Help the Syrian Refugees!

I’ve really been burdened by the plight of the Syrian refugees.God has put Syria in my path many times - I visited there 10 times while I lived in Lebanon - for visa trips combined with either visiting a couple of other missionary friends who were living there or for sightseeing. It was a tough, dark place with hardly any western influence. But I'd like to share a little so you can get an idea for the people and the country.

At first I really did not enjoy going there - it honestly creeped me out. We (my friends and I) couldn’t openly share the gospel. We had to meet in secret to have bible study. We knew people were watching us and the people we visited. People were very different from the jovial, fun-loving, boisterous people of Lebanon I had come to love. The Syrians were still hospitable but guarded and more stoic- for good reason. People would just disappear! The darkness and evil and oppression were tangible. 

But then God changed my heart and gave me compassion for the people and when I visited I began to pray as I walked along. I came to really love the people and even the place so shrouded in darkness and intrigue. I went from requesting of God that He never send me to live there to dreaming up plans with my missionary friends on how we could reach unreached people there! 

It was there that I had my first real taste of unadulterated Arab/Muslim culture with all its sights and sounds - the desert, the spices, the street vendors, the houses - all had a flavor of what most of us think of when we think of the Arab world. I ate camel meat! I ate on the floor with my hands with a group of women and with other families. It was there that I befriended a little girl who greeted me every time in her village with great enthusiasm. On New Year's Eve she took me around to rooftops and people’s homes. I had no idea where she would take me next since my Arabic wasn't very good (it was a little scary but turned out the be the most memorable New Year’s Eve of my life). 

On a bouncy, zippy, dusty drive to Damascus one afternoon I first learned more about Eric from his team leaders. And that night we had our first quasi date at Starbucks! My love for history was greatly satisfied in Syria - it still had many ancient and medieval buildings and homes. I walked along the road to Ananias' house, and along Straight Street (from Acts). Would you believe it is still called Straight Street ???!!!! I also had the great pleasure going on a bonafide, very memorable (for many reasons) adventure to one of the most well preserved medieval/crusader castles in the world - Krak des Chevaliers. What a dream come true! I can think of many more great moments connected to Syria. 

But also, it was there that I first walked into a mosque - the Umayyad Mosque, where many Muslims believe Jesus will return to judge the world and is supposedly where John the Baptist's head is kept. One particular dark corner of it made the hair on my arms stand on end.  And I couldn’t get out fast enough! It was also there that I saw missiles/rockets on the back of flatbeds. It was there that my Christian Lebanese driver flew like the wind to get me out as fast as he could because he hated it there so much - the two countries have a long, terrible history of war and unrest. 

After Eric and I were married we “adopted” a Syrian OU student for a year. She was from Aleppo. Her family was quite wealthy I think. She told us all about life in Syria and the political situation. She said she could never speak of such things in her country; she would have been arrested. We visited with her a lot and were able to share the gospel with her many times. She came to Eric’s parents' house for Thanksgiving with us. She could understand Jesus and even accepted His death on the cross but she couldn’t wrap her head around grace and the fact that we can’t earn God’s approval. We learned a lot about how Muslims think and their strongholds through her as well as more about the hardship of living in such a dark place. 

Then in London in 2006 we met a Christian couple from Syria who helped us with Bible distribution on the streets in London to vacationing Arabs. They were precious. We learned a lot from them about the work that God is doing among Syrians to bring them to Christ and the work of the church there. They did really hard, dangerous work and life was not easy for them because of the political situation. They had to be really careful. We still have their prayer sheet. 

So, God has put Syria on my heart time and time again. After reading and watching the plight of these refugees I have wept and prayed and wept more. It really breaks my heart. So, I’ve wanted to do something and thought others in our church might want to do something too. Or maybe they don’t even know much about it. I think they should. It’s a big, global, history-making, deal! I’ve done some researching and found these sights to be good. 

https://gobgr.org/projects/project_detail/syria-crisis/ - I worked with baptist relief at ground zero in  2001. They do awesome work and have a great reputation.

http://namepeoples.imb.org/landing/4syria 

https://l4syria.wordpress.com 

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/disaster/refugee-crisis-in-europe

http://wewelcomerefugees.com - one of my missionary friends in Lebanon who started a refugee ministry in 2006 in Tucson, AZ suggested this sight. It is just getting going but it looks like it will be a great resource for connecting with churches in Europe and mobilizing the church here and there to rise up to meet this challenge. Please join me in helping these people whom have been made in the image of God and simply want to get away from the ravages of war. 

Santa or Not?

Among Christian circles there is great opinion about whether to include Santa Claus in the celebration of Christmas. Eric and I have been pondering how to handle this with our own children. Do we say Santa is a myth with no redeeming qualities or do we include him in some way in the season? On the one hand Santa seems to embody the consumeristic hunger that secular Christmas has become. On the other hand, it might be possible to further explain the spirit of giving at Christmas. Hank Hanegraaf wrote, "far from being a dangerous fairy tale, Santa Clause in reality is an Anglicized form of the Dutch name Sinter Klaus, which in turn is a reference to Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop from the fourth century. According to tradition, Saint Nick not only lavished gifts on needy children, but also valiantly supported the doctrine of the Trinity at the Council of Nicea in AD 325." The Heart of Christmas: A Devotional for the Season by Hank Hanegraaf. 

So, the real Santa Claus, not the embodiment of heresy and materialism, affirmed Christian beliefs about the divine nature of our Savior as expressed in the idea of the Trinity and was very generous. Hanegraaf concluded this devotional segment about Santa Claus and the Trinity, "In Sum, then, Christians may look back on the tradition of Saint Nick...as a legendary hero of the faith. Of course the notion that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole in a toy factory, that he sees children at all times and knows whether they've been bad or good, and that he travels in a sled pulled by flying reindeer, is clearly myth and should therefore be treated as such. This December 25 as you celebrate the coming of Christ with a Christmas tree surrounded by presents, may the story of selflessness on the part of Saint Nick remind you of the Savior who gave the greatest gift of all. Thus rather than supplant the Savior with Santa, we can use Saint Nick as a reminder to generously support God-ordained ministries so that the message of salvation can reach those who have not yet received salvation by God's grace alone, through faith alone - and on account of Christ alone. " And I add, giving generously to those in need around us and abroad.

So does all of this look like for our family? Our focus is Christ, his birth, the gift of salvation he offers to us, the Word became flesh. We've been reading several verses every day about the birth of Christ from the gospels and the prophecy of his coming from Isaiah and Malachi. We have a book called, J for Jesus by Crystal Bowman that expresses the legend of the candy cane but tells frankly the purpose of Christ's coming and death. We have another book that we are going to read to the boys a couple of days before Christmas and the day of called, My Christmas Gift also by Crystal Bowman that expresses the real gift of Christmas and not to miss it among the gift giving and receiving of Christmas Day. We have several books portraying the birth of Jesus that we've been reading. On Christmas Day we are going to give Wes a sticker book that once again explains the whole purpose of Christmas.

As far as Santa goes, we've read stories about him and explaining that there was a real Santa Claus who gave gifts to poor people and followed Jesus but we don't emphasize the flying reindeer and other myths associated with the jolly old man. We thought that we'd have the stockings be from Santa in the tradition of how Saint Nick would do it, but not focus on him actually coming down the chimney or watching over them to know if they've been naughty or nice.

Another thing we've incorporated this year into the festivities is a Jesse Tree. I had hoped to do it last year but couldn't get all the sewing done for it in time! A fellow worker in Lebanon introduced this idea to me years ago. Mine looks far different from hers but the concept is still the same. You start  on December 1, each day read until Christmas a  major story of the Bible that points to Christ's coming (creation, fall, flood, Abraham, Isaac, the 10 commandments, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, Daniel and the lion, Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, the shepherds, etc) and then pick the ornament that goes along with the story and hang it on the tree. I don't think Wes would have appreciated it last year. This has been a lot of fun this year!


On Christmas Day, we plan to open a gift or two, or their stockings and then have a breakfast together with a breakfast cake for Jesus, sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, read the Christmas story again (we probably will have read it the night before as well for the Jesse Tree) from the Jesus Storybook Bible and sing some Christmas carols.  Then we can finish opening gifts.

We may rethink all of this next year, but for now, this is our plan. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Reading the Bible in a Year

Well, this year I am going to try it again. I have tried numerous times to read the Bible through in a year. Sometimes I start in the middle of a year, sometimes at the beginning, sometimes in the middle of a plan and try to finish (which I actually did better at than starting at the beginning of one and going all the way through). All that said, I don't really know that I've actually made it all the way through the Bible in a whole year. I have read all parts of the Bible, some part much more than others, but doing it in a year has always been a struggle. I get bogged down usually in Job or in the prophets.

So again, all that said, I am trying something new this year. Usually, I pick a plan that takes the reading through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, or while reading the OT and NT together. However, I came across a plan that has no order to it. You read one book in the OT and one in the NT together but it is really random. Also, I read an article by Noel Piper who explained how she had read through the Bible in that year. She too, of all people!, had trouble getting through the way most plans propose. She picked what she wanted to read next and read it and made it through in a year.

I didn't really want to do the plan that I found. I think I like to make things hard for myself. So, I figured out how many chapters there are in the OT and NT and then decided how to divide those up during the year. Here is what I came up with.

I read one New Testament chapter 5 days a week. I think with this you have time left over at the end of the year to catch up if needed, plus you have 2 days each week to catch up.

I also read 2 or 3 Old Testament chapters 6 days a week, excluding Psalms and Proverbs. Again, I think you finish before the end of year. During the week at breakfast or lunch I try to read a Psalm or a few verses from Proverbs with the boys out of a Reader's Version Bible.

I started out with Hebrews in the New Testament and am now in Revelation. I think I will do a gospel next, maybe John, since he also wrote Revelation. I started the Old Testament with Hosea and have continued on through the minor prophets because these are the ones I've read the least. I've missed a few days but I've been able to catch up for the most part. I haven't yet decided what to read next in the OT. I may read Job.

How do I keep up with it? I write out what I want to read next in my pocket calendar. That way, I just open the calendar and it tells me what to read that day and if I get behind I also have it recorded and know where I should be and what I need to read to catch up. I didn't write it down this way at the beginning and I got a little lost so I came up with this idea. So far it has worked great.

So I just wanted to share this with you in case you are like me and find it difficult to do a plan the conventional way but still desire to really read through the Bible in a year. However, wouldn't necessarily recommend this if you are not familiar with the layout, flow and history through the Bible. Hope it is helpful!

Unusual Christmas Message

This Sunday in church the text was from 2 Pet. 3, a chapter about "The Day of the Lord," judgment day. Not the usual text read for a Christmas message. So here is how it fits...

For the last four weeks, the sermons have had to do with Advent, a time set aside for the anticipation of Christmas. The first week's topic was "Longing." The text was Psalm 40 where the psalmist cries out, "How long O Lord?" It is an acknowledgement that all is just not right with the world and in our hearts and the desire for them to be made right. The second week was about the "Promise" from God to reweave the fabric of society, to make all things right, to put creation back as it should be, to restore the relationship with the people He created. The third week discussed the "Arrival" of the King to begin to fulfill the promise. It was the inauguration of His kingdom, the setting in motion to make all things right, beginning with the hearts of man. Jesus was sent by God the Father as God the Son, from heaven, to walk with us as humans, to weep with us, full of sorrow because of our sorrow and our sin. He took this burden on Himself, dying in our place, to make us whole and make things right with us in relation to God. We don't have to prove ourselves or do things to measure up to Him. There is no way we could. He has done it for us. We are covered by His blood alone.

So, now we are up to the fourth week, "Anticipation." It is the idea that Christ will come to finish His work. He has been working, is working and will complete His work on the judgment day. His kingdom was inaugurated when he arrived on earth 2000 years ago; He will return to consummate His Kingdom and to have His day of reckoning for all that is not and has not been right. He will make all things right! So, though we may have looked on the Day of the Lord with fear, if we are followers of Jesus, living a life of repentance, then we have nothing to fear. It should be looked to as a day of rejoicing because it will be the completion of all that God has done to make things right that have been messed up by us. What hope is there in Christmas and in longing and the promise from God if there is no final reckoning to deal decisively with all the injustice in the world? Without the Day of the Lord, there is not climax to the plot, no resolution to the storyline. This is the exclamation point at the end of the entirety of the gospel story.

So how does this affect our lives? This anticipation for the consummation of the Kingdom should give us a deep passion for the Lord! A diligence, a focus, a clarity of purpose to set our hearts on the holiness of God, to let our lives be a reflection of that and to speak the whole gospel story. It should resize us so that God is the main character, not us. It should encourage us to examine our lives daily and live with a repentant heart, not to perform for Him but because He has performed and finished the work for us.

I've never much thought about the Day of the Lord and am a complete skeptic with regard to so many people trying to predict when the end will be and that we live in end times. As a student of history, I've studied how bad all of history has been. The things that started out good get twisted. Our present age is not the inventor of evil. It has ebbed and flowed throughout history, hidden for a time but still working and thoroughly heinous and obvious at times. Every generation thinks they are living in the end times. However, in light of certain things in our own lives, I've been confronted personally with the fact that all is really just not right with the world, our country, our laws, etc. No government is perfect, nothing is. We expect things to work with swift justice and they simply don't. It has forced me to long for the day when all of this mess will be made right forever, when there will be no more orphans and no more fight for them and no more hunger and starvation and disease and extreme poverty and slavery and human trafficking. This anticipation should wake us up to these things, all the injustice and wrong in the world, and to cry out to the Lord to see and hear and work and to seek to help soften the blows of our fallen world but with realization that only God will finally put an end to it all, that we are not the saviors to end all of this, it is not our burden to carry. Christ, the Holy Child, is the Savior and Coming, Conquering, Victorious King.

Come, Lord Jesus Come!!!

Fresh Eyes and Random Thoughts

This is just a bit of rambling from some thoughts from a Bible study Eric and I have started.

Eric has had a heart while at work to reach out to anyone with the gospel. He feels very inadequate about this but he amazes me. Frequently he comes home telling me of great spiritual conversations he's had with coworkers who are seeking to understand who Jesus is and exploring the truth of Christianity. As a result of regularly talking to some of the guys he works with he decided to start a kind of Bible study. We started doing this several months ago and have met on and off each week since. We are reading through the book of John. Eric facilitates the reading and the discussion, asking some of the same general questions each week like, "What does the passage tell us about Jesus, about God, about man, and about ourselves specifically?" And, "As a result, if this is true, how are we to respond to what we've learned?" The discussion has been so good that we almost always go past the hour and a half we have allotted and have still only made it to the end of John 4.

Since I am of a bit older generation and have spent most of my life around believers in the United States (overseas I was mostly around nonbelievers but the cultures and mindsets were completely different). Spending time with these few "seekers" has opened my eyes more to the philosophy of life in today's world. I've read some about this but it doesn't compare to listening to these guys and gals think out loud. I recognize that they are only a few in a sea of many but I think they fit a different mold than what we try to put people into. In visiting so many churches in this area trying to get settled, we've discovered so many that cater to what they think people want to hear so they will come to church. However, according to our Bible study group, this is not what they want. They want to see real worship not entertainment. They are deep thinkers. They want depth of teaching about the Bible, not something that just makes you feel good about yourself. They want real, meaningful relationships and conversations in the midst of our text-messaging, facebook, twitter world. They want an avenue to ask hard questions and not be blown off. And they want people to be real in answering the questions, who can truthfully say, "I don't know." They want conversations with people who really know the Word but don't flaunt it. They want to see faith and truth played out for real, with humility - not with perfection - in those who proclaim to follow Christ, so that they stand apart from the rest of the world. They are super smart and know when they are being catered to.

It has been really refreshing and challenging to be around this group. Each week I walk away contemplating my own walk with the Lord based on some of the profound comments they've made. It has caused me to reexamine much of my heart and attitudes and actions. I've even started reading the Bible differently, trying to see it with fresh eyes and looking at it much more deeply, asking some of those same questions that Eric asks as well as pondering some of the comments and questions from the group. It has made a big impact on my walk with the Lord.

I've learned a lot about the simplicity of teaching the Bible and discipleship through this group and it has confirmed what we experienced in Lebanon. We've read so many books about discipleship and listened to many sermons on the subject. We've tried those methods and though there are good parts, it often feels contrived. In our experience in Lebanon and with this Bible study, the best kind of disicpleship is simply reading the Bible together, mulling it over together and sharing life together. The Bible speaks for itself and it tells us how to live the Christian life. We don't need anything else, except of course the Holy Spirit to guide us.

It has also shown us that people are everywhere who are open to the gospel, you just have to put yourself out there to start conversations and share your own life with people. In Matt 28:19-20, we are called to take the gospel to all nations including our own, including our coworkers and neighbors. Of course, I am not advocating not going to other nations, (if you know me at all, you know I would Never advocate not going to other nations!) just that where ever God has you is a mission field.

What has been so neat is seeing the Word read through fresh eyes. Each week I am blown away by the profoundness of their thoughts and discussion about life and the world and even Christian faith and Jesus and humankind that they pull out of a passage that I had NEVER thought of. One guy made a comment a while ago that has stuck with me, that I keep going back to and thinking about as I read things in the Word or watch others who say they are believers. He said in a sense, "If this is really what the Bible says it is and the Bible is true, then this requires everything of me; this would completely change everything, I would want to give everything to it." Exactly! I think so often we jump in with sharing the gospel with people wanting to have a quick positive response without giving time for people to contemplate the cost or really even explaining the cost in the first place. True faith is a sacrifice of your life, giving your life, surrendering your life and all your rights to everything over to the Lord, making him the ruler of your life willingly as a result of understanding the scope of what Jesus did for us. Our friend recognized this and you could tell it wasn't an easy thing to process, naturally. But he's also made comments about the peace he sees in it.

I was reading in the Bible this morning at the end of John where Jesus asked Peter, "Do you truly love me?" I liked what the notes in the margin explain in regards to love and it fits perfect with our friend's comment on counting the cost. To "truly love" refers to a love in which the entire personality, including the will is involved. We give up our own will for His because we truly love Him, because He truly loved us. This is in effect what our friend was saying. And he didn't even have the notes! Isn't it beautiful and at the same time challenging to see the Word through fresh eyes and to see the Holy Spirit working so marvelously?

Some Thoughts on Freedom

Over the last few years I've been reading a lot about the period of the American Revolution. I've been curious how the ideas of freedom as the 'founding fathers' saw it, i.e, the individual rights of man as well as a collective political and social freedom, match with what the Bible says with regard to freedom and our rights.

I've discovered through my reading that many of the founding fathers, even those who were professed atheists or deists, saw the definite need for virtue within a society and on an individual level in order for personal, political and social liberty to succeed within the context of a democratic or republican government. Our freedom cannot stand without a sense of social decency and respect for fellow citizens, otherwise we infringe on their freedom. Our freedom cannot be at the expense of someone else. It is a sacrificial freedom, one that gives sacrificially on an individual level as well as a societal level for the good of all so that liberty is maintained. Complete freedom to do and say as we please on an individual and corporate level will be the undoing of a republic. For a democratic republic to work there must be a give and take of freedom for the good of the whole. It requires responsibility and selflessness. These virtues sometimes limit freedom on an individual level but for the whole, freedom continues.

I've been reading through I Corinthians via the Scripture Storyline and have discovered the very same principles laid out by Paul. There was a debate about whether it was permissible as believers to eat the meat sacrificed to idols. In summary, Paul agrees that we have the freedom in Christ to eat whatever meat or to drink what we desire but we must ask ourselves if it is beneficial or helpful to the rest of the body of Christ? Will someone else in the body be bound and strangled by your freedom? The goal is not to do as you please now that you are in Christ but to help the body of Christ to grow in maturity and unity and love and to draw others to Christ. We must be careful with the freedom given to us through grace. We must be willing to give up what we think is permissible for the sake of a brother or sister in Christ. Paul had experienced immense hardship for the sake of the body of Christ and so that some might be saved. Think of what Christ gave up for our sakes! Our focus should not be on ourselves and what we are free to do in Christ but on Christ Himself and be willing to lay down our rights and freedoms so that someone else may be free in Christ and grow to maturity unhindered.

So whether it be for the sake of a nation or for the sake of the body of Christ and a person's salvation, we must be careful and selfless with our freedom. It is not to be taken lightly and not to be had at the expense of someone else's liberty.

You Are Not Your Own

Here is an excerpt from Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest.," Nov. 1. It summarized a lot of what I 've been learning and wanted to share it with you. Blessings!

"Ye Are Not Your Own." 1 Cor. 6:19

"There is no such thing as a private life - 'a world within the world' - for a man or woman who is brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ's sufferings. God breaks up the private life of His saints, and makes it a thoroughfare for the world on the one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves, we are called into the fellowship of the gospel, and things happen which have nothing to do with us, God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way; if you do not, instead of being of the slightest us to God in His redemptive work in the world, you will be a hindrance and a clog.

"The first thing God does with us is to get us based on rugged Reality until we do not care what becomes of us individually as long as He gets His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn't we go through heartbreaks? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain; we sit down on the threshold of God's purpose and die away of self-pity, and all so-called Christian sympathy will aid us to our death bed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, and says - 'Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.' If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart."

To Give or Not To Give

Over the years and even more so recently, I've pondered whether I should give money to the homeless person on the street corner or to beggars that walk the streets in foreign countries and even in our own land. I feel a great tinge of conviction in my heart when I just drive by going on about my happy, well-provided for life.

The argument from many has been that they will just use it for sordid means. Yes, perhaps. Maybe that is more than likely the case, but how do we know? How do we discern? Sometimes it is easy to tell, but sometimes it isn't.

Jesus said, "For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give you a drink?' ... Then the King will answer them, saying, ' Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'" Matt. 25:35-40

When we give we are serving the Lord. My thought has been that sometimes we just don't know the motives and intentions of people but is it up to us to make that judgment? The person who approaches us is in definite and obvious need regardless. Should we not give and let God work it out?

Well, my thoughts were put to the test the other day. We were shopping at Home Depot and I happened to be perusing the bushes outside by the parking lot while Eric went inside to get some electrical material. A man approached me who was obviously in need, though not too destitute looking. He told me a story that sounded legitimate about needing money to get back to the Salvation Army and to buy a few legitimate, inexpensive things at the store. I felt this tugging in my heart to put action to what I had been pondering. I wanted to offer to take him to the Salvation Army or to the store to get the other things he said he needed but I didn't feel like I was in a position to do that with Eric in the store where I'd have to track him down. So I gave him some money, probably more than I should have but I didn't have smaller bills.

I went inside and told Eric and he scolded me. He said that guy had approached him before with a similar story, though not exactly the same one, which led me to believe that it wasn't true at all. I was utterly discouraged. I felt like I had done the right thing and now I realized I had been scammed! I was really bothered by it. But Eric agreed with me that God knew my heart in it and that is what matters.

The next day, Eric discovered that the car we had driven to Home Depot had a flat tire. Somehow our tire was damaged in the Home Depot parking lot. So Eric took off the wheel and took it up the street to Sears. The repairmen fixed the flat and wrote up the bill. However, they said not to worry about it, that it was a really cheap part and it didn't take much of their time!!! Who does that? Especially in this recession? And do you know how much the bill was for that we didn't have to pay? The same amount I gave the guy in the Home Depot parking lot!

So, the trip to Home Depot resulted in either giving up money for the man in the parking lot who was less than truthful but needy nonetheless, or giving up the money to Sears. The money we have is not our own. God will do with it what He will. And, God rewards those who follow His prompting even if it doesn't make sense to us.

Of course I will always try to do as the Spirit leads me but I might use a little more wisdom and thought about how to best help next time. In Jesus example no money was given, only the tangible resources that were needed. So perhaps it is better to offer to take the person to a store or drive them where they need to go which, by the way, is what Eric had offered to the man in the parking lot when he had been approached by him. The needy man declined. However, there are people with legitimate needs who are not trying to swindle us. Perhaps the best way to give to them is through an organization or ministry that reaches out to them or through food and clothing donations or through volunteering.

Regardless, the Old and New Testaments are wrought with commands, instructions and requirements to give to the poor. It is not an option. You cannot get through the Pentateuch or the prophet books without recognizing this. To neglect this task is to bring judgment upon ourselves and even our nation (as in the case with Israel), to neglect the Holy Spirit and to disobey the Lord. Be faithful and compassionate and wise with what God has given. It isn't ours anyway.

New Year's Resolutions

Have you ever heard of Jonathan Edwards? Here’s a snippet about him from Wikipedia. “Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1758) was a colonial American Congregational preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards "is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian"[1]. He is known as one of the greatest and most profound of American theologians and revivalists.” What an awesome guy! He gives a completely new understanding of resolutions that he read over ever week. Take a look at some that I have copied here:

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God

28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same

31. Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution

33. Resolved, always to do what I can towards making, maintaining, establishing and preserving peace, when it can be without over-balancing detriment in other respects. Dec.26, 1722

52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723

58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May27, and July 13, 1723

67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what good I have got by them, and what I might have got by them

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!