How Do I Get My Children to Follow the Lord? 2 Chronicles 24:24-25.

What do most immigrants to the United States want their children to do? Go to med school, of course! The idea has become such a stereotype, standup comics make millions telling jokes about it. But the stereotype is not untrue. Parents of every stripe, of every American ethnicity and culture have imagined their children as doctors and lawyers, engineers and accountants.

As children develop their interests and talents, the dreams of parents re-align to match those talents: we dream athletes will go pro, we dream musicians will join the New York Philharmonic or make millions banging drums in a rock band. We dream big and encourage children to do the same. The truth is, most children will find work doing less dramatic things. Most will work quietly in an office somewhere doing things no one makes movies about. If only parents could write letters of recommendation for their own children!

God gave young David the ultimate letter of recommendation. When he selected David to be king of Israel, God told Samuel that David was “a man after God’s own heart” 1 Samuel 13:14. Can you imagine putting that on your resume? King David grew up herding sheep, but God got involved and grew him into a worthy king, probably the greatest king of Israel. God told David that one day the Messiah would come from the line of David—what a legacy!

David’s children were a disaster.

Amnon raped his half-sister, Tamar. Absalom then murdered Amnon. Years later, Absalom rebelled against his father, gathered an army, tried to steal his father’s crown, and ended up dead. Solomon was not the disappointment Absalom was, but Solomon’s children fell into civil war and David’s kingdom would be divided for two centuries, before finally being conquered and split up among occupying powers.

After the high priest Jehoiada restored the crown to his nephew, the rightful king Joash, young Joash reigned well. But when the high priest died, Joash led Judah into idol worship. God raised up the priest’s son Zechariah to rebuke the idol worshippers, but the men stoned him to death.

“Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father [uncle] had done to him, but slew his son” 2 Chronicles 24:22.

God did not overlook the murder of his prophet but sent Syria to attack Judah.

“The army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. And when they were departed from him … his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died” 2 Chronicles 24:24-25.

What happened to the line of David, that even the good men fell into idol worship?

What HAPPENED to the line of David?

Sure, we remember David’s sins. He murdered Uriah and stole his wife. But he was also the one God described as “a man after God’s own heart.” He wrote half the book of Psalms. David wrote so many worship songs! Songs so good, God thought we should have copies of 72 of them. This is also the man with so much integrity he would not lay a finger on King Saul, no matter how Saul chased him and how badly Saul wanted to murder him. David sinned horribly, but he also served God faithfully for many years. Yet, his lineage is a mess.

What were David’s dreams for his children? What are your dreams for your children?

We know it’s not really about their career path. We want our adult children to be happy, well-adjusted, surrounded by loving friends and family, and busy with meaningful, creative, rewarding work. And there is only one way to ensure they have such a life: they must walk with God. That’s what we really want, is it not?

We want our children to love Jesus.

How? Is there any way I can ensure that my children will “live a life pleasing to the Lord” Colossians 1:10?

SHORT ANSWER? No.

LONGER ANSWER? Yes, but.

You cannot control the choices your adult children make.

Often siblings will make quite different choices, though both were raised by the same parents. This common observation indicates the first rule relevant to the lives of adult children: DON’T BLAME THE PARENTS. I know it’s tempting. But not only everyday life, but the Bible itself is filled with examples of good parents whose children did not turn out so good.

Don’t blame the parents.

But knowing you cannot control your children’s lives, there are some things you can control.

Be a serious disciple of Christ yourself.

Read the word. Apply the Word to your life. Memorize the word. Pray the word. And Share the word with others. Model the habits of a serious disciple of Christ. (“Discipleship is caught, not taught.”)

Pray for the right spouse—and pray for your spouse.

Besides you, no one but your spouse will so greatly influence your children.

You can also control how much you pray for your children. Pray more!

As David prayed:

“Give my son Solomon a whole heart to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes” 1 Chronicles 29:19.  

Or as Samuel put it:

“God forbid that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you” 1 Samuel 12:23.

Don’t hesitate to add fasting to the spiritual disciplines you exercise on behalf of your children. Once they are grown, prayer and fasting are about all you can do!

You can also control your example.

Set a good example, in word and deed. Speak kindly. Be an encourager. Be a humble servant. Love your family. Work hard on the job. In short, be the best you can be. Set the example.

Teach your children about the Lord.

Parents are the most important teachers children will ever have.

Finally, model Christ’s love, compassion, grace, hope, faith, and joy.

Have fun with your children! Show them that life is exciting and fun and that there is always hope in Christ, no matter the struggles. Show them by your own example that no matter what you may face, the joy of the Lord will get you through it.

Dear Lord, help us to do the best we can for our children by serving you! Help us to make you our top priority, so that all the rest will fall into place. May we honor you with our Bible study, our hard work, our grace, love, and forgiveness. Make us more like Jesus every day, and never let us forget to pray hard for our children and families.

AΩ

How Far Would You Go to Become King? History Indicates Some People Will Do Anything for Power. 2 Kings 11: 2-3.

Obi Wan Kenobi says of Mos Eisley Spaceport:

“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.”

As in all space movies, what’s true in outer space is true on earth. It is true of America. Of my city and yours: We must be cautious.

Jesus said it another way:

“Be shrewd as serpents, but innocent as doves” Matthew 10:16.

May God give us wisdom and discernment. May God make us cautious and shrewd.

The reign of King David was Israel’s golden age. God blessed Solomon’s reign too as a sequel of sorts: the Sons of Jesse, Part Two.

But the moment Solomon died, people began choosing sides, a civil war erupted, and suddenly God’s Chosen People were living like North Korea and South Korea: one people with one language, one culture, one heritage, but divided into two warring kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom called itself Israel, and the Southern Kingdom called itself Judah.

And the bloodshed was just getting started. Kings would take the throne of Israel or Judah, wear the crown for a year or two, then be murdered. If the new king feared the same fate, he might murder every brother and nephew of the king he had killed and sometimes murder his own brothers and nephews. The royal palace became a bloodbath.

Following one of these massacres, a complicated drama swirled around a young woman named Jehosheba. Her father was Joram a former king of Israel, and her mother was Athalia, soon-to-be the Queen of Judah. Jehosheba’s half-brother was the reigning king of Judah but was suddenly murdered. Once he was killed, his mother Athalia immediately killed every other heir to the throne—her sons and step-sons—so that SHE could wear the crown.

Jehosheba had an infant brother named Joash, and she saved him before Grandma could find him and kill him. Jehosheba carried him off to be hidden in the temple. In addition to her royal ties, Jehosheba was the wife of the high priest, and thus lived in the priest’s apartment inside the temple. The new Queen Athalia would avoid the temple, being interested only in the worship of Baal. Thus Joash, the last surviving son of King Ahaziah (and heir to the throne of David), would spend the next six years hidden away indoors, a fugitive from a grandmother who believed him to be dead–and liked it that way.

“Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain, and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years. And Queen Athaliah did reign over the land” 2 Kings 11:2-3.

Can you imagine a little boy locked up in an upstairs apartment for the first six years of his life? Remember the MAN IN THE IRON MASK, Dumas’ great novel about the king and pretender to the throne who hides his slightly older twin away in a prison so that he can steal the crown? Joash lived the much more common story: a rightful king who must be hidden so the pretender to the throne will not murder the rightful king. For six years the pale little boy stayed inside, keeping his voice down like Anne Frank, hidden away in an attic.

But unlike Anne Frank, young Joash was saved. When he became seven, his uncle the high priest assembled an army, rebelled against the wicked Queen Athalia, and anointed the seven-year-old Joash King of Judah.

“Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoida and his sons anointed him, and said ‘GOD SAVE THE KING!’” 2 Chronicles 23:11.

Trumpets were blown. Announcements made. The queen heard what was happening and rushed to the temple to see for herself. When she saw her seven-year-old grandson wearing the crown, she was shocked.

“Athaliah rent her clothes and shouted ‘Treason! Treason!’” She was captured, taken outside the House of God, and slain, 2 Chronicles 23: 13-15.

Can you imagine a mother who would have her own sons and grandsons killed so she could be queen? Do you think there are people like that in our world today? There are. Every day terrorist organizations use the internet to recruit foot soldiers, angry young men who dream of bombing a church, school, or children’s hospital.

In addition, some of our world leaders are mirderously evil. (I don’t claim to know which ones!) But I’m sure the depths of evil on the world stage would surprise us. With some dictators, perhaps we expect it. But what about the leaders of nations with democratic elections? Again, I don’t claim to know. But I would rather be shrewd than be naive.

Yet on the other hand, we must not forget that there are also “prominent men of noble character” like Jehoiada the high priest and his wife Jehosheba, people of great courage and integrity who will stand up for what’s right.

Sometimes it is hard to know which is which. Are you rooting for the madman or the righteous leader? Am I rooting for the murdering con-artist or the man of integrity? May God give us the wisdom to know. He knows. He knows and he can lead us.

Dear God, make us like the men of Issachar, “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” 1 Chronicles 12:32.

AΩ

I Dreamed That God Was Coming to Judge My Enemies. And I Was Happy! Amos 2:5.

One Sunday morning Jesus appeared in all the churches. He showed up simultaneously on a million big screens. Some churches were in the middle of a song when his face popped up and the music went quiet, like someone had unplugged all the cords at the sound booth. Bands and singers across America stopped singing, looked up, and realized they had been pre-empted by none other than the Man Himself, Jesus Christ.

In other churches, pastors had already started preaching, walking back and forth across the stage, some reading Bible passages, others getting started on the obligatory funny story, when suddenly a bearded man with dark, Semitic features showed up on the Jumbotron. The little microphones taped to the preachers’ chins were no match for the voice of the Son of God, he whose voice could silence Niagara Falls, Revelation 1:15. Preachers and musicians across America ran from their stages and sat with their families, terrified. What was happening?

“Fear not,” Jesus said. He smiled. “I am the first and the last. I am he that lives, though I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. I hold the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1:17-18). I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the One who was, who is, and who is to come (Revelation 1:8). Peace be with you. As the Father loves me, so I love you (John 15:9).”

After calming people with his words of peace and love, Jesus announced the reason for his visit. Judgment was coming.

“I am going to judge North Korea. The nation has become an asylum, led by a string of evil dictators. This cannot continue. I am going to judge Vietnam, a nation that continues to persecute believers. I will bring judgment on China, where my pastors are thrown into jail for preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, many of whom are never heard from again. I will bring judgment to Sudan, a nation that has spent the better part of three decades fighting a war against its own Christian citizens….”

As Jesus spoke, congregations around America began to clap spontaneously. It was a normal reaction to great points from a great speaker. And this was Jesus, after all. The greatest speaker. Soon, people were cheering. Jesus was going to judge China. And Russia. And Somalia. And Sudan. And Burma. And Iran. And Nigeria, Eritrea, India, and Pakistan. In fact, Jesus spoke at length, covering a long list of well-known persecutors.

All the countries where missionaries and preachers were thrown in jail would be judged. All the nations where those who converted to Christ were then charged with the trumped-up crime of “apostasy” would be judged.

Jesus was going to round up all the bad guys, and America’s churches were here for it. It felt like a State of the Union address: every time the Son of Man took a long pause, there was applause. Soon everyone was standing. This was our Man, our Messiah! He showed up in church to fight for us and our people! Spontaneously there were standing ovations all across the nation.

He went on: He would be judging all the nations dwelling in darkness: Indonesia, Malaysia, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Cuba, Nicaragua[1]. Then the Lord said something no one could have predicted:

“And woe to you, United States. You are a people who know better. Yours is a land founded on scripture and freedom and grace and truth. Yours is a land with Bibles in every home.”

The clapping stopped. People sat down.

“Woe to you, United States. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Pakistan and India, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Pakistan and India on the day of judgment than for you (Matthew 11:21-22).”

No one was smiling anymore. People around me were staring at the floor. Silent. Lost in thought, words of judgment washing over them in waves.

“And you, the people of the Bible Belt, you evangelicals cheering the destruction of nations you detest, will you be lifted up to the heavens? No. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Imperial Japan, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Emperor Hirohito on the day of judgment than for you (Matthew 11:23-24).”

“Woe to you, American Christians. For though you do not persecute believers, you neutralize them with money and distractions. You make yourselves so rich and so busy that you have neither the time nor the interest to serve me.”

“Woe to you, American Christians. Because you say ‘I am rich and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked … As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent” Revelation 3:17-19.

I woke up then, and before I raised my head, I realized I was asleep at my desk, my arms folded across the Bible I had been reading. I was in Amos chapters one and two, where the prophet pronounces judgment on God’s enemies. The people of Judah and Israel must have enjoyed hearing that:

“I will send fire into the house of Hazael, devouring the palaces of Ben-Hadad … I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, devouring its palaces … I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, devouring its palaces … I will send a fire upon Teman, devouring its palaces … I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, devouring its palaces … I will send a fire upon Moab, devouring its palaces” Amos 1:4 – 2:2.

But then God pronounced judgment on his own people.

“I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem” Amos 2:5.

I understood my dream then, and I shuddered. Because I have a bad habit of rejoicing when my enemies lose. I cheer when bad people get what they deserve. I am pleased when a murderer is locked up for life. My favorite thing on the news is to watch the slow-burn of celebrity scandals: another rich playboy going down in flames. Another arrogant politician who set his career on fire with his addictions. Yes, I rejoice when my enemies suffer. I know I do.

And Jesus will judge them. But he will judge me too–and he holds me to a much higher standard! The lives and works of believers will be examined at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Being saved and born-again does not leave you free of all judgment. God will examine your life and reward you accordingly. See 2 Corinthians 5:10 and Romans 14:10.

Do not rejoice over the destruction of your enemies, Proverbs 24:17-18.

Do not rejoice when progressives suffer. Do not rejoice when members of another political party suffer. Do not rejoice when scandal destroys your political or cultural enemy. Instead, remember, “There but for the grace of God, go I.” Only God’s grace has spared you the same fate.

And God will judge his church. He will judge his people. Why do we think we are better that someone else?

“It is time for judgment to begin with the house of God” 1 Peter 4:17.

AΩ

[1] The nations named here as persecutors come from the 2024 World Watch List published by Open Doors, a list I believe to be based in part on the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom mandated by the International Religious Freedom Act. https://erlc.com/resource/the-top-countries-facing-christian-persecution/

He is Coming With a Plumbline in His Hand. Amos 7:8.

Not long after moving to the country, I decided to build a tree house. Officially it was going to be a two-story deck built around the trunk of a massive tree. My neighbor had given me several round poles that were about 16’ long, and at his insistence, I began building a frame with them. They were free, after all. 

But being as tall as they were, it was difficult to keep the poles straight. I nailed boards to the poles at 45-degree angles, bracing them. I kept eyeballing the poles to ensure they were straight. I also used an eight-foot bubble level.

But the curvature of the poles created problems. Every time I thought my frame was true (“true” being carpenter-talk for “straight”), I would walk around the structure and see that I was wrong. The thing was not true. It was off. That’s when I began using plumblines.

Do you know what a plumbline is? I made mine with long lengths of kite string tied around a nut or a bolt at one end. Then I attached the strings to the top of the tall poles on at least four sides. If the strings hung loosely not touching the post at any point, it indicated the post was not straight.

Plumblines are one of the simplest mechanical devices. The word “plumb” refers to lead weights on a string. In modern English, if a structure such as a doorframe is “plumb,” then it is vertically true, whereas, if it is “level,” then it is horizontally true. Thus, plumblines answer a critical question: is this structure straight, or does it lean? A lean is a weakness. Leaning walls collapse.

God showed Amos a vision of a plumbline.

“Behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, ‘Amos, what seest thou?’

And I said, ‘A plumbline.’

Then the Lord said, ‘Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them anymore; and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword” Amos 7:7-9.

The Lord is giving Israel one more chance. He will not send locusts yet, Amos 7:2. He will not send fire yet, Amos 7:5. But he is coming to take measurements with a plumbline.

What will God find when he measures you and me? Are you straight? Do I lean?

God’s word is the plumbline. How do you measure up against the word? Are you honest? Are you a person of integrity? Can people depend on you? Can you support the weight of other people’s expectations? Can employers rely on you? Can family and friends rely on you? Or do you lean so badly that you will collapse under the expectations of daily life? Are you true or are you “one bubble off plumb,” as they say?

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out” Proverbs 10:9.

Integrity means “wholeness.” If you are honest, if you “walk in uprightness,” you will be healthy and whole.

“God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him” Psalm 18:20 (The Message).

When God holds a plumbline up against your life, what will he find? Do you stand straight and TRUE, or are there weak spots, curves, and deviations in your character?

“Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people” Amos 7:8.

AΩ

[1] Though the King James Version employs the word “grasshopper,” most use the word “locust.” A locust is simply a type of grasshopper that has undergone hormonal changes due to an abundance of food following a drought: grasshoppers are solitary, but locusts swarm in the millions; grasshoppers do not fly per se but merely hop. Locusts are migratory and can fly for miles leaving destruction in their wake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust

*I never did finish that tree house–which is just as well, as lightning soon killed the tree.

Marathons, Mentors, and Fathers. 2 Kings 2:9.

Image from The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc., ISRAEL MY GLORY, March/April of 2020, available online at https://israelmyglory.org/?issue=march-april-2020

Have you had a great mentor? Not everyone has. When I was a young man, I was privileged to have two mentors during my college years. I found the process useful: it was great to have someone to talk to about my spiritual life and the work I was trying to do among the youth to whom I was teaching the Bible. Both mentors taught me valuable lessons and I appreciated them.

What I did not appreciate at the time was that neither of my mentors could hold a candle to my father. I had been raised by a “prominent man of noble character,” Ruth 2:1. My dad had more integrity than both these mentors put together. What my mentors had was the gift of gab, and an intuitive grasp of social situations, team-building, morale, and the like, areas in which my father did not excel. My mentors could “read the room” and charm people in ways my father could not (nor would he want to). He was a brilliant yet simple man in whom there was no guile, John 1:47. But he was kind, and he was doggedly, absolutely honest in all situations and at all times.

One day God revealed to Elisha that he would be losing his mentor, Elijah. But the two prophets would spend a long, final day together. That morning in Gilgal, Elijah told Elisha to stay behind, but Elisha said, “I will not leave thee.” They walked from Gilgal to Bethel—eight miles. Elijah told Elisha to stay in Bethel. But he answered, “I will not leave thee.” So they walked from Bethel to Jericho—twelve miles. For the third time, Elijah told Elisha to stay behind, this time in Jericho. But again he answered, “I will not leave thee.” So they walked from Jericho to Jordan—six more miles, for a total of twenty-six miles. The two prophets walked an unscheduled marathon that day.

At the Jordan river, Elijah removed his cloak, rolled it up, and tapped the water with it (like Moses’s staff) and the waters “were divided hither and thither, so that the two went over on dry ground” as the nation of Israel had done so many years before, 2 Kings 2:8.

Elijah knows these are his final moments on earth. He knows he will be leaving Israel in the care of his protégé, the prophet Elisha. The older man turns to the younger and says, “What can I do for you before I am taken away from you?”

Elisha answers, “I pray thee, let a double-portion of thy spirit be upon me” 2 Kings 2:9.

Elisha could have asked for something selfish—for gold, or a long life, or all sorts of things. But his request is unselfish. He has seen the good Elijah has done, so he asks that God would use him to do more of the same. A “double-portion” is what the eldest son inherits from his father. Elisha is asking that the gifts of Elijah, whom he regards as a spiritual father, would be bestowed on Elisha so that Elisha can continue to draw the hearts of Israel to the Lord.  

Elijah knows it is up to God to grant such a request, but he says, “If you can see me when I am taken from thee, it shall come to pass.” Suddenly horses of fire pulling a chariot of fire race toward them on the road, split the two men apart, Elijah is swept up in a whirlwind and taken to heaven—and Elisha sees it, which confirms he received the double-portion he had requested, 2 Kings 2:10-12.

Like Elisha, you will become like those you admire. We take on the traits we value in others. We become like our mentors and fathers, our coaches, our trainers, our best friends, our encouragers. People you love influence you. People you spend time with influence you.

However, if you were to meet the two men I described as my mentors, you would see nothing of them in me. We simply spent too little time together—and perhaps we are cut from vastly different cloth. On the other hand, if you knew my father, you would have no doubt about his influence. We are so much alike. Not entirely, of course. But we have a great deal in common. I think like him, tell stories like him, build arguments like him, use homespun wisdom and metaphors from simple country life to address complex modern problems. And I hope to be guileless, kind and doggedly, absolutely honest in all situations and at all times.

I would be proud to receive a double-portion of my father’s spirit. Perhaps I already have.

Some might argue that is the very nature of fatherhood. I am thankful for a godly father.

Dear God, fill us with Elisha’s desire to be more like Elijah. Help us request the right things, to hope, dream, and pray for the right things. Show us what we should strive for, what our ambitions ought to be, what our goals ought to be. Make us more like Jesus every day. Fill us with a double-portion of YOUR spirit.

AΩ

Spiritualism, Mediums, and the Occult. 2 Kings 1:6.

I found these business offerings on Yelp: Palm readers. Tarot cards. Ouija board readings. Crystal balls. Horoscopes. Hypnosis. Supernatural Readings. Psychic Consultants. Witchery. Manifesting with a Life Coach. Conjuring. Voodoo.  

These businesses thrive in our modern world. In an age of Enlightenment and Science, you might have guessed these relics of an age of superstition and the occult would have disappeared. Not at all. You can consult a medium in every city in America. (Yes, even Salt Lake City—from whose page I collected the names above.)[1]

Have you ever been tempted by the quick, easy answers of a fortune teller? Have you become frustrated waiting for God to give you answers? Is it so wrong to want a glimpse of the future?

Wanting answers is not wrong. But seeking them from the enemies of God is wrong.

There are only three types of people who claim to tell the future.

First, there are some who worship Jesus as Lord and claim to be modern-day prophets.

I have followed some of these for years and have seen them proven wrong. The Bible says if one claiming to be a prophet prophesies falsely, he is a false prophet and should be stoned to death, Deuteronomy 18:20-22. I do not believe in any of our so-called modern-day prophets. I’ve never found one of them to be 100% reliable—and the Biblical test requires 100 percent.

Second, many who claim to predict the future are simply con-men.

This is often the case, particularly among those who manage to make a great deal of money on their alleged fortune-telling. These charlatans are discussed at length in the excellent book, THE CONFIDENCE GAME: WHY WE FALL FOR IT EVERY TIME, by Maria Konnikova.

Finally, there are those who actually receive information from the spirit world, and some of that information is accurate.

Demons are not omniscient. But many people believe they have access to more information than we do. They can give just enough information to mediums, fortune tellers, and others, to convince the lost that they have found the answer to all their problems. Why provide such a convincing demonstration? Because it will draw people further into the occult, further into false worship, and further away from Jesus—which is the enemy’s ultimate goal.

When King Ahaziah was injured in a fall, he sent men to ask a false god about his prognosis. The prophet Elijah met those messengers with a message for the king:

“Thus sayeth the Lord, is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” 2 Kings 1:6.

What happened? King Ahaziah died, of course. God takes this sin seriously, though many Americans do not.

“Do not seek out mediums or spiritualists, for you will be defiled by them” Leviticus 19:31.

“If a person turns to mediums, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people” Leviticus 20:6.

When you have questions about the future, pray as Jesus taught:

“May YOUR KINGDOM come and YOUR WILL be done” Matthew 6:10.

“Nevertheless, not my will, but THINE be done,” Luke 22:42.

Dear God, train us to trust you and leave our questions about the future in your hands. Do your will in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones. Protect us from the ungodly influence of spiritualism and the occult. Remind us that it’s not harmless fun, but is actually harmful and dangerous.

AΩ

[1] I am not against life coaching, by any means. I know several godly people who work as life coaches. But when I googled “fortune tellers,” this was one of the hits on the Yelp page for Salt Lake City. And while life coaching under the authority of Jesus and his word can be legitimate and God-honoring, “manifesting” is not. I have written about manifesting here: https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2023/05/04/may-the-force-be-with-you/

Naysayers and Yes-Men. 2 Chronicles 18:17.

Which is worse, an irritating naysayer or an easy-going yes-man?

Executives must be wary of both. My father was a deacon. He took confidentiality seriously, never repeating at home anything that had been discussed at a deacons’ meeting. However, he did make one comment about one of his fellow deacons. He said Earl (not his real name) was a naysayer. Earl would question every decision—on even the simplest matters—just to be sure someone had asked the hard questions.

Being a naysayer who asks too many questions can be counterproductive because it (1) wastes everyone’s time, and (2) can cause the naysayer to cultivate the bad habit of simply being negative without reason. As a lawyer, I learned years later that members of decision-making bodies bear a legal duty to ask questions, a duty not to be a “rubber stamp.” Let’s assume Earl had that in mind and was not simply being a burr under the saddle.

However, as irritating as a naysayer can be, a yes-man poses a much greater risk.

Yes-Men go along with whatever the man in charge wants. If the executive is a CEO ready to sell his company to a large corporation, yes-men will ignore their doubts and tell him the sale is a great idea. If the chief is the owner of a sports team who wants to offer millions to an untested rookie, yes-men will stand there with the checkbook open. If the boss is a king contemplating war, yes-men are already hiring caterers for the victory parade.

Yes-men fail to ask questions. They keep the boss happy by agreeing to anything he suggests. And they do him a disservice.

Leaders need people to ask hard questions. Executives do not need yes-men.

But executives are human. Whether bosses, kings, presidents, or pastors, they like it when people agree with them. Like anyone else, they believe their ideas are great and they want to hear positive feedback. But what they want is unimportant. What they need is to face the hard questions, to subject their ideas to tough scrutiny and see whether the ideas survive.

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” Proverbs 15:22.

Israel’s king Ahab surrounded himself with 400 yes-men who claimed to be prophets, and one prophet who refused to be a yes-man.

When Ahab and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat planned to start a war together, Ahab’s 400 prophets said Attack, for God will give you victory. But Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from someone who was not an obvious yes-man, and asked whether Ahab had any other prophets.

Ahab answered, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesied good to me but always evil” 2 Chronicles 18:7.

The man was Micaiah, a true prophet of God. He was called and told the two kings that Israel would be scattered like sheep without a shepherd—another way of saying Ahab (Israel’s shepherd) would die in battle. Ahab was enraged. “Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good but evil?” 2 Chronicles 18:17. Ahab had Micaiah thrown in prison—and then the two kings attacked Ramoth-Gilead and, though Ahab wore a disguise, he was killed as Micaiah foretold.

“Just as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” Proverbs 27:17.

God, help us to appreciate those who ask us hard questions. May we welcome tough questions. May we respect and honor those who make us better by saying the hard things, by confronting us, and by having the courage to initiate awkward conversations. Help us to feel—and express—genuine gratitude to the people in our lives who ask hard questions, who tell us our plans are poor, and who do their best to speak hard truths. Give us the wisdom to discern when they are right and when they are wrong. Lead us by your Holy Spirit, and guide us to the wise counselors around us.

AΩ

P.S. In my experience, YES-MEN may be the biggest problem facing many Christian churches and schools. Organizations that do not exist as part of a larger body–a denomination, for example–tend to have boards populated entirely by yes-men. If a church or school was founded by a single man, particularly if it is non-denominational, there is often a board made up of the founder’s closest friends and partners. Such a board will fail if it supports the founder’s every whim. We must ask hard questions. We must submit to the Holy Spirit and clarify things with the word and wise counsel. And sometimes we defer to the pastor (or private-school founder) simply because we trust him as a God-given leader. However, if the board never challenges the executive, if it never says no, if it serves only as a rubber stamp, approving ALL the leader’s ideas, then that board is not doing its job.

He Tells the Best Stories. Esther 7:9.

Everyone loves a great storyteller—and there is none greater than God himself. But the Bible is not an easy read. There are not only language challenges but also the way we tell stories has changed significantly in the last four thousand years. But the best readers can get past such challenges, and the rest of us can benefit from their help. Find a translation you understand. There is nothing wrong with a modern translation or a paraphrase. After all, it’s better to read a paraphrase like the Living Bible or the Message Bible than to read no Bible at all. (A paraphrase simply means someone put the language into easier words. Modern words.)

Think of the Bible stories you know. Can anything compete with them? God creates time, space, stars, planets, and the earth? Noah builds an ark and God fills it with animals? Moses confronts Pharaoh and God sends ten plagues designed to rebuke each of ten false gods? That’s incredible. Think of the miracles: the earth opens up and swallows God’s enemies? God defeats an enemy army with hailstones? David kills Goliath? Ruth and Boaz. Abraham and Sarah. Mary and Joseph. Families. Feuds. War. Peace. The Promised Land and the birth of a nation. Jesus plays with children, raises the dead, dies on a cross, comes back to life. These stories are unlike anything in literature.

One of the best stories is the book of Esther. The Persian king brings a beautiful young Jewish girl into his harem and makes her queen. Haman, the king’s no. 2 man, hates Esther’s uncle, a godly man who refuses to bow to a him, and builds a gallows 75-feet tall on which to hang Uncle Mordecai. Haman has also devised a plan that will allow him to kill not only Mordecai but every one of his countrymen. Haman is going to wipe out the entire Jewish race. One day the king asks Haman for advice:

“What should be done for a man the king wishes to honor?” (Esther 6:6).

Haman assumes the king plans to honor him. So he comes up with an amazing list of honors—all Haman could ever have imagined. The king says That’s a great list. Go and do all of that for Mordecai the Jew. Haman is secretly humiliated and now hates Mordecai more than ever. But he obeys the king. Then, just as Haman’s genocidal plans are about to begin, Queen Esther risks her life to expose his evil plans to the king. What happens? The king has Haman hung on the gallows he built for Mordecai the Jew, Esther 7:9.

What a perfect, simple story. The arrogant man filled with monstrous hatred is forced to bestow his own personal fantasy of honors on his worst enemy, then is hung on the world’s tallest gallows, gallows he had designed to kill that same enemy.

Why? Because he made himself an enemy of God and of God’s people. You can’t fight God. You will never win.

“Your arm’s too short to box with God!”

Dear God, remind us that there is no storyteller like you. Your word is filled with so many amazing stories, true records of the amazing way you have worked in our world and in the lives of your people. Make us better students of the word. Lead us to translations of the Bible that will help us understand your message better. Be glorified in our Bible reading and Bible study.

AΩ

God’s Calling Includes the Promise of God’s Provision. 1 Kings 17:3-4.

When God calls you, He will equip you. When God gives you a task, he will provide what you need to accomplish that task.

When God called me to law school, he gave me a promise I could cling to. I needed the reassurance so often, I prayed these words nearly every day:

“Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also bring it to pass” 1 Thessalonians 5:24.

When God called Elijah to pronounce a three-year drought over Israel, God also promised to provide food and water for the now-fugitive prophet, a man on the run.

“Hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan, and it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there” 1 Kings 17:3-4.

God provided meals for Elijah two times every day.

“And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening and he drank of the brook” 1 Kings 17:6.

Elijah must have found this arrangement strange, knowing scripture pronounced the unclean birds “detestable” and “abominable” Leviticus 11:13,15. Not only that, what sort of meat were these carrion birds bringing to Elijah? It wasn’t thinly sliced pastrami, we know that. It wasn’t chicken nuggets, or meatballs, or barbecued ribs.

Ravens, from which we get the word “ravenous,” are scavengers. They’ll eat anything, which often means tearing the flesh from dead animals (which were also unclean). On top of that, nearly every culture associates ravens with death and bad luck.

Again—Elijah must have found this strange, perhaps even disgusting. But when it comes to the lives of his prophets, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Elijah had no choice but to eat what God provided, and to do so in faith. The point is, God promised to provide for Elijah and he did.

Has God called you to accomplish something difficult? He promises to provide for your needs while you work toward his goals. Look at the promises of God in the Bible and ask him to help you locate a specific promise you can claim that will encourage you as you pursue his calling.

Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also bring it to pass 1 Thessalonians 5:24.

AΩ

Words Spoken for a Word-Lover: RICK BUSH AND THE HOUND OF HEAVEN. Psalm 139:7-8.

Pictured: Rick Bush in 2011, holding his newborn twin boys.

In June of 2001, Houston was hit by Tropical Storm Allison. Everything was flooding and destruction. No one could work. I had not seen my friend Rick in a while, so I called him and arranged lunch.

Rick and I had met in the fall of 1993 when we taught British literature to seniors at Kempner High School in Sugar Land. First impression? Rick was like an M&M: hard shell on the outside, tender on the inside. He was naturally funny, but also liked to appear mean and ornery, so I was shocked one day when my new colleague walked into the English office and began to weep, to sob really, over the horrors being experienced by a student who had just unburdened herself to him.

I discovered that Rick cared. He cared deeply. What he had hidden so well from me—from all of his coworkers—was that he had a heart of compassion. He could be a witty, irascible curmudgeon on the outside. But inside he deeply loved people, particularly his students.

Rick and I had a lot in common. We loved literature and language and words. Our conversations were amazing because Rick was an incredible listener. I might talk on some subject for twenty minutes. When I was done, it would be my turn to listen for twenty minutes as Rick would respond to everything I had said, point-by-point, in perfect order. I have never had conversations quite like that with anyone else. It was extraordinary.

Rick and I shared a classroom: he had it in the morning, while I taught elsewhere, then I had it in the afternoon, while he taught elsewhere. We saw a great deal of each other. Rick was fastidious. An obsessively neat and orderly man, the Felix Unger of the classroom. Everything on his desk was always in perfect order. The bachelor’s pantry at home was literally alphabetized. But Rick’s fertile sense of humor drew him to one odd bit of disorder: a clock. There was a clock on the cinderblock wall of our room that ran backwards. It was an analog clock, of course (the kind with hands), and Rick loved to keep it running backwards to confuse the students. But everyone knew if you unplugged it and plugged it back in, it would run forwards.

But Rick insisted we let it run backwards. We got used to it and soon I could read it at a glance. The school day would begin at the end, and run backwards all day to the beginning. And it made Rick laugh like nothing else. It was his one weird wrinkle, Rick loved the clock that ran counterclockwise.

Because we shared a classroom, I knew what sort of teacher Rick was. Our teaching styles were as different as night and day, but I often told other faculty members I hoped Rick would be available to teach my children one day. That’s how much I respected his methods as a teacher.*

Then in the mid 1990’s things began to go south for Rick. He had one health problem after another, peculiar illnesses that doctors struggled to diagnose. Car problems. Money problems. Work problems. Problems that came along in a pattern I thought I recognized.

“I think God is trying to get your attention, Rick.”

But the self-proclaimed agnostic didn’t want to hear it. Rick, the son of a career soldier, was born to a German mother and an American father. He lived in Germany until he was 13, held dual citizenship, spoke both languages fluently, and had earned a masters degree in comparative linguistics from Texas Tech (where he enjoyed a brief career as a student deejay).

He began his career teaching the German language to college students at Tech, but for reasons I have never understood, he gave that up to teach high school English. Being a good little German boy, Rick had been raised Lutheran but lost his faith somewhere along the way. He told me he was agnostic.

“It’s the Hound of Heaven, Rick. He’s on your tail.”

Rick didn’t want to hear it.

Things went on this way for eight years: Rick would tell me about a string of bizarre problems and I would always say the same thing:

“It’s the Hound of Heaven, Rick.”

“Doctors can’t figure out why I have these weird tumors in my leg.”

“It’s the Hound of Heaven, Rick.”

“As soon as I get my car running, things fall apart on the job. Then this, then that, then the other.”

“It’s the Hound of Heaven, Rick. God is trying to get your attention.”

“Every time I date a girl, this happens, that happens, and everything turns into some hopeless existentialist novel.”

“It’s the Hound of Heaven, Rick.”

(By the way, Rick is the only person to whom I have ever mentioned the Hound of Heaven! I was just certain. There was an odd pattern to the struggles in his life, and it looked like God was in it, somehow. I’ve never seen the same pattern in the life of anyone else. But in Rick’s case, I couldn’t shake the conviction. So I kept telling him that God was after him, and that he should stop running.)

Then Tropical Storm Allison hit Houston on June 11, 2001. No one would be working the next day, and I hadn’t talked to Rick in a while. So we made plans. And I had this feeling. On the morning of June 12, 2001, I told my wife:

“I think Rick is going to give his life to Christ today.”

Rick and I met at a hamburger joint on Highway 6 at Grisby. It was the hottest, humid-est day of the year. Of course, if you know Rick, you know Rick wanted to sit outside.

“But it’s so hot!”

And Rick said what he always said: “it’s not hot. It’s temperate.”

“Well, Shakespeare, it’s a pretty HIGH temperate.” But I went along with it.

We sat outside. Rick talked to me for hours. We re-visited some things we had spoken of before: job problems, people problems, health problems. Problems he could not solve—problems I certainly could not solve. Life can be hard—and Rick’s life had been one challenge after another—for eight years.

Rick was not happy. He wept.

“Steve, my entire life is a disaster. I’ve got nothing to show for it. It’s all been a colossal waste. I’ve wasted every opportunity. I’ve blown every chance I’ve had. My whole life is just a complete waste.”

He talked a long time. This was a confessional.

So I listened. And he wept and choked out his regrets and I guess we ate a little or played with our food or something. I know we perspired.

What do you say to a man who has NO HOPE?

I knew what it was like to have no hope. I KNEW HOPELESSNESS.

There is nothing you can say.

And Rick was much too smart to find comfort in easy answers.

So I said nothing.

He talked on.

Finally, after two hours, he was spent. He had said his piece.

I sat in silence. What can you say to a man who has just made an accounting of his entire life and found it worthless?

When Job’s life fell apart his friends sat with him in silence for seven days.

I didn’t have seven days.

Finally, I spoke.

“Rick. You know what I’m gonna say. It’s the HOUND OF HEAVEN. You will remain unhappy until you find your joy in HIM.”

I talked slowly. Letting the words linger. For the first time, I knew he was going to let me finish. He had stopped this conversation many times, telling me “When I’m ready to have that conversation, I want to have it with you. But I’m not ready.”

This time, I thought he was ready. I went on.

“God loves you. Jesus died for you. He can wash you clean. Make you whole. He is the REDEEMER! He can bring worth to your life. He can restore VALUE to a life that looks wasted to you right now. He’s been after you for years. It’s time to stop running. It’s time to surrender.”

And that’s what he did. Rick was thirty-four years old when he took ownership of his life, his sins, his brokenness. He OWNED all of it. He took that whole ball of brokenness and what he accounted as worthlessness, and he rolled that over to Jesus. He gave it up. He placed his whole life in the hands of Jesus. He stopped running. He stopped fighting. He surrendered. On June 12, 2001, sitting under the blazing noonday sun in Houston, Texas, Rick gave his life to Christ.

Rick SURRENDERED ALL TO JESUS. And it changed his entire life!

But the Rick I met eight years before was a skeptic. If he were sitting where you are, he would ask whether it was real—and how can you be so sure?

Here’s how you can be sure. Because Jesus changes lives. I wish I could tell you how dramatically Rick’s life changed that day. If I had a clock that ran counterclockwise back to 2001, perhaps you could see the dramatic changes that happened almost overnight. Think of it this way:

Jesus said “You will know them by their fruits” Matthew 7:20.

Rick’s life immediately began to bear fruit:

He began attending church and hardly missed a Sunday.

He was bearing fruit.

He began studying Biblical Greek so he could read the New Testament in the original language.

(Wait, what? Who does that?!)

He was bearing fruit.

After he felt competent with Greek, he began studying Hebrew. (Like that’s just something people say to themselves: I think I’ll study Hebrew now….) But he wanted to know the WORD.

He was bearing fruit.

He was trained as a soul-winner with Evangelism Explosion, and made countless visits to share the gospel with others. Now THAT is bearing fruit. What greater fruit could there be?

He was bearing fruit.

He settled into a career at Wharton County Junior College and was there 19 years—22 years if you count his years as an adjunct.

He was bearing fruit.

Rick became a writer and editor for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). I counted the SABR articles—he wrote over 115 articles. NOT TO MENTION, he edited FIVE of SABR’s books about baseball in the Negro Leagues. HE WAS PROLIFIC (an adjective every would-be writer hopes to hear attached to his name). He was prolific–and that is another way of saying:

He was bearing fruit.

He married Michelle in 2005. They were married 18 years.

Rick was bearing fruit.

Rick and Michelle had three sons and Rick raised them as a loving father for 15 years.

Rick’s life bore fruit.

The “Hound of Heaven” is a poem by Francis Thompson. It was written in 1890 and the language is challenging—so of course Rick would have loved it! Allow me to share just a few lines…

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days.

I fled Him, down the arches of the years.

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and …

I hid from Him…

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.

… And a Voice beat

More … than the Feet— [and God said]

“All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”

The next five stanzas chronicle the difficult life of the poet, Francis Thompson, who was addicted to opium before he surrendered to the hound of heaven.

Finally, God catches up to the man—to Thompson, the writer, to Professor Bush, to me, to you—and God speaks to all of us:

Whom wilt thou find to love thee,

Save Me, save only Me?

All which I took from thee I did but take,

Not for thy harm,

But just that thou might’st seek it in My arms.

Everything you think is lost,

I have stored for thee at home:

Rise, take My hand, and come!’

The Hound of Heaven caught up to Rick Bush.

Is He chasing you?

If Rick were here today he would tell you that he found his purpose when he found his Creator. Your life will make sense when you stop running from the God who made you. Surrender. Give him control. He will redeem you and restore value and worth and purpose to your life.

And just like He did with Rick, He will make you bear fruit!

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in the depths, behold, You are there” Psalm 139:7-8.

AΩ
https://www.kleinfh.com/obituary/frederick-bush

*Ironically, one of the lessons I remember most was that Rick always asked his seniors to draft their own obituaries. While it struck me as an excellent exercise (and not at all “off-topic” considering the subject matter of much British literature), parents complained about the assignment every year. I could not shake that familiar memory when I found myself involved in preparing both a spoken eulogy and parts of a written obituary for one of my best friends who was gone too soon. This was one strange case of life imitating art, and Rick would have enjoyed a lengthy conversation teasing out the implications and laughing about the twists of fate and/or the unpredictable workings of a sovereign God. I loved him. God be with you till we meet again.