The Plaster Mold: A Religious Fable

By David Ryser

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.  And no one after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, “The old is good enough.”   (Jesus of Nazareth, Luke 5:37-39 NASB)

There once was a man who, while shopping at an Arts & Crafts store, came across a plaster mold that was on sale at a deep discount.  He examined the mold closely, but could not determine what shape the mold might produce.  Being a curious sort, the man decided to purchase the mold intending to pour hot wax into it in order to see what the result might be after the wax had cooled.

So the man bought the mold and took it home.

Taking the mold into his workshop, the man proceeded to melt some cheap wax over a low flame.  Then he poured the melted wax into the mold and waited for it to cool.  When the wax had cooled and hardened, the man popped the wax out of the mold and onto his workbench.

He looked at the formed wax…and gasped!

Staring up at him from the table was the face of a gargoyle!  It was ugly!  Hideous!  Fiendish-looking!  The man was repulsed by the wax image, so he destroyed it.  Then he began to consider how he might change the figure produced by the mold into something beautiful.

And he had an idea.

“I know what’s wrong,” he thought.  “The problem is that I used an inferior wax the first time.”  So he resolved to use a higher quality of material on his next try.  He purchased some more expensive wax, melted it over a low flame, and poured it into the mold.  As the wax cooled, the man eagerly anticipated the beautiful image that the mold would produce as a result of this effort.

The wax cooled and hardened.

The man popped the wax out of the mold.  Looking up at him from the table was the face of a gargoyle!  A gargoyle as ugly as the first!

In fact, the faces were identical.

Determined to produce a thing of beauty from the mold, the man decided to switch the material he would pour into the mold on his third try.  So he procured some inexpensive plastic, melted it over a low flame, and poured it into the mold.  The plastic cooled and hardened.  The man popped the plastic out of the mold.

Another gargoyle!  Identical to the first two!

The man was disappointed, but undaunted.  He made several more attempts to produce something beautiful from the mold…using plastics of higher quality (and greater cost) each time…but the result was always the same.  In the end, an ugly gargoyle face stared up at him from the table.

Finally the man conceded defeat.

“The materials I have been using are not good enough, not pure enough, not valuable enough,” he reasoned.  “If I would use silver or gold, the mold would produce a thing of beauty.”

And then, because the man had neither silver nor gold, he hung his head…and he wept.

The moral of the story:  It doesn’t matter what move of God you put into the religious system…the power, the people, the hearts, the anointing, and the giftings…because as soon as the move cools and hardens, what is left will look exactly like the old religious system--the system is incapable of producing anything else.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

I Want...

by Arla Speer (used with the author's permission)

I'm torn. I want more ... and less - more relational interaction and less "church".

I love the amazing ability of Papa to flood me with the effects of His love during a worship service or during a road trip or a walk where He and I are the only ones around. I know the external setting does not determine His "appearance". For He is not just around me. He is in me.

This romance is not dependent on what I am or what I can bring to it. He is much more than that. There are layers and layers of what I do and positions that I hold but when all of that is stripped away and I am just naked, that is the me He wants to spend time with. He doesn't want all my "stuff". He just wants me. The naked me who has always been all He has ever wanted. All He has ever needed. His beautiful beloved.

I'm torn. I don't know that I want to sit in a group of hundreds of people anymore listening to someone disperse a bunch of theological information no matter how entertaining it is. I want more. I want to make an impact at the "temple" I attend. And I may actually be in a place now where I could do that by giving away what I have acquired over the last few years.

But, how? Is it possible there? What would that look like? Why am I still there? What are my options? Am I ok with not going to church? I think I am becoming more and more ok with that. No. It's actually more than that. I almost feel a release from going to church, which is freeing and a little scary at the same time only because I know Papa. The struggle is seeing all those people desperately seeking God - some of them deep in His presence and others fighting the One they are seeking in the only place they have been led to believe that He is - at church.

I want real connections. Moments in time where Papa puts His finger on situations and changes lives forever bringing life out of death.

Do I want too much?

"The Pastor has No Clothes!": A Modern Religious Allegory

By David Ryser

Nothing is more dangerous than blind people who are certain they see clearly.  (Fil Anderson)

It's an instructive tale/tail with a "fitting" ending.

Once upon a time, there was a pastor of a small church who had big dreams.  He ministered in a church made up of good people who loved Jesus and did their best to honor Him. They genuinely cared for one another and actively served in the church.  They listened attentively to the pastor’s sermons and sought to apply these lessons to their lives.

And the little church began to grow.  But the pastor wanted more.

The pastor wanted a big church.  He wanted a big ministry.  Most of all, he wanted to be on television.  In short, he wanted to be noticed.

Because he had been ignored and passed over for most of his life.

So this pastor decided that if his small church was ever going to become a big church…and if his ministry was ever going to be a successful and influential ministry…both the church and his ministry needed to operate as if both were big and successful.

And if he was ever to be on television, he needed to look good.

So the pastor began to dress in expensive clothes.  After all, clothes make the man…or so they say.  Over time, the pastor’s clothes became the centerpiece of his ministry.  They gave him confidence.  Confidence bred charisma.  The pastor’s charisma drew more people to the church.

But it still wasn’t enough for the pastor.

Then one day a tailor came to the church.  After attending a few Sunday morning services, the tailor introduced himself to the pastor.  After complimenting the pastor’s clothing, the tailor offered to make a special suit of clothes for the pastor.  This suit would be a special suit.  A prophetically-made suit.  This spiritual suit would be the most beautiful suit the pastor had ever seen.  Because it was a spiritual suit, only those who were spiritual would be able to see it.

The tailor promised that the suit would be ready to wear on Pentecost Sunday.  And since Pentecost Sunday is a celebration of the Church’s birth, the pastor’s new suit would be known as his Birthday Suit.

The pastor was so excited!

The tailor was soon put on the pastoral staff of the church and given an office.  The office contained a desk, a chair, a work area with a mannequin on which would hang the Birthday Suit while it was being made, and a bookcase containing new and expensive…and unread…Bibles and theological books.

The pastor would visit the tailor every day to check on the progress of the Birthday Suit.  The tailor would point to the mannequin (Also called a tailor’s dummy…ironic, don’t you think?) and describe the beautiful Birthday Suit hanging on it.  The pastor could not see the suit…for none existed…but his insecurity over being thought unspiritual caused him to gush and fawn over the suit as though he saw it clearly.

And then the big day arrived.

As the pastor walked onto the platform wearing his Birthday Suit, the congregation gasped.  They had been told of the suit and eagerly anticipated seeing it.  But this was not exactly what they had expected.  The suit was beautiful!  And very special…since only those who were spiritual could see it.

And the pastor’s Birthday Suit certainly added some jiggle to his wiggle as he began to minister that morning.

But in the middle of his sermon, a small child spoke up and said, “The pastor isn’t wearing any clothes!”  The people looked at the child, and then at the pastor, looked again at the child, and back at the pastor.

Then they began to laugh.

“Silly child,” they said.  “The pastor’s clothes are beautiful!  You just can’t see them because you are too young.”  Other children insisted that the pastor was naked, but were also disregarded because of their immaturity.  Those adults with childlike hearts joined in saying that the pastor was unclothed, but they were ridiculed as unspiritual and rebellious.

Eventually the contention over the pastor’s Birthday Suit grew to the point where it needed to be dealt with.  So the children and those adults who were childlike in heart were asked to leave the church.

Those who remained in the church, clamored for the tailor to make Birthday Suits for them as well.  So he did…beginning with the church elders.  The people marveled at how each Birthday Suit was unique in appearance.

In truth, some of the Birthday Suits looked like they could use a good ironing.

Over time, the tailor made a Birthday Suit for each member of the congregation.  He went on to author a best-selling book entitled The Tailor-Driven Church.  His renown in the Church world increased along with his financial portfolio.  The people in the congregation wore their Birthday Suits to church…with pride…each Sunday.

And the pastor?

Well, the church became small again.  Attendance decreased quite a bit when the children and the childlike in heart left.  The pastor never did get his television ministry.  Something about an FCC rule against wearing your Birthday Suit on broadcast television….

And until the day the church died, the members of the congregation couldn’t understand why no one wanted to join them.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Guarding Our Hearts: From Whom?

By David Ryser & Arla Speer

In the thirty-three years of Jesus’ life on earth, not one time was He ever controlled or manipulated.  Why? Because He never gave anyone access to the place in His life where someone else had the power to control Him.  (Mike Fehlauer).

Over the last few weeks, our ongoing conversation about whether God guards His heart…and what this means for us…has taken on a life of its own.  We discovered fairly early on that flattery is one big thing that Jesus guarded His heart against.  And in guarding His heart from flattery, Jesus was able to resist the pressures put upon Him to become distracted from walking in intimate relationship with the Father and doing the work He was given to do.

Like Jesus, we should guard our hearts against being manipulated by flattery.

And it is equally wrong to give flattery as it is to receive it.

Jesus never flattered anyone at any time.  And there were occasions when a little flattery could have helped Him.  It might even have saved His life.  Jesus didn’t make any powerful and influential friends when He called the religious leaders hypocrites, vipers, blind guides, whitewashed tombs, etc.  Do you suppose Herod was pleased when he heard that Jesus had called him a fox?

I think not.

So what have we concluded about flattery?  First, using flattery to control people is wrong.  Second, using flattery in an attempt to influence God is stupid.  Third, allowing ourselves to be flattered is dangerous.

Jesus guarded His heart against flattery…both receiving and giving it.  So should we.

Jesus guarded His heart against the excessive influence of people in a number of other situations as well.  He always guarded His heart from His enemies.  It’s a relatively easy thing to do.  Your enemies do not wish you well…that’s why they’re called enemies.  But what about your friends?  What about those who love you and have your best interests at heart?  What about those who try to influence you to heed their well-meaning advice for your own good?

Jesus had this problem.

Jesus had to guard His heart from His followers.  In John 2:23, for example, the Bible tells us that many believed in His name while He was at the Passover feast in Jerusalem early in His ministry.  Verses 24 and 25 record Jesus’ curious reaction to this newfound popularity.  John tells us that Jesus did not commit Himself to these followers of His because He knew what was in them.  And what was in them was what is in all men (and women)…including us.

Remember, it was Jesus’ followers…not His enemies…who tried to make Him king on more than one occasion.

Jesus had to guard His heart from his friends.  In Mark 8:27-33, we read of an occasion when Peter received a revelation from God concerning the Person of Jesus.  Jesus praised Peter and then proceeded to reveal to His disciples/friends the work that the Father had given Him to do and the things He would suffer in accomplishing that work.  Out of concern for His well-being, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him.  Jesus’ response was to strongly scold Peter…even calling him an adversary.

Paul had a day like this also (Acts 21:10-14).  He had to rebuke friends who were admonishing him without knowing God’s will for him.

And what about Job?  He not only had to guard his heart from his friends…he had to guard his heart from his own wife!

Jesus also had to guard His heart from His family.  In Mark 8:20-35, we read of a time when Jesus’ family came to speak to Him because they feared He was losing His mind.  When told that His mother and brothers were asking to see Him, He pointed to those listening to Him and called them His family because they were seeking to do God’s will.

How many times did Jesus have to withdraw Himself from the multitudes in order to spend time alone with the Father?  To clear His mind and His soul from the influence of people… people who loved Him?

And why is it that on the (at least three) occasions where Paul commands believers to avoid certain people (Romans 16:17, 18; 1 Corinthians 5:9-11; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 7, 14, 15), the people they are commanded to keep away from are other Christians?

It was because Jesus found His significance (sense of worth & value) and His security (safety & provision) in His relationship with the Father that He was able to guard His heart from the things and people that would distract Him from either His Father or His work.

We would be well-advised to do the same.

By the way, guarding our hearts is not the same as closing or hardening our hearts.  We can guard our hearts from people and yet care very deeply for them.  How else are we going to speak the truth to one another in love?  To do this, we cannot be overly fearful about causing some discomfort at times.

Guarding our hearts…without hardening them…is especially important in parenting.  Good parents discipline their children with guarded hearts.  So does God.

God guards His heart from His children.  And He commands us to do the same.  Loving parents discipline their children (Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13, 14).  And they discipline their children without undue regard to their whining and crying about it (Proverbs 19:18, KJV).  We all know children who have been destroyed by “soft-hearted” parenting.  We call them “spoiled” for a reason.

So we discipline our children…even when it is hard for us to do so…for their own good.  Children do not always understand why we are training them.  We explain as best we can, according to their capacity to comprehend.  But we train them either way.

And so it is with God.

Being transformed into God’s image is not always…or even usually…pleasant.  It involves facing a lot of things about ourselves that we’d rather not face.  And it requires us to die to ourselves and our own desires when they come into conflict with God’s will and His commands.  We are tempted to cry, whine, and complain when being disciplined by God.  I don’t know about you, but God turns a deaf ear to me when I am upset regarding being disciplined by Him.

I know He hears me.  He just chooses to ignore me.

Because He loves me and is doing what is best for me.  Whether or not I understand what He is doing.  Whether or not I appreciate what He is doing.  Whether or not I approve of what He is doing…or how He is doing it.  I imagine He would prefer that I simply trust Him enough to submit to His discipline without turning into a Drama Queen.  But He loves me enough to work in me…and discipline me…without undue regard for my feelings about it.

God loves and values me so much that occasionally…when necessary…He will guard His heart from me for my own good.

Don’t you just love the way He loves us?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Guarding Our Hearts: From What?

By David Ryser & Arla Speer

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.  (Proverbs 4:23, NIV).

It began innocently enough as a discussion of Proverbs 4:23 among friends.  It was great fun sharing our insights about the subject of guarding our hearts…until someone asked the question:  “Does God guard His heart?”

Good question…too good.  A question that good will kill a discussion.  You could’ve heard a gnat sneeze.

Does God guard His Heart?  We’d never thought about it before.

And the question is worth thinking about.  Especially if you believe, as we do, that God Himself is our example in life.  Our model of behavior.  It is His character that is being formed in us as we walk in relationship and fellowship with Him.  We are being transformed into His image as the Holy Spirit works in us.

Does God guard His heart?  And if He does, from what and/or from whom does He guard it?

One of the primary reasons Jesus came to earth was to reveal the Father.  To see Jesus was to see the Father, and to hear Jesus was to hear the Father’s words (John 14:7-10).  Jesus is our example of a human being walking with God and doing His works on this earth, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Did Jesus guard His heart?  From what?  From whom?

Actually, He did.  And one thing both the Father and Jesus guard their hearts against is flattery.  In Isaiah 29:13a, God rebukes the people of Israel because they draw near to Him with their mouths, but remove their hearts far from Him.  This is a perfect description of flattery.  Flattery is dishonest.  Flattery is manipulative.  The purpose of flattery is to get something out of someone by pretending to put something into them.  We do it with people.  We do it with God.

When either figures out what we are doing, they do not react well to it.

In John 3:1, 2, Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and begins his conversation with Him by appearing to praise Him.  Praise and flattery look very much alike.  Praise puts something into someone.  Flattery, as previously noted, seeks to take something out of them by pretense.  Jesus cut Nicodemus’ gush-fest off at the knees, and immediately got to the heart of the matter.

Flattery is wicked.  Flattery is evil.  Flattery has selfish motives that drive it.  Flattery can be dangerous…if a person receives it. 

All of us want to feel loved, accepted, and valued.  These are good things, and we need them.  We are born with these desires, and they are intended to be met through a personal and intimate relationship with God.  When we attempt to receive these things outside of our relationship with God, we are susceptible to the flattery of man.  And when we allow ourselves to be flattered, we open ourselves up to be manipulated, taken advantage of, and even mistreated.

My experience with a spiritually abusive church began when I allowed myself to be flattered.  Because I believed I was loved…accepted, admired, and valued…I allowed myself to be used.  My gifting and anointing were merchandised.  This is typical of an abusive, utilitarian church.  You are valued as long as you are of use.  If you cease to be useful…for whatever reason…you are discarded.

And when you are no longer functional, you are tossed aside like a broken toy.

This sort of thing doesn’t only happen in church.  It occurs in the workplace.  It occurs in families.  It occurs among those who consider themselves friends.  It causes our relationships to be unhealthy…or even toxic…because it is counterfeit intimacy.

We should…like Jesus…guard our heart against flattery.

Because Jesus guarded His heart against flattery, He was able to guard His heart from other things that people…or the devil…tried to maneuver Him into as well.  Jesus guarded His heart against the desire for physical comfort/provision (Luke 4:1-4), power (John 6:15), messiahship without rejection & suffering (Luke 4:5-8; Luke 22:42), personal safety (John 11:7-15), approval of man (John 2:23-25), fame (Mark 4:1, 35; Mark 1:34b), acceptance by the social and religious elite (by accepting outcasts and refusing to see…or speak to…Herod, among many examples), expanding His ministry beyond His calling (John 12:20-22), and other things too numerous to mention.  If Jesus had allowed Himself to be flattered, He would have pursued these other things…things that would have distracted Him from His relationship with the Father and the work He was sent to do.

But there was no place in Jesus’ heart for flattery.  The only words He ever longed to hear were, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

So what about us?  What do we yearn to hear?

And from whom?

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

Taking Responsibility: Overcoming Spiritual Abuse

By David Ryser

We live in a world that awards love and respect on the basis of possessions, accomplishments, and reputation.  (Fil Anderson)

The events…or more accurately the non-events…of the last several years of my life are driving some of my Christian friends crazy.  They occasionally ask me what I’m doing for God.  What am I doing with my life and the gifts that God has given me?  They have even suggested that I am failing God and wasting my gifting and anointing by not actively pursuing a ministry of some kind.

Maybe I’m reading the wrong version of the Bible.  In my Bible, I’m not commanded to pursue ministry.  I’m commanded to pursue God.

Anyhow, this season of my life has been a time characterized by dying to self, falling more in love with Jesus, and allowing the Father to form Christ in me so that His life will flow out of me and touch people.  Not real sexy stuff, spiritually speaking.  Most Christians don’t seem too impressed by it.

Maybe if I referred to it as an extreme spiritual makeover….

Recently I’ve experienced a breakthrough emotional healing.  Prior to this, I had been tormented by painful memories of my past failings.  My shame over these events caused me to hide myself and live behind a mask.  This kind of living is hard on relationships…even my relationship with God…because it’s hard to have an honest relationship with me when you can’t even see the real me.

And honesty and transparency are necessary ingredients for intimacy.

Now the shame is gone.  So my conversations with God are more honest.  Actually they might be better described as less diplomatic.  It’s difficult to communicate hard truths to someone when you have to walk on eggshells around them.  Once God took away my shame, He could now speak plainly to me about my shortcomings without being a diplomat about it.

And this in itself has led to other breakthroughs.

For example, I have for the past several years been working to resolve some lingering resentments stemming from having been a member of a spiritually abusive church.  Whenever I’ve tried to talk to God about how I’d been wronged and what rotten rascals those church leaders were, He has steadfastly refused to listen to me.  Once He shut me up by saying about these leaders, “You wouldn’t have done half as well with half as much.”

Needless to say, I wasn’t too pleased with this answer.

As it turns out, God always wanted very much to help me resolve the hurt, anger, and bitterness I was experiencing.  But I couldn’t handle what He needed to say to me yet.  So He continued to work on me until I came to the place where we could talk about this.  When the shame was gone, God could speak into this place in my life.  And I would listen to Him.

What did He say?

Well, He lovingly pointed out that the one big reason I was in a position to be abused in that church was because of flaws in my own character.  Specifically, He said, “You were abused because you were for sale.”

And He was right.

I sold myself.  I sold myself for title, position, recognition, and admiration.  I welcomed the flattery…thrived on it…and believed I was loved and valued.  The leaders of the church did not make me like this.  I was like this when I got there.  They simply took advantage of it.

I was a spiritual prostitute.  And they bought me.  And I got screwed.  Prostitutes get screwed.  It’s an occupational hazard.

And I didn’t even get to keep the stuff I sold myself for!

I have no one to blame but myself…and that’s good news.  It’s good news because the whole point of God bringing this to my attention was to give me insight into the cause of my hurt and to transform my character in this area.  In the process, I have become aware of this potential hazard in my life and the means to overcome it.  This provides me with some immunity to spiritual abuse because I now receive my sense of being loved and valued through my relationship with my heavenly Father.  When I’m walking with God…experiencing His love and approval…man’s flattery and manipulation no longer have a place to hook onto me.

And this transformation of character that protects me from spiritual abuse also makes it possible for me to overcome the temptation to manipulate and abuse others. It’s a win-win deal.

Yea, God!

Recently I received an e-mail from a friend who was particularly in touch with God’s love for her.  She described not only feeling loved, but the things God had done during the course of the day that made her feel valued, special, and loved.  She summed up her experience with God that day by saying, “I not only love that God loves me, I love the way He loves me.”

I know the feeling.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

"Are We There Yet?": Life in the Religious Ark

By David Ryser & Martha Paterik

If we’re called to walk on the water, then why do we need an ark?  (Mark Squires)

These things always seem to begin innocently enough…just before they spin hopelessly out of control.  My friend Martha had run across the term “sacred desk” referring to the pulpit.  She’d never heard this term before and was somewhat bewildered that anyone would call a piece of furniture sacred.

And I was reminded of my grandfather.

My grandfather was a dairy farmer.  At the time of the evening milking, the cows would be herded into the barn and locked into stalls to be milked.  Behind the cows, a trough was cut into the floor.  The trough was needed because the cows were not barn-broken.  As the evening wore on, the trough filled with cow waste.

As useful as this trough was, I never heard my grandfather refer to it as the “sacred trough.”

Referring to the pulpit as the “sacred desk” makes about as much sense as calling my grandfather’s muck-trough the “sacred trough.”  After all, both are pretty much full of the same thing.

I explained to Martha that the pulpit is the Protestant version of the Catholic altar.  It can…and has…become just another fixture of religious idolatry.  Pick your poison.  Martha noted that religious people have done much the same thing even with biblical objects.

She mentioned the term “ark.”  And I experienced a religious flashback.

Years ago, I was sitting in the Sunday service at a church whose pastor strongly preached commitment to the Kingdom of God.  By “Kingdom of God” he meant his church, which was growing increasingly unhealthy.  On this particular morning, the speaker was proclaiming that this local church was the modern day version of Noah’s ark.  This “ark” was the only place of safety in a world that was becoming increasingly unsafe.  We needed to get into the ark.

And stay in.

I can’t decide if this preacher’s declaration is more arrogant or stupid.  It’s a big dose of both.  For one thing, it is absurd to assert that any local church is the only place…or even the best place…where a person can be safe in Christ.  What about the almost 8 billion people on the planet who don’t even know this particular church exists?  And are there no other Christian fellowships where Jesus is Lord?

For another thing, is any ark intended to be a permanent dwelling place?  What if Noah…and the people and animals with him…had stayed in the ark and never left it?  Would they have been safe, secure, and blessed?  Or would they have died of hunger, buried in their own waste?  And what about the world they were supposed to populate and subdue?

The ark-church is no different.  If we are ever going to make a difference in the world…advance God’s kingdom in the earth…we must leave the ark.  This is something that should be encouraged by church leaders…not discouraged.  

So what about the people who leave the ark-church?

I eventually left it.  So did Martha.  So did several other people over the years.  Some before us.  Any exodus from that local church was treated as a departure from the Christian faith.  They had “left the ark” and were at risk.  We were sternly charged not to follow their example.

So just when did the word ark come to be a synonym for the word prison anyhow?

Others have continued to jump ship, so to speak.  Those of us who left before them have made the effort to get in contact with some of these people and encourage them that there is life outside the ark.  I’ve remarked that the question is not so much whether there is life outside of this ark-church as whether there is life inside of it.

Martha’s response is instructive.

“I guess the real question is which ark?  The ark of Noah’s day carried all that represented life in it.  They were fed and kept safe until it was time to be sent out into the world and carry that life to it.  No one [ever] mentions a regular trek back to the boat.  It had served its purpose, now it was time to go out.”

Wow.

And then she went on to reference another ark…the Ark of the Covenant. Unlike the pulpit, if any piece of furniture could be called “sacred” it would be the Ark of the Covenant.  She noted:  “It had a thing that represented life (manna), the miracle staff of Aaron, and the stone tablets.  The glory of God even rested on or above this ark.  But He doesn’t anymore.  God has left the box, so to speak.  He wants us to take His Glory into the world, to be His Glory.”

You see, both of these arks had been constructed at God’s direction.  And both of them had a purpose…for a season.  When their purpose was fulfilled, both were emptied.  And the world was benefited because what had once been in the arks was now released into the world, engaged with it, and bringing life to it.

And in the end, Martha accurately sums up the fate of both of these biblical arks:  “[B]oth arks were mighty tools of God in the time they were needed; but at the risk of killing sacred cows, neither would be too effective today.”

I don’t know about you, but I think sacred cows make great steaks.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com