Children are wet cement

When contractors go to build a building, they set up form boards to catch the load of concrete the cement truck is going to dump. If you are a parent, God dropped a child into a special set of forms—your arms. This “wet cement” will need your careful attention over the years as you work with it and mold it into His image. Your child will build on this foundation you prepare for the rest of his or her life.

When the truck dumps the wet crete into the forms, the gooey sludge drops in very unevenly. It might pile up a foot or more in some areas and other spots might have bare ground still showing through. Workers have to shovel and rake this heavy slop around until most of it looks level. As your child grows, you will see huge gaps in his or her character. A child may be naturally considerate and like to share but might have no patience. Every child is born with piles of good traits and some dirt-nature areas that need to be filled in. The parent works to spread evenly all the good qualities of integrity, joy, and love.

If the builder left the wet cement to itself, it would bring his reputation to shame. In the same way, a child left to himself brings his parents to shame (Proverbs 29:15). Too many adults were never tooled as children and they grow up with boot prints on the surface of their emotions and rough spots in their character.

Carelessness mars the project

As construction workers float out the wet slab and smooth it out evenly with the screed board, they take care not to step on the area they just leveled out. Some parents are not as careful. They lecture their children about talking nice to each other and then step back over the line later when they say, “Shut up, I am watching TV.” Some homes develop an environment of nagging, threatening, and yelling. Harsh words and hateful attitudes scar a child as bad as any other form of child abuse.

You have probably seen a sidewalk or concrete floor with footprints left while it was still wet. Usually some stray dog or other animal who does not know better will venture out on the unfinished crete. Sometimes you see the bootprints of someone who could care less about the project or just did not have sense enough to know. I have even seen bicycle tire tracks left by kids who thought they were being funny. If my child has scars in the core of his being is that because I am an animal who did not know better, a man who did not care, or a jerk who amused himself by negatively impact another’s life?

The concrete professional begins working the wet concrete with a trowel. He pushes the flat blade back and forth across the surface of the cement to make a nice finish for others to enjoy later. Once the job begins, he does not get to leave it until it is smooth. He watches over it while it cures. Your child needs to be constantly smoothed back out until he or she becomes a level-headed, emotionally stable person. Too many parents walk off the job too soon. Either they do not realize their part in the project, expect someone else to do it, or just give up.

Don’t throw in the trowel

As you go through the years smoothing out the blemishes in a child’s character, you may want to give up at times. Sometimes a contractor does not put a lot of attention to detail into a piece of concrete and decides to give it just a broom finish. This rough finish is great for exterior use on sidewalks and such. But it has no finesse or polish to it. You cannot build a great building on broom finish.

Excellent crete work involves a power trowel. This machine is like a push lawnmower with flat blades that smooth out the concrete even more. Done correctly, a power-troweled floor shines and you can wax it. Office buildings and meeting centers desire this caliber of floor finish. A parent can build children who are exterior grade and of minimum usefulness or those of showroom quality.

Do not give up on the project God gave you. Builders start with a blueprint and carry it through to the finish even when it gets tough. God has a plan for your child. To give up on the child is to give up on the Designer. You were full of hope and excitement when God gave you the gift of that child. Be just as excited to finish it.

One of the most frustrating things for me as a parent has been when I had to go back and trowel out the blemishes I had put in a child. My anger left ruts in his character and now I had to work it back out. It takes a lot longer to work out those ruts and boot prints once the child is older and has had more time to cure.

I cannot blame anyone for how my children turn out. God did not give them to a teacher, daycare, or grandparent to raise. He gave these projects to my wife and me. Many children grow up with tractor-tire ruts in their life because they were left to be raised by a stepparent, public school system, or babysitter. Some wounds are so deep you will never smooth them out. To prevent damage to your little projects, get the right mindset and work toward the finished product from the beginning.

Begin with the end in mind

What is God’s plan for each of your children? If you do not know, ask Him. Watch the child. Does he play church and like to pretend to preach? Does she love to sing and pretend to play the piano? Pretending is practice for reality. What skills and talents are your children developing? You are not sculpting clay into the design you want for their lives. You do not pick what kind of building they will be, just polish the foundation, just help them settle into the mold God has planned for them.

You fill in the gaps in their lives by teaching and discussing God’s Word. Involve them in church. Get them addicted to Jesus and His house. Pray with them.

You screed their lives out by casting a vision instead of making rules. You level them out by lovingly firm correction instead of damaging discipline. You smooth out their rough spots by joyful leadership and loving affection.

Whether I am working with or playing with my kids, I keep their future image in mind. I watch their attitudes and actions in view of what image it might leave on them for life. If I let my son hit his sister, what ruts will that leave in his character? If I let her whine and tattle, will she make a good wife or an annoying nag? While I do not micromanage everything they do, I look at the big picture and keeping honing toward a good finish.

When you pray, picture your child in the image you know God has for him or her. This may be vague or very specific depending on what the Lord has shown you. I picture my daughters as devoted mothers and women of God. I picture my sons as good businessmen and leaders of godly homes. I see specific things and pray toward that end. This is polishing—you do a lot of the finishing work in prayer.

When I am tempted to get mad or belittle my child for his fault, I stop myself when I look at the finished product. I do not want leave marks where I just spent so much time floating it smooth. If I call my daughter an idiot I am not preparing her for the permanent design she should be. If I leave boot marks of rudeness and anger, she might marry a husband who treats her the same way since the grooves are already there. The more I speak to God about my children and the more I speak His Word into them, the less I am likely to want to mess it up in a moment of frustration.

Beyond Facebook fatherhood

The dad shooting up his daughter’s laptop has as girl with deep ruts in her life. He just left more grooves by fighting fire with fire. I doubt he is working toward any other image in her life other than her getting a job. I would bet he gave up after the form was first poured. Popular culture and her peers have marred this life with deep grooves of disrespect and selfishness. He had better work quickly to salvage anything of that 15-year-old, moldable soul.

If I exasperate my children and they harden themselves against me, there is no more chance to smooth out the imperfections. Scripture tells us that hard hearts have to be broken either by tragedy or by coming and falling on the Rock (Proverbs 29:1, Matthew 21:44). When concrete has set up, the only way to smooth it out is to smash it into gravel. You can get a gravel floor pretty level, but it will never be smooth. It will never support a big building. I want to help my children work out their flaws now so they can spend the rest of their lives building upward, instead of constantly re-laying groundwork.

Is Modalism the same as Oneness?

Modalism, as the rejected theory of God’s nature, claims that God changed various masks. In other words, He presented Himself as the Father, then the Son, and then the Holy Ghost. Sabellius may have been the main proponent of this idea. Of course, this is not the best explanation of the Lord, for the Son clearly existed as a man in conversation with the Father.

The modern Oneness movement sees God as being the Spirit of the Father within the Son, Christ Jesus. I defend this belief as the simplest understanding of our Lord. I recommend my treatment of the nature of Jesus Christ on another blog.

While that discussion deserves its own space, the discussion of Modalism is at hand. What really bothers me is how the discussion in the Elephant Room used this reasoning: since the majority of Christianity believes the Trinity, we know it is right.

Where the Trinity is not

No theologian or scholar claims that the Bible teaches the Trinity. They all accept it as a post-biblical discovery. Although they claim certain scriptures as “proof” of this doctrine, they still know the Trinity was defined or discussed until at least the second century and this belief did not become main-stream until the fourth century.

Barth, Bultmann, Dunn, McGrath, Bauckham, Cullman, Barnett, and many others admit there is no defensible claim for Paul or other Bible writers being Trinitarians. Therefore, it was a process of development from a very simple belief in God and Christ to a complex Christology.

This brings me to my problem with this whole discussion. Jakes is painted as having been heretical until he came to say, “Yes, I believe in a God of three persons.” Why is he not a heretic now, according to his Trinitarian mentors, but he was before, when it appears he came down the same path as people such as Tertulian and Athanasius?

Who are you calling a heretic?

If Jakes was a heretic (a charge I am not entertaining at this point, although I have ever followed him), then Paul must have been a heretic as well. If the early church did not believe in the Trinity, then they must also not have been on the “foundation of the church” as the Elephant Room conversants call the Trinity. If they were not on the foundation were they not the church.

How we believe about Jesus is the foundation of the faith. I do not think we should keep moving around the labels and redefining our understanding to align with something from the fourth century.

Other issues with the Trinity are that there is no ONE definition of the Trinity. Even though Jakes is holding hands in the Trinitarian camp now, we still do not know what he really believes for in the interview, he said, “What you call Modalism is what I call Pauline.” Does that he still believes in Modalism? Or does he think Paul was wrong?

Paul told some people who struggled with love, “ye are straitened in your own bowels” (II Corinthians 6:12, KJV). Having a hard time loving people is an indication of spiritual constipation. People who snap under pressure are often retaining way too much unforgiveness, guilt, fear, and distrust.

Are you spiritually constipated? Indications are argumentativeness, nagging, hostility, and blaming. Your prayer life might be cold. You cannot see the good in situations. You cannot feel God or sympathize with others. Many such conditions indicate a deeper problem.

God’s people need “bowels of mercies,…

kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering

so we will be

forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Colossians 3:12-13).

Impacted compassion

Recently, I discovered I had some spiritual blockage. I had wondered why my prayer time had grown so sluggish. While communicating with someone, God revealed I was holding feelings against that person. I broke down and wept. I was not praying, at first, but just shaking and sobbing uncontrollably.

If you had seen the two of us together before this, you would never know I had a problem against this person. I did not know. But when I tried to show love to this individual, I discovered my bowels of compassion could not move. After more than an hour of weeping and repenting, I felt cleansed. My whole day was different. While that person and I still share extreme differences and worldviews, I am no longer holding onto the junk I had inside.

If you do not love people as you should, you need a spiritual purge. I am not saying it should be an overnight deal. Colon cleanses usually take 30 days to help a person restore healthy innards. To keep from getting an intestinal backup again, we need lots of fiber and water.

Bulky fiber

You need to eat a lot of green vegetables to keep your body alive and your intestines scrubbed clean. Even though you cannot digest cellulose, you need it to push out all the unusable waste in your digestive tract. You have to consume a lot of pulp spiritually as well—many pages from God’s Word.

Do you read multiple chapters of the word of God everyday? If not, I am sure you are getting blocked up and probably haven’t even noticed how insensitive and retentive you are becoming.

Do you memorize new Bible verses every week? You need something to chew on to help stimulate spiritual digestive juices. Even if the verse you are working on today does not come into use in a crisis, it keeps your system in good working order.

Do you share the word of God with others? You have not begun to live until you start teaching others about Jesus. You do not even love people if you do not share truth with them. You have mistaken pity for love.

Lots of liquids

Your alimentary canal will not function properly unless you drink close to a half gallon of water everyday. What are you drinking spiritually? Jesus said the Spirit flows inside true believers like a river of living water. Are you a holy hydrant, or a constipated Christian?

Pray everyday until you are flushed with gallons of glory. If your prayer life does not move you to tears often, you are becoming impacted. Your love will not flow without repentance and worship. You can be nice without feeling it. You can give without caring. But you cannot truly live without love.

Spiritual dehydration (lack of a Spirit-filling) will kill your faith. You will resort to the lowest common denominator, doing what is necessary to get through life, but not experiencing the joy of your faith.

If your intestines are blocked up, you will not digest food properly. You will not get rid of wastes correctly and retaining them will rot out your insides with cancer and other diseases. Spiritually, if your bowels of compassion are blocked, you will not receive God’s Word like you should. Other attitudes and spiritual issues will hang on forever until you get cleansed. Flush out your system with repentant prayer, tearful forgiveness, and letting go of the past.

Healthy activity

A sedentary lifestyle (read: laziness) will not keep your gut moving properly. If you sit around a lot, your weak intestinal muscles may not be able to push through all the potato chips and popcorn you are putting in. Get in action and you might just lose some weight with a few bowel movements.

Spiritually, you have to get in action with others. If you are holding feelings against someone, get it right. Paul dealt with a church that had this issue toward him and his ministry team:

Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.

(II Corinthians 6:12-13)

The people in Corinth were plugged up. Their love was not flowing toward their pastor and founder. The apostle Paul wrote them and let them know that their retentive behavior was not because of him, but because of them. Their bowels were impacted with hurt feelings, bitterness, and gossip gone wrong. They needed a spiritual bowel movement to get free of their rotting, festering spiritual garbage.

Have you ever been offended at a brother or sister in the Lord, family member, or spiritual leader? Such things plug up your emotions. You find it hard to pray. Unforgiveness prevents your bowels of compassion from moving. You may even see people hurt or in need and not even care. If you have quit feeling for others or cannot get yourself to care anymore, you need a spiritual laxative. You need something to clean you out so you can process life again.

Goal: win believers

While I am committed to reaching the lost, I have learned that if I focus on their lostness I become dogmatic and condemning. I like to see people as potential believers until I see them respond or reject the Lord. If you live with a mind to win believers, you will find creative ways to spark faith.

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). So share a verse with someone. Instead of saying, “God’s going to give you a pounding,” perhaps sharing hope would do more for them. Use II Corinthians 5:21 to tell them that God sees them as righteous.

Study II Corinthians 5:18-21 for a while until it sinks in—Jesus came and set the world right with Himself. Everyone is right with God, but they do not experience the joy and fulfillment of that until they believe. Perhaps your family member or co-worker does not believe because you have not told her this truth.

Find ways to build faith

Speaking an encouraging word to someone who is struggling or going through a crisis is a way to build faith and hope. Tell a non-believer what God has done for you—let the word of your testimony spark faith in their souls. Even though a person may not tell you the impact you have had on them, every good seed you plant will grow.

You could simply share a scripture that spoke to you and tell the person why it is special to you. Play music that lifts up the Lord when around your friend—even if they do not sing along, it could be stirring their hunger for more of Jesus.

One of the most effective evangelism tools is not a tool at all but a lifestyle: love. When you become the image of Christ by truly caring for others and putting them first, they cannot help but covet your faith. Do not just love in word, however, but in action, complements, and listening. Give to those in need. Many people want nothing to do with the Lord because some Christians have made a name for themselves of being stingy. Jesus was not.

Experience the joy of your walk with God. If you are always grumpy and argumentative, you might as well wear a sign that says, “You are going to hell!” Learn the art of kindness and appreciation. Live something others will want. Do not put on an act—they see enough of that on TV. Let the light of His presence flood your soul until the joy shines through.

Dump your clinical Christianity

Recent evangelical movements taught Christianity that believing is a ritual. After telling a person about the Lord, you then are supposed to ask them, “Would you like to believe on the Lord?” or “…trust in Jesus?” or something similar. However, no one in the Bible did this. Faith is not something you do while you repeat a prayer from someone else’s heart. Belief happens in your heart before you even realize what is going on.

You hear the word of God and your heart leaps like John in the womb when you still do not understand what is going on. After your heart has opened to the things of God (which is an ongoing, daily process), then you make choices in keeping with such new awareness.

After Peter preached his first sermon about Jesus as Lord and the promise of the Spirit, people came to him asking what to do. He did not say, “Well, first you must believe.” That is too clinical and unnatural. He knew they had already believed or they would not have come forward and responded to the message about the Lord. He told them what to do because of their faith: renounce their sinful ways, take on the name of Jesus in baptism, and they, too, would receive the promise of the Spirit within.
Although Paul told the jailer to believe, he did not leave it at that nor did he lead him in a prayer to believe on Jesus. The apostle simply spoke the word of the Lord and we know that the sinner believed because he immediately wanted to be baptized (Acts 16:31-33).

So who needs to hear about hell?

We should not reject the doctrine of eternal punishment in a literal lake of fire. However, this message is for those who reject God. You do not inspire children to learn math by telling them if the do not learn their multiplication tables they will have to live under a bridge and eat out of trash cans. If the child refuses to study, however, showing them the darker side of their decisions can be quite useful and serve as an auxiliary motivation.

So why talk about hell at all? Who should the message of fire and brimstone motivate? Find out here.

What made her a woman of great value?  First, Ruth wanted God in her life more than anything.  She learned to cheerfully deal with difficult circumstances.  She learned to let God fight her battles.  She learned to care for her home and family.  She learned the wonder of being part of God’s plan with humanity.  She learned that true love can be found in this life and that the “heart of her husband doth safely trust in her” (Proverbs 31:11).  Ladies, it doesn’t matter your past, God can perfect you into His image.  Married or single, divorced or widowed, a woman who pursues Jesus and His plan will become a precious treasure.

Learn what the Bible really says about women in ministry and if it is a shame for them to speak in church.

Our latest addition is Levi Emmanuel Koren weighing 8 pounds 10 ounces born at 8:43 am 1-2-12. This peaceful little bundle completes our six-pack and finishes out the acronym we began working on a decade and a half ago. Here’s what our kids’ names spell out:

Daniel II

Abigail

Nathaniel

Israél

Esther

Levi

This is not the full story. Before we married, I told my wife I did not want to have kids. She said she wanted a couple or so. I told her one will take all our time so it was either zero or twelve (I had just read the biography of Frank Gilbreth called CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN). So, two years into our marriage we set to work on this plan. The first six would follow the six letters in my name and the second six would follow the letter’s in Leanne’s name. By the fourth pregnancy she said she would be fine if she did not get her name. I told her I would settle for six if she gave me another boy.

I guess that deal is settled now. What an awesome family to be a part of. Three boy and three girls.

We attempted to have them all at home with help of a midwife. Because of my wife’s rapid deliveries, no midwife ever made it for a birth. Yours truly caught everyone of them. We make a great team and if marriages are made in heaven, mine came from the pearly gates.

Anyway, this is the official birth announcement. Leanne tried to keep the pregnancy secret from as much family as possible for the fun of it. I guess it was worth the shock on some faces. Thanks for sharing our crazy story and our unspeakable joy.

Daniel

We have tried some crazy stunts. One time I hooked a tarp to the back of the truck and dragged them on it, around the yard. Another time we popped a wheelie while hauling firewood. Once we fought a half-crazed horse onto a trailer (it was funny afterward). Just last month, we made our first video together for the church Christmas play.

In the new year, I want to help my children reach new maturity levels. I want to be a better parent. I want to minister to more families by equipping dads and encouraging moms to stay true to their calling. Even in our local church, our vision is to involve the whole family and strengthen the God-created organism called “home.”

How involved were you with your family last year? What goals are you pursuing for your home? Maybe these thoughts will help you with setting right priorities for your family in the new year.

Getting a vision for parenting

I am not hosting a free room-and-board program for my kids until they are old enough to provide for themselves. God has called me to parenting (I know because He gave me children) so I can help develop them into citizens of heaven who bring Him glory in all they do. Children are not a burden but a ministry.

Modern parenting is more like a course in crisis management and logistics training. Biblical parenting is about character development by personal interaction, friendship, and growing in God together. In other words, it is a lot of fun.

When I was single, I thought I had a good walk with God. When I first got married, I had to work through a few snags, but still felt okay. I did not become a deep person in the Lord until He sent me children.

Spiritual growth comes through trials and tribulations. So far, God has sent me five of them and they are a perfect mix of my wife’s and my traits (unfortunately for them, they share too many of my faults). Before children, I could not see my own issues. Once I started seeing a reflection of my own failings in living color in my home, I got serious about growing as a person.

Getting a vision for personal growth

I can pose as religious and impress a lot of people. I can preach a good sermon and hear people swoon with appreciation. I cannot, however, keep up a pre-meditated image and polished performance at home. My family sees who I really am. More than anything else, this motivates me to be real and deep in Christ.

While I believe part of setting right priorities for the new year includes dads doing devotions with their children, I know some things may be more important than that. How I treat my kids when we are doing yard work together is far more important than what I say with a Bible in my hand. Do you want to get your kids to live right and grow up to be responsible citizens? First grow yourself.

A friend was complaining to me about his public-schooled teen who was not showing interest in the things of God. He said he tried to bring him to every church event and youth gathering but it was not working. I told him to take the boy fishing. You will do more to win your children to your faith by winning them to yourself first.

Jesus did not lecture and preach all the time. He sat in a boat with His disciples. He went camping with them. He took long walks with them. He involved them in ministry. Maybe if I spent more time doing those things with my disciples (my children) they would want to hear what I have to say when I open the Book. It’s simple: get on the trampoline with them. Let them help you make cookies (and a big mess). Take them to the park and get on the swings with them—stay away from the old folks bench!

Getting a vision for many generations

I invited an elderly widower to spend Christmas with us this year because he has no family who wanted to spend the holiday with him. He turned down the invite, but I could not help pitying him. I felt the same way about a retirement age woman whom we also invited over because she is out on the street and none of her children will help her nor even call her.

God, help me to never do whatever it is that people do to divide their families like this. I do not see my children as a bunch of kids I must raise until the joyful day they are finally out of my house. Yes, I want them out of my house and on their own as soon as they are ready, but I want to be a part of their lives. I want to be a feature, not a forgotten. I am contributing to their success because theirs is my success.

I cannot raise a together-for-the-holidays family by scolding and berating. I have to participate in their lives. I could make them hate me by sending them out to pick the green beans all summer. But as much as I hate bending over to pick anything in the garden, I do it to be a participant in their lives.

As much as my workload and schedule allow, I stay involved in the daily, boring activities of their lives. This is where true discipleship happens. This is where hard work, honesty, patience, and compassion develop. Christianity is not a textbook religion. We have too many bookish believers already who can put on the Sunday image, but drop the charade the rest of the week.

Setting right priorities for the new year with family in mind

Will you be another Steve Jobs who amazes the world yet disappoints his own children? Be another Mary or Joseph by providing a stable place for offspring who will change the world. Not just Jesus, but also their son James and their other children turned the world upside down.

I used to think my ministry as a writer and pastor was more important than my family. Then God showed me that my family was my ministry. I do whatever else I can for God after my family is taken care of. I involve them in my calling as much as possible. One day they will continue my legacy (or infamy if I so choose).

Godly fathers participate in their children’s lives, not just on birthdays and vacations, but all the time. Media, society, and work will steal all our time away from our most precious asset. My decision to be involved in the lives of my children has kept me back from some ministry opportunities. I am taking three times as long as most people to finish my master’s degree because I want to be there for my kids.

I could bring home a lot more money than I do. My education alone could earn me six figures. My work experience alone could earn me six figures. I found a job listing last year that offered to pay $200,000 a year for someone with my education and skills. The offer made it clear that the job involved a lot of travel and would not be suited for a family man. Thanks, but I’ll pass. I would rather have a morsel of bread in a house with joy than everything I want in a strife-filled home.

I know I bring home strife when I am absent from the home too much. Every kid hates the dad who is gone long hours so he can buy expensive stuff only to come home and gripe that they do not appreciate it. You cannot make up for week-long neglect by a weekend together. I will have all the time I want to get filthy rich after my kids are grown. Right now, I am setting right priorities for my family. I have to rededicate myself to these often—like every day.

When my kids have struggled with covetousness toward those with better things, I have asked them if they would rather have their parents involved in their lives or have us gone all the time making the money for them to live in luxury. They chose us, thank God!

Modern society has engineered our culture to make children an expense. My wife and I have never taken food stamps or WIC. My children are not a crisis, but a planned part of our lives. People ask me how I feed so many kids. I tell them I don’t. They feed themselves.

My wife and I have worked to restructure our lives so the children are truly an asset. We produce a lot of our own food by gardening, raising livestock, and keeping a milk cow. Everyone in the home has a vital function to keep us going.

No one is a victim who cannot actively participate in their home. Your job or life situation do not limit you. Only your desire. If you really want to put family first, God has given you the creativity to make it happen. It starts with the heart. Bring joy to each child every day.

Home education for us is more than staying away from the big, bad public school. It is a journey. We use this opportunity to appreciate God more as we learn about His world and expand our minds together. I would never let someone rob me of the opportunity to educate my children.

If you do not have a family, pray God will help you prepare for or begin that family this year. Not everyone is called to marriage and not every couple is called to have children. But support those who are. Encourage other families into teamwork and togetherness, not division and distraction.

Although we claim to love God first and foremost, we cannot truly love God with out setting right priorities for family by developing our spouses and children into His image.

These recurring questions plague us at Christmas time along with inquires about the reality of Santa Clause and other legends. Frankly I see more truth to the story of the Grinch than I do jolly St. Nicolaus. However, even though Rudolph, Blitzen, and the fat guy with a white beard are not real, there may be truth behind Comet.

What was the star in Bethlehem?

According to detailed work by Colin J. Humphreys, the star over Bethlehem was most likely a comet.[1] In history, many cultures saw comets and eclipses as signs of special events such as kings being born. In 7 BC three heavenly bodies came together three times. These planets signaled something big was coming, but these most likely were not the “star” recorded in scripture. In 6 BC a comet was seen by stargazers, but this would not have been precise enough to point to any certain location.

In the spring of 5 BC, however, a comet with a tail entered our solar system. This appearance was recorded by observers in the east. The tail would have been upward from the horizon and visible in the early morning would have made a pointer arrow toward the land of Israel if you were looking on from the east.

The magi left their home land and traveled to Palestine. The comet was visible for 70 days. The previous two years had provided signs in the heavens for the magi to take note that something big was coming. This specific indicator moved them into action.

It would have taken 60 days for them to journey to Jerusalem. They may have stopped to inquire about the new-born king because the comet disappeared into the sun as it moved south on earth’s horizon. Once they spent a couple days in Israel’s capital, they again saw the star and followed it south to where it pointed over Bethlehem.

When was Jesus Born?

Humphreys makes a strong case for Jesus having been born on the day of Passover in 5 BC, most likely Sunday night, April 14^th. Since this is the time of the comet, the ultimate Sacrifice came at the same time and arrived in the same place other sacrifices were born. Shepherds, watching over their flocks by night during this lambing season, got to worship the Lamb of God first.

After Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph would have taken Him to the temple. On their return to Bethlehem, they secured better accommodations so that when the magi arrived, they saw Him in a house (Matthew 2:11).

Some people think the magi showed up at the manger in Bethlehem and that is possible. Others say they did not show up for two years, which is also possible. However, it seems odd that God would lead them to the site two years late after the birth. The argument for the magi seeing a two-year-old Jesus comes from Herod’s orders to kill all boys two and under.

King Herod inquired of the magi when they had begun to see signs in the heavens (Matthew 2:7, 16). Since stellar irregularities began in 7 BC they would have told him signs had been appearing for two years. So, to be safe, he killed any boy in this age group. Joseph and Mary were already gone, however, as God had warned him in a dream to leave town. They stayed out of Israel until King Herod died in the spring of 4 BC. Then they returned to Nazareth.

How many wise men were there?

There may have be dozens of magi (wise men). Probably not three. It was too dangerous to travel in small companies in those days. Land pirates lurked everywhere. If you were carrying gold, I am sure you would want a large posse to protect your valuables. After the prophecy about Bethlehem and the woman giving birth, Micah 5:5 mentions seven shepherds and eight princely men. This may or may not be a reference to those who came to worship Christ.

Isaiah 60:6 tells us of a multitude of camels swarming the land when the light shone in the land. This could be a prophecy about this large group of magi bringing the “wealth of the Gentiles” (60:5) from the east, including “gold and incense” (60:6).

The magi or astrologers may not have just been primitive pagans, either. Daniel was a wise man (Daniel 2:13) and since the wise men came from the east, there is great likelihood he taught these Babylonian star gazers about the coming Messiah. There may have been more depth to their faith than we often give them credit for. The religion of Zoroastrianism lasted for many centuries probably as a lingering influence of the prophet Daniel and his One True God.

Wise men still seek Him

More important than the details then, we need to kneel before Him now. Have you laid down your greatest treasures at His feet? Have you presented yourself before Him? Or are you distracted, staring off into space, missing the messages He is trying to send you? Don’t let the story of His birth eclipse your own new birth into Him. Turn to Him with all your heart, take on His name in baptism, and let the Holy Spirit overshadow you, too (John 3:5; Acts 2:38).

In our zeal for God, we often forget God

Jesus condemned His contemporaries because they made rules that canceled out God’s desires. The Lord had ordered children to honor and care for their parents. However, these zealous folks said they could not use their money for grandma and grandpa since they had dedicated it to God. By their own rules, they blotted out God’s. Jesus said, “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9).

Religion can become our religion

I make commitments for God. However, I must never let my thinking take the place of His desires. For example, I have a policy of not giving cash to people in need. I do not want to fund someone’s drug habit. I will buy them gas or groceries but not give cash. However, God’s Word does not say I should not give cash. The Lord simply says to give what we have. He says to give what they ask of us. On a rare occasion, I will feel led of the Lord to just give and not ask why or where the money is going. It goes against my grain to think I may have just bought someone a pack of Marlboros, but I have to remember why we give in the first place.

We can make up all kinds of policies. I could offend people by being too intent on fasting when I should have been more open and social. I do not do business at convenience stores that sell pornography, yet I must be sensitive if God leads me to go in and minister to someone. I know of people who will let absolutely nothing interrupt their prayer time. What if God sent the answer to their door while they were asking? They might miss God by their own rules.

Religion of rules

Once we get started on the road of making up new rules to prove our dedication to God, we can quickly crowd Him out. I am not suggesting we not discipline ourselves. I think of myself as a very strict person (so do my kids, who wonder why they do not have the movies and video games other kids have). I do not think we can be too strict on ourselves and am certainly not suggesting we give up on holiness. However, in all our zeal to ban the world from our homes and hearts, we must keep the door open for where God wants to work.

For example, one man said, “I am a generous person, but I won’t let God touch my savings account.”

Scan your list of rules. Do any of them block out God’s intentions for you? Could there be a work He wants you to do that your rules have hindered? Have you tried to exempt yourself from His call on your life, saying, “I would never be a missionary” or whatever? Are you so devoted to your personal goals that you have exempted yourself from the family He placed you with?

Do we excuse ourselves from church attendance because of holiday traditions? Christmas should not come before Christ. When family arrives from out of town, do you skip church for them, or do you seek first the kingdom?