Words from the Fire

I have just finished reading Albert Mohler's book, Words from the Fire. In this book Dr. Mohler shows how the Ten Commandments are not just a relic from the past but is extremely relevant to us today. As he goes through each of the commandments he shows that they apply to our lives today and our relationship with Christ. He shows that they are not simply rules to obey but shows us the very heart of the Gospel. I found his sermons on the Commandments better but I do recommend this book to all Christians. It is interesting that some want to make the Commandments rules for life as if we come into a saving relationship by obeying the commandments while others write them off as having no relevance for us today. They want to talk about grace but grace is meaningless without judgment and judgement is meaningless without seeing the holiness of God. The Ten Commandments show us that.

Who is ripping off whom?

Our Premier is upset at the Ontario Lottery Commission. They have been found to be using money for their own pleasure and wants. The Premier says that they are ripping off the taxpayers. I wonder if he is upset because they are honing in on the government's territory. After all the government set up the lottery commission and lotteries rip people off all the time. It seems strange to me that they can be so self-righteous about it but do not realise that they are guilty themselves. The government assumes that all taxpayers 'play the lottery' but there are many of us who do not and we believe that it is wrong. In light of the Ten Commandments how can a Christian consider that there is anything right in lotteries?
Now don't misunderstand me. Those who are abusing their position by scamming monies from the OLG should be punished as should all thieves.

An email from my son

I had an email from my son about the tenth commandment so I thought I would post it here.

He wrote:
Dad,

I'm reading through my professor's yet to be released New Testament Theology. It is really good. While reading on the problem of sin, Dr Schreiner says this:

"Refusing to honor God as God and to give him glory, to worship and adore him constitutes sin according to Paul. Therefore, he identifies coveting as idolatry (Eph 5:5; Col 3:5). The prohibition against coveting is the tenth commandment in the decalogue, and we see from Paul's commentary that the tenth and first commandment address the same reality. Whatever a person covets has become an idol, and hence coveting places the object of desire above God himself."

Thomas Schreiner, Magnifying God in Christ: New Testament Theology; ch 14 - "The Problem of Sin" (Forthcoming).

Dr. Schreiner rightly has argued that the first and last commandment really form an inclusio so that the rest of the commandments are interpreted as an explanation of the first and last (not his exact words, but mine!). Therefore, all sin is idolatry and is a failure to glorify God.

Charlton Heston and the Ten Commandments

Charlton Heston died this past Saturday at his home in California. As I read the blogs about him many of them were about his role with the National Rifle Association so much was said about gun control. As an actor he will be remembered for a number of roles including John the Baptist in The Greatest Story Ever Told, Ben Hur for which he won an Oscar in 1959 and Moses in The Ten Commandments. I think most people will be able to name more of his movies than they can commandments. The movie was only a movie but the Ten Commandments are the Words of a Living God.

Dumb Laws

Here is a list of laws regarding Sunday that are still on the books in some US states and cities.

In Denver it is illegal to drive a black car on Sundays.
In Hartford Connecticut it is illegal to kiss your wife on Sunday.
In Oregon you may not eat ice cream on Sunday.
In Marion oregon ministers are forbidden from eating garlic or onions before delivering a sermon.
Providence Rhode Island forbids selling toothpaste and toothbrush to the same customer on Sunday.
Nicholas County WV does not allow a member of the clergy to tell jokes or humourous stories from the pulpit during a church service.
In Georgia no one can carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.
In Columbus Georgia you cannot carry a chicken by it's feet down Broadway on Sunday.
Florida has a special law that prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday.
In Idaho it is against the law to ride a merry-go-round on Suncays while Boston forbids the eating of peanuts in church and taking a bath on Sunday.
In Trenton NJ pickels are not to be consumed on Sundays.

And then there is this classic: In Ohio it is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday.

When the Law is looked upon as a list rather than a whole then people will come up with their own rules has to how to keep the Ten Commandments. Why don't we let the Word of God speak.

Last Lesson

Tonight was our last lesson on the Ten Commandments. I will still continue to blog as I work through Joshua. There were so many lessons I learned. What started out as a reaction to Grace Walk turned into eleven lessons that were deeper, wider, higher and richer than I ever imagine. I do not think I can look at the Ten Commandments the same again. My thanks to Mike who partnered with me through these lessons. What a joy to work with him and I appreciate how much he taught me. God bless you Mike as you take your needed Sabbath rest.

Shameless Commerce

I love to listen to Car Talk on US Public Radio. One of the things they do is give away a prize that can be used in their shameless commerce division. At least they are honest about it. Some of the things that I see advertized by Christians make you shake your head. There is the WWJD bookmark, the Prayer of Jabez mug, the Purpose Driven Life journal and thousand more including T-shirts that advertize everything.
The other day my wife found this gem in the jewelry for the thrift store while she was shorting and cleaning.


Now I am not sure what that little braclet sold for but here is a plastic braclet that has all ten of the commandments hanging from your wrist. Makes you want to rush right out and buy one, doesn't it?

Demas and the Deceit of Riches

One of the sad stories in the New Testament is the story of Demas. In Philemon Paul describes Demas as a fellow-worker. In Colossians he sends greetings from Demas but in 2 Timothy Paul says, "for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica." A ministry is lost because someone loved this world more than he loved the Lord.

Grace Walk

A number of weeks ago I wrote a report on the book "Grace Walk" by Steve McVey. Though I found the premise of the book to be something I agreed with I did find his approach to be more of a knee jerk reaction to a life of legalism. He often made it sound that the problem was the Law but that is not true. If you read the New Testament carefully to realize very quickly that it is us that is the problem and not the Law. One cannot blame the "Do not walk on the grass" sign for the fact that we wanted to walk on the grass. The sign only woke the sinful nature that is in each of us. No one can tell me what I can or cannot do.That problem is the fact that we want to be on the throne of our lives. The Ten Commandments make it very clear that the problem is our inablity to keep the Law and not the Law itself. One thing is that we do not understand the Law. The purpose of the Law shows us what God is like. The effects of the Law show us that we need a Saviour. We are by nature undisciplined and that is why Paul told us that we are to discipline ourselves to Godliness. Let us not blame the sign for our disobedience. If you want to read my report on Grace Walk you can send me an email and I will send it to you.

Happy Birthday Son

Today is our third son's birthday. When he was born 27 years ago we had no idea what he would do for a living, where he would live or anything else. Even five years ago we had no idea but today he is a police officer. I wonder if we would need police officers if people took the Ten Commandments seriously? I know that we would need some officers to help us in situations that come our way because we live in a fallen world but so many times the police officer's time is taken up with lying, stealing, and other violations of the Ten Commandments. All of this starts in the heart that does not trust in our God.
I am proud of my son. I am proud of what he does and I know he does it well. I am even more proud in who he is. God bless you son as you uphold the laws of our land. Happy birthday.

Justice System

PROSECUTOR KYM L. WORTHY made some interesting comments in her press conference following the charges laid by her office against Mayor Kilpatrick of Detroit. She said:"You know the fundamental principles of the justice system are fairly simple – they aren’t hard. We learned them all as children:
Tell the truth
Take responsibility for your actions
Admit when you are wrong
Be fair and play fair
Don’t take or use things that aren’t yours
There are consequences for bad behavior
Even children understand that lying is wrong. If a witness lies, innocent people
can go to jail or prison, people can literally get away with murder, civil litigants
who deserve money may not get it or may get money they don’t deserve. And
lying cannot be tolerated even if a judge or jury sees through it."

The Law of Christ

In Galatians 6:2 we read, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." What is this Law of Christ? In Matthew we read: Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus also told His disciples in John 13:34, 35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

What do you desire?

There is a wonderful verse in Hebrews that talks about our desires.
"Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:16
God is not ashamed of those that desire what He has prepared for them. If we desire something we usually buy it, make it, ask someone to give it to us as a gift, steal it or obtain it through our own efforts. However, God first made the inheritance for us and then we are to desire it above all else. His part was to make it. Our part is to desire it. The result is that He will not be ashamed to be called our God.

The Most Toys

I think we have all seen this bumper sticker:
Then there is this one in response:


Someone wisely said, "The things that are important are what money cannot buy and what death cannot take away."

Bookends

The first and the tenth commandment are wonderful bookends for the Ten Commandments. The first commandment tells us that there is only one God and we are to worship and adore Him. Anything else is a false God. Then the tenth commandment reminds clearly that we cannot look at the commandments as a list and say we have "kept all these from our youth, what more do you expect of us?" but it strikes right to the thoughts and intents of our heart. When we covet we replace God with the god self. We cannot have one God and then covet something of another person.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

For 12 years Robin Leach hosted a program on television called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes, and business moguls. Why did we watch it? We have always been fascinated with how the rich and famous live. We may have dreamed of what we would do if we had the kind of money they had. We may have dreamed of the extravagant lifestyle. If we only had their money, their fame, their success then we wouldn't have these problems. The interesting thing about the show is that we didn't really see the people enjoying their possessions. I am sure that they did but I am also sure that their possessions brought about a series of other problems. It is one thing to look at their lifestyle and another to look and desire that lifestyle. Psalm 16:6 says it well. "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

Desires

The tenth commandment deals with our desires. The problem is not that we have desires but that we desire the wrong things or persons. We desire wealth on earth rather than treasures in heaven. We desire need to exchange the lesser for the greater, the temporal for the eternal. When we covet we have replaced God with another god. It is not that desires need to be eradicated from our life completely because that would be Buddhism and not Christianity but instead our desire must be in Christ.

The Ninth Commandment

Last Sunday night Mike Pankrac and I did a round table discussion on the ninth commandment. You can listen to our discussion by going to http://gdac.mypodcast.com/ and March 16 PM.

Enough

G. K. Chesterton said, "There are two ways to get enough, one is to accumulate more and more and the other is to desire less." In the 1920’s, a reporter asked John Rockefeller: “How much is enough?” His answer was fascinating: “Just a little bit more.”

Jars of Clay

We have now come to the last of the Ten Commandments. Just in case you could go down the list and check off the other nine saying I have never broken these commandments we come to the one that says, "Don't covet". Coveting is once again about trusting God. We like to think that we know better than God about what we need. However, Paul reminds us that true treasure is found in a jar of clay. To remind me of this I have a clay vase that sits on my dresser. Here are some of the things that are in that jar of clay. There is a watch that doesn't run any more but is engraved with the words, "Love Marjory 25 12 72" This is the first Christmas gift given to me by my wife after we were married. There are two nickels dated 1944 and 1951 that remind me of when I was born and when Marjory was born. There are five pennies date 1975, 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1986 which are the years when each of our children was born. I have a penny from 1967 which reminds me of the great country I live in. I have Sunday School pins from both the Penticostal church and the Christian and Missionary Alliance which reminds me of the great teaching I received as a child. I have a metal from the Mathematics Contest which reminds me of the years I spent teaching Mathematics. There are two swimming patches that I earned as an adult having never learned to swim as a child. There are three pins from Christian Service Brigade and Pioneet clubs because I worked with children in our church for many years. And finally there is a "Fish Pin" to remind me of my Saviour.
I know that there should be other treasures added like something from the Philippines for the year that we spent teaching at Faith Academy; some reminders of my four grandchildren which must be included in the real treasures of life; and maybe something from Bibles for Missions which has been my work in retirement.
However, I know that the real jar of clay is this body that seems to develop more lines and scars as it gets older but in this jar dwells the gift of eternal life and the very presence of God the Holy Spirit. How can we not trust God when we have true treasure in an old clay pot?