Words to the Wise

When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

-- 1 Kings 3:28

With the 2018 baseball season culminating in a World Series showdown between the Red Sox and Dodgers, it’s a good time to remember one of the game’s longtime stars and colorful characters of yesteryear.

Who can forget Yogi Berra? The New York Yankees catcher, outfielder and manager was a 15-time All-Star and a three-time American League Most Valuable Player. What's more, he caught a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Berra also attained the sport's greatest honor through his 1972 induction into the Hall of Fame. But the St. Louis native was also well known for his Yogi-isms -- unique words of wisdom about everyday life that left his listeners scratching their collective heads.

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it," Berra once said. Then there was

this bit of sage counsel: "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." And who could argue when he opined, "You can observe a lot by watching."

Although Yogi Berra's words were no doubt brilliant, Israel's King Solomon probably beat the Hall of Famer when it came to wisdom and discernment. In fact, Solomon asked God for wisdom -- rather than riches or fame -- after he assumed the throne following the death of his father, King David. God honored Solomon's wise request with wisdom beyond human understanding. And great riches and fame soon followed.

Solomon was an effective ruler when he lived by God's standards, and he used his wisdom to administer justice throughout Israel. But despite this, Solomon tended to strike out in his personal life and make poor decisions when he took his eyes off the ball. It's through his years of learning-it-the-hard-way that Solomon penned Ecclesiastes, an Old Testament book that summarizes many of the wise king's observations about life.

His first observation was that this is our one and only life. And it's only through God that we can find true happiness in it. Likewise, life is short. Therefore, we need to make the most of the opportunities God gives us each day.

Although our lives are brief, they are more like cross-country marathons than straight-away sprints. Jesus centuries later reinforced Solomon's observation: "For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction," Christ warned his followers, "and many enter through it."  The takeaway is that we must enter the Kingdom of God via life's winding roads and narrow gate. The hard way is the only way.

Finally, Solomon wrote that everyone's hour will come when they leave this brief lifetime and pass into the next chapter of existence. And since none of us knows exactly when that will be, we all must be ready; for both when we'll die and for where we'll spend eternity.

How do we prepare when life is so full of unknowns? 

The first step on the road to spiritual success is to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior -- the One who is ready, willing and waiting to wipe away all the failures of our past and give us new life and a fresh start.

If you think it's too late in life to start over, you still have time as long as you're still breathing. Yogi Berra's wise words sum it all up: "It ain't over 'til it's over."

Elephants and Angels

Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.

-- Psalm 103:20

There's an old story about three blindfolded men who were asked to touch and identify an undisclosed object. And that object happened to be live African elephant ... but no one told them!

The first man touched the elephant's muscular trunk. The second man grasped

the elephant's boney tale. And the third man -- moving his hands across the beast's rugged hide -- marveled at its rough exterior. Needless to say, their impressions about the mysterious object were way off the mark. A 10,000-pound elephant was right in front of them. But they failed to see the big picture.

Many people these days also miss the big picture when it comes to spiritual matters. And that's even true for some long-time Christ-followers. So to correct this common vision problem, God has throughout history communicated his message through prophets, the Bible, the Holy Spirit and of course his Son, Jesus.

God also uses angels to spread the word. These are his special messengers who can appear to you and me, remain invisible or communicate to us through dreams. The Bible even advises us to be hospitable at all times because we might be entertaining angels without even knowing it. (That would be quite a get-together!)

But God's messages through angels are much more than the stuff of cocktail party conversation. His are words that change history. And it's in Matthew's gospel that we read about angels telling an obscure girl named Mary that she would soon give birth to the Savior of mankind. Angels also confirmed to Joseph (Mary's fiancé) that the Holy Spirit was the source of her pregnancy. Likewise, angels announced the Good News of Jesus' birth to shepherds, who had seen a brilliant guiding star as it hovered over a lowly manger in Bethlehem.

It's through these revelations and confirmations that God has been healing spiritual blindness -- and not just 2,000 years ago in a tiny village somewhere in the Middle East. Even as 2019 approaches, his big picture message continues to appear and unfold to the entire world. And like the proverbial elephant in the living room, it's a reality that's right before our eyes. But first we must be willing to see it.

The Devil Is In the Details

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.

-- Psalm 53:1

Have you settled things with God?

No matter who you are — young or old, male or female — that's the question we face. Because one day, we're all going to leave this world, meet our Maker and answer to Him for the lives we led. We'll either die in faith or die in sin. But for Christ-followers, having faith in Jesus means there's nothing to fear. The apostle Paul explained it this way:

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering."

That's great news. But how great will it be for those who don't die in faith? Believe

it or not, that's not an issue that concerns many people these days. A June 2016 Gallup Poll reveals that only 64% of American adults believe in hell while 71% have the same degree of certainty about heaven. And as for the devil, only 61% believe in him while 12% aren’t sure. Meanwhile, more than 25% think the so-called ruler of demons is nothing but a myth.

Why such low numbers? According to Kurt Selles, director of the Global Center at Samford University's Beeson Divinity School, the real issue is a reluctance to portray Jesus Christ as the exclusive way to God. In two recent workshops held at the Beeson Pastors School, Selles asked the attendees if they had ever preached a sermon about hell.

"Nobody had," he reported.

Jesus, on the other hand, was not deterred by political correctness or the fear of offending others. "I am the way and the truth and the life," Christ told the people in John 14:6. "No one comes to the Father except through me."

The Gospels tell us that many people DID accept this bold message, but most did not — particularly the religious leaders and supposed experts of God's Law. Centuries later, few things have changed. There's no shortage of "educated" people today who claim that Jesus' message is both judgmental and intolerant. And besides — they're quick to add — everyone knows there are many ways to God.

At least that part is true: Every path eventually DOES lead to God. But the devil is in the details since all of them except one also lead to his judgment and eternal condemnation.

"Enter through the narrow gate," Jesus warns us. "For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Traveling that narrow path involves putting our faith in Jesus alone. And no matter what the world says about that today, it's one thing that God settled long ago.

Sound Barrier

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God;

all things are possible with God."

-- Mark 10: 27

It was the final frontier of fixed-wing aviation: the sound barrier.

Only a few decades since the Wright brothers had made their historic heavier-than-air flights from the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, aviation had evolved from flimsy fabric-and-wood biplanes to sleek -- and deadly -- jet-propelled fighters. The fastest aircraft of World War II would eventually reach speeds exceeding 500 mph. But then the laws of aerodynamics stepped in. There was some invisible force that prevented airplanes from exceeding 761 mph -- the speed called Mach 1 (the speed of sound through air). This force could tear the wings off an aircraft, which led some to believe it was an unbreakable natural law.

Chuck Yeager saw it differently. On October 14, 1947, the veteran test pilot

and World War II ace broke the sound barrier in a tiny rocket-propelled aircraft about five seconds after its launch from the belly of a B-29 bomber. Then, only five years later, he set another fixed wing speed record by reaching 1,650 mph; more than twice the speed of sound. A once seemingly insurmountable barrier was breached through technology, skill and a good measure of bravery.

As Christ-followers, we face our own barriers as we try to live out each day by God's standards. But instead of exceeding Mach 1, we often crash and burn by following our natural tendencies to do what's wrong ("sin"). Rather than following Jesus' example of loving our neighbors, helping the disadvantaged and honoring God, we're often tempted to go back to the old "Me First" lifestyle. It's a real struggle: the selfish stuff we know we shouldn't do versus the ultimately world-changing things we can and should do. And as with any struggle, we eventually get tired. That's when we fail to cross that invisible barrier.

That's also when we need energy to get us over the top. Something like a shot of espresso or a can or two of Red Bull. But something much more powerful, lasting and dependable.

In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul wrote that he considered this exhausting struggle to be internal warfare pitting Good against Evil. Through his own energy and efforts, he knew he would certainly lose the battle. But Paul had a dynamic weapon that assured his ultimate victory. And it's something that's available to you and me right now.

He's called the Holy Spirit: that personal Force that all Christ-followers receive when they ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit is God's power residing in every Believer. It's what enables us to do or say the things we never could before, overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and generally do the impossible. In fact, the Bible says it's the same power that raised Jesus from the dead after his crucifixion.

If you're a Christ-follower, ask the Holy Spirit to take you to the next level. Be alert to his teachings and leadings. And understand that they could come from just about anywhere. It might be a Bible passage that reveals itself to you with new meaning. Or maybe it's a Spiritual truth emerging from a discussion in your Gel Group. The Holy Spirit can also speak through a conversation you have with a friend or stranger, or even out of an odd circumstance in the workplace. You just never know.

Wherever and whenever he appears, the key is to keep your eyes, ears and heart open. Then trust God to help you cross the barrier.