Hail Mary!

Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said,

"Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"

Luke 1:42, NKJV

Did you know the Hail Mary is Scriptural? Well, what I mean to say is, did you know that the words of the Hail Mary are found in Scripture? Well, what I should say is, some of the words of the Hail Mary are taken from the Scriptures. But they were said as greetings, not prayers.

Gabriel spoke them first, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women (from the KJV). Elizabeth added, Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. But the rest of it...since I'm not a Catholic, I'm not familiar with the origin of the Hail Mary prayer, so I googled it. The rest of it was added and developed into a prayer by "the Church itself" once the paganized organized church began to worship Mary as the "Mother of God," a designation the Bible never gives her.

I have spent a lot of time promoting the integrity of Mary's character as a Jewish girl, and her virginity as the chosen mother of God's Son. The Virgin Birth is a foundational element of Christian faith...but the virgin is not the one who brought about the Virgin Birth. It was the Holy Spirit who worked it in her womb, and honestly, God could have chosen anybody to accomplish the birthing of Jesus...but He did choose Mary, a righteous Jewess, to be mother to His son, and He did choose her betrothed husband Joseph, a just man, to foster that Son as his own. But the choice of God's vessels should never be mistaken as an exaltation to near-godhood.

Jesus Himself will later comment on this in Luke 11:28, when a woman cried out, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you." To this Jesus replied, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it." Mary was just a girl who, following the conception and birth of her extraordinary Son, went on to lead a rather ordinary life as a daughter of Israel, wife of the gentle carpenter Joseph and mother of his four sons and two daughters. At Jesus' death on the cross, He as her oldest Son passed his responsibility for her care over to His dearest disciple John, and church history says that she accompanied John to Ephesus after the destruction of Jerusalem...where she died a natural death. She was part of the early church, but after Acts 1, there is no further mention of her anywhere in the Scriptures. And why? Because it was never about her...it was about her Son, Jesus, the Son of God.

Yes, Mary was an extraordinary girl, both for being chosen and because she was chosen. But she was just a vessel, the instrument of fulfilling God's Plan of the Ages. That action brought salvation to the world, but it did not save her. She had to come to salvation just like everyone else...through belief in Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God and her personal savior. She was a righteous girl by the measure of the law, but she was not perfect. But those who exalt above what is right would have us believe that not only did she give birth to a sinless Son, she was also sinlessly conceived herself...the Immaculate Conception. And that she remained sinless because she never had sex with her dutiful husband, and was therefore so holy that she was received, body and soul, into heaven through the Assumption. Thus she is living today, sitting somewhere as the Queen of Heaven (another pagan designation) and making intercession for the saints. There is even a move underway to actually name her the co-redemptrix with Christ in Catholic dogma!

Don't' get me wrong. Mary is a significant figure in the Christ story, but like John, she must decrease, that Christ may increase. She was the most blessed among women because God chose to use her womb. She carried there the most blessed of Sons ever conceived, the Son of Man and the Son of God who would bring salvation to all who believed on Him. But it's never been about Mary. Never once did Jesus instruct us to honor her or venerate her, and certainly not to pray to her or through her. The apostles neither acknowledged her nor suggested that she held some special place in Christology beyond being his mother. Never does the Bible indicate that she is anything beyond that. We have one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ the righteous. One advocate, one intercessor, one Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

I'm not trying to offend and alienate Catholics here, but I have to tell you...one of the saddest developments in the church has been the constant exaltation of that Jewish girl while leaving her son as a helpless infant or a hopeless corpse. I serve neither the infant, the corpse, or His mother. I serve the resurrected glorified Lord Jesus Christ...and He is all that we need.

In His Presence

Now Mary arose in those days

and went into the hill country with haste,

to a city of Judah, and entered the house

of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,

that the babe leaped in her womb,

and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:39-41

Two great men were in the making. It was early winter, November or December of 4 BC on our calendar, and the season of Hanukkah. It was a time of feasting and gift-giving and rejoicing, of lighting candles and remembering the goodness of God in the shortened days and longer nights of cold. The womb of one mother was already six months with child, a son prophesied by an angel to be one coming in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare Israel for their soon-coming Messiah. The womb of the other mother was newly active, her offspring a cluster of cells barely the size of a mustard seed. But the first meeting of these two--both the meeting of the mothers and the meeting of their sons--was filled with great import!

We are not told the reasoning behind Mary's winter vacation to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Perhaps when the message of the angel was confirmed that Elizabeth was indeed six months pregnant, Mary was dispatched as a near relative to assist her in the final months of her pregnancy. And I'm guessing that at this point she had told no one of her own angelic announcement. Whatever the circumstances behind the visit, when Mary came into Elizabeth's presence, things began to happen.

Remember that Elizabeth had secluded herself after she found out she was pregnant. And Zacharias couldn't talk. What a mysterious greeting Mary must have received, even if they knew she was coming, and how strange she must have felt. I can imagine her knocking on the door, being greeted in silence by the old priest with a gesture toward some inner room, and her pushing open the door with a timid greeting for her cousin. And I can imagine Elizabeth sitting on a cushioned couch or bench of some kind, needlework in hand.

At the sound of a girl's voice, she looks up and feels a lurch within her, not of sickness but of exultation. At six months, her child is about nine inches long and weighs over two pounds. When he leaps, she takes notice. And instantly the power of the Holy Spirit fills her as He did the prophets in days of old. A joy inexpressible which she cannot contain fills the depths of her innermost being, and ecstatic expression spills from her lips! All this, because they--mother and child--were suddenly in the presence of God Incarnate, unborn, barely a collection of small cells in the womb of His mother, but alive and powerful.

God With Us is an awesome encounter, one that should produce such a filling every time we enter His presence!

I am the Servant of the Lord

Then Mary said,

"Behold the maidservant of the Lord!

Let it be to me according to your word."

And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:38, NKJV

I have a very active imagination. When I read Scripture, I always try to visualize the scene, the setting, the stage (if you will) in order to understand what was happening. And when I see this story unfold in my mind, there is something about it that touches me on a very deep level every time. Let me share it with you...

It was a cold evening in late November, perhaps with a dusting of snow on the hilltops of the Galilee, but the sky was cloudless and the stars bright. All through the village special candles have been lit and special prayers have been prayed to commemorate Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights that celebrates the miraculous provision and protection of God for His people through the ages. But now families are retiring for the night. Mary's parents and her sisters have already gone to bed, but this young girl lingered in the candlelight of the Hanukkah menorah.

She was about fourteen, a child by our standards but of marrying age in ancient times. She was betrothed to Joseph, a local carpenter from a family closely related on their fathers' sides. Perhaps she was thinking of Joseph on that wintry night, and the life that they would spend together. Perhaps the candlelight danced upon the golden band of her betrothal ring. Perhaps she even whispered a prayer before she extinguished the candles.

And then, all of a sudden, she was no longer alone in the room. Every corner was bathed in the soft glow of a heavenly light, perhaps the scent of incense filled the air, and a deep but gentle voice spoke to her: "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" And with the encouragement to be not afraid, Gabriel informed her of her destiny in the eternal plan of God. She was a virgin, having never been with a man, but the Holy Spirit was about to perform a miracle in her body, conceiving within her the very Son of God.

At that moment, as Mary faced the angel of the Lord, did she understand the ramifications of everything that was being said? Did she know how hard the explanations were going to be...to her parents, her sisters, her friends, to her beloved and betrothed husband? Did she comprehend the stigma that she and her son would have to endure at the hands of the village gossips who knew how to count the months? She was going to be pregnant out of wedlock with no other explanation than, "I have conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit." Who was going to believe this betrothed girl?

But Mary was a righteous daughter of Israel, heir to both a kingly and priestly lineage. If God said it was going to happen, then that's all there was to the matter. The only question she had asked was: "How is this possible, since I'm still a virgin?" But when the answer was given, the question was settled. She knew the history of her people well. When God issued the call, there was only one of two things you could do: resist and suffer wrath, or submit and receive God's blessing. Mary's heart was devoted to her God.

"Behold, the maidservant of the Lord!" And it is said as an exclamation. There was no doubt in this girl's mind whose she was. She may be the daughter of a prince and the granddaughter of a priest, she may be betrothed to the legal heir to David's throne, she may be despised, rejected, mocked, and mourned. But here she declared without regret or reservation: I belong to the Lord. He can do to me just as He sees fit! "Let it be to me according to your word."

How God longs, even now, to hear those words from your people. "Look, here I am, the servant of the Most High God. I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord. I'll do what you want me to do. I'll say what you want me to say, I'll be what you want me to be!"

Variations on a Song of Songs, which is Solomon's

I am my Beloved's and He is mine
His banner over Me is love
I am my Beloved's and He is mine
His banner over Me is love

He spreads His presence over me
He holds my head and embraces me

I hear my Beloved, He looks for me
He comes to me with love
My Beloved speaks and He calls to me
come with me my love

Rise up my love and come away
Rise up my love, this is the day

Winter is past and the rain is done
The sun is warm, His voice is heard
The time has come
The flowers appear, the time for song is here
'Til the day breaks and the shadows flee away!

I am my Beloved's and He is mine
His banner over me is love
I am my Beloved's and He is mine
His banner over me is love
It is love. It is love.

Hear My Heart

A Psalm of Casey

I was your friend, and I thought you were mine.
I wanted to be your friend, and I wanted you to be mine.
If a man wants friends he must show himself friendly,
And from the first day we met that is the only way I ever tried to be.
We embraced as brothers at every occasion.
We ate at table together, you in my house and me in yours.
We traveled the same road together from time to time.
We never had a disagreeable moment, nor a disagreement, and yet

When you chose a different path, I wondered.
But you left me in doubt.
When you spoke with different words, I questioned.
But you left me unanswered.
When you sat with different friends, I tried.
But you left me to sit alone.
When you abandoned me, I prayed.
And you never knew the intercessions I made, the tears I cried.

I hungered and thirsted for the same things as you.
I wished to hear and understand your heart.
I wanted to know where you were going.
I longed to catch sight of what you sought.
I desired to give you my help and my strength.
I yearned to offer my wisdom and my gifts.
I hoped to lend my heart to your cause.
I tried to come along side, but you left me behind without a backward glance.

When I was in need, I asked for your help.
You abused me instead and took the side of my enemy against me,
You surprised me, until I found you had done it before to better men than me.
When I looked for ways to support you,
To strengthen you and hold up your arms,
I found what I was not looking for and learned what I did not wish to know.
I carried the burden, I shouldered the load,
And you never knew, nor did you need to. It was mine to bear, and I was glad.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
And deceitful the kisses of an enemy.
To me I am the one and you the other; to you I am one and you the other.
What I offered you did not want. What I gave you rejected as naught.
You did not heed me, nor did you care to inquire of me.
You heard the words, but not the heart,
And now you think I have launched the firebrands and arrows of death.
But I have not.

Now fellowship is broken and relationship is gone.
I hear what you say, but your silence is deafening.
I see how you stiffen when I am around.
I feel the looks even when you’re not looking.
You don’t have to pretend with me anymore, I know exactly how you feel.
You feel betrayed by your friend, who became your enemy,
And you don’t even know why.
I feel the same way, and don’t even know why.

You listened to those who did not know me,

and accused me without cause.

You threatened me and demanded of me,

and never asked what you needed to know.

You were brutal and harsh when you needn't have been.

I would have told you everything, had you just been my friend.

Even now, I think you would isolate and deprive me,

but the walls that you build confine only you.

A brother offended is harder to win than any strong city.
What you want me to say would be a lie upon my lips.
But this I say: You heard my words, but not my heart.
What you thought you heard was not what was truly said.
You listened to deceitful kisses and honeyed lies,
You followed sedition and seduction where I could not go.
You did not see me for who I really was, but rather saw me as what you feared.
You did not know it, but you needed me, and yet I call to you from here.

You are my friend; let me be yours again.

Nothing is Impossible with God

"Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age;

and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

For with God nothing will be impossible."

Luke 1:36-37, NKJV

I wonder how old Elizabeth really was? I know I've said before she was probably in her forties, but reading these verses again makes me wonder. Mary had marveled that she could become pregnant without knowing a man, and the angel equates it to the miracle of Elizabeth conceiving "in her old age." Maybe Elizabeth was closer to the age old Sarah was in Genesis...

But the point is this: Nothing is impossible with God.

We look at things from a natural, human perspective. God looks at thing from the supernatural, Divine perspective. We see things as impossible; God sees what He wants to happen and then makes it happen. There is no impossible with God, no difficult, no hard. I mean, we're talking about the One who stood on the pinnacle of nothing, grabbed a handful of in His right hand, a handful of it in His left hand, slapped it together and sent it spinning, thus creating the universe.

This is the One who spoke, and it was...and now that Spoken Word was becoming flesh. He lit the universe for four days with His presence before there was ever a sun, moon or star...and now that Light was coming to live among men that they might have Life. This is the God who populated the earth by the power of His will, formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into man's nostrils God's own breath. He created it. He sustains it. He could speak it right out of existence at the notion of His desire. He can do all that, and yet when He shows up or sends a messenger with an extraordinary (by our reckoning) announcement, we scratch our heads and say, "How can this be?"

Jesus was about to come on the scene and show humanity how really nothing IS impossible with God...not healing the blind, the cripple, the leper; not walking on water, commanding the wind and waves, delivering the terrorized from their demons; not turning water to wine, multiplying loaves and fishes, or catching the fish where fish shouldn't be; not even life and death were beyond His power to control.

When we get ahold of THAT reality, how different will things be for us? When we learn that God is all powerful and absolutely trustworthy to do whatever He says He will do, when we learn to exercise our faith and put our hope in Him, when we make up our minds that truly NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD...then God can accomplish great things with us.

No Tiger in Me

The following is the opening paragraph to an article found at crosswalk.com (http://www.crosswalk.com/11623365/) entitled "The Tiger (Woods) in You".

Prior to this recent series of revelations, there wasn't a man on the planet who in some sense didn't want to be Tiger Woods. Tiger is good looking. He's physically fit. He's a world-class athlete. He has a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids. He's rich beyond anyone's wildest imagination. He had a father who loved him—not just in words, but in action, pouring himself into his son, building a love that survives to this day, in many ways making Tiger the man he became.

I would like to state, for the record, that I am one man on the planet who never wanted, in any sense, to be Tiger Woods...even before this recent series of revelations. He may be good-looking, physically fit, and a world-class athlete. He may have a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids. He may be rich by the world's standards. He apparently had a father who loved him, who poured himself into his son to make Tiger into the man he became. But I still never wanted to be anything like Tiger Woods, and I'll tell you why.

I don't know if I'm good looking or not. I'm not physically fit, I'm certainly no kind of an athlete. I don't have a beautiful family. And I'm almost as poor as the proverbial church mouse. Tiger and I share one thing, though...I also had a father who loved me, who poured himself into me to make me into the man I have become. But what really differentiates me from Tiger is not what he has that I don't, but what I have that he doesn't.

Tiger is a self-professed Buddhist, the religion of his mother. He says it has made himself aware, and helped him realize he was stubborn and impatient, but has taught him that he has to work on the things in his life that he wants to be perfect. His entire life, all thirty-four years of it, has been about his career as a golfer--his swing, his stance, his concentration. The most important thing in Tiger's life, the thing that got him international fame, wealth beyond compare, a beautiful wife and beautiful children (along with no less than 11 beautiful mistresses) is the ability to hit a little white ball into a little black hole. That is the most important thing to Tiger Woods...that is what Tiger's dad apparently poured into him. And now, his whole world is crashing down.

My dad never played ball with me. He never taught me to work on a car. He never took me hunting, never showed me how to clean a fish or butcher a deer. In fact, I'd say that in terms of "practical" things, my Dad taught me very little. It wasn't that he didn't love me; my Dad loved me without reservation; he told me; he showed me. But Dad wasn't concerned about me being a success by the measure of the world. I'll tell you what Dad poured into me.

My Dad poured Jesus into me. As much as he received, he gave. If he learned it in the Word, I learned it. If he heard it in the Spirit, I heard it in my own ears. Dad taught me how to pray, how to worship, how to preach, how to minister to people. Dad showed me how to be strong and how to take a stand when I was right, even if it meant everyone else was standing against me. Dad showed me how to be honest, and how to have integrity, and how to keep seeking God's grace to overcome my weaknesses. Dad never condemned me for my failures, he loved me in spite of them, showing me the immeasurable love that our Heavenly Father has for us. He encouraged me to do better, but never rejected me for falling short.

He was not a perfect man, my father. There were some failures on his part, some shortcomings. I knew some of them; those did not diminish his stature one iota in my eyes. He was a great man of God. There were probably issues he dealt with, weaknesses, failures, sins, of which I had no knowledge. But he was a man who lived by grace, through faith, in the Lord Jesus Christ. He showed me the way to perfection was through forgiveness, and gave me hope...not in a worldly fortune or a measure of success. He gave me hope in the eternal. After all, a man can gain the whole world and lose his soul.

I never wanted to be like Tiger, because he doesn't have Jesus. He has the whole world, but give me Jesus!

And God Said...

And the angel answered and said to her,

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Highest will overshadow you;

therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born

will be called the Son of God."

Luke 1:35

God says, thus and so.

Man says, how so?

God says, because I say so.

How complicated is that? We say we believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God, a Supreme, Divine, Sovereign Lord who can do anything, who knows everything, and is everywhere present all the time. But sometimes I think we treat that as simply superficial knowledge.

I know Who God is and What God does, but when I'm in trouble, I'm calling a lawyer. When I'm sick, I'm calling a doctor. When I'm in need, I'm calling a banker. When things get really bad, I might call the pastor.

But why don't we call on God?

I love Mary's response to the angel. When he informs her of her impending pregnancy, her response is, "Wow! How is that going to happen? My mom had the talk with me, and she told me that dancing causes pregnancy! I've never even been to a dance. How can this be?"

Do you think the angel smiled encouragingly? Or might he have rolled his eyes in just a bit of exasperation? They were talking about the God who delivered Israel from Egypt with ten plagues, parted the waters and dried up the bottom of the Red Sea for them to pass over safely, nourished them for forty years in the wilderness with cool, clear water from a rock, fresh bread baked in heaven's ovens, and quail that flew into camp on the wind, and then drove out their enemies before them so that they could possess the land of their inheritance.

And still today, there are questions about this virgin birth. How is this possible? How can such a thing be? Never forget that the God who formed the womb was the God over the womb that would form Him. God who fashioned man out the dust of the earth and fashioned woman from man's rib was more than able to cause a cell the size of the head of pin to begin to spontaneously divide. The prophets proclaimed that God formed them in the inward parts of their mother. Why is it so hard to believe that God did the same to Jesus?

The girl asked, "How can this be?"

And the angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The Power of the Highest will overshadow you." Too often, we want to know the how beyond the obvious, but the obvious is the how! The virgin was going to conceive because that was the action that God had designed. No other explanation should be necessary. The conception was done through the presence of the Holy Ghost and the power of the Almighty.

And one more thing, Mary. You are still thinking in the natural. You wonder how you can conceive when you've never known a man. We aren't talking about a natural child here. We are talking about a supernatural child, a holy child, the child who will be born and called The Son of God.

The Virgin Birth

Then Mary said to the angel,

"How can this be, since I do not know a man?"

Luke 1:34

How important is the doctrine of the virgin birth to my Christianity?

Matthew and Luke both make a good effort to emphasize the fact that Mary was indeed a virgin--not just a young girl, as some liberal scholars would like us to believe, but a virgin in every sense of the word. Matthew points out that after her betrothal but before they had "come together" she was found to be pregnant, and he connects it to the Isaiah prophecy, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive." He goes on to say that Joseph did not "know" her until after Jesus was born. Luke calls her a virgin twice, and then quotes her as saying, "I do not know a man." These three references, plus the Genesis 3:15 prophecy about the seed of the woman form the ENTIRE basis for the doctrine of the virgin birth. Jesus never talks about it, and the epistles never mention it. So how important is that particular doctrine to my Christianity?

One popular author whose writings seem to embody the thinking of the emergent church claims that it shouldn't be important at all. To paraphrase, "If tomorrow we found out that Jesus Christ was the son of Joe the plumber instead of the Son of God, it would do nothing to my faith."

I think that is an extremely stupid and short-sighted statement. Of course, that same author rejects all formalized doctrine as an invention of the corrupted church, and states that though the Bible may be the Word of God, we as mere humans do not have the intelligence or insight to formulate doctrine from its pages. But that's for another blog. My question is still this: If Jesus Christ was really the son of Joe the plumber (or carpenter, as the case may be), instead of the son of God, is it really that important?

And my answer is yes! It is of vital importance. The virgin birth, and the deity of Jesus Christ are of ultimate importance to the foundation of Christianity--mine, and anyone else's. And here's why.

First of all, the Bible prophesied the virgin birth at least twice. In the Garden of Eden, God promised Eve that her seed would destroy the serpent at the climax of the eternal conflict between good and evil. The problem with that statement is that women don't have seed; men do. Men provide the seed that fertilizes the woman's egg. And yet God, who created us and certainly understands that fundamental scientific fact, said that it would be the woman's seed. Not the seed of a man, but the seed of a woman. And Isaiah specifically said, "A virgin shall conceive." Liberals would like to tell you he simply meant a young woman, but the ancient scholars who translated the Old Testament into Greek took it to mean virgin. So did Matthew and Luke. So do I. If Jesus was not conceived and born of a virgin, then He was not the fulfillment of God's promises through those two prophecies, and therefore not the Messiah. Not the Savior.

Ever since Eden, every union of a man's seed and a woman's egg resulted in the conception of a completely human person, an individual inheritor of Adam's likeness and Adam's fall. David says, "In sin my mother conceived me." Elsewhere, the Bible states that we are wicked from the day of our birth. If Jesus was conceived in the natural way, and not the supernatural way of the virgin birth, then He too was conceived in sin, born in sin, and was just as in need of salvation as any other. As a sinner, He could not be the savior.

Under the law, God required sacrifices and offerings to atone for sin and provide reconciliation between God and man. And He was very specific about what kind of sacrifice he would accept. Male lambs, spotless and unblemished, perfect, and unbroken. But those sacrifices of the Old Covenant were not sufficient to completely remove the sins of the people; they were merely the means of covering the sins with blood until a better sacrifice could be provided. A perfect sacrifice. A sinless sacrifice. If through man sin entered the world, then through man sin must be removed. But it couldn't be just any man, just any son of Adam. It had to be a perfect man, as sinless and unblemished as Adam before his fall. If Jesus was to be the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, then He also had to be a perfect man, impossible for a man begotten of man. But not for a Man begotten by God. A merely mortal man could not be the savior of mankind.

Without the virgin birth, there could be no sinless life, no sacrificial death, no perfected atonement for all of humanity. Without the virgin birth, there is no Savior, and no salvation. Without the virgin birth, Jesus' death could not pay the price for all of our sins, for he could not even pay for his own. But if Jesus was who the Bible says He was, then all is well! We can be saved!

Central and foundational to the Christian faith is that Jesus was the Son of God, not the son of any mortal man. And it is important!

Standing Next to God

Surely I am more stupid than any man,

and do not have the understanding of a man.

I neither learned wisdom

nor have knowledge of the Holy One.

Proverbs 30:2-3 NKJV

These might have been the words of Solomon, writing under a pseudonym. These might have been the words of one of Solomon's peers or correspondents, which Solomon or some other editor chose to include in this collection of Proverbs. But whoever he was, I can identify with his statement. Surely I am more stupid than any man...

Now, I am a person of natural intelligence and both formal and informal education. I am well read, well studied, and usually able to make practical application of my wealth of information. Some have tried to tell me that I knew the Bible better than anyone they knew; I suspect it may have been innocent but misguided flattery. I'm a smart man, I think. At least smart enough to know that I'm not nearly as smart as I need to be sometimes.

I think it is important to know one's own limitations. I don't have all the answers, and it's important to know that I don't have to have all the answers. But I do know the One who can answer every question. I don't have a solution to every problem, but I know the One who can solve anything. I don't know everything there is to know, but I know the One who does know everything about everything. There are lots of things I don't know, lots of things I don't understand, and lots of things I cannot do. I am merely mortal, a fallen, frail, human prone to weakness and failure, and sadly, stupidity.

There have been decisions made by this smart man, that in retrospect I say, "What were you thinking?" Or sometimes even, "Were you even thinking?" There have been some things said by this smart, that in retrospect I say, "You should have kept your mouth shut and let everyone think you were a fool, rather than opening your mouth and removing all doubt. (Yes, I know, that's not original to me...but everything I know I learned from someone else). There have been things that I have done, that in retrospect I say, "You shouldn't have done that, and you had every opportunity to make a different choice. But you didn't...dummy!"

Please don't misunderstand me. This is not an exercise in false humility or self-pity. My self-esteem doesn't need to be built up; I'm a pretty confident, self-assured individual. I'm proud of myself (mostly); I have hardly anything to be ashamed of. I am intelligent and talented and capable of a great many things, if not many great things. And therein lies the problem, the issue at hand. What does the Apostle Paul write, in 1 Corinthians 10:12--Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. In another place, the Bible says pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. I may be all of those things I said I was; perhaps I am even what others think of me. But in those things I can place no trust.

For when I stand myself up beside God, measuring myself by the stature of Christ, and hold the Word of God up as a mirror of my soul, I find that the more I know the less I know. The more I do, the less I have accomplished. On the face of eternity, I am an infinitesimal speck of matter that is passing away. I am neither the center nor the master of my universe. I am one man, fallen, frail, sometimes failing...saved by grace, and nothing else. Whatever I think I have learned, there is still another lesson. Whatever I think I know, there is still much more to know. And just when I think I understand, everything shifts around me to give me a different view.

Standing next to God, next to Christ, next to the Word and the Spirit, I am nothing. I am nobody. I have nothing, I know nothing, I can do nothing. I think it's important for me to understand, Surely I am more stupid than any man. So I'm not going to try to outdo anybody but my past self; and I'm not going to hold myself up as the standard for all others. Instead, I'm going to strive to know Christ. I may never measure up to the full statue of Christ in this life, but I strive to know Him, that in eternity I may be completely like Him.

Forever King

"And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,

and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Luke 1:33

Israel had not had a Jewish king in six centuries. They were ruled by a Roman governor, an Edomite king, and a politically appointed priesthood, and though they had many liberties in their Jewish state, they were still a people oppressed. They longed for freedom. They longed for a kingdom on earth. They longed for Messiah.

And now in an obscure northern village, Nazareth in Galilee, a young girl was given the announcement that she would give birth to the long awaited Prince of Judah, the Son of David, and the King of Israel. He would be great, called the Son of the Most High God, heir to the throne of David, and His Name would mean Salvation to His people. The kingly line of Judah had almost been exterminated, its kings imprisoned or killed. The prophets had proclaimed the barrenness over certain lineages, but collateral lines of descent had survived. Mary was a descendant of David's house; her betrothed was a legal heir to David's throne. What must it mean that her child would be the culmination of a promise made 1000 years before to David, of prophecies made over Israel 1500 years earlier, of a blessing spoken over Judah almost 2000 years in the past?

And this time, there would be no end to His kingdom or His reign!

His kingdom on earth has not yet come, even now 2000 years after his birth, but it is being built within the hearts and lives of those who believe in Him for salvation. Jesus would inform His detractors that the Kingdom of God had come in Him, and He would instruct His followers that His Kingdom was within them. He would tell Pilate that His Kingdom was not a temporary earthly kingdom, but a heavenly kingdom over which neither the governor nor the emperor had any authority. Today, we still look forward to "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." Perhaps one day soon...

But on that wintry day in Nazareth, with the appearance of an angel and the moving of the Holy Ghost, the Kingdom of God was conceived on earth in the womb of a righteous Jewish virgin, and from that day until forever, it would be a Kingdom without end. No coup, no court, no invasion, no election would ever overthrow the reign of the Christ...for this reign would first be in the hearts of men, and then over their world.

God is in Control

I was listening to Psalm 105 (New Living Translation) this morning, and it struck me how "in control" it showed God to be. Take a look at that chapter, and consider this:

·         He made a covenant with Abraham, and confirmed it with Jacob.
·         He did not let one nation oppress them when they were few in number.
·         He warned kings on their behalf, "Do not touch these people I have chosen."
·         He called for a famine in the land of Canaan.
·         He sent Joseph to Egypt and tested his character, then exalted him over all of Egypt.
·         He brought the whole house of Israel to Egypt so Joseph could provide for them.
·         He multiplied them as a nation there, until they became too mighty for their enemies.
·         He turned the Egyptians against the Israelites.
·         He sent Moses and Aaron to do miracles in the Egypt.
·         He blanketed Egypt in darkness when they would not let His peoples.
·         He sent all the plagues of Egypt because Egypt defied him.
·         He killed the oldest child in each Egyptian home.
·         He brought His people safely out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold, and there were no sick or feeble among them.
·         He spread out a cloud above them as a covering.
·         He gave them a great fire to light the darkness.
·         He sent them quail when they asked for meat.
·         He gave them bread from heaven.
·         He opened up a rock, and water gushed out.
·         He brought His people out of Egypt with joy.
·         He gave his people the lands of pagan nations, and they harvested crops others had planted.

If you know the story of Israel's Exodus from Egypt, you might already be familiar with the deliverance God provided, and the guidance through forty years of wilderness wandering, preparing them as a nation to serve Him and obey Him. God doesn't do things arbitrarily; everything He does is done with purpose.

Sometimes I think we get so focused on what God "allows" that we don't stop to consider what God actually "does" Himself. From our perspective it might be questionable, but faith tells us God knows exactly what He's doing. He is all-powerful; He is all-knowing; He is everywhere present all the time! We serve a great and mighty God, and He is always in control.

A Biblical Worldview of Sex

The following is a response that I made to a friend's blog, located here:

http://theholyapostate.blogspot.com/

The article is entitled: Sex!

The views expressed there are from his own worldview, which I do not endorse, but I try to carry on a healthy dialogue with him because he has been my friend for a very long time. I don't recommend that you go there, but if you do, be prepared. And if you feel the need to respond to anything he says, please be kind.

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I agree with you that "Christianity" and "the church" have not historically had a healthy perspective on sex. I even have to laugh at your invocation of Augustine, later sainted, who kept a mistress until the day she died, even while he was developing Christian theology. But the Bible has a very healthy perspective on sex, devoting, as you noted, an entire book to the subject.

I have often questioned the wisdom of telling our young people, "You can't have sex with someone you're not married to," and then telling them, "Don't get married, you're too young." As you pointed out, Biblical girls were usually married off at puberty, and boys not much later. That's not even legal today! Nevertheless, it was Biblical. And marrying for "love" has been a development of the industrial world. Most Biblical marriages were arranged, though with the involvement of the couples. The young man could make his choice, under the guidance of his father. And the young woman had the right to refuse. So even though they were arranged, they weren't forced.

I have a solution, but our culture (especially our church culture) is not going to like it. We need to quit "raising" kids until they are 30 and older. We need to raise our kids to be more mature and independent by the time they are teenagers than we are currently doing. They need to get their educations, and then get jobs and earn livings, a lot faster than they are currently doing. They need to be given more responsibilities earlier in life, more training for the issues that really matter in life, and more preparation for the realities of commitment and faithfulness in all areas of life. Including marriage. (and I could open a whole 'nother can of worms here, but I won't) I think we need to be raising our sons to be husbands and fathers, and our daughters to be wives and mothers. But for some reason, we're not.

Now for my disagreement: the Bible has plenty to say about pre-marital sex. It's called fornication, and it's as big a sin as adultery. In fact, fornication literally means "uncovering the nakedness of". Biblical marriage is centered around the Biblical covenant (another lost concept), which involves a separating of flesh and consummation through blood. We spend too much time preaching against sex, because it's sin, rather than promoting the sacredness of the act! The Bible never defines women as property (although some have misused the Bible to treat women as such); I think the Bible is probably the only sacred text that truly upholds the rights and liberties of ALL people.

God is the One who created sex, and He gave it to Adam and Eve for several purposes, only one of which was procreation. Sex forges a physical, emotional, and spiritual bond between those who engage in it together, which contributes to healthy bodies, healthy minds, and healthy relationships. Sex brings two people closer together than any other act between individuals, making them, Biblically speaking, one flesh. Every time a married couple has sex, it should have the same effect on their relationship as taking communion has on our spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ...it is a reminder of covenant, of commitment, of faithfulness, and of love.

And regarding Song of Solomon, which is practically my favorite book of the Bible, it truly is a book about intimacy, but it has so many layers it cannot JUST be a book about sex. But I think you are mistaken when you say the passion described is between two people who are not married; Solomon and his bride were married at the end of Chapter 3 and celebrated their consummation at the beginning of Chapter 5. As a betrothed couple, they may have shared certain intimacies that were allowable under those ancient marital arrangements, but when Solomon entered his "garden", he found it a garden enclosed, pure, fragrant, and waiting only for him.

Who Were the Prophets, and What Did They Say?

I've commented on this before; let me do so again. I don't think we truly fathom the nature of Biblical prophets and prophecy. We seem to have a very narrow understanding of what a prophet is and what a prophet does, but when you study the subject in Scripture, God can paint the fullest picture if we're willing to see it.

In the Old Testament and New alike, prophets arose as God's messengers to God's people. In the Old Testament, the prophet was one of three anointed offices appointed by God to rule Israel. A King was anointed--had oil poured over his head--by the High Priest of Israel, appointed for a lifetime to sit on the Throne and govern God's people. The High Priest was anointed and appointed for a lifetime of service in the presence of God on behalf of the people. Always with the priest, and almost always with the king, the right to succeed to that office was hereditary.

But with the prophet things were slightly different. The office was not hereditary; in fact the Bible is careful to point out that sons did not always follow their fathers in this ministry, and that sometimes men of totally unrelated occupations were chosen by God to deliver His Word. Sometimes Kings and Priests were also prophets; David was unique among the Old Testament personalities for having served the Lord in all three capacities though his ministry before the Ark in the presence of the Lord was a significant exception to established rules. And the anointing of a prophet had nothing to do with pouring oil over someone's head and appointing them a prophet. The office and ministry of the prophet was by divine appointment only, which may have been followed with an oily rite, but such a ritual is never recorded in the Scriptures. Becoming a prophet was about God's recognition, God's empowerment and anointing; being a prophet was about bending to God's will and boldly proclaiming God's Word.

Now Jesus is the fulfillment of all three offices...He was the anointed Prophet in the Gospels; He is the anointed Priest now; and He is soon (surely soon) to be the anointed King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And we as Christians shall rule and reign as kings and priests with Him in His coming Kingdom. But until the return of the King, we have been entrusted with gifts and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do His will here and speak His Word here. We have been appointed by Christ and anointed by His Holy Ghost as messengers, light-bearers, and witnesses in a world that doesn't readily accept the Word that we have for them. And we have a responsibility.

That responsibility is universal to all Christians. Jesus has given His Holy Ghost to all of us, so that we can all receive power and be witnesses (which is actually martyrs, someone who lays down their life for the Gospel). Jesus has given all of us authority to go and make disciples of all the nations. Jesus has promised to confirm His message with signs and wonders and miracles that will follow all those who believe. But within the greater body He has distributed gifts to individuals as He saw fit.

In 1 Corinthians 12 & 14, we are taught that the Holy Spirit distributes gifts throughout the body (the church) for use when the body comes together and for the purpose of encouraging and building up the body. Among the nine gifts defined by Paul, one of them is the gift of prophecy. it is definitely a speaking gift, one used to proclaim convicting and convincing truth to the benefit of believers and unbelievers alike. It is a supernatural and spontaneous gift that should be used only as the Spirit inspires.

In Romans 12, we are taught that God has given to each person a measure of faith by which to use the gift He has given to us by grace to fulfill a specific function in the body of Christ. In that listing of seven gifts, one of them is the gift of prophecy. And while it falls into a category of speaking gifts, it is also a gift of perception, of discernment, and of intercession. It is sometimes the place of the prophet to preach, but it is always the place of the prophet to perceive and to pray.

In Ephesians 4, we are taught that Christ has issued five different gifts to oversee and advance the kingdom that is the Church--apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. While any person can be used in the manifestational gifts of the Spirit as given in 1 Corinthians 12, and each person has a motivational gift as described in Romans 12, not every person is called to one of the ministry gifts of Ephesians 4. Sometimes referred to as the Five-Fold Ministry of the church, these five are offices of leadership, proclamation and service to the rest of the body, the prophet among them, and this prophet is one who brings God's word to God's people for their encouragement and their correction.

What the Bible reveals to be universally true is that the prophet, though appointed and anointed by God, is not always accepted by those to whom they are sent, and their message is not always appreciated. Some would like to classify the prophet as one who reveals the future--like a seer, diviner, or fortune-teller--but the primary ministry of the prophet was not foretelling, but forthtelling. And in their forthtelling, their message was universal: REPENT!

Listen to the speaking prophets like Samuel, Nathan, Elijah and Elisha; they offered counsel to kings and preached righteousness among the people. Read the writing prophets like Joel and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Malachi. Their message and ministry was the same. Each one of them saw things, perceived things supernaturally and did things under the direction of the Lord. Sometimes they saw tomorrow; most times they spoke about today. Unless they were revealing the coming of Christ and His Kingdom, their outlook on the future was almost universally bleak. Because of your sins today, you will be judged tomorrow! Their solution: REPENT!

Now consider the New Testament prophets, for which John the Baptist and Jesus set the standard. John the Baptist comes out of the wilderness preaching: REPENT! Jesus public preaching ministry was the same call: REPENT! When Jesus sent the disciples out to preach, their message was: REPENT!

Barnabas and Paul are included in a list of prophets and teachers from Antioch; Agabus shows up in Antioch and later in Ceasarea; Judas Barsabbas (who is probably the same as Jude, the brother of Jesus) and Silas traveled to Antioch to encourage the Gentile believers with the decisions made in Jerusalem. The daughters of Philip were prophetesses in the church at Ceasarea. Paul's words and ministry are recorded in the Acts and in his epistles, and we know he was not shy about the message of repentance. The apostolic postcard from Jude is more of the same. Of the prophets singled out by name in the Acts, Agabus is the only one whose words are recorded, and he sounds like some Old Testament harbinger of gloom and doom: famine for the world, prison for Paul. How do you think Agabus' ministry would go over in the Charismatic churches of today?

The preaching of Jesus and the writing of the apostles both contain lots of revelations about the future, but their outlook was no brighter than that of the Old Testament prophets. Apart from the return of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom, the future of the world is not a pretty picture, nor does it have a happy ending. And the one New Testament book devoted entirely to prophecy, penned by the Apostle John is a warning to the church: REPENT! because Jesus is coming, and you're not ready.

I have concerns about those who actually call themselves prophets, especially when I don't see the marks of the prophetic in their lives and ministries. Anybody can speak happy thoughts and good wishes over an expectant seeker. Anybody who is observant and intuitive can offer "readings" that are eerily accurate. Anybody with a little bit of persuasion and influence can move a crowd or an individual to respond. Anybody can proclaim inner healing and outward reactions as proof of their own power.

But why do so many prophets today want to foretell the future rather than forthtell the truth?

Why do so many prophets today want to make you feel good about yourself rather than make you feel convicted about your sin?

Why do so many prophets today play around with their gift, and even their anointing, doing and saying such foolish and frivolous things, rather than getting down to business with God and His people?

Why do so many prophets today tell us what we want to hear, what we pay to hear, what we came to hear, rather than what we need to hear?

I'll tell you why: it's because they don't want to preach repentance, and most folks don't want to hear it and don't want to do it.

Show me a man or woman who will stand before God's people and preach against sin. Show me a preacher who will take a stand for righteousness and call people to repentance. Show me a spokesman for God who will stop trying to ingratiate themselves to people for their own self-aggrandizement, and start speaking words that sound like they are coming from the mouth of a Biblical prophet. Show me that, and I won't have to see the title prophet on a business card to know that's what you are.

Think About That

Listen you leaders of Israel!

You are supposed to know right from wrong,

but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil.

You skin my people alive and tear the flesh off their bones.

You eat my people's flesh, cut away their skin,

and break their bones.

You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot.

Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble!

Do you really expect him to listen?

After all the evil you have done, he won't even look at you!

This is what the Lord says to you false prophets:

"You are leading my people astray!

You promise peace for those who give you food,

but you declare war on anyone who refuses to pay you.

Now the night will close around you,

cutting off all your visions.

Darkness will cover you,

making it impossible for you to predict the future.

The sun will set for you prophets,

and your day will come to an end.

Then you seers will cover your faces in shame,

and you diviners will be disgraced.

And you will admit that your messages were not from God."

But as for me, I am filled with power and the Spirit of the Lord.

I am filled with justice and might,

fearlessly pointing out Israel's sin and rebellion.

Listen to me, you leaders of Israel!

You hate justice and twist all that is right.

You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption.

You rulers govern for the bribes you can get;

you priests teach God's laws only for a price;

you prophets won't prophesy unless you are paid.

Yet all of you claim you are depending on the Lord.

"No harm can come to us," you say,

"for the Lord is here among us."

So because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field;

Jerusalem will be reduced to rubble!

A great forest will grow on the hilltop,

where the Temple now stands.

 
Selah. Think about that!

Who He Is

"He will be great,

and will be called the Son of the Highest;

and the Lord God will give Him

the throne of His father David."

Luke 1:32

Jesus was a child born, even conceived, under great expectations. I mean, every mother has high hopes for her children, but Mary was given the highest of standards for her firstborn son. Do you ever wonder if she ever wondered if she was up to the task of raising such a child? Do you think she had feelings of being overwhelmed as this mysterious angelic messenger revealed to her the nature of that which was being quickened in her womb?

He will be great, the angel said. The Greek for great is megas. Jesus was going to be the mega-baby of all eternity. And that wasn't a reference to his size. The greatness of the Christ-child was a measure of His rank and stature among other babies born, among other children raised, among other men who would walk and talk with him on a daily basis. Jesus' greatness was about his personal eminence in ability, virtue, authority and power. His birth, his very existence, was one defined by great moment and importance. He would be a most excellent human being, highly esteemed. He would be stately and splendid. He came to be God's preeminent blessing upon all of creation.

He will be called the Son of the Highest. Mary had not yet asked her question about the logistics of this foretold birth, but the angel told her right up front whose baby she would be carrying. The child birthed from her womb would be the very Son of God; in fact, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. Not only was this child to be great and the son of God, he was the heir of David as well. On her mother's side, Mary was a Levite, the daughter of priests. On her father's side, she was a descendant of kings. David's throne had not held an heir in six centuries, but the promises of God to that great king were recorded in the chronicles of the kingdom. God's promise to David was that he would always have a throne, and an heir to sit upon it. Now God was fulfilling in the ultimate way His millennium-old promise to King David, an heir whose kingdom would never pass away.

This was no ordinary conception, and this was no ordinary child. His was the brightest light in the panorama of God's universe. His was the greatest story that would ever be told!