Share 0 Dr. Russell Moore’s most popular and profound article this year came on the heels of a synagogue shooting. Here are his profound observations: “On the Jewish Sabbath this week, a white nationalist terrorist murdered eleven worshippers within Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, in what is being called the deadliest attack on Jewish people in American history. Sadly, in a time when it seems that every week brings more bloodshed and terror in this country, we should not let the news cycle move on without a sober reflection of what this attack means for us as Christians. Such is especially true as we look out a world surging with resurgent “blood-and-soil” ethno-nationalism, much of it anti-Semitic in nature. As Christians, we should have a clear message of rejection of every kind of bigotry and hatred, but we should especially note what anti-Semitism means for people who are followers of Jesus Christ. We should say clearly to anyone who would claim the name “Christian” the following truth: If you hate Jews, you hate Jesus. Anti-Semitism is, by definition, a repudiation of Christianity as well as of Judaism. This ought to be obvious, but world history, even church history, shows us this is not the case. Christians reject anti-Semitism because we love Jesus. I will often hear Christians say, “Remember that Jesus was Jewish.” That’s true enough, but the past tense makes it sound as though Jesus’ Jewishness were something he sloughed off at the resurrection. Jesus is alive now, enthroned in heaven. He is transfigured and glorified, yes, but he is still Jesus. This means he is still, and always will be, human. He is still, and always will be, the son of Mary. He is, and always will be, a Galilean. When Jesus appeared before Saul of Tarsus on the Road to Damascus, the resurrected Christ introduced himself as “Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 22:8). Jesus is Jewish, present tense. Indeed, much of the New Testament is about precisely that point. Jesus is a son of Abraham. He is of the tribe of Judah. He is of the House of David. Jesus’ kingship is valid because he descends from the royal line. His priesthood, though not of the tribe of Levi, is proven valid because of Melchizedek the priest’s relation to Abraham. Those of us who are joint-heirs with Christ are such only because Jesus is himself the offspring and heir of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). As Christians, we are, all of us, adopted into a Jewish family, into an Israelite story. We who were once not a people have been grafted on, in Jesus, to the branch that is Israel (Rom. 11:17-18). That’s why the New Testament can speak even to Gentile Christians as though the story of their own forefathers were that of the Old Testament Scriptures. We have been brought into an Israelite story, a story that started not in first-century Bethlehem but, millennia before, in the promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations. Whatever our ethnic background, if we are in Christ, we are joined to him. That means the Jewish people are, in a very real sense, our people too. An attack on the Jewish people is an attack on all of us. The reason this is critically important to reassert is because the blood-and-soil movements often want to claim the word “Christian.” The way they define this, you will notice is in opposition to some other group. They are “Christian” instead of Jewish, or “Christian” instead of Muslim or some other religious identity. What they usually mean is “European white identity” defined in terms of “Christendom.” This murderer had posted social media rants not only against Jewish people, but also against Jewish people’s efforts to help refugees and migrants fleeing Latin American persecution. Such types have long been with us. Notice the way the “German Christian” movement wanted to maintain “the church” and “the Bible,” just whitewashing them of their Jewishness. A Bible with its Jewishness wrung out of it is no Bible. And a Christ with his Jewishness obscured is no Christ at all. We cannot even say his name, “Jesus,” or “Yahweh saves” without immediately confronted with our Lord’s Jewishness. We groan anytime an innocent human life is taken. We weep every time there is a murderous terrorist attack. We should do so this time as well. But we should also make very clear that those who carry out such repulsive attacks on the Jewish people is an attack on the image of God, an attack on Jesus as a son of Adam. But such attacks are, even more specifically, an attack on Jesus as a son of Abraham. When you lash out at a synagogue’s rabbi, you are attacking our Rabbi as well. If you hate Jews, you hate Jesus.” www.russellmoore.com .

The ancient conflict between the spirits of Elijah and Jezebel is an incredibly powerful glimpse into spiritual warfare. In this age-old battle, Elijah represents the voice of Heaven: the call to repentance and the return to God. Jezebel, on the other hand, embodies that unique principality of Satan whose purpose is to hinder and defeat the work of repentance. The goal is to silence the work and Word of God. We can learn much about the war between Jesus and the Antichrist as we study the nature of Elijah, God’s prophet and Jezebel, God’s enemy. To understand the conflict between Elijah and Jezebel, we must understand these two adversaries as they are seen in the Scriptures. Each is the spiritual counterpart of the other. Is Elijah bold? Jezebel is brazen. Is Elijah ruthless toward evil? Jezebel is vicious toward righteousness. Does Elijah speak of the ways and words of God? Jezebel is full of systems of witchcraft and words of deceit. Elijah was the spiritual leader of Israel’s school of prophets. Under him were the sons of the prophets—literally hundreds of seers and prophetic minstrels, each of whom proclaimed the Word of the Lord. In this war, however, Jezebel had viciously and systematically murdered God’s servants until only Elijah remained (I Kings 18:22). Elijah, as the last of the prophets, then challenged the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the Asherah to a demonstration of power: their gods against the power of the Lord. These 850 men were the false prophets, satanic priests of Baal worship, who ate “at Jezebel’s table” (I Kings 18:19). They were the most powerful, demonized individuals that the hosts of darkness could produce. King Ahab, Jezebel’s husband, sent a message out to all Israel, and the nation came to witness the conflict between the God of Elijah and the demons of Baal led by Jezebel. The terms of the challenge were simple: each was to place an ox upon an altar. Elijah then said, “…you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God’ (I Kings 18:24). Six hours later the cult priests still could produce no fire; twelve hours passed and Elijah began to mock them, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside…perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened” (vs 27). Then, just before evening, Elijah prayed over his sacrifice and, ‘The fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering… And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God’ (I Kings 18:38-39). Immediately after this powerful witness of the Lord, Elijah instructed the Israelites to gather the prophets of Baal and all of them were put to death. We would suppose that, at this point, Elijah would have gone into Jezreel and, with the same confidence and power that just accompanied him, destroyed Jezebel, but he did not. In fact—and this may surprise you—Elijah came under spiritual warfare. Jezebel, in a fit of rage, released a flood of satanic oppression and curses against Elijah that overwhelmed him, swamping his soul with fear and discouragement, causing him to flee. How could such a mighty prophet turn and run? The answer is not simple. In fact, the situation worsened. We next see Elijah sitting beneath a juniper tree, bewailing that he is no better than his fathers–actually praying that he might die! (I Kings 19:4) What pressure overwhelmed this great man of God that he would fall prey to such fear and discouragement? Satan’s work through Jezebel. Now listen, my beloved comrades, and understand. When you take a stand against forces of darkness like those who controlled Queen Jezebel, even though you resist such attacks, you must be aware that fear and discouragement as well as other devices of Satan will be sent against you to smother your prayer and silence your voice. The Drama Continues… The war between Elijah and Jezebel reanimates at peak seasons in the history of man. Remember what the Scriptures speak concerning John the Baptist: he was to be a, “forerunner before [the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Lk 1:17). Jesus said of John the Baptist, “…he himself is Elijah, who was to come” (Matt 11:14, 17:11-13). John even looked like Elijah. Like Elijah, John proclaimed the need for repentance wherever he saw sin. One such area was in the adulterous lives of King Herod and his wife, Herodias. When John confronted them, Herodias had him imprisoned (Mk 6:17-19). But who was this manipulating and controlling in the dark, spiritual side of Herodias? As Elijah’s spirit ministered through John, so Jezebel-like influences had surfaced into this world through Herodias! What Jezebel did to Elijah in the wilderness, Herodias now released against John: fear and discouragement blanketed the thought life of this mighty servant of God. John the Baptist, who had visibly seen the Spirit descend as a dove upon Christ, who heard the Father’s audible voice and beheld the living Son of God, was now asking if what he saw was real (Matt 11:3). The only man alive who had living contact with the Trinity, now doubted the vision. “And a strategic day came when Herod…gave a banquet” (Mk 6:21). “Strategic” is the perfect word to describe the timing of this event. For in this war between the spirits of Elijah and Jezebel, Herodias had her daughter dance before Herod, enticing from the king a promise to give whatever she asked. At her mother’s request—more truly, at a type of “Jezebel’s” request—she demanded the head of the Baptist be brought to her. Why decapitation? Through John’s mouth came the Word of God. The audible proclamation of the Word of God is the greatest threat to Satan. To cut off John’s head was to silence his mouth and cut off his authority. Thus, temporarily, the confrontation between God and Satan (Elijah’s godly influence and Jezebel’s evil influence subsided. Be encouraged. The Bible says that Elijah Is Coming! Two thousand years ago, Jesus stated that the ministry of Elijah was not over. He promised, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things…” (Matt 17:11). Malachi the prophet also wrote, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord” (Mal 4:5). The spirit or influence of Elijah, according to scripture, will return to the affairs of mankind before the great and terrible day of the Lord! His purpose will be to restore all things. Even as the Lord used the spirit of Elijah, through the Holy Spirit, to empower Elisha and then John the Baptist, so the Lord is raising up an “Elijah” company of Spirit-filled men and women sent to prepare the way for the return of Christ! Let it also be known that, if Elijah is coming before Jesus returns, so also is Satan in the form of Antichrist (just like Jezebel opposed Elijah). Indeed, do you not see her in our land in the practice of witchcraft and false religions? Do you not hear her brazen voice rejecting God’s authority? Have you not beheld her causing even God’s spiritual leaders to “commit acts of immorality”? (Rev 2:20) Seeing “Jezebel” (the work of Satan) so blatantly attacking Christians only confirms that the spirit of Elijah, the Holy Spirit, is also here to bring repentance and help prepare God’s people for the return of the Lord. In the Old Testament we see how God destroyed Jezebel. Jehu, the newly crowned king of Israel, was sent by the word of the Lord through Elijah’s successor, Elisha, to fulfill God’s judgment. As Jehu and his men furiously drove their chariots toward Jezreel, the kings of Israel and Judah came out to meet him, ” ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’ And he answered, ‘What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’ (II Kings 9:21-22) Jehu murdered the two kings-servants of Jezebel. Immediately afterward, he rode into Jezreel to confront Jezebel. The Word tells us that when she saw him, she painted her eyes and adorned her head, and looking out an upper window, she called to him, ‘Is it well, Zimri (Jehu), your master’s murderer?’ Then he lifted up his face to the window and said, ‘Who is on my side? Who?’ And two or three eunuchs looked down at him. And he said, ‘Throw her down.’ So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot”” (II Kings 9:30-33 NAS/KJ). There was something in Jehu’s courageous spirit that we must possess today in our war against Jezebel. While we must be compassionate toward those captured by Jezebel, Jehu had no mercy, no hope for reform, no compromise or sympathy whatsoever toward this Satan-controlled woman! Jehu ‘…trampled her under foot.’ While she lay bleeding and near death, he trampled her beneath the feet of his horse! While we are not called to so physical a demonstration of our resolve, spiritually, like Jehu’s heart, we must have no tolerance whatsoever to compromise our faith and our purity! There can be no peace, no relaxing under our “fig tree,” until the influence of Jezebel is slain! We must refuse to settle for a false peace based on compromise and fear, especially when the Spirit of God is calling for “War”! Side with God, and remember that to have victory over satanic oppression requires that you stand strong in the “armor of God” (Ephesian 6) and you pray for spiritual protection! When God wants to use you the most, as He did with Elijah, Satan is not far behind to discourage and depress you. Let God give you the victory! Taken from The Three Battlegrounds by Francis Frangipane, frangipane.org

Share 0 “For anyone out there who doesn’t know where you’re going, anyone groping in the dark, here’s what: Trust in GOD. Lean on your God!” (Isaiah 50:10 MSG). Following God will often require us to relinquish control and to trust Him to direct our path. This is similar to what a pilot experiences when flying through dark or foggy conditions. Inside every airplane are instruments that are critical to flying the aircraft. These instruments will give a true reading of how the aircraft is flying, even if a pilot’s mind or senses may tell him differently. On a clear, sunny day, a pilot may not need some of these instruments, but at night or in poor visibility, these instruments become vital to his survival. Many planes have crashed because the pilot became disoriented and failed to trust his instruments. Likewise, when we feel like we’re in the dark concerning God’s plan and path for our life, it’s easy to become confused and disoriented. In these types of situations, we are required to lean on God and trust Him, just like a pilot trusts his navigation instruments. Scripture clearly states, “Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track” (Proverbs 3:5 MSG). God will keep you on track—if you listen for His directives and trust Him. He will tell you what you need to know when you need to know it. God is capable of leading us in the dark, because the dark is the same as the light to Him: “Even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You” (Psalm 139:12 AMPC). We may be in the dark about what is going on in our lives, but God isn’t. Can you trust God while you’re in the dark and have no understanding concerning your current situation? Maybe you’ve been shaken by the unexpected and it seems like your life is falling apart. Perhaps your spouse walked out on you, your child has turned away from God, or someone else was given the promotion you had been sure belonged to you. Blinded and shocked by these unforeseen circumstances, you cry out, “God, what is happening?” As humans, we crave security. We love predictability—that sense of being in control. Unfortunately, this posture produces presumption and unrealistic expectations. When life takes an unforeseen turn, we can be left bewildered and scratching our heads. When you’re facing something extremely difficult, it’s easy to become weary and discouraged. Fear will consume and cripple us if we allow ourselves to believe there is no way out. God will always make a way, even if it looks different than what we planned. As the landscape of our lives shifts and changes, He remains the same—yesterday, today, and forever. You may not always have answers or understand why certain things happen, but you can trust that God is good and that nothing takes Him by surprise. He will work all things out for good and can use whatever happens to you for your benefit—if you allow Him to by trusting Him. Joseph found himself in unexpected places throughout his life, but God used each of those times in his life to prepare him for what was planned for him. Regardless of how much he was left in the dark, Joseph trusted God and God didn’t disappoint. Suddenly, he was promoted to second in charge of Egypt. If we can remain stable and continue trusting God, even through the darkest valley, then we exhibit the character that God can trust with great responsibility and great blessing. The psalmist encouraged, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5 NLT). A new day will dawn! www.messengerinternational.org . Used by permission.

You can’t really appreciate the mercy of God if you don’t understand the wrath of God. And if you don’t have a handle on the justice of God, then you aren’t going to appreciate the grace of God. In a nutshell, if you don’t understand one, you can’t appreciate the other. When it comes to love and jealousy, I think many of us don’t appreciate the jealousy of God because we don’t understand the love of God. It is very clear in Scripture, God is on Mt. Sinai and He reveals his name and He said, ‘I the Lord your God am a jealous God,’ and then it is repeated in Exodus 34 where it says, ‘Do not worship any other gods for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.’ God is jealous. What exactly does that mean? Jealousy typically has a negative connotation. So let me make a distinction. God is certainly not jealous of anything. He is God. He can’t be. But God is jealous for and there is a difference between jealous of and jealous for. God is jealous for everything He created because it is his, because it belongs to HimGod is jealous for you. He is jealous for your love. He is jealous for your time. He is jealous for your devotion. He is jealous for your heart. Why is God jealous for you? Because He infinitely loves you. His jealousy is an expression of His love. I think I understand this as a husband and a father. I’m jealous for my wife. And that’s the way it should be. And I am jealous for Parker, Summer and Josiah, my children. I am jealous for them, in a protective sense, in a loving sense. And they are jealous for me and that’s the way it should be. Jealousy in a holy context can be a wonderful expression of love and I dare say that a lot of the problems we have in our culture are because we don’t understand jealous love. Let me put it this way, I want my kids to grow up to love God and then secondly, it would pretty awesome too if they loved me. Now if you said to me, ‘Mark, I’ve got some great news for you, two of your three kids are going to love you,’ that is not great news. I won’t accept that. I want all three of my kids to love me. Two out of three doesn’t get it done for me because I am jealous for them. We talk about God’s unconditional love and that God loves everyone and I think somehow we feel like we get lost in the “everyone,” in the billions of people that are on this planet. How can I be that significant if there are billions of people? You are not arguing with me, you understand that because I love each of my kids uniquely and it is not good enough if they don’t love me. Here’s what I think we don’t comprehend, and maybe it takes a little bit of thought, but listen, to an infinite God, seven billion is a lot less than three is to a finite dad. Does that make sense? If we could just understand that God is jealous for you, your name, your life, your heart, and nothing else will substitute. So what is it that provokes His jealousy? It is anything that diverts our attention or our affection to someone or something else. Anything that displaces God is an idol, and it is those idols that God hates. In Ezekiel 9, the glory of the Lord leaves the Temple. He will not share His glory. But that is not the end of the book. In Ezekiel 47, the glory of the Lord returns. That’s the good news. Until you come to a point of conviction, then you don’t come to a point of confession. Until you come to a point of confession, you are outside of relationship with God. But I have a promise for you, the Bible says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) One last thought, you can’t just confess your sin, you need to destroy the idol. I know a lot of people who have confessed their sin and then they go right back and bow down to the Canaanite goddess of fertility like the backslidden Israelites. You’ve got to destroy the idol! I don’t know what that looks like or what that means for you, but God is jealous for you and He is never going to give up on you. He can’t because He loves you! Taken from THE GOD ANTHOLOGY: JEALOUSY. Preached at National Community Church, Washington D.C. Used by permission.

We live in a culture that’s inundated with tabloids and dirty laundry. There is gossip in our work places. People talk about other people. We spread hearsay and rumors. The rumor mill turns. Sometimes it’s hard to know. Even in conversations have you wondered, “Am I gossiping right now when I’m saying this? Is it gossip? Is it not gossip?” It can be a real challenge. One thing I’ve realized is that it’s hard to nail gossip down and to determine when you are doing it. But it’s always easy to tell when you are being gossiped about. Isn’t that the truth? You wonder “Is this gossip? Am I telling gossip?” But when you hear someone else talk about you, you know when you are being gossiped about. I thought Rick Warren gave a great definition of gossip and how we know when we are gossiping. He said this, “When we are talking about a situation with somebody who is neither part of the problem or part of the solution, then we are probably gossiping.” When we are talking about a situation with someone who is neither part of the problem or the solution; I found that very helpful. Let’s say you are at work and you have employees that you work with, maybe you have a work situation and you have a conversation with your employee about another employee, maybe someone under you. How are you going to deal with a situation? Is that gossip? Not if it’s part of the problem or solution. You are trying to actually get to an end solution that is actually good for everybody. I think intent is really important when we talk about gossip as well. Do you say these things to harm them or to really help them? You can have some hard conversations with people, let’s say in a work environment, but the end goal of it is to actually help that individual take steps and improve and be able to thrive in their work environment. What is our motivation in the things that we share? When you think about words, statistics say we speak about one-fifth of our entire lives. The average person has over thirty conversations a day. That would fill up in a year sixty-six books at eight hundred pages a book – each year. Crazy, huh? There are lots of opportunities to make mistakes. James says this, he talks about the tongue more than any other writer in the New Testament, he says this in chapter three, verse three: “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Take ships for example. Although they are so large and driven by strong winds they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts.” The tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts. Now when you go to the doctor and you’re sick and not feeling good, what’s one of the first things the doctor says to you? “Stick out your tongue.” Because your tongue reveals something about what’s going on inside of you. James says in our own lives our tongue is so significant because it steers our lives and it talks about deep internal things that are happening. The first thing he says is the tongue directs your life. If you want to know where you are going to go in the next five to ten years, look at what you say. If you want to know the direction your life is moving, look at your conversations. Look at the words that are coming out of your mouth. We shape our words, listen to this, but our words shape us. We shape our words and then our words shape us. He gives us a couple of examples on how the tongue directs your life. First of all, he says it’s like your horse. It’s a huge, beautiful, muscular animal. But you put a bit in a horse’s mouth, this little piece of metal right over the tongue, and then you add a ninety pound jockey on the back of that three thousand pound horse and that jockey can steer that horse wherever he needs it to go. James says that’s what the tongue is like. You have this little bitty muscle that has a huge impact on our lives. It can make you or break you. It can open doors for you into the future. It can close doors for you. It can help other people. It can hurt other people. It’s wide open. It will determine the direction of your life. James gives another example. Think about a ship, like the Queen Mary in Southern California. It’s this massive ship. It has three acres of recreational space on it. It’s huge! In fact, the anchor of the Queen Mary is the equivalent in weight to ten cars put together. It’s a massive ocean liner. Yet it’s steered by a relatively speaking small rudder that directs that ship into the wind and waves of the sea. It takes it here and there. James says the same is true for our tongue. It literally directs your life. The next thing he says is the tongue pierces others. The tongue has tremendous force for either good or harm. It can pierce others. He says it this way in chapter three, verse five: “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire. A world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person. It sets the whole course of his life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell.” Verse seven: “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.” There is James giving us the uncensored, straight up, no holds barred truth about the tongue. Don’t you affirm that statement? Even when you hear it as harsh as it is, doesn’t it just ring true? The tongue can be a restless evil. It can be a deadly poison. It can destroy lives. It’s like a fire. Think about a beautiful area in Colorado like the Rocky Mountains. It’s beautiful with the trees and greenery. All of it can be up in smoke due to a spark. The Hayman Fire was the largest fire in Colorado history. It literally cost 150 million dollars. One hundred homes were destroyed in the midst of this fire that burned through 137,000 acres. James says the same is true for our tongue. You can make a statement or a comment and then things begin to get out of control. One of the big problems with gossip isn’t just that gossip hurts other people. It’s that in the statement of gossip we often get the story wrong. Then James gives another illustration. He says, “Think about the animals at the zoo. Man has been able to tame animals, reptiles, birds, and all these different things but no man has been able to tame the tongue.” He says, “It’s a restless evil.” Which is a term, restless, that he used back in chapter one, verse eight when he talked about a double minded man, unstable in all of his ways. In other words, it’s liable to break out at any moment. It’s a restless evil. You never know what the tongue is going to do. Then he says it’s like a poison, a deadly poison. The Greek word there is literally snake venom. Let’s just say the word gossip on three. One, two, three. Gossssssssssssip. It’s like snake venom. It’s deadly and poisonous. It even sounds snaky. It can hurt and damage people. The tongue can pierce others. Then James says, “The tongue reveals our hearts.” The words that we say point to something deeper that’s going on in our lives. He says it this way in James 3:9, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father and with it we curse men who have been made in God’s likeness.” Oh, that’s convicting, isn’t it? We walk into our home and sit around the table. To curse somebody doesn’t mean you say a curse word. It’s a lot deeper than that. You could curse someone by saying, “You’re good for nothing.” What are you doing? You are putting a curse on their life. “You’re a horrible person.” “You’re worthless.” When we say those things we are cursing the very people that are made in God’s likeness. James is saying this shouldn’t be. “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing, my brothers this should not be.” James says to watch our tongue because people are made in the likeness of God. They are valuable. I love the story that Ken Blanchart tells, a business executive that does business training all over America. Ken Blanchart and Barbara Glands did some training with three thousand front-line workers at grocery stores and retail outlets across the country. They talked about the power of words and how what you say really does make a difference in people’s lives. A month later, Barbara said she got a call from a guy named Johnny, who was at the training. Johnny told her early on, “I’m nineteen years old. I have Downs Syndrome. I work as a bagger at a grocery store.” He said this almost immediately. He said, “I went back to the store and I didn’t know how to apply your statements. I liked your talk but I didn’t know what to do with it. I went home and talked with my dad and got an idea. My dad and I sat down at the computer and everyday we come up with a statement that is affirming of people, that’s encouraging. If I can’t find one in a little quote book, I’ll make it up. We’ll type it up six different times on the computer. I print off fifty sheets and cut all of them.” So he has three hundred of these quotes. Then, every night, Johnny signs each one of them personally. Then the next day at the grocery store he puts this stack right by where he bags the groceries. He gets everyone’s groceries bagged up. Then on the last sack he puts the quote of the day, the encouraging word, in the sack. He makes sure he looks them in the eye and says, “I put something very special for you in this sack. I hope it will brighten your day.” He’ll take them out to their car and help them load up. Johnny does this every single day. Barbara said after about a month she got a phone call from the manager of that grocery store. He said, “Barbara I can’t believe it. Something really amazing is beginning to happen. I was walking around the store and I noticed while we had lots of checkers at the checkout line, there was no one there but maybe one or two people. The line where Johnny was doing bagging went all the way back to the frozen food section.” True story! He said, “I would tell them over the intercom that there were other lines you could move over to. We would walk down the line and tell people there were other lines open. People would just look at us and say, ‘No, we’ll wait because we want Johnny’s encouraging word for the day.’ One woman came by and grabbed the supervisor. She said, ‘I used to only come to the grocery store once a week or once every other week. Now I come by almost every day. I buy something just so I can get Johnny’s encouraging word for the day.’” About a month later, the store manager called Barbara and said, “It’s changing our entire culture of our store. Even in the floral department when a flower was broken they used to just throw it away. Now they walk out into the lines, on their own initiative, they pin it onto elderly women or young girls. They brighten their day.” Listen, there are a lot of people in the org chart at that grocery store but I’m telling you the most important person is Johnny, the bagger. He’s speaking words of life and words of life can change a culture. It can change a group of people. Friends, if it can happen at a grocery store it can happen in a church. This is a place where we speak words of life to one another. We are a community that says, “We’re not going to gossip. We’re not going to share hearsay. We’re not going to engage in this deadly poison that can destroy lives, family, and people. We’re not going to spread those stories. We’re not going to hear them or pass them on. We’re going to put a stop to them. We’re going to share words of life.” www.centralchristian.org .

How do you know if you are proud? Paul has the litmus test. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 “Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” This passage convicted me about how often I will speak without loving the person that is right in front of me. I have prayed that God would help me to look someone in the eyes when I’m talking to them and really care. I have seven questions I ask myself before I speak because it’s so easy for me to be distracted and to be nervous about speaking. One of the questions is, “Am I worried about what people will think of my message, or what God thinks?” Another is, “Do I genuinely love these people?” This passage is addressing people that technically have the right theology but were still wrong before God because of their lack of love. Paul talks about food that is offered to idols. A lot of Corinthians had come out of a pagan background where they worshiped idols. Some of the more mature Christians understood that idols were nothing and that it was okay to eat meat that had been sacrificed to them. Some weaker Christians, however, had problems with it. The mature Christians were pressuring the weaker Christians to eat the meat, and Paul responds to the mature Christians by saying, “You weren’t thinking about your brother. He didn’t feel right in his conscience about eating the meat, and yet you pushed him to eat.” Paul asked, “Why would you do that? If I knew that I could hurt my brother by eating meat, I would never eat meat again.” I admire Paul so much for the way he feels toward people. In Romans 9:3 he writes, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Do you feel that way about the people in your life? Paul’s life showed that he really meant what he said. You may study the Scriptures. My challenge to you is, How hard do you think about people? About the lost? When was the last time you wept for the lost? It’s so easy to seclude ourselves from the world of lost people. We step out of it for a season to think hard about the Scriptures and keep going on in school to learn more, and we eventually get to the point where we realize that we don’t love the lost like we should. The point isn’t that we shouldn’t pursue learning, but we ought to be able to do both, to love people and know the Bible better. John MacArthur wrote years ago, “Knowledge is essential, but it’s not sufficient.” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:2: “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” Some of you could be brilliant and worthless. You could be like a great basketball player that never misses a shot but always shoots at the other team’s basket. He’s a great shooter, but he’s killing the team. Why did God gift you the way that he did? It’s for us, not for you. We should constantly be thinking, How can I build up other people? Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:2: “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.” If you really knew, you would know better and you would use your knowledge to love. There is a danger in puffing yourself up and imagining yourself to be some brilliant person. Paul then writes in 1 Corinthians 8:3: “But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. It’s not just about information. When you love God, you don’t just know a lot of facts about him. You love him. There’s a relationship and he knows you. One of my favorite verses is Galatians 4:9: “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God…” I’m amazed that Paul changes his expression like that. The Creator of the universe knows me! I actually talk to God and He answers me! Do you want to brag about something? Brag about the fact that God knows you. Don’t boast about how much you know. Boast about the fact that the God of the universe calls you by name. Some of you have been studying Christ for years. But does your life look anything like his? Can you say like Paul, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ?” Do you look like Jesus? Do you love like Jesus?

“Preach the gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.” This classic quote, misattributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, is both clever and catchy. It just isn’t biblical. Evangelism—communicating the good news of King Jesus—always requires words. Christians are called to adorn the gospel with actions (Titus 2:10), to be sure, but our actions are not the gospel. No amount of righteous living can replace the necessity of verbally proclaiming God’s saving achievement in Christ. But even though all evangelism involves sharing the same message, not all evangelism occurs in the same manner. Here are three kinds we see modeled in the New Testament.1 1. Family Evangelism God intends gospel proclamation to take place within Christian homes as parents raise their children “in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Children of believers, then, are specially set apart as front-row witnesses to and beneficiaries of gospel influence (1 Cor. 7:14). The practice of family evangelism is seen in the life of Paul’s protégé Timothy. “I am reminded of your sincere faith,” the apostle writes, “which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Tim. 1:5). Timothy’s faith in Jesus first bloomed at home, thanks to the witness of his grandma and mom. (His dad, Luke tells us, wasn’t a believer.) Paul proceeds to exhort Timothy: But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. 3:14–15) By God’s grace, Timothy could not remember a time in his life when he wasn’t acquainted with the Scriptures and their saving power. 2. Friendship Evangelism Jesus was accused of many things; one was being a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). Not a stranger, not a passerby, not an acquaintance—a friend. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), and he did so in the context of authentic relationships. Paul, too, modeled such “relational” or “friendship” evangelism: Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. (1 Thess. 2:7–8) The apostle was emphatic that his team’s ministry in Thessalonica wasn’t some hit-and-run gospel invasion. They were happy to stay, to form friendships, to invest their lives. Friendship evangelism can be a beautiful thing—so long as the friendship doesn’t crowd out the evangelism. It’s easy to build relationships with unbelievers in the name of gospel witness without ever getting around to gospel witness. Intentionality, then, is vital. As Matt Chandler has aptly quipped, “Relational evangelism? Go for it, as long as it turns into actual evangelism.” 3. Contact Evangelism The final (and least popular) type of evangelism involves initiating gospel conversations with people you’ve never met. When I was in college, my campus ministry would often gear its outreaches around this approach—always a surefire way to get eye-rolls from the friendship-evangelism-only crowd. Contact evangelism, they insisted, is cold, impersonal, even deceptive. Anything can be abused, of course, so contact evangelism can no doubt become unloving and unhelpful. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, this method is explicitly modeled in Scripture too. In John 4 Jesus strikes up a conversation with a woman beside a well. Not only is she a complete stranger, she’s someone Jesus “should” avoid since she’s a woman and a Samaritan (double no-no). Nevertheless, he goes out of his way to meet her and turns their “natural” chat about water into a “spiritual” one about himself. He doesn’t waste much time, either, moving from “Will you give me a drink?” (v. 7) to “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would’ve asked him and he would have given you living water” (v. 10) in the span of just three verses. And Jesus’s witnessing strategy here is not some New Testament anomaly. The earliest Christians also engaged in contact evangelism: Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5:42) On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. (Acts 16:13) [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. (Acts 17:17) The earliest Christians were apparently eager to initiate gospel conversations with “random” persons, with strangers—with whomever their sovereign Lord led them to encounter (Prov. 16:9; 20:24). If the danger in friendship evangelism is never getting to the evangelism, the danger in contact evangelism is not caring enough to remember the person’s name. We aren’t manipulators, and we don’t work in sales (2 Cor. 2:17). God-honoring contact evangelism, then, requires healthy doses of social awareness, common courtesy, and authentic concern. Deployed to Be Deliberate People need to hear the good news about Jesus Christ, and there is no one-size-fits-all prescription for how that has to happen. It just has to happen. Whether we’re hoping to witness to a child, to a friend, or to a complete stranger, may the Holy Spirit grant us the courage to live lives of gospel intentionality this week—humbly and prayerfully seizing opportunities to brag about our great Savior. 1 In this article I’m focusing on “personal evangelism,” not larger-scale categories like evangelistic preaching (e.g., various sermons in Acts) and a church’s corporate witness (e.g., John 13:34–35). www.thegospelcoalition.org . Used by permission of the author.

A few days ago, a friend texted me. Apparently a Christian band had been publicly ripping on him and he needed some advice. Now at the bare minimum, that’s not the best use of time for a Christian band, what with all the spreading the joy of Christ they’ve got on their plate. But the time management problem wasn’t the biggest issue. For me, the real challenge was the band’s twitter profile. You’d think, that given their penchant for not liking people, they’d at least have a twitter bio that reflected that. Alas, that wasn’t the case at all, as each line spoke to their hope to love people and share grace with them. Bigger than even that though, was that the band reminded me of me and my ability to be a hypocrite online. What they had actually said about my friend didn’t really seem that harmful. (I’ve said far worse.) But I think the whole thing stirred up something I’ve been wrestling with in my own life during the six years of this blog, online hypocrisy. That might surprise you a little bit, that the way a Christian acts online doesn’t line up with how they describe themselves online, but it shouldn’t. We now have one of the greatest opportunities to be hypocrites in the history of mankind. Think about the scale of our hypocrisy these days. Thirty years ago, your dad interacted with maybe 200 people in a given month. He knew people at work, in his family, his town and in his church. If he wanted to be a jerk to large groups of complete strangers, it was pretty difficult. I guess he could have printed up a newsletter or called a radio show but even then, that would take a lot of effort. Now though, in the time you and I occupy, it’s so much easier. We can proclaim Christ with our (digital) lips and then deny him with our (digital) lifestyle faster than any other previous generation and to more people than our parents would have ever dreamed! (Head nod to Brennan Manning and DC Talk’s What if I stumble.) If this concerns you at all, it should. The damage we Christians can do with the Internet is unbelievable. I’d love to think this blog post will radically change the world, but I am making my own images these days and they are just horrible. (A sunset has nothing to do with this post. Just ridiculous.) Not everyone who reads this will give up their hypocritical ways. So, if you want to be a hypocrite online, at least do these three things: 1. Strip your Christianity from your profiles. My friend had an Ichthus magnet on his car. Eventually, he felt bad about his driving habits, as he was prone to speeding and cutting people off. So he took the Jesus fish off his car because it was a bad witness. Could he have instead, driven better? Might that have been the better long-term solution? Definitely. But maybe you’re not ready for that. Just promise me you’ll fire Jesus from your Twitter bio and Facebook page. Get rid of the following words: “Love, Jesus, God, faith, grace, brokenness, forgiveness, etc.” 2. At least admit you don’t know the person. A Christian recently emailed me to tell me he was unfollowing me on Facebook because he no longer liked me. His short, rude message caught me off guard, which finally prompted me to respond and ask, “Have we met before? It seems like you really don’t like me and most times if someone is mad at me I’ve done something stupid to them. As a Christian, it’s on me to apologize if I did something that personally attacked you as an individual.” Just so we’re clear, it was certainly possible that I had met him and was a jerk. I am an idiot, often. (It will not be difficult for you to find some way that I have been a hypocrite.) But as it turned out, I hadn’t, which he confirmed when he responded and continued to tell me how lame I am. We hadn’t met. We hadn’t talked on the phone. We hadn’t texted. We hadn’t skyped. But the dirty thrill of the Internet is that it gives you the opportunity to be mean to people you’ve never met. Why? Well, Jimmy Kimmel summed it up nicely. “In person people are nice, because you can punch them in person. Online they’re not nice because you can’t.” If you’re going to write something mean about someone online, at least preface it with, “I have never met this person, talked with them or had any personal engagement with them despite the personal attack I am about to launch.” 3. Just be consistent. In the first year of writing Stuff Christians Like, I didn’t really understand the difference between mockery and satire. Here’s what I’ve come to 6 years later. The goal of satire is to share humor with a purpose, the goal of mockery is to cause a wound. Mockery always has a victim and sometimes not a point other than pain. Granted, mockery is a fast way to get a laugh. Read some of the old posts on this site, I was definitely writing more from a place of mockery. But what I learned was that mockery is a great shortcut to a laugh now, but it removes your ability to speak in love later. And the love later mattered more to me. (Also, God is pretty clear about his feelings about mockery in the book of Proverbs.) That’s why I try to write about issues, not individuals. When I write about issues, folks show up and have a rich discussion from a lot of different angles. When I write about individuals, sharks show up at the smell of blood in the water. Are you going to make mistakes at this? Sure. But know this, you’ve got a choice. You can attack people or you can love people. Just be consistent. I hope these tips help if you decide to go deeper into the wondrous world of hypocrisy. Or you can do the opposite and just be kind online. Hopefully, you’ve never even bumped into someone mean online. I know people like that. I’ll have conversations with friends that go like this: Me: This guy said something really horrible to me online. Friend: Just do what I do, ignore it! Me: You’ve had some haters at some point? On Twitter? Friend: No, I have about 800 followers and most of them know me personally. Me: Oh, you have a job that people publically criticize you for? Like being an author, musician, blogger, pastor, etc.? Friend: No, I’m an accountant. Me: So then, you’re kind of telling me to do what you do when responding to haters except you don’t have any and haven’t had to ignore a bully since 8th grade? Friend: Uh, yeah. The majority of people who try to Frozen me and say, “let it go” with haters never really seem to have any. If you grew up in the desert you wouldn’t tell someone who grew up by the ocean to quit thinking about sharks. The waters are full these days, I just wish less of them kept telling people they were Jesus fish. www.stuffchristianslike.net . Used by permission of the author.

“Hi, son! How was your day?” “Fine.” “What happened at school?” “Nothing.” “Anything happen you would like to talk about?” “No.” Sound like a familiar conversation when you pick your kid up? Let’s acknowledge that a conversation between a single father (or any father) and child benefits both the father and child. Let’s acknowledge the importance of verbal communication for the development of our kids from a social and emotional standpoint. If you have had experiences like the one I shared above, we need to move beyond the “why” and get to the “how.” OBSERVE: When do you like to talk to others and when do you like to be left alone? Do you want peace and quiet before breakfast? Until you get to work? Do you need some time to decompress after a long day and collect your thoughts without engaging in conversation? Well, our kids have similar preferences. Learn yours and learn theirs. Use that information to determine the best time to engage in meaningful conversation. Many kids do not want to talk about their day at school immediately after leaving, and instead would like to listen to music or shoot some hoops – not a good time to actively engage. Instead, figure out when they are most open. For many, it is often at bedtime they want to open up and share their thoughts and feelings. ASK QUESTIONS: Would you rather get a lecture or engage in a dialogue? Often, we equate talking to our kids with telling our kids what we think. Instead, observe which questions pique their interest and elicit a response more than a simple “yes” or “no.” Sometime our kids need to hear from us in the lecture format, but talking to them involves a two-way dialogue. Properly worded questions can sometimes teach more than any droning lecture because they encourage our kids to think about choices and the reasons behind them. INVITE QUESTIONS: We used to have a time before bed where I told my son he could ask me any question he wanted with the promise I would give an honest answer. When he would ask about the divorce, I honestly told him it was not appropriate for me to discuss and went right into my “broken record” explanation. When he would ask a question about an aspect of science I did not know, I told him I would do some research and get back to him. Sometimes he had no questions and sometimes I knew the answer. Encouraging our kids to ask questions seems to make them more comfortable with talking – at least it did with my son. LISTEN: In those moments you want to really talk to your kids and connect, give them your attention when they talk. Let the phone keep ringing. Do not check your text messages like Pavlov’s dog when the alert sounds. Turn off the television. Engage in eye contact and repeat what they said to you so they know you listened and understood. If our kids sense we do not pay attention to them, why would they talk? DO SOMETHING ACTIVE WHILE YOU TALK: Throwing a football, going for a walk, or swinging at the park can be great ways (especially with boys) to connect and converse. They still have your attention, but there is just something about walking and talking…. Because we regularly play the role of dad and mom, we need to redouble our efforts to connect with our kids in conversation. They need to express feelings and ask questions, but they may not if the foundations of regular communication do not exist. My son has recently shared some concerns with me on his own, with no prompting and seemingly out of the blue. I have told him how appreciative I am that he asked me and thanked him for trusting me with something that was bothering him. I do not believe he would have asked had we not developed our communication skills. Having said that, I still get “fine” and “no” when I pick him up from school. And then he turns on the radio. When do you find your kids most willing to have a good conversation?

Is everyone equal in heaven? What does the Bible teach? All people are equal in worth, but they differ in gifting and performance. God is the creator of diversity, and diversity means “inequality” of gifting (1 Corinthians 12:14-20). Because God promises to reward people differently according to their differing levels of faithfulness in this life, we should not expect equality of possessions and positions in Heaven. If everyone were equal in Heaven in all respects, it would mean we’d have no role models, no heroes, no one to look up to, no thrill of hearing wise words from someone we deeply admire. I’m not equal to Hudson Taylor, Susanna Wesley, George Mueller, or C. S. Lewis. I want to follow their examples, but I don’t need to be their equals. There’s no reason to believe we’ll all be equally tall or strong or that we’ll have the same gifts, talents, or intellectual capacities. If we all had the same gifts, they wouldn’t be special. If you can do some things better than I can, and I than you, then we’ll have something to offer each other. We live in a culture that worships equality, but we err when we reduce equality to sameness. It’s illogical to assume everyone in Heaven will be able to compose a concerto with equal skill or be able to throw a ball as far as everyone else. In a perfect world, Adam was bigger and stronger than Eve, and Eve had beauty, sensitivities, and abilities Adam didn’t. In other words, diversity—not conformity—characterizes a perfect world. Scripture is clear that we’ll have different rewards and positions in Heaven, according to our faithful service in this life. Since everyone will be happy, what could be the nature of these differences? Jonathan Edwards said, “The saints are like so many vessels of different sizes cast into a sea of happiness where every vessel is full: this is eternal life, for a man ever to have his capacity filled. But after all ’tis left to God’s sovereign pleasure, ’tis his prerogative to determine the largeness of the vessel.”[i] A pint jar and a quart jar can both be full, but the larger jar contains more. Likewise, in Heaven all of us will be full of joy, but some may have a larger capacity for joy, having been stretched through their dependence on God in this life. John Bunyan said it well: “He who is most in the bosom of God, and who so acts for him here, he is the man who will be best able to enjoy most of God in the kingdom of heaven.” Our different personalities, rewards, positions, and names in Heaven (see Revelation 2:17) speak not only of our individuality but also of how God finds unique reasons to love us. I love my wife and daughters, and I love different things about each. We’re like unique instruments, played by an orchestra to produce one beautiful sound, rich in its variety. We all have our unique part in glorifying God. We bring something singular and vital to the concert of praise. www.epm.org . Used by permission.

Anger is a God-given emotion. Which of these statements about anger is true? “I should never allow myself to become angry.” “Anger can become a sin, and that’s okay.” “The more godly I become, the less often I’ll become angry.” “Redheads have a genetic predisposition toward anger.” “When I’m angry, it’s okay to spew on just anyone.” Anger is an incredibly powerful emotion that can be used for good or evil. God could not be holy and just without having righteous indignation over sin. Everyone experiences anger though some refuse to admit it. Anger does not go away when we deny it and carefully stuff it down somewhere in our subconscious minds, it does not go away. Our anger continues to bubble and manifest itself in hundreds of subtle and not-so-subtle ways: 1. Road rage 2. Temper, 3. Depression, 4. Over-eating 5. Oversleeping, 6. Substance abuse, 7. Critical attitude toward others 8. Cynical attitudes about life The first step toward healing an anger-filled individual is to face the fury and process it. HURT PRECEDES ANGER. In Mark 3:5, the gospel writer described Jesus’ feelings as He experienced the Pharisees’ stubborn attitudes when they chose the observation of the Sabbath over the healing of the man with the withered hand: “And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” NKJV Jesus was grieved (or hurt) in His spirit, and He manifested anger toward the Pharisees. If we really want to begin to dissipate the stored-up anger in our emotional cups, we need to identify hurts, mourn them, receive comfort from an understanding friend, and forgive the offender. If this process is circumvented, then the subsequent healing will not occur. When our anger heats up and simmers into rage and bitterness, an unforgiving heart will alienate us from the Heavenly Father who wishes to bring healing and restoration. GOD EXPERIENCES ANGER! We should not fear feeling anger. . God’s anger is an integral part of His character. As early as Genesis 6:5-8, God’s wrath burned against man for his immorality and unbelief. Note that God grieved before He judged, and He provided a way of escape through the ark that Noah built: . “ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”NKJV . In Numbers 11, Moses painted the picture of whiny, ungrateful Israelites murmuring about God’s insufficient care for them. Jehovah provided manna every morning to feed them and from their perspective, His provision wasn’t enough. Their ungrateful outburst precipitated fire from heaven! (Numbers 11:1-20). . King Solomon clearly understood God’s holy wrath against sin, particularly idolatry. The Hebrew monarch uttered a powerful, insightful prayer upon the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. From his words we can deduce that he knew God hated idolatry and responded with grace when His people truly repented. Here is an excerpt from his prayer of dedication: . “When they sin against you — for there is no one who does not sin — and you become angry with them…and if they have a change of heart and repent and plead with you and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul… hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.” 2 Chronicles 6:36-40 NKJV . Solomon knew exactly what to do to avoid God’s righteous anger. He also clearly understood the consequences of his actions. Over and over in the scriptures, God expressed His hatred of idolatry. God was deeply wounded by man’s infidelity toward Him. . Perhaps Solomon’s insight into God’s will made Jehovah’s grief seem even more keen: . On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.” 1 Kings 11:7-10 ? WRATH THAT LEADS TO SALVATION God’s love becomes clearer when we understand the depth of His holiness and justice. Only a Heavenly Father who dwells in perfection could rescue us from hell and destruction. God had to punish sin. The debt of sin must be paid. Because of Jehovah’s unfathomable love and forgiveness, He allowed His Son Jesus to receive all of the wrath, the rage, and the punishment for our sins. When Jesus was on the cross, He was under the judgment of God-not for Himself-but for us. King David, Solomon’s father, did not know about the cross, but he knew that God’s love for us was faithful and patient. He described Jehovah as a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness: Men’s hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.” Psalm 78:37-39 NIV Jesus told us in the Beatitudes that the pure in heart see God; therefore, the more we see the seriousness of sin, the more we can enjoy the blessing of God’s forgiveness and love. David’s poem in Psalm 103 eloquently describes the delicate balance between love and justice, holiness and grace: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:8-14 NIV GOD’S ANGER TOWARD SIN MAKES CHRIST’S SACRIFICE EVEN MORE AMAZING!

Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” ESV Whenever I see this phrase, “rich in mercy” in scripture, it reminds me of something my dad said. My father had friends he would refer to as being “rich in cotton”. Their river bottomland lay in the delta region of the Mississippi River. On a semi-regular basis the Mississippi would flood their farm and this would leave rich deposits of organic silt on their land. After a recent flooding their fertile soil would produce three times the amount of cotton as the ordinary cotton farm down the road. After I married my husband, I learned that in Oklahoma many people are “rich in oil”. When translated this means oil has been found on their land even though just yesterday they were poor farmers. The word “rich” can refer to quantity, but it also can reference quality. God is “rich in mercy”; he does not have to hoard his assistance. You don’t have to worry when you seek his blessings that Jesus will run low of loving, flawless compassion. In Luke 8 we see a wonderful example of Jesus’ extravagant mercy. Jesus and his disciples are going to travel a lengthy distance and even encounter a deadly storm to help a miserable man suffering under demonic bondage. This is an amazing story because the man Jesus frees isn’t even Jewish, nor a Christ follower. But, he is suffering and in a wretched state. In spite of the oppressive storm, which is recorded in the verses before this story, Jesus liberally reaches out to heal this tormented man. Look at Luke 8:26-28. Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” ESV A) The richness of God’s mercy allows him to go to great distances to relieve your suffering. This region was culturally very different from Jewish Galilee. Here the people raised pigs for a meat source; no self-respecting Jew would herd pigs for a living, let alone eat them. The Jewish dietary laws forbid the eating of pork. Under the commandments they were considered an unclean animal. But Jesus can lavishly love those who are completely ignorant of God’s law. In Jesus, we see a Savior who doesn’t miserly withhold his deliverance. The story continues in Luke 8:29-33. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. ESV What evidence is found in these verses that this man was suffering? He couldn’t live in a house, but was driven to reside in isolated places like a graveyard. He wore no clothes. Fearing he would hurt himself or others, someone had tried to guard and restrain him, but he broke these shackles with super demonic strength. People were afraid of him and he himself was probably terrified. The demons afflicting him were named Legion. This title graphically describes the awful number of tormentors which were torturing this man. A Roman legion had 6,000 soldiers. Whether this is the exact count is not important as the name alone illustrates a vast number of demonic spirits were seeking his destruction. B) The richness of God’s mercy allows him to heal and restore you completely. Jesus doesn’t just ease this man’s misery . He completely delivers him and sets him in his right mind. Look at Luke 8:34-37. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had ben healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ESV What did the people fear? Maybe they feared an economic collapse in their region. Someone lost a lot of money when those pigs went into the lake. Maybe they feared change, a revival or reformation, or even Jesus’ obvious holiness. They were not happy with Jesus’ presence or the manifestation of his power, so they asked him to leave. But, the delivered man has a different attitude toward Jesus. Look at Luke 8:38-39 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. ESV Why does Jesus send the man home? I think it was God’s kindness to let his family know this man was completely healed. C) The richness of God’s mercy allows him to even bless your family when he restores you. What joy it must have given his loved ones to see this man liberated. Think of how they had worried, fretted and cried over his condition. Were they tempted to give up hope? Jesus bestowed on this family an incredible gift. He gave them peace of mind when he gave them back their beloved. It takes a special grace to watch someone you love suffer. It is not easy to trust God when one you care deeply about is wounded or isolated. You feel so helpless, and so it comforts to see Jesus’ tender mercy extended even to his family. Jesus’ arduous mission would only rescue one man. Some might be tempted to judge this a waste. But, Jesus assigned great value in the saving of this one lost lamb. If God is “rich in mercy”, you can trust that all perceived delays in help have an intentionality built into them. Jesus must have a unique purpose when it appears he is slow in responding to your prayer requests. When you struggle to believe God’s postponement is by design, you need to understand you will be more tempted to judge God’s goodness and/or his power. And, either attitude will be deadly to your spiritual growth. How foundational is it for you to trust in the richness of God’s mercy? Why? When God intentionally asks you to wait, what can you control?