Who Do You Smell Like?

I had to go pick up gas yesterday before I could cut the grass. I have two plastic 2 gallon gas cans, and 2-3 or three times a year I have to go fill them up. And I hate it. No matter how fast I zip to the gas station and back, the car ends up smelling like gas for several gas afterward. No, none of the gas sloshes out of the cans. Yes, I put the sealed cans in the trunk. But no matter how careful I am, the smell of gas permeates the car. Some people like the smell of gas. It should smell great since it costs as much a gallon as Channel #5. But once the car starts smelling like gas, it won't go away.

Paul talks about his life as a smell that permeates and affects those around him-- "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." (2 Cor 2:15). The influence of the gospel permeated Paul's life and was unmistakable in everything he did. Not everyone liked the smell or appreciated the influence. So Paul says, "To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life" (2:16).

We are to be the aroma of Christ in the world today. He is to influence our lives to the point where we look like Him, sound like Him and smell like Him. And then we will impact the world like Him. The when people want to know more about Christ, they can just follow their nose!

Object Permanence and the Unseen God

Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget coined the term “object permanence.” Newborn infants are incapable of believing in what they don’t see. Hide a favorite toy under a blanket, and for them it no longer exists. Piaget studies led him to conclude that says infants don’t outgrow this until about 7-8 months of age (now believed to be 3-4 months). It is part of the maturation process to be able to believe that things that you don’t see really do exist.

Many in our materialistic world lack the spiritual maturity to live out this object permanence. “Seeing is believing,” we say. Only those things which are verifiable by our senses are real, and while we may give lip-service to spiritual realities beyond, they have little to do with how we live our lives day to day. God is unseen, and therefore for many He remains unreal.

Tell that to Sennacherib. Sennacherib commanded an army that had never known defeat. The Assyrians were feared all over the world for their brutal conquests. They had developed the chariot as weapon of war and invented the chain-mail armor that would continue to be used for several thousand years. For Assyria, war was a science and slaughter was an art form. This was an army that had never known defeat, and in our Old Testament reading for today, that army was camped right outside the gates of Jerusalem.

In 2 Kings 18:19-25, the field commander of the Assyrian army issued a challenge to Hezekiah of Judah, spoken in the hearing of all of Jerusalem. In that challenge he chides Judah for depending on their alliance with Egypt to protect them; Pharaoh was but a “splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man’s hand and wounds him if he leans on it” (18:21). He also chides Judah for depending on their God to protect them. Had not Hezekiah removed the high places and idols from Jerusalem? Every nation that had been ground up by the Assyrian war machine had their gods, but not god could protect them from the might of Assyria. How much less could this unseen God without idols and high places save them?

Hezekiah refused to answer the challenge. He took the transcript of the challenge of Sennacherib to the Temple. Hezekiah had no army and no options. Part of the Assyrian taunt had been “I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!” (18:23). Hezekiah had no options but faith. So he spread the transcript of Sennacherib’s challenge before the Lord and prayed—

"It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.” (2 Kings 19:17-19)

The next morning, Sennacherib woke up to find 185,000 of his crack troops had died during the night. Sennacherib and his army fled in terror back to Nineveh where he was assassinated by his own sons. Sennacherib and his army that had never known defeat had been destroyed by an Unseen God.

It is easy for us to become so busy with the things of this world that we can see that we forget about the reality of what we cannot. Sennacherib would today trade the totality of his empire for one more moment of time to fall before that Unseen God.

Accept One Another

In the 1930's, the key issue that divided many churches was pre-millennialism, an understanding of end-time events that believes Jesus will return to earth to establish a literal thousand year reign over a literal earthly kingdom. Churches were split and relationships lost over this issue. I met a brother several years ago who, as a young man in the 1930's, was forced out of the church that brought him to the Lord because he held the "wrong view" on the end time. His eyes glistened with tears as he told me the story more than 50 years later.

In 1933, Foy E. Wallace and Charles Neal met to debate this issue. Neal began his first speech with an appeal for unity and mutual understanding among brothers who differed in how they approached the texts that taught about the end time. Wallace, who had led the charge to eradicate pre-millennialism among our churches, made it clear what would have to happen before there could be unity among us--

I would like to say, with all kindness and reverence, as I begin my part of the discussion, that if Mr. Neal and those who stand with him had always preached only as I have been preaching, and as those brethren that stand with me on these issues have preached, there would have been no alienation.”

Wallace basically says, “We can have unity when and only when you agree with me!” That does not sound much like either kindness nor reverence, does it? That rather smacks of the Pharisaic arrogance that is destined to perpetually divide and alienate! If unity and fellowship is only possibly when we can agree on everything, then we may as well turn our the light, cause the party is over!

Do we really want to make salvation depend on a correct understanding of the book of Revelation as it relates to the end-time? Do we really want to make fellowship and unity also depend on our understanding it alike? Unity will never come from our agreement on the issues or our similarity in church practice. Unity is the creation of God; only Christ makes us one. This unity is lived out in practical terms when we "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." (Rom 15:7). If Christ accepts us despite our flaws, then we must be willing to accept each other that way as well. We must fellowship our “erring brethren” because that's the only kind we have!

A Wing and a Prayer

Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson were enjoying their hobby-- flying their Microlight Airplaine. Evidently, some people enjoy strapping an engine to a kite and taking it up a couple of thousand feet. Go figure! They were flying up the sloping valley of Pelorus Sound in New Zealand when their engine spluttered and shuttered and then died. It's pretty serious to be flying a single-engine airplane of any kind when the engine dies., so Stubbs and Wilson did what most of us would do in similar circumstances. THEY PRAYED! "My friend and I are both Christians so our immediate reaction in a life-threatening situation was to ask for God's help," Stubbs told The Associated Press.

Obviously, since Stubbs was being interviewed about the incident, things must have turned out well. They did. The men were able to make a dead-stick landing, and the plane lightly came to rest. As they say, "Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing." But what made this story a story is that they happened to land right beside to a sign that read, "Jesus is Lord." Cool! It would have been better if the sign said, "Jesus Saves" or "God is My Co-Pilot." But what a great reminder that prayer really does work.

Here's a little known, less often relied upon truth. Prayer works even when you are not in life-threatening situations!

Suspending Disbelief

I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie last night. Hey, small groups are over and I had to do something on Tuesday night! The best (and most accurate) summary of the movie I have heard was that it was like being in the middle of a video game. It was a non-stop run-jump-shoot action game from the opening scene, and I found myself reaching for a video-game controller. And the action was not exactly what one would call believable. I wonder how many people will come out of the movie thinking that all you need to do to survive a direct nuclear explosion is hide in a lead-lined refrigerator? And if I ever need to catch up to a speeding truck, I now know that you can do so by swinging through the trees on Tarzan vines! Well, you know that you are really going to exercise your "suspend disbelief" muscles when you come away thinking, "Boy, that wasn't nearly as believable as Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Is faith in God something akin to suspending disbelief? Do some of the stories in the Bible sound a bit like the plot from an Indiana Jones movie? A strong wind divides the Red Sea just in time for the Jews to make their escape? A chariot of fire swoops down to carry Elijah to heaven? An army walking around a walled city, blows their trumpets and the wall falls down? There are some pretty unbelievable stories in the Bible, aren't there? So must we suspend disbelief in order to embrace these stories? No, at the center of these stories is an All-Powerful, All-Just and All-Loving God who is acting in human history to accomplish His will. Once you believe in God, then these stories are much more than divine special effects. If God truly exists, then all things are possible.

For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
......you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived,
......no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:3-4)

Divine Illumination

Just in case you are wondering where I get my sermon ideas, I thought I would share this picture of me at the moment of divine illumination. Kinda transcendent, isn't it?

Michele King took this at our church camp-out. The smoke from the campfire was drifting just right to picked up by the sun streaming through the trees. I wish sermons did come from above like this. Actually, they do come from above; they just take a lot more work than this. But then, if you look at the picture, most everyone else is ward at work getting camp ready and I'm just standing around with my arms crossed! Well, someone has to ponder the great questions of life... like "I wonder when they are going to get supper ready?"

You can see more pictures of our Memorial Day camp-out here.

The Kingdom of God and Man

My sermon yesterday was about the relationship of the Christian to the government from Romans 13. It isn't surprising that Paul has information dealing with the Christian and the civil authority; he is, after all, writing to Rome. Knowing the persecution that is brewing on the horizon for the Romans church, we are a bit surprised that Paul is so gracious when addressing Caesar's government. Paul sees the king as God's servant (Rom 13:4-6) to do good. The word "servant" in verse 4 is the word for "deacon" while the different word for "servant" in verse 6 is applied to the priest in Hebrews 8:2. Paul's general teaching is that the Christian is to obey the civil authorities, honor those who serve, and pay our taxes.

That is his general teaching. The question that has stumped believers since Paul's day is when we get more specific. How involved should Christians to be in governmental affairs? Are we to be so focus on the kingdom of God that we refuse to concern ourselves the kingdoms of men? Should we use political process and power to to make the world better? Do we stand outside humans systems of power, pointing to their flaws and inviting people into God's rule? Do we compromise something about the kingdom of God when we combine it too closely with the power-structure of men? I used the examples of David Lipscomb and James A. Garfield to illustrate how differently some in our movement read scripture here-- Lipscomb believed that Christians shouldn't even vote and Garfield was elected the 20th president of the United States.

An excellent discussion of some of the issues can be viewed in this video. Here Chuck Colson, Gregory Boyd and Shane Claiborne take very different approaches. Obviously, there are generational differences here. (One of these three guys really dresses funny... in a coat and tie!). All three men have written books on the topic of the Christian, politics and the government. They all have substantive differences in their approach, and you will disagree with each at one point or another. But Colson, Boyd and Claiborne are all focused on serving the Crucified One and reflecting His values and kingdom in the world today.

As the election (finally) gets closer, we must avoid the temptation to think that all Christians can or should vote the same way. We must all be focused on the kingdom of God, but how to be the best stewards of our political freedom will certainly vary from Christian to Christian.

Take Up and Read

CNN reported that "a fairly large number" of New Testaments were burned in a town outside Tel Aviv. According to reports, Uzi Aharon, the deputy mayor of Or-Yehuda organized students who confiscated and burned several hundred copies of the New Testament. The deputy mayor gave several interviews to Israeli media talking about how he had collected the New Testaments and other Messianic propaganda to stop their spread through out his city. Soon he was doing damage control when pressed by foreign media whose Russian, Italian and French audiences back home were highly offended. He claimed that he had only confiscated the material and unruly students had burned them after he had left. The incident upset many religious freedom advocates and others in Israel; public burnings of sacred texts brings back images of Nazi book-burnings of Jewish sacred texts in the 1930's.

Messianic Jews are a minority in Israel. They are Jewish and practice the rituals of Judaism, but they also believe in the divinity of Jesus. Much like the first Christians in the New Testament, they maintain the dietary restrictions and festivals of Judaism, but see their meaning in the salvation brought by the Messiah Jehshua (Jesus Christ). Messianic Jews often suffer discrimination in Israel. The CNN story pointed to a bombing at the house of one Messianic pastor and the boycott of a high school Bible competition when one of the winners was discovered to be a Messianic Jew. (You gotta love that, right?)

On a lark several years ago, I counted the number of Bibles I had in my office-- there were 22. Granted, half of those were versions included with my computer Bible. But access to God's word is not much of a problem for any of us; no one come barging in to confiscate and burn our Bibles. That is a blessing that many in the world cannot claim. Read your Bible today... and then pray for your brothers and sisters around the world who may find that difficult to do.

On Mowing the Lawn

I am in the rather unique position (especially for a preacher) of living in the same house in which I grew up. Mom and Dad moved back to Arkansas after living 45 years in Virginia (they decided they didn’t like it) to help care for my grandmother in her declining years. They made us an offer we couldn't refuse, and we were able to buy the old homestead. If I would have known when I was a kid that I would one day own the place, I would have taken much better care of it!

Something dawned on me yesterday as I was mowing that same old lawn for what seemed like the two jillioneth time. When I was a kid, I hated cutting the grass more than just about anything. It wasn't like it was such extremely hard work. When my Dad was a kid, he had to chop cotton all day long. I know, because when I complained about cutting the grass, he would tell me about chopping cotton all day long. Mowing the lawn only took about an hour and a half, but that was time I couldn’t spend on more important things-- like playing basketball or tennis! Dad even at one point bought a riding lawn-mower. I still have the dent in the side of MY HOUSE where my sister crashed into the house on the mower, but that's another story. I don't know why I despised cutting the grass so much, but I did.

So there I was yesterday mowing the same lawn that I have mowed since I was 12, and it hit me, “I really kinda enjoy cutting the grass now.” It's not just that I don't mind it so much anymore; I really do enjoy it. It's relaxing. And it’s not like I have to waste time anymore playing basketball or tennis! What I once saw as a dreaded chore when I was a kid now is a source of relaxation. In other words, at some point between 1969 and 2008, I got older… and wiser.

A Place for Broken People

A Catholic church in Bertha, MN has filed a restraining order to prevent the parents of a severely autistic 13-year-old boy from attending services. The church claims that the boy (all 6 feet, 225 pounds of him) "struck a child during mass, nearly knocks elderly parishioners over when he hastily exits, spits, sometimes urinates in church, fights when he is being restrained." He once pulled a girl into his lap (his parents sit on his lap to calm him) and got into two cars and started the engines (his parents claim that the sound of revving engines also calm him). The church offered to set up live video in a private room or even have private services, but his parents refused. They sit on the back room or in the cry room, an they have been leaving during the closing song to avoid Adam contacting people. They believe Adam has a right to be in church, and his special needs create a special need for God to be in his life. They continued to bring Adam to church despite the court order, although they now have found a new congregation.

This is likely much more complicated than comes across in a short news story (which you can read and watch). Could it be possible that this church is much too concerned about decorum or embarrassment and not enough about meeting the needs of this family and teaching people how to mediate God's grace to broken people in a fallen world? Could it also be possible that Adam's parents, in a rush to have others accept him, are placing him in an overstimulating environment that he can't handle? Who knows. Is Adam behavior really dangerous to others or just embarrassing and undignified? (In the story, the truly dangerous behaviors appear to be largely one-time events). Are church leaders really trying to protect the safety of people or the image of the church? I don't think one can tell from this news article, and so its a good idea to reserve judgment. In fact, it is usually a good idea to reserve judgment!

But isn't church supposed to be a place for broken people? Most of us can sit quietly in our pew (well, our chair) and act dignified. We don't pee on ourselves, pitch fits or bowl over people in the foyer... So good for us! But we are all broken people. Our dignified and sanctified exterior is just an act. How embarrassing it must be for God to have people like us sitting in His church, singing His songs and eating at His table. But God loves us despite our brokenness. If want church to be a place where only the dignified and sanctified are allowed, then we'll have to take our restraining order against ourselves!

Small Group Me (Millennium Edition)

Just so the Looney's don't feel left out of my blog ramblings on small groups and technology, here is a picture snapped off of the Moore's TV as Bob, Kate and Jack (who had gone to bed before the picture was taken) joined our small group Tuesday night all the way from Houston via the magic of web cam. Isn't technology wonderful! It was great to hang out with them, even if it was long distance. (It might have just been me, but Bob and Kate sure seemed to move a lot more herky-jerkily than they used to!)

BTW, the iPhone is a wonderful phone and iPod... but what a lousy camera! Or maybe I'm just a lousy photographer. Or perhaps both.

Are You a Wise Guy?

In today’s Old Testament reading (1 Kings 2-3), Solomon begins his rule as king over Israel. God appeared to him in a dream telling him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5). As children we often played the game of "If you could have any wish, what would it be?" My answer was always, "Three more wishes." Solomon plays that game for real, and he tells God that his heart's desire was for wisdom to lead God's people. That pleased God, and He tells Solomon in 1 Kings 3:10-13--

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

So Solomon gets what amounted to three more wishes! He gets wisdom to rule... plus great wealth and honor. The stage is set for one of the most spectacular reigns in history.

But in the next chapter, the seeds are sown for Solomon's downfall. (Actually, it probably starts in 3:1ff as Solomon takes his frist foreign wife). Beginning in 4:20, Solomon begins to accumulate the baubles of power. He amasses great numbers of horses and chariots along with massive barns and stalls in which to house them. So what’s the big deal? Are not such extravagances the privilege of power? Not if Solomon would have been... well, wise! Moses instructs the future kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:16,17—

The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

But Solomon does acquire many horses and soon will amass staggering mounts of gold and silver (so much that he doesn't even count the silver, 2 Chron 9:20). Later will come the 1000 wives and concubines. And in keeping with the warning of Moses, the result was that his heart was led away from God.

Solomon here provides a warning between the difference in knowing truth and living truth, between having wisdom and living wisely. Solomon had great wisdom... he just didn't let it get in the way of how he lived! I wonder how many of us fall into this same trap? Do you believe that God and spiritual things are the most important realities? Do we really live that way? For a wise guy, Solomon was really pretty foolish. How about us?

Unity in Diversity

Someone has said that if two people in any relationship are exactly the same, then one of them is unnecessary. In the text we looked at in Sunday’s sermon (Rom 12:3-8), Paul makes it clear that he does not expect us to all be alike. We are as different from one another as are the different parts of our physical bodies different in form and function. Paul's point is that we are still one body despite those differences, connected not only to God but to each other as well (see verse 5).

And he argues here for a diversity of gifts that benefit the body. His whole argument for unity here is based on the assumption that real and necessary diversity exists in the body of Christ. The Christians in Rome were gifted in such diverse ways as prophecy, service, teaching, encouragement, financial giving, leadership, and showing mercy. And so it is with us. While we may all function in some ways in every one of these (and many other areas) areas, our diversity shows up in the unique ways that God gifts one area above others. Unity does not make us boring clones of one another. Rather our diversity blesses the whole body as we use our different gifts to God's glory.

In a good marriage, the husband and wife act as a unit; they are “one flesh” in a very special sense. But husbands and wives in even the best marriage always have differences. Show me a couple that never argues and I’ll show you a couple that never talks! (And even they “argue in their hearts”). Marriage is based upon a God-given difference between husbands and wives so that they complement one another in many different ways. Sameness will just not work… viva la difference! And unity in the church is also based on differences, the commitment to use our different gifts for the glory of God and the blessing of the family.

Like a human body and a good marriage, unity is found in diverse and different Christians using their very different gifts and perspectives to glorify the one God and uplift the one body. If unity requires us to become alike, then unity will always remain an impossible dream. Unity is possible (make that commanded) only when we accept our gifts different gifts along with the fact that they do make us different. When we are free to do that, then we are free to use our gifts to serve one another… and the one and only God.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Lynn and I were without a small group last night. The college age group that meets at our house ended early for the summer due to things like graduation and concerts and people moving away. We decided to use our unexpected free night to go see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It is very rare for us to see a movie at all (this is the first this year). But we had been blown away by the first installment in the Narnia series-- The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. We had been really looking forward to the sequel. I won't take the time to do a full review of the movie, but take the time to look at the reviews at New Wineskins and Plugged-In Online.

Here's my opinion. Prince Caspian was a great movie. There were some ways that it was better than the first. The special effects were stunning. There were more laugh-out-loud funny moments. It really was was a great movie. So why didn't I like it as much as the first one? Probably for the same reason that I didn't like the second book nearly as well as the first. Behind all the fantasy and epic battles, the story behind The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is Lewis fantasy version of the biggest story ever told. Aslan the Lion lays down his life to redeem Edmund's betrayal and rises from the dead to defeat the forces of evil. Hard to improve on that plot!

I read that the movie people were actually thinking about skipping Caspian (which is kind of a bridge story to the rest of the Narnia series) and going straight to Lewis' third book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (now in pre-production for a 2010 release). They did Caspian because it is the only other book to feature all four of the Pevensie children. Well, I'm glad they didn't skip it! Lord willing, well be right there in 2010 to see the next one. And we'll buy the DVD when it's out. We just might not watch it 5-6 times like we have the first one!

Small Group 2.0

During our Tuesday night small group Bible study a week ago, Ken told us that he would be in D.C. all this week and miss the next study. Ken and Alicia host the study, but Alicia assured us that the house would be there for us even though Ken would not. I jokingly said that Ken could probably set up a teleconference or something from his hotel room and join the small group that way. Evidently I had thrown down the gauntlet. So when I walked in to the study Tuesday night, there was Ken's face on their TV grinning at me and waving. We had our study as if Ken was sitting right there with us. The mike was so good that he said he could hear what people were saying went they went into the kitchen during refreshment time (so we had to be careful what we said about him).

What a great idea! Maybe if we wire people up like this, it will encourage more participation in Bible study. After all, everyone likes to watch TV, right? You get to stay home and watch TV and participate in the Bible study group discussion all at the same time! Sure, it was a little hard to share refreshments, so the Bible model of "table fellowship" will need to be adjusted a bit. And there would always be the temptation to change the channel when the study got a little slow (as if that could ever happen).

But it really was a interesting experience. We immediately started thinking about ways to do this same thing to include members of our group who have recently moved away from our area. We have this technology, we may as well use it.

Anniversary

I must really be getting old-- I totally missed my anniversary yesterday. It came and went and I didn't even think about it at all until Lynn reminded me last night. No, it wasn't my wedding anniversary; one doesn't grow old by forgetting many of those! No, it was the 28th year that Lynn and I have been at Denbigh. The second Sunday in May of 1980 was when I started working full-time with the Denbigh Church of Christ. I was hired as the youth minister... and 3 months later Lloyd Unsell left to move back to Oklahoma and I took over as the interim preacher. And I have been taking up space filling-in ever since. Wow, how time flies!

I heard about a guy who was asked at his golden wedding anniversary party what fifty years of marriage had taught him. He say, “Well, I’ve learned that marriage is the best teacher of all. It teaches you loyalty, forbearance, meekness, self-restraint, forgiveness... and a lot of other qualities that I wouldn't have needed to know if I would have stayed single.”

Bad joke... but an element of truth. Many of the qualities that God wants to teach us are important because we mush live together in community with other believers. And it is that community of believers that helps us to learn those qualities. I love and appreciate the Denbigh church community who has taught me so much about what it means to be a Christian. I look forward to the next 28 years.

Sore Spot

I have a blister on my big toe, and it really bothers me. Blisters are never fun, but this one is a particular sore spot because of where it came from. A little back story, which I know will be infinitely fascinating to you. Last year, I bought a pair of Nike Air Cross Trainers on sale at one of those factory outlet shoe places. I never wear Nike because they are usually much too narrow, but there were 4-E and they felt OK in the store. But soon thereafter I realized that I had paid $50 for a pair of shoes that killed my feet... and I went back to my old pair. Of course me being me, I complained about how uncomfortable those shoes were. And Lynn being Lynn, she thought that if I was going to spend $50 on a pair of shoes, I oughta wear 'em at least until they were completely broken in. After all, they look brand new (and they are because they're too uncomfortable to wear). And besides, you don't buy new shoes right before all the walking up and down all those stairs at Pepperdine.

Well, I went ahead and ordered a new pair of my old standard New Balance 608's so that I wouldn't have to wear those uncomfortable Nike's on our California trip. And now I have a blister on my toe, and it's a real sore spot. Not just because the blister hurts, but because (once again) Lynn was right and I wasn't. You would think with all the practice I have had being wrong through the years that I would be better at admitting it, or at least not being so shocked when it happens. But pride really can get in the way sometimes. Solomon said. "Pride only leads to arguments, but those who take advice are wise." (Proverbs 13:10, NCV). I should have listened.

Anyone in the market for a very-slightly-used pair of Nike's?

From Hosanna to the Heart of Worship

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
........“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
..............“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
...............(from today's New Testament reading-- Luke 11:37-40)

Mike Pilavachi tells of a time when his church was making the transition from renting a school to moving into their own a state of art (i.e. “expensive”) church building. It was an exciting time, but to him it seemed that something had been lost in their worship. After thinking about the problem, he decided, “We became connoisseurs of worship rather than participants.” They fell into the trap of critiquing worship rather than worshipping. They had state-of-the-art sound and lights, so they were constantly fussing with them. They had access to audiovisuals, so they tweaked and experimented. So Pilavachi got rid of their “order of worship.” He decided (with advance planning, one might assume) that everything would be spontaneous. People got into circles and shared prayers, readings. Songs were started by one group and were gradually picked up by other groups. When they stopped focusing on the worship event, they found the heart of worship.

The people in Jerusalem worshipped Jesus… with their words. These same voices only a week later latter would be screaming “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” As Jesus rode into Jerusalem admit the shouts of praise and outward signs of devotion, was he not struck by the difference between their words and their heart? I wonder if He is ever struck by that difference today? Can we give God our worship acts and our worship words without ever giving Him our hearts?

When the church mentioned above did finally go back to their normal order and routine of worship, they sung a song especially written by their worship leader Matt Redmond for the occasion, “The Heart of Worship.” The song is a powerful reminder of what gives our "Hosannas" real meaning--

When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come,

Longing just to bring, something that’s of worth that will bless Your heart.

I’ll bring you more than a song, For a song in itself
........is not what you have required

You search much deeper within, the way things appear,
........You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to the heart of worship—
........and it’s all about You, it’s all about You.

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it—
........When it’s all about You, it’s all about You

God is calling us to the heart of worship. The heart of worship isn’t our songs, our order or even our preaching. It’s all about Him.

Risky Business

In our Old Testament reading for today (1 Samuel 25), David is on the run from Saul and making a living in the "security business" or maybe the "protection rackets." He was hiring out his sword to protect wealthy landowners from robbers and rustlers. Or maybe he was taking payments not to do the robbing and rustling himself. One of his clients is a wealthy land baron named Nabal who was described as “surly and mean in his dealings” while his wife Abigail is said to be “an intelligent and beautiful woman” (1 Sam 25:3), and these descriptions become the backdrop of this story. David provides his basic no-frills protection services to Nabal and his men. The name “Nabal” means “fool” in Hebrew, and Nabal lives up to his name when he decides not to pay David in 1 Samuel 25:10-11—

“Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

That reminds me of Robert Duval’s famous line in True Grit when he answers John Wayne, “Well, that’s mighty big talk for a one-eyed fat man.” Nabal thought David’s status as a fugitive from Saul would cause him to turn and run. He thought wrong; David straps on his sword and rushes to make Nabal an offer that he can’t refuse.

One of Nabal’s servants sees disaster riding down upon them and rushes to Abigail to beg for her help. Outwardly Abigail is the most powerless person in the story. She was a woman in a patriarchal culture in which women could not own property, testify in court, or control their own lives apart from their father or husband. And yet, it is Abigail alone who has the courage to do the right thing. She steps between the irresistible force which was David and the immovable object that was Nabal. She makes David a gift of food and speaks words of peace, truth and reconciliation, and she succeeds in averting a massacre. David recognizes in Abigail the working of God (25:32-33) and he sends her home in peace.

Abigail was used as God's instrument of peace, but that was only possible because she was willing to put herself at risk in the process. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and those who follow Him must be people of peace. And when act to bring God's peace in the lives of others, then we are being children of God. But like Abigail-- and like Jesus Himself-- we will never be peacemakers until we place ourselves at risk. To step between warring factions in an effort to broker peace is always risky business-- whether that is in families, in the workplace or in our churches. Peace is always risky business, but it is also God's business. And that makes it our business.

Poscards from the Left Coast

Our annual oddysey to the land of fruits and nuts for the Pepperdine Lectures is now in the books. My Google gadget countdown timer now reads 364 days until Pepperdine 2009. (Sigh). The trip was wonderful-- after our initial flight was postponed 3 hours; everything went as smooth as silk. Air Tran did much better than Delta has the last 3 years-- we did get tired of pretzels after awhile!

We spend 4 days on the front end in Palm Springs doing absolutely nothing except relaxing. Well, we did have to go to the timeshare sales pitch as payment for the stay, and that was fun. We have stayed in these resorts for the last 3-4 years (this was the first time in Palm Springs). At some point they will figure it out that as long as they keep giving us a nice room for $200 or so for 3-4 days, there is do reason to buy anything! Lets hope they don't.

It reached 101 degrees one day, but it didn't seem all that hot (dry heat). We took the tram ride up from the desert some 10,000 feet or so o the top of Mt. San Jacinto. Lynn loved it... except the part where we rode the tram 10,000 feet up the side of the mountain. It was about 30 degrees cooler once we got there, and we enjoyed hiking around for several hours.

Everything changed once we got to Pepperdine-- from lazy-laid-back to frenetic. The lectures started at 7:30 each morning and went until 10:00 that night, and we didn't miss but one session one day. It was good having Randy and Better Tanner with us again this year. One day we hope to have a whole group of folks from Denbigh trek out there with us. We were so busy that I forgot to do to the displays and buy books like I usually do. I think maybe that as we (I) get older, it is taking longer up and down the mountain between sessions! The lectures and worship times were great. As always, we were there an hour early to stake the front row for praise time with Hallal.

I tried several times to make entries to the blog from my phone, but alas the technology would not cooperate. It seems that Blogger doesn't work with the Safari browser on the iPhone, so the real-time reports that I intended to make did not materialize. And now I have forgotten all the witty things I was going to say. Suffice it to say that this weeks was once again a great time of spiritual renewal and uplift. To paraphrase Jim McGuiggen, "Everyone should be forced to attend the Pepperdine lectures... if they want to."