Feet That Bring Good Tidings

 

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Nahum 1:15 King James Version

¹⁵ Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!

 

We have had well over a week of three-digit temperatures (over 40ºC). At night it seldom gets down to 80º (27ºC). When it does, I can consider turning on the whole-house fan to bring fresh, cool air into the house. However, lately it has been too hot even at 4 o’clock in the morning.

The other morning, I went into the back yard. Hundreds of little clouds curdled the sky. It indicated another hot day, but right then it was pleasantly warm. Early dawn turned the hills and trees around me into dark silhouettes. The clouds reflected the city lights and were almost glowing. I watched, enchanted, to see if I could make out a star in the dark lacey background. Nothing!

After five minutes or so, I caught the faint glitter of a star. The star watcher in me chided me for not bring my phone with its Sky Map App. It would have suggested which star I was seeing. The star played hide-and-seek amongst the cloud-curdled sky. Then a second star joined the first one in a dance among the clouds. With patience I watched the dance until two or more stars joined in.

Clearly what I was seeing was the constellation of Orion. Adventists have long taught that Christ’s return would come through the “open space” in Orion.

Standing there in the pleasant early morning stillness, I sensed the feet of him who was bringing good tidings of peace. This was a far cry from the morning news of war, rampant crime, dirty politics, human trafficking, and runaway inflation.

Lord, we eagerly await your soon return!

 

 

[1] https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51915359715_47f8ed32dd_b.jpg

Hurry to Obey

 

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Psalm 119:60 Good News Translation

⁶⁰ Without delay I hurry to obey your commands.

 

Dad once commented that the Lord had a hard time with him. Unless God knocked him up the side of his head with a 2 x 4[2], He had a hard time getting Dad’s attention. At times I know I am like that.

Sylvia and I went to Africa as missionaries shortly after we got married and I got an education. Or intention was to be missionaries for the rest of our lives. It had been three years of double-digit inflation and no cost of living (COL) adjustment. It was December 1978 and we were not making it financially. Sylvia was not able, at that time—with three kids, to hold down a job. In 1979 we were due a furlough. We prayed the Lord to either give us a substantial COL adjustment or we would take it as a sign that we should return to the U.S. on permanent return (PR).

We fully expected the Lord to give us a COL because we had pledged our lives to the mission field. He didn’t. Because of our pledge, we delayed accepting His directions. We delayed for four months. We actively tried to get an increased income flow—to no avail. We were sure we had misread His intentions. I felt a growing level of stress pressing on me. It was almost palpable. I got a job offer in the States and had delayed deciding on that too. Suddenly it was either accept it or lose it. We urged God to tell us what to do. That evening the two by four struck—God said in a sardonic voice, “I already told you!”

Thud! Finally, I felt it. I responded immediately, resolutely “Okay, God, we’re going on PR!” Stress vanished. In its place I experienced a profound peace.

Grant us, Lord, the ability to recognize Your voice and “hurry to obey” it.

 

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[1] https://www.taproot.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/115567s.jpg

[2] A board of indefinite length with a cross section that is two inches by four inches—commonly used in California to construct houses.

To Tithe or not to Tithe

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Isaiah 25:1 King James Version

25 O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

 

Alan[2] phoned me the other day and told me he had reached a low spot in his finances. “I have reached the end of my finances. I owe $100 tithe. If I pay the tithe, I will have nothing to live on for the next two weeks. What shall I do?” He was experiencing a major crisis of faith as well as finances. He has been paying tithe for the better part of a year, and all has gone well. Now he was completely at the end of his rope.

Immediately I thought, “Been there—done that!” I didn’t say that of course. But my life flashed before me in an instant. I remembered our second year as missionaries in Tanzania, 1968. The mission organization had miscalculated my salary the during 1967 and wrote me that they were going to have to take it out of this year’s salary. “We know you will need some money to live on, so we will send you $20 a month so you have some cash.” Even in Africa, that was a mere slap in the face. Yet God came through beautifully.

Years later, at Helderberg College in South Africa, the organization had forgotten to take out our U. S. Social Security tax for two years. It was calculated on what our salary would have been in the States. In Africa our salary was roughly a quarter of that. So when they took out the equivalent of 3 years SS tax, it left us very little to live on. Besides that, the country was experiencing double digit inflation, and we received no cost-of-living adjustments. But, true to God’s promises, we came through debt free. Then God organized, against our desires, for us to transfer to the States. That definitely turned out to be the best move for us at the time.

In the States we have been essentially a one salary family. Throughout our whole married life—58 years in June, we have tithed our income. Most of the time we have tithed after taxes. I have reasoned that my taxes go to finance various wars including Afghanistan and Iraq, support for unwed mothers, and welfare for people who choose not to work; so, I could not, with a clear conscience, count that as “increase”.[3] Even in the States I have seen our bank balance come down to less than $10. God has always stepped in—sometimes at the very last minute—to help us.

Now that we are retired, we are living very well. When I get concerned about what will happen to us if runaway inflation destroys our savings, I remind myself that God has never let us go hungry or without a home to live in. He will see us through.

I reminded Alan that in Malachi 3:10 God has urged us to “Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things.”[4] If he chose not to tithe, God would understand, but if he chose to pay his tithe and trust God, he would experience a great thrill as God rewards his faith. This is the only point in our Christian experience where God urges us to test him!

Lord, thank You for challenging us to test You. And thank You for coming through time and again for us, often in the nick of time.

 

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[1] https://thechurchadmin.com/do-church-members-have-to-tithe/

[2]  I have changed the name and circumstances, but the experience is very real and happened within the week of this writing.

[3] Deuteronomy 14:22 (KJV) Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.

 [4]  Today’s English Version (1982)

Content Whether Full or Hungry

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Philippians 4:12-13

Good News Translation

¹² I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. ¹³ I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.

 

In 1986 we moved to California. The sale of our home in Massachusetts had fallen through, so we were still making house payments on it, and we were paying exorbitant rent on the house we were living in. We now had three kids in church school. I remember lamenting to the Lord, “Not again, Lord, please!” Then our house back east sold for approximately what we paid for our home in California.

A year after we were first married, I was as grad student, and Sylvia had a good job, but it fell through. We were able to borrow enough for me to finish school and move to Africa. Then our second year in Tanzania, the TAD made a big mistake in our salary, and we were with no money for six months. Things eased gradually until I went back to grad school with two kids. Then we had to go on food stamps for a couple years, but the Lord blessed, and we lived very well towards the end. In fact, we were living better than we had previously throughout our married life. Back in Africa double digit inflation and another bigger mistake by the TAD (Trans African Division that employed us) thrust us back into a hand-to-mouth existence. In spite of this, we have always had a roof over our heads and have never gone hungry.

We moved to Massachusetts, and I took a second job so we could afford to buy a house. In spite of my two jobs, our bank balance would drop to less than $10 at the end of most months. Still the Lord was good to us, and we were able to grow at least half of the food we ate for seven years. The old clunkers we drove kept right on clunking. Then in California I again took on a second job. God heard my lament, and things did improve—slowly but steadily until my retirement in 2013. I remember walking in the hills and praising God for the prosperity he had granted us. I also remember having a premonition that things would change. … Again.

Since then, West Nile virus, threatening blindness, and cancer take their toll. This miserable pandemic has cramped our style. It appears that we, as a nation, are facing serious inflation and possible national financial collapse. In spite of all this, I have a solid confidence to say with Paul, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me!”

Thank You, Lord, that everyone reading this blog has the very same promise that God will continue to look after them, too.

 

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[1] https://line.17qq.com/articles/oohncpdov.html

Unshakable Government

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Hebrews 12:28

Good News Translation (GNT)

²⁸ Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe.

This past week Robert Mugabe, the world’s longest ruling dictator of 37 years, was deposed by a carefully orchestrated, bloodless coup d’etat.  Mugabe had emerged the victor in a bloody civil war that rocked the idyllic, prosperous, and peaceful Southern Rhodesia or just Rhodesia. Hundreds of innocent people were killed after the war by simply stepping on land mines that had been planted throughout the country.

Mugabe started a systematic genocide attempt on the Ndebele people who had put up the strongest resistance to his assuming leadership.  He methodically drove the successful white farmers out of the country and gave their farms to his favorite military generals who had no desire or skill to farm. The net result was that when he took office, the country was exporting food to the nations around: after his policies took effect, starvation overtook the country. The international community has had to step in and feed his people.

The pictures above show how he squandered the limited wealth of his country to build himself a mansion that rivals the mansions of European nobility and royalty. As the country ran out of money, he printed vast amounts of paper money until the Zimbabwe dollar became literally worthless.

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King Ndebele, a boyhood friend of mine, once wrote, “When the British were here, we had freedom but not independence. Now we have independence, but we don’t have freedom.”

As we see the steady erosion of our rights and freedoms in our own country, I appreciate more and more the promise that we will, in God’s own time, receive the “kingdom that cannot be shaken.”

 Let us indeed “be grateful and worship God in a way that will please Him, with reverence and awe.”

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[i] https://i2.wp.com/truthorfictioncom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/zim5.jpg

[ii] https://i0.wp.com/truthorfictioncom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/zim10.jpg

[iii] http://m.wsj.net/video/20150616/061615zimnote/061615zimnote_1280x720.jpg