The Shibboleth Test

Story of the Day for Tuesday January 12, 2016

The Shibboleth Test

The men of Gilead would ask, “Are you from Ephraim?” If he replied, “No,” they responded, “All right, then, say ‘Shibboleth’.”

Judges 12:5-6

https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/wc/you-say-to-mah-to-everyday-shibboleths/

In the 1930s, F. C. Brown found an English translation of traffic instructions in a Japanese police station. Among other things, it warned:

“When a passenger of the foot hove in view, tootle the horn; trumpet at him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage tootle him with vigor.”

“Beware of the wandering hourse that he shall not take fright as you pass him by. Do not explode the exhause box at him.”

“Go soothingly on the grease road as there lurks the skid demon.”

These traffic instructions have an eloquent charm about them, but we immediately recognize it as the work of someone who learned English as a second language.

We can spot foreigners by how they speak, but also by how they think and act. When U.S. pilots were shot down in France during World War II, German soldiers were trained to spot them by looking for men who whistled and walked with their hands in their pockets. Americans didn’t see that these traits made them stand out as foreigners.

The Onion is billed as “America’s Finest News Source,” and appears to be a legitimate on-line news agency. But as soon as you scan their news stories you realize they’re all spoofs.

In May of 2002, the Onion ran a story about Congress threatening to move out of Washington D.C. unless they got a new capitol. Instead of a “drafty old building” they proposed a new building with a retractable dome and were prepared to move to Memphis or Charlotte, North Carolina, unless their demands were met.

China’s Beijing Evening News, which reaches an audience of a million people, picked up the story and reported it as serious news.

In the Bible, the tribe of Ephraim got into a squabble with Jephthah and the men of Gilead. As Ephraimites crossed the ford of the Jordan River, they were approached by men from Gilead. How could the men of Gilead know whether they were enemy soldiers? They had a simple test: “Say ‘Shibboleth’.” The Ephraimites couldn’t pronounce the first syllable like a native, and would say “sibboleth.”

Jesus warned that the flock of believers would be infiltrated by wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. Since then, there has been no end of hucksters and false teachers posing as true Christians.

How do you tell the difference? Look for the foreign accent: the sappy, phony grin, the self-serving prophecies, behavior that doesn’t reflect a message drenched with grace.

We shouldn’t be surprised if outsiders to the faith can’t distinguish sincere believers from counterfeits. They lump us all in the same pile. We’re all foreigners to them.

But we shouldn’t make the same mistake. The Good News is our “Shibboleth Test.”

(copyright 2012 by climbinghigher.org and by Marty Kaarre)

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The Right Direction

Story of the Day for Monday September 14, 2015

The Right Direction

http://cwoconline.org/prim/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/moving.jpg

It’s fine to be zealous, as long as the purpose is good.

Galatians 4:18

Is “ambition” a virtue? How about “zeal”? I’ve never heard anyone claim that ambition can be a vice. But, if ambition is a positive quality, then we must also realize it can be used in destructive ways.

If you want to go to Toledo, Ohio, you will be concerned about two things: speed and direction. You’ll probably choose to drive a car over riding a donkey. But speed is a completely useless quality if we take the wrong highway and are headed to Omaha.

Ambition is speed.

Jesus acknowledged that the Scribes and Pharisees were ambitious. He said to them, “You travel over land and sea to win a single convert.” But Jesus continues by saying their ambition is destructive: “. . . and when you win a convert, he becomes twice the son of hell you are!”

When Paul writes to the church in Galatia, he warns them about Jewish legalists trying to infiltrate their congregation. These infiltrators want to persuade the church to abandon the freedom of the Gospel in order to submit to the regulations of the Old Covenant. Paul admits these legalists are go-getters. But speed must be coupled with direction. “It’s fine to be zealous (speed),” Paul says, “as long as the purpose is good (direction).”

During World War II, the Germans had a ball bearing factory in the city of Schweinfurt. The Americans reasoned that, if they could destroy the plant and stop the production of ball bearings, the production of war machinery would come to a halt and the Germans would have no choice but to surrender.

In two bombing raids to destroy the ball bearing plant, Americans lost 98 bombers and badly damaged another 138. Yet, despite the enormous losses, the Army Air Force leader, General “Hap” Arnold was ecstatic, “Now we have got Schweinfurt!”

After the war, the Army Air Force wanted to know which of their bombing targets were most effective. The Germans acknowledged the great damage done by bombing oil refineries, railroad yards, and bridges. But the Nazi chief of productions, Albert Speer, said the bombing of the ball bearing factory at Schweinfurt did not harm the German cause. They already had ample stockpiles of ball bearings. Beside, they were able to import all they wanted from Sweden and Switzerland. Not only that, the bombings destroyed the buildings, but not the machines that made the ball bearings. Focusing all that attention on the ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt did virtually no harm. We were zealous in destroying the target. But we chose the wrong one.

It doesn’t matter how fast you’re going until you’re headed in the right direction.

(text copyright 2011 by climbinghigher.org and by Marty Kaarre)

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Shatter the Darkness With Your Song

Story of the Day for Monday December 15, 2014

Shatter the Darkness With Your Song

After a severe whipping, they threw them into prison – commanding the jailer to guard them carefully. Having received his orders, he threw them into an inner cell and secured their feet in the stocks. Around midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and began to sing hymns to God.

Acts 16:23-25

When Paul and Silas were arrested, unjustly, and severely beaten, we can understand why they might shout curses and ask God why he would reward their faithfulness with such agony.

But, instead, around midnight the prison echoes with the sound of singing.

Ben Robertson, an American journalist, describes in his book, I Saw England, the time he was sent to England to cover the bombing of London during World War II. He flew into London on Saturday night and was met with one of the worst air raids of the war.

The bombing continued through the night, and fires erupted throughout the city. As he looked around him, Robertson observed a huge circle of fire for ten miles all around London.

The all-clear alarm sounded at one in the morning. Robertson went to his hotel room, nervous and exhausted. He threw himself on his bed and cried, “Oh, God, I don’t want to live another day. I can’t go through another night of hell and horror like this.”

Ben fell asleep with the window open. He was awakened on Sunday morning by music. Curious, he got up and went outside looking for the source of the music.

Across the street, he saw a Christian church that had been reduced to rubble by the bombing raid. The roof was gone and only portions of the walls remained.

But there, standing amidst the ruins, was the choir, the rector, and the little congregation – gathered for worship on Sunday morning.

The congregation was not only singing – they were singing triumphantly.

The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord

She is his new creation, by Spirit and the Word

From heav’n he came and sought her to be his holy bride

With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.

Robertson was overwhelmed by these valiant believers. “Suddenly,” he said, “I saw in the world something that was unshatterable . . . something that was indestructible – the spirit and power of Jesus Christ within his church.”

Falling on his knees, Ben Robertson prayed, “Oh, God, now I gather strength and courage to live another day. I will go on . . .”

Prisons walls and misfortunes were never meant to muzzle the sound of a good tenor.

(copyright 2012 by climbinghigher.org and by Marty Kaarre)

(image: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91pXszSEB5L.jpg)

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One Order That Will Never be Rescinded

Story of the Day for Thursday January 16, 2014 

 

One Order That Will Never be Rescinded  

 

                   This is God’s command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other – just as he commanded us. 

1 John 3:23         

 

When the Japanese Emperor surrendered to the U.S. in 1945, World War II was over for just about everyone except Lt. Hiroo Onoda (HEAR-oo OWN-ah-dah). He was sent to the island of Lubang as an intelligence officer with orders to conduct guerilla warfare and note enemy movements. Onoda’s orders clearly stated that, under no circumstances, was he to surrender or commit suicide.  

Onoda took his orders seriously. Along with three other soldiers, they conducted such disruptive operations that they became known the “the mountain devils.”  

 

After the war, search parties of 13,000 men (at a cost of a half million dollars) combed the jungles to root them out, but could never find them.  

The Japanese then took to the jungles with foghorns, telling them the war was over, but they considered it an enemy trick. The Japanese dropped leaflets from airplanes telling them the war was over but Onoda considered it a ruse of the enemy.   

Over time, Onoda’s three comrades surrendered or died, but no one could convince Onoda to surrender. They sent his brother, Toshio, but Hiroo considered him an impersonator. They sent another brother, Tadao, and his sister, Chie. He finally believed they were truly his siblings, but refused to disobey his orders.  

In February, 1974, almost thirty years after World War II ended, a Japanese college dropout, Norio Suzuki, set out to search for Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the Abominable Snowman – in that order. Suzuki did locate Onoda, and they became friends. But he still refused to surrender, saying he was under orders from his commanding officer.  

Suzuki returned to Japan with photographic proof of Onoda’s identity, and the government sent Onoda’s former commanding officer, Major Taniguchi, to Lubang.  Taniguchi met his faithful officer in the jungle and officially rescinded his order.  

 

Hiroo Onoda’s tenacious loyalty to the Imperial Emperor teaches us an insightful lesson about obedience. No one can be obedient for long when motivated merely by a sense of obligation. Obedience works best when it’s the response to a passionate belief.  

 

Christians view talk about obedience with suspicion – fearful of giving the false impression that we can earn our way to heaven by obeying a moral code. Nevertheless, despite the fear of being misunderstood, we must encourage an unyielding obedience to God’s commands. His orders are simple: trust in the mercy of Jesus, and love each other.  

Onoda reminds us that obedience to orders may call for great sacrifice. But God’s command to faith and love is one order that will never be rescinded.  

(copyright 2012 by climbinghigher.org and by Marty Kaarre)

(image: https://kaarre.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/9a19b-hiroo2bonoda.jpg)

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Thy Will Be Done

Story of the Day for Friday August 10. 2012

 

Thy Will Be Done

                   I want you to know, brothers, that those things that happened against me have advanced the good news. .

                                                                        Philippians 1:12

 

In his book, The Wild Blue, Stephen Ambrose tells the story of a bombing raid during World War II. George McGovern was flying the Dakota Queen over Amstetten, Austria. McGovern’s bombardier, Cooper, tried to drop the bombs, but they got stuck. Cooper worked to free the bombs, but by the time they fell, they had flown over the river and missed their target. When the men returned to base, they were told at the debriefing that their bombs had dropped on an allied prisoner of war camp.

McGovern and Cooper were devastated.

 

Life doesn’t work out the way we want it to. The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most difficult prayers to pray because we plead with our heavenly Father that His will would be done – when what we really want is for life to turn out the way we want it to.

Why does the Lord let so many bad things happen to us? Why does the Lord let so many bad things happen through us?

Good question.

 

Steve Brown was invited to speak at a missions conference for young people. Just before he spoke, the leader told him there were a lot of kids who weren’t Christians, and asked if he could present the gospel to them.

Without time to prepare, Steve presented God’s plan of salvation. No response. In his book, If Jesus Has Come, Steve says he left the auditorium that night in shame.

Steve tried to reassure himself that these things happen. No big deal. But it was a big deal. Every time he heard the name of the town where he had botched his presentation, he winced.

Five years later, a young man approached him. “Mr. Brown, you don’t know me, but a few years ago I was at a missions conference where you spoke.” Steve groaned inwardly. “The night you spoke I received Christ, and now I’m a student in seminary and I’m going to be a pastor, and I just wanted to thank you.” He told Steve he had a recording of his presentation and shares it with others. “I can’t tell you how God has used your words.”

 

Paul was thrown into prison, but wrote that God was even using his incarceration to advance the gospel. Even when things don’t work the way we’d like them to, God is still at work.

And, before I forget, after Cooper had botched the bombing run, he was haunted by the memory of it. After the war he enrolled at Texas A&M and met an Army Air Forces officer. It turned out the man was a POW at the camp that Cooper accidentally bombed. The former prisoner explained that one of the bombs hit the fence, and in the confusion, several of the Americans managed to escape to freedom.

(copyright by climbinghigher.org and by Marty Kaarre) 

 

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