Jan 2012
Dog Treats
Tuesday, January 31 2012
I bought my dog a bag of beef sticks for snacks. I had planned to keep them in a drawer in my desk but when I opened the bag a cloud of garlic aroma wafted from that bag with such intensity my eyes rolled back into my head. I gave her a couple and later decided to play Dagwood Bumstead by taking a nap on our couch. I wasn’t too long zoned out to the world when I was startled to consciousness by an overwhelming foul cloud. Opening my eyes I found myself staring into two dark eyes a few inches from my nose. She wanted more as she gave me that “cocked head, pathetic, adorable, poor me” look. When you love someone or something, people and pets take on a completely different perspective. I got her another one.
You know the old saying one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Well there is a corollary saying, “One man’s stench is another man’s perfume.” Just stop at a perfume sample counter at the mall. Some are great and some are, well, not so great. We are not very consistent about smells. If we are hungry almost anything food smells great. If we are nauseous the best smells in the world make us even sicker.
I am sure sometimes our behaviors and attitudes reek in the courts of heaven. Yet, His love for us enables Him to continually reach out to us. He does not offer perfume to mask our odor. Instead He offers a transformation of being. By His grace and with His power we are enabled to do sweet smelling acts of love as we become more and more like Him.
You know the old saying one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Well there is a corollary saying, “One man’s stench is another man’s perfume.” Just stop at a perfume sample counter at the mall. Some are great and some are, well, not so great. We are not very consistent about smells. If we are hungry almost anything food smells great. If we are nauseous the best smells in the world make us even sicker.
I am sure sometimes our behaviors and attitudes reek in the courts of heaven. Yet, His love for us enables Him to continually reach out to us. He does not offer perfume to mask our odor. Instead He offers a transformation of being. By His grace and with His power we are enabled to do sweet smelling acts of love as we become more and more like Him.
Cliffhangers
Monday, January 30 2012
Sundays were wonderful when I was a boy. It was my day with my dad. When the weather was nice we headed for the mountains with our dog. When it was cold and messy we went to the movies. Those were the days when they screened cliffhangers. For quite a while I thought they were awesome. The hero would be left dangling in the most precarious situations possible with no way of escape and the film would end. We had to come back next week to see how he got away. As I got older I caught on that the beginning of next week’s episode was not nearly as frightening as had been portrayed.
In the years that passed I have met innumerable people who are cliffhangers. They say they are Christians but refuse to accept the gift of salvation. They are still trying to earn it and are never sure if they are good enough or have done enough. If you ask them if they are saved they respond with “I hope so.” What a miserable way to live! They want Jesus to come but are scared they will be left behind. So where is the joy of salvation? Where is the peace that Jesus promises?
Life is one great cliffhanger.
Why is it so difficult just to trust Him and take Him at His word? He promised, “He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” It’s a promise the enemy doesn’t want us to think about. If we really do accept it, life ceases to be a cliffhanger. We don’t have to come back next week to know what is going to happen. We know and it’s great.
In the years that passed I have met innumerable people who are cliffhangers. They say they are Christians but refuse to accept the gift of salvation. They are still trying to earn it and are never sure if they are good enough or have done enough. If you ask them if they are saved they respond with “I hope so.” What a miserable way to live! They want Jesus to come but are scared they will be left behind. So where is the joy of salvation? Where is the peace that Jesus promises?
Life is one great cliffhanger.
Why is it so difficult just to trust Him and take Him at His word? He promised, “He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” It’s a promise the enemy doesn’t want us to think about. If we really do accept it, life ceases to be a cliffhanger. We don’t have to come back next week to know what is going to happen. We know and it’s great.
The Pretty White Pickup Truck
Thursday, January 26 2012
I have a neighbor with a really pretty white pickup. As my dog and I were on our daily walk we passed his house and a man was in the driveway. I assumed it was the owner so I stopped to comment on the pickup. “No,” the man said, “I’m a repairman. That’s not my truck.” Now the truck was unusually dirty. It was covered with salt and sand – winter road grime. So I said, “It’s a shame to have such a pretty truck be so dirty.” The repairman laughed and said, “If you think the truck is dirty you should see the inside of the house.” Oops. I guess it’s true we shouldn’t judge a book (house) by its cover.
One of Jesus’ more powerful metaphors is found in Matthew 23. He thundered, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
My temptation here is to do some thundering of my own about television evangelists who are constantly begging for money and promising outrageous things. Last night I heard one say if some poor soul out there would send him money their mortgage would be canceled. But I will resist the temptation to go there and instead focus more on us normal people. Society expects us to be polite. We really shouldn’t go around revealing all our inner nastiness. Instead we need to become inside the way we project ourselves outside. We can do that. Paul promises us that Christ will strengthen us and help us clean house. Let’s do it.
One of Jesus’ more powerful metaphors is found in Matthew 23. He thundered, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
My temptation here is to do some thundering of my own about television evangelists who are constantly begging for money and promising outrageous things. Last night I heard one say if some poor soul out there would send him money their mortgage would be canceled. But I will resist the temptation to go there and instead focus more on us normal people. Society expects us to be polite. We really shouldn’t go around revealing all our inner nastiness. Instead we need to become inside the way we project ourselves outside. We can do that. Paul promises us that Christ will strengthen us and help us clean house. Let’s do it.
Saved From the Mailman
Wednesday, January 25 2012
The only sound I hear this evening is my dog snoring. It’s not a harsh raspy snore. It’s a very soft gentle sound that says, “I like it here. I feel safe here.” She is curled up about a foot or so from my desk and her snore is music. It’s a totally different sound than when the mailman comes. I don’t know why she hates the mailman. She hears his truck two mailboxes away and starts to growl. By the time he arrives she is often in a frenzy that instantly dies the moment he pulls away. She looks at me as if to say, “There. I saved you one more time.”
I have heard those words before. I have heard them innumerable times from Jesus. “There.” He says to me, “I saved you.” (He doesn’t say “one more time.” He doesn’t rub it in.) The problem isn’t Him throwing me out of the Kingdom. It’s me drifting away and suddenly waking up to my need to come home again. Then it is that I hear, “There. I saved you.”
Will He ever stop? No. The issue is me making Him say it. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to leave you with the idea that He is capricious. He is so stable. I also don’t want to give the idea that heaven has a revolving door. Not at all. It’s a solid place. I don’t believe every time I disappointment Him He throws me out. He would be a horrible Savior if that happened. It isn’t a matter of individual acts. It is a condition of my not caring and my getting so focused on other things that I am the one who opened the door and left. The wonder is, like my dog, He is always there to save me from the mailman.
I have heard those words before. I have heard them innumerable times from Jesus. “There.” He says to me, “I saved you.” (He doesn’t say “one more time.” He doesn’t rub it in.) The problem isn’t Him throwing me out of the Kingdom. It’s me drifting away and suddenly waking up to my need to come home again. Then it is that I hear, “There. I saved you.”
Will He ever stop? No. The issue is me making Him say it. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to leave you with the idea that He is capricious. He is so stable. I also don’t want to give the idea that heaven has a revolving door. Not at all. It’s a solid place. I don’t believe every time I disappointment Him He throws me out. He would be a horrible Savior if that happened. It isn’t a matter of individual acts. It is a condition of my not caring and my getting so focused on other things that I am the one who opened the door and left. The wonder is, like my dog, He is always there to save me from the mailman.
Really? Yeah. Really.
Tuesday, January 24 2012
In his letter to the Philippians Paul wrote, “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Really? Really? What about the day he was stoned and left for dead? What about the night they secreted him out of a city by lowering him in a basket? There were shipwrecks and finally prison. Maybe the key to this statement is the word “learned.” Perhaps he wasn’t so content the day a snake bit him. What about the disagreements he had with Peter and some of the other brethren? This has to be something he learned and I am guessing it was later in life.
He also says two verses later, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” None of us are born this way, especially when he was Saul running about the country killing Christians. The truth is Jesus made an enormous change in his life. The change was so great we don’t even call him Saul any more. He is Paul, the man who grew in Jesus.
If Jesus can do that for someone so impassioned we need to take heart for ourselves. If we think life isn’t working for us Jesus can change our perspective and teach us contentment. Do we think we aren’t getting the recognition and appreciation for how great we do our job? Surely one of the most difficult arenas is getting along with stubborn people who continually irritate us. We wish we didn’t have to be near them and yet we do. Jesus can teach us contentment. And just how is this possible? Jesus will strengthen us for the challenge. We can do all things. Really? Really? Yeah. Really.
He also says two verses later, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” None of us are born this way, especially when he was Saul running about the country killing Christians. The truth is Jesus made an enormous change in his life. The change was so great we don’t even call him Saul any more. He is Paul, the man who grew in Jesus.
If Jesus can do that for someone so impassioned we need to take heart for ourselves. If we think life isn’t working for us Jesus can change our perspective and teach us contentment. Do we think we aren’t getting the recognition and appreciation for how great we do our job? Surely one of the most difficult arenas is getting along with stubborn people who continually irritate us. We wish we didn’t have to be near them and yet we do. Jesus can teach us contentment. And just how is this possible? Jesus will strengthen us for the challenge. We can do all things. Really? Really? Yeah. Really.
If I Were a Bell
Monday, January 23 2012
When I was very little before we moved to the country I loved Sunday mornings. One of the local churches rang the bell in their steeple to call people to worship. It was so beautiful as it echoed through the neighborhood. I have loved church bells ever since. Sometimes while waiting for a traffic light in town church bells begin. I quickly open the car windows to get the full effect. Bells can be pealed for joyous occasions such as a wedding. Bells can be tolled for sad occasions. One of the famous lines in literature is by John Dunne, “Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Or bells can be rung just to tell us it is noon.
If I were a bell I would peal instead of toll. On occasion I hear sermons filled with gloom and doom. Instead I would peal the love of our Jesus and the transforming power of His grace to make us better people. We have so much to peal. Why burden people with bad news? They get loads of that from CNN, NBC and FOX. Sometimes we wonder why attendance at church is low. Could it be that people come weary and leave even more so? The Gospels are the GOOD NEWS.
Recently I read an interesting article about ten ways the world can come to an end. It covered everything from volcanoes to nuclear war. However, the best way wasn’t mentioned. So let us peal it out loud and clear. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
If I were a bell I would peal instead of toll. On occasion I hear sermons filled with gloom and doom. Instead I would peal the love of our Jesus and the transforming power of His grace to make us better people. We have so much to peal. Why burden people with bad news? They get loads of that from CNN, NBC and FOX. Sometimes we wonder why attendance at church is low. Could it be that people come weary and leave even more so? The Gospels are the GOOD NEWS.
Recently I read an interesting article about ten ways the world can come to an end. It covered everything from volcanoes to nuclear war. However, the best way wasn’t mentioned. So let us peal it out loud and clear. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
The Hypocrite
Friday, January 20 2012
I was sitting in a waiting room this morning that had one of the machines that makes almost instant hot coffee. You take a small container and insert it in the top, close the lid, press a button and almost instantly coffee flows out. A very tall old guy came over to use it and my wife said to him, “Pretty amazing machine.” To which he responded, “They are wasteful. They are not good for the environment and contribute to the destruction of our world. That is one expensive cup of coffee.” He then made himself a free cup of hazelnut flavored coffee. If I had been up for a confrontation I would have, should have, called him a hypocrite.
We shouldn’t be allowed to have it both ways. If we want to complain about something we should live accordingly. Jesus certainly had words for such people. Matthew 23 is full of Jesus’ indignation over such. Here’s a sample. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are liken unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
One of Shakespeare’s most quoted lines comes from Hamlet. “The lady doth protest too much.” In psychology we call it a reaction formation. It is defined as when a person is guilty of something and yet strongly crusades against his or her problem. Preachers need to be careful about denouncing something over and over because it soon becomes apparent they have a related problem. While we should not fear to call out sinful behavior that is harming someone, we also need to understand ourselves and why we are saying what we are saying.
We shouldn’t be allowed to have it both ways. If we want to complain about something we should live accordingly. Jesus certainly had words for such people. Matthew 23 is full of Jesus’ indignation over such. Here’s a sample. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are liken unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
One of Shakespeare’s most quoted lines comes from Hamlet. “The lady doth protest too much.” In psychology we call it a reaction formation. It is defined as when a person is guilty of something and yet strongly crusades against his or her problem. Preachers need to be careful about denouncing something over and over because it soon becomes apparent they have a related problem. While we should not fear to call out sinful behavior that is harming someone, we also need to understand ourselves and why we are saying what we are saying.
The Donut Store Hold-Up Guy
Thursday, January 19 2012
The same man held up the same donut store in our town three times in two weeks. He was finally captured when the employee with the headset asked a drive-up customer to dial 911. Either this man needs to go to jail or to a learning facility. Then again perhaps he is smarter than we think! It is very cold here. Winter has arrived and jail is a warm room, a bed and three meals a day. His clothes are provided and he doesn’t have to get up in the morning and go to work. Humm? The more I think about it the more I think he wanted to get caught.
I wonder what the judge will do with him. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to judge righteously and fairly. It seems it would be difficult not to become calloused to all the nonsense and evil. Why would someone want such a job? It is something we need and thankfully there are some willing to do so. Then again I know many people who do a lot of judging when they really should mind their own business.
In I Corinthians 6 Paul speaks of us judging the world and angels. Considering the fact that Jesus will judge the world I have to conclude that Paul means we will have an opportunity to evaluate Jesus’ decisions regarding people we know. Should we discover someone we love is not with us in heaven Jesus gives us the opportunity to check the records and thus understand His judgment was righteous. Difficult as this would be, it hast to be lest we spend eternity thinking Jesus made a mistake. That would have awful consequences.
I hope the donut shop holdup man enjoys his warm accommodations.
I wonder what the judge will do with him. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to judge righteously and fairly. It seems it would be difficult not to become calloused to all the nonsense and evil. Why would someone want such a job? It is something we need and thankfully there are some willing to do so. Then again I know many people who do a lot of judging when they really should mind their own business.
In I Corinthians 6 Paul speaks of us judging the world and angels. Considering the fact that Jesus will judge the world I have to conclude that Paul means we will have an opportunity to evaluate Jesus’ decisions regarding people we know. Should we discover someone we love is not with us in heaven Jesus gives us the opportunity to check the records and thus understand His judgment was righteous. Difficult as this would be, it hast to be lest we spend eternity thinking Jesus made a mistake. That would have awful consequences.
I hope the donut shop holdup man enjoys his warm accommodations.
A Governmental Issue
Wednesday, January 18 2012
The esteemed historian Will Durant wrote, “Since men love freedom, and the freedom of individuals in society requires some regulation of conduct, the first condition of freedom is its limitation; make it absolute and it dies in chaos. So the prime task of government is to establish order; . . .” The statement echoes Paul in Galatians 5. In verse 1 Paul declares that we have been set free by the sacrifice of Jesus. As he continues on he warns us not to use our freedom foolishly or we will end up consuming ourselves. “For you, brethren, were called for freedom; only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another.” 13-15
Christ has set us free from the obligations of the law. Instead of the law being a standard of conduct to earn salvation, it has become an instructional tool for those of us who need to be taught how to behave in a loving manner. If I love you I will not steal from you. If I love you I will not tell bad stories about you. It is for us who are conduct challenged. In II Corinthians 5:14 Paul wrote that “the love of Christ compels us” to do the right thing.
Freedom is not license to feed out lower nature and harm others. As we can see from the above quote from Will Durant, this is not just a spiritual issue. It is a governmental issue both in kingdoms of man and also in God’s.
Christ has set us free from the obligations of the law. Instead of the law being a standard of conduct to earn salvation, it has become an instructional tool for those of us who need to be taught how to behave in a loving manner. If I love you I will not steal from you. If I love you I will not tell bad stories about you. It is for us who are conduct challenged. In II Corinthians 5:14 Paul wrote that “the love of Christ compels us” to do the right thing.
Freedom is not license to feed out lower nature and harm others. As we can see from the above quote from Will Durant, this is not just a spiritual issue. It is a governmental issue both in kingdoms of man and also in God’s.
Safe to Save
Tuesday, January 17 2012
She looked to be about ten years old and her maternal instincts were soaring as she came out of the pet store. Cradled in her arms was a plastic bag filled with water. I never did see the fish because she was doing her best to protect it from the single digit temperature in the parking lot. No mother hen was more attentive than she. How could I not but think of Luke 13:34? Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killed the prophets, and stoned them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”
It was Jesus who led the children of Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. It was Jesus who supplied them with water from the rock and manna each morning. For 1500 years He had cared for them and now when He came to them they would not have Him. He did not meet their expectations of what the Messiah was to be.
Often times our loving, caring God does not meet our expectations. When horrible things happen to good people we have to remind ourselves that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. He would love to save us from all pain and suffering but He is involved in a great war with evil. The ultimate victory will only come when we and the universe see where sin and selfishness take us. There are intellectual issues raised by Lucifer that must be resolved so sin will be ended forever. Only then will we be safe to save. We must never be allowed to carry our disease to the rest of God’s kingdom.
It was Jesus who led the children of Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. It was Jesus who supplied them with water from the rock and manna each morning. For 1500 years He had cared for them and now when He came to them they would not have Him. He did not meet their expectations of what the Messiah was to be.
Often times our loving, caring God does not meet our expectations. When horrible things happen to good people we have to remind ourselves that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. He would love to save us from all pain and suffering but He is involved in a great war with evil. The ultimate victory will only come when we and the universe see where sin and selfishness take us. There are intellectual issues raised by Lucifer that must be resolved so sin will be ended forever. Only then will we be safe to save. We must never be allowed to carry our disease to the rest of God’s kingdom.
"That's All Folks"
Monday, January 16 2012
I’m going to guess when 99% of us hear “That’s all folks” we immediately think of the conclusion to a Loony Tunes cartoon. Usually it’s Porky signing off but occasionally Bugs has the honors. For a few moments the thought crossed my mind that we will never hear “That’s all folks” in heaven because there will be a never ending supply of life, health, learning, talent development, etc. No matter how skilled we get at a particular task there will be more time for more honing.
Then it occurred to me that we will indeed hear “That’s all folks.” When the topic of death arises we can safely say with no possibility of correction, “That’s all folks.” As for pain, “That’s all folks.” As for crime, “That’s all folks.” How about sickness and disease? “That’s all folks.”
When I was a little guy I loved cartoons (still do) and was always just a bit disappointed to hear “That’s all folks.” I wanted the cartoon to continue. I never got (get) tired of Bugs outwitting Elmer Fudd and hearing Elmer say, “You wascal wabbit.” There are certain things that are timeless and I have to disagree with Paul’s comment in I Corinthians 13. Now that I am a man I still have not put away all my childish things. Maybe it’s a male thing. My wife really couldn’t care less about cartoons. But I have occasionally seen her changing clothes on Samantha, her American Girl Doll. Often when I am visiting someone in a nursing home I see a little old lady holding a doll. Or is it a dolly?
I was going to close with “That’s all folks.” But I will write again tomorrow.
Then it occurred to me that we will indeed hear “That’s all folks.” When the topic of death arises we can safely say with no possibility of correction, “That’s all folks.” As for pain, “That’s all folks.” As for crime, “That’s all folks.” How about sickness and disease? “That’s all folks.”
When I was a little guy I loved cartoons (still do) and was always just a bit disappointed to hear “That’s all folks.” I wanted the cartoon to continue. I never got (get) tired of Bugs outwitting Elmer Fudd and hearing Elmer say, “You wascal wabbit.” There are certain things that are timeless and I have to disagree with Paul’s comment in I Corinthians 13. Now that I am a man I still have not put away all my childish things. Maybe it’s a male thing. My wife really couldn’t care less about cartoons. But I have occasionally seen her changing clothes on Samantha, her American Girl Doll. Often when I am visiting someone in a nursing home I see a little old lady holding a doll. Or is it a dolly?
I was going to close with “That’s all folks.” But I will write again tomorrow.
Winter Visitors
Saturday, January 14 2012
We have two visitors who seem to be comfortable in our woods despite our very threatened dog. They have been with us for almost two weeks. It’s hunting season. I think they feel secure close to a house. This morning upon seeing them and telling them this was her woods our black lab promptly squeezed in between me and the bathroom sink. Perhaps she should stay close to me. A few years ago when we lived in Northern California I looked out the window to see our cocker spaniel come tearing out of the woods with a large deer hot on her tail.
Tomorrow evening the temperature will drop into the single digits. I find myself wanting to invite them inside where it will be warm. However, I know they will be just fine. This afternoon I watched them experience a thirty mile per hour wind gust and they paid no more attention to it than they had the two gray squirrels that scurried between their legs earlier this morning. I’m still waiting to see a moose which my neighbors tell me they have seen.
God was very busy the sixth day of creation. Our world teems with a huge variety of life forms. It is no wonder He finished that day with the pronouncement, “That is very good.” Yes, it was. Now that astronomers are able to spot planets moving around suns thousands of light years away they have announced this week that there are more planets in the universe than suns. If only one ninth of them are as lovely as our earth we have many places to visit. As Robert Frost once said, “and miles to go before I sleep.”
Snowpeople
Friday, January 13 2012
Winter has finally arrived. We awakened this morning to a lovely white blanket covering our brownish yard and the maple and birch branches were outlined in white against the backdrop of a gray sky. It is a heavy wet snow and perfect for snowballs. It packs nicely and has given birth to a new population. Here and there one will spot a portly fellow with a corncob pipe and long thin orange nose.
It’s a temporary population very susceptible to some promised 40 degree days. Like people going into a sauna they will rapidly lose weight, but unlike most people they will not regain it the next day. We also are a temporary population. Our 70 plus years are as fleeting as Mr. Snowman. We melt away and our molecules will most likely once again be used in another human or perhaps a snowman.
If all there is to life is this temporal experience one has to ask why. Of what use or value is this other than a few years of happiness if we are fortunate? I genuinely feel sorry for very bright people who have no hope beyond here. They learn many languages. They get many degrees. Then it all goes the same place Mr. Snowman went. Solomon speaks of its futility. I want so much for them to understand we have an incredible God who wants to build on what they have accomplished. There awaits a never-ending acquisition of knowledge and to speak a multitude of languages without Star Trek’s universal translator button. There is so much science to learn, so many poems to write, so many essays to study and so many places to visit.
Alas, without Jesus we are merely snowpeople.
It’s a temporary population very susceptible to some promised 40 degree days. Like people going into a sauna they will rapidly lose weight, but unlike most people they will not regain it the next day. We also are a temporary population. Our 70 plus years are as fleeting as Mr. Snowman. We melt away and our molecules will most likely once again be used in another human or perhaps a snowman.
If all there is to life is this temporal experience one has to ask why. Of what use or value is this other than a few years of happiness if we are fortunate? I genuinely feel sorry for very bright people who have no hope beyond here. They learn many languages. They get many degrees. Then it all goes the same place Mr. Snowman went. Solomon speaks of its futility. I want so much for them to understand we have an incredible God who wants to build on what they have accomplished. There awaits a never-ending acquisition of knowledge and to speak a multitude of languages without Star Trek’s universal translator button. There is so much science to learn, so many poems to write, so many essays to study and so many places to visit.
Alas, without Jesus we are merely snowpeople.
Sometimes I Forget
Thursday, January 12 2012
Some years ago I was driving across the Indiana Turnpike and realized I was close to the university I had attended and if I tuned the radio to the university station I could hear the weekly church service. Much to my delight when the speaker was introduced I knew him. In the next few minutes my delight turned into keen interest for the sermon was one I had written. A year or so prior the speaker’s brother asked if I could help him out with a half dozen sermons. Apparently he had passed them on. As I listened I was sure somewhere in that sermon due credit would be given. It wasn’t.
Was I miffed? Yeah, I was. But the more I thought about it the more I understood how wrong it was for me to be miffed. Number one – I gave it away. Number two – I have never had an original idea in my whole life. Everything I have ever written or spoken has been taken from others. All I ever do is repackage the ideas with different words. And number three – the whole point is to bring glory to God for giving us Jesus and saving us. Why was I wanting the glory? I really needed to put things into perspective. It wasn’t about me. It was and always is about Jesus.
By the time I got halfway across Ohio I had it pretty much worked out. I remembered Revelation 5:12. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.”
Many times since I have reminded myself that it isn’t about me. It’s all about Jesus. At least it’s supposed to be. Sometimes I forget.
Was I miffed? Yeah, I was. But the more I thought about it the more I understood how wrong it was for me to be miffed. Number one – I gave it away. Number two – I have never had an original idea in my whole life. Everything I have ever written or spoken has been taken from others. All I ever do is repackage the ideas with different words. And number three – the whole point is to bring glory to God for giving us Jesus and saving us. Why was I wanting the glory? I really needed to put things into perspective. It wasn’t about me. It was and always is about Jesus.
By the time I got halfway across Ohio I had it pretty much worked out. I remembered Revelation 5:12. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.”
Many times since I have reminded myself that it isn’t about me. It’s all about Jesus. At least it’s supposed to be. Sometimes I forget.
Priorities
Wednesday, January 11 2012
One of the enjoyable things in the Gospels are the miscellaneous details. An example would be the 153 large fish in the disciple’s nets in John 21. One of my favorites isn’t a number it’s an aside in Luke 8. Jesus had just raised Jairus’s little girl from death and He instructed her parents to get her something to eat. I realize it is no big deal, especially in comparison to her resurrection, but it tells me so much about Jesus’ care for people.
Real religion isn’t about taboos, food and ceremonies. Paul wrote in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Real religion is what Jesus’ brother James wrote in 1:27. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” I once witnessed one of the “saints” (?), who would die before he touched a ham sandwich, tell his daughter she had to get out of their home. Talk about missing the point.
Some are going to be so surprised to meet people in heaven who never ascribed to any list of doctrinal points. They “merely” loved, cared for and fed people around them. “Merely?” I wonder if WE also have missed the point with our list about the Trinity, baptism, state of the dead, etc. Lest I receive emails regarding this I do think beliefs are important. My point is priorities. Paul does say scripture is profitable for doctrine. It’s just how much importance we place on such. Obviously the historic church has thought it to be important. They burned heretics.
Real religion isn’t about taboos, food and ceremonies. Paul wrote in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Real religion is what Jesus’ brother James wrote in 1:27. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” I once witnessed one of the “saints” (?), who would die before he touched a ham sandwich, tell his daughter she had to get out of their home. Talk about missing the point.
Some are going to be so surprised to meet people in heaven who never ascribed to any list of doctrinal points. They “merely” loved, cared for and fed people around them. “Merely?” I wonder if WE also have missed the point with our list about the Trinity, baptism, state of the dead, etc. Lest I receive emails regarding this I do think beliefs are important. My point is priorities. Paul does say scripture is profitable for doctrine. It’s just how much importance we place on such. Obviously the historic church has thought it to be important. They burned heretics.
Extremism
Tuesday, January 10 2012
Once again the hate-filled Westboro Baptist Church plans to dishonor another fallen American soldier with their bile laden picket signs. Their mantra is “Thank God for IEDs” as they call our military dead “fallen fools.”
On December 26 in Israel a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews spat on a little girl and called her a prostitute because they deemed her shirtsleeves to be immodest.
Each week we hear news of suicide bombers in the Middle East killing people who are not their flavor of Islam.
How is it that the one thing in our lives that should make us better people instead fosters extremism, hatred and cruelty? Extremism is a vice that eats away at our humanity and turns us into subhuman creatures willing to do anything. Often times religious people frighten me. If a man thinks he is doing God’s will by killing me he will do it with a smile on his face. They are more frightening than “bad people” who merely want my wallet.
It does not matter if one calls oneself a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim, if one’s religious experience does not make one a more loving, more generous or more peaceful person they are deceived and are children of the disgraced one who was cast out of heaven. I am so happy I discovered who Jesus was when I was a child and was not yet aware of what is done in the name of religion. If I had not done so I am fearful I might never have been anything even closely associated with any group. How delightful it is to know that real religion is one’s personal walk with God and not dependent on human associations.
On December 26 in Israel a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews spat on a little girl and called her a prostitute because they deemed her shirtsleeves to be immodest.
Each week we hear news of suicide bombers in the Middle East killing people who are not their flavor of Islam.
How is it that the one thing in our lives that should make us better people instead fosters extremism, hatred and cruelty? Extremism is a vice that eats away at our humanity and turns us into subhuman creatures willing to do anything. Often times religious people frighten me. If a man thinks he is doing God’s will by killing me he will do it with a smile on his face. They are more frightening than “bad people” who merely want my wallet.
It does not matter if one calls oneself a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim, if one’s religious experience does not make one a more loving, more generous or more peaceful person they are deceived and are children of the disgraced one who was cast out of heaven. I am so happy I discovered who Jesus was when I was a child and was not yet aware of what is done in the name of religion. If I had not done so I am fearful I might never have been anything even closely associated with any group. How delightful it is to know that real religion is one’s personal walk with God and not dependent on human associations.
The Danger of Preaching
Monday, January 09 2012
Preaching is something of which I have an acquaintance. This is a strange activity where a group of people assemble to listen to one person - hopefully speaking uninterrupted. I call it strange because in most of our life’s activities it can be difficult to get people to listen. Often when it appears we are listening we are really waiting for the person speaking to take a breath so we can jump in with our opinion or story. People go to counselors and pay a hundred dollars an hour so someone will listen to them. (Real counselors don’t tell people what do to. They listen and help people sort out their issues.) Yet once a week or so people gather to listen to one person for thirty minutes or so. Instead of paying someone to listen to them, the congregation pays to listen when the offering plate comes by.
In a college setting I meet many young people who aspire to the ministry and I wonder why. If I ask they will tell me God has called them. I believe He does call some. However, often I think some are not even aware of their personal need to be important and to have other people listen to their thoughts. Preaching feeds one’s ego and threatens one’s soul. Personal glorification slowly replaces one’s desire to glorify God. Preaching can be extremely dangerous as one believes the nice things people say to you. We forget that the unnice things are saved for when we are absence.
In 1 Corinthians 1:21 Paul speaks of the foolishness of preaching that people might be saved. Often I think the person who most needs saving is the preacher and not the congregation.
In a college setting I meet many young people who aspire to the ministry and I wonder why. If I ask they will tell me God has called them. I believe He does call some. However, often I think some are not even aware of their personal need to be important and to have other people listen to their thoughts. Preaching feeds one’s ego and threatens one’s soul. Personal glorification slowly replaces one’s desire to glorify God. Preaching can be extremely dangerous as one believes the nice things people say to you. We forget that the unnice things are saved for when we are absence.
In 1 Corinthians 1:21 Paul speaks of the foolishness of preaching that people might be saved. Often I think the person who most needs saving is the preacher and not the congregation.
Uncle Charlie's Funeral
Friday, January 06 2012
Just once I would like to attend a funeral where the pastor would say, “Even though Uncle Charlie spent most of his life as a lying, cheating, neglectful parent and someone who couldn’t always be trusted, he will be with us in heaven by the grace of Jesus.” The truth is all of us are Uncle Charlie in some fashion (just change the list of sins) and none of us will ever see heaven if it wasn’t for the grace of Jesus. How often we spout heresy at funerals by saying such things as, “Surely Uncle Charlie will be in heaven because he was such a good man.” Uncle Charlie’s goodness or lack of goodness is not the Gospel.
So often we believe Uncle Charlie was saved by grace but once that occurred he then had to “do all the right things” to stay saved. We are fearful that if we don’t take this stance then people will continue on in their rottenness and something seems wrong about that. Well, there is something wrong with that. Paul puts it so very well in II Corinthians 5:14. “For Christ's love compels us . . .”
There it is. After Uncle Charlie accepted Jesus, he ceased what he had been and what followed was a life filled with love for Jesus. When we love someone we don’t want to disappoint them. Continuing to be rotten would be very disappointing to Jesus. The point of being saved is for us to have a better life and that can’t happen if we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to begin to direct us toward better behavior.
We try to be faithful not to be saved but because the “love of Christ compels” us to be so.
So often we believe Uncle Charlie was saved by grace but once that occurred he then had to “do all the right things” to stay saved. We are fearful that if we don’t take this stance then people will continue on in their rottenness and something seems wrong about that. Well, there is something wrong with that. Paul puts it so very well in II Corinthians 5:14. “For Christ's love compels us . . .”
There it is. After Uncle Charlie accepted Jesus, he ceased what he had been and what followed was a life filled with love for Jesus. When we love someone we don’t want to disappoint them. Continuing to be rotten would be very disappointing to Jesus. The point of being saved is for us to have a better life and that can’t happen if we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to begin to direct us toward better behavior.
We try to be faithful not to be saved but because the “love of Christ compels” us to be so.
The Walking Sermon
Thursday, January 05 2012
Linus once said, “I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.” After we finish smiling the meaning sinks in and we realize the little guy was quite wise. When we are face to face with individuals we see their quirks and flaws and are annoyed by them. When we speak of people in general they are more than tolerable. I find myself wanting to give money to people far away but not to people downtown. I stood in line this past weekend behind a fellow who was covered with tattoos. I confess that I was not overwhelmed with feelings of warmth and care. It was then that I dropped my keys and before I could stoop down he had scooped them up for me. He was beaming a big smile as he handed them to me. It was then that I saw the tattoos covering his arms were Scripture. His right arm was the 23rd Psalm and his left arm was Romans 8:38 & 39. While I have never desired a heart tattoo with MOM written under it, I almost wanted to do what he had done. Alas, my arms would not have been as impressive as his large biceps. He was a walking macho sermon; so much for stereotyping and prejudging people.
I realize that while Jesus told us to love others He never told us to like others. Often I have used that as an excuse for my sometimes unlikeable behavior. While I don’t wish to discourage you from helping some small hungry child in Central America, I would like to encourage you to help a child nearby. Not only will it make Jesus happy, it will make you happy.
I realize that while Jesus told us to love others He never told us to like others. Often I have used that as an excuse for my sometimes unlikeable behavior. While I don’t wish to discourage you from helping some small hungry child in Central America, I would like to encourage you to help a child nearby. Not only will it make Jesus happy, it will make you happy.
Negative Campaigning
Wednesday, January 04 2012
Literally tens of millions of dollars are being spent by politicians telling us true and untrue horrible things about their opponents. The politically harassed people in Iowa are getting up to ten telephone calls a day from political action committees. Lest we have the false idea that negative advertising is something new, let us remind ourselves it has been around a very long time. Before Adam and Eve lost their place in Eden Lucifer had been actively smearing God’s good name. Revelation 12:17 speaks of it beginning in heaven itself. Then it continued in Eden when Lucifer told Eve God didn’t want her to grow and become wise.
Lucifer then became a campaign of horror and destruction blaming God for the resulting death and despair. Hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. are now called “Acts of God.” He has been very effective in blaming God for things. There is a huge religion in the world that proclaims all things that occur are the will of Allah. After all they say if God didn’t will something to occur He would stop it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A million things a day happen that are not God’s will.
Jesus tried to teach us the truth. He told us to call God, “Our Father.” He was hoping we might understand that real fathers while disciplining their children would never ever do anything to harm them. Unfortunately even that doesn’t always seem true because some fathers do unlovingly harm their very own children. The next time we are barraged by negative campaigning just remember who started it. What is sad is that we seem to be gullible enough to pay attention and sometimes actually believe it.
Lucifer then became a campaign of horror and destruction blaming God for the resulting death and despair. Hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. are now called “Acts of God.” He has been very effective in blaming God for things. There is a huge religion in the world that proclaims all things that occur are the will of Allah. After all they say if God didn’t will something to occur He would stop it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A million things a day happen that are not God’s will.
Jesus tried to teach us the truth. He told us to call God, “Our Father.” He was hoping we might understand that real fathers while disciplining their children would never ever do anything to harm them. Unfortunately even that doesn’t always seem true because some fathers do unlovingly harm their very own children. The next time we are barraged by negative campaigning just remember who started it. What is sad is that we seem to be gullible enough to pay attention and sometimes actually believe it.
The Key to the Abundant Life
Tuesday, January 03 2012
I opened an old book this evening and found pressed between the crisp yellow-edged pages two violets. The book is very old and had belonged to my mother. Immediately a torrent of questions poured out of my mind. Where did she get them? Who gave them to her? How long ago did she so carefully spread those precious purple petals to perpetually preserve them? Did she ever return to see them? Were they from my father? One of my sisters? Me? Had I come running in from the backyard to present them to the most beautiful person I knew? Had she kissed me and kept them safely in that old book? I would like to think it was that way but I have no memory of such. I just know that most little boys think their mothers are God’s angels. I was no exception.
Had Jesus ever brought flowers to Mary? Surely He must have done so. In the Sermon on the Mount He speaks of lilies. While He spoke of them did He smile as He remembered their fragrance mingling with the scent of fresh wood shavings on their carpenter’s floor? Life is mostly a conglomeration of memories. Since the events of life are both good and bad the quality of our lives depends upon what we choose to remember. One of my friends once came to me and spilled out a horror story of how her husband had abused her. When I asked her when this occurred she gave me a date that was twenty-three years gone by. Need I say more?
The memories are ours. The power is ours. Forgiving and forgetting is the key to the abundant life He promised. What is left is quality?
Had Jesus ever brought flowers to Mary? Surely He must have done so. In the Sermon on the Mount He speaks of lilies. While He spoke of them did He smile as He remembered their fragrance mingling with the scent of fresh wood shavings on their carpenter’s floor? Life is mostly a conglomeration of memories. Since the events of life are both good and bad the quality of our lives depends upon what we choose to remember. One of my friends once came to me and spilled out a horror story of how her husband had abused her. When I asked her when this occurred she gave me a date that was twenty-three years gone by. Need I say more?
The memories are ours. The power is ours. Forgiving and forgetting is the key to the abundant life He promised. What is left is quality?
Jesus Knows Us
Monday, January 02 2012
One of the more intriguing verses of Scripture is Luke 2:52 which speaks of Jesus, as a child, growing in wisdom. When He was thirteen He wowed the scholars in Jerusalem with His expansive understanding of Scripture. Yet He lived in a poor village that could not have afforded an entire Old Testament. The scrolls were passed one by one from village to village. Time with each scroll was very limited. He must have had a prodigious memory. When He realized He might not see a particular scroll again for a long time He must have diligently applied Himself to committing it to memory.
Adolescence is a time for figuring out who we are and what are our gifts. When Jesus attended Jerusalem after His Bar Mitzvah, He was faced with the task of understanding His true identity. Filled with stories from Joseph and Mary and His knowledge of Scripture He assembled the pieces. It was an amazing secret to carry about during His teen and early manhood years. He couldn’t speak of it because the ridicule from unbelieving peers and others would have been vicious. The religious experience around Him was encumbered with a layer of rules designed to keep believers from transgressing the core commandments. The conflict with parents, local rabbis, siblings and within Himself had to be monumental as He sorted out the manmade traditions from the principles of Scripture.
Hebrews 4 tells us He experienced all our temptations. Those formative years were crucial to who He was. There is not a child, adolescent or adult anywhere He does not understand. The Word became flesh and He experienced everything except old age. We didn’t let Him get there.
Adolescence is a time for figuring out who we are and what are our gifts. When Jesus attended Jerusalem after His Bar Mitzvah, He was faced with the task of understanding His true identity. Filled with stories from Joseph and Mary and His knowledge of Scripture He assembled the pieces. It was an amazing secret to carry about during His teen and early manhood years. He couldn’t speak of it because the ridicule from unbelieving peers and others would have been vicious. The religious experience around Him was encumbered with a layer of rules designed to keep believers from transgressing the core commandments. The conflict with parents, local rabbis, siblings and within Himself had to be monumental as He sorted out the manmade traditions from the principles of Scripture.
Hebrews 4 tells us He experienced all our temptations. Those formative years were crucial to who He was. There is not a child, adolescent or adult anywhere He does not understand. The Word became flesh and He experienced everything except old age. We didn’t let Him get there.