Monthly Archives: April 2015

REAL men love Jesus

Do you remember the bumper sticker that says, “Real men love Jesus”? I like it.

It counters the perception that Christian dedication is for women, children and wimps. Real men–those who work hard and can look you in the eye–don’t take Christianity seriously.

After all, there’s the image of that long-haired, rouged-cheeked Jesus to overcome. Could you follow a man like that?

And speaking of cheeks, what about that business of “turning the other” one? That’s not for real men!

So let me remind you that Jesus was a carpenter, with work-callused hands and labor hardened muscles.

Did you think he went down to ACE Lumber to get his wood? Not for this real man! He climbed a nearby hill and cut his own timber! When’s the last time you cut down a tree with an ax? It’s hard work!

And look at those whom he commanded. Fishermen and Simon the mercenary; army veterans (“centurions”) and flint-eyed hermits like John the Baptist.

Here was a man whom other men respected and followed.
Here was a man of integrity and conviction, one who possessed the correct blend of strength and gentleness.

“Follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” And do you want to know the most amazing thing about this story? They did! “Immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:19,20, ESV).

Real men once followed Jesus. Real men still do.

by Stan Mitchell

Abram made his home under the terebinth trees of Mamre

“Then Abram moved his tent, and went and
dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which
are in Hebron, and built an alter there to
the Lord” (Genesis 13:18 NKJV).

As one treks into the remote villages of Dhading district in Nepal he must travel through several forested areas of the Himalaya Mountains. In some of those areas there are huge evergreen trees which four or five men could not reach around with their arms linked together.

Throughout South Asia there are numerous “holy” banyan trees which are often encircled with protective concrete rings. Locals sit under these trees visiting together or simply relaxing and resting. Some religious practitioners meditate there. Many of these trees are of huge size and obviously of great antiquity.

In the U.S. attention was recently given to one of the giant sequoias which fell. The upper surface of its trunk, parallel to the ground, was reportedly 17 feet above the earth. Some estimated its age to be as much as 3,000 years.

It is fascinating to consider that a living thing can be large enough and old enough to attain the status of a landmark. Perhaps nothing alive does this as regularly as do trees.

Abram made his home under the terebinth trees of Mamre.
The text of Genesis 13 suggests that when Moses wrote this record (more than 400 years after Abram’s death) the trees of Mamre were still living and known to the people of Canaan.

A casual reading of the Old Testament shows that trees were often considered sacred by pagan peoples and used as sites of worship, and sometimes even as a type of idol.

In other cases, idols were carved from wooden poles and erected before altars. Isaiah ridicules the people for cutting down a tree, using it for firewood or lumber, then making an idol of the residue and calling it “god”
(Isaiah 44:9-20).

Though such idolatrous associations are obviously condemned in Scripture, the Bible does recognize trees as having positive spiritual significance.

The righteous man is said to endure and prosper “like a tree planted by the rivers of water” (Psalm 1:3).  Heaven is endowed with the tree of life, bearing its twelve fruits throughout the year (i.e., perpetually).  Trees were created by God and serve as symbols of his love and bountifulness.

The popular poem declares, “Only God can make a tree.”
To that we add, only God can truly create any living thing. As we recognize the autumnal beauty of the forests around us, and the majesty of each large oak or pine, let us be thankful for the power, wisdom and goodness of God who made them. And let us see his hand in all the wonders of this world in which we live.

by Michael E. Brooks @ www.forthright.net