Until Death Do Us Part

“I heard of a couple who, as they were paying for groceries in the check-out line, were discussing their soon to be 50th wedding anniversary, when the young cashier interjected by saying, ‘I can’t imagine being married to same man for 50 years!’  The wife wisely replied, teaching the young girl a lesson at the same time, ‘Well, Honey, don’t get married until you can’” (sermoncentral.com).

That’s very wise advice!  It is also very biblical.  A marriage is more than just a mutually beneficial living arrangement.  Its not just something that will do until something better comes along.  It is a covenant based on a commitment (Malachi 2:14).  That’s why at least older versions of marriage vows usually included words like this: “I, ____, take you, ____, to be my lawfully wedded(husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”  Am I prepared to honor my marriage commitment when things get worse, when the money runs out, and when health begins to fail?  Those are fair questions that everyone considering marriage should ask themselves.

I understand that marriages fail for a number of reasons, even for those who were committed at the start.  God’s forgiveness and redemption is just as effective for those of us who have failed at marriage as it is for those of us who have failed at anything else.  We are ALL failures in one way or another.  But the remedy for marriage failure is not found in watering down the commitment.

“Until death do us part” should still be the goal.  May we never view our marriages like a cell phone contract that allows for an upgrade every two years.  We live in a “throw away” culture that doesn’t encourage hanging in there for the long haul.  But in spite of our failures and cultural pressures, let’s encourage marriage longevity, not disposability.

God loves you!

Mike

Tears In A Bottle

“You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle.  Are they not in Your book?  Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; this I know, that God is for me” (Psalm 56:8-9).
Life isn’t much fun at times.  Perhaps you can relate to some of the struggles listed by the author of Psalm 56.  Oppressors are treating you like a sidewalk, leaving their boot prints all over you.  They are proud of their efforts to make your life miserable (vv. 1-2).  They take pleasure in twisting your words as they dream up new ways to attack you (v. 5).  They lurk around every corner, seeking an opportunity to destroy you (v. 6).
But maybe your struggles are different.  Your battle may be with a health condition that is painful and debilitating.  Perhaps your trials result from the fracturing or destruction of a relationship.  It could be that you are overwhelmed with grief due to the death of beloved family member or dear friend.  These are all different life issues than the psalmist was experiencing, but no less real or painful.  Life can hurt.
Where do you turn in times like these?  The psalmist turned to God when life got rough.  It wasn’t because God magically made everything alright.  It wasn’t because God took away all of the pain and difficulty.  The author of Psalm 56 took solace in the fact that God was there in the midst of it all.  It was a source of comfort for him to know that none of what was happening was escaping God’s notice.  I especially love the imagery of God collecting the psalmist’s tears in a bottle (v. 8).  The writer trusted that no tear of pain or grief is missed by the One who loves His children.
God knows your pain and grief as well.  None of your tears are overlooked in a world of hurting people.  When life’s experiences tempt you to think otherwise, remember that God is for you, not against you!

God loves you!

Mike

Amish Issues

A recent speaker I heard referred to what he called “Amish issues.”  What are “Amish issues”, you ask?  The Amish are a religious group known for retaining many old ways of doing things regardless of the advance of the society around them.  From an outsider’s point of view, some of their choices seem a bit odd.  The speaker illustrated his point by referencing something he saw during a visit to Pennsylvania.  An Amish farmer was using a new or nearly new John Deere corn planter.  This corn planter was a modern, state of the art corn planting implement, costing thousands of dollars.  But instead of using a modern tractor to pull the planter, the farmer was using a team of horses!

The purpose of this article is not to ridicule the Amish.  No doubt they have their own reasons for availing themselves of some modern technology and avoiding others and they don’t have to defend them to me.  They can pull modern corn planters with a team of horses if they want choose to, regardless of how odd it appears to someone else.

My purpose in thinking about “Amish issues” is to consider if I have any of my own.  It’s easier for me to point out what appears to be foolish traditions in someone else’s religion and casually overlook the traditions of my own religious practice that appear to be outdated and inconsistent to others.  Am I guilty of clinging so tightly to the traditions of my religious past that my witness for Christ has become irrelevant or obsolete in the present?  If I am honest, it’s likely that I have “Amish issues” as well.

While the core principles of the good news of Jesus are unchanging and valid in any culture, the methods for sharing it are more fluid and adaptable.  The motto of the apostle Paul is still applicable: “I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some” (I Corinthians 9:22).  I must be prepared to engage culture rather than retreat from it.

God loves you!

Mike

Marked

“Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple.  And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. The LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst”” (Ezekiel 9:3-4).

Ezekiel lived during dark times for the people of God.  The nation as a whole had descended deeper and deeper into sin.  In the midst of a vision from God, Ezekiel had been given a opportunity to personally see what was going on.  Each new abomination he saw exceeded the previous one (cf. Ezekiel 8).  The merciful patience of God with His people had reached the breaking point.  Executioners were called forth to bring divine discipline and judgment upon the rebels (Ezekiel 9:1-2).  But another individual came with the executioners -- a man clothed in linen carrying a writing case (Ezekiel 9:2).  His task was different than that of the executioners.  This man was to go throughout Jerusalem and put an identifying mark on those who were grieved at the sin being practiced around them.

We, too, live in times that can vex the soul of one who has a heart for the things of God.  We live in a culture that has its own share of abominations that elicit sighing and groaning among people of faith.  But don’t lose heart!  God still has His “mark” on the faithful.  Societal disintegration and cultural implosion will not give God amnesia!  To borrow the words of the apostle Paul: “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Timothy 2:19).  As the Good Shepherd, Jesus says, “...I know my own and My own know me” (John 10:14).  If sin against God still grieves you, then thank God!  That makes you a marked person.

God loves you!

Mike

From Death To Life

“Australian doctors have saved the life of a woman who was clinically dead for 42 minutes.  The miracle patient was rushed to the hospital after a major heart attack, but was declared clinically dead soon after arrival.  With the aid of a hi-tech machine that kept blood flowing to her brain, doctors at Melbourne's MonashHeart managed to unblock vital arteries and return her heart to a normal rhythm.  The hospital today described her survival as "astonishing".  Doctors say Vanessa Tanasio, 41, a mother of two from the suburb of Narre Warren, needed numerous defibrillator shocks, including one in the ambulance on her way to hospital.  In a telephone interview from the hospital, she said she was eager to get home. "I'm feeling excellent. For someone who has been dead for nearly an hour of this week I am feeling tremendously well."  Emergency medics used a device called LUCAS 2 to keep her blood flowing last Monday while cardiologist Dr Wally Ahmar worked to unblock the arteries to her heart” (foxnews.com, 8-20-13).

Modern technology truly is incredible.  But medical scientists still have a ways to go to match the Great Physician.  Reviving a person who was clinically dead after 42 minutes is impressive but how about accomplishing the same thing after four days?  You can read about it in John 11.  Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha and friend of Jesus, had died.  By the time the Lord reaches Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days.  His body had been prepared for burial and placed in a tomb.  The process of decay had already begun.  But at the command of Jesus, “...the man who had died came forth” (John 11:44).  Lazarus couldn’t walk out because he was still wrapped in the burial cloths, but he was alive and came out anyway!

The grave is no match for the Son of God!  It doesn’t matter whether you have been dead for 42 minutes, 4 days, or 400 years.  When Jesus says “Come forth!”, the dead live again.  That truly is astonishing!

God loves you!

Mike

Getting Historical

“A man, who was telling his friend about an argument he'd had with his wife, commented, "Oh, how I hate it. Every time we have an argument, she gets historical." The friend replied, "You mean 'hysterical.'" "No," he insisted, "I mean historical. Every time we argue, she drags up everything from the past and holds it against me"” (sermoncentral.com).

Keeping a record of wrongs is not a problem limited to marriages.  It can plague workplaces, classrooms, and church buildings.  Grudges are nourished.  Forgiveness is withheld.  And if it goes on long enough, relationships are destroyed.  What is so tempting about bringing up the past anyway?  Perhaps we feel empowered by having such a potent weapon in our arsenal.  Maybe we think we hold the trump card that allows us to win any argument.  Whatever our reasoning, its wrong.

The Bible tells us that true love “...does not take into account a wrong suffered” (1 Corinthians 13:5).  I like how the NIV renders this verse: “...it keeps no record of wrongs.”  Nothing good is gained by keeping a running list of offenses committed against us.  In fact, to do so evidences a lack of love on our part.  How much better it would be for us to follow the lead of our Heavenly Father, who promises to forgive our sins and remember them no more (Jeremiah 31:34, cf. also Isaiah 43:25).

Make no mistake -- it stings to be hurt by someone.  It’s natural to want to keep a record of such wrongs and to hold those transgressions over the heads of those who have mistreated us.  But we are called to live above our human nature.  No, it is not easy.  But we must release the past before we can truly live in the future that God wants for each one of us.  No one benefits when we start getting historical.

God blesses those He forgives by not taking their sins into account (Romans 4:7-8).  Let’s bless other by doing the same.

God loves you!

Mike

Slow Down!

By now, most of you have probably read the news accounts or watched the video of the horrific train derailment in Spain on July 24, 2013.  Seventy nine people were killed and dozens of others were injured as the passenger train jumped the tracks as it rounded a curve.  The investigation continues but it is apparent that the train was travelling too fast to safely negotiate the curve.  Information recovered from the train’s “black box” data recorder backs up theory of excessive speed.  The train was equipped with an automatic warning system to alert the operator when train speed was too high.  Three such warnings were given before the crash occurred. “Police forensic tests on the train's black box data recorders showed the last warning came just 250 meters before a dangerous curve where the accident occurred...At that point, the train was going 121 mph when the speed limit was set at 50 mph.  Four seconds later the driver applied emergency brakes.  By the time Francisco Jose Garzon Amo applied the brakes, the train was already beginning to lose contact with the rails, the statement said. The total derailment occurred at 111 mph.  Garzon has admitted in court that he was traveling too fast but could not explain to an investigating judge why he didn*t slow down earlier” (Harold Heckle, Associated Press).
Our lives can look like this trainwreck if we are not careful. Commitments, deadlines, and responsibilities can begin to accumulate and we find ourselves speeding along at breakneck speed.  That speed can often be managed when the tracks of life are straight but serious problems arise when we encounter life’s curves.  The spiritual and physical warning alarms of excessive speed begin to beep or flash but, too often, we ignore them.  And, before we know it, we experience a derailment and the resulting crash.
Is it time to slow down a bit?  Don’t ignore the warning signs.  With God’s help, we can safely negotiate any curve in life.  Often, we just need to reduce our speed long enough to listen.

God loves you!

Mike