The Judgment Seat of Christ - A Poem by Martha Snell Nicholson

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

The Judgment Seat of Christ

Swiftly and surely comes the day

When I shall keep a tryst.

The focal point of all my life --

The judgment seat of Christ.

Shall I approach that throne with dread,

With fear and stark dismay?

What will confront me, what be read

About me on that day?

I shall not stand a prisoner

Who waits with bated breath

To bear the sentence of the Judge,

If it be life or death --

All this was settled long ago.

But rather I shall stand

A servant, waiting judgment on

The work of heart and hand;

Those works in which my soul took pride

May there be judged as hay

And burned as chaff and stubble on

That all-revealing day.

Oh may there be some little deed,

Some word for Him I said;

Some work the SPIRIT energized,

Some earnest prayer I prayed;

Something entirely free from self,

Or hope of gain, or pride.

Works done for love of Him alone --

These only shall abide.

How would I feel if I should have

No crown of gold to give,

To lay before the feet of Him

Who died that I might live?

May I live my remaining days

Remembering that tryst

Which I must keep with Him before

The judgment seat of Christ!

- by Martha Snell Nicholson

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 

Evening Song - Prepare to Meet Thy God

Amos 4:12-13 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.  

Hebrews 9:27-28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

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Evening Song - Don't Be Left Standing In the Ashes

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 

This is not a great recording of this song, but it is the only version I could find on YouTube and I wanted to share it with you all. It is a very thought provoking spiritual song.

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Letters to My Friend - Anti-Abortion Laws that Can Kill

In this Letter to My Friend I address a subject that has been a concern to me due to the recent anti-abortion laws. It may not be the most popular thing to to say in some quarters, because according to some we must never question the working of the pro-life movement in way or we'll be accused of not loving baby's lives. (Been there, done that.) This is not about disregarding the lives of babies, but it is about valuing the lives of mothers equally.

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Lately I've been reading in Genesis, and I came across a couple verses that I've thought on before. This time they struck me on a different topic, one that I've been concerned about since the Roe vs. Wade ruling was overturned. At that time I was unimpressed by the Christians who were saying that there had been a great victory for life, as if the overturning of that case automatically meant that abortion was illegal in this country. Of course, it didn't mean that at all. It only meant that the states now had the right to make their own laws based on the whims and beliefs of the "majority" in each state. As time has shown, some states will likely go farther and do more evil than even the national laws on the issue previously did.

But, that isn't the specific thing that I was thinking about in regards to these verses.

In Genesis 18, Abraham has been told by the Lord that He is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham took it upon himself to plead for the cities because he knew his nephew, Lot, was living there and he didn't want him and his family killed. At the beginning of his pleading he starts out with this observation on the nature of God: Genesis 18:24-25 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Let me tell a few personal stories:

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Fruit photo by an anonymous friend.

The Duggar Disaster: Was the Reality Show Ever A Good Idea?

Romans 16:17-18 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. 

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. 

Well, the time has come to address this subject yet again. Aside from the post about not blaming wives for their husband's sin, I have frankly been avoiding it for some time because it is simply so unsavory. But, since I had written about it before and warned readers not to defend the Duggars or put them on a pedestal, it seems like it is time to bring it up again in light of Josh's conviction for possessing and downloading CSAM (child sexual abuse material). 

My emotions are mixed. I am sad and disgusted. Sad for the family members who had to learn in a court setting about what Josh had actually done all those years ago to his sisters, and what he has been doing recently. Disgusted with Jim Bob for lying under oath in court during the pre-trial evidential hearing - lying about what happened to his daughters in order to cover for his son, thus showing the world how much he truly values his girls. Disgusted for the way some of the family behaved. Disgusted especially for how Josh's defense team was given reign to pull all kinds of tricks to try to get him off on a mistrial or exonerated without ever addressing the fact that the material was on his hard drive in a place where he had the skills and knowledge to access it. 

I was also revolted and sickened at the enormity of his crime, the horror beyond words of what had happened to those children, and that Josh was to all appearances finding enjoyment in this. Also sickened that his parents, in their statement, disassociated him from these crimes and gave only distanced sorrow to "all children" who are victims of CSAM. The children he was watching are real, mostly living people, not a generalized nebulous group.

I'm also a little hopeful. I hope that more of the Duggar kids will break loose through this and that all would learn to follow the Lord Himself and to be doers of the word of God instead of following Jim Bob and doing and believing Jim Bob's word. Again, I'm sad they had to learn all these horrible things in this public way, and that they had to learn that their dad/father-in-law is a liar in such a public manner, but maybe the Lord knows that is the only way some of them would have ever learned it and (hopefully) separated from the ungodliness. And also, I deeply hope that more of them will have the guts and determination to keep Josh away from their own children always and in every way.

So much for my feelings on the subject - for whatever they are worth.

To begin with, it seemed like a good idea to revisit the issue of whether the reality show was ever a good idea for a Christian family in the first place. I have made additions and rewritten parts of this article.

What About the Duggars?
What the Reality Show Ever A Good Idea?

Of Teeth and Judging

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Recently something that happened to me years ago came to my mind and I realized it was a parable.

When I was growing up my dad had the idea that dentists promoted 6 month cleanings of teeth because they wanted to make money. He thought that if you brushed and flossed “properly” you didn’t need to have your teeth cleaned very often at all. He was not alone in thinking this. It seemed logical at the time, but I now know that regular professional cleaning does serve a useful purpose.

My family was living at poverty level most of the time back then and had no insurance, so we couldn’t afford to go to the dentist for anything but real issues anyway. Our dentist then was a Christian and did volunteer work in Africa yearly, so he understood people who couldn’t afford much dental care. He was patient and helpful.

It was sometime in my mid-teens when my grandparents were staying with us that I happened to mention to my grandpa that I had trouble cleaning the back of my lower front teeth. I had to scrape them with my fingernail or rub them with a towel to get them to feel clean on the inside. When I told him this he may have questioned me a little, but then his comment was, “It sounds like laziness to me.”

Needless to say, I was hurt. I was trying hard to clean my teeth properly. I felt like I was making an effort, and yet he had judged me of being lazy. (Let me say here that I am not trying to defame my grandpa on this point. We all say things like this from time to time without thinking and he was not one to always respond in this manner.)

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Vintage graphic: The Graphics Fairy.