PROCLAIM

If you had to guess what Scripture names as the most-mentioned musical instrument...what would you guess?

Yesterday's SS lesson was great; I'm smitten with my teacher.  We were talking about what will happen when the Lord returns.  And that will include the Final Trumpet call of God.

Now do you know the instrument?  It's the shofar, an instrument which has not changed in 5,000 years.

Of course, God doesn't change, either.  It gives me comfort to know that He is the same THOROUGH and INSTRUCTIVE God yesterday, today, and forever.

He gave instruction that the shofar be made from a hollow-horned bovid, such as the ram.  Yemeni Jews also use the kudu, which is long and twisted.  The purpose of the instrument is to proclaim the message "awake, sleeper!"

In Old Testament days, the blast of the shofar was used in battle as well as in the temple to announce festivals, the new moon, and the new year.  Joshua used the shofar at Jericho when the walls came down. Moses went up on the cloud-encircled Mt. Sinai while the people below partied with a golden calf.  But when they heard the blast of the shofar, Scripture says they trembled.

Today Jews use the shofar primarily for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  And silver trumpets also play a part in worship.  Sometimes both instruments play together and other times, worship calls for them to play alone.  There are different sound patterns which convey differing messages.  The shofar's short blast is to awaken/stir...a series of broken notes represent hearts broken over sin...an alarm sound of staccato notes warn of the enemy's approach...and a long blast was for a coronation.

When believers read 1Thessalonians 4:16, 17 we know we will hear God's trumpet.  And we wonder if that will be a silver trumpet or the shofar?  There are differing opinions and God will do as He pleases... but I'm going with the shofar.  Here's why:

JEWISH TRADITION

Abraham was told to cut off the horns of the sacrificial ram 

that took Isaac's place.  He used the left one (The First Trump) 

and throughout generations, it was supposedly
passed down from Abraham through Moses.  

Jews believe that the right horn (aka The Last Trump) 

will be the one blown to announce the Messiah one day.

REASON

Christians might reason that the silver trumpet was used for
 occasions such as calling to assembly and breaking camp.  

But the shofar was used for matters of heart.

We also reason that the silver trumpet is man-made, 

while the shofar is from the "God-made" ram.  

That reminds us that when God told Solomon how to build His temple, 

instead of choosing man-made bricks, He chose stones that He had made.

Is there a spiritual application to all this "shofar talk"?  In order for the shofar to be made ready for use, it first needed cleanup (the removal of skin/blood/flesh).  Then the inside rough edges had to be sanded down in order for the best possible sound...an opening sufficient for the "Breath of life" to flow through.  Isn't that our story?

The entire life of the ram (from being used as a sacrifice to the finished instrument) was used in the praise of God.  Could we have a more glorious purpose than to be living shofars, announcing the coming of the King?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VI3xVpCiMM

HANDLING WEALTH

Who hasn't dreamed of winning the lottery?   Isn't that why so many tickets are sold?

But lottery winners tell unbelievable stories about the corrosiveness of their windfall wealth.  Dave Ramsey says the divorce rate among Lotto winners is four-fold the national average.  He also says 65% of the winners are bankrupt within 15 years.   click

It would seem that when we mud-wrestle with money, money wins.  Of course, that would not happen to ME; I could manage it better.  Uh huh.  Let's just say that wealth can reveal a man's mettle.

Could we also say then, that men who have handled wealth well over forty years...have proven themselves?  Not in the political world.

Mitt Romney takes a beating for what he has accomplished in life.  Why would that be?  Do we lust for Lotto money, but not for honest gain?

Romney's critics are curiously silent about their own wealthy pals.  Methinks it curious that neither John Kennedy nor John Kerry are criticized because they are rich.  Let's unpack that...

JFK inherited his wealth; JK married his.

On the other hand, Mitt Romney inherited dollars earned from an immigrant father who came to this country with no money/education.  George Romney rose to the pinnacle of success in business (running American Motors) and politics (becoming the Governor of Michigan).

When Mitt inherited his wealth, what did he do with it?  He gave it all to charity.  Then he proceeded to make his own money.  Isn't that laudable?  Since then, Mitt takes his own earnings and regularly gives beyond a tithe (to repeat...he gives BEYOND A TITHE) to those less fortunate.  Isn't that laudable?

JFK was a President who inspired the country, but was personally flawed.  John Kerry married the Heinz ketchup fortune and gives a pittance to charity.  click  Those are not mean-spirited comments, but defining facts.

May I stop and smile just now?  Here I am writing in defense of a man who has my tepid support.  Mitt Romney was not my candidate of choice.

But here are three things I CAN say on Governor Romney's behalf:

1.  Mitt has passed through the fire of handling personal wealth, coming out on the other side with an "A".

2.  He has my applause for his 43- year-commitment to Ann and their five boys.  Marriage and family are also revealing fires.

3.  The Governor has a resume of business success and the Lord knows Uncle Sam needs some help running the store.

So the next time Mitt is criticized for being a plastic Ken doll, could we ask for a more substantive evaluation of a life well lived?  And when the Governor is criticized for being rich, can we agree that he is living the American dream, and his stewardship brings blessing to many?

Each of us have a life story to back up what we say.  Mitt Romney's life story sparkles.

ELECTION INTEGRITY

Ever heard of the Battle of Athens?  It was a citizens rebellion in Athens and Etowah, Tennessee in 1946.  Locals and WW2 returning vets were protesting a "good ole boy" system of political corruption and voter fraud.

There is a YouTube circulating about the incident.  When I watched it, I immediately called a friend who hails from Etowah.  She agreed that the incident happened, but said the video had "Hollywoodized" it because there really were no casualties.

Still, we see in the Battle of Athens a citizenry committed to self-determination and concerned for the integrity of the ballot box.

And isn't self-determination a gift that has been given Americans?

Accountability has always gone hand-in-hand with our election process.  As the Election Day 2012 gets closer, there are several concerns about the integrity of our process.


VOTER ID

Some states require a picture ID while others do not.  There are several videos circulating which purport to show people in "no ID" states signing up to vote under fictitious names.  Or, the poser asks for a handful of ballots to take to a nursing home.  That's troubling.

Tell me again why polls report minorities support voter ID, but elected officials call it discrimination?

Why would it be normal procedure to show my ID to access any number of places, but discriminating to prove who I was in the voting booth?

VOTER INTIMIDATION
Who would have believed this Black Panther intimidation from 2008 in Philadelphia?

Who could conceive of the lack of prosecution for such an offense?  click

VOTER FRAUD

Everyone laughs about the dead people who vote in Chicago.  Now there's a new potential for fraud with exponential possibilities.  

The system in place in some states allows the election box results to be funneled into a software system run by a company named SOE, which is based in Tampa, FL.  An SOE server takes the information from the precinct voting machines and compiles a total for a more streamlined, timely result.  Faster IS better...but how safe is this?

As the information leaves the local precinct, the numbers posted at the precinct can still be checked against what SOE publishes.  That affords some accountability and accountability is our friend.

That has changed.

A company called SCYTL has bought SOE and they offer a ballotless system of internet voting (both poll touch screens and remote internet voting, which has been used for soldiers overseas).

Unfortunately, we lose the ability to audit SCYTL's numbers against the precinct numbers.  Once SCYTL has the numbers, there will be no physical evidence or chain of custody for comparison.  There is no way for the public to authenticate who cast the votes...or keep up with the chain of custody...or the count.

So who is SCYTL and when did we give all our cookies over to them? 

SCYTL is a company based in Spain which either has run/will run elections in the UK, France, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, India, and Australia.  They are funded through international venture capital funds.  In the United States, there are 14 states which now use this new paperless voting system. click

A few questions immediately come to mind...

1.  Hacking.  Sites say that just before the November 2010 election, Washington DC's new electronic voting system was hacked.  How would we know our voting was accurate?

2.  Sovereignty.  An American election is run by a Spanish conglomerate?  

3.  International Venture Capitalist Investors.  Who are they? 

4.  Since when has "no accountability" EVER worked in anything?  Trust and verify is a good policy.

"The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter."  

Dwight D. Eisenhower

President Eisenhower, you have no idea how much we hope that is so.  

MARRY ME?

Most Americans (78%) were married in 1950.  By 2010, the percentage had dropped to 48%.

Is that a big deal that marriage is in decline?  You betcha.

With less stability in homes, the stats show single parents are stretched thin and overwhelmed.  With only one income, they are more likely to be in poverty programs.  Thirty-five percent of girls whose Daddy left home before they were six...became pregnant out of wedlock.  Boys without their Dad are two-thirds more likely to end up in prison.

These stats are not absolute predictors, but how can we ignore them?

Our next generation demands to know...why SHOULD people marry when you can live together?  Why CAN'T two women marry?  And then there's the old familiar cry "I beg your pardon...submit?...I don't think so!"

 In 1970 Mike and I said an oblivious "I do".  And we did for a while.  But when love's buzz wore off and we woke in counseling, we began to gather snippets of truth so obvious that we were red-faced that they had gotten by us.  We missed truths like...men and women have differing expectations/speak different languages.  Guilt doesn't work.  And there should be more reason to stay together than "no one in my family has ever gotten a divorce".

Our teachable moment taught us that it was possible to go from smitten to mystified to chronically alienated in only six years.  Marriage sure wasn't working out like we had always thought it would.

Since that bumpy start, we have decided to follow Christ and we're seeing things differently.  It was helpful to know marriage wasn't just about us and my mate wasn't my enemy.  We were surprised to find the Bible actually had practical tips for marriage that worked.  The ancient words summed it up perfectly:  "women need love/men need respect".

Beyond that, we were shown how marriage is the way God proclaims Himself...perfects us...and prophesies our future.



GOD PROCLAIMS
Since the Genesis beginning, we read that God created us male and female.  Then because it was not good for the man to be alone, God said He would make a companion for Adam who would help him.  And God says the design of the marriage is for a man to leave his father and mother and unite with his wife and they would become a new family.  And procreate.


All of that is true, but oneness in marriage is much more.  Oneness reflects a clear picture of the Lord; it's a glossy 8x10 of His nature.

God is neither male nor female, but in the marriage relationship we get both sides of the picture.  He is called El Shaddai in the book of Isaiah.  That is translated "God Almighty" or "The All-Sufficient One".  But there is another interesting translation.  From the "el" we get the meaning strength/might.  He is the Mighty God.  But from "shad" we get breast.  So another translation can be "The Breasted One", referring to God's nurturing side which allows us to come to Him and lay our head on His chest.  There is an implied quieting that comes just as a baby is put to the breast and quits fussing.  So two divergent descriptions come together to say that God is tender and mighty.

We see that contrast in Isaiah 40:11 where Isaiah says "like a shepherd He tends His flock; He gathers up the lambs with His arm; He carries them close to His heart; He leads the nursing ewes."  That is God's soft side.  Then in the next verse, there is a description that only the Almighty could do:  "who has measured out the waters in the hollow of His hand, or carefully measured the sky, or carefully weighed the soil of the earth, or weighed the mountains in a balance, or the hills on scales?" Obviously, the answer is NO ONE but an all-powerful God.

God proclaims His full image in His institution of marriage.

GOD PERFECTS
Every baby is born with a selfish nature.  We may think we are patient or forgiving...and as long as we are single, that may be the case.  But when we marry and enter a relationship that calls for walking in lockstep, we see just how patient/forgiving we really are.  Our relationship with our mate becomes a fertile field for growth.

Mike would tell you the issue of praying together has had a perfecting effect.  My husband began our prayer life one night and something he said tickled me.  I giggled and it set our journey back about six months.  I wasn't laughing at what he said, but at a random thought it triggered in my brain.  Still, I wouldn't advise prayer giggling.

Oneness in marriage shows the world mutual submission and selflessness and it demonstrates Christ-likeness.  Have you seen the triangle illustration?  If the husband and wife both have a desire to move up toward God, guess where they also end up?  Closer to one another.

Marriage is God's gift to help us finish "growing up".



GOD PROPHESIES
The Lord gave the apostle John a vision of what would happen at the end of time.  You could say that marriage bookends the Bible because it began in the garden, and history culminates in another wedding analogy in the book of Revelation.  Jesus says He will return to eat the marriage feast with His bride, the church.  We look forward to the day that we will join Him at the banquet.

When Christ first left the heavenlies for Bethlehem, the angels were wonder-struck at His humility and rejoiced at His great love.  They praised God that He would think up such a rescue plan.  The Dear Son gave up all status and even His life for His bride, the church.  He bought our ticket to the banquet and to eternity.  One day there will be great rejoicing as we come to the marriage feast.

Women are to lovingly submit to our husbands as Christ submitted to the church.  Our husbands are to give themselves up for their wives as Christ gave Himself up for the church.  What woman would mind serving a man who served her unto death?  And what man would mind giving himself up for a wife who adored him?  We would all stand in line for that mutual admiration society.

BOTTOM LINE
What about today?  Can we trust a "dated" structure such as marriage?  We can trust it's Inventor.  We can live as He calls us to live and our faith will please Him.  If you are thinking that your husband/wife does not deserve such honor, their office does.  Honor that.  Ask the Lord to help you.

It has never been as important as it is today to reflect God's image in marriage.  Married people hope that the world sees God's reflection in their relationship.  Do you believe He has a purpose for your marriage?  Are you trusting Him that the plan will be for His glory?

From Genesis to Revelation, the plan has been for marriage.  We can honor God by honoring His institution.  The Bridegroom will soon be back for His bride!

"Hallelujah!  For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come 

and His bride has made herself ready.

Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

Then the angel said to me, 'Write the following:

blessed are those who are invited to the banquet

at the wedding celebration of the Lamb!'"

Revelation 19:6-9

DO THE RIGHT THING

 For the first time in 34 years, Chuck Colson will not spend Easter in prisons, ministering to inmates.

Instead, he is in the critical care unit of a hospital after surgery to remove blood from a brain bleed.  Many people have a God story, but Chuck Colson's story was a daylight/dark picture of how God recreates a heart and causes it to beat for Him.

It is interesting to read the news accounts about Mr. Colson's medical condition.  Secular media packs the article with words about his ruthless persona before he came to Christ.  Guess they are not through drumming him for his past deeds.  They don't seem aware of his subsequent 39 years of exemplary living.  Chuck Colson met Jesus in 1973, right before entering prison.  Since then, his life has been the prooftext for his new heart.

Following the Lord takes you some unlikely places.  I'm sure prison was not a pleasant place, and you would have thought when Mr. Colson left...he would NEVER return.  But that was exactly where God gave him a ministry.

The hopelessness inside the prisons caused Chuck Colson to go back in.  He founded Prison Fellowship, which has creative programs that target recidivism and make a difference.  Their Angel Tree project @Christmas coordinates volunteer gifts to children of prisoners...and are a mercy to the little ones who also pay for their parent's mistakes.

Everyone agrees that even though we are forgiven, we sometimes have to live with consequences.  Mr. Colson would be the first to tell you what his life was like before Christ.  But it is unfair for the bulk of the article to be about his past with only a brief/general mention of his life now.  Some writers actually demeaned his life choice by calling it a jailhouse conversion.  Yes, it was a conversion that grew legs and walked back into the jail.

Besides founding Prison Fellowship, this prolific author has written 17 books.  At 80, he still writes a daily commentary about the culture at
http://www.breakpoint.org .  He helped to found the ecumenical Manhattan Declaration, the Wilberforce Forum, and the Colson Center, which establish programs to help construct worldview (programs such as Centurions, ReWired, and Wide Angle).

Chuck Colson won the Templeton prize for his contributions toward spiritual growth.  The $1 million prize money was donated to Prison Fellowship, as are all Mr. Colson's speaking fees/royalties.  Chuck Colson takes Scripture and reasons with excellence.  Then he lives it with his life.

Wonder why the media can't turn the page with this man?  Do they think he still secretly lives that image they describe?  Or have they just not tasted forgiveness themselves?

When I read what was said about this good man, it made me think of my own forgiveness.  I know how unattractive my sin is when shown in the light.  I'm so glad it's not in the paper for all to see!  I give thanks that God puts my sin as far away as the east is from the west.  I thank Him for 1John 1:9, which is a soap verse that says when we confess, our faithful Friend forgives.

Man can't seem to let go of an offense, but God (in Christ) does.  Max Lucado says it was not the nails that held Christ to the cross, but His love.  This Easter, thank Him for His complete ability and complete willingness to forgive...and then, to forget.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!