Category / Proverbs in Light of the Cross

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of The Cross; My First Black Friend

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day, I wanted to share a story that happened while I was living in this house in Tulsa, Oklahoma circa 1971.

Rodney and William Cerca 1971

My Friend Rodney and I, playing cowboys circa 1971. I would love to see him again if anyone recognizes him in this picture who knows him now.

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly…Proverbs 18:24 KJV

My Tribute to Rodney, My First Black Friend

I originally wrote this in February 2003

 “First black friend” probably sounds silly to a child of today, but when I was a young kid in 1970 we lived in a white neighborhood. A white neighborhood in Tulsa, the city famous for the Race Riot of 1921. My kindergarten class had not been integrated yet.  We went to the white Seventh-day Adventist church while the “black” church was across town.  I had nothing against black people I just didn’t know any. That was until Rodney and his mother showed up at my front door step on a Summer Evening in 1970.

I had seen him before. My family watched them move in across the street a few days before. My mother suggested I go across the street and say hello and welcome the new black boy to the neighborhood. I was too afraid to. Afraid of what? I have no clue. Had no clue back then either. I wasn’t racist, I was prejudiced. Prejudiced is just another word for stupid. I can remember more than once riding home seeing him across the street, mother telling me to go over and say hi. No way! Why? Who knows? Fear of the unknown?

One evening as we were getting ready for an evangelistic meeting at our church there was a knock on the door. We answered the door and there stood a black woman and a little black boy. My parents said “hi” welcomed them into our house.  I said nothing. Just stared. Why? I don’t know. Everyone introduced themselves and said “hi.” Everyone but me, I just stared. Rodney was the little black boy. His mother said he wanted to come over and meet me. I just stared. He looked at me. I stared at him. Even at my age I could sense the loneliness in his eyes. He took a step towards me and reached out his hand. Everyone watched as I took a step back, still staring.  Everyone sensed the awkwardness. My parents and sister were embarrassed by my reaction to his gesture. His mother was the only one who was not surprised by my rudeness.  He took another step towards me and tried to touch me! I took another step back. Why? That’s what I have been asking myself ever since!  To ease the tension my parents said we were getting ready to go to church and invited them both to join us. Join us at the white church? Yes, the white church.

They politely declined and my parents told them they were welcomed back  anytime.

On the way to church my sister asked me why I was so rude to that nice little boy. I told her he was black. She said that didn’t matter. My parents agreed. Finally I got the nerve and went over to his house and said hi. Before you knew it we were best friends. Playing Cowboys and Indians and cops and robbers and everything else that kids played in the early 70’s.  When we moved a few years later Rodney and his mother came over to visit us in our new home. It was great seeing my friend again.

The reason I want to tell this story is because of something that never dawned on me until I was much older, and I put myself in Rodney’s position. A young black boy moving into a white neighborhood in the early ‘70s, just a couple of years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination when racial tensions were high. I could have been a great ambassador for world peace right there in my neighborhood by just walking across the street and extending my hand to the new black family. Instead I took a step backwards every time he mustered up the courage to take a step forward. Rejection. Fear. Hatred? After being rejected by me the first time he musters up the courage to take another step forward. I took another step backwards. Rejection…again. Why? Who knows? All I can say is I am so glad he was persistent enough to keep stepping forward when I kept stepping backwards. He turned out to be a great friend! I turned out to be a great friend too after the prejudice (stupidity) wore off.

My little friend Rodney reminds me of some one else who came to make friends with the world but was rejected. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:11 Thank God for people like Jesus and Rodney who look past the rejection, prejudice and pain and keep loving anyway!  Where would I be without them? If it wasn’t for the persistent love of people like Jesus and Rodney I wouldn’t have developed the wonderful friendships that I enjoy today with all kinds of people, red and yellow, brown and black and white.

I have not seen Rodney in several years, but I think about him every time I meet some one new. I take a step forward and extend my hand. I smile and say “hi.” I remember that Summer Evening in 1970. I won’t make the same mistake again.

Thanks Rodney wherever you are, for moving into my white neighborhood and mustering up the courage to cross the street and meet me. I’m sorry I did not have the courage to cross the street first.

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of The Cross; Emotional Healing

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble. For the Lord will be displeased with you  and will turn his anger away from them. Proverbs 24:17-18 NLT

In the sports world we celebrate when our team eliminates another team in the playoffs and we see them fall. In the corporate world people celebrate when another company closes doors enabling their company to create a monopoly on the market. Love triangles have created even more sinister  behavior, even bloodshed, when someone comes between them and the one they have a crush on. Its almost as if people think their healing has to come from  someone else’s downfall.

Christian’s don’t celebrate the downfall of their enemy. Christians do not derive any “healing” from the disaster of their enemies. Christians find their healing in Jesus.

He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Isaiah 53:5 NLT

Jesus did not only suffer the punishment we deserve. He also suffered the punishment our enemy deserves. We are not healed by our enemy being beaten and whipped. We are healed by Jesus being beaten and whipped.

Studies have shown that many people return from war with PTSD and emotional scars from the pain and violence they inflicted on others. Hurting your enemy will not bring you healing. It will bring you trauma. Instead of healing, the act or revenge is trauma to your own soul.

Jesus was beaten and whipped for your enemy. Is that not enough? it is insane to believe that seeing our enemy fall, could bring us any healing or make us whole.

Jesus went to the cross to heal us and make us whole. Look to Jesus and not your enemy for healing.

He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Isaiah 53:5 NLT

Thinking we need to see our enemy suffer in order to be healed and made whole, is saying Jesus did not suffer enough on the cross to heal and make me whole.

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of The Cross; Purpose For Living

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

When I was a little kid I had the most strangest and wildest imagination. I would lie awake at night wondering how I got to be me. Why was I not a dinner table chair instead? (Which only freaked me out even more thinking about the possibility of being something that doesn’t even know it exists. How do you exist without knowing you exist? Freaky!) Why was I not a bear in Alaska? How did I get to be born in my little home town in the United States instead of to a family in  Australia? Its not that I wanted to be something else, it just freaked me out wondering, how I got to be me, and why am I me here, and now?  I get the whole genes and chromosomes thing now, but those do not make a soul.

As I got older I realized just how close I came to never being born. My mother only wanted two children, a boy and a girl. Before I was born, my mother had a girl and sadly, two miscarriages. If one of those had survived they would not have had me. Then you also have the extreme small chance that I would even be the sperm that survives. So why am I me? Why was I born a little baby brother in my small speck of the planet around the mid to late 20th century? I found the answer this week in Proverbs.

A friend is always loyal,and a brother is born to help in time of need. Proverbs 17:17 NLT

Ah! So simple. I was born me to my family in my time and place, so I could help my family in time of need and be a loyal friend to others. Who knew?

Actually it’s a lot like why Jesus was born.

 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 NLT

So now as an old grown up I lie in bed awake thinking about how I got to be me. Out of all the things I could have been (if anything at all) and all the times and places I could have been born, I was born to my family and community here and now. God placed me here by some miraculous design that even genes and chromosomes can’t fully explain.

And yet, if I fail to help my family and friends in their time of need, then this great miracle of my existence is all about nothing!

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of the Cross; Kind Words, we all Need Them

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. Proverbs 16:24 NLT 

Yesterday, when I showed up at Tampa Adventist Academy to teach my baptism class, a teacher, beaming with pride, showed me an e-mail one of her former students had just sent her the night before. In  the e-mail, the student was telling her former teacher about her new school and scholastic programs. The student was doing well at her new school. The student then thanked the teacher at Tampa Adventist Academy for “never giving up one me” and “always pushing me to do my best.” This made the teacher’s day! Kind encouraging words are honey to the soul. Is there a teacher you need to write a nice thank you letter to?

Earlier this school year, I was on the playground following up with one of the teachers about one of her students who wanted to attend my baptism class. While the teacher and I were talking, on the far side of the playground I saw a glimpse of a little girl running with a football, being chased by by some boys. I yelled her name and shouted, “Run! Run!”

The next morning the little girl’s mother came up to me, and told me, “My daughter told me yesterday, “Mama I was playing football with the boys and they were about to catch me, when I heard pastor William yell my name. That gave me a burst of energy and I made the touchdown!”

Who knew what a kind encouraging word could do? Is there a child you need to speak a kind encouraging word to today?

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of The Cross; Teaching the Wise

Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more. Proverbs 9:9 NLT
As we cherish and obey the promptings of the Spirit, our hearts are enlarged to receive more and more of His power, and to do more and better work. Dormant energies are aroused, and palsied faculties receive new life.
The humble worker who obediently responds to the call of God may be sure of receiving divine assistance. To accept so great and holy a responsibility is itself elevating to the character. It calls into action the highest mental and spiritual powers, and strengthens and purifies the mind and heart. Through faith in the power of God, it is wonderful how strong a weak man may become, how decided his efforts, how prolific of great results.
He who begins with a little knowledge, in a humble way, and tells what he knows, while seeking diligently for further knowledge, will find the whole heavenly treasure awaiting his demand. The more he seeks to impart light, the more light he will receive. The more one tries to explain the Word of God to others, with a love for souls, the plainer it becomes to himself. The more we use our knowledge and exercise our powers, the more knowledge and power we shall have.
Every effort made for Christ will react in blessing upon ourselves. If we use our means for His glory, He will give us more. As we seek to win others to Christ, bearing the burden of souls in our prayers, our own hearts will throb with the quickening influence of God’s grace; our own affections will glow with more divine fervor; our whole Christian life will be more of a reality, more earnest, more prayerful.
The value of man is estimated in heaven according to the capacity of the heart to know God. This knowledge is the spring from which flows all power. God created man that every faculty might be the faculty of the divine mind; and He is ever seeking to bring the human mind into association with the divine. He offers us the privilege of cooperation with Christ in revealing His grace to the world, that we may receive increased knowledge of heavenly things.
Looking unto Jesus we obtain brighter and more distinct views of God, and by beholding we become changed. Goodness, love for our fellow men, becomes our natural instinct. We develop a character which is the counterpart of the divine character. Growing into His likeness, we enlarge our capacity for knowing God. More and more we enter into fellowship with the heavenly world, and we have continually increasing power to receive the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of eternity. —Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 354-355. 

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of The Cross; The Harvest is Great

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area, where each one is reaching one in 2015.

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area, where each one is reaching one in 2015.

Early this morning before I even got out of bed, I was reading my Proverbs reading plan on my YouVersion Bible app. I ran across this passage:

A wise youth harvests in the summer, but one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace. Proverbs 10:5 NLT 

When I read that I immediately remembered reading about Jesus ministering to the crowds, and then telling His disciples,

 The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. Matthew 9:37-38 NLT

Are we sleeping through the harvest? If you don’t believe the harvest is great wake up! Look around you! I currently have a small group Bible study every week where 8-12 non-churched friends attend every week. When I got back from vacation last week they were just as excited to be back into God’s Word as I was. A church member put me in contact with her co-worker who has never attended church. We started Bible studies and now the co-worker’s daughter-in-law, who never attended church, has asked to join our Bible study. The list goes on of similar stories. At the church school where I help out, students who are not taken to church by family are asking questions and looking forward to learning about Jesus every day.

The Harvest is great! If you need to, ask Jesus to wake you up and send you into the harvest, so we each can reach one (or two or three or four…) in 2015!

Don’t get caught sleeping during the harvest. Solomon says that would be a disgrace!

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of the Cross; Motivated by Love

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Proverbs 2:1 NLT

The other day I was substitute teaching at my local church school. The kids were all good, but a little hyperactive. I finally said, “The next one who talks without raising their hand will get their name on the board.” No sooner had I said that, when a girl talked without raising her hand. I wrote her name on the board. She looked shocked. I told her, I had warned them that the next person to talk without raising their hand would get their name on the board. She replied, “I only heard you say to raise our hand before we talked, but I never heard you say we would get our name on the board if we didn’t do what you said.” I asked, her, “If you heard me say raise your hand, isn’t that enough for you to obey? Is the only reason for obedience to avoid punishment?”

Obeying to avoid punishment is missing the whole point of obedience. I have heard people say, “be careful going through that school zone because traffic fines double in a school zone.” But shouldn’t the whole point of driving carefully through a school zone be so we don’t hurt a child?

Legalism tells us to be careful driving through a school zone so we avoid a fine.

Love tells us to be careful going through a school zone so we don’t hurt a child.

Shouldn’t love be all the motivation we need to follow God’s commands? My young student missed the whole point of obedience when she admitted she would have obeyed had she known there was a penalty for disobedience. Do we miss the point of obedience when we obey only to avoid a penalty?

 “If you love me, obey my commandments. John 14:15 NLT 

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of the Cross; Contentment and Trust

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house. Proverbs 6:30-31 NLT

We see in this passage there is a difference between understanding why someone did what they did, and condoning what they did.

The rich and poor have this in common:The Lord made them both. Proverbs 22:2 NLT

There are rich people who steal, just like there are poor people who are honest. Rich or poor, if we trust in God’s love we will have all we need. Rich or poor, if we don’t trust God’s love we will never be content.

God promises to take care of all of our needs. If God did not give it to me then I don’t need it. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32 If I steal then what I am saying is that God does not really love me, because if He did He would have allowed me to have the thing that I want. David trusted God’s love when he said, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalms 23:1. Sure there are things that we have to work to earn that we may not have right now. When we steal we are saying that God should have allowed us to have it by now.  David realized he would not be in want or need when he said, “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. “ Psalms 34:10

God promises us that He will supply all our needs so we wont need to steal.

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of The Cross; Written on The Heart

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. Keep their words always in your heart.Tie them around your neck. Proverbs 6:20-21 NLT

Obey my commands and live!
    Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.
Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.
    Write them deep within your heart. Proverbs 7:2-3 NLT

While many people think the ten commandments should be posted on courthouses and schools, I saw a t-shirt that read, “Put the Commandments back where they belong, in our hearts.” When you read the Bible you read time and again about the Commandments being in our hearts and homes, and not necessarily on public building walls. I am not saying there is anything wrong with them being on the walls, but we miss the whole point if they are not written on our hearts.

Many people believe the commandments being written on our hearts is a new idea found in the New Testament, but as we read here in Proverbs the concept is actually an Old Testament concept. God’s original plan was for Him to write the law of love on our hearts. We see this in Jeremiah.

But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 NLT

The New covenant is actually in the Old Testament! The New Covenant, of letting God write His law on our hearts is the only Covenant God ever endorsed. God made clear to His people, that He was the one who rescued them from the bondage in Egypt. They did not rescue themselves. God also made it clear the He would rescue them from the bondage of sin if they would trust His promise to write the law not just on stone but on their hearts.

Let’s not trust old useless man made promises and covenants. Let’s trust in Jesus’ new and everlasting promise and covenant, and let Him write His commandments on our heart. This way they will be with us wherever we go, including courthouses and public buildings.

by In Light Of The Cross

Proverbs in Light of the Cross; Crimes of Passion

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Proverbs 6:23-24.
The crime that brought the judgments of God upon Israel was that of licentiousness. The forwardness of women to entrap souls did not end at Baal-peor. Notwithstanding the punishment that followed the sinners in Israel, the same crime was repeated many times. Satan was most active in seeking to make Israel’s overthrow complete. Balak by the advice of Balaam laid the snare. Israel would have bravely met their enemies in battle, and resisted them, and come off conquerors; but when women invited their attention and sought their company and beguiled them by their charms, they did not resist temptations. They were invited to idolatrous feasts, and their indulgence in wine further beclouded their dazed minds. The power of self-control, their allegiance to God’s law, was not preserved. Their senses were so beclouded with wine, and their unholy passions had such full sway, overpowering every barrier, that they invited temptation even to the attending of these idolatrous feasts. Those who had never flinched in battle, who were brave men, did not barricade their souls to resist temptation to indulge their basest passions. . . . They first defiled their conscience by lewdness, and then departed from God still farther by idolatry, thus showing contempt for the God of Israel.
Near the close of this earth’s history Satan will work with all his powers in the same manner and with the same temptations wherewith he tempted ancient Israel just before their entering the land of promise. He will lay snares for those who claim to keep the commandments of God, and who are almost on the borders of the heavenly Canaan. He will use his powers to their utmost in order to entrap souls, and to take God’s professed people upon their weakest points. . . .
It is now the duty of God’s commandment-keeping people to watch and pray, to search the Scriptures diligently, to hide the word of God in the heart, lest they sin against Him in idolatrous thoughts and debasing practices, and thus the church of God become demoralized. –Ellen White, Conflict and Courage, Page 115