“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” – Matthew 5:13

My family was in the salt business for three generations. My grandfather, after some years working for a salt company, quit his job and started his own company. When he retired, my uncle became president of the company, and my father, vice-president. Later, my husband Marty, a chemical engineer, had a long career with the same company, working in their research and development department.

When my sister and I were growing up, my father educated us on the many properties and uses of salt. Apparently, there was much more to it than what we shook onto our food at the dinner table. Salt was used to melt snow and ice on the roads, to preserve foods, and as a water softener. (I had no idea what that last one meant at the time.) If one of us had a sore throat, Dad encouraged us to gargle with salt water. And as I have had to deal with sinus problems most of my life, I discovered the all-important “Neti Pot” could help me breathe better by rinsing the sinuses with saline solution. I have used salt and olive oil to exfoliate and soften skin. And when occasionally I would buy some “low sodium” product by accident, I was made unpleasantly aware of how important that ingredient was to the flavor of just about any food.

So, if we are to be the “salt of the earth,” as Jesus described us, what exactly does that mean? While one could make a case for applying this passage to several of salt’s uses, the most common interpretation is in the sense of preserving. In Jesus’ time, long before there was refrigeration, salt was used to keep food from spoiling, or at least to slow down the spoilage.

No doubt about it, this fallen world, teeming with fallen people, is in decay. The world system is under the influence of our enemy Satan, and we are hurdling toward destruction. We (the Church) are sent to shine Light into the dark places, to be an influence for good. We can’t stop the destruction of the world, but we can be used by God to delay it, buying time for more people to be redeemed.

So, how do we do that? The answer will be different from one person to the next. But one thing we are not to do is isolate ourselves within our churches and wait it out. As the king told his servants in one of Jesus’ parables, “Occupy until I come.” This parable has implications for us as we wait for Christ’s return – we have work to do.

Does this work involve (*cringe*)”politics”?

Maybe.

In the Body of Christ there are different members with different roles. Most of us are not called to enter the arena of social activism or government leadership. But, thank God, some of us are – I would not want to live in a country run entirely by the ungodly! (No politician jokes, please.)

Those who are sincerely trying to be “salt and light” in our government have an uphill climb, and often feel as though the rest of us have abandoned them. As much as some of us loathe politics and would like to stay uninvolved, we do need to support our brothers and sisters who are in places of authority.

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and those in authority, that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (I Timothy 2: 1-3) So, praying for our leaders is the very least we can do. In addition to praying for them, we could contact them occasionally, to encourage them and let them know we’re praying for them. I know if I were on the front lines, I would want to know I’m being prayed for.

I guess I should mention voting, although I would hope in America that’s a given. Some Christians refuse to get involved in elections, saying they don’t want to choose “the lesser of two evils,” as if that will make them more virtuous in God’s eyes. I could be mistaken, but in my view, refusing to choose the lesser of two evils is letting a vote for the greater of two evils go unchallenged. Again, we are not saving the world, but we are trying to slow down its demise.

In ancient times, God judged whole civilizations according to the actions of their leaders, even though the citizens had no say. How much more will we be accountable, when we are blessed enough to live in a country where we have a voice? True, we may feel our voices are being limited. Nevertheless, we should prayerfully use whatever influence we have been given, whether it’s in voting, writing letters to a leader or editor, or showing up at a city council or school board meeting, as the Lord leads, and conducting ourselves “in a manner worthy of the gospel.”

As for getting involved in the debates of the day, whether in person, through letter writing, or on social media, I have a few criteria for speaking up, and otherwise I try to keep my mouth shut.

1.) The issue must be one that is important enough in the grand scheme of things that it’s worth the time and effort put into the discussion.

2.) I should know that the person I speak to will listen intelligently and that it’s possible (s)he may have a change of heart. Trying to persuade a closed-minded person is wasted time I will never get back, and I’m not getting any younger.

3.) I must be knowledgeable enough about the subject. I don’t want to find out later that I said something that wasn’t true. I would rather stay silent on political issues than lose my credibility and hurt my testimony on more important (eternal) subjects.

Needless to say, after using that checklist, I usually opt to say nothing – to people, that is. Talking to God is always appropriate.

Prayer: Lord, You have called us to be in the world but not of the world. Help us to follow Your lead, always speaking and acting in a way that honors You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

Do you remember when the people that brought you food at a restaurant were called “waiters” and “waitresses”? I don’t know when I first noticed that they are now called “servers,” but I guess that makes more sense to people, since the word “wait” denotes sitting around, and we certainly don’t want to see that going on with employees at an establishment where we’re dining.

So, where do you suppose the phrase “wait on” came from in the first place, as in “I wait on him hand and foot!” Serving, it would seem, involves everything but waiting.

Long ago there was a certain kind of servant in a noble household, called a “lady in waiting.” These servants were women or young girls whose job it was to serve a lady (possibly even the princess or queen) in any way she needed it, at any moment. For this reason, a lady in waiting might not be busy every moment of every day. She might spend most of her time just “being there” for her lady, ready at a moments’ notice to meet her needs.

I remember a prayer retreat I attended when we lived in St. Louis. I was expecting the speakers to deliver messages regarding how to make a prayer list, setting aside enough time to pray, and checking off each item, as more prayer requests come in and the list gets longer and longer … (I get mentally tired just thinking about it.)

To my surprise, the theme of the weekend was almost the opposite. I was introduced to the concept of “meditative prayer.” (You mean I don’t have to be constantly saying something?) We were coached to focus in on Jesus, to make our spirits rest in His presence, and just realize His holiness, His perfection, and His love for us. For some of us it was a challenge to let go of our to-do lists, our thoughts of what was going on back home, any guilt we felt about not being there taking care of our families, and our own sense of importance – the notion that things would fall apart without us. (*eye roll*) But then if we truly believed God is all-powerful, we should be able to trust that He can take care of our families without our help for a couple of days. (And He can give us discernment to find the balance between trust and laziness.)

One passage of Scripture that illustrated perfectly what I took away from this weekend was the account in Luke 10 of when Jesus went to the house of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. A lot of us were able to identify with Martha, who was frantically busy, wanting everything to be perfect for Jesus and His entourage. But Mary, much to Martha’s dismay, was not helping her sister but instead was sitting at Jesus’ feet. When Martha complained to Jesus (the One she was allegedly trying to show hospitality to!) the Lord gently told her she was stressing about so many things, but only a few were necessary – really only one. Mary had chosen that one thing, and contrary to Martha’s implied accusation of laziness, Jesus commended Mary for recognizing what was really important and availing herself of it.

(We were at that retreat to learn to be “Marys.”)

The following is an excerpt from my book “BARRIERS – So, if prayers are so powerful, how come mine don’t get answered?” This passage is in the chapter about the barrier of misdirected attention:

“We aren’t told how Martha responded. I hope she took the hint and sat down with her sister, but whether or not she did, Jesus had made His priorities crystal clear. Serving is good; relationship is better. Besides, neglecting relationship for the sake of serving can bring one dangerously close to the belief (conscious or not) that we are, at least partly, saving ourselves through our dedication to good works. But as I hope has been made clear in Chapter One, we are saved because of what Jesus has done for us, not the other way around. Acts of service are an outgrowth of the love relationship we have with Him.

“Serving. Relationship. We can (and should) have both! But serving begins with relationship. It’s a matter of focus. Martha was focused on doing things for Jesus; Mary was focused on Jesus. All you Marthas out there, consider this: If Jesus’ throat got dry from teaching and He wanted a cup of water, whom would He have asked? It wasn’t Martha. Jesus would have had to (a) find out where she was and (b) flag her down to let her know what He wanted her to do.

“No, I’m guessing He would have asked the one who appeared to be “doing nothing,” who was making herself available to serve Him at any given moment. “

(Excerpted from “BARRIERS – So, if prayers are so powerful, how come mine don’t get answered?” by Ann Aschauer, Chapter 2)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are so used to the notion that we have to work for everything we get and that our worth depends on our level of performance! Could it be that You offer us salvation and a relationship with You without cost? Is it true that You are delighted when we simply focus on You and bask in Your presence – when we just love You and allow You to love us? Stop us in our busy tracks today, and help us to let go of everything but You. In Your name, amen.

In honor of Question Evolution Day tomorrow (Thanks, Jimmy and Clyde*), here are some thoughts on questioning.

After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. – Luke 2:46

It was my middle school biology class, second semester. We had spent a good portion of the first semester learning the basics of just what is meant by “science” – what can be observed with our five senses, the difference between “observation” and “interpretation,” and cause and effect – that everything that happens has a cause and every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, nothing happens in a vacuum, nothing happens “just because.”

Now we were getting to the fun part – actually studying LIFE! I was excited to learn just how these bodies of ours worked. I knew we were incredibly complex creations, but according to that day’s lesson, we weren’t always as complex as we are now, nor were we “created,” per se.

Our teacher was saying that in a primitive life form “a mutation occurred.” We had already given up trying to figure out how that first life form came into existence out of the primordial goo, and I guess no one was willing to ask. But I didn’t want to go any further with this narrative without understanding exactly what happened after that mysterious emergence of life form. So, I innocently asked, “What cause the mutation?”

The teacher responded by explaining how the mutation benefitted the organism, and how subsequent organisms with this mutation survived more often than those without it, so they eventually overpowered and outnumbered the weaker, less evolved organisms. That made sense but didn’t answer my question.

I asked again, “What caused the mutation?” She again talked about what happened as a result of the mutations. She seemed eager to get on with the story about how that tiny thing became something bigger and more complex, so when I asked a third time, “But what caused the mutation in the first place?” she sighed with exasperation and said, “It just happened, OK?”

I didn’t have the guts to ask how that lined up with what we had learned first semester, that nothing “just happens.” (I did want to pass that class, after all.) 

That was more than fifty years ago, but I remember it clearly. It was my first clue that possibly not everything I was learning in school added up or was complete. I was certainly not omniscient, but then neither were my teachers.

I sometimes look back on this episode in my life, as I see debates heating up today. I’ve seen Christians, including myself, getting sucked into losing battles, and now I’m thinking maybe we don’t have to be. Maybe we’re allowing ourselves to be on the defensive, when the burden of proof should be on the non-believer. Maybe we should ask them to explain why they believe what they believe? Besides, if we do this with a respectful, open-minded attitude, it can demonstrate to others that we are interested in their views and not just wanting to spout our own opinions.

There’s a place for telling my story, and I for one lean toward that way of witnessing. It’s hard to argue with. (You can’t tell me what I experienced didn’t happen. I was there.) And yet, it’s not all about me.

What kinds of questions could a Christian ask an atheist?

“If there is no intelligent Designer, how do you think complex systems like photosynthesis, metamorphosis, DNA, and immune systems came about?”

“Why do you think so many people believe in a higher Power? How could our finite minds invent something greater than ourselves?”

What kinds of questions would you ask someone who believes in God and heaven, but not in salvation through repentance and receiving forgiveness on the basis of Jesus’ death on the cross to pay for our sins?

“Do you believe heaven is a perfect place? Do you believe you are perfect?” [assuming they say “yes,” heaven is perfect, but “no,” they aren’t] “If you and the other imperfect people are allowed into heaven with all your imperfections, wouldn’t heaven stop being a perfect place?”

“If Jesus’ death didn’t pay for your sins, how else can there be both forgiveness and justice?”

A question for someone who wants to earn their way to heaven by doing enough “good deeds” to outweigh their “bad deeds”:

“How do you know when you’ve done enough?”

I’m sure you can think of more good questions. Please tell me (ask me) in the comment section.

Finally, please don’t think of evangelism as a debate or battle of wits. It isn’t. The cleverest debater can’t save a soul, and the most primitive communicator could see a soul saved before his eyes after the most mundane explanation of his faith. That’s because GOD does the saving. We can be used by Him to plant seeds of curiosity, engage a person in intelligent dialogue, and open the door for relationship that may someday result in their placing their faith in Jesus. But that will happen only when the Spirit of God draws that person to Himself. Our job, as Peter wrote, is to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.“ (I Peter 3:15a) He then added, “But do this with gentleness and respect...” (15b) I submit to you that having respect includes asking the other person to give the reason for whatever hope (s)he has, as well. Be willing to hear the other side. (In the words of NeedToBreathe, “Be more heart and less attack.”)

Most importantly, PRAY for others. Ask God to open their minds and hearts, present opportunities for them to hear about Jesus, and give you (or other believers) the right words to say. He will do that, and it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit! (Mark 13:11)

Prayer: Lord, You created us, we didn’t create ourselves. Forgive us for the times we didn’t give You the glory You deserve. Everything we are, everything we have, and everything we do is all because You gave us life, gifts, and abilities. Speak through us to others who don’t know You yet and let them be drawn to You by Your love that shines through us, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

*

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.   –   Psalm 103:17

As I was praying one day, “putting on my spiritual armor,” I was taking up the “shield of faith” (Ephesians 6:16) and thanking the Lord for giving me that shield at such an early age. It had occurred to me long ago that the Old Testament refers to God’s faithfulness as our shield and fortress, as well. (Psalm 91:4) And that faithfulness was with us long before any of us came to our own faith. I have included this awesome truth in my daily meditations for some time now, thinking on the wonder that God’s faithfulness was with me before I was ever born.

Lately I pondered the meaning of Psalm 139: 15-16: “When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.”

Wait, “the depths of the earth”? – Could that mean that God knew me, even before He created the first human being from the dust of the ground?

Yes, I believe it does. God’s Word declares a love that began even before the creation of the world – “From everlasting to everlasting!” That means from eternity past!

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of eternity future – that God’s kingdom will never, ever, ever end.

But even more, the thought of eternity in the past – that there was never a beginning – is enough to make my head explode.

Does the fact that I can’t comprehend the eternal aspect of God’s love hurt my faith any? Not at all. In fact, I would be suspicious of a “god” that I could comprehend completely. Eternity is just one facet of God’s character that I marvel at, that will probably have me in a state of wonder forever.

This is the shortest post I’ve written in a long time! But I trust it is packed with blessings for you, just knowing that GOD LOVES YOU!

He always has, and He always will.

In other words, there was never a time when He didn’t love you!

Prayer: LORD, of all the truths we find in Your Word, could any be more precious than this, that You have loved us with an everlasting love? We realize we don’t deserve Your love at all, and that realization makes us all the more grateful. As we bask in that infinite love today, refine us and make us what You want us to be, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” – Isaiah 30:21

I shared in my last post my struggle with borderline O.C.D and A.D.D. Being an obsessed perfectionist, I have long struggled to “let go and let God.” On the other hand, my distractibility makes it obvious that any striving for perfection on my part is futile. If anything good is going to come out of my life, it will be God doing it.

And He does. I have told many stories of how the LORD has worked wonders in my life through me, in spite of me, and occasionally using the very traits that I sometimes think render me unusable. For example:

When we were living in Manistee, Michigan, I went to St. Louis to visit my parents with our first child, Joanna, who was a toddler at the time. Since I never left home without my guitar, it was a juggling act getting through the airports, including a changeover in Chicago, but I wasn’t about to take the risk of checking either of them.

We had a great visit with my parents, and on the last day we were having a long conversation in the kitchen, when my A.D.D. mind was starting to stray. A radio was on at low volume, which everyone else seemed to be able to ignore. But not me.

Over our talk of the next day’s travel plans, I was hearing snatches of the news, and it wasn’t even the kind I had any interest in. Still, I couldn’t tune it out. The announcer said something about a bill that Congress was going to vote on the next day, a bill with letters and numbers that meant nothing to me. I only understood the word “bill.”

Or should I say “Bill”?

Let me tell you about my friend Bill.

When we had first moved to Manistee, I volunteered at the hospital there to go room to room with my guitar and sing to anyone who wanted a song or two. It was fun for me and a nice break from the medical routine for the patients. I made some nice acquaintances, and on rare occasions I would meet someone special, and we would develop a lasting friendship. Anna Moloney was one of those.

Anna was a cancer patient, tiny and pale, but with a smile and a glow about her that made it a pleasure to be in her room. She never dwelled on her disease – never mentioned it. She was mainly interested in others. She loved anything I sang, but she also had favorites, and when I sang a song that had an Irish melody, she loved for me to sing it with an Irish dialect. In fact, she insisted on it. She even coached me some; “Not ‘you.’ Sing ‘ye.'”

Over the months I knew Anna, I had a close up view of the journey she and her husband Bill were taking. We sang together, but we also prayed together, sometimes joined by a young worker, Gil, who seemed to have grown attached to Anna, as well. She was like a grandmother to him.

The day came when I showed up at the hospital, and the first person I saw was Gil, looking as though his world had just fallen apart. He told me Anna had passed away that morning.

After Anna’s death, Bill and I kept in touch. Since neither my parents nor Marty’s parents lived in the area, and since Bill’s children all lived in the Chicago area, he became like another dad to me. He would take me out to lunch, even though I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy with Joanna and sometimes couldn’t bring myself to eat much of anything. After Joanna was born, Bill was as excited as my parents and Marty’s, and after they had gone back to their respective homes, Bill became like a third Grampa. When Joanna was old enough to be left a for a few hours, Bill, who lived right across from the hospital, would watch her while I made my rounds singing, and when I was finished, I’d go to his house, where the highchair was pulled up to the table, and the three of us would have lunch.

It was nice having a “grampa” for Joanna, but when Bill told me he was moving to Chicago to be with his own children and grandchildren, I understood. We kept in touch by mail (Snail mail! Remember that?!), and I found Bill had a way with words, with his Irish wit, that was so engaging I couldn’t throw the letters out. I still have a stack of them in a drawer.

One day his letter had the bad news that now his daughter, a young mother, had cancer, and Bill was asking for prayer. He was also questioning the goodness of God. He kept asking, “Why her? Why not me?” And he really would have traded places with her, if he could.

As it turned out, he did.

Within a year, his daughter had been healed, and Bill was the one with cancer. I was sad that we lived far apart now and could only write him letters.

So, in my parents’ kitchen in St. Louis, with the news droning on about some bill in Congress, it occurred to me – Bill!

He’s in Chicago!

I have a four-hour layover in Chicago tomorrow!

To make a long story short, I made a few phone calls, and the next day Joanna and I were picked up at the Chicago airport by one of Bill’s sons and dropped off at Bill’s apartment, where the three of us had a wonderful visit, complete with singing and praying together, just like old times. I was then picked up by his daughter and whisked back to the airport in time to catch my flight to Manistee.

It was the last time I saw Bill before he went to be with Jesus.

P.S. I never found out if that bill passed in Congress. Don’t care.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the creative ways You drop ideas into my distracted mind and guide me in this serendipity of life. Thanks for blessing my life today. And give my love to Bill. Amen.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body. – Romans 12:4-5a

I just finished writing a post that I’m pretty excited about, so excited I’m tempted to “publish immediately.” But it’s not Friday.

I have self-diagnosed with mild O. C. D. (obsessive compulsive disorder), having read the definition: “having a tendency towards excessive orderliness, perfectionism, and great attention to detail.” Yep, that’s me – at least when it comes to blogging. (People who have been in my house might not apply that to every area of my life.)

I realized very early on that I would not be one of those prolific bloggers who post something every day. I don’t have that kind of time, mainly because I devote so much time and attention to each post down to the last detail. I’ll spend at least an hour writing a piece, then another hour or two trying to shave it down to roughly a thousand words. I will proofread so many times I lose objectivity and have to set it aside for a different day to approach it with fresh eyes.

I post every Friday. I figure for my followers with Monday-Friday jobs, it gives them all weekend to read my latest. Once a week has proven doable for me, so I make the effort to post every Friday. Part of my obsession is wanting to be reliable.

This compulsion to be reliable was reinforced by a follower who wrote in a Christmas card that she always looked forward to Fridays, because reading my blog was sometimes the only thing that kept her going through the week. So, if I post too much too soon, would there be a Friday I draw a blank or run out of time and let this follower down? Yes, I know, I’m making myself out to be too important here, but still, I aim for consistency.

I have another quirk that you might not expect in one with O. C. D., and that is A. D. D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) or as I call it, “E. D. D.” (“Easily Distracted Disorder.”) I saw a t-shirt once in a catalogue that I probably should have bought. It said: “I have O.C.D. and A.D.D. That means everything has to be perfect, but not for long.”

Yes, I am one of those who has a hard time focusing on pretty much anything. The best way for me to “focus” is to multitask. That way my brain can jump back and forth repeatedly from one task to the other and not get bored with either.

… until a third thing comes to mind, derailing everything, and all bets are off.

But I digress (*surprise, surprise*).

Can God use someone like me? Well, I sure hope so!

The Bible says in multiple places that the Body of Christ (the Church – Christians) is made up of many members, and just like a human body, every part has a job to do. An ear may not be able to see as the eye can, but it can provide hearing, which the eye can’t.

We all have our weaknesses, but the good news is that God can heal us of those weaknesses.

Or use us in spite of our weaknesses.

Or, He may do something even more extraordinary and use us through our weaknesses!

“How in the world does He do that?!“

I’m glad you asked. 😉

Let’s start with the O.C.D. A fellow blogger was expressing his frustration over this affliction and the way it interfered with his life. I’ll be the first to admit, being obsessive can really get one’s journey stuck in the mud. As with any problem, the first step is to PRAY. I can’t fix any problem without God’s help. As I purposefully redirect my attention to Him, He may remove the obsession. Or He may change its direction to something more worthy of obsessing over.

There are certain things I have felt “called” to do, which I have discussed in other posts. I am so convinced I am called to them that I feel compelled to fulfill that calling daily. As I told my fellow blogger with O.C.D, we are the people God can count on to keep our commitments. So, those things I have committed to pray about daily, I pray about daily.

Now comes the fun part (being sarcastic here), and I’m pretty sure there’s some spiritual warfare going on. After all, the battlefield is the mind. As convinced as I am that I’m called to daily prayer, I am also convinced that the enemy of my soul wants to derail my prayers at every corner. And here’s where the A.D.D. comes in.

I’m having a productive time of prayer, and my phone beeps. Or I think I heard it beep. I start to wonder what that beep was about, or where I even left my phone. Am I forgetting something that’s happening today? Was I supposed to be somewhere? I hope not. I wouldn’t want to repeat the blunder when I missed that meeting 23 years ago …

Fortunately, I am retired now, and although I’m still busy, my time is more flexible than before. Still, most nights I am up well past midnight, finishing up the things (mostly prayer) I am committed to do every day, without fail! Because of A.D.D. I didn’t get to them earlier, but because of O.C.D. I am not going to bed until I finish praying! Fortunately, I know God hears prayers that go out in the wee hours of the morning as much as He does the ones at dawn prayed by the got-it-all-together saints. *sigh*

Can distractions, in fact, be used by God for something positive, and not just leaving people like me struggling to “Pray without ceasing”?

The answer is “Yes!” And I’ll tell that story next time.

Prayer: LORD, You know each of us, because You made us. We acknowledge our imperfections and are all the more grateful that You choose and use us anyway. Help us not to use our quirks as excuses, but to serve You all we can with what You’ve given us. And when we fail, thank You for Your mercy and grace, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!” As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognized whose seal and cord and staff these are.” Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I …” – Genesis 38: 24b-26a

As you may have guessed from the excerpt above, Genesis 38 is both complicated and unsavory. I have never heard a sermon with this story as the Scripture reference, probably for good reason. The Bible has ample passages that are more easily dissected and applicable today, enough to keep pastors preaching for decades without delving into this soap opera. But if you’ve ever set out to read the whole Bible, you’ve probably run across this story early on.

Judah, one of Jacob’s twelve sons, took a wife from the Canaanites and had three sons with her. He got a wife for his oldest son Er, a woman named Tamar. The Bible says Er was evil, so God killed him.

In those days, a widow with no children, in danger of utter destitution, was permitted to have children through her late husband’s brother. Judah told his second son, Onan to lie with Tamar, but Onan denied her a child. God was displeased, and Onan died.

Judah promised to give Tamar his third son Shelah when the boy had grown up. But years passed, and Judah didn’t keep his promise.

Finally, Tamar, disguising herself as a prostitute, seduced Judah, who gave her his seal, cord, and staff as pledge to pay her later. After three months had passed, Judah was told that his daughter-in-law had played the harlot and was pregnant. Judah demanded that she be brought out and burned. But when Tamar produced his pledge as evidence against him, Judah declared, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her my son Shelah.”

When my Michigan prayer partner had just read Genesis 38, she commented on Judah’s last statement. Whatever my friend said went in one ear, picked up speed, and went out the other. This was one of those stories I preferred to skip over, as I didn’t know what to make of it, and besides, it was an interruption of my favorite OT story, Joseph!

I should have been paying better attention.

One evening after a service at our church, I met a pastor visiting from Washington state. We shared a lot of interesting experiences and ideas and ended up praying together. He then asked, “Can I get your input on something?” Amused that a pastor would ask for my input, I said, “Sure,” expecting he just wanted a woman’s perspective. He then told me that he’d been asked to preach the next week on Genesis 38 and had no idea what to say about it.

“Remind me what Genesis 38 is about…?” I asked, cringing. You guessed it: Judah and Tamar. As I silently said a quick prayer, I had a flashback …

My daughter Kelly and I had recently been to a Motor City Pride parade to share the love of Jesus with the participants, where we were warmly welcomed with hugs and tears. This seemed ironic to me, that these “sinners” were more welcoming than some churches I had visited…

Suddenly the Judah/Tamar story made sense to me, including and especially what Judah said at the end.

Here’s a summary of the story without specifics and a summary of how something similar is happening today: 

A widow had a need that was legitimate, especially in that day. There was a culturally accepted means to get her need met, but in the end, that means was denied her.    

Now out of legitimate resources, the desperate widow turned to illegitimate means. Her father-in-law, the very one who had failed her in the first place, heard about her actions and condemned her to death. When she produced the evidence that he was just as guilty as she was, he declared, “She is more righteous than I.”     

Understand, Judah wasn’t saying Tamar was righteous, any more than Jesus was telling us to hate our families when we choose to follow Him. (Luke 14:26) Jesus was saying we should love Him more than our families. And Judah was saying Tamar was less despicable than he was. The reason he gave was not primarily his participation in the adultery, but that Tamar was in the position she was in because he had failed her. 

FAST FORWARD TO TODAY: There are people (basically every person on the planet) with legitimate needs; they want friendship, love, acceptance, and belonging. There are legitimate ways to meet these needs, and probably the best way is to belong to a loving, accepting church. But what if the Church drops the ball? If these people are not welcomed into the church, for whatever reason – personality, race, social status, baggage, or various dysfunctions – these people aren’t going to just say “Oh well,” and give up. They’ll find what they need somewhere else, such as a gang, a cult, or the LGBT community. Then, when they have met their legitimate needs by what we consider illegitimate means, many in the Christian community will point fingers at them and condemn them as horrible people, not realizing that the reason they are where they are is because the Church has failed them. This is not to say that what they’re doing is right, it is begging the question: If the Church had done its job and loved and accepted those people, would they have turned out differently? (I’m thinking for a lot of them the answer is “yes.”)

Is your church a welcoming place? Could an individual with any background walk in and be met with smiles? Or would the congregation immediately reject certain people, because they just don’t want to deal with their baggage, or because they’re needy and too much work to take care of, or even because the way that person dresses might be an embarrassment? If so, the Church has no right to condemn them when they get their needs met somewhere else.

Prayer: Jesus, Friend of sinners, forgive us for the times we’ve forgotten that we are saved by grace alone and perceived ourselves better than others. We don’t know what others have gone through, but You do. We yield all judgment to You and acknowledge our own dependence on Your mercy. Help us to pass that mercy on to others, in Your name. Amen.

“[H]ow shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?                                                                                                                                                           Hebrews 2:3

If this post seems familiar to my long-time readers, a couple of years ago I wrote a piece entitled “Heed the Warnings,” having seen an end-of-the-world-type film with Tom Cruise.

It seems the public can’t get enough of these apocalyptic movies. Today in particular there seems to be much speculation about whether world events are pointing to the end.

The latest film, featuring an all-star cast, is entitled “Don’t Look Up.” In it, Kate Dibiasky, a university student played by Jennifer Lawrence, discovers a large comet in our solar system. The comet is named after her, and she is thrilled.

But soon her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), does some calculations and realizes this huge comet is destined to hit Earth and destroy it in a little more than six months.

What follows is a desperate, humorous quest to get the word out and motivate the government to fund an emergency project with NASA, but no one seems to be taking the two seriously. (If you’ve ever been frustrated by the slowness of the government to help people, take that frustration and multiply it by a few billion.)

After managing to get on a national talk show as guests, Randall and Kate plan to spring the news on the American public, since the government clearly does not intend to. They find themselves competing for America’s attention with a ditzy starlet (Ariana Grande) and her estranged lover, who make up right on the show.

When Randall and Kate are finally introduced, they have a hard time getting the hosts’ focus away from the celebrity romance and onto the seriousness of their news. At last, unable to take any more “pleasantries,” Kate blurts out that Earth is doomed if they don’t do something, and NOW! Otherwise, “We are all going to die!” Crying hysterically, she runs off the set.

From that moment on, Kate is America’s laughingstock. Social media is full of jokes about her “losing it,” and pictures of her screaming face become popular logos on posters, skateboards, and other merchandise.

Meanwhile, D-day looms closer …

How many of us have tried unsuccessfully to pass on the wisdom of our own life lessons? (And all the parents said, “Amen!”) Like Dr. Mindy and Kate, we know that people ignore our warnings to their own peril. But screaming louder only convinces them that the messenger is crazy.

And how many of us have ignored other’s admonitions and ended up regretting it? Their shrill warnings have sounded crazy to us, so we write them off as madmen. (Indeed, there have been madmen making false predictions in the past, hence the dilemma.)

However, Jesus Christ transcends time and space. He has seen the future – He’s been there. Although His predictions are accurate, He, too, is ignored by multitudes of people. But we should heed His warnings, because He is not only all-knowing, He is all-loving. He has made the future known to us in His Word (the Bible). Some of His predictions are:

• Wars, famines, and earthquakes will increase in frequency and intensity. (Matthew 24: 7 & 8)

• The enemy of our souls will send false saviors, false miracles, and lies. We are to be on our guard against them and not be deceived; our only true Savior is Jesus Christ. (Matthew 24: 4-5, 11, 23-27)
• The gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world, to all nations. (Matthew 24:14)

• Persecution of Christians will increase (Matthew 24: 9-10, John 15: 18-25; 16: 2-3), but we must persevere, because

• Jesus is coming back for us, (John 14:18) to take the faithful away with Him to an everlasting reward (I Corinthians 15: 51-57). * 

 In “Don’t Look Up,” Dr. Mindy and Kate’s goal is to save the planet. But God’s warnings are infinitely more important. His promises are infinitely better, the consequences of ignoring them, infinitely worse.                                        

Because Kate was right, “We’re all going to die!”

Will we die from a meteor? Probably not – but we might. Will we die today? Probably not – but sooner or later we will leave this life for another, and if we don’t get it right in regard to God’s truths, we will end up in the wrong place.  

For ETERNITY.

Think about it: Get it right, spend eternity in a perfect place, in perfect bliss, with the perfect heavenly Father, being the Bride of His Son, the Prince of Peace.

OR…

Get it wrong, spend eternity away from His presence, in everlasting darkness, pain, misery, and regret.                                                                                                                                                

 News, blogs, and self-help articles suggest a lot of New Year’s resolutions. But the best we can do in this new year is heed God’s warnings, and live for Him, day by day, from now on.

 For those who have never placed their faith in Him, the starting point is to acknowledge our sins, our powerlessness to help ourselves, and our need to change.  And since Jesus is the only One who paid for our sins Himself by willingly dying on the cross, the next step is to surrender our flawed lives to Him, with a willingness to abandon our sinful ways and follow Him.    

For all of us, the way to know His mind and heart is to read the Bible. The better we know God’s Word, the better prepared we will be for what’s to come.                        

 Prayer: Lord God, who sees the end from the beginning, thank You for giving us a glimpse into the future through You Word. Forgive us for all the times we have ignored Your warnings. We thank You for holding back Your judgment, giving us time to heed Your Word and repent. We thank You for receiving us as Your beloved children the moment we place our faith in You. And thank You that we can follow You confidently into the future, knowing that You’ve already been there, for You transcend time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

  * There are many, many scriptures describing the future for this world and for believers in Jesus Christ. Those cited here are just a few. To be best informed, read the Bible regularly.     

SPEAKING OF WARNINGS, for those who are offended by certain words, there is a plethora of these words in “Don’t Look Up.” I heard them as the vocabulary of stressed-out people in a fallen world, but as one reader pointed out, I should have included this warning in my original post. My apologies.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4

A few days ago, we said goodbye to the best dog we’ve ever had. “Mister Hollywood” was named by 14-year-old Kelly, and she did not allow nicknames, although we eventually got permission to drop the “Mister.”

True to his name, Hollywood could act! Kelly would point at him and say “bang!” and he’d lie down, roll over, and play dead. He could also catch bits of food in his mouth with impressive consistency.

Our daily walks were my prayer times, and if it was cold, Hollywood wore his little argyle sweater, eliciting compliments from passers-by. (He did look dapper!) On bad weather days I’d have my quiet time inside on the loveseat with Hollywood on my lap.

Summers found us walking the beaches, hiking the woods, and kayaking with Hollywood as my lookout. One day he went overboard in his enthusiasm – literally – and Marty had to pick up the dog-paddler in his kayak, as I was laughing so hard, I almost fell out myself.

Age robbed Hollywood of most of his hearing, and eventually his eyesight. When he could still see a little, he still enjoyed our walks, walking with a little spring in his step. But once the last little bit of his eyesight was gone, overnight, he became unable to walk without bumping into things, and we knew it was time.

Once at a speaker’s conference I used Hollywood as an illustration of some lessons I had learned. I was henceforth referred to as “Hollywood’s mom.”

That talk made its way into my book BARRIERS – So, if prayers are so powerful, how come mine don’t get answered?:

“What Are You Looking at?

“Psalm 37:4 says, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.‘ I happen to think this is one of the most misunderstood verses of Scripture. The standard interpretation of this verse seems to be that if you pray to God and really believe, He’ll give you whatever you want.

“Really?

“I think this kind of reasoning reflects the selfish mindset of many believers today. We want what we want, so what do we have to do to get it? In other words, how do I butter up God enough to get Him to give me that house in Maui?

“But it doesn’t say ‘butter up,’ it says, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord.’ Doesn’t that mean He is my true source of joy? And it doesn’t say, ‘He’ll give you what you desire,’ it says, ‘He will give you the desires of your heart.’ Could that mean that first He gives us the desires themselves and then fulfills them?

“I’ve found that if I delight in Him, giving Him everything I have and everything I am, He changes me. Often this means He changes my desires. Then as my heart is aligned to His, His desires become mine. Now as I pray for what I truly desire, I’m praying His will. And that’s when I start seeing Him answer!

“I’ve heard that the original word translated ‘delight’ means literally ‘to set before oneself.’ It’s like a man who sets a picture of his wife and child on his desk at work, where he can easily see it. Looking at it makes him happy, because he loves them – is delighted with them. When we go to God early in the day, we mentally ‘set Him before us,’ focusing on Him. Too many times we get it backwards. We focus on what we want. We make our plans. Then, like good Christian people, we ask God to bless our plans. And later we ask in frustration, ‘Why didn’t You bless our plans?‘

“I can see the answer to that question illustrated every morning at our house.

“Mr. Hollywood is a “morning dog.” This little guy loves breakfast time, because he gets his food, fun, and exercise all at the same time. Every morning I sit with his bowl at the top of our stairs and randomly send each morsel of dog chow up one hall or the other, down to the landing, or all the way to the first floor. Our little guy gets quite a workout chasing down each piece. I try to mix it up, so he’s not just running the same pattern all the time. Usually in his excitement he gets ahead of the game and runs to where he thinks the next treat is going. He’ll stand there, poised, waiting, while I throw the piece somewhere else. This has been going on ever since we started playing this game a couple of years ago, and every day I think, When is he going to figure out, he’s got to watch ME? I mean, I realize he’s not the brightest bulb on the tree, but seriously, how long is it going to take for him to learn this simple lesson?

“Well … How long is it going to take us? How many of us are running at top speed to where we think the blessings are, only to be disappointed?

“I have a radical proposal. What if we spent time at the beginning of each day delighting ourselves in our Creator – worshiping, reading His Word, talking to Him, listening to Him? What do you think would happen if we stopped second-guessing God and just let Him take us where He wants us to go?

“There’s only one way to find out.” [BARRIERS, Chapter Two]

Hollywood even made it into the epilogue:

“This morning Mister Hollywood and I were doing our breakfast routine. I tossed a piece of food down the hall, and he ran after it with gusto. I threw another piece down the stairs; he dashed down to get it and came running back up. It was then that I noticed something different.

“He was watching me this time!

“He’s finally learning.

“And if he can learn, so can we.”

Goodbye, little friend. I’m going to miss you.

Prayer: Lord, Thank You for dogs that teach us about devotion, unconditional love, our dependency on You, trust, and the sheer joy of living. I wonder sometimes if Your angels ever take the form of dogs that both protect us and minister to us so sweetly. I guess I’ll find out someday. Meanwhile, help me to keep my eyes on You and to desire the things You desire for me, that I can pray Your will every day, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The reason the Son of God came was to destroy the devil’s work. – I John 3:8

“… born on Christmas Day/To save us all from Satan’s Power …”- “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” (Traditional Christmas carol)

When I was in high school my favorite activity was choir, and my favorite event was the Christmas program. For years we sang, among other things, a set of carols by Benjamin Britten. One of them was truly unique – I mean, who sings about spiritual warfare at Christmastime?

(WE did.)

“This Little Babe” approaches the topic of the Christ Child as a picture of God’s assault on the kingdom of darkness. This tiny Baby in the manger is the Commanding Officer of God’s armies, leading legions of angels against the devil and his demons.

The lyrics, like the Nativity story itself, is packed with ironies. They point to the awesome power of the seemingly helpless newborn Infant:

“This little Babe, so few days old is come to rival Satan’s fold; / All hell doth at His presence quake, though He Himself for cold do shake/ For in this meek unarmed wise/ The gates of hell He will surprise.”

The melody is intense, in a minor key, meant to be sung forcefully. While one would usually expect a song about a battle to be written for male voices, this one is for high voices – women, girls, or possibly young boys. (Our choir was made up of high school girls, and we sang it with gusto!)

While one might think of songs of warfare being accompanied by drums, cymbals, and trumpets, the only instrument accompanying these female voices is a harp.

The arrangement of the song creates growing intensity. The first verse is sung in unison, the second verse in a two-part round, the third verse in a three-part round, with no refrains in between, like waves of armed reinforcements charging over the hill to join the battle.

The voices come back together as the song reaches a crescendo, “My soul, with Christ, join thou in fight – “ and they end in unison, admonishing the audience to “foil thy foes with joy.”

All that content is packed into a song less than two minutes long!

I recently heard this carol for the first time in decades, and it struck me how profound the message is, unlike the usual songs about Santa, toys, snow, and rockin’ around the Christmas tree. Even songs about the sweet little Baby in the manger, the gentle beasts, shepherds, wisemen, and angels singing, might lull us into forgetting that a war is being waged daily on the battlefield of our minds. This little Baby came to set the prisoners free, and that involves defeating the kingdom of hell that has held us in bondage to sin for so long.

Just after the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, God prophesied to the serpent that the offspring of the woman would ultimately defeat him – “He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15 No doubt the serpent (Satan) remembered those words down through history – and now, in the little town of Bethlehem, He had arrived!

Jesus, the offspring of the woman, with no human father, had come. Even as He lay sleeping, a tiny newborn, Satan’s doom was sealed.

So, while we’re singing songs about the cute little Baby, let’s not forget who He was, is, and always will be – the God who came for us then, fights for us now, and is coming back to complete His triumph over evil. And on that day, His victory will be like this carol – short and swift, forever separating the kingdom of heaven from the kingdom of darkness.

Which side will you be on?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, as we celebrate Your coming to earth, we thank You for the love You had for us. We are in awe of Your willingness to leave Your home in glory and be born as one of us, suffer in our place, die to pay the penalty of our sins, and rise to life again to show us the eternal life that awaits all those who love and follow You. Help us not to be distracted by the trappings of the season, but instead to have hearts and minds set on You, for it’s in Your name we pray, Amen.

Here is one performance of this truly unique Christmas carol – enjoy!