Making Life Work

By: Lenny Cacchio

    And He’s not a Democrat either. From what I know of the Man, he has better things to do than to align himself with various factions vying for political power. Ultimately, he has all of that in abundance anyway.     It’s instructive that even though Jesus held many positions in common with the Pharisees (resurrection of the dead, acceptance of all the Hebrew Scriptures and not just the Torah, belief in angels), he never once identified himself as a Pharisee. It is also instructive that he socialized with people from all backgrounds and factions, including Pharisees (Luke 11, John 3), Samaritans (John 4), people from Herod’s household (Luke 8), Roman soldiers (Matthew 8), Gentiles (Mark 7), fisherman (Matthew 4), publicans...

By: Ronald L. Dart

    Any religious organization, be it a television ministry or a local church, depends on donations to survive. And so they all engage in some kind of fund raising effort to make ends meet. They use all kinds of things to raise money from direct mail to bake sales. It may seem a shame, (I don’t think this requirement of God “is a shame.”) in a way, but money is merely a tool that enables a church or ministry to do their necessary work.

    A few years ago, I had reason to research the fund raising methods of a wide range of ministries and what I found was appalling. Only a few ministries took a straightforward, honest approach by telling their readers and listeners what they wanted to do and that they needed their support to do it. The rest engaged in various gimmicks and tricks to meet their budgets. The television ministries were the worst because they have to raise the most money. A few were downright dishonest or unethical.

 

By: Ronald L. Dart

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29). 

    There are things about God that we are never going to understand for the simplest of reasons. They have not been revealed, and theorizing isn’t going to help very much. It is revelation that we need if we are going to understand.

    One of the things that has been revealed, in part, is the work and character of the Spirit of God, and yet even that is not well understood. A troubling set of questions surround the Holy Spirit, and they suggest that we may have taken a wrong turn somewhere and we need to retrace our steps.

By: Ronald L. Dart

    Was there something wrong with the Ten Commandments? Were they weak legislation in the first place? Or did they somehow become obsolete with the passage of time? If, as some suppose, the time came for the Ten Commandments to be abolished, there must have been a reason for it. The idea of the abolition of law is not foreign to us. We "abolish" or repeal laws often enough. But when we do repeal laws, why do we do it? There are many reasons. The law may be unenforceable. It may be unpopular with the people, and because of massive disobedience ("They can’t put all of us in jail"), the law simply can’t be maintained. The classic example of this was prohibition.

By: Ronald L. Dart

The Second Key

    The best ideas are usually simple and this one is no exception. The idea was conceived long ago and is so simply stated that most of us would read right over it and never grasp its implications. It reads as follows: “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (Proverbs 13:22).

    I can hear you saying, “That sounds like a good idea, but a little tough to execute. I have enough trouble making ends meet as it is without worrying about the next generation.”

By: Ronald L. Dart

    The story of the Bible begins and ends with a tree. In the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life held a central place. After the expulsion of man from the garden, we don’t hear of the tree again until the last book of the Bible.¹ There, man is in a very different environment called, "The paradise of God."² Once again the Tree of Life is central. But now there is not one tree of life, but twelve. They are on both sides of the river of life and they bear twelve kinds of fruit. Moreover, the leaves of the tree are for the healing of all people.³ It is those who do God’s commandments who have a right to the Tree of Life, and the permission to enter the City of God.⁴

By: Ronald L. Dart

    The story of the Bible begins and ends with a tree. In the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life held a central place. After the expulsion of man from the garden, we don’t hear of the tree again until the last book of the Bible.¹ There, man is in a very different environment called, "The paradise of God."² Once again the Tree of Life is central. But now there is not one tree of life, but twelve. They are on both sides of the river of life and they bear twelve kinds of fruit. Moreover, the leaves of the tree are for the healing of all people.³ It is those who do God’s commandments who have a right to the Tree of Life, and the permission to enter the City of God.⁴

By: Ronald L. Dart

    He is twenty years old, but he looks more like sixteen. In blue jeans and sweater, his hair neatly cut, he looks like he should have books under his arm and be headed for class. The district attorney says he is a cold-blooded killer. It seems he held up a convenience store late one night. The clerk offered no resistance and gave him all the money in the cash register. But as he scooped up the money and stuffed it into his pockets, this “student” calmly raised his pistol and shot the clerk squarely between the eyes just to leave no witnesses. Now the district attorney wants you, the jury, to find him guilty and sentence him to death.

By: Ronald L. Dart

    Just what does it mean to "keep the Sabbath?" What should a person do on that day? Or, as some would prefer to ask, what should a person NOT do? Can you work at your normal job? What about emergencies? Can you buy groceries on the Sabbath? What if you have unexpected guests? The Sabbath is indeed a holy day, and to worship God properly requires a right view of His day.

By: Ronald L. Dart

    Is there really an ever–burning hell where sinners are tormented with fire and brimstone throughout all eternity? Is it only for the very wicked? What about the “unsaved”? The Bible tells us there is only one name given in heaven and earth whereby we must be saved–the name of Jesus. What about all those who have never heard that name? Do they go immediately to the torments of a fiery hell at death? What about babies and little children? Surely they don’t go to hell? Churches have an astonishing variety of answers to these questions, but what does the Bible say? How can we really know the truth?

By: Ronald L. Dart

Did Jesus adjust God’s ancient laws of clean and unclean meats? The answer shouldn’t be hard to find. It should be right there in the four gospels.

    Everyone is concerned about health these days. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject, and yet people often neglect to consider what the best selling book of all time has to say about healthful eating habits.

By: Ronald L. Dart

    It was the last night of the revival. The congregation was softly singing: "Just as I am," and the preacher was standing in front of the pulpit with both arms raised in invitation. He knew there were people present who needed to make a decision for Christ. "Jesus Christ could come tonight," he urged. "Will you be ready for Him?"

By: Ronald L. Dart

    At first, Philip wondered why he was here. It was not a place anyone in his right mind would choose to be. It was hot. It was dry. It was the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.

    He had finished his work in Samaria, and an angel of God had told him, "Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert." So, here he was, and there was nothing in sight but a chariot and its travel party. By its markings, the chariot was Ethiopian.

By: Ronald L. Dart

”And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:24 ).

    Jennifer's husband was going into the hospital on Monday for open heart surgery. He was a little young to be having heart problems, but the surgeon said that his youth was in his favor. There were risks, of course, but they did this surgery several times a week at this hospital. They were good at it.

By: Lenny Cacchio  

    Life comes at us. We have jobs to work, kids to chauffer, lawns to mow, meetings to attend, laundry to do, meals to prepare, crises to handle, appointments to keep, and obligations to fulfill. If your life looks like mine, you’ll have lots of Have To’s and not enough Get To’s.     It’s unhealthy having too many Have To’s, but the demands of daily living can often leave us feeling guilty about leaving some of those duties undone and escaping to a personal refuge for a short spell.     But taking a break even when the workload is full of Have To’s is in tune with what Jesus did. We see a number of instances where Jesus boards a boat and tries to sail to the other side of the lake to escape the crowds for a spell. Other...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).  Of course it isn’t.  If it were, we wouldn’t have among other things a protracted and painful presidential election campaign that further exposes the fault lines in our national landscape.

    No candidate is the perfect combination of the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon, and the fighting spirit of David.  Nor should we expect such.  The best we can hope for is a government that provides us with security, some basic services, and fair adjudication of laws while not infringing upon our freedom to pursue our God-given purpose and talents.

    Sadly, not everyone sees it that way.  Some theories of government emphasize redistribution of wealth.  Some...

By: Lenny Cacchio

President Harry Truman wished for a one-armed economist because his economic advisors were always saying, "On the other hand …".     Someone once asked economist Milton Friedman, the Nobel Laureate, what the stock market was going to do, and he replied, "It will go up, it will go down, and it will go sideways, but not necessarily in that order."

    Professor Friedman was wise in his retort, for no one really knows what the market is going to do.  On the other hand (beg pardon), it sure would be nice if someone had convictions about something these days.   Too many people are hesitant to take a moral stand on anything for fear of being called intolerant, arrogant, or  a bigot.  Even nominees for the Federal bench are...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Winston Churchill once said, "Writing a book is an adventure.  To begin with it is a toy and an amusement.  Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant.   The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the master, and fling him about to the public."  (Quoted in Winston Churchill: His Wit and Wisdom , Hyperion Books, p. 135)

    Over the several years that I have written this column, I have effectively written the equivalent of a book or two, and I can attest that it does become your master and tyrant after a while.

    The task of wowing one’s audience with brilliance week after week is daunting and not always successful, but it is fortunate...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Job had lost it all and he knew it, but one thing he never lost was his faith that God is in charge.  He might not have agreed with the way God was doing things, let alone understand them, but he at least knew that God knew.

    Eventually, God blessed Job for a second time.  But before God restored him, the scripture tells us that first Job did something.  Job 42:10:  “And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.”  Listen to what this says:  When Job prayed for his friends, God restored Job’s losses.  And he didn’t restore Job’s losses until he had prayed for his friends. 

    I’m not sure we completely grasp the implications of this, but James in his epistle provides a clue.  In James 5:11...

By: Lenny Cacchio

Faith sometimes takes a strange shape.      One time early in Jesus’ ministry he and his disciples boarded a ship on the Sea of Galilee, when a windstorm blew and buffeted the ship mercifully.  Several of the disciples were seaman and surely had weathered such that frequent that sea, but this apparently was worse than most.  The boat was filling with water and was in danger of sinking.   But through it all, Jesus was in the stern of the ship, fast asleep.  They cried, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:35-41).

    I find it easy to identify with the disciples’ reaction.  Like them, I know that Jesus is the Christ. I have seen him doing his work in others’ lives and my own.  He tells me that...

By: Lenny Cacchio  

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. (Jesus, as quoted in Mark 2:17 NKJV)

    All of Jesus disciples were in need of a physician. James and John wrangled constantly over being the greatest in the kingdom, and Peter’s good intentions could not overcome his impetuosity. Matthew’s history as a tax collector implies an uncertain reputation.  Thomas had doubts, and Phillip lacked faith. Some of these men were so reticent that their voices are never heard in the Scriptures.

    All were in need of the healing of the Great Physician, and all save one accepted the offer of that gift. We are left to speculate about the reasons for Judas rejection of eternal life and of Jesus as his Savior, but there is one thing that we do know: Jesus came to heal those who are sick. He came to call sinners, but not the righteous, to repentance.

...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    A few weeks ago I was a victim of a four-car bang-up on the way to work.  The four people involved in this mishap all waited for the presence of a police officer, who courteously and professionally took separate statements from each of us about what had happened.      I haven’t yet seen the police report, but there is one thing I know for certain:  All four of us involved gave different statements, describing different parts of the accident, and each of us told the story differently.  I fully expect that some of the details differ.  I remember one car spinning out in front of me, but now that I think about that split second of chaos, I might have seen her spinning out of control behind me through my rearview mirror.  Regardless,...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    This might be his only chance.  As he sat by the road begging, someone told him that the man from Nazareth, a certain Jesus, was walking by.  Unable to restrain himself, he cried,  "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!"     He was a blind man, Bartimaeus by name, and the more those around him demanded he be quiet, the more he yelled, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"     "Son of David."  By this simple phrase, Bartimaeus, who could not see, revealed that he could see what most around him could not, that this Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, the promised son of David who was to come.  Mark tell us that Jesus, upon hearing this, "Stood still and commanded him to be called" (Mark 10:49 NKJV).  Then Jesus asked him, "What...

By: Lenny Cacchio

    Lately I find myself yelling at the television set. I get angry when I see the stunts pulled by our duly elected officials, and I get angry with the garbage foisted upon us as entertainment, and I get angry at the lack of civility in public discourse.     I know that God gets angry about some things too, but I also know that God doesn’t get angry is the same way that I get angry. I get righteously indignant and want to throw my shoe at the tube. I compare myself to the other side and, like that little guy in the nursery rhyme, I boast, “What a good boy am I!” Somehow, I don’t think God expresses his anger in the same way I do, and certainly his motives are different. A few examples of Jesus’ anger illustrate the point: ...

By: Lenny Cacchio

Things aren’t always as they seem.     General Ulysses S. Grant owned slaves. Robert E. Lee did not. Republican President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency and Affirmative Action. A larger percentage Republicans than Democrats – in both houses of Congress -- voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.     Even the devil can appear as an angel of light, and it’s evident from the Gospels that the disciples failed to see clearly the light of Jesus until some time after his resurrection.     Two of them approached him about sitting on his right hand and his left in the kingdom, showing among other things how little they grasped what the kingdom is all about. To them such a place seemed like a position...