Don Morrison's Blog

Devotional Reading of the Word part 3

2010-04-17T18:20:00.004-05:00

Having taken some time to quiet your thoughts and your fears; setting aside your plans and your busyness. Read a short passage of scripture. Read it slowly, out loud, lingering over each thought. When something grabs your attention, stop; let the Word fully have you. You are in no rush to push forward. Don't analyze the word. Don't judge it, simply soak it in. Listen.

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:8,9)

Now read it a second time, out loud. Savor each word and hold it in your thoughts. Think about what God is saying to you in this moment. Go over your thoughts again and compare them with the Word.

Having, first, come to the Word in silence, clearing your mind and heart from distractions, and having second, read the Word out loud while listening for its message specific to you, and now, third, begun your meditation over the Word, you may slip to fourth movement of devotional reading, which is your response to it.

Read the Word a third time and tell God what you are feeling and thinking as you listen to Him. Tell him the parts you love and enjoy. Tell him the parts you resist and the parts that challenge you. Confess your faith struggles and prasie him for the victories. Let yourself cover every piece of the passage. Be truthful with yourself and with God. You may wonder why you feel this way - why you resist or embrace certain areas. Ask God to make it clear.

Devotional Reading of the Word Part 2

2010-04-16T14:59:00.001-05:00

In her book, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Adele Calhoun says the desire of Devotional Reading is, “to prayerfully encounter and surrender to the living God through attending to Scripture.” It requires an openness that allows one to hear and reflect on the voice of God. It aims to develop relationship rather than gather information.

She describes the first movement in Devotional Reading as Silence before God. Clearing our mind of all the competing voices, dumping our schedule for half an hour and preparing to hear words from God.

Listen to this word from God:
"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:8,9)

What of your life gets in the way of just listening and accepting this word from God? What of your thoughts would rather analyze and organize his word rather than merely soaking it in and letting it set upon your heart and mind? Stop and hear. Keep silence before the Lord. Be still and hear.

Share with us what happens after you practice this.

Devotional Reading of the Word Part 1

2010-04-16T13:42:00.003-05:00

A fascinating story tells of a human encounter with God. A holy man had been preaching in his community for a very long time – he had no church, he had no friends or support group around him in the community or anywhere; he was alone. No one seemed to be responding to his message of repentance so, after years of ministry to the vacant he grew despondent, suspicious, isolated, and somewhat self-righteous.

I don’t know if you can imagine being called by God to this kind of ministry. I don’t know if you can imagine the pressure of finding a small group of people and horning your way into the conversation so you can share the message God has given you. This man spoke against the unrighteousness of his governmental leaders, he spoke against the growing pluralism, the worship of sexual immorality… He took every opportunity to speak to his community about the judgment of God. He finally grew so anxious and depressed that he retreated to the wilderness to live by himself.

Most of us immediately think, “It’s no wonder no one would listen to him; all he does is preach against people. Where is grace? Where is the good news the kingdom of God brings?”

In the wilderness, the preacher found a crevasse which he made his new home. He was alone with his thoughts when God spoke to him again. God told him that, soon, he would appear in person to the preacher and he should wait there for that. A windstorm storm swept through the region and the preacher wondered if God was still with him. An earthquake shook the ground, the mountains, and the preacher’s sense that he might recognize God when he would come; he had not been in the powerful wind or the earth shattering quake. Before life could settle into normalcy a fire tore through the area and burned up everything leaving behind only desolation, but once again, God was missing.

The preacher looked around at the devastation and thought, “If only God had used these to get the attention of those people I have spent so much time preaching to. That would get them to change. Doesn’t he want them to hear his message of repentance?” But while he was thinking these thoughts, he began to ponder those ideas – Where was God during the storm, during the quake, during the fire? In that very moment he heard something new – soft and gentle – it was the voice of God, speaking once more to him. He could barely discern it at first, but as he strained to listen, it got clearer – not louder, but clearer.

The voice of God spoke to him in this soft whisper and said, “Why are you here, in the wilderness, alone? Didn’t I send you to preach repentance to the people?”

The preacher answered, “Well, yes, but no one listened. They hated me and they despised you. They vandalized every place that was once devoted to your worship; they arrested and lynched anyone who spoke well of you. I am afraid, I am angry, I am alone…What do you want from me? I have done all I can do.”

Perhaps you recognize this as the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. At this point, God gave Elijah a disciple who could take over his ministry, he told Elijah that there are many other believers he has kept safe and he brought Elijah to himself.

But what you should notice is how important the still, small, whisper of God is to this story. While Elijah wants God to show himself in some obvious and powerful experience, God wants people to take the time to pay attention. Like Elijah, it is when they are still, quiet, listening that they could hear God and not until then.

Practicing Hospitality

2010-03-25T14:43:00.004-05:00

I wonder if you have had an opportunity to extend the grace, shelter, or presence of Jesus in the last week. My wife and I have had a few opportunities and sometimes it hasn't been easy. I am sure we also missed a few opportunities along the way.

Last night we went late to dinner at Arby's. We were the only customers in the place and it felt empty. After a long day, it was nice to have an empty place all to ourselves. But then a young woman arrived. She went straight to the trash and leaned over and looked inside. She startted talking to herself and to the trash. She spoke incoherently in a way that suggested to me that she was trying to get herself ready to speak with others. Pretty quickly, she went up to the counter and looked over the Value Menu to find something she could afford. She had only a few dollars and her clothes were well-worn.

The girl behind the counter was polite and helpful. She gave the wanderer a larger size drink than she had ordered. The clerk offered the woman a sandwich, which was refused. Then the woman left pretty fast. This almost empty restaurant along with the girl behind the counter became a place of safety for those few moments: a refuge for a weary soul, a place of hospitality.

Have you seen or practiced any hospitality this week. Tell us your story. You can comment anonymously if you wish. You might also tell how the experience affected you - however snall or large.

Quick to Listen

2010-03-11T11:41:00.001-06:00

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19)

This morning, at breakfast with friends, we discussed the spiritual exercise of submission and someone mentioned James 1:19. Imagine stepping into your home where your spouse begins to vent and accuse…QUICK! Close your mouth and listen! Think you’ve got a response to tirade that is assaulting you…WAIT! Slow down; don’t speak yet. Give it some time or you will probably regret what you say – that conversation is going to take some unexpected turns and, more than likely, you won’t end up where you thought you would.

You drink your tea till it’s empty in a restaurant, only then to notice the milk that had dried into the crevasse at the bottom from some previous customer. You are repulsed. You feel the emotions rising quickly inside and…WAIT! Slow to anger. Slow to speak. You have already paid the price for someone else’s negligence, but don’t let that control your character.

This is submitting to others when you have a sense of power or rights at stake. This is aligning your will and freedom with God’s will and freedom.

How do you submit to your spouse or your children or anyone who should serve you?

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ

2010-02-24T16:46:00.001-06:00

I have been thinking of those words from Ephesians 5:21 every day this month; I have prayed over them and wondered how to practice submission on a daily basis.

Submission is not something you can “muscle-through.” There are some behaviors one can adopt, and it would definitely be possible to appear submissive under certain circumstances, but that sort of cuts against the grain of submission.

I have tried to submit myself to Donna in our marriage relationship, but we have been married, going on 27 years – our patterns of behavior are deeply rooted. Any changes I make to myself may be noticed, but they are hardly concrete until they have been practiced for some length of time. And I have tried to be giving of myself in that relationship for most of those 26 years.

I have tried to submit myself in relationship to my children as well. But they are children and not peers so that kind of submission doesn’t always look like submission. It may look so when I forfeit the television or something out of deference to them, but not when I am grounding my daughter from her cell phone. Yet they are the same inside me.

I have tried to submit myself to my brothers and sisters, to people I meet, to my parents…I feel less righteous than before, not because of my behavior, but because I feel as though I am missing something that is essential and I don’t know what it is.

Thoughts, suggestions, critiques?

The Spiritual Practice of Submission

2010-02-14T21:14:00.002-06:00

The following is my sermon notes for Sunday's lesson. I invite comments regarding the message as I encourage your participation in this discussion about Submission as a spiritual discipline. Thanks.

2010-02-14 The Spiritual Practice of Submission
Don Morrison S 11th and Willis Church of Christ

Today we continue our look at Spiritual Disciplines by examining the practice of submission.

I want to admit, up front, that the whole concept of submission doesn’t sound very appealing to me on the surface. I want to confess that it is almost bred into us that the individual is supposed to be self-determined and autonomous.

Then I want to admit, that knowing how difficult it is for us to look plainly and fairly at the idea of submission. I thought about turning straight to Ephesians 5:22, 23 where scripture says, “Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body...” I knew that would be a great start for everyone’s Valentine’s Day.

And now, having just brought that to mind, I want to ask you to set that aside. I want to ask you to set aside all your preconceptions about submission and look through some scriptures about the practice of submission as a spiritually transforming way of life for all of us—not just one gender, not just those who are not bosses, not just those who are really, really spiritual, or the losers—for all who would follow Christ.

As Zen read earlier (Philippians 2:5-8) that Jesus placed himself in a position where he is, by his very nature, God, but where he also became completely submissive to the Father’s will.

Prayer
• Open heart and mind to see submission not only from the perspective of our worldly experience.
• But as a virtue that can liberate us.
• Bring us first to you—to submit to you first and then to be as you would have us.
• Help us to be pliable in your hands, moldable, submissive to your will as Jesus, our Savior

So let’s start with the verse just before Ephesians 5:22

Ephesians 5:21
Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.
Submission to one another is an expression of our reverence for Christ

• Not just submission toward God, but in relation to one another.
• Story about Ken Cukrowski reading the Greek text with me
• Relationship between student and teacher that the student must submit to.
• A student cannot get the full benefit from his teacher if he cannot place himself in the position of submission to his teacher

1. Submission to one another frees us from the need to be in charge and in control.

In that same vein, when Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, John, Thaddeus, Bartholomew and the rest to come follow him as his disciples, they were committing themselves to a certain role in their relationship with Jesus.
• Jesus told some of them, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)
• It is what he will make of them, by his power or expertise, if they will place themselves at his feet—so to speak—and become his disciples.
• Do you wonder what Jesus can make of you if you place yourself at his feet and let your will and freedom align with his?
• Without submitting to him, neither they or us could become his disciples. It is when we align our will and freedom to his will and freedom that we actually become his followers.

2. Submission changes us into someone who can be a follower, a learner a student.

I want to point out one more of the changes that submission can bring to our lives when we practice it.

First, let’s look at Samson and Delilah in Judges 16:4-9
• Samson idealized self-determination and autonomy
• He pursued a Philistine wife rather than marry according to the law
• He was humiliated by her when she gave away the answer to his riddle
• Samson’s relationship with Delilah was more like a rivalry. They kept trying to outmaneuver each other.

• I know I am starting from a difficult place, using Samson and Delilah, but imagine if they had submitted to one another.
• Calhoun’s definition: “Submission that leads to growth means aligning my will and freedom with God’s will and freedom, expressed by submitting to one another out of love and reverence for Christ.”

• Imagine Delilah seeking Samson’s will and freedom rather than her own wealth or her people’s desires.
• Imagine Samson seeking Delilah’s will and freedom rather than mocking her with lies, or setting her aside for his own self-promotion.

3. Submission changes us by teaching us to value others for what they might have to offer.

Recap
1. Free us from needing to be in charge
2. Ability to be a better disciple of Jesus and learn better from others
3. Learning to value the thoughts and ideas of others, including those of people we would like to be close to and have enduring relationships with.

Now let’s read more from Ephesians 5 while we hold to this idea of submission and the ways it changes us.
V 21 aligning my will to the greater good of the body of Christ, the church.
• how does that look at the business meeting?
• How does that change my conversation after the body makes a decision I didn’t like so much?
V22 the wife aligns her will and freedom to her husband.
• Not becoming a doormat saying, “do whatever your want to me.”
• Rather, deciding not to push her way (even though we all know that she is usually right because… well just because) and align herself with him
V 25 The husband aligns his freedom and will with his wife’s.
• serving her as Christ serves
• Seeking her needs above your own—submitting your needs to hers.

Submission is not about becoming less of a person or less valuable a person. It is about changing us into the image of Jesus who submits himself to the will of the father.

Defining Submission

2010-02-12T17:01:00.001-06:00

In the book, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Adele Calhoun describes Submission as aligning one's will and freedoms with God's will and freedoms. How does that definition change/reinforce your perception of submission?

Virtue?

2010-02-11T17:14:00.000-06:00

Is submission a virtue? Or is it just becoming a doormat? What does it look like to be strong and to submit?

Submit

2010-02-10T16:24:00.000-06:00

You probably know that the word Islam means submission. There have been times when I wondered how Islamists interpret that idea: submission to what, and whom? I looked up the word “submission” on Google and one hit came up with a picture of a woman’s bare back with some form of Arabic writing across her skin, from her shoulders all the way to her waist. There were also trickles of blood striped across the writings where she had been flogged. The idea of the picture was clear: some submit more than others.

The same might be said of Christianity, I suppose, which means “Christ-like.” Many muslims must wonder what Christ is truly like, having been injured by perversions of Christianity for hundreds of years.

I bring these two images up because the concept of submission is so foreign to us and so difficult to embrace as a Christian virtue. Yet, just as love, honesty, fidelity, and loyalty to Christ are our pursuit, so is submission. Submission can be forced, as the picture I mentioned illustrates, but for us it is voluntary: We choose to be subordinate as Christ also chose.

Jesus submitted to the will of the father over his own, when he chose to lay down his life, of his own accord, for the father and for us. Further, Jesus chose to submit to the priests and teachers of the law when he endured a mockery of a trial, the overwhelming pain of his beating and the humiliation of being stripped publically and displayed to all.

Why would anyone put themselves through such traumatic agony if they had a choice? Jesus believed he was submitting to God first.

When submission is only about authority and loss of stature, it is hardly virtuous. But when as Christians, we can overlay our submission to God to our submission in this world we can find greater meaning and virtue.

Ponder the meaning of this verse from Ephesians 5:21, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” What does that mean when you think you are right? When you think someone else is too bossy? How does God redeem our submission to make it virtuous?

Submission

2010-02-09T18:52:00.003-06:00

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun describes submission as aligning my will and freedom with God’s will and freedom, believing that God’s will includes freely submitting to each other out of love and reverence for Christ. (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us, p. 118).

The idea of Submission brings different concepts and emotions to mind depending on our experiences. I want to think of submission as a virtue, but I know that it is not always thought of that way. What do you think and feel about submission?

I am posting some passages that relate to submission and I would like you to respond to them. You might also post any references you think may be helpful in studying the spiritual practice of submission.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord… Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right... Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord…Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ… And masters, treat your slaves in the same way… (excerpted from Ephesians 5:21-6:9 NIV).

An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. (John 3:25-30)

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17)

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:5-9)

May God bless our study of submission.

Devotional Thoughts on Gratitude

2009-12-11T13:55:00.000-06:00

1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7 asks a question I have found myself pondering: “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”

You could look around right now and reflect on what you are receiving at this moment. Of course there is the air we take for granted, but just feel it now as it fills your lungs and your nostrils. It flows and does its work without any thought or extra care from you. And the protection from the elements provided by this building or your home or car. The other morning I rushed through the dry, cold, still air to my car and quickly closed the door as I scooted in. I shivered, impatient for the anticipated warmth from the heater vent. In that short time, think of all that I received from God – a car; the cold of winter; the dryness rather than the penetrating cold of moisture; the knowledge and possession of the coming warmth; a place to go that required my journey; a place to start that journey and the safety of both; the roads on which my car would travel; the agreement with our neighbors to abide by standard rules that allows a safe interaction while driving; the ability to move myself, with hardly a thought, to the car and to quicken the pace without any concern. We could go much further in the pursuit of all that we receive. But one more thing needs to be said before we move toward gratitude.

Some of those things you have received cannot be purchased at any price. There are those who would pay anything to own what some of us receive freely, without thought. From another perspective: others work just as hard or harder with both their minds and their bodies, but will never have the opportunity to receive what you have. Perhaps their mind is not as agile as yours or their body not as able; perhaps they didn’t receive the same opportunities.

Which of these can you thank God for, right now? Can you reflect a little further to realize other blessings you may regularly take for granted, but which make a profound effect on who you are and what you are able to do?

When you begin to notice these works of God in you and for you, you may also find a tendency to balance them with thoughts of what you do not have or what you have lost. Why do we sometimes do this? Does this affect our attitude of thankfulness? Is it possible that in losing something we now miss we may have gained something else? Perhaps even something that we are presently unaware of?

I Give Thanks…

2009-11-18T11:37:00.002-06:00

Thank you, Lord, for my children. Each of them has blessed my life and the lives of others in unique ways. Each of them has challenged me in ways I could not have imagined; they have taught me about myself and other temperaments; they have taught me about a new kind of love. They have made me a better person.

Thank you, Lord, for the wife of my youth - for her years of giving and faithfulness; for her grace to our children and her industrious provisions for our family. Thank you for her intelligence, for our differences that challenge and bring appreciation for something wonderful I might not have known otherwise. Thank you for giving us companionship in our often individualized living and for creating one out of two

Thank you, Lord, for my parents and the family I grew up in - For the faith and righteousness that my parents exemplified and expected. Thank you for our ability to sacrifice for one another, to endure rivalry with grace, to allow for differences with appreciation. Thank you also for my extended family, for the good that was modeled in front of me, for the heritage of faith that teaches me what my own faithfulness can mean to others. Thank you for my brother’s and my sister’s family – that they have embraced me and mine with their hearts and hands.

Thank you, for your disciples, my God, who have surrounded me in times of triumph and defeat. Even in the worst of places and times, you have provided someone to minister to me. And in other times, you have given me that same opportunity. Thank you for trusting me and bringing me wholly into your family – a full participant and complete heir.

Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for stepping out from the veil of rules to reveal yourself personally to us. Thank you for enduring our worst and being encouraged by those rare moments when we truly love you deeply and completely. Thank you for letting us touch you in a crowd, or in a home, or in a place of worship; to touch your side where you were wounded, to touch your time with our common needs and habits, to touch your feet with our pain and tears, and to touch even your clothes and feel power flow into us through you. Thank you for enduring us past the point of endurance.

Thank you for the stuff of this world that you give us – for food and cars and homes and clothes; for education and jobs and prosperity. Thank you for the freedom we enjoy. Thank you for the cleansing rain, the changing seasons, the cool breeze, the shade of trees and their fruit that grows and produces by its own work on our behalf. And for so many more blessings that we cannot count, Lord…

Thank You.

Since God Chose You to be Holy…

2009-11-12T15:13:00.002-06:00

One of my elders, Raymond, is known for his tender heart. He says he can cry at the drop of a hat, but that’s not really true – he cries for people. He is touched by the joys, the struggles, the losses of people who cross paths with him. His tenderheartedness is reflected in the compassion and dedication he exhibits in every encounter with people. And he is not the only one who cares. We all, who have decided to follow Christ, feel the struggle of balancing our responsibilities with our desire to serve the needs of others.

Colossians 3:12 says, in part, that tenderhearted mercy reflects our holiness. Indeed, this verse says that God chose us to be holy. He made his people unique when he selected them from out of the pool of humanity and set each one aside into his “keepers” bin. Then he says here is one way you need to reflect your uniqueness: treat people with a compassionate mercy.

Mercy is to not give people what they deserve. It is withholding punishment. It is also providing for them when they have not earned it. Mercy defies reason, since reason would dictate equity, but mercy freely slathers on much better than you could have expected. When you look back at mercy, you are still in wonder at how it could have worked out to be so beneficial for you.

Now, for all of those who have become immune to emotional entanglements with others; for those who often quote, “if a man will not work, neither shall he eat.” (2 Thess 3:10); for those who love justice more than mercy; and who are perhaps more taken with the legal requirements of scripture, please note that this is an emphatic statement – a command. You must be completely enshrouded with a tender heart that expresses itself through mercy. Give, give, give to others more than they ought to responsibly expect. And don’t stop. Look, there’s someone else over there who could use a little compassion.

Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves You

2009-11-11T12:02:00.003-06:00

In about 1997 the Mango Church of Christ and the Tampa Bay Church of Christ merged. They had come from very different backgrounds with very different personalities. The median age at one was about 37 and the other about 60. In the one, most of the brothers and sisters had grown up in the Church of Christ; in the other, most had been members less than 10 years and many had formerly lived very worldly lives. It is not hard to imagine many other differences between these two divergent groups of people. Yet they had made a decision to come together and work together.

The new congregation was named the Bay Area Church of Christ. Even after the merger was official, there were still many obstacles to be overcome. In a seminar each of the staff spoke about how the church could be united around and benefit from their respective areas of work. One of the ministers started his session by asking the question, “How do you feel about the Church?” My thoughts immediately wandered back through my experiences with the church. I thought of those who had cared for me and nurtured my spiritual growth. I had been the recipient of amazing love through the body of Christ. But I also thought of the pain that had come to me and to my family through our experience with the Church. I realized that there were people I didn’t want to sit next to in worship, or even be in the same room with ever again.

After his initial question, “How do you feel about the Church?” and a long pause, the speaker made what seemed to me to be a profound and convicting statement: “Christ, Jesus died for her.” That hit me in the face. Those brothers and sisters that I had felt so alienated from – Jesus died for them. The ones who had hurt me and I had kept my record of sins on them – Jesus died for them. The ones who were my enemies were worthy of the blood of Jesus, my very own Savior. How could I feel such enmity for those who Jesus loved so deeply and completely?

At that moment, another realization came to light: I was his enemy when he loved me. I was against him when he was for me. Those brothers and sisters who I had set myself against were no different than me and Christ poured out his life to purchase them and me together. How could I receive such love and grace from Jesus and refuse it to others? I was a hypocrite to love those who loved me and reject the rest. I had to learn to love the way Jesus loves.

“Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you, rather it is an old one you have had from the beginning. This old commandment – to love one another – is the same message you have heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the the truth of this commandment and you also are living it.” (1 John 2:7-8a)

Colossians 3:12-17

2009-11-10T15:44:00.002-06:00

Reflections before I Get There
Colossians chapter three does not stand on its own; 2:23 says that the rules we make for ourselves, or even those imposed upon us by religion, “have no value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (NIV) One translation says, “These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desire.” (NLT)

I confess that I have been a part of the tribe that has worked very hard to conquer the sinful desires in my life by adherence to the rules. I don’t mean just any arbitrary rules. I chose the best: straight from scripture (and my parents, and my church, and my own interpretation of all those…). And, I confess that it worked – that is, it sort of worked. I felt stronger by my adherence to the rules. I felt more pleasing to God because of my adherence to the rules. I felt that I was a better testimony because of my adherence to the rules. The rules were comforting as long as I believed that I was staying on top of them. But I finally realized that, although those rules of religion may change my behavior, they weren’t doing much to change me.

If Colossians 2:23 tells me that the power to overcome sin is not found in the rules, then the next verse tells me how sin is overcome – it is in being raised with Christ. Although much of this chapter, and the next, is occupied with right living, the reader is blessed who notes that, there is no claim here that righteous living will overcome sin and its inherent conflict within us. There is nothing to say that following even these rules will transform one into the image of the Christ. Instead, these “moralisms” are emphatically described as the result what has already been accomplished in Christ.

2:20
You died with Christ and were set free from the battle to attain righteousness through the rules that work in the flesh.

2:23
Those rules have no value in the transformation from a person embattled with sin to the one who lives in the image of Christ.

2:6, 7, 3:1-3
The power of transformation comes from sinking our roots deep into Christ, accepting him as the only way to win the spiritual battle with the allure of this world and its rules. The thought here is not that one roots himself in Christ, but that he allows (passive) his roots to sink into Christ, further, that he allows his life to be built firmly on those roots and his faith can also be expected to grow. Perhaps it could be said, Since you have accepted Jesus as your Lord, let him do his work in your body to anchor you, construct you and nourish your faith. That is similar to 3:1, Since you have been raised to new life (instead of trying to re-create that old life into something worthy, grab hold of your new vision of heaven and hold tightly to it. Stop being controlled by the old vision of a better you in this world and let heaven’s vision transform you. Someone has said, “live up to what Christ has done for you.”

1. If rules of righteousness provide no help in conquering evil desires, do these passages offer any help?
2. How may the rules contribute to self righteousness? Or defeat? How are rules comforting? Or disconcerting?
3. How does rule-keeping affect one’s testimony about the Christ?
4. How might Paul have meant for 3:12-17 to differ from the idea of rule-keeping?
5. Pray about the work of Christ in raising you into a new life and how his righteousness might live in your body. Do you think God might show you the answer to this prayer?

Spiritually Formed

2009-11-07T17:20:00.001-06:00

Eugene Peterson wrote, Eat This Book, from the conviction that we need to read and digest the spiritual words of God found in scripture. In Revelation chapter 10 John was preparing to take notes on the message he had heard from the angel, when he was interrupted by a voice telling him to go and retrieve the scroll from which the angel had been reading. John went to get the scroll, but then, oddly enough, the angel told him to eat it. It seems strange to think of eating even a small piece of paper, yet John ate the scroll of God’s word as he was told and it tasted sweet, but it soured his stomach.

Peterson hopes that we can approach scripture in the same way John was instructed. The Bible is not just rules of conduct, lists of doctrines, or even great stories about God and his people. God’s word is not dead words on paper, flattened and manageable. We must take it inside of us, let it digest into us and affect us…even if it sours our stomach.

This is the idea of formation. For much of my early life, I looked to the scripture only for doctrinal truth. I was missing the point of letting the word do its work of changing me more into the image of Christ. We would do well to submit our “self” to the words of scripture, to let the word critique our living, our attitudes toward righteousness and unrighteousness. As we read the word, we seek not just to learn some new fact or idea, but to learn about ourselves inside the word, to let it speak to our bodies and then, through our bodies to speak to others.

Our best worship for Jehovah God is to let our learning re-create us into his image (Romans 12:1). Where we live, right now, is God’s gift for our spiritual development (Acts 17:26, 27). You should take some time to contemplate the mystery of your own creation and the creation that surrounds you: all of it is from God for your eternal benefit. Submit yourself to God by being what he created you to be, participating with him in his work. Let your life become so intertwined with God’s that when you tell your story, people also hear his.

If we truly are what we eat, as the popular saying asserts, then let us not be formed by this world and its culture, but by the word of God living and digesting inside us. Let our story be God’s story in our bodies.

What do You Want?

2009-11-04T14:04:00.000-06:00

“God, can I please have a girlfriend?”

“Well, George, I don’t see why not.”

“Yeah, me neither God, but it’s not working out so well. You see, there’s this girl I’ve been seeing, but now she is saying that we shouldn’t see each other anymore. I really think I love her and I don’t want to lose her.”

“Oh, I see. You know I have been watching and involved in that relationship too.”

“You have? Then you know that I have always treated her nicely. I have been respectful and affectionate and I have tried to be there for her no matter what.
“What I don’t understand God, is that I have been asking for this for a while now – I have told you before how badly I want this relationship with her – but you have not answered me. You remember that Jesus said, ‘you may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’ I asked in Jesus’ name, so why haven’t you been answering?”

“Well, George, there is this little thing you call, ‘free will’. I am not going to make her choose you. But there is something else you need to understand – ‘in Jesus’ name, amen’ are not magic words I gave so that you could conjure up the world at your beck and call. Those words convey a meaning that is much too valuable to abuse like that. When you ask for something in my son’s name, you are claiming his purpose and authority.”

“What? I don’t understand, God.”

“Yes, I have known that for awhile. You have seen those WWJD bracelets around for some time, right? So you probably know that is an acronym for ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ It’s a question that can help you orient your heart and thoughts to behave as my son would in every circumstance. At least as well as you can.”

“Well sure God, I’ve done that before.”

“Yes, and I have been pleased with your efforts.
“That is what praying in Jesus’ name means. It means to think about what you pray for in light of what he wants. In this case, what he wants for you and for her. And I can tell you that he does not want to make her love you against her own will. You might try a different approach, like, asking for guidance on how you can honor me in this relationship with her, whether you are ever a couple or not.”

“But God, that’s not what I want.”

“And that is the problem…you are saying you do not truly want to pray in Jesus’ name, you only want magic words to get your own will accomplished.”

“When you put it that way, it sounds bad.”

“It is bad, George. But it doesn’t have to be. I promise that if you truly pray in the name of my son – for his purposes and under his authority, I will bless you with blessings created especially for you.”

“Lord, I really want her, but I will try what you have said because I want you more.”

Praying

2009-11-01T01:47:00.002-05:00

Henri J. M. Nouwen’s short, yet profound book, The Way of the Heart: connecting with God Through Prayer, Wisdom, And Silence, begins at the first open page:

Ancient spiritual wisdom to heal our troubled modern souls

On Solitude
“Solitude is the place of purification and transformation, the place of the great struggle and the great encounter…the place of our salvation”

On Silence
“First, silence makes us pilgrims. Secondly, silence guards the fire within. Thirdly, silence teaches us to speak.”

On Prayer
“The prayer of the heart opens the eyes of our soul to the truth of ourselves as well as the truth of God. The prayer of the heart challenges us to hide absolutely nothing.”

Solitude. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit where he undertook one of the most severe tests on his life. I suppose Satan sought to nip his ministry in the bud, so to speak. But it is promising that God did not abandon Jesus, ever. While he was in the wilderness, accosted by Satan, God sent his angels to minister to him. In the solitude of the desert, Jesus found the wonderful presence of his father in the midst of some of his darkest temptations.

Silence. The psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) To be still is to wait quietly. According to this verse, two powerful things can happen when we come before God listening and waiting in silence. First, we can be assured that he is God and second, while we are quite before the Lord, listening, he will be exalted among the nations.

Prayer. Nouwen criticizes our tendency to reduce our approach to God to a mere intellectual pursuit, advocating an intentional exercise of the heart in prayer. “When we enter with our mind into our heart and there stand in the presence of God, then all our mental preoccupations become prayer.” (p. 86) Nouwen points the way, through prayer, to a restful heart in a tumultuous world. This makes our prayer life of great value in our daily Christian walk.

Teach us to Pray

2009-10-24T15:05:00.001-05:00

Jesus said that we must become like little children and perhaps nothing puts us in that role more than the simple act of prayer. Prayer is childlike in its approach to the father. Paul encourages us to pray in all circumstances at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and yet the very nature of prayer makes approaching the throne room of God something more than just usual. Like children, who take for granted that their parents are always looking out for them and are ever present in their lives, we approach God without pageantry or procedure. And, like children who are quite aware of their need for their parent’s provision and direction, we also see our prayers in the context of a dependant speaking of his or her need.

And yet, prayer is also a kind of place we enter, it is more than merely speaking out-loud. We gather for prayer, we go to a quiet place or a private place for prayer, we may even journey to a place of majesty or of fond memories for a special time of prayer. Although we may have spontaneous prayer, we also have a more disciplined time of prayer that, by its very nature, declares that we are very different from the God we pray to and somewhat removed from him. Like a child who plans a conversation with a parent and approaches the parent with respect, we too come before God with great reverence.

A 4 year-old boy was asked to lead the family prayer over Christmas dinner,

He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles. Then he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip. Then he paused, and everyone waited--and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, “‘If I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know that I'm lying?’ *

A child recognizes both the accessibility of God and the holiness of his time with God. God is a friend, but he is also sacred; he is comforting and awe inspiring. We can learn something from observing children the prayers of children.

Dear God, please take care of my daddy and my mommy and my sister and my brother and my doggy and me. Oh, please take care of yourself, God. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a big mess.*

Don Morrison

*(from Letters to God, weblog, http://my-prayer-for-you-today.blogspot.com/2009/01/childrens-prayers.html).

The Word of God

2009-10-22T11:30:00.001-05:00

When I think of the Word of God I almost always go to the scripture in Hebrews that says, “the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates, even to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) That passage teaches us several important ways the Word of God affects us.

The word of God is alive. We may read it in ink on paper, but it is much more than that. The word doesn’t change, but it applies to every situation we can endure or imagine. The same passage may come to mean something new regarding our present circumstances. When we are looking for direction in our lives, “seek first the kingdom of God” may mean something valuable to us as an encouragement, but when we are backslidden, it may mean something entirely different. Then when we wonder what we might say to someone to encourage their Christian walk, “seek first…” may give new meaning in old words. Yes, and the word also lives because it changes things. From the very beginning we see the creative power of the word. God spoke and it came to be. The word of God is just as creative today: “seek first the kingdom…” may not be a command as much as it is a promise, for God gives us everything we need to accomplish whatever he has asked.

Often, we may find great comfort in God’s word as we see his interaction with humanity, but Hebrews also reveals another side of the word – it cuts. If we always only find comfort in the word, we are not letting it do all that God has purposed in giving it to us. He wants us to be shaped and convicted by the words that describe his righteousness.

Finally the word has something to do with judgment. And I am both thankful and frightened by the realization that the word searches my private thoughts and even my attitude about things. When the preacher encourages us to have an attitude of gratitude, with God, that translates to faith. My mind is nowhere near to perfection, my attitudes are often at war with my own desires and goals, but God knows me. He has walked with me when I am weak and when I have had the strength to help others. His word teaches me new things about myself in all those circumstances. When the word judges the thoughts and attitudes of my heart, it finds more work for the holy Spirit in transformation and for the blood of Jesus in forgiveness.

What is Most Real?

2009-09-24T09:42:00.000-05:00

It could be an odd question, but it’s a good one to consider: What are the things or beliefs that are most real to you? You should take some time and contemplate your answer. Let your mind wander; think of the implications.

Abraham and his son, Isaac walked together to the mountain top where Isaac was to be killed in sacrifice to God. Certainly, nothing about this procession could have felt right to Abraham, not the least that the God he had come to trust so completely over the last 40 plus years was asking something so out-of-character. When had God ever asked for a human sacrifice? When had God ever sought to destroy his promises?

The only conversation between father and son are about the supplies for the sacrifice. It seems to me that most of the journey was spent in silent contemplation. I imagine Abraham reaffirming, over and over, the conclusion he must have arrived at the night before: the God who is powerful enough to give him his son, Isaac, at such a late age is surely powerful enough to raise the dead, if he wishes. And he must wish to raise Isaac from the dead, since he is pivotal to God’s promise to bless all nations and to create a nation for himself. And God has not failed to keep every promise he has made.

On the other hand, Satan certainly used the opportunity to carry on another conversation in Abraham’s thoughts. Satan would have questioned God’s motives for giving Isaac to Abraham. He would have worked to undermine Abraham’s conviction that God loves; that God has a plan for his life and for Isaac’s; that God may be able to raise the dead. Satan would have done his best to create doubt about every facet of Abraham’s faith and hope.

Some people envision Abraham walking heroically up the mountain, on his way to a pre-determined victory. Others see him stoic, emotionless as he puts one foot in front of another, blindly obedient to the Almighty. I can only imagine that Abraham had the same intense battle as Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane – that the intensity of the battle for what is real waged in his face and throughout his body. The weakness and the strength worked through his bones and his mind.

Whether Abraham contemplated his faith on this journey, or whether it was a predetermined fact in his mind and heart, Abraham lived in the protective reality that our God is God – and loving and gracious in nature. The answer to, “What is most real?” is our faith.

May he be the most real for us in our blessings and our troubles.

If We Are Really in a Battle, Who is Our Enemy?

2009-09-12T20:33:00.002-05:00

Christians long to know that they have done something of importance in the kingdom of God. We find the passage in Matthew 25 where Jesus says that by serving one of the least of his disciples, we serve him – even by giving a simple drink of water. Sometimes we hope that is significant enough because we have got so many other things going on in our lives that we are not sure what else we can do. Or we just don’t see how we can make any other contribution.

So when do we need the armor of Ephesians 6? What is it for?

Most people make a great deal out of the defensive nature of the armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-20. And maybe that is the correct way to understand it - perhaps the apostle is only equipping us to not lose ground. There is value in that. And defending our ground is a difficult battle when against Satan comes at you with temptation. But it is worth noting that when a Roman foot soldier went into an offensive engagement, those are the same weapons he would take.

But, getting more to the question, it may not be so important that we design the battle plan so that we know we are in the battle, as it is that we just put on the armor and fight the good fight. When I don’t know what to say, but I know the person I am talking to needs to hear from God – that is a spiritual battle. When I want to help someone out, but I just don’t have the time or the energy – that is a spiritual battle. When I am embarrassed or hurt – that is a spiritual battle. Those are the opportunities we have to live out of the good news of our faith and to share it with others. Those are the times when our faith, our gift of righteousness, the word, our readiness all comes into play. What we do and say may be rather small and plain, but those are moments of battle when we feel the intensity and we know we were tempted to fall back.

If we are not aware, we lose the moment. That’s one of the reasons why it is so important to put on the armor. Wearing the armor helps us to remember that we are indeed in a struggle for the kingdom of God. When we are not aware, there is still a battle raging around us, but we cannot win, if we do not fight. Perhaps then, the battle looks like us being engaged in the lives and welfare of others. Perhaps it looks simply like that cup of water. Maybe, the biggest part of my battle is what I fight within myself.

Putting on the armor of God is like our own personal call to arms. It says, “I will be engaged – I will not be oblivious.” It says, “I am ready to fight – I will not miss the opportunity to serve.” Then the enemy I often fight is my own self-absorption, my own will, my own agenda.

Lord, help us to take up your cross and follow you, whether it is in plain, simple service or in great sacrifice. Help us to be ready and engaged in that moment so we will stand for you.

Speaking Good News

2009-08-24T09:51:00.002-05:00

I googled, “finding good news” just to see what might come up and I was surprised to learn that on the first page there were three sites that specialize in good news: goodnewsnetwork.org, goodnewsbroadcast.org, and goodnewsdaily.com. Evidently some people really do want good news.

We keep track of all the news, good and bad, because it affects us, but don’t you like the news that makes you smile more than the news that makes you scowl? There are those who listen to or watch the media onslaught of mostly-bad-news practically all day; it is important to them. But they can’t do much about the state of affairs, they often just end up worrying.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (KJV) It is God’s will that we rejoice, pray continuously, and give him thanks for everything. When we trust in God’s power and his desire for us that allows us to thank him for everything, then he turns those things into a blessing for us and for others. And after he has blessed us through those things, we have a testimony that is Good News. Beforehand, we might have believed that God could work for our benefit in any circumstance, but afterward we have a story of exactly how he did.

When someone is hurting from loss, it would sound trite to say, “Well, just remember, 1 Thessalonians says, ‘In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ ” Instead, we may tell our story of loss and God’s deliverance to give that one hope and the knowledge of where hope comes from. That is Good News for the one who hears.

This could be why 2 Corinthians 4:10 is so powerful, “I believe, therefore I speak.” Paul quotes the psalmist who believed that God had rescued him from death at the hands of some who were full of deceit. Paul, himself, had been delivered many times from danger. Part of the speech was a description of mistreatment, part of it was declaring God’s redemption.

Evangelism is speaking Good News about God's desire to be involved to in people's lives. Listening to the stories of what people are experiencing and letting them know that God is near; that he is active; that he cares about us all. This can be a life-changing moment for people. Don't be afraid to be a part of that.

The Road Not Taken

2009-08-12T19:39:00.001-05:00

Robert Frost’s poem about life choices is set in the first two lines, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood / And sorry I could not travel both.” It is the nature of living that we will face many choices which in turn will tell the stories of our lives. But I had thought the title of this poem was “The Road Less Traveled” and that it was encouraging a certain way of thinking about facing the forks in our roads. The final lines seem to imply this, “Two roads diverged in a wood / And I took the one less traveled by / And that has made all the difference.” One interpretation has been that the non-conformist road is better than the mainstream road which seems to be taken by the majority.

That’s what I had wanted the poem to say. I wanted Frost to agree with Jesus that the way of the majority is broad, but ends in judgment and disappointment. On the other hand, the narrow way may be difficult because it is not well worn by many travelers, but taking that forsaken path makes all the difference in our eternal destiny.

In fact, as I study the poem, I believe that it notices, with regret, the inevitability of life changing choices that must be made without a complete understanding of where they may lead and the revised perspective we have of those choices when we look back at them in the future. Those choices that make “all the difference” are made with limited perspective.

In a sense, Frost’s poem does say what I had desired. That is, he says that a choice must be made and you must take the one that seems right, for whatever reason, at the time. But, about our way of life, we have chosen to follow Christ because, by faith, we can see farther down the road, all the way to the end. We believe that Jesus is the trailblazer who has created a new path – not the mainstream path that is comfortable and often requires no choice at all, since it just goes with the flow. And not the path that blends with all other paths, giving no indication of the destiny that lies ahead. Jesus has blazed a dangerous, difficult path that is not so appealing. It is not a path for the mere adventurer (though it is full of adventure), since he will be disappointed with the commonness of its setting. Nor is it a path for those seeking the common, since Jesus continually challenges the norms of life.

If Jesus wrote about the road not taken, there would be no regret, no wondering about the other path. He confidently sought the Father’s will at every juncture of his life so we have no need for doubt or regret. Remember, we follow Him.

Good News

2009-08-12T19:37:00.001-05:00

The beginning of 2 Kings establishes Elisha as the successor to Elijah. There is story after story of Elisha’s power and wisdom to let the reader know that God had indeed selected Elisha to follow after Elijah. One of those stories is about a foreign military commander with leprosy.

Naaman was the commander of the Aramean army, the world’s superpower at the time. He would have had access to anything he wanted. He had the respect of his king, wealth, admiration of his soldiers and the rest of his country. He had arrived at the top of the achievement pyramid. The only threat to his glory was also a threat to his continuing ability to lead and even live.

Leprosy is usually a slow, but determined disease. Today it is treatable with antibiotics, but in Naaman’s days, it would slowly destroy the ability of nerves to feel sensation. A story is told about a physician who went to work in a leper colony in the days before antibiotics had been discovered, he was having trouble turning the key on an old padlock, when one of the residents offered to help. The man took the key and the lock and turned with great strength until the lock popped open. But then the doctor saw what had happened to the man’s hand in the process. His fingers were deeply cut and were bleeding profusely, yet he felt no pain. This reveals the danger to the leper, he abused his extremities, without realizing it till they literally were worn away or became infected.

Naaman was told that the prophet Elisha could heal him so the he went immediately to find the healer. Although he had to humble himself to obey the prophet’s prescription for healing, he believed the cost would be worth it and it was – it changed his life. Afterward he said, “From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other God except the LORD.” (2 Kings 5:17)

Naaman’s bad news came in contact with the kingdom of God and that changed his life. He recognized Jehovah’s preeminence among all deities. He humbled himself before God and men. He changed his life-long religion to worship the one true God.

The good news that changed Naaman’s life was first delivered by his servant girl when she told him she knew a man who could heal him. But the good news changed at the time of his healing: it became the realization that the most powerful being in the universe knows him and cares about his health.

We often find our best news and deepest devotion to God by reflecting back over our worst times and seeing his deliverance.

Choosing What is Better

2009-08-05T00:07:00.001-05:00

Jesus said lots about his priorities, perhaps most often he said things like “I have come...to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38) And he said, “…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33)

I also like the story in Luke 10:38-42 about Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha. Martha wants to be the gracious hostess, so she is diligently preparing for Jesus’ comfort and refreshment. Her sister, Mary, on the other hand, was enamored by the wisdom in Jesus’ words; she sat at his feet and listened as he taught. Martha caught a case of “righteous indignation” (also spelled, she was angry and perhaps jealous) because Mary had dropped the duty of a woman of her day and culture, and was learning at the teacher’s feet – a man’s place. It was not a woman’s place to be a rabbi’s disciple, but it was for her to prepare for the men.
When Martha complains to Jesus about Mary, his response must have been totally unexpected. “Martha, Martha…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Notice that Jesus didn’t bring this whole thing up; and he didn’t start by criticizing Martha for what she had been doing. And we should realize that what Martha had been doing was important and appreciated. Jesus point is that Mary had chosen to do something better, one of the few things that are most needed: don’t expect him to take that from her. In effect, Jesus says, in this series of events, that it is more important to humbly receive from God than to humbly give to him, to set at his feet rather than to serve at his table.

Finding what is more important or even most important is often counter-cultural. It isn’t easy and will meet with criticism. So it is good to contemplate your list of important things and reevaluate them regularly.

Amazing Grace

2009-07-23T14:46:00.003-05:00

Most of us know the story of John Newton and the words he authored for the beloved hymn, “Amazing Grace,” but there are a few elements of the story that you may not have known.

John Newton had been pressed into service by the British Royal Navy. Having learned that his ship was assigned an extended voyage, he attempted to desert. As punishment and as an example to the rest of the crew, he was flogged on his bare back with 97 lashes. Later, at his own request, he was transferred to a merchant vessel, but was set off at Sierra Leone because of his bad behavior towards the rest of the crew. There he became a servant and was abused by his master.

Newton was rescued in 1748, when he was about 22 years old, by a friend of his father, who returned him to England on his merchant ship. On that journey home, their ship, the Greyhound, encountered a violent storm which threatened to sink them. Newton had been reading the Bible and The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis. It was that day, May 10, 1748, that John Newton celebrated as his conversion to Christ: In fear for his life and in full awareness of his wretched sins, he cried out to God.

Newton continued to grow in his faith and in repentance, but he also continued to work in the slave trade, serving as first officer and as captain on several more ventures. He only gave up the sea after suffering a stroke in 1754.

He became an Anglican priest in 1764 and wrote his famous words around Christmas, 1772. They were framed around a sermon he had written based on 1 Chronicles 17:16-17 and their reflection on his own life. The phrase, “the hour I first believed,” refers to a time when, in an intense storm, he had just gone below deck after his shift, when the man who relieved him was swept overboard. Shaken, he realized that only the grace of God had saved him.

Newton’s story strikes a familiar chord with so many people who, reflecting over their own sins and slow growth, realize how patiently God has endured with us all. “From the fullness of his grace we have all received on blessing after another” 1 John 1:16.

_______________________________________________

Incuded below are John Newton's lyrics for "Amazing Grace" which do not include the familiar stanza, "When we've been there ten thousand years..." which was added later. The additional verse was first published in Harriet Beecher Stowe's, Uncle Tom's Cabin and became included in hymnals after that. However, the style and the message do not match the other verses written by Newton.

Amazing Grace
John Newton

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

David, Grace, and Self-Control

2009-07-01T13:12:00.000-05:00

It is not difficult to imagine some of the emotions of the deposed king as he furtively escaped the city for safety. His own son had usurped the throne, having spent four years planning and worming his way into the hearts of his father’s subjects by inferring promises he knew were baseless. Evidently, King David had chosen to look the other way while his son, Absalom, built his influence.

At this low point in his life, while fleeing for his life from his own son, David is confronted by Shimei – a man with a grudge. Shimei was related to the previous king, Saul and had quietly born his anger for years, since God had taken the kingdom from Saul and given it to David. Now he interpreted David’s misfortune as his just rewards and poured out his repressed anger on David and his companions. He threw rocks and vitriol as he cursed David, calling him a murderer.

Abishai went to David and offered to kill Shimei, but David’s response is meekly restrained, “If the Lord has told him to curse me, who are you to stop him? ...My own son is trying to kill me. Doesn’t this relative of Saul have even more reason to do so? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to do it. And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses today.” (2 Samuel 16:10-12 NLT)

The rebellion is short-lived and David returns to the palace. But there is no rejoicing in David – he loved his rebellious son and now he is dead. The tangle of emotions must have left him raw. There was the betrayal of his son, some of his trusted officials, his own citizens whom he had served. There must have been questions about God’s design for all that had happened. There is painful victory mixed with humiliating defeat.

In the mixture of all the emotions Shimei has come to greet David on his way: “Please forgive me…forget the terrible thing your servant did when you left Jerusalem. May the king put it out of his mind. I know how much I have sinned.” (19:19, 20)

Here was David’s opportunity to unleash all the swirling emotions; to let go of his grief and anger on such a deserving recipient. David could surely be expected to deliver harsh justice to this one who represents the betrayal of an entire kingdom. David makes no such show. He controls his emotions and any vengeful desires; he looks at Shimei and makes a simple vow, “Your life will be spared.”

Grace is possible because of self-control.

One Woe

2009-06-25T16:31:00.002-05:00

As Jesus looks toward his impending crucifixion and the culmination of his ministry he gets more and more confrontational with the religious leaders who are influencing God’s people to follow them in their hypocrisy. On the one hand he is certainly angry at their abuse of position and its results on the people who have depended on them for spiritual guidance. On the other hand, his purpose is to find a way to redeem even them into a reconciled relationship with the Father. So when we look at the Seven Woes in Matthew 23:13-36 we have to make a decision about how we hear Jesus’ words. Is he angry or is he speaking a lament? Is he preaching for them or is he preaching against them?

At times I have heard these woes in my mind as a rant against the scribes and Pharisees – “hypocrites!” But most of the time I hear them as a more pitiful dirge; an explanation of their arrogantly pathetic circumstances and the disastrous results of their self-righteousness.

The fifth and sixth woes particularly strike me as sad. The fifth one says, “Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean.”

These people think that their religious activity is the essence of their relationship with God. Jesus proposes that they should work from the inside out; that when they are contrite and humble before God – when they devote their hearts to God – their bodies will follow their hearts' decision. Some have suggested that they were taking the opposite approach; that is, they were trying to work from the outside in, but that is not the case. They were completely neglecting the inside. In fact their motives for caring about the outside were corrupt from their conception. Jesus says they are motivated by greed and self-indulgence.

I think Jesus is preaching to two groups of people here. I think he is making a loving and frank attempt to jar the consciences of these leaders and he is also warning their followers and us about cultivating hypocrisy. Anyone can have a bad moment, a lapse in self-control, which they regret and bring to the Father for transformation and forgiveness. May we never attempt to hide behind a veil of religious practices, but be genuine in turning our hearts toward him.

God is So Very, Extremely, Consistently, Unexpectedly, Unimaginably Good

2009-06-17T10:47:00.006-05:00

God is good…..all the time. All the time….God is good!

When Christians are living in faith that God loves them and is involved in their lives, we can walk with a smile on our face. It means the realization and resignation that we don’t know everything, we’re not in charge of everything – and we don’t have to be. It is rest. It is the restfulness that trusts that whatever is happening to us, God is in control and will work all things to our ultimate blessing in Christ.

When Christians doubt, it is not always the kind of skepticism that leans toward agnosticism, it is often the questioning of God’s ways: “How could God (the god I have always thought God is), do or allow the things I see, (which I, personally, disapprove of)?” In other words, Christians doubt when they sit in judgment of God.

How much better to rest in his care and learn to trust. As Sara Groves writes in her song, “He’s Always Been Faithful,”

Morning by morning I wake up to find
the power and comfort of God's hand in mine.
Season by season I watch him amazed,
In awe of the mystery of his perfect ways

All I have need of his hand will provide.
He's always been faithful to me

All that we have – all that we can ever have and hold onto is strictly by faith. Everything else melts away with the stuff of earth. When we trust and believe, we can see straight ahead to eternity. In that place everything is put right, everything makes sense. He has already given us his kingdom; we can live there now, by faith, when we trust that God is good….all the time. All the time….God is good.

2009-06-17T10:39:00.001-05:00

Integrity of Life

“O LORD my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands—
If I have done evil to him who is at
peace with me or without cause have
robbed my foe—
then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust.”

Psalm 7:3-5

There is the psalmist’s response to the accuser. It is simple humility. There is no defense or excuse, no explanation or privilege.

There is an undertone of indignation revealed in the hyperbole. What could he have done to merit such consequences?

There is a tacit belief that justice is for all; no one is above the law.

There is no “spin,” no “double-speak” to attempt to cover or side-step the issue.

But look, there is no contrition either. The “if” acknowledges possibility, but not guilt. The psalmist isn’t saying, “I did this.” rather, it seems as though by putting his life further out for closer scrutiny, he believes he will be seen clearly as innocent.

Anyone can be guilty of something. But this is the confident response of an honest life of integrity.

2009-05-20T15:56:00.001-05:00

Looking Forward

Memorial Day was first enacted in 1868 to remember the fallen Union soldiers of the civil war, although it was probably built upon practices already held in various areas around the country. The first documented communal remembrance after the civil war was a cemetery built by freed slaves in 1865 on the site of a former confederate prison camp in Charleston, SC, where union soldiers had been buried in a mass grave. The former slaves re-interred the bodies into their own individual graves, fenced the area, and posted an arched sign declaring the site a Union graveyard.

After World War II the holiday was expanded to the memory of all those United States men and women who had given their lives in war. In its earliest days the holiday was mostly called Decoration Day and on May 30th 1868, in keeping with the Memorial Day Order, those former slaves who had honored the Union dead by re-interring their bodies in Charleston, went back and decorated their graves with flowers they had picked from the countryside.

Honoring the dead is not about living in the past; rather it is about remembering what was so valuable that men and women were willing to lay down their lives for it. It is about gratitude for what we have received from their sacrifice. It reminds us of the cost that has been paid for our benefit. We honor their lives by not only remembering, but by living as stewards of what we have received.

In an even greater way, we also look forward from the cross to the lost world around us. We decorate the ugly place of death - the cross and the tomb – with our gratitude and praise. We remember and proclaim his death with a supper every Sunday. We draw inspiration and strength from the tragic moments of his death for our own transformation. We offer our bodies as living sacrifices so that his will may be accomplished through us. We remember while we look forward.

2009-05-06T12:27:00.002-05:00

What Mom Said

Dad often took the role of the enforcer in the home in which I grew up. He was the back-up whenever mom had a tough time getting us boys in line. I dreaded the words, “Go wait in your room till your father comes home.” It meant a long wait with a dismal end. I wanted all disciplinary issues to be settled by mom, if possible. So at that point there would be groveling and promises. Perhaps, if we hadn’t pushed things too far, she would accept our questionable penance.

It was always best just to obey mom. She was, of course, wiser than we thought. And she was always on our side – she believed in us (she still does) and enduringly sought the best for us. My mother used to tell me, “You can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it.” She absolutely believed it. I didn’t know she really meant it; I thought it was just one of those things that parents are obligated to tell their children. I didn’t understand the wisdom she was trying to impart, the confidence she felt for us, her hopes for our future. I was just a kid, after all. But I soaked it in through her repetition and eventually it came to have meaning that shapes me.

It means, “I believe in you.” Whatever foolishness I may have gotten into; whatever failure, or even success I may have experienced, that was not going to define her complete vision for my life. There was more ahead: more achievement, more joy, more success, more inside that can be tapped for the future. Children need to hear that their mother believes in them.

It means, “Focus on what is important.” Put yourself to what is worth accomplishing in school, in friendships, in life. Move the distractions to the sidelines and the bleachers and let the important stuff keep your attention.

It means, “You get to choose whether or not the world around you is a better place.” It is optimism, soaked in reality. You make the difference whether good things happen; life doesn’t just happen to you. Sure some things will be beyond your control and sometimes you are just blindsided by circumstances, but even then, you can change things.

That's what mom meant when she said, "You can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it." Her words continue to shape my life. Thank for believing in us, mom. Your blessing makes a difference in the course of our lives.

2009-03-19T00:32:00.002-05:00

Heroes

There is a television series called Heroes about ordinary people who unexpectedly learn that they are extraordinary. It is comic book stuff. Some can fly, or read another’s thoughts, or be extra strong. One of the elements of the show that I like is exploring what it means to be a hero.

One character loses his special abilities so when he goes out to fight against the “bad guys” he has no extra protection. He’s not strong, or highly intelligent, or anything like what he had been, but he is very motivated by his idealistic vision of his place in the world. He sees himself as a hero and he is determined to do whatever he must in order to help others, regardless of the personal cost to him.

We get to choose that same course. We get to choose to be a hero for others. Dads, moms, brothers and sisters, neighbors…we get to choose who we will be in this world for all those we live with and around.

Many will choose to save the world from hunger; that’s a worthy cause. Others will choose to save the world and future generations from today’s pollution; also worthy . Some will save others from ignorance or violence. There are lots of ways you can be somebody’s hero even if it is just close around you, at home – our children need heroes at home too.

As you serve others, as you do good for those around you, remember why you are doing good. It is not only an ideal. It is an imitation of the Christ. Food saves from hunger; a job pays for food; education provides employment. As important as those things are, without Christ they become meaningless. The real heroes bring faith and life in Christ.

The real hero is not the stuff of comic books, he is real. He speaks the words that teach; he lives the grace of generosity; he shares his life as a symbol of Jesus’ life. You know these people. They are not perfect, but they showed you Jesus and they taught you the Way. They are our heroes.

2009-03-10T10:50:00.001-05:00

Not Proud

Moses was under attack. It was the worst sort of attack because it wasn’t his enemies – it was his sister and his relative Aaron who were jealous of his position.

Think about that for just a moment…why would they be jealous of his position? They weren’t jealous when he went in to see Pharaoh, or when they were up against Pharaoh’s army on the one side and a horizon of water on the other. They were never jealous when the people of Israel complained about their hardships in the wilderness.

But when the Lord gave Israel quail to eat, things began to look a little different. Through Moses, God calls out 70 leaders among the clans to meet with Moses and he pours out his Spirit on them. Even the two that rejected or neglected Moses’ instructions to be at the Tent of Meeting prophesied in the camp. Joshua saw this as a “power grab” and volunteered to go stop it, but Moses, in typical humble fashion, is not worried about threats to his leadership.

Miriam and Aaron begin to talk against Moses under the pretext of his Cushite wife, but their true motives are revealed in their words, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” (Were they among the 70 elders who prophesied by the Holy Spirit or were they referring to some other time that God spoke through them?) They are jealous. They want more recognition; they want more say.

Moses does not respond to them, but God does: First he defends Moses’ character and unique place under God’s rule. Then he punishes Miriam with leprosy.

You should probably catch verse three of Numbers chapter 12. It is a paragraph by itself. It is written in parentheses, yet it is a superlative: “(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)”

If love is not proud, then Moses was full of love for those rebellious people.

Don

2009-03-04T17:01:00.003-06:00

Pride

Pride is a tricky word for us. We are proud of our children and loved ones when they have accomplished something good or important. We are proud of ourselves, when we do well; when we move beyond our own expectations of ourselves. We are proud of our soldiers and our nation.

But sometimes we are proud in a different sense: we may be haughty, which means to think too much of ourselves. I like one Greek word sometimes translated pride, but when translated literally means inflated or puffy. That gives the image, to me, of a balloon all blown up and ready to….POP! It is a thin superficial covering that is filled with something as vapid as air. When the covering is scratched or poked, even with a blade of soft grass – nothing is left and all appearance is shown for what it truly was.

The New Testament uses the word both ways:

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,
Galatians 6:3,4

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.
But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.
James 1:9-10

We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.
2 Corinthians 5:12

We want to rejoice in our good accomplishments, and those of others, without becoming haughty. We want to be pleased with our diligence without believing we are better than someone else because of it. Sometimes that really can be tricky.

Don

2009-02-28T14:27:00.004-06:00

My Personal Beliefs

I wrote this in 2001 during the pursuit of a ministry position. The church had asked me to write a statement outlining my beliefs. I found that intriguing; I was excited to cull through all the doctrines and traditions and try to prioritize the most important elements of my faith. After I had completed it I emailed a copy to my dad and asked him what he thought. Right off the bat he pointed out something I had comepletely missed - they didn't want this kind of a statement at all; they wanted to know where I stood on baptism, the Holy Spirit, "women's roles," denominationalism... He was so obviously correct. But they got this anyway.

I post this today because of Dell Kimberly's (Who Told You That) blog post today on Undeniable Truths. Thanks, Dell for making me think of this.

God exists and He loves. The fact that He is and that He loves is our only hope both in this life and forever in eternity with Him. Because He loves, we know what love is.

We receive His love through His promises. Promises given to Abraham and his descendants. Fortunately, we need not depend upon human ancestry for these promises – we are children of Abraham through faith, for he is the father of the faithful. But promises are not enough, especially when they are so veiled as to be indecipherable even by prophets who searched intently to understand them better.

We receive His love through His commands – that is how He chose to reveal His righteousness to us initially. But that is inadequate. Because of that revelation, sin gained power in our lives and God found fault with people.

This is where the story gets good . . .

We receive His love best of all through the presence of His Son and Spirit in our lives. Rather than pour out judgment because of our faults, He poured out redemption in the blood of Jesus. And His Spirit also was poured out on us by that same love. Just as we receive righteousness through the Son, so we are led into all righteousness by the presence of the Spirit. The Spirit works through His sword, the words of scripture, and through His presence. In fact we cannot discern spiritual words without some benefit from the Spirit of God. This presence of God among is an extravagant expression of God’s tender love for us. God desires that we all accept His extravagant love

But there will be a judgment against those who reject Jesus and do not accept His words. God is powerful Creator, so it is understandable that His judgment will be carried out with power. All His enemies will be destroyed: Satan, his angels as well as those souls whom God judges unworthy to enter His own glory; death, sorrow, confusion and fear – doubt, hunger, sin and sloth. These will all be destroyed to have no more power over us.

Praise God! His ways are just and forgiving. Judgment comes with power and mercy.

We have been redeemed from the worldly system and brought to life in Jesus. We have rejected the flesh to answer the Spirit. And so we have been given purpose by His mercy – we are ministers of reconciliation. We have left all to follow Him and so we call Him Savior and Lord. We desire to learn to love what Jesus loves, to hate what Jesus hates, to become unconcerned with those things He is not concerned with. We want to be like Him in righteous living and in purpose. So we place the Father at the highest place. We seek first His kingdom. And we love the people around us, honoring our brothers and sisters above ourselves, and even laying down our lives to reconcile people to God.

How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children.

Summary:
• I believe in the Father - Powerful Creator who willed us into existence through the force of His words.
• I believe in the story of redemption from before the fall into eternity. The words were spoken for life and for freedom.
• I believe in Jesus, the Son. Present and working with the Father at creation, He disavowed the glory and privileges of deity to become the perfect sacrifice, the ultimate expression of God’s love. He humbled Himself to death by His own volition. He raised from the dead by God’s power and so began the defeat of God’s adversary.
• I believe in the Spirit who leads us and aids us in understanding the righteousness of God – Who also comforts us in our present state of mortality, giving us a foretaste of the Heavenly Presence and sealing us for His sake.
• I believe in the first command: to love God with our entire being, to worship Him and bring glory to Him through our words and our lives.
• I believe in the second command: to love all others as they have need – especially those of God’s family.
• I believe in the mission of Christ to reconcile the world to Himself, thus fulfilling the Father’s design for Him. Which mission was first transferred first to His apostles and later to us as we accept His grace and call Him Lord.
• I believe God’s people have a bond that is greater than friendship or earthly family. We ought to encourage and admonish one another as brothers and sisters.
• I believe God is the ultimate Judge and we are not. But that we must be faithful to teach everything that is right. We cannot turn to the right or the left.
• I believe that God will deliver us from this world and its ways into a better world by the redemption that comes through faith in Jesus. (We share with Jesus in life by our baptism for the forgiveness of our sins – trusting in His grace toward us.) On that same day of deliverance for God’s people, most will meet their doom, having failed God’s righteous judgment since they have not trusted in the righteousness of Christ. Lord, have mercy on us all.

2009-02-27T12:03:00.001-06:00

Love

I really like the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 13:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-8a)

There is no higher value than love. There is nothing more important than love. There is no greater commandment than love. There is no better marker for the “one true church” than love.

Conversely; there is no more pronounced deficiency in a person’s life than a deficit of love. There is no easier place to stir brother against brother, sister against sister than the one where love is in decline. There is no more caustic place to raise your children than a place where they are not loved.

We need love. We desperately need love. We need it so badly that we sometimes deny our need for it and pretend to be thick-skinned, self-sufficient, an island. But it’s not true – we all strongly feel the gaping hole that demands to be filled by love.

Thank God he loves us. And more, he intends for us to love one another…deeply, intently, sacrificially. To surround one another with protection and love. To give our very hearts to each other.

Love never fails.

2009-02-18T09:37:00.001-06:00

Grieving Your Loss

In some ways the essence of temptation is loss. And the question that goes with temptation is, “What will I lose?” or at least, what is the perceived loss?

From the first sin of Adam and Eve we can see what they were afraid of losing. They believed the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil could give them something superior to their current pursuit of righteousness. They were, in fact, tempted by a good thing, a spiritual thing – the desire to know what is good and the ability to avoid what is wrong. I think most things we are tempted by can be seen as good things: certainly we are only tempted by what we desire.

When faced with their temptation in the Garden, Adam and Eve could only resolve their circumstances by losing something. Either they would choose to honor God and trust in his provision and lose the ability to gain the special knowledge and wisdom they believed the fruit would provide. Or they would choose the fruit as a pathway to spirituality apart from God’s provision and lose something of the intimacy of that relationship.

Either way, when the decision had been made and all things done, they would feel the loss. What would have happened if we had…? That is what makes it temptation. Of course the stronger the desire, the deeper the sense of loss. If we choose wrong, we lose something of righteousness and relationship – and we will feel that loss. If we choose well, we lose the pleasure or reward we desired in the first place – and we will also feel that loss.

Innocence lost. Naiveté gone. So, this is what the world really looks like. Jaded, Cynical. Aren’t these just responses to our loss? Satan deceives, then he accuses.

Thank God for Jesus and restoration.

2009-02-12T09:13:00.001-06:00

Refined

I have to admit that it frightened me to hear about salmonella in peanut products. But that turned to anger when it was reported that Peanut Corporation of America knew that their product was tainted with the deadly bacteria. Can you imagine how those sickened by the product must feel? And then there was the contaminated baby formula from China, where six babies died and over 1200 were sickened, and now thousands face atypically formed kidney stones.

Purity is important to our health. I never thought much about drinking from the stream when I was a child, but now I know what might be upstream. Pure clean water is essential to health and intellect.

Satan is the salmonella of our thoughts. He deceives, then he accuses. He is the impurity of our spiritual diet and the complications he brings when we indulge can be deadly. His deception is subtle - he takes what is good and makes it seem so much better under his terms. He gives every good thing new meaning. For the person desiring spiritual fulfillment, he brings spirituality. For the one needing deeper companionship and passion, he brings the depth of intimacy. For the one For the one seeking truth, he brings a truth that fits their size. But his spirituality is not a relationship with the Father, but a distraction from Him. His intimacy - his passion - is often based on sensuality, other times deception, sometimes substitution: satisfying for a moment, but self-imploding in the long-term. His truth resolves the crisis, but spins out more problems; more deception.

No wonder scripture sometimes describes our experiences in this life as refinement. The Spirit of God is working in our lives to rid us of the power and consequences of sin over us. God wants more for us than to merely escape the flames; he wants us to receive a purified life; he wants us to live a transformed life; he wants us to trust with a renewed, refined faith.

Purity is not just about eating and drinking: it is keeping ourselves for God’s service. Purity is another way of saying holy living. We are God’s holy people his pure refreshment. Let us feast on a pure life – a buffet of choices that glorify God in holiness.

2009-02-01T22:21:00.002-06:00

The Higher Cost of “Unforgiveness”

All of us face hurts of many kinds. Others have threatened us, accosted us, betrayed our trust. We have faced loss and heartache. Sometimes we hold onto those events and they become touchstones in our lives that begin to define our response to the world around us. It’s one thing to forgive people when they are sorry and something else entirely to forgive someone who has become an enemy.

When Jesus washed his disciples’ feet he told Peter that unless he washed him, Peter could have no part with him. Jesus makes this connection of his service he performed for the twelve, in washing their feet, with the cleansing that he offers through the cross which must be received if we are to continue in a relationship with him. Jesus’ service to his disciples that evening was redemptive in that the cleansing he offered was especially needed since they would all run away. How would they have thought of Jesus' words and actions in retrospect when they came to believe in his resurrection?

But Judas was there also. Why did Jesus wash Judas’ feet? He knew that Judas would not return; he knew that he could not cleanse him and said as much (“you are clean, though not every one of you.”) Perhaps Jesus washed Judas’ feet because of what it did for himself. It was as much a redemptive act for his own sake as for the disciples. It was a way to bless his enemy and do good to the one who cursed him.

When we are hurt by others, our best course is to choose an active forgiveness. Unforgiven hurt leads to rejection of the perpetrator, but also to others who eventually become lumped into association with him/her. It leads to rebellion, retaliation, isolation and eventually a bitter life that rubs itself onto everyone around. Unforgiven hurt leaves the perpetrator in control.

When he washed Judas’ feet clean, I imagine Jesus wishing there was a way to break through and truly cleanse the dark heart of his betrayer. And when we find positive ways to approach our “enemies” we take a step forward in cleansing them as well – living in the likeness of Jesus.

2009-01-28T21:33:00.004-06:00

Forgiveness Costs

When I got resigned from one of my ministries many years ago, it was painful. (Ministers sometimes have the option of resigning or being fired. It can be a difficult decision. In my case the elders agreed to keep the terms of our contract (severance) only if I resigned. If I had made them go through the turmoil of firing me and defending their decision to the church, they threatened to turn us out on the street (violating the terms of our contract). We picked up and moved to the edge of the known universe: Florida.

After living in Tampa for a couple of years, we were going back to our previous town to visit. The drive was moving along uneventfully. We were about halfway through our journey when suddenly I became aware of something that was happening to me. I felt this heat that was rising up inside me from deep down. It was the anger and resentment I felt over the circumstance surrounding my resignation.

I had been away for two years. I had prayed about it. I had said, “I forgive them.” And I thought I had meant it. Why was it rising up inside me with such strength and control? I knew that I would see those people I held responsible for those events. I knew that they would want to shake my hand and act like everything was clean, but I felt violated and angry. I had said I forgive them, but I had not and I didn’t really know how.

Once a friend of mine was talking about the power of forgiveness and he told a story of a girl who had been raped yet was able to speak words of forgiveness to her rapest during his trial. She realized something I did not: That forgiveness is the only way to take control of past hurt. Her perpetrator had power over her for a few minutes – if she had held his violation inside her soul she would have given him power over her for the rest of her life. She regained control over her heart and mind by forgiving her attacker. Further, she had the spiritual depth to actually pull it off, to actually forgive and not just to mouth the words.

Later, at a seminar our church was sponsoring, one of my coworkers began by asking the question, “How do you feel about the church?” I thought to myself, “Well, there are some brothers and sisters I am so thankful for; they have loved me far beyond what I deserve. But there are others that I would rather not set near at worship.” I was thinking, again, about those who had hurt me.

But then the speaker reminded me of something I had not considered: “Christ died for his Church. He gave his life to make us presentable.” That is the essence of forgiveness that someone has to take the “hit” and Christ did that for me. And now he expects me to take the “hit” for others. And how can I have fellowship with him if I reject this fact of forgiveness?

As Dell commented, “forgiveness costs.”

2009-01-28T15:16:00.002-06:00

Forgiveness

Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

As I spoke these words recently I was thoughtful about the phrase, “forgive us our trespasses (debts) as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

It’s hard to forgive people who have hurt you. It’s even hard to want to. It’s not so hard to say the words, but it is difficult to live them in reality.

Forgiveness starts with a decision and a commitment to righteousness. It is believing that God’s command to forgive others is a righteous command and will bless us. Forgiveness depends on actions before emotions. The actions of forgiveness are prayer for the forgiven one; blessing them in conversation with others by pointing out their good qualities; treating them by the standard of the Golden Rule. Eventually forgiveness is loving the forgiven with genuine affection; being able to acknowledge their fault, yet not defining your relationship solely by it; allowing their other qualities to obscure the fault. Finally, forgiveness defends – just as Jesus has become our advocate.

Blessings,

Don Morrison

2009-01-26T21:44:00.003-06:00

Yes, Lord

Before Paul began stumbling around in the darkness, Ananias had adjusted his heart to hear God. As far as we know, God had never spoken to Ananias, personally, before the moment he told him to go visit Saul of Tarsus. And, as far as we know, God had never spoken to Saul until, one day, walking along the road, he was blinded in the same moment that he met God. He lost the vision he had for his life – whatever goals or dreams he may have had immediately faded into the darkness that surrounded him. Where once, he saw clearly, now… nothing.

Ananias, on the other hand, was beginning to see God’s ever-working grace more clearly than he had wanted to imagine. God spoke to him and called him to step into faith. At first he objected, Lord, it’s not safe, Saul (aka Paul) was a dangerous enemy of the faith. Notice that God does nothing to reassure Annanias of his safety, instead, God simply says “Go!” and insists that it is part of his purpose. Ananias obeyed.

I am not sure how much to read into this, but I like the way Ananias begins his conversation with God. God calls him by name and Ananias answers, "Yes, Lord." That’s why I say that Ananias had adjusted his heart to hear God. Saul said, “Who are you , Lord?” which is fine, but Ananias said, “Yes.”

Those two words can say a lot about who we are. They are the most important wards we say. "Yes"..."Lord." Not “no” and not “buddy”. Not “What do you want? Perhaps after I evaluate your request I can give you a better answer.” and not “BFF.”

“Yes” is accepting, affirming, intentional. “Lord” is relationship, priority, humility. That simple phrase says, “I don’t know where this conversation is going, but it is going your way, Jesus.” And then, Ananias and Paul saw things they never imagined. With their eyes and with their hearts they saw mercy and mission as they could not have seen otherwise; mercy and mission that endures beyond that time.

All because Ananias said, “Yes, Lord.”

2009-01-26T21:36:00.003-06:00

This from AP. Don't you know neighbors are asking themselves how this could have happened. What can be done to help others? How would you get involved?

93-year-old froze to death, owed big utility bill

Mon Jan 26, 3:32 pm ET
BAY CITY, Mich. – A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.

Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.

Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17. They said the indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time, The Bay City Times reported Monday.

"Hypothermia shuts the whole system down, slowly," Virani said. "It's not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they're burning."

Schur owed Bay City Electric Light & Power more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills, Bay City Manager Robert Belleman told The Associated Press on Monday.
A city utility worker had installed a "limiter" device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur's home on Jan. 13, Belleman said. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset.

The limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of Schur's body, Belleman said. He didn't know if anyone had made personal contact with Schur to explain how the device works.

Schur's body was discovered by neighbor George Pauwels Jr.

"His furnace was not running, the insides of his windows were full of ice the morning we found him," Pauwels told the newspaper.

Belleman said city workers keep the limiter on houses for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn't paid utility bills or arranged to do so.
He said Bay City Electric Light & Power's policies will be reviewed, but he didn't believe the city did anything wrong.

"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."

Schur had no children and his wife had died several years ago.

Bay City is on Saginaw Bay, just north of the city of Saginaw in central Michigan.
___
Information from: The Bay City Times, http://www.mlive.com/bay-city
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

2009-01-25T23:20:00.002-06:00

Sincere Love

A mother races to scoop up her toddler who happens to be toddling through the front yard toward the street. She wraps the child into her arms and looks into dancing eyes and giggling smile.

Mother smiles while baby squirms; arms and legs in constant motion; writhing for freedom.
Mother protects, guards, nurtures, teaches, observes, watchfully drinking in the fresh dew of her baby’s morning.
Baby knows love, yet knows nothing of it. Receiving, needing, asking, crying, demanding.
Mother, only loving.

Scripture says,
“Don’t just pretend that you love others: really love them. Love each other with brotherly affection and take delight in honoring each other.”
“When God’s children are in need, you be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night. When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow.” (excerpted from Romans 12:9-15 TLB)

God smiles with sincere love for his children. He cares for us and provides for us in ways we cannot even know or understand. We all receive one thing after another from his hand and he is joyfully content to give.

We follow his example of sincerity when we love others in the same way: when we see beyond immaturity or our own selfish evaluations of others and receive one another just as we are. We love sincerely, affectionately, from the heart.

2008-06-20T11:01:00.002-05:00

Treasure

Solomon sought meaning for his life; he wanted to believe that his life would be more valuable than its mere length. Perhaps he measured himself by his father’s accomplishments – driven to achieve. But Solomon approaches meaning from a broad perspective, in some ways like Victor Frankle’s work, Man’s Search for Meaning. In Ecclesiastes 2 he briefly mentions his search for meaning through pleasure, only to turn abruptly, “Laughter is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?” So he searched in other ways:

I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well--the delights of the heart of man.
I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

But in the end he says, “…when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:3-11).

Verse 8 reveals a lot about humankind, Solomon drew to himself all the delights of the heart. Interestingly, this is the only verse in the Bible where “treasure” and “heart” both appear, other than when Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Solomon’s search for meaning is really a search for what to worship.

Where do we search for meaning in our lives? That is where we keep our treasure, and that is our god. Remember…We follow Him!

Don Morrison

2008-06-15T00:26:00.002-05:00

Help Me Out!

makegodsmile gave a great suggestion that we can start right here. Whether for good or for bad, please fill in the dots on this statement: "My experiences with my Mom/Dad have left me..."

Don Morrison

2008-06-13T15:41:00.002-05:00

Father's Day

The following stories were submitted by readers to the Houston Chronicle. (edited for length).

"Daddy saved me!"

A few years ago, my 3-year old daughter taught me how easily I could lose the precious title of father. Vacationing in northern Michigan, Casey and I headed to the boathouse with supplies for a picnic. As I entered the boathouse, right behind my daughter, I saw her fall into the dark water between the boat and the dock. Immediately I dropped the supplies and fell to the dock, reaching into the murk to pull her out. To my horror, she was not there. I rolled into the water, pushing the boat away as I fell. I searched the green water for Casey for what seemed minutes until I finally spotted her under the hull, suspended motionless in the water like a large doll, her eyes staring widely at me.

Grabbing her, I pushed her to the surface, when, to my relief, she let loose a scream of fear and anger. Gently, I then lifted her onto the dock. Unfortunately, the weight of my wet clothes prevented me from climbing onto the dock myself. I instructed my still-crying child to go get Mommy. She took off for the house crying but repeatedly yelling almost triumphantly, "Daddy saved me!"

My deep appreciation for the privilege of being a father was set in place for the rest of my life.
- Dr. Ken Grier, Spring, Texas

My Hero

From taking the training wheels off my bike, to letting me off punishment a couple days early, to putting me through college, my Dad is truly a hero.

He has never once "not had time" for my brother and I. For 21 years he has made sure we were provided for, and not just financially. He insisted that my brother and I attend college, only it was never a fight because all through our lives he has shown us what it takes to succeed so my brother and I always knew that we'd go to college.

I catch myself thinking sometimes that his friends must think my Dad is pretty great to be putting both his kids through college and then I think, many parents never get the chance. My dad has always said that he wants my brother and me to succeed even more than he did. For 21 years he has not once let my brother or I down, so we won't let him down either. Our father is truly a hero.
- Carrie and Richie Vincent

I received a phone call the other day from a wonderful person who reminded me that not everyone has memories of wonderful fathers. My friend had a good point, that on occassions such as Mother's Day and Father's Day, those who lived with ungodly/abusive/negligent/absent parents may relive their pain all over again, especially when at their place of refuge, their church family, they are inundated with words and symbols of fathers and mothers and seemingly everyone around had only good to say.

What do you think...How should we help those who hurt on Father's/Mother's Day?

Don Morrison

more stories can be found at this link http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/special/holidays/97/dad/stories/

2008-06-04T16:39:00.003-05:00

Humble Yourself

I read a prayer called the "Litany of Humility," written by Merry Cardinal del Val (1865-1930) and I would like to share it here:

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved
Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated*
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected
Deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

What do you think of this idea of humility? Is this a prayer we can or should pray?

I have not achieved humility, so I speak as an outsider, but I think that perhaps humility has less to do with me and more to do with the will of God being accomplished. If pride is the contrast to humility and if pride means to think highly of oneself, then does humility mean to think lowly of oneself, or, instead, to not think highly of oneself?

We can start by considering God’s will above our own. That sort of humility will surely teach us a lot about finding our proper place.

Don Morrison

*falsely accused

(The full version of the Litany of Humility can be found here along with some interesting comments and links.)

2008-05-29T15:16:00.001-05:00

Candy Coated

I don’t know if you are old enough to remember what life was like before Skittles, but I am. I also remember before they removed the red M&Ms because of fears about a certain red food coloring. Anyway, I am not a fan of Skittles; they are okay and my family loves them, but I am more of a chocolate man. I remember the first time I ate a Skittle, when they first came on the market – it wasn’t at all what I expected; actually, it kind of weirded me out. I expected candy covered chocolate that would melt in my mouth, not my hand, instead I got this sugary sweet and sour fruit burst.

I have been thinking about hypocrisy: What does a hypocrite look like? How can I know when I am being hypocritical? The word, hypocrite comes from the greek word for actor, but we would not call actors hypocrites just because of their occupation. I suppose we could think of a hypocrite as superficial, putting up a front that doesn’t really reflect what is deep inside.

Why would someone want to act like a disciple of God superficially, and withhold what is deep within from him? Does that make sense to you? It seems to me that there is very little benefit to looking like a Christian when you are not really (unless you are running for office.) I have noticed that the idea of hypocrisy in the New Testament is almost exclusively aimed at Jews. Now, I don’t believe that Jesus was picking on them in particular – he did spend most of his time with them – but they had the greatest incentive to be hypocrites about their true devotion to God. The other cultures that are represented in the Acts and the epistles were not saturated with believers so that there could be any benefit in acting like a follower. Instead the opposite is true, the believers had every worldly incentive to hide their faith and act like the world around them.

So hypocrisy might be something like a candy shell that covers the inconsistencies on the inside.

But in our culture, we have become so accustomed to corruption, immorality, self-promotion – there hardly seems to be any purpose for hiding it anymore. Why would someone go to the additional trouble to trying to look like a Christian when the inside simply is not devoted to that faith and lifestyle?

I wonder if you have any ideas about hypocrisy that can help us to be aware of its allure.

2008-05-28T15:38:00.002-05:00

Jesus' Example of Suffering

The question of human suffering will always provide ammunition for unbelievers and questions for the faithful. In the movie, Shadowlands, and in his book, A Greif Observed, C. S. Lewis comes to deal firsthand with suffering after having lectured about it rather objectively for years. He had fallen in love with and married Joy Gresham only to lose her to cancer. Watching her courageously endure an agonizing death did not detract from his understanding of pain and suffering, but his objective knowledge had not fully prepared him for the intense feelings, questions, doubts, and fears that came upon him in his own personal suffering.

1 Peter 4 says that the result of suffering is that we do not live the rest of our earthly lives for human desires, but rather for the will of God. Now, I have suffered very little in this life, so I cannot pretend to fully understand this passage. Most of us have grown up privileged in that we have found access to everything we have needed almost every moment of our lives. For the most part we have also received more material blessings than we have been able to keep track of. Additionally, we have rarely, if ever, lived with fear for our own safety or our family’s. Our jobs have some security. Our economy is stable. Our place in this world has been an advantage for more than half a century. I can hardly understand the turmoil of those in Myanmar or Sichuan, China.

Even though I have suffered little, I can see the result of sin in my life and in our culture. Peter seems to indicate that is at least part of the suffering that leads us to turn toward God and away from the flesh. Perhaps we should make the time to reflect on the results of our pursuit of privilege and comfort – certainly Jesus did not follow that path: 1 Peter 4 starts by exhorting us to prepare ourselves to follow Jesus’ example of suffering so that we might be finished with sin. That is not often the way I have fought temptation when left to my own strategies.

2008-05-21T08:45:00.001-05:00

The Humble Path

He was one of us
A man of the people
He surrounded himself with us all
Common folk
They listened; they received

He was not like us
A spiritual man
He retreated to the mountainside
Holy Father
He listened; he received

He was a part of us
A man of flesh
He walked a dirt trail
Simple man
Using the common; making the sacred

He was taken from us
A submissive man
He walked a lonely path
Silent lamb
Killing the sacred; making him common

He is the new us
A creating man
He opened a new door
Humble servant
Seeing the common, perceiving the sacred

Don Morrison
2008-05-20

2008-05-13T17:24:00.000-05:00

Humility Or Humiliation

How can such similar thoughts be so very different? Both have to do with appearing “less than.” But the differences are many:

Humility is when someone is asked to take a back seat, and the person realizes that is not a reflection of his/her true value. It is the belief that by taking a lesser role and serving the roles of others we are imitating the character of God and advancing His kingdom by faith. Humiliation is the feeling a person may have when they are asked to take the back seat.

Humility is a decision; the ability to set aside feelings and think less of oneself than of others; to be aware of their needs and attentive to them instead of merely thinking of one’s own desires or needs. Humiliation is a mixture of feelings that can produce a variety of behaviors: anger may lead to retaliation, shame may lead to isolation, embarrassment may produce retaliation, defensiveness that stems from pride, or even humility that reflects a greater concern for others who are involved.

Humility costs in advance: it must be exercised daily for it to gain any strength in one’s life. It pays in arrears: one reason we use it so little is because the benefits are not always clear and they almost always go unnoticed by others. Humility is closely related to meekness and so is often seen by others as weakness. Humiliation costs in the moment and later, but our reaction to our humiliation can make a difference to the cost – self-control and graciousness toward others (both of which are produced by humility) can actually pay more than the cost.

Jesus chose to exercise humility long before his public humiliation. (cf. Philippians 2:1-11, John 5:31-47) It was his mastery of humility that allowed him to humbly say, “Father forgive them.”

2008-05-07T13:27:00.002-05:00

Moms Can Do That

Of course she gave me life, yet it is difficult to imagine my mother carrying me. King David imagined himself being knit together in his mother’s womb by the wonder of God’s creative power. My mother had just turned twenty-three a month before giving birth to yours truly, having already given birth to my older brother . When I turned 23, I was looking forward to graduation and marrying Donna – I had not yet found my first ministry. I was only beginning to learn about life and responsibility at the age when mom was already raising 2 children. But it’s not how young she was that makes her special to me, it’s how she loved me and cared for me – and still does.

Mom’s get away with things most of us would never allow anyone else to think about. Mom would take a tissue out of her purse and wet it to wipe some smudge from my childish face. Not many people could do that, but mom could. She could tell her friends some embarrassing story on me while sitting around the kitchen table. Of course I would be self-conscious, but who can stop a mother from telling stories on her children? Mom’s can make you hug them when you’re in front of your teenage friends – and while they have their arms around you, they’ll place a wet kiss on your cheek and give you all sorts of motherly instructions (for which your teenaged friends are certainly grateful) like, don’t drive too fast, or stay out too late, or go to some place not pre-approved by mom.

I truly felt ashamed of those expressions of love. They seemed so juvenile, when I felt so grown-up. But now, when I see some young mother tenderly loving her unhappy and unappreciative child, I often think of how my own mother cherished me when I was the squirming, complaining, unhappy one. I knew I was loved, but I didn’t see it up close in those moments.

Maybe that’s a little like Peter saying to Jesus, You’re not going to wash my feet! To which Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.” Mom would have said, “Get over here; I’m your mother.”

Thank you, Mom. And thank you, God, for moms.

(I realize that not everyone has a mom worthy of honor, but I must honor my own.)

2008-04-28T19:58:00.003-05:00

I recently wrote my final assignment for a class I have been taking, Christian Spiritual Formation, taught by Dr. David Wray. It has been a wonderful and challenging experience to learn about a variety of spiritual traditions and perspectives. This final paper, which I have included below is a statement of principles for me to measure my life by. I expect that it will change over time, but it will help me at the present time.

Don Morrison’s Rule of Life

Jesus said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV) That is the essence of my rule for life. I do not anticipate perfection; I simply want to measure my thoughts and actions by the direction I have chosen. I have found that this simple rule sustains me when I am confused by life, when I have failed to be righteous, when I doubt God or his motives, even when I feel defeated. This straight-edge gives me direction when I am lost. It is a grace from God to straighten my bent. It is comfort, since Jesus is not speaking to those who have found the kingdom already, but to those who, like me, may experience moments under the reign of God, yet often find ourselves submitting to the world and its values. This rule is for broken seekers who are still worried about this life, but who want to trust in the promise that God will give to us what we need.

I will seek God through worship. While there are deeply personal elements of worship, I find they are often intertwined with those parts of worship that are communal as well. So as I seek God through worship, I will do so as an individual who is not alone or disconnected from the body and as a member of the body of Christ who is to some extent self-responsible.

Purity of life is my worship to God. I give my body as a living sacrifice to God as a spiritual act of worship. It is a grace from God to discipline what goes into my body and what comes out of it. May my speech reflect his purity. May my hands reflect his care. May my feet reflect his perfect ways. Keep me from unrighteousness and fill me with your Spirit so that I may seek purity.

Taking the spiritual nourishment of the body and blood of Jesus is my worship to God. When I think that the things of this world can offer me fulfillment, I need the Supper. I eat the bread with God’s family to remind me where my righteousness comes from and how much it costs and to proclaim this to the world. I drink the cup and its sweetly, tangy flavor traces over my tongue and down my throat, into my stomach where is becomes a part of me. So different from who I am, yet absorbed into my being, like the righteousness of Christ which becomes mine. I need the Supper to remind me that I live because he sustains me.

Prayer is my worship to God. I will seek intimacy with God in confessing my life to him and pouring my needs and my heart’s desires before him in spontaneous encounters and in scheduled times of prayer.

Reading from the Holy Scripture is my worship to God. I will find new expressions of the Father by daily receiving his word into my spirit.

Yielding to the work and guidance of the Holy Spirit is my worship to God. I will listen quietly for his wisdom in the words of scripture, his created children, and the world around me. I will exercise my yielding in the most obvious guidance so that I can hear him better when he speaks quietly, subtly.

Fellowshipping with other seekers is my worship to God. It is good to be with those who love the Lord, but it is not always easy, since we are made of human flesh. We can make each other comfortable and we can challenge one another’s comfort. We need a full diversity of fellowship to balance our egos. We need a full diversity of fellowship to make up for our own weaknesses.

Exploring new ways of engaging my spirit with his is my worship to God. Practicing a variety of spiritual disciplines: finding those I am most comfortable with and stretching with those I find challenging will teach me new facets of God’s divine being. Asking questions about my beliefs or about doctrines can free me for fresh answers from God.

Caring for my very self is my worship to God. My ability to seek God is a gift from God that I should cherish and nurture. My ability to seek God feeds my ability to minister in his kingdom so it is worthy of special care. Caring for self does not place self at the center of life, rather it stewards the body and spirit God has given me for his purposes.

I will seek God through Ministry. I will find ways to participate in God’s mission on behalf of humankind, that he is reconciling all things to himself. I will open my heart to compassion for the world, one or two at a time, as God enables me. I will live in such a way as to validate the message of God’s renewing work.

I will seek God through imitation of his holy character. I will humble myself before God and people to serve where I can. I will share my life with others in such a way as to draw us into shared paths so that we can seek God together. I will be a peace-maker to help reconcile people with people and with God: bringing diversity into unity; brokenness into wholeness.

I will honor righteousness, faithfulness, justice as I learn to love what God loves. I will protect the weak from the oppressor and the destroyer as I learn to hate what God hates. I will place first things first as I learn to be ambivalent about those things God is unconcerned with.

2008-04-24T17:17:00.002-05:00

What is Real

Sabbath helps us sort things through. That is to say a period of rest gives us time and opportunity to contemplate our life and actions. When we take time off from everything we can talk and remember together. Time off puts work and productivity into perspective, especially when we are compelled by someone else to rest when we would rather be doing something. God gave Israel two explicit reasons for observing the Sabbath – Creation and Recreation.

“For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.” (Exodus 31:17) One might think that God didn’t really need to rest; that he was finished with all his work anyway; that his fence wasn’t broken; or whatever one wants to think about why God’s rest is different from the rest he commanded his people to take, but the point is still the same – God is saying he set an example for people and then commanded them to follow it: remember the rest and consider that time differently than any other time.

“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:15) God had re-created Israel as a sovereign people from out of slavery because of his purposes for them and his promises to Abraham. Here, God instructs them: Keep the rest of God because you used to be slaves to labor, receiving only tenuous rewards for it, but as my people, I will provide for you and give you rest.

Sabbath is an important gift from God because it reminds us of what is real. God created us in his image to work and to be restful with him. God has re-created us further into his image by the work of Jesus, our Savior, so that we might find restfulness in him. The work we accomplish here will end and pass away, but our rest in God is more real. It is with God and in God; it transforms us out of this world and into his.

2007-11-02T14:19:00.000-05:00

It is Time to Move On

Jacob was a man who was used to making his own way; a man who had picked himself up by his own bootstraps so-to-speak. He worked hard all his life to make a way for himself and he succeeded.

His mother helped him get a birthright and a blessing that nobody else, except Rebekah and Jacob and God thought he deserved. Ooh, but that made his brother, Esau, mad! He wanted to kill his brother Jacob and he probably would have, but Jacob ran. He ran all the way to Laban, to whom he hired himself out. He really liked Laban’s daughter Rachel so he made an agreement to work for Laban in order to win her hand. But Laban tricked everyone and gave Jacob his older daughter, Leah. Jacob worked seven more years to win Rachel and he stayed on with Laban afterward as well.

Jacob grew wealth as God blessed him, but Laban and his sons felt that Jacob’s wealth was at their expense. Sensing the building tension, Jacob packed up and moved back to his homeland. As he traveled he contemplated what it might be like to meet his brother again. He divided his family and his possessions into two groups and sent them separately so that if something happened to one group, perhaps the other would escape. He stayed by himself that night – he must have been filled with anxiety about what would come the next day: would Esau take his vengeance or would time have tempered the anger?

That night Jacob wrestled with a man (was it a prophet? God himself? An angel?) and won. He held the wrestler until he coerced a blessing out of him. The blessing was a summary of Jacob’s life and a new name, Israel, which means “struggles with God.” Up to this time, it appears that Jacob believed he had accomplished pretty much everything on his own. He had taken the birthright and the blessing, he had manipulated the kinds of livestock to be born in order to increase his wages, he had saved himself from Esau, he had known when to move from Laban’s area, he had wrestled with God and man and he had won. But this was not entirely true – God fore-ordained that Jacob would get the blessing and the birthright; God blessed Jacob with the right livestock births; God protected Jacob because he had a plan for him; God let Jacob win the wrestling match and he gave him a bum hip just to remind him that when you wrestle with God there are permanent markers on your life afterward.

Jacob means “usurper”, and that is the summary of his life up to that point. In renaming him Israel, God recasts Jacob’s struggle to take for himself at others’ expense as a struggle with God. It was after this that Jacob tells Esau, “God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.”

We struggle with God when we struggle with our place in the world, since he put us in our times and places. We struggle with God when we struggle with the bills, since we receive our bounty from him. We struggle with God when we help others or refuse to, since they also are his children. We struggle with God when we think in our minds that we are self-sufficient, or that we should be, since we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before and we all receive our very selves from God. We struggle with God when we refuse to take responsibility for our own lives, or allow others to do so, since we owe more than we can ever pay.

Let us all be Israel and in our struggles let us learn to trust and give thanks.

God bless.

2007-10-12T02:53:00.000-05:00

I am glad that things are quieting down in the church I wrote about. Unfortunately, not everything could be worked out with everyone, so there is now a new church forming. I know that some will always want the worst for the other group - that's a shame. I mean really, that is shameful. On the other hand a lot of people will want to let bygones be bygones. I hope that is not held to be acceptable also.

Let it not be forgotten that this was not a difference of opinion. I do not mean, "let us keep a record of wrongs." I only want not to have our sins recast as though they were a bad-hair day. We all know that bad character develops....well, more bad character. That wrongs may be forgiven by the offended does not help the offender to practice repentance. Forgive, but do not present your hand to a biting dog. Forgive, but do not expect.

That reminds me of a story...

This week a ran into a woman who used to go to my church. She had been sweet and my children loved her very much. For a while she was influenced by another lady who was not so well motivated and who worked for my early retirement from this ministry. They met with me and my church leaders to accuse me of false teaching. I felt as though this younger woman was being used and manipulated, but under those circumstances I could not do anything for her. Anyway this week, when we ran into each other, she apologised. It made me cry that we had been estranged. And I was so proud of her for wanting to get rid of that old baggage.

So I told her a story about when I signed my name to a list of accusations against a good man. I was ashamed when I did it, but I was afraid for my job and my reputation. I somehow thought that it was more helpful for my reputation to cowardly sign something I did not believe, than to stand up and say no. I carried that cowardly betrayal on my shoulders for more than a decade. Then one day I went to a seminar where the man I had accused was to speak. I went to him and said, "You don't know me, but I hurt you..." And I told him the story. He gave me a hug and merely said, that was a long time ago.

I was grateful to have the opportunity to do that same thing for my sister and reclaimed friend.

May God bless you richly as you seek reconciliation with broken relationships.

2007-09-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

The previous story about my son is fresh because of the turmoil in that small town church right now. They need God's direction and healing. Many of them are struggling with how to get along with selfish and controlling brothers and sisters. Some of them are just struggling with how to be more controlling and selfish.

The leaders of that church need encouragement and a fresh breath of God. They may need more than they will allow God to perform. The minister and his family need security. They need the medicine of the soul, because theirs have been wounded. These have walked alongside their Lord and born shame for his name.

The flock needs God's work as well. Some for forgiveness, some for remorse and change, some for both.

May God guide you all on your walk of faith. Only he can heal the divisions and bridge the chasm between. He is the God of redeemed relationships. He accomplishes the impossible, even within us.

My heart is with you all

2007-09-05T11:23:00.000-05:00

I used to preach for a church in a small town in Texas. We moved there from Florida when my son was 11 years old and my daughters were 6 and 2. Now, I love Texas - I was born and raised here in the Lone Star State - but my son was completely comfortable in his setting back in Florida. He loved swimming, church youth group, our neighborhood and most elements of his life. On the other hand, he knew nothing about cows and ranching, football, or hunting - all of which pretty much defined life in his new "home" in small town Texas. He hated me for that move; for taking him out of his good life and landing him into another.

Every day when my son went to school, he was picked on. The kids from church picked on him just like the community kids. The kids in our neighborhood picked on him. Every day, there was no respite for this 11 year-old boy, because he didn't look and act like everyone else, or understand ranch work, or shoot animals.

When he came home from school each day I asked how things went. He would say everything was okay. He said this because he was mad at me and didn't want to forgive me for bringing him to that place. He wanted to be independent of me - be his own person - handle things on his own. But every day the pain of rejection by his classmates would burn and the weight of emotional independence is too great for those circumstances.

The school administration was aware that my son was being picked on, but did nothing to control it. No correction of the offenders; after all boys will be boys - whatever that might mean.

I won't go into detail about how things ended up other than to say that my son was involved in an ordeal that was blown out of proportion and he bore his punishment in a respectable manner. I am proud of him for the humility he learned and for the way he protected others who were involved in the circumstances. And his bravery in returning to that school setting later.

The school administration decided how to handle my son's circumstances based upon popular response to what had happened, rather than upon common sense. They protected their own tails rather than protecting the child. This was not commonly known, because we (the school administration, the local authorities, my son, and myself) decided not to punish others who, along with my son, were innocently involved in childish expression.

When the superintendant (a good friend) spoke with me about my son's punishment, I asked him what would happen to the other children. He said, he didn't know yet what to do. I told him to do nothing; they didn't deserve it. All the children, including my son, were innocent of wrongdoing and since everyone believed my son acted alone there was no reason to bring embarassment or injustice on others as well. But I also told him that in doing nothing to the others he was acknowledging that my son was being treated unfairly, since the administrations' actions could only be construed as self-protection rather than a just and equitable distribution of blame. He agreed.

Next to my son's wellbeing, my biggest concern through all this was my church. I did not want this to make the church look bad. I am sure that it must have tainted my ministry while I was there, but my church leaders were very supportive through it all. I offered to resign and leave at the time, but they decided to stand with me.

I am happy that my son is doing well in college. We tease him sometimes about what happened and he laughs about it. But it is still real to him, sometimes it makes him more aware of others perceptions, or - in less mature moments - makes him care less.

What is sad is that the children who precipitated the entire event and their parents appear to have learned nothing. They still slander my son. They may never know that he was not the person they think he was, and that he protected others by bearing the whole thing himself.

2007-05-25T23:23:00.000-05:00

Wow - I can't believe I got back into my blog. I have been trying for days, but kept running through some loop.

The whole family's out of school for the summer! Except I may enroll in another class, but, maybe not. In about 3 weeks, I will open a fireworks stand. This will be our fifth year - every year is a challenge, especially when you live in West Texas, since weather is usually hot and dry.

My grandfather was the chief engineer on Benbrook Dam. He surveyed the project, planned eveything including the parks and roads, oversaw the construction and then stayed in a Corps of Engineers home built close to the facilities by the dam gates. We would visit often as children and it was always exciting. There was so much to explore and get into.

My older brother and younger sister and I would go to visit every fourth of July. Grandad would take us to the fireworks stand and we would shop prices till we came up with the best deal we could. The people working the stand must have been pretty patient to let us balance young bodies on our belly's on the counter of their display window for so long while we dreamed of colorful explosions in the sky above our heads.

Among all the other fireworks, we always bought firecrackers of course. We would put one under a can with the fuse sticking out and light it and run! Boom! We watched the can to see whose went higher. Sometimes we'd light them in our fingers and throw them as far as we could, but every now and then one of the fuses would be made of too-thin material and would burn too quickly for us to get it out of our hand. Bang! the loud explosion right next to my right ear would ring for hours, but I barely noticed since the pounding pain in my thumb and forefinger demanded all of my attention. My porr, abused, fingers would throb with every beat of my young little heart. They would have this numb feeling when you touched them so that it felt like someone else's thumb or finger, yet at the same time the pain was so intense, you knew it was indeed yours. Nothing could help.

You would think that once would be enought to teach me not to do that again, but I am not that smart: year after year I might relive the same searing pain two or three times; each time believing I had learned some key piece of information that would keep it from happening again; each time tempting fate with those last few defective firecrackers with the thin, short fuses - I think I can do this one....Bang!! Owww!

Back in those days all the cokes ("coke" is Texan for soda pop) came in glass bottles, which, by the way, is the absolute best way to drink a coke. Each state had laws requiring that a deposit of some amount be paid on each bottle when you bought your coke - that was to encourage people to return the bottle to the store and get their money back, and to discourage people from tossing those glass bottle out on the side of the road where they would break and create pain and suffering for small children riding their bikes or shuffling their bare feet. In spite of that state mandated deposit some people, who must have had a lot more money than us, would carelessly toss their bottles out anyway, leaving a treasure trove of glass money for my brother and me to pick up on July 5th after all the partying the night before. We were up with the sun. Grandad would take us to the best places which we picked clean of any valuable item lightweight enough and small enough to fit in the trunk of the car. We would carry load after load from the car into the store, then back to the lake for another load. After a few years, other people caught on and tried to take "our" bottles, which I felt thoroughly entitle to, since it was Grandad's lake after all. But we usually got there first anyway and Grandad seemed to know where the best loot was.

One year, I think 1972, Grandad had a heart attack. His doctor made him quit smoking and gave him a medical retirement. He was 62 in 1972, and he did quit smoking. He lived to be 91 years old I believe, and I preached his funeral. I miss him. After he retired the Army Corps of Engineers made him move out of the house up on the hill overlooking the lake. I miss that house too. They built a pavillion over the foundation for the old house; just poured the new one right over the old one. I can still go there and see the trees and flowers he planted, the grass he tended; and look down the hill at the water. It is nostalgic, but not pleasurable - it just makes me more aware of what is gone. And what all else is going.

I hope my children have memories like those. Not the same ones, but something just as meaningful; something that makes your eye sting when you think about it for a while.

2007-05-22T01:22:00.000-05:00

Wow! A lot has happened since my last post. My wife graduated from Abilene Christian University and is about to finish her first year of teaching. My son graduated from high school and has just complete his first year at ACU. My daughter just received the MVP award for her Cross Country efforts this year and my youngest daughter also received three awards today, one for Academic Acheivement, one for Music, and one for Art.

It was tough for my sweet wife, having lost her mother last November and dealing with her school-childrens' parents, but she has had a strong finish. She has blessed all her students - they did exceptionally well on their measurements testing.

Perhaps I will do a better job posting regularly.

2006-03-03T21:35:00.000-06:00

You should have seen my girl run Thursday in the mile-and-a-half. Like a gazelle she tore up the track and took first place. Ah, she was smooth and fast. Wow!

I spoke with a friend today who recently asked a group of college students in Nebraska if any of them had ever sheared a sheep...not one had. He asked if any had ever held a sheep, touched a sheep - none had. So how are they supposed to have a realistic understanding of the biblical metaphore for sheep and shepherds? He advocated the term "coach" for shepherd. Now there's a word my daughter can understand. And one I better understand too.

My daughter looks to me for support and encouragement. When I give her instruction, I must be careful of her perception. I never want to dash her. I always want her to know that I believe in her. I want to be her good coach.

You may have to wait a long time, but there's more. Don

2005-12-16T08:58:00.000-06:00

I love this time of year, but I am a little conflicted by the trappings that seem so tightly woven into our celebration. I saw a picture in the news of a lawn decoration - a blood-spattered Santa holding a dismembered doll head. The family said they were merely lamenting the consumerization of Christmas. We have created a day of desires, fulfilled for some and wanting for others. For me, I feel pressure, from inside myself, to be more generous than I should or am responsibly able.

But before the creation of the universe God planned His perfect gift. He planned a blood sacrifice that could pay our sin debt. He spent several millenia introducing Himself to us in a way that would explain the gift He had planned. He purchased His people from Egypt, from Babylonia, from Assyria. He sent messengers to call His people back to Him and to prophecy the Redeeming Messiah.

One day He gave us a baby; His own Son who spoke creation into existence had become flesh - just like you and me. Not simply so that He could understand the human existence, rather so that we who live the human story could see His spiritual existence we have always been intended for and follow Him.

Christmas is a celebration of God's precious gift to humankind - His only Son, Jesus, our only Savior and Redeemer. He laid down His life for you and for me that we may also be God's children, born by His Spirit into His inheritance.

God's generous love is beyond compare. Let us celebrate His wondrous gift and praise the Son for all we have received from Him!

Let us meagerly emulate God's character by giving of ourselves to others. Let us not over-extend our wallets, but let us extend our hearts and our hands. Let us give what is most important of ourselves as a reflection of Jesus' gift.

Why should I worry about some shed that my neighbor needs? I can be happy he has what he needs. I can be happy I have what I need. I can give to others whatever I am able so they can have what they need.

I have to admit, that does goes against my nature often. It takes attention, since I am so selfish. My first instinct is most often self absorbed. And attention is no promise of success, since I often persist in self centeredness.

God help me to learn from you. To be more like you. To be more consistent in my attempts. Thank you that your gift is always consistent, though I am not.

Wait...there's more

2005-12-07T12:58:00.000-06:00

There is nothing we have that we have not received. Every good and perfect gift comes from above flowing down from the Father of lights. I live in a house I did not build - I only share ownership (with the bank). When I turn on the water I rarely think about those men and women who built the infrastructure we enjoy. Drive over a bridge - where did it come from? And how many do I pass over every day? Who designed the technology that your computer is built upon? Man, I couldn't begin to pay for all the ideas that affect my life every day. And that doesn't even start to mention the natural and spiritual world surrounding us that we either mostly take for granted or simply don't notice at all.

I would like to be more aware of - and grateful for - all that I have received.

I have new neighbors. I am grateful for them - I anticipate a good relationship. The previous owner had given me the storage shed in the back yard, however it was not possible to get it before the new owner moved in. When I brought it up as they began to move their possessions in, he replied, "Yeah, she said something about that before...I thought it came with the house."

Alright, apparently he knew from the previous owner that it didn't belong to him, but he had seen it back there and thought how he could use it...and he wanted it.

What should I do? This is my new neighbor, I want things to go well.

Wait...there's more,

Don

2005-12-06T14:45:00.000-06:00

My dad used to tell me the road to Hell is paved with good intentions when I said things like, "Well, I meant to..."

I intend to post at least 4 days a week, but I see I am missing a few LOL. I hope I am not paving a road. I seem to not be able to think of things to write that are worth placing here.

I am excited about some friends' involvement in the Organic Church Movement (?). They want to plant house churches all over the place. A group of people are meeting weekly to encourage one another in this ministry. And, I think they have already started a new house church in the home of a new Christian. I am praying for their success.

One thing that was said at their meeting which I truly appreciated was the idea that when Jesus said, "The fields are ripe for harvest. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest field." He wasn't telling us we need to ask God to provide more people to reach out to. And, by the way, I often do ask God to lead me to someone - to open my eyes to see the opportunities to help others to know Jesus' salvation. But Jesus was telling us to pray that God would provide workers for the harvest.

Let us pray that God will equip and gift people for that. And as we pray, let us anticipate that God is already working in our life to gift us and equip us for that very ministry. Let us have the faith that believes that God can accomplish in us, through us, whatever He places before us.

Father, may my intentions lead me into Your ways. May I trust your power to work whatever you desire in my life. May I be willing to answer your call.

Wait...there is more

2005-11-18T16:28:00.000-06:00

How do you start a blog? Today I will begin to write some thought each day. I hope they are worthwhile for myself and anyone else who may find them.

May God bless our lives today with more of Him. May he break into our lives in unexpected ways that reveal fresh as well as familiar truths about him. May this small piece of web-estate please him.

Wait, there's more...

Don