Shoulder To Shoulder #1283 -- 3/21/22, ---- "Facing The Future -- With Anticipation or with Apprehension? Reciprocity Reveals The Result."
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is a weekly letter of encouragement Bob has written since 1997, covering many topics selected to
motivate people to be strong students of the Word and courageous witnesses of Jesus Christ. It is a personal letter of
encouragement to you, written solely to help "lift up hands that hang down".
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." -- Albert Einstein
“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have -- a cheap Christianity which offends nobody,
and requires no sacrifice, which costs nothing, -- and is worth nothing.” – J. C. Ryle
Shoulder To Shoulder #1283 -- 3/21/22
Title:
"Facing the Future -- With Anticipation or with Apprehension? Reciprocity Reveals The Result."Dear Friend and Fellow Kingdom Seeker:
On a sunny but windy day, I greet you again from Yuma, AZ, less than one week away from the conclusion of our Chapel de Oro season of ministry. It has been a challenging time for Jo Ann and me to say the least. Our hearts continue to grieve over what is happening to Ukraine and our many friends. Most of those with whom we have maintained contact have left the country for other places, but we still have a few remaining in the Kyiv area, and perhaps a half dozen or so from whom we've had no response at all to our efforts to check on their welfare.
The situation in Ukraine is heartbreaking to say the least. And it was all so unnecessary -- so uncalled for. When Russia and Ukraine entered into their nuclear "disarmament" agreement in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. The memorandum moved Ukraine as a nuclear country into the international order as a non-nuclear state. In the agreement, Russia, the U.S. and the U.K. pledged to “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and reaffirmed that they would “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.”
In addition the Memorandum also stated that, if Ukraine were ever attacked, the signatories would “seek immediate” UN Security Council action “to provide assistance to Ukraine … if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression.” These assurances by England, Russia, and the United States upheld certain obligations that are contained in the U.N. charter and the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. Finally, the Memorandum also guaranteed that there would be no change of national borders by the use of force.
As a result of the agreement, Ukraine gave up the nuclear weapons within its borders, sending them to Russia for dismantling. Nobody knows for certain if Russia ever dismantled those weapons, or merely added them to their own stockpile. One thing is certain -- once again, as has been its history, Russia violated its agreement. So much for Putin's honesty -- and honor.
In a shameful, the United States has not adhered to it's side of the agreement by not providing needed weaponry to Ukraine so it can defend itself. You know, of course, that there is actually no differentiation between offensive and defensive weapons, particularly when a sovereign nation has been attacked and invaded. In such a case, every single kind of weapon you can find is defensive -- including MiG-29's from Poland and F-16's from the U.S. If I can be entirely candid for a moment, the entire argument between offensive and defensive weapons as an absurd, cowardly, and thoroughly failed attempt to back peddle on a commitment.
IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED:
By His Grace, God has enabled us to develop some "boots on the ground" connections with a number of our friends to provide funds to various Christian humanitarian efforts to the suffering and displaced Ukrainians. We praise God for some of the larger agencies that I listed in my previous letter, but through our own ministry, Life Unlimited Ministries (a 501.c.3 evangelistic ministry we formed in 1980), we have been able to direct funds immediately so that people can get help within short hours or even minutes (sometimes even seconds).
And, not only do we sent 100% of the funds to those friends, but we also cover any transaction fees ourselves rather than deduct them from the contribution. That being said, if you feel you would like to join us in that venture and help bless Ukrainians who are in such dire straits, we would be thrilled to receive such a contribution and direct it to one or more of our "boots on the ground".
Simply make the check out to Life Unlimited Ministries and put "Ukraine" on the memo line in the lower left corner. Send it to
Life Unlimited Ministries
Box 25118
Yuma, AZ, 85367
If you prefer to do a wire transfer, email me directly at [email protected] or call me at 417-693-5149, and I will give you the necessary information. In the meantime, . . .
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written, "HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER." Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. -- II Cor 9:8-11
It is our intent to be in this effort for the long haul as God provides the funds. It is going to take a very long time for many of our Ukrainian friends and colleagues to recover and return to home and a sense of normalcy. We want to help as long and as generously as we can.
MY OWN STATE OF MIND:
It's hard to realize that there are only two more events left in the Chapel de Oro calendar for the season -- a small Bible study group Wednesday and our final worship service this coming Sunday. While it has been a wonderfully blessed season of reunion and rebuilding following the COVID fiasco, it has also been one of the most challenging and tiring season -- due to a large extent with our permanent move from Missouri to Yuma last Summer. Jo Ann and I did not realize just how tired we were until we found ourselves dragging as we began the season's ministry last November.
There has been little time to rejuvenate, so we are actually looking forward to about six weeks of "free time" in which to complete many projects around the "new" house, catch our breath, hopefully do a short "vacation" trip somewhere, and tool up for Greer Chapel's ministry that begins Memorial Day week-end. Part of me is facing the future with a sense or alarm and great concern -- rightfully so, it seems. Yet, part of me senses excitement and hopeful anticipation.
Today I'd like to share some thoughts about that with you -- right after you peruse . . .
QUOTES FOR THE WEEK:
> "Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences." -- Robert Louis Stevenson
> "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." -- Gal 6:7
> "The God who formed the stars and placed the earth here to be both our home and his proving grounds, is not powerless, late, confused, or indifferent." -- Michael Brescani
> "If you don't like what you are reaping, you had better change what you have been sowing." -- Jim Rohn
> "Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail." -- Prov 22:8
> "If you keep doing what you've been doing you'll keep getting what you've been getting. If you want to get something better, do something bigger." -- Anon
> "Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny." -- Charles Reade
> "A wicked person earns deceptive wages, but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward." -- Proverbs 11:18
> "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." --Thomas Paine
> "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” -- Lk 6:38
THE REALITY OF RECIPROCITY:
Do you remember the statement the Apostle Paul made? -- "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
From the beginning of humanity, there has been an eternal principle that whatever you put into something, you will get out of it. It is a principle that God put in place. All of creation operates by that principle like clockwork. There has never been a single year of human history when it did not apply. It is not merely a natural law, but in fact a law established by, to coin a phrase from John Locke and our founding fathers, "the laws of nature and nature's God". The origin of the Law of Reciprocity is God Himself.
As we consider how we are to face the future -- either with enthusiastic and joyous anticipation, or with fear, tentativeness, and apprehension, we will find ourselves forced to deal with the issue of how we live our lives and, as a result, what we get out of it. This is based on that Law of Reciprocity.
Normally when we think of reciprocity, we tend to think of treating others in the same way we want others to treat us -- or of treating others in the same way they treated us. But, the law of reciprocity works in both the positive world of complimentary action and the negative world of getting even. The concept is articulated in many ways -- "you made your bed; now sleep in it", the principle of cause and effect, karma, or "you reap what you sow". Regardless of how you see it, it still only means one thing: -- we will get back in return what we put out in action, ---- and usually more.
This not only takes place in the world of agriculture, and not only on a personal level, but also on a national level. And, whatever the level may be, it all takes place under the direction of God's hand. He is a God Who never changes and is always in control. When we see what is happening in Ukraine, or when we try to understand what is going on in and with our nation, it is easy to think otherwise. Michael Brescani wrote an article in August, 2021, in which he began with, . . .
"The God who formed the stars and placed the earth here to be both our home and his proving grounds, is not powerless, late, confused, or indifferent."
That's good for us to remember. Nonetheless, the Law of Reciprocity remains operative. Why? Because it's Author remains operative -- still all powerful, still always right on time, still fully knowledgeable and wise, and still fully engaged in the affairs of man.
This is both good news and bad news. The good news is that God is still fully involved in mankind from the lowliest individual in his house to the most powerful nation in the world. Nothing catches Him by surprise, and nothing happens outside of His sphere and power of control. Even the most godless pagan king is like a trickle of water in God's hand, ultimately accomplishing His divine agenda. We don't need to look very deeply to find sufficient evidence in the Bible that God still controls everything.
The bad news is that if we choose to engage in evil -- evil thoughts, evil words, evil desires, evil deeds -- consequences always follow just a brief step behind.
THE REWARD OF RECIPROCITY:
Reciprocity always bears fruit -- the fruit of reward, or the fruit of regret. The reward of the principle is monumental, the regret is monstrous. When good seed is planted and good deeds are enacted, we enjoy its reward. Abundance. II Corinthians 9:6 illustrates it well: --
". . . whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." -- II Cor 9:6
Jesus described it like this: --
"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure -- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." -- Lk 6:38
So, the bottom line is this: -- when we plant seeds of righteousness in our culture, the fruit of righteousness will come forth. The more we plant, the more there will be. That's a common sense rule of seed and harvest. And, as I noted in an earlier letter, there is always more fruit borne than seed planted.
In that sense, the current health of our country, our church, our town, our family, depends on how we live. Likewise, the future of each depends on how we change so that we only do what is right, and not just what is convenient or easy.
THE REGRET OF RECIPROCITY:
Sadly, it appears that more is said in the Bible about planting bad seed than there is about planting good seed. Perhaps we need warning more than we need reward. For example, the writer of Proverbs said, . . .
"Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail." -- Prov 22:8
Solomon wasn't the only person to point out man's fallen nature. Centuries earlier Job's friend, Eliphaz the Temanite also pointed it out. He may have been judgmental, opinionated, and ill informed, but he wasn't stupid. He stated: --
"As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same." -- Job 4:8
In describing God's judgment on Israel for their rebellion against God, the prophet Hosea declared the inevitable: --
"For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it."
God treats all people equally. Scripture tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust alike. So it is with reciprocity. There is a reciprocal response to everybody's actions. Good begets good, and bad begets bad. The vine either produces good fruit or bad fruit. It's not the growing process or the product of the growth, but rather the nature of the vine.
There have been multiplied billions of sermons preached since Christ walked Galilee's shores. When I was in seminary I bought a large set of books entitled, Twenty Centuries of Great Preaching in which the editors, Clyde E. Fant, Jr., and William M. Pinson, Jr., had combed through almost 2,000 years of well known sermons, and for each century selected a handful of them that were noteworthy in some way. The collection was invaluable to me over the years until I finally gave it away last June with most of my other 4,000+ books when we moved to Yuma. Dr. Fant and Dr. Pinson were both professors in the graduate school from which I received my Masters' degree.
The collection included profound sermons by some of the world's greatest as well as some of the least known preachers. This included preachers like the Apostle Paul, St. Augustine, Martin Luther, Billy Graham, and so forth. Perhaps one of the most famous sermons in U.S. history was preached repeatedly by, Rev R. G. Lee, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN. Originally entitled, "Payday Everyday" when he preached it on his first Sunday as pastor of the church on December 11, 1927. However, as he preached it time an again, it became known as, “Payday Someday.”
Dr. Lee, who was born in a three-room log cabin in South Carolina on November 11th, 1886. His deep love for, belief in, and adherence to the Bible was unquestioned. His commitment to it as the Inspired, inerrant, Infallible Word of God is best summed up in what he himself wrote: --
""The Bible is a book beyond all books as a river is above and beyond a rivulet. The Bible is a book beyond all books as the sun is above and beyond a candle in brightness. The Bible is a book beyond all books as the wings of an eagle is above and beyond the wings of a sparrow. It is supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, inexpressible in value, immeasurable in influence, infinite in scope, divine in authorship, human in penmanship, regenerative in power, infallible in authority, universal in interest, personal in application, and inspired in totality."
Just as powerful as Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", Lee's "Payday Someday" is a sermon based on God's laws of reciprocation or reciprocity. It is that principle that unequivocally promises that someday, and for everyone, we will give an account of our lives before God Himself. In his sermon Dr. Lee quoted a little rhyme by Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1906). Born in Dayton, Ohio, to two freed African slaves from Kentucky, Dunbar was one of the very African American poets to gain national recognition in America. Much of his work was written about life on a southern plantation.
Dunbar wrote his first poem at age six and gave his first public recital at age nine. His first poem was published at age 16. The only African-American student during his years at Central High School in Dayton, he was a classmate and friend to Orville Wright of the famous Wright brothers who built the first airplane. He was well accepted and was elected as president of the school's literary society, became the editor of the school newspaper, and was a debate club member. Here is the poem, written in 1913 as part of Lyrics of Love and Laughter, that Dr. Lee quoted: --
This is the price I pay —
Just for one riotous day —
Years of regret and of grief,
And sorrow without relief.
Suffer it I will, my friend,
Suffer it until the end,
Until the grave shall give relief.
Small was the thing I bought,
Small was the thing at best,
Small was the debt, I thought,
But, O God! — the interest.
THE RANGE RECIPROCITY:
The Principle of Reciprocity applies not only to individuals, but to nations as well. To ignore it as one person is one thing, but for groups -- or nations -- to ignore it is quite another. With what we are facing a nation, one might wonder if it is now being applied to our own country. Has our payback time come? Or is it mere happenstance or coincidence that we seem to be experiencing adverse retribution of some kind -- and from someone -- all at once?
You already know how I feel about the matter. I believe God is opening His accounting ledger, reviewing our national history -- our national conduct -- and is concluding that the numbers don't add up. Our debt far exceeds our wealth. We are on the verge of spiritual and moral bankruptcy, and God is initiation His plan to restitution. Reciprocity has begun. We are now about to reap what we have sown the past 120 or so years.
We have seen it coming for at least a decade, but have generally ignored it. Christians -- those to whom God has assigned to be a nation's accountants -- have known for a long time that a day of accounting would come. But, too much of the time, they have ignored the danger signs. Often, they have turned the other way, denying it to be all that serious a problem. Sadly, some have even participated in the growing moral and spiritual indebtedness. There is one thing it seems that all great nations of history have in common: -- they don't pay attention to the signs, and they won't listen to those who warn.
Who, how, and when the warning is given really doesn't matter. It can come from pulpit or another. It can be heard from one party or another. It can be manifested in one sphere or another. All of that is irrelevant. There is only one common factor -- when we ignore the warnings, we do so at our own peril.
In the religious world, we have sown apostasy among pretend believers and wanton backsliding and sinful pleasures among believers. The plumb line of God's Word has been converted into a skipping rope, and its truths placed on a cafeteria counter for each to pick and choose what whets their personal moral and spiritual appetite.
We have murdered over 63 million babies on the beds of abortion, the organs and body parts of babies have been bartered and sold as if they were on a flea market counter top, child and human trafficking increases by the day, and sexual perversion and the caricature of transgenderism is exploding like a malignant tumor.
Politically, moral issues have become perverted into talking points, our pastime has become spending ourselves into obliteration, and the driving passion of politics is that of divisiveness rather than cooperation and unity.
Academically, our children and youth are being indoctrinated just as certainly as the children of Communism. Socialism, Marxism, Critical Race Theory, Black Lives Matter. Some would say it is merely misguided. I choose to believe it is being deliberately guided. The end result will inevitably be catastrophic.
“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” -- Eccl 8:11
Sadly, too many in places of influence have assumed that since no one has stopped all of this and nothing serious has happened yet, we can pretty much continue with "business as usual" with no consequence. We have been so dumbed down by repetition and delay that we no longer recognize that there is a "payday someday". Unless something dramatic -- and quickly -- changes, the inevitable is inevitable. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." -- Mk 3:25
RULER OF RECIPROCITY:
"I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” -- Jer 17:10
Have you ever seriously considered just what all God has at His disposal to bring us to our knees -- or destroy us -- if repentance does not come? Take time to search the scriptures and see what the Bible says about God controlling thing such as
Weather
Rain and drought
Pestilence
Fires
Wars
Disease
Poverty
Wealth
Rise and fall of nations
The Hearts of rulers
The beginning and ending of all things
Death
Eternal damnation
All of these are at God's disposal to execute His divine purposes on a rebellious and wicked people. We are not immune. The moment you say, "this can never happen here!", it can -- and might.
"Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, You have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors, therefore a tumult will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. Thus it will be done to you . . . because of your great wickedness. At dawn the king . . . will be completely cut off." -- Hosea 10:12-15
FINALLY:
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
"The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish." -- Psalm 1:1-6
One of my favorite songs, composed (1956) and made famous by the revered George Beverley Shea, is "The Wonder of It All". We are reminded of the seasons of life when in the second verse he talks about "Springtime and harvest".
As we face the future, we must remember the Law of Reciprocity and "what goes around comes around", make certain that we are sowing good seed that bears good fruit, and that we are committed to trusting God to keep us secure and take us through what the future holds for us. We must face it with joyous anticipation and not with anxious apprehension. We must bear with grace and patience the adversities that are en route to our doorsteps, and we must rejoice and be glad over His blessings and His sustaining grace.
Paul can encourage you and me just as he did the Galatian believers when he wrote, . . .
"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." -- Gal 6:9
It is to that end that I pray for you.
"He Who testifies these things says, 'Surely I come quickly!' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" -- Rev 22:20
Maranatha!!!
In His Bond, By His Grace, and for His Kingdom,
Bob Tolliver -- Romans 1:11
"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." -- Dr. Luke (Acts 17:11)
"A fire kept burning on the hearthstone of my heart, and I took up the burden of the day with fresh courage and hope." -- Charles F. McKoy
Life Unlimited Ministries
LUMglobal
[email protected]
Copyright March, 2022
"If Jesus had preached the same message that many ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified." -- Leonard Ravenhill
"The time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the Church will have clowns entertaining the goats." -- Charles H. Spurgeon
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