Favorite things

The Tenth Commandment

2005-04-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Exodus 20:17

This commandment has to be the “be-all, end-all” of the commandments. God put it last, but it certainly isn’t the least important. This is where our sin starts: Our own discontentment with what God has so graciously given us, our own never being satisfied and always wanting, desiring, lusting after more.

This is the sin from which springs all the others. When we desire what we can’t have, we are rebelling against God (there go the first two commandments). As our desire grows in intensity, we slander God’s good name, because we doubt His goodness to us (there goes the third commandment). This affects our worship of God (there goes the fourth commandment). And if we harbor this desire, or lust, we end up acting out, at least in our thought life, and often in this society our outward life, all the horizontal commandments.

But wait a minute; isn’t desire a good thing? If we didn’t desire something, we would not have the gumption, the “git-up-n-go” to accomplish our goals, take care of our families, our work, etc. Desire is a healthy thing and it is God-given. But as usual, we humans are real good at perverting God’s good gifts to us.

Noah Webster gives two distinct definitions to the word covet, which shows the difference between a healthy desire and sinful desire:

1. To desire or wish for with eagerness; to desire earnestly to obtain or possess; in a good sense. “Covet earnestly the best gifts.” 1 Corinthians xii

2. To desire inordinately; to desire that which it is unlawful to obtain or possess; in a bad sense. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, wife or servant.” Exodus 20

This is what happened to Eve in the garden. God had given our first parents all they could ever need or possibly desire: they had a beautiful home, fertile ground to cultivate and care for, a wonderful life’s work ahead of them together, and an unbroken relationship with their Father. It was not enough. When the old tempter pointed out to Eve the one thing she could not have – that one tree, that one particular fruit – and all it represented (power, control, to be someone she was not designed to be), she was no longer content with the gifts her Father had bestowed. She was blind to what she had and saw only what she did not have. She lost her ability to be thankful, to be content. She fed her lust and, well, you know the rest of the story! We experience this everyday. When we feed our lust for power, for control (the illusion of being God!), whether it is financial, positional, sexual, it is never satisfied. We always want more! The flesh cannot be satisfied!

I am reading a book by Joshua Harris entitled “Not Even a Hint.” This book is about cultivating purity in our sexual lives and guarding the marriage bed and each other against sexual lust. Josh makes a point about how we are deceived by our lusts. He of course is talking about sexual lust, but I think it applies across the board. Here is what he says:

“What if you’re in a relationship? How does a couple help each other? First, recognize that lust is the greatest enemy of a healthy, godly relationship. If you love God and each other, determine to hate lust. Don’t feed lust in your relationship. It won’t stop wanting till your relationship is ruined. Maybe you’ve been in a relationship that was overrun by lust. If so, you know how the story unfolds. Lust keeps pushing. And every step along the way becomes less and less satisfying. Yes, there’s immediate pleasure. But it’s a pleasure that leaves you with a deep gnawing desire that won’t go away.

“Sadly, what many couples discover is that lust doesn’t stop prodding them after they’ve “gone all the way.” There is no such thing as “all the way” with lust. Ultimately, lust doesn’t want sex. It wants the forbidden, and it’s willing to take you deeper and deeper into perversion if you’ll indulge its latest request.

“If you’re dating or even engaged, please don’t bargain with lust, assuming it will go away after you’re married. If you feed lust now, it will only grow. It will want more. Don’t compromise before marriage—whether you’re a week or year away from the wedding. God wants you to guard the marriage bed (Hebrews 13:4). Sexual release is not the antidote to lust. If you think it is, you’ve got a sad surprise coming—lust will be waiting for you after your honeymoon with a whole new batch of lies.”

There is no such thing as “all the way” with lust. Lust doesn’t want what you are fixing your eyes upon at this moment. It only wants what has been forbidden. This is the very definition of who we are spiritually. We want and we want and we want. We want whatever has been forbidden to us. I think God put this commandment last for good reason. We must guard against our deceitful, covetous nature. It is the outworking of our sin.

When my 5-year-old does something that he knows is sinful, I will tell him, as we talk about what he did or said before I use the rod (the rod and reproof give wisdom), that he must guard his heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life (Proverbs 4:13). Sometimes I will remind him of what God told Cain, when he was dwelling on murderous, jealous thoughts toward his brother Abel, “Sin is crouching outside your door and it wants to devour you, but you must master it.”

He understands this. He also understands that as a little boy, his mom and dad are the God-given means to helping him control his sinful tendencies and teaching him self-control. His parents are his protection against himself. God is soooo good! He is protecting my precious little boy until the day when He will give Aidan a new heart. Aidan prays for that day. Can you believe that? He sees that he needs help against his own sinfulness.

We all need that help. God has been gracious and good to us by giving us his Law to guide us into what is good. He has been merciful and kind to give us His Son to make us good and to cause us to yearn after following His law. We need simply to fix our eyes upon our Savior and cultivate a thankful heart. Then we are guarding against coveting.

Thank God for “The Ten.”

Part II of Authority in the Home - Are you in control?

2005-04-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

II. The Requirement to Exercise Biblical Authority
A. Idea of Submission needs to be established first
1. The idea of submission defined: The sweet inclination of the heart that has been redeemed by God to obey and follow His order in the home, the church and society.
2. We need to submit to our boss, our pastor, -- to one another
3. We cannot produce it ourselves but the result of the life of Christ in us and an evidence of that life

And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Eph. 5:21

4. We need to have a biblical understanding as to who we are

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to teach a measure of faith. Romans 12:3

5. requirements to exercise authority after we look at our selves
a. made in the image of God – we are all equal
1) we do not have a natural right to give orders
2) when we submit to another, we are not giving that person a position of superiority
3) submission is not based on the fact that one person is more important than another
4) husband’s (pastor’s, governor’s) headship has nothing to do with worth or superiority
b. we are all sinners (see Romans 3:9-12)
1) our sinfulness has stolen the faculty to submit to God’s order
2) our sinfulness has stolen the faculty to keep God’s order
c. husbands there is not one good reason in and of and within yourself why your wife should submit to you
d. Husbands, there is not one good reason in and of and within yourself to take the headship of the home
e. the heart of the believer is inclined by the Holy Spirit to submit to God’s order
1) that is why the Christians were the best citizens of the Roman Empire, even as they were used as human torches in the night.
2) as the men lead the home, they need to be led as well by others
6. Christ makes us able to submit – you must be abiding in Him

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. Eph. 5:18

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5

B. Submission is the exercise of the effectual grace of God working in the hearts of His children
C. Only through submission to those Christ has put above us can we lead those God has put in our command
D. Submission to the Lord Jesus Christ is the basis to submitting to one another and exercising biblical authority in the home
What do we do when we have a difference? Who goes first? The sad thing is that most of the time the differences are over the things which are going to be destroyed!

E. Humility – the faculty by which I take my place in God’s order, whether in the home, in the church or in society
1. Children – your place is to obey Mom and Dad, because Jesus Christ said that is your place – you obey Christ
2. Wife – you are submitted to Christ and in that you submit to your husband
3. husband – devote yourself to raise your children and to love your wives with Phil. 2:3-4 in mind always consider the interest of others as more important that your own

4. humility puts us in the place where we belong – under Christ
F. How do we learn to be the man of God in the home? Read the Gospels and look at Christ!
1. Your family is not a troop and you are not a sergeant
2. Humility is not to be a doormat but to fill the place where God has put you

III. The Exercise of Authority in the Home
A. With the definition of authority in mind, each member of the family does his part of maintaining the order given by God in the home
B. Authority is not a position but a faculty
C. Husbands, you have all the authority to serve your wife and your children by guiding them to become like Christ
D. Husbands you have no other authority in the home.
E. Each person is called by the lord to fulfill their duty in the Lord. Col. 3:19-20
F. Wife has full authority to submit to God by submitting to her husband
G. How does Christ treat you? When you sin? When you fall down?
1. I told you so; you should listen to me?
2. I will forgive you but I will not forget it?
H. Men you are an instrument of God to be used in shaping those in your home
1. We sin because we are sinners – We obey God because we love Him
2. A Biblical mind produces biblical action
3. You cannot practice biblical authority in the home without knowing Christ
4. We act what we are and you cannot be like Christ if you are not being transformed by Christ and you are to be Christ in the home.
I. Loving our wives, guiding them to conformity with Christ and allowing her to be used of God in our lives for the same purpose
J. Christ wants us to love Him which will manifest itself in love toward our wives. (same for wives toward husbands!)
K. If you think there is something in you to inspire her love, you still don’t realize how rotten a sinner you are!
L. What is the most common obstacle or enemy of “the best”?
1. The Good!
2. Settling for a wife that is compliant and children that are well-behaved
3. Good is not good enough but Christ demands the best – the Gospel lived out!
K. Look at Christ and imitate Him to be a good husband --
We can suffer the hard work of marriage with the joy set before us. Hebrews 12:1-3

The Ninth Commandment

2005-04-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16

Here are some of the cross-references to this verse:

You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to e a malicious witness. Exodus 23:1

Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty. Exodus 23:7

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18

What does it mean, to “bear false witness?” Bear, obviously in this case, is to carry. False, again obviously, to be untrue in any degree. But witness? Noah says (1828 American Dictionary of the English Language):

Witness [from the Saxon witnesse, from witan, to know] testimony; attestation of a fact or even; that which furnishes evidence or proof.

We usually think of “witness” having to do with testifying at a trial before a judge. However, we bear, or carry, testimony daily. Everything we do and say represents what we believe, who we are inside. Or it could be a false representation of our true person.

The most obvious meaning of this command is that we should be careful tell the truth to those around us. Isn’t it funny that God had to command us in this regard. We, as sinners, are not naturally truthful! We tend to lie, to twist, to mislead, to deceive, even ourselves. We certainly do not like believing we are so bad, so we try to make ourselves look good, even if it means a little white lie. Even little children who cannot yet talk will mislead their parents: they will cry and act as if the world is ending around them when there is nothing wrong.

But God puts a qualifier on telling the truth. Because even the truth can be a malicious tool in our hands. He tells us we should tell the truth in love. And we need to be careful of what our definition of truth is in each case – we deceive ourselves in this regard also, to suit our own manipulative purposes.

When we lie, we are not depending on God. He said He would work all things out to our good for His glory. So why should we lie? Why do we need to deceive? We do not need to fear the consequences of the truth because God is in control. Many people have used the passage in Exodus about the Hebrew midwives to justify lying. Look, they say, God even rewarded these midwives for their being untruthful to the wicked murderous Pharaoh. Maybe I am misunderstanding the passage, or maybe I am failing to “read between the lines” but I do not see where it says the Hebrew midwives lied to the Pharaoh. They simply reported why they had not killed the Hebrew boy babies. Could they not have been telling the truth? I do not even see where the passage infers they were lying to the Pharaoh. I do not think this passage is good for justifying lying to anyone.

So is there ever a time when it will be okay to lie? What if you had some people hiding in your home, as in the case of the Jews in WWII. You were trying to protect them from the Nazis. The soldiers came to your house and asked if you were harboring any Jews. What would you say? Would you tell them the truth? Or would it be better to lie and say, no, there is no one here who is Jewish. If you tell the truth, you have signed their death warrant. Does that make you an accomplice to murder? If to obtain the greater good – life – should you lie?

Is there a case in the Bible where a godly person lied in order to obtain greater good and God blessed them? (Other than the questionable case of the Hebrew midwives.) Guess I am looking for a precedent!

Are You in Control?

2005-04-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Marriage Counsel to the Men
2005 Marriage Conference Session 2
Josue Raimundo

Authority in the Home

This outline is from a series of tapes done at Faith Bible Church in Newnan, GA. They held a marriage conference in January of this year. This particular session I have found most helpful to me in understanding the concept of biblical authority. Josue defines and contrasts control and authority in a way I have never thought of before and it has helped me to understand better (even though this session is to the men!) my own role in God’s plan. God is sovereign and in complete control of all things. To think that we have control is an illusion. We do not have control over all things, only God does. And this makes Him God and us, well, not God. My view of God has just become bigger.

There is a difference between authority and control. Only God has true control as He works out His perfect plan and acts as only God can act: with complete sovereignty and purpose. Only God has total authority, but in order to carry out His plan, He has delegated certain authority to men. We need to recognize and begin to understand what our authority is, from God, in the roles in which He has placed us.

There are three parts to this session: What is authority? The Requirement to Exercise Authority. The Exercise of Authority in the Home. Here is the first part.

I. What Is Authority?
A. The Men are the Head of the Home
1. Not barking orders
2. Not doing nothing
B. What the Bible says about authority
1. Isaiah 40:21-23

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Isaiah 40:21-23

a. God is the Authority
b. Authorities are nothing to Him – he sets them up and puts them down
2. Daniel 4:34-35

But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. But He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His had or say to Him, ‘What have you done?’ Daniel 4:34-35

a. God controls all things in heaven and earth
b. No one can stop Him
c. He cannot be stopped
3. Conclusion: He is in control.
C. What makes God, God?
1. An omnipotent, omnipresent God that sits and does nothing, is not God.
2. God is in control – this makes Him God – His attributes work out that He is in
complete control of everything
3. Control – the illusion of being in control
a. We all have the illusion of being in control
b. Prophets declare there is only One who does what He pleases, when He pleases,
how He pleases – God!
D. Definitions
1. Control – the faculty to make things happen according to one’s purposes and desires
2. Sin – results from the illusion of being in control – taking the position of God
a. Satan lured Adam and Eve with this
b. You will be like He is – in control
3. Who of us can exercise the qualities of control?
a. this illusion gave birth to the industry of “motivational speakers”
b. many books about how to be “little gods” by following their 10 step program
c. Christian books on marriage are no more than a list of manipulative skills to get
your spouse to act in a certain way (OUCH!)
d. You can make it happen if you do this, and this and this
e. First step to exercising Biblical authority in the home is admitting with the
prophets we are not in control, but God is
f. Control is a faculty that ONLY belongs to God
g. Being in control has nothing to do with authority
4. Authority

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Romans 13:1

a. from God and of God, no authority finds its source from other than God
b. Purpose
1. to defend the righteous as a servant of God

For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing. Romans 13:1

2. keep society in peace

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. I Timothy 2:1-3

3. all authority belongs to Jesus –

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Jesus in Matthew 28:18

a. He is the ultimate authority & He instructs His disciple to establish order
on earth
b. Was He in control? – Remember the prayer in the garden – He submitted
to the will of the Father – the Father’s order
c. Jesus, as Son of God, spoke with full authority and as a human being on
earth, He was submitted to the will of the Father

My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. . . He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. John 7:16, 18

4. Conclusions:
a. Authority comes from God
b. Authority serves God’s order in all spheres of life
c. Authority is to be exercised for the purpose of keeping God’s will
established in all areas
5. Defining authority: That faculty given by God by which we are to keep His
order (His will) in the home, in the church, in society
a. Belongs to:
1) the husband – as an imitator of Christ
2) the wife – as a representative of the church in her subjection to Christ
3) the children – as obeying and submitting to the Gospel of Christ
b. Marriage is a proclamation of the Gospel to the world!
c. Authority is not the faculty to bark orders nor to force others to do as we
please
1) Husband has all authority to represent Christ to his wife – to be an
imitator of Christ
2) Wife has all authority to represent the biblical church as she relates to
her husband

The Beauty of the Law

2005-04-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

I have been reading through the book of Romans this month. Actually, I started back in March and resolved to read through it till the end of April. I can make a tour through it in 5 days, then start over. Between that and the fact that our pastor is preaching through Romans right now, I am becoming more familiar with this epistle from Paul. In addition, our home groups are reading Ernie Reisinger’s book, “Whatever Happened to the Ten Commandments?” So, every week or so, I am meditating on one of the commandments, the moral law of God, along with Paul’s teaching of sin, law and grace from Romans. Suddenly, my love and appreciation for this law has deepened, as I realize what a blessing it is to me. It really is, as Paul writes, my tutor: for grace, for God, for His ways.

As natural born sinners (we are not sinners because we sin; rather, we sin because we are sinners) we hate any authority. Couple this innate rebelliousness with our American culture’s aversion to authority, and you can see why most folks in our great land (and in most churches) do not like to hear about God’s law. The churches focus on God’s love and grace because they do not wish to offend the “sensibilities” of our “advanced civilization.” Parents have become not only afraid to speak to their children about authority and its necessary role in our lives, but they have become more and more ignorant of it as the generations have rolled in.

Let me explain. As a non-Christian parent of my first born, I can remember thinking things like, “Why is my son one of those who are out of control? Why can’t he be calm and cheerful and compliant like some of these other children I have known? Why must he be among the ADDs and ADHDs and ODDs? Why couldn’t he have been like the ones without all the problems?” I did not understand that children are not born “good.” I thought that children were born with certain traits and personalities that made them like they naturally turned out. And in a way, I was right. But because of my ignorance of parenting with authority, that is, the kind of authority the Bible gives parents, I did not know how to train and to discipline my child. And his natural bent to sin coupled with his personality and physical make-up resulted in a hyperactively disobedient and mischievous little boy.

I was ignorant because my parents were ignorant. They did not know how to biblically instruct me and my sisters in righteousness. They had not been instructed by their parents nor had the churches we had attended in my childhood taught us about this. But this knowledge does not come without some sort of teaching! We must pass it down from one generation to another.

It was not till God began drawing me to Himself in 1997 and eventually regenerated my heart that I began to have an understanding of authority in my life. I thank God for the grace He has shown me by giving me Christian sisters and by placing me in churches who teach true biblical authority in our lives. Brethren who love each other enough to come alongside and patiently teach and rebuke as necessary. Elders who lovingly practice discipline among the flock God has given them to watch over.

And this year, with our emphasis on the Ten Words of God and our study of Romans, the Law has become much clearer than ever. It is beautiful and I am so thankful for it. Why is it so beautiful?

Paul, in Romans 3:19-20 says:

“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

What is so beautiful about that? It sounds rather harsh upon first reading – especially when pulled out of the context of Paul’s letter. But look at that last phrase again: “through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” Without the Law, we would never understand Grace. We would never see our great need of it. We would never see the reflection of the holiness of God. We would never understand that we are sinners, that our children are sinners and that their only hope – their only hope – of life in Christ is to teach them diligently about God. Teach them about who He is and what He is like. The only means we have of showing them God is through His revealed Word. The Law, that standard of perfection, is a reflection of God. We can see Him there. And we can know, and we groan within ourselves from this burden, that we can never, no never, measure up.

Our God is beautiful in all His holiness, perfect in every way. But, oh, the beauty becomes more breath-taking when we consider what He did to make it possible for us to become beautiful also. We cannot follow His Law; we cannot meet His perfect standard of loveliness. So, He did it for us.

My Savior, my Lord Jesus, became one of us. He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Law. He fulfilled it in every way, in His deeds, in His words, even in His thought life, even in His view of the whole universe of life. He submitted to sinful parents and honored them in every way, throughout His childhood. He never broke the image of Himself, the Law. He kept it untarnished, no chips nor cracks. Then He submitted to sinful men and carried out perfectly the eternal plan of His Father: He died a death that was only fit for Lawbreakers.

Oh, God, You gave that perfection to me. You gave me – a hopeless lawbreaker, ugly in my lack of perfection and holiness and goodness – Your perfect life. Eternal life is not just a gift of living forever and escaping Your just wrath. It is being like You. You are rubbing out all the tarnish and repairing all the cracks and chips and slowly causing me to shine, conforming me to the image of Your Son, my Lord and Savior.

Do you see the beauty of God in His Law? Do you see why David could cry out with great joy: “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. . . Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble. I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, and do Your commandments. My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. . . I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight.” Psalm 119: 97, 165-167, 174

This is why we must teach our children about the law and about authority. Always holding out to them the perfection of God’s standard. “But,” you say, “it may make them angry and cause them to rebel.”

Of course it will; they are naturally rebellious. Remember, we are all born sinners. The law, as Paul wrote many times, excites our sinfulness. It makes it bubble up to the surface and boil over. “But that’s horrible!” you may protest. “Why would I want to make my children want to sin?” That is neither the point nor the goal. If the children never see their sin, they will never see God’s grace. When they see that no matter how lovingly and gently you teach them about what is right and wrong, about how holy God is as well as loving and forgiving, about how exacting is the Law, they will despair of ever doing right and pleasing God. “And that is a good thing?” you may ask. “I do not want my children to despair. I want them to be happy.”

There is no happiness outside of peace with God. To despair of ever meeting God’s perfect standard will lead them to the cross, to the feet of the only One who ever met that perfect standard. And this One will give to that despairing child the only Hope that exists: Jesus Christ. The children will only find joy, peace and hope in Him. The beauty of our King will take their breath away.

The Opposite of the Eighth

2005-03-25T07:25:00.000-08:00

If the commandments are a reflection to us of God’s good character, then what would be His character based on the eighth commandment? What is the opposite of stealing? Why, of course, giving. In Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, he gives as his example for the definition of “steal” the first part of Ephesians 4:28: “He who steals must steal no longer.” The rest of that verse tells us what the opposite of stealing is in God’s eyes. “But rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.” It goes beyond giving. We must not only give, but work with that purpose in mind. Is that not what God did and still does? Jesus said that His Father was always working and that He was too. God is our Creator and our Sustainer. Jesus intercedes for us without ceasing. We are needy creatures and God supplies us with our needs. Our work, what we do, whether it’s plumbing, or piloting an airplane, or working at Wal-Mart or keeping house and tending to a flock of children, is to be done with the purpose of giving to those in need.

Well, what does that look like? Does that mean that we need to give all our hard-earned money away to the poor? I don’t think so, though certainly that is an option! First and foremost, there is family to consider. The Bible states that “if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

If I am married, my family is my husband. He is my first ministry, so to speak. I work first of all to share with him and his needs. How do I do this? The Bible tells me! “So that they (older women of verse 3) may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored” (Titus 2:4-5). Uh-oh, here is that verse that gets so many in trouble with that phrase, that awful discriminating phrase “workers at home”. But look at the whole thing; look at the list which will help the wife know how she is to labor for her family. What is she to do?

First of all, she is to love her husband? This, I believe, goes much deeper than to having an affection for the man she married. This affection runs deep and finds its roots in the love that Christ has for her. When Christ loves, He really loves! He loved us to the point of His own death! No, I don’t mean the wife should look for a way to physically die for the husband! But she should love him enough to sacrifice her own wants and dreams when they cause a splitting of their purpose of marriage. Remember what God said in Genesis and what Jesus later echoed in the gospels: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). You cannot be one flesh and go in two different directions chasing two separate goals!

The second item on the list is that she is to love her children. How does this help the husband? It takes a load off his mind. He is free to meet his primary obligations as a husband (bringing home the bacon so he can support his family). He knows his offspring are being cared for and nurtured in a godly way while he is not there. He knows she will support him when he is at home and he teaches and disciplines the children. They still have one goal here: bringing up godly offspring to the glory of God. There is a secondary ministry here that helps the woman to work and give to her family and that is the ministry to the children. In a way, the parents, particularly the mother in the primary years, are missionaries to the children God has given them. Jesus gave us instructions to go and make disciples. First and foremost on this itinerary of going should be our children.

The third item on the list is the wife should “be sensible and pure.” Now what on earth does that mean? The NKJV uses the word “discreet and chaste.” In Martha Peace’s book, Becoming a Titus 2 Woman she states: “’To be sensible’ is the Greek word sophron. Sophron is a broad term meaning ‘sound mind, prudent, self-controlled.’ From this I thought of three practical applications. The older woman is to teach and encourage the younger woman to: have biblical priorities and make wise commitments; stay within her budge; face reality. . . The Greek word translated ‘to be pure’ in Titus 2 is hagnos. Hagnos means to be ‘free from ceremonial defilement; holy; sacred; chaste; pure; free from sin; and innocent.’ This word is similar to the word hagios which is often translated ‘holy.’ This righteous purity is not only outward chastity but also inward freedom from impure thoughts.” Now how does that “give to the family?”

When we become aware of how sinful our thought life can be, it can go a long way toward controlling our outward actions and words! This is certainly an act of selflessness. If the excellent wife of Proverbs 31 is to “open her mouth in wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” then she must be aware of her thought life. You cannot be kind outwardly when inside you are seething at the audacity of your child to pick that moment to put the last straw on the camel’s back! This takes practice and an awareness of your need for God’s grace constantly to overrule your own sinful and selfish desires. This is work! This is laboring hard!

Now for the dreaded phrase, “workers at home.” In Martha’s book she states that the phrase in the Greek is actually a compound word, oikouros. It comes from two root words: oikos which means a dwelling, a home, or a household, and ergon which means to work or be employed. So literally, the way it is written in English, “worker at home.” Proverbs 31 says that “She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Everything we married women do should be to the benefit of our family. That is our God-given work, our ministry. It is a wonderful ministry! And it is a self-sacrificing ministry. The P31 wife is a hard working woman. She looks ahead and trusts in Providence as she does all she can to do her husband good all the days of her life (v12). The passage lists several things that she does, including extending her hands to the needy, shopping for her household needs, business transactions. I believe that this passage describes her life over the years. Not all of these things are done at one time. In other words, she probably is not doing business outside of her home while her children are very young. These things work into her life gradually, as the children grow and become able to contribute to the family themselves. God makes it possible for us to help others in due season! But the wife’s primary ministry always remains to her home and to her husband, all the days of her life.

Finally, the wife is to be subject to her own husband. He is the one to whom she owes her allegiance and her respect. The marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. The wife is a picture of the church’s humble subjection to Christ. It is the Gospel being lived out in a home. This takes a lot of giving and a lot of putting down selfish thoughts and motives. This is hard, hard work. Her goal: so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Now how does that all fit in with “You shall not steal.” When we do not follow God’s design for our role in life, we steal from His glory, we rob His Word of the honor due to it, we take away from the power of the Gospel in our lives. But when we give ourselves to God and His ways, laboring in His Gospel to His glory, we are living out Ephesians 4:28. We are all born glory-stealers. God makes us into images of His Son, reflecting His glory. Now we are giving.

The Eighth Commandment

2005-03-24T04:18:00.000-08:00

You shall not steal. Exodus 20:15

Synonyms – take, pinch, whip, pilfer, filch, lift, appropriate, embezzle, pocket, purloin, thieve, rob

Definition – to take and carry away feloniously, as the personal goods of another. To constitute stealing or theft, the taking must be felonious, that is, with an intent to take what belongs to another, and without his consent. Blackstone.
Let him that stole, steal no more. Eph. iv.
From Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language

Stealing, simply put, is the taking of anything that doesn’t belong to you. It can be candy from the store, a box of gem clips from work, borrowing sister’s shirt without asking, or even spending your time doing one thing when you KNOW you should be doing the other. It is also depending on someone else for your own obligations when you have the ability to do it yourself. Or taking credit for something and the credit belongs to someone else.

A couple of weeks ago I was at the Media Play store looking for old movies for our American History study. As I stood in the check-out line, an officer came to the man checking me out (he must have been the store’s manager) and told him that they “had him in custody and would take him for questioning.” I thought to myself, “Uh-oh, they caught some kid shoplifting.” Sure enough, when I walked out the door, there was a police car and standing behind the car, a black youth, dressed in baggy khakis and oversized T-shirt with his hands cuffed behind his back. He had an angry scowl on his face. I didn’t stare (not too long anyway), but walked on to the truck with my bag of purchases.

I went on to Goody’s clothing store to find some shirts for the boys for Easter. All the clothes there, except for the no-name T-shirts I bought for Kyle and David to work in, had those plastic disks attached to them. There were cameras placed throughout the store, watching, watching, watching. On guard against those who would take what was not theirs.

When I left the store, I was bombarded by signs all over the place. Signs advertising various products that you “just gotta have.” When watching TV, my husband and I have noticed that when the commercials run, the volume automatically goes up to mega-decibels, so you will hear the commercial while you go to the kitchen for a snack or to the bathroom for a potty break. ‘You deserve this. . . you gotta have that. . . this will make you sexy or powerful (which makes you sexy). Thank God for the mute button!

We are a nation out of control with desire. In the stores, I hear moms and dads bribing their kids with prizes if they will just shut up. When I was at Media Play, I heard a mom tell her young daughter, “Just a couple of movies this week.” No one teaches the concept of self-control. No need for depriving ourselves, we deserve a break today.

The flesh always wants. And wants. And wants more. It will never be satisfied. This is something we need to teach our children and ourselves: we must control our desires. Yes, we want a new video to watch, a new TV to watch it on, the latest digital equipment to enhance our watching. And now we need a new stereo to add to it. If I were to let Aidan follow his electronic desires, we would have fans and radios and TVs all over the house. But we have limited this to what he already has. When he begins talking about getting another for his birthday or purchasing one for himself, I discuss with him the fact that he doesn’t need it and the responsibility he has for saving his allowance for the things that are needful. Does he understand? I don’t know. I think so. But I will continue to explain it to him until it clicks. (Lord, I pray it clicks!)

We all desire things, nice things, good things, position, recognition, etc. We need this desire to drive us to our goals, since we are naturally lazy. However, when we let our desires consume us and we fill our lives with possessions, even those possessions which are gained legally, we are still thieving. When things possess our lives, they rob us of our time and our focus on the things that are important. We are now focused on what we have and what we plan to get. We forget our obligation to family, teaching our children the concept of controlling self. And, preoccupied with our selves, we rob God. In the end, the ones who are preoccupied with gain will lose the most prized possession they have: life. Remember the story Jesus told in Luke 12? The one about the man who kept getting more and more stuff and did not know where to put it all?

“Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:18-21

The Seventh Commandment

2005-03-17T03:52:00.000-08:00

You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14

Adultery – from the Latin ad meaning “to” and alter meaning “other”; literally “to another”. Violation of the marriage bed; a crime, or a civil injury, which introduces, or may introduce, into a family a spurious offspring. . . In common usage, adultery means the unfaithfulness of any married person to the marriage bed. . . In a scriptural sense, all manner of lewdness or unchastity, as in the seventh commandment. In scripture, idolatry, or apostasy from the true God (Jer. 3).
From Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language

In the Hebrew, the word means to commit adultery and figuratively to apostatize. In the Greek, when Jesus used the word in Matthew 5:27-28 in His Sermon on the Mount, the word means literally to commit adultery. [no mysterious meanings there]
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 5003, 3431

A straightforward commandment, which needs no explanation on the surface. It is a reflection of God’s faithfulness; He expects His people to exemplify His faithfulness. But why the marriage bed? What is the significance there?

When married, you should remain faithful to the one you have married. You do not have physical, sexual activities with anyone other than your spouse. Ah, but it goes deeper than that. Jesus applied it to the heart, from which come all our sinful activities, when He said:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Matthew 5:27-28

There is a mystery here. Not in the word adultery itself. It is a straightforward word with no twists in its etymology. The mystery is being revealed throughout the Word. Paul brings it to light (or finishes bringing it to light) when he writes to the Ephesians:

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one every hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:22-32

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Eric Freel spoke to our congregation on “The Centrality of the Church.” He brought up 10 arguments as to why the church is central in God’s mind and God’s plan. I wrote these arguments up and sent them out to a few e-mail buddies. One of my dear sisters replied with great enthusiasm. Her church had just done a marriage seminar in which they learned that marriage is a picture of Christ's Gospel to the world. Here is what she said:

I firmly believe that the church is central in God's plan. I will go even further to say that the church was planned before the foundation of the world. We recently had a marriage seminar at Faith. The truth that came from that teaching was that our marriages were pictures of Christ's Gospel to the world. In that we as partners have the sole purpose of helping one another to grow to be more like Christ and with that as our purpose (God's Glory) and not our own selfish needs/wants we are evangelizing the world from our marriages. Now for my point. What was God's purpose for marriage --- That our marriages would be a light to the world announcing His plans for creation from before the foundation of the world. The preparation of a bride for Christ was His plan. Ephesians 5 shows the parallel of our husband wife relationship in comparison to Christ and the church. Not just those who are married but the church as a whole is the Bride of Christ. We who are married have even more opportunity to glorify God and evangelize the world. If God's plan before the creation of the world was to prepare a bride for Christ and glorify Himself through it then how is the Church not central to God's plan? The point of our seminar was "How are you doing in preparing one another to be the bride of Christ?". Absolutely the church is CENTRAL to GOD'S PLAN!! It is the very means of accomplishing what HE has set out to DO!!!

I think Theresa summarizes what I am trying to say; no need in saying much more here. God had a plan before He ever began His creative work. God the Father planned to give a gift to His beloved Son: a people who would worship and glorify Him forever. The bride of Christ, the Church, the one for whom the Son would lay down His life. Of course He would. His beloved Father chose her for Him and gave her to Him. This gift is of great value to Him and He loves it – He loves her. And in that He loves ME.

So, how am I doing in preparing myself and my wedded husband to be the bride of Christ? It begins with faithfulness. But it certainly doesn’t stop there! Wouldn't you agree?

The Fifth Commandment Revisited

2005-03-13T03:42:00.000-08:00

Honor your father and mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. Exodus 20:12

When Elder Robin saw my questions about the fifth commandment, he suggested that I read again the introduction to Mr. Reisinger’s book. I jotted down several quotes as I read, looked at the Scriptures used in this section and tried to think logically through what I had learned and read from the Word. Now, that’s a difficult thing to do – think logically – especially for someone with a lot of “Eve” in her. Top that off with being taught in the government schools all my life, where we were taught to poll-parrot, but not to think for ourselves, and it is a real challenge! However, God is gracious, and He means to teach His children and so, I think I have landed on a solid answer to my questions concerning this commandment: Does the fifth apply only to the parent/child relationship and not to other authority relationships?

A.W. Pink says: “This revelation of God . . . was to serve. . . as the grand expression of [God’s] holiness and the summation of man’s duty. God assigned peculiar importance [to the Decalogue] by:
* speaking them audibly
* accompanied by clouds, darkness, thunders, lightning, trumpet
* written by God Himself (Moses wrote the rest of the law)
* they alone were deposited in the Ark of the Covenant”

Mr. Reisinger says:

"All of Scripture serves as a commentary on the ten. They are the perfect rules for a holy
life."

And:

"Historical passages narrate human actions in light of conformity or opposition to the moral
law."

If God’s great Ten is a summation of the duties and sins of man, the backbone of all other teachings, then shouldn’t the basis for obedience to all authorities come from this Law?

Mr. Resinger, again:

"The commandments are the moral mandate of the Creator to the creatures . . . [The Ten]
are also the only fixed, objective standard for sanctified behavior. . . The Ten
Commandments must be understood according to the rest of Scripture and not in the light of
moral philosophy or social custom. . . The first four commandments have to do with our
duty to love and worship our Creator. The last six commandments have to do with our duty
to man.”

Matthew writes in chapter 22:37-40, quoting the Savior:

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

We are to honor others with an internal desire and affection. This honors God; it sets up a pattern of behavior for all our relationships. It is important that we honor and submit ourselves to all authorities as this is God’s general plan to produce order and peace among the sinful peoples of this earth. Chaos results without this general honor. This honoring must begin in the home at an early age by teaching the infant and toddler unquestioning obedience to their God given authorities: Dad and Mom.

Dad and Mom exhibit a model of submission as they honor those in authority over them: Mom to Dad, Dad to God, Dad to employer or client, Dad and Mom as citizens to the governing authorities.

Since all of Scripture is a commentary of God’s basic law to us, we look to it to give us insight into the basic building blocks of law that are to govern our lives.

God’s first institution – family – is the fabric of all society. As goes the family, so goes society. If there is no true authority in the family, no true honor for the authority at home (as is now the general case in our own society), there will be no respect for Dad and Mom. This is translated to all other authorities. Lack of honor and subjection to authorities in other walks of life may be traced to a lack of teaching and/or example in the home life.

The Bible expounds on teaching of authority. Its first major stop after the Fifth is found in Deuteronomy 6:

You shall love the Lord our God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (vv 5-7)

The responsibility to teach subjection to all authorities and to fellow Christians lies directly, firstly, on the parents. Fathers are to teach their children in a way that does not dishearten or exasperate them – by example! Dad should respect and honor those in authority over him: God, church, work, governing authorities. If he demands respect yet shows little or none himself, he will provoke his children to anger. But whether a good example exists or not, accountability for the children’s actions lie directly on their own shoulders: they are to honor.

The New Testament so clearly opens up this small portion of the Law, as it teaches what subjection truly looks like. Just reading Paul’s letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians shows it starts in the home: wives to husbands, children to parents, slaves to masters, all to all. It starts in the home and ripples outward.

God commanded that the home would be the primary place and means of instruction to the next generation (Deuteronomy 6 again!) . It is here the children learn their duty to all God-given authority and here that children must practice subjection to Mom and Dad before going out into the world and taking up their duties and obligations there. God instructs Dad and Mom how to teach them: consistently, daily, using the rod and reproof as their means. (Deut. 6:5-7; Proverbs 22:15, 29:15)

So, does the Fifth ripple outward to authorities other than parents? I believe so. God knows it must start in the home. The teaching of one generation to the next is first and foremost the responsibility of Dad. The responsibility to learn that teaching and to honor the teacher is the child’s. Again and again, I stress to my children their responsibility to listen (with the intent to honor and obey) and to be wise:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;
Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head
And ornaments about your neck.
Proverbs 1:7-9

Here is where it begins, in the home – the teaching to the next generation the fear of the Lord, the teaching of wisdom, the teaching of humility, the teaching of honor. The responsibility lies with the parents to teach. The responsibility to learn lies with the children.

What do you think?

To Whom Does the Fifth Commandment Apply?

2005-03-04T03:20:00.000-08:00

At our home group on Sunday, we discussed the fifth commandment. Mr. Reisinger, in his book, followed the ideas of the Westminster confession and applied the law to the fact that we need to obey all superiors in our lives. He also discussed the duties of superiors to inferiors (Westminster’s language). One of our members, Eddie, stated that he did not believe that the fifth commandment applied to anyone other than children and their own parents. I had never thought to question the Westminster and that set me to thinking.

The Ten are God’s moral law. We are to use it as our moral compass – our guideline for right behavior and thinking. Is this law written for individuals for their own self-government? And out of this our own national laws are based?

If the fifth is only for parents and children, the group wondered where we get the idea of obeying our superiors in the Old Testament. The New Testament is more explicit on the idea of obeying our government and honoring our king. Christ Himself said to render unto Caesar whatever is Caesar’s (and unto God whatever is God’s). Paul wrote Romans 13 concerning obeying them that have the rule over us for they are appointed by God. He instructed Timothy that holy men were to pray for their leaders. Peter also speaks about obeying our rulers. But what about the Old?

Well, I have had no time to study it. I hope to take a look today while we travel to Blackshear for the Dixon family reunion. But I do remember some things from which maybe we could apply the idea of obedience and honor.

First there is “Proud Korah’s Troop Was Swallowed Up.” (Sorry, that is how I will always remember Korah. We used Webster’s primer for learning the sounds of the alphabet when I first started teaching Aidan to read.) Korah was really miffed at Moses and he started some rebellious thinking among the children of Israel. Moses instructed the people to come away from them and that God would show them who was right and who was wrong. This would leave them no question as to who God had chosen for them to follow. (Although, clearly, God had already made it quite obvious who His chosen leader for the people should be!) God would do something unusual to indicate His choice. And did He ever. The ground opened up and swallowed Korah and all those who stood with him. Then God killed all those who were bearing the incense whom He had not chosen. He made it quite clear that Moses was the man to lead the Israelites and that this leadership was right and good and not to be questioned.

The other example I thought of is that of David and Saul. Saul wants David dead. So much so that he is using his army to chase David down. David could have killed Saul many times. Yet he doesn’t. He respects who Saul is. He is the appointed and anointed king over Israel. He will not touch God’s anointed. And when the messenger who reported to him Saul’s death admitted to helping Saul’s demise, David had the messenger killed for killing the king (take that one to the euthanasia enthusiasts!). David honored the position Saul was in even though Saul was a “has-been” and David even knew that Saul was a has-been.

So my question is this: Do you think the fifth only applies to the parent/child relationship? If so, where in the OT do we get the idea of honoring and obeying the rulers over us, other than inference? Are my examples good ones to use for inference or are there better ones? I hope to further my study on this, but it surely isn’t a hill I would stand on and die for!

The Sixth Commandment

2005-03-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13

My personal Bible is a New American Standard Bible. This is the Bible I “devote” from and this is the Bible I usually memorize from. And this is how the NAS states the sixth commandment. I looked at the other versions in our home. The New King James and the New International Version both use the term “murder.” The Old King James (I was shocked to find) and the Revised Standard Version use the term “kill.” Now, maybe I am picking knits, but to me there is a world of difference between those two words. Every year, my husband and my 14-year-old son “kill” at least two deer and we put that meat into our freezer. Are they breaking God’s law? Well, obviously not. God gave us permission to eat meat back in Genesis chapter nine. Surely, it is not wrong to kill critters, especially not for the purpose of food.

So is there a difference in the two terms? Here are the main definitions for each from Noah Webster’s 1828 “American Dictionary of the English Language.”

Kill – to deprive of life, animal or vegetable, in any manner or by any means. To kill an animal or a plant, is to put an end to the vital functions, either by destroying or essentially injuring the organs necessary to life, or by causing them to cease from action. An animal may be killed by the sword or by poison, by disease or by suffocation. A strong solution of salt will kill plants.

Murder – the act of unlawfully killing a human being with premeditated malice, by a person of sound mind. To constitute murder in law, the person killing another must be of sound mind or in possession of his reason, and the act must be done with malice prepense, aforethought or premeditated; but malice may be implied, as well as express. [Mr. Webster’s definition is followed by the name Blackstone and so I assume he takes his definition from Mr. Blackstone’s writings on law.]

These are definitions from the English language. But Exodus was originally written in the ancient Hebrew and translated to our language. What word from the Hebrew was used in this commandment and what was its meaning as intended by Moses? Strong’s concordance says that the original word is 7523 ratsach meaning to “dash in pieces, i.e., to kill (a human being) especially to murder: -- put to death, kill, slay, manslayer, murder, murderer.” Vine’s gives a good summary of the different Hebrew terms used in the Bible for “kill” and “murder”. Below is a quote of some of what is discussed concerning the word used in Exodus 20:13:

This verb occurs more than 40 times in the Old Testament, and its concentration is in the Pentateuch. Rasah is rare in Rabbinic Hebrew, and its usage has been increased in modern Hebrew with the exclusive meaning of “to murder.” . . . Rasah occurs primarily in the legal material of the Old Testament. This is not a surprise, as God’s law included regulations on life and provisions for dealing with the murderer. The Decalogue gives the general principle in a simple statement which contains the first occurrence [in the Bible] of the verb: “Thou shalt not kill [murder]” . . . The Old Testament recognizes the distinction between premeditated murder and unintentional killing. In order to assure the rights of the manslayer, who unintentionally killed someone, the law provided for three cities of refuge . . . to which a manslayer might flee and seek asylum: “. . . that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares” (Num. 35:11). The severity of the act of murder is stressed in the requirement of exile even in the case of unintentional murder. The man guilty of manslaughter is to be turned over to the avenger of blood, who keeps the right of killing the manslayer if the manslayer goes outside the territory of the city of refuge before the death of the high priest. On the other hand, if the manslayer is chargeable with premeditated murder (examples of which are given in Num. 35:16-21), the blood avenger may execute the murder without a trial. In this way the Old Testament underscores the principles of the sanctity of life and of retribution; only in the cities of refuge is the principle of retribution suspended.

It seems to me that the Hebrew language uses the terms as we do: kill, meaning to take life, in general, and murder, meaning to take the life of another human being. If the murder is unintentional (accidental), we use the term “manslaughter” (“manslayer” in the Bible) to indicate the difference; however, it is still a serious situation, especially in God’s sight and it is still murder.

Our society needs to get more serious about murder. ‘Nuff said.

Murder is a serious thing whereas killing goes on everyday. I kill often: spiders, those nasty alien creatures, creep into our home by the firewood we bring in for our wood burning stove. During the summer, I attack the flies with a vengeance. I don’t believe I’ve ever killed anything else. Oh, I have accidentally killed a squirrel or two with my care. I attempted to kill a copperhead snake in my rose garden several years ago, but by the time I got my shovel, he had slithered away. But I have never murdered anyone.

Or have I?

Jesus said, “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into fiery hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

I have been angry enough with my closest loved ones, my dear husband and my two precious sons, that I have called names. I have been angry enough with my children to have spanked them or smack them in anger. Oh, they needed discipline, that was for sure, but my heart, my inside self, was seething with anger. Not at what they had done to offend my Heavenly Father and to warrant a spanking. No, at what they had done to provoke the great “ME.”

Jesus said, “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.” (Matthew 12:35)

It is the heart. It is the heart that matters to Jesus. What is in my heart. What am I thinking about? What am I dwelling upon? This influences my emotion and my action. So many times, I have crushed my children instead of teaching them. So many times, I have said something foolish to someone when I should have been guarding my heart closely, because out of it springs all the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). Instead of looking to the Word for guidance and pondering carefully the situation, as the righteous ought (Proverbs 15:28) before giving an answer, I have opened my mouth and out have come wicked things. Or I have reacted in anger. This is bad. This is murder.

Whenever we say something that hurts, whether intentional or unintentional, we have hurt one of God’s creations, created in His image. We need to stop and to think carefully: “What am I thinking? Why am I thinking that? That person did something or said something that offended me. I am angry or hurt by what that person did or said. He has provoked me.” When we notice we are thinking like this, it is a red flag. Look at the central theme of this type of thinking. Who is central? “ME.” Who should be central in our thoughts? God. Out of this me-centered thinking comes our sin. Out of our evil comes evil. Jesus was right (of course!). That is why He has given us so much in His Word concerning our mouth and our words. Here are a few of the things He has given which I need to meditate on:

The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so abandon the quarrel before it breaks out. Proverbs 17:14

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise. Proverbs 10:19

He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him. Proverbs 18:13

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:29-32

Love is patient, love is kind. . . it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered. I Corinthians 13:4-5

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

I need to get more serious about murder . . .

The Fifth Commandment

2005-02-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

"Honor your father and mother, that your days may be
prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you." Exodus
20:12

The first institution which God ordained was the family (Genesis 2:18-24 and Genesis 1:27-28). The first of the “horizontal” commandments is about family. Family is the fabric of society: as goes the family, so goes society. If you take a look at a culture you will get a pretty good view of its families.

This commandment is not just to little toddlers in training or rebellious teenagers, but to all children, regardless of age. How we treat our parents as we (and they) grow older is just as important as how we minded them when we lived at home.

We have a culture today which, for the most part, abandons its parents and its children. The old folks want to remain “independent.” They don’t want to be a “burden” to their children, so they live in their old homeplace till they fall and hurt themselves and assistance is then required. They live in retirement communities or assisted living or nursing homes. A lot of the “children” are relieved that this is the accepted norm now. Their lives are so filled with pursuing their own goals (career, hobbies, leisure activities, taxiing and catering to their own young children) that they can’t take on the added responsibility of caring for their Mom or Dad. So they let someone else do it. And they miss an opportunity for blessing. They miss a wonderful source of wisdom and of family continuity. And they miss an opportunity of service, of growing in grace, of putting self on the back burner.

The old folks’ refusal to “burden” their children with their care is an issue of pride and certainly of selfishness. The children’s relief at not having to care for them is pure greed and idolatry, feeding of self. Pursuing individual goals at the price of humanity is indulgence in the flesh at a high cost! (Please, don’t think I look down on folks who really need extreme medical existence. For the most part, however, we can handle the care of our elderly Moms and Dads! Actually, they become a valuable contribution to the running of the family and home.)

Our society today has also abandoned its children. At younger and younger ages, children are sent off on the yellow bus filled with great models of behavior and values (I am being facetious here) to the great cavernous and echoing halls filled with more screaming and aggressive (but great for “socialization”) models of behavior. Let the government educate them while Mom and Dad pursue their separate careers and hobbies and leisure activities.

Many children never know the warmth and stability and consistent discipline of a home because from the age of six weeks they are placed in a “nursery” to be cared for by strangers. Some are fortunate to have “care-givers” (oh, how I shudder at that term) and teachers who handle the children with love and gentleness, and who teach them with consistency and patience. The parents are so relieved to have gotten the “luck of the draw” for their children for that year. But what about next year?

And what about the flipside of The Fifth? What about the Moms and Dads’ responsibility to teach their children about honoring. The job was not given to the government or to care-givers. It was given to, first of all, the Fathers.

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am
commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them
diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and
when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise
up.” Deuteronomy 6:5-7

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is
right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a
promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the
earth. FATHERS do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in
the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians
6:1-4

“Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for
this is well-pleasing to the Lord. FATHERS, do not exasperate your
children, so that they will not lose heart.” Colossians 3:20-21

Yes, our society is filled with rebellious, defiant and angry children who do not honor or respect their elders. And the parents are amazed and baffled as to why. I believe the responsibility for this decay falls on each generation of Moms and Dads as they steadily relinquished more and more of their own God-given responsibilities (and privilege – it is always a blessing to follow God’s way of doing things!) to others for the care of the aging parents and for the new generation they are charged with bringing up in the admonition and nurture of the Lord.

Our society did not get to this level of decay overnight. It will probably take many generations to restore the family. But it can be done. By God’s grace, it can be done. IF the children of this generation would take back their duty to God and teach their own boys and girls about real honor. We may have to give up a few of our personal dreams and desires. We may have to discipline ourselves to be the model of honor and selflessness a good teacher must be. But if we want our children to “inherit the earth,” to grow up to be caring, compassionate, giving and selfless citizens, parents and workers, shouldn’t WE be their example?

I started out by saying that the first of the horizontal commandments had to do with family – the basic unit of society. I believe a major reason for this is that all the other horizontals following The Fifth are taught through honoring The Fifth and so are the first four commandments, the vertical commandments. Children are to be taught by Mom and Dad how to love their God with all their hearts, minds and souls and how to love their neighbor as themselves.

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your Word.”

Psalm 119:9

The Fourth Commandment

2005-02-18T04:10:00.000-08:00

The Fourth Commandment
Exodus 20:8-11

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

It strikes me that the longest commandment (both in words and verses – yes, I counted them) is the one that so many ignore or even argue that it was nullified by Christ’s first Advent.

Many good folks will say that the Fourth is a foreshadowing of things to come and that Christ has fulfilled all things, so the Fourth is no longer necessary. But aren’t the other nine also a foreshadowing of future perfections? Just because Christ fulfilled them, that doesn’t mean we no longer need them, does it?

Some will say – very mistakenly – that this only applied to Israel. But wait, isn’t this part of God’s moral law? All of these laws, these commandments, these ten words, were already in existence. These laws were written in men’s hearts, long before God’s finger engraved them in the stone tablets of Sinai. These laws are actually a reflection of the character of the One who gave them – our God. He is unchanging and therefore His moral law, the reflection of Himself, would certainly be unchanging.

People really struggle with this one, the Fourth. They squirm at the idea of not working for a day. It is easy, with our tendency to pervert God’s gifts, to turn this commandment into some legalistic nightmare. But this fourth word from our GOOD, heavenly Father is a gift. What a wonderful gift: to set aside an entire day to think on our Lord. God has given us permission to set aside the usual duties of our workaday life and turn all our thoughts to Him! (Common sense here: tasks necessary to life, such as cooking that all-important Sunday dinner, are to be carried out. With joy, too, and thankfulness to enable others to worship God by strengthening them physically with nourishment. Besides, a lot of this could be planned and prepared a day ahead.) To think on the beauty and wonder and majesty and love and kindness (need I go on) of our precious Savior. To hear His Word declared and to sing His praises. To spend time with our eternal family, giving and receiving encouragement. What a wonderful gift – a taste of our eternal life in glory each week.

There is work to be done on the Sabbath – just as God the Father (as Jesus said) is always working. But all the work done on the Sabbath has a singular focus: worship. The things we do enable us to worship and others also. Jesus always demonstrated what was acceptable on His day – for it is His day. (See Luke 13:10-17, for example.)

As Christians, we should embrace Sunday with joy! There should be no grumbling at this special time. There should be relief, rest and rejoicing. Thank God for giving us this day to worship Him as completely as we possibly can on this Earth, looking forward to the day when we enter the Sabbath forever!

The Third Commandment

2005-02-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. Exodus 20:7

Taking His name in vain. What does that mean? The word vain means empty of meaning, superficial or even conceit. So, we are not to render the Lord’s name meaningless. It’s not an interjection (e.g. Oh! My!) or a preface to a bad word. Neither should we make a promise by it and treat the promise with nonchalance.

But it goes, I think, way beyond that. God’s name is pregnant with meaning. The Old Testament reveals God in many aspects of His character by the various names He uses for Himself. The triune Creator of Genesis is “Elohim”. El-Roi is the God who sees of Genesis 16. Abraham came to know Him as Jehovah-Jireh – God provides – in Genesis 22. In I Samuel 1 He is Jehovah-Tsebaoth, the God of Hosts. And so many more: El Shaddai (God Almighty), Adonai (My Lord). In the New Testament, Jesus reveals even more with His great “I ams”:

 I am the Bread of Life (living bread) -- John 6:35, 48, 51
 I am the Light of the world -- John 8:12, 9:5
 I am -- John 8:24 (from Exodus 3:14) and 18:6,8
 Before Abraham was born, I am – John 8:58
 I am the door (of the sheep) John 10:7,9
 I am the Good Shepherd – John 10:11, 14
 I am the resurrection and the life – John 11:25
 I am the way, the truth and the life – John 14:6
 I am the true vine – John 15:1,5
 I am the first and the last, the Living One – Revelation 1:17&18

So to use God’s name lightly, without thought of what it represents, shows my own lack of reverence, fear and awe of His person. It shows my own foolishness and darkness and lack of understanding and wisdom.

Look at the few names mentioned above:

As Elohim, Creator God, He is our Creator and as Creator, He owns us! Certainly He does! Have you ever made something: baked a cake or rebuilt an engine or sketched a landscape or written a song. It’s yours. For someone else to take credit for it or to claim it would be stealing it. Well, we are God’s to do with as He pleases, just as if I baked a cake and could do as I pleased. I could give it as a gift, share it with my family and friends, or throw it in the garbage. God created me and He does what pleases Himself with me. Thank God, it pleased Him to set His great love upon me.

El-Roi, the God who sees – He sees, all right. There is nothing hidden from His sight. He sees all that I do and knows all that I am. He sees my secret sins and He sees my good works (created by Him, by the way). He sees when injustice and persecution strikes my life. He sees my secret worship as well as corporate. Nothing escapes His notice.

Jehovah-jireh, the God who provides. Not only did He make me, but also He provides everything for my life. He is the sustainer, the keeper of life. Everything I am and all that I have are brought about by Him. I owe to Him a debt of gratitude for my provision of life, salvation, sanctification and finally – glory! As a Christian He provides me with all I need for life and godliness.

Jehovah-tsebaoth, Lord of Hosts. The Lord is sovereign over all things. He commands both the mighty hosts of heaven and the armies of the Earth. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. In this case (I Samuel 1) He has heard the prayer of Hannah and had the power to open Hannah’s barren womb and to silence proud Peninah.

To recognize and understand God’s name is to recognize and understand who we are in relation to this Great Sovereign. His name should humble us and bring us to our knees. And it will, as Paul declares in Phil. 2:9-11:

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God has done great and awesome things for us – His church – and for me. What He has done is simply an outpouring of who He is. Worship Him and honor Him. His name alone is worthy o reverence, fear and awe. Contemplate your salvation and your journey into holiness. See what great things He hath done. It is by and for His great name. Worship Him and hold His great name in utmost respect and honor: be a Christian. If you wear the name Christian and do not act in holiness and awe of Him, you profane His name. Show love and honor to Him – keep His commandments and have a repentant heart. This honors and magnifies His name. And if you do not revere His name, if you do not own the name Christian, won’t you examine your heart and bow the knee before this great and awesome God?

The Second Commandment

2005-01-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

I think a key phrase here is “make for yourself.” When you think about it, making something with your own hands and then bowing down an worshiping it – it’s really rather laughable.

When we first began homeschooling, Kyle was eight years old. We used the A Beka readers and one story stuck in my mind. I was a newborn, spiritually, so anything outside of my small paradigm was a shattering experience. This story, “The God Who Made My Hands,” was dynamite to me. It told of a young boy whose job it was to carve the idols for his village. One day as he was making yet another image, a thought popped into his head. He suddenly stopped and observed his hands. The hands that were making this little god – who made his hands? He became excited and could not shake this question. He knew that if he could find the “God Who Made My Hands” it would be something great, something big, something worth worship. He went in search of this God. He went from village to village searching and asking if anyone knew who this God might be. The search went on for years. One day, he came to a village and asked the old chief there if he knew the “God Who Made My Hands.” The chief began to tell him about the God of the Bible and that little idol maker, now a grown man, worshipped the one true God.

That little boy, that maker of little gods, realized that these gods were at his mercy to be whatever he made them to be! And yet the people of the village bowed down, prayed to them and brought them precious food. But who made him? Whoever had made him had to be outside of his control, above him, and all these lifeless images he made.

A couple of years later, we began attending a church where the Bible was preached verse by verse. The power of this kind of preaching was explosive to me. Suddenly, it was as if everything were sharper, clearer and brighter. I couldn’t wait to get to church every Sunday. I was like a child at the dessert table! What a feast!

I’ll never forget as Pastor John was teaching one day (I don’t remember his topic) he pointed out a passage in the Bible where God laughs and scorns the idol makers/worshipers. He pokes fun at the fact that these idols have eyes but can’t see, ears that can’t hear, and lips that can’t speak. They have to be tended to by humans. How absurd!

You know, the ancient Egyptians went through great ceremony before parading one of their sacred images through the streets. The priests would carefully wash and dress the idol. They would place it upon the cart and fix it into place so it wouldn’t fall. Then they would carry it through the streets. When the festival ended, they would put it back into its place.

God snorts in derision at such activity. He is the true and living God – the almighty, the all-knowing, the all-present God. He has no need for someone to move Him where He needs to be or for anyone to tell Him where He should be at a given time. He needs no special house – why the earth is His footstool! (Actually, He has no feet: “God is a spirit and has not a body like men.”)

Make for myself an idol! Why worship anything lesser than myself? And yet I’ll do it. God knows how prone I am to want to be in control – still striving to “be like God.” So if we make God into something we would like Him to be, we could pull all the strings and pray all the right prayers, call all the shots . . .

But there is only one true God. And He deserves all of our worship.

Well, we don’t make little carvings or set up shrines to Baal or Moloch here. We don’t place our babies in the glowing, red-hot arms of these mute gods to burn in sacrifice. We don’t commit barbaric acts of worship. We are enlightened – smarter than those ancients, who, after all, didn’t have all the technology and knowledge we have today. Intellectually inferior! We look down our noses and shake our heads in compassion at their misfortune to be further back on the intellectual evolutionary column.

Oh, but I can make an idol. I can and I have. I make it up in the desires of my heart. That image I have created of the perfect (well, almost perfect) Christian family and knowledgeable, polite, homeschooled boys. That was just one of my idols – my chief god, anyway. But God, the true and living God, has showered me with His lovingkindness and has patiently taught me over the years who He is. He has slowly, gently, revealed to me the ungodly desires of my heart, tenderly (and sometimes explosively!) replacing them with His desires. I have prayed prayers not realizing what I was asking for: “Teach me what’s so great about Your ‘grace’;” “What does Your love really mean;” “Teach me about being humble.” God put those desires in my heart and then slowly turned me to see the breath-taking, soul-shaking panorama of His Truth in these areas. As I look over the parts of it I can see, I am shaken yet again as I realize the depths there are to plunge into and search out – it would take more than a lifetime!

Why does God so patiently teach me, so compassionately reveal to me His truths, when I am so prone to stray, to forget Him and go after manmade idols (or should I say, woman-made)? Because God is jealous for me! He set His love upon me, an eternity ago. He loves me fiercely, furiously. His love for me is unshakable and unstoppable. He will finish what He has started – He will present me to Himself perfect and holy and spotless. He loves me and this love will burn away all the yuck and filth from my sin-permeated soul. His love is teaching me to love Him. Over and over, He says to me, as I pick up one graven image after another, “No child, that’s not Me.” And a s I look at His Word I begin to recognize my real Father, the true and living God. You know, we couldn’t begin to make an image that would depict the majestic beauty of our Lord and King. And we don’t need to. He’s shown us who He is. It’s all in His Word.

Whatever Happened to the Ten Commandments?

2005-01-13T04:49:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday, after worship, we meet with two other families from church for Sunday dinner, good Christian fellowship and to discuss the book we are studying at that particular time. We have about 6 or 7 "home groups" that meet either on Sundays or Wednesdays. A wonderful opportunity to get to know one another better and to pray for one another. We have just begun looking at the book "Whatever Happened to the Ten Commandments" by Ernest Reisinger.

It is interesting that we are studying this book after all the hoopla in the press about the fight in Alabama over displaying the Decalogue, as well as many other skirmishes throughout the country. The funny, or maybe sad, thing is that most people have no real concept what these ten words from Jehovah really mean and how they should govern our lives.

After discussing the intro last week, we thought it would be interesting to jot down our thoughts on each commandment as we studied it, then compare it to what we learned after the corresponding chapter. Each chapter will discuss the duties and the sins that are implied by each commandment by taking in the counsel of the whole Word of God. This coming Sunday, we will discuss the first commandment:

"You shall have no other gods before Me." Exodus 20:3

He is the only true and one God. There is no other. I am to recognize Him as such. It is right for Him to promote Himself as the only true and one God -- the highest and the best and the greatest, the One worthy of worship. For Him to do less would be blasphemy and idolatry! Since He is the one true God, not only am I to recognize Him as such, but I am to guard against holding anyone or thing in greater esteem.

Now, that sounds so easy. Careful examination reveals that it is not easy, especially in light of my deceptive, sinful heart and my own selfish desires!

To esteem Him as God tells me that since He is the highest, greatest and best, then His Words take precedence over all else. He is the ultimate Authority and I owe Him my allegiance and obedience. There is One to whom I am to submit and bow the knee before all others. There is an ultimate Authority and an ultimate and absolute standard which comes from this Great Authority.

To deny this truth does not destroy it. God does not need to prove that His Word is true; nor does He need to prove His existence. Actually, the works of His hands declare His existence (Ps. 19:1; Ps. 8:3,6). But even if He had done no works, He would not need to prove Himself. He simply is. And all other creatures (for that is what we are, created beings) exist or have their being within His authority (Acts 17:28). In other words, I wouldn't be here without His having brought me into existence. He spoke all things into being by His good pleasure and His eternal will. And not only did God have the FIRST word, but He will have the last. Because the day will arrive when, at the name of Jesus (who is God!) every knee shall bow. . . and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Ph. 2:9-11).

He is God and there is no other (Isaiah 46:8-10).

In Memory of a Stinky Old Hound Dog

2005-01-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

What do you tell your kids when a faithful friend has to die? Do you tell them, "You'll see him again." Well that would be lying. Do you say that the memory will fade with the passing of time and so will the hurt? Sure, the memory fades with our one-track, time-bound minds, but what comfort is that? They loved the old Hound. And what a copout to tell them the hurt goes away with the fading memories. Why protect them from the sorrow? The sorrow is real, almost tangible, a presence in our hearts. There will be many more to come. Rather teach them to deal with it rightly.

As Aidan burst into tears today, after Dr. Dowell placed Hound's lifeless form into the back of the Dodge, I told him the truth, although I must admit, I wanted to believe the lie myself. No, we won't see him again. We will keep him in our memories. We will look at the pictures and tell all the stories about this funny, faithful, stubborn tri-colored mutt we called Hound Dog.

How, as a young dog and newcomer to the McMichen menagerie, he faithfully got the morning paper from the bottom of the hill -- and faithfully tore it to shreds in the yard. David almost despaired of having the newspaper intact until one day he had a brilliant idea: he placed mouse traps inside a paper. They went off like firecrackers and Hound decided that the news had become a little too lively for him.

How he went on his own walkabouts: ending up in Peachtree City (we lived in Tyrone) and the animal shelter calling David to come get him. He didn't chase our horses but went in search of other, shall we say, greener pastures. He also defied the law of averages: He would actually take a nap on the sun-warmed asphalt of the turn lane of Highway 74! We had at least 4 animals killed living in Tyrone because of the high traffic there. But Hound Dog never even got tipped by a passing car.

How he loved the UPS truck. He greeted it with his deep monosyllabic barking and would resume barking when the UPS man cranked up to leave, escorting the big brown truck down the drive. One night David got home to find his expensive T&S brass order strewed over the back yard and clear into the horses' pasture: tiny screws and bolts and parts and bubble wrap and cardboard everywhere. When he got out of the truck and saw the mess, he knew who the culprit had to be. He called to Hound who immediately dropped his head in the perfect "hang dog" posture and slunk away. He knew!

How he would excitedly trail a shot deer where David and Kyle could never have found it. You could hear his baying as he drew closer and closer to his prey. Then it would stop and grow quiet. That meant he found it! He would not advertise it, for he wanted the prize all for himself. He would lie there quietly licking up the blood until David and Kyle caught up. Then, he would guard the body carefully as they loaded it into the truck and brought it back. He then would confiscate the legs for himself.

How last year, the last year he was physically able to help on the hunt, he held a spike buck in the brush until David got there with his pistol to finish him off. The buck, fatally wounded, was nevertheless determined to escape. When David got through the briers to where the two animals were fighting, he saw Hound Dog nipping at the buck's legs while the buck tried vainly to attack the aged dog with his spike antlers. David finally found an opportunity to finish off the buck and Hound Dog immediately lay claim to his prize!

Oh, the stories could go on: almost 12 years' worth of stories to tell. Many good memories that are precious to a fourteen year old young man who grew up with his dog. Hound never learned to sit or come or heel or stay. He stubbornly resisted the usual training of the family dog.

Stubborn! Stubborn even in death. The old cuss just would not die. Each day we prayed that he would go and each day he hung stubbornly in there. He would get up and stand beside our legs while we were outside and retire to the hay bale when we came in. He would eat only to please Kyle. Yesterday, in the drizzly gray morning, Kyle and David dug a hole in preparation. Hound hadn't eaten in nearly 2 days. Surely it would be any hour now. But no, he ate a little for Kyle last tnight. And this morning, he sat up on his hay pile when I came out to feed the critters and to check on him. We so wanted him to die peacefully at home on his warm hay. When we finally took him to the vet's this morning, he was too dehydrated to take the shot in the vein. Dr. Dowell adminstered it into the belly. It took two shots and twenty minutes before his heart finally stilled.

We took Hound home and Kyle placed him in the hole, after we removed his old black collar. Kyle began to shovel the yellow clay in first, reserving the rich black topsoil for last. I noticed how he carefully placed each shovelful, how he avoided covering Hound's head. Finally, the moment came I had been dreading, when he would have to cover Hound completely. Somehow, it seemed easier after that part. The yellow clay went into the hole and Kyle began to tamp it, first with the tamper and then with the 16 pound sledge hammer. That done, he began to fill in with the top soil, tamping it as he filled it in. He placed the stone border around the hole, traced the outline then dug a trench to set them in, carefully tamping the dirt around them. Finally, he dug a small hole in the center and we placed in it the dogwood tree we had purchased the day before as Hound's marker. It was done.

As Dr. Dowell had carried the lifeless dog out to the truck for us this morning, the assistant tried to comfort the boys by saying they would see Hound Dog again one day.

What do I tell my boys? How do I comfort them, when my own heart is twisting in sorrow? Not by lying. No, the truth is the best. To do anything else would be to give a false hope and a false comfort. We have honored our Creator by befriending one of His creatures and caring for it and loving it and enjoying our time with this dog. Now we will honor our Savior by remembering that death is part of the curse of sin and that there is only one hope, one comfort and that is in the promise of our merciful God. He will come again and put all things right. Death is defeated and one day, Jesus will wipe every tear from our eyes. All the sorrow will be gone and our joy will be filled up. Until then, we comfort one another with these words, "And behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with me." I want my boys to be ready when that day comes. I can only prepare them by telling Truth. God keeps His promises.