God Lives Among Us

At the end of Numbers (my Bible reading today), the Lord is giving Moses detailed instructions for the establishment of cities of refuge (“cities of safety” in the NCV). Murderers are to be executed by the avenger of blood, a close relative of the person killed. The cities of refuge were set up as a place of safety for those who killed someone accidentally to go and receive a fair trial. A clear distinction was made between accidental homicide and intentional homicide-- the intentional murderer was to be executed; the accidental killer was to be allowed to live safely in the city of refuge until the death of the High Priest. The taking of human life was so serious that even accidental killings had consequences; living in a city of refuge was far better than being killed by the avenger of blood, but it did tend to disrupt one's life.

I am not intending to launch into a death penalty debate. I believe that the death penalty is fair and just when it is applied fairly and justly. The high percentage of non-white and poor men and women on death row does suggest that it has not been applied fairly and justly in our system of law. Often the imposition of the death penalty is little more a commentary on the quality of one's legal representation than it is a statement of justice. On the other hand, some acts are so heinous and hideous that not having the option of death penalty is heinous and hideous. I can’t imagine justice for Jessica Lunsford who was abducted, abused over three days, wrapped in a trash bag and buried alive to slowly suffocate without the possibility of a death penalty. But then I wonder if death would have been imposed had Jessica's killer been a young rich guy in a mansion rather than a scruffy drifter in a trailer park.

God’s instruction to Moses concerning the death penalty specifically forbade money from perverting justice. In Numbers 35:31-32, God says,

“Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death. Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.”

A person’s money was not to buy them justice. The murder was not to be able to verdict in a trial at the City of Refuge; they were not to be able to pay money and buy themselves free from a death sentence. Justice was to be served. The next verse suggests that justice was impossible without the taking of the life of the murderer (Numbers 35:33).

“Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Modern minds reason that the death penalty is barbaric and does not value human life. The opposite seems true here. God so values life and so abhors murder that nothing short of the death penalty is justice. The land is defiled by murder, and in a very Old Testament way, it requires blood to cleanse it.

The next verse is an important one, “Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.” The moral choices that we make are made even more important by the fact that God lives among us. The moral choices that you and I make are never made in a vacuum; God lives with us and among us. That was important for Israel to remember as they made decisions on matters about justice. It is important for us to remember every day as we decide how we will treat other people, what language we will use, and whether or not we will tell convenient lies rather than difficult truths.

I've Had Enough

I've had enough! I’ve taken it this long and I’m not taking it any longer! So I’m going to do something about it... Monday. For months now I have this interesting little "glitch" in my computer that causes it to hiccup ever so often... and getting oftener. The keyboard freezes, the cursor freezes, the screen freezes—for about 3 seconds. It only seemed to happen in PowerPoint, so I uninstalled and reinstalled that a couple of times. Now it happens in Word and Explorer and Logos (my Bible program), and it happens more frequently. I’ve run all the anti-virus and spyware programs, but my little glitch is still there. This sounds like a little problem and in the grand scheme of things, I guess it is. But it has moved from an anomaly to an irritant to a major annoyance. So Monday I’ll drag out the operating system CD and do a format reinstall. So that probably means that by Tuesday morning, I won’t have my little glitch—I’ll have several great big ones. But enough is enough.

Angelynn has been home all week for her spring break. It’s been fun having here around, and it is great that she chooses to spend her week off with Mom and Dad instead of Ft. Lauderdale or someplace. It’s probably good that she doesn’t have any money and doesn’t have to make that choice. Her project today is to get our and nail down a job for the summer (so she’ll have enough money so she can choose where to go next spring break). Anyway, if you know of any summer jobs, give Angelynn a call.

The first day of the NCAA tournament turned out to be pretty boring. The only upset (and one of few close games) of the day was VCU knocking off Duke… and Duke has been pretty ordinary all year. Hopefully it will pick up a bit today with a few upsets. In case anyone is interested, I have Florida, UCLA, North Carolina and Memphis in the Final Four… which means that now none of them have a shot at getting there.

Truth in Exile?

I am in the middle of reading the political-legal thriller Exile by Richard North Patterson. The novel tells the story of Jewish-American lawyer David Wolfe who is called on to defend Hana Arif, a Palestinian professor accused of the assassination of an Israeli prime-minister visiting in San Francisco. To defend his client, Wolfe goes to Israel where he interviews people from all sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, those horribly impacted by a culture of hate and violence. Patterson does a marvelous job variously arguing from Israeli and Palestinian perspectives, convincing and then unconvincing the reader of who is really to blame for the continued violence in a part of the world where nothing is simple and no side is blameless.

At one point in the book, one of Wolfe’s guides in Israel explains that in Israel, truth always has four sides. There is BIBLICAL truth, that which is revealed by God through His holy book, but that truth is always toward the one reading the book-- Jews see God’s promise of Canaan as justifying the Israeli state while Muslims see Ishmael, not Isaac, as Abraham’s favored son. There is also ARCHEOLOGICAL truth, the record left in the dust at hundreds of holy sights across the region. But again, few can agree on exactly what those truths mean. Then there is HISTORICAL truth, the stories and legends of the past handed down from generation to generation, nuanced and transformed in the telling by the teller. Finally, there is POLITICAL truth, what leaders can do with the other three truths to exert power and get their way.

I am committed to God’s truth. For me, that truth is wrapped up in the person and teaching of Jesus Christ, and the New Testament is God’s record of Jesus life and the beginning of His church. I want to be committed to living the life of His disciple and being a part of that church described in the Bible. But I need to understand that while truth is truth, some of the ways that I perceive and practice truth have been impacted by my culture, background and history. Perhaps some of the wrangling and division within Christendom have come from the same kind of sectarian blindness that makes peace in the Middle East impossible. Maybe we can learn better to be absolutely committed to truth as we see it… understanding that the “as I see it” part can be quite flawed at times. As Paul says, "Let God be true, and every man a liar." (Rom. 3:4)

If There's More Daylight, Why Am I So Tired?

I’m having a hard time getting going this morning. I’m always exhausted on Monday mornings—that’s why Monday is my designated day off. So why am I here at the building? Well, if I’m going to get nothing done, I might as well not get it done here! Anyway, the coffee is good. It has been partcularly hard to get going today. I did three daily Bible readings... or rather read the same one three times because I kept dozing off!

I ran across this news article and then remembered why I am so tired today. It’s that hour we lost to Daylight Savings Time!

Clocks spring forward Saturday night and we lose an hour of our weekend. Many of us will take that hour from God. Churches say the first Sunday of Daylight Saving Time is one of the worst for attendance. "When we lose the hour, attendance drops off" by about 15 percent, said Bill Agee, a pastor at Hope Community Church in Springfield, Mo. And his church is not unique. Churches across the country report empty seats and late arrivals.

The article goes on to describe some things some churches do to respond—like serving coffee and donuts. One church even changes its service times by thirty minutes! Well, we didn’t do anything differently… and we were down about 20 percent!

What are the chances that our attendance figures will be up 20% this fall when Daylight Savings Time ends?

Elephant in the Pew

I recently ran across the following story. I was going to use it in my sermon Sunday, but ran out of room. (Most of my blogs is stuff that gets voted out before it makes it to the sermon).

As children’s pastor, I listened as a fourth-grade Sunday school teacher shared a concern. Completing a quarter’s lessons on the Ten Commandments, he had asked the kids, "What is the hardest Commandment for you to keep?" Most of them responded, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." We couldn’t understand why fourth graders would find that command such a problem until a mother quizzed her son on what he thought committing adultery meant. Without blinking, the boy replied, "Thou shalt not sass back to adults."

Adult-ery. Talking back to adults. That makes sense, right? Maybe we misunderstand the meaning of adultery too. We want to see adultery as only the act of marital unfaithfulness, but Jesus insists that we understand that unfaithfulness begins in our hearts and minds. To give into lust is to already be unfaithful—to our spouse (or our future spouse) and to our God. Thus to give ourselves to lust is to already commit adultery. But then, that is Sunday’s sermon.

When it comes to lust, we live in a time like no other. While pornography has always existed (witness the ruins of Pompeii), it has never been as accessible. People who would never be caught dead in an adult theater or bookstore can turn on their computer and find anything they can imagine… and a few things they can’t. The web makes pornography highly accessible and practically anonymous. It is a trap that waits to spring shut every time we log onto the web. Porn is not just a problem for “dirty old men in the dark eating salty peanuts with no teeth” (an old Bill Cosby line). At one national Promise Keepers rally, 50% of the men surveyed admitted to viewing porn in the week before the event!

Take the time to view this webcast done by the folks at safefamilies.org. In fact, spend some time on their site. If you don’t already use a filter to block porn sites, they offer one free of charge. In the presentation, they refer to online porn as "an elephant in the pew." It is a big problem that we just want to ignore. Maybe its time to stop ignoring it.

Taking the Grumble Tumble

In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron begin to grumble against Moses. well, everyone else had been doing it, so now they take a turn. They are mad about his marriage to a Cushite woman; they are mad because Moses is getting the credit for leading Israel. Most of all, they are just mad... so they grumble and complain. No big deal, right? We all complain, right? Well, their grumbling was evidently a very big deal for God! Miriam was struck with leprosy, and she had to spend some time outside the camp. And when all Israel picked up this grumbling, it led to their downfall. Psalm 106:25-26 puts it like this—

25 They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the desert.

Grumbling and complaining were not just slips of the lip. They betrayed the negative attitude and spiritual deficits that eventually kept Israel from following God. That is why God is so against grumbling and complaining.

Giving voice to our negative thoughts is something that we do all too naturally and without a lot of thought. But God hears our grumbling, and He seems to take it very seriously. Listen to some New Testament texts—

• 1 Corinthians 10:10- And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
  
• Philippians 2:14-15- Do everything without complaining or arguing, that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
  
• James 5:9- Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
  
• 1 Peter 4:9- Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

A negative, grumbling, complaining and fault-finding attitude is not simply a problem of temperament. It is a sin that will keep us from pleasing God.

Without Natural Affection

My sermon Sunday mentioned some statistics on the prevalence of domestic violence in our country... and even in our churches. The front page of the CNN news page had two stories this morning that provide tragic illustrations on just how willing enraged parents will go to use their children as weapons to hurt people that they once loved.

• Chytoria Graham was arrested for using her 4-week-old son as a club to attack her boyfriend, fracturing the infant's skull. She admitted that she grabbed her son Jarron by his feet and swung him like a baseball bat. The child was seriously injured.

• Beth Johnson got a phone call from her ex-husband Monday saying, “I've got her, and you're not going to get her." In the background she could her daughter Emily (pictured) screaming “Mommy, come get me, come get me.” Minutes later, Eric Johnson intentionally crashed his rented single-engine plane into his ex-wife’s mother’s home in southern Indiana, killing both himself and his 8-year-old daughter.

Paul says that one of the characteristics of the pagan world of his day (Rom 1:31) and of the world in “the last days” (1 Tim 3:3) was that it was “heartless.” The KJV renders the word “without natural affection.” One lexicon defies this Greek word astorgos ( used only in these two texts) as “hard-hearted toward kindred.” The word comes from storge or “family affection.” Paul description of our “last days world” is of people who are “lovers of themselves” and “lovers of money,” (1 Tim 3:1), but who have no natural love for their own families. Like people who are willing to kill and maim their own kids in order to hurt other people… other people that they should also love.

Hold your kids a little closer today. Maybe Christians can show such natural affection for our families that we can chase away some of the darkness.

Whoever Is Not Against Us

The New Testament part of my Bible reading this morning was Mark 9, which records an intriging little story that gives us cause to pause. We could call this “The Strange Case of the Unknown Exorcist.” It follows two arguments involving the apostles earlier in the chapter.

• First, they argued over their failure to cast out a demon (9:14-16). They tried and failed to heal a demon-possessed boy, and they were arguing with the teachers of the law in front of a large crowd when Jesus joined them.
  
• Second, they then argued over who was greatest among them (9:33-34). They were embarrassed to admit to Jesus what they argued over, but He knew. He assures them that true greatness in the kingdom of God is found in service to others, not in defending one’s status as compared to others.

This is the backdrop against which we understand the story of the unknown exorcist in Mark 9:38-41. The apostles saw one driving out demons in Jesus’ name, and they were upset and immediately made him stop. Why? “He is not one of us.” If they were being completely honest, they may have added, “… and he is successfully casting out demons which we just failed to do!” The apostles are guarding their turf here just as surely as the Pharisees guarded theirs elsewhere in the gospel story. They don’t want anyone not of their group doing things like this in Jesus’ name. Not only does Jesus rebuke them, but he adds the surprising words, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

The history of the church is littered with petty divisions and turf wars among the followers of Jesus. From the first century onward, we have divided into in-groups and out-groups. These divisions have at times been over real doctrinal differences, but rarely have these involved the central core issues of the Christian faith. Like the apostles, we argue and exclude others who would do things in Jesus' name. Maybe it’s time to have faith that God knows who are His own. Maybe it’s time to recognize that God can accomplish His work through whomever He chooses. He may have people on such a different trajectory than are we that we may not be able to fully endorse or join with them directly. That’s OK. “Do not stop him… whoever is not against us is for us.”

Sins of Our Fathers

Last week, the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously express their “profound regret” for Virginia's participation in the practice of slavery. It could be argued that Virginia played a unique role in that terrible institution as the first Africans to be forcibly settled in America (probably as forced indentured servants) came to the Virginia colony in 1619. The first plantations built on slave labor were in Virginia, the most celebrated leaders of the Confederacy were Virginians, and the capital of the Confederacy was in Virginia.

So Virgina became the first state to formally apologize for slavery (Missouri is considering a similar action). This resolution doesn’t really do anything legally, but it was intended to send an important symbolic message. Slavery was the single most evil institution in our nation’s history, and its legacy continues to be a source of pain and evil today. Maybe this legislative “sorry about that” is too little and too late, but it seems that Virginia has officially and institutionally admitted both that slavery was wrong and that the Commonwealth was a big part of the problem.

Some feel that such an apology is unnecessary and wrong-headed. No one now in Virginia was personally guilty of slavery. Sure, this little problem, of racism and prejudice remains, and these must be dealt with-- but how can one repent of something of which one is not personally guilty? Well, evidently that is possible. In Leviticus 26:40, Moses is looking forward to a time when Israel would turn from God and then turn back to God. Notice the language here—

"But at last my people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for betraying me and being hostile toward me." (NLT)

It seems that God expected Israel to confess the sins of their fathers. They did not inherit the personal guilt of a previous generations that had turned again God, but they did become heir to that tradition of rebellion. Their first step back to God was to acknowledge that the sin of their fathers was indeed sin. Then they could address the legacy of that rebellion.

I am ashamed that my state and my country condoned and participated in slavery so long ago. (But then, was it all that long ago? When I was born in 1956, there were people still living who had been born slaves!). Maybe an important step in moving to racial harmony is to admit that the system that brought Africans to this country and exploited them economically was blatantly and patently evil. Maybe until we acknowledge the sins of our fathers we are not completely open to new life in the present.

This, That and the Other

If you want to read a longer treatment on “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” the subject raised by my blog yesterday, see this article by scholar Ben Witherinton.

Tonight is the dry run of our new WOW program (“Worship on Wednesday”) that begins for real on March 7. We were calling it “Wednesday Night Live,” but then Roger came up with WOW, so we thought we’d better use that moniker. You know how sensitive Roger is about stuff like that! This is a new focus for our children where we are putting on a mini-VBS every Wednesday night—high-energy praise and worship, large group teaching and drama, small group activities and crafts, and prayer time. Bill and Melissa Foster are heading this effort, but it will take a lot of volunteers. Contact them to find out how you can help. For the adults, we will have a time focusing on marriage and relationships through the Jerry and Lynn Jones DVD series "Marriage Matters." That will start March 7 as well.

My scripture reading this morning included this little jewel from Proverbs, “If you talk a lot, you are sure to sin; if you are wise, you will keep quiet” (Prov. 10:19, NCV). The NLT rendering is less diplomatic, “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.” I wonder if this applies to blog posts?

Our little blog community at TucksDenbighBlog is not large enough to worry about formal rules of response. Trivia quote from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, “Rules? There ain’t no rules in a knife fight!” What’s my point? No point, I just like that quote! Our only informal rule for the blog is the Golden Rule. Sometimes one may need to blow off steam, and firing off a post can be therapeutic. But then that might not be such good therapy for those of us reading. After all, something under 10,000 people read this blog each day! Let’s have more responses, more discussion, more great posts. But let's keep them golden.

The Lost Tomb of Jesus

In 1980 a construction crew in the Jerusalem chanced upon a first-century tomb containing ten ossuaries or bone boxes. Some of these were inscribed with names like Jesus, Maria, Mariamene, Matthew; Judas, son of Jesus; and Jose, names that were very common in first century name. James Cameron, who directed The Titanic, has produced the documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" to air on the Discovery Channel that suggests that this represents the family tomb of Jesus. The ossuary discovered in Jerusalem contained the bones of Jesus, thus invalidating the Christian affirmation that “He is risen!”

The “proof” in this much-hyped film seems much more like debatable conjecture and supposition. The case largely revolves around the only uncommon name found on the bone boxes, that of Mariamene. It is suggested that some later Christians may have used that name for Mary Magdalene, and this links the more other common names. Cameron says, "If you found a John, a Paul and a George, you're not going to leap to any conclusions... unless you found a Ringo." Of course, there is no evidence that anyone called Mary Magdalene Mariamene at the time of her death. And there is no evidence that connects Mary Magdalene to the family of Jesus… unless you count The Da Vinci Code. DNA tests have supposedly confirmed that the remains in the “Jesus” and “Mariamene” ossuaries were not related on their mother's sides. Therefore, if this was a family tomb, and if the two aren’t related on their Father’s side, then the two "would most likely have been husband and wife."

The whole thing is made of smoke-and-mirror suppositions big enough to sink the Titanic. One scholar put it, “There were too many assumptions being claimed as discoveries, and that they were trying to connect dots that didn't belong together.” Amos Kloner was the first archeologist to examine the site, and he dismisses the whole proposition, "They just want to get money for it. It's a joke. It was an ordinary middleclass Jerusalem burial cave. The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time." But Cameron will do this with such movie magic that there will be many people who may be convinced.... especially those who want to be convinced.

If you want more information on the historical reliability of the sources on the life of Jesus, then let me invite to be with us on May 18-20 as Dr. Tommy South, Professor of New Testament at Virginia Commonwealth University, is with us to discuses the topic “What Can we Know About Jesus?” Make plans now to be here for this Friday-Sunday Seminar.

Who Are Your Paparazzi?

I’m sure most of us have had just about as much of Britney Spears news as we can stand… and then some. It seems that every newspaper, news cast, and news webpage has to chronicle the latest proof that the girl has completely lost it... if she ever had it. But then, most of us Regular Joes can't imagine living your entire life in front of paparazzi there to chronicle every false step and bad haircut. Maybe that twists you after awhile. I would think that most of us would be a bit more careful about what we said and did in front of people there waiting for us to mess up. But then, maybe not.

Jesus lived his entire life in the glare of what amounted to first century paparazzi. From the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus was followed by large crowds intent on his every move. And many onlookers were there waiting for Him to mess up. Notice the following texts--

• Mark 3:2- Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.
• Luke 6:7- The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.
• Luke 14:1- One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
• Luke 20:20- Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.

Jesus’ enemies were there with notepads at the ready waiting to catch Him in something that they could use to discredit or accuse Him. Of course, that never happened. In the end, they had resort to false witnesses and twisted testimony (Matt 26:59-60).

I wonder how many of us have secret paparatzzi watching us-- co-workers, friends, neighbors, family members. They have heard our Christian profession, and they watch us waiting to see how we are going to live our faith. It may not be fair, but they will see any flaw and failure as proof that our faith doesn’t work. I had a neighbor come over to watch me re-roofing my storage shed. I finally asked him why he was there, and he said, “Oh nothing really; I’m just waiting to hear what you will say when you hit your thumb!” He was being funny; some people are deadly seriously.

None of us can ever be perfect, but we can be consistent. Perhaps the greatest witness we can give to the truthfulness of our faith is now consistently we live it out before the paparazzi of the world. Peter says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).

Fat Tuesday

Today is Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday and the traditional beginning of the season of Lent. In some places, Today is known as as “Pancake Day.” Lent is a traditional time for liturgical fasting when only “plain foods” are to be eaten. Fancy foods like eggs, milk and sugar are to be removed from the house, so what better way to do that than to eat a bunch of pancakes the day before? In fact, Mardi Gras with all its excesses began as a way to prepare for Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season which culminates in Good Friday and Easter Sunday—the death and resurrection of Jesus. Have you ever gorged yourself a bit the day before you were to start a diet? Well, that was the idea behind Mardi Gras, except that most people don’t do Lent after Fat Tuesday. They have the big party, but they never fast and focus on what led up to the death and resurrection of Jesus

Another name for today is “Shrove Tuesday.” Shrove is the past tense of “shrive,” which means confessing and doing penance for past sins. Lent was the time to reflect on sin and the price Jesus paid, and Shrove Tuesday began that holy period. Once again, the tradition was largely maintained by folks who remember the party and forgot to focus on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Face it, having a big party is much more fun that a period of fasting and self-deprivation.

Do we live like we expect Fat Tuesday without Ash Wednesday? Not that any of us would think about doing Mardi Gras. But do we live like we want the forgiveness of Christ without the self-sacrifice of discipleship? At the center of Christianity is a cross, and the call of discipleship is to make the cross of Jesus our cross. “And he said to them all, “Anyone who wants to come with me must forget self, take up their cross every day, and follow me” (Luke 9:23, NLT). It’s one thing to enjoy the pancakes; it’s another thing to follow Jesus in the way of the cross!

Choosy Mothers Choose Jiff

I’m feeling a little bit queasy this morning. I have been feeling a bit queasy since yesterday afternoon when I found that the lot number on our big jar of Peter Pan peanut butter began “2111.” There has been an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened 300 people in 39 states, and that outbreak has been traced to certain batches of peanut butter manufactured by ConAgra Foods under the brands “Peter Pan” and “Great Value,” Wal-Mart’s house brand. All infected peanut butter has a lot number that begins “2111,” which is exactly the lot number of the jar of Peter Pan in our pantry-- the half-eaten jar in our pantry.

So I'm feeling a little queasy this morning. Of course, what really makes me queasy is to think that we’ve been paying for Peter Pan all these years when it comes from the same place as Wal-Mart’s house brand!

I really do feel a little sich this morning. Of course, I just did some research salmonella, a group of bacteria that cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps lasting from 4-7 days and beginning 12 to 72 hours after infection. People infected usually recover without seeking treatment, although sometimes hospitalization for dehydration and extreme diarrhea. The elderly and infants are particularly at risk for the more extreme complications. People sometimes die from this bug, but there have been no deaths linked to this latest outbreak. But I am feeling a little bit queasy.


But I think this is just the power of suggestion. We do tend to find what it is that for which we are looking. When we look at our day, and all that we see are the endless appointments, the tasks that need to be done, co-workers who are really pulling their weight, and a boss making with unreasonable demands—then that may be all we see. But if we are looking for God breaking into our day with little graces and unexpected blessings, then that is just what we might see. We tend to find what we are looking for, don’t we? The point is to train ourselves to look for God and His mercies in the ordinary rush of ordinary life.

Don't Be a Wise Guy

An old Dennis the Menace cartoon has Dennis come from school one day and tell his mother that the teacher said that he was a wise guy. His mother was a bit upset by that, and so she called the teacher. As it turns out, the class was doing a nativity play for Christmas, and Dennis had been selected to play one of the wise men. (Nativity play in school? I told you it was an OLD cartoon!). The point was that Dennis did not appreciate the difference between being a wise man and a wise guy.

Sometimes we don't appreciate the difference, either. Sometimes we think that we know some things, and we think that our knowledge this makes us wise. But sometimes that so-called "knowledge" just makes us a wise guy (or gal). Nothings tends to make us more arrogant than thinking that we get it. Everyone else doesn’t get it, but we get it. To the Corinthians who were entrenched on opposite sides of the old foods-offered-to-idols debate, Paul gives this warning about what they think they know (1 Corinthians 8:1-3)--

1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. 2 Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But the man who loves God is known by God.

Knowledge (either real or imagined) has a tendency to puff us up and make us proud. Paul in effect says, "It's not WHAT you know but WHO you know-- or rather, who knows you!” Paul knows that knowledge is important, but he also knows that it is love that truly builds us up.

My daily bible reading from Proverbs reminds me of something that is easy to forget. No matter now much we think we know, we should be a wise guy--

12 “I am wisdom, and I have good judgment. I also have knowledge and good sense.
13 If you respect the Lord, you will also hate evil. I hate pride and bragging, evil ways and lies. (Proverbs 8:12-13, NCV)

The warning here is that when we really possess knowledge and wisdom, then will will hate pride and arrogance. We will especially hate them in ourselves. True knowledge never leads us to arrogantly think we know all there is to know. No, true knowledge leads us to know God... and that knowledge always drives us to our knees in humility.

So… don't we a wise guy!

Desperate Faith

The only thing more frustrating than trying to console the inconsolable is BEING the inconsolable. We stand at the bedside of one losing their fight with cancer. Or we sit with a husband or wife who has tried to keep their marriage together only to receive the final papers in the mail. Or we stand beside a family numb with grief at the edge of a freshly dug grave. We think that there should be words to say, but the words never seem to come.

Or sometimes the words are spoken by the sufferer. We hear them saying things like, "Where was God when this was happening?" Or maybe, "Why would he allow such a thing to happen?" Or sometimes even "Why did God turn against me like this?" We are made uncomfortable when we hear words like these from the lips of the faithful. And we try to shush the sufferer, "You don't really mean that." Yes they do; they mean precisely that!

And it is OK. These aren't intellectual questions seeking factual answers; they are the desperate cries of a heart that is breaking. This is precisely the cry of David in Psalm 22:1-2.

1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

In his struggle and suffering, David feels that God has turned against him. He groans and God ignores him; he cries out, and God remains silent. Why has God forsaken him? Well the answer is, "God hasn't." God will act to revive and restore him. David is confident of that fact, and he gives God a “praise in prospect” in Psalm 22:22-23

22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

He knows that he will again praise God, but right now David FEELS forsaken. And he expresses his true feelings to God without veneer or varnish. And he will not be shushed. God knows His heart, so there is no need for him to pretty up his words. He simply shares his feelings with God, and cries our for God to help.

The ability to be honest to God despite frustration and pain is called "faith." We like David's calm and serene faith expressed in Psalm 23, "Though I walk through valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Now that is real faith! Is it an accident that Psalm 23 follows Psalm 22. The faith of Psalm 22 is much more messy, but it is real faith as well. The heart that cries out to God in despair is a heart that cries out to God! Maybe the reason David was so faithful in expressing his praise is because he was also so honest in expressing his pain. We don't cry out to one who is not there; we don't ask for help from one who is impotent to give help.

The ultimate affirmation of David's desperate faith is that his words become the words of Jesus from the cross as he embraced our suffering and identified with us as sufferers. There will be times when our faith will turn desperate. God will seem silent; the pain and frustrations of life will seem as the arrows of the Almighty. When that happens, the only thing to do is to cry out our lament to the God. He hears and he cares... even when it feels as if He does not!

You Can't Just Jump Up

I remember Bill Cosby doing a routine years ago about what to do in a plane crash. He had decided that all you have to do if your plane is crashing is to wait until just before the plane hits the ground… and then jump up. That’s all you have to do— just jump up. Of course, that doesn’t work too well if you’re in a helicopter. But in a plane, just wait until right before it hits the ground and jump up.

I thought that was funny... because I remember having the same idea when I was a kid. Why not just jump up at the last minute? Why wouldn’t that work? Well, it wouldn’t work because you are moving at the same speed as the crashing plane. You can’t jump up fast enough or far enough, and even if you could... you would still land in the middle of a plane crash! No, its best to stay in your seat with your seatbelt securing fastened leaning over in crash position. That at least makes it easier for them to find you later!

What brought that up? My reading this morning was in Matthew 24, Matthew’s version of the text in Mark 13 we slogged through in Bible class last night. Jesus ends the chapter with a parable of a wealthy landowner who goes on a trip and leaves his servant in charge. Jesus asks what would happen if the servant goofs off the whole time the master is gone, thinking he has plenty of time to get ready? Matthew 24:48-51 (NCV) reads—

48 But suppose that evil servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ 49 and he begins to beat the other servants and eat and get drunk with others like him? 50 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. 51 Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the hypocrites, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.

What the servant was trying to do was waiting until the last minute and jumping up. Unfortunately, the master came home unexpectedly. And by that time, the servant was already falling at crash speed, and nothing can prevent him from crashing and burning.

If we are to be ready when Jesus returns, then we must stay ready all the time. We can’t live our lives as we please and wait until the last minute to get ready. We don’t know when the last minute will be. And by that time, we may already be in such a nose dive that we can’t pull out. You can’t wait until right before the crash and just jump up.

A Universal Language

One of the things that helped Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew of the Enterprise boldly go where no man had gone before was the fact that they never had a language barrier. No matter what galaxy they visited or what life form they encountered, everyone just seemed to speak English. And on those rare instances when there was a language barrier (and Spock was too busy to do a Vulcan mind-meld), they simply used their universal language decoder. Uhura flipped a switch on her console, the translator was activated, and again everyone could communicate in English.

Well, according to David in Psalm 19, there is a universal language. And all we have to do to see it is to look up--

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. (Psalm 19:1-4a, NLT)

The power of God as seen in creation speaks to all people of all time about His existence and His power. The vastness of the universe speaks of the incredible and limitless God who created it. The intricacy of its design points us to the wisdom of the One who designed it. God speaks to us of Himself in His creation, from the awesome infinitely of the galaxy to the microscopic majesty seen in a single drop of water. God shouts to us of His presence and His power in the everyday wonders of His creation. That is the universal language (Romans 1:20, NLT)

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Listen today for the voice of God in your life. That voice will be all around you, reminding You of God's presence. And let God's voice in creation drive you to listen to his voice in revelation. Only there does tell of His ultimate voice in the world of men and women-- Jesus Christ.

Nice Guy Finishes First

This morning I am basking in the afterglow of Super Bowl XLI. The Colts finally won a championship, Peyton Manning finally won a big game, the Indy defense finally stopped the run, and a dome team finally won outside in bad weather. And for the first time, an African-American coach held up the Lombardi trophy as NFL champion. And most importantly— the Peyton Manning jersey that I bought at A.J. Wright for $5.00 years ago finally turned out to be a wise investment!

There was another victory as well. Earlier in the week, the NFL notified several large churches that they were in violation of the NFL’s copyright protection by advertising showing the Super Bowl in their church building. It may have been coincidental that the churches were in Indianapolis and Chicago, the two Super Bowl cities. The prohibition was murky enough that some cancelled their parties and there was evidently an outcry... and the NFL back-pedaled faster than a Chicago corner trying to cover Marvin Harrison. They announced that it is perfectly OK for churches to show the Super Bowl as long as they keep moneychangers out of the temple—the church can’t charge admission. Click here for details.

One of the reasons originally given by the league for preventing churches from showing the game is that they did not want the NFL connected with religious messages. They feared that churches would use the Super Bowl as a platform for sharing their faith. (Where would they get an idea like that?) They did not want the reputation of the Super Bowl sullied by talking about Jesus at half-time when we should be watching something wholesome, like Prince prancing around in the rain!

Well, if they really wanted to ban God from the Super Bowl last night, they really let the wrong two teams to play in the game. Both Indianapolis’ Tony Dungy and Chicago’s Lovie Smith are dedicated Christians. When accepting the Lombardi trophy after the game, Dungy said this--

I'm proud to be the first African-American coach to win this. But again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-American but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that.

You know, nice guys aren’t supposed to finish first. But one did last night. And it looks like we can go ahead and plan next year’s Super Bowl party. And I think I’ll hold onto my Colts jersey too!

The Die Has Been Cast

I have heard the following words several times. They can be found all over the web, most often attributed to “author unknown. When there is an attempt to refer to an author, it is attributed to a young pastor in Zimbabwe (or sometimes Rwanda) who was later martyred. Whoever wrote it reminds us powerfully that discipleship is costly and difficult… and absolutely essential—

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes,
give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me… My banner will be clear!