Extreme Makeover: Transformation Edition

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson dated 6.25.11

“In his book, Has Christianity Failed You?, Ravi Zacharias points to one of the greatest proofs for the truth of Christ and the reality of his resurrection: the changed lives of Christians. He writes:

“‘During the course of nearly 40 years, I have traveled to virtually every continent and seen or heard some of the most amazing testimonies of God's intervention in the most extreme circumstances. I have seen hardened criminals touched by the message of Jesus Christ and their hearts turned toward good in a way that no amount or rehabilitation could have accomplished. I have seen ardent followers of radical belief systems turned from being violent, brutal terrorists to becoming mild, tenderhearted followers of Jesus Christ. I have seen nations where the gospel, banned and silenced by governments, has nevertheless conquered the ethos and mind-set of an entire culture.’
“Then in his own words Zacharias lists examples of Christ's power to transform lives:
“‘In the middle of the twentieth century, after destroying all of the Christian seminary libraries in the country, Chairman Mao declared that … Christianity had been permanently removed from China, never to make a return. On Easter Sunday in 2009, [however] …; the leading English language newspaper in Hong Kong published a picture of Tiananmen Square on page 1, with Jesus replacing Chairman Mao's picture on the gigantic banner, and the words "Christ is Risen" below it.
“‘I have also been in the Middle East and marveled at the commitment of young people who have risked their lives to attend a Bible study …. I have talked to CEOs of large companies in Islamic nations who testify to seeing Jesus in visions and dreams and wonder what it all means.
“‘The British author A. N. Wilson, who only a few years ago was known for his scathing attacks on Christianity … celebrated Easter [in 2009] at a church with a group of other church members, proclaiming that that the story of the Jesus of the Gospels is the only story that makes sense out of life and its challenges. [Wilson said], "My own return to faith has surprised none more than myself …. My belief has come about in large measure because of the lives and examples of people I have known—not the famous, not saints, but friends and relations who have lived, and faced death, in light of the resurrection story, or in the quiet acceptance that they have a future after they die.”’”[1]

There are people all around us who have been transformed by Jesus.  Do we need any stronger proof that Jesus exists than that?   

“A Chicago Tribune article in early 2008 began: ‘For nearly 40 years, Ted Neeley has been Jesus. He's lived Him. He's breathed Him. He's spent nearly his entire lifetime researching Him.’ Though the opening words sound a little odd, they're actually true. Since the 1970s, Ted Neeley has been playing the part of Jesus in the popular musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Neely is now 64 years old—;nearly 30 years older than Jesus was when He was crucified the article points out, tongue in cheek.
“In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Neeley said something interesting—something we should reflect on as Christians. ‘I'm only playing Jesus,’ Neely told the interviewer. ‘He got it right the first time. I'm still working on it, you see. The key word there is “playing.” I'm a performer. I'm pretending to be something which I am not.’”
“I don't know whether Mr. Neeley is a Christian or not. If he isn't, here's a guy who can say Jesus' words, dress like Jesus, and walk in Jesus' footsteps, but in the end, he cannot make Jesus really come to life. No matter how inspired it might be, no one will ever watch Neely's performance and say, ‘You know, for a little while, I forgot I wasn't actually watching Jesus himself.’ However, if Mr. Neeley is a Christian, with Jesus' life flowing through him, I would venture to say that whether on a stage or not, those who know him personally would say, ‘Ted really is like Jesus. It's not the costume or the words he says. He's just—I don't know—like Jesus.’”[2]

Another person who experienced the transformational power of Jesus is Bruce Marchiano.  If you have never read or heard his testimony, you need to.  It is really breath taking.  He’s written his story in a book entitled In the Footsteps of Jesus.

Marchiano is the actor who played Jesus in The Gospel of Matthew, a film that uses the exact words of Matthew as its script.  When Marchiano accepted the role, he was, a Christian, but putting on the character of Jesus for the movie, changed him completely.  If you haven’t seen that film or read Marchiano’s book, you really should. 

Some folks will try to tell you that religion is just a bunch of myths and fairy tales, but if you look at the evidence, no myth or fairy tale has the power to rebuild and transform lives broken lives.

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galations 3:26-29

You know what?  We don’t have to actors like Ted Neeley or Bruce Marchiano to “put on Christ.”  Anybody can do it.  “How?” you ask? 

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”  Romans 6:1-6

Being clothed in Jesus Christ isn’t something that only some people can do.  It’s available to all of us.   Jesus gave Himself to us – for us. All we have to do is accept His life changing gift.

“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”  Romans 13:10-14

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[1] Ravi Zacharias, Has Christianity Failed You? (Zondervan, 2010), pp. 105-107

[2] Kelley L. Carter, "After 40 years, Neeley says 'Jesus' is Work in Progress," Chicago Tribune (2-15-08)

Do you want to change your life?

Apparently so does everyone else on the planet. I did a “google search” and found literally millions of hits, not just with one search, but at least five more suggested searches were available – each with hundreds of millions of hits, combined. Now, I clearly did not look up every website, but I did look up a quite a few.
What I learned was extremely interesting. Apparently any number of things are capable of “changing your life.,” in a wide variety of lengths of time.


Truly fascinating! One lady has decided that the perfect time changing amount of time is 70 days (for women, anyway),. Computer programs will change your life; diets will change your life, along with lots and lots of books. One book, called The Intention Experiment, says that “Thought generates its own palpable energy that you can use to improve your life, to help others around you, and to change the world.” One gentleman, who is offering his services as a speaker at your business or organization, claims that all you have to do is take The Self-Empowerment Pledge. This pledge is made up of seven promises, one for each day of the week. Another individual has narrowed things down to just eight choices that you can make to change your life. You can change your life in seven days…for only $24.31. Hmmm. Maybe the 70 day one costs less? Ya think?
That’s the other thing. Almost every single life changing breakthroughs is going to cost money. For $19.41, you can find out how to change your life using feng shui. You can change your life through insight and honesty and facing your past. The program is called, “Living the Truth.” On another website, I learned from a gentleman who calls himself a metaphysical scientist (what do you think that is?) that all you have to do is name the top three things you want in life and then use your computer for ten minutes a day to get them. Oh! Here’s one that claims to be able to change your life in just ten seconds! Wow! I wonder how much that one costs?


Apparently there are 70 movies capable of changing your life, as is hypnotism, of course. Another pseudo-science book calls itself “A groundbreaking collaboration between neuroscience and Buddhism” and claims to tell us “how a new science reveals our extraordinary potential to transform ourselves.” Robots will change your life too. And this is my very, very favorite: “Change Your Signature, Change Your Life.” This “graphologist” (I think he just made that up) in India claims that changing your signature can improve family happiness, health, relationships; achieve your goals; increase your mental and physical compatibility; increase your energy; increase your ability to concentrate; get you a better job; overcome depression and disillusionment with life and save the family unit. Did you have any idea that your signature had that much to do with your life? Interesting…


So, what do all these life-changing methods have in common? The major things that jumped out at me were that all of these involve you making the changes in your life through your own strength of will, or by repeating certain words or carrying out certain tasks. And, of course, the fact that not one of these marketing ploys makes any reference to any human need for outside assistance. I just don’t believe I can wake up one morning, make a choice, say a pledge or sign my name differently and POOF! My life is changed. If things worked that way, what would we need God for? Ooooh, good question…


And, of course, that’s my point. God, working through His Word, is the only agent of change that we will ever need or that will ever work, and it won’t cost you a dime. A real bargain!


I know people who would argue long and hard on that point. They don’t believe that just reading the Bible is enough to change anyone’s life. They say that it’s too confusing, too archaic, even that parts of it are too brutal. What do you think? Well read these and then decide:


One man writes,

“After growing in an abusive home and thirty one years of drug and alcohol abuse I had reached a point, at the age of 43, at which I thought I would most likely die before ever knowing any kind of peace. With a counselor’s help, I was able to stay off drugs and alcohol for a year. At the end of that year I realized I was the same person, I had just removed the drugs and alcohol. I was still miserable…
“I decided to read the Bible to try and have a spiritual life. After reading the Bible I was no longer the same person…God had changed my heart! I was loved and forgiven! …Through reading the Bible I found a new life, through Bible study I am learning how to live out that new life!”

Is that a coincidence? Will reading just any book change your life? Let’s see.

“I was not raised to be a Christian. When I was a boy, my parents were searching spiritually, and they taught me about various forms of Christianity, about Zen Buddhism, about Siddha Yoga Hinduism, and about Islam. …I attended Jewish religious services more often than the services of any other religions. I read the Scriptures of all of these religions when I was a teenager. I also consulted the I Ching (the Confucian “Book of Changes”) nearly daily.
“…I was on the road to disaster – involved in sexual promiscuity, experimenting with soft drugs, drinking heavily and headed toward alcoholism, captivated by the occult, deeply depressed, and consumed by hostility toward those who had been near and dear to me. Weighed down under a crushing load of guilt and self-hatred, I was sitting one evening on a high window ledge preparing to jump off and kill myself, when Jesus spoke audibly to me…
“What he told me was that I should get a Bible and read it. What I read there about Jesus changed my life.” Joseph L. Cumming

One pastor tells this story:

“…in God’s hands people who read the Bible change. …I want to tell a story about a particular person, a guy named Sukan. Sukan was a Sufi Moslem studying for the priesthood. …He was taught all kinds of things about Christianity; about the things that made Christianity wrong and one of the things that he was taught was that Judas was converted into the image of Jesus and it was Judas that died on the cross instead of Jesus. And so God’s justice was done on this infidel.
“One day Sukan was walking along and saw a piece of paper blowing in the wind on the street and he reached down and picked it up and it turned out to be a portion of the gospel of Matthew. In it he read the words where Jesus is on the cross and he says, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Now, as Sukan repeated that over and over to himself and thought about it, he thought to himself you know this can’t be Judas talking, because Judas would know why God had forsaken him. These are the words of a righteous man. And so as he thought about it, Sukan came to the point where he realized that it was actually Jesus who died on the cross and right there with just that little piece of the gospel of Matthew, Sukan made the decision to trust Jesus Christ as his Savior and follow him.”

In fact, there is a website called Answering Islam that has bunches of testimonies from dozens of people who have converted to Christianity from Islam. Really fascinating and wonderful stories. There’s one more story that I really want to share with you though. It’s about a man named Bruce Marchiano. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the man who played Jesus in The Gospel of Matthew. That is a DVD that came out a few years ago and tells the story of Christ word-for-word from Matthew. It is an amazing video. But so is this story. Marchiano was a struggling actor who read for the part of Christ and got it. He was a nominal Christian at best, but as he portrayed the character of Christ as Matthew wrote it, Marchiano met Christ and his life was absolutely changed. He tells his story in a really great book, In the Footsteps of Jesus. If you haven’t already, find it and read it. It truly shows the power of God’s Word on a person’s heart.

“But I think there is no stronger reason for urging you to spend much time with the Book of books than this: It will make Jesus more real to you than any earthly friend. He is always near. He always has time to visit. There is nothing you cannot talk over with Him; and He always understands, sympathizes, and gives the counsel needed. You and I may have Him walk so close beside us that He can hear our thoughts and feel our heartaches. He is the one Friend we can always keep. He is the one Friend we cannot spare; for truly, as He has said, 'Without Me you can do nothing.' He is the one Friend through whom you and I can do all things we should do to be true Christians; and the Bible is the book that will bring Him into our lives and make Him the closest and most real of all friends.
"Do you not love the Bible? If you do not, there is only one explanation: You do not know the Book. You have not been drinking deeply enough of its living waters to wash the dust of common things out of your throat. Drink deeply, and you will long for it as the 'hart pants after the water brooks.' Drink deeply, and you will seek it as the desert traveler seeks the cooling spring. Drink deeply, and you will find it the panacea for all human needs.” Andross, M, Alone With God, p19.

Giving Up

Thoughts on the Sabbath School lesson dated 6.18.11

We’ve been talking about the clothing imagery in the Bible for a while.  There are some notable ones that come up during Jesus’ ministry, that are pretty important, and seemingly, unconnected to each other.  I’ve been struggling with how to condense them into a single unit, because there just isn’t enough time to take them on separately.  I think I’ve finally got it, so here goes.

The stories are:  the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, when Caiaphas tore his priestly garments in response to Jesus, the Roman soldiers putting the robe and crown of thorns on Jesus, and the soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothes at the cross.  As you can see, those are very different stories…but I think I’ve found the link.  In each one of those episodes of His life and ministry, Jesus gave up something, something He had every right to keep.  See if you agree with me.

So, Jesus and His disciples are headed somewhere and they are being mobbed by people wanting to get close to Jesus.  In the middle of all this, there’s this woman who has been sick for 12 years and nobody has been able to help her.  She’s used up every bit of her savings, nothing has worked.  Probably worse than being sick for so long, this woman has been shunned for 12 years because she was considered unclean, like a leper.  She had spent 12 years essentially shut off from everyone she had ever known.

Ever since she’d heard of Jesus, she’d been planning this moment.  She knew that Jesus was her only chance.  As she thought it through, she knew nobody would knowingly let her anywhere near Jesus, so she went into stealth mode.   She got as close to the ground as she could and moved between people’s feet,  She had decided that she wouldn’t risk being turned away, she just needed to touch a piece of his clothing and she’d be well.  And she was!  But just as she was about to melt back into the crowd, Jesus stopped and looked around. 

“At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’
“‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?”’
“But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’”  Mark 5:30-34

Wait, you say, Jesus didn’t give up anything in this story.  I think He did.  He gave up His right to ignore the pleas of sinful humans.  He didn’t have to acknowledge that woman, but He did.  He didn’t even have to allow her to be healed by touching His clothes, but He did.

When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet,

“He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.”  John 13:4-5

Sitting there in the upper room, before eating the Passover meal, don’t you know, Jesus knew what all of His disciples were thinking?  When they realized that there wasn’t a servant to wash everybody’s feet, they started glaring at each other and mentally arguing, “I’m not going to do it; you do it.”  “You’re the one who forgot to line up a servant; you do it.”  “I don’t think so, I’ve been with Jesus longer than you have; you do it.”  Anyway, you can imagine, but Jesus gave up His right to pull rank.  He could have said, “Hey, guys, I created you, wash My feet and be quick about it.”  But He didn’t.

“Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, ‘Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?’  But Jesus remained silent.
“The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’
“‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’
“Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.  What do you think?’”  Matthew 26:62-65

I think we forget that just because Jesus took the abuse of Caiaphas and all the others, and allowed Himself to be beaten and crucified, doesn’t mean that he didn’t have any choice in the matter.  We (or at least I) sometimes forget that.  He didn’t have to go quietly…He didn’t have to go at all!  Jesus gave up His right to get His feeling hurt and become angry when He was falsely accused.  He could have struck Caiaphas dead where he stood, but He didn’t.

“Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said.”  Matthew 27:27-29

Isn’t that a heartbreaking picture?  It’s bad enough that Jesus was set up.  It’s bad enough that He was beaten within an inch of His life.  Was it really necessary to make fun of Him too?  And yet, for you and me, Jesus took it.  Jesus gave up not just the right to show them who He really was, He gave up His right to demand respect from the people He created and was in the process of redeeming.  He could have “called ten-thousand angels,” to get revenge, but He didn’t.

“When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.  ‘Let’s not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let’s decide by lot who will get it.’  John 19:23-26

I can’t even imagine how Jesus felt as he looked down from the cross to see the people for whom He was dying gambling for His robe.  I believe that Jesus gave up His right to say, “Okay, people, I’m done here.  You don’t want what I’m giving, so just forget it.”  He could have forced us to accept His robe of righteousness, but He didn’t.

Why?  Why did Jesus give up so much?  Why did He allow Himself to be humiliated, beaten and murdered?

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  Hebrews 12:1-3 (emphasis supplied)

Imagine

OK, you’re walking around in Heaven.  You’ve been home about three weeks, and it’s so great!  You have Sabbath dinner with Jesus; sitting on the banks of the Sea of Glass.  During the week you’ve been catching up with old friends and making new ones.  Like one song says, you “see a million faces and recognize every one.” 

And look at the faces!  There’re David, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Matthew, Mark, Luke – not to mention Ruth, Esther, Eve, and Mary.  And don’t forget post-Bible people like Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, C. S. Lewis, and George MacDonald.

Every week there’s a Vespers program called, “Chat with the Patriarchs”.  But, just hearing one patriarch per week – wow – that’ll take FOREVER!  OK, so, forever really isn’t that big of an issue anymore, but still… You want to talk to them one-to-one!  You make a list of the folks you want to talk to and some questions you want to ask.  You don’t want to get flustered and forget something important, right?

Think about it.  You can ask anyone you want, anything you want.  Imagine it!  Who would you want to talk to first?  What would you ask them?

Now, I’ve thought about this before and there is a group of people in the Bible that I am really interested in talking to.  These people are usually not talked about directly; sometimes we don’t even learn their names.  Their being there is kind of “understood”.  Can you think of who these people are?  The parents of the characters we love to read about in the Bible.

For instance, I’d love to talk to Mary’s mom and dad.  Wouldn’t you? What must their parenting skills been like that they raised a girl who God would trust to raise His son?  And what about Hannah, Samuel’s mother?  I mean, we know her name, but what an amazing mom that she could instill such principles in Samuel’s mind in the couple of years she had to mold him that lasted him his entire life?

Oh, and what about Naomi.  She was able to raise two sons, mostly alone, not an easy thing at any time, but in a foreign country where everybody spoke a different language and worshipped a different God.  And yet, Naomi did it so well that both boys picked honorable wives in a country where they were pretty few and far between.  Which brings us to Ruth and her mother.  The family was not Jewish, but Ruth’s mom raised an excellent daughter.  Wouldn’t she be an interesting person to talk to if she were in Heaven?

Then there’s Daniel and his three buddies.  Their parents managed to raise teenagers who weren’t afraid to be different from the rest of the crowd, even when the consequences could have been death, and nobody would have known the difference.  They should have written a book for us.

Isaac?  Yes we know quite a bit about Abraham and Sarah, but not much about their parenting techniques.  They managed to really get God’s message across.  So much so that when asked, Isaac calmly lay down on the altar his father built and agreed to be a sacrifice.  That’s some amazing parenting!

Of course, there are other conversations that would be harder to have.  Can you imagine talking to Eli and having him explain to you how he felt as he watched his sons move away from God?  Think about Samson’s parents.  They followed God’s instructions for bringing up Samson and he still went astray.  What about Judas’ parents? What do you think they would have to say about the differences between the way they raised him and how he ended up?  Maybe they were OK with it?  Who knows?

And, of course, Adam and Eve – from immortals walking with God to losing essentially both of their sons because one rejected God – all in one lifetime.  Imagine the heartbreak.

I’m not trying to make any judgments about who might or might not be in Heaven.  I’m just imagining how amazing it will be to meet all these people in Heaven, and sit and talk to them for as long as I like.

Who would you like to talk to?  These folks are just a few.  What about the parents of Noah? David? Gideon? John the Baptist?  What would you like to as him (or her)?  Can you imagine the answers to you questions? And, best of all, a friend reminded me this week that once we’re actually in Heaven, none of this will matter because we’ll be with Jesus.  

“When the ransomed are redeemed from the earth, the city of God will be opened to you. . . . Then the harp will be placed in your hand, and your voice will be raised in songs of praise to God and to the Lamb, by whose great sacrifice you are made partakers of His nature and given an immortal inheritance in the kingdom of God.” E. G. White      {ML342}

Amen

Shoulda done it His way

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson dated 6.11.11

Do you remember that old Frank Sinatra song from the ‘60’s:  “My Way?”  My father absolutely hated it!  Mostly because of what he saw as the unabashed arrogance of the song and the singer…he wasn’t a big Sinatra fan.  I didn’t pay much attention back then, but since then, I have to say that I don’t care much for the song either.  From a Christian point of view, well, just read through the words real quickly and I think you’ll see:

“And now, the end is near, / And so I face the final curtain. / My friends, I'll say it clear; / I'll state my case of which I'm certain.
“I've lived a life that's full - / I've travelled each and every highway. / And more, much more than this, / I did it my way.
“Regrets? I've had a few, / But then again, too few to mention. / I did what I had to do / And saw it through without exemption.
“I planned each charted course - / Each careful step along the byway, / And more, much more than this, / I did it my way.
“Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew, / When I bit off more than I could chew, / But through it all, when there was doubt, / I ate it up and spit it out. / I faced it all and I stood tall / And did it my way.
“I've loved, I've laughed and cried, / I've had my fill - my share of losing. / But now, as tears subside, / I find it all so amusing.
“To think I did all that, / And may I say, not in a shy way -
Oh no. Oh no, not me. / I did it my way.
“For what is a man? What has he got? / If not himself - Then he has naught. / To say the things he truly feels / And not the words of one who kneels. / The record shows I took the blows / And did it my way.
“Yes, it was my way.”[1]

Now, if you love that song, forgive me, but to me it just screams not about healthy self-reliance but about the over-confident, sinful nature of humanity – I don’t need God; I don’t need anybody’s help; I’ll sink or swim by myself. 

The whole concept of the song completely contradicts Proverbs 3:5-8.  

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.  Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil.  It shall be health to thy flesh and marrow to thy bones.”

Let’s look at the parable that Jesus told in Matthew 22:1-14?

"Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.  ‘Then he sent some more servants and said, “Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.” ‘But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.“‘Then he said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.   ‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, “How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?” The man was speechless.  ‘Then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  For many are invited, but few are chosen.’”

What would be a modern analogy for this parable?  What if, I were invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, but I didn’t go because I had to go to the grocery store.  And then I was so mad at the messenger for re-inviting me, that I killed him?  That’s harsh!

And what about the guy who showed up in the wrong clothes?  He was offered an all-expense paid trip to the wedding, all he had to do was wear what the King asked him to...but he decided to do it “his way”.

Craig Brian Larson is the editor of Preaching Today.com.  He relates an Associated Press story about another man who did it his own way:  

“Seatbelts can be a hassle. Some people just don't want to be bothered even when the law requires them to buckle up. According to the Associated Press, a New Zealander named Ivan Segedin took it to an extreme. The police ticketed him 32 times over five years for failing to use his seat belt. Even though this was costing him big money, Segedin refused to buckle up. Finally, instead of obeying the law, the man decided to rely on deception. He made a fake seat belt that would hang over his shoulder and make it appear that he was wearing a seat belt when he was not.“His trick worked for a while. Then, he had a head-on collision. He was thrown forward onto the steering wheel and killed.“Discussing the accident, the coroner described the fake seat belt: ‘Though his car was fitted with seat belts, an extra belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seat belt on the driver's side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver's shoulder.’”[2]

In the end, salvation is not about anything we can do.  It’s about accepting Christ’s robe of righteousness to cover our sins and some of us would just rather not.  Sophia Loren has an interesting take on salvation:  

“I'm not a practicant, but I pray. I read the Bible. It's the most beautiful book ever written. I should go to heaven; otherwise it's not nice. I haven't done anything wrong. My conscience is very clean. My soul is as white as those orchids over there, and I should go straight, straight to heaven.”[3]

“Mark McMinn makes the following observation …:  When we see ourselves as ‘pretty good,’ we misunderstand the gravity of sin and our desperate need for grace. We place ourselves above others, become their judges, and give them the power to disappoint us.“A physicist friend uses this analogy: Each of us is like a light bulb. One shines with 50 watts of holiness, another has only 25 watts. Maybe the most stellar Christians are 200 watts. But these comparisons become trite in the presence of the sun.“In the face of God, our different levels of piety are puny and meaningless. It makes no sense to compare ourselves with one another because we are all much more alike than we are different.”[4]

I want to stop trying to make my “filthy rags” good enough for the wedding feast and accept the robe Jesus bought just for me.  What about you?

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[1]Frank Sinatra,  “My Way”, My Way, 1969

[2] Craig Brian Larson, editor of PreachingToday.com; source: "Fake seat belt to fool police causes death of New Zealand driver," The Associated Press (2-22-08)

[3] Sophia Loren, actress, USA Today (2-4-99)

[4] Mark McMinn,"Dr. Jekyll..." Men of Integrity, March/April 2005

Told you so

How many times have you heard somebody say that Christianity and science are mutually exclusive?  Do you agree or disagree?  The Bible has great stories, beautify poetry, prophecy, and spiritual instruction …but does it tell us anything about science?  Should it tell us anything about science?

I’ve talked to quite a few people who believe that the Bible should not be considered when talking about science.  I’m not a scientist, so I may be completely wrong, but I want to share with you some of the things I found in my research.  I thought this stuff was really, REALLY interesting, and I had never known the vast majority of it before, so I learned a lot.  The amazing thing, for me, is that it’s taken so long to see what has been right in front of us all the time!

Back when I was in high school, I remember reading through Leviticus and being struck by how the health rules that God gave the children of Israel were so specific and so logical (by our thinking, progressive by the ancient world’s thinking).  One of the most basic (again, basic to us) things that God told Aaron to tell the children of Israel was the concept of washing…  That seems like such a small thing doesn’t it?  But do you know how long it has taken to catch on?  Believe it or not, from the time Leviticus 15:13 was written until the mid-1800’s, washing was not considered that important…not even for doctors! 

A doctor from Hungary named Ignaz Semmelweis, was the first guy to really put together the idea that ‘something’ was being passed from one patient to another by the doctor himself, because nobody thought it was important to wash his hands in-between.  He even wrote a book about, but his colleagues were so resistant to his ideas that they got him to retire.  Another person that you’ve heard of before started a similar campaign here in the United States, Oliver Wendell Holmes.  People didn’t take his advice much better than they did Dr. Semmelweis.  It wasn’t until Joseph Lister came along, that people started putting things together.  All they had to do was read the Bible, right?

In Deuteronomy 23:12,13, God told the Jews they needed to dig outhouses.  Again, you’d think that nobody would have to be told to do that, and yet, up until some time in the 1800’s, folks just dumped the sewage into the street!  EEEEWWWW!  Not surprisingly, millions of people died of diseases like cholera, dysentery and typhoid fever. 

Back in Leviticus19:11-22, God gave the Israelites a recipe for an anti-bacterial soap to use for cleansing themselves after they had touched a dead body.

And then there’s the whole quarantine system that God laid out in Leviticus 13.  Again, it was an awfully long time until we managed to stumble onto it on our own.

Still say the Bible doesn’t have anything to say about science?

BUT WAIT—THERE’S MORE!

What about earth science?  Well, We know that most folks up until the late 1400’s believe that the world was flat.  Actually I hear there are some folks who still believe it – The Flat Earth Society.  Anyway, if folks had just read Isaiah 40:22 and Job 26:10, they would have understood that the earth is round.  Oh, and how does the earth stay where it is?

Well, if you when the Greeks and Romans did, you believed that a titan held the earth on his back.  Others thought it was a turtle or an elephant that held the world on its back.  The Jews knew better though.  In Job 26:7, it says, “He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.”  That’s an exceptionally accurate description for how the earth looks from space isn’t it?

Another thing the Bible describes is the way water moves from ground water to clouds to rain and back again.  Scientists call that the Hydrologic Cycle and they didn’t figure it out until the early 1600’s.  But Solomon knew.  In Ecclesiastes 1:7 he describes it.  We can read about it in Job 36:27-28 as well:  “For He draws up the drops of water, they distill rain from the mist, which the clouds pour down, they drip upon man abundantly.”  Wow!  That’s exactly how I described it when I taught my 4^th graders about the Water Cycle.  I didn’t know about this verse in Job then…and I couldn’t have used it if I had…but the textbook we used said the same thing—just not as poetically.

Did you know that God told Moses how to purify water?  In Exodus 15:25 we read, “Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord shoed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and waters became sweet.”  Well, since Moses’ time, chemists have learned how to do this.  They call it “ion exchange” and cellulose helps this process along.  Cellulose is the main thing that makes up plants, so the right king of tree could have turned undrinkable water into drinkable water.

Are you impressed yet?  Well, back in Job 28:25 we can read that air has mass or weight.  It wasn’t until 1640 that a guy names Evangelista Torricelli demonstrated that fact to the scientific world.

A guy named Matthew Maury was reading Psalms one day and decided to study the ocean to find what the psalmist called “the paths of the seas.”  He found them!  He became a world famous expert on shipping lanes and navigation.  A monument to him has this inscription:  “Matthew Fontaine Maury, Pathfinder of the Seas, the Genius Who First Snatched from the Ocean and Atmosphere the Secret of Their Laws.  His Inspiration, Holy Writ, Psalm 8:8, Psalm 107:23-24, and Ecclesiastes 1:6.”

Both Solomon and Jeremiah were inspired by God to describe the patterns that the winds of earth follow.  We know now that air currents follow certain paths: they move from the equator to the poles and back again.  In Ecclesiastes 1:6 and Jeremiah 10:13 describe that movement as only inspiration could have told them.

On the subject of stars, the Bible was 3,000 years ahead of earthly science.  Up until the 1600’s and Galileo’s invention of the telescope, different people thought they could absolutely number the stars – about 1,000 was the number they came up with.  Abraham knew better because God told him so in Genesis 15:5.

In Amos 5:8, Amos mentions the Pleiades.  He states that there are 7 stars in it.  But the up until the last century, we thought there were only 6 stars in the Pleiades.  Hmmm…how did Amos know there were 7?

Some other things that God told us in the Bible long before science figured out:

¯  Things are made of invisible elements (atoms)  (Hebrews 11:3)

¯  The rotation of the earth (Job 38:12)

¯  Every star is different (1 Corinthians 15:41)

¯  Men and dinosaurs lived at the same time (Job 40:15-24)

¯  Light moves (Job 38:19-20)

¯  Blood is the source of life and health (Leviticus 17:11)

¯  The ocean floor has mountains and valleys (2 Samuel 22:16; Jonah 2:6)

¯  The ocean has springs (Job 38:16)

And then there’s this one.  In Genesis 17:10-12, God told the Jews that all the male babies should be circumcised on their 8^th day of life.  Well, just in the last ½ century, a study in Boston found that Jewish women were 8.5 times less likely to contract cervical cancer than were other women.  And in a study just 4 years ago, doctors found that HPV (the virus linked to cervical cancer) in 3 times more prevalent in non-circumcised men.  And if that isn’t interesting enough, medical science now confirms that the 8^th day of life is the absolute best day to be cut.  On that day the blood clotting factor, prothrombin, is at its highest level!  Now I think that’s really exciting information.  God loves us so much that He has made our bodies and our planet just exactly the way they need to be for us to be happy and healthy.

Think about this:

“True education does not ignore the value of scientific knowledge or literary acquirements; but above information it values power; above power, goodness; above intellectual acquirements, character. The world does not so much need men of great intellect as of noble character. It needs men in whom ability is controlled by steadfast principleGod is the author of science. Scientific research opens to the mind vast fields of thought and information, enabling us to see God in His created worksIgnorance may try to support skepticism by appealing to science; but instead of upholding skepticism, true science contributes fresh evidences of the wisdom and power of God. Rightly understood, science and the written word agree, and each sheds light on the other. Together they lead us to God by teaching us something of the wise and beneficent laws through which He works.”—E.G.White CT 426 (1913). {2MCP 739}

OK, so we’ve established that the Bible is inspired.  The prophecies are true; the archeology is viable.  Can we stop no and say that the science of the Bible is any less reliable?  I know, I can be pretty simplistic, and I’m certainly not a scientist, and maybe I’m missing something important, but I’m convinced that the Bible can be trusted in all areas to be truthful and accurate.  What do you think?

Refugee

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 6.4.11

What picture comes into your head when you hear the word refugee?  Probably it’s a picture of someone who’s far away from home, hungry, hasn’t had a shower in a while, not a pretty picture.

I heard an old Tom Petty song this week and the words got stuck in my head:

“Somewhere, somehow somebody/Must have kicked you around some/Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped/Tied up, taken away and held for ransom/It don't really matter to me/Everybody's had to fight to be free/You see you don't have to live like a refugee/I said you don't have to live like a refugee”[1]

Just so I know we’re talking about the same thing, here’s how my dictionary defines refugee:

“1.  a person who flees for refuge or safety, especially to a foreign country, as in time of political upheaval, war, etc.  2.   political refugee.”[2]

From what I’ve seen of refugees over the years, it seems like they are often people who are trying to escape some catastrophic thing, but they get stuck somewhere along the way in refugee camps, where they endure really awful conditions.  And sometimes, these people never get to the safe place they were originally heading for because of what happens to them along the way.

While I was trying to get Tom Petty’s song out of my head, it occurred to me that we are religious refugees (as opposed to political).    We have started our journey away from sin and toward Heaven, but we are stuck in this refugee camp.

 

Some folks are eager to tell us that we would have been better off if we hadn’t tried to get away from sin to begin with.  Some folks are sure we’re going to be stuck in this camp and nobody cares whether we make it out or not.

 

You and I know, though, that a huge humanitarian mission has been launched (from the foundations of the world).

“‘My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
“‘Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.’”  Matthew 17:20-26

Then, while I was looking up the definition of ‘refugee’, I noticed that one of the synonyms listed was ‘prodigal’.  That really made me stop and think.  I’d never really thought about it before but after he had lost his half of his father’s forturne and was living with the pigs, the prodigal son was a refugee.  He was not where he’d started from, living large with lots of friends, and he’s not where he was headed – mostly because he didn’t know where he wanted to go yet.  The prodigal son was definitely stuck in between, with the pigs.

“The prodigal is far from his Father’s house, perishing with hunger. He is to be the object of our compassion. Do you ask: ‘How does God regard those who are perishing in their sins?’ I point you to Calvary. God ‘gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16. Think of the Saviour’s matchless love. While we were yet sinners, Christ died to save us from eternal death.”[3]

There is absolutely no excuse for us to still be living like refugees…unless we choose to stay with the pigs. One of our problems is that sometimes we’re afraid to leave our refugee status behind and head for home.  Even the prodigal son held out for a while.  Why?  We’re afraid of being turned away from our destination.  Satan wants to make sure that we see our Heavenly Father as waiting to reject us instead of watching every day for our silhouette on the road home.

“In his book Waiting: Finding Hope Where God Seems Silent (InterVarsity, 1991), Ben Patterson, a man I treasure as a friend, tells a story from his personal life:
“‘In the summer of 1988, three friends and I climbed Mount Lyell, the highest peak in Yosemite National Park. Two of us were experienced mountaineers; two of us were not. I was not one of the experienced two. ... As the hours passed, and we trudged up the glacier, the two mountaineers opened up a wide gap between me and my less-experienced companion. Being competitive by nature, I began to look for short cuts I might be able to take to beat them to the top. I thought I saw one to the right of an outcropping of rock--so I went up, deaf to the protests of my companions. ...
“‘Thirty minutes later I was trapped in a cul-de-sac of rock …, looking down several hundred feet of a sheer slope of ice, pitched at a forty-five degree angle. ... I was only ten feet from the safety of a rock. But one little slip and I wouldn't stop sliding until I had landed in the valley floor about fifty miles away! ... I was stuck and I was scared’
“Patterson's words are non-religious ways of describing the predicament that more than a few of us fall into. … They take the right-hand turn around an outcropping of rock, suspecting that at the end there will be nothing but joy and roses. Instead, they find themselves stuck.
“Back to Ben Patterson, who was stuck and scared: ‘It took an hour for my experienced climbing friends to find me. … one of them leaned out and used an ice axe to chip two little footsteps in the glacier. Then he gave me the following instructions: “Ben, you must step out from where you are and put your foot where the first foothold is. ... Without a moment's hesitation swing your other foot across and land it in the next step. [Then] ... reach out and I will take your hand, and I will pull you to safety. ... But listen carefully: As you step across, don't lean into the mountain! If anything, lean out a bit. Otherwise, your feet could fly out from under you, and you will start sliding down.”’
“Patterson says, ‘When I'm on the edge of a cliff, my instinct is to lie down and hug the mountain … not lean away from it! But that was what my good friend was telling me to do as I stood trembling on that glacier. I looked at him real hard. ... For a moment, based solely on what I believed to be true about the good will and good sense of my friend, I decided to say no to what I felt ... to lean out, step out, and traverse the ice to safety. It took less than two seconds to find out if my faith was well founded. It was.’” [4]

Our Friend, Jesus, has told us exactly what we need to do to get unstuck…do we trust Him enough to do it?

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[1] Tom Petty, “Refugee,”  Damm the Torpeadoes

[2] refugee. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved May 26, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/refugee

[3] E.G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, page 50

[4] Gordon MacDonald, "Repentance," Preaching Today, Tape No. 121