Birds Or Branches?

Apart from the Bible, the inspired, anointed, and eternal Word of God, I have a fairly short list of recommended reading…books that draw me back time and again because of their insights and wisdom. Of course, everyone’s list is different, but I thought I would share three which are at the very top of my own, books that I would categorize as “must-reads” if I were ever qualified to teach an “advanced” course in discipleship!

The three writers all have something in common. First of all, none are household names in the realm of Christian non-fiction literature. Second, each of these men had a depth in their knowledge of scripture and a passion in their pursuit of Jesus Christ that I can only aspire to. Finally, they are all deceased. Am I suggesting that some of the “old-time” (prior-generation) Bible preachers and teachers may have had a grasp of some spiritual truths and realities that have been lost to many of the modern church mentality?

Well, actually…yes!

But before I share my list, there is another distinction we should be reminded of.

Matthew chapter 13 begins with the well known parable of the sower, but goes on to include various similies pertaining to the kingdom of God on earth, including the tares and the wheat, the leaven and the flour, the nesting birds and the mustard tree, and the net filled with bad fish and good fish harvested at the end of the age. Most discerning teachers of hermeneutics (Bible interpretation) agree that these particular images represent the mixture of evil and good that will coexist within the Church, i.e., the kingdom of heaven on earth, prior to its being separated out – like the sheep and the goats – upon the return of Christ and the Day of Judgment. (I once read a Bible commentator’s peculiar declaration that the “leaven” represents Jesus. A thousand times…NO! I also once heard a seminary-trained pastor state that “WE…are the birds of the air” [nesting among the branches of the mustard tree]. For his sake, I hope he was wrong! Branches, yes. The birds, or “fowl” of the air? Not in this passage!)

Jesus told us who the “birds of the air” represent in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:19). If we apply a standard of interpretation to a portion of the scripture, we must do so consistently. Imagery cannot logically be something “clean” in one verse, and something “unclean” in the next.

Like a cacophonous flock of grackles in a grocery store parking lot tree, the “birds” are the most attention-getting things about that tree. They may have completely taken over the tree, and invariably leave a mess on the ground below them. The same is true of the great tree, or Vine (Christ) that grew up from a tiny mustard seed (the Word), and puts out branches (born-again believers). The “birds” may be the noisiest, most visible thing about the tree; they may receive shelter, food, and protection from the tree; they may build their “nests” in the tree; they may even make their “living” from the tree (“Sow a faith-seed of $$$ to MY ministry so I can indulge my pet projects for God, fly my private jet, and live like a king on this earth”)…

The problem is, the birds are not part of the Tree!

(See a recent post related to this topic, “The Counterfeit Conception”).

The good news is, because God is merciful, there is hope for “tares.” I know. I spent many years in the Church as a tare, thinking that I was a child of God until Jesus mercifully opened my eyes through His Word (following a considerable period of personal and spiritual crisis) . It requires an absolute miracle for a tare to be transformed to wheat (or for a fowl to become “foliage”), but thankfully we serve a loving Savior who is in the miracle business! But there is a prerequisite: do I really want the truth, no matter the cost?

Oh, my recommended reading list…I will likely quote from these in the future:

1) The School of Christ ~ T. Austin-Sparks (re-printed by World Challenge)

2) Born Crucified ~ L.E. Maxwell (a Moody Classic)

3) Remarkable Incidents and Modern Miracles through Prayer and Faith ~ G.C. Bevington (Kingsley Press)

Psalm 119:105 KJV “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

*Recommended blogs:

https://123hallelujah.wordpress.com/ by Margaret

https://unshakablehope.com/ by Bill Sweeney

The Titanic: A Sailor’s Story

In your opinion, which is the more challenging: diving headfirst into the frigid water of the deep end of a swimming pool and acclimating quickly, or creeping tortuously down the steps of the shallow end – an inch at a time and shivering the entire way – until your whole body is finally submerged?

I recall reading the account of a British second officer aboard the RMS Titanic who had been working furiously on the boat deck helping to get passengers, beginning with women and children, off the doomed ocean liner and into lifeboats. After all of the boats had been lowered and were away, he watched as the water began to overtake the clustering crowds of people who had retreated toward the stern of the badly listing ship. Instead of an agonizing wait for the freezing black depths to overtake him, he made a choice. He decided to take a “header” and dove headlong into the icy surge!

His decision at first appeared to be a mistake, as he was pulled down and pinned against a metal grate by the force of water rushing into the ship through a ventilator. As he held his breath, hoping that the grate would not collapse, a boiler explosion well below the deck sent a burst of hot air to the surface and blew him far enough from the maelstrom that he was able to swim, gasping, to an overturned collapsible lifeboat to which several other men were clinging. He was later rescued.

I remember being impressed at the time with the spiritual symbolism of this account, and it has stayed with me ever since. The decision of the disciplined sailor to go “all in” was for him the difference between life and death.

Am I “all in” with regard to my relationship with Jesus?

The answer will often require some serious, and sometimes painful, introspection. The times we as believers find ourselves the most miserable are those when we have merely dipped a toe into the icy water of the unknown and are vacillating over our next step and our intended level of commitment, considering even the possibility of waiting until the weather gets “warmer”; until conditions “improve”, and the “water” is more conducive to taking that imposing “leap of faith.”

In his daily devotionals Oswald Chambers wrote often of the need for “total abandonment” of ourselves as believers to God. That is, by far, the most difficult thing for our (my) flesh to contemplate. It was this same voluntary self-abandonment that enabled the Son of God to brave His own dark descent into death, relinquishing His authority to summon 10,000 angels to His rescue, and believing that His Father would raise Him back up again. Am I willing to be accused by others of going “overboard” in my passion for Jesus? His sacrificial choice to be “all in” became our very salvation, and we are faced with the exact same choice as our Lord: to cast ourselves with abandon upon the unfathomable love, grace, and mercy of our heavenly Father!

Philippians 2:5-11 NASB “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

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The best preachers are the ones who will tell you, with honesty, that God preached the message to them before they ever preached it to their congregation. Before you or I can proclaim God’s Word to God’s people with any sense of power or authority, the Cross – the pangs of Holy Spirit conviction and the healing result of Self-surrender – must first be applied to my own heart and life.

Bryan

Do You Think They Will Like Chocolate?

A cosmic, allegorical, Three-way conversation…

The Father (Chief Architect and Designer): “Well, it’s ready! By the way, they will eventually come up with an odd name for it, ‘The Big Bang.’ So…who wants to light it?”

The Son (Chief Engineer and Builder): “I enjoyed building it!”

The Holy Spirit (Chief Technician and Quantum Mechanic): “I WILL!”

Genesis 1:16-18 NASB God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; [BTW] He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

John 1:9-14 NASB There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

“We’re talking about a lot of people on that tiny blue planet, Father. How are We going to keep them all occupied?”

“We will put it in the hearts of some to invent the wheel, others to discover electricity, and still others to achieve powered flight. Some will serve their fellow humans with nursing care and by performing complex surgeries. Others will love to entertain with dance, or by writing poems and children’s books, while others will inspire with the gift of making music. Some will have a passion to grow plants and harvest crops for food. Many will have the gift of working with their hands and go on to build houses and huge skyscrapers (not to mention My Tabernacle!) Others will thrill to explore Our magnificent creation – the home especially prepared for them all – through mathematics and science; they will build great ships and computers and rockets. Photographers, fishermen, truck drivers, soldiers, artists, lawyers, salespersons, dishwashers, stay-at-home moms. (Of course, We will call out apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers from among them). It’s a very long list!”

“But what about your Law and the free will prerogative? What if they make bad choices?”

“My Son…You and I need to have a good talk about that.”

“Do you think they will like chocolate?”

“You have no idea!”

: ) Bryan

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The Ultimate Logic: GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE > GOD IS LOVE > THEREFORE, LOVE CREATED THE UNIVERSE! : )

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Salvation and sexual reproduction? The new, revised 2019 paperback edition of my (ghost-written) book, Born of the Water Born of the Spirit, can be found at the following link. It is also available as a Kindle ebook download: