Dear Blog Friends,
Apologies for those who missed reading this blog over the last several months. I have been investing heavily in writing for church ministries in the upcoming year. One of the things I want to assure you of is that we would like to get some read of those who are utilizing this avenue for reading. If you find this blog interesting, helpful, or just something you read from time to time, give us a comment to that effect. Thanks.
Happy blogging.
Ron Hinson
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Ten Ways to Improve Your Children's Future
1. Pray with them daily. The emphasis is on with. Let them know you pray. Let them see you leading them in prayer. Let them know you pray for them. Let them know that
praying allows them to share their concerns with God and that He leads and guides us.
2. Prioritize spiritual growth and development. Commit by intentional choice to the discipline of weekly bible study and worship. Children need parental leadership and yes, sometimes a no-excuses-will-do insistence upon what will be first…honoring God with our worship above lesser things. Parents who adopt a verbal commitment to God and follow it with an applied abandonment of faithfulness offer poor examples. Children will follow what YOU DO over what you say.
3. Value your children over the athletics they play. Sports are fun. In most cases, sports are healthy. Up until they become an overwhelming influence that compromises family relationships, family worship, family economics, and family being a family. Every healthy family appreciates the opportunity of encouraging one another to excel and to be a part of community. Sharing in teamwork and learning to work with others are important lessons. Likewise children need other adults that they respect to be guides, mentors, and teachers as well. At the same time…only rarely can one have as great an influence as a parent. You are the most influential help or hindrance to your children’s development and learning. What happens at your family table is far more important than what can ever be done in a classroom or on a field of play. Don’t let sports become the poor substitute for engaged and purposeful parenting.
4. Don’t miss the huge benefit of the church in your children’s lives. Children who grow up in church with regular engagement in church activities have a huge social and educational advantage over children who do not. For example: Children in church choirs learn to read music as early as preschool and elementary ages. Children in regular worship using hymnals learn to follow words and hear them sung, helping them to identify words early and to remember them through learned songs. Children who attend church regularly often participate in activities that give them opportunity to develop in their ability to share with others, learn about people and cultures in far away places, and to interact in ways that allow them to recognize their personal influence upon others for good. Learning from the scriptures offers children, not only the ability to learn about the gospel of Jesus, but to learn about the law, wisdom, geography, and human relationships.
Children who are actively engaged in the life of the church weekly often excel in many other avenues of life as well.
5. Tell the truth. Children are often left uninformed about many “adult” matters. Certainly there are appropriate ways to address children in helping them to understand the world and the circumstances around them. At the same time, it is tragic that many children become debilitated adults simply because they were constantly shielded or “left in the dark” about the circumstances of life in general that are a part of life. Children need to understand the facts of what they are facing. They need to comprehend their ability to deal with the world in which they live in a healthy way. They also need a spiritual foundation to support them in the most challenging of times. Talking and sharing and showing children that God helps us is important in the context of daily living. Helping children to understand the reality of death when a loved one dies is important for them to come to terms with. Helping children to respond in appropriate ways to challenges and difficulties is a necessity. Frank and honest and informative discussions about many subjects are needful and necessary in good parenting. The community of faith and the expertise that many can share in a church community are important resources to enable such discussions and valuable conversations.
6. Let your love for your children be evidenced by your testimony of love for God.
When children understand that you have a source of strength that you depend upon beyond yourself, they will understand that they have a source of help not only in you, but also beyond you. That truth will sustain them when you are present and when you are not. That loving gift of faithful witness is the greatest gift a Christian parent can provide.
7. Expect more of your children than they know to expect from themselves. God treats us the same way. To do so sets the bar high. It challenges us to do our best. It reminds us that there is always a goal before us worthy of our greatest and best effort. Couple that challenging expectation with heartfelt love all along the way. God will bless it.
8. Set aside time to listen to your children. Listen to them read. Listen to them share a bible verse. Listen to them pray. Listen to them sing. Listen to them talking about things important in their world. Listen to them without cutting them off to do 100 other less important things. You will long remember when you listened and what you learned and they will too.
9. Teach your children to respect those who are different from them. We live in a vastly diverse world. Making enemies out of everyone who is different from “us” only creates
an impoverished attitude and perspective upon life. God calls us to share his Gospel with all the nations. Every man, woman, and child is someone for whom Christ died. Teach
by example your willingness to be kind and engaged and influential in building bridges to others, instead of walls. Your children will follow your lead.
10. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it for the glory of God. That measure of commitment will enable your best, will enrich your life many fold, and will enable you and your children to discover great hope and joy in the gifts of G
praying allows them to share their concerns with God and that He leads and guides us.
2. Prioritize spiritual growth and development. Commit by intentional choice to the discipline of weekly bible study and worship. Children need parental leadership and yes, sometimes a no-excuses-will-do insistence upon what will be first…honoring God with our worship above lesser things. Parents who adopt a verbal commitment to God and follow it with an applied abandonment of faithfulness offer poor examples. Children will follow what YOU DO over what you say.
3. Value your children over the athletics they play. Sports are fun. In most cases, sports are healthy. Up until they become an overwhelming influence that compromises family relationships, family worship, family economics, and family being a family. Every healthy family appreciates the opportunity of encouraging one another to excel and to be a part of community. Sharing in teamwork and learning to work with others are important lessons. Likewise children need other adults that they respect to be guides, mentors, and teachers as well. At the same time…only rarely can one have as great an influence as a parent. You are the most influential help or hindrance to your children’s development and learning. What happens at your family table is far more important than what can ever be done in a classroom or on a field of play. Don’t let sports become the poor substitute for engaged and purposeful parenting.
4. Don’t miss the huge benefit of the church in your children’s lives. Children who grow up in church with regular engagement in church activities have a huge social and educational advantage over children who do not. For example: Children in church choirs learn to read music as early as preschool and elementary ages. Children in regular worship using hymnals learn to follow words and hear them sung, helping them to identify words early and to remember them through learned songs. Children who attend church regularly often participate in activities that give them opportunity to develop in their ability to share with others, learn about people and cultures in far away places, and to interact in ways that allow them to recognize their personal influence upon others for good. Learning from the scriptures offers children, not only the ability to learn about the gospel of Jesus, but to learn about the law, wisdom, geography, and human relationships.
Children who are actively engaged in the life of the church weekly often excel in many other avenues of life as well.
5. Tell the truth. Children are often left uninformed about many “adult” matters. Certainly there are appropriate ways to address children in helping them to understand the world and the circumstances around them. At the same time, it is tragic that many children become debilitated adults simply because they were constantly shielded or “left in the dark” about the circumstances of life in general that are a part of life. Children need to understand the facts of what they are facing. They need to comprehend their ability to deal with the world in which they live in a healthy way. They also need a spiritual foundation to support them in the most challenging of times. Talking and sharing and showing children that God helps us is important in the context of daily living. Helping children to understand the reality of death when a loved one dies is important for them to come to terms with. Helping children to respond in appropriate ways to challenges and difficulties is a necessity. Frank and honest and informative discussions about many subjects are needful and necessary in good parenting. The community of faith and the expertise that many can share in a church community are important resources to enable such discussions and valuable conversations.
6. Let your love for your children be evidenced by your testimony of love for God.
When children understand that you have a source of strength that you depend upon beyond yourself, they will understand that they have a source of help not only in you, but also beyond you. That truth will sustain them when you are present and when you are not. That loving gift of faithful witness is the greatest gift a Christian parent can provide.
7. Expect more of your children than they know to expect from themselves. God treats us the same way. To do so sets the bar high. It challenges us to do our best. It reminds us that there is always a goal before us worthy of our greatest and best effort. Couple that challenging expectation with heartfelt love all along the way. God will bless it.
8. Set aside time to listen to your children. Listen to them read. Listen to them share a bible verse. Listen to them pray. Listen to them sing. Listen to them talking about things important in their world. Listen to them without cutting them off to do 100 other less important things. You will long remember when you listened and what you learned and they will too.
9. Teach your children to respect those who are different from them. We live in a vastly diverse world. Making enemies out of everyone who is different from “us” only creates
an impoverished attitude and perspective upon life. God calls us to share his Gospel with all the nations. Every man, woman, and child is someone for whom Christ died. Teach
by example your willingness to be kind and engaged and influential in building bridges to others, instead of walls. Your children will follow your lead.
10. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it for the glory of God. That measure of commitment will enable your best, will enrich your life many fold, and will enable you and your children to discover great hope and joy in the gifts of G
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Home Changers
One of the effective mission ministries of recent years has been World Changers, where college and high school youth join in doing practical ministry in mission settings, often related to home rehabilitation in impoverished communities. Whether the work involved painting, roofing, or porch repairs, many youth have been a part of learning to use their abilities and energy to help others in Jesus’ name.
Such a practical application of Christian ministry endeavor would also find a good place in the midst of most households. World Changers share a vision for reaching the world with the good news of Jesus, but we must also recognize the important foundation for changing the world is also to relate the instruction of Jesus to our homes and families and immediate surroundings.
Caring for one another within the home is an essential. Sharing responsibilities and the work of maintaining the health and well-being of all the members of a family is important. Too often we see persons sacrificing the health of the whole family for the sake of meeting aims that have little to do with positive outcomes for all involved. Living each day with a focus upon Christ in the home is the beginning of “changing the world.” Children who share a sense of security in the light of their parent’s love and commitments to each other receive a precious gift each day. Homes where honest and open sharing about the challenges the family is facing brings positive opportunities for good outcomes by the contribution of each family member to the health of the whole.
World changing is a wonderful aim, but think about what would happen if all the families on your block held to following Christ as Lord each day. How might it change the family dynamics as well as the relationships of the community in which you live?
Where do we start? Right where we are. Each and every day is a chance to change our world as we share the love of Christ, the forgiveness of Christ, the teachings of Christ, and the calling of Christ to all.
Such a practical application of Christian ministry endeavor would also find a good place in the midst of most households. World Changers share a vision for reaching the world with the good news of Jesus, but we must also recognize the important foundation for changing the world is also to relate the instruction of Jesus to our homes and families and immediate surroundings.
Caring for one another within the home is an essential. Sharing responsibilities and the work of maintaining the health and well-being of all the members of a family is important. Too often we see persons sacrificing the health of the whole family for the sake of meeting aims that have little to do with positive outcomes for all involved. Living each day with a focus upon Christ in the home is the beginning of “changing the world.” Children who share a sense of security in the light of their parent’s love and commitments to each other receive a precious gift each day. Homes where honest and open sharing about the challenges the family is facing brings positive opportunities for good outcomes by the contribution of each family member to the health of the whole.
World changing is a wonderful aim, but think about what would happen if all the families on your block held to following Christ as Lord each day. How might it change the family dynamics as well as the relationships of the community in which you live?
Where do we start? Right where we are. Each and every day is a chance to change our world as we share the love of Christ, the forgiveness of Christ, the teachings of Christ, and the calling of Christ to all.
Monday, February 21, 2011
No Politics as Usual
As waves of protest are observed across the North of Africa and in the Middle East, it brings us all to the awareness of large populations of people who have been struggling with the limits of autocratic governments and regimes that have maintained power by intimidation and the use of their armies to control. In similar ways the changes that came to the Soviet bloc countries in the 90’s has evolved in nations that have come to find large numbers of youth, many times professionally trained and educated, with few opportunities, crying out for new freedoms and open government.
The most important changes for any nation toward a positive future are those that find within their own capacities and resources the will to act in positive ways for the benefit of their fellow countrymen and their families. Political leaders who attempt to retain exploitive influence over the masses are likely to be perceived for who they are. Righteousness exalteth a nation. Nations that demonstrate an ethic of concern for one another in upbuilding and positive directions will have the advantage for a positive future.
Involvements in government and politics can be exciting, but also very difficult. Pray for leaders of nations and peoples of nations seeking new directions. Pray that wisdom and understanding might overcome threats of violence and chaos. Change is often difficult, but when redemptive…a great blessing.
Micah in the Old Testament shared important words: “…what does the Lord require of but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Doing justice …showing mercy…and seeking God’s will for our lives each day is an important reminder for all of us.
The most important changes for any nation toward a positive future are those that find within their own capacities and resources the will to act in positive ways for the benefit of their fellow countrymen and their families. Political leaders who attempt to retain exploitive influence over the masses are likely to be perceived for who they are. Righteousness exalteth a nation. Nations that demonstrate an ethic of concern for one another in upbuilding and positive directions will have the advantage for a positive future.
Involvements in government and politics can be exciting, but also very difficult. Pray for leaders of nations and peoples of nations seeking new directions. Pray that wisdom and understanding might overcome threats of violence and chaos. Change is often difficult, but when redemptive…a great blessing.
Micah in the Old Testament shared important words: “…what does the Lord require of but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Doing justice …showing mercy…and seeking God’s will for our lives each day is an important reminder for all of us.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Forgetting and Forsaking
Through centuries of worshipping the Lord God, the story is told of times when the worship of the Lord was forgotten by certain groups of people. Such forgetfulness was attributed to the lack of memory and a lack of connection to those Spirit-led leaders provided by God to guide his people.
Such a time followed the generation after Joshua in the accounts of the Old Testament. The story unfolded simply enough. A generation came that forgot or never knew of the mighty acts of God in delivering the people and calling them to relationship.
Similar accounts can be cited in much more recent history. Entire communities that once exercised vibrant Christian faith and practice were followed by those who never knew such faith and practice as their own experience. Too often the pattern is preceded, not so much by an intentional disregard for worship, but by a period in which meaning and understanding of worship become disconnected and ritual and patterns of community are held to, not for their intended purpose, but out of a form of superstitious behavior and thinking. In early American history, churches that practiced infant baptism often reported the discovery of unregenerate members, who held to a form of religion, but without a commitment of heart and life to following Jesus Christ. They were those who by baptism had “assumed” an association with the church, but never went beyond that act of their parents. Moving past that to another generation that baptized their infants to “church” them, with no real comprehension of Christian faith and practice in actions and relationships led to a destitute body of individuals who claimed “Christianity” without claiming Christ-following as a practice and pattern for life.
Today, in our Baptist context, we can find the same challenges. As we have neglected bible study and discipling ministries to which the church is called, we have seen many who adopt “unprincipled or superstitious religion” as their pattern, to the sad neglect of a growing faith relationship.
Characteristics of such “superstitious” forms of religious practice include those who
adopt “naturalist” religion. They cite their ability to worship God on the lake, or at the golf course, or while fishing, as a satisfactory and certainly equivalent exercise of religion. Others adopt a “groupie” religion, assuming that the ultimate benefit for their Christian development is to become a follower of a particular preacher or evangelist or Christian music group in order to become a more effective Christian. Still others cite a
“historical-genealogical” Christian experience that equates their parent’s or grandparent’s religious practice as sufficient to “cover them,” thus giving their generation a “break” from all that church stuff. Still others practice an “every man for themselves” religious attitude that says, “We let our children decide what they want to believe” or “We don’t make our children go to church, because we resented being told we needed to go when we were that age.” Still others practice an “any other gods” religion, citing the idea that there are lots of ways to worship and have a relationship to God and saying, “We don’t believe anyone has a right to tell anyone else who they should worship.”
All of these forms neglect to give attention to the covenant relationship that God establishes with his people. All of these “superstitious” forms choose human substitutes over God. To abandon the worship of God is easy when we have no heart engaged in worship in the first place. To abandon the worship of God is easy when we have no understanding of accountability before God and no comprehension of sin against God and our fellow man. To abandon the intentional, purposeful, thoughtful worship of God in favor of community practices that allow for our presence without our real engagement with God and His word to us will easily lead to a host of people “not knowing” and “not remembering” what such relationship is all about.
Soul liberty is a principle among Baptists that links our personal obligation to choose faith with our freedom to not choose faith. At the same time, that principle is grounded not in religious neglect and ignorance of the Gospel, but in a purposeful seeking after God and his instruction for life. Soul liberty is discovered in relationship with God, not apart from Him. In Christ we find true freedom for fulfilling the purpose for which we have been created and called into relationship by God.
Religious behavior indeed takes many forms…authentic and fulfilling in relationship to God and otherwise. We must not assume that forgetting or abandoning the mission of the church moves us toward the future God intends. His word to us speaks otherwise.
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 NRSV
Such a time followed the generation after Joshua in the accounts of the Old Testament. The story unfolded simply enough. A generation came that forgot or never knew of the mighty acts of God in delivering the people and calling them to relationship.
Similar accounts can be cited in much more recent history. Entire communities that once exercised vibrant Christian faith and practice were followed by those who never knew such faith and practice as their own experience. Too often the pattern is preceded, not so much by an intentional disregard for worship, but by a period in which meaning and understanding of worship become disconnected and ritual and patterns of community are held to, not for their intended purpose, but out of a form of superstitious behavior and thinking. In early American history, churches that practiced infant baptism often reported the discovery of unregenerate members, who held to a form of religion, but without a commitment of heart and life to following Jesus Christ. They were those who by baptism had “assumed” an association with the church, but never went beyond that act of their parents. Moving past that to another generation that baptized their infants to “church” them, with no real comprehension of Christian faith and practice in actions and relationships led to a destitute body of individuals who claimed “Christianity” without claiming Christ-following as a practice and pattern for life.
Today, in our Baptist context, we can find the same challenges. As we have neglected bible study and discipling ministries to which the church is called, we have seen many who adopt “unprincipled or superstitious religion” as their pattern, to the sad neglect of a growing faith relationship.
Characteristics of such “superstitious” forms of religious practice include those who
adopt “naturalist” religion. They cite their ability to worship God on the lake, or at the golf course, or while fishing, as a satisfactory and certainly equivalent exercise of religion. Others adopt a “groupie” religion, assuming that the ultimate benefit for their Christian development is to become a follower of a particular preacher or evangelist or Christian music group in order to become a more effective Christian. Still others cite a
“historical-genealogical” Christian experience that equates their parent’s or grandparent’s religious practice as sufficient to “cover them,” thus giving their generation a “break” from all that church stuff. Still others practice an “every man for themselves” religious attitude that says, “We let our children decide what they want to believe” or “We don’t make our children go to church, because we resented being told we needed to go when we were that age.” Still others practice an “any other gods” religion, citing the idea that there are lots of ways to worship and have a relationship to God and saying, “We don’t believe anyone has a right to tell anyone else who they should worship.”
All of these forms neglect to give attention to the covenant relationship that God establishes with his people. All of these “superstitious” forms choose human substitutes over God. To abandon the worship of God is easy when we have no heart engaged in worship in the first place. To abandon the worship of God is easy when we have no understanding of accountability before God and no comprehension of sin against God and our fellow man. To abandon the intentional, purposeful, thoughtful worship of God in favor of community practices that allow for our presence without our real engagement with God and His word to us will easily lead to a host of people “not knowing” and “not remembering” what such relationship is all about.
Soul liberty is a principle among Baptists that links our personal obligation to choose faith with our freedom to not choose faith. At the same time, that principle is grounded not in religious neglect and ignorance of the Gospel, but in a purposeful seeking after God and his instruction for life. Soul liberty is discovered in relationship with God, not apart from Him. In Christ we find true freedom for fulfilling the purpose for which we have been created and called into relationship by God.
Religious behavior indeed takes many forms…authentic and fulfilling in relationship to God and otherwise. We must not assume that forgetting or abandoning the mission of the church moves us toward the future God intends. His word to us speaks otherwise.
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 NRSV
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The Desperation of a Godless Existence
The aspect of fear lies beneath every act of the Godless human. No amount of sanity can conquer the desperation acquired by a life in contradiction to one’s creator.
To live in the absence of faith is to accumulate to one’s person responsibility for all existence…everything…or the opposite…nothing…no accountability at all…in a fearsome freefall of destiny defined only by one’s own abandonment of hope. Life without God is a self-defined box in which all humanity loses its grounding. The awkward and ludicrous attempt to eliminate the Almighty by declaring that there is no such a One…is to begin a baseless search for something better, someone better, something that matters at all. Eradicating God is as futile as defining time by one’s own attempt to count one’s own heartbeats. God’s time refuses the limits of our own capacities to measure or to quantify. God’s creation has constantly confounded us in every aspect of its exploration and while learning and discovery are fruitful endeavors and to be commended, the absurdity of suggesting that God is lost in the picture is an act of denial beyond measure.
God allows us all the opportunities necessary to recognize His work. Only self,
elevated to the place of God, allows the mind to limit the existence of everything to only what that person allows to be. I did not birth the existence of my wife, or my neighbor, or my friends. I did not birth God and yet many respond to the suggestion that God brings meaning and truth to bear upon life with the retort that they simply don’t give God a place in their lives. Therefore because they refuse to “think it” God isn’t any more. A Godless life demands fear as its motivator for everything. If God is not with us, or for us, or in us, then we are alone to the whims of everything else we have or must assume control of. We must control our experiences…our ideas…our actions…in regard to all living existence. We are controllers of the greater world around us…and everything literally revolves around our mental and physical manipulations of the universe. We are totally in control and therefore totally in charge and we face that world with fear because nothing else but insanity will allow us to do anything else.
Soldiers in war are taught to overcome their fear by training to respond to the stimulus of enemies presence without thinking. Those who disconnect themselves from
living in relationship to God require that they train themselves to respond as though God is their enemy. Thus, we can quickly account for those who see the worship of God as a threat to their worldview or a threat to their lifestyle decisions or a threat to their decision to be in charge of themselves in ways that they take total responsibility for. The fact of God will not be tolerated if that God requires justice, truth, or accountability. The nature of life that allows for God must also allow for His justice, His righteousness, His truthfulness, His presence…and some people just won’t stand for it. So they in their fear
respond as fearful people do…they run…or they fight. They run away from the idea of
considering God working in their midst…and because God does do so much, they must attack those whose existence their worldview denies. The absurdity lies in the constant failure of all those who deny God’s place in their lives to truly live in rejection of their own God-sustained, God-filled world. It’s like being born with eyes and insisting that you prefer to live with your eyes closed. Keeping your eyes closed doesn’t turn off the existence of what eyes could see if they would simply be open. In the same way we are invited by God to share the experiences of His creation and world.
Around the world, fear drives the responses of those who live apart from God.
Only with God, only with a life open to God’s leading and God’s guiding will there be an appropriate fearfulness that stands in awe and wonder to worship and seek God’s way, only to discover in Him an invitation to fear not. In His presence the fear of helplessness
and hopelessness is removed. In his presence, necessities are recognized by their appropriate place in the world…valuable gifts of God for our blessing, not our harm. Peace, be still…and know God is with us. Ready or not…
To live in the absence of faith is to accumulate to one’s person responsibility for all existence…everything…or the opposite…nothing…no accountability at all…in a fearsome freefall of destiny defined only by one’s own abandonment of hope. Life without God is a self-defined box in which all humanity loses its grounding. The awkward and ludicrous attempt to eliminate the Almighty by declaring that there is no such a One…is to begin a baseless search for something better, someone better, something that matters at all. Eradicating God is as futile as defining time by one’s own attempt to count one’s own heartbeats. God’s time refuses the limits of our own capacities to measure or to quantify. God’s creation has constantly confounded us in every aspect of its exploration and while learning and discovery are fruitful endeavors and to be commended, the absurdity of suggesting that God is lost in the picture is an act of denial beyond measure.
God allows us all the opportunities necessary to recognize His work. Only self,
elevated to the place of God, allows the mind to limit the existence of everything to only what that person allows to be. I did not birth the existence of my wife, or my neighbor, or my friends. I did not birth God and yet many respond to the suggestion that God brings meaning and truth to bear upon life with the retort that they simply don’t give God a place in their lives. Therefore because they refuse to “think it” God isn’t any more. A Godless life demands fear as its motivator for everything. If God is not with us, or for us, or in us, then we are alone to the whims of everything else we have or must assume control of. We must control our experiences…our ideas…our actions…in regard to all living existence. We are controllers of the greater world around us…and everything literally revolves around our mental and physical manipulations of the universe. We are totally in control and therefore totally in charge and we face that world with fear because nothing else but insanity will allow us to do anything else.
Soldiers in war are taught to overcome their fear by training to respond to the stimulus of enemies presence without thinking. Those who disconnect themselves from
living in relationship to God require that they train themselves to respond as though God is their enemy. Thus, we can quickly account for those who see the worship of God as a threat to their worldview or a threat to their lifestyle decisions or a threat to their decision to be in charge of themselves in ways that they take total responsibility for. The fact of God will not be tolerated if that God requires justice, truth, or accountability. The nature of life that allows for God must also allow for His justice, His righteousness, His truthfulness, His presence…and some people just won’t stand for it. So they in their fear
respond as fearful people do…they run…or they fight. They run away from the idea of
considering God working in their midst…and because God does do so much, they must attack those whose existence their worldview denies. The absurdity lies in the constant failure of all those who deny God’s place in their lives to truly live in rejection of their own God-sustained, God-filled world. It’s like being born with eyes and insisting that you prefer to live with your eyes closed. Keeping your eyes closed doesn’t turn off the existence of what eyes could see if they would simply be open. In the same way we are invited by God to share the experiences of His creation and world.
Around the world, fear drives the responses of those who live apart from God.
Only with God, only with a life open to God’s leading and God’s guiding will there be an appropriate fearfulness that stands in awe and wonder to worship and seek God’s way, only to discover in Him an invitation to fear not. In His presence the fear of helplessness
and hopelessness is removed. In his presence, necessities are recognized by their appropriate place in the world…valuable gifts of God for our blessing, not our harm. Peace, be still…and know God is with us. Ready or not…
Friday, January 7, 2011
Have All the Pages Been Turned?
Just before Christmas I purchased a new pocket New Testament with the Psalms and Proverbs. I have begun using it in the New Year and I notice that almost all the pages stick slightly at the bottom corner until I gently pull them apart for the first time. It came to mind that there might be many bibles with stuck pages because they have never been turned.
Is your Bible like that? Could there be a Bible you have been using for years that still has “stuck pages” because they have never been read? I challenge you to make a point to take your Bible with you regularly and then to take the time to read each page. In the process, many things that you were not so sure about or had questions about or had forgotten, may become unstuck as well.
Is your Bible like that? Could there be a Bible you have been using for years that still has “stuck pages” because they have never been read? I challenge you to make a point to take your Bible with you regularly and then to take the time to read each page. In the process, many things that you were not so sure about or had questions about or had forgotten, may become unstuck as well.
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