The Dream Factory

Perhaps We Need to See Dogs in a Better Light

The Woman of Canaan by Michael Angelo Immenraet, 17th century

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting,

"Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon."

But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us."

He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me."

He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."

And her daughter was healed instantly. - Matthew 15:21-28

 

She challenged him and I think he both knew she would and wanted her too.

She made his point.

She became the lesson.

What was her faith? It was that a rabbi from what her people assumed to be a regional, cultural, and exclusive religion whose adherents had come to feel and project privilege and exclusivity had a gift and message for her.

Jesus voiced that shared assumption and, I believe had a twinkle in his eye. He knew how she might respond to him and how he would respond to her if she did.

Perhaps he was taken off-guard by her candor, clarity, and resilience, but he could feel her persistence from the start.

She had figured out something that Isaiah and the prophets had foretold and that Jesus was laying to ground work to unfold.

Faith in Yahweh was a universal faith for all and not an exclusive faith for a few.

He was setting the stage for a universal movement of love and faith ... and hers, from an unlikely place and culture, was great and an example for all.

Maybe we are all dogs and we are all children.

Maybe the right crumbs are quite enough.

 

 

Ready, Get Set, GROW

Erin Rod - Own work ... Fluorescent proteins visualize the cell cycle progression. IFP2.0-hGem(1/110) fluorescence is shown in green and highlights the S/G2/M phases. smURFP-hCdtI(30/120) fluorescence is shown in red and highlights the G0/G1 phases.  ... CC BY-SA 4.0

All life grows. That is a biological reality. Growth is a definition of life.

That is what I was thinking as I sat in a coffee shop preparing some speeches I needed to give to a couple of graduating classes. I jotted down my notes on a napkin as I often do.

I wanted to encourage the people in those groups to keep growing and complement them on the growth they had already achieved by taking the courses.

If you are not growing as a person and growing professionally, you are cheating yourself out of success and the world out of the good you can do.  You are dying in some dimension of your existence.

Not to grow is to die. When cell division ceases in an organism, death comes quickly.

So, to help you think about growing, I offer  Acronym for GROWING:

G - Give.

Growers are givers and givers are growers. Some things can only multiply if you give them away.

R - Reach out.

As someone said, and I believe it was Ken Blanchard when I heard it, "If you ever see a turtle at the top of a pole and he tells you he got there on his own, he is either lying or he doesn't understand the nature of things, or both." We need others in order to keep moving forward.

O - Overcome Obstacles by allowing them to become Opportunities.

This is an old one, but it is so true. The building blocks of your life are the same things that other people use as excuses for not moving forward.

W - Work on it and work at it and work it out!!!

Growing is a 4-letter word; WORK. you have to put some energy behind this thing. It will not happen unintentionally or without effort.

I - Intentionally Invest in yourself and the process.

That means work too, but also time, resources, sacrifices, and whatever it takes to become the person you were made to be. Growth is costly. We must decide we are willing to pay the price.

N - Negotiate with people.

The word literally means "to carry on business." In the broader sense it reminds us that a big part of our personal growth happens as we develop the people skills necessary to work with, learn from, and collaborate with other people. It involves the mindset that enables us to lose some ground in order to gain a lot more ground.

G - Get up and Get Going!!!!

This is not just about the future. It is about now! You can't wait for a big inspiration or motivation. You must motivate yourself and there is no better time than the time you see on the clock in front of you. Get on with it!!!!!

Do you have that? Good.

Can I throw away the napkin now????

 

 

Violence in the News - Blessed Are the Peacemakers

 

 

Public Domain - The Deserter by Boardman Robinson. Anti-war cartoon depicting Jesus facing a firing squad made up of soldiers from five different European countries (at that time the US had not yet entered the war). First published in The Masses in 1916.

Violence is in the news this morning.

Every morning.

Every evening.

All violence is terrifying and intimidating, wielding illegitimate power, an attempt to subjugate whether it be mass violence, violence sanctioned by governments, gang violence, or domestic violence.

It's all terrorism because it terrorizes.

Our culture thrives on it, or pretends to do so, fooling itself into believing it is being nurtured or protected by it.

We fantasize about it, threaten it, practice it, encourage it, and even vote for it in all of its forms. Yet, it is antithetical to the gospel in every form through which it manifests itself individually and corporately.

It is even at the heart of much of our entertainment.

The gospel of a new kingdom counters it:

Lay down your weapons, fists and guns; follow the Prince of Peace. 

Start with the heart for the heart is the heart of the matter.

"For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." - from Matthew 18:1-20

It is a statement made in radical simplicity.

As we make our minds available to be stretched beyond capacity, we start to comprehend that which is beyond compression.

The sweet spot shows itself where that which is tangled and interwoven shows itself as one steady thread of peace.

We are challenged to go for the essence, the radical roots, the core, the spirit that transcends tradition, and sheds religious baggage, the good news that liberates.

But we want it complicated, truncated, elaborated, and negated of its hearty demands.

So, we redact, retract, and react to and with words and exceptions that extract the sting from its power. We place these rather unambiguous teachings of Jesus in the column where we store his hyperbolic and humorous sayings.

"He could not possibly meant for us to practice non-violence and non-retaliation in such a violent world. It is not practical."

"So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. " - from Matthew 15:1-20

Then, we take those sayings that are meant to provoke our searching questions and we make judgmental rules of them that allow us to violate the Great Commandment.

How convenient for us - we heaping burdens of tradition on people's shoulders and calling it doctrine while we lay aside a gospel truth that truly liberates.

"This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines." - from Matthew 15:1-20

What do we do?

First, we acknowledge who we are. We are not called to the ordinary, but the extraordinary. We are not called to do what everyone else does and accepts as acceptable. We are called to be odd balls and if we are called such, we thank the person who notices.

Second, we bear witness by speaking, advocating for peaceful policies,  and practicing what we preach. We do it with consistency, non-judgmental joy, and grace toward those who do not get it.

Third, we keep doing it, expecting neither reward nor compliment, nor positive results. This is not a feasibility study. It is an alternate lifestyle.

It might not end well, except for this: When we come to the end, we know that it is not really the end.

"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God." - Matthew 5:9

And children of God endure and thrive beyond a culture that thinks it is thriving, but is, in fact, on a road to disaster.

 

 

I Love Name Calling

Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

 

I love name-calling
especially at the a major airport

in a far-off city

where no one knows me by face or by name

when the young lady serving up my coffee
says, "Thank you, Mr. Sims"

$2.43 for coffee.
Big  tip
For Calling Me Names!

My Name!

Listen and learn.

 

 

The Prince and the Pea

The Prince of Peace is sensitive enough to notice the smallest gift given in love.

 

As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” - Mark 12:38-44

New International Version (NIV) - Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

We call this story, "The Widow's Mite."

A thought comes to mind of a the tiny pea in the pod, with an illustration of Hans Christian Andersen's, "The Princess and the Pea." The tiny thing became a great source of annoyance and attention.

Jesus lifts up the life lesson of a little lady whose gift was greater than any of the mighty and powerful ... It was tiny, but it was powerful.

How does this widow inform our thinking about the stewardship of our resources, our lives, our influence, and our world?

I. The BASIS of our STEWARDSHIP

We are all tenants here. We don't "own" this world. God does. (vv 1-12). It is His and when we try to claim it as our own, treat it as our own, or mistreat His messengers, who so often come to us in rags, He stands ready to remind us that He is still in charge.

II. THE BOUNDARIES of our STEWARDSHIP

We have some obligations to "the systems" of this world, but our primary obligation is to God. (vv. 13-17). The government does not and cannot do anything that thwarts the stewardship of our lives. Whatever they take, they take, but what we give to God is ourselves.

III. THE BOXES of our SENSES

Worldly thinking, temporally bounded, is not eternal thinking. (vv 18-27) We not only need to start thinking out of the box, but outside of the boxes of time and space as we know them. How easily distracted we are from our real stewardship when we try to figure everything out in our relentless search for loopholes. Forget dead issues; He is the God of the living!

IV. THE BONDS of our SERVICE

Serving God and following His commands is not a complicated thing. It is all summed up in the law of love. (vv. 28-34) This is a stewardship we can learn. When we start loving God and others, following Jesus is simplified and begins to come easy to us.

V. THE BRANDING of the SON

Jesus is Lord! That is His designation, branding, and name. Jesus teaches this lesson with an open-ended question. He expected His disciples to go off and think about some things and figure them out ... but not to over complicate them. Sometimes, He would create a sense of mystery and complexity on one level so that His disciples would turn to the sheer simplicity of the matter ---- "Follow me." Stewardship is simply about following Jesus. (vv. 35-37).

VI. THE BLASPHEMY of the "SAINTS."

...  or "Beware of lawyers ..." :) --- actually, people who think they have power over us spiritually and in other ways. Some folks think they are saintlier than others and they have the degrees, titles, power, and wealth the prove it! They delight in recognition and special privileges and, in the process, abuse the poor and weak. We need to beware and make sure we stay free in Christ ... and that we do not become those people. (vv. 38-40).

VII. THE BEAUTY of our SACRIFICES

On this Veteran's Day Sunday, we honor people who were willing to sacrifice their lives. Following Jesus involves laying our lives on the altar and becoming living sacrifices as well. (Romans 12) That brings us to the PEA POD (vv. 41-44. see also Hebrews 9:24-28.):

The Widow's SACRIFICE of GIVING was a thing of BEAUTY to Jesus. It illustrated three truths about how we give something beautiful, acceptable, and useful to God.

The PEA

P = Out of POVERTY 

She did not give out of abundance or rely on abundance. She did not abound in things. She gave out of extreme personal poverty as did the Macedonians in II Corinthians 8:2. We cannot measure the significance of tiny things that become great. every pea in the pod can become a giver of great life.

E = EVERYTHING she had .

She emptied herself of all her resources. She gave it all as did Jesus, as Paul described Him in Philippians 2:7. Good is sensitive to tiny gifts as was the princess in Andersen's story. Little becomes much.

A = ALL she had TO LIVE ON!!!

That was it. The repercussions of giving everything were that --- THAT WAS ALL ... There was nothing left. She, like the widow in of Zarapheth, would just have to die. That adds meaning to the admonition to count the cost. We are all willing to give if we think it won't hurt. She gave with humility and grace, perhaps even with joy. It would cost her, but after counting the cost, she gave anyway .... Which put her back at the contextual, point I - Absolute reliance on the planter of the vineyard to provide for her needs.

This widow, humble, quiet, and maligned, became the example for us all to follow, of pea pod stewardship and giving. it is all His stuff and we are tenants.

Our obligations are to God.

Our thinking needs de-stinking.

Our bonds are bonds of love.

We follow only one Master.

Many will try to manipulate us, malign us, and manage us, but He will use the tiniest things to make the biggest points.

In the meantime, it is little things that mean a lot.

 

We know Jesus is the true Prince because he notices the smallest things.

 

Babylon the Great Is Fallen

Woodcut in 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle depicting the fall of Babylon.

"After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice,

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

She has become a dwelling place for demons,

a haunt for every unclean spirit,

a haunt for every unclean bird,

a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

For all nations have drunk

the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,

and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”"

-Revelation 18:1-3 (ESV)

Here is an angel, a messenger of God, speaking truth to power - power that you are either attracted to or that you resist --- or both.

What is your Babylon? What is that seat of power that attracts those who also want power and hope to get it through association, conspiracy, and sinister collaboration that oppresses the weak and the righteous?

We are attracted to that bright, beautiful, lively, ostentatious "city of influence," its sensual pleasures and its facade of wealth, luxury, and illegitimate power.

It intoxicates and it draws in those who are inclined to be drawn.

And lest we lift our own heads in pride, something in it is inclined to draw something in us and it can intoxicate us as well --- for a season or for a lifetime --- our choice if we remain conscious enough to make choices.

For Babylon is fallen. It is an eternal reality in Heaven where all is accomplished already.

Every false god and every pretender to every throne has eventually been vanquished and neutralized. It has been; it shall be. Ultimate rectification is reality, but in the meantime, the dance is repeated throughout history.

The only history that immediately matters for us is the one we are living, the choices we are making, the alignments we are activating, and the loyalties we are forming.

It is an angel, a messenger by definition, that has the authority to put power in check and glory gathers around the sound of his mighty voice.

That says that it is truth that brings powers to their knees. It is the voice of truth, the message of God that humbles the proud and pronounces judgment upon oppressors.

Let that be an encouragement to all of you who daily, and without apparent reward, consistently and faithfully, speak truth to power.

More on this ... because at the end of the list is the real "cargo" of unscrupulous commerce in a marriage of convenience with illegitimate and oppressive power. It is the slavery of human souls.

"And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls." - Revelation 18:11-13 (ESV)

This subversive circular is calling out power for its tracking of humanity. The test of authenticity, legitimacy, and righteousness in any system of commerce and government with all their entanglements may well be --- Does it profit from the enslavement of human souls?

If it does, and that includes the enticements of systems of addiction, then red flags go up everywhere. This one is "Babylon" and it is going down.

The picture of judgment is telling. It is not poured down the throats of the proud and haughty. They lap it up. Warned not to be proud, they lust for more and it is judgment they consume that judges them in the end --- and judges us daily. Pride of heart and haughtiness of spirit are not our friends. When we choose not to walk humbly before our God and graciously among our neighbors, we lap up judgment to ourselves.

" I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’

and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;

do not lift up your horn on high,

or speak with haughty neck.’”

For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,

but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup

with foaming wine, well mixed,

and he pours out from it,

and all the wicked of the earth

shall drain it down to the dregs"  - Psalm 75:4-8 (ESV)

 

 

 

 

Good News on a Sabbath Day

 

Christ healing an infirm woman by James Tissot, 1886-1896.

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.

When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment."

When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.

But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."

But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"

When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

-Luke 13:10-17 

Speaking a word of liberation and healing is not desecrating, but celebrating Sabbath in its truest meaning. A woman who had labored under a crippling curse for years, was set free by the embodied gospel of grace in Luke 13.

• The good news puts people ahead of rituals.
• The good news infuriates those who use religion to build up their own power at the expense of people.
• The good news does not contradict the meaning behind the forms, but breaths new life into them.
• The good news causes the broken to stand up straight.
• The good news exposes hypocrisy.
• The good news shames the opponents of Jesus but causes rejoicing among the people.

Up Against the Rocks

There is a fallacy that we can alleviate evil by just being harsher in our judgments and punishments.

History and the social sciences join this text in bringing that assumption into question.

Revelation 16:1: takes us to an eternal grandstand where we observe a tragic example:

"The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds."

God exercises such prerogatives when there is no other way.

He shows us so that we might know and so that we might repent.

John's vision is a good description of the self-destructive personality, addicted to negativity.

Often, no amount of suffering from the consequences can produce an effective impetus for change.

God is reaching out in judgment and hearts are getting harder.

We sadly see this mindset illustrated with great frequency in our ministries to the hurting who are as likely to hurt themselves as they are others.

They would rather curse God than turn to Him for mercy and new life.

Their stubborn willfulness is not the result of the judgment, but is revealed by it. It is a last straw, a final outreach.

Sometimes, the prospects seem bleak.

That being said, we keep trying to shine the light of love and grace.

We keep the lighthouse open and the light shining on the rocky shores of destruction.

Photo by Bayu Anggoro on Unsplash

Political String Theory (Whatever that Means)

 

The Future in a Multiverse Vision of Universal Prayerful, Personal, and  Political Possibilities or ...

Who Is Pulling Our STRINGS?

Photo by Terri Bleeker on Unsplash

Through our personal, prayerful, and political choices, we are working together with God to create a new world.

One theory of reality suggests that there are infinite realities in infinite dimensions, each created with each new choice or variable in the previous dimension.

It grows through geometric progression ... but since there is no way to cross over from one to the other, it matters little except as an interesting point of speculation.

But this is beyond speculation: There are countless possibilities ahead to be determined by the choices and behaviors today of all of us.

Imagine a place in a universe that operates on some different historical premises. One little piece of that universe that might be called earth is the subject of your focus.

Some things we assume have not happened in that place; others have; outcomes have changed.

What does that place look like? How is it different from our world? Is it possible for you, in this world, to help create that world?

Is it too late?

Is it too early?

Is it too much?

Is it a little bit possible to pray and to live the prayer, "Thy Kingdom come ... on earth?"

If every possibility creates a new "world," what sort of world are you creating by your daily and moment-by-moment choices?

As I was walking to St Joe,
I met a man with a broken toe.
He knew some things I did not know,
Which I suppose just goes to show ....

That little ditty, of course, means nothing. I just stuck it in because I did not know where else to place it. Did it make any difference in anything?

Well?

Did it?

How about the way I see and meet you and you see and meet me?

When you see me
And I, in turn, fear you,
The spiral of
Communication
Downward
Would be the envy
Of roller coaster
Engineers

What about the decisions with which I am wrestling? How about non-decision?

If making up my mind is like making up my bed, it won't last long ... or I will be too sleep deprived to remember anyway.

I once felt more impressed with concept of standing my ground. Then. I was in an earthquake and it hook up my assumptions.

Buber says it is all about meeting - people or tectonic plates.

So, let's meet. Reflections on Buber.

We are different and can only experience what those differences truly mean as we come together in an I-Thou manner.

Meetings of minds are superfluous among clones, but essential to the fluid thoughts of intersecting individuals crisscrossing life's journey.

There must be some detente if there is going to be any negotiation. Negotiators do not compromise principles. They start with common ground.

If I say that Z is an unprincipled ignoramus, but Z is holding cards we need for a mutual win, I've gained nothing by winning that battle.

There's no shortage of clever slogans to obscure, marginalize, fragment, & distort the truth they purport to underscore- including this one.

If I represent Jesus, it may require that I keep my own opinions within the laboratory of my own mind until they are better formulated.

If I cannot recognize the name you are calling me, how can I know you want me to listen. Name calling accomplishes nothing of good ever.

I cannot hear the voices whose volume exceeds their content or whose hyperbolic pronouncements outdistance their capacity to listen.

Politics at its best includes collective, collaborative, courteous, and civil communication to solve problems as a people of differing perspectives.

To distinguish between
Opinion,
Preference,
Emotion,
Perspective,
Prejudice,
Inspiration,
and
Insight
Is no small task.
Speak.
Listen.
Be.

As for my opinions (and these are mere meditations):

My opinions are like underarms.
Like most, I have two.
Others are offended by their emanating aroma before I notice
I need opinion hygiene.

We must not be distracted.

"... So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. "" - Nehemiah 6:8

This is our work. If any of this is to be sorted out. If this dimension of reality, the only one relevant to us, the only one we know and can access to this point, is to reflect the best of all possibilities, we must pray and act on this prayer:

"Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

Come tomorrow ...

Come tomorrow, what if Christians in our nation would make some resolutions like those I humbly and tentatively suggest below?

I can only speak to and for Christians on this matter. People of other faiths and ideologies often have similar ethics, but I am a follower of Jesus and these resolutions flow from my understanding of His directives to His followers.

We shall love, respect, and pray for our leaders whoever they are. We shall obey our laws.

If there is a law that we, in good conscience cannot obey (not just that we don't like it), we shall peacefully and respectfully resist and accept the consequences quietly and humbly.

We shall continue to love our neighbors and let our voices be heard for peace, justice, and a righteous, compassionate society beginning at the local level.

We shall work across the lines of ideology to support common causes and be willing to be distinct and different without disrespecting those with whom we differ.

We shall assume sincere motives in hearts of our opponents as a basis for reasoning with them and cooperating with them whenever possible.

We shall practice our freedom of speech, religion, and every other freedom with the assumption that those freedoms are protected, without fear, and without intimidation. We shall not expect the endorsement of civil authorities or special protections or considerations beyond that which is common to all -- even those who have other beliefs and practices.

If our freedoms of speech and religion are indeed threatened, we shall continue to exercise them no matter what the consequences.

We shall care for and advocate for those who have no voice, for the oppressed, the poor, the broken, and the outcasts.

We shall work for peace on earth and understanding among nations. We know that there shall continue to be wars and rumors of wars in the continuation of human history, but we shall do what we have been commanded to do and work for peace in our time.

We shall be friendly and winsome.

We shall guard our own personal morality and be honest in business, politics, and human relations. We shall seek to set an example of sexual purity, integrity, and fidelity. We shall conduct ourselves in our families and churches in such a way as not to discredit the Kingdom of God.

We will guard our words, temper our speech, practice the Sermon on the Mount, love God, love our neighbor, and pray for people in power as a witness to the words we speak.

We shall continue to confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior and the guide of our lives.

We shall believe in God and in the words of Jesus that He would be with us always as we follow Him and call others to follow and ...

We shall follow, making disciples as we go, teaching them to do what He taught us to to remembering that the essence of what He taught us to do was to love.

We shall continue to pray, "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," believing that if the King has invited us to pray that way, He has a plan to answer our prayer.

That is my personal, prayerful, and political strategy for a new world that is yet to be created.

What is yours?

 

 

 

Photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash

" Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent." -Psalm 71:9 (ESV)

My heart is young. My mind is young . My dreams are young.

My hope and vision are young.

I am renewed day by day.

Some of you are right there with me, but your bodies are not cooperating,

God grant you new energy and strength today. There is much to be done.

" May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay!''-Psalm 70:4-5 (ESV)

 

 

 

 

I Have Already Come

 

"And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." - Revelation 7:14

There are two powerful words joined together in the scriptures – two prepositions that together bring us hope in our trials and tribulations: out of.

We catch a glimpse of Heaven and behold the saints, on display as examples of potential victory and ultimate triumph. These are they who have come out of tribulation. You might as well say, “through.”

My wife recently underwent surgery for breast cancer. The next day she was visited by a survivor. While she had already made up her mind to be more than that – even an “overcomer,” the visit was an encouragement. Someone had come out of the struggle, through the difficulties, and over the hurdles. And out of those tribulations, there emerged good.

“I have already come.”

When we hear those words and when we speak those words, we get courage. Whether it is our experience or someone else’s, there is precedent for victory. We affirm again with Paul that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

We draw upon past victories to nurture belief for present and future challenges. We recognize the power of God’s grace in our lives up until this point. We see where we were, what we had to face, and how we emerged and we know that if we have to, we can do it again.

We don’t want to do it again, but we can.

Then we think of the saints around the throne and know that we have really faced such little hardship compared to them. And from there we look to the cross and know that we have not even approached Christ’s suffering. Then we go back to our Bibles and underscore the words, “out of,” and back to our hymnals and highlight the word, “through.”

I have already come.

 

 

This Is Your Moment

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

I was mediating on the power of a moment well done.

And wondering if this was one.

Moments create momentum without being obvious or ostentatious.
Momentous moments motion us over and envelop us like a cloud and then ...
Pass over.

Missing moments is a mournful sorrow.
Magnificent moments multiply in some invisible space called influence, but ...
Muddling moments may move us on to the next and the next and the next ...
Move in and with the moment or meddle with the muck ...
Lots of luck with that ...

Rather, just be in that moment and be what you are intended to be for you ...
You were made for this moment and ...
This moment was made for you.

Who knows what it will bring to you and more ...
What it will bring through you and by that, I mean ...
YOU MAY NEVER KNOW ....

But KNOW that NO moment well lived is ever lost and
Nothing, nothing, nothing is ever lost to God.
This is your moment.
Live it.

 

 

In the Midst

 

Photo by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

" Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands." - Psalm 138:7-8 (ESV)

 

Who among us does not walk in the midst of trouble?

Yet, who among us and reading this has not survived such trouble?

Indeed, we walked in the midst and were preserved. We are alive to testify that not all trouble takes away our life or our reason to live.

It is God's purpose for which we live and are alive ... and in His purpose, we thrive. He has fashioned us for the brief moment we live and will lovingly and faithfully write the final chapter of our lives ... and a chapter that resounds with grace and love and joy.

We are not yet done.

We are a people of purpose, beloved and not forsaken.

We are, at all times, the objects of God's undivided attention.

" You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?" -  Psalm 56:8 (ESV)

The lesson here is that God must have an extensive library of thick, wet books. He just does not miss these things. God pays close attention.

Nothing distracts God from fulfilling the purpose for which we were placed here. We are never forgotten, ignored,  nor overlooked.

It evokes the response of trust from us.

" When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?" -Psalm 56:3-4 (ESV)

This goes for all time and any time. Trouble colors the backdrop on our lives. It surrounds us and sometimes, overwhelms us, but the scriptures declare hope.

Psalm 40:11 shouts in my ear, "As for you, O LORD ..." 5 powerful words that trump all other assumptions, attitudes, and pronouncement of men. My character and moods may waver, but "as for God ..."

Psalm 40:17 ends with the prayer of an impatient man, "do not delay,"  cries he who is learning to wait patiently on the LORD.

In retrospect, it was a minor irritation and a low level problem, but I lost my phone on Halloween seven years ago and assumed it was stolen along with vital information that left me vulnerable and without a means of communication.

I remember writing:

My phone was stolen today and I finally realized I had a tracker on on. So we rode around town for a while tonight and I even knocked on one door where it was located, but it was not there and moved. So, I'll have to cancel the service tomorrow. I may be able to get delayed voice mails. We shall see. I've changed my main passwords. Life is fun!

The fact is that we chased that phone all over town and we were always a mile behind. We were getting into shadier and shadier parts of town and it was getting dark and ominous. So we quit.

Two days later, we found the phone, lodged under the back seat of my wife's car. It had been there all along, sending out a signal ahead of us. We would have chased it forever - or at least until the battery died.

I think I have chased a lot of problems and solutions that way, rather than trusting that God will always bring His purpose to pass and that I can trust Him with my well being.

"Grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home."

 

 

Like a daisy
Losing
Life through drooping blooms,
Loosening pedals,
Languid luster,
Like that!
Lackadaisical phase,
Looming leveler of a
Dooming craze.
Into the maze we fall
Lackadaisical.

Did You Hear the One?

Now that I have your attention:

There is no gossip here today, not major revelations, no breaking news, no scandal, no impending indictments, no judgment, no criticism, no prophetic utterance, no profound secrets.

There is nothing to whisper or to shout.

There is just an invitation to relax from it.

Come away ... today.
Just snuggle, rock, relax.
Rock away your cares.
Find a space, a place of grace
Away from layers and layers of dares
To do this and be that ...
Rock, rock, rock and let the prayers
Of the moment and the memories of moments
And the prayers of others form a cushion for
Your soul and rock in the arms of One who
Loves you as you are and
Invites you to make yourself at home.

Your word for the day - respite.

 

Blessed respite,
Holy retreat,
Quiet reflection,
Deep respect,
How we embrace thee.
How we welcome thee.
How we anticipate thy refreshment.

Take the opportunity of it today.

Spell it out!

OPPORTUNITY
OP:Opt in
POR: Poor, yet rich
TUN:Tune self to A440 of life
IT: Focus on the "it of it"
Y: YES to life
= OPPORTUNITY

Perhaps you need a musical accompaniment for this moment of respite.

 

 

Connecting to Count

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

 

I hear a lot of jokes and criticism about the younger generation, but I am a big fan. The major reason I am is because I appreciate the value they place on value. They are not interested in spending time on empty rituals, habitual activities, or anything that does not count for something or change the world.

"Tradition" is not a good answer when they ask why they should show up. They show up for social media. It is fun for them and that is a value, but it is also more. It is about connecting and counting.

Social media is fun for me also, but that is not what it mainly is.

I love the pictures, jokes, and light conversations.

I enjoy the learning I do. Learned people post links to articles I can check out for myself. I can delve more deeply into subjects introduced in your posts.

I get greater exposure to history, philosophy, science, the arts, public affairs, and literature.

We also toss around great ideas from varied perspectives.

We get to promote people doing outstanding things in the community. We can pray for each other and encourage each others.

Sometimes I get the news in social media first and then check the more primary sources

Yet, the main thing will keep me coming back is this: the ability to lift up love, truth, justice, and God's Word, the opportunity to connect people with hope and with each other, the possibility of making a difference.

These are the things that count most to me --- the value we can add to each other and to our communities.

That is what makes it count for me.

I don't argue much online. I throw out ideas ( mine or others').

You have to do your own work with them. When challenged, I will spend limited time clarifying my position or perspective out of respect.

I may even refine my position.

We have different perspectives because we have lived different lives and accepted different narratives of reality. They have become the lenses through which we perceive truth.

It is a long game to introduce new ways of viewing things.

It is really not much different than three dimensional real time, which I have not abandoned at all. It is just faster, more immediate, and includes more people over a wider geographical expanse.

I love social media, because where else could I attach Chopin's "Nocturne for Piano and Violin" to the end of a blog about social media when it has absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter?

Scatter at Will

 

"Sheaves of Wheat" (1890) by Vincent van Gogh

“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field … He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; “ - Matthew 13:24-, 37-38

The sower grabs a handful of seeds and tosses them.

He does so generously and in a manner that may seem to some to be indiscriminate. It is called scattering and was a common way of sowing seeds in Jesus’ day. I have planted gardens by placing each individual seed in the ground and covering it carefully. And I have planted grass in the manner described by Jesus.

Don’t be stingy and miserly with God’s seeds.

He keeps track of them and knows where each seed falls. He has entrusted them into your hands – first to His Son and now to you. He expects that you will throw them about into the wind without regard for knowing where each one lands. You can not, you need not, you may not.

The Son of Man sows good seeds and sends forth His disciples to sow good seeds as well. He does not require that good seeds fall only among other good seeds. Not only is that not His way, it is not necessary. Every seed eventually reveals its own true nature.

That’s what seeds do.

He knows that some seeds will be lost to unprepared soil.

It’s OK, there is no shortage of seeds. Perhaps at some other time the soil will be ready. Keep sowing. The implications are double for us. We not only bear in our own lives the fruit of His seed, but we also are called to accept the challenge to be co-laborers in His field.

The call to sow seed requires us to accept the enormity of the challenge, while resting completely in His grace and trusting Him for the fruit.

We may sow freely, liberally, and with joy knowing that there is contained within each of God’s gospel seeds the power to change lives, families, communities, and nations.

Scatter at will.

 

 

Born to Shine

Photo by Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash

 

"We were born to shine ..."

So shine, my friends, shine.

Shine now.

Shine on.

Shine brightly.

Shine long.

Shine and cast your shadow over all that come near you.

Shining and shadowing, you shall give light

and definition.

Because you believe, others will find the courage to believe.

Hearts full of love and laughter and life...
Songs prompting our best and repose.
Awaits, rest we suppose,
But life, more life, more love beckons us
And love alone is what reckons us
Believers ... full of love and laughter and life.

Shine!

"Ye are the light of the world." - Jesus

Christianity is Not Declining

Photo by Andrew Stutesman,| Unsplash

 

Christianity is not on decline in the world. It is exploding.

In a Washington Post article on May 20, 2015, Wes Granberg-Michaelson noted,

"While Christianity may be on the decline in the United States, the world is becoming more religious, not less. While rising numbers of 'nones' — those who claim no religious affiliation when asked — claim the attention of religious pundits, the world tells a different story. Religious convictions are growing and shifting geographically in several dramatic ways."

Granberg-Michaelson goes on to support his argument with some bullet points.

"The center of Christianity has shifted from Europe to the global South."

"In Latin America, the massive Christian population is becoming more Pentecostal or Charismatic."

"Global migration matters ... About 214 million people have moved from one country to another as migrants and refugees, or are in that process."

"Immigration shapes the U.S. religious landscape. In the United States, about 43 million residents were born in another country, and immigrated here. Of these, about 74 percent adhere to the Christian faith, while 5 percent are Muslim, 4 percent Buddhist and 3 percent Hindu."

"There are three times more Protestant Hispanics in the United States than Episcopalians."

In a June 2019 article in Facts and Trends by Aaron Earls, he makes seven observations on the global growth of Christianity. Four of them are:

Christianity is growing faster than the population.
There are 2.5 billion Christians in the world and Christianity is growing at a rate of 1.27%. World population growth is at a 1.20% rate.

Pentecostals and Evangelicals are growing fasted and picking up speed.

Atheism has peaked."There are fewer atheists in the world today (138 million) than there were in 1970 (165 million)."

Christianity is growing in cities.

In a Faith and Leadership article last year, Granberg-Michaelson said, "As Christianity shifts to the global south, Christians in the U.S. must ‘de-Americanize the gospel’ and be open to movements of the faith in other cultures, says the author and denominational leader."

The mindset of the average American Christian is both euro-centric and Americanized. We view the gospel movement through lenses of our own culture and presuppositions. Missional and kingdom-centric followers of Jesus will need to change glasses in order to see more clearly what God is doing in the world.

It may also take a fair share of humility with a dose of humiliation to acknowledge that we are no longer the leaders of the movement.

For many of us, this will come as good and encouraging news.

It is great to think that the focus and center of modern Christianity is no longer English speaking.  Even in America, the epicenter has moved from the Anglo/European church to the more recent diaspora among us.

Those who cite a decline in Christianity are not taking a world/missional view. We are revealing our biases.

Christianity is growing.

Status of Global Christianity

 

More Than a Housecleaning

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Did you ever notice this frustrating reality?

You clean up, fix up, or straighten up and it goes well for a while and then ... you relapse into a worse state than before.

There is a futility in constantly cleaning up and not dealing with the roots of what pollutes us, corrupts us, and manipulates our thinking into even deeper futility. 

An interruption in a cycle that is empowered by its own forces will only be temporary. 

Christian faith and spiritual transformation are not about momentary behavior modification or immobilization of peripheral demons. To repent is to recognize the difference between where we are going and where we can go and to change direction.

We have been invaded by the Kingdom of God and the King Himself has come to invite us into transformation, liberation, and deep significance. This is no passing matter or minor deliverance. The enemy that seeks to entrap and destroy the soul is sinister, persistent, and patient. We can choose a different master and step away from the "generation" bent on destruction. 

We need more than subtle reformation. We need re-FORM-ation in all of its implications.

Jesus speaks to the frustration of the human condition and its resistance to transforming grace when He says,

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” -Matthew 12:43-45 (ESV)

 

 

WWJR - What Would Jesus Repost?

 

Photo by Tomwsulcer, Wikipedia Commons, This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

"Reposting" is not in my online dictionary as a real word, but it is a part of our daily usage and practice.

We "repost" all the time, little tidbits, anecdotal "evidence," and clever arguments that support the ideas we already embrace.

If we see something in the news, no matter how reputable or disreputable the source, we "repost" it as long as it underlines and supports our views.

Don't get me wrong. I am not off-the-hook for this.

I like the news to support my narrative of reality as much as anyone, but ...

I do not like egg on my face if subsequent facts prove me wrong

... and I love truth ... so I am waiting to do analysis and draw conclusions until more facts surface.

Speaking of that, I did some reflecting on truth 10 years ago and made these notes:

I Hate Truth ... sometimes

Sometimes I hate truth ...

    sometimes ...

But only the way a kid hates his parents for a flash of a moment when they yank his chain and put a lid on his poor choices. The hate is really love lashing out at the boundaries.

Example: I don't want to go online and look at my bank balance ... mainly because it tells me the truth and I am not sure I want to know it ...

But I need to know it if I am going to do anything about it.

Sometimes I can't do anything now, so I don't want to look. Yet, still I need to know.

It is the shock that I really want to avoid.

But the shock does not last forever and the information goes into a pot on low heat and eventually will combine with other ingredients and produce a creative stew of possibilities.

That will only happen if I am willing to look at the truth.

That is why I just checked my online bank statement.

Ouch! I need to turn up the heat a notch. 

I really don't hate truth at all. I love truth ... I think.

I am concerned about one of the ways we are dealing with truth and the numbing effect it is having on our sensitivities. With the news cycle keeping us informed of so many tragedies and travesties of justice, we can get numb, or calloused, or even belligerent.

We need to cultivate our compassion filters. Our hearts and minds need a compass. We need the heart of God for real people that are touched by everything reported in the news.

The Jesus Way is the way of compassion, love, and grace whatever our prevailing narrative or philosophical framework might be,

Compassion is fragile.
We declare it and own it
until it challenges something
we cherish more dearly
like our cherished narrative
or our personal comfort
or our sense of indignation at 
the behavior of our enemies
or our neatly arranged systems of
thinking
about almost anything.
Then, it is the first value to go.
Compassion is fragile.

We could start every day with an attitude of compassion that says from the outset, "I am going to filter every impression I form through the pain of the people involved."

That would be a start.

Then, come our words and they may be the words we speak and repeat or the words we post and repost. 

Words are things and they have lives of their own.

They travel. They mutate. They infiltrate.

Once released, we cannot retrieve them.

We are likely to be misunderstood even when we are careful with them, more likely when we are careless.

What would Jesus post?

And ... if he were not such an original thinker ("teaches as one with authority"), repost?

Social media is here to stay; let's learn to use it in the service of truth and compassion.

 

 

Sometimes I hate truth ...

    sometimes ...

But only the way a kid hates his parents for a flash of a moment when they yank his chain and put a lid on his poor choices. The hate is really love lashing out at the boundaries.

Example: I don't want to go online and look at my bank balance ... mainly because it tells me the truth and I am not sure I want to know it ...

But I need to know it if I am going to do anything about it.

Sometimes I can't do anything now, so I don't want to look. Yet, still I need to know.

It is the shock that I really want to avoid.

But the shock does not last forever and the information goes into a pot on low heat and eventually will combine with other ingredients and produce a creative stew of possibilities.

That will only happen if I am willing to look at the truth.

That is why I just checked my online bank statement.

Ouch! I need to turn up the heat a notch. 

I really don't hate truth at all. I love truth ... I think.

One Reason Why Social Media Is Good for Discourse

 

There is some truly well written material here on Facebook and Twitter and in the blogsphere.

It is fresh, immediate, and compelling.

It is edgy and controversial.

It is raw, real, and relevant.

Of course there is junk, untruth, half-truth, and trash. You have to sort it out. You have to explore the sources and verify, but the wealth of information from the ground and the collaborative power of thinking together is a gift of our times.

I don't agree with everything I read, but when I find something well thought with which I disagree, I find it a lot easier to address what it is with which I truly disagree and not be sucked into a sinkhole of generalizations or a shooting match of talking point bullets.

I really love this medium for the potential it has for reading, thinking, responding.

It is the Luther-Erasmus correspondence -- only quicker!

It is up to you - all of you - how well it will be used.

And that is the genius of it.

Days Pass - Isness

 

"whatever is is, and what is not cannot be". - Parmenides

 

Days pass ... weeks, months, years
... decades slip away,
Accelerating,
Jubilating,
Re-creating,
Innovating life,
Invention of our minds,
Intention of our hearts,
... or something else .... confiding ....
Residing in our soul ....
Guiding to some goal?

Is there a whole in the hole ...
A purposeful role 
we play
in the scheming dreaming of these days?
Is there more in gleaming rays to our ways 
that doth
Unfold as the story's told?
Am I bold ...
or just old?

I cannot, will not, shall not fade away in this story.
I cannot, will not, shall not wade away from glory.
I cannot, will not, shall not get stuck in a rhyme.
Not this time!

Yesterday seems so long ago.
And many yesterdays like recent past 
and present ... but it does not last.
Nothing lasts but That which Is and ...
In that Isness nothing passes, nothing is lost.
Flowers wilt as do the grasses, great the cost,
Mass the masses, lads and lasses move in great procession
Through our memories but ever present
In the heart of That which, He which Is and In that
Isness I reside for that same Isness resides in me.

Grace, peace, joy, love, and wonder, from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you all, this day and always and forever more.

May the Great "I Am" be within you. Amen.

The "Easy" Yoke

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

There is a yoke that fits you well.

It is easy, but now in the way you might think of ease.

There is a roll that suits you completely.

You may work harder than you've ever worked, but your steps will be light, your heart will be light, and your hope will be bright.

You will awaken to new days with a renewed spirit and an enthusiasm to start again.

There is a calling that is perfect for who you are ... who you were made to be.

There is a partnership that will bring deep rest to your soul, even as you labor with more energy and output than you have ever experienced.

"... my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:30

God DOES give you more than you can handle ... just no more temptation than you can run from.

He teaches us to trust and rely on His strength and help.

It is never more than He can help us handle.

It is too much to handle alone.

A yoke is "a bar or frame that is attached to the heads or necks of two work animals (such as oxen) so that they can pull a plow or heavy load." - Merriam-Webster

On that occasion, Jesus said “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you; because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father this was your gracious will.

“Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
—Matthew 11:25-30

Jesus' yoke is the yoke that allows us to plow with him and with each other.

It fits. Anything that does not fit, being to big or too small, hinder and injures us.

It is is reasonable. It is not a collection of hundreds of religious regulations nor is the arbitrary rule of an oppressive, occupying force.

It is the yoke that affords us the rest that can only come from fulfillment.

The easy yoke is χρηστός, kindly to wear, good, and serviceable.

The kindred noun, χρηστότης, writings, is rendered kindness in the writings of Paul.

"Christ's yoke is like feathers to a bird; not loads, but helps to motion" (Jeremy Taylor).

No man or woman is happiest in a vegetative state of inactivity and drudgery.

We have a desire within us to make a difference.

The yoke of Christ is a call to work in his kingdom, but it is a call the the weary, the burdened, and the oppressed. It is not a call to retire or retreat, but an invitation to come and engage in something that matters.

When we are so engaged, we find real rest and deep joy.

 

 

 

Stuck and Unstuck

How to Get Unstuck!

Photo by Aubrey Rose Odom on Unsplash

Since I need a little advice here, I think I will give it to myself.

I get stuck sometimes.

It is not usually an absence of options, but a plethora of them.

One gets stuck in the process of choosing and then shuts down.

I have decided the explore the nature of being STUCK and then I can work backwards to UNSTUCK. I have no idea what i am going to write. Join me:

S = Stymied. That implies being thwarted by some outside force. Certainly outside forces influence us negatively or positively, but the reality is that most of the stymieing comes from within. The backwards step is to identify the cause and dis-empower it. However one need not over-identify, for analysis of paralysis can lead to even more paralysis. Just acknowledge the force standing guard to prevent your progress and relieve it of duty. It is at your command and, if there is a real problem, it can be dealt with at some other time. Confront the stymies with the supremacy of your own will over whatever resistance lies within you. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. 

THE CURE FOR THE STYMIES IS SUPREMACY. 

T = Timidity. We are afraid. We are afraid of the shame, embarrassment, and disappointment that failure will bring and the increased responsibility of success. Therefore, we are timid, tenuous, and terrorized by and decisions we might make or actions we might take. After all, we might make a mistake. We might produce mediocre work. We might open a keg of worms. Our "mights" take away our might. To extrapolate and combine two verses, we are taught to take our thoughts captive and giving them to the the One who has not given us a spirit of timidity. We are also instructed to think on things that are wholesome, beautiful, and good. So, we talk to ourselves or, as we used to say, "We give ourselves a good talking-to." 

THE CURE FOR TIMIDITY IS TALK.

U = Under the Circumstances. Being UNDER the circumstances means that we surrender to chance, coincidence, and happening. This, by the way, is the root meaning of "happy," to be subject to chance or fortune. That is why it is utter foolishness to place our happiness above all else in life. We cannot control our happiness. We can always choose it, but it is better to choose joy. "Joy," in the Greek, is from the same root word as "grace." Grace is a gift freely given and always available. We can receive it and choose to continueto live in it. It allows us to "go with the flow" and grow in the process. It gives us permission to fail and try again. It transcends happiness and happenstance. When we choose to live by grace and gratitude, we take whatever is given us and utilize it for good. We incorporate our pain as well as our pleasure into our goals and dreams. We use the cards we are dealt to win. We utilize our resources to live above the circumstances. 

THE CURE FOR "UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES" IS UTILIZATION.

C = Crisis. Something "comes up" and we freeze. We put our plans on hold and break our pattern of discipline. We get discouraged. The origins of the word, "crisis" are found in the ideas of judgment and the turning point of a disease. it can be either good or bad. Statistically, positive and negative events in our lives create similar levels of stress that can affect mental and physical health. Change is stressful. Sometimes in a crisis, we remain as we are, but that does not mean we freeze. It means we continue to "keep on keeping on."  One potential benefit of crisis is confrontation. It is an opportunity for bringing our ideas and practices into account, for evaluation, and for improvement. In the crisis, we must confront all the negative forces and choose that which will move us forward toward our God given dreams and goals. We must do so honestly and hopefully. See crisis as an opportunity to grow. 

THE CURE FOR CRISIS IS CONFRONTATION.

K = Knowledge.But isn't knowledge a good thing? It is, but Dad always said, "Son, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." It is an old question and debating point. In the Garden of Eden, it was not "The Tree of Knowledge" that threw humanity into a tailspin. It was the fruit of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." It was the knowledge that distorts wisdom. It obscures truth by filtering it through a haze of negative options. Knowledge is always filtered. We are always gazing through a screen of presupposition and experience. How we see the world is as much a matter of choice as the choice to eat forbidden fruit. We choose our biases either consciously or unconsciously. We could not be fully human without the choices we were given in the very beginning. When we are stuck, there is something wrong with our beliefs and understanding of reality. To get unstuck, we have to believe differently and expand our thinking to include a larger reality of unexplored knowledge. When Adam and Eve ate from the pretty tree, they were choosing to turn their back on all then other unlimited options for knowledge and growth. The knowledge they chose was extremely limited and futile. We need to grow in our thinking and think bigger more mature thoughts. We know enough to be dangerous, discouraged, and desperate, but not enough to be dominant over our lethargy and apathy. We need more knowledge. 

THE CURE FOR KNOWLEDGE IS KNOWLEDGE.

We can insert the "UN" in front of "STUCK" by grace through faith because these are ...

U = Universal principles.

They work because they are based upon truth that is enduring and preeminent. Truth is truth in anyone's hands. When activated it takes on a life of its own.

N = Neutral.

They do not require anything but application to be operative. Whatever your faith system or affiliation, you can begin to put them into practice and they will help you get unstuck. However, an experience with the author of the principles will enable you to exercise greater confidence in them and fully realize all the benefits that are yours in relationship with Him: grace, mercy, forgiveness, significance, purpose, and eternal life. Click here and on the other links to explore more about that larger reality.

 

Since I need a little advice here, I think I will give it to myself.

I get stuck sometimes.

It is not usually an absence of options, but a plethora of them.

One gets stuck in the process of choosing and then shuts down.

I have decided the explore the nature of being STUCK and then I can work backwards to UNSTUCK. I have no idea what i am going to write. Join me:

S = Stymied. That implies being thwarted by some outside force. Certainly outside forces influence us negatively or positively, but the reality is that most of the stymieing comes from within. The backwards step is to identify the cause and dis-empower it. However one need not over-identify, for analysis of paralysis can lead to even more paralysis. Just acknowledge the force standing guard to prevent your progress and relieve it of duty. It is at your command and, if there is a real problem, it can be dealt with at some other time. Confront the stymies with the supremacy of your own will over whatever resistance lies within you. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. 

THE CURE FOR THE STYMIES IS SUPREMACY. 

T = Timidity. We are afraid. We are afraid of the shame, embarrassment, and disappointment that failure will bring and the increased responsibility of success. Therefore, we are timid, tenuous, and terrorized by and decisions we might make or actions we might take. After all, we might make a mistake. We might produce mediocre work. We might open a keg of worms. Our "mights" take away our might. To extrapolate and combine two verses, we are taught to take our thoughts captive and giving them to the the One who has not given us a spirit of timidity. We are also instructed to think on things that are wholesome, beautiful, and good. So, we talk to ourselves or, as we used to say, "We give ourselves a good talking-to." 

THE CURE FOR TIMIDITY IS TALK.

U = Under the Circumstances. Being UNDER the circumstances means that we surrender to chance, coincidence, and happening. This, by the way, is the root meaning of "happy," to be subject to chance or fortune. That is why it is utter foolishness to place our happiness above all else in life. We cannot control our happiness. We can always choose it, but it is better to choose joy. "Joy," in the Greek, is from the same root word as "grace." Grace is a gift freely given and always available. We can receive it and choose to continueto live in it. It allows us to "go with the flow" and grow in the process. It gives us permission to fail and try again. It transcends happiness and happenstance. When we choose to live by grace and gratitude, we take whatever is given us and utilize it for good. We incorporate our pain as well as our pleasure into our goals and dreams. We use the cards we are dealt to win. We utilize our resources to live above the circumstances. 

THE CURE FOR "UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES" IS UTILIZATION.

C = Crisis. Something "comes up" and we freeze. We put our plans on hold and break our pattern of discipline. We get discouraged. The origins of the word, "crisis" are found in the ideas of judgment and the turning point of a disease. it can be either good or bad. Statistically, positive and negative events in our lives create similar levels of stress that can affect mental and physical health. Change is stressful. Sometimes in a crisis, we remain as we are, but that does not mean we freeze. It means we continue to "keep on keeping on."  One potential benefit of crisis is confrontation. It is an opportunity for bringing our ideas and practices into account, for evaluation, and for improvement. In the crisis, we must confront all the negative forces and choose that which will move us forward toward our God given dreams and goals. We must do so honestly and hopefully. See crisis as an opportunity to grow. 

THE CURE FOR CRISIS IS CONFRONTATION.

K = Knowledge.But isn't knowledge a good thing? It is, but Dad always said, "Son, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." It is an old question and debating point. In the Garden of Eden, it was not "The Tree of Knowledge" that threw humanity into a tailspin. It was the fruit of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." It was the knowledge that distorts wisdom. It obscures truth by filtering it through a haze of negative options. Knowledge is always filtered. We are always gazing through a screen of presupposition and experience. How we see the world is as much a matter of choice as the choice to eat forbidden fruit. We choose our biases either consciously or unconsciously. We could not be fully human without the choices we were given in the very beginning. When we are stuck, there is something wrong with our beliefs and understanding of reality. To get unstuck, we have to believe differently and expand our thinking to include a larger reality of unexplored knowledge. When Adam and Eve ate from the pretty tree, they were choosing to turn their back on all then other unlimited options for knowledge and growth. The knowledge they chose was extremely limited and futile. We need to grow in our thinking and think bigger more mature thoughts. We know enough to be dangerous, discouraged, and desperate, but not enough to be dominant over our lethargy and apathy. We need more knowledge. 

THE CURE FOR KNOWLEDGE IS KNOWLEDGE.

We can insert the "UN" in front of "STUCK" by grace through faith because these are ...

U = Universal principles.

They work because they are based upon truth that is enduring and preeminent. Truth is truth in anyone's hands. When activated it takes on a life of its own.

N = Neutral.

They do not require anything but application to be operative. Whatever your faith system or affiliation, you can begin to put them into practice and they will help you get unstuck. However, an experience with the author of the principles will enable you to exercise greater confidence in them and fully realize all the benefits that are yours in relationship with Him: grace, mercy, forgiveness, significance, purpose, and eternal life. Click here and on the other links to explore more about that larger reality.

 

Following on the Rocky Path

When we follow Jesus, it might be a very rocky road where we travel. It is part of the demand. It is part of the contract. It is part of the joy.

"As they were going along the road, someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' To another he said, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home'” Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'”  - Luke 9:57-62 (ESV)

Outlandish?

Audacious?

Extreme?

Radical?

Unreasonable?

Shocking?

Absolutely. Discipleship is a consuming passion leaving all other passions in the dust by comparison.

That is the nature of consuming passions., Look what people leave behind for passions and consider that eternal significance asks no less than a temporary "burn."

The hand is to the plow. Looking back is not part of the deal. What consumes you?

Follow the Man of No Reputation!

 

 

.Passion Flower, Passion Power

 

Passiflora vitifolia, Flower , Density - Own work

How about that. Is there a "passion vine" growing in your soul?
Passion is pain.
Compassion in shared pain.
Passion is power.
Shared passion is healing power.
Power becomes a flower.
The flower blooms all summer.
Let it bloom and then, let is scatter seeds and bloom again in Spring.
Nurture the passion vine within you.

A Prayer to Get Started

God the Father with His Right Hand Raised in Blessing -  Girolamo dai Libri  (1474–1555) 

 

God of all that is without Whom there is not,
God of all that was, without who nothing has been,
God of all that can be and should be and might be,
God of all that shall be.
God of unfolding wonders and un-fathomed waters of wisdom,
God all who live, who have lived, and shall live,
God of me .... my God, our God,
God of Jesus, Savior, Friend,
God revealed in Spirit and in Flesh,

You are here with us, and for that, we are ever grateful.

Hear our morning prayers.
Hear our heartfelt cries for mercy.
Hear our burning, yearning groans for those deep needs we cannot express with words.

You know our wounds, our open, oozing sores.
You know our stubborn, egotistical ugliness, but ...
You also know what beauty lies within us, that which is of You, that which You would nurture inside of us.

With penetrating eye and skillful hand, root out our sin and heal our shame.
With gentle hand, guide us into Your purpose for our being.
Arrange our lives today and supersede our presumptions.

Grant us divine appointments and the spirit of serendipity to embrace them.
Laugh with us today; weep with us; look with us upon your world with love.

Oh, Master Designer, design our lives, my life, to conform with your vision.
Fill our hearts with peace, with joy, with holy love that we might serve you in serving others.
May not a moment be wasted of this day, not a thought lost, not a word vainly spoken.

I come, Father, referred by Jesus, Whose name I gladly take as the banner over my life.
I come willing to die to self today, but weak in the flesh, I identify with Jesus and express my desire to You, to follow Him ...'

Wherever He leads.

I have no other agenda worth attending to ...

Amen.

 

Because any hymn of praise will do today! And this one is lovely.

 

The Foundations Are Strong

" if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”

"The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD's throne is in heaven ..."

Psalm 11:3-4 (ESV)

I have heard the first part of this often quoted, but it is not an open ended question.

In fact, the question is answered in the next sentence.

It is a hypothetical question with a built-in answer such as, "If it were not for gravity, where would we be?"

"If math did not exist would anyone really count?

"Would we have any order without the laws of nature?"

There are words for such a literary device.

The fact is, the real foundations are not and never have been destroyed.

The foundations do not consist of our laws, constitution, corporate morality, cultural norms, or anything else over which we have power and authority.

The real foundations are eternal and defined by God's presence in His holy temple, on His throne in Heaven.

With that in mind, keep in mind that there will always be something that the righteous can and must do. We are never abandoned and, thus, we are never off the hook.

 

 

 

 

I "Liked" Your Page - But It's You I Like

Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash

I "like" a lot of pages on Facebook and other social media --- even those I don't necessarily "like" because I want to follow the ideas, interact with them, and gain information and insights.

Some of my "likes" may be endorsements, but that cannot be assumed.

Just like real life, if we do not interact with people who have differing perspectives, we will find ourselves in entirely circular and narrowing conversations where we have no relevance to anyone else except the people in our shrinking room ... and eventually, just to the person in our mirror.

Following Jesus into the world means lots of conversations with folks who are "outside" of our circle of assumptions. He did that and then Paul followed and expanded that.

You don't see Jesus "in church" all that much.

His most memorable sermon was on a mountain and some of his most memorable conversations were with folks who were not his disciples.

So, I may like your page or someone else's that you like or do not like and I like to think that you like the fact that I might or might not like everything, but I likely like you!

 

 

Pennies from Heaven REVISITED in the Landfills of America

One day, I was cleaning my office and I swept a small mountain - well maybe a molehill, but you know how we make them grow - of pennies off my desk, into my hand, and into my pocket.

What surprised me was my level of annoyance at the bother of it all.

That surprises me. I reflected at length once, in a blog, on "Lessons from a Penny." That was ten years ago, the same year I first reflected these reflections.

Have you ever wondered this? I did:

HOW MANY PENNIES THERE ARE IN AMERICAN LANDFILLS.

I was amazed to discover that this subject is no stranger to the world of Google nor to Snopes  where one observer noted "I suspect that this is one of the 16% of stats that is made up on the spot. "

From there, I was referred to a discussion of investing in copper pennies as bullion. 

Some years ago, Time Magazine revisited Ben Franklin's adage, "A penny saved is a penny earned."

It is food for thought and you can keep the change - not to mix metaphors - at least not a primary purpose.

Here is a ten year old quote:

"James Benfield of the Coin Coalition, a lobby group for eliminating the penny, figures that 25% of annual penny production ends up in landfills." 

Not mine, James! When I was first reflecting on this, I noted: Mine ends up in my two year old granddaughter's mouth or my three and a half year old grandson's collection if I can't get to them first and secure them safely in a can or other container.

Then, when I am really, really broke, I scrounge for enough of them to buy a cup of coffee.

I still scrounge, but again, returning to 2009, I observed:

"It will take fewer of them on January 3 when I turn 55 and celebrate by going to McDonalds for a senior coffee and spend the entire morning getting refills and reading a book."

I do not think there is an additional discount for 65, which is next. In fact, the price of a senior coffee has more than doubled since 2009.

Back in the day, cleaning my desk and floors could buy me coffee for two days.

These days, I seldom use coins or cash or, at fast food places, even hand my card to a human being.

Maybe I'll join one of those old guy clubs that meets at 6:00 A.M. every morning for tall-tale-telling and post-achievement bragging.

"Back in the day, we had something called a penny and we could earn them by saving them."

"Yep, my old daddy told me that if I kept mine, I'd never be broke."

Not broke maybe, but not able to buy anything either.

Just how many pennies are there in the U.S.?

Those decade old estimates ranged from 115 billion to 200 billion. 

The growth may have leveled off by now.

I know. I know. You just do not see the value in them. They are a nuisance, an annoyance, a blight on your existence.

So, send them to me and I will take care of them. I think for 2 billion dollars I can afford a warehouse and a staff to count and catalog them. Pennies for Tom - 12638 Cumorah Dr. Clovis, CA. 93619.

No need to thank me. I just want to do my part to save the landfills of our great nation.

Do you ever check page 10 of a Google search? I did and found that we had started to degenerate into discussions of metaphorical pennies, like this excellent article of saving them and saving the environment. I will call it The Article. It is worth a look.

Finally, as I jiggle the pennies in my pocket, I want to congratulate this blogger who is saving them and giving the earth a shot in the arm. Here is a shout out to Amy Dunbar and her quote, "Not only am I saving pennies, but I am keeping a few things out of the local landfills. Go me!"

Of course, this all inspired me to a song and dance:

 

 

One day, I was cleaning my office and I swept a small mountain - well maybe a molehill, but you know how we make them grow - of pennies off my desk, into my hand, and into my pocket.

What surprised me was my level of annoyance at the bother of it all.

That surprises me. I reflected at length once, in a blog, on "Lessons from a Penny." That was ten years ago, the same year I first reflected these reflections.

Have you ever wondered this? I did:

HOW MANY PENNIES THERE ARE IN AMERICAN LANDFILLS.

I was amazed to discover that this subject is no stranger to the world of Google nor to Snopes  where one observer noted "I suspect that this is one of the 16% of stats that is made up on the spot. "

From there, I was referred to a discussion of investing in copper pennies as bullion. 

Some years ago, Time Magazine revisited Ben Franklin's adage, "A penny saved is a penny earned."

It is food for thought and you can keep the change - not to mix metaphors - at least not a primary purpose.

Here is a ten year old quote:

"James Benfield of the Coin Coalition, a lobby group for eliminating the penny, figures that 25% of annual penny production ends up in landfills." 

Not mine, James! When I was first reflecting on this, I noted: Mine ends up in my two year old granddaughter's mouth or my three and a half year old grandson's collection if I can't get to them first and secure them safely in a can or other container.

Then, when I am really, really broke, I scrounge for enough of them to buy a cup of coffee.

I still scrounge, but again, returning to 2009, I observed:

"It will take fewer of them on January 3 when I turn 55 and celebrate by going to McDonalds for a senior coffee and spend the entire morning getting refills and reading a book."

I do not think there is an additional discount for 65, which is next. In fact, the price of a senior coffee has more than doubled since 2009.

Back in the day, cleaning my desk and floors could buy me coffee for two days.

These days, I seldom use coins or cash or, at fast food places, even hand my card to a human being.

Maybe I'll join one of those old guy clubs that meets at 6:00 A.M. every morning for tall-tale-telling and post-achievement bragging.

"Back in the day, we had something called a penny and we could earn them by saving them."

"Yep, my old daddy told me that if I kept mine, I'd never be broke."

Not broke maybe, but not able to buy anything either.

Just how many pennies are there in the U.S.?

Those decade old estimates ranged from 115 billion to 200 billion. 

The growth may have leveled off by now.

I know. I know. You just do not see the value in them. They are a nuisance, an annoyance, a blight on your existence.

So, send them to me and I will take care of them. I think for 2 billion dollars I can afford a warehouse and a staff to count and catalog them. Pennies for Tom - 12638 Cumorah Dr. Clovis, CA. 93619.

No need to thank me. I just want to do my part to save the landfills of our great nation.

Do you ever check page 10 of a Google search? I did and found that we had started to degenerate into discussions of metaphorical pennies, like this excellent article of saving them and saving the environment. I will call it The Article. It is worth a look.

Finally, as I jiggle the pennies in my pocket, I want to congratulate this blogger who is saving them and giving the earth a shot in the arm. Here is a shout out to Amy Dunbar and her quote, "Not only am I saving pennies, but I am keeping a few things out of the local landfills. Go me!"

Of course, this all inspired me to a song and dance:

 

 

Nonsensicalness

 

Photo by William Moreland on Unsplash

I need a break from making too much sense or whatever else goes along with that. When things get too heavy, it is time to lighten up for a minute.

 

I sat to
Write
A poem on a pad.
I wanted
More
But this is all I had.

 

Since that did not work out very well. I decided to try something else. Let me be random and bizarre and bear with me.

 

Chatter does not matter.
Flatter me and scatter me. 
I get fatter and fatter on blather that will not rhyme ...
Nor reason.

 

That makes no sense ... but isn't that the point? Not everything must always make sense. Eventually, gravity and magnetism center things. Therefore ...

 

 

Sipping Peets

Major Dickason's.
To my horror realized
I have been spelling
AND pronouncing it
WRONG.
What other deep errors assail me?

Please poor me

another cup

of cough-free

cough-fee.

 

And I did. I had more coffee and it helped a lot.

 

Finding a note about watching some candidates taking themselves way too seriously, I reflected:

 

 

It was a painful debate to watch.

I did not appreciate all the questions nor their answers.

On the other hand ...

I am out of hands.
I guess everyone made their positions and demeanor fairly clear.

So, as Lincoln said,

"If this is the sort of thing you like, you will probably like this sort of thing."

 

 

Sometimes I do like that sort of thing ... and there is no escaping the suffering, pain, ugliness, and nonsensical seriousness of our world for long. We must return and repair.

 

So, I leave you with a quote that actually might make sense ... at least to me ... because it is mine.

 

Hate never accomplishes anything but more hate, ignorance, violence, and mistrust. It is good at building walls where we need roads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take Care of Yourself

Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash

 

At some point, most people will need a doctor and maybe a team of doctors. A health challenge will emerge that will consume time, energy, and focus beyond what might be considered routine.

Here is a book that might need to be written (By me? With you? With others?) if someone can find time in the midst of actually doing it:

"How to Be Your Own Primary Care Coordinator"

If you have more than a couple of specialists working on and poking around your body, you better learn how to take charge of keeping, sorting, coordinating, and asking questions about the information.

I am talking about databases and notebooks now.

Collect and cross-reference everything.

Initiate - You must begin the search for information and clarification. You must decide what your questions and needs are and pursue them.

Investigate. - Use 3D and virtual library  resources and makes sure they are the most credible and peer-reviewed that you can find.

Interrogate. - Ask questions.

Annotate. - Take lots of notes on what you learn, how you feel, who you've talked with professionally, your tests, your results, your procedures, your treatments, and your activities.

Collaborate. - Join groups of fellow travelers. Compare notes. Share experiences. Share resources. Listen and learn. Share and help others.

Negotiate. - There may be more than one approach to the treatment you need. You need to discuss your options fully with your doctors.

Participate. - Do this fully in your care, in decision making, and in keeping track of your data. Do not depend upon anyone else to keep your records up-to-date. Check and double check the patient portals where you get your treatment.

Appreciate. -Be grateful for the people on your team - doctors, nurses, technicians, care-givers, family, and friends who are helping you manage your medical journey.

No one physician can specialize in everything about your particular body. There are not enough hours in a week. You are unique and you are your own primary care coordinator.

This is a bit off the path of my usual topics, but I felt that it might be helpful to someone and being helpful is my primary purpose here.

Shining Your Light

 

 

hoto by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

There are good people of good conscience that I know. They pray for guidance about their politics and their electoral responsibilities. They formulate principles that guide them based upon their understanding of scripture and ethics. They evaluate candidates and initiatives based upon their principles, values, and priorities. Then, vote differently from others who do the same.

I am not bothered by this when it happens that way as long as everyone is seeking goodwill, truth, and following this exercise with integrity of heart.

God likes to remind us that no matter how much insight He bestows on us, no one gets it all and no one gets it perfectly. He seems to want us to know that we have to struggle individually and in community for truth.

Unity grows out of diversity of culture, perspective, experience, language.

We have no perfectly uniform common language, not even among English speakers. There are many versions of English in this country as an example.

We have varieties of experience with suffering.

We have differing memories of how things used to be.

Our nostalgic impulses are shaped by how we experienced events that were for some dreams come true and, for others, nightmares. Some missed them altogether, oblivious to that part of our shared heritage.

It takes work and it takes civility to make the work of democracy work.

We cannot accomplish anything positive if all we do is call each other names or malign the intent of the other. It is tempting to do so once we have what we consider the correct insight or priorities, but we must resist.

It we are going to have a participatory and representative democracy, we have to do it and we have to do it with imperfect leaders.

We will disagree with our leaders and about our leaders. It does not mean that we devalue anyone as a human being.

There are people in public life who behave very badly, some in their personal lives, others in their public life, some in both.

Lest any critique of public behavior that I speak be taken out of context: I believe in redemption and reconciliation, freely given by grace to the least deserving.

I believe in the enduring possibility of repentance for the vilest of sinners - hope of new life, abundant forgiveness, bountiful mercy, fresh and new beginnings.

The vilest of attitudes can be transformed.

The ugliest pride can be melted.

The most boisterous boasting can be tempered with humility.

The most resistant heart can be melted.

The most hardened heart can be softened.

The same mouth that speaks mean, ugly, dishonest, hateful, and divisive words can be filled with words of compassion, encouragement, blessing, and affirmation. The very motives that drive us can be transformed.

There is nothing God cannot do in a heart truly humbled by Him and willing to confess its own need.

Newton realized this as grace taught his heart to fear and grace, his fears relieved.

If I speak against any other attitude, words, deeds, or behavioral patterns, it is in the light of this reality: Grace is greater than all of our sins.

All criticism of the public behavior of public people is in the light of my great need, depravity, and sin and the grace of God that is transforming me as the mercy of God renders me clean only through Jesus.

That being said, there is a place for calling out damaging and public belief systems while they are still a part of the shot-calling mechanisms in which we participate. We have to name the sin in order to deal with it and find hope.

And when this is done, some people of good will shall disagree with the priorities and perspectives of others.

But light must continue to shine and those enlivened by the Spirit cannot be silent on matters of conscience.

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” - Luke 8:16-18 (ESV)

God of Wholeness and Holiness

 

God of Wholeness and Holiness,
grant me wholehearted prayer, be it cry or sigh ...
or, perchance, a shout of joy!

And may I, in wholeness, find holiness and

In holiness, wholeness.

I come with ...

whole heart, undivided, undeterred, un-distracted ....

Grant it, LORD and may I ...

ENTER.

I cry.

You hear.

I call.

You save. It is ...

well before dawn and my heart is awakened.

May I hear your testimonies and statutes and ...

...obey!

I rise.

I cry.

I hope.

'With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD!
I will keep your statutes.
I call to you; save me,
that I may observe your testimonies.
I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your words."

- Psalm 119:145-147 (ESV)

The Deal with Manasseh and the Limits of Legitimate Power

Published by Guillaume Rouille(1518?-1589) - "Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum " Public domain

 

"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD ... " -  2 Kings 21:1-18 

So, what is the deal with this guy that gets him assigned the reputation of doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

First cited are the abominable practices of the nations.

What were they?

First, they were practices that negated, marginalized, excluded, and violated the worship of Israel's God, YHWH, who was, over the centuries, making Himself known as the One true God to whom was due ultimate loyalty. Part of that loyalty was based on gratitude, but it was also put forth by the prophets that it was the only loyalty that made sense.

Then, there was the premise that BAAL represented the kind of local deity-based nationalism and empire-building qualities that were represented in his own mythology. He was a god who became surpreme by conquering other gods and that was translated into a religion of conquest and domination. To be fair, the early history of Israel coming into the land of Canaan and displacing the nations there has a similar tone, but a different rationale.

Next, one of the things that the people of YHWH found detestable and YHWH spoke against, was the fertility rituals of the BAAL temples. One of the practices of fertility religions was to act out the sex act to give the gods the idea of what to do to make the crops grow. This led to "sacred prostitution" which not only became a moral stumbling block to the laity, but victimized the women who were conscripted into the practices.

Manasseh encouraged this practice as well as the practice of sacrificing his own children and victimizing his people.

Remember that the Torah while having social laws in common with some of the other progressive systems in the Ancient Middle East, was one of the most liberal, fair, and just systems in its time. It insured the rights of the poor, the disenfranchised, and the alien. It regulated and restricted the severity of punishment. It set up a process for adjudicating justice between neighbors.

Manasseh abandoned the Torah and it meant that his rule was unjust for the people.

Then, we are told that he not only went astray, but he led the people astray.

He set up decentralized worship which, in his time, meant worship with no sense of center in God. It was a do-as-you-please, think-as-you-please, live-as-you-please, self-absorbed religion that was materialistic at its heart.

Not only did he proliferate this practice in various places, but he brought it into the temple.

Manasseh co-opted the religious establishment to promulgate his own power, lust, and greed.

Manasseh shed innocent blood. His attitude toward humanity was that it was dispensable. People existed, according to his despotic attitude, for his own service and ambition.

Human reign is conditional. Human power is subservient to Divine power. Manasseh violated the conditions of his reign and power. He did evil in the sight of God.

Consequently, he brought the whole nation down, not just by his own doing, but because the people went blindly along with him.

They consented to the evil.

"Manasseh misled them to do more evil than the nations had done that the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel"

Nothing could redeem Manasseh's reputation, but the people could not avoid their responsibility either, just because they were "misled."

All human power must be constantly challenged and restrained.

That acknowledged that one purpose of human power is to restrain evil. It is also the purpose of the populace to restrain the runaway potential for evil in those to whom we assign temporal power.

Even when we have power, we must constantly seek out those who will challenge and restrain us. Humility and integrity demand it.

We do have power entrusted to us and we must never trust it.

Only God is ultimately and perfectly trustworthy.God creates, through our agency, and authorizes institutions which entrust power to individuals and assemblies, but it is never unconditional.

All human power, though necessary and deserving respect, is corruptible and demanding of restraint.

We have that responsibility to require accountability of ourselves and of those who carry out our collective will.

Appreciation, accountability, and respect walk hand in hand, but the people of God must know where their ultimately loyalty lies.

Let us read, consider, and reflect upon the scripture here and decide how we will respond.

Other accounts show us the repentance of Manasseh in the 11th hours, but that is not the point we are amplifying here. While Manasseh found grace and mercy, the consequences of his sin were already in motion for the people he led astray. 

2 Kings 21:1-18 tell us the story:

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.

He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, following the abominable practices of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he erected altars for Baal, made a sacred pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.

He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put my name." He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

He made his son pass through fire; he practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

The carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever; I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land that I gave to their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them."

But they did not listen; Manasseh misled them to do more evil than the nations had done that the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

The LORD said by his servants the prophets, "Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these abominations, has done things more wicked than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has caused Judah also to sin with his idols; therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle."

"I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line for Samaria, and the plummet for the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will cast off the remnant of my heritage, and give them into the hand of their enemies; they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their ancestors came out of Egypt, even to this day."

Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he caused Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza.

His son Amon succeeded him.

 

 

 

 

What About Our Rights?

We are free and nothing can change that reality!

Photo by Zulmaury Saavedra on Unsplash

Several years ago, a friend of a friend suggested that as we vote and participate in the body politic, our highest criteria should be the rights of Christians.

I did not wish to rebuke or correct that person directly or publicly. So I thought about it and waited to address the principle itself.

For all who cry out "What about our rights?" when the issues of human rights, dignity, and justice are raised, I have a thought.

Respectfully, as much as I believe in religious liberty for all people of all faiths, the scriptures do not teach believers to passionately pursue our own religious rights or value them over service, discipleship, justice, peace, and compassion.

We are to exercise them as if they were absolute and willingly accept the consequences when they are not recognized by society.

Our rights are secondary as we are called to follow Jesus in an historically and spiritually hostile world.

Nothing can stop us or hinder us from being servants of Jesus who serve Him by serving others.

Not nakedness nor peril, nor sword.

Be encouraged. No one can deprive a Christian of the ability to worship, serve, and follow.

Only our natural lives and livelihoods can be threatened.

What really counts is secure.

If we will observe His command to love God and our neighbor, to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him, we will either live or we will die ... but we will be doing what we have been placed here to do.

When our voices cry out against injustice and for human rights, may they do so more often for the rights of others than for our own.

That will be a test of true discipleship.

And now, a few unrelated (or are they? One never knows) quotes uncovered from my archives

When I stood outside the church looking in, I found much to criticize. But once I fully entered the church, I realized the difficulty of sustaining anything like the New Testament vision of what the church should be. I have much more sympathy for the church's failures now that I am contributing to them! Church 'frustrates us into holiness,' says Richard Rohr, by holding up a shining vision and then inviting us to join the lackluster reality. (pp.72/Church: Why Bother? my personal pilgrimage)" - Philip Yancey

"The deeper truth is that . . . Your pain is the concrete way in which you participate in the pain of humanity. . . . Jesus’ suffering, concrete as it was, was the suffering of all humanity. His pain was the pain. . . . Once you discover that you are called to live in solidarity with the hungry, the homeless, the prisoners, the refugees, the sick, and the dying, your very personal pain begins to be converted into the pain and you find new strength to live it. Herein lies the hope of all Christians." - Henri Nouwen

"Bred in the bone . . . Hope is the Creator’s implant into us, His traveling children, on the move into a future we can imagine but cannot control. Hope is our fuel for the journey. As long as we keep hope alive, we keep moving. To stop moving is to die of hope deficiency." - Lewis Smedes

Opinion Entitlement

It has often been said that everyone it entitled to their opinion. 

 

Certainly, everyone seems to have one and there are numerous platforms for broadcasting opinions, perspectives, prophetic utterances, criticisms, and judgments. Anyone who wants to say anything can do so and be heard.

 

Everyone is entitled by the laws of nature and society to do so in a free country.

 

Perhaps they are, but, from my perspective, morally, ethically, and pragmatically. I am not always entitled to an opinion - at least not a public one.

I sometimes refrain from forming one that I can articulate.

 

I sometimes restrain myself from expressing one that is in process.

 

Sometimes, I just wait.

 

Some examples of when I refrain:

• When I do not have all the information, perspective, or tools for empathy with all parties - or enough to form such an opinion. 
• When I do not have the wisdom or discretion for such an opinion.
• When I am not a party to the matter in such a way that my opinion is helpful.
• When having a public opinion is more hurtful than helpful.

That is my opinion and the circle of that opinion is drawn tightly around myself. My opinion about opinions is not binding on your opinion(s) or behavior.

 

And like all my opinions, public or private, it is subject to adjustment, change, or complete reversal.

 

In the meantime, there is more at stake than me exercising my privilege or right to have my say about everything under the sun. 

 

Sometimes the answer is blowin' in the wind.

 

And sometimes, we need time to look at things from all sides.
And sometimes, after doing so, we still don't know.

It's OK to say, "I don't know for sure. Ask me again later.

Press On

 

Photo by Jaco Pretorius on Unsplash

PRESS ON.

P - Persevere through thick and thin.

R - Reach for something a little higher and farther from your reach each day.

E - Expect and express your expectation for something wonderful for which you dream and work.

S - Stretch yourself beyond your perceived limits because you can do and be more than you think.

S - Simplify the process and simply state what you are going to do and simply do it.

 

O- Overcome the obstacles by making them opportunities. Go OVER them or .. under or around or through.

N - Never let negative comments deter you.

 

 

A Mourning Drive

Photo by Sholto Ramsay on Unsplash

" ... the land mourns ..."

I have often driven the streets and alleys of my city.

And often, I have mourned.

Mourning becomes prayer.

Prayer becomes action.

Action results in further mourning and deeper prayer.

How can we not mourn and pray?

"... there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed."

I see all of this and more.

You see  it too.

God sees and weeps.

God, please don't stop breaking my heart for the cities.

Keep me tender and wounded within for the brokenness I see.

Give my soul no complacency or retreat from the nagging call to bring this all before You and bring Your call of steadfast love to the ears and hearts of people.

"Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel,
for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away."

- Hosea 4:1-3 (ESV)

 

 

 

 

My Popeye Prayer

This image was originally posted to Flickr by quinet at https://flickr.com/photos/91994044@N00/25871122682. It was reviewed on 24 September 2016 by FlickreviewRand was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

Father, I am fresh out of profundity.

Some days I feel like Popeye before he eats his spinach. Someday. I feel like I have just swallowed the whole can. Always. I know, it is You who make me strong. and it is you who are making me, me.

I am what I am, but I am not Popeye, so that is not all that I am.

I am not all that I have become, but I am also more than I have become and I am all that I am becoming and less.

I am more than I was in spite of the fact that I have lost some of that along the way ... but You never did.

And as confusing as this all seems to me, it make perfect sense to You in Whom all things make sense.

So, make me a slate upon Which You can write what needs to be read by those I meet today. You choose the ink, indelible or erasable. I am willing to be or become what You have in mind, to be significant or incidental in the eyes of those who, like myself, are too blind to judge what is or is not significant.

This is out of my hands and in Yours.

Teach me whatever in in Your curriculum for me today and I will seek to learn it.

Thank You for another opportunity to fail and succeed and move forward either way. I lay before You this, my feeble prayer of humble consecration and nutter confusion with deep clarity of soul and peace of mind and heart.

I know that You have forgiven me all and given me all and that my confidence in all things is in You.

So I commit my family, my church, my friends, my hopes, my dreams, my strengths, my weaknesses, and all that I am and have to You today. That alone, makes perfect sense to me, My God and King, My Lord, My All, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

And forgive this prayer about me when I know fully well that it is all about You.

 

 

Facing the Fire of Criticism

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

In one of his better moments, King David had some insight into how to handle criticism:

"Be not silent, O God of my praise!
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer."

-Psalm 109:1-4 (ESV)

Then, he goes downhill a bit and starts praying curses on his enemies.

But then, he comes back to his own feelings. He is being honest with God about how he feels.

He puts his enemies in God's hands Who is a whole lot more merciful than he knows and he ends on a positive note:

" With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng." - Psalm 109:30 (ESV)

The lessons are:

• Get and stay honest with God.
• Give yourself to prayer.
• Grow in your capacity for gratitude in the midst of trials.

 

But They Would Not Listen

 

 

Photo by Malte Wingen on Unsplash

"But they would not listen," must precede a history of all the reasons they(we) should listen.

How many of conjunctions must be inserted into our lives before we come to faith-junction where we abandon our stubborn notions and dead-end priorities for something authentic and true?

I have had too many "But they" moments in my life to count.

What if I had listened instead?

I am not called to blend, but to contrast

" But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them."

• 2 Kings 17:14-15 (ESV)

"But they did not listen; they did not know how.

Perhaps they'll listen now."

 

 

Prayer of a "Dis-tractable" Soul.

 

The Scream by Edvard Munch has been described as a representation of anxiety

Father ... I am a "dis-tractable" soul. You know that and I know that and I am amazed how You have accommodated that in me and taught me to manage within the margins of my "dis-tractability" to find a tract within which I can live and seek you and find traction for my journey.

I don't slip as much as one might expect. I don't wander as far as I might. I don't fall off as many cliffs as I might fear and I don't lose sight of You as much as I would were it not for Your hand upon me.

I live by grace, in grace, and with much grace poured over me.

I swim in it, drink of it, and am refreshed daily by it.

Grace, grace, God's grace.

Father, You know why I am up so early. I need not be commended. I need this to survive.

It looks like I am doing many things .,. many things ... many distractions creeping in ... but in fact, I am up for One Thing.

I am here to meet You.

And I do.

Around every corner, You are there. In the thoughts and words of friends, You are there. In the prayer requests that tumble down into my lap. the scriptures that emerge constantly, the thoughts that come and go, the words that linger and are recorded, You are there!

You are there and I get to spend this time with You and some of it with some of my dear and precious friends who, I pray, will share in this blessing.

You are HERE! You are in this space, this large space that I must make for meeting you, this block of time, this TRACT where I can find some TRACTION because I am so dis-TRACT-able.

Keep me on tract today, Lord.

I am Yours.

In Jesus' Name.

Amen!

 

 

Shine, rising sun upon these steps I take.

Photo Credit - Times of Inda

Shine, rising sun upon these steps I take.
It is a dark world this morning, but it is morning.

Early, comes morning and only hopeful people venture forth.

The world is dark. Is it?

And if it is dark, if, indeed and if entirely ...
Then why is it that I see the road before me and little obstacles in my path?
Why is it that I can see anything if everything is dark?

It must be something else because it is not totally dark.

Something we call darkness has come upon us, but there is light.

It is all in the balance and I can see.

Can you see?

I walk in this whatever it is.
Brahms walks with me as I walk, awakening the dawn.
He speaks to me through my ear plugs and God speaks through him and ...

Bounce, step, bounce, I am on my way and the music and the bounce and ...
The slight light of dawning informs my steps and I hope

And hope rises and the sun rises, summoned by Composer and Conductor.

The music of the universe awakens the morning and the sun rises and
All is well.

Look not at the darkness; walk in the light you have and keep walking

As the sun rises.

 

 

Super Hero You

 

America's Best Comics, #7, 1940, first published in the U.S. before 1964,  The copyright has expired.

Are you a superhero?

Am I?

There is a  cute, reflective, propelling, empowering "badge." I found:

I have an autoimmune disease.

What's your superpower?

That is making a positive out of a negative and I can relate since Achalasia is thought to be caused by an autoimmune disorder I can relate.

But here is the larger question:

What am I empowered to do and to be in this moment that, without this moment, could not come to pass?

AND ...

What can I do that I could not do without this burden to bear and the opportunities it brings?

I saw the badge and thought it was very clever.

It made me think and that is never an entirely bad thing.

Since I seem to have some sort of autoimmune "thingamajiggy" - not sure which one or if it has a name - I am intrigued by the possibilities.

We must receive our power in whatever manner it is given.

There is power in anything and everything because God enters into it all. If the power to attack enemy cells and organisms exists within our bodies (and it is truly a miraculous and wondrous thing!), then that power can, indeed, be turned against us like any power --- but it can also be turned toward our good and the good of others.

All things work together for good to those who love God and are called to His purpose (Romans 8:28 paraphrase).

Therefore, to hope and pray for a better resolution is always part of the process in reaching for the future -- However, it cannot be at the cost of embracing the present with all of its wonders, possibilities, and powers.

Perhaps I should study, reflect upon, and write about the mythology and complexities within the superhero genre. 

There seem to be many that may or may not be apparent to all who engage and imbibe.

What am I empowered to do and to be in this moment that, without this moment, could not come to pass?

What can I do that I could not do without this burden to bear and the opportunities it brings?

If you are living with anything that is hard or frustrating in your life AND, if you are overcoming and adding value to other people, you are a super hero!

Here are songs just for you:

 

 

 

Graphic by - Cafepress.com

More on autoimmune "superpowers." - Ye Zheng, associate professor in the Nomis Foundation Laboratories for at the Salk Institute Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis at the Salk Institute

 

Drawing Attention to ... Ourselves?

Jean Julian: Drawing Attention, Status Magazine

We are to give, pray, and fast, not to draw attention to ourselves, but to draw our attention to God.

Sharing our thoughts in the space we call social media is a dangerous balance of allowing the blessings and challenges to bless others, of being authentic as a fellow struggling soul, and to squash the temptations toward pride.

It helps when you are another ragamuffin among many with more questions than answers.

But it is so important to dwell most, in the secret place of the Most High.

No one, but God knows your truest, deepest prayers or struggles.

Your most satisfying reward is that God knows and invites you into intimacy with Himself.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.''

“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.''

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.''

- Matthew 6:1-6 (ESV)

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.''

- Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV)

Can There Be National Repentance (without a national religion)?

Model of the temple and its environs by Conrad Schick (1822–1901); photograph from the Matson Collection in the Library of Congress

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  - II Chronicles 7:14

 

It was a day of great national pride, celebration, and dedication as Solomon led the ceremonies to consecrate the temple he had been building for so long.

And for much longer, it had been a dream.

It was a grand day for the united kingdom of Israel, but it had larger and longer significance for humanity and humanity's relationship with God,

It is always difficult to take the admonitions of God to the nation of Israel and make direct application to contemporary peoples. That is because there are no God-ordained theocracies in the world today.

The world has a tragic track history with nationalism. It almost always leads to abuse and oppression.

Even modern Israel is multi-cultural, secular, and eclectic in its religious views.

Nevertheless, all nations are a part of God's purpose and promised blessing (Genesis 12:3, Psalm 22:27, Psalm 72:11&17). All nations are likewise subject to judgment (Isaiah 40:17). In Matthew 25, we are told the primary basis of that judgment - how nations respond to the poor and powerless.

God's people remain scattered throughout the globe - wherever they are called by God's name.

So, for nations and individuals, there is a blessing available - a conditional blessing.

The first requirement to which the promise is attached is humility. Humility is the first characteristic of strong leadership - among people or among nations. Humility before God and others enables us to walk under God's watchful gaze and alongside our fellow human beings. Humility precludes chauvinism. It discourages imperialism. It condemns pride.

Humble leaders do not need to justify their every deed, but can admit failures. Humble nations can strengthen their standing by doing the same.

The greater the nation, leader, or organization, the greater the need for humility.

The second requirement for the blessing is to pray. The sort of prayer that we need is not the sort that exalts us or boasts or impresses listeners with our eloquence. It is needy prayer, humble prayer, listening prayer, and loving prayer. It is honest. It is seeking. It is prayer without agenda. It is prayer that asks God what we must do. It is prayer that extends our concern to friend and enemy alike.

That leads to the third requirement - seeking the face of God. To seek the face of God implies that we have not grasped a complete vision of God already. The revealed truth we have received is sufficient to save, but not to suspend our seeking. To seek God's face is not to seek information about God, but to seek God Himself with awe, wonder, and childlike readiness to receive.

The fourth requirement is to turn from our wicked ways. It is no sign of strength, power or righteousness to assert we have no wicked ways in our lives or in our nations. Pride weakens us. Self-righteousness stifles our potential for growth. God is not looking for PR people as leaders. He is looking for people who are willing to look at their choices and change if necessary.

Those four requirements have been recited, amplified, and subjected to exegesis until we can hear them without being moved. We have heard them so many times that we have built up walls of resistance around our favorite sins and defined what other people ought to do to comply.

They are always about someone else.

Like a much maligned preacher in the news during the presidential election, our most fundamentalist preachers have all said, "God damn America." They have. I have heard them. Most white conservatives have said, "Amen" as long as it was other people's sins that were being condemned. No one accused those preachers of being anti-American.

But when a descendant of slaves dared to suggest that racism, blind nationalism, and greed were among our national sins to which we had to give account to God, the critics went wild.

The same message with a different application got different responses.

The truth is that God still dislikes all the "traditional" sins, but He also has issues with those that seldom make the list - those in which nice people participate.

We are expected by God, as individuals and as nations, to behave ethically, morally, compassionately, fairly, cooperatively, and righteously. We are expected to live by Matthew 25:31-46 as nations and the Sermon on the Mount as individuals.

Is there someone out there who wants to argue that America and American Christians have done so flawlessly in recent decades?

I would like to hear that case. The political right and the political left in America both agree that it is not true. They both agree that we have embraced wicked ways.

They just have different lists of wicked ways.

Is America good?

America is great! I love America. I love the Constitution and the people of America. I love the Republicans, the Democrats, and the independents that balance out each others' craziness.

Is America perfect, sinless, and innocent of innocent blood?

No. No nation is.

Are others worse?

Maybe some are, but we can't do their repenting for them. We are only responsible for our own repentance.

You can't point at your neighbor down the street when God calls you to turn from your wicked ways.

We cannot do so nationally either.

Nor can we frame our foreign policies simply around our own selfish interests and call that "Christian."

I am writing to Christians here. I don't expect anyone else to buy into my presuppositions blindly. This is about our consciences. It is about the stewardship of our influence.

There has not been a national party platform in this country in 30 years that should not have given Jesus' followers a great deal of heartburn.

But we pick a horse and run with it because we have not been called to isolate ourselves.

Can we have national repentance?

Perhaps to some extent - but for certain, we can repent and turn from our own wicked ways. Again, your list may differ from that of other fine believers, but you have to work on those things about which the Spirit convicts you.

The benefits are impressive.

In the first place, God says He will hear.

In the second place, He promises to forgive. Unlike humans, God does that quickly and without hesitation.

In the third place, He promises to heal our lands.

And we need healing.

These are days of sinful bickering, disrespect, incivility, disregard for life, unbridled anger, bitter divisiveness, euphoric drunkenness,  moral ambiguity, sexual manipulation, greed, lack of compassion, disregard for the poor, bigotry, bullish power grabbing, broken boundaries, coldness, hardheartedness, slander, self-centered self-promotion, stubbornness, corruption, and deep need.

Somehow, I believe that if the leaders of our nation would get off of their political platforms, forget the colors of their states, turn off their cell phones, forget about polls, stop calling each other names, quit demonizing each other, and listen to each other and to God, it would be a step in the right direction.

If they would cultivate humility, they could learn to pray. If they would pray, they would seek God's face (and be very surprised at what they found). If they would seek God's face they would want to turn from many of our nation's wicked ways.

We can wait for that ... or we can do it ourselves.

Stuck with the Sheep

India Illustrated - http://digital.lib.uh.edu/u?/p15195coll29,128

Are you "stuck" in work you feel is insignificant and at the lowest place on the chain of importance?

Are you doing menial work when you feel you have a greater calling?

Look at David. His entire schooling was doing what kids do in a family like his - chasing ewes, shepherding sheep.

Yet David, apparently, grasped the parallels. He realized that the lowest work was really at the heart of the greatest work. To serve, to lead, to protect a great people was really just a larger context of what he had been doing in his youth - shepherding people, like he shepherded sheep.

He emerges from obscurity from among hundreds of thousands who had great potential.

He merges to lead. His significance was not hindered by his lowly position. He did that faithfully. The greater work came later --- yet sooner than he expected.

He was taken from the sheepfolds.

"He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skillful hand."

(Psalm 78:70-72 ESV)

Psalm 78:1-4

Oh the wonders He has done.!
And we, with race, yet to be run,
Run on and share with daughter, son,
The wonders done and to be done.

Give ear, incline, and hear this word.
As on you run, be thus assured:
The glorious deeds which once occurred
Are grace bestowed and undeterred.

 

" Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done."

-Psalm 78:1-4 (ESV)