Recently I completed reading a haunting book that simultaneously captivated as well as horrified me. A Fever in the Heartland, by Timothy Egan relates the rise of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) from the immediate post-Civil War era in 1866, by disgruntled former Confederates in response to the liberation of the blacks. How this organization expanded to its pervasive domination in the US is mind-boggling and then to realize that as recently as 2022 there was legislation as a direct result of this reprehensible part of our American history. It is almost unfathomable that I never realized the magnitude, scope, or depravity of this situation.

            It would be plausible to believe that my naivete to this topic was due to geography—far northern New York—or the life situation in which I learned—rural agricultural—or my own place in society—white, middle-class, and Protestant. But am I to blame for my ignorance?

            Several years ago, my husband joked that we needed to keep the old set of encyclopedias so that we could know what really happened. We laughed, but not so much anymore. There has been much discussion recently about “rewriting history” but this may be a different form, notably failure to educate. As a youth I thought of the KKK’s activities as far away and in the past. Ironically, less than a mile away from the school where I was being educated, was the location of a former KKK orphanage. In fact, this very town where the school was located, was ranked #2 at one time as having the greatest density of Klansmen in the state. Just a few miles away from my house was the location of KKK rallies. My husband learned only fairly recently that his grandfather had a cross burned on his yard. The reason? He was Catholic and married a Protestant woman.

            To realize how current this issue is to note that in March 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law The Emmett Till Antilynching Act making lynching a federal crime. This was after the first legislation was originally introduced in 1900, and subsequently 200 attempts were made for its passage. Named after a black Chicago boy, who at age 14 was brutally murdered in 1955 while visiting family in Mississippi, his name became synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement in the 50’s and 60’s. Unfortunately, it has been estimated that 4,743 people, primarily blacks, were either lynched or tortured. There is no way to come to an accurate figure for the number of  deaths as some were done without much awareness on the part of others. It is also estimated that 99% of those who committed these acts were never prosecuted.

            So, even though this is an atrocious part of history, what does this mean to us today? Well for starters, as Christians Jesus exhorts us to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). He did not, however, encourage us to accept the “ignorance is bliss” concept. Certainly, we cannot expect to have all knowledge on any specific topic but this is different from the intentional bending of the truth to meet contrived goals. In 1992 Robert Proctor and Iain Boal coined a new word, agnotology, to describe the intentional perpetuation of cultural ignorance. It has many of the similarities of “Gas Lighting” but is done on a broader group. We see it in action in so many ways, we may have become insensible to it’s happening. This was certainly the basis of the tobacco industry until its advertising was curbed. The liquor industry today postures how alcohol is part of any great party

            During its heyday, the KKK perpetuated the belief that certain people were inferior and undesirable and ultimately a menace to good society. So pervasive was their influence that many, many churches, clergy, and devout laypeople fell in with this deception. Much of the political arena was controlled by members of the KKK or their sympathizers, from Presidents down to local officials and the police force. Many of the same principles held later by Nazi Germany were seen in the KKK s adherents. So, while we malign Nazi Germany for its pogrom (and rightfully so) we need to realize that many within the US held similar thoughts as well, for example Charles Lindbergh.

            With that said, you begin to see how the Black Community today is fighting back with many of the same tactics as the KKK. This is not to condone such behavior but to acknowledge that there is a history for such violence. But to this I would ask, how can anyone justify doing the very things that were found so appalling in the past? Christ does not call us to acts of violence but to treat others with respect. He calls us to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:38-40).

            This brings out several questions:

 1) If we had a greater realization of the impact of the KKK, would we be better able to understand the situation and deal with it more effectively?

2) What can we apply as the implications for treatment of immigrants now as we look at how things were handled in the past?

3) How can we use our Christian world-view as a way of interpreting this history?

            As believers we accept as true that there are no racial distinctions but instead genetic groupings as it goes back to the Tower of Babel (as told in Genesis 11).

            The Bible deals with the subject of “willful ignorance” as seen in Job 21:14, Zechariah 7: 11,12, Matthew 13:15, and Romans 1:28. That Christians then, and now, opt to ignore what the Bible teaches displays this kind of “willful ignorance”. Can we ignore the clear teachings of the Bible and choose to intentionally decide not to study about the topic? Christians are often seen by non-Christians as non-thinkers. The people in Berea (Acts 17) were given as an example of how they did not take things on face value, even from the apostle Paul, but studied to discern what is right. If Christians had not displayed the failure to look into the true situation of the KKK, how much death and suffering could have been avoided?

            So…back to the question: “Who’s To Blame?. Perhaps it is me.

           

This picture is public domain. For more information, read “The 1925 Ku Klux Klan March on Washington” by “Alec”, edited by John Kuroski, November 2023 and available on-line.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/ku-klux-klan-march-on-washington

            Usually, you would find me informing you of why you should embrace Christianity. But here I’m going to give you some reasons that not becoming a Christian can be advantageous.

1) You don’t need to commit to a particular belief. We all know how hard it is (as well as annoying) to have to commit to things. To pick up the groceries on the way home, agree to meet with someone at a particular time, to volunteer to help someone or some cause in a consistent repetitive manner. Psalm 37:5 tells the people of God that they are to commit (there’s that ugly word) their ways to the Lord.

2)  You can trust in your own superior knowledge and understanding. After all, no one else knows as well as you what the “correct” opinion really is. God-followers are told in Proverbs 3:5 to trust in the Lord completely and not to depend on their own understanding of a situation. Besides, where would they get that direction? From the Bible? Isn’t that an antiquated book that has little relevance to today’s world?

3) You can get angry and hold a grudge and it’s perfectly reasonable. You have the right, right? Psalm 37:8 tells those of us that are Christians to avoid being angry and forget about getting even. That doesn’t seem like good psychology, does it?  Your motto can be “Do unto others as you want to do to them.” (They have it coming anyway, right?)

4) You can fit in with the rest of society a lot better. They can tolerate you going to church a couple of times a year—especially if you have kids in the Christmas and Easter pageants. Otherwise, you would come across as a Christian-Nerd. And we certainly do not want to be considered “weird”. When we look at the Bible, it specifically tells Christians that they are a “peculiar” people, if we read First Peter 2:9.

5) You can have an extra day each week to do what you want to do—like playing golf, going shopping, catching up on business, shopping. Those 10 Commandments given to us in Exodus 20 really aren’t pertinent today, are they? We don’t have to “keep the Sabbath Day holy” and we can worship God just as well (if we want to) in nature, or the football field, or wherever. Certainly, that premise Christians tout of not neglecting getting together with other Christians to worship God is actually unnecessary as it admonishes in Hebrews 10:25.

6) You can be non-offensive to those of other religions. They have a right to believe what they want to. We don’t want to be narrow-minded (that would be perfectly awful) and insist that there is only one way to salvation. John the Apostle really didn’t know what he was talking about in chapter 14, verse 6 when he declared that the only way to come to God is through Jesus. That is being very narrow-minded!

7) There aren’t any worries about getting to “heaven”, whatever or wherever that may be. After all, isn’t it pleasant to think that since you’re basically a good person (and, of course, that’s according to your definition of “good”) at least most of the time, you’ll get rewarded. Once again John the Apostle must have been wrong in his book of First John 1:9 that what is necessary to get right with God is to plead guilty of our bad thoughts and actions and actually ask God to clean us up inside. Isn’t it much easier just to occasionally do nice things to earn our way to “heaven”?

8) You can just push aside any thoughts about that craziness of “the end of the world”. That’s just a sci-fi thing like Harry Potter or Spiderman. The whole Bible book of Revelation is just some crazy, mixed-up thing from some old man’s bad dream, even if he was John the Apostle who studied under Jesus.

9) But even if you sort’ a believe the Bible, you have all the time in the world. You’re young and healthy, right? This whole imperative to get ready that Christians speak about is the kind of thing that those weird people walking along the side of the road holding placards saying, “The end is near” goes along with. Surely, Jesus himself must have misspoken when he is quoted in Matthew 24 that no one knows when the end of the world will happen and that it will be like a “thief in the night”. It’s going to be a long time from now, and not as those Christian believers say might happen at any time.

10) You can focus on the important things of life like having fun and making lots of money. Those serious Christians have no fun at all. Getting drunk, watching porn, cheating in relationships, ignoring “less than desirable” people are fine for now. And isn’t making lots of money what we all want?  When we read in Ephesians 2:10 that God actually made us for doing good works, is just a bit extreme thinking. And what an audacious thought that God planned for you to do those things! And even if we do all those “good things” it doesn’t make us right with Him, but because of His kindness that He accepts you as one of His own. That’s downright ridiculous! After all, you should get some points just for doing good things.

11) If you’re not a Believer, then you don’t have to waste your time reading the Bible each day. After all, there are more interesting things to read—like the back of a cereal box.

12) You can say you believe in evolution because the scientific “experts” say that’s the way thing happened. If you were a Christian you would have to believe that God created all things from nothing. It’s much easier to believe that there was some big explosion that took place, from substances (that came from where?) and then just “happened” to form living things. It is so very uncool to believe Genesis 1:1.

13) You don’t have to worry much about the Devil since he doesn’t worry about you. You’re already in his camp, so he’s not going to make trouble for you. He would rather you stayed comfortable right where you are. Aren’t we warned in John 16:33 that Christians will face persecution? And isn’t that going on all over the world right now? So, isn’t it safer to just to not become a Christian?

14) You don’t have to worry about God talking to you since you haven’t set up any way to communicate with him. If he does exist, why would he care to talk to you anyway? Hasn’t he got more important things to do like end war, deal with starvation, find ways to get rid of disease? (And who do those Christians think they are, that they are to be the ones doing this?)

15) You can reserve all your admiration and praise on whomever you wish, whether actors, sports stars, famous people, or even yourself. Christians once again show their narrow-minded by saying all praise and glory is towards God.

Well, there you have it—15 reasons to not become a Christian. Now I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be a Christian.

            Now that it’s officially spring, we all know we’re thinking about warmer weather. And with that, one of the things we think about is clothes, and yes, a bathing suit. Now there seem to be two camps on this bathing suit issue: one camp wants to avoid being seen as much as possible, the other camp wants to be seen as much as possible. I’m going to stick my toes in the water on this one (pun intended) and say that neither is a true Christian response.

            If a lady has accepted Christ in saving faith, she has entered into God’s Kingdom and now is a Princess and there is no need to prove your worth to anyone, especially any detractors.

“Now if we are children [of God], then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”

                                                                        (Romans 8:17a New International Version [NIV]

Since we recognize that we are princesses, there is no need to feel embarrassed, and certainly not humiliated, because somehow you do not “come up” to the air-brushed model of physical appearance. But there is also a responsibility that comes with royalty. Just as those in a royal family must often follow stringent decorum as part of their position, we, too, as God’s princess need to adhere to a standard.

“You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

                                                                        (1  Corinthians 6:20 NIV)

We read in the Bible that for some people:

“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”

                                                                        (Philippians 3:19 NIV)

While gluttony may come to mind with this verse, looking at it in another way, it’s talking about how a person’s focus can be on something that is not conducive to their spiritual health. Some women are so intent on their physical appearance that they spend inordinate amounts of time to get to their perceived perfection. Unfortunately, they are probably either chronically disappointed that they never attain what they want, or they give self-glory for their success. Neither is a way of bringing glory to God because it is taking the attention away from God and shining it on yourself.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

                                                                        (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV)

            Now I’m going to become really fanatical here and say: No woman should wear a bikini! And the first retort will be that everyone wears a bikini.  Well, not all ladies wear bikinis, and if you feel that you must wear a bikini in order to “fit in”, is this the proper incentive?  Once again is this attitude one that seeks your own desires, or is it to bring glory to God?

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—jis good, pleasing and perfect will.”

                                                                                    (Romans 12:2 NIV)

It also cannot be argued that they are the best swimsuits for swimming since women’s swim teams do not wear bikinis. There is no excuse due to hygiene (except that a bikini increases exposure to dangerous UV rays), comfort, availability, or price that dictates the need to wear a bikini.

            Another argument is that we have a responsibility to others who are looking at us. Men, and especially teenage boys, are wired differently than women. Seeing a woman in a scant bikini causes an instantaneous trigger to sexual thoughts in their minds, even if they do not want it to occur. Rosalind Jukic (rosilind@rosilindjukic.com) states it this way: “A man’s eyes are drawn to where the skin line and clothing line meet. If you do not want his eyes to go ‘there’, don’t put the skin/clothing line there”.

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

                                                                        (Matthew 5:28 NIV)

Do you want to be a contributor to that sin?

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.’”

                                                              (Luke 17:1 NIV)

“We must make up our minds not to do anything that will make another Christian sin.”

                                                                        (Romans 14: 13b New Century Version)

            We also need to be concerned about others. Surely you realize that the middle-aged man sitting on the beach, beer in hand, is also ogling you? Suppose you were his wife—how would you feel about that? Do we not have the responsibility to be aware of how this affects her state of mind and their relationship? Are we helping build the marriage up, or are we ever so slightly tearing it down? Another group also needs our consideration, that of those ladies who cannot and do not want to be minimally clothed. The reasons are varied such as scars, surgical alterations (mastectomy?), weight issues, or skin issues. We do not need to make them more self-conscious because of our dress. Now that we are in Christ, we must consciously take on our obligations.

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

                                                            (2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV)

“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

                                                                        (1 Peter 1: 14-16 NIV)

            Now, lest I come across as such a spoil-sport, let me give you some encouragement. First, I received a new catalog from Land’s End™ recently and I was blown away by the array of modest swim suit and coverup options that it contained. (And, no, I have no affiliation with the company other than owning a few items.) Further research has shown other companies also have modest swim suits at all price points. You have no excuse to wear a bikini! As with all aspects of Christian living, for both women as well as men, you must always live a life of intentionality to bring glory to God.

            For my final argument against a bikini: If Jesus were to appear physically in front of us, would you be ashamed of the way you are dressed? If he were to present to me physically, I may wish I had on something a little nicer than the jogging suit I’m wearing, but I wouldn’t be ashamed. Can you say that honestly about wearing a bikini?

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”

                                                                        (1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV)

            A book that is a classic, but speaks to the issues surrounding yielding to God’s will for your life, I suggest Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. Not all (or even most) issues that we deal with today are significantly different than in the past!

“Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1 KJV) is one of the few Bible verses that almost everyone –Christian or not—can quote. It is often brought into play when someone is offended by another person’s expressed opinion, usually about another person. This verse is pulled out as a definitive statement on the subject of judging when it should be viewed as one of the descriptives on the subject of judging others. Seldom, probably never, does someone say another person is being judgmental when all are in agreement. Ironically, when this is quoted, it is usually spat out with a judgmental attitude.  The question then is who is judging—the accused or the accuser? Is not the one employing the verse in effect judging that the other person is being judgmental?  There is no question but what this verse in Matthew is a true statement, since it was spoken by Jesus as part of the Sermon on the Mount, but is it the absolute statement on the issue? Does it provide the definitive statement on judging? No, it only presents one facet of the knowledge of how we are to perceive judging.

            Now, one of the important aspects of the Bible is that it is meant to be read in its entirety, not just as isolated verses.  This gives us fullness in our understanding of a concept, as in this situation. There are, however, certain verses you could call capsule verses because in them you find a general concept explained in a concentrated manner, and are 100% true, 100% of the time; there are no ifs, buts, or “except whens”.  Examples of these would be Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”, and John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. These capsule verses present a total concept that is expanded throughout Scripture. Can we say that Matthew 7:1 is one of those? Some verses issue a general truth but, not a circumscribed command. Examples of these would be Paul’s exhortations about church behavior where women are to pray only with her head covered and not cut their hair, while men are not to pray with their head covered and not have long hair (1Corinthians 11:3-4). Should we return to the practice of hat-wearing for women or require a man’s hair to be cut short in order to be considered acceptable in our Christian culture?

            First Corinthians has much to say concerning judging. Chapter 2, verse 15 seems to contradict Matthew 7:1 when it quotes Paul as saying, “But he who is spiritual judges all things”.  Indeed, Paul himself declares that he has judged a particular unnamed person in the church who has been immoral (5: 3). So how can we be told on one hand not to judge, but on the other to judge everything?  Looking further into First Corinthians we begin to see a fuller picture of how we are to judge. First, there is a differentiation between those who are in Christ and those who of the world. God will judge those who are in the world, so we do not have to be involved in their final judgement. However, there is a clear directive to judge those who are in the church of Christ. Verse 12 reads,” For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?”

            Now we need to explore the difference between “judging” and what can better be termed discernment or assessment. If I, as a woman, am walking alone on a dark evening and see a man slouching in the next doorway up, I am not “judging” if I think he might be dangerous, but rather I am being discerning. With judging comes the concepts of a set of standards and a penalty to be meted out for failure to meet those standards. We are called to be judgmental within certain contexts. If you are an employer and an employee fails to meet the criteria that has been established for employment, then you have the responsibility to let that employee go. The same type of situation exists within the church. If a professing Christian who is a member of the church fails to meet the criteria set up by the church, then it is the obligation of the other Christian church members to bring a judgement against the offending person, but in the appropriate manner.

            To determine what the appropriate manner of judgement should be, we once again need to go back to the Bible in its entirety. However, one of the clearest examples is in Jesus as he lived on this earth. He was never afraid to call people out on their sins. When you read the account of the woman caught in adultery (found in John 8: 1-11) you realize that he did not condone or excuse what she had done. Isn’t it ironic that she was “caught in the act” of adultery, therefore there must have been someone else who wasn’t pulled up to Jesus for judgement? Jesus pointed out that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees were being hypocritical in their judging; they were displaying wanton disrespect for fairness. Further Jesus responded to her in love by not bringing her into public humiliation. (He had effectively dispersed the crowd). However, he enforced the standards by telling her to leave her life of sin. So here we have three more points to proper judging—done privately, required something be completed to effectively denounce the prior sin, and create a bettered life.

            This is a complex subject and the more I studied it, the more complex it became. However, the primary points that I gleaned were:

-Judging is not criticism. (And that’s a whole different subject!)

-As Christians we are obligated to judge in certain circumstances.

– There is a difference in whom we are to judge.

-Judgement must be meted fairly, appropriately, done with an effort to maintain a person’s self-respect, provide for action on the part of the sinner, establish a better relationship, but be administered with love.

Here’s a good verse to memorize:

“Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:9

A suggested reading for this concept is the classic, “The Scarlet Letter”, by Nathanial Hawthorne. Hester was required to wear the scarlet A, but not the one who was her partner in her adultery. Of course, the story is much more complicated than just this and digs much deeper into the effect of being judged or not judged. If you haven’t read it in a while, read it again and put it against what we read in the Bible.

         

A new year—a new calendar, at least for many of us. One of my first functions in January is to pull out my new calendar and start writing important dates on it. I usually start with filling in birthdays and anniversaries, then important dates (last year a new grandson!), then ever-increasing doctors’ appointments, and some vacations and holidays. Then for many of us, school holidays and breaks, recurrent events. Then reminders like dog medicine, garbage pick-up dates, Tax Day (!).

            I always try to make everything neat and tidy. But…invariably I make a mistake. It may be I flip to the wrong month or put in the wrong time. Then as the year progresses, there are changes, so there have to be strike-outs, sometimes arrows to a different date, sloppy entries. Also there may be coffee rings, smears from past snacks, and even, maybe, crumpled, smeared pages where a granddaughter sprayed the water hose through an open window.

            So, each year, I start with a pristine calendar and by the end of year I have a shabby, worn-out bunch of sheets. But I like to keep the old calendar, for in it there is a record or diary of sorts from my previous year. It reminds me of hard times and good times, helps me remember when things happened, and hopefully shows some progression and completion.

            As a Christian, my life is often like that calendar. I start fresh, but all sorts of things get changed and re-arranged. I’ve messed up on several occasions (failed to read my Bible that day?), had cancellations or rescheduling (that ladies’ Bible study that just never got started), and stains and smears (personal problems, relationship problems, social problems, church problems).

But no matter what, each day is completed and at the end of the month, I get to flip the page to a new month’s page.

Lamentations 3:22, 23 (New Living Translation [NLT]) tells us:

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends,
    His mercies never cease.

Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

And again we read: “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” (Psalm 37:23 NLT)

So, even though my calendar may look like a mess and my life may be seemingly falling apart, I know that God cares about all the minutia of my life, all the slip-ups and all the changes that have occurred, I can know that his mercies continue, and they are fresh each and every day. He has promised to guide me and he will delight in me, even though I fail. At the end of the day, the week, the month, and, eventually, the year, I can know that God has been with me. And so, when next year I take down the old calendar and start the unspoiled new one, I can see where I have been and a glimpse of where I will be going, with God directing my steps.

One of the joys we have in the 21^st century is a number of Bible translations as well as paraphrases. We are often drawn to a version for one reason or another and use that as the basis for our primary Bible reading. However, it doesn’t hurt sometimes to read a selection in something other than our usual version, it may give you a slightly different perspective. Let’s look at 1 Peter 2:9 in a couple of versions.

            In the King James Version, the verse reads: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”. When I read this verse in the KJV, that word “peculiar” popped out at me. Now when the KJV was translated in the 1600’s that word did not contain the negative connotations that we think of today, but more a sense of being selected and unique, not weird or strange. But maybe we should hang on to the word “peculiar”.  How many true Christians have not been considered peculiar because of what they do (or don’t do)? And in a time when things are moving away from the Judeo-Christo mindset, we may be more and more thought of as an oddity. But is this necessarily a bad thing? Shouldn’t our uniqueness in Christ be something to make us feel honored?

            Now if we look at the same verse in the New International Version, it takes into account this shift in meaning: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” What dignity this gives to each believer! Look at it what it describes for each believer. Each person is selected (by the supreme being in the universe!), is royal in personhood, is in the elite priesthood, is sanctified and made holy, and has been identified as God’s special possession. That is certainly something to help us hold our head up high when others are viewing us as “peculiar”.

                        While this verse certainly talks about who we are on an individual basis, it also describes us as a “nation”. Usually we think of a nation and a country as being one in the same. However, by definition, the word “nation” can also refer to a group of people who share a history, traditions, culture and, often, language—even if the group does not have a geographical place of its own. People within this type of nation share a common identity, and think of themselves as belonging to the same group. For example, there are several indigenous groups within this country that comprise different nations, such as the Iroquois Nation.

            The next verse (10) tells us that we were not initially part of a nation but that when we come out of the “darkness” (our previous sinful nature) into Christ’s “wonderful light” (after accepting God’s gift of salvation) we join a unique nation—the “People of God Nation”. But because we are different, others will react to this differentness, frequently with a hostile attitude. The culture of our nation is diametrically in opposition to the prevailing culture and behaviors in the mainstream society. This constant abrasion of our interactions with those not in our “People of God Nation” causes us much suffering. Peter was totally cognizant of this and so gave us encouragement (as in verse 9) along with fatherly advice to be prepared.

            Fortunately, Peter goes on to tell us what to do and what not to do. He reminds us of the example of Christ (verse 23) and that we are not to retaliate or hurl insults. Rather we are to treat everyone in a respectful manner—no matter what their station may be. These are those who are not in God’s nation. Our nation’s culture calls for a different approach to one another within the nation. We are called to live as “free” people, but not in hypocrisy with some hidden agenda, but openly to demonstrate God’s light to outsiders. He starts the chapter by admonishing us to “rid [ourselves] of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, and slander of every kind. Further, we are instructed to desire the pure spiritual milk, i.e., prayer, study of the Scriptures, training our minds in Godliness.

            But lest we get an inflated opinion of ourselves, we are not to do this to make ourself or others feel better. We aren’t to do this with the idea of gaining anything. Verses 19 and 20 clearly debunk this saying that it is only because doing the right thing is commendable to God.

            So then, what is the reason for this? It is so those outside of the People of God Nation may “see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (verse 12). Acting in this manner is because it is what God expects of us (verse 21) and that we are to act in a manner that he exemplified. Once again Peter is telling us to keep the goal in focus, but he also allows us to feel confident and joyful because we know that our ultimate glory is to live with God for eternity.

Robert J. Morgan in his book, “100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know By Heart”, relates the power of memorizing Scripture. He tells about an attorney and his wife who did not consider themselves as having any religious background. One evening a friend invited them to a plane ride, and all went well. Until on landing when the nose wheel caught a power line. His wife was thrown out with severe injuries, while he was left suspended by his seatbelt. The next thing he recalled was all the beeping and clicking that goes with an ICU. As he lay in his hospital bed in the days that followed, little snippets of Bible verses came to him and he wondered how they had gotten into his mind. Finally he remembered attending a Sunday School class as a 5-year-old boy and sitting in a little red chair. The teacher was an advocate of Bible memorization, but the attorney never made an effort to learn the verses. So, apparently unlearned and forgotten, these verses had been left latent in his brain until they were needed. At the time of need he was given vital words of encouragement.

The story has a happy ending. Both he and his wife healed and went on to accept Christ. In this, the learning was almost a passive act. Imagine the power of actively learning Bible verses! We are told in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is alive and active”. Just as that attorney and his wife did not know what was ahead for them when they set off on that nocturnal flight, we don’t know either what lies ahead. Certainly there will be times when we don’t have access to electronic devices, but we always have access to what’s in our head-let’s put some good things up there!

Sometimes here in the northern climes we tend to put off things until “good weather” had arrived (which might not be until late May where I live) thinking that we will be able to do it better then. While I don’t think that I can plant a garden under 3 feet of snow, I can plan what I want to plant. But then when “good weather” comes I have so much to do I don’t do as good a job as I would like to. And sometimes it seems that I am overwhelmed by what needs to be done, that I don’t do things that are very important because so many things are calling for my attention.

This relates to the term “Tyranny of the Immediate”. So often we attend to the thing that needs to be done right now (answering the phone call that turns out to be a telemarketer) instead of something of greater value (reading the Bible a little longer). Human beings are all affected by this and I certainly believe that I get caught up in this much too often. So, how do we counteract this? “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” This advice comes from Jim Barksdale, CEO of Netscape, later AOL. It was developed for a business application, but still rings true in almost every group, including families.

Parenting is a tough, exhausting job! As a grandparent, looking on at the complexity of the work involved, I can see how easy it was when I was a parent and now that I look on at other parents, to get caught up in this “Tyranny of the Immediate” and so miss doing some of the things that are of far greater importance. Ask a Christian parent what is the most important part of their responsibilities and they will tell you that it’s to raise a godly child who comes to accept the Lord and serve Him. Yet so often very little time is spent on that “main thing” due to the pull of the “immediate”. And there are certainly a lot of “immediate” things that we are subject to.

But parents are not the only ones who need to be reminded to keep “the main thing the main thing”. Often our careers seem to require so much of our time that we have little time left for the “main thing” which is our relationship with Christ. But it might be social or even church work that pulls us down. In education we are warned about curriculum drift which means gradually pulling away from the main objectives of the education. Even if those driftings are good studies, it’s not primary to the taught subject.

So what are we to do? How do we maintain focus? One of the ways is through Scripture memorization. First we have to know that the Bible is true. Our memory verses for this month address this: 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be equipped for every good work.

For the Little Ones, I would suggest that they learn just the first section: “All Scripture is God-breathed.” Groups 1 and 2 can learn the whole verse 16 and Group 3 can learn both verses 16 and 17.

I would recommend that each person, couple, and family establish what are the “main things” in your life. Do this through reading the Bible, praying, and talking with others.

Please, let me know what you think. And I encourage you to subscribe since it’s so much easier for me to send out these posts than to send to each individual e-mail. Enjoy the exploration!

March. This is a season of new beginnings, like the start of a new year. In fact, the Jewish calendar starts in the month of Nisan which is roughly March-April on our (Gregorian) calendar. This is the time when we think of “spring cleaning”, maybe starting a garden (depending on your location), and of things opening up. The Old Testament book of 2 Samuel chapter 11, verse 1 tells of something we don’t think of for springtime and that is: “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war…” [For a very interesting story of the damage caused when King David did not go to war, read the rest of Chapter 11 along with Chapter 12.] Our Scriptures for this month and the next involve the act of marching which is defined as a purposeful movement on a particular path to reach a specific destination. The verses we will be working on are often called the “Roman Road”. So, to get you in the mood for marching here’s some marching sounds you can use as you learn about our verses: https://youtu.be/BaHMy9LTZyI

During the past two months we have been introduced to the Commanding General Jesus and his qualifications for this march–creator of the world, the love that he has for each of us, and his sacrifice. But now we need to know some things about this march, such as why we need to go on it and the alternative if we don’t go on it.

The first thing we need to determine is whether each one of us should go on this journey and we find the answer in:

Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Now we have to what results from the sinning that we all have done and what are the alternatives. That is found in our second verse:

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD.

So we have established the importance of this march, but how can we be guaranteed that we will come to a successful end of this journey? Again we look into the book of Romans.

Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Next we need a map and a guide to lead us. Well, Jesus has told us:

John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

So…are you ready to march? Below is a group of children who have started on the march. (And did I mention that age and physical ability are no issue with joining this march?!)

Little Ones: Please have them learn the first half of John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” For a learning activity, you might use a nice day and make a sort of hop/scotch board using colored chalk on a sidewalk or driveway. In the start box put “Jesus answered”, jump to the second on which you’ve put “I am”. The set of double would be “the” and “way”, the next center one “and”, the next set “the” and “truth”, again the center one “and” the last two “the” and “life”. You also might want to have them listen to the marching sound effects above as they pick up their toys with you as the commander (improvise a baton with streamers out of a paper towel roll and some crepe paper streamers) and give them directions. This can be a way of memorizing the verse, but also teaching them colors, i.e. blue toys, right and left, numbers 1 toy in the bin, 3 toys in the bin, up and down, i.e. toys up on the couch or down on the rug (toys on the ceiling fan it’s all up to you!), over and under, back and front, etc. You might even give them the chance to be the commander and you have to follow directions.

Elementary: Have them learn the first half of the verse and continue on with the second half: No one comes to the Father except through me.” They can continue on with the hop/scotch board with “no one” in the middle, “comes to” and “the father” in the next pair, “except” in the center, and “through” and “me” in the last double. Finish by landing on the last single block and give the Bible reference. As age appropriate, have them draw the squares themselves.

Seniors and Advanced: Please learn all four of the verses. In addition, I would suggest you read through all 16 chapters of the book of Romans. If you divide it up so that you read one chapter every two days and the last chapter on the 31st you can get through it easily. You understand the verses, therefore making them easier to memorize, if see them in context.

Happy “March”ing!