Seen this week:
• A sign on the Assembly of God church I used to attend promoting an Easter egg hunt with cash prizes. Ugh. Churches think they need a gimmick to draw people, but they end up looking like a game show or carnival act. Whatever happened to preaching sin and repentance and holiness? I would be considered a heretic by some people at my former church for believing that Yeshua's death and resurrection should be observed in the context of Passover. Easter (Ishtar) is named after a fertility goddess. Even the Christian bookstore in town is advertising Resurrection Eggs. No wonder the apostle Paul warned about apostasy in the last days.
• TV preacher Rod Parsley grinning into the camera, encouraging the faithful to sow their very best Resurrection Seed Offering. The offerings and prayer requests (I assume you must have both) will be placed on the Resurrection Seed Altar and Parsley will pray for the needs of people on Easter as if Yeshua's sacrifice wasn't enough. Parsley comments on his website, "I am praying that this is your time to have it all all the wealth and spoils of the enemy." Like all the charlatans on TBN, Parsley will pray for you if you show him the money. He also sells a taped sermon series entitled "Take It All." What a contrast to Mark 10:21. When a rich young ruler asks how he can inherit eternal life, Yeshua answers, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." I wonder if Parsley has ever spoken Luke 12:15 from the pulpit "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."
Don't miss the review by Bob DeWaay of Rick Warren's best-seller The Purpose-Driven Life. DeWaay exposes the flaws of Warren's seeker-sensitive gospel, which has a cult-like following within Christianity. He tells how a friend participating in a Purpose Driven book study was told he had to leave his Bible at home. The concerns he raised were too disruptive to the group, he was told. DeWaay, who writes for Critical Issues Commentary, also points out the mysticism woven into Warren's theology. Warren promotes "breath prayers," which are endless repetitions of short phrases a technique he says will help us hear God better. Yikes.
Anna Robinson of Yad b'Yad Ministries shared this profound thought via e-mail: "Mercy is when you're too stupid to even ask for grace." Brilliant! Anna informs me she heard it years ago from an old Baptist preacher. He's not exactly Solomon, but still wise beyond his years.
I groaned when my daughter Sara told me last week she wanted to celebrate her 15th birthday at the Seattle zoo. I mean, it would be wet, cold, and none of the animals would be out. Besides, isnt our home enough of a zoo for her? But she persisted. Last Friday with rain in the forecast Sara prayed for good weather with the faith to move a hippopotamus.
I groaned again when I awoke Saturday morning and looked out the window. Not a cloud in the sky. I welcomed the sunshine, but taking the family and three of Sara's friends on an all-day zoo safari sounded like work. But we kept our promise to Sara. After breakfast we herded everyone into the mini-van and Accord and headed for the city. Inside the zoo, Sara, stepsister Kirsti and the friends took off, while Alisa and I, Darrick and Brianne set our own course which, naturally, led us to the nearest snack bar. Alisa and I chugged our mochas, the kids grabbed their goodies and we were off. Every time I visit the zoo I feel a tug on my heart it's hard to watch these magnificent beasts lumber in their cells, looking bored as they face the daily onslaught of baby strollers and video cameras.
Yet that doesn't diminish the sheer beauty and grace of these animals. God did a masterful work when he made the giraffe, peacock and leopard. We watched two playful otters dart through the water in an underground viewing area. A glass wall separated us, but we were nose to nose. It was here that it hit me God must really take pleasure in these animals, as He does all His creation. Matthew 10:29 says a sparrow cannot fall to the ground apart from the Fathers will. Yesterday I read in Psalms 50, "I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine." God is not slack in caring for and watching over His creation. Consider Job 38-39:
"Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens, or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait? Who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food? Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young? Or can you mark when the deer gives birth? Can you number the months that they fulfill?"
That means anytime I see a hawk soar overhead, the Lord is watching as well. Last summer I thought of the Matthew passage about the sparrow when I discovered a dead bird in our backyard. It was one of the most beautiful wild birds I'd ever seen in the Northwest yellow head and breast with gray and black markings on its wings. There were no wounds or blemishes. As I buried the bird in our flower bed, I sensed that this was a very intimate moment, as funny as that sounds. I was all alone; Alisa and the kids were in the house. Yet I felt God watching over my shoulder, affirming that, indeed, this was a creature He took great delight in.