Myles' Extra Thoughts: Now that you're out of the box...

Myles' Extra Thoughts: Now that you're out of the box...: "Part of breaking out of your box and seeing a bigger picture of the world (and God’s activity in the world) is leaving behind some small/lim..."

Myles' Extra Thoughts: Standing up for the have nots

Myles' Extra Thoughts: Standing up for the have nots: "When we serve them, we serve Him. How do we begin to feed the billions who are hungry around the world. Mother Theresa said it best, “One ..."

Myles' Extra Thoughts: Be a Bridge and Not a Wall

Myles' Extra Thoughts: Be a Bridge and Not a Wall: "Walls communicate, “You stay on your side, and I will stay on mine.” Bridges say, “You’re welcome to come over. We are connected.” God wan..."

Child Sex Trafficking

WASHINGTON (BP)--Commercial sexual exploitation remains a major problem among the young in the United States, with an estimated 100,000 U.S. children trafficked annually, experts say.

"The majority of the victims that we're finding who are child sex-trafficking victims are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents," said Sarah Vardaman, senior director of Shared Hope International.

Vardaman's comment came at a live webcast hosted by Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. The event focused on the reasons minors and young adults are sexually exploited in the U.S. in such great numbers.

"The sexual entertainment and the sexualization of our culture is encouraging a growing number of people who are demanding these services. And so, if we want to look at the factors of supply and demand, then we would say [the sex trafficking industry] is growing," said Vardaman, whose organization seeks to rescue and restore women and children victimized by trafficking.

The sexual entertainment industry is booming because of greater access to pornography through technology. People are becoming desensitized to what the sex industry offers, Perkins said.

Pat Trueman, chief executive officer of Morality in Media, said the porn industry is a $12-$13 billion industry.

Morality in Media, which published a report in February, "Links Between Pornography and Sex Trafficking," created a letter to Congress explaining the harm of pornography and asking Attorney General Eric Holder to enforce obscenity laws.

"There is as much money going under the table as there is above the table," Trueman said. "So this is an industry that some of it's organized crime, some of it's involved in money laundering [and] trafficking."

The March webcast -- titled "Sex Trafficking in America: From the Boulevard to Planned Parenthood" -- featured two video clips that gave viewers a look into the sex trafficking industry. One of the clips was Live Action's recent undercover video of a New Jersey Planned Parenthood manager giving advice to actors pretending to exploit young girls from foreign countries. The clinic manager tells the "pimp" to lie to get discounts and instructs him on ways he can continue to exploit the girls for money after they have abortions.

Another video, filmed in a major East Coast city, showed a man on the street letting another man name the price of the youngest girl he had -- a 14 year old. Such exploitation of young teens can be found frequently in any city, Vardaman said. People are selling children for sex, and people are buying, she said.

Organizations are helping children and women get out of the industry and informing the Justice Department of the slavery occurring in America. The key is partnerships, said Lisa Thompson, the Salvation Army's liaison for the abolition of sexual trafficking. Thompson works with more than 30 different religious groups to create organized partnerships to stop sex exploitation.

"A lot of our effort is aimed at services at the grassroots level to actual victims, to outreach in the community, to advocacy and awareness, and education efforts," Thompson said.

Thompson cited the efforts of the Salvation Army in Chicago with the group Partnership to Rescue our Minors from Sexual Exploitation (PROMISE), alongside Faith Alliance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAAST), a Christian alliance working to eliminate human trafficking and help survivors. Other organizations -- including SAGE, Veronica's Voice and Breaking Free -- help adult women trapped in the industry.

"Unfortunately, I think there is a real disconnect for people to understand that children who are trafficked into prostitution grow up to be adult women in prostitution," Thompson said. "And so many of our services that have developed have focused on providing care and services to the minors, which that's very good and well needed. We need to do that. But for those that we miss, they will continue in that [trajectory] of continuing in prostitution."

Thompson believes the problem will continue, because people have desensitized themselves to sexual explicitness.

"We have accepted pornography; we have accepted the sexual objectification of women. And this is conditioning girls to look at themselves as sex objects and to think the sex industry doesn't pose any threat or harm to them," Thompson said.

The March 15 webcast guests also included Robert Flores, former administrator of the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Lila Rose, president of the pro-life activist organization Live Action, and Tina Frundt, director of a help home for trafficking victims.

The webcast and downloadable audio can be found online at www.frc.org/traffic. More information on battling the exploitation of children in the U.S. can be found at www.missingkids.com.

How to Use the Law - Lawfully - To Bear Fruit for God

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. 1 Timothy 1:5-11

The question crying for an answer after Romans 7 and 8 is how Christians should use the law of God revealed in the Old Testament. The reason this question is crying for an answer is that Paul has said things about the law that show its weakness and powerlessness to justify us and sanctify us. Romans 8:3, "What the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh . . ."
Law-Keeping Cannot Justify You
I have argued that law-keeping can't justify us in the courtroom of God: If his verdict changes from guilty to not guilty, it will be because we trust in Christ's righteousness and death, not in our law-keeping. And if our hearts are changed from rebellious to submissive it will not be owing to law, but to the Spirit of Christ at work in our hearts. Again and again I have directed your attention to Romans 7:4, "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." In other words, if we want to bear the fruit of love in our lives – and we will bear this fruit, if we are children of God – then we must pursue at it in a way that does not treat the law as our first or chief or decisive means of change.
What Then Shall We Do with the Law?
But this continual reference to dying to the law has raised the question for many of you: What then shall we do with the law? Are we to read the books of Moses? Are we to read the Ten Commandments and the other laws in the Old Testament? What are we to make of the saints of the Old Testament who said things like, "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2). "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. . . . They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:7, 10). "O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97).
And even here in Romans we have the same spirit. In Romans 7:22 Paul says, "For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man." And in Romans 7:25 he says, "I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." This delight in the law and this "serving the law of God" does not sound as absolute as "death to the law."
Not only that, look with me at Romans 3:20-22. Paul makes clear first (in v. 20) that "by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." In other words, "law-keeping" will never change our verdict from guilty to not-guilty and will not be the ground of our acceptance in the last judgment. My one plea now and then for acceptance with God is that I have trusted not in my own law-keeping or my own imperfect, blood-bought, Spirit-wrought sanctification, but in Christ's blood and righteousness. That is my one perfect plea in the courtroom of heaven now and always. "By works of the law no flesh will be justified."
That is Paul's conclusion so far: There is none righteous, no not one. But now what is our hope? Where does it come from? He says in verse 21, "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, (22) even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe." The hope of unrighteous people like us and all our friends and enemies is that God has brought about a righteousness that is possible for us to have that is not based on works of the law but based on Jesus Christ. He calls it "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ." We can be reckoned righteous because of Christ's life and death if we will trust in him as our Savior and Lord and Treasure.
The Testimony of the Law
But notice one crucial phrase at the end of verse 21: "being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets." This other righteousness that is not by works of the law is witnessed to by the law. The law testifies to it. That is one clear reason why Paul can delight in the law and why we do not want to throw the law away. The law itself told us that law-keeping cannot justify and pointed us to another "righteousness" that would one day be revealed.
So when Paul gets down to Romans 3:28, he says, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law" – just like verse 20. But then again in verse 31 he asks, "Do we then nullify the Law through faith?" And he answers, "May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law." So the law itself was pointing to a goal that it could not accomplish for us or in us, but when we attained this goal (of justification and sanctification!) through faith in Christ, the law itself would be fulfilled and established. "The goal of the law is Christ for righteousness for all who believe" (Romans 10:4, own translation).
So it's plain that we do not die to the law in every conceivable way. We rejoice in the law in some ways (Romans 7:22), and in the law we see a witness to the "righteousness of God through faith in Christ" (Romans 3:21), and we establish the law through faith in Christ (Romans 3:31); the goal of the law is Christ.
So to clarify how we should lawfully use the law, let's go to another passage in one of Paul's letters where he addresses this question directly, 1 Timothy 1:5-11.
1 Timothy 1:5-11: The Lawful & Unlawful Uses of the Law
Notice first the key sentence in verse 8: "But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully." So here Paul alerts us to the fact that you can use the law lawfully or unlawfully. My guess is that failing to die to the law will result in an unlawful use of the law. But let's see what the context says here.
In verses 5-7 Paul says what his goal is in all his preaching and ministry and why certain people have failed in reaching this goal by the way they are using the law. He says, starting in verse 5, "The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." There's the goal, and how to get there. Notice the path to love is not works of law. In other words the way to pursue love is by focusing on the transformation of the heart and the conscience and the awakening and strengthening of faith. Love is not pursued first or decisively by focusing on a list of behavioral commandments and striving to conform to them. That is what we must die to.
Law Teachers Who Do not Lawfully Use the Law
Then Paul introduces us to some men who are making a mess of the law, and not arriving at the goal of love either! Verse 6: "For some men, straying from these things [that is, "a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith"], have turned aside to fruitless discussion, (7) wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions."
These "law-teachers" do not understand that the goal of the law, which is love, is pursued not by "works of law" but by inner spiritual transformation which the law itself cannot bring about. They don't get it. Paul says they do not know what they are talking about. They are trying to teach the law, but they are turning aside from matters of the heart and conscience and faith. And that means they are not using the law lawfully. And that is why they are not arriving at the goal of love.
Oh, how we need to take heed here! There are hundreds of people today who put themselves forward in America as teachers of the law – marriage law, child-rearing law, financial-planning law, church-growth law, leadership law, evangelism law, missions law, racial-justice law. But here's the key question: do they understand the gospel dynamic for bringing about the change they seek? I say this only to alert you.
Are the radio programs you are learning from and the articles and books you are reading permeated by a lawful use of the law? Do the speakers and writers understand the dynamic of dying to the law and belonging to Christ by faith alone as the essential means of becoming the people of love that we ought to be? Who today would Paul speak these words over: "[They want] to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions"? In other words, they just don't get it. They don't understand the gospel way that human beings are changed in a way that glorifies Christ. We need to be prepared and able to assess these things. That's why Paul wrote this to Timothy.
The Lawful Use of the Law: Realize It Is not Made for the Righteous
Well, what then is the lawful use of the law in this text? Follow his thought from verse 8: "But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully." What is that? Verse 9 explains. First it involves "realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious . . ." etc. He lists fourteen examples of law-breaking (following the outline of the ten commandments, the first three pairs summing up the first table of the Decalogue and the rest summing up the second table).
So the law, Paul says, is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious. This sounds very much like Galatians 3:19. Paul asks, "Why the Law then?" Why was it added 430 years after Abraham was justified by faith? He answers, "It was added because of transgressions." He does not say that it was added because of righteousness. It was added because of these kinds of things we read in this list in 1 Timothy 1:9-10. The law had a special role to play in setting a rigorous, detailed standard of behavior which functioned, Paul said, to hold people imprisoned (Galatians 3:22) or under a guardian or tutor (Galatians 3:24) until Christ came and justification by faith could be focused on him. The law commanded and condemned, and pointed to a Redeemer who was to come. Then Paul says, in Galatians 3:25, "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."
This, it seems to me, is what Paul is saying in 1 Timothy 1:9, the "law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless." In other words, if the law has done its condemning and convicting work to bring you to Christ for justification and transformation, then it is not made for you any more – in that sense. There may be other uses you can make of it, but that's not what this text is about. The main point here is that the law has a convicting, condemning, restraining work to do for unrighteous people.
But for the righteous – for people who have come to Christ for justification and come to Christ for the inner spiritual power to love, this role of the law is past. From now on, the place where we seek the power to love is not the law of commandments but the gospel of Christ.
I think we see this powerfully in verses 10b-11. Notice how Paul sums up all that the law must be against and restrain: "whatever is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God." So where does behavior come from that is not "contrary to sound teaching," and is "in accord with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God?" Answer: it comes from that gospel. It comes from the clean heart and the good conscience and the sincere faith that this gospel calls into being. The law does not produce a life of love that accords with the gospel. The gospel produces a life of love that accords with the gospel.
Justification by faith alone apart from works of the law, and sanctification by faith through the power of the Spirit – these produce a life of love that accords with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. And woe to those who try to fix your personality or your marriage or your children or your finances or your vocation or your church or your mission or your commitment to justice, but do not understand this gospel dynamic, and turn counsel in to new law.
What Then Shall Those Who Are Justified Do with the Law of Moses?
Read it and meditate on it as those who are dead to it as the ground of your justification and the power of your sanctification. Read it and meditate on it as those for whom Christ is your righteousness and Christ is your sanctification. Which means read and mediate on it to know Christ better and to treasure him more. Christ and the Father are one (John 10:30; 14:9). So to know the God of the Old Testament is to know Christ. The more you see his glory and treasure his worth, the more you will be changed into his likeness (2 Corinthians 3:17-18), and love the way he loved – which is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10).
I say it again. What shall you do with the law – you who are justified by faith alone apart from works of the law? Read it and meditate on it to know more deeply than you have ever known, the justice and mercy of God in Christ, your righteousness and your life.

Being the Change

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once proposed that, though it may be normal to stop at a red light, a fire truck goes straight through if there is a fire on the other side. An ambulance would do the same were there people bleeding to death. He said there are disinherited people everywhere, waiting on a brigade of ambulance drivers to run the red lights until the emergency is solved.
The truth is, there are fires of injustice raging in our world and red lights need to be run. The sad thing is, most of us are conservatively driving cars instead of fire trucks. Perhaps the even greater travesty is that many Christians have come to believe only a few are uniquely “called” to put out the fire. If your building is on fire, you toss water on it. You don’t pray for someone to bring a bucket of water. Nor do you chase a more extravagant fire halfway around the world to the neglect of the neighbors in your own building. Understanding this is paramount for college students who want to be like Jesus to their four-year family.
There are red lights everywhere. While you’re in college, or any other of life’s seasons, you should find your red light. Some lights come in the form of human trafficking, the exploitation of factory workers or the ecological impact our apathetic lifestyles have on our planet. Still others resemble the genocide of unjust wars, a disregard for people living with AIDS and the complacency of preventable diseases.
It all comes down to this: The world needs the Church. We would be daft, however, to serve the world without first serving our neighborhood. Many of us in good intention have traveled the globe only to end up robbing the poor of their circumstance for a good profile picture on Facebook. God isn’t oblivious to this. In fact, this pop culture ritualism bothers Him a lot. In Amos 5:21-24 He says, “I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (NIV).
There is something more to our faith than what many of us have been shown. We’ve been asked to lay it all at the cross but are left empty-handed with little more than Christian T-shirts and a new music collection in place of our sacrifice.
For the past eight months, I’ve been voluntarily living on the streets to care for homeless folks as I search for something more. I don’t believe I am “called” to homeless people—at least no more than you are. I’m simply called to Jesus—the same Jesus who, as we read in Philippians, “made himself nothing … a servant … [who] humbled himself and became obedient to death …” (2:7-8). There is nothing remarkable about me. I simply decided I wanted to be like Jesus—the Jesus I said I’ve followed for years but admired instead.
In the New Testament, James emphasizes that, despite being a prophetic, fire-inducing, weather manipulator, ”Elijah was a man just like us” (5:17). No matter the city you’re in for the seemingly perpetual but momentary collegiate experience, you can be like Jesus. After all, it’s a command (1 John 2:6). Being socially aware in your community isn’t only something for the few; it’s for everyone who bears the name of Christ. Only in community will we discover the interconnected nature of our mutuality and fully comprehend the parts of the Body of Christ. In Jeremiah we read God’s heart on communal living while in transition: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you … and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (29:7, ESV).
God is saying our well-being hinges on the well-being of our community. After all, our love toward our “neighbor” is the second, but equally greatest, commandment to loving God. So what more suitable quest is there besides becoming a good neighbor in your community? In Jesus’ vision of community, there is no “us” and “them.” There is only “us.” There is no “mine.” It has become “ours.”
We cannot boast God as Father if we deny ourselves our sisters and brothers who live in need. It is disheartening how little worth we attribute to the “least of these,” the ones deemed by God to be the greatest in His Kingdom.
However, there is a flip side to social activism we mustn’t overlook. In Revelation, Jesus tells the church in Sardis that, while it has a reputation for being alive, it is dead, and to the church in Laodicea He states that any lukewarm person will be vomited out of His mouth. So yes, while it may be true no lukewarm churchgoer will enter through the gates of splendor having not cared for the “least of these” (Matthew 25), the opposite is equally true; no matter how many trees you’ve hugged, whales you’ve rescued or orphanages you’ve built, it’s all for naught without the blood of the Lamb.
In a culture where orphaned Chinese infants have become accessories on the arms of A-listers and where Africa has become more a trend than a continent, we must ask what it means to walk the narrow path that only a few will find (Matthew 7:14).
So how do you live for an unpopular Kingdom that is rejected by the world and embraced only by the few? You certainly don’t need to be a Christian to build houses or dig wells. The answer is found in the upside-down kingdom where the least are the greatest and enemies are loved. Here are some practical ways to take the narrow path.

Permeate your community

My friend Joe was telling me about a church in the city he used to live in. It was next to a strip club, of all places. Instead of picketing along with all the other churches, an elderly woman from this church volunteered to bring gifts to the strippers. She did this for a while and eventually all the strippers quit and the club closed its doors. Radical love can change a community.
Lately, my friends and I have been throwing Frisbees at a park that’s notorious for drug activity. Instead of avoiding the park like everyone else, we disrupt the drug deals by throwing the Frisbee near them and asking them to play. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but you can’t love your enemies if you avoid them.
My point being, you cannot improve a community you aren’t part of. It is much easier to drop change into the hat of a panhandler than it is to sit down together at the kitchen table and work out a budgeting plan. Detached charity is hardly the way of Jesus. It is a dangerous isolator and has proven itself to be a far greater threat to the validity of Christendom than disbelief itself.

Become “weak to the weak”

This is an ideology Paul the Apostle proposed, and when I met my friend Don, it became clearer what this meant. Don is a commercial airline pilot, and not too long after Mother Teresa’s death, the wife of the president of Albania was a passenger on one of his planes. Mother Teresa was Albanian by blood and this woman was bringing a relic back to Albania in order to promote tourism. When Don asked what was inside the tube she held, she told him it was the carpet Mother Teresa died on. Apparently, Mother Teresa couldn’t rationalize dying in a bed while others die in the gutters so, like Jesus who gave up a throne, she crawled out of bed to die on the floor. This lends a whole new meaning to “love your neighbor as yourself,” a popular teaching of Jesus’ that is usually viewed as a fresh perspective on generosity rather than an intentional mandate for the Church. No, you may not be able to provide a bed for everyone, but you can certainly join them on the floor.
If it bothers you that people are sleeping on the curb downtown, organize a “sleep-out” to dramatize the injustice of homelessness. If your cafeteria’s use of Styrofoam troubles you, write up a proposal to the Student Government Association lobbying for alternatives. If your heart breaks when you realize your shoes were made on the backs of children half your age, go one day without shoes to emphasize our duty to be good neighbors, no matter what borders divide us.

Raise awareness

There are plenty of organizations on campus that take up the cause of those in the margins. Go to a meeting and decide if it’s for you. If it is, raise awareness so other people can join you.
When Adam and Eve ate the apple, they became aware of their depravity. It wasn’t long before God walked into the garden, asking, “Where are you?” The question wasn’t so much about geography as it was biography. It’s a question He still asks of us, and one a Christian must ask of their community.
So, if you want to be like Jesus who hung out with the poor, you should too. Since Jesus stepped in front of the defenseless, you should too. Since Jesus spent time with the sick, take some Airborne because you should too. Go, be like Jesus, and whomever you find yourself among will be to whom you are “called.” But find your red light. There is one on every corner of our planet and on the streets in your community. We mustn’t forget that. For God, whom we follow, so loved the world that He “gave” … so a Christian does too.

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

Slowly we walked back home from the Easter sunrise service. We looked forward to this annual event on the lawn of the church where my husband was minister. This year the beauty was too lovely to leave. 

The glorious day of resurrection of our Lord Jesus began on a chilly, cloudy morning, but  eventually sunshine had spread it's rays across the sky. We praised God for His creation and for the joy of resurrection.

We did not know that grief was only moments away. A few hours away, my sister Margaret, had just returned from the sunrise service at a beach near her home in Virginia.

The ocean and the sands of the beach were favorite places for her. She had once told me the title of her book she planned to write would be Footprints in the Sand. But she never got to write that book. Some of her last earthly footprints were in the sand on that beach. 

When she arrived back at her home, she had a heart attack and fell to the floor. When her body was quickly discovered by her family there was confusion and crying.

There was more confusion and crying when her husband called our house and said, "Margaret is gone". My first question was, "Gone where?" Then he told us the shocking news.

What does one do when death comes so quickly? Without the knowledge that in Jesus Christ there is no death, the response would be bathed in hopelessness and despair.

A sudden death of a loved one is heartbreaking. But the Christian believes that life is eternal. When the body dies and we leave this earth we go to a greater Home - face to face with the God who created us. 

When my husband and I heard the news about my sister on that bright and beautiful Easter morning, I was preparing to teach Sunday School and his sermon would proclaim the glory of the resurrection. We knew that Margaret was an active Christian and God had received her life into her heavenly home.

Tears flowed from my eyes as I told our sons and my mother. She had never visited in our home during Easter. It was very good to have her with us at  this particular time. I taught my Sunday School class .We cried together as I  shared memories of my sister. Their loving prayers brought comfort.

That morning, I chose to sit in the congregation and not to sing in the choir. It was restful to sit on the soft cushions of the pew. The picture on the front of my bulletin showed radiant sunshine bursting onto the open tomb of Jesus. The words "He Is Risen" brought peace to my heart as I wrote a capital "S" before the word "He". There was no doubt that my sister had also risen.

The words of my husbands' sermon fed my heart with assurance. Easter music was also reassuring.  I will never forget singing the  familiar hymn, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today."

In my book, 52 Hymn Story Devotions I write:

"This majestic hymn brings a smile to my face as I joyfully sing it and proclaim the central belief of the Christian faith.  Without this truth we would have only a history of a man named Jesus. Charles Wesley wrote these words to tell the Good News: Jesus died, but was raised from the dead and remains alive through the power of the Holy Spirit."

Wesley's life had been immersed  in this knowledge. He was born into a Christian home in Epworth, England, in1707. His mother, Susannah Wesley, was his teacher who used the Bible as the basic teaching to all of her nineteen children. Charles attended Oxford university with his brother, John, and they were ordained as priests in the Church of England.

Both brothers felt called by God to be missionaries in America where they would evangelize the Indians. After arriving in this new land, they  became restless and unfulfilled. Their lives were empty of religions fervor. The only alternative to their restlessness was returning to their home in England.

Several months after their arrival, both brothers had personal revivals in their own souls. For Charles it was on Sunday, May 21, 1738. He was touched by the fire of the Holy Spirit and he wrote this extraordinary event in his journal: 

"At nine my brother and some friends came and sang a hymn to the Holy Ghost. In about half an hour they went. I betook myself to prayer. Yet still the Spirit of God strove with my own and the evil spirit till by degrees He chased away the darkness of my unbelief. I found myself convinced and fell into intercession." 

In 1739 to commemorate his powerful Spirit re-birth, he wrote, "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today." Until his death, in 1788, Charles Wesley composed over six thousand hymns. Each one proclaims the simple but profound truth that Jesus is "the way the truth and the life..." (John 14:6).

Lord Jesus, we walk through this week in remembrance of the steps you took toward the horrors of crucifixion. We also remember the times our lives have led us through footsteps of grief.  But because  we follow You, our steps toward the healing of broken hearts and broken bodies set us free.  Praise you Risen Lord, for coming to each one who opens the heart to invite You in to live for eternity. We pray in your holy and powerful name. Amen.

Is Easter a pagan holiday?

The feast of LORD's resurrection, commonly known by the name "Easter," is one of the most ancient observances in Christianity.  Most Christians today keep this traditional Sunday holiday as a special day unto the LORD.  However, in recent years, there has been an increasing trend among evangelicals to shun Easter as allegedly being derived from a pagan source.

We have grace and liberty from the LORD to either hold a certain day special or not, as long as we do so to the glory of God (Romans 14:5, 6).  Notwithstanding, the apostle also instructs us to "not let our good be evil spoken of."  Is Easter really built on an evil foundation?  How can we know for sure?
However we personally choose to handle the subject of Easter, we need to be a people who abide in truth and prayerfully approach subjects with both eyes open, formulating opinions on the basis of documented fact and not rumor or unsubstantiated "urban legends."  This article presents some facts not commonly shared on the subject of Easter, to provide some food for thought for those who love to learn.
The Name "Easter"
One principal objection to this feast is the name "Easter."  It is often said that this name is a thinly veiled pagan name drawn from the Babylonian fertility goddess Ishtar, also known as Astarte or Ashtoreth in other pagan cultures encountered by the Israelites in biblical times. 
These names are certainly similar to the name "Easter."  However, as I note in other articles, the name "Easter" is only known from one single historical source, written by the Venerable Bede, an eighth century English Christian monk.  Bede briefly identifies the name as referring to a pagan goddess that formerly had a feast at a similar time, and that the old name was used to celebrate the new Christian feast.
This is a clear example of syncretism, where Christian and pagan elements are mingled, since a pagan Anglo-Saxon name came to be associated the Christian feast.  But Bede did not seem troubled by this name, nor did anyone else down through history until fairly recent times.  Bede does not provide evidence identifying any pagan practices that were mingled with the Christian feast, nor anything connecting the name "Easter" with the Babylonian goddess.  Indeed, it is not clear how Babylonian influence could jump all the way across the Mediterranean and the European continent after many centuries to turn up in Germany and then England with the early Anglo-Saxons.  So there are no historical facts that can prove any Babylonian connection between these apparently-similar names.
A look at non-English speaking Christians also shows a disconnect. The name "Easter" is not known in other traditionally Christian languages of Europe.  Nearly all other European nations use a variant of the word pascha, which is the New Testament Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word pesach, meaning "Passover."  In this way, the etymology of the name shows that the early church considered the resurrection of Christ to be a type of Passover commemoration. 
There is an increasing trend in recent years among English-speaking evangelicals to instead refer to Easter as "Resurrection Sunday."  Yet we would do better to instead adopt the Greek biblical word "Pascha" (pronounced "pah-ska") and thus connect with Scripture and most of the non-English-speaking world in signifying this Christian commemoration as actually being based on the Old Testament Passover.
Most of the objection to the traditional English name "Easter" seems quite overblown if you consider other examples.  In the Old Testament book of Esther, we read of a Jewish girl named Hadassah who became queen of the King of Persia, where she helped save the Jewish people from persecution.  Hadassah was given the name Esther, a Persian word that is exactly the same name as Ishtar.  So the LORD was pleased to use a woman best known by this pagan name to rescue His chosen people.  We once attended church with a family that was very opposed to Easter, yet this same family named their daughter Esther.  Go figure!  I'm sure the LORD chuckles at these sorts of things!
(Here's some interesting connections.  The pagan goddess Ishtar was associated with the morning star Venus.  The name Hadassah comes from the Hebrew root hadas, which refers to the flower myrtle.  In pagan culture, the myrtle flower was associated with the goddess Venus, and so the names Hadassah and Esther are in fact equivalent translations.  There is actually an interesting astronomical basis for the association between Venus and myrtle, but that is another story.)
Easter and the Church Calendar
Over the many long centuries since the time of Jesus and the Apostles, a church calendar was developed for keeping track of important feasts and holidays.  The church calendar is maintained in "high church" liturgical traditions, and its intended purpose is to devote large stretches of the year to commemorating the events of the life and ministry of Jesus.
The church calendar includes a schedule of "fixed feasts" and "moveable feasts."  The fixed feasts are tied to the seasonal cycle of the solar year, and follow an annual progression where the same holidays land on the same dates every year. 
The fixed feasts are strictly New Testament holidays.  March 25 is the traditional feast of the Annunciation, commemorating the angel's announcement to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus.  This is the traditional date of the conception of Jesus, and Christmas lands exactly nine months later, on December 25.  Christmas is preceded by the season of Advent, a season of anticipation and reflection of the coming of the Savior.
The moveable feasts are based on the cycles of the moon, and are essentially counterparts to certain Hebrew Old Testament feasts, and follow similar rules.  Generally speaking, the time of Easter corresponds to the time of Passover, following the basic rules set forth in Exodus 12.  Since they are based on the cycles of the Moon, the moveable feasts land on different dates each year. 
In the liturgical cycle, the date of Easter is preceded by Lent, a 40 day season of fasting and repentance, representing Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the desert.  On Easter, the fast is broken in a joyous feast of celebrating our salvation.  The Easter season continues until Ascension Thursday, commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent with His disciples before ascending to heaven (Acts 1:3).
Some say there is something pagan about basing a calendar system on the annual cycle of the seasons or the phases of the Moon.  Yet the LORD made the Sun and Moon specifically to be timekeepers (Gen. 1:14).  In a time before modern clocks and calendars, there was simply no other way to maintain any sort of calendar other than the seasonal signposts of the Sun and Moon. 
Such concerns notwithstanding, the modern Hebrew calendar is actually a product of "pagan influences," including month names taken from the pagan Babylonian calendar.  In the books of Moses, we find the month name Abib for the first month (Exodus 13:4, inter alia).  In 1 Kings 6 and 8, we find the month names Zif, Bul, and Ethanim.  However, in the books written after the Babylonian Exile -- Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, we find the Babylonian name Nisan given as the first month instead of the Mosaic name Abib (Esther 3:7) along with other Babylonian month names including Sivan, Elul, Chisleu, Tebet, and Adar.
While we often hear complaints of pagan influences in connection with Easter, one never hears complaints of pagan Babylonian influences in the Hebrew calendar, as recorded in the later Old Testament narratives.  The fact that these names pass in Scripture without comment suggests that the LORD Himself does not consider this sort of thing to be a big deal.
Easter and the Early Church
The earliest historical sources of church history indicate that the Resurrection Feast was celebrated by the earliest Christians alongside a special observance of the Sabbath.  This is reported by the first century Christian writer Ignatius of Antioch, who represents the very early days of the church following the book of Acts.  According to tradition, Ignatius was the child called by Jesus in Matthew 18:2-3
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and he said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Ignatius is remembered as an early martyr who served the LORD under the Apostle John.  Ignatius wrote:
Let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them.  And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days.
In this way, Ignatius identifies Sunday worship as a type of weekly Easter celebration, in which the LORD's resurrection is commemorated.  It should be noted that, though Ignatius indicates that first century Christians abide by the Sabbath, he discourages Christians from following Talmudic Jewish practices common in this period that were over and above the law of Moses.
In the Christian writers of the first several centuries A.D. (known collectively as the Church Fathers), it's clear that tensions increased over time between the Christians and the Jews.  Christianity was an illegal religion in the Roman Empire, subject to persecution since the Christians would not worship the Roman emperor as a god. 
On the other hand, Judaism had been permitted by Julius Caesar himself, and an exemption to the Roman law had been affirmed by the subsequent emperors.  The Church Fathers lamented that the Jews of that time assisted the Romans in rounding up Christians for execution.  The following example was written by Justin Martyr, a second century Christian:
You curse in your synagogues all those who are called from Him Christians; and other nations effectively carry out the curse, putting to death those who simply confess themselves to be Christians. 
As a result, a widening rift began to grow between Christianity and Judaism in the early centuries A.D.  Over time, in part because of this antipathy, Christianity became a predominantly Gentile religion, and Jewish practices such as Sabbath-keeping and Passover apparently either fell away or acquired a distinctively Christian character.    


Not many people today have studied church history.  In the place of factual history, many people - Christians and unbelievers alike - subscribe to unsubstantiated "urban legends" of church history.  Many of these urban legends feature the Emperor Constantine, who is alleged to have mingled pagan Babylonian practices with pure Christian worship to fashion Easter into a false holiday of Satan rather than a commemoration of Jesus' victory over death and sin. 
The primary source for these historical fabrications is a 19th century book called Two Babylons or the Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and his Wife by Bishop Alexander Hislop.  This book is an anti-Catholic screed intended to show that every little aspect of Roman Catholicism is actually derived from Babylonian Baal worship. 

Over the last 150 years, Hislop's book has been the source for the common allegations of pagan influences in early Christianity.  Hislop's work appears authoritative on the surface, including numerous footnotes citing various historical sources.  However, if one actually reads a sample of the cited sources, it quickly becomes clear that Hislop misrepresents what the sources actually do teach.  Also, Hislop makes some very oblique associations, drawing vague similarities as "proofs" of his argument.  Consequently, Hislop is discredited and not considered authoritative and reliable.  A detailed discussion of Hislop is beyond the scope of this article, but The Babylon Connection by Ralph Woodrow offers a critical analysis of Hislop's book and its method.

In spite of all the nasty things that are usually said, the historical sources portray the Emperor Constantine as a hero of the fourth century Christian church.  The son of a pagan father and a Christian mother, Constantine followed his father's pagan ways until the LORD got his attention.  Prior to confronting his rival in battle, Constantine saw a vision of the cross:

About that part of the day when the Sun after passing the meridian begins to decline toward the west, he saw a pillar of light in the heavens, in the form of a cross, on which was inscribed the words, BY THIS CONQUER.  - Ecclesiastical History of Socrates (circa A.D. 440) 

Except for the inscribed words, this description sounds suspiciously like an elaborate set of "sun dogs," a very rare parahelic halo phenomenon, a natural occurrence.  Whether a natural or supernatural apparition, Constantine defeated his enemy, thus becoming emperor, for which he gave glory to God and became a Christian.  Constantine ended the centuries of persecution against Christians and is remembered as a great patron and benefactor of the Christian church.  Socrates goes on to relate:

Now Constantine, the emperor, having thus embraced Christianity, conducted himself as a Christian in his profession, rebuilding the churches, and enriching them with splendid offerings: he also either closed or destroyed the temples of the pagans, and exposed the images which were in them to popular contempt.

Among other things, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325.  This Council condemned the heretic Arius, who taught that Jesus was a creature and not the pre-existent Son of God.  From this Council emerged a formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity, which has been affirmed by all orthodox Christians ever since.

The Council of Nicaea also considered the issue of a common celebration of Easter.  Many local churches celebrated it on a Sunday while some churches in Asia Minor celebrated Passover in the Jewish manner, on the first Full Moon of spring, regardless of the day of the week: 

Another local source of disquietude had pre-existed there, which served to trouble the churches - the dispute namely in regard to the Passover, which was carried on in the regions of the East only.  This arose from some desiring to keep the Feast more in accordance with the custom of the Jews; while others preferred its mode of celebration by Christians in general throughout the world.  This difference, however, did not interfere with their communion, although their mutual joy was necessarily hindered. - Socrates

The Council of Nicaea resolved this issue by establishing a common Sunday celebration of Easter, and the eastern churches agreed to adopt this in place of the Jewish practice:

We have also gratifying intelligence to communicate to you relative to unity of judgment on the subject of the most holy feast of Easter: for this point also has been happily settled through your prayers; so that all the brethren in the East who have heretofore kept this festival when the Jews did, will henceforth conform to the Romans and to us, and to all who from the earliest time have observed our period of celebrating Easter. - Letter of the Synod, as reported by Socrates

At the Council of Nicaea, it was the gathered bishops themselves, not the emperor, that agreed to adopt Sunday as the Pascha rather than the Jewish time of Passover.  So for better or worse, we see that Christian and Jewish practices simply diverged from each other over the centuries, and that the Emperor Constantine did not actively impose a syncretistic version of Easter on the church. 

However, syncretism of Christianity and paganism did take place in this period, but it was through the efforts of heretics and not emperors.  The early church was vigilant in its opposition to such cults, and it had been down through the previous centuries:

A little while before the time of Constantine, a species of heathenish Christianity made its appearance together with that which was real; just as false prophets sprang up among the true, and false apostles among the true apostles.... Now the contents of these treatises apparently agree with Christianity in expression, but are pagan in sentiment: for Manichaeus being an atheist, incited his disciples to acknowledge a plurality of gods, and taught them to worship the Sun.  He also introduced the doctrine of Fate, denying human free-will... He denied that Christ existed in the flesh, asserting that he was an apparition... all of which dogmas are totally at variance with the orthodox faith of the church. - Socrates

In spite of being banned by bishops and emperors, Manichaeism was around for centuries afterwards, and was embraced by the Christian writer Augustine of Hippo prior to his conversion to Christ. 

Another allegation of the period of Constantine is that politically-motivated mass conversions to Christianity occurred, and that pagan influences crept into Christianity by this avenue.  However, this topic is also addressed in another historical source, the Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen:

Others, envious at the honor in which Christians were held by the emperor, deemed it necessary to imitate the acts of the ruler; others devoted themselves to an examination of Christianity, and by means of signs, of dreams, or of conferences with bishops and monks, were convinced that it was better to become Christians.  From this period, nations and citizens spontaneously renounced their former opinion.... Many other cities about this time went over to religion, and spontaneously, without any command of the emperor, destroyed the adjacent temples and statues, and erected houses of prayer. - Sozomen (circa A.D. 440)   

Syncretism - Is it Really a Big Deal?

Christianity has been around for 20 centuries, and many cultures have entered in over this time, bringing their own influences.  Consequently, many Christian traditions are cluttered up with cultural baggage.  For example, it's quite clear to anyone that Easter eggs and rabbits are not biblical symbols, and they surely do appear to be fertility symbols. 

The "Easter bunny" tradition apparently found its way into America through German immigrants, who brought it over from Europe.  These same German immigrants are credited with bringing in Groundhog Day and Christmas trees.  The origins of these traditions are mostly lost to history.  But rather than being evidence of insidious Babylonian idolatry, they appear to simply be folklore customs associated with the passage of seasons in temperate climates such as Europe and North America.

I had a good chuckle last year on Easter when I saw a rabbit for the first time in that season.  In our climate in Ohio, Easter usually falls when the snow melts and the days warm up.  At this time, it just so happens that the rabbits become more active.  Similarly, the robins reappear at this time of year, and soon begin laying their eggs.  It's not hard to understand how illiterate peasant people, living close to nature in pre-industrial Europe, might have developed a nominally Christian folklore that associated such seasonal signs with certain religious holidays.

At any rate, Easter bunnies and eggs certainly are cultural accretions that can be easily omitted from Christian worship without discarding the entire Easter celebration.  One way or the other, there is no historical basis for supposing that eggs and bunnies were deliberately imported from pagan Babylon by the Emperor Constantine to water down and diminish the message of the Gospel.

As far syncretism is concerned in general, our entire modern culture is a product of pagan influences.  Our language, our system of education, law, literature, science, history - just about every field of knowledge - owes a great debt to the pre-Christian cultures of the Greeks and Romans, and the Egyptians and Babylonians before them.  While missing the ultimate Truth, these pagans discovering some true things about the LORD's world that God's people can legitimately appropriate for the service of the Kingdom. 

I'm not here to defend paganism.  Indeed, the apostle Paul, in writing of the pagans of his time, says "they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20).  But we should consider that pagan worship is simply a consequence of sin, a separation from worship of the true God.  We all know from Scripture and personal experience that pagans do not have a monopoly on sin.  Even though syncretism has occurred down through the centuries, many unbiblical practices may just as easily have entered Christian tradition through the inherent sin nature of fallen men, well-meaning but misguided while seeking to follow Jesus.

The pagan people themselves were also made in the image of God, and were not subhuman monsters.  After all, most of us have ancestors from cultures that were pagan at some time in history.  Missionaries today are hard at work to reach tribal people who still practice pagan animistic religion in the 21st century.  I'm personally grateful that Jesus, through His resurrection that we celebrate at Easter, made a way for all us pagans to come to Him!

As Christians today, should we be a people that prove their devotion to Jesus by opposing every little thing, and by finding Satan lurking around every corner?  Rather, shouldn't we be a people that seek truth and love to learn new things - to "prove all things, hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every appearance of evil" (1 Thess. 5:21-22)?  And as homeschoolers, shouldn't we teach our children to do the same, to prepare them for a life of service to the LORD?  
In whatever manner your family observes this season, our family wishes you a blessed one.

The Bottom Line

The profit of wisdom is better than silver, and her wages are better than gold (Proverbs 3:14, NLT).

Dear Friends,

It is interesting that the Bible uses financial terms to illustrate spiritual truths. Here is an example.

Do you know what the most crucial figure is in business?

It is not income, as many may think. Many businessmen have gone bankrupt while living a life of luxury on the money that was rolling in.

The crucial figure is not income, but profit. Simply put, profit is the total income reduced by the total expenses.

Our Lord Jesus Christ used this term in one of His most famous questions: "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37, KJV).

In other words, our Lord was saying that you can have all the income life has to offer -- health, wealth, social prestige -- and still be bankrupt spiritually.

How can that be? As mentioned, expenses offset income. As any businessperson knows, one of the greatest expenses in a business is wages. And the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23, NLT).

The "wages," or the expenses of sin, wipe out profitability. Unless sin is dealt with in our lives, the spiritual bottom line is eternal loss. On the eternal balance sheet, there is a deficit.

This does not mean that on the eternal balance sheet, the debit side (evil deeds) is weighed against the credit side (good works), with the result determining our eternal destiny, heaven or hell, although a Christian's rewards will be affected by his works.

In Romans 6:23, the Bible further says that while the wages of sin is death, "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (NLT).

When we receive Christ, the entire debit side of our life's ledger is canceled by His blood and with a free gift Christ imputes His own righteousness to our credit side! Like Abraham (Genesis 15:6), we are "credited" with His righteousness. Paul wrote, "The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness -- for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:23-25, NIV).

Some Christians shout in their praise to God, as the Scripture exhorts (Psalm 47:1). They have probably had this revelation about the imputation of Christ's righteousness. If there is one spiritual truth above all others that would motivate one to shout with joy, this is it. Go ahead!

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright 

Wisdom that Works

Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I don't think there's one person on this planet that doesn't want to have some more wisdom.  I mean wisdom's a good thing - right?  So why aren't we all a whole bunch wiser than we actually are?
Answer:  because wisdom involves sacrifice.  The dictionary definition of wisdom is this: having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; and the soundness of an action or decision by applying this experience and knowledge, and good judgment.
Boil that down and there are two parts to Wisdom.  Knowing what to do - and then actually getting on and doing it.
And therein lies the problem.  We're all happy to have a bit of a theory lesson - but when it gets to putting that wisdom into action - we discover that wisdom has a cost.
According to King Solomon - the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.  But then, many people don't want to hear that.  So here's what happens - they keep on making the same mistakes, over and over and over again.