December 17, 2013
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
I love Christmas lights! Where I live in Williamsburg, Virginia, one of the signature features of Christmas decorating is using white lights. We put our Christmas tree up for all of December because we enjoy the white lights so very much.
A very significant Christmas gift I received is a book I wrote this year that was delivered from the printer on the third of December. It is called Marketplace Disciples. The thrust of this book’s message highlights the mandate Jesus gave His disciples to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. A missionary statesman said that if the disciples of Jesus stick together with a fortress mentality, we are like manure. We stink! But if we get spread around we do a lot of good.
The risen living Christ uses the fact that we need to make a living to get the salt out of the salt shaker and the candles He has lighted on candlesticks of His choosing. We should impact the marketplace because we are authentic disciples of Jesus Christ. The values of Christ should revolutionize our ethics and the way we do business. That is why today most evangelism takes place in the marketplace.
When you see the beautiful Christmas lights this year remember that Jesus said His light flowing through us cannot be hidden.
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Uncategorized | Tagged: Christmas, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, Disciples of Jesus, evangelism, faith, Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:14-16 | 
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Posted by Dick Woodward
December 14, 2013
“Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died… that person shall be cut off from Israel.” (Numbers 19:13)
In 1970 a medical doctor named S. I. McMillen wrote a book entitled None of These Diseases. In his book Dr. McMillen highlighted practices Moses mandated like quarantines and sterilization of medical instruments. As quoted above, if a person had contact with a dead body (and in other verses someone who was sick), they were considered unclean for seven days and quarantined from the rest of the population.
Dr. McMillen referenced the discovery of a low percentage of ovarian cancer at Mount Sinai hospital in New York City, which research traced to the fact that Jewish husbands were circumcised as mandated by Moses. This led to the common practice of circumcising male babies. At the end of each chapter this doctor raises the question: did Moses scoop medical science by thousands of years, or did he have a revelation from God as he claimed?
This should convince us that the Bible is in fact the Word of God. And it should inspire us to follow the wise counsels of the Bible ourselves and then share them with others. As a young pastor I was mentored by Dr. Henry Brandt, a Christian clinical psychologist. He encouraged me to use the wise counsels in the Bible as I helped those in my congregation who had many problems.
As I did I found the Bible to be filled with counseling for the problems people had with worry, stress, personal peace, prayer, guidance, love, marriage, the dynamic to cope and other issues. The best marriage counseling in the world is in the Bible.
Do you believe you can trust the counseling you find in the Bible?
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Posted by Dick Woodward
December 10, 2013
“… Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:9)
When the children of Israel complained and griped about Moses God showed how He felt about the gripers. He sent snakes to bite them. (Some pastors may wish they could do the same.) Then God in His mercy directed Moses to erect a pole at the center of the camp with a bronze serpent on top of it. The good news was proclaimed: If any of the snake-bitten gripers would get to the center of the camp and look at the bronze serpent they would be healed of their snakebites.
Some of them said that defied all the laws of medical science and they died of their snakebites. Others said it didn’t make sense but it was the only hope they had. With help they somehow got to the center of the camp and looked at the bronze serpent on the pole. When they looked, they were healed and lived!
This story takes on much greater meaning when Jesus makes His most dogmatic declaration: He is God’s only Son, God’s only Solution and God’s only Savior (John 3: 1-21). As He told a Rabbi named Nicodemus about Moses lifting that serpent in the wilderness, it is a picture of something in the future. If we will look to Jesus on His cross with faith we will be healed of our sin problem.
Jesus made it simple. Just look and live. When you want to solve problems that demand a supernatural solution, look and live. Have you ever done that? Why not do it now?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, God's mercy, Jesus Christ, living by faith, Mercy, Moses, Numbers 21:9, salvation | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
December 6, 2013
“… the Lord will not be with you!” (Numbers 14:43)
When pilots are landing a large commercial passenger jet they reach a point where they must commit to their landing. They call that point of no return the LD, or the “level of decision.”
God is very patient and full of mercy and grace. However, the chapter quoted above tells us there is an LD in our journeys of faith. There is a point where we either do, or do not, commit to doing the will of God.
God will lean on us like an elephant to get us to see and do His will. However, He reaches a point where He will let us have it our way. When God lets us do our own thing we suffer great loss. For starters, we forfeit the present purpose of our salvation. We all know we are not saved by good works but we can lose the opportunity to do the works for which God has saved us (Ephesians 2:10).
When the Israelites chose not to do the will of God, Moses said: “The Lord will not be with you!” Perhaps the saddest word in the Hebrew Old Testament is the word “Ichabod.” It means “the glory has departed” and teaches that God sometimes withdraws anointing power from His people.
There is such a thing as the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God for your life and mine (Romans 12:1, 2). The book of Numbers solemnly presents two options: after being delivered from our “Egypt” we can go around in circles for 40 years, or we can commit to doing the will of God.
Are you making a wise commitment in your spiritual LD, or are you waiting for the glory to depart?
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, faith commitment, glory of God, knowing the will of God, Moses, Numbers 14:43, salvation, Spiritual Discernment | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
December 3, 2013
“…although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, and they were not thankful…” (Romans 1:21)
The fall of the human race is described in Genesis 3 and more briefly in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans. A good way to find the application of this teaching is to think of the phrase: “Like it was, like it is.” God describes the fall like it was because He wants us to understand that fall like it is — especially in our own lives.
Paul tells us there were two causes of the fall of man: “When they knew God they did not glorify Him as God” and “They were not thankful.” According to David when we enter into the presence of God the first thing we know is that He is God and we are His (Psalm 100).
Jesus taught that the new birth is not an end in itself but a means to an end. The end is the Kingdom of God. When we are born again we make Him our King (John 3: 3-5). When we do not understand this, we think the end to which the new birth is the means is all about us and what God does for us. Your new birth experience can be retarded because you are not giving Him His rightful place in your life as your God.
There are many positive effects of gratitude in your life. Imagine that if the sin of ingratitude can cause the fall of the human race, think of the negative effects of ingratitude in your life.
Are you experiencing negative consequences in your own private fall because you have an attitude of ingratitude?
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: consequences of ingratitude, faith, glorifying God, gratitude, Psalm 100, Romans 1:21, thanking God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
November 27, 2013
“There we saw the giants … and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight…” (Numbers 13: 33)
The book of Numbers records the death of an entire generation. Twelve spies were sent to do reconnaissance in the land of Canaan. Ten of the spies gave the report quoted above. Only two told how great the land was and exhorted the people to invade Canaan. While Joshua and Caleb were men of great faith, the other ten were experts in “Giantology.”
The entire generation who listened to the ten perished in the wilderness and only two people survived the most tragic judgment of God recorded in the Bible. An old spiritual put it this way: “Others saw the giants. Caleb (and Joshua) saw the Lord!” We read that they wholly followed the Lord because they believed Him well able to conquer those giants.
I have spent most of my adult life as a pastor. I cannot help but allow the thought that the twelve spies resemble a board of Elders, a Session, a Vestry, or a board of Stewards. Sometimes when a church is facing a huge challenge two will have the faith of Caleb and Joshua and ten will be giantologists.
We all have “giants” in our lives. As a bedfast quadriplegic with a wife in a wheelchair I certainly have mine. I’m sure you have yours. We also have choices. We can choose to see the giants and spend much time talking about how big they are. Or we can choose to see the Lord conquering our giants. We might call this “Two people in a pew — which one are you?”
Are you a Caleb with a conquering-the-giants faith, or are you getting your Ph.D. in Giantology?
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Facing the Giants, faith, God's judgement, Joshua & Caleb, Numbers 13:33, Numbers 14, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
November 23, 2013
“And it came to pass… that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.” (Exodus 12: 51)
The words “salvation” and “deliverance” are synonyms. The deliverance of the children of Israel as described in the book of Exodus is therefore also an allegory of salvation. This allegory demonstrates what we might call “A Principle of Deliverance” when God is delivering people from addictions of sin today. Modeled in the dialogue between Moses and Pharaoh, Moses respresents Christ and Pharaoh is the evil one.
For example, observe what Pharaoh says after Moses demanded the release of God’s people when God sent the first plagues:“You can go but do not leave Egypt.” (Exodus 8:25) After a few more plagues, Pharaoh again agrees to release the people but he says: “Well, you can go, but do not go very far.” (8:28) More plagues and Pharaoh says: “All right, you can go, but… leave your children in Egypt.” (10:8-10) More persuasive plagues and Pharaoh says, “You can go, but leave your flocks and herds in Egypt.” (Exodus 10:24)
When people come to faith today the evil one will tempt them to practice their faith “in Egypt” as a worldly believer practicing the values of their secular culture. Then he will tempt them with, “You have come to faith but don’t go very far with your faith.” Then the temptation is to not let your faith pass on to your children. A final attempt at keeping a person addicted to the slavery of sin is to “Leave your flocks and herds in Egypt,” or don’t let your faith affect your pocketbook.
The principle of deliverance illustrated in the book of Exodus is: Never, never, never compromise with evil and remain enslaved and addicted in your “Egypt.”
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Posted by Dick Woodward
November 19, 2013
“In the beginning God created…” (Genesis 1:1)
Most people have heard about the missing link that turns up when we compare the theory of evolution with the Genesis creation account, but there are actually three missing links. The first missing link is the issue: How did it all begin? The Bible’s answer is recorded above in just two words: “God created.” It all began with a first act of creation that accounted for the universe, the earth, and all plant life.
The author uses an interesting Hebrew word for “created.” It is the word “barah” which means “to create something out of nothing.” Since there are no samples that are half plant and half animal there is a second missing link. The Genesis account again reads “barah” as animal life is created in the water.
There is also no sample that is half animal and half human. So, for a third time the author of Genesis uses “barah” when God creates man. What is usually considered the missing link is actually this third missing link. In all three of these places where the secular scholar struggles for answers the author of Genesis writes: “barah,” God created.
God began the Bible with the creation account because He knew that one day we would realize we need an act of creation in our hearts. We would then also know where to go with that need to join David in the prayer: “Create (barah) in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10 NLT)
We can also go to Jesus Who taught the new birth and the apostles, who agreeing with David, referred to the new birth as a new creation! (John 3:3-5; 2 Corinthians 5:17)
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: creation, evolution & creation, faith, Genesis, intelligent design, Jesus, Psalm 51 | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
November 15, 2013
“Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn’t burn up. Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up?” (Exodus 3: 2, 3 NLT)
These verses are taken from a familiar passage that describes the call of Moses. I love this story because it is the greatest illustration in the Bible of what I call 4 Spiritual Secrets:
I’m not but He is.
I can’t but He can.
I don’t want to but He wants to.
I didn’t but He did.
Applying the Secrets to Moses, he was not the deliverer of God’s people from their awful slavery and suffering in Egypt. God was their Deliverer. Moses could not deliver them but God could. Based on his objections we know Moses did not want to deliver those people. God wanted to deliver them. When the Red Sea parted and the people of God marched through on dry ground nobody had to tell Moses: “You didn’t do that.” He knew, “God did that!”
The primary detail in this story is often overlooked. God got the attention of Moses when a bush burst into flame and was not consumed! In the extreme heat of the desert this often happens, but a burning bush is always consumed in about five seconds. The miraculous reality that the bush was not burning up moved Moses to turn aside and see how to be a vehicle of deliverance.
Epidemic addiction issues exist today that have millions looking for deliverance. There is also epidemic burnout among those who serve the Lord. As servants of God we need to turn aside with Moses and see how to be a “Bush Aglow” on fire for the Lord, without burning up or burning out, as conduits of God’s deliverance.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: 4 Spiritual Secrets, available for God, burning bush, burnout, Exodus 2:2-3, faith, god, Moses | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
November 12, 2013
“Let love be your highest goal…” (1 Corinthians 14:1)
What are your priorities? Paul challenges us to let love be our highest priority at the end of his inspired love chapter. We should follow after love, make love our greatest pursuit, and love should be our highest goal, depending on how the verse is translated in your Bible.
A practical way to make love our greatest goal is to take the 15 virtues in the middle of the love chapter and apply them in our relationships. It will not take long to realize we cannot love in these ways on our own. These are the ways God loves. The miracle is He can love in these 15 ways through us!
The love virtues are all others-centered, unselfish ways of showing unconditional love. They are not natural, but unnatural for us, because they are supernatural. They are the fruit and evidence that God lives in us and is expressing the essence of His character through us. The dynamic effect of His love upon those we love in these ways will convince us this love is God and deserves to be our highest goal.
I have been loved in these ways and by the grace of God I have loved in these ways. I am committed to making this love my first priority. I resonate with Joyce Kilmer who summarized the essence of the lives of the fallen who lie beneath poppies in French military graveyards when he wrote: “Loved and were loved, but now they lie in Flanders Fields.”
Paul prescribed these love virtues believing they could solve the problems in the worst relationships in his worst church. I believe they can solve the problems in all our relationships if we will graciously apply them, through Christ.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: conduits of Love, faith, Faith priorities, God's love, I Corinthians 13, I Corinthians 14:1, Joyce Kilmer, love, relationships | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
4SpiritualSecrets 