Learning Styles... God Has Covered All The Bases

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life. 1 John 1:1

But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Titus 2:1-5

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Ephesian 5:28-32

Most people are aware of the "Doctrine of Original Intent" -- which is a view of the American Constitution which seeks to look at what the Framers meant, rather than trying to mold the constitution into something different. I have a similar perspective toward the Bible. I tend to go back to what God said was "very good" in Genesis 1 as the "gold standard". God himself said it was. That is where my perspective of discipleship is formed. Indeed, I think everything that comes afterward needs to keep an eye "looking back" to keep later things in perspective.

There are things that were present in that nascent world which repeat over and over again as the story unfolds regarding God, his "image bearers", love, betrayal, loss and restoration or redemption. Genesis 1 itself says that God placed the lights in the heavens to mark days, nights, months, seasons, and most of all -- to witness to his day-in and day-out unchanging covenant love and faithfulness. Romans 1:18 appeals to those things when it says that every man ever created "knows" thing about God from the things he has made.

I have enjoyed reading Through New Eyes by James Jordan recently. A major premise of the book is that God has placed everything in creation to be symbols, types and testimonies, including us -- His imagebearers. God gave us symbols for our eyes to see and be reminded. He spoke to mankind the specifics of his character and will (prior to Guteberg, the scriptures were mostly listened to rather than read, because only the scribal people had them) and acting out (doing). There is something there for every learning style. God really, really wants us to "get it".

The three scripture passages are examples. 1 John 1:1 says concerning the Word of Life (Jesus) that we saw, heard and touched. Titus 2 has us speaking/hearing, observing and acting out. Modeling his redeemed lives. Ephesians 5 is perhaps the most honoring example of all the role modeling and the passage itself links it back to the Garden in Genesis. Man and wife have the awesome privilege of modeling the relationship between the loving and redeeming God and ourselves, his respectful and responsive people. We become part of that great "testimony" that God has drenched all of creation with concerning himself.

Mr. Magic and His Able Assistants

We are all familiar with magic acts where the star of the show has his assistants working around him doing various tricks. Illusionists use a technique called "mis-direction" where they get you to pay attention to something away from where they are pulling their sleight of hand.

Comes the Obama administration. Mr. Obama is the front man -- always Mr. Clean and has a bunch of assistants -- "czars" as they have been called. These are the ones who get to run around doing the dirty work while he holds your attention. One recent example: his Safe Schools czar has an already implemented a plan to teach kids how to practice extreme homosexual acts. You can read, listen and watch the links and draw your own conclusions here. To call this a Safe Schools czar is beyond mis-nomer, it is outright deception.

It's A Beautiful World

I really like this song by Dierks Bentley and Patty Griffin. We live in broken world and we have broken lives. When the LORD finished his six days of creation, He said, not only "good", but "very good". It was just the way He wanted it. When Adam disobeyed God, this "very good" is part of what he was rejecting.

So, the entrance of sin as left us and our world marred. But it's still beautiful world to the humble and we still have the image of God and if we will let him remake us in Christ, there are sunsets to enjoy, sweethearts to kiss and friendships to enjoy.

Even though life is filled with trouble, Cindy loved life and everyone who knew her knew that. She had every confidence about what lay ahead of her as she closed her eyes the last time, but like the song lyrics, she would have loved to enjoy another sunset, a kiss from her "baby" and smiles from friends. Love life and look forward to the future.

Here's the song lyrics I like so much. You can see the video on YouTube here:

All the noise and the voices are screamin'
What they have to say
And the headlines and sound bytes are givin' me
Demons to hate
And the man on TV
He tells me it's ugly
But if you ask me

It's a beautiful world
It's a beautiful world

There's tears and there's fears and there's losses and crosses to bear
And sometimes the best we can do is just to whisper a prayer
And press on because
There's so much to live for and so much to love

In this beautiful world
Say what you will but I still believe
It's a beautiful world
It's a beautiful world

And I know (I know)
I'm not dreamin'
I just choose (choose) to believe it

So I hate that I sometimes miss what's right in front of my eyes, oh
And I know at the end of my road I'll be wantin' more time
Just another sunset
One more kiss from my baby
A smile from a friend

In this beautiful world
It's a beautiful world
Yeah, it's a beautiful world

Say what you will, but I still believe
It's a beautiful world
Yeah, it's a beautiful world
Oh, it's a beautiful world

Speaking Our Language

Discerning what "God's will" is can be a daunting task. My mom gave me a book called "Decision Making and the Will of God" many years ago, before I married Cindy. I think she may have been hinting. One major principle that book elaborated on was what I would call "concentricity" -- working inward toward the bulls-eye with concentric circles. Outer circles would be broad, generalized principles that each inner circle made more specific until you had it narrowed down to a fairly clear decision.

That principle serves decision making well. Should I steal my neighbor's property? Not according to the Ten Commandments. Should I waste my boss's resources? There is no "Ten Commandment" that specifically says not to, but as I look at more "refining" principles in the scripture, I finally end up with a "no, I should not" answer.

What about the decision my mom was alluding to when she gave me the book? Using concentricity, I could determine that Cindy would indeed be an excellent choice for a wife, but -- MY wife? If I asked, would she say "yes"? That lay beyond the scope of the principles. Ultimately my decision had to lay just outside the boundaries of my comfort zone.

Scriptural principles like concentricity can serve us well for many decisions. For some, ultimately we need to be able to "hear" God's voice. I want to note that in Acts 2, even though the Holy Spirit could have had the disciples speak in Aramaic (or even Hebrew) and everyone in the crowd would have understood them, God chose to foreshadow the sending of the Gospel to the whole earth by speaking it in the national language of the various nations represented. He "spoke their language".

A similar point is evident in 1 Corinthians 14 where Paul says that if the bugle call is indistinct, how will the troops know what to do in the battle? They need to understand what the bugler is communicating.

That brings me to my point. I have believed for many years that God works with each of those who will let Him -- working with us as His disciples. As we walk with Him, we develop an instinctive recognition of the patterns He uses to teach us and lead us. He wants us to be able to recognize what He is doing. This gives us that additional "tool" we need when we have gone as far as concentricity can take us. Have you recognized Him "speaking your language"?

Benaiah in Reverse

I have long appreciated the stories of David's mighty men -- especially that of Benaiah in 1 Chronicles 11:22-24. In fact, back in the late 1970's, as friend and pastor Bill Woods and I were discussing a project for mass outreach using pop radio music (hold your fire, please!), Benaiah was -- at least in my thinking -- the model for what we intended to do.

No one would argue how music especially, but arts and sciences (humanities) in general affect the human spirit. Maybe even more so today, people have "their song" or "their artist" and they both identify with these things and let them influence their choices. Often, music has been used as an instrument of evil to influence people wrongly into doing things that are destructive to their own lives and others' around them.

In our plan, music was the "weaver's beam" being used by the Egyptian giant to attack. Like Benaiah, we wanted to take the weapon from his hand and turn it around and use it against him (not against the people but against the Evil One).

Though our idea focused specifically on music as an outreach, history is filled with the work of Christians in all areas of culture who believed God wanted them to use their gifts, talents, interests, to glorify Him and make their community a better place. The litany would be too long, but would include Christians who nursed the sick during plagues in the Roman empire while the Romans ran for cover, J.S Bach writing music for God (much just music, not a musified gospel tract), William Wilberforce persistently putting forth anti-slavery legislation in Great Britain year after year until it passed, George Washington Carver using his gifts in research to find ways to benefit poor people and the community as a whole with his many experiments, Lord Kelvin and many men of science who contributed to medicine and hospital care and the founding of schools for the common folk and universities for those who want to learn more. The list is endless.

These men (and women) took the weaver's beam from the enemy and used it to defeat him, as Romans says, to "overcome evil with good." They didn't run for cover and teach others to do the same. They took their talents into the fray. They were like Benaiah. Unfortunately, acts like this have fallen out of fashion and have been called "polishing the brass on a sinking ship". We have given those areas of cultural development back to unbelievers because they have become "unspiritual". They (the enemies of Christ) now own those institutions and we think it is supposed to be that way. It is like Benaiah handing the beam back to the Egyptian and saying, "Sorry, I was mistaken, here is your weapon back," then letting him run us through.

God grant me to be like Bach, like Wilberforce, and many more as well. I want the weaver's beam back!

Facets of God's Communication

We live in interesting times where my home, like many in America, has an abundance of Bibles. Different translations shed light on meanings of God's word. We have leather, hardbound, vest pocket size, pocket size, study editions -- even online -- which I use frequently. All this, for what? Paul, in the opening of his letter to the Romans lets me know... "to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake" (Romans 1:5). Simply put, God speaks that we might trust and obey... that we might build a life that honors Him.

Psalm 119 is an acrostic -- what is that and why did the psalmist use a gimmick like this? An acrostic, as this psalm exemplifies, is verse where each line or each section starts with the same letter. In the first section of Psalm 119 each couplet begins with the Hebrew letter aleph. All the couplets in the next section begin with the letter beth and so on. Why use this method? One reason is to make it easy for the hearer to memorize and recite. In those times, written scrolls of scripture weren't abundant in homes the same way Bibles are in ours. Scripture was often read to the people who recited and committed to heart.

Verses 1-8

You want to be happy (blessed)? Live a blameless life! How do I do that? Live in accord with the Law of the Lord. Unfortunately the words "Bible" and "happy" seem out of sync in our world -- but God says that is the way you get there from here. Blameless? Me? That sounds like setting the bar pretty high. Not if you know the difference between sinless and blameless. No one on our best day or on our best behavior will ever be sinless during this lifetime. To be blameless, though, means that when we fail, we make things right. Titus lists this quality as a characteristic of a man who has learned to manage himself and take care of others. He is not sinless, but when he does err, he makes sure things get straightened out.

The apostle Peter says in his first letter, 1 Peter 2:2, that we should long for God's communication like a baby roots for breast milk, so that we can grow up in our faith. "Failure To Thrive" is a condition in infants where they do not grow and gain weight. It is not normal! Growth is normal for babies and should be for those who trust God and listen to Him.

The next seven verses describe God's communication with us. It is like a diamond with many facets. So, likewise, different words are used to describe different facets of his communication. It uses these words: testimonies, precepts, statutes, commands and judgments.

God gives us his testimonies. He has "packaged" his communication in the form of a story. Call it "The History and Future of God's Dealings With Men". How's that for a title? If He wanted to give us a book of systematic theology to memorize, He could have done that -- but He didn't.

In that story, He is revealing his "ways" (119:3) What does that mean? A good example is found in Psalm 103:7 "He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel." His "ways" are the "what" "how" "why" of his doings. He wants us to understand Him. Part of being a learner, a disciple to God is finding out "how things work" and living in line with this understanding. Moses wanted to know those things, the rest of the camp was content just to see God do things and not wonder.

Another facet, precepts (119:4) have been ordained by God. They are not optional. In fact, this carries the idea of specificity -- "specific" instructions. They are to be followed diligently. What does that mean? It means carefully and persistently.

The thrust of the facet statutes (119:5) is like our word "prescribe" - a prescription. God has a prescription for us. There is a shift in the psalmist's conversation here. He goes from talking about "them" and "they" (who walk in the law of the Lord) to "me". The things that "they" are doing he wants for himself. "Oh that my ways -- what makes me tick -- was anchored in your statutes." It expresses a longing of the heart.

The next facet (119:6) is commandments, communication He has authoritatively given to govern our lives. The psalmist's longing expressed here is that they would prevent him from shame as he looked at the panorama of God's communication.

Do you ever have to make a "judgment call" about something? The next facet -- judgments -- are God's judgment calls regarding many things we encounter in life. This verse says that as we learn them, they will cause us to praise Him with an upright heart. How, oh how, can I have an upright heart? Pray, pray, pray for one. God wants you to ask.

The psalmist wraps up his litany of "facets" with this commitment: "I will keep your statutes" -- and acknowledges that he needs God to be with him to make it happen.

How You Do The Things You Do

Interesting thought (at least to me!) reading Romans 12 today. Paul is instructing the Roman believers about using the Holy Spirit enabled gifts that each one has received in Christ. (Pause: Is there a connection between these and the stewardship requirements in Matthew 25:14-28?)

As Paul lists examples of spiritual gifts (I don't believe that this list or the list in 1 Corinthians 12 is exhaustive, just exemplary) he starts out with a one-to-one "what > how" relationship:

If prophecy > prophesy according to your faith
If you minister > with ministering
If you teach > by teaching
If you exhort > by exhortation
If you give > by giving liberally

Then he breaks the mold:

If you lead > by diligence
If you show mercy > with cheerfulness

In thinking about these last two and his change of tack, I can see that leadership is a situation where one would be prone to saying "oh, what's the use..." Paul says "keep on keeping on." As for showing mercy, the demands on caring people, on caregivers can be great. I know from my own experience that it can wear you down and you have times where you do what the other person needs but you do it by "grinding it out" -- no joy. Paul wants to remind us that cheerfulness is the way to deliver mercy or care -- all the time, by God's enablement.

Cindy Rowland 1953 - 2009

Thank you for your interest in our dearly loved Cindy. I have created a blog site specifically dedicated to her and her memory, called "Remembering Cindy". As time allows, I will add more to her site, memories and stories of her "growing up" years, comments from her journals, etc. In addition, I hope to add more of her UK journals to our 2007 UK Trip blog.

U-571 and Godly Leadership

I have written before about the film U-571 and what we might learn in regard to duty. Ever since I saw it the first time, I have appreciated it as study in the dynamics of leadership.

I was thinking about one of it's key thematic elements this morning. Lt. Tyler (Matthew McConnaughy) finds himself thrust into command of a sub on a dangerous mission, after having been denied his own boat. He had been denied his own sub because skipper recognized that Tyler wanted to be "one of the guys" with his crew and the war-wise skipper knew that in crisis, Tyler would be called on to make command decisions that would endanger, even to the point of death, the men who followed his commands. Skipper didn't know if Tyler had the mettle to handle those kinds of decisions. The skipper having been correct in his observations, the plot essentially follows the maturing of Tyler in the make-or-break of battle.

What struck me this morning was thinking about the advancement of the rule of Jesus Christ over the lives of men. It is a person to person thing. It is our tendency to follow the rules of polite culture and "keep it to ourselves". We go about our daily work, talk sports and weather and go back home. The really serious ones among us are guiltily concerned about get those gospel "zings" into the conversation.

In reality, if we are serious about having "Jesus is Lord" over every facet of life, we won't have to worry about whether people "notice" or not. Additionally, and this is where the leadership thing comes in, we refuse to "keep it to ourselves" because regardless of what polite culture says, TRUTH is truth for me and you, not I-have-my-truth-and-you-have-yours. In other words I will pursue what may be uncomfortable for me and for you because it is a responsibility, not because it is convenient. It is part of the leadership I believe God wants every man to pursue.

More than that, if we are called to leadership, we will need to be sure that what we are leading others to do is the right thing, THE TRUTH, not just my truth. Their lives will be affected by it one way or the other.

On the Home Front

I've not written anything "personal" since the end of last year. Well, that's not exactly true, because even if I write commentary (Joseph calls it John-mentary) on the scriptures or culture, it's not just academic.

Anyway, Cindy has been dealing with chemotherapy-induced congestive heart failure (CHF) since October 2007. Though she managed it fairly well, she had some issues the Monday after Christmas 2008 which needed medical attention. Because her cardiologist was out of town, her primary care doctor recommended that we use the emergency room at the medical center. This began a downward spiral of CHF where she was over-hydrated, under-hydrated, in cardiac ICU... long story short, she was in the hospital for almost three weeks with both heart and kidney failure. Unable to have chemo and tired of having endless cycles of blood work, medication adjustments, she opted to go into hospice care early in March.

Our hospice team has been wonderful to us. Our siblings, and my parents, our friends and church family, my boss and co-workers -- all have been forthcoming with great acts of kindness and generosity. We have been so greatly blessed through it.

Cindy has had times of extreme weakness. In that sense, she is a little better now, though still very weak. Her respiration is very shallow and she is on oxygen full-time. Her feet, ankles and legs are very swollen, like the Michelin man, and are painful. This fluid buildup is caused by her CHF -- the heart not pumping well enough to pull the fluid off. Diuretics were helping at one point in time, but they no longer do the job. This is probably due to cancerous tissue in her abdomen blocking the fluid return. She is getting to the point where not only is walking painful, but just sitting with her feet dangling is painful as well. Reclining is becoming the least painful option.

Anyway, in spite of it all, she has a sweet spirit. It has been a great pleasure, as her time may be drawing near, to be her night/weekend aide. Helping in every way I'm able to. It is a joy to show love to her in this way. We love because Christ first loved us. She called this weekend a "fairy tale" weekend, because she has felt fairly well (despite the legs) and has had enjoyable times of prayer and had enjoyed visiting. Hopefully, she will have many more "fairy tales".

Feet Curiously Planted In Mid-Air

I was intrigued by the president's statement that the CIA should "uphold our values." In a way it reminds me of the "it all depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is" statement of a former president. It all depends on what the meaning of the word "our" is. It all depends on the meaning of the word "values" is. No, really, it all depends on what grounds one can stand for or hold up anything if there is no ultimate "truth" to make those actions meaningful.

Case in point: the president's position of abortion, late-term abortion, even post-term abortion as chronicled over the years since his days as an Illinois state senator, including the endorsement of his HHS pick. It is no problem to endorse barbarism in or around the womb. To be comparatively lightweight on known terrorists, however is an essential value for the CIA.

Values planted firmly on nothing.

Earth Day... Why?

When I picked up the newspaper yesterday morning (Wednesday, Earth Day) the headlines were aglow with wonderful human interest stories about Earth Day activities. I even read a quote by a 6-year-old that "if we don't keep the planet clean, we will all die!" He has been well trained. That's why they want to get them into the system young.

If I were to presuppose that the universe is an eternal (no god needed) ever-improving system, were it not for the detrimental things we humans do to un-improve it -- I would still be faced with an important question. Other than a feel-good exercise, why does it matter? If the earth is a blob of matter orbiting a burning blob of matter spiraling around a bigger blob of matter in a universe filled with such blobs of matter. Nothing personal about it. It just is. As fascinating as the universe is, so what? Science says it is all headed for "room temperature" -- heat death. It didn't matter to anyone important at the beginning and there is no one for it to be important to at the end.

But I don't presuppose that. I presuppose... I trust, that the earth is here for a reason. I trust that earth's inhabitants are here for a reason. If I am awed at the creation (and I am) as a reflection of the one who created it, then it is the one who designed and created who ultimately should get the most awe and credit. Borrowing from Romans 1, worshipping the Creator, not the creature.

What about the earth and the environment and... what if we all die? Having been entrusted with all the tools and materials to MANAGE the earth properly, yes, mankind has hijacked it for himself and taken it into the ditch. In that sense, I can agree with the environmental activism. Divorced from ultimate meaning, however, Earth Day... Why?

Collaboration... all the rage

My day job (and sometimes evening, night and weekend job -- though rarely because our mail system usually "just works") is that of a network administrator. My primary responsiblity in that arena is that of email and groupware. In other words, how people work together to get a job done.

In fact, that is one of the main focii of scripture and one of the most important things a believing man needs to get hold of. We were made to be co-workers with God. That was the nature of Adam's post-creation walk with God in Eden. Paul ties back to the same idea for redeemed men in 1 Corinthians 3:9 and Jesus alluded to it in Matthew 11:28-30. This is where we learn about him, as we labor with him.

Letting the present define the past

One of the more comical examples of changes in language and perspective I have know of in the last few years -- especially in this election season -- is the reference to the friends of the paralytic who tried to bring him to Jesus. The King James version says that they could not get him close to Jesus "because of the press." So, they took him to the roof, dug through it and lowered their friend down in front of Jesus.

Now, as much as we all are aware of the media and the rich and famous, we can picture these men trying to bring their friend, but all the reporters and media types were crowded around Jesus and no one could get up close. But alas, those translators were using terminology that to them meant "because of the crowd". Modern ears hear the same word differently.

Humor aside, one mistake I see being made in the modern evangelical church is to define the scriptures in terms of "the way we do things now." Example: When we discuss the journeys of Paul, Barnabas and others, we typically frame it in some manner that is a direct correlation to modern mission agencies, etc.

Instead, we should scrape away our preconceptions and let the scripture tell the story to us freshly -- as if we might actually learn something -- and let it form and reform the way we do business as the Church in the 21st century.

The Basin and The Towel

In an upstairs room, a parable
is just about to come alive.
And while they bicker about who's best,
with a painful glance, He'll silently rise.

Their Savior Servant must show them how
through the will of the water
and the tenderness of the towel.

And the call is to community,
The impoverished power that sets the soul free.
In humility, to take the vow,
that day after day we must take up the basin and the towel.

In any ordinary place,
on any ordinary day,
the parable can live again
when one will kneel and one will yield.

Our Saviour Servant must show us how
through the will of the water
and the tenderness of the towel.

And the space between ourselves sometimes
is more than the distance between the stars.
By the fragile bridge of the Servant's bow
we take up the basin and the towel.

And the call is to community,
The impoverished power that sets the soul free.
In humility, to take the vow,
that day after day we must take up the basin and the towel.

Michael Card

Getting to learn a lot about this these days.