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My Thoughts One Week into 2021

MY WANT TO DO LIST for January 1, 2021. This image was created by the author using Presenter Media.

My previous post, Greeting on New Year’s Day 2021, outlined an ambitious plan for me. That post checked off the top item on “MY WANT TO DO LIST, January 1, 2021.” 

As we enter into a new year and attempt to navigate uncharted waters, I offer everyone a “Twelfth Day of Christmas” gift. I believe this suggestion can make completing tasks a more rewarding experience. I’m not saying this hint will work for you. However, it has been beneficial to me. I have changed the title of my “[HAVE] TO DO LIST” to “MY WANT TO DO LIST.” The corresponding attitude change has been enormous and has helped me accomplish so much more, especially in light of [my wife] Elaine’s battle with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma this past year.

There are still days when I don’t get to everything on my list because unforeseen emergencies can arise that I must address immediately. However, if something comes up that is not urgent nor desirable, it is much easier for me to pass on it. 

Every time I open my web browser, I see the ominous message, “You’ve got mail.” Some of that mail seems to be yelling, “I’m an ASAP item.” This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

I usually scan my emails and social media accounts twice a day, early morning and late afternoon. As part of that routine, I single out ones that I must or want to read immediately. Although writing is critical to me, maintaining contact with individuals is also still crucial. If there is something that I should and can do immediately, I take care of it. If I see something I may want to reference in my research or writing, I file it in a labeled subfile to take care of later.  I immediately delete those that I know are of no interest or urgency. It usually takes me one hour a day to go through this procedure.

The above diagram illustrates my task and email sorting priority matrix. I have adapted this process and format from the well-known Eisenhower Box. I constructed this image using Libre Office Spreadsheet.

My other emails I divide into two unread subfolders. The first contains those that I will more thoroughly evaluate the next Friday. The second subfolder contains those emails that I will look at again at the beginning of the following month. By the time I go through these emails, I can delete most of them since they are no longer relevant nor what I envisioned them to be. However, there are others in which I will find a small gem of an idea that I need to take care of then or file away for future use. I usually spend one to two hours on Fridays and three to four hours at the beginning of each month cleaning out my inbox. 

This image is the Author’s version of The Eisenhower Box. I created it using Libre Office Spreadsheet.

My process is a variation that I adapted from the decision matrix known as the Eisenhower Box. In his position as a general of the U.S. Army, and later as President of the United States, almost everything that came to him was critical to someone. These tasks had to be cared for by somebody at some level. So he developed a procedure to ensure that somebody gave proper and timely attention to the matter.

In his leadership roles, Eisenhower enjoyed the benefit of a large corps of subordinates. In all of his leadership positions, he was surrounded by a large, capable staff that was always present to assist him and to whom he could confidently delegate tasks. As a retired higher education administrator, researcher, and writer, I don’t have this luxury. I work alone. I have no one to whom I can delegate tasks.  

Teacher! Teacher, why are there 365 days in a year? Why are there seven days in a week? Why do we have 12 months in a year? Why are some months longer than others? This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

Returning to the day after Christmas, by the time I was drinking my first cup of coffee at breakfast, I fell into one of those “little kid’s moods.” I had lots of questions flying around in my mind about the coming new year. All of them were concerned about the coming year, 2021. You know the questions: “Who?” “What?” “When?” “Why?” “Where?” and “How?” You also probably recognize them as the six questions that your 7th grade English teacher drilled into your head that every essay should answer.

They are also the six “W” questions journalists should attempt to answer in any article they write. Wait a minute! The adage for journalists concerned the five necessary “W” questions that their work must answer. I threw one extra question into the mix. I know it doesn’t start with “W.” However, it does end with “W.”

In our modern calendar, the typical year consists of 365 days, divided into 12 months of various lengths and 52 weeks of seven days. However, in years divisible by four, but not by 100, we add one day to February. In the years divisible by both four and 100, we keep the year at 365 days. How did we arrive at such a complicated system? This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

My first question was, “How did we get the calendar we rely on for so much of our lives?” My list of questions grew exponentially. The history of our modern calendar is a long and convoluted journey. Various strands began in ancient Persia, China, India, Egypt, Judea, Greece, Rome, and Mesoamerica.

Each of these civilizations noted that there were reoccurring cycles in nature. The regular alternation of light and darkness was the first cyclic pattern that everybody recognized. The sun “came up” and “set” with surprising regularity. While the sun shone, people could see to work. When the sun was not shining, they stopped working. They “called it a day” and went to sleep.

The idea of a day predates humanity. God introduced it “In the beginning.” 

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.[Genesis 1:1-5, KJV]

The Royal Bank of Canada owns this 1988 Oil on Canvas Quadtych by Canadian artist Yenouda Chaki. This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. It depicts the same tree during winter, spring, summer, and fall.

The second major cycle that people noticed was the four seasons. Plants went from a dormant state to showing signs of life, to full bloom, to their dying stage. With this cycle, three cyclic phenomena coincided. As the ambient temperature became warmer, the length of time the sun dominated the sky and brought light to the world became longer. As it became colder, days became shorter, and nights became longer. People also noticed that the pattern that the sun traced across the sky changed in predictable ways during these seasonal changes.

Over time, as people kept track of these three cycles of the sun, it became evident that they were approximately 365 days long. This discovery became the basis of our current year.  

This diagram illustrates the various phases of the Moon in their order of appearance, starting from the New Moon and progressing through Crescent, First Quarter, and Gibbous Moons to reach the Full Moon. At this point, Gibbous Moons, Last Quarter, and Crescent follow to complete a full circle at the New Moon. The image is a self-published work by Fresheneesz~commonswiki, who has licensed its use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

Another major cycle that became apparent was how the moon’s shape changed in the night sky. It went from not visible, growing into a full circle, and then shrinking again to nothing. Continuing observations determined that the moon or lunar cycles took approximately 28 days. These lunar cycles introduced the concept of months. 

It also soon became apparent that the solar and lunar cycles did not line up or connect very well. The number of lunar cycles varied from year to year. 

It took trained observers many cycles and years to find a fifth major cycle in the sky. Although the sun and the moon dominate the sky and claim most of the attention, stars have fascinated humans from the earliest recorded history. 

In this photograph of sunlight shining through clouds over the Ginkakuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, do you see a kneeling person with one arm raised in a position of prayer? Basile Moran, the author and Copywrite holder licensed the use of this image under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

How often have you said, “That cloud looks like a bunny rabbit?” If one stares at things like clouds and stars long enough, one will start seeing patterns. With only a little to no indication of cross-fertilization of ideas, sometime between 3000 and 500 BC, the civilizations in North Africa, Babylon, China, and Mesoamerica began to notice individual stars’ groupings stayed reasonably constant in relation with one another. People started to see figures in the sky outlined or highlighted by these groups of stars. These figures were the beginning of the concept of constellations.

In the above paragraph, I was cautious to note that the stars stayed relatively constant in their relative position with one another. Before 1300 BC, sailors and land travelers were using specific stars and constellations to help them find their way from one place to another. The term lodestar refers to a guiding principle. Polaris, also known as the North Star, is used in the Northern Hemisphere as a lodestar to help people find their direction. 

However, as years and centuries passed, the overall position of stars and constellations in the sky changed in a very regular pattern. Unfortunately, this star-cycle did not coincide with a single year but a group of years. Star-cycles began to take on a life of their own.

By 1300 BC, various civilizations all over the world had identified more than 30 constellations. The Book of Job, arguably the oldest book in scriptures, references specific stars and constellations.

Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? [Job 38:31-32, NIV]

This photograph depicts the mosaic pavement of a 6th-century synagogue at Beth Alpha, Jezreel Valley, northern Israel. It portrays the Greco-Roman zodiac signs, using Hebraic labels, surrounding the central chariot of the Sun (a Greek motif). The four corners depict the “turning points” of the year, solstices, and equinoxes. As a faithful reproduction of a public domain work of art, due to its age, this photograph is in the public domain.

The NIV translates the Hebrew word Mazzaroth (מַזָּרוֹת Mazzārōṯ, LXX Μαζουρωθ, Mazourōth) as “constellations in their season.” The literal meaning of the phrase is “garland of crowns.” It is found in other ancient Hebrew works referring to the Zodiac and the constellations that constitute it.

By 500 BC, the Persian, Greco-Roman, Chinese, and Mayan civilizations used the same 12 constellations as markers for a stellar (or star-based) year. As noted above, these star years were out of sync with the solar and lunar years. Since the solar calendar had more days than the lunar or stellar calendars, the four civilizations tried many different approaches to compensate for those lost days.

Eventually, the Greco-Roman world gave up trying to reconcile the differences among the solar, lunar, and stellar calendars. It relegated the stellar calendar to the world of astrology. Astrologers embraced it and used it to explain aspects of persons’ personality and predict significant events in their lives based on celestial objects’ positions when they were born.

Astrology has a very complicated and contentious history. Since this blog post deals with our modern calendar’s construction, I leave the world of astrology and stellar cycles and years to another post.

Photograph of Gaius Julius Caesar’s bust housed in the Libraries of the University of Texas, Austin. According to the collection’s title page, the image is in the public domain, and no permission is needed to use it. This image is courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

In 46 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar, in an attempt to unify the world under Roman control, issued an order that everyone must use the calendar he designated. Sosigenes, a well-known Greek mathematician and astronomer reportedly constructed this calendar under Caesar’s direction. In addition to his training in the Greek traditions, Sosigenes lived in Egypt and was trained in Ptolemic conventions. 

The Julian calendar consisted of 365 days divided into 12 months of varying lengths, except it added an extra day every fourth year to make it more in line with solar solstices and equinoxes. Does this sound familiar?

To honor the “two-faced” Roman god, Janus, the year started on January 1. Having eyes that simultaneously faced two opposite directions, Janus was adept at reflecting on the past and planning for the future. This is a tradition that we still hold onto with our New Year’s resolutions. 

The European world used the Julian calendar for more than 1600 years. In the late 16th century AD, the Catholic Church’s ecclesiastical calendar and feasts were noticeably out of sync with the solar calendar’s fixed points.

A 16th portrait of Pope Gregory XIII by an unknown artist. As a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art, this photograph is a public domain work.

At this point, Pope Gregory XIII intervened and ordered the Church to use a variation of the Julian calendar that made two changes. Since the Catholic Church was the predominant force in Europe, except for Great Britain, which had split from the Church of Rome and formed the Church of England, Europe was again operating on two different calendars.

The first change was to lower the average number of days per year from 365.25 to 365.2425. The new Gregorian calendar did this by eliminating three leap days every four centuries. It did this by keeping a leap day in every calendar year that is evenly divisible by four, except the years that are not divisible by 400. Thus, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 had 365 days, while 2000 had 366 days.

Although this brought the calendar year significantly closer to the solar year, the solar year is the time between two successive occurrences of the vernal equinox, the moment when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator moving north. This is approximately 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. If we kept the extra leap day in our calendars every four years, four calendars would be 14 minutes and 4 seconds longer than four solar years.

At this difference rate, the calendar year would be almost one hour shorter every 16 years. This translates to losing a day every 400 years. Thus, the dropping of Leap Day in centuries divisible by 400. However, this is still inaccurate. Under this system, the calendar year will be off one day every 3236 years. Since the oldest man in the Bible, Methuselah, only lived 969 years, I don’t think any of us will have to worry about recalibrating the Gregorian calendar around 5000.

Why do we celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1? This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

I have skipped over most of the complicated mathematical computations that went into constructing the Gregorian calendar. I believe the few examples of the difficulties that I have provided proves that the answer to the question, “How did we get our modern calendar?” is far beyond the scope of a simple blog post. In my next post, I will move on to the question, “Why is January 1 designated as the beginning of a new year?”       

 

 

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Greeting on New Year’s Day 2021

How do I start BY’s MUSINGS on a high note in the year 2021? This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

I woke up the day after Christmas thinking about the rapidly approaching new year. At the top of my “WANT TO DO LIST” was a New Year’s Post for By’s Musings. Do I reflect on the year 2020? My first instinct was to say, “No! It was a year many people would rather forget.”

Does that suggest that I should write about the coming 2021 year? If I were to do that, should I concentrate on my personal goals and desires or general world events?  If I look outside my personnel realm of concerns, should I focus on only the positives or negatives? What if I throw caution to the wind and go for broke? I could cover the waterfront and deal with both the good and bad? 

Will the current corona vaccines work? Will enough people get the shots? This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

Will 2021 bring a return to “normalcy?” At some point, will working vaccines triumph over the virus? Will we achieve some semblance of herd immunity? Will we be able to socialize again? Will we be able to worship in large group settings? Will we have face-to-face learning? Will we be able to go to restaurants and enjoy a great meal prepared and served by other people? Will we be able to participate as spectators or rival combatants in sporting events? Will we be able to have in-office doctors’ appointments? Will we be able to go shopping again in stores and touch items? 

How long into 2021 will our TV newscasts look like this? This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

Or will 2021 be a rerun of 2020?  Will the Covid virus dominate the news for another year? Will infection, hospitalization, and death counts continue to rise exponentially? Will families and other social structures disintegrate even more in the face of forced separations and tragedies? Will we be dealing with political wrangling for another year? Will small and large businesses continue to fail? Will unemployment numbers and woes persist? Will wages stagnate while prices rise? Will students continue to struggle and fall further behind, creating a lingering educational catastrophe? Will human shortcomings and faults overshadow the good and heroic acts of individuals?

Once I get on the trail of an idea, I have trouble letting go of it. The ideas keep flowing. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

After careful consideration and three days of writing, I have decided to attempt to do all of the above and more. Of course, that will require multiple posts.

Surprise! [NOT REALLY!] When I start writing, the ideas never stop. One editor with whom I have worked has accused me of having the Russian novel syndrome.

Before my traumatic brain incidents of 2009, I was hardly ever at a loss for words. I had trouble saying “Hello” in less than 100 words. When the dual cranial explosions and multiple seizures of 2009 introduced aphasia into my life and vocabulary, words became a two-edged sword.

I’m not an artist. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

I am still contemplating ideas all the time. However, these ideas now flood my head with visual images. Since I’m not an artist, I can’t draw or paint pictures to describe my thinking. I have excelled at certain painting tasks, like houses, barns, room walls, and cars. The only detailed painting I have attempted is woodwork. I can do this because I can set up a tape barrier to keep me within the lines. I have even had to give up doing this because of increased tremors in my dominant right hand. I can’t paint any houses or barns because my doctors have ordered me to stay off ladders. 

However, to communicate with others, I must revert to words. Finding the right words to use to describe the pictures I see is a huge struggle. I know the words are still in my head. I can’t find them. I must dig through the rubble and sift through piles of debris.

What happens if I incorporate this idea into this story? If it doesn’t fit, can’t I include it in an additional post? This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

If I am going to write several more New Year’s posts, humanly speaking, it is only sensible to design a plan. The trouble with that approach is that I have too many ideas to stuff into the tiny container of three or four blog posts, and the plan keeps changing. 

God’s timing is perfect. At the appropriate moment, He appeared to Abram with one command. In Genesis 12:1, we read,

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. (NLT)

This command is both precise and deliberately vague. The specificity focused on what Abram was to leave behind. He was to move away from his familiar home and his relatives, especially his father’s family. The vagueness centered on his destination. He was to go to a place which the Lord would show him.

I believe that God is telling me to “Go ahead and write.” It is not yet clear what I will be writing, but I will be writing during January and perhaps beyond. I claim the promise that God gave to Isaiah, 

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.[Isaiah 42:16, KJV]

With God’s help, I will find my next steps and write my next posts. God bless you and yours as we step into 2021. 

 

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Thanksgiving 2020 Installment IV -Thankful in All Circumstances

The third step in a successful Christian life is to be thankful in all circumstances. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

This is the fourth and final installment of my Thanksgiving 2020 message. It focuses on the third step in Paul’s stairway to a richer, fuller Christian life found in I Thessalonians 5:16-18. “In everything, give thanks.” [KJV]

The first thing we need to note about this injunction is that it says to be thankful in all and not for all. This makes a world of difference.  Remember, the first step was to “rejoice always.” God wants us to be joyful.

Although we are called to suffer for the cause of Christ, we are not called to be masochists. Masochists cannot escape cycles of self-defeat. They find it impossible to enjoy pleasure without guilt or shame accompanying it. They feel hopeless about the future.

Jesus forewarned His disciples of their coming trials if they followed Him. This image from The Bible in Pictures by Bihn and Bealings is in the public domain.

The Apostles were all aware of what was in their future. Jesus had clearly told them that they would suffer for his cause. 

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.  [Matthew 16:24-28, NKJV]

This photograph of an angel leading Peter out of prison while guards slept is a faithful reproduction of the 17th-century painting by Pieter de Hooch. Since the original painting is in the public domain, this image is also in the public domain.

The Apostle Peter knew first hand about the trials and hardships that followers of Christ would suffer. According to Acts 12, Peter was imprisoned by King Herod Agrippa. Peter was awaiting sure persecution and possible execution. As the church prayed fervently, an angel miraculously saved him by walking him out past two guard posts and through an unlocked gate. In his letter to Christians in the far-flung expanses of the Roman empire, he wrote.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? [I Peter 4:12-17, NIV]

This photographic image is a copy of a page from the 19th-century Dore’s English Bible. It depicts the aftermath of the shipwreck of Paul described in Acts 27. Since the original work is public domain due to age, this faithful photographic reproduction is also public domain.

Paul’s journey as a minister of the gospel was not a walk in the park. In his first letter to the Corinthian church, he graphically described the trials he had endured.

Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

Despite the number or extent of our difficulties, we can always find reasons to thank God. They are outlined through all of the scriptures.

We can be thankful that all things work together for good if we are faithful followers of Him.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [Romans 8:28, NIV]

This photograph is a faithful reproduction of the 17th-century painting “An Apostle” by Jacob Jordaens. Although not explicitly the Apostle Paul, the subject is in a pose that certainly illustrates an individual pleading with God. The individual’s chin is resting on the palm of one hand. The other hand is holding up the arm of the first hand. Since the original work of art is in the public domain, this image is in the public domain.

We know that no matter what our circumstances, God’s grace is sufficient to carry us through them.

…There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (II Corinthians 12:7-9, KJV]

When trials come, we can be thankful that nothing can separate us from God’s love. 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 8:35-39, NIV]

In II King’s 6, Elisha and his servant are surrounded by the army of Aram. Elisha’s servant is terrified. Elisha tried to calm him by saying, “There are more on our side. Look out the window.” MoodyPublishers/FreeBibleImages.org copyrights this image. It is used by permission.

Just a few verses before this passage is the answer to the essence of Israel’s question. In any fight against evil and pain, who do you want on your side and in your corner?

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? [Romans 8:31, KJV]

This concept is not just a New Testament idea.  When Paul says, “It is written,” he is quoting Psalm 44. This Psalm is a song of communal lament sung in the temple. Several times in their history, the people of Israel believed that God has forsaken or forgotten them because of the many trials and hardships they were facing. However, the song and Psalm concludes that God is still where He has always been. He is awake, in charge of the universe, and loves them. Since they still have access to Him, they cry out.

Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love.[Psalm 44:26, NIV]

What do you do when this world’s troubles seem to overwhelm God’s presence and help? This is the theme of the book of Habakkuk. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

This Psalm reminds me of the opening complaint of the prophet Habakkuk. 

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.  [Habakkuk 1:2-4, KJV]

God’s response to Habakkuk’s grievance could be an echo of His response to Israel’s complaint.  

Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. [Habakkuk 2:2-4, NTL]

The last phrase, “The just shall live by faith,” is quoted three times in the New Testament. The three quotes provide three different perspectives and contexts to the idea of “living by faith.”

A paper bag over one’s head has become the universal sign of shame. This is not Paul because he is declaring his intention of not hiding his head under a bag. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

Paul quotes Habakkuk as he begins his letter to the Christians living in Rome with the very familiar verses.

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteous of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. [Romans 1:16-17, KJV]

Paul is obviously referring to the gospel and salvation. Thus, the life mentioned here is eternal life, which is available to us only by faith.

In Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, he again references the Old Testament precept in the middle of a discourse on the ineffectiveness of reliance on the law for justification, or right standing before God.

Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. [Galatians 3:10-14, NIV]

What did it take to be included in Faith’s Hall of Fame? Perseverance! This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

The third time the phrase is quoted occurs in Hebrews in the author’s introduction to his delineation of the Old Testament Faith’s Hall of Fame. 

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.[Hebrews 10:35-39, NIV]

This passage is obviously referring to the perseverance and sanctification of the saints. We can continue to live and be made holy by continuing in the faith.

Faith is the only way to find salvation, justification, and sanctification. This chart was created by the author using ClickCharts.

Thus, faith is our only avenue to salvation [eternal life], the forgiveness of sins [justification], and freedom from the power of sin [santicification]. Faith is how we entered into a relationship with God through Jesus. It is also how that relationship grows and deepens. We must thank God for his faithfulness and for giving us the faith to believe.

Throughout scriptures, there are many other reasons to thank God in every circumstance. In this post, I will focus on one more. The ideas of praising, worshipping, and thanking God are inextricably linked together. They are woven into one fabric that cannot be separated.

Psalm 100, one of the most loved and well-known Psalms, captures the essence of this idea. It is the only Psalm with the short and sweet inscription, “A psalm of thanksgiving.”

 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. [Psalm 100, KJV]

Since this Psalm invites and demands that we sing unto the Lord, I will close this post with two hymns that encapsulate the idea of thanking God in everything.

This is a photograph of an 18th-century portrait of Charles Wesley. As a faithful reproduction of a public domain work of art due to age, this image is public.

The first is one of 6500 hymns composed by Charles Wesley, an 18th-century Methodist minister. Since Wesley didn’t always title his hymns, this one goes by two titles, “And can it be” or “Amazing love!” These titles come from the opening lines of the first verse and the refrain.

And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

    • Refrain:
      Amazing love! How can it be,
      That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

  2. ’Tis myst’ry all: th’ Immortal dies:
    Who can explore His strange design?
    In vain the firstborn seraph tries
    To sound the depths of love divine.
    ’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
    Let angel minds inquire no more.

  3. He left His Father’s throne above—
    So free, so infinite His grace—
    Emptied Himself of all but love,
    And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
    ’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
    For, O my God, it found out me!

  4. Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
    Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
    Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray—
    I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
    My chains fell off, my heart was free,
    I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

  5. No condemnation now I dread;
    Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
    Alive in Him, my living Head,
    And clothed in righteousness divine,
    Bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
    And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Picture of Cliff Barrows, Billy Graham, and George Beverly Shea at a Rally in Dallas, Texas. This photograph is from the Billy Graham Association.

The second hymn was voted as the second most all-time favorite hymn in a Christianity Today survey in 2001. It is based on a poem written by Carl Boberg in 1885 and set to music using a traditional Swedish melody. The English version came to us, as the original Swedish version was translated into German and then Russian by missionaries. It was translated into English by Stuart K. Hine. During Billy Graham’s England crusades, George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows worked with Hine on an arrangement that they could use as an introductory piece. With all that information, you probably have guessed that it is the hymn How Great Thou Art. 

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration.
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
How great Thou art!

 

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Thanksgiving 2020 Installment III

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING – The second item in Paul’s list of duties and blessings for the Thessalonian Christians. This Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

The second jewel in Paul’s Thessalonian Ring of Duties and Blessing is “Pray without ceasing.” This may be a taller order than the first duty of “rejoice always.” Does this literally mean that we should be praying all the time? How can a person do anything without stopping or pausing?

A heart beating in a regular rhythm, as shown in the EKG wave. It beats 24 hours a day. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

Is there anything that a normal person can do all the time? Are there things that humans do 24 hours a day, whether they are awake or not? Physiology and medical science tell us that human life is dependent upon the consistent functioning of certain organs.

The brain stems of living persons must be active all the time, controlling their automatic functions. Our hearts must constantly be pumping blood through our bodies. Our lungs must be inhaling and exhaling air all the time. We do these things at all times, “without thinking.” That’s why they are known as automatic functions.

A partial EEG screen readout of a living patient. If the patient were dead, all the screen lines would be flat, indicating no electrical activity detected. This image is courtesy of Alfred Health System.

For much of medical history, the absence of activity in the heart and lungs was used to define death. Before medical monitors, people were declared dead if no heartbeat and breath were detected. With recent advances in medical science, hospitals are using machines “to keep people alive” by mechanically breathing and circulating blood for them. In these cases, doctors are resorting to the absence of brain waves to define death. If an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitor shows no brain activity for 30 minutes, we say the person has “flat-lined” and is clinically brain-dead.

Before conversion, believers are physically alive but are controlled by the spirit of evil. Paul says that this is a state of death. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

Is Paul comparing praying to cardiac, pulmonary, and neurological activity? If a person demonstrates no joy, spends no time in prayer, or shows no spark of thankfulness, that person may be spiritually dead. The term “spiritually dead” is not used in the Bible. The closest reference I can find is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 2:1-2, NIV)

Although believers were physically alive before their conversion, they were in a state that Paul labels death. There is no activity in their spiritual life.

Thus, I believe Paul is indicating that prayer is a sign of spiritual life. As such, he is saying that it should be an automatic function in the lives of Christians. It should be our first response in all situations and circumstances. It is not meant to be a “fall back” or “last resort” action.

To understand what Paul is saying, it is helpful to go back to the scriptures’ words. Verse 17 of our text consists of two words in ancient Greek: ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε. They would be typically transliterated into anglicized modern Greek as adialeiptōs proseuchesthe. What do these two words mean?

The Laws of Physics say that perpetual motion is an impossibility. For humans, the closest thing is a spinning wheel that you can’t get off of. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

The word adialeiptōs can be used as either an adjective or adverb, meaning “unceasing, without stopping, without pause, incessantly.” It is a compound word, built from the two words, which individually mean “without” and “pause.” Since pause is usually considered a negative action, this combination is the Greek equivalent of a permissible double negative. It is a double negative, used to emphasize something positive.

Prayer is our means of communicating with God. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

The word adialeiptōs and its variations are used almost 40 times in the New Testament. The overwhelming majority of these instances concern prayer. This indicates that it is something to which we should pay special attention.

The word in verse 17 that is translated “pray” is also a compound word. The Greek word proseuchesthe is the combination of two words that carry the connotation of carrying on a conversation with God. It and its variations are used more than 90 times in the New Testament. This many references would indicate that it is definitely important.  It would seem that the idea of praying without ceasing is an essential concept for Christians to grasp.

The ACTS characteristics of prayer (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) represent the attributes that should be present in any prayer to God. This chart was created by the author using ClickChart.

In scriptures and church tradition, there are generally four characteristics that should be part of the act of praying. A useful acronym to remember these characteristics is ACTS. The word stands for:

  • Adoration The act of recognizing, affirming, praising, and worshipping God for who He is and what He has done.
  • Confession The act of declaring, acknowledging, and admitting our sins and unworthiness in the face of God’s righteousness. It must include identifying one’s transgression, an admission of one’s guilt, an expression of one’s contrition, a request for forgiveness, and a commitment to forsake and refrain from that action in the future. 
  • Thanksgiving The act of acknowledging that everything we have comes from God and expressing gratitude for what God has given and done for us.
  • Supplication The act of humbly requesting God’s help in meeting our own needs and desires (petition) and the needs and desires of others (intercession). The word supplication conveys the sense of humbly begging or pleading for something. We must approach God in abject humility.

In our prayers, we often combine one or more aspects into a single prayer. In fact, the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples as a model prayer combines three of the four characteristics.

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. [Adoration] Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. [Supplication] Give us this day our daily bread. [Supplication] And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. [Confession] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: [Supplication] For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. [Adoration] Amen.

One of God’s primary expectations for his children is that they depend only and always on Him. Part of that expectation is our duty to communicate with him in all circumstances and at all times.

This sketch depicts the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. The Pacific Press Publishing Company commissioned it for the children’s book “Christ’s Object Lessons,” written by Ellen Gould Harmon White. Since the book was published in 1900, it is in the public domain.

Prayer is our means of communicating with our heavenly Father. We must be in a constant attitude of prayer and dependence on God. Luke shares with us a parable that Jesus used to teach his disciples about prayer and dependence upon God. In chapter 18, we read.

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” He said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant request!'” 

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?”  (Luke 18:1-8, NLT)

We are to pray in the morning:

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. (Psalm 5:3, NIV)

This is a photograph of Monet’s Garden. The original 1876 oil on canvas painting is on display at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. Due to age, this painting is in the public domain. A faithful photographic image of a public domain work of art is also in the public domain. This image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The French impressionist Claude Monet was not considered an overtly religious person. Few, if any of his works, involved subjects that would be considered particularly sacred. However, one in particular, his 1876 oil on canvas, Garden, reminds me of the well-known hymn by Charles Arthur Miles.

Communing in the morning with God was an essential part of the life of the gospel songwriter Charles Arthur Miles (1868-1946). Miles may be best remembered as the author and composer of the hymn In the Garden. The first verse and chorus illustrate the significance of morning prayers for him:

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear
Falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share
As we tarry there
None other has ever known

We are to pray in the evening:

I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. (Psalm 63:6, NLT)

At the end of each day, we need to talk with God about it. What went right; what went wrong; what we appreciated; what changes we would like to see; what help we need from Him. This photograph of Van Gogh’s Old Man Praying is public domain because it is a faithful reproduction of a two-dimension work of art in the public domain. It is available from Wikimedia Commons.

This Psalm was one of David’s wilderness Psalms. It was most likely written in Judah’s desert while he was fleeing Absolam. Absolam was David’s third son. He had an ingratiating personality and wove his way into a favorite spot in David’s heart. However, at the same time, Absolam was also overly ambitious and plotted with a group of disenchanted courtiers to depose and kill David. David had no choice but to flee Jerusalem. While in the wilderness, he sang Psalms as prayers of grief and suffering. Songs and prayers can be closely related. 

Not everyone faces the difficulties David was facing. However, each of us has our own troubles. The sketch Old Man Praying by Vincent van Gogh reminds me of the second verse and the chorus of the praise song “Songs in the Night” by Matt Redman.

[Verse 2]

God, You can part the raging sea
Bring the miracle I need
Lord until it comes
I’ll wait here

[Chorus]

And I will sing
Songs in the night
Praise in the storm
You’re God in it all
And I will stand
I’ll be still and know
Whatever may come
You’re God in it all

We are to pray in the midday:

Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  (Psalm 55:17, KJV)

In this verse, God, speaking through David, teaches us several things about prayer. The verse begins by suggesting that David was praying throughout the whole day. In our reckoning, we would have probably said, “Morning, noon and night.” Why did David start with the evening?

In Jewish tradition, sunset is the transition from one day to the next. Thus the evening is the beginning of a new day. While midday, or our noon, was the middle of the “working day,” for the Jews of David’s time, it was a time of respite. It was the “hump” part of the working day. It was time to take a short rest, eat a bite of food, and spend a little time in prayer. It signified that the day was rapidly winding down to its conclusion.

While praying on the roof during a noontime break, Peter had a vision from God. In the vision, God tells Peter that whatever He says is clean is clean. This image is in the public domain due to age since it appears in Henry Davenport Northrop’s ‘Treasures of the Bible,’ published in 1894.

One of the most recognized noon-time prayers is Peter’s prayer in Acts 10.

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”  [Acts 10:9-13, NIV]

Peter’s prayer, vision, and response changed the face of Christianity and missions. As a result of the vision, Peter received the centurion Cornelius’s servants, a righteous and God-fearing man. He listened to their story and accepted their invitation to meet with their commander.

In the subsequent visit with Cornelius and a large gathering of Gentiles, Peter preached the gospel message. Many were convicted, saved, and baptized. Salvation was no longer restricted to Jews.  It was open to everyone.

One of the best-known depictions of Christ’s Agony in Gethsemane is the 1886 oil painting by Heinrich Hoffman. The original is now hanging in the Riverside Church, New York City. It is in the public domain due to age. As a faithful reproduction of a two-dimensional work of art, this image is in the public domain.

One can not talk about prayer without including the example of Jesus in Gethsemane. Since prayer is the personal act of communicating with God, it can be a joyous or agonizing event. Jesus spent an agonizing night, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew what was coming and asking God “to remove this cup from me.” However, He also knew that His crucifixion was a necessary part of God’s plan of salvation. Thus, He yielded His human desires to God’s perfect will.

Jesus’ prayer is recorded in John 17.  Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. [John 17:1-3, NIV]

After praying for Himself, Jesus continued by praying for His disciples and then all believers. After He finished praying, He was arrested.

Durer’s “The Praying Hands” calls us to prayer and reminds us how we should approach God.

I can’t speak of prayer without remembering Albrecht Dürer’s iconic image of prayer. This early 16th-century pen and ink drawing on blue paper that Dürer made himself is known as either “A Study of the Apostle’s Hands” or simply “The Praying Hands.“ 

This image has been copied and reprinted millions of times. It has been made into jewelry, statuettes, bookends, and paperweights. It has adorned thousands of walls, desks, bookshelves, and altars. It has called millions of people to prayer. Let it call you to prayer. Amen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanksgiving Message 2020 Installment II

The year 2020 has not been particularly joyful. It has brought many people to their knees. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

The year 2020 has brought many people to their knees. Some people were driven to the edge of despair and dropped to their knees out of utter frustration and sheer exasperation. Others bowed before God, praying for mercy and deliverance. It is a year that found many people sore pressed to be encouraged. It was a year of little joy or thankfulness.

In three short verses, Paul delivers a forceful message in his first letter to the Thessalonica church. His lesson is a powerful message that is just as apropos to today’s world as to his world. Although his injunctions are robust in meaning and potential, they are also a simple salvo of three resolute commands. Taken together with the rationale of fulfilling God’s will, they are an unassailable combination of the necessary and important traits and directives on how to live a righteous life.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV)

These commands are not only the duties that God has assigned His children. They are also a source of blessings.  As Christians, individually and corporately, fulfill these responsibilities, the completed duties form a self-sustaining cycle that builds and feeds others in the ring.

Paul closes his letter to the church at Thessalonica with a set of instructions on how to live the Christian life. He begins this section by attempting to motivate his readers to encourage and build up each other. He praises and reaffirms what they are already doing.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (I Thessalonians 5:11, NIV)

The RIng of Commands and Blessings given to the church in Thessalonica by Paul. Diagram was constructed by the author using ClickCharts.

Paul closes this section by providing the best rationale a Christian could have to fulfill the prescribed duties.

…for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18b, NIV)

I want to look at each of the three duties of Christians, highlighted in these verses as my Thanksgiving lesson for 2020. I will consider them in three separate posts in the order Paul presents them.

1. Rejoice Always

Biblical rejoicing is not necessarily the joy demonstrated by jumping up and down, shouting, and dancing in the streets. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

I do not think that Paul is talking about a frolicking, dancing in the street type of joy.  This is very apparent when you look at the opening of James’ letter to the Jewish Christians scattered all over the known world. James suggests that we consider troubles of any kind an opportunity to “consider it an opportunity for GREAT joy,” or “count it all joy,” as other translations phrase it. 

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. (James 1:2, NLT)

Biblical joy is not a euphoric emotion.  It is more like a calm sense of peace and assurance. It is a peace that comes from knowing that God is working in our lives when we face trials or troubles. The assurance comes from understanding that God has a purpose in all that happens.

Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, reminds them:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, KJV)

With the covid pandemic of 2020, hospitals were pushed to their capacity limits. Health care workers were greatly endangered, battling an unseen and unforgiving virus. People died separated from their families and loved ones. This image is courtesy of Presenter Media.

A perpetual state of any rejoicing is in itself humanly impossible. The year 2020 has not been a year of rejoicing for most of the world. As we near the end of 2020, a year that many people have called a natural disaster. The Covid Pandemic may be the worse health crisis globally since the black plague of the 14th century, estimated to have killed 25 million people, which was more than one-third of the world’s population.

In 2020, more than 67 million people have been inflicted with the virus, with more than 1.5 million deaths from covid-related causes. There is no predictable end in sight. Some medical experts predict communities will be hit with second and third spikes in the number of cases and deaths. Many commentators have declared 2020 to be a “God-forsaken year.”

Throughout the history of humanity, many civilizations have experienced what they described as being abandoned by God. Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet, cried to God in the midst of one of those periods in Israel’s history.

How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4, KJV)

This photographic is a copy of a page from the 19th century Doré’s English Bible. It depicts Jeremiah encouraging the enslaved Jews, working in Babylon, pointing them toward God. Since the original work is public domain due to age, this faithful photographic reproduction is also public domain. This image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons,

Habakkuk wrote this in the 7th century BC, after almost a century of civil wars and invasions from their enemies, shortly before the Babylonian invasion destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.

As a result of this disastrous defeat, many Jews were taken captive back to Babylon to serve as their captors saw fit. As they languished in Babylon, God sends Jeremiah, His messenger, with a word of encouragement for them.

For I know the plans that I have for you,” says the LORD . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

When the Jews were finally permitted to return to their homeland to rebuild their homes, Jerusalem and the Temple, they were beset upon by their neighbors who had gotten used to not having the Jews around to bother them.  In the midst of this trouble, it certainly didn’t help when Ezra, God’s priest, read the law to people hungry for a word from God. After the scribes explained the law, the people understood what it said. The Jews suddenly realized how they had ignored God’s law for so long. They became discouraged and penitent. They bowed their heads and wept.

A photograph of a print from a 19th-century woodcut by Schnorr von Carolsfeld. It depicts Nehemiah declaring a celebration of joy, recognizing God’s blessings. As a faithful image of a two-dimension work of art in the public domain, it is also in the public domain. This image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

However, Nehemiah, their civil governor, attempted to refocus their attention by reminding them of God’s goodness with a message of joy.

Then he [Nehemiah] said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10, KJV)

More than six centuries later, the Apostle Paul echos those same sentiments in his Epistle to Roman Christians. Rome was arguably the pagan center of the world in his day. In such a setting, Christians were under daily attack from the government and the general public. Paul attempts to encourage the Roman Christians with a message of joy.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT)

The prophet Nathan confronts David concerning his sin of adultery and murder. This is a photographic image of a print by the 19th-century artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. As a faithful reproduction of a two-dimension work of art in the public domain, it is in the public domain. This image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

As Christians, we know that we cannot lose our salvation. However, there may be times that we lose the joy of our salvation. Even David, a “man after God’s own heart,” lost the joy of his salvation. After he was confronted by the prophet Nathan, David fell into a deep depression because of his guilt. He was heartbroken over his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. In one of the best known Psalms, David prayed:

 

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me–now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stains of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. (Psalm 51:8-12, NLT)

Biblical joy is not an emotion that depends upon how we feel. It is a lifestyle. We must choose joy. It is not something that develops naturally from within us.

From where does this joy arise? How can we find and grow joy? Paul reminds us that joy is a fruit of the Spirit who indwells us.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…” (Galatians 5:22-23, KJV).

This illustrated version of the vine and branches parable is from the 1922 book by Bihn and Bealings, The Bible in Pictures: The New Bible Symbols. Since the book is public domain due to age, this faithful photographic image is public domain. This image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

After the last supper in the upper room, in one of His final lessons for His disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus emphasized that He was the source of that fruit.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5, NTL)

Rejoice always, in all circumstances. This command refers to a state of mind. It is a lifestyle that God demands. Without His help, we can’t live up to this expectation. He is the source of that joy.

In the Thessalonian Ring of Duties and Blessings, “Pray without ceasing” is next. I will consider this injunction in my next post. Coming soon.

 

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Time to Bring Back By’s Musings!

Racing the clock to get things done has a great appeal today for many in this ravaged world. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

It’s time to reopen the pages of By’s Musings. The first working title of this post was Time to Get Back to Work. In the face of what’s happening in the world today, that particular phrase had something of a welcome and satisfying ring to it. Many people would like to be back in the saddle, working regularly, and racing against the clock to meet deadlines. In these past six months, I never stopped working hard, writing each day. It just hasn’t shown up in this blog.

Six months ago, when I published my last post A Short Break from Business as Usual, no one, especially me had an inkling of what was coming. I shut down By’s Musings to concentrate on writing a manuscript and preparing to publish it as a book.

For those six months, that’s where I concentrated my efforts. In September 2019, the working title of my book was A Field Guide to American Higher Education. As I wrote in my September post, I had begun to conclude that this book had no substantial audience clamoring for it. As I noted in my September post, my original ideas were evolving. They were soon to be completely revolutionized.

After that September post, I spent the next month refocusing my thoughts on five questions: 1) For what audience was I writing? 2) What did this audience need? 3) What did this audience want? 4) What would they buy? 5) What did I have to offer this audience? To have a successful book, I had to find the sweet spot at the intersection of the answers to these five questions.

By early October I believed that I had solved that elusive puzzle. I began to work feverously on a new book, An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical Life Planning: Student Edition. What’s in a title? I chose the title of this new book very carefully. Each word or phrase is packed with meaning.

I’m using the term student as a short-hand for individuals between the ages of 16 and 24. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

The phrase Student Edition is my attempt at a short-hand to indicate that the book is primarily intended for an audience ranging in age from 16 to 24. In psychological circles, individuals in this age range are referred to as mid-adolescents, late-adolescents, or early adults. In educational circles, these are the ages typically designated for traditional high school and college-age students. This book was written for the typical, Christian high school or college student and other individuals in that age group. It was written for those in that age who find themselves searching for answers to life’s most important questions.

An explorer ventures into the unknown looking to find answers and their way in a new, unknown world. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

The word Explorer denotes an individual who is actively looking for and seeking something that is currently unknown. They are not sitting back and waiting for the world to be delivered to them on a silver platter. They are engaged in a process that is not always 100% safe and secure. There may be dangers and setbacks along the way. Not every explorer finds riches at the end of their journey. However, they will discover something new about themselves or this world.

The word Guide conveys the idea that this book is not a cookbook that provides recipes for a good life. It is not a series of road maps that show individuals each and every turn that they should take to reach their destination. In addition, it doesn’t assume that the destination is even known at the beginning or part way through the journey.

A guide is a resource or a person that provides a scouting report but does not prescribe the directions an individual must go. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

A guide is an individual or resource which provides helpful information that individuals can use to identify dangers and directions that they should consider taking. A guide can point out things that the individual can’t or chooses not to see. A guide can make suggestions and challenge an individual’s choices. However, at the end of the day, it is still up to the individual explorers to make their own decisions.

The Bible is God’s word to humanity. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

The term Biblical obviously refers to the Bible. The Bible is God’s message to the world. It tells the story of the world through God’s eyes. It is a story in four parts: creation, fall, redemption, and consummation.

The Bible is God’s message to us via parables, proverbs, prayers, songs of praise, historical accounts, and prophecy. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

The Bible was written by more than forty different human authors, all inspired by God, over the course of centuries. These authors wrote in their own styles so it contains many different literary genres and tenors. It is a compilation of 66 different books in the form of narratives, dialogues, proverbs, parables, songs, prayers, allegories, historical accounts, and prophetic tales. Nevertheless, with all this diversity, it is remarkably unified with the same themes running through all its pages.

God gave us the Bible to be a sourcebook and our reference for daily living. It contains all we need to know to distinguish right from wrong. In it, we find the standards by which we should live our lives and the principles we need for guidance.

Samson was both a tragic figure and a hero of the faith. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

The stories in the Bible are about real people just like us. There are stories of triumphs like Joshua at Jericho and David fighting Goliath. There are stories of defeat and tragedies like the first battle of Ai and the fall of Jerusalem, followed by the Babylonian exile. There are miracles like Daniel in the lion’s den and the Israelites being fed by the manna in the wilderness. There are accounts of the highs and lows of everyday life like the parables of the sower and the prodigal son. There were stories of individuals like Samson who was both a hero of the faith and a tragic figure beset by sin. 

God is our refuge. David reminds us in Psalm 18:2 that “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (NIV) 

Christ is our anchor. Where do we learn about Christ? The Bible. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

Jesus is our hope and our anchor. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews emphasizes this in Hebrews 18:2: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, both sure and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.” (NIV)

Where do we learn about God and Jesus? The Bible. Therefore we must go to the Bible. It can serve as an anchor in the storms of life. In it, we can find strength and comfort in our desperate times of trouble. In times of ease and satisfaction, it can provide continued encouragement and counsel.

The Bible is a spotlight which shows us who we are and who God is. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

The Bible serves as a spotlight to show us who we are and who God is. We are not robots nor meaningless globs of matter. We are living creations of an all-powerful God, who loves us and gives us a purpose and a destiny.

In Life there are few guarantees. If you are like most people, life will not be handed to you on a silver platter. Most of us have to earn our way in this world. We are required to make difficult choices. Although adolescents may not believe it today, as they get older, they will find that the number of decisions to make increase drastically. At times, it may become even more overwhelming then it seems right now.

The devil can’t force you to do anything. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

It may reach the point where people start making excuses or blaming others for their actions. When facing questions about a particular action, people sometimes resort to the Flip Wilson one-liner: “The devil made me do it.” At other times, individuals try to escape the consequences of their actions by relying on the Bart Simpson defense: “I didn’t do it. You didn’t see me. You can’t prove it.”

Throughout your life, you will learn that the devil didn’t make you do it. You did it. You also will learn that you can’t escape the consequences of your actions. You are responsible for the choices you make and what you do.

I can assure you that you are responsible for who you are and who you become. With the exception of the rare accident, you are responsible for most of what happens in your life.

At times it will feel like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

If the thought of such a heavy burden of responsibility scares you, you are not alone. Most people reach this junction sometime in their lives. From watching thousands of people experience this defining moment, adolescents are fortunate to face it at this time in their life. They’re at a crucial point where they have two very important resources available to help navigate these choppy waters. Those resources are time and readily available help.

COME ON., MAKE UP YOU MIND! It may seem like your parents are always yelling at you. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

I can hear some adolescents already shouting, “TIME! I don’t have time. People, especially my parents, are yelling at me, that I must make important choices about my future, NOW!” Even though I probably do not know your parents personally, I am confident that they care deeply about you. Most parents do love their children and are very concerned that they make the right choices for their lives, now and in the future.

Relax. You don’t have to run everywhere. Time is on your side. Image courtesy of Presenter Media.

If I may be so bold, I have one word for you and your parents – RELAX. As we proceed through the book, I will explain why I think you have time on your side. As you proceed through the book I will explain why time is on your side. I will also outline many of the resources that are available to you. They are there to be used. Make certain you use them wisely.

In higher education and management circles, most experts believe that Planning does not involve a static blueprint. It is a process that can change daily as circumstances change. Thus life planning is not a once and done task. It is not something that is fixed at birth or in early adolescence. Put all that together and what do you have? An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical Life Planning: Student Edition.

One of the most dangerous viruses to hit humanity in centuries stopped the world in its tracks with a deadly pandemic. Image courtesy of Presenter Media

Through January things were proceeding nicely. Then the world was turned upside down by a tiny bug, the coronavirus COVID-19. I had a draft of An Explorer’s Guide to Biblical Life Planning: Student Edition finished and in the hands of an editor. Then the world literally stopped. Businesses were forced to close. Schools, churches and governments shut down face to face operations, and move to a virtual world. A whole new set of problems now faced the audience to whom I had addressed my book. Many of my suggestions may no longer applied to this new world. I will have to wait until summer or fall to see if any semblance of the world we knew returns or whether we will be facing a whole new set of challenges. 

I can still think and write. Although publishing a book addressing problems which no longer exist seems counterproductive. However, I have another avenue for expressings my ideas. By’s Musings is still available as an outlet for my ideas. With so many of them pent up begging to see the light of day, I will be publishing a new post at least weekly. My next post will provide my new insights into higher education and the medical enterprise. In the meantime, a words of wisdom for us all: Stay safe, take proper precautions, and pray for deliverance.