‘Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.’ I Cor. 4:2
Biblical stewardship is the concept that God owns everything. As it relates to individuals, God owns everything you have, plus God owns your soul and your body. Personally although I have known this for a long time, it takes a while before some things sink into my thick skull. I no longer rail on the Israelites that kept falling into sin in the wilderness during the 40 years that Moses led them, without realizing that I am no better. Had I been there, I probably wouldn’t have lasted very long.
When God allowed me to start Grace Plastics, then known as Grace Polymers, I noticed that there were some months that were very good and some months that really stunk. As I looked back to analyze the reasons for the difference, I came to the conclusion that often the good months were when I determined that the company was not my own, but in a real way I would daily give the company to God. And conversely, the lean months were when I let pride get in the way or in other ways put myself at the helm. I was learning expensive lessons that cost me thousands of dollars in lost profit because I often forgot that all belongs to God.
This does not mean that whenever a Christian businessman fails, he is not giving himself to God, because this past winter was very dark and difficult for Grace Plastics, but I don’t think the reason was because of some spiritual failure on my part. Besides if you look at the patriarch Job you don’t find him losing everything because he was a spiritual failure. It started out as a contest between God and Satan. Incidentally, contrary to what some have said, God won the contest – Job came through as God predicted he would.
Those of us who know Jesus as personal Savior, need to be good stewards of what God has given us. We all have been given bodies so we need to do what it takes to keep the body healthy and functioning well. If God has given someone a sickly body, we should not condemn a wise Creator. We just are not smart enough to always know why. But to allow the body God has entrusted to you to be hurt by tobacco, booze or other drugs, diet, or in other ways, is not being a good steward of your body. Also God has given you a soul which first and foremost is most valuable to God and ought to be to ourselves as well. Therefore to reject Jesus as Savior is the worst thing you can do to your soul. If God blesses you with a spouse and you are again blessed with children, these are eternal souls belonging to God. But He has entrusted them to your care. You now have the awesome responsibility of leading the young impressionable souls to salvation and then to walk with God. But they are not yours, they belong to God. It may sound cruel, but if God so chooses to take them Home early, that is His decision. If we have settled upon God’s ownership, we can accept the tragedy with more grace. Then God owns all He has blessed us with materially. Once we settle this in our minds, we will not grudgingly give up the tithe, but joyfully offer it as sacrifice to God.
There is more to this subject that I want to address, but in order to keep these posts from getting out of hand, I will continue this within the next month.
On a personal note, we are four weeks from Michelle and Aaron Steele’s wedding day, so things are getting tense as deadlines loom. But God is smoothing out the rough places and providing grace for each day. We are thankful for His provision and for His leading in the lives of our children.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Declaration of Independence
Yesterday was July 4, 2009, and 233 years since the Continental Congress voted for independence from Great Britain. Then they signed their names to the document and sent it to King George. Many of these same brave men saw their families and fortunes ruined over the next years as the war that followed wrecked havoc on so many.
I decided to read the Declaration of Independence to some family members yesterday. I would recommend that all Americans read it. It is interesting, and of the many reasons given for the separation from the Crown, we can see some similarities to an oppressive government we have today in Washington. Perhaps we don’t have it quite as bad since apart from a couple incidents in recent years, we don’t have soldiers being sent into this country to kill our citizens. But there are other situations which our founding fathers did not have to deal with, which now face us. Situations of government intrusion which would make them roll over in their graves. Between government health care which gives bureaucrats virtual control over life and death of many people, and ‘cap and trade’ which would ruin our economy, especially manufacturing, this country is at a cross-roads.
In our Children’s Church, we started going through Judges. The cycle that repeats itself is: Israelites sin, they are punished by God, they repent, and God provides deliverance. I don’t know if what is happening is judgment by God or not, but I do believe that we have those in power who are deeply entrenched in serious wickedness. Read Romans 1:21-32 and that just scratches the surface.
And although there are problems in high places, there are many things that can cause us to rejoice. Churches are being planted and growing as never before. The church we are now attending was started six months ago with 45 people and since early May we have had only one Sunday with less than 100 in attendance. From reports in countries where Christians face persecution there is unprecedented growth as well. The Gospel cannot be contained. God is doing a great work in this old world. We, as blood-bought believers, have every reason to praise God for His goodness. Let us never wallow in how bad things are, but lift our voices and proclaim the power of the resurrection of the Lamb!
I decided to read the Declaration of Independence to some family members yesterday. I would recommend that all Americans read it. It is interesting, and of the many reasons given for the separation from the Crown, we can see some similarities to an oppressive government we have today in Washington. Perhaps we don’t have it quite as bad since apart from a couple incidents in recent years, we don’t have soldiers being sent into this country to kill our citizens. But there are other situations which our founding fathers did not have to deal with, which now face us. Situations of government intrusion which would make them roll over in their graves. Between government health care which gives bureaucrats virtual control over life and death of many people, and ‘cap and trade’ which would ruin our economy, especially manufacturing, this country is at a cross-roads.
In our Children’s Church, we started going through Judges. The cycle that repeats itself is: Israelites sin, they are punished by God, they repent, and God provides deliverance. I don’t know if what is happening is judgment by God or not, but I do believe that we have those in power who are deeply entrenched in serious wickedness. Read Romans 1:21-32 and that just scratches the surface.
And although there are problems in high places, there are many things that can cause us to rejoice. Churches are being planted and growing as never before. The church we are now attending was started six months ago with 45 people and since early May we have had only one Sunday with less than 100 in attendance. From reports in countries where Christians face persecution there is unprecedented growth as well. The Gospel cannot be contained. God is doing a great work in this old world. We, as blood-bought believers, have every reason to praise God for His goodness. Let us never wallow in how bad things are, but lift our voices and proclaim the power of the resurrection of the Lamb!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Father's Day
This goes out as a wish to all fathers: may the Lord God richly bless you as you seek to lead your children to walk closer to Him. I have been a father for 30 years and therefore feel I have some experience which I can gather from. I also have an earthly father who passed on to his reward about 18 months ago who had a tremendous influence on my life. I lived at home only 17 years and because my parents were missionaries to Korea, I rarely spent more than a couple weeks with them since then, so the influence of my father was packed in those early formative years.
As a father, I have tried to pattern myself after my father. He was a godly man and a good father. On a trip to California last year, I was in a conversation with a couple other Christian men. We were talking about our fathers and I was struck by the fact that both of them considered their fathers as cruel, one of them telling me that I was unusual in the fact that I had a father worth emulating. I hope that is not the case, but the fact remains that all of us have rebelled against God and chosen a path of wickedness and only as we allow God to change our hearts can we become worthy parents. There is much that can be said about fathers loving their children. The example that we see in our heavenly Father is one we ought to follow.
Something my father told me when I was newly married was that he didn’t remember spanking me after I was 7 or 8 years old. All I remembered was a lot of spankings because I was pretty much a brat when I was little! He said he didn’t need to spank me at that age because the discipline had started very early and had been very consistent. I tried that with my own children and it worked! I didn’t always discipline in love nor was I always consistent, but with hard work and prayer on my part, and mercy and grace on God’s part, I have four wonderful children that I have given to God. I believe they will carry on what they have been taught to the next generation. I think that too little and too late discipline has produced not necessarily little brats, but spoiled children that then are on the receiving end of punishment and often abuse by parents that are wondering what happened to the cute little kids they once were. Now it is not always the fault of the parents when children stray. They have their own will. Then we, as fathers are obligated to never give up, but to forgive for all the hurt they may cause and attempt to show the patience and love of God as we pray and draw them back.
Dads, this Sunday is your day. I trust that your children will reciprocate the love that you show them. May they honor you as you raise them to love the Lord your God. And as we show love and honor to our fathers, may we especially show love and honor to our eternal Father.
As a father, I have tried to pattern myself after my father. He was a godly man and a good father. On a trip to California last year, I was in a conversation with a couple other Christian men. We were talking about our fathers and I was struck by the fact that both of them considered their fathers as cruel, one of them telling me that I was unusual in the fact that I had a father worth emulating. I hope that is not the case, but the fact remains that all of us have rebelled against God and chosen a path of wickedness and only as we allow God to change our hearts can we become worthy parents. There is much that can be said about fathers loving their children. The example that we see in our heavenly Father is one we ought to follow.
Something my father told me when I was newly married was that he didn’t remember spanking me after I was 7 or 8 years old. All I remembered was a lot of spankings because I was pretty much a brat when I was little! He said he didn’t need to spank me at that age because the discipline had started very early and had been very consistent. I tried that with my own children and it worked! I didn’t always discipline in love nor was I always consistent, but with hard work and prayer on my part, and mercy and grace on God’s part, I have four wonderful children that I have given to God. I believe they will carry on what they have been taught to the next generation. I think that too little and too late discipline has produced not necessarily little brats, but spoiled children that then are on the receiving end of punishment and often abuse by parents that are wondering what happened to the cute little kids they once were. Now it is not always the fault of the parents when children stray. They have their own will. Then we, as fathers are obligated to never give up, but to forgive for all the hurt they may cause and attempt to show the patience and love of God as we pray and draw them back.
Dads, this Sunday is your day. I trust that your children will reciprocate the love that you show them. May they honor you as you raise them to love the Lord your God. And as we show love and honor to our fathers, may we especially show love and honor to our eternal Father.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Your Majesty
A couple years ago, as a deacon, it was my privilege once a month to welcome the congregation at the beginning of the Sunday morning service and then open with prayer. One Sunday morning I began the prayer with, ‘Your Majesty.’ I know that is a little odd, but I did receive several compliments about the prayer, although I am not fishing for platitudes when I pray. After all, prayer is conversing with our holy God.
Under religious viewpoint on my Facebook, I have ‘serving King Jesus.’ My personal view concerning the Kingdom of God is not that we are to be bringing in the Kingdom, because the Kingdom is already here. Although the Kingdom does not consist of any land here on earth, nor is the King present physically, He has many subjects who not only serve Him, but also worship their King. Being of the pre-millennial persuasion, I believe that King Jesus will return seven years after the Rapture and set up a kingdom on earth. But that doesn’t stop me from believing that the kingdom He was referring to in the parables in Matt. 13 is one which is here on earth now.
All of this is just the introduction to comments about Jesus the Messiah. Many people have the mistaken belief that Jesus had a first and last name, Jesus Christ. Actually the word Christos is the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah. Messiah may be translated as ‘Anointed One’ and throughout the Old Testament God was developing the doctrine of the coming Savior/King. Because of the difficulty in understanding prophecy, many Jews mistakenly believed that the Messiah would come to set up an earthly kingdom. They did believe correctly that the Messiah was the Son of God. It was the whole rationale behind their desire for a death sentence – Jesus in so many words admitted that He was the Messiah (Matt. 26:64).
Since He has already paid the penalty for our sins, Jesus is now in Heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is the King of kings and when we refer to Jesus Christ, let us be conscious of what we are saying. Every time the word Christ is used, it should remind us that He is the Anointed One – the coming King, but also the present King. I love the Jewish Yeshua-ha-Mosshiach, Jesus the Messiah! I may have butchered the spelling, but let’s all love and serve our great and good King, our wonderful Jesus Christ!
Under religious viewpoint on my Facebook, I have ‘serving King Jesus.’ My personal view concerning the Kingdom of God is not that we are to be bringing in the Kingdom, because the Kingdom is already here. Although the Kingdom does not consist of any land here on earth, nor is the King present physically, He has many subjects who not only serve Him, but also worship their King. Being of the pre-millennial persuasion, I believe that King Jesus will return seven years after the Rapture and set up a kingdom on earth. But that doesn’t stop me from believing that the kingdom He was referring to in the parables in Matt. 13 is one which is here on earth now.
All of this is just the introduction to comments about Jesus the Messiah. Many people have the mistaken belief that Jesus had a first and last name, Jesus Christ. Actually the word Christos is the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah. Messiah may be translated as ‘Anointed One’ and throughout the Old Testament God was developing the doctrine of the coming Savior/King. Because of the difficulty in understanding prophecy, many Jews mistakenly believed that the Messiah would come to set up an earthly kingdom. They did believe correctly that the Messiah was the Son of God. It was the whole rationale behind their desire for a death sentence – Jesus in so many words admitted that He was the Messiah (Matt. 26:64).
Since He has already paid the penalty for our sins, Jesus is now in Heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is the King of kings and when we refer to Jesus Christ, let us be conscious of what we are saying. Every time the word Christ is used, it should remind us that He is the Anointed One – the coming King, but also the present King. I love the Jewish Yeshua-ha-Mosshiach, Jesus the Messiah! I may have butchered the spelling, but let’s all love and serve our great and good King, our wonderful Jesus Christ!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Another Wedding!
In Ps. 16:6 David says, ‘The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places.’ At this point in my life, even with all that is going on in our economy and government, I am reminded of God’s blessings that are evident in many areas of my life. First I would like to thank all who sent cards or Facebook messages wishing me a happy birthday, and although I certainly don’t need to be reminded that I am now an ancient 57 years old, the messages were evidence that I am blessed with good friends. Also my little finger is healing nicely, minus the last ¼ inch, and there was no pain, stitches or surgery. Then God has blessed me with a wonderful family, which brings me to an announcement:
A couple months ago I mentioned that our daughter, Michelle was getting married. Well, we had only one of our children left, unengaged or unmarried. Now our son, Joe has succumbed to the charms of the lovely Danielle Ham. Although she has a sparkling rock, they are still working out the details of a date. It will be this fall, though. Kathy insists it is an answer to her prayers. She claimed the promise, ‘It is not good for a man to be alone,’ and asked God to give Joe a mate. There have been others, including myself, who have also been praying and we believe God has given Joe a wonderful future wife.
There is not a whole lot to add to what I mentioned in the posting on Michelle’s engagement. But this comes from a different viewpoint. Instead of father of the bride, now it comes from father of the groom. And I say this from the experience of over 30 years of marriage. It is commanded by God that a man love his wife, the logic being that love is not an emotion, but that which is of the will. Although the Bible does not say a wife should love her husband, she is to respect her husband. But getting back to the husband, it doesn’t matter what state of mind his wife is in, he is to love her regardless. I like the movie, Fireproof, which brings this out very clearly. In this day when people are consumed with pleasing themselves, thinking that this is the only way to happiness, there needs to be a wake-up call. There are too many divorces among Christians because of this self-centered philosophy. Happiness, joy, and fulfillment come only from directing our energies outward, first to God, then to others.
I trust my son will take this to heart. If he does, he will have a good marriage. He has displayed a Christian maturity and with confidence I say to Danielle and her parents that Kathy and I have, with God’s help brought up Joe to love God and his wife. We believe the two of you will set up a godly home. On behalf of all of us, Danielle, we love you. Welcome to the family.
A couple months ago I mentioned that our daughter, Michelle was getting married. Well, we had only one of our children left, unengaged or unmarried. Now our son, Joe has succumbed to the charms of the lovely Danielle Ham. Although she has a sparkling rock, they are still working out the details of a date. It will be this fall, though. Kathy insists it is an answer to her prayers. She claimed the promise, ‘It is not good for a man to be alone,’ and asked God to give Joe a mate. There have been others, including myself, who have also been praying and we believe God has given Joe a wonderful future wife.
There is not a whole lot to add to what I mentioned in the posting on Michelle’s engagement. But this comes from a different viewpoint. Instead of father of the bride, now it comes from father of the groom. And I say this from the experience of over 30 years of marriage. It is commanded by God that a man love his wife, the logic being that love is not an emotion, but that which is of the will. Although the Bible does not say a wife should love her husband, she is to respect her husband. But getting back to the husband, it doesn’t matter what state of mind his wife is in, he is to love her regardless. I like the movie, Fireproof, which brings this out very clearly. In this day when people are consumed with pleasing themselves, thinking that this is the only way to happiness, there needs to be a wake-up call. There are too many divorces among Christians because of this self-centered philosophy. Happiness, joy, and fulfillment come only from directing our energies outward, first to God, then to others.
I trust my son will take this to heart. If he does, he will have a good marriage. He has displayed a Christian maturity and with confidence I say to Danielle and her parents that Kathy and I have, with God’s help brought up Joe to love God and his wife. We believe the two of you will set up a godly home. On behalf of all of us, Danielle, we love you. Welcome to the family.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
What about the Apostle Paul?
In Phil. 4:8 Paul tells us what God wants us to think, or as the NKJV puts it, what to meditate on. Then he makes the incredible statement, ‘Those things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do.’ He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this, and therefore must have lived the kind of example that was above reproach. This statement is why I respectfully disagree with many fine Christians who think Paul had a real problem with sin based on Romans 7:13-24. Verse 19 summarizes it well, ‘For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice.’ My own opinion of this passage is that Paul was talking about his life before his conversion or that of an unsaved or at best, a carnal individual. He then switches at Rom. 7:25 through chapter 8 speaking of the victorious Christian life in Jesus, being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In literature it is perfectly acceptable to write in this way, using first person in the present tense to describe the individual who is ‘sold under sin.’ An unsaved person who is reading this passage can easily identify with Paul’s use of the first person.
There is a contrast here between the unsaved or carnal life and the victorious life Christians can have, no longer under bondage to sin, but free to live for God. Rom. 8:5 clearly shows the difference: those who set their minds on the flesh live according to the flesh, and conversely those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Basically it is where one has his heart, if it is on the world – consumed with making money, buying bigger and better toys, getting ahead at all cost, then this is a carnal mind which in verse 7 says is the enemy of God. Now I don’t know about you, but I think it is pretty important not to be an enemy of God. We have the same ability to live the victorious life that Paul lived. We first must be saved by the blood of Jesus, then allow God’s Spirit to control our minds.
When we take the position that Paul had a hard time avoiding sin, and pretty much was constantly sinning according to chapter 7, we take the position that the carnal life is the normal life for a Christian. However if we say that chapter 7 was pre-conversion autobiographical and chapter 8 is the victorious life God expects us to live, we can confidently live the life that God wants us to live.
May each of us so live that others may confidently do those things which they learned and received and heard and saw in us.
There is a contrast here between the unsaved or carnal life and the victorious life Christians can have, no longer under bondage to sin, but free to live for God. Rom. 8:5 clearly shows the difference: those who set their minds on the flesh live according to the flesh, and conversely those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Basically it is where one has his heart, if it is on the world – consumed with making money, buying bigger and better toys, getting ahead at all cost, then this is a carnal mind which in verse 7 says is the enemy of God. Now I don’t know about you, but I think it is pretty important not to be an enemy of God. We have the same ability to live the victorious life that Paul lived. We first must be saved by the blood of Jesus, then allow God’s Spirit to control our minds.
When we take the position that Paul had a hard time avoiding sin, and pretty much was constantly sinning according to chapter 7, we take the position that the carnal life is the normal life for a Christian. However if we say that chapter 7 was pre-conversion autobiographical and chapter 8 is the victorious life God expects us to live, we can confidently live the life that God wants us to live.
May each of us so live that others may confidently do those things which they learned and received and heard and saw in us.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Consider the Honeybee
After the last posting of this blog, ‘Moby Dick’ responded with an article about honeybees, concluding that we ought to consider the bee. So we will give it a whirl.
I have a friend who is a part-time honeybee-keeper. The rest of the time he works for the government, a job he detests. He has about 100 hives, and says at least 300 are necessary to keep bees full-time. I was taught some very interesting things about bees. For instance, did you know that they are often used 3 times a year? In February they are taken to California specifically to pollinate the almond trees or similar plants. The farmers pay the bees’ owners for this privilege. Then they are taken to places like South Dakota or other areas where there is plenty of clover or other type of grass that is good for making honey. Then they may go to Florida for another season, or they may try to repopulate some hives that have been decimated somewhat.
My friend keeps a couple hives on our property at work. It is in the back and the bees don’t bother us at all. I have seen him working on the hives, cleaning and repairing them with a swarm of bees buzzing angrily around him. Of course he has his ‘armor’ on and doesn’t seem to be bothered by it at all. Actually he says he enjoys it! And his bees produce some very tasty honey.
But when you think about it, we probably would be hard-pressed to feed the billions that the farmers feed each year if it were not for the help of our tiny friends. While we may not consider them friendly if they get too close to us, the honeybees are an important asset to any agricultural community.
In His wisdom God created many different types of animals and plants. When I was much smaller, I would wonder why God created such nasty creatures as spiders, until I realized that they keep the population of insects down. This is often the case in the animal world; different carnivorous animals keep the amount of other animals down so that a balance is maintained. And God did a marvelous thing when He created the small honeybee. As Moby Dick pointed out in the response, they know when to pollinate certain plants, when not to go out and use up energy uselessly, and they even have a God-given GPS!
And we are reminded that as King David said in Ps. 139, ‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Your works.’
Yes, consider the bee.
I have a friend who is a part-time honeybee-keeper. The rest of the time he works for the government, a job he detests. He has about 100 hives, and says at least 300 are necessary to keep bees full-time. I was taught some very interesting things about bees. For instance, did you know that they are often used 3 times a year? In February they are taken to California specifically to pollinate the almond trees or similar plants. The farmers pay the bees’ owners for this privilege. Then they are taken to places like South Dakota or other areas where there is plenty of clover or other type of grass that is good for making honey. Then they may go to Florida for another season, or they may try to repopulate some hives that have been decimated somewhat.
My friend keeps a couple hives on our property at work. It is in the back and the bees don’t bother us at all. I have seen him working on the hives, cleaning and repairing them with a swarm of bees buzzing angrily around him. Of course he has his ‘armor’ on and doesn’t seem to be bothered by it at all. Actually he says he enjoys it! And his bees produce some very tasty honey.
But when you think about it, we probably would be hard-pressed to feed the billions that the farmers feed each year if it were not for the help of our tiny friends. While we may not consider them friendly if they get too close to us, the honeybees are an important asset to any agricultural community.
In His wisdom God created many different types of animals and plants. When I was much smaller, I would wonder why God created such nasty creatures as spiders, until I realized that they keep the population of insects down. This is often the case in the animal world; different carnivorous animals keep the amount of other animals down so that a balance is maintained. And God did a marvelous thing when He created the small honeybee. As Moby Dick pointed out in the response, they know when to pollinate certain plants, when not to go out and use up energy uselessly, and they even have a God-given GPS!
And we are reminded that as King David said in Ps. 139, ‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Your works.’
Yes, consider the bee.
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