Christ Came Down At Christmas

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Holiday

At the close of the First World War, Prince Edward of Britain visited a hospital that was caring for thirty-six of Britain’s greatest war heroes. The Prince was taken first to a ward of twenty-four men. Before leaving, he asked, “Are there not others?” The nurse responded in the affirmative, but she had questioned whether or not the Prince wanted to see those who were more seriously wounded. Demanding to see them all, he was taken to another room of eleven men. The Prince was stunned at the awful condition of these noble defenders to the Crown. He was moves to tears as he offered each and deepest appreciation for his noble service.

Again upon leaving the room the Prince remarked that if he had counted right, there was still one more. The nurse remonstrated rather strongly about seeing the last one since that veteran was in isolation and his condition was so critical. The Prince demanded a visit. The nurse protested that the situation of the man might truly be unbearable to the royal visitor. Edward would not be dissuaded and was soon standing by the bedside of the dying hero. He was not prepared, however, for what he saw. The brave soldier had taken the worst of a fiery explosion. Much of his body had been either blown or burned away. His face was disfigured beyond recognition. The stench of death lay heavy in the room. The Prince shuddered as a wave of horror swept over his soul from what he saw.

However, after a moment to regain himself, the Prince leaned over the bed, and calling the soldiers name, told him who he was. The old warrior’s eyes twitched; and the stub of an arm on the right side of his body jumped in an effort to salute. Prince Edward stooped down in the tenderest tones poured out the deepest thanks on behalf of his country. Then stooping lower, he kissed the disfigured brow of the dying soldier. This was a condescending moment for the noble Prince of the English throne.

There is a greater One, however, who has stooped far lower to plant the kiss of redemption upon the execrable and wretched brow of lost humanity. Oh what incomparable condescension! The King of Glory came down. He wrapped himself in the fading garment of our humanity and pitched his fleshy tent in silence on straw in a stable under a star. Why did he come? He came to save! How would he save? By identifying completely with our humanity, yet remaining the sinless Son of God.

You see, God had created man but he had never been a man. He had watched men toil, but he had never blistered his own hands with a carpenter’s tool. He had never felt the onslaught of the tempter, or had his soul been pierced with the sorrows of life. He had seen men sink into the hopeless depths of the grave, but He had never felt the cold grip of death or spread His omnipotent shoulders on the bottom of a sepulcher. But He would yield Himself to be judged and unjustly condemned at Pilate’s bar, so that we might be acquitted at the tribunal of heaven. He took our place and was crucified as a despicable wretch, so that rebellious sinners might be reconciled to God and sent forth as kings and priests. He suffered the sting of death, yet He broke the bars of the grave so that we might cry, “O death where is thy sting? Oh grave where is thy victory?”

Why did Christ come down? He came down that His mysterious Incarnation might reunite us to God; that His Atonement would purchase our justification; that his death would become the spring of our eternal life; that His resurrection would be the pledge of our glory; and His ascension the triumph of our souls!

Hallelujah! Christ came down at Christmas!

The Security of Footsteps In Prayer

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Family / Marriage, Prayer

The president’s home here at GBS is a one-hundred-year-old house with a basement, two floors for living and a third-floor attic. Needing a place for my “prayer closet,” I tidied up a corner room in the attic that has three small windows overlooking the campus. I was elated with my little chamber because it was the one place in the house that I could go that gave me both complete solitude and the confidence that no one could hear anything as I discoursed with the Master. I did know that my prayer room was directly above my son’s bedroom. I didn’t know that with every step I took (I walk when I pray) a corresponding squeak could be heard by my son below.

A few days ago I was up in my room praying at an unusual time. Josh happened to be in his bedroom studying. When I came down, he asked in a concerned voice if something was wrong or if I was preaching that night.

With my curiosity aroused, I simply responded, “Why do you ask, son?”

“Well,” he said, “I just heard the floor squeaking in the prayer room.”

Apologetically I said, “I hope I didn’t disturb you!”

He responded with words that I will take with me to my grave. “Oh, no, Dad! It makes us feel safe when we hear you up there.”

My own childhood was marked by a praying mother. My memories of growing up on a small farm are filled with the sounds and scenes of Mother praying. Many were the times that I would follow the sound of her voice to a fallen log at the end of the woods, or to a cattle trough behind the old barn, only to find her in deep communion with God. That upturned face, bathed with tears, is etched on my mind’s eye forever. That familiar voice, interceding for her family, still rings in my ears as if I were a boy again hiding in the shadows of that old barn. Death has stilled her voice, but the legacy of her prayer life lives on.

Parents, are you praying? There is no experience of conversion or any work of grace, which will provide immunity against the lack of prayer. When prayer fades out, power fades out. If intercession ceases, spiritual security in the home is lost. We are as spiritual as we are prayerful – no more, no less.

Our children need to hear the steps of Mom and Dad in prayer or on the way to prayer. I heard them, and I want my boys to hear them, so that someday they will give their children “the security of footsteps in prayer.”

God Goes Where He’s Wanted

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles

In his most recent book, What Good is God, Phillip Yancey makes a remarkable observation about God’s work in the world. He says, “I am struck by the phenomenon of God ‘moving’– not in some mystical sense but geographically moving from one part of the world to another.” He goes on to note that the Apostle Paul addressed his epistles to churches that were in the Middle East; yet today, to find them one would need an archaeologist as a guide. The Christian faith spread westward across Europe into Britain and Ireland, reigning there for over 1000 years. But today, though much of the architecture still stands, less than 3 percent of the population goes to church. In time, the Christian faith spread to the Americas where a lively, yet dimming, presence remains. In recent years the greatest advance has been in Africa and parts of Asia. So much so that now less than a third of Christians come from Europe and North America. However, today the explosive growth of Christianity is in China! There are some 20,000 conversions a day happening behind the bamboo curtain.

Yancey asks the rhetorical questions, “Why are there so many formerly Christian countries? Why does it appear that Christianity has hop scotched around the globe”? His answer is amazing. He says, “I’ve concluded that God goes where he’s wanted. And when a society feels less need for faith, God quietly moves on, to a place that senses more need.”

Not only do I believe that Yancey is right, I believe the Biblical record supports that assertion. The Bible repeatedly reveals a God that always makes Himself available without ever pushing His way into our lives. He patiently waits to be invited. Why? He wants to be wanted! Mark 6 tells the story of the disciples at sea in the midst of a storm, “and Jesus saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by” but they cried out to Him in their distress and He came to their rescue. Luke 24 recounts the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and says that when “they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: he made as though he would have gone further, but they constrained him, saying, Abide with us . . . and he went in to tarry with them.”   One of the final pictures we see of Jesus is Him standing at a door knocking, saying, “if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Conversely it is true that when God is no longer needed or wanted He moves on. The Old Testament narratives of the nation of Israel make this very clear. Israel had suffered in Egypt under the yoke of slavery for almost 400 years. Their life was so bitter that they, “sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage”. God miraculously delivered them from Pharaoh’s hand and started them on an amazing journey through the desert to a land of “milk and honey.” During the years of wilderness wandering they were forced to depend on God. He fed them, clothed them and planned their daily itinerary. He hovered over them in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They went on to conquer the land and build lasting cities. They grew strong, prosperous and plump—and promptly forgot all about God! And the short step from not needing Him to not wanting Him was finally taken. So an unwanted God withdraws. In His absence Israel is overrun by her enemies, disgraced by foreign gods, taken into captivity and finally scattered to the ends of the earth. This is the story of individuals and nations that no longer want God.

The good news is that God is willing to come back! I Samuel chapter 7 tells the story of a defeated Israel languishing under the heavy hand of the Philistines and suffering the indignities of their heathen worship. Verse two describes the mood of the nation, “. . . the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.” During these bitter years there began to develop a better mind in the children of Israel. Their conscience began to stir; their soul began to be weary; and there arose a long and sorrowful cry after the Lord. They wanted God once again! And the God who wants to be wanted responded to their cry with revival and renewal!

If we are enjoying His presence in our lives it’s because we want Him in our lives. If He seems far away then remember the words of Jeremiah, “. . . You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD”. God goes where He is wanted!

 

 

The Book That Stands Alone

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Theology

I am a lover of good books and highly value many that are on my shelves! But the Bible stands alone from all other books in my life! I believe it to be the inspired, inerrant, infallible and authoritative Word of God. It is the single most important source of my understanding of God and all of His creation. It shapes my faith, guides my life and gives me a lens in which to view and understand the world around me. It is the book that God has chosen to reveal the way to Heaven. I agree with the venerable John Wesley when he said, “O give me that book!   At any price, give me that book of God”.

The Bible stands alone in its origin. It was written over a span of 1500 years by 40 different authors from all walks of life (kings, philosophers, fisherman, poets, statesmen, farmers, physicians and scholars). It was written on three different continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) from palaces, dungeons and wilderness haunts, during times of war, peace, prosperity and famine. Composed on stone, clay, papyrus, and parchment, those original manuscripts were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit without contradiction or error – thus providing for us God’s holy Word.

It stands alone as the mind of God. Scripture is indeed the revelation of God’s mind. It is certainly not His entire mind but it is all that He has chosen to share. If we are to think as God thinks; if we are to see life as He sees life; then we must saturate our minds with scripture. The Apostle Paul admonished the Roman Christians to readjust their thinking by the “renewing of your mind” using the Bible as the means to do so.

Scripture stands alone as the source for absolute truth. The Bible is the only reliable moral compass that we have. We are moral and spiritual creatures living in a world that is controlled by moral and spiritual values. The concepts of good and evil are innate in our human psyche; yet sin has distorted our understanding of truth as well as disabled our ability to live it. We cannot, either individually or collectively, decide what truth is or what is to be accepted as a true standard for moral behavior without the transcendent absolute truths that are given to us in Scripture. To deny Scripture as the standard for absolute truth is to remove any absolute standard for moral behavior and reasoning.

The Bible stands alone in its ability to change the course of history as well as the lives of those who live that history out. A simple verse of scripture, quickened to the heart by the Holy Spirit, can radically alter the course of a life and a nation – writing a new future for both! No other spoken word has such impact. No other book has such power. “Oh, give me that Book! At any price, give me the Book of God”.

We Are Becoming What We Love

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Family / Marriage, Ministry, Theology

We are all in a constant state of movement. Ask any parent and they will tell you their tumbling little toddler is running rapidly toward becoming a towering adult. Ask any teacher and they will tell you that the first grader struggling to read small words and add simple figures will someday be reading the classics and doing calculus. On the other hand, ask the doctor about aging, and he will tell you that we are moving away from strength to weakness, and from life to death. For the Christian, Paul says we are, “being changed from glory to glory.” (II Cor. 3:18)

We are all in the process of becoming. We have moved from what we were and are now moving toward what we shall be. The troubling thought about this is not that we are moving, but what we are moving toward. Life refuses to let us be still. We are ascending or descending – mounting up or sinking down.

An important question in this process is, “What determines our direction?” According to A.W. Tozer, “we are becoming what we love. We are to a large degree the sum of our loves and we will of moral necessity grow into the image of what we love most.”

No wonder the greatest Biblical commandment admonishes us to, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37) Jesus infers this in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart be also.” (Matt. 6:21)

You and I are being molded by our affinities and shaped by the things we love. This is the reason behind much of the drift, compromise and worldliness that we see happening all around us. Much of what people call a new found freedom in Christ is nothing more than an unrestrained display of a deep love for this present world.

The law of moral affinity will either cause us to reflect Biblical values in our activities, attitudes and adornment or else will mold us into something that reflects the values of this fallen world. Both Jezebel and Judas were at one time pink-cheeked innocent children, but they set their affections on the wrong things and were carried downstream by a moral undertow. There is no middle ground. It’s not where you are at this moment; it is where you’re moving. You are becoming what you love!