Some quotes to chew on . . .

"There is no doxology without theology, and good theology should produce doxology." Ergun Caner

“A theological thought can breathe only in the atmosphere of dialogue with God.” Helmut Thielicke, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians

“Truth is always a quarry hard to hunt, and therefore we must look everywhere for its tracks.” Basil the Great (From On the Spirit 1.1).


“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts. The right defense against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments. By starving the sensibility of our pupils we only make them easier prey to the propagandist when he comes. For famished nature will be avenged and a hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head." C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man, pp. 13-14

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Stealing Quiet . . .

Here's a song from 40 Days that I really enjoy. The song is "Quiet" by Mark Warren, Joel Warren. Here are the lyrics:

Walk into a crowded room, into a faceless sea
I feel right at home
Remember not to look too close so they won't see through me
They can never know that there's a voice inside my head
Inside my mind
If I could find that secret place
A place to hide

Chorus:
It would be alright if I could stay there for awhile
It would be alright if I could steal the quiet
Deep down I have a need that I cannot deny
It would be alright

I sense you there across the room
A blinding light stills me where I stand
I didn't think you'd come this soon
If I may, if I might find out where I stand
I didn't plan to leave you out for all this time
I took for granted you were here
But if you don't mind

Chorus:
It would be alright if I could stay there for awhile
It would be alright if I could steal the quiet
Deep down I have a need that I cannot deny
It would be alright

I don't know why this song speaks so strongly to me. I think it is the whole idea of stealing quiet.


Finding a center.

Hunkering down for a moment of peace in a world of white noise.

Brother Lawrence said, "To be with God there is no need to be continually in church. Of our heart we may make an oratory, wherein to retire from time to time and with Him hold meek, humble loving converse." (The Practice of the Presence of God)

Sometimes we need to retire, to separate ourselves into a sort of solitude just to be in the presence of the One who really matters. Thomas Kelly in A Testament of Devotion calls this the process of centering on God. It is the discipline of finding a place to be, a place to just sit with Abba and simply to breathe.

If we make time for this practice, for this centering, for this laser like focus on what really matters, we may well find that God often appears in those times in ways we may not have expected. As Evelyn Underhill notes in Practical Mysticism:

"Because mystery is horrible to us, we have agreed for the most part to live in a world of labels; to make of them the current coin of experience, and ignore their merely symbolic character, the infinite gradation of values which they misrepresent. We simply do not attempt to unite with Reality. But now and then that symbolic character is suddenly brought home to us. Some great emotion, some devastating visitation of beauty, love or pain, lifts us to another level of consciousness; and we are aware for a moment of the difference between the neat collection of discrete objects and experiences which we call the world and the height, the depth, the breadth of the living, growing, changing Fact, of which thought, life, and energy are parts and in which we 'live and move and have our being.'"

I think that sums up the second verse of the song--sometimes we are just jolted out of our activity, out of our busy-ness, out of our mundane existence, and then we have a clarity we have not experienced and maybe cannot adequately express. We see.

We see HIM.

We get IT.

I need the quiet. I need to get it. I need to crawl into my Father's lap and be shocked into an awareness of how interconnected my world is to His, how his grace overflows in every aspect of my existence, how completely all encompassing is this One called God.

Steal the quiet.

Take the risk and get into God's presence.

Let the Mystery and Meaning of life jolt you into the reality of this great grace which sustains us all. Look for opportunities today to raise yourself above the mundane/temporary to that which will never fade. Set your mind to pursue it, and wait for the sheer shock of God's interruption.

We need to steal the quiet. We need to stay there for a while. We need Him.

Thanks for reading!

And now, a song from Switchfoot

I was driving to church this morning listening to the music of Switchfoot (in case you were wondering, I was listening to the album The Beautiful Letdown). One of the songs struck me as simply poetic and poignant, and I wanted to share the lyrics with you all. The song is entitled "Gone." Here are the lyrics:

She told him that she'd rather fix her makeup
than try and fix what's going on
But the problem keeps on calling
even with the cell phone gone.

She told him that she believes in living
bigger than she's living now
But her world keeps spinning backwards
and upside down.

Don't say so long, you're not that far gone.
Don't spin today away, 'cause today will soon be

Gone, like yesterday is gone
Like history is gone
Just try and prove me wrong and
pretend like you're immortal.

She said, he said, live like no tomorrow
Everyday we borrow brings us
one step closer to the edge. Infinity.
Where's your treasure, where's your hope,
if you get the world and lose your soul?
She pretends like she pretends like
she's immortal.

Don't say so long, and throw yourself wrong.
This could be your big chance to make-up
Today will soon be

Gone, like yesterday is gone
Like history is gone
The world keeps spinning on
You're going, going,
Gone, like summer break is gone,
Like Saturday is gone
Just try and prove me wrong and
pretend like you're immortal.

We are not infinite
We are not permanent
Nothing is immediate
And we pretend like we're immortal.
We are so confident in our accomplishments
Look at our decadence.

Gone, like Frank Sinatra, like Elvis and his mom,
Like Al Pacino's money, nothing lasts in this life
Gone, my High School dreams are gone,
my childhood sweets are gone
Life is a day that doesn't last for long.

Life is more than money, time was never money
Time was never cash, life is still more than girls.
Life is more than hundred dollar bills and
roto-tom fills.
Life is more than fame and rock and roll and thrills.
All the riches of the kings end up in wills
We've got information in the information age
but do we know what life is outside of our convenient Lexus cages?

She said he said live like no tomorrow
every moment that we borrow brings us closer
to a God who's never been short of cash
Hey Bono, I'm glad you asked.
Life is still worth living, life is more than we are.

I really like the last 4 segments of this song. I listened to it in my convenient Corolla cage and realized that we humans are good at hiding, even in plain sight. We pretend we are righteous, while we do our best to hide the unrighteous acts we do in secret. We act like every thing we do is important, while in our hearts we cry for a life of purpose. We would never admit our inner feelings or thoughts to another for fear of "being known" too intimately. We are afraid that the light may blind us or show our weaknesses too clearly. We are afraid of being known by others. We are afraid of rejection. We all know, however, that life is more than the stuff we use to try to make life worthwhile. Life if more than the stuff we collect to hide our insecurities while building a personal empire that we hope proclaims our (self) importance. Today, let's come into the light, let's let our deeds be exposed for what they really are, let's let God be God.

Thanks for reading!

What if you had no reputation? A Christmas meditation

Philippians 2:5-9 NASU

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

This passage may not usually be associated with Christmas, but for some reason that is how it comes to me this season. Look closely at the passage above, then read the quote from The Jesus Style by Gayle D. Erwin below.

“Christ Jesus . . . made himself nothing.

“He made himself nothing, he emptied himself—the great kenosis. He made himself no reputation, no image.

“I can recall my father shaking his head and repeating over and over to himself, ‘If only I knew what this meant. There is something powerful here. If I only understood it.’ Maybe that is why this Scripture has glued itself to my mind and equally disturbs me. Reputation is so important to me. I want to be seen with the right people, remembered in the right light, advertised with my name spelled right, live in the right neighborhood, drive the right kind of car, wear the right kind of clothing. But Jesus made himself of no reputation.”

Christmas in America means lots of things to lots of people.

For some it becomes a political event that pits “the true meaning of Christmas” against the bias of some against religion. For others Christmas is just another time to visit families and to pretend to get along with each other. For others Christmas is a season that involves incredible profits (or expenses) and lots of activities. For still others Christmas is simply a winter break, a time to regroup for a new year.

I know I’ve left a big group out! There are those who see Christmas as the celebration of the birth of the world’s Savior. But I want to twist the prism a bit and look at Christmas from a different angle.

Almost all of the views above look at Christmas from the perspective of what humans gain from the season. I wonder if we can look at the season as something we can offer to others, a gift of sorts.

This passage from Philippians reminds me that Christmas for Jesus wasn’t about what he would gain. In fact, he lost just about everything! He left the comfort of his Father’s place, he became a tottering, dribbling little baby, he had to learn to talk, to walk, to eat, he left his riches behind for the poverty of a manger, and ultimately he would even become sin, something he had never experienced. As Paul says, he made himself of no reputation.

Imagine what Christmas would be like this year if those of us who follow Jesus would do as Paul admonishes here and have this approach to the season. Imagine if we actually attempted to have the same attitude towards others that Jesus has towards us! What would Christmas look like if we didn’t care about what we got out of it?

Ronald Reagan is credited with the saying “There is no telling what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” We don’t like that approach though, do we? We kick against it! I mean, we deserve to be recognized, don’t we?

You came up with the idea that made the company money, shouldn’t you be rewarded? Maybe you found a problem and fixed it, and that fix saved someone’s job. Shouldn’t you be shown gratitude? Maybe you did some kindness for someone you knew couldn’t pay you back, shouldn’t you get credit for that?

Don’t we all think that we should be center stage, center of the world, the most important person in the world? How many times have you heard “I quit going to that church because MY needs weren’t being met”?

No reputation.

Let that sink in.

NO Reputation!

No fame, no credit, no automatic acceptance, no celebrities, and no place where who you know or what you know earns you admittance.

Jesus made himself of no reputation.

Ouch!

We love our awards, the acceptance of others, the glamour of being “somebody,” or the wonderful happiness of fame, don’t we?

“Don’t neglect me” is the motto of many in our society and our churches.

The motto of Christ and his followers is “No reputation.” God chooses such people to further his agenda. Will we be involved or do we like our perks too much?

In Job 1, Satan appears in God's court. Go acknowledges the good job done by Job, and asks Satan if he has noticed. Satan's response is a tough challenge: "Does Job fear God for nothing?"

Think about what the evil one is implying here. He is asking, "Will a human serve God with no expectation of something in return?"

Will humans serve God for nothing?

That hurts, doesn't it? Even the mere thought of it as a possibility smarts a bit. Surely the mighty God of the universe wouldn't expect me to show him respect and serve his purposes without expectation of payment for services rendered, right?

Right?

Will you serve God for nothing?

Can we humble ourselves to the point where we realize that God owes us nothing? Quite literally, we have done nothing to merit a reward. Even our service is a response to his continued mercy.

Will we, like Christ, humble ourselves to the point of no reputation? Are we willing to be "nobodies" in God's service, among his people, even among those who ought to "recognize" us?

What would Christmas look like this year if we (all of us) decided to give with no expectation of return? What if we humbled ourselves and expected no acknowledgement?

What can you do this Christmas season that will bless others and garnish no reputation for you? Who can you serve that can't repay you? This year let's commit ourselves to serving, giving, and loving as Christ did. Let's look for opportunities to bless others in a way that does not give us recognition. Instead of asking for things for ourselves, let's give to the needs of others.

How would that change Christmas in your circle?

Thanks for reading!

A repeat--Jesus and the Blind Beggar

Hey y'all:

I was reading some old posts the other day, and this one really struck me. It is a devotional I wrote on the blind beggar who prayed for Jesus' attention by crying "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!" As I reread this post, I decided I ought to share it again. I wrote this about 2.5 years ago, and the truth of it still stings me a bit. So, here it is:

“Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me.”

The Jesus Prayer, a short, enigmatic statement of faith and repentance. Contained in this short phrase are some of the most powerful doctrines needed to heal the human condition.

One version of it is found in Luke 18:35-43, the story about the healing of a blind beggar. The blind beggar sat by the road. There was nothing new here. He had done this many times in his interminable suffering. He sat there. He begged. Another day in paradise.

Imagine his situation. Close your eyes for a moment and think of how he experienced life. Devoid of sight, he lived in a constant sense of blackness. Of course, his other senses were sharp, he could hear and smell and taste. But he could not see.

Because he could not see, he could not hold his child’s face and admire the nose or the eyes that obviously are a family trait. He could not admire his wife’s beauty or the glory of her in splendid dress. He could not get around like the rest of us. He had to rely on the kindness of others to avoid stumbling.

Perhaps he chose this stretch of the road because the people in that area were especially generous. He could get a lot of money or other goods begging there. Whatever the reason, he hauled himself as best he could to the spot he had occupied so often. He sat. He begged. Another day in paradise.

Yet somehow today promised to be different. He couldn't quite explain it. There was something in the air, something that did not smell or taste or sound the same as all the other days. The humidity was the same, so it wasn’t a change in weather. He was the same blind person he had always been, so it was not a physical change in his situation. Something was different, however, but just what it was remained a mystery.

Then, he heard a sound of a crowd. Was there a parade today about which he had no knowledge? This crowd did not sound like a typical parade. Folks were talking about a great teacher, a person who had told the most amazing stories, of an encounter with a rich man, of an encounter with the Pharisees. This person the crowd discussed was evidently no ordinary man. He was different. He was the difference in the blind beggar’s day.

The blind man inquired, “What’s going on? Who is coming?” One of the people told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is headed this way.”

He thought about it. “Jesus of Nazareth,” he mumbled. “I wonder if that is the same fellow who reportedly healed ten lepers the other day. If so, surely he can lift my blindness! Surely he can set me free.”

His excitement grew. Nervously he formulated a plan. He stood up and cried out loud, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” Some of the folks in the crowd shushed him and angrily asked him to be quiet. He got louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The noise got Jesus’ attention. Stopping, Jesus asked the man what he wanted. The request was simple, “Please give me my sight.” Jesus granted the request and told the man, “Your faith has saved you and made you well.”

The crowd (the same ones who rebuked the blind man earlier) now rejoiced at the notable (or should that be “visible”?) miracle that happened here. They gave glory to God for the man’s healing. Isn’t that just like us? When someone cries the loudest for God’s mercy, don’t we sometimes wish that they would just be quiet? It is embarrassing to hear all that crying and begging. Can’t you just do that in private?

Or maybe like the blind man you’ve become so desperate that you simply don’t care anymore. “Jesus, have mercy on me!” is your rallying cry, and you’re going to shout it until you get a response.

There is good news here. Jesus stopped. He listened. He healed and saved. The crowd rejoiced.

Just another day in paradise.

Thanks for reading!

What it means to burn . . .

As I sit here in my comfortable home reading the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, I am listening to Caedmon's Call (the first album). I am struck by the honesty and character of the lyrics (of course, it doesn't hurt that Derek Webb wrote a bunch of the songs). Nonetheless, the interesting mixture of the admonitions of Hebrews with the alternative/folk feel of Caedmon's Call has put me in quite the introspective mood. Before I go any further, then, I want to quote for you the song "Coming Home," written by Aaron Tate and copyrighted by Cumbee Road Music in 1994. Here ya go!

You say you want a living sacrifice
Well here I am a burnt offering
Crawling off the altar
And back into the fire

And with my smoke-filled lungs
I cry out for freedom
While locking and chaining myself
To my rotting desires

And I hate the stench
But I swallow the key
And with it stuck in my throat
Can you hear me
Can you hear me

(Chorus)
I'm coming home. I'm coming home.
I'm coming home. I'm coming home.
But I'm still a long way off

I am shell shocked and I have walked
Through the trenches full of tears
With the mortars of memory
Exploding in my burning ears

You've stripped the trees of Lebanon
And now you're stripping me
Of the bark of false morality
The bite of selfish greed
Lord, can you hear me

(Chorus)
I'm coming home. I'm coming home.
I'm coming home. I'm coming home.
But I'm still a long way off

Will you run to me
Will you come to me
Will you meet me
Will you greet me
Will you drag me home
Cause I'm still a long way off

(Chorus)
I'm coming home. I'm coming home.
I'm coming home. I'm coming home.
But I'm still a long way off

I guess the reason that this song struck me today is the imagery of fire. Fire plays a big role in the letter to the Hebrews.

God is depicted as a burning fire.

There is a bit of discussion about the altar and sacrifices aflame.

Even Christ is depicted as a type of burnt offering offered on our behalf outside of the city--the same place where the author of Hebrews wants us to join Christ so that we can endure the abuse that he suffered.

Why? Because our God is a consuming fire.

What does fire consume? It consumes anything that is not like it. God will also consume those things in us that do not correspond to his character. That is why we are admonished to "Strive for peace with all people, and for the holiness without which no one will see God."

The song above reminds me of these things. We are on an altar whether we like it or not. We are either on the altar of God (allowing our non-God aspects to be burnt away and changed into his likeness), or we are on the altar of our own selfishness (burning away with our own deceit and sinful wishes). Like Aaron Tate points out, we crawl off the altar of God into the fire itself. We cry out for freedom while chaining ourselves to our own rotting and despicable desires.

We are on fire. We are burning.

What are we burning and why are we burning?

Many of us burn for all the wrong reasons--we are aflame with our own passions and desires, pursuing things that not only will not satisfy, but that will scar us forever if we continue to make ourselves a sacrifice to stuff. We look for stuff to fill the hole in the seat of our beings, we strive to come to wholeness through means that will not make us whole--we try to make ourselves something we are not, we try to obtain possessions that we do not need, we spend and are spent pursuing more stuff that not only clog our homes but clog our spiritual and physical veins and keep us from living our lives as God intended.

We can also burn for the right reasons--we can give ourselves over to a life of sacrifice or selfless living that puts the needs of others before our own desires and wishes. We may be aflame with a love that desires the best of God's blessings for our neighbors. We burn in God's presence so that we may lose anything that is not of God and gain Christ as "all that is really important." It is not an easy place to be, being consumed until only God is left. Nonetheless, such a place is necessary if we are to live a life abundant.

Let us come to God's consuming fire to be purified, to receive the delicious grace of God in Christ, to find all our rotting desires removed and transformed. If not, we are merely burning on our own waste.

Hebrews 10:31, 39
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. . . . But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls."

Thanks for reading!

Other May, You Cannot

The following is from an old tract and was forwarded to me by a friend. Enjoy!

"If God has called you to be really like Jesus he will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways he will seem to let other people do things he will not let you do.

"Other Christians and ministers, who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

"Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence of Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

"The Lord may let others be honored and put forward and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get all the credit for it, but make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious he may let others get credit for the work which you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

"The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting time, which other Christians never feel distressed over. So make up your mind that God is sovereign and can do what He likes with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in his dealing with you, but if you absolutely sell out to be His servant, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow on you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.

"Settle it forever, then, that you deal directly with the Holy Spirit and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hands, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to do with others. Now, when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven."

Thanks for reading!

The faithfulness of God

I think sometimes that I have believed a lie. Yes, I think sometimes that I have bought into something that isn’t true. For example, the idea that somehow my sin is too great for God to forgive, or that he may forgive me but never help me get beyond it. Or how about this one—habitual sin causes God to leave me. Or here is another one--God must hate me because of the bad things that are happening in my life.

In Leviticus 26, God is describing to the Jews how he will discipline them if they disobey his law, and the punishments listed there are hard and terrible to me. Yet, at the end of all this discussion of exile and desolation, God says, “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD.”

Note the faithfulness and love of God in these verses. He will not forsake his people, no matter how horrible their disobedience or failure or sin. He will keep his covenant because it is what he does. He is the LORD, he is Yahweh, and it is his essential nature to keep his covenant. He will “remember” the promises, the covenant, he has made with us, and more importantly, he will not break that covenant.

Yes, God disciplines his children, and yes, no amount of discipline is looked on with joy (usually! see Hebrews 12:3-10). Even God's discipline, though, is only for a season. Think about any athlete you may know. Most of them practice almost fanatically while complaining about the practice itself, yet most of them still make the time to do it. Why? Practice, like any discipline, works into us habits that will (hopefully) enhance our performance under stress. The athlete who has trained (disciplined) himself well will perform well. So also the follower of Christ who has received God's discipline and instruction will exhibit the qualities of Jesus in life. It is simply true.

As Romans 10 says, “The kingdom and word of God is near you, even in your heart.” We know in our hearts that God will not abandon us, yet we cover over our sins as though somehow we may be that one exception to the rule. Proverbs 28:13 warns us against concealing our transgression, and yet that is exactly what we all try to do when conviction first hits our hearts. Why do we do that?

Thank God he is faithful and merciful! As 2 Timothy 2 reminds us--even when we are faithless, he is faithful. As Paul records elsewhere--God is faithful to complete the work he has begun.

Thank God today for how he has been faithful to you.

Thanks for reading!

What the? Genesis 6 and the "sons" of God

Recently I engaged in a conversation with some graduate students on the subject of Genesis 6:1-12. The main question revolved around the identity of the "sons" of God in the passage who evidently engaged in illicit relations with humans with disastrous results. Jewish tradition (and Christian, too) tends to view these "sons" of God as angelic beings, but the context of the passage doesn't give a clear indication. The discussion still rages in the office.

That being said, I discovered a document the other day that appears to come from one of my colleagues. It is a collection of student responses to the query above. I thought I'd share them as they are quite funny.

1. In Genesis 6:1-4 one is introduced to the "sons of God"; who went on to inhabit the daughters of men.

2. Concerning the identification of the "sons of God," one student states, "The popular views have strong weaknesses." (I guess that is better than weak strengths, huh?)

3. Still another student opines, "The offspring mentioned in Genesis 6 can still be considered men; there is no evidence that they held great supernatural powers or were half-breads." (I guess they were multigrains instead of whole wheat!)

4. Another student wrote, "The 'sons of God' were great men of God who were caught up in the daughters of men." (I'm tangled, and I can't get loose?)

5. One student asked, "Can angles take a human form?" (I'm not sure, but I thought I saw a human triangle once)

6. Another student affirmed, "Angles can not marrie or be married to." (I guess there are only single angles)

7. And last, but by far a favorite, "The second view is that the sons of God were fallen angels of some kink . . ." (No comment!)

Well, there you have it--mystery settled! I hope these made you smile, they did it for me!

Thanks for reading!

Some interesting quotes to chew on . . .

"There is no doxology without theology, and good theology should produce doxology." Ergun Caner

“A theological thought can breathe only in the atmosphere of dialogue with God.” Helmut Thielicke, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians

“Truth is always a quarry hard to hunt, and therefore we must look everywhere for its tracks.” Basil the Great (From On the Spirit 1.1).

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts. The right defense against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments. By starving the sensibility of our pupils we only make them easier prey to the propagandist when he comes. For famished nature will be avenged and a hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head." C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man, pp. 13-14

“This is true worship, when the mind of the worshipper presents itself as an undefiled offering to God.” Lactantius, Divine Institutes

“Spiritually ill theologians produce sick theology.” Christopher Hall

“Education begins in the home, where it is a parental right and responsibility.” Ronald Reagan, 1982

“Words can be polluted even more dramatically and drastically than rivers and land and sea. There has been a terrible destruction of words in our time.” Malcolm Muggeridge in The End of Christendom, p. 2

Plutarch—“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.”

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

And now, an honest appraisal of our worth . . .

Today I am reminded that life isn’t a sprint, it isn’t even really a marathon. No, life is more of a journey, a wandering, if you will, through various places in search of the place where we belong. We travel, we sojourn in this world looking for that special place, that special task to which we are called. Like Hercules, we labor through our struggles, sometimes utilizing an almost superhuman power to accomplish the “trials” of our lives in an effort to prove somehow the worth of each breath we take, the value of each thought, even the inherent worth of our own existence. We labor, we travel, we worry, and yet we humans seldom seem to find that place of rest, that place of contentment where all things are in harmony, where we feel “at home.”

What is it about us that makes so many of us feel the need to travel, to labor incessantly in an effort to prove our own worth? At which point in our lives did we fall so far from the recognition of our value as God sees it? Let me put it this way—if you have a valuable piece of jewelry, to whom do you take it to have it appraised? The jeweler or the street peddler and huckster? Reasonable people will take their treasures to the jeweler for an honest or fair appraisal. Why? Simply because the jeweler is a professional, trained in his area of expertise to offer an honest appraisal. In other words, he knows his craft and knows the value of the otherwise insignificant trinkets presented to him. He looks through his glass and sees worth in what appears to us mere costume jewelry. He declares its worth, and we cling to our now treasured possession as though it were a king’s ransom.

Let me share a story from my own life—I read comics. That won’t surprise my friends out there who are aware that I haven’t outgrown this seemingly juvenile past time. In my years of reading comics, I have kept thousands of them in bags and boxes for future reading. As a youngster, I had no idea that some of those comics would one day be valuable. I simply kept them because I liked to read them. One day while in seminary, my mother informed me that a young man in my childhood neighborhood wanted to start a comic collection, and he wanted to look at and possibly purchase some of mine. I hadn’t read them in a while, and I figured I could use the money, so I agreed. The young fellow and I met at my mother’s house at the designated time and day. We agreed to some prices, and he began his shopping spree. When he left he seemed happy, and I had a few extra bucks in my pocket. But the story doesn’t end there.

A few years later I was in a comic shop in Bowling Green, KY. Behind the counter a comic was displayed, but it was an unusual comic in that it had a price tag of about $400 attached to it. It was an Incredible Hulk story in which the X-Men character Wolverine made his first appearance. I remembered that I owned that comic, and after verifying with the shop owner that he would indeed pay me $400 for the comic, I made plans to visit my mother soon. When I got home, I went straight to the comics and looked for my treasure. Did you guess yet? Yes, I sold that comic to the young man a few years prior. I think I may have gotten a couple of dollars for it! Two dollars compared to four hundred dollars! I almost cried.

Then I remembered, that comic had little value to me until an “expert” told me how valuable it was (after all, I only paid 25 cents for it originally!). To bring this back to our topic, I think that sometimes so many of us work so hard to “prove” our worth because we have been listening to the wrong “experts” regarding our value. The Jeweler who makes all humans sees our true value, and I am willing to bet that you are more valuable to him than you might think. Why do I say that? It is actually very simple—the great Cosmic Jeweler or Comic Expert loves you enough to exchange His own Son for you. He only has one Son, but He is willing to give that unique possession to purchase you, a pearl of great price. God’s view of our worth is so much better than our own. I know I need to check in with Him more often before I trade what I consider my “cheap comic book” life for a paltry sum instead of the invaluable amount it is worth in God’s eyes. It's worth thinking about, right?

Thanks for reading!

Innate Concepts? C. S. Lewis on perceptions of God

The following is a quote from C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, pp. 38-39:

If a good God made the world why has it gone wrong? And for many years I simply refused to listen to the Christian answers to this question, because I kept on feeling "whatever you say, and however clever your arguments are, isn't it much simpler and easier to say that the world was not made by any intelligent power? Aren't all of your arguments simply a complicated attempt to avoid the obvious?" But then that threw me back into another difficulty.

My argument against God was that the universe seemed too cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole world was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because a man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world really was unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be a word without meaning.

Thanks for reading!

What is your "place"?

“I’m stuck in this place.” How many times have I said that when I find myself somewhere I’d rather not be? Maybe it was a job I didn’t particularly enjoy, or a meeting that bored me to tears, or perhaps a relationship that wasn’t what I hoped. In all these ways, we often find ourselves “stuck” in a “place” that we don’t appreciate or even like. Do we ever stop to think that it is those sinkholes, those pits, those stuck places where God wants to meet us? Do we ever think that maybe, just maybe, like Job God has brought us to a place where we can focus on him?

I forget sometimes that the Bible speaks often of “place.” Jesus went out to a deserted place to be alone with his Father. Paul went to a desert place to learn about his new faith. Ezekiel speaks of the places where God met him. Isaiah was in the Temple, the place of God’s revelation, when king Uzziah died, and Isaiah saw a vision of God in that place. Abraham left his hometown to go to a “place” that God would show him. Even Satan wants to have a “place” since he lost his “place” in heaven (see Revelation 12). We all want a “place.” Like the old theme song to the TV show Cheers, we want a place “where everyone knows your name.” We want a place to belong, a place to be at peace, a place of rest.

There is such a place you know. We can even carry it with us every day of our lives. That place is Calvary. The place of the Skull and the place of the supreme sacrifice in history is where we can go to find what we want. There, safe from the world, we can shelter ourselves under the sweet sacrifice of Jesus, confident, as Paul tells us, that “He who freely gave his Son for us, will he not also freely give us all things?” It is a place of both sacrifice and safety, a place of grace and rest. Although it was not a positive place for Jesus on that day, it has become for us a place of comfort, kindness, grace, and even peace. There Jesus did for me what I could not do for myself. There God redeemed me as his own by giving his only Son in my place. Read and think on these words from Dennis Jernigan’s song “It was My Sin.”

1. See the God of Glory giving up His Son
See the awesome depth of love in all that He has done
See the tiny baby on the hay so still
See Him take the cross and climb up Calvary’s lonely hill
That hill

Chorus:
It was my sin that nailed him there
It was my cross He had to bear
It was His blood that washed me clean
It was the greatest love this world has seen
He died for me
He washed me clean
I am redeemed
Worship the King

2. Hear the groaning thunder, feel the falling rain
See the King of Glory bear unbearable pain
Dying brokenhearted, Himself He would not save
See the King who died for me now risen from the grave
My grave

Chorus:
It was my sin that nailed You there
It was my cross You had to bear
Your precious blood has washed me clean
No greater love has this world ever seen
You died for meYou washed me clean
I am redeemed
Worship the King

There is a place for each of us, a place where we belong and may receive mercy. I don't know what your circumstances hold, and I can't tell you that Christ will take away all your problems. I can say with confidence, however, that his love knows no boundaries. He cares, he loves, he has mercy.

It isn't a promise of a soft path. The way of Christ starts with a crucifixion. Nonetheless, the place of wounding becomes a place of joy and belonging in Jesus. The battle scars received when following him are awards, metals of honor, reasons for rejoicing.

Being at the cross with Christ is a good place. Being at the grave as he comes out is a hopeful one. The promise of our salvation is the promise of a place where we belong to and with God. That place is ours here and now, but it is also the promise of a future rest from the worries and wounds of today. To get to that place, though, we must start with Christ and his wounds and death. There is no crown without a cross.

What place are you in today? Is it a hard place? A place of comfort? A place of confusion? A place of contentment? No matter where you place yourself today, God desires to be there with you. He wants his place to be your place. Trust him. Come home to God's place. He knows your name, he knows your need.

May God grant us the grace to live confidently in the places he has placed us. May we understand the height, width, breadth, and length of his love to us. May we find his place of rest.

Thanks for reading!

I'm praying for you!

Some C. S. Lewis Quotes

I've been rereading The Abolition of Man recently, and I wanted to share two quick quotes from this book. Here they are:

"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts. The right defence against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments. By starving the sensibility of our pupils we only make them easier prey to the propagandist when he comes. For famished nature will be avenged and a hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head." pp. 13-14

"Until quite modern times all teachers and even all men believed the universe to be such that certain emotional reactions on our part could be either congruous or incongruous to it--believed, in fact, that objects did not merely receive, but could merit, our approval or disapproval, our reverence or our contempt." pp. 14-15

Thanks for reading.

And now, a helpful quote . . .

Here is a quote from Henri Nouwen that has meant a lot to me lately, I hope it blesses you as well.

“One way to express this is to say that in order to be a living reminder of the Lord, we must walk in his presence as Abraham did. To walk in the presence of the Lord means to move forward in life in such a way that all our desires, thoughts, and actions are constantly guided by him. When we walk in the Lord’s presence, everything we see, hear, touch, or taste reminds us of him. That is what is meant by a prayerful life. It is not a life in which we say many prayers, but a life in which nothing, absolutely nothing, is done, said, or understood independently of him who is the origin and purpose of our existence.” From The Living Reminder by Henri J. Nouwen.

Thanks for reading!

Some Random (Funny?) Quotes

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life," --Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body," --Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in
the country," --Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC.

Thanks for reading!

A Little Story . . . and hopefully some encouragement

“O Lord my God, when the storm is loud, and the night is dark, and the soul is sad, and the heart oppressed; then, as a weary traveler, may I look to you; and beholding the light of your love, may it bear me on, until I learn to sing your song in the night. Amen.” From Little Book of Prayers by George Dawson.

Sometimes in the midst of the trials and burdens of life, we lose sight of the idea of an anchor. We feel tossed and thrown as on a wild and restless sea. Our emotions tell us that things will never be good, all will be despair and loss. Our hope seems shipwrecked, our desire to go on in life sinks into depression. We see nothing good, only evil all around us. Our enemies (both physical and spiritual) seem to have the upper hand, they seem to be winning the day. The victory we felt sure would come has not yet manifested itself, and we feel ourselves sinking ever deeper into a pit in which we cannot get the proper traction to climb. The clock is ticking down, our hope is gone, our day is over, and Christ has not come.

Like the disciples in Luke 24, we had hoped that Jesus would be the one who would rescue us all. We had fervently prayed that maybe, just maybe, today would be the day when we would “live happily ever after” and find our dreams coming true. We shake our heads and go out for a walk. Maybe some fresh air and a quick walk will clear out the cob webs in our minds. Still, the topic of our recent failure hangs like a cloud over our heads, raining down doubt and fear.

Suddenly, a stranger approaches. He seems rather ignorant of our experiences, and besides that he has a fairly sunny disposition. He is definitely someone we want to avoid at this moment. No pie in the sky false hope will satisfy us. We fear that he will say something like, “Cheer up! Keep a stiff upper lip! Things will work out in the end!” We try to avoid the stranger, yet he resolutely comes our direction. He seems determined to interrupt our brooding, our despair. We try to ignore him, but then he speaks.

“So, what’s going on? Why the sad face?” Out of pure human kindness we try to explain our pain in as brief a manner as possible. We do not want to burden strangers with our “little” concerns, after all. The stranger hears our story and stands tall. Looking at us he says, “Foolish one, slow of heart to believe what God has said!”

The force of his accusation causes us to stumble in our walk. How dare this stranger tell us our business? How dare he interrupt our musings with his “pollyanna” announcement. We look at him with disdain and think that he has nothing to offer.

Then, he begins to speak to us again. Starting with the beginning of our story and bringing us pretty much up to date he tells us things we knew but somehow in our anguish had forgotten. As he speaks, our hearts get a bit lighter. We can literally feel a burning inside that slowly (painfully slowly) begins to purify our thoughts and hearts. We feel encouraged even.

We invite the stranger to eat with us, and he offers to say grace. As he prays, we realize his true identity. He is our Lord, the one who was beaten brutally, was painfully crucified, who died with the full weight of our sin upon his broken and bruised body. He has been there all along, listening to us, sympathizing with our pain and anguish. He has been waiting to comfort us with his presence. He loves us so.

We beg him to stay. Oh, the situations of our life haven’t changed dramatically. We still have problems, and those problems are just as depressing and burdensome as before. The difference is that we have Jesus in the house, and the light of his love gives us courage to press on, he becomes an anchor for our souls. Why? Simply stated—“Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Through him and his love we may not have better situations or circumstances, but we can still be “more than conquerors through him who loved us” in the trials we share as his joint heirs. How? Talk to him. Let him love you. Trust his character. He is faithful even when we are faithless. You matter to him. Hang in there.

Thanks for reading!

Music for a hot August day

Today feels a bit eclectic to me, so I am listening to the following CDs:

1. Relient K--4 score and seven years

2. Starfield--Beauty in the Broken

3. Need to Breathe--Daylight

4. Jonny Lang--Turn Around

5. Jeremy Camp--Beyond Measure

6. Family Force 5

Well, that ought to keep me working today! Thanks for reading!

Update on my wife

Hello everyone:

As of last night Lisa was feeling much better. Her legs are still bothering her a bit, but she feels stronger and less anxious. I'll try to keep everyone posted on how she is doing. Thanks for the prayers!

Leo

Prayer Request for my wife

I know many of you pray for me and my family occasionally, so I wanted to ask for you to pray for my wife Lisa. Her Multiple Sclerosis has been acting up lately, and today she is really hurting and having problems with her legs (she has little or no feeling from her knees down). Would you please pray for her? Thanks!

"The prayer of the righteous has great power in its effects." James 5:16b