Archive for March, 2024

A Farmer’s Life

“The hard-working farmer must be the first to partake of the fruit.”
II Timothy 2:6

Metaphors are used throughout the Bible to aid our understanding. Athletic metaphors are favorites in the Epistles. The world of athletics is often used to illustrate the Christian life. Mention is made of track and field (1 Corinthians 9:12), boxing (1 Corinthians 9:26), and wrestling (Ephesians 6:12).

One with much meaning that is rarely mentioned is the farmer. The farmer is used as an illustration of a good Christian. Having been reared on a family farm in an agrarian society, and having a degree in horticulture, I know a bit about farming. Consider some similarities between a farmer’s life and that of your life as a commendable Christian life.

A farmer (Christian) knows that occasional failure is inevitable. Regardless of how hard and smart he works, forces of nature can work against him causing failure. Still he does not become defeated, he perseveres. Perseverance is listed along with faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love in order to avoid being barren and unfruitful. (II Peter 1: 5 – 9)

A farmer (Christians) must have a lot of patience which is definitely needed in order to deal with the surprises that may come his way. He knows what the Bible means “to wait on the Lord.”   

A farmer (Christian) must have a passion for and commitment to the work. Some years and seasons are worse than others and require more work. But farmers keep on going and work through the tough times in order to be productive.

A farmer (Christian) must be committed to life-long learning. Things change so fast it is imperative for him to be a continual-learner. Study to show yourself approved unto God.

A farmer (Christian) must be ingenious, creative and adaptable. As a good musician must master the fundamentals before improvising, so a farmer must master the fundamentals of his craft in order to improvise, adapt, and creatively respond to changing circumstances.

A farmer (Christian) must be a problem solver, the challenges are many. A farmer who thinks a constant stage of life will be arrived at presenting no new challenges is in a state of self-deception. New problems needing a solution arise daily. The problems demand creative solutions.

A farmer (Christian) must be a good time manager. Deferred action can result in crop loss.

A farmer (Christian) knows three things: you reap what you sow, you reap later than you sow, and you reap more than you sow. Therefore, sow wisely, that is always consider “What then….” when acting.

A Different View of Abortion

Imagine these scenarios. If all the infants in all the wombs of all the women of all the world could communicate at the birth of one of them named Sam the others could be heard to say, “Poor ole Sam passed on.”

Now, imagine this scenario. An intruder came in and dispatched Sam, forcefully taking him out. The others could be heard to say, “Poor ole Sam was brutally murdered and drugged out. He had such potential, yet, he was mercilessly killed.”

That is abortion as seen from the victim’s viewpoint.

Fifty years ago when abortion was legalized it was said it would lead to a new philosophy. Young adults would grow to believe that if it is legal to kill at that stage it is OK to kill at any age. Without it being said the concept would prevail subconsciously and murders would increase. Sure enough in the streets of our cities deferred abortion is being practiced on young adults by young adults. The principal instrument used for the deferred abortion is the handgun.

In abhorring the horror of abortion the welfare of the young mother must be considered. Assistance in not aborting must be given to her. No federal funds can be expected to give assistance to young mothers who elect to give birth to and rear a child. The private sector will have to provide assistance. Keep in mind there are already pro-life clinics that give assistance.

Almost all of those who go to pro-life centers have made their choice to give birth before going. Most go there seeking advice and help. Protesters disrupting centers that are there to help them inflicts hardship on such potential mothers. This disrupts the mother in making her choice. 

In general pro-life centers act as a referral center designed to provide a loving non-judgmental environment. They don’t shout condemnation and wave the Bible in the face of a potential mother. There is no condemnation, only love. It is little known they dispense diapers, clothing, and vitamins until the child is two years of age. Council regarding finding funding and a place to live is also afforded. Insight, not pressure, is given regarding potentially putting the child up for adoption in a good home. They are there to help, not condemn.

Further help is needed by enacting laws making adoption faster and less expensive. Birthing clinics that make giving birth less expensive would greatly help.

This is a bright hour for churches to show even greater compassion and more support. Families capable of adopting and rearing a child should step forward. All should pray. This is a new era and new concepts as to how to best meet the needs are surely going to be needed. Arise to the needs.

Why Do So Many People Hate the Jews?

“When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.’ And all the people answered and said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children’”. Matthew 27: 24, 25

At the trial of Jesus, Pilate asked who he should release, Jesus or Barabbas. When the crowd said Barabbas, Pilate asked what he should do with Jesus. The crowd cried out “crucify Him.” Pilate absolved himself and declared his innocence. The crowd further shouted, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

Is that the reason there is a universal hatred of Jews?

If so, it is based on a mistaken understanding of this text. Those involved in the incident accepted responsibility for this decision. In doing so they called down God’s judgment upon themselves and their offsprings. “Their children” are related to their own children, not all further generations. Such a judgment fell on them a few years later with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

However, what is considered the world’s oldest hatred is often based on the belief that Jews were collectively guilty of killing Jesus — a view that remained Catholic doctrine until 1965. Many people still cling to the concept. It is wrong.

Jews comprise less than 0.2% of the world’s population? Why is such a minority hated by so many? Antisemitism is overwhelmingly perpetrated by non-Jews. It may occasionally be perpetrated by Jews on Jews in a phenomenon known as auto-antisemitism.

In consideration of why so many people hate the Jews it is expedient to divide the people of the world into groups.

1.     A. There are people who don’t know of the Jews.

        B. There are people who know of them, but they don’t know about them. They do not know their biblical record or their  extra-biblical history.

2.      There are people who hate them because most people hate them. It is a herd mentality. Without reason they just consider it the popular thing to do. They go along to get along.

3.      There are people who hate the Jews for a reason flawed though it may be. It is the logic of these people that deserves to be addressed.

There is not “a” reason for hatred of the Jews, but a compounding of numerous reasons in society today.

At the present time many old prejudices that span all throughout history have bubbled to the surface. Some are political, some religious, some cultural, some economic, some racial, and some behavioral.

Some consider Jews greedy and money-grubbing. Others consider Jews to be committed to world domination.

Some hold hostility toward Jews because of what they consider Jewish bigotry. It is felt some Jews have a “chosen people” complex causing them to consider themselves superior to others.

Now consider this important factor. God promised Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” (Genesis 12:3).

I personally have sought to support Jews and Israel and will continue to do so. I am not unmindful of many of their collective drawbacks, offenses, and transgressions. But neither am I oblivious of their attributes. God’s promise includes a blessing for those who do bless Israel, the Jews. God said, “I will curse him who curses you”. That is an easy one to avoid.

A Builder or a Wrecker

Edgar “Eddie” A. Guest wrote over 1100 poems. Years ago I memorized one of them. The philosophy it involves has influenced my life. It now follows:
As I watched them tear a building down
A gang of men in a busy town
With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell
They swung a beam and the side wall fell

I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
And the men you’d hire if you wanted to build?”
He gave a laugh and said, “No, indeed,
Just common labor is all I need.”

“I can easily wreck in a day or two,
What builders have taken years to do.”
And I thought to myself, as I went my way
Which of these roles have I tried to play?

Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by rule and square?
Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan
Patiently doing the best I can?

Or am I a wrecker who walks to town
Content with the labor of tearing down?
“O Lord let my life and my labors be
That which will build for eternity!”

This poem asks a question each of us should ask of ourselves. Which are you?

Builders are given to inspiring, lifting loads, making people happier, putting hope in the heart of the downcast, elevating attitudes, giving a cause for living. They see on the horizon of life a bright uplifting light that energizes, elevates and edifies. Builders make homes happier, work spaces brighter, and friendships closer. Just being in company with a builder is inspiring. Instinctively they sense the need for a kind word, an antidote for despair, a positive presence. They know the awesome power of a listening ear and offer it. Fears are calmed, a will to carry on motivated, and a renewed outlook engendered by focusing on the bright side of life. People leave their presence with a spring in their step, a smile on their face, and hope in their heart. Summarily they lighten your load and brighten your road.

Of them God’s word says: “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” (Romans 14: 19)

“Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” (I Thess. 5:11). “Let all things be done for edification” (1 Cor 14:26).

Edify and edifice come from the same root. To edify is to build up. Do it.

What’s Fair for the Goose

Vladimir Lenin used a military term to explain how to conduct a successful revolution. He said take the high ground. In warfare of his era in a ground engagement the army occupying the high ground had a decided advantage. He considered the high ground to be entertainment and education.

Harvard, MIT, U Penn, and a plethora of other colleges and universities did what? They are considered the pinnacle of the high grounds.

Believing in academic freedom I ask whatever happened to academic responsibility and accountability?

I have served as a trustee of two faith based universities and one seminary. Often at question was were faculty members required to be of the sponsoring denominations faith. I enquired of the president of Notre Dame if their faculty members had to be Catholic. His reply was no, but they had to know the University was and act responsibly, meaning they were expected to uphold the standards of the university.

That is logical. A witch doctor teaching his philosophy of medicine in a respected med school isn’t reasonable. However, having a Catholic soundly teach principles of physics in a Methodist University, or a Baptist accountably teach chemistry in a Presbyterian University is reasonable if they uphold the standards of the school.

Having a person teach the virtues of Communism in an American University is highly irresponsible. A tenured teacher on the faculty of an American university advocating antisemitism isn’t acceptable.

The universities in Germany were hot beds for antisemitism and hence supporters for Hitler’s assault on Jews that burgeoned into a horror.

The First Amendment “protects speech no matter how offensive its content,” according to the ACLU. Why then do they not protect conservative apologists who are invited on campus by responsible student groups? Why do they allow radical groups to shout down and force off campus conservative advocates?

How would the administrators of liberal universities respond to student groups applying the same liberal techniques to Jews if applied to blacks? Would such be accepted? No, and it should not be. If not why then is such treatment of Jews allowed.

Fewer than one quarter of 1 percent of the world’s population is Jewish. Why then are they such a hated group? Though often asked, the question remains unsatisfactorily answered.

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, expressed the fear that “we currently face as great a threat to the safety and security of the Jewish people as the one we faced in the 1930s — if not a greater one,” but he could find no better explanation for its persistent presence other than calling it “a spiritual and psychological illness.”

Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only member of the United Nations whose right to exist is regularly challenged and whose elimination from the world map is the aim of others.

What then is the answer to the reason for anti-Semitism?

The rabbis of the Talmud saw it in the very name of the mountain on which the Ten Commandments were given. “Sinai” in Hebrew is similar to the word “sinah” — hatred. It was the Jews’ acceptance of a higher law of morality and ethics that was responsible for the world’s enmity.

Unless there is a dramatic change Christians can expect to be the next target of hatred for the same reason.