What does "salt of the earth" have to do with a gymnasium?

Sardis, located in present day Turkey

My wife is always telling me that I use too much salt, and when I have my yearly visit to the doctor, this is also confirmed by elevated blood pressure numbers. Before there was refrigeration, salt was used as a preservative. Along these lines, Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, "You are the salt of the earth. If the salt loses its saltiness, it's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on the ground by men."

In the book of Revelation, Jesus issues a strong warning to the church at Sardis which has lost its saltiness. "I know your deeds. You have a reputation of being alive but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God" (Revelation 3:1-2).

What led Jesus to say such strong words to this community of faith in Sardis? Was it because they were slowly compromising what they believed with the pagans among them? Or where there other reasons that Jesus' words became such a powerful teaching for those believers who chose to live at the crossroads of their world?

One of the most impressive ruins in Sardis (located in present day Turkey) is that of a Greek gymnasium and Roman bathhouse. The gymnasium was the center of Greek culture much as our fitness clubs, athletic centers and gyms are today. But for the Greeks, their gymnasium also served as the center for instruction in literature about the Greek gods, philosophy, math and medicine. They also enjoyed the pleasures and vices of the Roman baths.

The Sardis Gymnasium Synagogue

Here is the amazing thing--In one corner of that immoral, self-glorifying gymnasium, archaeologists have uncovered the largest synagogue of that time period ever found. They discovered defaced pagan symbols on the walls of the synagogue as well as images of the goddess Cybele.

I've always thought that it would be cool to have a church service within a gymnasium and then during the week, the gym would serve to benefit the community with basketball, volleyball, etc. But obviously, there was more going on in the Greek gymnasium than a simple pickup game of basketball.

Here's the question: Did the Jews in Sardis place their synagogue within the walls of the Greek gymnasium in order to influence the Greek citizens or did they adapt to the pagan way of life so much so that they saw no discrepancy between worshiping God and the pagan way of life? In other words, did the believers at Sardis lose their saltiness? Did they compromise with the culture of their day to such an extent that they would be seen by the Lord as asleep or dead? Are we making similar compromises? Are we losing our saltiness? Would the Lord utter similar words about our state of slumber or appearing to be dead? Just wondering?

Follow the Rabbi website

If you want to read more about Sardis and "The Salt of the Earth", go to one of my favorite sights: Follow the Rabbi.

 At Follow the Rabbi, you can learn about the world of Jesus, and journey in the footsteps of the disciples. You'll be able to study the Word in the original context, and explore the culture of Jesus' day. This website is a seminary education in itself since it opens your understanding to the Word of God and it's actual meaning to us through the context of the prophets and the apostles. 

Check it out. You won't be sorry. Follow the Rabbi will help you to better understand the Bible and bring you to a closer relationship with Jesus, the Rabbi of all rabbis, our Lord and Savior. 

My Take on Ezra: The Hard Work of Worship

I’ve been reading the book of Ezra, in the Old Testament and of course, the Hebrew Bible.

The Book of Ezra opens with a decree of Cyrus (king of Persia) which permitted the Jews to return to Judah to rebuild the Jerusalem temple (Ezra 1:1-11). Isaiah, the prophet, prophesied about 300 yrs earlier that a king named Cyrus would fulfill God’s will and allow the Jews to go home to Jerusalem and sure enough, three centuries later, God puts the idea into Cyrus' head to let the Jews return to build the Temple.

Once again, we see God providentially at work behind the scenes orchestrating His will and good pleasure. He's been doing this from the very beginning and He's doing it where you live and work right now as well.

Even though Cyrus the Great allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem, not everyone packs up and leaves. In fact, very few do, and those who ultimately return don’t do it all at once. Most of the Jews in Persia are well-established having been there for over 60 yrs. already. Many followed Jeremiah’s advice and bought property in Babylon and settled down.

The Jews who decide to return to Jerusalem do so ultimately under the leadership of Sheshbbazzar and this first group doesn’t seem to have been very large. But they had the financial backing of those who remained in Babylon. It seems that Sheshbazzar and his fellow returnees began laying the foundations of the Temple (Ezra 5:16).

Eighteen years later, Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, arrives in Jerusalem (520BC) with 42,360 Jewish returnees to rebuild the Temple. They start by rebuilding the central altar, which allows them to offer sacrifices to God. They then begin work on the Temple itself. When the foundation is laid, most of the people shout for joy. However, those familiar with the first Temple see the diminished size of the new foundation and they weep out of sadness, realizing that this Temple will in no way compare to Solomon’s glorious structure.

The Bible says that only those whose hearts were moved turned their hearts toward home, and that number was 42,360. The rest of the Jews had grown comfortable. Why go back and face such hardship? Only those upon whose hearts God moved were willing to make the commitment. And their desire was to get back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple which was their central focus of worship where sacrifices and offerings to the one true God would be offered once again and where God would dwell in the midst of his people.

In reading Ezra, I've been struck at the importance of worship in the lives of these Jewish exiles.  Here they had spent 70 yrs in captivity and even though they were treated well and had a comfortable lifestyle, their hearts were drawn back to Jerusalem for one reason: to rebuild the Temple and to worship Yahweh.

Worship is what it’s all about, and sadly, it’s the hardest part of being a Christian. To truly worship God is work. It’s a sacrifice and we seldom do it. Even at many of our Sunday worship services in churches across America, I doubt that God is truly worshipped. We sing three or four hymns and think we’ve given God His due but in reality, we’re just going through the motions. Real worship is life-transforming. Real worship leaves you in awe. Real worship brings God’s presence into the picture and when He shows up, who knows what will happen? We could speak in tongues, or spend hours praising His name, or fall on our faces in silence. One thing is for certain, when God shows up, we aren’t checking our watches wondering if we’ll get to our favorite restaurant before the church crowd shows up.

Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman said this:

²³ But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24 ESV)

Worship is a big deal with God. I’ll continue this in my next post.

Bonhoeffer: The man who stood up to Hitler.

Maybe somewhere along the way, you've heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He gave us several great books including "The Cost of Discipleship." It's ironic that I should read a book about Bonhoeffer after reading David Platt's Radical, because Bonhoeffer was a radical in the truest sense of the word.

As I read Eric Metaxas new biography: "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" I became acquanted with a complex Christian who was an academic, teacher, son, brother, friend, pastor and a man who lived his faith. Throughout the book Metaxas shows how Bonhoeffer's decisions were guided by his faith. Bonhoeffer lived out his faith in his daily life. 


Here in the 21st century, we live as Christians in America without much opposition. We are not forced to make hard choices or life and death decisions. We are not really persecuted, really and truly, we aren't. 


How would you or I handle some of the decisions that confronted Bonhoeffer on a daily basis? Do we lie to the Nazis, or do we give them information that leads to the deaths of innocents? Do we obey our nation's laws, or do we defy them by leading Jews into safety? Do we fight in Hitler's army, or do we refuse, knowing that we will be beheaded and leave our family destitute? These are some of the questions that Bonhoeffer and other believers in Nazi Germany had to answer, and their response doesn't fit our nice little Christian stereotype. The Christianity depicted in this book is hard-core, rubber meets the road kind of faith and trust in Almighty God.

Metaxas has clearly done his homework and given us as much information about Bonhoeffer as is possible through personal letters, essays and the recollections of others.

Bonhoeffer was raised in an affluent family of German intellectuals where success was assumed. He was afforded the opportunity to travel and advance his education. Dietrich chose the nonintellectual pursuit of theological study. Bonhoeffer became one of the leading voices of the German Confessing Church in the 1930s challenging the state authorized and often anti-God church of the Third Reich. 

Bonhoeffer refused to accept the German position regarding the Jews which would eventually lead to the extermination of over six million Jews by Hitler's Third Reich. He took a stand early on when many Germany's were acquiescing to Hitler and even turning their backs and a deaf ear to the cries of their Jewish neighbors. Bonhoeffer took no thought for his own well-being. In fact, on four different occasions, Dietrich could have escaped from Germany and settled in the U.S. or England as an esteemed professor-theologian. But, as Bonhoeffer felt that he had a destiny and even if it ended in his premature death, he could not shrink or run from it. 

Bonhoeffer's resistance eventually led to his participation in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolph Hitler leading to the failed Stauffenberg plot of July 1944. In the aftermath of this attempt of the Fuhrer's life, Bonhoeffer and other conspirators were arrested with Bonhoeffer. He was executed by Hitler during the last days of the war in April 1945.

Let me close by saying that I am attracted to these kinds of books because they hold up a mirror to my own life and I am forced to ask myself, "What would I have done?" "Would I have stood up for my Jewish neighbors, at the risk of my own life?"  I am afraid that at times, I think I may not have behaved as nobly as Bonhoeffer. For that, I ask God's forgiveness and seek to be strengthened in my faith so as not to love my life and to be willing to stand for righteousness regardless of the cost. 


I believe in my lifetime that we as believers may be forced to take a stand against evil that could cost us our lives. 


Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy introduced me to Bonhoeffer whom I grew to know as well as any friend of mine. He is my brother in the faith and I am thankful for his courage, conviction and faithfulness. His legacy is one that will inspire and challenge me in the days to come. I look forward to embracing Bonhoeffer in heaven.

How Did We Get Here?

Please bear with me for a couple more posts on Israel. The world is ganging up on Israel and even Christians are either complacent or they've turned their back on Israel as well (In a future post, we'll look at the error of "Replacement Theology" which has caused many believers to harden their hearts towards Israel).

There is so much misinformation out there regarding the Mideast Crisis. You hear news analysts say that it's so complicated. The fact is that it's not all that complicated as this video illustrates. Please set aside 6:30 minutes to view this brief little video: "Israel's History in a Nutshell." It's a crash course in understanding what's going on in the Middle East.

And, if you can spare four more minutes, watch the History of Israel. 4000 yrs in 4 minutes. This is a funny, clever, animated video that gives you an overview of what's been going on with Israel since God created the earth. It's apparent this video was created by a Jewish non-believer with one glaring omission: The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, don't let that keep you from appreciating this video. Like the book of Esther where God isn't mentioned once yet His invisible hand is evidenced throughout Esther. So also Jesus is the Lord of history, the Holy One of Israel and this video is all about Him and His faithfulness to keep His covenants and His people.

Why Stand with Israel?

We are living in a sobering moment in history that calls all Christians to take a stand with Israel, the most important piece of real estate on this planet. 

Many today denounce the Jews as "occupiers" of the land formerly known as Palestine. But this land belongs to God Almighty and He has given it to His people, the Jews.

In today's post and subsequent posts, I will explore current issues being raised regarding Israel's existence as a nation: 

• Whether the Palestinians have a right to statehood,
• The claim that the Jews are engaging in an mid-east version of apartheid by their treatment of the Palestinian people. 
• Israel's right to exist as a nation. 
• Whether-or-not Israel is a holy nation or a nation of unbelievers who are no more special than any other people or land. 

Here are my 5 reasons for standing with Israel:

1. Every believer is charged to make the Jews a priority in their value system because God has.

• The Lord has selected a people—and He began by selecting a man named Abraham. In Gen. 12:3, the Lord says in the covenant that He makes with Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
• The Lord chose the Jews for His purposes—and He made covenants with them: The Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, and the New Covenant.
• The Scripture speaks to us very clearly that we’re dealing with the roots of everything that has to do with the revelation of God to humankind. The proof of this is in the very existence of the Jews as a people, and the fact that they have been recovered as a nation. Today the struggle is over Jerusalem, over Israel, and over the presence of the Jews and their right to have a land. There are few nations willing to make an abiding commitment to stand by the Jews and Israel, but the Bible says God will honor those who do.