Don't Shave the Meat

“All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.” (Proverbs 8:8-9)

 

I like to shop at Sam’s Club. They have some really good prices on some really good stuff, especially in the food department. I get some lamb chops from them that are awesome on the grill. They are kind of pricey even for Sam’s, so it is a semi-annual splurge. They also sell some rainbow trout filets that are not quite so expensive. A pan seared trout with some fresh asparagus and a baked sweet potato is one of my favorite meals. I could eat it three times a day and dream about it at night. I also shop there for the church. We just finished our youth camp last week, and I am the camp cook. One of our lunch staples is some sliced meat sandwiches. Instead of just some average run of the mill deli meats or bologna, I will get some ham, turkey, and beef from Sam’s and have them slice it for me. They sell a mesquite smoked “Jennie-O” turkey breast that is to die for. I will call out the meat department guy and ask him to slice us up about 50 pounds of meat for the week, and since it is that much, I usually will have to pick it up the next day. I give them clear directions. Please slice the meat thin for sandwiches, but don’t shave it. Shaved deli meat is the best way to have it if you are only serving your family, but serving 100 hungry young mouths lined up at a youth camp is a different story. It is virtually impossible to handle shaved meat piled up that high in such a frenzied environment. It just falls apart on you and you end up with turkey dust instead of sandwich meat. I told the guy that in almost those exact words. So the next day I picked up the meat, and guess what. Yep, they shaved it. I had to very gingerly and carefully pull apart every piece of meat and re-tray it so it could be served. Do you know how many shaved slices are produced from 50 pounds of meat? I lost count at somewhere around three quad-jillion. That is four hours of my life I will never get back.

 

I wonder how many times God gives us clear directions in his word, and we treat it like the meat cutter at Sam’s – in one ear and out the other. The constant complaint we get about the Bible is that it is too hard to understand. Samuel Clemens was a notable atheist from several generations ago who had read the Bible. Even though he was an atheist, he lived in a day when the Bible was at least respected enough to be read. He said, “It’s not the things in the Bible I don’t understand that bother me, it’s the things I DO understand.” By the way, isn’t it interesting that a man would complain about the so called “problems” with God and the Bible, and then put up a false front and phony identity to the entire world and become rich and famous in the process? We know this man as Mark Twain. But even as someone who did not believe the Bible, Mark Twain clearly understood what it said. He just didn’t want to obey it.

 

God’s word is inexhaustible and deeply complex; covering every issue of life. No man will ever master it in ten lifetimes. Yet at the same time, its truths are simple and profoundly basic. As it has been said, God did not call them the ten “suggestions”. He speaks clearly. He gives us basic instructions that are simple to follow. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31) “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) There is nothing deeply theological about that. You are a sinner and Jesus was not. He died for your sins. Ask him to save you. Once we have done that, we become his children and get another set of simple basic clear instructions. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians5:25) “Put on the whole armour of God…” (Ephesians 6:11) “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) I could list a thousand simple clear verses that are to mark our lives as believers. There is nothing complicated about them. Just pay attention to the instruction manual of life, the Bible. Don’t shave the meat. Let God’s simple truths be the beacon of your heart until he comes.

Trust Me...

“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.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You know how it is when someone says, “Trust me…”  You immediately grab your wallet and look for some convenient way to get as far away from that person as is humanly possible.  That is because we have a very serious issue with trust due to the abuses of our fellow humans.  It seems as if anyone who gets into a position of leadership or prominence ends up violating that trust in pretty short order, and it leaves us all a little jaded.  A recent article in the Reader’s Digest listed the “One hundred most trusted people in America”.  Things like this are always a very interesting window into the soul of our society.  Tops on the list was the actor Tom Hanks.  I have never met the man, and I am sure he is a fine fellow.  But he is anactor.  In fact, the top four were Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Denzel Washington, and Meryl Streep – all actors.  Many more from the film and television industry made the list.  Follow me here.  The most trusted people in America are those who pretend to be someone they are not and earn multi-mega millions of dollars doing so.  We place the most amount of trust in people who are someone totally different than what they portray to the world.  Billy Graham was number 67 on the list – behind that goof ball weirdo Adam Sandler of all people at 62!  There were 20 news journalists (some from both sides of the political spectrum) whose main job is to look nice on camera and read to us what they think we need to know. There were only 3 on the list that were openly professing believers in Jesus Christ (that I know of – not questioning anyone’s faith): Tony Dungy at 21, Tim Tebow at 40, and Billy Graham at 67.  There were no pastors on the list, and obviously, Jesus didn’t get a sniff.  (Yeah, I know, Jesus was not an American). Who we trust says a lot about who we are.

The verse above says we are to trust in the Lord and he will direct our paths.  The new versions of the Bible say that he will make our paths straight.  That is not accurate.  God sometimes directs our paths through events and trials of life that are not always straight.  One of my son’s best friends passed away from cancer last night.  He was only 27 years old.  I did his wedding only a couple of years ago.  He leaves behind a grieving widow alone to raise their young son who will never really know his dad.  That is not a “straight” path.  They both know the Lord, so one day their paths will meet again in the glory of eternity.  So even though what is befalling that young family right now is not “fair”, and not a “straight” path, they can still trust that God has them in his hands.  Trust goes much further than belief.  Over 95% of the population “believes in God”, but not nearly that many actually trust that Jesus paid a sufficient sacrifice on the cross to pay for their sins.  Of those who have exercised their trust in the Saviour, very few actually know how to trust him in the daily events of life, especially when those paths take a very nasty turn.  Trust means that we put “all our eggs in one basket”.  The reason we are counseled not to do that is to guard against all our “eggs” breaking if the basket falls.  My basket can’t fall.  Sorry to hear about yours.  I can never tell anyone what “twists and turns” their life’s path may take.  I would have never guessed when I was meeting with this young couple in preparation for their wedding that we would be here this soon.  But I can with all confidence say, “But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.” (Psalm 31:14-16)  My “most trusted person” is the Lord of glory.  Is he yours?

I'm Famous!

“As unknown, and yet well known…” (II Corinthians 6:9)

I just received another royalty check from my publisher.  Wow!  Just think about typing or saying those words. Wouldn’t that make you really feel like someone special?  People who have agents or publicists or publishers are the very elite of the elite of this world, and here I am spouting out the words that put me in that select group.

OK, Paul Harvey, let’s get the rest of the story.  The check was for 73 cents.  It represents ONE book they sold for me in the last year.  My “publisher” is actually one of the many self-publishing companies that will print your book if you pay them enough money up front.  My publisher has never met me and literally would not know me from Adam (and Adam is a lot older than I am).  They put a little on-line “promo” on their web site, and if anyone just happens to surf the web and find my book among the hundreds of thousands out there, they send them a copy.  It happened onceduring the entire calendar year of 2012.  So if I was going to put together a promotional “bio” on myself, I could advertise that I was a best-selling author with well under a million books sold.  I gave the publisher a lot more than 73 cents to publish my book several years ago.  I am way behind in the “get rich quick scheme” of self-publishing.  What is even funnier is they held out 28 cents for taxes.  I need to make sure to claim that on my 2013 return.  I wonder if they will spend the 45 cents to send me the forms to show they held out 28 cents.  (And we wonder why the world is so inefficient.)

The “fame and fortune” of this world is a very fleeting thing.  Today, with the advent of You Tube and other such media, many more people are getting their “fifteen minutes of fame”; some of them perhaps wishing they didn’t.  We all want others to recognize us and appreciate who we are and what we do.  If you keep that in balance, there is nothing wrong with that.  One of the very basic needs of our lives is to have significance and importance.  God has built within the human experience the need to be loved and to feel like your life counts for something.  Everyone wants to be well known, but things are really a whole lot different that they appear to us here on this dirt ball.  The most important “recognition” you could ever hope for is at the throne of God.  The Bible says in Luke 15:7 that there is great joy in heaven when one sinner comes to know Jesus as Saviour.  When that happens, a person gets way more than his fifteen minutes of fame, he gets an eternity of it. 

Our life does indeed count.  God put us here for a reason, and the “threescore and ten” or so that God gives you matters greatly.  You are a unique creation of God with eternal significance, and there will never be another one just like you.  That truth makes us feel all warm and fuzzy, and rightfully so.  It is good to know that at least God considers us special, even when it seems that few others actually do.  But there is more to it that just our own fame and importance.  Because you are unique, it means that you have a unique role during this life.  Someone coined it this way, “There’s only one life, ‘twill soon be past.  Only what’s done for Christ will last.”  God put you here to accomplish some things for his glory and kingdom.  Only you can do it.  No one else can do what God has planned for you.  Others can and will help us, but in the final analysis, “Every one of us shall give account of himself unto God.”(Romans 14:12)  You never know when that time is coming.  One of my son’s friends was just killed in a tragic accident the other day at age 27.  I am sure that in the time it took me to type this blog post, several children met life’s end and stood before the Lord.  You are indeed famous and unique.  Make it count.  Put your foot down on this planet and make a shoeprint.  Let the world know you were here in the only thing that matters – the eternal impact of souls for the kingdom of God.

The World is A-Twitter

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33)

 

Before I get going again on my regular rant against modern technology, let me readily admit in full color glory my colossal ignorance. I wish I could catch up to the world, but it left me behind in the dust several years ago and I am in mad scramble mode trying to find my place. It is not for lack of ability. I am a smart guy. My IQ is well above the average, which might be part of the problem. I cannot accept things as they are without trying to take it all apart and understand every detail. But the other part of it is that I just can’t seem in many ways to get the point. So much of our modern life’s experiences have been driven by technology that is designed to “connect” us with every one of the other 7 billion humanoids, and in the process, it drowns us in a tidal wave of marshmallow fluff. There is no way you can “connect” with everyone. Those who study the social habits of people claim that no one can really handle more than about 100 friends, yet Facebook allows us to have as many as 5,000 before they cap it.

 

Of course, anyone who is not living under a rock is familiar with Twitter. I know about Twitter because I hear about all the famous tweets from all the famous twits every day. I don’t have a Twitter account (that’s a shocker) and probably never will. As a preacher, it would be next to impossible to limit myself to 140 characters. That is why 99.44% of all tweets are absolute meaningless drivel with the “nutritional” value of half a cheese puff. There is very little you can express in only 140 characters, yet this “new” fad perfectly illustrates the crazy society we live in. There is no real depth in relationships any longer. We get married and move on to another one before the wedding cake top is defrosted. We won’t let our children pay attention for longer than 140 characters and then we wonder why they are loaded up on drugs for their ADHD. If we sit in the drive through lane for more than 60 seconds, we will get so impatient that we will drive to the next fast food joint to sit in their drive through lane. Today’s “must have” item is in the trash can tomorrow. Consistency, persistence, and dedication to a task are unknown.

 

The purpose of Twitter is for instant communication in “sound byte” form. God gave us “instant communication” in a book. It is not mindless inane drivel. The Bible consists of 66 books, 1189 chapters, about 31,000 verses, over 800,000 words, and over 3.5 million characters (letters). Run the numbers on that. If you were to begin tweeting the Bible at 140 characters at a time, and sent out one Bible tweet a day beginning on the day you were born, you would tweet the final “Even so, come Lord Jesus” about your 70^th birthday. I know the Bible is a pretty big book, but if it takes you 70 years to get through it, you are not going to get much. Unfortunately, most of God’s people treat the Bible like Twitter. They look for a “verse of the day” (about once a week), and wonder why they can’t seem to really get anything out of it.

 

Paul praised the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God in the above verse. The Bible is inexhaustible. No matter how many times you read a verse, there are always some things you see new and fresh each time. It is like a never ending “bloomin’ onion” that just keeps giving and giving. Every time you peel back another layer of the word of God, another deep truth appears. But the Bible can never be grasped in sound byte form. God broke it up in verses so that we could find things and take it in pieces when needed, but it requires a consistent daily full and balanced diet of its precious truths to feed the hungry soul. I know we eat our meals one “byte” at a time (pun intended), but if all you ever did was take one small bite of food three times a day, you would not survive. Go ahead and experience life in this new fast lane with all of your thousands of “twits”, but get deep with God in his amazing book. It is the only source of real life that can keep you grounded in this insane asylum run by the inmates.

Child Proof

“But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:16)

 

Maybe it is just me, but have you noticed how incredibly hard it is anymore to actually open a package of something you just bought at the store? It probably is me. I have “girly hands”. Most of the other dudes of my species have actually worked with their hands at some point in their lives and toughened them up, but I never have. Ask my mom. Even when I was a boy, I could not seem to open a door. I just couldn’t squeeze the knob tight enough to turn it. Then I played sports and took a bunch of baseballs and basketballs off the ends of my fingers and messed them up even more. Then in my ripe old age, a little arthritis sets in, and I can’t grip anything. But I will bet that even the hardiest “manly-man” out there is noticing the trend. These packaging engineers are getting weirder by the day. I think they have secret conventions and competitions to see who can come up with the most impossible package to open. I can’t open a bag of chips without scissors. And forget about these new clear plastic containers with the rolled edges. It takes a degree from MIT and the Incredible Hulk to open one of those beasts.

 

One of the reasons for that is because of the perceived need to “child proof” everything. We have become so paranoid in our society that we have to protect everyone from every possible danger, and in the process, we have made life more difficult for all of us. No child can go outside and play anymore without being sheltered by 400 feet of bubble wrap, which of course comes in a package that cannot be opened because the child might damage his poor little sensitive ears by popping some of it. Obviously, we need to protect our children from needless harm. Accident prevention is a good thing, but we have gone way too far.

 

Bring this into the spiritual realm for a minute. Over the last couple of generations, our society has become obsessed with “protecting” children from God. We cannot pray in school anymore (and look at the results of that “wise” decision). Many parents have adopted the attitude that they are not going to expose their children to their faith, but “let them discover for themselves and make up their own minds”. God knew better than that. That is why he told us to teach our children his word. The famous passage in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Psalm 78 speaks of at least six generations where the word of God is passed on. That would encompass just about everyone alive today. Virtually no one has seven generations living at the same time.

 

Proverbs 29:15 says, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Those who “shelter” their children from God and his word are setting them up for a fall. Human nature is contrary to God from the fall of Adam. That is why God is adamant that we raise our children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)

 

Packages may be hard to open, but our Bible should never be. We must create the culture and environment with our children that makes the word of God easily accessible to them. You can’t do that by making it impossible for them to open it. Revelation chapter 5 tells us the Lamb of God is worthy and able to open his word to us. But God will not open his word to us until we open it ourselves and put it in front of our eyes. All it takes is the child-like faith to believe that God’s word really does speak to our hearts and reveal to us the love of our Father in heaven. You can best protect your children from evil by not “protecting” them from the blessed book.

Losing Power

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

 

Just a couple of days ago, when we thought spring had arrived, we got blasted with another big snowstorm. It happened last Saturday night into Sunday morning and made Sunday church a real challenge. We don’t ever cancel Sunday church for weather because there isn’t an easy way to do it. I know we could post on the website, and put our cancellation on TV, but not everyone would get the news. Besides, we actually got a TV “plug” on this snowstorm. One of the local news stations did a report from our parking lot showing snow being pushed and telling everyone we were open for business. We could call everyone, but that would be a huge process and we would surely miss a few, especially new people and visitors. Besides, I don’t want to get in the habit of cancelling Sunday church. We will do that with mid-week services at times, but Sunday morning is different. There is a little “disconnect” in trying to establish the passion to go into all the world and preach the gospel in spite of the opposition of our enemy, and then letting a foot of snow stand in your way of that. I get a kick out of watching the “scroll” at the bottom of the screen saying, “Church of the Open Door – Closed”. I am old fashioned in many ways, and that is one of them. I live close enough to the church that I can find a way to get there. If I show up and no one else can make it, I will just pray and thank God for his grace and go back home. We have a church of about 200, and last Sunday, 21 of us made it to church. The other 179 of us couldn’t make it, and that is fine. Those who have small children or are elderly probably shouldn’t take such a risk. We have established the culture at Crest Bible Church that you don’t have to be here every time the doors are open. We don’t count the rear ends in seats, we count the impact in lives. So if we have 21 people who get fed from the word of God, it is much better than having 2100 people who get nothing from their time invested inside the four walls of a church building.

 

Along with the storm came a power outage at our house. I just happened to wake up around 5AM to find everything dark including my alarm clock. So I had to run down a battery operated one. Once I got up for good, I had to clean up by the light of a flashlight. We always go in and out of the house through the garage, but the door wouldn’t open because the garage door opener runs on electricity and it has no back up. Good thing my car was parked outside – but then that means I had several inches of snow to clean off of it. I didn’t know if we would have to crank up the fireplace to keep the house from freezing over, but luckily they got the power back on by late morning, and everything was OK. It is amazing how dependent we are on electricity, and that knowledge comes to the forefront when a power failure brings it to our attention.

 

Two thousand years ago, my Saviour died on a cross and rose from the dead. Romans 1:4 says that Jesus was, “declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.” He told us in the verses I quoted above that his power will last to the end of the world. It does not have to be generated, it is self-generating because of who he is – God manifest in the flesh. An old gospel hymn says, “The blood that Jesus shed for me, way back on Calvary, will never lose its power. It reaches to the highest mountain, and it flows to the lowest valley; the blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.” It is in that power that he tells us to go to a lost and dying world with the grace of his gospel message. We can rest assured that it will never fail us. Even when we are “unsuccessful” in our witness when the lost reject the truth, it is not due to a power outage from the source. Stand in his grace. Plug in to the Spirit of the living God inside you, and know that your life can be fulfilled in his power, and be used to transform the lives of others around you.

Planned Obsolescence

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. (Psalm 119:160)

My television just went out. For most people, that would be a major disaster of life. A recent survey I read asked the question, “What is the most important thing in your house?” Over 70% said, “My television.” What a sad state of existence we have in this country. Of course, I like TV as much as the next guy, but I can live without it. We have another one in the house, so it’s not like I have been shut out from the world for the last several days. “Back in the day”, we would load up the set in the car and drive it to the local TV repair shop and get it fixed. There were even guys who would make “house calls” and fix your TV on site. Yeah, I know, the Stone Age. Now we just buy another one. I am not even sure you could find a TV repairman anymore. I would bet if you went to Best Buy and asked if they could fix your TV, they would think you were speaking in tongues. We had this TV for about 4 or 5 years. I could never prove this, but I still think that they design these things to specifically blow up in a set amount of time. It’s almost like they put a chip in there that counts down the days to warranty expiration, and then adds a few more for good measure just to keep us from raising suspicion.

 

My Bible is the most important thing in my house. If my home caught on fire and I had to get out with one thing, it would be a no-brainer. I would grab my Bible and run out the door. I have several Bibles, but my main study Bible is the one I am referring to. I bought it in 1985, so I have had it now for about 28 years. It is a “wide margin” Bible, so I have plenty of notes written in it, and I know right where everything is. I can picture verses in my mind based on what column they are in and whether they are at the top or bottom of the page. I use colored pencils to highlight certain words and phrases, and I can find things in it just by looking for certain colors based on my color code. It still works just as good as new after 28 years, and even better than new. Yes, there are a few rumpled pages and some missing pieces on the cover. But it is not programmed to fail. One day, this physical piece of leather and paper will eventually fall apart. But the precious truths of God’s words will live on forever.

 

One of the so-called “wise” proverbs of the world says, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” The reason they say that is to “diversify” so that if the basket falls and your eggs break, you still have others. That is probably a very wise investment strategy. We have all been made painfully aware that the markets are incredibly fickle and volatile, and their unpredictability has cost all of us in the last few years, even those who are not in the markets. But the “eggs in one basket” strategy does not compute with the Bible. I have all of my trust in what it says. If Jesus is not who he said he was, I am in trouble. I am not worried about that basket falling.

 

In the Christian world these days, it seems we have the same “planned obsolescence” mentality. The book God gave the English speaking world 400 years ago isn’t good enough anymore. So over the last few generations, we have had an explosion and proliferation of “updates”. It is like your computer. Every time you buy new software, they send you “updates” every month. I saw a Bible catalog a while back that boasted of “over 750 Bibles to choose from!” Like that is a benefit to the body of Christ? It is no wonder we are confused. If you went to the grocery store and found 750 different boxes of cereal to choose from, you would just stand there in a mental stupor drooling all over yourself trying to decide which one was best for your family. But we think it is just fine for the “bread of life”. As soon as they come out with a new version, it seems they have a “chip” programmed in it to make it obsolete in a month so they can give us a new revision of the update of the new revision. I have the word of God in my language. It works just fine. “Heaven and earth will pass away” (Mark 13:31) before the basket falls and it breaks.