The Bold Witness

Scripture reference: Judges 5:28-30 Natalia sat on a cushion of lamb fleece covered in purple silk at the window of her bed chamber starring anxiously through the lattice. It had been one cycle of the moon since her son, Sisera, had gone off to fight the rebellious Israelis. He should have made quick work of those weak and silly people, and have returned home by now. What could it be that has slowed his chariot? Why has the sound of its wheels not filled the air beneath her window? What has so delayed her precious son? "Oh, my lady," spoke Muriel, one of her attendants, "do not be worried. No doubt they are busy dividing the spoils. I hear the Israelis have many fine items of gold. It must be that which is delaying your son's return." "And also," spoke another of the women, "there are the fine young Israeli girls to be divided among your son's army. If they are arguing over which is the best and who has first rights, that will surely

Scripture reference: Acts 3:1-10 The pews across America are filled every Sunday with people who autonomically go to church. They do it like breathing or going to the bathroom. They do it without thought. They do it in the same way at the same time with the same mind set. It is a routine function of their life, just like eating and sleeping. These are the sort of people depicted in our reference scripture. These friends of the lame man who bring him to the same Temple gate at the same hour of every Sabbath. They do it autonomically without any conviction or faith. It is just something they have gotten used to doing. Just like so many church-goers of today. Who were these men who brought this lame man to the Temple and just left him outside the gate every week? Why did they do this? Why did they not take the man into the Temple? What, if anything, were they expecting to result from this activity? These are the same questions we could ask of people who just go to church on a

Scripture reference: Mark 2:1-12 "There is no way we can ask him to come way the heck out here into the middle of nowhere. We simply must take Jesse to him." Jacob spoke to his brothers Jason and Saul, and their cousin Matthew, as he stitched up the leather sleeve a wooden pole would go through. This would complete one side of the stretcher he was making which he, his brothers, and thier cousin would use to carry their neighbor, Jesse, to the Rabbi they had heard of living in Capernaum. Word had come to even their remote location that this man, named Jesus, can heal all ailments. Without doubt or question, as soon as Jacob and his brothers had heard this news, they made the decision to take their friend, Jesse, to him. Capernaum is a good half day journey under normal conditions. Four men carry the weight of another between them would add difficulty and time to the journey. For that reason they had decided to set out before dawn of the next day. So Jacob worked quickly

Scripture reference: Luke 17:12-19 It seems that asking for a blessing is something we can find time for. We will actually plan and set aside a specific time and place to make a request of the Lord. And receiving an unexpected blessing that was not requested is even easier. What seems to require thought and effort is remembering to give thanks and praise to God for every blessing. Even the ones we do not recognize when they occur. In our reference passage there is a clear point being made by the fact that the only one of the ten lepers who gave thanks to Jesus for being healed was a Samaritan. It tells us that those who believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob tend to take him for granted. While those who are not inclined to think of God as their friend are greatly moved by his grace. The problem lies in the fact that we think we are worthy of God's blessings because we are Christians. When the truth is that none are worthy, "for all have sinned, and come short o

Scripture reference: Matthew 8:5-13 My name is Marcus Giaus Marcellus. I was born in the city of Tyre, and was raised in the city of Ceasarea. I am the only son of a guard of the Summer Palace of King Herod. My mother is a weaver of fine linen used in the king's palace. My father died of a fever when I was twelve years old. At that time my mother turned me over to the captain of the palace guard to train me in the ways of a man and a soldier. I lived with him for the next four years. I enjoyed my life among the men of the guard. I got pleasure from the games and activities we participated in. My master had one of the men under him teach me to read and write Greek. I also received instruction in math, science, growing crops, the names and cycles of the stars and planets, riding a horse, and sailing a boat. I grew strong in body and mind, and brought honor to my guardian and his company. My experiences with the guard unit taught me about authority and discipline. The wa

Scripture reference: Ephesians 6:2 The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to share my faith with teenage boys from time to time. I always enjoy the excitement and imagination of those in early puberty. Their mind and emotions, being tossed in a wild sea of sudden growth and change, always present challenging ideas and questions. One troubling questions that arises as a result of the evil age we live in is this. Why should I honor and respect my father or my mother when he/she is an alcoholic, a drug addict, adulterous, abusive, or in prison? Am I really commanded by God to respect and honor someone sitting in prison for the crime of raping a child or killing a man in a bar fight? Surely the behavior of my parent exempts me from this command. The answer to this question, as with all difficult questions of real life, can be found in the scriptures. If we read and study the Bible carefully we can find instructions for every situation we face in life today. And this one is no

Scripture reference: 2 Kings 4:8-37 In my many years as a woman of Shunem I have served my people with the talents and wisdom such as God has given to me. For that reason I have some standing and reputation for greatness among them, but it is of God and not of me. Even still, I never conceived. Therefore, my husband and I were without child, and were great in years. Now there came a day when a man would regularly pass by my home, and I perceived that he was a great man of God. I invited him to come into my home and let me feed him. This he did every time he passed my way. So I compelled my husband to build a small room onto our home, and furnished it with a bed, a stool, and a candlestick. Then when the man of God next passed by I invited him to stay the night with us. This he did, and whenever he came to Shunem. One day when this man of God was staying in my home, he sent his man servant to summon me to him. When I stood in the door to his room, he said that since I had been

Scripture reference: Mark 10:15 One of the greatest problems the Modern Church has created for mankind is making Christianity far more complicated and complex than God made it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is really quite simple and straight forward. But man's ego and need to feel important has added requirements and restrictions to Christ Gospel, just as the ancient Jewish priests added to the laws God gave to the people through Moses. And Jesus seemed to know this would happen. So he showed open disdain for the Pharisees with their complicated and burdensome additions to God's law. And he made it clear that anyone who does not accept the offer of salvation with the simplicity of a child cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You can conduct your own instructive demonstration of what Jesus means when he implores us to "receive the kingdom of God as a little child." Gather together a small group of children between the ages of four and six. Then present a platt

My days used to be spent sitting at either the entrance to the market place or outside one of the gates of the Temple. I would recite prayers, psalms, and portions of the Holy Scriptures. A simple clay bowl sat next to me into which some who took notice of me would drop a coin. The motivation of those giving a pittance of their good fortune varied. Some hoped to gain favor from God through their generosity to one less fortunate than themselves. Some gave out of a sense of duty. Still others gave out of a feeling of guilt; thinking that some trouble they were experiencing was the result of their lack of concern for the poor. Sometimes I would also receive a loaf of bread and some cheese. Occasionally some truly generous person would give me a little meat and some wine. But I also would be scorned and told to be quiet by those who considered my condition a curse from God. For them I was unclean, and tainted their environment with unholiness. Surely, they would say to their fr

Amazing and incredible do not begin to describe the change in body and life I experienced crawling in the dust on a road outside Capernaum. I had suffered pain, revilement, sorrow, embarrassment and isolation for twelve years. The flow of blood from my body, which would have been normal one week a month, had become a curse which labeled me as "unclean." I could not go to the synagogue to hear the Word of God read. I could not commune with others in the market or at the well. Members of the community who were strict about the purity laws would neither have anything to do with me, nor allow others to visit me. During that time I had believed and trust, and been disappointed and taken advantage of by many physicians and purported healers. In my loneliness I cried and besought God to have mercy on me, a child of his chosen people, the children of Israel. I awoke that morning believing I had heard a clear, calm voice say, "Daughter, wake up. For today is the day of

Scripture reference: John 5:2-14 Listening to the radio and watching TV provides one with information on the great variety of man's afflictions. And for every affliction there are thousands and millions who seek relief. They go to doctors, buy pills and tonics, and attend the seminars of gurus who claim to be able to teach the discomforted their secretes for restoring health of mind, body and spirit. Some of the cures offered can provide help in some cases. Much of the advise offered is really quite practical and generally useful. Whoever, the biggest problem most of the people who seeks these cures face is themselves. For more than actually wanting to be healthy, they want a wish to be granted. They want something given to them without paying the terrible price of making a change in themselves. It is not so much that they want to be freed of their affliction; they want to be freed of any consequences of doing and living exactly they way they want. The desire within many i

Many of us know the type. The kid who starts reading at age three. The child who is doing algebra and geometry at at five. The wunderkind who graduates from high school with honors at the age of twelve, and goes on to graduate from some prestigious university with multiple degrees five years later. This was the scholastic history of Claudius Abraham Dexter. By his eighteenth birthday, he was celebrated, honored, famous, and way too impressed with himself. If you looked up the phrase obnoxious conceit online, you found C. A. Dexter's picture. And he did not care. Upon entering into Star Fleet Academy in 2238, cadet Dexter was warned by his advisory officer that he needed to practice polite humility rather than pained condescension when dealing with his fellow cadets. He was told to remember that Star Fleet in general, and a Starship in particular, are a team. And, if Dexter was to be a successful member of that team, he would have to play nice with all the other team member

Scripture reference: 1 Chronicles 28:6-7 Throughout the Bible we see proof that those who end up in positions of authority under God are chosen by him, they do not volunteer. God selects those he wishes to serve Him and carry out his plans according to his purpose. It is his wisdom which decides who will do what job for him, and not the wisdom of man. God chose Noah and his family to be the remnant of humanity to survive His disgust with mankind. He chose Abraham and his seed to receive His promise of salvation for mankind. God chose Joseph to save His chosen people from starvation. He then chose Moses to lead His people to the promised land. God went on to chose a variety of judges to guide His chosen people. And then when they requested a King, God chose Saul. When Saul turned away from God, He chose David to lead the people. And now in our reference scripture, God chooses Solomon to be Israel's greatest King, and the builder of His house. In every one of these lives,

I awoke in pain, face down in the dust, with a splitting headache. My head hurt so badly that I thought I would be sick. My arms burned with scratches and cuts; my ribs ached; and my legs hurt so much from the knees down that I knew I would not be able to stand. And then came the realization that I was naked. The rocky ground beneath my chest and lower body felt like a bed of broken glass. The heat of the sun felt like a blanket of tiny coals on my back. I slowly pushed my head and chest up on my weak, shaking arms, wretched convulsively, and then fell back on my side. I tried to curl up to hide my nakedness, but every muscle and bit of skin screamed with pain. I could do nothing by lie there, and pray. It seemed that I lay there for some time on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho when I heard approaching foot steps. I opened my swollen eyes as much as I could, and recognized the garments of a priest. I raised my trembling left arm and appealed to him with my open hand. I s

Scripture reference: Romans 8:32-39 There are many times in the life of a Christian when, in the solitude of honest self-examination, the questions arises, "Have I gotten so far off the right path that God no longer loves me? Have I done so many sinful things that I have fallen out of God's grace?" These moments of doubt about the length and depth of God's grace are really doubts about our faith. And in these moments of despair, we make the mistake of thinking that God is as weak and unreliable as we are. We begin to fear that He will forget about us just at quickly and easily as we forget about Him. Because this crisis of doubt is neither new nor exclusive to Christians, Paul is aware that an honest man will from time to time recognize his weaknesses and infidelity. He, therefore, seeks to reassure us with a logical argument that God's love for us is always certain; for God's love is not dependent on us. It is as the apostle John tells us in his first

As I sit here with his last letter to me on my lap, trying to fully absorb into my lugubrious mind what my broken heart wants to resist, I can remember as it were only last week, the very first day I met him. The sight of his slightly bent frame topped with a somewhat overly large head with its heavily scared bald spot on top might have been both fearsome and grotesque if not for the bright eyes and broad smile which dominated the face. And then there was that voice. At once distracting and captivating in its almost annoying nasal sound and comforting words of love and hope. And although his stature, appearance and speech were distinctly unspectacular, he commanded attention, exuded authoritative confidence, and warmed the heart of the listener with true unconditional compassion. He was a man no one could ignore; always attracting a crowd, and exciting thoughts and emotions, not by his manner of speaking, but by the cosmic force of the words he spoke. For it was clear to those of

Reference scripture: Romans 8:28 Perhaps the most difficult aspect of real life for preachers, theologians, and ordinary Christians to deal with is tragedy. Whether it is some horrific mass tragedy such as the events of World War 2 and the wholesale slaughter of six-million Jews, or the personal tragedy of the sudden death of a child. When really bad things occur we are faced with the question, if "all things work together for good to them that love God," why did this awful thing happen? The problem is that the question itself displays a misunderstanding of, not only that particular verse of scripture, but of the totality of Pauline Theology. I began thinking about this verse in connection with two recent news stories. One dealt with a media and political controversy over the preaching of Pastor John Hagee. The other was the report of a tragic accident in the family of the Christian singer Stephen Curtis Chapman. In the first case Pastor Hagee was trying to answer the qu

A Memorial Day Special Today too many people look around and, wringing their hands, say, "So many problems; how are we going to solve all of these problems?" They need to be reminded that life is not a series of problems to be solved, but a series of adventures. And what are we as Americans if not lovers of adventure. From that first adventure of crossing the Atlantic in a tiny ship called the Mayflower, to the adventures of crossing ragging rivers, vast plains, and towering mountains to settle this land; and then on to the greatest adventure of them all, putting a man on the Moon, we have proven ourselves to be a people who do not look at a set of challenges and say, "Oh, so many problems;" but instead say, "An adventure?! Yeeha, let's go!" So now we face some challenging adventures. The adventure of maintaining our security, culture, and way of life so that future generations can have the same opportunities the founding Fathers had to be all tha

Scripture reference: 1 John 4:7-12 Recently I had the great pleasure of hearing the testimony of a fifteen year old boy at the church I am a member of. He revealed that he came from a home where, for whatever reason, he did not feel a great deal of love. For that reason, he had a hunger for love in his heart. It was the thing missing from his life. It was the thing he was seeking, without really knowing that was the source of his emptiness. By the grace of God he was led to our young congregation when it was just a house church meeting in the pastor's home. There this young man found what his heart had been seeking. He was immediately fed the love of God. It was in that way this young man was led to Christ. In verse 8 of our reference scripture we are told that "God is love." The way the old Greek language works is different from modern American English. Therefore this simple phrase actually convey a deeper revelation of how God lives, and how we are to live. T

Scripture reference: 1 Samuel 15:22 Many Christians believe the way to please God is to give up or sacrifice certain things in their lives. The idea is that giving up, refraining from, or sacrificing certain activities or elements of life shows one's devotion and obedience to God. However, this scripture states specifically that God does not equate sacrifice with obedience. What God considers obedience is doing exactly what He says to do; not coming up with things to not do as a way of showing obedience. And God does not buy any worldly reasoning that our ideas of showing our devotion to God should be as acceptable to Him and obeying His commands. Let us observe what the Lord God Almighty tells us through His prophet, Isaiah. "I am sick of your sacrifices. Don't bring me any more of them. ... Who wants your sacrifices when you have no sorrow for your sins? ... Your holy celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath, and your special days for fasting - even your most p