When Is Upside Down Right Side Up?

"When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, 'These men who have upset the world have come here also; and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus'" (Acts 17:6-7)

 Just when is "upside down" really "right side up"?  To use a well-worn cliche, beloved, it all depends upon whom you ask!  The world, for example, will tell you in a heartbeat that Christians, or even moral conservatives for that matter, are definitely "upside down."  Listen to the rhetoric that spews from the printed page and the airwaves.  All of that which they choose to say about us today means only one thing - in their minds we are "upside down" in our thinking and consequently in our politics.  We have been brainwashed by religion.

Did you know that the Apostle Paul and his missionary partner Silas were accused in just the same way by the irate citizens of ancient Thessalonica in Greece?  Dragged before the city bigwigs for causing too many people to accept the gospel of grace and to turn in faith to Jesus Christ, these servants of God were loudly accused of having "upset the world."  In other words, they had challenged and affected the safe and sanctimonious status quo of the Hellenistic Jews and the unbelieving Greeks.  Very simply, they accused Paul and Silas and their gospel message of being "upside down" and of having turned the whole Greek world topsy-turvy as a result.

The problem with such thinking, beloved, whether from the first century or the twenty-first, is that this world has missed the boat when it comes to just what is "upside down" and what is "right side up."  Paul in his preaching in the synagogue in Thessalonica had reasoned with his audience for three Sabbath days in a row and had proven irrefutably that Jesus of Nazareth was then, is now, and forever will be the promised Messiah.  Of the resolute Jews whom many thought none could convince Luke records that even among their number "some of them were persuaded."  They were not persuaded by enticing speech, riveting stories, or catchy phrases.  They were persuaded by the undeniable truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  For those so persuaded, they turned to Christ for the simple reason that they could do nothing else.

That being the case, beloved, again the twenty-first century as well as the first, what every true child of God knows is that the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16).  So we conclude without fear of meaningful argument or contradiction that it is the world that is "upside down" and it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that is "right side up"!  Thus, in answer to the original question: "When is upside down right side up?" the answer clearly is whenever anyone turns from sin and in faith to Christ and receives the gospel of grace.  By the way, are you turning your world upside down by showing it how to be right side up?

Ron

Taking a Close Look at Your Heart

"When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, 'Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him.'  But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart'" (1 Samuel 16:6-7)

The medical technology that the Lord has given to the mind of man today is truly unbelievable!  This week I had the opportunity for the second time in my life to be wheeled into a "cath" lab to undergo a heart catheterization.  Now for those of you who have ever undergone this procedure, no more need be said!  But for those of you who have not, essentially you are awake and aware of what is happening to you as a cardiac surgeon inserts a catheter into the femoral artery (commonly) of your body and runs that catheter through that artery and into your heart.  Having seen on the monitors in the cath lab what your heart looks like with that tiny line inside of your heart, I am truly amazed at the knowledge that God has given to man so that he can help to save lives.  What an amazing look, then, my cardiologist had at my functioning heart as he searched for a suspected blockage to repair!

As phenomenal as this technology of man is, beloved, it absolutely cannot touch what God can do when it comes to both seeing and knowing the heart of every man!  Nor is God looking at our blood vessels, our blood flow and our platelets as He searches our hearts.  The writer of Hebrews states clearly what it is that our Great Cardiologist can see:

"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12)

God can see the deepest need of the heart of any man, beloved, and knows what to do to meet that need.  Nor does He put in a "stent" or blow up a balloon or in any way repair a failing.  What He does do is to totally transform that heart so that the visible living of the person is forever changed.  God's view of you and me, then, is the ability to end all abilities!

No one had to convince me this week to agree to undergo the second heart catheterization that I've had. I wanted to know what was going on inside my heart and, more than that, I wanted my doctor to know as well so that he could fix it for me.  Did you know that this same desire must be in each of our hearts?  King David put it this way in his petition before the Lord:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way" (Psalm 139:23-24)

How much do you want to know what is really going on inside of you, beloved?  Do you make the same appeal to God about your spiritual neediness as you would a cardiologist about your physical needs?  The need to truly know ourselves is the key to not only understanding but allowing God to transform us into what He wants us to be.  Take a close look at your heart today!

Personal note:  I want you to know that my cardiologist did not find any new blockages so no further stents were needed.  God is good!  Thanks to all of you who knew about this and prayed for us during this surprising and trying time.  And thanks to all of you for all your love and support.  I say again: God is good!

Ron     

Sunday Morning Sniffles

"I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'" (Psalm 122:1)

Believe it or not, beloved, I actually do suffer from a condition which I have dubbed the "Sunday morning sniffles"!  As soon as I step onto the platform at church it starts.  Sniff!  Sniff!  From that point on to the end it is "take out the hanky/put away the hanky."

But what is even more amazing to me is that there are actually folks who let the "Sunday morning sniffles" keep them away from worship altogether.  The Kingsmen Quartet recorded a gospel song called "Excuses" some years ago that spoofed this practice:

A headache Sunday morning and a backache Sunday night,
But by work time Monday morning you're feeling quite all right;
One of the children has a cold - pneumonia, do you suppose?
Why, the whole family had to stay home just to blow that poor kid's nose!

It would seem, beloved, that a number of believers suffer from some form of the "Sunday morning sniffles"!  Could it be that perhaps we've become accustomed to going to church with all the enthusiasm of a man headed to the orthodontist for a root canal?

The psalmist here declared joyfully that he was "glad" to be invited to go to the house of God for worship.  Whatever has happened to the excitement of anticipating the heartfelt worship of God?  Does it not stand to reason that the attitude with which we go to worship will be the attitude we will project while actually in worship?

By contrast, a single thought of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ ought to put us into the "glad" category with the author!  Does it?  Are you excited at the prospect of heartfelt worship?  Does the thought of fellowship with the saints and in the Word lift you above those "Sunday morning sniffles"?  There will always be one kid or another who needs to blow his nose from time to time.  Don't let the "Sunday morning sniffles" rob you of the joy of worship, beloved!  Be glad for the chance to gather with the saints for worship!

Ron  

Giving God a Reason to Grieve

"Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart" (Genesis 6:5-6)

The news is out.  It's official.  Sources are telling us that morality has died in America.  The Barna Group has just published its latest findings revealing that currently 53% of Americans favor changing the laws to grant full recognition and acceptance of the homosexual and transgender lifestyle.  People are slapping each other on the back and congratulating each other that at long last we as a people have attained "enlightenment."  Morality as we knew it is a thing of the past, so they say, and it is time to rejoice and be glad.  There is no pulse.  This is a new day.

Why is it that mankind seems doomed never to learn anything from his own history?  Not one time, beloved, not a single time has any generation of people ever abandoned a moral foundation and benefited from that choice.  Check your facts.  Such a disastrous condition as we are now told is here in America does not indicate advancement or enlightenment but rather the further unraveling of our moral fiber, the further decay of a once strong and godly nation.

But that is just the rub, is it not?  God.  What a pesky being He has been in the lives of so many for so long.  Always wanting to have things His own way, always wanting to tell us what is right and what is not.  So here we are.  We have finally silenced God...or so a majority of Americans believe, according to the latest statistics.  We are "free" from all restraints, free to make our own choices, free to follow our own dreams, free to realize destinies of our own design and our own creating.  Free.

But for one small problem.  None of it is true.  Not a single word.  Morality is not on life-support, much less dead!   In fact, morality is not even sniffling.  Morality is as strong and robust as it has always been.  Why?  Because the moral standard by which we are judged, beloved, is the creation of God, not the wishy-washy back and forth of man's sinful mind.  Oh, God is grieving to be sure!  But God is not passive about us.  He may grieve over our choices but He is anything but inactive.  God is doing what God has always done and will do throughout the remainder of human time.  He is appealing to us in love.  He is reaching out in mercy.  He is using a myriad of ways to remind us that He alone is sovereign and that we are not.  He is seeking our yieldedness and our obedience.  He is inviting us to turn to Him in heartfelt repentance so that He may flood our hearts with His forgiveness and fill our beings with His love and His power.

So go ahead.  Check for a pulse all you want.  Make your declarations that morality is dead in America and that we are all enlightened and liberated.  God will continue to remind us that only in Jesus Christ can we know true enlightenment and find eternal life.  Don't be so quick to write morality's epitaph, America.  God has already declared that the day will come when His righteousness will cover the earth like a flood.  Mankind had stood at this crossroad before.  And God is still there and is still speaking.  More than that, He is acting.

Ron 

8, 9, 10! Y'er Out!

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.  For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

We've all seen it, beloved, in the movies if not in real time: the referee crouched over the fallen boxer, counting slowly and deliberately - "8, 9, 10!  Y'er out!"  Then with a dismissive gesture much like that of a baseball umpire signaling that a sliding base-runner is safe, he walks to the still standing opponent and raises his arm in victory.  I believe that the term for the unfortunate loser is "down for the count."  Down and out!

So much is being broadcast today - some on the printed page, some behind the microphone in front of a television camera, and much on public media means such as Face Book, Twitter, and personal blog sites.  The message seems to be that God and His holy standard for mankind are officially "down for the count."  Down and out!  With such dismissive words as we read today, God is deemed to be irrelevant, out of touch, obsolete, and (modern media will love this one) yesterday's news.  You see, we are now "enlightened" as a society.  We've learned our lesson.  We've discovered the liberating truth that we and only we set the moral standards for our own lives, that we and only we have the right to say what is acceptable and what is not.  I would challenge you to check your home page on Face Book on any given day and you will find this alarming trend filling its spaces.  We slap ourselves on the back for being so liberated, so progressive, so "in touch" with mankind.  The only standard for us is now that anything goes and that no one has the right to say that it does not.

Really?  Perhaps we need to go back and consider the words of Solomon, by God's estimation the wisest king whom He ever allowed to rule the nation of Israel.  It was he who wrote the words that are our main focus here.  I love the truths found in these words, beloved, eternal truths, unchanging truths, truths that cannot be dismissed by even the largest majority of foolish mankind.  You see, though we may say or write anything that we please about God and His supposedly outdated standard, though we may refer to the "religious right" as bigoted or narrow-minded or just plain wrong, the truth is that God has given to none of us a vote on the matter.  He is the Creator and Lord and His standard has always been, is now, and forever will be in force.

Consider, then, what Solomon in his wisdom said about the "conclusion," that which will happen when all is said and done, when the last editorial has been published, the last microphone and t.v. camera turned off, the last Face Book thought posted.  Solomon said that when that moment comes - "when all has been heard" - the only conclusion to which we must come is that you and I owe to God reverential awe for His glory and our obedience to His standard for our lives.  In fact, at last God will "bring every act to judgment," all of them, yours and mine.  None will be overlooked or omitted.

I suppose that people will go right on posting comments and sending tweets and publishing articles, expressing the mistaken notion that we are only "free" when we place ourselves above the God who made us.  I suppose that we will keep reading such tragic remarks on Face Book and receiving them on Twitter from whomever wherever whenever.  But one irrevocable truth stands undaunted by all of the trivialities of fallen man.  God and God alone will have the last word.  What was that again that Solomon said?  Oh, yes.  God will "bring every act to judgment."  The Apostle Paul said that mankind lives under a "deluding influence, so that they will believe what is false" (2 Thessalonians 2:11).  We are seeing that lived out before our very eyes today, beloved, and it is tragic to see how pervasive it has become.

The good news is that not only is God not irrelevant but He is loving and gracious.  Not only is He not out of touch but He is merciful and forgiving.  Not only is He not yesterday's news but He is willing even now to cleanse and to transform any and all who will turn to Him in repentance and faith.  And if you and I who know how relevant and in touch and on time God is will only listen very, very carefully, we just might be able to hear a heavenly voice counting over Satan - "1, 2, 3, 4, 5...!  Very soon, beloved, we will hear those glorious words "You're out!" as the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ raise in glorious and eternal victory!

Ron