Web Chapel

Serving the Saints

Author: MrSteveSlusser

  • Milestones

    How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2

    For as long as there have been roads and paths there have been markers along the way. This ancient practice of marking a journey has become a metaphor used to indicate expected events on a given path in any number of disciplines. Ms. Kitty and I became grandparents this year – twice. There are probably more developmental milestones in the first year of life than in the next ten years combined. Who knew that blowing bubbles was a developmental milestone? It has been an exciting year for our family and for many of our friends (2014 was a big year for babies).

    Many have commented upon the progressive opposition toward the man of Psalm One. He does not walk, then he does not stand, and finally he does not sit.

    He does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. From the first sin in the garden until now, it all starts with questioning the goodness of God. The true revelation of God is rejected and the wisdom of man is embraced. I am reminded of the young King Rehoboam that refused the advice of his father’s wise counselors and instead turned to his young friends (1 Kings 12). The path he chose resulted in the division of Israel. Instead, the righteous man is encouraged to walk “circumspectly” (Ephesians 5:15). He takes great care. He is ever watching the path before him without ignoring the dangers that may be beside or even behind him.

    He does not stand in the path of sinners. The danger of lending your ear to the wicked is that you may stop moving forward and join them on their path. There were men who had travelled with Jesus and the disciples but turned back. John says, they went out from us (1 John 2:19). They stopped moving forward and took a stand against the apostles. The progress is from rejection of the revelation of God to the resistance of His Truth. This is often the state of unbelieving man.

    And finally, he does not sit in the seat of the scornful. While we may think of sitting as a passive position, it is actually not. In ancient times the teacher sat, kings sat, and even now judges and others in authority are “seated”. These have progressed from rejection and resistance to open hostility to the revelation of God’s Truth.

    Now what does this have to do with babies and milestones? It usually escapes our notice that the development in this passage is the reverse of normal human development. I just saw a picture of my grandchild sitting up. Her cousin was standing on her own quite recently, but now she is walking. Those are milestones in their physical development.

    The man who rejects the Truth (God’s revelation of Himself) is actually reversing the natural order of things. This is precisely what the serpent did in the Garden. Man was to rule under God and over the Garden – including the beasts. He was to rule with his wife. However, it was all reversed when a beast caused his him and his wife to question the revelation of God. He followed the counsel of the wicked beast. This placed man below the authority of the beast – reversing the natural (created) order. What man sees as progress is in fact digression.

    The righteous man begins meditating and delighting in God’s Word. Babies sleep, eat, and watch (repeat). One of the first milestones is the recognition of their parents. Then they follow the parent with their eyes, and eventually smile and laugh (or even squeal with delight).

    His next milestone is to be planted near nourishing and refreshing waters (standing). This is a time of growth and strengthening. It should not be rushed.

    HIs final milestone is that The LORD knows his way (walking). The righteous are in motion, walking in the counsel of The LORD.

    Where on the path are you now?

     

  • Saint Nicholas: Yes Virginia …

    GUEST CONTENT: stonestruestory@gmail.com Carla Estell

    Our family celebrates Saint Nick’s Day each year with filled stockings.  It is usually the official start of the Christmas Season in our home.  Carla Estell has written an Ebook (PDF) about Santa Claus and the true meaning of Christmas.  If you print it double-sided it makes a book, or you can print it single sided and cut the pages in half to form a little book.  Hey, it’s free!  Share it and be sure to include Carla’s contact information.

    You can also check out their family website: http://stonestruestory.org/

    Here is the link to the storybook (2MB) http://mrsteve.me/1CZdFgG

     

     

     

     

     

  • Free Christmas Book

    One of the websites that I manage is devoted to providing resources for children’s ministry (GospelTalks.com).  Eikon Bible Art is a source of printable and projectable Bible story pictures.  For Christmas they have a free Christmas book (pdf).  I got mine so I thought I would pass this along to others.  The free link is good for a week, but the books are quite affordable anyway.  https://www.eikonbibleart.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=19

  • Follow Me

    Follow Me: The Man Who Missed The Boat

     But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.  And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.  Matthew 8:22-23

    Matthew paints the scene: Disciples of Jesus approach him as he is about to enter a boat.  Jesus gives an invitation to follow Him.  They turn back toward home and miss one of the greatest displays of His power – the calming of the sea.  The disciples in the boat respond with “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” (8:27)

    The first psalm in the order of our Bibles is actually found in Exodus 15.  Israel sings of the deliverance by the Lord and in verse 10 “Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them“. They conclude with “Who is like unto thee, O LORD” (15:11).  How similar this response is to that of the disciples on the boat.  The One who spoke creation into existence and brought forth the dry ground out of the seas is able to send a wind to divide the waters as a path of escape for His people and to still a might story with the sound of His voice.

    Now back to the man who missed the boat.  He may never have learned what he missed  that day.  This experience changed the lives of the men on that boat but this man fades back into obscurity.  What if he had joined the disciples that day? Would we now know his name?  Would he have seen “greater things than these”?  As far as is known he was never called upon again.

    Do you feel the Lord calling upon you to follow? What holds you back? Do you think that if you wait until your education is complete or your house is paid off or your family is raised that you can answer the call then?  Sometimes things work that way, but most times they do not.  In general when we fail to follow when the Lord calls we can never replace what we missed.

    When you hear the call, don’t “miss the boat”.  Follow Him!

     

  • Lessons from Mothers in Scripture: Eve

    Eve: The Mother of All Living

    Gen 3:20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.  (This is where the woman is first named Eve and the first use of “mother”).  God had made for man a helper to serve alongside of man.  The phrase “help meet” (KJV) implies companionship, equality, and perhaps a reference to strength, as one translates this “strong helper”.

    I will make him a help meet for him; עזר כנגדו  ezer kenegdo, a help, a counterpart of himself, one formed from him, and a perfect resemblance of his person. If the word be rendered scrupulously literally, it signifies one like, or as himself, standing opposite to or before him. And this implies that the woman was to be a perfect resemblance of the man, possessing neither inferiority nor superiority, but being in all things like and equal to himself. (Clarke)

    The failure of Adam and Eve resulted in a curse upon the earth and all the lives upon it. (Genesis  3:13-15).  Our loving Creator could not leave man with no hope and with the curse gave a promise of deliverance.  It would be the seed of the woman (a child born of a woman) that would bruise the serpent’s head.  Eve looked for the promise to be fulfilled in her lifetime.

    Lesson One: Expect greatness in your children.

    Eve Looks for the Promise of God in her Children

    Genesis 4:1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.”

    She named her first born Cain: (literally) I have gotten “a man – the LORD”. Her name for this firstborn son indicates her belief in the promise of The Lord and that she would see the promise in her lifetime.   She expected her son to be the promised one and likely told Cain about her audience with The Lord in the Garden.  She shared her faith in the promise to not only Cain but to Abel and again to Seth.

    Mothers, encourage your children to fully follow after The Lord.  Look to them to be the next missionaries and evangelists that will bring the world to Christ.  Tell them about the promises of God and that they have been fulfilled in Christ.  Pass your faith to the next generation.

    Lesson Two: Share your faith and leave the results with the LORD.

    Eve looked for Cain to represent the LORD and to fulfill the promise. However, Cain was not to be the one to break the curse and he failed to offer a sacrifice that was pleasing to The Lord. This was not the fault of his mother.   This is perhaps a reference back to the curse in 3:16 “In pain you will bring forth children”.

    The same mother bore Cain, Abel, and later Seth. Of these three, two were righteous and sought after the LORD but one rejected the LORD to the grief of his mother (see 3:16).  The Lord indicated that Cain knew better when He said, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” (4:7).  Cain’s failure was not the fault of his teacher-mother, but of his own rejection of the revelation of The Lord.

    It is common in households of believing parents to have some children follow after The Lord and others reject the gospel.  The godly mother may be consistent in her testimony of faith and in training up her children, yet get different results.  Eve looked for the promise, grieved when her son rejected The Lord, but continued to faithfully transmit the Word of God to the next generation of children.

     

    Summary
    Mother’s, look for God’s promise in your children. Perhaps it will be your child that changes the world and does great things for the Kingdom of Heaven, or perhaps they will quietly pass their faith on to the next generation.

    And if you have a child that departs from the way be encouraged that God sees your grief – as he did Eve’s and He will provide them an opportunity to turn back to Him.