YOU and GOD

Recently, I had an experience during an hour-long flight from Indianapolis to Charlotte that I could have only dreamed of that I’d like to share with you. It was another of the myriad of moments in one’s life of the providential working of God in arranging divine appointments for His own:

Ellen and I had just gotten settled into our assigned seats when a young, tall and slender gentleman, dressed in the attire of a Catholic priest, sat down in the aisle seat that was vacant beside me. He had barely gotten into his seat before I said, “Hi, are you a Friar or a priest?”  I guess I thought he was a Friar (though I really did not know for sure what a Friar was) because of his white outer garment, and he replied that he was a priest. From that first exchange for one hour until we landed in Charlotte, the priest and the pastor communicated continuously with each other, tackling the whole gamut of theological issues, both practical and Biblical.  We talked about translations, inspiration, the Reformation and Martin Luther, about the great commission, about mass, preaching, the confessional booth, Catholic history and the beginning of the church. He was very transparent, did not have a “know it all” attitude, was polite, engaging and interested in what I believed and why.  It was a totally two-way exchange and when it was all over, I paused to pray, thanking God for His providentially placing the two of us together.

He was off the plane quite a while before Ellen and I could gather up our things and make it to the concourse, and I was surprised to see him waiting there until we made it to where he was.  We both had connecting flights to get to so I figured that he was gone as we had pretty much said farewell to each other upon landing.  But there he was, waiting patiently for us to ask us our name, thank me for the conversation and to in turn give us his name. He was kind and considerate of a couple of old folks and we were glad to be able to get his name with the hope of continuing our dialogue via the internet. I had, of course, shared with him that I had pastored in Indy a Baptist Church for 40 years. During the conversation I was able to share how the Baptists became known as Baptists and that our spiritual heritage predated the Reformation though we were not always called Baptists but were part of the “anabaptists” during the time of the Reformation, a label put upon those who rejected infant baptism and tenaciously held to baptism of believers by immersion and that “anabaptists” was what we were called in derision by the Reformers.

At one point in our hour-long conversation, I had mentioned that I had just been diagnosed with myeloma. It was an incidental piece of information and he expressed his empathy for my health situation and our conversing was off on another path.  But later as we talked, I said to the young priest, “So, I am a member of your parish and I have just learned that I have cancer that will, sooner or later, claim my life. I come to you and ask, ‘I am dying of cancer and I want to make sure that I am ready to meet God.’ What would your answer be?”

He paused for a brief while then, as best that I can recall, said something to the effect that he would assure me that God is love and that God loves me.  He referred to I John 4 and alluded to John 3:16, but did not expand on either of those passages and gave no clear answer to the question. I was able to share with him the testimony of a member of our church who was reared in a strict Catholic home, believing in God from his youth and as best that he knew trusting in Jesus, yet never growing in his faith or grace just because of lack of teaching. One day this devoutly reared Catholic visited his priest with some basic questions and was rebuffed and summarily dismissed by the priest.  Undaunted in his quest for a personal relationship with God, he continued to read the Bible, searching the scriptures, desiring to know more of God and coming to know Christ personally in his own home with his own open Bible that he was earnestly reading and rereading. One day, someone told him he should visit Thompson Road Baptist Church.  He did and he has attended faithfully for years with his wife, also a Catholic by birth, but a believer by the New Birth.

Back to my new found friend. I just today listened to an interview that another priest conducted with this young Dominican priest just before he was going to be ordained a “deacon” in May of 2020. It was an extensive interview in which he was asked a variety of questions and he did most of the talking, sharing how and when he made the decision to enter the priesthood and unfolding the journey of seven years that he was finishing up. It was interesting and compelling and I also listened to a brief homily that he had given from a passage in Amos. I don’t think any honest, fair-minded person who had listened to this young man share his heart would think he was anything but genuine. Often, after such an experience, one asks “Do you think he/she is really saved?” Well, only God knows that of course. I do think many Catholics have responded to the light that they have been exposed to and no doubt many who have simply put their trust in Jesus will be saved. The danger, of course, is that they are trusting their being a member of the Catholic Church or trusting in their participation weekly, or even daily, in the mass which is in their thinking the pinnacle of the practicing of their Catholic faith. Some, though, in spite of the system, will be, in my thinking, in heaven because they have trusted in Jesus as Savior.

I have lots more to share, but I must wrap this up. Please pray with me for this young man. I really believe he is open to truth. He asked me some serious questions and was attentive and engaging with his responses to what I was explaining.  I hope I can share more of our future dialogue in another installment of “You and God,” and, in the meantime, let us all be alert for an opportunity to respond to a providential meeting, arranged for us by God as He did when the pastor and the priest opened their hearts one to another, over an open Bible, high above the earth one beautiful winter morning.

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (I Pet.3:15)

In my first full-time pastorate in Wichita, Kansas, a thirteen-year-old boy, with life’s dreams looming large on his youthful horizon, died after a brief bout with cancer. His faithful father and mother had to have been shaken to the core of their being; but as this young fresh out of seminary and not yet 30 years of age pastor tried in the best way, he knew how to minister hope and help to them through God’s eternal Word, if they were shaken, they remained steadfast in their faith and in fact it was the mother and father who ministered, mostly, I now know, to the pastor, not vice versa.  In that same assembly, a dear mother was stricken with cancer and she implored the Lord to let her live until her children were out of high school.  Her prayer was answered and when what she had requested had been fulfilled, God called her home. Those are two incidents, of scores and scores, that flood the memory folds of this pastor’s mind as I recall how God has worked in so many ways in so many lives of dear ones whose lives, along with their family and friends, have been shaken in the storms of life. None probably like Job’s life was shaken, or the Apostle Paul as he catalogues his upheavals in 2 Cor.11, but no less shaken in the individual and unique ways orchestrated by a loving heavenly Father, the God of all comfort, enabling His children to be stronger in faith and mightier in spirit as we move ever onward toward our “graduation” day, and an abundant entrance into His presence. This post will outline briefly Job’s observations of what he went through on the day and on the days after he had been shaken to the core. Of necessity I will give you this in outline form and encourage you to read the full story in Job 16 and grow in grace through it.

1. The source of our “shaking,” is God, v. 11,12: “God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked; I was at ease, but He hath broken me asunder….” God allowed the Adversary, Satan, to execute the shaking, but God alone was the engineer, allowing it but for His divine purposes for “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purposes.” Romans 8:28 John the Baptist was beheaded; Paul was in chains and a whole lot more (2 Cor.11); Peter according to tradition was crucified upside down; Stephen was stoned to death; Elijah despaired of his very life and so on and on. But the God who allowed all of this to come upon His choice servants is the God of whom Paul wrote when in 2 Cor. 4:7,8 we read: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed but not in despair.”

• Note the suddenness of the shaking: “I was at ease….” v. 12 Life can be going very well and after a routine trip to a doctor and a visit next door to the lab it can take a cruel turn. You may find yourself totally if temporarily in shock; you have recited verses to your friends and prayed with them when they had similar “worse days of their lives,” but now it has come to your house.  A wife leaves with only a note that she is “through with this marriage.” A wayward child disappears from off the face of the map only to break your heart when you hear of the relationship that son/daughter is cultivating with a “partner.” A teenage daughter through her public school arranges for an abortion when she learns of her pregnancy and it all happens before you are even aware of what is going on; etc., etc. Life.  The suddenness of those pesky potholes or in more cases those deadly detours.

• The severity of it, v. 12: “…He hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for His mark.” Those were the words of a man who had walked in intimacy with God, Job 1:1. He was not sinless but he eschewed evil. Job acknowledged on his worse day as he fell down upon the ground and worshipped God that “the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:20,21 Yet, there came a day when he would cry out that God had taken him by the neck and shaken him to pieces. It had touched every fiber of his being, body, soul and spirit.

• The Saint: Job responded to this bleak assessment by donning sackcloth and ashes and crying out to God. He had searched his soul and concluded that what had happened was “not for any injustice in mine hands…my prayer is pure.” Job 16:17  Yet, he had been taken to the very precipice of death: “…on my eyelids is the shadow of death.” Job 16:16. Through it all, this Old Testament saint of God, without a complete Bible to cling to; without commentaries or devotionals to be buoyed by, affirmed that “Also now, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.” Job 16:19 Job was and remained one of God’s saints before, during and after the dark cloud was moved from off his being.

• Note the saints.  I have commented on the saint in the story, Job; but there were also some saints that were on the scene as there well should have been, but sometimes the saints give counsel that is not saintly, as in Job’s case: “My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.” Job 16:21 They had judged Job wrongly with their super pious yet merciless assessment of his suffering. What light the Holy Spirit sheds on this when through the Apostle Paul He said: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” 2 Cor. 1:3,4  James reminds us wisely that we ought to be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” James 1:19  I mentioned in part 1 of this 2-part post that we lost to death an eleven-year-old grandson who died at Riley hospital of a ruptured appendix. A dear pastor friend and his wife having heard of our loss, showed up on the day of David’s death and sat with us for an hour. We basically all sat in silence…there were no words. But Ellen and I will never forget that precious hour of comfort that a seasoned pastor with his beloved wife sat at our sides comforting us by their presence. They were saints in deed.  Not Job’s three friends who totally missed it.

• The solution, v. 21: “O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor! When a few years are come, then I shall go away whence I shall not return.” Job 16:21,22  Well, Job got his answer about having someone to plead for him with God and the solution ends on a triumphant note: “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19:25-27 And Job’s confidence has been the confidence of those who are His followers through the ages. Stephen, recognized as the first martyr of the New Testament church that Jesus promised to build, got a standing welcome from the Lord Jesus as he transitioned from this world of shadows into the eternal light of his home in heaven.  “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. Life trials will seem so small….”

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38,39

My life has been without much physical suffering; mental and emotional, plenty; but personally very little as I have visited the sick and suffering for half a century as any pastor who loves his flock would do, offering prayers and support and encouraging words as long as was possible, then comforting their loved ones when death too often would raise its ugly “white” victory flag over another of its victims, then ultimately trudging out to another hole in the ground in a local cemetery where in biblical terminology would bid farewell to our friend, “earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes.” It never got any easier after hundreds of exercises; and the hope of seeing our loved one and friend again, never erased the pain of temporary separation even though it did make it bearable.  My last farewell and funeral was for my sweet sister, Nancy, as she was laid to rest beside her husband’s grave in a beautiful yet silent city of the dead a few blocks from where they spent most all of their adult lives. So, so many others before her, family, friends and flock that 50 years of pastoring bring to my memory that it is like a long, steady march of faces whose personalities live on in my psyche having been painted and put there with an indelible brush of life.

Sometime before and shortly after that trip to Waterloo, Iowa, to memorialize Nancy’s life, I had been dealing with some pain that would not go away.  In fact, at her son’s home, following the service, having gathered for a time of food and fellowship, I fell when leaving the house and hit a thigh very hard on a cement walk. Nothing seemed broken, but after several days of what I thought was a bad bruise was still as sore as the day that I fell. That was in early December (2021). I finally made an appointment with my family doctor who referred me to an orthopedic surgeon who ordered an MRI and then made an appointment for me with a hematologist on the basis of the MRI findings.  All of this eventuated in a diagnosis of multiple myeloma, a cancer in the blood cells that negatively impacts the bones. There is no known cause and no known cure, but aggressive treatment often will control the progression of the cancer and it may for a time go into remission.  My brother-in-law died of this disease after a courageous battle with it for half a dozen years or so, with my sister, Mary Ann, at his side.

I had resigned the full-time pastorate that had occupied me happily for 40 years in September of 2019; then, following a six week visit with Ellen to the Maranatha Village in Sebring, Florida, I assumed the job of interim pastor at the Coatesville Missionary Baptist Church, ministering there for a year until God brought them a fine pastor who is now full-time there and doing a splendid job. It then became my privilege to fill pulpits for pastors who were sick, on vacation or otherwise temporarily away from their pulpit. At the same time, I began writing a biweekly blog called “You and God.” My life was rewarding, the new ministry assignments fulfilling; children and grandchildren were close by and I was not yet 80 and enjoying what I thought was excellent health, taking no meds and losing some weight even through the Covid pandemic.  All was exceeding well, I thought.  Ellen was receiving good check-ups from her cancer doctor and life was all we might have asked for as we rounded the corner for life’s last laps.

Then, the dreaded diagnosis. Which brings me to the subject of this post.  Job could not have had a brighter outlook than what we read of him in Job 1. You recall the details. Wealth, family, great relationship with God, respected in his community, successful. Life was good.  Then, in one hour, on one day, Job’s world literally became unraveled right before his eyes. In Job 14:1, having been visited by three harshly judgmental friends who assessed his losses as divine punishment because of secret sins, Job blurts out, “Man that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.” He would further affirm that his three friends were “miserable comforters.” (16:1) And, in Job 16 Job addresses what is happening to him and gives us insight into what happens to many of God’s servants, some to lesser, some to greater degree than what Job endured.

Most any believer can and will identify with something of which Job spake when, in a powerfully painted few paragraphs, Job gives his own version of what was happening. He does not draw a conclusion as to the “why” of it, but he nails the “wherefore,” and comes out on a triumphant note.

Whether your deep affliction is past or present; whether it touched you physically, emotionally or spiritually, or all of the above, you will find, I believe, some help and hope in hearing what Job said about what I am calling the “Shaken Saint Syndrome.” It has or will happen to most every saint of God. It should not overwhelm us and will not blow us away when put into Biblical perspective. There may be a sudden loss of breath, a breath-taking gut punch so to speak when it first confronts you; but you can and will stand through it all. You need not, you must not succumb to drawing unbiblical assessments of what is happening or what has happened to you or to your family member, friend or household of faith fellow pilgrim. So, I will develop this post in my next installment, Lord willing, of “You and God.”

By the way, I have not formulated this post just because of what I have earlier detailed has recently happened to me with an unwelcomed diagnosis. This is a message I preached to myself and to our church the first two Sundays of June in 1998—nine years before our sweet grandson, David, suddenly died of a ruptured appendix, followed by the deaths of Ellen’s father, my mother and father and others, including many of our church family whose ties with us were like those of blood. Stay tuned for the next post of “Shaken Saint Syndrome.”

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom.8:18)

“Burn out, zone out, cop out, drop out” are expressions not unfamiliar to us as they describe a psychological, sociological or spiritual phenomenon not new to the 21^st century.

We are living in a stress-ridden world and the toll that stress takes upon today’s citizenry seems to increase, multiply or magnify with each passing current breaking news event.

The business world has long dealt with burn out, when executives become unable to concentrate on their jobs, no longer caring about goals that have been set, ceasing to be bothered by mistakes, missing deadlines and generally unproductive.  It’s known as burn out.

Marriages are also plagued with the spiritual and sociological problems of marital relationships becoming “hum-drum,” the glamor and luster of the union becoming dull and weighed down with financial, family and other cares, resulting eventually in a home that is on the rocks.

Even those in ministry have not escaped. Pastors and once committed ministry personnel have begun to leave the ministry in droves. The early 21 century C-19 pandemic exacerbated a problem that had been latently brewing so that one source reported that nearly 50% of those in ministry early on during the C-19 Virus pandemic would not be in ministry by the time it had peaked and generally dissipated. That is an alarming projection.

Saddest of all, I think, is that the Church, His Body of blood-bought believers, has also experienced drop out, cop out or zone out on the part of many members or former participants.

The Pew Research organization recently reported that 65% of the U.S. Population self-identified in 2021 as Christians. In 2007 people identifying themselves as Christians outnumbered those who were “non-Christians” by a 5 to 1 margin. Today, Christians are still in the majority but now the margin is just 2 to 1. We are losing ground, therefore, due to “drop out and zone out” it would seem.  Why?

We can glean some insight into this age-old problem from John’s gospel, chapter 6, verses 61 and following. Jesus, in John chapters 5 and 6 had been teaching a crowd of interested would-be converts some truths that were not easy to “chew.” After sometime of this, we read that some of them began to leave, then more and more left until there were only His apostles still standing to hear Him teach.  It was at that point that Jesus asked the 12, “Will you also go away?”

Some in that initial considerably large crowd had followed Jesus because as they listened to Him, they were hearing a teacher the likes of which they had never before heard. He taught as one who had authority. They not only had heard His mighty teachings; they had witnessed His marvelous miracles. Some, Jesus would reveal, followed Him “not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves (feeding of 5,000), and were filled.” (John 6:26) Plainly, a good many “disciples” that day were in the crowd at first just because their curiosity about Jesus, His messages and miracles, had been piqued.  Eventually, these would drift away and follow Him no more.

Then there were others, also called disciples in the most general sense of the word, who were not merely curious, but also convicted; convicted to the point that they would say, “What sign shewest thou then that we may see, and believe thee?” (John 6:30).  They were more than curious and quite probably under conviction but not where the third possible group was which was composed of those who were convinced. They had heard enough and seen enough that Jesus said that “ye have also seen me, and believe not.” (John 6:36). At some point the crowd that day began to murmur amongst themselves; some of them, Jesus said, considered that His sayings were hard sayings; some of them were offended by what they were hearing and Jesus said, “…there are some of you that believe not.” (John 6:64). “From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” (John 6:66). It was at that point that Jesus queried, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67).  Some were curious; some were convinced; some were convicted but most were not converted and all but the 12 (Judas not having betrayed Him as of yet) left Him.  Peter, answering the piercing question of the Master, replied, “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:68,69)

Unbelief has sent more souls out into eternity unprepared to meet God than any other transgression. Don’t let it damn your soul, dear reader friend:

“Could you roll all sins into one mass: could you take murder, and blasphemy and lust and adultery and fornication and everything that is vile and unite them into one vast glob of black corruption—they would not equal even then the sin of unbelief.  This is the monarch sin, the quintessence of guilt, the mixture of the venom of all crimes; the dregs of the wine of Gomorrah; it is the A-1 sin, the masterpiece of Satan, the chief work of the Devil….” (Unknown)

Think of it: people heard the very words of the Master Teacher, Jesus; they saw his miracles with their own eyes; yet, they left following Him and went away unbelieving, rejecting the only person who could save them from eventual, perpetual damnation.

What will you do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?

“When Jesus came…He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am…and Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:13,16)

A preacher once attended a big convention and heard a message in which the speaker used the word “procrastination” several times.  So fascinated by the word, a new word to the novice, he determined then and there to use it in one of his upcoming sermons. He did just that, incorporating the word “procrastination” three times in one of his messages. A lady approached him after the service and asked him just what that word meant. Trying to conceal the fact that he really did not know, the preacher finally said, “Why, don’t you know? That’s one of the major Baptist doctrines!”

Yes, sometimes one might conclude that “procrastination” is one of the major Baptist doctrines; at least, the way some of us practice it!

We may often preach “never put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” but then, do we practice it?

“He was going to be all that a mortal could be; no one should be kinder or braver than he…. tomorrow; A friend who was troubled and weary he knew, who’d be glad of a lift and who needed it, too; On him he would call and see what he could do…tomorrow. Each morning he stacked up the letters he’d write and thought of the folks he would fill with delight…tomorrow. It was too bad; indeed, he was busy today, and hadn’t a minute to stop on his way: ‘More time I’ll have to give others,’ he’d say…tomorrow. The greatest of workers this man would have been; the world would have known him had he ever seen…tomorrow. But the fact is he died, and he faded from view, and all that he left here when living was through was a mountain of things he intended to do…tomorrow.” (anon.)

Therefore, we should prize the time that we have: “And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” (Romans 13:11,12)

“Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:13, 14)

The Psalmist adds his insights into the brevity of life and the elusiveness of opportunities: “Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is, that I may know how frail I am; behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth, and mine age is as nothing before Thee….” (Ps. 39:4,5)

“Forenoon and afternoon and night, and day is gone; so short a span of time there is twixt dawn and evening song.  Youth, middle-life and old age, and life is past; so live each day that God shall say, ‘Well done,’ at last.”

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” (Prov. 27:1)

D.L. Moody, the evangelist, told a story about a minister who was working on a message about the urgency of accepting Christ without delay. As he was preparing the sermon the pastor fell asleep and dreamed he overheard a conversation of a bunch of demons in huddle as they were trying to come up with the best way to keep people on earth from accepting God’s plan of salvation. One of the evil spirits said, “Let’s tell people the Bible isn’t so and that it is not God’s Word and cannot be trusted,” but this idea was discarded as insufficient. Another one said, “Let’s tell then that God does not exist and that Jesus was just another good man, a prophet of God but not Messiah,” but this idea got nowhere with the devils. Finally, a third demon said, “Let’s tell them there is a God, a Savior and a heaven and a hell, but let’s assure them that they’ve got all the time in the world to be saved; we only need to convince them to put off making the decision now.” “That’s it,” the other demons shouted gleefully. (copied)

We may not have the opportunity tomorrow. Peter was wisely asked to “come to Joppa without delay” when Dorcas lay dead. When on a mission for a wife for Isaac, Abraham’s servant, having found the perfect match of God’s making, was implored to wait with Rebekah’s family for a few days before beginning his homeward journey with the bride to be. He refused to be hindered for he had been “in the way” and God had led him. (Gen.24:55,56). He dare not put off another day what God had definitely led him in doing. That day was the day of opportunity for Abraham’s servant and he dare not waste it!

So, press on. Do today what you can do, refraining to put off until tomorrow what could be done today. Reject the “Major Baptist doctrine of procrastination” and get it done today.

I read a testimony of a well-known Christian leader of yesteryear who was impressed to go talk with the then head coach of a winning west coast football team.  But, the campus leader reasoned, “His views are contrary to everything we stand for,” and thus, he was intimidated about talking to the famous coach. Four years passed and the Christian leader hosted a party at his home for the football team, players and coaches. He would later testify, “Do you know who the last to leave was? The coach. He was hungry for the Word of God, so I asked him if he would like to come to church with me to which he replied, ‘I’d love to go to church with you.’ I told him as soon as I got back from a pending out of town trip, I would call him and make the arrangements. ‘He is going to become a Christian,’ I thought. But, the next day, having taken off on my trip, when I got off the plane there was the headline on all the papers, ‘Coach ___ _______Died of a Heart Attack Last Night.’ “I was devastated and to this moment God has used that to help me when I’m tempted to procrastinate.” (WorldChangers)

Selah.

My dearest Ellen, on this day,
	I want to come to you to say;
My love for you will falter never,
	I’ll love you always, dearest, ever!

It was a day so long ago,
	To my delight I got to know
A girl named Ellen from Wilkes County,
	A girl that brought to my life bounty.

You’ve proven sweet, true, kind and dear,
	I’ll always want you ever-near;
Your beauty takes away my breath,
	I’ll love you always unto death.

Our hearts were knit and we are one,
	‘Til our life’s journeys here are done.
It’s been a joyous trip in life,
	With you beside me as my wife.

God blessed us with our children three.
	They made our hearts beat fast with glee.
We’ve seen them grow before our eyes,
	To give us grandkids as a prize.

We have a home, a place of love,
	Blessed with God’s favor from above.
We’re blessed in riches that abide,
 	In God’s great grace we take our pride.

We’ve loved and laughed and even lost,
	At times we’ve had to pay great cost.
It’s part of life to face stark death,
	But God in love gave baby’s breath.

So, Ellen, darling, this I write,
	To praise you for your life and light.
You’ve been a beacon true and dear,
	To all who’ve known you far and near.

I pray your days left here below,
	Will gladness, pleasure, blessings know;
I’ll love you ‘til I cannot breathe,
	And only then from you will leave.

                      Your Devoted Husband

“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.” (Song of Solomon 8:7)

I have previously written about why some people will not make it to heaven. For some, that begs the question, “Can I be sure that I will go to heaven?” One thing is certain: God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Pet.3:9) You can know that you are going to heaven if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, calling upon Him to save you. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.” (Acts 16:31) Period.  No baptism mentioned with reference be becoming a believer.  No church membership. No amount of good works: “Not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Tit.3:5)

Yet, it is true that some fear they will not make it to heaven. They have with their heart believed and with their mouth confessed Christ, but their doubts remain. They lack the assurance of salvation. No one can lack the eternal security of being saved, for that is a matter that is totally in God’s control.  We are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation….” (1 Pet. 1:5) Our security does not depend upon our being assured; God keeps us secure in Himself, based upon our believing and receiving His Son Jesus Christ as Savior, and all who have done that are eternally secure in Christ. Jesus said that we are in His Father’s hands; He has given us eternal life and we shall never perish. (John 10:28,29) A believer could not possibly be more secure, being “in Christ” and held by God’s power unto the day of realizing our eternal salvation.

But, having said that, it is possible because of lack of understanding, training or the presence of unconfessed sin for some whose security is sealed in Christ to lack assurance. Assurance is not to be equated with security.  So, in this post I want to speak to the subject of “Blessed Assurance.”  Those words introduce a song often sung, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine….” Every child of God possesses eternal security and every believer can and should realize the assurance of salvation.

John Newton, author of the Amazing Grace hymn, once said when asked about the certainties of life, “When I was young, I was sure of many things; there are only two things of which I am sure now:  one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient Savior.”

Spurgeon, the legendary 19^th century London pastor, has been quoted as saying that he was “so sure of his salvation that he could grab onto a corn stalk and swing out over the fires of Hell, look into the face of the devil and sing “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine.”

You can’t be sure of your salvation by trusting your feelings, for “Feelings come and feelings go and feelings are deceiving; My warrant is the Word of God—Naught else is worth believing.”

And, if you have not already learned to cling to that classic verse upon being sure that you are saved, please read and reread I John 5:12,13: “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life; and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

S.D. Gordon told of a Christian lady whose age began to tell on her memory. She had been a great Bible student, but eventually all that she had memorized of God’s Word had left her but one verse: “…I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (2 Tim.1:12) As the lady’s last days continued to approach, all she could remember of this verse was, “That which I have committed unto Him.” And Gordon said that on her death bed all she could recall was “Him” and she kept saying this to herself—”Him, Him, Him.” “She had lost the whole Bible but one word, but she had the whole Bible in that one word.” (copied)

So, you are certain for heaven because of the security you have in God through Christ. That is absolute certainty which yields irrefutable security, because of the finished work of Christ and the fact that our salvation depends upon what He did (at Calvary) not what we do. But, you may, while being totally secure in Him, not have the assurance of which Paul spake in 2 Tim 1:12.  You can be sure; God wants you to possess assurance and it is a matter of believing that what God says is true: “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” It’s just a matter of believing and receiving the gift of God which is eternal life. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)

I have written recently about commitment (“If I Falter, Push Me On”) but I want to revisit that subject again in this post from a slightly different perspective. I want to write from the vantage point of a pastor who in 50 years of pastoring has seen about every kind of commitment there is to see and I want to share with you what the real thing looks like, up close and personal, as opposed to theories about or stories taken from inspiring devotionals. What I share here will be out of my own first-hand observation. Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin once wrote that communists were “dead men on furlough” indicating that they had died to their own self- interests for what was in their warped thinking “a greater cause.” These people of whom I speak, some living here, some now living in heaven, were very much alive while dead to self. I have seen commitment for Christ and His Church in:

• A young man who, when I came to Thompson Road Baptist Church in the fall of 1979 was heading to Pillsbury Baptist Bible College where he would graduate four years later then return to his home church to become our volunteer organist. My predecessor’s wife, Judy Moritz, had encouraged Dan to take up the organ as he was highly proficient in music. As of today, Dan has played on our Allen organ every Sunday for more than 40 years, seldom missing a Lord’s Day. One could describe him as highly skilled, but his pastor of 40 years would use just one word: committed!
• Two godly women, neither of which attended Bible School or had any specialized teachers’ training, but who for more than 40 years, showed up Sunday after Sunday to team teach a 1^st grade Sunday School class. Theirs was a labor of love and of loyalty, impacting for His kingdom’s sake hundreds of precious boys and girls. They wanted nothing in return, were seldom thanked, always cheerful and faithful and it was my privilege to greet every Sunday of the year Shirley and Barb, 20^th and 21st century real-time examples of teachers who lived commitment; and to that list of faithful, dedicated teachers who showed up Sunday after Sunday with no prodding or pushing just passion for ministry, I could add scores of names.
• Roy, an ex-leather neck who was for 25 years what we would call the Head Usher. He took his job so seriously. If he were not at church, rain or shine, snow or sleet, one hour ahead of when starting time was announced, he considered himself late. He gave extraordinary attention to the slightest of details. He always placed a glass of water on the pulpit for the preacher just in case it would be needed. One Sunday, someone played a practical joke on our Lead Usher and dropped a gold fish into the glass of water that Roy had earlier placed there. He was so embarrassed that he was ready to “throw the towel in,” feeling that he had let me down and had let His Lord down.  After an hour or so of “personal” work I was able to convince Roy that it was not his fault and that it had not bothered anyone. He stayed on and on and on until some months ago he was sidelined with a life-threatening illness requiring him to “sit on the bench” for the first time that any of us could remember.  He was a credit to the U.S. Marine Corps but so much more to His Lord and Savior whom he served proudly yet humbly with unquestioned commitment.
• Bus Workers, drivers, helpers and “captains” too numerous to mention by name who every Lord’s Day would show up at church two hours ahead of when Sunday School would begin to fire up some busses so that they could bring boys and girls and some adults to Sunday School and Church who would otherwise not be able to attend.  Hundreds maybe thousands of souls were added to His kingdom through this often challenging and always labor-intensive work for Christ. It was most often “convicting” to watch them in action, working in VBS during the heat of days with no AC and with 50 or 60 very anxious and active boys and girls excited about getting to VBS; then having dropped them off, returning to take them back home when they were even more wound up than earlier.  These workers epitomized commitment.
• A lady who specialized in collecting beautiful flowers and vases from yard sales or other places so that when there was a church dinner, special occasion or seasonal change she could, with a few helping hands, make the church an attractive place to meet with beautiful arrangements. Her ministry demonstrated in ways often unsung but never unseen, commitment. While she did this, her husband, who had a truck with a snow plow, every time there was snow would be in the church parking lot long before most of us were awake, making sure the snow was plowed so that we could get into the parking lot and out again, safely.  Commitment described this otherwise quiet Christian couple.
• Choir members, instrumentalists, music leaders who week after week, hour after hour, fine- tuned their skills while tuning up their hearts spiritually so that Sunday after Sunday, they were faithfully making joyful and inspiring sounds that His Spirit used in His mission of sanctifying saints.
• A Dad and his son(s) and later his daughters who, during eight months a year, would drive to church every Friday with heavy mowing and yard maintenance equipment in tow so that on Sunday the church yard would be “mowed and blowed,” and looking neatly manicured.  It was a job for which most people would never know whom to thank, a job the church was never “billed” for, but, week after week, work that was done by a family team because of their commitment.
• Jerry Farley, now 92, grounded because of “macular,” but for 35 years served His Lord through serving His Church.  Employed by Allison’s for decades, Jerry never confronted a mechanical problem that stymied him.  It was his job and job skill and he put it to work for His church, saving multiplied thousands of dollars in repair costs whether in building needs, broken down busses, electrical and mechanical headaches, Jerry was (and in many cases still is) the go to man. Saved at the downtown church of Ford Porter (“God’s Simple Plan of Salvation author), Jerry and his wife Fran never got over what God did for them and they spent most of their lives thanking Him by serving with extraordinary commitment.
• Faithful deacons who through thick and thin, gave careful counsel, demonstrated compassion and concern for God’s servants and service, and led by example with godly exhortation. Any pastor who stays in a church any length of time does so because of a cadre of men and women who are loving, loyal and lasting in their support and sustenance of God’s man and ministry. I cannot begin to name all such, but I will just mention one:  Henry Davee. He goes way back, but if you knew him and his sweet wife, Mable, enough said!

Well, I have not yet begun to scratch the surface. I am sure everyone of the above-mentioned soldiers will censor me for calling any attention to what they did, and I am not in any way trying to repay them; only Jesus can and will do that at the Bema seat.  Every pastor of any size church knows exactly what I am talking about. There is never a “one-man” ministry that pleases God; it is always a team effort and never without men and women whose lives, if one would be pressed to characterize them in one word, would be summarized thusly: “Commitment.”

Stay tuned for a future installment of “What Commitment Looks Like Up Close” as I’d like to share some more sketches of men and women that have helped, under God’s watch care, to shape my life.

P.S. To my faithful “You and God” readers, a prayer request: Recently, I have been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. It is a cancer of the blood that impacts negatively the bones. There is no known cause or cure, but with aggressive treatment, which I am now in, does sometimes go into remission. Please pray with Ellen and myself that we shall be at rest and peace in God’s will, however it should be. We are trusting in His never-failing goodness and in His all-sufficient grace.  I will try to keep the “You and God” posts coming, but if I miss an occasional installment, it will be because of this new twist in our journey.  Thanks for your prayers.  I will keep you up to date from time to time.

“Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” (Ps. 32:7)

Jesus said that “whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall find it” (Luke 9:24). Losing one’s life for a cause is commitment; losing one’s life for Jesus’ sake would be the ultimate commitment.

Commitment in the 21^st century has been put to the test as we are about to enter year three of a Flu pandemic. We tip our hats to people in the health-care field whose commitment to caring for the Covid-19 victims has been legendary and heroic for the most part.  Doctors, nurses, EMT personnel and myriads of others whose sacrificial commitment has meant the difference between life and death for countless numbers of people. I know we could add teachers, Moms, neighbors, fellow church members and many others to that list.

Then, too, the selfless people who have packed up truckloads of water, food and clothing and transported life-saving essentials to tornado victims (Mayfield, KY) and to fire and flooding disaster areas, and the list seems never ending. So, to say that in the 21^st century commitment is something that we know little of would be a gross misstatement.  We are deeply grateful for the committed folk whose stories remain mostly untold but whose heroics have meant that people are alive today that would not otherwise have survived but for the sacrificial, tireless efforts of people of compassion and commitment.

I write as a life-long (adult life) pastor and minister of the gospel. Commitment to Christ and to His Church has also been put to the ultimate test. Pastors have in many cases had to preach to empty rooms; visitation and personal ministry, one on one, to the dying and to their families, to shut-ins who otherwise live in isolation has for all practical purposes ceased. Funerals have had to be postponed and sometimes by-passed. It is a totally different world than it was on my last full day of ministry as a senior pastor, September 9, 2019. I am saddened by the landscape of ministry in 2022 with its new and not familiar nor facilitating restraints.  Many pastors and Christian workers are experiencing depression and I understand many have left the ministry and many churches are no longer in existence because of the toll taken by the pandemic. Commitment in 2022 is still needed and maybe more so now than ever.

I heard about a young man who was engaged to be married (some years ago) and he wanted a duplicate made of a picture of his beautiful fiancée. The photographer noticed on the back side of the photo this handwritten note: “My dearest Tom: I love you with all of my heart. I love you more each day. I will love you for ever and ever. I am yours for all eternity. Signed, Diane.” (“P.S. If we ever break up, I want this picture back.”) Not exactly the kind of commitment you need in order to build anything!

At the other end of the commitment spectrum was the testimony of Sophie who worked in a large apartment complex. A resident once said to Sophie, “Say, Sophie, I understand that you are a Christian.” “Yes, Sir, I am a child of the King,” she replied without hesitation.  “Oh! So, you must be a Princess, since God is your King.” “I sure am.” “Well, if God is your Father, and you are a Princess and a child of a King, do you not think it is beneath your dignity to be found here in New York City scrubbing these dirty steps?” Not daunted, Sophie replied, “There’s no humiliation whatsoever. You see, I am not scrubbing these steps for Mr. Brown, my boss. I am scrubbing them for Jesus Christ, my Savior!” (copied/unknown)

I read once about an Afghan doctor who was practicing under the Taliban and could not examine his female patients unless they were fully clothed. He would shout instructions for surgery, if needed, as he stood outside the operating room in the hallway. For all of this, he received $30 a month if he were paid, yet many months there was no paycheck issued. When asked why he would continue working this way for 30 years, he replied, “Love of profession. Love of Country.” That kind of commitment to a profession, under the most inhibiting restraints, is pretty much unheard of in today’s world, Christian or otherwise.

The title of this post is “If I Falter, Push Me On.” That is part of a fuller statement, known as the motto of the French Foreign Legion, “If I Falter, Push Me On; If I Stumble, Pick Me Up; If I Retreat, Shoot Me.”

I am writing this and sharing some thoughts on commitment because it behooves all of us who name His blessed Name, the name of Jesus, who said that if we would lose our lives for His sake, we would in fact save them, to examine our own commitment to His cause, to His commission and to His Church.

One time it is said that a Rwandan believer was forced by His tribe to either renounce Christ or face certain death. He refused to give up his allegiance to His Savior and was executed on the spot. The night before he had written “The Fellowship of the Unashamed,” which reads:

“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made—I’m a disciple of His.

I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure.

I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded.

I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, am lifted up by prayer and I labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up until, I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus.

I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work until He stops me…And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me…my banner will be clear.” (Unknown)