Tag Archives: Warnings

January 7, 2014

The Pure Word

By Chris Jordan
Proverbs 30:5-6. 
 “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (KJV). 

God’s Word is Trustworthy:

I love the Bible for so many different reasons. It is the Word of God. It’s a love letter from God to us. It gives us wisdom for living life. It provides joy, peace, hope and comfort. It teaches us how to know God. It shows us how to find freedom from sin, guilt and shame. But I also love the Bible because it is trustworthy. Agur, son of Jakeh tells us that every word of God is pure. There are no lies, mistakes or errors in the Bible. You can trust it! God is faithful, and you can count on Him to fulfill His promises. 

Agur tells us that God’s Word is a shield to those who trust Him. A shield is a defensive weapon to protect you from the attacks of an enemy. We know that faith comes by hearing God’s Word, and the Bible also tells us that faith is a shield that will quench all of the fiery darts of our enemy. So when we trust God and His Word, He protects us from the enemy. Just like an umbrella will protect you from getting wet on a rainy day, so God’s Word will protect you from the devil. 

Don’t Add To His Words:

Not only is the Bible pure, but God’s Word is also perfect and complete. The Bible has given us everything we need that pertains to life and godliness. In the Bible, we discover how to be saved, and also how to live a life that brings God honour and glory. Therefore, we don’t need anything more than the Bible. There are many different religions that try to add to the wisdom of the Bible. Some churches add their traditions, confessions and creeds and make them out to be as important as the Bible, though they are imperfect. False religions – such as the Mormons – have added more books to the Holy Scriptures, but they are all untrue man-made teachings. 

In this Proverb, Agur gives a strong warning to those who would add to the Bible: If you add to God’s Word, God will rebuke and correct you, and you will be found out to be a liar. Let this be a strong warning to anyone who would presume to teach or proclaim something in the name of the Lord that God has not spoken! 

The Challenge to the Preacher or Teacher:

This Scripture is a sobering challenge to every preacher or teacher of God’s Word. James, the brother of Jesus, echoes this thought in James 3:1: “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” 

Preacher! Trust the Bible. God’s Word has the power to transform people’s lives. We don’t need to add the wisdom of man – Oprah, Doctor Phil, or the latest self-help teachings! Even though the Bible was written over two thousand years ago, it is still relevant, living and powerful. As you minister the Word of God, it will heal the broken hearted, comfort those who are mourning, and set the captives free. Amen!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Word of the Lord

December 30, 2013

Beware the Angry Man

By Chris Jordan
Proverbs 29:22.
“An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.” (KJV). 

As we come to the end of 2013, am celebrating 21 years that I have been in full time ministry. The first 14 years were spent as a youth pastor in Surrey, BC (on the west coast of Canada), and for the past 7 years as a lead pastor in Beausejour, MB (in the middle of Canada). This past year has been the hardest one that I ever went through, and found myself getting so discouraged that I actually entertained the idea of leaving the ministry. Why? It all started with an angry man.

About a year and a half ago, a couple in our church in leadership got hurt, angry and offended. But instead of dealing with the offense with the person that had offended them (as Jesus instructed us to do in Matthew 18:15), they chose instead to begin to lie, slander and gossip about that person – and that person was me. It was today’s Proverb in action: “An angry man stirs up strife.” And stir up strife he did! The result of the lies he told about me was that many families in our church left – about 25 of the 150 people we had in our church.

I was hurt, confused and disillusioned. Here was someone that I had brought on my leadership team and poured my heart and life into mentoring for years, and in a moment of time – in one angry e-mail – he severed the relationship with no real explanation for what he had done. When I asked him what I had done wrong, he simply said, “I don’t want to talk about it, God will reveal it to you.” To this day, I don’t know what I did that got him so angry that he set a chain of events in motion that tried to destroy our church.

But I thank God for the awesome promise that Jesus gave me during the beginning of this ordeal: “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). I thank God for His grace that carried me through this challenging trial. If it wasn’t for His loving, providential care for me and my family, I am sure we would have walked away from the church and the ministry this past year. But God is faithful, and I thank God for many of our good friends in our church family who rallied around us, supported us, and stuck with us through the firestorm of lies and hate.

The second half of today’s verse says, “A furious man abounds in transgression.” Not only was the result of this angry man’s stirring up strife hurtful to the church as a whole, it also wounded the hearts of many people in our church – including families and even young youth and children. When anger is left unchecked, it becomes a destroying wind that wounds all of those in its path. It is a sin that leads to many other destructive and hurtful sins.

I thank God for Pastor Anthony Baker and the other contributors at Proverbial Thought who invited me to blog through Proverbs together with them a little over a year ago. As I have wrote devotional reflections in the Book of Proverbs over the past year, it has been very therapeutic for me personally as I have walked through this challenging time of ministry. Many times I have reflected upon a Scripture that has given me comfort or challenge when and where I have needed it. I pray that God would use His Word to encourage and inspire you in your life as well. As we head into 2014, I pray that you would make a commitment to get into God’s Word every day!

p.s. can I encourage you to pray for your pastors and Bible teachers? We are all in a battle, and we need God’s protection from the attacks of the enemy! Thank you… blessings to all of you today.

RELATED POSTS:

The 5 Minute Challenge – Bible Reading Schedule (At The Beausejour Pulpit Blog).

BOOKLET - Bible Reading Schedule

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Warnings

November 27, 2013

A Tell-Tale Heart

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 28:17

17 A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
17 Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder will seek refuge in the grave; let no one hold them back.

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story over a century and half ago called “The Tell-Tale Heart” in which the narrator murders a man, dismembers the body, and hides it under the floor. Eventually the guilt of his crime gets to him, and he thinks he hears the beating heart of the man under the floor. It drives him to confess his wrong.

He could not live with the guilt.

The Traitor

In the New Testament we read of Jesus’ traitorous Apostle, Judas Iscariot. He helped the religious leaders arrest, and ultimately kill, Jesus. In his grief and guilt, he committed suicide. (See Matthew 27)

He knew he had killed Jesus, and he could not live with the guilt.

What About Us?

Are these stories and this verse telling us we should just let people get in trouble or even go to Hell?

Sort of.

The real warning for us is to watch ourselves when confronted with those with a guilty conscience. In the effort to try to help save them, we might find ourselves entangled in their problems.

We could get dragged into the results of their guilt, at worst by finding ourselves on the way to prison or the grave (think of those who inadvertently find themselves blamed for or involved with a crime).

If you offer advice to someone, and they seem intent on their path, sometimes it is better to let them go.

5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Acts 18:5-6, NIV

Those who do not know Christ as Savior are still living in the guilt of their sin, and if they refuse to turn to Him are on the way to the grave. If they begin to cause us to stumble in our faith, we must get out of their path toward death. We will only join in their suffering.

Dear Savior, give us the wisdom to deal with our fallen world and those who are lost in their guilt. Give us the wisdom to know when to help and when to get out of the way.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Warnings

November 13, 2013

Oppressing the Poor

By Chris Jordan

Proverbs 28:3.

“A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.”

Growing up Poor:

Because my parents were divorced before I was five years old, my mom raised my two younger sisters and me by herself. She did an amazing job of taking care of us, and we always knew we were loved, even though we never had a lot of stuff. We were on social assistance and my mom applied to get into low-income housing. After they came out to see our house to do an inspection, and saw the rundown shack we were living in, we were quickly moved into a subsidized income housing complex. My mom had to work three jobs to support us including being a hairdresser and a waitress at a lounge.

So I know what it’s like to be poor. And because I’ve been there, I have a great compassion for others who don’t have a lot of stuff. My family and I sponsor a child in Costa Rica through World Vision Canada, and we often bring people in our home who need a place to stay. Right now, we have a single mom and her two week old baby staying with our family. The idea of oppressing a poor person is completely foreign to me – I can’t believe that people would do that! Although I’m sure it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, some people enjoy oppressing other people.

Proverbs and the Poor:

The Bible has a lot to say about how we are to treat the poor:

  • “He who despises his neighbor sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.” (14:21).
  • “He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.” (14:31).
  • “He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.” (17:5).

In today’s Proverb, Solomon tells us that when a poor person oppresses another poor person, it is like a sweeping rain that leaves no food. Imagine a pounding rain that swept through your garden and destroyed all of the vegetable crops there. That’s what it’s like when a poor person oppresses a weak or needy person. It’s a terrible thing to do! Not only is the poor person physically in want of food or life’s necessities, but now he has been hurt emotionally as well.

The Challenge:

The unspoken challenge in today’s Proverb is this: Don’t oppress the poor! Instead, do whatever you can to help them, to bless them, to pray for them and care for them. When we do this, God will bless us for our generosity.

Lord, give us your heart of compassion for the poor and needy that are all around us every day. Help us to never oppress them, either by our words or actions, but instead to do whatever we can to help them. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Warnings

October 16, 2013

The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 26:24-26

24 He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;
25 When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.
26 Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.

24 Enemies disguise themselves with their lips,
    but in their hearts they harbor deceit.
25 Though their speech is charming, do not believe them,
    for seven abominations fill their hearts.
26 Their malice may be concealed by deception,
    but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. (NIV)

The Big Shots

Yesterday, David looked at verse 23 dealing with those who cover up their wickedness to look good. These verses come out of that.

He mentioned the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Today we tend to think about politicians or corporate bigwigs that put up a front to look good for their employees or their constituents. In truth, they are only out for their own gain.

The really bad ones are those who will stop at nothing, hurt anyone to get what they want or to be entertained.

The Church Enemy

The scariest ones are those in the Church.

Who are they? They are the church-goers who:

  • Gossip (sometimes through “prayer requests”)
  • Complain about everything at the church
  • Complain about everything in life
  • Live two separate lives: one at church and one everywhere else
  • Purposefully disobey the pastor or church teachings
  • Cause divisions (start fights, spread malicious rumors, etc.)
  • Give the minimum effort (and usually have excuses)
  • Never give any effort at church (and always have excuses, if they talk about it)
  • Those who justify every action they take (usually with “But you have to understand …”)
  • Who start debates with “I am a Christian, so …” and then attempt to defend non-Christian behaviors and actions.

I could go on for a very long time. They act like they love others, but they really hate.

The question is …

Did you see yourself in that list?

The scariest enemy is the one who acts like your friend. Read Galatians 5:19-21 for Paul’s list of who they are.

Heavenly Father, help us to remove all the falseness and pretense from our lives. Create in us a clean heart free of all malice, deceit, and wickedness. Help us to be followers of You and not the father of lies.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in conversation/speech, gossip, Warnings

October 11, 2013

Heeding Jim Croce

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 26:17

17 He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

Helping Out

I once saw someone with her kids and minivan stopped on the side of the road. I had to stop and give them a ride.

She had said she knew someone who could help get the minivan, though she needed it as soon as possible. However, she was having some money issues, so it might be a while.

I had done my duty, and I could have stopped helping her right there. Instead, I called my friend who had a friend, and her van was towed to a garage.

Two days later, she and her kids were out of their apartment. They had been evicted for not paying rent. There were past-due bills stuck to the apartment door.

And I was stuck with the $600 storage and removal fees for her minivan that she never claimed.

Spitting into the Wind

Jim Croce was a folk singer a few decades ago who wrote about this very thing. In his song “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim“, he has these lyrics:

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim

 In the song, there is a man nobody messes with: Jim. He takes what he wants when we wants, and anyone who gets in his way gets trouble. It would be like grabbing the ears of a dog after you broke into someone’s house.

Jim learned this when he flirted with the wife of a man named “Slim”. He had never heard about Jim, and Jim finally messed with the wrong dog.

Sometimes there are things that come along in lie that common sense warns us is stupid and dangerous. Disregarding common sense in those situations can prove as dangerous as spitting into the wind or grabbing the ears of an angry dog.

Fortunately the Bible helps us understand some of the things that our common sense may not pick up on, and our friends can help us even more. (Which is one of the reasons Hebrews 10:24-25 was written.)

Great God, give us the discernment to know the situations that are not good for us, the wisdom to know when to act and not to act, and the strength to say “No” when we need to.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Warnings

October 5, 2013

Never Learning

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 26:11

11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

Out of Nourishment

Dogs have this nasty habit of trying to eat their own vomit!

We know it is gross, but do we understand why?

  • Vomit is full of stomach acid, and the esophagus is not meant to handle the acid long. It burns away the lining.
  • Vomit is full of half-digested food. It has already provided its nourishment. There is no more to be had in the food.
  • Vomit is pre-poop! (Something else dogs occasionally eat … see previous point!)

It is not good for a dog (or anyone) to eat vomit!

Out of Sense

The more we do a task, the more ingrained it becomes. If that task is not good for us, it gradually wears us down.

Just like a dog eating its vomit, if we continue sinning, it is like our soul is vomiting and then consuming it again. It wears us down, and our soul gets more sick.

A fool will think it is funny (and probably giggles when reading “pre-poop”!) and see no harm when a dog eats its vomit.

A fool also repeats and celebrates sin.

And in the process, the fool slowly kills his or her own soul.

Giver of Life, do not let us continue to destroy our souls and bodies. By the name of Jesus give us the wisdom to turn from our sin, the strength to follow through, and the grace to forgive ourselves and grow beyond our sin.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Fools, sin, Warnings

October 4, 2013

A Difficult Thought

By Anthony Baker

Proverbs 26:10

“The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.”
“Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.” – ESV

This proverb is a challenging one because of how many different ways it could be translated. As a matter of fact, practically every scholarly commentary admits the Hebrew in this proverb is difficult to interpret. That is why I am going to quote several of them before I leave my final thought for you.

Spence-Jones (The Pulpit Commentary)

Few passages have given greater difficulty than this verse; almost every word has been differently explained. The Authorized Version is, The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors; Revised Version, As an archer (Job 16:13) that woundeth all, so is he that hireth the fool and he that hireth them that pass by. At first sight one would hardly suppose that these could be versions of the same passage. [1]

Garrett (The New American Commentary)

The Hebrew of v. 10 is almost unintelligible and thus subject to numerous interpretations, all of which are hypothetical. As the NIV has it, the verse reaffirms that one should not commit important tasks to fools (as in v. 6). Notwithstanding all the difficulties of the text, that does seem to be the main point.[2]

Friedrich and Delitzsch (Commentary on the Old Testament)

All that we have hitherto read is surpassed in obscurity by this proverb, which is here connected because of the resemblance of ושכר to שכור. We translate it thus, vocalizing differently only one word:

            Much bringeth forth from itself all; But the reward and the hirer of the fool pass away.[3]

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry

Our translation [KJV] gives this verse a different reading in the text and in the margin; and accordingly it expresses either, 1. The equity of a good God. The Master, or Lord (so Rab signifies), or, as we read it, The great God that formed all things at first, and still governs them in infinite wisdom, renders to every man according to his work. … Or, 2. The iniquity of a bad prince (so the margin reads it): A great man grieves all, and he hires the fool; he hires also the transgressors. When a wicked man gets power in his hand, by himself, and by the fools and knaves whom he employs under him, whom he hires and chooses to make use of, he grieves all who are under him and is vexatious to them. We should therefore pray for kings and all in authority, that, under them, our lives may be quiet and peaceable.[4]

Anthony Baker (Proverbial Thought)

So, here is what I think. Feel free to quote me 200 years from now.

A man is a fool when he employs a fool to complete a task. However, the biggest fool is one who thinks God, the Almighty Archer, will miss the target when He holds the wicked accountable.

We are always under His watchful eye, but the fool is never out of His “sights.”

[1] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Proverbs, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 500.

[2] Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 14, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 213.

[3] Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 6 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 387.

[4] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994).

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in advice, Armour and Weaponry, Fear of the Lord, Fools, Reward, The Wicked, Warnings

September 6, 2013

Don’t Be Lazy!

By Chris Jordan

Proverbs 24:30-34.

“I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.” (KJV). 

The Fields Preached a Sermon:

In today’s Proverb, Solomon describes a story from his personal life. He tells about a time he was walking by the field of a simple, lazy man, and – no surprise – it was overgrown with weeds, the fence was knocked down, and there was no fruit. The lesson he learned? If you are lazy, and spend all your time napping, you will become poor really quickly, and you won’t be able to do anything about it. What a great lesson for today’s generation!

lazy

Today’s Lazy Young People:

I don’t know about you, but I have noticed that a lot of young people today lack any sort of work ethic. They don’t want to do anything, and they want everyone to do everything for them. There is a song by Bruno Mars that I think so perfectly captures the spirit of today’s generation: “Today I don’t feel like doing anything, I just want to lay in my bed.” It is aptly named simply “The Lazy Song.”

I know that I am greatly (and perhaps unfairly so) generalizing here, as I know that there are many young people who are diligent and hard-working. However, such persons are so rare that when they are seen, they are taken as a notable exception to their peers, and are looked upon as extraordinary.

The Book of Proverbs has a lot of warnings to the lazy man (or woman):

  • 12:24: The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.
  • 12:27: The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.
  • 13:4: The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

Application: How Then Shall We Live?

First of all, if you’re 30 years old and still live in your mom’s basement playing video games all day long – go out and get a job! (That challenge is only partly tongue-in-cheek). God’s Word challenges us to be diligent and hard-working people, and warns against a lazy lifestyle. The Bible says, “Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Colossians 3:23, NLT).

If you work hard and are diligent, God will bless you. So don’t be lazy!

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Warnings

August 22, 2013

Evil Dead

By Chris Jordan

Proverbs 24:1-2.

“Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.” (KJV). 

Worse Than a Horror Movie:

No, today’s devotional isn’t a commentary or review of the latest terrible Hollywood horror film. The title is based on a combination of today’s Scripture, which talks about evil men, and a New Testament Bible verse that says that before we come to Christ, we are “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). The evil dead. What a terrible state to be in!

What is evil? A simple dictionary definition tells us that evil is anything morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the world we’re living in is full of evil people. Turn on the TV, read the newspaper, or watch the movies, and you will see story after story filled with lying, stealing, cheating, murder, rape, terrorism and war.

In today’s Proverb, Solomon teaches us two things about evil. In the first verse, he tells us how we should respond to evil people, and in the second verse, he tells us what evil people do. I’m going to start with the second verse.

The Nature of the Evil Dead:

In Proverbs 24:2, Solomon teaches us two things about evil people: Their heart studies destruction, or plots violence. They are always looking for ways to destroy or harm others. Eugene Peterson paraphrases this verse thusly, “All they think about is causing a disturbance” (The Message).

In addition to their evil schemes, their lips talk of mischief – making trouble. Not only do they do bad things themselves, but they are always trying to get others to sin as well. Lying, gossiping, and stirring up strife; cursing, name calling and more. Do you know anyone like that? How should we deal with these kinds of people? Verse one gives us the answer:

Our Response to the Evil Dead:

The first thing the Bible tells us to do is to not envy evildoers. There’s something about our society that – especially in the secular media – likes to glamourize evil and sin. People say, “Ooh, he’s such a bad boy,” like that’s a good thing. However, God tells us that we shouldn’t envy evil people. No matter how cool or fun the world makes evil look!

Secondly, God warns us against wanting to be with them. First Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.” If you hang around with evil people, they will negatively influence your behaviour, and impact your relationship with God. Does this mean we can’t build relationships with non-Christians for the sake of leading them to Christ? Of course not. But look at your closest circle of friends, because whatever they are like – good, bad or ugly; living or dead – you will become!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Warnings, Wisdom