The Power of God's Word

 

 

Matthew 7:6 (Good News Translation)

Do not give what is holy to dogs—they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs—they will only trample them underfoot

I have been attending a memoir writing workshop by Rose Monge. For this week she assigned the following prompt: “Select a tangible artifact, prized possession or object that has meaning to you. What and why is this artifact so significant? Write about it.” What follows is my response.

I had been teaching for 5 years at a Christian high school in Tanzania. The seniors, whom they called the Form IVs, finished their external exams on Thursday (November 25 1971) and were scheduled to leave for home on that day. They made a special request to stay another day, “to say goodbye!” I encouraged the principal and the faculty to deny the request. I feared they could be up to some mayhem; however, their request was granted. The other classes didn’t take their final exams until the next week, so we had regular classes Friday. I had Form I mathematics at 7:00 a.m. that day. As usual, the teacher who had the first period class each day was also expected to start off with a ten-minute devotional with the students. I locked the classroom door because I saw some Form IV students walking around outside. I started the class on time. However. the Form IVs, started banging on the windows and door and shouting and making more noise outside the classroom. They continued this raucous behavior for the entire period. It was so loud that I couldn’t lecture. When the period was over, I opened the door and started to leave the classroom. However, the 10 disgruntled seniors were not done yet. They formed a circle around the door, one of them menacingly swinging a rawhide whip. The Form I students crowded around the door behind me, so there was no retreat there, Evidently, they were expecting something to happen. The student with the whip stepped up to me and said, “I hear you have called us dogs!”

I said firmly, “I never called you dogs!” I paused, “but Jesus Christ[1]  did. ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs—they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs—they will only trample them underfoot’.”

“Where!” demanded the whip kid.

I opened the little Testament pictured above that I carried in my shirt pocket to Matthew 7:6 and handed it to him, “Here!”

He took this proffered Testament, read it in silence, after a moment’s hesitation closed it, handed it back to me, turned on his heels, and stalked away. His fellows followed him. Although it is well worn, I still treasure this little Todays English Version testament with a color striped cover that saved me from a beating that day.

I stepped into my office door, which was right next to the classroom. I turned to lock the door, but my hand was shaking so badly, I had a difficult time. After locking the door, I sat there for a whole class period and praised the Lord. Fortunately, I had a free period at that time, and slowly my shaking stopped.

Meanwhile the disgruntled boys went to the principal’s office. He told me about the encounter afterwards. They demanded that he come out of his office. He saw the whip which the ringleader was waving menacingly. He declined to come out. They still demanded that he come out so they could talk with him. Whether it was the aura of the principal’s office or just the fact that they figured they couldn’t swing the whip effectively in the office that caused them to finally turn around and leave the building.

They still thirsted for blood, so they went over to the vice-principal’s home and pounded on his front door. His wife came to the door, and they demanded to see him. His wife quickly assessed their menacing attitude and said, “Sorry, he’s in the shower!” and closed and locked the door. They stood around waiting for a long time, hoping for him to come out. Finally it became time to catch the bus, and they dashed off.

Thank you Lord, for using such a little thing as this Testament to quell the fury of the disgruntled youth, and saving me from a beating.

 

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[1] Matthew 7:6 GNT

Dog Walking and Terror

 

[1]

Psalm 4:8 American Standard Version (ASV)

⁸ In peace will I both lay me down and sleep; For thou, Jehovah, alone makest me dwell in safety.

Cleo, our German shepherd-Labrador mix, and I had a routine that we went through every night. If I forgot one thing, she refused to do the next thing. When it was bedtime, she got restless. She sighed heavily, then came over and lay down where ever I was sitting. Finally, I’d take the hint and go to the coat closet and fetch her leash, a small flashlight, and a plastic bag for her indiscretions. Then we walked across the street and out into the desert beyond.

The desert is always solitary and indeed deserted. The city lights are ever close, so our stroll was never in the deep darkness of the desert a long way beyond us. But enough stars are actually visible to make out the constellations. The planets do indeed wander through the background of stars beyond. At the time, Saturn was bright in the sky and had been sneaking up on Spica for several months.

Often coyotes were singing to the moon all around us. On occasion we even saw one watching us boldly or slinking slyly away. Cleo was a bit larger than even the largest coyotes, and she has a great love of chasing them. I would slip her leash loose and watch her eagerly give chase. She was far too old and fat and slow to get too close. But she loved it, and the coyotes seem to love it, too. As they got to a “safe” distance, they would stop, turn around, and watch her, sort of egging her on.

One time, years before Cleo was born, I was walking Brenna, another of our line of dogs, when a woman appeared from the south with a couple dogs in tow. She was surprised or even shocked by my appearance. Our dogs were on leash, so there was no potential dog fighting.

“Oh! I’m terribly sorry. I promise I’ll never come out here again!” She was overcome with fear.

“Don’t worry,” I answered. “You’re not doing anything wrong and certainly in no danger. I like to walk my dog here, too.”

“Please let me go!” she pleaded. In her terror, she continued verbally groveling, making very little sense in what she said.

I was surprised by her attitude. I, an old man, was certainly not threatening her. I was at least twenty yards from her when she saw me and was not even walking towards her, let alone pursuing her. That she lived in fear was evident in everything she said and in every movement she made. She turned and hastened back towards the houses and streets.

Thank You, Lord, for a feeling of safety and that every night we both lie down and sleep.

 

 

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Enthusiasm in Worship

 

Habakkuk 2:20 King James Version

²⁰ The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

 

The words of this text were stretched in a banner across the front of our church when I was a kid. They were read from the pulpit, and we were urged to exercise reverence before the Lord. Our songs were sung in subdued voices. Only very seldom did someone in the congregation venture a softly spoken, heart-felt “Amen!” There was definitely no running in the sanctuary. The robed choir would sacredly chant these words as they filed somberly in and took their places on the platform.

My grandfather was hard of hearing, so our family always sat on the right-side, front pew. Since Dad was an honored member of the church, his family was expected to behave with perfect decorum. Mom was very cognizant of this expectation and did her very best to make the family live up to the ideal. Yes, we respected the fear of the Lord—and of the razor strap behind the bathroom door at home.

Our salvation was received with solemn acceptance under the realization that it could be withdrawn on the slightest infraction. We trembled lest there be a hidden sin lurking in our past that might be revealed on the day of judgement, and we would be cast into the outer darkness, where all unfortunates cringed weeping, wailing, and gnashing their teeth.

We read, but rejected and ignored, such verses as “You will take up your tambourines and dance joyfully!”[1]  “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”[2] “Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.”[3] “Clap your hands for joy, all peoples! Praise God with loud songs!”[4]   

A visiting week of prayer pastor taught us to sing the following with gusto (* indicates repeat three times):

 

I've got a home in Glory land that (clap) outshines the sun, *
Way beyond the blue.

Do Lord, oh, do Lord, oh, do remember me, *
Way beyond the blue.

 

I took Jesus as my Savior, (clap) you take him too, *
Way beyond the blue.

Do Lord, oh, do Lord, oh, do remember me, *
Way beyond the blue.

 

The next year the song was banned because it had a beat to it, and this caused the youth to move to the music. God forbid!

Was it always this way? “I saw,” wrote Ellen White in 1850, that “singing to the glory of God often drove the enemy, and shouting would beat him back and give us the victory. I saw there was too little glorifying God in Israel and too little childlike simplicity.”[5] In Paris, Maine, in 1850, Ellen White noted: “Sunday the power of God came upon us like a mighty rushing wind. All arose upon their feet and praised God with a loud voice; it was something as it was when the foundation of the house of God was laid. The voice of weeping could not be told from the voice of shouting. It was a triumphant time; all were strengthened and refreshed. I never witnessed such a powerful time before.”[6] Ron Graybill noted these and many more instances in his article “Enthusiasm in Early Adventist Worship” in the October 1991 issue of “Ministry Magazine.”[7]

John the revelator reported on Christ’s reaction to lukewarm religion: “Because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth!”[8]

Dear Lord, build a fire under us and send us forth with an enthusiasm that will ignite the earth!

 

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[1] Jeremiah 31:4 GNT

[2] Psalm 32: 11 KJV

[3] Psalm 149:3 KJV

[4] Psalm 47:1 GNT

[5] Ellen G. White to Arabella Hastings, Aug. 4,
1850 (letter 8, 1850).

[6] Ellen G. White to The Church in Brother
Hastings' House, Nov. 7, 1850 (letter 28, 1850)

[7] https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1991/10/enthusiasm-in-early-adventist-worship

[8] Revelation 3:16 GNT

Elephants and Tourists

 

[1]

 

Romans 11:33 Good News Translation

³³ How great are God's riches! How deep are his wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain his decisions? Who can understand his ways?

 

In 1956, on our furlough from mission service in Africa, Dad bought a VW Microbus in Germany to use back in Africa.  We toured a bit of western Europe and spent a few hours touring the Amsterdam Zoo.  As we walked with a great throng of tourists down a main sidewalk in the zoo, we were asked to step aside and let an elephant come by.  The elephant had a frame on its back and several tourists perched up there.  Our family stood behind a number of other tourists.  When the elephant plodded right in front of us, it suddenly stopped, turned, and looked directly at Mom.  Then it threw its trunk up over its head and trumpeted loudly, right in her face.  Mom just about fainted.  Then the elephant turned and plodded on down the trail.  One of the zookeepers came up to Mom right away and asked if she was okay.  “I have been working here for twenty years,” he apologized, “and I’ve never seen that happen before!  I’m terribly sorry!”

I couldn’t help laughing.  I knew immediately what had happened.  Some two years previously we had been touring Wankie National Park (now Hwange in Zimbabwe). We had seen very little in the way of animals and were driving down a narrow track through the rather dense savannah bush when some 50 feet ahead of us a great African cow elephant stepped into the trail and slowly and majestically walked off into the bush on the opposite side of the track. Then, one-by-one, the rest of the matriarch’s herd filed across the track.  Elephants always have the right of way, so we waited in awe of these great animals.  I was sitting in the back seat and saw the matriarch come around to left side of our car and stand there watching us and her herd coming across in front of us.  The other passengers all had their eyes glued on those crossing our track ahead of us.  When all had finally crossed and disappeared, we sat and waited quietly.  Suddenly the Matriarch threw her trunk into the air and trumpeted violently.  She then started to charge straight at us.  Mom about had a heart attack right there and then.  That was enough to strike an eternal fear of elephants into her heart.  Everyone in the car started yelling: “Roll up the windows!”  “Roll down the windows!”  “Start the car!”  “Backup!”  “Go forward!”  Dad was driving.  He didn’t know what to do so just remained quiet.

Fortunately, after a few determined steps, the matriarch decided against charging us, turning our car upside down, and trampling it flat, as elephants do.  After that episode, Mom would stay in camp while we went elephant watching at Wankie and pray for our safety.  When God created elephants, He put many typically human emotions into their great hearts including love, sadness, and a sense of humor.  Apparently that elephant in Amsterdam sensed the terror that clutched Mom’s heart and responded to it as an elephant’s practical joke, in its own natural way. It was saying to her, “See, I mean you no harm!  This is only noise and bluster!”

 

Thank You, Lord, for Your infinite knowledge and wisdom in creating both us and elephants. We rest in Your loving care for us.

 

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Damocle's Sword

 

 

[1]

 

Revelation 22:10-12 (King James Version)

 ¹⁰And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

 ¹¹He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

 ¹²And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

 

It started early in life. We were discussing the closing of probation in a class in my parochial primary school. I had already discovered the inevitability of sin in my life. Time and time again I had had to seek forgiveness for something I had done. I began to understand how basically evil I was, even though I was not yet ten years old. This doctrine that God would draw a line across time after which the solemn declaration would be pronounced, petrified me:

The threat of this proclamation hung over my head like Damocles’ sword. It struck fear into my young breast that haunted me. My teacher explained that if there was a sin in my life that was unforgiven, it could no longer be forgiven. The fires of hell were awaiting me.

Timidly I raised my hand and asked a question that haunted me. Since, my entire life had been a sequence of sins for which I had to ask forgiveness, not only of God but also some mortal soul I had wronged. “What if I’m on my way to ask forgiveness and the close of probation is declared? Will it be too late?”

My teacher, who loved us kids, realized the distress I found myself in. But I’m not sure that she had encountered that question. Her answer left a lot of uncertainty in my mind: “I’m sure that if God sees you’re actually going to confess a sin that He will understand.” But her answer lacked conviction.

To her the guardian angels God had assigned to each one of us carried a black book and continually wrote down every evil thought or action we might have. That picture of my guardian angel had been burned into my young mind, too. The angel might indeed be guarding me from harm, although he never stopped me from getting hurt, possibly because he was too busy writing down the continuous notes about my sins.

My life span had to double before I would begin to put Christ’s yielding His life for me together with His love for purity. Christ loved me and that is why His grace took care of my evil nature. Probation might indeed close, but God’s love and grace would never end.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your infinite and eternal love. Help me to show others this great love.

 

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