by Michael E. Brooks

“And you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately” (Luke 10:36).

Waiting for the master to come may have a variety of applications. Sometimes it is his final coming that we anticipate and prepare for. At other times it is a more temporal visitation, that of his help, his comfort, or the opportunities for service that he provides.

Edmund Cagle and I were in the Bangladesh village of Dooley a few years ago, preparing to preach. A decent crowd had gathered and we were ready to rise and begin the lessons when someone came, whispered something to one of the audience and suddenly all of the villagers got up and rushed away. Edmund and I looked at each other in puzzlement, wondering how we had offended them, until the Bangla preacher who was guiding us said, “a snake charmer has come and they have all gone to watch him play with his snakes.”

We walked to a nearby row of houses to find all the village gathered to watch the charmer entrance several cobras for some time. Just as he was reaching the climax of his performance a woman ran out of one of the houses with a child in her arms, crying out in panic. Just as quickly as the villagers had deserted our meeting, they abandoned the snakes to rush to the aid of the distraught mother. We joined them and inquired as to her needs. The child was sick with fever and we gave medicine, calmed the mother’s fears and restored order. Meanwhile the snake charmer shrugged, packed his boxes and left the village.

After a few minutes we went back to our original site, the audience soon joined us, and we enjoyed an afternoon of Bible study, resulting in several baptisms. Is there a spiritual lesson in that experience? I am not sure, but I know that we did not panic or give up on the situation. We allowed the villagers time to determine what was of real value, and eventually had a profitable day.

Circumstances often challenge us. Difficult situations can discourage good works. Competition from others creates doubt or even fear. We often feel that our efforts are futile, that success is not possible. Yet sometimes difficult circumstances provide opportunity. At other times, one must simply be patient and wait for the Master’s time to come.

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).

By Michael E. Brooks

“But he gives more grace. Therefore He says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Jas. 4:6).

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:3,5-6).

Poverty is alive and well on the planet Earth. Sometimes those of us who have been more materially blessed can lose sight of that fact. Huge numbers of people on every continent go to bed hungry each night. They live in single rooms, or on the streets, wearing the same clothes for months or years at a time. Many only dream of education for themselves or their children. High percentages in the most populous areas are landless and essentially unemployed. Average annual income in some countries is less than the weekly salary of working people in others.

When one visits such conditions it is easy to think in terms of injustice and inequity. How can we say, “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34), when a few seem to have “everything” whereas so many have “nothing”? Such apparent unfairness has caused many to question the very existence or at least the goodness of God.

The Bible’s answer to such charges is simple, yet profound. Material conditions are not the only thing, and certainly they are by far not the most important thing. If fact, God often uses need to prompt us to dependence and thus to faith. To paraphrase Romans 10:14ff, “how will they call upon him whom they do not need?” A healthy person rarely visits a physician. Those who feel prospered seldom cry out in desperation and need.

It is at least in part for this reason that God cannot help the proud. They don’t “need” God nor do they look to him. But the humble are much different. A feeling of inadequacy does much to make one look upwards. The awareness of desperate hungers drives one to search for that which fills. It is no coincidence that evangelism produces great results in Asian and Latin American countries of great poverty, and much slimmer harvest in “developed” Western nations. As Paul observed, “not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Cor. 1:26).

For this reason it is not at all inappropriate to state, “Blessed are the needy.” It is to the humble that God gives his grace. And more than wealth, power, fame, and pleasure, God’s grace is great blessing. It assures us of his love and care, his forgiveness, and his eternal salvation. Thank God for poverty. May he send it to more of those who stubbornly refuse to recognize their need.

By Michael E. Brooks

“Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy.” (Proverbs 12:20)

A short visit to a very tense Nepal last week helped reinforce the above stated truths. After several months of ceasefire and negotiations, the Maoist insurgents of that nation have walked away from the talks and resumed hostilities. What had been planned as a two week long campaign to rural eastern Nepal was changed of necessity to a four day visit to the capital, Kathmandu, to transact necessary business.

My impression of the attitude of the Nepali people was disturbing. I found much more nervousness and apprehension than on previous visits. My trip coincided with the beginning of the major Hindu festival, Dashain, and just after we arrived the rebel forces declared an eleven day truce, to enable people to travel to their homes to celebrate the holiday. But there was little trust that they would honor the truce. We held brief classes, but there was much concern about traveling even within the relative safety of the capital city.

The author of Proverbs pairs two sets of characteristics: lies go with evil; joy accompanies the search for peace. Those whose aim is harm and wickedness have no moral or other compunctions against deceitfulness. Conversely, those whose character permits them to lie easily are likely to find that other evils are equally attractive. Rebels who will rob, rape, and kill their own people are not to be trusted. Period. No matter the philosophical justification, their deeds are evil, and such people will bring no happiness to anyone, including themselves.

On the other hand, the message of peace brings great joy. I am convinced that genuine Christians are always and inevitably the world’s happiest people. They alone know real peace in every dimension. Peace with self, with others, and with God. Eternal security, without doubt, fear or worry. And they take that message of peace to the world around them. The joy they obtain is not something they strive for, but the gift which is given by a generous and loving Father to those who do his will. It comes from two sources. First, the act of seeking peace produces satisfaction and contentment, which are the fundamental components of happiness. Second, God gives joy as a reward for obedience.

Peace and joy are combined in a beautiful New Testament passage, Philippians 4:4-7. Paul begins by instructing his readers to Rejoice, and concludes the paragraph by promising that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds…” How can we have joy without the security of real peace. How can anyone who is truly at peace, fail to be happy?

By Michael E. Brooks

“Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:21-25)

The preeminent Hindu Temple in Nepal is Pashupattinath, built beside the Bagmati River in Kathmandu. There is one large main temple, but surrounding it are many smaller temples and shrines within the complex. Some of these make up a row of temples to the gods of the animals, each species being seen as divine. The river is lined with burning ghats for the frequent cremations held there so that the ashes of the deceased can be swept into the waters of the river, said by the Hindus to be holy. Interspersed with these ghats are brick and concrete columns, flat on top, which are used to place offerings to the gods. As one walks within the complex it is common to watch the abundant monkeys sitting on these columns eating the sacrifices. Seeing this one wonders, are these the gods receiving the people’s offerings?

One’s view of God is determinative for his self-image and for his understanding of life. When God is reduced to the common or profane, man is also reduced, and life is cheapened. I am no anthropologist or sociologist, but the Bible teaches that it is no coincidence that people who have remained in idolatry, who view God in terms of inanimate images of their own creation, or of animals, plants, or other material things, often themselves fail to achieve a high standard of life. Morally, materially, spiritually – in every way life is debased when God is dishonored.

Paul in Romans attributes this fact to God’s retributive action. He “gave them up to uncleanness.” But it can also be understood in more direct cause – effect terms. The lower people set their sights the lower their achievements. A society’s view of God reflects its world view and its aspirations. God is generally defined as “that than which nothing is higher.” If the highest thing that can be visualized is seen in terms of stone images and monkeys, how great can the goals be? How high an image can such a people have of themselves?

Charles Hodge is fond of saying, “Get God right and everything else falls into place.” That is Biblical, and it also is evidenced by historical experience. People with lofty expectations of their Deity have higher goals for themselves, and are more likely to achieve them. And those people with a true faith in God are most likely of all to achieve abundance. Not just wealth or power, but the true eternal life that can only be received as a gift from the Creator of all things. Only when we return to “the truth of God” can we be freed from uncleanness and depravity and released to claim all the blessings for which God made us.

By Michael E. Brooks

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matt. 23:37).

It was almost exactly twenty years ago that I was in a truly large city for the first time. The city was Cairo, Egypt, and though I have been in other metropolises since, I still remember the impact of that first experience. Urbanization is a fact of life that we all know intellectually, but I am not sure the average person from middle America, or any other rural background, can really appreciate the reality until he or she has actually been there.

Traffic is part of it. You sit in the heat and the noise and the exhaust fumes and you just can't believe it. But that is only the surface. There is also the ghetto squalor and the fascinating blur of all those different people and vehicles and sights and sounds and smells that assault your senses. But again, that is not really "it".

Why do people come into the city in such huge numbers? If newspaper and broadcast opinions can be trusted, it is largely about hope and opportunity. Our rural areas don't provide the jobs, the diversity, the upward mobility that we see in the city. And so we flock en masse, looking for that solution to our economic woes that we have come to believe the big city offers. And, certainly, some find it. But far more find only the filth, the stench, and the despair of too many people in too small a space.

First century Jerusalem was a small, rather insignificant town, even by the standards of the day. Yet it attracted the needy just as do our cities today. And one newcomer, not needy but there to help those who were, looked upon it and saw the despair, and it almost broke his heart. "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem," Jesus cried! Can you help but wonder how he would have viewed our immense urban sprawls? But we know don't we? He does view them with compassion and urgency just as he did while here on earth. "Go into all the world," surely means "go into the cities," and preach and minister and care, just as He did so long ago.

This is not offered as some kind of contribution to missions methodology, but as a personal reaction to the impact yet another huge city has recently made. I have just spent a few days in Dhaka, Bangladesh, home to more than ten million souls. Much of that time was spent in frustration and irritation, stuck in traffic, bothered by beggars, wishing for some clean country air. Is that a true Christian reaction? No, not really. Rather, I wish I had spent more time seeing opportunity, interacting with people, seeking mission. Our cities have many tremendous problems. They are filled with despair, poverty and need. But they also are filled with those seeking hope and "life more abundant." May we find ways and means to help them find it.