God has His plans for His creation. Part of that is man’s freewill in accommodating God’s will. Why would God want us to be free in our determinations? We are to experience, appreciate and share God’s love, and you have to be free to be able to do that (God’s determination). This is to draw us toward God as He really is and show ourselves as, not just His creation, but His legitimate and intimate family. We will spend eternity at home with God because we choose to reside in Heaven with God (again, His determination). After all, love cannot be forced, and God does not want us with Him if we do not want to be there. So, what many consider some grand mystery is really not that mysterious at all. Yes, God controls all according to His will. Yes, God rules over all to accommodate His grand design, but you are a part of that design in order to glorify Him (the reason for which God created humans, John 3:35; Colossians 1:16). Therefore, He made you in His likeness that you might willingly choose to be a part of His purpose (Ephesians 1:17-21). This cannot be forced. On the other hand, though we may reject our part in God’s love, He will make sure the love still wins, even if that means love wins to our loss (Philippians 2:11). [Editor’s Note: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. …And we have known and believed the

Due to denominational error, the Lord’s people have stressed hard the necessity to worship the Lord according to the pattern of the New Testament, and rightly so (1 Corinthians 4:6). There is the how, but what about the why? To answer this with a wave of the hand and grunt, “Because it is commanded,” admits a spiritual ignorance that is not pretty. We respond to God just because He says so? Really? Humanity has a hunger for God. We don’t just wonder; we ache for His fellowship. To have His attention is a delight. To act like the only relevance that we have toward God is a rule book calls into question our very understanding of what we call God Whom we worship. The Word of God is the one true revelation we have, but what it reveals is much more than commands. Psalm 8 begins and ends with what can be said is a call to worship, “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!” (v. 1 NKJV). Revelation 4 also reveals the magnificence of God. The Name is excellent because the One so called is excellent. His glory fills creation because God is magnificent. “…Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). To contemplate God in spirit and truth drives us to our knees in fear, amazement, breathless wonder and humble realization that we get to know

If you have ever been close to falling or drowning, one of the most encouraging sentences you can hear is someone coming to help and saying, “I’ve got you.” If you believe him, then you know that you do not have to depend on your tired strength to save yourself. Nor are you alone. Someone who cares is now assuring you that he or she is by your side and will do what it takes to rescue you. Two things: Realize that our Lord Jesus assures us of this. Satan would destroy us. We ourselves go where we have no business being. Sure enough, we slip, but our Lord is there to catch us – every time. “If I say, ‘My foot slips,’ Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up” (Psalm 94:18 NKJV). Next: Realize you have been saved to save others. You have been helped to help others. Your rescuer had to get into the deep water to get to you. Or, he had to go over the cliff himself to hold you up. Is anyone holding out a hand in need near you? Someone may need your help. Let that person know, “I’ve got you,” by your prayers, in your heart and in whatever you can do.

“For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another” (Romans 14:17-19). Peacemakers are invaluable. They defuse, calm, quiet and soothe. They do not stir up conflict but work to minimize it, if not to negate it. The wicked are not so. They are determined to rule or ruin, typically to no good purpose. They delight in war that they may rule over its ruins. To be a peacemaker demands courage, for you may have to stand between the violent and the victim. It takes wisdom, for knowing when to listen and when to speak is all important here. One must be caring, even about those who do not care except about themselves. Part of being the salt and the light that the Lord demands of us (Matthew 5:13-16) is certainly to help make peace in a war-torn world. It is proclaiming the truth to overthrow the lies. It is offering a better way than the way of hate. May the Lord bless us here with peace, a peace that we cherish so much that we must share it. “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men” (Romans 12:17).

Imagine you were the great apostle, aged and innocent and always helpful but now “quarantined” on a forsaken island because of your religion, a religion seen as subversive to the government. You are alone, without help, feeling every cold wind, hot sun and hunger pang, and it is not your fault. What would be your attitude? I am afraid mine, after reveling in my righteous dilemma, could find me starting to fuss at God to “Get me outta here!” What did John do? He was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10). In other words, he set his mind on the things of God, and when Sunday came around, he worshipped Him Who is forever and ever. This enabled John to endure his trial for two years! You see, if God is your companion through life, then you are never alone, even if there is nobody else around. God helped John and still used him for great good in this circumstance. Will God stay by your side? Oh, yes, all the way to the end! “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV).

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14 NKJV). The need to be holy is present throughout the entire Bible. So, the need to understand the concept and how to attain it is vital to our standing before God. The meaning of holiness is “special to God” and “set apart from common use to be employed for God’s use.” Sanctification is the process by which this holiness is attained. Therefore, to be sanctified is to be made holy for God’s unique possession and purpose (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Peter 1:14-16). As with other salvation concepts, holiness is both a statement of fact in relationship to God and also a goal to which those in such a relationship are to strive to complete. There is no accomplishment of perfection in holiness this side of Heaven. Yet, there is the sanctification every Christian possesses simply because one is in Christ, a perfection in relationship that is obtained by faith which God acknowledges (1 Corinthians 1:30). In this relationship, the gift is to be so precious and endearing to us that we work to make it, not just promise, but real in our own application. Such is the process or pursuit of holiness that every Christian must fulfill (Philippians 3:12-15; Hebrews 10:12-14). As we see in Hebrews 12:14, to fail here is to lose what we had claimed to love.

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11 NKJV) The idea that Hell is the devil’s kingdom and that he rules is plain make-believe. First, Satan did not create Hell. God did (Matthew 25:41). Next, Hell is designed to be Satan’s punishment and prison – forever (Revelation 20:10). Finally, it is not the devil who rules or is in control of eternity. It is Jesus Christ (Revelation 14:10; 20:11-21:8). Many fail to understand the righteousness of Hell. “How dare we be punished in such a way!” However, the facts are that Hell makes justice real. It also demonstrates that those who suffered at the hands of the wicked here for Jesus’ sake chose well; those who rejected Christ did not. Further, to be made for God’s presence for eternity, and then to reject that purpose, puts one in the unenviable position of existing forever without the

Free will means that our choices are our own, that no outside force or influence can so infiltrate our thinking as to void our choices. Many times, this is debated in the context of God’s sovereignty, that, for God to be absolute ruler of the universe, His choices must overrule all others. Thus, free will is only an appearance. This is the doctrine of Calvinism. What answers this apparent dilemma is the Bible’s concept of love. Love does not “seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). In other words, in order for love to be love, it will not be self-willed. It is not about self. For love to be true, it must always have some other as its object and reason. Real love is totally caught up in caring for the one loved. That God is love is a major declaration of Scripture (Exodus 34:6-7; 1 John 4:8, 16). That we are to mirror that love to those around us is also a clear teaching of Scripture (John 17:26; Ephesians 5:1, 2; 1 John 4:11). Yet, love must always be a free choice of the will for it to be real. Forced or manipulated love is not love at all but simply a control mechanism for the exercise of raw power. So, real love demands a will free to choose. When we learn that Jesus did not come of Himself but that He was sent (John 8:42), yet He could always call on God to escape the cross (Matthew 26:53), we get

“The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD” (Acts 2:20). “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the full moon became like blood…” (Revelation 6:12 ESV). The holy Bible has long been called an ancient book of superstitions, myths and fables. The unbeliever refuses to give the Bible credence or credibility as something that should be taken seriously. Then, one comes to these very interesting verses. Mostly rejected as figurative at best, these prophetic utterances have been around for thousands of years. In fact, in Acts 2, Peter quoted Joel 2:31, which uses the same terms. We all know when there is a solar eclipse. At that time, the sun goes dark to us because the moon passes between the sun and the earth. However, during a lunar eclipse, the earth obscures the light of the sun for the moon, turning the moon red due to refracted light passing by the earth. In other words, when the sun goes dark for the moon because of the earth, the moon turns red! Incidentally, it must be full to do so. How were the Bible’s penmen, so long ago, able to know this, because the how and the why the full lunar eclipse occurs can only be seen from outer space (Sauers)? The only reasonable answer is that God told them. We have

The story is told of a father teaching his son to ride for the first time. “Be loose with the reins, son. Let the horse have her way, until it’s time to get serious.” The son got up on the back of the large animal, took the reins, and then pulled as tight as his young arms could pull. The horse reared on its hind legs, and the boy went down. The dad calmly took the reins and then lifted his son to his feet. “Like I said, son, loose with the reins.” “But I’ve gotta show her who’s boss,” the son replied. “Son,” said Dad, “you also have to learn the horse. She knows when she has a fool on her back.” Animals and sons have to be trained. We have to learn the ropes of any situation. Education teaches us to adjust wisely to changing circumstances. Failure to adjust can lead to severe consequences. This is especially true with God. His Word is our guide through our ever-changing lives. We need education from which we can develop wisdom (Proverbs 3:19-26; Colossians 2:1-3). Let Him Have His Way with Thee.

The Passover Supper was the beginning of the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread for the Jews. It marked the beginning of the year for them, and it was a time of rejoicing for deliverance from Egyptian slavery and from the Death Angel that destroyed the firstborn of all who were not protected by the blood of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:1-42). Now what does any of this have to do with us? As Paul might say, much in every way (Romans 3:2a)! The Lamb is the Lord Jesus (John 1:29; Revelation 5:6). Jesus is our Passover Lamb, sacrificed for us, whose blood covers our guilt before God and saves us from His wrath. “…For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8 NKJV). Therefore, we are to keep the Feast! For how long? Well, how long are we to be unleavened in sincerity and truth? Remember, the Old Testament feast lasted a week, beginning with the slaughter of the Passover lamb. What do we commemorate now on the first day of every week? The death for us of Jesus (Acts 20:7)! We should hold that commemoration in our heart for the rest of the week, right? Then what? Then, we do it all again! Every Sunday is our Passover celebration, and every week is our feast of unleavened bread seen

Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:28-33 NKJV) The idea of no turning back has been around for a long time. It refers to the valid point that once determined to attain a goal, one should not stop until he or she gets it. Otherwise, a person will fail to obtain the goal. This is especially true in Christianity. The idea of half-measures or half-hearted obedience should be easily recognized by the believer as false discipleship (Luke 14:33). However, this also applies to the idea of the good old days mentality as we consider the days before our commitment to Christ when, according to a faithless memory, we think we were so much better off. Israel succumbed to this sort of unfaithfulness, and it cost them dearly (Acts 7:38-40; Exodus 32:27-28). On the other hand, God is no tyrant. Those who once committed

Government persecution is nothing new. It is as old as government itself. It is from the heavy hand of those in power to remind their subjects who is in charge. To think such is only ancient history is grossly naïve. We are surrounded by power-hungry individuals who would love to dominate us. The faithful Christian’s response to this is all important for us to understand. Tyranny is not the will of God (Lamentations 3:34-36). To fight for the oppressed is righteous (Isaiah 1:17). Yet, the Christian is also to be blameless and harmless (Philippians 2:14-16). Governments come from God Himself as an extension of His rule on earth. That must always be respected (Romans 13:1-7). To fail to do so is sinful. So, whatever government commands us to do, we must do (Galatians 5:23; 1 Peter 2:11-17). However, when the government would have us do anything that is contrary to the plainly revealed will of the Lord in His New Testament, we must obey God instead of men (Acts 5:29) or we sin (Psalm 94:20). Therefore, when a government becomes corrupt or loses its way in reference to the New Testament, the Christian cannot act like nothing is happening. He must be awake and aware. Still, Christians cannot rebel against the powers God has set in place. Yet, the children of God must always be alert to avoid compromising Christ by acquiescing to evil, even by government edict. Christians must also speak up and speak out to power in rebuke, as did Paul

“How Long, O Lord?” This prayer occurs eight times in the Scriptures. Obviously, many men of God wanted an answer to this question: How long, O Lord, must I wait, hurt, mourn, see trouble and lack justice until relief comes? When one considers the plight of Noah, waiting was the burden. He had to wait for God to act to save him from a violent world that threatened his family and him. Then, he had to wait in the ark God had him build. Imagine sweating it out in this huge box filled with wild animals while outside the weather was cutting loose to overwhelm all nature! Here’s the point: The wait was not forever. He got relief from the evil that surrounded him, and he got relief from the storm and the isolation of the ark. After a year in the great box, a new world opened to him, a gift from God, that he was free to use as he chose (Genesis 7:1-8:22). We, too, find ourselves waiting in isolation as contagion and death seem to swirl all around us. We may cry out to the Lord, “How long?” Know that God hears; God will take care of you, and He will bring you out of the storm to a safe place once more. Just wait! “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14 NKJV).

Is the Bible from God? You say, “Yes!” Yet, how do you know? To answer the question by pointing to Scriptures that say that God wrote it is round-robin reasoning – circular reasoning – assuming what is to be proved. Your faith has to rest on more solid ground than circular reasoning. However, is there more solid ground? Oh, yes! Let’s look at some of it. Two points of faith stand on their own that can then help us know whether to trust the Bible as God’s Word. The first is God’s existence. Whether the Bible is God’s Word or not, He exists. The order of the universe, the existence of the intangible (like love, mind, intelligence, emotion, etc.), the moral compass of man and the very concept of God itself demand the reality of God’s existence. There is no other reasonable answer. The second is the Old Testament. Once God’s existence is demonstrated, then the Old Testament is appropriate to study to see if it points toward God’s existence. A major concern here is prophecy. Since many New Testament persons, places and events have been verified independently, then these historically established data can be used to check the veracity of Old Testament prophecy. If prophecy shows itself fulfilled, then it can only be the work of God. Using Old Testament prophecy, we can investigate Old as well as New Testament fulfillment. The invasion of Canaan and the establishment of Israel, the failure of Assyria to capture Jerusalem, the Babylonian

A renowned atheist, Stephen Jay Gould, as he was struggling with cancer, took it upon himself before he died to discover the real reason the world followed a seven-day week. He rejected outright the revelation of Genesis and sought what to him would be a reasonable alternative. He found none. However, since I heard of his fool’s errand, I also began to wonder, “Why seven days?” Certainly, God could have made the week as long as He chose, and seven is a number of perfection. Yet, there is always a solid rationale with God that He reveals to men, and now, I can share it with you. It takes seven days (one week) for the moon to get through one of its phases (new, waxing first quarter, full, waning third quarter). In four weeks, the moon completes its phase cycle (one month). In three completions of its cycle, a season is complete (validated by what constellation is visible in the night sky: Orion for winter, Leo for spring, Scorpius for summer, Andromeda for fall). After four seasons, the year is complete. There it is. Notice I did not say it was complicated. Frankly, from the beginning, men have had to hold to such knowledge for survival, especially in planting and harvesting. In addition, with what we know now of the stars and celestial mechanics, even more the majesty and intricacy of this grand creation are broadcast and shown to be for us here on earth. It all hinges on our seven-day week

You never know the strength of your structure until the storm hits. Houses can look nice, strong and solid, but it is not until the winds howl against them and the waters rise to move them that you really know their strength or weakness. A structure that can take repeated blows from the weather and wind is a place where you can hang your hat. The strength of any building, as all builders know, is the foundation. If it is well laid, then even a shoddy frame may stand. Foundation is everything. However, the thing about foundations is that they are usually hidden. That part of the structure is not the attractive part, and so many times, a home buyer is unaware of the strength of his place until the storm hits. Of course, if there are flaws, it may be too late to fix them. We are passing through a big storm, but not without purpose. Life’s storms hit everyone, but lives built on the Rock (Matthew 16:16-19) will survive and will stand (Matthew 7:24-27). God uses the storms of life to show us what we have and what needs to be shored up. So, how are you holding up? There Stands a Rock S.S. Journal Some build their hopes on the ever-drifting sand,Some on their fame, or their treasure, or their land;Mine’s on the Rock that forever shall stand-Jesus, the Rock of Ages.

Most of us love holidays and festivals – the glitter, the colors, the presents, the special schedules, and of course, the Peanuts TV specials! What is wrong with these things? In principle, absolutely nothing at all. Special days on the calendar give us opportunities to celebrate our lives in particular ways, and half the fun is in the anticipation and preparation. A point to note is that “holiday” comes from the phrase “holy day.” Many of our fun days we celebrate started as religious observances. For many, that religious connection is real and still relevant. There’s the rub [problem]. Special days are fine as long as we don’t confuse our calendar with God’s calendar. There are two concerns here. First, in the Old Testament, there were many special days of religious significance that God ordained, such as the Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, Atonement and others (Leviticus 23; Deuteronomy 16). While the Old Covenant was in force, God expected the Jews to follow such a calendar. However, now, we are under the New Testament exclusively (Romans 10:4; 2 Corinthians 3:5-6; Colossians 2:13-17). The New Testament has no such calendar, and we are forbidden to create one (1 Corinthians 4:6; Galatians 4:8-11). So, commands today for the Christian to keep the Sabbath are false. Also, to teach that manmade holidays are to be kept as holy to God, such as Christmas and Easter, is to teach falsely (Colossians 2:20-23). Personal devotion to a particular day is to be kept private and personal (Romans 14:5-6,

Does anything get by our God? Does anything happen to catch Him off guard or threaten to defeat Him? Of course, the answer is, “No.” When we hurt or get swallowed up in circumstances beyond our control, it is real easy to think that this got past God’s control as well, but nothing could be further from the truth. He feeds the animals, dresses the grass and runs the heavens. He supplies all His creation with everything it needs all the time. He neither sleeps nor is weary; He is not distracted, preoccupied or enfeebled. He sees everything, is everywhere and knows all. How can anything get past Him? The answer is, “It can’t.” Does God use trouble and trials for our eternal benefit? Oh, yes, He always has and will continue to as we have need (Romans 8:28). However, will these situations ever get out of His control? Never. How could they? He’s got the whole world in His hands. “The earth belongs to the Lord, and all its fulness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1).

“All things work together for good,” the text says. Yet, how do shut doors in my face, hunger pangs that won’t go away and fear of debilitating or deadly disease help me? The answer is in Hebrews 12:9-11. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Did you get it? God uses troublesome times as discipline to train us (Romans 5:1-5) so that we might be partakers of His holiness. That’s Heaven, people! God is putting us through our paces to get us ready for glory! Now, God wants us to enjoy life here, for sure (1 Timothy 4:8; 6:17), but ultimately, the good He has in mind for us is Heaven itself. God is determined that we do not miss it (2 Peter 3:9). He will do for us and to us whatever it takes for us to learn how to get there, if we will cooperate (Ephesians 1:11-12). This helps us see things differently, doesn’t it (James 1:2-4)?

The prophet Isaiah led a school of prophets (Isaiah 8:16-18). Two of his students were Nahum and Micah. I say this because the phrasing in these two books is very similar to Isaiah’s use, and their ministry is in the appropriate time frame for Isaiah’s graduates. Micah was well-known in Judah, and his writings were used in Jeremiah’s time to show the lawfulness and legitimacy of Jeremiah’s work (Jeremiah 26:16-19). Micah was a champion for the poor and oppressed. He railed against the false teachers of his day. He gave further prophecy of the coming Messiah; it was Micah’s writings (Micah 5:2) that indicated to Herod where Jesus was born (Matthew 2:4-6). Yet, Micah did all this without the support of his wife. Micah was a man with a family, but his text at the end strongly indicates that, rather than support him, his wife actually worked against him in his efforts to spread God’s Word (Micah 7:5-10). Jesus quoted Micah to let His disciples know that, as with Micah, so it can be with us in our service to the Father (Matthew 10:34-37). Sometimes, even as you seek to do your best, and surrounded by family, yet you may find yourself all alone in devotion to God. The Lord says that this should not discourage us. Instead, be prepared to walk alone hand-in-hand with God. We must love our family and always seek their welfare, caring for them and being the examples they need. However, they must never be

This phrase, found some eight times in the Book of Revelation, declares so very clearly that the Christian must beat this world and its temptations, if he wants to get to Heaven. It cannot be said too often that we are at war: with the world’s standards (1 John 2:15-17), with the world’s peer pressure (Romans 12:2) and with the world’s god (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). As creatures of flesh as well as spirit, this would seem impossible. Yet, as Paul said, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (Romans 7:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:56-58). We can triumph over all these things so that we can have good hope of hearing on the Last Day, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21; Romans 8:31-37; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17). The answer is simple and, yet, involved. “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). It is also the grace found in the propitiation that covers our sins forever, found in Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1-2). It is also our faithful endurance to the Faith, our consistent obedience at all costs to endure to the end (2 Timothy 4:7-8). It is not impossible for us. In fact, every Christian has this power to overcome (Acts 2:39-42). However, Heaven and our God must mean everything to us. We must love nothing more than Him.

The United States is feeling the results of over 100 years of rejection of God’s Holy Word. It is not pretty. Crime stats are through the roof. Moral confusion reigns. Respect for authority is at an all-time low. Suicide rates are huge, especially among children. Drug use is out of control. STD’s are epidemic. Broken homes are the norm. Conversation is filled with filth, blasphemy, lies and disrespect. Furthermore, American citizens are losing control of their government and borders. However, we are the church of Christ. This means Christ is our King—first, last and always. It means our citizenship is secure, whether the US leaders honor the Constitution or not. It means we are unstoppable in our service to the Lord. It also means that the present national situation offers the church here opportunities that we have never seen before!  Think what hatefulness, emptiness and futility are being evidenced in these lost souls, many of them children. To hear a kind word, to be offered an expression of hope, to find out that you will not hurt them but are only there for their good, are gifts many of them would not even dare to dream. Yet, it is what we are all about in Christ. Jesus offers to all forgiveness, healing, light, freedom, wisdom, unity, righteousness—just what they need! We get to be the ones who share the truth of the love of God with these souls to show them Jesus and the way home—to God’s house. This is

To believe in something or someone is to put full confidence in that object or person. It is to develop a sense of trust that prompts such confidence. This confidence is a regular part of life. We cannot function without it. The farmer plants seed with faith that the seed will produce a crop worthy of his efforts. Rocket scientists concentrate on mathematical formulae, expecting such computations to succeed into translating a theory into the action of rocket “flight.” Those who ride the rockets trust the scientists, engineers, mathematicians, builders and inventors who put it all together to get them safely into space and back to earth again. The new mother trusts the baby formula she buys, the customer his bank, a patient his doctor, the citizen his government and so on. This trust is necessary precisely because we cannot see the processes involved to accomplish what we need. So, we hear the testimony, examine the evidence in relation to past success and draw conclusions on whether the benefit of such trust is warranted. We do this knowing that accidents happen, nobody’s perfect, information is limited, and results cannot be totally guaranteed. All of this makes it rather ridiculous, then, to fail to believe in the Lord. With the Bible as His testimony and nature as His demonstration, faith in God is the only rational conclusion to draw. To call such faith a “leap in the dark,” which we would rather not make, reveals a prejudice against the Lord that

“…Now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11b). This remarkable phrase from the apostle Paul creates wonder in the reader. How it struck the Roman Christians, we can only imagine. However, how it creates in us the sense of urgency and excitement for the return of Jesus is powerful. Reading this, it is easy to think, “Perhaps today!” We know that Simon Peter said that time was relative with God (2 Peter 3:8), but we also know that Jesus said to watch, because you do not know when that day will be (Mark 13:31-37). The fact we are closer now to that day than when we became Christians means that date really is on God’s calendar. We are, every day, every year, getting closer to it. If there is no other reason to rejoice in another sunrise, certainly this suffices. If there is no other reason to praise God for another opportunity for service and praise, then this in itself grabs the heart, fills the spirit and directs us heavenward. We are that much closer, that much nearer and closer than ever before!

The Book of Hosea is unique from this perspective: God took charge of a priest’s life and sent him on a journey of love, heartbreak, desertion and reclamation. Before Hosea uttered a word of prophecy, according to the account, he was commanded to marry either a prostitute or a woman with wandering eyes. This was a technical violation of the law, for priests were to marry only virgins (Leviticus 21:14). As expected, the wife proved herself unfaithful, and Hosea had to deal with the betrayal. Finally, she deserted him, was kidnapped and was taken into slavery. Hosea found her and had to buy her back for himself. He told her the new rules of the house to try and reclaim her heart (Hosea 3:1-3). God used Hosea’s worn, broken heart to voice His prophecy to unfaithful Israel. The mournful tones are evident to the reader. “…‘She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, And went after her lovers; But Me she forgot,’ says the LORD” (Hosea 2:13b). “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away” (Hosea 6:4). “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred” (Hosea 11:8). How sad and terrible that we would treat God so!

The church has no intrinsic authority. No creed is law; no ordination is valid. It has no separatist clergy class fitting, no religious title and no church tradition. The church does not authorize. In fact, it cannot properly authorize anything. Only the Lord Jesus Christ authorizes through His New Testament (James 4:12). The church is what is authorized. Failure to understand this is the basic error of both Catholic and Protestant religion. The purity of the religion of the New Testament, with apostolic doctrine and tradition contained therein, reveals the true church of Christ, now and forever. When the New Testament as law is no longer considered sufficient by us, then true Christianity quickly gets lost to us. Then, Christ is hidden from us and our worship becomes invalid (Matthew 28:18-20; 15:7-9; Acts 2:42; Colossians 2:20-23; 1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:15).

Who is a righteous man? Certainly, someone who practices what is right before God in his behavior is a righteous man (1 John 3:7). However, there is more to it. Since perfect righteousness is beyond us, there is the need to be in a state of righteousness, which comes by faith in Christ (Philippians 3:9; Hebrews 10:12-14, 38). So, the righteous man believes God and believes he is heard by God (James 5:16). He works righteousness, which means he seeks to do good and not harm toward all (Romans 13:8-14). Most of all, he understands righteousness to be the behavior God has ordained in His Word. This right-doing does not come from himself. It is obedience to the Word of God as he has learned it (Psalm 19:7-9). Who is the righteous man? It is the Christian who admits he is a sinner before God but seeks the will of God in his life, with all his heart. Is this you?