The Bold Witness

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...

Scripture reference: Ezekiel 37:1-14 Although this scripture refers directly to God restoring Old Covenant Israel, it is an allegory of God filling the born again Christian with His Holy Spirit, having brought the spiritually dead back to life through the savior Christ Jesus. It tells us clearly and plainly that, no matter how long a person has been dead in spirit, even long enough to make a person nothing more than a bag of dried bones, His Spirit can restore life to the vigor of a great army. This scripture can also been seen as a sign that God can and will raise up a wayward Church; restoring it to real Christian life, by pouring upon it His Holy Spirit. This is something that is surely needed today; and something that should give all who are concerned for the modern Church hope. For it could be said that many of the groups around the United States called churches are nothing more than collections of dried, old bones. Lifeless and motionless, they sit disconnected from one anoth...

Scripture reference: 1 Corinthians 10:31 As the apostle Paul was teaching the young church how to live the Christian life, he emphasized that worship was not a ritualistic act performed in a certain place at a certain time, but was a matter of performing all the acts of normal life in a manner which gives praise, thanks, and glory to God. This is a reflection and extension of what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well when he told her, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth." He was indicating to the woman (and us) that, even though man has been worshiping God through rituals, such as sacrifices, the day was at hand when the proper form of worship would be a state of mind which is continuously conscience of giving glory to God. Not just at a special time and place, but always in every aspect of daily life. Paul gives specific examples of living life to the glory of God throughout his epistles. Whether in speech or work (Co...

Scripture references: Judges 9, 1 Samuel 16 If you are the youngest male child in your family, or if you are male with several older brothers, you know what boys in that family position have gone through for all of man's history. Being the baby brother can mean getting a lot of attention; it can also mean getting left out at times. It can put a boy in a position of favor with adults; and it can cause a boy to be envied and resented by his older siblings. Being the youngest boy can have advantages and disadvantages. It can mean being the most favored in mom and dad's eyes, and the least favored in the eyes of the older brothers. I would like to look at two stories from the Old Testament concerning the youngest brother in a family, and how God raises up the youngest boy to demonstrate His glory. They are the story of Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon. And the story of David, the youngest son of Jesse. In each of these two lives God shows how the ways and wisdom of Man are...

Scripture reference: Exodus 20:16 The Ninth Commandment can easily be collapsed to, "Thou shalt not lie." Which can then be expanded to mean lying with speech and behavior. For everyone knows that as a picture is worth a thousand words, our actions speak louder than words. And if our actions contradict the words we speak, it is alway our actions which are believed. Therefore, we break the Ninth Commandment both when we bare false witness about ourselves with words that do not match our deeds, and bare false witness against Christ when are deeds do not match His teachings. When people accused Jesus of being a servant of the Devil, he responded by pointing to his behavior. Jesus often called people to consider his actions and the things he did as proof that he was sent by God. And when Paul responded to his critics, he always reminded them of how he and his associates conducted themselves. Both Jesus and Paul relied on their actions more than their words to prove their s...

Scripture reference: Judges 2:21-23 When the Israelites went into the land the Lord had given to them, God had commanded them to empty it of its inhabitants, so as not to be contaminated with the pagan religion and ways of the people who were living in the land. But the children of Israel did not do as God commanded them. Not only that, after the first generation of Israelites that had moved into the land died, the next generation did exactly what God did not want them to do. The began to marry with the pagans, and began to adopt their religion and their ways. As a result, God was angry with the children of Israel. And, in His wisdom, God knew that this choice of behavior would eventually result in difficulties for the children of Israel. So God decided that He would not help His people out of the difficulties they had brought upon themselves. Instead, God decided that the situation would provide the Israelites an opportunity to prove "whether they will keep the way of the ...

The American society of today is saturated with people proclaiming messages of liberation and prosperity. They can be found in the houses of God, and in the houses of the people (Legislatures). Both preachers and politicians alike pronounce their plans for liberating the masses from oppression and poverty. They present a claim that God wants all people to be free and prosperous, and use scripture as their proof. They decry a government and social structure which supposedly denies freedoms to some, and allows only a select few to become prosperous. It is interesting to view these ideas in the light of God's word. Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels, was always telling people to give away their wealth. He, in fact, said that it would be very difficult for a rich man to enter Heaven. And he spent his whole life living and teaching among the poor common folk. When Jesus did dine with the rich, he always told them to remember the poor, and not to exclude them from their parties. ...