A Holy Charge (5)

 

A Holy Charge (5)

 

“But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well – pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:7 – 9).

 

There are many passages where Paul writes of the nature and character of his service in Christ; they speak of the content of his Message, of his joys and sorrows, his motivations, his hopes and disappointments, and of his heart. Since these are letters he is writing, isn’t this what we would expect? Paul is giving his life for the people he writes to, he is giving them his heart. These letters are Valintine’s cards with deep love and affection, and deep content.

 

Is there a more tender picture to be found than of a “nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children”? (In verse 11 we see that he also pictures himself as a father.) Paul and his friends were not simply imparting the Gospel of God to the Thessalonians, “but also our own lives.”

 

Is this our picture of Gospel ministry today? Is this the image that servants of the Gospel seek to portray, and is it the image that congregations seek? Is it the image that elders and deacons exhibit? Sunday school teachers? Small group leaders? Is it the nature of our service to Christ and to His People, to one another?

 

Since this is the way Paul was toward the Thessalonians, it was, I think, the way he expected the servant leaders in the Thessalonian church to be toward their brothers and sisters (1 Thess. 5:12 – 13). They were to labor among the flock, and have charge over the flock, as a nursing mother with her own children, as well as “exhorting and encouraging and imploring…as a father would his own children” (2:11), giving the church not only the Gospel, but “also their own lives” (2:8).

 

Is this the way that we view leadership? This is the Way of Jesus.

 

“You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:24 – 28).

 

All moral and ethical and righteous leadership is sacrificial – whether explicitly in the Kingdom of God or in the world; Satanic so-called leadership is narcissistic, self-seeking, and self-serving – wherever it may be found.

 

Yet we have Christian organizations teaching worldly models of “leadership.” Yet we have Christians and their leaders bowing down to so-called leaders of this world and nation, aligning themselves with people and movements who exalt and glorify themselves. Are we not like ancient Israel who want a king, like the idolatrous nations, to rule over us? Are we not similar to the civic and religious leaders who shouted to Pilate, “Crucify Jesus! We have no king but Caesar!”?

 

Do our training institutions, Bible colleges and seminaries, focus on “content” to the exclusion of teaching and modeling the character and nature of Gospel ministry? What good is content without heart? Where is sustainability in the soul without love? Paul’s ministry, whether in person or through letters, is a marriage of love and content, of a nursing mother and an imploring father.

 

Pastors were once charged with the care of souls. Today they are paid to be CEOs, to produce numbers and entertainment and churn out self-help messages, to hold Sunday morning group therapy sessions, or Sunday cultural and political and nationalistic rallies. The avatars of Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, and Doc Severson appear on church platforms across our nation Sunday mornings…and we call it “worship,” we call it preaching, we call it being relevant. (Sorry…not really…for the Johnny Carson reference, I am out of the loop on current entertainment figures.)

 

Is Jesus no longer enough?

 

What Paul writes to the Thessalonians about Gospel ministry and servant leadership was counter cultural 2,000 years ago, and it is counter cultural today. It was counter cultural within Judaism then; it is counter cultural within Christianity today.

 

Yet, this is the Way of Jesus.

 

“If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).

 

What is your view of leadership?

 

Is it Biblical? Does it align with Paul?

 

With Jesus?

 

A Holy Charge (4)

 

 

“For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is witness – nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority” (1 Thess. 2:3 – 6).

 

As we read the first lines above, we may recall Paul’s words to Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Also, “Pay close attention to yourself and your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16).

 

Doctrine and dogma matter, navigation matters; this is not primarily an intellectual endeavor, it is a spiritual necessity, for our thinking molds our minds, our hearts, our souls. Error corrupts our souls, desecrating the image of God within us; rightly understanding God’s Word, the Word of Truth, draws us to Jesus and transforms us into His image.

 

A “way of deceit” can take many forms. It can take the form of overt false teaching, such as trying to convince others that the Bible is unreliable and that there is a higher way, a better way, than Jesus as our Way. It can take the form of repudiating the image of God in mankind – this occurs in myriad ways. It can take the form of religious pragmatism, in which money, wealth, numbers, popularity become our religious goals. It can take the form of legalism and seeking to bring us back under the Law, whether the Law of Moses or the law of other religious traditions.

 

It can also take the form of making us think that if we are having a good time in our gatherings, getting pumped up, feeling better about ourselves, and having perpetual group hugs that that is all we need. There are more forms of deceit than we can possibly number, playing whack-a-mole is never helpful; what is helpful, what is necessary, is having our focus on Jesus Christ and only on Jesus; this is the only way we can ensure that we are not leading others astray and that we are not being led astray.

 

Not all error, I think, is intentionally deceitful, much of it is simply that we don’t know; we don’t intend to teach or model error, but we do. This is one reason why we desperately need the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and one another. It is one reason why we need to constantly be asking God to search us and try us, it is why we need to collectively examine ourselves, our practices, our teachings. Diligence is a lifelong way of life, for our own sake and most importantly for the sake of others.

 

Paul writes that they “did not come with flattering speech.” This may remind us of what he wrote to the Corinthians, “When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:1 – 5).

 

I confess that I wonder how many times I have been more focused on the method of my preaching rather than the content of my preaching. Paul was vulnerable with the people he served, being with them in weakness, fear, and much trembling; do I know what it is to be like this? Do you? We must not attempt to be something we are not, we must remember that the word “hypocrite” carries with it the meaning of “to wear a mask.” Would we have welcomed Paul with his “weakness, fear, and much trembling”? Would we have invited others to come and hear this man? Keep in mind that rhetoric and oratory were highly valued in Paul’s time, people were trained in it, it was not only a form of learning, it was a form of entertainment. If we take Paul’s words at face value, he would not have compared well with professional orators.

 

When Paul writes of “not pleasing men,” I think of his statement in Galatians, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). We cannot be people pleasers and serve Jesus Christ; we cannot be people pleasers and teach the Gospel. We must not be people pleasers if we are to serve the flock of God.

 

Yet, do not our congregations expect their pastors, elders, and deacons to please them? Do we not have such turnover in pastors because the pastors do not please their congregations?

 

A person called to Gospel ministry must be a bondservant of Jesus Christ. He or she must be Christ’s servant, owned by Christ, belonging to Jesus Christ; the servant of Christ no longer has a life of his or her own, he belongs to Jesus and only to Jesus.

 

When Paul speaks of God who examines the hearts, I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 5:9, “We also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil.”

 

What other dimensions of Gospel ministry do you see in 1 Thessalonians 2:3 – 6?

A Toy

 

A Toy

R. L. Withers

 

A toy – portal into imagination.

A toy not played with – sorrow.

Children who cannot play nor eat.

The belly of gluttony here; the belly of starvation there.

Do we care?

 

Building blocks never to be played with to build

Castles, homes, and skyscrapers.

Toy cars never to be driven on a floor.

Stuffed bears and dolls never to be hugged – is that a tear?

Do bears cry?

 

A toy box once full of hope, its contents now strewn about,

Each toy going its own way. - collateral damage they say. 

Little fingers will not grasp them, nor will little hands hold them,

Nor innocent arms embrace them.

Will little voices squeal with delight?

 

Will little eyes sparkle bright?

Little faces smile?

Little hearts beat with joy?

Or will the little ones not meet their toys,

Until they are both in the landfill of life?

 

A Holy Charge (3)

 

What kind of leadership example did Paul, Silas, and Timothy give to the Christians in Thessalonica? Whatever that example was, it is reasonable to think that it was Paul’s expectation that the leaders of the church in Thessalonica would emulate it.

 

What do you see about Paul, Silas, and Timothy in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 2? What did their service in the Gospel look like? What was the nature of their ministry, its character? How would you describe it?

 

The first thing to note in this chapter is that Paul and his friends were under intense pressure when they arrived in Thessalonica. “After we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the Gospel of God amid much opposition” (1 Thess. 2:2; see Acts 16:1 – 17:9).

 

I point this out because what follows is, in my thinking, a remarkable description of sacrificial leadership, and I want us to note that it was exhibited under the pressure of persecution, that Paul and his coworkers were hardly in an ivory tower, they were not in a quiet church setting, they were rather experiencing pain and uncertainty and fierce opposition – they were paying a price to share Jesus Christ with others.

 

We see the true character of others, and we see it in ourselves, in suffering, persecution, and opposition. In such times we can go either “inward” or “outward,” that is, we can either focus solely on ourselves or we can serve others. Paul and his friends chose to serve Christ and the Thessalonians (for another striking example of this see 2 Corinthians 1:3 – 11; 4:12).

 

What is our response when we are under pressure? When we suffer for our obedience to Jesus Christ? Do we go into a defensive posture, or do we seek to be a blessing to others? Do we withdraw from others, or do we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Christ on behalf of others? Do we allow our hearts to be hardened, or do we ask the Holy Spirit to make us compassionate and tender toward others as we live in Christ and as Christ lives in us?

 

After being beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, would anyone have blamed Paul and Silas if they had returned to their home church in Antioch seeking safety and rest? Would it have been understandable for them to seek confirmation of the “Macedonian Vision” of Acts 16:9? Surely God would not lead them into a furnace of trial and persecution?

 

Do we question God’s Word when we face opposition? When the Holy Spirit challenges our actions and attitudes? When life is hard, which it often can be, do we continue on our pilgrimage of obedience to Jesus Christ, taking up our cross daily to follow Him?

 

When the going gets tough, we can be tempted to think that the church or the world owes us something. If Paul had thought this way he may not have gone to Thessalonica sharing the Gospel. If Paul thought the world or the church owed him something, he and his friends would not have worked “night and day so as not to be a burden” to the Thessalonians (2:9).

 

Paul did not think that the church or the world owed him anything – quite the opposite, Paul saw himself as being in debt to the world. “I am a debtor to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish” (Romans 1:14).

 

How do we view our relationship with the world? Do we think the world owes us something? Or do we see that, in Christ, we are debtors to all mankind to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them?

 

If we are indeed debtors to the people of the world, are we paying our debt to them by sharing Jesus Christ?

A Holy Charge (2)

 

“We request of you, brethren, that you respect those who labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.” (1 Thess. 5:12 – 13).

 

Why does Paul begin his concluding exhortation, with its 16 admonitions, with a focus on respecting “those who labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord”?

 

I think an element of the answer is found in the nature of what follows, for what follows portrays a highly interactive and relational fellowship of disciples, growing in Christ and in their relationship with one another, and growing in the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ. A dynamic environment is a challenging environment, for as we learn and grow and try new things we make mistakes; we make relational mistakes, we make teaching mistakes, we make mistakes in understanding our Lord Jesus and His Word.

 

Living in relationship with others is messy. Feelings get hurt, motives can be confusing, words can be misunderstood, insecurities can rise to the top, egos get in the way even though we try to be well-intentioned. Growing in the Word and the Spirit can be messy, we seldom know what we think we know in the perspective we ought to have in Christ, we often confuse seeing the part of something with seeing the whole picture, our excitement can get the best of us at times and not demonstrate wisdom in word and actions, as can our timidity and fear of making mistakes.

 

I know of no way of living in loving and growing relationships without living in varying degrees of messiness, mistakes, at times grave errors – and of course, without living in mercy and grace and forgiveness.

 

Godly servant leaders model Christ for us and they also instruct us in the guardrails of discipleship, there are times they need to say, “Please don’t do that.”

 

There is a pattern, if you will, in 1 Thessalonians 5:12ff that we also see in 1 Corinthians and Ephesians. The highly interactive portrayal of the Body of Christ in Ephesians 4:14 – 16 is preceded by:

 

“He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11 – 12).

 

That is, the servant leaders of Ephesians 4:11 – 12 play an integral role in the unfolding of 4:14 – 16, even though it is clear that all the members of the Body are receiving directly from the Head as well as from one another (see 4:15 – 16).

 

In 1 Corinthians 12 – 14 we have an extended treatment of the gifts of the Spirit and of the highly interactive and participatory nature of our gatherings in Christ. Within this passage we have, “God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers…” (12:28).  Then we have, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment” (14:29). Our gatherings are not to be “anything goes” and “you can’t judge my words and actions,” they are to be safe places where we can grow, make mistakes, even be foolish at times, receive forgiveness, and have guardrails for the sake of everyone.

 

I will point out that the other great passage of the functioning Body of Christ, Romans Chapter 12, begins with us offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God – if we are first and foremost living sacrifices, then our life together is one of sacrifice to God and for one another, the Nature of our Life Together is Christ’s sacrificial life in us.

 

What did leadership look like in Thessalonica?

 

From 5:12 – 13 we see that there was labor involved, it was work. This labor is of the mind, heart, soul, spirit, and body – it requires all a person has and all a person is – it is an offering to Christ and His People. It entailed instruction, leaders (by whatever name you choose to call them) must be teachers in word and deed. Paul writes that elders must be “able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2).  Peter writes that elders are to be “examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3). I think we see that in the New Testament pastoring was a collective endeavor.

 

But here is the thing that I’d really like us to ponder, and that is the question of the heart of an elder, leader, deacon, teacher, apostle…whatever the term for “office” or calling may be – what should the nature of “ministry” be, what should it look like?

 

All we need to do is turn to 1 Thessalonians Chapter 2 for the answer.

 

We’ll ponder this passage in our next reflection, the Lord willing.

A Holy Charge in Thessalonica (1)

 

1 Thessalonians 5:12 – 28

 

I’ve been pondering the conclusion of 1 Thessalonians, in which Paul gives 16 admonitions (depending on how you count them) to his readers. As with the conclusions of many NT letters, our tendency can be to mentally skip over them; we see the finish line and we want to cross it. If we do this with the Gospels we miss the Cross and Resurrection. If we do this with the epistles…well, who knows what we miss?

 

This passage is not a checklist on how to live, it outlines a way we should live, an outline that is based on what precedes it (1:1 – 5:11).  Perhaps we could call the passage an image of what we ought to look like in Christ. Perhaps we could call the passage a Holy Charge from Paul to the disciples in Thessalonica.

 

If this passage were a tree, how would you describe the tree? What does it look like? What is its form? I’m not asking you to focus on the individual branches right now, just the form of the tree. What do you see? Most of us need time to see the tree, to allow it to come to us, to form in our hearts and minds, for our souls to take it in and connect with it. It is a form which is always developing, clarifying itself, drawing us.

 

Our tendency is to look at individual verses, but if we don’t see the passage as a whole we will usually not see and live in the individual verses. Let’s remember that chapter and verse numbers were not in the Bible as it was written, Paul didn’t put verse numbers in his letters anymore than we put verse numbers in our letters or emails or blog posts. Chapter numbers, chapter headings (put there by Bible publishers and some translators), and verse numbers can impair our seeing Christ in the Bible and seeing the Message of the Bible.

 

Beyond that, seeing the Bible as a whole will result in a lifelong unfolding of its individual parts and sections – from verses to paragraphs to sections of books to entire books of the Bible to patterns and themes – all of them revealing Jesus Christ. We can share our experience with the Living Word with others, and we can receive what others share with us out of their experience in the Living Word.

 

But, of course, we can only experience the Bible as we read the Bible and seek and receive Jesus Christ in the Bible.

 

As we read and reread 1 Thessalonians 5:12 – 28, what do we see? What is the main image? What does the tree look like?

 

Paul begins our passage, “We request of you, brethren, that you respect those who labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”

 

In light of what follows, why might Paul’s request be important?

 

We’ll come back to this question in our next reflection on the passage, the Lord willing.

Faith, Love, Hope in Thessalonica

 

 

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father” (1 Thess. 1:2 – 3).

 

“Since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8).

 

I’ve been pondering the cluster of faith, hope, and love at the beginning and toward the conclusion of Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Thessalonica. The believers in this city were known for their faith, love and hope. Their way of life not only manifested hope, love, and faith, but faith, love, and hope was also their armor as “sons of light and sons of day” (5:5).

 

When we encounter faith, hope, and love in the Bible we see the core of our calling in Jesus Christ, the core of our life together, the core of our witness of Him to the world. Note that both 1:2 – 3 and 5:8 are closely related to the Father choosing us in Christ:

 

“Knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you” (1:4).

 

“God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:9).

 

It is good to remind ourselves that we are not accidents looking for a place to happen – we can only be in a relationship with Jesus because God our Father has called us into that relationship.

 

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37).

 

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him; and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44).

 

We can have great assurance that Jesus is our Author and Perfector (Hebrews 12:2), that the One who began a good work within us will bring it to completion (Phil. 1:6). I may not fully understand these words of Jesus in John Chapter 6, in fact I can understand very little of them, but I am most certainly called to believe what Jesus says about the Father and me and Him. Believing what Jesus says allows me to live securely in Him, allowing faith, hope, and love to grow in me and flow through me – back unto Jesus and into the lives of others.

 

Consider what Paul writes to the Colossians:

 

“We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Col. 1:3 – 4).

 

The Christians in Colossae also have a testimony of faith, hope, and love.

 

Is this my testimony? When others look at me do they see faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ?

 

Is this the testimony of our congregations?

 

Is this your testimony?

 

Perhaps, as we live today, we can watch for Jesus coming to us, teaching us to live in and to share the faith, hope, and love that He is giving to us as His brothers and sisters. Perhaps we can ask Jesus to teach us today how to share faith, hope, and love with others.

 

Let’s remember that love, hope, and faith are not only to be our Way of Life in Christ, but they are also our armor, protecting our hearts and minds (which are continually assaulted by the things of this world!).

Reflections on the Song of Solomon (2)

 

 

“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” (SS 1:1).

 

“Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.” (SS 8:14).

 

The Song of Solomon begins with passionate love, and it concludes with passionate love.

 

The imagery throughout the Song is intimate and knowing.

 

“Let his left hand be under my head and his right hand embrace me” (2:6).

 

“Let his left hand be under my head and his right hand embrace me” (8:3).

 

This is a Song in which the Bride rejoices in the Groom, and the Groom rejoices in the Bride. The Groom only has eyes for the Bride and the Bride only has eyes for the Groom. It is sacred Song with a sacred Love. In one sense the love is exclusive, in another sense others are invited to bask in the love and to rejoice in the Bride and Groom.

 

In Revelation chapters 21 and 22 nations walk by the light of the Bride and Groom (21:24) and the leaves of the Tree of Life – which is now the union of the Bride and Groom - are for the healing of the peoples (22:2).

 

A very rich man recently remarried. For the wedding venue he rented a large section of an historical and culturally significant city. He did not invite the world to his wedding.

 

When our Lord Jesus and His Bride celebrate their wedding, when His glorious Bride descends from the unseen into the seen, from the invisible into the visible – all the peoples of the earth are invited to bask in the healing and light and glory that flows from the union of the Bride and Groom.

 

The Bride and the Spirit issue an invitation to all:

 

“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17).

 

The Song of Songs is a duet of Bride and Bridegroom. While others make an appearance on stage and provide background music and singing, they are there only to highlight the passionate love of the Groom and His Bride – of the Bride seeking the Groom and the Groom seeking His Bride.

 

In the first verse the Bride sings of her Beloved, and in the final verse the Bride sings of her Beloved. Between the first and final verses is a Divine Duet of Love, Marriage, Consummation, Enjoyment – a Divine Dance into eternity…indeed, a dance that never ceases; a dance, I imagine, in which new steps and patterns unfold with Divine Life and Movement and Energy.

 

As we read the Song, let’s note how its core is the Bride focused on the Groom and the Groom focused on the Bride. Let’s ponder their descriptions of one another – descriptions born of intimacy, of love, of care, of tenderness, of giving – of union with one another.

 

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).

 

“This mystery (Gen. 2:24) is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32).

 

Jesus left His Father’s house to seek His Bride; we are now bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, members of His Body (Eph. 5:30); holy and blameless before Him in love (Eph. 5:27; 1:4).

 

Ought we not to be wedded to Christ and only to Christ? (2 Cor. 11:2 – 3).

Seed Bearing Fruit After Its Kind

 

 Well now, dear ones...

 

I have not read or watched or listened to the national and international news for a few weeks...and I pretty much only know enough locally to have fair warning should an expedition from Mars touch down...but I do get a glimpse now and then.

 

I am still following baseball...after all...if we do not have baseball what do we have? Even though it has also changed...I will pass on the All Star Game...haven't watched it in years...like everything else it is now insane with hype, marketing, etc.

 

Come on...it is a game, a game that adults play...

 

"The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind..." Genesis 1:12.

 

Why is it that many of us who insist on a certain reading of Genesis, and who brand others as outside the pale who do not agree with them, do not apply the same fervor and meticulousness to the national creation myth of the United States? That is, why don't they look at the facts...and if Christians, why don't they ask where faithful preaching and pastoring was during the Revolution - where the image of Jesus was during our First American Civil War?

 

As a rule, pastors who preached peace and obedience were driven from their churches and homes. Things haven't changed...yes?

 

Civil wars are brutal - how can we gloss over this?

 

Just asking.

 

If Genesis 1:12 is true, and I believe it is...then I cannot see how a nation birthed in violent rebellion can have a trajectory other than rebellion...and when it ends it will certainly end in a Biblical image...that of it imploding and consuming itself in rebellion...and the birds of the air and the beasts of the field will have quite the feast.

 

Yes, our Imperial Cult and our Nero(s) and Caligula(s) once again express the truth of Psalm 2 and Daniel 2 and Hebrews 12:12 - 29.

 

Did I mention Revelation 17 and 18? (Every generation has them I suppose).

 

Revelation and Daniel give us true images of the powers of this age, shattering the facades, shattering the national myths - the cry from the Throne is ever and always, "Come out of her (Babylon) My People that you do not partake of her sins!"

 

Genesis is not only the book of beginnings, it is also the book of endings. Nimrod, Shinar, Babel are all there...as are Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Joseph. We meet them in every generation, plants yielding seed after their kind...we meet them in Revelation, we meet them today.

 

Those who partake of the Tree of Life (Christ the Vine) are called, in Him, to give life to the world - the Grain of Wheat has fallen into the ground and died and come forth in Newness of Life...and the leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the peoples.

 

Those who partake of Nero's table?

 

Two women in Proverbs Chapter 9, two tables (1 Cor. 10:21)...two seeds...

 

Two women in Revelation, the Bride and the Whore.

 

Two kingdoms in Revelation, the Lamb's and that which makes the peoples drunk with the wine of fornication.

 

I suppose there aren't really words to describe all of this...but there sure are images...there sure are images.

 

I was thinking that like Samson we have had our eyes put out...but unlike Samson we don't know it. (John 9:35 - 41).

 

Much love...let us follow the Lamb wherever He goes!

 

Bob

Seeing the Invisible (8)

 

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).

 

When I began this series I had a sense of where I wanted to go, I wanted to work through 2 Corinthians and demonstrate that in every chapter Paul is seeing the invisible. Of course, this is true of the entire Bible, its writers are always seeing the invisible to one degree or another, even when they don’t quite know what they are seeing. Just as we ought to always ask, “Where is Jesus Christ?” when we read the Bible, we can also ask, “How am I seeing the invisible when I read this passage?” We can be certain that the invisible will always come from Christ, reveal Christ, and lead us back to Christ.

 

This morning as I ponder the situation in our nation with respect to the professing church, and the betrayal by many pastors in leading their people into participation in the Imperial Cult and offering incense to Ceasar, I am thinking of the way most of us make our choices – most of us in the professing church make our choices based on what we can see, not on seeing the invisible, not on seeing Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

 

What I mean is that we look at the visible options and take our pick. We look at this political party and that political party, we look at this “Christian” movement or that “Christian” movement, at this tradition or that tradition, at this “teacher” or that “teacher.” We consider this policy and that policy and yet another policy – often we make our choices based on what we reject rather than on what we truly want to embrace, often we think that by choosing “the lesser evil” we are doing the best we can.

 

The Bible teaches us to choose Jesus and only Jesus. Evil is evil and we do not overcome evil by using or supporting other evil, we overcome evil by good (Romans 12:21; Matthew 5:38 – 48).

 

But we can only do this as we learn to see the invisible, to see Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

 

Jesus says that “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Mt. 8:20). This is true of Jesus, it is true of His Body, the Body of Christ. There is nowhere on this earth for us to lay our Head. When we attempt to find a home, a resting place, among the movements and systems of the present age we prostitute ourselves and others, we sell ourselves to the elements of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We become galley slaves of the principalities and powers of a world in rebellion against God and His Anointed (Psalm 2).

 

My sense is that our Father is not giving His sons and daughters any options other than Jesus – He does not intend to, He has never intended to. Throughout history those who have followed Jesus have been a minority, those who have never heard of Jesus and who have yet responded to the light that God has given them have been a minority – those who respond to God are always a minority…usually (if not always) a minimal minority. Those who respond to Divine goodness, truth, and beauty will be a minority until that Day when the Holy City descends from the invisible and that which is unseen is made manifest to the glory of God and the Lamb and a great harvest is gathered unto God.

 

When we read of the various beasts in Daniel and Revelation, we are seeing the images and natures of the governments and movements and systems of this world, including our own nation – we are seeing the invisible. What may appear righteousness on the outside is death on the inside “full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness…hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Mt. 23:27 – 28).

 

Friends, something isn’t right when we aren’t looking to Jesus. Something isn’t right when Jesus isn’t our one and only Message, when He isn’t our one and only Spouse, when He isn’t the heartbeat of our lives, when pastors and teachers and professors and elders aren’t insisting that their people belong to Jesus and only to Him. Are we not to be seeking that City whose Builder and Maker is God? As Moses, are we not to be seeing Him who is invisible? (Heb. 11:6 – 16, 23 – 27).

 

Are we not in the midst of deluding influences that are not just permeating society, but also the professing church (2 Thess. 2:10 – 11)?

 

The fruit of godly teaching ought to be intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Yet, what do we see? I hear followers of End Times teachers speak of the End Times. I hear followers of worldviews speak of worldviews. I hear seekers of “experience” speak of experiences. I hear seekers of Bible data and technical learning speak of those things. Where do we hear people speaking of their relationship with Jesus Christ? Where are those who freely and naturally share out of their friendship and fellowship with Jesus?

 

I have been in small groups who seldom (if ever) speak of their relationship with Jesus, the same with Sunday school groups. I have been in countless Sunday worship services in which few, if any, share of their relationship with Jesus – before, during, or after the service. O yes, I have also been among saints who can’t wait to share Jesus with others. I have been with saints who love sharing what they’ve been reading in the Bible and how God is speaking to them through His Word. I have known saints who love praying for one another, laying hands on one another, speaking words of love and joy and encouragement to one another in Christ.

 

O dear friends, our identity does not lie in the world and its systems and governments and political movements and economic practices or in national identity. Our identity, now and forever, must be in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and calls us into an invisible and eternal reality in Him. When the invisible Kingdom of the Lamb is manifested in all His glory, the kingdoms of this world will turn to dust along with its powers and authorities.

 

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth” (Rev. 5:9 – 10).

 

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).

Pounding, Pounding, Pounding

 

Pounding, Pounding, Pounding

July 6, 2026

R. L. Withers

 

Pounding, pounding, pounding!

The mock scepter strikes a blow!

Blow upon blow, blow upon blow!

How deep will the Crown of Thorns go?

 

Crown Him, yes crown Him!

Weave the crown of thorns for His Head!

Beat it down, beat it down!

Strike harder, strike harder – beat it down!

 

Who shall strike the hardest?

Which soldier shall it be?

Let me, let me!

I can pound it with more force than you!

 

Let the blood run, let it run!

Who can make it run the more?

Embed the crown into His Head,

Shall anyone take it off again?

 

Enough for now

More is to come

Remove the royal robe,

Put the scepter in the fire

 

But leave the crown,

O leave the crown!

For a royal crucifixion will be done

And a king shall be enthroned!

 

Pounding, pounding, pounding.

Pound the nails through His flesh,

Deep into the tree drive them deep.

Who can drive them the deepest?

 

Pounding, pounding, pounding.

I cannot sleep tonight.

A good day’s work was done indeed

But the pounding now haunts me.

 

Deeper goes the pounding

Into my heart and soul.

What have I done today

That there is pounding so?

 

I cannot sleep

And so I run

To the room where we

Wove the crown of thorns

 

I cannot sleep

And so I run

Back to that Hill

Where we drove the nails

 

I cannot sleep and so I look,

Look for His Body.

Where did it go?

Who took it?

 

Three days!

Three nights!

The pounding will not stop!

Sleep flees from me!

 

What’s that you say?

You were guarding His tomb?

An earthquake, an angel,

You ran away, deserting your post?

 

Where am I going?

Why I’m going to find Him.

I must find Him –

The pounding must stop!

 

My commander, my leader,

O he was so right when he said,

“Surely this is the Son of God.”

He was right, and I was a beast.

 

O Jesus, O Jesus,

Have mercy on me.

Let me find You!

Find me! Find me!

 

Now dear reader

You may write the ending –

What of this Roman soldier?

What of you?

 

Reflections on the Song of Solomon

 

A Passionate Love, A Passionate Life (1)

 

“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine; your oils have a pleasing fragrance, your name is like purified oil; therefore the maidens love you. Draw me after you and let us run together! The king has brought me into his chambers” (Song of Solomon 1:2 – 4).

 

This is how it begins – with passion, exuberance, and consummation!

 

It does not begin with backstory; not with how they first met, not with how their eyes first connected, not with a first date, not with when they first held hands, and not with an evening kiss. It rather begins with hearts and minds and souls and bodies alive and vibrant with exuberance, passion and consummation. Forget backstory – let’s open with joy and celebration!

 

The love and marriage of Ruth and Boaz has backstory, the backstory with them is much of the message; but the love of the Song of Solomon explodes with consummation and desire and celebration – Let’s kiss, let’s enjoy the fragrance, let’s run and skip and jump, and O yes! O yes! Let’s enter the king’s chambers…no wait, let’s not just enter them, let’s run into them! O yes!

 

If we approach the Song of Solomon in any way other than the way it is written, if we ask questions such as, “What is it about? Who wrote it? Who is it written to? When was it written? Who are the players?” we rob the Song of its mystery, its allurement, its fragrance, and of our visceral and holistic participation in it.

 

When you sit down to a dinner that another has prepared, whether in a home or a restaurant, do you analyze what you are about to eat? Do you wonder about the pots and pans used? Do you want to know if it was cooked on gas or electric appliances? Do you ponder the origin of the recipe? Do you question the herbs and spices used? If you do, one thing is for sure, when you finally get around to eating your meal it will be cold – and then you may blame the cook.

 

As Ezekiel and John were commanded, when we come to the Song of Solomon, we are to “eat this book.” We are to take what is set before us and put it in our mouths and enjoy it – gobble it down, drink it and become inebriated for it is better than wine, O so much better than wine! We are to run and skip and hop and jump for there ain’t nothing better than knowing love, living in love, breathing love, giving love, receiving love, and enjoying love in all its fullness.

 

In whatever way it is given to you to experience the opening of the Song, then experience it! You may experience it in more than one way – isn’t that beautiful? I think it is. If you have a pulse, then allow that pulse to quicken, allow your imagination to flow, allow the Holy Spirit to pull back the curtain on the stage – not so that you watch others act out the story as you sit in a seat, but so that you may run to the stage and play your part(s)! There are to be no spectators to the Song, all of us are to be on stage, all of us.

 

The first individual church that Jesus speaks to in Revelation is the church in Ephesus. They were commended for their good works, for their rejection of evil, and for their perseverance, but yet Jesus warns them that their deeds are not the deeds of love for they had “left their first Love.” Jesus tells them that unless they “remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the deeds you did at first” that He will come and remove them. They must return to their first Love, Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ must once again be their only Love.

 

We are to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength; and out of that we love our neighbor as ourselves. We are to love Jesus Christ with all that we have and all that we are – forever and ever, we are to belong to Him and only to Him. We are to be in a holy and pure marriage to Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 11:1 – 3). Our central and core calling and destiny is as the Bride of Christ – we see the shadow of the marriage in Genesis; we see its consummation in Revelation 21 – 22.

 

We also experience shadows and consummation in the Song. However, the Song is not structured as the entire Bible is structured. The Bible is structured with first shadows (Genesis 2; Ephesians 5:22 – 32) and then consummation, while the Song begins with consummation and then escorts us into a dance of shadow and consummation, of consummation and shadow – of point and counterpoint. (Is this not what we can experience in marriage?)

 

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!”

 

This lady “don’t want no hug and kiss,” she wants the real deal – there ain’t no warm up needed here – she is hungry for her lover and her lover is hungry for her.

 

O dear friends, can we ask ourselves whether we are hungry for Jesus? Is the Church hungry for Jesus?

If we are hungry for Him then how can we sell ourselves to the things of this world – its entertainment, its value systems, its economic systems, its political and national systems, its worship of so-called “freedom,” its scribal and Pharisaical religious systems within what we term Christianity?

 

For us pastors and teachers and professors – have we forgotten that our calling is to join the Bride to the Bridegroom and then get out of the way (John 3:28 – 30)? We have no business in the King’s Chambers in our teaching roles, we can only be there as the Bride.

 

Play the tape, stream it, read it, again and again read the Song of Solomon 1:2 – 4. What do you see? How is Jesus coming to you? Get on the stage, start living your role.

 

Enjoy Jesus and bask in His enjoyment of you.

 

Concluding thought:

 

I grew up listening to and appreciating many genres of music, including Big Band, Show Tunes, and what I’ll call Popular Standards of previous generations (1920s – early 1950s; some of which have been recycled and “covered” over the years). Below is a Standard that I can sing to two people and only two people, one is Vickie and the Other is Jesus. Can our congregations sing this to Jesus? If we did, would it be true? We can all learn to sing it, for Jesus so very deeply desires us to live in His exuberant, passionate, and consummated love! Jesus desires us to live in Song of Solomon 1:2 – 4.

 

I Only Have Eyes For You (Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

 

Are there stars out tonight?

I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright

‘Cause I only have eyes for you, dear.

 

The moon may be high

But I can’t see a thing in the sky

‘Cause I only have eyes for you

 

I don’t know if we’re in a garden

Or on a crowded avenue

You are here, so am I

Maybe millions of people pass by

But they all disappear from view

‘Cause I only have eyes for you.

 

Do we only have eyes for Jesus?

 

Psalm 139...or My Nappy

 

A Psalm 139 Day, A Psalm 139 Life – or My Nappy

 

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me” (Psalm 139:1).

 

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:24).

 

This is my Psalm 139 Day. I typically read Psalm 139 on March 19, June 26, September 19, and December 19. I read Psalm 139 to remind me that I am not an accident looking for a place to happen, I read it to remind me that my hope is ever and always in Jesus. I read Psalm 139 to remember how much my Father cares for me…even when “I make my bed in hell.”

 

I often point others to Psalm 139 because I want them to know that they also are not accidents looking for a place to happen, but rather that their lives are in God’s hands.

 

If you have ever made your bed in hell this is a pretty good psalm. If you have ever run from God this psalm can be helpful. If you have ever known darkness so dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face, this psalm is for you.

 

If you have ever looked at your life and wondered just how you could have messed up so badly, this psalm can remind you that even if you don’t understand yourself (and I don’t think any of us have much capacity along this line) that God your Father and Creator knowns all about you.

 

In our moments of arrogance and pomposity this psalm can put us in our place; we really don’t know all that much, we need our God to search us, purify us, and to lead us in “the everlasting Way.” The Way, of course, is Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

 

The psalm begins with an acknowledgment and confession that God has searched us and known us. It concludes with a plea for God to continue searching us and knowing our hearts, for Him to test us and know our thoughts, to deal with hurtful and sinful and selfish ways within us, and to lead us in the everlasting Way (see Hebrews 4:12 – 13; Psalm 19:12 – 14).

 

In a sense the psalm ends where it begins, with God searching us…but not quite, there is a difference, a significant difference.

 

In verse 1 we acknowledge that God has been searching us. In verses 23 and 24 we cry out to God that He will continue to search us, purify us, save us from toxic ways, and lead us into the Way of Jesus. In other words, in verse 1 we have the realization that God has been searching us, in verses 23 and 24 we plea with God to continue His gracious work within us.

 

We may live a long time before we arrive at the realization of verse 1. We may go our own way for many years before, by God’s mercy, it dawns on us that God has been searching our lives, our souls, our hearts and our minds – that He knows not just our every action, but our thoughts and our motives. When the light of this awareness breaks upon us we can either run and hide, or we can say, “O my! Help me dear God.”

 

If we will accept His mercy, then we will come to know that His intimate searching of us is a deep expression of His tender love for us in Jesus Christ – then we will come to know that we need His searching and trying and purifying every moment of every day, we will know that we cannot live without Him and His Presence.

 

In the Garden, Adam and Eve hid from God and from each other. In the New Jerusalem there is no hiding from God or from one another, all is transparent in that City in which God alone is Light. As Psalm 139 demonstrates, we cannot really hide from God. We may be like toddlers playing “peek-a-boo”, thinking that if we cover our eyes so that we can’t see God that God can’t see us. Isn’t that foolish?

 

Yet isn’t that the way we so often live…within and without the professing church?

 

I have often said that on my best days my heavenly Father needs to change my nappy.  This may not be an elegant conclusion to this reflection, but it is most certainly the truth.

Seeing the Invisible (7)

 

 

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).

 

Now, after having considered the immediate context of 2 Corinthians 4:18, and then pondering 4:6 and 5:16, let’s please go to the beginning of Paul’s letter and view what he writes by seeing the invisible. It is important for you to read these passages in your Bible, due to space limitations I will not be quoting them in their entirety.

 

In 1:1 – 11 Paul writes of a time of intense suffering, so intense that he and his companions were “burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves.”

 

Many of us have had our own times of suffering, sorrow, and despair. Many of us have had moments or extended seasons when the pain of life seemed more than we could bear, when we thought that we would never know peace and comfort again, when the chasm between our suffering and comfort was so wide and so deep that we despaired of life.

 

What did we “see” during those times? What did Paul and his companions “see” during the time that he writes of in 2 Corinthians? Was Paul seeing through the visible into the invisible? Were we seeing through the visible into the invisible, or were our eyes fixed on our visible circumstances?

 

When we are suffering our tendency is to see our immediate circumstances and to evaluate life through them. Our natural tendency is to place ourselves and our suffering at the center of the universe and seek to alleviate our pain. Was this the perspective and response of Paul and his fellow workers?

 

In 1:3 Paul styles God as “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

 

He continues, “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.”

 

Paul saw beyond the visible into the invisible, and seeing the invisible he saw that his sufferings were a means of comforting others with the comfort with which he was comforted by God. In other words, Paul saw that his sufferings were not about him, but about the grace of God being poured through him to others. Paul did not see himself as the center of the universe, he did not view his sufferings as being centered on himself, but rather he saw, in Christ, that others were to be the beneficiaries of his sufferings.

 

This is something that Paul could not have seen were he simply looking at visible circumstances. When we encounter suffering our natural inclination, and understandably so, is to escape the suffering, to alleviate it, to relieve the pressure. Our natural tendency is to focus on the visible which is causing us pain.

 

But Paul says, “Hold on here, there is more to our suffering than meets the natural eye. We are suffering so that we may comfort others with the comfort that we will receive from God. All that is happening is happening for the “comfort and salvation” of others.

 

Not only this, but Paul also writes that we are experiencing “the sufferings of Christ,” and that these are “ours in abundance.” In other words, Christ calls us into the “koinonia of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10; Colossians 1:24). This is a mystical mystery in our union with Christ, a mystical mystery in the Body of Christ; this is an element of seeing the invisible, of looking beyond sufferings which are temporal to the suffering of the Lamb who is eternal and whose sufferings bear eternal fruit to the glory of the Father.

 

“We had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.”

 

Paul sees beyond the visible, beyond his feelings, beyond the sense that the sentence of death is upon him, that he was a man facing execution (the visible includes our feelings and our natural thoughts, which is to say that our feelings are unreliable as is our “natural” mind). Into the invisible he “sees” that they had the sentence of death “within themselves” so that they would not trust in themselves, but in God who raises the dead. All self-sufficiently was put to death so that total surrender to Christ and total reliance on Christ might become their way of life. “Not I but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

 

Perhaps we ought to stop and point out that Paul does not deny the reality of the visible, he does not deny affliction and suffering, he does not deny the experience of having the sentence of death; to do so would be to deny the sufferings of Christ. We do not deny the pain of suffering, the agony of despair, the seeming uncertainty of this life; rather in the midst of these things we look beyond the visible into the invisible and we see Jesus Christ, we see the Lamb, we see the higher purposes of God being worked out in our lives and the lives of others – we see the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ.

 

Make no mistake, this is not positive thinking, it is not positive confession, it is not blaming the devil for suffering (though we do not deny spiritual warfare), it is to enter into the sufferings of Christ on behalf of others.

 

Paul could write 2 Corinthians 1:1 – 11 because he was not looking at the things that are seen but at the things that are not seen, he was not basing his life and thoughts and feelings and actions on the temporal, but on the eternal.

 

What about us?