Another strong reminder that hearing without doing is a bad thing. It’s from Mark’s account of the death of John the Baptist:

For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Now Herodias was holding a grudge against him and was wanting to put him to death and was not able; for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he was keeping him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him. (Mark 6.18 – 20, LSB)

An interesting mix:

• John the Baptist is condemning Herod for his stealing his brother’s wife.
• This new wife wants John dead.
• Herod is afraid of John and recognizes that he is what Herod is not: righteous and holy.
• Herod listened to John and was “perplexed”. Nothing magic about “perplexed.” it’s used at Mary’s reaction to Gabriel’s greeting in Luke 1, Herod’s reaction to reports about Jesus after he beheaded John in Luke 9, the women’s reaction to the open tomb in Luke 24, and the disciples’ reaction to Jesus talking about Judas in John 13. What was Herod perplexed about? I’m sure John was clear.
• Herod “used to enjoy listening to him.” Why? Reminds me of what The Lord told Ezekiel:

But as for you, son of man, the sons of your people who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, “Come now and hear what the word is which comes forth from Yahweh.“ They come to you as people come and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their greedy gain. Behold, you are to them like a lustful song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not do them. (Ezekiel 33.30 – 32, LSB)

“They hear your words, but they do not do them” – twice. Jesus said:

And everyone hearing these words of Mine and not doing them, may be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7.26, 27, LSB)

It’s not the hearing that counts. Never has. Here’s another snippet:

And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ And He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from me all you workers of unrighteousness.'” (Luke 13.22 – 27, LSB)

“We ate and drank in your presence” even reminds us of Exodus 24: “They saw God and ate and drank,” and then Aaron made the golden calf as recorded in Exodus 32.

Hearing doesn’t count. Over and over and over…

Applies to me. Even fellowship with God doesn’t count if it’s not followed by action. Paul talks about his response after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus:

And I said, “What should I do, Lord?” And the Lord said to me, “Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.” (Acts 22.10, LSB)

A vision is not enough. “What should I do?” is the appropriate response.

Are we acting on what God is telling us to do?

A long Saturday article in the Wall Street Journal caught my attention with this headline:

The Competition for Believers in Africa Is Transforming Christianity and Islam

The article opens with a description of a Pentecostal-type service except…

…the participants weren’t Christians. They were Muslims, practicing an ecstatic style of worship that has developed in response to the challenge posed by Pentecostalism.

If you’re interested, you can read the long article in its entirety. The authors were an interesting mix: one religion reporter and two reporters who cover Africa:

Francis X. Rocca covers the Vatican and global religion for The Wall Street Journal. Nicholas Bariyo is a reporter for The Journal’s Africa bureau. Gbenga Akingbule is The Journal’s Nigeria correspondent.

What struck me was this phrase, which is so Wall Street Journal in its orientation:

Owing to population growth and the intensity of their religiosity, Africans are now one of the more important constituencies of both Islam and Christianity worldwide, and sub-Saharan Africa is one of the world’s most active and contested religious markets. The region was 59% Christian and 30% Muslim in 2020, according to the World Religion Database. “There is a new scramble for Africa,” said Sheikh Ibrahim Lethome of Jamia Mosque in Nairobi, Kenya, drawing an analogy with the colonization of the continent in the late 19th century. “Christianity is growing, Islam is growing, and there is competition.” (emphasis mine)

Leave it to the Journal to see the region as “one of the world’s most active and contested religious markets.”

My first thought is that Jesus is not after “market share,” he wants it all!

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2.9 -11, ESV)

Then I read Jesus’ commission to the twelve as recorded in Mark 6:

And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and was giving them authority over the unclean spirits; and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt— but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.” And He was saying to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. And any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” And they went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them. Mark 6.7 – 13, LSB)

The twelve go out, preaching, healing, and casting out demons, but there was no guarantee of success: “Any place that does not receive you or listen to you…”

So we live in the in-between where, I suppose, “market share” matters – but not just of “fans,” but “followers.”

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (Philippians 2.12 – 16, ESV – the “therefore” immediately after the “Jesus is Lord” section.

The world was captivated last week by the suspense and then the tragic end to the story of the five people killed in the submersible trying to visit the wreck of the Titanic. Have you seen a depiction of it?

Someone who had actually ridden in it said it was very crude. To make it go down, the passengers would crowd to the front. To make it go up, they would crowd to the back. (There were thrusters, of course, but the ship’s attitude was apparently controlled by weight distribution.)

To ride in it you had to sign a waiver that included the word “death” three times on the first page. Another part of the waiver explained that it “…has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body.” The vehicle was known to be dangerous.

Peggy Noonan’s piece about the Titanic and the doomed submersible in the Wall Street Journal, Saturday, June 24, is instructive. The catch-phrase is:

The story of the [Titanic] has everything. Splendor and perfection meet a sudden, shocking demise.

The most insightful paragraph includes a reference to the Fall in Genesis 3:

The Titanic story is linked to themes as old as man. “God himself couldn’t sink this ship.” “If we eat the fruit against his command, then we’ll be in charge.” “Technology will transform the world; it’s a mistake to dwell on the downside.” It’s all the same story. In the search for the submersible this week Britain’s Telegraph quoted retired Rear Adm. Chris Parry of the Royal Navy. Why, he wondered, would anyone get into a “dodgy piece of technology” like the submersible? “It is fundamentally dangerous, there was no backup plan, it’s experimental, and I’m afraid to say there’s an element of hubris if you want to go down and do that.” Everyone thinks he’s unsinkable. – Peggy Noonan

“…themes as old as man…everyone thinks he’s unsinkable.”

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14.12, ESV)

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. (Psalm 2.1 – 4, ESV)

PS There is an alternate view, of course, that of the need to explore. There was a scientific objective in this last voyage of the Titan. I’ve written before about continuing to explore in the face of tragedy.

The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup of Hockey last year. The Denver Nuggets won the NBA championship this year. There’s optimism for the Denver Broncos with their new coach. That leaves only the lowly Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball team with one of the worst records in the league. Therefore, it was only mildly shocking that they lost to the Angels a few days ago, 25 – 1, no misprint. 25 – 1! But you know what? They came back the next day and won 4 – 3.

In a much more meaningful series, Louisiana State University (LSU), the 5th seed, was playing a 3-game championship series against the University of Florida, the 2nd seed, in the College Baseball World Series in Omaha. LSU won the first game, a pitcher’s duel, with a home run in the 11th inning. Then Florida came out in game 2 and beat LSU 24 – 4, again, no misprint. Few teams in the College World Series have won the championship after losing game 2. But LSU won the final game and the championship last night 18 – 4!

I don’t know what the LSU coach told his players between games 2 and 3, but I’m guessing that he reminded them that Florida’s game 2 “counts for one.” It wouldn’t matter if Florida had won 1 – 0 or 24 – 4, it still counts for only one game. And sure enough, LSU returned the favor.

I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, TPT)

I want to continue yesterday’s meditation on fishing for the hungry. A member of Auburn University’s National Championship Bass Fishing Team said:

Everybody’s like, “You go out, sit down and throw a bobber out there.” I’m running 50 to 100 places every tournament. I don’t like to sit and wait for them to feed, I like to fish for fish that are feeding. – Tucker Smith

There’s a promise and a challenge for helping the hungry:

And if you offer your soul to the hungry and satisfy the soul of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your thick darkness will become like midday. And Yahweh will continually guide you, and satisfy your soul in scorched places, and fortify your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. (Isaiah 58.10, 11, LSB)

Offer your soul to the hungry… How many sermons are delivered to the non-hungry? How can we make them hungry? Or how can we find the ones who are already hungry?

There was an interesting series on fishing last week in the comic strip Zits. Dad says, “We’re going fishing, leaving at 4am.” The next morning, the dad is up and ready to go at 4am, and the kid is up…because he hadn’t gone to bed yet! Then the kid says, “Look, Dad, there’s is zero chance of me going fishing with you at 4am.” And Dad replies, “OK. Just help me load this box of fresh donuts into the car.” The next frame, they’re driving down the road with the kid eating the donuts, and Dad thinks, “Fishing is all about using the right bait.” The kid wasn’t hungry to go fishing, but he was hungry for donuts!

These are similar to the lessons I listed in Fly-fishing and Disciple-making. Fishing for the hungry is something I think we need to figure out.

They say, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” But you can put salt in his oats! – Dr. Howard Hendricks

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.13 – 16, ESV)

One of the more well-known verses in the Bible is Jesus’ call to fishermen to follow him:

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4.18 – 20, ESV)

My dad was a fisherman. My son Matt is a fisherman. It skipped me, but when we lived in Montgomery, AL, 2001 – 2006, I would read about the annual bass fishing tournaments on the Alabama River. It’s big business. And now I found out that one of my Alma Maters, Auburn University, is the home of the National Collegiate Bass Fishing champion:

Auburn is home to another college sports juggernaut, likely swimming under your radar, unless you’re the dedicated sort of athlete who likes to rise in the darkness, drive to the lake and flip and pitch mats. This team is ultra-accomplished, famous inside fishing circles, and has students earning real money—while still in school.

Meet the Auburn bass fishing team, which recently captured the National Collegiate Bass Fishing title, the latest feat from a student-run program that has no coach and limited scholarship money but consistently wins big tournaments and produces stars, like Jordan Lee, a 2013 Auburn grad who won back-to-back Bassmaster Classics in 2017 and 2018 and now competes in Major League Fishing. 

“Some people have no idea, and some do,” said team president C.J. Maddux, 22. “It’s not just football. We have a championship bass-fishing team, too.” – Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2023.

Who knew? Not I.

I was struck by this quote from champion fisherman Tucker Smith in the context of it’s more than high-tech equipment:

Everybody’s like, “You go out, sit down and throw a bobber out there.” I’m running 50 to 100 places every tournament. I don’t like to sit and wait for them to feed, I like to fish for fish that are feeding.

“I like to fish for fish that are feeding.”

How to find the fish that are feeding? How to find people who are hungry? That’s what The Navigators used to teach. Jesus said we were to be fishers of men. What does that look like? Waiting for fish to feed or finding fish that are feeding, fish that are hungry?

One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. (Proverbs 27.7. ESV)

There’s more, but I think I’ll save it for tomorrow…

Back to Leviticus, we have the ordination of Aaron and his sons in chapters 8 and 9. It’s a lot of detail, special garments, blood sacrifices, even a 7-day quarantine, but it ends with spectacular success:

And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (Leviticus 9.23, 24, ESV, emphasis mine)

There’s a fine line, apparently, between the spectacular and the tragic. Here are the very next verses:

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (Leviticus 10.1, 2, ESV)

Same words: “And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed…

• The burnt offering (Leviticus 9.24)
• Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10.2)

I don’t write this stuff…I just report it! But interestingly, even though this event occurs relatively early in the narrative, I can think of only five instances in the entire Bible of God striking someone dead suddenly:

• Nadab and Abihu: “fire came out from the presence of Yahweh and consumed them”
• The sons of Korah: “…and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up…” (Numbers 16.32)
• Uzzah: “And the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there…” (2 Samuel 6.7)
• The commanders and their fifty: “Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.” (2 Kings 1.10, 12)
• Ananias and Sapphira: “Ananias fell down and breathed his last.” It doesn‘t say that the Lord struck them. Nevertheless, “Great fear came over the whole church.” (Acts 5.5, 10, 11)

The fact that this sort of thing happened only five times (that I can remember) shows us that God is more grace than wrath. Even Leviticus 10 ends with grace and flexibility. There is another violation:

But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up! So he was angry with Aaron’s remaining sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, “Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh. Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.” But Aaron spoke to Moses, “Behold, this very day they brought near their sin offering and their burnt offering before Yahweh. Then things like these happened to me. So if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of Yahweh?” So Moses heard this, and it was good in his sight. (Leviticus 10.16 – 20, LSB)

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3.8 – 10, ESV)

I love the story of Jesus and the demon-possessed guy in Mark 5. It opens with a hint of what I suggested yesterday – that the storm was a Satanic attack:

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. (Mark 5.1, 2, ESV)

They “came to the other side and met…a man with an unclean spirit.” Satan didn’t want Jesus messing with this man!

This time through I saw something new: four prayers! The Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) I was reading uses the same English word four times: pleaded. Other translations mix “pleaded” with “begged,” but it’s all the same word in the Greek. Four times someone was pleading with Jesus for something. Here they are, all from Mark 5.1 – 20.

• verse 10, the demons: “Don’t send us out of the region.”
• verse 12, the demons: “Send us into the swine.”
• verse 17, the townspeople: “Please leave our region.”
• verse 18, the cured demon-possessed guy: “Let me go with you.”

Interestingly, the only request that was not answered positively was the last one: the cured demon-possessed guy’s request to travel with Jesus. To all the others, two from the demons and one from the townspeople, Jesus said, “OK.” To enemies and unbelievers, God sometimes lets them have what they want…to their detriment.

The demon-possessed guy, however, was now on Jesus’ side and part of Jesus’ strategic mission.

And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was pleading with Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to preach in the Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was marveling. (Mark 5.18 – 20, LSB)

Jesus put the man right to work telling his story and guess what? When Jesus came back to that area, instead of asking him to leave, they were bringing people to him:

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. (Mark 7.31 – 32, NIV, emphasis mine)

This event contains eight of the most important words Jesus ever said:

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4.35 – 41, NIV)

Did you see them? The eight important words?

Let us go over to the other side.

June and I got blindsided a few days ago by something that for the first hour or so made us feel like the disciples: about to drown in the lake. But Jesus didn’t say, “Come. Let us go to the middle of the lake and drown.” He said, “Let us go over to the other side,” and they did despite an apparently Satanic attack and their resulting fear.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you… (Isaiah 43.2, NIV)

I like to highlight excellence wherever I see it, and this photograph of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro holding the moon is spectacular.

Brazilian photographer Leonardo Sens took the photo on June 4 from Icaraí Beach in the Rio de Janeiro municipality of Niterói, which is around seven miles away. He had been consulting astronomical charts, planning this shot for several years.

It’s an inspirational lesson in creativity, art, persistence, and technical excellence. Of course, the symbolism in Jesus’ power over creation is there, too.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? (Psalm 8.3, 4, NIV)

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19.1, NIV)