Kings 14:27-28

“…King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. 28 And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.”
ESV 1 Kings 14:27-28

I heard a story once of a man who marched into the office one day positively beaming. It seems that over the weekend his wife had told him that he was a model husband. Bursting with pride, he told everyone who would listen about this magnificent compliment that his wife had paid him.

Most people listened politely, but as the day wore on, folks began to tire of his boasting. Finally, a co-worker asked him if he had given any thought to what the comment might really mean. Well, of course he had and he commenced to list a host of positive connotations that the compliment might have. His co-worker abruptly brought him down to earth by pointing out the meaning of the word “model”…a cheap imitation of the real thing.

When Solomon was King of Israel, he commissioned 200 large shields and 300 smaller shields that were made of solid gold. To put that into perspective, we are talking about over 2,000 pounds of gold! Oh what they must have looked like lining the palace walls. I imagine them in an outdoor procession with the sunlight reflecting off of a hammered gold finish. Can you imagine the splendor of it all? The shields were stored inside the palace and when Solomon ventured out, the shields were sent out before him; a symbol of his status, wealth and the financial health of the kingdom.

Unfortunately, the legacy did not extend far into the reign Solomon’s son Rehoboam. Rehoboam lost the shields, and most other kingdom treasures, to an invading king from Egypt just five years into his reign. But Rehoboam replaced the shields with shields of bronze. Oh, they looked like gold. And when painstakingly polished, bronze shines like gold. Like Solomon, Rehoboam sent the shields out ahead of him in a public display every time he went to the Lord’s house. But though they glittered, Rehoboam’s shields were nothing more than a cheap imitation of the real thing; a deceptive false front.

How genuine are you in your commitment to God? If you attend church, do you attend because it is the socially acceptable thing to do or do you attend so that you can come together with other believers and worship God? When you dress up and go to the Lord’s house, is your worship genuine?

As you reflect these next few days on the year that will soon pass us by, and as you make resolutions for 2007, examine yourself honestly before God. Ask yourself this question: Has my commitment to God been the real deal this past year or has it been a cheap imitation of the real thing?

Resolve to be genuine in your commitment to God in 2007 and may your worship flow from a heart that desires His glory. Happy New Year!

-Ken Askew

John 14:6

“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except thr ough me.” ESV John 14:6

Over these past few weeks, as we’ve prepared to celebrate Christmas, we’ve also been looking at some names of Jesus as they appear in the Bible. First, we looked at the name Immanuel, which means God with us. How marvelous and fascinating it is that God became a man and walked with us.

Last week we looked at the name Savior which aptly describes Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth; to save repentant sinners from certain death and reconcile them with God the Father. What a wonderful gift from heaven; a Savior.

This week’s name is The Way which aptly describes an attribute of Jesus that no other person can copy. Here in the gospel of John, Jesus plainly tells us that he is the way to heaven; the only way. There is no other road to heaven.

Have you ever been lost in a strange city? Sure, without clear direction we all occasionally lose our bearings; especially those of us who are map averse and too proud to stop and ask. Legend has it that even Daniel Boone, though he claimed never to have been lost, did confess to once being bewildered for three days. Either way, lost or bewildered, the confusion that ensues isn’t a good feeling is it?

In today’s hyper-sensitive, politically correct world, it is easy to become bewildered about spiritual matters; particularly salvation, heaven and reconciliation with God. Our society encourages us to be accommodating towards everyone. So, with regards to salvation and reconciliation with God, it would be easy to surmise that there must be more than one way (perhaps many ways) to heaven. Society would have us believe that Christians have their way to heaven and that every other faith possesses an equally effective way of escaping judgment for sin and being reconciled with God.

But that bewildered pattern of thought is in direct contradiction of the teachings found in the Bible. The Bible teaches plainly that there is only one way by which man can be reconciled with God. There is only one way to heaven and that is through faith in Christ Jesus.

In our text, a bewildered Thomas has just asked Jesus: “How can we know the way [where you are going?] Jesus responds with comforting words, “I am the way…” These are words of comfort because they take away the unsettled anxiousness that naturally accompanies bewilderment. The matter is settled. Jesus is the only way to the Father. Jesus is the only way to heaven. Do you know the way?

This Christmas, don’t lose sight of who we are celebrating. We are celebrating the arrival of God in human form; the Christ child. We are celebrating the birth of a Savior, capable of delivering us from the penalty of sin and reconciling us with our heavenly Father. We are celebrating The Way to heaven. We are celebrating Jesus; Merry Christmas!

-Ken Askew

Luke 2:11

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” ESV Luke 2:11

Visits to the Tennessee River were a regular event during my early childhood. It flows within a mile of my father’s childhood home, so it was a natural location for family outings and social gatherings.

The Natchez Trace Parkway now crosses the majestic Tennessee where historical markers indicate that Chief Colbert (a Chickasaw Indian chief) operated a ferry which provided safe passage across the river. Just below that sight, is Colbert park; the public- use area that we frequented.

In addition to picnicking and enjoying the view, we kids (family and friends) would regularly slip down the steep embankment and go for a swim in the Tennessee. Most always under the watchful eyes of our mothers, we never gave much thought to danger or to not being able to see the bottom and took some delight in bringing up mud, muscle shells, rocks and such from the murky depths.

One day is particularly memorable. My friend and I were on a large inflatable raft, and had floated just far enough into the river that we couldn’t touch the bottom. We were “in over our heads” so to speak; but safe and secure on our raft. I don’t remember exactly what happened next, but my friend left the raft, bobbed a couple of times in the murky water to the horror of his mother and flailed frantically each time he came up.

Before I recognized the danger of the situation, a man jumped from a nearby boat that was moored on the bank, scooped my friend out of the water and delivered him into his mother’s arms safe and secure. That murky water could have been a death trap for my friend that day, had it not been for the savior nearby.

When Luke announces the birth of Christ, he calls Him a Savior. I think sometimes that we in the Bible belt have become indifferent to the term savior. Perhaps we have heard it so many times that we take it for granted. Safe and secure in our lives, we comfortably float along in this world oblivious to ever present spiritual danger that lurks all around us and the need for a Savior. Some may even ask: Christ is a Savior from what?

The Bible tells us the answer. You see, God and sin do not mix and one day God will set an eternal chasm between them. Yet our world has been clouded and tainted by sin. Not only has the world been tainted by sin, but each and every person as well.

It is Christ alone who provides safe passage from this world and its dangers. It is Christ who jumped from heaven into our murky world and was born as Savior to scoop all who trust in Him from this murky death trap, cleanse them, and eternally deliver them into the arms of God the Father. Ask God to reveal the danger of sin to you and grant you the strength and faith to call on Christ as Savior.

-Ken Askew

Matthew 1:23

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). ESV Matthew 1:23

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I thought it would be a good time to examine some of the names that are used to reference Jesus in the Bible. The inspired writers of the Bible used very descriptive names for God; names that had special meaning. We’ll look at three names for Jesus in the coming weeks that have special meaning. The first name is Immanuel.

I had the occasion recently of chatting with a fellow who was passing out religious literature downtown. He was parked near the post office and was handing out his literature to anyone who would stop and listen for a few seconds. I stopped and agreed to listen to him for a moment if he in turn would show me the same courtesy.

The gentleman thumbed through one of the brochures and gave me an overview of its contents. I forget the number, but the brochures had been printed in an impressive number of languages and distributed to a like number of countries. I listened patiently to what he had to say.

When my turn came, I asked him to tell me who Jesus was. Somewhat taken aback, he told me that Jesus was a sacrifice and that he was God’s son. I pushed the issue by telling him that I believed Jesus was much more; that he was God. With that assertion, it was clear that I had crossed into territory where he was unwilling to go. He simply would not assert that Jesus was God.

Unfortunately, proclaiming Jesus as God is territory where a lot of people either fear to tread or refuse to tread. Many world religions acknowledge that Jesus was a good man, some go so far as to call him a prophet, but only in Christianity do we see Jesus acknowledged as God. Where do you stand? Have you come to grips with who Jesus really was?

It was the prophet Isaiah, somewhere around 700 BC, who penned the words that are repeated here in Matthew. A child would be born and his name would be Immanuel, which means God with us. That child was Jesus, who was born to the virgin Mary in the most humble of settings. Isn’t that fascinating? God with us; Jesus.

Think about it for a moment. God left heaven, a place where no sin, suffering, death or darkness could penetrate and took on the image of man and walked with us. Without ceasing to be God, He became a man; fully God yet fully human.

As you make preparations to celebrate Christmas, please don’t forget that when we celebrate Christmas, we are in actuality celebrating the arrival of God in human form.

-Ken Askew