Strange Calandar or just Long Livers?

Did They Use a Different Calendar Back Then?

Genesis chapter five appears strange to us in 2012. The ages of the men mentioned are absurd! Think about living 900 plus years? No TV, Computer, McDonalds or Twinkies! Come to think about it… maybe that’s why they live so long!

A friend ask me just yesterday, “Did They Use a Different Calendar Back Then?”. He couldn’t believe the numbers he was seeing. You have to admit that thinking about a 900 year old human body is, well, revolting!

When we read that Noah was over 500 when he began what has to still be the world record solo building project we marvel, wonder and doubt. How did he do it? Sure God helped him we see that in Moses’ writings. However, in the day to day to day to day grind how did that help look.

To me Noah was a plugger. He had a great walk with his God and God highlighted his faithfulness and dedication by allowing him the privilege of building the ark to save the world. But at 500?? Come on! Give me a break!

Stop. Take a deep breath. Think with me. God’s creation was relatively fresh. It was just 1600 years old give or take a decade. The gene pool was clearer, purer, stronger. Sure it had been polluted by sin but it was still very rich. Some believe that there was also a sphere of water that engulfed the world protecting it from the suns harmful rays. God had created the human body to live forever so just 1600 years after the creation it was still a lean mean fighting machine.

The photo above is of one of the world’s oldest people at 117 years 230 days. I can not see this lady living another 800 years. And she didn’t. How long will you live? That is the question of the ages, pun intended, isn’t it? If God allowed us that information would you really want to know?

This new year holds it share of challenges, joys and wonders. Take each day one at a time the way Noah did. Realize that there is a task, a very important task in front of you. Focus on that task. Don’t let little things get you discouraged or sidetracked. Stick to your New Years Resolutions, if you made some and if you didn’t make some. But most of all trust Noah’s God. He wants your life to be full and successful. Really, He does!

Enoch Walked with God

Genesis 5″The oldest man in the Bible died before his father. What is his name and what is his son’s name?” You probably have already heard this riddle. If not it catches you doesn’t it? How could it be that the OLDEST man died before his dad? Of course the answer is that the oldest man’s dad was Enoch. Enoch has the distinction of being one of only two Bible characters who didn’t die. The other being Elijah who was whisked away to heaven in a chariot of fire right? Wrong! He went up in a whirlwind!

Anyway, back to Enoch. We get tangled in the silly riddle and don’t stop to think about the significance of his accomplishment. Enoch walked with God for Three-Hundred Years!

Meditate on that morsel.

Enoch’s feat is unparalleled by any other human. Not Abraham, Moses, David or Paul was able to walk with God to the point that they walked hand in hand into heaven with God. Though Paul and Moses came very close. Enoch’s seems a superhuman accomplishment.

How did his walk with God look? A quick study of his name’s meaning gives us a clue to his gargantuan feat. Enoch means, “initiated, dedicated, disciplined” (http://goo.gl/XsGVK). Enoch is one of those Bible people who’s name describes their character.

Three simple words, ”initiated, dedicated, disciplined” to start our New Year. What heavenly timing! And what a challenge.

How did Enoch initiate, dedicate and discipline himself to walk with God for three hundred years? In the Genesis five death list every one of Adam’s descendants die. Every one but Enoch. He stands alone as a miracle of mercy and love. His relationship with God seems to have earned him a hand in hand walk with God that was so intimate that God didn’t want him to die. I believe that God gives us a clue in Enoch’s name as to how we can enhance our own personal walk with Him in this nascent year.

A walk with God has to have a beginning an initiation. Enoch’s walk probably began with his understanding of the oral tradition passed to him by his father Jared and great grand dad Adam. Family traditions are very important in forming our relationship with God. A child will follow his parents lead. However, even more important than tradition is an understanding of personal sin and salvation in Christ. Confessing our sin and receiving Christ as our Lord initiates our spiritual walk with Enoch’s God.

The second definition that sheds light to help illumine our own walk with the Heavenly Father is that Enoch was, dedicated! We can’t imagine someone living for three hundred years let alone walking faithfully with God for that period of time.

Dedication to God needs to be grasped with daily determination and dependence. It is only accomplished as we tenaciously fight our flesh and depend on the Holy Spirit’s power. We have things that distract us in ways that Enoch could never have imagined. Dedication to God is essential in this day of throwaway everything. Our landfills are overflowing with the essentials of yesterday. What we need is a dedication to God that is ever renewed.

Discipline is the key. It is a dirty word to many who fumble for meaning to their aimless lives. Discipline is hard but worth the effort. Without discipline we amble along life’s path wasting away the hours in useless stuff. Discipline tells us to wake up and get to work. Discipline helps us to order our existence. Discipline points to a growing walk with our Heavenly Father that will yield great rewards. Are you walking with God like Enoch?

God Closed the Door

Genesis 7

I always think that Noah and family were safe and sound inside the ark with their personal zoo before the first drop of water hit that titanic ship. It may have been that way. However, the verse order in Genesis 7 makes me wonder. Have you ever noticed it? Look at verses 11 – 16. 

11  In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12  And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13  In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; 14  They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. 15  And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 16  And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

In Junior church the Flannel-Graph always showed Noah with a big white beard, a staff, a smile and beside him was a long line of animals two by two calmly ambling into the ark. And Flannel-Graph is always right. Isn’t it?

It may have been that way. God had commanded Noah and family to enter the ark seven days before the flood started and Noah always did what God commanded. But look again at the seeming order of events of that last day of dry:

• The “fountains of the great deep broke up, 
• the windows of heaven were opened and 
• the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
• then Noah and family went in. 
• Then, And the LORD shut him in. Whew! Just in time.

I live in Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is a funny word. It is a word of ancient origin and means, torn earth. If you are familiar with San Francisco, CA and it’s hills or Houghton/ Hancock, MI you have an idea about how hilly Sorocaba is. 

These hills are residual marks from the six hundredth year and second month and seventeenth day of Noah’s life when the great deep broke up and the waters gushed out. It didn’t only rain during the flood. All of the water that was below the earth’s surface gushed out too. Air breathing beings didn’t have a chance of survival. I doubt that there was one person clutching to the ark as it rose from Noah’s front yard.

If the events of Flood Day happened as mentioned in the order above, why on earth did God wait so long to shut that door? Could it be that He was waiting until the last moment to see if anyone else might want to join Mr. and Mrs. Noah and family? Or maybe it was Noah who was hesitant to slam the door on all of his neighbors. Had Noah made that door so big that he couldn’t shut it? I doubt it. Did Noah expect God to shut it? Again, I doubt it. 

God is merciful and Noah was faithful, dedicated and righteous. In God’s mercy he allowed Noah to preach righteousness (see 2 Peter 2.5) for one hundred and twenty years. God gave the people a final weeks warning by commanding Noah to go into the ark. And, maybe Noah and family were still trying to convince their relatives and neighbors to come in on that last day as God finally shut the door. 

The final judgment will be by fire and not water. How many times do you need to hear before you enter the ark? Of course there will be no big boat on that day. Jesus Christ, the ultimate preacher of righteousness, shouts to you to day,  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). 

Why would anyone wait to be rescued? Why would you? Come on in right now before God closes The Door (John 10.9)!

Sparks

Zechariah 12
As a kid I often saw my dad sharpening a tool on his table grinder. The sparks that flew brought wonder. They were myriad and beautiful. When he was done there was a tiny pile of shavings that I could play with. I’d get a magnet and create fantastic miniature sculptures with the whisks.
What is a spark? You might be surprised.

Robert Hooke studied the sparks created by striking a piece of flint and steel together. He found that the sparks were usually particles of the steel which had become red hot and so melted into globules. These sparks can be used to ignite tinder and so start a fire.

In colonial America, flint and steel were used to light fires when easier methods failed. Scorched linen was commonly used as tinder to catch the spark and start the fire but producing a good spark could take much time. A spinning steel wheel provided a good stream of sparks when it engaged the flint and a tinderbox designed to do this was known as a mill.

In a modern lighter or firesteel, iron is mixed with cerium and other rare earths to form the alloy ferrocerium. This readily produces sparks when scraped and burns hotter than steel would. This higher temperature is needed to ignite the vapour of the lighter fluid (Wikipedia).

Why all of this talk about sparks? In Zechariah 12 God foresees the tiny clans of Israel as a type of spark which would ignite and consume the nations. If you look at a map of the world you might wonder how such a seemingly insignificant country like Israel might be used to kindle such scorching devastation. However, if you look throughout chapter 12 you notice several metaphors that foretell how God will use that minuscule nation in the end times.

It was said that an overturned lantern in Mrs. O’Leary’s barn started the great fire that devoured Chicago in October of 1871. Others believe that is was a mere spark from a passing train. Whatever the case it was a devastating blaze that cost millions and killed three hundred people.
One day soon God will spark the tiny nation Israel to consume this phase of world history. When that day comes there will be no doubt about the source of the blaze. The God of Israel will cause the destruction. Those without the fireproof Salvation that Christ offers will be burned.

PTL? Why?

Psalm 146.6

Psalm 146 is a praise psalm. If you need to know about praise or why YOU of all people should praise the LORD it would be good to look here. There are millions of reasons to praise the LORD. Millions of reasons seem like too many to most so we often don’t give praise a second thought.

In this psalm we see a praise short list. However, this list is not for everyone. It is only for those who have the God of Israel as their helper as verse 5 mentions. This checklist is also for those who have placed their hope in the LORD and have Him as their God, also in verse 5.

To hope in God is not like wishing on a star, blowing a dandelion or tossing a coin into a wishing well. Hoping in God is to trust what He has said in his Word the Holy Bible. It is to look to Him for our daily bread, life’s purpose and moment by moment direction.

We’ll look at these aspects of praise at another time. For now I want you to think on the following facet of God and His character. If you can come away from this attribute without shouting PRAISE THE LORD! then maybe you had better check your spiritual pulse.

Notice verse six: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.

God made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them and He is ever faithful!

Did you catch that? We have the Creator of all as our faithful friend and Father. When we are in trouble there is no problem too big. He can and will help us because He knows the answers, has a plan and is always with us!

Recently Steve Jobs passed away. His Apple empire was shaken with the news. There was some doubt as to whether it would survive or be the same without Jobs at the helm. The jury might still be out on this story.

Jehovah God, however, who created all things for His own glory and purpose, will never abandon His empire. He will never lose control, never struggle with the ups and downs of the business nor will He ever second guessed one of His undertakings.

God has a firm grip on the future of His creation, always will and THAT gives unbelievable hope. PTL! 

Happy New Year

Psalm 1The New Year brings the possibility of being happy. We hope in the prospects that this unspoiled page offers. It seems a unique time for change. We stand at the beginning of something big, important and special. Tantalizing possibilities, adventures and solutions, that at other times during the year are invisible to us, seem do-able.  It is January 1.

The psalmist has some advice for us as we enter the New Year’s door. He sees a fork in our way. Two paths lie before us. One leads to destruction and one leads to happiness.

He starts and ends his short verse with a negative perspective. If we were to paraphrase the beginning and ending of this song it would actually look very positive, “Happy are they who don’t…die.”

However, to have a happy ending we have some responsibilities. All of which are sandwiched in the middle of this chorus. So, here is a type of ancient mathematical formula for a really Happy New Year no matter what the following twelve months hold.

If I don´t hang with perpetual evil doers, commune with unbelievers and take up their hypercritical perspective I am on the right path. However, there is more. I must passionately ponder the Word of God. When I make His Word mine it/ He changes every aspect of my being and change can be impossible without God being involved.

With God change can still be hard. However, if we can wrap our New Year’s day groggy minds around this concept it has all of the potential of making this one of the Happiest New Years ever. Want to try it? Follow me!

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,600 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 60 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The Twilight of Life

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deu 33:27)
 
What happens at the Twilight of Life? In the last two weeks I have visited two rest-homes and
have come away terrified. The old seem despised a nuisance a curiosity. In one home a 106
year old lady was wheeled out as if she were a museum piece to be ogled. In another a 96 year old shriveled in her bed was whispered about as if a specimen of pity.
 
These two cases were extreme to be sure but the old are different. Many avoid them. Many look
at them as if they were a strange breed an oddity or had contracted a terrible disease. Others
pity them beyond measure which in the end brings undue embarrassment and uneasiness.
 
All of this commotion about aged bodies. All of this attention because of years of wear and tear.
All forgetting that everyone of us is headed to the same destiny if we should live so long.
 
Is the “Rest Home” something to be looked forward to or dreaded? Should I prepare for it or is it
inevitable no matter what I do?
 
Rest and home are two lovely adjectives depending on their context. The deception comes
when they are placed together. A “rest-home” is a place where old people go. It is a type of
dump. It smells horrible and has a funeral-home-in-waiting atmosphere about it.
 
Just the other day I stood before a photo on a rest home wall. The picture had about fifty people
in it. Everyone looked happy and relatively healthy. All were ancient. The photo itself was six
years old. My aged guide pointed his bony finger at the picture and said, “Do you know which
ones are still with us?”
 
He edged closer and squinted through his trifocals. His index finger caressed several faces in
the photo as it made a complete circle until it rested on a lone individual. “This is the only one.”
were the words that escaped slowly from his wrinkled lips.
 
Forty-nine of fifty had slipped into eternity in just five years. Rest-home? The “rest” were gone!
This place was where people had come to die. 
 
One of our teen girls was terrified when while standing in the middle of a room she was
approached by an octogenarian zombie. The woman got so close that I though that she was
going to knock our teen over. She stared and walked ever closer as the teenager’s eyes got as
big as saucers!
 
I intervened by saying, “This is Susie what is your name?” Unhindered the woman kept coming.
She was finally grabbed by a worker and whisked to another room out of harms way.
 
Is that my future? Is it yours? Maybe. So what about it? The challenge is to make the most
of each of our days. We must realize that they are precious whether in a rest home or our
own home. When we commit our days and years to our Creator and Savior we can rejoice in
whatever season of life we find ourselves. The twilight of life brings hope for a coming new day
in Him for those who rest in His loving arms!

Are Prayers Like Seeds?

Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son,
and thou shalt call his name John. (Luke 1.13.)
 
In this dramatic scene the angel Gabriel appears to Zacharias the priest who just happened
to be offering sacrifices in the Holy of Holies for first and only time in his life. He had been
randomly chosen. Gabriel relates a stunning bit of information. He tells him to rest easy because
his prayer (singular) is going to be answered! Hurray! Elizabeth is going to become pregnant
and have a son!
 
Wait a minute! Zacharias and Elizabeth were old. They had been married for decades. Yet the
angel spoke as if the deal was done. In fact he names the baby and begins to share details
about all of the things that John would accomplish. Did you notice the list?
 
● He will be great before the Lord.
● he will be filled with the Holy Spirit
● he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord
● he will go before (the Christ) in the spirit and power of Elijah
 
As the angel takes a breath Zacharias blurts out a question, “How do I know that what you are
telling me is really going to happen?” (my translation).
 
This “prayer” the angel spoke of probably had not been uttered in ages. Zacharias had probably
prayed it not long after his wedding date. He had most likely continued for several years all of
the time hoping that God would grant him the privilege of having a baby boy. But had he kept up
that prayer for sixty to seventy years? I seriously doubt it.
 
Why my doubts? I know how I pray. If I see a need I might pray it through. If I am in the middle
of a situation that is beyond my control I might keep up the prayer chain for several weeks or
months. However, after awhile I realize that God’s answer is NO. So I stop praying.
 
I think that my skepticism is proven by Zacharias’ question. He could not believe that what
Gabriel was saying was really going to happen because he had stopped praying about forty
years earlier. He had given up the idea as his body aged. There would be no baby,period. End
of story.
 
Gabriel, however, almost seems offended by Zacharias’ question. He assures him that the
transaction would happen and because he doubted he would be mute for the nine months of
Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
 
That prayer had laid in suspended animation for years. It was like certain seeds that need just
the right conditions to begin to sprout. Even though Zacharias had given up all hope the seed
had been planted. It was about to spring to life with a very unlikely answer. There would be a
baby in this aged couple’s house.
 
Do you have any seeds seemingly dormant in God’s prayer garden? Take heart! You just might
be as surprised as Zacharias and Elizabeth when that prayer is answered. Don’t give up hope.
For with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1.37)!

Christmas Hope

Tomorrow is the first day of Summer! Yay! However, the heat has been with us for a couple of days now. Today at this exact moment 7:17 PM Mid-Atlantic time on December 20 the temp here in Sorocaba is 24.5 degrees! That’s Celsius! Which translates to 85 Fahrenheit. Good stuff.

Santa looks ridiculous in his fuzzy red suit. Dawn got a decorative tablecloth yesterday with Santa in a snow scene! The thing nearly melted in her hands.

Needless to say Christmas below the equator is very different than what most of you are experiencing. Though the snow, reindeer, and sleigh motif is often seen you are also apt to see a palm tree with Christmas lights hanging from its fronds.

Whether snow or hot sun the season is the same. It is Christmas. Churches put on plays, sing carols, have special services and dinners to remember Christ’s birth.

Our church presented a Cantata in five different locations this past week. It was a homemade cantata, I think that they are often the best kind, about a little girl who had her heart hurt by many different people throughout her life. Her parents paid no attention to her, her street friends abused her and boyfriend wasn’t much better. It wasn’t until she met Jesus that her world changed from hopeless to hope filled.

The Heart of Christmas was the theme of our messages from the end of November to this past Sunday. We looked at Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph and Mariana, the little girl in the play, to see how we each could better exemplify the heart of Christmas which is the heart of Hope.

We presented this hope in two orphanages and two rest-homes. We also presented at our own Hope Baptist Church. Over three-hundred people heard a clear presentation of the Gospel Hope in Jesus Christ.

Hope in this world seems a fleeting thing doesn’t it? A friend once said to me, “What is so special about hope? If I hope something happens there is no certainty that it will.” Then as well as now we Christians know that the Hope we find in the Christ child and crucified and risen Savior is as sure as this mornings sunrise. Christ is our Hope of eternal life.

With the many who heard the message comes many opportunities to follow up with more encouragement from the Word of God. Part of that will happen on Friday as we have our eve of Christmas Eve service at our house. Pray that God will open many heart’s doors to His Hope.