angels II

Let’s see some of the other appearances of angels, in the Christmas story. Luke 2

 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

 15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

In this section we see a choir of angles praising God.  We see angles praising God also in Isaiah 6:3

 ³ And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke

Another job of angles is to praise God and in these two passages you see them doing this.

Let’s view another time the angles appear in the Christmas story.  Luke 1 (sorry yes I could have made this quote smaller but it is hardly ever read at Christmas time I added it.  Also there is a lot here I could do a blog on it so you might have some foreshadowing of one of next year’s Christmas blogs)

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

⁸ Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. ²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³ And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

You see Gabriel doing the job that angels got there name from messenger. Also Gabriel (which means God is my strength)  is one of only two angels mentioned by name.  The other is Michael (which mean who is like God).  We also see Gabriel in the book of Daniel and later in this chapter.  Daniel 9

²⁰ While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God,²¹ while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.²² He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.²³ At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.

 We will see that Gabriel is the angel that does the important announcements for God.  He tells about the first coming of Jesus in the book of Luke but also the second coming of Jesus in Daniel.We see Gabriel announcing to Jesus to Mary in the next part of chapter 1 of Luke.

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” ²⁹ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Now again we see that Mary is afraid and Gabriel tells her not to be afraid but Mary seem more trouble with Gabriel words.  We see no mention of the shining of the angel which does not mean it was not there.  Also the Bible says Angels can take a more human form Hebrews 13:2

² Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

The logical thinking here is that if people have entertained angels unawares that they must be able to take on a human form.  Earlier in the Daniel passage it says the man Gabriel thus it is believed that Gabriel took a human form to speak with Daniel and possible here with Mary also.

The last showing of an angel we have not talked about is the one that talks with Joseph.  Matt 1

The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

And the last time Joseph is scared because the angel tells him not to fear.  Again like Mary the fear seems to be more form angels words not his appearance.  Also like Mary there is no mention of great light again as I talked about earlier the angel could have appeared in a human form.  A lot of scholars believe that this angel is also Gabriel but the Bible dose not says.  I would agree that this makes sense because Gabriel is given other announcements about Jesus but again the Bible dose not says.

I know this is very long and as I said earlier I did not go into the detail I wanted to especially about the angel visit to Zachariah.  I will also dived this to two blogs because of the length. 

I also want wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Angels

Around the Christmas story there are lots of angels so I thought it would be a good thing to cover for one of my Christmas blogs plus this was another idea Kaleb my son suggested. 

9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.(Luke 2)

The glory of the lord is another way of saying the Shekinah glory of God is on them.  Remember Moses,  he had a glow on his face after he talked with God and the people were scared of him so he wrapped his face so the Israelites would not be scared of him.  Exodus 34:29-33.

The Shining Face of Moses

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, as he came down from the mountain Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.³⁰ Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them.³² Afterward all the people of Israel came near, he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.³³ And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Just like the Israelite’s of the Moses time the Shepard’s are scared also of the glow on the angles. 

In Isaiah 6:2 describes angles like this.

² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

First they give them a different name they call them Seraphim which in Hebrew means burning one, Angel in Hebrew mean messenger.  You see again the idea that they are very bright.  The next is they are not like the pictures we normally see in painting because they have 6 wings.  Notice they only need two wings to fly and they use the other wings to show respect to God by covering there face and a better translation of the word be the privet area if you get my drift. 

There is also another form of angelic being we see described in Ezekiel 1
⁴ As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal.⁵ And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness,⁶ but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.⁷ Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze.⁸ Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:⁹ their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.¹¹ Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.¹² And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went.¹³ As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.¹⁴ And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.
¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.¹⁶ As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel.¹⁷ When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went.¹⁸ And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.¹⁹ And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.²⁰ Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.²¹ When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
²² Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads.²³ And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body.²⁴ And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings.²⁵ And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
²⁶ And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.²⁷ And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.²⁸ Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

This is what latter in the Bible are called Cherubim. They are some very odd looking creatures. They are also very bright one of the described words is like lighting.  They only have 4 wings but 4 faces that are different but they also look human.  The other thing is that they also have wheels (a wheel in a wheel) that have eyes all over the wheels.  Again this is not like any painting of any angel I have ever seen. 

I point this out to show you why the first word’s an angle says to someone is almost always fear not.  I do not know about you but if I saw something like this all of a sudden like we read in the Bible, I would be scared and have to change my pants.  I am sure it would scare me. 

A couple of more points about the different kinds of angels, it is believed the Seraphim are the angelic being that do the announcements.  Cherubim we normally see in the service of God like here in Ezekiel also seen in Revelations.  Therefore the angels in the Christmas story are the Seraphim the burning ones.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Last year for Christmas, I asked for ideas to put in my blog, and I did that, but I also had a few run over that I would like to continue with this year. In addition, if you have any ideas please feel free to send them to me.  

One of the ideas was what is behind the silly kid’s song, "The Twelve days of Christmas.” Well let me start by explaining the twelve days of Christmas. These are the twelve days from Christmas day to Epiphany. You ask, “What is Epiphany?” Epiphany is the day the Catholic church celebrates as the day that the Wise Men came to see Jesus. In this tradition, they would give children a small gift on each of the twelve days of Christmas.  

This song sounds like some fantastic gifts from a man to his wife or girlfriend. Every year someone adds up what it would cost to give someone each of the gifts and it is mind blowing. I have not heard what is was this year, but last year it was over 27 million dollars.  

But wait; there is more to the story. In 1995, a Friar (Hal Stockert; a Byzantine Catholic) wrote an article that explained that the Twelve days of Christmas was an underground Catechism. You see, in England between the years of 1558 – 1829 it was illegal to be a Catholic. If they caught you with anything in writing that looked like it was of the Catholic faith you would be imprisoned, and then depending the severity you could be hanged, or drawn and quartered. Therefore, they would have the children memorize this song.  

Here is the code.

My True Love is God

A Partridge in a Pear Tree is Jesus Christ.

Two Turtledoves is the Old and New Testaments.

Three French hens are the Theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.

Four Calling Birds is the four gospels.

Five Gold Rings is the first five books of the Old Testament (Pentateuch).

Six Geese a Laying is the six days of creation.

Seven Swans a Swimming are the seven gifts of the Holy Sacraments of the Catholic Church.

Eight Maids a Milking is the eight Beatitudes.

Nine Ladies Dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Ten Lords a Leaping is the Ten Commandments

Eleven Pipers Piping is the eleven Faithful disciples (Minus Judas who betrayed Christ)

Twelve Drummers Drumming are the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed

In recent years there have been some critics of this say that Fr. Hal had weak evidence and that the Anglican Church had almost the same doctrine so there was no need for this. I do not know for sure but I really like the idea of it being a Catechism.

Why Are There More Beggars Around the Holidays? II

I know I have published this before but I saw a video on Facebook earlier in the month that just screamed that I must publish this again.  The Facebook video was of a TV news anchor that had seen this pregnant lady and her young son at a local store, she had even given them money a few times. This day she was at a local restaurant not far from where she normally sees the pregnant lady.  The news lady casual watches the young lady leave the restaurant and get into a recent model Mercedes Benz.  The news lady cannot believe this so she leaves the restaurant and fellows the Mercedes.  While driving she takes several videos of the car and occupants.  They all drive to another shopping center where the pregnant mother and son get out and start begging.  The news lady gets out of her car and starts to videotape the beggars. The pregnant lady notices the news lady videotaping.  The pregnant lady picks up a big stone and chases the news lady into her car.  Then the beggars get into the Mercedes and drive away.  With the video the news lady has the license plate of the Mercedes.  The news traced the license plate and found out the address of the pregnant mother.  With a film crew the news lady goes to the address which in a nice apartment, but the pregnant lady has move with no forwarding address.  

Please read the rest again, because I feel this is the best advice I can give for you to deal with beggars this time of year. 
As I said earlier, I had to work hard to find some new traditions I had not talked about for Christmas, and my family came up with two things that were not exactly Christmas traditions, but I think need to be put in a blog.  The first one came from my son, and it was a really good question, so I will tackle it first.  
There are more beggars out around the holidays because of the simple fact that they know that people are more willing to share at Christmas time. This goes back to the blog on A Christmas Carol.  There have been studies and on a good weekend beggars on a corner can make $100 to $180 dollars a day, but during the holidays that can go up to $200 to $300 dollars a day.  The other problem is that there are professional beggars.  In other words, there is a large group of people whose only job is begging.  You may have seen in Houston on the news a couple years ago, where a man was using his children to go into busy streets to beg and he was arrested for child endangerment.  When they checked out where he lived, they discovered that he had a nice apartment with several large TV’s and all the latest electronics, which had been purchased from money they got from begging.
This is why I am very leery of giving any money to a beggar.  In seminary, I had a friend who was in charge of the Mission in Montrose that ministers to run-away and troubled teens.  He told me never to give money to a beggar because in the example of the teens he works with, that money will not go for food or a place to stay, but drugs or alcohol.  He said if you feel compelled to give them something, give them food.  My wife read a book several years ago called Shop, Save and Share.  It was about how to get the best deals using coupons. In that book, part of the sharing was to purchase extra canned food with the savings from the coupons and leave the extra cans in your car. Then when you come across a beggar who says, “Will work for food” give him a few cans of food.    
Another thing my friend from seminary said is never take one of these people home with you to do some work and then feed them because many time they will come back later with friends and rob you.  He says the best thing to do is use the example that Jesus gave us in the Good Samaritan.
Luke 10:25- 37
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? howreadiest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,and who is my neighbor?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which one of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Now what my friend means by following the example of the Good Samaritan is you see the Samaritan takes care of the man’s immediate need to stop the bleeding and other first aid.  In the instance of a person who really needs help, they will take a meal or canned goods.  Then the Samaritan did not take them to his home but took him to an Inn.  In Bible times, Inns were more than a place to stay, they were also like a hospital; they would take care of sick people, for a price of course.  Therefore, for us today that would be equal to taking the person to a place similar to my friend’s mission in Montrose here in Houston, the Star of Hope Mission or the Women’s Center.  There are several places like this in the Houston area.  They are much better equipped than you are to handle the problems of the person. The next part is also important not to forget.  On the next day, the Samaritan gave the Innkeeper money to take care of the man. He did not give it to the injured man, but to the Innkeeper.  Therefore, we need to support the places that are set up to help these people so that they can continue their purpose to care for them.
I think my son asked about a very appropriate subject at this time of year that we all should think about. How you can show God’s love to these people, help them and keep ourselves safe in the process.


  

ACF Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving ACF

I asked several people to pray last week for our Thanksgiving celebration at the American Chinese Fellowship.  First of all, I want to thank you very much for your prayers, they literally made the celebration more than we could have ever dreamed of.  Let me explain. 

First, let me back up a second for those of you who do not know.  Sharon, Kaleb and I, most every Friday night go to a ministry called the American Chinese Fellowship.  A Doctor in the Med Center started it for the doctors and technicians who come from mainland China.   He invites them to the fellowship to help them with their English and learn about American culture.  While they are there, they use the Bible to help them learn English.  On a normal Friday night, they serve an authentic Chinese meal, then the children go with my family and we hold an Awana club.  The adults then have a song, a short sermonette, and then break up into classes where they study the Bible in English.

Last Friday we had our Thanksgiving celebration to show our American culture to the Chinese.  We normally have been running a little over a hundred this semester.  We were planning for about 250 people, so they purchased 275 servings of turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, rolls, and a piece of pie.  Well, thanks to all of your prayers they had to purchase additional food…Twice.  The best count we have is that over 500 meals were served. 

Back in the kid’s area, Sharon and I led the kids in some very active songs like “Father Abraham” and “I Got a River of Life”.  We then led the grade school children in a gospel presentation.  This went okay, but most of the children did not speak very good English.  All the kids were thirsty, so we had a water break and while on break they said, “(hey) this is like the women at the well”.  Therefore, when we came back, we told the story of the women at the well, by this time we had an interpreter.  She helped us reach the ones who did not understand English that well.  At the end we always ask the children if there was any one that wanted to learn more about Jesus, we had three that needed Chinese speakers to talk with them. 

I did not hear about the adult side but I do know that we only had two set of parents come early to get their kids out of all the families present.  So most of the people stayed and listened to the program.

One more thing that really warmed my heart, I thought I was there to help lead people to Christ and be a leader, but a little girl showed me otherwise. If you have been following my blog for a while, you know I led two girls to Christ early in our ministry at the ACF.  One of these girls left the next day for China, the other little girl shows up every once in a while.  Well, she was there Friday night, she found me and came up to talk with me as we were going to the classroom.  While we were walking back there, she grabbed my hand and held it all the way back to class.  This just melted me.  I felt like Jesus was holding my hand on the way back to class encouraging me for the task ahead.

A Hard Nut to Crack

As most of you know, on Friday nights my whole family leads an Awana Club with the American Chinese Fellowship in Houston (ACF). (For those who are new to my blog, Awana is a program designed to win children to Christ using Bible memorization, games, and a Bible lesson (sometimes called Bible Story time). A Christian doctor, working in the Houston Medical Center, started the American Chinese Fellowship, in order to evangelize the Chinese Technicians, Doctors, and their families who come to the Medical Center to learn new procedures. The Americans accomplish this by inviting them to learn the English language and the American culture and the only textbook used is the Bible.)  Last night was the first meeting of the ACF Awana Club for this school year; therefore, we had a packed crowd with many new faces.  China has sent a lot of new Doctors and Technicians etc. to America so that they can learn new techniques and procedures in the Houston Medical Center.  It was so packed that Kaleb and I did not have seats to sit down and eat, and we were late arriving because we were concerned about my daughter, who is about to have my first granddaughter any minute, so there was very little food left.  To be honest with you, I was excited about the prospect of having all of these new people. 

Well, it went downhill from there.  Because of the sheer numbers, we did not have enough helpers.  Therefore, we grouped all the kids into one large group so we could have all the leaders focus in one area.  We played games first. I got them all quieted down, explained the game, divided them into teams, and we were ready to go.  Then it happened; a couple came out and asked to take their children home, so we rounded them up and they left.  It took me a second to realize what just happened.  After the children are released to go to Awana, the parents have a quick song, a little Sermon by the Chinese pastor, and then they are released to go to English classes.  When it was time for the English classes, this couple decided that they were not going to stay to listen to the Bible.  After I got the game going, one of the other leaders and I quickly commented to each other that we had just lost an opportunity to share Christ with this family, because I doubt they will ever come back.

 Game time finished and all of the kids had a great time.  During Bible Story time, I tell about “David’s Mighty Men” and how they got water from the well in Bethlehem.  The kids were all into it, and they compared it to the “Avengers”.  Then we broke up into handbook time.  I worked with two of the younger, new kids.  We got their Start Zones, which are designed to lead the child to Christ.  Daniel, the youngest boy, had good English, but Tina was older and she could read English but her pronunciation was weak.  We worked until we reached the portion about personal Salvation.  I worked with Daniel first, and asked him the questions that lead to salvation.  It started out good, but He said “Oh yeah, I know all about Jesus.”  Therefore, I asked him what he knew and he knew that Jesus had died for our sins and that he had risen on the third day.  Then he said something that threw me for a loop.  He said that his parents had told him all about the Bible and Jesus and that it was just a book with a lot of good stories and that is how he knew about Jesus and that Jesus was not real.  It seems that this young man was indoctrinated against Jesus.  I tried to speak to him and tell him that there were books other than the Bible that talk about Jesus but that did not go very far.  During this time, he spoke to the other young woman in Chinese, she answered back and he said her parents had told her the same. 

I tell you all this for a couple of reasons.  First, I need to admit my sin, that I just ran in there with very little prayer or prayer support. I have had my daughter and granddaughter on my mind.  Also, my arrogance was showing again (this is twice in the same month God has hit me in the head with a frying pan to get my attention), and that I could just run in there and lead a couple of kids to Christ.   

Second, I am asking you to be praying about ACF and the Awana kids.  Pray that Daniel and Tina to return and that they will be willing to listen and learn more.  I also ask you to pray for the couple who took their children and left. 

Third, please pray for me to be able to say the right words to lead these children to Christ.  My biggest challenge is to take all of the principles of apologetics I learned in seminary, and be able to put it into terms an elementary school child can understand.   

What Goes Around Comes Around

My oldest son is either going to get a big head and think I love him more than the others, (sorry, but no, I love you all the same) or he might be very mad at me, but I have to do another blog with him in it. I am not certain why he has been in so many blogs lately, maybe because he is the oldest and I see him making some of these life decisions for himself for the first time.  Therefore, the least I can do is dedicate this blog to him, Joshua Black.

Josh and his wife Lauren got married last year, and we gave them a week of our Disney Vacation Points for their wedding gift.  They had already planned a cruise, so they decided to go to Disney this year.  It is so fun to see both of them all excited about going, and asking questions about the things we did to get ready.  Josh wants to show his wife the same things he experienced all those times we went as a family.  He wants to show her the same restaurants we ate while we were there. He called and described what he remembered about a restaurant, I told him the name of the restaurant, and he went on line and made a reservation.

Another thing we did when we drove to Disney is we would always play books on tape or CDs. (We listen to classics like Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Adventures in Odyssey, or the Chronicles of Narnia.)  The other day Josh called and asked me the name of the person who read the Narnia series (I did not know at the time, but I knew he also played Hercule Poirot. I later found out it was David Suchet) when we were going to Disney.  He wanted to get them downloaded to his I Phone so he could play them while they traveled.  

He also called to ask about when we went to St. Augustine, Fl.  My parents took me there when I was little, and I got a big kick out of taking my children on one of our vacations. One of the things I remember happened at what we called the Castle, (it is actually a Fort built to protect the city). They fired cannon off one of the ramparts.  It was one of the highlights of my young life, and I have gotten to share it with my children. Now Josh wants to share this experience with his wife.  We also went to the Alligator farm in St. Augustine when I was little.  As an adult, I took my kids to the same place, in fact, Josh was one of the kids who helped during the demonstrations, they placed a big old boa constrictor up one arm, over his neck, and down the other arm.  This of course gave his mom the willies, which Josh loved.  We had taken a picture of this, and he loved to freak out his grandmothers, aunts, and any other lady who would look. He is taking about taking his wife there too.

 It is so fun to watch Josh making all of his plans. It is the most fun I have had with our Disney Vacation Points without actually going there.  The best way to describe this feeling the way I feel about Christmas, as I have gotten older. I really do not care what I get, in fact, I am always the last one to open my gifts, I get more pleasure watching my children and grandchildren opening their gifts than I do opening mine.

You are probably thinking, “This is nice, but why is this the subject of a blog?”  The answer is simple.  I think Dr. James Dobson says it best when he says the best way to teach a child is by them catching the concept instead of being sat down and taught the concept.  Do not misquote Dr. Dobson, or me I am not saying do not sit down and teach your children, I am saying that they learn better by seeing and doing.  My parents took me to see these sites and I learned about history and about God’s creation, I took my children, and now my son is repeating the process.  My parents did not sit down and teach me about these places, they showed me, and I did the same with my children.  Now the process is continuing; Josh is doing the same thing.  My point is that if Josh is doing this with something as simple as a vacation and planning where to go and what to do, he will do the same thing with the bigger things in life.  By this, I mean his life with Jesus Christ.  Josh learned about Christ from the examples he saw in his life; the importance of living out what you believe, studying God’s Word, communicating with Him through prayer, things we did every week, such as going to church and having family meals on Sunday, and every day, like thanking God for providing our meals. You really cannot teach this; it must be demonstrated.  Josh just proved that life’s most important lessons are better caught than taught.

Creativity

Creativity

God has really been teaching me a lot about creativity lately.  I know some of you are going say, “God is teaching you because you always have something to say about every subject.”  However, I do not know everything, and I will be honest, I am very proud of my education and knowledge, so when God teaches me something He has to use a frying pan upside my head in order to get my attention, and I will admit, it hurts some time. 

To be honest, I have never thought much about creativity, I have always taken it for granted.  I have appreciated artwork, poems, plays, books, etc… but I have not ever given any thought that they are examples of God-given spiritual gifts.  I will let you ponder this a second. 

In the book of Genesis, God created everything.

Genesis 1 King James Version (KJV)

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

² And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

³ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

⁷ And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

¹² And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

¹³ And the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

¹⁵ And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

¹⁶ And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

¹⁸ And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

¹⁹ And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

²¹ And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

²² And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

²³ And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

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

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

²⁹ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Since God created humanity in His own image, we as humans have a desire to create and be like our creator.  In addition, God wants us to be creative.  The most obvious place God tells us to be creative is Genesis 1

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,

God asks us to be creative by being in a Biblical relationship and making children.  That is just a small fraction of what we are to do.  God made beauty when he made creation, and I have told you in past blogs how I have marveled at this beauty of God’s creation when we went to Yosemite Park.  We as humans want to create something beautiful.  We see this in all the beautiful artwork created over the years.  Where God really got my attention is that people making art, even if it is not for the church, is that person’s God-given talent and that beauty created is honoring to God and can be a work of righteousness.  Therefore, think of it this way “The Mona Lisa” by Da Vinci is a work of righteousness.  That took me a long time to understand.  My wife Sharon painted murals on the walls of the nursery for our grandchildren. They are works of righteousness.  I will let that set in a little while.  (Check out the rough drafts and murals, then read the rest of the blog)

 

 

While I was learning all of this, my men’s Bible study group started a new book studying authentic manhood.  The second lesson was that men are to create and cultivate spiritual training in their family.   This hit me even harder.  The idea that I am to be the spiritual leader in my home; I have done that and have encouraged my children to do this in their homes.  However, it is the idea that I am to create in my home.  I have never thought that Bible studies, this blog and other things I have done are all creative and therefore I am being like God and fulfilling what God has asked me to do. 

Then in Sunday school today we talked about spiritual gifts. Jim, the teacher, read 1 Corinthians 12.

¹⁹ And if they were all one member, where were the body?
²⁰ But now are they many members, yet but one body.
²¹ And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
²² Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
²³ And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
²⁴ For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.
²⁵ That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

Jim went on to say that we do not see all the little things that happen behind the scenes and the un-sung heroes who make the Sunday school work each week.  With what I was learning about creativity, these people are being like God, being creative and taking care of the needs of the Sunday school.  I know I have never thought about this and I know I have never thanked anyone for this, or praised them for what they are doing for Christ.  Therefore, I want to thank all the un-sung heroes, not just of our Sunday school, but the people in my life who have affected me and in my blind arrogance, I have not thought of, let alone thanked them for what they have done.  I know this is not nearly what I need to do to honor and thank those people.  Please bear with me as God keeps banging me in the head trying to teach me His lessons. 

When Bad Things Happen

I want to dedicate this to my son Kaleb, because the age of the kids in this story are about his age, plus, after telling him this we had a little talk about when bad things happen.

I told you all I get all kinds of e-mails from different ministries and they help inspire me in many different areas. I got an email last Saturday that really made me think more about the things I should tell my ten year old son.  The e-mail was from Commander Bill with Awana.  He usually has good advice for your Awana clubs.  But this week He told the story about a tragedy that happened at an Awana camp a couple of weeks ago.  See below for the E-mail:

Severe storms were in the forecast. Prior to the storm arriving, a strong wind came. The campers were in an outdoor pavilion when the counselors saw the weather approaching and had the campers (7-12 year olds) begin to head to the designated enclosed shelter. The wind was so strong, that trees in the heavily wooded area began to snap and fall. Nine children were injured, two of which are in serious condition at local hospitals as I write this, and sadly, a 12 year old died from their injuries (Commander Bill newsletter,  http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=895a5af543b89ce180b9230bc&id=71898403a9, 2014).

He goes on to tell that when one of the injured girls was picked up from the Hospital by her dad she ask him the question.  “Why did God do this to our camp” The father was speechless at this question and was asking the same thing in his heart.  This is why my son and I sat down and had a talk.  

The 1st thing I explained to Kaleb, is that we live in a fallen world because of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  He knows the story, and I explained that because of that sin, God cursed the earth.  (Genesis 3:17-19)

 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Therefore because Mankind sinned, the whole earth is cursed.  This cursing is what caused the storm that killed the child.  It was not God that caused the storm, but the cursed earth.  If you want to take it a step further, it is Mankind’s fault for sinning that caused the death and injuries of these children.  

Then the question comes up, but if God is all powerful, He could have stopped this.  And you are correct, God is all powerful and He could have stopped it and we hear about miracles all the time where God does steps in, but he did not this time.  

You see, God has given Mankind another gift, and other gift is free will.  We have the privilege to choose what we want to do.  This goes clear back to the Garden of Eden.  God told Adam not to eat of the tree, God could have made it impossible to get to the tree, or He could have even stepped in before Satan talked to Eve, but he did not, He allowed it to happen.  Just like the tree falling over and hurting and killing these children, God allowed it to happen because of freewill.

There is one other thing here we need to look at.  That God is in control and He can take this and use it for his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

One of two things usually happens after a tragedy like this.  One, people fall away from God and never want anything to do with Him, the opposite is also true, and people pull together and become stronger and closer to God.  Many Christian organizations have been started out of a tragedy.  This is God stepping in and picking up the pieces.

In my talk with Kaleb, I asked him to remember this and to be able to tell someone if they asked him about why bad things happen.  I feel sorry for the girl and the father in the story because they did not have the answer.  I hope and pray that they come across the right persons to help them and point them in the right direction.

The Lady at MDonalds

The Lady at McDonalds

I was really tired the other night so I went to bed at 9:00 pm, but I woke up at 5:30 am and could not get back to sleep.  I needed to write some e-mails and study because I was leading Bible study that night, so I decided to run to McDonald’s and get this done before everybody else in the house woke up.  I got to McDonalds and placed my normal order and went to set my stuff down where I normally sit when I go to McDonalds to use the internet.  While I was getting my drink, I noticed two guys wearing moving van shirts siting behind where I had put my stuff, cutting up and making a lot of noise.  I thought to myself, "this is not going to work. I will not get anything done with them making all that racket."  I looked, and behind the wall where I normally sit, there is a booth that has a plug, so I decided to go sit there.  I finished getting my drink, get my stuff and move over to the booth I saw.  As I walked around the wall I noticed a lady sitting in the booth behind the one where I was about to sit.  She looked up, and I noddedmy head, said good morning, started unloading my computer and plugged it in, not paying attention to much else.  The next thing I knew, the lady was standing at the end of my table and I looked up with a start.  She asked ,“Can I sit with you, I don’t want to be alone right now.”  I almost said no, everything I have been taught in seminary said to say no, but as I looked up  I could see that she had about a 3 inch abrasion on her forehead.  So after what seemed like forever, I told her yes.  

She slid in to the bench seat across from me.  There was an awkward silence at first, but then she asked what I was doing.  I told her I going to work on some e-mails, then I was leading a Bible study that night and I was going to study for that.  When I said Bible study, she just started to cry. Big tears just ran down her face and then there was a long silence again as she regained her composure.  

It took a couple of minutes for her to regain her composure.  She asked what I was teaching.  I explained I was teaching one of the chapters in the book called, “ The Cure.” She asked what it was all about so I did my best to explain that it was an eye opening way of looking at what Jesus did for us and how we are to live the Christian life at home and at church.  That we do not have to put on a pretty face for church and be all smiles, but we are to go to church and be ourselves, tell people we have problems and help one another live the Christian life.  With that she just poured tears again and it took a long time for her to regain her composure.  

After that we talked for almost an hour.   I found out that she was a Christian and was active when she was young but had not been in church for a while.  She also told me shad fallen down, that was why she had the abrasion on her head.  She also showed me that her left wrist was red and swollen.  I think there was more to her falling down and being at McDonalds at 6 am, but she was still not comfortable telling me more.  She still had not fully embraced the ideas of “The Cure."  She was starting to hurt and asked if I could take her to the Hospital, which of course I did.  I got her checked in and had to leave her there because it was time to pick up my daughter to take her to work.  Sharon and I tried to check on her latter and she was not at the Hospital any more.  

I do not tell this story so you can pat me on the back, but to try to get the church to do our job. We are to be out there helping people and being Jesus to them.  I love "Adventures in Odyssey" a children’s radio show from Focus on the Family.  The other day they played  a show called compassion.  In the show they told the story of a cobbler who has a dream and Jesus tells the cobbler that he is going to meet him the next day.  So, the next morning he keeps looking out the window for Jesus.  One time he looks and he sees an old man shoveling snow, the task is too much for him and he almost passes out.  So, the cobbler calls him in to have some hot tea with some cheese and crackers.  The old man admits he had not eaten in a while.  He thanks the cobbler and goes back to his work.  Later that day the cobbler sees a lady with a baby out the window. She is out in the cold with only a shawl and looks to be freezing to death.  The cobbler invited her in to his shop to warm up.  He gives her some hot tea and porridge and he holds the baby and feed him some milk.  The cobbler finds out that the women pawned her coat a couple of days ago for some food.  So after the cobbler finds that out, he give her the money to get her coat back and gives her some blankets for the baby and sends them on their way.   By this time it is late, and he closes up shop very disappointed that he did not see Jesus.  The cobbler falls asleep and has another dream and he sees Jesus and the cobbler asked, "I thought I was going to see you today."  Jesus answered, "you did, I was the old man shoveling snow and I was the lady with the baby.  

As Christians, this is what we are to be doing, treating everybody as if they are Jesus and doing to them as you would do forJesus.  You want to know how to change the world, just get every Christian to treat everyone else like they are Jesus, and you will change the world.