Response to Revelation

I confess.

I'm woefully behind in my "one year Bible" reading.  At least by 60 days plus.  On December 22 I'm reading October 21 material.   Still making my way out of Jeremiah.  Ahead, the inscrutable Ezekiel beckons to be  navigated.  Reach the final port before year's end?  Not likely.

Still, what a remarkable journey, to read through the Word in one year.  Every other day or so--sometimes each day--I run across something that I had not known or had forgotten.  Often I just stumble into the stunning...and don't want to rush by.

Like this morning.  Most of Jeremiah's ministry was a very tough run.  He had the unenviable task of telling Judah that Babylon's armies were going to ruthlessly run them over, and that the Jewish King and the southern Kingdom should willingly submit.  God's judgment on their faithlessness could no longer be forestalled--though God had given them virtually innumerable repentance opportunities to date.

Still, though rejected repeatedly, Jeremiah kept getting messages from the Lord, and delivering the difficult mail.

Recorded in Jeremiah 36 is yet another unpopular prophetic assignment.  Jeremiah is to use his scribe (Baruch) to record all the messages Yahweh had asked his prophet to deliver over the years.  The dictation process began. Then, the scroll-anthology was to be read in the temple by Baruch to the king's administrative officials.  The reading commenced.  The words whipped the proud hearts of the king's cronies, who soon made their way to report to Jehoiakim.

The king immediately sent for Baruch's scroll.  Unrolling it and reading, Jehudi commenced verbalizing Jeremiah's burden of truth for an audience of one, King Jehoiakim.  Jehoiakim's response is stunning, though perhaps not surprising to those who knew him.  "Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll.  He then threw it in the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up" (Jeremiah 36:23).

The next verse explains.  "Neither the king nor his attendance showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard" (36:24).

If you visualize the scene, you find yourself watching a very foolish man.  Listening to the whole of years of prophetic witness, each message scourging the king's proud heart, he regarded divine revelation as nothing but useless tinder for a fire to keep him warm (he sat in the "winterized" room of his palace, stoked by the fireplace).  Self-assured, blind, though for a few minutes perhaps provided a few more licking flames to spike the room temperature, the king foolishly sealed his fate.

"He who has ears to hear," Jesus said often, "let him hear."   Or not.  Jehoiakim's fireside antics fueled for him...in just a few short months... the awful fire of the relentless judgment of God.  One may discard God's given word, but such a word never returns to God void without accomplishing what He intended.

When God speaks to us, our positive response to it can always bring new life, hope, and opportunity.  Our rejection simply evidences how habitually foolish our hearts may have become.  So, what's your response to what God says to you these days?

Tim Tebow - A Portrait of Thanksgiving

It's tough not to be a Tebow fan today.  Perhaps the next loss will dim some of the shine of the past 8 weeks of his quarterback leadership, but win, lose, or draw...I'm a fan. 

Here's why.

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5).

Tebow gets this.  He also expresses it.  Keep kneeling; keep pointing up, Tim!

His kneeling or pointing to the sky has nothing to do with God helping him to win games.  As many others have observed, there are always followers of Christian faith on both sides of the scrimmage line.

But it has everything to do with a thankful heart.

If anyone would explore this with young Tim, they'd understand that he's developed a habit which is the will of God for every Christ follower.  He understands what Scripture says.  Our lives, our moments, are in God's hands.  He provides every good thing given, every breath, every ounce of strength...even to those who fail to acknowledge that ALL of every right thing in life IS a GIFT.

Psalm 57:9
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.

Lead on, Tim.   Keep pointing us to the One who gave, and gives, it all.

A Tribute to my Aunt Jean (Robinson)

A Quiet Tribute to Jean Robinson

December 10, 2011

          My own memories of my mother’s sister, Jean Robinson, always create a deep smile in my heart.   Aunt Jean was the kind of aunt that you didn’t see very often (because she lived so far away, almost all the time), but when you did get to see her and spend time with her, you wanted to do it more.

          We all knew that at her heart, she was a “missionary.”  She lived with a mission -- to see the gospel and the person of the gospel, Jesus Christ, become large in people’s lives.  Early on, she gave herself to the Lord to be used any way He desired.   She loved people who were very different from her with the love of the Lord Himself.  She was a servant, a wife and companion, a mother, a grandmother, a writer, teacher, musician and many other things.   But at her heart, she was a missionary.

          For some reason, a slide show of her and Uncle Bob’s ministry, along with the boys, and Aunt Jean singing in the background of that slideshow, continues to play melodically and beautifully in my head.  The song she sang, clearly as a testimony of how she had learned to live and daily  trust her Lord, was “I know Who Holds Tomorrow.”

I don't know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what lies ahead.

(Chorus) Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

Every step is getting brighter
As the golden stairs I climb;
Every burden's getting lighter,
Every cloud is silver-lined.
There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eye;
At the ending of the rainbow
Where the mountains touch the sky.

                Aunt Jean was a tireless encourager of others, including me,  in the call to ministry.  I cherish the investment she made in a number of our young people several years ago when she visited Ames and we had a “missionary lunch” with as many of our High Schoolers as wanted to come.  I recall how she told stories and cast vision even as the kids leaned into the table to listen more closely.  Many of those kids are in training even now for overseas service.

            Welcome home, Aunt Jean!   You’ve now joined the “cloud of witnesses” awaiting your reward until the rest of us finish (Hebrews 11).   We love you, and will love seeing you again in the presence of the One who holds tomorrow…and our hands, just like He held yours.

David A. Staff

Lead Pastor – First Evangelical Free Church * Ames IA