Blessing God

“Bless the Lord, O my soul … and all that is within me …” Psalms 103:1

Audacity and capacity are issues that are triggered by this prayer as it is suggested to us.  It is audacious to think that we could somehow bless God. Yet, He has given us the capacity to be a blessing to His heart.

We bless God when we worship Him. He delights in our praises. He enjoys our singing and our words of adoration. He looks beyond the superficial and relishes our heart devotion as we come to Him.

He is blessed by our love response as we receive His love and return it to Him in obedience, faith, and love for our fellow human beings. 

We can bless God with our words, deeds, and emotions, but God is most blessed when our lives are completely engaged in love for Him – loving Him with heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. He is blessed when we remind ourselves to bless Him and when we follow through with everything that is within us. 

What is within you today? Not all of it is positive, but when you offer it to God, He is blessed because He can take it and transform it for His own purposes. Nor is everything within you negative. You cannot be the judge of that. All you can do is commit everything within you to His glory and allow Him to sort I out. It is His holy Name that must be honored, and His holiness is all that can make our lives holy and acceptable as offerings of worship. 

In the process, He is blessed. And that is what counts.

Paternal Love

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him." - Psalm 103:13

The love of God is a tender love.

It is a father’s love.

It is a patient love, understanding, compassionate, forgiving, and gracious.

The love of God for His children moves Him to desire what is best for us, what brings us closer to Him, and what develops in us the character that is in Him.

God’s love for us as His children is consistent, persistent, and generous.

He never fails us. He is always present and always true.

Like any father, He wants His children to grow and mature. He wants us to make good and wise choices and honor our family name. He offers us His support, guidance, and correction to that end.

God’s love is real. For that reason, it is sometimes a tough love, a love that can say “no” and mean it, but a love that delights in every opportunity to say, “YES!”

God, our Father, rejoices with us, weeps with us, and loves us even when we are unlovable.

That is because we are never unlovable to Him.

Mostly, God, our tender, loving Father carries us on His shoulders and lifts us so that we might become more, through Him, than we could ever imagine on our own.

Days as Grass

“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.” – Psalm 103:15

For our season, whatever it may be, we flourish. Then comes the wind and we are gone. Soon, the very memory of our lives fades from the consciousness of our successors and we are thought of no more.

Such a thought might be deemed depressing were it the whole story.

The rest of the story teaches us that from everlasting to everlasting, God’s love is a constant toward us. His covenant people are never forgotten.

It goes on to tell us that God’s throne is never abandoned and that He rules over all.

He it is, according to Psalm 103, who forgives all our sin.

It is He who heals our diseases. Not one of them disappears apart from His wise intervention or creative genius.

He redeems our lives, crowns us love and compassion, satisfies, renews, and administers justice.

How comfortable it would be for us to remain as a grassy flowering meadow, but that is not the way of life. We come and go. Soon we will fade.

Our privilege and responsibility is to bloom in every place we are planted for as long as it is springtime in our lives. It is to be as inwardly beautiful for God as we can be for as many days as we can and to move through the seasons of life with grace and trust.

We may not always be green, but we shall always be loved.

 

Senator Feinstein's Passing

There is a downside to stubbornness, and it is noted in a Los Angele Times editorial this morning on Senator Dianne Feinstein by Mark Z. Barabak.

Of course, there comes a time to let go, but that sometimes takes the strength of youth and a perspective from outside of ourselves

But, Barabak also notes this:

"There was another, more admirable side to that stubbornness and refusal to quit: A ramrod determination and unsinking resilience that girded Feinstein through a lifetime filled with maelstrom."

"A nightmarishly abusive childhood. Widowhood at a relatively young age. A recall effort. An attempted assassination. Failed tries at office and a political career headed to an unremarkable end until, in a blink, it wasn't."

"Feinstein had planned on quitting politics on the November 1978 day that San Francisco Mayor George Moscone was shot and killed along with Harvey Milk, her colleague on the board of supervisors. As board president, Feinstein assumed the job she had twice failed to capture on her own."

I spell that quality three ways: "courage," "duty," and "service."

I had dinner with her and her husband one night in the nineties as I gave the invocation at a political banquet. She was charming, intellectual, affirming, a great listener, sincere, and appreciative of my prayer in which I inserted some gospel.

From the day she stood to bring her city from a profound crisis, I have been an admirer.

I did hope she would quit sooner and enjoy her final days in peace, but not all things are for me to decide. I will remember listening in on her conversation with other leaders around a table in San Jose in 19-something-or-another ... and will do so with a smile.

Private and Unedited

 

 

Your private prayers do not have to be theologically correct. They need to be honest and open to God to straighten out your theology.

Perhaps public prayer in a leadership function needs to be a bit more refined because we are leading the people in prayer. But this is a private heart prayer that the psalmist prays. It just gets public exposure.

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

If My People

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 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.

How to Outsmart Your Enemies

Psalm 119, Mem

Oh, how I love your law! *

all the day long it is in my mind.

Your commandment has made me wiser than my enemies, *

and it is always with me.

I have more understanding than all my teachers, *

for your decrees are my study.

I am wiser than the elders, *

because I observe your commandments.

I restrain my feet from every evil way, *

that I may keep your word.

I do not shrink from your judgments, *

because you yourself have taught me.

How sweet are your words to my taste! *

they are sweeter than honey to my mouth.

Through your commandments I gain understanding; *

therefore I hate every lying way.

 

Room for Improvement

We can all do so much better about so many things in so many ways.

Some thoughts from here and there about room we can find for improvement.

A Prayer of Love

 

A Prayer for Love to the Lord of Love

Art: "God the Father" by Cima da Conegliano, circa, 1515
--------------------------------
I am weak, Lord.

I am lowly.

I bring nothing in my hands. I offer no credentials, no reputation, no resume worth reading.

My track record is checkered. My focus is scattered. My mind is here and there and everywhere. I am easily distracted and frequently tested to the core.

Yet, God, you are my God.

Yet, God, you love me, value me, invest in me, and show grace and mercy to me daily.

I am unworthy. You are worthy.

All my value is that you regard me.

Why, oh why?

It does not matter why because You are the Why of all things and of my existence and You have engraved Your love into the fabric of the universe.

Your love, Oh LORD, is the only true reality, standard, and truth that bleeds through all of our opinions about ourselves and others.

Your wrath is against all that is not love. Why then, if I am not judged, can I ever stand in judgment against my neighbor?

I shall not.

He and she are Yours. You see in them that which is precious even as You see something precious in me.

Give me glimpses today of the wonder in my neighbors eyes and the love in his or her heart that I may view my neighbor through the lenses of Your redemptive and reconciling grace and lay all of my prejudices and agendas aside.

And may my neighbor join me in this cause and his neighbor and her neighbor.

I pray this, as the only solution to our divisions in the Name of Jesus who divided us in order to unite us, who showed us hard truth in order to reconcile us to Himself and to one another, who bore all pain, sin, and alienation upon Himself in order to introduce us to You as Your long lost children who have come home.

Give us the heart of the prodigal's father.

Give us Your heart and the heart of Jesus, Your Son. Amen.

If We Practiced

Robert Fulghum wrote, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" and he was right.

The core lessons of life were learned there.

These were my classmates in that early school of life. Those I have kept in touch with have done well. They have made the world a better place.

What if we practiced?

"Share everything."

"Play fair."

"Don’t hit people."

"Put things back where you found them."

"Clean up your own mess."

"Don’t take things that aren’t yours."

"Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody."

"Wash your hands before you eat."

"Flush."

"Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you."

"Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some."

"Take a nap every afternoon."

"When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together."

"Wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that."

"Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we."

"And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—LOOK."

"Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living."

"Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. "Think what a better world it would be if we all—the whole world—had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess."

"And it is still true, no matter how old you are—when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."

Robert Fulghum wrote, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" and he was right.

The core lessons of life were learned there.

These were my classmates in that early school of life. Those I have kept in touch with have done well. They have made the world a better place.

What if we practiced?

"Share everything."

"Play fair."

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. "Think what a better world it would be if we all—the whole world—had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess."

"And it is still true, no matter how old you are—when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."

Robert Fulghum wrote, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" and he was right.

The core lessons of life were learned there.

These were my classmates in that early school of life. Those I have kept in touch with have done well. They have made the world a better place.

What if we practiced?

"Share everything."

"Play fair."

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. "Think what a better world it would be if we all—the whole world—had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess."

"And it is still true, no matter how old you are—when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together."

What if we practiced?

Isn't that how we learned these things in the first place?

Someone told us, modeled the behaviors and attitudes, and then, gave us feedback.

Practice may not make perfect, but it tends to make things permanent. The earlier we start, the better and easier it is, but, it is never too late to learn new skills and ways of thinking.

We are all in kindergarten in one way or another.

I Must

Urgency

 "And he said unto them, 'I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.'" - Luke 4:43 

The phrase, “I must” appears 16 times in the King James Version of the Bible. Jesus said, “I must preach” in Luke 4, “I must walk …” in Luke 13:33, and “I must be about my Father’s business” in Luke 2:29.

John the Baptist said,

“He must increase and I must decrease “  -John 3:30

These were driven by something greater than the urgency of the moment. Urgency is a poor substitute for purpose and priority. When we establish an understanding of what is truly important based upon God’s abiding principles and mission, we need to stick with it. The reality is that the moment we prioritize our ministries, diversions will emerge, distractions will appear, and urgency will shout in our ears, “Stop and take care of me NOW!”

We need to be able to say “no” to urgency any time it steps outside the boundaries of our priorities as given to us by God. Yes, there will be emergencies that must be faced as they arise. There will be extraneous details that must be handled. The problem arises when every urgent matter presents itself with the same emergency motif and both ministry and the spiritual life become one great series of emergencies. We have fire departments to put out fires.

What is your focus? Make sure it receives a prominent place on your calendar and that you do your best to follow your calendar. Leave time for incidentals. Leave cushion for emergencies. Live by grace because you won’t meet all of your goals. But, know this, if you heed every urgent cry, you will meet none of them because your life will be controlled by something far less than your God-given priorities.

Live on purpose, directed by God’s master plan for your life.

"God Made Me Do It!"

There is a biblical admonition to pray, seek God's face, and turn from wicked ways.

There is no disputing that this is a mandate for those who are "called by God's name."

So, believers must comply in order to be consistent.

This often raises eyebrows and blood pressure for my non-believing friends - and perhaps, rightly so.

That is because they advocate transparent decision making processes in public life that are subject to scrutiny and visibility.

The assumption is that if a leader seeks divine guidance, that instructions will come that are not subject to that sort of public evaluation and accountability. They wonder if the person seeking God will claim some sort of personal revelation from God that is contrary to logic and ethics.

There is a short answer to that from the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 14:32. It is binding upon Christians and potentially comforting to those who are not Christians:

"The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets."

Paul was dealing with the same dangers at the local church level in Corinth. People were saying things like, "God told me," "God told me to tell you," and, "The Holy Spirit MADE me do it."

They thought that would excuse them from all sorts of misbehavior, rudeness, and lapses of good sense.

Public people who seek God and follow Jesus are bound by the law of love and expected to exercise good sense whatever they perceive God saying to them. They are required to operate within the laws and social contracts of society.

They are subject to public scrutiny. Their devotions and prayers in private are to provide them grounding, clear their minds, reinforce their values, and provide insights. There is no magic here and no free pass to act badly.

I can't speak for all believers, but I believe that there is adequate permission in the scriptures for society to hold their leaders accountable for the actions even if those leaders base their decisions on insights they received in prayer.

No one in this world operates in a vacuum. Every human being cultivates an inner life that helps guide him or her in the process of decision making. Everyone needs to quiet his or her soul to think and act clearly. For the Christian, that happens in prayer.

There is a very funny video in circulation that claims, as evidence that God does not answer prayer, the testimony of a former leader that he prayed daily for guidance. It is funny, but flawed. The bases of decision making for Christians are not mysterious. Guidance is filtered through our human minds and ethical sign posts. Our spirits are subject to our selves.

Relax. If we truly pray, seek, and repent, the world will be a better place for you as well and God will never lead us to trample upon your dignity - not the God I know in Jesus Christ.

If we do that, blame us. It was our call.

Whiners and Winners

 

When Pain Is Kindly

Have you ever said, "I had to pinch myself," because you wondered if you were really alive, awake, or experiencing what you were seeing or hearing?

One of the closest cognitive experiences we have to mimic death might be anesthesia. Apart from the reality of the spiritual realm our brains do not record pain, pleasure, or any other sensation.

After experiencing and learning to cope with bouts of severe pain, I came to appreciate the quote below:

"Pain is a kindly, hopeful thing, a certain proof of life, a clear assurance that all is not yet over, that there is still a chance. But if your heart has no pain -- well, that may betoken health, as you suppose: but are you certain that it does not mean that your soul is dead?" - Arthur John (A. J.) Gossip

Heh, You!

Meditations on Psalm 119:33-40

Is God Getting Our Attention?

Verse by Verse, 33-40

Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.

I call this seeking teaching with a bias. The bias is that we intend to practice what we are taught.

How does such a bias affect our ability to learn?

Why do we need to be taught such things?

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

Now he prays for understanding so that he can take obedience to the next level – namely heart engagement.

Have you ever been reluctantly compliant with God or anyone else? What was that like? How is this way better?

What does this teach us about how we teach and lead people?

Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.

Consider the idea of God’s commands as a path rather than merely a set of codes. David found great delight in them and in the path itself. But he needs help and seeks it.

What is the path like?

What are the delights?

In what ways do we need direction and why if there is such delight?

How can we help other people experience the sheer delight of walking in the path of His commands?

Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

The psalmist knows that these are two entirely different sets of motivation. We can be highly motivated by a desire for selfish gain. It is viscerally satisfying. One is the path of delight and the other is the path of “covetousness” (KJV).

How does God turn our hearts?

What difference does it make in our approach toward scripture?

 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

Now he gets specific. The things we covet are worthless and life-draining. The things of God are worthwhile and life-enhancing.

When and how did you realize the truth of this?

Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.

Two possible translations exist: One is that fear is the cause and the other that it is the effect.

In what ways are God’s promises related to fear of God?

Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.

What do you dread? How do the fear of God and promises of God take it away?.

How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness

The Power of a Prior Commitment - 33-37

“Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.  Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.”  -Psalm 119:33-37

If you want to see God’s Word, come alive in your heart, decide ahead of time to obey whatever it says, prior to even knowing what that is.

It will be like approaching a tree filled with gifts on Christmas, knowing that there is something for you there, but not knowing exactly what it is. Your heart is filled with excitement and wonder. You know you will love it. You can’t wait to find out what it is.

It is like waiting for the birth of a child. You already love him having never laid eyes on him. You are absolutely committed to years of child rearing without seeing his face or knowing his disposition. It is a prior commitment, and it empowers your seeking and inflames your heart.

“Teach me,” is the great prayer here. “I shall keep,” is the promise of prior commitment.

It is followed by a heartfelt petition that could be paraphrased this way, “Now that I have promised to keep your Word, observe it with my whole heart, and delight in all of your commands, HELP ME!”

He prays for a heart that is inclined toward God’s will, eyes that do not focus on vanity, and quickening energy to keep on keeping on.

Prior commitment does not mean that you have all the resources already to do what you are promising. It means that you intend to do so, without even knowing what God will require, and that you trust Him for the ability to keep your promise.

Read the Bible that way and see what a difference it makes.

How do we help create and encourage this longing in ourselves and others?

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Here is another great insight:

 

 

Secret Wisdom and Hidden Glories

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory … But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him.” – I Corinthians 2:6 and 9

The hidden wisdom of God, revealed in Jesus and discerned by spiritual people, is offered to those for whom it is prepared. It is the wonder of God’s purposes and glory. It is shared on a “need-to-know” basis, as we need to know.

And what we do know is that there is much that we cannot know.

We have a glimpse if we have gained it through spiritual sight. We have the down-payment of the Spirit. We are gladdened by promises from God personally. But still, we see through a glass darkly. Only dim reflections illumine our insight into eternity for yet, it is still far beyond us, above us, and other than us.

It is not that God does not want us to know or desires for us to remain in the dark; it is that we simply cannot receive the fullness of this knowledge while confined to time, space, and physical body. That is why what relatively little we know comes by other than intellectual receptors. In the meantime, God is preparing us for the day when we can know perfectly as we are known.

There is coming a time when all the secrets will be revealed. In that day, in a finite immeasurable moment, our eyes will be opened, and we shall be eternally with the Lord. Whatever we imagined about God and eternity, Heaven and glory in this life will not compare to what the LORD has purposed to share with us.

Oh wondrous, glorious, mystery and bliss,

By grace, the moment we shall not miss,

Beyond the veil of time and space

When by God’s side we take our place.

Author of Confusion

I saw a church board that declared that Satan is the author of confusion. I assume that comes from 1 Corinthians 14:33

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."

However, the premise that confusion is always the role of the adversary/accuser is as faulty as the avoidance of the context of that verse.

What we call confusion may result from wonder in the face of the unknown and unfathomable. It may be a necessary step on the road to peace that passes understanding. It may be part of the tension that is resolved in faith.

What the pastor was advertising was, "Show up here and we will hand you all the answers on a silver platter with 3-4 easy steps."

That does not seem to be the way of God through confusion to peace.

How unlike the way Jesus taught when he presented a conundrum and then challenged the hearers to go and think and pray about it.

There is no confusion in that or about that.

 

Welcoming Grace

 

Living Graciously

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.” – Matthew 18:21-23,

The problem with this man was that he sought mercy but refused to live by grace. When he was in need of mercy for the forgiveness of his own debt and grace to live as a free man, he received it. He promptly forgot what it was like to be a debtor in great peril. He proudly lifted his head above his fellows and used his newfound liberation as an opportunity to enrich himself by collecting from those who owed him.

To close our hearts to another person in need is to build a barrier that will exclude God’s grace. When we grow cold to those in our debt, we freeze out the warmth of God’s love from our own lives. We choose to live as debtors again for we place ourselves under the law. For the Christian, this makes no sense whatsoever.

Not to forgive another is to reject forgiveness for an unforgiving heart is rooted in arrogant pride.

If our hearts are touched by grace and we allow that grace to transform us, we will become gracious.  The ungracious servant demonstrated that he was still living under the law and thus could only receive what the law demanded.

He rejected grace in his own life.  He never grasped the reality that His master’s forgiveness was not because of his position, abilities, or essential goodness, but flowed from the character of the giver.

This ignorance became plain when he dealt with the one who owed him a great debt. His harshness boomeranged back to him because it was the rule of his life.

We do not receive good gifts from God based upon our performance or just deserts.  As we have received grace, let us, with open-handed love, be gracious to others.  If this comes with great effort to us, let us revisit our salvation experience come to a deeper experience of God’s grace.

When we understand that, it will be reflected in all our relations.

Encouraged by One

One Word

How is it that a small word or two of encouragement can make all the difference in a person's day?

One compliment can turn the tide for another person's day or week.

One blessing softly and sincerely spoken can lift a downtrodden spirit.

A brief prayer can evoke the release of a flood tide of emotion cleansing the soul of a broken life.

One "You can do it" can be heard and acted upon to catalyze change in an entire community or world.

One hand placed gently and firmly on a shoulder can transfer courage and strength.

One compassionate gaze into the eye of a lonely heart struggling to express what is hidden deeply inside can bring relief and hope.

One word or two. That is all it takes.

One moment of caring.

One pause to refresh another.

It costs us so little and gives so much.

One Face

How we see and treat others may depend upon how we see God.  That will also determine how we see ourselves. Our vision of God, growing out of scriptures, prayer, and experience, shaped and refines our view of all things and of all people.

Prayer does not change God, but changes the person who prays.
— Søren Kierkegaard

There is a vision of God and humanity that emerges from encounter with God and a view of God in the face of Jesus.

Do you see a mean spirited, angry God?
Well, I've met God and He looks like Jesus.
He stared into my eyes with love and forgiveness.
Exact representation

One Cross

Our symbols shape our view and they encourage us to shape our lives around their meaning. The cross is such a symbol, but it must be more than a symbol.

My friend got me thinking about something.

There are lots of protests for and against the cross as a symbol of Christianity being displayed in public places - as a symbol, or even as a decoration. It made me think

Jim's excellent question was, "Just where is the cross lately?"

My musing answer was, "Hopefully, it is on our shoulders. I think we sometimes think the cross is a symbol or a decoration rather than something we are called to take up daily and bear --- that it is always bearing, as did Jesus, the burdens of others. I suspect that if all Jesus followers would do that .... well, you can finish the sentence ."

So, I am going with this thought. If all the symbols came down and all the decorations disappeared, would the cross still be visible in America?

Would Jesus followers bear it into the streets of our cities? Into hospital rooms? Into jails and homeless shelters? Into homes and workplaces? Would it be visible in our selfless services? In our willingness to suffer? In our willingness to forgive? In Our love for people that Jesus loves?

The right to display the cross is not in the hands of any government or anyone outside of ourselves. the display of the cross in entirely on the shoulders of believers who decide to bear it upon their shoulders.
Are we taking up our crosses daily and going on display?

Just thinking ... and praying...

And asking myself as well.

One Fearless Dude

We choose our heroes and villains based upon their personal charisma or our deepest values. They either encourage us to be our best or satisfy our desire to be affirmed for what is worst about us.

In September of 1419, John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy is assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France.

What might have happened if he had been less fearless?

He has been called, "A rash, ruthless and unscrupulous politician."

He was actually involved in negotiations for an alliance with Charles.

This sort of thing happens when you are at war for 100 years.

I am sure they all thought it was perfectly logical.

I stand too far back in history to be able to judge the man or his legacy, but here are two heroes in whom I find encourag3ement:

One Witness

“You will know as much of God, and only as much of God, as you are willing to put into practice.”
― Eric Liddell

The Urgent Now

This Thing Called the Church

Tidbits that Somehow Fit

I suspect that no thinking is entirely random. Given that comforting suspicion, I will piece together these tidbits with high expectations.

If you are a high profile person, every flaw, mistake, misstep, unguarded moment, poor decision, or hasty word originating with you is public property and open to public scrutiny and exaggeration.

How would your story read in tomorrow's New York Times?

The remarkable thing is how some people come out looking pretty good in the balance.

In a world of instant information, it is so easy to miscommunicate or misunderstand.

A bit off-topic, but, important to note:

September 9, 1850 – California is admitted as the thirty-first U.S. state.

It is not incidental that gold had been discovered the year before.

As the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition say (#102),

"Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever."

Some things may sound alike, but they are not alike. Other things may look alike, but are also, not alike. Alikeness and likeness are actually more alike that many things.

Homophones are not a sexual orientation and proteins are not advocates for young people.

But we do need booth.

Speaking of misunderstanding basic communication:

 

Good communication and great understanding begin in the silence of our souls where the wisest voices can be heard uninterrupted.

"Learn to get in touch with the silence within and know that everything in this life has a purpose."-Elisabeth Kübler Ross

Proverbs 22:1 - "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold."

 

We have no control over what people think or say about us, but we do have control of the honest information they receive from our own behaviors and words.

 

We have control over our own decisions and choices.

 

We control our motivation.

 

If gold and silver are what ultimately control and motivate our choices, that will also ultimately be our reputation.

 

If integrity drives us, that will also show forth.

 

Tolstoy, like any writer, strove to be understood, at least on some level. He found out it was hard work being a creative mind. He required discipline and imposed it upon himself.

 

There are his 17 rules. Guess which one raises an eyebrow? I am not sure how he found the reconciliation with 7,15, and 16.

• Wake at five o’clock
• Go to bed no later than ten o’clock
• Two hours permissible for sleeping during the day
• Eat moderately
• Avoid sweet foods
• Walk for an hour every day
• Carry out everything he prescribed for himself
• Visit a brothel only twice a month
• Love those to whom he could be of service
• Disregard all public opinion not based on reason
• Love those to whom he could be of service
• Only do one thing at a time
• Disallow flights of imagination unless necessary
• Never to show emotion
• Stop caring about other people’s opinion of himself
• Do good things inconspicuously
• Keep away from women
• Suppress lust by working hard
• Help those less fortunate

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." - Leo Tolstoy

Did you ever wonder how we got some of our most common communication tools? I mean words.

 

Is this true?

Pathology - The study of trails.

------------------------------------------

On this day in the year 1000 AD, King Olaf of Norway died. You needed to know that

 

 

 

No Fainting

 

We have to get from fainting away in unfulfilled longing to exhilarating praise

 

It does not come with a finger snap, but it may come with a good night's sleep and a movement from one verse to the next.

 

We look upon God. We behold. We experience His unfailing love. We praise.

 

Keep moving through those verses and living them.

 

" O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands."

Psalm 63:1-4 ESV

 

Thirst (1886), by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

 

Deeper Empathy

You can live through the same times and circumstances and come through with entirely different stories.

Not everyone experiences the past the same way.

One person's celebration is another person's misery.

The myopic soul will dismiss that insight or just pass over. Followers of the Way cannot, in good conscience do so.

The Way of Jesus calls us to deeper empathy with the pain of others.

Still, we can choose our perspective.

Empty handed, I come,
Cold hearted,
Weak willed Godward,
Stubborn selfward
Humbled by life
Broken against the rocks
Beaten by the waves
All my baragaining chips fell out in the fall
All my good excuses used before
Rubber necked, I cannot lift my head
Wobbly knees, hard to kneel
I fall
I fall down on my face
I bring nothing
Just me
Not much
Have mercy, Lord.

 

"Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also."  - Carl Jung

Six Years Ag0. I Observed:

Fact-Checking 101

 

Credit and Thanks to https://thelogicofscience.com/

 

How do we fact check?

 

1. Check reliable sources who are monitored by reliable sources who use primary sources.

 

2. Then check their admitted presuppositions.

 

3. then check all their sources.

 

4. Then check your own presuppositions.

 

5. Then, be prepared for someone to check you.

 

“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.” @TheZigZiglar

 

 

"The person with the loudest voice doesn't always have the best ideas." - Eleanore Strong

Some Oservations on Our Humanity

There is a cliché floating around where it has been floating for decades:

 

Man's Inhumanity to Man

 

Obviously, it needs to updated to eliminate gender bias because inhumanity crosses all gender lines and ethnic and social divides.

 

Someone told me they were really tired of reading all the bad news in the papers and online.

 

So, I told them to go out and make better news for someone to report.

 

If you don't like the world as it is, change it!

 

We have seen the best and the worst in humanity, but we have never seen the best that we can be.

 

__________________________

 

Anyone who doubts my optimism about living a long life should take a look at the dates on my mortgage.

__________________________

 

How much failure did you predict in your life? How much did He predict? More than you think. How much does he forgive? More than you think.

 

" And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept." - Mark 14:72 ESV

__________________________

 

"It is this simple: if I never try anything, I never learn anything." ~Hugh Prather

__________________________

 

On this day in 1939 – Adolf Hitler signs an order to begin the systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and disabled people.

 

We must never forget the atrocities that human beings are capable of inflicting upon other thinking, feeling, vulnerable human beings in the service of what they consider a "higher cause."

We must grow in grace.

We must grow in the depth of our spiritual and emotional sensitivity to others.

We must grow in empathy.

We must grow to know and reflect the heart of God.

We must become more human in the truest sense of humanity.

Our maturing relationship with eternity and humanity in humility is necessary for avoiding the travesties and atrocities for which humans have been responsible.

Pause.

P - Pursue something deeper for a moment than your own survival or gratification.

A - Acknowledge that there is a reality beyond our own.

U - Understand something of your own pain and reflect upon the reality that your pain connects you to the pain of the world.

S - Sympathize, for a moment, with the hurts of someone who is not like you, not of your tribe, and not of your persuasion.

E - Enter into another person life, experience, joy, sorrow, and struggle for long enough that it causes you discomfort.

Pause and connect. Pause and pray. Pause and deepen your understanding. Pause and rescue the world a little from a rapid decline into debauchery.

__________________________

There are better examples of humanity.

 

On this day in 1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona by the forces of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Her city was under siege. A barrel of pitch was rolled out to the enemy lines where their armaments were. It was too dangerous to light it, however, and no one dared venture for, except one widow. She did so and was consumed in the process.

Her act of bravery and sacrifice bought her city enough time to survive the siege until help arrived.

Read more here: https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095501/http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/ancona.htm

 

__________________________

 

On this day in 1532 we were reminded to leave this final evaluation of our fortunes to the day of outcomes – Lady Anne Boleyn is made Marquess of Pembroke by her fiancé, King Henry VIII of England.

 

__________________________

 

It is nice to know that I need not always be right... since I am often not.

__________________________

 

__________________________

 

The 4 responses to injustice as we seek & work for Shalom:

 

• compassion

• development

• advocacy & organizing

• presence & intervention"

 

- Nikki Toyama-Szeto

 

 

Hebrews 13:3 - Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

 

__________________________

 

Where Do We Connect with the Best Possibilities of Our Humanity?

 

Job asks,

"Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see?" -Job 10:4

The answer is embedded in the message of the Incarnation.

Yes. God enters into our perspective to see, feel, and experience our experiences.

He is transcended, immanent, present, knowing, and caring.

Let's start a conversation with God about becoming more human.

Locke

Born this day, August 29,in 1632 – John Locke, English physician and philosopher (d. 1704), the father of classical liberalism. Much of his thinking on classical republicanism and liberalism can be seen in the Declaration of Independence.

Empiricism and political philosophy were among his areas of profound influence. Locke believed that people were born with a blank slate for a mind which he called the "tabula rasa." Our knowledge would be gained by experience and perception.

Locke was influenced by the Baptist fathers, Smythe and Helwys with regard to religious toleration and his advocacy of the separation of church and state. When Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, he incorporated may of Locke's ideas.

He profoundly influences Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson.

Of him, Jefferson wrote:

"Bacon, Locke and Newton… I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical and Moral sciences."

About "the self," Locke wrote,

"that conscious thinking thing, (whatever substance, made up of whether spiritual, or material, simple, or compounded, it matters not) which is sensible, or conscious of pleasure and pain, capable of happiness or misery, and so is concerned for itself, as far as that consciousness extends."

Locke believed that the Bible was in agreement with human reason. His concept of man began with his understanding of creation. Based upon this, the American Declaration of Independence affirmed human rights partially on the biblical belief in creation.

" But there is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotion, and that is oppression." - A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)

"To love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of all other virtues."
- Letter to Anthony Collins (29 October 1703)

Works by John Locke at Project Gutenberg - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2447

Our Place in the Story

You Have a Role to Play

We have a place in the story, whether we are great or lowly. It is a long and patient story with twists, turns, and gaps in reporting, but it is a story with miraculous continuity and eternal clarity.

In the midst of the story, we have only a limited perspective. We cry out the prayers of the Psalms such as:

"Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me." - Ps. 69:16

"For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners." - Ps. 69:33

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." - Ps. 73:26

Then, we turn to narrative for hindsight and to the words of Jesus and His apostles for insight.

"Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." - Exodus 1:8

This is going to happen.

Joseph has his time. We have our times. He did his job. He elevated his people and all the people. He was well known and respected and he made a major contribution to the world.

Then, he died.

And he was remembered.

And then, he was forgotten, slowly, gradually, not completely, but enough so that honor and glory and strength of influence evaporated.

Generations had passed and the person of influence simply did not know Joseph. All he saw were people he perceived as a threat.

He lashed out with irrational and indiscriminate violence to commit an act of mass genocide. It was horrific and yet, it was the story of emergence. A new leader would emerge from the bulrushes who, 80 years later would stand before a king and lead a people to freedom.

And he would be reminded of the story of Joseph and he and those who later reflected upon his life and legacy would somehow, connect the two stories to make one continuous story.

That was the story of resurgent and emergent leadership in a world where leaders come and go and crises grow and recede.

Our stories may seem isolated, disconnected, intermittent, and separated by decades and more of discontinuity, but they are actually part of one story.

We are known, remembered, and forgotten. Then, years, decades, and sometimes centuries pass and some sliver of memory is passed to the next wave of God-work in human frailty and greatness. A new story grows out of the old story and something lost in memory comes again into memory and some tiny tentacle grows to connect the new to the old.

And it is one story from Joseph to Moses and to and through so many stories to our own generation, having passed through the cross and resurrection, the story continues and we cannot know how many more chapters shall be written before there is some grand tension that shall bring us to that last page that grips us with anticipation and then, the End, and then, we turn to page for ...

an Epilogue ...

for the "logue" is "logos" and the Word goes on and on and on ...

... and on ...

This is our time. What shall we do? How shall our story join the great ongoing story?

The story connects vertically AND horizontally.

"And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”" - Mark 8:29

"And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again." - Mark 8:31

Greatness and honor may come at a price too high for us to be willing to pay. Leadership is not about receiving accolades. This is demonstrated for us. Our place in the story, if we follow the Story Teller, is sometimes more humiliating than congratulatory. But it is the story and we are a part of it as well as beneficiaries of it. It is easier to read the first and last paragraph of every chapter and the first few words of every paragraph and skim over the gory details, but the big story includes some real pain, suffering, and sacrifice and most of that is done for us. Our place in the story is to take our place in the story and to want nothing more than for the Storyteller to finish it His way.

Thanksgiving and Anticipation

For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. - Isaiah 51:3

The God who comforts us has come with song. He has come amidst the sounds of thanksgiving and praise. He has come to a people in anticipation, a people longing for redemption. The God of comfort is He who turns deserts into gardens of delight. It is He who brings salvation and justice. It is He who writes His law upon on hearts. It is He who causes the ransomed captive to return singing. He is the God to whom we give thanks and whose advent we celebrate.

He takes our waste places and makes them flourish. Where are the waste places in your life? What of your hopes have you written off as hopeless? In what dimensions of your existence have you relinquished your dreams? These are your waste places. Into these wastelands comes the Messiah of Israel, your comforter.

Where is your wilderness? Change its name to Eden. By faith embrace the new day that God is bringing to you. Embrace Him in the desert and watch the flowers of new life bloom around you.

Sing with joy. Sing with gladness, Make melody in your heart. This is the day of thanksgiving. This is the time of refreshment. This is the time when longings swell into a chorus of fulfillment. The Day of the Lord is near.

He has indeed come. Every year we remember that as He once departed, He will come again in the clouds of glory.

This is our blessed hope. We welcome Him anew every Christmas season on the heels of Thanksgiving. We look back and we look forward. We are blessed with the big picture, but we also know that there is more to come.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Choosing a Path Through Treacherous Times

Make a difference kids

It is a crazy time in a crazy world and it would be easy to go crazy as a response.

Somehow, we have to choose a path that not only brings us through treacherous times, but let's us contribute. We need to choose a path that empowers us to make a difference in our world.

Going through some old social media posts, I thought I'd mash them all together with a bit of redaction and see if they could form a these. It started with shame, but while God's movements in our lives may pass through shame, they never end there. So stay with me.

There is a place for that emotion, especially in days of shameful deeds.

"Let them be ashamed and altogether dismayed who seek after my life to destroy it; let them draw back and be disgraced who take pleasure in my misfortune. " - Psalm 40:15

This is a prayer for those who seek to destroy, diminish, or marginalize life as well as those who take pleasure in the misfortune of others. It touches to those whose worst behaviors emerge in crisis rather than their best. It overlaps to greed, avarice, hatred, bigotry, and violence.

It is a prayer that they would find righteous shame in their actions and disgrace in their attitudes ...

That they might seek grace in its only true source.

We need a revival of shame, disgrace, and decency in a world that lacks compassion and truth ... and from there, the gladness of seeking God who regards the poor and afflicted. Then, we need to move beyond the shame.

Psalm 40 continues in verses 17- 19.

Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad;
let those who love your salvation continually say, "Great is the LORD!"

Though I am poor and afflicted,
the Lord will have regard for me.

You are my helper and my deliverer;
do not tarry, O my God.

Cry out to God and never lose hope.

It only seems that evil is winning. God is working behind the scenes to bring a victorious outcome for the righteous and oppressed.

Don't report the final score before the whistle blows and don't assume that set backs predict loss.

Furthermore, don't pursue that which is easy, popular, or compatible with the dominant narrative of any generation at the cost of the soul-searching, soul-wrenching, upside-down message of sacrifice, service, and radical discipleship.

The depth, reality, and long-term character of the call is seldom what would seem most expeditious in a meeting of our own minds for the purpose of securing short-term gains.

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"

And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others,one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah."

And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it."

"For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

And he said to them, "Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power." - Mark 8:27-9:1

The Kingdom is coming with power and not on our terms or by our own arranging.

We are compulsive arrangers ... at least those of us who labor under the dysfunctions of our own control issues. If things are working out, we easily fall for the call to quick and easy solutions, avoidance of pain and sacrifice, as well as the tendency to blame people.

Like Peter, we want to organize, fix, and manipulate things so that they will work the way we want them and never challenge our comforts, preferences, or aversion to chaos.

What follows from Paul is not a call to chaos or a condemnation of organization.

Rather it is a reminder that the great arranger is not some composite of us. Whatever we can do is not greater than what God is doing.

Behind the scenes, beneath the surface, and above our heads, something is going on beyond our control pointing to a better arrangement of things in the Kingdom that we could arrange ourselves.

It takes all the players.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body.

And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this.

But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. - 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

History, whether Heilsgeschichte (Salvation history), political history, social, or any other sort of history, is the story of learning, remembering, forgetting, cycling over and over, making some progress, taking some steps back, but always leaving markers along the trail of human experience.

It demonstrates to us, the progress of redemption and the capacity of a sovererign God to take anything that is thrown at Him (or us) and make it work for glory and for good.

For instance, reflect on this:

Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation. But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land."

Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, "When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live."

But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?"

The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."

So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live." -Exodus 1:6-22

The meaning emerges from the reflective insights that bubble forth in scriptural interpretation and contemplative prayer focused upon the key questions we ask and are asked by God and our fellow travelers.

Joseph died. His brothers died. His whole generation died.. At some point, all that will be left us us on earth will be the elements of our legacies.

What comes next is that which sets the stage for our decisions to reverence God and act with justice toward others or to bow to the waves of power and intimidation.

Deliverance would come decisively to the oppressed, but this passage only pulls back the curtain to reveal many coming years of darkness and oppression during which faithfulness itself would have to serve as its only reward.

It is a piece of the history.

In times of danger, in times of defeat, in times uncertainty and scarcity, remember God's power, goodness, grace, and presence. Pray for and work for the shalom of your city and community. Be a disciple. Exercise your dual citizenship here and in Heaven. Live graciously, generously, and fearlessly. Be different. Stick out like a sore thumb.

Don't retreat. Don't be afraid. Don't be cynical or let your hearts grow heart or faint.

Renew your faith in the God of positive outcomes.

Make a difference.

The Places You Will Go

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born March 2, 1904.

The world is a happier place because he was here.

Much that I needed to know for life, I learned from some very special children's books. His were among them.

He had no children of his own. In fact he said we could have them and he would entertain them, which he did.

Along the way, he tapped into feelings and issues with which children struggle. He acknowledged their questions and became a fellow explorer with them. He mastered the art of writing books that could speak to children and adults at any stage of life.

Dr. Seuss took us to many fascinating places, but left it to us to explore the rest.

I have been doing so since I was a child.

"OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
THERE IS FUN TO BE DONE! THERE ARE
POINTS TO BE SCORED. THERE ARE GAMES TO BE WON."

Theodor Geisel died, September 24, 1991. Before that, and since, he was a tour guide for many of us, taking us many places and showing us the world through colorful lenses.

I was reflecting on the places within us where Dr. Seuss took us and I decided to look at some of his words and how they had affected my life.

"OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!"

I left home at 18 to go to college. I moved 6 hours from home. It might has well been across the world. It was a cross cultural move for me - from the Richmond with its unique cultural mix to Appalachia.

Then I moved to California.

I have yet to explore all of this state. I have been to many more. There is so much yet to explore.

But there is also the inner territories yet to find. Dr. Seuss said:

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

He brought perspective to the common insecurities of children and adults about who they were. He addressed our anxieties about being authentic.

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

We have beginnings and endings, but the endings are beginnings and the beginnings are endings and on and on it goes. I do a lot of funerals. I collect stories - stories of well over 1000 people I knew but never met. Funerals are happy-sad times because the memories are sweet and the endings are bitter. It occurs to me that I frequently employ a principle he taught as I lead people in the celebration of the life of a loved one.

Dr. Seuss said:

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

I sometimes have tough questions with which to wrestle. I meet people every day who are embroiled in existential crises, in deep pain, and in profound despair. Questions without answers plague them. I share with them, pray with them, and mostly, listen to them, I dare not pontificate, but Seuss said,

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
We have to figure out how to ask the right questions and we will find ourselves closer to the answers.

He encouraged us to face our troubles.

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

He encouraged us to be honest with our feelings and words.

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”

He encouraged us to learn.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

He warned us that life is but a vapor and is passing away - thus to embrace today today.

“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”

Yes, Theodor Geisel died, September 24, 1991. Dr. Seuss lives on.

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

I Check All the Boxes

I am every man.
I embody every extreme.

I am the plundered poor.
I am the plunderer.

I am he who treasures and keeps the Word.
I am he who wanders.

I am guarded.
I am he, from whom the guarded must be protected.

I am pure and I am vile.

I am all in one - a complete package.

I am beloved .
I am grateful.
I need and receive grace.

At every punctuation mark of this precious Word,
I see myself.
I identify.

I do so, reluctantly.

God, you have done so, in Jesus, intentionally and redemptively.

Today, I shall rather be plundered than plunder.

I shall prefer to be defrauded than to defraud.

Let me not exalt vileness.

Let me not wander.

May I cherish that which is precious and ...
May I live in the grace that is freely given.

Thank you for another day to learn to learn ...
To embrace your truth and to be transformed by it.
Of all the people I know,

I desperately need it.

" The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times."
"You, O LORD, will keep them;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man."
- Psalm 12:6-8 ESV

Don't Go Phishing with Thieves

Phishing is a broad term for many tactics designed to steal information from you that can lead to identity theft.

Often, you are encouraged to follow a link and then, sign in or give some other form of identification like a password.

To avoid being sent to a phishing site, here is one of a number of hints (but one often not practiced): Check the URL.

That is the address and it is in the address bar of every website and is included in every live link.

You can right click the link and get a menu. Then choose copy link or copy URL or whatever is there.

Then paste it into an editor like Notepad and look at it.

What does it say? Does the address look familiar? Is it spelled like the authentic address or is there an extra letter or a letter omitted?

Note: Going to the site will not usually cause a problem, but it may put cookies on your browser; so I do not recommend it unless you know what you are doing.

For instance, anything from Facebook will be spelled correctly and with no variation, "facebook.com"

If it does not look right, it probably is not right.

Avoid the heartache and don't go phishing with thieves.  

Don't Go Phishing with Thieves

Phishing is a broad term for many tactics designed to steal information from you that can lead to identity theft.

Often, you are encouraged to follow a link and then, sign in or give some other form of identification like a password.

To avoid being sent to a phishing site, here is one of a number of hints (but one often not practiced): Check the URL.

That is the address and it is in the address bar of every website and is included in every live link.

You can right click the link and get a menu. Then choose copy link or copy URL or whatever is there.

Then paste it into an editor like Notepad and look at it.

What does it say? Does the address look familiar? Is it spelled like the authentic address or is there an extra letter or a letter omitted?

Note: Going to the site will not usually cause a problem, but it may put cookies on your browser; so I do not recommend it unless you know what you are doing.

For instance, anything from Facebook will be spelled correctly and with no variation, "facebook.com"

If it does not look right, it probably is not right.

Avoid the heartache and don't go phishing with thieves.  

Above My Pay Grade

Perhaps, I sometimes get into life, meaning, and theological/philosophical thinking way above my "pay grade."

Do you ever over-agonize the bigger, deeper, loftier issues in the land of awe and wonder? It is not a call the shallow thinking or disengagement of our intellect, but a reminder of the limits of our consciousness. We come to the end of our capacity where we integrate, frustrate, of meditate. It is there where we can emancipate ourselves from a world of care by becoming children again, resting as with our mother, not quite an infant, but not yet big kids either, just little children. There, we are hopeful.

In a disturbing, confusing, complex, and deeply divided world, we are not going to figure it all out. We are set in a far more chaotic universe where the order of things does not always readily appear. But we must live daily and daily, we must make little decisions.

How do we calm and quiet our souls when we want to take charge and fix everything and issues vie for our attention and everyone is shouting their own opinions at each other and we somehow long for non-synthetic synthesis and quiet?

How?

We keep ascending and we consciously, keep resting and hoping in God.

And we keep reminding ourselves that some fixes will always be above our pay grades.

"A Song of Ascents. Of David.

O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore."

-Psalm 131 ESV

Like the Idols We Create

How do we become like the idols we create?

"Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them. "

What are the characteristics and limitations on the objects we worship that shape us into their own image? We make them in our images and find ourselves sucked into that place where we were when we made them and from there, we descend.

But these are the the psalms that follow after the Songs of Ascent. We have arrived at the holy hill and we must decide what we will worship.

We can still go higher, but not as long as we impose our own ideas, desires, motives, and biases upon our own worship. We cannot build our truth around our lifestyles. We must conform our lifestyles to truth.

Not only our lifestyles, but our thoughts, our theological constructs, our worship, and our devotion must conform to truth.

What we worship will always shape us.

We will become more and more like what we worship or who we worship.

If we worship what we ourselves create, then we are worshiping something less then ourselves (much more -- far less than God who created us). We will be worshiping that which, by nature, disintegrates and we shall disintegrate as well.

It is not that we are not made in the image of God nor than our creations are made in our images. It is that, We are not God and they are not us. With each degree of separation, there is disintegration. We must aim for what is authentic and true ... and above us.

If we worship that which infinite and eternal ... the potential for growth is eternally expansive.

It is our choice.

"The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them. " - Psalm 135:15-18, ESV

The Man Who Made Muesli

Born this day, August 22, in 1867 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (d. 1939). Ahead of his time, he popularized muesli and raw food vegetarianism. While many of his ideas were scientifically sound, some, it has been suggested are rooted in unverified pseudoscience.

The original Bircher-Benner recipe consists of the following ingredients:

Apples, "two or three small appl
es or one large one". The whole apple was to be used, including skin, core, and pits.

Nuts, either walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts, one tablespoon.
Rolled oats, one tablespoon, "previously soaked in 3 tablespoons water for 12 hours".

Lemon juice from half a lemon.

Either cream and honey or sweetened condensed milk, 1 tablespoon.

The dish was prepared by mixing the cream and honey or condensed milk with the soaked oats and lemon juice and, while stirring, grating the whole apple into the mixture. This method prevented the apple pulp from browning. The intent was to serve the dish fresh, immediately before any other dishes in the meal.

Where Heaven and Earth Meet and Mingle

Timelines and Sequences

"Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

You have to "come up here," or "go up there" to get a proper perspective sometimes.

 

The order of things may not be, in reality, as it appears down here.

 

Perspective brings clarity.

 

Eternity orders the temporal universe.

 

Truth begins and ends in the center of things where the Christ takes on an almost indescribable image and is worshipped.

 

It is in that center that everything makes sense and from that center that all things proceed. it is there, where it is said, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

 

Revelation 4:1-11

 

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal. Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing, "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come." And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

St. Francis de Sales, Bridge Builder

Born this day in 1567 – Francis de Sales, Swiss bishop and saint (d. 1622). He was a bridge builder, known for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. His "Introduction to the Devout Life" is a classic of Christian devotional literature.

It can be downloaded at https://ccel.org/ccel/d/desales/devout_life/cache/devout_life.pdf or read online or in other formats at
https://ccel.org/ccel/desales/devout_life/devout_life

"When your heart roams or gets distracted lead it back very gently, softly putting it close to its Master; and even if you spend your whole hour doing nothing except gathering up your heart quite calmly and putting it close to Our Lord, and even if your heart does nothing except turn away as soon as you have led it back, your hour will have been very well spent"

"There are no galley-slaves in the royal vessel of divine love—every man works his oar voluntarily!"

"You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working ; and just so you learn to love God and man by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves."

"The elephant, not only the largest but the most intelligent of animals, provides us with an excellent example. It is faithful and tenderly loving to the female of its choice, mating only every third year and then for no more than five days, and so secretly as never to be seen, until, on the sixth day, it appears and goes at once to wash its whole body in the river, unwilling to return to the herd until thus purified. Such good and modest habits are an example to husband and wife."

Is there an Intention Guiding Your Life?

The life of Joseph illustrates the power of God's intention for us to be a blessed so that we can bless others and positively change the world.

What is the meaning of my moments and movement beyond the movement of the moment?

In Genesis, the story of Joseph crescendos with this dance he choreographs to reconnect with the brothers who dealt so treacherously with him years before. Perhaps they have tried daily to forget, but they cannot. Nor can they know fully the pain and possibilities that were pregnant in their choices. When Joseph "sets them up," they are confronted with a question that is deeper than the moment:

" ... Joseph said to them, 'What deed is this that you have done?'"
(Genesis 44:15 ESV)

In fact, the deed they had most immediately done was none - none that would indict them. They are different men at that day than the men who sold their brother as a slave, but their transformation is not complete until the reconciliation is transacted and Joseph was confront them as much as they must be confronted ....

And they must confront the question that has ultimately brought them to this moment, "What have you done?"

It is, in the long run, a redemptive question and it is ours. It is mine? What is the meaning of my moments and movement beyond the movement of the moment?

What is the meaning of my life in an honest and full assessment of my life?

What would it mean apart from redemption? What does it mean in the light of redemption?

This is our moment for reflection.

----------------------------------------------

Take a few steps back in the life of Joseph and witness his progress.

Joseph in the School of Life and Ministry

Genesis 35:16-18: Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.” As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.(NIV)

Background: Genesis 35-41

Benjamin was Joseph’s little brother, but in many ways, his name was a template for Joseph’s life. The sons of our sorrow become the sons of our strength through the transforming power of God in our lives.

In his father’s house, Joseph learned these lessons:

1. To shepherd sheep – Thus he learned the basic laws of leadership.

2. To dream great dreams … and yet, one more …

3. To be in the pits of rejection and despair … and still not to surrender ones dreams.

In Potipher’s House, he learned these lessons:

1. To manage a great business and the people in that business.

2. Agricultural principles which would later be employed to save an entire region from famine.

3. To resist temptation with integrity and yet, one more …

4. Not to be concerned that someone else received the credit and benefits of his work.

In jail, he used and developed all the lessons he had previously learned and more:

1. To manage people who did not want to be managed.

2. To make the best of a bad situation without growing bitter.

3. To help other people understand their dreams, and yet, one more …

4. To deliver bad news honestly and promptly.

All of these lessons brought him to Pharaoh’s house where God could use all these lessons and here he learned one more:

• How to speak truth to power with courage.

As a result, he was able to exercise the greatest leadership skill of his life: INFLUENCE!

And, by exercising influence, he was able to lead a nation and, indeed, many nations, through a time of famine.

Joseph was used by God to bless an entire nation during a time of profound crisis.

He was a dreamer of dreams.

A great vision for God's people in their communities comes from Genesis 41:41 and the life of Joseph. Joseph was used by God to bless an entire nation during a time of profound crisis.

" Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.”

He was a dreamer of dreams. He was favored by his father and wore a coat of many colors. He did not fit in with his brothers. He stood out as a bit odd. As a result, he was sold and imprisoned.

In spite of hardships, he always "bloomed where he was planted." His troubles always brought him to the right place at the right time. Thus, he was waiting, ready, and prepared when needed.

He had the attitude of a servant. In fact, he was a slave until the day he died and lived his life for others. He knew he had been brought to a time and place of great influence to bless others as an alien in a foreign land.

He had a ministry to meet the physical needs of the Egyptians that extended beyond their borders.

Eventually, his own people were blessed and grew into a great nation within Egypt until they were "called out."

In Joseph's life and service, God's purposes were worked out and realized.

All of these insights from Joseph's life reinforce our vision for a theology of place and influence.

A Ogden Nash Moment

Born on August 19, 1902 – Ogden Nash, American poet (d. 1971).

Few were better known for humorous and unconventional poetry.

Before he achieved success as a poet, he was also a salesman and a teacher as well as a staff writer.

He died on May 19, 1971, of complications from Crohn's disease aggravated by a lactobacillus infection transmitted by improperly prepared coleslaw.

-----------------------------------------------

"I think in terms of rhyme, and have since I was six years old."

"Why did the Lord give us agility,
If not to evade responsibility?"
----------
Candy
Is Dandy
But liquor
Is quicker.
-----------
Oh, things are frequently what they seem,
And this is wisdom's crown:
Only the game fish swims upstream,
But the sensible fish swims down.
----------
Man is a victim of dope
In the incurable form of hope.
----------
Just when you think that at least the outlook is so black that it can grow no blacker, it worsens,
And that is why I do not like the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons.
----------
A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.
----------
I dreamt that my hair was kempt.
Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it.
----------
It is common knowledge to every schoolboy and even every Bachelor of Arts,
That all sin is divided into two parts.
One kind of sin is called a sin of commission, and that is very important
And it is what you are doing when you are doing something you oughtn't...
----------
It is the sin of omission, the second kind of sin,
That lays eggs under your skin.
----------
The moral is that it is probably better not to sin at all, but if
some kind of sin you must be pursuing,
Well, remember to do it by doing rather than by not doing.
----------
To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.
--------------------

One could go on, but you can look up more.

 

More Here

 

Keep It to Yourself

"If you wish another to keep your secret, first keep it to yourself." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

These are the days of going public with knowledge.

Some, like me, enjoy people knowing what we are thinking and doing, who we know, how to contact us, and other details of our lives.

It is a good thing because, like it or not, once we have posted it to one, it has the potential to go viral and spread to any who might care.

Of course, the great tragedy in our lives might be that not enough care.

It has been over 2000 years since Seneca spoke these words. They were true then too.

It is not that people want to disrespect your confidence; it is just very hard to keep it. They tell one person who they are sure will keep the secret and that person thinks the same about the person they tell.

The moral of the story is simply to be circumspect. Assume that what you tell will be told. Live transparently, authentically, and openly, but keep some things to yourself.

Science is

Science is ...

I am no scientist.

One might argue whether or not I am a philosopher or student of philosophers. I suppose am more of a philosopher than a scientist at any rate, sometimes one who enjoys philosophical inquiry about the nature of science.

Of course, there was a time in history where the two disciplines were interchangeable.

I have studied the scientific method. It facilitates its own kind of inquiry into questions of "how," "when," and especially, "what."

Yet, the question, "Is it scientific?" is no more ultimate than ...

-- Is it legal?

-- Is it feasible?

-- Is it popular?

A better question at any crossroads would be, "Is it true?"

Scientific inquiry can point us to one dimension of truth, but it alone cannot tell us the whole truth about anything. Science itself has deep appreciation for the notions of "unknowns" in the universe. Truth encompasses the universe and goes beyond.

That being said, when what we need is good science, good thoughts, opinions, and nothing else will quite do.

Here are some collected thoughts from others on science.

"In essence, science is a perpetual search for an intelligent and integrated comprehension of the world we live in." Cornelius Bernardus Van Neil (1897- ) U. S. microbiologist.

"Science is organized knowledge." - Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) English philosopher. Education.

"Science is simply common sense at its best that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic." Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95) English biologist.

"Science is nothing but developed perception, interpreted intent, common sense rounded out and minutely articulated." George Santayana (1863-1952) U. S. philosopher and writer. The Life of Reason.

"Science is facts; just as houses are made of stone, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house, and a collection of facts is not necessarily science." Jules Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) French mathematician.

"Science is nothing but trained and organized common sense differing from the latter only as a veteran may differ from a raw recruit: and its methods differ from those of common sense only as far as the guardsman's cut and thrust differ from the manner in which a savage wields his club." Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95) English biologist. "The Method of Zadig" in Collected Essays IV.

"Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition." Adam Smith (1723-90) Scottish economist. The Wealth of Nations, 1776.

"Science is what you know. Philosophy is what you don't know." Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English philosopher, mathematician.

"Science is the systematic classification of experience." George Henry Lewes (1817-78) English writer and critic.

"Science is a cemetery of dead ideas." - Miguel de Unamuno

Now, why did he say that?

Below, Aristotle, who laid a strong groundwork for the scientific method.

Over the Jeers of the Crowd

 

"Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar..."

You sort of feel for the Tribune who is trying to get the face in the middle of the uproar of contradictions and false information. And the entire commotion was based upon misinformation which fed suspicion, conspiracy theories, and predisposition toward a particular belief about Paul.

All that was needed was someone to stir up the crowd and the unwelcome committee was mobilized.

The world has not changed all that much.

Acts 21:27-36
New International Version
When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”

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Other Thoughts on the Theme

" I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, according to your justice give me life." -Psalm 119:147-149 

"Beware of interpreting Scripture in order to make it suit a pre-arranged doctrine of your own." --Oswald Chambers

Ideas matter more. It's always nice when they connect. Better still, when truth grounds them And they are allowed to soar.

What I have to say is hard to say in 140 characters, but if that is all I have, I should make what little I can say as truthful as possible.

The soul is quieted for sleep, but awakened for what may be next -a great idea, a sweet and profound chord, a moment of truth, inspiration.

That old Twitter rule forces us to chip away at needless words and simmer the stew of thought down to the most fragrant and nutrient rich essence: truth.

When we run out of spaces for our lofty and exorbitant processions of verbiage, we can always link to a blog or put our words in a graphic.

Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness- ideas that can't be contained within a race, class, or even nation - dynamic stumbling blocks of truth.

Our founders had flawed motives, but latched onto an idea that was bigger than them, had a life of its own, and must be fleshed out by us.

I've always liked letting people speak for themselves, but one can appear to be unfairly misrepresenting someone by quoting them directly.

"I have the ultimate security, for I can make good, bad, and indifferent serve the ends for which I live!" - E. Stanley Jones

" I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, according to your justice give me life."  -Psalm 119:147-149 

Doubts giving birth to deeper faith. This is the ministry of perplexity. This is the simplicity of complexity and the complexity of simplicity.

This is the resolution of struggle in the quest for that rest that will not rest in easy answers or shallow understanding.

Gravity is drawn toward the pebbles on the surface, but truth calls to the deeper rocks hidden beneath that surface. Faithquakes come and that which is anchored endures, but that anchoring has come through some Peniel nights where we wrestle for the blessing.

Salvation is free, by grace, through faith, but growth in faith is a pricey proposition. It stretches us and then, settles us till the next quake and opportunity to dig deeper.

"Imagination is a preview of life's coming attractions." - Albert Einstein ... found on a friend's "about" page

While I have your attention, here is some ultimate truth.

Awake!

I am wake walking through a garden of dreams,
eyes open,
heart pounding,
life affirming.
I am dreaming within a dream
of dreams yet to be.
My heart is full of emptiness,
being filled and refilled.
My life is an adventure
where impossibilities unfold into realities.
I am wake walking.
Nothing is asleep within me.
Wake walking and wondering
what the next unfolding will bring.
Wake walking and willing
to awaken anew
to a deeper dream
blest.

What awakened you this morning?

What did it awaken in you?

What is it awakening though you?

“Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.”

In the morning
With sleep in my eyes,
The eyes of the morning,
Intermittent sniffles of a new day,
Sneezing out the old,
Breathing in the new,
Resisting punctuation.

It is too early to punctuate,

Washing the senses,
Making music in my heart,
Whispering to the wind,
Singing with the rustling leaves,

Humming with the buzzing bees.

Life is awakening.
A new day is upon us.

It is fresh.
It is good.
It is alive.
And enlivening.

Embrace the morning!

The dark awakens every night.
Unveiling even greater light.
It is peculiar. Is it not?
Hot is cold and cold is hot.

I am awake.
What a delightful surprise,
A twist of events that I embrace.
I would say shocking, but that would mean a stopping.
It is a stirring.
I greet this morning with wonder and anticipation.
For those who wondered, I am well.
For those who assumed it was so, it is.
For those who gave it no thought ...
Why should you have?
To you, I smile and say, "Good morning."
It is, you know. It is a very good morning.
We do expect to wake up, after all and
We expect all around us to do so with few exceptions.
But sometimes, rare moments, we see it for the gift it is and,
More than a gift,
A calling.

 

 

 

Behold Thy Mother

William Blake - The Crucifixion, Behold Thy Mother, c 1805, Creative Commons, Public  Domain

“When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!  Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” – John 19:26-27

Jesus was living through the darkest moment of His life. Lesser men would have thought only of their pain. One of the men being crucified with Him could only curse and fix blame on others. Jesus could only love for love had taken Him to that cross.

He looked down from Him place of suffering and saw His mother. He remembered how she had exercised faith in welcoming the Holy Spirit’s work in her life as she had conceived Him. He remembered how she had traveled so many miles with Joseph to Bethlehem for His birth and how they had fled to Egypt, far away from home and family, to protect His life from Herod.  He remembered how she and Joseph had despaired when they misplaced Him in the Temple when He was a boy. He remembered her sacrificial love and the warm home she had made for Him and His brothers. He reflected on her grace  and humble service.

She had cherished the memories of His birth and life in her heart all these years. She had raised her children, taught them the things of God. She had buried a husband and she had left all to follow Her son, the Son of God as one of His disciples.

She was His mother and He loved her from the cross. And so, in one of His last earthly human deeds, He presided over an adoption,

“Behold your thy son … Behold thy mother.”

How Will You Make This Day Memorable?

Since this is not Leap Year, August 14th is  226th day of the year. 139 days remain until the end of the year. That. in itself, is something. Every day matters.

After acknowledging that, you can look back on the day, thumb through your records, stroll through history, read thoughts that you thought and others thought. Read, reflect, remember, and renew.

Consider that some things will happen today that will be remembered by some forever.

Even in the era called BC, these landmarks are recorded:

74 BC – A group of officials, led by the Western Han minister Huo Guang, present articles of impeachment against the new emperor, Liu He, to the imperial regent, Empress Dowager Shangguan.

29 BC – Octavian holds the second of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate the victory over the Dalmatian tribes.

Like most every day, August 14th is a Christian feast day:

Arnold of Soissons
Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia
Eusebius of Rome[282]
Jonathan Myrick Daniels (Episcopal Church)
Maximilian Kolbe

Look them up!

It is Falklands Day, the celebration of the first sighting of the Falkland Islands by John Davis in 1592.

It is Independence Day in Pakistan, celebrating the independence of Pakistan from the United Kingdom in 1947.

At the same time, it is Partition Horrors Remembrance Day commemorating the victims and sufferings of people during the Partition of India in 1947.

It is the same event with two different perspectives.

How will you make August 14th significant in your history and the history of humanity?

 

 

Born this day in 1777, Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricity and magnetism.

On this day in 1935 – Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, creating a government pension system for the retired.

On this day in 1912 – U.S. Marines invade Nicaragua to support the U.S.-backed government installed there after José Santos Zelaya had resigned three years earlier

.

 

Again, I ask:

How will you make August 14th significant in your history and the history of humanity?

Take Heart

A message for each of you.

Take courage.

It is Jesus walking toward you.

Don't be afraid.

 

 

Thoughts on Following

" ... I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God. " - "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers.

We are all at sea. We are all vulnerable to waves and apparent chaos. He comes walking toward us and we ask, "Where are we going if we follow you?"
It is, perhaps, the wrong question.

"God's end is to enable me to see that He can walk on the chaos of my life just now."

So, we walk on it with Him ... and the journey is the destination.

"Those who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed."
- Lloyd Jones

"The life that intends to be wholly obedient, wholly submissive, wholly listening, is astonishing in its completeness. Its joys are ravishing, its peace profound, its humility the deepest, its power world-shaking, its love enveloping, its simplicity that of a trusting child." - Thomas Kelly

I serve a God manifest in a man ...
A man with a broken heart.
How can I not follow one who so willingly ...
Wore a broken body
And bore a broken heart?

Psalm 69:22 -
" Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I could find no one."

Thoughts on Following

" ... I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God. " - "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers.

We are all at sea. We are all vulnerable to waves and apparent chaos. He comes walking toward us and we ask, "Where are we going if we follow you?"
It is, perhaps, the wrong question.

"God's end is to enable me to see that He can walk on the chaos of my life just now."

So, we walk on it with Him ... and the journey is the destination.

"Those who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed."
- Lloyd Jones

"The life that intends to be wholly obedient, wholly submissive, wholly listening, is astonishing in its completeness. Its joys are ravishing, its peace profound, its humility the deepest, its power world-shaking, its love enveloping, its simplicity that of a trusting child." - Thomas Kelly

I serve a God manifest in a man ...
A man with a broken heart.
How can I not follow one who so willingly ...
Wore a broken body
And bore a broken heart?

Psalm 69:22 -
" Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I could find no one."

Hungering for More

 

"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." - John 6:27, (NIV)

" Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness' - Isaiah 55:1-2

After a miraculous meal, the crowds worked very hard to find Jesus.

He gently questioned their motives in order to get them to do the same about themselves.

Your harried, frantic efforts to feed yourselves are futilely flawed, he seems to suggest. Everything in which you invest your time, energy, and resources is already in the process of spoiling.

There is, however, a food that produces eternal satisfaction.

Place your focus there.

Thus, Jesus introduces a lengthy discussion of the bread of life. He started by stimulating their hunger and thirst to hear more.

What does it take for God to make us aware of our profound hunger for more?

Choose How You Will Think

You are making choices about how to think about things, how to process information, how to sort out reality, and what to do about what you think.

You are constantly voting.

Your thumbs are going up and down, sometimes both at the same time. The world is a confusing place. Contradictory voices seem true all at the same time.

Watch your motives - whether it is me or anyone else telling you what your politics should be, examine the principles, examine your loyalties, examine your presuppositions, examine the evidence, and examine your own heart and motives prayerfully.

Neither Rome, Persia, nor America is the source of our liberty and power. God is, and we can serve God no matter who is sitting in the seats of power and temporal authority.

Caesar has no power to grant, to the church, the kind of power that she thrives on.

The church must derive its power from God or it is in grave danger of selling its loyalty to the highest bidder for the lowest possible advantage.

I do not care who is sitting on Rome's throne at any given time in history. It could be Nero or Constantine. It could be a persecutor or an ally.

Vote for whoever you wish to represent your political views, but do not do so for the wrong reasons.

Even in the days of Cyrus and Zerubbabel when Israel was granted the blessing or return to the land of  promise from Exile, it was not Cyrus who was the source of power, but God.

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. - Zechariah 4:6, New International Version

 

Additional Meditations of Civil Religion and Authentic Discipleship

 

Demetrius and the artisans had a complaint.

Paul was stirring the truth pot urging people to seek God.

This threatened a lifestyle of privilege that gathered around a civil religion. Demetrius stirred the artisans with a chant that appealed, on the surface, to their local religion, but was really about their money and power.

Acts 19:21-41
Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia, and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, "After I have gone there, I must also see Rome."

So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Asia.

About that time no little disturbance broke out concerning the Way. A man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the artisans. These he gathered together, with the workers of the same trade, and said, "Men, you know that we get our wealth from this business. You also see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia this Paul has persuaded and drawn away a considerable number of people by saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be scorned, and she will be deprived of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her."

When they heard this, they were enraged and shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

The city was filled with the confusion; and people rushed together to the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's travel companions. Paul wished to go into the crowd, but the disciples would not let him; even some officials of the province of Asia, who were friendly to him, sent him a message urging him not to venture into the theater.

Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd gave instructions to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward.

And Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours all of them shouted in unison, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

But when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Citizens of Ephesus, who is there that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven? Since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. You have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the artisans with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges there against one another. If there is anything further you want to know, it must be settled in the regular assembly. For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion."

When he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

Paradigm Shifts - Collected Reflections

 

In the Spring When Kings Go out to Battle

"In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem." 2 Samuel 11:1 ESV

We live is a raw world where nations go to war to grab power and place and people commit adulterous sins which lead to even more devastating sins where lives are destroyed and ended. Some of those people have the hand of God upon them and they wrestle with their humanity on the battlefield and off.

I am not for war. I am for peace. However, the story is raw and real and about real and really raw people. David was the king and the leader. He was supposed to be somewhere else fighting another battle when he was in a position to fight the battle of his life - and lost. What if he had been where he was supposed to be?

He was not in his place and so he had to fight his battle within.

Whether it was right to go to war every spring just because it was spring is a matter for another discussion. The point is that he had a role and was not playing it and so, in the wrong place at the wrong time, his eyes fell upon Bathsheba and he wanted her.

He wanted her badly.

His lust was greater than his sense of duty, responsibility , and integrity. It was greater than his loyalty to a loyal friend. It was greater than his will power.

It was greater, in the moment, than his own strength and he did not cry out to God for strength.

That is because lust is a strange meeting place of need (or distorted perceived need based upon real need) and arrogant power than pivots the universe around our own egos.

He wanted it and he could have it ... so he took it.

He took her from her husband and he also stole her dignity and choice. He was the king. He had the power. It  was actually a rape.

There will always be a battle unless we surrender to the enemy of our souls.

Sometimes the bad choices begin when we choose to stay home and not be where we are supposed to be.

The choices have devastating consequences. Two people died. Bathsheba was wounded in her heart. David was scarred for life. ....

But afterwards ...

Steadfast love and faithfulness met and righteousness and peace kissed each other.