Tag Archives: John

The upward journey

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A couple of years back, my family and I took a trip to St. Augustine, Florida to visit  my in-laws who were assigned as Salvation Army corps officers in that city. While we were there on the visit, we spent a considerable amount of time sight seeing – something I have always loved to do.  On one particular morning, we decided to take a trip to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and State Park.  The tour and museum were excellent but the thing I was looking forward to the most was seeing the view offered from the maintenance and lookout walkway that surrounded the top of the lighthouse.

From the moment we walked into the lighthouse building, the large cast iron spiral stairway truly grabs one’s attention.  As is evident from the picture, when you first begin the journey, it seems that the spiral stairway goes up forever.  As we were walking up the stairway I was surprised when we would reach the landings and would hear others bemoan how far they still had to go and how steep the stairs were.  There were some that even decided to turn around halfway and forego reaching the top after they realized how far above the ground they actually were. There were others, like us, that kept our focus and knew what awaited us once we climbed that final stair.  I know that I had a sense of great anticipation of the view we would be rewarded with once we finally reached our destination.  As a Christian, I have learned that in every experience in life there is a profound and simple spiritual lesson and this experience is no different.

There is only one way to reach the top of the lighthouse.  There are no shortcuts, no elevators, or an alternative staircase for those who want to reach the top.  As Christians, we know that the only path that leads to Heaven has already been laid out by the Lord Jesus Christ; its not a new path or new plan for mankind, but one that even the psalmist David understood that God would reveal to those who seek His will for their life:  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psalms 16:11). David understood if he diligently sought out the Lord he would find Him; God would direct his path.  He knew of the promise as recorded at the hand of Moses: But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Deuteronomy 4:29). Just as there are no alternatives to arrive at the top of the lighthouse, there are no shortcuts when it comes to salvation. Even the Lord Jesus Christ taught this very concept during his earthly ministry.  According to the gospels, Jesus told the multitude that listened to his teachings: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6), Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:13-14) and Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber (John 10:1).

Each step in that cast iron spiral staircase in that old lighthouse led to another step that was higher than the last.  Within the lighthouse, the stairs led to a flat landing which was then followed by another flight of stairs leading to another landing. This pattern repeated until the final landing, which allowed for access to the room where the beacon was located, then finally to the door leading to the outside walkway.  That reminds me of how our Christian journey is supposed to be – even the apostle Paul understood the concept when he told the young preacher Timotheus, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing (II Timothy 4:7-8).

Just as HPIM0630.JPGeveryone walking up those stairs faced challenges and obstacles, we will also face challenges and obstacles in our spiritual walk.  Each step in our Christian journey increases our faith, prepares us for new challenges, and will eventually lead us to our eternal destination – Heaven – where we will be rewarded for our journey.  Just as those that climbed those stairs desired to see the view from the lighthouse and that became their focus, we must also maintain our focus on what our eternal goal is – to hear those words, Well done, good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:23b) that Jesus said would be the praise of our heavenly Father as long as we are faithfully travelling the path he has placed before us. 

Taking a stand within the “old tyme faithe”

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One of my favorite places to go for a day trip is St. Louis, Missouri.  From where I live at in Henderson, Kentucky, it takes about two and a half hours to reach the east side of the city.  Two of my favorite attractions are the St. Louis Metropolitan Museum and St. Louis Metropolitan Zoo.  One Saturday morning, while wandering along the various art exhibits, I encountered one of the museum’s star bronze statues – called The Puritan.  As I took the picture above, I remember overhearing a couple of young people commenting that the statue looked menacing, judgmental, and angry.  As I thought about what the young girls said, I knew that the reason they felt this way was because of the world’s perception of Puritan life and culture.

During his earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ did teach his disciples and all that listened in that day, Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets (Luke 6:22-23).  What is it about the Puritans of Colonial America that the lost world still hates?  What is it about the Puritans that the lost world ridicules, mocks, and scorns? What is it about the Puritans that the lost world sees as menacing, judgmental, and angry?  The answer is simple from the perspective of a Christian – it is their stand on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The legacy of the Puritans in Colonial America bears witness to the very thing that Christ taught – If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you (John 15:18-19).

As an American historian by trade and training, I have always enjoyed studying the faith and life of those early American settlers. Because of this background, when I saw that sculpture I didn’t see the same things that the young people saw; in fact, I saw someone who was sincere, dedicated, firmly rooted in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a staunch defender of his faith hating the very things of the flesh that tend to weigh down the typical Christian of our day. In fact, the Puritan faith of Colonial America can be summed up in three verses: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment (Mark 12:30), But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:37), and No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13). These three verses are the keys to understanding the reason for the stand of the Puritan.

Because of their love and devotion of God and the things of God, they tended to live a life as close to their understanding of Biblical principles as possible.  While a part of their faith was based on the concept of Calvinism – the belief that God has predestined some to Heaven and others to eternal damnation – they did believe that one’s lifestyle determined their eternal destination.  This was driven by the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ: Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Matthew 7:16-20). While I do reject the teachings of Calvinism, I do believe that a holy lifestyle does show a close relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The drive for a holy and chaste lifestyle also came from a second scriptural reference: Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). Their dedication to the teachings of Christ, especially the importance of drawing others to Christ was also based on this verse: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).  In their personal lives, and as a community of believers, they felt compelled to live a lifestyle that reflected the holiness and love of God and would serve to remind the lost world of the offer of salvation available to those who were willing to submit their lives to God.

Continued on next page.

The contrast between light and dark

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There are times that the most beautiful photographs we take are ones where there is a stark contrast between light and dark.  There’s something about the way that the shadows and darker colors make the brighter colors stand out.  Since moving to Henderson, Kentucky in 2011, I have probably taken hundreds of pictures of the scenery along the Ohio River from the comfort of my back patio – and over the last summer, I began exploring the many features of the camera I use and the effects that shadows and focus can have on the photograph.  It is truly remarkable what shadows and darker foreground objects can do to for the background of a picture.

As I was doing my personal devotion this morning I came across a verse that made me think of this particular picture.  While on Earth, the Lord Jesus Christ was teaching his disciples a way to understand their new relationship with the world around them.  He told them Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid (Matthew 5:14) and was demonstrating that now, as believers in him, they were to be different; they were to live a life that would draw others to Him.  He also taught those men that followed him If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light (Luke 11:36). This concept was well-understood by the apostle Paul; he wrote to those early Christians in the city of Ephesus, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). As Christians, we are to be different than the world For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another (Mark 9:49-50).

The apostle Paul taught on this concept of living differently than the world around us, Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man (Colossians 4:6). Even the apostle Peter taught how, as Christians, we should also strive to be different than the world and be ready to tell others the reasons for our joy and our faith, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing (I Peter 3:15-17).

I also think of how this teaching is clearly demonstrated in the teachings of the prophet Isaiah, Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not (Isaiah 58:9-11). Again, there is this concept that the believer of God should live their life different from the unbeliever; it’s been God’s desire that his believers would reject the standards of the sinful world and accept his standards as their own, Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine (Exodus 19:5). When you think about it, if we do adopt God’s standards in our life and live accordingly, we do become peculiar.  In five verses scattered through the Old and New Testaments, God calls his people, his children, to be peculiar people and to be different than those around them.

Just as in the picture above shows contrast between light and dark, we are to provide contrast between the lost world and God’s grace.  Everything we do, whether we are lost or saved, provides a message about us and what is important in our lives.  If we live like the lost around us and do those things that the lost do, whether it be for entertainment or our work ethics, it speaks volumes about our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  It tells the lost world there is no real difference between a Christian and a lost person; there is no reason to become a follower of Christ.  At that point, we have inoculated our coworkers, family, or friends from the effects of hearing the soul cleansing effects a real acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.  We tarnish the name of Christ, and we lose that savor we were supposed to bring to the world.  If we adopt God’s standards, meaning a full acceptance of the apostle Paul’s teaching, Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:15), everything we do takes on a spiritual dimension; what we do at work, at school, in the home, while we are running errands in town – all of it – we are to do as if we are doing it for God.  All of a sudden, the fleshly attitude of doing enough just to get by no longer has the same appeal to us.

As a child of God, we are all called out to be different than the lost around us.  It is not because we are any better, but because we have been redeemed by the love and grace of God.  Its’ his will that we should tell others about that precious saving grace that only Christ can give; we are to tell it through our conduct, the way we treat others, by the way we do our jobs, and even by word of mouth about the plan of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus that God’s desire was that all would come to accept that same saving grace: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:16-17).