Broken Cisterns

(Jeremiah 2:11–13)  Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit.
12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate,” says the Lord.
13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. 

I had hiked up the mountainside in the heat and dust of the summer.  The biting flies and bees buzzed me.  The creeping vines snatched at my feet. The sun was hot and heat waves shimmered in the distances.  The barbed wire fences were tight and threatened to snag my clothes as I worked my way under them while the scratchy grass threw scratchy seeds down the neck of my shirt, were it stuck in the sweat on my skin.

But eventually I reached the cool shade of the forest and the mountain stream that burbled and bubbled in its channel.  The fragrance of the wild mint growing on the bank mingled with the scent of the pine woods. That running water was ice cold and clear as crystal.  I laid on my stomach and put my face into a small pool and drank.   There I was refreshed and the heat and discomfort of the journey were past.

That is what I think of when I read about "living water."  It is the flowing water of a living stream.  The fresh tasting, teeth-freezingly cold water that can refresh you and give you life.

I remember a long ago trip to Israel.  I remember the deserts on the West Bank of the Jordan near the Dead Sea.  Again, the heat of the sun shimmered in every direction.  We were carried to the top of Masada - a Herodian fortress on the top of a great rock mountain - a place with an amazing history.  Part of that tour took us to giant rooms apparently cut out of the rock.  These rooms might have been storerooms - but at least one was supposed to be a cistern.

I suppose that the idea was to catch rain during the rainy season and channel it into the cistern.  There it could last a long time in the dark of the cave.  The cistern was carved because there were no natural springs on top of that rock mountain (and few in the surrounding desert) - and people need water to live.

But I don't remember there being water in that great big cistern.  Maybe there was some mud.  Perhaps the channels that were supposed to direct the rains to the cistern have been plugged.  Perhaps there was not much rain that rainy season.  Perhaps some earthquake cracked the rock of the cistern and allowed most of the water to drain away.  I sure don't know.  But I think of that big empty cavern every time I read Jeremiah 2:13.

Cistern water is not as good as the living water of a bubbling stream.  It tends to be brackish and tepid.  There might be a scum of algae or mold floating on the top.  Even so, if a cistern did hold water - it could sustain life.

But the false gods of this world are cisterns that cannot even hold water.  The values of this world - Pride, Possessions and Pleasure are broken cisterns.  They cannot refresh you.  They cannot give you life.

Only the One True and Living God - the Creator of life - only He can give us what we really need.  But humans have abandoned Him and turned to gods of their own invention.  No wonder people are so miserable!  They are dying of thirst for the true water of life!

(2 Timothy 3:1–7) But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

If only

If only I was older...
If only I was younger...
If only I had more money...
If only I had more time...
If only I had more energy...
If only I was smarter...
If only I had more education...
If only I was stronger...
If only I was more attractive...
If only I could speak another language...
If only I was more disciplined...
If only I was not in debt...
If only I had better credit...
If only I was more articulate...
If only I was more creative...
If only I had taken a different path...
If only I was brave...
If only I was a people person...
If only I had better hair...
If only I was taller...
If only I was an expert...
If only I had a bigger audience...
If only people would listen to me...
If only I was not so sleepy...
If only I could forgive...
If only I had a faster computer...
If only I were artistic...
If only I weighed more...
If only I weighed less...
If only people would behave...
If only I had better ideas...
If only something dramatic would happen...
If only my life would settle down...
If only I had less interruptions...
If only someone would call...
If only it were a different season...
If only people understood me...
If only people were not so bizarre...
If only I were in charge...
If only it was warmer out...
If only it was cooler out...
If only I had something to wear...
If only I had the right equipment...
If only I had the right curriculum...
If only I had turned left...
If only I had a GPS...
If only I had a map...
If only I had a cooler phone...
If only I'd prepared better...
If only I had slept better...
If only I'd had a quick comeback...
If only I'd kept quiet...
If only I were appreciated...
If only I were valued...
If only I could go somewhere...
If only I could stay home for awhile...
If only I didn't have so many meetings...
If only I could get some people together...
If only I knew the right method...
If only I could memorize easier...
If only my kids would be good...
If only I could remember...
If only I could forget...
If only I'd kept my cool...
If only things were cheaper...
If only I were free...
If only people were committed...
If only there was a pill...
If only there was an app...
If only they would make up their mind...
If only they would give me more time...
If only I had the opportunity...

If only I didn't have so many excuses...

Your Best Ideas

This week started out with two days away from home while I attended the annual conference of the Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Churches that was held in Albany, Ohio - at Albany Baptist Church.  I had a great time - a refreshing time.  I came away encouraged, challenged, and tired out.

While I was there I had some ideas for blogs - but no time to even jot them down, much less develop them.  I am sure that some of them were really great ideas - profound ideas - brilliant ideas.

What I did write down was, "the best ideas are the ones you don't write down and can't remember."

Odd how that happens.

But it does.

The Meaning of Love

Last Sunday evening I had occasion to compare Old English word meanings with Modern English meanings for the same words.

Take the words "suffer" and "let."

"Suffer" now means to endure pain, but it used to mean to "let or permit" someone to do something.  Maybe the change was related to "putting up with" the other person's actions.

"Let" now means "to allow," but it used to mean "restrain."  These meanings seem so contradictory that I have trouble imagining what brought about such a complete change.

That made me think today about the Bible's use of the word "LOVE."  I think there has been a complete turnaround with the meaning of this word too.  But the switch here has been more subtle.  We would still use the same word, but its meaning in modern culture is completely changed.

Today the word love is used to describe INTENSE LIKES, as in, "I love ice cream!"  Whether it is ice cream or people - love refers to some level of liking.  The phrase "love at first sight," describes an infatuation and, as with other crushes, is just an intense feeling of liking someone.

Where marriage vows used to include a commitment "to love, honor and cherish til death does us part," modern vows are as likely to say, "to honor and cherish til LOVE does us part."  In the past, we would commit to LOVING someone for a LIFETIME.  In the present, people only commit to the relationship as long as they still LIKE each other.

LOVE in the Bible is not infatuation, but commitment.  Love in the Bible is not a feeling, but an action of the will.  Love in the Bible is not something you fall into - it is something you decide to do.

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..."  The modern reader is bound to think that God had an intense LIKE for "the world."  But in fact, God was at war with the world.

(Romans 5:6–8) For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:10) For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

"For God so loved the world..." doesn't say God liked us.  It says that God chose to commit Himself to us.  He determined to act on our behalf, in spite of our sin, in spite of our unworthiness,  in spite of our wholesale rebellion against Him.  He decided to commit Himself to the salvation of all who will believe - by giving His own Son as our redeeming sacrifice.

"...that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Pesky Obsessions

I finished a jar of peanut butter this morning while packing my wife's lunch.  This was a pretty big jar - 40 oz., down to its last PB&J sandwich worth of peanut butter.

As I was reaching down into the cavernous depths of the jar through the wide mouth opening, I wondered if I should break out the spatula.  For one thing, I don't like getting peanut butter on the handle of the knife - much less on the back of my hand as I work to scrape out the last smears of peanut butter.  Besides that, the spatula will clean that jar out slick as a whistle.

Here is where I begin to struggle with my obsessions.  I feel like I must use every last drop of peanut butter out of this big jar.  But I have two more of these jars - brand new and full to the brim with peanut butter - just waiting in the pantry closet.  And I have enough peanut butter on the sandwich already - even by my somewhat obsessive standards it is a nice even layer of brown covering every bit of the two pieces of bread.

I resolved the issue by deciding that even if the jar was not as empty as a spatula might get it, it was as empty as a table knife could get it.  I threw the (relatively) empty jar in the trash and wiped the peanut butter off the back of my hand with a paper towel.

This drama was over in five minutes - and it wasn't even an extra five minutes.  It was just the normal five minutes that it takes to make a sandwich for Lola in the morning.  But it made me think about how easy it is to give emotional energy to things that don't really matter.  (Did I throw out one peanut or two?)

It would be easy to obsess about the fact that I threw out the jar.  Why not recycle it?  And it was a plastic jar - why didn't I buy a glass jar?  And I used a paper towel!  Why not a reusable dishcloth or washcloth?

Do you see where this is going?  People in our society spend far too much of their energy and attention on things that are of minimal importance - and far too little time focused on things that are of vital importance.

If I am going to be obsessive, let me obsess about knowing God and His revelation of Himself.  Let me obsess about communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who have never heard.  Let me obsess about how I can please God, my Savior, and bring Him the glory due to His holy name!

(1 Corinthians 10:31) ¶ Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Keeping Track

So much of life is keeping track of things.

I just added up my checkbook - keeping track of my balance.  I enter the receipts from various purchases and subtract to see what is left. 

As I work in my checkbook, I try to keep track of upcoming bills.  What needs to be paid next?  Do I have or will I have money to cover these expenses?

It is Wednesday morning.  I need to keep track of the week.  Counting today I have four days til Sunday.  I need to keep track of my work.  How is my morning worship sermon progressing?  What about my evening worship study?  What about the Sunday School class I will be covering?  Am I on my way to being ready?

I need to keep track of my work.  Tonight we have Prayer Meeting and I have the Teen Group.  I need to plan to have everything in readiness - lessons, refreshments, materials, technology - for them tonight.  Tomorrow is also the deadline for getting my draft of the bulletin out to Dottie and Dean.  I need to start that today.

What about my church members?  I need to keep track of them.  One is having a surgery tomorrow.  I will need to call him tonight and plan to see him at the hospital tomorrow.  That changes the flow of my work.  Today is the monthly adult meeting - the "Keenagers" - I plan to attend, but how long should I stay so I can get everything done?  Others I need to call.  Some I need to text.

What about my family?  My folks are on their way back to Florida for the Winter.  My wife is at work.  My son is working on finishing his CDL.  My daughter and her family are in Indiana.  I need to keep track of them, pray for them and see what I should do to support, encourage or help them.

There are various chores and projects that I need to keep track of.  The dog needs a bath and trim.  There is yard work to complete before winter.  There are meals to plan, groceries to buy, technology to install, cleaning to do.  These are shared responsibilities, but I need to keep track of them.

Above all, I need to keep track of myself.  Am I on track?  Am I staying close to Christ?  Am I in His word?  Am I taking enough time for prayer?  Am I sensitive to my faults and repentant for my sins?  Am I bold to witness for Christ?  Am I true to His will?

It is easy to lose track of things.  We lose track of the time.  We lose track of projects.  We lose track of people.  Paper piles up - some of it is important and most of it is trash - but I lose track of important things in the pile.

It is not enough to just live from moment to moment - we must be careful to keep track of what is truly important.

Decaffeinated

Once again I am decaffeinating myself.  I've done it before.  I knew what to expect.  I took it slowly and now I'm down to just one precious cup of delicious coffee at breakfast.

There are many potential advantages.

• I have been reminded of how to spell "decaffeinate."
• I don't feel jumpy or jittery - very calm and peaceful.
• My precision pistol shooting has improved - less shaking, I suppose.
• I have cut back on grocery expenses - three scoops instead of four each morning.

But it is a DRAG to go through.

• I LIKE coffee - I REALLY, REALLY like coffee.
• I've had to endure a few minor headaches as I've "dried out."
• I am "dragging my wagon" these days - feeling a little bit subdued.
• The weather is cold and rainy - I sure would like a cup of coffee!
• Tea (decaffeinated of course) is thin and pale compared to coffee.

My coffee use (like so many things) sort of sneaked up on me slowly.  I had a cup with Lola at breakfast and another during my devotions.  (Coffee drinkers know that "a cup" is really a mug that holds at least two cups.)  Then I would make a full 12 cup (6 mug) pot of coffee in the morning because our son MIGHT want a cup. 

But he rarely did - and I would drink the extra - my third.  And - on a summer's afternoon an iced coffee would be good!  That would involve another 16-24 oz. of coffee.  Or if I had a breakfast meeting with someone I would drink coffee at home with Lola AND have coffee at the restaurant.  Or, if it was Sunday, I could get another cup of coffee in the fellowship hall before Sunday School!  Or, if I had a lunch meeting at Panera Bread, I could get good coffee there too.  Things were really hopping - and so was my heart rate, I'm sure.

Then, a few weeks ago, I went to Dublin, OH for an eye exam.  The doctor dilated my eyes - and I wanted to wait for the effects to wear off before heading home on a sunny day.  So I waited at a nice coffee shop where I drank down three big mugs of strong coffee.  This on top of my normal three mugs of coffee at home.  Way too much.

That's the week that I decided I needed to get a grip.  And now I am down to one cup of coffee a day - and I'm glad - a little groggy, but glad.  I'll be better off for the change - I'm sure.

(1 Corinthians 6:12) ¶ All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Eternal Security & Easy Believism

Every few months I get a newsletter from the "Grace Evangelical Society."  I always read it and I am almost always repulsed and enraged by its sad excuse for biblical exposition and theology.  But it makes me think!

In the last GES newsletter, Bob Wilkin held forth on the superiority of his easy believism theology from the perspective that it contributes to a sense of security.  In that system, salvation is an instantaneous transaction in which God is bound by contract to save the person who has believed.  The focus of security is that moment in which the person prays the sinner's prayer.  The question is whether or not the person is, AT THAT MOMENT, believing the necessary truths about their sin and Jesus' work of salvation, and if they are genuinely sincere in that faith AT THAT MOMENT.  According to Wilkin, subsequent developments in the person's life have no bearing on the veracity of the person's profession of salvation or the person's ultimate security in Christ.

In that last newsletter, Wilkin claimed that preaching about the possibility of "false professions" makes people feel insecure - and is intended to make them insecure - about their salvation.  He celebrated the fact that in his home church everyone feels perfectly confident about his or her eternal destiny.  They believe there is no such thing as a false profession of faith as long as the basic content and the sincerity of the moment are not in question.

I have a few observations.
1) It seems to me that even if the "easy believism" system was biblical, you could always second guess yourself about the sincerity of your belief at some past moment.  Besides that, it is clear that in that system people are always wrangling about what truths must be included in saving faith.  For example, do you need to believe in the trinity, the virgin birth, and the resurrection to be saved?  Did you understand all of those things when you "believed?"

2) The biblical language about believer's faith is invariably about present tense - continuing action - faith.  Unbelievers are urged to believe in the future.  Believers do think about when they "first believed."  But once people believe, they are of the "household of faith" and they are "believers."  The believers are not people who believed once in the past.  The believers are people who started believing at some time in the past and are continuing in that faith today.

3) The Bible contains many instances where people in the churches are challenged to make sure that they are of the household of faith.  For example: (2 Corinthians 13:5)  Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.  Do you notice that the focus is not upon their previous profession of faith, but on their current faith?

4) The proper basis for security is not some previous point in life where we came to faith, but the fact that we are - in truth "in the faith" and trusting confidently in God to save us.  When we first came to faith we understood something of the Gospel of Grace and trusted God to save us.  As we have continued in the faith we have learned even more about the Gospel - and we have believed that too.  So the content of our faith continues and grows.

5) Faith is more than believing doctrinal content.  (James 2:14-26)  Saving faith is a commitment to the truth that shows up in our actions.  To believe that the bungee cords will keep you from falling to your death is not the same as believing in the efficacy of the bungee cords AND throwing yourself off the bridge.  Having saving faith in Jesus Christ (a continuing faith) keeps on showing up in the lives of believers. 

 (1 Thessalonians 1:6–10)  And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.
8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.
9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

 6) A believer's confidence is strengthened by the evidence of his conversion that shows up in his life.  There is the fruit of the Spirit.  There is the love of the brethren.  Contrary to Wilkin's assertions, the teaching of what he calls "Lordship Salvation" brings encouragement to people who are genuinely saved.  They know they are trusting God and they see evidence in their lives that God is at work - conforming them into the image of Christ.

 (1 John 3:18–19)  My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.  And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

According to the Bible, faith in Jesus as Savior cannot be separated from the way it works out in the person's life.

(1 John 5:1–5) Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 

7) The most serious problem I have with Bob Wilkin and the Grace Evangelical Society is that he is giving a sense of security to people who should not be secure.  The fact that someone once prayed the sinner's prayer in deep sincerity will NOT SAVE THEM.  That past event is not what the Bible describes as saving faith. 

People are being encouraged to be confident in their eternal security because of a past event in spite of the fact that they show no evidence of God's work in their hearts and lives ever since.  This sense of security in their present lives is not going to be of any consolation when they face God.  The persons who are teaching this are doing such people a grave disservice.