Real Christians

I finished reading a Christian classic that I would recommend to others. Foxe's Book of Martyrs has been one of the two most cherished books, apart from the Bible, among English-speaking people for 400 years. The other is Pilgrim's Progress. In some ways, it is not easy reading since it was written a generation before Shakespeare wrote his plays. But it is worth reading. And it is not as morbid as some would think.

When I read the accounts of real men and women who fearlessly and even joyfully gave their lives for their Savior with the full assurance that they would wake on the other side of death in the presence of Jesus, it helped me realize that this world holds nothing for me. My hope is in the risen Lamb. Death should not be something we embrace, but it should not be something we shrink from with horror. There are some things that are worse than death. According to these heroes, one thing that they would never do is to renounce their King. They were true to Him, even to death.

The book starts out giving the legends of the deaths of the first and second century martyrs. Then it chronicles the persecution by the Catholic Church of the Reformers starting with John Wickliff, who was known as the Morning Star of the Reformation. From there the book goes to what was happening during John Foxe's lifetime - fellow Englishmen and women who were sentenced to death for refusing to submit to the idolatry of the Catholic Church during the reign of the queen known as Bloody Mary.

When reading about these extraordinary people who faced the stake so fearlessly, continuing to pray and exhort the crowd gathered as the fire would start burning their flesh, I wondered how they were able to take it. There is one excerpt that shows the amazing presence of Jesus, when He said He would be with us to the end of the age:

"Thomas Hauker, being bound to the stake, the fire was set upon him. In the which when he continued long, and when his speech was taken away by the violence of the flame, his skin also drawn together, and his fingers consumed by the fire, so that now all men had thought certainly he had gone, suddenly and contrary to all expectation, the blessed servant of God reached up his hands burning on a light fire, which was marvellous to behold, over his head to the living God, and with great rejoicing, as it seemed, struck or clapped them three times together. Which thing he promised certain of his friends to do; and so, secretly between them, it was agreed, that if the rage of the pain were tolerable and might be suffered, then he should lift his hands above his head toward heaven, before he gave up the ghost."

Although God doesn't promise a life free from persecution and martyrdom, He does promise His presence and protection, even through death. Many of our brothers and sisters are now suffering persecution, especially in North Korea and Muslim countries. We should hold up these dear Christians before the throne of grace. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, we in America are not exempt from the possibility of real persecution. We can take heart that there are those who have gone before. They have paved the way. They have shown us there is nothing to fear in death. It is momentary, and then....the smile of Jesus as He welcomes us to our new home.

A New Year's Resolution

Although many people make resolutions at the beginning of a New Year, most don't stick with them very long. There is nothing wrong with making these resolutions, actually some are very good. An employee decided she would quit smoking starting January 1. When I asked her why she wouldn't quit in December, she said she wasn't ready. I'm not sure, but I think her resolution has already fallen by the wayside.

Good intentions are nice, but won't go very far unless backed up by a real desire. It also helps if you are seeking the assistance of a higher power. I have made a New Year's resolution. I am pretty sure I will fail from time to time, but I want to see my life changed by the principle Jesus lays out in Matthew 5:38-48. As many of you will recognize, this is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is zeroing in on our selfishness. He says turn you cheek, give the shirt off your back, go the extra mile, and love your enemies. This, I believe was the revolutionary way of living that was a large part of turning the Roman world upside down and made Christianity such a major 'religion' within 100 years after the resurrection of Jesus. Religion is in quotes because it is after all, not a religion, but a way of life and a relationship with our loving Creator.

There are two reasons why I am making the resolution. First, because I want others to see God reflected in me, something that can be accomplished through following the steps laid out in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus makes an incredible statement in verse 48: 'Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.' I'm not going to disagree with the scholars who say perfect doesn't really mean perfect, it really means mature. But what I am saying is that if we follow the guidelines laid down by Jesus, we are going to be what the Bible describes as perfect. I think that is a good reason. If you are in a position where God is pleased with you, you are in a good position. And you will reflect the Lord God to a world that desperately needs a glimpse of Him.

The second reason I am making this resolution is what it will do for me. I know Jesus didn't make the statements in His Sermon just to see how difficult He could make things for His disciples, but because He knew that these principles He was laying out were to help us to live out His purpose. As humans we all have been made in the image of God. He knows us, and what is best for us. He also knows moral perfection, and how we can be morally perfect. Because Jesus knows what is best for me, why wouldn't I want to be obedient to what He says?

But there are many precepts laid out in the Bible that we as selfish humans reject as unacceptable. Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, but when he says, 'If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.' (Prov. 25:21-22), my first reaction is to roll my eyes and mutter 'Yeah, right!' There have been people who have treated me and my family pretty bad and I really don't want to help them. But if I believe that the Bible is the Word of God, then I am expected to treat this passage, not only with respect, but with complete obedience, even if it hurts.

Okay, it sure is good that Jesus gives us only four rules as listed above. Well, maybe He just gave four examples, and that actually there is a principle that He is teaching. This is where it gets really tough. I have to entirely change my way of thinking, which is why I am sure I will fail from time to time. But I am convinced that Jesus is teaching this principle: I am to place the interests of others before my interests. It is easy to say, but it is radical thinking and can only be accomplished through total dependence and faith in Jesus.

I want to be a Christ-follower. I want to live by His precepts, not to win His favor, but because I love Him. I will trust Him and pray that He will change my thinking. This is my resolution for 2011. What's yours?

MERRY CHRISTMAS

May the grace and peace of God be with you this season. We are thankful for His blessings and grace in our lives.

Although it has been a colder than normal month of December, we have been very fortunate to not only have a well-working central heating system, but a wood-burning stove with plenty of wood. It makes for a very cozy basement. Kathy and I are doing well, and have become empty-nesters once again with the moving of Pat and Allie last weekend to a carriage house in Indian Hill - one of the nicest suburbs of Cincinnati. They have a very nice and reasonably priced place.

Pat has one more semester to complete before becoming an RN next summer. But his educational plans are more far-reaching. We are proud of what he has done and are confident that he will meet his long-range goals. Allie is doing well in her business endeavors. She has been successful in a tough economy and met her business goals for the year.

Aaron and Michelle completed their studies this year. Michelle became an RN this past summer, and is now working at Jewish Hospital, the same hospital she worked at as an LPN a couple years ago. We watched as Aaron graduated from Xavier with an MBA this past summer. It was a great day!

Joe is still working at Grace Plastics as our accountant. He and Danielle just returned from a three-week trip to Australia, Danielle's birthplace. We were all jealous, but know they had a good time. Danielle proved to be a top-notch photographer with wonderful pictures of the continent down-under.

Elizabeth and Brian presented us with our first granddaughter, Ava Kathleen. She is healthy and her big brother Garrett is getting used to the idea that the universe doesn't revolve only around him. They are still in South Carolina, and Brian has been doing a great job as estimator with Trehel, the commercial construction company he works for. Elizabeth has been putting in a lot of over-time in her job as a mom, although she feels a lot better than she did a couple months ago when she was great with child.

For a down economy, Grace Plastics has been doing very well. We added another grinder this past summer, and although we are still working two shifts, a third shift is planned within the next couple months. We just need to get more organized.
From Grace Place to your place, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a blessed new year!

All our love,
Harold and Kathy Johnson

It's a Girl!

A couple weeks ago, on Monday, November 7 Kathy and I left Batavia for Greenville, SC. We had heard that our daughter, Elizabeth was in the hospital. We were expecting this call because she was nine months pregnant. We finally reached Greenville General Hospital and as we stepped off the elevator Kathy received a call on her cell phone - Ava had just been born!

We had reminisced about a similar incident that happened 31 years ago when Kathy went into labor for our first child and when the beautiful baby was born we named her Elizabeth Anne. One generation follows on the heel of the previous. As parents we do our best to provide our children with the best we can offer. As young parents we didn't have much materially and couldn't offer much. In retrospect, it didn't warp our kids in the least. If anything, it helped them realize that society doesn't owe them a thing. They have all grown to be hard-working, law-abiding, honest citizens, and I am proud of each one. But I digress...

Ava Kathleen is our second grandchild. Two years ago Brian and Elizabeth had a son, Garrett. He is doing his best to adjust to life with a baby sister. As grandparents we will do everything to make sure our grandchildren do not go without, but I view my most important role as what I can impart to these children of my offspring. I am impressed first of all that these little ones have eternal souls, and it is my sacred duty to pray daily for their salvation. What a tragic shame if any of my children's children were to turn their backs on the Savior! Then I view my role as one of assisting the parents in leading these little ones to be followers of Jesus. I was not blessed with a great deal of intelligence. I look at my three brothers: a missionary with a PhD, an attorney, and an accountant. I'm just a scrap dealer whom God has been pleased to bless. But after all these years, surely I have gained some knowledge and wisdom. It is this that I wish to pass on to those who come after.

I have a wonderful heritage. On my father's side, my great-grandparents came from Sweden in the 1880's, settled in Minnesota, received Jesus as their savior, and on that side I am a 4th generation Christian. On my mother's side, we can trace our roots back to 1640 when my ancestor landed in Boston as a preacher. As proud as I may be of my heritage, God isn't looking at my ancestry; He is looking at my heart. It is the same for my grandchildren. I Sam. 13:14 'The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart.'

As soon as a baby is born there is the discussion of who he or she looks like. We are generally pleased if they have some of our genetic characteristics. As parents and grandparents may we do all we can to instill our 'spiritual genes' in our offspring; may we be known to our descendents as men and women of God.

What about mercy?

In this post I would like to clarify a biblical position on the mercy of God so as to avoid any fuzzy thinking on the subject. Those who take a more Reformed position on their theology than I do believe that the mercy of God is not conditional, claiming that otherwise it would not be true mercy. I understand why they believe as they do, but from what I understand about the Bible, there is a problem. Some could say since there are no conditions to the mercy of God, He will have mercy on everyone. So whether you have sought forgiveness from your sins or not, you have been shown mercy - no conditions. Thus, everyone makes it Heaven.

Now the strong Reformed will have no problem with this since God's mercy concerning salvation is extended to all - all the elect, that is. Although I love my Calvinistic brethren, I disagree with them about the doctrine of irresistible grace. But that is for another time.

God extends His GRACE unconditionally to every human being. He gives us a wonderful world to live in. Okay, it is not exactly the Garden of Eden (this is not God's fault), but as far as we know, the most suitable place in this universe for mankind. On this earth God blesses us with food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities as well as many luxuries. As moral agents each of us has rebelled against this good Ruler, who has specifically stated that if we disobey His rules, we must suffer punishment. The punishment is death - the separation from God in a place of torment. Since this wonderful Creator doesn't want His creatures to suffer, but justice demands it; God has sent His Son to suffer in their place.
This is a demonstration of the incredible mercy of God. But this act of mercy has strings attached. If you don't get saved, you don't take part in this act of God's mercy. But it is still mercy and I thank God that over 50 years ago, He was mercifully pleased to save my wicked soul.

Now I understand that salvation is all of God. He draws us, the Holy Spirit illuminates the plan of salvation to our darkened hearts, and blood of the Lamb washes our sins away. I had no part in that. It was God who saved me. But there is a human side to this. We have a responsibility since we are moral agents with wills to choose to resist when the God moves us to come to Him. Those who resist will eventually be punished. Those who respond to the wooing of the Spirit of God, will receive additional light until they understand salvation. I believe the native in a pagan land with no Gospel witness, if sincerely responding to the call of God in his heart, can be saved. God will reveal Himself, usually through a missionary, but that is not always necessary. No one can claim they had no chance. Through His creation, His Word, and each man's conscience, God reveals Himself. Although everyone has the opportunity, only those who come will be shown the matchless mercy of God.

For those who are having difficulty deciding what is mercy and what is grace, the following should help:
Mercy is God not giving me something I deserve. This would include salvation from sin and its eternal punishment.
Grace is God giving me something I do not deserve. This would include eternal life in His presence.

Persecution

An American Christian leader recently stated that he was in China visiting pastors of the underground church there. When he was getting ready to leave, some of the pastors said they were praying for Christians here in the States. This statement prompted his question, 'What are you asking God to do?' Their startling response was that we Americans would face persecution, as they do in China. They did not say this maliciously, because they suffer persecution, and we face very little. Their attitude is that we are soft spiritually, and if we come under physical persecution, it will strengthen true believers and send the rest scattering.

With all due respect to the Chinese Christians, and I am sure they are among the heroes of faith of whom this world is not worthy, I take issue on this point. From my study of the Bible, I don't find anyone seeking or praying for persecution. In I Tim. 2:1-2 Paul says, "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, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." Paul's instruction is that we pray for our leaders and government officials so that we may avoid physical persecution. The object of our prayer for these individuals is that we may lead a godly life before others without fear of beatings or imprisonment.

Among the millions of Christians living on this planet, those of us here in America have the greatest freedom. There are those living in North Korea and Saudi Arabia who face the sentence of death for converting to Christianity. Many other countries have similarly harsh punishments for believers. In others the government turns a blind eye, while Muslims practice Jihad or Hindus burn Christian villages. Persecution is not something that we as Christians are exempt from. Read the book of I Peter. Persecution is rather to be expected. And if God does send persecution, our response is to rejoice as Jesus says in Matt. 5:11-12 and Peter reminds us in I Pet. 4:12-13.

So why would a God who has the power to send plagues to destroy Egypt, give the Israelites the Promised Land, and perform the other miracles we read of in the Old Testament, not be able to keep His children from persecution? The obvious answer is yes, but from what I read, our brothers and sisters do not consider persecution to be out the ordinary. They expect the hardships, but they know Jesus is with them, and that knowledge takes them through the rough times. Persecution is not a punishment from God. It is what God allows to draw His children closer to Him. Perhaps this is why the Chinese prayed as they did. If you study the heroes of faith in the Old Testament, and I think Joseph is a great example, you will find that many went through severe hardships before God really used them. The reason God was then able to use them effectively, is that the imperfections of the 'diamond in the rough' had been painfully cut away, and now a sparkling gem was ready to glorify God.

If we can get away from the 'it's all about me' attitude, and remember that it is all about God and He is working in lives to bring glory to Himself, then we will have less questions about what God is doing. It is much more important to allow God to work in our lives, than it is to tell God what and how much we want. We must keep in mind that He is our Sovereign and we are but His slaves. As such we can also take heart in this promise: in every trial I go through, I know that God is going with me and I know God loves me.

Thirty-three Years and Counting

Last weekend my wife and I celebrated our thirty-third anniversary. I am neither boasting nor acting like a prude when I say I have been faithful both before and since our wedding to my one and only love. I have no regrets, and have missed nothing by experimenting or dabbling into sexual immorality. I have read the story of King David enough times and I have seen how horribly adultery and pornography can ruin families. I have a clear conscience, but I also realize that it only by the grace of God that I can say that.

If you are pure, I urge you to stay that way, praying that God will protect you from the temptations that bombard us constantly. If you have strayed, though there may be scars for the rest of your life, God is the God of second chances. It requires repentance, and may require counseling, but God promises to forgive and with His help, you may find the forgiveness of others and possibly restoration.

Although I believe God wanted me to say that, I did want to make this post a little different from previous ones. This is more of a newsy post; I hope you don't mind. Since I took a vacation from my blog the past two months, things have not slowed down. I have spent the evenings and weekends working on our little estate we call Grace Place, and yes, the heat finally got to me! The company, Grace Plastics, has been slammed with more plastic scrap than we can handle, so we have added a fourth grinder and are slowly digging our way out. Although we have been stressed trying to figure out where we would put loads when there was absolutely no room in the building, God helped us through, just as He helped two years ago when we almost lost our shirt when the economy tanked. We are now financially stronger than we were before the crash - God is faithful - and it certainly doesn't hurt when we daily remind God that Grace Plastics doesn't belong to us, but to Him.

Two weeks ago Kathy and I took a trip to eastern Pennsylvania where our son-in-law's sister was getting married. I n a previous life (25 years ago), we spent a year and a half just outside Reading, PA. We visited the church we attended then, and were disappointed that we didn't recognize anyone. With the help of our Garmin, we were able to find the two houses that we lived in back then. Wow! one of them is a real trash heap now. Then we went on to Philadelphia and visited Independence Hall. The next day we were in Gettysburg for a tour of the battlefield, hoping that General Lee would somehow pull out a victory, but it just didn't happen.

And now, back at work, enjoying what God has led me to do. Let us all be faithful to Him!