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Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

Any day now, Kathy and I expect to officially become grandparents. Carl and Emily are at the end of her pregnancy. In a few more months, Dale and Janelle, Lord willing, will be having their first child. As we prepare for this monumental change, we are doing things like going through our upstairs storage where there are several bins labeled “Future Grandchildren” and “Sentimental.” Our sons’ baby books are there, and in them we saw records of first words, dates of major firsts (first steps, first teeth, first haircut). Also, we pulled out several special items of clothing, blankets, baby books, and pictures from when they were infants and toddlers. 

Carl’s first words were “da-dee” on January 7, 1999 (he was 5 months old), he walked on September 8, 1999, at almost 13 months old, and first blew a kiss two days later. Dale first laughed out loud on April 15, 1996, at 3 months old, his first word was “da-da” on Father’s Day 1996, and he took his first steps on Christmas Day, 1996, to get to a red car toy. Gary’s first words were “da-da,” “mama,” “bye bye,” “hey,” “uh-oh,” “thank you,” and “boo” all at around ten months old, took his first step on his first birthday, and fed himself exactly one month later. 

Trust me when I say I could produce a lot more facts, figures, and fond recollections from the boys’ baby days. Why did we keep such meticulous records of these formidable moments (though we may have been a bit less attentive to record-keeping with each son)? Their birth and coming into our lives forever changed and blessed us. Looking at them now, it is hard to imagine them in tiny onesies and corduroy overalls swaddled in small quilts that are priceless to us. It has been many years since they started shaving, driving, dating, preaching, and adulting in ways like getting jobs, getting married, and now having their own children.

The Bible repeatedly refers to the church as God’s family (1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:22; 1 Pet. 4:17). Those Christians new in Christ are referred to as “newborn babies” (1 Pet. 2:2), and all Christians were urged to be “infants in evil” (1 Cor. 14:20), innocent in what is evil (Rom. 16:19). Jesus warns against making spiritually “little ones to stumble” (Luke 17:2). So, the New Testament is rife with baby and infant imagery.

It is beautiful to watch spiritual infants grow into mature Christians. You see them taking those developmental steps, growing in Bible knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18), sharing their faith (2 Tim. 2:2), making those wise decisions that reflect proper priorities (Mat. 6:33), and counting the cost (Luke 14:26-35). Those who were there at the beginning, who taught them and nurtured them, share in the satisfaction of seeing them flourish in their living, acting faith. 

We may not have books where we record such things, but God does! He has a book on every one of us (Rev. 20:12). Imagine His sense of pride and joy as He takes note of such growth and development on the part of His precious sons and daughters. He sees what even no one else sees, and He dutifully records it! How proud it must make Him when He watches His faithful children. Parents get that! We’ve been there, though on a comparatively limited scale. 

No matter their age and stage, we continue to observe and make note of our children’s progress. God is no different! May we be children who live to make God proud! 

Wednesday’s Column: Third’s Words

I Thessalonians was written to a group of people who were confused about Jesus’s return. I & II Thessalonians are eschatological letters. They contain some of the clearest teachings about Jesus coming back, outside of II Peter. But there’s a lot more to I Thessalonians than just teachings about the end of earth (unlike II Thessalonians). 

Four out of the five chapters are all about how we’re supposed to operate as a church family while waiting for Jesus to come get us. We know from II Thessalonians that some people were teaching them that Jesus had already come back. They were afraid that he’d already taken away everyone who’d get to live with him forever, and this was causing them to panic. Paul wanted them to know that God expects us to live morally good lives while we’re waiting for him to return. 

The entire book might be summarized like this —  “God wants you to live morally excellent lives while you wait for Jesus to come back. Always be proactive in loving each other as a church family. Pursue moral goodness at all times. Never give in to the world’s pressures, but do whatever it takes to be faithful until Jesus returns. If you do your part, Jesus will make sure that you’re ready for him to come back.”

Next week, we’ll look at how the first part of the book applies to Christians in the 21st century. In fact, this entire study is going to look at I Thessalonians through the lens of modern application. Technical study is important and has its place, but our study will focus exclusively on the application side. 

Wednesday’s Column: Third’s Words

In Galatians 3.15-20, Paul reminded the Galatians that the old law was never intended to be the ultimate plan. It served one purpose only: to highlight how sinful the human race really was (3.19). It was even given from a distance! God gave it to the angels, then the angels gave it to Moses, then Moses gave it to the people (3.19). Besides being strict and lacking grace, the old law didn’t allow for a personal relationship with God. It was a placeholder until Jesus could enact a much better system. 

Romans 7.5-11 says, “In the past we were ruled by our sinful selves. The law made us want to do sinful things. And those sinful desires controlled our bodies, so that what we did only brought us spiritual death. In the past the law held us as prisoners, but our old selves died, and we were made free from the law. So now we serve God in a new way, not in the old way with the written rules. Now we serve God with a new spirit. You might think I am saying that sin and the law are the same. That is not true. But the law was the only way I could learn what sin means. I would never have known it is wrong to want something that is not mine. But the law said, ‘You must not want what belongs to someone else.’ And sin found a way to use that command and make me want all kinds of things that weren’t mine. So sin came to me because of the command. But without the law, sin has no power. Before I knew the law, I was alive. But when I heard the law’s command, sin began to live and I died spiritually. The command was meant to bring life, but for me it brought death. Sin found a way to fool me by using the command to make me die.” 

The law was in place to show us that we don’t have the ability to meet God’s standard of morality on our own. We didn’t even know that some of our behavior was sinful until God said it was through the law. Once humanity realized that it was helpless to overcome sin, God sent his son to free us from that system and destroy guilt once and for all. Paul reiterated this in 3.21-25 by saying that the law convicted everyone on earth of sin and kept us all prisoner. The law was functionally a strict supervisor, controlling every little aspect of life and punishing violations severely. But it’s no longer necessary (or relevant) because we have the way of faith (3.25). 

“We also know that the law is not made for those who do what is right. It is made for those who are against the law and refuse to follow it. The law is for sinners who are against God and all that is pleasing to him. It is for those who have no interest in spiritual things and for those who kill their fathers or mothers or anyone else” (I Tim 1.9). 

Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail

Did you know an early twentieth-century cartoon, Felix the Cat, was created more than a decade before Disney dreamed up Mickey Mouse? Felix was the most popular cartoon character of his time and was largely responsible for stirring America’s appetite for animated films. 

Some of the revolutionary concepts that originated with the cartoon were the symbols that would appear above Felix’s head while he was thinking. Occasionally the symbols like a question mark or a musical note would turn into a ladder, vehicle, or door— which became a prop within the story. As unimpressive as this may sound by today’s standard, it was movie magic for our ancient movie-going ancestors. 

There was one symbol that appeared in an episode airing in 1925 that would change the relationship between an image and a concept from that moment on. The image was of a simple lightbulb. It appears floating above Felix’s head at the very moment in which he’s struck with an idea. This was the first time the bulb and the brain were used to illustrate “sudden inspiration.”

Some Secular Speculations 

I•DE•A “A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.”

The origin of an idea is an interesting puzzle that’s yet to be solved by the secular world. Educated guesses have been made in an attempt to determine where and how an idea is formed, but these guesses remain guesses— and are often debated. Are they formed in the conscious or subconscious mind? Are they speculated solutions to problems that are lumped together inside of our prefrontal cortexes to aid in verifying our hunches? Who could say? The Bible seems to indicate that ideas are personal, and personal ideas should be dealt with carefully. 

Clues In Scripture 

“For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder…”

Mk. 7.21 

“There was a lot of whispered discussion and murmuring among the crowds about Jesus. Some were saying, “He is a good man”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He misleads the people giving them false ideas.”

Jn. 7.12

“Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their time doing nothing else other than listening to the latest ideas or repeating them.”

Acts 17.21 

There are other passages in the Bible that we could go to in order to further prove that ideas were seen as natural in their formation. They develop or die in the human mind and the originator of the idea will either reject it and remain silent or accept it and vocalize it. 

Is it a Good One or a Bad One?  

Spiritually speaking, a good idea typically shows itself as a novel or untried solution to facilitate a command. If the principles are based in Truth, then the idea is not only a good one— but it’s bound to mature into its desired result. 

A bad idea is one that’s dreamed up in the mind(s), unchecked by God’s counsel, and blindly pursued (1 Sam. 13, Ex. 32). 

Summarized in a Single Sip 

A true “light bulb” idea has never been credited to the human imagination because all the good (best) ones stem from the One unfailing Light (Lk. 18.19). A “golden calf” idea stems from imperfect opinions and the wishes of man. 

It’s always a good idea to chase down the source material, no matter how sensible an idea may sound. 

Dale Pollard

Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

The book of Ezra begins by referring to God’s Word by Jeremiah’s mouth. That fulfillment was so important to the Jewish people. The Jews clung to the hope offered by Jeremiah, who foretold, “When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile'” (Jer. 29:10-14). God planned to bring them back, and the fellowship and relationship would be restored. Daniel confidently rested his hope in this promise near the end of his long, fruitful career as a prophet, reading in Jeremiah’s writings the hope and promises once the 70 years was accomplished (Dan. 9:2).

Ezra’s writings chronicles the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s promise, and the start of the Restoration Movement that commenced near the end of the 6th-Century B.C. The Persian emperor, Cyrus, comes to power in 539 B.C. and, acknowledging Jehovah’s power and authority, issues a proclamation to the Jews allowing all who were willing to return Jerusalem and Judah to rebuild the temple (1:2). The door to return was now open! According to Ezra 1, what did it take for the people to begin this massive rebuilding project?

Favorable Government (1-4, 7-11). Babylonian rulers were not going to allow this to happen. But Daniel (Dan. 5) chronicles the overthrow of Babylon by the Persians (also read the book of Nahum for the prophecy of this). Cyrus the Great forms the first Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, in 550 B.C. An extremely significant archaeological find, “The Cyrus Cylinder,” is a clay document issued by Cyrus The Great confirming the truth of the biblical account we read here in Ezra chapter one. He permits the return and the rebuilding of the temple, and he encourages Jews everywhere who are not returning to financially support this exodus and the cost of rebuilding. No doubt, the Jews could appreciate this unprecedented granting of human rights by that world empire. They had not had such freedom for decades. 

Willing Builders (5). We will read more about the pioneering pilgrims of the Post-Exilic project in chapter two, but the text here says that heads of households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose. They were passionate about rebuilding, as God desired, and they were willing to leave Persia and go back home. Many of the Jews deported to Babylon and living in exile had established roots in their new nation, having children and grandchildren, homes and businesses they did not wish to leave. But others had been longing and praying for the opportunity to return.

Support From Brethren (6). The Jews who did not return sponsored and facilitated those who wanted to go back. They “encouraged” them with silver and gold, goods, cattle, and valuables in addition to their freewill offerings. That, with Cyrus’ release of the temple furnishings (8-11), equipped the returnees with the financial ability to do the work of rebuilding.  

Divine Providence. Something Cyrus acknowledges (3) reinforces that God was always in control, working through time and events to accomplish His overarching purpose. This post-exilic movement was part of His grander plan. Daniel writes about it in Daniel 2. God was working toward establishing that “kingdom which shall never be destroyed” (2:44) in the context of human history. The Persian Empire was a link in that omnipotent chain. It required the Jews to go back home and rebuild the temple and resettle in the land until ultimately the Messiah would be born. 

While these events happened in history over 2,500 years ago, there is so much application for us today. We still live in a time and place where government has given us the religious freedom to build for God. We’re not primarily interested in literal edifices and buildings. We’re charged with growing that spiritual kingdom Daniel foresaw, the church. That requires children of God who will roll up their sleeves, hungry to do the work of restoration. It requires children of God lending financial support of that work. It also requires us to be alert to God’s providence, to “work together for good” (Rom. 8:28) in accomplishing His will through our building efforts. How long will that window of freedom be open? It may become much harder to fulfill the Great Commission if and when those freedoms are ever revoked. Perhaps we should appreciate anew Jesus’ admonition, “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest” (John 4:35)! 

This Great Blog Is Written By Emily Pollard,
Who Is Married To Carl. Excellent Thoughts!

A Proverb a Day Keeps the Problems Away

You heard from Dale earlier today. Here’s his capable “help meet,” Janelle, with some outstanding ideas on fellowship:

Read Here

Great Read!!

“A Prayer For Our Son”

Too Good Not to Share

“The Christian Chameleon”

by Kathy Pollard

Author of “My Homestead Pantry”

What a cute post with a powerful point!

Human Beans

https://myhomesteadpantry.com/strawberry-rhubarb-sauce-an-easy-easter-dessert/#recipe

A Place or A People?

Please check this out and subscribe…

http://myhomesteadpantry.com

(She just created her YouTube channel today; Look for content here later, too)