Tag Archives: Joshua

What moorings keep you tied to Jesus?

Posted on June 15, 2015 by | Comments Off on What moorings keep you tied to Jesus?

mooringsThis past Sunday evening, our pastor was preaching about winning souls to Christ and how it is the responsibility of every Christian to share the gospel. As he continued, my mind began to wander. For some reason, the Lord kept bringing my mind to this verse: The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel (Joel 3:16). This morning I decided to see what a couple of my Bible commentaries said about this verse, and each one highlighted the phrase, “the Lord will be the hope of his people…” One of the commentaries defined hope as being a place of repair or a safe harbour. 

I do not know when my fascination with ships started, but I have always loved seeing them. While stationed in Germany I took several river cruises in a half-dozen European nations and was always amazed at how efficient the crews were in securing the boat to the dock. Each mooring rope had its specific place where it had to be secured to hold the boat in the desired location. If only one of the moorings were out-of-place, then the ship wasn’t secure and could come lose from the other moorings. I began thinking about how this relates to our faith in Jesus – what are the moorings that keep us tied to Him?

Christians have His promise

The first mooring we have is the promise from Jesus: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand (John 10:27-29) and All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (John 7:37). There is nothing like knowing that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the apostle Paul rejoiced and encouraged other Christians by reminding all, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) and For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2 Timothy 1:12).

Because of the nature of our understanding and of what we see in society, we have a hard time understanding, and at times, accepting the Biblical teaching that if we are a child of God then nothing can separate us from His love. But that is exactly what the Bible teaches. We only see the things around us through a limited view. It is hard for us to comprehend such a love for us when many of us have experienced abandonment by parents, siblings, friends, and spouses that we thought would always love us. Whereas our understanding of love often comes with a conditional tag, God’s love toward us is unconditional. Jesus even shared the extent of His Father’s unconditional love for humanity: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). The apostle Paul explains this unconditional love in perhaps the clearest way it could ever be expressed: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

With God loving mankind enough to send His Son to die for our sins, how could He ever allow those who accept His Son, Jesus, and their Lord and Savior, to become separated from Him? Jesus taught: Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows (Luke 12:6-7). One of our moorings that secures us to the Lord Jesus Christ is His promise to us.

The moorings of fellowship

If having the promise of the Lord is not enough of a mooring that fastens us securely to Him, there are other moorings the Lord has created. One of the greatest joys of our salvation is the fellowship it brings with the Lord and with others who have also accepted Jesus as their savior. The book of Acts contains the first mention of this: And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42). This fellowship that is being described is what we have come to think of as Christian fellowship – a time of prayer, rejoicing, singing, breaking bread, and all done with a singleness of heart and of thanksgiving towards God (for a complete scriptural defining of fellowship, please see Acts 1:14 & 2:46, Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18, Colossians 4:2, and Hebrews 10:25).

By our nature, humankind are social creatures. For the lack of a better description, we are hard-wired to seek out those who have a like mind to ours and to spend time with them. Each year, many in our nation will travel across the country to spend the holidays with loved ones. Some of us will even make plans to meet with family and friends throughout the year just to spend time with one another. As Christians, we still have the need for fellowship with those of like mind and heart – the need to fellowship with other Christians and with the Lord Himself. This is important in securing us to Christ and I believe this is one of the reasons the apostle Paul wrote, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). No, I am not saying that we need fellowship with other Christians to save us or to maintain our salvation. We need the fellowship because it strengthens our faith, it encourages us to be more Christ-centered, and it can bring focus into our life. 

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An obedient servant of Christ

Posted on December 8, 2014 by | Comments Off on An obedient servant of Christ

study-better-800x800All it takes is a quick trip to the local Christian book store to see the number of publications that claim you can become an obedient servant and experience God’s blessings on your life. At one point in my own Christian walk and while going through my own personal struggles and crises of faith, I admit that I did buy one of those books. Although the author meant well when writing the book, within its pages were the claims that if we say a certain prayer, do certain deeds, and attended church regularly, then I would be an obedient servant of Christ. While I will not say that the entire book was wrong, a one-size-fits all approach does not work because we are all not called into the same area of Christian service.

One of the saddest yet most interesting things that I study as a part of my job is the role of religion within the ancient societies and within the United States. It fascinates both myself and college students to learn how far many people will go to prove their love and adoration of certain deities, or even within certain Christian denominations. To show their obedience, some faiths require that some great feat be performed or that the believer must give a great sacrifice, sometimes of wealth, sometimes of self-denial, and sometimes even a human sacrifice is required. It is only within Judaism and true biblical Christianity where we see God tell us: Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:6-8). Jesus even simplified this during His earthly ministry as he told the disciples and all who were around that day, If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15).

The apostle Paul understood the simplicity and the beauty of what our relationship of Christ is to be like. Paul referred to himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ; he chose to use the relationship of being a servant of Christ because during the lifetime of Jesus and the apostles, servitude for debt was a common practice and one of the main ways that Jews fell into the role of being a servant. Paul considered himself owing a debt to Christ for which he could never repay, as all Christians do.

Becoming a servant of Christ

There are many things that we can learn about this relationship we have with the Lord. Our status as a servant of Christ must be a status that we choose for ourselves. God desires that we serve Him as an exercise of our own free will. Throughout the times of the Old Testament and throughout the New Testament, God has clearly taught that all people have to make a choice – to both serve and love God with all our heart or to reject Him. Jesus told Nicodemus, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16-18).  Jesus is reiterating what He had already told the Hebrew people during the Exodus from Egypt: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19). The beginning of being an obedient servant of Christ starts here with this decision. You either choose to follow Him or you reject Him. Joshua, the man who would take on the leadership of Israel after the death of Moses, put it best: And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15).

As a Christian, we willingly put ourselves into the position as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ when we accept Him as our Savior. The very nature of the personal relationship that we share with the Lord should cause a desire within us to be an obedient servant of Christ. Within the Old Testament, there was a provision made for servants that wished to stay with their master even after their indebtedness had been repaid: And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; 17Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. 18It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest (Deuteronomy 15:16-18). Our obedience to God must come from our own love for the Lord and not because we feel that we have to. Just as the passage in Micah teaches, when we are obedient to God out of our love for him our obedience makes us valuable to God. Although God does not use an awl to punch our ear, he does bless us and set us apart for Himself. We become a servant that is close to God’s own heart.

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Rethinking Thanksgiving

Posted on November 26, 2014 by | Comments Off on Rethinking Thanksgiving

 thanksgivingTomorrow is the day when we, as a nation and a people, take a day to offer our thanks to God. As an American historian, it fascinates and saddens me to see how far this American tradition has come to be celebrated today. For many, Thanksgiving Day means a lot of food, celebrating and fellowshipping with family, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, and watching professional football. Last year, we saw stores began to open on Thursday evening as a way to increase their sales. It appears that the last thing on the minds of many Americans is truly demonstrating our thankfulness to the Lord.

Back when I was studying and preparing for my Ph.D., I decided that I wanted to research the early colonial period of our nation. Although I already held a master’s degree, there were (and there still are) areas of basic historical knowledge about our nation that I simply do not know as well as I would like. I began my research by reading the writings of various American historians. Eventually, I began reading the available writings of the early colonists themselves, desiring to learn from their own hand of the life and times that they lived. One thing that began to stand out is that there is a large part of the thanksgiving narrative missing from today’s society. That first thanksgiving celebrated in 1621 and lasted for three days. Not only were there fifty settlers of the Plymouth Colony present, but at least ninety American Indians as well.

We all are aware of the story of how the Pilgrims invited their American Indian guests to not only celebrating a bountiful harvest, but to honor the American Indians who had taught them how to plant pumpkins, corn, squash, beans, and other crops that were largely unknown to the settlers when the arrived on the North American continent. We also understand that they used the opportunity to give thanks to God for providing a truly amazing harvest and for preserving the survivors of the colony. What is not taught is an important part of the thanksgiving story that has somehow been deemed as either not politically correct or not of any historical significance – a trend of telling about this first thanksgiving that began sometime in the early twentieth century. These brave men and women were also using this harvest time celebration as a tool to spread the saving gospel message of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Within the psalms written by David, the Holy Spirit led him to write, I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations (Psalms 57:9). These pilgrims were doing just that – they were praising God among the American Indians!

There have been times in the lives of each of God’s children when we are approached by someone who does not know the Lord and are asked a simple question of “why?” Maybe it is because you were honest with a cashier who tried to give you back too much change, or you helped out the person in line at the register that didn’t have the necessary change to make their purchase. Maybe it was taking the time to listen to someone else who was hurting, lonely, or struggling to understand – any of these events is an evangelistic opportunity for us to share our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The pilgrims were doing this very thing with the first thanksgiving. They were demonstrating their thankfulness to the Lord as a means of reaching the American Indians in attendance. They were putting into action the verses, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:15), and And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing (Psalms 107:22). When we truly are thankful for the blessings of God and are sincere in our efforts to express our gratitude to Him, it is a testimony to the believer and the unbeliever of the goodness of the Lord.

What has also been forgotten from our nation’s history is that these Pilgrims rejected many of the Calvinist teachings of the Puritans who would later separate themselves to the new colony of Massachusetts Bay. Although the Pilgrims did follow the teachings of Calvin, they rejected the idea that only a certain group of people had been chosen by God to be saved (this was one of the major doctrinal difference between the Pilgrims and the Puritans). Instead, they felt that the gospels commanded them to bear witness to all they came across, whether European settler or American Indian, since no one could truly know which people had been preconditioned by the Lord to accept the gospel:  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:5). Because of the seriousness of a want to use this thanksgiving celebration to spread the gospel, the writings of several of the Pilgrim colonists show that the week before the first thanksgiving celebration, the able-bodied men and women (those who were reasonably healthy) fasted every day and prayed every evening not only to thank God for the bountiful harvest, but that they would be able to witness the spreading of the gospel of Christ to the local tribes.

There have been efforts underway to rewrite the account of the first thanksgiving – to reinterpret its purpose so that God becomes nothing more than an afterthought in our modern observation of a day of thanksgiving. Many will point to William Bradford, the Governor of the Plymouth Plantation as the originator of thanksgiving, and will argue that it was a function of the government (state) and not the church (religion). This is a misinterpretation of William Bradford’s position within the Pilgrim community; although he had been the one responsible for drafting the Mayflower Compact, he was also regarded as a religious leader within the Scrooby community as it left England for Holland, and eventually the North American coast. It is the reason the Compact has the word, “stranger” – a recognition that not all aboard the Mayflower were of the same religious views as the Pilgrims. The colony that Bradford was governor of was to be a church/religious based society; what we consider today as civil rights were directly tied to one’s standing within the religious community. The writings from Bradford actually show that the first thanksgiving was seen by him as being an observance for the Pilgrims as described in the Old Testament regarding the Jewish observance of Passover: And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped (Exodus 12:24-27). Bradford intended this period of thanksgiving to be done each year as a celebration of God’s divine provision and a remembrance of what had been done so that we would remember, in each generation afterwards, the bountiful mercy and grace of God.

Starting this thanksgiving, maybe it is time for us to return to the original purposes of this great observance. Maybe it is time that we do as our Pilgrim ancestors did and approach the day with reverence to the Lord. Maybe it is time that we invite the stranger, the orphan, the widow into the fellowship of our home and table to use the feast to share our Christian faith. Maybe it is time to share the history of God’s mercy and grace shown to those early settlers so that the real story of thanksgiving can be preserved and passed down to the next generation. Maybe it is time to set aside the Christmas shopping, football games, and the parades and all the other trappings of the modern-day observance we’ve grown accustomed to and return to a more simpler, more deeper, and more meaningful thanksgiving experience. As I have shared these thoughts today, one verse keeps coming to mind:  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15).

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