Early in the Morning…

Last night as I was watching one of my new favorite shows, Undercover Boss, one of the unsuspecting workers caught my attention. The producers did a great job of setting up this point by showing the boss making mention of how he never got up as early as he was that day. 3:30 A.M. was the time shown on the alarm clock. He got dressed, went to the job site, and met a man who got out of bed at that early hour to go to work every day.

When the boss asked him how he could possibly do that, day in, day out, his reply was very simple: "You get used to it." He then elaborated on that thought by explaining how he had 5 children, two of whom were adopted. He said that he wanted to work at a job that would allow him to spend time with his kids. What an amazing man, and what a sacrifice! Here was a man who had a mission in mind. In order to accomplish that mission, he knew what he had to do. He arose early in the morning.

From there, I'm drawn to the text of Joshua chapter 6. You likely remember this as being the chapter which tells us about Israel's defeat of Jericho. Described there are people who had a mission. There are a couple things that I'd like for you to make note of:

1. They arose early in the morning to do God's work. Notice what we read in Joshua 6:12. After having been given commands about what to do, these people did not waste time in the day getting started. It plainly states in verse 12 that "Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord." They didn't dilly dally around. They got up and got going.
   


2. They did their work without complaining! Notice what we read in verse 10. Joshua was relaying the commands that had come from God. He tells them that they "shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout." They didn't have a chance to complain, but one wonders whether they also had in mind the things that the previous generation had suffered. Paul makes note of the danger of complaining in 1 Corinthians 10:10, where we see that some of the number of the Children of Israel had complained. Their end had been destruction.
   

The results of this speak for themselves [pun intended, D.H.]. What about us? What is our mission? Do we have our minds set on the work of God in this way? Are we willing to rise up early in the morning to do His work? What about rising up early in the morning to do the following:

1. Study the Bible. There's no better way to start off your day than by setting your minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).
   


2. Pray for others. Take the church bulletin, or maybe your own prayer list and pray for those people. Take a few extra moments to give thanks to God, and to ask Him if he might open some door today for you to share the Gospel with someone (Colossians 4:3).
   


3. Do these things with your family! Remember what it means to build a home centered on God (Psalm 127:1). Otherwise, it's vanity to rise early!
   


4. Rise up early in the morning on Sunday. Prepare your mind to worship God before you get to services (Psalm 122:1). Notice how that mindset came before David made it to the House of the Lord!
   

I think that if we all can make this effort, we'll notice the fruits of those things (1 Timothy 4:15)!

I Just Got a Phone Call…

*DISCLAIMER: I am not looking for a pat on the back in response to this article. It is my intention with this article to simply stir up your thoughts. I am in no way condemning those of you who hang up on telemarketers. I too use that same decisive action from time to time. I also realize some might think this is "hokie"… well, at least you are thinking about something!

I was in the middle of studying (very intently I might add) when the phone rang. It was a very charismatic man who was looking for the "senior pastor". I immediately knew that I probably would not be interested in what he was going to have to say. I replied, "This is the minister, how can I help you?" I normally hang up on these phone calls, but this time I decided that since he sounded nice I would at least hear him out.

I was absolutely right about not being interested. He began describing some lesson material on DVD that was developed about marriage. He was trying to get me to "partner up" with their organization and have a "risk-free" review of the material. Knowing some of the denominational names that he was mentioning, I was definitely not interested in doing that. Besides, I was in the middle of my study!

He finally got to the point of asking me whether I wanted his wares. I said no thanks, I'm not interested. Then, in a manner of voice as though he was about to bestow some sort of gift on me, he posed this question:

"Well, pastor [minister, D.H.], is there anything that God has laid on your heart, maybe that you've been praying about, resources for your church?"

I was confounded by this question. I know that God speaks to me today through his written word (cf. Heb. 1:1-> John 16:13-15-> 2 Pet. 1:20-21-> Eph. 3:1-7-> 1 Timothy 4:13-> 2 Tim. 2:15-> 3:16-17) so I don't know what he would have laid on my heart that he didn't lay out in His Word. I don't say this to poke fun at the man, or of those who say such things. I sincerely didn't know how to answer this question. SO, I politely said:

"I'm not really sure how to answer that question. I'm in the middle of a study right now. Thanks for calling though!"

As he got off the phone with me, obviously disappointed that I wasn't going to try to buy what he was trying to sell, he made a statement that struck me in a way that I had never thought of before.

He simply said, "Well, God bless you for being honest, and have a nice day."

It wasn't the prospect of receiving any kind of blessing from this man or God that struck me, but rather why he said it. He knew I was being honest. Why was this important to me? He was calling the Sweetwater church of Christ. He knew it and I knew it. I was a representative of the Lord's church to that man. I'm immediately reminded of what we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:12. The preceding verses deal with an honest manner of life. The NKJV renders the beginning of that verse as "…that you may walk properly toward those who are outside…" but I like the KJV in this case. It states this:

"That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing." (1 Thessalonians 4:12 KJV)

 

We should walk honestly before others. What a concept. Paul also writes that we are to:

"Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time." (Colossians 4:5, NKJV)

Redeeming the time is an interesting phrase. It carries the idea of buying up time and then freeing it for a better purpose. It could also be very simply phrased this way: Don't waste your time! Waste my time how? In walking improperly before those who are outside the church! That's interesting in the context of this phone call.

What constitutes a waste of time? Well, many would have decided that entire phone call was a waste of time. My consolation, though, is the following:

That man knew who he was calling. He was calling the Sweetwater church of Christ. He knew he was talking to the minister, Daniel. He knows that Daniel didn't quite know how to respond to the concept of God "laying something" on his heart, which could possibly stir him to think about why I might have been confused. He now knows for sure, though, is that Daniel, a Christian, and the minister of the Sweetwater church of Christ is… honest. That's more than he knew about the Sweetwater congregation a few minutes ago, and thus, a little more that he knows about the Lord's church!

May we always take care with our influence and be sure to "redeem the times"!

-Daniel Howell

They Weren’t Singing the Blues

After watching a film called Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison, a man by the name of Johnny Cash became interested in Folsom Prison and prison life. You see, Folsom State Prison, in California, was the kind of place that people didn't come back to because if its conditions.  In fact, it is said that no other prison during the 1960's could boast the record that Folsom had. Of the inmates incarcerated there, most all of them were working toward learning some kind of trade. The cost of housing them barely registered on the state's budget. When men were freed from Folsom, most of them never returned to prison.

With that in mind, and a song written and performed by Gordon Jenkins called "Crescent City Blues" serving as inspiration, Cash put pen to paper and wrote the infamous song called "Folsom Prison Blues". It was released as his second single by Sun Records in 1955. In it he describes a man who had been warned from his youth not to "play with guns", but had "shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die". Now, every time he hears the train roll by the prison walls, he just hangs his head and cries.

In an even more interesting turn of events, Cash had the opportunity to perform the song live in 1968 - to prisoners in Folsom prison. On the famous live album from Folsom, the crowd of prisoners is heard to yell and cheer when Cash sings that terrible line about the man in Reno. The truth? The yelling and cheering were added to the track in post production! While it is supposed that the listeners to this concert felt these words hit home, the truth is far from that notion of drama.

On the other hand, we do read about a couple other men in the Bible singing in prison. In Acts 16:25, Luke records these simple words: 

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:25 NKJV)

We are not told exactly what Paul and Silas were singing. The original language suggests that they were actually singing their prayers to God (Jackson)! But something else major to note in this verse is that the prisoners were listening. Whatever it was that Paul and Silas were saying was being paid attention by those prisoners. 

 
 

In the next verse we read that there was a great earthquake (vs. 26). In this obviously divinely enacted earthquake, the roof and the walls didn't fall down, but the prisoner's chains were loosed, and all the doors in the prison were opened. As the jailer awoke, you probably remember that he supposed that since the doors were open, all had escaped (vs. 27). He was just about to take his own life (a noble thing to do in Roman eyes, since he would ultimately be held responsible for their escape) when Paul called out to him.

 

But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." (Acts 16:28 NKJV)

Now, why do you suppose that these men stayed behind? Why did all of the other prisoners not escape? They had ample opportunity! The reaction of the jailer suggests that events had transpired to the effect that he thought they should have been gone. Instead, Paul makes it quite clear that they were all still there.

 
 

We are not told exactly why in the text, but I wonder if maybe it wasn't the singing. Maybe the things that Paul and Silas sang had been so impressed on the minds of the listeners that they decided to stay! This is perfectly in line with what we are told the purpose of singing is to be:

 
 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16 NKJV)

 
 

Now again, we are not told exactly what Paul and Silas had to say, or why the prisoners stayed. But if this were true it only goes to underline the importance of singing. Could it be that they had persuaded these criminals through the things they sang? I also can't help but notice the obvious lack of mechanical instrumentation in this account. They didn't need it to make their singing "better" or to have more impact! Their praise and prayers to God were sufficient in the circumstances to make an impression. 

Even though Johnny Cash had the help of Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers, and a full band behind him, he couldn't make the same impact on Folsom's inmates that two honest and humble hearts singing praises to God had on those prisoners in Philippi. Had the guards been asleep and an earthquake caused the doors to Folsom prison to open, how many do you think would have stayed due to Johnny Cash's performance? I can't help but wonder if those prisoners stayed in that Philippian jail because Paul and Silas weren't singing the blues!

The Importance of the Written Word

 

I begin writing this because of a conversation I had last night. It was a short conversation. Actually, it wasn't really a conversation at all; it was more of a suggestion from one of my elders. Well, it was also a rather strong suggestion. Maybe it was an imperative statement. I don't know. It really has me thinking, though.

He had read the last post before this one and seemed as though he really liked it. He said, "You know, you ought a write a book."

For a little while now I've been contemplating writing a book, specifically about how media can be used to help the work of the church. I always hated writing when I was in school. I figured out recently, though, that I didn't like it then because I didn't like what I was being forced to write about. Things change when you are an adult. Writing suddenly becomes interesting for some reason. I think it's mainly because I get to share the thoughts in my head in a more organized way so that people can read, re-read, and understand what I really have to say. So often when I preach, teach class, or converse with people I'm afraid they leave with the wrong impression in their minds. I often don't know whether it is my failure to communicate properly, or whether it is their failure to listen properly that is the culprit. I plead the case that more often than not, it's the latter! I leave open the possibility of the former.

At any rate, the spoken word has a severe shortcoming in that things have a tendency to only be said once. There's no chance for review. If the discussion happens to be more along the lines of an argument and the listener misunderstands the speaker it can lead to the "that's not what you said" cycle of arguing. The spoken word just sometimes creates issues with people.

Now that's not to say that the spoken word does not have its place. At the end of John's second and third epistles, he writes very similar statements. In both cases (2 Jn. 12 and 3 Jn. 13-14) he writes that there were many things that he wanted to write to them, but that he didn't want to write to them with pen and ink. He wanted to speak to them face to face. Notice, though, that in both cases the recipients of the letters are not necessarily the general population. In 2 John, it is the "elect lady and her children" and in 3 John it is "the beloved Gaius". John wanted to see these people he loved in person. Words written in a letter would not be enough to satisfy his desire to communicate with them. This deals directly with John's desire to see these people. Still, the written word aspect of these letters was very important.

God shows how important the written word is to Him in Genesis 32. When Moses comes down off Mount Sinai for the first time with the tablets of stone containing the written law in his hands, look how they are described:

And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. (Exodus 32:15-16 NKJV)

 

Have you ever really stopped to think about that? It was God's writing on the tablets. Oh, to have only had a peek at His handwriting! We read in this same chapter, verse 19, that Moses became angry because of the sin of the children of Israel. In his anger he cast the stone tablets down the side of the mountain, their end being destruction at the mountain's base. If the importance of the writing of God's law wasn't expressed sufficiently to you in his own personal writing of it, it should be in his re-writing of it!

 

And the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. (Exodus 34:1 NKJV)

 

If God is concerned with the written version of his Word, shouldn't we be? We don't need direct revelation today. We don't need the Holy Spirit acting on the hearts of people directly in order to convict them of their sin, as the tenants of Calvinism hold. God expressed how important the written word is to Him, and how it has been important to Him from the beginning!

Such is the thrust of passages like Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, and Ephesians 4:11-16. The completion of the written form of God's Word signaled the end of the miraculous revelation in the first century. Why? Because it was important to God that we have a form of His laws which we could study, pore over, and commit directly to our own minds. It gives us something that we can always reference when we have a question, which never has the slightest shadow of turning. The "source code" for our religion and way of life is not subject to the way a man feels on a particular day:

"knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21 NKJV)

 

These men wrote the same things that they spoke (Ephesians 3:1-5)! It was the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 4:8)! The written Word is important to God!

 

Let me abruptly change the topic. If you have to desire to keep reading, over the next few weeks I intend to tell you a little more about my childhood. What was it like growing up as the son of a preacher? What kind of experiences did I have? What did I learn? I must admit that it is a rather unique way to grow up in some aspects, but in other ways it was very normal. If the previous sentences don't keep you interested, than let me just say that I have plenty of stories like the one about the barbed wire!

I have hatched a plan in which I will try to write two or three posts each week. Once I have enough of them put together, if my readership is up enough for this than I may actually turn it into a book. Otherwise, I won't waste my time. So, share this with people you know! If you like it, get it out there!

My Introduction to Barbed Wire Fencing

When I was in the first grade, I remember vividly the first few practices that I had for my first season of tee ball. It was so much fun for me, because it was the first time I was actually playing in organized sports with other kids. I learned a LOT of lessons during that time, and especially in the years of baseball to follow. Oddly enough, though, one event stands out in my mind from a practice that is completely unrelated to baseball itself.

It was the end of practice. We were practicing at that time in what I believe was a tee-ball field that was being built from a former cow pasture. Someone had thrown or hit a ball quite a ways away from where the main practice area was. Since we were putting all of the gear away, someone had to go get that ball. I remember being told to run and get it, so I took off. I remember thinking to myself, "Man, I'm running so fast right now!" In an instant I was laying on my back, my head was hurting a little, and I was very confused. As I lay on the ground, staring upward, it was then I saw it – the barbed wire fence that I had ran into with my head. I got up, brushed myself off, and grabbed the ball and ran back to where everyone else was, this time watching out for the fence.

When I got back to my dad, he affirmed my worst fears: I had a cut above my eye and it was bleeding! Anyone who remembers what it was like to be six years old knows that no matter the severity of the wound, if it is bleeding, it warrants crying. But this time my dad said something that was different. "Son, why don't you see if you can keep from crying, and be like a man."

I know that some people would put the brakes on right here and try to accuse my father of some cruelty. "You are suppressing that boy's feelings!" But even at the age of six I knew what he meant. It wasn't about a "men don't cry" attitude (see John 11:35): he wanted me to act more like a grownup. It's how I plan to raise my son(s), should I be blessed with them.

I managed to control my childish emotions for the entire ride home. I was so proud when I walked into the house, a trickle of blood on my forehead, exclaiming to my mom, "I ran into a barbed wire fence, and I didn't cry!" I felt one step closer to growing up, and at least an inch or two taller. After all, the cut above my eye wasn't really as bad as I could have made it out to be.

I'm reminded of Paul's description of the infant like state of the early church and the completion of the knowledge to come. He writes the following:

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Corinthians 13:11 NKJV)

 

Just as when the early church grew in knowledge of God's Word to the point at which the miraculous was no longer needed and was taken away in the knowledge of maturity, so must our lives be. This statement made by Paul is a truth. As children, we speak, understand, and think like children. Upon reaching adulthood, though, we put away that manner of speaking, lack of understanding, and train our minds to think, and therefore act like adults. Acting more like mature Christians is part of the "growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…" that Peter writes about at the end of his second epistle (3:18).

Sometimes in life we may feel like we are running faster than we ever have. We feel exhilarated, because life couldn't be any better. It's at those times that we may be beset by a snag in life (or a barbed wire fence). As mature Christians, we put away the urge to blame God. We put away the urge to crawl up into a little ball and cry. We put away the urge to lash out at our brothers and sisters, or worse, shut them out of our lives. Instead, we "gird up the loins" of our minds (cf. 1 Pet. 1:13) and get ourselves ready to keep running!

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it." (1 Cor. 9:24, NKJV)

 

The Man at the Grocery Store

Let me begin by making it clear that I was a rather unusual kid growing up. While many of my friends in high school, and especially college, lived by the mantra "I have to make my own mistakes," I was more content to learn from the mistakes of others. If I can see the effects of something on someone are not desirable, why should I foolishly desire to do it?

That's not to say that I don't make mistakes, or that I don't learn from them. I've definitely made and learned from my share. Those are valuable lessons to me. Enter the man at the grocery store.

About 8:30 this morning I ventured out to try to find something to eat for breakfast at our local grocery store. I really like McDonalds' Sausage McMuffin. It consists of an English muffin (McMuffin), sausage, and a slice of cheese. I was sure that I could make one in the church kitchen for less than the dollar it costs at McDonalds, but to my surprise the best I could do was about $1.30 per sandwich. I picked up some bananas and headed for the self checkout kiosks. It was there I saw him.

He was pretty aged, whether chronologically or just by appearance I'm not sure. He was moving very slowly, and seemed as though most of the movements that he made were somewhat painful. He was struggling to feed his cash into the bill acceptor. He seemed very drowsy and hunched over like the whole of life's burdens rested on his shoulders at that very moment. I happened to glance down at what he was purchasing. It was a 24 pack of Milwaukee's Best.

Now at this point I want to make sure that you understand that I am not trying to be judgmental of this man's life. I don't know exactly what he might be experiencing right now, nor do I know what might have driven him to have the stature and presence that he had. Rather, I want to think about what is presented by this man's situation right now.

I don't drink, nor have I ever, but I can put enough clues together to see that this is a man who is likely dependent upon alcohol to keep going. How would I deduce that? Who else buys a 24 pack of beer at 8:30 on a Wednesday morning? It's not probably that he is only having "an occasional beer".

As a young man, I'm reminded of some advice that a wise man once gave his son. He tries to get his son's attention in Proverbs 23:22 by saying, "Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old." He then asks a series of questions:

"Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?" (Proverbs 23:29 NKJV)

 

The Answer comes in the next verse:

 

"Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine."

 

I wonder how many people who go in search of "mixed wine" ever think about being like the man in the grocery store. The wise man provides an even more detailed description:

 

"At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper… Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: "They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?" (Proverbs 23:32-35)

 

Hang on that last line for a moment. "When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?" I saw this man at 8:30 in the morning on a Wednesday! I know that these words were written to reference the "morning after", but there are obviously these same effects at the end of a long time of consumption.

 

I really feel for people like this. I'm not angry at him. I would welcome him through the doors of our building should he ever come. I would want to gently work with him, and try to find out where the hole is that he is trying to fill with booze, and try to fill it with God. I just know this: I can see enough at the end to know that I don't want to tempt the means by which he likely made it to that point. I really don't want to end up in the position of the man in the grocery store.

Can You Count The Stars?

I've had the privilege to take many different interesting classes over the course of my few years on this earth. One class that stands out in my mind the most, though, is one that I took my junior year of college. I'd always LOVED astronomy, so I decided to combine my photographic pursuits with this love and take an Astrophotography course.

I don't know why I never thought of this while I was taking the class itself, but looking at this image that I took a few nights ago reminds me of a passage we read in Genesis 15:5 where God takes Abram outside and speaks these words:

"Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

I wonder what Abram was thinking when he looked up. Because of "light pollution" most of us can't see anything like the picture above. But have you, on a clear night, ever tried to count the stars? Even the stars we can see boggle our mathematical senses, much less the stars that may be just beyond the cusp of what our eyes are capable of. Technology allows us to see even further into space, and only continues to boggle the mind. Examine this from the European Space Agency's Website:

"For the Universe, the galaxies are our small representative volumes, and there are something like 10¹¹ to 10¹² stars in our galaxy, and there are perhaps something like 10¹¹ or 10¹² galaxies.

With this simple calculation you get something like 10²² to 10²⁴ stars in the Universe. This is only a rough number, as obviously not all galaxies are the same, just like on a beach the depth of sand will not be the same in different places.

No one would try to count stars individually, instead we measure integrated quantitites like the number and luminosity of galaxies."

How much deeper does that promise become the more we know! We find the answer to what Abraham was thinking when he looked up at the sky in reading the next verse:

"And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." – Genesis 15:6, NKJV

What must it take for us to realize how powerful and mighty the God of Heaven is? Here was a man who thought that he was in a situation where he would have no heir through his wife and God makes him a promise which leads to more heirs than he could ever imagine. Oh how great our God is! We see the fulfillment of this promise stated by the Hebrew writer in Hebrews 11:12, in the midst of the "Hall of Fame of the Faithful":

"Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore."

Of course the product of that promise is of benefit to us today. May we never discount the depth and the meaning of God's Word and his promises to us!

"And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:29, NKJV

 

Sources

European Space Agency - http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM75BS1VED_index_0.html

A YouTube Conversation

To understand what video is being referenced, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-57MMAOozfA and view the video titled "What Must I Do".

It's truly amazing what technology allows us to do. Even though I have grown up accustomed to the wonders of the World Wide Web, I still am amazed when I am able to make contact with people of whom I have no idea where they are.

One of the many wonders that continues to improve as part of the internet is the way in which we can post videos to sites such as YouTube, and be visible to people who may never have seen or heard about us otherwise. What a powerful tool for the Lord's church! So, last year, I posted a couple videos which detail what you can expect when you visit the Sweetwater church of Christ, as well as one titled "What Must I Do To Be Saved?".

As of now, the "What Must I Do" video has had over 330 views. Not only have people viewed it, but they have commented on it as well. One particular person caught my attention a few months ago by asking the following question in response to the video:

"So what about the people that are being killed for their faith in the middle east where there is no water? Are they going to hell?"

Now I must admit that at first I was a little unsure about what to do with it. Actually, I was unsure what to do with this comment for about four months. I understand that sometimes people just want to argue, and I understand from the scriptures that I should avoid foolish and ignorant disputes (cf. 2 Tim. 2:23).

Now to start off, this is foolish because of the nature of the question asked. I thought to myself, "Does this guy not realize that Jesus and his apostles lived and taught in what could arguably be considered the "Middle East"?" What a question. I also didn't know what to do about posting this comment for the rest of the world to see. I didn't want to confuse people.

I finally became brave, though, and decided to not only answer the comment, but to publish it. My response is as follows (Keep in mind that I am limited to 500 characters – that's rough on a preacher!):

Read Acts 8:26-39. We read (vs. 26) that Philip was sent to the Eunuch, and the end of the verse plainly states "This is desert". Still, somehow in the desert, they found water. Verse 36-37 reads, "Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." - People must have water to live physically (located near it), so it follows spiritually. [if I could add, would add the following to the end:"It isn't a stretch to think that we could have water involved in our spiritual life as well." D.H.]

Now I didn't expect a response. I thought that the guy had made his point and would move on. But I was shocked that within 15 minutes (after this guy had posted four months ago) I had a reply. He simply quoted 1 Peter 3:21, where Peter writes the following:

"There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Now I don't know whether this man is coming to some increased understanding, or whether he is simply trying to argue a perversion of that passage as well. I don't know where any conversation with this man might go, but it's still amazing to me to know that we can at least garner a response from people who we might not have had the opportunity to otherwise. And this man is not the only one. There have been others as well.

As I said when I began this article, I'm continually amazed at technology. Who knows what good can be done for the Lord's church via proper use of the tools we have been given!

Bearing Burdens in the Vineyard

Have you ever looked at things this way?

We sometimes sing a song in our books, #297 in Praise for the Lord. The song is "I Want to Be a Worker". The first verse and chorus compare working for the Lord to the kind of work that someone does in a vineyard. Essentially, a vineyard is compared to the kingdom. "I will work, I will pray, in the vineyard (kingdom) of the Lord."

It's interesting, because in Matthew 20, Jesus does exactly the same thing:

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard." (Matthew 20:1-2)

 

As I was studying to prepare a lesson based on Galatians 6:2, which reads "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ", a study of the words bear and burdens in the original language brings someone ultimately to Matthew 20:12. It is yet another verse where both of these words (bastazo and baros, respectively) are found.

Now for a brief word study:

• Bastazo – seen some 27 other times in the New Testament, refers to carrying something (bearers of a coffin, Luke 7:14; cross, Jn. 19:17 etc) (Jackson).
  


• Baros – carries with it the idea of weight (cf. Robertson), thus it is not just a load, but something that is pressing down.
  


• The ultimate idea is that someone is carrying a load that is so heavy, that it is pressing them down into the ground!
  

Now let's put that back into the context of the vineyard. Matthew 20:12 reads:

saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'

 

Now aside from the fact that these men were expressing their discontent at having someone who has only worked one hour receiving the same wages as themselves, notice that they had "borne the burden" all day. They had been carrying things throughout the course of their work. Now we are not told exactly what the work was, but considering that there were many people hired, and that they were carrying things, it sounds a lot like a harvest.

 

Now let's paint a complete mental picture, and you'll see where I am going with this:

 

We, as Christians, are called to bear a certain load that is appointed to us (cf. Gal. 6:5, phortion=load). BUT, sometimes as we are "working in the vineyard of the Lord" we may find ourselves in a situation where, if you will, our load becomes more than we can bear. We are carrying the harvest in, but our basket becomes so full that it is pressing us down, into the ground. We can't carry it on our own. Some may decide to give up at that point. In those times, though, we have the comfort of being able to count on our brethren coming to help us bear that burden to the end of the row. Now, once they have helped us bear our burden out to the end, we must go back to the work that is appointed to us. We can always be ready, though, to help them should their burden become too heavy to bear. What a picture of comfort and endurance! By helping to bear one another's spiritual burdens, we are fulfilling the law of Christ (cf. Jn. 13:34-35)!

 

Sources:

 

"Stronger Than Ever" – Jared Jackson, pp 50

"Word Pictures" - Robertson