When I was a kid, I was terrified of high places.  I remember one particular time, when I was about 8 or 9, we visited family in Jacksonville, FL.  We had to go over one of the several drawbridges that span the St. John’s River.  I found a secure place in the floor board of the car as we crossed on the bridge.  Yes, the days before mandatory seat belts.  I remember many other such incidences on family vacations in the mountains as well.

While I am still not the most comfortable in high places, I am a little better.  In fact, I love going over the SOME of the scenic bridges now. And I enjoy flying and sitting in a window seat.  

High Places in the Bible

In several places, the Old Testament mentions landmarks called “high places.”  Initially, they were elevated landmarks where Canaanites worshipped their many false Gods.  As the Hebrews prepared to enter the Promised Land, God warned His people against a fascination with those high places.  If they were not careful, they would drift into the idol worship of the indigenous pagans.  

In the time of Judges, the dangers of that warning started to become a reality.  God’s people either abandoned following God altogether or tried to synchronize their worship of Yahweh and the local pagan worship.  In the time of the Kings, each kings life was often summarized by how they dealt with the high places.  Many of the kings were said to have walked in the ways of Yahweh, except they didn’t remove the high places. Things most often did not end well with these kings.

We also read of evil kings who didn’t walk in the ways of Yahweh. Many of these deliberately and actively participated in pagan worship at the high places.  And a scant few were good kings who followed the way of Yahweh and did their best to destroy all these elevated places of pagan worship.

High Places After the Temple

Once Solomon completed the building of the Temple, all worship of Yahweh was to take place there.  Eventually, the high places became a convenient substitute for worshipping Yahweh in Jerusalem.  The people felt that as long as they were worshipping Yahweh, it didn’t matter where and how they worshipped.

The problem with that was God has stipulated how and where worship was to take place.  They didn’t get to worship Yahweh in their way.  In fact, that is not Yahweh worship; it is self-worship. 

High Places Today?

Historically worship in the high places fell into at least one of three sins.  First, high places became the location to worship something other than Yahweh.  Or the high places became a place to worship something along with Yahweh – social syncretism.  More subtly, the high places became a place for self-styled worship – worshiping God in a way that was preferable or convenient for the individual.

Sadly, sadly I see a contemporary, figurative version of all three of these worship sins a lot these days.  The devil is still up to his same old tactics, telling us there is a better way than God’s way.  And in our fallenness, we continue to fall for it.

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Have you ever had an “Alexander” day?  Alexander is the main character the Children’s book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Really Bad Day by Judith Viorst.  He wakes up one day and everything that can go wrong, does.  I’ll spare you the litany of the maladies he experiences.  As the difficult day wears on, he repeatedly wishes he could somehow move away to Australia.

We all have Alexander days.  Weeks.  Months.  We experience seasons of life that wear us down physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  The struggle indeed is REAL!

Much of life’s struggle is a battle between what we know and what we feel.  During the Alexander seasons we feel worn down, defeated, hopeless.  But what we feel is not real.  Who God is, what He has done, and what He can do is far more real than what we feel.  On those hard days and in those difficult seasons we do well to focus more on the realities of God than the shadows of our feelings.

What Would God Say to Alexander?

In Bible times, people practiced what was called “lament.” In fact, there is a whole book that is one long lament. Understandably the book is titled Lamentation.  Lament – ations.  Lament enables us to own what we feel and then temper it with what we know; especially what we know about God.

It is encouraging to know that God knew there would be Alexander days (and weeks, months, years) in our lives. And He gave us a whole book in the Bible to help us through those times.

Consider these verses from chapter 3:

“Be careful with that thing!!!  You’ll cut yourself!!!”

I heard those words many times as a kid whenever I had a knife in my hand.  Back then, most men carried a razor sharp pocket knife on them at all times.  Pocket knives are handy little tools.  But they can also be quite dangerous. It’s all in how you use them, and the care you take when handling them.

So it is with God’s Word. 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,
and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

“Sharper than any two-edged sword.”  Sharper than any.  That means it’s the sharpest.  Two-edged.  Cuts both ways.  

A Dangerous Tool

Sadly, I encounter many people who have just enough Bible knowledge that they are dangerous. They know at least a little bit of Bible.  And most of what they know, they actually “mis-know.”

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In one of the less famous Old Testament narratives, three kings learn some important lessons about God in the desert.  We need to learn the same truths. We read the account in 2 Kings 3. 

The Desert Experience

The king of Moab decided to stop paying his taxes to the King of Israel.  Jehoram, king of Israel, enlisted the help of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom, another close ally.  The three kings embarked on a “collections” mission against King Mesha of Moab.

The Bible says that they took a “circuitous march” for seven days.  (A polite way of saying they got lost in the desert.)  They found themselves in a place where there was no water for them or their animals.  

Jehoram saw this as God’s plan to give them over to the hand of King Mesha.  He was quite worried. Jehoshaphat, who was faithful to Yahweh, sought out the nearest prophet of Yahweh, who happened to be Elisha.  

Elisha assured them that Yahweh had a plan. Yahweh would act in a miraculous way to fill the dry valley with water.  They would not see it coming, it would happen suddenly.  Elisha added that this would be “a light thing” for Yahweh – easy…a piece of cake…no problem.

The kings and their entourage went to sleep in a dry valley.  They woke up in a dry valley.  No clouds, no rain, no overflowing river.  

BUT… at the time of the morning sacrifice, water miraculously began to flow. The whole valley was full of water.  Yahweh acted suddenly and decisively to supply what they needed.  And as He promised, He gave the kings victory over Mesha as well. 

The Desert Lesson

So what does this have to do with me?  And you?  

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“You don’t have to go to church be BECOME a Christian, but you do have to go to church to BE a Christian.”

This was a quote from a sermon I preached about 4 important relationships we need that we find in a church community.  There will be a link to the entire sermon at the end.

What It Means to BECOME a Christian

The key words in my statement are “become” and “be.” Let’s start with “become.”  How does one become a Christian?

1.  Not by our human effort.  Salvation is by grace through faith and not by our human doings.  (Ephesians 2:8-9).  We do not earn our way to heaven by going to church, being a good person, or even being baptized. Salvation is not something we attain, but something we obtain.  

2.  By God’s grace.  Grace is God’s favor toward us, irrespective of any worthiness in us.  We don’t obtain salvation because we deserve it.  Instead, we obtain salvation in spite of the fact that we do NOT deserve it.  We deserve the opposite – eternal damnation and separation from God.

3. Through faith.  Salvation comes to us when we believe the Gospel – the good news.  Jesus is the Son of God.  He came to earth and lived the perfect life that we were intended to live.  Then He died the death that we are supposed to die because of our sin.  He took our place.  He paid our sin debt.  Then He arose from the dead in victory over sin’s penalty.  He ascended to heaven, sent the Holy Spirit to work in us to reform us. One day, He will return to judge the wicked and restore the world to the perfect order which God created it.  We are saved when we trust that truth and surrender to Christ as our absolute King now and forever.

What About the Church with a Capital C?

Once we become a Christian, we begin a wonderful journey of living this new life that God gives us.  And one of the greatest privileges in the Christian life is to belong to a church.

The word “church” appears in the New Testament 115 times in either its singular or plural form.  The word refers to the general church – all believers collectively – 20 times.  That means that 95 times – almost 4 times as often – the word refers to a local body of believers.  From that we understand that Jesus’ intention was for His followers to gather together. 

From the beginning in the book of Acts, believers were gathered both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.  The New Testament contains 21 books that we call “Epistles” or letters.  Nine of them are addressed to specific gatherings of believers in specific locations.  Some of those even mention other locations where believers gathered as a church.  

Paul wrote 3 to pastors who served local congregations and one to a prominent member of a local congregation (Philemon). Peter addressed his two letters to groups of believers gathered in specific locations in Asia Minor (modern day western Turkey). The Book of Revelation opens with Jesus addressing letters to seven specific congregations in Asia Minor.

So yes, gathering as a church was considered the norm in New Testament times.

How the Church Helps Me BE a Christian

Several New Testament passages indicate that the early church considered “membership” important.  We will consider those at another time.  Suffice it to say for now, the New Testament practiced intentional membership.

I don’t know about you, but I love to sit around a fire in a fire pit.  But if you remove a log from the fire two things happen.  First, the heat and light from the fire is diminished.  The fire just isn’t the same without the log.  But you will also observe a second result.  The log which you removed will soon lose its glow and its fire.  It will eventually grow cold.

Believers apart from a local church are like that log removed from the fire.  The church provides instruction, encouragement, and accountability.  The Holy Spirit uses the church in those three ways to grow us toward maturity in Jesus.  Candidly, a believer who is not engaged with a local church will remain stunted in their sanctification.

Two Takeaways

So there are two considerations I hope you take away from reading this.  

First, make certain you are a Jesus follower.  Believe the Gospel.  You don’t have to work harder and do better to achieve enough to attain salvation.  Trust in what Jesus has already done on your behalf.

Second, if you are not in a local church, find a good Bible-teaching church and attach yourself to them.  The Holy Spirit will use those fellow-believers to help you become more like Jesus.  And serve in and through that church.  You get to be a part of helping others grow to be more like Jesus too.  What a privilege.

Oh.  And you can click here to view the sermon I mentioned at the beginning.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25

June ushers in my favorite season of the year, Summer. I enjoy the warm weather and outdoor activities of Summer.  But it’s my favorite season of the year because it’s baseball season. Man, I love baseball! There was a time in my life when I thought what I wanted to do with my life was to be a high school teacher and coach baseball.  Yes, I love baseball!

I keep a baseball on my desk. I pick up the baseball, hold it my hand, and toss it around a lot just as part of my fidgetiness. But I primarily keep a baseball on my desk to remind me of the importance of God’s Word in my life.  Let me explain.

A baseball weighs somewhere between 5 and 5 ¼ ounces and measures between 9 and 9 ¼ inches in circumference.  It’s made up of three parts.  A cork or rubber center surrounded by yards and yards and yards (and yards) of tightly wrapped yarn.  The cover consists of two pieces of either cowhide or horsehide cut in an hourglass shape, turned at 90º angles to each other.  The cover is wrapped around the cork and yarn and stitched together with 108 pairs of the characteristic red thread.

The Bible and a Baseball

The stitches remind me of the role the Bible plays in my life.  Let me see if I can explain it this way.  You see, I am basically three parts as well.  At my core is the spiritual part of me, the part on the inside that relates to God in a very personal way.  Then there is the mental part of me that perceives the world around me, gathers information, knows, sees, and understands things that direct my will.  Then there is the physical part of me, my body – the part of me on the outside that you see.  It is with the outer me that I can relate to you and the outer you.

So just like the baseball is 3 parts – core, yarn, and cover – I am three parts – spirit, mind, and body.  Just like the stitches of the baseball hold it all together, the Word of God holds me together.

“I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

Psalm 119:11

Getting a Grip

The stitches of a baseball also provide grip.  A good pitcher can make the ball go in a desire direction simply by the way he grips the stitches. A fielder gets a good grip on the stitches so he can throw the ball accurately to the intended target.  The stitches provide the grip that enables the player to make an accurate throw. When I get a grip on the truth of God’s Word, my life hits God’s intended target.

“How can a young man keep His way pure? By guarding it according to your word.”

Psalm 119:9

The Strike Zone of Life

The final way the stitches remind me of God’s Word involves the aerodynamics of a baseball.  As a baseball rotates, the stitches produce drag on the air around it.  A skillful pitcher can make a ball rise, drop, or curve based on how they manipulate the rotation of the stitches.  Just like the stitches of a baseball guide it through the air, so also God’s Word gives direction to my life.  

“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Psalm 119:105

Like stitches to a baseball, God’s Word holds my life together.  As you watch taseball games this summer, think about how God’s Word is like a baseball.  Maybe you aren’t skilled enough to play ball with the big boys, but all of us can let the Bible have its effect in our lives.

In Christian circles, we often use the word “stewardship” with reference to money.  Most church-goers expect that a sermon with the word stewardship in the title will be about giving more money.  But today, I want us to consider stewardship of another commodity.  Let’s consider the stewardship of our words.

The English alphabet has twenty-six letters that can be arranged to form many words.  Most English-speaking adults have a vocabulary of 25,000-30,000 words.^[1]  God created us with an amazing capacity to form ideas in our brain and then to communicate those ideas with words.  He created an elaborate “sound system” in our bodies to produce those words in audible form.

The Bible and Our Words

James 3:1-12 reminds is that our words have the capacity to both help and harm. It all depends on how we choose to use them. 

In Matthew 12:33-37, Jesus teaches that our words provide a very clear diagnostic of our heart condition.  He reminds us that we speak from the overflow of what is already in our heart.  Jesus was the first to communicate the concept that “what you say can and will be used against (or for) you.”

In Ephesians 4:25-32, Paul challenges us to use words that build up instead of tear down.  He calls us to forsake words that are untrue, corrupt, bitter, and angry.  And to replace them with words that are true, forgiving, and kind.

Stewardship and Words

My challenge to you today is to see yourself as a STEWARD of words.  That begins with surrendering the rights to our words.  We live in a culture that believes in the individual right to speak one’s mind, or to speak from the heart.  That would be fine if our minds and hearts were not fallen and tainted by sin.  How different would our speech be if we forfeited our speech rights?  Would the content of our words and the way we speak them be different? I believe it would. I remember my grandmother saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”  If we followed her advice, our world would be a lot quieter.

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I hope that you have a plan to help you read the Bible through in 2024. If not, I invite you to read along with my family and me. We will be using a chronological reading plan from The Bible Recap (see links below).

The Bible Recap offers not only a reading plan, but also a short summary (hence “recap”) of that day’s reading. The recap helps to keep each day’s reading grounded in the story arch of what comes before and after.

The Bible Recap offers several helpful tools, all of which you can learn about on the web page linked below:

— a podcast featuring each day’s recap,
— a book with each day’s recap for those who would rather read it,
— you can also find The Bible Recap reading plan on the YouVersion Bible app under their reading plans.

If you need help with any of these let me know. For those of you who watch my weekly REFRESH videos, I will be using some of the daily readings for our study.

Why You Need to Read the Bible

In his book The Lord Bless You and Keep You: The Promise of the Gospel in the Aaronic Blessing, Michael Glodo states

“We behold the glory of God in the face of Christ with the help of the Spirit through the testimony of God’s word. The Spirit, which inspired the word and now indwells us, testifies through the word of the glory of God in the face of Christ. We ‘see’ by ‘hearing.'”

There is no greater way we can grow in our knowledge of and love for Jesus than by seeing His glory in the Bible. I hope you will select a reading plan and read through your Bible this year and see the face of Jesus in every passage.

The Bible Recap Website	The Bible Recap Book	The Lord Bless You and Keep You	YouVersion Bible App