14 Mar 07 Pescatological Pursuits

We officially opened the fishing season yesterday afternoon by catching nothing.

The sun was shining.  The water was clear.  Fish were jumping on the other side of the lake (of course). 

I’m pretty sure the fish had organized over there and were having fun teasing us.  Flapping their fins and taunting us.

We had rootbeer and snacks and didn’t get our hands slimy having to mess with taking all those fish of our hooks.

A slow start to our fishing season, yes, but we started.

13 Mar 07 The Question of Amazement

I’m still working through God In Search of Man by Abraham Joshua Heschel.  It’s been a pretty slow read as I have been reading, mulling, re-reading and re-mulling.  Here’s what I’ve been mulling on recently:

Greek philosophy began in a world without God. It could not accept the gods or the example of their conduct.  Plato had to break with the gods and to ask:  What is good?  Thus the problem of values was born.  And it was the idea of values that took the place of God.  Plato lets Socrates ask:  What is good?  But Moses’ question was:  What does God require of thee?

There is no word in Biblical Hebrew for doubt; there are many expressions of wonder.  Just as in dealing with judgments our starting point is doubt, wonder is the Biblical starting point in facing reality.  The Biblical man’s sense for the mind-surpassing grandeur of reality prevented the power of doubt from setting up its own independent dynasty.  Doubt is an act in which the mind inspects its own ideas; wonder is an act in which the mind confronts the universe.  Radical skepticism is the outgrowth of subtle conceit and self-reliance.  Yet there was no conceit in the prophets and no self-reliance in the Psalmist.

And so the Biblical man never asks:  Is there a God?  To ask such a question, in which doubt is expressed as to which of two possible attitudes is true, means to accept the power and validity of a third attitude, namely the attitude of doubt.  The Bible does not know doubt as an absolute attitude.  For there is no doubt in which faith is not involved.  The questions advanced in the Bible are of a different kind. 

12 Mar 07 Churchy Opportunities

The golden state has been a bit rain prone the last few weeks.  The good news is this weekend we finally saw a foretaste of spring and summer and sunny weather.  The bad news is I spent most of the weekend inside for meetings and other administrative churchy opportunities.

We arrived home last night in time to catch a documentary on Jonestown.  I’m sure it was simply a coincidence to spend an entire weekend in administrative churchy opportunities and end with watching a documentary on Jonestown.

I don’t remember much of the actual coverage at the time.  I just remember a few pictures of the bodies stacked on top of each other.  I watched the documentary last night and found myself becoming sad and angry.

We know that Jonestown wasn’t the first expression of religious radicalism and we know it certainly wasn’t the last.  It did remind me of how much baggage we inherit, as a community of faith, because of the lunacy of others.

09 Mar 07 The Show

It’s official, I’m official.  I no longer have amateur status. 

I’ve joined the ranks of the highly skilled, highly paid men and women in blue who ensure the integrity of sport through questionable judgment calls and wild speculation.

Previous to this day I’ve umpired softball as an amateur.  But today it all changed.  I got paid to call a game.  At least I think I got paid to call a game - or was it a bribe?

Half an hour before the start of the game the school athletic director (known by us professionals as the AD) handed me a check for $25.  I figured it was payment for a job well done that I had yet to do.  I knew it couldn’t possibly be a bribe because a bribe would have been at least $30!

08 Mar 07 Paul

(More material from the in depth Bible study I lead on the 1st & 3rd Wednesday evenings of the month)

Paul, formerly known as Saul, was a leading Jewish figure, a true spokesman for the viewpoint that proclaimed “righteousness is attained through following the law perfectly.”

This all changed the day Saul met Jesus.  On that day, the day Saul met Jesus, he was blinded so that he could see.

Paul, like Jesus, was a very polarizing figure.  He was loved by the Judaizers and then hated by them; so much so they tried to have him killed and they followed him around trying to unravel his new message:  Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Peter, who engaged in a few Apostolic skirmishes with Paul, wrote this about those who were seeking to unravel Paul’s message of Salvation through Christ:

2 Peter 3:15-16  (NCV)  Remember that we are saved because our Lord is patient. Our dear brother Paul told you the same thing when he wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him.  He writes about this in all his letters. Some things in Paul’s letters are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and weak in faith explain these things falsely. They also falsely explain the other Scriptures, but they are destroying themselves by doing this.

Our fragmented church heritage is living proof that “some things in Paul’s letters are hard to understand.”  Ever thought of what the church would look like today if some Scribe had omitted those things which are hard to understand?

The context of this passage in 2 Peter relates to the return of Jesus Christ, specifically how believers should live anticipating the return of Jesus Christ.

Within this context we find this reminder that people are saved because God is patient.

This is a point of emphasis that ties back to what Peter has already written:

2 Peter 3:8-9  (NCV) But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day.  The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised - the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.

Clearly Peter is talking about salvation.

It is hard to understand and sometimes explain why God would want to save any of us.

The Apostle Paul, (as was Peter, as were the rest of the disciples, as we all are) was living proof that God’s salvation is all about His patience.

Saul considered himself the best of the best.  Paul considered himself the best of the worst.  He wrote:

1 Timothy 1:15  (NCV) What I say is true, and you should fully accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

Thus, Paul spent his life to proclaim: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

To say that preaching the Gospel (the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ) consumed Paul’s life might be an understatement.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” was the message Paul was chosen, hand picked, to deliver:

1 Timothy 2:3b-7  (NCV)  God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to know the truth.  There is one God and one way human beings can reach God. That way is through Christ Jesus, who is himself human.  He gave himself as a payment to free all people. He is proof that came at the right time.  That is why I was chosen to tell the Good News and to be an apostle. (I am telling the truth; I am not lying.) I was chosen to teach those who are not Jews to believe and to know the truth.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” was the message Paul lived to deliver:

Romans 1:8-10  (NCV) First I want to say that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith.  God, whom I serve with my whole heart by telling the Good News about his Son, knows that I always mention you every time I pray. I pray that I will be allowed to come to you, and this will happen if God wants it.

Paul describes his life-long, whole-hearted service to God as telling the Good News about Jesus, the Son of God.

It is the message he wanted all people, everywhere to hear:

Romans 1:14-15  (NCV)  I have a duty to all people - Greeks and those who are not Greeks, the wise and the foolish.  That is why I want so much to preach the Good News to you in Rome.

Closer to his heart, Paul wanted his fellow Israelites to be saved.

Romans 10:1-4  (NCV) Brothers and sisters, the thing I want most is for all the Jews to be saved. That is my prayer to God.  I can say this about them: They really try to follow God, but they do not know the right way.  Because they did not know the way that God makes people right with him, they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God’s way of making people right.  Christ ended the law so that everyone who believes in him may be right with God.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” was the message Paul proclaimed to (and the reason for) his death:

Philippians 1:12-22  (NCV)  I want you brothers and sisters to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the Good News. All the palace guards and everyone else knows that I am in prison because I am a believer in Christ.  Because I am in prison, most of the believers have become more bold in Christ and are not afraid to speak the word of God.  It is true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous and ambitious, but others preach about Christ because they want to help.  They preach because they have love, and they know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News.  But the others preach about Christ for selfish and wrong reasons, wanting to make trouble for me in prison.  But it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that in every way, whether for right or wrong reasons, they are preaching about Christ. So I am happy, and I will continue to be happy.  Because you are praying for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ is helping me, I know this trouble will bring my freedom.  I expect and hope that I will not fail Christ in anything but that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth, whether I live or die.  To me the only important thing about living is Christ, and dying would be profit for me.  If I continue living in my body, I will be able to work for the Lord. I do not know what to choose - living or dying.

Everything that Paul wrote, as an instruction to believers and to churches, was to accomplish three things:

   1. That the Gospel may be preached.
   2. That the Gospel may be received.
   3. That the Gospel may be accepted.

You can’t understand or interpret any apostolic instruction without understanding this basic principle.

Paul wanted people to hear the good news about salvation in Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:11-17 (NCV) As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed."  That Scripture says "anyone" because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all and gives many blessings to all who trust in him, as the Scripture says, "Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved." But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them; and before someone can go and tell them, that person must be sent. It is written, "How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news." But not all the Jews accepted the good news. Isaiah said, "Lord, who believed what we told them?"  So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.

With so many inherent obstacles to hearing, receiving, and accepting the message of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, Paul called upon the early community of faith to model the viewpoint and practices of their current culture.

The instructions Paul gives for conduct and behavior mirrored those of the day.

The message of the Bible, through the writers of the Bible, was moving in a forward direction, a progressive movement of redemption.

There were to be no distinctions or differences, in Jesus Christ, between slaves or free, Greeks or Jews, foreigners or natives, male or female.

Yet the church had to, whenever possible, keep pace with the prevailing thought of the day; the exception always being a moral issue.

There is a great deal of irony in the circumstance that God had to blind Saul so that Paul could truly see.

Ephesians 1:18  (NCV) I pray also that you will have greater understanding in your heart so you will know the hope to which he has called us and that you will know how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised his holy people.

As we approach Scripture, may we not be blind to our own prejudices and pre-suppositions.  As we approach Scripture may we, like David, ask:

Psalm 119:18  (NCV) Open my eyes to see the miracles in your teachings.

07 Mar 07 Predestination

The mere mention of the word "predestination" makes some folks uncomfortable.  There is an automatic assumption that predestination is set against free-will.

I’m not naive enough to think that one little blog post and subsequent discussion will solve what smart people have argued over for centuries.

But wouldn’t it be refreshing to take the things we don’t understand about God and his redemptive work at faith value and assume . . .

. . . God knows what He’s doing.

. . . God’s eternal plan will come to pass.

. . . God’s people should behave like God’s people and just enjoy the redemptive ride.

We’re not the pilot or the co-pilot.  We’re in the back seat on this journey to heaven.  If we’d stop picking at each other and start looking outside the window we just might witness God’s redemptive work.

06 Mar 07 Angels In Heaven, Devils on Earth

When I read about teenagers and adults teaching children (ages 2 & 4) how to smoke pot it fuels my righteous indignation.

When I read about a man who stabbed his wife to death and gives the
knife to his 2 year old and says "now you stab mommy" it fuels my
righteous indignation.

When I search the Megan’s law website for sexual predators - trying to see if a house we are looking at will be in a safe neighborhood for our children - I read about these crimes committed against children and it fuels my righteous indignation.

It’s easy to become upset at the heinous actions of others.  Crimes against children should make our blood boil. 

I read these stories and think about what Jesus said:

"If one of these little children believes in me, and
someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to
have a large stone tied around the neck and be drowned in the sea."

I read these stories and begin to look for large stones! 

I also think about these other words of Jesus: 

Be careful.  Don’t think these little children are worth nothing.  I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my Father in heaven." 

And then wonder if we could be doing more, as a community of faith, to protect children. 

05 Mar 07 Hurry Up And Wait

You should have been at church yesterday.  I presented the budget and man was it ever exciting.  You math types would have been drooling over the numbers and percentages.  You graphic types would have gone crazy over the pie charts and graphs.  You sleep deprived types would have had guilt-free sleep.  All in all the budget presentation went well.  Short and sweet.

Speaking of budgets . . .

We offered they countered.  We counter-countered they counter-countered.  We said no and began to look again.  We had a target price and intended to stick with it so we give up the house with the great location.  The cool thing is the prayers in the process.  We weren’t praying so much for the particular house but to be able to hear God through the negotiation process.

We toured 8 or 9 additional properties yesterday and found 2 worth pursuing.  We’ll make an offer on choice number one today and wait upon God again. 

 

02 Mar 07 Catch Up

Back online today.  Strange that it feels like I’ve recovered from some sort of illness or ailment.  But I can quit anytime!

Still no news on the house.  5PM today is the deadline.  We are at peace (though anxious to hear) either way.

We’ve been keeping Ezekiel (Zeke) for a couple of days.  He’s a good boy but krikee he’s demanding!  Feed him, hold him, burp him, change his diaper, bathe him, feed him again . . . I’m exhausted watching Beth take care of him.

Each year that passes it’s harder to remember your kids as babies.  I’m sure no one will say we took too many pictures or shot too much video of them when they were kids. 

01 Mar 07 Connectivity Dependancy

Our internet access, at the office, has been down the last two days.  A spinning plate that stopped spinning perhaps?

Surviving two days without internet access is like, a big bummer man.

What’s happening in the world at large?

What about all those emails that need to be answered?

What stories of chipper have I missed?