“What is Truth?” Pilate asked Jesus.  Jesus did not answer.

The evil in this world is LOUD! It clamors to be heard.  “The ambiguous and false, the unworthy and mean, will eventually confute themselves.  So the truth can afford to be quiet,” said Charles Spurgeon.

God works in unexpected ways.  Quiet ways.  The creator of the stars became a poor Galilean rabbi in order to carry our sins to the cross.  It is impossible to understand.  The Jewish people were looking for their Messiah, but they did not expect Him to do something like that.

Yet over 2000 years later, the name of Jesus is spoken everywhere.  It is often slung about as a curse word when we are slightly inconvenienced.  It is sung and worshipped by His children in every land.  It is the name above all names.

We need to listen for the still, small voice.  We need to ask to hear wisdom.  We need to seek and we will find.  We need to do it before it is too late.

Jesus did not answer Pilate when he asked “What is Truth?”  Because He had already answered.

Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  (John 14:6)

Happy Easter!  He is Risen!

Over 2000 years ago, on Christmas Day, the heavens spoke!

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord!
In the manger born a king,
While adoring angels sing,

CHRIST CAME FOR US

Until then, the descent of mankind through the ages brought suffering, as we devised new ways to be evil.  Mankind has been devising evil schemes since Cain killed Abel.  From then until now there has been a consistent theme of mankind hurting mankind….from insults to world wars.

When suffering hits us personally, we ask “Why does God not intervene?”  Oh……but He did!

HIS INTERVENTION IS JESUS CHRIST

And now He waits for us to respond……………

THIS IS THE AGE OF GRACE

But soon…..Heaven will speak again and Christ will return to start His endless, global reign.  He is the fulfillment of prophecy and history.

“Unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders.”

J. Sidlow Baxter comments that “already He sits on the throne of universal sovereignty in heaven.  His kingdom rules over all.  The mystery of permitted evil on earth has thereby assumed a new aspect and has almost run its course.  The usurper shall be finally banished, and the now rebellious territory shall rest in warless, tearless quietude beneath His scepter.  It shall certainly be so, for He has really risen; and He really reigns, and He will really return.”

As Tennyson said, “This is the one divine event to which the whole creation moves.”

AS WE CELEBRATE HIS BIRTH, I PRAY THAT WE ARE READY FOR HIS RETURN!

HALLELUJAH AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(Isaiah 9:6, Titus 2:11-14, John14:3)

In today’s world the focus seems to be on “our differences.”  They are many ways people differ, of course.  From the way we look to the way we think to the way we act.  From the way we were raised to the way we raise our kids.  We differ in our tastes, our loves, our goals.   The list is endless.

But then there is this.  There is one thing that we all have in common.  We were born.  We were created.   We were  ALL created in the image of God.  Genesis 1:26 shows this truth.  “Then God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

We all descended from one set of parents, Adam and Eve.  Christians, Muslims, and Jews can all unite behind that statement. For others, who say science is their god, science is also increasingly showing that the minuscule difference in our genetic code points to one set of parents.   There is really only ONE human race.  We are all one big and broken family!

Because each of us was created in God’s image,  every one of us has immeasurable worth.  And, again, according to Genesis 1:26,  each of us was created to be a ruler, first over our own passions, and then over creation.  

WE ARE DEEPLY BOUND TOGETHER BY SOMETHING GREATER THAT ANYTHING THAT SEPARATES US!

The entire human race is a family.  We are ALL related!  Family will fight.  Family members can be very different.  But family is family!

I wish the world would remember this.

THERE IS A SYMBOL OF FREEDOM RESIDING IN PHILADELPHIA THAT COULD TELL A LOT OF INTERESTING STORIES IF IT COULD SPEAK.  IT IS THE LIBERTY BELL.  IT’S INSCRIPTION READS

Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants Thereof”

SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE WE ARE NOT DOING THIS SO WELL BUT IT IS  A WORTHY GOAL!

HERE ARE A FEW FUN FACTS ABOUT THIS SYMBOL OF FREEDOM

• IT CRACKED ON IT’S FIRST RING

(Arriving from England in 1752 and weighing over 2000 pounds, it was purchased to replace a bell, brought by William Penn,  that hung behind the state house in Philadelphia.)

•   LOCAL CRAFTSMEN, JOHN PASS AND JOHN STOW, RECAST THE BELL BUT IT SOUNDED AWFUL!

(A public celebration with free food was scheduled to hear the bell ring but the crowd mocked the sound and it got recast again)

•       THE INSCRIPTION ON THE BELL ,   “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants Thereof” is from Leviticus 25:10

(  Abolitionists adopted the bell with its inscription in the 1830s and renamed it THE LIBERTY BELL)

•   NO ONE KNOWS HOW THE CRACK IN THE RECAST LIBERTY BELL HAPPENED

(the crack appeared in 1846 but there are so many different stories ….which one is true?)

•       NO ONE ALIVE HAS EVER HEARD THE LIBERTY BELL RING

( It has not been rung since a birthday celebration for George Washington in February of 1846)

•       OVER A MILLION PEOPLE VISIT THE LIBERTY BELL EVERY YEAR

(My parents took me to see it when I was young.   Admission is free and you can see it every day except Christmas)

•      IT WAS ONCE INVOLVED IN AN APRIL FOOLS DAY JOKE

(As an April Fool’s Day joke in 1996, Taco Bell ran a full-page ad in a national newspaper and  said they had bought the Liberty BelL)

FREEDOM IS NO JOKE.  IT IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR….. OUR OWN FREEDOM AND THAT OF OUR NEIGHBOR.  LET FREEDOM RING!

The Liberty Bell in historic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA)

Do you believe in God?

Do you understand the world?

If you believe in God, can you fathom how He is working in the world?

When I look around at the world we live in, there is so much that is anti-God.  So much suffering.  So much dishonesty.  So much selfishness.  So much death.  It is overwhelming and disheartening.

Looking inside is not much better.  I find all sorts of things inside that are just as distressing.

My lack of understanding can really get me depressed.

I am sure I am not alone in this, so I want to share a “ray of light” that has helped me.

The ancient book of Jeremiah, chapter 9, verses 23-24 says that I should be able to boast in knowing and understanding God. In fact, it warns against boasting in riches, or wisdom, or strength.  These are all the things men usually like to boast about.   But knowing and understanding God?  Really?  We are finite and God is infinite.  And yet I find comfort in this verse because God’s word says it is possible.

So how do you get to know and understand God?  I guess it is a simple but never ending journey.  Jesus, when He was on earth, says that if we have seen him we have seen the Father.  So getting to know Jesus is the same as getting to know God.

The world was a mess when Jesus was here, just as it is today.   And He had a lot to say about it, even though He taught us to live in a larger and more eternal context.   He says a lot about seeking to know God.  Jesus tells us to seek FIRST the kingdom of God, and His righteousness and that then we will receive everything else we need.

And yet, from God’s perspective, nobody seeks Him on their own.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

²  God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,2

who seek after God.

³  They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good, not even one.

         (Psalm 14)

And then there is Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, who set out to understand God.  In Ecclesiates 7,  this is what he concluded:

 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out MANY SCHEMES.

 Many schemes??   LOL.  That sounds about right.  It pretty much sums up the world!  Man and his many schemes.

But we do not need to despair.

Jesus says that HE came to give life.  As He says, to give it MORE ABUNDANTLY!

CS Lewis described us as playing in mud puddles, and refusing a trip to the beach, because we thought we were happy in the mud.  But we are really not happy in the mud.  We need and want the trip to the beach!

Seek the  more abundant life!  Seek to understand and know God.  If you are discouraged, or confused, or exhausted, or fearful, there is an answer to be found.   We humans have big problems, but Jesus came to be the solution.

!

I always thought that Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, when he was preparing to face death, dreaded the physical pain of the cross.  But now I am not so sure ……

Think of the worst thing you have ever thought or done.  Do you remember feeling shame? Guilt? Filthy? What if the whole world knew? You will never be innocent and clean.  Have you hated yourself?  Have you felt that there was no hope of reconciliation with God because you could not even accept yourself?

Now multiply that by the shame and guilt felt by all sinners through all the centuries.  Think of all the rapes and murders and betrayals that have occurred.  Hideous things hidden from all but God.  All human selfishness.  All human evil, collected together.  The sins of Ivan the Terrible.  The sins of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Franco, Pol Pot.

Imagine if you had to carry the guilt and shame of ALL human sin, not just your own.  Imagine paying the price of separation from a Holy God because the guilt of all of those sins were on your shoulders.

When the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, and “became sin who knew no sin,” He must have felt all of the shame and guilt of all sins committed through all of time.  No wonder, He said “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  He was feeling the separation from His father because of all that sin, for He was no longer Holy in that moment, because He was loaded down with our guilt and taking the punishment for it, in our place.  In my place!

I think that is what He was dreading.  Yet if it were not for the sacrifice of my Lord Jesus Christ, my sin would now separate me from a holy God.  I would be doomed but for the fact that Jesus was separated and punished in my place. Isaiah 53:5 says,

He was pierced for our transgressions;

He was crushed for our iniquities;

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

And with his wounds we are healed

The Cross is where human sin met Divine love.  The cost for our cleansing was extreme but holiness and sin can never mix.  Our sin had to be dealt with and paid for.   It was the only way we could have a relationship with our creator…the only way we could be in His presence, our sins covered by the blood of Jesus.

Am I thankful for Easter?  Eternally so!!

Jesus is the ONLY way to know God.  No one else shed divine blood FOR YOU.  Seek Him and you will find the highest TREASURE in the universe!

For your sake he became poor

2 Corinthians 8:9

Christmas has become, in the eyes of the world, about so many things.  But it is really only about ONE GIFT.

Jesus left heaven and became a poor little boy on this earth for us.  He gave His whole earthly life

for us and then died for our sins.  As Charles Spurgeon says,

“He descended from His lofty position, and we rose from the depths.”

God has given us the best gift – nothing I can wrap or unwrap could ever compare.  

Merry Christmas To Us All

The word LOVE was front and center recently, as Dr. Jill Biden wore it on her back.  Dr Biden says it was part of an effort to promote unity.   I do believe in love….and I believe in unity (though not at any cost)…….but I wonder if LOVE is really understood.  What is it, really?  Where does it come from?  How do you get it?

You can work a lifetime and accumulate great wealth, but you cannot buy love.   You may purchase acceptance and accolades.  Not love.

You can give your life to a good cause…..environmentalism or equality or a cure for cancer.  You can purchase admiration or gratefulness.  Not love.

If you have been gifted with an unusual talent or athletic ability, with hard work and dedication you may rise to the top of your chosen field and garnish much praise.  You can purchase notoriety and fame.  Not love.

If you are the smartest person in the room, if you can predict the future, and understand the mysteries of this world, you can make a lot of noise and people will listen to you.  You can purchase a following…but not love.

And yet, the ONLY answer for our poor lost world is real LOVE.

If you are wondering what real love is, I know of no better definition than what is found in the famous words of 1 Corinthians 13.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It ⁱdoes not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;² 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things.

8 Love never ends.

If you go with this definition, you realize that real love is not attainable within ourselves.  We are a self-seeking species.  On our own, we all must admit times when we have been impatient, unkind, envious, arrogant, rude  and irritable.

So where does real love come from?

1 John 4:7 – Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Real love comes from only one source.  It comes from God. That is why Jesus says “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have lovefor one another.”   (John 13:35)

If the world wants to find a way to dwell in peace, to care for all peoples, to help each people group to be nourished and prosperous, the ONLY answer is to turn to our creator and seek His love.   He can change us so we truly love others.  And when we truly love others, we will want what is best for them, as well as ourselves, and answers will be found.

As Charles Spurgeon said,

LOVE IS AN EXOTIC PLANT; IT DOES NOT GROW NATURALLY IN HUMAN SOIL

So what is going to happen?

It seems that the human race is deciding to go it alone.  We have decided that we were, in fact, not created.  We have decided that we evolved by natural forces, that there is no absolute truth, and definitely no God given moral law.  We no longer know what we don’t know.

1 Corinthians 13 also says that if we take all our knowledge, our powers, our achievements and try to solve the problems of this world without God and His love, we will be noisy gongs and clanging cymbals, but we will GAIN NOTHING!

Unfortunately, I hear a lot of noise…. a lot of gongs and cymbals.   I fear that nothing is where we are headed.