Eloquence required?

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2, KJV)

There are few things in religious circles held in greater esteem than eloquence. Yet there are few things of less actual value or that bring with them greater temptation or more harm.

One qualification everyone expects a preacher to have is the ability to discourse fluently on almost any religious or moral subject. Yet such ability is at best a doubtful asset and unless brought to Christ for cleansing may easily turn out to be the greatest enemy the preacher faces here below. The man who finds that he is able to preach on a moment’s notice should accept his ability as an obstacle over which he must try to get victory before he is at his best for God and His kingdom.

“Lord, keep us mindful of our need for humble reliance on the Holy Spirit to accomplish the awesome task to which You have called us. Amen.”

-A.W. Tozer, Tozer on Christian Leadership, May 12)

Standing out against all the bishops of England...

When that great saint Thomas More, Chancellor of England, was on trial for his life for daring to defy Henry VIII, one of his prosecutors asked him if it did not worry him that he was standing out against all the bishops of England.

He replied: ‘My lord, for one bishop of your opinion, I have a hundred saints of mine.’

- Recalled by A.N. Wilson (originally posted by Wintery Knight)

Sweet (little old grandma) talk...

Did you hear about the 83-year-old woman who talked herself out of a speeding ticket by telling the young officer that she had to get there before she forgot where she was going?

Specialists needed...

Great industrial concerns have in their employ men who are needed only when there is a breakdown somewhere. When something goes wrong with the machinery, these men spring into action to locate and remove the trouble and get the machinery rolling again. For these men a smoothly operating system has no interest. They are specialists concerned with trouble and how to find and correct it.

In the Kingdom of God things are not too different. God had always had His specialists whose chief concern has been the moral breakdown, the decline in the spiritual health of the nation or the church. Such men were Elijah, Jeremiah, Malachi and others of their kind who appeared at critical moments in history to reprove, rebuke, and exhort in the name of God and righteousness.

A thousand or ten thousand ordinary Old Testament priests or New Testament pastors and teachers could labor quietly on almost unnoticed while the spiritual life of Israel or the Church was normal. But let the people of God go astray from the paths of truth and immediately the specialist appeared almost out of nowhere. His instinct for trouble brought him to the help of the Lord and of Israel.

Such a man was likely to be drastic, radical, possibly at times violent, and the curious crowd that gathered to watch him work soon branded him as extreme, fanatical, negative. And in a sense they were right. He was single-minded, severe, fearless, and these were the qualities the circumstances demanded. He shocked some, frightened others and alienated not a few, but he knew Who had called him and what he was sent to do. His ministry was geared to the emergency, and that fact marked him out as different, a man apart.

Those who know Leonard Ravenhill will recognize in him the religious specialist, the man sent from God not to carry on the conventional work of the Church, but to beard the priests of Baal on their own mountaintop, to shame the careless priest at the altar, to face the false prophet and warn the people who are being led astray by him.

Such a man as this is not an easy companion. The professional evangelist who leaves the wrought-up meeting as soon as it ends to hurry over to the most expensive restaurant to feast and crack jokes with his sponsors will find this man something of an embarrassment, for he cannot turn off the burden of the Holy Ghost as one would turn off a faucet. He insists upon being a Christian all the time, everywhere; and again, that marks him out as different.

- From A.W. Tozer's foreword to Leonard Ravenhill's Why Revival Tarries

Paying for safe abortions helps make abortions rare?

It is hard to believe, but some Christians actually think Obama is advancing policies that will reduce abortions. I am not making this up. One “Christian” blogger even wrote this gem:

"Paying for safe abortions helps make abortions rare."

Uh, sure, and while we’re at it let’s provide free drugs, cigarettes, pornography, guns and more! That would reduce all sorts of societal ills, eh? Businesses give away things for free so that people will ultimately buy less of them, right?

And of course, abortions are never safe for one of the human beings involved and not that safe for the woman, either - physically or mentally.

Interestingly, these folks are the first to rationalize away scientific facts such as that a new human life begins at conception and they oppose all or virtually all restrictions on abortion. They claim that abortions are safe, so why reduce them? They would be a cost effective method of birth control.

So at the same time they deny that abortion kills an innocent human being and protect unrestricted access to abortions, they claim to want to reduce them.

They also often claim that if our policies are enacted then there will be more children on welfare (that’s their “better dead than in foster care” mantra), yet they don’t see how that contradicts their claim that outlawing abortions won’t reduce abortions.

So let’s consider how Obama’s plans - some enacted, some to come - “reduce” abortions:

• Funding for abortions domestically and internationally. Yeah, paying for more of something and giving it away for free will sure reduce it. Taxpayers have no “choice” in the matter. You must fund abortions whether you like it or not. That example alone should put to rest the lie that he really wants to reduce abortions.
• Eliminating parental consent laws so public schools can help your kids have serious medical procedures that will destroy your grandchildren, all without your knowledge. They can do this without your consent and your awareness. But if you want your child to take an Advil at school for orthodontic pain, be prepared to go to the school with the original bottle and sign some forms.
• Eliminating the conscience clause, so medical personnel will have to either perform abortions or refer them to where they can be performed. This proposal is so reprehensible it is hard to believe it is even being discussed. Again, what happened to “pro-choice?” It was a myth all along: They are pro-abortion.
• Eliminating partial-birth abortion restrictions.
• Eliminating informed consent and requirements to allow women to see ultrasounds of what they are about to have destroyed. Pro-abortionists don’t trust women to make fully informed decisions, you see.
• And more!

Obama & Co. want to reduce abortions about as much as McDonald’s wants to reduce hamburger sales. To state otherwise is to be deceived and/or a deceiver. Anyone who perpetuate the lies should be ashamed, especially if they claim to follow Christ.

Guest Blogger, Neil

Impact future generations...

Ruth was a noble woman though she was from the pagan nation of Moab. She married a Jewish man while his family was in her country during a period of famine in Israel. Must've fallen deeply in love with this God-fearing family because after her husband died, she remained faithful to her mother-in-law, Naomi. When word that the famine was over in Israel, Ruth went with Naomi back to the Promised Land, refusing to be turned back. You've likely heard her words of uncompromising commitment to Naomi before. They’re often read at weddings.

"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." (Ruth 1:16, NIV)

If we knew nothing more about Ruth, these words would be enough to commend her to us. But we know more, much more.

Ruth and Naomi arrive in Israel about the time of the barley harvest. They are destitute - two women alone without anyone to support them - so Ruth offers her service to the older woman. "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor." (Ruth 2:2, NIV)

She "happens" to find favor in the eyes of a man from the clan of Elimelech named Boaz. I say "happens" because I believe it was the hand of God putting her in the right place at the right time. Elimelech was Naomi's husband! Ruth is gleaning in the fields of a close relative. Important information for what happens in a little bit.

Ruth works hard and is treated kindly by Boaz. He gives her grain from what his harvesters have taken in. He urges her to stay in his fields and instructs his workers not to harm her or stop her from gathering even among the sheaves.

When Ruth reports all this to Naomi, the older woman shouts out her praise for the man. She tells Ruth about his connection to the family. She urges Ruth to continue gleaning in his fields.
Days later, a light comes on in Naomi’s mind. Boaz is the perfect man to redeem the family ground. He is kind. He is generous. He is taken with Ruth. (The text doesn't say that, but Naomi's pretty discerning. She reads between the lines.) So Naomi tells Ruth to go to Boaz's place after dark and lay down at his feet. Ruth obeys and sometime in the night, the man awakens and finds her sleeping there.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"I am your servant Ruth," she answers. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are my kinsman-redeemer." (Ruth 3:9, NIV)

Boaz is honored by this young woman’s respect and her noble request. Ruth is proposing he redeem Naomi's land and bear children through her to continue Elimelech's line. (A strange tradition to us, but an important thing in that day in Israel. It was the way of God's people. A man had to have an heir. His name had to survive.)

Boaz agrees to do as she asks. He sends Ruth home early in the morning before any of his men knows a woman has been among them. Ruth goes. She tells Naomi all. Her mother-in-law, giddy with delight, assures the younger woman that her redeemer won't rest until the matter is settled - that day!

Sure enough, early in the morning Boaz seeks out the man more closely related to Naomi's husband than he. He wants to know if he will accept his responsibility to redeem the land and have children for Elimelech or if he will defer to Boaz. When Boaz speaks of the land, the man is eager to redeem it, but when he learns of the woman, he balks. He says no to Ruth and so Boaz, rejoicing, takes this woman of noble character as his wife. They are married and have a son. Obed is his name. When Obed grows up, he has a son named Jesse and Jesse when full-grown has many sons, the youngest he gives the name David. David, the king God says is a man after his own heart, a man who obeys in everything.

Ruth and Boaz's story is a great love story. A woman in desperate need of help calls on a man to do the honorable thing. Her respect for him emboldens him to risk it all and take this recently converted God-follower as his wife. All who hear of it praise both the man and his wife. And to top it all off, the couple pass on their faith to the next generation and the next and the next. Their relationship has an impact on the nation of Israel for many generations. Their family has an even greater impact on the world. Jesus, our Savior, is born of their line.

All this took place because a noble woman showed great respect to a godly man, trusting him to do the right thing.

Women, I believe you can have a similar impact on your children and grandchildren and possibly even your great-grandchildren if you will show the same kind of respect and honor toward your husband as he seeks to lead your family in God's ways.

"Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord...[you] must respect her husband." (Ephesians 5:22; 33, NIV)

Why is respect your God-given task in the family? I'm convinced, in part, it is your job because your demeanor in your marriage relationship teaches your children how to submit to God. It teaches your children to respect those whom God has placed over them. It validates their father's words of wisdom and godly instruction. (That's his job.) It facilitates the passing on of faith in Jesus Christ in a way far more powerful way than you can imagine.

We saw it in Ruth's life. Her respect for Boaz had to impact her family. As a godly grandmother, she powerfully influenced her grandson Jesse. And David, her great-grandson, followed the Lord faithfully and blessed many.

Pretty impressive what God can do through a godly woman who chooses to submit to God by submitting to her husband, by honoring him, by respecting him.

On this day, Mother's Day, will you impact future generations? Will you respect your husband as God has commanded you. Respect is a husband's due in the same way love is yours. Respect your husband even in those moments when he fails and acts in unloving ways toward you. He will make mistakes. He is human after all. He cannot be faultless. Trust his heart and respect him anyway. His heart is good. He loves you. He is willing to die for you. He is willing to serve you. Submit to him as to the Lord. Respect your husband and bless your kids.

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