31

Jump Start # 3588

Posted on May 31, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3588

1 John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.”

  We’ve had a couple of our grandchildren staying with us for over a week. One is five years-old and his little brother is three. We are around our grandchildren as often as we can be and we’ve had others spend the night. But this was the longest we have kept any of them and this is the youngest without parents. They have been so good and tons of fun. The playing and the talking, especially the five-year-old, never ceases. He’s into bugs and robots. And, when you play, he’ll let you know if you are not playing right according to the world of robots. “Robots can’t do that, PJ,” he’d tell me at a volume that could rattle the windows. General Grievous, from the world of Star Wars is his favorite.

And, having spent a week playing bugs and robots, it got me thinking about our Lord. The Lord did not make us robots. He gave us a free will. And, there are times that free-will of ours doesn’t make us much like our Heavenly Father. He’s perfect and we’re not. He always says the right thing, and we don’t. He’s pure and there are times when we are not. He’s kind and gracious and there are days we are selfish and rude.

If the Lord would have made us all spiritual robots, He could have conquered this world and made it a safe and moral refuge. Imagine major cities and there is absolutely no crime. Zero. Imagine people telling the truth all the time, every time. Imagine, people helping each other out. Imagine the poor being taken care of. Imagine church buildings packed every Sunday and everyone worshipping the Biblical fashion.

But, the Lord didn’t make us robots. He gave us a free will. He allowed Adam to eat what he wasn’t supposed to. He allowed Cane to kill his brother. He allowed Aaron to build a golden calf. And, He allows you and I to think and feel the way we want to. Sometimes those thoughts and feelings are wonderful. Sometimes that are shameful and wrong.

Now, some thoughts for us:

First, in many ways, God doesn’t have a freewill. He’s God you say and He can do anything He wants to. Technically, that’s true. But, God cannot lie. He cannot and still be who He is. God cannot be untrue and remain the God that He is. The choice of wrong darkens our character. There is no darkness in God. He does not tempt. He does not lie.

Second, though our freewill often leads to the wrong choices, God still loves us. He loves us when we are unlovable. He loves us when we have not thought about Him. He loves us when the consequences of our free choices have gotten us into some real trouble.

Third, it is God’s desire that we desire Him. Robots are programmed. They can only do what they are programmed to do. They can’t act on their own. We have freedom. We have choice. We can chose God. To say you are sorry because you have to, isn’t really genuine. To say thank you because someone tells you to say that, isn’t coming from your heart. But when we freely and willingly turn to God, that is the expression of our heart.

God loves us. That’s amazing. It’s amazing because we sometimes act like we don’t love Him. He loves us when we have done wrong. God has never done wrong. He loves us when we ignore Him. God’s love is simply amazing.

The boys have returned home. They missed their parents. Memaw and PJ are in recovery mode. I wonder how 100+ year old Abraham did it. The house is a lot quieter. The house stays picked up. There is nothing like the imagination, curiosity and fun that comes from a couple of little boys. I’ll not forget this week. I hope years from now, they will remember.

Bugs. Robots. God.

Roger

30

Jump Start # 3587

Posted on May 30, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3587

1 Samuel 1:8 “Then Elkanah her husband  said to her, ‘Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

The book of 1 Samuel opens with the birth of Samuel, the one who would grow up and anoint the early kings of Israel. Samuel’s father, Elkanah, had two wives. That’s a problem. It created a problem. Peninnah and Hannah were the two women in his life. Peninnah had children. Hannah didn’t. Peninnah would irritate and trouble Hannah because she had no children. Elkanah loved Hannah.

From our verse today, Elkanah asks a series of questions to Hannah. Why are you crying? Why are you not eating? Why are you sad? He seems to know that it is because she has no sons, but little is said about the rivalry and trouble that the other wife was creating. And, it seems that Elkanah did nothing to stop this trouble between the wives.

Here are some things for us to consider:

First, these Bible stories give us little glimpses into what all is going on. These pages from the past are not part of a novel or detailed story of these lives. They are bits and pieces that play a role in God’s eternal story. So, it is hard for us to fully understand things.

Second, Elkanah seems to be oblivious to the trouble between his wives. And, years of bitterness, jealousy and putting on a good face, often explodes in anger and trouble. We see that with the older brother of the prodigal. He was so angry when the prodigal came home and the celebration that the father had thrown for him, that he refused to join them and he refused to acknowledge that the prodigal was his brother. Did all of that happen instantly when he learned the prodigal was back or was it years of resentment that finally surfaced?

Thankfully, our laws do not allow a man to be married to two women at the same time. That will likely change some day with the culture that ignores God. But, blended families are very common. She had a first marriage and children. He had a first marriage and children. And, now they are married to each other and often have a child between them. Her kids. His kids. Our kids. Stir that around a bit and you have all the ingredients for favoritism, jealousy, and ill feelings. Some families work through it well and everyone loves everyone beautifully. Other families don’t do so well.

Third, as Hannah prays silently and makes a vow to the Lord, the priest Eli watches her mouth moving but no words were being spoken. Hannah was praying in her heart. Eli assumed she was drunk. He scolded her. Had she been drunk, she had no business being at the temple. Eli assumed. Eli accused. Eli was wrong.

And, how often do we see things and without all the facts make a conclusion about someone that is wrong? Eli thought the worst. His first thought wasn’t that she was praying. He thought she was drunk. Wouldn’t it be natural to find a person at the temple praying. But thinking the worst, rather than the best, seems to be the common direction of human nature. Eli scolded an innocent believer in God. She was feeling bad and now he only made her feel worse. Guilt is something that is always in supply. Laying it very thick, a person can feel so beat up and destroyed the terrible things others say about them.

Hannah was kind in her reply to Eli. She defended herself and stated what she was doing. She didn’t counter attack Eli. She didn’t accuse him of falsely accusing her. The response of Hannah illustrates what we ought to do when someone has wrongly accused us. Be kind. Declare what you were doing. Leave it at that.

Our Lord was accused many times. His response was very much like Hannah’s. And, that’s a great reminder for us. It is so easy to counter attack when we have been attacked. Hannah was doing no wrong and she knew that and that’s all that mattered.

It is easy to think that people years gone by never had the stresses, troubles and hardships like we do, but they did. In many ways, their lives were harder than ours. Walk through any old cemetery and notice the number of graves of little babies who died just a few days or months after they were born. Many mothers died in childbirth. Cooking, cleaning, daily activities were a lot harder in years gone by.  These lessons remind us that family troubles are nothing new.

Hannah promised the Lord that given a son, she would give him to the service of God. She kept her word.

Roger

29

Jump Start # 3586

Posted on May 29, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3586

Revelation 14:1 “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

There is a persona about the book of Revelation. Many would say, “It’s the most difficult book of the Bible.” I don’t think so. Try Ezekiel’s visions or sections of Zechariah or Daniel. Revelation is a vision that is expressed in word pictures. Symbolism and Old Testament images fill this book. It is a great message of hope.

In our verse today, don’t focus upon who or what the 144,000 are. Don’t worry about what Mount Zion may be. Just think about the purchased righteous (14:3) who have the name of God on their foreheads. Literally? No. No more than there are exactly 144,000 and not one less or one more. Images, remember?

The name of God on their foreheads. The name Andy was on the bottom of Woody’s boot in Toy Story. The name of God was not hidden deep within the heart. No, it’s on the forehead. Visible and identifiable. Others could see what’s on the forehead.

Now, some thought from this:

First, we belong to God. His name is written upon us. We are His. We are not lost. We are not trying to figure who we are or where we belong. We belong to God. He has purchased us. It was an expensive price to buy us. It took the blood of Jesus. Redeemed is what that theological concept means. Bought and under the ownership of God.

Second, there is no one better to belong to that God. The Lord will take care of us. The Lord will see us safely through. It is better to be owned by God than to be left to ourselves. On our own, we’ve gotten deep into sin. On our own, we became lost and could not find our way out. On our own, we do not take care of ourselves very well.

Third, because the name of God is on our foreheads, others can see that. Others know that we belong to God. They see, not God’s literal name on our foreheads, but God’s literal way living through our lives. Our hopes are of God. Our walk is in the Lord. By faith, we travel, doing the will of God everywhere we can.

In a turbulent culture that actively was violent towards Christians, the name of God was upon the foreheads of His people. It wasn’t like a driver’s license, tucked inside a wallet, and hidden in a back pocket or a purse. We carry our license, but it’s hidden. One would think, to protect His people, God would write His name in invisible ink or give His people a card that they could hide on them. Instead, on the forehead, visible to the world, was the name of the Father and the Lamb. Was this a reminder to those persecuted disciples, to not hide their faith but to show it to the world.

And, just what does the world see? We look in the mirror and there is nothing written on our foreheads. But visible to all, is our kindness, generosity, grace, mercy and faithfulness to the Lord. That’s what the world sees. Some will turn away from that. Some will be attracted to that. Some will see the blessings that come from being around a Christian. Others hate what Christians represent and what they stand for.

The name of God visible. The name of God identifiable. The name of God, put on us by God Himself. A reminder of who purchased us. A reminder of who we belong to. A sign to the world that we are God’s.

Roger

28

Jump Start # 3585

Posted on May 28, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3585

1 Thessalonians 2:14 “For you, brethren, became imitators of the church of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.”

It’s a question that seems to be asked in every generation. It’s nothing new, but it is something that needs to be looked at and addressed. The question is: “Should the church change?” Some are so bold to say that unless the church changes, we are doomed. Our survival and existence rests in changing our ways.

When one has preached for a while, like I have, you realize that this is an old song that resurfaces with a new title every so often. And, change is something that we find throughout our Bibles in both a positive and negative fashion.

The very core idea behind repentance is change. One turns from one direction and turns toward God. The prodigal got up out of that pig pen and headed home. He left the house demanding. He came home asking. He was not the same person. He had changed. Cornelius, Saul, the Ethiopian, they all changed. They repented. So, not all change is bad. In fact, if we do not change, or repent, the Lord said we will perish. It’s not a matter of simply adding church to our busy schedules. We have been converted. We have changed.

But some change is not necessary and in fact wrong. Jeroboam offered Israel a new place to worship. A new god to worship. A new day to worship. And, new priests to help in that worship. All those changes made things easy, convenient and nice. But all those changes took the nation away from God. The sons of Korah wanted to ditch Moses and get a new leader. God would have nothing to do with that.

Here are a few thoughts:

First, we must understand and distinguish between our traditions and what the Bible teaches. The two are not necessarily the same. Covid was helpful for that. Many places adjusted the times they gathered and even the way they administered the Lord’s Supper. Changes took place. Some congregations are hopelessly stuck in the 1970s. They refuse to step into technology. They believe the methods that worked then still work today. And, the refusal to consider new methods, new traditions, frustrates a younger audience. Old elders need to get with the times. We do not change the message, but we can certainly change how we deliver that message and find the best methods that encourage and teach.

Our worship services ought to bring us before the Lord. It should not be viewed as spending an afternoon with your grandpa.

Second, some want a church that is less offensive. Less doctrine and more feelings is what they are after. Moral issues, teachings about what is right and wrong, are viewed as offensive to friends. And, some are more concerned about their friends feelings than God’s feelings. There were times when Jesus offended some. There were times when some walked away from Jesus. Now, one can be in your face and ugly and that’s not what Jesus did. But, neither did He water down the message to make it more pleasant for the audience.

Third, some want the church to change to be more like other churches in the community. They want more community projects and involvement that makes the church more friendly to others. While this may sound wonderful, we must not forgot that the call to be like those around us is often very dangerous. Israel wanted a king like the other nations. And, they got that. Kings that ignored God, just like the ones around them. Kings that were abusive and mean. Just like the kings around them.

God wants us to be separate. We are to be a holy nation. Holy, meaning special, unique, separate. It’s hard to be the light when you look like everyone else.

When some declare that they are not happy, that does not mean that everyone else feels the same. Rather than changing ourselves, it’s easier to say, “the church should change.” We must realize that the way God designed the church and set up the church, that it is capable of doing everything that God wanted it to do. It is sufficient to do the work God intended. The problem comes when we start doing things that were not intended. Then, the boundaries get pushed and rules get broken and people get upset.

Our verse today, shows that the Thessalonians imitated the churches in Judea. They did not set out to be different than everyone else. They did not try something new. They did not strive to be unique. God never calls upon us to do that. He wants us to follow the leader.

Should the church change? Some of the methods and ways we do things, sure. From what God told the church to do? Never! That stake has been put in the ground along time ago by Jesus and the apostles.

Roger

24

Jump Start # 3584

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3584

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

NOTE: Monday is a holiday. There will be no Jump Starts that day. You can access previous writings at the website (Jumpstartsdaily.com).

Here is something that one of my sons shared with me recently.

“The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Well, because that’s the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that’s the gauge they used. So, why did ‘they’ use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that same wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since. And what about the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.

Now, the twist to the story: When you saw a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there were two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses pulling a chariot. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature, of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system, was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a chariot.”

Now, some thoughts:

First, life is filled with interesting and trivial facts that we don’t think about. I’ve been on trains before. I have never given any thought to the width of the rails nor that there is a universal standard used. Likewise, there are a lot of interesting and trivial facts from our Bibles. For instance, did you know that all the books in the N.T. that begin with the letter “T” are together (Thessalonians, Timothy and Titus). Do I need to know that to get to Heaven? No.

These interesting items can pull some thoughts together and help us see threads running through the Bible, but they can also lead us on rabbit chases that at the end of the day haven’t accomplished much. The message of the Bible isn’t about odd facts that no one knows, but salvation in Jesus Christ. That’s the focus of our teaching and preaching.

Second, there are things we use daily that we often take for granted. One of the main roads I drive on every day was once part of an Indian trail, which before that was a buffalo trail (more accurately a bison trail). Does that change my commute? Does that come into mind as I fight traffic in the morning? Every morning, I use a laptop keyboard to write Jump Starts. Do I know the origin of the typewriter? I don’t. Do I understand how a laptop functions? Not really. Do I get how the internet and email works? Nope. I have people around me that I bug all the time because something isn’t working right and I don’t have a clue what to do. They do. They try to explain it to me and it gives me a headache.

Now, the same is true spiritually. Unless you are a real history nerd like I am, most do not have the foggiest idea about the background of the congregation where they worship. We assemble on Sunday, not understanding how our English Bibles came to be, how hymnals and specific songs were written, the sacrifices that were made to start the congregation we are a part of. Is it necessary to know those things? No. But it reminds us that we stand upon the sacrifices and shoulders of many men and women whose work makes our worship possible. And, in time, if we are busy in the kingdom, someone down the road will stand upon the work that we have accomplished and it will make their lives much easier in the kingdom.

Third, the Pharisees, as our verse today illustrates, majored in the minors. The smallest of seeds were counted and a tenth was given to the Lord. That’s nice. The Lord did not say that they should not have been doing such things. But, while doing that, they failed to do the obvious, the big things. Mercy, justice and faithfulness to God was left out. It’s not one or the other, but both. And, we can follow in the same steps of these Pharisees by complaining about how late someone is, where someone is sitting in worship, how many times someone goes out to the bathroom and fail to worship the God who loves us and has cared so much for us. The details matter. Sweating the small stuff is good. But in so doing, don’t over look the big things. Your character, your heart, your attitude, your obedience to God—those things matter.

I drove over some railroad tracks yesterday. As I did, I took a look at the width of the rails  and thought about Roman chariots.

Interesting…

Roger