How far you go in life depends
on your being tender with the
young, compassionate with the
aged, sympathetic with the
striving & tolerant of the weaker
& stronger. Because, someday in
life you will have been all of
these.
—-George Washington Carver
by Dee Bowman
[Aug. 2014 – Pressing On Magazine]
I’ve been very busy of late, what with the Southside Lectures and our Vacation Bible School. So I thought I’d just share you a bit from one of my journal entries. Give it some thought. Maybe it might help you; it helped me.
I was just thinking today…
Sometimes I’m so interested in getting where I’m going that I fail to enjoy the trip.
Sometimes I get so taken up with my list that I fail to enjoy checking off each entry.
Sometimes I’m so careful to watch every step that I take my eye off the goal.
Sometimes my humility becomes a source for my pride.
Sometimes my effort to think before I speak becomes the reason for my not speaking at all.
Sometimes my loving criticism is not very lovely.
Sometimes when I think I know it already, it becomes a reason for not listening.
Sometimes I’m so busy looking at the faults of others that I don’t see my own.
Sometimes my idea of balance is seriously slanted in my own direction.
Sometimes when I think I won, I actually lost.
Sometimes others don’t view my successes the same way I do.
Sometimes my periods of relaxation are not relaxation at all, but periods of laziness.
Sometimes I want to get something done so I can start something not nearly as important as what I’m doing.
Sometimes my looking forward to tomorrow is merely an excuse for not finishing what I should have done today.
Sometimes my idea of toleration is little more than being afraid to speak.
Sometimes my work is unpleasant only because of my lack of appreciation for having work to do.
Dee Bowman has been preaching for about 50 years. He is the author of several books, was one of the editors of Christianity Magazine, and for several years was an adjunct professor at Florida College. He has been associated with the Southside congregation in Pasadena, Texas for over 35 years. His wife is Norma and his children are Russ and Denise.
“Things Accomplished Among Us” (Luke 1:1)
Selected Reflections From Luke
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” (Luke 2:25).
In reading the gospels we meet many people we don’t really like. There were priests carving up sacrifices, but for many it was just a heartless job. Levites were perceived to be experts in the law of Moses, yet many did not live as that law directed. There were rabbis who worked the synagogue system but failed to see the big picture of God’s plan to be fulfilled by Christ. Then, the Pharisees. Sticklers for their favored procedures and zealous protectors of their religious empire. Sadducees “fattened their purses off the concessions that cluttered up the Court of the Gentiles in the temple.”[i] Militant zealots and others whose behavior is documented in the gospels – we just don’t like.
But there are some very special people in Luke’s narrative, like Simeon. A good old man who was very simple in his purpose; therefore, found no place among the religious parties and agendas of his day.
He was “righteous and devout,” but there was a holy impatience that never left his mind, until that day when “things which angels desire to look into” came into his view. He was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” and “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” He was expecting God to deliver on His promises and it happened as “he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him, according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God.”
One special morning, what the old man had been “dreaming” about for years – what he had heard the prophets reveal; what he knew God would do – HE HELD IN HIS ARMS.
He said, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against.”
Don’t be intimidated by the religious or cultural climate, that is indifferent to the promises of God. What God has said, He will do. What God has promised, He will fulfill – according to the conditions He attaches to those good promises. Simeon knew God. He reminds us, be faithful and just wait. When you are waiting for God, it is always worth the wait.
“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them,” (Lk. 12:37, NIV).
– Warren E. Berkley
[1] P.#48, EXPLORING THE PEOPLE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, by John Phillips.
Samuel Johnson prepared a monumental work first published in 1755, Dictionary Of The English Language. He read the great works of English literature, devoured text books, catalogued massive libraries, organized a staff of writers and research people, and lived in pursuit of the task for almost ten years.
Johnson was an enigma in person. A brilliant master of words and syntax, but a miserable man who was often broke, alienated from family, struggling with failed relationships and never with full commitment of heart to be a godly man.
Reading a book about Johnson’s struggles, I’ve become reacquainted with the fact that intelligence and eloquence never finds their highest potential without godliness. For one thing, an intelligent eloquent writer or speaker can say almost anything well, regardless of heart and life.
Samuel Johnson, for example, wrote against the use of alcohol: “these liquors, my Lords, liquors of which the strength is heightened by distillation, have a natural tendency to inflame the blood, to consume the vital juices, destroy the force of the vessels, contract the nerves, and weaken the sinews . . . they not only disorder the mind for a time, but by a frequent use precipitate old age, exasperate diseases, and multiply and increase all the infirmities to which the body of man is liable.” {See Prov. 20:1}
Johnson, however, wrote with equal eloquence in favor of alcohol: “The Cyder, Sir, which I am now rescuing from contemptuous Comparisons, has often exhilarated my social hours, enlivened the Freedom of Conversation, and improved the Tenderness of Friendship, and shall not therefore now want a Panegyrist. It is one of those few Subjects on which an Encomiast may expatiate without deviating from the Truth.”
Give a good writer almost any subject of controversy, and he can write well on either side. We recognize this as duplicity.
Godliness enables us to use our talents with integrity and reverence to God. Godly people serve God and others in high quality because they have given their talents to God, to be used under His instruction and for His glory.
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Heb. 13:15
Johnson Quotations from the book Samuel Johnson: The Struggle, by Jeffrey Meyers.
(1 Thess. 5:18)
Warren E. Berkley
“Gratitude,” said G. K. Chesterton, “is the mother of all virtues.”
Higher authorities echo the vital role of gratitude: “…in everything give thanks,” (1 Thess. 5:18) and “enter His gates with thanksgiving,” (Psa. 100:4).
Gratitude does at least three good things. When directed to God, it places the glory where it should be, in Him. “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord,” (see 1 Cor. 1:31; Psa. 7:17; Psa. 92:1-2). In the absence of sincere gratitude to God, one can gradually slip into an ugly moral spiral (Rom. 1:21). “A true Christian is a man who never for a moment forgets what God has done for him in Christ, and whose whole comportment and whole activity have their root in the sentiment of gratitude.” (John Baillie)
Further, gratitude is good for our emotional health. The habit of grumbling and complaining comes from and further fuels an inner bitterness that can make you miserable. It is hard to get an angry outburst from a grateful heart filled with joy and praise. “Thankfulness is the air conditioner of the soul. It blows out the stale overheated air and brings cool refreshing breezes to the soul,” (Phil Pringle).
Third, gratitude encourages the people you thank. Thankfulness causes the recipient to spend a moment knowing they have contributed some good to others. You are honoring good people and telling them they matter. Paul is anxious to express his thanks to the Christians in Philippi (Phil. 1:3), Rome (Rom. 1:8), but he also told the troubled church at Corinth, he was thankful to God for them (1 Cor. 1:4).
I challenge you to fuller participation in gratitude. The benefits are great.
Warren E. Berkley
In the second Federalist paper, John Jay wrote his understanding of the American people: “Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people – a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs.”
However accurate Jay’s description was in 1788, this is not true today. Whatever opinion one may hold about how our diversity came to pass, it is our reality in America today.
When Jay wrote this, almost everyone was a Protestant; half of all Americans were of English stock, with another fifth from elsewhere in the British Isles. Perhaps his summary was not totally accurate, as historians would argue with reference to Indians & slaves. And in fact, Jay’s ancestors were French and Dutch!
Nevertheless, the founders lived in a world unlike our time. There were fewer races, religions and ethnicities compared to our time.
However we got here, the question is How Will Christians Deal With This Reality? I would hope, (1) we would pray for our nation, (2) that we would take seriously the command of Peter to “honor all people,” {1 Pet. 2:17; see also James 2:1-13}, (3) that we would shun prejudice and violence, and (4) that we would reach out to all people with the gospel.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’.” (Rom. 1:16,17)
Worried about this nation? Take the gospel to all.
Source: What Would The Founders Do? by Richard Brookhiser
Seeing Clearly
Warren E. Berkley
Have you ever had eye surgery? Did you exercise any discrimination in selecting the surgeon? I’m sure you wanted a surgeon with good vision.
For those who have not experienced this kind of surgery, consider: Suppose you have something in your eye, requiring a surgical procedure to remove it; a little speck or a painful foreign substance lodged in your eye that requires surgical removal.
You are in the treatment room, ready to undergo this procedure, and you hear someone fall just outside the door. A moment later, a man stumbles into the room, holding to the wall to find his way. You suddenly discover, the doctor getting ready to operate on your eye is visually impaired. He is blind! He holds the wall, stumbled over things and cannot find you or his instruments. OK, do you want to go through with the surgery?
This is the very thing Jesus said, in His condemnation of hypocritical judging. “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the peck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck out of your eye’; and look, a plank is in your eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye,” (Matt. 7:1-5).
You cannot see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye, when you have a plank in your eye. Blind eye surgeons – what a thought!
{From “Words For All Occasions,” edited by Glenn Van Ekeren, p.#274}
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must – but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow
You might succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.
-Clinton Howell
Redemption of Time,
Discovered In Purpose
Warren E. Berkley
“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil,” Eph. 5:16
Focus on the concept of redemption. The most familiar expression of this is, Christ is our Redeemer. What is involved in that redemption? When I bring my sinful life to Him (in obeying the gospel), I am redeemed, saved, justified. Think of Christ converting our lives into good use! Living under the rule of the devil, our lives are not being used well. When we realize that and obey Christ, He brings our lives into good use! He “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works,” (Titus 2:14). He converts our lives into good use, as indicated here: being “His own special people, zealous for good works.”
That’s our duty with reference to time. We are accountable to convert our time into good use.
How can we do that? It may require some ordering, organizing and planning. But that isn’t the core of this redemption. People who live under the rule of the devil are sometimes highly organized people (in many ways, the Pharisees were exceedingly organized). Do not think, therefore, that this redemption of time is merely the issue of having a schedule or plan. (A bad plan can be faithfully followed!)
The order, the schedule must have an underlying purpose. That’s where the redemption comes in.
What is our purpose? That’s the matter at hand. If your purpose is simply to get through the day no matter how, you fail to redeem the time. If your purpose is to compete and achieve victory over others, you fail to redeem the time. If your purpose is to make money to spend on your pleasures and acquire worldly success, you fail to redeem the time. If your purpose is, to surrender to the culture, to compromise, to be led by about by domineering false teachers, you fail to redeem the time.
Redeeming the time, as Paul uses the expression, is discovered in your purpose. It is not found just in budgeting your time, though there is value in that. All of the budgeting and planning is in vain without sound purpose.
If this redemption of time is discovered in purpose, and we want to know what that purpose is, observe how this section of Ephesians begins in verse 1 of chapter 5: “Therefore, be followers of God!” If you are not following God, you cannot redeem the time. (Eph. 5:16 cannot be faithfully discharged without commitment to the purpose announced in Eph. 5:1).
You can have an appointment book, a day planner, a palm pilot, etc., but if you are not following God you cannot redeem the time. Get following God right, and you are in position to redeem the time. This redemption is not accomplished in speed or planning. Purpose is the issue. Only with the right purpose settled in our hearts, can we convert time into good use.
The urgency of this lies in the reality stated by Paul, “the days are evil.” In another place Paul wrote to Timothy: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
A day planner will not get you through this. Following God will.
Have you ever written a song? Songs are written prompted by romance, sorrow, humor, patriotism or maybe an attempt at fame and royalties.
The song of Mary in Luke chapter one was prompted by her rich passion of humility and gratitude to God. While the Holy Spirit guided her, it was not a robotic use of her. It was a sincere expression of her joy toward God, knowing He had chosen Elizabeth to bear John and her to bear the Savior.
This is from Luke 1:46-55.
Mary said, “..My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (ESV)
She was deeply moved, but not with any sense of personal exaltation or pride. There is no “look what I’ve done,” in her song. No spirit that asserts, “do you know who I am?” Lenski remarked: “Mary is a vessel to receive, not a fountain to dispense.”
As you look down through the lyrics, what stands out in simple boldness is, what the Lord had done, was doing and would do. Her soul magnified “the Lord.” Now, look from there down through the end of the passage. “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant … He who is mighty has done great things for me … his mercy is for those who fear Him … He has sown strength with his arm … He has brought down the mighty … He has filled the hungry with good things … He has helped his servant Israel … He spoke to our fathers…”
While this reveals the heart of Mary, it is not primarily about Mary. She sees herself almost in the background. It is a call to honor God for His great work, fulfilled in Jesus Christ. She takes no credit. Her soul magnifies God.
Today, the offer is made through the gospel of Christ, to be a recipient of God’s mercy, to be used by Him for good and cultivate this depth of humility and reverence for the Creator.
Luke recorded this as one of the great “things accomplished among us.”
– Warren E. Berkley
