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Neal Pollard

You might think that is a “loaded question.”  Well, take a load off and consider.  Being “loaded” means different things.  The term is used to describe the intoxicated and the income of the wealthy.  It can refer to something with ulterior motive or meaning.  Yet, if you are a Christian you are loaded.  Such is the thought of the inspired Psalmist who said, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! (Ps. 68:19a).

Dan Wheeler, fine gospel preacher in Orlando, Florida, says, “When a grocery cashier asked me how I was, I said, ‘I’m loaded.  With benefits.’  Now, when I ask her, she says, ‘I’m loaded.  With benefits.’  Maybe it will get someone thinking about God.”  Human nature is so prone to see our liabilities rather than our “loads.”  Helen Steiner Rice, in her famous poem “Count Your Gains, Not Your Losses,” says in part,

As we travel down life’s busy road, complaining of our heavy load,
We often think God’s been unfair and gave us much more than our share
Of little daily irritations and disappointing tribulations.
We’re discontented with our lot and all the “bad breaks” that we got;
We count our losses, not our gain, and remember only tears and pain.
The good things we forget completely when God looked down and blessed us sweetly.

The overall point of her poem is that we can lose sight of our own woes if we will lose ourselves in service to others.  However, a secondary emphasis she makes is that God has given us so much.  It is a matter of the heart and one’s character whether we see ourselves as “winners” or “losers” in life.

Today, Mike Hite and I went to visit the McCullums.  Steve is to begin school next week.  He and his sweet wife Jerri made an unexpected detour to the hospital.  Steve has a mass in his abdomen and no clear diagnosis yet.  Doctors have told him to include as a possibility that this is very serious.  Yet, though he was in discomfort and facing the unknown, he was faith-filled and positive.  This remarkable young man, after citing James 1:2-4, says, “I’m excited to see what God is going to do through this.  This is going to make me a better, more understanding, preacher and Christian.”  Steve is loaded and he knows it.  For those of us not laying in a hospital bed awaiting test results, we are loaded, too!

Other versions put for “loads us with benefits” that he “bears us up” or “carries us in His arms.”  Same difference!  With divine support and aid, I am “loaded with benefits” more than this world could match or exceed.  Let us focus on what we have with God and not what we do not have.  Thank you, Steve and Jerri!

Neal Pollard

One of the biggest news stories of the summer broke on July 29th with the temporary injunction set down by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, stopping several measures in an immigration bill signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer and set to go into effect  Thursday.  Effectively, this injunction prohibits law enforcement from more easily detecting those who are in this country illegally.

For many, this is an issue they cannot divorce from politics or race.  But, how should a Christian view the matter of illegal immigration?  That is a different question than whether or not we should embrace those who seek to lawfully enter our nation from other nations around the world.  Bible truth is truth, recognizing no political party of skin color.  To ask how a Christian views any matter is also to ask what the Bible may have to say about it or issues involved with it.  While there is no verse that explicitly deals with illegal immigration, there are biblical principles to consider.

Lying is sinful.  There are no situations that make lying OK.  Paul urged the Ephesians to lay aside falsehood and speak truth (Eph. 4:25). The end for liars is most undesirable (Rev. 21:8).  If one claims something to an employer, landlord, or law enforcement officer that is not true, that one is lying.  How often do those hiring and harboring illegal immigrants knowingly lie or deceive?

Disobeying a nation’s laws is disobeying God.  Romans 13:1-4 says, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”  Many people go through the proper channels for applying for citizenship.  Even if a nation is lax in enforcing its laws, a Christian will not knowingly subvert the governing authorities in either harboring illegal immigrants or attempting to be in a nation illegally.  A Christian should be averse to being a party to anything rightly labeled “illegal.”

One is to submit to every human, governmental institution (1 Pet. 2:13ff).  Obviously, the only exception is if that entity seeks to get us to disobey the Lord’s commands (cf. Acts 5:27-29).  Otherwise, we must submit to them and in so doing we are “doing right” (1 Pet. 2:14-15).

I would never want to defend or advocate something that, objectively viewed, is termed “illegal.”  Perhaps the desire of some to rationalize on this issue is a product of a greater problem our culture has with law and authority.  The child of God, however, will be reminded “to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men” (Titus 3:1-2).

Neal Pollard

Dave Allen has been all around the world with his military career.  He has taken assignments, particular in time of war, that carried him into and out of several time zones often in a 24 to 48 hour period.  He once had a six month period where he never slept in the same time zone two nights in a row.  He was constantly on a C-130, going from place to place.  That is so far beyond “jet lag” that it is hard to comprehend for one who has never attempted it.

He said that after a month or so of that schedule and being exhausted from lack of sleep due to the time changes, his body began to adapt to this short-circuiting by sleeping whenever it was time to sleep where they were that night.  Basically, circumstances caused his “body clock” to be rewired!  It was in this context that Dave spoke of the “circadian rhythm.” The American Heritage Science Dictionary defines it as “A daily cycle of biological activity based on a 24-hour period and influenced by regular variations in the environment, such as the alternation of night and day. Circadian rhythms include sleeping and waking in animals, flower closing and opening in angiosperms, and tissue growth and differentiation in fungi.”  Normally, in one time zone, darkness is the cue for sleep and daylight is the cue for being awake.  But that can become skewed. Apparently, as Dave proved, the body can adapt even in the most extreme circumstances and give one the “body clock” needed for whatever circumstance.

What is your spiritual “circadian rhythm”?  God has equipped us with His Word, with a conscience, and external examples and influences that should supply us with a healthy view of right and wrong.  So long as we do not violate the conscience by ignoring and disobeying God’s Word or choosing improper influences, we keep the right perspective.  However, the conscience can become seared (1 Tim. 4:2)  We can get past feeling (Eph. 4:19).  We can turn our ears from the truth and be turned to fables (2 Tim. 4:3).  We can even believe what is false (2 Th. 2:11).  When this happens, we adapt our sense of right and wrong to what we come to believe or practice.  Isaiah’s peers did that, famously calling good “evil” and “evil” good.  A society’s value system can get turned upside down, and so can an individual’s.  This adaptation goes against God’s intended order, but the consequences of such an adaptation could not be more negative.  Let us be careful not to allow ourselves down a road where we “exchange the truth of God for a lie” (Rom. 1:25).  In the spiritual realm, this is not a matter of indifference.

Neal Pollard

Have you ever had a spirited disagreement with anyone?  Have you been filled with indignation over what you were convinced was their wrong view?  If you have lived for any length of time, you have been incensed over the views and philosophies of others.

But, you have not carried it as far as the Shammaites did around 66 AD.  There were two great teachers in the time right before the incarnation of Christ, Hillel and Shammai. They frequently found themselves on the opposite sides of a doctrine or Jewish tradition, and it is said they often took a position just to oppose the view the other took.  Perhaps the most famous disagreement occurred over what cause(s) one could divorce his wife under the old law.  Hillel took the broader, more liberal view, while Shammai’s view of Deuteronomy 24:1 restricted the grounds to unchastity. In fact, Hillelites were often viewed as the faction taking the moral liberal view, though that was not always the case.

Alfred Edersheim relates the debated obscure account of a particular dispute between these two groups over a number of questions.  The more nationalistic Shammaites pushed hard for a particularly anti-Gentile interpretation of 18 questions.  Edersheim writes, “In general, the tendency of these eighteen decrees was of the most violently anti-Gentile, intolerant, and exclusive character” (484).  The meeting to decide these 18 questions was held in the home of a Shammaite, and supposedly the Shammaites waited for the Hillelites in a lower room, murdering many of them (ibid., 166).  This gave the Shammaites the majority needed to have their views carried, and Edersheim builds a compelling case that these strongly anti-Gentile decrees led to war with Rome and the siege and destruction of Jerusalem prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24.

The Shammaites would have considered themselves the purists and the conservatives, but they compromised biblical commands and principles in order to promote and defend their views.  This is a tendency against which we must ever guard ourselves.  We might be tempted to “stretch the truth,” exaggerate the facts, or outright lie in order to “defeat” someone whose beliefs or teaching loose what God has bound.  We may gossip about someone whose immoral behavior we disapprove.  We might sin with our tongue or behavior in our indignation concerning a behavior or person we believe sinful.  The haunting reality, though, is that sin is sin.  Sinning to defeat sin is completely contradictory and futile.  The Shammaites illustrate this.  In fighting sin and immorality, we must keep our integrity and moral scruples intact.  Otherwise, we are the same as the very ones we seek to condemn.

Edersheim, Alfed.  The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1993).

Neal Pollard

Frank Haven was born August 1, 1924.  This is an interesting fact, one canoeing enthusiasts are more apt to know than others.  Yet, it is interesting to to note circumstances surrounding his birth.  His father, Bill Havens, was a member of the Yale rowing crew selected to compete in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France.  But, Bill’s wife was pregnant and out of loyalty and concern for her he decided not to travel over and compete.  It turns out that Frank was born after the closing ceremonies.

Somewhere along the line, Frank decided to become a competitive canoeist.  In 1952, Frank won the Gold Medal in canoeing at the Helsinki, Finland, Olympics.  He also won the national canoeing championship seven out of 12 years between 1950 and 1961, and he also won Silver at the 1948 Olympics (info taken from Hickoksports.com).

Bill was committed to his wife. He had a proper understanding of priorities and in what order they should be placed.  Priorities are a tricky thing.  We tend to place them in the order we convince ourselves they belong.  Often, we simply give in to our tendencies, desires, and preferences, then rationalize that we have chosen what is truly most important.  While we might make the right choice if put into a “big” situation like Frank Haven faced, but what about “little” situations that pop up every day?  Maybe we convince ourselves our kids really need our encouragement and support as they play a sport, so we choose to take them there on a Sunday morning.  Maybe we let an opportunity to evangelize go by the boards because we are concerned we will sacrifice good rapport with someone.  Maybe we are tired after a long day at work, so we choose to watch TV rather than call, write, or visit that struggling Christian who crosses our minds.

Sometimes, it is hard to know if our choice is a winning or losing choice.  It may take some time (or even eternity) before we know for sure.  Jesus teaches that sometimes we must lose to win (Matt. 16:25).  It is a matter of determining what we are choosing to lose and what we stand to win!

Neal Pollard

I will confess to having heard that more times than I can count, especially in my younger days and probably always from those of the female persuasion.  It was, without exception, a statement dripping in sarcasm meant to point out the immaturity of what I said or did.

The Christian life should be marked by continual growth and development.  That upward line is not strictly linear.  We will take backward steps as we go forward.  Yet, I have observed a pattern of spiritual immaturity from those capable of doing far better.  Perhaps others have seen it in me, and the thought makes me cringe.  There is a season in the Christian life to be a spiritual babe (1 Pet. 2:2), but eventually babes are supposed to grow up (1 Cor. 14:20; Eph. 4:13; Heb. 5:14; 6:1).  I could not give an exhaustive list, but consider a few ways in which we fail to show spiritual maturity.

Hypersensitivity. Certainly, we all have different personalities, but is hypersensitivity to be explained solely as a fate of personality?  If so, then that would make one unaccountable for bad behavior done as part of personality.  Could it not instead be a matter of free will and choice, where people choose to respond to ill-treatment or perceived slights by overreacting, sulking, pouting, and withdrawing?  When someone pushing our button keeps us from serving our crucified Lord, doing our Christian duty, or reflecting the image of Christ to others, we had better consider growing up spiritually!  Jesus, “While being reviled (i.e., “criticized and insulted in an abusive manner”), He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats” (1 Pet. 2:23).  In the same context, Peter says, “Follow in His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21).  Jesus also taught that the religion of the spiritually mature was to turn the other cheek (Matt. 5:39).

Pressing Our Rights. A preacher, trying to make the point that scripture nowhere dictates that the preacher should wear a coat and tie, shows up to evening services in a Hawaiian shirt, bermuda shorts, and flip-flops.  He really showed those uptight members!  He really showed more than he intended.  By running roughshod over the sensitivity of older or conservative members, he was a model of spiritual infancy.  It is ironic that many who respond like this common senseless minister would boast of themselves as spiritually advanced, but they have missed a basic Christian principle about interacting with others and especially fellow-Christians.  What about 1 Corinthians 8:13, 1 Corinthians 10:28, or Romans 14:21?

A Careless Example. We know nothing of the temperament of Thaddeus or even Philip, but we get clear impressions that the apostle Peter was impetuous and sometimes lacking in discretion (Mark 9:5-6; Matt. 14:28; Matt. 26:33-35 and Matt. 26:69ff; Gal. 2:11ff).  Whether or not Peter realized the power of his example, he illustrates the harm done by one poorly representing the Lord.  The same can happen today.  We may sorely underestimate the influence we have on the spiritually weak or babes in Christ.  A careless word or deed may not only cause another to stumble (cf. Luke 17:1-2), it reveals our spiritual immaturity.

In all things, from biblical comprehension to Christian behavior, “let us press on to maturity” (Heb. 6:1).  It is the natural progression that should occur in our Christian lives!  The alternative is neither pretty nor admirable.

Neal Pollard

It seems that some people don’t know what true commitment is.  For some, “dedication” is something you do for new babies and buildings.  “Loyalty” is reserved for ball teams, shampoos, and car makes. When some people think “permanent,” they think curly hair.  “Promise” is a low calorie butter substitute.  The word “contract” is now associated with arranging murders and getting diseases.  “Pledge” has more to do with college fraternities and sororities or furniture polish.  What about the word “committed”? People associate it with asylums!

My point is, true, biblical commitment is not just unpopular.  For too many, it’s almost unheard of!  The Bible instructs Christians to be committed people. We are under obligation (Rom. 8:12).  Our whole duty is to fear God and keep His commands (Ecc. 12:13).  We are unworthy slaves simply doing what we ought to do (Lk. 17:10).

Commitment is something learned, thus it is something taught. A true New Testament Christian is one who is totally committed to Christ and His will.  But that impacts every area of a Christian’s life and effects every relationship.  Commitment is a decision, not a feeling. It’s a promise you keep regardless of the emotions of the moment.  It isn’t affected by circumstances. It involves character. “It’s doing what you said you’d do even when you don’t feel like it” (Greg Cummings). Commitment sent Jesus to earth.  It kept Jesus on the cross.  It started the church.  It was what introduced you to Christ.

Do you need to be committed? Totally!

Neal Pollard

The Agony of Deceit is a book edited by Michael Horton written to expose the fraud of so many televangelists out there.  Yet, his book is not entirely written in fury and rage against the perpetrators of the deceit.  He also focuses on the responsibility hearers have in being discerning.  Horton writes, “A lot of people, I think, who watch Benny Hinn or watch the TV evangelists more generally, think that what they’re saying is authoritative–after all they’re on TV and they’ve written books. And we’ve lost the capacity to think critically and to weigh people in light of what the scriptures teach” (as quoted in http://www.religionnewsblog.com).  It is all the more amazing that Horton edited this book 20 years ago.  Televangelism may have lost some steam, but Horton’s observation is timeless.  Any time and place where people are not in the Book and do not see the Bible as an objective, authoritative standard that could not be more relevant and meaningful to their lives, people are rife to be religiously deceived.

Look at how often New Testament writers warn churches and individuals about the danger of being deceived.  Paul warns Ephesus, “Let no one deceive you with empty words” (Eph. 5:6).  Paul warns Thessalonica, “Let no one in any way deceive you” (2 Th. 2:3).  Paul warns Timothy, “But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Ti. 3:13).  Paul tells Titus, “For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers” (Ti. 1:10).  John tells the chosen lady and her children, “Many deceivers have gone out into the world” (2 Jn. 7).

Why all the warning?  God knows that intellectual laziness regarding scripture makes us quick and easy prey for deceivers.  He knows the agony that falling for such will bring into our lives, especially in light of eternity.  The antidote to deception is reception (Js. 1:21–“in humility receive the word implanted”) and conception (Ps. 119:104–“From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way”).  Maybe we would not ever think ourselves capable of falling for a Benny Hinn, but we must guard against those much more subtle, crafty, and nearer to biblical truth who nonetheless are teaching error.  Information and perspiration leads to transformation and away from spiritual deformation.

Neal Pollard

I find it interesting that one of the first Khmer words I ever learned was the word for “I” and “me.”  This makes sense.  To say, “My name is Neal,” I had to learn to say “Knyom chmuah Neal.”  When trying to stumble through songs written in Khmer, I happened to learn my first Khmer word by sight.  When written, it looks similar to an upside down, backward apostrophe.  When the congregation is singing, I always chime in when I see the “knyom.”  I see it and know it better than any of the others.  Only yesterday, on my third overall trip to Cambodia and eleven days into seeing and hearing and trying to speak Khmer on this trip, I finally learned the word for “you.”  It is “nyet.”  The word is shorter and easier to say.  I am still amazed that it took me so much longer to learn to say it.

Look back at the last paragraph.  I used some form of the word “I’ 17 times, but the word “you” only twice.  It is human nature for us to be more inclined toward “me” and less inclined toward “you.”  So many are so caught up in talking about “I,” “me,” and “my” that they cannot see others, let alone Christ. It is all about “me” (my family, my children, my interests, my wants and desires, and my will).  Yet, that is so contrary to the biblical model for behavior in a Christian.  Apparently, Euodia and Syntyche were “me-deep” in self (Phil. 4:2).  When we are caught up in ourselves, we are ineffective at holding up the Light of the word to those in darkness.  Paul’s inspired remedy for this problem is found in Philippians 2:3-4.  He essentially says, “Consider others are better or more important than self.”  Show interest in the other person.  Focus more on them and less on yourself.  More importantly, focus most on Christ.

The word needs far less “knyom” and much more “nyet.”  Most of all, it needs “Pray Yesu.”  Let us do our part!

Neal Pollard

We are having a wonderful time!  That is not as much of a “slam dunk” as it may sound.  The heat is oppressive, so much that we are constantly uncomfortable and sweating.  Though there are “western restaurants,” the food is often not nearly “up to par.”  We cannot speak the language that all those around us are speaking.  We are all separated from most of our closest friends, family, and loved ones.  In fact, we are thirteen hours ahead of the Mountain Time Zone, so we do not have many hours of the day when we are both awake at the same time.

So, how could we be having a wonderful time?  Upstairs, Sheryl, Kathy, and Teri are teaching the Christian young women who are students about to graduate here or are members of the local church.  Wes and Justin Guess, a preacher from Mathis, Texas, and fellow Southwest graduate of Phanat Ouch, are studying with three non-Christians in the office of the school.  Quinton Decker and I have been studying with several others non-Christians in the kitchen.  In the main room, Bob Turner is teaching the male students about to graduate.  The same gospel that has called us out of darkness and into the light is proving its power as it meets open, tender hearts.  I am in great hope that many of these young men and women, who were contacted through friendship evangelism, will obey the gospel.  The gospel, when taught, works anywhere there is a person open to it and willing to obey what it says do.  That fact alone is so powerful it eclipses any heat, rain, discomfort, culture shock, and the like.

Thank God for His eternal wisdom!

Neal Pollard

Though this is my third trip to Cambodia, I continue to see and watch new things develop and experience some things for the first time.  As we are spending more time in the villages apart from a church building, we are seeing “native habits” like I have not in previous trips (just ask my wife or Wes).  But I am also seeing an exciting development.  The church is growing and it reminds me so much of what I read in the New Testament.

First, there is a similarity in the general circumstances of both groups.  The early church relied a lot on “slower” means of transportation to carry the gospel, and that is typical here.  While not as many walk from place to place here as in some, other impoverished countries, many of the people (especially in the
villages) could not imagine taking a plane trip, riding a train, or riding in some types of vehicles.  But, they are taking the gospel as they go.  The early church faced stiff opposition from the religious majority and such is the case here where 95% of the population is Buddhist.

But the greatest, most exciting comparison concerns the way the church has grown.  The church began in Siem Reap just a few short years ago, in 2006 or 2007.  As conversions continued, there was a need and opportunity for a Bear Valley extension school to begin.  Because of this, 16 individuals are about to graduate and go to different parts of this country with the gospel.  But this is not a commercial for the BVBID.  It is about what this congregation has done.  One of her students went out to nearby Leang Dai, where some of the early Siem Reap members called home.  Slowly and amidst great persecution and opposition, the Leang Dai congregation has taken root with conversions in the nearby Sum Roun and Saray villages.  Efforts are going on elsewhere, but another student went a different direction and taught his family and friends in Takam village.  20 baptisms occurred there on one Sunday to begin the church several weeks ago.  As this first group graduates and goes to their home villages or works together to plant a church in a given area, the gospel will keep spreading.

Acts 1:8-11 recounts the departing charge of Jesus for His followers, to start where they were, go nearby, and then ultimately spread out to the farther reaches with the good news.  They did that and the church was planted all over the known world of their day (Col. 1:23).  Do not be surprised to see the same, what with all the ambitious, zealous seed planters who have found out who they are, why there are here, and where they are going.  What can we do, in the little corners of each of our worlds, just by taking to heart what these dear brethren have– to the same extent and with the same zeal?

Neal Pollard

Our Savior walked the earth 2000 years ago.  To comprehend such a length of time and the changes that have occurred since then, the change in world powers, the civilizations that have risen and fallen, and the things invented and destroyed, one needs a giant imagination.  Entire libraries could be filled with the books which have been written about that span of time.  Languages have been invented.  Whole peoples have come into existence.

One of the most fascinating side lines of Bible history concerns the contemporaries of Shem.  Kevin Bacon has nothing of this son of Noah  In the January 9, 1884, edition of Gospel Advocate, B.W. Lauderdale, made a very interesting observation:

Methuselah was contemporary with Adam 243 years, and could learn from him the history of the world for over 900 years.  Methuselah was also contemporary with Shem 98 years and could transmit to him the history of the world for 1656 years.  Further, Shem lived 502 years after the flood, and was contemporary with Abraham 149 years. (Abraham was born 352 years after the flood.) (Lipscomb 20).  That means that Shem, being contemporary with Abraham as well as with a man who was contemporary with Adam, had access to 2000 years of history.

Did Methuselah converse with his great grandpa, Adam, in the two and a half centuries of time they shared?  Did Adam recount the fall, the walking, talking serpent, and the angels guarding the garden?  Did he talk about attending the first funeral?  What tales of creatures and civilization did Methuselah have for Shem?  Did Abraham sit at grandpa Shem’s knee and hear him talk to the man who talked to the man who lived alongside the first man?  Shem could touch two millenia of time by his contact with just two individuals–Methuselah and Abraham.

Foremost, the Bible contains the mind and will of God and is full of teaching and instruction concerning everything we need for life and godliness.  It contains that which will some day be used to judge mankind.  This fact concerns heaven and hell matters.  Yet, in addition to that, it contains truths and facts that fascinate to no end.  I have known some interesting characters in my life, including a man who conversed with several presidents, war heroes, and movie stars.  That man, an elder in the Lord’s church for many years (and still alive today), worked as a young man interviewing Civil War veterans’ widows and spent time excavating fascinating archaeological finds.  He is a reservoir of history and interesting information, but what must Shem have been like as a conversationalist?  He had firsthand exposure to living history from the first man at the beginning of time to the man who was the father of the Jewish nation.

Neal Pollard

Nigeria has suffered from a spate of building collapses due to builder negligence.  In the Lagos suburb of Bariga, a building collapsed due to the contractor using bamboo as rebar in the foundation.  A three-story building built over a drainage channel in Orile-Iganmu caved in and killed five people. The country has no enforceable national building code, often uses unskilled laborers, has negligent inspection practices, and generally lacks a uniform checks and balances system to hold builders accountable.  This has led to widespread concerns that a great many more buildings, often on shoddy foundations, will eventually buckle (allafrica.com).

Entire lives and even institutions are the same way.  Godless communism is a sandy foundation since it does not honor hard work or achievement, thus killing incentive, ethics, and ultimately morality.  Godless capitalism is as shaky a foundation, where greed, lust, and avarice blind people to their moral responsibilities in pursuit of materialistic goals.  Godless autocracy will cause a society to crumble as it is rife for corruption, violence, and mass abuse.

Spiritually, it makes all the difference what the foundation is.  Build on anything other than Christ and His Word and the result is eternal ruin.  One may enjoy temporary success, in this life.  However, there will be forever to pay for choosing the wrong platform on which to build a life or a religious institution.  Paul said there is no other foundation than Christ (1 Co. 3:11).  Jesus said the lasting foundation upon which He would build His church was His divine identity (Mat. 16:18-19).  Paul told Timothy “the firm foundation of God stands” (2 Ti. 2:19).  Deviate from that material and ensure foundation problems.  It matters upon what we build our lives, both now and especially in the end.

Neal Pollard

The “Bike To Work” crowd means business.  They have a web site, a strategy group, a mission statement, and an acronym (BTWD–Bike To Work Day).  Their aim is to “reduce congestion and improve air quality.”  They probably also want participants to enjoy biking and get healthy, but the main interest appears to be environmental.  I am not writing this to be critical, though for six and a half miles I had to dodge ten times the regular number of bicyclists on the Bear Creek Trail.  I admire their dedication and the success they have enjoyed in getting so many to become involved.  They had food stations set up along the trail, they got media attention, and they were organized to the point to setting up a registration process online or physically in downtown Denver.  They proclaimed today the annual “Bike To Work Day” and they followed through to be sure everyone knew about it.

This initiative may or may not enjoy huge success in meeting their objective, but if they do not it will not be from lack of trying.  They will undoubtedly win converts to their cause, and they already have.  The thing that strikes me is that they truly believe in their cause, and their efforts prove it!

The early church was all about the business of spreading the good news about Christ. It made it into their conversations (Acts 8:4) and to the top of their priority list (cf. Mat. 6:33).  They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).  They were able to get the gospel to every creature under heaven (Col. 1:23).  They did it without media attention, though profane and secular writers certainly took notice of them (often contemptuously).  They had limited resources, community support, history, or respectability.  But, they grew, which a cursory study of Acts readily shows.  What they had was a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3) and a life with Christ at the center.

How is our fervor for the Lord?  Are we ready to do what it takes to “get the word out” and convert as many as we can?  How deeply do we believe in the cause we sing, pray, and preach about each week?  Whatever else we may hope to accomplish individually or as the church, our main interest should always be the souls of mankind.  We will never have to tell anyone what our emphasis is.  It will be obvious!  May we have the fervor of our first-century counterparts and get out the word about the Lord!

Neal Pollard

Spirit Airlines made a decision a few months ago to charge up to $45 for carry on luggage on their flights.  In an industry that is in terrible shape, this was a move that produced outrage in even those who have never flown with this carrier.  For people already perturbed about the nearly industry-wide decision to charge for checked bags, this looks like just another way airlines were trying to squeeze money out of passengers.  Despite this attempted grab at more of passengers’ money, Spirit is struggling mightily, canceling flights and struggling to pay employees.

Meanwhile, Southwest continues to be the only major carrier not charging for those checked bags.  They have widely advertised this decision.  The end result of this policy is not surprising to me.  While even some of their own insiders were wringing their hands about passing up over $750 million by not charging for checked bags, Southwest has earned $1.8 billion dollars instead.  According to Harvard Business Review, Southwest has never lost money in 37 years of operation.  The other major carriers are operating in the red, but Southwest continues to operate in the black while paying their employees relatively well.  Amazingly, Southwest has not suffered from their lack of greed, but Spirit has suffered despite theirs.

There is a valuable lesson or pair of lessons to be learned by all of us from this.  Those who keep their fists tight find it difficult to receive, while those who practice generosity often find that such a practice “pays.”  Biblical stewardship seems to work this way.  Givers receive in good measure (Lk. 6:38; Mal. 3:10).  When we are stingy with our time, our praise, our efforts, our involvement, or any other resource God has blessed us with, we are the poorer for it.  Hoarding does not benefit the hoarder!  Giving blesses the giver.  The airlines teach us this, but before that God did the teaching.  Through Solomon, He says, “There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand” (Ecc. 5:13-15).  In Luke 12:15, warning against covetousness, Jesus taught that a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.  Let us learn that we will not ultimately prosper who greedily seek after self, and God will not let us lose for choosing be generous givers in every form.

Neal Pollard

Chinese officials call those years “three years of economic difficulty” and “three bitter years.”  The years were 1958-1961, the years of the great Chinese famine.  To tell you how bad it was, three out of seven people who died of famine in the 20th Century died in China during those three bitter years.  Most observers believe the cause of the famine was the government’s attempt to set up Communism and communal farms.  No one could grow private garden plots. The granaries of just two locations, Henan and Hebei, held enough grain to have saved each of the 30 million people who died in the Great Chinese famine.

Over eight centuries before Christ, God punished wicked Israel with a drought that led to severe famine (1 Kings 18:2).  It was three and a half bitter years (cf. Luke 4:25-26; Jas. 5:17).  According to 1 Kings 17, Elijah flees to a brook by Cherith and then on to Zarephath where God miraculously provides for him, a widow and her son until he is sent by God to end the drought and famine.  While Israel suffered mightily, Elijah enjoyed Divine providence in the midst of the bitterness.  The widow of Zarephath not only shared in receiving that provision, she apparently learned some things from it, too.

She learned it takes faith to obey the word of the Lord (1 Kings 17:10-13).  She did not learn this faith from royalty like wicked Ahab, who married one of her fellow Sidonians.  She did not learn it from her neighbors, who worshipped Ashtoreth (cf. 1 Kings 11:5; 16:31).  She did not learn it from her Jewish neighbors in Palestine, who at this time could not themselves easily decide between Baal and Jehovah (1 Kings 18:21).  She learned, as we must learn, that we must be faithful to God even when our leaders, neighbors, and spiritual brothers and sisters are not willing to do so.

She learned it takes faith to overcome fear (1 Kings 17:13).  This was literally life and death for the widow.  To obey God’s word meant making starvation a seeming certainty.  No one should blame her for expressing her rational fear to Elijah, but ultimately she was willing to believe his word.

She learned it takes faith to enjoy the blessings of God (1 Kings 17:14-16).  Was she tempted to turn down the offer?  It’s very possible.  Maybe she was so desperate and so aware of her plight that she felt she had nothing to lose by giving Elijah food.  Whatever was the case, she was blessed by obeying God.  He kept her and her son alive.

Famines strike children, the elderly, and men most acutely.  It lowers fertility and, of course, causes plain old, awful starvation.  But there is another, more serious, kind of famine described in Amos 8:11.  It is spiritual starvation, but it does not strike the Christian who has Jesus for the “bread of life” (John 6:35).  Those who follow Him are spared eternal hunger (Revelation 7:16).  I read a report indicating that 10 million people in rich, industrialized nations go to bed hungry every night–in the midst of plenty.  When we partake of the Bread, we will have plenty, like Elijah, in the midst of those spiritually bitter years.

Neal Pollard

This year’s Future Preachers Training Camp took a field trip, complete with a few unscheduled stops, up to visit the Conifer church of Christ.  The preacher there is a special young man named Andrew Lemus, a 2007 graduate of the Bear Valley Bible Institute.  It was our privilege to sit and listen to him tell about his background and what impression the school made on him.  It was a very moving story and as moving a class.  He told us about his incredible search for truth, starting from a Catholic upbringing to a search within protestant denominationalism and the community church movement.  He could not find the truth.  He turned to the internet and was taught the truth by a brother in Christ who hails from New York City.  Andrew showed up at a congregation of the Lord’s church in his native California, asking to be baptized for the remission of his sins and to die to self and live to Christ.  From there, he developed a zeal for knowledge and a quest to learn more and more.  He also developed an interest in a young lady, the daughter of one of the preachers, who eventually became his wife.  Her encouragement spurred him to enroll at Bear Valley in the fall of 2005, just a year after his coming to Christ.  Though he had no interest at first to be a preaching, desiring instead to learn enough to go back and evangelize his non-Christian family, the study of God’s Word filled him with a desire to share those truths with as many people as possible.  To make a fascinating, wonderful story short, he, Aimee, Andrew, and Annabella are working with a church planted in 2007–the Conifer church of Christ.  He is doing an outstanding job!

As I thrilled to hear his story, it struck me.  Andrew’s thirst for Bible truth led him to the Lord and through such salvation.  He simply wanted to obey that Word and share it with others, seizing on the theme verse of the school (2 Timothy 2:2).  Andrew is still a young man, with an overflow of biblical conviction and boundless passion.  Who knows what great good they will accomplish and have already accomplished?  That is always the question.  When someone reveres God’s Word and follows it as their pattern for living and when someone with that maintains a good and honest heart, God uses them mightily!  That is the power of the word and the willing heart.

Neal Pollard

The second week of June always marks an exciting time at Bear Valley and for me personally.  That day is always the official start of our Future Preachers Training Camp.  The campers all arrive, some of them even coming in on Saturday, and the excitement is evident on their faces as well as the faces of our members.  They come from near and far, tied together by an interest in growing in their public speaking skills and by the fact that they are teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18.  During the week this year, they will sit and learn about how to write and deliver a sermon, how to use the library resources, elementary Greek, Christian evidences, basic hermeneutics and exegesis, and grief counseling.  They will take a field trip up to Conifer, Colorado, to hear from one of our graduates tell about how the Bear Valley Bible Institute has prepared him to work with the church in a small town.  They will spend hours each day working on their sermons.  They will try their hand several times at “extemporaneous speaking.” There will also be time every day for recreation and a few special times to enjoy some recreation at local venues.

It amazes me the way this congregation supports the camp.  The snacks donated, attending the “Speaking From The Heart” and “FPTC Gospel Meeting” sessions, the teens c0-participating in several events through the week, taking campers to lunch on the second Sunday, and the continuous vocal support of these special young men is overwhelming.  I am also amazed at the dedication and growth of these young men, often from the time they arrive to the time they leave and also as we see several of them year after year.

We will have 43 young men in camp this year, coming literally from coast to coast.  Some will be athletic, others will be more bookish and interested in indoor activities.  Some will be confident and outgoing, others reserved and shy.  Some will be big for their age, others small for their age.  This year, they will represent not just multiple racial ethnicities but also nationalities. But, if past years indicate anything, they will be one big, tight-knit group bound together by the experiences of the week.

Please pray for the success and safety of everyone involved in the camp this year.  Our adult volunteers include Jason Chesser (Wetumpka, AL), Bud Woodall (Vinita, OK), Jessie Agnew (Hobbs, NM), Darrick Shepherd (Newton, KS), Nathan Liddell (East Alameda church of Christ, Aurora, CO), Pooh Duke (Old Hickory, TN), Tony Johnson (Greenbrier, AR), Anthony Warnes (Miller St., Wheat Ridge, CO), Kathy Devenport (Hattiesburg, MS–kitchen), Brett Petrillo, Dennis King, Jack Wilkie, Alex Warnes, Jordan Wise, Butch Plummer, Anna Wilkie (kitchen), DeAnn Wilkie (food boss, camp mom), and me (Bear Valley church of Christ, Denver, CO).  Our teachers will be Andrew Lemus (Conifer), Wayne Roberts (Parker), Michael Hite (BVBID), Denny Petrillo (BVBID), Chesser, Woodall, and Agnew.  Ready or not, here it comes!

Neal Pollard

It is fascinating to study about the development of the “traditions of the elders” (cf. Matt.15:3).  These traditions were revered by the Jewish religious leaders, the elders, scribes,chief priests, lawyers, and judges.  The common people were compelled to follow these traditions as being on a par with the written Old Testament.  It is thought that the “restoration movement” following Babylonian Captivity gave rise to the order of men who would become these religious scholars so revered by the time of Jesus.  The scribes took their marching orders from the praise given to Ezra in Ezra 7:10, that he “had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.  The scribes who succeeded Ezra focused on those three “mandates”–the Midrash (the study of Scripture), the Halakhah (the obedience of Scripture), and the Haggadah (the oral teaching of Scripture).

Edersheim has some interesting observations about corruption in those last two areas. He says,

It is sadly characteristic, that, practically, the main body of Jewish dogmatic and moral theology is really only Haggadah, and hence of no absolute                     authority. The Halakhah indicated with the most minute and painful punctiliousness every legalordinance as to outward observance, and it explained                 every bearing on the law of Moses. But beyond this it left the inner man, the spring of actions, untouched. What he was to believe and what to feel,                       was chiefly matter of the Haggadah (73).

He continues, “And here we may mark the fundamental distinction between the teaching of Jesus and Rabbinism.  He left the Halakhah untouched, putting it, as it were, on one side, as something quite secondary, while He insisted as primary on that which to them was chiefly matter of Haggadah” (ibid., 73-74).  This is what caused these men to lead themselves and others to major in the minors and minor in the majors (Matt. 23:23-24).  They so jealously guarded their tradition that they were nearly neurotic about hand, cup, pitcher, and pot washing while “neglecting the commandment of God” to “hold to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:1-8).

Jesus was not anti-obedience (Matt. 23:3). He was, however, against a superficial observance of the law where one’s heart was far away from God (cf. Mark 7:1ff).  They transgressed God’s commands for the sake of their traditions (Matt. 15:6).  They set aside God’s commands to keep their traditions (Mark 7:9). They invalidated God’s word by their traditions (Mark 7:13).  They emphasized the externals, but left the internals “untouched.”  It was through this mixing of priorities that they could rationalize putting the sinless Son of God on the cross.  That is how serious this crowning of traditions can be.

Let us be careful to be obedient to the will and word of God.  Christ’s salvation is for the obedient (Heb. 5:9).  Yet, let us not put such stock in our convictions and conclusions about what is wise, how we would do it, and what seems best that we come to possess hearts that, in fact, are far away from God and lead us to transgress and set aside God’s Word through our spirit and attitude.  If we have to distort truth, resort to unethical behavior, or outright engage in immorality in order to preserve our traditions, we have missed it somewhere!

Neal Pollard

Surreal is an overused and misused word.  But inasmuch as the word is synonymous with weird and freakish, it applies to a video I saw recently on the news concerning Ardi Rizai of Sumatra, Indonesia.  Nothing is more strange and bizarre than the sight of a child in diapers alternating between drinking a bottle and taking a drag off of a cigarette!  It appears that the two year old has had to split celebrity with a four year old Indonesian boy smoking clove cigarettes and cursing with the encouragement of surrounding adults.  Little Ardi was given his first cigarette at 18 months, and quickly became addicted.  He had been smoking as many as 40 per day, but has cut back to 15.

Twisted and dark hearts can corrupt little minds so quickly.  Have you ever had the heartbreaking experience of hearing an innocent child cursing to the amusement of parents?  I cannot understand what would motivate parents and caregivers to push little children toward evil in an already sinful, fallen world.  This story ranks up there among the most irresponsible parental behavior of which I have ever heard.  Yet, it is a reminder of what a small child can learn, pick up, and do proficiently.  He looks like a midget as he sits there and puffs.

A two-year-old child can be taught to pray, can learn Bible facts and memorize Bible verses, can be shown how to shake hands with an adult, can master a pretty large repertoire of “church songs,” can sit in Bible class, and thereby have a strong spiritual foundation.  When tempted to sell short those little, impressionable minds, take a good look at that picture of Ardi. But also remember that we are stewards of these eternal souls housed in little bodies and equipped with virtually boundless potential.  Jesus wants little children to come unto Him (Mt. 19:14).  Today, that means pointing them in the proper spiritual direction and helping these dear little ones to maximize their potential for good.  We can as easily teach a toddler to love the Lord as to light up!  May we treasure our tiniest and teachable trusts and shape and mold them to be the best they can be for our God.