ACCENTS AND PASSWORDS Part1

israelToday, nobody dies for not being able to give the correct password. Nobody gets shot for not pronouncing a word correctly. We live in a free world. But this hasn’t always been the case.

A few thousand years ago, there was a certain tribe in Palestine that was almost annihilated because they spoke a different accent and consequently could not give the correct password to the conquering tribe who would have spared them if they only knew their basic linguistics. The Jordan River turned crimson red as it became a killing site for thousands of people who were trying to escape the crazy outcome of a conversation that has gone wrong. It was a grim day in Israel. Jephthah was the leader. The story is in Judges 12.

Jephthah led a group of Gileadite warriors that day and defeated the Ammonites who oppressed Israel for 18 years. He was tired and bleeding from the fight when the proud sons of Ephraim marched in and threatened to kill him for not “inviting” them to go to war.

In the heated confrontation, the Ephraimites insulted not only Jephthah but all the Gileadites who fought with him, calling them “nothing more than refugees from Ephraim and Manasseh.” Since I grew up speaking Filipino, I can’t quite grasp the intensity of the insult written in formal English but when I translated it to Tagalog (hoy, kayong mga taga-bundok, mga eskwater lang kayo dito, ‘wag kayong magmagaling, mga walang kwenta!), I can understand why lives were lost that day. These warriors deserved honor for saving an entire nation. They didn’t need insults.

What happened next was horrible. The Gileadites turned on the Ephraimite soldiers and started killing them. They chased those who tried to escape. They quickly posted sentries at the crossing of the Jordan River so no one can escape (they were mountain people, after all, and they know the terrain better than the Ephraimites who came from the city).

Then the Gileadites played this little trick. Everyone who wanted to cross the Jordan was asked where he was going. A little mispronunciation of the word “Shibboleth” (Hebrew for river) and they kill the person right on the spot. A very neat trick because in all of Israel, only Ephraimites cannot properly pronounce the SH sound. They’d say “Sibboleth” instead. Forty two thousand men died that day, all of them died of their accents. River access denied.

… to be continued…

OUT OF SYNCH

clock1The clock lied to me this morning. I looked at its hands and I was sure it was 6:09 am. I went outside, switched off the lights, went to the bathroom, almost had a shower but decided against it, went back inside my room, looked at my cellular phone for messages and was confused when I saw the time. It was still 3:09 in my phone. I looked at the clock again, the seconds were moving but the time was different from my digital cellphone clock. Still confused, I looked at the sky outside but the artificial lights weren’t of any help. Then I figured that if all the other clocks failed, there’s only one place to go to find the correct time, the world time server in the internet. Within seconds I realized that my analogĀ  wallclock is malfunctioning, my cellphone was right and the correct time was 3:09. Problem solved, pronto.

Our spiritual lives are somewhat similar to clocks. Our batteries can go weak, we can get busted with the wear and tear of the daily grind, and most importantly, there are times, lots of times in fact, when we are out of synch with the real clock, the Holy Spirit. Then the world sees us, looks at us, tries to “read” us, and walk away confused because we sometimes convey the “wrong time.” Thankfully, we have one standard that will never change- God himself, and we all have the option to align ourselves to his will.clock

Romans 8: 5-6 says it categorically. “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires…

Now that’s some serious stuff to swallow. That verse clearly spells two options for us: to be in synch with the Spirit of God or with carnality. No middle ground there, it is a choice that we have to make every single day.

Galatians 5: 16-17 tells us how. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature…”

Is your mind in synch with the Holy Spirit? It’s so easy to tell. Just list down the kind of thoughts that consume your mind when you’re not particularly thinking about anything, like when you’re driving alone, or lying on your bed at night, or when you’re riding a bus. Are your thoughts something that you can videotape and show in church on Sunday morning?

Just wondering aloud.

BEFORE YOU GAIN WEIGHT

stickThis is just a wild idea that popped in my head while reading Ecclesiastes 12:1. I was particularly struck by the phrase “I find no pleasure in them.” Most of the time we think this verse only refers to that period of time before your body begins to fail you and you can no longer enjoy the simple pleasures of life, somewhere along your 50s or 60s. And rightly so since the rest of the chapter gave a detailed inventory of the parts of the body that are weakening.

However, as I stared into my Bible, I realized that this chapter could very well be intended for people below 20. No surprise there, really, just the idea that people should remember God before they get fat. This pretty much refers to young people in their college years, before they graduate, earn money, eat any food that they like and gain weight after a year or two.
fat
If you’ve never been overweight, I doubt if you’ll understand the in-joke that I’m talking about. You see, many people who are overweight aren’t really fond of eating lots of food. Whenever they attend parties, they’re not really happy at the sight of delectable delights on the table. They “find no pleasure” in a long table filled with lechon, deep fried meat, sweets, and everything in between. They don’t look forward to the “handaan” during holiday seasons. They agonize at the thought of buying a new pair of jeans, of not being able to wear their favorite shirt again, of not being able to cut their toenails themselves, of needing a big electric fan when they put their shoes on and having to endure fat jokes in the office.

I know this application of a Bible passage is a bit wild but I’m sure you’ll agree that this is perfectly within the context of the intended meaning of the Scripture. Solomon admonished us to remember our Creator before we lose our child-like sense of delight whenever we see good food on the table, before we start feeling guilty of eating, before we begin forcing ourselves to eat a certain diet. Remember God before we become too conscious of physical appearances, before Hollywood swallow us in its ridiculous definition of what is beautiful, before the world lure us into a Christless lifestyle, before secularism get into our hearts first.

There is anothfooder application of this verse that has been in my head for days now. It’s about remembering God before we become too jaded with the world. But that’s an entirely different topic. Maybe on another post if I get around to writing it. In the mean time, what do you think of this? Leave your comments below. Thanks.

CAMEO APPEARANCES

Pastor Jay-R (VCF Caloocan) was wrapping up his sermon this morning when he mentioned something that struck me to the core. His preaching was about our being part of the body of Christ, a breaker from the five-week Genuine series, and he mentioned in passing how Simon of Cyrene played his part on the day Jesus was on his way to Golgotha. The story is covered in the synoptic gospels and all three accounts didn’t give Simon more than one sentence each. Basically, the story was that Simon was from the country, he had two kids- Alexander and Rufus, he was on his way to Jerusalem, he happened to meet the procession where Jesus was carrying his cross, and suddenly a Roman soldier forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.

simon

Simon was one of the Bible characters who just had this one cameo appearance and quickly disappeared into the backstage never to return to the scene again. We don’t know much about him or his background. He was probably just one of the regular guys who flock to Jerusalem every year to fulfill their religious obligations. But then something has to be special about him, something must have set him apart from the rest of the Jewish population because God chose him to help Jesus carry the cross. No small feat for a small town regular Joe. His name went down in history as the only person who shared Jesus’ physical burden on that historic day on the road to Golgotha.

In 1986, Christian singer Ray Boltz released a song with a dramatized narrative of Simon’s experience entitled “Watch the Lamb.” The lyrics are of course hypothetical but they add new depth to our understanding of what really happened that day. Here’s a part of the lyrics:

When we reached the city,
I knew something must be wrong,
There were no joyful worshipers,
No joyful worship songs,
I stood there with my children
in the midst of angry men,
Then I heard the crowd cry out
Crucify Him.

We tried to leave the city
but we could not get away,

Forced to play in this drama
a part I did not wish to play,
Why upon this day
were men condemned to die,
Why were we standing here,
Where soon they would pass by.

I looked and said, even now they come,
The first one cried for mercy,
The people gave him none,
The second one was violent,

He was arrogant and loud,
I still hear his angry voice
screaming at the crowd,

Then someone said there’s Jesus,
I scarce believed my eyes,
A man so badly beaten,
He barely looked alive,
Blood poured from His body,
From the thorns upon His brow,
Running down the cross,
Falling to the ground.

I watched Him as He struggled,
I watched Him as He fell,
The cross came down upon His back,
The crowd began to yell,
In that moment I felt such agony,
In that moment I felt such loss,
Till a Roman soldier grabbed my arm
and screamed, “You! carry His cross.”

At first I tried to resist him,
Then his hand reached for his sword,
So I knelt and took
the cross from the Lord,
I placed it on my shoulder,
And started down the street,
The blood that he’d been shedding
was running down my cheek…

worship As Pastor Jay-R asked the congregation to stand up, close their eyes and pray, I could not help but silently cry at the sudden wave of realization that hit me. For years I’ve been waiting for “my moment” to happen. Simon didn’t wait for his moment. The moment waited for him on that dusty road outside Jerusalem. He came right on time at the right spot where he was needed. Without having the time to ask questions, he was thrust into the middle of the action, never knowing that all the power of heaven orchestrated everything for him to be there at that exact moment. Only in hindsight will Simon understand the magnitude of the role he played that day. In the mean time, he was busy carrying a heavy cross for some guy who turned out to be the Savior of the whole world.

Did Simon know? We can never be sure. Maybe he already heard of Jesus, maybe not. But I’m guessing that something about his heart and spiritual condition prompted God to single him out of the crowd. He must have been ready all along. When heaven needed him to do something of great importance, he was up for the job. He carried the cross of the Master.

When God needs me to do something, will I be ready to respond accordingly? Will I be up for the job? Or will I be caught off-guard? Now these are the million dollar questions I should be asking myself everyday.

Thank you Pastor Jay-R.

FAITH AND WAITING

Three things I learned from Abraham’s life as recounted by Paul in Romans 4.

1. God calls things that are not as though they were (4:17). He called Abraham “father of many nations” long before Sarah could conceive a child. All physical evidence said otherwise. It was a promise that was so impossible it made Abraham laugh even in the presence of God.

In Judges 6:12, the angel of the Lord called Gideon a “mighty warrior” when he was in fact the least family member of the least clan in Israel. It didn’t make any sense at all.

Both men believed what God said about them and Israel’s history was different because of their faith.

2. Faith is more than just positive confession. It also involves facing hard facts and believing God nonetheless. Abraham “faced the fact that his body was as good as dead,” but still he believed. Why? Because the Lord said it. His basis was the word of God, period.

3. God has the power to do what He promised (4:21). Being fully convinced of this fact sustained Abraham’s faith through the hard times. He was most certain that God would deliver what He promised no matter how long it’s gonna take. I can’t imagine how difficult it was hearing God pronounce his promise one starry, starry night and see the years go by without any sign that any of it is ever going to happen. The hardest part of believing is the time element involved. Nobody loves to wait, especially nowadays when everything is all about instant products and services.

Lord help me believe, especially in the hard times when your promises don’t seem to make any sense.

IMPERATIVE

“I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God…” 2 Timothy 1:6.

For years I’ve been reading this verse wrong. I’ve always thought that it says, “fan the flame.” It doesn’t. It says “fan INTO flame,” an imperative that commands us to exert effort until our gifts are fully activated and operational. Amazing how one little preposition can mean so much to the way we develop our spiritual lives.

Some people strike the iron WHILE it is hot.

Very few strike the iron UNTIL it is hot.