Dear friends and fellow bloggers, Please forgive the sporadic postings of the last month or so. We are going through various transitions here at our house. I hope to be back to regular weekly posting starting this week. God bless you.
Author: albertvredenburg
Prejudice
The first time I ever saw a dark skinned person was when I was seven. I was walking with my Mom down a street in the small town of Easton, Pennsylvania when we happened upon some black men unloading a delivery truck. Having never seen a man with black skin, I asked her, “Who are they?” I don’t exactly remember her reply, but she told me that some people think they are different than us. The first inkling of racial prejudice came to my childhood mind. Then we moved to north-east Washington D.C.
In Washington I went to an elementary school as one of the three “white kids” in the school. My sister was one of the other white kids. We didn’t think there was anything out of place. However, the white people in our apartment building were always warning my Mother not to let her kids hang out with “the blacks”. To me this seemed stupid. They were my class mates. I later came to hate racial prejudice. Besides, black people were usually a lot more fun than white people.
In those early years, I prided myself as being above prejudice. However, now that I have a better understanding of the word prejudice, I realize that feeling superior to those who embraced prejudice was in itself a form of prejudice. I was separated out from those “prejudice people”, and I could therefore look down on them. I find that it is in my nature to be prejudice. I am always looking for ways to show myself better than others. I may not have been prejudice against black people, but I have many prejudices.
Paul says in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” This is the anti-prejudice scripture. Notice that the term others is not qualified. It doesn’t say other Christians, or other white people, or other Jewish people. Therefore, others must be all inclusive. I can’t justify any prejudice when compared to this word from Paul. Since it is an inherent tendency, I will fight prejudice in myself for the rest of my life. With God’s help, I will fight to love others not belittle them.
The Right Choice
Looking over the topics that I post weekly, I see a common theme. I write mainly to encourage my brothers and sisters to trust that God exists, and he is who he says he is. This week I want to approach from a different direction.
We begin by being born into this world. The world we are born into exists with no input from us. We didn’t choose where we would live, what race we would be, or what economic level our existence would embrace. We are given an unknown number of years to live in this world. We seem to have arrived with certain elements of personality and ability, but from the very start they are molded by the influences of our placement. None of the beginning circumstances of our life have been our choice. We will, throughout our lives, make numerous choices, but they will all be influenced by the placement we did not choose.
With this perspective in mind, the question that presents itself is what choices do we get to make? We get to choose our response to each event in our lives, but not without outside pressures. As I said, our responses are affected by surrounding influences. We seem to have an inherent awareness of what is right and what is wrong. A basic morality if you will. Yet, if our culture says for instance an eye for an eye, we’ll be compelled to comply with that concept. It’s our choice whether to comply, but we are under the pressure of what we are expected to choose.
So, why am I here? Is this all there is? Can I break away from this temporal existence upon which I have arrived? Certainly these are reasonable questions that mankind has asked throughout the ages, and there are a lot of answers to these questions floating around. When presented with these answers, we get to choose which one we believe is the right one. Of all the things that are not our choice, choosing the right answer to these questions is our choice. Trusting that God exists, and that he is who he says he is, seems the right choice to me. I’m not trying to influence your choice, — oh yes I am. Please forgive me, and please make the right choice.
The End of Separation
In the beginning there was no separation between man and God. When man sinned God withdrew his presence. This separation lasted until Jesus’ death on the cross. The restoration was signified by the tearing from top to bottom of the temple curtain. (See Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, and Luke 23:45)
One of the churches in our city does the Stations of the Cross each year on Good Friday. My wife and I find this experience a great way to begin Easter Weekend. The stations take you from the time they arrested Jesus to the crucifixion. I am always deeply moved as I walk from station to station remembering what Jesus went through. This year the tearing of the temple curtain stood out to me.
At the moment when Jesus said it is finished and gave up his spirit, the temple curtain was torn in such a way that it could only have been done supernaturally. The curtain was 16 feet tall and 4 inches thick, and it was torn from top to bottom. As it was torn it exposed the Holy of Holies, the place of God’s presence in the temple. No one could enter the Holy of Holies except the high priest, and he could only enter once a year after going through an extensive ritual of preparation.
Jesus gave up his life so we could be restored to the presence of God. We who are redeemed by Jesus’ blood can now enter into God’s presence. I was overwhelmed by the significance of the tearing of the curtain. God’s redemption of fallen man was complete, and he opened for us access to his presence. This tragic day had underlying glory. God’s created ones could now return to the closeness that Adam and Eve had with him before the fall. Jesus restored our relationship with his amazing act of sacrificial love. Can I do anything but spend eternity expressing gratitude to my blessed savior? Thank you Jesus!
The Pivot Point of Eternity
Kneeling at the cross
Such a wondrous place to be,
I find my greatest freedom there
At this place called Calvary.
For here is where it all begins,
If you are willing to receive.
At this pivot point we each decide
Our eternal destiny.
Yes, God took our greatest evil,
The murder of his son,
And with his loving power
Salvation for all He won.
Now kneel with me if you will,
And receive this very hour,
The salvation offered freely
Enlivened with resurrection power.
My Neighbor
I work part time as a driving instructor. I am well versed on the rules of the road. I know exactly how other drivers are supposed to drive. In light of the general way people drive; this is a dilemma for someone trying to not be judgmental. Driving has become the proving grounds of my sinful nature. In-other-words while driving, I prove myself a sinner. I frequently blurt out expletives like jerk and idiot.
Monday I was driving to my house after a driving lesson. As all Americans seem to be, I was in a hurry. I came to an intersection where I was turning right. I stopped correctly behind the crosswalk before moving forward to make my right turn on red. However, the gentleman in the left turn lane stopped all the way across the crosswalk, blocking my view of the cross traffic. I was grateful that he slowed me down and made me wait for the light; not really. After my usual pronouncement of his lack of intelligence and moral character, I was struck by the thought, he’s my neighbor. I found myself changing from annoyance to compassion. I thank the Holy Spirit for the thought.
The rest of the journey home was occupied by thinking about “my neighbor”. Jesus made some clear statements about our neighbors such as: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19). Yep, I was falling painfully short of loving my neighbor. That afternoon, I started reading through the scriptures about my neighbor. In Luke 10: 29-37 Jesus responds to the question, “And who is my neighbor?” with the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans were hated by the Jewish people of Jesus’ time. By using the Samaritan as the good guy of the story, Jesus nailed the prejudice of the time. Today, perhaps the story would be of the Good Muslim or in the Middle East, the Good Christian.
My conclusion, after my study, is that everybody I come into contact with is my neighbor. All the man in the left turn lane needed from me was patience and compassion. Everyone I meet needs at least that. A smile and an encouraging word would be nice, but they certainly don’t need my judgement. Every day I obviously fall short of perfection, but I have the Holy Spirit to reminding me of the words Jesus spoke. With his help I plan to be a better neighbor. If we should run into each other someday, just know I’d be delighted to be treated like your neighbor. I’ll try to respond with the same recognition. God bless you neighbors.
Author’s note:
This has been a challenging week of trying to love my neighbor. I have been reminded of how desperately I need the salvation Jesus bought for me on the cross. Lord thank you for your mercy and grace, Amen.
Mortality
It is a fact that we are all going to die. The mortality rate among humans is 100%. People around me are dying. Recently, a friend of mine who was 15 years younger died from brain cancer. We’ve lost two women in our church in the last year. I know others who are currently fighting cancer trying to stay alive. The death of others always brings us closer to the reality of our own mortality. The loss of a loved one is deeply painful, almost unbearable. So, for a Christian what is a good perspective?
Our pastor, Eric Nelson*, Spoke on resurrection last Sunday. He brought up two points that I believe help us to deal with our mortality. First, he reminded us that the Apostle Paul referred to death as falling asleep (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15), and who is afraid to fall asleep? The second point was that the life we are going to is far better that the life we leave. For one thing, it is eternal. Once we pass from this life, death will never again be an issue.
In our eternal life we will be living in heaven. In heaven we will live a sinless existence. Try to imagine what living without sin would be like. I find it really hard to contemplate. What would it be like living with no sin? The earth and all of creation is tainted by sin. Imagine what the new earth will be like when sin is gone.
For me, when facing mortality, my greatest fear is what if my wife should go before me. How would I be able to survive such a loss? We are true soul mates, partners for the last 34 years. But, notice that the concern is for me. She will have gained. She will be with Jesus. Her time in a sinful world will be over. She’ll have arrived in eternity. She will be home, her work will be done.
So, in looking at mortality, I find there is much to rejoice about. The future is only going to get better for those who belong to him. Christians live by faith not by sight. All we know now is this world, but through faith, we believe that God has prepared us an eternal place. The greatest truth in our mortality is that we will be with him forever.
(If you don’t know him, he’s just a prayer away.)
*Eric Nelson is pastor of Delta Life Four Square Church in Madera, California. Hear his sermons at deltalifechurch.com
Jesus and Us
My normal writing day each week is Tuesday. However, recently I’ve been spending about 12 hours of my Tuesdays babysitting my one year old granddaughter. It’s a lot of fun, but greatly limits the writing time. I did get in about an hour of writing during nap time. Tuesday night, when I got home, I typed into my computer what I’d hand written during the day. Wednesday morning I had some time before work, so I sat down to look over what I’d written. It was very rough, but I added to it with the intent of polishing it up on Thursday morning before work. When I looked at it on Thursday, I realized it said nothing. So, I asked myself, “What are you trying to say?” Myself responded, “I don’t know.”
Now it’s Friday morning, and here I sit trying to make some sense out of this mess. What I think I’m trying to say is that Jesus’ life here on earth was an example of what to expect as a committed Christian. For Jesus it wasn’t about riches or ownership. The life he led had a single purpose. He set about accomplishing the will of God. I believe that for all who have surrendered their life to him the same is true. Each of us has a purpose, and that is to fulfill God’s will in the life he’s given us. Each of us has an important place in God’s eternal plan.
Well there you have it. That’s what I was trying to say. You wouldn’t believe what this looked like on Thursday morning. However, I’ve obviously raised the important question of what is God’s will for me. Only he can answer that. Just ask him to show you. You’re probably already in his plan. I discovered this week, that though I planned to write on Tuesdays, I’m right in God’s will when babysitting my granddaughter. The writing will come.
Love and the Ten Commandments
If you truly love someone you will treat them well. You will honor them, and you will certainly not murder them. You will not cheat on them, steal from them, lie about them, or covet what they have. At least, if you love them, you will surely try.
To pull this off you’ll have to be patient, kind, not envious, and not work to look more important than the person you love. I can’t imagine that you’d be rude to them or easily angered by them. When they‘ve wronged you, you’d forgive and forget. You’d protect them, trust them, and hope the best for them.
You may have guessed that what I’ve done here is to connect the Ten Commandments and Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. The Ten Commandments are not just rules to contain us, they are truly about love. The first four commandments are about loving God. The other six are about loving each other. You cannot adhere to the Ten Commandments without love. As a matter of fact, if you don’t love God or your fellow humans, why would you even try to adhere to the Ten Commandments?
Jesus summed it up this way: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” “This is the first and greatest commandment.” “And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40) There you have it. Love is at the root of what God commands. Love as well as you can, and ask God to increase the love in your heart.
The Heart
In the Bible the word heart obviously refer to something other than the muscle that pumps blood throughout our bodies. So, what is the Bible referring to? It’s not our soul because we are told to love the Lord with all our heart and soul; therefore, the two are separate. As I have searched through the scriptures, it seems that the heart embodies the deep inner self where emotions, moral values, and our decision making process resides. In essence, the heart is where we live.
I’ve been concerned about what is in my heart. Jesus said that what comes out of a man’s heart can make him unclean. I find that what comes out of my heart is a mixed bag. There is in my heart the potential of both good and evil. So, what can I do about this?
Paul prayed for the Ephesians: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith….” (Ephesians 3:16-17). I need to be strengthened in my inner being. I need God’s power to overcome the evil things in my heart, so the things that “come out” of me will be good things.
In Psalm 51 David asks God to create in him a pure heart. (Psalm 51:10) I join with David in this prayer. My deep inner being, my heart, needs the presence and the power of God if it is to be good. God alone is good. Goodness comes from me when I am full of God.
“Create in me a pure heart most generous and merciful God”. “Draw me closer to you that I may reflect your goodness.” Amen!
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