Yesterday, Monday, November 23, 2009, Linda and I had the opportunity to gather with about 25 others in the home of Ann Platz to meet and hear Barukh Binah, Consul General of Israel. The privilege alone is worth bragging about, but I will resist the temptation. General Consul Binah spoke for about 45 minutes and then apologized for taking so much time, even though we would have gladly listened. I found him to be a most gracious man who is deeply concerned about his country but also completely confident in his country. Binah talked about Israel’s desire for its close friendship with the United States to continue, but emphasized that Israel is not dependant on any other country. They can and will defend themselves if necessary. Binah spoke carefully about Iran. Clearly no one in the free world wants Iran to have nuclear weapons, especially Israel. Binah said that the problem in the Middle East was not Jew verses Muslim, or Israeli verses Arab, but extremist verses moderate. Israel is willing to join together with Arab nations for peace and to stop Iran from gaining control over the Middle East as a whole. Can you imagine a Middle ...

Recently I read the sermon Charles Wesley preached at Oxford University, April 4, 1742, “Awake Thou That Sleepest.” I wish I was even half as poetic and even half as firey! Wesley said, “Shackled by misery and chains, the sleepers dream that they are free” and “You are sinking into the depth of damnation, the abyss of God’s final condemnation.” The responses were one of two, conviction followed by repentance or insult with indignation. Where has the fire gone? It wasn’t that Wesley necessarily disagreed with the theology of the Church of England, but quite to the contrary. The Wesleys disagreed with the lethargy and “Laodicean spirit” they encountered in the Church of England. Nor do I take issue with the theology and doctrine of the United Methodist Church, but I do take issue with the lethargy and “Laodicean spirit” with which so many United Methodists (and Christians of all denominations) approach God. We are “slumbering in the devil’s arms,” as Charles Wesley would say. What then is the proper response? Approach prayer, fellowship, and Bible study with enthusiasm, excitement, and exuberance. We have no time for petty differences with Church leaders or with each other – ...

We live in a world where aggression is executed against innocent people. Some have labeled the shooting at Fort Hood, TX an act of war and the shooting in Orlando a tragedy. While both may be true there is something more tragic and more frightening going on here. Western civilization defines peace as the absence of war or the absence of strife. We have come to see peace as a time when everything is going right for us. The United States has enjoyed many years of “Western” peace. Would we say that now is a time of peace? The Bible has something different to say about peace. Scripturally, peace is not the absence of strife, but the presence of faith and hope in the midst of it. For us, peace is external. Scripturally, peace is internal. It is normal to feel apprehension because of these recent acts of evil, but God’s intention for us is that we also feel at peace knowing that He is bigger than any act of evil or even evil itself. Our hearts swell with love and concern for the families whose sons and daughters were cut down in acts of cowardice. Our walk from ...

My dog, Pentecostal Fireball, is as faithful as any master could desire. Fridays are her favorite day, because that’s the day I’m usually home. This past Friday I stayed home all day, and she was delighted. When I went into the study for some computer time, she followed and lay next to my chair. As soon as I got up, she jumped up to follow. Even when I stood up to get a pen from the other desk, she jumped like we were going somewhere. She thought she had died and gone to doggy-heaven when I sat on the floor to sort some papers. Car rides are one of her favorite things even though she doesn’t know where we are going. All she cares about is that she’s going somewhere with me. She even gets excited about visits to the veterinarian (ignorance is bliss). She especially enjoys watching TV, because she gets to sit with me in our favorite chair. This morning she sat by the door waiting for me to get ready for work. When she realized I was about to leave she settled in her usual place beside our favorite chair. I’m pretty sure she’ll greet me ...

For a couple of weeks now, I have watched the flowers blooming and trees budding. I can hear the birds chirping and the lawn mowers whirling. That means it will soon be Resurrection Day! It is easy this time of year to think about egg hunts and bunny rabbits, but let’s lay those things aside and look at the True meaning of Resurrection Day. Psalms 111:9 tells us, “God has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.” Resurrection Day means redemption for us! We find the theme of redemption in the exodus account. God did not simply take the Israelites out of Egypt. He redeemed them to be His people. He sent Moses to the Israelites with a promise in Exodus 6:6, “I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” Scriptures like these give us the ...

In my previous blog I talked about the superiority of Abel’s offering as opposed to Cain’s. How can we justify God’s harsh judgment on Cain? For Cain and for his offering [God] had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. 6Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7“If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:5-7 (NASB) Did Cain think that he would escape God’s notice of his anger and crest-fallen countenance? God does notice, and He gives Cain an opportunity to repent. The language of verse seven is not as straight forward as we might like, but it is non-the-less a call to repentance. It is back to back if-then statements that give hope and at the same time issue a warning. “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?” Here in lies Cain’s hope for being re-established into a right relationship with God. God offers Cain the opportunity for a “do-over.” ...

Hebrews chapter 11, the “Hall of Faith” chapter begins with the sacrifices of Cain and Abel. Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. Other than the “by faith” part what is it that sets Abel’s sacrifice apart from Cain’s? Some have said that it is because Abel’s sacrifice was a blood sacrifice where as Cain’s was a grain offering. Not! Genesis 4:3-5 (NASB) So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.  4Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. The argument that Abel’s sacrifice was a blood sacrifice and was therefore better does not hold true. At the time of these sacrifices there was no set ...

So little is said of Enoch but yet he must have been a great man of faith for he was “pleasing to God.” Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Escaping death is a rare thing. Only Enoch and Elijah have that distinction, but how did they get there? By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:5-6) Joshua 22:5 gave the Hebrews the formula for living in the land. “Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”  This was the ...