DEATH OF SELF RESTRAINT

Yes, Oprah had a rousing speech at  the Golden Globes.  Why was it rousing?  She spoke against wrongs.

But may we speak frankly?  In order to know "wrong", we must know "right".

"Right and wrong" have been missing from the national discourse, replaced by whatever looked right in each man's eyes.  That led to many ills, including the death of self-restraint.

Dan Menninger wrote a great piece in the Wall Street Journal about the death of self-restraint.  LINK

At the Golden Globes, the CONTRIBUTORS TO THE COARSENING OF THE CULTURE sought high ground as they roared their assent to Oprah's call for truth, for being empowered,  for hope on the horizon, and...never again would there be "me, too".

Well...sure.  Who's not for that?  So what's the problem?  It's only rhetoric if there's no power to accomplish it.  "Wretched man that I am; I do not practice what I wish, but do the very thing that I loathe."

Can we move past the fluffy words of the moment to think how moral restraint might actually be accomplished?

Oprah spoke of the media in the quest for "coarse" correction.  The media has the power to expose  someone, but not the power to help someone employ self-restraint.

Surely the fear of being outed might work for some, but most people pursing the love of self aren't swayed by the threat of exposure because they think they'll get away with it...or they'll pay for silence.

Of course moral restraint is found by moving toward THE Source of power.  But do any in that room full of influencers help others by using their work to do such a thing?

THEY'VE SPENT THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS TRYING TO CONVINCE US MORAL RESTRAINTS ARE RIDICULOUS...AND EVERYTHING'S KOSHER UNDER THE SUN.  And if you disagree?  You're the problem.  And you're weird.

Want proof of that assertion?  Know what was awarded BEST TELEVISION SERIES?  The award went to a vicious attack on Christianity called "The Handmaid's Tale".

Dovetailing with the popular theme  "women are stripped of their rights", the Golden Globes lifted high a show about a post-nuclear America run by evangelicals.

Scripture is read while a mean woman in charge zaps an uncooperative handmaid in the face with a cattle prod.  They sing a precious hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers" while impregnating handmaidens to "allow the women to experience God's plan for all women, the bearing of children".

That is unbelievable that it would even be on the air, much less be honored! Wouldn't it be unthinkable to write such a show about Islamic scripture or songs?
   
Bottom line, what would you say was the message from the Globes?  Speak truth to power?  Oprah said there would be no more turning a blind eye to injustice because the abusers' "time is up".   But as long as the entertainment industry honors what is evil, the industry's boat is not headed for the right harbor.

I was thinking about Harvey Weinstein's judgment and how lickety split the timing was.  For years he was boss hog...and the next minute, he's a bum.  That's how the timing of Jesus' return will seem to those who aren't expecting Him.

It would be nice to think that we could get rid of Weinsteinism, and right now the pendulum has swung toward that direction with abusers dropping off like fleas off a dog with a new flea collar.  But it won't last.  Why?  Human nature.

Self love will remain until a heart circumcision is performed and the individual begins to love God more than self.  Even after that, the love of self keeps popping up like that maniac Glenn Close played in "Fatal Attraction".

Sanctification begins when Christ enters a life, but then our part in the process is to cooperate daily to die to self.  We would be lost in that process without the power that God the Father sends us in the person of God the Holy Spirit.

As appealing as Oprah's words were, without a source of power her words are just wishful thinking.  God is the only real source of Empowerment, Truth, and of Hope.

WARM THE GLOBE, PLEASE

Is there global warming?  The climate is always changing, but has man caused it?  Will it be  catastrophic?

I've found my resting place in the book of Genesis, where a Trinitarian creation is set into motion.  Later we read that the Lord's hand continually holds the universe together by the power of His Word.

But not everyone sees the order of things with God at the top.  If God is not in charge, then who?  Some think man is able to cause disorder in the universe by his lifestyle.

Global warming folks say human activities such as human expansion, cutting the rain forest, the use of fossil fuels, car emissions, etc....combined with bovine flatulence...are the causes of the "greenhouse effect" (where trapped radiant heat causes Earth's temperatures to rise).

Former Vice President Al Gore says "the Earth has a fever" and man is to  blame.

Man-made global warming is one theory, but it certainly isn't "settled science" as it is sold to be.  Not all scientists agree and there is a lack of intellectual honesty when one side shames the other with name calling...and then displays no scientific intellectual curiosity.

What proof is offered as evidence that man has caused it?

The man-based model has been supported by 1,300 climatologists world-wide in conjunction with the United Nations.  Now enter the monetary angle.  These scientists' jobs and findings are symbiotic.  And when they put certain numbers into the computer model, the outcome can be skewed toward their assumption.

Normally we wait 30-40 years for a climate "trend" to show up, but this week we've come to immediate conclusions about our 2017-2018 winter.  It's global warming.  Wait, what?  If it's hot it's global warming and if it's cold it's global warming?  Tripe!

That brings us to the anointed spokesperson for global warming, former Vice President Al Gore.

Over and over the former VP's dire predictions are contradicted.  He predicted in his first book that a Greenland ice melt would put NYC under water.

He had to come off that one in his sequel book.

At the same time VP Gore would direct YOUR carbon footprint, he gorges his own footprint with homes and jets...and hypocritically sells his TV network to oil-producing Al Jazeera.

What a curious choice for a spokesperson!  He profits from something that he preaches against...something that he says puts us in "peril".

Other global warming warriors  made the news in July, 2016 when scientists were sent to the Arctic to study the disappearing Arctic ice...and got stuck in the ice.

Then there was this headline from 2000 which said "SNOWFALLS ARE NOW A THING OF THE PAST!  CHILDREN AREN'T GONG TO KNOW WHAT SNOW IS!"

Wouldn't you say this winter's snowfall has caused that hysterical prediction to bite the dust?  Surely global warming alarmists took a step back.  No.  Doubling down, they have said this week it was "natural" to assume global warming would cause an increase in snowfall.  Really?  Can't have it both ways, Fellas.

Listen.  Saving the planet is above our pay grade.  We are here to point PEOPLE to salvation.  What could be more important than that?  But isn't it easy to see how others might view global warming as a type of "religion"?  They even sell "indulgences" that they call carbon offsets.

Let's don't get our books confused.  Which book do YOU think has credibility?  I think I'll go with the Book that has proven accuracy.  #seetheBible'sfulfilledprophecies

My money is on the One who says the world moves ON HIS TIMELINE AND ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN.

Remember the old Mom warning "I brought you into this world and I can take you out"?  God brought the universe into existence and He has the keeping power to hold it fast until the right time.

On that Last Day, He will roll the sky up like a scroll, fire will destroy the Earth with intense heat, and THAT will be global warming.

The Earth and her future belong to the Lord Almighty.


P.S.  If you like videos, this one is helpful as it simply lays out the global warming issues.  It has had a million/half viewings!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwqIy8Ikv-c

STARTING 2018

Albert Einstein was right when he said time is an illusion.  One minute you have kids, and the next minute they're having kids.

As 2017 is done and in the books, nostalgia has caused time to lurch backward for me.  Why?

I've been watching old reruns of "Brooklyn Bridge" on YouTube.  It's my favorite Gary David Goldberg sitcom, written about his childhood recollections while growing up in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Bridge pictures a "time" of innocence that 2017 wouldn't recognize.

Just think about our pockmarked old year.  Besides all the vitriol on the airwaves, there was devastation from triple hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and awful fires out West that may lead to mudslides.

There were senseless killings by domestic terrorists in a TX church and at a NV concert...plus masked and hooded antifa thugs dressed in black and carrying clubs into the streets.

Then there were the men who behaved like brutes.

How we hurt the ones we love!  You only need look at this wife's face to know the humiliation that her husband brought upon her.  Imagine  Matt Lauer having to hurry to his teenaged son to explain the charges against him before they were made public. It is painful when your sins find you out.

Faithful men are to be prized.

Events like that are beyond our control, so Mike and I have been talking about the year-end review of OUR business.  We wanted to remember what God has taught us this year so that we will "get it" the first time through.  No one wants to go to summer school to have to relearn our lessons.

So this picture was us in 2017.  Even as our outer man is decaying, our inner man is CONTENTED, confident in God's sufficiency, and grateful for where He has us.  We love Butterfield and count it a real blessing.  

At ages 75 and 70, our dependence on the Lord is not just blah blah blah.  We actually believe the words that we've espoused for years. As we get closer to seeing Him, the truth that He loved us first propels us to go tell.

Besides, the Cruses can't complain.  We've felt our mortality this year, but what's a goozle-stretch or bone spur removal compared to what some friends are going through?  Getting older helps you focus on what is really important.

The Lord has sharpened our minds through Bible studies (Mike is teaching Genesis here at Butterfield and my BSF study is in Romans)....and undergirded our rocky places.  Our old year probably was like yours.  We loved our answered prayers, and we keep praying for things not yet resolved.

As we've gotten older, we have a better sense about what we can do and what we cannot do.  Some things only God can do.

A Romans 5 verse lit up that truth last month.  There are some unsavory characters that are described as the ones Christ came to save...the sinner, the ungodly, and the helpless.  That described Mike and I once, so that's why we're so grateful for His intervention in our lives.  We're all helpless without God's intervention.

Jesus is the only thing that doesn't change in life.  He stands true when all else moves...His kingdom is unshakeable and He promises to be with us forever.

Mike and I get up each morning and look to see if the other is well.  That's not macabre...it's just life.  We say daily that we are thankful for each other and thankful for the Lord's sovereign hand on our lives.

You know, some might think Gary David Goldberg wrote "Brooklyn Bridge" with more fondness than accuracy.  Maybe you think such innocence never existed.  Perhaps.  But we know FOR CERTAIN that there is such a place up ahead.  Mike and I hope to see each of you there one day.

Meantime, we wish you God's blessings in 2018...with our love.

FENCING GOD OUT

He was an angry man with mental health issues who pushed hard against fences.

*Social fences called him an outsider, and he dated a 13-year-old when he was 18.

*The Air Force fenced him out, discharging him with "bad conduct" after he served a year in confinement for domestic violence (hitting his wife and causing her toddler to have a fractured skull).

*He bumped into the law's fence when he repeatedly hit his puppy in the head, staked it out in the hot Texas sun without water, and then was charged with cruelty to animals.

*By the age of 26, his behavior had fenced out two wives and also his second wife's parents.

*In the end, he decided to fence God out, declaring himself an atheist and destroying what God had made and loved.

What an unhappy soul who caused unhappiness for so many others!  Surely as he exhibited all those signs for all those years, it was God's people who were the ones ministering to him and reaching out to him with God's love.  Now we can trust God to know how to handle this troubled, wayward soul.

Know that line from Martin Luther's hymn A MIGHTY FORTRESS?  It goes "and though this life with devils filled should threaten to undo us...we will not fear for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us".  It was not God's truth that triumphed through the Texas shooter, but the personification of the devil's hate.

God's truth is proclaimed in the beautiful response of the congregation of First Baptist Sutherland Springs (especially the pastor's statement "I don't understand, but I know my God does")...and in the Southern Baptist Convention's response to offer to pay for all the funerals...and in the countless acts of love and support.

Luther's hymn says that our ancient foe seeks to work us woe.  In our modernity, we scoff at talk about the devil or hell.  Instead, we immerse ourselves in the "God is love" mentality.  We do that at our peril.

Of course God is all-loving, but He also is all-just...all-powerful...all-merciful etc. in equal measures.  In His justice, would He give us eternity with killers?  If there ever was a time to read God's love letter and consider His whole counsel...it is now.

This sad young man may have thought he bought a ticket that would extinguish his unhappy consciousness.  But he is never more alive than he is today.  There is no such thing as annihilation.  People will spend eternity in full consciousness...either with the Lord or in the Lake of Fire.  Jesus said "then they (the unsaved) will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life".

Sin bears an eternal consequence because it is committed against an eternal God.  But God is rich in mercy and made a way for sinners...when He took His wrath against sin out on His own Son.  Rejecting the Son leaves God's wrath to fall on whoever owes sin's debt.  We all are sinners; either Jesus pays or we pay.

Look at these happy, precious faces.  These people are the Holcombe family, just one family affected by the church shooting (plus a family friend, bottom right).  How does any one family sustain such grief?

They all died except the girl in the middle of top row who was shot, but survived.  The lady in the middle of bottom row was pregnant.

In all, twenty-six dear souls went into Jesus' presence Sunday.  Perhaps they all had already surrendered to Jesus as Savior and Lord.  You can bet when they went to church that morning, they had NO IDEA that their time allotment would soon be up.

Now their friends and family are left to grieve for them, as well as distressed strangers from all over our country.  But would any of the twenty-six want a return ticket after what they've seen?

#this world is a staging ground for the next
#hell is real
#getintheboatwithJesus
#prayforGod'schurch

WHOZZAT?

This is a test.  Know who this famous American is?

*he ran away from home @16
*lived with the Indians three years and spoke fluent Cherokee
*fought in Revolutionary War and War of 1812
*became a lawyer in TN and commanded a TN state militia
*elected Governor of TN
*pled the case for Indians in Washington in full Cherokee gear
*beat a Congressman walking down Pennsylvania Avenue with a hickory cane/high profile trial/represented by Francis Scott Key/convicted/given light fine
*moved to territories and never paid the fine
*fought for TX independence from Mexico
*named first/third President of the Republic of Texas
*first TX Senator and then Governor of Texas
*slave holder who opposed abolition and the secession of TX from Union/evicted from office for refusing to take oath of loyalty to the Confederacy (see statement below)

This achiever lived a remarkable life.  He was a soldier, politician, and he also had two legal wives and one common law wife.  Do you know anyone else who was Governor of two different states?  Who was he?

The answer is Sam Houston, the man for whom the flooded city of Houston was named.

Sam Houston had a BIG personna just like Texas.  He was rough around the edges, but when Sam fell in love with...and married his third wife, Sam Houston was gentled.

This is pretty Margaret Houston from Alabama.  She was 21 and he was 47 when they married.  No wonder the honorary Cherokee named "Black Raven" fell for her.  They went on to have eight children who were born between his 51st-68th year.

It was Margaret who convinced Houston to give up drinking and consider Jesus.  She whispered in his ear for fourteen years before his conversion and baptism.

The Lord gave us baptism and communion to point to Him and help us remember Him.  As a person goes under the baptismal waters, they are "play acting" a spiritual truth that has already been accomplished.  In front of friends who know them, the one being baptized portrays their death to self and being raised to a newness of life.

Mr. Sam was no exception.  When he came up out of the waters, he was declaring to witnesses (of whom there were MANY there that day) that he had turned his back on a lifetime of self-direction and was now turning toward Jesus.

We can imagine that because Sam Houston was such a ruffian...and a huge public figure...people came from miles away to see his baptism.  Some mischievous kids had put sticks and mud in the baptismal pool, so they quickly had to relocate it to Little Rocky Creek just south of College Station. The wind was whipping on that cold November Day.

Rufus Columbus Burleson was Houston's pastor who  baptized him, but there were two other pastors (Morrell and Baines) who were there because they had played a part in his conversion.  George Washington Baines had been Sam's former pastor and was the great-grandfather of President Lyndon Baines Johnson.  After he was baptized, one of his friends was heard to say "General, all your sins have been washed away!".  Houston replied "If that be the case, God help the fish downstream!"

Was his conversion true?

Sam Houston's life gave ample evidence.  This former brawler was sorry for his past 61 years of ignoring the Savior.  He was through fighting the English, the Mexicans, the politicians, and his own sin.  He gave up the bottle and exchanged his name "The Big Drunk" for the name "Christian".  He gave freely to the cause of Christ...paying half of his pastor's salary and giving generously to Baylor University.

Sam Houston's future totally changed when he met the Savior. One day it will be an honor to meet him.







Addendum
After Sam Houston was evicted from the TX Governor's office, he went to Galveston where Texans demanded to know why he would not support the Confederacy.  Here are his words:
  
"Let me tell you what is coming.  After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it.  I tell you that, while I believe with you in the doctrine of states rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union.  They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates.  But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche; and what I fear is, they will overwhelm the South."

FELLOWSHIP IS FORTY!

Saturday afternoon Mike and I were awash in a sea of hugs and gray hair as our church in Little Rock marked their fortieth birthday.

The meet-and-greet was for those from "the early days" of the church's beginning.  We saw familiar faces and played NAMEFIND in rapid-fire desperation.

Bill Wellons, Mike, and Bill Parkinson

Since the Cruses had gone to FBC from 1980 until our move to Fayetteville in 2009...we qualified as beginners.  Plus Mike had a ten year FBC work history.

The event tasted like heaven.  You know why?  Time was sucked out of a  room full of God's love.  





It wasn't that the people there were more favored than anyone else.  We saw friends who had experienced dread medical diagnoses, a divorce, or whose kids had run off into the weeds.  The rain falls on the just and the unjust.

But they were people we had co-labored with...prayed with...loved...had forgiven...and who had taught us what God said.  These two Bill's to the right (plus Robert) married our kids and buried our family.  That makes them very dear to our hearts.

It was a special treat to have Alan Mesko come help us worship.  For a mathematician, he is an amazing pianist/worship leader who can work those keys like a boss.    

Then it wouldn't have been Fellowship without the beautiful sopranos, Debbie Rees and Vicki Burnett. 

Music has a way of transporting right into the throne room.

When the part came when our stats were read, we were stunned:

Fellowship Bible Church has 93 church plants,(open that link to see an amazing map), a residency program for graduating pastors, and over 100 ministries established by FBC alums on 7 continents/32 countries.  To experience the needs of others around the world, FBC put over 2,000 people on the mission field.  Twenty-five alums have written books.  We sought to be light in our local community by establishing a mid-town medical center, a work in the inner city, and an outreach at the Med Center (to equip new docs in money management, marriage skills, etc.).  We began "Sharefest" (which 150 churches adopted), a mentoring program in the schools, and Robert's "Men's Fraternity", which was taught over the United States and then went international. 

There was more, but isn't that awesome?  We knew not to be impressed with ourselves because we know our limits. The horn-tooting was all for the mind of God which imagined such an undertaking...and the Spirit of God who empowered it.  That's why at the end, we will fully realize His grace and throw our crowns at His feet.

Thirty years ago, Jane Anne Smith wrote a piece to try and explain how special she knew Fellowship to be.  She reread it on Saturday, and here are Jane Anne's thoughts about the 1977 founding of FBC:

Something Very Special

   Sometime ago, in eternity past, God was sharing His plans with an angel. Said The Lord, “You know, every century in the 77^th year, I do something VERY special.  The angel knew well that God was especially fond of the number 7.

   God went on, “I’ve decided for this century that I will build a very special church on earth, one that I will use to minister to many people and many nations, one that will glorify Me!”  The angel, wanting to please, offered, “Good idea, Lord! Of course, you will first need to put this idea into the heart of a man of vision…and order to get the idea across to the right people, a man who is a great orator and exceptional speaker!”  Thoughtfully, God answered, “No, I think I will use another kind of man, one who cries when he talks.”

   A little perplexed, the angel answered, “Oh…well, Lord…anything you say.  “But you will, of course, want to put this church in a very important place…a city that is very famous and in full view of the world, a very Big city!”.  “No”, said God again.  I think I’ll put this church in a very LITTLE city, one that is not very famous for anything.  In fact, I think I’ll put it in Little Rock.

   “Well”, said the angel, “I hope you’re planning to have them meet in a very stately and beautiful church building…one with stained glass windows and a BIG sign out in front! This church will need something to give it credibility in the community.”  Again, God had His own ideas. “Oh no, it will be many years before they will be ready for a building with a big sign out front.  You see, I don’t want them to look at a building and say, “This is my church”; I want them to look at each other and say, “This is my church”.  “No, I think I’ll have them meet in a kindergarten.”

   It was the angel’s turn to speak. “Uh, sure Lord, but if you’re  going to do that, you’ll need to have as leaders of this church very old and scholarly men who have had years of experience in the ministry.”  God chuckled. “no,no…you still don’t understand.  I plan to use YOUNG men, ones who have very little experience in the ministry, ones I can train to do things MY way!”.

   

“But God!”, answered the angel, “where will you find such men?!?  OH, I know, from the halls of higher learning, from the most prestigious religious institutions.  “No, no, no”, said God. “I plan to take them from a school that is famous for being a party school!”

   “But God”, answered the angel, a little shocked. “Does this school have a strong religion department?”  “It won’t need one” said God, enjoying every minute of this, “I plan to recruit them from the football team!”.

   The angel had heard enough.  He could be seen flying off into the sunset mumbling under his breath…something about the red sea and the burning bush.

   The people on earth heard very loud thunder! Actually, it was the voice of God, who was laughing the very joyous laugh that He reserved for those occasions when He did something VERY SPECIAL.

Jane Anne Smith

Fellowship Bible Church 

!0^th Anniversary

"Be certain, then, that the Lord your God is God; 
whose faith and mercy are unchanging, 

who keeps His word through thousand generations
 to those who have love for Him and keep His laws." 
Deuteronomy 7:9

  

HIS KINGDOM COME

How would you describe God's kingdom?

Jesus taught us to pray that His kingdom would come.  We also know that God's kingdom is here now in people who have been called according to His purposes.

The more we know about God, the more we love God.  Worship is the natural flow that comes from our gratitude to God for His grace to us.

Sunday we were in a series called "Kings and Kingdoms", looking at a particular time in Israel's history that was a thousand years before Christ.

 

THE UNITED MONARCHY.  The Old Testament is full of good kings and wicked kings,  times when God's people walked with Him and times when they were far from Him.  The "United Monarchy" was  a 100-year-period when God's people enjoyed CONSISTENCY of His peace and prosperity.  The three kings of the United Monarchy were Saul, David, and Solomon.

The treasured truth that I came away with Sunday was just an increased appreciation for the way God chooses to bless His people.  God promised from the very beginning (Genesis 12:3) that He would bless all the families of the earth through Abraham.  How?  All would be blessed through Abraham's descendant, the Godman Jesus.

This stuns me because I kept the Lord at arms length for thirty years...yet He chose to reveal Himself to me.  We are an unworthy people who depend on God's goodness for every breath just as the lives of the three kings illustrate.

SAUL.  This man was literally head and shoulders above others, handsome and rich.  Such a resumé convinced the people that he would make a good king, so they threw off their theocracy of God's rule, and clamored "give us a king like the other nations".  

Saul may have been tall, dark and handsome...but he was also moody, jealous, vengeful, and half-hearted toward God.  Saul flat-out disobeyed God's instructions about his military victory over Amelek.  

God gave Saul some victories over the Philistines, but his disobedience cost him the crown.  Saul died by falling on his own sword on a Philistine battlefield.  Scripture says he died because he did not keep the Word of the Lord...and then the Lord gave the nation to David.

DAVID. David had a better end than Saul.  David died an old man in his bed after passing instructions to his son Solomon about following the Lord.  

But wouldn't it be awful if the whole world knew our sins as we all know David's sins?  David committed adultery and was responsible for the death of Bathsheba's husband, Uriah...yet the Lord commends David as a man after His own heart.David sinned big but repented big...proving the breadth of God's forgiveness.  The Lord can use us if we maintain a humble heart.  

Israel flourished under this warrior king with many battlefield victories.  Under King David, new territory was added to Israel and the tribes were united as never before.  But his shiny credit was that he followed the Lord, resulting in a rich  legacy.  God said one day when Jesus came, He would sit on David's throne in Jerusalem.

SOLOMON.  Solomon is unique in many ways, but one thing Scripture says is that God came to Solomon in a dream three times.  In the first dream, God allowed Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted.  

When Solomon asked for wisdom, God answered that request lavishly because Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs (poems).  His wisdom caused King Solomon to be known and sought by people across the Middle East and Africa. 

Although Solomon did not ask for wealth, God also gave him untold  riches in order to build a house for God. 

The second time God came to Solomon in a dream, it was after the temple dedication when God promised He would turn His face and heart toward the temple forever.  Then God gave Solomon a conditional promise that IF Solomon would walk before Him in integrity of heart and uprightness, God would establish Solomon's throne over Israel forever.

WAS Solomon faithful to God?

As a security measure in those days, kings took "alliance wives" from the royalty of foreign countries.  (It wasn't likely that foreign kings would attack the country where their daughters lived.)  Instead of trusting God for Israel's safety, Solomon bought into that practice.  In doing so, Solomon acted against God's plan for marriage and against God's law about not taking foreign wives.  Father knows best.

Pharaoh's daughter and women from the Hittites and Moabites, etc. were some of the 700 wives Solomon took and he also took 300 concubines.  Over time, this "wise" man permitted the foreign wives to build altars in Israel to worship their gods.  Then Solomon did the unthinkable and joined them in the worship of these gods, even offering child sacrifices to Molech.  What an abomination to God!  

   

THE VIEW FROM ABOVE.  God had plenty of room to take offense during the United Monarchy.  Still, He chose to bless His people by giving peace and prosperity that Israel only consistently experienced during those hundred years.  

Both the people and the kings knew the blessing was from God.  The people knew their goodness didn't deserve it.  After all, THEY had rejected God by asking for a king.  Saul, David, and Solomon knew the blessing was from God because THEY had dishonored God and hindered the fullness of what God had for them.

God alone is good.  His loving-kindness is toward His people and His sovereign choice is to bless them because of His kind determination to keep His Genesis promise.  And what is our response?  Those who know blessing comes from God's hand...WORSHIP!  That's what we were created to do.

And then we tell others of His kindness.