They Were Afraid

10/31/15

Mark 5.15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. – St. Peter

Recently on the telly, a man proclaimed that, if we’re not careful, America is headed to become one of the darkest and most evil nations in history. At the rate things are going I believe that statement. It certainly is uncomfortable to think about, but it also certainly show signs of becoming true. I’ve also heard it said: the further a society drifts from the truth, the easier it is to hate those who stand for it… Hmmm. Mark 5: Scene 1: Jesus, a demon-possessed man, and a herd of pigs.

Everyone in the area of the Gerasenes knew the demon possessed man. Everyone stayed way clear of him. He made the guy in the Texas Chainsaw Murders look like a purring kitten. The Gerasenes were also known as the Gadarenes: perhaps the descendants of the tribe of Gad. What’s most unusual was they were herders of pigs – an unclean animal in those days. But like most things that are forbidden, pigs held great appeal; bacon was still bacon back then.

So, here we have Jesus, this demon-guy, and a herd of pigs (about 2000 in number). And Jesus heals the guy – drives the demons right out of him…into the pigs (which promptly stampede into the lake). Well, the pig herders are astonished and they run off and blab to the locals what Jesus just did! Wow! You shoulda seen it! And they all come running, and sho’ nuff, there’s demon-guy in his right mind, with clothes on, talking with Jesus; and there’s 2000 dead pigs floating in the lake. That musta been some sight. And they clamored to Jesus: leave.

An interesting phenom in life is a thing called Group-Think. Group-Think is a loosely held cultural thought that seems to drive groups of people to live a certain way and/or think a certain way. The Geras (or the Gada’s, however you want to think of them) seemed to like things just the way they were: as long as no one bugged them about pork they were happy; as long as the demon-guy stayed away, they’d deal with it. Their group-think let them do that. Somebody was eating that pork, and everyone was okay with the demon-guy living at a distance.

Then Jesus shows up and rocks their world. Demon-guy is now sane-guy, and the pigs, well, there’d need to be some breeding and time to replace a herd of 2000; pork prices were sure to go up. And when they all see Jesus, they react: Hey man! Wa’s wrong whichu!? Go bother someone else! The further a society drifts from the truth… America, the Beautiful?

Today is the day to stand up and face the hatred. Our friends and neighbors are drifting. It might be uncomfortable to do so, but there is a whole nation of people around us who are drifting from the truth and getting farther and farther away. Society is devolving to:

They say to God, ‘Depart from us!

    We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

    And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ – Job 21.14-15

Father, even in our gatherings we don’t want the boat rocked because we’re afraid of what it is going to do to us. We seem to like living in fear rather than living in the truth. Help us. Save us. Heal the sick. Save the lost. That’s my prayer, and I ask that You even do so, perhaps in spite of ourselves… Amen.

The S Word

10/28/15

Mark 2.27-28 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” – Jesus

Everybody needs a day off, a day to rest and refocus. Everybody needs a change of pace and something else to think about; if only for a while. God didn’t create machines, He created people. And the Creator knows how people work and what their needs are. Some people act like machines – they never shut down; I’ve worked for machines. Others look for every excuse to take a break. But all of us need time away.

A Sabbath is a rest period that is two-fold: we’re to sabbath from the everyday grind; the monotonous humdrum of the ordinary, the expected, the usual. And, we're to think about God. In a free society, freedom is cherished. Free time, is a premium. But it is a necessary premium; a Sabbath is a time to look away to other things. God’s original Sabbath was a time to quit thinking about all that needed to be done and thank Him for all that has been done. God expects His people to put aside the temporal for a while and focus instead on the eternal.

By the time Jesus was on the earth, the Sabbath, to God’s people, was a ruled and regulated obligation: you had to do this; you couldn’t do that. Somebody decided rather than willingly taking time out of the week to think about God, it had to be regulated up the kazoo and now it was just another day of work wrapped up in different paper. I served on a church staff for a while and we called it: pre-planned spontaneity. Oh, the tangled webs we weave.

Nowadays, most people take Sunday as a second Saturday. The weekends are cherished as two full days of fun. Often we work harder on the weekends than we do in the work-week. But God still desires that we take a Sabbath – a rest period from the grind of everyday. Fun days can be work!

Our society’s problem is we don’t know how to effectively shut down. We truly are a 24/7 society and God is a very small part of it if He’s any part of it at all. “We work our jobs, Collect our pay; Believe we're gliding down the highway When in fact we're slip slidin' away.”

God designed the Sabbath for a reason, and the reason is to refresh and refocus before we reenter the fray. You ask most people how things are going and their patent response is: busy! What would we think if they said, Wow! I am refreshed and refocused! I’m reenergized and reignited! We’d think they were on something, or lazy. Or crazy.

God gives us permission to Sabbath. But in that permission God also desires we give Him some credit for life, and we can’t do that very effectively if we continually concentrate on making life the object of our affections. The Sabbath is for our benefit and it is magnified infinitely when God is the focus in our moments of time off. God doesn’t care what I do on the Sabbath – the free version; He just asks that I let Him be part of it, and asks that I think of Him in the midst of it. Hmmm. What a concept.

Part of my daily Sabbath is this: reading, thinking, and writing about what God means to me. Your Sabbath may be different; you may paint, or sculpt or sing, or dance; but whatever it is, does it free your mind for a while and help you to recharge, regain, refresh, and refocus on what is really important in life? I hope so. I hope part of your Sabbath is renewing relationships, recreation, and allowing yourself to relax and rethink about the important things of life before the commitments, obligations, and demands of life start up again. The Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around…

Bolt

10/26/15

James 1:4 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – St. James

Make no mistake about it, perseverance is invasive; it’s the only way to get the job done. As a westerner, waiting is not high on my preference list. The other day I was on my way to another town and like usual, I was in a hurry; exceeding the speed-limit, although not recommended, was necessary – I only had an hour to get there. So, I stopped in a “fast-food” place and spent 20 minutes waiting. Yikes! Now I really had to move it…

The ESV, in its medallioned, cardiganed, and pipe-smoking fatherly, sagacious way, translates the word for perseverance in James 1.4: steadfastness. We might say, hold your ground. In order to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, we must hold our ground. To lose ground is to rush ahead impetuously or simply quit altogether; I know, I have ample experience in both. Waiting on God is called waiting for a reason. We’re to wait until He says, go.

I’ve watched in fascination as trained retriever hounds have been instructed to wait; and then watched in utter amazement, when after what seemed to be an uncomfortably long time(for them) filled with other distractions, they bolt to the object to be retrieved without missing a beat. Get it! And off they go!

As Americans, we’ve been accustomed for a long time to get what we’re after within a reasonable length of time. It seems, these days, that reasonable has grown longer and more unreasonable. Fewer cashiers, longer lines, less inventory – you get the picture… Everybody seems to be after the same thing: I want what I want when I want it; and I want it NOW! (like a hungry, cabby toddler…)

God doesn’t operate that way. God wants us to be trained to wait for Him to give us the go-ahead. It’s in His time, not ours. Not waiting has consequences. Not waiting is giving up what is best and most rewarding in place of the gratification of the instant. Not waiting for the Father is unbecoming for His children. True.

So with all of its maddening discomforts, mental, physical, and otherwise, it’s best to wait and let steadfastness have its full effect because the end result is perfection, completion, and lack of nothing. Sounds good to me.

Father, like teenagers, we seem to want to believe we know more than we do, and know what’s best for us; may it not be! Help me to embrace the thorniness and discomfort of waiting and like the retriever, bolt for what has been withheld only when given the command to bolt. For His sake, may I hold my ground. Thank You for Your steadfastness with me – may I reflect Your image and character by doing the same. Amen

A Proper View

10/25/2015

Job 16.7 Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company. – Job

One day, calamity struck Job. All of what he held precious was taken from him and he became very ill in the process. Job was utterly befuddled by the things that happened to him and he became very frustrated because he couldn’t figure it out. And like many, because he couldn’t figure it out, he blamed God; that’s all he knew to do. He came to the place in his mind where God had become his Enemy.

As fearfully and wonderfully as we are made, we still have great limitations. We know just enough, most of the time, to make ourselves dangerous. Job was not unlike us. He thought he had life all figured out, and he actually lived a righteous life. He took care of the poor, he was blessed with abundance, and he humbly came before God. So, when disaster struck, he could only come to the conclusion that somehow he’d been unfairly treated. Sounds familiar…

That happens to us – we hit a difficult stretch and the next thing we know, we’re walking around thinking we’re being punished for something we didn’t do; our attitude is: I was framed! I’m innocent! I think we lose sight of who we are and who God is. Difficulties will either tend to draw us closer to God or drive us further away. And the longer the difficulties last, the more confused we get. We’ll ask, God! What did I do!? What is the reason for my being treated this way!? It’s hard to take it when He answers: Nothing, My child. Trust Me, I love you!

Difficulties, trials, and testing do wear us out. We don’t like it and we think – or are tempted to think: somehow, I’ve lost the favor of God. I think in those difficult moments or seasons, we tend to forget who God is, and whose we are. We like sun-shiny days and calm waters. So, when storm clouds gather and the wind picks up, we forget who God is, and Whose we are. God’s love for us never changes and never diminishes, even at our worst. He is faithful to complete the work He’s begun in us (Philippians 1.6)

Tough times are divinely designed and dispensed to help me to grow. I’d like to think I can do it all on my own, but I need to be stretched, I need to be tested; I need to deal with difficult things that are beyond my ability to control. I need to see my faith at work. My life cannot be successfully growing if there are no days in which I have to struggle against the wind. Tough times are there to help me see how I really view God.

I must be careful in all of life to keep things in perspective: I must maintain a proper view of myself and my view of God. Job really struggled in his view of both – I’m sure I do the same. And perhaps in his defense, as Job said, I don’t deserve this, maybe there was some truth to it. But deserve it or not, God loved him and used the calamity around him to grow Job to a greater understanding of who he was and Whose he was – God never does a thing without our growth in mind.

Today, I’m to remain humble and remember that no matter what, God loves and cares for me and He is able to complete that which He’s begun in me for His greatness and glory that together, we may spend eternity as trusted friends.

Father, what must be done, must be done. You are completely in control and I submit to You. Complete Your work in me for Jesus’ sake. May I have the proper view of You, and of me in the midst of all You do… amen.

The Ownership of God

10/22/15

Acts 16.14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. – St. Luke the physician

The more I read the Scripture, the Writings, the Living Word, the more I find the most interesting jewels laying amid the vast landscape of truth presented there. Today was one of those days.

It’s written here in Acts 19 that Lydia was a business woman from Thyatira, an ancient city in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey); and a worshiper of God. Lydia worshipped God but apparently she hadn’t received the full story, and so God opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. Hmmm… A worshiper of God without the whole story…sounds like a lot of people I know.

Only surmising here, but I think Lydia had made up her mind that there was a God and she wasn’t Him. I think her life journey led her to a point where she’d heard much about God and so, in her own way, tried her best to reach out to Him. I don’t think her thoughts about God were necessarily faulty; I think more so, they were just incomplete. She apparently didn’t have the whole picture.

And God knew that, and God saw that, and one day God opened her heart to pay attention to Paul the apostle and the truth came rushing in like a flood. She saw God in a new way. Her heart was thrilled. In fact she was so thrilled to receive the whole story, that she urged herself upon Paul and his companions: “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. (Luke 15) And as they say, there wudn’t no gettin’ away from Lydia.

Lydia wasn’t obnoxious, she was just overjoyed that someone took the time to talk with her and connect all the dots. Her mind was cleared and the truth shone through. And St. Luke said it was all God’s doing; God opened her heart to pay attention. Do we know people like Lydia? Do they ask a lot of questions in the small group and do they struggle to figure it all out? You bet we do; they’re all over the place.

People have thoughts about God. They have dreams and desires and heartaches and trouble and while they know there is a God (and He ain’t them) they just don’t have a complete picture of Him. (Not that any of us really do, but there are certainly some who may be ‘more connected’ than others.)

What I really think happened to Lydia was the light came on and the things about God that didn’t seem to make sense all of a sudden did. She may have thought her life was just right the way it was, but the nagging inconsistencies of life plagued her mind. And Paul showed up, and so did God.

I think this is a beautiful story of the Ownership of God. I think we forget He owns us all: red, yellow, black and white – we are all precious in His sight. God owned Lydia and made sure she could know a more complete and better way to know Him – after all, ain’t that what it’s all about…?

Father, may we always remember that there are Lydia’s among us who are craving to know more about You. Use us to help them see more clearly and to be a part of what You are doing in this world which You own – lock, stock, and barrel…

Prayer Changes Everything

10/20/15

Acts 12.5,11 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” – St. Luke, the physician

A pastor friend of mine stopped by the office today and we drank some coffee. We talked about various and sundry and he said that he was seriously considering ending his weekly prayer email because he thought there is just too much to pray about, and he wasn’t all that sure it was being effective. I told him it was something I really appreciated it, and perhaps, he could just change up the format but not forsake the encouragement to pray. Prayer changes everything.

In Acts 12 we read where King Herod (the Edomite) went on a tantrum and killed some of the believers in Jerusalem, including James, the brother of John. When Herod saw that it pleased the Jews immensely, he proceeded to arrest Simon Peter with the intent of killing him as well. God had other plans, and the local church united in prayer for Simon’s safety and return to their company.

You have to go and read the account in Acts 12 – it is fascinating. God answered the prayers of the saints, Peter was, in fact, delivered; and Herod some time later died because he was such a butt-head. It’s true. He really was a butt-head.

The Jews hated Peter, just as they had hated Jesus. The Jews hated James, just as they hated Jesus. And Herod was trying to win political favor with the Jews (who didn’t think to highly of him because of his non-Jewish heritage). Oh what a tangled web we weave… The other thing we must remember when reading the New Testament is that the term, the Jews, is not an overly glowing term. The very people with whom God chose to have such a special relationship, were the very ones who categorically and emphatically rejected Him. OMG! What a story of confused and broken people that brought upon themselves such hatred from their enemies all because they rejected their God for their god.

But we today run the risk of doing the same thing; if we’re not careful we may be lulled into believing the Real Thing is just something of our own making. Prayer helps put a stop to such slippage. The Church now, as the Church then must pray. We don’t have Herod’s running around these days, but there is no shortage of arrogant unbelievers who durst would do harm to God’s people; and we must pray for two reasons: 

1. We must pray for the advancement of God’s Kingdom – and
2. We must pray for the salvation of the lost…no shortage there either.

Peter’s church prayed and God did His work. What if our churches prayed? What would we see God do on our behalf despite the efforts of the Herod-like who pick on God’s people as if they are parasites to society?

Lord, help my friend to keep writing and posting, and encouraging us, Your Church, to keep praying – prayer changes everything… Amen

The Journey

10/19/2015

Acts 10.17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?”- St. Peter

I work with kids in a youth-ish ministry on Wednesday nights at my Church; it’s my third year. It’s interesting to me (and rewarding) to see the changes in their personalities and commitment level from year to year. What is also the reward to me is to see maturity take hold of them as they age and grow. I get to be a part of their lives for an hour and a half on Wednesdays and with some of them, we have built a friendship.

There is one young man in particular that I may have struggled with early on. He’s the kind of kid who loves attention, is very bright, and isn’t too intimidated by an old control freak like me. He is the child of a patched together family and he has a big personality. But he is also now in tenth grade and it is mildly unusual for kids to remain in this ministry past eighth grade; for most of them it becomes less cool than it did when they were in sixth grade.

This morning I thought about him as I read St. Peter’s words: “who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” Everybody is on a journey in this life. We’re all going somewhere. That’s how life is: a journey.

One’s journey may be static; one’s may be fluid. One’s may be to be raised in a traditional family setting; another’s may be to be raised by step parents, or just a single parent. One may be recognized as handsome or pretty; another may be like the rest of us, sort of nondescript. One may have talents and abilities; another may have to learn it the hard way and struggle. Everybody is on a journey of some kind, and like Peter I ask, who am I to stand in God’s way?

Each week for the last three years I have seen my young friend grow and mature and become, I assume, more of the man that God has created him to be. What’s funny is God is doing the same thing in my heart as well. My journey is fluid.

My prayer for my young friend is that he remain steadfast and that he remain faithful. He is the next generation’s leader. I won’t be around when he steps up to take the lead. But God will be, and God, I believe, has His hand on an energetic young man who seems eager to achieve and believe. I’m glad I get to spend some time with him each week and be a part of God’s process in him…

Lord, this morning I pray for all of my young friends and ask that You strengthen and empower me to participate in their lives with the attitude that St. Peter had: who am I that I can stand in Your way as You mold and shape these kids into the leaders of tomorrow. My prayer for them is that You have Your way with them and let the world be awed in the work You do in them, for them, and through them. Amen.

Least Likely

10/18/15

Acts 9. 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. – Saint Luke, the physician

God can make a saint out of anybody; we need to remember that. It may not look like it would ever happen, but it can, and it does. The least likely can, and does, become a disciple of Christ. All it takes is an encounter with the Living God. Saul of Tarsus is a prime example of what the power of God can do.

I’m not sure why religion does what it does. Religion can make one more religious but it can also make one more rebellious. One thing religion can’t do is make one righteous; only God can do that.

In my reading this morning I read a verse in Job 2 which reads: ‘Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?’ Many with a religious point of view would say, No, man cannot be right or pure before God; it’s hopeless. That is why the religious have to work so hard, they’re trying to win God’s favor.

That was the motivation for Saul of Tarsus – he was working very hard to score points with God by persecuting those who didn’t agree with what he believed God believed. The religious can’t stand non-conformists. But God chose Saul, one of the most unlikely to become His servant. God brought Saul (later renamed Paul) out of religion and into relationship with Himself. Many thought God had made a mistake. And they were very suspicious of Saul and his new-found religion.

It seems God loves to shock us into a new dimension. I’m sure those folks in Jerusalem, those days, were shocked that their enemy Saul, had become one of them. Do you suppose God maybe does that to encourage His people that only He can make something out of seemingly nothing? And the answer to the question in Job: Yes, a mortal can be right and pure before God; he just can’t do it in his own strength, power, cleverness, and ability – he can only be right and pure before God in Jesus Christ.

Religion demands one to be right. Relationship demands one to be humble. Saul learned humility by suffering as God’s chosen servant and was called righteous. What about us?

I’ve heard it said when we get to Heaven, we’ll be shocked by those we see there we didn’t expect to see. There’ll also be those who will be shocked when they see us walk in the front door to the party… Relationship with God changed everything; and relationship with God will grinds off the old and reveals the new.

Lord, thank You for choosing me; one who also was for many years voted least likely to succeed at much of anything. You called me from religion and brought me into relationship and it grows every day. May I pray for the least likely, and may I be shocked one day when I meet them in Heaven; I’ll know that You always did Your best work with the least likely. Amen

Our Human Calling

10/17/2015

Job 2.3 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”

The Book of Job, is truly a mysterious book with a mixture of interaction with the Divine, the demonic, and the daily humdrum of humanity. Job was described by God as one who was blameless, upright, who feared (respected) God and turned away from evil. What does God say about you and me? God said good things about Job; Satan accused it was all a façade, and God propped Job up so he could be that way. The Accuser of the Brethren blames God for everything… as do his sons.

Job was minding his own business and things got dicey without his having anything to do with it; God knew what He was doing. God always knows what He is doing. Who says that He doesn’t?

Job was accused by Satan, his wife, and ultimately his friends, of clinging to his misplaced integrity. Satan said he only had it because God had blessed him. (I find that blessings more often than not, in the lives of those without integrity, tend to pull them away from God rather than bring them closer to Him.) To whom much is given, much is required. 

Job’s wife, I suspect, in her grief at their loss was concerned more with the loss, than integrity; she was looking for someone to blame. And Job’s friends came to the conclusion that Job had somehow enormously sinned, and he was being scourged by God for his transgressions. Most of us fit into one or more of those categories.

But God knew (knows) what He is/was doing. He cannot be God if He doesn’t. And God let Job be Job in the midst of all this; and He taught Job about Himself, and himself. Job’s sufferings were not pointless.

Suffering, like blessing, can do one of two things: it can bring one closer to God or drive one farther from Him. Everything in this life is meant/designed to bring us closer to God – that’s why God is God and we are we. God has given us everything for our enrichment and to enhance our relationship with Him. We tend to seek the blessings and avoid the oft horrors of human experience, but it is all to help us come closer to God and to cling in dependency, worship, and praise to Him. Our human calling is way beyond trinkets.

Our Human Calling is this: Have you considered My servant __________________ (insert your name here) that there is none like him/her on the earth, a blameless and upright one, who fears God and turns away from evil? God has mighty plans for us to make a difference in the human condition and to silence the heavenly host which thinks God only lamely props up mankind with toys, pleasures, and treasures to somehow get them to love Him more. Are you and I up for the calling of those mighty plans? What would Satan say to God about us?

Father in Heaven, You know what You are doing and it is way beyond toys, trinkets, and treats. My prayer is that I recognize Your plans and will for my life and in the power of the Holy Spirit rise to the occasions of everyday life to make a difference in the human condition for the better and listen as You silence Your enemies that I am a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil. That is Your calling on me. Amen

A Healer

10/14/2015

Acts 3.16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. – St. Peter

I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but I know here in the west, particularly in the US, we’ve built really complex lives based on lifestyles that aren’t all that sustainable. I see that many are goaded by advertising which drives them toward a façade of a perfect life. In the end what suffers is, we sacrifice life for what we want, not what we need.

In the land of plenty we have want. In the land of opportunity we have lack. Our problem is we believe that we can have it all. But we fall miserably short in our quest, and spend much of our effort trying to attain to something which isn’t real. Our lives are so full that we have no room for God.

A beggar, centuries ago, sat outside the Temple of God in Jerusalem because he was lame and could not walk. He probably dreamed of a better life and spent all of his time and energy trying to get there. Saints Peter and John walked past him one day and, apparently sought out the man’s attention – he begged but didn’t even really look at those from whom he wanted gifts; he banked on compassion.

The man had a system all worked out based on his understanding of human compassion: he knew people would feel sorry for him and give him money to help him meet his daily needs which he could not meet on his own. He never dreamed he’d encounter Peter and John. And they offered him something he never conceived of, and he accepted what they offered: perfect health.

I’m not sure what happened to him in the days following his healing. I’m not sure if he understood the impact of what he’d received. All I know is for a while in this cold, dark world, something changed in him and he only had God to thank for it all.

What would it take, in our lives today, to un-complicate them from the crippled-ness with which we live? We may actually be physically crippled. Or we may just be fooled into thinking all which is offered to us by our culture, is really true, and our lives can really be better if… Can we believe for a moment that the lame beggar in Acts 3 was healed of his condition both physically and spiritually? Advertising is not the problem, the human heart is; someone is banking on what our hearts are, and what we’ll give in return.

The lame beggar received perfect health, did his heart change as well? First century people were probably different than twenty-first century people in some ways, but the human heart is always just about the same…it needs a Healer. People are smart, clever, and resourceful; always banking on something. Begging at the Temple was a means to an end. The heart needs to be changed and regardless, of then or now, we have always need for a Healer.

Lord, like the saints of old, I pray to be sensitive to the hearts of people and their needs. May I always offer what I can, but may I also always offer what they need: a Healer. That Healer is You. Amen.

Living in Today

10/08/15

Luke 21.14-15 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. – Jesus

I had a conversation with myself the other day – sometimes I am the only one to talk to…ever experience that? So I’m thinking about my life and I think about this: I live today, but I have my eye on tomorrow. Tomorrow isn’t here yet, but the track record stands, thus far, that it will come. No guarantees, but a pretty good chance that tomorrow will become today – tomorrow.

Well, Paul there are no tomorrow’s. Fair enough. One day there will be not even a concept of tomorrow. But even Jesus spoke of tomorrow:

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.” (Luke 21.10-13, 16-19 ESV)

Jesus knew something. I live today, but I think about tomorrow.

And then I said to myself: self, you have to live for today but you have to factor in tomorrow. At the end of all things there will only (as now) be today. Okay, Turk, enough with the plays on words: out with it!

Alright. When Jesus foretold the future, it was then, and it is now. Their future led us to our today. Our future will take us to tomorrow but the fact remains the same: the hostility of humanity against the people of God remains fixed – yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

BUT... We’re not to fall into the trap of fixating on tomorrow until we get finished with today. And when the time comes to make a stand for our defense tomorrow, we trust Jesus to give us the right words to say in our defense at the right time. No sense in wasting time worrying about trying to figure it out now, Jesus will guide and provide when tomorrow comes…

How I live today affects my tomorrow. How I live today means a lot on that inevitable day whether in hostile or passive persecution as to my defense. But don’t waste time worrying – just live faithfully for Jesus today.

Lord Jesus, that’s my prayer: to let what will be, be and live for today with my eye towards eternity…Amen

Game of Tones

10/07/15

Luke 20.8 And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." – Luke, the doctor

Luke 20 encapsulates the confrontations Jesus had with His opponents. First, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and challenged His authority: Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority[!]

Then, the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So then they sent imposters to ask Him tricky questions hoping to trip Him up: “Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”

Then, there came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection to try to beat Him in a game of words over the resurrection of the dead. They asked: In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

Jesus was not intimidated by their questions or reasoning but He did say, in essence, you ask Me these questions not because you don’t know but because you don’t believe, therefore, I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things. In other words: because you won’t know, you don’t know.

Those who question Christianity typically won’t know; their mind is made up that it is a farce and therefore, there is no reasoning with them. Their questioning isn’t sincere because they are convinced already that the tenets of Christian faith are faulty from the get-go.

Hostility toward God in this age is ever-present in our world. I think when Adam and Eve fell, their sorrow for their sin may have been momentarily sincere, but their anger toward God grew. Cain is evidence of that. At the risk of repeating myself from a previous blog, what God asks of us is to repent of unbelief. And it takes a miracle of God to do that.

There is a place in life for angry questioning of God. But there is never a place for arrogant questioning of God. Big difference. Anger may be based in misunderstanding and can lead to arrogance, but arrogance is arrogance and God has no use for those who would try to outwit Him – just look at Adam’s childish and petty answers to God’s questions in Genesis 3. Adam (and all who follow): repent of unbelief.

I believe. I am more convinced day by day that God is my Friend and He cares about me. Yes, there are often times when things don’t go my way and I fuss about that, but I’m learning not to blame God; rather, I thank Him that the things that are out of my control, are out of my control for a reason. I leave the results up to Him. And I cannot, in a game of words, outwit the One who knows all, sees all, and rightly, does all.

There once was a time I demanded answers. But I had to get to that place of needing to know as opposed to demanding to know. When God questions our belief and we answer, we don’t know, we shouldn’t be surprised when He answers back: since you won’t know, I can’t tell you either…

A Son of Abraham

10/6/2015

Luke 19.9-10 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Dr. Luke

There is a lot of religious turmoil in the world today on account of Abraham. The Muslims venerate him and so do Christians. And on both sides the issue boils down to ancestry and familial ties. Many on both sides would claim to be the sons of Abraham.

I have always read this story of Zacchaeus as Jesus referring to him as a Jew – a son of Abraham. But that doesn’t square with what the Lord thought of Abraham: ancestry meant little to Jesus; faithfulness meant everything. Zacchaeus was commended by Jesus for his faith, not his ancestry; and Abraham is the father of the faithful. I too, am a son of Abraham, as it every other person whose belief is credited to him as righteousness.

Claiming righteousness is one thing; being righteous is another. We are righteous because we believe in God and believe God. That doesn’t mean dressing a particular way, or refusing to eat particular foods. It doesn’t mean clinging to a particular teaching, or praying in a certain manner at a certain time. It means belief in God and believing in what He has said. A child who loves his father tries to do what his father says. Righteousness is that simple.

Ancestry has little to do with one’s relationship with God. Anyone can be a child of God by living in relationship with God and believing that God is God. It doesn’t matter where you are born or who your kin are; it doesn’t matter who your great, great, great, great grandparents were. It only applies to those who, like Zacchaeus, see God for Who He is, and repent. Repent of criminal acts? Yes, but more so: repenting of living according to one’s self, and one’s worldview; it’s repenting of disbelief in God.

Zacchaeus was called a son of Abraham that day because of his faith in God. That faith led him to change his way of living and to make restitution to those he’d defrauded because that’s what the righteous son of Abraham would do in the presence of God: make things right (or attempt to do so…).

My faith is not a merit badge, nor is it a weapon. My faith calls me to treat others as I wish to be treated. My faith calls me to love God and love people. My faith is what makes me a son of Abraham. Abraham is the father of all who believe God and find that belief is credited them as righteousness…

Father God, as Abraham sought to know You and to please You, he did because he believed You. As Your child may my faith grow. May my faith help me to overcome the things that cause me to rely on me, rather than You. Lord, faith is all about You. Help me to live that way – not self-righteously, but doing what is right in order to honor You, and underscore my belief in You. Amen.

Grateful in Grace

10/04/15

Luke 17.10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty. – Jesus

I can see how it happens: somebody says something that gets passed along to someone else and slightly changed; and then someone else hears it and it gets changed again, and before you know it, what is now said is nothing like what was said originally. Like that game we play where we line up and a word or phrase is given to the first person and whispered into the ear of the next and the next, and at the end of the line it is completely different. Jesus said, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”

Somehow that got changed to: “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” In God’s Kingdom we are neither unworthy nor sinners. If we are, then what is the point? Yes, we were sinners; but we now are children. And I’m not sure in the greater scheme of things that we were ever unworthy – God didn’t do all He’s done for the unworthy, but for the worthy – that’s how much He thinks of us. (See Psalm 8.4 and Hebrews 2.6)

When Jesus said that we are to claim that we are unworthy servants, He was directing us to do what we are supposed to do as children of the Most High, but not claiming the glory, the praise, the accolades, the prestige – we are certainly unworthy in the sense of serving Him who is worthy. Humility goes a long way with God. Doing what is expected is commendable but it is only doing what is expected. Going beyond expectations is what is expected in the Kingdom. But doing the expected or going beyond the expected is only done in order to point to Him to whom all glory belongs.

Jesus’ audience was Jewish. There were certainly outsiders who heard Him who marveled at what He said, but Jesus spoke primarily to Jews. The Jews back then had come to believe that their favored status was something of a merit-badge; they deserved what they had, and who they were. That was the problem – none of us deserve anything, but God’s grace is extended to us all: what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? All I know is it has something to do with God.

I serve the King because He is King. I enjoy the King because He is King. I do what I do for the King not to garner points with Him, but because He has given me all the points I’ll ever need in His singular sacrifice for me. He did for me what I could never do for myself and for that I am eternally grateful. Unworthy? Nope. Deserving? Nope. Grateful? Yep.

Father God, help me to maintain the right attitude toward who I am in this world and who I am in Your Kingdom. In this world I want to do what is expected and go beyond that for the sake of others; but I will do what I do for Your glory and not my own. I am not worthy of glory as a servant but I receive grace as a child – thank You for that! Amen.

Great Grace

10/3/2015

Luke 16.10-11 10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?” – Jesus

In my vocation, I work with other people’s money. I am held responsible for how it is handled and how it’s reported. If I make mistakes there are strict consequences. The shrewd manager in Luke 16 made some mistakes with his master’s money and the manager lost his job, but not before he greased a few palms and secured his future. His master commended him for his trickery, but he didn’t hire him back.

When we look back through recent history we find that there are almost endless cases of monetary shenanigans in our world. Not only is the love of money the root of all evil, but the desire for money and what it brings, is a powerful power, and has led to the ruin of many. To possess great wealth one must have great faithfulness, erstwhile it's not how much money one has but how much money has one. Money appeals to a very dangerous part of our lives.

Jesus said if we’re faithful with little, we can be faithful with much. His point, methinks, is that to honor wealth properly if one’s wealth is small, helps to honor wealth properly if one’s wealth is great. I think Jesus is speaking to our attitude toward money and our relationship with it.

In this world we relate to everything in our lives – money is just one of the many things to which we relate. A relationship with money is knowing how to treat it and knowing how it treats us. Though money isn’t a living thing, it still has an influence in our day to day living. Do we possess money or does it possess us? In our relationship with money who is in control, us, or it? What would happen in our living if we kept money in its proper place? I think this is what Jesus was getting at.

I marvel that in this great world there are things called wealth and economy. I am amazed that God in all His wisdom has allowed us to live in a world where there is the exchange of currency. I am amazed that we have valuation; that we have this understanding of wealth and its transfer. But I am not amazed that in the midst of all this transaction that God has called us to be wise in our relationship with it, and to it.

One of the strangest verses in all of Scripture is Ecclesiastes 10:19:

A feast is made for laughter,
    wine makes life merry,
    and money is the answer for everything. (NIV)

Hmmm, what would our world look like if we treated money with respect, and each other with love?

Faithfulness goes a long way with God. Humility goes even farther. And I think there is a great grace available to all who struggle in their relationship with money – rich and poor, and indebted. My prayer today is simply this:

Lord, as I work with people to be wise with their money, may I partake of Your great grace to be wise with my own. May I be found faithful with little or much, and may my relationship with money be a relationship that honors You. Amen