On Cell Phones and Reader's Digest

Angelynn’s cell phone recently was damaged to the point it doesn’t work. Make a note-- If you drop a cell phone into your fast food bag the Coke in the bag spills, that’s not good for the cell phone! Angelynn’s is the only cell phone on which we have (or need) insurance, so we get to see if Alltel will live up to their bargain. Someone told Angelynn that if the cell phone is damaged due to your own negligence (like baptizing it in Coke), then the insurance won’t cover it. So she had to decide whether to tell the truth about its demise… or simply say that she lost it. I am proud that she went with the truth... and is it turns out, Alltel is going to come through (as sone as Dad coughs up the $50 co-pay). Of course Angelynn, I think, had already figured out that there is a second Alltel store in town and it is pretty easy to loose a non-working cell phone!

Two questions? First, you do think that it would be a great idea for Dad to get the new cell phone and give Angelynn the old, beat-up one, right?

Second, just how honest are we? I mean, honestly now? Sure personal integrity and honesty are high on our list of desirable qualities, but are we truly honest when life gets difficult. Like when you might have to face life without a cell phone! (Shriek! Gasp!). If you would like to find out how honest you are, the nice people at Reader’s Digest have an online honesty test. I would think that Reader’s Digest readers are a basically honest group of folks. Here is their survey (I’ve shortened some of the questions a bit) and the percentage of peole who said “Yes.” The questions is, “Have you ever…”

1. Cheated on a test in school? 48%
2. Misstated facts on a resumé/job application? 17%
3. Called in sick at work when not ill? 55%
4. Taken office supplies from work for personal use? 62%
5. Shifted blame to a co-worker for a mistake you made? 11%
6. Taken something valuable from work for personal use? 13%
7. Sneaked into a movie or concert without paying? 13%
8. Munched on something in a store and not paid for it? 22%
9. Undercharged or received too much change and not told? 51%
10. Found something of value and not turned it in? 20%
11. Taken towels from a hotel or silverware from restaurant? 23%
12. Downloaded music from an Internet site and not paid? 46%
13. Switched price tags to get a lower price for something? 12%
14. Not declared the full value of purchases made abroad? 45%
15. Damaged an unoccupied car and not left a note? 26%
16. Cheated on your tax return? 18%
17. Lied about one’s appearance to avoid hurting feelings? 71%
18. Parked in a handicapped space you weren’t entitled to? 22%
19. Lied to your spouse about the cost of a recent purchase? 22%
20. Driven 15 mph hour over the limit or through a red light 46%
21. Lied to your spouse about relationship with another person? 45%

How would you do on such a survey? You know what the number one excuse for people who admit to engaging in all of the above behaviors? Everyone else is doing it!

Light the Night

I was in CompUSA yesterday buying memory for the church office’s computers, bringing Cathy’s machine up from 256 to 512 meg. (That is “shared” memory; that means some is sliced off the top for use as video RAM. I’m surprised XP even ran with that little memory). We can now all expect Cathy to get twice as much work done since her computer should be running now twice as fast.

As I was buying the memory, the guy at the upgrade desk asked me if I wanted to donate a dollar to the “Light the Night Campaign,” an effort to raise money to fight leukemia and lymphoma. I said “sure,” and the man practically lit up. Evidently he had been turned down several times in a row, and so he vented his frustration in thanking me for my “generosity.” He said, “I can’t believe how many people come in here and spend hundreds of dollars on themselves to upgrade on their computer but won’t give a dollar to help fight a deadly disease. A dollar! People are so selfish. It’s just a dollar!” I was glad that I had decided to spring for the dollar.

But the man is right, isn’t he? We can be so selfish. We can clearly see what we “need” to get, and be blind to the needs of others. We can generate what amounts to moral outrage if we find we have been overcharged on a bill or not given credit for a discount for which we qualify. But we have a great deal of difficulty getting too upset over the suffering and injustice suffered others. One of the recurring themes in the prophets was God’s condemnation on a nation that denied justice to the poor (see Isaiah 10:12, Amos 5:12). How many times have I been so focused on me that I didn’t see opportunities to help others? I’m glad I coughed up the $1 last night, but how many other times have I been too selfish to notice need?

But in thinking about what guy behind the counter at CompUSA said, it dawned on me what he didn’t say. He didn’t say anything at all about CompUSA matching donations or even making donations. There is only one mention of the program on their web site, and it is not mentioned on their main page. It says “CompUSA customers can support the Society's mission by contributing a $1 donation to the Society.” And individual stores are organizing tam to walk in the fundraiser. But isn’t CompUSA itself participating in the event? After all, “It’s just a dollar!”

Here is another application, boys and girls. It is always easier to think of good things that others should do (like CompUSA matching funds) rather than get involved doing good yourself. Right?

Update From Blogville

It’s almost time to go home, and I forgot to write something today. So how about a quick update on two past blogs? Remember Tressa and Angelynn’s friend Tank Daniels who was trying to make the Philadelphia Eagles? (see My Wife and Football, Tuesday August 8 ) Tank’s wife Courtney is a member of a very exclusive club—people who have replied to my blog!) Well, anyway Tank is still playing with the Eagles and still doing well. He survived a couple of big cuts and is fighting hard to make the team. We saw him get quarterback sack and force a fumble Friday night at the Kings after small group. And thanks to the magic of TiVo, we saw it over and over again!

I just remembered that I had said that I’m was going to buy Tank's Starter Jersey if he made the Eagles. Well, I just checked NFL.com to check on that and wow!!! This could get really expensive! Maybe I can get Tank to change his last name to "Owens." They have those really CHEAP! Maybe I can borrow money from Art Edlow who is a huge Eagles fan; Coutney told him they would get him tickets! Either way, go Tank!

Also an update on Maggie (see What Do We Expect from August 2). Maggie had a really good successful last night. She got to go crazy on our walk chasing another cicada up and down the street… with me trotting behind laughing at her (while the neighbors no doubt were laughing at me). I was surprised when she gave up the chase so easily and trotted back home. It made sense when she spit out the cicada that she had been holding in her mouth on the kitchen floor and went to chasing it around the kitchen! Fortunately, Lynn was upstairs and missed all that excitement.

OK, that’s all for today.

Good Lesson from a Bad King

My Bible class last Wednesday night was on King Manasseh. It wasn’t supposed to be (only) on Manasseh, but we didn’t get as far as I planned. But then, we never get as far as I plan. (I had this great fear when I started preaching of getting half-way through a class and running out of material, and I still generally prepare too much material). But Manasseh was an interesting fellow. He ruled longer than any other king of Israel or Judah, and he was sandwiched between the two greatest kings of Judah— he was the son of Hezekiah and the grandfather of Josiah.

Despite this pedigree, he was also the most wicked king of Judah, undoing all the reforms of Hezekiah and going even further in introducing pagan evil into Judah than Ahab and Jezebel had done in Israel (see 2 Kings 21:2-9). There is some question as to whether the worship of Molech that he re-introduced included child sacrifice. The NIV rendering of “he sacrificed his own son in the fire” is more literally “he passed his son through the fire” which may indicate a pagan fire dedication rather than burnt offering. Whatever it was, Manasseh was one bad dude who led his people so far from God that not even Josiah would be able to stem the slide into oblivion.

It is the depravity of King Manasseh makes the little story that the Chronicler throws into the mix seem a bit out of bounds. After Manasseh was humiliated and taken prisoner by the Assyrians, “he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers (2 Chron 33:12). And God restored him and the Chronicler says “Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.” And Manasseh even evidently started some of the reforms that Josiah would complete (2 Chron 33:15-16). Was Manasseh’s conversion what led the young Josiah to also seek after God with all of his heart?

No one is beyond redemption. No one is so evil that they cannot seek God; no one is so depraved that God will refuse to forgive them once they do repent. As Manasseh sat alone in his prison cell and calling on God and promising the moon if God would save him, most of us would likely doubt his sincerity. We may dismiss his repentance as “You are just sorry you got caught!” But God knows genuine repentance, and He always honors it. No one is beyond God’s mercy. That is the good news part of the gospel!

Two Big Changes

There are two big changes around the Tucker house. First, today was the official end of summer as Lynn went back to her job at Denbigh High school. There was a moratorium on me mentioning anything about this impending certainty, but ignoring it didn’t help-- Lynn is back to school. (The good news is that the students won’t be there for another week and a half.) But Lynn going back to work is not the big change.

No, the big change is the boomerang. Tressa will be moving back home in early September. The plan is for me to drive to Arkansas on September 12, help her pack up, spend some time with my parents and sister, and be back by September 18. Of course, Tressa has a couple of job irons in the fire, and this timetable will be accelerated if one of those jobs works out sooner. She is looking for a teaching job in high school or middle school Social Studies. So if there are any school principals out there in blogville...

How do I feel about Tressa coming back home to live? Well, Lynn and I thoroughly enjoyed our empty nest. (We didn’t exactly throw a part when Angelynn joined her sister at college. Or did we?). But at the same time, we are also thoroughly excited about Tressa moving back home too. We were happy when she went off to school; we’ll enjoy her for as long as she’s back home. And when she gets her career going, moves out on her own, makes her first million and buys her Dad a new truck to make up for the one she blew up, we’ll be OK with that too!.

Circumstances change. Even in the relationships that we treasurer the most, the circumstances always change. The secret to a happy life is being happy right now, and not looking to the future waiting for the circumstances to change. Paul said, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” But in the very next verse he said, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Phil 4:12-13). That secret of contentment comes only when we rely on God’s strength.

Fiesta!

Another year’s VBS has wrapped. This was an interesting year for several reasons. Some of the folks who would normally work with VBS weren’t available this year, so we had to break in some newbies this year. Also we decided to have VBS early in the summer so it would not compete with our big Mexico Mission trip. For a variety of reasons, we moved it back to the middle of August, so once again VBS and our Mexico trip were practically back to back. But this year it made sense, at least— the VBS theme was Fiesta!

We had about 50 kids (ages 2- 5th grade) each night, most coming from our community, and it seemed that the largest attendance was on Friday night (unusual). Our kids had a blast, and it was good that they could share their fun with friends and neighbors. We had a ton of people working, and it seemed like everything went very smoothly. A month ago we were talking about calling the whole thing off; by Friday, we were talking about next year!

My highlight was on Tuesday when I helped Lynn teach the Bible adventure. The Bible lesson was actually a new mini-play each night. Though she did the lion's share of the teaching (and memorizing lines), she did have helpes each night. So Tuesday night I got to play Lazarus (Jesus is our life, Viva!) I knew they had Bible costumes here at the building, so I didn’t think much about it. Right before we went on, Lynn told me that I shouldn’t wear my tennis shoes. Well, I don’t own sandals and I wasn’t going to borrow any. I insisted that the kids weren’t going to notice. But right in the middle of our first session, one of the little darlings yelled out, “Hey, if he is Lazarus, why is he wearing tennis shoes?” I wonder if Sir Lawrence Oliver ever had that problem!

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make VBS a success. We are looking forward to next year. I think we are also thankful that it is next year and not next month!

If We Are the Body

If there has ever been a better album than Casting Crowns self-titled debut album, I don’t know what it would be. Some of my favorite songs ever are on that album. And I’ve been playing it a lot this week because I’m using one of the songs in my sermon Sunday (reading the lyrics, not singing it!). One of the songs on the album gently chastises the church for accepting an identity that is less than that of the body of Christ. The song is entitled “If We Are the Body.”

It's crowded in worship todayAs she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body-- Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing-- Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body-- Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way. There is a way.

A traveler is far away from home He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

A bridge that is sung before repeating the chorus says, “Jesus paid much too high a price, for us to pick and choose who should come, and we are the Body of Christ.” Has the church been much too apt to “pick and choose who should come?” Are we more about “me and my friends” than we are reaching out and including others? The song hits the nail on the head, doesn’t it? If we are the body, then why don’t we look more like Jesus? Why aren't our arms reaching, hands healing and words teaching?

Cold Case... Closed?

It would appear that the nation’s most famous "cold case" is finally on the way to being solved. John Mark Karr, a 41 year old school teacher, was arrested yesterday in Thailand and confessed to the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey, one of the most high profile cases in memory. He has confessed to the crime, saying that he killed the girl "accidently" during a kidnap attempt.

So maybe the “umbrella of suspicion” that had been over JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, has finally now been lifted. They had always said that they would be proven innocent and that their daughter's killer would be caught. Sadly, Patsy Ramsey did not live to see it; she died earlier this year from ovarian cancer. William Gladstone once said, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” But sometimes justice delayed is the only justice there is.

Surely Jezebel thought that justice delayed meant that justice was denied... and that she had gotten away with murder. Queen Jezebel orchestrated the murder of the righteous Naboth so that Ahab could have a new garden. Elijah confronted the two and pronounced God's judgment on the wicked Ahab and Jezebel (see 1 Kings 21). But nothing happened. Well, Ahab was killed in battle and the dogs licked up his blood—that is something. But Jezebel remained alive as the power behind the throne for two other kings for twenty years. What did elijah know? As it turns out, plenty. Justice had been delayed… not denied. 2 Kings 9 tells of the rise of King Jehu and the ignoble demise of Jezebel in a most un-queenly way. No one was sorry to see her go, especially not the dogs who had dinner on her (2 King 9:35-36). Justice had been served.

God is in control. Even during times when things look completely out of control, God reigns. We struggle with his methods and timetable, but we can have faith that God is in control. Larry King interviewed the Ramsey’s along with their chief accuser, Boulder police detective Steve Thomas in 2000, when most people still saw the Ramsey's as the chief suspects. At one point in the interview, Patsy says this—

God knows who killed JonBenet Ramsey. Steve Thomas does not know, Patsy Ramsey does not know, and John Ramsey does not know. God knows, and the truth is going to prevail.

And God does know. Now maybe we will know as well. The TV show Cold Case always ends with the poignant and surreal scene of the victim watching as the killer is carried away in slow motion with some haunting tune playing in the background. I can imagine that scene being played out for JonBenet, except this time she’s there in the arms of her mother. Maybe we will see justice done. But then, justice was always going to be done-- it had been in higher court all along.

The Big Stick

We spent a very long day Saturday taking a little cruise-- and I’m not talking about tooling around the harbor on some dinky old party boat. we were able to go on the Friends and Family Day cruise aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. Randy and Better Tanner invited us and served as our hosts and tour guide. God blessed us with perfect weather, and the Navy treated us to a great show.

The church at Denbigh has always had a high Navy presence, but this is the first time in our 26 years here that I’ve been on board a ship. And in case you haven’t seen one of these things up close, it is REALLY big! And I think we walked up and down and around most of it! Randy spent two tours aboard the Teddy Roosevelt and just got off her sister ship the Carl Vincent. So he knew the boat really well… and made sure we saw just about every square inch of it (except the parts where nice young men with guns suggested that we not go). By the way, trying to keep up with Randy up stairs and down passageways is a great way to get your exercise… or have a heart attack!

The highlight of the day was an air show. We saw a F18-Hornet land (after several touch-and-goes) and take off. Several did bombing runs and a mock dog fight. And we heard one of the last sonic booms that will ever be made by a F14-Tomcat. The Tomcats are being retired to the desert; this last cruise by the Roosevelt was their last hurrah. If you want to see a Tomcat from now on, you’ll have to rent Top Gun.

I appreciate Randy and Betty taking us on the cruise—I learned a lot. I have always had a great deal of respect for the men and women who serve and defend our country in our armed forces. But I’m sure that I have taken them for granted as well. It was good to get this up-close-and-real reminder of some of what goes into defending our freedom.

This Is For All the Lonely People

An article on CNN.com suggests that there is an epidemic sweeping our country. This ailment affects people in all walks of live and social strata from “nursing homes and vibrant college dorms, in crowded cities and spread-out suburbs.” In often goes by such designations as social isolation or disconnectedness. This epidemic is that of loneliness. That is not to say that loneliness is a new problem, but it is a rising problem given the increase in one-person households and the shrinkage of our circle of intimate friends.

We may think that we are connected as never before— we have cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, and blogs (read through all the replies to my blog recently and you see why I’m writing about loneliness). Even though we have the technology of connectedness in place, we are more isolated and separated than we have ever been.

The article suggests several reasons for this. Time: we are busier and more programmed than ever before, and intimacy and friendship take time. Mid-Life Singles: Divorce has created more single middle-aged people than we’ve ever seen before. Shrinking Circles: One study shows that the average American today has 2 people with whom they can confide on important matters; in 1985, that number was 3. And 25% of Americans have no one with whom they can confide. This all makes me think of the old song by the group America--

This is for all the lonely people,
Thinking that life has passed them by
Don't give up until you drink from the silver cup
And ride that highway in the sky

God designed church to be a one-another fellowship in which we share the ups and downs of life as we encourage, support and hold each other accountable on our trip to heaven. The language of scripture for the church is not institutional but familial and communal. We are a family. We are a community. We need to do better are offering support and encouragement to those who desperately need it. God today is pointing to his church and saying, “This is for all the lonely people…”

A Wild, Heroic Ride

Charles Edward Ives is considered as one of the first American classical composers of international significance. He was not a widely known musician during his life, but he was a very successful in the insurance business. He was once asked how he could justify selling insurance instead of pursuing his art full time, “If one has a nice wife and some nice children, how can he let the children starve on his dissonances?” Eventually Ives would be regarded as an American original, combining American folk music with the classics.

Darrryl Tippens tells of Ives being with his father when they heard a stone mason singing church music while he was working. He was singing enthusiastically, but “irritatingly off key.” Ives’ father told him something he would never forget—

Watch him closely and reverently and hear the music of the ages. Don’t pay too much attention to the sounds—for if you do, you may miss the music. You won’t get a wild, heroic ride to heaven on pretty little sounds.

I wonder if we ever get too wrapped up in the “pretty little sounds” and miss the “wild, heroic ride to heaven?” Can we find ourselves focused more on the traditional or the technical than on the theological? For example, I once played a 2 minute video clip from the Matthew video to make a point in the sermon. One person complained because the video had an instrumental track playing in the background, and that has to be wrong. Someone else complained that the actor playing Jesus just didn’t look Jewish enough. Somehow I think both of them missed the point… and perhaps missed coming to see God more clearly.

We can become so obsessed with the mechanics of worship that we miss the One to whom worship points. We can focus on the fact that the worship is too draggy, too spirited, too contemporary, too traditional... We can focus on "the pretty, little sounds" andf miss the “wild, heroic ride to heaven.”

My Wife and Football

To suggest that my wife has never been a football fan would be an understatement. Lynn never has liked football. Her father and brothers watched football all the time, and she decided she would never marry a football fan. God really does have a sense of humor, doesn’t He! Perhaps the greatest declaration of Lynn’s love and devotion to me was agreeing that we would watch together the second half of Arkansas play Oklahoma in the 1978 Orange Bowl… while we were on our honeymoon! Arkansas won in a 31-6 rout, and she seemed to enjoy the game… or she enjoyed me enjoying the game. With that one exception, I don’t think Lynn has ever really enjoyed football.

Until Sunday night. She thoroughly enjoyed watching the Hall of Fame preseason NFL game between the Eagles and Raiders. We watched the whole game. Even when she dozed a bit near the end, she didn’t want to miss anything and had me wake her up when the Raiders got the ball. Why? Torrence “Tank” Daniels is a rookie free-agent linebacker for the Eagles. He was a four year star at Harding University, and he is married to Tressa’s best friend Courtney. Lynn still doesn’t really care about football, but she cares about Courtney and Tank and their kids. She wasn’t really pulling for the Eagles, but we were both cheering for Tank. Oh, yeah, Tank had a great game—at least three solo tackles for losses and forced a fumble and recovered it. (The fumble was reversed by instant replay, but it was worth it to watch them replay Tank smacking the guy over and over in slow motion and then hearing John Madden ranking about how “in the old days, that’s fumble!”)

When you care about someone, then you care about what they care about. And what God cares about is His family. The church is at times is a motley crew of very different people with very different backgrounds, expectations, needs and interests. And yet we have been brought into relationship by the greatest unifying force—the blood of Jesus Christ. The wall of partition has come down, and the differences that once kept us apart no longer make a difference. We become important to one another because we are all so very important to our Father.

If Lynn can get excited about a football game, then it is a simple thing to get excited about our relationship in Christ and live together as a committed family.

A Peaceful Time

This past Saturday, Clauzelle Reynolds, my mother’s oldest sister, passed from this life to the next after 88 years in this world. She had several different health problems, but her death took us all by surprise. She was sitting at home on minute, groaned and then was with the Lord the next. One of the old prayer phrases that I remember hearing as I was growing up was “Give us a peaceful time in which to die.” Saturday was her peaceful time.

Aunt Clauzelle was school teacher—I always thought that she looked like a school teacher. I might have the families stories scrambled up a bit here, but I’m sure that she taught my uncle, and I’m pretty sure she taught my mother as well. Aunto Clauzelle baked the best yeast rolls that I have ever eaten. I have great memories of staying at her house, tagging along behind my older cousin Randy… and eating rolls. Clauzelle was wife and mother, and a gracious lady in every sense of that word. And more than anything, she was a Christian who loved the Lord and the church with every part of her being. Her family will miss her terribly.

The other day before we found out that Bob Bean’s Dad had died, someone called Lynne to see how he was doing. Lynne said, “He doing much better now” and only then explained that he died. What a great Christian sentiment, and it applies so well to my Aunt Clauzelle. She had been having some serious health troubles, but she is doing much better now.

On Wednesday Nights

We always start off our Wednesday night services with a devotional before going to class. Why? Tradition, Tradition! We started off having devotionals back in the day, and they've continued. Besides, the devotional is a grace period for people who can’t get here right at 7:00 p.m. If we started off with class, many would miss the first 15 minutes!

During our "devotional" Wednesday, I asked our folks (the ones who were there on time) what was “good” about our Wednesday Bible study. Why was it important enough that they would come? I had a PPT template ready and typed in their answers as they gave them. And they had some good answers:

• Recharge our batteries
• Fellowship: See our family
• Refocus: Middle of the week
• Encouragement and Support
• Couple hours of down time
• Learn more of God’s word
• Listen to God

All those are good reasons to drag yourself and your family out in the middle of the week for the mid-week church gathering. Simple fact of life—fewer and fewer are bothering to drag. Back in the day, we had about 50% of our Sunday morning attendance come back on Wednesday night. Now we can have as few as 50. Why? Life is much more hectic than it is; our kids lives are more programmed and busy. But don’t we still need our batteries charged, to refocus priories, to encourage and support one another, and to learn God’s word as we listen to His voice. Those reasons are still valid.

But maybe we need to rethink how we meet those needs. Like our devotional period at the beginning, are Wednesday night meetings simply a tradition that no longer meets its objective effectively? Can we do a better job of using that time and meeting those objectives?

Assignment: Do you think there is a better way to use Wednesday nights? And what is it? More small groups? More prayer focus? Ministry night? Stay home and watch Law and Order? What do you think?

What Do We Expect?

Maggie, our 10 year old (or so) mix-breed pound puppy, reminded me the other night of something important about our worship and Bible study. It seems that the new joy in Maggie’s life is chasing cicadas. Cicadas are those strange insects that live as larvae in the ground for 17 years and then emerge into mature adults only to die within a month. That has always seemed anticlimactic somehow. We used to call them “locusts” when I was a kid, and that caused problems for me in Sunday school. If locusts emerge only every 17 years and John the Baptist ate locusts, then he must have gotten powerfully hungry between meals! Of course, John ate grasshopper-locusts and not cicada-locusts, so his meals were much more regular… if not more tasty.

Last week as we were walking Maggie one evening, a cicada in its death-throes skittered across the road. Maggie gave chase, and she completely wore herself out chasing the thing all over the street. I am not sure that the bug enjoyed the game that much, but Maggie had a grand old time. Every night for the last two weeks, Maggie has gone to that same spot on the street checking out every dark spot, leaf or stick, looking for another cicada to play with. She has only found one more, but every night she insists on finding the spot where she had such sun. Her expectation of meeting the cicada makes her enjoy her walks even more.

Have you ever been to a worship service where your spirits were lifted and you seemed to just experience the presence of God in a powerful way? Have you ever been in a Bible class on Wednesday night or Sunday morning where things just clicked and it seemed the mind of God was opened to you in an especially poignant way? No, that doesn’t happen often, but surely they do happen. This special awareness of God happens when our life situation, emotional focus, intellectual readiness and our spiritual need all converge at one time and place. That doesn’t happen every week; in fact, it can’t happen every week. The mundane and normal is what makes the special really special, right?

But maybe what is lacking in our worship and study experience is an expectation and excitement. Maggie knows where she found the cicada, and every time she goes there, she has an eager expectation and excitement. This is the place! Maybe that is what we lack in our worship—the eager excited expectation that God is the time and place where we come before God together. Sure, we can experience His presence in all places because He is everywhere. Sure, we don’t experience Him in the same way every week that we worship or study together. But is that because some weeks God isn’t here? Or is it because some weeks we really don’t come seeking or expecting Him? When we show up for worship or Bible study with an excited expectation, then it is much more likely that we will find God. And even if we don’t have one of those weeks where we see God powerfully in worship or study, our expectation will make the whole experience more meaningful. Just ask Maggie.

Who Gets the Credit?

Today it’s a history lesson and a personal reflection. But first the history lesson... because we all love history.

On March 11, 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines under orders from President Roosevelt. It was inevitable that the Philippines would fall to Japan, and MacArthur left for Australia, making his famous promise “I shall return.” On April 10, 1942, US forces in the Philippines surrendered to Japanese forces after bloody battles at Bataan and Corregidor. Some 70,000 troops were forced to march almost 100 miles to a prison camp in what has come to called “The Bataan Death March.” The men were beaten and tortured along this forced-march, and about 10,000 died along the way. Many more would die in the prison and labor camps that they were forced to endure; more than half would not survive the war.

In October of 1944, General MacArthur kept his promise and returned to Philippines. Japanese control of the Pacific was being broken island by island, and the Philippines were finally liberated. And now those hungry and abused POW’s would be able to leave that wretched prison camp and experience freedom. MacArthur had returned.

About 20 years ago, I was surprised to learn that one of our members (now deceased) had survived the Bataan Death March. For years he never discussed it, but then one night after church Howard told a small group of us his story. And while he did not go into details, he told us enough to get the idea. Howard survived the camps because he was a clerk typist, and the Japanese always had lists for him to type. Once he was pulled off one of the “Hell Ships” that carried doomed prisoners to labor camps in Japan, Korea and Manchuria because he convinced them they needed another list.

I was surprised that Howard had no great love for Gen. MacArthur, the liberator of the Philippines. Why? It seems that while the POW’s were given food, supplies and medial attention, they were prevented from leaving the camp for another three nights. Why? Howard said that MacArthur would not let them leave the camp until he got there to be photographed in person at the liberation. MacArthur’s ego and desire to get the credit was more important (at least for three nights) than the men who had suffered through the horrible experience.

I wonder if we can be too interested sometimes in who gets the credit. I remember someone getting pretty wrapped around the axle when we started working with DUCO and PORT because these benevolent efforts did not allow our church to personally get the credit for these good deeds. It seems Jesus warned about us about worrying about “getting the credit.” He said that when giving, “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matt 6:1-4). Paul wasn’t concerned that he wasn’t getting credit for missionary success. If others planted churches to further their own personal reputation while Paul was in prison, he would rejoice because Christ was preached— even if the men who did it had selfish motives (Phil 1:18). It was Harry Truman who said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”