…therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God… (Hebrews 11:16)

God is proud of you.

That has to be as good as it gets.

That 11th chapter of Hebrews presents a fascinating list of Old Testament believers who did things by faith and ended up pleasing God in the process. It’s an eclectic group and sometimes we find names that stun us. Why in the world is Samson listed there? and Jephthah?

It’s God’s list, not mine. He has His reasons.

What blows me away, though, is the accolade it accords to those who lived and died in faith, without a Bible or the indwelling Holy Spirit or an affirming Christian community, and paid a huge cost for their faithfulness. It’s this group, summarized in Hebrews 11:13-16, that receives this incredible honor: “God is not ashamed to be called their God.”

While inspecting my own life to see what there is which might make God proud, I think of biblical characters who got it right and received the highest praise. Here is my list; you’ll think of others to add.

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In the summer of 1964, I arrived on campus at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to work on a degree that would train me to pastor a church. Among the unexpected delights of that multifaceted experience (which would last three years, with another 2 years in the early 70s) was the chapel services. The seminary brought in various outstanding (and a few average) speakers to address the faculty and student body.

That’s where I first heard H. L. Hunt of the oil fortune. Pastor R. G. Lee. Evangelist Eddie Lieberman. Missionary statesman Baker James Cauthen.

And Mitsuo Fuchida.

For these forty-plus years, that name has held an honored place in my mind, even though I remember absolutely nothing he said that day. It was who he was that carved out a special spot inside this young preacher’s heart.

Mitsuo Fuchida was a bomber pilot for Japan in the Second World War. In fact, he led the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Once the planes were off the aircraft carriers and in the air headed for their destination, Fuchida was in charge.

He became a great hero to his people and was active in practically every phase of that conflict.

Not long ago, while reading about Fuchida online (thank you, Wikipedia), I discovered several books tell his story and are available. I ordered “God’s Samurai” by Gordon Prange (published in 1990, so it can be bought used for a pittance) for one reason: I wanted to see what God did to capture such a prize convert for His glory.

Brother, did I find out. The story of how this warrior and Shinto-worshiper came to Jesus Christ is one for the ages. It may be one of the best testimonies of God at work in a man’s life I have ever read.

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I’ve got fear on the brain these days and not sure why. Maybe it’s because I see so much timidity among Christians today. We tiptoe around, whispering our convictions, hoping not to offend, and in so doing end up betraying the Lord who told us not to fear but to literally shout from the housetops His message.

John Ortberg says the single most repeated command in Scripture is “Fear not.” And he wonders why.

Fear does not seem like the most serious vice in the world. It never made the list of the Seven Deadly Sins. No one ever receives church discipline for being afraid. So why does God tell human beings to stop being afraid more often than he tells them anything else?

He answers his own question: I think God says ‘fear not’ so often because fear is the number one reason humans are tempted to avoid doing what God asks them to do.

Lloyd Ogilvie has said there are 366 “fear not” verses in the Bible, which figures out to one a day and one for Leap Year!

Anxiety, we’re told, is “fear looking for a cause.” And fear, therefore, is our response when in the presence of a danger.

There are two kinds of fear: real and imagined. Real fear preserves life; imagined fear destroys it.

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Somewhere out in cyberspace there are people on the prowl for tithers.

Mention tithing on the internet and it gets red-flagged on their computer. Instantly, they go on the alert and rush to tell you how misguided you are, that tithing is strictly Old Testament, and that believers are not under the Law. Furthermore, you who teach tithing are corrupting God’s people, misleading them about the Scriptures, and probably an idiot to boot.

The funny thing to me is that these vigilantes are half-right and could do a lot of good if they would do so in the spirit of Christ.

It is most definitely true that tithing is not explicitly taught in the New Testament. Nowhere is it written between Matthew and Revelation that “thou shalt bring a tithe.” Those (of us) who get tithing out of the New Testament more or less infer it from several things. (I’m going to list some of them, and then turn around and undo everything I’m saying here. Stay tuned.)

–Tithing was not of the law since it began a long time before the Law was given to Moses. (Genesis 14:20)

–In rebuking the Pharisees for getting tithing all wrong and putting the emphasis backwards, Jesus said, “These things you should have done and not to have omitted the other.” (Matthew 23:23)

–We infer that Jesus was a tither, otherwise His critics would have quickly pointed it out when they were searching for anything to charge against Him.

That sort of thing.

And then we come to II Corinthians chapter 9:6-7, a jam-packed and fascinating teaching on giving.

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

The Apostle Paul sure blew it, didn’t he? This would have been the ideal place to insert a great line about tithing. Instead, he says, “Give as you purpose in your heart.” In other words, “Make up your own mind a to what you will give.”

Uh oh. He’s moving stewardship into a new realm for all us sheriff-wannabes. (A sheriff is an enforcer of the law.)

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A friend and I have been trying to work our way through the 73rd Psalm. Doing it on-line slows down the process, but it also achieves something else which I’ve discovered as an unexpected blessing. Taking one’s time results in your seeing things in the Word you would have ordinarily missed.

That psalm–there’s nothing else like it in the Bible–gives the account of the writer (listed as Asaph) who had been envying the wealthy wicked for their long lives, contented circumstances, and trouble-free existence. “What’s the point in my doing good and suffering for it?” he wondered.

Then, just about the time he was thinking about sharing his discontent with others, he went to church, had a life-changing worship experience, and saw things in a vastly different light. Basically, what God showed him was the “end” of those people. That is, he saw what becomes of them after this life, and it was not a thing to be admired.

The psalm ends with a song of praise to God, made up of outstanding lessons learned through this experience.

What struck me today, though, was verse 15:

If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ behold, I should have betrayed the generation of thy children.

Looking back and writing about his time of doubt and misery, the psalmist sees this as a near-miss. He thinks, “Whew! I almost blew it. Had I told people what was going on in my mind–how I was doubting God and envying evil-doers–I could have really upset a lot of people and done a great deal of damage.”

That’s what he thought. And maybe he’s right.

But I’m thinking, maybe not. Had he gone before other believers and told them what he was thinking, how his faith was wavering, I’m betting that instead of upsetting them, the response would have been more like:

“(yawn) Man, you just now working on this? Where have you been? Pull up a chair, son.”

The simple fact is that every thoughtful believer at one time or other goes through such a crisis of faith. It’s part of the journey toward maturity.

However, the person in the midst of the crisis seems not to know it. Instead, he/she is afflicted by a syndrome that seems to accompany doubt: egotism.

When we doubt and question God, we seem to always do it alone. The reason is that something inside us insists that we are the first to think such thoughts. We have found the fatal flaw to the Christian faith. We are smarter than the other yokels around us who never dare look up and question what we’ve been taught.

Faith is humble. But doubt is egotistical.

Let’s look at this a little more closely.

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The old saying goes, “Christianity has not been tried and found not to work; it has been tried and found to be hard.”

And we don’t like difficult things.

I was reflecting on that this week and began making a list of “impossible” or “unnatural” acts the Lord requires of all who would be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s make this very plain: The Lord delights in putting His children in spots too much for them to handle. He loves to ask more from us than we have to give. He does not mind at all throwing us into the deep part of the pool just to teach us a few things about His presence and power.

here is my list. They’re in no particular order. Add yours at the end.

1. We are to love our enemies.

The natural thing to do is to hate our enemies and work to undermine them. Jesus Christ will have none of that. Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. (Matthew 5:44)

We protest, “Lord, I don’t even like them! So how can I love them?” Answer: He doesn’t require us to like them. Just love them. And that means doing loving things toward them–like blessing them, doing good to them, and praying for them.

On the cross, Jesus called out, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He demonstrated what He was demanding in us.

2. We are to serve the lowest, the least, the last.

The natural thing to do is look around for the most deserving and most appreciative and center all our efforts there. Jesus would have none of that. He said, “When you give a dinner…invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind” (Luke 14:12-13).

I’ve pastored churches where leaders did not want to do this. “Preacher, all those deadbeats come into the office asking for a handout. Why don’t they get jobs. You know they could if they really wanted to.”

My response was always to say, “Jesus told us to give to anyone who asked of us. This is not optional. He didn’t say we had to give what they are asking for or as much as they want. But we are to be in the business of giving.” Whether they deserve it or not is irrelevant.

After all, what if the Lord restricted Heaven’s blessings to the deserving? We’d all be in the cold.

3. We are to submit to one another in the church.

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I’m not sure I’m ready to stake my life on this–it probably needs more thought and discussion–but it seems to be that we in the church would do well to cut back on our public pronouncements about our intentions. That is, some discussions need to be kept within the family and would never be understood by an outsider.

A few years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention announced that it would urge members of our churches to boycott Disney parks. The press covered it, we became the butt of every bad joke in the country, and untold reams of paper were wasted as columnists weighed in with their views on the matter. If we had any lasting effect, it escaped my notice.

These things are better off left “in house,” I’m thinking.

I recall years ago, Dr. Bill O’Brien, a missionary and pioneer innovator for missions in our denomination, saying that even the term “missionary” should be kept in-house. Outside, it’s a controversial subject. Well, it took a couple of decades, but eventually our people came around to see his point. Nowadays, denominations’ send out consultants, workers, engineers, teachers, and strategists. The same people, just different titles.

I wonder if we have learned this lesson yet.

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Two quotes from this morning’s Times-Picayune jumped out at me, but for different reasons. The third quote is from Scripture and naturally, being the preacher that I am, I need to expound on it just a tad.

Gregg Williams is the defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints football team. In this morning’s paper, he says, “I don’t look at my job like being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. It’s more like being the warden of a penitentiary. And I say this in a nice way.”

I’m still smiling at that one. And can’t think of a single remark to make about it!

The Associated Press reports that as Congress moves forward in its investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel for ethics violations, he “trots out” his three-way defense.

His 3-way defense. Or maybe we could call it “3-D.”

1) I didn’t do it.

2) I did it but unintentionally.

3) Anything I did was the same thing the other lawmakers have done but without penalty.

Tell me if that doesn’t sound like you and me standing before the Almighty at Judgment. Making excuses. Pointing the finger. Justifying ourselves.

Third quote: “We desire…that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12)

Don’t be a slug. A snail. A sloth. (Choose your favorite lazy animal.) Let’s talk about this. It’s actually quite a problem among God’s people today.

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I’m talking to pastors and church leaders now.

Wouldn’t it be great if the money was there before the need arrived?

Wouldn’t it be great if all we had to do was decide how much of our excess money went to which cause?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people automatically gave a tithe and beyond to the Lord’s work without church leaders having to challenge them? and without us having to show them what a difference their gifts will make.

And yet, there it is in big letters, in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament: The just shall live by faith.

It’s found in the Old Testament prophecy of Habakkuk (chapter 2, verse 4). The New Testament quotes it in Romans 1:17 and Hebrews 10:38.

Clearly, this business of living by faith is not an aberration, but was in the heart of God all along. As difficult as it seems to us, the Father in Heaven has decreed that those who please Him will live by faith. Which is, of course, the message of Hebrews 11:6, Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Here’s a little of what that means to us….

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As good as it is to have been almost literally raised in the church, it does have its downside. One of them is our constant familiarity with the Holy Scriptures. It’s great to be able to say with Paul of Timothy, “From a child you have known the Holy Scriptures” (II Tim. 3:15), but that’s not all good.

Familiarity breeds contempt, the saying goes. In this case, it’s not so much contempt which lifelong church members contend with so much as–how to put this now–boredom. We have heard it so many times, it has lost its edge.

One of the greatest achievements of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to continually sharpen our commitment to Christ and our enjoyment of Him. He alone keeps putting the edge on our faith.

When we drift from faithfulness to the Lord–and by that I mean nothing in the world so much as we quit praying and reading the Word–the Holy Spirit, who can take a hint and know when He is not wanted, turns to others who want His help. You and I are hardly aware that He has moved away. And we are the last to see that something else has happened….

We have lost our edge. We have become bored with our faith and boring in our proclamation of it.

When the Holy Spirit is in the ascendancy (I’m saying that the way horoscope people speak of some planet exerting great influence) in our lives, many things happen. And one of the best is this: We see the Scriptures through fresh eyes. And what a good thing that is.

Wouldn’t it have been great to have been there when Jesus began His ministry and to have observed Him with fresh eyes! No preconceptions, no sermons from our favorite teachers and pastoring clouding our vision, just the pure sight of our wonderful Lord stepping out and speaking Heaven’s revelation.

What would our reaction have been? We can know the answer to that, to a great extent.

–We would have reacted the way the people then did. Some believed, some wanted to hear more, and some rejected Him on the spot.

–We would have treated Him then the same way we treat Him now. Seeing Him in the flesh would hardly have altered that.

–And, and this is what I came to talk about today, we would have been surprised.

Nothing about Jesus was as people were expecting. Case in point: the first 3 chapters of Mark’s Gospel.

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