“The world is not our home and we lament its sin-wrecked condition, riddled with disease and death and distress. But for the growing of Christian character, it is a proper training ground.”

~ Vance Havner

God’s Delight

by Pastor John Fredericksen

We delight in the embrace of a child, the gathering of family, even in things and hobbies.  But what delights the heart of God?  In Proverbs 15:8 we learn, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” 

When the lost seek to worship or give to the Lord apart from saving faith in Christ, in effect, on their own terms, it cannot please the Lord.  Oh, but when God’s redeemed children come to Him in the praise and dependence of prayer, it is His delight.  He created us for fellowship with Him.  He longs for your relationship with Him to be vibrant and consistent.  Each of us can delight the heart of God by daily making time to be with Him in prayer and in the study of God’s Word.

A Jealous God

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

We heartily thank God for every politician, athlete, actor or even criminal who comes to know Christ as Savior. But conversion alone does not qualify one for a place of prominence in Christian service. This, especially in Paul’s epistles, is reserved for mature believers, wholly separated to God and established in the truth (See especially II Timothy 2:21).

When hearts beat faster because of the presence of some glamorous personality on the Christian platform; when such personalities receive adulation which belongs rather to the Christ who died for them, God is dishonored and displeased.

True, the motive in procuring such “crowd-getters” may have been to reach greater numbers for Christ, just as some of our spiritual leaders become yoked together with apostate unbelievers in evangelistic endeavors in order to reach souls for Christ, but the end does not justify the means. It is never right to do wrong to accomplish some good end.

Have we forgotten that God’s Word says: “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5) and “I will not give My glory unto another” (Isa 48:11)? True we quote here from the Ten Commandments, but remember, Paul in his epistles quotes all the Ten Commandments except one (regarding the sabbath). The covenant of the Law has been done away but not the moral law itself, and God is the only Being who has legitimate and urgent reason to be jealous of His glory. Christian leaders are playing a dangerous game when they give glory due to God alone to prominent personalities so as to swell their audiences.

It is time for the Church to realize that salvation is the work of God and that true and lasting results will follow only when we conduct His work in His way.

From a Distance

December 9, 2014

But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. — Genesis 37:18

The Torah portion for this week, Vayeishev, which means “and he lived,” is from Genesis 37:1—40:23, and the Haftorah is from Amos 2:6—3:8.

I once heard a story about a battleship at sea that had sailed into severe weather. The captain received a report that there was a light up ahead. He called out, “Is it steady or moving astern?” The lookout replied that it was steady, which meant that the ship was on a collision course. The captain ordered the signalman, “Signal that ship: ‘We are on a collision course; advise you change course 20 degrees.’” Back came a signal, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.” The captain retorted, “Signal: ‘I’m a battleship. You change course 20 degrees.’” The reply flashed back, “I’m a lighthouse.”

Sometimes, our great misjudgment of others leads to great mistakes of our own.

In this week’s reading, Joseph was misjudged by his brothers. Scripture tells us, “they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.” Joseph’s brothers had decided that he was the bad seed – like Ishmael had been to Isaac and Esau had been to Jacob. And we can understand why they thought this. After all, Joseph went around sharing his dreams about ruling over his family. He brought a bad report about his brothers to their father. In his brothers’ eyes, Joseph seemed way out of line, so they held court, judged Joseph as evil, and sentenced him to death.

The problem was that the brothers “saw him in the distance.” They didn’t really know him or understand who he really was. This misjudgment led the brothers to make a huge mistake. They sold their righteous brother to a band of gypsies.

In Leviticus 19:15, we are commanded to “judge your neighbor fairly.” The Jewish sages took this one step further and said, “Do not judge your friend until you have reached his place.” If we are to judge others fairly, we can only judge another person when we have enough information about him or her in order to pass a fair judgment. However, we can only really have enough information if we have “reached his place,” meaning we are standing in his or her shoes. Until we fully understand what it’s like to be that particular individual, with his or her set of circumstances and experiences, we can never pass a fair judgment over that person.

In reality, the sages are telling us that we can never pass judgment on anyone at all, since we can never fully understand what it is like to be any other person.

Joseph’s brothers made a terrible mistake when they passed judgment on him – let’s not do the same. Instead, let’s remember that there is more to every person than what we may see. Don’t judge from a distance. Instead, come close to others with empathy, kindness, and compassion.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Is Your Experience Authentic?

By Vance Havner

And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid.
Acts 9:7; 22:9

Paul’s companions had an “experience,” but they did not meet the Lord. It is possible to be present when great things happen without great things happening to you. It would have made a great story to tell afterwards about seeing a light, being afraid, hearing a voice, and standing speechless. That is about all that some witnesses are able to relate. One of Job’s comforters, Eliphaz, had quite a hair-raising account to give, but he knew little of God.

It was Paul who got through to Christ: “Who art thou, Lord?….Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” The important thing is to hear the Word of God and keep it, as Jesus said to the woman who spoke out in the meeting.

It is not enough to jump up and tell about seeing a light and hearing a voice. Did you face up to the “Who” and “What”-who the Lord is and what He wants you to do? There will be variations as to the lights you see and the voices you hear, but the “Who” and “What” are standard, they make the authentic experience.

In Good Hands

December 10, 2014

As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. — Genesis 37:25

The Torah portion for this week, Vayeishev, which means “and he lived,” is from Genesis 37:1—40:23, and the Haftorah is from Amos 2:6—3:8.

Life has a way of taking us down some very unfamiliar roads. We might end up somewhere we never thought we’d be and we feel like it’s all a big mistake. However, as we learn from this week’s Torah reading, God knows exactly where we are going and precisely where we need to end up. No matter how things may look, God is always on the throne and everything is as it should be.

In this week’s Torah portion, Joseph is sold into slavery. Scripture informs us that the Ishmaelites who bought Joseph were transporting good-smelling spices. The Jewish sages explain that usually Ishmaelite caravans contained bad-smelling spices. However, God caused a miracle for Joseph’s sake, and on this particular day, had them transport good-smelling spices instead.

The sages teach that God was sending Joseph a message. We can imagine Joseph’s state of mind as his very own brothers sold him into slavery. He must have been thinking that it was all a terrible mistake. This couldn’t possibly be God’s plan for him! And yet, God sent him a sign. God sent the unusual occurrence of good-smelling spices on a usually unpleasant Ishmaelite caravan in order to reassure Joseph that God was right by his side. As confusing as things seemed, God was still running the show. He knew exactly where Joseph was and precisely where he was going and was letting him know everything would be all right.

Know today that the challenges that we have in our lives are no surprise to God. He’s not sitting up there scratching His head wondering how we got where we are in life. God is orchestrating everything and He knows the plan. Sometimes, if we pay attention, we may just see a sign – an unusual occurrence, a good break, an extra kindness. God is telling us that He is right by our side and that everything will work out right. We are in good hands — God’s hands.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

 “What a host of weary pilgrims need today is a contact with the living Christ, true to the Scriptures, warming their hearts, showing up at home, and making happy witnesses of them all.”

~ Vance Havner

The One True Church

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Religious people — even sincere Christian people — may divide themselves into various denominations or churches, but there is no indication in the Bible that God recognizes these divisions. Indeed, God makes it abundantly clear that in His sight there is but one Church, composed of all who truly trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. In I Corinthians 12:12,13 the Apostle Paul declares by divine inspiration:

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ:

“FOR BY ONE SPIRIT ARE WE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY….”

Again, in Romans 12:5, he says:

“SO WE, BEING MANY, ARE ONE BODY IN CHRIST, AND EVERY ONE MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER.”

Indeed, it is on the basis of the fact that there is but “one body” in God’s sight that He exhorts us to seek to “keep the unity of the Spirit”:

“ENDEAVORING TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE.

“THERE IS ONE BODY….” (Ephesians 4:3,4).

How can we become members of that “one Body ,” the true Church? Ephesians 2 explains how Christ died for all, Jew and Gentile alike, “that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross…” (Ver. 16). Indeed the Epistles of the Apostle Paul show how God “hath concluded… all in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all” (Romans 11:32), and offer to them reconciliation and salvation by grace through faith in Christ who died for our sins.

The question, then, is not: What church do you belong to? but, Do you belong to the Church, the Body of Christ, composed of all who have acknowledged themselves to be sinners in the sight of God and have trusted in Christ and His finished work for salvation?

Administrator’s Note:

In various places in this website visitors can find Scripture, truth, facts, and information pertaining to how the modern-day practice of following what are called Christmas traditions have their roots in paganism, in idol worship, in apostasy and in diluting and corrupting the truth. From Christmas trees decorated, to Santa Claus, to the yule log, to all the adornments and pomp and circumstance. I hope subscribers, visitors, and readers of “A Crooked Path” will search out the truth and judge for themselves what they ought to partake in and what they ought to abstain from asking themselves truthfully is what they are doing, what they practice Scripture-based, God’s truth and instruction, or of this world?

The X in Xmas

Author: Daven Hiskey

There is an often expressed notion that “Xmas” is a relatively new non-religious name / spelling for “Christmas.” However, it turns out, this isn’t the case at all, at least not originally. The “X” originally indicated the Greek letter “Chi,” which is short for the Greek, meaning “Christ.” So “Xmas” and “Christmas” were equivalent in every way except their lettering.

So when did this substitution start?

Although writing guides today, such as those issued by the New York Times; the BBC; The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style; and Oxford Press, discourage the use of Xmas in formal writing, at one time, it was a very popular practice, particularly with religious scribes, who are thought to have started the whole “Xmas” thing in the first place. Indeed, there are documented instances of using the symbol “X” in place of Christ’s name amongst religious scholars going back about 1000 years.

Eventually, this shorthand trick spread to non-religious writings where nearly everywhere “Christ” appeared in a word, the Greek Chi would replace that part of the word. For example, in the 17th and 18th centuries, there are numerous non-religious documents containing instances of “Xine,” which was a common spelling for someone whose name was Christine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus Facts:

• The “-mas” part on the end of Christmas and Xmas comes from the Old English word for “mass.”
• Other classic common abbreviations for “Christ” were: “Xp” and “Xt,” again both an abbreviated form of the Greek for Christ.
• The Greek letters “X” (Chi) and “p” (Rho) superimposed together was once a very common symbol signifying Christ and was called, somewhat unimaginatively, the Chi-Rho.
• The Chi-Rho was also used by scribes in a non-religious sense to mark some passage that was particularly good, with it literally implying “good.”

 

 

 

 

Boundaries of Blessing

By Vance Havner

 

According to your faith be it unto you.
Matthew 9:29

You can believe God too little but not too much. That does not mean that He will honor faith for some unwise extravagant thing outside the circle of your need and His will. But there is room for plenty of miracles within His will. You won’t feel cramped!

“Believe ye that I am able to do this?” There are three angles to this matter: “YE,” “I,” “THIS.” Our faith, His power, our need. The boundaries of His blessing are “according to his will,” “according to your faith,” “all your need.”

But do not think “all your need” means something like “bare necessities.” He gives liberally and upbraids not, gives more than we can ask or think, all sufficiency in all things, abundance of grace. He is plenteous in mercy. All things are ours.

Within His wide horizons you can never ask too much. If without faith it is impossible to please Him, then great faith must please Him much.

 

The Power to Heal

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

December 12, 2014

“Now then, I will crush you
as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.” — Amos 2:13

The Torah portion for this week, Vayeishev, which means “and he lived,” is from Genesis 37:1—40:23, and the Haftorah is from Amos 2:6—3:8.

This week’s Haftorah reminds us that our actions have consequences. More specifically, this reading stresses that our negative actions – our sins – have negative consequences. Those consequences can be devastating: “Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.” The prophet predicted utter destruction from which no one would escape.

Knowing that God can and does punish is unpleasant, but necessary. As Solomon said in Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom . . .” We must have fear of God — knowledge that God does and will punish us for our sins — before we learn anything else. This is the only way to ensure a moral society.

However, we can’t get paralyzed with fear of God. Fear of God is a starting point in serving God, but it is not the endpoint. We must progress to love of God and partnership with God. God is the one who punishes, but also the one who blesses. We can’t get so bogged down by the consequences of disobedience that we miss all the beauty of God’s promises for following Him.

I am reminded of a story about an 18^th-century rabbi who used to visit the places of the lost and dejected. On one such outing, the rabbi was stunned to see a former student amongst the lowly people. “What happened?” the rabbi inquired. The student explained that the more he reflected on himself, the more he saw his flaws. He felt doomed, unworthy, and unredeemable. As a result, he gave up on himself completely. The rabbi took hold of the student’s quivering hands and said, “If you believe that you have the power to destroy, then believe that you have the power to heal.”

We can’t focus only on punishment. If we believe that we have the power to bring destruction upon ourselves, then we must also believe that we have the power to bring God’s blessings upon ourselves.

While we need to know that God will punish evil behavior, we also need to remind ourselves what lies in store for the righteous and obedient. Take a look at some of God’s promises: “If you follow my decrees . . . I will send you rain in its season . . . you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land . . . I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers . . . You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. . . I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people” (Leviticus 26:3–12).

This week, let us be aware of God’s consequences, but let’s also be inspired by God’s promises. Let’s follow Him wholeheartedly with love, faith, and joy.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Nazareth Or Cana?

By Vance Havner

And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Matthew 13:58

Here we have the Person (“He”), the Place (“there”), and the People (“their”). Jesus, the Person, was in Nazareth, the Place. It could have been a place of blessing but for the People. “Where”-there is the place-“two or three are gathered in my name”-there are the People-“there am I in the midst of them”-there is the Person.

If revival does not come to your church, it will be because of the unbelief of the people. We can limit the Holy One of Israel. We can grieve and quench the Holy Spirit.

Jesus had a better reception in Cana. Whatsoever He said, they did, and water became wine. The ruler of the feast did not understand, but the servants who drew the water knew. God’s secrets are hid from the wise and prudent but revealed unto babes. Christ works His miracle when humble servants fill the waterpots with water. Faith and obedience change the mediocre to the miraculous.

Do you live in Nazareth or Cana?

Reflections of the Gospels

VanceHavner’s Reflections on the Gospels is a collection of devotionals that Dr.Havner wrote in the 1920s and 1930s. These were written as individual articles, but never compiled in a book. The book will give you insight into the man, and his respect and love for God and His Word.Dr. Vance Havner was a revivalist. He authored nearly forty books during his ministry. His unique style has impacted thousands of God’s people through the years. He is considered by many to be the most quoted preacher of the 20th century. Consider this book your opportunity to spend a minute or two with a New Testament prophet.

Billy Graham once said, “I do not know of any man in my generation who has stirred revival fires in the hearts of so many people throughout the nation as has Vance Havner…”

Dr. Havner was known for his one liners that have found there way into thousands of books and sermons. These writings will be an encouragement to pastors, Bible teachers and laymen as they study the Scriptures. Whether you use this book as a personal devotional or as a study tool, you’ll find the insights enlightening and inspiring.