Wacky Weather

Posted on 16 November 2018 by Richard

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a weather-related post.

After a dry January (defined as less rainfall than average), we had a record wet February — over four times the normal rainfall. This was followed by a dry March, Apr, May, June, July, and August.

Then came September, with nearly 5 times the normal rainfall.

And October, with between 11-12 inches above normal.

It’s let up somewhat in November, but it’s still been raining.

This means that we’ve had almost a years’ worth of rain since September… and it’s been unseasonably cold, with lows in the 20s earlier in the week.

We now seem to be returning to normal as we wait for things to dry out.

 

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Little Words

Posted on 16 November 2018 by Richard

I finished my study in Mark some time back, and I didn’t realize how much time has passed since I’ve last written.

Today’s thought concerns the verse below; however, I should mention that while the writing below is all mine, the basic idea came from a pastor in the 1800s.  The verse:

Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. (Micah 3:4)

We see the small word “as” above (highlighted red) that can tell us volumes.

God is a just judge; when people refuse to take His offer of pardon through Jesus Christ, they will be judged for their sins, but only as they have done in their deeds and their treatment of others.

It is a false teaching that “all sin is the same” – clearly, if this were true, there would be no need of having any judgment to come (commonly referred to as the “great white throne” judgment). There ARE degrees of punishment; people who appear at that fearsome tribunal will be judged “as” they have done.

On the flip side, it’s quite a blessing to consider that there are no levels of righteousness; we who have trusted Jesus Christ have His perfect righteousness upon our record!

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Lessons from Mark (plans)

Posted on 12 July 2018 by Richard

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. (Mark 16:1)

Let us consider these women: They had planned to do a good thing — we know that it was a good thing because when Mary anointed Jesus at Bethany, He Himself said that she had wrought a “good work” on Him (Mark 14:6).  Furthermore, they had risen early that they might do this before their other duties began to clamor for attention. In addition, they had spent money on these spices.

All of this effort and expense came to nought because Jesus had risen: God had a plan which they did not understand.

How often have we spent time, energy, money on something we wanted to do be a blessing, only to find out that it wasn’t needed?  What is our reaction?  Do we get angry and determine never to do something like this again. God still mentioned what these women did; it is recorded for all time. He has no word of reproach for them. If we had been planning a good thing, and then God’s working makes it not necessary, let us not get discouraged, but continue to do good as occasions arise.

 

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Lessons From Mark (words)

Posted on 22 June 2018 by Richard

Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. (Mark 15:43)

My attention is often caught by specific words that the Holy Spirit added to the statements of the Bible.  In the verse above, “boldly” is one such word. The verse would read just fine without; yet, God specifically added that word for our notice.

Why “boldly”?

In the past, I thought that this merely meant it was “bold” for a Jew to approach the Roman governor. But in my study of Mark, I think the real clue to the wold “boldly” is found in John 18:28 (Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.)

(This “no contact with Gentiles” policy is not found in the Bible, but was a tradition of men–albeit a strong custom. It is a Bible command to be clean for the Passover, but not this aspect of it)

And so I think Joseph’s “going in” to Pilate was “bold” because he risked the displeasure of the religious group.  For the sake of Jesus, in Whom he believed, he went against the custom of his day because the need was great.

Are we willing to go against custom to do things to honor our God?

 

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Lessons from Mark (When Things Go Wrong)

Posted on 7 April 2018 by Richard

But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. (Mark 15:11)

Here, Pilate is trying to release Jesus; Pilate knows that Jesus is popular with the people, and that the Jewish religious leadership were envious of Him. So, he figures that he can thwart them by using the custom of releasing a prisoner. However, the chief priests had been busy among the people, and they did not call for Jesus.

For this thought today, I want to consider the crowd – specifically, the followers of Jesus that were present.  There were certainly some there who had not been swayed by the chief priests; and who wanted Jesus to be released.  Perhaps, they may have reasoned, that God was giving this opportunity to have Jesus released.

But their hopes were dashed, and what they so fervently desired did not happen.

This is a great example of unanswered prayer. Has there been a time when you really, really wanted something from God? You’ve prayed and prayed, but it has not happened? I admit it’s happened to me many times. The followers of Jesus in the crowd felt the same way.

The difference is that we know (with the benefit of the Scriptures) that there was a larger plan of God at work here – God’s purpose was no less than the redemption of mankind: Jesus could not be released; it would have wrecked God’s plan.

What we desired could be similar – God has a purpose of which we are unaware, and He would answer our requests if He could, but it wouldn’t fit with a greater plan. This is where faith comes in – the trust; the assumption that God is good, and then acting upon that trust and assumption.

 

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The Ruler Principle

Posted on 4 April 2018 by Richard

I don’t claim that what follows is an original thought; after all, there is nothing new under the sun.  But I’ve not heard it called the Ruler Principle, and I thought of this before I heard anyone else talking about this concept:

Consider a standard 12-inch ruler; one end of the ruler marks a position, and the other end is it’s opposite.  The ends can be holiness and worldlines, or a conservative position and a liberal position, or good and evil. For the purpose of the rest of this writing, I’m going to use holiness and worldliness; the Christian is commanded to be holy and to avoid wordliness.

The midway point represents a middle-of-the-road position, or the perfect compromise; six inches from either “extreme”. As we examine worldlines, we can take pleasure in the fact that we are “six inches” (as it were) away from worldliness. Sure, we’re not perfect (we tell ourselves), but we’re keeping our distance from wordlines.

The problem is that the position that the world takes is always moving farther away from God and from holiness. If we are making sure that we stay our “six inches” from the world, we are moving farther away from God. Once “the world” has moved 6 inches, we are now exactly where the world used to be. Even if we re-balance to the middle, we are even farther away from God, and closer to the world’s original position.

The problem is that the focus should be on God and not on the world; we should be trying to be as holy as we can, not merely staying a certain distance from the world.

We see this in some segments of Christianity; certain segments like to say “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity”.  This sounds good, but isn’t a Biblical quote. And the problem that has demonstrated itself is that, over time, things get moved from the “essentials” bucket to the non-essentials bucket, all in the name of “unity” or charity.

We see this in politics where left and right will compromise, only to have (for example), the left adopt a new, farther out position… to continue to be thought “good guys” and compromise, they have to move farther to the left.  It has been said that if you are willing to compromise when the going gets tough, the opposition will always make sure that the going gets tough.

So, there it is — the Ruler Principle: I could have called this “The Wrong Focus” or “The Dangers of Compromise”, but I kind of like this name.

 

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Lessons from Mark (A Time to Keep Silent, part 2)

Posted on 20 March 2018 by Richard

And the chief priests accused Him of many things: but He answered nothing (Mark 15:3)

I hate false accusations; it’s one thing when I am tripped up by one of my many  faults, but to be accused of something that has absolutely no basis in truth is an affront to me, and I attempt to persuade others of the truth.

2 Cor 1 tells us that “God is true”, and I often consider seeking truth to be the highest thing that we can do.  Some of the great scientific discoveries of the past were made by men seeking the truth.

But this passage in Mark shows that there is something above seeking truth, and that is seeking the Father’s will. Jesus was falsely accused here, but He perfectly followed His Father’s will and was silent.

 

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Lessons from Mark (Gethsemane)

Posted on 18 January 2018 by Richard

Most people who have studied the life of Jesus Christ have some passing familiarity with what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane: That Jesus prayed, but the disciples who had been asked to watch fell asleep, that Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot with a kiss, and that the disciples all ran away.

However, sometimes familiarity with a passage or event causes us to miss some truths.

In regard to the disciples, the Scripture says: And they all forsook Him, and fled. (Mark 14:50).

They did not merely flee from Jesus, they forsook Him.  Forsake is a strong word – it means to leave with no intention of returning.

Note, too, that just minutes ago, they had been willing to fight for Jesus. The difference seems to have Jesus’ acceptance of what was happening; He stopped their fighting and healed the injured person, and was willingly allowing them to take Him.

Perhaps, the disciples saw their hopes dashed here; they had expected that Jesus would set up His kingdom, and now, He willingly is going with His worst enemies! How disappointing that moment was!  So, not only did they flee because they didn’t want to be arrested, but they also “forsook Him”.

These things are written for our edification and instruction.

Are we tempted to abandon (“forsake”) God because our expectations have not been met?  Are we willing to abandon (“forsake”) church because of some disappointment?

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A Thought on Following

Posted on 16 November 2017 by Richard

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life… (Psalm 23:6)

Think of how wonderful it is that goodness and mercy are following us – that way, they know if I deviate from the good path; mercy can forgive my stubbornness, and goodness can lead me back to the right path.

Consider the opposite – what if we were trying to follow goodness and mercy? If we took a wrong turn, or slowed down, they would have no way of knowing that I had fallen away.

It is a blessing that goodness and mercy follow me!

 

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Lessons from Mark (a time to keep silent)

Posted on 6 October 2017 by Richard

And he sendeth forth two of his disciples… (Mark 14:13)

I found myself pondering the above phrase, and found some things of interest that I’d like to pass along.

We know  from other passages that these two disciples were Peter and John; why are they not named?

There are some that say that Mark acquired (all of) his material from Peter, and that Peter is often not mentioned in Mark’s gospel.  However, I reject this theory. I believe the Scriptures were given by inspiration of God, and that God gave Mark the exactly what to write down.

It’s clear that God had no desire to hide the identity of these men, since they are identified in other gospels.

Perhaps, however, it is a lesson to us that we don’t always have to tell everything we know. The passage remains absolutely true without identifying the people involved.

As with many things in Christian living, there are extremes we need to avoid – some preachers only give general warnings, and never identify anyone by name.  Perhaps they don’t want to be “critical” — but the Scriptures are filled with examples of Jesus, Paul, and John being critical of specific, identified individuals — and John spoke much about “love”.

At the same time, there seem to be those who never seem to give general information, but are always bringing up names. This passage stands as a lesson.

Maybe it would be best if we sought wisdom from God in situations where we have a choice to name names or be silent.

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