Most Americans will be unaware of a Holy Land celebration on 10/10/10. Well, almost the Holy Land if one realizes that Jericho is not technically in modern Israel. Ceded to Yassar Arafat as a capitol for the potential Palestinian State, Jericho has had to make do with the ups and downs of hopeful statehood punctuated by intifadas that periodically choked off the thriving tourist trade.
Jericho is said to be the oldest inhabited city in the world—some 10,000 years old—and to emphasize this conveniently round figure, massive celebrations are set for 10/10/10, that unique date coming only once every hundred years.
Tradition says that it was on the precipitous slope to the west of Jericho that Christ was tempted for forty days as the Gospels outline. A cable car lifts modern-day tourists above the tortured foot climb. Reports suggest that 800,000 people visit Jericho each year, if not the Temptation commemorating monastery above. So popular and strategic is Jericho that eager local dreamers imagine an airport built there sometime in the future. It’s unlikely in the short run as air travel over Israel is extremely limited because of security concerns.
Jericho is significant because of its Bible history, a solid apologetic for the veracity of the Bible. Biblically, Jericho dates back to the invasion by the desert-weary pilgrims who crossed the Jordan after 40 years of wilderness wanderings, marched around the doomed city 13 times and rushed into the stricken city over miraculously-collapsed walls. The harlot Rahab gained respite for herself and family by receiving and sheltering the Israeli spies and later became a lineal progenitor of Christ (Matthew 1:5). The ruins still abound, and one can find flint knives, a recall of the circumcision of the new generation of Israelites after the above-20 crowd had died off (Joshua 5:2).
It is a city under a unique curse of death to any who seek to rebuild it as Josh 6:26 warns: “At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: ‘Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.’” (Joshua 6:26-NIV)
In Old Testament times, it was a crucial pathway for Elijah and his successor, Elisha, as the whirlwind chariot exodus approached (II Kings 2:1-15). A “school of the prophets” was established there (II Kings 2:15), and Elisha miraculously sweetened the city’s undrinkable waters (II Kings 2:19-22). “Elisha’s Spring” is clearly seen from the mound of ancient Jericho.
In the New Testament, it is the city of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:2), the blind man Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46). It is mentioned in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30), and it is a waypoint on Christ’s final journey to Jerusalem (Luke 19:1).
Mentioned over 70 times in the Bible, archaeological and biblical truth abounds at Jericho. When we visited there on one of our ten trips to the Holy Land, our guide stooped down and retrieved a flint knife from the dust of ancient Jericho. Then he recounted how his own father had lost his firstborn son, and stated that it was probably a tragic fulfillment of Joshua’s forecast. Nearby, he walked to an obscure lane and cut a sprig of a plant called the “Plant of Hell,” the genuine crown of thorns Christ wore. Its spines were so sharp and poisonous that a mere brush against my skin caused pain and inflammation.
Jericho has also been a source of biblical scorn by unbelievers. Comparing Matt. 20:29 with Mark 10:46, they imagine a contradiction for how could Christ be leaving and entering Jericho at once in the same story. It is no problem when one considers that there are really three, possibly four, cities called Jericho in the vicinity.
Modern Jericho is a bustling town with a thriving sycamore tree recalling the story of Zacchaeus. But outside, the ancient “tell,” or hill, abounds with shattered clay walls, and an excavated 10,000-year old structure is visible a few layers below. About a mile away to the south is the broken remnant of New Testament Jericho where some of King Herod’s palace still stands. Some think it was here that Herod gave the word to behead John the Baptist. When we were there, we could see a small abandoned cluster of houses forming another very small Jericho slightly to the north. Obviously, one can be entering and leaving a Jericho at the same moment without contradiction.
So 10/10/10 will see Jericho celebrating lots of things but not the visit of the Lord Jesus Christ, who made His way up the steep ascent from Jericho at 820 feet above sea level to Jerusalem at 2,000 feet. Moving with a newly sighted man, a converted tax collector and the resurrected Lazarus, Christ made the trip from Jericho and entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on His way to the Cross, the empty tomb, the ascension and the Great Commission. Most celebrants will pause to recall that “Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down,” but the greatest collapse was the breaking down of the walls between God and man, between man and his neighbor, and even between Jews and Palestinians:
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” (Ephesians 2:14-16)
Dave Virkler
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
In Bad Need of Good Knees?
One of the greatest benefits of living in 21st century America is the ability to take advantage of many of the new medical and surgical procedures that have been developed in recent years. Some wonder if, given enough time and money, man might eventually conquer almost every physical malady known to his race?
For example, I have bad knees – very, very bad knees. And I’ve had them now ever since my high school years. This painful reality is due to sports and primarily to a 15-year-long ice hockey habit that was my passion from my early teens through most of my late twenties. It was fun most of the time, despite being plagued and limited by knee pain not long after I began the sport. To this day, my mother claims that God was not happy that I was playing some of my games on Sunday mornings at church time. It does seem in hind-sight that some of the more serious and freak injuries occurred during those times. Maybe she was right on the money? And now, this daily worsening problem is affecting nearly every area of life including just plain walking, and is only fixable at this point via double knee replacement.
But again, today’s advancing medical techniques has meant that some have new hope that their more serious medical issues can now be addressed or will be in time. But in the area of today’s all too common knee problems, a new process has been developed for certain candidates who qualify. Healthy cartilage cells are taken from the knee using an arthroscopic tube. The cells are sent to a lab where they are cultured and multiply in about four to six weeks. A layer of tissue is sewn over the damaged area. The new cells are injected under the patch, where they will regenerate cartilage with surrounding cartilage. It is an amazing concept and technology to say the least!
The doctor, who performed the first ACIs in the USA in 1995, has done approximately 600 procedures and says his success rate has been nearly 92% thus far. Unfortunately, my joints are now far too beyond this new process.
I also have another related problem. While not too many things scare me, the thought of this particular procedure turns me into a total coward. Part of that comes from having gone through multiple knee surgeries in ‘the old days’. The other aspect may be from some additional words of my mother who, after having her own double replacement due to a car accident, stated, “Now I think I can better understand what hell might be like.” Now how’s that for motivation for having a surgical procedure regardless of how badly it may be needed?
So my current game plan for the moment is looking to the rapture and why one of my favorite Bible verses has become Philippians 3:19-21. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body…”
As stated, the Bible does make the promise of a future new body – a great source of comfort for all but especially for those who suffer with any long-term serious physical ailment. But for that amazing promise to become a reality requires another procedure to occur first. There needs a repair to the human heart, but not the physical unit that is the crucial and central organ of the human frame. There needs to be rather a spiritually repaired heart meaning the soul. That’s a procedure that comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. (John 3:16, 1 John 5:12) When God forgives sin and renews the human heart, the Bible proclaims a complete and successful spiritual operation with miraculous, life-altering, and lasting results. 2 Corinthians chapter five makes reference to this great healing change with verse 17 stating, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Modern-day surgery can be a true blessing to those who desperately need it and, like some of us, are not afraid to go through it. But it can still be quite scary because of the potential risks, pain, and sometimes the agonizing process of rehabilitation. Plus there are those times when it does not totally achieve its intended purpose. Also, there are those who are ineligible for certain procedures for a variety of valid reasons. Some simply can’t afford cutting edge medical intervention or may not have access to advanced medical help depending on their individual circumstances.
But unlike when dealing with the physical failings of the vulnerable and frail human body, the method that delivers the damaged and deadened human soul from the power and penalty of sin is 100% available, 100% effective, and 100% permanent.
There are literally none that do not qualify fully and unconditionally for the spiritual healing attainable from personal faith in Jesus Christ. (John 6:37) The procedure for the total repair and rehabilitation of every broken soul has always been the same – by faith. (Romans 4:3). God’s reconstructive spiritual heart surgery cannot be replaced or improved upon according to biblical truth. His redemptive plan is pure and perfect. It is all about, and only about, simple saving faith in the finished work of His Son. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross fully atoned for the sins of the world. He alone can repair the relational breach between the Creator and those He created and loves. And only He is capable of dealing with the short and long-term destructive consequences of human sin.
And the great part of the ”good news" is that this requires no insurance, causes no pain, comes as a free gift, and is fully accessible to any who humbly admit their need of forgiveness and the necessity of having their damaged heart repaired and restored by the Great Physician.
To some this all may seem simply too easy to be true. But according to numerous passages in God’s word it is! What Christ did to procure man’s salvation is something we will likely never comprehend. But what He requires to take advantage of it is easy enough even for a child to grasp! “That whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21)
Bill Breckenridge
For example, I have bad knees – very, very bad knees. And I’ve had them now ever since my high school years. This painful reality is due to sports and primarily to a 15-year-long ice hockey habit that was my passion from my early teens through most of my late twenties. It was fun most of the time, despite being plagued and limited by knee pain not long after I began the sport. To this day, my mother claims that God was not happy that I was playing some of my games on Sunday mornings at church time. It does seem in hind-sight that some of the more serious and freak injuries occurred during those times. Maybe she was right on the money? And now, this daily worsening problem is affecting nearly every area of life including just plain walking, and is only fixable at this point via double knee replacement.
But again, today’s advancing medical techniques has meant that some have new hope that their more serious medical issues can now be addressed or will be in time. But in the area of today’s all too common knee problems, a new process has been developed for certain candidates who qualify. Healthy cartilage cells are taken from the knee using an arthroscopic tube. The cells are sent to a lab where they are cultured and multiply in about four to six weeks. A layer of tissue is sewn over the damaged area. The new cells are injected under the patch, where they will regenerate cartilage with surrounding cartilage. It is an amazing concept and technology to say the least!
The doctor, who performed the first ACIs in the USA in 1995, has done approximately 600 procedures and says his success rate has been nearly 92% thus far. Unfortunately, my joints are now far too beyond this new process.
I also have another related problem. While not too many things scare me, the thought of this particular procedure turns me into a total coward. Part of that comes from having gone through multiple knee surgeries in ‘the old days’. The other aspect may be from some additional words of my mother who, after having her own double replacement due to a car accident, stated, “Now I think I can better understand what hell might be like.” Now how’s that for motivation for having a surgical procedure regardless of how badly it may be needed?
So my current game plan for the moment is looking to the rapture and why one of my favorite Bible verses has become Philippians 3:19-21. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body…”
As stated, the Bible does make the promise of a future new body – a great source of comfort for all but especially for those who suffer with any long-term serious physical ailment. But for that amazing promise to become a reality requires another procedure to occur first. There needs a repair to the human heart, but not the physical unit that is the crucial and central organ of the human frame. There needs to be rather a spiritually repaired heart meaning the soul. That’s a procedure that comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. (John 3:16, 1 John 5:12) When God forgives sin and renews the human heart, the Bible proclaims a complete and successful spiritual operation with miraculous, life-altering, and lasting results. 2 Corinthians chapter five makes reference to this great healing change with verse 17 stating, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Modern-day surgery can be a true blessing to those who desperately need it and, like some of us, are not afraid to go through it. But it can still be quite scary because of the potential risks, pain, and sometimes the agonizing process of rehabilitation. Plus there are those times when it does not totally achieve its intended purpose. Also, there are those who are ineligible for certain procedures for a variety of valid reasons. Some simply can’t afford cutting edge medical intervention or may not have access to advanced medical help depending on their individual circumstances.
But unlike when dealing with the physical failings of the vulnerable and frail human body, the method that delivers the damaged and deadened human soul from the power and penalty of sin is 100% available, 100% effective, and 100% permanent.
There are literally none that do not qualify fully and unconditionally for the spiritual healing attainable from personal faith in Jesus Christ. (John 6:37) The procedure for the total repair and rehabilitation of every broken soul has always been the same – by faith. (Romans 4:3). God’s reconstructive spiritual heart surgery cannot be replaced or improved upon according to biblical truth. His redemptive plan is pure and perfect. It is all about, and only about, simple saving faith in the finished work of His Son. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross fully atoned for the sins of the world. He alone can repair the relational breach between the Creator and those He created and loves. And only He is capable of dealing with the short and long-term destructive consequences of human sin.
And the great part of the ”good news" is that this requires no insurance, causes no pain, comes as a free gift, and is fully accessible to any who humbly admit their need of forgiveness and the necessity of having their damaged heart repaired and restored by the Great Physician.
To some this all may seem simply too easy to be true. But according to numerous passages in God’s word it is! What Christ did to procure man’s salvation is something we will likely never comprehend. But what He requires to take advantage of it is easy enough even for a child to grasp! “That whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21)
Bill Breckenridge
Friday, September 24, 2010
Who or What Really Parted The Red Sea?
As usual there is no shortage of skeptics when it comes to the Bible and especially the more spectacular and well-known stories contained there. This time, the ‘secular’ explanation’ for a Scriptural miracle comes via the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The head title of the article from their study was “Mother Earth, not Moses, could have parted Red Sea.”
Team member Carl Drews stated that a strong east wind, blowing overnight, could have swept water off a bend where an ancient river is believed to have merged with a coastal lagoon along the Mediterranean Sea. He said that archaeologists and Egyptologists have found little evidence that any events described in Exodus actually happened, but a so-called ‘perfect storm’ could have led to the historical biblically stated escape that saw Israel trapped between the water and Pharaoh's advancing chariots.
Drew and his colleagues used models that showed that near hurricane level winds of 63 mph, lasting for 12 hours, would have pushed back waters estimated at a depth of 6 feet. This in turn could have could have exposed mud flats for four hours, creating a dry passage about 2 to 2.5 miles long and 3 miles wide. That would have been long enough for Moses and his followers to pass through, but precisely short enough to drown the pursuers just behind them. The New Testament reveals the Old Testament event, briefly recording, “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.” (Hebrews 11:29)
The attack on the historical accuracy of the Bible is nothing new. And often such declarations, like this recent one from the NCAR, seem to require nearly as much faith, if not more, than just accepting what Scriptures teach.
For the sake of argument, perhaps there was that rare ‘perfect storm’ with all of the precise ingredients occurring simultaneously. And perhaps this allowed Moses and his followers to pass through, but then it amazingly ended and crashed down on the Egyptian henchmen. But could that not have simply been the hand of an almighty Creator God manipulating nature to achieve His own divine will for His own chosen people? Again it would seem to require even more faith to think that Israel would be at the exact right place at the exact right time for their deliverance and the enemies of God’s people at the exact perfect spot for their demise.
The assault on the Scriptures has been around nearly as long as the Bible has. Attacks were even used as a weapon against the One who authored them when he was tested in the wilderness just before His public ministry on earth began. Luke 4:1-13 reveals how Satan twisted the Old Testament Scriptures to tempt Christ into serving him and to and create doubt about the Lord’s appointed purpose on earth. But God’s Son eventually won the battle and wore the devil down using biblical passages in their true and accurate context. He then went on to win man’s redemption through his life, death and resurrection from the dead – perhaps the most attacked Bible aspect because of its personal and eternal ramifications.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research or any others who take some portion of God’s Word and explain it away in natural, secular or scientific terms create a serious question concerning the entire Bible in general. When chunks of biblical truth are questioned or explained away by whatever means, where does it end?
What then about what the Bible teaches, especially the main issue of man’s salvation? If the stories like the Red Sea, Noah’s Ark, and Jonah and the great fish can be doubted or rationalized away in some fashion, then why not a more crucial and profound passage like 1 Peter 1:17-21? “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
Then, of course, there is that great statement concerning faith and redemption in John 3:16. Would these all-important promises also be suspect? Are they to be taken as literal? Are they taken at face value as absolute life-changing truth?
Again, doubting veracity of the Scriptures has been a familiar theme all along and may even intensify as human history winds down before the return of Christ for His true church. Those who are spiritually prepared for that awesome moment through faith will be ready because they have personally experienced what the Bible teaches in Romans 10:17. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” These will escape eternal judgement because they believe the Bible is God’s perfect and completed manual for this life and the after-life. For these, God’s Word is not in doubt since they trust fully in its accuracy and base their beliefs on passages like the ones found in 2 Timothy 3 and 2 Peter 1.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16) “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)
“Mother Earth, not Moses, could have parted the Red Sea.” Interesting theory? In reality, neither did. It was the God of the Bible using both!
Bill Breckenridge
Team member Carl Drews stated that a strong east wind, blowing overnight, could have swept water off a bend where an ancient river is believed to have merged with a coastal lagoon along the Mediterranean Sea. He said that archaeologists and Egyptologists have found little evidence that any events described in Exodus actually happened, but a so-called ‘perfect storm’ could have led to the historical biblically stated escape that saw Israel trapped between the water and Pharaoh's advancing chariots.
Drew and his colleagues used models that showed that near hurricane level winds of 63 mph, lasting for 12 hours, would have pushed back waters estimated at a depth of 6 feet. This in turn could have could have exposed mud flats for four hours, creating a dry passage about 2 to 2.5 miles long and 3 miles wide. That would have been long enough for Moses and his followers to pass through, but precisely short enough to drown the pursuers just behind them. The New Testament reveals the Old Testament event, briefly recording, “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.” (Hebrews 11:29)
The attack on the historical accuracy of the Bible is nothing new. And often such declarations, like this recent one from the NCAR, seem to require nearly as much faith, if not more, than just accepting what Scriptures teach.
For the sake of argument, perhaps there was that rare ‘perfect storm’ with all of the precise ingredients occurring simultaneously. And perhaps this allowed Moses and his followers to pass through, but then it amazingly ended and crashed down on the Egyptian henchmen. But could that not have simply been the hand of an almighty Creator God manipulating nature to achieve His own divine will for His own chosen people? Again it would seem to require even more faith to think that Israel would be at the exact right place at the exact right time for their deliverance and the enemies of God’s people at the exact perfect spot for their demise.
The assault on the Scriptures has been around nearly as long as the Bible has. Attacks were even used as a weapon against the One who authored them when he was tested in the wilderness just before His public ministry on earth began. Luke 4:1-13 reveals how Satan twisted the Old Testament Scriptures to tempt Christ into serving him and to and create doubt about the Lord’s appointed purpose on earth. But God’s Son eventually won the battle and wore the devil down using biblical passages in their true and accurate context. He then went on to win man’s redemption through his life, death and resurrection from the dead – perhaps the most attacked Bible aspect because of its personal and eternal ramifications.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research or any others who take some portion of God’s Word and explain it away in natural, secular or scientific terms create a serious question concerning the entire Bible in general. When chunks of biblical truth are questioned or explained away by whatever means, where does it end?
What then about what the Bible teaches, especially the main issue of man’s salvation? If the stories like the Red Sea, Noah’s Ark, and Jonah and the great fish can be doubted or rationalized away in some fashion, then why not a more crucial and profound passage like 1 Peter 1:17-21? “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
Then, of course, there is that great statement concerning faith and redemption in John 3:16. Would these all-important promises also be suspect? Are they to be taken as literal? Are they taken at face value as absolute life-changing truth?
Again, doubting veracity of the Scriptures has been a familiar theme all along and may even intensify as human history winds down before the return of Christ for His true church. Those who are spiritually prepared for that awesome moment through faith will be ready because they have personally experienced what the Bible teaches in Romans 10:17. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” These will escape eternal judgement because they believe the Bible is God’s perfect and completed manual for this life and the after-life. For these, God’s Word is not in doubt since they trust fully in its accuracy and base their beliefs on passages like the ones found in 2 Timothy 3 and 2 Peter 1.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16) “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)
“Mother Earth, not Moses, could have parted the Red Sea.” Interesting theory? In reality, neither did. It was the God of the Bible using both!
Bill Breckenridge
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
50 Years in the Shipping Business
Seldom have such compelling flashbacks been concentrated for me in such a brief few hours.
I was honored to be invited as a special speaker at the 50th Year Celebration for Rev. & Mrs. Robert A. Johnson (affectionately known as “Mr. Bob” and “Miss Debbie”). On Saturday afternoon, September 18, they were honored for 50 years of service at New Life Camp—10 under the previous director, who was Bob’s father, and 40 as camp leaders themselves. This month, they turned the leadership over to a new director.
In 1963, I was invited to speak at the camp’s first Junior Counselor Teen Week. Actually, I was a substitute for their first choice, my brother-in-law, who was unable to accept the invitation. He lent me $15 for oil for my motor-worn car, and I drove 500 miles to the very rustic and remote youth camp carved out of a pine tree-covered slope near Raleigh, North Carolina. Nineteen campers heard me speak 15 times, and God blessed that week.
During subsequent years, I was the speaker at Teen Week 29 times as well as at a couple of retreats. In the early years, the facilities were rustic, simple cabins, and meetings were held in a humble screened chapel with no air conditioning. In total, I traveled 30,000 miles and spoke a 450 times, 58 of them at campfire testimony services, some lasting several hours. The decisions for Christ over those years simply staggers my mind.
Focusing all those blessings into a 15-minute message as hundreds of friends, supporters and former campers met in a splendid new gym was a heady challenge. I felt led to illustrate the camp ministry as a shipping operation. Here’s the basic outline:
Ownershipping: “…you are not your own … you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (I Corinthians 6:19 & 20) We belong to God. Bob and Debbie understood that, when we are saved, we have a responsibility to honor the Lord in all we do.
Lordshipping: “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:38) Jesus is Lord not just of life but also of evangelism and outreach.
Stewardshipping: “Let a man so account of us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (1 Cor. 4:1-2) The word “steward” is from the Greek “oikonomia” from which we get economy. Through hard work and economical measures, the camp has been improved from its humble beginnings into a larger complex that includes two full sized gyms and a fabulous in-ground swimming pool. It is prime commercial land worth millions, but they will not sell because the message of the Old Rugged Cross is worth more than all the world’s millions.
Fellowshipping: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) Spontaneous camper-initiated prayer meetings, some with up to forty kids, were often held on the basketball court before breakfast. Life-long friendships were made, and some even met their future spouses. I often prayed with Bob before meetings and was reminded that, as someone once said, “You may forget those you have laughed with, but you never forget those you’ve prayed with.”
I closed by describing the successful shipping line:
It is owned by God the Father and guided by Jesus Christ, the “captain of [our] salvation” (Hebrews 2:10). The ship sailed forth at Pentecost picking up passengers along the way. It regularly sails into port at New Life Camp picking up thousands of passengers through the years. It has wonderful crews who maintain the equipment and tend new arrivals on board. It has fabulous investors who pay for expenses. The seas are often rough, but the compass never fails and the anchor always holds. One day, the passenger list will be complete and, with every cabin full, it will sail into Home port. Until then we keep the lower lights burning so the ship can sail safely on.
As the baton passes to a new camp director, I reminded the audience of a special danger noted in Ecclesiastes 7:10, “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ for you do not inquire wisely concerning this.” The good old days should not form a mere plateau for remembering but a stepping stone to future victories.
After the celebration was over, I interviewed Shannon Scott, who was the MC, for our radio broadcast. That first year I spoke at camp, Shannon surrendered his life to preach. Since then, he has pastored four churches. His current church is just down the road from camp, and the congregation of 600 has sent out 120 full time workers into the global harvest fields. He has a radio ministry and a TV outreach. He conducts five evangelism series in other cities annually, and has a special ministry to Muslims in Nepal and Canada. Shannon is only one of thousands the Lord has touched through the dedicated lives of Bob and Debbie and the ministry at New Life Camp. I’m privileged to have been a part of it through 29 years there.
And it started with me as a substitute speaker with a $15 loan for oil. It reminds me of my great substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18), and of the anointing of the Spirit: “You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” (Psalm 23:5)
Dave Virkler
I was honored to be invited as a special speaker at the 50th Year Celebration for Rev. & Mrs. Robert A. Johnson (affectionately known as “Mr. Bob” and “Miss Debbie”). On Saturday afternoon, September 18, they were honored for 50 years of service at New Life Camp—10 under the previous director, who was Bob’s father, and 40 as camp leaders themselves. This month, they turned the leadership over to a new director.
In 1963, I was invited to speak at the camp’s first Junior Counselor Teen Week. Actually, I was a substitute for their first choice, my brother-in-law, who was unable to accept the invitation. He lent me $15 for oil for my motor-worn car, and I drove 500 miles to the very rustic and remote youth camp carved out of a pine tree-covered slope near Raleigh, North Carolina. Nineteen campers heard me speak 15 times, and God blessed that week.
During subsequent years, I was the speaker at Teen Week 29 times as well as at a couple of retreats. In the early years, the facilities were rustic, simple cabins, and meetings were held in a humble screened chapel with no air conditioning. In total, I traveled 30,000 miles and spoke a 450 times, 58 of them at campfire testimony services, some lasting several hours. The decisions for Christ over those years simply staggers my mind.
Focusing all those blessings into a 15-minute message as hundreds of friends, supporters and former campers met in a splendid new gym was a heady challenge. I felt led to illustrate the camp ministry as a shipping operation. Here’s the basic outline:
Ownershipping: “…you are not your own … you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (I Corinthians 6:19 & 20) We belong to God. Bob and Debbie understood that, when we are saved, we have a responsibility to honor the Lord in all we do.
Lordshipping: “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:38) Jesus is Lord not just of life but also of evangelism and outreach.
Stewardshipping: “Let a man so account of us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (1 Cor. 4:1-2) The word “steward” is from the Greek “oikonomia” from which we get economy. Through hard work and economical measures, the camp has been improved from its humble beginnings into a larger complex that includes two full sized gyms and a fabulous in-ground swimming pool. It is prime commercial land worth millions, but they will not sell because the message of the Old Rugged Cross is worth more than all the world’s millions.
Fellowshipping: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) Spontaneous camper-initiated prayer meetings, some with up to forty kids, were often held on the basketball court before breakfast. Life-long friendships were made, and some even met their future spouses. I often prayed with Bob before meetings and was reminded that, as someone once said, “You may forget those you have laughed with, but you never forget those you’ve prayed with.”
I closed by describing the successful shipping line:
It is owned by God the Father and guided by Jesus Christ, the “captain of [our] salvation” (Hebrews 2:10). The ship sailed forth at Pentecost picking up passengers along the way. It regularly sails into port at New Life Camp picking up thousands of passengers through the years. It has wonderful crews who maintain the equipment and tend new arrivals on board. It has fabulous investors who pay for expenses. The seas are often rough, but the compass never fails and the anchor always holds. One day, the passenger list will be complete and, with every cabin full, it will sail into Home port. Until then we keep the lower lights burning so the ship can sail safely on.
As the baton passes to a new camp director, I reminded the audience of a special danger noted in Ecclesiastes 7:10, “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ for you do not inquire wisely concerning this.” The good old days should not form a mere plateau for remembering but a stepping stone to future victories.
After the celebration was over, I interviewed Shannon Scott, who was the MC, for our radio broadcast. That first year I spoke at camp, Shannon surrendered his life to preach. Since then, he has pastored four churches. His current church is just down the road from camp, and the congregation of 600 has sent out 120 full time workers into the global harvest fields. He has a radio ministry and a TV outreach. He conducts five evangelism series in other cities annually, and has a special ministry to Muslims in Nepal and Canada. Shannon is only one of thousands the Lord has touched through the dedicated lives of Bob and Debbie and the ministry at New Life Camp. I’m privileged to have been a part of it through 29 years there.
And it started with me as a substitute speaker with a $15 loan for oil. It reminds me of my great substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18), and of the anointing of the Spirit: “You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” (Psalm 23:5)
Dave Virkler
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Recession Is Over?
The "The Great Recession" has ended – at least according to the Nationa Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit research organization.The NBER said Monday that the recession, which began in December 2007, actually ended back in June 2009. This is an interesting assessment to say the least!
The recession, that has now supposedly ended, was the longest of any since World War II. Before it, the second worst came in the form of two16-month sessions in 1973-75 and 1981-82. The NBER said it chose the June 2009 date based on data including gross domestic product, employment and personal income. They also said that the recession’s official end some 15 months ago in no way means the economy is healthy and that overall conditions remain well below what would be deemed normal and adequate.
This latest news is likely to shock or puzzle the millions of Americans who continue in economic struggles, who are without employment, and for the scores of businesses that are going or have gone under in the past year or so.
If this latest assessment is accurate, it should begin to reveal itself in more tangible forms than what is seen outwardly at the moment. It would be a blessing for everyday families to begin to see the economic light at the end of the tunnel – even though that light is said to have been shining now for 14+ months. And hopefully the badly shattered consumer confidence will come to an end and help spark the hurting economy once again.
The direction of the U.S. economy is always of great concern to those who reside in this nation. A recession has a lingering and sometimes staggering impact on the middle and lower class. But even the recent andserious downturn rarely seemed to turn the hearts of the nation’s people and leaders towards God. Congress never mentioned any possible spiritual implications or considerations to the country whose currency still says,“In God We Trust”. Perhaps if the recession had been far worse, more would have invited God into the equation. One thing is certain. The situation was apparently not dire enough for most to seek solutions from above.
The NBER normally takes its time in declaring if and when a recession has started or ended since mountains of statistical data must be considered and reconsidered. But amazingly, the devastating and permanent spiritual recession that all mankind enters into at birth, can be fully and instantaneously recognized and repaired according to biblical truth. The new birth is something that ends man’s eternal spiritual crisis at the exact moment anyone expresses saving faith in Jesus Christ. (Acts 16:31,Luke 23:43)
But for some that experience the miraculous new birth, there is sometimes an aspect that parallels the assessing and evaluating when an economic recession start and ends. It takes time and is difficult to see the proper spiritual results come to the surface.
The Bible stresses to new Christians the need to grow and mature in their faith. But the tendency for many is to remain spiritually immature, since growth requires effort and is not automatic. Peter addressed that issuein 2 Peter 3:18 when he wrote, “but grow in the grace and knowledge ofour Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Both he and the Apostle Paul stressed to all new believers to move on from the baby stages of the faith as represented by the milk of God’s Word. Both wrote of a higher caliber of spiritual food – the biblical diet of "meat" that leads to spiritual growth, maturity, and completeness. (1 Peter 1:22, 1Corinthians 3:1)
America’s greatest need is not economic but spiritual. And if her people ever experience a serious revival, and would take seriously that motto seen on their money, they would soon find money would not be a problem. More importantly, economic success and security would no longer be their main priority! (1 Timothy 6:10)
The official recession may be over and perhaps the signs will soon become more evident. But at the same time, America’s economic woes remain even in a worse form. Some forget that she has borrowed herself into a staggering debt by owing trillions to foreign powers along with long-term interest rates beyond the minds of mere mortals. And this does not even consider the crumbling moral foundations of the culture in desperate need of repair and renewal. America is still in great trouble. But thereis still a great hope for rescue!
Hopefully the nation with the great Christian heritage will recognize that the lasting solutions to all problems, individual or corporate,begin with a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Hopefully a much-needed revival will soon begin and turn the most blessed nation on earth back to her former glory, sparked by those who already belong to God. And hopefully the often quoted words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 will come to mean far more than does the motto on America’s coinage at this hour.
But if this is to ever occur, the responsibility has been placed squarely at the feet of the church - those who know, obey, and honor the God of their salvation. Hopefully a time will soon come when Christians will not have to look back and long for "The Good Old Days". Instead there will come a time when they will be gazing back at the days when their crumbling country had a significant spiritual awakening and are enjoying the blessings of God promised through the words of the prophet.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Bill Breckenridge
The recession, that has now supposedly ended, was the longest of any since World War II. Before it, the second worst came in the form of two16-month sessions in 1973-75 and 1981-82. The NBER said it chose the June 2009 date based on data including gross domestic product, employment and personal income. They also said that the recession’s official end some 15 months ago in no way means the economy is healthy and that overall conditions remain well below what would be deemed normal and adequate.
This latest news is likely to shock or puzzle the millions of Americans who continue in economic struggles, who are without employment, and for the scores of businesses that are going or have gone under in the past year or so.
If this latest assessment is accurate, it should begin to reveal itself in more tangible forms than what is seen outwardly at the moment. It would be a blessing for everyday families to begin to see the economic light at the end of the tunnel – even though that light is said to have been shining now for 14+ months. And hopefully the badly shattered consumer confidence will come to an end and help spark the hurting economy once again.
The direction of the U.S. economy is always of great concern to those who reside in this nation. A recession has a lingering and sometimes staggering impact on the middle and lower class. But even the recent andserious downturn rarely seemed to turn the hearts of the nation’s people and leaders towards God. Congress never mentioned any possible spiritual implications or considerations to the country whose currency still says,“In God We Trust”. Perhaps if the recession had been far worse, more would have invited God into the equation. One thing is certain. The situation was apparently not dire enough for most to seek solutions from above.
The NBER normally takes its time in declaring if and when a recession has started or ended since mountains of statistical data must be considered and reconsidered. But amazingly, the devastating and permanent spiritual recession that all mankind enters into at birth, can be fully and instantaneously recognized and repaired according to biblical truth. The new birth is something that ends man’s eternal spiritual crisis at the exact moment anyone expresses saving faith in Jesus Christ. (Acts 16:31,Luke 23:43)
But for some that experience the miraculous new birth, there is sometimes an aspect that parallels the assessing and evaluating when an economic recession start and ends. It takes time and is difficult to see the proper spiritual results come to the surface.
The Bible stresses to new Christians the need to grow and mature in their faith. But the tendency for many is to remain spiritually immature, since growth requires effort and is not automatic. Peter addressed that issuein 2 Peter 3:18 when he wrote, “but grow in the grace and knowledge ofour Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Both he and the Apostle Paul stressed to all new believers to move on from the baby stages of the faith as represented by the milk of God’s Word. Both wrote of a higher caliber of spiritual food – the biblical diet of "meat" that leads to spiritual growth, maturity, and completeness. (1 Peter 1:22, 1Corinthians 3:1)
America’s greatest need is not economic but spiritual. And if her people ever experience a serious revival, and would take seriously that motto seen on their money, they would soon find money would not be a problem. More importantly, economic success and security would no longer be their main priority! (1 Timothy 6:10)
The official recession may be over and perhaps the signs will soon become more evident. But at the same time, America’s economic woes remain even in a worse form. Some forget that she has borrowed herself into a staggering debt by owing trillions to foreign powers along with long-term interest rates beyond the minds of mere mortals. And this does not even consider the crumbling moral foundations of the culture in desperate need of repair and renewal. America is still in great trouble. But thereis still a great hope for rescue!
Hopefully the nation with the great Christian heritage will recognize that the lasting solutions to all problems, individual or corporate,begin with a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Hopefully a much-needed revival will soon begin and turn the most blessed nation on earth back to her former glory, sparked by those who already belong to God. And hopefully the often quoted words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 will come to mean far more than does the motto on America’s coinage at this hour.
But if this is to ever occur, the responsibility has been placed squarely at the feet of the church - those who know, obey, and honor the God of their salvation. Hopefully a time will soon come when Christians will not have to look back and long for "The Good Old Days". Instead there will come a time when they will be gazing back at the days when their crumbling country had a significant spiritual awakening and are enjoying the blessings of God promised through the words of the prophet.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Bill Breckenridge
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