I Still Miss Her

 

For the background you may read “I Miss Her” where I speak of my sister-in-law and how I miss her. I firmly believe we will meet again, and we will know each other even better than we did here. We didn’t know each other long enough here – my husband and hers were separated as children, not reunited for 37 years when they were in their 40’s.

When we finally were able to connect, there were so many similarities, though they spent those 37 years in differing families, different states, different careers. Best connection was that the four of us had a deep faith in God, were actively involved in congregations, and shared our beliefs with anyone who would listen (or read.)

Through the years she explained what I later recognized as part of Pascal’s Wager:

Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.
Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. ( . . . ) There is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. And so our proposition is of infinite force, when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal risks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain.

That’s not the way she said it, of course. She made it much more personal and easier to understand:

I’d rather live my life believing there is a God and die to find out there isn’t than to live my life not believing there is a God only to find out there is.

Philosophers and theologians debate, as Pascal did, whether one should believe in God. What was the answer to when you asked yourself: Why should I believe there is a “god”, “higher power”, “supreme being,” or any other name people apply to what they can’t explain?  It appears that everyone in the world has – and made a choice:

According to a Wikipedia entry, the big four belief systems make up the following, as of 2020:

Christianity         2.382 billion
Islam                   1.907 billion
Not Religious *  1.193 billion
Hinduism            1.251 billion
                       *Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist

The fifth, Buddhism (506 million) well out paces Judaism (14.7 million.) The sum of those below Hinduism is 1.380 billion, giving us a total of 8.113 billion - pretty much the estimated world population.

The Notes in the Pascal’s Wager link include:

Instead of focusing on whether it is true or false that God exists, the wager concerns whether belief in God is beneficial, or pragmatic, for the believer. Thus, the Wager is called a “pragmatic” argument, in contrast to what might be called an “evidential” argument.

There is no evidence here that God does exist, or through which of the world’s religious beliefs includes the correct supreme being – but every one of us will make our own decision, even if it is the starred line that includes over a billion people. Close to 16% of the world’s population believe there is no supreme being/nothing after death.

My sister-in-law and I made our choice. She left this world and discovered the answer. As a Christian, I believe as she did in the Bible being God’s inspired words for mankind. Thus I believe:

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8 KJV)

There is a time limit on our ability to adjust our choice. There is nothing biblical that indicates that this choice can be made following death. Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, does not tell us that the rich man had any opportunity to join Lazarus, just his interest in telling others. But there’s another scripture that includes hope up to the point of death:

And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:39-43 KJV)

That’s not evidence.  It’s a promise.

Just Think About It

 

For those of you who have followed me for several years know that white shape below the eye is “Henry,” a meningioma I’ve lived with for several years. Still not giving me serious problems, but we take his picture once a year just to be certain. Because of Henry, I have an interest in brains slightly higher than the average person.  Also, because of my Mom and her Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, I’m interested in research in communication with people who have limited speech.

Thus my interest in NPR’s May 12, 2021 “Man Who Is Paralyzed Communicates By Imagining Handwriting.” Clicking on the title will take you to the article where you’ll learn this and more:

The man was able to type with 95% accuracy just by imagining he was handwriting letters on a sheet of paper, a team reported Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"What we found, surprisingly, is that [he] can type at about 90 characters per minute," says Krishna Shenoy of Stanford University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The device would be most useful to someone who could neither move nor speak, says Dr. Jaimie Henderson, a neurosurgeon at Stanford and co-director, with Shenoy, of the Stanford Neural Prosthetics Translational Laboratory.

"We can also envision it being used by someone who might have had a spinal cord injury who wants to use email," Henderson says, "or, say, a computer programmer who wants to go back to work."

Both Henderson and Shenoy have a proprietary interest in commercializing the experimental approach used to decode brain signals.

That will be awesome for communication for the handicapped – but every one of us has an even more awesome capability. We can talk with our Lord in our mind, knowing that He hears and understands before we finish. Jesus gave us the example, described both in Matthew 6:9 and in Luke:

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. (Luke 11:1-4 KJV)

How do you envision God as you speak to Him? A distant white-haired patriarch as painted by Michelangelo, reaching from a great distance to touch the finger of His creation? That's not what He is, was, or ever will be. He wants us to be in touch with Him. He requires of us that we walk with Him:

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8 KJV)

He did walk with the first couple He created. We read of that in the midst of their seperation:

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8 KJV)

I remember how difficult it was for my Mom to communicate with us. ALS removed her ability to talk, and her writing was difficult - slow and shaky. Her mind was still quick, and we would have loved being part of an experimental approach of decoding brain signals. I know it is difficult for people to experiment with speaking to a God they have yet to trust.

Many years ago there was a blogger who knew she was the 100th sheep in Luke 15. The blog no longer exists under the URL I have, but I remember her telling how God did not exist. At lunch with a friend who was a believer, she pulled what I call a Gideon - asking God:

. . . then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. (Judges 6:17 KJV)

I never did learn what she asked God to give as His sign that He heard her - but it communicated to her that God did want her to walk with Him. Her blog was a blessing to me - just as I hope this one is to you as I pray for your ability to communicate with God.

Thou Shalt Love Thy Neighbor . . .

 

From Wikipedia, attributed to Lorie Shaull

In a paraphrase of Reginald Garrigou-Langrange "God, His Existence and Nature":

Christians who believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God are intolerant in principle because they believe the Bible as inspired by God; they are tolerant in practice because they love their neighbors and wish to share God's love with them.

Verses I’ve used often in my blogs confirm the paraphrase:

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.  (Matthew 22:35-40 KJV)

Notice it was a lawyer asking the question. An expert in the Mosaic law, the question was asked to objectively test or examine what Jesus would answer. Obviously, Jesus’ answer was accurate. Loving God is the first and greatest commandment. It is consistent throughout the Bible. All three Abrahamic religions hold to that truth – God is supreme and must be loved.

The next greatest, according to Jesus is to love our neighbors as ourselves. A few in each of the three Abrahamic religions have failed in that commandment to the extent they have left horrible footnotes in history and serve as very bad examples. Maybe they can be said to have loved because they hated themselves as badly as they’ve hated their neighbors. Without a doubt, they did not understand God’s love as shown in:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  (John 3:16-19 KJV)

Memorize the whole, please. Do not omit that “he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Jesus did not condemn sinners while He shared God’s word. Read the gospels – neither men nor women who were known to have broken God’s commandments were condemned by Christ. He acknowledged their sins. He knew them as well as He did the woman’s at the well, and could have described them as He did to her. However, He was here to offer salvation to whosoever.

That’s the message we need to give to our neighbors. Every one we meet is a neighbor, aren’t they? People we may never meet again?

Why are these two commandments so important? Jesus explains that all the other laws from God, all the prophecies He has given, and I believe our salvation, descend from these two acts of love.

Back to the paraphrase – these two great laws are inviolate to a Christian who believes in God. Both are required for Christians. That would be considered intolerant. Just as John 3:17 defines who is condemned, Matthew 22:30 demands that Christians love – and by other verses - pray salvation for non-Christians. That, too, would be considered intolerant. Believer’s  in God’s inspired messages to mankind in the Bible do seem intolerant of reaching God through other deities.

In reality, we seek to share His love, just as the Bible tells us to:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)

Shipwreck

 

Shipwreck of MV Alta. This ghost ship was adrift without a crew in the Atlantic Ocean for two years, until it foundered on the rocks of the southern coast of Ireland in February 2020. [Colm Ryan]

Wikipedia has a wide variety of shipwreck photos. The explanation on this one leads into my subject matter better that others.  There was no one aboard this ship for nearly two years before it crashed into Ireland’s rocky shore. In a Wired article discussing the MV Alta’s “ghost ship” movements:

Georgios Hatzimanolis, an analyst at ship tracking website, "Marine Traffic" . . . .  says this is “not normal behaviour.”

Just as people, ships interact in a number of ways with government entities, locations, other ships, but are alone much of the time. There are “normal” activities – and, also just as people, there are behaviors that are beyond the bounds of rules, laws, and socially acceptable behavior.

That’s why this particular photo/story fits so well with the scripture on my mind this morning:

Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:19-20 KJV)

There are examples in newspapers, magazines, and social media where someone who dedicated their lives to following God's will and His plans for their life - and they've made a shipwreck by ignoring what they not only were taught, but what they were teaching to others.

For most Christian ministers, there is an ordination ceremony, succinctly explained online by Britanica:

Ordination, in Christian churches, a rite for the dedication and commissioning of ministers. The essential ceremony consists of the laying of hands of the ordaining minister upon the head of the one being ordained, with prayer for the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of grace required for the carrying out of the ministry. The service also usually includes a public examination of the candidate and a sermon or charge concerning the responsibilities of the ministry.

For IBF churches, there is a commitment by the new minister to his ordainers, to his congregation, and to God, to fulfill that commitment with their help. Not all do. Some make a full shipwreck of their lives, worse than the MV Alta.

The MV Alta’s crew abandoned her. The ship had no control over where it sailed, following only wind and currents. There was no captain, no crew, no autopilot - no ability for the ship to make any decision as to where it should go.

For ministers, it is possible the ordainers could fail. They would no longer act as mentors. They might not mention problems they see in the new minister's life. Even the congregation could fail. Congregations have been known to downsize, to stop attending services, to ignore the ordained with supportive attendance and prayer. 

God will not fail. Multiple verses confirm this belief. Our faith firms our resolve to believe them – but once our faith falters, the following failures are ours, not God’s.

When our faith fails, it is so easy to blame God, though the failure is ours by not holding on to faith that God’s promises are the same today and tomorrow. Paul gave us names as examples of shipwrecks, Hymenaaeus and Alexander. Paul left them to their own desires, leaving them to follow their chosen path.They broke their promises to serve God, lost their faith in His ability to sustain them. This is not normal Christian behavior. Faith sustains Christian lives. A loss of faith can end in a life’s shipwreck.

I’ve seen that happen to a young man who was ordained in our church. A Bible college graduate, an excellent preacher,  a good voice to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, servant as a Youth Minister, later as a Pastor - but who failed to retain faith in God’s will. We’ve seen the loss of his calling, his inability to hold a job, loss of his family, and eventually loss of his freedom. The one thing that has not ceased is prayers for his return to God. Please join us in prayer that he might return to living in God's will.

Corn? Words Are Powerful

As a teen, I believed what the Bible said. My parents hadn't attended church regularly until I was eleven, but when I heard biblical lessons and read my Bible, I believed it was inspired by God, was filled with examples to follow, and Jesus was very real.

Until someone outside of church told me about corn. A food cultivated only in the Americas prior to Columbus, how did it get into the Bible, where it is found in 94 verses, both in the Old and New Testaments? The carrier of this news was ready to laugh at a Christian’s silly beliefs when (almost) everyone knew there was no corn in the Middle East for Jesus to pluck and eat:

At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. (Matthew 12:1 KJV)

Naturally, I’ve learned a lot since then, quite a bit of semantics – words have meaning, but the meaning of words change for a variety of reasons. We must know the history of the word in question before we can be certain what its meaning was and now is. I like Sam Dean’s corn etymology article in bon appetit, where we read:

Back in the day, English speakers could use "corn" to refer to any grain they felt like, though it usually meant the predominant crop in a given region. In England, wheat was "corn," while oats were "corn" in Scotland and Ireland, and even rice was "the only corn that grows in the island" of Batavia (a.k.a. the Indonesian island of Java), as described in a 1767 travelogue.

What we call just plain "corn" today started out as "Indian corn," but we dropped the qualifier by the early 1800s. Today Americans, Canadians, and Australians are still the only Anglophones who call the stuff on the cob "corn," and a trip down a British Tesco aisle will yield more references to "maize" than you'd ever find stateside (unless you're at a grade school Thanksgiving pageant).

So – whatever Jesus and His disciples plucked to eat, it was not the western hemisphere’s maize, which was found following colonization. And using the translation “corn” is absolutely correct based on the history of the word that can be traced centuries back. Even without the internet, back in the 1950's I was able to learn the source of "corn," and had my faith renewed. I learned a very good lesson.

The lesson? Words are powerful. As that teen, I had no information on the history of what I knew as “corn,” and I was open to belief that the Bible was wrong when it was only my lack of knowledge that allowed a touch of disbelief grow.

What I’m asking of my readers is:  When you are given a reasonable argument as to why the Bible is incorrect, learn more. Do the research to be certain the argument given is based on facts that go beyond an individual’s lack of belief. Do as I have suggested time and again – be as the Bereans from Acts 17:

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. (Acts 17:10-12 KJV)

That happens often when someone takes time to search the scriptures deeply, seeking to know the truth. It also happens often that people who disagree will also stir up others:

But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. (Acts 17:13 KJV)

And they will no longer run around with you, thinking your changes strange:

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: (1 Peter 4:3-4 KJV)

My Friend Died

 

So, why did I show you a photo of a library? Because my friend pushed – hard – to get the city she once lived in to have a public library. You’d have thought every city with close to 10,000 population had one, but hers didn’t until she completed her work. After their family moved to a rural county, she did the same thing at a small country church close to 15 miles from the nearest city. Now it has a nice sized library due to her involvement.

Her interests went much further than libraries, but were rooted in her family. She wanted her children educated, in the world for business purposes and in their religious life for eternal purposes. She also wanted to see missionaries able to educate, in intellect as well as in the gospel of Christ.

We had not visited in person since October, 2020, when I became ill with Covid-19. Social distancing in 2020 changed her life and mine – but we spoke over the phone, looking forward to meeting again. Especially after she was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and her outings were confined to doctor visits. But, she said she was okay.  Her son told us that at the very last of her life her, she said, “I’m okay,” and passed peacefully. Oh, God, that we could all say the same!

I miss her. But she and I shared one very important concept:

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8 KJV)

Nothing I could write would match the love shown from her children as they shared in her obituary, linked here. The one thing I believe she would share with everyone is her firm belief that Jesus is Christ and worthy of our love.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17 KJV)

One of the first verses we read from the Bible, and the basic foundation of Christianity.

My friend believed it, and lived it. There are several missionaries who would agree with me, for they received prayerful support from her, her family, and a group of ladies who worked with her. The Haynes family in New Mexico, the Homeless No More outreach, the Coates family in Central America, are just a few supported by gifts and prayers. There are sewing machines given to help families raise money. Quilts were made and donated to keep people warm. Bibles given to help their souls and food to help their bodies.

She believed in opening her home, sharing her love with others. One of her loving ways was cooking for people. Once we had a church staff member who lived several miles away. Rather than have them drive home after Sunday morning services and back that evening, she had them over for lunch and an afternoon of fellowship.  No doubt she embodied the Proverbs 31 woman:

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. (Proverbs 31:27-31 KJV)

My friend died and I miss her. Right now, the difference between me and a non-Christian is that I know I will see her again, and it saddens me that unless they change, they won’t ever see her again. What proof do I have? The Bible tells me so, immediately after telling me that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish it says:

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  (John 3:18 KJV)

Please read the Bible with an open mind and a seeking heart. I’d love to introduce you to my friend as we spend eternity with our Lord.

Potter's Wheel and Field

 

Ukrainian Potter with potter's kick wheel at the traditional Sorochyns'ky fair, Velyki Sorochyntsi, Poltava-region, Ukraine, 14th August 2008:  By Turzh

If you’ve not heard of Jeremiah’s potter’s wheel in chapter 18, please take time to read the story. I do believe I’ve heard a sermon from that chapter no less than once a year – none of them exactly the same, and none of them leaving the same thoughts with me.

It is easy to think of Jeremiah being in prayer and receiving the message from God:

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
(Jeremiah 18:1-2 KJV)

And, it is just as easy to read of Jeremiah’s response:

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
(Jeremiah 18:3-4 KJV)

Then I wonder if I could respond as easily to what I perceived as a message from God. It takes a lot of prayer and Bible study to understand that not all messages do come from God. There are explanations in the Bible:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
(Matthew 7:15-20 KJV)

Knowing what message is NOT from God is important. God confirmed in Jesus that there are two commandments upon which all others are based:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
(Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

Putting our lives – our eternal souls – into the hands of God as our potter, our life’s designer, requires that we are aware of these two commandments and are willingly living by them: God’s call first, others’ spiritual needs second, our own desires last.

In my mind, being called to a leadership position where people’s souls are tended to is a very high calling. The work of a church’s pastor or missionaries, whether foreign or at home, ties directly to souls. We should be praying for them every opportunity we have, every time their names come to mind – and they should come often.

We should be aware that when a flaw in the potter’s creation occurs, the potter chooses to remake the item – or toss it into what is termed “Potter’s Field” where some clay is tossed when determined to be unredeemable. an excellent example follows Judas’ return of the 30 pieces of silver to the high priests:

And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
(Matthew 27:6-7 KJV)

Will we learn of our Lord by studying His word? Will we allow His written instructions to guide our lives? Will we listen for His personal messages to us to respond to his calls for our service to His children?

Will we actually love our neighbors as ourselves? Can you answer as to “Why?” or “Why not?”