Do Not Remember Past Events

Isaiah 43:18-19

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

“Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old.
 Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?”

It is the last day of 2013 as I write this. It has been a good year. It has been a bad year.

I retired on the first of July. This has freed up our time so that we could spend about 10 weeks visiting friends and loved ones, seeing the origins of our church, and reveling in the fall colors of New England. It gave me time to start this blog, something previously unknown and mysterious to me. I have been able to attend Spanish classes and to finally start understanding spoken Spanish. This has also given me the real challenge; to actually reach the point where I can understand and speak it as well as I have some other languages. Without real challenges life could become very dull and boring.

The year has also brought some rather scary events. Well before dawn one morning I got out of bed, and my head started spinning. I couldn’t walk straight and had to hold on to things or fall. My doctor looked very serious and sent me off to the emergency room. He hinted at things like a stroke or brain tumor or worse. The hospital ran a few tests and admitted me. Finally a sensible neurologist sent me home and told me he was sure it was simply BPPV. What is BPPV? It sounds less scary than benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The word “benign” seemed comforting. But the symptoms were real. Like many scary things in life, the symptoms gradually faded away until now I do not experience any of them. I can truly “pay no attention to things of old” as far as BPPV is concerned.

Other challenges are a little more elusive. Having lived for 64 years a slave to the clock that was determined by forces beyond my control, it is harder to marshal free time into productive time. Age does bring health problems that don’t go away; for example I weigh nine pounds more than I did last year at this time. My eyesight is a lot worse than it was 64 years ago when I started attending school.

And, of course, there is the innate urge in all humans to sin. We have by our very nature a rebellious attitude towards authority in general and God in particular. I certainly have inherited an annoyingly abundant amount of this quality. How grateful I am that God has provided a way for forgiveness and growth away from such urges.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your promise that “It is I who sweep away your transgressions for My own sake and remember your sins no more.” Isaiah 43:25

All flesh is like grass

1 Peter 1:24-25

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

²⁴ For All flesh is like grass,

and all its glory like a flower of the grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord endures forever.

And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.

This summer we took a trip east from California mainly to see family and friends. Among these are Bruce and Marcia. They love the out of doors just like we do. They love travelling and hiking. Bruce and I studied graduate mathematics together, and our families attended the same tiny church. Our girls were the same ages as theirs and had immense fun together. Marcia’s brother had also been a friend of mine when I was in college.

Unfortunately they live in Tennessee on a beautiful farm way out in the country, so it appeared we would miss them. Then they notified us that they would be in Michigan for a family reunion about the same time we were planning to be there. So when we finally got to Michigan, we phoned up Marcia to finalize a meeting with them.

Marcia’s father is a friend of mine on Facebook. He often posted humor and words of wisdom on my time line. Of course I couldn’t help but reply in kind and had indeed done so just before leaving California on this trip. He and his wife lived out on a small farm near one of the hundreds of hamlets that dot the map in Michigan. They were both born again Christians looking forward to Christ’s soon return.

Marcia answered the phone with the sad news that her father had gone into hospital on some minor pretext. While he was there he had had a major heart attack and died. They were at his home packing up things so her mother could go home with them to Tennessee. We drove there and spent a couple hours visiting and carrying things out to their pickup. Marcia told me that the day before going in for his checkup, her father had mentioned that he hadn’t heard from me on Facebook for a while and hoped that everything was okay with me. How thoughtful.

I will miss him and his pithy comments.

Indeed Father, “all flesh is like grass.” Thank You for the very reassuring hope that we will not perish forever but will meet friends and loved ones and live eternally with You.

A Dog's Eye View

Psalm 90:4

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

⁴ For in Your sight a thousand years
are like yesterday that passes by,
like a few hours of the night.

She was almost four years old when she came to our home from a friend who couldn’t stand her continuous barking. We named her Lucille Ball, or Lucy for short, because she was short, red-headed, and yapped so much. Although small dogs have never been my first choice, she captured our hearts. We got her a German shepherd/black lab puppy as a companion whom we named Cleopatra or Cleo for short.

Lucy lorded it over Cleo for a year or so even though Cleo grew to five times her size. Then one day Lucy stole a piece of meat right out from under Cleo’s nose. Suddenly Cleo understood that it was settlement time. With an angry growl Cleo took off after Lucy. They dashed madly about the house. For the first time Lucy saw how close she was to death. She fled at absolutely her top speed around and around the house. Cleo, breathing fire and brimstone, was right on her tail. Although Cleo was faster than Lucy, Lucy’s maneuverability made the mad race fairly even.

For a long time I had been wondering when Cleo would suddenly discover that she was no longer a small puppy under Lucy’s domination. I stood there shaking with laughter. Pretty soon I had to sit down because I was laughing so hard. Eventually both dogs ran out of breath and gave in to the weariness they felt. A new order had been established. Lucy still tried to lord it over Cleo, but it was only half-hearted because Cleo had established herself as top dog forever.

Many years later Lucy had a stroke. We had a vet intervene, and Lucy lived on, but it was a very painful existence. Her stools were bloody, and she could no longer control them. She whimpered often and showed other signs of living in constant pain. She never ran or barked, nor did she recognize us at all. It was a blessing when she got so weak that we had to put her down.

To both dogs we are in a very minor but real sense like gods. We have been around throughout their entire lifespan. Although they can rebel, they know they can’t get away with it in the end. Their life and death matters are often trivial and even humorous in our eyes. We supply their needs, their entertainment, and eventually often determine how long they live. They have to await our convenience for such things as meals and walks. Yet we love and care for them—in a small way like God does for us.

Thank You Lord for allowing us to glimpse in the pets You give us a side of You that we would never see otherwise.

A Hummingbird's Christmas Home

Psalm 84:3

New International Version (NIV)

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
  a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

Every Thanksgiving or shortly afterwards we put up strings of lights under our eaves and everywhere else that we can find a place. Each year we’ve used these lights to honor the birth of our Savior and Lord. The lights shine every evening through Christmas and New Year holidays, and then we take them down after the first week of the new year.

One year we noticed a hummingbird that frequented our bird-of-paradise flowers was especially anxious that we not come near. Whenever we went out the front door, it would hover over us, its wings buzzing an ominous warning drum beat. We are at times rather dense and slow to grasp the obvious messages of nature; it took us a while to realize that our little feathered friend was far more insistent and regular in its warnings than it usually was. It also flew to one particular spot under the eaves quite regularly. When the lights were on we could see nothing unusual. But in broad daylight we could see a beautiful and delicate little nest resting on the base of a bulb tucked up under the eaves. Often we could see our hummingbird’s head or tail sticking out over the edge of the nest.

That year we left that particular string of lights up well into April and long after there was no more sign of the hummingbird. Eventually the nest began to break of its own accord. When we did take it down, we were amazed at how comfortably the nest had been lined with down and lint. The mother had chosen a warm, safe place for her family.

May we place our lives as close to Your dwelling as we can so that You can protect and nurture us, gracious Lord.

A time to be silent

Ecclesiastes 3:7

American Standard Version (ASV)

⁷  A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

Elinihaki Tuvako and I taught science and mathematics at Ikizu Secondary School in Tanzania. In those days Tanzania had a three tier school system. The first two years of pre-primary school are taught in the language of the locality the school is in. There are some 130 distinct languages. The primary grades 1 through 7 are taught in Swahili. All children must attend primary school.

In some ways Swahili is like English. English is based on the Germanic Anglo-Saxon language supplemented by a huge vocabulary from French. Swahili is based on a Bantu language that is indigenous to East and South Africa. It has absorbed a huge vocabulary from Arabic over a number of centuries of trade, especially during the time of the slave trade.  It is one official language of Tanzania.

The high school grades are taught in the other official language, English. Less than 5% of the high school age children get to attend high school. So everyone speaks Swahili, but only a small number of people speak much English.

This week I was speaking with Elinihaki’s daughter Linda, who lives in the United States. She told me of a friend of hers who immigrated to the States recently. They sent their school age daughter, whom I’ll call Neema, to first grade.

When Neema got home that first day she told her mother that her teacher was very ignorant and must not be very educated. Very surprised the mother asked her how she knew that.

“Kwa sababu mwalimu wangu hawezi kusema Kiswahili!” she exclaimed. (Swahili for: “Because my teacher can’t speak Swahili!”) Neema had wanted to show her teacher that she already was educated enough to speak Swahili. Since her teacher couldn’t speak Swahili she deduced that the teacher must be uneducated.

Lord help me show by what I say and by what I leave unsaid that I love and trust You.

In Swahili Elinihaki means “God is my righteousness,” and Neema means “Grace.” 

The Trees Clap Their Hands

Isaiah 55:12

World English Bible (WEB)

¹² For you shall go out with joy,
    and be led out with peace.
The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing;
    and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands.

It was late September as we drove north towards Rangely, Maine, on State Route 17.  Although it was a bit early for peak foliage colors in Maine, we were hoping to get an eyeful at least in spots. We stopped at Coos Falls in Byron. Here the water tumbles gleefully down a cascade of rocks into a lovely little canyon with vertical rocky sides. The sun made the day warm enough for us to enjoy the shade of trees along the bank.

We drove on up the road as it wound its way up higher and higher hills along the northern stretches of the Appalachians. Suddenly we rounded a corner to a spectacular view north and east far into New Hampshire. Below us a lake stretched away to the north east. It was a magnificently large lake. I wondered why I had never heard of it before. On a signboard I read and re-read the name, Mooselookmeguntic Lake. The name was almost as large as the lake and signifies the place where moose feed. Dozens of parked cars indicated others had stopped to enjoy the view. Everyone was out in shirt sleeves soaking up the sun and the sight of millions of trees in green and gold and red around this lake spread out in the northern forest. We later found out that the viewpoint, Heights of the World, has a name rivaling that of the lake.

Coming down the north side of the mountains, we again wound in and out. Finally we passed a brilliant display. Turning around, we pulled off onto Stone Hedge Lane, parked our car, and jumped out. Great maples sported brilliant orange, gold, and yellow leaves. We basked in the glorious display. Indeed the trees along the lane seemed to be clapping their hands, thrilling us in their joyous jubilation.

 Thank You, Lord, for letting us share in the trees’ celebration of the change of seasons.

When You Think You've Arrived

James 4:17

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁷ Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Pastor Llewellyn served three churches when I knew him. When I first met him he was very leery of me. I think he took the obvious devil in me very seriously. But over time he came to accept me. In fact we became very good friends. I was in college, half way around the world from home, and I would often spend a weekend in his home.

His car of choice was a little VW bug that was probably the first new car he had ever owned. He drove fast. I would often think that if his guardian angel didn’t get into the car he would never be able to catch up with him. Llewellyn had to drive this way. He preached at all three country churches nearly every Sabbath morning. He had a service in one of them from 8:30 to 9:30. Then he would jump into the little bug and burn out of there to the next church that met from 10:00 to 11:00. When he arrived, the church would have already sung the opening hymn, and he would slide into the pastor’s seat just in time to stand up and preach the sermon. Leaving there he would race to the third church and arrive just in time to preach there, too.

He loved emotional stories and would often have to wipe his eyes when he came to the crisis. He loved music and sang with an excellent bass voice. He sang not only for special music but also would sing in an appropriate part of his sermon. He encouraged his children to sing for church, and they became favorites of his congregations.

Llewellyn had served in France during World War II. When he came back to the States he went to college and trained for the ministry under the GI Bill. So many ex-GIs did the same thing that he wasn’t able to become a pastor for a number of years, so he taught church school. Eventually he received his call to the ministry and served in rural churches for many years.

He practiced the strictest form of Christianity. He also expected his family and his parishioners to do the same. He insisted that his wife and children follow every practice of the church to the letter. Yet he was very understanding towards his parishioners and realized the flesh had a strong hold on them. He readily forgave their lapses and wept and prayed for them. I never met a parishioner of his who didn’t respect and love him dearly.

I often wondered what drove him to be so strict on himself and his family until one day he pulled out his well worn and much underlined Bible and, opening it, read me this text: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” After a pause, he gravely added, “This was the first text I ever underlined in this Bible.” He had received it when he was in high school.

Lord, give us the impetus and grace to do good where we find an opportunity.

Bring Up a Child

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

⁶ Memorize his laws ⁷ and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning.

When Sylvia and I got married and set up our own home, we established morning and evening worships. While the children were home we made this a standard practice in our home. After the children graduated from college and left home we still continue at least with evening worships. Our worships comprised reading of Scripture, studying Sabbath School lessons, and/or reading devotional works, especially the Conflict of the Ages series by Ellen White. While the children were little we often used My Bible Friends and The Bible Story which have many pictures and are written on children’s levels.

When the kids got to school age we sent them to parochial schools. This way they were exposed to Christian ethics, practices, and friends. When I was in the 7^th and 8^th grades we had systematic studies of the various doctrines, but I discovered that textbooks and teachers had switched to a social gospel emphasis by the tine our children were in school. We remedied that by going through our various beliefs on an informal but fairly complete level. The intention was that they would know what Sylvia and I believed and the reasons why we believed this way. The goal was not to compel them to believe the way we do but to give them the structure of our beliefs so that they would have a firm basis to evaluate the great variety of doctrines that are going around and be able to choose logically how they would structure their own world views.

Our children have all matured, gotten married, and set up their own lives and homes. They don’t believe exactly the way we do, but we do respect each other’s views and realize the bases we have for our views.  We hope they have a strong enough foundation to evaluate the continuous bombardment on all of public media and make informed choices rather than allow these messages to indoctrinate and turn them into  mercenary, materialistic, godless, unthinking, self-absorbed people.

Lord God, preserve us and especially our children from the continuous brainwashing we are subjected to daily.

Hospitality

1 Peter 4:9

New English Translation (NET)

⁹ Show hospitality to one another without complaining.

We lived in student housing in Iowa City while I was doing graduate work. The church had asked me to serve as an elder. This involved publishing our phone number under the church listing. Several times a year we would get a call from a stranger passing through asking for some kind of accommodation.

Once there was a self-supporting missionary couple to the Far East who phoned. They had spent several years serving there (I don’t remember the country). We put them up over night on their way from back east to California where they would fly across the Pacific. They were driving an old beat-up car and pulling a trailer.

They felt blest for the results they were seeing in their work. I do remember the deep faith and spirituality this couple had. Their stories of how God had answered their prayers of faith renewed our faith and love for the Lord. They also expressed a deep gratitude that they could stay with us. About two years later they came through again with more stories of rewarded faith and thanksgiving.

Of course not every experience was as positive. My brother was visiting once when a call for a room and meal came through. A man arrived and sat down for dinner with us. He was so big he needed two chairs to support his weight. Then he asked to take a nap, and we showed him to a bed in my brother’s room. When he woke up after the nap, he seemed in a great hurry to leave and wouldn’t be spending the night. After this man left, my brother discovered $80 missing from his wallet. No wonder the visitor was in such a hurry to leave!

In all the years before or since that we invited others to our home, that was the only time I remember that someone actually took advantage of us.

Lord, renew in us a spirit of hospitality and love for one another.

Life or Death

Luke 9:23-24

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

²³ Then Jesus said to all the people: “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me.²⁴ If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will save it.”

In the fall of 2013 we treated ourselves to a long desired trip to New England to view the autumn foliage colors. Initially the trees and the weather cooperated to give us their absolutely magnificent display. For five days we toured Maine under crystal clear blue sky, warm temperatures and peak brilliant green, yellow, orange and red colors. The Mainers called us derisively “leaf peepers.” We adopted the appellation as eagerly as revolutionary New Englanders adopted the derisive “Yankee” appellation that the soon-to-be-defeated red coats applied to them.

The next week we enjoyed Massachusetts. The sky decided we had had enough blue and sun. We got dull grey sky with patches of rain and fog. This dampened and dulled the brilliance but certainly didn’t erase the bright colors.

We were driving the rustic Mohawk Trail that runs from Boston to Albany. It is the only toll-free east-west highway in Massachusetts, and people race along it with purposes far more mercenary than leaf peeping. Most of the Trail is through picturesque towns scattered among hills and trees.

As we drove on one of the wooded sections of the Trail, admiring the artistic mixtures of dark green, yellow and red trees, a chipmunk dashed into the road from the side right in front of us. It had a compelling urge to get to the other side of the road without a hawk or other predator getting it. Its race’s native instinct had not yet adjusted it to blindingly fast, unswerving automobiles.

Suddenly there I was, probably doing only about 45 miles per hour. But on the rain-soaked highway that meant I couldn’t hammer the brakes and skid to a Hollywood stop.  My heart jumped violently as I saw the impending problem. I hit the brakes as hard as I dared without sending us into an uncontrollable skid. The little chipmunk saw its dilemma and took the only evasive action instinct gave it. It zigzagged wildly straight towards me. There was a tiny sickening thump-thump. In the rear view mirror I saw it lying on the pavement, its little tail still twitching. I wept inwardly for the poor little creature.

If only…  If only it had run straight on across it would have made it easily. But in the sudden emergency it reacted by desperately trying to save its life, only to lose it.

Train me daily, Lord, to instinctively forget myself and do things Your way, even if it may hurt me in the short term.

No Other Foundation

November 15, 2013

1 Corinthians 3:11

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

¹¹ For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

On November 24, 1859, Charles Darwin published the first edition of 1250 copies of On the Origin of Species. The entire printing sold out on the first day. Since that time millions more copies of Origin have sold. In this book, Darwin presents a persuasive argument that life evolved from simpler to more complex forms eventually culminating in humans.

It is natural to conclude that human life and civilization are the crowning result of a long line of simpler forms of life. The National Socialist Party (or Nazi party) in Germany reasoned that it could help further the evolution of a more advanced being by carefully selecting the best human subjects and have them continue breeding. They also reasoned that by prohibiting breeding by defective persons would also further the evolution of more advanced beings.

They identified what they called the “Aryan race” as the epitome of human evolution. Germans composed this master race. To speed the growth of the master race, the Germans founded baby factories using “perfect” young people to generate many blond-haired, blue-eyed babies. When I spent a semester studying in Germany, my German roommates would clandestinely point out fellow students who, they claimed, were born in these factories.

Hitler and the Nazi party not only did their best to increase this master race, they also did their best to utterly annihilate those they considered to be inferior people. The resulting holocaust destroyed an estimated 11 million people. Roughly 6 million of these were Jews, 3 million were Polish Christians. It also killed Christian priests and pastors, Gypsies or Roma people, homosexuals, and people with African heritage.

Hitler designed that worship of the Nazi state would replace Christianity. He founded the Gestapo, a secret police force, to ensure compliance with the new order. People lived in fear of the Gestapo.

The biblical record presents an original pristine world with no crime, violence, oppression, or death. Then sin entered and humanity degenerated until the only thoughts of their minds were evil continually. God, in the form of Jesus, came down to this earth to bear our guilt and punishment for sin and restore us to His original ideal.

Thank You, Lord, that instead of destroying us for our rebellion, You guaranteed our restoration to a New Heaven and a New Earth.

Out of Affliction

Zephaniah 3:17-21 (King James Version)

 ¹⁷The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

 ¹⁸I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.

 ¹⁹Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.

 ²⁰At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.

Sorina (not her real name) grew up in communist Romania. She married a pastor there, and they had 2 children. It was a tough life for them because the practice of Christianity had been curtailed almost to the point of being banned altogether. Pastors especially were singled out as being terrorists. They were under the constant surveillance of the secret police. Frequently they were arrested and sent to jail.

In jail, the state continued to persecute them. Beatings and mutilations were common. Medical research needed organisms to test new drugs on. Instead of using mice, prisoners were often chosen and forced to be the recipients of these new drugs. Since Sorina’s husband was frequently arrested because of his Christian activities, he was often used in testing one drug or another.

Eventually the family escaped Romania and came to California to live. Sorina’s husband was not well and was admitted to a hospital. Although the staff tried to help him, soon every organ in his body seemed to shut down simultaneously. They attributed his death to the results of some of the drugs that had been forced on him while in prison.

When I first met Sorina, she had just come on campus to see if she could earn a college degree and so be able to support her family. She was dressed in clothes that indicated mourning and spoke very little English, but she wanted to study mathematics. I became her advisor. She worked hard and did very well in university.

During her final year she fell in love with one of the single professors on campus. She didn’t know what to do. She felt responsible for rearing and educating her two sons. Also she felt responsible to repay the huge education loans she had been forced to borrow for herself. I pointed out to her that it might be that God was working things out to help her meet her obligations. Furthermore, if the professor was willing to marry her in spite of her obligations and if she loved him, then I would urge her to pursue this new interest.

 Later she asked me to help her rearrange her schedule so she could take one of his classes. I had to explain the legal implications this would place on the professor. Under sexual harassment laws a teacher was not allowed to court a student. It could actually affect his employment. Since she didn’t really need this particular class to graduate, I suggested she talk with him about it and not place him in an awkward position. They decided mine was a good idea.

Today Sorina and her husband are living in a lovely country home near a university where he is teaching. She has her dream job teaching high school mathematics and helping in county educational policies. The children are on their own and successful in their chosen careers. Indeed God is fulfilling his Zephaniah promise in her life.

Thank you Lord for working things out for the best for your servants especially when they experience severe personal tragedies in their lives.

God's Urges

Psalm 32:8

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

⁸ The Lord says,
    “I will instruct you.
    I will teach you the way that you should go.
    I will advise you as my eyes watch over you.”

I woke up on a Tuesday morning recently feeling I should go and see Delores. Her husband, Jewell, was a long time friend of mine. He was the treasurer of the Riverside Stamp Club for at least 20 years. When I joined the club he was very friendly and helpful. He got me interested in PNC’s (plate number coils) and helped me get many of them. He was wise in the ways of stamp dealers and how they take advantage of collectors.

I remember how angry he became when a very prominent dealer in southern California sold the club a Graf Zeppelin stamp that had been mended. These stamps are worth hundreds of dollars each. The one they sold us had been torn and someone had very carefully put a patch on it. The patch was well done and almost impossible to detect. Greg, one of our members, examined it carefully with a powerful lens and discovered the fraud. Jewell was always honest and insisted others be the same.

Jewell had gone into the hospital two weeks previously to have a routine knee surgery. He seemed to be recovering very well. His wife was in the hospital with him when he suddenly quit breathing. The hospital suddenly converged on his bed. They revived him and moved him into the ICU. He spent several hours talking rapidly to Delores. He seemed to sense that his time was short.

A day or so later it happened again. This time they revived him again, although it took more work to do so. He was noticeably weaker when they got him breathing again. Some time later he again quit breathing for the third time. The doctor had told Delores that if it happened a third time they would probably be able to revive him, but that he would be a vegetable afterwards. She said that asking them not to revive him the third time was the hardest decision she ever made.

Sylvia and I spoke with her for about an hour. I remember that Jewell had not seemed to be religiously inclined. I cautiously asked her if I could pray for her. “Please do!” she responded earnestly, “I need all the prayer I can get.” When I had finished praying she said, “Thank you very much. That was a beautiful prayer.”

Thank You Lord for teaching me they way I should go this time. Now help me to continue to recognize your urgings and follow your instructions. 

Conscience Conundrum

Matthew 5:16

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

David and Richard (names altered) were graduates of the Christian high school in Africa where I taught many years ago. Shortly after graduation they were both drafted into the army. They stopped by to see me after completing their military service and told me of their experiences.

David had decided that he would not work on the Sabbath. He told is commanding officer about his decision. The officer told him that he respected him for his decision, but that he would have to report to work on his Sabbath anyway. David refused to report and instead remained in his room and read his Bible. He was punished for his refusal to follow orders. This pattern of not reporting to work and being punished continued throughout his military service. Punishment consisted of severe beatings, being denied meals, solitary confinement in military jail, humiliation in front of his unit, loss of privileges, and anything else his commanding officer could think of to try and break his resolve. He was eventually discharged, but only after serving his full time.

Richard also decided that he would not work on the Sabbath. He chose to say nothing to his commanding officer. On Sabbath he would pick up the spade or hoe that he would need for the day’s work. On the way to the job he would slip off into the bush, hide his tool and spend the day in seclusion reading his Bible. When the platoon was returning from work he would carefully slip into the ranks and return with them to the barracks. Never once was his action detected by his superior officer. He received no disciplinary action, of course.

When I read this verse my mind often returns to the experience of these two classmates and their different ways of living up to the dictates of conscience. In each case I’m sure that the fellow soldiers observed how these two kept the Sabbath commandment. So far as I can tell the actions of neither soldier brought glory to our Father in heaven.

Lord I don’t know what I would do if I were in either of these soldiers shoes. I can only pray that Your Spirit would give me wisdom for the occasion as promised in James 1:5.

Speaking Well

1 Corinthians 13:1

American Standard Version (ASV)

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.

I grew up attending church on a weekly basis. When I was 12 I was baptized into the church. Already by that time my attention was drawn away from the church and towards many things. The church had become a vast list of do’s and don’ts. I had mastered the list pretty well. I understood the results of leaving the “truth”. But I had reached the point where I had no desire to regulate my life by this list.

My mother had a deep love for speaking English correctly. She spoke and wrote very well. She was the editor of a temperance magazine. She had many college students come to her for help to speak both eloquently and correctly. She was afraid that if we spoke like the kids around us we would never amount to anything. She took Professor Henry Higgins’ philosophy in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion that the way a person spoke had a huge influence on his/her effectiveness throughout life.

When I turned 20 I started attending the church on the US military base in Germany. There was a young man from the hill country of Arkansas, if I remember right. What caught my immediate attention was the most abominable English I had ever heard in my life. It was impossible that he had ever passed even 6^th grade English. He was highly opinionated. He was a devoted Pentecostal. Everything about him intrigued me.

But in spite of all the red flags that I detected about him, he took a liking to me. There was a holy Christian love that flowed out from this man. Over the period of several months this Christian love got to me. It slowly melted its way through all the extreme legalism that had been pounded into me and repelled me from the church. Christ became a savior to me, not the strict, unbending  judge that he had been before. It was under his ministration to me that I was saved.

Thank You Lord for your love that flowed through this soldier to me. May Your love flow through me to others!