The Dream Factory

Let's Grow Old Together

.

U.S. Post Office; Smithsonian National Postal Museum; Image enlarged and rendered for tone, clarity by Gwillhickers

 

"At twenty a man is full of fight and hope. He wants to reform the world.
When he's seventy he still wants to reform the world, but he knows he can't."
- Clarence S. Darrow

I guess I'll have to wait a few short years to find out, but I do not believe that is true in all cases.

I know people who have truly awakened for the first time at 70.

Nelson Mandela was nearly 72 when he was released from prison and began to reshape South Africa.  In his 90s, he was still reforming the world.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, best known as Grandma Moses, did not start painting seriously until she was 78. In 2006, one of her folk art paintings sold for 1.2 million dollars.

In their obituary, when she died, The New York Times said,

"The simple realism, nostalgic atmosphere and luminous color with which Grandma Moses portrayed simple farm life and rural countryside won her a wide following. She was able to capture the excitement of winter's first snow, Thanksgiving preparations and the new, young green of oncoming spring... In person, Grandma Moses charmed wherever she went. A tiny, lively woman with mischievous gray eyes and a quick wit, she could be sharp-tongued with a sycophant and stern with an errant grandchild."

Harlan Sanders did not start Kentucky Fried Children until he was 65 and invested his Social Security check. Sanders allegedly had 1,009 rejections when trying to establish his franchise. Among them, was the grandfather of a friend who gave me a personal account of his story and regrets.

Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame, created iconic characters into his 90s, but did not start until he was 39.

Likewise, Julia Child did not publish her first cook book until she was 50.

Samuel L. Jackson got his acting break at 43.

Ray Kroc, who successfully franchised McDonald's, did not buy his first franchise until he was 53.

Astronaut and Senator John Glenn returned to space in his late 70s to study the dynamics of space travel related to aging.

It is a long list and gets even longer when it includes those who started young and  remained active well into their golden years.

Big dreamers never stop dreaming and hoping. They do so because they believe they can make a difference.

Darrow may have been right about a couple of things:

1. We learn we cannot change the world all by ourselves. It takes teamwork, community, and cooperation.

2. We learn that it can't be done overnight and we may not live to see all the changes we desire. The writer of Hebrews says that the heroes of old days died in faith embracing a promise that would only be fulfilled in later generations.

However, that is no reason for discouragement because real dreamers have visions that extend beyond themselves and their lifespans.

Growing old is and can be a wonderful thing.

In fact, I know a freedom today that I have never experienced at any other time in my life. I plan to use that to make a difference.

Growing old with others can also be loads of fun.

Let's keep changing the world as long as we are breathing.

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!"
- Robert Browning

 

 

 

Courage and Beyond ... to Grace

Photo by x ) on Unsplash

 

Courage emerges
Valiantly
When you know what to do
And you know the cost
And you know that you must
And you face your fears
And do what must be done.

Faith raises its hand
To be recognized
When you know the reasons
Not to believe
And, not sure
That you believe
You breathe a prayer,
"Help my unbelief,"
And jump.

Love sings.
Present and melodious
When all the reasons
Not to love
Are obvious
And you set them aside
To do your best
For the one you choose
To love
In joy!

Joy bounces
To the forefront
When tears
Well up
And heartaches
Swell up
And you choose
To rely on God
And rejoice in God
And receive from God,
Shalom.

Peace manifests
When storms toss your boat,
And you've lost your way,
With no guarantees
And no visible way around the fear
And you trust.

Trust is always ...

Timely
Resting
Under a
Simple
Truth:

God loves me.
God is with me.
God will see me

And protect me.

My life is in God's hands.

Grace
Dances onto
The stage
Bows,
Grins,
Smiles,
Chuckles,
Roars with laughter,
And then,
Starts passing out presents
For no reason at all.

Courage,
Faith,
Love,
Joy,
Peace,
Trust,
All present ...

For God is present.

God is present
When ...

... Well ...

God is never absent.

 

 

 

Photo by kevin Tosh on Unsplash

John 6.

 ³⁰So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.""

 ³²Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

 ³⁴"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

 ³⁵Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in
me will never be thirsty. ³⁶But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

 ⁴¹At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

Jesus takes us further and deeper. He does this in answer to their very shallow questions. They ask for signs. Jesus points to Himself.

He is the source of satisfaction.

He is the source of purpose.

He is the source of soul nurture.

He gives eternal life.

Looking at both of these passages, and slightly ahead, the observation can be made as an acronym for BREAD.

B - Behavior flows from being and believing. It is Jesus' being and our believe in who He is that transforms who we are and how we behave/work.

R - Receiving the gift indicates that He has received us. Jesus is the Father's gift to us and we are the Father's gift to Jesus. When we receive Him, He receives us and never loses us. They asked for Him to give them the bread, but after He explained it, they were not so sure about receiving it.

E - Eating is what we do with bread. There will be more on this next week. However, today, the message is that we  taste eternity and are nourished by our relationship with Jesus to the extent to which we eat, which is to say, internalize His presence in our lives.

A - Agree with Him as to who He is. Attend to His words. Anticipate His promises. Announce them. In so doing, we will be involved with Him in His work. If we are what we eat, in this case, it means total alignment with Jesus Christ.

D - Decide that Jesus is the bread of life and that He is all the food you need for living life in the Spirit in the midst of time.

Those are some glimpses and thoughts to propel your own insights into Jesus, the Bread of Life

Stewardship of Power

 

Photo by Marisa Barrett on Unsplash

Why do we abuse power? I think it would be dangerous to oversimplify the answer, but we have some hints.

We do not understand power or appreciate its purpose.

Power is given to any of us for the purpose of service. We are entrusted with it, but it is not ours. It is a stewardship, but we grow possessive of it.

That is when we get into a danger zone. What we think we own, but suspect we do not, we grow to like too much and we start to defend it at all costs.

We divide the world into friends and enemies of our protected power and quest for more power. Our addiction to power, like any other addiction, causes us to act irrationally and even brutally.

We cannot handle power unless we work to maintain the attitude of a servant who is merely a steward of power that is not our own.

It can happen any time, to any people, anywhere that abuse of power becomes institutionalized, justified, and memorialized. Even if it grows out of a good cause or a noble endeavor, we must handle power as the powder keg of potential abuse that it is.

Power exists to serve.

Asking the Right Question

 

The Pool of Bethesda painting by Robert Bateman (1877)

Jesus asked the right question, "Do you want to be healed?"

The man heard it through his own filters and thought his answer was contingent on his preconceptions of getting in the water.

That was not the case.

Right question, wrong answer, but Jesus did not give up and the man was healed.

" Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked."

"Now that day was the Sabbath."

-John 5:2-9 (ESV)

The last statement brings up a whole different subject and yet, the main subject of the story

            - how we get locked in by our limited thinking and the boxes in which we try to fit God.

Do You Preach On ... ?

 

Photo by Nycholas Benaia on Unsplash

 

People ask if I preach ON sin, judgment, heaven, hell, this, or that.

No.

What do you preach on?

I don't preach ON anything.

What do you do then?

I preach FROM something and TO something and TO someones.

FROM the scriptures and TO people, the times, people living in the times, issues, and answers.

Preaching ON is grabbing topics out of the air. It is the wrong starting place. The Bible addresses all of the issues directly or indirectly.

If we take it seriously and let it penetrate our hearts, it will expose our racism, our self-centered ways, our idolatry for wicked oppressing systems, and everything else we so easily avoid by preaching ON them, ABOUT them, or AROUND them.

It brings eternal truth to bear upon temporal circumstances and choices.

We do not avoid the issues; we just start with what God says to them.

And the Holy Spirit can bring deep conviction and conversion ... and sometimes uses us to tighten the screws.

So, having said that, here is an application from a couple of years ago:

ALT-RIGHT is really ALTERED-RIGHT and is ALL-WRONG.

Bring Him Home - God in the Midst of Our Human Ugliness

 

A depiction of the woman of Tekoa before David, by Caspar Luiken.

 

Here is a story.

 

It is a story about a homecoming.

 

A wise woman of Tekoa tricks the king of Israel into bringing his son home from his flight.

 

Absalom had murdered his brother who had raped his sister. None of it is a pretty story.

 

David is conflicted between what he assumes to be the polar opposites of love and justice...

 

or love for one...

or the other.

 

It is a story of humanity, flawed and raw.

It is the story of people working it out, not always honorable.

Yet, there is a spark of openness, a yearning for truth,

... a glimmer of love.

It is very, very human.

It is very real.

We have experienced much of this.

And we ask, "How is this in the Bible?"

How is this the Word of God?"

 

The real question is , "Where do we find God in the midst?"

 

God is always in the midst, then and now ....

present in every flawed human interaction,

present in every space where ugliness prevails.

 

And God is ever present in the now,

in our own ugliness,

in the middle of our manipulative, decisive, and deceptive ways.

 

Ours is to seek and ask ...

"What is God saying?"

 

In the midst?

 

And it is not always simple.

It is sometimes a wrestling match where we get

exhausted,

wounded,

marked for life ...

 

... and that is a good thing ...

 

It shapes us."

 

Because the Word comes to do more than inform us or tell us an interesting story.

 

And...

 

It always involves a homecoming.

 

 

2 Samuel 14:1-20 (NRSV)

Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's mind was on Absalom. Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman.

 

He said to her, "Pretend to be a mourner; put on mourning garments, do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. Go to the king and speak to him as follows."

 

And Joab put the words into her mouth. When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, "Help, O king!"

 

The king asked her, "What is your trouble?"

 

She answered, "Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. Your servant had two sons, and they fought with one another in the field; there was no one to part them, and one struck the other and killed him. Now the whole family has risen against your servant. They say, 'Give up the man who struck his brother, so that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he murdered, even if we destroy the heir as well.'"

 

"Thus they would quench my one remaining ember, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth."

 

Then the king said to the woman, "Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you."

 

The woman of Tekoa said to the king, "On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless."

 

The king said, "If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again."

 

Then she said, "Please, may the king keep the LORD your God in mind, so that the avenger of blood may kill no more, and my son not be destroyed."

 

He said, "As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground."

 

Then the woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king."

 

He said, "Speak." The woman said, "Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again. We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up."

 

"But God will not take away a life; he will devise plans so as not to keep an outcast banished forever from his presence. Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid; your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. For the king will hear, and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would cut both me and my son off from the heritage of God.'"

 

"Your servant thought, 'The word of my lord the king will set me at rest' for my lord the king is like the angel of God, discerning good and evil. The LORD your God be with you!"

 

Then the king answered the woman, "Do not withhold from me anything I ask you."

 

The woman said, "Let my lord the king speak."

 

The king said, "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?"

 

The woman answered and said, "As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn right or left from anything that my lord the king has said. For it was your servant Joab who commanded me; it was he who put all these words into the mouth of your servant. In order to change the course of affairs your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth."

 

Crucial Questions

Before we can get the right answers, we need to ask the right questions.

Moral decisions are often made with knee-jerk reactions, through emotional filters, or with limited information. Sometimes, they conform to a predominant narrative we have always believed, but never fully or critically examined.

Yet, the decisions are  crucial and that makes the questions crucial.

The Apostle Paul gives us some guidance in his letter to the Corinthians.

“'I have the right to do anything,' you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others ... So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." - I Corinthians 10:23-24, 31-33 (NIV)

It is laid out for us with three questions which are self-administered and asked in the light of scripture and the Spirit's scrutiny.

Is it beneficial? I I about to make a decision that will be of benefit or will it be harmful? Is this choice God’s best or just a concession to the moment? Will it help anything or anyone? Is this a the best choice for the moment? Is it beneficial?

Is it constructive? What are the positive results of this choice for the Kingdom? Does it build or destroy? Does it encourage or discourage? Does it lift or tear down? Does it lead on to more good choices or down a path of destruction? Is it constructive?

Is it good for others? How will my choice affect and effect other people? Will it better their lives or make their lives harder? Will it lift their spirits or cause them to feel defeated, berated, or marginalized? Is it good for others?

Then, there is finally, an over-riding issue that encompasses and informs all three questions. It is about God's will, God's purpose, and God's glory.

One Absolute Principle: So, whether you eat or drink, or what ever you do, do it for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble...

 

 

 

 

The Indefinable Something

Portrait of Speaker Reed by John Singer Sargent, Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"An indefinable something is to be done, in a way nobody knows how , at a time nobody knows when, that will accomplish nobody knows what." - Thomas B. Reed, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 1889 to 1891 and 1895 to 1899

Known for his sharp-tongued wit and distaste for business as usual, Reed wanted to make the work of legislating more efficient and effective.

Time and distance have made most of the issues he addressed moot. That usually happens with the issues that fire us up. They fall through attrition.

I love the observation, however. We can use it as a template that transcends time and ideology.

Governments and most institutions are well skilled at spending a much time and effort to accomplish little.

That could  change, but Reed was never able to pull it off.

Perhaps, if Reed could have been clearer and more definitive.

Perhaps that might have been called leadership.

Yet, both of those statements are misleading.

Reed's words were descriptive, not prescriptive. The fact is, he was a man of clarity. He was sometimes successful, and sometimes not, but he was always a leader.

Reed was the son of Congregational minister, Rev. Samuel H. Merrill. He was born in Portland, Maine and died in Washington D.C.. He was a Republican who had defeated William McKinley for Speaker of the House.

With friends like Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Adams, John Hay and Mark Twain, he stood out as a man of acerbic wit.

Once his name was floated as a candidate for President. His response was that they could do worse and probably would.

In fact, Reed sought the Republican nomination for President in 1896, but the convention nominated Ohio Governor William McKinley.

Mark Twain said of him, "He was transparently honest and honorable, there was no furtiveness about him, and whoever came to know him trusted him and was not disappointed. He was wise, he was shrewd and alert, he was a clear and capable thinker, a logical reasoner, and a strong and convincing speaker."

It is said of Reed that he exercised greater influence than any prior or future Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was sometimes called, "Czar Reed."

He instituted "Reed Rules." This solidified the Speaker's power by limiting the ability of the minority party to prevent a quorum. He used Parliamentary procedure effectively to keep things moving, especially legislation that his party advocated. "Reed's Rules: A Manual of General Parliamentary Law" became a standard textbook for some legislatures.

He helped pass the Lodge Bill to protect African American voting rights but it failed in the Senate. It was not the first time that he was a champion of civil rights in the South.

The legacy did not end with him. His daughter, Katherine Reed Balentine, started a monthly magazine in San Francisco called The Yellow Ribbon, which promoted women's suffrage.

We have been and will be confronted with "an indefinable something ... to be done, in a way nobody knows how , at a time nobody knows when, that will accomplish nobody knows what."

It will be up to some of us to step up and offer leadership that defines the indefinable, that offers a way, that suggests a deadline and timetable, and that paint a clear vision of what things will look like when the task is accomplished.

We need leaders like Speaker Reed who can do that.

 

 

"An indefinable something is to be done, in a way nobody knows how , at a time nobody knows when, that will accomplish nobody knows what." - Thomas B. Reed, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 1889 to 1891 and 1895 to 1899

Known for his sharp-tongued wit and distaste for business as usual, Reed wanted to make the work of legislating more efficient and effective.

Time and distance have made most of the issues he addressed moot. That usually happens with the issues that fire us up. They fall through attrition.

I love the observation, however. We can use it as a template that transcends time and ideology.

Governments and most institutions are well skilled at spending a much time and effort to accomplish little.

That could  change, but Reed was never able to pull it off.

Perhaps, if Reed could have been clearer and more definitive.

Perhaps that might have been called leadership.

Yet, both of those statements are misleading.

Reed's words were descriptive, not prescriptive. The fact is, he was a man of clarity. He was sometimes successful, and sometimes not, but he was always a leader.

Reed was the son of Congregational minister, Rev. Samuel H. Merrill. He was born in Portland, Maine and died in Washington D.C.. He was a Republican who had defeated William McKinley for Speaker of the House.

With friends like Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Adams, John Hay and Mark Twain, he stood out as a man of acerbic wit.

Once his name was floated as a candidate for President. His response was that they could do worse and probably would.

In fact, Reed sought the Republican nomination for President in 1896, but the convention nominated Ohio Governor William McKinley.

Mark Twain said of him, "He was transparently honest and honorable, there was no furtiveness about him, and whoever came to know him trusted him and was not disappointed. He was wise, he was shrewd and alert, he was a clear and capable thinker, a logical reasoner, and a strong and convincing speaker."

It is said of Reed that he exercised greater influence than any prior or future Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was sometimes called, "Czar Reed."

He instituted "Reed Rules." This solidified the Speaker's power by limiting the ability of the minority party to prevent a quorum. He used Parliamentary procedure effectively to keep things moving, especially legislation that his party advocated. "Reed's Rules: A Manual of General Parliamentary Law" became a standard textbook for some legislatures.

He helped pass the Lodge Bill to protect African American voting rights but it failed in the Senate. It was not the first time that he was a champion of civil rights in the South.

The legacy did not end with him. His daughter, Katherine Reed Balentine, started a monthly magazine in San Francisco called The Yellow Ribbon, which promoted women's suffrage.

We have been and will be confronted with "an indefinable something ... to be done, in a way nobody knows how , at a time nobody knows when, that will accomplish nobody knows what."

It will be up to some of us to step up and offer leadership that defines the indefinable, that offers a way, that suggests a deadline and timetable, and that paint a clear vision of what things will look like when the task is accomplished.

We need leaders like Speaker Reed who can do that.

 

 

Grace and Precision in a Computer Lab

 

Pete Birkinshaw from Manchester, UK - Used Punchcard

The date was some time in 1975.

The place was the Virginia Tech computer lab.

It was three in the morning and the small room was crowded with undergraduate and graduate students all the way to the PhD level.

A stack of punched cards 9 inches high or higher was in my hand, each with one statement of code. After waiting in line for my turn, I inserted them into the feeder for the giant computer. Within a few minutes the printer sends out pages and pages and pages of repeated text:

---- error --- error --- error ----

It would not even read my name.

Somewhere, along the line, early on, I had made a syntax mistake or some other kind of error.

One error cause a cascade of misinformation and a compounding error. The main frame computer just could not get past it.

The computer was unforgiving ... and even into the days of DOS and, to some extent, even today, requiring precise language

Thank goodness Google has become intuitive and often knows what I mean.

Truth and precision seem to matter in the mathematical realm.

It sure makes me appreciate grace.

There was no grace built into Fortran or Cobol.

However, it exits in abundance in the fabric of God's spiritual universe. 

At the same time, God loves and embodies truth and has also built in a passion for precision which the psalmist celebrated.

Whether art, science, ethics, morality, doctrine, or scholarship ... or driving a car, details and diligent attention to the fine print can make a very big difference.

It can deepen our worship or make all the difference in our success or failure.

The scripture commends it to our attention.

" You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently." - Psalm 119:4 (ESV)

It is not the devil who is in the details, but God. It is in the fine-tuning of God's perfection that we discover beauty and wonder along with God's best for our own lives.

A very good sermon on the topic:

 

Some interesting history on punch cards:

If You Can Believe

Statue of a monk and stone soup (sopa da pedra) in Almeirim, Portugal. - Adriao

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." -Mark 9:23

In ministry, we are in the business of helping people believe—first in God, then in the possibilities of God working in and through them to accomplish His purposes.

Belief is the most powerful attitude in the universe. It is absolutely essential for realizing God’s promises and our own potential under God.

It is the great missing component of people’s lives who are defeated, discouraged, and frustrated by the details of life. Belief precedes reality because it is rooted in faith:

“the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 1:1).

Faith is substantive.

Therefore we can build it on a shoestring. We don’t need any resources other than substantive belief to build belief. As we share our faith, we lend our confidence and hope to people who are operating on a deficit.

The wonderful story of Stone Soup illustrates the power of positive belief when it is shared and multiplied in the lives of people and in communities.

To recognize more fully the power of belief, observe the consequences of unbelief. Take note of the despair, hopelessness, and cynicism prevalent among those who have chosen the path of the skeptic. Observe the parade of dejected masses who travel along the highways of routine existence fearful of change and suspicious of any radical call to absolute discipleship.

Do you believe in God enough to believe in His potential for the people among whom He has called you to serve?

If so, start communicating that faith and instilling it in others. Then, step back and see what He can and will accomplish through you.

 

 

Keep on Believing

 

 

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

Either work is easy or belief is hard work ...

 Then said they unto him, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God" Jesus answered and said unto them, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." - John 6:28-29

Again, I say: Either work is easy or belief is hard work.

I am going to presume that both are true.

Belief-work is what produces lasting satisfaction in our lives. This is the preface to Jesus' teachings on the bread of life. Because people are hungering for more, Jesus is addressing that hunger and providing Himself as the source of "food that endures to eternal life."

So far, they have labored with frustration and only temporary satisfaction. There is a need in every human to produce something of lasting value.

Futility is the fruit of meaningless work. Jesus offers more.

Belief is not a passive thing. The word for "believe here is πιστεύητε (pisteuēte), "to keep on believing." I have always been intrigued that the root of the word is used for our modern word, "pistol."

Pistols launch projectiles into open space and belief launches our lives and efforts to a place beyond ourselves.

The work of God is to believe. Once we accept that, we can begin to learn what it means to believe. We can be taught by God what the implications of living faith really are. We can begin to be shaped by our beliefs as they take shape within in us.

As a starting point, as well as an ending point, Jesus gives us focus, to believe in Him whom the Father has sent.

I think this speaks better than I can write: 

 

 Then said they unto him, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God" Jesus answered and said unto them, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." - John 6:28-29

Again, I say: Either work is easy or belief is hard work.

I am going to presume that both are true.

Belief-work is what produces lasting satisfaction in our lives. This is the preface to Jesus' teachings on the bread of life. Because people are hungering for more, Jesus is addressing that hunger and providing Himself as the source of "food that endures to eternal life."

So far, they have labored with frustration and only temporary satisfaction. There is a need in every human to produce something of lasting value.

Futility is the fruit of meaningless work. Jesus offers more.

Belief is not a passive thing. The word for "believe here is πιστεύητε (pisteuēte), "to keep on believing." I have always been intrigued that the root of the word is used for our modern word, "pistol."

Pistols launch projectiles into open space and belief launches our lives and efforts to a place beyond ourselves.

The work of God is to believe. Once we accept that, we can begin to learn what it means to believe. We can be taught by God what the implications of living faith really are. We can begin to be shaped by our beliefs as they take shape within in us.

As a starting point, as well as an ending point, Jesus gives us focus, to believe in Him whom the Father has sent.

I think this speaks better than I can write: 

 

Still Hungry

Photo by Christiann Koepke on Unsplash

"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?

 

Further Meditation

What Motivates Me?

I am not asking you this question because you cannot answer it.

I am suggesting you ask it of yourself.

I am working on it.

When I find the answer, I can cooperate with God in shaping my life by "setting myself up," to produce the motivators that produce the behaviors that produce real success.

I am confident that the full depth of understanding of the answer is just beyond my reach even if it is within me. I need the help of the One who knows me, fashioned me, and is intimately involved with guiding my life toward His own purposes. It is He who defines the success I seek.

And it is He who knows what will motivate me to move in that direction.

It behooves me to prayerfully meditate, diligently seek, and fervently pursue.

 

 

I am not asking you this question because you cannot answer it.

I am suggesting you ask it of yourself.

I am working on it.

When I find the answer, I can cooperate with God in shaping my life by "setting myself up," to produce the motivators that produce the behaviors that produce real success.

I am confident that the full depth of understanding of the answer is just beyond my reach even if it is within me. I need the help of the One who knows me, fashioned me, and is intimately involved with guiding my life toward His own purposes. It is He who defines the success I seek.

And it is He who knows what will motivate me to move in that direction.

It behooves me to prayerfully meditate, diligently seek, and fervently pursue.

 

 

And More on Speaking Truth in Love

Photo by Andrea Tummons on Unsplash

Christian caring requires that I care without an agenda.

It moves me to do what I do out of the overflow of who I am in Christ.

If I behave as I do because of my relationship with Jesus and out of real love, I can be honest about that without being "preachy."

Then others can trust me not to be manipulative, coercive, or judgmental - Just real and bearing witness with all my imperfections.

Let Your Words Reflect the Kindness and Gentleness of Christ.

 

 

 

Do You Have a Brilliant Comeback? Delete It ... Maybe.

 

Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash

Sometimes I write things that seem very clever, insightful, and truthful

... to me...

... and then ...

I delete them before I post them ...

... because they could hurt someone at a level that would be or seem to be unkind ...

... whether I intend it that way or not ...

and then, sometimes, I miss.

Recently, I caught two and deleted them.

The secret?

I stepped back and read them as a third party.

Try it.

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." - Ephesians 4:32

It counts online too.
Real people are here reading and responding!

 

 

Grace on Tiptoe

Photo by Patricia Palma on Unsplash

 

The world is lonesome, quiet place.

Grace makes its entrance,

Softly,

On tip-toe.

Oh, to know its heart and soul.

A goal, a light, an arrow in the sky.

Why should I  resist

Or flee?

Insist on proof, aloof, and cold?

The old, the young, unsung and poor

A door to truth, a way to find.

Kind words are not enough,

The stuff of delusion, confusion, and appearance.

A clearance sale, a give-away.

Grey to bright, sight to insight.

Flight above the clouds and stars.

Jars of life,

Boxes of love,

Packages of joy.

 

 

In the Time When Kings Go Out to Battle

Artemisia Gentileschi [Public domain]

 

"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." -II 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.

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 ...

"Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."- Psalm 85:10 (ESV)

If we have made the wrong choices in the wrong places. we can find forgiveness and a new beginning so that the next time, things will be different.

 

 

 

 

 

Is there any to whom I can show kindness today?

Illustration from the Morgan Bible of Mephibosheth kneeling before David.

 

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” - II Samuel 9:1

The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” - v3

So, with a question, repeated the second time with the variation, "God's kindness," David found Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan. He was lame in both feet. David brought him to Jerusalem and, when brought before the kind, he was uncertain and most likely, afraid.

He bowed and told paid homage only to hear these words:

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

So, this son of, David's friend who was also the grandson of his enemy, King Saul, became like a son today. He and his household enjoyed the kindness of God and the kindness of the king.

And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet. v.13

It raises a question for each of us:

Is there any to whom I can show kindness today?

Do I have a Mephibosheth in my world?

What i we made that a mission for today and tomorrow?

 

 

 

"My hat's in the ring ... stripped to the buff."

Teddy Roosevelt is quoted in 1912 as saying, "My hat's in the ring. The fight is on and I'm stripped to the buff."

It strikes the eyes a bit crude and un-presidential, but the blunt truth is a pretty fair template for our undertakings whether they are in business, ministry, or social entrepreneurship.

Throw your hat in the ring. Make and announce your commitment and do it in such a way as there can be no backing down. If you decide to do something, tell some people who will ask you about your follow-through. Secret goals are too easy to lay aside when things get tough. Assemble your group of encouragers and keep them posted.

Get in the fight. To know that the fight is on is an invitation to engage. Don't wait for a second invitation. Do something today in movement toward your goal. Make a call. Write a note. Explore an idea. Take tangible actions. Make sure at least one of those actions involves interaction with human beings. Then, at the end of the day, pause and report to your encouragers.

Strip to the buff. Do keep your clothes on, but strip off all the other encumbrances. You know what they are. They are excesses, unnecessary expectations and activities, unreasonable expectations, old messages playing in your brain, defeatist attitudes, excuses, and a million other articles of luggage that will hinder you. Prepare to travel light and let your team know what you are shedding.

So, what are you waiting for ... a second invitation? 

Get in the arena!

 

 

Teddy Roosevelt is quoted in 1912 as saying, "My hat's in the ring. The fight is on and I'm stripped to the buff."

It strikes the eyes a bit crude and un-presidential, but the blunt truth is a pretty fair template for our undertakings whether they are in business, ministry, or social entrepreneurship.

Throw your hat in the ring. Make and announce your commitment and do it in such a way as there can be no backing down. If you decide to do something, tell some people who will ask you about your follow-through. Secret goals are too easy to lay aside when things get tough. Assemble your group of encouragers and keep them posted.

Get in the fight. To know that the fight is on is an invitation to engage. Don't wait for a second invitation. Do something today in movement toward your goal. Make a call. Write a note. Explore an idea. Take tangible actions. Make sure at least one of those actions involves interaction with human beings. Then, at the end of the day, pause and report to your encouragers.

Strip to the buff. Do keep your clothes on, but strip off all the other encumbrances. You know what they are. They are excesses, unnecessary expectations and activities, unreasonable expectations, old messages playing in your brain, defeatist attitudes, excuses, and a million other articles of luggage that will hinder you. Prepare to travel light and let your team know what you are shedding.

So, what are you waiting for ... a second invitation? 

Get in the arena!

 

 

Doing What Can't Be Done

Photo by Persnickety Prints on Unsplash

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot

It is such an enduring truth and ever inspiring plot of great drama - the triumph of the underdog against all odds. Some soul, armed only with a great idea and audacious belief, makes a commitment and follows through. Ridicule is spurned. Obstacles are overcome.

Criticism is ignored.

Hardships are endured.

The price is paid daily.

The goal is pursued.

"Fred Smith wrote a term paper based on an idea for reliable overnight delivery. His professor gave him a C because the idea wasn't feasible. Years later, many potential investors agreed with the professor, refusing to send capital Smith's way. The funds he did raise in 1971 and '72 were gone by '74, along with his investors. One catchy slogan and several million dollars of hard-won capital later, Federal Express was on its way to profitability and long-term success. Read more here."

The key for people of faith is one simple concept:

"What is impossible with men is possible with God."
- Luke 18:27

You can choose what to do with the volumes of well meaning advice you will receive when you set out on a great venture. It will be your choice and not the words of discouragement that will contribute most you your success of failure.

There are no guarantees but one.

That guarantee is this: If you never attempt it, you will never accomplish it.

 

It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
    But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
    Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
    On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
    At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
    And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
    Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
    There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
    The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
    Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
    That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

- Edgar Albert Guest

 

 

Photo by Persnickety Prints on Unsplash

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot

It is such an enduring truth and ever inspiring plot of great drama - the triumph of the underdog against all odds. Some soul, armed only with a great idea and audacious belief, makes a commitment and follows through. Ridicule is spurned. Obstacles are overcome.

Criticism is ignored.

Hardships are endured.

The price is paid daily.

The goal is pursued.

"Fred Smith wrote a term paper based on an idea for reliable overnight delivery. His professor gave him a C because the idea wasn't feasible. Years later, many potential investors agreed with the professor, refusing to send capital Smith's way. The funds he did raise in 1971 and '72 were gone by '74, along with his investors. One catchy slogan and several million dollars of hard-won capital later, Federal Express was on its way to profitability and long-term success. Read more here."

The key for people of faith is one simple concept:

"What is impossible with men is possible with God."
- Luke 18:27

You can choose what to do with the volumes of well meaning advice you will receive when you set out on a great venture. It will be your choice and not the words of discouragement that will contribute most you your success of failure.

There are no guarantees but one.

That guarantee is this: If you never attempt it, you will never accomplish it.

 

It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
    But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
    Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
    On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
    At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
    And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
    Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
    There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
    The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
    Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
    That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

- Edgar Albert Guest

 

 

Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart

" 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." - Psalm 69:22 

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?

 

 

 

Don't Be Stupid; Ask Stupid Questions

Some years ago, pastor, researcher, and author, Ed Stetzer dedicated a day on his blog and social media feeds to answer "stupid questions,"

STUPID Questions

After you ever asked or been asked a stupid question?

That posting prompted me to think about stupid questions. What constitutes them. How does the asking of them often nullify their stupidity?

There is an old adage that the only stupid question is the one we do not ask. That is true sometimes, but there really are stupid questions that are asked.

"Stupid" has this etymology:

"Middle French - stupide, from Latin stupidus, from stupēre to be numb, be astonished"

The relationship between exercising stupidity and being in a stupor is profound.

... a condition of greatly dulled or completely suspended sense or sensibility <a drunken stupor> 2 : a state of extreme apathy or torpor resulting often from stress or shock

Therefore, a stupid question is one that is numb, disengaged, apathetic, or drunken.

To break it down with an acronym, a stupid question has these characteristics:

S - Surface - It is exemplified by the student who, after a moving lecture of the meaning of life, raises his hand and, as the professor prepares of an insightful and probing question asks, "Is this going to be on the final?" 

T - Trivial - With the opportunity to probe some pretty profound principles of perpetual truth, we focus on insignificant details. Another professor, Dr. Charles Tyer,once lectured us from a classroom overlooking a bucolic mountain view. He asked us if we were focused on the view or on the fly specks on the window. Trivial questions miss the view for the fly specks.

U - Unconsidered - Any question worth asking someone else is worth asking oneself first. The ask if (a) you could not find the answer within yourself, (b) you want a second opinion, or (c) you sense that there are any number of answers and approaches to the question and you wish to enter into dialogue over it. Once you have wrestled a while with a question, it is no longer stupid.

P - Perfunctory - A perfunctory question is one you are using to accomplish something other than the quest for truth. It is an obligatory question like the one at the blood donation center when they ask if you have had marital relations with a non-human primate in the last 12 months. It is the question where you state your name for the record. It is merely functional and automatic. Anyone can ask it given a script.

I - Inflammatory - An inflammatory question is asked when you know that the answer is going to embarrass,indict, inflame, or discredit the person giving the answer. In online forums,people who asked such questions used to be called "flamers." They were just trying to start fires. There was no value placed on the quest for truth.

D - Disengaged - This is the essence of stupidity in every area of life. As Forest Gump's mother said, "Stupid is as stupid does." That is why Gump was never stupid in spite of his lower than average intelligence quotient. In spite of the challenges he faced, when he set out to do something, he fully engaged in the process. When he asked a question, he really wanted to know the answer. He looked beneath the surface of things. He thought about life and the big questions. Gump was, as his drill sergeant said, "brilliant," because he was fully engaged.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. No question that digs beneath the surface a bit, ignores the fly specks, is given some thought, comes from your own heart and mind, seeks real answers, and is fully engaged can ever be a stupid question.

ASK!

 

 

After you ever asked or been asked a stupid question?

That posting prompted me to think about stupid questions. What constitutes them. How does the asking of them often nullify their stupidity?

There is an old adage that the only stupid question is the one we do not ask. That is true sometimes, but there really are stupid questions that are asked.

"Stupid" has this etymology:

"Middle French - stupide, from Latin stupidus, from stupēre to be numb, be astonished"

The relationship between exercising stupidity and being in a stupor is profound.

... a condition of greatly dulled or completely suspended sense or sensibility <a drunken stupor> 2 : a state of extreme apathy or torpor resulting often from stress or shock

Therefore, a stupid question is one that is numb, disengaged, apathetic, or drunken.

To break it down with an acronym, a stupid question has these characteristics:

S - Surface - It is exemplified by the student who, after a moving lecture of the meaning of life, raises his hand and, as the professor prepares of an insightful and probing question asks, "Is this going to be on the final?" 

T - Trivial - With the opportunity to probe some pretty profound principles of perpetual truth, we focus on insignificant details. Another professor, Dr. Charles Tyer,once lectured us from a classroom overlooking a bucolic mountain view. He asked us if we were focused on the view or on the fly specks on the window. Trivial questions miss the view for the fly specks.

U - Unconsidered - Any question worth asking someone else is worth asking oneself first. The ask if (a) you could not find the answer within yourself, (b) you want a second opinion, or (c) you sense that there are any number of answers and approaches to the question and you wish to enter into dialogue over it. Once you have wrestled a while with a question, it is no longer stupid.

P - Perfunctory - A perfunctory question is one you are using to accomplish something other than the quest for truth. It is an obligatory question like the one at the blood donation center when they ask if you have had marital relations with a non-human primate in the last 12 months. It is the question where you state your name for the record. It is merely functional and automatic. Anyone can ask it given a script.

I - Inflammatory - An inflammatory question is asked when you know that the answer is going to embarrass,indict, inflame, or discredit the person giving the answer. In online forums,people who asked such questions used to be called "flamers." They were just trying to start fires. There was no value placed on the quest for truth.

D - Disengaged - This is the essence of stupidity in every area of life. As Forest Gump's mother said, "Stupid is as stupid does." That is why Gump was never stupid in spite of his lower than average intelligence quotient. In spite of the challenges he faced, when he set out to do something, he fully engaged in the process. When he asked a question, he really wanted to know the answer. He looked beneath the surface of things. He thought about life and the big questions. Gump was, as his drill sergeant said, "brilliant," because he was fully engaged.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. No question that digs beneath the surface a bit, ignores the fly specks, is given some thought, comes from your own heart and mind, seeks real answers, and is fully engaged can ever be a stupid question.

ASK!

 

 

Water Walking

Water Walking in the Wee Hours of the Morning

In the Fourth Watch of the Night - That is when it happened, perhaps at about 3:00 A.M.. It is that unique time when the extreme night owls are thinking of retiring and the extreme early birds are rising.

It is also at that time when "graveyard shift" workers are starting to yawn and requiring a second wind to make it through.

At such a time, a second wind came for the disciples in the boat Jesus sent on ahead of Him while He prayed. it was a big wind, the kid that beats and batters and threatens to beach even the most seasoned mariner.

In the hours leading up to this cataclysmic event, Jesus had been praying alone and the disciples had been trying to cross the body of water as the storm got worse and worse.

We really don't know exactly when the storm came, but when Jesus looked in on the disciples, they had only moved about three and a half miles and they were straining at their oars, desperately trying to survive. Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6 give essentially the same accounts, but Matthew records more of the dialog.

They see Him and He looks ghostly. At least they suspect He is a ghost - even more so when He starts moving toward them walking on the water.

Question: What beats your boat?

What winds are against you? What has got you nearly swamped? What forces are so overwhelming that you are making little or no progress? What are you rowing against that is defeating you?

To you, in your present situation, Jesus speaks three words and then a fourth and finally a fifth. First, "take courage; it is I; do not be afraid."

1. Take courage.  The  original Greek meaning was to lift or carry and came to mean endure, dare, suffer, and be bold.  Thus, it is to have courage, to bear up under the great burdens, hardships, threats, and challenges that we face in spite of our fears and apprehensions and the odds against us. When we take courage, we refuse to throw in the towel and quit. We keep rowing when we think we are going nowhere.

2. It is I. Mark said that even after Jesus crawled into the boat with them, they were amazed, lacking in understanding, and hard of heart. Yet, knowing it was Him ought to have and did give them some comfort. It should strengthen out hearts and encourage our souls to know that in the midst of the storm it is Jesus walking toward us, above the storm and above the waves.

3.. Be not afraid. He will calm our fears so that we will not be crippled or driven by them. We have many choices available to us. It is those we make based on terror or fright that will usually be shortsighted and poor.

It is at that point that Peter had a streak of boldness and made an audacious request. He asked Jesus to call Him out of the boat and into the water. "If it is you, bid me come to you on the water."

I admire the fact that Peter is unwilling to leave the boat if it is not Jesus and if Jesus does not call. That is wise.

Mark does not record this and Peter had Mark's ear. Matthew "tells on him."

Jesus utters the fourth word.

4. Come. It is a gracious word. It is inviting, affirming, and challenging. It is still the word He speaks to us in crisis. He is always, in the storm or in the calm, calling us to Himself to meet Him and to experience Him in a new way. We could hope for no better outcome.

Yet, Peter loses focus and then faith and falters. Ray Steadman said, "If your faith fizzles before the finish it was faulty from the first." Peter had what we used to call in Virginia "a ways to go." In his defense, he was the only guy willing to get out of the boat.

Peter cried out for Jesus to save Him and Jesus effortlessly reached for him and lifted him up. This gave occasion to His third word for the stormy moment.

5. You of little faith. Why did you doubt? I have heard this and said this before. Why did you stop? You were doing so well. You were almost there. You could have made it. 

We get so close and then we stop in panic, retreat in horror, or slink away in a loss o confidence. The storms are real, but just a moment before, we were rising above them. We have lost our focus, our short term memory, and our faith. We have "a ways to go."

But none of that stops Jesus. He comes to our boat, we invite Him in, He climbs in, and eventually (or sometimes immediately) the winds subside. It is then that we declare again, "Truly You are the Son of God."

In 1925, Gertrude Ederle sought to swim the English Channel . "She had less than seven miles to go when her trainer, Jabez Wolffe, who thought she was too tired to keep going, pulled her from the water."

Some have said that it was because she could not see the shore that she grew weary.

The next year, she would not be deterred. She captured a vision of the prize in her mind and kept going. She became the first woman to swim the channel. More people have climbed Everest than have accomplished this.

For us, it is the vision of one who walks on the water in the fourth watch of the night who becomes the focus of our faith. We may not be able to walk on water, but we can certainly ride out our storms in the boat with confidence and courage as we  take Him on board.

In the Fourth Watch of the Night - That is when it happened, perhaps at about 3:00 A.M.. It is that unique time when the extreme night owls are thinking of retiring and the extreme early birds are rising.

It is also at that time when "graveyard shift" workers are starting to yawn and requiring a second wind to make it through.

At such a time, a second wind came for the disciples in the boat Jesus sent on ahead of Him while He prayed. it was a big wind, the kid that beats and batters and threatens to beach even the most seasoned mariner.

In the hours leading up to this cataclysmic event, Jesus had been praying alone and the disciples had been trying to cross the body of water as the storm got worse and worse.

We really don't know exactly when the storm came, but when Jesus looked in on the disciples, they had only moved about three and a half miles and they were straining at their oars, desperately trying to survive. Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6 give essentially the same accounts, but Matthew records more of the dialog.

They see Him and He looks ghostly. At least they suspect He is a ghost - even more so when He starts moving toward them walking on the water.

Question: What beats your boat?

What winds are against you? What has got you nearly swamped? What forces are so overwhelming that you are making little or no progress? What are you rowing against that is defeating you?

To you, in your present situation, Jesus speaks three words and then a fourth and finally a fifth. First, "take courage; it is I; do not be afraid."

1. Take courage.  The  original Greek meaning was to lift or carry and came to mean endure, dare, suffer, and be bold.  Thus, it is to have courage, to bear up under the great burdens, hardships, threats, and challenges that we face in spite of our fears and apprehensions and the odds against us. When we take courage, we refuse to throw in the towel and quit. We keep rowing when we think we are going nowhere.

2. It is I. Mark said that even after Jesus crawled into the boat with them, they were amazed, lacking in understanding, and hard of heart. Yet, knowing it was Him ought to have and did give them some comfort. It should strengthen out hearts and encourage our souls to know that in the midst of the storm it is Jesus walking toward us, above the storm and above the waves.

3.. Be not afraid. He will calm our fears so that we will not be crippled or driven by them. We have many choices available to us. It is those we make based on terror or fright that will usually be shortsighted and poor.

It is at that point that Peter had a streak of boldness and made an audacious request. He asked Jesus to call Him out of the boat and into the water. "If it is you, bid me come to you on the water."

I admire the fact that Peter is unwilling to leave the boat if it is not Jesus and if Jesus does not call. That is wise.

Mark does not record this and Peter had Mark's ear. Matthew "tells on him."

Jesus utters the fourth word.

4. Come. It is a gracious word. It is inviting, affirming, and challenging. It is still the word He speaks to us in crisis. He is always, in the storm or in the calm, calling us to Himself to meet Him and to experience Him in a new way. We could hope for no better outcome.

Yet, Peter loses focus and then faith and falters. Ray Steadman said, "If your faith fizzles before the finish it was faulty from the first." Peter had what we used to call in Virginia "a ways to go." In his defense, he was the only guy willing to get out of the boat.

Peter cried out for Jesus to save Him and Jesus effortlessly reached for him and lifted him up. This gave occasion to His third word for the stormy moment.

5. You of little faith. Why did you doubt? I have heard this and said this before. Why did you stop? You were doing so well. You were almost there. You could have made it. 

We get so close and then we stop in panic, retreat in horror, or slink away in a loss o confidence. The storms are real, but just a moment before, we were rising above them. We have lost our focus, our short term memory, and our faith. We have "a ways to go."

But none of that stops Jesus. He comes to our boat, we invite Him in, He climbs in, and eventually (or sometimes immediately) the winds subside. It is then that we declare again, "Truly You are the Son of God."

In 1925, Gertrude Ederle sought to swim the English Channel . "She had less than seven miles to go when her trainer, Jabez Wolffe, who thought she was too tired to keep going, pulled her from the water."

Some have said that it was because she could not see the shore that she grew weary.

The next year, she would not be deterred. She captured a vision of the prize in her mind and kept going. She became the first woman to swim the channel. More people have climbed Everest than have accomplished this.

For us, it is the vision of one who walks on the water in the fourth watch of the night who becomes the focus of our faith. We may not be able to walk on water, but we can certainly ride out our storms in the boat with confidence and courage as we  take Him on board.

Rebellion and Redemption - There Is Hope

" The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord." - Judges 3:12

It is easy to point the finger at these ancient tribes and say, "Look how evil they were."

Don't single out the Israelite family based on this scripture and history. It is our story too.

They are simply a prototype of all of us.

Is there hope for an America that seems to have lost it's heart of compassion and instinct for justice and has done so periodically through its history?

Is there hope for those of us who trade moments of security and prosperity for a lifetime of truth and love?

Is there hope for us when we raise and salute the banner of commercialism and greed, erect idols of self-satisfaction, and irreverently turn our backs on the simple way of Jesus?

And then, we dishonor the One who is One  and calls us to ultimate loyalty and worship.

There is hope.

We are given this record so that we can relate and so that we can track the mercy of God to take a people of purpose and keep forgiving. restoring, and recommissioning consistently, persistently, and repeatedly through time.

This is the story of the relentless love of God. We know this because it was one of many such times and through the centuries, God never rejected the people.

Judgment is not the flip side of this. It is included in it - not as a paradox, but as an exclamation mark because, throughout the Hebrew scriptures, God's judgment of His people was designed to lead to repentance and renewal of the covenant.

Sometimes the path to redemption is rocky and hard.

Sometimes, it involves retracing the steps of our rebellion and heartless oppression of others.

But it is never a trek that we make alone, even when it seems so.

And it is never about erasing or eradicating our own guilt or redeeming ourselves.

It is a journey of grace and reconciling love.

What is evil in God's sight is what draws us away from God and God's love for us.

Sometimes, God will strengthen the hands of our enemies to draw us back into that relationship for it is only in the relationship that we can thrive.

For that reason, we ought to shun sin and embrace the discipline of a God who passionately and sacrificially draws us into a relationship that is on His terms, knowing that His terms ooze with love, grace, and mercy ... even when it hurts. 

 

From The Mission, a story of redemption and forgiveness.

"Jesuit priest Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) enters the Guarani lands in South America with the purpose of converting the natives to Christianity. He soon builds a mission, where he is joined by Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro), a reformed slave trader seeking redemption."