Thurlow Switzer: Trusting in the Time of Trial

Trusting in the Time of Trial
Apostle Thurlow J. Switzer

Are we able to trust God in times of great trial? If so, on what basis, and what dynamics occur in the midst of such trials?    

2 Cor 1:3-5 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.” NKJV

Recently, our congregation has experienced some setbacks in the lives of precious believers, for instance for one sister, an operation that should have gone normal, turned into a tragedy due to medical errors, including the need for an arm to be amputated. At such times as this, as well in situations where setbacks occur due to occupational politics or traumatic crisis, one may well begin to doubt God’s ability to intervene or to control the course of events.

On one hand, we know that the rain falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous, and, on the other hand, that all things work together for good to them who are called according to the purpose of God. Yet, we ask questions, deep questions. Trials, trouble, and negative circumstances provide occasion for faith to be tested and deepened.

My attention was drawn to what David’s musicians spoke and wrote about in Psalms 42-44. 

First, why do adverse trials occur to godly people? In Psalm 42:1-4, we see the context introduced. The author is described as one pursuing God, panting after and thirsting for the living God. This person has often entered without reservation into the celebration of praise to God; yet when difficult times come, why is it people will bluntly say, “Where is your God?”

Ps 42:1-4 - “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, "Where is your God?" 4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.” NKJV

Immediately, the Psalmist begins to speak to his soul and pour out his heart before God. This is the right response for one going through deep trouble, especially when one does not quite understand what is going on. In the course of Psalms 42 and 43, the Psalmist asks of himself three times the question, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” The first time is in verse 5, the second in verse 11, and the third in verse 5 of chapter 43. Each restatement is accompanied by significant words important to overcoming distress and difficulties, which are indeed keys to overcoming victory in difficult situations.

INSTANCE NUMBER ONE: Psalm 42:5 – “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.”
In the context, the Psalmist, even as he despairs, immediately prays to God, “O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore I will remember You” (v.6). Note the progress, he first spoke to his own soul, he then exhorted his soul to hope in God, and then proceeded to pray to God.

He goes on to assert, “Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me” (v.7). It is often only in the midst of deep troubles and struggle that God’s deepness calls forth the deepness in our soul, and it often sounds like the “noise” of God’s waterfall, when His “waves and billows have gone over me.”

No matter how serious the situations, one must interpret them as only experiences that are our opportunities to experience God’s presence as greater than our circumstance. The result, “The Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me — a prayer to the God of my life” (v. 8). God will be with us in the daytime and in the night.

INSTANCE NUMBER 2: Psalm 42:11 – “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”  The formula for victory is once again repeated in verse 11. In the context, the Psalmist again prays, “I will say to God my Rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" (v. 9). He pours out his heart to God. Pointedly, he asks God why He has forsaken him. He speaks about real issues such as oppression by enemy forces that are causing him to mourn. This reminds me of Matthew 5:4 where Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” It is possible that just about the time we begin to feel self-sufficient and quite confident in our own abilities, we discover our soul-powers are depleted and one’s soul is cast down.

Often circumstances are driven by outside forces, literal physical enemies, sickness, broken circumstances, or by the taunting of others. People love to put people down. The psalmist declares, “As with a breaking of my bones, my enemies reproach me, while they say to me all day long, "Where is your God (v. 10)? Once again, adversaries say, ‘Where is your God?” At times, we might say, “God, where are you?” It is at such a time, we should declare, “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him.” Such a response will certainly help our countenance. 

INSTANCE NUMBER 3: Psalm 43:5 – “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”  Moving into chapter 43 we find this key to victory repeated once again. In the context, the psalmist is pleading for God to vindicate him. “Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! . . . Why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” Once again, he is pouring out his soul to God. This is a necessary dimension of soul all of us need to learn.

In the midst of this he declares, “You are the God of my strength” (v. 2a). However, he has insight into the inner need of true victory, “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle” (v.3). We need God’s light for the pathway and truth in the inward parts.

It is in this condition of renewed heart that the psalmist finds release. “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God” (v. 4).

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO HELP ONE’S SOUL RISE UP?
We find some help in Psalm chapter forty-four. The psalmist declares that in spite of the fact that things have come upon him, he has not dealt falsely with God’s covenant.    

Ps 44:17-18 – “All this has come upon us; but we have not forgotten You, nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant. 18 Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from Your way.”
The Psalmist is confident of his trust and reliance upon God and, although he is experiencing brokenness and is covered with the shadow of death, he has not forgotten God and is willing to follow God to the place of the cross.

Ps 44:20-22 – “20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 21 would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. 22 Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

The Psalm concludes with two striking thoughts, both important to building up one’s soul in the midst of great trial and circumstantial difficulties. The first device is the need to AWAKE and the second to ARISE!
Ps 44:23 – “Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever.”
Ps 44:26 – “Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies' sake.”

What this means to me is quite simple. When we search out our hearts before God in a time of distress and pray to Him, he awakens our soul, even as we are pleading for God to awake. Something is caused to arise in our being, even as we pray to God to arise and not cast us off forever. Such a believer has come to trust God and to know His mercy, and is not too proud to pray, “Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.”

Those who are walking with us through the circumstances we are facing are finding great solace and strength as we pursue God even if we do not understand all that is occurring. Our souls are awaking and arising as we wait patiently upon the Lord. Amen!

Daniel Switzer Ed.D.: Patience Parents!

Raising Our Children: The Need for Faith, Faithfulness, and an Abundance of Patience
By Pastor Daniel L. Switzer, Ed.D.

Any parent knows that working with children takes an abundance of patience. However, I would like to take a look at the long-term perspective that we as parents need to have in order to see God do His work in our children’s lives. James 1:4 says, “Let patience have her perfect work.” Hebrews 6:12 encourages us “to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (NIV). It’s that combination of faith and patience that is applicable here. 

God has plans for our children that He has ordained from the beginning of time. There is a promised land for each one of our children. As parents, we need to exercise faith, faithfulness, and patience in order to see God’s promises come to fruition in our children’s lives.

Faith
First we need to stand in faith for our children. We need to have faith that God is working in our children’s hearts. God calls us to live by faith and that principle includes the raising of our children. We need to raise our children with eyes of faith. As Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Sometimes we may get discouraged when we see the immediacy of our children’s behavior. However, we need to look at our children with eyes of faith.

In truth, while still disciplining and correcting our children to Biblical standards, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and trust that God is working through us to help our children to become the champions that He is calling them to be. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, stay encouraged, and remember to encourage our children with the confidence that comes from God. 

Faithfulness
Of course, God calls us to faithfulness in this great call of parenting our children. We’re counseled to “train” our children. Integral to training is the need for faithfulness. Unfortunately, some teach that all you have to do is to have faith for your children. On the contrary, the Bible teaches that we need faith and faithfulness. James 2:17 tells us that “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Our faith for our children—our hope for them—is shown by our actions on a daily basis. For us as parents, our faithfulness is shown by the consistency of our daily application of Biblical encouragement and discipline in the lives of our children. And this leads me to the major point of this article—the need for patience. 

Patience
Any parent can tell you of the need for patience in working with our children. However, we need to have an attitude that combines faith, faithfulness, and patience in the raising up of our children. If we have true faith in God’s Word—His promises in the lives of our children, we will patiently exercise faithfulness in our parenting of them. As alluded to earlier, we inherit the promises “through faith and patience” (Hebrews 6:12).

This patience is not the kind that says I’m just going to allow my children to do what they will—basically abdicating our responsibility and letting our children pursue the broad path that leads to destruction. Rather, this patience is the kind that keeps us from getting discouraged as we do the day-by-day work—called training—that is necessary to truly raise up our children after God.

Recently grass was planted in our back yard. The soil had to be worked and the seed had to be spread. Of course, God provided sunlight and water. Sure enough, the little grasses started to sprout in due time. Isaiah 61:11 says, “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” 

Seed is an amazing thing that God has given us. He has given us much seed which when faithfully planted results in much fruit. It takes time for fruit to grow. It takes time for the seed to take hold in the ground and receive the sunshine and the water necessary in order to grow.

It’s the same principle with the seed of God’s Word. As we apply God’s Word in the training of our children, we need to be patient for that Word to take root. We need to work the soil of our children’s hearts—taking out the stones and the weeds. We need to communicate much favor (sunshine) as well as nourishing water. Eventually, the seed of faith, faithfulness, and patience will bear fruit. We can be confident that God’s Word will not return empty in our children’s lives. As we faithfully and patiently apply the Word of God, we will see the fruit of Christ’s righteousness coming forth from their lives! Fellow parents, be encouraged—be filled with faith, make decisions out of faith (not fear), work with your children and communicate the Word of God with them—faithfully and patiently! Let “patience have its perfect work”!

Jonathan Switzer: Home to Bethlehem for the Holidays

So, I find myself full of joy about Bethlehem.  It has become home for all of us followers of Christ.  Let’s go back there this season to visit as the family of God.




From the time of Jacob, a story began to develop around Bethlehem that was bathed in great pathos, conflict, evil and hope.  Why did God choose Bethlehem?

What was so special about Bethlehem?   It has come to represent so much.  In summary, Bethlehem represented the desire for love, honor and blessed children (Rachel/Leah).  It was founded by death giving birth (Rachel/Benjamin).  But then the Promised Land of Ephrathah (Bethlehem) had to be taken in a faith-filled war (Caleb).  For a while both good (Ibzan the judge) and bad (Jonathan, the idolatrous priest) came from Bethlehem and then tragedy struck her (raped concubine).  Ultimately, however, redemptive love (Ruth, Boaz) and shepherd kings (David) exalted Bethlehem’s heritage.

Put those together and you have the birth place of the Messiah who would balance grace and truth, righteousness and peace, justice and mercy.  Let’s look at Bethlehem’s story together.  It is the place where our deepest desires are walked out, where we must walk by faith, where our most sinful tendencies are exposed and ultimately Our Shepherd King redeems us with His love.  

Jacob and Rachel
It began with a tragic love story that expresses some of our deepest desires.  Jacob went to his uncle Laban’s house to find a wife.  (Gen 35:19)  When he arrived he saw Rachel at the well and we are told that he kissed her and wept with joy at that first meeting.  When Jacob told Laban that he wanted to marry Rachel, Laban said yes, for 7 years of work.  Then, wickedly, after seven years, Laban substituted Leah instead of Rachel in the midst of the drunkenness of the wedding.  Jacob angrily, however, agreed to work for Laban for seven more years for Rachel, because he loved her so much.  Laban agreed and so began Jacob’s family life.

So, Jacob loved Rachel.  Not so much Leah, who was said to have weak eyes.

But we have not made it to Bethlehem yet.  The next few years were a strange set of baby-wars between Leah and Rachel.  We need to understand what drove those baby wars to understand Bethlehem’s beginning and the Divine baby it would bring.  (Remember, this was the start of the twelve tribes of Israel!)

Leah had a baby first and, knowing how her husband did not love her, named the baby Rueben, saying, “God has seen my misery, now my husband will love me.”  Then Leah had a second, Simeon, where she said, “The Lord has heard that I am not loved.”  When Leah’s third was born she said hopefully, “Now, my husband will become attached to me.”  With the fourth, Judah, her self-esteem apparently had changed and she said, “I will praise the Lord.”

That’s right, over the course of her first four babies, Leah went from misery to praise.  The process began with the misery of one unloved, then awareness that God had heard about her unloved state, then hope for attachment and finally praise.  It is like the story of redemption in miniature.

Nevertheless, after Leah’s four babies, Rachel was still barren and she had become very envious.

Even if Jacob loved her instead of Leah, babies meant honor in this family.  So, in desperation, Rachel gave Jacob her maidservant.  They had a son, Dan, and Rachel said, “God has vindicated me and given me a son.”  (Though not her son, but her servant's)  Then she named her servant’s second son Naphtali, saying, “I have struggled with my sister and won.”

So much competition!?!  The names of the tribes of Israel apparently chronicle the jealous baby wars between Rachel and Leah.  Fascinating.

At that point, Leah saw all the babies Rachel’s servant was having and decided to give her servant to Jacob also.  (What a circus!?!)  Leah named her servant’s first son, Gad, saying, “what a good fortune.”  The second she named Asher saying, “how happy I am.”

We are told Leah actually purchased a night with Jacob from Rachel!  She again got pregnant and named the son Issachar saying, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband”!?! (Really!?!)  Then, Leah gave birth one last time and named him Zebulun saying, “God has given me six sons, my husband will honor me.”

So, follow the names of Leah's sons: after she went from misery to feeling heard, hope for attachment and praise she then went on to good fortune, happiness, feeling God’s reward and finally a sense of honor; all because of her sons.  Again, a miniature story of redemption.

However, Rachel had only gone from God has vindicated me to I beat my sister.  But then, finally, after all that, Rachel herself became pregnant.  She gave birth to Joseph and said, “God has taken away my disgrace, may he give me another son.”

Then, tragedy struck; and this is where our story finally turns to Bethlehem.  Rachel got pregnant a second time.  But, as she was delivering, near Ephrathah, which was to become Bethlehem, she died.  She named the son, Ben-oni saying, “Son of my trouble.”  But Jacob renamed him Benjamin saying, “Son of my right hand.”

And that is the auspicious beginning of our story about Bethlehem (Ephrathah)!  It was birthed as the location of the tragic finale’ of the baby competition between Rachel and Leah leading to the death of the wife Jacob loved.  Leah ended honored, rewarded and happy and Rachel ended dead but with no disgrace.

Jacob’s Choices as Father
Now, most of us know the stories of how Joseph and Benjamin, Rachel’s sons, were loved above and beyond the others by Jacob.  But, we may not know that at the end of his life Jacob prophesied negative things for his three oldest (Reuben, Simeon and Levi) because of their immorality and violence.  However, Judah, the fourth born, got much praise from Jacob.

Our story is about Bethlehem, so, this is important to notice!  First, Bethlehem would forever be the ignomius birth-place of Benjamin, Rachel’s second son to whom she died giving birth.  But Judah was the other son who received much praise from father Jacob.  We must keep that in mind as we keep following Bethlehem’s story.

Caleb and Bethlehem
Fast forward a few years and we come to Caleb, Joshua’s co-hort, as the Israelites were conquering the Promised Land.  Caleb was a descendant of Judah.  In his old age, he wanted to take the hill country of the Promised Land; that hill country is the land that happened to be around Bethlehem.

Joshua said yes.  So, Caleb, son of Judah, captured Bethlehem (still known as Ephrathah).  His son Hur was said to be the first born of Ephrathah, (which was to become Bethlehem).  (1 Chronicles 2:48-50) Hur then gave birth to Salma who we are told was the father of Bethlehem.  So, Caleb captured the area, his son Hur was the first born of Ephrathah and his grandson Salma was the father of Bethlehem.

Let’s keep putting it all together.  So, Bethlehem was the birth place of Benjamin, Rachel’s second son, but then became an important city in the tribe of Judah after Caleb took the promised land by faith.  As a result, it would seem, we will find a subtle not quite overt struggle between Benjamin and Judah over the next few years.  It is the struggle of those two tribes that would produce the great King David from whose lineage the Messiah would come.  It would seem that Rachel and Leah’s struggle continued in Benjamin and Judah!

Judges
Which brings us to the times of the Judges where Bethlehem played a key role in three stories.  First, we are told that Ibzan, (Judges 12:8) of Bethlehem led Israel for seven years.  He had thirty sons and daughters whom he all married off (daughters to other clans and wives for his sons from other clans).  Surely, it is prestigious for a judge to come from Bethlehem, especially one so virile!

The second story, (Judges 17-18) which probably preceded Ibzan’s chronologically, was about Jonathan, a descendant of Moses through Gershom, who was from Bethlehem. Jonathan became priest for Micah in the hills of Ephraim with Micah’s silver idols.  The story tells of Israel’s backsliding into idolatry.  Then, ignomiously, some Danites (firstborn of Rachel’s servant) came and stole Micah’s idols and priest and so, Jonathan, of Bethlehem, and his sons became their priests for generations.

Sadly, this was a Bethlehemite priest who was serving idolatry.  Not so good a heritage for Bethlehem!  Both the sons of Rachel (Danites) and Leah (Levi/Judah) were serving idolatry in that story.

In our third story, another Levite priest from Ephraim had a concubine from Bethlehem.  (Judges 19-21) She left him and went back to Bethlehem.  The Levite, however, went and got her back and, on his way home, stopped in Gibeon where the Benjamites (that’s right, those born of Rachel who died giving birth at Bethlehem, that is Ephrathah) horribly rape her all night and leave her dead in the morning.  In the ensuing melee’ all Israel nearly destroyed all of Benjamin, leaving only 600 men alive.  Tragically, Benjamin barely survived as a tribe, due to their wickedness that day.  Nevertheless, they did survive.  Is this Rachel “weeping for her children who are no more?” (Jer. 31:15)

So, let’s add these stories to what we already know.  Bethlehem had a righteous judge but also a less than righteous Levite who came from her.  She also had a woman whose rape and death almost resulted in the tribe of Benjamin’s annihilation.  Add that to Bethlehem being the Rachel-killing birth place of Benjamin and an important city in Judah originally settled by the great warrior, Caleb’s, children.  Bethlehem had had quite a history so far!  We find ourselves not quite proud of Bethlehem's past yet. 

Ruth
Yet, this brings us within just a few generations of David to Ruth.  Her choice to follow Naomi her widowed mother-in-law back to Bethlehem from Moab began another of the greatest love stories of the Bible.  Boaz redeemed her and she became the great grandmother of David.

(No wonder David later took his family to the King of Moab to ask for help when David’s family came to him at the Cave of Adullam where he was being chased by Saul, the Benjamite (1 Samuel 22).  His great grandmother Ruth was from Moab.  He had simply reached back into his roots for a place of safety.)

David
Let’s continue then with David.  After Saul, the Benjamite, was rejected as King by God, God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse of Judah to anoint one of his sons king.  We are told that the elders of Bethlehem trembled at Samuel’s arrival.  Then Samuel consecrated the whole town (all the elders, Jesse and all David’s older brothers).  Finally, in front of them all, David was anointed to be king.

A few short years later, when things were getting very rough again, David found himself again at Adullam.  This time three of his mighty men overheard him wishing for water from the well in Bethlehem, where the Philistines were then in control a few miles to the East.  (2 Sam. 23:13) Courageously and loyally they decided to get that water for him, breaking through the Philistine line, getting the water and bringing it to David.  Interestingly, David found himself unwilling to drink it as it was obtained at the risk of the lives of his men.  Maybe, this excursion was led by (2 Chron 11:26) Elhanan, son of Dodo of Bethlehem, one of David’s mighty men.

Not too long after that, Asahel, David’s cousin was killed by Abner, Saul’s cousin, and buried in Bethlehem (2 Samuel 2:32).

So, then, much of the story of David is the story of a son of Judah who was crowned king after the failure of a son of Benjamin, Saul, to be a righteous king.  In fact, after Saul’s death their two houses clashed at Gibeon in Benjamin (2 Samuel 2:12) just like years earlier when the Bethlehemite concubine was raped and killed by the Benjamites.

Even though Jacob had loved Rachel more, it turned out that Leah’s influence on her children had perhaps left Judah more full of God’s grace.  Either way Judah rose in righteousness while Benjamin and Joseph fell into sin and failure.  Though, we must remember that all fell into sin in the desert and that even Judah fell into major sin and disgrace not much later.

God’s Promise to David
However, this brings us to Bethlehem’s greatest glory.  At the beginning of David’s reign over Jerusalem, after triumphantly bringing up the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, David desired to build a Temple for the Lord.  After the prophet Nathan encouraged it, Nathan then turned around and told David about a dream from God saying David was NOT to build the Temple.

Nevertheless, because of David’s heart for him, God promised David that his throne, house and kingdom would NEVER end.  God promised to make David’s name great and establish his throne forever.  2 Samuel 7:18-29 records David’s humbled response to this unexpected glorious promise from God.

Thus began the story that would transform not just the history of Jesse’s family, not just the little nation of Israel, but the history of the entire world.  David had gone from lowly shepherd boy of Bethlehem, son of Jesse to the Father of the line of Kings that would bring the eternal King of Kings who would restore the whole world in righteousness and justice.

The Messiah would be a shepherd king just like David.  In Psalm 132, the psalmist recorded Israel’s hope through David referring to Ephrathah (Bethlehem) where David was born.  The minor prophet Micah, however, recorded the words that would forever focus the attention of students of scripture on Bethlehem:

(Mic 5:2-5) But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times…4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.   5 And he will be their peace.”

Conclusion
In conclusion, Bethlehem began in the insecurity of Rachel and Leah’s desire for Jacob’s love.  It was the pain of Rachel’s death while delivering Benjamin at Ephrathah started things off.  The story continued with the invasion of the Promised Land when Caleb, son of Judah whom Jacob had praised, captured Ephrathah (Bethlehem) and his grandson established it as Bethlehem.  The next few years were sketchy as both the righteous judge, Ibzan, and the idolatrous Levite, Jonathan, arose from there.  Then Benjamin was almost destroyed after his descendants viciously raped and killed a Bethlehemite concubine.

Finally, came the love story between Ruth and Boaz and their great grandson King David who received from God the glorious promise of an eternal throne.  From there out all the hope of Israel focused on David’s lineage.  All the prophets caught the significance with their hope-filled reminders to Israel of God’s power and faithfulness.  Psalm 132 and Micah 5:2-5 finally brought things into focus.  “Out of Bethlehem would come…”

And this set up the story of a babe in a manger, shepherds keeping watch in their fields and wise men coming from the East.  All this stirred the paranoia of King Herod and his vicious slaughter of children where, “Rachel…(was)…weeping for her children who were no more.”  (Matt 2:18)

And peace and joy were proclaimed in all the earth.

Out of a love story filled with jealousy and competition (Rachel and Leah), out of the fourth not first-born of Jacob (Judah), out of a warrior’s faith (Caleb), out of honor, dishonor and tragic evil (Judges), out of another love story this time of redemption (Ruth)…out of Bethlehem…arose the Shepherd King to whom God gave the greatest of all promises, “An eternal king who would bring peace to the whole earth.”

Bethlehem represents the desire for love, honor and blessed children (Rachel/Leah).  It was founded by death giving birth (Rachel/Benjamin).  But then the Promised Land of Ephrathah (Bethlehem) had to be taken in a faith-filled war (Caleb).  For a while both good (Ibzan the judge) and bad (Jonathan, the idolatrous priest) came from Bethlehem and then tragedy struck her (raped concubine).  Finally, however, redemptive love (Ruth, Boaz) and shepherd kings (David) exalted Bethlehem’s heritage.

Put those together and you have the birth place of the Messiah who would balance grace and truth, righteousness and peace, justice and mercy.  Out of Bethlehem…Romantic love, jealous competition, dishonor, courageous faith, honorable leadership, dishonorable idolatry, tragic evil, redemptive love and worldwide peace and joy.

This story is more relevant now than ever.

It’s good to be home again for Christmas.  Welcome back to Bethlehem.  May all nations come home to her again this year.

David Ward: The Monastic Option

The Monastic Option

    Today, few Christians recognize the names St. Anthony, St. Basil, and St. Benedict.  And fewer still live the monastic life of solitude and asceticism they espoused.  To be fair, though, it must be said that the Bible doesn't require such of us.  However, the ideals these men represented are as valid today as ever.  Therefore, while Christians may not be required to follow strict monastic rule, they are, nonetheless, expected to follow the dictates of scripture.  And the keystones of the monastic life are also keystones of the Christian life.

Self Denial

    To begin with, "self-denial" was a cardinal doctrine of monasticism, and it remains so today.  After all, Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).  Great, what does this mean?  It means several things, but, first off, it means just what it says—a follower of Christ must “deny himself,” i.e. deny those desires at odds with scripture and at odds with God’s will for one’s life.  The Apostles are perfect examples, as all of them gave up everything to follow Messiah, and tradition tells us that eleven of them were martyred for the Gospel.  Next, we must take up this difficult cross of self-denial “daily.”  It is not enough to practice our faith on Sunday or Wednesday night.  We must master the discipline of self-denial in every area of life and at every moment be willing to submit to His will, whatever it entails.  We must be willing to put our needs and desires aside for the cause of the Gospel.  Finally, we must be willing to “follow” Jesus.  And, today, this may be the ultimate act of self-denial, as it seems everyone everywhere is trying to squeeze as much into life as possible.  In fact, I don’t think I know anyone who could stop at a moment’s notice and do something else without consulting his daytimer.  Yet, to truly follow Jesus, this is what is called for, the desire and ability to hear and obey Holy Spirit, moment by moment, and submit to the will of the Lord.  Consider Matthew, who immediately left his station to follow Jesus.

Sacrifice

Monks were also called on to “sacrifice,” which really goes hand-in-hand with self-denial, and so are we.  In Romans 12:1, Paul put it this way, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service.”  A “living” sacrifice is an interesting concept.  We are not a sacrifice consumed in a moment, like those on the altar in the tabernacle, but a sacrifice that is continually being offered up for the Gospel (Romans 8:36).  But what is it we are to sacrifice?  It is our lives, our wills, and our goods, everything.  Simply put, since He (Christ) gave his life for us, we are to give our lives for Him, which Paul says is “reasonable" service.  How do I sacrifice my life for Him, though?  First, by determining His will, His calling, for your life.  You have been given a spiritual gift (I Peter 4:10), and you are expected to minister in that gift within the church.  And oftentimes (which I think is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God), this gifting flows into our vocations.  For example, my primary Spiritual gifting is teaching, and I teach for a living.  In this way, then, I am sacrificing my life for Him by functioning as He created me.  Then, I sacrifice my will to Him whenever I submit to His leading, as opposed to my own desires.  For instance, in the last few years God has given me a ministry to other church leaders, especially those no longer in ministry and many much older than me, who I come along side to support and validate.  It's not something I ever thought about or asked for; it happened by the Spirit, and I embraced it; I submitted to God's leading in this ministry.  Finally, I sacrifice my goods (money/treasures).  I'm talking here about those times when, led of the Spirit, my wife and I gave guitars, birthday parties, couches, washing machines, dryers, vehicles, and money (even paying others' debts), sacrifices all, for the good other others.

  

Service

A third monastic essential was "service," and, again, it is still a core value in the church.  Jesus said this in Matthew 20:27, "And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant."  In this verse, the word for servant is from the Greek doulos, meaning "a slave; frequently, therefore, in a qualified sense of subjection and subservience."  He also said, speaking to the twelve, "If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all" (Mark 9:35).  In this verse, the word for servant is from the Greek diakonos, meaning "to run errands; an attendant; a waiter."  It should be clear from these verses how important service was and is to Christ.  After all, He was the ultimate servant, giving His life for many.  And so the Gospel calls us to serve as well.  But whom do we serve?  According to Galatians 6:10, "Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters" (NLT).  Colossians 4:5 says, "Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity" (NLT).  I believe these verses tell us to serve both within and without the church, as we have opportunity.  For example, about twenty years ago a coworker of mine was suddenly told by her husband, without any forewarning, that he wanted a divorce, so he moved out of the house.  She was left with their two children and all the bills.  Of course, I counseled her and tried to help the best I could.  About a week later was her daughter's birthday, but she had no money, so my wife and I gave her a birthday party at our house.  We not only went all out with gifts and goodies, but also my wife gave her daughter a doll that she had been given by her grandmother.  To make a long story short, through this simple act of kindness (service) both mom and dad came to the Lord, and their relationship was restored within weeks.  Whatever the form, service is a key to the kingdom, and we should desire to serve because of the Love of Christ that has been shed abroad in our hearts by Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). 

Separation

    Finally, "separation" is probably the most obvious and radical ideal of the monastic life, as these ascetics tried as much as possible to separate themselves from society.  And while most present-day Christians would protest, according to scripture we are not of the world (John 17:16) and we are to be holy for He is holy (I Peter 1:16). Clearly, then, the principle of separation from the world is still valid.  And today, sadly, this is where the church (Christians) most often fails in her witness.  And this is exactly why the idea of separation is so important because we cannot have a credible witness if we act like the world.  However, it should probably be said here that we don’t have the advantage first century Christians had.  That is, their separation was so obvious because the distinction of their day was much greater.  For instance, they no longer participated in the Roman pagan religion or its practices, e.g. feasts, sacrifices, emperor worship, etc.  Also, they no longer participated in the rampant sexual immorality (much of it required by ancient idolatry) of the ancient world.  Furthermore, they met in homes to worship, not in the temple.  In other words, their new behavior was completely opposite of the world around them, so it was obvious who the Christians were.  It was a simpler time, with less choices and distractions; therefore, those who shunned the common customs really stood out.  Yet, we cannot use this as an excuse; we have to be as radically different as our first century forebears. 

    But how do we do that?  Number one, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2 Corinthians 6:17).  Previously Paul had been talking about the relationship between the righteous and unrighteous.  He asked several rhetorical questions, e.g. "what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness?"; "what communion has light with darkness?"; "what concord has Christ with Belial?"; "what agreement has the temple of God with idols?" (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).  Then he concluded with "come out from among them and be separate."  So then, since there is no fellowship between the righteous and the unrighteous, come out from them, separate yourselves from them.  Simply put, separate yourselves from the world, from worldly people and practices.  You must make the break; it is a choice you must consciously make and practice.  Second, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world…" (I John 2:15).  Again, the onus is on us Christians not to be taken (captured) by the things of the world.  These appetites should have died with Christ in baptism (Romans 6:3-6) and must be mortified by the Spirit (Romans 8:13).  Again, we must consciously put to death the desires that would overcome our bodies, and we can by the power of the indwelling Spirit.  Finally, we must be "trained to recognize the difference between right and wrong, and then do what is right" (Hebrews 5:14 NLT).  The King James reads, "…even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."  In other words, we must practice making right decisions and good habits that sensitize our spirits to what is right.  This then, in turn, will make it easier to discern right from wrong and practice the right.  If we do these things consistently, then we should be demonstrably different from the world, separate from the world.

Conclusion

    Clearly, these monastic ideals are as relevant today as they were seventeen-hundred or five-hundred years ago.  We all may not decide to cloister in order to fulfill them, but we must practice them if we are put on Christ and impact the world.  In that sense then, monasticism should be alive and well today, as the whole church engages in self-denial, sacrifice, service, and separation.  Whether in a monk's robe or street clothes, these ideals were modeled by Christ and should be embraced by us.  How about it?

 

Rod Levey: Standing Covenant with Noah

THE STANDING COVENANT WITH NOAH

The first time the word covenant is found in the Bible is in relationship to Noah.

In Genesis 6:4, the Lord saw that the heart of mankind was consistently bent toward wickedness and evil. Verse 6 says the Lord was grieved in His heart and sorry He had made man. In verse 7, we find the Lord stating, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth” because of that which was mentioned in verse 5.

In verse 8 it's written, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” In the midst of the earth's population of a corrupt people, there was one man who had found favor with God. Why? Why was Noah, in God's sight, one who was different from the rest?

Verse 9 answers this question. This verse starts out by saying, “This is the genealogy of Noah.” Then it goes on to say in that same verse, “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” This at first glance seems to be a strange way to describe a genealogy. Verse 10 sounds reasonable in regard to a genealogy: “And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.” This is a clear genealogy, three sons that came from their father's loins. This was the picture of Noah's descendants firsthand, the biological lineage.

Now, let's go back to verse 9. I believe there was no mistake as God described the bloodline; the characteristics of this bloodline were of a spiritual birthing, not natural. Although Noah had three natural children, Shem, Ham and Japheth, God noted the spiritual children of Just, Perfect and Walked with God which were birthed by and had the characteristics of the Father. Noah, as a son of God, up to this point in his life had retained his moral character and lived his life in the fear of the Lord. He made personal, consistent choices to honor God. He loved God and expressed that love by the birthing of three descendants, “Just,” “Perfect” and “Walked with God.”

Noah lived a Just life before God –lawfully right—before God. He was morally upright. He made God's standards his standards. Noah chose to take a stand for God. Love motivated him to not compromise and yield to the lust of the flesh as the others were doing.

The second child in Noah’s spiritual bloodline was “Perfect.” Noah lived a wholesome life; clean, without blemish. He was sound in his decisions and judgments, a man of integrity. He was focused and unwavering. He purposed not to be involved with all the mixture that was being offered in his generation. Noah wasn't caught up in the fads and forms of his day. Stable living before a holy God marked him. His influence was God alone, not the many voices and choices of the hour that were available.

The third in Noah’s spiritual genealogy was “Walked with God.” Noah stayed in fellowship with God.  He communed with the Father. Nothing was going to distract him from the intimacy he had with his Creator. Noah walked with God. He knew who had the lead and therefore followed with a submissive heart, a pure example of a bondservant. Rejection, ridicule nor reason would deter him from following and walking with the One who was his Lord. Again, he didn't walk or follow the majority—the masses who had turned from God for the fulfillment of their pleasures and satisfaction of their fleshly appetites. He knew the way of expressing his love to his Maker: the way of the cross. He would not fall prey to what was regarded as the norm in his day, what was acceptable, what everyone else was doing.

Verse 11 says, “The earth was filled with violence.” The people of Noah’s day were simply living wrongly. They were in sin. Everyone was doing that which would bring them unjust gain. They were concerned with themselves only. There was no mentality of a love for God and a love for their neighbor. Men were lovers of themselves, doing only what would bring them self-satisfaction, comfort and pleasure. Some had a name “sons of God,” but their life behavior and conduct did not resemble that of God. They had a form of godliness, but there was a denying of its power—the power of love revealed in covenant relationship.

Covenant always speaks of bloodshed and slaughter. Sacrifice is a key component of covenant living. Psalm 50:5 says, “Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” This particular psalm appears to be speaking of a time of judgment. It looks like it was a day similar to Noah's generation and ours. There is an addressing of all the motion and form taking place—you know, going through the motions of religion. In verses 16-21, the writer Asaph clearly points out the issues the Lord was addressing to a corrupt, unjust people. For example: lip service, unwillingness to submit, adulterous relationships and not walking in righteous living with family members. The chapter ends in verse 23: “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and [but more than that] to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God (italics mine).” Whoever offers (brings the sacrifice) of praise acknowledges God. But to him who orders his conduct, his walk, his course of life right, God will cause to see the salvation of God.  Bringing sacrifices to God has its place. He won't reprove us for them (Psalm 50:8). However, His Word clearly states in Samuel 15:22, “And Samuel said, 'Hath God delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.'”  Proverbs 21:3 says it this way: “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”

  

Noah walked with God.  He loved and feared Him. His sacrifices were a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart; therefore, he ordered his life by living a covenant relationship which was revealed in a lifestyle above and beyond offerings.  This reflected his love for God.  Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them his covenant.” In covenant, there are always promises, stipulations, requirements and reasonable expectations; however, at the core of covenant there must be death.  Hebrews 9:16-17 speaks to this, “For where there is a testament [covenant] there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, for a testament [covenant] is only in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives (italics mine).” I believe the covenant of the Son of God's love was revealed to Noah, and by seeing this, Noah expressed his love to God in obedient conduct. Noah was dead to himself and alive to God.

Back to Genesis 6:18. God speaks to Noah, the one man that “walked with Him” and says, “But I will establish [stand, continue] My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark (italics mine).” At the time of judgment, God was saying, in effect, “There is a difference with Noah beyond all the others; therefore, I am going to arise and take a stand to continue covenant with the one who continually took and takes a stand for Me and My desires, one who is living with Me and for Me.” Noah was the “one man” (human being) who fulfilled the covenant in his day. He held up his end of the oath, the vows, if you will, to live a certain way with God. There was another time the Lord Jesus “took a stand.” It was when Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit “took a stand” for Jesus as a martyr. This was a true covenantal expression!

Love for God means that we will seek and receive grace from Him to keep His Word. Therefore, fulfilling our covenant with God is dependent upon faith in our Savior and that which He accomplished at Calvary. Noah is obviously a type of Christ. Jesus is the “just” One. Jesus is the “perfect” One. Jesus is the One who “walked with God.” Jesus did only that which He saw the Father doing. He walked in perfect obedience.

We have a lot to overcome in this world in the hour in which we are living. There's only one way to fulfill our end of this covenant with our God whom we love. John the apostle brings a truth that puts this story of Noah and God into light. He puts it this way in John 14:21: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Doesn't this sound similar to Psalm 50:23 and familiar to the account of God and Noah?

God's truth is still true with us today. He has legitimate and reasonable expectations of us who are in covenant with Him. We can fulfill these expectations because and only because of the price that has been paid in His Son, Jesus Christ, at Calvary. It will cost us the same. In the same way Jesus gave His life in totality for us, we also have to give our lives in totality for Him. We, too, will need to pick up our cross daily and walk in the Spirit so we will not bow to the desires of the flesh. Those of us in Christ still find grace in the eyes of the Lord just as Noah did. Furthermore, Jesus will come back for the “one man” who is in covenant with Him, those who have made a covenant, not of words only, but for those who are hearers and doers of His Word. The book of Revelation speaks of these covenant keepers as those who overcame by the blood of the Lamb (relational rights), by the word of their testimony (relational vows) and those who did not love their lives to the death (relational conduct).

How about you? Are you content with believing in the finished work of Jesus and the confession of your faith? Or will you also become a martyr for Him and live in this generation distinguished as just, perfect and walking with God?

Thurlow Switzer: Heritage of Those That Fear the Lord

The Heritage of Those that Fear the Lord

Recently, my dear father, James Clark Switzer, revered father of seven children, and grandfather of 70 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, passed from this life to his home with God our Father (September 26, 2009), joining my mother who passed five years ago. As you might well understand, this has been a significant time of reflection as well as a great celebration of his life, a ninety-year pilgrimage lived to the glory of God. He pastored 16 churches in his lifetime, 13 of which he started from scratch as a church planter. The highlight of the memorial celebration of his life was when nearly seventy grandchildren and great-grandchildren ascended to the platform and sang, “To God Be the Glory.”

My dad’s favorite verse, often quoted, was Psalm 61:5. Since I was called upon to speak at his memorial service, I reflected upon the intent and meaning of this text.

“For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name” (Ps 61:5 NKJV).

Three great ideas come from this passage and they hit home with me, and continue to impact my appreciating dad’s life. I am embracing them personally with fresh intensity as guidelines for my life, and as ideals to pass on to my own children and grandchildren.

First, the Power of the Vow

My father was a man who lived with a focused life, a man faithful to his vows before God. Dad was a man of his word; he could be trusted; he followed through to what he committed himself to. Dad modeled to all of us a life lived with an intense focus, a life centered and occupied with the vow to honor and glorify God.

Eccl 5:4-5 – “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed — better not to vow than to vow and not pay.” NKJV

Num 30:2 – “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” NKJV

One time my wife asked Dad if he would consider building a door for the shelf in the corner of the kitchen by the sink. Dad asked for a hammer, walked over to the sink area and punched a hole in the wall, and said, “Done!” Once he committed to something, it was as-good-as-done. He always finished his tasks.

Secondly, Leaving a Heritage

Dad left a strong, vibrant heritage to us his family. The words “you have given me a heritage of those who fear the Lord,” find their power in the word “heritage.” It is the Hebrew word, yeyuschah, which means, “to occupy, a conquest, something occupied, to drive out and possess.” Dad left us a heritage of one who overcame obstacles and possessed life in the spirit of overcoming. The power of a legacy that he passed on showed its power in three ways.

The power of this heritage was felt first in his love and commitment to his family; they were his heritage. He lived his whole life and prayed in such a way as to leave a spiritual legacy of faith and faithfulness to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He strongly believed in a faith that would reach to the third and fourth generation.

Ps 127:3-5 – “3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.” NKJV

Deut 4:9-10 – “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren.” NKJV

The power of this legacy was felt secondly in the fact that he and mom lived in such a way as to pass on “pleasant” and “goodly heritage” to his family.

Psalm 16:5-6 – “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; you maintain my lot. 6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a goodly heritage.” KJV

I do not recall ever having a head-to-head battle with my dad, or he with me, yet I clearly knew when he corrected me and provided guidance for my life, not only as a child, but also as a grown man, even to recent times of conversation and heart-to-heart discussion.

In addition, I felt the power of this heritage in the fact that dad never backed away from an attack coming from other people or from circumstances that challenged him to the hilt. For instance, he knew the power spoken of by the prophet Isaiah that God would always be his defender and that he did not need to react to the voice of those who opposed him or stood against him.

Isa 54:17 – “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me," says the Lord.” NKJV

Third, the Fear of the Lord

Thirdly, Psalm 61:5 emphasizes that a sound heritage is characterized and motivated by a desire to see all “fear” the name of the Lord. Dad’s prayer was that of David.

Psalm 61:5 - “For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.” NKJV

To fear God is to reverence Him and His ways, to embrace an attitude of awesome respect and obedient service, and allowing this to be an impetus to pursue the will of God in all that one does. The fear of God lies at the heart of successful living in the world.

Psalm 86:11 - “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” NKJV

Ps 119:111 – “Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart.” NKJV

Eccl 2:21 – “For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.” NKJV

God has established His inheritance in the saints. God our heavenly Father has left us a powerful and eternal inheritance in the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Eph 1:15-18 – “15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” NKJV

How does a man and woman, a father and mother, leave such a heritage to his family and to those who follow him? This occurs by living faithfully one’s faith and modeling by life one’s trust and commitment to God. Thanks dad `and mom, for leaving such a heritage to us your children. Thanks for living a life in the fear of the Lord, honoring His Name. We are so grateful.

Thurlow J. Switzer

Lynda Switzer: Attention: Control Panel Beeping

Attention: Control Panel Beeping
By Lynda M .Switzer

True beauty and strength flow out of our lives when we not only know in our heads that God is in control, but also we embrace a lifestyle integrated with God’s Word and surrendered to the Father’s plan and purpose.

Attention: Control Panel Beeping: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of the fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked: and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings (Genesis 3: 6, 7.) “Here, Adam, have some of this tasty fruit!”

Attention: Control Panel Beeping: “So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid: perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes (Genesis 16:2-4). “Abram, we can make this happen with you and Hagar!”

Attention: Control Panel Beeping: “Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to Him . . . Go out to the field and hunt game for me and make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son . . . So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying . . . Now therefore my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death” (Genesis 27:1, 3, 4, 5). “Jacob, just do what I tell you and you’ll get the coveted blessing from your dad!”

We love to fix things and make things right! It seems to be part of our nature. Our control panels beep loudly! Does God always want us to take responsibility to fix the circumstances and situations that happen in our lives? When we go on our fix-it/control- panel- beeping expeditions, we usually encounter a lot of stress. Our lives begin to overflow with despair, frustration, anger, and self-pity.

Biblically, are there other responses that should be our “first responder” actions rather than our just jumping in to fix things? Life is hard. Are you in a hard season of your life right now? Know that God’s plan for us is bigger than our plan, better than our plan, and different from our plan.
God’s heart for us and the end result that He has in mind may be far different from where we think we’re going or what we think we’re doing.

Our flesh is crushed when we can’t control things. God will press into us. He loves us so much! His heart is that we passionately worship Him, allow our lives to bless others and use our energy to extend His Kingdom. It’s not about us and our comfort level.



Three questions to consider:

1. Do we hold back our worship because we have some issues we need to work out with God first?
2. Do we understand that, just like God ultimately blessed Abraham and miraculously provided his seed, that His purpose in Abraham’s life was that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed, Genesis 12:2? God’s intention is to bless others through our lives!
3. What is our destiny and purpose from the moment God created us?

What’s your life overflowing with? Despair or realizing God has appointed us to worship and serve Him in the midst of our circumstances? When we try to control things, frustration and self pity sneak into our lives and replace God’s peace, His assurance, and His love.

There’s a beautiful story in the Bible of a woman and a family that accurately illustrate how powerfully God is in control amidst unlikely circumstances:

Esther 2:5-7,” In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.”

Hadassah means myrtle (A myrtle tree is a common evergreen bushy shrub with oval shaped shiny leaves, fragrant white or rosy flowers and black berries.) Esther means star. Mordecai may have renamed her when he adopted her. (The definition of a star is “a natural luminous body visible in the sky especially at night.) God was sovereignly moving Esther from just a common (bushy) life to the stardom of putting her life on the line for her people.

Do we read that Esther is in despair in captivity? Is she walking in self pity at being an orphan? Verses 8 and 9 of chapter 2 reveal that Esther is well trained, well adjusted and spiritually prepared in this pagan nation. God is opening doors of favor to her. Esther 2:17, “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” Esther becomes queen. When we have successes in our lives, do we take the credit for them ourselves or do we recognize the hand of God putting us in places of His design for His purposes?
In Esther 3:13, we read of wicked Haman’s deadly conspiracy. “And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, on one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.” Just like Mordecai’s commitment to worship only Jehovah made Haman very angry, pursuing holiness and not living like others around us may bring upon us the hatred and hostility of unbelievers. What gallows in our lives are ready to hang us up and shut us down?

There’s an interesting phrase here that reveals the reputation and leadership of Mordecai. “He (Haman) disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai” (Esther 3:6). Who were the people of Mordecai? God’s chosen people, the Hebrews!
We, too, are part of God’s chosen people. I Peter 2: 9, 10, in The New Living Translation reads, “You are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God. Once you received none of God’s mercy; now you have received his mercy.” God is in control of our circumstances and lives. It’s a good thing!

In Esther 4:4 we read, “The queen is deeply distressed” at hearing that her uncle sits at the gate clothed in sackcloth. Esther’s response is, “I can’t do anything about this. Mordecai, if I do as you say, I could die.” Mordecai’s faith-filled reply to Esther is in 4:14. “If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther, God has set you up! If you remain silent, you may miss the main opportunity, purpose, and privilege for your becoming the queen.

Mordecai is appealing to Esther to look at the big picture of what God is about to do. This reminds me of the account of Joseph in Genesis. What did Joseph say about the ill treatment he received from his brothers? In Genesis 45:7, 8, Joseph tells his brothers, “And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” Note the progression in Joseph’s spiritual understanding. In Genesis 40:15, Joseph sees himself as “stolen away, having done nothing to get me here in this dungeon.” But, later in Genesis 45:8, Joseph tells his brothers, “It was not you who sent me here, but God.”

What Esther does next shows the depth of the godly mentoring that she had received from Mordecai. In Esther 4:16, Esther says, “Go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” Attention – control panel beeping: decision time! Will Esther (will we) cater to the flesh or yield to the Spirit as the Apostle Paul encourages us in Romans 8?

Instead of jumping up to try to stop the destruction of her people by herself, Esther called for fasting and prayer, and Esther herself embraced fasting and prayer with her maidens. Esther’s response reveals her ultimate commitment to Mordecai and her people, the condemned Jews. “You do your part to help me; and I will do what you have said, even if I die doing it.”

Doing the will of God requires action. The scriptures read that David ran quickly toward Goliath in I Samuel 17:48, “So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.” David ran toward the giant confidently in God’s authority. God gave Esther the plan and she literally had the king eating out of her hand. Haman was hanged.

What happened next? Esther risked her life again! In Philippians 1:20, 21, the Apostle Paul writes, “According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
King Ahasuerus authorizes Mordecai to write a decree in the king’s name. The decree states that the Jews can legally fight back if assaulted. Esther 9:1, “On that day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them.” Esther 9:19, “The Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting as a holiday and for sending presents to one another. . . so they called these days Purim (vs. 26) . . . and established (vs. 28) that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.”

Like the Old Testament Hebrews who preserved their traditions, we’re passing on memories. What kind of memories are we passing on? Are we carnal (ruled by what I think, ruled by what I want, what I feel) or are we spiritual (Romans 8 – controlled by the Spirit)?

We are called to the Kingdom of God for such a time as this. God invites us to surrender our control, to let go of circumstances and situations that we are holding onto so tightly, to shut down our beeping control panels. Do we find our identity more in our circumstances and relationships with others than in our relationship with Christ?

Yes, our lives have problems, but in humility and surrender, we can shift our focus off our problems and unto Jesus. Christ’s life is mighty within us - eager to burst forth every day in our lives. Instead of struggling to always try to be in control, Jesus invites us to surrender to His will, worship Him, display His works, and extend His Kingdom in the midst of our daily lives.

Christ in us the hope of glory! Colossians 1:27, “To (His saints) God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1,2 NJV).

David Ward: Dance!

"Dance"

It is generally true that every culture has its dance. And this goes back to ancient times. Today, many cultural dances are making a seeming come back, such as Irish dance. Yet, in the church dance is still a controversial issue.

To some dance is just too sensual to be allowed. To them there is no acceptable dance. Moreover, to the extreme minority dance is sin, and anyone participating is sinning. To them, dancing in church would be akin to heresy.

However, the Bible has several examples of people dancing and scriptures that support dancing. For example, Miriam and other women danced joyously after God delivered the Hebrew children through the Red Sea. Likewise, King David danced before the Ark of the Covenant as it was returned to Jerusalem. The Psalms are replete with verses that not only support dancing but also call for dance as a method of praise, e.g., Psalm 149:3 and 150:4 not only support dancing but also call for dance as a method of praise.

Furthermore, the lack of dance in church may be associated with the fact that, as a culture, there is no American dance. For instance, there is Hebrew dance, Russian dance, Irish dance, Greek dance, a host of African dances, Spanish dance, but generally speaking, there is no singular dance associated with Americans. That is to say, there is no common dance Americans share when they come together.

Yet, some churches today have adopted Hebrew dance since Christianity was founded by a Jew and is largely dependent upon Hebrews scriptures. These churches use Hebrew dance as part of their worship and a way to live out scripture. They teach the specific steps of the various dances and the meanings behind the different gestures and postures.

Some churches have adopted a sort of split system of dance. For instance, in one church I attended it was all right for children to dance but not adults. In other churches dance is somewhat accepted so long as it done at the back of the sanctuary, not at the front or in the aisles. Then in some churches it is acceptable for women to dance but never the men.

Of course, there is the age-old fear of "looking stupid" when one dances. I am convinced this is what keeps most people, especially men, from dancing, whether in or out of church. Apparently, King David did not suffer from this anxiety, as he danced in what amounted to his underwear before his subjects.

Whatever the reason, Christians are greatly divided when it comes to dance. Some may take a class in ballroom dance but never consider dancing in church. Still others may freely dance in church during worship but never dance outside of church. In any case, I believe the Bible prescribes dance as a legitimate form of worship, so long as the center of worship remains Jesus Christ!

Jonathan Switzer: Soul Shifting

Getting our soul right.

Been emotionally overloaded recently? Or maybe you have felt mental recently. Well, you’re in good company. King David, the conqueror of giants and archetype for the Messianic King of Kings, was the quintessential emotional basket case.


However, somehow, David was able to transcend his mental moments and live in a way that inspired artists like Michelangelo and saints for ages. What was it? Is it something you and I can do?

Misery loves company, right!?


The Apostle Paul, in Ephesians says to speak to one another in, “Psalm, hymns and spiritual songs.” Jesus and the Apostles regularly spoke to one another and interpreted their struggles through the grid of things that David wrote in the Psalms.

Apparently, there is some key emotional, mental coping mechanism found in those Psalms. (Though to say it that way minimizes the spiritual power really at work.) Apparently, there is no shame in having your soul overwhelmed and downcast. (Remember, soul, is the Bible’s word for what we now tend to call our mind, will or emotions. I like the word soul better, it’s more Biblical.).

In fact, the Bible seems to give us the impression that because life has been corrupted with sin (both our sins and others), our souls will often feel like they are in muck and mire. Or sometimes our soul will feel torn to shreds like a Lion’s prey by things other people say. Other times our soul will be full of joy and confidence. Or perhaps it will feel dry and empty.

Simply put, biblically, if we are anything like David, we should expect our soul to run the gamut of emotional struggles depending on how many sinful people we have had to put up with. (Or sometimes, maybe even oftentimes, the distraught in our soul is due to our own sin.)

Nevertheless, David never gives the impression (in the Psalms) that his soul should naturally respond to the sinful world around him with joy and rejoicing. Yet, David still sets the example as someone who rejoiced in the Lord always. How did he do it?

Basically, David regularly went to pray. As he did, he seemed to persistently let God set his soul back on a rock, hidden under the Shadow of God’s wings, protected in the strong tower of God’s name.

It’s a soul shift. For David, it happened in prayer.

Prayer was the way that David seemed to regularly (daily/weekly?) take time to shift his soul from the “crazies” of the sinful world he faced everyday.

David seemed to do four things regularly in his prayers in the Psalms. First, he honestly, and often in an emotional manner, told God what was happening to him and how he felt about it. “I am surrounded by enemies on every side.” “They seek to devour me.” “Why do the wicked prosper?” “I am dry and empty.” “My soul is downcast and anxious.”

Now, we have so often been taught the power of “rejoice in the Lord always” that I think we forget to go through the human process of righting our soul. We forget to be honest. We might have been led to believe that we can just snap our fingers, quote that verse and force ourselves to smile and rejoice. If that is the case, then we have probably felt also the miss in our soul, wondering if there shouldn’t be more to it. Perhaps, we just wondered that maybe rejoicing worked for some people, but not for us.

But David never in the Psalms forced his soul to rejoice. If he was in tough situations, he never tried to just snap his fingers into rejoicing. Rather, he always started with a brutal, emotional and honest description of how he felt, how fearful he was, how discouraged he was, how distraught he was. In that description he would not hesitate to place blame as to what was causing his soul’s struggle. (Remember, sometimes he actually did feel joyful in which case he started with a description of that joy).

We must not be dishonest with ourselves or with God about how we feel and why.

However, that is just step one. Though step one must not be skipped and must not be rushed, there are three more steps that I discern in David’s prayers. Step one is a vital preparation for a genuine soul shift, but it is the second step that is the beginning of the actual soul shift.  We find that David begins to refocus on God’s perspective of his situation. Remember, David started with an honest description of what he saw happening and how that made him feel. However, next, little by little David would remind his soul of God’s perspective. Things like, “I know Lord that you will punish the wicked.” Things like, “The one enthroned in heaven laughs…” Another time it’s, “You, O Lord are a shield about me.” Or perhaps, “the Lord will hear when I call to him.” One of my favorites is, “you record all my tears.” There are so many of these soul-shifting, soul-soothing truths that we would have to quote much of Psalms to hit them all.

But that is the point. We must not be men and women who have our own perspective at the center of our heart and soul. Rather, we must put God’s perspective at the center. David was called a man after God’s own heart. David was called that because his habit, his practice, was to go to God in prayer and after being honest (and sometimes taking a while to say what he really felt) he would begin to refocus on God’s perspective.

It is likely that David was called a man after God's own heart because of these soul shifting prayers he prayed. 

So, thirdly, David would make statements that seem to show that David is choosing to believe God’s perspective. It’s just not enough to know what God thinks. We have to believe that what God thinks really changes the game; that it really makes a difference. David says, “Lord, I take refuge in you.” Another time he says, “find rest O my soul in God alone.” Or he says to his soul, “put your hope in God.” Or, “But, you O God do see trouble and grief.”

Of course, this is why David can start a Psalm so anxious and stressed and then by the end of the Psalm he can sound as though he is really rejoicing in the Lord. He IS NOT FAKING IT. His soul has really shifted from despair to confidence in the Lord; from dry and thirsty to refreshed; from fearful and scared to peace and joy.

As David’s perspective changed to God’s perspective, his soul’s state would change also.

So, let’s summarize: David’s rejoicing always started first with honesty. Let’s start there with him. Let’s take however long we need to express what we are really feeling. Then, second, he refocused on God’s perspective and reminded/told his soul to believe God’s perspective. Third, he actively chose to believe God’s perspective. And fourth, as a result, David genuinely rejoiced in the Lord always.

He just simply never faked it. David prayed through each situation UNTIL his soul had genuinely shifted. Then the power of rejoicing seemed to invade his entire soul and burst forth with real victory. Jesus’ beatitudes seem to follow a similar pattern of honesty, God’s perspective and rejoicing.

Let’s learn to read the Psalms and let David teach us how to honestly deal with our soul’s struggles with the difficulties of a world full of sin. Then, let’s speak to one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs…

…for the sake of your soul…all you mental, emotional basket cases. Join with David and me, your compatriots in anxiety, fear and struggle… and pray through to a genuine soul shift.

Alanna Jennings: Spiritual Gardening

Spiritual Gardening – Part 4
Hybridization
“How Beautiful the Bride”
Alanna Jennings

No gardener worth his or her salt would go to the trouble of planting a garden and then not tend to it.  Our Heavenly Father is a good and loving gardener, who tends to His garden by cultivating, watering, feeding, pruning, and propagating.  He even uses hybridization to make us unique individuals, while at the same time ensuring that each of us are in His image, reflecting Him.

Through hybridization (the breeding of a blended “offspring” from unique “parents”) there are now thousands of different kinds of roses alone, and countless species and varieties of other flowers. The varieties developed by hybridization are called cultivars.  In the plant world, new cultivars can occur as the result of “sport” – or, in other words, chance genetic mutation.  While these plants may resemble other flowers, they are not the same as “species” flowers.

New roses are developed through cross-breeding, where the attributes and characteristics of the old rose are bred into the new rose through cross pollenization or seeding.  With these thoughts in mind, I will quickly leave the natural garden and get right to the spiritual gardening concepts that are on my heart.

We, like new roses, are new creatures in Christ Jesus, created through cross-breeding.  When we are born again through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, we become partakers of the divine nature, as we read in II Peter 1:2-4 : “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

How wonderful to know that we are not “sport” or chance genetic mutants - as evolutionists would have us think.  Rather, we were created in the likeness of an awesome God  (Gen. 1:26-27, Gen. 5:1) and our purpose was determined before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4, 2:10, 3:10-11).

If we and our brethren are indeed created in the image of God, as Scripture tells us; how is it that we feel we have the liberty to be critical of one another, either corporately or individually?  After 25 years as a pastor’s wife, I have heard more than my fair share of criticism of the Church (most of it from the Church, I might add).  One of the terrible truths about Christians is that, occasionally, we eat our own.  Like every decadent civilization, we have been known to sacrifice our young (immature believers) and leave behind our wounded (hurting believers).  In our rush to get off the battlefield, or extricate ourselves from spiritual warfare, or alleviate our own pain and suffering in troubled times, we walk away from our brethren, thinking they are beyond hope when they’re really just “mostly dead” and in great need of rescue.

I write to you, my Brethren, in the fear of God, knowing that I am chief among sinners with regard to the judgmental thoughts I entertain and the critical words I speak.  How often I find myself judging according to the flesh, the precise thing that Jesus warns us about in John 8:15.  I am endeavoring to change these unprofitable habits in my life, as I am more and more often reminded of the dire warnings that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about improperly “discerning” the Body of Christ.

We can all agree that the Church, in the natural realm, has deficiencies and weaknesses clearly visible for all to see.  But, I think we take too lightly the fact that it is the Messiah’s Bride, created in His image, that we speak ill of, dare to entertain critical thoughts of, and treat in a manner unworthy of the Lord.

How then, should we view the Body of Christ?  Simply put, just as God views her - as pure and spotless.  And, by the way, we will never love her as we ought until we begin to look at her with the eyes of the Bridegroom.  This “view” will never come into focus as long as you are looking with carnal eyes.  You will need your spiritual eyes to behold the awesome beauty of the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife (Revelation 21:9-27).  You see, dear Saints, divine grace has expressed the eternal purpose of God in the statement that Christ will one day present unto Himself a glorious Church: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”,  Ephesians 5:25-27.

Note that it is not you who will present yourself, or anyone else, to Him pure and spotless.  The washing of the water of the Word is still needed to keep us cleansed, defiled as we may become by the fallen world in which we live.  With defects yet to be remedied, and wounds still in need of healing, how gracious are the words used of us: “not having spot or wrinkle”.

Her sins are forgiven (but we do not forgive).  Her sins are removed as far as the east is from the west (until we throw them in her face).  Her shame has been rolled away (until we roll it back onto her).  For what, after all, are “wrinkles” but the marks of age; and what are “blemishes” but the effects of sin.

How is it, then, that we can believe of ourselves and others that we are without wrinkle and without blemish before God?  Because His word clearly states it as fact! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation”, II Corinthians 5:17-19

God here looks beyond all of history, including ours, and sees His Church reflecting nothing of man’s fall, but reflecting only the glorious image of His Son.  Is God seeing what will be, or what already is?  I am of the opinion that this promise is not afar off, but speaks of the condition of the Church right now.  Have the wages of sin been paid for, or is payment yet to come?  Are we cleansed by the blood of the Lamb or not?  Are old things passed, and have all things become new, or is this promise yet unfulfilled?  Do we live in redemption, or are we waiting to be redeemed?  Has His blood shed once, for all, washed us clean, or is there need for more bloodshed to make us spotless?  Are we without wrinkle in our Bridegroom’s eyes right now, or do the effects of time and decay mar our beauty for our Beloved?  The answer to these questions is found in Hebrews 9:13-14:  “For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” 


If we are indeed the pure and spotless Bride, what is left for us to do?  While the purpose of this article is not to expound on the process of sanctification, I leave you with the following verses for your consideration:

    “Buy from Me white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.”  Revelation 3:18

    “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”  Revelation 19:8

    “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Romans 13:11-14

    “But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”  Ephesians 4:20-24

    “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”  II Peter 3:14

    “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”  I Peter 1:17-21

    “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:12-17


Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.  Amen.
Jude 24 - 25