Christmas Journey

We had an interesting Christmas that year. It was one of those years when Christmas was a Sunday morning. It involved a late night gathering of our children on Christmas Eve and an early morning gift opening, followed by morning worship at our church. The afternoon would be spent traveling across the state to visit with grandparents, aunts and uncles. We were the last to leave the church that Christmas Sunday, just past noon. And suddenly in the midst of all that we had planned for that weekend, we realized we had made no real preparation for Christmas lunch. The restaurants we normally might have considered were closed. The kitchen at home was empty and the pantry bare. The car was packed and we needed food for the long day’s journey ahead. And even the normal chicken fingers and fries that might have been found at the corner gas station were not to be had. I looked at my hungry brood and said to them all…well…we need to eat something. This is the only establishment in town still open. Go into the gas station and see what you can find and that will be our Christmas lunch. Get whatever you would like that you can find. What had seemed like a minor disaster in food planning was now transformed into a great adventure. Our long highway journey was an exciting time. Each of us had opportunity to try variations and combinations of foods we had never had. Beef jerky and Vienna sausage were main courses, laffy taffy and gummy worms were the closest we got to vegetables. Between the chips and peanut butter crackers and the cheezits, we all survived and yes delightfully thrived and in truth, we felt more like Joseph and Mary on their journey to Bethlehem than perhaps we ever had on a Christmas Day.
As you share with loved ones, friends and neighbors this Christmas, remember to share the wonderful story of the birth of a child in Bethlehem. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given….the Prince of Peace.”

Thoughts and Actions

Sometimes I wish I could get into some people’s heads to try and get a handle on just how they do see the world they live in. Probably someone would wish to do the same for me on occasion. What I wonder about may have nothing to do with what you wonder about. Maybe it would be helpful if we talked about those things from time to time.
As a child I once asked if everything was “real.” My mother answered matter-of- factly, “yes, of course it is.” And everything included the things I imagined and dreamed. They were real dreams…real workings of my imagination. What I was stuck on was some of the dreams… this giant image of “the mask that depicts drama as a symbol often associated with the theatre” and a match to one of my father’s cufflinks that depicted comedy and tragedy in the faces. I saw those masks in my dreams…daydreams and night dreams. For a long time I had a recurring dream of walking up the steps of our house to bed and lying down. That was all… Just going to bed. Then there followed a long period of dreaming about falling down the basement steps…those open wooden kind that went to a tract house basement with a tiny excuse of a rail that I dreamed I was too small to reach. I always saw myself tumbling down that staircase and I always woke up in a flash just before I hit the bottom…until one day I decided that if I ever had that dream again, I would relax and just hit the concrete floor. I did…the next time I had the dream…and I have never dreamed that dream again. Dreams are real experiences.
What about our thoughts about so many other things? Do our thoughts do more to determine what we will do, or do the things around us motivate us more to respond or to act upon them? I think there are times when we have so much going on around us that we forget what is or has been going on in our heads and we defer to the moment…using little or no forethought and just do stuff. At other times, we finally settle into a moment or season when we can focus long enough on our thinking to think things through to a decision…one that we indeed act upon. For some folks, it seems that they find it very difficult to get to that point about a lot of things in their lives.
What is our motivation for the things we do? I’ve read that many people are constantly motivated by the desire to please others. I guess that comes early in our pattern of learning that when we please others they affirm us or reward us or say nice things about us. But what if what you do is not so welcomed by those around you? And what if you are finding your “take on a matter” contrary to the opinion of the majority, or the powerful minority for that matter? Upset the wrong parties and the break in relationship could spell trouble in countless ways. Upset the one whose personal “say” matters to them over anyone else’s perspective and you may have crossed the “bridge too far…”-- if you can remember that old war movie. Consequences abound in the context of bucking trends, upsetting the status quo, or marching to the beat of a different drummer. We applaud such individuals when they succeed against all odds and at the close of the day win us over, but we create multitudes of obstacles for them socially when we choose to oppose their actions before “coming around.”
Back to motivation…what if pleasing others is understood as secondary to pleasing God? Consider Peter, going against the orders of the high priest and Sadducees, being threatened, and imprisoned, for obeying God over men. Consider Saul, confronted on the Road to Damascus with his own persecution of Christians, understanding the necessity of a new direction in obeying Christ, the risen Savior. From that day forward he faced opposition on every hand from those he had allied with previously. To obey God would cost him in many ways…all of which he saw as worthless now in comparison to following Christ and sharing His gospel.
The inspiration and motivation that we discover in God’s giving is known in the presence of the Holy Spirit…leading, guiding, teaching us and breathing into us the very life we are called to live. The word for Spirit was the same as the word for wind…but the reminder was to recognize the power of the Spirit to blow wherever the Spirit would blow…not in accordance with our determined agendas or preoccupations, but rather as it would be the Father’s will to inspire us…engage us…remind us…reveal to us.
The Psalmist often speaks of waiting upon the Lord…and along with his waiting the Psalmist spent much of the time complaining, crying, suggesting God wasn’t always giving him enough attention…waiting upon the Lord requires more than patience, but also expectation…attentiveness…looking for…seeking…active listening….active readiness to obey.…
If we prepare our minds in that manner…we won’t soon be left idle. Prayer and praise and ministry and service and loving action will proceed from the heart we have found to do those things joyfully in obedience to God. It is His way in us. It is His love for us that inspires and moves us to understand that we are not alone with our thoughts, but He is with us, to show us the way. He is with us, to teach us the truth. He is with us, to give us the life.

The Love Challenge

Jesus set forward for Christians a standard of practice regarding having love for others that exceeded all previous revelations. Moral codes of ethics certainly have continued to change since the most primitive of times, but Jesus sets the bar higher still.
Jesus moved us past the ancient “annihilation standard” for dealing with enemies. He moved us long past the “eye for an eye” standard of the Old Testament. He in fact moved us past the limited “don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you” and changed it to the positive, taking initiative approach of “love thy neighbor as thyself.” More amazing was his challenge to “love one another as I have loved you.” Recognizing that Jesus laid down his life for us all, we should understand just how amazing his challenge to us is. Jesus went even a step farther…he told us to love our enemies. He told us to pray for those who misuse or abuse us. He told us to do good to those who persecute us. He reminded us that to do so would be clearly different from the rest of the world’s ways of doing things. Loving enemies…a bold move to change the world forever…one person at a time. It’s a task too daunting to try on your own. If we have a prayer of doing what Jesus said…we must follow Him.

Thanksgiving

Before you run out and overindulge in the seasonal delicacies of most tables around this time of year, do a double-take and offer a sincere word of gratitude to God for the gifts you have received.
Gratitude is the first motivation for thanksgiving, but our generation has been so overly indulged that we too often forget to be grateful for such abundance. The danger for most of us is the simple failure to respond to the reality of our blessings, the experience of our daily provisions, and the mind to recognize the stewardship we are engaged in as we use these daily gifts.
A big part of the pleasure we can derive from abundance is in perceiving the joy of giving and sharing. The struggles of many to achieve a sense of confidence in that daily bread and daily shelter is bewildering to watch when more than abundance is recognizable. Satisfaction is not by definition an outcome of abundance. In fact, many who have little and many who have nothing, derive satisfaction in life, not from things, but from relationships.
What measure of satisfaction do you derive from your things? What about relationships? Could things sometimes prevent relationships from being all they should be? Do relationships suffer when things become the basis for having relationships?
Could there be some benefit in engaging one another with no expectation of “stuff”, but rather for the joy derived from knowing and understanding another human being. Sharing life may be more satisfying in the long haul as a factor of connectedness…investment in conversation and openness to others…the engagement derived from shared experiences.
Thanksgiving is great in acknowledging the many blessings of things, but more important are the experience of shared joy, mutual trust, open and engaging friendships, life lived with others alongside us, sharing our best one with another. That’s a gift to give and to receive. That’s a reason for thanksgiving all year long.

Faith Sharing

We live in a curious time. People are often curious about other’s religious perspectives, but seldom inquisitive enough to come right out and ask…what do you believe? The often-quoted statement that people do well not to talk about religion and politics runs contrary to conversations and inquiry everywhere. Major newspapers today have religion columnists; news personnel discuss politics in all kinds of political dialogue and often from partisan viewpoints. What is hard to understand is why so few of the religious community are offered a real voice in such public matters, but only a few “representative,” to use the term loosely, spokespersons. As always, media is seeking
the momentum of viewers, listeners, or readers. Ratings that generate advertising dollars mean more than content or integrity it would seem. Controversy and generating classic conflicts is more appealing for the needed result.
But faith sharing is at the heart of the gospel. Telling others about Jesus Christ is the basic mission of the church as we teach, baptize, and make disciples who seek to learn and grow in their relationships as followers of Jesus Christ. So why is it that we seem to have such a difficult time getting around to doing just that?
One issue is the great divide created by the actions of the church during certain periods of her history. Divisions between clergy and laity became such that at times only the clergy were generally given access to the biblical texts. At other times, clergy alone were regarded as approved to baptize or to authorize the giving of the Lord’s Supper. The authority of clergy became institutionalized to the degree that the implications for laity were often to be sidelined as public witnesses in the context of worship, and led often to the implication that it was not appropriate to go to another layperson for information about the bible or Christ, but only clergy. In other words, a wall of separation was established, more by practice than intention, but nonetheless, often abided by in terms of practical application. Laypersons lost their voice, and their sense of calling, and their capacity to access the biblical texts. It was a difficult time for the church in general. Abuse was easy. People who did not read the scriptures seldom had a strong capacity to communicate the message contained in them. Sadly, some unscrupulous types within the ranks of the clergy were even able to abuse the general public in their own misuse of texts to accommodate their own interests. Out of this context the Protestant Reformation emerged, first from within the church and then of necessity outside of the Roman Catholic tradition. Interestingly, a general reform occurred within the Roman church as a result of those initial protests that initiated Protestant groups.
One of the significant parts of this historical movement came with the availability of printed scriptures and the broader dissemination of the biblical texts to the larger public. The availability of scripture for public reading was a radical departure from previous days and yet it opened the windows of understanding and knowledge for multitudes. As literacy in general spread through the population, even greater access to the scriptures opened the way for broader focus upon the study of the Bible.
It has been in these more recent centuries that the church has had available in wide use the scriptures. Yet once more, it seems the church has entered the dark ages. Biblical illiteracy is a staggering reality within much of the community of faith. In other words, people own bibles, but do not read them. People carry bibles but do not know what is in them. People talk about the bible often, but without a regular pattern of reading and understanding. Why? Largely, because we are a less literate culture than in the past. This generation of Americans, for example, have a smaller usable vocabulary than the generation before them. We have diminished our own use of language. Little wonder that we do not have the facility of thought and ability to delve into the challenging words of Holy writ.
For Baptists, the writing has been on the wall…we have institutionally supported and promoted education while in practice we have dismantled a strong church focus upon discipleship programs and personal bible study. Sunday School, initially focusing upon children’s literacy in its infancy, and growing to a large adult bible study movement in the early 20th century, is now largely in neglected decline in most churches. It is unusual to see persons in large numbers even bringing their own bibles to church any more.
The Bible is not a collection of stories to be regarded as an equal to any other book on the shelf. It is the living word of our living God! It is the testimony of God’s revelation of Himself to humankind. It is the work of divine initiative and inspiration. God used many to carry forward through history the story of His actions and instruction for our blessing. The words they recorded from the oral history of ancient days to the letters of the New Testament churches were shared for our blessing, our understanding, and our faith.
John’s gospel so specifically declares, “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31 NRSV)
So where is our faith story being told? Is it the sole proprietorship of our pulpiteers or professional ministers? Heaven forbid. Is it the commodity to be distributed by the most successful talking heads on the religious broadcasting network? Probably not. Is it the word of faith, born from above, that is ours to share with family, friends and neighbors? Undoubtedly so….at least according to what Jesus said. And if we really believe what we have come to know by faith…we will also understand that our story of faith is ours to share and no one can refute what we know by experience. In other words…God gives you and I the opportunity and responsibility to bear witness to our faith and trust in Him daily. We give witness of something to everyone all the time.
Are we living the abundant life in Christ? Are we sharing the story of Jesus? Are we following Him with the commitments of our time, talents, and resources?
Someone once said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” What about a living soul? What about a child for whom Christ died? What about the friend or family member near you who needs to know Jesus? Start sharing what you know…soon…with someone near you. Trust God to use your witness for His purpose. Results are His business. Our responsibility is to share what we know. God is good. God is love. God sent His Son to save us. It is time once more that believers join together…so that our faith “is proclaimed throughout the world.” (Romans 1:8b)
It is time that we share, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11) “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) That witness will come in answer to the questions…”But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” (Romans 10:14) Those are questions you and I must answer with our actions.

Treasure Up

During her college days, my youngest daughter would often call me up on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings and leave me a message or text and say…“Preach ‘em up, daddy!” I suppose you would have to be a pastor to understand, but her encouragement was also a reminder of my most sacred responsibility as a minister of Jesus Christ. I am called to preach…and to point others to Christ. And to know Him and to follow Him and to trust Him with your life is to discover an “upward way.”
The book of proverbs commends the child of God to “treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding…then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:1-2, 5 NRSV)
It would be wise for all of us to encourage one another to “treasure up” those things that enable us to discover God’s way for our lives each day. As we pursue His guidance with the enthusiasm of treasure hunters and with the joy of those who do find life abundant in Him, we will know as Jesus taught, that where our treasure is, there our heart is also.

Birthdays and History

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. It also marks for numismatists (coin collectors) 100 years since the famous minting of the 1909 VDB pennies. In August of 1909, the initial offering of the Lincoln cent was revealed in the various forms produced by mints in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. Mintmarks from Denver and San Francisco were noted with a D or S beneath the year. Philadelphia adopted the “plain” or no additional letter format for the penny. In this initial year of this new version of the one-cent coin, succeeding the earlier Indianhead pennies, the initials of the engraver, Victor D. Brenner appeared on the reverse at the bottom edge of the coin. Protests arose over the initialed inscriptions, with some suggesting that it was commissioned work and therefore not to be artistically identified. Protestors won out and while the coin faces remained the same in following years, the initials were dropped. Interestingly, the 1909 became something of a novelty. Even more so was the fact that the San Francisco mint produced significantly fewer pennies of that year and thus the 1909-S VDB penny became a collector’s delight, both for its scarcity and value.
This year, to honor the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, four different reverses are being minted and released at different times during the year to commemorate Lincoln’s birth in Kentucky, his formative years in Indiana, his professional life in Illinois, and his Presidency in Washington, D.C. Each new reverse of the Lincoln cent will bear the initials of those who designed the work and produced it initially. Interestingly, now the V.D.B. for Victor D. Brenner can be found under the shoulder of Lincoln on the face of the coin.
While remembering the details seems interesting to some and less so to others, in similar ways, we often take the ordinary and routine of our days and forget the significant history that enabled our own opportunities and blessings. As our church celebrates 175 years, we would do well to pause and recognize the gifts of many along the way that have remained less known perhaps, but nonetheless significant contributors to the life and work of the congregation that has blessed untold numbers through the years. Our discoveries in researching the past will mark interesting days of ministry and service. The names will be many, the offerings to each generation significant, and with clear voice and intention our aim has been to bring glory to our God. So together let us with one voice and one heart, unite to lift up the name of Jesus Christ our Lord…proclaiming the Gospel and sharing with all the good news. The details do matter. The lessons to be shared are important. The story to be told…is life changing…forever.

The Evolution of Greed

It doesn’t take much to find evidence of greed in the marketplace or the boardroom these days. Greed has apparently become the motivation for many people’s self-ruination. The ultimate source of greed is the willingness to bow down to false gods. ….of all descriptions. It is a misplacement of trust in that which is ultimately incapable of being a source of trust. To call such things false gods is simply to understand what many have allowed to have control of their lives, whether it is their possessions or their obsessions, or their lusts for power in the worlds they choose to “rule.” Sadly the descriptions of those false gods would easily fall into that biblical description of idols written of in Psalm 115:4-7:
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats.”
Such descriptions relate the truth about those things we place before ourselves to worship and bow down to, rather than God. The “punch line” in this Psalm however is the next verse that says: “Those who make them (idols) are like them; so are all who trust in them.”
Greed is but one evidence of misplaced faith. It is the mark of a “taker” not a “giver.” It is the characteristic of one whose possessions take predominance over relationship. The results of greed are never attractive, but typically exploitive, corrupt, and abusing. Greed destroys those who are its victims and those who in bowing to “false gods” become overwhelmed with the never fulfilling nature of seeking what cannot be found apart from a relationship with the true Lord of all.

The Measure of a Man

When Tom Wolfe wrote his novel, A Man in Full, it was a satirical view of a high-flying Atlanta real estate tycoon. More than a few of his descriptions were familiar places or venues, with names only slightly changed. But the story conveyed the often
sad story of those who pursue financial gain at the cost of their family relationships and personal integrity, accompanied by their own moral and ethical downfall.
A recent issue of Forbes Magazine highlights the richest Americans. Mostly billionaires who have made fortunes in everything from cosmetics to oil pipelines to chicken sandwiches. But the measure of these individuals is poorly judged by the dollars that are associated with their business endeavors. The real measure of these persons is in the character of their lives. It is in the visible fruit of their existence and their impact for good upon the world. It is the real measure of the individual that meets of the tests of the times and remains confidant in something more than their accounts at the local bank.
The challenge to those with wealth is the same as it has always been. Where do you put your trust? Poor men, while having little, should be equally impressed to recognize that their hope is not in what they do not have, but whom they might know as their help and their strength for life.
Ultimately, our Maker will judge our measure of worth. He is our perfect judge…He knows us best…and fully. If that is whom you are preparing to stand before to give account…it should challenge your actions and commitments of stewardship daily.
But the good news is this, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works. Lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19 NKJV)

Creatures of Habit

Patterns are often helpful in matters of personal discipline, hygiene, and exercise.
We benefit from the disciplines exercised in countless fields of endeavor from food service to medicine, transportation to education. Disciplined patterns enable us to function effectively and efficiently. But we humans are far more than form and function.
We also operate in the context of community. We have the capacity to adapt to changes.
We have the opportunity to respond to circumstances that are new or suddenly modified.
That said, we also remain creatures of habit. Lessons learned in the midst of ordinary times allows us to use effective tools and responses during stressed times. Such is the training by the military, EMT’s and fire fighters. Good habits prepare a foundation for good outcomes. Good habits protect us and help us to discover ways to relate positively to stressing or difficult challenges. In the same way spiritual disciplines can inform us, guide us, and enable us. Good habits of worship, bible study, prayer, witness and service allow Christians to mature in their practice of faith and in their effectiveness in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Consider your present habits and consider ways to direct your time and energies toward those positive outcomes you seek.

The Parental Units

Taking on the task of parenting begins in many ways -- Some planned, some unplanned; some with insight, some with no clue about what to do next. Parents come in all shapes, sizes, intellects and occupations. The remarkable thing about parents is that they always become smarter over time and always remain unpredictable on some measure of the spectrum…at least in the eyes of their children.

Responsible parents wish to provide their children with safety, support, encouragement, opportunities to grow and learn and explore their unique abilities, along with needed education and guidance to live long enough to be responsible enough to make their own decisions with wisdom and integrity.

While parents are not only concerned with these important aims for their children’s lives, they are also conscious of the challenges that are presented in light of those who might exploit their children, who could influence their children to become isolated and socially disengaged from those who care about them, or who could give misinformation that would be shared with their children in many unmonitored contexts. Parents could be concerned about the loss of communication and conversation with their children, the frequency of addiction among the larger population that influences behaviors in many families and communities, and the reality of family disintegration causing many levels of emotional and economic and social dis-ease. Parents often worry too much about things they can’t control and too little about things that can give their children the strongest foundations for daily life.

No child should be left without a comprehension of God’s love for him or her.
No child should be left without an awareness that they were created to be in a relationship with their Creator who loves them and made them for a divine and holy purpose. No child should be left without the awareness of God’s intention for a family to be built upon a relationship of love and care and mutual concern for one another shared in an understanding of God’s guidance for life. No child should be left without an awareness of God’s provision for his or her future. No child should be left without a sense of wonder and awe and mystery at the thought of all that God is and has done for them. No child should be left without the blessing of sharing in worship, in prayer, in singing and praising God together with a family of faith that loves him or her.

When these things are a part of a child’s life, the multitude of matters like sexuality, relationships, popularity, novelty, and the testing of limits and abilities, all become secondary to the understanding that we live in relationship to God and His love for us. That enables life to take on meaning and focus and direction. It enables an abundant life in the provision and knowledge of God.

Parents, together let us pray that we can help our children to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…. we and they will be the better for it. That relationship allows us to grow in favor “with God and man.”

Living in the Alley

Can you imagine life in an alley -- your world limited to the sights and sounds of that one place? Can you identify with your access to the outside world as a line of back doors, garbage cans and weed-filled culverts? Can you imagine what you would think about the world if only the alley were your world? Would you find the rats or roaches crawling through the garbage interesting? Would you find the discards of those who threw away their trash the center of your world? Would you wonder at the way of life seen through the garbage of those people? Would it reveal their habits and lifestyles, their addictions or their sufferings? Would the world of the alley reveal the sounds of those so nearby who struggled with life in ways that were obviously less than ideal? Would the views from the alley also reveal the good and the happy and the delight of those whose lives were full and joyous and marked by love? Would living in the alley allow you to see that even in the worst of times there were good times and even in the best of times there were struggles? Would the sights and sounds of the alley reveal the call of mothers to their children to gather for food and would it reveal the bitter curse of another toward one who certainly was at that moment far from being loved? Would the experience of the alley tell the story and then again tell another because of the many points of view it offered? Whether you live in an alley or not, you can be sure that the nearness of your life to others is never so far removed that you do not share the need of God’s love and mercy. The realities of our days are shared with those throughout time and history…we live and move in ways that need the direction of God to guide us. We have limited access to other people at times, like living in an alley, but we do not have limited access to God. The good news is that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
But then we are reminded of something else…”How are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent. …So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14-17)
People in alleys or people in homes or at work or at play need the message of Jesus Christ. It takes someone willing to go to them to bring the good news. Are you willing to take the good news of God’s love to those near you? Will they ever hear of Jesus if all they know is the world right up your alley?

Reflections

September 11 brings memories that remain all around us. Construction at “Ground Zero” has languished. The Pentagon’s rebuilt side looks like a giant new band-aid is on the roof compared to the rest of the building. Memorials abound and more prominently the memories of those whose families were changed forever by that event. We remember the tragic loss of lives that day, but also the lives of those who were touched by their lives. And we can’t forget the hundreds since who have died in the battles that were undertaken since that time in the name of national security and “taking the battle to them” and “protecting our interests.” There is no question, we must recognize enemies when we come to know them and understand their intentions to destroy. At the same time, we would do well to remember that our lives are different because of 9-11 events. They are different because we have made the world different as a result of our fears and our self-interests and our inability to understand why anyone anywhere would be so motivated in such a self-destructive manner to do such a thing. 9-11 has educated us to madness, and meanness, but also to the capacity of sick hearts and lives, broken and suffering existence, and twisted ideologies bent on instilling fear above all other effects. The “lessons” that are so often referred to can create a callousness of mind, like a wound that does not heal, remaining putrid and festering and causing pain. Or we can discover that there is healing and help and hope from the voice of God to each of us that reminds us that He will have the last word. In the meantime, there is a mission of mercy to be performed, there is a ministry of healing to be undertaken, there is the mindful, purposeful, meaningful intent to bring blessing and hope to those who are without those things in their lives. That is the gift of God to us and that is the word that He gives for us to share. “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus said. In Him we find more than enough to see us through everything…come what may.

Training Your Brain

A Stanford University professor recently discussed research that indicates multi-tasking may be bad for your brain. Essentially, in measured tests, those who were attempting multiple tasks at the same time, declined in their productivity, or the ability to accurately accomplish what they were doing.
In large measure, we have socially embraced interruption to a point that it may be not only decreasing our ability to function, but it may also be recalibrating our brains to respond to interruptions without regard for the value of those interruptions or their importance. In other words, we train our brains to give attention to the new stimulus, no matter what it is or no matter how insignificant or unimportant it may be. Consequently, the brain surgeon who carries his cell phone in his back pocket may be more interested in the reason for the vibrating phone than he is in the brain he is currently operating on. It is a brain-influenced phenomenon. When we repeatedly respond to interruptions, to the neglect of the matters at hand, we lose effectiveness.
As a pastor, I regard it as a significant part of my work, to be able to adapt to the necessary interruptions required for ministry. Crises occur, persons need immediate assistance, timely response is important for any number of church related activities and meeting ministry needs. At the same time, it is becoming ever more necessary to identify times for solitude. Time to pray. Time to study. Time to read and reflect and write require periods without constant interruption. And apparently we need to work at reversing some of the patterns so prolific in our social context that cause us to do too many things poorly simply because we are trying to do them all at once.
If the research proves true, it may be the tip of the iceberg that describes the abilities of multitudes of people being compromised by the social interruption of 24/7 availability via internet, cell phones, and email, not to mention the bombardment of media via radio, television and disruptively injected video and sound bites of all sorts.
The constant stimulus to our brains with interrupting sounds, rings, bells, and voices may be limiting our ability to hear anything well, to listen hardly at all, or to appropriately respond when it is absolutely important to do so.
Persons who seem to have limited attention may simply be over stimulating their brains with interruptions that inadvertently “train their brain” to continue changing their focus away from matters at hand. Allowing for longer periods of focus without interruption may be the key to “resetting” our brain’s attention cycle.
When Jesus took time to separate himself from the crowds, when he spent time in solitude and prayer, when he demonstrated by his own example the importance of balancing the intensity of constant interruption with the needed time for rest, he taught us something important to recognize. Human bodies require rest, renewal, and time to give attention to God above all others. Our brains may not only need the retraining, but the
opportunity to learn from the One who knows us best.

Health and Americans

I have listened and read with interest the widely diverse and opinioned comments of those seeking to make sense of the health care crisis in our nation. As a user of this system and one who has overseen the care of elderly family members for a number of years, there is much to be considered.
Most arguments against systems requiring greater accountability suggest that the management overload would prevent good care. Costs are currently escalating out of control and presenting all but the wealthiest or those with amazing benefit packages with restrictive health care choices. Most plans ignore a call for healthy lifestyle choices as a component of reduced costs. Most plans ignore preventive care as a component for improved health and reduced cost. Most plans ignore health personnel shortages as increasing the likelihood of less care, no matter how much it costs. Rapidly rising numbers of older Americans will stress the present system because it has not “ramped up” for greater aging care needs.
One of the great weaknesses of American healthcare is the dysfunctional family systems that provide limited or poor support to family members. With extended life expectancy and reduced birth rates, those circumstances are further skewed in favor of less supportive environments.
We also share in a moral crisis at the point of recognizing the human limitations of medical practice. Our expectations have risen beyond reason. No physician can cure everything. No doctor should be expected to fix everything. Attempts to remedy every pain, every discomfort, every sadness or struggle is unhealthy in itself. Pain discloses the need for change. Pain reveals where there are problems. To eliminate pain may disguise that which is most debilitating.
Prescription drug abuse has grown to astounding levels. Sadly, those who abuse their bodies and neglect common sense measures to improve their health are among some of the most demanding for results. There is also a general societal inability to comprehend much of the complexity associated with present systems of medical service delivery. At the same time, there are those who use the system so routinely that they know how to abuse the system’s resources by undermining its weaknesses. Multiple doctors treating the same patient for the same ailment may not know of the others efforts. Similarly, without coordinated systems for tracking medicine dispensing, we overserve many to their detriment and frequently prolonged abuse.
Other looming problems are clear. Physicians are in short supply in the most needed areas. As one family physician recently complained…his patient appointments were 3 weeks out….it required a 3 week wait for someone to see their primary care physician. Many can die in 3 weeks in emergency situations. Others can be seriously affected in negative ways if improvements are not sought in less than a three week time.
Our present “backup” to this limitation is the excessively expensive emergency room visit. Yet even there, the triaged waiting room efforts require prolonged waits and often slow progress toward resolving matters as critical as strokes and as ordinary as playground cuts and scraps. When minutes can mean the difference between life debilitating aftereffects or a return to health… it matters.
Facilities responsible for dispensing health care are under extreme pressures to reduce costs while faced with personnel shortages that undermine patient care and create stress and overload for present workers. Where are hospitals getting nurses? Many are regularly enlisting nurses trained overseas where trained nurses are more available. We are losing the capacity to serve our own population with sufficient trained personnel. It takes a long time to train a capable doctor or nurse. It takes even longer for them to specialize. Such patterns of training are failing because of less than favorable working conditions and the high cost of education.
Chronic drains on the welfare system are the growing load of unwed teen mothers, often with limited access to prenatal care and low birth weight complications to newborns; likewise is the percentage of drug addicted mothers giving birth to drug addicted infants…is there any stronger case for better educational instruction and earlier intervention efforts? Why have we socially ignored the crippling effects of poverty and made medical care a vast field of attack for litigation…seeking to gain compensation and benefits through microanalysis of every medical procedure and its outcome. “Ambulance chasing” has become a by-word for our times. As difficult as it has been for some of my acquaintances to receive needed disability benefits, I struggle to understand how we can so easily attach a disability diagnosis without also working more uniformly as a nation to provide alternative work opportunities for willing workers with disabilities. Perhaps we are struggling enough enabling work for the physically able? We further destabilize our social fabric by creating a class society of the sick, diseased, and disabled supported by the overworked, overtaxed, and overextended.
Friends who check on one another regularly can be most instrumental in providing good health monitoring and good mental health. Engaging in caring for others can improve one’s own outlook on life significantly. Partnering with others to share abilities and using the strengths of a group to meet needs goes a long way toward positive living outcomes. Where we need the most work on healthcare is in our own backyards. Physical activity, a healthy diet…best shared while eating with others and enjoying the company and conversation of friends, a spiritual focus on the future, and an awareness of
God’s help and guidance….these factors go far toward improving health and our quality of life.
Let us not mistake the role of government -- that while able to encourage “best practices” with legislative efforts --- will never be able to dispense to all efficiently or effectively the essential care that must be provided in the context of caring communities of individuals who invest themselves in the lives of one another. Jesus said it best, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 19:19b NRSV)

Keeping Up

There is a phrase people often use…”keeping up with the Jones.” For most it is a somewhat sly remark implying that one is either attempting to “one up” someone else in terms of possessions or in some form of “showing off.” Keeping up with someone or some group has been a national pastime for quite a while. In fact, advertisers have been in the business for a very long time attempting to “create” your sense of need for something based upon their implied importance for having those things bringing you some never to be had “feeling” or “satisfaction.” Religious and spiritual language have often been used by such advertisers in the name of commercial endeavor. Often you would be invited to buy something to “bring good things to life.” At other times you were told you could experience something as “smooth, satisfying, and delicious” when it was “offensive, smelly, and life-threatening.” More often used were the subtle implications that having certain things would make you more acceptable. Brand names were marks of success. Logos on shirts or pockets meant you were “cooler” or more likely to succeed among your peers. The great “sell” has so often played to the emotions of the least secure individuals to convince them to buy something that would “improve” or “beautify” or make them more attractive to those of the opposite sex.
“Keeping up” has been a frustrating pursuit for all those who indulge in such rituals of behavior. Even if the “toys are gathered” those who have the most don’t win. They just have more broken toys in the end and sadly many have broken lives, distorted views of what is really valuable, and often a poor sense of their own self-worth.
God has sent his son, Jesus to inform us about so much of this. He told us to understand that God knows what we need. Having what we need, however, begins with looking first for God to be first in our lives. To know Jesus as your Lord marks the beginning of putting all the things of the world in the right perspective. It will also give you some wisdom about valuing other people in the way God values them. God’s love for each of us marks the fact that He wants all of us to know the blessings of his provision of eternal life through faith in Jesus. God invites us to understand that we are invited to share in the inheritance of heaven…the eternal and abundant life that begins when we look to him in faith and trust for our future. If we would be interested in helping our world keep up to speed on that good news…we would be doing what Christ has called his followers to be about.

Dispelling Distress

For some persons, stress is a way of life. Some measure of stress can be healthy…regular exercise strengthens body muscles. Exertion can be instrumental in some strengthening, but constant or repeated stress over time yields destructive consequences to the human body. The demands placed upon the body during long periods of stress can lead to neurological events, breakdowns in the natural renewal processes of the body best accomplished during rest and sleep cycles, and a wide variety of physical distresses that indicate a need for change. Stress induced illness has become a common denominator for many. Like soldiers in combat, those engaged in high demand work environments, and today’s relentless constant contact/constant work venues made possible via messaging, phones and computers keeps many individuals under severe stress.
Still other forms of distress plague many. Distress regarding jobs, or the lack of, complicates life for many. Economic difficulties, and changes that seemingly lie outside one’s control often bring difficult circumstances to be addressed. Even mistakenly adopted models for achievement can be stressors to a degree that inhibits or prevents positive performance outcomes. Some create stress for others because of their lack of responsiveness or apathetic attitude, when others depend upon them for measured success.
Distress is with us, or not, largely depending upon our capacities to relate to the circumstances we are facing. For far too many, the circumstances are not the source of distress, but rather the inability to consider appropriate ways to face those circumstances. Without imposing the mystic’s mantra or the Tibetan’s gong, let me suggest that most of us just need an honest look at ourselves that will help us to see that we need God’s help for life. We need the wisdom of our Creator to tackle the tangle of issues our world seems so frequently to struggle with. We need our Lord and Savior to show us how to relate to one another redemptively and with a heart of love that is motivated and inspired with the love that was first shown to us by Christ himself. We need to consider that often in our haste to meet our needs, we fail to see the needs of others and even more often fail to see that which would be pleasing to God for us to be doing.
Distress is what comes when we reap the consequences of our own refusal to follow Christ…in attitude and action. What kind of stress would it bring for us to love one another as Christ loved us? The only stress of that is the surprise generated in those to whom we show that kind of love. In that situation, distress gives way to discovery…and hope and joy and forgiveness and life and peace…you get the picture.
Before you reach for the analgesic, perhaps following Jesus’ lead would show you the way to better handle your daily challenges. Consider time listening and learning from Him. Enjoy a time of daily reading from the Gospels. Listen for the things Jesus taught us and put them into practice. It will go a long way toward rescuing a very stressed world.

Perfection

The 119th Psalm, a “super-acrostic” of the Hebrew alphabet, is the longest Psalm with the most verses. Today the first half of the 96th verse of that Psalm caught my eye. It reads: “To all perfection I see a limit...”
I think of how often we inject the call for perfection into our conversation without any real scrutiny of what we are asking for. Women speak of finding the perfect dress. Brides dream of having the perfect wedding. Men refer to the perfect car. Homebuyers seek the perfect house. Weather forecasters speak of perfect weather. I think the Psalmist was helpful in pointing to the limitation of our own pursuits of perfection. Our best efforts will always require that we yield to certain limits. The most detailed planning will not prevent the unexpected. The most exhausting preparation at some point has to give way to the necessity of doing what the planning prepared for…and all its less than perfect outcomes, however few or many may result. But that brings us back to the 119th Psalm. The whole psalm is essentially focused upon the fact that God gives us the best guidance and the best insight and the best direction for our lives. His word stands the tests of time and practice. His truth endures forever. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
Perfection has always been a worthy aim…if we recognize our human limitations. At the same time…our imperfection is countered by our hope and trust in one whose love and mercy have made a way for our life to be full and abundant in Jesus Christ. In him, perfection abounds. In him, we discover the perfection of God and God’s deliverance from sin as we place our faith and trust in Him…the one who came to save us.
As the apostle Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We have our limits…and “the wage of sin is death”. As long as we pursue our own way…we flounder and the consequences are the outcomes of pride and intentional rejection of God’s way.
Yet God’s invitation is to repent of sin…to repent of the idolatry that puts something or someone or even our self in the place of God. It is a willingness to acknowledge our sin and to seek our Savior, Jesus Christ.
A story is told that Amish women in making their beautiful and often highly detailed quilts intentionally miss a stitch, to remind themselves that “nothing is perfect” apart from the perfection of God. I think the Psalmist had the same idea. The wonderful good news is that in the provision of God, we can put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ and know the abundant life that comes from sharing in His perfection.

Moonwalk Anniversary

Forty years ago today, astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the lunar surface. It was an astounding feat of engineering and scientific effort, but it was also the culmination of countless days and hours of deliberate, intentional planning, evaluation, design, and experimentation. And the source of all these efforts began with a challenge, a goal, an aim set forth to inspire the best minds and best dreams to be engaged in the pursuit of learning.

As the Psalmist wrote so long ago, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Every move humankind has made into the cosmos has reaffirmed that statement. The infinite details revealed in the exploration of time and space continue to escalate our comprehension of God’s profound and awesome creation. The wonder of our ever growing awareness of the universe is that we continue to be directed by both the physics and mathematics demonstrated in our study and exploration to the intentionally unscientific declaration…”In the beginning God…”

Such is a perspective of faith and yet for many a declaration of experience. The most intense study of creation is only a testimony of the creator…it declares the glory of God…it is a manifestation of His handiwork. For all of our labors to extend our reach into the heavens, we will be ever able to marvel at the wonder of God’s gifts to us all.
Every ocean tide, every array of color in the sunset, every glow of brilliance from the night sky…should cause us to give thanks. God has blessed us. God has sustained us.
God has called us to abundant life in the joy of knowing our hope is in Him.

In the Interest of Life

One of the greatest needs of our time is for a renewed respect for human life. Many individuals seem to be mentally dulled to both the wonder and miracle of life itself. We can observe the fragility of life at every hand, but we also can acknowledge the strength of life in every heartbeat…every breath. What seems to be present, however, is a sense of invulnerability displayed by some…as though the rules of physics did not need to apply to their own physical walk and movement. Others seem to wish to ignore gravity… or the laws of inertia…or the biological realities of physical death caused by poison ingestion. These kinds of ignorances frequently destroy otherwise healthy, generally capable, and even intelligent persons. Some part of the problem precipitates from the over stimulation of simulation games and visually stimulated sequences of digitally modified actions. In other words…people watch physically impossible movements and actions portrayed by modifications electronically recorded and mentally presume such action is possible. For a generation past, to see a cartoon coyote continuously smashed by large rocks dropped from high places was a humorous conclusion, but to see the portrayal of what appears to be live human beings being repeatedly blown up and restored by the reset button causes a mental lapse in comprehending the limits of human physical capacity. We observe violent acts toward human characters at astounding rates in drama, movies, and television programming. We see an equally disturbing rise in destructive behaviors among children and teens that most often are not well supervised in the selection of their video preferences. Abusive behaviors are often reflected in song lyrics and music video portrayals of characters. Murder, rape, drug use and assault are often the subject of what is sold as entertainment
to the masses. Many fill their hours with such and wonder why they feel depressed, disturbed, and fearful. A new appreciation for life is capable of being born within us as we give attention to the love God has for each of us. In His wisdom, he guides us to the light and truth of his word to us, to the understanding of his purpose for our days, and to a comprehension of his life giving presence as our Lord and Savior. Welcome Jesus as your instructor for living well…living joyfully…and living in the love of God.

Seeking Justice

I heard the story once of a judge who was about to pass sentence. The convicted felon loudly shouted and said, ” Judge, I want justice. I want justice. I want justice.” The judge responded. “ Sir, you are receiving justice…what you should be asking for is mercy. “
The desire for justice is certainly a key element of our common sharing of life together. Justice assumes respect for one another. Justice assumes a valuing of all that is good and right and fair. Justice is conscious of matters of physical or mental incapacity, but it does not ignore patterns of behavior that are destructive to persons and community. The imposing figure of Justice depicted in many courtrooms shows Justice as blind in respect to those elements of external differences that might otherwise divide loyalties, or create partialities or partisan decisions as persons seek remedy for grievances. At the same time, Justice listens. Justice seeks truth. Justice hears witnesses to address the circumstances and events involved.
The context of Justice however is community. Community is seldom blind to persons and personalities, actions and behaviors. At the same time community has the capacity to inspire justice or to subvert it. Community defines acceptable parameters of behavior and activities deemed appropriate for the shared marketplace or in respect to human behaviors, precluding private acts of violence or destructiveness that endanger or threaten. Community determines the effectiveness of Justice in her efforts to provide a level of righteousness that allows for peaceful coexistence, while at the same time injecting the elements of mercy and grace that allow us to be redemptive in our flawed human imperfection.
Our flaws lie largely in what the Apostle Paul referred to as “the sin, which so easily besets us.” Sin undermines our pursuit of justice and our ability to uphold it socially. The nature of our times seems to have adopted a “lowest common denominator” definition of what is acceptable and the bar keeps falling. Not until we aspire to the calling of God and comprehend the righteousness of his providing will we know the experience of justice in its truest blessing and at the same time experience mercy as only God has offered us.
The next time you are in the mood for Justice, perhaps you should think again and turn to God and pray: “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” That kind of praying could not only remedy Justice’s blindness, but could open the windows of heaven to allow you to see the light of God’s love through Jesus Christ. That experience could change you forever.

Help For What Ails You

When doctors candidly talk about the types of ailments and symptoms they see on a regular basis, they note the chronic nature of many illnesses and the disturbing number of preventable disease events that they confront. At the same time, there is the stark reality that when patients present themselves demanding help for their suffering, they want something to change the immediate circumstances.
Far too often, physicians are forced to enter into a kind of further debilitating co-dependent role as they treat symptoms at the expense of sustaining the behaviors and actions that prompted the “disease” in the first place.
It is a frequently accepted social pattern to serve and drink alcoholic beverages.
To do so is done with frequent attentiveness to the variety of colorful and sophisticated nuances of taste and selections offered by a seemingly endless variety of delightfully displayed and well-articulated options by which one can “enjoy” the effects of such intoxicants. But there is a reality to be faced. Alcohol is toxic to the body. It can serve as a disinfectant. At its best it serves in primitive fashion as a painkiller and may appropriately be given to the dying for such purposes. At the same time, to portray the results of alcoholism on the stage of life is to see disease, dysfunction, despair, disability, and endless episodes of vomiting, disorientation, boisterous and destructive behaviors, a pattern of social and societal disengagement created by a foreign substance entering the human body and attacking it with a vengeance.
Many today utilize this socially accepted and readily available toxin to treat their “dis-ease.” Many very real and treatable physical conditions are often “self-medicated” by individuals who go to the nearest source of cheap “pain relief.” Others have come to a pattern of self-destruction by the yearning for acceptance that drove them to act and adopt patterns that were assumed to be socially enhancing to their lives. All the while…not recognizing the socially debilitating effects of their actions, and equally physically debilitating results.
Perhaps it isn’t until you have attended the funeral of a teenager who died of alcohol poisoning that such a message stands out in contrast to the 75 year old closet alcoholic whose wife bears the scars and emotional devastation of years behind closed doors of pain.
We have our ailments. We have our pain. We have our suffering. But the tragedy of our time is that we multiply our agonies by our actions and decisions that rather than helping, only create further problems. There is wisdom, born from above, that God extends to us through His Son Jesus Christ. It is the comprehension of a new life and a new way of living. It is a gift to be received in faith…it is recognition of our need to turn to God for our help and salvation. It is an understanding that what ails us most is a broken relationship with our creator and giver of life.
When that relationship is set right…the ailments and pains and diseases become matters with which we can deal redemptively, in ways that direct us to the healing and life sustaining provisions of God. I thank God for the wonderful gifts of physicians and surgeons and nurses and pharmacists and therapists of all kinds who work daily to alleviate the pains and suffering of those who are sick. What I also rejoice to see are those gifts of God’s giving that are used daily to promote healing and health through actions and choices that preempt needless suffering in the first place.

Summer Reading: Key to Progress

A host of voices have weighed in recently on the seemingly systemic problems associated with education. In the midst of pressing economic challenges, there are the statistics that point to a generational decline in literacy, a significant drop in science and mathematics Ph.D.’s in American universities and a significant indication of long-term social and economic distress linked to a dropout rate of U.S. high school students approaching 33%. Among minority populations that number can soar near 50%. When we factor in the realities of many children poorly supported in the summer months in regard to nutrition and active learning engagements, we see factors that exacerbate these problems.
One of the most interesting rays of hope in the midst of these realities lies in those communities and among those whose attention has been focused upon reading. For many children the availability of books has opened new vistas of learning and growth. It has been shown that when students, even those in economically disadvantaged circumstances, can have access to a steady supply of quality reading resources: whether at church, public libraries, through book mobiles, in community learning centers, or in any number of venues that allow for exposure to interesting reading materials, they have shown excellent progress. Even the poorest of readers, when exposed to others reading to them, and pre-schoolers who have parents or family or community members reading to them, show positive outcomes from regular “story time” and “reading events.”
My challenge to our church community this summer is to serve as facilitators to the children and youth in your reach to diligently help them to have good reading opportunities this summer. There is nothing like a good book on a rainy summer afternoon to inspire the imagination and mental capacities of a young mind. If you need good suggestions for summer reading, check out the public library. When traveling, visit bookstores on a regular basis…they are such fun! Help your children to develop verbal skills as you invite them to talk to you about the books they are reading. Read them yourself and model good reading patterns. Unplug the television and “flood” your children with reading opportunities. If your child is struggling with reading…make sure they have age and skill appropriate materials…invite them to read out loud to you, and then help them with “hard” words. Keep a good dictionary handy and put a big poster board on the back of their bedroom door and let them keep a list of the books they read during the summer. Challenge them to see how many books they can read before school starts in the fall. Encourage them to include the number of pages read with each book.
Don’t forget to introduce some “classics” to older children, and don’t be surprised to find some young readers able to tackle some thick books. Every aspect of learning is tied to reading. Encourage it, help those who for whatever reasons are struggling readers and realize that often the real difference for many is having someone who helps. Start a child on an adventure in reading, and you may be engaging them for a lifetime of learning and growing.

Culture in Crisis

Philip Rieff is a sociologist who wrote a complex book entitled, “The Triumph of the Therapeutic.” In his foreword he explains his attempt to move toward a “theory of culture.” Interestingly, he moves between many of the cultural trends of his own day and points to an impoverishment of western culture, a trend toward the personal that undermines all reflections or considerations of absolutes, whether religious or social, and a cultural description of a “therapeutic mindset” in which our collective interests become only those self absorbed solutions to our own predicaments. He suggests that mechanization and urbanization have allowed us to adopt patterns that will fail to find the agrarian cultures self-correction in mandated community effort to survive and thrive. In the movement away from the agriculturally based culture of the past we have found an insistent movement to satisfy our secondary needs at the expense of our primary.
Failing to share, to communicate personally, to interact with intentionality toward community leaves the future looking less and less capable of exercising and demonstrating genuine love. In the midst of our times, we are casting aside internalized moral demands and ignoring the needs of others for the sake of self-interests or worse, self-destructive ends. In his words, we are asking for “more goods, more housing, more leisure, and…more life” in the “reformations” of our cultured requirements. And while more does not translate into “better” by our vocalized agreements, we still pursue more.
Failing to even internalize obedience as a principle for relationship, we now have created a system in which sin is foreign because the recognition of obedience is lost as a value.
For a book written in 1966, this book has a hauntingly prophetic ring for our times.
While Rieff may serve as an able social prophet, we are reminded to recognize that the Word of God to us is truth. In that word, we find the correction for this and every generation that points us toward a redemptive and positive life in Jesus Christ. It is a principled existence, but it is not only an existence, it is a love-generated relationship with our Creator -- initiated by God to redeem humankind and to save us. God will have the last word. The question is, “Will we be listening?”

Affirming Gifts

The community of faith is commended to be mindful of the collective responsibility we have to affirm and encourage the use of our spiritual gifts. Every Christian has some gift. And those gifts may be, but are not necessarily attached to a vocational expression of our gifts.
We also need to understand that these spiritual gifts are not for our personal benefit. In fact, they rarely if ever are applied or used if the only motivation we have for using them would be for personal benefit or personal gain. Spiritual gifts are those to be used for the upbuilding of the community of faith and the exercise of those gifts, while likely to bring us joy, nonetheless are for giving to others.
You will never find a spiritual gift being shared by those who simply act as “religious consumers”. Spiritual gifts are shared by Christian givers – those who recognize and use the capacities God has given them in His service. It is a gift for God’s glory, not one’s own. It is a gift that God energizes and enables in us. It is a gift that demonstrates the love of God in its character and usefulness. And it is a gift given to others in the name of the Lord we serve. The blessing of those gifts comes when the church “sees” the gift of an individual and both nurtures and affirms that gift. Paul told Timothy to “stir up the gift that was in him” recognizing that he should “put into practice” his gift of teaching and preaching, devoting himself to those efforts and doing so in a way that allowed others to see his progress. Our spiritual gifts are not to be allowed to stagnate or to be neglected. They need exercise…in order to be utilized as God intended.
Christians need one another in community in order to bless and encourage the gifts God has given for us to share. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good…” 1 Corinthians 12:7. So observe the gifts of those with whom you share Christian fellowship and encourage those gifts you recognize in others…affirm them…name them…bless their use. The utterance of wisdom, the sharing of knowledge, the expression of faith, the gifts of healing, the working of miracles, the gift of discernment, the gift of languages, the gift of interpretation, the gift of helpful deeds and capacities for helpful guidance…The gifts God gives for his church are many and diverse, but all are given for the his body, the church, to be strengthened, enabled, and equipped to accomplish its mission in the world.

Feats of Strength

I read a recent article about Princeton Seminary student Ryan Bonfiglio. Ryan is an outstanding scholar who earned an undergraduate degree in Chemistry before starting his theology studies. He will be undertaking a Ph.D. in the near future, but he also has shown his prowess in a variety of physical activities. He was hired by Princeton as an assistant wrestling coach and just recently earned the status of Guinness World Record holder for doing 3,432 pushups in an hour. In addition to the pushup record, he holds the world pull-up record for 507 pull-ups in one hour. He also ran his first marathon in 2 hours forty-nine minutes and once hiked 50 miles and climbed fourteen peaks in New Hampshire’s White Mountains in a single day.
Balancing the athletic side, Ryan is an astute biblical scholar and has self-published his own Hebrew grammar. Ryan’s efforts should remind us all that life needs physical, mental and spiritual activity. Our lives need wholeness and appropriate aims and positive challenges.
The Apostle Paul wrote to his young friend Timothy about the importance of having a “spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” Each one of us shares the opportunity of such characteristics as we acknowledge the unique purpose and grace brought to us through faith in Jesus Christ. Whatever you age or ability, consider the “good treasure” entrusted to you. Let your faith and love distinguish your life in every expression.

Around the World

Swine flu outbreaks have jarred us into once more recognizing the nature of sudden changes on the world stage. While medical experts sort through the details of this latest heath scenario, we recognize the effects of disease as an ever-present reality of life shared on this planet. Old-fashioned good sense about hand washing…soap and water will do fine by the way, and concern and help to those who are sick is a continuing and appropriate response of Christian ministry. Many ways in which Christians react are different than those without knowledge of Christ. We are called to minister to those in need, and to share concern for those who are lost, naked, hungry, thirsty, sick, and imprisoned, etc. We are called to teach, make disciples, and share the good news of Jesus Christ with the nations of the world. Thinking in Christ-like ways will move us toward addressing those needs, not away from them. Christians will be recognizable by their love. And when that love is inspired by the very presence of God with us, in us, enabling and energizing and equipping us, then we will see what God can do through us, beyond all we could ask or think. Swine flu may come…along with any number of other ailments that might afflict us in some form or another…but we have opportunity to point others to the healing, saving, life-giving relationship with our Lord.

Around the World

Swine flu outbreaks have jarred us into once more recognizing the nature of sudden changes on the world stage. While medical experts sort through the details of this latest heath scenario, we recognize the effects of disease as an ever-present reality of life shared on this planet. Old-fashioned good sense about hand washing…soap and water will do fine by the way, and concern and help to those who are sick is a continuing and appropriate response of Christian ministry. Many ways in which Christians react are different than those without knowledge of Christ. We are called to minister to those in need, and to share concern for those who are lost, naked, hungry, thirsty, sick, and imprisoned, etc. We are called to teach, make disciples, and share the good news of Jesus Christ with the nations of the world. Thinking in Christ-like ways will move us toward addressing those needs, not away from them. Christians will be recognizable by their love. And when that love is inspired by the very presence of God with us, in us, enabling and energizing and equipping us, then we will see what God can do through us, beyond all we could ask or think. Swine flu may come…along with any number of other ailments that might afflict us in some form or another…but we have opportunity to point others to the healing, saving, life-giving relationship with our Lord.

Welcome to the Blog Zone

In the coming months, I hope you will enjoy the shared thoughts communicated through this medium of exchange. As a Christian pastor, I hope to communicate with integrity and good will helpful and thoughtful considerations for those seeking to know more about the Christian faith and the inevitable crossroads of a continually challenging discipleship. To follow Christ is joy and to share that experience is to know what it means to proclaim God's great work of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.