Category: Bible Studies

This week our little black cat (and shipmate) Lucky passed away. She died in our arms after a long illness. Jan had been feeding her with a syringe and we gave her water through an eyedropper, but it was her time and it broke our heart.

Lucky truly was lucky. We found her twelve years ago cowering under a black car on hot, black asphalt in Phoenix, Arizona. The thermometer read “117 degrees.” The little kitten fit in the palm of my hand and was nearly gone. Only Jan’s sharp ears heard her little cry for help. We raced to a drive-thru and got a cup of ice water. Jan piped water into Lucky through a straw while I drove home wondering where I was going to bury this kitten, but Lucky was always a scrapper and made it through the night and then lived with us on our sailboat, Santa Teresa for five years before moving with us into the parsonage.

During her life, Lucky fell into the ocean twice, accidentally hitched a ride out to sea on the San Diego Pilot boat, chased our other cat Phoebe from boom to boom and up the mast while we lived on board. Together they loved to watch the fireworks over the bay each night.

I don’t know that we will ever adopt another pet. It is just too painful to say good-bye. Even King David was enraged when the Prophet Nathan told him a story about a rich man abusing a poor man’s pet (1 Samuel 12). Lucky – like most pets – gave us so much more than she ever asked for.

“So do our pets go to heaven too?” I am asked. While the definitive answer to that question must remain in my famous notebook (where it awaits God’s answer after I die), I am strongly inclined to say, “Yes.” Even Solomon contemplated this question in Ecclesiastes 3:19-21. So when I think about Lucky, I take comfort in Paul’s observation:

^{Romans 8:19} For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Lucky and the rest of creation is waiting for that great day but there is a difference. Lucky might have been naughty (ask me about the mattress on my bunk), but she never sinned. Can we say the same thing?

“Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was a Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence.” – Wikipedia

 Thomson had a tragic childhood. His mother died when he was just a boy and his father took the family, five boys and a girl, from Ireland to America to begin again. Within the sight of shore, Thomson’s father died and the sea captain embezzled all of their money. Thomson closed his father’s eyes after hearing his final prayer, “God take them up.” The children were left at the mercy of the New World. Charles rose above it all and became a true American patriot. He became the leader of the Philadelphia “Sons of Liberty” and a good friend of Benjamin Franklin.

When the Continental Congress was formed, Thomson became its secretary – a post most scholars equate with a Prime Minister. For fifteen years Thomson served until the congress was finally adjourned. At its conclusion in July, 1789, Thomson retired to work on a translation of the Bible and wrote a synopsis of the four gospels published in 1815. You see Thomson was a Greek and Latin tutor for the famous Philadelphia Academy and what he is best known for today is his work on the Great Seal of the United States.

It’s on the back of a one-dollar bill. Do you see the Latin motto “Novus ordo seclorum”? It comes from the fourth Eclogue of Virgil:

Now comes the final era of the Sibyl’s song;

The great order of the ages is born afresh.

And now justice returns, honored rules return;

Now a new lineage is sent down from high heaven.

“Novus ordo seclorum” means “New Order for the Ages.” Medieval Christians believed Virgil’s poem was a prophecy of the coming of Christ and Thomson, a Latin tutor well acquainted with Virgil, believed the founding of the United States was also part of God’s plan.

It is popular today to tout the separation of church and state, but for the founding fathers there could be no separation of God and state. Think about that the next time you spend a dollar bill.

I love to hike and climb and I love all the gadgets that go with it. Once, for my birthday, my mother gave me a Swiss Army knife. You’ve seen them. It’s not only a pocket knife, but it also folds out into a spoon, a screw driver, magnifying glass, leather punch, and a host of other tools including a toothpick and tweezers!

In churches, deacons are God’s Swiss Army knife. In every congregation there is a need for men to take responsibility for a whole host of activities from keeping the books to mowing the lawn. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he could have told the young minister to appoint accountants, teachers, gardeners, watchmen, technicians, and ministers. We tend to look for jobs and then find men to fit them but God is concerned about the kind of man first:

^{1 Timothy 3:8} Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. ⁹ They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. ¹⁰ And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. ¹¹ Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. ¹² Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. ¹³ For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. (English Standard Version)

In other words, look for a man with the right stuff and he will make sure the right stuff gets done!

Sunday, June 8th is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. Everyone is familiar with Christmas and most recognize Easter, but Pentecost is relatively unknown. In my mind, that is a great shame. It marks the coming of the promised Holy Spirit and the dawn of the Christian Age. Here is an excerpt from my book The Wind from the Shadows (Available from Amazon.com).

 

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

2 ¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵ For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷      “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams;

¹⁸      even on my male servants and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

¹⁹      And I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

²⁰      the sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

²¹      And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Have you ever been “giddy for God”? After hiding in the upper room for nearly two weeks with doors and windows closed, on Sunday, Pentecost, at nine o’clock in the morning, the apostles along with over one hundred others, spilled out of their room and into the street praising God. It was a burst of joy so enthusiastic the neighbors thought they were drunk!

But notice the point of Peter’s message: These are the “last days” – the final age has dawned (v. 17)! All history has been pointing to this moment and we are part of it.

Second, God is pouring his Spirit out on everyone, not just a select few: men, women, young, old, slave, free. Holiness isn’t just for a tiny minority of prophets and priests. God’s Spirit is for everyone!

Third, and this is the most difficult point for us to understand, “and they shall prophesy,” (v. 18). We equate “prophesy” with “prediction” and “inspired speech,” but it is so much more than that. Turn with me to the Old Testament:

Do you remember the story of Saul, the first king of Israel?

 

^{1 Samuel 10:10} When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. ¹¹ And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹² And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” ¹³ When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

 

Does that mean Saul suddenly began foretelling the future? No, he became “giddy for God.” Let’s look at another passage from the life of Saul. King Saul sent messengers to capture David, but:

 

^{1 Samuel 19:20} … when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. ²¹ When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. ²² Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

 

I’m not suggesting that we should lose control like Saul did, but I am saying the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives should make us happy and maybe, just sometimes, “giddy for God.” Don’t hold back. God loves you and his Spirit is with you – SMILE.

 

All Scriptural quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (R) (ESV (R)) Copyright 2001 by Crossway publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.

 

The temptation was overwhelming. Jan and I were at the San Diego Municipal Docks on Shelter Island this week. It was good to see old friends and make new ones. I was able to help a new friend, William, a sailor from Alaska, repair one of his sails. We really hit it off and I discovered he was looking for two more crew members to help sail his beautiful 50 foot sailboat to the South Seas. As we put the repaired sail back up, William turned to me and asked, “Well, how about it? Can you and Jan break away for six months? You could fly home from Tahiti. I’m leaving in four days.” Sigh. Warm clear water, swaying palms and desert islands. Sigh.

As I write this column sitting in McDonald’s, reminder alarms are going off on my phone and messages are flooding in on my laptop. People are rushing to work balancing hot coffee, cell phones, and egg McMuffins. It’s a hectic world and I’m just as guilty as anyone of being distracted by it and I’m far too busy.

Sigh. Tahiti. Then it dawned on me, the same thing can be said about our spiritual lives. Jesus is inviting us to join him on a grand adventure – destination heaven! Life with a capital L! But I’m distracted, too busy. I make excuses for not putting God first. Someday maybe I’ll find time. Someday I’ll slow down and focus on spiritual matters – after the kids are gone, after I pay off the house, after I retire. Someday. Someday. Sigh.

“Today, if you hear his voice” the Hebrew writer exhorts us (Hebrews  chapters 3 and 4). Today if you hear his voice, enter the kingdom. Today if you hear his voice, start living, really living. Today is the day! Don’t wait! Don’t put it off. I’m going to do it. Will you join me? Please forward my mail to heaven. Let the adventure begin! (I’m still considering Tahiti.)

 

 

It seems the date of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has been a source of controversy almost from the beginning. There is no doubt that Jesus was crucified during the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate on Friday, the eve of the Passover, nearly 2,000 years ago. However the exact date of that Friday is a matter of controversy.

We know that Passover fell on the 15^th day of Nisan, but because the Jewish people followed a lunar calendar based on cycles of the new moon, the exact date is difficult to determine exactly. Pontius Pilate ruled from 26-36 A.D. so that narrows the date down to a decade. People have also used a chronology based on the life of the Apostle Paul to narrow the date down a bit more while others have appealed to astronomical models to determine when Jesus died. Since Matthew tells us there was an earthquake during the crucifixion, scientists are even analyzing the geologic record to find the date (although I have yet to find an earthquake fault with the day of the week inscribed on it). The two best dates based on all these facts are April 7^th, 30 A.D. or April 3^rd, 33 A.D. (I personally lean toward the earlier date, but certainty is nearly impossible to achieve.)

So when is Easter? Jesus was crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday, so rather than celebrate Easter on a fixed date, most Christians celebrate Easter on a fixed day: Sunday.

Even here there is division. The Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) decreed that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon (the Jewish Passover moon) following the March equinox. Once again, there is controversy because on most years the actual equinox falls on March 20^th, but for church purposes it was decreed the equinox is on March 21^st. Wait! It gets more complicated than that because we have to ask, “Which calendar do we use: the Julian calendar or the Gregorian calendar?” (The Gregorian calendar was adopted by Catholic countries in 1582 to ensure that Easter would fall in the right season.) Right now the two calendars are about 13 days apart. Generally speaking the Eastern Orthodox churches follow the Julian calendar while the western churches follow the Gregorian calendar, hence two different dates for the celebration of Easter.

Let’s add one more controversy: “What shall we call this holiday: Easter or Resurrection Sunday?” While most people connect Easter with the resurrection of Christ, the historical background of the name “Easter” seems rooted in a English pagan holiday for Eostre – a fertility goddess or perhaps the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar (thus bunnies and Easter eggs) .

Confused? Don’t be. The one thing we know for certain is Jesus really lived and really died and Christians celebrate his resurrection every Sunday not just one day a year, so celebrate every Sunday of the year!

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about how we need to reach out to non-Christians. It seems everyone has an idea about a program or a method for evangelism – and that’s great, but I believe it should be easier than that. I’m not enthusiastic about learning what is the equivalent of a sanctified sales pitch. Perhaps we can learn a lesson from our car radio.

As you are driving down the road, you attention is arrested by a great tune. Something speaks to you. It captures your attention and then you begin to listen to the words so you can sing along. We should be like that. Our lives are the music. If we live them well, it gets people’s attention. They begin to observe and listen and perhaps even ask questions. They want to learn the words so they can sing along too.

If I was going to write my own program for teaching people how to share their faith, it would have three parts. The first is simple: smile. Try this experiment. Smile at a perfect stranger. Chances are they will smile back. Christians have a lot to smile about so how did we get such a sour-puss reputation? If thinking about what God has done for you doesn’t make you smile, please do us all a great favor and don’t tell anyone you’re a Christian! We need to talk!

The second point of my plan came from an avowed atheist, the magician Penn Jillette (the talking half of the team Penn and Teller). He made an excellent point in a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhG-tkQ_Q2w). If you really believe in life after death, you must really hate me not to tell me about it. Ouch! So why is it easier to go on spiritual safaris to share the gospel with perfect strangers and we can’t talk with the people we love? Don’t we want to see them with us in heaven?

My final point is closely related to the second. Perhaps we don’t share the good news with the people we love because we’re not sure what to say or we’re afraid we won’t know the answer to a question they might ask or perhaps we were taught it’s not polite to talk about religion or politics. The solution is honesty. Just share why you are a Christian: If there is a God – and I believe there are great reasons to believe there is – then it makes sense to listen to what he has to say. (You’re not one of those guys who is afraid to ask directions or read the instructions are you?) Honesty. If you don’t know, just say, “I don’t know – but let’s find out!” Honesty. Do you need to ask someone’s permission (just to be polite) before you push them out of the way of moving truck? So why is it impolite to talk to people about hope and love and the Abundant Life?

So start smiling! It’s the first step.

Danny Simpson of Ottawa, Canada made two tragic mistakes in 1990. Desperate for money, Simpson decided to rob a bank. He visited the bank every day for a week to plan his hold up and then the night before, Danny had dinner with his parents. While mom and dad were cleaning up the dishes, he slipped in to his parent’s bedroom and took the 45-caliber pistol from the drawer in the nightstand beside his father’s bed.

The next day, Simpson made off with two bags of cash worth over $6,000 from the bank. When the Mounties reviewed the surveillance tapes, they quickly identified Simpson as a “frequent visitor” and made the arrest. Danny Simpson made two big mistakes. First was robbing a bank and the second was using his father’s pistol. While Simpson stole $6,000 from the bank, his father’s pistol was a very rare 1918 .45-caliber Colt semi-automatic made by the Ross Rifle Company valued at over $100,000! The pistol went to a Canadian museum and Simpson went to jail.

As Christians we might desire the gifts someone else has: their respect, ability to teach, or sing, but God has given each one of us unique abilities (Romans 12:6-8) that make us special. What’s your gift?

People are fascinated with the end of the world and that fascination doesn’t just belong in the world of religion. Many “scientists” have erred just as poorly as the myriad of “gloom and doom prophets” who have plagued Christianity.

The appearance of a comet in the sky has repeatedly heralded the end of the world. For example, in April 1910 Halley’s comet reappeared. This was the first time scientists were able to perform a spectroscopic analysis on a comet and one of the substances discovered in the its tail was cyanogen, a toxic gas. French astronomer Camille Flammarion claimed that when the Earth passed through the comet’s tail on May 19^th, the gas “would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet.”^[1] You can imagine the panic than ensued! People bought up gas masks and “anti-comet” umbrellas and swallowed “anti-comet” pills!

Nine years later Albert Porta warned that the combined effects of a planetary conjunction on December 17, 1919 would destroy the world. History has a strange way of repeating itself. In 1974 two astrophysicists, John Gribben and Stephen Plagemann published a best seller, The Jupiter Effect, which warned about the effects of a similar nine-planet alignment on March 10, 1982.

Likewise San Diegans remember the Heaven’s Gate cult committed mass suicide here in March 1997. They believed a giant spaceship was hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet and would take them home if they freed themselves from their mortal shells.

So why are people so interested in the end of the world? It might be because the world seems so overwhelming that a little bit of knowledge feels like power – even if that knowledge means the end of everything. Alex Newton, author of Plan and Prep: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, wonders if those who hope the world will end need a little excitement in their lives or secretly want society to start over.

Christians believe the world will come to an end and we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, but Jesus himself taught us not to obsess or worry or even try to predict the end. “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only Father,” (Matthew 24:36).

Pelicans are funny looking birds. They have long thick bills with a pouch for catching fish beneath. As they dive for fish, they thrust their heads into the water at the last minute to catch their prey before their whole body follows it with an awkward crash into the sea. On the other hand, nothing is more magnificent than a flight of pelicans skimming together in close-packed formation inches above the waves with their fantastic wings barely moving. They are a familiar bird to most Southern Californians but did you know they were also an early symbol of Christianity?

Most people know the cross is a Christian symbol. Some know the same is true of the simple fish, but starting in the second century, the pelican also became a Christian symbol. They are common in stained glass windows and carved into massive cathedral doors. There is a line in the 12^th century hymn “Humbly we adore thee” that describes Christ as the “loving pelican divine.” Queen Elizabeth of England chose the pelican as her symbol and at the top of the title page of the very first King James Bible (1611) there is an etching of a pelican feeding her young. (See the illustration.)

We can understand the symbol of the cross – that’s where Jesus died. We understand the symbol of the lamb, since the gentle, sacrificial lamb often represents Christ in the Bible. What about the fish? The letters from the Greek word for fish (ichthus) represent the first letters of the phrase “Jesus Christ God’s Son and Savior,” but how did the pelican come to symbolize Christianity?

For the answer to that question we need to visit Alexandria, Egypt in the Second Century. A Christian author penned a book of morals for children. In it he described various animals, birds, plants and even stones. He would describe one of these and then its special attributes and encourage children to imitate them. The book is called the Physiology. It’s still available. (Although originally written in Greek, it’s been translated into Latin, Syriac, English and a host of other languages. See Amazon.com.) It’s richly decorated and was very, very popular.

So how does this relate to the pelican becoming a symbol of Christianity? Have you ever watched a pelican at rest? Her beak often lays on her breast and they characteristically rub it up and down. The Mediterranean pelican’s pouch is blood red during mating season. Thus the legend was born that a mother pelican, in times of famine, will pierce her breast and heroically feed her children on her own blood. As a result, the pelican came to symbolize the sacrifice of Jesus who gave his blood that we might live.