Jump Start # 2056

Psalms 12:1 “ Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.”

The first few Psalms, found in what is labeled Book one, contains many of David’s pleas for help. The enemy seem to be everywhere. He often feels as if God is far way. The problems are great and God seems out of reach.

In our passage today, David feels alone. The godly are gone. The faithful are no where to be found. He calls for help from God. Alone is a terrible feeling. When alone, our problems are often worse in our minds than what they really are. Alone, we get discouraged and even desperate. Elijah felt this way while hiding in a cave from Jezebel’s hitmen.

Today, even in a large congregation, there are those that feel alone. They smile when they come in to the church building. They’ll chit chat with a few, but once they leave, there is very little contact with other Christians. They have neighbors. They have family. But they don’t have that godly connection until the next Sunday. This doesn’t seem to be limited to any specific age factor. I’ve seen young single people this way. I’ve seen young families this way. I’ve seen older Christians this way. Unlike David’s plea in our verse, there are godly ones around, they just haven’t made a connection with them. They don’t know how or what to do. So often, others have no idea. They would invite and include but they are simply overlooked.

A few thoughts:

First, we all need other Christians in our lives. God did not design us to fly solo. The church is a fellowship and a family of believers. We need each other. It is from each other that we gain encouragement and strength. It is listening to one another that we form the right decisions. We are to pray for one another. We are to confess sins to one another. There are very few things that we face that is completely unique. There is usually someone that has gone through things very similar. That pulls us together and helps. The other day, it was announced that one of the men in our congregation had cancer. It was found early. Before services were over, several men had come to him with their own stories. They had the same cancer. They had been treated and survived. He never knew that. He felt so confident hearing those stories. The apostle Paul was refreshed by the presence of Titus. We all need this.

Second, through each other, we pray and seek Heaven’s help. This is one way that we carry one another’s burdens. Troubles with teens, job woes, aging parents, health issues, those are things most of us have walked through. Knowing that your name is being lifted Heavenward is such an encouragement. It’s more than just a feeling, it’s knowing that God has been asked by others to help you. It shows what they think of you. They are seeking the best help, God’s help. You miss that when you are not connected with others.

Third, it is alone when we are most vulnerable and weak. You’ve seen the shows filmed in Africa with the lion watching the antelope. He doesn’t run and jump on the whole herd. He watches and waits. He’s patient. He looks for that one antelope that isn’t paying attention. The herd moves and he hasn’t. He is now alone. That’s who the lion has his eyes on. The lone antelope. In an instant the lion springs. Dust fills the air. Then is that gruesome scene with the antelope’s legs in the air and the lion is having his lunch. Alone. Isolated. This is when worry grows the strongest. This is when doubts arise. This is when negative thoughts are launched. Our problems seem the greatest when we are alone. We think, ‘there is no one who cares,’ when we are alone. Being alone is a time when Satan will appear the most in your life.

Fourth, we don’t have to be alone. That’s the sad thing about all of this. For David, there actually may have been just a few, but not for us today. We live in a land that is full of Christians. Social media makes it easy to connect with others. Fill your time and your days with other Christians. Don’t sit at home and wait for others to call you. Take the first steps. Here are some simple reminders:

– Get down to the church house early on Sundays and then stick around some after services. Last in and first to go and you’ll certainly feel all alone. You are not giving anyone a chance to get to know you.
– Accept invitations. There are people who would love to have you over or go out to eat with you. But if you always turn them down, in time they will stop asking. It’s not their fault, you never seem interested in being with them. “What will we talk about?” Life. Family. Things that interest you. Things that interests them. Don’t be a bump on a log. Don’t be long faced and down about everything. Don’t use the time to trash talk what is good and right.
– Don’t hesitate asking for help. I do that all the time. Need something or need an extra hand, call someone from church. Most often they’ll come and they’ll be happy to help out. Don’t abuse this nor don’t take advantage of others and by all means, if you are asked to help out, you go. It’s a two way street. It’ll draw you closer to others and make you feel like you’re doing something worth while.
– Make it a point to get to know the shepherds and the preachers in the church. They are serving the Lord and trying to help you. The closer you can get to these men the more they can help you. Ask them out for lunch. Have them in your homes. Listen to their stories about how they became who they are. Be impressed. Be thankful for such good servants. They are there if you will but open your heart to them.

No one ought to feel alone. Sometimes a few fall through the cracks as we say. That shouldn’t happen. Do what you can to fill your life with great Christians. Look beyond your congregation to others. There are great men and women all over this planet that love the Lord and will love you, if you let them.

Finally, we sometimes suffer alone because we do not let others know. We are too embarrassed. We make up their minds for them. We tell ourselves that no one would invite us. We tell ourselves that others wouldn’t like us. So, we sit alone on the inside, missing great opportunities to serve and be encouraged by others. I’ve known folks who were in and out of the hospital and felt bitter because no one came to see them. The truth is, no one knew they were in the hospital. They never let it be known. If we want to be with others, then build your side of the bridge. Others, will build their side and you will be able to meet together. But don’t expect folks to know what they don’t know.

Fellowship—it means togetherness. It means you and me. It’s us doing things together. There is no reason to be alone, when there is a fellowship.

Roger

Jump Start # 2055

Psalms 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.”

His name was Martin Jenners. He died 99 years ago. Born in a log cabin in Indiana, he made his living by painting carriages. He was one of the best in the area. He, like most of his generation, would have passed on in obscurity, except for one thing. His grave is one of the most visited ones in the entire state. Fourteen years before Jenners died he had his tombstone erected at Lafayette’s Spring Vale cemetery. This stone caused such a commotion that those owning lots nearby demanded that it be taken down. The cemetery board said there were no rules against what he had done.

On his tombstone, it reads, “My only objection to religion is that is it not true.” Then there are two passages cited on the stone: 1 Cor 15:52 and Isa 26:14. This was Jenners proof that religion was not true.

The Corinthian passage says that the dead shall rise. The Isaiah passage says, “they are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise…”

At the bottom of Jenners’ gravestone it reads, “No preaching, no praying, no psalm singing permitted on this lot.”

And, our verse today says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” For nearly 100 years, Jenners has made his declaration and stance with other fools who have denied the existence of God. Turning their backs on Jesus, they die in their sins without forgiveness or hope. What he thought was a contradiction is not. The context of the Isaiah passage is taking about rulers who will no longer rule. God would end their rule and they will not rule again. The eternal status of the soul is not under discussion. What was dead, in the Isaiah passage, was their ability to oppress God’s people. Babylon was coming to an end and they would not rise up again. That’s the idea. Corinthians is dealing with the individual soul. We will be resurrected.

Not grasping the background of the Bible, it is easy for people to construct what they believe are undeniable contradictions. Their conclusions, without any proof, is that the Bible was written and edited and put together by man. Which men? When? Why? They do not know. How does the Bible tell about things that were not common knowledge? How is there a single consistent thread running all through the Bible? How is it accurate with sciences, history, geography and in areas that ancient writers would not have complete knowledge in? How is it that no other book compares to the Bible? How is it that there were witnesses to Jesus Christ? How is it that there is evidence of a world wide flood throughout the world?

Then, where did we come from? If there is no God, is matter eternal? Modern evolutionists would have us believe that all the right ingredients came together in a primeval pond. And energy, from an explosion, a bolt of lightning, with just the right amount of power caused these ingredients to be stirred and the first forms of life began. Don’t ask where the ingredients came from. Don’t ask how did they all come together at the right moment. Don’t ask how and where did the energy force come from. Don’t ask how did life come from non-life. Sprinkle in billions of years and here we are today. Getting up and going to work, raising families and understanding that shooting people isn’t a good thing to do. Where did morality come from? Fruits and vegetables don’t tell us to be nice.

Finding a couple of verses that seem opposite is a quick and easy way to dismiss our responsibilities and obligations toward God. But it doesn’t answer the where’s and the why’s and the how’s of life. If we are nothing more than a billion years removed from a rock, why is killing someone else wrong? Animals do it all the time. Why do we honor our dead by burying them in cemeteries? Road kill is left on the road.

People don’t like the idea of God. They don’t understand God. They think the problem of suffering is proof that there is no God. If there was a God, He’d stop all suffering. They don’t understand God. Without God, what’s the point? What a dull, lifeless life this is. We are on our own and there is no one to help us. And, this is as good as it gets, if there is no God. The tenants of economic socialism are built around the concept that there is no God.

Logic, science, Biblical proof, external natural evidences all point back to Jehovah. There is a God! We need to be thankful to Him. We need to know Him. We need to be obedient to Him. Poor Mr. Jenners could have found the answers to why those verses do not seem to fit. I wonder what questions we have. I wonder if we are allowing those questions to eat away at our faith or if we are seeking to find the answers. Doubting Thomas, as we call him, stayed around the apostles for a week until he saw Jesus for himself. He wasn’t with critics and deniers. He was with the believers. Don’t you expect he was asking them questions. Don’t you think he was listening over and over. When Jesus appears, he knows. He fed his faith and not his doubts. He sought answers. He didn’t allow his questions to conquer him.

James Jewell, reporting about the unique Jenners grave stone in 1985 said, “visitors to the site will notice only splotches of grass dot the plot. No grass has ever grown on the grave.” How interesting.

I have visited this grave several times. On many occasions I have taken other Christians with me. And, yes, we did sing and pray while on his lot. I fondly remember singing, “There is a God.” I know the Lord heard us. I expect Jenners now wishes he could have joined with us in that song.

Roger