THAT’S PRACTICAL. My Johnny Derouen Story. Psalm 27:4.

Image: Johnny Derouen’s first day at FBC Houston, spring of 1984. Also pictured, Joel Nettles. Photo courtesy of Lance Vinson.

The story goes that in the early ‘80s, Associate Pastor Felix Wagner interviewed 70-some people before he found the right man for the job. Let’s call it 77—the perfect number. After a two-year quest, First Baptist Houston found the perfect man: Johnny Derouen, the Lake Charles native currently doing great things in Muskogee.

Soon he was in Houston, playing his guitar and laughing a little too loudly. Laughing and smiling. The man radiated joy. The first thing you noticed about Johnny was his smile. He was always smiling. And it was real. Genuine. He could laugh at the dumbest jokes from awkward teenagers struggling to be funny, to be cool, to be something. Teenagers are so self-conscious and uncomfortable. It’s the Island of Misfit Toys. Everyone trying to find themselves and fit in somehow, and here’s this man who would embrace every child and make them feel SEEN and HEARD. The man loved kids. He loved me.

I don’t know the secret to a successful youth ministry. Is it on-the-job training? Do they teach a formula in seminary? Or do you just come in and try to make things fun? I don’t know the secret.

But if there is a secret, Johnny knew it. His impact was immediate. Suddenly everything was exciting and funny and warm and incredible. There was nowhere any kid would rather be. If you invited high school friends, you knew they would love it and want to come again. Everything Johnny touched turned to youth-ministry gold: there were parties and concerts and rallies and overnight retreats and people covered in shaving cream and Richard K. with his fireworks and there were pranks and skits and Vic Kaiser and Chris Wolff on stage making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under their arms and Bart Glatt eating the sandwiches and everyone howling with laughter. Endless laughter. And there was noise. So much noise. Summer camps, winter retreats, Disciple Now events in homes, and mission trips out of the state or the country. We knew how lucky we were. The youth group was suddenly this thing, this force. It was hard to explain, but we knew we were lucky to be a part of it. It was one of the most exciting things any of us would ever experience.

I remember the first time I paid Johnny a compliment. I had watched him for months.

“I’ve never seen you get mad at anyone.”

It seems an odd comment forty years later. But at the time that was important to me. My father, who had been teaching boys in Sunday school for years, had a different reaction.

“You know what I like about Johnny? The man loves his family. He’s got his priorities straight. Plus, he’s from Louisiana.”

Speaking of priorities, I started attending the youth services on Wednesday nights. It was called Priority. It had had that name forever. But Priority was Johnny’s baby now. In the summer of 1984, he began a teaching series he called “LOVE, SEX, AND DATING.” A bold title for a youth ministry, but the topic was relevant and necessary. I showed up, willing to give this man who never got mad a chance. I was hooked immediately. This stuff was GOLD!

Johnny is famous for talking fast. Years later Korean students at Southwestern Seminary begged the professor, “Slow down, Doctor Derouen, please!”

But if talking fast were a measure of enthusiasm, no one was more enthusiastic about youth than Johnny. In his thirties, I remember him asking whether youth ministry was strictly a young man’s game. I thought he was crazy, crazy to doubt his extraordinary, timeless gifts. And again, he was so enthusiastic about working with youth. If you’ve spent any time around Johnny at all, you’ve heard him talk about revivals:

Every great revival has started among young people. Revivals and revolutions–whether for good or ill–they always begin with young people.

Once I discovered that this man who talked like an auctioneer drinking Louisiana French Roast was dishing out all the best answers to life’s hardest questions, I learned how to write as fast as he could talk. It was too good not to. In fact, I skipped right over notetaker and went straight to transcriptionist. I wrote down Johnny’s outline, each point in Roman numerals, sub-points in capital letters, and every word of every illustration. I never looked up and never stopped writing. I was still an angry child who hated school. In tenth grade, I could ignore everything that happened there all day long. But Johnny was offering these lessons that just blew me away. Even then, as a child practically raised in a pew, I considered Johnny’s teaching life-changing.

I will never forget it. I was absolutely, fully engaged. And it all started for me on Wednesday nights at PRIORITY with a summer unit called “Love, Sex, and Dating.” I was so awkward and immature. I knew that dating was way-off in the future. But I was going to master those lessons. Johnny prepared a banquet for us every week, and I was determined to catch every morsel, every crumb of truth.

Johnny won me over. He was so nice. I loved to talk to him. He would look at me and as hard as he tried, I saw it. The same thing I saw in the eyes of most adults. He would look at me, and stare into my soul, and his eyes would glaze just a bit. There was this flicker, the tiniest flicker.

But I saw it. It meant Johnny did not get me. No problem. Most people did not. I could accept that. I was this artistic, creative, hyperactive square peg. I talked too much and three comments out of four would be off-topic to everyone but me.  I could be pouty and aloof, or talkative and obnoxious. The mood swings were unpredictable. But Johnny was kind and patient and he smiled and was genuinely interested. I knew that even though he didn’t get me, he was actually interested. He was willing to listen and try. That was more than enough. Johnny loved me. On some level, the man loved me.

Then Johnny took a page from the John Bisagno playbook and hired an old friend who was nearly his complete opposite. Bart Glatt was Mr. Spock to Johnny’s Captain Kirk. Bart understood me at a glance.

I attended everything. If Johnny was talking, I was going to be somewhere writing it all down. Looking back, I can sum up Johnny’s curriculum in one word: DISCIPLESHIP.

Johnny taught us the basics of discipleship: How to spend time with God. How to pray. How to sing not only about God, but to God. To pray as you sing: In my life Lord, be glorified, be glorified. How to read the Bible in a way that was not quite so haphazard, but organized and beneficial to a teenager. Beneficial and even interesting. Week-in, week-out, month-after-month, season-after-season, Johnny taught us the nuts and bolts of discipleship. He gave us the tools to disciple ourselves.

Johnny said his role was the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, according to Ephesians 4:12.

That a minister’s job is to work himself out of a job, to teach people how to disciple themselves.

Years later my wife and I found ourselves raising teenagers without Johnny Derouen. We wondered how parents disciple their own?

And then we remembered another thing Johnny always said: discipleship is caught not taught.

So we prayed and hustled and tried to pass the torch, and somewhere along the way I found myself using an acronym: R.A.M.P.S. READ the word, APPLY the word, MEMORIZE the word, PRAY the word, SHARE the word. These were the things Johnny taught us.

Johnny taught us that knowing God was not some ethereal kind of meditation. It was not incense and bubble baths and “self-care.” It was not about lighting candles, playing music and “feeling some kinda way.”

Where others talked about a Christian-candle- aromatherapy- lava- lamp kind of situation, Johnny offered us practical steps.

Knowing God was simple: Give your life completely to Jesus. Spend time reading the Bible and books about the Bible in a format that will hold your attention. Memorize something now and then. Change your behavior AND your thoughts to conform to God’s word. Pray more—and sometimes pray for things described in the Bible, and sometimes pray words from the Bible. And finally, learn how to talk about the Bible with your friends. Because you love your friends, right? Johnny talked about the Bible with us because he loved us. We knew he loved us.

These are the basics of discipleship. The great thing about discipleship as Johnny taught it was that there are simple, concrete steps. There are things you can DO.

Johnny also taught us some of the greatest verses in the Bible, each one providing practical steps to growing in Christ. Things like:

“Pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Never stop praying. That’s practical. (It may not be easy—but it is practical.)

And the next verse: “In everything give thanks” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Be thankful. That’s practical.

“Present yourselves to God and your bodies as living sacrifices,” Romans 12:1. Make your whole life a sacrifice to God. That’s practical.

And the next verse: “Be not conformed to the world” Romans 12:2. Don’t be worldly. That’s practical.

“Let no unwholesome word proceed out of thy mouth,” Ephesians 4:29. Watch what you say. That’s practical.

“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven” Matthew 5:16. Glorify God by working hard for the right goals. That’s practical.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths” Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust God and seek him with every decision. That’s practical.

“Be anxious for nothing, but instead pray about everything, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds” Philippians 4:6-7. Don’t worry. Pray and trust God. That’s practical.

“Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee” Psalm 119:11. Defeat sin by memorizing relevant Bible verses. That’s practical.

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it” 1 Corinthians 10:13. There’s no temptation you cannot handle. That’s practical.

“For we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28. Never give up hope in God’s sovereign plan. That’s practical.

The list could go on and on. Johnny taught us so many things. Practical things. Things young people could DO. Concrete things. Action points. Practical, simple steps that would cause you to grow closer to God.

And then one day someone asked Johnny about his favorite Bible verse.

“What’s my favorite verse?” He smiled. He grinned, as if he knew something we did not. Looking back, I can tell you what Johnny knew. He knew how we would react.

We would be flummoxed.

Bewildered.

Perplexed.

And this was not like Peggy Bain’s favorite verse. Peggy, one of Johnny’s favorite youth workers, was never one to pass up a great gag, never afraid to poke a sacred cow. Ask Peggy her favorite Bible verse, preferably in front of a crowded room, and she’s going to hit you with some King James:

“At Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar! First Chronicles 26:18!”

Peggy has belted out that cryptic verse at every hilarious opportunity for decades.

But of course, Johnny took the question a bit more seriously.

“What’s my favorite verse? My favorite verse is Psalm 27:4: One thing I ask of the Lord, this only do I seek. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

As a 17-year-old, I remember sitting there listening to this man, this font of wisdom, this amazing pied-piper of an answer man, a man who would one day be regarded by thousands of not only laymen but also clergy as nothing short of a spiritual father. A legit SPIRITUAL FATHER. He was our spiritual father. And we knew he loved us. He loved me. And he could quote from memory so many practical texts from James, from Paul, from all the epistles and Proverbs and the gospels. And his favorite verse is this psalm about what now?

I was flummoxed.

Bewildered.

Perplexed.

All you want in life is to dwell in the house of the Lord? What house? And you want to gaze on what? Gaze on the beauty of the Lord? How? Last I checked, God is invisible. And you want to seek him in his temple? What temple?

That’s not practical!

That’s not practical at all.

This man who had taught us all the most straightforward, concrete truths about knowing God said his favorite verse in all of the Bible is this abstract, Christian- candle- aromatherapy- lava- lamp kind of situation?

What are we supposed to do with that information?

Of course, you can imagine what I did. I scribbled it down. I wrote down the verse, and at some point I memorized it. In the years since, I have read, pondered, reflected, meditated, considered, analyzed, thought about and talked about it ad nauseum, the way you never stop talking about unsolved mysteries: there’s D.B. Cooper, there’s the Bermuda Triangle, and there’s Johnny Derouen’s favorite Bible verse.

Here is this young husband and father, this John Wayne super-fan, this driver of a black Pontiac Firebird complete with the hoodbird decal, this college track star from McNeese, this super-nice youth guy, this freakishly gifted people-person with a gift for simple, straightforward answers, CONCRETE answers, PRACTICAL answers–and his favorite verse of the Bible is this abstract, opaque thing, this verse I can’t get a handle on? This passage with words as slippery as olive oil?

One thing I ask of the Lord, this only do I seek. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple, Psalm 27:4.

It was at this point I realized Johnny was not quite as simple as he may have hoped to appear. There were layers to this powerlifting, body-building onion. For high school kids, sure, he could provide a wealth of simple answers and concrete steps. But in his own spiritual life, Johnny was operating on another level altogether. Johnny loved one of David’s psalms. David, the tender shepherd who was also a giant killer, the harp-playing poet and singer who had commanded thousands of men in hundreds of battles. David was a man of contradiction. Perhaps Johnny was too.

Perhaps this super-nice guy was like David. He was a tender warrior. Johnny was a man so strong, he was content to be humble in every situation, to give preference to others no matter how childish and awkward they might be.

Maybe the secret to youth ministry is to be overwhelmed by God’s love for the young people in your charge.

Because Johnny did not simply love me and all my rococo awkwardness. Johnny loved all of us. Generations of us. Here was a man with powerful talents like David’s, but whose talents were often eclipsed by the music of his humble, dis-arming, almost shocking love for people. Johnny was Christlike enough to soft-pedal his own talents, leading us to glorify God even when that meant overlooking the man who brought us into God’s presence. The man sometimes worked seven days a week. And yet, he made it all look so effortless.

As the cliché goes, when it came to spiritual matters, he may have been teaching us kids to play checkers, but Johnny was playing chess.

And the thing is, I like a man of contradiction. I like David. I like gray areas and nuance. I like the interstitial space where things are deep and murky.

But Psalm 27:4? I’m not sure I understand the appeal of this passage even now. Maybe I never will. And it’s Johnny’s favorite verse? Out of all the verses in the Bible? Forget me saying he did not get me. Truth is, I probably don’t get Johnny! Because I’ve had forty years to think about it, and I still don’t know if I understand Psalm 27:4.

But I know it’s about worship, a prayer to know God better and enjoy his presence. Yet there always seem to be so many things going on … Maybe I’m still too hyperactive for Psalm 27:4. Maybe I will never get there.

But I can keep thinking and praying and keep hoping to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

Because I can tell you one thing. When I look at Johnny Derouen, I want to know Jesus like Johnny knows Jesus.

I want to love Jesus like Johnny loves Jesus.

I want to dwell with him, gaze on his beauty, and seek him the way Johnny does.

And I want to rest in him as King David speaks of in another psalm. I bet Johnny loves this one too:

“Surely I have composed and quieted my soul. Like a weaned child resting against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me” Psalm 131:2.

I can rest in God. I can trust him. I can do that. That’s practical.

May God bless Johnny Derouen.

AΩ
This story inspired by a conversation with Randy Streetman.

‘Thou Shalt Decree a Thing and It Shall Be Established.’ If You Can Name it, You Can Claim it!

Image generated by A.I.

Bob turned on the television at the end of a long day. He walked across the room and fell into a recliner, exhausted. His wife Julie was seated next to him, using her phone to play an online game of Scrabble with one of her girlfriends.

As the television came on, the screen filled with dramatic lighting, spotlights shining onto a darkened stage. A preacher appeared wearing trendy sneakers and skinny jeans. The microphone near his chin was nearly invisible. He had a Bible in one hand, a folded bandanna in the other. He was nearing the end of a sermon and had worked himself into a lather explaining how to take that next step toward the great life God has planned for you:

“Listen to these words from chapter eight, verse six,” and he looked down and began reading,

“‘Here’s what you must do—and don’t put it off any longer: Get down on your knees before God Almighty … it’s not too late—he’ll come running; he’ll set everything right again, reestablish your fortunes. Even though you’re not much right now, you’ll end up better than ever!’

Suddenly the preacher stopped reading and looked up at the camera: “You’ll end up better than ever! Can I get an amen?”

Bob interrupted his wife. “I’ve never heard that verse, have you?”

“Oh, I wasn’t listening, honey. What did he say?”

“I don’t know … something about ‘God will reestablish your fortunes and you’ll end up better than ever.’ I’m not familiar with that verse.”

“Me neither.”


The preacher went on:

“And let’s turn to chapter eleven, verses fourteen through nineteen. Oh, this is good. Listen to this!” And he began reading,

“‘If you set your heart on God and reach out to him, if you scrub your hands of sin … you’ll be able to face the world unashamed … You’ll forget your troubles! … Your world will be washed in sunshine, every shadow dispersed by dawn. Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again. You’ll sit back, and take it easy, without a care in the world! You’ll be hunted by many for your blessing!’

The preacher stopped reading and pointed his folded Bible at the crowd. He was shouting now. “People will seek you out so you can bless them! Can I get an amen, my beloved?”

From his spot on the recliner, Bob spoke up again, to no one in particular.

“Chapter eleven of what book? What’s he talking about?”

Julie did not look up from her phone. “What’s that honey?”

“Nothing.”

The preacher continued:

“Now listen to chapter twenty-two, verses 23-30.

‘Come back to God Almighty and he’ll rebuild your life … Relax your grip on your money and … God Almighty will be your treasure, more wealth than you can imagine … You’ll pray to him and he’ll listen … You’ll decide what you want and it will happen. Your life will be bathed in light!’”

“Think about that, my friends. Think about that! ‘More wealth than you can imagine … you’ll pray and he’ll listen … you’ll decide what you want and it will happen.’ Are you hearing this? ‘You’ll decide what you want and it will happen!’” Can I get an amen this morning?”

The crowd shouted “Amen!” and the preacher continued:

“And you know what? I’ve been reading from the Message Bible. Y’all wanna hear some King James? Sometimes you gotta go back to the old King James, am I right? Now listen to this!

‘If thou return to the Almighty … then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. The Almighty shall be thy defense, and thou shalt have plenty of silver!’

That was verses twenty-three through twenty six. But oh, don’t miss verse twenty-eight, my beloved. Don’t miss verse twenty-eight!

‘Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee!’ Did you hear that?”

Then the preacher stepped down from the stage to work the crowd, moving from person to person.

Bob talked to the man on the screen. “Yeah, but what book are you reading? Chapter twenty-two of what? I’ve never heard these verses.”

Julie did not look up from her game.

The preacher continued:

“Did you hear that? It says, ‘thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee!’ Did you hear that? Did you hear that?

“Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee!’

‘You will lay up gold like the stones on a riverbed!

Did I read that right? I think I read that right! Maybe somebody better check it, because my Bible says ‘thou shalt lay up gold like the stones in a brook!’ How many of you know—that’s a lot of stones! Have you ever tried to dig in a riverbed? How deep do you have to dig to get past the stones, you understand what I am saying?  The Bible says if you seek God, you’ll end up better than ever, Amen?” The audience mumbled. “I said, ‘the Bible says if you seek God, you’ll end up better than ever! Amen?”

The second time the audience answered loudly, “Amen!”

“And people will seek you out so that you can bless them, amen?”

“Amen!”

“And you’ll decide what you want and it will happen, amen?”

“Amen!”

“And your life will be bathed in light, amen?”

“Amen!”

“And you’ll have gold, amen?”

“Amen!”

“Somebody turn to your neighbor and say, ‘you’ll have gold!’”

The cameras showed audience members talking to each other and laughing.

“And you’ll have silver, amen?”

“Amen!”

“Somebody point at your neighbor and say, ‘you’ll have silver!’”

The cameras showed audience members pointing and laughing and talking to each other.

“And you will decree a thing and it will happen! Amen?”

“Amen!”

“I said, ‘YOU WILL DECREE A THING AND IT WILL HAPPEN! AMEN?”

“AMEN!”

The preacher concluded, agreeing with the crowd: “Amen, amen, amen!”

Impulsively, Bob leaned over and grabbed the remote. Then just before he could change the channel, he had an idea. He put down the remote and picked up his phone. He clicked on Google and the microphone icon. Then he talked to his phone: “You will decree a thing and it will happen.” The search engine responded instantly. The first hit read Job 22:28.


Bob spoke that reference into the notes on his phone: “Job 22:28.” Then he went back to Google for another search. “You’ll have gold like the stones in a brook.” The result said Job 22:24. Bob spoke that into his notes. Then he searched a third phrase: “You’ll be hunted by many for your blessing.” Google answered: Job 11:14-19. Bob noted that one, then went right back to Google: “He’ll reestablish your fortunes. Even though you’re not much right now, you’ll end up better than ever.” Immediately Bob’s phone screen said, Job 8:6.

Suddenly, Bob was energized. He got up and retrieved a Bible from the bookshelf. He muted the television. He flipped to Job chapter eight. His Bible included a heading above the chapter: “Bildad’s First Response to Job.” The first verse read, “Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said…”

“I don’t believe it,” Bob said out loud. Then he skimmed down, reading verse six in context. It matched what he had heard from the preacher.

“Now what’s next? Chapter eleven?” He flipped to chapter eleven. Again the publisher had added a heading before chapter eleven: “Zophar’s First Response to Job.” The first verse of chapter eleven read, “Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said…”

“You have got to be kidding me. He actually preached this?” And he skimmed down, reading verses 14-19 in context.

“And the last was what?” Bob said to himself, looking at his notes, “oh yeah, Job twenty-two, twenty-three through thirty.”

Bob flipped over to chapter twenty-two, already knowing what he would find there. Again, the publisher had added a heading: “Eliphaz’s Third Response to Job.” Verse one began, “Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said….”

“Seriously? He seriously preached that?” Just to be sure, the man skimmed down, reading verses 23-30 in context. It was exactly what he had heard on TV. “Unbelievable.” Suddenly Bob raised his voice.

“Honey?!You’ve got to hear this!”

Julie spoke without looking up. “Got to hear what?” She was smiling at her phone.

“No, seriously, honey. Listen.”

Julie smiled, and put her phone face down, and crossed her hands in her lap dramatically. 

“Okay,” she smiled, “You have my undivided attention.”

“You know that prosperity preacher you like?”

“Don’t call him that. He’s just an upbeat guy.”

“Well, listen to this! You know what he did? He preached a prosperity message … from the book of Job!”

“Prosperity? In Job?”

“Yes!”

Bob laughed and shook his head in amazement.

“Why are you laughing?” Julie asked.

“Because I just can’t believe it! Remember the story of Job—he loses everything and his friends come and tell him to get right with God, and God will take care of him?”

“Yeah, I know. And God shows up and rebukes Job’s friends.”

“Exactly.  Look.  It’s here at the end,” Bob turned to the end of the book. “Here it is, I even underlined it. Chapter forty-two. God says to Eliphaz:

“My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job has’ Job 42:7.”

“And so?”

“And so, your boy—that preacher on TV—he literally preached the words of Eliphaz! The man God rebuked. No wonder I did not remember those words! I mean, God tells Eliphaz, ‘My wrath is kindled against you,’ and this guy is preaching the words of Eliphaz as if they were God’s truth!”

“Wow. Are you sure?”

“Absolutely sure. I looked up all the passages. He’s preaching the sermons of Job’s friends, the men God rebuked!

***

Bob and Julie are fictional characters—as is the imaginary preacher in the skinny jeans. But the scriptures from Job are real. The words of Job’s friends appear to promise that righteous people will receive gold, silver, and the power to ‘decree a thing and it will happen.’ And God rebuked Job’s friends. And God was very specific: “You have NOT spoken of me the thing that is right.”

God rebuked them for taking a Biblical truth of sowing and reaping and applying it unfairly to a single individual. We are not supposed to look on a person’s hardship and judge them to be sinful. We are not to draw conclusions based on health or illness, wealth or poverty.

In this sense, the book of Job is the ultimate rebuke of the prosperity message. Job’s life proves that following God does not always result in health and wealth. After all, the book says Job was “perfect and upright, feared God and turned away from evil” Job 1:1. Job was a remarkably holy man, regularly making sacrifices on behalf of his adult children, v.5. Yet Job lost everything.

As for health, what man of God is there who has not lost his health? Everyone dies. The Christian life is better understood by the words of the martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said, “When Jesus Christ calls a man, he bids him, ‘Come and die.’” Walking with God is not for the faint of heart. We are not promised health and wealth.

Now, can we take comfort in the Biblical truth of sowing and reaping? Yes! That is, you will usually reap what you sow. Usually righteous living and wise choices will result in better health and fewer money problems.

But sometimes bad things happen simply because we live in a fallen world and people suffer. We must walk by faith, 2 Corinthians 5:7.

Instead of promising us health and wealth, Jesus promised, “In this world, YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE” John 16:33. (Think about that for a minute. Jesus promised us trouble.)

Paul understood the struggle to live in a fallen world and preach the gospel to men who hate Christianity. “I have learned the secret of having plenty and of suffering want. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:12-13.  Paul said that when Paul prayed about his suffering, Jesus told Paul, ‘My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is perfected in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9. God’s grace is sufficient. We will suffer. In fact, we must suffer. Because we are clay pots with candles inside. We are jars of clay, and when we are broken, more light comes out, 2 Corinthians 4:7.

God, thank you for your great compassion, for your mercies that are new every morning! Thank you that good choices usually lead to positive outcomes, that when we sow good seeds, we usually harvest a great crop. But thank you for speaking truth to us, that in this world we WILL have trouble, but your Grace will get us through it. Use us. When we suffer as broken pots, may your light of grace and joy and hope and forgiveness pour forth into a world that needs you. Use us, Lord. Give us the courage to suffer for the cause of Christ.

AΩ

Job’s Friends Preached the Prosperity Gospel and God Rebuked Them. Job 42:7.

My friend Pete was rich. As a child, he had the newest, hottest, best bicycle around. In the mid-80s, he not only had an endless supply of Polo shirts, but was the only guy in our high school wearing Polo jeans. He had a car before anyone else. Sports cars. Spare cars. After a semester of college, he stumbled into a sales job, and suddenly had more money than he knew what to do with. Pete sold security systems, then cars, then waterbeds, and finally estate homes. He was making more money at twenty-two than most of us make decades later.

It never seemed fair. I had made good choices. I was in college with a double-major and excellent grades. I assumed I would graduate and become far more successful. But that’s not what happened—at least not if you measure success by income.

Guess what?

God does not measure success by income.

In spite of the confusion created by the “prosperity gospel,” your wealth is not God’s report card on your spiritual health. Think about that again:

Your wealth is not God’s report card on your obedience or spiritual health.

The message of the Bible is NOT walk with God and you will have riches and good health.

Preachers on television push that message constantly. But that is not the message of the Bible. Job’s friends came to Job and preached a prosperity message and God strongly rebuked them: “My wrath is kindled against thee, for you have not spoken about me what is right as my servant Job has” Job 42:7.

How many rich missionaries have you heard of? What about the growing Christian population in Africa? Are those Christians wealthy? Or the members of the thriving Christian church in South Korea. Are they wealthy?

The Bible says don’t make money your goal. “Labor not to be rich” Proverbs 22:4.

Your goal should be to serve God faithfully, whether you are rich or poor or somewhere in between. Don’t pray to be rich. Instead, pray for God to meet your needs today:

“Give me neither poverty not riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and turn my back on God, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal and thus dishonor the name of my God” Proverbs 30:8-9.

Great wealth can be a stumbling block, causing us to take our eyes off God, thinking we do not need him. But poverty can likewise be so hard some let it drive them to desperate acts like stealing. We are better off seeking God’s provision for our needs every day, praying for him to supply our daily bread.

“And now, just as you have trusted Christ to save you, trust him too for each day’s problems. Live in vital union with him” Colossians 2:6 (TLB)

God, remind us to come to you each day for our daily bread. Thank you that our money is not a report card on our spiritual health. Teach us to be content “both in plenty and in want.”

AΩ

Do You Complain or Do You Lament? Lamentations 1:1.

Do you know the difference between a lament and a complaint? Modern English dictionaries may show little distinction, but Old Testament scholars argue a Biblical lament is more than just a complaint. “A complaint is an accusation against God that maligns His character, but a lament is an appeal to God based on confidence in His character.”*

I first ran across this distinction in a book by Jamie Winship:

“Complaint is the bitter howl of unbelief in any benevolent God … a distrust in the love-beat of the Father’s heart … Lament is a cry of belief in a good God, a God who has His ear to our hearts, a God who transfigures the ugly into beauty.” –Jamie Winship, quoting Ann Voskamp, in his book, LIVING FEARLESS.

Consider the question posed in the title above: do you complain or do you lament? We all have problems. We all face challenges and many of them feel unfair, undeserved, and extremely painful. When you face problems, do you complain or do you lament?

Think about the last time disaster struck. How did you react? Be honest.

Did you unleash on the world around you, on your family, on your friends, and on God, a “bitter howl of unbelief”?

Did your words sound like those of someone who does not believe in a good God, a loving God?

Did you doubt God? Listen to  yourself as you suffer. Do you sound like one who does not trust the “love-beat of the Father’s heart”?

The alternative to such a bitter complaint is to react with a lament. A lament does not mean you ignore the suffering. A lament is crying out to God about your hurt. But your heart and your words are those of one who still believes in a good God. You pray, you complain, you shed tears—but you also know that God “has his ear to your heart.” God is going to take this ugly, horrible problem and transform it into a thing of beauty. When you lament, you suffer, you cry, and you hurt, but you never lose faith.

If a complaint is shaking an angry fist at God, a lament is crawling into God’s arms to weep with him.

Jeremiah, “the weeping prophet,” wrote Lamentations—five chapters of bitter reports about God and the circumstances he had allowed Israel to experience. The people had been kidnapped, Solomon’s temple destroyed, Jerusalem looted and everything of value stolen. Jeremiah had to live through this time of humiliation, destruction, and despair. And Jeremiah had a lot to say about it. As you might imagine, one who earns the name “weeping prophet” is not one to hold back:

“How does the city sit solitary that once was full of people? … The Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity … Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is removed … the enemy hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things … Behold, O Lord, I am in distress, my bowels are troubled, mine heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is death” Lamentations 1:1,5,8,10,20.

Jeremiah then makes it personal, arguing God has made him old, broken his bones, smashed his teeth, waited like a bear to ambush him, and fired arrows into his heart, Lamentations 3:4-16.

Jeremiah weeps, certainly. But he does not lose his faith. In chapter three, he remembers that God is his only hope:

“I have hope. We are not consumed. His compassions fail not. Thy mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion … therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him … Though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion … For he does not afflict anyone willingly” Lamentations 3:21-25,32-33.

It is easy to parrot the popular verse, “His mercies are new every morning.” But could you say it after all that Jeremiah had been through, convinced God had not only driven Israel nearly to destruction, but had attacked Jeremiah’s health personally? That, my friends, is a lament: cry out to God, but do so without losing faith in him.

“His mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness” Lamentations 3:23.

Lord, teach us to pray with faith: to lament rather than complain.

AΩ

*From the excellent article: https://www.ntwrightonline.org/five-things-to-know-about-lament/

Selfishness vs. Enlightened Self-Interest. Ecclesiastes 6:7.

Have you ever run across the “professional-student,” a college student who is too indecisive to complete a degree and has been hanging around the campus taking classes for five, six, or even ten years? He is older than everyone else but because the money never runs out he can avoid committing to a course of study. As long as Mom keeps writing tuition checks, he will stay in school–where he will never have to grow up and take on responsibilities.

But when the money does finally run out, he will wake up hungry and will have to get a job.

Hunger gives clarity.

“He that laboreth, laboreth for himself, for his mouth craveth it of him” Proverbs 16:26.

Proverbs says the worker works for himself, because he is hungry. Is it selfish to work all day in the garden, the orchard, or the fishing hole because you are starving? Of course not. Consider a more modern translation:

“A worker’s appetite motivates him because his hunger urges him on” Proverbs 16:26.

Hunger is a compass. It is one of those things in life that can provide direction. Hungry people don’t sit around “gazing at their navels.” Hungry people do not have the luxury of asking existential questions about how to spend their time or what their dreams and goals ought to be. Hungry people know exactly what they need: they need food.

“All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied” Ecclesiastes 6:7.

Solomon says we spend our whole lives acquiring food that we stuff into our pie holes. And we are never full, or at least not for long! But that is a good thing. Hunger gives us direction. How do you find your life’s work? Find something people will pay you to do. If you have choices, be thankful and keep working while you seek additional wisdom and direction. But if you have an interest that society will not pay for, perhaps that interest is only a hobby.

God uses our hunger to guide us to meaningful work.

If you love singing but have a terrible voice, have fun singing and consider it a hobby. Find another way to make a living. If you love woodworking, but you keep getting fired from construction jobs, take that as a sign. Go find a job you can do successfully. God put you here to make a contribution—and if you are making a valuable contribution, someone will pay you for your work. And that’s how you know you are doing something of value to the world—the world pays you to do it. In other words, when you find the work that is right for you, that work will put food on your table.

Karl Marx says that capitalism is selfish, because employers “exploit” employees to make more money. But this is a mischaracterization: both parties are in this thing to make money. We do not act selfishly, but out of “enlightened self-interest.”*

Marx, the founder of Communism, famously lived over thirty years on the handouts of his friend Friedrich Engels.** Because Marx was not forced by hunger to secure a paying job, he was free to spend his time writing about economics–a pursuit that would not have put food on his table.

We call the world’s default economic system the free-market system. This familiar system allows people to negotiate the purchase and sale of goods and labor at whatever prices the market will bear. It’s what you and I participate in every day. People around the world have done business this way for thousands of years. It is the economic system in the Bible.

But Marx condemned this time-tested system as “capital-ism,” a word he invented that seems to imply we worship money (capital). Marx—again, a man who never knew hunger—wrote that the workers of the world should unite around a market controlled by the state, which he called “commune-ism” (sounds a bit like worship of the state?). Communism was a terrible idea, mankind’s greatest failure of the 20th century, as I have discussed elsewhere.***

The BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM estimates that over 94 million people have been killed by Communist governments, including 65M in China and 20M in the USSR. For every life taken by Nazis, Communists have taken at least five. (Yet Marx calls our system as selfish.)

Once Engels began supporting Marx and the writer no longer had to earn money from his work each day, Marx spent all his time writing about economics. What was the result of his work? Nearly 100 million deaths at the hands of Communist governments. Marx would have made a greater contribution to society if he had remained a journalist writing about lost dogs and housefires for German newspapers, and satisfying his hunger with his own labor.

“A worker’s appetite motivates him because his hunger urges him on” Proverbs 16:26.

Welcome the opportunity to rely on your own two hands. To pay your own way and be self-reliant. God uses hunger to guide people to work that is of value to society. If society is paying for your work, then you are making a valuable contribution.

AΩ
* “Enlightend Self-Interest” is a term coined by Edmund Burke, based on a concept observed in de Tocqueville’s DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. De Tocqueville saw the way American villagers worked together to achieve common goals, and this notion of work that benefits both the community and the individual became known as “enlightened self-interest.”

** It is often said that Marx never held a job. But he had worked as a journalist in Germany, making money from his newspaper stories. Then in 1849, he moved to London where he held no jobs between 1849 and his death in 1883.

*** For more on Communism, consider: https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2024/07/02/incentive-1-corinthians-97-10/ and https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2024/07/11/whats-wrong-with-communism-1-corinthians-910/

We Need Friends and Family. Proverbs 14:4.

When you have a houseful of children it is easy to daydream of a life alone. All the rooms are clean and Mom slips into a bubble bath whispering the old slogan, “Calgon, take me away!” People are tough.

In Jean Paul Sartre’s play NO EXIT, the characters, now dead and condemned to hell, realize they will be trapped in a room together for eternity. I once played Garcin, and will never forget his line to sum it all up:

“Hell is … other people.”

Yes, people will drive you crazy! But the challenge is worth it.

“Where no oxen are, the stall is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox” Proverbs 14:4.

I like a clean house. But when it is not clean, I comfort myself with this verse. I might look into my son’s room, where he once found a dead dove rotting in a vest pocket two weeks after dove season had ended, and I remember: much increase comes by the strength of the ox. Or I might paraphrase, thinking, much benefit comes to me from these messy children. It is worth it. I would rather live in a messy house with family than a clean house alone. Family is worth it. Friends are worth it.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he has no one to lift him up. If two lie down together, they can keep warm. But how shall one be warm alone? And though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.

There are many reasons to maintain relationships. Businesses are more efficient when labor is divided among employees. Partnerships can take advantage of each one’s strengths. No one can do it all, but when we work together, we can achieve great things.

When I was a child I read a book about a boy who loved running. The narrator described him as a “lone wolf,” and I internalized that. I wanted to be that boy—an endurance runner who did not need friends. Then on television I heard the phrase “strong, silent type” and I internalized that too. Later, I ran across a John Wayne film called THE QUIET MAN, and that became my goal.

But if you know me, you know how comical these goals are. “Strong, silent type”? I’ve never been silent in my life. And I was more likely to go to the moon than be the Quiet Man. And that ‘lone wolf’ thing? God has blessed me with a lifetime of deep, rewarding friendships. In spite of my misguided goal of silent solitude, God gave me a mouth I could barely tame and a stable of friends I would not trade for anything. Sure, solitude may yield a clean house or a clean car. But French fries under the car seat are worth it. A pile of dirty dishes is worth it. Sartre was wrong. Hell is not other people. In fact, some theologians actually believe hell is the opposite: a place of utter solitude.

Remember:

Two are better than one, for they have a good return on their labor. Ecclesiastes 4:9.

We need friends and we need family.

You need friends and you need family.

AΩ

P.S. For those who agree, yet struggle with loneliness, consider: relationships thrive on honest communication and time together. Do things. Make memories. If you are shy, you will have to walk by faith and push yourself. Sometimes that means taking a risk, introducing yourself. It may seem awkward at first. Be patient. It won’t always be awkward. Push yourself. Meet people. Talk. Have the courage to be vulnerable. For others out there, the best advice may be to FORGIVE. Relationships require selflessness, forgiveness, and humility. Nothing will leave you isolated more than a life of pride. All of this takes hard work. People are messy. Nothing is ever perfect. But it is worth it. We were made for COMMUNITY. We were made to exist IN RELATIONSHIPS. Nothing in your life–literally, NOTHING–matters more than relationships.

Understand Old Testament Wrath in Light of Luke 20:38 and Ezekiel 33:11.

Reading Old Testament highlights can give the impression God loves to pour out his wrath. In fact, there is a popular notion that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. Some personify it: God the Father is angry and full of wrath, but God the Son is merciful and compassionate. Such a view makes it difficult to read the Old Testament. You must overcome this if you are going to know God’s word.

The Bible contradicts the idea that God changes between the testaments:

“I am the Lord and I do not change” Malachi 3:6.  

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” Hebrews 13:8.  

It may surprise you, but the God of the Old Testament is full of compassion. For example, Psalm 136 repeats twenty-six times the refrain: “His lovingkindness is everlasting” Psalm 136:1-26.

Similarly, Jesus, the “God of the New Testament,” will bring a sword of judgment when he returns, Revelation 19:15.

God is one. God the Father is as compassionate as Jesus—and Jesus is as holy and full of wrath as God the Father.

But does God enjoy pouring out his wrath? No.

“‘As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wicked ways and live’” Ezekiel 33:11.

God is full of compassion, as Jesus demonstrated by loving children, healing the sick, and dying on the cross. That is God’s personality, John 1:18. And Jesus takes no pleasure in the deaths of the wicked, but wants them to repent and live. God is one. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are one and share both ‘Old Testament’ holiness and ‘New Testament’ compassion.

Nevertheless, it is easy for readers of some of these “wrath highlights” to think the Old Testament is the story of a God of anger:

In Genesis, God sent a flood to wipe out most of humanity, Genesis 6:7.

Later, God sent fire to wipe out the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19:24-29.

Still later, God sent a death angel to slay the first-born of Egypt, Exodus 12:29.

God even judged his own people, causing the earth to open up and swallow those who questioned the authority of Moses, Numbers 16:31-35.

And as if that were not enough, God sent his people into the Promised Land with orders to kill the pagans living there, Deuteronomy 20:16-18.

Even the worship songs in the Book of Psalms include such notions: “May the desert tribes kneel before him, and may his enemies lick the dust” Psalm 72:9. That does seem an odd song lyric, to a modern ear:

May His enemies lick the dust!

But today’s readers are trapped in today’s culture. The Bible record is thousands of years old, yet we evaluate it through a 21st-century lens. We bring modern, Western notions of justice, fairness, and right and wrong to the Bible (an ancient, Eastern text) then we accuse God of wrongdoing when his actions confuse us.

If you are committed to a position of skepticism, I may not be able to help you. But if you love God and are simply looking for answers, here are some thoughts:

First, give God the benefit of the doubt. Pray and ask Him to help you understand—but realize that you also need to be willing to trust Him. You need to accept that his ways are higher than our ways, Isaiah 55:9. (And remember that thousands of years passed between some of these judgments. God pours out so much more mercy than wrath.)

Second, remember that God is holy. He wants holiness for his people. He cannot tolerate sin. But some sins are far worse than others[1], and the sins of Noah’s time are the kinds of sins God will not overlook forever, but will punish.

Third, try to look at death from God’s perspective. God is eternal. He exists outside of time. Our finite lives are infinitely short to Him. Heaven is your real home—and that home will last forever. Whether you get to heaven now or fifty years from now will not be as big a deal looking back from heaven as it seems to be from earth. For example, if your life or mine were tragically cut short, it is likely neither of us would choose to leave heaven and return to earth. As Paul said, it’s better there: “To die is gain … I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed” Philippians 1:21-23.

To die is gain. It is better there.

When Jesus talked about heaven, he pointed out that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are there–and they are still alive! Heaven is the place where no one is dead:

“Those who are considered worthy to take part in … the resurrection from the dead … can no longer die … but in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [speaking in the present tense] …

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him, all remain alive” Luke 20:34-38.

When you read about Old Testament judgments, remember this: God is holy, which means He is “separate from” us. And because he wants us to also be holy, he sometimes removes the most unholy from among us. But rather than see them die, God wants them to repent. He “takes no joy in the death of the wicked,” but when they refuse to repent and instead cling to wickedness, God will remove them, Ezekiel 33:11. He separates us from those who would destroy us and destroy our attempts to live holy lives. That separation often comes through death–but how serious is death when to God “all remain alive”? Death is not the same tragedy to God that it appears to us. Because “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him, all remain alive.”

Dear God, teach us to trust you. May we read the Bible with faith in you, never forgetting that your lovingkindness is everlasting. That you are compassionate. That you love us the way Jesus loved the children, the sick, the downtrodden. Fill us with faith and make us holy, and remind us that to you, “all remain alive.”

AΩ

* Another verse indicating that God does not enjoy judgment and would prefer NOT to exercise his wrath is Lamentations 3:33–“He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.”

[1] The notion that all sins are equal is called “Sin-leveling” and it is unbiblical. Read more here: https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2024/03/27/sin-leveling-luke-1013-14/

The Queen of Sheba: A Skeptic Convinced. 2 Chronicles 9:1-8.

Pictured–audio cover of a recent novel. I have not read the book but I enjoyed a different book by this author.

One couple I know recently decided the earth was flat. That shocked me. Perhaps it shouldn’t have. But at the time, the odd conspiracy theory had not really caught on. I was shocked. How could two people who grew up in my world—members of my “tribe”—wake up one morning and decide the earth was flat? I was shocked by the way these two Christian adults had suddenly begun to doubt this long-established truth of science (a truth proven during every lunar eclipse) and many truths like it.

When he was inaugurated king, Solomon hit the ground running. God blessed his kingdom from day one, and amazing things began to happen. Solomon had a cavalry of soldiers on horseback and on chariots, 1 Kings 9:22 and 2 Chronicles 8:6. He built ships and launched a navy, 1 Kings 9:26-27. He dedicated entire cities to single tasks: storage cities, chariot cities, and “cities of the horsemen” 2 Chronicles 8:6. He built an ivory throne, overlaid with gold, with six steps leading up to it, two carved lions on each side of each step leading up to the throne (24 lions total), and “there was not the like made in any kingdom” 2 Chronicles 9:17-19. Then every third year, Solomon’s ships came home laden with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks, 2 Chronicles 9:21. He even had “forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen” 1 Kings 4:26.

As God had promised, He also made Solomon wiser than everyone. “He was wiser than all men,”1 Kings 4:31, “speaking three thousand proverbs,” and speaking on all matters of nature, animals, plants, “beasts, fowl, creeping things, and fish” 1 Kings 4:31-33.

“And King Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God had put into his heart” 2 Chronicles 9:22-23.

When King Solomon’s fame began to circle the globe, kings and dignitaries traveled from far and wide to see for themselves. But there were doubters. One of those skeptics was the Queen of Sheba. She rounded up her men and set off on a quest. She had to know the truth.

The queen was on a mission.

“She came to prove [test] Solomon with hard questions … and Solomon answered all her questions … and when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, and the meat on his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, his cupbearers also and their apparel … there was no more spirit left in her. And so she said to the king:

‘It was a true report which I heard in my own land of thine acts and of thy wisdom. But I did not believe it until I came and saw for myself. And behold, I was not told the half of it. For thou exceedest the fame that I heard.  Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom. And blessed be the Lord thy God who delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God, because thy God loved Israel….” 2 Chronicles 9:1-8.

This is an amazing story. Not because of Solomon’s wealth. And not because of Solomon’s wisdom.

This is an amazing story because the skeptic allowed herself to be convinced.

How often do you see that? Often we are so committed to our point of view that we commit acts of intellectual dishonesty. We ignore persuasive evidence because we are unwilling to be persuaded. Sometimes we are suffering a problem not of logic, but of the will. It is not a failure of the evidence, but a failure of the WILL. We are unwilling to be persuaded. We have closed our mind.

The Queen of Sheba was not that kind of skeptic. When she saw Solomon’s wealth, his gold, his palace, his army, perhaps his zoo filled with apes and peacocks, and when she listened to his broad understanding of a wide range of subjects, she was persuaded.[1] The queen was not unwilling to believe, but merely wanted some evidence. Jesus honored her for her faith:

“The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. For she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold, one greater than Solomon is here” Matthew 12:42.

Jesus then mentions the city of Ninevah, explaining that the entire city repented at the preaching of Jonah, but the religious leaders of Jesus’ day would not repent at the preaching of Jesus.

The religious leaders were skeptics who were UNWILLING to change their minds. This was not a failure of the evidence, but a failure of the WILL.

We must not be like the Pharisees.

Skepticism is warranted at times, but skepticism that refuses to honestly consider evidence is willful blindness.

We must seek God by faith, and we must open our minds to both evidence and the voice of the Holy Spirit. When making decisions about conspiracy theories, politics, medical care, or Bible interpretation, or anything else, examine the evidence for yourself. And be humble and honest with yourself.

Sometimes it is okay to change your mind, particularly when you are trading skepticism for faith!

AΩ

[1] According to Jewish tradition—and some Christian scholars—Solomon married the Queen of Sheba and she is the bride portrayed in the Song of Solomon. The Bible does not speak to this matter with certainty, so we will never know. But it is an intriguing possibility. See Song of Solomon 1:5-6. The unknown bride either has “black” skin (as translated in the KJV) because she is Ethiopian, or the bride has “dark” skin (NIV) which is merely tanned skin from working in the vineyard. Much of this is interesting conjecture, though an honored tradition in the Talmud and among many Christians.

Building Temples and Building Homes. 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.

Pictured: “Topping Out Bear Stearns, New York City,” image copied from https://millersamuel.com/with-a-flag-an-i-beam-and-a-christmas-tree-the-party-is-just-getting-started/

I grew up in a boomtown. During my childhood, Houston was America’s fastest growing city.[1] One day my friends and I might be in a field flipping over scrap wood to find snakes, and a year later it would be a 10-story IRS building. One day, a field of dewberry vines, next day a Savings and Loan. These overnight transformations were amazing. I would stand over my bike thinking: last year I caught that turtle over there and no one cared—and now that exact spot is a bank vault that I can’t enter. I’m an OUTSIDER now! How did that happen?

When Solomon built Israel’s first temple, the project was immense, requiring over seven years of construction, 1 Kings 6:38. Solomon drafted 30,000 men to work in rotating shifts of 10,000 at a time, 1 Kings 5:13-14. (Imagine it: 10,000 men working at one time.)

The cedar and stone building and its exquisitely crafted contents were covered in enormous quantities of precious stones, gold, silver, and bronze. King David had provided 3,750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons of silver, plus brass and iron in such abundance it was not measured, 1 Chronicles 22:14.

The temple included doors and walls covered in sheets of gold. Inside were columns, candles, altars, tables, and statues of extreme artistry. Out of respect, there were no hammers or ‘power tools’ on site, 1 Kings 6:7. Everything was cut and carved off-site, then transported to the location. It was a quiet workplace, one with a certain reverence.

However, for seven years it remained a construction site. There would have been dirt and dust and men going to and fro with wheelbarrows or carts toting materials here and there. A few might be sitting in the shade taking a break, wiping off the sweat, getting a drink. Talking and laughing in a casual way. After all, it was a construction site. The thing about a construction site—one day it’s just bare land. Then one day, everything changes.

When construction was finished, Solomon made some speeches, praised the Lord, and prayed a prayer of dedication.

“Now, when Solomon made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the house.

[Suddenly, the priests have become OUTSIDERS? How does that happen?]

“And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces toward the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord saying For He is good, for His mercy endures forever” 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.

“And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings … twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty-thousand sheep” 1 Kings 8:63. And Solomon feasted the nation of Israel for seven days, 2 Chronicles 7:8.

A transformation had taken place.

For seven years, construction workers climbed all over the place like ants. Now suddenly, the place is holy. The priests can’t even enter. The “Most Holy Place” is actually so holy that only the high priest can enter—and only one day a year. What happened to the casual construction site?

What happened to the common construction materials— wood, stone, and precious metals— that have now become sacred?

The people obeyed God, made sacrifices, performed rituals, God was pleased, and “the glory of the Lord filled the house of God” 2 Chronicles 5:14. That changes everything.

Solomon built the temple according to God’s instructions, and then “the glory of the Lord” filled the place and transformed what had once been common into something sacred.

It is the blessing, the presence, the GLORY OF GOD that makes the ordinary sacred. It is God who takes a wasteland and makes a temple.

Here’s an Unexpected Application

Can you imagine how this temple story applies to marriage?

One day two people have a casual conversation: Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you. Where are you from? Months or years later, the two have fallen in love and want to build a life together.

Is it possible to take common relationship materials—wood, stone, precious metals—and transform them into something sacred? I believe it is. Are you building a temple for the entire nation? No. But a marriage is the inauguration of a new enterprise—a new family. I believe God wants to bless marriages the way he blessed the temple: to fill the home—the couple—with His glory.

How?

Pursue God’s plan every step of the way. Seek Him as if you were the construction foreman building Solomon’s Temple—because that is exactly what you are doing. Your home, your marriage, will be a sanctuary, a temple of sorts, for your family, for your children. Seek God’s plan in the remote, tricky areas such as career, residence, and financial decisions. But also seek him in the more obvious things, such as the fight for Biblical purity both before and during marriage.

Abstinence is a difficult challenge, but it is a training ground for the future. Remember, you are building a family, launching a great institution. It merits seriousness, discipline, and self-control.

In addition, nothing more closely reflects an understanding of Old Testament law and holiness like the struggle for abstinence before marriage, and monogamy during marriage. Where a single man and woman may have once flirted and otherwise encouraged the more benign affections of the opposite sex, the married man and woman have built something sacred. Like the holy temple, outsiders are not allowed into that place.

Married people understand: something changes. You no longer engage in casual teasing and affection with members of the opposite sex. You do not flirt. That part of you is now inside a temple of sorts, protected behind walls (rings) of gold and reserved for only one person.

Is it hard? Of course it’s hard! But when you succeed[2], you will know that you have honored God as Solomon honored him while building the temple. God will bless your holiness by rewarding your marriage with the presence and the blessings and the Glory of God.

The critical moment of both these events–the dedication of the temple and the dedication of a home– is that moment of transformation.

One day you are looking at piles of common construction materials, the next day it is too holy to enter.

So also with a marriage: one day you are looking at two people just having a casual conversation. The next day they are the leaders of an all-new enterprise: a family that never before existed on earth.

That is a holy thing that God ordained long before he allowed Solomon to build him a temple.

God loves marriages and wants to bless them.

May we bring him our very best!

AΩ

[1] Check out this 1981 NY Times article quoting my old friend (my parents’ friend), J.L. Taylor: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/16/us/houston-fastest-growing-big-city-showing-signs-of-having-hit-prime.html

[2] Of course, in every failure, there is grace! God is bigger than our biggest sins. Confess it, leave it behind, and move forward in holiness.

Jesus Showed Up at the Same Place Thousands of Years Apart. 2 Chronicles 3:1-2.

When I was a small child, my family visited both the White House and Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in Virginia. The White House impressed me only with its officialdom. We were part of a guided tour, trapped behind red velvet ropes. It was like walking through a modern-day office building but with quality art on the walls.

Mount Vernon was different. It was personal. I remember being in a daze thinking about the first president:

George Washington touched this doorknob. George Washington walked up these stairs. His hand may have held this banister. George Washington looked out of this window. George Washington sat on this couch. I was deeply moved.

When history gets out of the textbooks and into your heart, it can be amazing. And few things are as moving as being there.

One of the most amazing places in Biblical history is Mount Moriah. Talk about “being there”–Mount Moriah is one of the most important places in the Bible. A child who knew the stories could walk around that mountaintop in a daze for hours…

“Moriah” means “chosen by Jehovah” because God chose this mountain four thousand years ago. In 2,000 B.C., the region appears to have been a wilderness. God sent Abraham and Isaac on a fifty-mile journey when he asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. Just as Abraham was about to do it, “trusting God to raise [Isaac] from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19), the angel of the Lord stopped him, saying “now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld your only son from me” Genesis 22:12.

Why does the angel refer to God as ME? Because this angel is the pre-incarnate Christ. It’s Jesus! Abraham then spotted a ram in the bushes, sacrificed the ram, and named the place—named the mountain—“Jehovah Jireh.” That led to the expression “in the mount of the Lord it will be provided” or “in the mount of the Lord, God will see to it” Genesis 22:14.

–And that is exactly what happened: on this very mountain, God provided. On this very mountain, God saw to the salvation of his children.

“Jesus … stopped Abraham a short distance from where He would be crucified two thousand years later in Jerusalem. Isaac lay on the altar when the voice of the person he prefigured [symbolized] called out from heaven. Abraham and Isaac heard from the individual who would later die for their sins, fulfilling what they were only prefiguring”[1]

Did you catch that?

Abraham, symbolizing God the Father, placed his son Isaac, symbolizing Jesus, on the altar. And that altar was erected atop Mount Moriah, where Jesus would be crucified some two thousand years later.

There is some controversy about the location. Solomon’s Temple was built on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1), and the temple remains a known location today. Jesus was crucified on a hill outside of town, outside the city walls (John 19:17-20). That hill was called Golgotha. But topographical maps can clear up this apparent contradiction: the entire area is Mount Moriah. The temple is inside the walls of Jerusalem, but the ridge of Mount Moriah continues outside the walls where the Golgotha peak rests. The point is, God did not send Abraham to just any mountain to perform a bit of ‘street theater’ acting out a prophetic sacrifice play. God sent Abraham to the EXACT SAME MOUNTAIN to demonstrate what God would one day do for his people–on that mountain.

This amazing bit of symbolism can be summed up in the words of Abraham. Before Abraham and Isaac reached the mountaintop, Isaac said “here’s the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering?” and Abraham answered, “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering” Genesis 22:7-8. That is a prophetic statement of exactly who Jesus turned out to be: God provided Jesus as the sacrificial lamb for us. “the Son of Man (gave) His life a ransom for many” Mark 10:45.

God himself will provide a lamb.

AΩ

[1] https://www.scottlapierre.org/mount-moriah-and-golgotha/ Consider this excellent article in order to explore the third bit of symbolism at Mount Moriah. I have simplified the matter by not discussing David’s sinful census, the plague that followed, and the fact that the death angel stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah—which was also located on Mount Moriah.