Years ago, I heard Robert Lewis, pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, explain believers’ obligation to serve their communities. He used Matthew 5:

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 5.16, ESV)

Robert would say, “Note that it says they will ‘see your good works,’ NOT ‘hear your good words!'”

Pastor Tim McConnell of First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs, went way past that on Sunday, October 27, using James 2:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14 – 17, NIV)

Tim explained:

Faith has to become action. Words have to become deeds. Our mission statement is Light and Life for the City. Not just shedding light, not just insight, but action, life, deeds, behaviors. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, “Hey, be well, man! Praying for ya!” not knowing what else to do. This is the passage that rings in my conscience.

This is about

• groceries not good wishes;
• donuts not doctrines;
• lasagna not liturgy;
• a taco not a talk;
• a sandwich not a salutation. Get it? This is about
• a meal not a meeting.
• Sometimes the gospel shows up as groceries. A friend of mine named Humphrey Kanga runs a feeding and childcare ministry in Kenya. We were doing a monthly food distribution together about ten years ago. Families had walked for 50 miles. Humphrey said, “We start with the groceries, then we give the gospel. They hear the gospel better when their tummies are not rumbling.”

It’s hard to improve on that.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1.22, ESV)

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3.14, ESV)

Please recall that we have a new dog, and he is doing well. He tends to bark more than we like, but we’re making progress. Where we are NOT making progress is his desire to bark at and charge moving vehicles like the UPS truck. I had him on a leash once, and when he charged a truck, the leash caught him in mid-air. I heard myself saying, “NO! That’s a BIG NO!”

I don’t remember using that phrase before, “a BIG NO,” but I got thinking about it. If we’re walking, and the dog goes a bit too far into a neighbor’s hard, I might say, “No…come back.” That’s not a big no. That’s a “Bob’s preference” no. If he goes a couple feet too far, it won’t hurt him or anything else.

But if he jumps into the path of a truck, he could be run over. A BIG NO. A couple of days ago, he attempted to attack a deer. That wouldn’t have ended well for either of us! Another BIG NO.

Do we know the difference between a BIG NO from God and a little no that we made up? For example, DON’T commit adultery. That’s a BIG NO.

With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life. (Proverbs 7.21 – 23, NIV, emphasis mine)

I grew up in a little-no environment: no movies, no dancing, no card-playing, for example. We often heard more teaching about those than any important BIG NO from God. Jesus called out the Pharisees of his day for mixing up the little nos and the BIG NOs:

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Matthew 15.1 – 9, NIV)

The message is simple: we need to be sure not to let little nos crowd out BIG NOs and… BIG YESes!

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matthew 23.23, 24, NIV)

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3.18, NIV)

We looked at noisy worship with Judah celebrating a renovated Temple in 2 Chronicles 29 and celebrating the Passover in chapter 30. Then what? I really like what happens next:

After the Passover celebration, they all took off for the cities of Judah and smashed the phallic stone monuments, chopped down the sacred Asherah groves, and demolished the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines and local god shops. They didn’t stop until they had been all through Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Then they all went back home and resumed their everyday lives. (2 Chronicles 31.1, MSG)

Not just ceremony, life change. Not “Now that the Passover is over with, we can go back to life as usual.” They “resumed their everyday lives” but with a new perspective.

It’s a stretch, but did you notice how the Yankees lost the World Series last week? The Yankees do not play sound, fundamental baseball, and it killed them in the 5th inning of Game 5, which the Dodgers went on to win, clinching the championship four games to one. Center fielder and star slugger Aaron Judge made his only error of the year on a routine line drive. The shortstop made a bad throw to the third baseman. The pitcher failed to cover first on a routine ground ball. All in the 5th inning where the Dodgers tied the game after being down 5 – 0.

Those who follow such things say that the Yankees won the American League by talent and lots of home runs. But lack of fundamentals came back to bite them. An ESPN article by Jorge Castillo starts this way:

All year, right through the American League Championship Series, the New York Yankees overcame a tendency to play sloppy baseball by vanquishing opponents with overwhelming talent. The metrics calculated — and the eyes figured — that they were the worst baserunning team in the majors during the regular season. They regularly committed head-scratching defensive miscues. They were not nearly as fundamentally sound as one would expect from a 94-win AL champion.

The Yankees’ haphazard style of baseball was ignored. “Look, we’re winning games! Who cares if we’re a bit sloppy?” Hezekiah’s people could have said, “Look, we celebrated the Passover! Who cares how we live if we participate from time to time in exuberant worship?”

Nope, it’s not enough to worship enthusiastically on Sunday. Have we “smashed the phallic stone monuments, chopped down the sacred Asherah groves, and demolished the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines and local god shops.”? Then have we gone about our everyday lives in “a steady and determined life of obedience“?

I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity; Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street…So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of GOD’s good pleasure. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you’re flirting with death. (Proverbs 8.12, 32 – 36, MSG)

It’s not every day you read about your church’s worship service in the Bible, but it happened this week.

We’re back at First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs, where we’ve been members off and on since 1985. One reason we’re back is for the music, which is always first class. A number of us arrive early to catch the prelude, which might be a string quartet or a piano/organ duet or a brass choir… We remain in our seats for the postlude, too!

Sunday, October 27, was Reformation Sunday as well as Stewardship Sunday, so they went all out: 16-piece string orchestra with harpsicord playing a Bach concerto for the prelude. Then they threw in a 9-piece brass ensemble with harp and kettle drums. All that is not counting the drum set, electric and bass guitars. You can see the entire service here: the first 8 minutes gives you the prelude with the strings and the introit with the brass and 100-voice choir.

I say I read about this service in the Bible. Two celebrations under the direction of King Hezekiah:

Then Hezekiah gave the signal to begin: …the sacred choir began singing, backed up by the trumpets and the David orchestra while the entire congregation worshiped. The singers sang and the trumpeters played…Then Hezekiah the king and the leaders told the Levites to finish things off with anthems of praise to GOD using lyrics by David and Asaph the seer. They sang their praises with joy and reverence, kneeling in worship. (2 Chronicles 29.27 – 30, MSG)

That was 2 Chronicles 29, celebrating the cleansing of the Temple. Then in chapter 30, they celebrated the Passover with more of the same:

All the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated the Passover…for seven days, celebrated exuberantly. The Levites and priests praised GOD day after day, filling the air with praise sounds of percussion and brass. (2 Chronicles 30.21, MSG)

I think First Pres is on the right track!

       Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
             praise by strumming soft strings;
             Praise him with castanets and dance,
             praise him with banjo and flute;
             Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
             praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
             Let every living, breathing creature praise GOD!
             Hallelujah! (Psalm 150.3 - 6, MSG)

Well, the election is over, and by now you’re aware that former president Trump is now President-Elect Trump.

How are you feeling? Delighted? Relieved? Angry? Depressed?

I don’t pretend to know why the vote went the way it did, but the article “My Long Road from Truman to Trump,” by Bartle Bull, Sr., might give some insight. He reels off his liberal credentials like the Apostle Paul lists his Apostle credentials in 2 Corinthians 11.16 – 33. He opens this way:

I’ve been an outspoken Democrat since 1948, when I was the only student in my fifth-grade class to “vote” for Harry Truman. It’s been astonishingly difficult to disclose that next month I will vote for Donald Trump.

Like many, I will be doing so in the European way, voting for a party and its issues, rather than in the American way of supporting someone I like. When I have expressed my views—on economics, security and cultural matters—long-time liberal friends have said, “You sound like Trump, or some uneducated hillbilly.” Ignoring my schooling at Harvard, Oxford and the Sorbonne, these friends sound like well-meaning dilettantes, otherwise described as self-righteous, useful idiots or bien-pensant.

Such responses prompt me to compare my own liberal credentials with theirs. This makes me a difficult adversary, as I have long been an extremely useful idiot, overloaded with liberal credentials.

To name a few…

The article is worth the read in its entirety if you’re wondering why some Democrats didn’t vote for Harris, just as some Republicans didn’t vote for Trump. This morning Republican Liz Cheney, an outspoken Harris supporter wrote:

Our nation’s democratic system functioned last night and we have a new President-elect. All Americans are bound, whether we like the outcome or not, to accept the results of our elections.

With that in mind, let’s take a deep breath and get some perspective. First,

Salvation will never arrive on Air Force One. – Chuck Colson

Second, let’s remember that the United States is a pretty resilient country. Matthew Hennessey, deputy editorial features editor for the Wall Street Journal, wrote an optimistic piece published October 30, 2024: The Election Will End. The World Won’t. Here’s a snippet:

Both sides are treating this election as a potential apocalypse. Everything is on the line. The party is over for good if the wrong party wins. But is it? Is the American experiment really so close to the edge?

Not from where I’m sitting. If you zoom out—and I mean way out—things are going pretty well in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are on the cusp of our 250th birthday. We still have our republican form of government, our Constitution and Bill of Rights, despite some close calls. Roughly 2% of the population lost their lives in the Civil War—the equivalent of 6.5 million people today. In the 20th century we made it through two world wars, a great depression, the assassination of two presidents and the resignation of another, the trauma of Vietnam and the fall of communism. Even after all that we stood tall as the world’s sole superpower.

Sept. 11, 2001, didn’t kill us. Neither did the housing collapse nor the financial crisis. We beat Covid. We even survived the ugly Trump administration and its uglier backlash.

The U.S. boasts an innovative and resilient economy that is the envy of the world. We live longer and better than our grandparents did. Our universities and companies are magnets for global talent. We invented the telephone, the airplane, the automobile, and the internet. We’ve given the world jazz, rock ’n’ roll and hip-hop. We have Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Wall Street is still top dog. The dollar is the world’s reserve currency and U.S. Treasurys are the world’s safest investment.

Face it: This country is far from average...

True, and the border crisis itself is evidence: people want to live here!

He ends with:

Whatever happens in the weeks and months ahead, don’t get carried away and don’t despair. Take, if you can, the long view. Winter is coming, but spring is always around the corner.

Encouraging…but I’m not sure the last sentence is true. All of our resilience and prosperity will continue…until it doesn’t. Israel was at the top of the world, literally, as described in 1 Kings 10.14 – 29. But the glory doesn’t even last through Solomon’s reign, and the kingdom splits right after.

It’s been a good ride for the US, and maybe it continues…25 years? 50 years? 100 years? No one knows, except it won’t continue forever – nothing does. As believers we need to be focused on a different Kingdom:

Your Kingdom come… (Lord’s prayer, Matthew 6.10)

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12.28, ESV)

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Peter 3.10 – 14, NIV)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21.1 – 4, ESV)

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2.13 – 17, ESV)

We’re going through the Historical books one chapter per day, and that pace has allowed me to see someone I’d previously breezed past: Jotham, king of Judah, 2 Chronicles 27. It’s a short chapter and a short reign (only 16 years), but he’s one of the good guys:

Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king; he reigned sixteen years at Jerusalem. His mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. In GOD’s eyes he lived a good life, following the path marked out by his father Uzziah. Unlike his father, though, he didn’t desecrate The Temple of GOD. But the people pushed right on in their lives of corruption. (2 Chronicles 27.1 – 2, MSG)

And here is one case where the people don’t follow their leader: good king, corrupt people.

Jotham had success in building projects and in battle, but here’s the verse that grabbed my attention:

Jotham’s strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience to God. (2 Chronicles 27.6, MSG)

I’ve added that to my set of memory verses on Strength! Courage! beginning with Joshua 1.6 and 9. “Jotham’s strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience…” That’s The Message, and it’s just as good in the English Standard Version:

So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God. (2 Chronicles 27.6, ESV)

That’s a good word. I’d like to be known as a man who “ordered his ways before the LORD his God.”

We were treated to two spectacular light shows in October. First was a view of the Northern Lights much further south than usual. I didn’t see them, but some neighbors did:

The other once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was the comet, discovered in 2023. Some folks got some spectacular pictures of that, also.

I went out several times to see the comet without success. But I told myself, “That’s OK. Don’t forget the spectacular you can see almost anytime.”

I told myself I didn’t need my own picture of the comet, but I lied. We have a new dog, remember? On October 23 at 9:00p, I took him for his last walk of the day. I pointed my phone in the general direction of the comet…and voila! I couldn’t see it, but my camera could, left side of picture. It’s not as spectacular as the other pictures (the comet was much farther away), but it’s mine!

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19.1, ESV)

After our break for All Saints Day, let’s return to Joash and the kings. We left Joash after a successful renovation of the Temple. A good thing. But we’ve already had this teaser:

Taught and trained by Jehoiada the priest, Joash did what pleased GOD throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime. (2 Chronicles 24.2, MSG)

Sure enough, Jehoiada dies…

But after the death of Jehoiada things fell apart. The leaders of Judah made a formal presentation to the king and he went along with them. Things went from bad to worse; they deserted The Temple of GOD and took up with the cult of sex goddesses. An angry cloud hovered over Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin. GOD sent prophets to straighten them out, warning of judgment. But nobody paid attention. Then the Spirit of God moved Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest to speak up: “God’s word: Why have you deliberately walked away from GOD’s commandments? You can’t live this way! If you walk out on GOD, he’ll walk out on you.”

Joash immediately walks out on God, and when Jehoiada’s son Zechariah attempts to rebuke him, Joash has him murdered.

We get the same story a couple of kings later:

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king and reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. He behaved well in the eyes of GOD, following in the footsteps of his father Amaziah. He was a loyal seeker of God. He was well trained by his pastor and teacher Zechariah to live in reverent obedience before God, and for as long as Zechariah lived, Uzziah lived a godly life. And God prospered him. (2 Chronicles 26.3 – 5, MSG)

Uzziah was very successful: he won battles, constructed defense towers, raised cattle and planted vineyards. He also equipped the army well. (2 Chronicles 26.9 – 15) I was going to tell you that the famous Israeli weapon, the Uzi, was named for King Uzziah, but I would have been wrong!

The Uzi is a family of Iraeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and pistols first designed by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel.  – Wikipedia

Anyway, as forecast, Uzziah doesn’t finish well:

But then the strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of GOD, he walked into The Temple of GOD like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar. The priest Azariah, backed up by eighty brave priests of GOD, tried to prevent him. They confronted Uzziah: “You must not, you cannot do this, Uzziah—only the Aaronite priests, especially consecrated for the work, are permitted to burn incense. Get out of God’s Temple; you are unfaithful and a disgrace!” But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it and angrily rebuffed the priests. He lost his temper; angry words were exchanged—and then, even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead. As soon as they saw it, the chief priest Azariah and the other priests got him out of there as fast as they could. He hurried out—he knew that GOD then and there had given him the disease. Uzziah had his skin disease for the rest of his life and had to live in quarantine; he was not permitted to set foot in The Temple of GOD. (2 Chronicles 26.16 – 20, MSG)

“Arrogant and proud, he fell.” That’s two kings, mentored well, but the lessons didn’t stick. I mentored a man in Alabama in the early 2000s, and when I reconnected with him a few years after we had returned to Colorado, he wrote something like, “I wish you hadn’t left. I’ve lost my way.”

Happens. Jesus had twelve men and lost Judas. Paul had Demas who had a good start…

Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. (Colossians 4.14, ESV)

…but a bad finish:

Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. (2 Timothy 4.10, ESV)

So what’s the solution? These texts don’t say, but I think we just keep sowing seed.

And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. (Mark 4.18 – 20, ESV)

I’m reprising what I posted last year on this day, the day we remember and give thanks for those who have gone before. Last year, my friend Jean Alix from Haiti asked this question:

Dear Dr. Bob,
I read this “All Saints Day to remember and give thanks.” Is there in the Bible a verse which let us to remember and give thanks for all the saints? Or Is the early church that did that? And what verse? I know this is from the Roman Catholic Church, right?

I responded:

It’s a good question, Jean Alix. First observation is that just because the Roman Catholic Church does something doesn’t mean it’s wrong! Second, I think Hebrews 12.1, 2 that I cited (see below) suggest that we remember those who have gone before. And we have 1 Thessalonians 5.18 reminding us to give thanks “in all circumstances.” Being a thankful people is not a bad thing, and being thankful for those who have gone before, setting us an example, maybe translating the scriptures for us, etc. is a good thing, too.

We have this great song, sung by many churches when they remember those of their number who passed during the previous year. Sometimes churches have this remembrance the Sunday after Easter and others on the Sunday near All Saints Day. For example, here is an announcement from a Free Methodist Church (ironically, one which strongly supported missions to Haiti that my friend Jean Alix was involved with):

Here’s the song:

1. For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
   Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
   Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest—
   • Refrain:
     Alleluia, Alleluia!
2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;
   Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
   Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light—
3. Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
   Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
   And win with them the victor’s crown of gold—
4. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
   Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
   And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong—
5. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
   Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
   Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—

– William W. How, 1864

For All the Saints: listen and sing along!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12.1 – 2, ESV)