False Advertising

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  --2 Timothy 3:14-15

Last week I mentioned a desk calendar I have that has some fun facts and weird wackiness, each day a different entry.  One day I learned that the Parker Pen Company, trying to write an advertisement in the Spanish market, said that their pens "are guaranteed not to leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."  What they intended to say was that you would not be embarrassed by having an ink-stained dress shirt in which your fountain pen decided to release its black contents.

Cognates are words that are similarly spelled or pronounced in both languages that both mean the same thing.  The advertising agency for Parker mistakenly thought that the Spanish word embarazada was a cognate for the English word "embarrassed."  It is not.  It actually means "pregnant" in Spanish.

That calendar entry reminded me of a time when General Motors Corporation was trying to sell the Chevrolet Nova car in the Mexican market.  They could not figure out why sales were so low until one of the line workers advised the marketing team that in Spanish, no va means "it doesn't go."  They had to rename that car model for the Spanish market.

Both of these are examples of people trying to communicate an idea when they don't know enough about either the product they are selling, or the language and culture of the buyers.  We all know enough about advertising to not believe everything the advertiser says.  Advertisers may distort the truth a little bit, by leaving out key facts or by making false claims about their product.  Consumers learn this by experience, and that knowledge is spread by word of mouth.

I think those of us who are trying to live out the Great Commission need to keep this in mind.  Jesus told us to "go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." (Mark 16:15).  What He does not want us to do is market a product we do not fully understand or appreciate.  When a hurting world hears a very famous televangelist say, "God wants you to live your best life now," they tend to shut off all others who are trying to share the good news of Jesus with them.  The advertisement they heard was a distortion of the gospel.

Paul gave Timothy this charge:

Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.  As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.  --2 Timothy 4:2-4

People truly want to hear something good, something true, something that will lift them out of the muck and mire they are in.  What a shame it is that they hear a prosperity gospel that promises abundance always.  Those who reject that message may also reject the true message of Christ, by associating it with the false gospel.  Those who buy into that doctrine miss the message of Paul.

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.  Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  --2 Timothy 3:10-13 

In truth, life is full of of hardships and persecutions.  The good news is that Jesus walks through the hard times with us.  He will see us through to the other side.  That message, unfortunately, is drowned out by the false gospel.  People respond to it like they respond to false advertising claims.  They don't buy it because they have been hurt too often.

When Scorpions Attack

And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions.  Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.  --Ezekiel 2:6

I have a desk calendar that shows random facts day by day.  Some of them are fun-facts, some are dull.  Every once in awhile, I see one that gets my mind to wandering.  This week there was one such entry.  "When a scorpion attacks, it leaves behind its stinger, tail, and anus.  As a consequence, they will eventually fill up with (their own excrement), explode, and die (usually within about 8 months)."

I have been told (although I have no first-hand experience) that a scorpion sting is quite painful.  Sometimes it can be lethal.  As a result, I have been programmed to avoid scorpions at all costs.  I will rarely (if ever) go to their natural habitat, but if I do, I will be diligent and keep a sharp eye out for them.

I do remember once when I was quite young, we lived in a rural area of Texas, and somehow scorpions were able to get in the house.  I was brushing my teeth one morning, and in the wall fixture that held my toothbrush there was a cup-holder.  It was not a covered cup dispenser, but a round hole large enough to place a plastic cup.  Of course it was right-side up, with no cover.  So anyway, as I was brushing my teeth, I absent-mindedly reached for the plastic cup and filled it with water from the tap, so that I could rinse out my mouth.  When I poured out the unused portion of the water, a small scorpion sloshed out of the cup and into the sink.  Startled, I crushed its head with the cup, then took a tissue and, careful not to touch the stinger, picked it up gingerly and flushed it down the toilet.

In any case, scorpions are dangerous, and in some cases can be found where they are not expected and are unwelcome.

People can be like scorpions.  They can sting you with their words, and their remarks can be quite painful.  There used to be an adage quoted by young students, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."  A useful phrase if you are trying to build your child's self esteem, but quite untrue.  Words can hurt, and with the rise of bullying and juvenile suicides, sometimes the words can be lethal.

I thought of the Apostle Paul when I read the calendar entry.  You may remember that Paul had what he called "a thorn in the flesh", for which he prayed God's deliverance on at least three occasions.  Paul wrote that God did not remove the thorn, but reminded him that "my grace is sufficient for you."  Much discussion has gone on about what exactly Paul's thorn was.  Many think that it was a physical ailment, such as poor eyesight.  However, some theologians say that "thorn in the flesh" was a euphemism for people who would follow him around and hurl insults at him.  Their verbal jabs must have been piercing, or at the very least distracting to his message.  If I had a call from God to travel as a missionary from town to town, establishing churches in each new city where Christ had never been preached before, then I would expect God to "make straight my path", so to speak.  It would be hurtful to have Pharisees and Judaizers come behind me and undercut the message that God had given me.

If it could happen to Paul, one of the most brilliant theologians of all time and author to over one-third of the New Testament, how much more could it happen to you or me?

As I was researching this topic, I found a definition attributed to Strong's as found in blueletterbible.com that the Greek word skorpios, from which we get the English word "scorpion", may have come from a root word skerpo, an obsolete word that is also the basis of the word skopos, meaning an observer or skeptic.  It means to spy, or to peer intently (perhaps piercingly).

So, when you find yourself proclaiming truth, especially God' truth, there will be those who try to poke holes in your message.  They will observe you, find what they think is a weakness, and pierce your message with stinging words.  Their criticisms may be paralyzing, but please do not let them be deadly to your testimony.  We must keep on proclaiming the gospel until Christ returns, although we may have to use His Word and the testimony of others as balm to heal our pain (see Revelation 12:11).

Bear in mind also that, like the scorpion, those who leave their stinger in you are also on a path of destruction unto themselves.  Their death will not be instantaneous, but over time their foul excrement will accumulate within them, so that they themselves cannot survive.  Their message is, in fact, lethal; not to us, necessarily, but to themselves surely.

In the 9th chapter of the book of Revelation, John foresaw a time when Satan (the star fallen from heaven) would be given the key to the bottomless pit.  When opened, flying insects like scorpions would be released.  Those creatures will have the mission to attack those without the Seal of God on their forehead.  "They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails." (verse 10).  The torment will be such that those who do not know Christ "will seek death and will not find it.  They will long to die, but death will flee from them." (verse 6).

We must continue to tell the truth of the gospel of God, because it will bring hope to the hopeless.  We must ignore those who would try to stop our message, for their god is the devil, the father of lies.  Their message may be appealing, but it is excrement, and its accumulation will kill them.

Hymns and Spiritual Songs

...But be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart...  --Ephesians 5:18b, 19

This morning my wife and I were in the car discussing the fact that we missed using hymnals in worship.  While placing song texts on screens has the advantage of having all eyes toward the front of the sanctuary during worship, the drawbacks are more numerous. 

First, there is no encouragement for harmonies.  Reading the parts in the hymnbook growing up contributed to my appreciation of music.  Even though my natural vocal range is that of a tenor, reading the bass line and occasionally even the alto line helped me to appreciate the other voices as well as gave me practice in skills such as language skills and problem solving.  (Making sense out of musical intervals is much like breaking a code; it uses the same part of the brain as learning a different language.)

Second, and perhaps more importantly, the use of screens at the front of the worship center has encouraged the singing of choruses, placing more importance on repetition of religious sounding  phrases than sound theology.  This "dumbing down" of worship has come at a cost.  I believe that people flock to churches where they are entertained more than taught the Word.  I know, because I fell victim to this scam for many years.

There is a great deal of theology taught in the traditional hymns.  Consider this song, which used to be the first one in every Baptist hymnal.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
who wert and art and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye made blind by sin thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea;
holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Yes, it has archaic language, but so does classic literature.  Do we stop studying Chaucer and Shakespeare because people no longer speak that way?  Setting that aside for a moment, this hymn is a way to commit scripture to memory.  There are direct references to 1 Samuel 2:2, Psalm 5:3, and Lamentations 2:3; there are also allusions to Revelation 4:6-11, Revelation 5:13, Revelation 15:2-4, and Isaiah 6:1-3.

As we were driving this morning, my wife looked up Keith Green on YouTube.  He was a recording artist and worship leader in the 1970's.   He recorded a version of this great hymn, and when we listened to it together, we remembered his great voice.  The next song we listened to was a hymn written by Keith Green himself:

There is a redeemer
Jesus, God's own Son
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah
Holy One

Jesus my redeemer
Name above all names
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah
Oh, for sinners slain

Thank you, oh my father
For giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit
'Til the work on Earth is done

When I stand in Glory
I will see His face
And there I'll serve my King forever
In that Holy Place

Thank you, oh my father
For giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit
'Til the work on Earth is done

I call this a hymn because of its theological underpinnings and scriptural basis.  Others may call it a chorus or worship song, and it certainly did make us worship in the car this morning.  We went on to listen to and sing another Keith Green hit, O Lord, You're Beautiful

Oh Lord, you're beautiful,Your face is all I see,For when your eyes are on this child,Your grace abounds to me

Oh Lord, you're beautiful,Your face is all I see,For when your eyes are on this childYour grace abounds to me

I want to take your word and shine it all aroundBut first help me to just, live it LordAnd when I'm doing well, help me to never seek a crownFor my reward is giving glory to you

Oh Lord, please light the fire
That once burned bright and clean
Replace the lamp of my first love
That burns with holy fear

Like the old preacher used to say, if that don't light your fire than your wood's all wet.  We had a great worship service right there in our car, all because of Keith Green's short ministry.  Sadly, his life was cut short in 1982 when he tragically died in a plane crash.

I heard a radio preacher once say that in the afterlife, the various levels of reward in heaven or levels of punishment in hell depend on the extent of influence during your lifetime.  For example, he said, Adolph Hitler is undergoing more punishment than some others in hell because the hatred and violence of his Nazi party has extended far beyond his death.  Contrast that with the ongoing influence of men of God like Keith Green, whose psalms and hymns and spiritual songs still lives on decades after his death.

I hope that God is able to use my writing for His glory for many years after I have stopped breathing.  Meanwhile, every breath I take I want to use for Him.  Even now, Lord Jesus, come quickly; but until that day comes, may You be glorified in me.

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leave remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.  --Jeremiah 17:7-8

God is faithful!  He is rich in grace and abundant in mercy.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall commend Your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.  On the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works, I will meditate.  They shall speak of the might of Your awesome deeds, and I will declare Your greatness.  They shall pour forth the fame of Your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.  The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made.  --Psalm 145:3-9

A lot has happened since I last wrote in this venue.  I want to testify about the grace and mercy of the Lord.  I do not want to magnify myself, because as you will see I had very little to do with it.  Instead, I want to brag on God a bit by telling you what He has done for me.

My wife is an elementary school teacher.  Last year she had a difficult year--she had landed a job with a charter school, and really liked her administration.  However, the students were difficult--disrespectful, disruptive, and destructive.  She would take the hour-long commute to work, trying to psyche herself up, and then use the hour-long commute home to unwind.  It was taking a toll on her physically, mentally, and emotionally.

To top it all off, at the end of the year, she was told she would be transferring to another campus:  same charter school, same administration, but another half hour from our home.  Not wanting her to spend three hours a day in traffic, we began praying about our situation.  We knew that God was in charge, but we could see two solutions.  Either we were to move closer to her job site, or she would need to change schools.

There were problems with both of the potential solutions.  On the one hand, she really loved the people she worked with.  If you ask a teacher whether they would prefer good students or good admin, most of them would tell you that they would rather have good admin.  So changing jobs was a possibility, but not without some risk: what if the new school had the same type of students, but with an administration that did not support her?  On the other hand, our rent was ridiculously cheap, so moving would be expensive.  Eventually we wanted to purchase a home, but our credit rating was not the best, and we had very little for a down payment.

What to do?

We prayed for God's guidance, and a home became available.  My niece and nephew decided to move, and put their house on the market.  This house was in a great neighborhood, less than 20 minutes from my wife's new school.  I spoke with the owners, and they were willing to sell me the house below market value.

Still, I had to find a lender, and that was no small task.  I applied with an online lender you have probably heard of, and was turned down.  Discouraged, I searched for a local lender through some connections we had made.  A friend of a friend suggested a local lender who had experience with borrowers like me with less than perfect credit. 

I sent in an application, and waited.  We begged God to intervene, but the process dragged on and on.  We waited and waited, and the seller started calling to ask when it would be done.  Honestly, I lost faith.  I took the delay as a sign that we were going to be denied again, and started praying that God would give my wife a job closer to us.

Finally, the call came: we were approved!  But the closing date was just two weeks before school started.  In fact, both my wife and my nephew (who had found a job teaching Art in a high school near his new home) had started in-service training. Both of them had to take a day off to be at the closing.  Not impossible, but not ideal by man's standards.  Also, the finance company seemed to be having trouble telling me what the closing costs would be.  If you have purchased a home before, you know that the lender will typically gather information about your income and savings, and then they will warn you not to spend any of the money you have saved, or open any new credit accounts.  Well, on the day before closing, I was told that the closing costs would be five to six times what we were expecting.  I called to ask what that was about, thinking that perhaps the deal would fall through at the last minute.  An adjustment was made to the paperwork, and when I arrived at the closing they informed me that there would be zero due at closing.  Never in my life have I heard of a real estate transaction with zero closing costs.  Praise God!

Next, there was the issue of moving before school started.  With my wife doing required in-service at her new school, I took off work and hired a local "Two Guys And A Truck" outfit to pack up all our belongings.  What had seemed so cramped in our little rent house seemed so spread out in our new home.  My wife found a great deal on a quality dining room set, and now she is able to take her grandmother's china out of storage and place it within reach for special occasions (something she never thought would happen).

We absolutely love our new home.  God was so merciful to allow the loan to be approved, and grace was added in that we were able to use the money intended for a down payment for moving expenses and some additional furnishings.  To Him be all the glory.

Again, my purpose here is not to brag, or to draw any attention to ourselves.  What I want to share here is how God blessed us abundantly over and above what we could even ask or think. 

If God is this gracious in this temporal world, think about how grand Heaven must be.  The passage from Psalm 145 that I quoted above was written before God sent His Son to die for our sins, be buried for our transgressions, and then be raised again on the third day.  That's why Paul could write in Ephesians 2:4-10

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, make us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Should we encourage people to trust Christ for material gain?  Of course not.  But we can trust the Father to meet all of our needs.  While Satan can seemingly supply all of man's sinful desires, they are left empty and hopeless in the end.  Not so the Christian.  We may suffer, but Christ is our resurrection, our hope of eternal life.  We may be blessed, knowing that God is able to give abundantly more than we can ask or think.  That is certainly our case in this season.  I am encouraged by God's grace to do good works for Him, to be a blessing to others in Jesus' Name.  I don't aspire to good works in order to be blessed, or to gain favor with God.  I am encouraged to do good works because of all that He has done for me, and will continue to do for me, undeservedly, throughout eternity.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!