carrying with them. Yes, it’s illegal for them to have a weapon, but they broke the law already, remember?
            One of the other rules for the probationer is never to go near their supervising officer’s residence. Most of them have no idea where their officers live anyway, and the office is not allowed to pass out that information, but when you live in a tiny rural county where practically everyone is related to or otherwise knows everyone else, they don’t even need a phonebook to find their officer. Twice I have had one of those people knock on the door, once when Keith had already left for work.
             Do you think we are just paranoid? One time Keith came upon one of his people parked in front of a convenience store with a shotgun in the front seat next to him. And among several other similar events, on Friday, May 18, 2012, probation and parole officer Jeff McCoy, who had gone to check on one of his people, was shot in the head and killed in Oklahoma City, when his knock on the door was answered.
             That is why I always lock my doors when I come inside, and why, since we had a fence put up, we lock the gate 24/7.
            It’s a habit now. I come in the door and shut it with a twist of the wrist and it’s locked. I don’t even know I’ve done it. In fact, one time I walked outside to do something and locked myself out without realizing it.
            On the weekends when he is not at work, I regularly lock Keith out too. He will be chopping wood or mowing the yard and I come back in from taking him a jug of water and—flip—it’s locked. I don’t know it until I hear him knocking at the door. He never gets angry; he always says, “Good job,” and goes about his business. Now if I didn’t respond to his knock that might be a different story.
            Acts 6:7 tells us that many of the priests were “obedient to the faith.” That word “obedient” is the same Greek word used in Acts 12:13. Peter had been miraculously released from prison and went to Mary’s house, where the church had met to pray. He knocked at the door and Rhoda came to “answer”—that’s the word “obedient.” Just as a knock on the door requires a response, the gospel knocking on our hearts requires one too.
            First, let me praise poor little Rhoda. This was a time of danger for the church. Two had been arrested and one of those already killed. The use of the word “maid[en]” or “damsel” tells me she was unmarried and therefore quite young. Yet she is the one who was sent to answer the door. What if it had been Herod’s soldiers? Then she finds Peter standing there and is so excited she forgets to let him in—meaning it was somehow secured, which was probably unusual. It takes others coming to respond to the continued knocking for Peter to actually get into the house.
            A lot of charlatans who claim to be preachers of the faith will tell you that all you have to do is look out the door and recognize the Lord and you will be saved. Faith is merely mental assent, with perhaps a lot of excitement thrown in, too much to actually get the door opened to prove its sincerity, but this word requires some action. Those priests in Acts 6 were “obedient” to the faith. They responded completely and fully to whatever was asked of them. “Mental assent” is not an appropriate response to the gospel, any more than me looking out the diamond-shaped pane of glass at my locked-out husband and waving, “Hi!”
            How many professional athletes have you seen wearing crosses and “thanking their Lord” before going out to live exactly the way they want to instead of the way He wants them to? Too many. But what about those of us who do not live with such public scrutiny? How many times do we tell the Lord, even after having “obeyed the gospel” as if it were a one-and-done deal, I’m happy to serve as long as it doesn’t cost too much money or take too much of my precious time, as long as everyone does things my way (which is the only smart way), or calls me every day to check on me and take care of my every whim?
            The Lord is knocking on the door and He wants far more than your words. He wants all of you, your heart and your life, your total submission to His way of doing things. Don’t just nod at Him through the peephole. Either answer the door and let Him in, or allow Him to go on to someone who really wants Him there.

As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. Revelation 3:19-21

Dene Ward

Do You Know What You Are Singing?—Alas and Did My Savior Bleed

3/1/2021 0 Comments

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sov’reign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm* as I?

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.

            This post is not so much about what the song lyrics mean as it is about teaching us to pay attention to what we are singing.
            Read the lyrics above, if you have not already. Some of them may be unfamiliar because they are routinely left out of hymnals. Songs of Faith and Praise is particularly bad about choosing three verses whether their order makes sense or not. Sometimes they will choose four, but why makes no more sense to me than just choosing three. In the case of this song, it really fouls up the meaning of at least one verse. Can you find it?
            Look at the fifth verse. It begins with "But" which means that verse is reliant upon something that came before. Yet the fourth verse is one that is routinely left out of many hymnals. "But drops of grief" refers back to "melt my eyes to tears." Each verse gradually leads you to the answer to the question in the first two lines of verse one, "Did my savior die for me?" Then it speaks of the reactions that answer should provoke in us: mortification, gratitude, grief, and, finally, total surrender. Now the song makes sense.
            But then I hope you have also noticed the complete disparity between the music of the verses and the music of the chorus. Isaac Watts wrote the lyrics in 1701, using the Scottish tune "Martyrdom." The above lyrics were the entire song. In 1885 Ralph Hudson added the words and tune of what is considered the chorus or refrain: "At the Cross." It was written in a "campmeeting style" which some people believe means it was added to more than one tune. It is indeed a completely different style than the verse melody, a bit more raucous and knee-slapping, and it completely interrupts the flow of the verse lyrics, which may well account for few people noticing the problem with the verse 5 "but" having no antecedent that makes sense.
            As a musician and writer, I would like to suggest that all five verses be sung, with the refrain sung at the end, if at all. It would make more sense both lyrically and musically. And, as mentioned earlier, this sort of thing is a good test of how much attention we pay to what we sing. The answer to the title question, in this case at least, "Do You Know What You Are Singing?" might well be, "No, we don't."

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life (Rom 5:6-10).

*Yes, "worm" is the correct word. Some hymnals have pandered to modern desire for self-esteem and changed it to "one." We need to realize just exactly how low and utterly irredeemable we were, and the unthinkable sacrifice of a God becoming like us and living and dying like we do, though he never deserved it.

Dene Ward

Blessed Are They That Mourn

1/8/2021 0 Comments

Just the other day I was asked how our congregation managed this past, crazy year. Stupid me, I was just getting ready to say that I feared that trial of a year had hurt the faith of the weak, that several families had moved to other, closer, congregations who had not stopped meeting, and that we no longer had visitors from the community as often as before. Before I could get any of that out, he added, "Have many gotten the virus? How many have you lost to it?" Ah. So that's what he meant. Why was I so surprised?
            I suppose my biggest disappointment during all of this is the small concern others have shown over the harm caused the spread of the gospel. We don't dare invite people to services or even into our homes for a study. If a few do come we greet them with thermometers instead of open arms. We aren't allowed in the hospitals and nursing homes to visit and hold services. My husband's own prison ministry was called to a halt by the state for several months and now that he is allowed back in he is limited to one third the number he had attending before, no matter the size of the room, or the number who desire to come, and even with masks on. Plus the inmates now have to do paperwork to request a pass to attend, something they never had to do before, and sometimes that paperwork gets lost or delayed and interested people cannot be there. When I mention these things, does anyone express any grief over the souls that are being lost? No. We're too busy counting virus cases, most of which people recover from.
            I wonder what Paul might think if he were alive today. What keeps coming to me is his exuberant joy when he heard that the gospel was being preached, even while he was in prison, even while he was in chains, even while people were attempting to cause him even more trouble while doing it. What does he say about that? "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, " (Phil 1:12-18).
             This is not to make light of the virus. I am truly sorry that some people have died. I know personally some who are grieving and I have ached for them, prayed for them, and done the little I was still allowed to do for them. But for the life of me, I cannot understand why we as the people of God are not openly grieving over the harm done to the cause of Christ, why someone isn't standing up and saying, "This is hurting the spread of the gospel," and weeping aloud about it; "This is killing the ones who were already weak," and bewailing it.
            Greeting one another with a holy kiss" (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Thes 5:26)—or holy hug, or holy embrace, or holy handshake, or holy however your culture greets—cannot be done over a computer monitor or a smart phone. We cannot "show hospitality one to another" (1 Pet 4:9) when we are sequestered in our homes. What does our reward depend upon? In part, it comes because we have not neglected the Lord Himself by neglecting to visit the "fatherless and widows" (James 1:27) and those who were "sick and in prison" (Matt 25:36). Except we have been prevented from doing exactly that. But it seems not to matter at all because we certainly haven't caught the virus, have we? Rejoice!
           We two are being careful, yes. We are in that "high risk" group. We have managed to stay well, despite taking a few chances here and there, like Keith continuing to go to the prison whenever they allow it, and both of us holding the Bible studies in our home and the willing homes of others that were in place before the world fell apart. And it hasn't kept us from mourning as we see the damage being done to precious souls. If the church had a flag, it ought to be at half-mast. Their bodies may be hale and hearty, but the spiritually weak are dying in droves every day as long as this continues, and at a far higher percentage than the physically ill. But do we care? Nope. Not as long as they don't catch the virus.
           Well, they did catch the virus, the truly deadly one, the one that is always fatal unless the Great Physician heals us of it. But, God forgive us, no one seems to be mourning over that.

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Rom 9:1-3; 10:1).
For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ (Phil 3:18).

Dene Ward

Bible Dictionaries

12/8/2020 0 Comments

I have to admit it—I seldom look at Bible dictionaries. They scare me a little. I cannot read a word of Hebrew or Greek so how can I check out what these guys are saying? At some point I just have to trust them. That’s why I love it when the Bible itself tells us what a word means. Sometimes you have to read carefully or you will miss it, usually because you have read past it all your life and can’t seem to stop that bad habit. At least that’s my problem. You have to pay attention when you read God’s Word, like every time you read it is the first time.
            And by doing just that I found a new, obvious definition. Read Ezekiel with me.
            If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul, Ezek 3:18-21.
            Did you catch it? God tells Ezekiel exactly what a righteous man is—someone who warns (and delivers his soul) or someone who listens to the warning and repents. But what about the “righteous man” who commits injustice, you ask? He has “turned from his righteousness” and “none of his righteous deeds are remembered,” which means he is no longer righteous. The only two righteous people in that whole paragraph are the one who warns and the one who repents.
            Notice, God says nothing about the way he is warned. If you have not read the book of Ezekiel you need to. Ezekiel preached hard sermons. He preached plain sermons. Yet God still demanded that those people repent. Getting their feelings hurt did not make them “righteous.” Getting angry about the way they were spoken to did not make them “righteous.” The only thing that made them “righteous” was heeding the warning and repenting.
            Think about that Syrophenician mother who came asking Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. At first Jesus ignored her.   Then he insulted her. If she had left with her feelings hurt, her daughter would never have been healed. She understood that something was more important than her feelings. And Jesus called that attitude “faith.” Ah! Another Bible definition.
            When I hear the warning, if I want to be counted righteous, I must stop blaming others and recognize my responsibility to listen and act. The failures of others will not save me.

Take heed how you hear…Luke 18:8.

Dene Ward