Thursday, May 14, 2009

Fifth Day of Iyar 5708

A nation born in one day, in the midst of the valley of dry bones, in the land of the graves of the fathers. One called the Son of man speaks unto the bones the Word of the L-rd. As he prophesies there is a great noise and a terrible shaking as bone comes to bone, and then sinew and flesh and skin! Like a newborn child struggling for breath yet without breath, there is no breath in the whole house of Israel. Walking corpses, they cried out: “our hope is lost”, “we are cut off” … cast away of the world, smitten of the L-rd. Abiding “many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim” (cf. Hosea 3:4). “Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron” (Deuteronomy 28:23).

“Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the L-rd G-D; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live” (cf. Ezekiel 37:9).

He has opened your graves, and brought you up out of your graves, but has yet to put His Spirit in you, that ye shall live. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

The hand of the L-RD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the L-RD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O L-rd G-D, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the L-RD. Thus saith the L-rd G-D unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the L-RD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the L-rd G-D; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the L-rd G-D; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the L-RD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the L-RD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the L-RD (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Called by My Name

Tomorrow, Shirley Dobson will attempt to persuade Americans that they are the people “of whom it is written”:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (II Chronicles 7:14).

But are Americans a people "called by His name"? And did He promise to hear our penitence from heaven, and forgive our sin and heal our land? The answer is obvious.

There has been only one people “called by His name” (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:12-14), only one city “called by His name” (cf. Jeremiah 25:29), only one house “called by His name” (cf. Jeremiah 34:15), and none have to do with America.

And what is the name by which He is called? The Holy One of Israel (yiśrâ’êl) (cf. 2 Kings 19:22, Psalms 78:41, Psalms 89:18, Isaiah 1:4, 5:19, 5:24, 10:20, 12:6, 17:7, 29:19, 30:11, 30:12, 30:15, 31:1, 37:23, 41:14, 41:16, 41:20, 43:3, 43:14, 45:11, 47:4, 48:17, 49:7, 54:5, 55:5, 60:9, 60:14, Jeremiah 50:29, Jeremiah 51:5).

The promise of II Chronicles 7:14 has never come true for any people. But one day it will, but not for America:

The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the L-RD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the L-RD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the L-RD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy G-d thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the L-RD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever (Isaiah 60:14-21).

Saturday, February 28, 2009

His Moment in Time

It was wonderful to hear that familiar voice reverberating through the sanctuary during The 50 Years of Valley Church commemoration. His words were once a significant portion of our corporate witness to the world.1 As others today have shared, here are some of my fondest memories:

I remember a pastor who labored among us with preparations consistent with such words as wisdom; doctrine; discernment. He would construct each phrase with theological precision, and expound each verse in context, i.e., in context of all of Scripture. He even used a stopwatch to time the allotted time, but as he stood before us each Lord’s Day morning, he would forget his notes and the Spirit would simply overflow. That joy returned each evening, as he soon forgot the hour... Did I say, “expound each verse”? That is so cold a word, rather the Spirit within gave each one life.

He once told of a child in a garden “helping” his mother, and of the rose bud he brought her with all its delicate layers prematurely unfolded. He warned of the evangelical exuberance that attempts to force some soul before his time rather than just sowing seed and relinquishing to the unseen power of the Spirit: “…So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how” (Mark 4:26-27).

For those committing children to the Lord, he always seemed to find some Godly virtue in every name. And there was always that letter not to be opened until a thirteenth birthday; a “time capsule” containing spiritual admonition to a maturing child, but perhaps more important, a subtle reminder of a parent’s vow.

Undercharged at a store, most would have been on their way, but he went back begging to repay. The clerk essentially said it was no big deal, but for him it was. Then he had the manager involved; it was not just a matter of a dollar, but of a witness, perhaps the eternal destiny of a soul, or perhaps compromise in the eyes of a watching child.

Upon receiving a significant opportunity to serve the Lord in another church, he immediately brought the matter before us for prayer… for His will and glory.

He loved basketball and playing it with his fellow workers in the Truth, but for some unexplained reason he felt convicted. Most would not have given a second thought. But “transgressing” conventional “Christian” wisdom, he opted for a still small voice.

And how fervently he encouraged us to love His first love Israel whose covenants he taught were the very “fingerprints of God.”

When personally convicted in a trivial matter regarding 1 Timothy 3:4, he did not compromise, but tendered his resignation.

When things done in secret caused ignominy to descend upon the church, these things were confronted in the presence of all… but with love and tears and the humbling realization: if the Apostle Paul regarded himself the “chief” of sinners “then who am I”?

In the final days of his affliction when a friend came to console, our brother coveted assurance that His little "AWANA" ones would continue to receive His Word.

And like the man for whom he was named, he fought the good fight, he finished the course, he kept the faith. “And he was not; for God took him.”

I remember him testifying that for each of us there is an opportune moment in history, a moment in eternity, to bring glory to the Living God. I remember how he used his opportune moment. How during our frequent times together, he would forget the lectern and perched on the edge of the platform, seeming to curl his toes around it, attempting to get closer still. And in messages filled with excitement and joy, he shared his most recent discoveries from the Word. In his words: “There is nothing in this world more exciting … then to know and do God’s will”!

1 Have long regretted the loss of this man’s witness to The Valley Church and the world i.e., the thousands of recorded messages purposed for salvation of the lost, maturing of the faith, and a tribulation witness to a world spiraling into the ultimate apostasy. Have long prayed that some remnant of this, our corporate witness, would one day be restored. Preparing this remembrance, I was overjoyed to learn that some messages have eluded loss:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=hilltopaudio

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Dream

"... one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places plains, and the crooked places will be made straight... and before the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." With this crudely transcribed misappropriation of Scripture (cf. Isaiah 40:4-5). Martin Luther King initiated the conclusion of his "I Have a Dream" Black Liberation treatise.


"Misappropriation" is not an over statement, King plagiarized liberally and habitually from a variety of eloquent and high-minded sources in so much that Ralph E. Luker, King Papers Project researcher and civil rights historian, comments:

"Moreover, the farther King went in his academic career, the more deeply ingrained the patterns of borrowing language without clear attribution became. Thus, the plagiarism in his dissertation seemed to be, by then, the product of his long-established practice" (Ralph E. Luker "On Martin Luther King's Plagiarism" 2004-12-21).

It is one thing to misappropriate the words of men, but quite another to misappropriate the words of God to support a social [socialist] gospel i.e., the precepts of men.


King in typical Black Liberation eisegetical fashion "spiritualizes" i.e., reads into the Isaiah passage any idea he chooses rather than allowing the literal contextual messianic meaning to pervade:

"Every Valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God" ( Luke 3:5-6).


King learned too late that there are consequences for misappropriating Scripture even to end that blacks are liberated from real or supposed economic, political, or social, subjugation. Black America is learning still:


"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:22-23).