The Unreliability of Reason...

...that is, IF it alters a direct order...especially from God.

In 1 Samuel 15 we read of God's instructing Israel's King Saul "to utterly destroy the Amalekites, all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass".

Saul "reasoned" that God perhaps did not mean "all"; that it would be unthinkable to kill all of the flocks and herds; and (I'm just guessing here) that if he brought the Amalekite King Agag back to Jerusalem, he could parade him through the streets and receive great honor. Then...maybe...they could publicly execute him.

He further "reasoned" that, under the guise of sacrificing the best of the captured animals to the Lord, he could have a great feast for the people and further promote his image as a mighty warrior and a great benefactor.

He further "reasoned" that he had destroyed the most of God's enemies, and "reasoned" that he "had obeyed the commandment of the Lord" (SEE 1 Samuel 15:13 & 20).

For some reason, Saul thought that this would fly (be acceptable) with God. He had become so immuned from truth and accuracy by allowing inner deceptions that he had "talked himself into" believing that what he had done, and was doing, would be alright.

This is the reason for today's thoughts. God gives us the ability to reason as it relates to our lives and activities, and for the most part, expects us to use it. Not a single person ever gets into trouble with God over what he or she does not know. But when God, through his Word or by the Holy Spirit, makes a matter clear to us, then He expects complete obedience.

There are probably dozens of scriptural directives that make no sense to us under certain conditions and/or activities, but we only keep our spiritual hearts and eyes clear when we completely obey the Lord and His revealed Word.

Saul blamed "the people" (for wanting to save the best of the animals), but God did not give the order to them, but to Saul.

THE POINT: We keep our eyes on God, not on what "other people" are doing or not doing.

E-M-P-T-Y

"Empty" is not always negative...but usually. It usually gives us the idea of being without.

Probably there is not a person alive, having lived into his thirties or forties, who has not experienced several times when he has been "empty". Sometimes we merely feel this way, and sometimes it is a fact.

All who are even moderately familiar with the stories of the Bible easily recall the story of Ruth. Oddly, one wonders why the book is entitled "Ruth"? It is as much a story of Naomi - and it could be argued - more, about Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law. As briefly as possible, here are the aspects of the story.

Elimelech, his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, leave the land of Israel because of a severe famine, and travel down to over to Moab which evidently had not been affected by the dearth. While there, Elimelech dies, the two sons marry Moabite women, and after ten years of childless marriage, both of the two sons die, leaving three widows: Naomi, Orpah and Ruth. Naomi learns that the famine is over in Israel, and tells her two daughters-in-law that she is going to return alone to her homeland.

Orpah eventually agrees to remain in Moab with her family, while Ruth will not hear to Naomi making that long, heartbroken journey alone. When they arrive "back home" (Bethlehem), here arises the idea of "being empty", as we read in Ruth 1:20 & 21:

"And she said unto (her relatives and friends in Bethlehem), Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me, "I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again"empty" (there is that word): why call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me".

We cannot help but wonder how Ruth felt about being refered to as "empty". It was obvious that all Naomi saw in Ruth was another mouth to feed, another person for whom she must be responsible. The next few days and weeks would prove Naomi not only to be terribly mistaken about Ruth and her potential good, but would actually be Naomi's livelihood ticket, would give her more than enough "children and grandchildren", but would forever credit her with providing a golden future, eventually being in the bloodline of King David, and Jesus, the Messiah and Redeemer.

It is a lesson for each follower of God to learn. God can - and often does - take our "empty" situations and turn them into far greater benefits for us and others than we ever could have if left to our own methods.

The catch is not knowing that our "empty situations" are actually being worked out by the Lord. Because of this, and the frequent long, frustrating, discouraging years elapsed, we are wise to place, and leave, our "empty" times and feelings in His wonderful wisdom and timing. One things is certain from this story. The Orpahs are forgotten, while the Ruths become bright and shining stars.

Where are the "Jacks"?

Words have power. Sometimes the smallest of words have the greatest power. The word "if" is an excellent example. "Or" is another. Look with me at some intensely meaningful words found in 1 Corinthians 5:9, and I quote:

"Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him". KJV

The word "labor" speaks of the fact. The word "that" identifies the nature of the labor. The two words "present or absent" reveals the arena of the labor, while the word "accepted" provides the reason or motive for the labor. The last three modify (or explain) the first. Isn't this a thrill...and all in one verse!

This linguistic exercise just fills my cup to overflowing. The Holy Spirit, through the writer, Paul, actually describes the entire life ministry of the Apostle Paul in a single, brief verse.

To a similar degree (for each Christian equally has a Divinely proscribed job description), this verse tells you and me about our work in the body of Christ.

WE LABOR. We need to see that every Christian has a job to do...a need to fill...a place on the team!

Paul included all of us in the "we". There are no second or third stringers in Christ's church. There are no "subs" on His team. We must see that there is a specific, singular, one-and-only slot in the make up of Christ's church for each of us. There may be only so many positions in the visible church, but there are as many places of service as there are believers in the body of Christ.

Jack (his real name, though he is in heaven now) bought and maintained and drove the "biggest, old vans" he could buy, and filled them with children each Sunday at the Vancouver, Washington Pilgrim Holiness Sunday school. Where are the "Jacks" today?

Mythella at 85 years of age still faithfully and weekly cleans the church and does the church bulletin at the First Church of God in Orofino, Idaho. Where are the "Jacks" today?

Cara Lee Mueller could be counted on to play the organ at the Bartlesville Oklahoma First Wesleyan Church each Lord's Day for 49 years, including the Sunday before being transfered to heaven's anthem chambers the following Tuesday.

The "Jacks", "Mythellas" and "Cara Lees" are much fewer, and harder to find these days. Being counted on is not high on the list of qualifications in the modern church. Being counted on is subservient to "if it is convenient and fits into our plans" for church service in 2008. I know that we live in a different day, but also know something precious and necessary has been lost here.

The church needs workers who they can count on...but the greater need is ours. We individual Christians need the soul satisfaction that only comes from "being counted on".

Once in a Blue Moon, a Great Truth Arises from the Comic Pages

Today, it is in my mind and heart to remind all married partners who read these lines of the vows they took on their wedding day... and I quote those promises from the traditional ceremony:

"Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her as long as ye both shall live?

"Wilt though have this man to be thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance, in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love, honor and keep him in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him as long as ye both shall live?

"I take thee to be my wedded wife (husband); and I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be thy loving and faithful husband (wife) in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, as long we both shall live."

What the Angels Know

There is but a thin veil between what we can see and what we cannot. What we see is not real, for what we can see is here today and gone tomorrow. What is real is what endures. What is real is what remains when everything else slips from our earthly view. What is real is what stays on our records when earthly recognitions fade, and human memories grope, and reputations dim, and achievements and accolades diminish.

What is real are facts - those actualities that are known only to us... and to our God... and to His ministering spirits, the angels... those incredible beings who are Divinely commissioned to serve and observe the saints while we live and labor here below. Paul goes so far as to state that we are "a spectacle to angels," and our Lord said of His humble servants that "their angels do always behold the face of the Father," and Peter records the fact that "the angels desire to look into" this saving, cleansing and keeping grace.

So, as the Holy Spirit might help us, we ask Him to briefly open our minds as we slip behind the veil of our present, visible lives and reflect upon what the angels know, realizing that what they know is free of distortion and error.

The world we cannot visibly see is the realm of angelic beings commissioned to minister to us, and help us, and enable us as we fight the good fight of faith. They are silent witnesses to our unseen world in which we momentarily pray and ponder and reason and choose.

Though materially unseen, it is nonetheless our world of reality where there is no pretense or supposition or manipulations or coverup or rationalizing. It is an environment of such pure truth that even embellishments and nuances are absent. "Advantages" and "edges" and "inside tracks" are as foreign to the angelic realm as lying - their better known parent.

The serious Christian pulls down such heavenly integrity into his earthly, everyday living with the realization that it is not the standards and values of men that measure us at all. It is not this world's standards that judge us at all, for the saints live by a higher law - the law of grace. Serious Christians spend much of their time and thought endeavoring to reconcile the two, that is, what is important to God compared to human behavior - ours and that of others around us. Serious Christians always place God's Word as the final authority in their minds and souls.

It is here suggested that what the angels know about us should clamor for our attention. While we do not pray to angels, it helps us to know that they are rooting for us, fighting for us, and that eyes that behold the face of God are also watching you and me. Since they are constantly and actively involved in all who we are and do, our conduct in their presence should seek investigation. What do they know about you and me? Among the dozen or so issues that quickly come to mind, we take time for just one - our talking - to other, earthly persons and to our heavenly Father.

Are we known in the unseen realm as a frequent visitor? Is our voice regularly heard among the angels? Is our name commonly confessed there? Are we well known in heaven's throne room? Are we known as someone who stubbornly sits at His feet and keeps knocking at His door? Is our personal presence at the Father's throne of grace so consistent that the angels have heavy duty as we - in company with, and led by, the faithful Holy Spirit - confront the "spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms"? Have the angels come to count on our intercessions? Can they "set their watches" by the time we are on our knees? Years ago I heard the daughter of a godly man say of her father, "Daddy's wick is always lit." I hope that our children and grandchildren and close friends can say that about you and me.

The angels know. They know whether we have been, and are remaining, true to "the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." They know if we have kept the faith, and if we are still keeping it. They know whether we are clinging to the unchanging truth as it is left to us in God's Word. They angels know if we have accepted responsibility personally, or if we have left it for someone else to protect and maintain.

Down through the changing, challenging eras of church history, we have the ageless, comforting words of our brother, Paul, "Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Scripture references: Hebrews 1:14, I Peter 1:10-12, I Corinthians 4:9, Matthew 18:10, Ephesians 6:12, Jude 3, I Corinthians 15:58

On a River Bank

He stood there alone - a desolate portrait of solitude and sorrow. The mocking wind smote his swarthy features with demonic vengeance. Doubts abetted by merciless sun rays probed and lacerated the core of his being like phantom lancets, while the grimy, black mud in his sandals punctuated the gloom and grief of his soul.

A speck of foam elegantly mounted upon the breast of the racing current testified to the vanity and brevity of life while becoming a sacrifice to an unyielding stone.

The combination of death's sullen separation, coupled with the sudden responsibility of the heavy load of leadership, was cause for the noticeable sagging shoulders. The giant of faith who could open and close the heavens - the warrior of Carmel who could call fire from above - was gone.

On a promontory some rods away grouped the skeptics, pessimists and crepe-hangers. "What shall we do now? The days of miracles, powerful praying and holy living are gone! And what great days they were!"

But they did not watch alone. Demons cringed while mighty angels posititioned themselves for immediate departure as the deathless Deity of the ages interestedly observed that lonely, tested soul.

Moving perceptively toward the waters, Elisha placed his right foot on the immovable bastion of God's eternal existence, and his left foot on the continual faithfulness of God, and smote Jordon's waters with His powerful promises. "Where is the God of Elijah?" he cried. The hiss and rip of parting waters answered, "Right here by your side."

Today as in Elisha's day, the mantles of mature and seasoned saints are falling all around us, and we, their successors, are tempted to wonder what will happen to God's work without them? What we have to remember is that it is not the person at all, but the faithfulness of the Lord. The same God of Elijah...and of Elisha...is your God and mine!

"When"

When tragic heartache leaves us numb
In stark, relentless grief...
And senseless loss denies us from
Any meaningful relief?

When no words can ease our pain -
No explanations arise.
When reason fails us once again
And tears forsake our eyes?

When time refuses to advance
And all of life stands still -
When everything seems ruled by chance
And governed by others' will?

When it seems there is no plan
But only a jumbled mess...
And life sells short the person
Who follows righteousness?

When a heavy heart and a tortured mind
Seems my lot to be...
And faith and hope of any kind
Must yield to reality?

When it seems there is no way
I honestly can voice...
My faith and hope can say
Your will is still my choice?

It's in these tragic times I see
The sun beyond the veil,
And know with rising certainty
That God will not...cannot fail.

Though He is touched by human pain
Beyond what words can say...
He always has - and always will - remain
Our Solid Rock today.

When everyone else is gone
And family and friends depart...
God will not ever leave us alone
With a grieving, broken heart.

His promise is a shining one
That heavy hearts may know...
Until our life's short race is run
He's here wherever we go.

By W.L. Boone

The Sidewalk

I want to tell you about a sidewalk. It had 1913 stamped on it...five years short of 100 years here in May of 2008.

I had deliberately protected the 1913 signature logo of some long defunct concrete company, probably contracted by the City of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to form and pour many blocks of curbs, gutters and sidewalks in that long ago time - 1913. Even when it was necessary to dig up and re-pour the sidewalk around it, I made sure that the oval shaped logo was left because of the message it held in my mind.

Even during the process of excavation and construction of a new church building in the early 1970s, when heavy equipment and concrete trucks rolled over that old sidewalk, it stood and withstood through it all. Lawnmowers and snowplows and vehicles of all descriptions repeatedly ran over it. Besides pedestrians, there were hundreds of bicycles, baby strollers, motor cycles, skate boards and roller skates, wagons and wheelbarrows that it had uncomplainingly supported.

For more than 90 years this old sidewalk that ran down Third Street in front of the Wesleyan Church and parsonage- where we were privileged to pastor for nearly 40 years- had faithfully, dependably, quietly and predictably supported the footfalls of thousands of residents and pedestrians.

The reason for telling you this is that you could depend on that old sidewalk, though my guess is that you could count on one hand those users who had appreciated it. It had done its job - had faithfully performed its intended purpose - through all of those 90 plus years in summers of blistering, 100-degree, August heat as well as in 40 below, harsh, North Idaho winters.

We are wealthy beyond description if we have someone in our lives who has provided for us "a sidewalk"; someone whom we can count on who can show us the way to walk through life; someone who can be a safe guide for us; someone who can point us in the direction of a certain future; someone who can be trusted to be more interested in us than themselves.

By W.L. Boone