Christian Heroes # 4

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What are Christianity’s roots? Jesus sent believers to preach the gospel worldwide (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 8:4). Saul, the greatest persecutor of Christians, became Paul the greatest preacher of Christ. Saul’s credentials made it so unthinkable—tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, zealous Pharisee, legally blameless, church persecutor, Gamaliel’s scholar, destined for Jewish greatness (Acts 22:3-21; Phil. 3:4-6). Only his Damascus Road vision of Christ is adequate to account for his sudden conversion. Thanks to NavPress and Dr. Rick Cornish’s 5 Minute Church Historian, we continue paragraph sketches of great Christian heroes.

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John and Betty Stam (1906-1934). More Christians were killed in the twentieth century than all previous centuries combined. Jesus said they will be greatly rewarded in Heaven (Luke 6:22-23). John and Betty met at Moody Bible Institute, got married and became missionaries with China Inland Mission and had baby Helen. Communists assured them safety, but just two weeks later arrested them. They were forced marched to their execution. They overheard soldiers discuss how to get rid of the baby. A Chinese farmer pleaded with the soldiers to spare the baby’s life. They asked him would he trade his life for the baby’s life. He agreed, and they killed him immediately. John and Betty were shamefully paraded through crowed streets in their underwear. A Chinese doctor pleading for their lives was killed. Forced to their knees, they were beheaded. A Chinese pastor found three-month-old Helen in an abandoned house and smuggled her over the mountains in a basket to her grandparents. Once news reached America, hundreds of young people volunteered for the mission field and missions giving greatly increased. Tyrant governments recognize no higher authority, and have little respect for human life and freedom even of their own people. America is headed in that direction. May God’s grace enable us Christians to die for the Lamb of God slain for us to take away our sin and give us eternal life.

Dietrich Bonheoffer (1906-1945) “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die,” said Pastor Bonheoffer. He was one of eight children born to Berlin’s leading psychiatrist. He studied liberal theology under its last master, Adolf von Harnack. Dr. Bonheoffer had a brilliant mind and pastor’s heart. When other pastors choose to follow Hitler, he stood firm for Christ. The Nazis cost him his professorship at Berlin University. He founded a small illegal seminary at Finkenwalde that Nazis shut down when they demanded pastors swear allegiance to Hitler. Dietrich visited America but couldn’t stay while knowing German Christians faced the Nazi nightmare. In Germany again, he joined the plot to assassinate Hitler but it failed. In 1943, he was imprisoned for smuggling Jews into Switzerland. In prison, he wrote Letters and Papers from Prison, The Cost of Discipleship, and Life Together. He challenged Christians to replace indifference and cheap grace with disciplined commitment and service. At only thirty-nine and shortly before the allies liberated Germany, he went to the gallous for his faith in Christ. The church gained a martyr and the world lost a hero.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968). Does a name influence a destiny? Perhaps King’s father thought so and named his son after an earlier reformer to become another great reformer. The Bible is clear everybody is descended from Adam and Eve, and created in God’s image with dignity, rights, moral responsibility and an eternal destiny; we’re not just soulless dirt. But our self-centered nature makes us want to put down persons a little different from us. Unfortunately, that’s been true with black persons. Dr. King had a dream that black people would not be judged “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” He lead  Civil Rights marches in America applying Jesus’ teaching of love with Gandhi’s nonviolent means of addressing social injustice. He became the conscience of persons without conscience.  He helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and Time magazine named him “Man of the Year.” His efforts brought about passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that mandated desegregation in all areas. The third Monday in January is named Martin Luther King Jr. Day in his honor and more streets are named for him than for President George Washington. May we all follow this Baptist pastor’s dream to treat every person with the same respect and concern.

Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984). Too many Christian pastors and parents tell young people “Don’t ask questions; just believe what we tell you and don’t think too much.” That’s a big reason Christianity is declining in some parts of the world where people only want to be entertained. Christianity provides the right answers, if Christians will only abandon their private individual anti-intellectual fear mentality and witness intelligently to others. Francis Schaeffer realized this. His church’s mission board sent him to investigate the battle with theological liberalism in Europe. In Switzerland, he invited international students to his home for small group chats on the big issues of  truth, philosophy, and religion. It developed into L’Abri Fellowship where thousands of students found that Christianity is a worldview that applies to every aspect of life with answers that make sense. Dr. Schaeffer wrote twenty-four books including Escape from Reason and The God Who Is There. The church’s entertainment anti-intellectual attitude is losing even its own youth in the cultural war. The universities set the cultural climate and unless we produce capable scholars to engage young thinking minds and future leaders we won’t win many people to Christ.

Mother Teresa (1910-1997). Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, an Indian citizen of Albanian descent, became known as Mother Teresa. Her mother cared for an invalid neighbor and six orphans in their home though they had little means themselves. That example inspired Agnes to minister to the very poor. She became a nun who taught schoolgirls of India geography and led them into the streets to minister to the poor in the slums. She lived among the untouchables in the streets. In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity home to care for and dignify the dying. Harvard gave her an honorary doctorate. Queen Elizabeth and the U.S. Congress paid her honors and she received the Nobel Peace Prize. More than four thousand nuns serve in hundreds of homes she founded in many countries to serve the sick, poor, and dying. It’s not that the world can’t provide food and health care, but that selfish indifferent people, tyrants, bad laws and bad religions promote abject poverty and disgrace. Jesus spoke more about the abuse of money than about any other subject. Mother Teresa showed us real love by simple acts of kindness.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1916-2008). Though raised Russian Orthodox, the Soviet education system converted him to Marxism. His degree was in science but he dreamed of writing of the glories of Russian’s revolution. While a captain in the Red Army, he made the mistake of writing in a letter about Stalin as “the mustachioed one.” The secret police put him eight years in the Gulag or prison system. Under brutal hellish conditions, he saw the best and worst of humanity. Anatoly Silin wrote and memorized theologically rich poetry and shared it with Alexander who became a Christian. When the Soviets released Solzhenitsyn, he wrote, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovish and Gulag Archipelago exposing terror and murder of a typical day in the Gulag. The Soviet revolution brought about sixty million deaths. Proverbs 8:36 tells us that those who hate God love death. Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize for literature and world fame. His books were smuggled out of Russian to be published and he was expelled being too much trouble to keep and too famous to kill. After taking on the evil empire, he tongue-lashed the elites of Harvard for abandoning their Christian heritage and moral influence. The West had not lost God by tyranny he declared, but abandoned him for materialism and decadence. This caused some who once praised Solzhenitsyn, to condemn him. The truth is unpopular whether in the Gulag or at Harvard with those who don’t want God. As God’s true people, we are to speak the truth about the Truth no matter the cost (John 14:6).

The Lord Jesus Christ gave Stephen a standing ovation. He was the first Christian martyr who lived for Christ, fearlessly spoke out for Christ, and died for Christ. That’s what it takes to win people to Christ. May we be as faithful today as he was faithful then (Acts 6:5-7; 7).

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Christian Heroes # 3

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John the Baptizer announced Jesus as the man from Heaven, Son of God, and Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I find it far more reasonable to believe someone who knew Jesus personally, even gave his life for his faith, than to believe twenty-first century critics whose naturalistic assumptions won’t allow them to admit the supernatural. Once again, I thank NavPress and theologian Dr. Rick Cornish for his 5 Minute Church Historian. John said, “Jesus must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). “ That’s certainly true if we’re to be God honoring faithful useful servants. It’s his loving Holy Spirit working in and through us. Let’s be encouraged by more of God’s great heroes.

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Blaise Pascal (1624-1662). Pascal was an Enlightenment genius. He earned the reputation of a mathematician, scientist, inventor, philosopher, mystic, and Christian apologist. At age fifteen, he worked out thirty-two of Euclid’s propositions that he didn’t know. He invented the first calculator, the vacuum cleaner, the wristwatch, and figured out the principles of atmospheric pressure. In Augustine’s writings, he learned that life’s mystery and suffering met its match in God’s wondrous grace. He sought answers to life’s most vexing questions in the Bible and found peace in Christ. Dying early at just thirty-nine, he left notes. His friends collected and published his notes in a book called Pensees or thoughts. Many regard it as one of the greatest books of all time. It presents persons as wretched creatures transformed by faith in Christ.

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Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Many in science were in Christ who actually motivated their science being the proof that a rational God made a rational and good world. Consider Galileo (astronomy), William Harvey (medicine), Robert Boyle (chemistry), Charles Babbage (computer science), Louis Pasteur (bacteriology) and numerous others. But you won’t find their faith mentioned in science textbooks and will likely find it suppressed in secular colleges. Textbooks writers never mention that Newton ranked Scripture above his scientific discoveries hoping his theories would bring men to God. He wrote more about the Bible and theology than about science. Born on Christmas day, he grew up on a farm, loved books and enrolled at Cambridge. Like many of us at some time, he had doubts about the Trinity and about Christ. His Mathematical Principles blended the physics of motion into a single law of gravity. He and Rene Descartes shaped modern science until the twentieth century. While science and Scripture aren’t at war, the fallible interpretations of men often seem to be.

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John Wesley (1703-1791). Two of the greatest John’s are Jonathan Edwards a Puritan scholar and pastor used of God to bring revival to New England and America, and John Wesley an ocean apart used to bring it to England. Born into a family of nineteen children, Susanna, Wesley’s mother established a pattern in her children’s lives of teaching them the Bible one-on-one once a week. John attended Oxford where he read devotional classics of the early church Fathers. With others, he formed a Holy Club other students taunted calling them “Methodists” for seeking a method to attain spirituality. It consisted of Bible study, prayer, fasting, and service to the downtrodden. Wesley’s discipline enabled him to preach several times a day to common people. He traveled on horseback sixty miles a day preaching throughout England, Scotland and Ireland. Wesley stressed God’s love and holiness of life. Researchers estimate he traveled 250,000 miles and preached 40,000 sermons.

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William Carey (1761-1834). Christians regard William as the Father of Protestant modern missions. Born to a poor English family, at twelve he taught himself Latin. When working as an apprentice shoemaker, he studied the Bible and often fasted to save money for books. He understood the church should take the gospel to everybody. If meant only for the apostles, it would have died with them and people since then would go to Hell. He preached: “Expect Great things {from God}; Attempt Great Things {for God}.” He and a teacher and printer friend planted churches, learned languages, translated and printed Bibles, published grammars and lexicons, founded colleges, and reformed Indian culture. At Fort William College in Calcutta, he became professor of Sanskrit, Bengali, and Marathi. He tried to end the practices of killing babies and burning widows. The keys to this hero’s success were faith, determination, and persistence. Imagine what we might do to apply his preaching to our lives.

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John Paton (1824-1907). Paton, a tough compassionate missionary, survived cannibals, diseases, threats and attacks on his life, and death of his loved ones to tell savages of love and salvation in Christ. Born to a poor Presbyterian family John quit school to help his family knit stockings to feed the family of eleven children. His father led the family in devotions morning and evening and all attended church on Sunday. John’s first ministry was in the slums knocking on doors to share the gospel. Hearing of Pacific islanders without the gospel, he determined to go regardless of the dangers. He took his bride, Mary Ann, to the South Pacific island of Tanna where his son was born. Both his wife and baby soon died. Heartbroken and in tears, he buried them with his own hands. Alone and lonely, Paton went from village to village sharing God’s love in Christ. He remarried and on the island Aniwa where the Patons planted a church, started schools, build orphanages, and translated the Bible. Uninformed persons think Christians ignorant. A large part of the world would be ignorant, savage, in poverty and despair if it weren’t for Christian missions, Bible translations, schools, orphanages, and hospitals.

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J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937). Machen defended Christianity in a day of deflection. “False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel,” he warned. Educated at Johns Hopkins and Princeton University’s, he became professor at Princeton Seminary. He believed the fundamentals of theology but rejected fundamentalism’s narrow anti-intellectualism and legalistic tendencies. He was a scholar’s scholar who didn’t retreat from learning and thinking when liberal forces took over American universities and pulpits. Liberals forced him to leave Princeton. So he founded Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. His liberal adversaries couldn’t dismiss his thoughtful logical arguments. In Christianity and Liberalism, he showed liberalism not an updated version of Christianity but a new humanist religion. It was deceptive using the Christian vocabulary but denying the Trinity and deity of Christ. He advised Christians must study hard, think well, and defend the faith or they will lose the cultural war. Cultural Christians accommodate secularism and forsake biblical faith. In effect, secular humanism makes us soulless dirt without foundation for human dignity, rights, freedom, truth, and ethics. It brings chaos and opens the door to tyranny.

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C.S. Lewis (1989-1963). Clive Staples Lewis was born and raised in a Christian home but became an atheist as a teen. He interpreted his mother’s death as God rejecting his prayers. Lewis became professor of English literature at Oxford and Cambridge. He noticed the writings brilliant colloquies he admired were Christian and he couldn’t escape the evidence and logic that supported the gospel. His vast knowledge, vivid imagination and literary skill propelled him into world fame. He appealed to human imagination as well as intellect in his children’s stories, popular apologetics, and scholarly studies. Among his works is Mere Christianity, Miracles: A Preliminary Study, The Problem of Pain, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters. Lewis published thirty-nine books, hundreds of poems, essays, pamphlets, short stories, and critical reviews. The influence of Christianity’s most popular defender is beyond calculation.

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Christian Heroes # 2

Christian Heroes # 2

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Continuing the Christian heroes’ series, I’m indebted to Dr. Rick Cornish’s excellent book 5 Minute Church Historian. I also highly recommend his 5 Minute Theologian and 5 Minute Apologist especially for college students needing quick answers.

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The Lord Jesus said “He who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it (Matt. 10:38-39).

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Patrick (c. 389-461). Surprisingly, the patron saint of Ireland was neither Irish nor Roman Catholic. He was born into a Christian home in Britain but at sixteen slave traders captured and sold him to an Irish pig farmer. For six years of captivity, his Christian faith grew but he yearned to be free. Dreaming that a ship was waiting for him, he escaped to the coast to board a vessel carrying dogs. Tending them gave him free passage to France where he joined a monastery. Returning to Britain and family, he received another dream similar to Paul’s Macedonian man (Acts 16:9-10) of the Irish begging him to bring them the gospel. Returning to Ireland, he worked among the Celts trusting God’s power to enable him to prevail against the death treats of Druid priests. Patrick focused on winning tribal kings to Christ hoping to gain the people also. Three years later he died. Historians estimate he planted two hundred churches and baptized thousands. He is credited with preserving civilization and ancient texts throughout the Dark Ages and of ending the Irish slave trade. During the two centuries following hundreds of Celtic monks took the gospel to Western Europe. Patrick’s faith, forgiveness and sacrifice should inspire us.

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Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274). Great intellects are needed in crises times. Thomas, a quiet, serious, thinking person was the greatest theologian since Augustine. He sought to reconcile faith and reason with the secular discoveries of his day. He believed God is known by general revelation in nature and conscience as well as by special revelation in Jesus Christ and Scripture. God’s world and God’s Word don’t contradict. He applied reason to understand God’s truth and wrote prolifically. He summarized Christian beliefs in Summa theologiae and defended the faith in Summa contra Gentiles. His writings were standard texts throughout the Middle Ages. He died at age forty-nine. Because he wrote more about angels, he’s called the Angelic Doctor and due to his big size is known as the Dumb Ox although he was anything but dumb. Both Catholics and Protestants refer to his  works. He taught us to grapple with intellectual challenges for the glory of God and faith of people.

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John Wycliffe (c. 1330-1384). John gained the title the Morning Star of the Reformation because his views preceded Martin Luther’s by 150 years. He believed the Bible, not the church or the pope, was God’s authority and should be translated into the language of common people. Priests should preach Scripture not intermediate between man and the people. A person’s relationship with God was supremely important and not Rome’s religious system. Christ’s cross work merited salvation not our own. Teachings not found in the Bible were not true. He translated the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English. He was the leading theologian at Oxford University. But the pope condemned his radical views, caused him to lose his professorship and had parliament pass a law making his ideas a crime punishable by death. Wycliffe Bible Translators carry on his work today putting the Bible into the heart language of common people.

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Martin Luther (1483-1546). Luther believed the ideas of Wycliffe and that priests could marry. His father wanted him to go into law but when nearly struck by lightning, he vowed to become a monk and joined an Augustinian monastery. Feeling God’s wrath, he felt overwhelmed by his sin. Reading Romans 1:17 he realized that righteousness comes through faith in Christ and not by our good deeds. He was reborn and the reformation began. He posted his ninety-five theses stating his beliefs on the door of the Roman Catholic Church at Wittenberg, Germany. The newly invented printing press enabled his ideas to spread rapidly throughout Europe. He broke Rome’s stronghold exposing its corruption and false theology. The emperor responsible to defend the faith ordered Luther to the city of Worms to justify his writings. Luther refused to recant his writings unless someone could prove them wrong by Scripture or reason. He even offered to burn his books. His conscience was captive to God’s Word and he declared, “Here I stand, so help me God.” He escaped capture and execution when Fredrick the Wise, prince of Saxony, kidnapped him and hid him in his Wartburg Castle. Martin translated the New Testament into the common language of the German people. His courageous stand laid the foundation of Protestantism. One man’s courage changed the world.

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William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536). Since God revealed his Word to us in Hebrew and Greek, each generation must translate it from those original languages into their own language. Being a wiz at languages, William mastered French, German, Italian, Greek, Hebrew and Latin. He knew the Roman Church kept the people captive interpreting the Bible with the allegorical method and through languages, they didn’t know. Stunned by ignorance of priests, he vowed to translate the Bible in the language that a boy behind a plow could read. When the English king prohibited Bible translation into English, William went to Germany and translated the New Testament from Erasmus’s Greek New Testament. Sympathetic merchants smuggled it into England but opponents bought and burned all they could find. The king’s men caught him and burned him at the stake. He died praying, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.” Within a year, King Henry V111 approved an English Bible that was 70% Tyndale’s work. God’s enemies hate his word and kill to keep it from the people.     

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John Calvin (1509-1564). Calvin was a lawyer-scholar, genius at logical argument, deep thinker and cool organizer of theology. At age fourteen, he enrolled at the University of Paris to become a lawyer but became more interested in Protestant ideas and theology. At twenty-seven, he wrote his first edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion. Being forced out of France for his Protestant ideas, he became the leading citizen in Geneva Switzerland that became known as “the Protestant Rome.” Calvin wrote Bible commentaries, preached verse by verse and applied the Bible to all of life. He is known for his emphasis on God’s sovereignty and predestination. He showed that the Bible teaches a worldview with instructions about politics, law, economics, art and every part of life. While some Christians don’t agree with all he taught, his influence spread throughout Europe and early America and in Reformed minded protestant denominations.

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I can only touch on a few of these great heroes of Christian faith in these three articles. They came from every kind of background and all loved and trusted the Lord. They gave of themselves to make a better world. They often endured rejection, persecution and martyrdom. Let us pray, trust, love and work to use what God has given us to become his heroes.

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Christian Heroes # 1

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Because Christ arose giving us the assurance Christ is God as he claimed and that we have eternal life with him after death, Paul can say these tremendous words--“My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

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The biblical chapter Hebrews 11 mentions some great exploits of men of faith in the Old Testament. Not many Christian believers know these great church heroes from Jesus’ day until today. The world is not worthy of them nor shows appreciation of their work of faith and labor of love. Let me give a few paragraph accounts for our edification and encouragement. I recommend Dr. Rick Cornish’s excellent work 5 Minute Church Historian from which I summerize my material.

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Polycarp (c. 69-155). Polycarp was one of the Apostle John’s disciples. He pastored the church in Smyrna (modern Turkey) and ministered to all classes of society. He wrote a letter to the Philippian church answering their questions somewhat like Paul. In fifty years of ministry in Asia Minor, his enemies knew him as the atheist who destroyed their traditional gods. The authorities who arrested him only wanted him to deny his faith. He served them a meal and prayed for friends who would be crushed by his loss. When Polycarp was standing in the arena, the governor asked him to swear allegiance to Caesar. His reply was that he had served Christ for eighty-six years and couldn’t deny him now. The governor reminded him wild animals were waiting to tear him apart. Polycarp said to bring them on. The governor then said a fire would be built to burn him alive. Polycarp told the governor he would one day face God’s eternal judgment of fire. When soldiers lit the fire, the crowds were appalled at the execution of such an honorable man. Polycarp is a model of how Christians should act under such circumstances.   

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Justin Martyr (c. 100-165). While Martyr was not his name, he came to be called that because he was scourged and beheaded for following Christ. As a young man, Justin was a pagan studying the works of the Stoics, Aristotle and Plato. But they gave him no satisfying answers to his questions. An old man he met and talked with about God told him there is more truth in some ancient prophets than in the philosophers. This led him to faith in Christ. He wrote Apology 1 and Apology 2 addressed to the Roman Senate and people and later wrote Dialogue with Trypho the Jew. Justin portrayed Christianity as reasonable, no threat to the state and that it should be made a legal religion. Christians should be punished for crimes committed like everyone else not for their beliefs. Justin wrote as a philosopher to philosophers, but believed that mind alone cannot bring a person to God, that it requires revelation of the living Christ who alone gives saving faith. Justin set the example for us in communicating in language his hearers could understand.

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Irenaeus (c. 130-200). Irenaeus possibly was a student of Polycarp who wrote two surviving books. Against Heresies exposed the false teaching of Gnosticism, a secret knowledge claiming everything material was evil including our physical bodies. Our spirits are good but trapped in a physical body. So Christ’s body wasn’t a real body but only looked that way. Our object is to escape our bodies and the physical world. But Irenaeus knew that if Scripture and the apostles said nothing about it, it’s not of God. The God of the Old Testament is not a lesser God. Jesus is his unique Son, the eternal Word who became fully human. And all God created was good. Irenaeus’ other surviving book is Proof of the Apostolic Preaching. The false teacher Marcion said the Old Testament God was wrathful but the New Testament God loving. He restricted the New Testament books to Luke’s Gospel and ten of Paul’s letters. Irenaeus showed there were only one God and a unity between both Testaments. His sound principles of interpretation saved the church from false teachings, wild speculations, and a pick and choose theology.

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Tertullian (C.160-225). When Rome increasingly persecuted the church, thinking Christians responded to counter the pagan philosophies of the day. Tertullian became one great defender or apologist. He urged Christians to forsake pagan culture and philosophy. “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” he asked. Better than any before him, he explained the Trinity and nature of Christ. He spoke with passion and conviction but not always spoke the truth in love as Paul instructs us to do (Ephesians 4:15).

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Athanasius (296-373). This short black African was a giant in defending biblical teaching and setting the church on the right course. People of his day sought to twist the Scriptures much as Jehovah’s Witnesses do today. For forty-six years as bishop of Alexandria, he defended himself against charges ranging from witchcraft to murder. But he would stand against the world if need be to defend God’s truth. He wrote The Life of St. Antony that spread monasteries that kept culture and Christian truth alive in difficult times. He wrote On the Incarnation that explained redemption and the need of Jesus to attain it. He also wrote Against the Arians that defended the full deity of Christ as co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. And he was the first to list all twenty-seven books of the New Testament.

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John Chrysostom (means “golden mouth” 347-407). He lived two years in a cave memorizing the New Testament. Common people applauding his preaching and asked for more even though, he preached for two hours. He condemned church abuse of wealth and government abuse of power and kowtowed to no one. John became bishop of Constantinople the seat of the eastern empire. Condemned and deposed for using church money to build a hospital for the poor, he was forced into exile and died of malnutrition and exposure. John believed in a God inspired Bible, in the meaning of the text, and in applying it to everyday life. He taught verse by verse and eight hundred of his sermons survive. He is a model for all who preach and teach God’s Word today.

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Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Though influenced by Monica, his Christian mother, as a boy he was a thief, liar, hated school and was often punished. But he developed both a love for knowledge and desire for sex. He devoured the subjects of Latin, rhetoric, mathematics, music, and philosophy. He first converted to the Manichean cult. Later he became a professor of rhetoric at the University of Milan. Augustine envied Ambrose, the pastor of Milan, realizing a godly Christian could be an articulate speaker and intellectual as well. He rethought his position. Sitting under a tree one day, he heard a child say take up and read. He opened the Bible to Romans 13:13-14, being convicted of sin, he trusted Christ as Savior. He became the greatest theologian of the first thousand years of the church. He debated Pelagius’ false doctrine of salvation by good works. His books The City of God and The Confessions are classics that inspire and encourage us today. He saw the events of life in light of God’s Word and providence.

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What Is Real Lasting Wealth?

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Willy sat on his front porch watching cars go by on the street at the end of his front yard. It was a beautiful sunny day in the spring when trees and flowers bloom and freshness pervades the air. And as he felt surrounded by warm sunshine along with a cool breeze, he realized—I’m blessed, and in so many ways—in material and financial things yes, yet far more important in social and health matters, and most crucial in spiritual realities.

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Material and Financial Things

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 I don’t live in a mansion; my house is rather ordinary like the others around me. I’m no millionaire but I’m free of major debts, can pay my bills on time, can put away 10% of my salary for future needs, and have employment that meets my family’s basic needs. I have a car to go to work, can go to worship and witness without fear of persecution, and can take my family out for recreational and fun times occasionally. I tithe to my church and give above my tithe to gospel missions and persons in need. Thank you Lord for financial blessings I can share with others. Wish I could give more to the kingdom of God, which has eternal value. I feel so humble and grateful.    

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I give the Lord credit and as a steward of God’s bounty strive to follow common sense and biblical principles. I realize that everything I own or have is a gift of God’s grace. I try not to incur big debt and to pay dept off as quickly as possible to avoid paying interest. I don’t want to sin in wasting God’s resources or by purchases above my means and have to declare bankruptcy or experience foreclosure. That’s really stealing from other people. I try to be a wise shopper to search labels not just for their dates of expiration, but also for their quality, quantity, and price and to always look for sales and discounts. 
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Social and Health Matters

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Socially I’m blessed. My wife is a lovely loving lady who loves the Lord and ministers to others. She visits them in the hospital, frequently calls to check on their well-being especially if they’re older single people, and sends cards of encouragement. She’s unafraid and unashamed to witness for Jesus as Lord and Savior of sinners with friends and relations as she knows this concerns their eternal well-being. She sings in the choir, sometimes works in the nursery, has taught Bible classes, goes on church visitation, and is an example of godly living. I’m so thankful for her—she helps keep me straight. We have two beautiful children, a son in college and daughter graduating from high school. We have family devotions and prayer together and I try to teach them God’s principles and be an example though I miss it a long way—we Christians are still human and sinners.

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It’s true that I’m not as fast, sharp in mind and healthy as in my younger days. We work out at the gym. I’m working on getting that six-pack with my abs and keeping my gut down but it’s sure hard when you enjoy eating. We enjoy walks together. We drink clean water and avoid harmful things like tobacco, alcohol, as illicit drugs, and baking in the sun which causes skin cancer. Young people think such things declare adulthood and make you popular, but you pay dearly in later years with  damaged body and mind. We’re made for God’s glory, not selfish destructive purposes. We eat fresh vegetables, take vitamins, and get medical checkups and adequate sleep. I have my up and downs, aches and pains, good days and bad—I live in the real world, but find the Lord is good and I love Him.      

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Crucial Spiritual Realities

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God’s greatest blessings or benefits are spiritual. Even most Christians have little spiritual understanding of the many things Christ’s death has accomplished in their behalf. I fear for persons who in ignorance, indifference, and rebellion demean and deny the tremendously precious grace of God displayed in the death of his unique Son, the God-man and Lord Jesus Christ. They can shout crucify him today when presented to them as Savior, but will one day kneel at his feet as their Judge and confess He is the righteous Lord. Please my friends don’t throw away your most crucial opportunity of life. John Piper's little book, Don't Waste Your Life, is helpful here.

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Contrary to many people’s opinion and ignorance there is more historical evidence for Jesus as an historical person living in our space-time world than for Tiberius Caesar or Aristotle. Check it out in the books I recommend. Further, honest appraisal overwhelmingly and undeniably shows Jesus demonstrated many times and many ways He is God. He both said and did things only God could. Jesus is humanity’s hope—there's no other name!

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In his excellent little book, The Passion of Jesus Christ, John Piper discusses fifty biblical reasons why He came to die. I recommend it highly for a spiritual treat. Also, Piper’s messages are available on the www.desiringGOD.org. “Passion” from Latin is used here of Christ’s suffering. I can only touch on the first reason and hope you will check out the others.   

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Jesus died to absorb the wrath of God. To many persons sin is no big issue, but to God it’s the worst possible insult provoking his wrath. God’s justice demanded his Son suffer and die--God’s love made his Son willing to suffer and die. God’s love met the demand of his justice by absorbing the wrath or anger of God against believing sinners.

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We dishonor our Creator and Life-giver by preferring things other than him and living out our own preferences. The universe, life, love, goodness, beauty, accomplishment, everything we enjoy and treasure would be nonexistent apart from God. So failure to love God is not trivial but treason. Not to punish our neglect, indifference and rebellion would make God unjust. The biblical word “propitiation” speaks of the removal of God’s wrath by his Son Jesus Christ becoming our substitute and bearing the punishment of our sin. Jesus didn’t just cancel our sin; he absorbed it and diverted it from us to himself becoming sin for us the Just for the unjust (propitiation). We will never understand the debt or value God’s love for us until we see the heinous of our sin as insult to God and humbly and seriously trust Christ for forgiveness.
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Only one life. It will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. Unknown Author. We can make a real difference for a better world by sharing these important articles with both Christians and non Christians. Link and share something that can make a difference in Christ the Lord.

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“In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 In Him we have redemption,  through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:7 Do you know Jesus? Trust Him now as you Savior, Lord, and Guide.

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Love Your Wife Her Way

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We know women are more emotional and sensitive than men. Husbands may think and feel they love their wives and meet their needs. But they often don’t understand women have different needs and viewpoints than themselves. One man was enthusiastic about a pool table he bought his wife for Christmas. He saw it as a way they could get exercise and be intimate together. Not surprising, his wife didn’t share his enthusiasm or view his gift his way. Counselors know that in troubled marriages insensitive husbands are more likely to be the problem

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The Bible tells husbands to honor their wives but doesn’t describe all the ways to do it (1 Peter 3:7). Outstanding marriage counselor of several decades, Dr. Gary Smalley, has helped unite broken marriages. All his books give super good advice I highly recommend. His book The Joy of Committed Love lists 100 ways for husbands to show wives love, understanding and honor their way. I’ve chosen 25 of them written in a different order and slightly modified form. Husbands choose two or three to practice each month and see your marriage blossom.

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1.  Regard your wife as more important than you are and see her blossom.

2.  Ask her opinion frequently and show appreciation. Wives’ intuition has prevented              husbands from making serious and costly mistakes.

3.  Give loving hugs when she’s down emotionally without lectures or put-downs.

4.  Take an interest in what she feels important in life—she has a right to her interests and       needs to share them with you.

5.  Look for things about her you can genuinely compliment.

6.  Allow her to buy things she considers necessary.

7.  Be forgiving when she offends you. We’re none perfect but Jesus.

8.  Admit your mistakes. Be honest, humble, and sensitive and she will respect you more.

9.  Lead your family in prayer, worship, Bible study and spiritual things.

10.  Do something special for her on her birthday and your wedding anniversary.

11.  Do things together the whole family enjoys—fun times with family is crucial.

12.  Hold hands when sitting or walking together--it makes her feel secure.

13.  Write her a note or letter of appreciation occasionally.

14.  Discipline your children in love not anger—they are part of you.

15.  Never, mention her faults to others—instead brag about her virtues.

16.  Husbands can change annoying habits within 30-60 days of determined effort.

17.  Surprise her occasionally with a card, flowers, candy or some gift you know she enjoys.

18.  Help her with the house cleaning especially if she works out. It’s just being fair.

19.  Learn to enjoy things she enjoys.

20.  Be hospitable and gracious to her relations and friends.

21.  Pray for her well-being and that you will understand and do all you can to promote it.

22.  Help her finish her goals—hobbies or education.

23.  Gently assure her of your love before correcting a serious fault.

24.  Talk is important to women. Listen carefully to understand her meaning not just words.

25.  Often, tell her you love her. Women value that much more than men do.
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Lord, thank You for this precious lady You gave me for my wife. Lord, help me to be a sensative understanding husband who listens to my wife with full attention and to put her needs before my own. I know that as I give her the love and attention she needs that I won't have to worry about losing her. Amen.

                               Questions in Choosing a Mate

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John and Judy fell in love. They thought about each other throughout the day; fantasized about good times together, felt excited and intimate in each other’s presence. They were a nice looking young couple, energetic, and fun loving. Everybody said, “They’re made for each other.” They flirt, and tease and laugh together. Yes, its love and love is all that matters. They could get married and live happily ever after. It’s a beautiful dream come true, or is it?

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This idea of falling in love is popular, but is it what makes for a fulfilling and lasting marriage? Many who felt so become disillusioned and wind up later in divorce courts. In Bible times and in some Eastern cultures today, parents or a matchmaker arrange their children’s marriage; they have little say about it. In Western cultures, people have the right to choose whom to marry and they live in a much more complex world. With an alarmingly high divorce rate, marital choices today don’t seem very wise. For this reason, many persons are choosing to live together without marriage to see if it works. 

Let’s ask some serious questions and honestly face the facts regarding this issue crucial to us all.

What Does the Bible say about Perspective Marriage Partners?

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The Bible doesn’t give a list of rules about a perspective marriage partner, just one. Christians are to marry within the faith (2 Cor. 6:14-16). But, that one rule includes all that the Bible teaches about how we are to live the faith to please God, be our best selves, and be the best marriage partner. Biblical Christian standards are mountains above what sinful human nature desires. People say, “I love ice cream, or I love my dog, or I love my spouse”. Love, in their thinking, is all about I, I, I, big ME, all about what gives me pleasure. Christian godly love is about self-giving or SELFLESS SERVICE TO OTHERS. God so loved the world that he gave. The New Century Version better conveys the idea of godly self-giving love.
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“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. It does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

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The popular belief about love can easily grow cold when the reality of human nature sets in. We all have our faults, limitations and make mistakes. Married couples get divorced with a 20% disapproval rating of their spouse only to find their new partner is 20% at fault as well. The grass looks smooth and green from a distance—seen up close it has weeds and bare spots. Love that is the real thing may not be a sudden “falling in love” but “a growing to love” over time. When we sacrifice ourselves and put others first, they usually tend to respond in kind. Even when we don’t feel loving, doing loving things leads to love.  

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The Bible says that if our spouse dies or is an unbeliever, it’s all right if divorced to marry again. Although God hates divorce and a hard heart, divine love both permits and forgives divorce (Mal. 2:16; Matt. 19:6-9; 1 Cor. 7:15). Christians can and do commit worse sins. I’m divorced and my second wife, also divorced, is a loving godly lady, friend, and one in a million. Thank God.

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There’s no rule that everyone has to marry. Some have the gift of singleness and are free to devote more time to God’s service. But if it’s difficult to be self-controlled, it’s better to marry than be overwhelmed with sexual tension and temptation (1 Cor. 7:7-9). Society blows sex way out of proportion since coitus usually constitutes less than 2% of a young couple’s relationship.

 .                 Where Can I Meet Perspective Marriage Partners?

As in everything, the Christian should seek God’s will regarding a mate. And God promises to guide us when we earnestly trust him and seek to do his will (Ps. 37:4, 23; Prov. 3:5-6; Rom. 12:1-2). So-called fun parties and activities that destroy our minds, bodies, character and get us in trouble such as tobacco, alcohol, drug, and sex parties are taboo for those who want to please the Lord. Never mind being called prudes, unsociable, or extremists, godly living won’t be regretted in later life and at the judgment. Parties among friends we can trust and activities such as bowling, swimming, boating, athletic games, concerts, school seminars, shopping centers, grocery stores, and bookstores can be places to meet others. And the local church where God’s people meet to worship is the most likely place to find persons with Christian faith. Dating services that require listing character traits and interests might work well but are no guarantees.

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To me the idea that there’s only one Mr. /Miss Right for me to marry seems naïve and creates unnecessary tension and fear. A lady told me she had three husbands who all died. But they all were good husbands and all were different. Don’t different persons bring out different qualities in us? Don’t we all change somewhat throughout life? Don’t we all have different friends that we like?

.                What Potential Problems Require My Serious Attention

I’m not saying that it can’t or won’t work out well. But some persons are risky, raise red flags, and a relationship with them may not be wise. I advise open careful consideration and honest discussions with them and with others who know their background. A prison record, bad temper,  big debt, a homosexual past, child abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse, multiple marriages, and so on are red flags. Such persons may require long-term psychological counseling and a recent proven track record or lifestyle.

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Wisdom heeds statistical data from decades of research. Persons from similar social classes, economic and social levels, occupations, age groups, race, religious backgrounds, and areas of residence have marriages that are more apt to be happy and lasting,

                                   What Characteristics Suggest a Good Partner

It’s said, opposites attract meaning one partner compensates for weaknesses in the other. This may be true initially but can later frustrate and smother the weaker spouse. For example, a big talker may drown a shy one and make them feel more insecure. Instead, the stronger should “cool it”, support, encourage, and praise the weaker for their efforts. 

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The Bible is clear that God instituted marriage for a man and woman (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:6). They are to be “one flesh.” That of course is compatibility, being designed for each other physically and emotionally. While the Bible patriarchs and kings had many wives that was not God’s ideal and it resulted in serious problems. Although laws of that time didn’t prohibit it, the New Testament makes it clear God’s servants are to set an example in having one wife (1 Tim. 3:2, 12). It is to be a covenant relationship like Christ with his church.   

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Compatibility is just good common sense. Our spouse can teach us new and exciting things and we can adjust to differences within limits. But radical divergences can be irritating and make for a bad relationship. Consider some examples: hot natured verses cold natured, outdoorsman v. homebody, free spender v. tight wad, activist v. couch potato, super clean v. disorderly, cultured dresser v. slob, intellectual v. ignorant.  

What Do My Prospective Partner and I Expect of Marriage? 

Commitment to a lasting marriage is imperative. The word divorce should never come up. To enter a marital relationship with the attitude that if it doesn’t work I’ll get a divorce is likely to end in divorce and disillusionment. The words, ‘Do you take this person in sickness and health, for better or worse, in richer or poorer, till death due you part?’ should be taken most seriously. Not just couples, but children and families suffer in divorce. We want and need the security of a trustworthy responsible spouse who will stand by us in hard times that are certain to occur. 

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Persons contemplating marriage naturally expect companionship, mutual support, and sexual expression. But a host of other issues calls for open honest discussion. How about children, how many and when? Can I pursue further education or a certain career? How do you like my family members? Can you accept my physical ailments? Would you be willing for my older widow/er parent to live with us? Is there a special place we want to live? Be honest: Is there something about me you have doubts about or disapprove? It’s better to resolve these issues now if possible than hope they won’t come up later.

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Maybe we can sum perspective Christian mate hunting up in three statements: Christ first in all things, compatibility is vital, and commitments are imperative. Happy hunting.

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