Head-dibs

Today marks the 40th day of Easter, Ascension Day. Eye witnesses recorded the bodily return of Jesus into Heaven. “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11, NKJV) The ascension reminds us that while Jesus walked this earth in time and space, He continues His work on earth while at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. When the world turns to confront its problems, it misses the remedy offered by the death, burial, resurrection and bodily ascension of the Savior. I spoke with a woman recently who admitted she was struggling with sin and was confused, yet while she acknowledged Jesus she would not hu...

Reading through Acts 7:17-29, a few thoughts come to mind. First, our present time and national circumstance is not very much unlike those of Moses’ day. National leadership is highly controversial, operating with a kind of amnesia regarding how we came to be a nation and the great men and women who got us this far. Notable leaders are not merely forgotten how they went about doing those things that made them great. There is a great reversal from the “how” (the blood, the prayers, the sweat, the tears) to the “who”, those who use immoral and unethical means to accomplish personal agenda. The Church exists in context. We are “the called out ones” within a nation of not remembering. More on this momentarily. Second, the pragmatism that drives our national direction includes atrocities such as the exposure of our children. Just as Pharaoh killed the children of Egypt, we too are a culture of infant death. Abortion has been killing children for years and presently there is great debate co...

Our oldest son recently took me on an excursion to show me a back-woods trail that goes around the lake here on the campus of Columbia International University. While I instantly began planning how to incorporate this trail into my workout regimen, I was delighted by the sights, sounds and smells of the woods. I ran the trail it for the first time yesterday and though it was the most challenging track I’ve taken yet, I am most delighted that I don’t have to choke on the traffic exhaust as I usually run along the road. I spoke with a friend recently about the trail and he discouraged using it because of the stones, spider webs and branches. When I ran it yesterday, for the first time in my life, I’ve never been so delighted to run head-on through a spider web. Instead of being repulsed (I loathe bugs), I was awed how all creation moves in a cosmic dance according to the design and to the delight of the Creator: the lights and shadows of the woods; the variant temperatures and humidi...

How wonderful to start the day with Dr. Hamilton’s devotional thoughts from Hebrews reminding us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. “There is nothing more certain than uncertainty,” he shared, reminding us that change will happen—like it or not. If I were to compare my plans for my life and the current state of my life in terms of “wins” and “losses,” I recognize that my “losses” are really my “wins,” and vice versa. My plans, my “wins” included being a successful symphonic conductor and making enough money that I should not have to think about it. I also had no plans concerning friends or family and gave no thought to education (beyond that which was necessary). I lost all that. Instead, I am privileged to conduct souls to Christ and make so little money that I don’t have to worry about it. I have more friends than I ever dreamed and a HUGE family. I also have quite an education, both academically and experientially. All “wins.” What Saul met Jesus on the Da...

"Mythology exists to show the wickedness of men through the depravity of their gods, whose deeds are so repulsive that man abandon them.  The Bible records the depravity of men against a righteous God, who alone can save them." (Kenneth Prior, " The Gospel in a Pagan Society ")

Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:43-46 and Luke 23:5-53 each state the Joseph of Arimathea took down and buried the body of Jesus. John 19:38-42 says the same thing, only adding one piece of information the others did not: Nicodemus helped Joseph. That’s not a problem, nor is it a contradiction. So what? Well, Acts 13:27-29 says that the Jews and their rulers crucified, took down and buried the body of Jesus. “ For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb .”  Ok, so who are the Jews and their rulers? Mark 15:43 shows that Joseph of Arimathea is both a Jew and a ruler, “ Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who hi...

A car wreck can be a life-changing experience, and if you’ve ever been in a serious one, you know how small these words can be. There is almost no way to describe the spontaneity, the sudden impact, the sights and sounds, the pain that lasts for months or years or longer . . . Such an event or other disasters are very unforgiving. They happen with no regard for who is involved, life experience, family, status, education or religion. There are occasions when good experiences happen that are so grand that they, too, can be equally “unforgiving” and leave an indelible mark just as plain as a disaster—especially when it comes without expectation. There is a colleague of mine who gushes this kind of grace. One cannot be in his presence without feeling uplifted, encouraged and blessed—even if it is relaying a mere, “good morning!” Some people have good experiences that turn out to be a disaster for them while others experience horrendous tragedy that become for them an indescribable virtue. ...

My wife came into the room where I was reading and asked, "did you hear what your son just said to your daughter? He said, 'don't be drinking the hate-eraide!'" I don't know where he gets his material. Really, I don't. The mantra of the day is “don’t be hatin’” and “be informed.” How wonderfully these go together! Perhaps with a tool like the internets we are a bit too over-informed. Actually, that is not quite right because being informed requires a little research (as opposed to sitting in front of the computer like a virtual salmon trying to swim upstream through a tidal wave of disconnected information). What better way to understand than to seriously, intentionally look into a matter. One might say, “be open-minded.” We already considered the Apostle Paul’s visit to Mars Hill in Athens and the conversation that took place over many, many days as recorded in Acts. We can learn that before Paul ever arrived in Athens how Paul set about bringing the ...

Abu Lahab, the uncle of Muhammad, as representative of Muhammad’s own father, was expected to look after his nephew as if he was one of his own children; but, Abu Lahab would not accept any of the teachings of Muhammad. Understand that at this time, Muhammad was just starting to preach the message of Islam and many people had not yet believed him to be the Prophet. Abu Lahab’s animosity was seen in how he forbade his own two sons to visit their own father unless they divorced their wives (they were married to two of Muhammad’s daughters). Also, as Muhammad began preaching Islam, Abu Lahab would follow him, throwing stones and warning people not to listen, even calling Muhammad a liar. Abu Lahab’s increasing hostility to Muhammad was considered to be an obstruction to the progress of Islam. The Qur’an records that Allah Himself placed a curse on Abu Lahab (by name!) and his wife because of their opposition to the spread of Islam. Surah 111 of the Qur’an is called “Al-lahab,” which reads...

Our team was downtown late one Friday night. Outside one bar, I saw a man crossed the street toward us with another fellow and two young ladies tagging along. I noticed he was wearing a “Got Jesus?” tee-shirt. Curious, I asked him if he had a Christian background. I ’ll tell you what happened in a moment—keep reading. Mention the “love chapter” of the Bible and one thinks of 1 Corinthians 13. Mention “The Hall of Faith,” and one turns to Hebrews 11. Ask someone on the street their favorite psalm and most will say “the 23rd.” When we think of Acts 17, our minds flip up the title, “Paul Goes to Mars” (or something like that) and we recall this is the record of Paul preaching to the pagans in their temple regarding “an unknown god.” Our eyes zero in on verse 16, noting that Paul when he arrives in Athens, does what any good Mars rover does: he observed. Next, he went to their temple and preached, they heard and some believed. Actually, that’s not quite what happened. When Paul first arriv...

My goodness, how times have changed. One of our children was lamenting that her iPod only holds a few thousands songs and a certain number of videos. My wife and I looked at each other, remembering how we once conquered the world with a Walkman and a cassette tape “back in the day.” Remember when those who had tattoos were to be avoided, and those who had them would never be caught dead saying the word “church”? Now there exists a Church of Body Modifications. Did you know that in the early 1900’s doctors who studied so-called “diseases of the mind” were called “alienists?” Today we call them “psychologists.” The ancient Romans, who once worshipped a copious number of “gods” had a name for people who did not acknowledge Ceasar as “god.” They were called “atheists” and reserved the term primarily for Christians! A Christian leader by the name of Polycarp lived about 75 - 155 A.D. When he was 86 years old, he was arrested by the Romans and brought to trial because he would not recant his...

Solomon was right: there is nothing new under the sun. I am amazed at the ongoing objections concerning the relevance of the Bible today, yet within those very objections is proof enough that the Bible is indeed very relevant. Objectors do not realize how they confirm scripture by their very act of rebellion. We find ourselves in the unique position to view an incredible display of God's omniscience as He reveals what is on the hearts, minds and in the actions of His enemies. This, too, demonstrates the relevance of God's Word today as what God reveals continues without abatement today. They bring nothing new to the forum, but a tired excuse to disbelieve God. When David was inspired to ask, " why are the nations in an uproar ," he was reflecting on old news and from our perspective, nothing has changed in that regard: the nations are still in an uproar as they try to cast off the rule of God. What should the nations be doing? The book of Psalms alone contains a small...

A few years ago our street witnessing team was joined by a visitor. He wanted to go with us, to help spread the good news of Jesus to the lost and dying world, so we let him come along. We went down to our area and “got busy” talking to people, when I suddenly heard our guest (Bible in one hand, tracts in another) use the most foul string of four-letter words as he was talking to a couple of guys. I can’t even remember what I was doing at the time, but I do remember spinning around and was like, “Hey! Watch it, bro!” Needless to say, our witnessing opportunity was over right then and there. I was asked recently about what I would do if I saw someone doing something that was clearly wrong. The first thing that came to my mind was, “are they a Christian?” We then proceeded to talk about our position in Christ and the “one another’s” of scripture: we don’t confront people because we are better than them, but because of our position in Christ. We use the law to point out sin and lead t...

Acts 17:11, " Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so ." Mormon founder Joseph Smith explained: "I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors" (TPJS, p. 327). And again, "From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled." (TPJS, pp. 9-10). Paul and Silas had been traveling "giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead " (17:3) and the Bereans, instead of casting them into prison, beating them, disputing with them, they instead immediately sat down with their copies of the Old Testament scriptures and put the words of Pa...

Psalm 19:7-9, "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether." Isalm regards the writings of the prophet David in the Zabbur, The Psalms. David wrote that the law of the Lord, His testimonies, precepts, commandments, judgements are perfect, sure, wise-making, right, rejoice-causing, pure, light-bringing, enduring forever, true and righteous. If God's Word is corrupt, then God has not protected His word and the prophet David was wrong about God's Word being what it is. "Hey, what a minute. What do you mean that David was a prophet. Wasn't he a shepherd and a king?" Look at Peter's sermon in Acts 2:29-32, "'Brethren, I may confidently say to you regard...

“Even though modern man may spurn the unsophisticated idols of ancient times, he still has his mental images of how he would like to think of God or whatever he decides to put in his place . . . The way in which Paul set about making the truth known in Athens gives us the kind of points with which pagans can still be challenged today. They still must face the person of Christ and the evidence of the resurrection. They may not capitulate when we say, ‘the Bible says . . .“ but they still have to reckon with the witness the Apostles recorded in their writings, of which they were so convinced that they were prepared to submit to cruel deaths rather than deny its truth. Everyone must some day face death and whatever lies beyond, even though they live as though this present earthly life will go on for ever. And then they will discover that ‘It is no unknown God but a risen Christ with whom we have to deal.” Prior, Kenneth. The Gospel in a Pagan Society . Downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1975.

I double-clicked on the word “power” and my dictionary automatically opened to the word “control.” Oh, the irony--who is in control? The first definition under “control” includes “check, test” while the second definition elaborates the concept, “to exercise restraining or directing influence over; rule.” “Power” describes “ability” and “possession of control.” The two definitions do not describe two different ideas. “Power” and “control” are both related when one considers “conduct.” We’ve all heard the saying, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Is the principle so absolute? If power is kept in check, under control, power actually contributes and builds up. Electricity, for example, in its unchecked state can be quite dangerous; on the other hand, under the control of wires, insulation, circuits, etc. electricity can be quite good and useful. The same is true of water. Unless it is channeled, water can bring us to ruin. The problem is that absolutes (like power, love...