Mar 2012
The Pearl Earring
Friday, March 30 2012
It was quite blustery yesterday as we walked through Boston Common with friends from Sweden. Stopping to retie my shoe we noticed a lovely pearl and silver earring on the path. Not being Vincent Van Gogh one earring would not be sufficient for me. We left it perhaps with the hope the owner would retrace her? steps and recover the treasure. As we walked on I wondered was it a pearl of great price?
“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13. Just about everything I have ever read about this story tells us Jesus was teaching us that eternal life is so valuable we must not hesitate to sacrifice all to be sure it is ours. I have never been totally comfortable with that. There is way too much focus on us and our labor. Therefore, I find another meaning that seems so much more in harmony with the Gospel. We are the lost ones. And God, the great lover and pursuer of sinners, sees us as the pearl. He was the one who made the great sacrifice. He is the one who will not let us go. He is the one constantly moving silently among people in search of ones who will respond to His wooing.
I look in the mirror and ask “How can it be?” Everything I see is withering away. Where is this value He sees? Those are questions I need not answer. All we need to do is be thankful and accept. Go and look in a mirror and repeat after me. “I am a pearl of great price.” Oh what jewels He has!
“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13. Just about everything I have ever read about this story tells us Jesus was teaching us that eternal life is so valuable we must not hesitate to sacrifice all to be sure it is ours. I have never been totally comfortable with that. There is way too much focus on us and our labor. Therefore, I find another meaning that seems so much more in harmony with the Gospel. We are the lost ones. And God, the great lover and pursuer of sinners, sees us as the pearl. He was the one who made the great sacrifice. He is the one who will not let us go. He is the one constantly moving silently among people in search of ones who will respond to His wooing.
I look in the mirror and ask “How can it be?” Everything I see is withering away. Where is this value He sees? Those are questions I need not answer. All we need to do is be thankful and accept. Go and look in a mirror and repeat after me. “I am a pearl of great price.” Oh what jewels He has!
Gifts
Thursday, March 29 2012
My wife has a much better sense of smell than I do. When we go to the market she literally sniffs her way through the fruits and vegetables. Her nose scans the melons and boxes of tangerines. She makes sure we get good produce. Yet, at home I can open the pantry and pick up the faintest sweet scent of an onion going bad and she does not detect it. I shouldn’t be puzzled regarding this because I know that each person has unique qualities. The world would be a very uninteresting place if each of us had the same talents and gifts. Can you imagine how dull conversations would be?
A football team would be a pretty sorry organization if everyone was a quarterback. It needs those guys who look like refrigerators just as much as it needs runners who can make a hundred yards seem like a stroll in the park. Churches need an endless array of gifts from hospitality to scholars, pastors and evangelists. Churches even need administrators because roofs will leak and furnaces will get old. That is where we come in. Each of us has something to contribute. No one is giftless. I have a friend who cannot see. You should read some of the wonderful poetry that flows from her pen. She is really good.
One thing that breaks our hearts is when we see gifted youth wasting for whatever reason. Sometimes it is because they have yet to recognize their value. That’s where older people need to step in. Remember Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Too often we only apply this verse to moral issues. It has a much vaster application.
A football team would be a pretty sorry organization if everyone was a quarterback. It needs those guys who look like refrigerators just as much as it needs runners who can make a hundred yards seem like a stroll in the park. Churches need an endless array of gifts from hospitality to scholars, pastors and evangelists. Churches even need administrators because roofs will leak and furnaces will get old. That is where we come in. Each of us has something to contribute. No one is giftless. I have a friend who cannot see. You should read some of the wonderful poetry that flows from her pen. She is really good.
One thing that breaks our hearts is when we see gifted youth wasting for whatever reason. Sometimes it is because they have yet to recognize their value. That’s where older people need to step in. Remember Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Too often we only apply this verse to moral issues. It has a much vaster application.
Hostas
Wednesday, March 28 2012
A few years ago we brought home a few hostas from our son’s yard. Being a botanical ignoramus I had no idea what was going to happen in our yard. Two years ago we dug up half of them and put them in the side yard. Last year we dug up half of them and put them in the back yard. This year we will dig up half of them and give them to a local greenhouse; if the owner will take them. I knew about squash but had no idea these things could be so prolific. Hostas must be the rabbits of the plant world.
There are two ways I can go with this. I can speak about one really little lie multiplying to keep up the cover story. Little sins grow into big sins. But that is so negative and while true it’s not what I want to write. I would rather focus on good deeds multiplying. There is a bank currently running a commercial where a lady uses the cover from her coffee to stop a table from teetering. Next she helps a dog get untangled from a tree by giving him a treat. Next she puts tin foil on a man’s radio antenna increasing his reception. Goodness can be just as infectious as evil.
Paul wrote in Romans 12:20. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." We can do this on an individual basis. We can do it in our communities. We can do it internationally. The challenge is there and the results could be more stunning than the reproduction of hostas.
There are two ways I can go with this. I can speak about one really little lie multiplying to keep up the cover story. Little sins grow into big sins. But that is so negative and while true it’s not what I want to write. I would rather focus on good deeds multiplying. There is a bank currently running a commercial where a lady uses the cover from her coffee to stop a table from teetering. Next she helps a dog get untangled from a tree by giving him a treat. Next she puts tin foil on a man’s radio antenna increasing his reception. Goodness can be just as infectious as evil.
Paul wrote in Romans 12:20. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." We can do this on an individual basis. We can do it in our communities. We can do it internationally. The challenge is there and the results could be more stunning than the reproduction of hostas.
Gelert
Tuesday, March 27 2012
There was a very popular story in the Middle Ages about a dog named Gelert. One night his master returned home to find his child’s cradle overturned and Gelert was covered with blood. Immediately his master killed him only to turn around and see the body of a dead wolf that had attacked his child and had thusly been killed by Gelert. It was then that he found the baby still alive under the cradle. There are several variations to the story but the message in all of them is the same. Wise people do not act without gathering as much information as possible. How fortunate we are that our heavenly Father knows everything about us.
In a time of edited media clips and sound bites it is relatively easy to make one’s opponent say anything we want them to say and then watch the masses rise up with so little real information. We do it in the arena of politics, in the world of religion with one group pitting itself against another, and we do it in our personal relationships at work and at home. Have we ever been riled because someone told us a certain someone said something we didn’t like to hear? We were not there. We did not know the context. And we did not hear the tone of the voice which can actually reverse the meaning of a sentence.
Revelation 12:7 speaks of war in heaven; an almost impossible thing to imagine. Lucifer, the master of sound bites, the subtle raising of an eyebrow, tonal inflection, and outright lies had attacked the throne.
The Gelert legend continued that the master buried Gelert with great fanfare and honor. But he never smiled again.
In a time of edited media clips and sound bites it is relatively easy to make one’s opponent say anything we want them to say and then watch the masses rise up with so little real information. We do it in the arena of politics, in the world of religion with one group pitting itself against another, and we do it in our personal relationships at work and at home. Have we ever been riled because someone told us a certain someone said something we didn’t like to hear? We were not there. We did not know the context. And we did not hear the tone of the voice which can actually reverse the meaning of a sentence.
Revelation 12:7 speaks of war in heaven; an almost impossible thing to imagine. Lucifer, the master of sound bites, the subtle raising of an eyebrow, tonal inflection, and outright lies had attacked the throne.
The Gelert legend continued that the master buried Gelert with great fanfare and honor. But he never smiled again.
Trash-Talking Nerds
Monday, March 26 2012
The local chess club meets in a classroom near my classroom at our local university. I had to smile at some of the “trash-talking” going on in the hallway. These were nerds. Their “trash-talk” wouldn’t hold a candle to that of NBA players. One of them said, “Come on and play with the Big Guys. We’ll teach you.” See what I mean?
What I thought was amusing was that I never thought of Jeremiah “trash-talking” but 12:5 raced through my mind. He wrote, “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?” If we can’t be honest with the little things how can we expect to be honest when it’s big money? It is the little things that reveal the depth of our character. It’s tax time. I don’t need to say more about that.
When we are born God has plan A for our lives. It is to run with the big guys. But our failures, while forgiven, causes Him to change to plan B and then to plan C etc. For some of us He must be working on plan triple Z. He can’t trust us to run with the horses. Lest this sound way too discouraging and dismal please let me add that accomplishing any plan for our heavenly Father is a privilege and He loves us so very much He will never let us know about plan A. After all He loves us and never wants us to be disheartened or discouraged. And the greatest reward of all, eternal life, isn’t the fruit of some great accomplishment. It is a gift of His love. Please read the Ephesians 2 where Paul speaks of God’s plans for us.
What I thought was amusing was that I never thought of Jeremiah “trash-talking” but 12:5 raced through my mind. He wrote, “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?” If we can’t be honest with the little things how can we expect to be honest when it’s big money? It is the little things that reveal the depth of our character. It’s tax time. I don’t need to say more about that.
When we are born God has plan A for our lives. It is to run with the big guys. But our failures, while forgiven, causes Him to change to plan B and then to plan C etc. For some of us He must be working on plan triple Z. He can’t trust us to run with the horses. Lest this sound way too discouraging and dismal please let me add that accomplishing any plan for our heavenly Father is a privilege and He loves us so very much He will never let us know about plan A. After all He loves us and never wants us to be disheartened or discouraged. And the greatest reward of all, eternal life, isn’t the fruit of some great accomplishment. It is a gift of His love. Please read the Ephesians 2 where Paul speaks of God’s plans for us.
God is -
Friday, March 23 2012
It was Samuel Coleridge who wrote, “Water, water every where; nor any drop to drink.” This morning I felt like his ancient mariner as I surfed through 900 television channels. In desperation I stopped at an old Perry Mason drama. There was Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale in all their prime. It was the late 50’s. I think we had three channels and Perry dominated his time slot. Have we really changed so much? I think the dialogues must have been written by eighth graders during recess. (I say that with reservation because I am aware that some might think the same of my devotionals. Alas.) After the guilty party broke down in tears under his clever? interrogation, I decided to try out an old western on the Xfinity On Demand. I found one filmed in 1949. During this one I think I had to award the writers of Perry Mason an Oscar.
We do change. Languages change. Styles change. Even “truth” changes; at least what we thought was truth. The scientific theory of a geocentric universe held sway for thousands of years until Galileo. However, there are some truths that are so eternal they will never change. The morality of the Ten Commandments is timeless because they are based on just two principles; love God and love others. And just how do we love God? Jesus said, “If you have done it to the least of these you have done it unto me.” So there it is. There is only one truth. Love. I John 4:8. God is love. Don’t ever let people tell you all religions are basically the same. Every time members of a particular religion call out, “God is great.” We should call out “God is love.”
We do change. Languages change. Styles change. Even “truth” changes; at least what we thought was truth. The scientific theory of a geocentric universe held sway for thousands of years until Galileo. However, there are some truths that are so eternal they will never change. The morality of the Ten Commandments is timeless because they are based on just two principles; love God and love others. And just how do we love God? Jesus said, “If you have done it to the least of these you have done it unto me.” So there it is. There is only one truth. Love. I John 4:8. God is love. Don’t ever let people tell you all religions are basically the same. Every time members of a particular religion call out, “God is great.” We should call out “God is love.”
Theological OCD
Thursday, March 22 2012
Usually we associate Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) with people who repeatedly wash their hands or check door locks. However, there is a category of OCD that just might be the fruit of one’s theology. These people are doubters and are afraid that if everything isn’t perfect or done just right they will be punished or worse lost for all eternity. It has been my lot to have known many such people through the years. Perhaps it was birds of a feather.
One has to tread lightly here because it would be so easy to leave the impression it doesn’t matter and we can be saved in our sins. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are saved from our sins and the legal consequences. With that as a preface I want to assure each of you that Jesus telling us to call God, Our Father, has enormous implications. Parents are so delighted to see their children grow. (I always wished it would have taken twice as long. They left way too soon for me.) There was never an expectation that once they started to walk they would never teeter and fall. Getting up and falling down is just part of the process. Our heavenly Father is so pleased that we want to walk. And just as we did not disown our children when they fell, neither does God disown us. He knows our capabilities. He knows our weaknesses.
We are saved by grace from our past and our future. Ephesians 2 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega of our salvation. Dump the OCD.
One has to tread lightly here because it would be so easy to leave the impression it doesn’t matter and we can be saved in our sins. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are saved from our sins and the legal consequences. With that as a preface I want to assure each of you that Jesus telling us to call God, Our Father, has enormous implications. Parents are so delighted to see their children grow. (I always wished it would have taken twice as long. They left way too soon for me.) There was never an expectation that once they started to walk they would never teeter and fall. Getting up and falling down is just part of the process. Our heavenly Father is so pleased that we want to walk. And just as we did not disown our children when they fell, neither does God disown us. He knows our capabilities. He knows our weaknesses.
We are saved by grace from our past and our future. Ephesians 2 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega of our salvation. Dump the OCD.
A Slap on the Back of the Head
Wednesday, March 21 2012
There are some people that really need a slap on the back of the head. This evening I saw three adults who really should be at the head of the line with all of us lined up to do the deed. First of all it was dark. Second, it was a really very busy intersection with rapidly moving cars. Third, they were crossing the street against the light. Fourth, they were pushing two baby strollers. Fifth, they were just strolling.
As I drove away literally seething at what I had seen I unfortunately remembered a few really dumb things I have done. Perhaps I should get a slap on the back of the head before those folk. I doubt if I am really out of place here to think that perhaps you too can remember deserving a good slap. Even if it is just a matter of taking all our blessings for granted and not remembering to be thankful.
A lifetime ago I was a pastor in Calhoun, Ga. One morning the word got out that I was ill. Before the day was out I had three separate house visits from three separate physicians. We had called none of them. Today my primary care physician told my wife he prays everyday that I will be well. Last week my specialist told me he loved Ian and me. If ever once you hear me complain about my lot in life I want you to come to my house and slap me on the back of the head.
I think of people who don’t positively respond to the wondrous gift of eternal life; especially those who have heard it over and over. I wish the only result of that would be a slap on the back of the head.
As I drove away literally seething at what I had seen I unfortunately remembered a few really dumb things I have done. Perhaps I should get a slap on the back of the head before those folk. I doubt if I am really out of place here to think that perhaps you too can remember deserving a good slap. Even if it is just a matter of taking all our blessings for granted and not remembering to be thankful.
A lifetime ago I was a pastor in Calhoun, Ga. One morning the word got out that I was ill. Before the day was out I had three separate house visits from three separate physicians. We had called none of them. Today my primary care physician told my wife he prays everyday that I will be well. Last week my specialist told me he loved Ian and me. If ever once you hear me complain about my lot in life I want you to come to my house and slap me on the back of the head.
I think of people who don’t positively respond to the wondrous gift of eternal life; especially those who have heard it over and over. I wish the only result of that would be a slap on the back of the head.
Stage Fright
Tuesday, March 20 2012
If you have ever been asked to make a public presentation you most assuredly suffered prior to the presentation; cold hands, weak knees, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat accompanied by a pain in the pit of your stomach. I once had a friend who when pastor of a very large church said he often threw up the mornings he was to speak. Psychologists tell us stage fright is the number one fear ranking above snakes, heights and spiders. So you can imagine my delight when I read I Corinthians 3 where Paul says, “I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” Ah, ha. Paul was one of us. How could it be?
Actually, I am being very generous to place us in any category with him. None of us have been, “Five times I received the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea.” II Corinthians 11. I have heard people mock John Mark because he quit during Paul’s first missionary journey and went home. I wonder how many of us would have stayed. It was dangerous to be near Paul. But let’s get back to his stage fright. Jesus had promised, “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” We really have it so easy.
Actually, I am being very generous to place us in any category with him. None of us have been, “Five times I received the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea.” II Corinthians 11. I have heard people mock John Mark because he quit during Paul’s first missionary journey and went home. I wonder how many of us would have stayed. It was dangerous to be near Paul. But let’s get back to his stage fright. Jesus had promised, “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” We really have it so easy.
Of Hypocrites and Oscars
Monday, March 19 2012
Our local public library is presently featuring To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This Sunday afternoon the National Endowment for the Arts sponsored an actor to portray Atticus Finch. It was splendid and much to my pleasure during the hour he morphed into Scout, Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Ewell merely with voice and facial expressions. Skilled actors can move us and manipulate our feelings with their talents. As I watched I pondered how easily we can be affected by other’s manners and demeanors.
When Jesus called the religious leadership hypocrites, He was using the Greek word for actor. They pretended to be something they were not. In Matthew 23 He accused them of being white-washed tombs; pretty on the outside but rotten inside. However, I’m not so sure it’s so bad to be a hypocrite in the Greek sense. In the morning I determine today I will be as much like Jesus as possible. That takes some acting. It isn’t my natural reaction to the day’s irritations. I believe Jesus’ problem wasn’t the acting on the part of the establishment as much as inwardly they weren’t trying to change. As soon as the crowds were gone it was business as usual.
In Jeremiah 13:23 we find the old question, “Can a leopard change its spots?” Many people contend that what we are we are and we will ultimately revert back to that. I do hope they are wrong. If so there is no hope in trying. We might as well adopt Popeye’s philosophy “I yam what I yam” and be done with it. Paul certainly thought we could change. He devoted a good share of the book of Romans to the task. Today I’m going for an Oscar.
When Jesus called the religious leadership hypocrites, He was using the Greek word for actor. They pretended to be something they were not. In Matthew 23 He accused them of being white-washed tombs; pretty on the outside but rotten inside. However, I’m not so sure it’s so bad to be a hypocrite in the Greek sense. In the morning I determine today I will be as much like Jesus as possible. That takes some acting. It isn’t my natural reaction to the day’s irritations. I believe Jesus’ problem wasn’t the acting on the part of the establishment as much as inwardly they weren’t trying to change. As soon as the crowds were gone it was business as usual.
In Jeremiah 13:23 we find the old question, “Can a leopard change its spots?” Many people contend that what we are we are and we will ultimately revert back to that. I do hope they are wrong. If so there is no hope in trying. We might as well adopt Popeye’s philosophy “I yam what I yam” and be done with it. Paul certainly thought we could change. He devoted a good share of the book of Romans to the task. Today I’m going for an Oscar.
He Waits and Watches
Friday, March 16 2012
Because I was not at the top of my game I stayed in the car while my wife got groceries. My eye caught a couple very engaged in conversation; so much so they pushed their cart of groceries into the parking lot shopping cart bin leaving all their food behind. As they drove away I tooted my horn; but, to no avail. They were gone. I was sure they would be back so I would be a really good guy and guard their things until they returned. Not five minutes passed and they were back. It’s a standard human response to laugh when one is embarrassed. They laughed.
Not wanting to paint myself as wonderful because I really didn’t do anything but toot and that was too late, I did think about having someone to watch over us. There are times we too become very engaged in something; so much so we also forget important things. Life can be most engrossing and full of things; so much so that we neglect the important thing of remembering to maintain our relationship with God. I don’t want to say that’s okay. However, He is very understanding and He doesn’t go away. He waits and watches and knows when we regain reality we will be back. What I love about this is He doesn’t toss us out when this occurs. He’s a good Father and though we don’t always act like it we are still in the family.
In the meantime He “sends His angels to keep us in all our ways.” Psalm 91:11. I wish that meant nothing bad would ever happen to us. Alas, we live in a world where bad things do happen to good people. But it does mean He will always make it right.
Not wanting to paint myself as wonderful because I really didn’t do anything but toot and that was too late, I did think about having someone to watch over us. There are times we too become very engaged in something; so much so we also forget important things. Life can be most engrossing and full of things; so much so that we neglect the important thing of remembering to maintain our relationship with God. I don’t want to say that’s okay. However, He is very understanding and He doesn’t go away. He waits and watches and knows when we regain reality we will be back. What I love about this is He doesn’t toss us out when this occurs. He’s a good Father and though we don’t always act like it we are still in the family.
In the meantime He “sends His angels to keep us in all our ways.” Psalm 91:11. I wish that meant nothing bad would ever happen to us. Alas, we live in a world where bad things do happen to good people. But it does mean He will always make it right.
Inspiration not Exhortation
Thursday, March 15 2012
On our way into a Friendly’s I held the door for a family on their way out. As a little guy passed me I heard him say to his dad, “I want to come back here again.” Too bad Friendly’s didn’t have that on camera. It would be a great ad. I found myself wishing we could figure out how to get the same reaction from our youth regarding coming to church. During church we have a children’s story and a mob of little kids flood the front pews. But where are the teens? Something happens during adolescence and we rarely hear, “I want to come back here again.”
I realize it does have something to do with being a teen. After all 4000 teens start smoking each day. That says a lot about their cognition. The truth is we are competing with media productions that spend hundreds of millions of dollars to capture their attention. It’s pretty hard to preach an eye and ear catching sermon without the visual fade ins and outs, the finely tuned music and the built-in laugh track. Lest I sound totally pessimistic I do want to point out we do have something on our side the other side doesn’t have. God promises to send His spirit to attend us. Should we be wise enough to seek that help we will have something on our side no amount of clever, eye-catching media production can ever match.
One of the things every one of us needs to understand is “preaching” at them and “exhorting” just doesn’t work. They react to it like it was smallpox. Telling people not to do something usually elicits just the opposite response. Inspiration is the key. We must inspire them. We must make them want to do what is best for them and love is the magic potent.
I realize it does have something to do with being a teen. After all 4000 teens start smoking each day. That says a lot about their cognition. The truth is we are competing with media productions that spend hundreds of millions of dollars to capture their attention. It’s pretty hard to preach an eye and ear catching sermon without the visual fade ins and outs, the finely tuned music and the built-in laugh track. Lest I sound totally pessimistic I do want to point out we do have something on our side the other side doesn’t have. God promises to send His spirit to attend us. Should we be wise enough to seek that help we will have something on our side no amount of clever, eye-catching media production can ever match.
One of the things every one of us needs to understand is “preaching” at them and “exhorting” just doesn’t work. They react to it like it was smallpox. Telling people not to do something usually elicits just the opposite response. Inspiration is the key. We must inspire them. We must make them want to do what is best for them and love is the magic potent.
Swayed by the Wind
Wednesday, March 14 2012
While waiting for my wife to come and get me I sat on a rock at the side of a parking area watching the world go by. It was warm and breezy – perfect. Just then a woman came across the parking area toward her car. She was carrying a good sized framed picture. What followed should have been part of an old-time Abbott and Costello movie. The breeze was just enough to turn the picture into a sail. I kid you not. She was blown from one side of the lot to the other twirling in the breeze. At one point she needed to pull her dress down but that would require letting go of the painting which she would not do. I should have rushed to her defense but I do have to admit, insensitive as I am, I was having way too much fun watching. Only when she finally got to her car did I think that I should have videoed her with my cell phone.
Surely Paul would have enjoyed it with me and included it in Ephesians 4. “Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, . . .” Almost every day I get emails filled with some ridiculous twisted thinking and they often end by demeaning either my loyalty to Jesus or my patriotism to my country if I don’t pass it on. I’m not concerned about that. I am concerned about my friends believing the incredible stuff anyone can so freely disseminate on the web.
A really good policy to follow is to believe that others are as trustworthy and reasonable as we, until they prove themselves otherwise. If ever, this is a great time to follow Jesus’ Golden Rule.
Surely Paul would have enjoyed it with me and included it in Ephesians 4. “Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, . . .” Almost every day I get emails filled with some ridiculous twisted thinking and they often end by demeaning either my loyalty to Jesus or my patriotism to my country if I don’t pass it on. I’m not concerned about that. I am concerned about my friends believing the incredible stuff anyone can so freely disseminate on the web.
A really good policy to follow is to believe that others are as trustworthy and reasonable as we, until they prove themselves otherwise. If ever, this is a great time to follow Jesus’ Golden Rule.
So Much More
Tuesday, March 13 2012
I spent a lion’s share of the day connected to bottles and needles being filled with lots of interestingly expensive stuff. Because it was 72 degrees (that is fascinating prior to the ides of March) when I came home I sat outside enjoying the warmth. A mosquito landed on my arm and I watched her drink. (What’s one more needle?) As she tanked up it occurred to me that she was getting far more than she thought she was getting. Along with the blood she also tanked up on all the other stuff that was put in this morning. I wonder how she will respond to her exotic meal. Remember Peter Parker? He was altered because of a spider bite. Maybe this will be the reverse. The mosquito will be altered because she bit me.
In the midst of my ridiculous musings I remembered Eve. She bit and she got ever so much more than she thought she was getting. Satan did not lie when he told her she would learn much. She did. She learned about death, disease, hatred, etc. When a teen decides to start smoking they too will get much more than they think they are getting. They are getting bad breath, stained teeth, tarred up lungs, premature wrinkles and finally an early death. Sin is that way. It looks good. Often it starts out nice but once past the sweet part comes the payment.
If only we could trust God and understand He always has our best interest at heart. God has a reason for the don’ts. I have a grandson who once stood in front of our woodstove. Long he stared and then he did it. He touched it. He got so much more than he had imagined.
In the midst of my ridiculous musings I remembered Eve. She bit and she got ever so much more than she thought she was getting. Satan did not lie when he told her she would learn much. She did. She learned about death, disease, hatred, etc. When a teen decides to start smoking they too will get much more than they think they are getting. They are getting bad breath, stained teeth, tarred up lungs, premature wrinkles and finally an early death. Sin is that way. It looks good. Often it starts out nice but once past the sweet part comes the payment.
If only we could trust God and understand He always has our best interest at heart. God has a reason for the don’ts. I have a grandson who once stood in front of our woodstove. Long he stared and then he did it. He touched it. He got so much more than he had imagined.
The Undiscovered Country
Monday, March 12 2012
For most of my life I thought I Corinthians 2:9 was about heaven and what treasures and wonders await us. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." I believed this text was all about our eternal future. However, I have come to believe there is a dual meaning. Please note the verses that precede verse 9. “We speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.”
God has given us incredible minds and via the indwelling of His Spirit He seeks to share with us wisdom and mysteries not open to the intellectual rulers of this age. There are things to learn, know and understand that Nobel Laureates would pay anything to grasp. It is not for them. It is only to be shared with His children. There is so much more than what is found in doctrinal statements and commentaries. Often we fear going deeper. We fear we might learn something that would shake the foundations we learned as children. We seek comfort in the now and find change to be unsettling and frightening. Shakespeare said it so well in words he placed in Hamlet’s mouth.
“The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?”
It is time to venture forth into the undiscovered country of God’s wisdom. Open His Word. Pray, read and make the journey.
God has given us incredible minds and via the indwelling of His Spirit He seeks to share with us wisdom and mysteries not open to the intellectual rulers of this age. There are things to learn, know and understand that Nobel Laureates would pay anything to grasp. It is not for them. It is only to be shared with His children. There is so much more than what is found in doctrinal statements and commentaries. Often we fear going deeper. We fear we might learn something that would shake the foundations we learned as children. We seek comfort in the now and find change to be unsettling and frightening. Shakespeare said it so well in words he placed in Hamlet’s mouth.
“The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?”
It is time to venture forth into the undiscovered country of God’s wisdom. Open His Word. Pray, read and make the journey.
Where is Atlantic Union College?
Saturday, March 10 2012
Where is Atlantic Union College? It is an address in South Lancaster, Massachusetts but I went there and all I found were empty buildings. Buildings are not a college. Buildings are buildings. A college is a hodgepodge of students, faculty and staff harmoniously blending into a vibrancy. A college is classrooms filled with some bored and some interested students. A college is faculty trying to comprehend just how to present the next lecture as to engage young minds. A college is dormitories filled with noise, lots of noise until the wee hours of the morning. A college is a café filled with co-eds hoping to catch the eyes of that certain young man. A college is people mowing the lawns and shoveling the snow. A college is musicians practicing their next recital with music floating out the windows and across the campus. A college is chapels, worships and weekend church services. A college is people figuring out life and what to do with it. A college is a gym full of basketball and volleyball games. It is couples sitting in the sun. A college is students trying to figure out how to make an essay look like ten pages by making bigger margins and bigger fonts. A college is caps, gowns and tassels accompanied by proud parents with video cameras. A college is proud faculty watching what once was a hopeless student become a young man venturing out into the world. A college is engaged couples. It is struggling single moms bettering their lives. A college is a place of mission, hopes and dreams.
Where is Atlantic Union College? It isn’t in South Lancaster. It is all over the world in the hearts of all who grew at that wonderful place.
Where is Atlantic Union College? It isn’t in South Lancaster. It is all over the world in the hearts of all who grew at that wonderful place.
Never Lost
Thursday, March 08 2012
Can you believe it? I was ten miles away from home and I threw away my car keys. I had not eaten since breakfast. No, it wasn’t 9:30 A.M. It was 3 P.M. I was driving past the Taco Bell where we usually ate lunch when teaching at Atlantic Union College, so I stopped. I put my car keys on my tray and unwrapped my burrito. Not thinking about the keys I unconsciously covered them with paper wrappings and napkins. The next time I thought about keys I was in the parking lot. While going through the ritual of checking every pocket I realized what had happened. I groaned as I thought about going back to the trash bin and sorting through half-eaten burritos, smashed tacos, yucky chicken bones (It is also a KFC.) and cups of soda that had been dumped. This wasn’t going to be pretty. Can you imagine the electronic key being saturated with diet Pepsi?
While digging deep into other people’s orts I thought about Jesus doing this on a daily basis. In the yuck of earth He and the Holy Spirit continually rummage about seeking lost souls. This is so much more important than me looking for lost keys. Actually they weren’t lost. I knew where they were. I just had to soil my hands to retrieve them. It’s the same way with Jesus. People aren’t really lost. He always knows where they are. He just has to convince them there is a better life waiting for them.
I like the idea that no one is ever lost. God isn’t careless. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of His Father knowing about the death of a small bird. How much more does He know where we are. Always!!
While digging deep into other people’s orts I thought about Jesus doing this on a daily basis. In the yuck of earth He and the Holy Spirit continually rummage about seeking lost souls. This is so much more important than me looking for lost keys. Actually they weren’t lost. I knew where they were. I just had to soil my hands to retrieve them. It’s the same way with Jesus. People aren’t really lost. He always knows where they are. He just has to convince them there is a better life waiting for them.
I like the idea that no one is ever lost. God isn’t careless. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of His Father knowing about the death of a small bird. How much more does He know where we are. Always!!
The Allure of Science
Wednesday, March 07 2012
There is something very tempting about completely adopting a completely logical frame of mind that only relates to that which can be proven scientifically. For several hundred years the scientific method has served us well; with it we have unsecreted knowledge and built modernity. Our cars, our planes, our homes, our medical care, our computers, our phones, our weather forecasts are a product of an ongoing quest to learn more and more about our world. Science serves us well; thus the allure to think it is the end all. But when all is said and done, there remains an emptiness in the human soul that science cannot satisfy. It is no accident that existentialism is the prevailing philosophy of the twentieth and so far the twenty-first centuries. Prior to WWI it was rare for people to ask “who am I” or “why am I here” or “where am I going.”
There is the temptation to assume that people have always thought as we; not so. The world had a blanket of comforting mythologies that soothed all such inquiries. However, modernity and science have stripped away much of what was, even though mistaken, reassuring. The problem for us is we can throw away the baby with the bathwater. Amidst what we no longer regard as relevant truth was relevant truth. Paul’s incredible letters to the Romans, Ephesians and Galatians are eternally true. We are the children of God. We are here to be redeemed and bear witness to His love. And we are going to grow more and more with Him forever becoming what Paul said, “something far more than we could ever think or dream.” Science has served us well but it is not, and I repeat, it is not the satisfier of the angst of the human soul.
There is the temptation to assume that people have always thought as we; not so. The world had a blanket of comforting mythologies that soothed all such inquiries. However, modernity and science have stripped away much of what was, even though mistaken, reassuring. The problem for us is we can throw away the baby with the bathwater. Amidst what we no longer regard as relevant truth was relevant truth. Paul’s incredible letters to the Romans, Ephesians and Galatians are eternally true. We are the children of God. We are here to be redeemed and bear witness to His love. And we are going to grow more and more with Him forever becoming what Paul said, “something far more than we could ever think or dream.” Science has served us well but it is not, and I repeat, it is not the satisfier of the angst of the human soul.
Not Yet Like Jesus
Tuesday, March 06 2012
There was an inscription on the inner wall of the temple forbidding any other than a Jew to pass inside on the pain of death. Jewish midwives were forbidden to aid any woman but a Jew lest they were responsible for bringing another gentile into the world. Once we begin to grasp the incredible depth of enmity between Jews and the surrounding nations we gain a much clearer picture of the revolutionary Jesus and one of the reasons He was so hated by the establishment. Not only did He feed 5000 Jews in Galilee, He also feed 4000 gentiles on the east side of the Jordan. He healed the child of a Canaanite woman. He asked a Samaritan woman for a drink. He healed a Roman’s servant. This was way beyond eating with publicans. At least publicans were Jews. I am often amused that conservative Christians seem to think they have a monopoly on Jesus’ values. It was the conservatives who killed Him. Jesus was a radical.
The Gospel of Matthew closes with a message so radical that it took years before the disciples began to heed to it. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: . . .” Peter had to have a special vision of the animals in the sheet before he would accept an invitation to a Roman’s home. (Acts 10) After Saul was knocked off his horse and became Paul he still needed years of prayer and visions before he was up to taking the Gospel to the gentiles.
Dare I say, can I be brave enough to venture, that until we see beyond our “kind” we are not yet like Jesus?
The Gospel of Matthew closes with a message so radical that it took years before the disciples began to heed to it. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: . . .” Peter had to have a special vision of the animals in the sheet before he would accept an invitation to a Roman’s home. (Acts 10) After Saul was knocked off his horse and became Paul he still needed years of prayer and visions before he was up to taking the Gospel to the gentiles.
Dare I say, can I be brave enough to venture, that until we see beyond our “kind” we are not yet like Jesus?
Different Values
Monday, March 05 2012
There are three different values for your home. There is the market value; for how much can you sell it. This is based on the selling prices of the other homes in your neighborhood and the size and condition comparison with those homes. Then there is the tax value. This is set also in relationship to the market value but usually is lower. That gives the community room to raise your taxes if they are in dire straits. Finally there is the replacement value of your home based on square footage and how much per square foot it would cost to rebuild. That is usually much higher than the first two and for which we should insure.
The question arises how much are you and I worth? There is market value. Since we no longer sell each other at slave auctions we could say nil. There is our tax value. In America we do not have a head tax but in many countries that does exist. When we lived in Africa each year I had to pay a “poll tax” even though I did not qualify to vote. It was a head tax for breathing Ugandan air. I was worth seven dollars a year. Finally there is replacement value. What would it cost to replace you or me? This is a life insurance issue for a man who wants to be sure his family is cared for if something bad happens. How much money can we earn in a year and how many years do we have a wife and children to care for. That number can get very high.
But wait there is a fourth value. It is related to eternity. Satan says we are worthless. Human life is dirt cheap for him. However God says, “Wait a minute. My child (you or I) is worth everything. They are worth the cross.” Awesome!
The question arises how much are you and I worth? There is market value. Since we no longer sell each other at slave auctions we could say nil. There is our tax value. In America we do not have a head tax but in many countries that does exist. When we lived in Africa each year I had to pay a “poll tax” even though I did not qualify to vote. It was a head tax for breathing Ugandan air. I was worth seven dollars a year. Finally there is replacement value. What would it cost to replace you or me? This is a life insurance issue for a man who wants to be sure his family is cared for if something bad happens. How much money can we earn in a year and how many years do we have a wife and children to care for. That number can get very high.
But wait there is a fourth value. It is related to eternity. Satan says we are worthless. Human life is dirt cheap for him. However God says, “Wait a minute. My child (you or I) is worth everything. They are worth the cross.” Awesome!
Buckets of Mercy
Friday, March 02 2012
It is difficult to find a more powerful passage in Scripture than Ephesians 2. “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins. . .” Somewhere in our youth we lose our innocence. Does it happen at birth, or when we first disobeyed our parents or at puberty when passion rages through our almost every thought? I don’t know. That is a theological debate filled with theory and isms. For those of us who are adults it doesn’t matter when it occurred, what we know is we are not innocent. Just as God cares for us so he will care for children; with buckets of mercy. The point is we were dead in our sins. We earned death. We cannot compensate for our behaviors and attitudes. The only answer for us is grace; lots and lots of grace.
Grace removes our guilt. God looks at us as if we had never sinned. However, as wonderful as that is we still remember our sins. It is fascinating that we remember things God doesn’t remember. I haven’t yet figured that one out. But I rejoice in the fact. God declares us innocent but our brains are not yet erased. The feelings, the emotions, the memories are all still there. And they stay there until as Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15, “this corruptible shall have put on incorruption . . .”
One of my students told me he often deliberately sinned because he knew God was a God of mercy and would forgive him. Really? Well, that’s another discussion. My concern was that even if in God’s great love He did forgive him, the fruit, the scars, his lost innocence would mar the rest of his life on earth. He would not be the man he could have been.
Grace removes our guilt. God looks at us as if we had never sinned. However, as wonderful as that is we still remember our sins. It is fascinating that we remember things God doesn’t remember. I haven’t yet figured that one out. But I rejoice in the fact. God declares us innocent but our brains are not yet erased. The feelings, the emotions, the memories are all still there. And they stay there until as Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15, “this corruptible shall have put on incorruption . . .”
One of my students told me he often deliberately sinned because he knew God was a God of mercy and would forgive him. Really? Well, that’s another discussion. My concern was that even if in God’s great love He did forgive him, the fruit, the scars, his lost innocence would mar the rest of his life on earth. He would not be the man he could have been.
"Wait. Don't Kill Yourself."
Thursday, March 01 2012
It finally snowed here in New England. We’ve had barely a flake from November first until now. It’s a heavy snow and the city snowplow built quite a barrier across the end of our driveway. Grabbing the snow shovel I headed out to the barrier to do battle. As I was digging in for that first heavy load a man with a pickup outfitted with a plow saw my task. “Wait,” he called. “Don’t kill yourself. I’ll be right there.” In a few moments all was clear. Needless to say I was grateful and even more so when he adamantly refused any money.
I wanted to pass this along just for the sake of saying not all is bad with the world. The news is usually so gruesome. We hear all manner of horror from self-annihilating walking bombs to weapons powerful enough to destroy our planet. Murders, robberies and rapes fill our evening news broadcasts. It’s the bad stuff that makes the news while everyday millions of good people do millions of good things for others.
The Golden Rule has not been lost in the mire of humanity. The Silver Rule says, “Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.” That’s not bad at all but the Golden Rule is so much better. “Do to others what you want them to do for you.” In Romans 12:13 Paul tells us to be “inventive in hospitality.” We should not just wait for an opportunity to do something nice. We should be creative and make opportunities.
The world isn’t totally bad. Who knows maybe he did save me from killing myself. As we all know old guys shouldn’t be shoveling heavy snow.
I wanted to pass this along just for the sake of saying not all is bad with the world. The news is usually so gruesome. We hear all manner of horror from self-annihilating walking bombs to weapons powerful enough to destroy our planet. Murders, robberies and rapes fill our evening news broadcasts. It’s the bad stuff that makes the news while everyday millions of good people do millions of good things for others.
The Golden Rule has not been lost in the mire of humanity. The Silver Rule says, “Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.” That’s not bad at all but the Golden Rule is so much better. “Do to others what you want them to do for you.” In Romans 12:13 Paul tells us to be “inventive in hospitality.” We should not just wait for an opportunity to do something nice. We should be creative and make opportunities.
The world isn’t totally bad. Who knows maybe he did save me from killing myself. As we all know old guys shouldn’t be shoveling heavy snow.