Nothing New

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Some people find this hard to believe. Others do not see how they can find an example of their specific problem in the Bible. Everyone is always looking for the “newest” thing. However, there is nothing new. How is this possible? There have been so many inventions, new ideas, and new technology. Is there really nothing new?

Let’s look at some different issues that we face today and see if there is any examples of those same issues in the Bible.

1. Food- everyone needs food. The problem is how to get it. Today the issue is no money no food. Money is the means by getting the food. People have  always needed food to eat. How did people get food in the Bible?
They planted the food. “I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits” (Ecclesiastes 2:5)

They bought the food. Jacob said, “Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die” (Genesis 42:2).

They worked for charity. Back then the poor was allowed to go behind the field workers and collect some food to eat.  “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.” (Deuteronomy 24:19-20).

Today we buy the food, plant the food, or receive charity. Not much has changed.

2. A Place to live- people has always needed shelter.

People in ancient Israel used two types of housing:
tents for nomadic or semi-nomadic herders

houses, either large or small, in villages or cities

 

Today will live in houses, mobile homes, or apartments. Some houses are large and some are small. Some people live in the city while others live in some communities. 

3. Sibling jealousy

Today anyone that has more than one child knows that siblings can be jealous of one another. This problem can reek havoc in families. Did this problem exist in the Bible? 

Yes, just look at Esau and Jacob. They wanted to kill each other. Does that sound familiar? “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him : and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand ; then will I slay my brother Jacob.” (Genesis 27:41)

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. 

“Judah said unto his brethren; What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.” (Genesis 37:27).

4. Difficult Boss

So, you think that your boss it difficult; try working for some of the bosses in the Bible.

Have you ever been put into prison for offending your boss? 

Genesis 40:1-3 says, “And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers , and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison , the place where Joseph was bound.”

Have you ever been thrown to the lions for breaking the rules? 

Daniel was thrown to the lions by his boss after getting caught praying. 

Daniel 6:1-28

5. Unruly Children

David’s son raped his sister (see 2 Samuel 13:1-19)

“And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister. And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel do not this folly…Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her” (2 Samuel 13:11-12 & 14)

Samuel’s children took bribes  

“And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” (1 Samuel 8:3).

  

6. Trouble with N-laws

David’s father-n-law sent an army to kill him. (See 1 Samue124:1-22; Psalm 57).

7. Homelessness

Son of man does not have a place to lay his head.

“Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

Songs and Their Rich History

Songs tell stories about the way that we feel. In the 1950’s - 1960’s the people came to church early. Also many people  went to the backside of the field to pray.  Often they sung the song “Sweet Hour of Prayer”. They prayed an hour of more each and every day. During this time, people saw God work in mighty ways and people frequently came into the church and gave their lives to Jesus.

Now we sang “Just a Little talk with Jesus”. Most people are too busy to pray an hour a day. It is funny that now we are too busy when we have modern technology that is suppose to make our lives easier and save time. Examples are wash machines, dryers, and microwaves. How is it possible that we are too busy and the people back then had time?

I sometimes wonder if you think to pray. Now a few people sang “Do You Think to Pray?”. Most people now days only call on God when trouble comes. They never think to pray. They seem to forget God and his blessings.

One day your life will end. Did you think to pray or will it be too late to pray? “Too late to Pray” is the title to another song that some people sang. It explains how that when your life is over it will be too late to pray. Some people live like they are indestructible. They seem to not realize that God does not promise them a tomorrow. Babies, children, teenagers, young adults, and senior citizens die. This is evident by the fact that there are small, short and long graves. God sets your time here on earth. It is only too late to pray after you are dead. While you are alive think about your blessings and who gave them to you.

“Sweet Hour of Prayer” is better than an hour or so praying after something has gone wrong. Many times God allows bad things to happen so that we will remember him. If you are one that prays only after trouble comes, then God will allow you to experience more problems.

Please pray or talk to God each and every day. Then when problems come, God will know you and you will know your Heavenly Father. You will be able to “…come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16).

Easter

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Every year we celebrate Easter. When you think about Easter, many things come to mind. However, I wonder if the most important reason for celebrating Easter makes the top of your list. Easter should be a time of reflection. We should think about what Jesus did  before, during, and after the cross. Some of his greatest work was done during this time.

1. He fulfilled the requirement of Passover.
A spotless lamb was required to atone for sin. He paid the price permanently. John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

2. He chanced the way Passover is celebrated.
I Corinthians 11:24-26 “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

3. He took away the fear of death
I Corinthians 15:54-57 “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

4. Through his stripes (beating), we are healed.
I Peter 2:24 “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
Isaiah 53:5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

5. Through him, we can boldly approach the throne of Grace
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

6. On resurrection morning, his rose again. Now we can have eternal life through him.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”


As you are making plans to celebrate Easter, remember that there would be no Easter without the work of Jesus. Let us lead others to Jesus by putting Jesus first in all of our celebrations.

Mardi Gras: What is it?

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It is the time of the year when Mardi Gras is being celebrated. Here in Baton Rouge, LA, it is a holiday that many people celebrate with great zeal. I was not born or raised here in Baton Rouge, LA. I was born and raised in Mississippi. In that part of Mississippi, we do not really recognize Mardi Gras as a holiday that is greatly celebrated. I understand that on the Gulf Coast they do have some celebrations. I really did not understand the point of Mardi Gras. Therefore, I have done a little bit of research into the origins of Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras started out in Rome as a pagan celebration. Mardi Gras was originally called Lupercalia. Having never heard of that pagan celebration, I looked in an online encyclopedia  to find out information about the celebration.

According to The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., Lupercalia is an “ancient Roman festival held annually on Feb. 15. The ceremony of the festival was intended to secure fertility and keep out evil. Two male youths, clad in animal skin, ran around the city slapping passersby with strips of goat skin. Because the youths impersonated male goats (the embodiment of sexuality), the ceremony was believed to be in honor of Faunus . The festival survived into Christian times and was not abolished until the end of the 5th cent.”

Later when the Christians brought Christianity to Rome, they decided not to completely abolish all of the pagan rituals. This ritual was turned into a time of Pre-Lent celebration. The people would have carnival style fun before the day of Lent.

Later the French explorer, Iberville, brought the celebration of Mardi Gras to Louisiana when he came in 1699.

For more information on how the customs of Mardi came to be go to http://www.eastjeffersonparish.com/culture/MARDIGRA/HISTORY/history.htm.

After reading the information, I still do not understand why Christians celebrate Mardi Gras with such zeal. It really does not have any good spiritual signification in my opinion, because it started out as a fertility ritual to a pagan god. Also they changed it to a time of merry-making before that went into a time of abandonment. This abandonment is suppose to be a time of denying something that you really want in order to grow in your walk with God.

Citations:
1. "Lupercalia." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 20 Feb. 2012 . 

Training Children

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Training children is a great responsibility that is given to parents by God. He has many things to say about the subject. One of my favorites is (Proverbs 22:6) “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart.” Notice the words “train up a child”. Train is another word for teach. Therefore, you are suppose to teach children not raise children. If God had intended for us to raise children, he would not have said teach or train a child. My mom has always explained it this way, you raise tomatoes, and you teach or train a child. The major differences between raising tomatoes and teaching children are this, tomatoes only need water, sunlight, dirt, and fertilizer while children need love, mercy, discipline, food, clothing, shelter, and guidance just to name a few things.  In addition, tomatoes cannot walk, talk, or learn.

God is not silence on the reasons for teaching children, what to teach children, or how to discipline them. He will give additional help if you simply ask him. Remember he is the only perfect parent. It is amazing to me how man who is imperfect has decided that one of the main forms of discipline talked about in the Bible is wrong. I am referring to corporal punishment or a spanking. It is spoken of many times in Proverbs. One notable place is (Proverbs 13:24) “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” The verse does not give anyone the right to beat a child, but it does say correct the child. In other words, making children listen and obey shows that you love children. Think about it this way. If you love a young child, you will not let him touch a hot stove. You will instead make the child however necessary get out of the kitchen. So why would you allow a child to talk on the phone half the night or hang out with friends who are a bad influence. There are many ways of making children obey such as talking to them, grounding them, and spanking them. Who cares if the child says, “I hate you.” Just smile and say, “I love you.” However, even though we are the parents, and we have the right to discipline our children and train our children in the way we see fit, we should always remember that Jesus says “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” (Colossians 3:21). This means that we should not put so much pressure on them to be prefect that it is impossible for them to be successful. Basically, remember that just like you, they are still human, and they will make mistakes sometimes.

There are several things that God commands parents to teach to children. Notice that God commands the parents to teach the children. I have recently heard someone say parents are only responsible for 20% of teaching children and teachers are responsible for the other 80%. Is this what God’s commandment saying? Why is it that God does not give this commandment to the schoolteachers or government? Maybe it is because children learn many valuable skills before going to school. Think about it. Children learn to walk, talk and play before the age of 4. They do not go to school until at least the age of 5. Therefore, parents are responsible for teaching children's manners before they go to school. In addition, parents are responsible to make sure that their children are getting a good education on reading, mathematics, science, history, language arts, and any other important school subjects. Yes, teachers may be able to teach mathematics to children better than parents, but that does not release them of their God given responsibility. There are still many things that the parent must do to help ensure that their children are learning math. Those things include making sure their children get to bed on time, get up on time, do their homework, listen in class, have all necessary materials, ect. Some may say that they can not make sure that their children listen in class. That statement is false. Children  will behave on average better at school than at home. Therefore, if they are made to listen to instructions at home, they will listen at school. Parents need to remember that children learn the meanings of words by listening to and watching those around them. A child has never said anything that he or she did not hear somewhere. Therefore, if you want your children to be respectful to others, you must act respectful at all times in front of him or her. If you want your child to learn about Jesus, you must tell them about Jesus. Remember that God commands that you teach your child his commandments. A great suggest is to teach Proverbs chapter 3 to them. This proverb explains how they can live a long healthy prosperous life. Notice how it starts out with obedience, “ My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:” (Proverbs 3:1).

Here are some more reasons to train up a child in the correct way. All children are
the future generation. For example a 5-year-old will be 21-years-old in 16 years. That means that he will be consider legally an adult. He or she will have all the rights of an adult. Our children will be able responsible for the running of this country. So think about our children’s behavior. Do you really want some of the children in this country to be in charge? Why or why not? I suggest praying and then taking a good long look at your own children. If you like want you see, praise God. If you do not like what you see ask God for help and then follow his instructions.

Freezing Children

In the 1960’s Marcus and Ann started to church. They had two children, Paul who is 4 years old and Karen who is 6 months old. They lived about 50 miles from the church.

One cold Sunday morning, they got up early and drove to church for Sunday school. Then they stayed until after church that night.

Marcus drove a truck made in the 1940’s. It did not have a heater in it. It had been freezing all day. On the way home that night, Ann had the children wrapped up with homemade quilts. However, they were still very cold and crying. Marcus and Ann were freezing too. That is when Marcus said, “We are going to stop at that house up ahead.” Ann asked, “Do you know them?”. Marcus replied, “No, but I see smoke coming from there fireplace. We are going to stop there and get warm.” Therefore, they stop at the house. It was about 11 pm, but somehow the lights were still on.

Everyone got out of the truck. Marcus went and knocked on the door. An old man and lady came to the door. The couple could plainly see that Marcus, Ann, and the children were freezing. Marcus explained that they did not have a heater and it was very cold.

Surprisingly the old couple welcomed Marcus and his family to their home. At this time in the south, blacks and whites normally did not visit each other. The old couple was black and Marcus and his family was white.

The old couple got Marcus, Ann, and Paul something warm to drink. They also made sure that Karen got warm. They warmed up the quilts before wrapping the children up in them.

This story has been passed down in my family. No one remembers the name of the old couple, but I am sure that God knows their names. It was a miracle that they were still up at 11pm. I know that God blessed that couple because Jesus says, “ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:34-40).

Back to School

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The Summer of 1967 is coming to a close and it is almost time for school. I, Karen, will be in the 1st grade. My brother, Paul, will be in the 5th grade. We attend a church school.

The Pastor is also the head of the school. He calls a meeting to discuss the new school year. Everyone that wanted to send their children to the church school is required to attend.

At the meeting, the pastor explained the school rules. He announced who the teachers were going to be. Lastly, he announced when school would begin for that year. School would start in about 2 weeks.

Most of the parents then spoke up and said, “Let school start sooner. I want to get my children back to school and out of the house.”

Well, guess what? My daddy, Marcus, stood up and walked to the front of everyone. He said, “I have something to say.” Marcus was the assistant pastor.

He proceeded to say, “If I felt the way you all have seem to, I would go home and get my gun. Then I would stand my 2 children outside against a wall and shot them.”

The people did not know what to say.

After hearing this, I hoped that daddy liked us and wanted us around.

To the day that my daddy died, every time he heard someone say, “I will be glad when the children go back to school or move out.” He would reply, “If I felt that way, I would stand them outside and shot them.

Marcus never shot any of his children. Therefore, he must have loved having them around.