Reverent Christian Worship - Psalm 29:2

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
- Psalm 29:2

    It has been variously described as tedious, unstimulating, boring, dull, monotonous, and unimaginative. The “it” I’m referring to is the liturgy of a Christian service. This liturgy and there are many stylized versions of it, represents the manner of worship during services in our Christian churches. All those lukewarm descriptions of the liturgy are the excuses many give for not attending a traditional Christian service.
    Most people are aware of the Roman liturgy known as “the Mass.” For Protestants, churches can be divided into two major categories - “liturgical Protestant and non-liturgical Protestant.” I attend a “liturgical Protestant church” with a formal order of worship or set liturgy.
    Many denominations mean many forms of worship. Do they all give glory to God’s name? Do they all lead to worship in the splendor of holiness? “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” - Psalm 95:6.
    God has commanded us to worship Him in awe, reverence, and fear - “Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!”- Psalm 96:9. It is true. When we attend service we should come prepared to worship God, the Creator, and Sustainer of the world. Our focus must be on reverently worshiping God, not on what best entertains us.
     At this point I would like to interject; there is a too familiar casualness that many Christians project when coming to worship services. Please, check the flip-flops and the mocha cappuccinos at the door. Adoration and veneration do not come glibly wearing cut-offs and tank or bringing egg McMuffins into the presence of the Lord. No, perhaps not of us all have suits or blazers but we all should have an outfit or two that can be seen as our “Sunday best.” And we can all wait for breakfast. Remember; we are in the presence of the Lord God Almighty! We should dress and conduct ourselves appropriately.
    Getting back to the subject of proper liturgical worship; when we attend service in the house of God shouldn’t our worship style reflect the reverence we have for our God? Shouldn’t the Holy Gospel be front and center of our worship? We can certainly be entertained by rock bands and carnivals at our festivals and congregational celebrations. We shouldn’t use them as worship tools in place of the Gospel.
    So what kind of worship does God want? Perhaps the words of Isaiah will shed some light on the subject - “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’” - Isaiah 6:3. The angels proclaimed the holiness of God - the holiness of God, and we take it upon ourselves to approach worship with an air of informality? God’s holiness demands we approach Him with reverent respect. Even Moses was instructed to remove his sandals in the presence of God’s holiness - “Then he said, ‘Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’” - Exodus 3:5.
    Paul tells us how we are to approach God - “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12: 1-2. We are to present ourselves “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” That, I contend, is a far cry from treating Sunday service as a social club.
    Finally, as Peter instructs us - “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” - 1Peter 1:14-16.
    If your church presently allows distractions from proper reverent Christian worship, perhaps you’re attending the wrong church. Seek a church with an approach to worship that is grounded in the Gospel and the holiness of God.

Kanye And The True Gospel - Matthew 26:11

   
 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. - Matthew 26:11

    The news this week seemed overwhelmed by the idea that rapper, Kanye West appeared with prosperity gospel preacher, Joel Osteen. The media was abuzz with the usual questions that arise when a previously “worldly celebrity” seems to have found God. It is not that I would begrudge Kanye’s desire to find God active in his life. He is certainly just one among the many of us who could benefit by surrendering himself to Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, because he chose Osteen as his outlet I’m more than a little skeptical of his regeneration.
    For me, the issue is one of Biblical authority. Nowhere in the Holy Bible does God ever promise us prosperity. Nowhere! In fact, as the title verse states: we will always have the poor with us. What that means is that there are simply going to be some individuals who are born into poverty; live in poverty, and finally, die in poverty. That statement is Biblical. The Scriptures refer to the poor throughout the books of the Bible.  It does so specifically to illustrate that there will be rich and if there are rich then it only stands to reason that there will be poor. “The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all.” - Proverbs 22:2.
    And what does the Bible say is our responsibility and duty to the poor? We are to clothe and feed them - “And he answered them, ‘Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.’”- Luke 3:11. Our Christian duty is to provide for the poor; about that, there is no argument. We are to see that they are fed, sheltered, protected, and given aid when needed. Jesus went so far as to equate our treatment of the poor with our treatment of Him. “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” - Matthew 25:37-40. That is the way we are to treat the poor who will always be among us.
    As for the false gospel of Joel Osteen; to preach prosperity to people when Jesus preached the cross is not only false teaching - it is sinful. Prosperity preachers like Osteen and his ilk are paving their own personal roads to hell. Think about it. What did Jesus say we had to do if we wanted to follow Him? “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” - Matthew16:24. Does that sound like a life filled with all our worldly desires? Does that sound like a life where all our worldly needs are met? I often wonder if Joel Osteen were to ever meet Jesus, what would Joel’s response to Him be when Jesus told him - “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’” - Mark 10:21. Would Osteen be willing to give all his worldly riches to the poor to follow Jesus? Would Kanye West?
    We live in a troubling time for genuine Biblical Christianity. There are so many false teachers preaching worldly prosperity to a desperate world. Preaching a false message that leads to the false hopes of the world’s sinners is simply seasoning the devil’s stew.
    There is one Gospel: the Gospel of Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. The focus of our faith between now and glory has been revealed to us - “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” - Philippians 2:9-13. I’m still trying to understand how Joel Osteen and perhaps now, Kanye West see material prosperity in this, the one true Gospel.
Also, see - https//maranathia.blogspot.com/2017/11/what-privilege-proverbs-163.html

Where Christian Anger Is Needed - Ephesians 4:26-27

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. - Ephesians 4:26-27

    Anger has become an issue in this day and age simply because there are so many social objections to becoming irate with anyone for any reason thanks to our overly politically correct climate. And many of anger’s greatest opponents, many of them secular progressives, will quote Scriptural verses to back their “holier than thou position.” Psalm 37:8. Proverbs 22:24, Ephesians 4:31, and James 1:20, to name but a few, declare in no uncertain terms the prohibition against anger. But what these cenobites of passivity and tolerance have failed to grasp is that, as in our title verse, we are commanded by God to be angry at times.
    Of course, we’re not to harbor anger in our hearts and that is what the command to “not let the sun go down on your (our) anger” is all about. But to feel righteous indignation or anger is far from prohibited; it is called for.
    An honest assessment of how many times the anger of God is referred to in the Bible will reveal that anger is mentioned more times than God’s love! And what makes God angry is always the same transgression - sin. God is angry with sin.
    English theologian John Stott had this to say about righteous anger -
    “I go further and say that there is a great need in the contemporary world for more Christian anger. We human beings compromise with sin in a way which God never does. In the face of blatant evil we should be indignant not tolerant, angry not apathetic. If God hates sin, his people should hate it too. If evil arouses his anger, it should arouse ours also ‘Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake thy law.’- Psalm 119:53 What other reaction can wickedness be expected to provoke in those who love God?”
    We have a duty as Christians to be angry with evil and sin around us. And while we may not simply go about chastising and physically restraining others from sinning there is still one place we not only have a duty to not tolerate sin but a responsibility to prevent it: in our homes. And the clearest area of control must be upon our children.
    We are cautioned by Scripture regarding the discipline of our children - “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” - Ephesians 6:4. The teaching here is clear: we must not spend our time needlessly harassing our children to the point of driving them crazy, but we are told to discipline them and instruct them in the Lord. And this admonition speaks to the evil in our children’s lives. We are not to tolerate sin in their lives no matter under what guise it raises its diabolic head. Whether it be some new social sickness being promoted by the popular culture or just worldly unlawfulness and disrespectful rebellion. We are to shut it down without exception. Under no circumstances may we tolerate sin in the lives of our children. Even if it presents itself as madness we must not make excuse for it.
    Scripture tells us - “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” - Proverbs 22:6.” We train our children because as parents it is our duty to train them. There are only two ways to train a child. One is to train them with moral and ethical thoughts, words, and deeds. The other way is to simply allow them to go their own way. Even a simpleton knows the first way is the right way while the second way leads to perdition. And even though they may complain and object, we must fulfill our responsibility as parents despite their protests. Time will prove us to be right. “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” - Hebrews 12:11.

Can You Imagine? - Deuteronomy 6:8-9

  
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
 - Deuteronomy 6:8-9

    Moses had just finished revisiting the Ten Commandments with the Israelites. ‘The Law,’ as God gave it to Moses was complete and without error. Ten objective commands to be followed to the letter by the inheritors of the Promised Land. And what many have interpreted as merely a way to remember the commands is actually the way to keep the commands.
    As “a sign on your hand,” the Commandments are to be seen in our actions and deeds. The unbelieving world must be able to see our commitments to God’s laws by our behavior, on our bad days as well as our good days. As “frontlets between our eyes,” they must be able to see our obedience to God in our faces. In fact, as written on the doorpost and gates of our homes, our very lives, at home and abroad, should reflect our obedience to God’s Commandments for all to see. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” - James 1:22.
    As James tells us, we must ‘doers of the word,’ not just hearers! And if we follow Moses’ instructions in Deuteronomy 6:8-9, we will no doubt be doers because God’s laws will be apparent in our homes as well as in our lives. We must do away with the notion that despite our imperfect fulfilling of the law that we still ‘pretty good people.’ That is not to say that we must be perfect in all our ways. What it does say is that ‘the Law’ must be evident in our thoughts, words, and deeds.
    The words of the Apostle John point to the truth. “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” - 1 John 2:3-6. Perfect as Christ is perfect? As has been said so often, “Di-rection, not per-fection.” And make no mistakes: God knows the human heart.
    Can you imagine a world where everyone followed the Commandments of God? There would be no need for prisons or war. Greed, hatred, poverty, and racism would be unheard of. Of course, sickness and death would remain because we still live in a fallen world, but can you imagine the quality of life compared to living as in the days of the Judges? “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 21:25.
    God’s laws present us with a minimum standard for moral behavior. The Commandments are the very minimum we should or shouldn’t do. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus showed us how much further we should go to fulfill God’s holy mandate.  Quoting Scripture, Jesus set the stage with the words, “You have heard it said.” Christ then goes on to describe how much more God’s laws entail. Murder is forbidden but so is anger and hate. Adultery is forbidden but so is lust and coveting. Loving our neighbors is commanded but so is loving our enemies.
    The understanding here is simple - “But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” - Luke 11:28. Jesus never minced words.
    The world has enjoyed a time of God’s blessing upon the world since Jesus came to save us from our sins. A revival of living by God’s Holy Commandments couldn’t hurt and would certainly bring the most welcome blessing since Jesus walked the dusty roads of Galilee. Can you imagine?

When Friends Fail Us - James 4:4

  
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. - James 4:4

    How many times in your life have we ever been let down or betrayed by “a friend?” We should not be surprised; if we make friends with worldly people, we will always be let down. I’m not speaking of acquaintances now but of people we truly believed had our best interest at heart. We encounter people every day in our lives. Whether at school or work or in our leisure time activities, there are going to be people we associate with regularly. That doesn’t make them our friends. “For it is not an enemy who taunts me— then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God's house we walked in the throng.” - Psalm 55:12-14.
    Clearly, there is a world of difference between those who are mere acquaintances by virtue of providence and those we consider to be tried and true friends. But how are we to behave when the slight or betrayal comes from one we believed was truly a friend and confidante? “My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his hear; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.” - Psalm 55:20-21. And this comes with a smiling face! The utter distaste we experience when a friend turns against us shakes our very foundation. We feel indignant and violated because we see that injured friendship as folly.
    But what of those words spoken in rashness and anger from a friend? “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! . . . but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” - James 3:5, 8. The tongue itself heats the very moment! And this was a friend.
    So hearts are broken, relationships are soured, the flow of our civility is interrupted, and we smolder in anger. How dare they? How could they? And could this all have been avoided in the first place?
    There are always tell-tale signs of a person’s true nature. What we see when they lambast others is just waiting for its opportunity to thrust itself at us. “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him.” - Titus 3:10. What then is left for us to do?
    Choosing a friend based on an immediate need or interest may be the worst move anyone could make. Friendships that last are based on mutual respect for one another, not need or interest. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers . . . .” - Psalm 1:1. Three admonitions glare out at us. Three warnings when choosing a friend. Let neither the wicked, nor the sinner, nor the scoffer even find their way into your considerations. And let’s not be coy. These cautions are glaringly obvious to all but the blindest of people.
    What are we to do when (and if) we should find someone worthy of friendship? How do we prevent the souring of the relationship? In a word, edification. We should always bring comfort and joy into our relationships. We should nurture and protect that which we find warm and loving. Despite the fact that no one is perfect, we should still exemplify the words of Paul - “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:11. Encouraging one another and building each other up is what true friends do.

The Cost Of Unrighteous Anger - Numbers 20:11-12

   
And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
 - Numbers 20:11-12

    The background here is the story of Moses’ anger. Ever since he had led the Israelites out of Egypt he had been the object of their complaints in the wilderness. It wasn’t enough that God had seen to their every need since leaving their bonds of slavery. So their latest grousing for water had become a pebble in Moses’ craw.
    God gave His instructions to Moses for bringing water forth for the people of Israel. “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” - Numbers 20:8. Moses’ instruction was to merely “tell” the rock to produce water. But in his frustration and anger with the Israelites, he added his own formula to God’s blessing by striking the rock twice in anger! Moses’ impertinence did not go by unnoticed and brought God’s judgment quickly. The sentence: Moses would be denied the blessing of entering the “Promised Land.”
    To wander in the wilderness for forty years and then be denied entry to the land that flowed with milk and honey, all because of anger. I have often wondered how soon Moses realized the cost of his outrage. Was he immediately aware of what he had done in the sight of the Lord? Did it dawn on him in an instant or did it take a while to sink in?
    What an incredibly important lesson this account of Moses should teach us. In the rash moment of anger boiling over do we ever think about the repercussions of our actions? Unrighteous anger is always a destructive emotion. It destroys marriages, families, children, relationships. It is hell on earth! And is cautioned against no less than twenty-six times in the book of Proverbs alone! The warnings about quick tempers and actionable anger permeate the Bible and God’s warnings about it are clear. “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” - James 1:19-20.
    Unrighteous anger can arise in the form of cruel words, resolute indifference, physical violence and any number of sins against God and humanity and as such is forbidden in all circumstances. But what of “righteous anger?” Certainly, the Bible speaks of it. It does but that is the subject of another conversation. For now, suffice to say “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” - Ephesians 4:26-27.
    How often have our angry outbursts spoiled the day? And many of us (myself having no excuse) brashly move on to the next order of business as though we have injured no one with our impulsive reaction and our harsh words. And, like Moses, in an instant, we become our own worst enemy, not to mention the negative impact on those around us who are captive to our maddened display. Perhaps the objects of our ire have indeed brought the rage upon themselves but it neither excuses our behavior nor lightens it brunt to those near “ground zero.” We must stop to think before we impulsively reach for a word in anger. “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.” - Proverbs 29:11.
    Let us remember that anger unchained becomes a monster released.

The Value Of Man - Genesis 1:27

   
So God created man in his own image,  in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:27

    In this simple sentence lies the uncompromising truth of the innate value of all human life. This verse applies exclusively to the human race. Nowhere does it apply itself to creatures of the plant or animal kingdom; not to any creature in existence other than man. Its exclusivity is only superseded by its unique implication of cost. “And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.’” - Genesis 5:5-6.
    Understand: this is not an injunction against taking human life under any circumstance as the anti-capital punishment and anti-war crowds object. In fact, it is just the opposite.  Human life has such a great value that the unlawful taking of it renders the perpetrator of murder guilty and subject to death! It is only to the unlawful taking of human life that this injunction applies. “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.” - Romans 13:3-4.
    This unique standing is possessed by man alone, separate from all of God’s other creatures. Neither the snail dart nor the eagle nor the tiger nor the sea turtle possess the exclusivity of the “image of God.” This is not to suggest that these creatures of God have no value but that they do not in any way possess the value of human life and as such should never be deemed more sacred than the life of man. “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” - Matthew 6:26.
    That the intrinsic value of human life is evident can be illustrated by the sixth Commandment. “You shall not murder.” - Exodus 6:20. And that value is established upon man’s status among God’s creatures and exists from conception to death. In fact, man’s position as the image-bearer of God extends beyond the grave into eternal glory or damnation! “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” - John 5:28-29.
    This God-given privilege is attested to by nature itself. What other creature has the ability to act as a moral agent? Which has the cognitive ability to dream, think, invent, or philosophize? Which other creature has the ability to recognize, acknowledge, and worship the Creator?  Which other creature has the ability to conceptualize or behave in an ethical manner? Which other creature is able to make moral judgments? The simple answer is none. The privilege of mankind has given us the rise of societies, the great civilizations, the nation-state, and the technological ability to cure polio and put a man on the moon. This is all part of man’s intrinsic value. This all falls under the providence of the Almighty God!
    That all mankind has value is inescapable truth. But we do not derive our value from the mere fact of our existence. Flies exist as do serpents. Are they to be valued as human lives? Our value is derived from the fact that God has created us and only us in His own image. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” - Genesis 1:26.
    We have dominion over the earth and wherever else God allows our grasp to reach. Our value lies in our being made by God in the image of God.