Discipleship – Page 15 – Muscular Christianity

What Are We Going to be Doing?

I teach a Sunday School class and I’m having the parents attend with their sons tomorrow morning. One of the moms asked me “What are we going to be doing?” Bottom line is I want to pitch a vision of what we want to teach, how we want to present it and what the ultimate goal is.

Here’s the opening statement…

In the early 1900′s, the percentage of boys aged 12-18 who chose to dismiss church as an unnecessary and irrelevant practice was 60-80 percent.¹

In a 2013 article written by Steve McSwain entitled “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore,” he cites some compelling stats that proclaim upwards of 80% of Americans are finding “more fulfilling things to do on the weekend” besides going to church.²

One of the reasons that Christianity is oftentimes glossed over by boys and men is because of the way that it’s often presented.

Consider this: If you had to create a billboard that promoted a relationship with Christ and you couldn’t mention anything about “Jesus helps you with your problems,” or “You get to go to Heaven when you die,” what would you say?

If Christ is something that is processed as nothing more than a funeral arrangement or a Divine Emergency Kit, then the same mindset that says “Big boys don’t cry” takes it a step further and declares that “Big boys don’t pray.”

And it makes sense.

Our storefront as believers is often defined in terms of conservative dress codes, private institutions and boycotts. Most people can’t tell you what they believe and why without sounding hesitant. The practical purpose, peace and power that a relationship with Christ brings to the table gets lost amidst the traditions and stereotypes that are not biblical as much as they are cultural. It’s more about being “nice” that it is in being influential. Being competitive, being noteworthy in the marketplace, being the sort of standout the secular community heralds as being worthy of applause – there is, in some instances, a subtle dismissal of those achievements as having no ministerial value due to their being outside of the parameters of the local church building.

That’s garbage.

We’re commanded to be salt and light (Matt 5:13-16). We establish a standard of excellence in everything that we do, we inevitably earn the right to be heard. Our witness is gauged more in terms of who we are than what we do, but it’s what we do and how we do it that captures the attention of the person on the outside looking in. That’s the “light” referred to in Matthew 5:16.

And the thing is, when we’re intentional about keeping our spiritual tires aligned and ensuring that our walk is being made manifest in the context of what’s practical and not just philosophical, we benefit.

Do the math: Self Control, Talent, Discipline, Team Player, Moral, Respectful – all of which are demonstrated regardless of who’s looking and empowered by the One Who gives us grace and strength to go the extra mile when the humanity within us becomes weary – those are the characteristics of a person you don’t just hire. Those are the qualities of the person you promote.

But it’s not the business card or the paycheck that defines us. Those goalposts never stop moving. Rather, it’s the Character of our King that flows through our veins that allows us the opportunity to truly live rather than merely exist. We’re not here to make an appearance, we’re here to make a difference. And in order to get to that place, we’ve got to be spiritually ripped.

What do you believe and why? How does that translate to an “edge?” Why would somebody want what you have? All things at all times, driven by a desire to make Christ look good…

We’ve got six Christmas holidays between now and the time these young men are leaving the house and assuming the responsibilities of an adult. They are perpetually poised on the threshold of great things, provided the top button of who they are is securely fastened in the context of a legitimate relationship with, and a commitment to, Jesus Christ.

I want you to hear what it is that we’re attempting to do in this class. We’re attempting to present Christ in a way that resonates with the way they are created. Authentic faith that is displayed in the context of character and actions that resonate as noteworthy…

Muscular Christianity – the relentless pursuit of excellence in order to better serve Christ and make Him known!

1. Clifford Putney, Muscular Christianity, First Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003), Kindle edition

2. “Huffington Post”, “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore”, Steve McSwain, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-mcswain/why-nobody-wants-to-go-to_b_4086016.html, accessed November 7, 2015

School: Don’t Just Get Through It! Get To It!

So, here’s the dilemma:

I’m teaching a 6th grade boys Sunday School class. We do “High-Low” every week where each kid says what the high point of his week was along with the low point. In many instances, the low points is “school.”

Let’s talk about “school” for a minute.

You’re Working…

After you graduate, the vast majority of your life will be spent in the workplace. That’s not a bad thing. Great things are done in the context of “working.” That’s where you’re making a difference and not just a wage.

Consider this:

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. . . . Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it (Gen 2:7-9; 15).

The word “cultivate” is the Hebrew for “work” or “service.” Mind you this is before the Fall of Man. So the template for mankind, right from the start, was to work.

Do Something You Enjoy

Thing is, you want to work at something that’s consistent with the passion and the skillset that God has embedded into you.

Look at Bezalel (BEHZ-ah-lehl) and Oholiab (oh-HOHL-lih-ab):

³⁰Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³¹and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— ³²to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, ³³to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. ³⁴And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. ³⁵He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers. (Ex 35:30-35)

They weren’t just “fortunate,” in terms of what their artistic abilities, nor or were they just “gifted” teachers. They were given these skills by their Creator and in a similar fashion, you too have been given specific skills which are often manifested in the context of things that you’re naturally drawn to (Jas 1:17).

Work at It! Be Smart and be Wise!

But however you might find certain activities appealing, the only way you’re going to hone your craft and sharpen your skillset, the only way you’re going to get to a place where you’re being tapped for the kind of job(s) you really want to do – is through training and a good education (2 Chron 2:3-13; Prov 22:29; 2 Tim 1:6).

Take a look at these verses in Proverbs:

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (Prov 18:15)

He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers. (Prov 19:8)

The bottom line is: Wisdom. It says in Proverbs 9:10:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Prov 9:10)

That’s your top button. Everything lines up just the way that it needs to when you’ve got your eyes focused on the One Who knows your future, Who has the Plan that was designed exclusively for you, according to the way you’re wired. Seeking Him out for the direction you need in order to stay on track is just common sense.

From there, however, you’re looking at the kind of education you have available to you through the public school system:

History: Understanding and appreciating the noble milestones in human history and also learning from the mistakes that were made in the past (2 Kings 22:11-13)
Science and Mathematics: Getting to a place where you can do simple to intermediate calculations and better appreciate the elegant enormity of the cosmos along with the exquisite intricacy of the atomic world (Rom 1:20)
Social Studies: Learning about different cultures and even the more subtle characteristics of your own country (1 Chron 12: 32)

Broaden Your Base

From now until the time you graduate High School, your only real responsibility right now is to simply improve yourself. For the most part, you’re not having to concern yourself with paying the electric bill for your home or making enough money to purchase groceries for this week. All you’re really being tasked with is broadening your base and increasing your capacity for more responsibility and with that, more opportunity.

Whatever it is about school that resonates as a chore reverberates that way simply because you’re not stepping back and appreciating the big picture. It’s not just “facts” that you’re memorizing, it’s the stretching of your mind – it’s the enrichment of your soul – which ultimately translates to a life that is truly lived as opposed to an existence that is merely endured.

Don’t Get “Through It!” Get “To It!”

Furthermore, you want to bear in mind that you have access to a pool of Resources that enable you to be just as diligent and as disciplined that you need to in order to excel. “Self Control” is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Use it! Honor the command that’s in Ecclesiastes 9:10 as far as doing it “with all your might” and you’ll find that as you invest your time and effort, you begin to take pride in what you’re doing and what was laborious a moment ago, now registers as genuinely fulfilling and even enjoyable.

Don’t be satisfied with just “getting through it!” “Get to it!” Enjoy all the benefits that go along with being diligent and disciplined and not just with your studies, but also in the context of your spiritual disciplines (2 Tim 2:15). Your relationship with Christ is meant to be “lived out” (Phil 2:12-13). Recognize the way in which your education is part of the way God is preparing you for the “good works” you’ve been designed to accomplish (Eph 2:10) and don’t be satisfied with anything less than your best (Col 3:17).

Go get ’em!

Two Kinds of Popularity

There are two ways to become popular:

1) Impress People

2) Serve People

By being “impressive,” you’re admired for your talent, your confidence and the way you carry yourself. They value your skillset and if they’re not inspired by your example, at the very least they’re impressed by the substance of your abilities and the way they perceive your personality based on the quality of what you’re able to do.

By “serving people,” you’re appreciated because of the way you make people feel about themselves. When they’re around you, they feel affirmed and if they’re needing any kind of assistance – you’re there to offer a helping hand. Your confidence is based on the substance of who you are and not just the way you’re able to present yourself on stage – that “stage” being the workplace, school or wherever it is that your strengths are most vividly displayed.

While there’s nothing wrong in being “impressive,” if it becomes the foundation upon which you base the manner in which you interact with others, it can be socially lethal. Reason being is because, without frequent and profound reality checks, you inevitably become the center of your own universe. The only relationships you value are those that deliver the kind of applause that merits your appreciation. They must admire you – that much is a given. But because of the depth of the prideful hole you now live in, you’ve become more particular as far as the kind of people you even bother to pay attention to. If the person who is approaching you does not constitute something that substantially adds to your social standing, they’re dismissed as one of several faceless “fans.” You run with a higher caliber crowd now and the people that don’t register as such are regarded as underlings that barely rate a cordial “Hello.”

What makes the “impressive” approach potentially fatal from a social standpoint is that the people you are now associating with are perceiving you according to the same criteria that you use to evaluate them. You’ve built a community of “friends” that remain committed to you provided your trophy case continues to increase in volume and substance. Should your performance falter to the point where you’re no longer worthy of a headline or a cover article, the number of your “friends” begins to dwindle. Truth is, they weren’t friends to begin with as much as they were agreements. You remain friendly to them provided their celebrity status remains intact and vice versa. As long as your mystique endures, your entourage remains in place. Should your aura begin to lose its luster, so do the number of phone calls that are actually returned.

On the other hand, if part of what draws people to you is the way you’re willing to invest your time and energy into their lives, your status is built upon a foundation that is far more noble and thus far more stable.

Bear in mind, I’m not talking about the way people may use you or take advantage of you. Those personalities exist, but they’re not the kind that you use to define society as a whole. Rather, we’re talking about the way most human beings determine the kind of person that merits their trust and esteem. They’re looking for something real, something selfless. In other words, a person who’s genuinely thinks of others before they think of themselves. That kind of person is wired to be affirming and optimistic and they treat others the way they would like to be treated. They’re generous and giving and are quick to step aside so that others around them might shine a little brighter.

In short, they resemble Christ – the Ultimate Model of Selflessness, Service and Humility (Mk 10:45; Phil 2:6-11).

Jesus died a martyr’s death and the mental picture we have of Him is often a soft spoken, doe-eyed, frail individual whose followers perceived His Message of Grace as a cue for radical pacifism, submission and isolation. Jesus was soft spoken when the situation called for it, but was downright forceful when He confronted the Pharisees. The frailty depicted in so many of the artistic interpretations of Christ ignores the first three decades of His life spent doing hard, physical labor as a carpenter. Those Who insist that pacifism is the only correct approach to an altercation, regardless if the bully is a thug in the classroom or an entire nation of terrorists determined to conquer the world, disregard the sanctified violence depicted throughout the Old Testament and the admonishment Christ gives His disciples to procure a weapon in the book of Luke (Luke 22:36-37).

Adopting the posture of a servant is not a compromise of one’s strength and confidence, it’s an expression of it. Christianity is not a call to be quiet to the point of being irrelevant nor is it a mandate to be gentle to the point of being a nonexistent defense against evil. Meekness is strength under control. Holiness is the state of being complete that results from giving God’s Spirit free reign over every aspect of your existence. If the truth be told, whatever it is that I “give up” in the context of being obedient to God’s Direction, is ultimately revealed as an existence that I’m tasked with having to endure as opposed to the life I’m enabled to enjoy.

Fact is, a commitment to Christ equates to the wisest and most practical approach to life in general – even when it comes to one’s desire to be popular. Establishing a philosophical starting point characterized by an authentic desire to serve rather than a determination to shine is not only an effective way to win friends and influence people, it’s also an act of obedience (Phil 2:3-4) which is key to being successful in the most comprehensive sense of the word.

Ernest Hemmingway once said,

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.“¹

And the only way you’re going to prove to a better version of who you were a moment ago is to give the Spirit of Christ greater reign over every aspect of who you are. Bottom line: It’s not so much “Let me tell you about myself,” as much as it’s “What can I do for you?”That’s the surest way to become popular, that’s obedience to the commands found in Scripture and that’s being consistent with the example of Christ.

1. Goodreads, Ernest Hemmingway, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/76281-there-is-nothing-noble-in-being-superior-to-your-fellow, accessed January 13, 2016

American Concrete

When it comes to the topic of our nation’s Christian heritage, you have two main schools of thought:

The liberal mindset that insists our forefathers viewed religion as something to be negotiated as an administrative duty
The Conservative Christian platform that maintains an aggressive acknowledgement and pursuit of God’s Assistance characterized the collective perspective of the founding fathers

Much of the controversy stems from a ruling given by the Supreme Court in 1947 and the way they interpreted a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson in a letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut in 1802. They declared that Jefferson’s usage of the term “the separation of church and state” constituted “the authoritative declaration of the scope and effect” of the First Amendment.¹ Since then, that ruling has become the standard by which all public expressions of religious convictions have been measured, leading to an ever increasing limitation being put on the acknowledgement of God in governmental agencies as well as an ever lengthening shadow of doubt being cast on our nation’s religious heritage.

The debate is, at times, passionate and you’ve got buffoons on both sides of the aisle. The venom and the inaccuracies can culminate in a spectacle that can make it difficult to know which argument is correct. But there is a bottom line that transcends the way in which a solitary statement can be potentially dissected to the point where its meaning becomes illusive. That bottom line is to consider, not only the comment that was made, but also:

the context of that comment
the character of the person speaking
the cultural backdrop that made what that person said both relevant and influential

In other words, rather than just scrutinizing what was said, look at also why it was said, to whom was the person speaking and who was it that made the comment. At that point, you’ve got a full color, three dimensional rendering of what was stated as opposed to an intentionally cropped, black and white snapshot.

Using that kind of approach, let’s take a look at Thomas Jefferson and his exchange with the Danbury Baptists.

Jefferson’s Resume

Jefferson’s mental capacity and creativity went beyond mere academics. At the front door of his home, there’s a seven day clock that he designed. It’s counterweights hang on either side of the front entrance and extend through the floor. The height at which the counterweights hang indicate the days of the week that are written on the wall and beneath the floor. Monticello as a whole – the layout of the grounds and the structural design – all served as a testament to the creative intelligence and the intellectual ingenuity of their architect.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy was speaking at a dinner in the White House honoring all of the living recipients of the Nobel Prize. He said, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has every been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”²

Thomas Jefferson was extraordinary. Prior to earning his license as a lawyer, he had earned his college degree from the College of William and Mary, having studied Mathematics, Philosophy, Metaphysics as well as French and Greek. It was there that he would also be introduced to the writings of John Locke, Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon – great thinkers that would shape his approach to politics and America’s quest for liberty.

After writing the Declaration of Independence, he returned to Virginia where he served in the Virginia State Legislature, eventually ascending to the position of Governor. His role in crafting the new state government was significant. For nearly three years he assisted in the construction of the state constitution. His most notable contribution was the “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom” – an accomplishment he had immortalized on his tombstone.

Jefferson was also very familiar with the Bible and the teachings of Christ. During his presidential years, he wrote a 46 page work entitled “The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth Extracted from the Account of His Life and Doctrines as Given by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”³ Moreover, he understood the necessary role the Christian doctrine played in the formulation of a government based on the Absolutes of Scripture as opposed to the machinations of men, be they manifested in the context of royalty or enlightened reason. While he was convinced that the established clergy of the day were corrupt and the imposition of any one creed by a legislature was fundamentally flawed, it was the transcendent dynamic of the Christian doctrine upon which he founded his philosophical approach to freedom and sound government.

Jefferson’s Starting Point

It’s here where the liberal and conservative perspectives diverge. The liberal platform maintains that Jefferson’s usage of the phrase “separation of church and state” in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association was intended to purge any mention of God in an official context, be it the Pledge of Allegiance, the display of any Christian symbols during the Holidays , prayer in schools and the list goes on and on. His previously stated comments pertaining to the Christian component of our nation’s government , the culture of the time and the audience he was addressing are all either diluted or dismissed in order to craft a liberal platform that presents America as a purely secular enterprise. Furthermore, there’s a philosophical starting point that Jefferson uses in the two documents he requested be immortalized on his tombstone that gets glossed over as though it has no real bearing on the issue. But if this is the cornerstone of his thought processes pertaining to religious freedom and liberty in general, this is a crucial piece of evidence that needs to be admitted as part of the conversation. Take a look…

In both documents, he bases one’s right to liberty on the fact that God created man to be free.

The Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States…(emphasis added)

The opening statement of Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom:

Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free;

Jefferson’s sense of reason, in terms of a man’s ability to worship and live as a free entity, was founded on the manner in which God had designed him. In other words, it was the doctrine of the church that gave shape and substance to the state. Remove the philosophical foundation of Scripture from Jefferson’s approach to liberty and you reduce the essence of our nation to a complaint rather than an Absolute. Furthermore, by insisting that there be no acknowledgement of the biblical paradigm that supports the ideological structure of our government, we invite the decay and corruption that inevitably accompanies the fallibility of a purely human enterprise.

Jefferson’s faith was unorthodox and his determination to avoid any appearance of officially sanctioning a particular denomination was nothing short of aggressive, but to twist his usage of the phrase “separation of church and state” into a quasi-legislative impetus to remove prayer from schools and strike the “one nation under God” phrase from the pledge of Allegiance, is to ignore the obvious cornerstone of Jefferson’s thought process. In addition, should the liberal perspective be embraced, you make Jefferson himself the “chief of sinners” in that he violates his own supposed conviction by invoking a overtly Christian dynamic in the very documents that define his perspective on the freedoms we enjoy.

Jefferson’s Audience

In addition to considering the background of Thomas Jefferson and his philosophical starting point when it came to the issue of religious liberty, one also needs to look at the society that Jefferson was addressing in the letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptists.

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence, in addition to proclaiming America’s resolve to separate itself from the authority of the crown, it also created a mandate for all states to create their own constitution. While many of the early settlers had left Old World in order to worship according to the dictates of their conscience, not everyone was dissatisfied with the Anglican Church. As a result, while the fabric of America’s religious culture was predominantly Protestant, it was nevertheless interwoven with a number of different denominations. The Church of England was predominant in Virginia, in New England you had a blend of Congregationalists (an evolution of the original Puritans), Presbyterians and Quakers with a small percentage of other denominations scattered throughout the Northeast.

It’s imperative to realize that between 1700 and 1740, an estimated 75-80 percent of the population attended churches which were being built at a headlong pace. When Thomas Jefferson became Vice President in 1797, the Second Great Awakening began and an abundance of revival meetings occurred throughout the country in a sustained pattern that would continue to the Civil War. So common was this anomaly that it was referred to as “the great absorbing theme of American life.”⁴ And part of what made the evangelical movement so potent was the way in which it was perceived as the best way in which to promote and preserve republican government.

Nineteenth century evangelical literature abounds with statements that could have been inspired by the religion section of Washington’s Farewell Address or copied from the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780: “the religion of the Gospel is the rock on which civil liberty rests”; “civil liberty has ever been in proportion to the prevalence of pure Christianity”; “genuine Religion with all its moral influences, and all its awful sanctions, is the chief, if not the only security we can have, for the preservation of our free institutions”; “the doctrines of Protestant Christianity are the sure, nay, the only bulwark of civil freedom”; “Christianity is the conservator of all that is dear in civil liberty and human happiness.”⁵

But while the message of preachers was being embraced as something that promoted the nation’s approach to liberty as well as the key to one’s eternal salvation, it didn’t resolve the tension that existed in many states, as far as the way certain state constitutions made religion – specifically the patronization of a specific denomination – compulsory. In 1724, in the state of Connecticut, if you were a member of the Anglican church, you were required by law to pay a percentage of your income to the local Congregationalist church under penalty of imprisonment or seizure of goods.⁶ Up until 1818, the Congregational church was the established church of Connecticut which translated to a number of legislative tactics deployed for the expressed purpose of discouraging and harassing members of any “dissenting” denomination.⁷ In the year 1801, the Baptist churches that comprised the Danbury Baptist Association resolved to approach the newly elected President for the sake of soliciting from him a statement that would reinforce and further promote the idea of disestablishment – the elimination of government-sanctioned discrimination against religious minorities.⁸

Jefferson’s reply would be reprinted in publications across the nation.⁹ The effect of Jefferson’s letter is subjective in that it would be several years before Connecticut’s religious tone would be altered to the point where its constitution would be stripped of any legislative power to promote one denomination over another. Other states would follow suit over time, but the bottom lines is that in the early years of the nineteenth century, “religious freedom” wasn’t so much about discouraging public religious expressions as much as it was about eliminating that dynamic where you were legally obligated to attend and support a specific church.

It’s wise to pause for a moment and ponder the mindset of those who were reading Jefferson’s letter in 1802. While our currency today states that we trust in God, statistics reveal a collective disposition that is largely cynical of traditional Christianity.¹⁰ In a 2013 article written by Steve McSwain entitled “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore,” he cites some compelling stats that proclaim upwards of 80% of Americans are finding “more fulfilling things to do on the weekend” besides going to church.¹¹ That’s not to say that some of these same people aren’t listed on the membership role of a local fellowship, but their commitment to God is casual at best. This is an important dynamic to consider in that, to a nineteenth century citizen of the US, given the religious tenor of the nation as a whole, removing any and all references to Christ from the public arena was not something to be desired let alone considered. Christianity was regarded as both the foundation as well as the fuel for a moral society which, in turn, promoted a healthy republic. Jefferson demonstrated that himself in his personal life as well as his public policies.¹² “The Christian religion,” he wrote in 1801, when “brought to the original and simplicity of its benevolent institutor (Jesus Christ), is a religion of all others most friendly to liberty.”¹³This is not the sentiment of a man determined to remove faith based gestures from the public arena. And while it wasn’t in Jefferson’s mind to eliminate the concrete of Christianity from America’s foundation, neither was it the ambition of the people he governed or the people who governed alongside him.

Jefferson’s Peers

To state that Jefferson’s was not the only signature on the Declaration of Independence nor was he the only voice that shaped our Constitution (Jefferson was in France when our Constitution was written, but he was nevertheless influential through his correspondence) is to rehearse the obvious. Yet, when you consider the weight given to a single phrase made in a letter that, while politically strategic, had no legislative power, it’s difficult not to feel as though Jefferson’s correspondence with the Danbury Baptists is the only piece of evidence being admitted into the courtroom.

When you consider the other personalities and their respective statements along with their voting record, the resulting dynamic isn’t so much something that isolates Jefferson’s statement to the Danbury Association as unique as much as it brings into focus what he truly intended.

The First Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention were the legislative bodies that crafted the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution respectively. There were 56 signatures on the Declaration of Independence and 55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787. With no more than five exceptions, the members of the Constitutional Convention were all orthodox members of an established Christian denomination.¹⁴The signatures on the Declaration of Independence boasts a similar enumeration of men who vocally volunteered their commitment to Christ with little hesitation.

Following the death of Richard Henry Lee (President of the Continental Congress and the man who officially introduced in Congress the call for America’s independence), his papers and correspondence, including numerous original handwritten letters from patriots (e.g., George Washington, Benjamin Rush, John Dickinson, etc.), were passed on to his grandson who compiled those documents into a two-volume work published in 1825. After having studied those personal letters, the grandson described the great body of men who founded the nation in these words:

“The wise and great men of those days were not ashamed publicly to confess the name of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! In behalf of the people, as their representatives and rulers, they acknowledged the sublime doctrine of his mediation.”¹⁵

The reason the American experiment succeeded is because it was based on the Absolutes in Scripture that pertained to the way in which man was created to think and live as a free enterprise. Political theory and personal preferences can be debated to the point where legislative conclusions are determined more so by charisma and compelling rhetoric than the substance of the truths being considered. Our Founding Fathers knew that and for that reason chose to bring their collective pursuit of liberty beneath the umbrella of Biblical Truth. Within their ranks you had different degrees of orthodoxy as well as a variety of individual perspectives on issues such as slavery and those that were fit for positions of political leadership. But they all believed that man was “…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable human rights” and it was that consensus that allowed them the opportunity to come together as a unified legislative body and proclaim the freedom of those they represented to King George and to the world.

In Conclusion

Pop Quiz…

Question #1: How often from June 12, 1775 till August 3rd, 1784 did Congress proclaim a National Day of either Fasting or Thanksgiving?

Answer: 18 times. Twice a year – once in March and once in October.¹⁶

Question #2: The following statement is inscribed on the Liberty Bell: “Proclaim Liberty thro’ all the Land to all the Inhabitants thereof.” What text is that taken from?

Answer: Leviticus 25:10

Question #3: What President attended church services every Sunday during his administration, approved the use of the War Office as well as the Office of the Treasury for religious services and also approved the use of the Marine Band to provide instrumental accompaniment for the religious services going on within those government facilities?

Answer: Thomas Jefferson¹⁷

Question #4: Who, more than any other single person, is pictured in various locations throughout Capitol Hill?

Answer: Moses¹⁸

Question #5: Above the figure that represents Science in the Library of Congress, there is an inscription. What is that inscription?

Answer: Psalm 19:1 (The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handiwork [Psalm 19:1])

Question #6: Who stated the following: “… it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” a) Billy Graham b) George Washington c) George W. Bush d) Charles Spurgeon

Answer: George Washington (proclamation October 3, 1789)

Question #7: It was on April 22, 1864 that Congress resolved to institute the phrase, “In God We Trust” as our national motto. Where did they get that phrase from?

Answer: The third verse of our national anthem¹⁹:

Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”

The “separation of church and state” phrase can not be accurately utilized as a legal foundation upon which to build legislative mandates to remove Christian symbols from the marketplace. When one pauses long enough to objectively evaluate the whole of Jefferson’s political regard for Christianity, the collective disposition towards religion that belonged to his peer group and the esteem for Christ that characterized the people he governed, to arrive at such a conclusion is nothing less than an irresponsible interpretation of the facts.

“The Light of Truth” painting depicting truth slaying the dragon of ignorance. Four sets of cherubs are featured featuring the four elements of sound law: the square, the plumb, the level and the Bible.

Yet, regardless of substantive the argument may be – that the 1947 interpretation of Jefferson’s phrase was altogether wrong – there are other forces at play that make this debate more than just an intellectual joust.

The fact that no one balked when Washington so vigorously asserted a Christian dynamic in his farewell address or no one objected to Theodore Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson crafting the preface to the Bibles that were distributed to soldiers being deployed to Europe during WWI is because the religious tenor of nation as a whole was far more healthy.

The Light of Truth is a painting that’s featured on the ceiling of the Members of Congress Reading Room in the Jefferson building which was opened in 1897. The artist, Carl Gutherz, pictures four sets of cherubs to represent four tools that are needed to fashion law that is accurate and sound: the plumb, the square, the level and the Bible. The governmental patrons that commissioned the work of Gutherz were no more concerned about his art constituting a violation of the Establishment Cause then were the members of congress who took the time to read the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as they were reprinted on the inside cover of those Bibles that were distributed to servicemen during World War II. Again, America in the 1940’s is revealed as being a nation that was collectively embracing the Truth of God, rather than dismissing it as antiquated and limiting.

The fundamental essence of our corporate perspective on the First Amendment is defined by our national regard for Christ. It’s not a legal discussion only as much as it’s a reflection of who we are spiritually.

If we are to thrive and not just endure as a nation, it’s not a debate that needs to be won as much as it’s a revival that needs to occur. Traditionally, it’s only in times of crisis when our collective knees bow in worship and the indignation of those who want to remove Christian symbols from the marketplace is processed as an obstacle to the common good rather than a catalyst. If we are to enjoy the advantages that go along with being reverent without having to be alerted to our spiritual lethargy by something dramatic, then it’s only common sense to focus on what’s True and labor to influence those on the peripheral in that direction.

Again, it’s not our history that needs to be revisited, it’s our God that needs to be lifted up (Jn 12:32). Only then do our backgrounds and varying convictions blend together in a way that is Truly strong and enduring. Only then does our spiritual heritage come into focus in a way that is not tainted by a worldly desire to distance ourselves from the Author of our freedoms. Only then is our foundation set in the concrete that is truly American as opposed to the shifting sands of cultural whims and academic trends.

1. Religion and the Founding of the American Republic”, Dr. James H. Hutson, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 1998, p92
2. “John F. Kennedy: Remarks at a Dinner Honoring Nobel Peace Winners of the Western Hemisphere”, The American Presidency Project, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8623, accessed November 2, 2015
3. “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power”, John Meacham, Random House, New York, NY, 2012, p471
4. “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic”, Dr. James H. Hutson, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 1998, p99
5. Ibid, p109
6. “Connecticut in Transition, 1775-1818”, Richard Joseph Purcell, American Historical Association, 1918, p47
7. Among the laws that the Congregational Church used to make life difficult for dissenters was a “certificate law,” that compelled you to verify your church attendance and the regularity of your tithe via a certificate. Obtaining this certificate could be challenging in that, at one point during the life of this law, the certificate had to be signed by two civil officers or a justice of the peace. Since many of the the civil officers in place were Congregationalists, getting their signature was not accomplished without having to endure a significant amount of harassment and discouragement. For more reading on this subject, refer to “The Connecticut State Constitution”, Wesley W. Horton, Oxford University Press, 2012, p10
8. In an October 7, 1801, letter to then-president Jefferson, the Danbury (Connecticut) Baptists expressed concerns that the Congregationalist-dominated establishment / government in Connecticut might successfully stifle dissenting sects – theirs in particular. The letter carried the Danbury Baptists’ plea for Jefferson’s assistance, or at least the lending of Jefferson’s presidential stature, to thwart establishment-driven, government-sanctioned discrimination against religious minorities. “Freedom of Religion, the First Amendment, and the Supreme Court: How the Court Flunked History”, Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna, Louisiana, 2008, p176
9. “Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State”, New York University Press, NY, 2002, p47 (https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=aSg20UE2DHgC&pg=GBS.PT42.w.1.0.45.0.1, accessed Nov 17, 2015)
10. Twenty-eight percent of Americans believe the Bible is the actual word of God and that it should be taken literally. This is somewhat below the 38% to 40% seen in the late 1970s, and near the all-time low of 27% reached in 2001 and 2009. “Gallup”, “Three in Four Still See the Bible as the Word of God”, http://www.gallup.com/poll/170834/three-four-bible-word-god.aspx, accessed November 7, 2015
11. “Huffington Post”, “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore”, Steve McSwain, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-mcswain/why-nobody-wants-to-go-to_b_4086016.html, accessed November 7, 2015
12. Jefferson regularly attended church services in the hall of the House of Representatives. In addition, he allowed church services to be held in several federal buildings throughout the capitol on Sundays. Dr. James Hutson, in his book “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic,” states “It is no exaggeration to say that, on Sundays in Washington during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, the state became the church.” “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic”, Dr. James H. Hutson, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 1998, p91
13. Ibid, p84
14. “Founding Fathers: Brief Lives of the Framers of the United States Constitution”, M.E. Bradford, 1994, University Press of Kansas, p xvi (http://www.amazon.com/Founding-Fathers-Framers-Constitution-Revised/dp/0700606572/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449433424&sr=1-1#reader_0700606572) see also http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/qtable.htm)
15. “Original Intent: The Courts, The Constitution & Religion”, David Barton, Wallbuilder Press, Aldedo, TX, 2010, 152
16. “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic”, Dr. James H. Hutson, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 1998, p53
17. Ibid, p91
18. “One Nation Under God”, Eugene F. Hemrick, Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Indiana, 2001, p49
19. “A Nation Under God? The ACLU and Religion in American Politics”, Thomas L. Kranawitter, David C. Palm, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc, Oxford, UK, 2006, p39

Sanctified Violence

In the Old Testament, you’ve got men of renown – warrior kings and fighting prophets that trusted God and defeated their enemies with the Power and Perspective He provided.

Battlefield prowess was commended, an individual’s skill with a weapon was applauded. As a young man hearing these stories, you couldn’t help but be inspired by these real life champions and their accomplishments. You wanted be like them and be able to defeat your Goliath and stare down the lions in your world.

In the New Testament, you’ve got something quite different. Your principal characters are blue collar workers who quit their jobs to become full time missionaries – most of whom die a martyr’s death, presumably alone and penniless when they meet their end.

Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords doesn’t lead a military attack. He submits Himself to a very public and painful execution. And while the significance of His having defeated the power of sin and death can’t be overstated, it can be confusing for an individual who’s trying to understand the way in which the Bible would have a man overcome his enemy. Does he use a sling and a sword or a kind word and a hot meal? Does he defeat his enemy with the Strength that God provides or does he love his enemy and turn the other cheek?

The short answer is: Both.

A godly man, at the very least, is a diligent student of Scripture and studies the Bible as a whole, recognizing that all Scripture is god-breathed (2 Tim 2:15). To insist that the New Testament condemns violence of any sort or that the Old Testament is a collection of battlefield sins that God merely tolerated rather than acts of holy heroism that He empowered, is to read into the text dynamics and personal preferences that are simply not there.

This essay was written as way to demonstrate the fact that there is such a thing as “sanctified violence” and this is a part of one’s masculinity that can be embraced as both holy and righteous when it’s being deployed in a manner that promotes and protects His Truth.

I) Introduction

Alvin York was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the battle during the battle of Chatel-Chehery on October 8, 1918. Initially he hesitated when he received word that he was being drafted into the Army due to his belief that Christians should abstain from warfare and violence.

Thankfully, he was convinced otherwise and his efforts at Chatel-Chehery saved the lives of the seven men he led in the engagement as well a the Germans he took prisoner.

His struggle with the Scriptures pertaining to violence bring up an interesting question: Does the Bible command that we are not to ever take up arms against our enemies? Does Scipture say that we are to never fight against those who would do us harm?

Passionate interpretations abound, but those who would insist on a pacifist disposition often leave out the way in which God obviously endorsed and empowered the violence done by the Israelites in the context of various military operations.

This essay seeks to examine the whole of Scripture in an effort to determine what God’s take is on the use of force, not only for the nation contemplating military action, but also for the individual wrestling with the idea of using physical force to stop his opponent.

II) Scripture as a Whole

In Matthew 26:47-68 when Jesus said that those who live by the sword, die by the sword, it’s important to take into consideration Scripture in its entirety and not only bits and pieces to ensure a proper interpretation.

A) God Doesn’t’ Change His Mind

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Num 23:19)

God does not change. Some read the New Testament and insist that God is against any kind of violence and they cite Scriptures like Matthew 26:52-54 as evidence that we are to never take up arms to defend ourselves or to champion that which is right.

But there are other Scriptures that point very definitively to God’s endorsement of violence when it is He who is wielding the sword through the capable hands of a godly warrior. And those scenarios must be considered along with verses such as Matthew 26:52-24 in order to properly understand God’s Perspective and direction.

For example:

B) Old Testament Examples of God’s Endorsement of Violence

The Conquest of the Promised Land

²⁰ When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. ²¹ They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. (Josh 6:20-21)

¹ Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ² You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.” (Josh 8:1-2)

²⁴When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. ²⁶ For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. ²⁷ But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua. (Josh 8:24-27)

Five Amorite Kings

For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. (Josh 11:20)

List of Defeated Kings

Joshua 12 lists all of those kings who were defeated by the Israelites. These victories were accomplished as a result of combat and not diplomacy.

In Psalm 44:3, the Psalmist praises God for His having worked through the hands of the Israelites to secure their military victories…

It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them. (Psalm 44:3)

You see the same kind of sentiment in Psalm 18…

He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet. (Psalm 18:34, 39)

It is God’s Strength and Spirit that is credited for the military victories enjoyed by the Israelites.

In addition to the conquest of the Promised Land, you have other examples such as:

Building the Wall

Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. (Neh 4:13)

Skilled With a Sling

Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. (Judges 20:16)

Combat Training

These are the nations the LORD left in order to test Israel, since none of these Israelites had fought in any of the wars with Canaan. ²This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites [how to fight in] battle, especially those who had not fought before. (Judges 3:1-2)

David’s defense of the Israelites at Keilah

¹When David was told, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,” ² he inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The LORD answered him, “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” (1 Sam 23:1-2)

Saul commanded by God to attack the Amalekites>

¹Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. ² This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. ³ Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy [a] everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ (1 Sam 15:1-3)

The fact of the matter is, “violence” is like fire. It can be used to cook your food, or it can burn your house down. Violence is defined as either heroism or criminal activity depending on the motive.

C) The New Testament – A Different Dynamic

In the New Testament, you have a different dynamic. Jesus did not come to conquer the Roman government; rather He came to conquer the power of sin. Given the nature of His mission, “violence” was not going to be needed. That does not mean that the kind of violence that God supported and empowered in the Old Testament is now no longer necessary or noble. The fact of the matter is, just like the Character of God didn’t change, neither did the need for “sanctified” violence.

When Jesus told the disciples to put their swords away in Matthew 26:52-24, He was:

Ensuring that prophecy would be fulfilled and that His voluntary death and miraculous resurrection would be allowed to proceed.
Protecting them. Two swords between 11 apostles was no match for a band of armed soldiers.
Setting a precedent. Christianity is to be communicated with gentleness and respect and not at the tip of a sword. He was not issuing a new command to abstain from any kind of violence.

In the New Testament, Christ’s Mission, as has been stated before, was to reconcile man to God and in that vein, would not require or use violence to get the job done.

1) You’re Going to Need a Sword

But while Jesus would not use force to accomplish His Mandate, as God He cannot be anything other than consistent in all things, which includes His previously stated disposition towards sanctified violence. That disposition is revealed in the Old Testament in the context of the various battles that God won through the Israelites. In Luke, you can see it implied when He encourages His disciples to get a sword. He goes as far as to say that if they don’t, have one, to sell their cloak and go buy one.

^36-37He said, “This is different. Get ready for trouble. Look to what you’ll need; there are difficult times ahead. Pawn your coat and get a sword. What was written in Scripture, ‘He was lumped in with the criminals,’ gets its final meaning in me. Everything written about me is now coming to a conclusion.” (Luke 22:36-37 [MSG])

The NIV Text Note reads:

buy one An extreme figure of speech used to warn them of the perilous times about to come. They could need defense and protection, as Paul did when he appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:11) as the one who “bears the sword” (Rom 13:4 )

There are several schools of thought reinforced with compelling sounding commentaries that insist that God is a Pacifist and that Jesus was a nice guy who would never think of picking up a sword.

The Intervarsity Press has this commentary on the passage in Luke where Jesus refers to swords:

They must now expect that their enemies would be more fierce than they had been, and they would need weapons. At the time the apostles understood Christ to mean real weapons, but he spake only of the weapons of the spiritual warfare. The sword of the Spirit is the sword with which the disciples of Christ must furnish themselves. (Lu 22:39-46)

But Jesus said to sell your cloak and go buy a sword if you didn’t have one. He’s referring to a weapon – something tangible that can be purchased. The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is not “bought,” as much as it is read and obeyed. The context of Christ’s Words do not allow for an interpretation other than His saying that the disciples would need weapons.

2) Turn the Other Cheek

Another common argument against the use of force would be the way in which Christ’s directions to “turn the other cheek” are interpreted to mean that you respond to an attack by simply giving your attacker yet another opportunity to harm you, perhaps even destroy you.

You have the passage in Matthew…

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'[g] ³⁹But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matt 5:39)

…and in Luke:

²⁷“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:27-31)

Both passages begin by establishing the context of Jesus’ words by referring to the statute in the law of Moses where the punishment was to fit the crime. Centuries later, additional stipulations had been added making it seemingly correct to counter any indignity or offense to be countered with something in kind.

In many ways, Jesus is saying to take the high road. Should someone offend you or insult you, He’s saying to get over it. However, He is not saying to not defend yourself or to never fight. In this passage, He’s referring to an assault on your dignity and not an attack on your person. A slap on the cheek was considered an insult, not a physical attack. Consider Lamentations 3:30:

³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. (Lam 3:30 [see also 1 Kings 22:24; Is 50:6])

The commentary provided by the InterVarsity Press reinforces the point of a slap in the face was considered an indignity, not an assault:

As in much of Jesus’ teaching, pressing his illustration the wrong way may obscure his point. In fact, this would read Scripture the very way he was warning against: if someone hits us in the nose, or has already struck us on both cheeks, are we finally free to hit back? Jesus gives us a radical example so we will avoid retaliation, not so we will explore the limits of his example (see Tannehill 1975:73). A backhanded blow to the right cheek did not imply shattered teeth (tooth for tooth was a separate statement); it was an insult, the severest public affront to a person’s dignity (Lam 3:30; Jeremias 1963:28 and 1971:239). God’s prophets sometimes suffered such ill-treatment (1 Kings 22:24; Is 50:6). Yet though this was more an affront to honor, a challenge, than a physical injury, ancient societies typically provided legal recourse for this offense within the lex talionis regulations (Pritchard 1955:163, 175; see also Gaius Inst. 3.220). (“Avoid Retribution and Resistance”, IVP Commentary, accessed April, 2 2009)

The bottom line is that this passage has Jesus not changing the Law or issuing a new Divine Perspective on violence, rather He was repairing the damage done that had been done to the Law. “An eye for an eye” had been perverted into something beyond ensuring that the punishment fit the crime, now it was being used to justify getting even, however insignificant the infraction may be.

Again, the context this passage, both culturally and theologically, is dealing with attacks on one’s character and pride, not physical abuses.

Two things Christ teaches us here:1. We must not be revengeful (v. 39); I say unto you, that ye resist not evil; —the evil person that is injurious to you. The resisting of any ill attempt upon us, is here as generally and expressly forbidden, as the resisting of the higher powers is (Rom. 13:2); and yet this does not repeal the law of self-preservation, and the care we are to take of our families; we may avoid evil, and may resist it, so far as is necessary to our own security; but we must not render evil for evil, must not bear a grudge, nor avenge ourselves, nor study to be even with those that have treated us unkindly, but we must go beyond them by forgiving them, Prov. 20:22; 24:29; 25:21, 22; Rom. 12:7. (Matthew Henry)

So while turning the other cheek is very much a part of the Christian approach to confrontation, it is not to be confused with the notion that God frowns on defending yourself.

3) Love Your Enemies and Bless Those Who Persecute You

The first part of the Matthew and Luke passages talk about treating your enemy with love and compassion. The Message offers a great paraphrase of the Matthew text:

^43-47“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. ⁴⁸“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” (Matt 5:43-48)

Some will walk away from this passage and take it to mean that you are to never defend yourself or to never take up arms against a warring nation. Again, it’s crucial to consider Scripture as a whole and dispatch a perspective that is comprehensive as opposed to exclusive when attempting to mine the meaning of Christ’s words.

First off, this isn’t the first time God has admonished His people to treat their enemies with kindness and consideration.

“If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. (Ex 23:4)

Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as an alien in his country. (Dt 23:7)

But while God has said, for example, not to abhor an Edomite, in 1 Chronicles you have David triumphing over 18,000 Edomites:

¹² Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The LORD gave David victory everywhere he went. (1 Chron 18:12-13)

And while God tells the Israelites not to abhor an Egyptian, 2 Samuel relays the exploits of Benaiah:

²⁰ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²¹ And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. ²² Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men. (2 Sam 23:20-22)

Benaiah (pronounced bee –NIGH –uh) would be distinctive, not only in his military prowess, but also in the way he supported Solomon’s succession to the throne (1 Kings 1-2) and his ultimately replacing Joab as commander of Israel’s armies (1 Kings 2:35).

As has been mentioned before, God works through the swords and shields of his people to do his bidding in the context of sanctified violence. And just like turning the other cheek doesn’t mean that we are allow an intruder to harm our family, loving your enemy and blessing those who persecute you does not negate the appropriate use of force when your enemy is engaged in something that goes beyond insulting rhetoric or offensive gestures.

The question then is, “How do you profess to treat your enemy as a ‘child of God’ when you’re actively engaged in killing him?” The same question could be raised in the context of capital punishment: How is mercy being manifested in the execution of a criminal?

The answer lies in two main ideas:

Remembering that your enemy is a child of God
You treat your enemy humanely. Since we are all made in God’s image, it is then possible to find something good in everyone. That’s at least some of what lies behind God’s command to not abhor an Edomite or an Egyptian. In the instance of the Egyptians, they were the host country of the Israelites for centuries. In the case of the Edomites, they were related (Edom was Esau, brother the Jacob).

However heinous your enemy may be, they are nevertheless a “creation” of God and are therefore entitled to being handled as such. Matthew Henry:

Note, it is the great duty of Christians to love their enemies; we cannot have complacency in one that is openly wicked and profane, nor put a confidence in one that we know to be deceitful; nor are we to love all alike; but we must pay respect to the human nature, and so far honour all men: we must take notice, with pleasure, of that even in our enemies which is amiable and commendable; ingenuousness, good temper, learning, and moral virtue, kindness to others, profession of religion, etc., and love that, though they are our enemies. (commentary on Matthew 5)

As a child of God, a person is deserving of humane treatment. However compelling the temptation may be to make your adversary suffer, you don’t see any trace of Israel exacting tortuous tactics on their enemy, and that is the template that we must follow.

Bear in mind, however, that once an enemy had proved themselves to be worthy of death, rarely did you see that enemy spared. While you don’t see Israel ever torturing their enemy, Israel nevertheless decimated their foes.

They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it – men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. (Jos 6:21)

When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those where were in it. Twelve thousand men and women fell that day – all the people of Ai. (Josh 8:24-25)

Then Joshua struck and killed the kings and hung them on five trees, and they were left hanging on the trees until evening…That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left not survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. (Josh 10:26, 28)

The Lord also gave that city and it s king into Israel’s hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. (Josh 10:30)

³² The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. 33 Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left. ³⁴ Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. ³⁵ They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish. ³⁶ Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. ³⁷ They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it. ³⁸ Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. ³⁹ They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron. (Josh 10:32-39)

¹² Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded. ¹³ Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned. ¹⁴ The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed. ¹⁵ As the LORD commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses. (Josh 11:12-15)

It should be noted that the battles Israel engaged in were not about the acquisition of wealth and plunder, as much as it was about God’s wrath being poured out on the Canaanites for their idolatry and rebellious acts:

⁴ After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you. ⁵ It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Dt 9:4-5 [see also Dt 7:16; Josh 1:20])

The Canaanites were created by God as were all of the other peoples that He slated for destruction. While His love for them remained constant, so did His sense of Justice. While His Love is represented in His not wanting anyone to perish (2 Pet 3:9), His Justice was made manifest in the guilty being punished.

You can see the same dynamic in the New Testament. While God’s Love and Mercy knows no limitations, His Justice remains Perfect and Immutable.

But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish. (2 Pet 2:12)

These men being referred to in 2 Peter are the same people being referred to in chapter 3, as far as God not wanting anyone to perish. But, the man who has willfully turned his back on God and gone on to commit rebellious acts will be punished. The punishment he receives is due to the fact that he chose not to accept God’s Mercy, not because God’s Love do not apply or was withheld.

If “loving my enemy” results in a disposition that excuses any and all wrongdoing, that its no longer love. While love keeps no record of wrongs, it does not “delight in evil” (1 Cor 13:6), nor does it attempt to re-define wrongful behavior as a noble act or something that don’t merit punishment.

God is love (1 Jn 4:16), but He is also just (Nah 1:3; 2 Thess 1:8-10). Insisting that His Love can somehow be perverted into a disposition that overlooks any and all wrongdoing is to lessen His Just nature and to cheapen His Grace.

A.W. Tozer in his book, “That Incredible Christian” says this:

Truth is like a bird; it cannot fly on one wing. Yet we are forever trying to take off with one wing flapping furiously and the other tucked neatly out of sight.

I believe it was Dr. G. Campbell Morgan who said that the whole truth does not lie in “It is written,” but in “It is written” and “Again it is written.” The second text must be placed over against the first to balance it and give it symmetry, just as the right wing must work along with the left to balance the bird and enable it to fly.

Many of the doctrinal divisions among the churches are the result of a blind and stubborn insistence that truth has but one wing. Each side holds tenaciously to one text, refusing grimly to acknowledge the validity of the other. This error is an evil among churches, but it is a real tragedy when it gets into the hearts of individual Christians ad begins to affect their devotional lives.

Lack of balance in the Christian life is often the direct consequence of overemphasis on certain texts, with a corresponding underemphasis on other related ones. For it is not denial only that makes a truth void; failure to emphasize it will in the long run be equally damaging. And this puts us in the odd position of holding a truth theoretically while we make it of no effect by neglecting it in practice. Unused truth become as useless as an unused muscle. (“That Incredible Christian”, A.W. Tozer, p59, Christian Publications,Inc. Harrisburg, PA, 1964)

The same kind of thing is being referred to in the book of Ecclesiastes:

¹⁶ Do not be overrighteous, be overwise— why destroy yourself? ¹⁷ Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time? ¹⁸ It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes. (Ecc 7:16-18)

To “love your enemy” in a way that ignores Justice and accommodates whatever wrongdoing they would exact upon the world around them, is to substitute God’s Love with a human license to engage in any kind of criminal or unethical behavior without fear of punishment. The person who dispatches that kind of love is, as A.W. Tozer described, “…flying on one wing.”

It is not either / or, rather it is both / and. To love my enemy the way Jesus commanded and the way which God demonstrated means that I love them as one who has been created in the image of my Heavenly Father and therefore deserving of any and all godly considerations. It also means that when their behavior places them in the category of a criminal or a threat, I take whatever steps are necessary to protect the innocent and ensure the proper dispatch of justice. That approach accommodates the whole of Scripture as opposed to that perspective that emphasizes only a portion of the Bible and ignores the rest.

III) Conclusion – A Balanced Approach

The balanced approach (see Ecc 7:16-18) to all this seems to point to two definitive Truths:

Christianity is communicated and proliferated through one’s witness and not one’s weapons.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Cor 10:4)

¹⁵But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15-16 [emphasis added])

Violence has been and can be used by God to accomplish His Purposes. That being the case, it is wrong to say that all violence is sinful and has no place in a Christian mindset. Championing and defending God’s Agenda is both noble and a manifestation of being obedient to God’s Directions.

In conclusion then, Judges 3:1-2 makes it clear that God placed a premium on making sure that the Israelites knew how to fight. It makes sense given the number of times Israel was called upon to strap on their swords and do battle with the enemies of God. In the New Testament, while Jesus does make it clear that to be reckless and hasty in resolving to remedy any and all disputes with a weapon is foolish (Those who live by the sword, die by the sword [Matt 26:52]), and He encourages believers to respond to insults and offenses by “turning the other cheek,” the context and verbiage of His admonishing the disciples to arm themselves taken along with God’s obvious endorsement of military force in the Old Testament compellingly demonstrates the Truth and Biblical place of “sanctified violence.”

Know how to fight, understand and practice the difference between justice and revenge and seek God’s Direction in all things so that however your enemy may confront you, whether with words or weapons, your response is indicative of Who you serve. That’s the difference between the violence that is done out of fear and pride as opposed to the violence that is truly sanctified.

For further reading, refer to the links below:

Self-Defense (gotquestions.org) | What’s the Christian Position Related to the Use of Deadly Force? | Islam, Syrian Refugees and How to Love Your Enemy

Keep Reading

A Destitute Disposition

Have you ever considered the number of Praise and Worship choruses that highlight a destitute disposition? Take a look:

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more (10,000 Reasons)Lord, I come, I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
And without You I fall apart
You’re the One that guides my heart (Lord, I Need You)

It’s like a constant war
And you want to settle that score
But you’re bruised and beaten
And you feel defeated (It’s Not Over Yet)Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see (Amazing Grace)

Here are some more…

Lift your head weary sinner, the river’s just ahead
Down the path of forgiveness, salvation’s waiting there
You built a mighty fortress 10,000 burdens high
Love is here to lift you up, here to lift you high (Lift Your Head Weary Sinner)You hold my very moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease (Healer)

Toiling on, toiling on,
Toiling on, toiling on,
Let us hope, let us watch,
And labor till the Master comes (To the Work)So take me as you find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again (Mighty to Save)

A Lot of Press…

Now, hang on…

It is entirely appropriate to recall the distance that stands between who we were as spiritual corpses and who we are now as regenerated souls (Eph 2:1, 5). As a matter of fact, when you factor in the Lord’s Supper and the Scriptures that admonish a perpetual attitude of gratitude and humility, it’s evident that acknowledging who we were before Christ is more than a mere courtesy, it’s an act of obedience that we’re commanded to perform in order to maintain a healthy perspective on who we are in Christ (Rom 12:3; 1 Cor 11:26; 1 Thess 5:16-18).

The problem isn’t acknowledging who we were or what we are when we’re choosing to keep all He offers at an arm’s distance. The problem is that, in some instances, there’s a greater emphasis on the darkness of the past as opposed to the bright and motivating scenario we have right in front of us.

Even the way in which the gospel is presented sometimes employs a similar approach to what’s being accomplished as far as “eternal life.” Yes, the problem is sin and the resulting sentence that is certain to be delivered on Judgment Day is a given (Heb 9:27; Rev 20:15). The Scriptures are clear – you need to be born again in order to ensure that when the results are tallied, you are welcomed into Heaven as opposed to being condemned to an eternity of suffering (Jn 3:3, 16). But if that’s the the principal, if not the only, impetus for asking Christ into your heart, then it’s all about avoiding the lake of fire and that’s what gets filed away in the mind of the person who accepts Jesus as their Savior. If you ask them, even years after the fact, “Why would a person want to be saved?” their response will often center around getting their “get out of jail free” card and that’s it.

The bottom line is that there’s a lot of press given to the desperate plight that is ours apart from Christ. And while it’s not wrong or unhealthy to recognize the stark and morbid condition of our lives sans the Power and grace of God, one needs to keep reading in order to ensure a comprehensive appreciation for all that a relationship with Christ brings to the table.

Keep Reading

In Romans 7:24-25, Paul says:

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24)

You’ve got to wonder if Peter didn’t have the same kind of thoughts running through his mind after having sworn up and down that he didn’t even know Who Jesus was on the night He was crucified (Matt 26:69-75). This is a man who insisted that he would die before he disowned his Master.

Shame.

By the 21st chapter of John, Peter has seen, not only the empty tomb, He has seen Jesus in Person. In Luke 24:24, Jesus appeared to him personally and he was with all the other disciples sans Thomas in John 20 when Jesus appeared to them as a group. His disposition has improved dramatically since the night of the crucifixion, but he has yet to sit down with Christ and address the thing that’s been gnawing at him for the last several days – the fact that he deserted his King in every sense of the word on the night it mattered most.

Guilt.

In John 21:15-17, Jesus asks Peter a total of three times whether or not he loved his Savior to coincide with the number of times Peter insisted that the two of them had never crossed paths. In so doing, He reinstates Peter and the guilt that was weighing on him is removed, but…

By the second chapter of Acts, there are about 120 people that are meeting with Peter and the other disciples. While they’re praying and worshiping, they’re keeping a fairly low profile. Despite they’re having been profoundly impressed and encouraged by the fact their Messiah has risen from the grave, they’re not being especially vocal about it given the fact that Jesus is still perceived by the Jewish and Roman establishment as a heretic and a traitor.

Fear.

Guilt, shame and fear have been assaulting the psyche of Peter for the last month and a half. There have been dramatic spikes of relief and validation, but Pete is still light years removed from being willing to boldly and publicly assert a dead man’s doctrine as being the Way, the Truth and the Life.

But that changes in the second verse of Acts 2. The Mindset, the Manner and the emotional Muscle of God is imparted to Peter and everyone else in the room and in that moment they are fundamentally changed. Whereas a moment ago, Peter was hesitant, if not legitimately scared, of saying anything publicly for fear of the Sanhedrin, he’s now speaking in front of a large crowd of people, 3,000 of which are so sold on what he has to say that they become followers of Christ on the spot. And Peter’s guilt and the shame that had been alleviated is now eliminated entirely (Rom 8:1-2).

Do Great Things

The Mindset, the Manner and the emotional Muscle of God. In other words, His Spirit. That’s the Divine Signature of the believer. If you’ve got His Spirit living in you, you’re born again. If not, you ain’t (Rom 8:9).

The way you think, the way you behave and the way you feel is now founded on the same Holy Strength that put the planets in place and made the heart of Jesus begin to beat again after being lifeless for three days (1 Cor 8:6; Eph 1:18-21; Col 1:27). You haven’t been merely “improved,” you’ve been completely remade (2 Cor 5:17). What was dead is now alive (Eph 2:1; 5). You and I have been spiritually raised up from a lifeless, prone position to an upright stance in order that we may…

…wait for it…

Do great things!

Look…

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:10)

The Greek word “workmanship” is “poeima,” which is where we get our word “poem” from. As redeemed individuals, you could say we’re Divine works of art made to do great things.

And there’s more…

^11-14“Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do. (Jn 14:12-14 [The Message])

Now, before you regulate the sphere of “great things” to be nothing other than the quiet acts of profound service that are usually envisioned when the term “great things” is referenced in the context of a faith based paradigm, recognize that we’re commanded to do all things with all our might and as unto the Lord (Ecc 9:10; Col 3:17, 23). If you connect those dots in the most practical fashion, you’ve got someone who’s good at what they do (Prov 22:29), who’s got a good work ethic (Eph 6:7) and is a person of integrity (Prov 11:1).

That’s Not a Scoreboard, That’s a Billboard

Do you smell that? That’s the aroma of someone you not only want to hire, that’s someone you want to promote! Why? Because they’re not just present, they’re engaged. They don’t just “do their job” and expect to be applauded, they do it with a passionate resolve to be excellent and they do it that way regardless if someone’s looking or not. And when they make a mistake, they own it (Matt 5:23).

They enthusiastically embrace every waking moments of our lives as opportunities to excel because to them, it’s not a scoreboard, it’s a billboard. It’s not just a salary, it’s a seed and it’s not just a job, it’s a calling. Everything is processed from the standpoint of what’s going to last and when you do that, God is not a file folder, He’s the filing cabinet. Everything resonates as “meaningful” and “on purpose (Ps 139:16; Phil 2:13).” Even when things are going south, you can maintain a legitimately even and optimistic disposition because you’re never a victim of random circumstances. There’s a Plan in place, a God in charge and a day to embrace as an opportunity to, not just make an appearance, but to make a difference (Ps 2:1-6; Jer 29:11; Col 1:16).

There’s a subtle notion out there that positions success as secular – that the marketplace constitutes nothing more than a place for ministry at best and a lethal distraction at worst. That’s not consistent with the whole of Scripture. Certainly there are verses that warn against the love of money and the inevitable consequences of greed (Ps 10:3; Matt 6:24; Lk 12:15; 1 Tim 6:9-10). But there are several prominent individuals in Scripture that were both godly and wealthy. These individuals were neither conflicted nor condemned because of having access to a sizable income (Abraham [Gen 13:2], Jacob [Gen 36:6-7], David [1 Chron 29:28], Joseph of Arimathaea [Matt 27:57], Lydia [Acts 16:11-15], Barnabas [Acts 4:36-37]). Dr Glenn Sunshine makes a great point when he says “Although Scripture has some very harsh things to say about the wealthy, this does not mean that all of them are evil or under divine judgment. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job were rich and yet were also approved by God. Just as poverty doesn’t guarantee virtue, wealth does not guarantee vice.” The issue, from a biblical standpoint, is not your paycheck, rather it’s your priorities.

So How Did it Go?

Consider Matthew 5:16:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16)

The sudden installing of an unknown prisoner in high office has often been thought hard to believe, and has been pointed to as proof of the legendary character of the story. But the ground on which Pharaoh put it goes far to explain it. He and his servants had come to believe that’ God^‘ spoke through this man, that ‘the Spirit of God’ was in him. So here was a divinely sent messenger, whom it would be impiety and madness to reject. Observe that Pharaoh and Joseph both speak in this chapter of ‘God.’ There was a common ground of recognition of a divine Being on which they met. The local colour of the story indicates a period before the fuller revelation, which drew so broad a line of demarcation between Israel and the other nations. (“The Book of Genesis” [commentary by Alexander Maclaren])

Joseph represents a great illustration of that verse. When he was sold into slavery, his first master was Potiphar. It says in Genesis 39:3-4 that Potiphar recognized that God was him. That doesn’t mean that Potiphar worshiped God, as much as it means that he appreciated the talent and integrity of Joseph. Several chapters later, Pharaoh sees the same thing and responds by putting Joseph in charge of Egypt (Gen 41:37-38).

Think about this: This particular Pharaoh had put his chief baker to death not more than one chapter ago. We’re not sure why, but traditionally rulers – especially pagan rulers – are the sort where if you impress them as being a threat or even an irritant, your future was anything but certain. Yet, this same Pharaoh promotes an obscure prisoner to Prime Minister – an individual who, according to Pharaoh, will wield a degree of power that will be second only to his authority. That’s not a decision made by someone who’s predisposed to view anyone with talent and charisma as a potential problem. But with Joseph, Pharaoh sees a plethora of talent as well as moral excellence – a combination so extraordinary that both Pharaoh and his court were convinced that the philosophical machinery that propelled Joseph was nothing short of Divine (Gen 41:39).

It wasn’t a difficult conclusion to arrive at. Did you catch what Joseph’s reply was to Pharaoh when he said that he had a dream that no one could interpret? He references his magicians and how their wisdom has proved unequal to the task but then – talking to Joseph – he said, “I hear you can do it.”

This is a perfect opportunity for Joseph to position himself where all of the forthcoming accolades are bestowed upon him and him alone. But what does he say?

“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” (Gen 41:16)

Joseph has a resolve in place to give credit where it is due, regardless of how seemingly appropriate it might be to take a bow himself. His priority is to step aside rather than to stand in front.

That’s noble.

Given the fact that Joseph was scheduled to return to prison just as soon as this little rendezvous was over, to be that aggressive in graciously deflecting any applause to his God is indicative of the kind of character that is truly rare. But then Joseph goes on to accurately interpret Pharaoh’s dream.

That’s impressive.

But what sells both Pharaoh and the court is Joseph’s obvious affinity for administration.

That’s a game-changer.

However Joseph’s spirituality and character were appreciated, it was Joseph’s plan that resulted in him being promoted (Gen 41:37).

Again, it’s a situation where you’ve got to keep reading. If you stop at verse 16, Joseph is reverent. If you stop at verse 32, Joseph is insightful. But when you read verse 33 and beyond, you’ve got a man who’s capable. And not just qualified, but legitimately gifted.

This is the total package that stands before Pharaoh: Character and Talent. Joseph lights up the room. Not because of who Joseph is but because of Who God is in and through Joseph. And it’s the fact that Joseph has the character and the godliness to remove whatever self-centered tendencies would otherwise dim the Power of God radiating through him that allows the compelling Light of God’s Substance to shine as bright as it does.

That’s who Joseph is. It’s not a role that he acts out when it’s strategically advantageous to do so. Can you imagine the conversation Joseph had with his fellow inmates when he went back to prison to pick up whatever belongings he had prior to reporting back to Pharaoh where he would begin his new vocation as Prime Minister of Egypt?

(inmates) “How did it go?

(Joseph) “Pretty good!”

(inmates) “What happened?”

(Joseph) “Well…you’re not going to believe this…”

I’m willing to bet that the inmates were not that surprised.

…more about your Billboard

• Keep Reading
• What Would Your Billboard Say? (Part I)
• What Would Your Billboard Say? (Part II)
• What Would Your Billboard Say? (Part III)
• What If?
• Your Billboard

As the Moon Reflects the Sun…

The bottom line is like the moon reflects the light of the sun, Joseph was a reflection of the Excellence of God. And that, crime-stoppers, is why you and I were born again – to reflect the Excellence of God in all things – to do “good works” in a way that makes every Pharaoh we encounter prone to take notice and to take notes (Prov 27:19; Eph 2:10; Matt 5:16; 1 Cor 10:31; 2 Cor 9:8). In that way, while they notice our resume, even more importantly, they’re drawn to our King.

But it’s hard to pull that off, though, when you allow yourself to linger in that zone where the emphasis is on who you were apart from Christ rather then the person who is because of Christ.

Keep reading.

It’s not about your past, it’s about today and what God’s prepared to do in you and through you. Stop rehearsing the darkness and start performing according to the Power that lives in you. That’s your mandate, that’s your purpose!

And when you’re inclined to focus more on yourself and your circumstances sans the One Who created you and directs those circumstances to begin with…

Keep reading!

1. “Institute for Faith, Work and Economics”, “Rich and Poor”, Dr. Glenn Sunshine, https://tifwe.org/part-1-2/, accessed September 23, 2015

Ten Questions for Atheists

Here’s my thought: You remove God from the equation and the questions that are otherwise answered according to a biblically based dynamic are now responded to with horrendous probability values, concepts that bend the laws of Nature rather than explain them, and philosophical arguments that do not match what we know about the human experience.

In short, you’ve got to do a lot of intellectual scrambling to make up for the lack of substance that characterizes an atheist’s perspective on life. Take a look at the following questions and you tell me…

1) Where did you get your gravity from?

The origin of the cosmos, from the standpoint of the atheist, comes about as a result of a lucky collision of random elements. Then, thanks to the properties of gravity, physics, chemistry and so on, the elegant intricacies of life begin to surface. But where did you get your gravity from? Everything about your explanation is predicated on the preexistence of ordered systems within which your raw materials can combine and form into more complicated life forms. But you never attempt to explain who or what put the science in place that produces your end result.

2) How does a vacuum cleaner become a drummer?

If the starting point for life was something basic that then evolved into a thinking organism with a unique personality and capable of artistic expression, then at some point your “matter” is no longer a mere collection of molecules. It has somehow become both material and non-material and you’ve redefined the essential composition of what matter is. “Panpsychism” is not a new theory, but it borders on the absurd given the lack of evidence there is to support it.

3) Where is your fossil record?

When Darwin first published his theory of evolution, he admitted that the fossil record that was needed in order to substantiate his theory was sorely lacking. Chapter Nine of his book “Origin of Species” is dedicated to what constitutes the most glaring discrepancy of his theory. He says “Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely-graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory.”¹ He goes on to explain that it’s not his theory that is flawed, rather it’s the geological record.

“Origin of Species” was published in 1859. The fossil record is no more conclusive now as it was 150 years ago. “Java Man,” the iconic image of man’s supposed distant ancestor, is a creative extrapolation based on three teeth, a skull cap and a femur.² It is not even remotely close to a complete skeleton, nor are the other hypothetical half man / half ape intermediaries that fill the textbooks of biology classes throughout the nation. The archaeopteryx (ar-key-OPT-er-icks), the fossil remains of a bizarre looking bird discovered in 1861, is unreservedly embraced by many proponents of Darwin’s theories as a conclusive example of a transitional life form, bridging the gap between reptiles and birds. The problem, however, is that birds are very different from reptiles in terms of their breeding system, their bone structure, their lungs and their distribution of weight and muscles. The fact that you have a reptilian look bird doesn’t qualify it as a reptile when it is fundamentally a bird.³

Michael Denton, in his book, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, sums it up by saying:

…[T]he universal experience of paleontology…[is that] while the rocks have continually yielded new and exciting and even bizarre life forms of life…what they have never yielded is any of Darwin’s myriads of transitional forms. Despite the tremendous increase in geological activity in every corner of the globe and despite the discovery of many strange and hitherto unknown forms, the infinitude of connecting links has still not been discovered and the fossil record is about as discontinuous as it was when Darwin was writing the Origin. The intermediaries have remained as elusive as ever and their absence remains, a century later, one of the most striking characteristics of the fossil record.⁴

4) What’s the point of your existence?

That may sound kind of abrupt, but think about it: If the fact that you have a pulse is due to nothing more than a fortuitous and altogether random pileup of chemical materials, then you have no real role to play. Your presence in the cosmos is entirely inconsequential – you don’t matter to the storyline because there is no storyline and you’re just an insignificant bump in the road.

You might respond with a noble sentiment that says you’re here to do as much “good” as you can do, or you might feel liberated to be as self serving as you can possibly be. But, again, if there’s nothing intentional behind the structure of the universe, then even the very definition of what’s “good” becomes subjective. In the absence of a definitive standard, what resonates as a positive to one person is perceived as a problem to another.

In short, it’s all pointless. There’s nothing truly worthwhile that endures and you are nothing more than dust on a windy street.

5) How would you defend Darwin’s regard for Africans?

This is a little awkward:

At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla.⁵

Darwin saw Africans as being inferior to Caucasians. In his mind, from a scientific standpoint, Negroes were similar to gorillas in that they were an evolutionary precursor to Europeans. Given Darwin’s prestige as the iconic champion of Evolutionary Theory, no doubt this is something you agree with.

6) What makes your definition of “moral behavior” superior to mine?

While Hitler’s approach to the Jewish people today is regarded as unconscionable, in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s many perceived it as scientifically sound. Germany’s “Society for Racial Hygiene” was Darwinian as far as its philosophical foundation and the ruthless acts committed in the context of the Holocaust were endorsed by some of the greatest German minds of that time as being a reasonable compliment to the forces of Natural Selection.⁶

Hitler’s approach worked for him and those who were like minded because they weren’t Jewish. But what if Adolf Hitler had been born a Jew? Would he have been as passionate in his belief that his race was inferior to those with blond hair and blue eyes? Probably not. But how would he have pleaded his case? If he was on the short end of Darwin’s evolutionary stick, how would he have convinced Germany’s scientific think tank that his brand of “moral behavior” was superior to their clinical justification for murder?

In the absence of an Absolute moral standard, the basis for one’s behavior is now more about what’s preferred as opposed to what’s right, and the code of ethics that is established for the community is established by those who are more persuasive rather than those who are more wise.

7) At what point do you admit that your theories are based on impossible scenarios?

Scientists have concluded that the chances of a single protein molecule coming together by chance is 1 in 10⁴⁵⁰ power. These are the sort of probability values upon which you build your entire approach to life, morality and all the intangibles that constitute the human experience. Is that your idea of a credible philosophical foundation?⁷

8) What makes your explanation of the origin of the cosmos any less “faith based” than mine?

You believe that something can come from nothing, that order can proceed from chaos and, given enough time, a plant can develop a personality. In other words, you subscribe to a doctrine that transcends the natural world as we know it, which is the essence of the term “supernatural.”

In the absence of the concrete evidence required to substantiate your theories, like Darwin, you have “faith” that science will one day vindicate your convictions.

Regardless of how you attempt to veil your paradigm in academic sounding verbiage, your arguments are ultimately founded on a metaphysical platform and not an empirical one. When it comes to the origin of the cosmos, you believe in processes and forces that don’t exist. If your aversion to including a Judeo-Christian perspective in the conversation pertaining to the creation of the universe is due to the fact that one must have “faith” in order to subscribe to such a thing, then what prevents you from disqualifying yourself given the fact that your approach is no less subjective?

9) Why does the tone of the conversation change anytime the name “Jesus Christ” is mentioned?

You can talk about any religious figure that has ever graced the world stage and the tone of the conversation remains comfortably academic. But mention the name Jesus Christ and something changes. People start getting a little uncomfortable.

Why?

If Christ is nothing more than either a ridiculous fairy tale or a self-serving promotion designed to advance the fortunes of charlatans posing as pastors, then why does the very mention of Jesus’ Name reverberate in a manner that makes people look down and take a sudden in interest in their shoes?

10) If the Bible is nothing more than a massive PR campaign, then why make Peter a coward, Moses a murderer and Jacob a liar?

Why include all of the flaws and shortcomings belonging to the principal characters of Scripture? If Christianity is nothing more than a massive PR campaign, then how do you explain what is obviously a nonsensical decision as far as discrediting the heroes of the Bible by detailing their weaknesses and bad decisions?

Peter denied that He even knew Christ while talking to a servant girl. He wasn’t even conversing with someone of stature. He caved in the face of talking with a girl that was probably young enough to be his daughter (Matt 26:69-70). Moses was guilty of murder (Ex 2:11-12) and Jacob was a liar (Gen 27:19). Compare that to the way even Muhammad’s fingernail clippings and hairs were fought over by his followers.⁸

Scripture presents human beings as they are and not the way in which an intentionally misleading commercial would attempt to play down the undesirable characteristics of its main characters. Furthermore, the Bible invites questions and acknowledges its absurdity should its central theme prove false (Is 1:18, 1 Cor 15:19, 2 Pet 1:16). In short, this is hardly the verbiage of a text attempting to mislead its reader.

Conclusion

No doubt, there will always be those that simply refuse to believe. At the end of the day, it’s a spiritual dynamic that’s being engaged, which doesn’t always fit neatly within the confines of a box defined by purely empirical parameters.

But…

The existence of God can be recognized (Rom 1:20), the Reality of Christ can be observed (Acts 26:25-27) and His Gospel can be understood (Jn 6:65; 1 Cor 2:12; Jas 1:5). The only thing that’s illogical about the Bible is why God would go to the lengths that He does for the sake of humanity. To dismiss the Bible and Christianity in general based on the notion that it has no basis in fact is not an assessment founded on evidence, rather it’s a choice inspired by preferences.

What is it that possesses a human being to look at the stars – to consider the elegant intricacies of the created order – and respond with an explanation that contemptuously dismisses God and replaces Him with horrendous probability values, questionable time frames and theoretical processes that mock the boundaries of legitimate science?

Moreover, what drives an individual to spit upon the notion of a sinless Savior who lays aside His right to condemn and sacrifices Himself in order to redeem?

Typically, atheists proudly promote themselves as enlightened thinkers that tolerate followers of Christ as fools that refuse to accept the obvious and instead cling to antiquated myths that are ultimately revealed as limiting and intolerant.

Here’s my thought:

I see you at the foot of the cross either sneering at your God as He dies for you or dismissing it as a pointless fiction.

I hear you dismiss the depths of the ocean, the expanse of space and the exquisite complexity of our planet as crossword puzzles that can be solved, it’s just a matter of time.

And finally, I watch you passionately cling to a terminal existence where significance and happiness are built upon a foundation comprised entirely of things that are destined to die, quit or change at any given moment.

Christ brings a lot to the table – more than what you might’ve been lead to conclude based on whatever bad experiences you’ve had with “religion” in the past. Don’t evaluate a system according to the way that it’s abused and don’t dismiss your King according to the way He’s been distorted.

I’ve got no further questions…

1. “Origin of Species”, Charles Darwin, Penguin Classics, New York, NY, 2006, p250
2. “The Case for a Creator”, Lee Strobel, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2004, p61
3. Ibid, p57
4. Ibid p56
5. “On the Origin of Species – Sixth Edition”, Charles Darwin, https://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/jksadegh/A%20Good%20Atheist%20Secularist%20Skeptical%20Book%20Collection/Charles%20Darwin%20-%20The%20Origin%20of%20Species%20-%206th%20Edition.pdf, accessed March 4, 2015
6. “Darwinism and the Nazi Race Holocaust”, Jerry Bergman, http://creation.com/darwinism-and-the-nazi-race-holocaust, accessed August 28, 2015
7.”Probability and Order Versus Evolution”, Henry Morris, PhD., Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/probability-order-versus-evolution/, accessed May 11, 2015 (see also http://www.icr.org/article/mathematical-impossibility-evolution/)
8. “Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction”, Jonathan A.C. Brown, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2011, https://books.google.com/books?id=9JafXLrLiwYC&pg=PT48&lpg=PT48&dq=Muhammads+fingernail+clippings+&source=bl&ots=9yZoCsiR2G&sig=SGuWORW8dxaD9P_gOeAc9MqB3U0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAGoVChMIvNesz_DVxwIVCjI-Ch0HRg3t#v=onepage&q=Muhammads%20fingernail%20clippings&f=false, accessed September 1, 2015

Hardcharger

In the USMC, “hardcharger” was a term you used to describe someone who was motivated. They were constantly striving for excellence and all the while being the kind of person you wanted to either work with or work for.

They had an energy about them that got you fired up. You enjoyed just being in the same room with them because of the way they effected the disposition of those within the sphere of their influence.

I came across several “hardchargers” during my nine years in the Corps. Master Sergeant “Top” Harris was a Vietnam vet with two purple hearts. Catalog Marine. When he gave the command, you snapped to attention and there was a part of you that took pride in working for an individual that had earned the right to light you up based on his combat record as well as his personal example.

Sergeant Major McGuirk was another Vietnam war vet. Personal decorations that extended to his collar bone. What made him so memorable was his perpetually cheerful demeanor. I remember standing outside as he came by and said, “Morning, Marines! Hope you’re doing good. Terrible day to be pissed off…!”

Then there was Sergeant Major Kellogg. He had earned the Medal of Honor as a Sergeant by using his body to shield his squad from the blast of a grenade. Although he was enlisted, you still saluted him as is the case with all Medal of Honor winners. What made his situation especially inspiring is that he was the only Sergeant Major in USMC history beside Dan Daly that had won our nation’s highest honor. I still get chills as I recall “sticking” my salute as his car drove by.

And there were others. Top Mike, Petty Office Dunaway, Major Croswell, Gunnery Sergeant Burd. And it’s not limited to the military. “Hardchargers” are everywhere, but while they’re not exclusive to any one walk of life, they’re not especially common.

You have to wired in a special way. It’s not something that can be quantified entirely, but the one characteristic that is consistently present is passion. It has to be complimented with a sense of humility and integrity. There also has to be an authentic commitment to the welfare of others, but “passion” is the underlying quality that gets your attention and makes you want to listen. The other virtues will “keep” your attention, but what initially gets you in a place where you’re positioned to be influenced and enriched is the sense of excitement these people bring to the table.

Pause of a minute.

In the early 1900’s, the percentage of boys aged 12-18 who chose to dismiss church as an unnecessary and irrelevant practice was 60-80 percent. ¹ It seems that contemporary Christianity has always been challenged when it comes to presenting a relationship with Christ as being practical and not just profound. As a result, Christianity becomes regulated to something either academic or mystical – either way it’s processed as a three hour chore to be performed every Sunday as opposed to an every day paradigm that translates to an ever increasing collection of advantages over those things that would otherwise have you existing rather than truly living.

When you take a look at Christ as He truly was and is, you have the Ultimate Hardcharger. Don’t hear that as a segue into something “theological.” I have no trouble processing my Savior as as Personality worthy of my respect and admiration as well as my reverence. Go with me…

I aspire to individuals who carry themselves well. Theirs is a physical bearing that communicates an appreciation for discipline and a familiarity with hard work. In the Marines we were taught to speak with a command tone to your voice when tasked with directing others and you were to always lead by example. “JJ DID TIE BUCKLE.” Leadership Traits: Justice, Judgement, Decisiveness, Integrity, Dependability, Tact, Initiative, Enthusiasm, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, Loyalty, Endurance. Jesus had all of that.

And while the common “picture” of Christ is a frail, blue-eyed whisper of a man, it’s laughable when you try to reconcile that image with 30 years of hard, physical labor as a carpenter and the capacity to endure six hours on the cross before passing away – and that after being beaten and flogged. I’m not trying to suggest that Jesus was an action hero or a fitness model. What I am trying to do is strip away the tradition that insists on a Christ figure with perfect skin, a delicate bone structure and a voice perpetually accompanied with soft singing and a professional string ensemble.

Is the physical appearance of Jesus an issue? No. It’s His Identity and His Message that needs to be the focus (Is 53:2-3). But while there was nothing majestic about His look to the point where people were inclined to conclude He was Divine, that’s not our cue to assume a lack of discipline (gluttony [Dt 21:20; Prov 23:21]) or a pasty physique (sluggard [Prov 21:25; 24:30-34]). Look at Christ as He’s playing with the kids (Lk 18:16) but don’t try to “edit” Him when He’s driving out the money changers in the Temple (Jn 2:12-25). Hear the approachable nature in His Voice as He’s delivering the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:1-10), but hear His Authority when He refers to the Pharisees as a brood of vipers (Matt 12:34).

Bottom line: Recognize that every admirable trait you could possibly appreciate in someone you look up to was authored by God. And when we’re commanded to imitate God (Eph 5:1), we’re being admonished to be “hardchargers.” Think about it! The Fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), the attributes of godly wisdom (Jas 3:17) – those are the foundational attributes that qualify an action as truly heroic. Those are the characteristics that certify one’s actions as virtuous and not just commendable. The Leadership Traits encouraged by the Marines? When the wisdom you’re deploying has as it’s philosophical starting point a fear of God (Prov 9:10), everyone of those traits is manifested in its purest and most effective form.

The term “Christian Solider” is often used to describe someone who is putting points on the board more so in terms of theological values than practical gains. And that’s part of why society sometimes has a quizzical look on their face when confronted with someone who excels in the marketplace and is also born again. But that shouldn’t be the case. God never restricted His Resources for tragedies and crisis situations only, nor was His Lordship designed to be one file folder among many. Rather, He’s the Filing Cabinet and the whole of life is to processed from a position of Divine strength and a sanctified sense of Purpose (Is 41:10; Phil 2:13).

That’s the quintessential hardcharger, right there!

Bring it!

1. Clifford Putney, Muscular Christianity, First Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003), Kindle edition.

James Harrison Ain’t Sorry

I like it when I see guys pushing back against what’s either politically correct or just plain wrong, even when it’s easier and more appropriate from a cultural standpoint to simply go with the flow.

I don’t know that much about James Harrison, other than the fact that he was recently called out of retirement to help out with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense. He’s been getting some press recently because of his having returned his two sons’ participation trophies, insisting that a trophy should be awarded for something noteworthy and not for simply participating in an activity.

Here’s what he put on Instagram:

I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies! While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy. I’m sorry I’m not sorry for believing that everything in life should be earned and I’m not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best…cause sometimes your best is not enough, and that should drive you to want to do better…not cry and whine until somebody gives you something to shut u up and keep you happy.

I don’t know where James is coming from spiritually, but what he’s saying “preaches.” It’s one thing to encourage someone, it’s another to honor them for something that’s not especially noteworthy.

When King David resolved to worship God in a way that was befitting the One he sought to honor, he was given the option of offering to God something he had been given free of charge. David refused saying, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.” (1 Chron 21:24). In other words, I’m going to do more than just show up. I’m going to present something that represents a legitimate effort and resonates as “excellent.” I will not expect my King to be satisfied with a token presence and a nominal sacrifice.

What I hear James Harrison saying is the same thing I hear King David saying: There is no substitute for quality. Sacrifice and discipline are the bedrocks upon which noteworthy accomplishments are built and you can’t substitute either one of those with either an expedited process or …

… a trophy.

Doing your best and falling short hurts. But a lot of times, it’s that pain that inspires you to train harder, to study more and to go farther than you would otherwise. Anyone can attend, many people “give,” but it’s those who sacrifice and work beyond their best effort that truly succeed, both in the eyes of man and in the eyes of God (Prov 22:29; Col 3:23).

That’s the kind of thing that’s worthy of a trophy. I’m glad James Harrison ain’t sorry! A person shouldn’t be sorry for reserving awards for those who are truly deserving.

The Good Parts – Part I

Reading the Bible is always a good thing to do because of the way it translates to several benefits that are nothing short of significant. Bottom line: The more you know God’s Word, the more you situate yourself in a position of strength when it comes to living your life.

Today we’re going to look at the Bible and show you “how” to read it so you can better appreciate what it is you’re holding when it’s God Word that you have in your hands.

II) The Benefits

Why would you “want” to read the Bible? How does studying God’s Word translate to something practically advantageous?

A) 20,000 Feet

1) Temporary

To access this content as a downloadable lesson guide with listening sheet, click here.

As a human being, I’m inclined to view myself and the world around me according to what I can control and anticipate. The problem with that paradigm is that everything I use to either manipulate my status or validate my accomplishments will either die, quit or change at some point. In other words, it’s temporary. Ultimately, I need and want something durable upon which to base my existence and sense of success (Ps 27:5; Matt 7:24-27).

2) Limited

Secondly, I can’t perceive what’s beyond the immediate future. I want access to a Resource that can guide my steps according to, not only what I can see right in front of me, but also what’s coming down the pike (Prov 16:9; 27:1; Matt 6:34; Jas 1:5; 4:14).

In short, I want a vantage point that places me above the fray. I want to be at a cruising altitude of 20,000 feet as opposed to being in the mud where I can do nothing other than react. I want to see things as they truly are and not just how they appear to be and to do that, I need the Perspective of my Heavenly Father.

B) Not Just a Divine Emergency Kit

Oftentimes, Scripture is perceived as a Divine Emergency Kit – the kind of thing you keep handy if you find yourself in a difficult situation, but not before.

That’s garbage.

You want to stay on top of your spiritual game so you can:

• Hit a Grand Slam and not just get on base (Josh 1:8)
• Make a difference and not just an appearance (Eph 5:15)
• Succeed in all areas of my life (Jn 10:10)
• Be wise and not just “smart” (Prov 9:10; 14:12)
• Live and not just exist (Matt 6:19)

In other words, I don’t want to settle for anything less than the absolute best. And it’s not so much that Christ is going to help me get to where I want to be, as much as it’s me constantly reaching for what God would have me become (Phil 3:14).

Fact is, God’s got a plan that’s uniquely tailored for me (Jer 29:11; Phil 2:13). The success I long for – the sense of fulfillment I seek – is bound up entirely in the accomplishment of God’s Purpose in my life (Jn 4:31-34). It’s that Purpose that I’m targeting and the only way I’m going to see that accomplished in my life is if I’ve got my ear to the ground and I’m listening for the direction that’s coming from my King (Ps 119:9, 11; Jas 1:5).

C) Standard Features

Psalm 19 outlines several things about God’s Word that resonate as genuinely appealing, especially after having looked at the kind of perspective and focus I want for my life:

“making wise the simple…” (19:7)

“joy to the heart…” (19:8)

“light to the eyes…” (19:8)

“your servant is warned…” (19:11)

III) The Good Parts

Some parts of the Bible are easier to read than others. That doesn’t mean that some sections can be dismissed as much as it means that some sections require more than just a casual glance in order to understand what’s being said and why it’s important.

As a “primer,” here’s a quick guide that will direct you to some of the more well-known stories. This will get you started. Ultimately, you’ll want a Study Bible so you’ll have access to the kind of background info that allows some of the more complex portions of Scripture to make sense.

Enjoy!

Old Testament – Pentateuch
Creation and the Fall of Man	Gen 1-3
Noah and the Flood	Gen 6-8
Isaac	Gen 21-22
Jacob and Esau	Gen 27-33
Joseph	Gen 37, 39-46
Moses (from his birth to the Exodus)	Ex 1-14
Exploration of the Promised Land (Caleb and Joshua)	Num 13-14
The Bronze Snake	Num 21:4-9
Talking Donkey	Num 22:21-41
A Huge Bed	Dt 3:1-11
Greatest Commandment	Dt 6:5
The Death of Moses	Dt 34