A The Baptist Deacon

Thou shalt not commit adultery. ~ Exodus 20:14 ~ The Seventh Commandment.

Warning… the following post contains the truth. The world needs to hear the truth! The world needs to know that sin is the same today as it was years ago. God has not changed! I have asked before and I will ask again today, can you handle the truth?

This commandment concerns chastity, both physical and mental and is not limited too just the mere definition of the word. It also involves whatever we do, speak, condone and look at if in pollutes the mind. It involves our relationships whether it is between man and woman, man - man or woman - woman.  It is sin and we must call it what it is. A man and a man or woman and a woman is a form of adultery even if some states now recognize marriage by same sex couples. Why? The answer is because it pollutes the mind and it is wrong it is sin – call it what it is.  I knew it was wrong and I called it sin, but I had not thought about it being adultery, or more precise “fornication”. Wow! What God reveals if we listen!

What else pollutes the mind? Men is it that beautiful woman you just saw walk by? Women is it that handsome man at the pool? Is it the images you just saw on another website? Is it that person (that is not your spouse) that you are having a little fling with? I saw an ad on a news site a few days ago advertising a dating site for married people. Now do not be confused here, it is not a dating service for you and your spouse.  What is the world coming too? Again call it what it is – it is sin.

Read what Jesus said in Matthew 5: 27 -28 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Also look at what Jesus said in Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. Mark 10:11 – 12 reads And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. Can this be any more plain? These are the words of Jesus. Are we going to discount anything that Jesus said? How many people do we see divorcing just because they do not want to work on the relationship? There is only one reason given by Jesus for a divorce and I can find no prevision for remarriage, still more than half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. These people will almost always remarry and this is adultery.  Again call it what it is.

I hope and pray you were able to read today’s post without offence, if not all I can say is take it up with God because I used his Holy Word as my instruction and guidance as I always do. I make no apologies for the truth. Can you handle the truth?

God Bless You!

Thou shalt not kill. ~ Exodus 20:13 ~ The Sixth Commandment.

This is a four word commandment. It is very simple and easy to understand or is it? This particular commandment even though it only has four words is a lot bigger and harder to understand than you might think. 

Just about any given day you can turn on the news and one of the headlines will be man or woman found murdered.  Another headline may be a member of the One – Hundred and First Airborne (or any branch in the military) killed in Afghanistan (or somewhere else in the world) today. There is a difference in the two examples I just gave.

First of all when we referrer to “kill” or “thou shalt not kill” the bible is speaking about cold blooded murder. The bible records the first murder in Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. God did not hold Cain guiltless look at verses 11 and 12: And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

As we are studying the Ten Commandments we must keep in mind that this is only the beginning. The law given by God is more complex than what we are studying. There are consequences for breaking any law. My state (Tennessee… VOLS) has the death penalty, which we use.

You may be thinking, isn’t the death penalty murder? The answer is no, the death penalty is not murder. Genesis 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.  This was from Noah’s time and the sixth commandment expands and explains. This establishment of capital punishment, administered judicially by man, has never been changed or withdrawn. It is still God's law today and forms the basic authorization of the institution of human government. ~ KJV Defenders Notes.

 Exodus 21:12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. If you will read several verses past the 12^th you will see that murder is not the only offence that carries the penalty of death. In my last post on the previous commandment, we studied honoring your parents. Did you realize that disobedience such as smiting or cursing your parents also carried a penalty of death? You need to read a little further than just the 12^th verse just to see what you could do under the law that carried the death penalty.

I also mentioned the military, aren’t there deaths, or lives they take in service to be considered murder? My answer is not to make anyone mad or to hurt feeling, but it is not murder to fight for ones country. It has to be considered as a form of self defense, which is acceptable. There will be war and rumors of war until Jesus comes back. There will continue to be men and women killed in wars.

This will sum the sixth commandment up: The sixth commandment requires that we regard the life and the safety of others as we do our own. Magistrates and their officers, and witnesses testifying the truth, do not break this command. Self-defence is lawful; but much which is not deemed murder by the laws of man, is such before God. Furious passions, stirred up by anger or by drunkenness, are no excuse: more guilty is murder in duels, which is a horrible effect of a haughty, revengeful spirit. All fighting, whether for wages, for renown, or out of anger and malice, breaks this command, and the bloodshed therein is murder. To tempt men to vice and crimes which shorten life, may be included. Misconduct, such as may break the heart, or shorten the lives of parents, wives, or other relatives, is a breach of this command. This command forbids all envy, malice, hatred, or anger, all provoking or insulting language. The destruction of our own lives is here forbidden. This commandment requires a spirit of kindness, longsuffering, and forgiveness. ~ Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

God Bless You!

To be continued…

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20:12 ~ The Fifth Commandment.

Here we will study the 5^th commandment. The first thing that comes to my mind is what a lesson there is in this commandment and how contrary it is to the way the world acts.

Honor (spelled differently above) thy father and thy mother, is a commandment for all of us, from our birth until our death.  We should honor our parents with the way we act even after they are gone. I owe a great deal of my character today to my parents.

Proverbs teaches us that we should train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. http://deaconfarley.christianblogsites.com/blog/post/2008/04/11/train-up-a-child. This puts it on the parent. I want my children to honor there mother and I. In order for that to happen I must first have there respect. It is my job, not the school teacher, the Sunday school teacher or the pastor, but my job to teach my children to the best of my ability.

I’m sure you have been in a store at one time or another when there have been unruly children, causing problems for there parents. They say I want this, or I want that, then Momma will say no you can’t have this or that. What happens next? The child (as most children will do) will throw a tantrum in the store. Then Momma (or Daddy) will reluctantly give in, in order to restore order or make the child happy.   

Now I want you to look at my childhood.  If I was in a store with Momma and I asked for something if she said no that was the end of it. Why? Because I knew what would happen. Let me explain as I get to my point today. It wasn’t so much that I was afraid of Momma or that she might smack my hands or worse, but I had been taught to respect her, and besides if I had made her mad enough to tell Dad, well let me just say it was enough to make sure I always respected and honored her.

When I stepped out of line I was corrected. I have told people before that I at the time thought they were going to kill me and that it was abuse, but looking back it was neither. It was needed correction, that’s right needed. It made me what I am.

Years ago it was common to see a mother spank her child in a store, or anywhere as far as that goes if the child was misbehaving. What about today? It is a rare thing to see a child corrected in public. Parents are afraid to correct there child in public. There are so many people out there that say don’t spank a child or if you spank that child I’m going to call child services its abuse. They say to put the child in time out.  Well hello, have you seen the mess the world is in because of time out? Now if you are one of these people that think time out is the best option, I pray your eyes will be opened. There is a difference between abuse and correction.

A child that is corrected in the proper way will learn from it. They will learn to honor there parents, and when they become parents themselves, they will have an example to teach their children.

Lets look at the second part of the commandment; that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

We will see with the study of the sixth commandment that there is a penalty for disobedience. That penalty is death and yes disobeying your parents carried the penalty of death under the law.  Aren’t you glad that we are no longer under the law?  That thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. What a promise from God. Obedience or in this case obeying your parents means your days may be long upon the land.

Let us fast forward to today, we are under  grace, there is however a comparison we can make with this commandment from the law to grace. Salvation (obedience) means our days will be extended eternally with one eternal day, when we shed this flesh.  We will be in a place to serve and worship our Heavenly Father and the Son with eternal peace and joy. What a great reward!

The lost (disobedient) will one day shed this flesh as well. There one eternal day will be filled with torment, pain, unhappiness in a place called the Lake of Fire.  Why? Because they were not obedient to the will of God, but chose to stay in the world, where there is pleasure in sin for a season. The penalty is death. This is referred to as the second death.

 We may be under grace today, but the law with the Ten Commandments are a good rule of thumb for us to go by.

God Bless You!

To be continued…

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20:12 ~ The Fifth Commandment.

Here we will study the 5^th commandment. The first thing that comes to my mind is what a lesson there is in this commandment and how contrary it is to the way the world acts.

Honor (spelled differently above) thy father and thy mother, is a commandment for all of us, from our birth until our death.  We should honor our parents with the way we act even after they are gone. I owe a great deal of my character today to my parents.

Proverbs teaches us that we should train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. http://deaconfarley.christianblogsites.com/blog/post/2008/04/11/train-up-a-child. This puts it on the parent. I want my children to honor there mother and I. In order for that to happen I must first have there respect. It is my job, not the school teacher, the Sunday school teacher or the pastor, but my job to teach my children to the best of my ability.

I’m sure you have been in a store at one time or another when there have been unruly children, causing problems for there parents. They say I want this, or I want that, then Momma will say no you can’t have this or that. What happens next? The child (as most children will do) will throw a tantrum in the store. Then Momma (or Daddy) will reluctantly give in, in order to restore order or make the child happy.   

Now I want you to look at my childhood.  If I was in a store with Momma and I asked for something if she said no that was the end of it. Why? Because I knew what would happen. Let me explain as I get to my point today. It wasn’t so much that I was afraid of Momma or that she might smack my hands or worse, but I had been taught to respect her, and besides if I had made her mad enough to tell Dad, well let me just say it was enough to make sure I always respected and honored her.

When I stepped out of line I was corrected. I have told people before that I at the time thought they were going to kill me and that it was abuse, but looking back it was neither. It was needed correction, that’s right needed. It made me what I am.

Years ago it was common to see a mother spank her child in a store, or anywhere as far as that goes if the child was misbehaving. What about today? It is a rare thing to see a child corrected in public. Parents are afraid to correct there child in public. There are so many people out there that say don’t spank a child or if you spank that child I’m going to call child services its abuse. They say to put the child in time out.  Well hello, have you seen the mess the world is in because of time out? Now if you are one of these people that think time out is the best option, I pray your eyes will be opened. There is a difference between abuse and correction.

A child that is corrected in the proper way will learn from it. They will learn to honor there parents, and when they become parents themselves, they will have an example to teach their children.

Lets look at the second part of the commandment; that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

We will see with the study of the sixth commandment that there is a penalty for disobedience. That penalty is death and yes disobeying your parents carried the penalty of death under the law.  Aren’t you glad that we are no longer under the law?  That thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. What a promise from God. Obedience or in this case obeying your parents means your days may be long upon the land.

Let us fast forward to today, we are under the grace, there is howerver a comparison we can make with this commandment from the law to grace. Salvation (obedience) means our days will be extended eternally with one eternal day, when we shed this flesh.  We will be in a place to serve and worship our Heavenly Father and the Son with eternal peace and joy. What a great reward!

The lost (disobedient) will one day shed this flesh as well. There one eternal day will be filled with torment, pain, unhappiness in a place called the Lake of Fire.  Why? Because they were not obedient to the will of God, but chose to stay in the world, where there is pleasure in sin for a season. The penalty is death. This is referred to as the second death.

 We may be under grace today, but the law with the Ten Commandments are a good rule of thumb for us to go by.

God Bless You!

To be continued…

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  ⁹Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁰But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: ¹¹For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20: 8 – 11

As we continue with this study we will now turn our attention to the fourth commandment. This continues to go hand in hand with what we have studied so far and I believe is still practical for today.  Do not stop reading even if you are afraid I am going to get on your toes, after all it is not necessarily me because it is in the Word of God.

To start with what does the word Sabbath mean? Wikipedia defines it as a weekly day of rest and/or time of worship that is observed in any of several faiths.

For the majority of Christian people the Sabbath is now observed on the first day of the week. I’m not sure exactly when we changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, but does it matter? We have set aside one day as our Sabbath in order to serve God or have we?

This commandment plainly states thou shalt not do any work, ect… For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. It goes on to say the Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it. God intended for us to rest as he blessed the Sabbath day.

The form of the fourth commandment, "Remember," shows that it was not now first given, but was known by the people before. One day in seven is to be kept holy. Six days are allotted to worldly business, but not so as to neglect the service of God, and the care of our souls. ~ Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

I can remember a time in my youth that if you traveled to town on Sunday you could only find a few businesses open. It was mostly filling stations (they were not convenience stores yet) and maybe a place you could get an ice cream cone.  There was a time in my parent’s lives that if they had traveled to town on Sunday they would not have found one place of business open.

So let’s fast forward in time to today. When we travel to town on Sunday now there are only a few businesses that are closed. The big box stores certainly can’t miss out on a sale (this takes me back the First Commandment with a reference to having other gods). Everyone, you and I even our children it seems, lives his or her life at a breakneck pace, constantly racing here and there to get everything done. Technological advances that once promised more leisure time now seem only to push us further and further behind, making it extremely difficult to catch up.

Employers require deadlines to be met which require more and more people to work on Sunday.  Have we come so far in our world that we cannot take time out to rest?  I am thankful that I am not in that situation. I have been required on occasion in the past to work on Sunday, but no longer. God blessed and fixed it so I could have my day of rest.

And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Mark 2:27 Here we have an example given by Jesus. We should take our day of rest, we should honor or Lord and Savior by taking time for Him in worship and in rest. The Sabbath was made for us. The Sabbath is a gift from God. Do you use your gift of rest from God? Does it even matter to you?

God Bless You.

To be continued…

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exodus 20:7 The third commandment.

How often do we in today’s world  hear someone take God’s name in vain? I venture to say it is daily.  Just look at the filth that is on television and in the movies we go see. Does it offend you that “Hollywood” chooses to make those shows and movies where they have to make their point by swearing?

Do you work in an environment where everywhere you turn some is using God’s name in vain? I used to be in that situation. I was always uncomfortable. Thank God I am in a place now where I have not heard God’s name taken in vain by anyone I work with. 

People use God’s name in vain like it is a natural use of the word. I for one believe it shows that their ignorance runs before them. Have we gotten to the point that we just do not care if we offend God? That is a very dangerous place for a person to be in.

The third commandment concerns the manner of worship, that it be with all possible reverence and seriousness. All false oaths are forbidden. All light appealing to God, all profane cursing, is a horrid breach of this command. ~ Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.

As you can see from the commentary above there is more too it than just taking God’s name in vain. I for one had not given much though about more being involved than just God’s name in vain. It also refers to how we worship God. If you are not worshiping in Spirit and in truth without superstition and human inventions you are making a mockery of God and thus taking Him in vain.

The second half of this commandment contains a warning: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Guiltless, who among us are guiltless? Who among us uses God’s name in vain like it is just normal speech? Who among us does the Lord not hold guiltless?

God requires and deserves our respect. For the person that disrespects God I pray that you will see the error of your ways as the Lord will not hold you guiltless!

God Bless You!

To be continued…

EXODUS 20: 3 – 6  

 ³Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ⁴Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; ⁶And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments

When was the last time you stopped to think about or even read the Ten Commandments? This is the beginning of God’s law to his people. You may be thinking we are under grace now, what does this have to do with me? Again I ask when the last time you read the Ten Commandments.

Today I am going to concentrate on the first two commandments.

Before I begin my explanation we must back up to the first two verses of Exodus chapter 20. ¹And God spake all these words, saying, ²I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

God is giving His law to Moses to give to the people. The Ten Commandments were and still are a very important part of what God expects from his people. The law was given for His people, but it was nearly impossible to keep. Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, James 2:10. This is the reason God sent Jesus to die on the cross. This was to make the way easier. We are now under “Grace” and it is sufficient. The plan of salvation is easy, we make it hard. We must work our own salvation out. Someone else cannot pray us into Heaven. 

So why am I looking into the Old Testament? Why am I specifically looking at the Ten Commandments?  Didn’t the death and resurrection of Jesus do away with the law? The short answer is yes, but I will again ask when the last time you read the Ten Commandments was?

The Ten Commandments were placed in the Ark of the Covenant. They are very important to God so I believe they should be very important to us. They are a guide for our faith and should be used as our moral compass.

Let’s look at the first commandment.  “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”

Here He is telling the children of Israel you will have no other gods. Notice that gods is spelled in lower case. The capital “G” is reserved for our God.

What makes other gods? With the children of Israel it was a golden calf, which was made before Moses could bring the commandments to them. It made Moses mad and in his anger he broke the original tablets. The golden calf was not the only idol they placed before God, it is the example I used for today.

What is it with us? What do we place before our most kind, loving and forgiving God?

Let’s start with a simple one. TV.  How often do we decide to watch something on television instead of studying God’s word? Most new shows are not fit to watch. Has this become your god?

What about sports? Missing church regularly to watch a game? Is this something that becomes a god to you? Has this become your god?

What about the internet? Had you rather “surf” than serve God? What are you surfing for? Has this become your god?

What about the love of money? Had you rather work and make tons of money or go to church on Sunday? Has this become your god?

These are just a few examples of what “we” let become our gods. You get the general ideal.  

What about our lifestyle? Is it contrary to the will of God?

If your god was not mentioned above, just fill in the blank: ___________. Has this become your god?

God should be the single most important part of our lives, but it appears that we just push Him to the side to do what we want to do. Is there anything more important?

God Bless You!

Continuing…

This will be my last post on the Ark of the Covenant. I had been looking for a way to sum up what I had studied.

Below is a copy of an email a “friend” sent to me that was intended to help and encourage my study. It is composed of bits and pieces found on the internet. The more I though and dwelt on the information I had received the more clear it became that this email, as it was sent to me, was meant to be the post I was looking for.

I say thank you for being inspired to send me the email and your permission to use it, even though your permission was not required.

So here goes… please pay attention as you read.

Only once per year on Yom Kippur could man enter beyond the veil. The veil separated man from the holy of holies. It was behind this veil and in the 10 cubit squared room called the holy of holies that the most sacred piece of furniture in the whole tabernacle structure was found. This was the Ark of the Covenant which was mentioned first before all the other furniture in the tabernacle. The lid on top of the ark was traditionally known as the Mercy Seat which was considered a separate piece of furniture but one with the ark, with the Cherubim of glory facing one another with wings outstretched. The blood was sprinkled between the judgment angels who were looking down and when they would see the blood the wrath of God was stayed.
The ark was right in the center of the camp and the glory cloud was seen above the mercy seat and above the back portion of the tabernacle.

Acacia (known also as shittim), the wood used in the construction of the tabernacle boards and furniture, is very clearly a type of the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It grows in the desert, reminding us that He Whom it portrays is described as “... a root out of a dry ground,” Isa 53.2. As the acacia grew in the desert and was cut down to furnish an essential material for God’s earthly house, the tabernacle, so did Christ grow up in the spiritual desert of this world, and was “cut down” in death to be the very basis of God’s spiritual house, the Church.
In its being virtually impervious to decay or attack by insects, it depicts the Lord’s incorruptible humanity. There was neither sin in Him, nor was there even the possibility of his ever being tempted to commit sin. The testings He endured were not to reveal any possibility of sin, but rather the spotless holiness for which sin held no attraction.
The acacia wood was the foundation of all the tabernacle furniture except the laver and the lampstand; and inasmuch as each article consisted of acacia wood and a metal overlay of either brass or gold, the truth being set before us is that He combines in Himself perfect humanity (the wood) and perfect Divinity (the metal).
In the boards which formed the walls of the tabernacle, all exactly the same size, each standing on a foundation of silver, we have a picture of believers as the mystical body of which Christ is the head. But since those boards were of the same acacia wood as that which formed the brazen altar, the table, and the golden altar, we are reminded that each believer has the very same nature as the Lord Himself. The new nature obtained at the new birth, is as holy and sinless as that possessed by the Lord, for the simple reason that it is His nature.
Whenever therefore we read of acacia wood, let us remember that God is pointing symbolically to some truth relative to the sinless nature of Christ, or to truth relative to the new nature possessed by every believer.

The Stone Tablets:
It is important to note that the ark contained the two tablets of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments). Remember that God had made a covenant with Israel, but the people had broken it. In grace God renewed it and ordered that its enduring record (the unbroken tablets) should be deposited in the holy ark. The Book of the Covenant, which dealt at length with other aspects of law and procedure, was deposited alongside the ark. But the 10 commandments were stored within the ark itself.

The Golden Pot of Manna:
It was also a type Christ who was the living bread which came down from heaven. The golden pot of manna speaks of Jesus as the bread of life who came down from heaven to bring food, the Word of God, to a world in darkness and dying of hunger.

Aaron's Rod:
Aaron's rod that budded also speaks of Jesus. Something that had died and supernaturally came to life again. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." 

It all points to Jesus. Even the golden poles speak of the ever living and ever present Savior who is with us in all our journeying and will never leave us nor forsake us. If you were to examine the history of the ark there would be striking resemblances to the ministry of Jesus our Lord:

The ark of the Covenant was a picture of Jesus Christ. The Acacia wood speaks of the indestructible humanity of Jesus. He was 100% man. God Himself became flesh and suffered the agonies of the human experience. He was tempted, He was weary, He thirsted, He had to learn the Scriptures and learn obedience and to hear God's voice and be led by the Spirit as a man. Not only does the Acacia wood tell us that He was 100% man but the pure gold that overlayed the wood teaches us that He was 100% God. Jesus said "unless you believe that I AM you will die in your sins." He used the same words (Heb. eheyay asher aheyay) as when the Lord spoke to Moses at the burning bush. The Jewish Messiah was none other than Jehovah Himself visiting His people and becoming their savior by dying for the sins of the world and that is the etymology of the name Jesus (Heb. Y'shua 'Yaweh has become salvation'). Jesus condemned the religious leaders for not recognizing "the day of their visitation."
The crown of gold around the top of the ark speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus overcame the onslaught of opposition that was set against Him His whole life by the religious leaders, the wealthy Jewish aristocracy, Rome itself, and even all the power of the enemy. He overcame even death itself and rose triumphantly and was given a crown, and glory, and honor, because He is the King. According to John it was Jesus who Isaiah saw seated on the throne of glory with the angels crying 'holy, holy, holy.'
The unbroken tables of stone set forth Jesus as the One who perfectly kept the Law and never broke God's Commandments. The Bible says that He "committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth." Jesus felt the pressure of temptation at its full intensity yet he never sinned. Even the look in His eye and the tone of His voice reflected the very perfections of the holiness of God Himself. Aaron's rod that budded also speaks of Jesus. Something that had died and supernaturally came to life again. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." The golden pot of manna speaks of Jesus as the bread of life who came down from heaven to bring food, the Word of God, to a world in darkness and dying of hunger.
It all points to Jesus. Even the golden poles speak of the ever living and ever present Savior who is with us in all our journeying and will never leave us nor forsake us. If you were to examine the history of the ark there would be striking resemblances to the ministry of Jesus our Lord:

The ark went before the people - Jesus went before them:
Jn. 10:4

The ark was in the middle of God's people - Jesus is in His people:
John 14:20

The people were to follow the ark - We are to follow Jesus:
Luke 5:27-28

May God Bless You

Okay, before you read too deep and say this is just another post on baseball how could this possibly tie into anything from God or the bible. You will just have to bear with me for a few moments. I promise God is going to tie this together.

I have known all week that I was going to write this I just didn’t have the words until this morning. I was also not as close to God this week as I should have been. As those of you that keep up with what I write know I am a volunteer baseball coach. You might want to click on this link to catch up: http://deaconfarley.christianblogsites.com/blog/post/2008/04/25/put-me-in-coach

My son Adam and I are nearing the end of our seventh season together. This year we moved up to “the Babe Ruth League” and we will be there for the next three seasons. The boy’s ages in this league range from 13 years old to 16 years old, with a pitching restriction on the 16’s.

Stay with me I am getting to the point. I have coached some very good Little League teams. Two of those teams won the League championship, one was a runner up.

This year the team I coached was an expansion team, which means I had to build the team from the ground up. I drafted ten boys. Three were fourteen years old the rest were 13’s (all of my 13’s made the all star team and I will tell you more later in this post). I had the youngest team in the league. The rest of the teams had a good balance of 14, 15 and 16 year olds.

There were several games where we were beat so bad that I didn’t even bother to look at the score, believe me those teams walked over us. Through all of the “spankings” we took, the boys never got down. They kept smiling and having fun. What’s more is they kept coming back even with impossible odds. We managed to win three games one (the last game of the regular season) against a good team, one of those that walked over us the first time we played them. A good sign for next year I hope. This has been the best team I have ever had the opportunity to coach beatings and all. I was blessed with and by this team this year. I also learned a very important “life lesson”.

Last Saturday we had a cookout for the team. I was given a card from one of my 13’s that really touched me. Before I tell you what was in the card I will tell you that this little boy has played ball the same amount of time in the same leagues with my son. I have never had the opportunity to coach him until this year. It became apparent at the first practice that he had been pushed to the side, played the minimum amount that the league required and he suffered. Please do not think that I am bragging I’m not. I worked with this little boy personally.  He improved very quickly and before you know it he was no longer a bench player, a sub but a starter and he was playing entire games.

I’m still getting to my point don’t leave you’ve made it this far you may as well stick it out until the end.

This year the league gave me the 13 year old All Stars, which is a traveling tournament team. I again had the responsibility of putting a team together. All the 13’s that were on my season team made it. That’s right the little boy that had been left out, pushed aside and left to learn what he could on his own made the team.

When I asked him in front of his mother to be a part of the tournament team I couldn’t tell you who was happier, his mother (who I thought was going to cry) him or me. I told him that I wanted him to be an alternate and that he might not see any playing time at all. His mother said that didn’t matter. That he had never been on a traveling team before and she was thankful that he made it, that someone actually took an interest in her son and made him feel like he was a part of a team.

We begin a double elimination tournament tonight in Livingston Tennessee. We are looking for a birth in the State tournament. You may have guessed this already but this little boy is going to start tonight and he earned it.

As I just said it is a double elimination tournament which means we are only guaranteed two games. We have prayed with or teams before each game for the last few years, we have never asked for a win, just help, strength and safety. I find myself today very excited and I don’t want it to end, not just for the sake of the little boy that has never been on a tournament team, but because I have really enjoyed being around this group of boys and there parents and I don’t want it to end… oh said that already. I have really been blessed this season.

I find myself asking God for more than two games this morning (which I believe we will get). I’m not asking to win the tournament, but if we do we as a team will praise God just the same as if we loose (which God showed me this morning we had not been doing). Help me pray for more that two games if that doesn’t seem selfish.

Now back to the card I received. Please don’t look at this as me bragging or showing off, I’m not, but I am extremely proud.  It was a thank you card with a bible verse in it. The verse if from Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; this is from the KJV version of the bible. The way it was written in the card is like this: I do not cease to give thanks for you and is from the RSV version, but it made its point.

The child’s mother wrote “It is a tremendous blessing when God puts someone in your childrens lives whom builds their confidence and inspires them! I thank God greatly for sending you our way!!! Thank you. Thank you… for everything!

Then the little boy wrote Thank you for being a good coach.

This card brought a tear to my eye when I read it. It made the last seven years as a coach worth it, even with disgruntled parents, (which I did not have this year) good teams and bad teams. Then God spoke to me and said much like the little boy who had been pushed aside Christian people are leaving young converts to Christ to learn what they can by themselves.  Ah the point at last. Do you try and help a young Christian learn, do you show them things by the way you live your life? Much the same way a non Christian looks at your life a young Christian will look at you as well. Are you confusing them or are you leading them in the path of righteous? This was a long post just to get to this I hope and pray you got a blessing from what was put on my heart.

God Bless you!

Did I tell you that I’m not ready for this season of ball to be over?

Below is something that I did not write, but I do agree with it. The author is unknown. I am not posting this to offend anyone, just simply for our country and the 4th of July.
 

 I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture.  Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans.

However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the “politically correct” crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America.  Our population is almost entirely comprised of descendants of immigrants.

However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here need to understand.

This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity.

As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.  This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian or any other language!

Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

“In God We Trust” is our national motto.  This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan.

We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented.  It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools.  If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don’t like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don’t care how you did things where you came from.  This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle.

Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so.  But, once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, we highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom – THE RIGHT TO LEAVE!

Author Unknown

I find myself feeling this way. Feel free to leave a comment, just be aware that it may not be posted until Monday the 7^th as I will be out of pocket for the rest of the weekend. 

God Bless each of you and our Country.