Gotta Serve Somebody
1 Kings 18:1-19:5 . . . After a long time, in the third year (of the great drought), the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.” So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.
As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?” “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
“What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ I don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth. Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”
Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs (about 24 pounds) of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood.
Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
Isaiah 41:21-24 (NLT) . . . “Present the case for your idols,” says the LORD. “Let them show what they can do,” says the King of Israel. “Let them try to tell us what happened long ago so that we may consider the evidence. Or let them tell us what the future holds, so we can know what’s going to happen. Yes, tell us what will occur in the days ahead. Then we will know you are gods. In fact, do anything—good or bad! Do something that will amaze and frighten us. But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. Those who choose you pollute themselves.
The Incredible Faith of Bob Dylan
By Leslie White
Bob Dylan has been a significant figure in pop culture for more than 50 years and is one of the most influential songwriters of the 20th century. He is best known for songs that chronicle social and political issues. The legendary singer-songwriter received Grammy, Academy, and Golden Globe awards, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Nobel Prize for Literature.
The Jewish-born, iconic musician accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in the late '70s. He surprised everybody by declaring that he had become a born-again Christian. To be born-again means "born from above." When you are born again, you experience a spiritual transformation, a total change of heart.
After converting to Christianity, he went through a discipleship course at a Southern California Calvary Chapel. Dylan also released two gospel albums: "Slow Train Coming" and "Saved." Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" was a commercial hit and won Dylan his first Grammy Award.
Thousands of fans were outraged following his public declaration of faith. According to writer and musician Michael Simmons, their reasons at the time were clear. "Dylan represented free-thinking, anti-establishment values, you know, 'don't follow leaders'. And here he was following the ultimate leader," Simmons said. "He was basically saying it was Jesus' way or the highway. The old rap — you either follow Jesus or you go to hell," Simmons continued.
During one of Dylan's tours, fans protested, and people walked out. One concert-goer held up a sign: "Jesus loves your old songs". Critics were also blistering. A journalist from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Dylan has written some of the most banal and uninspired songs of his career for his Jesus phase."
In the early '80s, rumors began to surface that Dylan renounced Christianity. This belief followed a fourth "Christian" album failing to materialize which also fueled rumors that he was no longer a man of faith. Around this time, Dylan's religious leanings became less overt in his music. Al Kasha, a Messianic Jew who led Dylan to Christ, believes the singer-songwriter never lost his faith, according to a Godreports blog by Dan Wooding.
"I am absolutely thrilled that Bob has shown through this new record that he has never lost God's calling in life. He's never given up," Kasha said, about the album. "I get upset when people think that he has because you don't write all these songs just out there," Kasha said. "It takes time to write them and they're all about Christ so I've said this in the past - the media has hurt rather than helped him."
In 2016, a handwritten letter reflecting a strong Christian faith by Dylan went up for auction, CBN News reported. This letter was written around 1980 to a friend named Steve. In the letter, Dylan writes, "We are up in Toronto singing and playing for about 3,000 people a night in a downtown theatre – The Spirit of the Lord is calling people here in their beautiful and clean city but they are more interested in lining up to see Apocalypse Now than to be baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost."
Dylan continues his letter to Steve, "Wanna thank you for that Bible as it is helpful in discovering a few phrases from and shedding more light on what the King James version reads – God will lift up your heart as you begin to realize that 'He through Christ has reconciled man unto Himself' (II Corinthians)."
There are many Christianity references in the letter. "You will be strong in the Lord and seeing that looks are deceiving, you will work miracles that way – He has called you to be a saint, and your responsibility is to him and him alone." Dylan wrote. "Be praying and not looking back no more – press on toward what is ahead – I send love to you and will pray for strength and more strength for you." Dylan concluded the letter, "Always in the name of Jesus Christ Son of God, Manifest in the flesh," a bold profession of faith.
Dylan's conversion to Christianity was reportedly so unpopular that John Lennon recorded a track called "Serve Yourself" as a parody of Dylan's 1979 song. In 2012, after years of many speculating over his faith, Dylan reported that he still believed in Jesus.
To convert means "to turn." When we turn towards one thing, we, by necessity, turn away from something else. The Bible describes "repentance" as a change of mind about sin and a change of mind about Jesus, and then a turning to Jesus in faith. Dylan converted to Christianity and shared his faith and love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ both publicly and privately. As a result, he built a closer relationship with God. When we turn to Jesus, our lives turn around.
The Last Words Preached by Charles Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon, known as the Prince of Preachers, preached his first sermon in December 1853 to London’s largest Baptist congregation at New Park Street. It wasn’t long before his powerful messages caused the church to outgrow its 1,200 seat auditorium. The church moved a couple times before the 1861 dedication of the current Metropolitan Tabernacle where Spurgeon spoke to 6,000 attendees every Sunday for 30 years, preaching to more than 10,000,000 in his lifetime.
On June 7, 1891 Spurgeon preached his very last sermon, due to rapidly declining health. He died just 7 months later. After a lifetime of preaching, the following are the moving last words from that sermon spoken to his congregation:
Every man must serve somebody: we have no choice as to that fact. Those who have no master are slaves to themselves. Depend upon it, you will either serve Satan or Christ, either self or the Savior. You will find sin, self, Satan, and the world to be hard masters; but if you wear the livery of Christ, you will find him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest unto your souls. He is the most magnanimous of captains. There never was his like among the choicest of princes. He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle. When the wind blows cold he always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders. If he bids us carry a burden, he carries it also. If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind, and tender, yea lavish and super abundant in love, you always find it in him. These forty years and more have I served him, blessed be his name! and I have had nothing but love from him. I would be glad to continue yet another forty years in the same dear service here below if so it pleased him. His service is life, peace, joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day! Amen.
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