The Guess Who: "The Key" - Bruce Atchison

Summer reading? Who has time? I find that the only book I read with regularity is the Bible.

Holy Scripture is one wonderful place for inspiration. Canadian Group The Guess Who certainly felt inspired enough to sing about various characters in the Bible, as you can hear on this song.

In my personal life, I admire Gideon. He wasn't from any popular or mighty family and tribe. He was just a person chosen by God to liberate Israel during the time of the judges.

When the angel of the Lord came to Gideon, he felt inadequate for the task he was called to do. As Judges 6:15 (Bible in Basic English) says, "And he said to him, 'O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.'"

But instead of chiding Gideon, the Angel said in verse sixteen, "Then the Lord said to him, Truly, I will be with you, and you will overcome the Midianites as if they were one man."

I relate to other misunderstood and underestimated people in Scripture too. Christians down through the ages called one Disciple "Doubting Thomas." But we read his declaration of Christ's divinity in John 20:27 and 28 (BBE). "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put out your finger, and see my hands; and put your hand here into my side: and be no longer in doubt but have belief.' And Thomas said in answer, 'My Lord and my God!'"

And having read the accounts of these faithful saints, I rejoice in the knowledge that we'll meet them in heaven. Revelation 19:9 (BBE) tells us, "And he (the angel) said to me, 'Put in the book, Happy are the guests at the bride-feast of the Lamb.' And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.'" What a wonderful day that will be!

A Matter of Discipleship -- Bruce Atchison

Easter is over for another year and our thoughts now turn to celebrating Mother's Day. But this doesn't mean that we should ignore what happened between Christ's Resurrection and his ascension.

A careful study of the scriptures shows that our Lord was busy during those forty days. We have the resurrection sighting reports, first from the women at the tomb and later by the disciples.

Of special significance to us is that Jesus explained to two disciples on the road to Ammaus regarding how the Old Testament foretold all that befell him. Many believers, including myself, missed the fact that those ancient scriptures spoke of him.

Here's another misapprehension we believers tend to have. Poor Thomas has been maligned for millennia as being a doubter. I feel that Christ's resurrection seemed too good to be true to him. After all, death is final and nobody in history up to that point had raised himself or herself from the grave as Christ did. All other instances of people returning from the dead were acts of God and they perished later.

Furthermore, Jesus had a lot of teaching to do during his post-resurrection time on earth. All through his earthly ministry, these twelve slow learners had fixed in their minds the notion of a temporal kingdom where they'd be ruling over an independent and sovereign Israel. Christ had to pound into their thick skulls that his kingdom was, and still is, a spiritual kingdom. And until he returns in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God and obey not the gospel, it will stay a spiritual kingdom.

And what of the story of how Christ gave Peter three opportunities to say that he loved him? The dear man felt shattered because he had denied knowing Jesus three times. From his decision to go back to fishing, he apparently thought he was  inadequate to proclaim the kingdom of heaven. Jesus granted him restoration and brought him back into fellowship with him. Our Lord could have chastised peter and his friends for disobeying his command to spread the gospel throughout the world but he magnanimously pardoned them all.

Fortunately for future disciples, including us, Christ's apostles obeyed his command to wait at Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came on them. During that time, they devoted themselves to prayer. We don't have transcripts of those petitions but I'm sure they asked for the Lord's will to be done in and through them.

Discipleship is thee crucial counsel I lacked when I gave my life to Christ in 1969. It's why I wrote my How I Was Razed memoir. Newborn believers need the mentoring by older saints so they won't go astray. Since I had no one to guide me, I ended up in an aberrant house church. My memoir shows how God providentially led me to the truth about himself and his true character.