Salt Mill

More on prayer

2008-01-11T16:10:00.001-06:00

I wrote this in response to a post about prayer: one filled with praise and thankfulness due to an unanticipated blessing. But I thought it ran a little long and was a little rambunctious for a comment, so I offer it, instead, as a post on the Salt Mill.

Dear sister in Christ:

Thanks again for highlighting the promise and importance of prayer. When we are under the direct attack of Satan, and we know things are beyond our ability to control, we cry out in desperation and God hears.

But, as you point out, he is just as faithful to listen to our prayers every single moment of our lives! He hears our prayers better than we can pray them. How else do we explain the Scripture that tells us the Holy Spirit intercedes with utterings and groanings that we can't understand?

God knows us so intimately that he can keep track of the hairs on our head when we have no hope of even counting them once, much less keep track of how many fall or how many start anew each day. So it's no wonder that he can dwell in the (prayers of) praise of his people! We speak praise and God surrounds himself with it. But even more than that: God motivates it in us both through creation and through ministering to us and thereby permits us to join the intimacy that is the Trinity.

I have such great hope for our commitment to prayer because God exceeds my hopes. He is more than I could think to hope for. And when I pray: I can count on Him to one day account to me on exactly what he did with that prayer. I'm convinced he writes it down--would that journal of his thoughts and actions be the mother of all blogs??--and he will review it with us on that day.

I love the picture in Daniel where Daniel is told his prayer was answered as soon as he prayed it, but that it took time for the answer to be delivered. It means that prayer results in a love answer that is just as sweet as a lover's letter...and when it arrives it fills our consciousness and crowds everything else out...but we must wait patiently for it, never knowing when it will arrive, but assured that it will!

Satan...the despiser...fills that time with doubt, frustration, and accusation. Why does Satan do that? He desires the love we have for our Beloved! How else would an unsuitable suitor draw our attention from his better (and his Master)? And if he can't have that love, he at least wants to sour it...turning it into something that is worthless.

We must pray and hold on. We never need to vainly repeat a prayer, but instead we can fill in the time with reminders of God's love for his people: repeating verses and Psalms that demonstrate his character and renew our hope. We must not let go. But hold on!

And as we do that and as he faithfully ministers to our heart--turning it from granite back into living flesh. Over years and years, the passion of our first love binds us to the Bridegroom and we become acquainted as old lovers with each other and trust each other and long to be with each other like the white-haired man and his wife whispering in each others' ears while sitting on the park bench in front of the band playing in the gazebo.

I think that's the picture that should be in our mind as we consider and act on Paul's admonition to pray without ceasing: lovers that can't stand to be parted, to be silent, to stop speaking with love and affection for each other. As I said before, he knows us so well that he hears our prayers better than we pray them.

Vision and religion

2008-01-05T23:13:00.000-06:00

You've probably heard it said "When there is no vision, the people perish." It's a King James translation of a phrase that is more literally transliterated "in/when there is none vision he (is not) bridled the people (om)." If we continue the translation of the verse we call Proverbs 29:18, the couplet completes "and he keeping 'Torah' (is) happy him".

The waw (and) between the pieces of the couplet is not really a conjunction as much as a storytelling connector. It isn't uncommon to see a string of MANY thoughts connected together with waws. And many of the Proverbs are constructed as couplet comparisons with one half illustrating the other. To understand the Bible, it really helps at times to go back to the original language so we can throw out mistranslations we've run into. This verse is one of those.

So what's the complete thought? Well...having and following the Law is being compared to being unbridled. For the modern reader (or even the postmodern one), the comparison to being an undomesticated pack animal probably doesn't appeal. But this reading doesn't really deal with the Hebrew word chazon.

Generally, Hebrew nouns are based on root words that are verbs. The root for this one is chazah and Brown, Driver, & Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament claims it typically has poetic usage relatively akin to our behold. So it is something more than simple sight.

Another, related word is the male singular chozeh for seer. From that you get a clearer concept that the vision is supernatural in origin.

What's interesting about this? Well...while we can't strictly draw a parallel between the two portions of the couplet, there is a hint that Torah is divine revelation or at the very least is understanding on the same level as a "seer's" vision...i.e. supernatural or divine.

Why is this important? We can't actually construct a vision for God's people. It must come from God. I can't even discuss the word "vision" without thinking of Rob Zinn's leadership of Immanuel Baptist in San Bernardino (now Highland) California. As a very young pastor he proclaimed that God was leading him to grow Immanuel from the size it was when my dad arrived as associate pastor (circa 1978) to a membership of 5,000. Given the story of the feeding of the five thousand, given a church with about 500 active members, and given church growth theory that favored new starts and new congregations (i.e. "missions"), Rob was taking Immanuel in a decidedly distinct direction.

Now there were already "mega" churches like North Phoenix in the SBC in the late 70s and early 80s. So it doesn't seem as startling to someone east of California. But California can still be fairly characterized as a pioneer missions area because of the low demographics of evangelical Christians in the state.

But what struck me about the situation was that not only was Rob being very specific about what God was leading him to lead Immanuel to do, but he supported it with passage after passage where God dealt in specific details and numbers. Rob wasn't afraid to state these specifics because he trusted that the same God that led him to reveal them to the congregation would fulfill the vision that he was laying before this (then young) pastor.

I can't say this for sure, but I think it made Dad shiver when Rob did that. Now my opinion of my dad is colored by affection and history. The affection probably puts him on a pedestal he doesn't entirely deserve. And the history is--shall we say--a tempering addition to that viewpoint. As I've grown I've come to know my dad for who he actually is rather than who I thought he was. And along the way he has admitted to faults in each of several periods of our family's life.

So to say I thought Dad "shivered" when Rob would make comments like that isn't to say Dad didn't believe. Dad's quite practical. If Rob said "we're going to have 5,000 members", Dad would break it into time periods and Sunday School classes, and auditoriums, and worship services. Then he would say "we have to do this" to make the vision work. And Rob would lead the church to do exactly that.

I remember the excitement...ok...it was really boredom...of standing out on the slab of the new worship center at 1314 Date Street and...you've got it...watering the concrete so it wouldn't cure too quickly and crack. Let me tell you: a slab of concrete requires vision. It's REALLY HARD to see a building when you have a slab of concrete, even if you're somewhat handy with blueprints.

What's even harder is realizing that the building is just a proxy for the spiritual event that God has planned in advance and is bringing into existence. It's people who are reached who become class members who have never TOUCHED much less opened a Bible in their lives (yes...this really happens in California.) And then you see them become fervent witnesses for the truth that has transformed them. And--after I left--I heard some of them became teachers of the classes that they used to sit in.

I became convinced of the power of specific guidance for people because of that process. And in my career I have--time and time again--helped projects succeed by clarifying the vision of what would be most useful to the customer and creating a plan for getting there.

But as I think about the Southern Baptist Convention of today, I have to admit I'm worried. It isn't that God has left the building...he's still quite visibly involved in things like our mission efforts. While I can get pretty jaded over the bickering that has been the most consistent result of the Conservative Resurgence, I only have to step into the Northwest Baptist Convention office that Dad works in to dispel my frustration. Not only do the work with many denominations to help guide their churches in practical planning and in training the people of those churches, but in the basement there is a real live satellite campus of Golden Gate at work!

In fact, Jeff Iorg was the executive director at that very facility before he was selected as the current president of GGBTS. And after a more recent executive director came and went, former GGBTS president Bill Crews came in as the interim director of that Convention.

All of the guys I've mentioned know West Coast missions and evangelism. They have each lived at the very edge of the world spiritually as they have served on mission in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. I'll argue that most of what I've learned in life about energetic, enthusiastic leadership either came from one of these four men or I WISH it had come from them!

Yes...I ramble when I write...and I'm sure you're wondering where I'm going with this. So here it is:

We don't need a fresh vision for reaching the world for Jesus Christ. The one we have remains alive and vibrant. If you want to be where the bickering stops, generally you need to be where the work is perceived as being vital. If you're in a town where there is more than one Baptist church, maybe it's time to consider going to a town where no one preaches the Good News of Jesus Christ.

If you do that, and if you serve God faithfully, I guarantee you that the only thing that will overwhelm you is how enormous and eternal our opportunity is to participate in God's vision for saving the world.

I pray that the churches who call themselves Southern Baptist will reignite with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that we would recommit ourselves to boldly...no FOOLISHLY...seek to win the world for Jesus Christ. As much as I admire the concepts of the Cooperative Program, of the IMB and NAMB, of the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong Mission Offerings, I worry that all of that is making life too complicated and preventing every single Christian from vibrantly and enthusiastically befriending non-believers, evangelizing, discipling, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Whether we are led to do that in our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, or to the ends of the earth, there is something about being directly involved in teaching people about Jesus that breaks down barriers and overcomes bickering and infighting.

And if there are some that insist on continuing the bickering and infighting when there is work to be done, I offer Jesus's comment to the young man that offered to follow Jesus as soon as he buried his father and mother:

"Let the dead bury the dead."

In response to Boyd Luter

2007-12-04T20:38:00.000-06:00

Dr. Boyd Luter has a series of posts (first thoughts, part I, part II, part III) he has titled Serious Thinking Towards an SBC Reform Agenda. As I read these, I wanted to respond, but those of you who know me are aware that I can be awfully verbose. So I thought I'd offer a more full response here and excerpt it at his blog:

I admire the effort you're going through, Boyd. But I want to offer you a mind blowing suggestion: the more Christians that participate, the more effectively the Spirit can exercise heavenly control over the Convention. The Annual Meeting works in precise counter-purpose to God's preferred method of leadership by limiting the number who can participate and thereby collecting political power into too few hands.

How do I prove that? That's easy: remember when the people of Israel wanted a king? Reading God's response leaves us with the impression that God was almost wounded by the desire of the people. He warns them that insisting on centralized human leadership in the form of a visible ruler--as opposed to the system of distributed leadership during the period of the Judges when he would raise up leaders to solve specific problems--will draw them away from him.

As Les suggested, the proportions attending the Convention need to reflect reality. Just as there should be a healthy representation of pastors and laypeople from small churches to reflect the 83% of the 40,000 SBC churches that have 200 or few members, there also ought to be as many brand-spanking new Christians brought along and taught about the associations, the state conventions, and the national conventions as they are present in the demographics of the church. (Don't worry, with the three-year rule, we avoid prematurely appointing them to leadership roles...and we can count on temperate leadership to carefully balance between the enthusiasm of younger brothers and sisters and the wisdom and experience of our older saints.)

As we add these new people, they will ask the right questions. And their questions will lead us towards God. I fully trust God to use our newest Christians not only to more effectively reach the lost (no one knows more unbelievers than a recent convert), but they also are more likely to direct initiatives aimed at speaking to the world instead of just to believers.

They're more likely to have a heart for helps-oriented work as well. They will have come into the faith believing that nothing is impossible with God. They'll have compassion for those that have been marginalized and they will be fierce to oppose Satan's marginalization of unbelievers through Satan's efforts to censor those unbelievers' lives of lifesaving knowledge.

New believers also bring a healthy dose of skepticism to convoluted theology and doctrine. They tend to reject things that sound wrong. We would seek unity around a simpler theology and doctrine--still filled with the majesty, glory, and riches of heaven--that is less human centric and less prideful. I know in your previous writings that you mentioned encountering precisely this pride as part of your work as a Christian educator. So I suspect you know where I'm coming from on it.

But the main thing that I think needs to happen is this: no thought gets written down without prayer. No proposal gets made without prayer. No person is forwarded without prayer. We need to invite all Southern Baptists to pray for God's involvement in addressing these issues. I even want those that would do everything in their power to stop this initiative to go fervently before the Throne of Heaven in prayer (right now! As you read this!)

I am convinced that God is waiting. Just as God already had the answer when Daniel prayed, but it took time for the answer to arrive, so God also has his answer already prepared for us. He has insights for us. He has passion for us. He has--yes--cleansing for us. He has already decided to send it to those of us who will seek his face and fully commit ourselves to honoring him and to doing things HIS way.

Reform doesn't start over there. Revival doesn't start over there. It starts over here. There is no problem that God doesn't already have a solution for. He heard the cries of his people in Egypt and freed them from slavery. He hears our concerns and he is listening intently. The solution is at hand. It is ready to be sent.

Let's go before his Throne and beseech him for what he already has ready. Let's band together in this. Let's leave no one out. Let's marshal every father, every mother, every daughter, every son. When we fully commit to doing it God's way and remain faithful in that commitment, he will fully commit to us. Until then, he's waiting to see what we will do.

I'm all in favor of looking at the Convention's specifics. But I'd rather the change is a change of heart and not of law. I'd rather it is because God wrote his word upon our hearts and not because we mattered to come up with a more ingenious way to get the political upper hand.

We need leaders that are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and can be counted on to always make the right choices. The only way that any of us can be like that is by divine guidance. So we need to pray these leaders into place. Each of us should choose a handful of people that we know God has used to bless the lives of others and that we know are capable of being led by God in this way. They will not be perfect and they will not have arrived. Many may even stumble before our eyes and our hopes may seem dashed by their human weakness.

But commit to pray for your handful of saintly leaders daily. And stick with it. Never, ever, ever, ever give up. Commit to never missing a day in prayer for them and for Southern Baptists. Toil in the prayer closet for God's full and visible participation in delivering us from the morass we've gotten ourselves into. If Jesus could pray until he sweat blood, we're going to have to realize that our salvation was accomplished through that committed prayer. And we're going to have to struggle with God (Israel!!) so he can conform us to his expectations...to the very likeness...the eikon...of Christ Jesus.

Heavenly Father:

I pray that you would empty every one of us of every scintilla of pride and conceit. I pray that you would hound us into prayer with you daily. I can write what I have written absolutely stone cold afraid that I am unable to fulfill what I advise others to do. I write it not because I know I'm up to it, but because I know YOU deserve this reverence and this worship.

There is a great work to be done, Lord, and the harvesters are few. We appeal to the Lord of the Harvest not only to send more harvesters, but that you would open up the floodgates of heaven and pour out your spirit so that we really will ALL be harvesters. Many need to be saved. Many need discipling. We have fallen down in the past in properly instructing--primarily through the example of leading out in front of new Christians--and the result is what has happened over the past few decades.

Our growth has stopped. We fight over insanity. We carefully watch each dollar to make sure it only goes to people that are unified with US. We don't seem concerned at all if you are with them, only if they are with us.

God...change US. Do whatever it takes. If persecution is the answer, send Satan to chastise us back to you. Don't give up on us until you have accomplished in us precisely what you intend to and until our unity is perfected in the complete knowledge of Christ Jesus.

Lord you don't need us to accomplish your will. But you have made us your friends and shared with us your plan. You have put us in the center of it. Only you have a more important role than you have given us, and you've committed to bless what we do...no matter how little we do.

We need to pray to you. We need to all pray to you. We need to quit contending and pray.

It's in the name of OUR Bridegroom that we of the Bride lift our prayers to you!

A hopefully thoughtful exposition on inerrancy

2007-11-30T13:31:00.000-06:00

This is in response to comments made on Wade Burleson's blog. Since my response is so long, I thought it would be appropriate to post it here in case Wade prefers to delete my comment. It's kind of my summary of the concept of inerrancy...

I'm going to ramble for a bit. Hopefully you won't jump to any conclusions about where I'm going until you wander to the end:

I think our claims about inerrancy need to be modulated by a realistic view of the origin of the bound books we carry around that have the word "Holy Bible" on the spine.

I can easily point you to passages--such as Jesus's handling of the adulterous woman in John 7:53 through 8:11--that must be declared erroneous. Those passages do not exist in the earliest manuscripts (a fact proclaimed both in many translations and checkable by visiting biblegateway.com)

And since they do not consistently appear in ALL manuscripts, at least SOME of the manuscripts MUST be wrong...either by "omission" or "commission" of including the text. If you agree with this comment, you either need to rip out those passages or carefully consider what I'm about to say next.

What about a claim of inerrancy for the original manuscripts? How do you administer that claim through copying and translation? The typical Southern Baptist is uninterested in hearing anything with respect to inerrancy other than this: "The Holy Bible I am carrying is without error." Yet I offer that most of those Bibles carry the potentially erroneous passage I mentioned before.

This isn't the same kind of claims that our atheist friends press when trying to offer errors: they point to such things as the claim of the ratio between the circumference of certain columns and the diameter being presented as 3 instead of pi. And our gloss of explanations in dealing with their concerns typically are both patronizing and defensive. The result is that it looks like we are spinning the word "error" to mean what we're comfortable having it mean rather than the common English usage of the word.

Hence the word inerrant is in many ways misleading. We can't make that kind of quality claim either regarding any of our manuscripts in hand nor regarding any of our translations. We make it regarding the original manuscripts not because the Bible makes that claim (it doesn't), but because it provides us theological comfort to consider those manuscripts to be without error.

I'll offer that it is a LOT like Justice Potter Stewart's famed comments on obscenity: unable to define it rigorously, he noted that he would recognize it when he saw it. Inerrancy is not a word with clear, applicable meaning. It is a fuzzyheaded concept that lacks precision and lacks application.

The result for the thinking person is for them to be left with the sense that the term "inerrant" means to trust without thinking. To the thinking person, the spiritual claim of inerrancy can sometimes covers a multitude of uncareful thought that ranges from inappropriately treating biblical language as both too literal AND (thinking of the Song of Songs) as too symbolic. It can lead us to misread the book of Ecclesiastes (and perhaps most of the book of Proverbs) as being divine guidance when some of it is just insightful human analysis. And it CAN lead us to substitute rules for thinking and ritual for faith.

I can easily pardon nonbelievers for being disappointed by our poor reasoning in adopting the rubric "inerrant" and the Rube Goldberg contraption of explanation that supports it.

On the other hand, Rex's comment illustrates--as Dave has accurately pointed out--that the original conservative resurgence was about TWO things:

1. Whether all of God's written word is (and can be treated as) trustworthy.

2. Whether the employees of the Convention would be held accountable to teaching about the Bible and about faith as as if the Bible is fully trusthworthy

The purpose of the CR was to make the claim (ignore the language and semantics because they REALLY are confusing if not misleading) that you can read the entire Bible--including most attempts at faithful translations and perhaps even paraphrases--with the HOPE/FAITH that God intended it to be transmitted to us exactly as it was and with the additional HOPE that the Holy Spirit will somehow administer the reading of that Word in such a way that the essential truth will be apparent to us.

Are there errors in the Bibles we carry? Almost certainly. How does God overcome those errors? He created a story that has parts of the Bible interconnect with other parts in a deeply woven fabric of redemption. Parts that take on errors must be compared to parts that remain substantially error free to understand and interpret the words that we have. This--combined with the time period over which the materials of the Bible were written and collected--gives us a way to avoid both cultural myopia that has made its way into some of the prescriptive guidance and adoption of false doctrine.

So...while I disagree with Rex's comments about the truth being true and untruth being untrue, I see the point he is making as this: let's recognize the depth of the conundrum that must be fought through for a believer to come to the point that they can trust the Bible that way. We don't need to beat them over the head with the word inerrant. We need to guide them into all portions of the Bible so they can see how the pieces fit together into a coherent whole.

That means you have to read the history in places like Samuel, the Kings, the Chronicles, and even Ezra and Nehemiah in order to understand the prophecies in the major and minor prophets. And you have to glimpse the typology of the Old Testament rituals to fully understand Jesus's sacrifice.

The higher criticism of the 19th and 20th century brought the entirety of the text into such disrepute that no one knew which parts to trust and which parts to reject. And any system of hermeunetics that admits to any Scripture being essentially in error puts all readers, all worshippers, all preachers, all teachers, and all theologians into the role of deciding for ourselves which parts to keep and which parts to throw away.

When my dad--arguably a moderate--made that argument to me for the first time, I realized why it is important to treat the Bible as "inerrant" even if I find a tremendous amount of intellectual sloppiness in the word itself. I am putting my trust in an invisible God that he has provided a reliable revelation of himself that--if I will eat the scroll--will lead me to a complete understanding of Him.

But we need to remember the SECOND point of the Conservative Resurgence (thinking also of how Dave concluded his just previous post): while there is a certain amount of flexibility in concluding exactly how God administers the plan of salvation, at the heart of it the Bible must be treated as a reliable text in order for us to have any unity at all. Without the Bible being treated as reliable literally anything goes. And it did.

But treating the Bible literally can be done in a way that builds bridges and avoids violation of conscience. If my brother Rex has not reached the point in his life where God has convinced him as completely as he has me regarding the full truth of Scripture, I still can love him as a brother and I believe God can still save him. I believe God WILL save many whose theology is defective because at the end of the day and at the heart of the matter they put their ONLY trust in God...and specifically in Jesus Christ...for deliverance.

But the problem that Wade points to with the entirety of his blog and that Dave re-illustrates is that only a central, unified core of doctrine can be permitted to be taught by the Convention and her entities. The discussion is and should be on which parts are acceptable to be taught as singular truth and which parts can be taught as, essentially, doctrinal opinion. A very simple illustration of that can be seen in the varying Southern Baptist views on the doctrines of grace (especially the doctrine of eternal security of the believer) v. free will-based conversion.

I actually admire Rex for digging into the Bible to make his points. His post that ends "and so Acts Chapter 15 begins" is a classic example of this. I'm glad to have him around and I think we can tolerate his not yet perfected knowledge of the Bible and of Christ Jesus...as long as he can tolerate ours. ;)

Greg Harvey

P.S. I tremble in fear at the thought that this post is both too long and too off-topic to be hosted in Wade's comment section for this post. I intend to post it on my blog and leave Wade with the freedom to delete it here if he so chooses.

P.P.S. If you got to the postscript intending to take issue with something I wrote, I'll respectfully ask that you not try to divide and conquer my points. I'll also offer that if you follow the link to my blog you can either respond there or look at my profile and respond to my email address and engage me in a more substantive discussion than I will willingly have on Wade's site.

From personal experience...

2007-11-10T16:21:00.001-06:00

I posted this as a comment on another blog, but since it got passed along to my dad (and has a reference to him), I thought I should add it to the Salt Mill. Note the Salt Mill-style experience that we dealt with around my dad's birthday each year while we were on the mission field:

I will offer a missionary kid's perspective on the most important ministry Southern Baptists have with respect to the work of the International Mission Board and her missionaries. I'm sure as you read that, you'll think of the Cooperative Program, the Lottie Moon offering, Global Impact weekends.

You might even remember a specific missionary that you've helped with meeting specific needs. Or perhaps you have had the blessing (as I have) of having a missionary or missionary couple appointed from within your Sunday School department, Bible Fellowship class, or cell group. All of these are tremendous ministries that make a huge difference as we support our IMB.

But I'll offer that there is one thing that your International Mission Board, your Board of Trustees, and your missionaries covet above ALL of these. It's a simple thing that we can do. It takes commitment and dedication, but it isn't hard. Done right, you will pour yourself into it and then you will have to accept by faith that God WILL use it to grow HIS Kingdom.

I'm, of course, talking about prayer. In a spiritual war, the greatest weapon we have is spiritual prayer to a God who the Bible declares is a spirit who must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. I can tell you story after story that I've heard of how prayer for missionaries changed lives and changed the world.

Instead I'll just share one very small personal experience. My dad's birthday is December 3rd. Each year that we were in Indonesia, around December 3rd my dad and our family came under additional spiritual assault. One year first my dad was violently ill and then all four children "caught" what he had on and around his birthday. We were in awful shape and our family was near the end of its wits.

The one thing that kept him going and got us through was the knowledge that dear saints were opening prayer guides, reading his name, and praying for him. The presence of the Holy Spirit was more evident to us in those days and we gave glory to God in dismal circumstances because of the faithfulness of his children in praying for us and because of the mystery of prayer and how God uses it.

As the Board of Trustees prepares to meet, I hope that each of us that reads Wade's blog--even if you are only reading one article in it and one comment--will commit ourselves to praying for this wonderful enterprise that God has called us to as Southern Baptists.

Pray for the leaders of the IMB who shepherd a 5000+ flock of ministers. Pray for the trustees that seek to provide Godly, biblical oversight and guidance. Pray for the staff that supports and nourishes those missionaries.

But, and I say this with great anticipation that you will hear me and join me in it, pray especially for each family who has been transplanted by the Almighty from comfort and security into a new land where God intends to grow new Christians for his own glory. Pray fervently and boldly for them that the Holy Spirit would imbue their diligent, faithful work with the dynamic power only the Holy Spirit can bring.

Pray also for yourself that you would be given an unstoppable zeal for missionary effort. Pray that God would bless you with consistency and with a stewardship of obvious resources that can be brought to bear in Kingdom efforts. Pray to be ready and pray to be sent to your own Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, even to the ends of the earth. Pray to be passionate and determined, loving and kind in linking arms with your missionary brethren around the world.

Does God Answer ALL Prayers...Part 2

2007-09-22T20:11:00.001-05:00

I appreciate that my brothers Bob and David came gently to God's rescue in the comments to my previous post. I love them both deeply because of their eagerness both here and on other blogs to live their faith out loud with comments they have made.

I promised David that I would quickly address what I am saying and hopefully show him something I'm trying to get at that he and Bob intuitively know, but in their expressions of deep faith in God's Providence and in God's responsiveness to us we Christians often miss.

That is this: while we "faith" God completely regarding the answering of prayer, I have found there are times when he doesn't answer the prayer. It isn't yes. It isn't no. And it isn't "wait". An example of this is in the book of Job. God chose not to answer Job's continuing complaints. Now I GUESS you could say he chose to make Job wait. But I think it's a little more accurate to say God decided to go hands off so Satan could wring Job out.

We often say that a non-answer should be interpreted as a "no" (or a "wait"), but we have no proof that God intends it that way. And this is especially hard to hear for people who are in the Grinder. Instead of being told "wait for God to answer your prayer", they need to hear what you're experiencing may not be a result of your incomplete faith and it may not even be God's answer to your prayers. He could be permitting you to be tested and choosing NOT to answer your prayers right now.

I realize you could argue that point with me and we could get into a deep discussion on semantic distinctions. But there's an even more likely possibility that most Christians don't even consider:

God's answer to our prayers often are the requirements that Christians love each other and bear each others' burdens. So when we fail to live the faith that has been handed down to us, especially when the Holy Spirit motivates US to act to answer those prayers, our sin may cause God's response to go unheeded and undelivered.

If you're like I am, you'll think about that statement for a moment or two. You'll start to respond back to me that I have it wrong, that God still answered the prayer. Then you'll fall on your face grieving before God for occasions when you failed to follow the Spirit's leading to meet a need.

My friend felt isolated and abused because of a Christian experience as an MK where externals and legalism SOMETIMES were substituted for love. In one particularly horrific example, at least 9 MKs were sexually molested by a missionary who was a pedophile. The response of the missionaries and of the mission board was naive and therefore incomplete, allowing the missionary to remain on the field and to continue molesting children for at least 20 years. My friend carries both anger and guilt about that situation as I do because we feel betrayed--looking back--by how that happened, that it was happening around us (specifically to a sibling of one of us), that we could do nothing about it (I informed my parents about some of the things I had heard and they chose not to act on it), and that God remained "silent".

My best explanation for what happened...for God's silence in the situation...is the one I've offered: God motivated these spiritual giants--our parents--to act and they chose to ignore God's leadership. Because of that more children were harmed. God's failure to act wasn't the source of harm. He didn't ignore the prayers and pleadings. But in this case...because of human failure...his response went undelivered. For those that were being harmed, it felt like God failed them and it felt like unanswered prayer.

My friend continues to have deep faith struggles in part because of the focus on externals he experienced (which he felt were manipulative and not Christ-like or loving) and with his memory of the situation I've described.

I hope you'll see where I'm coming from and why I responded to him the way I did.

greg.w.h

Does God answer all prayers?

2007-05-31T11:05:00.001-05:00

A friend asked me:

"Greg, do you believe God answers all prayers?"

I took time to think through his question and to try to provide a response based on my recent life experiences. I'd like to share that with those that might be reading this blog:

"I want to directly answer your question, but I have to think through it a little first out loud: Prayer is a conversation. In our conversation with other people,what would you think of a person that is always asking for favors as a matter of conversation? I know my kids do this with us sometimes. Their only interaction at times is to ask for stuff(food, games, toys, etc.)

One recurring theme has been "I'm bored" which is asking--in essence--the favor to be entertained. So I threw the question back at the person that "was bored", my youngest daughter. I asked her to make a list of activities that she thought would be fun (ignoring her comment about being bored, of course). She came back with five. I challenged her to make a list of one hundred. Her first response and Jen's first response was that 100 activities were too many.

Then she, her older sister and Jen went off and came up with 100 activities. Just the pressure to think of new ones was essentially creative for them. And, yes, there were some repeats, but in most cases they exhausted the repeat ideas and had to think of something else.

That list has supercharged the three youngest kids. Now instead of saying "I'm bored", they ask for help in choosing an item from the list. Timothy--our youngest who can't read--is especially enthusiastic.

Imagine our conversations with God being exactly like that. We come to him asking for him to fix an 'itch' that we have like "I'm bored." Or "I'm unhappy". Or "I'm lonely." How many times is the most direct fix for those situations precisely what won't meet the need?

Am I lonely because there are no other people in the world? And if God were to put someone in my path, would I even notice? Or is the problem--our REAL need--self-absorption? So I think sometimes God waits on us to work through exactly what it is we need. And there are other times when he answers directly what we asked for. And still others where he puts something in our path that goes to the heart of our REAL need...maybe not even the one we've been praying for.

Are all prayers answered? I don't know. Does God listen and care about each person praying to him? I think so...especially if that person is dealing with God seriously and honestly."

Faith & Imagination, Pt 4--The Opportunity of Faith-filled Imagination

2006-08-17T10:39:00.000-05:00

I almost started this post with the title "The Opportunity of Imagination-filled Faith." Take a couple of seconds to think about that if you don't mind. If faith STARTS with imagination, then there is no foundation for the faith. This leads to a second form of "failure of imagination": heresy.

There is zero room for imagination in inventing doctrine. Many of the New Testament writers warn of false prophets. These false prophets use their imagination to create a false faith. So if I were to talk about the opportunity of imagination-filled faith, I would have to address the problem of heresy. I MIGHT do that in a future post, but for now, I'm going to stay with the article's title.

The opportunity of faith-filled imagination is enormous. The most direct and obvious result is all of the faith-inspired arts. Art becomes worship when it is the result of faith. Even DOUBTFUL art is sacred--set apart by mystery and delayed revelation--and instructive to the seeker.

Think of the books of Job and Ecclesiastes as somewhat dark, doubtful works of faith-inspired art. In both books the human struggle with the invisible nature of God is evident and comforting. God's inspiration of Scripture INCLUDES the day-to-day struggles. At the bottom of both of these books is the sign of relief that God really is out there and really does provide meaning to life.

The American slave spiritual songs are precisely the same. They express a longing for the lifting of oppression:

"Deep river, my home is over Jordan
Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground
Lord, I want to cross over into campground
Lord, I want to cross over into campground
Lord, I want to cross over into campground

Oh, chillun
Oh, don’t you want to go, to that gospel feast
That promised land, that land where all is peace?
Walk into heaven, and take a seat
And cast my crown at Jesus feet"

"Deep River"
Source unknown

and ecstatic delight at freedom:

"Slavery chain done broke at last, broke
at last, broke at last,
Slavery chain done broke at last,
Going to praise God till I die

Way down in-a dat valley
Praying on my knees
Told God about my troubles,
And to help me ef-a He please

I did tell him how I suffer,
In de dungeon and de chain,
And de days were with head bowed down,
And my broken flesh and pain.

I did know my Jesus heard me,
'Cause de spirit spoke to me
And said, 'Rise my child, your chillun,
And you shall be free.

'I done 'p'int one mighty captain
For to marshall all my hosts
And to bring my bleeding ones to me
And not one shall be lost.'

Slavery chain done broke at last, broke
at last, broke at last,
Slavery chain done broke at last,
Going to praise God till I die"

"Slavery Chain" Created about 1865
quoted in The Spirituals and the
Blues, by James Cone, 1972

God's response to slavery--both the harsh slavery of the Israelites and the unjust, race-based slavery of the US--sometimes seems glacially slow. The Old Testament explains the reason for God's perceived slowness for the Hebrews. The time wasn't complete for the inhabitants of the Promised Land.

The rhetoric of the slave spirituals of America is actually coded. The references to crossing over Jordan seems to be a reference to Heaven, but some contemporary accounts suggest that it meant to cross over from slavery into freedom. Today those same spirituals are sung--like Slavery Chain--as a sign of victory and as a continued sign of faith in God's deliverance by many African Americans.

For me, the valuable result of faith-filled imagination is to create that kind of art: the kind that sustains you (and others!) when times get tough. Jesus promises persecution to those who love him. King David comments that the rain falls on the good and on the bad. I've always interpreted that two ways: both God's blessings and God's tests fall on everyone indiscriminately to a certain extent.

Clearly faith guides our response to blessings and tests and even to attacks by our adversary and his crew. Faith-filled imagination helps us memorialize God's involvement in our lives and becomes a touchstone to rely on.

But it does one other thing. When our physical senses lead to the kind of failure of imagination that leads to a sense of spiritual oppression, faith-filled imagination helps us see God working invisibly.

My favorite example of this is when the King of Aram sends his army to surround Dothan in order to entrap and capture Elisha. Elisha and his servant survey the enemy the next morning and...well...let's turn to the Bible:

^{2 Kings 6:15-18 NIV} When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next
morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
¹⁶ "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

There's two ways to read this passage. One is that Elisha actually saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire around himself. The other is that Elisha--through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit--simply trusted through faith that God's army was present--though invisible--and greater. I tend to think the latter is true. Elisha's faith-filled imagination became visible to his servant through Elisha's prayer for the servant's eyes to be opened.

Faith & Imagination, Pt 3: Failure of imagination

2006-08-03T19:27:00.000-05:00

This is a really tough post for me. I've taken three stabs at it and this is my fourth. I know the point I want to get across, but it eludes my ability to explain it.

You might have heard the phrase "failure of imagination." It is a phrase that leaders use to take responsibility for problems that they failed to anticipate. The hope, of course, is that others will understand that they are not shifting blame, but they have no good explanation for why there was a failure to anticipate the problem.

I have always been fascinated by that phrase. You have to consider the tone of the person claiming to have a failure of imagination to understand whether they "mean it" or not. And you have to take into account how common the problem is that they "failed to imagine". Is it a problem that occurs every day? Once a week? Once in a thousand years? Then you develop a sense of trust for the person.

But in the life of faith, I think the phrase "failure of imagination" takes on a new depth. Let me explain...

When we are first saved, we're "babes in Christ" (borrowing from Paul's description.) Depending on the experience that led to salvation, we're approaching everything in a wide-eyed, deer in the headlights kind of way.

Because our understanding is fresh it is also incomplete. I believe God graciously allows new Christians to experience a vibrancy that provides a very real sense of emotional completion. I think some of this is the sealing of the Holy Spirit. But it is something I've noticed more often among the newly saved.

Then the process of blessing followed by testing occurs. We LIKE the blessings. If we're new to the faith and have good spiritual "parents" that continue to disciple us in the faith, then we even remember to turn these blessings into thanksgiving. It's easy at first. It's like the Holy Spirit is prompting us on how to relate to God. The Newsboys picked up on this concept in a song they did called "Spirit Thing":

It's just a spirit thing,
it's just a holy nudge,
it's like a circuit judge in the brain.
It's just a spirit thing,
it's here to guard my heart,
it's just a little hard to explain.

It pushes when i quit,
it smells a counterfeit,
Sometimes it works a bit like a
teleprompter...
When it's teleprompting you,
I pray you'll let it through,And I'll help you with the how..

The Newsboys sing the song in order to celebrate the mystery of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We can't always put a finger on it, but we know when the Spirit is there. Jesus said it was like the wind blowing through the leaves of a tree. You can't SEE the wind, but you know it's blowing because the leaves are moving.

I made this point earlier in this series, but it is so important to the connection between imagination and faith. When you see the leaves blowing, what do you imagine the wind looking like?

For me, when I think hard about the wind, it turns into a stream of molecules that flows in the same way that water flows over rocks in a stream. The molecules flow quickly and slowly. they group together in one area (creating high pressure) and flow sparsely in another (creating low pressure.) When those molecules run into something...like a leaf...then Newton's Laws of motion come into play, especially the second law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Now if you aren't trained as a chemist/scientist like I am, you may IMAGINE and describe wind differently. If you are a poet, you may use poetic language. If you are a mother, you may use the language of caution and remind your children to "bundle up". Each person "sees" the wind differently in our imagination.

So what is failure of imagination? I think that occurs when we see it as "just the wind". You know...what was that sound? It was "just the wind." The spiritual equivalent is taking the work of the Holy Spirit for granted. It can go so far as to deny the work of the Holy Spirit. We're warned very specifically in scripture by Jesus that it is unforgivable to credit the work of the Holy Spirit to some other process.

But where's the warning for just taking the Holy Spirit for granted? It's like I said earlier...when we're young in our faith, it's as if the Spirit prompts us to be amazed by God's interaction with us. So what prompts us when we become mature in the faith?

Our imagination!! Not the part of it that invents from whole cloth. Instead I'm talking about the part of our imagination that sees what is truly there but is not visible. "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see." (Hebrews 11:1-2 New Living Translation)

When we fail to consider God's promises, when we fail to take into account past blessings, when we fail to give credit to the Holy Spirit for the Spirit's work, the failure is due to unbelief...to lack of faith. It is a failure to imagine that God's reality...which is invisible...is stronger than the reality that we can see with our physical eyes.

I'm not chastising you if you have experienced this failure to imagine. In fact, the whole point of this post is that true leaders take responsibility where others don't by admitting that the problem may be simply a failure to imagine.

One of my favorite passages is about just such an admission of spiritual failure to imagine:

Mark 9:17-27 New KJV Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” 19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”

20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

So translating into modern words what did the man say to Jesus? "Lord, I trust you, but I am failing to imagine how what you are saying is possible. Help me imagine it as possible."

Maybe the next time you encounter a difficult situation, you can think back to this phrase:

"Lord Jesus, I believe in you, but I am failing to imagine you delivering me in this situation. Help my unbelief!!"

Faith and Imagination...Part 2

2006-07-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

I promised to return to this topic. I want to do it within the context of a sermon by Joel Osteen that I watched today. He spoke of something mysterious that I have come into contact with in my life: God works in amazing ways with those that put their full trust in him. Joel was offering that as a prescription for getting along in life. He was doing a little of the "name it and claim it" routine. I can't agree with him on all of that...I just can't. Read the blog to understand why.

But I want to agree with him on this point: when we are in the midst of difficulty, succumbing to negativity can take us under. I say that with the absolute evidence of my own personal experience. At times both Jennifer and myself--separately and together--really felt like we couldn't escape the next bad thing that was happening to us (again, read the blog for details.)

So did having a positive attitude stop the bad things from happening? In my opinion, no. Maybe God has worked with us in a more supportive fashion when we had good attitudes than when we had bad attitudes. I don't know his mind and I am not in a position to judge or even to understand his thoughts. I believe, though, that he was just as willing and able to work with us in the time where we were struggling with negativity as when we were being positive.

Given that his grace is still available to us regardless of our attitude (especially those who believe in perseverance of the saints), should we "force ourselves" to feel good?

I'm going to deal with this honestly starting with Paul's response to difficulty. Read this before you continue:

^{Ephesians 1:1-14 NIV}Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
⁵hepredestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
⁹And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
¹⁰to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
¹¹In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
¹²in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the
redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

Let me put this passage into a historical context. We believe Paul wrote this after he had completed his initial missionary journeys to Asia Minor and to Greece. He has come back to Jerusalem and the Jewish leaders want to kill him. Through a sequence of events, he appears before Felix and appeals to Caesar.

Since Paul is a citizen of Rome, Felix is required to send him to Rome in order to have his appeal heard by Nero. From the time of his return to Jersusalem until he leaves for Rome is at least a couple of years. He is imprisoned in Rome for a number of years as well. Both the letter to the Ephesians and the letter to the Collosians (both Asian churches) were written at some time during these latter two imprisonments. These are in addition to the imprisonments and beatings he mentions in other letters since most of the other letters were written before his journey to Rome.

Read that passage again and imagine being falsely accused by the Jews and languishing either in Caeserea or in Rome in prison. Imagine being beaten repeatedly. Imagine being jailed repeatedly. Imagine being under Roman guard (they weren't known for being especially nice to prisoners after all...even if the prisoner was a citizen of Rome.)

Now add one more thought: Paul trusted that God had a purpose for every situation. Out of every letter he wrote we see a heavenly theme: no matter how hellish the circumstances are, God is both deeply aware of them and is able to give them a heavenly purpose. Paul endures (not suffers...he's doing that...but enduring) this enormous difficulty because...and only because of...his faith.

So how does he write?

^{Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV}As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

and

^{Ephesians 6:5-8 NIV}Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. ⁶Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. ⁷Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, ⁸because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

and

^{Phillipians 1:12-14 NIV}Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. ¹³As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

and

^{Colossians 1:24-29 NIV}Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. ²⁵I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— ²⁶the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. ²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ²⁹To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

How could Paul write like this? May I submit this for your consideration: his faith gave him the ability to see a reality that wasn't yet present in front of him. While he was held with chains, his spirit was made free by the blood of Jesus Christ. And sensing--rather than seeing--that freedom caused him in the midst of difficulty to exhort those churches and to exhort US.

While God supported him in good times and in difficult times, Paul's ability to "faith" God turned into the ability to help others. In the failure of our imagination, the worst possible thing that could happen is that we enjoy heaven sooner. But if we remain strong in our weaknesses, God is able to glorify us and others can see HIM THROUGH the difficulties.

There's more of course...please be patient with me if I take more time to develop this theme. It is critical for the believer and for the church of today. I specifically want to address the phrase "failure of imagination."

Running the Rapids...

2006-07-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

Ok...I'm not REALLY talking about being in a kayak or rubber yellow dinghy. But I am in Cedar Rapids "for good." (I'll leave it to your imagination to interpret that.)

Jen has the house packed and loaded and, in theory, in storage in nearby Iowa City. After having a co-worker allude to a favorite movie of mine within the first week of work, I enjoyed the serendipity of watching it on HBO July 4th. Field of Dreams may stake too bold a claim for the spiritual vibrancy of the game of baseball, but if you allow your eyes to go ever so slightly out of focus, you can almost see the kingdom of heaven in action in the movie.

"Is it heaven?" two of the characters ask Ray Kinsella (Costner). No, it's Iowa.

Of course, that became a bumper sticker PR campaign for the state and Wikipedia claims that the plowing under the corn field (which was heavily irrigated due to a drought at the time) mystified the real-life locals as well as the in-movie locals.

I'm staying downtown for the first time in my life. My apartment looks out to the southwest over the Cedar River. Cedar Rapids celebrates a week long Freedom Festival that culminates in a breathtaking display of fireworks on July 4th. While I could JUST see it from my apartment, it was amazing to look down on the barge floating on the river from whence the cannons lobbed their violent--but not lethal--shells.

The most amazing part of "running the rapids" is that a little church named Northbrook Baptist is worming its way into my heart. Their newly called and installed pastor invited me over to his house to hang out with some of the other unattached folks. We played a very interesting game called the cornhole game also known as "The Cincinnati Corn Bag Game" (I'll leave it to MTV fans to consider why the previous name might seem inappropriate nowadays.)

The game worked its magic by providing the "guys" a way to interact. One of the "guys" was Amy Jo...she showed evidence of being a softball pitcher and could zing the corn-hull bags like anyone. We kept trading out teams and just had a great time learning from and challenging each other.

Work is going well...Rockwell uses some very well considered approaches to getting the job done. My teammates and administrative manager are all very friendly and fun to work with. The work is challenging.

The speed of change is still dizzying...and that's probably why I thought of "running the rapids." Jen and the kiddoes get here next week!! We close on our house in mid-August. It's a very exciting time for us. It's a very BLESSED time, filled with God's visible and present favor.

A bump in the road...

2006-06-06T20:38:00.000-05:00

About 10 days ago, the plan to move to Cedar Rapids hit some bumps in the road. Without going into deep detail, here's what happened:

1. We were depending on some funds from an IRA to help offset closing costs on the new home we're buying (YAY!!) But my broker made a mistake on disclosing what process I had to use to sell the funds in that account so that they would be available on time for closing. (BOOO!!!)

2. THEN the house inspection revealed some issues that were going to take a little time to solve. Because the repairs were somewhat expensive, the current owners offered to do the repairs (YAY!!!) in exchange for a later possession date of mid-August (BOO!!).

3. FINALLY, Rockwell wasn't able to complete their background check in time for me to start this week, so we ended up losing a week of pay, the temporary living arrangements got messed up some, and we weren't sure on Monday exactly WHEN the background check would complete.

But if you look at #1, #2, and #3 together, they work together to make sense. All three things needed to shift and they all shifted together. If the money came out too soon, then it becomes a taxable event if I can't put it back (after being reimbursed for closing costs) within 60 days. If we didn't start on time, we wouldn't have the money to close the house on the original start date of June 27.

We didn't understand why everything all the sudden seemed to be going wrong, and it awoke some pretty deep concerns regarding how the last few years have worked out in both my heart and in Jen's heart. After praying about it, we were both experiencing peace about the situation within about 24 hours.

Monday I found out from the recruiter what the hold up was, and we were able to fax in documentation to help demonstrate that I really did work for Trilogy, Inc. Today (Tuesday) they let me know that I had passed the background check and firmed up my start date.

We're now in the final flurry of figuring out what needs to be done before I leave and to arrange the move of household goods. We'll work through that and probably have the family up in Cedar Rapids by mid-July. Then we think we'll be in the house by mid-August, though the house might benefit from some touch-up work before we move in.

Mom commented last night that it must feel good to have Rockwell wooing us to join them. It very much does. I get the feeling that they usually have a harder time selling people on Cedar Rapids than they have had with us. We are excited about the opportunity and believe God is in it and--therefore--it will be good for our family.

If you have a moment to pray for us:

1. I start soon.
2. Jen and the family will be traveling this month before the move.
3. Mom and Dad will be flying in next week and we hope their plans go well (including an Indonesian MK retreat that I was planning to attend, but that it doesn't look like I can show up for now.)
4. We will be searching for a church home. I've started the research (the Internet rocks!!), but we want to make a deliberate, informed choice that includes interaction with the congregations. We hope this becomes a long-term church home for us.

There are more needs, but I'll leave that for another time. Praise God on our behalf for his fantastic blessings and his mighty work in us!!

Upcoming changes

2006-05-25T15:53:00.000-05:00

I haven't been very active with this web log for the past few months. To make a long story short, I was spending way more time at work than I wanted to, and things still weren't going the direction they needed to go. So...I started looking for something new to do.

Without getting into the ins and outs of everything that happened, I recently accepted a Senior Systems Engineering position in the Rockwell Collins Cedar Rapids plant in their commercial avionics/displays group. I start in early June and Jennifer and the kids move up towards the end of the month.

The job is one I've done before--during my contracting phase at Honeywell in Glendale, Arizona--and I enjoy the challenge of being fastidious since people's lives depend on my workmanship. The approach used at the new facility is different than Honeywell used, so I'll be learning both new tools and new technology. They're even interested in my doing project management for them as I become familiar with their plant.

After a series of very difficult situations, this one has the hallmark--in every way--of God's favor. Things did not turn out exactly as we expected (there was a possibility of a job in Austin that would have allowed us to buy a house across the street from one of Jen's best friends there), but in many ways this seems better.

We're in the process now of arranging for living space near Cedar Rapids. We've already had one excellent serendipity in that process. The schools are smaller than Garland and rumored to be better (it's hard to find a quantitative comparison between schools in Texas and schools in Iowa.)

The whole situation started out in a way that I would--under the sun--call surreal. But as the things keep falling into place, it seems more "realistic" to call it supernatural rather than surreal. There are times in life when God makes his presence so obviously known that you are convinced that he is entirely and completely on your side. This is one of those for us.

But Cedar Rapids, Iowa? We now see God's work of redemption of the time at Honeywell. That time was otherwise very frustrating because of the isolation (I called my hotel suite an "apartment" because it was the place I had to be "apart" from Jen and the family.) I enjoyed the work there, and I originally thought we would join Honeywell...but we couldn't make the numbers work...it was going to be doable to stay on a week-to-week contracting status but not to take a full-time position with them. And the week-to-week contracting left us so up in the air.

In this situation, I feel the exact opposite. We're very likely going to be in the area for 10 years or more. Given their golden handcuffs (very nice benefits and pension plan) it would not surprise me to be in Cedar Rapids until all of the kids are out of high school or even until I retire in 20-25 years. Or...because I like to be busy...I might just stay and work for them for 30 years and retire at 76.

Talking in terms like that seems odd to me. I've never lived in one abode for longer than 4 years. I went to 11 schools before graduating from high school. I enjoy the challenge of learning new things, and it shows in my choice of careers (software) and my career path (lots of contracting/consulting.) But now it seems like the right time to settle in some place so I can spend lots of time with our kiddoes and with Jennifer.

We'll be about 5 miles from the plant. The closest school is three streets over. Nathaniel's school is less than a half mile...the high school, middle school, and elementary school for our area are essentially on contiguous property.

All of this turns into a sense of blessedness that is at times overwhelming. In some ways, it is almost unimaginable. I was listening to Beth Moore again (happened to be in the car again when she was on the radio) and she talked about all of this in an unexpected way.

She said that faith isn't the means to some other end. Faith and relationship with God IS the end...it is the destination we seek. She said she is more than a little suspicious of those that long for more from God--riches, health, even heaven--instead of enjoying just Him. It isn't that she was encouraging ungraciousness towards God for his blessings, but she wondered if it wasn't ENOUGH just to have him?

As we sort through these changes, I've determined that is the goal for our family: that having Jesus is exactly and precisely enough. That faith is not just the journey but is the destination for our lives. That our children learn satisfaction with the things of God above all else.

Won't you join our family in praying for this for us? I think God has already taken us well down that path...by the way...but I'm not satisfied until my entire satisfaction is in him. I'll enjoy the rest as additional blessings...but the main blessing is God Almighty.

Faith...and imagination

2006-04-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

We know that faith is "the evidence of things unseen and the substance of things hoped for." Let me give you an example of this from the Old Testament that was recently brought to my attention through Beth Moore's radio ministry.

But before I can do that, step back with me to the week of Spring Break. I've been very busy at work trying to make some things work that have...frankly...were delivered before they were ready.

Jen wanted to go to Austin and to Houston. She knew I was busy, so she went ahead and took the kids. It was the third or fourth time the situation at work has turned into giving up family time to try and help them through a problem of their own creation. Needless to say, I wasn't in a great mood.

But the Aggies had a great year, and they were playing in the first round of the NCAAs against Syracuse. So I packed up my laptop and headed home...I thought...in time to see the game.

Except the valve stem on one of my tires was worn and it let out the last dribble of air as the left front tire went flat. I pulled over to fix it...annoyed at the timing as I was now missing the tip off for the game.

The next morning I took the car into the NTB between home and work. They were running behind schedule, so when we got the car in the bay, I went ahead and had them check brakes and watched as they figured out the plan with the valve stem. I was out of there around 11:00 am...a full two hours after when I normally am on the way to work.

I've written before that I enjoy listening to Chuck Swindoll on the way to work. At this time, though, one of Jennifer's favorite bible study teachers was on. Jen has encouraged me several times to listen to Beth if I got the opportunity. So I took her up on it.

Beth was talking about things from a slightly different perspective than I was used to. She brings an authentic female voice to an in-depth Biblical presentation. She spoke of doctrinal issues I agree with. She said that belief is not based on emotion, but she warned her listeners not to let people talk you out of faith being an emotional experience. Since this is a gripe that I have had with our sometimes too logical faith presentations, she had my attention.

She continued by saying that faith is about belief, about emotion, and about imagination. As she said that, God's Spirit whispered in my ear: "that's true."

What did she mean by faith being about imagination? She went on to explain using a peculiar feature of the temple. Near the altar where the priests burn sacrifices, within the Court of Priests and in front of the entrance to a very important building, there is a place of cleansing that is usually called a laver. At the earthly temple, it is filled with water and each shift of priests ceremonially cleanses with that water.

The laver is made of bronze...not gold...not silver...bronze. It is very large and the only way that it can be used to fulfill its purpose is if it is refilled daily. So the first priest to come on duty for the day...the one that cleans the ashes off of the altar...also fills the laver.

Beth pointed out that in heaven there is a similar structure. In fact, if you research the Hebrew word that is used to refer to the laver, you get a hint of the heavenly analog--the container is called the molten sea.

What is the sea in heaven that I'm referring to?

^{Rev 4:6 (NIV)}Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

So what, you might be wondering. Let me give you the verse Beth offered to explain how the two "seas" are related:

^{Micah 7:19 (NIV)} You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Beth went on to point out that the picture from the temple is only a shadow of the reality in heaven. Essentially, God gives us very small glimpses through "a glass darkly" of what that future reality is like.

The rest of these things hoped for and these things unseen he leaves...through faith...to our imagination. Given the meticulous nature of the priests keeping the temple grounds, faithfully following the rituals that God gave them, can't you imagine how much greater heaven will be?

Hold onto that thought. We'll explore the concept of faith and imagination more in the upcoming weeks. I am convinced it is the key to understanding God.

P.S. I thank God for the flat tire.

Getting together with friends

2006-04-09T06:20:00.000-05:00

Jennifer and I had the opportunity to share an evening with some old friends of mine. David was a good friend when I attended 9th grade at Joint Embassy School (now Jakarta International School). Tina and I shared a class at JES, but we became friends when we renewed that acquaintance in Dr. Guzman's Math 151H and 152H Calculus for Engineers classes at A&M.

Tina and her husband got together with our family last August at Siciliano's A Taste of Italy in Garland. I mention the restaurant specifically because it is a very distinctive experience and uniquely Garland. (I have mentioned that the Fox network show "King of the Hill" is based in Arlen, TX which is modeled after Garland haven't I??) We had fun sharing, renewing the acquaintance, and meeting each others families.

This time Tina's husband wasn't available and we decided to just have the adults meet as we included David and his wife Theresa. As we sat around the table and talked about where folks had lived and how we met spouses and such, it struck me how much my time overseas shaped who I am as a person. It was only 3.5 years out of my (now) 45. But the impact has been enormous.

I felt very comfortable with each of them. I could tell that my wife and David's wife felt a little outside of the conversation as neither ever lived outside of the US. But the cameraderie between Tina, David, and myself was shared, understood, and instantaneous.

It turns out that all three of us were in Indonesia for different reasons. Tina's dad had worked with the UN on resettlement programs in Indonesia. Java has been traditionally very crowded and the outlying islands are much less densely populated. So the UN attempted to help Indonesians move off of Java and onto other islands. The effort didn't go well, she said, and I am aware that it caused some real problems on Kalimantan as it exacerbated religious tensions between Christians and Muslims by redistributing the demographics there.

David's parents were there doing petroleum work and his dad managed one of the fields on Kalimantan. The year we came on furlough in 1976, his family moved to the petroleum field and David moved from JES to an international school in Penang, Malaysia (which was closer than JES.) David's parents later worked in Saudia Arabia during David's college years. Remarkably, David's first year was also at A&M!

The unexpected surprise of the evening was the arrival of the pastor from our church who, coincidentally, is also an Aggie. That caused us all to smile broadly as we joked about how coincidences--more and more--don't seem very coincidental.

As the evening progressed, I very much enjoyed the gentleness and sincerity of the conversation. It was both intimate and considerate. We were able to include both David's wife and Jennifer. We remembered other close friends. As I write this I feel very happy about taking the time to get together with them.

And I also compare that time to how I think heaven will be. I think that as Christians we put too little emphasis on how the people we know and love is what will make heaven comfortable and familiar. Yes, I want to see Jesus there! Yes, I long to be face-to-face with my Creator! But I also long for relationships untainted by sin and all of its distorting influences.

Last night I think I got a glimpse of that. Gentle people gathered around a table for fellowship together. No pretense. Lots of love. It was heavenly.

Quick comment on Scripture4All.org

2006-04-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have a link to Scripture4All.org because it has two very intriguing documents. One is an interlinear for Hebrew and another is an interlinear for Greek. What makes each intriguing is the philosophy of the two interlinears. They are based on translations done by A.E. Knoch in a style that he calls "concordant versions."

The theory Knoch uses is that the Hebrew and Greek become significantly more approachable for non-linguists if every single word is consistently related to the same English word. He calls each of these consistent transliterations a "STANDARD" and it typically is represented in the interlinear in all caps.

But here's the problem that readers of the Salt Mill need to be aware of: Knoch is a unitarian/universalist and he pretty much denies the deity of Jesus and the one-ness between Jesus and God. So the interlinears have some potentially misleading translation work in them.

Why not just remove the links from the site?

Because in my Hebrew class at Southwestern, I developed a very strong appreciation for VERY literal transliterations. These transliterations do not give you the whole sense of a sentence, but it gives you an almost mathematical precision as a starting point for translation.

We tended to take Hebrew passages and diagram them in Hebrew and then do word-for-word transliterations when attempting a translation. From the transliteration we worked towards a sense of how to express it in English and then cross-checked our work against various English translations.

The word-for-word transliteration brings out many interesting language differences for both Hebrew to English and Greek to English renderings. For example, Hebrew verbs carry the subject gender, the subject plurality, the tense, the intensity, and sometimes the object gender and plurality. The subject typically is represented in English as a personal pronoun with an appositive to clarify the pronoun and provide the antecedent for it.

A good example of this is Genesis 1:1 which might be transliterated like this:

"In-the-beginning he--Elohim--created the-heavens and the-earth."

The verb "he created" is a single Hebrew particle which is a three-consonant stem with pointings in some Hebrew renderings (the pronunciation and the part of speech is apparent to the experienced reader of Hebrew without pointings--of which I am not one.) Elohim is represented in the appositive position qualifying the subject 'he'.

In-the-beginning is a single particle but has the prefix Bet which is a preposition meaning "in". The word "Elohim" and the word "heavens" are constructed as plurals. But the verb "he created" is constructed as a singular and the word "earth" is also singular. I show the two occurrences of the definite article "the" as connected to "heavens" and "earth" because the Hebrew definite article is "He-a" and is connected to the Hebrew particle like the preposition is.

The connecting of the prepositions and definite articles and the conjugation of verb forms can make Hebrew rather dense to take apart. So it is helpful to use an interlinear to assist in seeing the parts of speech.

Another interesting feature of Hebrew is that some of the verb tenses convey intensity. For example, the hithpael tense is rendered like this "you shall surely die". All of that is from a single Hebrew particle with NO helping verb (shall) or adverb (surely). In addition, the verb carries a reflexive sense meaning that the subject is both the cause and the object.

This is why the discussion between the serpent and Eve is very intense. She tells the serpent that if she touches or eats the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil "shall surely die". The serpent responds "not to die, shall surely die."

God's phrasing focused on eating and not touching (of course), but God also used the more intense construction of the infinitive "to die" followed by the hithpael "you shall surely die." Eve repeats just the "you shall surely die", but the serpent uses the particle Lo (not) to claim the negative of the EXACT words that God used in instructing Adam.

The fact that the verb stem is repeated is a Hebrew technique that shows extremely strong intensity plus the use of the hithpael indicates absolute certainty (especially since spoken by God.) This leaves the reader with the cognitive dissonance between God absolutely claiming one thing and the serpent absolutely claiming the opposite. Thus we see the essence of the strong enmity between the serpent (Satan) and God. God says one thing. Satan claims the opposite. Only one can be true. The law of the excluded middle is presaged by exactly opposite claims very early in written history.

Anyway, while I might not have done the concept of direct transliteration justice, my examples hopefully demonstrate why--despite it's genesis--I would leave up the link to a transliteration done by someone that I theologically disagree with. Sometimes intellectual honesty causes us to borrow the work of the people that we disagree with in order to strengthen our own understanding.

But please be careful if you use these tools and please be extra careful with the resources at Scripture4All.org. Their theology is in some cases imposed on Scripture rather than based on Scripture. I still find much of the work they have there to be useful--as I've researched the Greek their, for instance, I'm starting to recognize the declension of various tenses and voices--but some of their choices, including the use of the word "eonian" to translate the Greek "aion", are fraught with destructive misunderstanding.

Why is God hiding? Part 3

2006-03-02T09:00:00.000-06:00

I still haven't answered one of the two questions that Part 1 raised. I simplified our metaphysical awe of God and his mysterious ways to two questions:

1. Is God REALLY hiding?

and

2. Has he ever fully revealed Himself?

I feel I addressed Part 1 including offering reasons for being mysterious. If I were to sum up those arguments, it comes down to this: by tradition, the Jews held that no person could see the face of God and live. If God didn't hide himself, we would not be left with the ability to determine who we are as people in part because our sin and his presence are incompatible. In addition, we reveal OUR character through deep and honest trust in HIS. And we also reveal who he is in that process.

That leaves us with question #2. Has God ever FULLY revealed himself??? Again the answer is, of course, yes:

"I and the Father are one. If you have seen me, then you have seen the Father."

Now things get a little tricky. Paul very clearly says that Jesus condescended in order to become a man. He gave up the right to his glory in order to become like us. Clearly we didn't see God in all of his glory did we? Wasn't something STILL hidden? Did we get the entire picture of who God is when Jesus became God's revelation for us??

I hope you won't think I am playing semantic games as I write this. I believe the question is important because the answer will help us understand who Jesus IS. I want to offer that we did not SEE God in all of his glory when Jesus came. If I may, the time wasn't right.

But we saw a perfect presentation of God. I'm tempted to compare it to a vintage Pontiac GTO being repainted. You strip it to the metal and then put on a primer. And some people never get past putting the primer on...the final "glory" of the car never gets put back on. Real car buffs don't celebrate the paint job...they celebrate what is beneath the paint.

Jesus stripped off the glory and came humbly so that we could see what is "beneath the paint". If you recall, there are Old Testament prophecies that say, in essence, he wasn't much to look at.

And part of his ministry was very much about the treasure you either misplaced or would give anything to put your hands on. He spoke--seemingly in code--of worshipping the Father in spirit (and in truth). You could tell by the way that he said it that it wasn't something that was too usual. And you could also tell that there was something surprising about it for those he told (thinking of Nicodemus and of the Samaritan woman at the well.)

With Nicodemus you get a very deep hint as to what is going on when he compares the work of the Holy Spirit to the wind moving the leaves of a tree. You can't see the wind, but you can see the effect of the wind.

Sometimes we humans get caught up with the paint job. No, I'm not talking about just make up here. That's more like the decals on a vintage GTO. I'm talking about the paint job.

That's where Jesus called the Pharisees "white-washed sepulchres". Imagine a glorious cherry-red GTO with perfect trim, decals, tires...and a rotten pig inside. (There is a Mythbusters about this if you want to find out what REALLY happens.) We spend time waxing and polishing and buffing the OUTSIDE...and then others wonder WHAT that odor is.

So what did Jesus really reveal to us? It wasn't just how to be good. It wasn't how to live righteously. It wasn't even how to live in community. He certainly did all of those things as he prepared his disciples and followers for the revelation of the Bride (his church/ekklesia).

What he really revealed is this: how to live and how to die. Not live with a modifier attached. (Good, righteously, in community.) But how to live. Only when we go through the spiritual transformation of accepting him as our Deliverer and Ruler can we experience deliverance and life-in-balance.

He lived that way! He had to face death. He had to trust the Father to raise him (Deliver him from death). He had to give up THIS life in order to have THAT one...and nothing he did disqualified him from fully living THIS life.

Selah...

I come back to this over a month later. During that month I've worked an average of 10 hours per day...including weekends. What I wrote rings true still, so I'm going to post it pretty much as is.

If I were to summarize this series of posts--and it might be the most critical posts on the Salt Mill for people who are struggling with life--I would probably summarize this way:

Life is a struggle. The majority of that struggle is with Truth. (It's why God re-named Jacob "Israel" which means "struggles with God".) Most of the time, that struggle with Truth is actually a struggle with who WE are.

When God...Truth...is revealed fully, there is no room for self-examination and learning. As it says at that time "every knee WILL bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ the Lord." (emphasis mine on WILL.) I think that what is going on now...where God has been fully revealed but is rarely obvious...is a very special time for mankind.

With God fully revealed through Jesus Christ, we have the fabulous opportunity of coming to God with full knowledge and dealing with every aspect of our life...good...bad...and indifferent.

Let me put it to you the way it occurred to me this Sunday. We were singing a song about coming before him and waiting for him to reveal himself to us. I realized that God could just as easily be singing many of the same words to me every Sunday. He is there before I get there. He (and only he) sanctifies the place and the worship. (Prooftext? God told Moses to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Moses didn't do anything to make that ground holy or sanctified.)

He desires us and longs for us to come before him and to come before him in fellowship with the Bride. He wants us to open up ourselves to him and share/reveal our innermost thoughts. He already has access to those thoughts because of who he is, but he wants us to share them anyway.

His hiding prevents our will from being violated by his majesty and glory. He remains sovereign while giving us room to grow in faith...nay...grow INTO faith. And as we learn to trust him while he's hiding...something is going on that we can't see or understand. He's preparing to fully reveal himself IN his shekinah glory.

My advice for someone who is hurting because God seems distant or hidden? Try to put the hurt to the side for just a moment, go outside, and yell at the top of your lungs:

"All ye all ye outs in free, all come home!!"

Then go back inside your house, open up the Psalms and start praying the more intimate ones to him. The sensation of his presence might be temporary, but if you yelled it at the top of your lungs, he probably will come out of hiding long enough to enjoy your child-like trust and to comfort your soul. He's there...he's really, really, really there.

Why is God hiding? Part 2

2006-01-20T16:21:00.000-06:00

So God hides!! And only fully reveals himself in special circumstances to special people. But has he ever revealed himself fully to us? Even more than in this conversation with Job? Or are we missing who he really is?

That is how I ended my earlier post entitled "Why Does God Hide?" It leads two two questions:

1. Is God REALLY hiding?

and

2. Has he ever fully revealed Himself?

Let me be straight and direct on the first question. Is God REALLY hiding? The direct answer is, of course, yes. God really is hiding. His creation hints at who he is and that he exists. But it isn't direct in revealing him.

In fact--at all points in time for the Christian SINCE the ascension--some faith is required to "see" God. Maybe it's easier when miracles really happen. Maybe the spirit convicts and convinces us in an undeniable way. But it doesn't take long before we're fully dependent on trusting God.

That's for all of us, not just some of us.

But some of us get a special "blessing." God not only isn't visible, but life's pain makes us question the validity of simple promises:

^{Matthew 6:30-32 NIV}If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

^{Matthew 7:9-11}"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

^{Mark 5:35-36 NIV}While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"
³⁶Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

Or for that matter:

^{Matthew 5:10-12 NIV}Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Do I trust each of those promises at this point at face value? I'll be honest. No. In isolation each of these verses has been quoted to me as a "reminder" of how God works and essentially each quote was a judgement of my faith. The people doing the quoting were churchgoers. I'm absolutely certain that they intended what they said for good.

But I think the simplest interpreation of each of these verses may not be what God intended. Each, of course, occurs in a bigger context.

Was Jesus saying regardless of difficult circumstances "don't worry"? After all, don't birds still fall from the sky even if God knows WHEN that happens? Isn't life terrifically cruel at times? And doesn't God ALLOW it to be that way?

As I noted in the first part of this post, that certainly happened to Job. Can I ask a horrifying question? What if Job had followed his friends' advice, admitted that the unbelievable difficulty in his life was HIS FAULT, and repented of his unbelief/sin?

Well...the first thing is that Job's friends would have seduced Job into believing a lie. After all, God said that his friends LIED about God while God said that Job told the truth. What lie is God accusing them of?

If you can answer that question, I believe you will understand why God hides. If you understand the people who lie about God's nature, then you will understand the TRUTH of God's nature.

So what do you think was going through their heads as they accused Job of sin? We know it was a lie...and we KNOW who the father of lies is...what was he telling them?

May I suggest that Satan was whispering this to them:

"THERE you go...now you have proof. Despite the fact that Job SEEMED righteous, he is really NO BETTER THAN YOU."

Wow...think about Satan's fall....and think about Eve & Adam's temptation...think about the temptation of Jesus. They all revolve around the same idea: that someone can through their own actions put themselves on the same plane as someone righteous. Satan thought he was like God. He offered to Eve and to Adam that THEY could be like God. He offered Jesus dominion over Satan's kingdoms if he would only accept Satan's dominion over him.

And Satan's friends clearly were trying to tell Job that he was just like them...that he hadn't done enough to claim righteousness. That he should admit that he was unsaveable.

But in one verse Job sweeps away ALL of his friends comments and sings God's true nature for all of time:

^{Job 19:25-28 NIV} I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;

²⁷ I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

There it is...we're back to the heart of the issue. This verse is approximately at the halfway point in the book of Job. Neither Satan's machinations nor God's incitement against Job can change a very simple fact: Job STILL believes that his Redeemer LIVES and that he YEARNS for that Redeemer!! He hasn't given up on God!!

What is important is not what faith reveals about GOD, but how God is revealed through faith. It isn't the information about God that is important. Difficulty reveals THAT we really believe. Once it makes clear THAT we believe and will NOT be shaken, THEN others will wonder WHAT we believe. We don't trust him BECAUSE of what he does for us. Think really hard about that...we don't TRUST him BECAUSE of what he does. We trust him because of WHO he IS. "Yahweh...I am."

The seed must be broken in order to sprout. You can't see the butterfly until the chrysalis opens. It isn't the factual information that is revealed through difficulty. It is the new creature that proves the existence of God.

Frustration? Difficulty? Can't see God? Me, too. It isn't fun. Friendships no longer there? Can barely stand to go to church? I know what you mean. Every word from the good intentioned is like a spear in the side? It's ok....

Hold on. Don't give up. Don't let go. The Hound of Heaven pursued you and took hold of you. Now YOU DON'T LET GO! Fight!! Struggle!!! Struggle with God!! (ISRAEL!!!)

Who you now are is revealed through all of this. Who are you? When God is hidden, what does it reveal about YOU???

Don't you see the difference between THIS ending and Million Dollar Baby???

Pedantics R Us

2005-11-30T01:50:00.000-06:00

I'm going to poke fun at myself a little. As you can tell from my writing, I feel deep confidence in my ability to understand and to reason. Some people get tired of dealing with my constant desire for "gravitas" (can anyone actually take themselves seriously if they use that word??) I know that it creates a barrier between myself and others at times.

Perhaps who I am as a person is centrally wrong and many of the events that have happened to us are God's way of getting my attention to try and redirect me. Trust me that thought has occurred to me many times over the past several years.

Tonight I am confronting it again. From time to time, though, certain people in my life will actually see through and understand. They accept me for who I am rather than expecting me to be something different.

One of these people was a friend named Kim from Haltom High School. At the time she was dating the guy that would be my roommate my freshman year at Texas A&M. They seemed to have it together. She was a cheerleader type. He was a good looking football type. For some reason they liked me and we enjoyed sitting together in English and in French.

During English one day we were doing vocabulary sentences...you know...where the teacher gives you a word and you write a sentence about it. Kim wrote this about me as her sentence for the word pedantic:

At first, Greg seemed very pedantic, but as I have gotten to know him I realized he is genuinely intelligent.

If you feel that I am boasting with that sentence, please read it again. It isn't exactly pleasant to be told that--at first blush--you seem pedantic and fake. While I knew she meant it as a compliment and wasn't trying to hurt me when she wrote that, it REALLY stung. I remember smiling bravely while my head was swimming. I remember being very close to tears.

Thinking back to that today, I realize that sometimes the pedanticism is just a mask. I portray myself as smart and capable in order to be respected/accepted. But I also know that if I have to choose between the two, I have an easier time with being respected. Being accepted has always been a bit of a fool's errand in my opinion. And yet I SENSE that somehow that is essential to life...placing acceptance over the expectation of respect.

I write this knowing that some will be offended by it. Please trust me, gentle reader, that it is not intended to offend. It is an attempt to deal seriously with a part of me that I wonder about. And to expose that this is an area of real vulnerability for me. I simply don't KNOW at times how to handle this.

I'm sure we could all find some good bible verses that deal with it. God brought Luke 12:48 to my attention once and it is a private theme for me ever since:

^{Luke 12:47-48 NIV} "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. ⁴⁸But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

The passage in context expresses a certain amount of exasperation with those who don't take spiritual things deeply seriously. And you can't miss the fact that in a red-letter Bible these letters are red...that is to say...Jesus spoke them.

Jesus' approach is often puzzling. On one hand he accepts Mary's worship while appearing to chastise Martha's diligence. On the other hand, he gets all over the disciples for their lack of SERIOUS faith...as in not casting out demons and not trusting God to carry them safely over rough waters. You get the feeling that trying to reduce life to a set of rules just doesn't please God. But you also get the feeling that not taking the rules seriously (aka LAW) also displeases him ("I come not to do away with the Law but that the Law will be fulfilled".)

So sometimes we dive into understanding and knowledge to try and figure out how to handle it. Iwas one of those kids who READ about Solomon's choice to pray for wisdom and immediately got on my knees and said "me too!!" I understood that meant--in order to be serious with God--asking for wisdom meant putting a priority on getting that and even completely rejecting the expectation of "riches" in this life. But as I look back at my life, I know a number of people that are very close to me who think of me as a spendthrift...someone who is focused on material goods. And no amount of arguing with them will change their minds!!

As I think through that, I realize the deep isolation that we all live in. Very few people get a clear glimpse of someone else. And if they see clearly, they may very well grasp hold of an incomplete picture of this unfinished work of art that God is completing. They might focus on the unfinished parts instead of the whole picture.

If you've ever seen a partially completed piece of art, you understand that longing for closure that evokes in you. It is VERY easy to reject artistic expression before it is realized or completed. It is also VERY easy to judge the finished piece based on its impact when it was incomplete. We actually stare at the change and attempt to judge whether the CHANGE was good or not!!

We're like that with people. We believe our own talent to critically look at another and to judge whether that person is being "expressed" by God in a pleasing fashion or not. I am guilty of this! Who isn't?? On the other hand, life really cannot be "anything goes." We have an obligation to stand in the gap and to oppose evil. How do we do both?

At the risk of oversimplifying, may I offer a one word answer:

Spiritually

Somehow our spirit must connect to their spirit. Both are unseen, but the spirit of the person IS knowable. We aren't there to judge that spirit. We are there to connect to it in deep, serious ways. Perhaps God will use us to guide the spiritual growth of another person, but we must realize both our personal limitations (dare I say shortcomings??) and God's ownership of the process of guiding growth.

The process of guiding a person to maturity is, perhaps, the ONE area in life where we are not stewards. We can ONLY be fellow pilgrims...companions in spiritual growth. We cannot and MUST not attempt to own another person's growth. Only God can truly own that.

But the sweetest thing in the world is to connect and to understand and to be understood. While Kim's sentence at first hurt me when I read it, my insecurity turned into sweet comfort when God whispered these words in my ears that day:

"She means it."

Getting past the gloss and the dross of everyday life requires spending time seeking out the spirit of the people around us. I honestly believe that our first step in personal evangelism should not be to share but to know the other person deeply. As we express our desire to know them, they will come to know us too...warts and all (frogiveness anyone???)

And as we reach that point of intimacy, trust builds, and we become fellow pilgrims...companions going alongside each other down the road. With the grace of God, we can live our lives visibly in such a way that our choices point ourselves and others towards heaven. Life on our own (under the sun, living outside of grace) is necessarily ungracious.

Isn't it beautiful that one of the Greek words for the Holy Spirit is "paraclete"? It literally means "one who comes alongside". God chooses to become a fellow pilgrim with us in our search for him if we will HONESTLY and FERVENTLY seek him. To do that is very simple but requires ALL that you are:

^{Romans 10:9-11 NIV} (That) if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Why does God hide?

2005-11-17T12:21:00.000-06:00

I came at this indirectly in "Incomparable..." I closed with the "treasure in a field" and the "pearl of great price" analogies (they really aren't parables as much as metaphors...there really isn't a story and neither has an 'ending' per se.)

As I was riding into work this morning I happened to leave late enough to enjoy Chuck Swindoll's Insight for Living broadcast. He had a poignant message for those who have been through the Grinder. You can hear it today at insight.org.

Chuck addressed the crutches that we fall back on when we encounter hard times. He dealt very specifically with how people either rely on the crutches or they find/deepen their relationship with God. I can't present it the way he did, but they come to rely on God by throwing away the crutches.

As an aside, may I postulate that the ONLY reason we turn to these crutches in the first place is because God isn't in full sight? He is hiding from us? And the faith crises happen when we can't "sense" him?

Anyway, the specific crutches Chuck mentioned were:

Escapism--avoiding the pain of dealing with the problem through other activities, other relationships, drugs, or alcohol.

Cynicism--descending into sarcasm, cynicism, and eventually deep bitterness.

Humanism--rejecting biblical explanations and prescriptions for living in favor of human explanations.

Supernaturalism--turning to mysticism and mediums to find meaning/solutions for the problems.

To throw away those crutches requires putting the trust in something or someone else. Who is that someone?

If you are going through the Grinder and you really want to discover meaning and purpose, you eventually have to answer this question:

"Why am I here?"

The superficial, churchy answers quickly fail you. You are not here to attend church every Sunday, to teach a Sunday School class, or to do good works in the community. Those are good consequences to a deep faith, but they are not the CAUSE of faith and they aren't the BEST result of faith.

Otherwise, what does it mean when trouble happens? That IS the point of the book of Job...what is the meaning of trouble? We know from the book of Job that Job's failings did NOT cause his trouble. In fact, his trouble was the result of his faithfulness to God.

God invited Satan to trouble Job. Satan accepted the invitation not once but several times...inflicting progressively greater trouble on Job. Satan turned the screw until Job couldn't take it anymore. He tortured Job relationally, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Not one area of Job's life...as far as we can ascertain from scripture...was left intact. Nothing was spared.

You know...you can't skip the book of Job. God really did that and he really is like that. In order to accomplish an eternal result, he not only allows but is incited by Satan against his people:

^{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."

You know what...I think Satan played directly into God's hands in the book of Job. God allowed Satan to incite Him against Job. And what was the result of that?

1. Job KNEW that this trouble had a supernatural cause. Very early Job accuses God of being behind the change from being blessed to being cursed. And the scripture says that Job did NOTHING wrong in saying that.

2. Job UNDERSTOOD that this wasn't about his unfaithfulness. Job opposed the accusations of his friends and God said that Job told the truth about God and God said the friends lied.

3. God REVEALED himself to Job in a direct fashion BECAUSE of the difficulty that Job endured. One of the most startling sections of scripture has man coming face to face with God and God asks some BLISTERING questions:

^{Job 38:1-11 NIV} Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
² "Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?

³ Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

⁴ "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.

⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

⁶ On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-

⁷ while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels ^[a] shouted for joy?

⁸ "Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

¹¹ when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?

The 'chapterizers' of the Old Testament devoted two lengthy chapters to God's questions, and then in Chapter 40 we see this exchange:

^{Job 40:1-7 NIV} The LORD said to Job:
² "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!"

³ Then Job answered the LORD :

⁴ "I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.

⁵ I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more."

⁶ Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:

⁷ "Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

Then God continues through the rest of chapter 40 and all of 41 asking Job MORE questions!! Job stands up to all of this--which I suspect caused GREATER terror in him than ALL of his difficulty--until he is finally able to fully respond:

^{Job 42:1-7} Then Job replied to the LORD :
² "I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.

³ You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.'

⁵ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.

⁶ Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."

So why do I think God hoodwinked Satan into attacking Job? What purpose might God have had in mind in doing this? Why would God put his servants through all of this?

I think God desired to reward Job with a deep understanding of who he really is. You know the kind of disucssion I'm talking about if you've ever dated. The one where you really, in truly just want to be honest with someone who loves you and know they accept you for who you are?

You know...that honest, gritty "relationship" discussion where we get it all out on the table where we humans hope we can tell all and be fully embraced and accepted? God seems to be doing that with Job. And look at Job's responses: "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know" & "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Sin puts us in a state where God is "too wonderful for me to know". When we see him with our eyes, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Salvation is necessary not just so that we won't suffer eternal destruction. Salvation is necessary BECAUSE he desires us in his presence. Job was a RIGHTEOUS man according to the Bible. He was BLAMELESS in the things he said according to the Bible. God desires to relate to us...he desires for us to know him FULLY.

And the ONLY thing standing between us and knowing God fully is....sin. It is as if it is the sin that ignites when we are in God's presence and destroys us. Sin is like white phosphorus. It gets on (and under) our skin, ignites, and destroys us...ESPECIALLY when we are in the presence of the Living God.

So God hides!! And only fully reveals himself in special circumstances to special people. But has he ever revealed himself fully to us? Even more than in this conversation with Job? Or are we missing who he really is?

TO BE CONTINUED...

Incomparable...

2005-11-16T12:50:00.000-06:00

A consumer culture forces comparisons and choices on us. Every day we are assaulted with messages that--like children begging for money in any developing society--demand our attention.

The temptation is to present Christianity as a consumer choice. Reason suggests that we should put all of the world's religions on a shelf and pick and choose from each according to how each meets our own, personally perceived needs.

The deep flaw of consumerism is the selfishness and self-centeredness of the consumer. Nothing makes it clearer than when we make choices about what to buy. I'll be honest...I'm not immune to this. Even today I get upset if things aren't "just so". Serve me off-brand ketchup or green beans and I'm as likely as an 8-year-old to turn up my nose.

When I was younger--think mid-high school through college--I had a real issue with the claim that the genesis (small g, not the first book of the OT) of the Bible that we have is sufficiently trustworthy to treat the Bible in its entirety as infallible. And I used the potential fallibility of the text that WE have to essentially become a choosy consumer of doctrine. I picked what I liked and the rest...well...I didn't "trust it."

My dad influenced me against this position in several very specific conversations that I remember. Two of the most influential are:

1. The first was when he asked me the question...seemingly out of the blue...if I could express the difference between "trusting" and "obeying." At that time I was in my late teens so I'm sure I had some authority issues that were the source of the question...no doubt issues that I had expressed to him.

I thought about it and tried giving a definition that clearly differentiated the two concepts because, in my mind at least, they were different. He listened attentively as I defined each, and then he said, "when you get down to it, aren't they really the SAME thing??"

That provoked me to think about them and to try and harmonize the two in my mind as a single concept. Later in that conversation I responded back that they are essentially two faces of a single coin...the coin we call faith. You can't have faith without trusting and you aren't practicing your faith without obeying.

Both faces...while seemingly different...show something deeper.

2. The second time may have been before that conversation, but I believe it was after it. I was probably a student at Texas A&M when we had it. He was aware of my concerns about the accuracy of biblical text. Instead of defending it a la Josh McDowell's "Evidence that Demands a Verdict", he took a different approach.

I was reading about C.S. Lewis today at another blog and the author referred to C.S. Lewis using "abductive logic." This C.S. Lewis scholar explained it this way:

Lewis also utilized a form of logic known in philosophy as "abductive reasoning" in order to arrive at his conclusions regarding Christianity. Abductive reasoning, used in much scientific endeavor, appeals to the best explanation. This line of reasoning is clear in Lewis' argument from longing or desire. In Mere Christianity he writes, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

My dad used abductive logic when he offered this reasoning: if you view SOME of the biblical text as having an untrustworthy genesis, how do you choose which part to believe and which part to reject? Aren't you essentially putting yourself in God's shoes to try to do that? And if any part of the Bible is unreliable, doesn't that put us in the position of not being able to trust any of it?

You know that sound that Astro makes on the Jetsons when something catches his attention and he knows something bad is about to happen??? "Rut-roh" When my dad expressed this to me, it really caught my attention. Wasn't I failing to trust God by failing to accept the Bible as his reliable self-revelation? After all, what more reliable story of God and of Jesus do we have than the Bible? If we don't share this common expression of revelation, aren't we left to each person judging God and interpreting God through his or her own eyes?

Said differently--and hardly originally since others have thought and said this before--if there is no absolute truth...specifically if the text of the Bible is not reliable...then am I not free to believe whatever I choose and it really is irrelevant WHAT I believe?

I'll take you a moment to sift through my two conversations with my dad for just a moment before you answer that. Let me remind you of some of my credentials: I am trained as a scientist. I have a American Chemical Society-recognized Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Texas A&M University. For over 20 years I have worked with computers using extremely specific mathematics-based languages in order to control the operation of machines. I have lived and breathed formal logic since high school.

It isn't through formal logic or human reason that I came to know Jesus Christ. In fact I will argue that both the narrower topic of formal logic and the broader topic of human reason are very restrictive in what they can "discover." Both are limited to the axioms that you start with. If you start with an under-the-sun, natural philosophy--as the author of Ecclesiastes tried to do--you end up with life having no unifying vision, purpose, or satisfaction.

The DESIRE for purpose and satisfaction--according to C.S. Lewis's "abductive logic"--suggests that we are indeed made for something that isn't here. Not only that, but it suggests that what we will experience THEN doesn't in any way COMPARE to what we experience NOW.

I'll be honest with you...as much as I love this world and have come to appreciate both the visible and the invisible parts of it...I'm glad it doesn't compare to what comes next. I'll tell you why as simply as I know how...

I don't want there to be a sense of choosing or of losing when we transition from HERE to THERE...from NOW to THEN. I hope that even my memories are redeemed through the process of transfiguration. That I am able to fully see and understand what that which today causes me deep disappointment and frustration.

Paul referred to it as seeing through a glass darkly. Some scholars even believe the thorn in the side that he refers to is recurring blindness or even extreme myopia in part because of his reference to seeing darkly. But he goes on to say:

^{1 Cor 13:12 KV (link to whole chapter)} For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

I have a theory why life works this way. God is incomparable. And consuming is about choosing. God knows once we have seen him face to face that we no longer are choosing...we KNOW. Just like Isaac took Rebecca into his tent and KNEW her, when we see God face to face we will KNOW him. Once we know him there is no longer a choice...the outcome is forced.

So he hides and gives us both indirect hints and direct revelation. We play hide and seek with him searching for--if you will--the marvelous, incomparable intelligence that unifies creation. He gives us a treasure hunt to see if...given a hint of treasure...we will search out the source of treasure rather than being satisfied with just the treasure itself.

My prooftext?

^{Matthew 13:44-46 NIV} "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
⁴⁵"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Frogiveness

2005-11-11T08:38:00.000-06:00

Go back...read it again. I spelled it that way on purpose. FROGiveness.

I hit the keys on the wrong order the other day, and when I read what I wrote, I started laughing out loud. It wasn't one of those soft chuckles. No, I didn't giggle. I laughed. I LAUGHED.

Why did I laugh so hard at the thought of FROGiveness? Let me set the stage for you:

You've heard this story before: a princess meets a frog, kisses him, and he turns into a prince. We all smile when the eyes of young children grow as big as saucers as they hear this story for the first time. The difference between a child and an adult is the child BELIEVES the fairy tale. The frog REALLY TURNS into a prince in the mind's eye of a child. For a grownup it is just a story...evoking pleasant memories of childhood...but still just a story.

Isn't salvation exactly like that story? Jesus--the bridegroom...the Prince--finds a frog. Except the frog is pretty sure that she is important and lovely. Jesus lovingly kisses us, and we turn from frogs into real people with spirits that are alive and free FOR THE FIRST TIME. Before that we have the spirits of frogs...

And in order for this fairy tale to come true in our lives, we must BELIEVE it as if we are children. We must cast off the cynicism and stoicism of adulthood and regain our ability to FULLY put our trust in someone that PROMISES deliverance.

Why have we become so cynical? Snake-oil salesmen. They promise what they can't deliver. We put our heart into believing and are disappointed over and over and over again. The king of snake-oil salesmen is the head snake Satan. You might recognize him au naturel in the Garden of Eden. He's there. Selling snake oil. "YOU can be LIKE GOD if you ONLY eat of THIS FRUIT (and rebel against God.)"

That's the snake-oil salesman's patter: do this and achieve power and glory and honor (by denying God's power and glory and honor.) We try it. We never find what we're looking for in it. We are disappointed at spending our $1.99 to find the MEANING of life!! We know it has to cost SOMETHING to find it, but we're cheap, so we're not going to pay very much after all. We want the shortcut. We want the easy answer.

But God isn't a snake-oil salesman. In fact, he really isn't into selling at all. He expects US to seek HIM out. And he wants us to do it with our whole hearts...with EVERYTHING that we have.

And when we do, the story goes something like this:

You've left the lilypad to go on a search for that something that you know you're missing. You look high and low under EVERY branch and along EVERY path. You find data--information--that suggests that it all makes sense and all hangs together. Your heart longs to find the meaning and the purpose to life.

You're hopping along one day and another frog says: "Hey, I've been where you are and I would like to introduce you to someone that can help you with finding meaning. In fact, if you get to know him he will change your life." You've heard the story about the princess and the frog and you wonder, IS IT TRUE?

So you go along with this frog and you come upon an Alice-in-Wonderland-style mushroom with frogs gathered all around. Your friend says, "He's over there, can't you see him?"

You look and you're frustrated because he seems to be hidden behind other frogs. You can't see that awesome Prince that you envision in your mind. You know...the one that stands head and shoulders above the rest, has smooth skin, long dark hair, a beard, and stands in flowing robes.

Then the crowd parts and you SEE him. But...wait...he isn't what you expected. He isn't much to look at. He's kind of short...in fact...compared to your mental picture of the Prince...he's disappointingly short. His skin is indeed smooth, but not for the reason that you imagined. You see...he's a frog, too.

Your mind starts to reel: "The Prince is a frog? How can that be? And if he is a frog, then what happens when...well...he kisses me? What do I turn into now?"

Thinking of the snake that tried to sell you some magical "Amphibious Skin Smoother" last week, you start to turn away and head out. Maybe the promise of meaning is a farce. Maybe our greatest hopes are pointless.

Then it happens...he looks at you...says your name. And you KNOW there is something different about this frog. He asks you if you have ever experienced FROGiveness in your life. You honestly don't know what that is so you say, "no".

Then he startles you: "You can only experience FROGiveness if you give up your search for meaning and replace it with knowing ME. If you will do that, I will FROGive you and your life will be filled to overflowing."

"What? But my search for meaning is all I am," you think. "How can I replace it with anything less than bountiful knowledge or beautiful art or wonderful music?"

"How can I find meaning and purpose in knowing a FROG? And what happens to my hope of leaving frogness behind and becoming something else?? When will I be kissed and change just like in the fairy tales?"

But...but...there is something about him. You know that what's on the inside of him is different even if the outside looks like all the other frogs...maybe even worse...you know he isn't even that handsome!!

So you answer, "I don't even know what FROGiveness is...how can you FROGive me?"

And he smiles lovingly, walks over to you, and puts his head on top of your head and kisses you...and then you know!! FROGiveness is God accepting exactly who you are...warts and all...in order that you might know exactly who he is in all of his glory.

And it's called FROGiveness because God knew that in order for FROGS to accept FROGiveness, it had to come from someone a LOT like them. And in that moment you realize that God is more than you can ever imagine and you know that you will never know all there is to know about him no matter how much you search.

You also know you WILL search and you WILL discover him. And in doing that the purpose of being a frog will become both obvious and completed. And that only through FROGiveness could you EVER have known all of that!

So I ask you...gentle reader...have you experienced FROGiveness? Have you turned your life over to God exactly the way you are? And in doing so have you asked him to reveal himself to you? And is he doing that right now as you read this story?

God is waiting to come alive for you like you have never imagined. He is getting ready to pierce the veil and break through and you will see him in ALL of his glory. But for right now we have to search with ALL of our heart to know him. Isn't the promise of meaning (not to mention sharing his glory) worth it? Won't you ask for FROGiveness from him today?

;)

The presence of greatness

2005-11-07T17:45:00.000-06:00

We MKs of Indonesia--the missionary kids whose parents planted families in that exotic place--have a hidden fondness for a place near Mt. Merapi in Central Java. I don't remember the Indonesian name for the encampment, but I remember the name we gave it: Camp MiKi.

The founder of Camp Miki is Catherine Walker. She was a single woman who answered God's call to missions. If you have heard of Disciple's Prayer Life: Walking in Fellowship with God, she is the co-author of that study. She was not much older when we were in Indonesia than I am now. She decided--her story--that the MKs should have a special experience each summer filled with spiritual learning and fun. She also wanted the parents to have a break at the end of the parent-led home schooling that most mission stations used.

Indonesia is an exotic place filled with life. When you think of the word "rainforest", unless you have seen one your concept of it might be something static. As I've posted before, there is a battle for the land between the kotas (towns/cities), desas (villages), rice paddies, and the forest. Every inhabitant joins the battle every day. About mid-day the rains tend to come and revive the forest and keep the paddies full.

We would take the train to Camp Miki. My first summer we rode from Bandung. The second summer we rode from Madiun (through Solo..I'm pretty sure Brent and Melissa joined Jeff, Jason, and myself.) At Camp Miki there was a central lodge with a screened in area where we all met. Then the campers whent to their own cabins.

We had scriptures to memorize before arriving. And we banded together in tribes when we got there. The Cheyenne were the younger campers (grades 1-3). The Cherokee were the middle campers (grades 4-6). Comanches were the oldest...the junior high age. The Counselors were missionaries. The Counselors In Training were the high schoolers who had graduated from Camp Miki in past years.

Aunt Catherine...we called the other missionaries "Aunt" and "Uncle" in order to promote a sense of family...designed all of this and led it herself. She always worked through a Camp Director. I remember Johnny Norwood was the Camp Director one of the two years that I went.

There were Bible Drills, Memorization Drills, and sports. But all of it was compressed into two weeks. We went swimming and hiking. I remember Jana Sanders having a broken ankle one year and being carried by Vance Worten. It's odd the things that come back when you think about things like this.

I learned to make a bed with "hospital corners" at Camp Miki and how to make a quarter bounce off of it. Each meal there were campers assigned to doing dishes. I remember feeling flustered when I was assigned to do the dishes with the eldest daughter of the Beck family...a family my parents had known in College.

I wrestled with Brad Beevers one year on the starting day of camp and was frustrated when he scissors-locked me with his leg when I was pretty sure I was stronger. In the second year I thought I would be chosen as a "Little Chief", but was disappointed when that didn't happen. That was one of my first experiences with dealing with the Holy Spirit when he chooses someone else. I knew the ones that were chosen were chosen for a good reason...and not just because the missionaries leading the camp were deciding. Steve and his wife Connie now serve as missionaries.

"Aunt" Catherine was one of many single missionaries that served in Indonesia. Most were women, but one, John Tatum, was memorable to me because of his very dry wit. I learned recently that another, Mary Alice Ditsworth, recently lost all of her possesions due to Hurricane Katrina. The extended Indonesian mission family was banding together to reach out to her and to help her. Some were medical doctors and nurses.

I have a great affection for the women especially. While they never discussed it in these terms, the calling replaced things like marriage and families. I believe in my heart that Camp Miki served a far greater purpose in the lives of us MKs than Aunt Catherine could ever have accomplished by 'merely' being a housewife and raising her own children. To me her sacrifice was a noble and worth one and one that continues to impact my life as I seek to raise my own children. I enjoy the impact of AWANAs on my children because it reminds me of Camp Miki, for instance.

Of course, it gave me great private pleasure after I was married to Jennifer to lead a session teaching PrayerLife that included my wife...in part because it allowed me to share about someone who I loved very much with my new bride. So even many years after Camp Miki, Aunt Catherine still was impacting my life.

I write about her for one very simple reason. Greatness comes from the willingness to live in the absolute center of God's Will. I doubt that Aunt Catherine was trying as she conceived of Camp Miki to have a "lifelong impact". But because she was prompted and because she obeyed, I remember her best of those single missionaries...and I remember all of them BECAUSE of her.

There is a formula in the Bible, of course, for considering and seeking greatness. It's one we should all consider every day:

^{Matthew 20:25-28 NIV} Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

If you happen to think of someone that has had this kind of impact on your life, perhaps now would be a good time to thank them? I took the opportunity to send a thank you email to Aunt Catherine after Brent shared her email address with me.

I entitled it "A Bouquet of Appreciation." I was pleasantly surprised when she acknowledge it with a phone call. Something tells me that it really touched her to have confirmed that her sacrifice--to become the servant to the children of missionaries--was purposeful.

This makes me pause...

2005-10-31T10:52:00.000-06:00

Kyle Lake--the 33-year-old pastor of University Baptist Church of Waco--passed away yesterday. He died in the baptistry of his church from grabbing the microphone while standing in shoulder-deep water.

I don't know Kyle personally, but I had heard of his efforts first as Community Pastor and then as Senior Pastor of UBC Waco. I went to the church's site and listened to his last sermon from a couple of weeks ago. It was intense--for me--as he dealt with the subject of apparently unanswered prayers. He didn't know it would be his last taped sermon.

He suggested that perhaps the prayers we view as unanswered are actually answered. And that we don't always perceive the answers even as God answers prayer. And that we should trust he IS actively answering prayers.

Today I received Avery Willis' Prayer Letter regarding his efforts to minister the gospel around the world. You might recognize Avery's name if you went through MasterLife discipleship in the 80s or 90s. He is one of the most gifted innovators of strategies for eveangelism and is currently working on a ministry that was called EPIC but that will become OneStory.

In his words: "OneStory is a two-year training and mentoring program to help two-year personnel translate and record 50-60 Bible stories in the languages of unreached peoples, most of whom have no Bible translation or work among them."

In each Prayer Letter he lists both the prayers for the current month and the specific answers to the previous months. It is an amazing blessing to read about the answers to prayer that Avery distributes...and it always encourages me to pray seriously for his (and the International Mission Board's) ministry.

I thought of Kyle as I read Avery's letter this morning. Sometimes the prayers are answered immediately...especially when many pray. Kyle pointed out that Moses changed God's mind once when God was very angry with the Hebrews/Israelites. Then another time Moses was frustrated and God changed his mind. Isn't that beautiful?

P.S. If you would like to hear directly from Avery and support his ministry in prayer, drop me a line (my signature has my gmail account set up as mailto:). And while you're doing that, won't you pray that God would replace Kyle with another Godly man who is also after God's own heart? And that many would be saved because of the situation at UBC Waco??

Oh to Grace how great a debtor...

2005-10-27T14:27:00.000-05:00

So if you really get Grace, then you get this phrase from "Come, Thou Font of Every Blessing":

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee:
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, oh, take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
--Words by Robert Robertson, 1758

Think through those words carefully. They are beautiful beyond imagination...well, beyond mine at least. My debt to Grace is SOOOO great. Every day I accumulate new debt...but not of the overwhelming, burdening kind.

No, God's grace FREES ME. ("You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.") He unburdens me. He breaks the bonds of slavery to sin (daily). He raptures my SOUL DAILY into his presence (if I am willing to go there). And enraptures ME in the process.

Leslie Phillips sings on "Black & White in a Grey World":

Waiting for angry words to sear my soul
Knowing I don't deserve another chance
Suddenly the kindest words I've ever heard
Come flooding from God's heart
(Chorus)
It's your kindness that leads us
To repentance Oh Lord
Knowing that You love us
No matter what we do
Makes us want to love You too

Where does that phrase come from?? It comes from Paul's systematic theological explanation of the need and providence of God's salvation:

^{Romans 2:4 NIV} Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

Paul deals with the necessity of slavery: either to God or to sin. So Robert Robertson writes "Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee." Mr. Robertson responds to Paul's theme of the struggle between the sin nature and the redeemed nature of man when he writes "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the one I love." He responds to that with the only sensible solution: "Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."

That echoes Paul's belief statement on the security of the believer in 2 Timothy 1:12b: "...I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."

What we often miss is the context where he says that:

^{2 Timothy 1:8-12 NIV} So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

Paul suffered but was not ashamed BECAUSE he knows who he believes and BECAUSE he trusts God--despite the trouble--to hold onto HIM. I have to admit that my faith was/is weaker than Paul on this point. There are times when I have felt ashamed over the suffering...because my lack of understanding grew to the point of distrust. But I remain convinced (based in part on this testimony by Paul) that God continues to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

And that is precisely the point of Grace. The Law can't accomplish what Grace can accomplish. Only Grace can accomplish the revelation of God's incredible love. The Law reveals his holiness and his requirements. And it stands to affirm that sinful man is without ANY hope once in the hands of an angry and righteous God.

Without any hope except for one: that God is not arbitrary or whimsical and that his essential nature is to express Love through Grace in order to redeem us.

Therefore: "Oh to Grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be!!"

Trouble and Grace

2005-10-26T18:55:00.000-05:00

Help me out if you would. Have you ever had this thought:

"Isn't bankruptcy an awful lot like grace?"

The reason I ask that question is that we Christians often don't really believe in grace. We'll spend time setting up rules for ourselves and others that are well-intentioned: those rules are designed to keep us/them from offending God or designed to keep us/them from causing other Christians to stumble.

We reason very well that if everyone would just follow all of these rules, then they won't get in trouble!! And once we've convinced ourselves of that, it becomes easy to justify writing new rules.

One of the current set of "guidelines" that is cycling through Christian communities is that debt is forbidden by the Bible. This is backed by appealing to verses that, taken in isolation, seem to forbid either lending-related or borrowing-related activities.

One that often comes up is this jewel: "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." It sounds Bible-based, of course, either from the phrasing or just the sensibility of it. But it isn't Biblical. It is actually some 16 centuries YOUNGER than the Bible. It comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet and is a comment by Polonius to his son.

Not to be deterred, many turn to either Proverbs 22:7 (also 6:15) or Romans 13:7-10 to try and create/sustain an absolute prohibition on borrowing. While all wisdom is from God and I believe we can trust that God only allowed 'wisdom' to be included that is understandable / explainable, we also recognize that some of the Proverbs and much of the book of Ecclesiastes represent a certain amount of "worldly" wisdom that might be called "under the sun" wisdom.

And the passage in Romans MUST be viewed in context. It comes in a passage where Paul intentionally deals with the difference between worldly authorities and the higher priority of spiritual principles that exceed normal worldly "rules"/authority. So Paul speaks first of authorities. Then he speaks of owing authorities (i.e. taxes, honor, respect). Then he speaks of, essentially, never being in arrears to those authorities.

This becomes a little clearer in the NASB ("Render to all what is due them...") and the ASV ("Render to all their dues:..."). From there Paul transitions to the spiritual. In the NIV verse Romans 13:8 comes out: "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." I think the NIV translation captures the intent very well of what Paul was saying...and remember that Paul was a Jew's Jew so when he talks about fulfilling the LAW he means the Torah...

So what does the Torah require? I'm going to give you some passages to look up and study:

Exodus 22:25-27, Leviticus 25:35-37, Deuteronomy 15:1-12, and Deuteronomy 28:12-13, 43-45. Each passage deals with some aspect of borrowing or lending. The passages occur in the context of addressing the Hebrew nation that is about to posses the land of Israel...i.e. be established as a "landed" new nation as opposed to being wanderers (Hebrew is believed to come from the ancient Semitic word `bri with the breath mark at the beginning having the approximate pronunciation of a softly voiced 'h'.)

But the most fascinating of these passages is this one:

^{Deuteronomy 15:1-12 NIV} At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. ² This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. ³ You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. ⁴ However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, ⁵ if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. ⁶ For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
⁷ If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. ⁸ Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
¹² If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free.

Why is that passage interesting? Look at how God calls over and over and over for freedom for his people? And for his people to be openhanded? Note the quote "There will always be poor people in the land." Does that sound familiar to you?

Remember the disciples complaining about the wasted perfume? And Jesus said "There will be poor always"? He was quoting (from memory) from this passage! That means that we can count on this passage being something he had read and if anyone at that meal recognized it, that Jesus mentioned it in order to get those there to go read and remind themselves of God's desire for graciousness BY his people.

Specifically look at this: "¹At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. ² This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed."

The LORD's time for cancelling debts is every 7 years. If you file chapter 7 in the US and have your debts discharged, you may not file again IF you have filed in the previous six years. Only in the SEVENTH year can you file again. Hmm...how...umm...coincidental??

Banks refer to an interesting concept in making a loan. The concept that a borrower will voluntarily choose to default on a loan is called "moral hazard." Note that the Torah doesn't directly consider the problem of "moral hazard" with respect to the BORROWER. But it does anticipate the "moral hazard" of not LENDING money to the needy:

"Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to."

Even with the latest dating by the most liberal scholars, this passage dates to at least 1,000 BC/BCE...to approximately the Kingdom of David. And if it traces back to the exodus it's at least 3,200 years old. What an amazing picture of grace this is.

But how do we as Christians respond to those that file for bankruptcy? Do you feel the person is cheating? Getting out cheap? Not working hard enough? Misusing his reputation (and perhaps other Christians') by accumulating obligations and then not repaying them?

Do you feel the urge to counsel people to pay off ALL of their debt when they are overwhelmed? Does your church have a plan for helping out those who are unable to manage their finances: both those who have made mistakes in borrowing AND those who God has allowed to be overwhelmed with the events of life?

Here is the heart of the issue that I'm getting at: when you see someone in trouble, do you extend grace to them? The grace that God has already given to you?

After all, the Law calls for Grace.

P.S. I addressed this before in Is bankruptcy a form fo grace?. I'm revisiting it in part because my friend just told me about his efforts to dissolve a business and to resolve his personal indebtedness that resulted from trying to keep the business going and keep the people employed.

Did it make any difference?

2005-09-27T20:01:00.000-05:00

Jennifer and I prayed for Rita to sit offshore and die. We traded information about the windspeed and position during that praying. When it landed it was Category 3 instead of Category 5. But by one report it wiped out 90% of the homes in Cameron Parish, the far southwest parish in Louisiana.

Did God answer our prayers? Is the primary purpose of praying to influence God? If you look at the model prayer, I think you get a very direct answer to this question:

^{Matthew 6:5-15 NIV}"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
⁹"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹Give us today our daily bread.
¹²Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
¹⁴For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Jesus provides us both a theological framework for prayer and a quotable prayer that can be and is used for public prayer. Some evangelicals get squeamish at using a 'model' prayer for public purposes. I am convinced that Jesus gave us this prayer as an example to be prayed.

If you've heard any sermons on this passage, you can almost follow along point-by-point with how I understand this passage:

1. Jesus starts with focusing on and praying to the Father. I'm going to borrow from the Greek Interlinear at Scripture4All.org:

v9 "Thus then be praying (you): Father of us (THE) in the heavens let-be-holy(ized) the name of you"

You can already hear in this rendering a calmer, more casual voice. The praying is in the present tense. But the "holyizing" is Aorist Passive Imperfect. Aorist implies immediate action. Passive suggests that something other than the actions of the subject leads to the action...perhaps even other than the actions of the object. Imperfect connotes continuation of action/occurrence. This is the purpose of worship: that God's name will be made/kept holy as we understand our relationship to Him and as we honor him.

As I read this, it gives me the sense that we are called on to pray that God's essential character would shine through and cause his name to be made holy.

2. Jesus emphasizes the Father's pre-eminence over the universe. Jews often refer to God as the "Master of the Universe". This model prayer emphasizes both the arrival of God's Kingdom and the realization of God's Will:

v10 "Let be coming the kingdom of you; Let be-being-become the will of you as in heaven and on land"

The kingdom is arriving. But God's will is being brought into being or, if you will, being rendered/realized (greek ginomai). And the prayer asks that it not just occur in heaven (it WILL occur there) but also on the earth.

3. Jesus recognizes our temporal needs in this eternal cosmos. He instructs us to ask that our needs be met:

v11 "The bread of-us (the) on-being be-giving to-us today"

The word that gets transliterated "on-being" is epiousios. There is controversy regarding the specific meaning that dates back to early church days. Perhaps the best way to view it is as a measure of sufficiency. Then you might translate this verse "Give us this day sufficient bread for the day." This of course alludes to the manna (literally "what's this?") that God provided the Hebrews on their trek from Egypt to Ha'aretz Yisrael where they became Israelites. If you recall, they got upset at ONLY being provided with manna...they weren't satisfied with God's daily Providence. This verse suggests both asking for and expecting and accepting precisely what is necessary.

I think the most important part of this verse is that Jesus has us pray to the Father for daily needs. The emphasis is on needs, but it is also on every day. God desires to hear from us daily...about everyday things.

4. Not missing a beat, Jesus transitions from physical to spiritual necessities. The conjunction between these two verses suggests that they cannot be separated but MUST be seen as a single request:

v12 "And from-Let to-US the owes (debts) of-us as and/also we from-let to-the owers (debtors) of us." (the 'from-let' is translated 'forgive' in most English versions)

Which is worse? To go without bread or to owe something to a brother or for him to have owe us (either materially or spiritually)? We think of this in terms of sin and forgiveness. But the emphasis is on who owes and who is owed. The verse reminds us of the very memorable Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:23-35.

We tend to mentally separate bread and debts. But if you consider the two together, you realize that it points to our interconnectedness with each other. As God provides for one...often in abundance...we are able to provide for another...acquiring the opportunity for obligation but never REQUIRING a return obligation. In God's economy, God's Providence overflows...and we are openhanded in receiving it, in sharing it, and in blindly allowing others to participate in our abundance.

In treating God's Providence to us with an open hand, our spirits align with his Spirit. He gives freely to us...and we give freely to others. He doesn't expect us to repay HIM for his Providence...neither should we expect others to repay our generosity. We should instead hope that generosity cascades into the lives of others and frees them to also be generous.

This is NOT a call for socialism by the way. Socialism is the expectation that others (presumably that have more) would see the benefit to themselves of being generous (to the less fortunate...or perhaps even to us). A Christian comes at it differently. Instead of expecting someone ELSE to "get it", when we put Jesus in charge it is up to US to "get it."

It is like standing under the shower of blessings and giddily inviting others in...splashing blessings onto them to bring them into the shower. If you ask of God and he blesses you...don't you see that as the source of blessing he is able to bless you more than he already has...and not just materially?

5. Jesus connects trials with deliverance from the evil one. This next verse gets translated "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." But follow the transliteration:

v13 "And no (not) you-may-be-into-carrying us into trial, but rescue us from the wicked one."

I think the way I would interpret that is something like this: "Don't just bring trial after trial on us, but deliver us from the one that thinks enough trials will break our spirit...don't let us be broken." You can't help but believe Jesus is thinking of Job's trial as he offers this phrase. And you get the feeling that it is more generic than simply temptation...any trial of life.

6. The prayer ends there, but Jesus provides his OWN commentary on forgiveness. The Greek text skips "For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen." Jesus comments with the heavenly perspective:

v14 "If ever (conditional) for you-may-be-from-letting to the humans (anthropos) the beside-falls (offenses) of them, shall-be-from-letting and/also to you the father of you (in) heaven"

Very simply...your expectation that God will forgive YOUR sin should be based on your willingness to forgive others. You have no hope of forgiveness until you are willing to forgive others. In case we miss the obvious meaning, Jesus reconstructs the same verse using the negative condition in verse 15. "If you don't forgive others, the Father won't forgive you."

As I read through this, I am struck by its freshness. From depicting God as BOTH fatherly AND heavenly (radical) to basing forgiveness on the willingness to forgive, Jesus rewrites human expectations. And yet he does this in teaching us to pray...to beseech God. He is throwing out the old ways and introducing a new way...and yet you sense this was always the original way that God wanted it to be.

When we honestly approach God...no gamesmanship...I believe he thoroughly hears us. When we come to game rather than to let down our guard, I believe he still hears us, but it isn't the same. Again I think of the biblical comment about David: being a man after God's own heart. And then I think of Jesus's comment about Nathanael: "here is a man of no guile." These men somehow came before God with whole hearts...nothing kept to one side.

When we come to pray that way…no guile …no gamesmanship …according to the will of the Father …we really can expect God to answer. I don't even think we have to try to overspiritualize this. We can expect God to answer according to what we prayed.

So why are we so surprised when the hurricane dwindles just as we have prayed for it to do?

The job I don't want...

2005-09-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

Jen's parents live in Clear Lake just off the Gulf Freeway (I-45) between Houston and Galveston. If you have read the Drudge Report today you might have seen the exit before theirs on the way out of town. They are in the process of boarding their rear-facing windows (not enough lumber or time for the north-facing) and putting keepsakes and momentos into the car.

If you remember my post from August about making tough choices, it is strangely prophetic of what they are doing today: sorting through the house and choosing what will survive and what might be lost. Please pray for them and for the residents of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast as another monster storm tests the character of our nation.

If you are like me, you want to pray this thing away. But where do you pray it to? Of course, the greatest hope is that the Gulf will cool overnight and that Rita will lose her fury. But if that doesn't happen, then what? I have friends all along the Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi to Alabama. To whom do I send a hurricane with my prayers? Away from Jen's parents? To Cheri's house in Corpus? Back to Roy's stomping grounds near New Orleans (potentially completely destroying that city?)

How should I pray?

The awesome fury of a storm brings us face to face with God's Majesty. It defies our human sensibilities to be able to judge and to choose and to allow some to suffer and some to die and some to be saved. We are not capable of deciding that. We shouldn't try. God's compassion should restrain us from desiring to choose one over the other.

This sentiment should apply to all of life. Favoritism is a tricky thing, and it must be avoided at all costs. We help those who need help without checking their religious creeds, their skin color, their ZAG (ZIP Code/Age/Gender), or even their righteousness. In doing that, we respond to the calamities of life exactly as they happen: treating everyone the same...just as calamity does. God allows the calamity...we help him respond with HIS OWN disaster recovery plan.

I posted that God had a disaster recovery plan that included a spiritual response to very specific needs of every single individual...that not one person would be forsaken by Heaven. I posted that prompted by God's Spirit, not just guessing. I am humbled as I read over and over and over again about the amazing outpouring for Katrina. Now Rita is upon us and we risk weariness in the working of righteousness.

May I offer this prayer for this situation:

O Master of the Storms, O God of the Winds:

You and you alone plot the path of the typhoon.
You know who will be stricken and who will be spared.
You can count the drops of rain in the deluge.
You can measure the electrons in a lightning bolt.

You know every person that is in harm's way
You carefully choose the path accordingly
Your plan for each is carefully considered
Each one gets an audience before your Throne

And as you ponder the fate of that person
That moment of attention ennobles him
That moment of consideration crowns her
And each one is made personal to you

You know of the child whose parents are lost
You comfort the mom whose newborn dies
You weep with the man who loses his wife
You shelter the family that loses their home

Nothing has ever escaped you
And nothing ever will
You can recount every story
Of your great compassion for mankind

We ask but one thing Almighty Lord
That you would reach out
With your strong right arm
And touch us with your right hand

That we would endure more struggle
That we would endure more suffering
That we would still reach to others
That we would minister renewal and revival

Our nation's greatest moment has come
As we respond to great devastation
And reach out our arms to our own nation
And it is now that we must not tire, O Lord!

In the precious name of Jesus
May it be as I have requested!

UPDATE: After 17 hours of driving, I understand my in-laws had reached the outskirts of Austin on US 290 (normally about a four-hour drive) and were nearing the home they are riding out the storm in. Pray for them as they try to calmly wait out a storm that continues to threaten their home in Clear Lake.

UPDATE 2: Rita is down to 125 MPH winds and has been downgraded from category 5 to category 3. Keep praying!!

Oddly enough...

2005-09-08T13:56:00.000-05:00

I needed to play with some ideas from work and the blog gave me a way to think through a lot of that. The result is that I am going to shorten the "blurb" on the main page and link to the article. If you leave the main page, you can use the browser "back" button or right click over the browser and select the "Back" option. The goal is to put a teaser on the main page AND to avoid overwhelming readers since I don't have an editor keeping me concise.

Well...as you can see...there is MORE text on this page than on the index page. Look for the 'left arrow' under the "File" menu to go back to the index.

UPDATE: I completed reformatting the Salt Mill back to the original post. You should be able to more easily glance at a month and find a specific post.

Then click "Go to full post..." to see that posts page. The goal is ease of reading and navigation. I'll continue to work on both. Notice that the title also links to the specific post's page as well.

Business and busy-ness

2005-09-07T09:44:00.000-05:00

I'm in the middle of a crunch at work that is mentally draining. The progress has been slow but good. I long to post, but I know I can't afford the mental attention that it requires. I apologize if you've made a habit of coming here regularly and have been disappointed.

I intend to finish the current work project by the end of this week. I may have time to post once or twice before then, but I doubt it. Having work that must be done is what I like to call "a good problem to have."

Essay on human theology

2005-09-05T10:33:00.000-05:00

My desire for all of the dispersed communities of faith--the Bride of Jesus--is that we seek for the unity that Jesus prayed for in his high priestly prayer in John 17. While I am sensitive to and appreciate the distinctiveness of certain, Bible-based traditions of fellowship, I also am grieved by the divisions within the Bride.

I honestly believe that any who call upon the name of Jesus (or...in more generic terms...seek deliverance/salvation from THE Supreme Being) will be heard based on the sincerity and truthfulness of their search. What happens next is between God and them. Perhaps God will accept their worship just as--according to the epistle to the Hebrews--he accepted the Law-based worship of the Jews before Jesus came: through the lens of hope for God to provide an eternal solution to sin when they could no longer sacrifice animals.

I specifically lift up Jesus Christ (and him crucified) precisely because I am instructed to do so by the Bible. I look for signs of faithful pronouncements of trust in God above all else and I HOPE for signs of trust in the blood of Jesus. I encourage an outright, PUBLIC statement of faith and continued living of a public life centered on Jesus Christ. Not showy....just in front of others.

But I won't sit on the Throne of Heaven and determine who is in and who is not. We know who does that, and we know that there is a sword coming from his mouth that splits asunder the flesh and the spirit...and he and he alone is worthy to judge.

If by God's grace he judges that ALL will be saved, I will rejoice with Jesus in that decision. If by God's grace the portrayal that Calvinist-leaning Baptists and Reformed most often use of a special portion...a remnant that is determined in advance...is all that is saved, I will rejoice with Jesus in that decision. If by God's grace the portrayal of the Arminians--everyone who WILL come of their own faith struggles because God is not WILLING that any should perish--then I will rejoice in that! I lean towards the Calvinistic view, but I don't preach it.

I trust God to figure it out. I feel led by him to not worry about it. I also feel led by him to live my faith--based on Biblical patterns of living and worship alone--aloud for the sake of others. I don't try to hide who I am and I try to emphasize precisely what we are asked to emphasize by the Bible.

The distinction between a "regenerated" person and an "unregenerated" person just doesn't get a lot of Bible time. The term "free will" seems notably absent as well. The concepts of "sacramentally administered grace" is especially difficult to find in my opinion. But coming as children and confession and repentance and faith gets a LOT of discussion. Election is there, but it seems to me to be a a matter of confirmation rather than a method of selection. We can TRUST in our membership in this body because God's intention puts us there and keeps us there.

We are confirmed as part of the elect because of who we put our visible faith in. I still firmly believe in God's sovereignty, though, so I personally read that the 'elect' is 'selected' from the beginning of the universe. As someone who leans towards Calvinism, I'm willing to be wrong on that doctrine. I don't view it as being of pre-eminent importance within the body of doctrine we are called on to preach and to teach. I even wonder if it is one of those Mysteries of God that we really shouldn't be tampering with or talking about at all.

Jesus didn't tell us to figure out who is and who isn't in the elect. He asked us to broadcast the seed onto all of the soil. He asked us to baptize and to disciple ALL who we can. He didn't write down his systematic theology. He LIVED it aloud.

This post is a call for a return to the simplicity and clarity of the Good News that Jesus lived for us. Eschew contentious religious debate among believers. Seek unity if at all possible. Let's be part of those who desire that the High Priestly prayer is fulfilled instead of seeking reasons to parse words and shade meanings and divide the Bride.

That's where Yancey's "What's So Amazing About Grace" really hit home for me. What's so amazing about grace is that God's grace never runs dry. More of it pours out every day and bubbles joyfully into our lives...all of our lives. I believe that just as the rain falls on the good and the bad, so God's grace affects everyone. In SPITE of the things we do wrong (but not to spite us), God rains down grace daily.

That isn't to say that everyone comes to a saving knowledge/faith in Jesus because of it, but what skin is it off of MY nose if God chose to save everyone? None. I'd be delighted if he found a way to do that without violating his character or our free will. Nay...I'd sing songs to him for ETERNITY if he did!! I have many unsaved friends...MANY. I want them to come to know Jesus as Lord and as Savior. I grieve that some might not.

That is the heart of Jesus in me loving HIS creation. It's the Father sending me to gather the bride for HIS son. It's the Spirit motivating me to emphasize love above all else. It's a God thing through and through.

I'll leave the Mysteries of God in God's hand until he chooses to fully explain them to me. I'll contentedly see through a glass dimly until then. I'll wait with GREAT expectation for the AH-HA!! surprise when we arrive at the wedding feast.

I won't be dour. I won't emphasize works. I won't add to the clear word of Scripture in order to feel smart or grown up in my faith. I'll be enTHUSiastic because THEOS is in me. And I'll pour out grace wherever I'm allowed to administer the Gospel to a dead and dying world.

Yes...sin is real...yes it must be confronted. Perhaps the only way to really appreciate God's grace in the final hour is to realize how much God has done and how little we do to achieve salvation.

But that's not the Gospel Jesus preached: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (John 18:3 ESV). When I talk to my children about salvation, they don't mention sacraments or the Trinity or regeneration. They talk about God caring for us as his PRIMARY attribute.

For some reason...I agree with them.

Jesus and Mary

2005-09-03T07:09:00.000-05:00

My younger daughter is standing over my shoulder as I write this. I asked her for an idea to write about this morning. She suggested that I write about the relationship between Jesus and his mother Mary.

I asked her to tell me about Mary. She tells me that Mary was a nice girl, which we know is true because the Bible says she found favor with God. My daughter can relate to who Mary is because she knows that Mary was a daughter, too!! She didn't know that Mary was probably the age of our eldest son when the angel came to visit. She tells me that she thought Mary was older...fifteen or so.

According to my daughter, she had baby Jesus. I asked her how that happened, and she said that God decided, because Mary was nice, to give her baby Jesus (again, corroborated with Scripture because she found favor with God). And when he was born, Mary took care of him.

My older daughter is reminding us of Joseph, Jesus's earthly father...actually a step father, like I am to our eldest son. The girls understand this to a certain degree, but it is a little confusing, too. My elder daughter tells me that before the angel came to Mary, Joseph and Mary were planning to get married. (Both girls giggle at the tongue-twisting of talking about Mary marrying or Mary getting married.)

We read Luke 1 together, the section about the angel coming to Mary. We discussed the meaning of the various terms. And I asked them if they could think of anything that it was impossible for God to do. I told them about the irresistable force and immovable object paradox, and told them that it was just a word game to think about things that are impossible for God.

I told them that we shouldn't care about those kinds of word games, and then asked them what God really cared about. They answered, in unison, that God cares about us. The youngest is saying, as she reads me writing this, "Well, yeah!! He ALWAYS cares about us!" She also believes that God loves all of his creation and that God still loves Satan.

I asked them if Satan could be saved, and they answered no...that he is too mean. I empathize with that answer, but it makes you wonder why God is so patient with Satan, doesn't it?

They've now lost their focus on this and both have wandered off. During the time we talked, I also showed them some things about using the keyboard, and they told me their favorite ways for erasing mistakes. The elder will use the mouse to highlight and delete. The younger uses the backspace key.

I told them about typewriters and the eldest asked how we "deleted" mistakes with typewriters. I told them about White Out and then the IBM Selectric correction features--first the strike-over tape and then the lift-off tape. That led to talking about my two years repairing Selectric typewriters in the 1983-1985 timeframe...first in the San Bernardino area and then in College Station as I finished my Bachelor's degree.

It was fun to share this with them this Saturday morning. It reminds me that in spite of my knowledge of the trouble and evil in the world, that there are still innocents. Praise God for continually giving us innocence--in the form of children--to enjoy and to learn from!!

Enormity and perspective

2005-09-01T17:02:00.000-05:00

I think it is safe to compare my situation to what we're seeing in New Orleans and conclude that we--despite deep troubles--were kept from great harm by God's Grace.

That is, of course, humbling and it drowns out the somewhat smaller thoughts that I consider on a daily basis and that have been the content of the things I've written.

Things we can do to help:

Prayer. That is always the starting point for the believer. Always. But it is only the starting point.
Look for immediate impacts within your community of faith and within your neighborhood. God may have a divine appointment planned for you that is easy for you to keep.
Partner with an organization like the Red Cross, the SBC North American Mission Board, or Texas Baptist Men (BGCT affiliated) and find out what specific needs YOU can meet.
Allow God to soften your heart through the hurt and difficulty of others...allow him to call you to personal action. The book of James--of course--explains why action is a proof of faith.

Instead of going past those general guidelines, I'm going to challenge you to approach God and seek his will for YOU in this situation. Let me put it this way:

God has a disaster recovery plan for Hurricane Katrina. It will deal with both the physical and the spiritual devastation that we see...and it will go beyond what is visible to us. That plan is more comprehensive than the plan that the local authorities put together, in part because it was planned with full knowledge of the event and deep understanding of the souls that are impacted.

Now imagine God wakes you up tonight and asks you to fulfill a specific role within HIS disaster recovery plan for New Orleans. As I've pointed out, I believe God is the one that brings out a unique relationship between each individual and himself. Many times it is based on one very simple thing: whether you obey him when he whispers in a quiet voice. Will you heed the call to serve in a specific way? Can you determine in your heart--right now--to do that if asked?

I asked Jen to be on the lookout for a way for us to help. I don't know, yet, what we will do. But I hope to start this evening answering that question. And I hope we can choose to do something as a family TONIGHT that helps in some specific way...to take a first step towards the full picture of how we fit into God's plan in this situation.

P.S. I can only imagine the sense of humiliation and loss of security these people are facing. But I can imagine it much better now than I could five years ago. Praise God for continuing to teach me!

After God's own heart

2005-08-31T08:06:00.000-05:00

When you read the title, do you read it the way I do? I have always thought of the "after" in the same way that you think of being made in God's image. One came first...the other came "after".

I was listening to KCBI 90.9 (originally started as one of the extended ministries of First Baptist Church of Dallas...W.A. Criswell was the senior pastor at that time and the CBI stands for Criswell Bible Institute.) The on-air announcer made a comment that changed my view of that phrase.

As an aside: when I was a toddler, my parents were members of FBC Dallas and I was a regular attender. I have vague memories of those days. One of the constant themes of my life has been the continual return to the Dallas/Fort Worth area every few years:

My parents moved to Dallas from my birthplace in Brownwood, Texas after my dad graduated from Howard Payne in 1962. We lived in both Dallas and Fort Worth from then until my parents' graduation from Southwestern in 1968.
We returned to Ft. Worth as we awaited visas to go to Indonesia in 1973. That stay was about 8 weeks.
After leaving the field in 1977 on medical leave, we stayed in a mission house in the northeast Ft. Worth suburb of Haltom City for a little over a year.
After graduating from both high school and college, I matriculated at Southwestern and took 26 hours towards a Master's degree. When I ran out of money, I took a job with a company in Irving and eventually bought my great-grandmother's house when she moved to Bowie. That stay lasted from 1985-1988
In 1998, six years into our marriage, Jennifer and I (and our two oldest) moved to the Dallas area so I could take a job with Fiserv. Our younger daughter was born in Lewisville.
This January, I returned to work with my current company. Jennifer and the children followed this June.

My point in bringing this up is that my memories of Dallas are very layered. Each trip brought a different perspective. Some things are very clear and easy for me to remember. Others are what you might called "sepia colored" like an ancient family photo (though I'm not THAT old!!)

The same is true for my memories of the Bible. There are things I learned very early--like John 3:16--that update themselves as my faith grows. Others relate to very specific times. I memorized Psalms 1 for Camp Miki (a camp for Indonesian missionary kids that we held every summer) and it was a Psalm memorized "just in time" for the onset of young adulthood.

The comment that David was a man "after God's own heart" has always been a favorite of mine and a goal of mine. But I always thought of it as I described above. The "after" being a reflection. Until the KCBI on-air announcer changed that completely for me yesterday.

After Chuck Swindoll's presentation about David yesterday on Insight for Living, the announcer said that David "chased God's own heart." I haven't looked at the Hebrew yet to confirm that reading. I did some quick checking online (I lack a useful commentary of any kind at the moment.) Several sites addressed this way of looking at that verse. One of the most interesting was a song by Andrew Peterson called "The Chasing Song." (I've linked the title to the lyrics page for your enjoyment!!)

The concept took my breath away. Whether it plays out hermeneutically (big word meaning "the interpretation is correct"), it has already started changing my thought process in relating to God.

YES, God chases me!! "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." But do we chase HIM? The opening to the promise "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you" suggests calmness and diligence. But chasing "after God's own heart" suggests PASSION.

I am passionate for God, but I'll be honest with you. It isn't like David's passion for God. David wrote the Psalms TO God. They reflect his honest conversation WITH God. They are filled with passion FOR God. They lead US to worship OF God. David's chase for God's heart found favor with God. God sought a man after his own heart in order to replace Saul.

I hope I don't sound condescending as I draw conclusions from that:

I need to chase God's heart for all I'm worth. In doing so, God will add everything else I need. And I will be prepared for him to accomplish his will THROUGH me...in spite of my holes...because I am open to his leadership ABOUT those holes.

Won't you join me in the chase for God's own heart? Let's get PASSIONATE about him!! Let's put aside all those things that surround us that get in the way of that. Let's set aside our excuse making and start today making that the CENTRAL theme of our lives. I'm just getting started today. I don't have a head start. Come on...let's RUN after him!!

UPDATE: Hermenuetically speaking, replacing the word "after" with the word "chasing" is not supported by the original texts. A more accurate replacement would be "a man in accord with God's own heart".

Found an online Hebrew-English Interlinear at Scripture4All.org. This interlinear has the King James on the right, the Hebrew (in reversed, left-to-right word order) line-by-line, and an English transliteration in between each line of Hebrew. A transliteration attempts to directly render every word of the original language with exactly equivalent expressions in the target language (English in this case.)

There is no attempt to resolve idiomatic components of the original, but we have the wealth of English translations and paraphrases that provide resolution of idioms. The dashes in the words hold together phrases that transliterate single Hebrew 'memes' that are more complex than equivalent English words. For example, the verb 'meme' carries action, a sense of gender of the subject, and may include a pronoun for the object...all in what looks like a single "word". All of these are fairly technical concepts that you don't have to understand in depth, but that will help you tear apart the interlinears that I'm linking to.

The transliteration from the interlinear of 1 Samuel 13:14 reads like this:

1 Samuel 13:14: "And-now kingdom-of-you not she-shall-be-confirmed he-sought Yahweh for-him as-heart-of-him and-he-shall-instruct-him Yahweh for-governor over people-of-him that not you-observed which he-instructed-you Yahweh."

The KJV reads:

1 Samuel 13:14: "But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him [to be] captain over his people, because thou hast not kept [that] which the LORD commanded thee."

Another prominent use of this phrase is in Acts 13:22. This is in Greek and I also looked up Acts 13 in Scripture4All.org's Greek interlinear. The Greek preposition "kata" (not a verb like "chasing") conveys the relationship from David to God's heart. The transliteration of the verse is:

Acts 13:22: "And after-standing (deposing) him He-ROUSES THE DAVID to-them INTO KING to-WHOM AND (als) He-said witnessing (testifying) I-FOUND DAVID THE OF-THE JESSE MAN according-to THE HEART OF-ME WHO SHALL-BE-DOING ALL THE WILLS (will) OF-ME."

And the KJV:

Acts 13:22: "And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony and said, I have found David the [son] of Jesse, a man after mine own heart shall fulfil all my will."

Sorry for the update adding so much to the length of the post, but I thought the readers of the Salt Mill would appreciate a more in-depth look into the Truth.

Even though the insight is not based on a strict, literal interpretation of the Hebrew and Greek, I find the concept of "chasing God's own heart" to be very uplifting for my spirit. I believe in the passion for God that it suggests...a passion that is indeed a reflection of God's original and preceding love for us. I still intend to chase him!!

Working through some ideas out loud...

2005-08-31T07:29:00.000-05:00

As I told Jennifer (my wife) and Wendy (the person whose blog inspired this one) when I started the Salt Mill, it really is a test of how to do something like this. I have invited several friends whose opinions matter to me to take a look at it.

That has gone very well. The feedback about tone and voice has been encouraging. I don't expect everyone to "keep up" with it. I know a few that have. Thanks for the support.

I subconsciously feel myself looking around at similar sites in a search for meaningful structure. The nature of "blogs" is that they are essentially online journals with all of the limitations of a journal.

The desire to do something daily leads to a sense that the "big picture" isn't being attended to in any meaningful way. It works well for collecting thoughts, so to speak, but not for exploring bigger ideas. There have been several times where I felt I wrote too much and said too little. Where the format exposes the reader to my thoughts in reverse order or forces me to fully explore a series of thoughts and POST in reverse order.

That leads me to consider a full-blown web site that links to the blog and an effort to roll out specific "theses" onto that site in an attempt to create a structure that has a longer life.

The one thing that prevents me from doing that--more than anything else--is a sense from the Gospels of how Jesus personally presented himself to those that were closest to him. He didn't create a big structure or leave behind a systematic theology. He lived daily with those he sought to influence. And they extracted the meaning from that (with the help and reminding of the Holy Spirit, of course).

Necessarily, writing is conceited...especially when the writer seeks an audience. I admire Jesus for allowing others to do the writing about him. None of US really deserves fame or attention of others. But many of us seek to make a difference in life by gaining the attention of others.

Some seek attention in order to create their own monuments--leaving behind their mark on the world. Others do so, they hope, for higher purposes. I would like to think my efforts fall into the latter category with the Salt Mill. But my humanity and my presence on this earth will always cause my motives to be subject to comment and at times even to just criticism.

I actually welcome that. It is something I have learned in the business world: complaints are gold ready to be mined. Attentive companies listen to all complaints and seek to make themselves better THROUGH the complaints. While eschewing the word "better", I seek to grow through this effort.

As Jennifer walked out the door just now, she said "ut-oh...he's blogging." I told her that when you blog about blogging it is a meta-blog (a nod to the somewhat presumptious but thoroughly entertaining geek culture classic Göedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter).

So...if you will...this is thinking about thinking. It isn't intended to take you anywhere, just to let you know that I do it...and that I am open to comments of all kinds.

Brent is haunting me...

2005-08-30T07:15:00.000-05:00

As I posted earlier, Brent sent me a treasure chest full of his music. I have been drinking it by the pint and I'm fully drunk at this time. Some of it just won't let me go. One of the pieces that does that to me is called "Slips Away" and it has a haunting little piano trill (for lack of a better word, but not exactly that, perhaps a flourish?) that is a repeated theme.

Another is a care-full lament of friendship almost lost called "Silly Little Me". These are working titles, and I hope I'm not betraying a confidence by mentioning them. I woke up four times last night and "Silly Little Me" played through my mind each time.

Listening to all of it makes me want to spend a week with Brent and just sit and listen to him like some of us did when we were at the Hostel down in the entrance foyer where the piano was. I don't remember it happening often, but we would gather around as he played and just listen.

Many of us were in Concert Choir together under the tutelage of Patsy Knight. I contacted Patsy recently and she is in her final year of teaching. During my first year of high school 30 years ago, she taught me 7 days a week--5 days at school, adult choir rehearsal for Kebayoran Baptist English Service on Saturday, and the worship service on Sunday. She was one of the people that I would have showed up for an eighth and ninth day if we had that many in a week.

Many of us in the Hostel shared music as a language of love that year. There were guitars and trumpets and pianos constantly being played. Frequently these sons and daughters of missionaries would lead the music at the Sunday evening youth get togethers. The isolation of the mission stations sometimes added enormous practice to already great talent. I think Brent was one of those.

I regret not staying in contact with Brent through the years. He suffered through many difficult years when I was enjoying success. I wonder how things would have been different for him if I had chosen to stay closer as a friend. I could have...

...but I can't change anything other than the present. And I've started the process of renewing that friendship with him. He understands difficulty and he is sympathetic for me in ways that are...well...comforting. And his music provides an expression for feelings that were somewhat hard to deal with...things I haven't even mentioned here.

Friendship...real friendship...eventually gets to that point, I think. The point where life makes you REALLY glad that someone knows your name and is glad to hear it...will talk on you on the phone even if it is really inconvenient. Someone that connects you directly back to that earlier time--a LONG time ago--when and where you met them. Brent is one of those friends like that. Thanks again, Brent, for being a great friend.

First Some Praise!!

2005-08-29T08:23:00.000-05:00

I'm posting this last, but I hope you end up reading it first. Please read through these words and--if it won't annoy those around you--softly hum with the words or sing them aloud.

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who were, and art, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

words recorded by Reginald Heber, 1826
music "Nicea" by John B. Dykes in Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861

Let me pray for you, too:

Our heavenly Daddy...our Abba, hear my prayer O, Lord!!

I'm approaching you...approaching your throne...for the sake of those that read my musings at the Salt Mill. I don't know who they are. You do.

I'm not keeping a record of how many are coming. Will you keep that record for me? And will you read that record aloud in heaven for my sake?

And will you send messengers of Good News to each of them today? Please assist them in their work. Uplift their spirits so the work is easy and light...not hard. Give them the cool, autumn breeze of the assurance of Your gentle presence...help them see the leaves moving from the moving of Your Spirit.

I hope I'm not asking too much for them!! I long for each of them to go deep with you today! I long for each of them to have the Ah-ha!! of your presence with them!

Lord, bless them! And keep them!! (I know you do and you will!!) May your face, with all of its Shekinah Glory, shine on them. Grant them an overflowing portion of your peace that passes understanding. Let it flow through them into the conflict and trouble that surrounds each of them.

Be gracious unto them...in the name of your Holy and Majestic Son, Jesus.

Make it so!! (That is what amen means, you know??)

Physical Analogies & Truth

2005-08-29T07:28:00.000-05:00

Someone reading "Hole-ier Than Thou" could easily conclude, if they don't know me, that I'm more interested in turning a phrase or sounding like I have it together (in spite of the list of sins/holes that I've listed.) It is very difficult to write in a way that communicates to someone how deeply you feel about something.

If you critically read others' writing that moves you, you will find that the writer usually spends a lot of effort setting you up to think a certain thought or to feel a certain way. The best spend tremendous time crafting something until it is "just so", I've been told.

Jesus had a knack for using the common, the everyday to teach. He often used stories and analogies to make points first to his immediate group of 12 followers and then to the evershifting audience that surrounded them. The New Testament pictures Jesus as being in demand every day and getting very little time to himself.

In a situation like that, you consume ideas more quickly than you create new ones. You begin to have a sense of why he spent 30 years of life prior to his 3 years of public ministry.

You also almost feel like he chose his immediate audience to challenge himself. His disciples (learners)--specifically the 12 men that follow him that we later refer to as apostles (sent ones)--sometimes seem to be pretty dense.

I appreciate that the Bible presents them warts and all. Peter's denial and his desire to set up tabernacles rather than come down from the Mount of Transfiguration. The recurring events that demonstrated a lack of faith in dealing with spiritual issues (think inability to cast out demons, grumbling about the perfume.) The mom of the Sons of Thunder (James and John) wanting them to be on the right hand and the left hand of Jesus in heaven. The in-fighting that followed that.

Not only do you get a sense that these were real men of the more usual kind--providing a clear distinction from the one they are following--but it helps us identify with them to see those stories. They didn't get what Jesus taught in all cases. Sometimes it seemed like he was being intentionally obscure. The Bible records that he often explained things.

For some of you, the explanation of the flashlight and the holes probably makes sense, but you may not have thought through how the analogy relates to reality. I woke up this morning thinking about that.

In my memory there is one very vivid picture of this principle. My friends Chris and Randy took in a young, homeless man named Joe the year I was repairing typewriters in San Bernardino. They witnessed to him and he accepted Christ and then they had to figure out what to "do" with him.

He wasn't very clean at that point. He didn't have a job. He was in his late teens or early 20s. He was very difficult to get along with. With patience and enormous love, they worked through the things we learned in Problems of Democracy at San Gorgonio.

That "civics" class also included tons of practical instruction. How to plan a budget, how to make a weekly food menu, how to avoid the traps marketers/advertisers use to sell their products. It was scary stuff.

Their budget planning exercise was brilliant. They asked us to work off of the premise that we were paid minimum wage and to design a budget that would work. This included trips to the grocery store to find items that we could live off of and researching rental costs in the San Bernardino Sun.

I left that class with a healthy appreciation for how very minimal minimum wage was. I understood that education mattered. And I gained the ability to plan things out in advance to a deep level of detail. Both things have served me very well.

These were things that this young man had to be re-taught. Not just the spiritual things, but the everyday things.

This friend also came to our Singles department that met at the Bobbitt Funeral Home during the 11 o'clock Sunday School time period. Immanuel Baptist had THREE worship services and THREE Sunday Schools at the time. I attended my own class at 8 o'clock, worship at 9:45, and taught at 11. I recently looked at a department/class list for Immanuel and the person that taught me during that time is still teaching Sunday School at Immanuel. What enormous faithfulness and dedication!!

I had a hard time with Joe. He didn't always smell nice and his clothes were kind of ratty. I was used to that from living in Indonesia, but I wasn't used to his sullenness and bickering. There were times that he seemed to be biting the hardest at the people that wanted to help him the most. As it turns out, that is fairly common among the homeless...their spiritual need and isolation is so great that they will lash out at those trying to help.

As he grew to trust those around him that were helping him, he perceptibly softened. You could see God working on his heart on almost a weekly basis. It was grace in action...mercy flowing. What God could see with grace-colored glasses from the very beginning, we began actually seeing at the end.

Towards the end of that year...as I was dealing with God sending me on a new adventure and heading back to A&M to finish my B.S. so I could go on to seminary...I had the great privilege to hear Joe speak. I don't remember the subject. But I do remember vividly the poise, confidence, and meekness of this saved-and-changed-by-grace young man. I was awed at the work God had already accomplished in him. And because I knew Joe at the beginning of that time and saw him at the end of that time, I knew who to worship and glorify because of it.

Joe is my practical example when someone asks me to prove to them that God exists. He had no ability to "do that to himself." Even with the help of my friends, they didn't all accomplish that together. God working in his heart did that. And because of the holes in his heart that were there at the beginning, God's glory UNDENIABLY shined from Joe's life.

Some of that glory can be seen in Chris and Randy's mercy and love and evangelism. Some of it can be seen in the patience and love everyone extended to Joe in Sunday School. But most of it can be seen in the change IN Joe.

That's what I mean by God's light shining through the holes. When God redeems our sin, the certainty of his glory becomes undeniable in our lives. It should humble us. And it should draw others to us. If it doesn't, it might be because our own unloveliness is occluding God's loveliness...still.

Whether you've accepted Jesus as your leader and rescuer or not, if you are reading this you KNOW what I'm talking about when I talk about sin. You know that your sin is a sign of enmity with God. You KNOW that God will eventually deal with those signs of being his enemy.

Why not deal with him right here...right now over them. Ask him to reveal to you the sin of your life and then agree with him about it. And then turn away from the sin (that so easily ensnares us!!) and turn back to him. Ask for forgiveness and put your trust in him to restore you to himself. Right here...right now.

If the picture of Joe's transformation appeals to you--and I hope it does--ask God to visibly shine his glory through you...and to do whatever it takes to get you prepared for that. God can do amazing things when we submit to his quiet, careful, thoughtful leadership.

God can do amazing things in our lives if....

...we ask him to.

Hole-ier than thou

2005-08-27T13:36:00.000-05:00

I know I'm not a perfect person (that "amen" in the background as you read this is the chorus of my friends agreeing with me...if not the angels in heaven.) I have a lot of holes. Trust me...no matter what sins you think "punch you through", I may be hole-ier than thou.

I am trying to be honest with you here. I'm prideful. That pridefulness comes from an amazing gift of intelligence from God. I am trying to be honest!! I know where it comes from and I am deeply aware of its breadth and depth...the gift that is. My response to that gift is sometimes...<sighs>...prideful.

Some people call me arrogant. I can't honestly deflect that criticism in any way. Jennifer has to deal with the side of me when I'm not in a good mood (I'm usually in a really good mood when I'm writing and posting.) She has to deal with me when I'm sullen or angry. She has to deal with someone that will think a thousand thoughts in a minute and she'll wonder why so quickly I'll swing from being in a good mood to being upset.

At times, due to the gift of intelligence, I procrastinate, trusting my giftedness to catch me up. I'm like the hare in Aesop's fable...except there are times when I don't really even get started before I take my nap.

I lack tact, too, sometimes excusing the things I say because they come from my "gift of discernment." The Bible teaches us to "test every spirit." If your gift of discernment conflicts with 1 Corinthians 13--like mine has too often--perhaps you are being motivated by a spiritual gift from the enemy rather than from God.

Some of you reading this know me very well (Jen helps me by reading every entry and offering her perspective and suggestions...thank you sweetheart!!) Others just think they have a good idea of who I am. Brent probably knows me pretty well in spite of the intervening years. Cheri (if she's reading this) was my "iron sharpening iron" partner in high school. My mom definitely knows me well. If you ask them, they'll go 'yep'...he's kinda like that.

My dad may know me best of all. He tends to see through me. Pastors should be that way as should fathers. It keeps their kids on the straight and narrow. I don't always agree with my dad, but I always try to honor him (even when it seems like I'm not...it is my deepest desire.)

Doing that once...seeking to honor my dad..allowed God to more fully develop my spiritual giftedness and led to me teaching adult Sunday School for the first time...first to singles a little older than I was in the Bobbitt Funeral Home where we met off of the Date Street location of the old Immanuel Baptist Church campus in San Bernardino.

As I was responding in the Wendy's comments in Good News!! this thought came to mind:

I am really glad that I followed God's leadership and went to Texas A&M instead of a Baptist school. Before doing that, most of my friends were churched and saved. Since then, at least half of my friends at any point in my life have been unchurched and unsaved.

MANY of those friends now profess a saving faith in Jesus Christ. I was there to see God work that out in many cases. Perhaps in a few God was able to use my somewhat poor witness (holes and all) to reach some of my friends.

I thought about that a little and I came up with this explanation of how it works:

Grab a flashlight and TWO handkerchief or pieces of cloth--one with holes and one without holes--head into a dark closet. First put the whole cloth over the flashlight and turn it on. How does it light the room? Turn the flashlight off, replace it with the cloth with holes, and turn it back on. What happens?

Most likely you saw this: the whole cloth...the fabric without problems or frays or holes...obscured the light more than it transmitted it. The cloth with holes obscured SOME of the light, but it more faithfully transmitted the rest.

It's what Paul meant when he said "His strength is perfected through our weakness." God is able to shine through precisely when we just can't take another step. We stop being a container or a dam and start being a conduit...a channel.

For those of you out there that think you're just not up to the task of being as "good" as someone else or matching some artificial standard of righteousness...that is Good News!! You don't have to. God will work with who you are today if you will submit to his plan for you and to his leadership in your life.

If you want to find out more about how to invite Jesus into your heart, please do these two things for me:

1. Read John 3 (The Message).
2. Send me an email by clicking on my signature. That's gregorywh AT gmail.com

I would love to hear from you and to share with you about how to get to know Jesus. We can learn about him together since I am constantly on the search for a better understanding of who he is.

Said a little differently...I'd be glad to help not because I am holier than thou...

but because I might be hole-ier than thou...and I know where to find help.

Music...music...music...and people..people...people

2005-08-27T08:47:00.000-05:00

Brent Ellison sent us his "In This Moment..." cd that he self-published and that is available through www.cdbaby.com (the link should take you there, otherwise search for his name if you want to learn more about him or if you want to hear samples.) He also sent three other cds. To this one's relatively untrained ear, it sounded like one of the three had some studio time and the other two were labeled as one-takes. All were wonderful.

He said that I didn't have to become his fan just because he sent me some music. I haven't told him yet that I never stopped being a fan of his!! His parents, Ken and Mary, were really good friends to our family and I enjoyed going west to Solo--where just the Ellisons were stationed--as much as I did going east to Kediri where we had the largest mission station supporting the Baptist hospital there. His sister Melissa is one of the sweetest people I've ever met and she and Brent even got along most of the time!!

I wrote about Brent in More on Tough Questions and Cheap Answers. As we were growing up together (think early to mid-teenage years and then reacquaintance in college--he went to Baylor and I went to Texas A&M) he was the talented one and I was...well...me. I've had a knack for doing things my own way pretty much my entire life. One of my favorite stories of Brent and his family is going with them to a spring-fed stream near their house that flowed through a small dam and hydro-electric generator (SMALL...really SMAL) and over a nearby cliff.

Uncle Ken (missionary kids traditionally call other missionaries "Uncle" and "Aunt" in an effort to establish a family away from family) would lure people into the spring with "Come on in, the water's fine!!" with a look that made you wonder what he had in mind. Those who "took the plunge" at his advice were in for a surprise.

Because it was spring-fed, the experience of jumping in the water could be accurately compared to jumping into the Arctic Ocean. I'm not sure that the generator was wired properly, either, and I could swear I saw the water glow and sometimes felt like I was being shocked when I got in. If you weren't in the right frame of mind when you jumped in, you would shiver for hours.

So, when I heard Floatin', I thought back to that spring. I think I can still see Uncle Ken grinning at me. It makes me think why we were there and of the impact of his work and of my dad's work.

Indonesia is in the tropics. More accurately, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn...the band along the globe of the earth where the sun meanders from summer solstice to winter solstice. The lengthening of the day is far less pronounced in the tropics than it is in contiguous 48 states. The day tends to be about 12 hours (ignoring dawn and dusk glow) and the night is the same.

Indonesia is an archipelago of islands that is approximately as wide and as tall as the contiguous 48 and is also the fourth most populous nation in the world with approximately 241 million people. The island of Java is the size of Tennessee. But Tennessee has 5.5 million residents and Java holds almost 60% of that 241 million or 144 million. Java is 26 times as densely populated as Tennessee.

Most of the island is within 50 meters of sea level, but there are numerous vocanic peaks--both active and inactive--that dot the island. Bandung--where the language study occurred when Brent and I were there together--is in a mountainous region and is quite comfortable year round. Most of the island is warmer (high 80s to high 90s) and humid.

The humidity and the year-round sun and almost daily showers create a verdant vibrancy that seems like a well-funded insurgency against the human occupation of the land and the hills. The Indonesians can be very diligent and mostly win that war for the land. Their spoils are rice paddies as far as they eye can see, broken up only by desas and towns and cities. We ate fresh fruit year round...bananas, rambutan, pineapples, and even strawberries (though only in the mountain regions)...all plunder from the struggle with the rainforests. Brent describes it in one of his songs as "greener year round than our lawn is in spring."

My dad and his dad were field evangelists during that time. This meant they would go village to village seeking permission to help those with needs and to teach to those that would listen. I remember my dad riding off on his Vespa at dawn and coming back as the sun was going down...day after day. I was so proud of him!! I knew he was ministering the Gospel in a land that was outwardly green but that was a desert inside. Mom would stay home and teach all four of her kids. Her classroom was frontier-like in its span: from Kindegarten through eighth grade all in a screened-in, un-air-conditioned porch.

Indonesia was home for our family...if just for a little while. It sings its siren song to me still and I want to go back. It is unbelievable that some place I lived for only three years could overwhelm every other place. And, as time has passed, the longing has faded. I know it isn't the same as it was...that it moved forward and "grew up." I grieve when I hear of the the bombings in Bali and Jakarta, of the gang murders under the control of the military when East Timor declared independence, of the infighting around Ambon between the transmigrated, militant Muslims and the Christians defending their lives and their livelihood in a traditionally Christian area.

And I was horrified with the rest of you, but in a more personal way, at the tsunami that struck Banda Aceh. My parents considered an assignment in Medan--where the Stuckey's worked--just outside of Banda Aceh. The Acehnese people are one of the most stridently Muslim of all of the people groups in Indonesia. They would have been the target of my parent's mission activities.

We have prayed for them--the Acehnese--for decades...asking that God would allow us to evangelize them...asking that they would be saved. I cry out to God in agony that so many were lost to him that horrible way before we could reach them.

But...but...but...we have had our most effective ministry among the Acehnese people ever. More of our missionaries and more of the Good News!! has reached them in the past two years than in the past 100. God redeems even the worst situations for his glory!! Pray for the Acehnese that revival would sweep them.

Pray for those that serve them that they would have endurance and courage and strength. Pray that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit and that the harvest would be white for them. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest that the harvesters would be plenty.

Thanks, Brent, for reminding me--through your songs--of the land we shared and of the peoples there and of their great need. I'll invite our readers to pray for ALL of the 241 million Indonesians, who probably are 90% Muslim. While they admit that Jesus was a good man and a prophet, they don't know him as The Way, The Truth, and The Life...YET. But--if God is willing--with enough prayer and enough going, they can. Will you pray? Can you go?

I know of an organizationthat is headed by a missionary that worked as a field evangelist in Jember on the far eastern end of the island of Java. His organization can help you get ready to go and might be able to support you in going.

If God has given you a heart for any land, even if you don't believe you're ready to go today, nurture that calling. Water it and feed it with information and statistics. Learn about the people and the languages and the geography. Get prepared just in case the opportunity presents itself to you. Often God will grow a passion within us that turns into a bonfire before he sets us loose. Maybe that little spark is his gentle, soft whisper to you.

If you'll take the first, small steps of faith towards a calling, God will meet you there and get you the rest of the way. He offers power to you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Not an agenda...not a program...not a committee to serve on...POWER. Take one step and see if he won't enable all of your steps.

Good News!!

2005-08-26T08:03:00.000-05:00

I exchanged several emails yesterday with the person that inspired me--through her own efforts at journaling through a web log--to start the Salt Mill. Her honesty in dealing with the past year of life and the many difficulties and struggles that she journaled in her blog helped me gain a sense of perspective about our family's recent struggles. I have a link to her site in the right column of the main page. Her name is Wendy.

If I remember correctly--I asked my mom about this a few days ago--my mom introduced me to Wendy in the late spring of 1980. My mom doesn't remember her and Wendy didn't remember me when I contacted her at the beginning of summer. I did that because she left an impression on me when she told me--I think a year later--about a decision she made that I viewed as being spiritually bold and courageous.

She has come to mind now and then during the past two decades, but the opportunity to reconnect with her didn't "happen" (the word happen has the root "hap" which is Middle English for "chance" or "luck".) Now, I don't know about you, but I try to be careful about ascribing to mere "chance" what God very well may have planned out on purpose. So I trust that God had a reason for why things turned out that way.

Then--all of the sudden--through a "fortuitous" series of events I "happened" upon it. (I'm playing with my readers with all of the double quotes and allusions to fortune and chance.) The events were this: Jen and the kids were going on vacation. I didn't want to be bored. It was the 30th anniversary of my entry into high school. I was struggling with connectedness with other people. So I started contacting some of my old friends. I had a thought on how to get in contact with Wendy that--THIS TIME--worked out.

Now let me set the scene for you from my perspective: some random guy sends you an email claiming to know you and presents one deeply personal fact about a decision you made back then and asks how that decision turned out. What do you do?

Well, to make a long story short, Wendy responded graciously and then pointed me to her blog to "let me catch up." I took advantage of that offer and not only "caught up" but also followed links from her blogs to meet some of her friends through their blogs as well. All of this went a long way to helping me heal a lot from some of the very tough times I went through in the past few years.

I had asked Wendy to permit me to pray for her on needs in her life. I distilled some of the needs that I saw from her blog and emailed that list to her (along with some prayer requests of our family) approximately one month ago.

The exchange of emails yesterday was a discussion about how God has answered those prayer needs of mine and of hers. It gave me goose bumps when I saw not only how many needs were directly answered but as I thought through the evidence of the WAY God answered those prayers.

While the "Good News!!" in this post is sharing with you a renewed friendship that has brought me both healing and joy, I want to teach through it as well. It takes very simple actions to connect to people and to reach out and share their burdens. In most cases the simple action of asking for a few prayer needs and praying for those a FEW TIMES within a month will bring down a waterfall of God's blessings on the other person and--dare I say it??--on you.

God blesses us as we seek to connect with both fellow believers and with unbelievers. We spread the Kingdom of Heaven through those actions much more effectively than the crusaders tried to do so in the Middle East in the Middle Ages. Don't try to make serving God hard. Go for simple gestures of extravagant love. Merely praying (MERELY...I'm smiling at that!!) can change the world and certainly can change one other person's life in mighty ways.

When you're feeling down or disconnected... When you're feeling alone or "apart"... If you you're hurting from dealing with really tough circumstances...pick up a phone or write a letter or send an email or IM someone and ask them how they are doing and if there is a need of theirs you can pray for. You can trust that most people will reciprocate and do the same for you. If enough people start doing that, it weaves a web between us of mighty prayer.

And I wonder what God can accomplish if we surround each other with prayer?

Isn't that Good News?? Won't you try it today?

P.S. By the way...thanks, Wendy, for not ignoring that email from that guy you couldn't remember. You and your friends have been a tremendous encouragement to me as I've healed from difficult times...and I suspect you didn't even know you were helping me...you just thought I was supporting you!! That's the Way of the Kingdom of Heaven!

...and Another.

2005-08-25T18:08:00.000-05:00

So...sacrifice leads to understanding about life which leads to wisdom/understanding itself (as its own virtue).

What does THAT lead to? I hinted at it in my last post. I left an error in the post that I want to talk about in this one. The First Temple was built by Solomon. The Second Temple, if you recall, was built by Herod.

I depicted the Temple as being complete in my story in the previous post. The First Temple most likely was under construction--not finished--during the younger years of Solomon's son that is depicted in Proverbs. If that son saw it being built, he would have seen these things:

On outer wall surrounding the Temple Mount. The gate that led into this area led into the Court of "The Nations" (goyim) or those called Gentiles in the New Testament.
An inner wall, perhaps as short as 1 cubit (18 inches) separated the Court of The Nations from the Court of Women.
Inside the Court of Women was another inner wall that separated the Court of Women from the Court of Men.
Within the Court of Men was the Temple structure itself.
Within the Temple itself was a Holy area.
Within that Holy area was another area separated by a thick drape or curtain that obscured an inner chamber called the Holy of Holies.
Inside that inner chamber was the Ark of the Covenant and an altar with horns on it.

Tradition tells us that the restrictions narrowed regarding who could approach closer and closer to the the Holy of Holies. Gentiles did not go past the outer court. Israelite women were to go no further than the Court of Women. Israelite men who were neither Levites nor Priests went no further than the Court of Men. Levites that were not priests could enter the temple, but not the Holy area. Consecrated priests, later in a rotation of Aaronical families, were the only ones that could enter the Holy area. The High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, according to tradition, precisely one day per year on Yom Kippur to make atonement for the nation of Israel (and for all sojourners that observed the Law.)

Now compare that system to my story about approaching the King. God was FAR more exclusive about who could approach his presence in the Tanak/Old Testament than Kings of the Ancient Orient would have been about his retinue. (I took my example from the original King and I, with a respectful nod to Anna and the King because the Thai people find the original movie troubling.) He only allowed one person on one day PER YEAR to approach him and attend to him.

And in order to approach God, blood flowed across the temple mount. It flowed through channels into the Brook Kidron. Jesus crossed the Brook Kidron as he walked the Via Delorosa to Golgotha. The time was the time of the Passover and the blood of 10s of thousands of lambs flowed into the Brook that day. Imagine the emotional impact on Jesus if that scene occurred as I've depicted it...the Lamb reminded of his soon-to-occur sacrifice by the blood of many lambs.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia also suggests that the Brook Kidron is where the dry bones of the book of Ezekiel arise from the dead and become the nation of Israel again. What a great picture that is!! That it is the Lamb's Blood flowing into their nation that brings them back to life!!

God is the giver of Wisdom and Understanding. Proverbs says that if we diligently seek Wisdom and Understanding, he will give Wisdom and Understanding to us:

^{Proverbs 2:1-6 NIV} My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,

³ and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

As a child, I viewed the 10 Commandments, the Law as the "thou shalt nots." It took me a long time to see God's Law as life-affirming while it at the same time clearly shows the deadliness and finality (outside of the grace of God and the gift of life through Jesus Christ and, even, the quickening of faith through God's spirit) of sin.

Francis Shaeffer wrote a book entitled "How Then Should We Live?" That book worthily presents the argument of God's people living in holiness, shedding sin for God's righteousness and living above the fray.

But I love the picture of how we should live that Solomon gives us in Proverbs (that his father, David, taught him):

^{Proverbs 4:3-13 NIV} When I was a boy in my father's house,
still tender, and an only child of my mother,

⁴ he taught me and said,
"Lay hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands and you will live.

⁵ Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or swerve from them.

⁶ Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.

⁷ Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

⁸ Esteem her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.

⁹ She will set a garland of grace on your head
and present you with a crown of splendor."

¹⁰ Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.

¹¹ I guide you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.

¹² When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³ Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.

Sacrifice leads to specific understanding of life. Specific understanding of life, collected together, leads to wisdom and general understanding. Wisdom, which comes from God, gives life.

Life, with all of its ups and downs, demonstrates God's unique and eternal character in action.

Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
and call understanding your kinsman.

One thing leads to another...and then another

2005-08-25T07:56:00.000-05:00

The thing that led to another in yesterday's title is that sacrifice leads to the ability to understand life. And the ability to understand life leads to...

Understanding. Wisdom. The book of Proverbs says to seek wisdom and understanding. Proverbs is FILLED with advice, but let's remind ourselves as to the purpose of the book:

^{Proverbs 1:1-7 NIV} The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
² for attaining wisdom and discipline;
for understanding words of insight;

³ for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,
doing what is right and just and fair;

⁴ for giving prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the young-

⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance-

⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Take a moment and drink those verses in. Try and reflect on what Solomon is trying to accomplish with his writing. The whole book of Proverbs is about understanding life through wise living.

Wisdom is presented anthropomorphically by Solomon to his SON as a chaste but deeply attractive woman. Someone to LONG for. Someone to CHASE. Someone to GRAB HOLD OF and to NOT LET GO OF. I'm highlighting those words because as we read the book of Proverbs, we sometimes forget the context. And then we do goofy things like try to treat Wisdom as a goddess. We must read Proverbs within the context that it is written...and for the purpose that it was written.

To help you do that, let me set the scene for you. This is purely my imagination:

You are the young son or daughter of King Solomon. Your mother is one of many wives and you are one of many children. You live in the palace that King David built in Jerusalem overlooking the Temple Mount. The palace is a multi-story structure built against a tall wall. Many of the rooms look towards the Temple including the King's Bedroom.

You are called at the end of the day to come to the King's Bedroom. Your mother is there and your father, King Solomon, is there. It is a mini-court and there are a more limited number of attendants in the room when you arrive, but it still feels very formal to you.

As he is the King, you bow in his presence, being careful not to let your eyes look at him or let your head be above his head as you enter the room. You are directed to a spot in front of him. As you are led there, the servant reminds you that today is a very busy day, but your Father has set aside time to make a proclamation on your behalf and has requested that you give your full attention.

You wait patiently, head still bowed, as you look out of the corner of your eye towards the throne. An attendant walks forward with a scroll that has the King's colors and the King's seal on it. Your Father breaks the seal open and begins to read:

^{Proverbs 1:8-19 NIV} Listen, my son, to your father's instruction
and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
⁹ They will be a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,
do not give in to them.

¹¹ If they say, "Come along with us;
let's lie in wait for someone's blood,
let's waylay some harmless soul;

¹² let's swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³ we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴ throw in your lot with us,
and we will share a common purse"-

¹⁵ my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;

¹⁶ for their feet rush into sin,
they are swift to shed blood.

¹⁷ How useless to spread a net
in full view of all the birds!

¹⁸ These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they waylay only themselves!

¹⁹ Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Your father breaks character for just a split second and smiles at you, then regains his majestic look, and hands the scroll to the scribe standing next to him. The servant that led you into the room returns to your side and whispers in your ear, "The King has given you permission to approach him."

You stand up, walk up to the throne, and climb into your father's lap. You then start in, "Daddy, what does it mean when you say..."

I'll allow you to fill in what is said next as you pray to God for wisdom and understanding about this passage. Hopefully you can see both his majesty and his smile as you talk to him.

One thing leads to another

2005-08-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

Are you ready to be absolutely AMAZED? I thought you were!!!

Let's imagine that you're a lot like we are. Over time you've collected a pretty good amount of just stuff. You probably have a minimum of a few rooms full of stuff and, again if you're like us, you might have a fairly large house full.

Imagine that a fire comes along right now. Before anything can get done about it, it all burns to the ground and nothing is left. Sift through the debris with me in your mind and divide it into these categories:

1. Wow, that's expensive to replace, but I need it (clothes and beds fit in this category.)
2. I really enjoyed having that, but I can live without it (I'm going to guess for you that knick knacks and perhaps even electronics fall here. Some of us have libraries or other special collections that feel like we really need it, but in reality we can give it up.)
3. The things I just can't live without emotionally. Photographs, furniture with a special history, special books, files of personal letters, you know...stuff that matters.

Think of three examples (besides mine) of each category. Try to really think through it. Don't spend a lot of time on it (no more than 15 minutes total for all three categories.) Take a pencil and paper out, though, and write it down.

Now imagine that Jesus comes up to you and asks you to give all of that up in order to walk with him. Do you feel:

1. Disappointed?
2. Excited?
3. Surprised?
4. Unwilling?

You know who I'm referring to as I write this, don't you? The rich young ruler. The one that Jesus told "Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor...and come follow me."

^{Mark 10:17-30 The Message} As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?"
¹⁸Jesus said, "Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. ¹⁹You know the commandments: Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, don't cheat, honor your father and mother."

²⁰He said, "Teacher, I have--from my youth--kept them all!"

²¹Jesus looked him hard in the eye--and loved him! He said, "There's one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me."

²²The man's face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.

²³Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who "have it all' to enter God's kingdom?" ²⁴The disciples couldn't believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: "You can't imagine how difficult. ²⁵I'd say it's easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for the rich to get into God's kingdom."

²⁶That set the disciples back on their heels. "Then who has any chance at all?" they asked.

²⁷Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it."

²⁸Peter tried another angle: "We left everything and followed you."

²⁹Jesus said, "Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land--whatever-because of me and the Message ³⁰will lose out. They'll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land--but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life!

If you've ever heard a sermon on this passage, you probably get what's going on. For those that haven't, let me make some interesting points:

The man made spiritual claims that come across to many of us as arrogant, especially considering he was talking to God's Son.
The passage said that Jesus LOVED him, even after he made these bald-faced claims.
Jesus dealt with him honestly and went to the HEART of the issue for this man: he was VERY rich.
The man went away sad...and is never heard from again in the Bible. I suspect the reason Mark didn't include his name is that he was protecting his identity.

God knows how to deal with the spiritually arrogant. We honestly do not have to deal with that problem. What we must do is try to find what inside of ourselves we aren't willing to give up...and release it.

I call this "open handedness." Instead of holding on tightly, simply open your hand. Make it available to God. He might take it!! Or he might add to it. Or he might replace it with something else.

Hold onto it too tightly and it becomes idolatry. Sometimes the things we hold onto are material goods. Sometimes it is pet sin that we just simply won't admit is wrong and therefore won't give up. Sometimes it is relationships: often parents struggle with letting their children grow up and refuse to give them the freedom of determining their own course without interference.

The thing that I listed in point #3 is my wife and my family (I know...it's cheating...they're not stuff). God asked me to give them up to spend a year in Phoenix working to support them. After being single so long, being away from them was the hardest thing I've ever done. It is very hard for me to look at that year as a good year. We made a lot of financial progress, but it killed my spirit to be away from them and to deal with my awayness each time I got home. It was like God saw through to the heart of me and allowed me to be tested on the one subject that he knew would hurt the most.

I think I can identify with the rich younger ruler's sadness. We made it through that year in spite of a lot of rough travel. My relationship with Jennifer was tested as deeply as a marriage relationship can be tested and remain intact just by the apartness. I referred to my hotel room as my "apartment" because it was enforced "apartness."

The part of the passage that gives me hope, though, is not the sadness of the rich young ruler. It was the love of Jesus for him. And it was these verses at the end:

²⁹Jesus said, "Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land--whatever-because of me and the Message ³⁰will lose out. They'll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land--but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life!

Notice what also multiplies as our possessions and relations are restored or replaced: The Message calls them troubles. The King James Version (KJV), New International Version (NIV), and the New Living Translation (NLT) all call them persecutions. Let me paraphrase what Jesus is saying:

"Even if you willingly sacrifice possessions and relationships, you can count on more being restored to you...but so will your troubles. But from those troubles you will come to understand and appreciate the bonus of eternal life."

I'm not there yet. My bones still ache over the things that happened the past five years. My ears still ring at the accusations by others that I brought it onto myself...even the accusations by some very close to me. I lost my hope and my confidence during that time and am just now starting to sense that there is a stable platform under my feet. I tried, as much as possible, to worship God through it all...using Job's cry to heaven: "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away...blessed be the name of the Lord."

My warning is look out! If you get too satisfied or you hold on too tightly to the blessings you are used to, or lean on them too heavily to enable your faith, the troubles will drown you. Only by letting go of your pat answers, your assumptions about who God is, your judgement of others, your rights, and your special things will you be ready to float to the top when God allows trouble to fall on your head.

Let go when the trouble comes and acknowledge him as God anyway. Regardless of how bad the trouble was, I awe God...still.

When it comes time to choose what you hold onto, what will you choose?

Sacrifice and Sacredness

2005-08-22T14:57:00.000-05:00

Wendy posted an opinion piece by Elizabeth Sandoval that was published by USAToday entitled A Neo-feminist's View of Abstinence. The piece is intentionally controversial and thought provoking.

The piece caused me to recall one of the verses in the closing chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. The verse is quite recognizable to most Christians who have been discipled for more than a couple of years. It, in its more traditional form, goes like this:

^{Hebrews 13:4 KJV} Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

There is something about the nouns "whoremongers" and "adulterers" that causes us to think of those that do that as "them" as opposed to "us". So I went looking for an expression of this verse that actually helps US apply it and I think the one that spoke the most clearly was Eugene Peterson's translation/paraphrase:

^{Hebrews 13:4 The Message} Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.

If you compare the two versions, you can see the parallels. "Marriage is honourable" gets turned into the more active "Honor marriage." The phraseology that lets us off the hook in the KJV about "whoremongers" and "adulterers" is simplified and made more specific with "God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex."

The phrase "and the bed undefiled" has been a source of continued speculation among Christians. In my lifetime I've heard interpretations ranging from a pronouncement of limitations on appropriate sexual behavior to a license for any behavior that occurs between a man and a wife as long as it stays in the privacy of their own bedroom/bed. Both extremes leave me gasping for breath because of the reach they make towards matters that seem completely unrelated to this scripture.

Peterson does something that he usually avoids in The Message translation. He uses spiritual jargon: "and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband." Then he allows the preceding phrase "Honor marriage" and the trailing sentence "God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex" to give us context for "sacredness" just as God inspired the author of Hebrews to do with the whole thought (even before it was a verse.)

Now what do we do with that word "sacredness"? It clearly is theological jargon. Where is God taking us with it? If you studied the Tanak/Old Testament very much, you probably have encountered the Levitical/Aaronic rituals of the tabernacle and of the temple.

You might recall how the original instruments of worship were created by Moses. He requested donations from the tribes of Israel and they gave from the abundance of what their Egyptian masters gave them as they left Egypt. They gave so much gold that Moses and Aaron had to tell them to stop because they had enough!!

Later we hear about Solomon's efforts to build the temple in Jerusalem after God forbids David--due to David's reputation as a warrior--from building it. Again, we hear about how gold and silver arrives from other nations as a tribute to Israel and to the God of Israel.

From both of these situations you get a picture of a God who supplies the instruments of worship from his own riches. That when people set in their hearts to fully worship him, then he will provide riches for them to give in order to create worship.

The gold and silver given in each era (Tabernacle and Temple) are built into instruments of worship (think cups for wine and platters of bread rather than harps and drums and guitars...instruments of the spirit rather than of music.) And then they are dedicated to that purpose and ONLY to that purpose. They are consecrated. They are made sacred.

What happens when you use them for common, profane (not sacred) purposes? The instruments of worship are defiled. They are no longer holy. They are no longer suited for worship. God is holy. He desires holy worship. He is angered by unholy worship or by profaning that which is sacred. How do I know this?

Look what happens when someone misuses instruments of worship:

^{Daniel 5:1-31 The Message} King Belshazzar held a great feast for his one thousand nobles. The wine flowed freely. ²Belshazzar, heady with the wine, ordered that the gold and silver chalices his father Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from God's Temple of Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines, could drink from them. ³When the gold and silver chalices were brought in, the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines, drank wine from them. ⁴They drank the wine and drunkenly praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
⁵At that very moment, the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the lamp-illumined, whitewashed wall of the palace. When the king saw the disembodied hand writing away, ⁶he went white as a ghost, scared out of his wits. His legs went limp and his knees knocked. ⁷He yelled out for the enchanters, the fortunetellers, and the diviners to come. He told these Babylonian magi, "Anyone who can read this writing on the wall and tell me what it means will be famous and rich--purple robe, the great gold chain--and be third-in-command in the kingdom."

⁸One after the other they tried, but could make no sense of it. They could neither read what was written nor interpret it to the king. ⁹So now the king was really frightened. All the blood drained from his face. The nobles were in a panic.

¹⁰The queen heard of the hysteria among the king and his nobles and came to the banquet hall. She said, "Long live the king! Don't be upset. Don't sit around looking like ghosts. ¹¹There is a man in your kingdom who is full of the divine Holy Spirit. During your father's time he was well known for his intellectual brilliance and spiritual wisdom. He was so good that your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him the head of all the magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, and diviners. ¹²There was no one quite like him. He could do anything--interpret dreams, solve mysteries, explain puzzles. His name is Daniel, but he was renamed Belteshazzar by the king. Have Daniel called in. He'll tell you what is going on here."

¹³So Daniel was called in. The king asked him, "Are you the Daniel who was one of the Jewish exiles my father brought here from Judah? ¹⁴I've heard about you--that you're full of the Holy Spirit, that you've got a brilliant mind, that you are incredibly wise. ¹⁵The wise men and enchanters were brought in here to read this writing on the wall and interpret it for me. They couldn't figure it out--not a word, not a syllable. ¹⁶But I've heard that you interpret dreams and solve mysteries. So--if you can read the writing and interpret it for me, you'll be rich and famous--a purple robe, the great gold chain around your neck--and third-in-command in the kingdom."

¹⁷Daniel answered the king, "You can keep your gifts, or give them to someone else. But I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.

¹⁸"Listen, O king! The High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar a great kingdom and a glorious reputation. ¹⁹Because God made him so famous, people from everywhere, whatever their race, color, and creed, were totally intimidated by him. He killed or spared people on whim. He promoted or humiliated people capriciously. ²⁰He developed a big head and a hard spirit. Then God knocked him off his high horse and stripped him of his fame. ²¹He was thrown out of human company, lost his mind, and lived like a wild animal. He ate grass like an ox and was soaked by heaven's dew until he learned his lesson: that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts anyone he wants in charge.

²²"You are his son and have known all this, yet you're as arrogant as he ever was. ²³Look at you, setting yourself up in competition against the Master of heaven! You had the sacred chalices from his Temple brought into your drunken party so that you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines, could drink from them. You used the sacred chalices to toast your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone--blind, deaf, and imbecile gods. But you treat with contempt the living God who holds your entire life from birth to death in his hand.

²⁴"God sent the hand that wrote on the wall, ²⁵and this is what is written: MENE, TEQEL, and PERES. ²⁶This is what the words mean:

"Mene: God has numbered the days of your rule and they don't add up.

²⁷"Teqel: You have been weighed on the scales and you don't weigh much.

²⁸"Peres: Your kingdom has been divided up and handed over to the Medes and Persians." ²⁹Belshazzar did what he had promised. He robed Daniel in purple, draped the great gold chain around his neck, and promoted him to third-in-charge in the kingdom.

³⁰That same night the Babylonian king Belshazzar was murdered. ³¹He was sixty-two years old. Darius the Mede succeeded him as king.

I'm quoting the entire chapter because I believe we need a sense of who God is. And this chapter conveys it vividly. Sometimes God's judgement is immediate and swift. Think about what caused it in this case:

His people sacrificed their belongings--given to them by the Egyptians--to make some of these gold and silver chalices. Some of the rest came from the golden age of the united kingdom, when David (a man after God's own heart) determined that God deserved a permanent, glorious place of worship in Jerusalem and David collected the materials and Solomon built it. And this king Belshazzar profanes these sacred items representing sacrifices to God by using them to give thanks to other gods.

We don't live in Babylon (though we are at war with the people that live near ancient Babylon.) It's hard to relate to what upset God because as Christians (especially Protestants and Evangelicals) we emphasize spiritual worship without physical items of worship.

But there is a similarity between the Temple of Solomon and us that we cannot dismiss:

^{1 Corinthians 6:19-20} Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. ²⁰God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

How Things Really Are

2005-08-21T10:34:00.000-05:00

How Things Really Are

Sometimes, often it seems,
Life gives us twists and turns
(And curves)
That we didn't expect.

God is the straight-way maker
He keeps us going and
Helps us deal
With the twists and turns.

He lifts up the head
And lifts the heart.
He sees past the outside
And sees all the way through.

He notices and he can tell
When we're down
And when we are hurting
And knows when we've sinned.

He's calling out in the Garden
Where are you? Where are you?
And we hide from him,
Try to hide who we are from him.

But we can't hide from
His compassion,
From his deep longing.
He is the Hound of Heaven.

He will hunt us down
And catch us up
In his arms
And protect us.

He wants who we really are
He starts right here
And he keeps going
All the way to the end.

Jesus is OUR Lover
We are HIS Beloved
Can you imagine
The Songs of Songs WE'll sing?

Greg Harvey
August 21, 2005

Stillborn

2005-08-21T07:10:00.000-05:00

In the second spring of our marriage, Jennifer and I were delighted to find out that she was pregnant. I was 34 at the time, and I was excited about going through the process of having a baby with Jennifer. We were full of hope and dreams of expanding our family. It was something that really gave us a sense of togetherness.

Then around the second or third month, her doctor noticed that something wasn't quite right. He sent Jennifer for an ultrasound which I supported her through. The radiology tech was very quiet as she did her work. There wasn't the normal excitement and the "picture taking" that I learned in later pregnancies are the "usual." I was puzzled at the look on her face.

Jen's doctor let us know (I think he called her with this, but I don't remember) that the ultrasound "couldn't locate the fetus." He wanted to take some bloodwork. So Jennifer went in for that. He then let her know that she was miscarrying the baby and let her know what to expect.

I was pretty upset about it. Jennifer was surprised that I was more upset than she was. There are some not-so-pretty aspects to miscarriage and to save Jennifer the trauma, I dealt with the aftermath of those. It was probably the first time in my life that I really felt God letting me experience the full force of death.

We did fine, and the situation wasn't like the title of this post in any way. There was no visible fetus to miscarry. Eventually pain was overtaken by healing. And then the next door neighbor to Jen's parents miscarried...and there then seemed to be purpose.

In the midst of this, I saw a statistic that said that 30% of pregnancies ended in miscarriage. I don't know what the source of that statistic is, but we have been very aware of pregnancies that are miscarried since then...and I find that statistic to be very reasonable.

I think of all of this as I am reading this from Jesus's discussion with Nicodemus:

^{John 3:5-8 The Message} Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation--the "wind hovering over the water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life--it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. ⁶When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch--the Spirit--and becomes a living spirit.

⁷"So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be "born from above'--out of this world, so to speak. 8You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone "born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."

I don't know how this strikes you, but I think of it this way: 100% of us are stillborn spiritually according to Romans (Rom 3:23 NIV,Rom 5:12-14 NIV) . We come into this world with tremendous promise and hope, and we're absolutely dead to spiritual things. We must be born from above...reborn through God's Spirit into a life of spiritual awareness.

I'm not talking Eastern mysticism or gnostic mysteries. Jesus acted surprised that Nicodemus didn't get these things, but we're hardly better prepared to understand them even with the Holy Spirit interpreting them for us. The world around us is spiritually stillborn.

I imagine Heaven quietly watching as each new child is born. Perhaps the Father knows the spiritual destination of that child when it is born--either because he determines to woo the child or because of his all-knowing nature--but I somehow doubt that all of heaven knows the outcome then. They wait with bated breath for that moment in time...that Eureka!! That Ah-ha!! when the Spirit starts the process of rebirth for this new spirit and then it comes to a realization of its need for Jesus.

What happens if there is no midwife to deliver this spirit? What happens if no attending doctor is there to deliver it into spiritual understanding? Jesus said that we should pray for the harvest because the field is white and ready for harvest. We are called to deliver freshly awakened spirits into full spiritual understanding. Not just to the point of accepting Jesus and baptizing the person, but full spiritual understanding. That IS the Great Commission.

Why do I think that Heaven waits with bated breath? Because of the great chapter 15 in Luke of Parables of The Lost Sheep, Coin, and Sons. And because of this verse from that chapter:

^{Luke 15:7 The Message} Count on it--there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.

God has entrusted to us the life-delivering ministry of evangelism and discipleship...of midwiving and nurturing new Christians. I've heard the happiest nurses in hospitals are those that work in the delivery ward. I wonder how we get there spiritually?? Perhaps by searching the sides of the road and the bushes for any that will come?

The photograph

2005-08-20T05:30:00.000-05:00

I wrote this in response to a specific situation, but it speaks to anyone who got dragged into the muck of life without consent. Just thought I would share it.

It isn't about a specific person and isn't just about that situation. There are several people who I thought of as I wrote it...and many situations of lost innocence--including my own--that are reflected in it:

The photograph

In my attic I keep an album
Of all the photos I’ve ever taken
Some are color, some are torn
Some I forgot to label
Others scattered on the floor

There is this one photo
That I search for
My friend tells me that
I never took it
Claimed she’d know if I had

It’s a picture of her
Wearing a white dress
Pure and innocent
Beaming like a child
Searching the clouds above

She said that I wasn’t there
That the dress was stained
She said that her hair was mussed
She told me that
She looked at the ground

I said I was sure
That I remembered
The sun shining brightly
On her golden curls
Cleansing and refreshing

If I could only find that
Photograph
She could see the
Picture that I took
With my mind’s eye

Greg Harvey
7/7/2005

An invitation

2005-08-20T04:31:00.000-05:00

As I read "When God's People Pray...Part 3", I feel God asking me to begin praying for readers daily. I don't think God has ever asked for me to do something like that on a daily basis.

I already pray for many of those I've shared this with often, but hardly daily. So I'm going to make a public commitment to make the effort to do this daily.

I'm going to invite readers to drop me a line when either of these two things happen:

1. You have a prayer need and need someone that has "been through the Grinder" to pray for it.

2. You intentionally share the blog with a friend so I can add their name to my list.

Neither is a 'have to'...you're just invited to do so. If you can't think of prayer needs and you just want to write me and tell me how things are going in your life, I'll try to (prayerfully) extract needs and reflect them back to you for your approval.

You can grab my email from my signature or from my profile. Or if you are willing, just post a comment. It can even be anonymous.

I also covet your prayer for me and for this ministry. It isn't clear to me where God wants this to go, but it is clear to me that it is what he wants me doing right now...yes...at 4:31 am on Aug 20, 2005.

When God's People Pray...part 3

2005-08-19T17:07:00.000-05:00

Can I be honest with you? I'm not the best in the world at being a disciplined pray-er. In fact, I'll be even more honest...I might be the worst of all the saints at this. So why am I asking for people to pray in Part 2??

Quite simply, because I believe prayer matters:

^{Daniel 10:12-14 NIV} Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. ¹³ But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."

Daniel had a troubling vision that we're told about at the beginning of chapter 10. So he fasts and prays, basically forsaking all creature comforts for 21 days (three weeks.) He then is confronted by a man:

"I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude."

Some think this is an angel, but many scholars believe this is the pre-incarnate Son of God (prior to Jesus' birth around 4 BC.) He speaks the words I have pasted above, offering an explanation of what happens as a result of prayer. We don't understand all of the details, but these things are very important:

Daniel's prayer was heard and answered IMMEDIATELY.
The answer was sent via a messenger.
The messenger was delayed by a confrontation with what we believe is a spiritual power.
Only after receiving help from Michael did the messenger make it to Daniel 21 days later...during that time Daniel fasted for the sake of his people.

The next time you are praying, imagine that your prayer is being heard and IMMEDIATELY answered. Perhaps you should consider praying for the delivery of the answer in case the messenger is delayed. Perhaps you might consider fasting in order to more fervently pray for the answer to be delivered.

If there is any 'unlesson' to be 'unlearned' from this passage, it is that God is always slow to act. Maybe he is sometimes, but we see in this picture a God who is ready to respond to our prayers. But I think we can take something else way from this.

Daniel is referred to by the angel Gabriel as "esteemed" in chapter 8. Here is referred to as "highly esteemed." There seems to be an added urgency because of Heaven's respect for Daniel. I am reminded of the verse "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." That verse is even more applicable in its context:

^{James 5:13-18 The Message} Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. ¹⁴Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. ¹⁵Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven--healed inside and out.
¹⁶Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. ¹⁷Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't--not a drop for three and a half years. ¹⁸Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

I love that: "Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other SO that you can live together whole and healed." Nothing thrills my soul like the concept that through our every day actions we access the power of heaven. And if we had no better reason than to seek holiness than so that our prayers would be effective, shouldn't that be motivating enough?

It kind of makes you shiver when you contemplate what God could do through you if you fully committed yourself to him, doesn't it?? Why not claim these verses as promises and see what he WILL do??

When God's People Pray...Part 2

2005-08-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

In Part 1, I highlighted "The Holy Spirit intercedes for me" from Wayne Watson's song "When God's People Pray." I was attempting to minister to a friend of mine and wrote about that. I modified what I wrote a little before posting it here in order to tone down some of the more personal bits in it:

You got beat up pretty badly, but the Holy Spirit has been right there with you the entire time. He intercedes for you in heaven with groanings and utterings that are not intelligible to human ears.

I think I know what some of them sound like:

Those utterings sound like the man sighing after the 10th call this month from creditors asking why he won't get a job and pay his debts.

They sound like the deep sadness of a single, pregnant mom-to-be when the father waltzes into church with a new young thing on his arm.

They sound like the quiet sobs of the young boy who is shocked, embarrassed, and ashamed when a respected pastor reaches into his clothing.

They sound like the silent shaking of a wife with young children whose husband attempts suicide.

The Holy Spirits utterings and groanings are even DEEPER and more PROFOUND than those hurts and those pains.

He intercedes for you in every hurt, in all of your pain, and through every situation. I believe the Holy Spirit interprets us to the Father and I believe it is because of the work of the Son that God is able to relate to our struggles.

God takes a record of everything that happens in his world according to the Bible. I believe our prayers and the Holy Spirit's intercedings are added to that record. I believe that we will be comforted when God reveals precisely how he acted to answer prayers...it is part of the story of His Redemption (Jesus Christ.)

We should make prayer an essential part of our daily ministry to others. And then we should act as God directs us to act.

When God's People Pray...Part 1

2005-08-19T12:54:00.000-05:00

This song soars and always grabs my attention when I listen to Wayne Watson's Home Free:

When God's People Pray

Trouble knockin' on your window pane,
Stormy weather at your door.
And the outlook for the day ahead like the day before.

People tell you prayin' changes things,
But the words don't stop the fear.
The prayer is only pious rambling without a Father's ear.

He will not turn away,
when His people pray.

When God's people pray,
and take the pains of earth to the doors of heaven.
When God's people pray,
there is hope reborn, there is sin forgiven.
And miracles you can't explain away.
When God' people pray...

Hopeless situation turns around, dilemma passes by and by.
Look, there's a never-ending field of blue,
past your clouded sky.

He alone can know the need in me before a single word begins;
The Holy Spirit intercedes for me.
I will trust in Him!

No, He will not turn away,
when His people pray.

When God's people pray...

I'll post later on why I highlighted those words.

greg.w.h

Individuality and Grace

2005-08-19T09:36:00.000-05:00

My younger daughter saw Jennifer looking at the entry entitled "Grace", read through the first paragraph and concluded the whole thing was "about" her. Jen explained that daddy was using her as an example in talking about something else. That, of course, did not dissuade her from believing that it was about "her."

Now, you might already think you know where I'm going with this. That we want to be recognized as being special, and that we should accept that God is dealing with LOTS of people and that we need to not look for how special we are in creation or try to make everything "all about me."

While some of that is certainly worth considering, I don't believe that, in order for God to deal with so many individuals, that he must mass produce or mass market grace. In fact, this has been a recurring theme when I teach Sunday School to adults: "God desires a unique relationship with YOU."

Now I will insert a word of caution. We don't have to "individualize" ourselves with God. We don't have to go out of our way to stand out. In many cases it will happen naturally as we seek God through our God-given talents and spiritual gifts. His plan for us is individuality. We don't have to create that for ourselves.

That means that we also should accept ourselves precisely the way HE accepts us: just as we are. As long as we are willing to confront the sin that he is convicting us of, he is faithful to deal with that sin, to help us start the process of putting it behind us (he forgets as he forgives, so he isn't the problem when it comes to putting sin behind us), and to help us lift our heads and start fresh.

That is the pattern of grace. Every day we seek God with new hearts that day. And we seek him through our own talents and gifts...in our own way...THAT day. There are some shared disciplines that are valuable--praying, reading the Bible, tithing, offering, serving--but they are the reflection of our faith not the cause of it. They should grow naturally as we grow our relationship with Jesus, but they should never be forced and while we should feel a desire to do them, it should be the desire of free, cheerful choice rather than the desire of forced duty or obligation.

I think that if we approach each day, each situation, each person as being individual--even unique--then we will be able to sense how God 'individuates' US. And we can do it without stressing out...with the "peace that passes understanding."

Now I can write all of this in part because God inspires me to write it. It doesn't mean that I am magically able to always pull it off. I sometimes fall into ruts (Rob Zinn called ruts "graves with the ends kicked out.") I often try to reduce my relationship with God to a repeatable ritual, often so I can keep at it. But I shouldn't reduce it to being JUST routine. There should be something fresh in it every day. I should expect God to deal with me in a unique way every single day...and thank him (and praise him!!) when he does.

Satan is the fan of the routine, the unmeaningful ritual, the sense of everything being the same and nothing getting better--the author of dehumanization. God is the creator of the unique snowflake, the variety of species on the earth, and is the one that makes YOU special to HIM. You don't have to do that...he already did!!

And I have another confession to make: too often my expectations of others force them into spirit killing routines that quench their spirit. I'm so sorry for being that way. Please don't give up on me (since God isn't finished with me yet, either!!)

Grace...

2005-08-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

Our younger daughter's middle name is Grace. Her first name means (alternately) Rational or Little Truth. Her nature is, in retrospective, a pleasant combination of the two. She is full of grace towards others. And she is full of thought and full of explanation.

My dad visited us and was surprised that she expressed to him a well thought out theology of God's grace. She is six and she was saved this past spring. I would like to say I was surprised for him, but she is continually thinking through things and expressing where her thoughts lead her.

And then the next moment she is a beautiful young girl having fun and the next moment we woke her up too soon and she struggles at the breakfast table.

The way of grace is very much like her. It is rational and elegant...unexpected and easy to accept and understand. And so hard for us grown ups to grasp.

But she grasped it and asked to make a public profession of faith and explained to the counselor the meaning of salvation in her own terms. She wanted to obey Jesus by being baptized.

Of all of my children, she is the one that really listens to correction. It can be heartbreaking for a parent when one of your children instantly "gets" the problem and applies what you are saying to their own actions. She is one of those.

Today at lunch I listened as two of my workmates made fun of God and of Christians. I was heartbroken as I understood that, too often, they were right. Christians push people away from the Good News in a thousand ways. They asked me what was wrong...I replied...that I was thinking.

Then it struck me that there are two kinds of grace that we are used to: one is theological grace, but the other is the grace of the swan on the lake and the grace of the ballerina.

I wonder if God inspired the concept of theological grace to be called that so that it would lead to the other kind of grace?? That by accepting God's Gift, we would become graceful in forgiveness and in speech and in action to others?

Grace is easy...and it is so hard...but it should never be cheap...it should be...

EXTRAVAGANT!!

Is bankruptcy a form of grace?

2005-08-17T16:38:00.000-05:00

In the middle of incredible agony--about 20 months without regular income--with our family's savings exhausted and no clear picture of how to take care of our simplest financial needs--such as putting food on the table--a friend of mine called me to see how I was doing a couple of years ago.

He was worried about us failing financially, and I told him that, while I wanted to succeed, I was willing to accept that if bankruptcy was forced on us, that it could very well be an extension of God's grace to our family. And I didn't want to reject God's grace if he extended it to us just because of my pride.

I offer that anecdote in order to ask this question: how often does our pride cause us to reject God's grace? How many times did God have a plan to rescue us and we weren't ready for it? Isn't it amazing that God continues to find new ways to extend grace to us, time and time again, even when we reject grace?

I encourage you to look for God's grace and to live in it and to accept it. It reminds me of the fact that in order to accept a Presidential pardon, you must first admit that you're guilty. Ouch.

Truth...with a capital T

2005-08-17T15:04:00.000-05:00

God impresses on me certain things. You'll often see me referring to them as being True or being Truth...with a capital T.

While I might have a (mildly) prophetic calling, I hope you'll understand what I'm doing with that nomenclature: I'm offering that the thing I'm talking about could be the kind of understanding that cuts through.

When our family headed towards San Bernardino as dad accepted the role of associate pastor and church administrator for Immanuel Baptist in 1978, we were awe struck by the purple haze that we ran into near Palm Springs. It looked like a bubble over the entire region.

We arrived, if I remember correctly, on a Saturday night. We stayed with Chuck and Jerri Younkman and their four boys. The older boys were up late playing hoops on their driveway, and I noticed I was wheezing from the pollution.

The next morning, after church I went up to Lake Arrowhead with Bob, Barbara, and David Noakes (I just wrote to Barbara and shared "Salt Mill" with her, and she was profuse in her encouragement!!) David was my age and in my class at San Gorgonio High School, and I was thrilled to meet them. The trip up to Lake Arrowhead, though, seemed like I was going to some kind of distant region with all of the twists and turns.

Imagine my surprise, about two weeks later at San G, when the Santa Ana winds blew through, and I turned around and saw mountains RIGHT THERE to the north of the school.

That's what I mean by Truth with a capital T. When the spiritual winds change and you realize something that is so obvious and so relevant that you just didn't see before. You're pretty sure it was there, it just evaded your grasp (or you evaded its grasp!!)

The past ten weeks have been filled with that for me. We moved the family from Austin to Garland. I got caught up on a really bad situation that happened around us in Indonesia and involved some close friends of mine who where MKs. I've caught up with lots of friends and had an unexpected outpouring of affection from many of them. I even renewed a relationship with someone I only met twice and now, through her indirect influence, I writing again.

About the time the smog of life has us wheezing, God breaks through and delivers Truth with a capital T. Look for it and see if it isn't True!!

Update: I just got off of the phone with my friend Bruce (I haven't introduced him to "Salt Mill" readers yet, nor have I introduced him to the "Salt Mill" site), and he and his wife use the phraseology of something being "Obvious." They can tell when God is leading them down a specific path because the path becomes "obvious" to them, i.e. "unavoidable."

I was amused at God reinforcing the point I was making in this post in such an interesting way. He's been ministering to me this way a LOT in the past few days.

The Essence of Redemption

2005-08-16T17:40:00.000-05:00

The fabric of God's Redemption...HIS essence...is this:

^{Romans 8:28 KJV}And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

and this:

^{Genesis 50:20 NLT}As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people.

So, when we submit to God's Mark of Slavery, we receive in return a promise. That promise is that Evil will not only be defeated, but that Evil's intent be redeemed into God's purpose. That God's power is so great that his plan cannot be defiled by being touched by sin, or decay. Instead it cures sin and decay when it is touched by it.

I'll be honest. There is no magic formula for this. And from the Parable of the Four Soils, there is the hint that it is MORE than simply putting trust in Jesus for salvation. I don't believe it is something more that WE accomplish...I believe it is something more that HE accomplishes in us.

We allow him to accomplish more by giving up. We give up the right to ask "why me?" We give up the control over our circumstances. We give up the hope of a "normal" life...perhaps the hope of marriage...perhaps the hope of children...perhaps the hope of living long.

We permit Satan to take his shots at us, often through others. And then we commit to love them back. We commit ourselves to not give up, to not give in, hoping for a glory that outweighs our "light and momentary troubles."

You know. I'll be honest. It was the tough passages in Job and the Psalms and even Paul's persecutions that got me through the last few years. Their honesty and their vulnerability before God...their willingness to endure and to tell it like it is...provided salve for my open wounds. I can't claim to have accomplished what they accomplished (my faults are more obvious and more enduring, I am afraid), but my hope is the same in spite of my failures.

In fact, when I submit myself to be Marked by God, I also submit willingly to the adventure he has planned for me. I submit to not being an everyday, mundane person. I submit to being asked to stand out clearly. I submit to being publicly humiliated. I submit to being bent and even broken.

I submit with this ENORMOUS promise in mind: that redemption is sure. That it will not fail. That life finds its meaning in God's redemption of the intention of those who are evil. He will frustrate their plans...not by stopping them from acting, but by reversing the intent of their actions.

The prophets couldn't see this. I can barely grasp that God allows me to see it. But I'm pretty sure it's True.

My faults

2005-08-15T19:40:00.000-05:00

In an effort to avoid the pedestal, I would like to confess some sins to my readers:

1. The worst right now is that I have been fighting with my wife over issues where I feel wounded by our shared suffering. They're not her fault, really, but they are embedded into our relationship. And we're going to have to work our way out of them. And I'm going to have to quit being a jerk.

2. I'm not being as productive as I should be at work. There are some real reasons for this, but a lot of it is not staying on task. One of the problems with wanting to write and having an outlet is that it is distracting me. But so far I have managed to keep MOST of the at-work posts during my breaks.

3. Around the house, I should be a lot more helpful. I feel stress from work bleeding over into the need to retreat at home. That isn't the right approach and I need to help Jen more.

4. God has blessed me with a great memory, and I slack a lot on real Bible Study. I would be able to do a better job on this blog if I spent more time on it. And if I spent more time on things that are excellent, I suspect I'd have less of a problem with #1, #2, and #3. On the other hand, I thank God that he has kept his promise to write his word on my heart.

I'm sure that there are more that should be confessed. The fact that I'm telling you about these means that coming here to post is a reminder that I need to deal with sin, first. I can't make this site holy if I'm polluting myself with sin...or if I'm keeping the clay jar from being filled.

In short...pray for me...and Lord...I believe, help my unbelief.

New Blog Feature

2005-08-15T19:33:00.000-05:00

If you haven't noticed yet, I'm trying to make a practice of providing links to my scripture quotes. I have enjoyed using biblegateway.com to look these up. As a service to those who come to my site, there is a search panel on the far right hand column just under my archives.

Right now you leave this site to do a search, but I'll eventually make it a more manageable popup window. Also, I usually will pop up a window when you're leaving the site. So if the 'back' arrow isn't 'lit', you may have to dismiss the current browser window in order to see the site again.

I strongly encourage readers to click the quote links and to do their own searching. The biblegateway.com text search isn't the best in the world, but the scripture reference lookup is very, very good. And their selection of versions (including other languages) is a wonderful resource for those of us seeking understanding.

P.S. There is also a known issue with Firefox not properly refreshing data. If you have that problem, hold the control key and click on the refresh icon at the top, OR type control-shift-r in that order.

The Mark of a Slave

2005-08-15T14:48:00.000-05:00

^{Exodus 21:6 The Message}then his master is to bring him before God and to a door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl, a sign that he is a slave for life.

This is a very difficult portion of a very difficult passage on slave ownership. Slaves served a maximum of six years and were set free in the seventh year. If a slave stated before a judge that he wanted to remain with the slave owner, the judge would approve the request and then the slave would be marked by piercing the earlobe with an awl.

Then the slave became a slave for life.

Paul spoke of being a slave for Jesus. He also mentioned that he had a thorn in his side that he prayed for fervently and often and that God told him would not be removed. We can only speculate on what the actual problem was.

But do we ever connect the two? God seems to be using the thorn in Paul's side for a glorious purpose. Perhaps it is a slave mark? Perhaps it is a pierced ear lobe?

I've heard preachers handle this subject and they mention that once the piercing was complete, that some kind of metal earring would also be put into the ear to keep the mark of piercing and of slavery visible. It was a continual reminder about the relationship between the slave and the slave owner.

As I said, this is a hard passage, and the obvious application is even harder:

Am I willing for God to mark me for life as his friend, his servant....his slave?? Aren't we marked through difficulty? Didn't Jesus promise persecution for those that are his friends?

I carefully, and humbly, state that I am willing to be marked for life. I will endure what God allows, even if it tears me apart inside. I will commit myself to him. I might even, like Paul, ask the thorns of life to be removed from me, but, again like Paul, I commit to endure them if God asks me to.

Will you?

Help-full...Full of the Spirit

2005-08-14T11:12:00.000-05:00

Do me a favor before you read this. Take an empty cup or a glass to the sink. Put it under the faucet. Turn the water on going pretty fast and let it fill up. Now...don't let it stop...watch it carefully as it spills over the sides. Now turn it off. Observe what happens.

We just got our eldest back from a trip visiting his biological dad Brian and Brian's parents. They're all very down-to-earth (his dad has farmed, so when I say down-to-earth I mean it.) His parents live in a frame house like the one I lived in when I was a preacher's kid in Lawn, Texas. Theirs has the same kind of back porch that I made my bedroom. It feels very much like home to me when we visit.

Being a step-dad, even when you were "gifted" with the child when he or she was a baby, is a nervous blessing at times. I am always concerned about intruding or invading on others lives. You can't be a step-dad without constant intrusions. They're part of life.

Brian and his folks treat me like I'm the real thing to our eldest. It is an ENORMOUS honor to be recognized as the legitimate, daily father-figure by a man who only has one son and by grandparents that only have one grandchild. They are scrupulous in every detail in maintaining that recognition and in befriending me.

Before they did that, Jennifer and I determined that we would do everything in our power to build a closeness that prevented hard feelings with them. I can't tell you it's always been perfect, but we recognize God's blessing for doing what is right, and just, and merciful.

They dote on our eldest when they have him. I can't imagine what it would be like to see my only son a couple of times a year. I would YEARN for him to come back to me when he was away. And when he came to me, I would want to fill my time by being with him and enjoying him. So I empathize with Brian and when he asks for Nathaniel, I encourage us (Jennifer and myself) to share him willingly.

There is a very interesting spiritual analog here, by the way, but it isn't my main point. Have you ever wondered how God the Father and God the Spirit felt when Jesus with us as a man? I wonder if it is like your only son living with another family like our eldest does with me? The words of the Bible--especially the Psalms and the Old Testament prophecies--suggest to me a deep yearning for the one that was to be sacrificed. I am not saying that I can empathize with God over this, but if it is anything like the human relationship between Brian and our eldest, maybe I have a gleam of understanding.

The main point is that when our eldest comes home, he goes from a place where he has a lot of freedom and gets a lot of attention back into a household with three other children. And our rules. And our expectations. Where his grandmother and his biological father might offer him--out of the simple joy of having him--a little more freedom, he has to return to a little more responsibility and the expectation that he will get along.

He was grousing over being asked by Jen to help. And I was getting a little exasperated with him. I commented that his mom OFTEN helped him without being asked (food, clothes, laundry, and being chauffered), and I wondered out loud if he couldn't be more helpful. Then it struck me that perhaps I should try to come up with a picture of what I meant.

I very simply picked up one of our clear glass tumblers, said, "Look, this glass is now "help-empty" and turned on the water. As it reached the top and started spilling over, I said, "Now this glass is help-full." Our six-year-old daughter and our three-year-old were both drinking this illustration up, by the way.

Then I turned off the water and something magical happened!! The glass was no longer full!! It was ALMOST full, but not quite. While the glass was being filled and was overflowing...it actually was full and overflowing. When the stream of water stopped, the last bit of water that was overflowing BEFORE it stopped left because of inertia, and the glass was left not quite full.

I repeated the experiment SEVERAL times to make sure. In fact, the ONLY way I could keep the glass full was to turn down the stream to a trickle. The more slowly I filled the glass, the fuller it would be when the water was turned off.

We talk about being "helpful" (or in this case "help-full.") Christians also talk about being "full of the Spirit." There are lots of word pictures in the New Testament of Christians being containers. And there is a lot of talk of being filled with the Spirit. In my mind, the analogy of God filling me with his Spirit being like me filling a glass with water is actually an apt one. I can be filled slowly. I can be filled quickly. Or I can 'quench' the Spirit and, pretty much, not be filled at all.

But the especially important part is this: the more God pours into me, the more I should overflow. And if I overflow with what he is pouring into me, I should be overflowing with HIS Spirit...with HIS character...with the likeness of Christ Jesus. The more rapidly I am filled, the more obvious it is to others that it isn't ME filling ME...but it's otherworldly...supernatural. When I quench God's Spirit, the flow slows to a trickle, and the overflow slows to a trickle.

Now I may be reaching on the analogy here, but what do people see when I'm not being filled? They might see a clear glass. They might even see clear water in that glass FOR A WHILE. But I am not going to be completed and perfected until I am given my resurrected body in heaven. So as sin creeps in...the water gets muddy. The only way anything pours out is if I force it out. And who really wants muddy water poured on them?

Only when I come to the Fountain of Living Water to be filled will the spiritual water of my life pour out refreshing and cleansing for others. And only when it is constantly being filled is it constantly FULL and overflowing. Perhaps I'm reaching and this is just an overwrought analogy...or maybe it is Truth??

My proof text:

^{2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV}But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
¹³It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. ¹⁵All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Well..ok...maybe I'm more like a clay jar than a clear glass!!

No cheap grace...no cheap answers

2005-08-12T20:23:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've heard of cheap grace. Paul talks about it in Romans. First he says:

^{Romans 5:20-21 NIV} The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then he anticipates the "cheap grace" argument:

^{Romans 6:1-4 NIV} What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If you continually keep sinning KNOWING that God will graciously forgive your sin, you are counting on cheap grace. Hebrews warns us that there is no more sacrifice when we knowingly sin. Paul's answer in Romans is, of course, more gracious, basically, "Don't you know that if you're baptized into Christ Jesus that you're dead to yourself? And don't you know the RESULT of that death to self is so that we can have NEW life?" (Read the text and you'll see what I mean.)

So that should pretty much stop us in our tracks when we get ready to sin. If the warning from Hebrews isn't enough--

^{Hebrews 10:26-27 NIV} If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Then Paul's admonition SHOULD be enough.

The temptation, of course, is to read Paul flippantly or to dismiss the writer of Hebrews (in context) as simply constructing rhetorical hedges in order to support his point. That brings us to the point of cheap answers.

I don't want to rag on people who really made it tough on me over the past few years. But I have to make a comment. I read the book of Job. How helpful do you think it is, as a friend, to try and tie the difficulty to some fault in the person that is suffering?

That legalism is cheap and easy. It's SO much easier to give God a pass than it is to confront why the world works this way. And we can give that pass to God by simply blaming the person for the trouble.

It is the dark side of the (not so good news) of the prosperity gospel. In order for the prosperity gospel to be true--that God blesses me because I'm good--necessarily God must cause difficulties to rain down on those that are NOT good. You know...the man that just lost his job. Or the mom who just lost her husband and now her grandson has leukemia. Or...the greatest lie of them all...that God withdraws his blessing when we don't tithe, or don't pray, or don't go to church enough.

Those are cheap answers and, according to the book of Job, they are lies:

^{Job 42:7 The Message}After GOD had finished addressing Job, he turned to Eliphaz the Temanite and said, "I've had it with you and your two friends. I'm fed up! You haven't been honest either with me or about me--not the way my friend Job has.

A friend of mine recently told me the truth when she said that she doesn't know why bad things happen to good people, but she hopes that we will know one day. She did that as she expressed genuine concern about what we went through. I could tell that if she could have made it better for us in any way, she would have.

That willingness to sacrifice for others is precisely what Jesus did on the Cross for us. There is nothing cheap about that grace and nothing cheap about his answers.

You KNOW it's special when...

2005-08-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

Look back to The Grinder for just a second. (I have the link creating a new window so you won't lose your place here.)

I mention "us" and "we" and "Jen." I do that casually. It's almost like I take her for granted. Now read my bullet list again and try to put your mind around the timeframe. I only saw her and the kids on weekends during 20 of the 21 months we had full-time revenue from my business or full-time employment. The rest of the time we were living off of retirement savings or depending on family and friends for things like food costs. And I didn't see her on anywhere near ALL of the weekends. For a 12-month stay in North Phoenix, she visited for one month and I had five weekends and Christmas week with my family.

The rest of the time she did it on her own. We had a little help from our friend that opened up his home to us. But pretty much she had 20 months of solo time with four kids ranging in age from 3 to 12. Going to two schools...with their starting and ending times staggered by an hour. Fixing food for a full family. Keeping four kids headed towards (and often down) the straight and narrow. Our middle two (both daughters) professed faith in Jesus during those times and were baptized.

One thing has been constant during the past five years. Jen has been there for me. We suffered apart and we suffered together. It wasn't perfect, but it has stayed whole. We both can sense healing in ourselves and each other, so we hope we've "turned the corner" so to speak. But if we have to go through more, I think we'll do just fine.

Thanks, my Love. You really mean the world to me.

Salt

2005-08-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

Salt. Sodium Chloride. White crystal. Flavors the ocean. Some claim 14,000 distinct uses for it. Found in the Dead Sea. Keeps you floating in the Salt Lake.

Some claim it can't lose its flavor. It might not pour when moist. It becomes hard as a rock if it gets wet enough. We use it to melt ice in the winter and keep water from freezing to make homemade ice cream.

Can you imagine a world without it? Why did Jesus speak of it in the Sermon on the Mount:

Salt and Light
^{Matthew 5:13-16 The Message}"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
¹⁴"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. ¹⁵If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. ¹⁶Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Very simply, Jesus spoke with everyday images. He related. He spent 30 years observing before he started his ministry. He wasn't in a hurry until the time was ripe.

He was salty. He was light. I can't say for sure, but I can speculate: I suspect no one met Jesus and left unchanged. Either the person's heart was softened or it was hardened...it was not the same.

Billy Graham always opens his sermons by telling those listening, "The Bible says that God loves YOU." Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is the proof-text for that claim. Some will say that it's no big deal for God to resurrect...after all he is the giver of life.

I don't buy that. Jesus' sweat mixed with blood before it fell to the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane (geth sem uh knee). I don't know about you, but I've never sweat blood. But when I sweat, I sweat out my salt.

Jesus sweated out his salt mixed with blood before spilling ALL of his blood dying on the cross. I wonder if that has some meaning that we've missed?

How can you and I apply this? Be salt. Be light. Don't be a commoner...you're a child of the King. Don't be a hidden light, get up on the hill and shine. You'll suffer if you're boldly proclaiming Christ Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And you might even sweat a little. But you won't suffer OR sweat like he did.

The Grinder

2005-08-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

In the past 5 years:

I left a very solid job that was leading me to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to take a job with a dot com in Austin, Texas
The dot com exploded less than 9 months later and offered me a voluntary severance and a threat of an involuntary severance

I sent out over 200 resumes over a 4-year time period
We had a son...who is now a rough-and-tumble pre-schooler of almost four years..our other three kids grew a lot without Dad around
We had 21 months of full-time income in 54 months
We exhausted the majority of our retirement savings
I was accused of not "doing enough" to make the situation better
We had phone calls on a weekly basis for about six months from 10 creditors that deserved to be repaid...and that we had no money to repay
Our church tried to care...then our close friends found they couldn't deal...and dropped off one by one
Jen's ministry to others became visible and viable as God caused unchurched friends to reach out to HER
Another unchurched, unemployed friend who was laid off when we were let us stay with him in his home for 2.5 years...we made it through...but just barely...and even he is starting a new job next week!!
I spent 20 of the past 27 months on the road mostly away from my wife and from my children...and my dad said "look how God took care of you"

I've been through the Grinder. God promises that "All things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are (the) called, according to his purposes." But that doesn't stop life from being a grind. Sometimes it is bone wearying. And sometimes you die from life.

Rob Zinn, my pastor from my senior year of high school, used to say that God squeezes us to see what is inside. If we're supposed to be oranges, then lemon juice shouldn't come out when we go through difficulty. He never said what should come out after we're emptied out and dry as a stone, but the Bible hints that you can't get blood from a stone.

I'm thinking that what comes out of the Grinder is salt. It comes in two varieties: that which is useful to God and that which is only worthy of keeping the weeds from overtaking the path. One has savor...the other has lost its flavor.

Do we determine which we are? Or is that entirely in God's hands? Is his promise of redemption conditional or unconditional? Is one "dose" of belief enough? Does Jesus actually allow some of us--like Judas--to slip out of his hands?

These are serious questions and I have a very serious, and well-thought out answer:

I...don't...know.

But I'm trusting that HE does and that he knows what he's doing. Life isn't beanbag...sometimes it hurts. But I believe that someone who died on a cross for my sin gets that. And I wonder if there really is anyone other than he that really DOES get that?

My challenge is this: take me seriously and give up the pat answers. Be willing to go through the Grinder with me and see what comes out. Savor? Or no flavor? Sweet orange juice? Bitter lemon juice? Or just the agony of being completely poured out?

Starting off...

2005-08-11T16:28:00.000-05:00

It all started from this thought:

Salt Mill
(8/1/2005)

In order to put
Salt on my food
I grind it in a mill.

I wonder how
God gets us ready
To flavor the world?

greg.w.h