daily java

Daily Java:

Psalm 23 

A psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
    bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
    My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever.

(NLT)

Ephesians 2 lesson plan

Here is the lesson plan for Lesson Two of our Ephesians Class tonight. If you can use it, do so to his glory. Again, just don't take credit for it.

Ephesians 2: Alive, at Peace and a Temple of God

We were at one time without the grace of Jesus. All of us were. But God loved us and wanted us to be better than we were and knew there was nothing we could do ourselves to make ourselves better. Because of this, he made his grace available to us. We were brought back to him, like we were when we were young, and like humanity was before Adam and Eve sinned.

We were saved by his grace, not of anything we could do. It was his love and his mercy that brought us back to him. Any goodness or beauty we might have in our lives was because of him and his grace, not ourselves. We were made to do good things, but we were not saved by doing the good things. And he gave us that chance not because we deserved it, but because he loved us. We are not rewarded for what we have done, we are given those things in advance before we can do them. We are made righteous in advance of doing anything.

As a people, Gentiles were once outside of God. Jews were chosen of God as a special people, but became full of pride at this. They considered themselves to be special because of how good they were, rather than because God was great. And the things they did as service to God became things that they felt made them even more holy.

But God decided that, since the Jews had turned from him, he would open his kingdom to the entire world. He made all who served him, whether Jew or Gentile, to be equal in his sight. All were saved. Nobody was a special people simply because they were born in a certain place or did a certain thing. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. From now on it is not what we do that makes us  holy, it is who we are. In other words, it is he who makes us holy. We cannot do anything to make ourselves holy and righteous before God.

When Jesus died on the cross, he reconciled humanity to God. Everyone has the opportunity to know him and to be his people. And his Spirit is available to anyone who comes to him and acknowledges him as God with Jesus as his Savior. He took the two systems of service to God – the Gentile with its one on one relationship with God – and the Jewish – with its corporate worship and system of priesthood – and made them into one people of God. We are all one body with one head, Jesus.

Today, we are all his people. No one is outside the grace of God. All can be members of his family. When we join his family, when we accept him into our hearts, we become part of his family, his people. We become his house and his temple, giving the sacrifices of our lives on the altars of our hearts. No one is outside the power of God to save. And no one is a stranger and an alien to God. We are all his family.

QUESTIONS:

1. What does it mean to be dead because of disobedience and sin? Is there a parallel in our own lives to this?

2. What do you do in your life out of love and not out of deserving?

3. How is it that people can feel that they deserve what God has given them? when you talk to some people, you would think that God was lucky to have them. Why do people feel that way?

4. Why is the system of grace so hard to understand and accept?

5. How does this Good News of Peace (v17) fit in your life? What does it do to you?

All of us are the dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (22). What does this mean to you?

daily java

Daily Java:

If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. (Ephesians 4:28)

My van got stolen yesterday. It wasn’t organized crime or anything. In fact, it only got driven down the alley and into the garden you can see to the north from the back of the church. The thief drove it into the garden and took out four melons and a few lima beans. Some would consider that a mercy killing, but I like lima beans.

I thought at first that it had rolled down the hill, but I had parked it facing toward Sixth Street. And it was just behind a satellite dish so it couldn’t have gone straight. So it had to be driven down there.

We figure it was a kid because Ella’s Bible briefcase was in the driver’s seat like he needed height to see over the dashboard. And obviously, the driver couldn’t steer very well.

Don’t know who it was. As I said, it was probably kids on a dare. I keep the key in the ignition because the ignition is broken and I am afraid to take it out too many times. A few times it didn’t go back in without a lot of hassle.

And besides, you have seen the van. It is a good van and I like it, but it is not listed in any magazines as a most stolen vehicle. 18 year old Ford minivans are on the bottom of the list.

However, it has been stolen before. When we lived in Kansas City and I pastored a church there, it was taken for a week before the police recovered it. When we got it back, it was filled with junk and filthy. The guy had run a breaking and entering business and took it because it is rather anonymous.

He broke the ignition switch (which is why it is so temperamental now) and I started it with a needle-nosed Vise grip until a friend replaced it. The insurance company totaled it and sold it to me for $100. I have driven it now for six years, so it is a little hard to complain if it gets hurt.

But that is, of course, not the point. The point is that a kid probably took it on a dare, and he was not very old or tall. Or it could be an angry dwarf, but that is unlikely.

And since I go to see guys in the jail who started their pathetic little lives of crime in just that way, it makes me sad for the kids. They may be in there in a few years.

It amazes me at how worthless a life of crime usually is. I read a survey once that said that the average criminal usually make well below minimum wage, counting what he has stolen, and has a lot of fear and uncertainty and, in the end, jail time for it. The idea of wealthy criminals is a fiction. The reality is sad and pitiful.

So my van is home from its little adventure, safe and healthy. And I got a chance to meet the neighbor down the alley who owns the garden.

I also like the fact that I had a verse to go with the van being taken. My son always hated that I could quote the Bible about anything he did. A father’s revenge.

daily java

Daily Java:

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery. (2 Chronicles 21:20)
Ahaziah was given a decent burial because the people said, “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat—a man who sought the Lord with all his heart.” But none of the surviving members of Ahaziah’s family was capable of ruling the kingdom. (2 Chronicles 22:9)
So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was peaceful because Athaliah had been killed. (2 Chronicles 23:21)

Three rulers in a row in Judah, all died and no one cared. This was the people of God that God was preserving so that Jesus could come. But even so, none of these people were worth shooting.

Jehoshaphat was a good king and the people loved him. He made a mistake at the end and allied himself with the king of Israel, something God didn’t want him to do. But in general, he tried his best to be a good king and follow the Lord. He was just a little weak.

His son Jehoram, his grandson Ahaziah and Jehoram’s wife, Athaliah, were trash. They demeaned the throne of Israel and the memory of Jehoshaphat.

Jehoram did nothing but foolishness the whole eight years he was king. And one foolish thing he did was to marry one of Ahab’s (the evil king of Israel) daughters. Her family had already been told by the prophet Elijah that they would die a violent death. Ahab, his wife Jezebel and now Athaliah, all did indeed die violently.

When Jehoram died, no one was sorry. I have always thought that was one of the saddest comments in the Bible. Nobody cared. He didn’t even rate a burial in the royal cemetery.

His son Ahaziah took over. He was even worse. One of the first thing he did was to kill all of his brothers so that he would be the only one in Judah who could be king. When he died, people only given a decent burial because everybody loved his grandfather. Again, nobody was sorry.

Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah took over now and killed all her children and grandchildren so that she could only be queen. One of them, though, Joash, was spirited away as an infant and raised in secret by Jehoiada, the high priest.

She only knew her end was near when she heard the commotion at the crowning of her grandson, Joash. When she went out to see what was happening, she was seized, dragged off and killed.

Her epitaph? Everybody was happy and the city was peaceful.

What a sad ending to people who could have done so much better, who could have done what the Lord wanted and had a long and prosperous reign. But instead, they were wicked and died.

daily java

Daily Java:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1-2)

It is hard to imagine a God that is forever. In fact it is one of the  hardest things to think about that there is.

But there are lots of things that are hard to understand in life, yet we just accept them.

For instance, I am writing this on a computer. I am not too bad on computers, yet I really do not have any idea how it is that they work. To be honest, I have not yet met anyone who really does. They might be good at computers, but they still do not know.

The same with internal combustion engines. I know basically how they do it, but I cannot imagine the stress on a machine that explodes constantly and how it keeps on moving.

Electricity comes to mind, too. My father was an electrician and I understand the basic principles, but it still remains a mystery. There are others, too. the conception of a child. In fact, sex itself. How it is our hearts keep beating for almost a century sometimes. A microwave oven, TV images – the list could go on.

Yet even though I do not understand them, I still accept them. and I use them in my life. But then when it comes to God, even though most people do not understand a lot of other stuff, they will balk at a God they cannot understand.

But he is real. You can see him in nature, in the order of the universe, in the seasons, sometimes strongly in people’s lives.

Psalm 19 says:

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

Romans 1:20 says:

ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature.

Give him a chance and let him show himself to you. He will do it through his Son, Jesus. Jesus was that Word from God that told people about God. Listen to him, read about him and let him into your heart.

He loves you.

daily java

Daily Java:

In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7)

There is an interesting observation coming out of the horrific shooting incident in Colorado. Three young men threw themselves in front of their girlfriends and took the bullets that would have otherwise killed the young women.

The blogosphere is amazed. In this age of post-normal stuff, how can a man allow himself to be killed to protect a woman? To those who have been raised on feminist claptrap, it is astonishing. I don’t know how many times I saw it talked about.

Chivalry is being mentioned again. But these acts go beyond chivalry. They go to self-sacrifice, they go to masculine protection, they go back to the whole idea of the man protecting the woman.

And it is frightening to some. They don’t know quite what to do. How can a man in our increasingly feminist culture possibly go back to archaic ideas, to out dated actions? Feminists have tried so hard to kill all of the urges and instincts men feel.

Yet in a moment of crisis they surge back, full force. Of the 15 people killed, three – 3 – were young men protecting young women. Against all their training for the past 20 to 30 years, they dove in front of the women to take the bullets for them, protecting them with their lives.

The Titanic was mentioned again in one post. In reality, a disproportionate number of men stayed on board to let the women go into the lifeboats. The movies do not want to show that, but it was true. The men protected the women. So many times throughout history, the same is shown.

At the theater in Aurora, Colorado, the men protected the women. They gave their lives so that the women could live.

That is exactly how God made men. And it is striking that no matter what the world may say, in moments of crisis, that trait that God so instilled in men came through.

I was in a Halloween House thing one year. I was the wild man in a cage. I was younger and looked fearsome if I say so myself. At one point a group of people came in (they were in guided groups) and I leaped forward, reaching through the bars (fake ones of course) snarling and growling. I have a good growl and it can frighten people.

When one group came through I reached out and growled and the young man reacted automatically by putting himself in front of his date, protecting her instinctively. I loved him for it. I admired him more than he ever knew.

I know I was fake and they were not in danger. But his first instinct, when confronted by a huge creature (I am 6’3” tall and have always weighed over 200 pounds, in addition to having a wild wig and makeup) coming at him, he automatically put her in front of him to protect her.

If I could have, I would have shaken his hand. She probably did not realize what he did. Maybe he was that kind of guy (it was thirty years ago before the feminazis came into power) and maybe he deferred to her a lot.

But even so, like it or not, that was how God made men: to protect their women. Put it any way you want, women are weaker than men.

I believe firmly and strongly that women have no place in combat or for that matter even in the police force. Men are to protect women. A woman who goes into that kind of job loses much of what made her a woman: the nurturing and loving side. I have yet to know a woman who was an active duty soldier or a police officer who had that real mothering ability.

Many disagree with me, but I believe it. Men protect and women nurture.

And as they used to say back in the sane old days, “Vive la difference!”

this week witnessed a horrendous burst of evil

From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed.
From prophets to priests, they are all frauds.
They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound.
They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:13-15)

This week witnessed a horrendous burst of evil. A gunman opened fire on a crowded theater killing 12 and wounding over 70 more.

The question is why? Why would a young man of 24 do this. He seemed to have a good life. He was a PhD student in neuroscience and in general seemed fine.

It was a Batman movie and he told the police after he was captured that he was the Joker. The Joker was probably one of the most psychotic villains ever to come out of a movie. It is suggested that the part of the Joker drove the star who played him in the second Batman movie to suicide. What will come out of this in this young man’s diagnosis is only speculation.

But why would someone emulate someone who was so evil?

That always bothered me when I hear of people worshipping Satan. Why? Do they figure that evil has such a hold on the human race that the devil has won, and they might as well get in good with him?

I believe that much of the problem is with our society. We look at evil and it doesn’t bother us as much anymore. The villains get worse and worse in movies. At the comic conventions, you will see more people dressed as bad guys than you will as good guys.

The rationale? Bad guys have more fun, they say. They have a better time. There is even the song by Billy Joel in which he says “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, the sinners are much more fun.”

Why would people emulate evil? Why would they model themselves after evil?

I don’t know and wish I did. In fact there are a lot of things I do not know and wish I did.

But I think they see the evil having a good time. The vicious evil glee with the Joker in the movie Dark Knight acted was truly frightening. It was as if he had absolutely no soul. He did not care and, as one character in another movie said, he did not care that he did not care.

What do we do? Quite frankly, there is little we can do. Evil will be here in moderate to severe form until Jesus comes again. I do believe that in this nation where prayer in schools was banned over forty years ago we are beginning to reap our harvest. Unless something amazing happens, a move of the Spirit in America, it will only get worse.

But all we can do remain pure in the midst of evil, remain good, remain honest and loving. It seems so futile, but it is also why Jesus died: to save us from evil.

daily java

Daily Java:

God is more glorious than the moon; he shines brighter than the stars. (Job 25:5)

Friday was the 43rd anniversary of the Moon Walk. Three men traveled to the moon, two went to the moon itself and one – Neal Armstrong – walked on the moon for the first time in human history.

It was so amazing. But what was even more amazing was that we would go a few more times and then never again for almost forty years.

But that night was magical. Humanity had walked on the moon.

July 20th, 1969. It was Sunday night and we had a church get together that night after evening services. There were several portable TV sets around the fellowship hall so everyone could watch.

I had been drafted the Monday before to go into the army and I almost felt like my life was going to be over. I would go to Vietnam, get killed and it would be the end.

But for now a man was walking on the moon and we were watching.

He stepped out of the moon capsule and said the immortal words: “One small step for man, one giant step for mankind.” I understand it was a mistake. It was supposed to be “One small step for a man” but Mr Armstrong messed up.

However, it made no difference. We were there and it was great.

We all cheered at the church when it happened and talked about what a future we would have.

But who could have known that we would, in just a few short years, abandon the whole moon quest that John Kennedy had started us on? More rockets would up and then the space shuttles, but the explosion of the Challenger right after takeoff killed the whole thing.

Our children can look at the moon and think of footsteps up there, an American flag on a pole, blast marks where the capsule landed and took off, along with a couple more and then – nothing.

It is kind of like life. You do something great early in your life and you are never able to recover that greatness. As an older man, I marvel at some of the things I was able to do as a younger man, and it seems that my life stopped.

The moon is still there and I would imagine that private space exploration is going to recover that success. We will probably go back to the moon again within the next few years.

But the initial glory, the historical aspect, is gone. We will be going back to that which we abandoned. And though it will be great, at the same time, it will be another trip to the moon.

But it was something then, that is for sure.

daily java

Daily Java:

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)
Turn and answer me, O Lord my God Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. (Psalm 13:3)

Right now I am in the middle of a bunch of depressing psalms in my daily Bible reading. And it is somewhat depressing.

The main reason, I suppose, is that my life is not going very well right now.

I used to have a sparkle in my eye and do not now. I am heavy on my feet and ponderous in my movement. I look dour and not happy. I do not think I would want to be around me if I were not me. in fact, I really do not want to be around myself now, but do not know what else to do, short of dying or something.

A lot of things have happened, both good and bad in the past few years – going back to 1994 in fact. In 1994, I finally left the Church of Christ and went into the Christian Church. It seemed like such a move of the Lord in my life, but it wasn’t what I thought it would be.

Ten years later, I left the Church of Christ in a move I was sure was from God and went into the Assembly of God. I suppose there are few things in life that could have gone worse than that. There were no churches that wanted me. My style of preaching and ministry in general was not what they wanted. I was just not Pentecostal enough to them.

Of course, what they did was confuse the style with the substance. I didn’t bang the pulpit or use a KJV or any of the things they expected and it bothered them.

At one meeting right before my ordination, I was at a revival. As I was standing there talking to the pastor and the evangelist I mentioned that they looked like Pentecostal preachers and I looked like a Presbyterian going out to play golf. They were dressed in black suits with colored shirts and ties, I had on a pair of Dockers, a red knit shirt and a blue blazer. The difference between us was striking.

And that seemed to be the way it went the whole ten years.

I finally left them and came into the Foursquare Church where I had felt very welcomed at a convention in Dallas. The Foursquare Church seemed so open. I told a friend that they were Pentecostals if Pentecostals were normal. When we came back to Boonville, we joined a Foursquare Church there and began the long process of credentialing.

After a year or so, I went to Lincoln as the pastor of a Foursquare Church. The Sunday before I was installed, they had a secret meeting (which I found out about and attended) in which they complained that my style was not right and i was going to change too much. Mind you, I hadn't changed anything, but they were worried about future fears.

It was a fight from the day I cam to the day I left and I left in such a massive depression from which I still suffer. It also destroyed my desire to minister to a Pentecostal church.

The odd thing is both denomination went out of their way to welcome us and ordain me, but when it came down to it, deserted me when I needed them

Now I am alone in that I do not belong to any denomination. And I have no desire to do so. I have always been a Kingdom guy and will remain.

But the problem is what do I do now. No denomination wants me so where do I go? It is a hard question and I have no answer.

daily java

Daily Java:

O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace. (I Chronicles 29:13-15)

The door to my back porch is in an odd place. The whole room is kind of strange, as it is more of a combination room than any I have ever had. The washer and dryer are in the room so there is no room for a table. Since we have a lot of people over, we have put the table in the living room, which makes for not much room for a couch.

We also have our comfortable chairs in the combination room, along with our computers and it is where we watch TV or whatever. But the problem is that Ell’s chair is against the back door. This means that if we want to go out the back door, we have to do a major renovation of the furniture and then kind of squeeze out the door.

The same thing has to occur when Ella puts stuff in the dryer. The chair has to be moved, and most of the time the little table her computer is on.

So we rarely use it.

The other day I was going to hang some rugs over the railing in the back yard, so I decided to go out it. When I opened the back door, the screen door was full of spider webs. There were big ones too. The door had obviously not been used in a while and it showed.

Life in God is like that. We get so involved with our own lives that we forget to seek God. Then when we do, we feel out of practice and kind of odd. Our door to God is full of cobwebs and practically sealed shut from disuse.

God gave us so much: life in him, accessibility to his grace and his blessings, forgiveness of the foolishness we constantly do. And we have trouble finding the time or desire going through his door.

And it will not be there forever. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow and they will not last forever. He will not be there forever.

Open the door to God. He waits for you to do so and will force himself on no one.