An eye for an eye

An eye for an eye is one of those Biblical phrases that has worked itself into the common lexicon. It’s a striking phrase (and a little horrifying if you think about it being carried out). Usually associated with Old Testament justice it’s commonly understood as a harsh, ungracious attitude of revenge contrary to the love and grace of the New Testament. This was the view in our Lord’s day too. But, an eye for an eye is not a call to vigilante justice or cold-blooded revenge, but a law of equitable justice (Deuteronomy 19, Exodus 21:24 and Leviticus 24:20). In the context of the book of Leviticus 24, starting in verse 13, justice was handed out by judges and the whole congregation. Here, the death penalty is prescribed for blasphemy and murder. But if a man killed another man’s beast, the law demanded the man provide the value of the beast he killed. If someone caused a blemish, the penalty was a blemish. I don’t live in ancient Israel, and neither do you, so we do not follow the laws of that country in this country. However, the principle of the law is just and we still follow the attitude of an eye for an eye.

An eye for an eye was never about revenge, but equal justice. The punishment needs to fit the crime. If a boy throws a ball through the neighbor's window, a just penalty would be to have window to be replaced. It’s not justice to have the boy beheaded. It’s not justice to have all new windows installed in every room of the house. An eye for an eye, a window for a window. If someone damages your property, you didn’t win the lottery and you don’t get to wring every penny out of the person for “emotional damage”. The wrongdoer should put things back, as best they can. If you murder, the penalty will be stiff; life for life. But you shouldn’t be executed for backing over your neighbor’s mailbox. If you do something wrong, make it right, as best you can. If you break a borrowed tool, replace it with one of equal or greater value. If someone breaks your “Made in China” hammer, don’t demand they upgrade to something you wouldn’t have spent the cash on yourself. The Old Testament system was actually quite just. An eye for an eye is the opposite of selfish revenge and vindictiveness. Jesus explains its true meaning by teaching that we are to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, give of our self and our time (Matthew 5:38-42). This passage is not about defending our rights but giving them up. Laying aside what is technically our right for the furtherance of the gospel and the kingdom. Jesus made a whip and ran the money changers out of the temple when the glory of God was defamed, but when he was reviled, he reviled not again. Follow Jesus' example in fulfilling this law (1 Peter 2:21-25).

The Man of God

Tuesdays with Timothy #

I Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

The "man of God" is an Old Testament name given to God's prophets. Only one New Testament person is called the man of God; Timothy. Pastors today follow the line of Timothy. We are not prophets like Elijah or Apostles like Paul. These temporary offices are no longer in existence. But Timothy's office continues today. Pastors follow a long line of men who stand before God's people, open the Bible and expound what God has said in His Word. When Paul calls Timothy a man of God, I believe that all Pastor's and preachers called into this ministry and recognized by a church and given the ministry in the church, follow in those footsteps as men of God.

 Why would Paul use a decidedly Old Testament term in charging Timothy? Let's consider the Old Testament usage. A man of God dedicated his life to doing the will of God in prophetic utterance; men called to speak for God and in the name of God. Timothy isn't a foreteller, but he does declare "thus saith the Lord".  God didn’t speak directly to Timothy. He took the God-breathed Scriptures and declared what God has said in his preaching ministry. The man of God in the Old Testament spoke the Words of God. When David and Moses spoke the Word of God, they were remembered as the men of God (2 Chronicles 30:16; Ezra 3:2; Nehemiah 12:24). Pastors are only men of God if they speak the Word of God. If a man waxes poetic about politics and becomes a motivational speaker, he may be an influential man and he may be a popular man, but he is not being God's man. A man of God speaks the Words of God.

The people called the prophets a "man of God" out of respect for his position. Not all people honored the man of God. Certainly not all people liked the man of God, but calling the person the “man of God” understands that he came not in his own power and wisdom, but as an ambassador of God. There is very little respect for the office and the ministry today.  Some of  the blame for this disrespect can be laid at the feet of pastors. Don't be surprised when you don't respect the office God has given you that no one else respects it. The Old Testament men were called men of God because that is what they were known for. I'm not calling for a dress code and to speak like a bad caricature of Jonathan Edwards and to be dour and stiff. But if a man acts like the ministry is no big deal then certainly the people he preaches to are going to take it that way as well. The man of God takes that calling seriously.

Holiness characterizes of the man of God. There is a lot of talk about delivery and the way you preach. There isn't a lot of talk about holiness and the preacher. Paul spoke a lot more about holiness in Timothy's life than he did homiletics. The man of God doesn't have to be a flashy speaker. The man of God doesn't have to by a dynamic personality. The man of God doesn't need to be a great business meeting moderator. But the man of God must be holy, in and out of the pulpit. 

God's men need to follow the Lord Jesus. In character, in the content of the message, in our life in and out of the pulpit, the man of God must imitate Christ. Obviously, all Christians should do this, but this needs to be a distinguishing marker of the man of God because his life is given to God in the service of God. He is not the world’s man. He is not the church's man. He is not even his own man. He is God’s man. Paul encouraged Timothy by reminding him that He belongs to his master.

The Love of Money

I Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 The love of money is the root of all evil. Money is not the problem and Paul does not condemn having wealth The covetous desire for wealth is the root of all evil. A poor man can have just a great love of money as a rich man can. Paul warns professing Christians of the danger of loving money. A love of money takes the place of a love of God. You cannot have godly contentment and love money. You cannot give sacrificially and love money. Loving money is covetous and idolatry. Loving money will lead you into various other sins on the quest for obtaining the beloved object.

With the love of money, the desire becomes it's own judgment. That's the way with most sins. What the souls lusts after is what will destroy you. As you covet after money and reach out for what God hasn't given you and you stretch yourself for another dollar, you fall away from the faith and land on the dead fall trap of many sorrows.

The love of money will cause you to forsake the Lord's house. The love of money will lead men to forsake their families. The love of money will tempt you to lie, cheat, and steal for every last penny. Men and women who will lie to your face, rob you blind, and swindle you out of your last dollar, and then pick your pocket in "christian love". Certainly this pertains to the celebrity preachers, but they are not the sole offenders. You can be a poor pastor and love the little money you have and do what it takes to get more and more. When serious error arises in the church and the big tithers are wrong, what will you do? When men preach false doctrine  but calling it out will cost you half the congregation and most of your salary, what will you do? Or, to turn the tables, the man who held the money in the church who betrayed Jesus. No one suspected Judas because they let him keep the money and he was probably one of the most pious sounding. We could have given that money away to the poor!

If you have wealth, thank God for it and use it for His glory. Love God and not money, and you'll be fine.

Welcome to Secular America

Sunday, November 5th, a gunman opened fire on the congregants of a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas killing at least 26 people. The second mass shooting in as many months. Why do these mass murders keep happening?

Welcome to Secular America. This is the country we wanted. This is the nation we asked for. We sowed the wind and now reap the whirlwind. The USA decided decades ago that the oppressive force in America was Biblical Christianity. All those “thou shalts and  shalt nots” were cramping our style. We needed freedom and had to break the chains of morality and escape puritanical tyranny! We wanted a secular land, where you can talk about God in church, but not in the public square. A State, separated from Christianity, governed by the principle neither God nor ultimate truth exist. A nation where we have taught our children for generations that we are not made in the image of God, but are the result of a series of random acts of evolution. In our enlightened, scientific secular country, we don’t know the difference between a boy and a girl – no, actually we have to pretend we don’t because we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Welcome to Secular America. The President rightly the shooting was an “act of evil”. Ok, I agree, but may I ask, says who? Whose says mass shootings are evil and by whose standards of good and evil? When there is no God, there is not standard of good and evil, only preferences. The secularist says “taking a life is evil” fine, so then is abortion is evil? If not, why not and says who? I know the answer, but we decided in America we wanted freedom from Christianity and the “chains” of God’s law, so out with the Bible and out and with the answer to the problem we created. I can say murder is evil because God has said murder it is evil. All life from conception is precious because we are created in God’s image. When a secular people with our American freedoms have no fear of God, no moral grounding in the Scripture, no fear of the afterlife, and no fear of judgment, what is to stop them from committing heinous acts? To address the problem, we have to understand the problem and we cannot do that without the Bible. John Adams said "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom." Without Christ, we will either loose our freedom or continue on this path. You cannot have it both ways.

Romans 3:15 - 18  "Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes." Men are swift to shed blood because of the depraved heart of man. We have no peace because we have no fear of God. Unless God graciously blesses us with repentance, we can expect more of the same.  dougnewell4th@gmail.com

Side Hustle: From idea to income in 27 Days by Chris Guillebeau

Not everyone has the skills, the desire, or the courage to strike out on their own and become their own boss. There is a lot of risk involved in quitting the 9-5 and leaving behind the security of a steady stream of income to take the entrepreneurial plunge. The downside is that the day job might be leaving you with more month than money. In Side Hustle: From idea to income in 27 Days, Chris Guillebeau walks you through, step by step how to get some extra income on your own, without quitting your day job. That's the Side Hustle, a little extra money on the side made with the skills and abilities you already have. 

Complete with lists, fill in the blank tables, and charts, if you have the idea and the skills, you can be making money in a month.  The book helps you come up with an idea, get it off the ground, advertise and drum up business, and then refine it. The strength of the book is that if you have never started your own business, there are a lot of tips and ideas about business that I would have never considered (advertising, promoting the business, getting paid online) and that's what makes this book a great guide. I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Don't Wing It

Ever seen a TED talk? These short talks are designed to spread ideas and they cover a wide range of topics and ideas. They are usually very engaging (even if you don't agree and I often don't) and that's one reason why they are so popular. Chris Anderson wrote a book about how they help these experts give great talks. In one chapter he talks about what to avoid, and he called it "The Ramble".  I think its worthy to consider. If you stand up before people, and are addressing them on the most important themes of eternal value, don't wing it.

"In the first TED I organized, one of the speakers began, “As I was driving down here wondering what to say to you . . .” There followed an unfocused list of observations about possible futures. Nothing obnoxious. Nothing that was particularly hard to understand. But also no arguments of power. No revelations. No aha moments. No takeaways. The audience clapped politely. But no one really learned anything. I was fuming. It’s one thing to underprepare. But to boast that you’ve underprepared? That’s insulting. It tells the audience that their time doesn’t matter. That the event doesn’t matter. So many talks are like this. Meandering, no clear direction. A speaker might kid himself that even an unfocused exploration of his brilliant thinking is bound to be fascinating to others. But if 800 people are planning to devote 15 minutes of their day to your words, you really can’t just wing it. As my colleague Bruno Giussani puts it, “When people sit in a room to listen to a speaker, they are offering her something extremely precious, something that isn’t recoverable once given: a few minutes of their time and of their attention. Her task is to use that time as well as possible.” So if you’re going to gift people with a wondrous idea, you first have to spend some preparation time. Rambling is not an option. As it turned out, this particular rambling speaker did give TED a gift of sorts. From that talk on, we redoubled our efforts on speaker preparation."

TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson

What would we really sing with a thousand?

"It is easy to sing in a meeting, "O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise.' Futile wish! We shall never have a thousand tongues. If we had them, we should not know what to do with them - not when the one tongue we have is so strangely silent respecting the Lord who loves us and gave Himself for us." 

Freank E. Gaebelin The practical Epistle of James

Therefore

Therefore. It’s a commendable and handy word. It means because of, consequently, to that end. Therefore is an adverb since it can be used to “connect clause content”. For example, I wanted to double-check it actually was an adverb, THEREFORE I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster. Reading your Bible, you come across this word all the time. In my Bible, it’s there over 1,200 times. My former pastor used to say “when you see the word therefore, see what it’s there for. Not good English, but excellent advice. If you open your Bible and the first word of the verse is “therefore” you know you are in the middle of the thought. You’ve walked into the middle of a conversation. Imagine entering a room and hearing someone say “therefore, she must die!” Have you uncovered a dark conspiracy of murder, most foul? No, you missed the first part of the sentence, the part before the “therefore”. “Mother doesn’t like getting these gray hairs, therefore, she must dye!”  

Sometimes, therefore is the first verse of a chapter. Romans 5:1 begins “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Even though it is the beginning of the chapter, Paul is in the middle of his thought. Even though the chapter ends, doesn’t always mean the argument  ends. Therefore is a word that  helps us track the logic of the passage. In Romans 5:1 Paul is building on his argument that since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God. The case of chapter 4 is advanced in chapter 5. The word therefore helps us see peace with God can’t happen without justification because it connects the two ideas.

Therefore can also tell us what we need to do. Staying in Romans and in chapter 12, Paul says not to repay evil for evil and to live in peace, if possible, with all men because “vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.” So what are we to do with that information? How do we apply that to our life?  In verse 20 he says “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink...”  Since it is wrong for you to take revenge because God says he will take vengeance you need to be kind to your enemies. The therefore says “because this is true, you must do that.” Finding the therefores in passages and considering the context will help you find the application of the truth. Context is important in understanding the Bible. If you read a verse with therefore as the first word, know you are missing an important part of the idea. Back up a few verses and get the whole picture so that you can get the true meaning of the passage. Otherwise, you might walk in on Paul and just hear Romans 1:13 as “Now I would not have you ignorant brethren” and think he was upset with someone and resorted to name calling.