Saturday, February 22, 2020
Prayer for a King
Throughout history there have been certain people who seemed to really know God in ways that allowed Him to use them in significant ways. One such man was William Tyndale. We know he was sincere because he would eventually give up his life because of His commitment to God’s Word. Tyndale was a prominent figure in the Protestant reformation. He was an English scholar and an Oxford graduate. He was a gifted linguist and became fluent over the years in French, Greek, Hebrew, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish. He also attended the University of Cambridge. But, more importantly, he prayed.
One of the issues that Tyndale and the other reformers had with “The Church” was that church leaders of his day forbade “common people” from reading the Scriptures. This was one way of trying to control what people believed. One reason authorities could keep people from reading the Bible was because, at that time, the Bible was not easily available in the languages of the common man. Most copies of the Bible were written in Hebrew and Greek, or Latin, which most people could not read.
Tyndale successfully translated some of the OT and all of the NT into English. His was the first English Bible that translated directly from Hebrew and Greek (the earlier Wycliffe Bible had been translated from Latin). He was also one of the first people to actively fight for freedom for the masses to read the Bible for themselves. He believed God’s Word could speak to them personally rather than through the voice of the local priest. He believed that a believer should have a personal relationship with God.
After translating the Bible into English, he diligently challenged the church to provide English language copies of the Bible to their parishioners. But the establishment resented his efforts and he was arrested in Antwerp in 1535. A year later he was tried on a charge of heresy and was condemned to be burned to death. As it played out, Tyndale was tied to a stake, strangled to death and then his dead body was burned. However, just before he died, he was overheard praying this very short, but monumental prayer: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”
Tyndale’s prayer was eventually answered, and, with the invention of the printing press, his copy of the Scripture was also widely distributed. In 1611, when King James commissioned that his authorized version of the Bible be published, the forty-seven scholars drew 80-90% of their material from Tyndale’s work. Today there are millions of Bibles available in almost every language around the globe. Tyndale would probably be shocked to know that one of the largest Christian publishers and Bible distributers in the world is named Tyndale Publishers. He would also been surprised last year when one of the three remaining copies of the first printing of his Bible sold at auction for over forty-eight thousand dollars.
Tyndale was obeying the Bible when he prayed for his King. His prayer did not seem to have immediate results. But prayer is never in vain. God answered his prayer, and God will answer the prayer any of us pray, when we pray according to His will. Pray for those who lead your family, your company, your church and your government. It may take years, but your prayers will not be wasted.
Friday, February 14, 2020
An Irresponsible God
I was too young to understand all the dynamics, but, within minutes of meeting him I immediately understood something was very wrong with the little boy who showed up in my class. I was seven or eight and he was probably a year or two younger than me. We were similar in size, but he was still in diapers. We could both talk but His speech was on the level of a toddler and he was developmentally delayed in almost every other way. I knew something was very wrong.
Years later I learned that my “friend” was neither mentally nor physically handicapped. His problems stemmed from the fact that his mother didn’t believe in any kind of discipline. She thought it cruel to hold her son accountable in any way. She felt he should have the freedom to choose whatever he wanted to do in life. So, he ate and slept however and whenever he pleased, leaving his body emaciated, his mind confused and his social functionality almost non-existent. A perfectly good childhood was ruined by an irresponsible parent.
While children often fantasize about living in a world where there were no rules, no chores and no accountability, most of them eventually come to appreciate the parameters forced on them by their parents and society. Those are the things that make us “civilized.” Almost no one would argue for complete and unrestrained freedom as a good method for raising children.
This simple concept speaks to the complete rationality in the idea that God would also impose rules and systems of accountability upon humankind. We often hear the drumbeats of freedom of choice and the right to be happy so often that we can easily fall off the philosophical cliff that embraces the idea that people should be able to do whatever they feel like doing. But the end result of such philosophy is not unlike the disastrous results my “friend” experienced. I, for one, am thankful for a loving heavenly father who gives me guidelines by which to live and then holds me accountable. The Bible puts it like this:
Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. (Hebrews 12:5-11 MSG)
So many countries and people groups have been blessed by the moral and spiritual direction given to us by the Bible. God’s masterpieces such as the ten commandments have given guidance to and improved the lives of untold millions throughout the world. To seek freedom from God’s “impositions” would be to wish that He were an irresponsible God - a God who didn’t really love mankind. Wise men still seek God’s wise guidance, and they love the way He cares for His own by holding them accountable. Would you prefer an irresponsible God?
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