Wisdom Laughs

Proverbs 1:26-29  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;  (27)  When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.  (28)  Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:  (29)  For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

When Wisdom laughs, she doesn’t seem very nice. But where in the Bible does it say we are supposed to be nice? What is it to be nice? Who decides what is and what is nice? Nice is to not ruffle feathers. Nice is to never cause a stir. Nice is to be politically correct. Nice is to follow the social rules of society. Where are we called to be nice?

We are commanded to be loving.
We are commanded to be kind.
We are commanded to be tenderhearted.

We are not told to be nice. Wisdom laughed, and she wasn’t very nice - but she was very loving. She was very kind. She was very tenderhearted. Lady Wisdom had done all she could. She had pleaded. She had warned. If she speaks in the language of the KJV, she beseeched and besought. Why don’t we ever complain about what the sinner does to Lady Wisdom? They laughed first. They ignored her. They hated her. They mocked her. WE mocked her.


Proverbs 1:20-25  Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:  (21)  She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,  (22)  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?  (23)  Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.  (24)  Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;  (25)  But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

When we ignore the warnings of Lady Wisdom and when we are neck deep in trouble, it is then we look to Wisdom and seek her help and advice. When the whole thing is over, and when we’ve reaped what we have sown, we can lift our head out of our hands and share a meaningful glance and say “Hindsight's 20/20 - if we had only known.”

Hindsight is 20/20. But so is wisdom. Wisdom tells you the bridge is out and to turn around. Hindsight realizes the bridge really was out and sign was correct, and meditates on that reality while waiting for the wrecker to pull your car out of the creek. That is why the sage is seen as prophet-like. Not because he can actually peer into the future, but because he knows that Lady Wisdom is a sure guide. Wisdom is able to perceive what is going to happen because we live in God’s world.

Don’t laugh at Lady Wisdom, or one day, she will laugh at you.

To Live is Christ

Great song from Nathan Clark George. The music starts at :30.

The End of the Charge is Love

Tuesdays with Timothy  #3

1 Timothy 1: 5  Now the end of the commandment is charity....

The end of the commandment is referencing the charge mentioned in verse number three.  Paul besought Timothy to “charge some that they teach no other doctrine.” A charge is to relay a message, declare, or command and Paul instructed Timothy to relay this apostolic message. They were not to preach any other doctrine and now we see the desired purpose of this charge to faithful gospel preaching is love. The apostle did not suggest that they stick to gospel preaching, he commanded it to be so.

This is proved later on in the chapter when Paul speaks of the proper uses of the law. The law can be used, but only lawfully in accordance to the commandment given by Paul to stay in the gospel truth and teach no other doctrine. The gospel was committed into Paul’s hands as a faithful minister (I Tim 1:11) and this same charge of gospel fidelity was charged to Timothy (I Timothy 1:18). Paul instructs Timothy to charge those men who desire to be teachers that they too must hold to this command of orthodoxy. Not only are they to have the right doctrine but they are to have the right motives. Faithful gospel ministry and love go hand in hand.  The end of the commandment is charity, or love.

The end of this commandment, (the command of orthodox preaching), is love. It is a love for God, for if you love God you will not lie about Him. You will not use God, God’s people, and God’s church for you own purposes. If you love God, you won’t twist His Words in order to further your own agenda. If you love God, you won’t willingly harm His people for evil ends. It is a love for Christ and a love for Christ's Bride. It is also a love for the people of God. The gospel ministry and the preaching of the Word must be from a position of love of God’s people. There are hard truths in this book. Necessarily, toes will be stepped. Sins will be exposed. Wombs will be open. If there is not a love for God and a love for God’s people, then it will be easy to pass by hard truths in order to keep and gain favor with me or use the law as a club to beat men with, to take out vengeance on people with whom you have a grudge. The more a man loves his people, the more he must be delivered from fearing them.  When a man has been amongst his people for some time, and knows them and knows their sins and their situations and something comes up that he KNOWS will step on toes and may start trouble and will get someone mad at him, it is only by love for God and a true love for His people will he lay down the hard truths, for the good of his hearers.

Monday Verse: Bad Sir Brain Botany

Here comes Monday, right on schedule. It always comes so suddenly to smack us right in the face. Never fear, Monday mornings don't last forever. Reminds me of Bad Sir Brian. He was more than a little pushy when he had power to push. But people will only be pushed for so long before, well, I'll let you see what happens...

BAD SIR BRIAN BOTANY

by A.A.Milne

Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on.

He went among the villagers and blipped them on the head.

On Wednesday and on Saturday,

Especially on the latter day,

He called on all the cottages and this is what he said:

"I am Sir Brian!" (Ting-ling!)

"I am Sir Brian!" (Rat-tat!)

"I am Sir Brian,

"As bold as a lion!

"Take that, and that, and that!"

Sir Brian had a pair of boots with great big spurs on;.

A fighting pair of which he was particularly fond.

On Tuesday and on Friday,

Just to make the street look tidy,

He'd collect the passing villagers and kick them in the pond.

"I am Sir Brian!" (Sper-lash!)

"I am Sir Brian!" (Sper-losh!)

"I am Sir Brian,

"As bold as a Lion!

"Is anyone else for a wash?

Sir Brian woke one morning and he couldn't find his battleaxe.

He walked into the village in his second pair of boots.

He had gone a hundred paces

When the street was full of faces

And the villagers were round him with ironical salutes.

"You are Sir Brian? My, my.

"You are Sir Brian? Dear, dear.

"You are Sir Brian

"As bold as a lion?

"Delighted to meet you here!"

Sir Brian went a journey and he found a lot of duckweed.

They pulled him out and dried him and they blipped him on the head.

They took him by the breeches

And they hurled him into ditches

And they pushed him under waterfalls and this is what they said:

"You are Sir Brian -- don't laugh!

"You are Sir Brian -- don't cry!

"You are Sir Brian

"As bold as a lion --

"Sir Brian the Lion, goodbye!"

Sir Brian struggled home again and chopped up his battleaxe.

Sir Brian took his fighting boots and threw them in the fire.

He is quite a different person

Now he hasn't got his spurs on,

And he goes about the village as B. Botany, Esquire.

"I am Sir Brian? Oh, no!

"I am Sir Brian? Who's he?

"I haven't any title, I'm Botany;

"Plain Mr. Botany (B.)"

Tuesdays with Timothy #2

1 Timothy 1:3-4 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,  Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.  

Paul, having left Timothy in Ephesus exhorted him to charge some men in the church there that they teach no other doctrine than the true doctrine. Doctrine is teaching and what we teach is not our own but God’s Word. Paul did not mess around when it came to the preaching of the Word of God and the truth of the gospel. He would brand an angel a heretic if he came into God’s house and preached another doctrine. There was no space for exploration. There was no “conversation” to be had or suggestions to be made. Preaching is not a dialogue. Very plain and very simple – no other doctrine. I think it very sad that in these days, you can be cut off and cut out of fellowship for being divisive and a trouble maker for standing for a doctrine or taking a stand on a particular issue, but heretics are giving a pass in the name of love. There are some really nice heretics, who have great personalities and probably a hit a dinner parties. We can’t give place to their teaching, for even an hour.

Neither were they to give heed, or pay attention to fables and endless genealogies. I have noticed this trend recently as well, that many of the big names in evangelicalism are all for stories instead of sermons. Myth instead of ministry.  Tall tales more than truth declared. I may be breaking the rules of the internet, but C.S. Lewis who was not a sound Christian man, and many suggest he may not have been truly converted, but is brandied about as a pillar of Christian thought because of his fables. People love a good story and in order to soothe their conscience, a man can go to “church” and be entertained by stories, or a good fable can get him to think – and he’ll be entertained all the way to Hell.

The genealogies had a purpose, until the time of Christ. Now, the endless searching after family trees to find some secret hidden meaning or some spiritual insight do nothing but start fights and strife. We might not have the genealogies now, but certainly there are silly discussions and questions that are asked that do nothing but start trouble. I’ll die on the hill of orthodox Christianity and doctrines of the Word of God – but I won’t die on a mountain made out of a mole hill, no matter how deep you think the question is, any more than I am afraid to mix my metaphors. 

True preaching needs to edify, or to build up. Sometimes, in order to build up you have to tear some stuff down. You might have to knock down a few walls in order to build up a nicer room. Know down a few trees to build up an addition. Sometimes you have to knock down a few sins before you can build up in the faith – but the purpose is for godly edification. Fables or genealogies do neither. Godly edification, not just edification. Joel Osteen builds people up, but that is not godly edification. This isn't pragmatism, that as long as people are built up in the end, the process doesn't matter. Paul says godly edification

Paul gave a postitive and a negative. Don't preach new doctrine. Don't tell stories instead of doctrine. Don't gender strife by debating and going beyond scripture and twisting scripture with genealogies. Do preach sound doctrine. Do edify the church.

Monday Verse

Good Monday morning! Ready to get back to the grind? No? Me either, but there really isn't much we can do about it now. While I'm putting on the steel toes getting ready for a day of logistical nightmares, enjoy one of my favorites. 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

 

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

______________________________________________________________________

Tuesdays with Timothy #1

1 Timothy 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul was an apostle, not of his calling, or the calling of any other man, but by God. The God that saved Him has called Him and set him as an apostle and it is with this authority he speaks to Timothy. What Paul was writing was not his opinion on the church and the ministry. These were not his methods of church and ministry, but Paul was speaking as an apostle, with apostolic authority. Paul was speaking God's Words. Whatever Paul says to Timothy is God's eternal truth.

Though he spoke with great authority, he also spoke with great affection. Paul loved Timothy. There was no jealousy or an overbearing desire to rule over the younger Timothy, but a desire for nothing but his good and his betterment in the service of Christ. Seasoned pastors and younger men can benefit in copying this relationship. Older men should seek to encourage the next generation in their churches, not to lord over them. Paul looked to Timothy as his own son, and with that I believe we can know that Paul desired Timothy to be the best servant of Christ possible. He wanted him to be faithful and ever gaining in progress. In my ministry, there have been several older men who have come along side me and encouraged me and helped me and I can say that I believe that they wanted nothing but my good. I have the unique position of being both a pastor and the son of a pastor, and I know that my Dad wants nothing but the best for me. When I was still at his church (and when I left to pastor another church) he offered me advice and instructive criticism. Why? Because he loved me and wanted to see me faithful in the ministry. I think that Paul, in this spiritual relationship, had love for Timothy in a very similar fashion.

Younger men (in the faith, not necessarily in age) ought to be humble enough to receive instruction and criticism. Young preachers, and younger pastors should find men that will be honest with them, be their friend, and help them in the work of the Lord. At the same time understand that there are no more apostles. I'll take the advice of men who have been at this for longer than I. I'll take advice from men who haven't. But I count it advice and compare it to the Word of God. I take Paul's instruction to Timothy as instruction to me.

In turn, this book is for pastors. Does this mean that only pastors can benefit from the book? Of course not - but we need to recognize who this was written for and why. If passages of scripture or posts in this series do not apply to you because you are not a pastor, use this as a way to pray for your pastor. Read this not to find fault with your pastor, but know how to encourage him and how to pray for him.

With that, ends our first Tuesday with Timothy, some devotional thoughts on the pastoral epistles. 

Only a Dad

Another poem to start your Monday morning. This one makes me cry, so if you are going to cry on Monday morning, might as well have something to cry about.

Only a Dad
BY EDGAR ALBERT GUEST

Only a dad, with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame,
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come, and to hear his voice.

Only a dad, with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more.
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad, but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing, with courage stern and grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen,
Only a dad, but the best of men.

The Days Gone By

A poem for your Labor Day, Monday morning. It's time to pick apples back home. Always such a busy time of year, but I have such fond memories of the farm.

The Days Gone By

By James Whitcomb Riley

O the days gone by! O the days gone by!

The apples in the orchard, and the pathway through the rye;

The chirrup of the robin, and the whistle of the quail

As he piped across the meadows sweet as any nightingale;

When the bloom was on the clover, and the blue was in the sky,

And my happy heart brimmed over in the days gone by.

In the days gone by, when my naked feet were tripped

By the honey-suckle’s tangles where the water-lilies dipped,

And the ripples of the river lipped the moss along the brink

Where the placid-eyed and lazy-footed cattle came to drink,

And the tilting snipe stood fearless of the truant’s wayward cry

And the splashing of the swimmer, in the days gone by.

O the days gone by! O the days gone by!

The music of the laughing lip, the luster of the eye;

The childish faith in fairies, and Aladdin’s magic ring—

The simple, soul-reposing, glad belief in everything,—

When life was like a story, holding neither sob nor sigh,

In the golden olden glory of the days gone by.