Thoughts and Meditations

Personal comments made by David F. Reagan unless otherwise stated

JANUARY, 2005

January 30, 2005

No Leisure to Look Up – “It is storied of Henry the Fourth of France asking the Duke of Alva if he had observed the eclipses happening in that year: he answered, that he had so much business on earth, that he had no leisure to look to heaven. So it is. Most men are of this Spanish general’s mind: witness the oxen, the farms, the pleasures, the profits and preferments, that men are so fast glued unto, that they have hardly leisure to entertain a thought of any goodness.” –by Spencer from New Encyclopedia of Prose Illustrations (p.17).

Fewer Women in Math and Science - Harvard University's president, Lawrence H. Summers, has come under fire for suggesting that one reason fewer women make it to the top in mathematics and science may be the result of innate differences from men.

Conquer Temptation in the Name of the Lord – “Do not encounter sin with confidence in your own strength, for you are but a feather before a whirlwind. You have no power of your own to resist the weakest temptation or subdue the least corruption. Therefore, do as David did when he was to encounter Goliath, a great and mighty giant, and himself by a poor little stripling. What did David do? He said in 1Samuel 17:45: ‘Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield; but I come against thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, and in the power of His might.’ So if you go out against your sins in the power of God’s might, this is the only way to subdue them and keep under your unruly lusts.” –from The Mortified Christian by Christopher Love (p.22-23).

January 29, 2005

Christianity in England – The standard teaching of Roman Catholics and many mainline teachers is that Christianity was introduced to England shortly before 600AD by a man named Augustine (not Augustine of Hippo). History proves differently. “In about 200 AD Tertullian wrote, ‘Parts of Britain were inaccessible to the Romans but have yielded to Christ.’ In these mountains, forests and Western Isles on which the Roman Eagles had never swooped, even there the name of Christ was known and honoured.” –from Dual Heritage by Norman S. Prescott (p.14).

Did Global Warming Cause the Tsunami? - Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace UK, told an interviewer, "No one can ignore the relentless increase in extreme weather events and so-called natural disasters, which in reality are no more natural than a plastic Christmas tree."

Why Evolution Leads to Eugenics – “In Descent of Man, [Charles] Darwin himself (1871, p.510) wrote: ‘With savages, the weak in body and mind are soon eliminated and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment…Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man…hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.’ Modern supporters of Darwin’s theory routinely downplay such unsettling statements.” –from Forbidden Archeology (p.8).

January 28, 2005

Those No Other Church Wants – Evangelist Mordecai Ham was a well-known Baptist evangelist of the first half of the twentieth century in America. “In answering the critics of ‘mass’ evangelism, Mr. Ham has always been able to point out that he believes wholeheartedly in personal evangelism, but on a large enough scale to produce mass results. Years later, while holding a campaign in Fort Worth, Texas, he advised a young and ambitious pastor [certainly J. Frank Norris] to ‘…seek after the folk that no other church wants and capture them for Christ.’ That preacher has become the leader of a ‘Fundamental’ movement in the South, and the churches in his camp have waxed strong by winning those whom others neglected.” –from A Biography of M. F. Ham by E. E. Ham (p.27-28).

U.S. Women Being Forced Into Combat – The Third Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Georgia is ignoring a Department of Defense rule exempting female soldiers from support units that mix with land combat troops.

Self-Discipline Defined – “In a general sense, self-discipline is the ability to regulate conduct by principle and judgment rather than impulse, desire, high pressure, or social custom. It is basically the ability to subordinate.” Self-discipline will subordinate the appetites, the emotions, the moods, the speech, and the priorities. –from The Disciplined Life by Richard S. Taylor (p.26).

January 27, 2005

Caution in Victory – The scriptures tell of various times when one who just received a great mercy or deliverance from God immediately fell into some sin or disobedience. Shortly after Noah was preserved from the flood of waters in the ark, he fell into drunkenness. God delivered Lot from the fires of Sodom before he fell into drunkenness and incest. David was given victory over his enemies all about only to fall into the sins of murder and adultery. Hezekiah was granted fifteen extra years of life before falling into carnal pride and boasting. These stories stand as a warning to us to remain humble in days of deliverance and victory and to always keep our eyes on the Lord who saved us from hell. –idea adapted from Temptation and Sin by John Owen (p.280).

Punctuation Inside or Outside Quotation Marks? - This is another example of the tiny differences that exist between styles in different varieties of English and which cause much unnecessary controversy, criticism and irritation.

Divine Guidance or Human Decision – “Would that we knew more perfectly the meaning of divine guidance! How often do we vainly imagine, and confidently assert, that the cloud is moving in that very direction which suits the bent of our inclination! We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain movement, and we seek to persuade ourselves that our will is the will of God. Thus, instead of being divinely guided, we are self-deceived. Our will is unbroken, and hence we cannot be guided aright; for the real secret of being rightly guided—guided of God—is to have our own will thoroughly subdued.” –from Notes on the Pentateuch by C. H. Mackintosh (p.486).

January 26, 2005

Stinking Tobacco-pipe – Mary Rowlandson was an American colonist who was taken captive by the Indians from Lancaster, Massachusetts, in February 1676, during a time commonly known as King Philip’s War (King Philip being the name of an Indian chief). Concerning one event of her time of captivity she wrote (sometimes with quaint spelling): “Then I went to see King Philip, he bade me come in and sit down, and asked me whether I would smoke (a usual Complement now adayes amongst Saints and Sinners) but this no way suited me. For though I had formerly used Tobacco, yet I had left it ever since I was first taken. It seems to be a bait, the devil lays to make men loose their precious time: I remember with shame, how formerly, when I had taken two or three pipes, I was presently ready for another, such a bewitching thing it is: But I thank God, he has now given me power over it; surely there are many who may be better imployed than to ly sucking a stinking Tobacco-pipe.” –from The Sovereignty and Goodness of God by Mary Rowlandson (1682).

James Chalmers: the Greatheart of New Guinea - On April 8, 1901, the Christian world was stunned by a cablegram stating that James Chalmers and his young colleague had been killed and eaten by the Fly River cannibals.

Repent Ye! – Frenchman Jean de Labadie (1610-1674) left the Roman Catholic priesthood to follow the Reformed teaching of John Calvin. “In Geneva Labadie propounded his ideal of holiness and perfection along with the Calvinistic concept of the church. Effectual holiness, he felt, should be a characteristic of church members. Repentance as the way to holiness was so important to him that he preached fifty sermons in succession on the text “Repent ye!”; one of these sermons lasted four and a half hours.” –from History of Evangelism by Paulus Scharpff (p.25).

January 25, 2005

Catholics Decline in France - France, is traditionally and culturally a Catholic country with a considerably large number of protestants and evangelicals. However, the Catholic Church nowadays has lost much of its strength. In the Lot valley in southwest France, while a large number of churches are gradually closing down because of the lack of congregations, priests are so scarce that one priest may have to oversee a handful of churches at the same time. In fact, many of them may have almost no congregation.

How Do You Build? “He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.” –Francis Bacon (1561-1626).

Strange Behaviors in Jerusalem - A bizarre mental syndrome has seen scores of visitors to Jerusalem become convinced they are characters from the Bible. The Jerusalem syndrome is a psychosis affecting people obsessed by the city who start to preach and behave as biblical characters, from King David to John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary and Jesus himself.

January 24, 2005

Glory of Tribulations Past – “The past struggles are joyful in memory, as the mountain ranges—which were all black rock and white snow while we toiled up their inhospitable steeps—lie purple in the mellowing distance, and burn like fire as the sunset strikes their peaks.” –from Maclaren’s 1024 Best Illustrations (p.3).

Political Influence of James Dobson - The biggest portrait in the office of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson--the best-known leader among America's 50 million-strong evangelical Christians--isn't of Jesus Christ. It's of Winston Churchill.

January 22, 2005

Adopted into the Family of God – Here are a couple of definitions for adoption taken from the New Encyclopedia of Prose Illustrations (p.13).

• “Adoption is that act of God by which we who were alienated, and enemies, and disinherited, are made the sons of God, and heirs of his eternal glory.” –R. Watson
• “Adoption is an action whereby a man takes a person into his family, in order to make him part of it, acknowledges him for his son, and receives him into the number, and gives him a right to the privileges of his children.” –A. Cruden

First Place for God – George Swinnock gives this description of the godly Christian: “He giveth God the top, the chief, the cream of all his affections, as seeing him infinitely worthy of all acceptation; he is ‘not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit,’ when he is ‘serving the Lord,’ Romans 12:11. He believeth that to fear God with a secondary fear is atheism; that to trust God with a secondary trust is treason; that to honour God with a secondary honour is idolatry; and to love God with a secondary love is adultery; therefore he loveth (and he feareth and trusteth and honoureth) ‘the Lord his God, with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength,’ Matthew 22:36-37.” –from The Works of George Swinnock: Volume 1 (p.39).

January 21, 2005

Church History So-Called – Diary entry for June 26, 1781: “Have been reading Mosheim, cent. xiii. and xiv., to-day [Note: Moshiem’s Church History was divided by centuries. This refers to the 13^th and 14^th century.]. Really I am sick in reading so much about monks, mendicant friars, etc.: I could have wished the history had more answered to its title—a history of the church; but it seems little else than a history of locusts.” –from The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller: Volume 1 (p.27).

Animal Rights? - The simple answer to the question is that animals have no "rights" at all in Judaism and the Bible, and those claiming to confer such "rights" on the basis of Biblical or Talmudic sources are charlatans at best, and pagan-polytheists trying to invent "souls" for animals at worst.

January 20, 2005

House on Fire – The Rev. Mr. Whitney was one of the boyhood Congregational pastors of Luther Rice (Rice would later become an important advocate of Baptist missions). “Whitney was both opinionated and composed. As he conducted his forenoon services for Fast Day on Wednesday, April 26, 1780, this equanimity was tested when a note was passed to the pulpit. ‘Your house is on fire,’ he read. By the time he had calmly finished the service, the house had burned to the ground.”  --from Luther Rice: Believer in Tomorrow (p.12).

Heaven So Close - A Presbyterian minister collapsed and died in mid-sentence of a sermon after saying "And when I go to heaven ..."

Heckles for Haeckel – Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), an early specialist in embryology, strongly supported Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. “He was also famous for his own theory that ontogeny, the step-by-step growth of an animal (or human) embryo, faithfully represents the creature’s phylogeny, or evolutionary development over millions of years… However, this theory…has long been rejected by twentieth-century scientists. Haeckel had illustrated his theory with drawings of embryos of different kinds of animals. Unfortunately, some of his drawings turned out to be fakes, and he was tried before the court of Jena University on charges of fraud. In his defense he declared: ‘A small percent of my embryonic drawings are forgeries… I should feel utterly condemned…were it not that hundreds of the best observers and biologists lie under the same charge’ (Meldau 1964, p. 217). If Haeckel’s sweeping accusation is correct, this may have important bearing on the mode of anatomical reconstruction employed for the many ‘missing links’ we will discuss in this book.” –from Forbidden Archeology (p.7-8).

January 19, 2005

No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus – Charles Weigle (1871-1966) was saved at the age of 12 at a Methodist revival and in adulthood became a Baptist evangelist by call and conviction. However, he faced much opposition in his service to God from his wife. At one point, she confronted him with the declaration, “I’m leaving, Charlie. I don’t want to live the life you are living. I want to do the other way—to the bright lights.” Some months later, she met him on the streets of Los Angeles where she mocked him and boasted of her sins. A few years later, she died in bitterness and despair.

Charles Weigle was not just an evangelist; he was also an accomplished songwriter. However, in the midst of his sorrow, he wrote no songs for about five years. Shortly after beginning again, he sat at the piano one evening while thinking over the past years and the sustaining grace and goodness of God during that time. He thought aloud, “No one ever cared for me like Jesus.” As tears came to his eyes, he repeated the words over and over. With ease, the words and music came all at once. After writing the words to the first verse and chorus, the remaining verse came in quick succession. This song that came out of his darkest night has been a comfort to many over the years.

-developed from The Victorious Life and Other Sermons by Charles F. Weigle (p.xvi-xxii).

Show Them a Movie - Nazis relied on escapist entertainment to promote their murderous ideology and bolster the veneer of normalcy during the nightmare of Adolf Hitler's reign. What does this tell us about ourselves?

Innocent and Obedient – “Law is, in its nature, fitted to be the principle of the justification of the innocent and obedient. It has served its purpose in the case of the elect angels; it would have served its purpose in the case of innocent and obedient man. But law, as a method of justification for sinners, has become ‘weak through the flesh.’ Man’s guilt and depravity make it, in the nature of things, impossible that the law should be the means of his justification and final happiness. It can do nothing, with regard to him, put pronounce condemnation and secure punishment.” –from Analytical Exposition of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans by John Brown (p.27-28).

January 18, 2005

Prayer of Achsah – Spurgeon sermon on Achsah, the daughter of Caleb as the picture of the true successful pleader with our Father in heaven.

Ever, Only, Jesus – Taken from Soul Winning: The Challenge of the Hour by Leon F. Maurer (p.90).

            I’ve tried in vain a thousand ways

            My fears to quell, my hopes to raise;

            But what I need, the Bible says,

                        Is ever, only Jesus.

            My soul is night, my heart is steel,

            I cannot see, I cannot feel;

            For light, for life, I must appeal

                        In simple faith to Jesus.

Why the Great Tsunami? – Helpful approach to the problem of great tragedies as the recent tsunami.

January 17, 2005

Danger of Faith in Faith – “Be careful of not making a Saviour of faith. There is a danger—and it cannot be too vigilantly guarded against—of substituting the work of the Spirit for the work of Christ; this mistake it is that leads so many of God’s saints to look within, instead of without, themselves for the evidences of their calling and acceptance; and thus, too, so many are kept all their spiritual course walking in a state of bondage and fear, the great question never fully and fairly settled, or, in other words, never quite sure of their sonship.

The work of Christ is a great and finished work; it is so glorious that it can admit of no addition, and so essential that it can give place to no substitution. Precious as is the work of the Holy Ghost in the heart, and essential as it is to the salvation of the soul, yet he who places it where the work of Jesus ought only to be, deranges the order of the covenant, closes up the legitimate source of evidence, and will assuredly bring distress and uncertainty into his soul.” –from Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul by Octavius Winslow (p.88).

Death of American Christianity - George Barna concludes, "Every day, the church is becoming more like the world it allegedly seeks to change." Professor Lamin Sanneh told Christianity Today recently that "I worry about a West without a moral center facing a politically resurgent Islam."

Persecuted or Persecutors? – “To quote Sir Robert Anderson, ‘In the days of Pagan Rome the Church was on the side of martyrs. But under Papal Rome the martyrs were the victims of the Church.’ ” –from Dual Heritage: The Bible and The British Museum (p.13).

Don’t Insult the Pope - An Austrian woman who shouted insulting remarks about Pope John Paul II outside Vienna's main cathedral was fined $325 after a court convicted her Monday of disturbing the peace.

January 15, 2005

Which Events Would you Choose? – Christian Post picks top ten events of 2004 from their perspective. Interesting choices.

I Can Plod – William Carey, the missionary to India who has been called the Father of Modern Missions, was not considered to be a genius in any regard. Yet his accomplishments are outstanding. He spoke at least 17 languages, superintended the translations of the Bible into 42 languages, led in establishing 20 churches and mission stations, and much more. “In speaking to his Nephew late in life, he said, ‘Eustace, if, after my removal, any one should think it worth his while to write my life, I will give you a criterion by which you may judge of its correctness. If he gives me credit for being a plodder, he will describe me justly. Anything beyond this will be too much. I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.’ ” –from This Day in Baptist History (p.143).

Former Atheist Says God Exists - Professor Antony Flew, a prominent British philosopher who is considered the world's best-known atheist, has cited advancements in science as proof of the existence of God.

Fear of Enthusiasm – Arnold Dallimore, in George Whitefield: Volume 1 (p.23-24), tells about the spiritual decline and apostasy in England during the early 1700s. Yet, though the people of England were divided on many things, they united in their “fear of what they called ‘enthusiasm’. The term meant as much as or more than the word ‘fanatic’ to-day, and they applied it to anyone whose practice of Christianity manifested any true fervour. In the belief that the wars of the mid-seventeenth century had been caused by over-zealous religion, it was commonly assumed that prayer and preaching which displayed a vital earnestness would prove a threat to the peace of the realm, and in fear of such an outcome public opinion decreed that everything to do with religion must be quietly dispassionate. Thus, empty formality was the order of the day, and an unwritten law demanded that is remain so.”

January 12, 2005

Offering Hope – Baptists of Thailand help bury the dead and give aid to the survivors of the killer tsunami.

After Six Years – On May 5^th, 1819, after working in Burma for six years, Baptist missionary Adoniram Judson saw the conversion of Maung Nau, his first convert in the land of his labors. Though Maung Nau, a poor timber merchant, would prove the reality of his faith in subsequent months and years, Judson writes cautiously:

“I begin to think that the Grace of God has reached his heart. He expressed sentiments of repentance for his sins, and faith in the Saviour. The substance of his profession is, that from the darknesses, and uncleannesses, and sins of his whole life, he has found no other Saviour but Jesus Christ; nowhere else can he look for salvation; and therefore he proposes to adhere to Christ, and worship him all his life long.

Population Crisis in Russia - Russia is now at the brink of a steep population decline—a peacetime hemorrhage framed by a collapse of the birth rate and a catastrophic surge in the death rate.

January 11, 2005

AARP Pushing Dope – The American Association of Retired Persons has hired an admitted former drug user and dealer as an editor of its 22-million circulation magazine. He has emerged as a spokesman on the so-called “medical marijuana” issue, telling America that seniors might benefit from smoking dope.

I’ve Got You! – Mordecai Ham, the Baptist evangelist, told this story about one of his early meetings in the fall of 1901 held at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Kentucky. After taking all he could of the Sunday afternoon meal and story swapping, he said: “I asked someone to hitch up a horse and take me to call on some of the worst sinners in the community. We trailed one into a corn field—he was reputed to be the biggest infidel in the country…

“I went to the spot of the field where I had seen him, but failed to find him. I knew that he couldn’t have been ‘translated’; so I searched. Next I heard a noise from under a corn shock where he had hidden. I grabbed his leg and pulled him out. He hollered, ‘Oh, you’ve got me!’

“ ‘Yes, I have,’ I returned.

“ ‘What are you going to do with me?’

“ ‘Ask God to kill you.’

“ ‘Oh, don’t you do that!’ he shouted.

“I asked, ‘Why not? You say that you don’t believe there is a God; so my prayer shouldn’t trouble you, but if there is, then you are not fit to live because you are leading more than forty of your children and grandchildren into your damnable infidelity.’ He then began to tremble and to beg me not to pray for God to kill him. I said, ‘All right, I shall pray for God to save you.’ I led him to Christ right there in the field and then said, ‘Now you can take me to see all your children and grandchildren.’ At the close of the meeting I not only baptized him, but every member of his family that was old enough to be baptized.”  --from A Biography of M. F. Ham by E. E. Ham (p,.26-27).

Inescapable Faith – 117 scientists and other intelligentsia answer the question: What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it? The answers are quite revealing.

January 10, 2005

Conversion of Charles Weigle – Baptist evangelist and author of “No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus.” This is the story of his salvation.

Significance of the Meat Offering – The Meat Offering was the only one of the five major offerings that was to be offered without blood. It was made of fine flour and was a type of the life lived in submission to the will of God. The life of Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of the meat offering: “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34). But we also are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1).

But the meat offering was usually made in conjunction with the burnt offering—the offering that typified the complete sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Consider these verses:

• Numbers 28:13 – “And a several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meat offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD.”
• Numbers 29:16 – “And one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, his meat offering, and his drink offering.”
• Ezra 7:17 – “That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.”

Notice how the meat offering is connected to the burnt offering: the burnt offering with “his” meat offering (Numbers 29:16) and the bullocks, rams, and lambs (sacrificial animals) with “their” meat offerings (Ezra 7:17). Why was this so? It is necessary in order to fulfill the type. There can be no living sacrifice without the blood sacrifice. We cannot present our bodies as a living sacrifice unless Christ has suffered the judgment for our sins on the cross. But rest assured, He has become our burnt offering so that we may become a meat offering for God.

Christians in Israel - A total of 144,000 Christians live in Israel, of whom 117,000 are Arab and 27,000 are new immigrants, according to a report released yesterday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) ahead of Christmas. In 2003, Christians constituted 2.1 percent of Israel's population.

January 9, 2005

Notes on Deacons – Spirituality is the foremost qualification of a deacon (1Timothy 3:8-13). Service is the foremost duty of a deacon. The office of a deacon would be a natural (though not necessary) step to the office of a bishop. –notes by David Reagan

Mayflower Compact – A lost key to American history, the Mayflower Compact underlines in no uncertain terms the faith in God characteristic of America’s early settlers.

Tsunami Backlash – Men have created an image of God that pretty much matches their idea of Santa Claus. They do not know the Bible and do not care about its contents, but they are ready to blast God if they think He has gotten out of line. Now, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury has declared that the recent tsunami disaster has made him doubt the existence of God. God told Eliphaz, “My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath” (Job 42:7). Makes you wonder how He feels about the archbishop right now.

January 8, 2005

Church Attendance Linked to Longer Life - A 12-year study tracking mortality rates found that those who attended services at least once a week were 35 percent more likely to live longer than those who never attended church. The research also found that going to church boosted seniors' immune systems and made them less likely to suffer clogged arteries or high blood pressure.

Where Does the Buck Stop? – Some groups like the Plymouth Brethren point out that the Bible refers to elders in a church and teach against one man being the ruling pastor. Though the Bible does teach the principle of multiple leadership, it also supports the concept of a single ruling pastor. Here are some of the arguments in its favor:

• In the practice of scripture, God repetitively uses a man to lead a group. We see this in Abraham, Moses, David, and others. Multiple rule often brings confusion.
• In the church of Jerusalem, James clearly operates as the ruling pastor of the church (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:17-18).
• In the church of Ephesus, Timothy is clearly the ruling pastor (1Timothy 5:17-19; 2Timothy subscript).
• When Paul gives the qualifications of a bishop (pastor) of a church, he uses singular pronouns to refer to his rule over the church. For instance, in 1Timothy 3:5 we read, “(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)” The bishop (singular “he”) is to take care of the church as he rules his own house.
• In conclusion, God uses multiple leadership in the church. However, he also sets up a man as the ruling elder or bishop. This is the man most churches call the pastor. –notes by David Reagan

State Trained Preachers are Next - The Texas Supreme Court has decided to hear a case which will determine whether seminaries in the state will be regulated by the government. Under current state law, no seminary is allowed to exist unless its board, curriculum, and professors are approved by the state.

January 7, 2005

New Year’s Nonsense – Traditions and superstitions related to New Year’s Day.

Focus on the Flock – The Work of a Good Shepherd:

• Seek the Flock (Ezekiel 34:12)
• Feed the Flock (1Peter 5:2)
• Lead the Flock (Psalm 77:20)
• Watch the Flock (Acts 20:28; Luke 2:8)
• Protect the Flock (Ezekiel 34:10)
• Comfort the Flock (Luke 12:32)
• Refresh the Flock (Song of Solomon 1:7)

Jedi’s on the Rise – In a recent census of Australia, 71,000 listed their religious identification as Jedi -- from the series of Star Wars movies featuring an epic struggle between good and evil in which the Force sustains Jedi warriors fighting for good.

January 6, 2005

Church Violence in Egypt - Under a 19th century law introduced by Egypt's then Ottoman rulers, Christians can build churches only under certain conditions. These include their being a majority in the area and there being no mosque nearby.

Little Things – “The edge possessed by the disciplined over the undisciplined shows up in many things. The disciplined person picks up his clothes; the undisciplined lets them lie. One washes the bathtub after himself; the other leaves the high-water mark for someone else to scrub. One plans his work and works to his plan; the other works haphazardly. One is habitually prompt in his appointments; the other is notoriously tardy. Some people are always on time at church, while other never are. Observers of many years’ experience will support the claim that the difference cannot be explained in the greater distance to travel or larger families to hustle. The difference is habit, and habit is character.” –from The Disciplined Life by Richard W. Taylor (p.24).

Arabs Fighting For Israel – The Israeli Defense Force has a growing number of Muslims and Christian Arabs who have volunteered to serve. In a recent attack, three of the five soldiers killed were Muslim Arabs from villages in the Galilee and Triangle.

January 5, 2005

Forged Antiquities – Five people were charged in Jerusalem District Court with running a sophisticated antiquities forgery ring. The forged treasures include an ivory pomegranate touted by scholars as the only relic from Solomon's Temple, an ossuary that reputedly held the bones of James, Jesus' brother, and the "Yehoash inscription."

Job’s Captivity – After Job’s trials, the Bible states: “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10). Notice that the time of Job’s trials was called his “captivity.” Besides being a powerful picture of times of affliction, this word points to the connection of Job with the time of tribulation in the end times. The great tribulation is a time of 42 months (Revelation 11:2; 13:5), as Job is a book of 42 chapters. This time is also called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” and it is at the end of this time that the Jews will be truly freed from the trials of many centuries.

The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. This lines up with the “double portion” allotted to the firstborn (Deuteronomy 21:17). Job is here a type of Israel who is God’s firstborn (Exodus 4:22) and will receive a double portion at the end of her captivity (Zechariah 9:12) just as she had received a double portion of judgment for her sins (Isaiah 40:2; Jeremiah 16:18). –notes by David Reagan

God Out; Apathy In - More than a third of today's young people describe themselves as either agnostics or atheists. Marriage is no longer seen as a sacrament and even church weddings no longer find favour. Today, fewer than half imagine that their souls will outlast their corporeal selves. Where are you? You are in Great Britain.

January 4, 2005

Shabby Costumes – “I remember once seeing a mob of revelers streaming out from a masked ball, in a London theatre, in the early morning sunlight; draggled and heavy-eyed, the rouge showing on the cheeks, and the shabby tawdriness of the foolish costumes pitilessly revealed by the pure light. So will many a life look when the day dawns, and the wild riot ends in its unwelcome beams.” Alexander MacLaren (1826-1910) in MacLaren’s 1024 Best Illustrations (p.1). MacLaren was a famous English Baptist expository preacher. His messages were the second most-widely read sermons of his day—after those of Spurgeon.

Religious Books of 2004 – Author picks best and worst religious books of 2004. They all pretty much look like clunkers to me. Somebody needs to get to writing good books. Perhaps we will get around to our own list someday.

Apostles’ Doctrine and Fellowship – Arthur E. Smith in The Temple and Its Teaching (p.89-90)  compares Acts 2:42 to the four golden pieces of furniture in the temple. Acts 2:42 states, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Here is the comparison:

• Apostles’ Doctrine – Golden Candlesticks: The light they gave was a type of the word of God and its illuminated truths.
• Fellowship – Golden Mercy Seat: Of this place, God told Moses, “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 25:22).
• Breaking of Break – Golden Tables of Shewbread: We partake of the bread of Christ when we meet together as an assembly of believers.
• Prayers – Golden Altar of Incense: The offered incense is a type of the prayers of the saints (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 8:3).

Coffee as a Means of Grace – This article tries to find coffee in the Bible and show its spiritual benefits. Although it is written as a piece of humor, it shows the way the Bible is often used to misinterpret.

January 3, 2005

Triskaidekaphobia – A book on the number 13. It costs 13 pounds in England. Most folklorists agree that the superstition goes back to the Last Supper, where 13 people gathered and two fatalities followed within 24 hours.

Two Creations? – Despite what is taught by some today, early Bible students and writers did sometimes see the creation of Genesis 1:1 as a creation that preceded the six-day creation. Augustine of Hippo, though not any sort of authority for truth, demonstrates the existence of this belief long ago. He wrote his Confessions in 397 AD. In them (12^th Book, 13^th Chapter), he comments on the formless earth of Genesis 1:2 and God “not stating on what day Thou didst create these things.” He also refers to two creations of Genesis 1:1 as “the one heaven, but the heaven of heavens, the other earth, but the earth invisible and formless” and that these were created “without mention of days.”

Of the heaven, he states: “And when on the second day the firmament [that is, heaven] is recorded to have been created, and called heaven, it suggests to us of which heaven He spake before without mention of days.” His wording is difficult, but he is clearly teaching that there were two heavens: God’s heaven he calls the “intellectual heaven” and shows that it is created without mention of days at some time in the past while the heaven we see as the present universe was created on the second day of the six-day creation week. This same belief is found in other early Christian writings. –David Reagan

Advantages of British Common Law - According to research published by a group of scholars beginning in 1998, countries that come from a French civil law tradition struggle to create effective financial markets, while countries with a British common law tradition succeed far more frequently. Go further and find that British Common Law had its foundation in the Bible.

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