JohnRowland

Excellence

2011-01-15T17:02:00.003-06:00

My goals for the songs I write are simple: well-crafted, enjoyable and meaningful. I have to believe that if I meet those three goals, the songs will find a way into people's lives. Trying to stand out is a sea of faces is very tough. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame. I read a couple of things this week that make the point well.

South Arkansas native Odie Blackmon is a hit songwriter who is well established in the business. This week, he posted on Facebook that one of his co-writes (with Bill Deasy) called "This Is My Day" has been picked as theme music for a new Melissa Peterman comedy on CMT called "Working Class". Someone commented about how hot Odie was now and Odie's reply shows the reality of the business even for someone with his credential. He replied, "I'm about as hot as tap water! :) The music biz ain't what it used to be. I wrote this song about seven years ago and it is a miracle that it made it through all the gate keepers. I really had nothing to do with it."

Another side of the "getting my 15 minutes" is something that Nashville calls "gherming" -- taking advantage of people to "move up in line". Songwriter and producer Rand Bishop commented about how the advent of social media like Facebook has created a morph call "e-gherming". He wrote an enlightening blog post about it here.

So how does a no-name like me move up in the ranks? How do I get my 15 minutes? One of the most famous songwriters in history was King David. Songwriting was not his day job, ever. But one of my most favorite comments about him comes from Psalm 78 verses 70 and following (written by Asaph -- David was not promoting himself!) It goes like this:

He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
from tending the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.

The story line in this scene occurs when David was a very young man and his job in the family was to go out and tend the flocks. The prophet Samuel was sent by God to David's daddy's house to anoint Israel's replacement king. Samuel looked at each boy in the home and thought, "this must be him, he is strong" or "this must be him, he is handsome" and God kept saying, "Nope, not the one." He finally ran out of boys and asked if there was anyone else. David's daddy said "well, there is one out in the pasture." Samuel said, "Go get him." and the rest is, as they say, history.

What does this have to do with my topic? This: the reason David was chosen was because of the excellence of his integrity and the excellence of his work. If I will just focus on those things in my life, songwriting included, God will take care of the rest. So, I will write songs that are well-crafted, enjoyable and meaningful. With God's blessing, they will find their place in history.

Cross-posted from my songwriting blog.

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-22T14:56:00.000-06:00

No need to tell you how quickly time flies… you all know that already! It has been an interesting year for me. Two “highlights” – if you would call them that are:

:: Joining Nashville Songwriters Association International and getting fairly involved in writing – primarily for the country music market. I have made a lot of new friends and learned a lot in the process. If you’re interested you can keep up with that at my website:

www.johnrowlandsongs.com

:: I was promoted to Manager of User Support at Murphy Oil Corporation, where I have worked for a little over twelve years. My new responsibilities involve managing PC support at El Dorado, Houston and remote sites which are connected to Houston, including rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. I am also still responsible for managing the MOC email system worldwide. I have begun making lots of trips to Houston which makes my kitty and doggy sad. Such is life.

God is good – and so, life is good. I am excited about what the future brings and I hope you are as well.

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Amen.

Best wishes,

John

What is Discipleship? To All Generations

2010-08-08T17:51:00.001-05:00

Continuing beyond the incarnation, there was Jesus and the Apostles, Paul and Timothy, Paul and Titus. These continued the discipleship model into our modern age. Let's look at some examples, beginning with Jesus, the Son learning from his Father and carrying that theme into the apostolic work and beyond.

Smack dab in the midst of a long run of prophecies concerning the messianic age, we find Isaiah 50:4-5:

The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
The Lord GOD has opened My ear;
And I was not disobedient
Nor did I turn back.

My opinion is that this describes the relationship of the coming Messiah with his Father. Jesus was a disciple of his Father. The Father was his mentor. Continuing the theme in John 5:19-20, Jesus says of this relationship:

"... Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel."

Jesus used the same mentoring relationship with his disciples, who would later become the apostles who became foundational in the building of Jesus' church.

Jesus' parting words to the apostles were the schema by which the apostles would apply all they had learned and establish the church among the nations, from Matthew 28:19 -- "Go and make disciples of all nations...." Discipleship was the paradigm in which evangelism and brining the nations back under his authority would happen.

Some examples of this discipleship paradigm in action. First Paul writing to churches he planted:

He treated them like a father training his children:

1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 -- You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

He encouraged them to be like their heavenly Father (like father, like son):

Eph 5:1 -- Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

Pay attention to my "son" Timothy -- he will be just like me being there."

Philippians 2:19-23 -- But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me.

In his communication to his ministry associates, he communicated the father's mentoring and discipling was the acid test for doing the same work in God's family, the church:

1 Timothy 3:2-5 -- A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober
minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

Titus 1:5-6 -- For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.

The point here is that "discipling" is the paradigm, "even to the end of the age." The pastor is a like a father training God's household. The way he becomes that is by how he trains his own household. Discipleship is "baked in". It is a standard feature, not an extra-cost add on. Discipleship, like parenting requires personal interaction. Sadly, we have adopted a classroom paradigm for training the household of God, teacher up front, students in the seats dutifully being lectured to, then going their own way.

Slap Forehead

2010-07-30T08:14:00.000-05:00

This is one of those things that is probably obvious to everyone else, but in light of all that is going on politically at the present time, I had one of those "slap the forehead and say 'doh'" moments. Here's the thing:

They always say "we are a nation of laws" and that is true. What occurred to me when reading an article about the power of the Tenth Amendment is -- we are ruled by a Constitution, not by people. The people, the public servants, are servants and stewards of the Constitution. It defines what the can and cannot do. The Founders had the foresight to structure our system this way to protect us from the excesses of "rulers". This is why the Constitution is under such attack by those who want to rule rather than serve.

Remembering A Birthday

2010-07-29T18:42:00.001-05:00

Today would be Cindy's 57th birthday. I have had many, many people remember her and appreciate their respect of her memory. I posted on Facebook a statement that Jesus made regarding God and his relationship with Abraham, "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Cindy is alive. In the months before she passed, she often commented about 2 Corinthians 4:16 - 5:8 and the hopeful reality that she would be passing from life to LIFE. I have no doubt she has done that.

What is Discipleship? Focusing on Moses as a Model

2010-07-25T13:32:00.003-05:00

We are exploring what "discipleship" means and how it relates to a 21st century person. I have asserted that discipleship is a mentoring relationship between God and man (and person-to-person) and that this relationship is the warp and woof of life.

This was evident in God's walk with Adam, and among other, Enoch, Noah, the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), Joseph -- Jacob's son, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Daniel, Nehemiah and Jesus. These are all "high spots" on the landscape. Of course, between each raised point there were countless others in the scriptures or not who had the same sort of thing going on in their experience of life.

Psalm 103:7 states that God "made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the sons of Israel." Exodus 33:7-11 talks about the tent of meeting outside the camp. This is where Moses went to have his "sit-down" face-to-face meetings with God, his friend. When Psalm 103:7 talks about God's "ways" it is talking about the "why's" of life. "How come" this and "how come" that. It is also talking about 'what makes things tick". God was letting his friend Moses in on the "behind the scenes" reasons for what was happening and giving Moses the rational for proper decision-making. The sons of Israel only saw what God did. Moses got to know why he did it.

Packed into this narrative is mention of Moses' future replacement, Joshua. Joshua was Moses' aide. After Moses had his sit-down with God, Joshua would hang around so he could get some of the same. No mystery why he became Moses replacement in the future. Joshua was a disciple, too.

Cindy Rowland - One Year Later

2010-06-27T16:20:00.001-05:00

Today is the first anniversary of Cindy's passing. I have thought back this weekend about the events of June 26-28, 2009. I believe the last time she was conscious was Friday, June 26 in the afternoon. I remember her telling me as I bent down to her, "I think this is it."

In church this morning, the song special was "Follow Me" by Ira Stamphill. The last verse ends with:

"If just a cup of water I place within your hand
Then just a cup of water is all that I demand.
But if by death to living they can Thy glory see,
I'll take my cross and follow close to Thee."

Cindy, unpretentious, humble, loving, desiring God's glory. Those words Ira Stamphill took from Matthew 25 were special to Cindy. They reminded me so much of her.

What is Discipleship? A Recurring Theme and Working Model

2010-05-03T12:43:00.010-05:00

In the last post, I talked about the relationship that Adam had with God in the garden. My point was that Adam was God's steward of the earth and that he was a mentor to Adam in that work. The text points out that God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day calling out for Adam. I would take this to be a normal activity between the two.

Other notable examples are:

Enoch, who "walked with God" and was so pleasing in relationship that he disappeared -- having been taken into God's presence in the unseen realm to continue their relationship.

Abraham, who was a friend of God and with whom God made enduring covenants. Abraham was the subsequent "model" of a trusting relationship with God.

Joseph, who God raised up from being a dreamer to being one who could reveal the meanings of others' dreams. God took this gifted young man, who excelled in all he put his hand to, and made him into the ruler of Egypt, second only to Pharoah, but only after taking him through years of hardship because of others' jealousy. God "worked with" Joseph to get him where he was destined to be.

Moses, who God spoke with as a man speaks with his friend -- face to face.

David, of whom the psalmists later wrote in Psalm 78, God "chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands." God used David's menial responsibilities to train him for great things.

In David's writings, you find an entire psalm (Psalm 25) which puts forward God personally teaching his people who want to learn his ways. God told him, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go. Do not be like a horse or mule who requires a bit and bridle." (Psalm 32)

In Daniel, who like Joseph before him was a trusted servant of kings, who excelled in all his doings. God worked with him to be a revealer of mysteries to gentile kings who respected him.

In Jesus, who as a man had a disciple's relationship with his Father in heaven. The nature of this is foretold in Isaiah 50:4-6 and lived out in the pages of the gospel accounts as day-by-day and night-by-night Jesus gets alone with his Father.

In the apostles, as Jesus worked with them in his personal way and in which they worked with the people who God united with them as they lived out their callings.

Much more could be said and there is a wealth of detail about this disciple-relationship with God himself. Have you ever considered that God may want to teach you in such a way so you can bring the life and lifestyle of his Kingdom into the world around you?

To recap simply, discipleship is the true nature of man's relationship with God. It was before the fall and it is for those restored from the fall. To assume that the only concern of people is to get their "peace with God" and then wait till the afterlife for the good stuff entirely misses the nature of life with God as it is intended to be.

What is Discipleship? Original Intent

2010-03-02T12:34:00.002-06:00

Continuing with the theme of Discipleship: I wrote previously about the Doctrine of Original Intent. This is not a church doctrine, it is typically used as the methodology of interpreting the Constitution. "What did the Founding Fathers mean when they said ..." The competing view of constitutional interpretation is to see it as an evolving document that -- sort of like silly putty -- can be bent and shaped to mean new things in relation to new challenges.

I prefer to approach the scriptures with a "doctrine of original intent" -- taking Genesis chapters 1 - 3 as the seed bed for the rest of redemptive history up to and including the return of our Lord in glory. If we get the first three chapters wrong, we skew the whole rest of the story.

How does this sync up with discipleship? It is my belief that discipleship could be the defining characteristic of Adam's relationship with God. God had created Adam to be his "manager" of creation. In doing so, Adam had to learn the ropes. Who would teach him? The Creator, of course. God was the one who knew how it all worked and what He wanted Adam to accomplish with it. With that in view, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God came "walking in the garden in the cool of the day." I believe that this was an example of "mentoring" times that He shared with Adam prior to the fall.

Is this all stated in the text? Not in so many words. As we continue this series we will look at other things later in history that point back to this.

What is Discipleship?

2010-02-24T12:31:00.008-06:00

Christians toss around "lingo" a lot. Many times we use words which if we were asked to define, we are unable to, or we find that our definition differs from how others would define it.

Discipleship is one of those words. What is discipleship? How we answer that is pretty important because the Great Commission (another lingo phrase) as it is given in Matthew has "making disciples" as the central, focal thing for us to be engaged in "till the end of the age". By contrast, Mark's version focuses on "preach the gospel" to all creatures.

Now if we unpack those two accounts there is a wide difference in how they are fulfilled. Theoretically, if we could rent helicopters and fly over every habitation of mankind and broadcast the message, the Four Spiritual Laws, or the Roman Road or some other device, the job would be done -- if we go by Mark's version. Conversely, unless we confine the term "making disciples" to a my-mouth-to-your-ear activity, there is a lot more to it. The first involves words, the second involves living life, in fact, as I will deal with in future posts, it is all about life, not just words.

I have been keeping up with a series of articles written by John Armstrong of Act3 Ministries dealing with this subject. What is discipleship?

Armstrong says, "I am convinced that we have reduced the meaning of this extremely important word to: (1) Learning information from the Bible, or content about faith, and; (2) To relating our lives to the local church and its programs. In the process we have emptied the word disciple of deep meaning and allowed people to profess a faith that does not require them to imagine what can or should be done as radical followers of Jesus Christ."

In other words, we have removed discipleship from the messy arena of daily living and we have made it a matter of passing on information and participating in church activities.

Being a disciple is life-engaging. Making disciples should be, too.

In my next few posts, I will try to follow the theme of discipleship through the narrative of the Bible and show that it is "baked in" to spiritual life, not tacked on.

Rearranging the Furniture of Creation

2010-01-05T12:56:00.002-06:00

In my last post, I talked about how as God created everything, it was part of his designed purpose for each thing to reflect a facet of Himself, his character. Even mankind had a unique purpose of being his image-bearer. Everything seen, of this creation, temporal, points to the unseen and eternal.

Considering the fall, when Adam and Eve chose to break God's covenant of life with them, new realities had to be reflected in the "furniture" of creation. The reality of death and decay now had to be reflected in all things, again, in part as a testimony to mankind. This is implied in Romans 1:18 and following. All created things now reflected this tendency. Creation was still beautiful but it was broken. God promised to redeem it. (Think about reclaiming something from the dumpster and making it useful again).

Likewise, his image-bearers, as living models of the relationship between God and his people, needed to act out new realities.

For Adam, bearing fruit no longer was automatic. The investment of toil, sweat, etc. could be met with thorns and thistles. This is reflective of Hebrews 6 where it is noted that blessings can be poured on a piece of ground which only grows thorns and ends up being cursed.

For Eve, childbirth was no longer the EZ button that it would have been. It would come with travail. Likewise, we, God's people bear fruit with travail. It is not easy. Paul commented on the correlation several times in his epistles.

So again, God has continued to use everything, everything to be a constant reminder of himself, his character, his eternal purpose. More than anything, it testifies of his faithfulness. In a nutshell, his only requirement for Adam and Eve was "trust and obey" like the old hymn says. So it is for us. He is trustworthy.

Learning Styles... God Has Covered All The Bases

2009-12-30T09:23:00.004-06:00

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

2009-12-09T15:14:00.005-06:00

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

2009-12-04T05:04:00.006-06:00

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

2009-12-02T13:57:00.005-06:00

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

2009-12-01T14:44:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-29T12:46:00.021-06:00

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

2009-11-26T07:50:00.007-06:00

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

2009-06-29T17:58:00.015-05:00

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

2009-05-24T23:50:00.005-05:00

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

2009-05-17T22:23:00.004-05:00

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

2009-04-29T12:50:00.003-05:00

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?

2009-04-23T12:50:00.004-05:00

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

2009-03-26T14:38:00.000-05:00

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

2009-03-26T14:34:00.001-05:00

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

2009-01-23T00:39:00.001-06:00

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.

The Rowlands :: Christmas 2008

2008-11-27T12:31:00.001-06:00

It's Thanksgiving Day. I have finished cleaning up the smoker and slicing smoked meat and potatoes. I look forward to sitting down with Cindy and Joseph in a while to enjoy some of our bountiful fixin's and ...pumpkin pie. The holiday season has begun early this year. Seems like the Christmas shopping push comes earlier each year. In spite of the bleak times we are wading into as a nation, we have a great deal that we are thankful for and look forward, as ever, to celebrating the advent of the King of Kings.

We miss Cindy's brother Eddie this year. He passed away the last day of February this year after a number of compounding health problems. He had lived in our home since Cindy's mother passed away in early 2000.

Cindy and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this spring. My family hosted a reception at the Caledonia Baptist fellowship hall and we tremendously enjoyed having many friends and family members celebrate it with us.

Many of you remain concerned for Cindy's health. In February, it will be five years since she was diagnosed with cancer. None of her last five years have been easy, but this year has been harder than most for her. After returning from our UK trip last year, we had a number of medical decisions to make. In January, she had a difficult surgery to remove two tumors in her right lung. Recovery has been long and hard, compounded by a weakened heart. In July, she began chemo again to fight a remaining tumor in her abdomen. Happily, she is benefitting from the chemo, though it seems each bout gets a little harder. She is still smiling.

Joseph continues to work at Arkansas Educational Television (AETN). We enjoyed his first project as co-producer, which was an hour-long special dealing with water problems in Arkansas called “Troubled Waters”. It has aired many times since it was released in the spring. He was able to write and perform some of the music for that show. Since then he has taken on the task of bringing their media content to the internet.

I celebrated another anniversary this year – my 10th year with Murphy Oil Corporation. I am still responsible for messaging systems (which used to be just email but now includes Blackberrys and instant messaging). I manage several other systems as well and work with a terrific bunch of people.

Our church family at Caledonia Baptist had a sorrowful loss this year as Pastor Hugh Nelson's wife, Marian, succumbed to cancer. This has meant tremendous changes for him and we have all sought to lift him up and keep us all moving ahead.

Empowering Matt Damon

2008-09-11T12:39:00.001-05:00

Matt Damon says that he has a hard time entrusting "the nuclear codes" with someone who believes dinosaurs were alive a few millenia ago. Hmmm... I guess he wouldn't trust me.

I enjoy the Bourne movies -- I would probably like them no matter who starred as Jason Bourne. The fact of the matter is that Matt Damon is the one who took home a check for that part (and perhaps residuals). His face on that screen and his bulging checkbook have given him the ability to fund anti-christian causes, and I am responsible for a small part of that. So are other Christians. It's like Saul taking up a collection to send the Philistines so they could hire Goliath.

That said, there are a couple of things I need to consider for myself and fellow Christians should, too.

First, we are as bad as the society around us in being entertainment-driven. Is film-music-art (the media, not the content) inherently "bad"? Is it "worldly"? As a worldview proponent, I would find it hard to take that position. They are only as bad as the motivation and message they present. In the proper hands, they can be wonderful at "telling a story". Ravi Zacharias portrays the arts as the bridge between abstract concepts and supper-table discussions. The arts bring concepts down to where we can see and respond and formulate action.

So, we need to accord the muses their proper place in our world. We also need to look at ourselves and how we treat entertainment. Advertisers would have every new book title, every new movie, every new TV show, every new CD, every new restaurant menu offering as "must see", "must hear", "must read" and we respond with our time and our money. Is that wise?

Next, and corresponding to that, I frequently get "urgent - response needed" emails from organizations like AFA who act as a watchdog for anti-Christian activity in the aforementioned places. Their well-intentioned warning mechanism is a good example of calling like-minded people together to deal with a crisis, but also an example of how we treat the symptoms, not the causes. We have to take away Matt Damon's empowerment. We have to stop sending money to Goliath. We have to do that by re-evaluating and scaling back our appetite for entertainment and by committing ourselves corporately to a long-term effort to defund our enemies.

Why would a man want to be here?

2008-07-27T14:36:00.001-05:00

McDonald's targets the kids to get the adults in the door. Don't some Sunday School and VBS programs do the same? If the kids weren't nagging Dad to go to McDonald's would Dad go there by choice?

Since it is the father's responsibility to feed the family, it is circumvented unless you reach the men. Titus was charged to "put in order that which is lacking". As the letter proceeds, this means properly functioning authority in families (among other things). He also says that if this is not carried out, the word of God will be blasphemed. Can we connect the dots to how things are today between church and society?

The Sunday School bus picking up kids in hopes to finally get dad there delays what is really needed. I know that is an over-simplification, but you get the idea.

How It Played Out - 25th Anniversary Recollections

2008-07-03T12:41:00.001-05:00

Cindy: I remembered that Jan Woods had a sort of request list for when someone would ask her to marry him. She went through the book of Ruth and found character traits that were in Boaz. I decide it wouldn't hurt to do that. I don't have the list any more but from what I can remember Boaz was a kind man and he was resolute to do what was right. It seems like it says, "He wouldn't rest until it was settled." I prayed over these things.

The next week I made an appointment to talk with Bill Woods about my conversation with Rob. Bill told me that I had insulated myself from relationships. I tended to back off if they got too close, but that wasn't healthy for the church. The body couldn't function properly if people weren't honest. If, perchance, there was a person that I felt a bond with -- more than just sharing a hymnal -- then I needed to ask God to work specific things in that person. Character traits, Bible verses, whatever God laid on my heart. Bill said I could be confident God was at work when the man did what I had been praying. I set about to do that for my dear friend John.

John had rescued me many times from rodents, lawn mowing, and not having a ride. He knew I was insecure with guy/girl relationships so I didn't think he would have unrealistic expectations. Besides, he had expressed care for me when we both worked at David's and at a conference we both attended before I moved to Indiana.

John: A very interesting thing happened after the campus fellowship meeting the next Friday night. The singles often went out to eat after fellowship. I happened to be with several younger guys at a restaurant when Cindy and some other girls from the fellowship walked by -- and we chatted briefly. One of the guys with me asked, "Is that your wife?" I answered, "No." but noted how curious a question it was.

Sunday morning came. I had to leave for work immediately after church. Bill spoke about Ruth and Boaz at worship that morning. Ruth and Boaz were another set of "major players" in my concept of my relationship with Cindy. Boaz's love for Ruth led him to take charge and settle things with regard to her well-being. Things had been building for several days and by this point, I was pretty bothered by this whole thing being unsettled. I kept praying when I had moments alone at work, like going to the stockroom for things.

After work, I went home and as I was there alone, I kept praying fervently about this situation. My promise to God was that if I determined that it was the right thing to do, I would follow through with it. I had been reminded again and again about my perspective of Moses crossing the Red Sea and as I thought about things and recounted them in my mind prayerfully, I realized that I had been brought to this point and there was only one thing to do. Almost audibly, I heard, "what are you waiting for, move forward." I didn't think about it at the time, but that was what God told Moses to do when he cried out to God about the approaching Egyptian army. I realized that I that it was time to get on with it.

As I went to the car and began to drive over to Cindy's, I knew that whatever the outcome -- keep in mind that we had not dated, we had not spoken about this together and she might totally shut me down -- I had to follow it out to the conclusion. I arrived at Cindy's apartment and knocked on the front door. There was no answer. Should I give up and go home? I thought, "no I have to settle this today," so I went to the back door. I knocked and Cindy answered the door.

Cindy: No more than two weeks had passed and I was having a very emotional day. I was dressed in orange sweat pants and shirt -- not expecting company -- ughh! There was a knock at my kitchen door. When I went to the door, John was there. He said he had to talk to me and ask me something. I invited him inside and we sat down. He said God had given him a special love for me and he wanted to ask me to marry him. Because I needed to have confidence that God was at work in this, I said, "On what basis?" John said, "Because God has given us an 'iron sharpens iron' relationship and I just can't rest until this is settled." When he said that, I said "Yes." I probably cried, too.

John: I was not expecting Cindy’s response, "On what basis?" So when she asked, I knew what I appreciated about her and our relationship, and I just knew I had to settle this. As it turned out, these exact things were what she needed to confirm what she had been praying. What a relief when she sighed and said, "Yes."

After that, we both wanted to share the happy news with Bill and Jan. We announced it to them and went over to visit for a while, then stayed up late and started planning, calling people and just rejoicing in our news...

This was just the beginning of miracles in our life together, small and large. We were able to pull together a wedding in six weeks, Cindy found a beautiful wedding dress and veil at a fraction of its original cost at a wedding shop. Later, my vision of Abraham and Sarah was fulfilled this way: After over a year of trying to have a baby with various infertility treatments, God blessed us with Joseph. That is another story. When Cindy and I chose an imprint for our wedding napkins, we chose the Bible verse about "a cord of three strands is not easily broken." Jesus has been the "strong strand" in the cord of our life together and we are thankful to be able to celebrate these twenty-five years together.

What Happened Next - 25th Anniversary Recollections

2008-07-02T12:39:00.001-05:00

Cindy: I struggled with my singleness but I accepted it as God's design. I knew that when it came to relationships with men that I couldn't trust that they would be stable and secure or that sin wouldn't mar it.

It happened one weekend, as spring break was just ending, that I went with Christy, Rob and someone else to pick up trucks for Rob's U-Haul business. Somehow I ended up riding with Rob. He scared me to death when the first thing he asked me was "what I looked for in a husband." I quickly said that I didn't -- that I felt as if my singleness was a permanent proposition. He just as quickly told me that he didn't believe our pastor, Bill Woods would agree. In fact, he was quite sure that Bill would say no one in our church had the gift of celibacy. That hit me pretty hard because I was pretty keen on being under the pastoral leaderships' authority. So that night I cried out to God about whether I was wrong, asking "was I protecting myself from rejection, betrayal and insecurity?"

John: Rob started talking about his conversation with Cindy when he got home that Friday night. I told him -- with uncharacteristic bravado -- that I believed Cindy and I were meant to be together and I believed we would be married. His reply was that it would be some sort of miracle because Cindy had told him in no uncertain terms that she would not marry. I countered with the promise that if we were not engaged by the time Sunday ended, I would just drop the issue. Well, I'm not sure how I thought that would happen, but Sunday night came and I was not engaged. I dejectedly said I would keep my word and just let it drop. The next week would be a very down week for me -- sort of trying to "soldier on" disappointedly. Every time I thought about Cindy -- and that was often -- I reminded myself that I was dropping it.

How Cindy and I Met - 25th Anniversary Recollections

2008-07-01T12:36:00.001-05:00

John: The first time I met Cindy -- in 1977 -- was at a weekend conference held at a camp next to Caney Lake, just a little ways from Ruston, Louisiana. I had traveled there from Emporia, Kansas with Bill Woods, my pastor. Bill was one of the conference speakers that weekend.

To properly understand the context that all these things happened in, I should do a little background about our church experience. In the early 1970's, several young men and women began an itinerant evangelistic outreach that focused on college campuses. They would locate at a campus, put on musical programs in the dorms, have Bible studies, have outdoor preaching and follow up by trying to band those who responded together as a fledgling church. After a period of time, they would move on to another campus and do the same thing. As a result, there were -- for lack of a better description -- campus Bible study churches from Texas to Ohio to Florida to Louisiana and many campuses in between. Bill Woods was a product of this outreach at Kansas University and had become a facilitator of other similar churches.

When God awakened me to my spiritual need, it was through this type of church, located where I went to college at Emporia State University in Kansas. Cindy had already been a member of the church at Louisiana Tech in Ruston for several years. It was the church at Louisiana Tech that had invited a sister church from Houston for a joint Christian Living conference and Bill Woods was one of the two invited speakers. As one of the founders of the church at Ruston, Bill was the common denominator between Emporia and Ruston.

I distinctly remember sitting outside the dining/meeting hall at a picnic table and talking with Cindy for a short period of time. One thing we still laugh about -- I remember having the conversation and she doesn't. I joke that I must have made a fantastic impression on her! In her defense, when we met and had that conversation, I was pretty overweight and it would be no wonder that when our trails crossed later, I looked different, having lost about 55 pounds.

After the conference, Bill and I traveled back to Ruston, and stayed over at the home of several single men who were in the church there. Cindy and someone else -- I can't remember who -- came over and made a travel lunch for Bill and myself before we headed back to Kansas. Along the way, when we unpacked our lunches, I found an index card with the food. It had the verse saying, "Whom have I in heaven but Thee and there is none upon the earth that I desire but Thee." For some reason I kept that index card for years -- and Cindy was very surprised to find it when she was unpacking my things at the apartment when we returned from our honeymoon.

Sometime later -- in 1979, I think -- Cindy was invited by Bill to consider joining the young fellowship at Emporia to help with the campus and community outreach. Cindy was very ill when the time came to move from Louisiana. She had to have some men in the fellowship drive her car up and move her things while she took a flight. Not long after her arrival, she was hospitalized had to have surgery for her ongoing "female" problems. I remember visiting her in the hospital, but mainly I was kind of a bother to her. I say that for this reason: I was very shy around her and didn't really know what to say -- so I made up for it by repeating things I read in the then-popular book How to Speak Southern. Not the thing to do!

Bill involved me in a project he and Dave Cook -- a pastor from Lawrence, Kansas -- were developing. The vision for this project was to form a pop-rock band that used Top-40 hit music to develop thematic programs bringing biblical concepts into focus. Dave Cook had been a professional drummer, I had been a semi-pro bass player and Bill recruited other band members from several sister churches that were talent-rich. Rehearsals and the subsequent "City Lights" tour kept me pretty tied up through the end of 1980.

After touring, we were sort of in limbo, thinking we might regroup after a rest and go at again. The possibility existed that me might relocate to a place more central to the network of campuses we were involved with. Bloomington, Indiana was one possibility. In the meantime, I got a job at a local discount store named David's -- sort of a regional Target -- which was where Cindy worked in the Cash Office. That was where I began to develop a true affection for her. I wanted to develop a deeper relationship with her, but was torn and fearful. As I pondered my options, I kept thinking of a common Biblical image, one that would figure into events later on. The image was that of Moses bringing the people of Israel to the Red Sea. When they were being apprehended by the Egyptian army, God parted the sea in order for the Israelites to pass over. I always felt in my relationship with Cindy that I was at the sea but it would not part. Until it did, I could not "move forward".

After several months, plans began being implemented for a team of couples and singles to migrate to Bloomington for a church plant. There was no discussion of reviving the music group, but I was urged by the church pastors to relocate to Bloomington. There was little doubt that part of the reason was that as they observed me in relation to Cindy, they realized that there was more emotion than substance and a little distance might put things in a better perspective. That summer, three small teams moved to Bloomington, a month apart. I was in the middle group and moved to Indiana early in June. I busied myself finding work -- not easy to do with 12% unemployment -- but after several weeks, I landed a job as a counter salesperson at Bender Lumber Company in Bloomington and settled in to work and campus ministry.

In the late fall, we had a retreat at an old mansion north of Bloomington. Several people who were still in Emporia came up for the weekend -- including Cindy. Late one evening, we got a change to chat with each other. Among other things, we talked about how we "used to" have feelings for each other months before, but we were past it now. For my own part, that was definitely not the truth. In reality, I never got over it -- and I still haven't!

The following fall, more people, including Bill and Jan Woods and Cindy had made the move to Bloomington and we all busied ourselves with our work and with campus bible studies and fellowship. For my part, I just tried to ignore my feelings and be productive. There were enjoyable opportunities to help her out with little things, like setting and emptying mouse traps, putting on window plastic for winter, having homemade mushroom soup -- yum! I tried to enjoy just being friends and that was okay for then. On through the winter and into the new year, on Valentine’s Day, I remember calling Cindy and chatting with her for several hours. I so enjoyed her. My roommate, Rob was aware of these things and marriage -- in generalities but not specifically -- was a topic of discussion between us.

Sunset of Life - Jesus and Paul

2008-05-02T14:32:00.000-05:00

As I write this, my pastor's wife and friend, Marian Nelson is going through one of the first steps of the process of dealing with the cancer which began in her pancreas and has metastisized to her liver. She was diagnosed this week. Her procedure today is an "easy" one, they will put in a stint to open up a bile duct in her liver. This will hopefully take care of immediate concerns of jaundice, nausea and other possible complications.

Cindy and I have had our own walk down this path since 2004, when she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. It has since metastisized to her spleen, lungs and abdomen. After the initial hysterectomy, she has had radiation, chemo, another surgery to remove her spleen and another spot in her abdomen, more chemo and most recently, removal of parts of her right lung. She is still alive, doing well and enjoying not having chemo. Many people in her shoes were not as fortunate.

Situations like this give us a cause to pause -- to take a "what is life really about" moment. Following are notes from a short talk I gave at our church meeting last Wednesday evening, as we begin to deal with Marian's situation.

Psalm 90:1-12 Things happen in life, particularly when someone close to us has a life-threatening situation, that draw our thoughts back to the brevity of life... We say "our days are numbered." Is that a bad thing? Moses said in this Psalm "teach us to number our days, so that we may present you a heart of wisdom". Knowing our days are numbered can be a helpful incentive to do what we can to make sure our lives count for others.

Life passes quickly, in the morning the grass grows and then in the afternoon, it drys up and withers and is cut down.

John 5:17 Jesus said, "My Father is working up till right now and I myself am working." God began our universe with work. God made us to work. Jesus worked. We talk about retirement and the "sunset years" but in God's economy there is never retirement as we think of it today. We may retire from our occupation, but we never retire from service.

John 9:4 We have to "make hay while the sun shines." The workday will end and there will be no going back and finishing it up.

John 17:4 As Jesus said for his own life, we glorify God by finishing the work he gave us to do.

1 Cor 15:58 No work we do in union with God (John 3:21 Berkeley), nothing, is a waste. Jesus said in Matthew that even a cup of cold water given to serve others in his name will not be forgotten.

Phil 1:12-14 Anything God allows works to his advantage (Romans 8:28 - and to our advantage as his people). Jesus took the worst Rome had to offer its enemies and turned it into liberation for his people. He made the symbol of Rome's power into a symbol of the power of God's kingdom. Paul's detractors thought that house arrest put him out of action. In reality, it created opportunities he would not have had otherwise. Things happen in our lives that we have no control over. God will not let them be a waste, but will work them to our good and his advantage.

Phil 1:19-26 As long as we have breath, we have work. Whether we live or die... "Christ". He will leave us as long has he has a purpose for us being here. If I'm breathing, I'm (hopefully) useful.

Sunset of Life - Moses, Jesus and Paul

2008-05-02T12:31:00.000-05:00

Life passes quickly, in the morning the grass grows and then in the afternoon, it drys up and withers and is cut down.

John 5:17 Jesus said, "My Father is working up till right now and I myself am working." God began our universe with work. God made us to work. Jesus worked. We talk about retirement and the "sunset years" but in God's economy there is never retirement as we think of it today. We may retire from our occupation, but we never retire from service.

John 9:4 We have to "make hay while the sun shines." The workday will end and there will be no going back and finishing it up.

John 17:4 As Jesus said for his own life, we glorify God by finishing the work he gave us to do.

1 Cor 15:58 No work we do in union with God (John 3:21 Berkeley), nothing, is a waste. Jesus said in Matthew that even a cup of cold water given to serve others in his name will not be forgotten.

Phil 1:12-14 Anything God allows works to his advantage (Romans 8:28 - and to our advantage as his people). Jesus took the worst Rome had to offer its enemies and turned it into liberation for his people. He made the symbol of Rome's power into a symbol of the power of God's kingdom. Paul's detractors thought that house arrest put him out of action. In reality, it created opportunities he would not have had otherwise. Things happen in our lives that we have no control over. God will not let them be a waste, but will work them to our good and his advantage.

Phil 1:19-26 As long as we have breath, we have work. Whether we live or die... "Christ". He will leave us as long has he has a purpose for us being here. If I'm breathing, I'm (hopefully) useful.

Telling God's Story

2008-04-13T22:07:00.000-05:00

The history of his covenant (God has always worked with mankind covenantally starting with Adam and Eve - he doesn't do it any other way)
The nature of his dealings with people based on his covenants
The requirements (law) of living in fellowship with him and each other

What do I mean when I talk about covenant?

An ecosystem (modern buzzword but a very good picture - everything is interrelated)
Like a colonial charter (how? King grants colony and terms under which life is to be conducted)
Like marriage, not just a legal agreement, but tangled up with all of life, decisions, etc.

Back to our song: "We've a Story to Tell to the Nations"

What have we done with the story?
The last couple of generations have made some mistakes with God's story

Some mistakes with the covenant life

We have started to think of God as someone who sits far off on the sidelines and only intervenes when we get in bind and decide to pray
We have broken the "mainspring" out of the clock and forgotten that it's purpose and function is in relation to the clock as a whole.
Worse yet, we have broken life into a bunch of pieces that have no relation to each other (compartmentalization) Example: I can be a serial adulterer but a great leader

Some mistakes with the message of salvation

We have tried to make God's story fit into a Four Spiritual Laws pamphlet
We have made it about following the right script (four points and a prayer) instead of trust and obedience and commitment

Some mistakes with the scriptures

We have tried to tell the "punchline" but didn't lay the foundation so it makes less sense
We have broken the story into bite sized chunks instead of doing the hard work of study
We have pulled out promises and principles and tossed out the rest like the gemologist

Some mistakes with discipleship

We have made being disciples "something extra" (an optional add-on for salvation)
We have made it activity-oriented (go and do and come home) instead of lifestyle (24/7)

What can we do about it?

Work at becoming "whole" in our thinking, perspective of life and actions

God's story didn't start at Christmas and it doesn't end at Easter
Many people think the message of the Bible is "how to get to heaven"?
It includes that, but it really tells me the past, present and future of man's relationship with God and how my own life fits in with that
There is a bodily resurrection and new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells and every believer will be there
Like your marriage affects all your decisions -- how you spend your time and your money, where you go, what you do and who you do it with -- if God's kingdom is real, and your relationship with him as King is real, it is the same way

Embody God's story

John 1:14 says "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"
Jesus embodied and lived out God's every expression of God's law and promises perfectly
You remember the old saying, "You may be the only Bible a person ever reads..."
The apostle Paul said that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels"
Though we are not perfect, we can bring the word to life
Think of the difference between 2D vs 3D -- "in living color"

Remember the story of Yakov and Cimmerman

There is a magnificent story in Marie Chapian's book Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy. The book told of the sufferings of the true church in Yugoslavia where so much wrong has been perpetrated by the politicized ecclesiastical hierarchy. That which has gone on in the name of Christ for the enriching and empowering of corrupt church officials has been a terrible affront to decency.

One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people. "My own nephew was killed by them," he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov's part to talk about Christ. "They wear those elaborate coats and caps and crosses," he said, "signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore."

Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, "Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track; they recognized your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?"

"I would deny it," said Cimmerman.

"Ah, but we saw your coat," they would say," retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.

Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ, with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, "How does one become a Christian?" and Jakov taught him the simple steps of repentance for sin and of trust in the work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to the Shepherd of his soul. Cimmerman bent his knee on the soil with his head bowed and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, "Thank you for being in my life." And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, "You wear His coat very well."

Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, (Word Publishing, Dallas: 1994), pp. 101-102

We've a Savior to show to the nations,
Who the path of sorrow has trod,
That all of the worlds great peoples
Might come to the truth of God,
Might come to the truth of God.

Telling God's Story

2008-04-13T12:58:00.002-05:00

We've a story to tell to the nations,
That shall turn their hearts to the right,
A story of truth and mercy,
A story of peace and light,
A story of peace and light.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noonday bright;
And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,
The kingdom of love and light.

We've a song to be sung to the nations,
That shall lift their hearts to the Lord,
A song that shall conquer evil
And shatter the spear and sword,
And shatter the spear and sword.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noonday bright;
And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,
The kingdom of love and light.

We've a message to give to the nations,
That the Lord who reigns up above
Has sent us His Son to save us,
And show us that God is love,
And show us that God is love.

Psalm 78:1-8

1 An instruction of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; bow down your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will speak dark sayings of old,
3 which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their sons, showing to the generations to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He set up a testimony in Jacob, and ordered a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their sons;
6 so that the generation to come might know; sons shall be born, and they shall arise and tell their sons,
7 so that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments;
8 and might not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful with God.

This psalm, Psalm 78 (and other scriptures) brings to light the "generational-ness" of the God: "to you and your children" -- always multi-generational. Something that God required of his faithful people was to communicate him to their children:

The history of his covenant (God has always worked with mankind covenantally starting with Adam and Eve - he doesn't do it any other way)
The nature of his dealings with people based on his covenants
The requirements (law) of living in fellowship with him and each other
What do I mean when I talk about covenant?

An ecosystem (modern buzzword but a very good picture - everything is interrelated)
Like a colonial charter (how? King grants colony and terms under which life is to be conducted)
Like marriage, not just a legal agreement, but tangled up with all of life, decisions, etc.
Back to our song: "We've a Story to Tell to the Nations"

What have we done with the story?
The last couple of generations have made some mistakes with God's story
Some mistakes with the covenant life

We have started to think of God as someone who sits far off on the sidelines and only intervenes when we get in bind and decide to pray
We have broken the "mainspring" out of the clock and forgotten that it's purpose and function is in relation to the clock as a whole.
Worse yet, we have broken life into a bunch of pieces that have no relation to each other (compartmentalization) Example: I can be a serial adulterer but a great leader
Some mistakes with the message of salvation

We have tried to make God's story fit into a Four Spiritual Laws pamphlet
We have made it about following the right script (four points and a prayer) instead of trust and obedience and commitment
Some mistakes with the scriptures

We have tried to tell the "punchline" but didn't lay the foundation so it makes less sense
We have broken the story into bite sized chunks instead of doing the hard work of study
We have pulled out promises and principles and tossed out the rest like the gemologist
Some mistakes with discipleship

We have made being disciples "something extra" (an optional add-on for salvation)
We have made it activity-oriented (go and do and come home) instead of lifestyle (24/7)
What can we do about it?

Work at becoming "whole" in our thinking, perspective of life and actions
God's story didn't start at Christmas and it doesn't end at Easter
Many people think the message of the Bible is "how to get to heaven"?
It includes that, but it really tells me the past, present and future of man's relationship with God and how my own life fits in with that
There is a bodily resurrection and new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells and every believer will be there
Like your marriage affects all your decisions -- how you spend your time and your money, where you go, what you do and who you do it with -- if God's kingdom is real, and your relationship with him as King is real, it is the same way
Embody God's story

John 1:14 says "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"
Jesus embodied and lived out God's every expression of God's law and promises perfectly
You remember the old saying, "You may be the only Bible a person ever reads..."
The apostle Paul said that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels"
Though we are not perfect, we can bring the word to life
Think of the difference between 2D vs 3D -- "in living color"
Remember the story of Yakov and Cimmerman

There is a magnificent story in Marie Chapian's book Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy. The book told of the sufferings of the true church in Yugoslavia where so much wrong has been perpetrated by the politicized ecclesiastical hierarchy. That which has gone on in the name of Christ for the enriching and empowering of corrupt church officials has been a terrible affront to decency.

One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people. "My own nephew was killed by them," he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov's part to talk about Christ. "They wear those elaborate coats and caps and crosses," he said, "signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore."

Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, "Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track; they recognized your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?"

"I would deny it," said Cimmerman.

"Ah, but we saw your coat," they would say," retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.

Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ, with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, "How does one become a Christian?" and Jakov taught him the simple steps of repentance for sin and of trust in the work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to the Shepherd of his soul. Cimmerman bent his knee on the soil with his head bowed and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, "Thank you for being in my life." And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, "You wear His coat very well."

Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, (Word Publishing, Dallas: 1994), pp. 101-102

We've a Savior to show to the nations,
Who the path of sorrow has trod,
That all of the worlds great peoples
Might come to the truth of God,
Might come to the truth of God.

Focused But Not Frantic

2008-04-12T22:56:00.000-05:00

One thing NT Wright communicates is how Jesus incarnated was the Kingdom of God. In fact, his ministry was like a living parable. Revivalism and modern Evangelicalism has successfully reduced the "gospel" to something like the Four Spiritual Laws and reduced ministry to a delivery mechanism for the Four Laws. Our faddish -- "Gimmick Driven" -- modus operandi testifies to that. Jesus' appearance took several milennia after the fall and his ministry took 33 quiet years before he stepped on to the public stage. Paul spent over ten unhurried, missing years after his conversion and was brought into the ministry spotlight by someone else, not his own ambitions.

All this is to say -- not that we have "all the time in the world" to lazily bring the Kingdom of God to our world -- but rather that this is God's business. Let God be god -- he has brought everything to pass in his own time. A farmer has to work the field at the proper times to have a crop, but he can't hurry the harvest and it ultimately depends on God to come to fruition.

RIP - Eddie Boy

2008-02-29T22:40:00.001-06:00

James Edward (Eddie) Taunton, one of God’s special angels, 62, of Caledonia, AR, passed away on February 28, 2008. He was born November 21, 1945, in El Dorado, AR, to L. A. and Eva Taunton.

He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his two brothers, Tommy Taunton and wife, Inez of Strong, AR; Paul Taunton and wife, Geneva of Camden, AR; four sisters, Alice Halfacre and husband, Bill of Bull Shoals, AR; Betty Kelly and husband, Alvin of Junction City, LA; Ann Bearden and husband, Jim of Anna, TX; and Cindy Rowland and husband, John of Junction City, LA; special friends Kathy Jones of Junction City, LA; Lillie Smith of Spearsville, LA; and Ophelia Blackman of Lillie, LA; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Private Service will be held at Caledonia Baptist Church with Bro. Hugh Nelson officiating. A Private Burial will follow at Caledonia Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Caledonia Baptist Church, 2192 Wingfield Lake Road, El Dorado AR 71730.

Picture Album

My Last Day With Eddie

2008-02-28T22:50:00.000-06:00

Thursday February 28, 2008

Was called by the nursing home at bedtime last night that Eddie's fever had spiked up to 103 and they were going to switch to a different antibiotic administered by IV. The nursing home called again before 7 am and said that his breathing was distressed and they were taking him to Tri-Ward emergency room.

Cindy and I got ready and left for the emergency room. Eddie was not conscious and his breathing was shallow and labored. He was on oxygen. His extremities were very swollen -- puffy -- like the michelin man. I had never seen them this way. The nurses asked us if we had advanced directives for him. We left after he was admitted and in a room. Cindy notified the family of his situation when we got home and I went to work.

The nurse called Cindy later and asked if she was aware of how much breakdown there was on Eddie's backside -- they were going to have to call Wound Care. Betty and Inez went down to see Eddie and to talk to Dr. Shaw mid-afternoon. Dr. Shaw indicated that his situation was very serious and otherwise, he was much the same as when Cindy and I saw him in the morning. Betty and Inez left the hospital and arrived at our house at 5:00 pm. They had barely arrived when the hospital called and said that Eddie had died. Betty called me at work and I came home and began the arrangements for his funeral.

The Action of Servanthood

2008-02-21T20:08:00.000-06:00

Paul, our servant and the servant of Jesus (Philippians 1):

His faithful service has gotten him put under house arrest in Rome waiting for a hearing with Caesar
He doesn't lament his circumstances and resent that he is tied down
He recognizes that these circumstances extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ in a place he might never have gotten otherwise
Paul uses his circumstances to remind the church at Philippi about Jesus the servant

Jesus, our servant and the servant of the Father (Philippians 2:1-16)

The Introduction (2:1-4)

The way Paul uses "if" in these sentences is the same as saying "we all know there is consolation in Christ, we all know there is comfort of love" -- emphasizing that these are facts they share in common
Because these things are facts, the ultimate joy then is to be like-minded, to be "like-loving", to not be self-oriented, to not place your own interests above others, to be a "servant" of others in your own mind and to look out for their interests
Servants by nature of the job had their master's interests ahead of their own
When the master needed something, the servant couldn't say, "When I feel like it..."
Question: If we are going to be like-thinking, whose thinking do we standardize on? (Answer: Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus...)

The Example (2:5-11)

Let Jesus' thinking and attitude be your model
As God, the maker, the creator, the ruler he didn't consider his position more important than serving and sacrificing for those he loved
The eternal one took on a human body with all it's limitations
He made himself "a nobody"
He humbled himself and obeyed his father's will completely, even to dying on a cross for his creatures
The father verified Jesus' work by raising him up to rule over all things
His desire is that all men freely recognize him as Lord, Ruler and Savior

The Response (2:12-13)

Just as Jesus obeyed in all things and Paul obeyed in all things, you obey in all things
Work at making your whole life reflect his salvation: Why?
God is working in you to will and do what pleases him

The Results(2:14-16)

Complaining is unbecoming for a servant
We all have a tendency to want everyone to know how much of a sacrifice we are making
Do your "serving" willingly
Serving without complaint will set you apart in a world of complainers
It will make your profession of God's word believable

The Takeaway

Jesus said that greatness comes through serving, not dominating
We all have God-given priorities for our service, keep those priorities
It's easy to say we are God's servants, but the proof of the pudding is how we serve in those God-given priorities and circumstances
Ask God to make serving without complaining the character of your life

The Challenge of Servanthood

2008-02-19T20:52:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted since just prior to Christmas and a lot has gone on in the "between times". Cindy was admitted to Baptist Hospital in Little Rock on January 7 for tests to determine if she was strong enough and well enough for a dangerous thoracic surgery to remove two tumors in her right lung (and at the time, we supposed for removal of an abdominal mass, as well -- that, wisely, was not to be).

When several days of scans and exams were done, her thoracic surgeon -- who specializes in risky cases like Cindy's -- determined that there was no reason not to proceed. Cindy had that surgery on January 10 and was released from the hospital on January 17. She has been at home recuperating since. That is the backdrop of my comments about servanthood.

Having an invalid to take care of provides a lot of learning opportunities that we don't normally get to be involved in otherwise. Until Cindy's congestive heart failure last fall, we cared for her bed-bound-total-care brother, Eddie, for seven years since her mother died in 2000. Eddie provided lots of "learning opportunities" in caring for someone else's needs and not being focused on our own. We also appreciate ones like our friend, Benny Elam who bears that burden day after day looking after his disabled wife.

These situations force us to look at love in a very practical way, as a responsibility, not a feeling. That is how God wants us to think of our love for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We have a communal -- covenantal -- responsibility to each other and to our master. We aren't together to feel good.

Read John 13:1-17. The historical setting: In a typical middle-eastern setting, several social courtesies were ordinarily extended to guests. Expressions of hospitality included, the kiss-on-the-cheeks greeting, anointing, caring for the guest's animals, providing food and shelter.

Western culture typically has a completely different list of social amenities, taking a guest's coat, offering something to drink, asking the guest to be seated. In a culture where household servants were in abundant supply, the task of washing a guest's dusty feet normally would have been performed by a servant of the host. This fact is what made Jesus' action so repugnant to the disciples. They were disgusted that Jesus would lower Himself to perform such demeaning labor.

Other observations about John 13 and the "Master Servant":

Jesus loved them to the MAX (not just to the end)
He treated Judas just like everyone else, even though Jesus knew he was a betrayer
We must take positive action to replace self-serving things with others-benefitting things
Knowing is good, but the blessing only comes in the doing

"I have given you an example that you should do..." We are servants, he is the master. If the master stoops to wash, then the servant is not too important for the same task.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-13T20:53:00.001-06:00

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

How quickly this year has rolled past! Cindy and I are running behind -- we just returned from a business trip to the UK and are now trying to get in gear for the fast approaching holiday. We traveled to London the Monday following Thanksgiving and stayed at St Albans, a historic little town of about 125,000 north of London. It has lots of history -- dating back as far as the Roman times. I worked there for 2 days, then we traveled to Wales -- which was just beautiful -- for work over the weekend, then back to St Albans for the rest of the week, returning on a long, long flight Friday, December 7. It was all a tremendous blessing that neither of us would have ever thought we could have enjoyed. You can see comments and links to our pictures at:

http://uk-roots.blogspot.com

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

Joseph graduated cum laude from University of Central Arkansas with double majors in Communications and Writing. During his last semester, he interned at Arkansas Educational Television Network which has its headquarters there at the university. He since was hired by AETN as an associate producer and has been working all through the fall on a broadcast project for which he is now writing the music score. He is getting to apply many of the talents he has developed over the years in a medium he really enjoys.

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

We have had a number of health challenges during the year. Things were going well with Cindy's chemo treatments, such that we asked for and received a break from the treatments beginning in June. Cindy has felt better and better throughout the summer and fall. Shortly before Labor Day, she began having tremendous problems with breathing and activity -- then the night of Labor Day, she had to be hospitalized, learning that what she had been experiencing was congestive heart failure. We were fortunate to be able to get good treatment for that and she is doing much better in that regard. However, after returning from the UK, her routine scans for cancer revealed that some of the growths that had been under control previously were now growing and becoming troublesome again. Her weakened heart condition will make that more difficult to deal with and she is in the prayers of many.

With Cindy's heart failure, we had to make a difficult decision about caring for Eddie in our home and he is now being cared for in a nursing home nearby. Cindy gets to visit him almost daily and he is still a joy to us.

He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

You may have noticed that I have included the words to Isaac Watts' hymn "Joy to the World" in our letter this year. Those people of faith in years-gone-by proclaimed something we have forgotten in our world of turmoil. Jesus came to set creation and, most importantly, people free from the damage done by sin -- wherever it is found. To replace the curse with blessing. To overcome evil with good. He is the ruling King, not just in some future time, but now. He wants us to enjoy it with him.

Comments on First Corinthians - Part 8

2007-10-05T21:05:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 8-10 (Part 2): "Rights" of a Christian.

Example: Paul himself. The Corinthians thought they had rights. Didn't Paul have "rights" as an apostle... to food and shelter, to take a wife with him. Soldiers don't pay their own expenses. Farmers eat from their own crops and herds. The oxen on the threshing floor get to eat from the grain they are threshing so they have strength to work. So, Paul had a right to expect what he needed from those he labored among -- from them. But... he purposely did not exercise that right, so that nothing would create an obstacle to the message of Christ.

More than that, Paul considered himself a servant of those he worked among, becoming whatever they needed to win them to faith. Paul was for the Body, not for himself and he made every choice with that in view. Winning was winning others, overcoming every obstacle -- not getting his own way. Paul said that if he did otherwise, he was in danger of forfeiting his life purpose and all he had worked for. Even Paul, with all the things endowed to him by God and all the "importance" of his role as an apostle, could lose and disqualify himself from God's work by living selfishly. His standard: I (we) win when the Body wins.

Example: Israel in the wilderness. They had been chosen for great blessing, for a great work. They had been set free from enslavement and provided for -- for what? To satisfy their own lusts? To desire evil things? To fool around with idols and false gods? To complain about what God had done and would do for them in the future? God made an example of them to us -- who have also had a great deliverance and given a great calling in God's purpose for the world. If we live for ourselves and "play both sides of the fence" we are in danger of being disqualified. God knows we live with temptation. God knows that no one has "unique" temptations. He will bear us up through it. He uses it to improve us, not disprove us. There is a vast difference between being tempted to sin and doing sin (living out the temptation).

Therefore, don't be arrogant with your "superior" knowledge, don't play with demonic things. If you eat some meat from the meat market, and it has been sacrificed to idols, don't worry about it since idols are nothing. However, if someone says, "This meat is special, it has been blessed by sacrificing it to Zeus" or "We're celebrating Gaia! Come join us in our celebration meal..." don't eat it for their conscience sake. More than that, if you join them in celebrating Gaia -- YOU are participating willfully with demons!

Comments on First Corinthians - Part 7

2007-09-09T23:53:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 8-10 (Part 1): "Rights" of a Christian.

As someone has said, freedom isn't being able to do whatever you want, it is the power to do what you ought. Christians have gained truth that sets us free from things that harm and destroy life.

Intellectual knowledge is like cotton candy -- it gives the appearance of substance, but is really just a little sugar "fluffed up". Love (the action, not the "feeling") is substantial. As with the Corinthians, knowledge can become an instrument of individualism, separation, of competition. Instead of acting in the interest of their weaker brethren, those who had "knowledge" about the non-reality of idols and sacrifices to them used that knowledge to prove their "superiority" to those unenlightened ones who let those kinds of things trouble them.

To be clear, we are not to remain children and this concern for the weaker should not be construed as a reason to let the immature stay that way. It is the responsibility of the mature to lovingly build up the maturity of the weaker members. That may take time and patience but it is essential for the growth of the body.

Comments on First Corinthians - Part 6

2007-09-08T22:19:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 7: Again, our bodies are not our "property". In the case of the marriage relationship, we owe physical, emotional, spiritual affection to our mate. It should be a debt we are glad to pay, but it is a debt nonetheless. This keeps the home fires burning in a wandering, immoral society. God didn't make us to be stoic or ascetic on the one hand or stray dogs on the other.

A married believer should not instigate a divorce from an unbelieving spouse, but especially a believing one. If so divorced, reconciliation or celibacy are the only options as long as both are alive. If an unbelieving spouse divorces a believer, let them go peacefully.

Unmarried believers who are considering marriage need to make the decision with their eyes open -- not "blinded by love". Singleness offers greater flexibility and service to Christ with fewer distractions. As Paul says -- and I think every married disciple would agree -- when we are married we have the additional desire to please our spouse. Just reality. Marriage is not a "second class" option to singleness, but it needs to be stripped of the phony expectations of our Cinderella and the Handsome Prince way of seeing it. When we make marriage vows, we are binding ourselves to God's purpose in marriage, with attendant covenantal blessings for obedience and cursings for disobedience.

Comments on First Corinthians - Part 5

2007-09-01T22:11:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 5-6 Part Two: We quote the scripture that God has given us "everything pertaining to life and godliness." The scripture also says that the mature are those "who through practice, have their sensed trained to discern good and evil." In other words, the mature person listens to God's instructions, practices them and gains clarity and discernment. They are not clueless about "the right thing to do" any more. These are the ones that Paul says to go to for conflict resolution, not to judges that are spiritually clueless.

While God's standards must inform -- even condemn -- the world, the church "polices" its own, God deals with those outside. When we are "grown up" we will judge the world and even angels. Are we getting ready for that -- by studying and practicing -- or are we just "expecting it to happen" by and by? This was another area where the Corinthians were dishonoring the body. Instead of pursuing maturity and helpfulness toward the church, they were living just like those whom God condemns, preying on one another. People are either servants or predators. The Corinthians were being the latter.

For Christians -- and in the usage of Paul -- "the body" can either refer to an individual's flesh and bones, or to the corporate church. It would seem that those who dishonor one dishonor the other. That is definitely true throughout 1 Corinthians. Paul's warnings apply equally to both. A person's body is for Christ, not for immorality. The Church body is for Christ, not for immorality. God made both the stomach and food, but food doesn't rule the stomach, God does. Sexuality (or anything that tends to "control" people) doesn't rule the person or the church, Christ does. He owns the lives he bought. Beware of your appetites.

Comments on First Corinthians - Part 4

2007-08-25T22:43:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 5-6 Part One: Tolerance of evil is not maturity. God created the body for holiness and that holiness is part of the testimony that his salvation is real -- not just "god talk". Those who practice evil need to be put outside the protective sphere of the church, for their own good and the good of the body. A father with an independent and rebellious son will not allow him to continue to stay at home, live as he pleases and disrupt the household. For the good of the son and the protection of the rest of the family, the father will make him move out and fend for himself. The father will still love him and try to work with him, but not in the home. There is no biblical evidence of the modern attitude "we'd rather have them in church."

Churches with no discipline are inviting ruin to the whole family. The notions of "whoever is without sin, let him throw the first stone" or "first take the log out of your own eye" do not apply to situations of habitual gross disobedience like this. We have allowed those principles to be mis-applied to the degree that they make church discipline toothless. Paul's rebuke to the Corinthians is also very clear that he and the church are given authority to "turn over to Satan" those who prefer sin over obedience. That's pretty serious authority for the church to have responsibility for. God's standard for the church is purity. It is not an elective for those who are "really serious" about their faith.

Comments on First Corinthians - Part 3

2007-08-13T22:17:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 4: As said before, Paul took the Corinthians apparent liking to "one up" each other by the horns. He used himself and his discipling companion Apollos -- another one of their "superstars" -- to show the foolishness of that way of looking at things.

We start adding our own extras to give our position a little more pizzazz than the other guy. Paul urges them not to "go beyond what is written." The gospel is an equalizer -- everything we have that is good is a gift and no one is an earner. One of the pleasant characteristics of liturgical churches -- from my standpoint -- is that is doesn't focus on the preacher. Many evangelicals are like the Corinthians. "I think Pastor X is really dynamic." "No, Pastor Y is better!"

Liturgical worship, for all its formality, has the capability to focus on worship and reflect on the word of God, not on how much ga-ga the service has. We could learn from that.

The Corinthians took "ruling or reigning" in the same manner as the pagan rulers -- they wanted to be distinguished, esteemed, opulent. To Paul, reigning came by serving (just as his model -- Jesus -- said, "the one who rules must be servant of all") and he gave examples of how that manifested in the lives of his fellow apostles.

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

Make no mistake, Christians are destined to rule, but it will not be by force, it will be by service.

Comments on First Corinthians - Part 2

2007-08-12T02:06:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 1 and 2: The Christians at Corinth had "sided up" with different gospel superstars as if their stars had unique messages, but especially because they had different "styles". Paul's warning is that nothing spiritual originates in men and Christ's spirit does not divide himself up and represent himself differently through different people. He warns that the message is quite simple and "style" can only take away from it, the Spirit and the message are going to be the same no matter who is speaking. If it takes gimmicks or "pizzazz" to succeed, it is not success by God's definition.

Richard Dawkins and other extremists of the materialist faith accuse Christians of a "God delusion". Paul says that there is wisdom that is hidden from the eye, that materialists can't know. This wisdom is only revealed by the Spirit to the spirit. The things God has prepared for those who love him fall into this category. Only spiritual men, then, are playing with a "full deck".

Next: Chapter 3

Comments on First Corinthians - Part 1

2007-08-12T00:56:00.001-05:00

I have been spending a lot of time reading and thinking about Paul's first existing letter to the Corinthian church lately. I don't presume to uncover anything new, but in the next few posts, I will briefly put some of my thoughts out here.

After reading the letter, there are many similarities to the modern (especially American) church. Lest we shrug that off, it was so serious at Corinth that some people were sickly and others had died as a result of their wrong-headed and careless approach to body life. In fact, the warnings of chapter ten about Israel's self-willed practices -- tying together with the warning about the temple of God and about the Lord's supper -- were obviously meant to be taken seriously by them, and by us.

This church is all about distinguishing oneself from others: "I'm better than the others because..." Their meetings were about "what's in it for me" and "I'd better get mine before others do." It was a sick body, the parts not working together in healthy way and the immune system down (chapter 5 -- allowing sin to openly go on which even pagans considered out-of-bounds). It was a far cry from the holy body God called it to be -- see Titus 2:14.

Next: Comments about chapters 1-2.

The Great Plains -- A Retrospective

2007-05-10T00:27:00.000-05:00

Calling Out Your Name

Well the moon moved past Nebraska
And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills
And angels danced on Jacob's stairs
Yeah, they danced on Jacob's stairs
There is this silence in the Badlands
And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled
By the whisper of a prayer
The whisper of a prayer

And the single hawk bursts into flight
And in the east the whole horizon is in flames
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

I can feel the earth tremble
Beneath the rumbling of the buffalo hooves
And the fury in the pheasant's wings
And there's fury in a pheasant's wings
It tells me the Lord is in His temple
And there is still a faith that can make the mountains move
And a love that can make the heavens ring
And I've seen love make heaven ring

Where the sacred rivers meet
Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

From the place where morning gathers
You can look sometimes forever 'til you see
What time may never know
What time may never know
How the Lord takes by its corners this old world
And shakes us forward and shakes us free
To run wild with the hope
To run wild with the hope

The hope that this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
And I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

And I know this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And with the prairies I am calling out Your name

Rich Mullins
Psalms 19:1-6

It has been over twenty-five years since I left the Great Plains. I still carry with me the nasal southwest Kansas twang -- I will probably have it till my dying day. I had no appreciation for my homeland of western Kansas when I was growing up. It was a place to get away from. Definitely un-cosmopolitan, consisting mostly of wheat farms, pasture, cattle rances and prairie. Life revolved around planting and harvesting the wheat crop, getting cattle to market, Friday night football games or basketball games. Small farm towns, like Protection, where I grew up, were a symbiotic partner with the farms and ranches. I was a "town kid" -- my family provided services to the farmers, ranchers and townspeople. As the seventies hit, and the small farm was beginning to decline, I was one of those with stars in his eyes - who wanted to get far, far away from the seemingly dull existence that the high plains offered.

Rich Mullins, on the other hand, was making the journey in reverse. Already a "star" (though that is not what he intended to be and sought not to be), Rich came to the plains of Kansas as someone who could appreciate it's unique beauty for what it was -- and that is partly what he communicated in the song printed above, "Calling Out Your Name".

I came late to appreciate Rich Mullins. And I came late to appreciate my homeland. Better late than not at all.

Poor Man's Blackberry (tm)

2007-05-07T22:37:00.000-05:00

Most people these days have a cell phone and most of them have an SMS or Text Messaging function. It is possible to use that feature to turn your phone into a "poor man's Blackberry". Most likely, you would not want to be notified of every email message that comes to your account, but would like to be kept aware of specific mail messages when the arrive.

Most corporate mail systems have the capability of user-created and user-managed rules regarding disposition of messages. In my case, if I'm away, I would like to know if I get email from my boss and I would also like to stay on top of the requests coming into the corporate help desk -- since they affect me, as a systems admin. So, to accomplish that, I set up a mail rule to do the job which I can turn on when I'm preparing to be away from work and turn off when I'm in the office.

My mail rule (see screenshot below) notices any Help Desk messages or any messages from Joe, my boss and routes a copy to my cell phone via text messaging.

The only real downsides to this approach are 1) SMS messages are limited in length and 2) your plan may charge by the message versus unlimited. My plan charges about .10 for each text message, but if I need it, it's no big deal, as far as I am concerned. This allows me to stay on top of what's going on Helpdesk-wise without being tied to the PC.

Tornado Alley

2007-05-06T22:22:00.000-05:00

Since yesterday morning, it has been hard to watch the cable news or the Weather Channel without seeing footage and commentary about the Greensburg, Kansas tornado. We were staying at a hotel preparing for our son's college graduation, as my Mom and Dad joined us for breakfast. Their first words were, "Did you hear about Greensburg?"

This was not the first tornado "experience" I have had, but the amount of devastation is hard to get my arms around. I was living in Emporia, Kansas in 1974 when a killer tornado struck, destroying a shopping mall, a large trailer court and a wide area of upper-middle-class apartments and residences. There were 12 fatalities. It was eerie. The description of Greensburg as "looking like a war zone" was used then, as well. I'm not sure they were using the rating scale on tornados that they are using today. I don't believe Emporia's tornado was an F5 like the one that took out Greensburg.

Years later, when we were living in Bloomington, Indiana -- a tornado struck on the the south side of Bedford, about twenty miles south with similar types of damage, only a much smaller area. The reason I write this is: I grew up very near Greensburg. I have been there and driven through there countless times in my growing up years. It is all very familiar to me -- and to watch from afar -- it is even more gripping for the memories of the town I knew, but is now nothing but rubble.

Finally (but one never knows), we have had a several tornados near our home in Junction City, Louisiana in the last few years. One came as near as half-a-mile and thankfully we had no damage though others a few miles down that tornado's track had localized but massive destruction, like the Greensburg photos.

Our prayers are with the people of Greensburg.

Addendum: My dad forwarded a news article that stated that the Greensburg tornado originated near my old hometown of Protection, Kansas -- accounting for the 20-30 minute warning that the residents of Greensburg had. Here is a link to a stormchaser site that covered another multi-tornado outbreak near Protection on April 23.

Shame on Me (Telling on Myself)

2007-04-03T08:22:00.000-05:00

My wife, Cindy, and I traveled to Little Rock yesterday so that she could have a PET scan prior to making some decisions about her ongoing chemotherapy. I was sitting in the Imaging waiting room at Baptist Hospital while she was going through the process back somewhere in the bowels of the Imaging department.

I like to encourage Christians to speak up when there is an opportunity to choose the right thing and oppose the wrong thing. As it turns out, while I was sitting there a couple sat on a love seat next to where I was sitting. The said is wife would just go crazy if she didn't get to see "The Young and The Restless" and would anyone mind if he turned the TV to that channel. My response was, "I don't care one way or the other." As he changed the channels, I thought to myself, "You don't care? -- What do you mean 'I don't care one way or the other'?"

I had a good experience of Jesus admonition to take the log out of my own eye. How can I encourage others to do what I don't do myself? Shame on me!

Being a Follower: Closing Thoughts

2007-03-07T22:00:00.000-06:00

Back to "following" -- what does it mean to be a follower? If you said: 1) going after something as it moves from place to place, 2) mimic or imitate, or 3) following instructions thoroughly from start to finish, you would be correct.

Some other, maybe not so obvious examples of "following" in the scriptures are:

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever.

Most sheep follow their shepherd. The ones who don't end up getting into trouble. In David's experience as a shepherd, he had a vital interest in the sheep that were entrusted to his care. He made sure they had the care, provision and protection they needed. His reputation depended on it.

Ruth 1:11-18

But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!”

Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”

But Ruth said:

“ Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.

Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The LORD do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”

When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

When the widowed Israelite Naomi and here widowed Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth were considering their futures during a famine in Moab's pagan environment, Naomi wanted to return to her own people and leave Ruth to start over again. Ruth's loyalty was expressed by her declaration that, as far as she was concerned, Naomi's people were her people. Naomi's god was her god. Naomi's land was her land. She would follow Naomi no matter what.

2 Tim 3:10-11

But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.

Paul was writing to his disciple Timothy, who had been through thick and thin with him. Paul knew that sending Timothy to do something was just that same as going himself, because Timothy would do it right. Paul reminded Timothy what following him had meant.

Hebrews 13:7

Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.

God requires that men aspire to leadership and in so doing, to model a life worth following. Having followers is not a gimme. It is earned.

Last, you can't be a leader unless you have learned to be a follower.

He leadeth me, O bless'd thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,
By waters still, over troubled sea,
Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since 'tis my God that leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the victory's won,
E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Being a Follower: No Longer In Control

2007-03-06T21:57:00.000-06:00

After the "instant replay" of the fishing miracle, the risen Jesus prepared breakfast for his fishermen. Then he took some time to help Peter re-focus on what following him means for his life.

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”
Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

Peter's calling, his life focus, is to care for God's people. The followers may have been thinking that the passion (arrest, trial, cross and resurrection) put an end to all that. It didn't put an end to following, it made it permanent.

Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”

Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”

Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

"Make hay while the sun shines" is an old cliche. Fact is, life tends to impose restrictions on us the older we get. Jesus was preparing Peter for what was ahead -- service, yes, then loss of freedom and comfort, then finally death. In Peter's case, it was a death much like the one he followed -- execution on a Roman cross. Jesus said that the time would come when Peter would be taken where he wouldn't have chosen to go. Like I said, circumstances, particularly aging imposes things on our lives that we don't choose and would like to avoid. That is why we need to make preparation while we can.

Peter had a way to make his ministry outlive him. He was a writer (at least he was a speaker who had a ghost writer). Through his letters, his travels, his speaking opportunities, he encouraged the believers to persevere under trial and obey -- to get their nourishment from the Scriptures and to be committed to maturity in life and character. He invested his life in younger men, like John Mark, who would continue after his death. This is how he "laid up treasure" in the Kingdom of Heaven. Today, 2000 years later, it is still paying off in my life, as well as others'.

A frequent topic in the news is how my generation -- the baby-boomers -- have not prepared for our retirement years. We might plan to bask on the sunny beaches in our golden years, but instead we end up as greeters at Wal-Mart so we can pay the bills. We did not save and invest, we did not prepare for that inevitability.

The same thing holds true for our service to the Kingdom of God. If we don't prepare for that inevitable time when we can't work like we used to, to let our investments in the Kingdom keep working for us and outlive us, we are missing an important point Jesus was making to his follower, Peter.

The same point is made by the apostle Paul and, in fact, the issue of preparing for what is to come is raised many times in the book of Proverbs. Seems like an important thing for a follower to pay attention to.

What will be leave behind? What will be our "legacy"? Presidents worry about their legacy, but it is not just for the rich and famous. It is for us little guys, too. Will others still be benefitting from my work after I'm gone?

Being a Follower: The Beginning

2007-02-19T22:05:00.000-06:00

Take a look at the same series of precipitious events that led a bunch of "nobody" working-class guys to leave their comfort zones and become world-changers, even to this day. These events are "covered" from three perspectives, three sets of eyes. Consequently, the telling varies slightly from reporter to reporter.

Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:12-25

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him. Mark 1:14-20

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” John 1:35-43

Fishing is all Peter, Andrew and the Zebedee brothers had known... It was the family business - they had grown up in it and most likely would pass it on to their sons. But Jesus said to "follow him" and they did.

Having looked at the three gospel narratives, let's take a "closer look" at the coup-de-grace that took Peter from the boats to his new life as a "follower":

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him. Luke 5:1-11

Jesus' hook in Andrew's life was the fact that Jesus was able to tell him where he had been and what he had been doing - sight unseen. For Peter, this unforgettable event sealed the deal. You can imagine working hard all night out on the water. You are getting ready to pack it in and some guy you hardly know tells you that if you throw the net where he tells you, there will be a catch. "Yeah, right. If you say so. If it makes you happy, okay, I'll give it a shot."

Surprise! Not only a catch but one that just about swamped two boats. Peter never forgot that one.

Three years later, we pick up the narrative again. This from John 21:

After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”

They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.

After all that had happened for the last three years, all that they had seen and heard
and been a part of in their "following" Jesus... They had been in the thick of miraculous works, great popularity on one side and intense hatred and opposition on the other. They had seen betrayal, abandonment and execution. They had seen their Master and Teacher twice - alive - after his execution.

They didn't quite know what to do with themselves. You can imagine their converstion, sort of like:

"What do we do now?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know, what do you want to do?"

"Hey, I know! Let's go back to what we're comfortable with. Let's go fishing!"

Back to the narrative in John 21:

But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?”
They answered Him, “No.”

And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”

Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.

Here we have deja vu (all over again). The event that hooked Peter three years ago is being replayed before their eyes. Sometimes we don't learn our lesson the first time - we have to have a little reminder.

To be continued...

Living Hand-to-Mouth

2007-01-27T22:44:00.000-06:00

You've probably heard the expression "God helps those who help themselves..." at least once in your life. Evangelical Christians are usually quick to retort with "...but you can't find that in the Bible!" They are correct... in that they are usually defending the biblical truth of justification. That is, being judicially absolved from our wrongdoing through Christ's substitutionary payment.

An interview with Thomas Sowell, a well-known independent-thinking economist, got me to consider this. He made a statement regarding social welfare funded by taxation. His comment was, "Why should I be required to provide for others what they are unwilling to provide for themselves." Sowell is big on personal responsibility -- and so is the Bible.

There is ample biblical support for both the cliche phrase ("God helps those...") and Mr. Sowell's comment -- speaking in terms of practical, everyday living.

First, I think of two Proverbs:

19:24. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, But will not even bring it back to his mouth.

26:15. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.

Next, Paul speaking to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 3):

10. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

12. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

There are some who would use the Bible as an escape from responsibility. Truth is, on balance, it helps us face responsibility head-on. If we were all more responsible, wouldn't the world be a better place?

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 - Even the Rocks Cry Out

2006-07-11T00:57:00.000-05:00

I was one of the many moviegoers who helped Pirates 2 set box office opening records last weekend. I can't say I wasn't warned. I read a couple of reviews online before the matinee -- one at Slate and another at Chicago Tribune. They both led me to prepare for a veritable yawner.

It's not that it didn't have some notable aspects, though. The CG was very well done and well integrated into the film.

As we drove away from the theater, my lovely and perceptive wife, Cindy, made note of a couple of themes that kept surfacing in the storyline: paying your soul debt, facing final judgment and experiencing redemption.

As we talked about it she reminded me of Jesus statement when he rode into Jerusalem amid the cheers and adulation of the crowd. The religious leaders were offended and wanted Jesus to silence the crowd. They were aggressively suppressing the truth of the prophetic scenario playing out in front of them.

Jesus answered them, "If they are silent, even the rocks will cry out."

As hard as we try to silence the moral and spiritual themes of life, they keep popping up -- sometimes in places you would least expect them -- like Pirates of the Caribbean!

Who Wrote Your Dictionary? - Part 3

2006-06-15T21:56:00.000-05:00

A few years later, the apostle Paul took a page out of Jesus' dictionary and went into more detail about how love is defined:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1Co 13:1-3

Before he began explaining what love is, he talked about how important it is for us to have it. Love is the difference between being worth listening to and being background noise. Love is the difference between a being a beneficial and prosperous soul and being a nothing. Love makes the difference between our efforts being a benefit or a waste. He goes on to be specific in defining what live is like.

1Co 13:4 Love:

● love is patient - instead of having a short fuse, to be long spirited, long-suffering.
● love is kind - to show oneself useful, that is, act benevolently (like your mama said “why don't you make yourself useful!”)
● love does not envy – not motivated by jealously or wanting what doesn't belong to you
● love does not boast – not to be a braggart
● love is not arrogant – not inflated, proud, puffed up.

1Co 13:5

● love is not rude - not to be (that is, act) unbecoming: - behave self uncomely (unseemly).
● love does not insist on its own way
● love is not irritable – like a sharp jab in the side, that is, to exasperate: - not easily provoked
● love is not resentful – not keeping score, taking an inventory or keeping account of wrongs

1Co 13:6

● love does not rejoice at wrongdoing – not happy with injustice or unrighteousness
● love rejoices with the truth - sympathizes in gladness, congratulates truth

1Co 13:7 In all things - whatsoever, whosoever – everything that goes on in our lives:

● love bears - to roof over, that is, to cover with silence (to keep a lid on it)
● love believes - to have faith, to trust
● love hopes - to expect or confide
● love endures - to stay under (behind), persevere

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 1Co 13:8-11

Love is a characteristic of maturity, not of childishness.

Once again, the question for us, then, is “Who wrote your (my, our) dictionary?” Like we talked about in Part 1, definitions are descriptions of something.

If someone was asked to describe what your life was about, to sum up your life in a word or two, what would they say? What would they say is the love of your life? Is your life defined in terms of athletics? hunting? fishing? food? music? hobbies? sex? money? your work? Jesus?

Whatever or whoever defines your life is – in a practical sense – your God.

Paul talked sadly about ones he knew who let something other than Jesus define them.

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. Phi 3:17-19

They let their own appetites define and control their lives. Don't let this be your life. Let the God who alone has the right to define you – truly be the definer of your whole life.

Who Wrote Your Dictionary? - Part 2

2006-06-13T00:27:00.000-05:00

In Part 1, we looked at what "define" means and asked, “Who wrote your dictionary?” Who we get our definitions from makes a big difference in how we look at life and how we live it. Are God's definitions your definitions?

Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed. Rom 12:2 (Phillips)

As creatures and as God's people, we must be sure we get our definitions from God and not from those who think nothing of Him – and specially ones who oppose or resist Him.

The Beatles sang a song that said “Love, love, love – all you need is love...” but in real life, at the height of their fame, they could barely stand to speak to each other.

What if we were to ask someone like... let's say a rich and famous star or starlet or entertainer what love means, what would they say. They might say love is being head-over-heels for someone -- “crazy in love” -- something that takes off like a rocket, then cools off and goes sour. Then -- someone else comes along to be head-over-heels for. This is the world's mold that we need not to be squeezed into.

Question: What does “love” mean in Jesus' dictionary?

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Mat 5:46

Love is not “giving to get.” Like Sammy Hagar singing “if you want love you've got to give a little...”

Jesus was asked: "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mar 12:28-31

Love incorporates your whole being. It is not just emotional - a "feeling" you have . Put your heart into, your mind into it... and put your back into it. And God requires it of us (it's not optional) toward our neighbors, not just for Himself.

Jesus had devoted the last three years of his life to teaching twelve men and many other friends everything they could understand about God's purpose and will. The night before his death, at a private dinner and passover celebration he spent a lot of time talking to them about what love means – as He defines it. It was at this last supper that he instructed about love – more than any other single occasion in the gospels.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (To the utmost). Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Joh 13:1-5

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Joh 13:34-35

"If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. Joh 14:23-24

As they got up from their meal and began walking to the Garden of Gethsemane, He continued to talk to them...

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another." Joh 15:9-17

As they went, Jesus prayed. His prayer was for them and for us who have believed through them. Here is an excerpt of his prayer:

"And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." Joh 17:19-26

Jesus didn't say anything “mushy” when He talked about love. When He talked about love, He talked about commitment and service. He talked about something that originated in eternity and is long-lasting, not here today and gone tomorrow. He talked about learning what is right. He talked about doing right for Him and for the benefit of others.

He said love means laying down your life for others... giving up your own life for the sake of others. That may take many forms. In the heat of battle, a soldier might literally give up his life to save a comrade. In the battles of everyday life, we have to learn to let go of what we want for the good of those who depend on us.

Are Jesus's definitions your definitions?

Who Wrote Your Dictionary? - Part 1

2006-06-12T00:25:00.000-05:00

Most of us know what a dictionary is and what it is used for -- correct spelling & pronunciation -- but especially meanings.

I looked up meanings of the word "define" at wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn:

give the meaning of a word; "Define 'sadness'"
specify: determine the essential quality of (as in a specification... a blueprint callout)
determine the nature of; "What defines a good wine?"
show the form or outline of, differentiate; "The tree was clearly defined by the light"; "The camera could define the smallest object"

The Bible is a dictionary, too, and the Lord God is the original definer. “He said...” and it was. “He spoke...” and it was done.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was
without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let
there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.
And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning,
the first day. Gen 1:1-5

So it was with each of the next five days of creation. God defined and spoke:

Day two he created... The expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. Gen 1:6-8

Day three he created... Oceans and land mass. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Gen 1:9-10

Vegetation. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. Gen 1:11-13

Day four he created... Sun, moon and stars. And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. Gen 1:14-19

Day five he created... Sea creatures and birds. And God saw that it was good. It was an explosion of diversity -- not like Henry Ford's Model T -- “You can have any color you like as long as it's black.” And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. Gen 1:20-23

Day six he created... Livestock and land animals. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen 1:24-27

You see, God has the authority and power to define. In Isaiah 55:11 He says - “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” God defined man's purpose and work.

He further defined the nature and boundaries of man's relationship with him:

And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Gen 1:28-31

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Gen 2:15-17

Then God gave Adam the authority and task of naming and classifying all the creatures he had dominion over:

So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. Gen 2:19-20

This is wonderful! What more could a man want? But... trouble came to Eden.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Gen 3:1-5

Satan sought to “re-define” what God has said. He suggested that God didn't really mean what he said and the He only said it to hold Adam and Eve back from being equal with Him. Satan is still does that today. He has a rival system that does not recognize God's authority or definitions.

God wrote the dictionary for His creation. So, then, “Who wrote your dictionary?” Who we get our definitions from makes a big difference in how we look at life and how we live it. Are God's definitions your definitions?

Faith: Something You Have or Something You Do?

2006-05-07T23:19:00.000-05:00

Answer: Both, actually. But since we usually focus on "having" faith, I want to look at the active, action-oriented faith that the Bible promotes. Hebrews 11:1 says:

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Let's pick this apart, using the Strong's Concordance as a starting point for Greek definitions.

Faith = pistis (4102) - Being convinced of and relying on something.

Assurance = hupostatis (5287) - Substance, title-deed, guarantee, reality.

Hope = elpizo (1679) - Being fully confident in something, though not yet in grasp.

Conviction = elegchos (1650) - Evidence, proof (that by which a thing is tested and proven).

Things = pragma (4229) - Accomplished fact, that which exists, a "done deal".

Seen = blepo (991) - Perceived by the eye.

In other words, rather than having some nebulous feeling, you might rather say that:

Faith - the Godly, Bible kind - substantiates - or gives substance to - things which are fully assured. It evidences - proves by testing - things which are very real, even though they may not be seen by the eye. One translation says "unseen realities". That puts it rather well.

To use an analogy, I think of the character "the Invisible Man" in the old movie. Putting on a hat, coat, gloves, face wrapping - these things verified what was otherwise invisible. So by relying on and acting on what God says is reality, we prove what is unseen.

Why was Drudge surprised?

2006-03-22T09:30:00.000-06:00

"Shock" was the lead-in to the Drudge headline link to this news story about infanticide in North Korea. Why is this news a surprise? For a materialist/evolutionist, weeding out the weak is a mechanism of the great evolutionary "plan" being worked out over the eons. To be a consistent evolutionist, this would be a good thing.

On the other hand, there was Corrie tenBoom. After the Nazis invaded Holland in 1940, Miss tenBoom was ostracized by the Nazi occupiers for befriending disabled children and helping them learn, in their simple way, the love that God has for them. Her God requires consideration for the helpless... in fact, the prophets pronounced judgment for lack of it. Conversely, in the Nazi way of thinking, this was useless activity wasted on worthless people. See a pattern here?

What journalist/poet Steve Turner wrote in his poem "Chance" is fitting here:

Chance

If chance be
the Father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky,
and when you hear

State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!

It is but the sound of man
worshipping his maker.

Steve Turner,
from Up To Date (London: Hodder & Stoughton)

Elijah and the Prophets of Secularism

2006-03-16T22:04:00.000-06:00

... or Dance With The One Who Brung Ya (Part 2)

There's trouble brewin' in South Dakota. Those uppity hicks exercised their choice... they went and chose life for the unborn instead of extermination. Now the abortion at any cost folks are up in arms.

We are reaching a collision point regarding many of our "values" and people must decide where they stand. I am reminded of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. He told the "folks" in Israel that decision time had arrived. They had to choose where their allegiance lay and by whom their values would be guided (determined, if you will.)

Elijah promptly challenged them, and the leaders of the competing worldview, to a showdown. It was kind of like, as Jesus said, "by their fruits your will know them." Elijah was forcing them to their endgame -- and doing the same for himself -- to see what each one would produce. As the story goes, his opponents wore themselves out trying to get results. Elijah sat by and watched and gave commentary. Then he set up the test challenge for himself and made it much more difficult for himself than it had been for them. With a single prayer, the God who answered with fire was the true God... Elijah's God.

It is time for the players in our modern cultural debate to come to epistemological self-consciousness... to face who they are and how they got here and what the outcome of those things taken to the extreme will produce. Like Jesus said, " Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers."

Looking Forward... a worthwhile habit

2006-03-15T19:38:00.000-06:00

Have you ever driven by a half-finished building that has obviously been that way for quite a while... even to the point where the elements are starting to take a toll on the structure and it is starting to decay and fall apart?

Jesus from Luke 14:28-32:

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. "

Building projects require a lot of forethought and "foreaction". Builders don’t just show up one day and say “we’re ready.” It required making plans, checking codes and boundaries, determining materials and labor required, counting the cost, staking it out, preparing the foundations, ordering the materials, scheduling the work and much more. The bigger the project the more there is to do.

There is a great deal of debate about "the wall of separation" between church and state. Modern American Christians, unfortunately, have a habit creating a "wall of separation" between faith and life. The Bible in general, and Proverbs in particular, knows of no such separation. Examples:

Having a harvest requires working the ground and being persistent. Just thinking about it will leave you empty-handed.

Proverbs 12:11 He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.

Proverbs 20:4 A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

Proverbs 13:4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

Proverbs 28:19 He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

Titus 3:1 Remind them... to be ready for every good work...

God commends planning for the future - but he always has the last word.

Proverbes 16:1,9 To man belong the plans of the heart,but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.

Prudent men see what is ahead and make preparation for it.

Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

Proverbs 27:12 The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark...

Anticipating Gain

2006-03-15T12:47:00.000-06:00

We do all this in view of the future benefit we expected to get from the work. We “plow in hope.”

Paul from 1 Corinthians 9:10, 24-27 …when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Nobody goes into business just to get by. Why run if not to win? Let’s look at more examples of Paul’s labors…

Thessalonica Acts 17:1-9 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. 6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

The testimony of those who opposed Paul was that he and his co-workers had “caused trouble all over the world…” and they recognized that the message Paul brought was not to bring “just one more god” to the mix, but rather that Jesus was greater than Caesar.

Ephesus Acts 19:8-10, 25-27 8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 23About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. 25He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty."

Paul and his co-workers were able to communicate the Lordship of Christ throughout the whole region.

Population Statistics

We are praying for revival – that is good. If there was revival on the massive scale that the statistics require – what would be needed? How can we prepare? Pastors can’t handle it all. Revival wouldn’t bring in only the “upper crust.” It would bring in people who have needs and problems – marital, substance abuse, money, thievery, adultery, etc. How are we preparing to be involved in the training of others? Our commission is to be Jesus Christ’s learners and to teach others to be learners.

Following the Footprints

2006-02-19T00:55:00.000-06:00

My wife and I are avid mystery fans. Myself, mystery TV and DVD's, she, mystery books as well. One thing common to most modern crime shows is the forensics unit. They are there after the crime as been discovered. They accumulate physical evidence -- fingerprints, footprints, DNA samples and much more. Their science enables those looking for the perpetrator to follow these leads to the guilty party.

I have been thinking about how modern science, which I will dub "un-science", is far different from its heritage. The scientists of old who laid the foundations for modern science -- Faraday, Boyle, Lord Kelvin and many more -- were like the detectives mentioned above. They followed the fingerprints and footprints where they led. It was not improper in their eyes to recognize when the evidence led them to someone who was no longer inside the room.

Un-science has decided -- not based on evidence, mind you, but rather on presupposition -- that they can only deal with things inside the room. Nothing exists outside the room. The fingerprints, footprints and other forensic evidence must be attributed to things inside the room, tangible or postulated. Those who are still willing to recognize that the footprints lead outside the door are held in derision.

The writer of Hebrews stated in chapter 12:3 that "by the word of God, we recognize that the creation was made of things which are not visible." Imagine that. A first century writer stating without curiosity that the elements are made of things not visible to the naked eye.

Even though we have technology today like scanning tunnel microscopy, we can't really see atoms. We know with certainty they are there, can detect their presence and manipulate them. Even un-scientists believed in things they couldn't see for a long time. They didn't consider it any less scientific to do so, as long as it was done on their own terms.

Paul, the writer of the letter to the Romans said, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

In other words, "men who know better bend the truth to their own liking. In doing so, they violate what God has made evident to them, and consequently will be without excuse when they are called to account."

What will happen when those who hold to un-science are probed as to why they were willing, on their own terms exclusively, to believe in things they couldn't see, but unwilling to follow the footprints wherever they led -- even "outside the room?"

Eminent (Digital) Domain - The RIM Problem

2006-02-02T23:40:00.000-06:00

Well, it was bound to happen. Eminent domain is not new. For many years, the property of individuals has been condemned by the civil government (local, state or federal) in order to acquire it for some needed public works project -- a bridge, a highway, whatever... The only consolation for the loser, er, uhh, property owner was that they were to be given fair compensation for their property loss.

Recently, there has been a lot of hubbub in the news about the use of eminent domain to take property from the little guy and transfer ownership to some big business entity to be used for something that gives a little better tax base for the municipality... taking the property of individuals and selling it to a corporate entity for building a mall or an apartment complex or a condo project so that the city budget can get a little more benefit from it.

Now enter the next frontier. RIM (Blackberry to the folks) has been embroiled in a patent infringement suit with small US company for several years. The case has reached the point where, unless RIM pays a percentage to the patent owner, the entire Blackberry network will be shut down. This does not sit well with those who have become addicted to the little beggars delivering their e-mail here, there and everywhere. I say addicted because users have even nicknamed them "crackberries" (alluding to crack cocaine) because, well, you get the idea... And I admit, they are a wonderful tool to those who need omnipresent email. I know, I support the Blackberry services for a major corporation.

Here is the rub. If NTP's patent holds up in court, and this is still not definitely established, the US government may step in and pull an eminent domain on them. In this sense, they would be condemning the intellectual property of NTP and co-opting it for the "greater good" of Blackberry users everywhere. This stands to obliterate any sense of intellectual property rights. RIAA... maybe you are next.

Dance With the One Who Brung Ya

2006-01-19T19:54:00.000-06:00

This past fall has been an interesting one for those standing on the sidelines of the attempts to have school curriculum call Darwinism what it really is -- a theory. Of course, no one is truly on the sidelines on this one.

It is fascinating to watch "true believers" in Darwinism engage in behavior that one would typically ascribe to theists. This includes everything from revival-preacher fury in support of this (oxymoronically) absolutely true theory to dreamy-eyed platitudes about the wonderfulness of this lovely mechanism that has, in the mind of the beholder, made us what we are.

Several good, level-headed reads in this regard... from Bob Murphy, PhD in Economics from NYU and Eric Rauch. Murphy discusses reasons why arguments for Darwinism are not necessarily the slam dunk they are made out to be. Rauch discusses recent articles that portray a philosophical "love fest" for natural selection.

I'm biased, I admit it. Like I said, no one is really on the sidelines in this one. However, to bring this into line with the title... If natural selection is a good thing (the one who brung us) -- that means the strong conquering the weak is a good thing. That means being a predator is better than being a servant. Glamorizing natural selection won't undo this fact. Saying that we have evolved to a point where, now -- taking care of the weak, being servants instead of predators, being others-oriented, caring for our fellow man is the natural law -- this flies in the face of that cold emotionless process that supposedly brought us here.

We can't have it both ways. Ya gotta dance with the one who brung ya -- and in time, the real "bringer" will be evident.

The "Absolutization" of the Individual

2006-01-06T12:49:00.000-06:00

Reading an article on Dutch polyamory, I reminisce of the days shortly after one of the major sodomy rulings -- perhaps the Lawrence vs. Texas ruling in 2003 -- or maybe another one. Regardless, only days after the ruling I recall an news blurb about a small group of men engaging in sodomy at a public beach. I recall thinking that the whole undercurrent of modern moral revisionism -- the debunking of shared societal absolutes -- boils down to one issue:

Nobody can tell me what to do.

Franky Schaeffer said essentially the same thing at a talk I attended back in the eighties. His statement about the "me" generation -- even more evident twenty years later -- was that modern man operates by the 11th Commandment:

Thou shalt not get in my way.

When Jesus was on trial before his countrymen, Pilate asked if they wanted him to be released. Their common cry was, "We do not want this man to rule over us." AD70 was the near term result.

Living Hand to Mouth

2005-12-06T12:41:00.000-06:00

First, I think of two Proverbs:

19:24. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, But will not even bring it back to his mouth.

26:15. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.

Next, Paul speaking to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 3):

10. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

12. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

Getting "Spare Change" From My Spare Time

2005-11-30T23:55:00.000-06:00

It has been my habit – one I am breaking myself of – to print article after article from the web and carry them along in my hopelessly overloaded brief case. I did this in case I might have a few minutes here or there to pull one out and read it.

Then there was the issue of what to do with all the paper copies when I was finished.

The alternative was to read them in electronic form on my PC screen. I found that to be a difficult assignment. It might be okay for short articles, but for multi-page pieces or even book-length writings, like those found at www.freebooks.com, much too cumbersome. It is also not nearly portable enough.

What to do? For years, I have been a handheld user (a Palm, in my case.) I have used my handheld for many things, but never as a document reader. I have recently begun to change that. I decided to download a couple of free programs to get me started.

One program runs on the PC and is called Clipboarddoc. It converts information from many PC-accessible sources (web pages, word processing files, pdf files, for instance) into a form that can be uploaded to the handheld.

The generic name for these files is “DOC” files. These are not the same as the “.doc” files produced by Microsoft Word compatible word processors. The similarity of names is an unfortunate source of confusion.

Clipboarddoc can be found here .

It also requires a free Java runtime to be installed on the PC. There is a link for that download on the website.

The other program runs on the Palm handheld. It's generic name is called doc reader. There are several to choose from. I chose to use one called TiBR. This program allows me to open any “DOC” files on the handheld and read, put bookmarks in the text and much more.

TiBR can be found here.

I have begun creating a library of handheld readable versions of many things I want to read, including the complete volumes 1 and 2 of Jay Abraham’s Incredible Case Studies, a number of the Reality Check archives and many other articles of interest.

So far, I have been pleased with my test drive. It is much easier on my brief case, my arm and my limited filing space. I would urge anyone who has a handheld that is not being used for this purpose to give it a try.

Sober.X

2005-11-26T22:39:00.000-06:00

As a tech support provider, it is amazing what happens when otherwise intelligent people sit down at their computer and open their inbox. Rather than examine the sender and subject of mail messages and do a little bit of "why would I be getting a message like this?" they blunder ahead and open virus laden messages.

The news channels are reporting that messages from the FBI and the CIA are showing up in inboxes everywhere. Rather than deleting them immediately, may people will fall for them and launch the Sober.X virus. Sober.X will then set up shop, scan their email address book and send copies of itself off to the user's friends and associates to spread the joy.

People may not know that when a large scale outbreak occurs, there are free tools available for download which can scan their computers and disable the virus(es). One such tool for Sober.X can be found at Symantec. Just download the tool and follow the instructions.

Whenever you hear of an outbreak such as this one, be proactive and get the tool. Once downloaded you can scan your PC with it as often as you feel necessary until the threat has subsided.

Excellence by any other name...

2005-11-23T13:28:00.000-06:00

Posted on my Faith & Culture link today.

Some Post-Rita Thoughts

2005-09-26T00:13:00.000-05:00

We are far enough inland that we rarely have to tangle with hurricanes. Katrina showed that they can truly do some damage as they move inland -- Jackson MS is only about three hours to the east of us. There was plenty of Katrina left over after New Orleans to deal some pain in Jackson and northward.

This weekend was our turn. Like everyone, we frequently looked at the projected storm track on the internet, watched the developing land fall on TV and all.

The winds were gusty Friday afternoon and you could go out and observe the sweep of the outer bands of Rita overhead. Saturday morning we woke to even stonger winds and rain. I was the "on call" person for our network and desktop group. This includes the email servers. I got a call that our mail gateway was not responding at about 8:30 a.m. After attempting to revive it remotely, I got in the car to make the 30 minute drive to the office.

That was a drive through gusty wind and sometimes torrential rain. I got the problem resolved and headed home. About noon, I got a call from a retail division guy who was headed to South Texas to clean up our retail stores after the hurricane. He was leaving Sunday morning and had some crippling issues with his laptop. I agreed to meet him at the office at 3:oo p.m.

I had promised Cindy that I would grill her a steak, so I rolled out the gas grill and fired it up under our back patio cover. At 1:00 p.m., the power went out. Given the deteriorating weather conditions, it was hard to know how long we would have to deal with it. We opened as many windows as we could and let the moist breeze blow through the house. Not so bad at that time.

I made the trip to the office again at 3:00 p.m. and after doing my duty there, I went to pick up some "no preparation needed" edibles, batteries and other things that we might need if the power was off any length of time. By the time I finished shopping it was getting pretty harsh. I made it home safely and we settled in for a candelight evening. We called the energy company numerous time through the evening in hopes that we would get power restored, but the recording said there was widespread damage and no estimate as to how soon. The cool moist wind made sleeping fairly easy through the night. We got about 4.5" of rain Saturday.

Sunday was a lot less "fun". It was warmer, much more humid and not any significant wind. I went to the local store and bought bags of ice to try to keep the freezer and refrigerator cold. We went to church in the country -- also without electricity. I bought more ice, but we seemed to be fighting a losing battle. My brother-in-law loaned us a spare generator, but we couldn't get it to work properly, so we had to empty our fridge and freezer and take the stuff to their home -- which was being entirely powered by generator.

Through all this, it was a hot, humid, sweaty mess. This was definitely no fun. I was beginning to empathize much more with those souls in New Orleans who went for days before getting help. I found that I am not a very good sufferer. You can think about it, talk about it and all. Until you have a situation to test the mettle of your character, you really don't know.

Thank God, at 5:00 p.m. Sunday -- 28 hours after it went off -- the power was restored. I hope I learned some valuable things through it all.

More Hurricane Surreality

2005-09-22T23:05:00.000-05:00

My company has been very severely affected by Katrina, as many have. It will be months before our New Orleans offices and facilities are operable. Most of our NOLA operations have been moved to Lafayette, LA or Houston, TX or Dallas TX. Some have moved in with us at our South Arkansas headquarters.

It has been utter chaos, from an Information Technology perspective, getting all these folks back in operation. Most of the hundreds of displaced employees had to leave their PCs behind in now uninhabited facilities. We have had to provide replacements and bring replacement servers up to accomodate their domains.

Now we have Rita! Our Houston offices are evacuated and headed north. We may have to do it all over again for those folks. The NOLA people who headed to the Houston area are now having to evacuate again!

What is even more surreal... I watched the whole Katrina thing unfold and there were hurricane force winds as far up as Jackson, MS... pretty far inland. The latest storm tracks for Rita could have it doing the same thing toward us! Someone said we could have 70 mph winds and rain this weekend. So... I watch even more intently.

Being a Statistic... The Dubious Honor

2005-09-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago... around Labor Day... we had one of our not too infrequent power outages caused by a severe thunderstorm. It was night, we had the windows open, but the air was not moving through the bedroom enough to go to sleep comfortably. So, I got up... several times.

To keep cooler, and to keep an eye on the power crews so that they didn't leave our area without getting our power back on (which has happened before), I sat on the front porch. My wife, Cindy, and I talked about putting some insect retardant on. It was dark in the house and we couldn't find it with the flashlights, so we sat out there and I got bit up by mosquitos.

About four days later, I started getting chills, fever, headache and body ache. This lasted all weekend and into the beginning of the next week. What was more strange was that I broke out in a rash. We joked about getting West Nile Virus. I looked up the symptoms on the web and, sure enough, they matched what I had.

I decided a couple of days later to get a blood test, just in case. Cindy called the doctor today and she nurse told her that the test came back positive for WNV. I am, thankfully, over the symptoms now. I had an elderly uncle who died from WNV. So, I have the dubious honor of being a CDC statistic... one of the "confirmed" cases in our area.

Surreality Check

2005-08-30T23:19:00.000-05:00

The unfolding of the grim drama of Katrina is at once surreal and grittily real. Surreal because of some of the images seen on various media outlets. One I saw tonight was particularly so -- a blazing inferno surrounded by a sea of water as a structure was going to cinders in New Orleans. Other images, sound-bites and such add a frightening portent to what is playing out.

Looting is rampant. Those who have been ordered out of NOLA because of the rising flood waters and lack of drinkable water are stealing -- boxes full of athletic shoes! For what? How pointless! Law enforcement officers -- risking their lives for others -- are being fired upon with assault weapons. A city famous for revelry and lawlessness lives up to its reputation. We need to ask ourselves, "What are we becoming?"

The photo above shows the area around the NOLA facility of the company I work for (upper left hand corner). Yesterday, as I walked outdoors during the lunch break, the outer bands of Katrina streaked overhead. The breeze was gusty and I wondered what was happening a couple of hundred miles south as the storm was roaring northward. Later in the day, it seemed that perhaps the Crescent City might have been spared the worst. However, almost as if it was time-release medicine, the worst-case appears to be overtaking the city.

Pray for the Gulf Coast. Pray for New Orleans. Pray for a nation that thinks it is invincible. When Nora Lam was imprisoned in Communist China for her faith, the Chinese commanding officer told her that one day, her god would be found only in museums. She answered, "To do that, you would have to imprison the wind." A fitting reminder to a nation that has forgotten God.

Following the Dutch Lead to a Secular America

2005-07-22T07:53:00.000-05:00

Al Mohler writes concerning voices of apprehension about what is called the Groningen Protocols. In a nutshell, these are "rules of the road" developed by Dutch medical professionals to implement euthanasia in their nation. These "protocols" are working their way outward to other (can we say "civilized"?) nations. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are nice folks out there who would like to "help" us experience the bliss of death -- for our own good and for that of society!

This is not the only Dutch social arena that U.S. progressives would like to mirror in our culture. Holland has long been a leader in progressive secular morality... lax treatment of drug use, prostitution, recreational sex and other matters. Everything America could be if only its invasive moralists would shut up and mind their own business. This is better?

Holland -- and America -- were not always that way. Alas, that would seem to be the cost of progress. One of my favorite movies is The Hiding Place. It is a true story about a Dutch Christian family hiding Jews and help them escape Nazi occupied Holland. Ironically, the Jews they helped all got away safely while all but one member of the ten Boom family died as Nazi prisoners. Few of their Dutch contemporaries were willing to put themselves in harm's way for the sake of others. In modern Holland, the exterminators would be the heros and the ten Boom family would be the villains. Go figure.

One of the forefathers of those Dutch Jews was a famous king of antiquity. He was renowned for his wisdom. In his writings, he said, "A wicked man hardens his face, but as for the upright, he understands and establishes his way." Modern progressives are determined, clenched-jaw determined, don't flinch or blink your eyes determined, to push their brave new world ethics even though they have no real certainty where it will lead. Hey, driving the bus over the cliff will give everybody one last thrill on the way to the bliss of death! On the other hand, a man who wants to know and do the right thing will make sure of the details and effects of the way he is about to go. Others lives depend on it.

All Who Hate Me Love Death

2005-06-27T22:34:00.000-05:00

King Solomon, reputedly one of the wisest men of antiquity, was a prolific writer. He was also an astute observer of nature (isn't that a simple definition of what we now call "science"?) For Solomon, the seen and the unseen were not antithetical. If the seen led to the unseen, so be it. To begin with a presumption that only the seen was "real" is not science, it is secular faith. We have an abundance of that kind of faith today.

Today's news featured stories from two courtrooms. One was the U.S. Supreme Court. A ruling was handed down that, in essence, displays of religious symbols are okay as long as they are totally divorced from the religions they symbolize. Confusing? You bet! This, in a courtroom where Moses and the Ten Commandments are displayed above the heads of the justices. I'm not the first to wonder what would happen if something like George Bailey experienced in "It's a Wonderful Life" took place in regard the the Judeo-Christian law. What if every vestige of the Law of God was removed from the public square -- not just the symbols, mind you -- but the content. Not pretty. The Law (God's, that is) defines evil and it defines what is right. It sets up boundaries that restrain evil and promote good. The Law of the Supreme Court seems intent on doing just the opposite. Modern law makes good evil and evil good.

A second scene comes from a courtroom in Wichita. Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, confessed in morbid details to the string of murders he committed. His murders were driven, by his own admission, by sexual fantasies. Here again, modern "law" refuses to connect the dots between moral causes and effects. How many Raders, Gacys, etc. does it take? Evil exists. It is not merely conceptual. King Solomon was not afraid -- no, more than that -- he was compelled to make the moral connections. He was not afraid to go where the facts led. Speaking as Wisdom personified, he wrote, "All those who hate me love death."

Missing the Point - Terri's Legacy

2005-06-17T12:33:00.000-05:00

The results of the autopsy performed on Terri Schiavo are now public. As with the pre-death coverage, much of the media is trumpeting the autopsy results as a vindication of Michael Schiavo's (most recent) position. I say "most recent" because for several years after her mysterious fall into the abyss of brain damage, his position was that he did not know what her wishes about end-of-life were. Somewhere along the line, Michael "remembered" that she would have wanted to die if in that condition. His memory conveniently revived after shacking up with a new girlfriend and fathering a couple of children with her.

But that is all old news. The conservative right is not entirely blameless in this issue either. Their rhetoric centered on purported evidence that Terri was not in a persistant vegetative state. The autopsy results "seem" to contradict that. PVS should not be the clincher in this deal.

Consequent fallout from the autopsy shows test-which-way-the-wind-blows politicians shuffling their positions, so as not to be found on the unpopular side of the debate.

The medical examiner said very plainly that Terri's condition was not life-threatening. I even heard a talk radio show caller twisting his logic in a pretzel to avoid calling her death a "killing." What else could you call it? The medical examiner stated that she could have lived on a decade or more if cared for. She had a family willing to do that.

On the other side, you have a legion of "right-to-die" advocates who found an easy mark in Michael Schiavo to get their cause in front of a sympathetic news media. Schiavo's lawyer even wrote a book about the tactics. How much more bald-faced can you get? The "death is so blissful" descriptions of Terri's last hours were enough to make a calloused person wretch.

My wife and I care for her severely and profoundly mentally retarded brother. He has never been "normal." He is non-verbal. He can't tell us "where it hurts." He requires total care. He must be fed, diapered, bed-bathed, moved around in his bed to prevent bed sores -- he is 58 years old. In spite of that, there are crystal clear evidences of "personhood" in him. He never had an opportunity to "decide" if he wanted to live. Who will decide for him? Jesus gave a very compelling standard to us when he said "Whatever you have done to the least of these, my brethren, you have done to me." That is the way we treat him and he returns joy to us.

The upshot of media coverage and popular opinion is this: Michael Schiavo, the justice system, his lawyers all "did the right thing." If so, will our society begin systematically "helping" other non-persons enjoy the bliss of their right-to-die?

Tianamen, Havana and the Decentralizing World

2005-06-10T12:13:00.000-05:00

One tenet of the Marxist/Leninist worldview is the need for revolution to bring in the socialist utopia. I am reminded of the Tianamen Square protests. I read an article recently, commenting on the anniversary of the deadly protests. The article was suggesting, rightly, that years later, we know hardly anything about the "true" numbers of the killed, the imprisoned and their fates. Revolution only seems to suit the envious when they are out of power.

Another tight-fisted dictator is Fidel Castro. It baffles me (well... not really) that the champions of freedom -- the American elite -- have such an incongruous love for this despot. Again, revolution suits him when he is the challenger, not the defender. Nat Henthoff comments in the Village Voice about a May 20 meeting in Havana:

You wouldn't know it from The New York Times or nearly all the media in New York (the purported center of communications for this nation), but in Havana onMay 20—for the first time in Fidel Castro's 46 years of brutal rule—there was apublic mass meeting, with subversive shouts of "Freedom! Freedom!"
As Anita Snow reported for the Associated Press, "A little more than half [of the 200] present [for the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba] were delegates from diverse opposition groups around the island. The rest were organizers, international journalists, diplomats and other special guests." The resident dictator was clearly concerned at the refusal by these Cubans to be silenced for fear of being thrown into his gulags. He tried to keep the resistance quiet. As
the Financial Times noted, "Cuba denied visas to dozens of European politicians and Cuban American leaders who sought to attend the meeting, and expelled four European deputies."
And, the AP added, "Cuba on Thursday expelled two European lawmakers who had planned to attend the gathering and refused entry to two others. . . . Six Poles—three journalists, a human rights worker and two students"—were also expelled.
Among the Cubans intending to come who were arrested beforehand were two independent librarians from eastern Cuba, Elio Enrique Chávez and Luis Elio de la Paz. In a quick, secret trial, they were charged and convicted for the crime of "dangerousness" (peligrosidad). They were a danger to his dictatorship. (Read the entire article)

The world is escaping the grasp of its overlords. Many commentators, including Gary North, have commented about the meltdown of the traditional press being faciliated by the decentralized media -- the internet and bloggers primarily. I work in the information technology world. In the last twenty years, there has been a back-and-forth move from centralization to decentralization and back.

Decentralization is great for freeing people to do things that they might not be able to accomplish otherwise. The "killer" for this tectonic shift -- wouldn't you know it -- is the individuals to whom the decentralization flows. Many are unwilling to take the initiative to learn the technologies that come to them in this newfound freedom. They are positively irresponsible in their dabbling with detrimental technologies (loading junkware on their PC and spreading their misery to other users). They fail to recognize the overriding business goals that govern their technological freedom.

I commented several days ago that one necessary ingredient for successful decentralization is self-government. It all comes back to character. The downside of decentralized computing is applicable to decentralized governments. If we don't want despots, we must have overriding agreed-upon principles which glue our individually free lives together. We must take responsibility for progress and shun the detrimental. What a concept!

Will The Real Gulag Please Stand Up?

2005-06-05T21:57:00.000-05:00

It would be foolish to assume that the Gitmo facility is being run in a squeaky-clean fashion. Any statements made to that effect should be viewed with some reasonable suspicions. That said, recent statements by Amnesty International accusing the Bush administration of running a "gulag" are laughable. It seems like we can hardly have a bona fide disagreement over political issues nowadays without resorting to polemics.

Guess that's what happens when politics becomes your religion. Governments make bad saviors and politics makes bad religion. Many of the American founders, believed that self-government was essential to good government. NewsMax recently quoted a real (meaning: Soviet style) gulag graduate, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn. Speaking about Russian democratization, he made some statements that we could all learn from. Here is an excerpt:

"If they are going to take away our democracy, they can take away only what we have. But if we have nothing, then nothing can be taken away," he said. "We have already taken everything from the people. ... We have nothing that resembles democracy.
"We are trying to build democracy without self-governance," he said, according to a transcript of the interview. "Before anything, we must begin to build a system so that the people can manage their own destinies."
Solzhenitsyn, whose best-known works include "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "Gulag Archipelago," appeared thin, but he spoke energetically and gestured with emotion.
Solzhenitsyn spent a decade in a labor camp and documented life in the camps in his "Gulag Archipelago" trilogy. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970 and was expelled from the Soviet Union four years later. He lived in Vermont until his 1994 return to Russia, three years after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
His profile as a moral arbiter and a literary star have declined since he returned to Russia, taking a train across the country and criticizing the corruption and poverty of post-Soviet Russia. He has kept a lower profile in recent years, giving few interviews and issuing few public statements.

Watch What We Do, Not What We Say

2005-06-04T22:42:00.000-05:00

One of the memorable quotes from the Watergate moment was that of Attorney General John Mitchell, "Watch what we do, not what we say." It could be said that the reality of one's beliefs lies in what they do, not what they say.

I could profess my love for my wife very eloquently, but living in betrayal through infidelity or otherwise would nullify my loudest protestations. Likewise, one's worldview may be accurately determined by what they do, not what they say.

Many years ago, Dr. Paul Ackerman related related how he, as an ardent behavioral psychologist, came to that realization through an unfortunate event in his life. He related how he watched as his young child pedaled down the driveway into the path of an oncoming car. Through that fatal moment, he came to realize that his behaviorism and its attendant naturalistic underpinnings was at odds with the reality of love and loss. To hang everything on stimuli, hormones, genetics -- simply molecular things did not square up with real life.

Similarly, the ACLU is in the spotlight. According to a New York Times article, their internal practices betray their professed statements of purpose. If we were to pull off the covers, what other things might we find at odds with this organization?

Shoulda Seen It Coming

2005-06-01T12:54:00.000-05:00

Last night, I was reading an old essay written in 1993 by Gary North. It had something to say about how the Islamic world would cope with the encroachment of Western culture:

The problem is, the likely Islamic defense will be military: terrorism. Islam will have to attack the source of the West’s technological superiority if it is to retain its leadership at home. The West will be challenged. Squads of dedicated terrorists will seek to bomb Western power stations and communications centers, or use biological weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of city dwellers. They will seek to create havoc in clandestine ways. Islamic nations cannot defeat the West on the conventional military battlefield, as Iraq learned in Kuwait in 1991. They will have to try to defeat the West on unconventional battlefields inside the West. To escape falling behind the West economically, the Islamic theocracies must bring down the West, even though the West has made them rich in the second half of the 20th century. The envy factor will combine with the Islamic theocracy factor: a highly destructive combination. A war is now in progress. It will almost surely escalate.

Terrorism was nothing new in 1993. I'm sure others could see this trend, as well. It was still an insightful comment, in light of events in the last decade, especially since 9/11/2001.

The Times They are A-Changin'

2005-05-31T23:39:00.000-05:00

I can't think of a better way to kick off this publication but to quote Bob Dylan's 1964 anthem:

The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964)

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Forty-one years later, it's just as pointed as the day it was written. History is moving and, as they say, "Lead, follow or get out of the way."

U-571 and the Call of Duty

2005-05-29T22:31:00.000-05:00

Joseph got me this movie for Christmas a couple of years ago. One of the things that impressed me in watching and re-watching it has to do with a pivotal scene near the end of the movie where a young crewman is ordered to swim in the bilge to shut off a leaking air valve which is endangering the whole crew.

As you will recall, young Lt. Tyler (portrayed by Matthew McConaughey) has been turned down for a promotion to skipper his own boat because his senior officer is unsure the younger officer can make life or death decisions on behalf of his subordinates when it is crunch time.

As the story develops, he is thrown into the position of skipper in the heat of battle when his own skipper is killed during their mission. In the ensuing attempt to get the boat and crew to safety, Tyler finds himself facing the demons that the older skipper warned him of. The situation with the leaky valve is one of the make-or-break decisions that "gel" him as the commander. After a failed attempt to find the valve, the young seaman complains to Lt. Tyler that he "can't do it." Tyler responds that he has to do it, that the lives of the entire crew depend on him doing what was ordered. I very well remember Tyler's order for the seaman to get back in the bilge and "do your job." The seaman obeys and his courage ends up saving the crew, though it cost him his own life in the process, drowning in the sub's bilge.

Duty has lost favor in our "do what floats your boat" world. Christians bend over backward to stress that we obey Jesus "because we love him... because we want to, not because we have to." I have heard duty talked down as a proper motivation for a follower of Jesus. In Jesus' world, love involves duty. It does not exclude it. Perhaps it is because of the absence of duty that today's "love" is so shallow.

U2: Still Humming After All These Years

2005-05-25T22:34:00.000-05:00

I can remember hearing a young new band from Ireland years back and being intrigued by their sound. One of the intriguing things to me, as a musician, was how they effectively re-defined the guitar-bass-drums trio sound.

I had always been left a little empty by the previous heavyweights in that genre - Cream and the the Jimi Hendrix Experience, later the Band of Gypsies. Their guitar-driven sound was fronted by what was then considered "superstar" guitarists with decent chops as solo players, but the sound was thin and empty. It 's hard to have just bass and drums filling in behind a lead guitar excursion without sounding anemic. (I later had a trumpet-bass-drums bop trio named Boplicity-- even more difficult to get a "fat" sound! Ooof!)

Reading some bio material at http://www.threechordsandthetruth.net -- their beginnings were pretty rough. I even read there that they gave up trying to be a cover band because they were not good at it. So, they worked on writing their own material and, as they say, the rest is history.

The Edge's guitar work, which he described as "doing the work of two," was - to me - a major factor in their unique sound. It must be said that neither he nor any of the other members of the band are "virtuouso" musicians, but they are the typical "sum is greater than the individual parts." Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton lay down a solid bottom end while The Edge "does the work of two" on the guitar, with arpeggiated sweeps, lots of upper neck chording with inversions putting the fifth or third on top, ringing suspensions and choppy rhythm strumming with lots of effects. Plus, Bono is truly a fine front man, again, not a great singer as singers go, but just the right stuff for the band's chemistry.

Lyrically, U2 seems to have captured the spiritual yearnings of the last twenty years. I wonder if that, in part, is what has contributed to their longevity.

As U2 tours the US promoting their newest CD "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" -- in your opinion, what makes them resonate with their vast and diverse audience for twenty-some years? What has been the secret of their success? Leave a comment and let me know!

Tolerance is a Two-way Street

2005-05-23T22:36:00.000-05:00

I read a very interesting commentary today. It was relating to the hoo-haa surrounding the supposed desecration of the Quran. Interestingly enough, it was written by a muslim from Saudi Arabia. The gist of the commentary was this: Despite all the carping about the supposed lack of tolerance shown by red-state Bible-thumpers, this muslim said he could go to any number of bookstores here in the states, buy a copy of his holy book (the Quran) and read it here, there... anywhere in this country without so much as the slightest bother. Turning the tables, he said that in his home country, no one can purchase or possess a non-muslim holy book, such as the Bible. It is a crime. He recognizes the hypocrisy.

Before we mindlessly blather about how narrow-minded the right is, we need to pause for a reality check.

So What's The Difference?

2005-04-29T22:38:00.000-05:00

I have seen a very interesting commercial for, 7-Up I think, where someone comes up to the snack counter and asks for a specific sparkling lemon-lime beverage (we'll just assume it's 7-Up due to poor memory) and the counter person says "We have Sprite... it's all the same." He then draws a Sprite and hands it to the customer and says, "That's a dollar." The customer wittily pulls out a small coin -- dime or penny or something -- puts it on the counter and says, "...it's all the same."

What a beautiful illustration of the fact that we may think and talk relativism, but in real life, we don't buy it.

We may think and say "whatever... one way is as good as another" but we know better.

Philippians - Being Right-Minded

2005-04-04T22:42:00.000-05:00

Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

Being “right-minded”: We have a choice about what we think on, what we read, what we watch and listen to. Our choices in these things matter much in experiencing God's best. A lot of the time, we -- sort of mindlessly -- ingest whatever is playing. Don't be mindless. If you want God's peace, dwell on the things this verse says and forego the mediocre.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

2005-04-03T22:44:00.000-05:00

Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Being “right-minded”: Guarding our minds by not bearing our own burdens. Take every need to God or you will be eaten up with overwhelming needs.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

2005-04-02T22:45:00.000-06:00

Phil 4:1 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

2 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

Being “right-minded”: Ah, Euodia and Synthche. These women obviously had some differences that they let come before or pre-empt the same-mindedness that God desires. They needed to put aside their differences and look out for each other.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

2005-04-01T22:46:00.000-06:00

Phil 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame--who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Being “right-minded”: Having the temporary and the eternal in right perspective. Anyone who trades the eternal for the temporary is a fool. Earthly life and responsibility is not “bad” versus heavenly things “good”. That is Platonism. Rather, the issue is not banking on the temporary. Instead, use it for the eternal.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

2005-03-31T22:47:00.000-06:00

Phil 3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

Being “right-minded”: Mature thinking is not “having arrived.” It is continually growing and never going backward.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

2005-03-30T22:49:00.000-06:00

Phil 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Being “right-minded”: Credentials are okay. They're not bad or evil. I wouldn't want an uncredentialed brain surgeon operating on me. However, credentials only go so far. They are, in Paul's words, rubbish (literally dung) in comparison to a right relationship with God and experiencing, not just knowing about, his life and purpose. To be right-minded, keep it in perspective.

Philippians - Being Right-Minded

2005-03-29T22:50:00.000-06:00

Phil 2:25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.

Being “right-minded”: Example two - Epaphroditus. He risked his life to be the Philippians' servant to Paul in Paul's time of need.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

2005-03-28T22:51:00.000-06:00

Phil 2:17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. 23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. 24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.

Being “right-minded”: Example two - Timothy. He was like-minded with Paul (and Jesus) in that he didn't seek his own, but was concerned about the good of the Philippians. He served Paul the way Jesus served his Father.

Philippians – Being "Right-minded"

2005-03-27T22:52:00.000-06:00

Phil 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

Being “right-minded”: Did Jesus complain about what he had to do? Do we trust that what God is working out in our lives is good? Don't be a whiner!