Days of Faith.

BIBLE VERSES FOR THOUGHT

I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.

Psalm 122: 1, ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10: 24-25, ESV

Deciphering the statistics that comprise the religious landscape of the United States is complex and yes, perplexing. Americans identify their religious preferences in the following broad numbers---

Christian 70.6%

Jewish 1.9%

Muslim .9%

Other world religions 1.7%

Uncertain .6%

None 22.0%

Aggregate 97.7%

The same statisticians estimate that 54% of Americans attend religious services a few times a year while 45% attend at least monthly. There is a wide discrepancy in the number of people who hold religious views and those who attend religious services. And, these variances may explain the declines in American moral and ethical standards. Attending religious services and celebrating days of faith are avenues of encountering eternal truth. They should be observed regularly.

God's assessment that "it is not good that man should be alone" (see Genesis 2:18) resulted in the creation of man and woman and served as the foundational basis for human relationships. Family was the immediate and first institution. Clans, tribes, and nationalities became the context for expressing our need for others. As faith developed under the chosen nation of Israel, religious expression became one of the group dynamics to influence our world. Faith was not seen as a singular, personal life experience but was instituted in congregations and assemblies. Through history these gatherings long remembered the occasions and events that marked their historical development. The religious groups above acknowledge and celebrate their spiritual milestones---Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and others in the Hebrew tradition; Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha, Ramadan, and more primary among the Muslims; Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and others among the Christian populations.

That is not to say that personal, individual worship, prayer, devotions, study, service, fellowship, and other religious practices are prohibited. But, the hallmarks of faith, worship, training, what we call discipleship, and other meaningful religious experiences were to be practiced in group settings. Church, synagogue, and mosque were the guardians of their specific histories and traditions.

Holding a Christian worldview my faith is practiced in a congregational setting at least every Sunday, and in private devotions, Bible study, prayer, and Christian service through the week. The special observances of holy communion, and those days of remembrance are essential in grasping God's purpose for my life, the truth of his eternal love, and the plan of redemption that marked me as his. They are always times of personal spiritual reflection and renewed commitment to the values that have guided millions of believers throughout history. Each leaves me marveling at God's amazing grace, the grace that saves and sustains every believer.

In just a few weeks we will remember Christ's entrance into Jerusalem, his passion on the cross, and celebrate his glorious resurrection. Millions around the world will mark these days with reverent worship and great joy. We should observe them as reminders of God's eternal plan, and as a witness to the world around us of his saving grace. That one would give his life for his friends is perhaps the most awesome truth that is refreshed in this season every year.

They are days of faith to grow and deepen us in his care.

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17,166 days

BIBLE VERSES FOR THOUGHT

It is not good that man should be alone. Genesis 2:18, ESV

Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 19: 4-6, ESV

OK, yes, today Harriet and I are celebrating our 47th wedding anniversary. That she has put up with me for 17,166 days, or 2,452 weeks, or 563.96 months, is evidence of her spiritual maturity and discipline. She is grace filled, steadfast, and a model of patient endurance. In forty-seven years she has never threatened to leave me. Of course, there have been many occasions when she wanted to choke me. Still, she has demonstrated the faith and character of that biblical bride which has been her model since that Saturday years ago---the bride of Christ. Today, as we remember that day and this milestone my personal gratitude extends to God for his guidance and to Harriet for her long-suffering heart.

Sharing a Christian worldview from the very beginning, we have sought to consider our marriage as one of those made in heaven. Every marriage is not. We humans have the natural tendency to make important decisions through physical and emotional grids that determine the suitability of one life partner over many others. God's intention, however, was that marriage would provide the foundational framework of society. In the creation accounts marriage was the first of God's institutions and provided the humans in the Garden of Eden with a new context of life, the context of us. It was to be God's design for the common good, propagation of the species, and the education and training of children. Marriage was to be the standard for family life in society. For these many generations since creation marriage has been a unifying force in nearly every culture around the globe.

That was all then, and this is now. Today those living outside the traditional Theistic worldviews---Christianity, Judaism, Islam---have broadened the ideals of marriage substantially. All fifty states permit legal marriage unions between people of the same sex. Several religious organizations and denominations have softened their demand that marriage could only occur in male-female relationships. Meaning, that even among the religious cohorts marriage is being redefined. While divorce statistics are difficult to decipher, the divorce rate has declined in the United States over the last two or three decades. Today, millennials are marrying later, usually after living together and testing the dynamics of life partnership.

So, like many other societal standards, the institution of marriage as designed by our Creator God is under significant human revision. That's why celebrating anniversaries, at least in my opinion, are important for our families and society. They celebrate God's intention for humankind and herald the union of one man and one woman joined for life. They are also occasions for remembering the blessed moments one couple can experience over the years, and for reflection about those that were more difficult and trying. These anniversaries remind us of that truth spoken by God in creation---it is indeed not good that man should be alone.

Our grandson told us that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 porcupines, actually concubines. Of course Solomon also concluded that most of life was meaningless, maybe even his many marriages to foreign princesses. In his evaluation of life, he wrote---

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:

If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and

has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how

can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend

themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12, ESV

Was he talking about marriage? Friendship? Relationships in general? Well his words certainly apply to marriage. The third strand he references? Surely God. Without that third strand I'm wondering if Harriet could have put up with me for 17,166 days.

17,166 days. Happy anniversary Harriet. Thank you, And, thank God.

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Happy birthday, indeed!

BIBLE VERSE FOR THOUGHT

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12, ESV

These old memory synapses can't remember anything about the day of my birth. It's mostly hearsay, what I know of it. Our dear mother told me the doctor hoisted me up by the feet, gave me a whack on the behind, and I screamed out my first breaths. She also told me I uttered my first words in the second breath---"Where's the cake?" And, yes, how I do love a good piece of cake. There have been seventy birthdays since October 27, 1949. For the most part, they have been days that have brightened my life. Each has been a short break from the routines that so easily capture us. On most occasions there have been moments of reflection too, remembering the joys and blessings of life, and being grateful for all of them.

David's prayer for God to teach him to number his days wasn't a request for math lessons. Reading through the historical records of the Old Testament affirms that King David already knew how to count. A recurring theme in the Psalms is the brevity of life: a handbreadth (Psalm 39:5); a wind that passes (Psalm 78:39); a sigh (Psalm 90:9); grass that withers or a flower in the field (Psalm 103: 15-16); a breath or passing shadow (Psalm 144:4); among others. Learning to number his days involved God teaching him the value of human life and providing instruction about living it wisely.

A Christian worldview understands life as a precious gift from God. Again, from the pen of King David we read God's word about the miracle of birth and the value of every life---

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my

soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in

secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed

substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for

me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139: 13-16, ESV

We should celebrate birthdays because each one is a reminder of God's intention for us. There is truth in the facts of life, however, that every life isn't a piece of cake. I love what humorist Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) said years ago---"If life is a bowl of cherries, then why am I always in the pits?" A world occupied by sinful, self-absorbed humans isn't always a picture of wise living. Even more, our culture has de-valued human life in our casual references to the 61.6 million abortions in the United States since 1973. What is more, murder is a yawn in many lawless areas of our nation, along with dozens of other crimes against humanity. Suddenly, life has little value in our world.

So, celebrating a birthday should be an occasion of joy and blessing, a reminder that life matters, and that a birthday acknowledges another year of this precious gift. As a time of reflection and thought, a birthday should involve moments of assessment and evaluation regarding the wisdom of the year being celebrated. Surely there are pluses and minuses in such a review of the previous year. Still, that we are experiencing another birthday affirms that we've been blessed with this marvelous gift another year. That is a blessing. And, on these special days, regardless of the circumstances of the moment, with King David, we should pray, "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom".

Someone out there is celebrating a birthday today. The experts down in the demographics department estimate that 17.7 million people experience a birthday every single day. Let's wish all them, happy birthday, indeed, knowing that it is another day of this blessed gift of life.

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