Roots by the River

We are in a culture where taking offense has become a cottage industry. In every village and every church there are people who have become professionals at taking offense. By some quirk of manipulation they have convinced themselves and many others that being offended is a virtue. The more I am offended the more virtuous I am. Consequently, those who give offense are the ones in sin. The results are shown in people apologizing and explaining that they really did not mean it to the offended person. The offended person rarely forgives. Giving offense may be sin if it is intentional. Taking offense is always sin. Not forgiving is another awful sin. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Matthew 18:35

In the past few years I have found myself asking basic questions several times a day. These questions are always asked when I am driving my car. They are: Where am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? How do I get there? The questions are asked because I do not know the answers. The answers come to me quickly. Looking at my surroundings, I find where I am. A little reflection tells me I am there because I am going some place. A little more remembering tells me why I got into the car and where I intended to go. The last question is harder to answer. Why? I find out that I have already passed up my destination or the car decided I was going someplace else. This is inconvenient, but I do figure it out and I do get where I am going. It is not deadly. In my teenage years I knew where I was, but I did know why. It took me several years to find out where I was going and how to get there. I had been 20 years old for about two weeks when I received Christ. Since than I have been s...

There is Joy in Heaven and there are eternal pleasures in Heaven. Let’s look at the pleasures on earth. Most of them have to do with our senses, sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound. God in His goodness has given us color and form and eyes and brains to appreciate what we see. We can also see things that cause fear, nausea and other awful effects. The same can be said about all of the other senses. God is good. “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with every thing for our enjoyment.” 1 Timothy 6:17 God is not a party pooper. “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life .” 1 Timothy 6:18, 19 It sounds that there is a better life, “a life that is tru...

These pleasures of the senses that God in His goodness has given us here on earth can be easily prostituted and have been. Here are a few Biblical examples. “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” Titus 3:3 “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” Hebrews 11:25 “They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.” 2 Peter 2:13 “A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.” Proverbs 10:23 “Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment. Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” Proverbs 9:16, 17

Recently, I have been thinking about Heaven. I anticipate the next several posts will be comparing life here and life there. I will start with Jesus. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 We are to look at Jesus who in turn was looking beyond the cross to the right hand of the Father. He anticipated joy . Psalm 16:10 is quoted in Peter’s message at Pentecost in Acts 2:25-28. “Because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.You have made [a] known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:10, 11 “David said about him: "I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you wi...

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” Ex...

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45 “The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” Isaiah 29:13 Jesus quotes this in Matthew 15:8, 9 There are God given escape valves in people that keep people from exploding. They are instantaneous reactions. They include laughter and tears. Another is the mouth. “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” The cure of a bad mouth is to keep good stored up in the heart. However, not everything that comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. Some of it comes from the heart. Some of it comes from things they have been taught by men whether true or false. In Isaiah 29:13, it is rules taught...

In my 79 years, solitude has not been one of my vocations or vacations. I suppose if I figured up my time outside of eating and sleeping it would be made up of people and books, mostly people. Besides listening and talking I look at people. If I am in a conversation I focus on the persons face, eyes and mouth, mostly eyes. This is to say that I have spent a lot of time looking at people’s eyes. When this happens, of course I see the color of their eyes (that’s my subject) but I see more. This may sound crazy, but I look into the person. That’s not my subject. The rest of the time is spent with books; History, Biography, Spiritual and many kinds of fiction. History supposedly deals with facts. Historical fiction is facts with added color. One of the ways you can tell you are reading fiction is the description of the eyes of people. This is a means of describing the good guys and the bad guys. I don’t mind reading about “cozy brown” or “jet black’ or “bright blue” or weak “pale blue” or ...

It is difficult for a Christian to prove scientifically or rationally that there is a God. The wonderful thing is that the Christian does not have to prove and should not be tempted to prove. God is his premise, not his conclusion. But for the atheist he may not start with a premise that there is no God. That is not scientific. He must prove it, make his case. As I see it there are three types of atheists. At least these are the three that I have encountered. 1.“I do not believe in God!” This fellow is not really an atheist. What he is really saying is this, “There is a God in whom I do not believe.” 2.“I believe there is no God!” The “no” in this sentence modifies God instead of “believe” as in the first atheist’s sentence. However, the statement is a faith statement. This atheist has a great positive faith in nothing. That is more faith than I have in God. 3.“There is no God!” This is a dogmatic statement. It cannot be a premise. It has to be a conclusion. This person has to find the...

The Bible tells how we should treat ourselves. Please don’t be surprised. “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” 1 Peter 5:5, 6 “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:14 There are many gifts that God gives us like the fruit of the Spirit. Humility does not seem to be one of them. We are to learn from and imitate Jesus. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and...

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Romans 12:3 It does not look like God is worried about low self esteem, low self worth or low self love. We have grown up in generations where pride is a virtue. Whereas the Bible teaches: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:” Proverbs 6:16 “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.” 1 Timothy 3:6 Pride is an evil. Humility is the greatest virtue.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23, 24 How is your memory? Do you remember this problem that your brother has with you? If yes, then what have you done about it? Your offering in church is to stay there until reconciliation is accomplished. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” Matthew 18:15 In this case, your brother does not have something against you, you have something against your brother. The object is reconciliation, to win your brother over. In either, you are the one to go to your brother. This is in context with the last verse in Matthew 18. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Matthew 18:...

“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” Proverbs 6:16-19 All of the above the Lord hates. Lying is in the list twice. However, I want to draw your attention to the last phrase. “A man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” Think back to your years in junior high. Were there kids who were expert in stirring up dissension? They seemed to delight in it. How about since then? Have you ever been in, or observed a church fight in a local congregation? “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15 If bitterness springs up it defiles many people and dissension then happens. The instruction is to see that no one misses the grace of God. This dissension has to ...

Twenty-five years ago I was on a 747 flying from Manila to Bangkok. Seated next to me was an attorney from Pakistan. In order to start a conversation I opened up with something like this, “What do the following countries have in common: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordon, Egypt, Libya Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco?” This was a leading question expecting him to answer, “Islam!” That was not his answer. With much vehemence he said, “They are all run by dictators.” Over the years I have meditated on his answer and have done a little bit of research. Among the Shiites there is no separation between politics and theology. The descendants of Ali are the only rightful caliphs. The caliph has absolute political and theological power. He is appointed by God. He is not elected. Democracy is foreign to this form of Islam. Separation of church and state is not known.

“A new command I give you: Love one another . As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34, 35 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other , just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 Do you know any Christians who do not love other Christians? Do you know any Christians who do not forgive other Christians? It is not possible to love until we get forgiven for our unlove. It is not possible to forgive until we repent of our unforgiveness.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:2, 3 “ Be completely humble and gentle.” “Keep the Unity.” “Completely” is a superlative. It is also absolute. It modifies “humble” and “gentle”. This complete humility and complete gentleness is a lot of humility and complete gentleness. These two characteristics precede the command to keep the unity. If these two attributes were a little bit evident in churches today, keeping unity would be a piece of cake. The command is a “be” command. It is not a “do” command. It addresses what we “are,” not what we “do”. We have a hard time “being”. We are so used to “doing”. If we succeeded in being, our doing would be okay. We “do” out of what we “are”. How do we “do”, “being?” We don’t. We start by “doing” nothing. Are we not to obey? Yes, but not by effort. We are to obey out of we are . We start with “being”.

A few days before he died John Wesley wrote a letter to William Wilberforce on the subject of the slave trade in which he said that American slavery “was the vilest that ever saw the sun.” In Though the Mountains Shake , Amy Carmichael thought that if Wesley had known of the sex slavery of temple prostitution where baby girls are married to the gods and which had been going on for centuries he would have pronounced it the “vilest that ever saw the sun.” My comment here is that all slavery everywhere in all centuries has included sex slavery. In addition to the evil of slavery there is that added evil of the rape of children and adults. It is going on today in many nations. Northern Uganda is one example. Prostitution in most countries is slavery. The women are owned by their pimps. Japan sent Korean women to be prostitutes for their army. The Russian revolution in 1917 sent the wives of 10,000 Russian Army officers to be women for the Russian Army on the Eastern Front. England stopped ...

There is a different kind of teacher who may be part of the disunity. He is not false, malicious, or seeking followers of himself. He is a true servant of God who brings people to the Father through the Son. In that sense, he is a great participant in the unity of the body. In what sense is he a participant in the disunity in the church? He may, himself, be a follower of a man, a doctrine or denomination to which he has an intellectual agreement, a great loyalty, an emotional attachment or just a sense of belonging. He doesn’t think that this attachment he has is greater than his love for God, but it may show when he does not show love to a brother who has a different attachment. “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:20, 21

I mentioned earlier that “followers” are a major cause of disunity. So are some teachers. Paul warns against such teachers in his charge to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:30. “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:30 Teachers are gifted. They can distort the truth, and do it effectively. The reason is to get Christians to follow them. Paul mentions another kind of teacher in Philippians 1:15-18. “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” Philippians 1:15-18 Here are some additional motives, envy, r...

How can a teacher, who is a Christian and otherwise living a godly life, be a cause of disunity? It seems to be easy enough because there are so many participants. Let us suppose that the doctrines taught are absolutely true and that the students learn these doctrines well. Then, of course, the students will be more like Jesus, more Godly, and more Holy. This does not seem to be the normal outcome. Why? There are several reasons. These truths were taught to the head, not the heart. The teacher was not an example, he was just a teacher. This is compounded, if in fact, the doctrines are not true. Or if they are held to be as important as the gospel or if they are taught by ungodly men. There are hundreds of differences among evangelicals and many different subjects. They all could be wrong on “something”, if not everything. They could all be right on “something”. They are different “somethings”. If we are right we should hold our “rightness” in humility. If we are wrong and think we are ...