Christmas Traditions

I have asked Ellen to allow me to reprint an article she wrote for the TRBC Times back in 2004 when I was senior pastor and she has agreed, so enjoy a few words from Ellen’s Corner:

“What will your children remember about Christmas? Will they think only of good food and gifts under the tree or will there be an intangible element that produces a sense of belonging? Are you establishing some traditions that say ‘our family is unique in personality, character and heritage?’

Our traditions include the following: (1) Attending the Christmas Eve service. It’s one of the best ways to show the family Who is important in this celebration. (2) Sitting around the tree with all the lights off except the tree lights with a hot glowing fire in the fireplace. (3) Freshly baked cinnamon rolls for breakfast Christmas morning. (4) The reading of the Christmas story from Luke 2 before any gifts are opened. (5) An ornament for each grandchild every year. (6) Collecting change all year and giving it to the grandchildren so they can buy gifts. (7) A Christmas eve party. (8) Remembering those who do not have family. (9) Baking Christmas cookies.

These are just a few of the traditions that we have established for our household. We hope they will keep our children and grandchildren returning year after year, and that they will pass them on to their children.”

“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” (Ps. 16:6)

Thank You, Ellen.

And, for several years I have made it part of my Christmas tradition to write a Christmas poem each Christmas. The following is my contribution for the year 2021:

Through Christ Our Lord

He hung the stars in space,

            He made the human race;

He sent His Son by grace,

            Through Christ our Lord.

He spoke the truth so sure,

            He wrote His Word so pure;

He gave sin’s only cure,

            Through Christ our Lord.

He made the blind to see,

            He set the prisoner free;

He ransomed you and me,

            Through Christ our Lord.

He made the lame to walk,

            He made the dumb to talk;

He turns the stones to chalk,

            Through Christ our Lord.

He brings the dead to life,

            He calls the Church His wife;

His peace will end all strife,

            Through Christ our Lord.

Anthony Slutz, 2021

From our Home and Hearts to you and yours, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”

Why Jesus Came to Earth

“In the little village of Bethlehem, there lay a child one day; and the sky was bright with a holy light, O’er the place where Jesus lay.  Alleluia! How the angels sang! Alleluia, how it rang! And the sky was bright, with a holy light, ‘Twas the birthday of a King.” (William Harold Neidlinger, 1863-1924)

And, oh, what a birthday that was! History had to be rewritten because of it. Potentates quaked at the news of that birthday. Calendars world-wide give evidence every day to it and documents are dated with reference to what happened before and after that indelible date.

We who know the Word of God know it is no accident that all the world once a year sets aside a day to commemorate the most important birthday of all time. It is an event that impacted time and eternity for it is the birthdate of the King that is Lord of time and of history.

The birthday of the King: we will, in a few days, be remembering His birthday with special gatherings and celebrations.

If one were to ask a dozen “men on the street” why Jesus came into the world, no doubt there would be nearly a dozen different answers offered. But if one were to ask the Lord Jesus Christ Himself why He was born, why He came into the world in the humble fashion with which He made His entry, there would be one answer given and it would echo the answer Jesus gave to Pilate in his Judgement Hall:

 “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world:  that I should bear witness unto the truth.” (John 18:37)

Why was Jesus born? He came into the world to bear witness to the truth:

  • He bore witness to the truth regarding SIN. The Devil had lied to mankind regarding the results of sin: “…ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen.3:5)
  • The Devil had lied to mankind regarding the responsibility for sin: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” (Gen. 3:4)
  • The deceiver has been lying to men ever since regarding the results and responsibility for sin.

Jesus minced no words when he confronted the religious leaders of His day: “Ye are of your father, the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

  • Jesus testified of the truth regarding the results and responsibility for sin:

“I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

“…whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” (John 8:34b)

Winston Churchill once said, “Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.” He went on to affirm that truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it; ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.  Jesus came to bear witness of the truth. Men did deride it and it was viciously attacked, but the witness from heaven came and delivered and there it is.

So, our Lord was born into this world to bear witness to the truth regarding sin, the results of sin and the  responsibility for sin.

“The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin; the light of the world is Jesus.”

But our Savior also testified to the truth regarding SALVATION. Consider His truthful testimony to:

  • Nicodemus: “…except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
  • The woman at the well: “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)
  • To His Disciples: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6)
  • To Martha: “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this?” (John 11:26)
  • To unbelieving Jews: “Verily, verily I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” (John 6:47)
  • To the Jews again: “Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” (John 8:51)
  • Again, to His Disciples: “I am the door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)
  • To the blind man that He had healed “…for judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see….” (John 9:39)
  • To a tax collector that had faith in Jesus: “…this day salvation is come to this house forasmuch as he also is the son of Abraham…for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:9,10)
  • And, to a woman known to be a sinner who anointed Jesus’ feet: “…thy sins are forgiven…thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” (Luke 7:48,50)

So, on the upcoming birthday of the King, we have so much to celebrate, not the least of which is why He came to this earth, became a servant, was made like as we, His created beings, remaining sinless while becoming sin so that we who are sinners could become ultimately like Him, sinless. He came, as He would tell the Roman interrogator, to testify to the world of the awful results of sin and the truth about the responsibility for it. Satan has deceived mankind since he lied to Adam and Eve about what sin would result in; Jesus came to set the record straight about it, but not only about sin but about salvation. The old Devil-Liar had from the beginning lied about salvation, how to receive it and what would happen to those who did. The proto-type of salvation, true and false, can be seen in Genesis 4 where Cain believed the Devil’s lie about how to be saved while his brother rejected Satan’s falsehood about this crucial matter. History since has been the working out of the histories of men and women, those who believe Satan or those who reject his deceit. None will stand before the final judgment bar of God with any excuse for going to Hell: Jesus came, in person, giving His life in so doing, to set the record straight. He told the truth. There it is.

 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12)

Simply Trusting Every Day

We are not through the Covid 19 pandemic that the world became acquainted with in March of 2020, a world-wide threat to life on earth that keeps morphing into variant virus strains to this hour.  We have experienced unwanted quarantines, agonizing separation of loved ones some of whom we had to bid farewell to through a glass window as their life ebb away. Those of us who are living through this now will never forget it. Those who are believers would affirm that God has given us a “graduate school” course on TRUST. We are not the first nor will we be the final generation to have been enrolled in the “crash” course. Solomon learned and taught to “trust in the Lord with all thy heart; lean not unto thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.” (Provs. 3:5,6)

In an issue of Our Daily Bread the late Henry G. Bosch related a story about an elderly woman in England who endured nerve-shattering bombings during World War II with extraordinary calm and apparent peace. When a friend asked her how she could experience the war-time calamities with such composure, the senior saint replied, “Well, every night I say my prayers. And then I remember that God is always watching, so I go peacefully to sleep. After all, there is no need for both of us to stay awake!”

That is the kind of trust the Psalmist had in mind when he wrote “Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust.” (Ps.40:4) He confessed in another psalm “O my God, I trust in Thee….” (Ps.25:2) And, he would exhort us in Ps. 37:3 to “Trust in the Lord and do good….”

Sometimes, through forced shut-downs like we have experienced nationally and individually these past eighteen months, unexpected good can come. In 1832 the French engineer Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps was traveling on the Mediterranean Sea when some fellow passenger become sick with a contagious disease, prompting the ship’s captain to issue a quarantine order. It was of course a frustrating time for the engineer and all fellow passengers. Lesseps decided to spend the long hours of isolation in studying further the proposed development of the Suez Canal, something he had been contemplating but had not had the time to give his full attention to. So, he read the memoirs of another well known engineer who had also studied the feasibility of constructing such a water-way. Lesseps developed, during the quarantine, a detailed plan for construction of the canal which was in time begun and then completed 37 years later in 1869, an invaluable gift to the world of then and now!

Matthew Henry reminded his readers that the better we know God, the more we trust Him. Whoever knows that God is a God of infinite wisdom will trust Him further than they can see Him, Henry affirms.
“Although thou sayest thou shalt not see Him, yet judgment is before Him; therefore, trust thou in Him.” (Job.35:14) Job was able to testify that, although he could not see the purposes of God’s work at hand in his suffering “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him….” (Job 13:15)

This was underscored in my thinking in a real time incident that Ellen and I observed some 15 years ago while visiting the Calvary Baptist Church in San Francisco, then pastored by our good friend, Pastor Ron Allen. Ron’s son-in-law, Bill Johnson, at that time had a cancer in his body that was life-threatening. Bill was taking chemo at the time and on the particular Sunday morning that we were present in the service Bill testified, “How can I do anything but trust God in all of this? I’ve been telling my students for 20 years to trust God. I’d be a hypocrite now to do anything less.” That was in February of 2006 and the disease ran its course in spite of the best medical treatments and Bill died trusting God. Ron and Barb would soon thereafter move to Georgia to be involved in helping their daughter and their grandchildren cope with the big gap left in their lives by Bill’s homegoing.  They all have continued to serve the God whom they had learned to trust. Augustine centuries before had uttered wise words when he said, “Trust the past to the mercies of God, the present to His love and the future to His providence.”

Back in June of 2002 my heart was sorely saddened when I read that a beautiful teenaged girl, Melissa, had been killed in an automobile tragedy at the age of 17. Melissa’s friend Lindsay had died 9 months earlier. Another of her friends, Jon, had been buried in a gravesite within 50 yards of Lindsay and Melissa. Melissa’s father, writing in a daily devotional book, wrote “How could God allow these three Christian teens to die within 16 months of each other? And how can we still trust Him? Unable to comprehend such tragedies, we cling to Psalm 139:16: “In Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me.” Once again, we are reminded that even when we cannot trace Him, we can, yea, we must trust Him. He makes no mistakes.

A story is told of a young pilot who was on her third and almost final solo flight. She had been practicing some maneuvers at 1500 feet when she lost control of her Cessna 150 and began spinning speedily toward the earth. After an initial panic, the pilot remembered her instructor’s words, “If you ever go into a spin in a Cessna 150, just take your hands off the controls. It is built to fly on its own.”

Susan shouted to herself several times, “Let go!” Finally, she pulled her hands off the controls and prepared in any way she could for what she thought would be an imminent crash landing. But seconds later, the plane began to cease spinning and in seconds returned to a level flight pattern. Having fallen a half-mile in descending altitude, the youthful pilot survived because she was able simply to “let go.”

I surmise that most everyone reading this lesson can recall a time when you to had to simply “Let go and let God.” John MacArthur said in a message that we can know how to trust God in the present by watching Him in the past. “God has already established a pattern of faithfulness.” He is and always has been a faithful God. Even “if we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Tim.2:13)

“Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by; trusting Him whate’er befall, trusting Jesus, that is all.” (Edgar Page Stites, 1836-1921)

Provoking One Another

If you are like me, you do not have to look for ways to provoke others; but rather I need to look for ways to NOT provoke: my wife, my children, my best friend(s), my work associates, my neighbors, fellow members of the Body of Christ and, to be sure, my Lord. What I am suggesting is that, as long as we are in the body, we will probably struggle against the “flesh”-our old nature, which naturally and without effort is in the provoking business. Only as we are “walking in the Spirit,” and bearing the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, etc. (Gal.5:16-23) will we not be provoking someone.

But, when the writer of the book of Hebrews admonishes us in Hebs.10:24 to “provoke one another to love,” he is, of course, using the word “provoke” in the sense of stimulating, encouraging others to do good for Christ’s sake in so much that His body is edified.

In the New Testament there are multiple ways of provoking one another to love: (1) Bear ye one another’s burdens,” (Gal.6:12); “Edify one another,” (I Th.5:11); “Esteem one another in lowliness of mind….” (Phil.2:3) Then, “forbearing one another,” (Col.3:13); and “Be ye kind one to another,” (Eph.4:22; “Prefer one another,” (Rom.12:10 ) and “Receive one another,” (Rom.15:7) and “By love serve one another,” (Gal.5:13); and “Be subject one to another,” (I Pt.5:5); and “Tarry one for another,” (I Cor. 11:33), not to mention “Use hospitality one to another,” (I Pt. 4:9) and “Comfort one another,” (I Th. 4:16).

In Hebrews 10:24 we are commanded to “Provoke one another to love and to good works.” Paul posits in his excellent I Cor.13 treatise on genuine love that love is the coronation of all Christian virtues, greater even than faith and hope.

You can’t be a believer without God’s love in your heart, but you can be a Christian without a full and free flowing of love in and through your heart and life.

Sometimes water ekes barely out of a bathroom faucet until, removing the seal and examining the filter inside, we discover that the screen or filter has become filled up with almost sand-like particles. We rid the filter of those minute particles and tighten up the seal again and water flows freely. So, with us!  Sometimes particles of sin or self clog up the filter of our heart and restrain the full and free flowing of love. It’s imperative that we keep the love flowing freely; nothing is more important in your Christian life.

We provoke others to love and good works by what we think.  Love is as much attitude as it is action. Paul declares that “love suffers long, is kind, envieth not, thinketh no evil,” etc. The way you love is governed by the way you think. Esther, wife of the Persian King, Ahasuerus, garnered an incredulous amount of love focused on her meeting with the King when she would plead for her life and her kindred Jewish people which faced extermination were Haman to have his way.  She fasted and prayed and implored her national yoke fellows to do the same preceding her bold appearance before the autocratic king. The mental, emotional, and spiritual energy focused on that meeting would have been incalculable. It was her love for God, for the people of God and, yes, for her husband-king that was in play through the whole of this prayer-bathed incident. Love won the day. Esther and her people lived; Haman was hanged.

So, we too can provoke to love and good works just by having the right (loving, prayerful, gracious) attitude as was Esther’s.

We can also let love “win the day” by what we say. Words are more powerful than swords or spears. “Thank you,” “I’m sorry,” “You go first, please,” and “What do you think?” are heart-rending utterances that are mountain moving, as also is “I’d like your advice,” or “How can I help you?” or “Please forgive me,” and surely “I love you.”

A word fitly spoken, the wise Solomon penned, is like “apples of gold in pictures of silver.” (Prov. 25:11) It is instructive to study our Savior as He stood before the puppet Pilate who interrogated Christ on His way to the Cross. To the governor’s question “Art thou the king of the Jews?” Jesus simply said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Can’t you imagine the fire-breathing answer that many of us who name His name would have hurled back at this Roman figure-head? Love won the moment and Pilate would say to the blood-thirsty mob, “I find no fault with him.”

Finally, we may provoke to love and to good works not only by what we think, and by what we say but also by what we do. We have at our disposal the earth-moving mechanisms of GIVING, BEARING, SERVING, FORGIVING, WAITING and SHARING. It is all done in the context of “Provoking one another to love….” Jacob, who had not endeared himself to his twin brother, Esau, twenty years before their tense reunion as recorded in Genesis 28, availed himself of this powerful provoking resource. Before ever meeting Esau face to face, Jacob sent gift after gift after gift; expensive, valuable gifts of livestock. The recounting of the story reads that as he prepared to meet his estranged brother, Jacob “took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother.” (Gen.32:13)

Might we learn a lesson from the patriarch who had wrestled a night with God? Sometimes we can provoke to love and to good works with nothing more than a gift of that which “comes to our hand.” It worked without a doubt good works on the part of Esau who embraced the brother he had once vowed to kill. What might it do for us today?

Might we all be challenged to do what the inspired writer urged his first-century readers to do: “Let us consider one another to provoke (in a positive, Spirit-filled sense) unto love and good works.” (Hebs.10:24) It’s as simple as thinking the right thoughts, saying the right words and doing the right things.

“And Jesus said, Let her alone: why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me.” (Mark 14:6)

(To be continued.)

The Merry-Go-Round of Marriage, Pt. 2

In part 1 of this study on marriage, it was set forth that marriage, ordained by God, was established for the REASONS of consummation and communication. Everything God created in six days was said by the Creator Himself to be good; but “…the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.’” (Gen.2:18) And God put Adam to sleep and from a rib of our first father God made a woman and brought her unto the man, and Adam said “Wow!” Well, that’s my interpretation of Gen.2:23 which says that when God brought the woman to the man Adam said, “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

So, there are specific reasons for marriage as revealed in Genesis 1 and 2. In this installment I want to convey what I would call the “R0LES” of each person in marriage and the “RULES” for a happy marriage.

What are the roles? Without being too wordy, let me just say the God appointed role for the man is that of a Husband, a provider and protector, leading the home as its spiritual leader and assuring the family by God’s grace and His divine enablement that he will be the physical, material and, under God, spiritual headship of the home. The role of the wife is to be the guider and the giver, assuring that the atmosphere of the household is one of loving and orderly peace and also providing through her God-given grace an atmosphere of love, joy and peace. (I Tim.5:14; Titus 2) As you no doubt have heard it said, “Marriage is not a 50/50 proposition but a 100/100 arrangement between a man and a woman, husband and wife, who are “heirs together of the grace of life.” (I Pet.3:7)

Lady Astor, it was once reported, quite frankly said to Winston Churchill, “Sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee.” Churchill responded, “Mam, if you were my wife, I’d drink it!” Not the way one would want to think of any marriage!

Dr. Monroe Parker’s first wife died in an automobile collision and his second wife died due to physical problems. Many of us watched as he was functioning solo having buried two of the most precious women as he would say, “east of the Mississippi.” Life became a struggle for the great evangelist, educator, missions’ statesman; and then, his dear friend, Dr. Bob Jones, Jr., introduced to Dr. Parker a beautiful widow named Ruby. They were married and lived and loved each other devotedly until the preacher was first called home to heaven and later his beloved Ruby to her heavenly home.  While contemplating marriage, Dr. Parker once made a list of “Qualifications for My Wife.” Here is what he wrote in nine points: “1. Born again. 2. Have the same philosophy of life. 3. Have the same ideals/goals. 4. Have affinity or that mystic which is sometimes mistaken as love. 5. Must have a good sense of humor. 6. Must have loyalty. 7. Must have common sense. 8. Must be committed to Christ and 9. Must be committed to me.”

So, having set forth the reasons and the roles in marriage, here are some RULES for a God-ordained marriage:

  • Never marry for anything other than love (exist to live with her, don’t live with her to exist)
  • Do not expect to live on “romantic” love but do not try to live without it
  • Do not take marriage lightly (it is not “incidental,” it is “monumental!)”
  • Do not marry someone that does not exist (some ideal image you have created in your mind; say “I love you for who you are.” (Not for what she could be)
  • Do not expect more from your mate than you allow him to expect from you
  • When you are ready to marry, wait for God to bring to you the one He has for you
  • When you marry, decide that it will be for good!
  • Do not practice, consciously or unconsciously, “role-reversing” in marriage and expect to find happiness
  • Do not expect to have a happy marriage if your marriage consists of two people; there must be a third party, Jesus Christ
  • Do not expect that marriage will destroy individual dignity

And remember, “Marriage is like a violin, when the music stops, the strings are still attached.” (unknown)

John Aker, a pastor, author, friend of mine, outlined seven stages of marriage: Delight, Disappointment, Detachment/Disaffection (feelings not all that they once were as separate interests and paths merge), Disillusionment (marriage more like a mirage, great from a distance but up close, what happened?), Despair (there has to be more! That’s it? Where’s the door?), Divorce (if this route is taken, the marriage is dead) OR, DETERMINATION, By God and His Grace!

Selah. Ponder these Biblical and practical truths about marriage. Outside of your relationship with God, your marriage is the most crucial aspect of your life before God under heaven. Don’t short change it!

Be inspired anew by those beautiful words from the heart of a woman in love, Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. I love thee freely, as men might strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life! And, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.” (Sonnet 43 written by Ms. Browning when she was being courted by Robert Browning) The kind of love lasting marriages are made of.

“Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands….” (I Pet. 3:1) “Likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge…and as being heirs together of the grace of life….” (I Pet.3:7)

The Merry-God-Round of Marriage

The oldest divinely established institution known to man is marriage. It began in the Garden and will continue to be the divine arrangement for happy and holy living as long as men live on this earth.

The institution as such has been the recipient of the onslaught of Satan since earth’s earliest days. Divorce, polygamy, homosexuality, hedonism, socialism and communism have been prominent foes of the institution of marriage from time immemorial.

And today, Satan’s attacks have not been diminished, but rather they have been accelerated. Famous Fabian Socialist Bertrand Russell voiced the opinion of many of his contemporaries when he said, “The influence of the home is obtrusive.” A socialist publication was quoted in 1969, “The family will undoubtedly continue briefly after the overthrow of capitalism—free day care and free boarding schools will liberate women…marriage will lose its sanctity.”

The modern materialistic world view has already taken its toll on the home, and the institution of marriage, as demonstrated by generally known statistics on divorce, is not looked upon with the reverence that it once commonly enjoyed.

Solomon, the world’s wisest man, wrote in Eccl.9:9, “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity….”

To do so is becoming ever increasingly difficult. So much so that one writer almost marveled at his own happy marriage when he said, “I have been married 18 years and still adore my wife; I have no hunger for another woman, and I’m content to be faithful.  I am resigned to decency; I actually think I have found love and life! What’s wrong with me?”

The Indianapolis Star, in 2010 wrote an article about the well-known Henry Winkler (Fonzie) who at that time was 64 and had been married to his wife for 32 years. Asked the secret to a successful marriage, he said, “It doesn’t have to do with the heart.  It has to do with hearing, listening to what the other person is saying. The same goes for your children. Listen to what they say.”

That kind of response in today’s quickie divorce world seems almost foreign! In the book of Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 4, the Bible says, “Marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled.” Not only is it possible to be “Happy though Married” it should be the norm for every couple. Reading Hebrews chapter 13 one might wonder why verse 4 is included in the list of miscellaneous exhortations given in this chapter. But a closer study of the context of the passage will, I believe, reveal a careful continuity of the exhortations. Here they are in order of their appearance, minus the one in verse four about the marriage bed being undefiled: (1) Let brotherly love continue; (2) Practice hospitality; (3) Show compassion toward others; (4) Be content with what you have; (5) Be subject to spiritual leaders; (6) Be satisfied with the plain Word of God; (7) Be thankful for all that you have.

I submit to you that a person who has an unhappy marriage relationship can do none of the above mentioned things as God would have him/her to do. He/she cannot show love to his brother if he cannot show love to his spouse; He cannot practice hospitality if his house is in a perpetual state of war; he cannot be compassionate to others if he cannot sympathetically relate to the needs of his mate; He cannot be content with what he has if he lives in a state of marital discontent; He cannot be subject to spiritual leadership if he is not the spiritual leader of his own home; or if, as a wife, she is not submissive to the leader in her own home; He cannot be satisfied with the plain teachings of the Word of God if he cannot be satisfied with the spouse God has given him and he cannot be thankful for all things if he is not thankful for his marriage.

Sadly, Barna Research Group has reported that a survey of 4,000 adults found that 27 percent of born-again Christians have been divorced, compared to 24 percent of non-Christians.

What’s the problem? Howard Hendricks opined that “Marriage is not finding the person with whom you can live, but finding the person with whom you cannot live without.” (Did he talk with my mom?)

Perhaps a back to the basics review would be helpful. It would begin with the proposition that marriage was designed for a couple of fundamental reasons: (1) Consummation: the man is not complete without the woman. Man in the Hebrew language is “ish,” while woman is “isha.” (Gen.2:23) The very names of God’s male and female created human beings suggest “We are equal, the only difference is I am a man and you are a woman.” The woman is not fulfilled without the man and the man is not fulfilled without the woman. In Genesis 1 it is “male and female;” and in  Gen.2 it is “man and woman.” There is a biological (sexual) and spiritual unity between the two. God’s principle was plainly stated at the end of the brief Biblical dissertation on marriage as recorded in Genesis 2: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Gen.2:24)

Shakespeare weighed in on this: “He is the half part of a blessed man, left to be finished by such as she; She is a fair, divided excellence, whose fulness of perfection lies in him.”

(2) God designed marriage for Communication. Adam needed a companion to answer to his needs as a creature of higher intelligence. God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit communed with one another “Let us make man in our own image….;” and Adam named the animals but none of them afforded this man of a higher intelligence any communication, so God put Adam to sleep and of his own being he made a woman, custom-built and a help, meet for him in every way. The man needed a helpmeet for communion but also to enable him to obey God’s command, to tend to the lush Garden of Eden but to do so without eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which was in the midst of the Garden on penalty of physical and spiritual death should he not keep God’s first commandment. Seeing that it was not good that man should be alone, God made him a helpmeet. As one reads chapter three, the subtle Serpent deceived the woman and rather than helping Adam keep God’s commandment, she convinced her husband to join her in disobedience, and he did. Paul tells us in his epistle to Timothy that though Eve failed in this critical assignment, she, the “mother of all living,” would be salvaged for glorifying God as she would give birth to children whom she would rear in the faith. (I Tim.2:13-15)

(To be continued.)

Thanksgiving 2021

Ellen and I want to express to each of you our heartfelt appreciation for your prayers and friendship through the times past. We look forward to serving Him together until we receive from Him our “upward” call. Our prayer for you and yours is that you will enjoy His grace and goodness continually and that He shall grant you the desires of your heart.  We sincerely wish you all a “Happy Thanksgiving!”

Thanksgiving 2021

Thank you, Lord, for grace that’s sure,
	Thank You, too, for love that’s pure;
Thank You for Your mercies given,
	From Your storehouse there in heaven.

We give thanks for daily bread;
	For the Church with Christ as Head;
Grateful hands we lift in praise,
	We will serve You all our days.

Thank You for a mother’s sigh,
	Thank You for a baby’s cry;
Thank You for the Home that’s sweet,
	Where the family loves to meet.

Gladly we do raise our song,
	With our voices all day long.
Your Son came to bear His cross,
	In our place He suffered loss.

Sins He bore there on the tree,
	So that sinners could go free;
From Your Son You hid Your face,
	Death He suffered in our place.

From the grave our Savior rose;
	He triumphant o’er His foes;
By Your power death’s bands were broken,
	Empty tomb is our sure token.

We await our Lord’s return,
For His coming we do yearn.
Till He comes again from Heaven,
	Grateful will our praise be given.

Anthony Slutz
November, 2021

“The Lord bless thee and keep thee: the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)

What Can Make Me Whole Again?

Some years ago, at the Great World Fair, held in the city of Chicago, there was said to be a meeting of people representing the various religions of the world.

At that meeting was an old-fashioned Bible believing preacher who set out to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity. To do so, he began to quote Shakespeare’s LADY MACBETH. He recited the famous piece of literature and brought out, as it were, Lady Macbeth onto the stage and had them listen to her as she looked at her hands stained with the blood of a murderess.  “Out damned spot, out damned spot, out, out I say!”

Then the old preacher said, “Is there anyone here today representing a religion that can cleanse the hands of Lady Macbeth? Cleanse her from her murderous blood? From her guilt…who has a religion that could cleanse her hands of this damnable spot?”

It is said that one stood to his feet and said, “I have no remedy for cleansing, but had I been able to talk to Lady Macbeth before she had sinned, I might have been able to keep her from sinning.”

Another stood to his feet and said, “I have no remedy for cleansing, but if I could have talked to Lady Macbeth, I could have helped her have peace of mind in spite of the fact that her hands were stained with blood.”

The old preacher said again, “Is there anyone here who has a remedy for cleansing this spot from the hands of Lady Macbeth? Who can remove it?  Who can get it off her hands?”

No one had a remedy. Finally, the preacher said, “Only Christianity has a remedy. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin!”

“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!  What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus?”

A bedrock of the Christian faith from the beginning has been, is and always will be its belief in the absolute necessity of the shed blood! No man from Adam on has ever been saved apart from the blood!

The preaching of the blood has become distasteful to many; some consider it out of date, unsophisticated. But to the believer, it is precious. Basic, blessed and bold is this doctrine concerning the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Basic: The blood was basic before the Revelation of the Old Testament ritual. It was basic at the time of man’s fall into sin. Gen.3:21: “And unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin, and clothed them.”  The coats covered their nakedness, but the blood covered their sins.

The blood was also basic after the fall. Gen.4:4: “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.” Exodus 12:13: “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you.”

The blood was basic under the Old Testament economy of a ritualistic system. Lev. 4:4-6: “And he (the priest) shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head and kill the bullock before the Lord. And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle of the blood several times before the Lord before the veil of the sanctuary.” Lev. 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
And, the blood is basic for the believer today. Romans 3:24,25: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (covering) through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins….” Eph.1:7: “In whom we have redemption through His blood-the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Eph. 2:13: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Col.1:14: “In whom we have redemption through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things to Himself.”

So, the blood is basic, but it is also blessed! Heb.9:12: “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood he entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” The song asks “Would you be free from your burden of sin? There’s power in the blood!”

We are saved, therefore, by the blood, but the blood is also blessed to us because it is by His blood that we are given the opportunity of serving our Redeemer. Heb.9:14: “How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” John 1:7 says that it is the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin.

Then, too, it is His blood by which we have obtained sanctification in all its aspects, positionally (past), experientially (present) and eternally (future). Hebs.10:10: “By the which we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Our natural birth was messy and bloody, yet was a blessed event; even so, our spiritual, new birth was by blood and through a “messy” crucifixion, but so blessed indeed!

The blood is basic and blessed and it is also boldness to the believer. Hebs. 10:19: “Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” God made a path, through the rent veil, through our High Priest who is a “High priest over the house of God,” (Hebs 10:21) so that now we have a profession enabling us to “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from and evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering….” (Hebs. 10:22,23)

“Christ has for sin atonement made, what a wonderful Savior; We are redeemed, the price is paid, what a wonderful Savior!”  

Ever give thanks to our Great God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ for His precious blood which has always been and will ever be, Basic, Blessed and Boldness to every believer!

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (I Pet. 1:18,19)

You Won’t See God Without It


The Bible states plainly that we should “Follow after peace with all men AND HOLINESS without which no man can see God.” (Hebs.12:14)

There is nothing more important yet possibly more unappealing to most than the subject of holiness. To be sure, because some have misrepresented what holiness is, it has taken a bad rap, so to speak, so that in the minds of some holiness is equated more with what you wear or what you do not do and where you do not go than who you are in relationship with God. But holiness is not only good, it is vital in healthy Christian living:

“Holiness is not the way to Christ, but rather Christ is the way to holiness. Holiness is the architectural plan on which God builds up His living temple. The serene beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world, next to the might of the Spirit of God.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

William Penn put it this way: “True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavors to mend it.”

Another sage said, “The perfume of holiness is instilled in the soul of continual contact with the Rose of Sharon.”

No wonder P.P. Bliss wrote his worshipful song, “More holiness give me, more striving within; more patience in suffering more sorrow for sin. More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care. More joy in His service, more purpose in prayer.”  And, yes, it all begins with “More holiness give me….”

We do have a PATTERN of holiness, given to us in the person of our Lord and Savior. “As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” (I Pet.1:15). Our model of holiness is our high priest, Jesus, “for such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners….” (Hebs. 7:26)

Old Testament passages set forth the same verities: “For I am the Lord your God:  ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves and ye shall be holy, for I am holy….” (Lev.11:44,45)

Then, too, we who are His have a PURPOSE in holiness: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people: that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (I Pt.2:9) Ours is a lifestyle that to the world in which we live, a world out of tune with His Word and out of step with His will, seems peculiar; but be that as it may, our life is lived to “shew forth the praises of Him….” We are a book, read of all who know us. Our life is a walk more than a talk. “Holiness vanishes when you talk about it, but becomes conspicuous when you live it.” Therefore, it is imperative that we “Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord, abide in Him always, and lean on His Word.”

A.W. Tozer reminds us that “whoever would be filled and indwelt by the Spirit (who is absolutely and infinitely pure) should first judge his life for any hidden iniquities; he should courageously expel from his heart everything which is out of accord with the character of God as revealed by the Holy Scriptures.”

Next, there is a PEOPLE of holiness as enumerated in God’s Word: “Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.” (Ps.30:4)

“So, I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel…and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.” (Ezek.39:7)

“The Lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works.” (Ps.145:17)

“O sing unto the Lord a new song…His right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him the victory.” (Ps.98:1)

“For the Lord is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our King.” (Ps.89:18)

“I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.” (Isa.43:15)

“O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness….” (Ps.96:9)

“Give unto the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” (I Chr.16:29)

“Give unto the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” (Ps.29:2)

“To the end that He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God.” (I Th.3:13)

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Eph.4:24)

“…that we might be partakers of His holiness.” (Hebs.12:10)

“Ye also, as lively stones, built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood….” (I Pet.2:5)

“Beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith.” (Jude 20)

Next, do not be naïve concerning the PITFALLS of holiness: “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not once be named among you as becometh saints.” (Eph.3:5) As the long tenured prof at DTS said, “It is foolish to build a chicken coop on the foundation of a skyscraper. If a Christian fails to live a holy life, he fails to utilize the foundation Christ has given him.” (Howard Hendricks)

Finally, here’s a PLAN for holiness: (1) Acknowledge it is God’s will for you: “For this is the will of God even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication.” (I Thess. 4:3) “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness.” (I Th.4:7) (2) Abstain from anything which would prevent you from living a holy life. (I Th.4:3; Eph.5:3) (3) Yield to the Holy Spirit: “I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.” (Rom.6:19) (4) Endure God’s chastening: “For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” (Hebs.12:10) (5) Learn to possess your body in sanctification by both what you put on it and by what you put into it. (I Thess. 4:4)

C.S. Lewis said, “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing…it is irresistible.”

Thomas Kelly writing “Praise the Savior ye who know him:” “Then we shall be where we would be; then we shall be what we should be, gladly let us render to Him, all we are and have.”

Editor’s note: The believer is positionally sanctified at the moment of salvation and that position, spiritually, is static, unchanging and unchangeable as we are “seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Then, on a day- by- day journey with Jesus, the maturing believer is “being sanctified” practically, which is what Paul meant when he wrote that we should possess our body in sanctification; (I Thess.4:4); finally, there is an ultimate sanctification when we see Jesus and shall be made like unto Him with glorified sinlessness as we occupy our place in the heavenly kingdom of our Lord and Savior.  Much of this post has spoken of a daily, practical sanctification, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor.7:1)

“For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” (Hebs. 12:10)

NANCY

Eulogies of our dearest ones are often shared, like beautiful bouquets, at their memorial services.  I have often thought it would be better to share them with our loved ones while they are still living, so here is a tribute to my dear Sister, Nancy, who has suffered so much for so long.

My dear sister, it is quite possible that Ellen and I will not get to see you and hug you again this side of heaven, from what we understand; but know for sure that your younger brother and your angel sisters, one older and one younger, are begging God’s mercies to flood your spirit and to make your “crossing over” something that you are glad to welcome. We love you dearly and all of us wish we could be with you when that moment comes.

Your nerves were frayed to the edge of what was bearable when, as an eight-year-old child, on a visit to your cousins who lived on a farm near that little south eastern Iowa town where we grew up, you stood by in anguish and watched our eleven-year-old brother drown in the creek that weaved its way through that farm on an August day in 1947. Your night mares recurred for years and the whole tragic event left an indelible mark upon your mind and spirit that you will take to the grave with you. A year or so earlier, your first-grade teacher had sent you home in the spring with a report card indicating that you needed to repeat that year in school, even though your card and teacher had indicated no progress problems through the year. Mom was shocked, called a meeting with the superintendent and school board and succeeded in getting the decision reversed, but the teacher remarked that she would see to it that you would fail the second grade. She did and you were failed. What the school board and superintendent did not know was that the teacher, one of our aunts, was in a running feud with another aunt and she was trying to mete out justice in her warped way of thinking by failing one of Mom’s children. You never were much of a lover of learning in school-room settings following that sad saga that left you a child-victim of an adult warring world.

You were three years older than I, and I was pretty thin and looked a bit scrawny and it was not uncommon that some bigger bully-type would intimidate me in the school yard and promise to get me after school and it was more than once that you, tough as nail s and fearless, came to your little bro’s rescue and no bully would dare challenge you. Thanks, Nanc!

We moved to Ottumwa from Douds shortly after Teddy drowned when Dad was hired at John Deere. What a blessing that was. At some point you got into doing acrobatics and I remember how you amazingly contorted your body so that you could lay flat on your tummy and bring your feet up and lay them down next to your ears, all without moving your belly from the floor.  You were in top shape and you were a beautiful girl and your kid brother was proud of you.

I remember, too, how Mom had a struggle trying to get you not to chew gum in church. We attended North Court Baptist Church and it was a Sunday after Sunday episode as Mom lectured you about your gum chewing during church. I don’t think she won the battle. There were, of course, other battles with a teenager, trying to make it through her turbulent teens with all the emotional baggage she brought with her from childhood. I think it would be safe to say that you probably gave Mom and Dad more sleepless nights than any of their other children. I was soon off to college and then marriage to my sweet Ellen, then seminary and ministry and my visits back home were pretty infrequent for many years, but none of your siblings will ever cease to be grateful for you, Nancy, for watching over and caring for our parents as they forged their way through aging, old age and finally death.  All the rest of us lived far away from Waterloo, Iowa, but you always lived less than 5 minutes from them in their later years, and when the time of life came that they needed help, you were always there for them, caring, sharing and assuring them of your undying love for them.

You may not have cultivated a love for classroom learning, but your heart, after you got past those difficult growing up years, was always tender toward the Lord and your love for Him showed. Mary Ann recently wrote a text to us saying that at the kitchen table that morning you could hardly hold your head up but you “prayed the sweetest prayer; I wish you could have heard it.” Your love for Jesus and your faith in Him and trust in His goodness has never wavered through all the tests and trials you have endured including unspeakable physical, tormenting pain. You have preached many sermons to us by your life and love for Christ through a life-time of extraordinary difficulties. Thanks again, Nanc!

Your house is a haven for kids of all ages. Dolls, marbles, huge jars full of marbles of all sorts and sizes; pictures, beautiful, many of Jesus and Biblical characters and pictures that represent the past, traditional way of life that most of us our age remember; pithy sayings on plagues that are reminders of practical truths pertinent to daily living.  When we were children we relished a trip to Grandma’s attic, where all sorts of dusty old things that were of the turn of the century (1900) vintage, found a final resting place; but a trip to Nancy’s house, well every room is jammed pack full of “treasures,” not the least of which are all those little bowls, any one of which, if you were to lift the lid on it, you would be delighted by some kind of candy, always the best candy that kids love, and it’s yours for the taking. What a palace of precious things.

You adore your only son, Mark, and your grandchildren and great grands and any little one with a “grand” before its name is your pure pleasure. Always, our children looked forward to a visit to Aunt Nancy’s, because of your artful ways of entertaining them with stories that made their jaws drop and their eyes pop which was a child’s dream come true.

Well, my dear Nanc, I could go on and on. I hope you live to read this post on the 16th and though I know you do not have internet I am confident that Mark or Ben or Josh will bring a copy to you and read it for you. I wish I could be there, but it will probably not happen. I am sharing this tribute to you, Nancy, with many of my friends and I would be remiss if I did not conclude with this little poem, I penned for you some years ago:

Nancy
Born in Iowa, reared there, too;
Lived and loved in Waterloo.
She’s my sis—one of a kind,
Part of me in soul and mind.

Gentle with her hands and caring;
Brave in youth and even daring.
From her sweet heart always sharing,
Leaving others better faring.

Mother of one and granny to three,
With time and effort always free.
To all of us around her near,
Nancy is a darling, dear!

With her heart she feels so deep;
In our cares with us she’ll weep.
When we need to rest awhile,
She can make us laugh and smile.

Never was a hurting word,
From her lips by loved ones heard;
With her gentle hug and hand,
She can make the worst feel grand.

Now her life is past half spent;
We must wonder where it went!
With our sis we’re getting old.
She improves with age, like gold!

We ask God to keep her here,
With her family year by year;
In our hearts she has a place,
Etched by tears and love and grace.

Lovingly, Your Brother
August 20, 1997